Doge Enrico Dandolo (1132-1205) was the Doge of Venice from 1192 until his death in 1205.
Biography[]
Enrico Dandolo was originally a general under Vitale II of Venice, serving in the 1171 expedition to the Byzantine Empire. During the incident, he was blinded by Manuel I of Byzantium. He became doge after Orio Mastropiero's death in 1192, and when Pope Innocent III preached a Fourth Crusade in 1196, he agreed to give transport to Boniface I of Montferrat in exchange for helping him take Zara in 1202 from the Kingdom of Hungary and money. The exiled prince of the Byzantine Empire Alexius IV agreed to give the crusaders the money that Venice demanded if Enrico would help him attack Constantinople. So Enrico, Fantino, and Boniface attacked and sacked Constantinople in 1203, but when Alexius IV was overthrown shortly after by Alexius V of Byzantium, they sacked Constantinople again the next year. The Byzantine Empire became the Nicaean Empire, Latin Empire, and Despotate of Epirus, and Dandolo returned home with his riches.