The great consolation of Innocent was that the union of the two churches had been effected; but, as we have SIne” seen, he doubted whether even this could be brought union of about effectually, since the conduct of the Latins had outraged the members of the Orthodox Church. Subsequent events showed that he was entirely right. The Latin conquest of Constantinople caused so deep a hatred to the Church of the West that there was never a chance again of a union between the two being accomplished. Upwards of two centuries later futile attempts were made at Ferrara and Florence to bring about such a union in presence of the ever-constant danger of the Mahometan progress, but the events of 1203-1204 made the endeavor a ridiculous failure. Nor was the anticipation of the difficulties of union in the mind of Innocent without justification for other branches of the Orthodox Church.
Russia was the great convert of the Greek Church. Innocent sent a mission to that country to invite its archbishops and bishops to submit themselves to Home, in order that their Church might not be left out of his fold, and called attention to the fact that the Greek Church, from which they had hitherto derived their aid, had now be-come united under him. The mission obtained no satisfactory result. The Russian remained loyal to the Orthodox Church. Its aversion to that of the Elder Home appears even to have been increased by this mission, and in a short time it placed itself under allegiance to the Patriarch of Nicaca, who soon took the position which had been occupied by the Patriarch of Constantinople.
It is beyond my purpose to give an account of the rule of the Latin emperors of Constantinople. The events which followed the capture of the city in rapid succession proved that the Crusaders had undertaken a task far beyondness of their powers, even if they had been united. But govern ito- dissatisfaction at once began to show itself, and the struggles among the captors themselves greatly weakened their power. Boniface and his friends seem to have believed themselves outwitted by Dandolo and the partisans of Baldwin. Within a few days of the coronation of the new emperor a tumult was raised between the rival factions.
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