Tensions between Byzantine Empire and Western Crusaders escalated throughout the 1190s, culminating in the Fourth Crusade's diversion to Constantinople and the city's sack in 1204. Political instability, economic rivalry, and religious differences between Orthodox and Catholic Christianity created conditions for this catastrophic event that would permanently weaken Byzantine power.

The impending crisis generated apocalyptic and lament literature in Byzantine Greek, with poets expressing anxiety about empire's decline and divine punishment. Greek poets criticized Latin arrogance and corruption while Orthodox clerics composed theological defenses against Catholic claims. The eventual sack would produce extensive lament poetry and historical narratives that shaped Greek national consciousness and influenced later Byzantine literature's pessimistic tone.