On July 17, 1203, the forces of the Fourth Crusade, transported by a Venetian fleet, launched a siege against Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The crusaders had been diverted from their original goal of Jerusalem and instead attacked the Christian city, ultimately breaching its defenses and forcing the Byzantine emperor to flee. This event was a turning point in the Fourth Crusade, leading to the eventual sack of the city in 1204 and the establishment of the Latin Empire.

The siege and eventual fall of Constantinople were extensively chronicled by contemporaries such as Geoffrey of Villehardouin and Robert de Clari, whose accounts are foundational works of early French prose historiography. These chronicles, with their vivid descriptions of the siege and the clash of civilizations, provided source material for later epic poems and historical romances, influencing the development of narrative literature in Western Europe.