1204: AFTERMATH OF THE FOURTH CRUSADE
In early 1204, the army of the Fourth Crusade deviated from its goal of reaching the Holy Land to aid a recently deposed Byzantine emperor in fostering his return to power. When the restored Byzantine emperor was not able to repay the Crusaders for their efforts, the Western European crusader army took their dues by force. They invaded and destroyed the Byzantine Empire, leaving only a few small Byzantine successor states while the Crusaders established new rule under the hegemony of the Venetian Republic and the new "Latin Empire," based in Constantinople. All of the stakeholders in this power vacuum in Europe - Byzantine nobles and Crusader lords, eastern and western Christians, Roman Greeks and Westerners, politicians and soldiers - had unique struggles because of the turning point of the Fourth Crusade. After the sack of Constantinople, this crisis committee is tasked to pick up the missing pieces and deal with the remnants of the fallen Byzantine Empire.
About the Chairs
Hello y’all! My name is Sebby and I will be running your Fourth Crusade committee along with Charlie Hass. Some fun facts about me: this will be my 4th year doing MUN and my third year doing MASMUNC. In addition to Model UN, some other hobbies include playing the bass, banjo, and a little bit of mandolin. This committee will be a great way for you to showcase your history knowledge and diplomatic prowess in 1204. The Masters team is the best in the world (in my humble opinion), and I know we will put on a great conference for all of ya’ll! Can’t wait to meet you during MASMUNC! See you then!
Hi! I'm Charlie. I'm a senior in my eighth year at Masters and will be your backroom chair for the 1204 crisis. I love Model UN and mostly do historical crises like this. My interest for them first came out of my passion for Dungeons and Dragons which naturally ends up becoming a MUN crisis when merged with geopolitics. My favorite things to learn about are easily historical topics and the ancient and medieval eras. Outside of the classroom, I love to fence as the captain of the Masters boys foil team and read - novels but also books about stuff like history and philosophy.
Contact the Chairs
Feel free to reach out to your chairs for committee-specific questions at sebastian.simkin@mastersny.org and charlie.haas@mastersny.org.