 A certain stability was achieved under the Comnenian Dynasty, at least until the Battle of Myriokephalon (1176).Internal conflicts facilitated the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders (the Fourth Crusade of 1204) and the establishment of Latin states in the south Balkans.The late period of the Byzantine Empire as a small state begins with the Palaiologos dynasty, which was particularly threatened by the advances of the Ottoman Empire and the economic influence of Venice and Genoa.