Editing Latin Empire (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:Filipus.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Seal of [[Philip I, Latin Emperor|Philip of Courtenay]], Latin Emperor in exile 1273–1283. His title in the seal is {{lang|la|Dei gratia imperator Romaniae et semper augustus}} ("By the Grace of God, Emperor of Romania, ever august").]]
The term "Latin Empire" was not contemporary, and was first used by historians in the 16th century to distinguish the Crusader state from the classical [[Roman Empire]] and the [[Byzantine Empire]], all of which called themselves "Roman". The term "Latin" was chosen because the crusaders ([[Franks]], Venetians, and other Westerners) were Roman Catholic and used Latin as their liturgical and scholarly language in contrast to the Eastern Orthodox locals who used [[Greek language|Greek]] in both liturgy and common speech. The Byzantines referred to the Latin Empire as the {{transliteration|grc|[[Frankokratia]]}} 'rule of the Franks', or the {{transliteration|grc|Latinokratia}} 'rule of the Latins'.<ref>{{citation|last=Jacobi|first=David|title=The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. V: c. 1198–c. 1300|pages=525–542|year=1999|editor-last=Abulafia|editor-first=David|chapter=The Latin empire of Constantinople and the Frankish states in Greece|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-36289-X}}</ref>

Founding treaties issued by the crusaders specifically refer to the empire as the {{lang|la|imperium Constantinopolitanum}} ("Constantinopolitan Empire"). Although this is a marked departure from the standard Byzantine nomenclature and ideology, designating the empire as the {{lang|grc|Basileía Rhōmaíōn}} 'Empire of the Romans', {{lang|la|imperium Constantinopolitanum}} was the standard name used for the eastern empire in western sources, such as in papal correspondence, and suggests that the Latin leaders viewed themselves as "taking over" the empire rather than "replacing" it. It would have been difficult for the crusaders to justify referring to the empire as "Roman" considering that Western Europe generally held the Germanic [[Holy Roman Empire]] to represent the legitimate Roman Empire.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlnPm2riK1UC&q=imperator+constantinopolitanus&pg=PA68|title=The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium: The Empire of Constantinople (1204–1228)|last=Tricht|first=Filip Van|date=2011|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004203235|pages=61–82|language=en}}</ref> These two conclusions—that for outsiders the Roman identity of this empire remained controversial and that its conquest was considered a takeover, not a replacement—are further supported by an entry in ''[[Deeds of the Bishops of Halberstadt]]'', a contemporaneous chronicle made in Germany. When referring to the elevation of the first Latin Emperor, [[Baldwin I, Latin Emperor|Baldwin I]], the chronicle called him ''imperator Grecorum'' ("emperor of the Greeks"), the same title used on an earlier page for [[Alexios I Komnenos]]. Similarly, the Emperor Isaac Angelos is listed in the chronicle as ''rex Grecorum'' ("king of the Greeks").<ref>{{Cite book |title=Gesta episcoporum Halberstadensium |pages=102; 118}}</ref>
[[File:Imperial seal of Balwin I.png|thumb|Seal of [[Baldwin I, Latin Emperor|Baldwin I]], the first Latin Emperor. The abbreviation ''Rom.'' leaves it open to interpretation if he refers to {{lang|la|Romaniae}} 'Romania' or {{lang|la|Romanorum}} 'the Romans']]
The full title Baldwin actually used was {{lang|la|dei gratia fidelissimus in Christo imperator a Deo coronatus Romanorum moderator et semper augustus}}, a near perfect replication of the one used by [[Alexios IV Angelos]], placed on the throne by the crusaders previously, in a letter (only known in its Latin version) to [[Pope Innocent III]]: {{lang|la|fidelis in Christo imperator a Deo coronatus Romanorum moderator et semper augustus}}. Letters by Baldwin to Pope Innocent III give his title as {{lang|la|imperator Constantinopolitanus}}, possibly altered by Papal scribes as the Pope recognized the Holy Roman Emperor as the {{lang|la|imperator Romanorum}}. In his seals, Baldwin abbreviated {{lang|la|Romanorum}} as ''Rom.'', conveniently leaving it open for interpretation whether he referred to {{lang|la|Romaniae}} 'land of the Romans' or {{lang|la|Romanorum}} 'the Romans'. It is probably more likely that he meant {{lang|la|Romanorum}}. Baldwin's successor [[Henry of Flanders|Henry]] called the empire {{lang|la|imperium Romanum}} at least in one letter.<ref name=":0" /> A Venetian statesman [[Marino Sanuto the Elder]] used yet another appellative, {{lang|la|Sebastō Latíno Basilía ton Rhōmaíōn}} (Σεβαστό Λατίνο βασιλιά των Ρωμαίων, lit. "August Latin Empire of the Romans").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zarkadas |first=Evangelos |url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4598&context=etd |title=The Effects of Regional Separatism on Late Roman Identity in Fourteenth-Century Byzantium |publisher=University of Maine |year=2022 |location=Maine |pages=62}}</ref> The term "Romania" had been a vernacular name used for centuries by the population of the Late Roman polity for their country.<ref>On the long history of "Romania" as a territorial name for the Roman and (later) Byzantine empires, see R.L. Wolff, "Romania: The Latin Empire of Constantinople". In: ''Speculum'', 23 (1948), pp. 1–34.</ref><ref>Fossier, Robert; Sondheimer, Janet (1997). The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-26644-4}}. p. 104</ref>

Three different versions of imperial titulature are attested under Henry; {{lang|la|Henricus Dei Gratia Imperator Romaniae}} 'Emperor of Romania', {{lang|la|Henricus Dei Gratia Imperator Romanorum}} 'Emperor of the Romans' and {{lang|la|Henricus Dei Gratia Imperator Constantinopolitani}} 'Constantinopolitan Emperor', possibly intended for different recipients. Usage of the title Emperor of Constantinople may not just have been to appease the Pope and Western Europe, but might also have been used to legitimize the rule of the Latin Emperors in regards to the Byzantines that they ruled. Possession of the city itself was a key legitimizing factor that set the Latin Emperors apart from Byzantine claimants in [[Empire of Nicaea|Nicaea]], [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]] and [[Empire of Thessalonica|Thessalonica]].<ref name=":0" />