Editing Alexios V Doukas (section)

==Emperor==
[[File:Gustave dore crusades mourzoufle parleying with dandolo.jpg|thumb|right|Alexios V negotiating with Doge Enrico Dandolo, by [[Gustave Doré]]]]
The timing of the deaths of the deposed emperors and of Kanabos, and their relation to the coronation of Alexios V are problematic. Alexios&nbsp;V appears to have been acclaimed emperor as early as the night he moved against the [[Angeloi]] co-emperors, on 27 January.<ref>[[Niketas Choniates|Choniates]], p. [[iarchive:o-city-of-byzantium-annals-of-niketas-choniates-ttranslated-by-harry-j-magoulias-1984/page/n333/mode/2up|299-314.]] There was a meeting on the 25th, [[Nicholas Kanabos]] was chosen on the 27th and Doukas began his coup "as soon as these deliberations were detected". [[Alexios III Angelos|Alexios III]] ruled "8 years, 3 months and 10 days"; [[Alexios IV]] "6 months and 8 days" and [[Alexios V]] "2 months and 16 days". Regnal dates for these emperors are calculated reckoning from the fall of Constantinople on 12 April.</ref> He was crowned soon after, on or around 5 February.<ref name=C>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/31064036 |first=David |last=Savignac|year=2020|title=The Medieval Russian Account of the Fourth Crusade - A New Annotated Translation}} ([[Novgorod Chronicle]])</ref>

Finding the treasury empty, the new emperor confiscated money from the aristocracy and high officials to be put to public use. These actions endeared Alexios V to the citizens, but alienated his relations and other prominent supporters. Once in firm control, Alexios V closed the gates of the city to the crusaders and strengthened the [[Walls of Constantinople|fortifications]]. Sword in hand, he was active in leading attacks on sorties made by the crusaders in search of supplies. On 2 February, [[Henry of Flanders]] led a part of the crusader army to Filea (or Phileas), in order to obtain food supplies. As he returned towards Constantinople, Alexios V attacked his rearguard. The Byzantines were defeated, the imperial standard and an important icon of the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin]] (the ''[[Panagia]] Nikopoios'') were captured. The Byzantines lost some of their best soldiers in the clash, and Alexios V was lucky to escape alive. At about this time Alexios V attempted to destroy the crusader fleet with [[fire-ships]], but to little effect.<ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 120–122</ref><ref>Choniates, pp.311–312</ref>

The loss of the icon, traditionally seen as a physical embodiment of divine protection for the city, was a severe psychological blow. Its possession by the crusaders convinced many of the population of Constantinople that the victory of the Westerners was now divinely sanctioned, as a punishment for the sins of the Byzantines.<ref>Giarenis, p. 78</ref>

Around 8 February, Alexios V met the [[Doge of Venice]], [[Enrico Dandolo]], for peace talks. The conditions demanded by the Venetian, however, were too harsh for the Byzantines to consider. Choniates states that the meeting was brought to a close by a sudden attack by crusader cavalry on Alexios V and his entourage, the emperor narrowly escaping capture. Alexios IV was probably killed the same day; the insistence by the crusaders that he be restored to the throne may have precipitated his death.<ref>Choniates, p.312</ref><ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 123–124</ref> When news of the death of Alexios IV reached the crusaders, relations between them and Alexios V deteriorated further. The forcible expulsion of all Latins resident in Constantinople in March seems to have been the tipping point which led the crusaders to begin actively negotiating amongst themselves regarding the [[Partitio Romaniae|partition]] of the Byzantine Empire. They also began to prepare for their final assault on the city, which took place the following month.<ref>Hendrickx and Matzukis, pp. 124–125</ref>