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Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, concerned about the advances of the Turks in the aftermath of the defeat of Manzikert, sent envoys to the Pope in March 1095 to ask for aid against the Muslims. The Pope, Urban II responded favorably to the request for help from the Byzantines despite the Great Schism that had previously divided the Eastern and the Western Churches. The Pope may have hoped to reunify the Latin and the Greek Orthodox branches of Christianity.<ref>Runciman p. 101</ref> However, Urban II decided to urge Christian soldiers to travel to the Byzantine Lands and to fight the Turk and to regain the Holy Lands. This was not what Alexios intended, but soon a huge army of Crusaders was made its way across ByzatineByzantine. This army managed to defeat the Turks and eventually conquered Jerusalem. The Crusades, many argue, helped push back the Turks and preserve the remaining lands of the Byzantine Empire. However, the Crusades were to take an unexpected turn. In 1204 the Fourth Crusade was diverted by the Venetians and it captured the Byzantine capital. This betrayal was a devastating blow to the Eastern Christian Empire.<ref>Runciman, p. 213</ref>