Enrico Dandolo

Dandolo became doge of Venice in 1192, already elderly by medieval standards. His shrewdness came to define the Fourth Crusade: rather than sail for the Holy Land, he redirected the crusaders to Constantinople, leading the 1204 assault that shattered the Byzantine Empire. The sack laid the groundwork for Venetian dominance across the eastern Mediterranean. For his role, the newly established Latin Empire granted him the title of Despot. He died in Constantinople in 1205 and was buried in the Hagia Sophia, the great church his forces had helped desecrate.