dreamed of--no less than the sacking of Constantinople, and the placing of
a French dynasty upon the imperial throne of the eastern Cæsars. Each
succeeding pope, however much he may have differed from his predecessors
on other points, zealously agreed in one, that of maintaining by every
possible means the papal ascendency. No scheme was so likely to aid in
this endeavour as the Crusades. As long as they could persuade the kings
and nobles of Europe to fight and die in Syria, their own sway was secured
over the minds of men at home. Such being their object, they never
inquired whether a Crusade was or was not likely to be successful, whether
the time were well or ill chosen, or whether men and money could be
procured in sufficient abundance. Pope Innocent III. would have been proud
if he could have bent the refractory monarchs of England and France into
so much submission. But John and Philip Augustus were both engaged. Both
had deeply offended the Church, and had been laid under her ban, and both
were occupied in important reforms at home; Philip in bestowing immunities
upon his subjects, and John in having them forced from him. The emissaries
of the pope therefore plied them in vain; but as in the first and second
Crusades, the eloquence of a powerful preacher incited the nobility, and
through them a certain portion of the people; Foulque bishop of Neuilly,
an ambitious and enterprising prelate, entered fully into the views of the
court of Rome, and preached the Crusade wherever he could find an
audience. Chance favoured him to a degree he did not himself expect, for
he had in general found but few proselytes, and those few but cold in the
cause. Theobald count of Champagne had instituted a grand tournament, to
which he had invited all the nobles from far and near. Upwards of two
thousand knights were present with their retainers, besides a vast
concourse of people to witness the sports. In the midst of the festivities
Foulque arrived upon the spot, and conceiving the opportunity to be a
favourable one, he addressed the multitude in eloquent language, and
passionately called upon them to enrol themselves for the new Crusade. The
Count de Champagne, young, ardent, and easily excited, received the cross
at his hands. The enthusiasm spread rapidly. Charles count of Blois
followed the example, and of the two thousand knights present, scarcely
one hundred and fifty refused. The popular phrensy seemed on the point of
breaking out as in the days of yore. The Count of Flanders, the Count of
Bar, the Duke of Burgundy, and the Marquis of Montferrat, brought all
their vassals to swell the train, and in a very short space of time an
effective army was on foot and ready to march to Palestine.
The dangers of an overland journey were too well understood, and the
Crusaders endeavoured to make a contract with some of the Italian states
to convey them over in their vessels. Dandolo, the aged doge of Venice,
offered them the galleys of the Republic; but the Crusaders, on their
arrival in that city, found themselves too poor to pay even half the sum
demanded. Every means was tried to raise money; the Crusaders melted down
their plate, and ladies gave up their trinkets. Contributions were
solicited from the faithful, but came in so slowly as to make it evident
to all concerned, that the faithful of Europe were outnumbered by the
prudent. As a last resource, Dandolo offered to convey them to Palestine
at the expense of the Republic, if they would previously aid in the
recapture of the city of Zara, which had been seized from the Venetians a
short time previously by the king of Hungary. The Crusaders consented,
much to the displeasure of the pope, who threatened excommunication upon
all who should be turned aside from the voyage to Jerusalem. But
notwithstanding the fulminations of the Church, the expedition never
reached Palestine. The siege of Zara was speedily undertaken. After a long
and brave defence, the city surrendered at discretion, and the Crusaders
were free, if they had so chosen it, to use their swords against the
Saracens. But the ambition of the chiefs had been directed, by unforeseen
circumstances, elsewhere.
After the death of Manuel Comnenus, the Greek empire had fallen a prey to
intestine divisions. His son Alexius II. had succeeded him, but was
murdered after a short reign by his uncle Andronicus, who seized upon the
throne. His reign also was but of short duration. Isaac Angelus, a member
of the same family, took up arms against the usurper, and having defeated
and captured him in a pitched battle, had him put to death. He also
mounted the throne only to be cast down from it. His brother Alexius
deposed him, and to incapacitate him from reigning, put out his eyes, and
shut him up in a dungeon. Neither was Alexius III. allowed to remain in
peaceable possession of the throne; the son of the unhappy Isaac, whose
name also was Alexius, fled from Constantinople, and hearing that the
Crusaders had undertaken the siege of Zara, made them the most magnificent
offers if they would afterwards aid him in deposing his uncle. His offers
were, that if by their means he was re-established in his father's
dominions, he would place the Greek Church under the authority of the Pope
of Rome, lend the whole force of the Greek empire to the conquest of
Palestine, and distribute two hundred thousand marks of silver among the
crusading army. The offer was accepted, with a proviso on the part of some
of the leaders, that they should be free to abandon the design, if it met
with the disapproval of the pope. But this was not to be feared. The
submission of the schismatic Greeks to the See of Rome was a greater bribe
to the Pontiff than the utter annihilation of the Saracen power in
Palestine would have been.
The Crusaders were soon in movement for the imperial city. Their
operations were skilfully and courageously directed, and spread such
dismay as to paralyse the efforts of the usurper to retain possession of
his throne. After a vain resistance, he abandoned the city to its fate,
and fled no one knew whither. The aged and blind Isaac was taken from his
dungeon by his subjects, and placed upon the throne ere the Crusaders were
apprised of the flight of his rival. His son Alexius IV. was afterwards
associated with him in the sovereignty.
But the conditions of the treaty gave offence to the Grecian people, whose
prelates refused to place themselves under the dominion of the See of
Rome. Alexius at first endeavoured to persuade his subjects to admission,
and prayed the Crusaders to remain in Constantinople until they had
fortified him in the possession of a throne which was yet far from secure.
He soon became unpopular with his subjects; and breaking faith with regard
to the subsidies, he offended the Crusaders. War was at length declared
upon him by both parties; by his people for his tyranny, and by his former
friends for his treachery. He was seized in his palace by his own guards
and thrown into prison, while the Crusaders were making ready to besiege
his capital. The Greeks immediately proceeded to the election of a new
monarch; and looking about for a man of courage, energy, and perseverance,
they fixed upon Alexius Ducas, who, with almost every bad quality, was
possessed of the virtues they needed. He ascended the throne under the
name of Murzuphlis. One of his first acts was to rid himself of his
youngest predecessor--a broken heart had already removed the blind old
Isaac, no longer a stumbling-block in his way--and the young Alexius was
soon after put to death in his prison.
[Illustration: CONSTANTINOPLE.]
War to the knife was now declared between the Greeks and the Franks; and
early in the spring of the year 1204, preparations were commenced for an
assault upon Constantinople. The French and Venetians entered into a
treaty for the division of the spoils among their soldiery; for so
confident were they of success, that failure never once entered into their
calculations. This confidence led them on to victory; while the Greeks,
cowardly as treacherous people always are, were paralysed by a foreboding
of evil. It has been a matter of astonishment to all historians, that
Murzuphlis, with the reputation for courage which he had acquired, and the
immense resources at his disposal, took no better measures to repel the
onset of the Crusaders. Their numbers were as a mere handful in comparison
with those which he could have brought against them; and if they had the
hopes of plunder to lead them on, the Greeks had their homes to fight for,
and their very existence as a nation to protect. After an impetuous
assault, repulsed for one day, but renewed with double impetuosity on
another, the Crusaders lashed their vessels against the walls, slew every
man who opposed them, and, with little loss to themselves, entered the
city. Murzuphlis fled, and Constantinople was given over to be pillaged by
the victors. The wealth they found was enormous. In money alone there was
sufficient to distribute twenty marks of silver to each knight, ten to
each squire or servant at arms, and five to each archer. Jewels, velvets,
silks, and every luxury of attire, with rare wines and fruits, and
valuable merchandise of every description, also fell into their hands, and
were bought by the trading Venetians, and the proceeds distributed among
the army. Two thousand persons were put to the sword; but had there been
less plunder to take up the attention of the victors, the slaughter would
in all probability have been much greater.
In many of the bloody wars which defile the page of history, we find that
soldiers, utterly reckless of the works of God, will destroy his
masterpiece, man, with unsparing brutality, but linger with respect round
the beautiful works of art. They will slaughter women and children, but
spare a picture; will hew down the sick, the helpless, and the
hoary-headed, but refrain from injuring a fine piece of sculpture. The
Latins, on their entrance into Constantinople, respected neither the works
of God nor man, but vented their brutal ferocity upon the one, and
satisfied their avarice upon the other. Many beautiful bronze statues,
above all price as works of art, were broken into pieces to be sold as old
metal. The finely-chiselled marble, which could be put to no such vile
uses, was also destroyed with a recklessness, if possible, still more
atrocious.[18]
[18] The following is a list of some of the works of art thus
destroyed, from Nicetas, a contemporary Greek author: 1st. A
colossal Juno, from the forum of Constantine, the head of
which was so large that four horses could scarcely draw it
from the place where it stood to the palace. 2d. The statue
of Paris, presenting the apple to Venus. 3d. An immense
bronze pyramid, crowned by a female figure, which turned with
the wind. 4th. The colossal statue of Bellerophon, in bronze,
which was broken down and cast into the furnace. Under the
inner nail of the horse's hind foot on the left side, was
found a seal wrapped in a woollen cloth. 5th. A figure of
Hercules, by Lysimachus, of such vast dimensions that the
thumb was equal in circumference to the waist of a man. 6th.
The Ass and his Driver, cast by order of Augustus after the
battle of Actium, in commemoration of his having discovered
the position of Anthony through the means of an ass-driver.
7th. The Wolf suckling the Twins of Rome. 8th. The gladiator
in combat with a lion. 9th. The Hippopotamus. 10th. The
Sphinxes. 11th. An Eagle fighting with a Serpent. 12th. A
beautiful statue of Helen. 13th. A group, with a monster
somewhat resembling a bull, engaged in deadly conflict with a
serpent; and many other works of art, too numerous to
mention.
The carnage being over, and the spoil distributed, six persons were chosen
from among the Franks and six from among the Venetians, who were to meet
and elect an emperor, previously binding themselves by oath to select the
individual best qualified among the candidates. The choice wavered between
Baldwin count of Flanders and Boniface marquis of Montferrat, but fell
eventually upon the former. He was straightway robed in the imperial
purple, and became the founder of a new dynasty. He did not live long to
enjoy his power, or to consolidate it for his successors, who, in their
turn, were soon swept away. In less than sixty years the rule of the
Franks at Constantinople was brought to as sudden and disastrous a
termination as the reign of Murzuphlis: and this was the grand result of
the fifth Crusade.
Pope Innocent III., although he had looked with no very unfavourable eye
upon these proceedings, regretted that nothing had been done for the
relief of the Holy Land; still, upon every convenient occasion, he
enforced the necessity of a new Crusade. Until the year 1213, his
exhortations had no other effect than to keep the subject in the mind of
Europe. Every spring and summer detachments of pilgrims continued to set
out for Palestine to the aid of their brethren, but not in sufficient
numbers to be of much service. These periodical passages were called the
_passagium Martii_, or the passage of March, and the _passagium Johannis_,
or the passage of the festival of St. John. These did not consist entirely
of soldiers, armed against the Saracen, but of pilgrims led by devotion,
and in performance of their vows, bearing nothing with them but their
staff and their wallet. Early in the spring of 1213 a more extraordinary
body of Crusaders was raised in France and Germany. An immense number of
boys and girls, amounting, according to some accounts, to thirty thousand,
were incited by the persuasion of two monks to undertake the journey to
Palestine. They were no doubt composed of the idle and deserted children
who generally swarm in great cities, nurtured in vice and daring, and
ready for any thing. The object of the monks seems to have been the
atrocious one of inveigling them into slave-ships, on pretence of sending
them to Syria, and selling them for slaves on the coast of Africa.[19]
Great numbers of these poor victims were shipped at Marseilles; but the
vessels, with the exception of two or three, were wrecked on the shores of
Italy, and every soul perished. The remainder arrived safely in Africa,
and were bought up as slaves, and sent off into the interior of the
country. Another detachment arrived at Genoa; but the accomplices in this
horrid plot having taken no measures at that port, expecting them all at
Marseilles, they were induced to return to their homes by the Genoese.
[19] See Jacob de Voragine and Albericus.
Fuller, in his quaint history of the _Holy Warre_, says that this Crusade
was done by the instinct of the devil; and he adds a reason, which may
provoke mirth now, but which was put forth by the worthy historian in all
soberness and sincerity. He says, "the devil, being cloyed with the
murdering of men, desired a cordial of children's blood to comfort his
weak stomach;" as epicures, when tired of mutton, resort to lamb for a
change.
It appears from other authors that the preaching of the vile monks had
such an effect upon these deluded children that they ran about the
country, exclaiming, "O Lord Jesus, restore thy cross to us!" and that
neither bolts nor bars, the fear of fathers, nor the love of mothers, was
sufficient to restrain them from journeying to Jerusalem.
The details of these strange proceedings are exceedingly meagre and
confused, and none of the contemporary writers who mention the subject
have thought it worth while to state the names of the monks who originated
the scheme, or the fate they met for their wickedness. Two merchants of
Marseilles, who were to have shared in the profits, were, it is said,
brought to justice for some other crime, and suffered death; but we are
not informed whether they divulged any circumstances relating to this
matter.
Pope Innocent III. does not seem to have been aware that the causes of
this juvenile Crusade were such as have been stated, for, upon being
informed that numbers of them had taken the cross, and were marching to
the Holy Land, he exclaimed, "These children are awake while we sleep!" He
imagined, apparently, that the mind of Europe was still bent on the
recovery of Palestine, and that the zeal of these children implied a sort
of reproach upon his own lukewarmness. Very soon afterwards, he bestirred
himself with more activity, and sent an encyclical letter to the clergy of
Christendom, urging them to preach a new Crusade. As usual, a number of
adventurous nobles, who had nothing else to do, enrolled themselves with
their retainers. At a Council of Lateran, which was held while these bands
were collecting, Innocent announced that he himself would take the Cross,
and lead the armies of Christ to the defence of his sepulchre. In all
probability he would have done so, for he was zealous enough; but death
stepped in, and destroyed his project ere it was ripe. His successor
encouraged the Crusade, though he refused to accompany it; and the
armament continued in France, England, and Germany. No leaders of any
importance joined it from the former countries. Andrew king of Hungary was
the only monarch who had leisure or inclination to leave his dominions.
The Dukes of Austria and Bavaria joined him with a considerable army of
Germans, and marching to Spalatro, took ship for Cyprus, and from thence
to Acre.
The whole conduct of the king of Hungary was marked by pusillanimity and
irresolution. He found himself in the Holy Land at the head of a very
efficient army; the Saracens were taken by surprise, and were for some
weeks unprepared to offer any resistance to his arms. He defeated the
first body sent to oppose him, and marched towards Mount Tabor with the
intention of seizing upon an important fortress which the Saracens had
recently constructed. He arrived without impediment at the mount, and
might have easily taken it; but a sudden fit of cowardice came over him,
and he returned to Acre without striking a blow. He very soon afterwards
abandoned the enterprise altogether, and returned to his own country.
Tardy reinforcements arrived at intervals from Europe; and the Duke of
Austria, now the chief leader of the expedition, had still sufficient
forces at his command to trouble the Saracens very seriously. It was
resolved by him, in council with the other chiefs, that the whole energy
of the Crusade should be directed upon Egypt, the seat of the Saracen
power in its relationship to Palestine, and from whence were drawn the
continual levies that were brought against them by the sultan. Damietta,
which commanded the river Nile, and was one of the most important cities
of Egypt, was chosen as the first point of attack. The siege was forthwith
commenced, and carried on with considerable energy, until the Crusaders
gained possession of a tower, which projected into the middle of the
stream, and was looked upon as the very key of the city.
While congratulating themselves upon this success, and wasting in revelry
the time which should have been employed in turning it to further
advantage, they received the news of the death of the wise Sultan
Saphaddin. His two sons, Camhel and Cohreddin, divided his empire between
them. Syria and Palestine fell to the share of Cohreddin, while Egypt was
consigned to the other brother, who had for some time exercised the
functions of lieutenant of that country. Being unpopular among the
Egyptians, they revolted against him, giving the Crusaders a finer
opportunity for making a conquest than they had ever enjoyed before. But,
quarrelsome and licentious as they had been from time immemorial, they did
not see that the favourable moment had come; or seeing, could not profit
by it. While they were revelling or fighting among themselves, under the
walls of Damietta, the revolt was suppressed, and Camhel firmly
established on the throne of Egypt. In conjunction with his brother
Cohreddin, his next care was to drive the Christians from Damietta, and
for upwards of three months they bent all their efforts to throw in
supplies to the besieged, or draw on the besiegers to a general
engagement. In neither were they successful; and the famine in Damietta
became so dreadful that vermin of every description were thought luxuries,
and sold for exorbitant prices. A dead dog became more valuable than a
live ox in time of prosperity. Unwholesome food brought on disease, and
the city could hold out no longer for absolute want of men to defend the
walls.
Cohreddin and Camhel were alike interested in the preservation of so
important a position, and, convinced of the certain fate of the city, they
opened a conference with the crusading chiefs, offering to yield the whole
of Palestine to the Christians upon the sole condition of the evacuation
of Egypt. With a blindness and wrong-headedness almost incredible, these
advantageous terms were refused, chiefly through the persuasion of
Cardinal Pelagius, an ignorant and obstinate fanatic, who urged upon the
Duke of Austria and the French and English leaders, that infidels never
kept their word; that their offers were deceptive, and merely intended to
betray. The conferences were brought to an abrupt termination by the
Crusaders, and a last attack made upon the walls of Damietta. The besieged
made but slight resistance, for they had no hope, and the Christians
entered the city, and found, out of seventy thousand people, but three
thousand remaining: so fearful had been the ravages of the twin fiends,
plague and famine.
Several months were spent in Damietta. The climate either weakened the
frames or obscured the understandings of the Christians; for, after their
conquest, they lost all energy, and abandoned themselves more
unscrupulously than ever to riot and debauchery. John of Brienne, who, by
right of his wife, was the nominal sovereign of Jerusalem, was so
disgusted with the pusillanimity, arrogance, and dissensions of the
chiefs, that he withdrew entirely from them and retired to Acre. Large
bodies also returned to Europe, and Cardinal Pelagius was left at liberty
to blast the whole enterprise whenever it pleased him. He managed to
conciliate John of Brienne, and marched forward with these combined forces
to attack Cairo. It was only when he had approached within a few hours'
march of that city that he discovered the inadequacy of his army. He
turned back immediately; but the Nile had risen since his departure; the
sluices were opened, and there was no means of reaching Damietta. In this
strait, he sued for the peace he had formerly spurned, and, happily for
himself, found the generous brothers Camhel and Cohreddin still willing to
grant it. Damietta was soon afterwards given up, and the cardinal returned
to Europe. John of Brienne retired to Acre, to mourn the loss of his
kingdom, embittered against the folly of his pretended friends, who had
ruined where they should have aided him. And thus ended the sixth Crusade.
The seventh was more successful. Frederic II., emperor of Germany, had
often vowed to lead his armies to the defence of Palestine, but was as
often deterred from the journey by matters of more pressing importance.
Cohreddin was a mild and enlightened monarch, and the Christians of Syria
enjoyed repose and toleration under his rule: but John of Brienne was not
willing to lose his kingdom without an effort; and the popes in Europe
were ever willing to embroil the nations for the sake of extending their
own power. No monarch of that age was capable of rendering more effective
assistance than Frederic of Germany. To inspire him with more zeal, it was
proposed that he should wed the young Princess Violante, daughter of John
of Brienne, and heiress of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Frederic consented
with joy and eagerness. The princess was brought from Acre to Rome without
delay, and her marriage celebrated on a scale of great magnificence. Her
father, John of Brienne, abdicated all his rights in favour of his
son-in-law, and Jerusalem had once more a king, who had not only the will,
but the power, to enforce his claims. Preparations for the new Crusade
were immediately commenced, and in the course of six months the emperor
was at the head of a well-disciplined army of sixty thousand men. Matthew
Paris informs us, that an army of the same amount was gathered in England;
and most of the writers upon the Crusades adopt his statement. When John
of Brienne was in England, before his daughter's marriage with the emperor
was thought of, praying for the aid of Henry III. and his nobles to
recover his lost kingdom, he did not meet with much encouragement.
Grafton, in his _Chronicle_, says, "he departed again without any great
comfort." But when a man of more influence in European politics appeared
upon the scene, the English nobles were as ready to sacrifice themselves
in the cause as they had been in the time of Coeur de Lion.