A turning point in how both sides viewed each other is probably the massacre of Latins in Constantinople in 1182 . The massacre followed the deposition of Maria of Antioch , a Norman-Frankish ( therefore " Latin " ) princess who was ruling as regent to her infant son Emperor Alexios II Komnenos . Maria was deeply unpopular due to the heavy-handed favoritism that had been shown the Italian merchants during the regency and popular celebrations of her downfall by the citizenry of Constantinople quickly turned to rioting and massacre . The event and the horrific reports of survivors inflamed religious tensions in the West , leading to the retaliatory sacking of Thessalonica , the empire 's second largest city , by William II of Sicily . An example of Western opinion at the time is the writings of William of Tyre , who described the " Greek nation " as " a brood of vipers , like a serpent in the bosom or a mouse in the wardrobe evilly requite their guests "
massacre of Latins in Constantinople
Massacre of the Latins
Byzantine Greeks