FIFTH CRUSADE.
A.D. 1198-1204.
“_Christian troops_,” says J. J. Rousseau, in his “Contrat Social,”
“_are, as they say, excellent; I deny it; show me such; for my part, I
know no Christian troops_.” The events we have just related, and those
we are about to make known, will, there is no doubt, suffice to refute
this strange paradox of J. J. Rousseau. The author of the “Social
Contract” does not dissemble, it is true, the objections that may be
made to him from the history of the crusades; but, ever faithful to
his system, and taking no account of historical truths, he answers,
that “_the Crusaders, far from being Christians, were citizens of the
Church; that they fought for their spiritual country, which the Church
had rendered temporal nobody knows how_.” Strange abuse of reasoning,
which confounds the sense of words, and refuses the title of Christians
to those who fought in the name of Christ! In representing the
Crusaders as citizens of the Church, Rousseau doubtless, meant to say
that the popes were the origin of the crusades, and that the soldiers
of the cross defended the temporal power of the popes. We at once reply
that the crusades owed their birth and growth to the religious and
warlike enthusiasm that animated the nations of the West in the twelfth
century, and that without this enthusiasm, which was not the work of
the heads of the Church, the preachings of the Holy See would not have
been able to collect a single army under the banners of the cross. We
may further add that, during the holy wars, the sovereign pontiffs
were frequently driven from Rome and despoiled of their states, and
that they did not summon the Crusaders to the defence of the power
or _temporal country_ of the Church. Not only were the Crusaders not
always the blind instruments of the Holy See, but they sometimes
resisted the will of the popes, and yet in their camps were no less
models of valour united with Christian piety. No doubt, the leaders
were often seduced by ambition, the love of glory, and a passion for
war; but religion, well or ill understood, acted upon the greater
number; the Christian religion which they defended, or believed they
defended, by inspiring them with a desire for the blessings of heaven
and a contempt for life, elevated them above all perils, and enabled
them to brave death on every occasion. Here is the whole truth; but
this truth is too simple for such as disdain common routes, and cannot
form a judgment upon human affairs without displaying all the parade of
a proud and austere philosophy. For ourselves, who are persuaded that
true philosophy consists in studying the human heart and the spirit
of societies, not in vain theories, but in the faithful history of
past ages; we will not refute brilliant sophisms by long arguments;
but to show in all its splendour the valour of _Christian soldiers_,
we will content ourselves with pursuing our recital, and making known
with impartiality the labours, the reverses, and the victories of the
soldiers of the cross.[34]
The departure of the German Crusaders plunged the eastern Christians
into grief and consternation; the colonies, when left to their own
resources, were only protected by the truce concluded between the count
de Montfort and Malek-Adel. The infidels had too great a superiority
over their enemies to respect, for any length of time, a treaty which
they considered as an obstacle to the progress of their power. The
Christians, threatened by new perils, again turned their eyes to the
West. The bishop of Ptolemaïs, accompanied by several knights, embarked
for Europe, in order to solicit the aid of the faithful. The vessel in
which he embarked had scarcely quitted the port, when it was swallowed
up by the waves, and the bishop and every person of his suite perished.
Other ships, that set sail a short time afterwards, were surprised by
the tempest, and forced to return to the port of Tripoli; so that the
prayers and complaints of the Christians of Palestine could not reach
the ears of their brethren of the West. Nevertheless, the afflicting
news of the situation of the feeble kingdom of Jerusalem soon became
generally known; some pilgrims, escaping from the perils of the sea,
described, on their return, the triumphs and threats of the Saracens;
but in the state of Europe at that moment, nothing could be more
difficult than to induce nations to undertake a new crusade. The death
of the Emperor Henry VI. divided the princes and prelates of Germany,
and Philip Augustus was still at war with Richard of England. One of
the sons of Bela, king of Hungary, who pretended to take the cross,
only assembled an army to agitate the kingdom, and get possession of
the crown. Amidst the fierce contentions that disturbed Europe, the
Christian people seemed to have forgotten the tomb of Christ: a single
man was touched with the misfortunes of the faithful of the East, and
was not without hope of alleviating them.
Innocent III., at the age of thirty-three, had recently gained the
suffrages of the conclave.[35] At a period of life in which the
passions are generally masters, devoted to the most austere retirement,
constantly occupied with the study of holy books, and ready at all
times to confound new heresies by the force of reason, the successor
of St. Peter shed tears on being informed of his elevation; but when
seated on the pontifical throne, Innocent all at once exhibited a new
character: the same man, who had appeared to dread the splendour of a
lofty position, became most eager, by any means, to increase his power,
and displayed all the ambition and inflexible obstinacy of Gregory VII.
His youth, which promised him a long reign; his ardour in the defence
of justice and truth; his eloquence, his knowledge, his virtues, which
drew upon him the respect of the faithful, all united to give birth
to the hope that he would assure the triumph of religion; and that he
would one day accomplish the projects of his predecessors.
As the power of the pope was founded upon the progress of the faith
and the holy enthusiasm of the Christians, Innocent gave his first
attention to the suppression of the dangerous innovations and imprudent
doctrines that began to corrupt his age and menace the sanctuary; he
particularly endeavoured to reanimate the ardour for the crusades: and,
to master the minds of kings and nations, to rally all Christians, and
make them concur in the triumph of the Church, he spoke to them of the
captivity of Jerusalem; he pointed to the tomb of Christ, and the holy
places profaned by the presence and the domination of infidels.
In a letter[36] addressed to the bishops, the clergy, the nobles, and
people of France, England, Hungary, and Sicily, the sovereign pontiff
made known the will, the menaces, and the promises of God. “Since
the lamentable loss of Jerusalem,” said he, “the Holy See has never
ceased to cry towards Heaven, and to exhort the faithful to avenge
the injury done to Christ, thus banished from his heritage. Formerly
Uriah would not enter into his house, or see his wife, whilst the
ark of the Lord was in the camp; but now our princes, in this public
calamity, abandon themselves to illegitimate amours; immerse themselves
in voluptuousness; abuse the blessings that God has given them; and
pursue each other with implacable hatred; only thinking of revenging
their own personal injuries, they never consider that our enemies
insult us, saying: ‘_Where is your God, who cannot deliver himself out
of our hands? We have profaned your sanctuary, and the places in which
you pretend your superstition had its birth; we have crushed the arms
of the French, the English, the Germans, and subdued a second time the
proud Spaniards: what remains then for us to do? to drive out those
you have left in Syria, and to penetrate into the West to efface for
ever both your name and your memory._’” Assuming then a more paternal
tone: “Prove,” cried Innocent, “that you have not lost your courage;
be prodigal, in the cause of God, of all you have received from him;
if, on an occasion so pressing, you refuse to serve Christ, what excuse
will you be able to offer at his terrible tribunal? If God died for
man, shall man fear to die for his God? Will he refuse to give up his
transitory life and the perishable goods of this world for him who lays
before us the treasures of eternity?”
Prelates were at the same time sent through all the countries of
Europe, to preach peace among princes, and exhort them to unite
against the common enemies of God. These prelates, clothed in the full
confidence of the Holy See, were to engage cities and nobles to equip,
at their own expense, for the Holy Land, a certain number of warriors,
to serve there during two years at least. They promised remission of
sins,[37] and the special protection of the Church[38] to all that
would take up the cross and arms, or would contribute to the equipment
and support of the soldiers of Christ. To receive the pious tribute of
the faithful, boxes were placed in all the churches. At the tribunal of
penitence, the priests were ordered to command all sinners to concur in
the holy enterprise; no error could find grace before God, without the
sincere will of participating in the crusade; zeal for the deliverance
of the holy places appeared to be at that time the only virtue the pope
required of Christians, and even charity itself lost some of its value,
if not exercised in promoting the crusades. As the Church of Rome was
reproached with imposing upon the people _burdens to which she only
applied the tip of her own finger_, the pope exhorted the heads of the
clergy, and the clergy themselves, to set an example of devotedness and
sacrifices. Innocent ordered his gold and silver plate to be melted to
defray the expenses of the holy war, and would allow none but vessels
of wood and clay to be seen on his table whilst the crusade lasted.
The sovereign pontiff was so satisfied of the zeal and piety of the
Christians, that he wrote to the patriarch and king of Jerusalem,
to announce to them the coming succours from the West. He neglected
nothing that could augment the numbers of the soldiers of Christ; he
addressed himself to the emperor of Constantinople, and reproached
him with indifference for the deliverance of the holy places. The
emperor Alexius endeavoured, in his answer, to show his zeal for the
cause of religion; but he added that the time of deliverance was not
yet arrived, and that he feared to oppose himself to the will of God,
irritated by the sins of the Christians. The Greek prince adroitly
reminded him of the ravages committed in the territories of the
empire by the soldiers of Frederick, and conjured the pope to direct
his reproofs against those who, feigning to labour for Jesus Christ,
acted against the will of Heaven. In his correspondence with Alexius,
Innocent III. did not at all conceal his pretensions to universal
empire, and spoke in the character of sovereign arbiter of the kings
of the East and West. He applied to himself these words addressed to
Jeremiah: “I have placed thee over the nations and over the kingdoms,
to pull up and scatter, to edify and to plant.” When speaking of the
power of the popes and that of princes, he compared the one to the sun,
which lights the universe during the day, and the other to the moon,
which lights the earth during the night.
The pretensions that Innocent put forth, and the haughtiness with
which he sought to establish them, were, no doubt, injurious to the
effect of his exhortations, and must have weakened the zeal of the
Christian princes whom he wished to persuade to undertake the crusade.
The princes and bishops of Germany were divided between Otho of Saxony
and Philip of Swabia; the sovereign pontiff pronounced strongly for
Otho, and threatened with the thunders of the Church all who assisted
the opposite party. In the dissensions occasioned by this momentous
affair, some availed themselves of the opportunity to gain the favour
of the pope, and others to secure themselves from the effects of his
anger; but all Germany being engaged in the quarrel, nobody took the
cross.
One of the pope’s legates, Peter of Capua, succeeded in re-establishing
peace between Richard Cœur de Lion and Philip Augustus. Richard, who
was desirous of conciliating the good-will of the Holy See, constantly
promised to equip a fleet and collect an army to go and make war
against the infidels. He proclaimed a tournament in his capital, in the
midst of which he called upon the barons and knights to follow him into
the East; but all these demonstrations, the sincerity of which was very
suspicious, remained unproductive. It was not long before war again
broke out between France and England; and Richard, who on all occasions
repeated his vow of combating the infidels, was killed in a petty
quarrel with Christians.
Philip Augustus repudiated Ingeburge, daughter of the king of Denmark,
to marry Agnes de Meranie. The sovereign pontiff, in a letter addressed
to the faithful, strongly censured princes who gave themselves up to
illegitimate amours; he ordered Philip Augustus to take back Ingeburge,
and as Philip refused to obey, the kingdom of France was placed under
an interdict. During several months all religious ceremonies were
suspended; the pulpits of the Gospel ceased to give forth the holy
word; church bells and the voice of prayer were silenced; Christian
burial was refused to the dead; the sanctuary was closed against the
faithful; a long mourning veil seemed to hang over cities and plains,
from which the Christian religion was banished, and which might almost
be fancied to be invaded by the Saracens. Although such as took the
cross were exempt from the interdict, the spectacle which France
presented discouraged and saddened its inhabitants. Philip Augustus,
irritated against the pope, showed very little disposition to revive
their zeal; and the clergy, whose influence might have had a powerful
effect, had less reason to deplore the captivity of Jerusalem than the
unhappy state of the kingdom.
At length a curé of Neuilly-sur-Maine began to fill France with the
fame of his eloquence and his miracles. Foulques had at first led a
very dissipated life, but, touched with sincere repentance, he was not
satisfied with expiating his irregularities by penitence, but became
desirous of bringing back all sinners to the paths of salvation, and
travelled through the provinces endeavouring to awaken in the people
a contempt for the things of this life. God, to try him, permitted
that, in his early sermons, Foulques should be exposed to the ridicule
of his auditors; but the truths he uttered soon obtained a marvellous
ascendancy over all that came to hear him. Bishops invited him to
preach in their dioceses; he received everywhere extraordinary
honours, and both people and clergy flocked out to meet him, as if
he had been an envoy of God. Foulques, says the chronicle of St.
Victor, had nothing remarkable in his vestments or manner of living;
_he travelled on horseback, and ate that which was given to him_. He
preached sometimes in churches, at others in public places, and not
unfrequently amidst the excitement of tournaments. His eloquence was
simple and natural; safe, by his ignorance, from the bad taste of his
age, he neither astonished his auditors by the vain subtleties of the
schools, nor by an absurd mixture of passages from the Scriptures and
profane quotations from antiquity. His words, from being unadorned by
the erudition then so much admired, were the more persuasive, and found
their way more directly to the heart.[39] The most learned preachers
ranked themselves among his disciples, and declared that the Holy Ghost
spoke by his mouth. Animated by that faith which performs prodigies, he
enchained at his pleasure the passions of the multitude, and caused to
resound, even in the palaces of princes, the _thunders of evangelical
denunciations_.[40] At his voice, all that had enriched themselves
by fraud, brigandage, or usury, hastened to restore that which they
had unjustly acquired; libertines confessed their sins, and devoted
themselves to the austerities of penitence;[41] prostitutes, following
the example of Madeline, deplored the scandal of their lives, cut
off their hair, exchanged their gaudy apparel for haircloth and mean
garments, and made vows to sleep upon ashes and die in retirement. In
short, the eloquence of Foulques of Neuilly effected such miracles,
that contemporaries speak of him as of another St. Paul, sent for the
conversion of his age. One of them even goes so far as to say that
he dares not relate all he knows of him, fearing the incredulity of
men.[42]
Innocent III. cast his eyes upon Foulques of Neuilly, and confided
to him the mission that, fifty years before, had been given to St.
Bernard. The new preacher of the crusade himself assumed the cross at
a general chapter of the order of Citeaux. At the sound of his voice,
the zeal for the holy war, which had appeared extinct, blazed out again
in all parts. In every city he passed through, the people crowded to
listen to him; and all who were in a condition to bear arms, took the
oath to combat the infidels.
Several holy orators were associated with Foulques of Neuilly; Martin
Litz, of the order of Citeaux, in the diocese of Bâle, and on the banks
of the Rhine; Herloin, a monk of St. Denis, took his cause through the
still wild countries of Bretagne and the lower Poitou; and Eustace,
abbot of Flay, crossed the sea twice, to awaken the enthusiasm and holy
ardour of the provinces of England.
These pious orators were not all endowed with the same eloquence; but
all were animated by the most ardent zeal. The profanation of the
holy places, the evils suffered by the Eastern Christians, and the
remembrance of Jerusalem, imparted the most lively interest to their
discourses, and touched all hearts.[43] Such was the spirit spread
through Europe, that simply to mention the name of Christ, or to speak
of the city of God, held in captivity by the infidels, melted auditors
to tears, and gave birth to transports of enthusiasm. The people
everywhere evinced the same piety and the same feelings; but the cause
of Christ still wanted the example and courage of princes and nobles.
As a celebrated tournament had been proclaimed in Champagne, at which
the boldest warriors of France, Germany, and Flanders were expected
to be present, Foulques repaired to the castle of Ecry-sur-Aisne,[44]
which was the rendezvous of the knights. His eloquence procured
attention to the complaints of Sion, even amidst the profane and
violent amusements of chivalry; when Foulques spoke of Jerusalem,
knights and barons neglected their jousts, the shivering of lances, or
high feats of arms; they became insensible of the presence of _dames_
and _demoiselles_, who accorded the prizes to valour; and turned a
deaf ear to the gay minstrels who celebrated _la prouesse achetée et
vendue au fer et à l’acier_. All took the oath to fight against the
infidels; and it must have been surprising to see numerous defenders of
the cross come forth from these warlike festivals that were so severely
reprehended by the Church.
Among the princes and lords who enrolled themselves in the crusade,
the most conspicuous were Thibault IV., count of Champagne, and Louis,
count of Chartres and Blois, both relations of the kings of France
and England. The father of Thibault had followed Louis VII. to the
second crusade, and his elder brother had been king of Jerusalem. Two
thousand five hundred knights owed him homage and military service,
and the nobility of Champagne excelled in all the noble exercises
of arms.[45] The marriage of Thibault with the heiress of Navarre
brought to his standard a great number of warriors from the countries
bordering on the Pyrenees. Louis, count of Chartres and Blois, reckoned
among his ancestors one of the most illustrious chiefs of the first
crusade, and was master of a province abounding in warriors of name.
After the example of these two princes, the following distinguished
leaders took the cross:—The count of St. Paul, the counts Gauthier and
Jean de Brienne, Manassès de l’Isle, Renard de Dampièrre, Mathieu de
Montmorency, Hugh and Robert de Boves, d’Amiens, Renaud de Boulogne,
Geoffrey de Perche, Renaud de Montmirail, Simon de Montfort, who had
just signed a treaty with the Saracens, but was no less ready on
that account to take an oath to fight against them; and Geoffrey de
Villehardouin,[46] marshal of Champagne, who has left us an account of
this crusade in the unadorned language of his time.
Among the ecclesiastics, history names Nivelon de Chérisi, bishop of
Soissons; Garnier, bishop of Langres; the abbot of Looz, and the abbot
of Veaux-de-Cernai. The bishop of Langres, who had been the object of
the censures of the pope, expected to find in the pilgrimage to the
Holy Land, an opportunity of reconciling himself with the Holy See. The
abbot of Looz and the abbot of Veaux-de-Cernai were both remarkable for
their piety and learning; the former full of wisdom and moderation,
the latter animated by a holy enthusiasm and an ardent zeal, which
afterwards he but too strongly displayed against the Albigeois and the
partisans of the count of Thoulouse.
When the knights and barons returned to their homes, bearing a red
cross upon their baldrics and their coats of mail,[47] they aroused by
their presence the enthusiasm of their vassals and brothers in arms.
The nobility of Flanders, after the example of those of Champagne,
were anxious to prove their zeal for the recovery of the holy places.
Baldwin, who had taken the part of Richard against Philip Augustus,
sought beneath the standard of the cross an asylum against the anger of
the king of France, and swore, in the church of St. Donatien of Bruges,
to go into Asia to combat the Saracens. Mary, countess of Flanders,
sister of Thibault, count of Champagne, would not live separated from
her husband; and although she was still in the flower of her youth,
and was several months advanced in her pregnancy, took an oath to
follow the Crusaders beyond the seas, and to quit a home she was doomed
never to see again. The example of Baldwin was followed by his two
brothers,[48] Eustace and Henry, count of Sarbuck; by Canon de Bethune,
whose piety and eloquence were held in high estimation, and by Jacques
d’Avesnes, son of him who, under the same name, had made himself so
famous in the third crusade. Most of the knights and barons of Flanders
and Hainault also took the oath to share the labours and perils of the
holy war.
The principal leaders first met at Soissons, and afterwards at
Compiègne. In their assembly, they gave the command of the expedition
to Thibault, count of Champagne. It was decided also that the Crusaders
should repair to the East by sea; and, in consequence of this
determination, six deputies were sent to Venice,[49] in order to obtain
from the republic the vessels required to transport the men and horses.
The Venetians were at that period in the highest state of their
greatness and prosperity. Amidst the convulsions that had preceded
and followed the fall of the Roman power, these industrious people had
taken refuge in the islands that border the extremity of the Adriatic
Gulf; and, placed upon the waves, had directed all their views to the
empire of the sea,[50] of which the barbarians took no heed. Venice
was at first under the dominion of the emperors of Constantinople;
but, in proportion with the decline of the Greek empire, the republic
acquired territory, strength, and splendour, which necessarily produced
independence. From the tenth century, palaces of marble had replaced
the humble huts of fishermen, scattered over the island of the Rialto.
The cities of Istria and Dalmatia obeyed the sovereigns of the Adriatic
Sea. The republic, become formidable to the most powerful monarch, was
able, at the least signal, to arm a fleet of a hundred galleys, which
it employed successively against the Greeks, the Saracens, and the
Normans. The power of Venice was respected by all the nations of the
West; and the republics of Genoa and Pisa in vain contended with her
for the domination of the seas. The Venetians remembered with pride
these words of Pope Alexander III., when the republic had protested
against the emperor of Germany, who presented a ring to the doge,
saying, “_Espouse the sea with this ring, that posterity may know that
the Venetians have acquired the empire of the waves, and that the sea
has been subjected to them as a woman is to her husband_.”
The fleets of the Venetians constantly visited the ports of Greece
and Asia; they transported pilgrims to Palestine, and returned laden
with the rich merchandise of the East. The Venetians entered into
the crusades with less eagerness and enthusiasm than other Christian
nations, but knew well how to profit by them for their own interests;
whilst the warriors of Christendom were fighting for glory, for
kingdoms, or for the tomb of Christ, the merchants of Venice fought for
counting-houses, stores, and commercial privileges; and avarice often
made them undertake that which other nations could not have been able
to effect but by an excess of religious zeal. The republic, which owed
all its prosperity to its commercial relations, sought without scruple
the friendship and protection of the Mussulman powers of Syria and
Egypt; and often, even when all Europe was arming against the infidels,
the Venetians were accused of supplying the enemies of the Christian
nations with both arms and provisions.
When the deputies of the Crusaders arrived at Venice, the republic had
for doge Dandolo, so celebrated in its annals. Dandolo had for a length
of time served his country in important missions, and in the command of
its fleets and armies; now, placed at the head of its government, he
watched over its liberties and the operations of its laws. His labours
in war and peace, his useful regulations of the money currency, with
his administration of justice and public security, deservedly procured
him the esteem and gratitude of his fellow-citizens. He had acquired
the power of mastering, by words, the passions of the multitude, even
in the stormy disputes of a republic.
Nobody was more skilful in seizing a favourable opportunity, or in
taking advantage of the least circumstance for the furtherance of his
designs. At the age of ninety, the doge of Venice exhibited no symptoms
of senility but virtue and experience.[51] Everything that could save
his country aroused his activity and inflamed his courage; with the
spirit of calculation and economy which distinguished his compatriots,
Dandolo mingled passions the most generous, and threw an air of
grandeur over all the enterprises of a trading people. His patriotism,
always sustained by the love of glory, appeared to possess something of
that sentiment of honour, and that chivalric greatness of soul which
formed the predominant characteristic of his age.
Dandolo[52] praised with warmth an enterprise that appeared glorious
to him, and in which the interests of his country were not opposed to
those of religion. The deputies required vessels to transport four
thousand five hundred knights and twenty thousand foot, with provisions
for the Christian army for nine months. Dandolo promised, in the name
of the republic, to furnish the necessary provisions and vessels, on
condition that the Crusaders should engage to pay the Venetians the
sum of eighty-five thousand silver marks.[53] As he was not willing
that the people of Venice should be unconnected with the expedition of
the French Crusaders, Dandolo proposed to the deputies to arm, at the
expense of the republic, fifty galleys, and demanded for his country
half of the conquests that might be made in the East.
The deputies accepted without hesitation the more interested than
generous proposals of the doge. The conditions of the treaty were first
examined in the doge’s council,[54] composed of six patricians; it was
afterwards ratified in two other councils,[55] and at last presented
for the sanction of the people, who then exercised supreme power.[56]
A general assembly was convoked in the church of St. Mark, and when the
mass of the Holy Ghost had been celebrated, the marshal of Champagne,
accompanied by the other deputies, arose, and addressing the people of
Venice, pronounced a discourse, the simple and unaffected expressions
of which paint, better than we possibly can, the spirit and feelings
of the heroic periods of our history.[57] “The lords and barons of
France, the most high and the most powerful, have sent us to you to
pray you, in the name of God, to take pity on Jerusalem, which the
Turks hold in bondage; they cry to you for mercy, and supplicate you to
accompany them to avenge the disgrace of Jesus Christ. They have made
choice of you, because they know that no people that be upon the sea
have so great power as your nation. They have commanded us to throw
ourselves at your feet, and not to rise until you shall have granted
our request, until you shall have had pity on the Holy Land beyond the
seas.” At these words the deputies were moved to tears,[58] and feeling
it no degradation to humble themselves in the cause of Christ,[59] they
fell upon their knees and held up their hands in a supplicating manner
towards the assembly of the people. The strong emotion of the barons
and knights communicated itself to the Venetians, and ten thousand
voices replied as one, “_We grant your request_.” The doge, ascending
the tribunal, praised highly the earnestness and loyalty of the French
barons, and spoke with enthusiasm of the honour God conferred upon the
people of Venice in choosing them from amongst all other nations,[60]
to partake in the glory of the most noble of enterprises, and associate
them with the most valiant of warriors. He then read the treaty entered
into with the Crusaders, and conjured his assembled fellow-citizens
to give their consent to it in the forms ordained by the laws of the
republic. Then the people arose, and cried with an unanimous shout,
“_We consent to it_.” All the inhabitants of Venice were present at
this meeting; an immense multitude covered the place of St. Mark and
filled the neighbouring streets. Religious enthusiasm, love of country,
surprise and joy were manifested by acclamations so loud and general,
that it might be said, according to the expression of the marshal
of Champagne, “_that the world was about to engage in one common
conflict_.”
On the morrow of this memorable day, the deputies of the barons
repaired to the palace of St. Mark, and swore on their swords and the
Gospel, to fulfil all the engagements they had made. The preamble of
the treaty recalled the faults and the misfortunes of the princes
who had to that time undertaken the deliverance of the Holy Land,
and praised the wisdom and prudence of the French lords and knights,
who neglected nothing to assure the success of an enterprise full of
difficulties and perils. The deputies were charged to endeavour to
cause the conditions they had sworn to to be adopted by their brothers
in arms the barons and knights, by _the whole of their nation_, and
_if possible, by their sovereign lord the king of France_. The treaty
was written on parchment and sent immediately to Rome, to receive the
approbation of the pope; and, full of confidence in the future, as
well as in the alliance they had contracted, the French knights and
the patricians of Venice exchanged the most touching protestations
of friendship.[61] The doge lent the barons the sum of ten thousand
silver marks, and the latter swore never to forget the services the
republic had rendered to Jesus Christ. “There were then shed,” says
Villehardouin, “many tears of tenderness and joy.”
The government of Venice was a new spectacle for the French nobles;
deliberations of the people were perfectly unknown to them, and must
have struck them with astonishment. On the other side, the embassy
of the knights and barons could not fail to flatter the pride of
the Venetians; the latter felicitated themselves upon being thus
acknowledged as the greatest maritime nation, and, never separating
their glory from their commercial interests, rejoiced at having made so
advantageous a bargain. The knights, on the contrary, only thought of
honour and the cause of Christ; and although the treaty was ruinous to
the Crusaders, they bore back the news to their companions in arms with
the greatest joy and satisfaction.[62]
The preference given to the Venetians by the Crusaders naturally
excited the jealousy of the other maritime powers of Italy; thus the
French deputies, upon going to Pisa and Genoa to solicit the aid of the
two republics in the name of Jesus Christ, met with a cold reception
and a perfect indifference for the deliverance of the holy places.
The account of what had taken place at Venice, and the presence of
the barons, did not fail, however, to arouse the enthusiasm of the
inhabitants of Lombardy and Piedmont; a great number of them took the
cross and arms, and promised to follow Boniface, marquis of Montferrat,
to the Holy Land.
The marshal of Champagne, whilst crossing Mount Cenis, met Gauthier de
Brienne, who had taken the cross at the castle of Ecry, and was on his
way to Apulia. He had married one of the daughters of Tancred, last
king of Sicily. Followed by sixty knights of Champagne, he was going to
endeavour to make good the claims of his wife, and conquer the kingdom
founded by the Norman knights. The marshal Villehardouin and Gauthier
de Brienne congratulated each other upon the brilliant prospects of
their expeditions, and promised to meet again in the plains of Egypt
and Syria. Thus the future presented nothing to the knights of the
cross but victories and trophies; and the hope of conquering distant
kingdoms redoubled their ardour.
When the deputies arrived in Champagne, they found Thibault dangerously
ill. The prince was so delighted at learning the success of their
embassy, that, heedless of the disease that had confined him to his
bed, he insisted upon putting on his armour and mounting on horseback;
but “this was great pity and misfortune,” says Villehardouin; “for
the malady increased, and gathered such strength, that he declared
his will, took leave of his friends, and got no more on horseback.”
Thibault, the model and hope of the Christian knights, died in the
flower of his age, deeply regretted by his vassals and companions in
arms. He deplored before the barons the rigorous destiny that condemned
him thus to die without glory, at the moment that he was about to
gather the palms of victory or of martyrdom in the plains of the East;
he exhorted them to perform the vow he had made to God to deliver
Jerusalem, and left them all his treasures to be employed in this holy
enterprise. An epitaph in Latin verse, which still exists, celebrates
the virtues and pious zeal of Count Thibault, recalls the preparations
for his pilgrimage,[63] and terminates by saying, that this young
prince _found the heavenly Jerusalem, when about to seek the earthly
Jerusalem_.
After the death of the count of Champagne, the barons and knights who
had taken the cross, assembled to choose another leader, and their
election fell upon the count de Bar and the duke of Burgundy. The count
de Bar refused to take the command of the Christian army. Eudes III.,
duke of Burgundy, still mourned the death of his father, who had died
in Palestine after the third crusade, and could not be induced to quit
his duchy to undertake the pilgrimage to the East. The refusal of these
two princes was a subject of scandal for the soldiers of the cross; and
contemporary history informs us that they afterwards repented of the
indifference they had evinced for the cause of Christ.[64] The duke of
Burgundy, who died within a few years, was desirous of taking the cross
on his bed of death, and, to expiate his fault, sent several of his
warriors into Palestine.
The knights and barons then offered the command to Boniface, marquis
of Montferrat.[65] Boniface belonged to a family of Christian heroes;
his brother Conrad had rendered himself famous by the defence of Tyre,
and he himself had already fought many times against the infidels: he
did not hesitate in complying with the wishes of the Crusaders. He came
to Soissons, where he received the cross from the hands of the curé
of Neuilly, and was proclaimed leader of the crusade in the church of
Notre Dame, in the presence of the clergy and the people.
Two years had passed away since the sovereign pontiff had ordered the
bishops to preach the crusade in their dioceses. The situation of the
Christians of the East became every day more deplorable; the kings of
Jerusalem and Armenia, the patriarchs of Antioch and the holy city, and
the grand masters of the military orders, addressed day after day their
complaints and lamentations to the Holy See. Touched by their prayers,
Innocent again exhorted the faithful, and conjured the Crusaders to
hasten their departure; warmly censuring the indifference of those who,
after having taken the cross, appeared to be forgetful of their vow.
The Christian father, above all, reproached the ecclesiastics with
their tardiness in paying the fortieth part of their revenues, destined
to the expenses of the holy war: “and you and we,” said he, “and all
persons supported by the goods of the Church, ought we not all to fear
that the inhabitants of Nineveh should appear against us at the day of
judgment, and pronounce our condemnation? for they were made penitent
by the preaching of Jonas; and you, not only you have not rent your
hearts, you have not even opened your hands to succour Christ in his
poverty, and repulse the opprobrium with which the infidels load him.”
The epoch of a holy war being for Christians a season of penitence,
the sovereign pontiff proscribed, in his letters, sumptuousness in
living, splendour in dress, and public amusements; and although the new
crusade had been first preached at the tournament of Ecry, tournaments
were in the number of diversions and spectacles forbidden to all
Christians by the holy father during the space of five years.
To reanimate the courage and confidence of those who had taken the
cross, Innocent told them of the new divisions that had sprung up
among the Mussulman princes, and of the scourges with which God had
recently afflicted Egypt. “God,” cried the pontiff, “has struck the
country of Babylon with the rod of his power; the Nile,[66] that river
of Paradise, which fertilizes the land of the Egyptians, has not had
its accustomed course. This chastisement has given them up to death,
and prepared the triumph of their enemies.” The letters of the pope
had the desired effect. The marquis of Montferrat went into France,
towards the autumn of the year 1201, and the whole winter was devoted
to preparations for the holy war. These preparations were unaccompanied
by disorder, and the princes and barons refused to receive under their
banners any but disciplined soldiers and men accustomed to the use of
the lance and the sword. Some voices were raised against the Jews,
whom they desired to force to contribute to the expenses of the holy
war;[67] but the pope took them under his protection, and threatened
all who made attempts upon their lives or liberty with excommunication.
Before they left their homes, the Crusaders had to deplore the loss
of the holy orator who had awakened their zeal and animated their
courage. Foulques fell sick, and died in his parish of Neuilly. Some
time before, loud murmurs had been heard respecting his conduct, and
his words had ceased to exercise their accustomed power over the minds
of his auditors. Foulques had received considerable sums of money
destined for the expenses of the holy war, and as he was accused
of appropriating these to his own use, the more money he amassed,
says James of Vitri,[68] the more consideration and credit he lost.
The suspicions attached to his conduct were not, however, generally
credited. The marshal of Champagne informs us, in his history, that
the knights and barons were deeply affected by the death of the curé
of Neuilly. Foulques was buried in the church of his parish with
great pomp; his tomb, a monument of the piety of his contemporaries,
attracted, even in the last century the respect and veneration of the
faithful.[69]
With the earliest days of spring the Crusaders prepared to quit
their homes, “and knew,” says Villehardouin, “that many tears were
shed at their parting, and at taking leave of their relations and
friends.” The count of Flanders, the counts of Blois and St. Paul,
followed by a great number of Flemish warriors and their vassals;
the marshal of Champagne, accompanied by several Champenois knights,
advanced across Burgundy, and passed the Alps to repair to Venice. The
Marquis Boniface soon joined them, bringing with him the Crusaders
of Lombardy, Piedmont, Savoy, and the countries situated between the
Alps and the Rhone. Venice also received within its walls the warriors
from the banks of the Rhine, some under the command of the bishop of
Halberstadt, and others under that of Martin-Litz, who had persuaded
them to take arms, and still continued to animate them by the example
of his virtues and piety.
When the Crusaders reached Venice,[70] the fleet that was to transport
them into Asia, was ready to set sail: they were at first received with
every demonstration of joy; but amidst the festivities that followed
their arrival,[71] the Venetians called upon the barons to redeem their
word, and pay the sum agreed upon for transporting the Christian army;
and then it was that, with deep grief, the barons became aware of the
absence of a great number of their companions in arms. Jean de Nesle,
châtelain of Bruges, and Thierri, son of Philip, count of Flanders, had
promised Baldwin to bring to him, at Venice, Marguerite, his wife, and
a chosen band of Flemish warriors: they did not keep their appointment,
for having embarked upon the ocean, they had directed their course to
Palestine. Renaud de Dampierre, to whom Thibault, count of Champagne,
had left all his treasures to be employed in the voyage to the Holy
Land, had embarked with a great number of Champenois knights at the
port of Bari. The bishop of Autun, Gilles, count of Ferez, and several
other leaders, after having sworn upon the Gospel to join the other
Crusaders, had set out from Marseilles, and others from Genoa. Thus
half the Crusaders did not come to Venice, which had been agreed upon
as the general rendezvous of the Christian army: “by which,” says
Villehardouin, “they received great shame, and many misadventures
afterwards befell them in consequence of it.”
This breach of faith might prove very injurious to the enterprise; but
what most grieved the princes and barons assembled at Venice, was the
impossibility of fulfilling their engagements with the republic without
the concurrence of their unfaithful companions. They sent messengers
into all parts to warn the Crusaders that had set out, and to implore
them to join the main army; but whether most of the pilgrims were
dissatisfied with the agreement entered into with the Venetians, or
whether it appeared to them more convenient and safe to embark at ports
in their own vicinity, a very small number of them could be prevailed
upon to repair to Venice. Those who were already in that city, were
neither sufficiently numerous nor sufficiently rich to pay the promised
amount, or fulfil the engagements made in their names. Although the
Venetians were more interested in the crusade than the French knights,
as they possessed a part of the cities of Tyre and Ptolemaïs, which
they were going to defend, they were unwilling to make any sacrifice,
and the barons, on their side, were too proud to ask any favour, or
to solicit the Venetians to change or moderate the conditions of the
treaty. Each of the Crusaders was required to pay the price of his
passage. The rich paid for the poor; soldiers as well as knights being
eager to give all the money they possessed, persuaded, they said,
that God was powerful enough to return it to them a hundred-fold,
when it should please him. The count of Flanders, the counts of Blois
and St. Paul, the marquis of Montferrat, and several other leaders
despoiled themselves of their plate, their jewels, and everything they
had that was most valuable,[72] and only retained their horses and
arms. Notwithstanding this noble sacrifice, the Crusaders still were
indebted to the republic a sum of fifty thousand silver marks. The doge
then assembled the people, and represented to them that it was not
honourable to employ too much rigour, and proposed to demand of the
Crusaders the assistance of their army for the republic, until they
could discharge their debt.
The city of Zara had been for a length of time under the dominion of
the Venetians; but thinking the government of a king less insupportable
than that of a republic, it had given itself up to the king of Hungary,
and, under the protection of a new master, braved the authority and
menaces of Venice. After having obtained the approbation of the people,
Dandolo proposed to the Crusaders to assist the republic in subduing
a revolted city, and promised to put off the entire execution of the
treaty until God, by their common conquests, should have given them the
means of fulfilling their promises. This proposition was received with
much joy by the greater part of the Crusaders, who could not support
the idea of being unable to keep their word; the barons and knights
deemed it prudent to conciliate the Venetians, who were so serviceable
to them in carrying out their enterprise, and thought they did but
little to pay their debts by an affair in which they should expend
nothing but their blood.
Some murmurs, however, arose in the Christian army; many of the
Crusaders recollected the oath they had taken to fight the infidels,
and could not make up their minds to turn their arms against a
Christian people. The pope had sent the Cardinal Peter of Capua to
Venice, to deter the pilgrims from an enterprise which he termed
sacrilegious. “The king of Hungary had taken the cross, and by doing
so had placed himself under the especial protection of the Church; and
to attack a city belonging to him was to declare themselves enemies
of the Church itself.” Henry Dandolo braved menaces and reproaches
that he deemed to be unjust. “The privileges of the Crusaders,” said
he, “could not screen the guilty from the severity of laws divine and
human. Crusades were not undertaken to promote the ambition of kings
or protect rebellious nations.[73] The pope had not the power to
enchain the authority of sovereigns, or turn the Crusaders aside from
a legitimate enterprise; from a war made against revolted subjects,
against pirates whose brigandage perilled the freedom of the seas, and
jeopardized the safety of pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land.”
To complete his conquest over all scruples, and dissipate all fears,
the doge resolved to associate himself with the perils and labours of
the crusade, and to engage his fellow-citizens to declare themselves
the companions in arms of the Crusaders. The people being solemnly
convoked, Dandolo ascended the pulpit of St. Mark, and demanded of the
assembled Venetians permission to take the cross. “Seigneurs,” said he
to them, “you have made an engagement to concur in the most glorious
of enterprises; the warriors with whom you have contracted a holy
alliance, surpass all other men in piety and valour. For myself, you
see that I am laden with years, and have need of repose; but the glory
that is promised to us restores me courage and strength to brave all
the perils, to support all the labours of war. I feel by the ardour
that leads me on, by the zeal which animates me, that nobody will merit
your confidence, nobody will conduct you so well as the man you have
chosen as head of your republic. If you will permit me to fight for
Jesus Christ, and allow my son to perform the duties you have confided
to me, I will go and live or die with you and the pilgrims.”
At this discourse, his whole auditory was much affected, and the people
loudly applauded the resolution of the doge. Dandolo descended from
the tribunal, and was led in triumph to the foot of the altar, where
the cross was attached to his ducal cap. A great number of Venetians
followed his example, and swore to die for the deliverance of the holy
places. By this skilful policy, the doge completely won the Crusaders,
and placed himself, in a manner, at the head of the crusade. He soon
found himself sufficiently powerful to deny the authority of the
cardinal of Capua, who spoke in the name of the pope, and pretended
to have a right to direct the holy war, in his character of legate of
the Holy See. Dandolo told the envoy of Innocent, that the Christian
army stood in no need of leaders to conduct it, and that the legates
of the sovereign pontiff ought to content themselves with edifying the
Crusaders by their examples and discourses.
This bold, free language very much astonished the French barons,
accustomed to respect the will of the Holy See; but the doge, by
taking the cross, had inspired them with a confidence nothing could
shake. The cross of the pilgrims was, for the Venetians and French, a
pledge of alliance, a sacred tie, which united all their interests,
and made of them, in a manner, but one same nation. From that time no
one listened to those who spoke in the name of the Holy See,[74] or
persisted in raising scruples in the minds of the Crusaders. The barons
and knights showed the same zeal and ardour for the expedition against
Zara as the Venetians themselves. The army of the Crusaders was ready
to embark, when there happened, says Villehardouin, “a great wonder, an
unhoped-for circumstance, the strangest that ever was heard of.”[75]
Isaac, emperor of Constantinople, had been dethroned by his brother
Alexius. Abandoned by all his friends, deprived of sight, and loaded
with irons, this unhappy prince languished in a dungeon. The son of
Isaac, named also Alexius, who shared the captivity of his father,
having deceived the vigilance of his guards and broken his chains, had
fled into the West, in the hope that the princes and kings would one
day undertake his defence, and declare war against the usurper of the
imperial throne. Philip of Swabia, who had married Irene, the daughter
of Isaac,[76] received the young prince kindly; but he was not then in
a position to undertake anything in his favour, being fully engaged
in defending himself against the arms of Otho and the menaces of the
Holy See. Young Alexius next in vain threw himself at the feet of the
pope, to implore his assistance. Whether the pontiff saw in the son of
Isaac only the brother-in-law of Philip of Swabia, then considered an
enemy to the court of Rome, or whether all his attention was directed
towards the East, he gave no ear to the complaints of Alexius, and
seemed to dread countenancing a war against Greece. The fugitive prince
had in vain solicited most of the Christian monarchs, when he was
advised to address himself to the Crusaders, the noblest warriors of
the West. The arrival of his ambassadors created a lively sensation at
Venice; the knights and barons were impressed with generous pity by the
account of his misfortunes; they had never defended a more glorious
cause. To avenge injured innocence, to remedy a great calamity, stirred
the spirit of Dandolo; and the proud republicans, whose head he was,
feelingly deplored the fate of a fugitive emperor. They had not
forgotten that the usurper preferred to an alliance with them one with
the Genoese and Pisans; it appeared to them that the cause of Alexius
was their own, and that their vessels ought to bear him back to the
ports of Greece and Byzantium.
Nevertheless, as everything was prepared for the conquest of Zara,
the decision of this business was deferred to a more favourable
opportunity; and the fleet, with the Crusaders on board, set sail
amidst the sounds of martial music and the acclamation of the whole
population of Venice. Never had a fleet so numerous or so magnificently
equipped been seen in the Adriatic Gulf. The sea was covered with four
hundred and eighty ships; the number of the combatants, horse and
foot, amounted to forty thousand men. After having subdued Trieste and
some other maritime cities of Istria that had shaken off the yoke of
Venice, the Crusaders arrived before Zara on the 10th day of November,
1202, the eve of St. Martin. Zara,[77] situated on the eastern side of
the Adriatic Gulf, sixty leagues from Venice, and five leagues north
of Jadera, an ancient Roman colony, was a rich and populous city,
fortified by high walls, and surrounded by a sea studded with rocks.
The king of Hungary had sent troops to defend it, and the inhabitants
had sworn to bury themselves beneath the ruins of the place rather
than surrender to the Venetians. At the sight of the ramparts of the
city, the Crusaders perceived all the difficulty of the enterprise, and
the party opposed to this war again ventured to murmur. The leaders,
however, gave the signal for the assault. As soon as the chains of
the port were broken, and the machines began to make the walls shake,
the inhabitants forgot the resolution they had formed of dying in
defence of their ramparts, and, filled with dread, sent deputies to
the doge, who promised to pardon them on account of their repentance.
But the deputies charged with the petition for peace, met with
several Crusaders among the besiegers, who said to them, “Why did you
surrender? you have nothing to fear from the French?” These imprudent
words rekindled the war; the deputies, on their return, announced to
the inhabitants that all the Crusaders were not their enemies, and that
Zara would preserve its liberty if the people and soldiers were willing
to defend it. The party of the malcontents, whose object was to divide
the army, seized this opportunity for reviving their complaints; the
most ardent amongst them, insinuating themselves into the tents of the
soldiers, and endeavouring to disgust them with a war which they termed
impious.
Guy, abbot of Vaux de Cernai, of the order of Citeaux, made himself
conspicuous by his endeavours to secure the failure of the enterprise
against Zara; everything that could divert the march of the Crusaders
from the route to the holy places,[78] was, in his eyes, an attack upon
religion. The most brilliant exploits, if not performed in the cause of
Christ, could command neither his esteem nor his approbation. The abbot
of Cernai was deficient in neither subtlety nor eloquence, and knew how
to employ both prayers and menaces effectively; he had that influence
over the pilgrims that an inflexible mind and an ardent, obstinate
character always obtains over the multitude. In a council, he arose,
and forbade the Crusaders to draw their swords against Christians, and
was about to read a letter from the pope, when he was interrupted by
threats and cries.
Amidst the tumult which followed in the council and the army, the
abbot of Cernai would have been in danger of his life, if the count de
Montfort, who partook his sentiments, had not drawn his sword in his
defence. The barons and knights could not, however, forget the promise
they had made to fight for the republic of Venice; nor could they think
of laying down their arms in presence of an enemy that had promised to
surrender, and who now defied their attacks. The greater the efforts of
the count de Montfort and the abbot of Cernai to interrupt the war, the
more they conceived their honour and glory to be engaged to continue
the siege they had begun. Whilst the malcontents were giving vent to
their scruples and complaints, the bravest of the army proceeded to
the assault. The besieged, whose hopes were built upon the divisions
among their enemies, placed crosses upon the walls, persuaded that this
revered sign would protect them more effectually than their machines
of war; but they were not long in finding that there was no safety for
them except in submission. On the 5th day of the siege, without having
offered their enemies any serious resistance, they opened their gates,
and only obtained from the conqueror liberty and life. The city was
given up to pillage, and the booty divided between the Venetians and
the French.
One of the results of this conquest was a fresh quarrel in the
victorious army, in which more blood flowed than had been shed during
the siege. The season being too far advanced to allow the fleet to put
to sea, the doge proposed to the Crusaders to winter at Zara. The two
nations occupied different quarters of the city; but as the Venetians
had chosen the handsomest and most commodious houses, the French
loudly proclaimed their dissatisfaction. After a few complaints and
many threats, they had recourse to arms, and every street became the
theatre of a conflict; the inhabitants of Zara beheld with delight the
sanguinary disputes of their conquerors. The partisans of the abbot of
Cernai applauded in secret the deplorable consequences of a war they
had condemned; whilst the doge of Venice and the barons employed every
effort to separate the combatants. Their prayers and threats at first
had no effect in appeasing this horrible tumult, which was prolonged to
the middle of the night. On the morrow, all the passions that divided
the army were near breaking out with increased fury. Whilst interring
their dead, the French and Venetians renewed their disputes and
menaces. The leaders were, for more than a week, in despair of being
able to calm the irritated spirits of their followers, and reunite the
soldiers of the two nations. Scarcely was order re-established when a
letter was received from the pope, who disapproved of the capture of
Zara, ordered the Crusaders to renounce the booty they had made in a
Christian city, and to engage themselves, by a solemn vow, to repair
the injuries they had inflicted. Innocent reproached the Venetians
bitterly with having seduced the soldiers of Christ into this impious
and sacrilegious war. This letter from the pope was received with
respect by the French, with disdain by the Crusaders of Venice. The
latter openly refused to bow to the decisions of the Holy See; and to
secure the fruits of their victory, began to demolish the ramparts of
Zara. The French barons could not endure the idea of having incurred
the anger of the pope, and sent deputies to Rome to endeavour to
mitigate the displeasure of his holiness, and solicit their pardon,
alleging that they had only obeyed the law of necessity. The greater
part of them, though fully determined to retain all they had obtained,
promised the pope to restore their spoils: they undertook, by a solemn
act, addressed to all Christians, to repair the wrongs they had done,
and to merit by their conduct pardon for past errors.[79] Their
submission, far more than their promises, disarmed the anger of the
pope, who replied to them with mildness, and commanded the leaders
to salute the knights and pilgrims, giving them absolution and his
benediction, as to his children. He exhorted them, in his letter, to
set out for Syria, _without turning to the right or the left_; and
permitting them to cross the sea with the Venetians, whom he had just
excommunicated,[80] _but only from necessity, and with bitterness
of heart_. If the Venetians persisted in their disobedience, the
sovereign pontiff advised the barons, when they arrived in Palestine,
to separate themselves from a people reproved of God, for fear of
bringing a malediction upon the Christian army, as formerly Achan had
brought down the divine wrath upon the Israelites. Innocent promised
the Crusaders to protect them in their expedition, and to watch over
their wants during the perils of the holy war. “In order that you may
not want provisions,” said he to them, “we will write to the emperor of
Constantinople to furnish you with them, as he has promised; if that
be refused to you which is refused to none, it will not be unjust, if,
after the example of many holy persons, you take provisions wherever
you may find them; for it will be known that you are devoted to the
cause of Christ, to whom all the world belongs.”[81] These counsels
and these promises, which so completely reveal to us the spirit of
the thirteenth century and the policy of the Holy See, were received
by the knights and barons as evidence of the paternal goodness of the
sovereign pontiff: but the face of things was about again to change;
and fortune, which sported with the decisions of the pope as well
as those of the pilgrims, was not long in giving an entirely new
direction to the events of the crusade.