Part the Elenventh, in which there is War on many fronts
After initial skirmishes with the Germans in Carpathia, Ruthenia and Galizien, war spread in January of 1201, as Venice declared war on Dalmatia, who were supported by Croatia, Hungary and Sicily, and the King of Jerusalem declared war on the Empire, with Antioch, Este and Provence supporting Jerusalem, and Wallachia and Serbia supporting the Roman realm. This war must not have been popular in Este, for the government fell in February. In March word came that the Abbasid Caliph, supported by Fars, made their bid for a piece of the Roman pie. This time Serbia willingly support us, but Wallachia needed some persuasion. Not to be left out, in August Styria declared war on Venice. After numerous indecisive skirmishes in central Europe and northern Italy, the German king agreed to a return to status quo ante, as did Provence after the Provencal province of Mantua was captured.
In February 1202, after the Roman capture of the Provencal province of Mantua, Provence agreed to In March of 1202, the Duchy of Antioch was annexed by Serbia. Apparently feeling that he wasn't involved in enough wars already, the doge of Venice joined King of Jerusalem in his war on the Romans in April.
In July of 1202, I was summoned to meet the Emperor in the Palace gardens, on which Alexius had lavished much of the treasury. "We are not pleased that Pinsk-Turov is not Our vassal." "Sire, things have been a little hectic lately, what with all the new recruits we've had to raise and equip. I'm afraid that dealing with minor Rus princelings has been a little under the horizon for us." "Nonetheless, We are not pleased. It is Our will that within five years that Bosnia shall be added to Our Empire." "Sire, Bosnia belongs to our ally Serbia. Are we not involved in enough wars already without turning on our allies?" "Nonetheless, that is Our will. Let it be so recorded."
In August 1202, the Seljuk Empire weighed in on the side of the Caliph and Fars. In January of 1203, gathering like jackals against a lion, Blois-Champaigne, Flanders (with Gotland), and Sicily (with Croatia, Dalmatia, and Hungary) declared a crusade against the Romans, while the Caliph, faced with a siege of Baghdad, accepted a return to status quo ante. In February Milan joined in the war on the side of the Flemish alliance, while in March Salzburg joined Styria in the war against the Venetians. In May Austria went to war against Styria (supported by Salzburg) while the Empire surrendered the unfortified and lightly populated provinces of Ruthenia and Moldova to Hungary for peace.
In July 1203, fearing a return to the rule of the Sicilian king, the people of Messina converted to the true faith of Orthodoxy; for naught, for the Italian legion was decimated in their attempts to break the siege, and the city would fall to the Sicilians in February of 1205. The remnants of the legion would hold out in Apulia awaiting reinforcements, while Romagna (captured September 1203) and Marche (captured July 1204) groaned under the Venetian yoke, and a mob of Papist rebels took control of the ancient city of Rome in April 1204.
In August 1203, Alexius, son of the deposed Emperor Isaac II, snuck into the City on a Genoan merchant vessel. Gathering the support of the Palace Guard, dissatisfied with Alexius III's dissolute rule during the time of war, he exiled his uncle, freed his blind father from the prison, and proclaimed himself co-emperor with his father, ruling as Alexius III. The Guard's support proved fickle, for Isaac and Alexius were dethroned the next January and replaced by the Guard commander, who ruled as Alexius V Dukas, called Murtzuflos for his bushy eyebrows. He only lasted until April, when the city mob, unhappy with the privations of the war, caught and killed him, leaving no clear successor.