Greek Fire

While reading Geoffrey of Villehardouin's account about the 4th Crusade and the siege of Constantinople, I saw that there was a brief reference to "Greek Fire," an innovation used by the Byzantines. I decided to look up a bit of the history behind the development of the weapon. The exact date of its invention by the Byzantines is up for some debate, but it was definitely instrumental in their defense against the incoming Arab nations beginning in 672 C.E. So by the time of the 4th Crusade it was no longer a new weapon, having been used for many centuries previously. In fact, it appears that the use of "Greek fire" might have been discontinued by the Byzantines by the time of the 4th Crusade. Perhaps if the Byzantines had had the means to employ it, the siege of Constantinople would have turned out differently...

The actual contents of this "Greek fire" are not known for sure; the Byzantines kept the formula secret, and it appears that they were successful in that regard. Contemporary experts suspect that the ingredients combined to create "Greek fire" included petroleum and resins. The Byzantines not only created the mixture, but developed a pretty effective apparatus that would shoot the liquid fire onto other ships, through the use of pressure and a pump. I guess you could think of the entire weapon being, in a sense, like a flamethrower...

One of the defining characteristics about the "Greek fire" which made it so legendary (and devastating) was that it couldn't be put out with water, so it was a pretty effective weapon. The Byzantines used it for centuries to defend and expand their empire. Unfortunately for the residents of Constantinople, they either couldn't use it during the siege of 1203 by the 4th Crusaders, or it was ineffective in defending the city, for the city eventually fell to the crusaders.