Before the assault the Emperor Mourzuphles had come to encamp, with all
his power, in an open space, and had there pitched his scarlet tents.
Thus matters remained till the Monday morning, when those on the ships,
transports, and galleys were all armed. And those of the city stood in
much less fear of them than they did at the beginning, and were in such
good spirits that on the walls and towers you could see nothing but
people. Then began an assault proud and marvellous, and every ship went
straight before it to the attack. The noise of the battle was so great
that it seemed to read the earth.
Thus did the assault last for a long while, till our Lord raised a wind
called Boreas which drove the ships and vessels further up on to the
shore. And two ships that were bound together, of which the one was
called the Pilgrim and the other the _Paradise_, approached so near to
a tower, the one on the one side and the other on the other—so as God
and the wind drove them—that the ladder of the Pilgrim joined on to the
tower. Immediately a Venetian, and a knight of France, whose name was
Andrew of Urboise, entered into the tower, and other people began to
enter after them, and those in the tower were discomfited and fled.*
[Note: [pp. 61–63]: I should like to quote here another feat of arms
related by Robert of Clari, one of those feats that serve to explain
how the Crusaders obtained mastery—the mastery of perfect
fearlessness—over the Greeks. Robert of Clari, then, relates how a
small body of the besiegers, ten knights and nine sergeants, had come
before a postem which had been newly bricked up. “Now there was there a
clerk, Aleaume of Clari by name, who had shown his courage whenever
there was need, and was always first in any assault at which he might
be present; and when the tower of Galata was taken, this same clerk had
performed more deeds of prowess with his body, man for man, than any
one in the host, save only the Lord Peter of Bracuel; for the Lord
Peter it was who surpassed all others, whether of high or low degree,
so that there was none other that performed such feats of arms, or acts
of prowess with his body, as the Lord Peter of Bracuel. So when they
came to the postern they began to hew and pick at it very hardily; but
the bolts flew at them so thick, and so many stones were hurled at them
from the wall, that it seemed as if they would be buried beneath the
stones—such was the mass of quarries and stones thrown from above. And
those who were below held up targes and shields to cover those who were
picking and hewing underneath; and those above threw down pots of
boiling pitch, and Greek fire, and large rocks, so that it was one of
God’s miracles that the assailants were not utterly confounded; for my
Lord Peter and his men suffered more than enough of blows and grievous
danger. However, so did they hack at the postern, both above and below,
with their axes and good swords, that they made a great bole therein;
and when the postern was broken through, they all swarmed to the
aperture, but saw so many people above and below, that it seemed as if
half the world were there, and they dared not be so bold as to enter.
“Now when Aleaume, the clerk, saw that no one dared to go in, be
sprang forward, and said that go in he would. And there was there
present a knight, a brother to the clerk (the knight’s name was
Robert of Clari), who forbade him, and said he should not go in.
And the clerk said he would, and scrambled in on his hands and
feet. And when the knight saw this, he took hold upon him, by the
foot, and began to drag him back. But in his brother’s despite, and
whether his brother would or not, the clerk went in. And when he
was within, many were the Greeks who ran upon him, and those on the
walls cast big stones upon him. And the clerk drew his knife, and
ran at them; and he drave them before him as if they had been
cattle, and cried to those who were without, to the Lord Peter of
Amiens and his folk, ‘Sire, come in boldly, I see that they are
falling back discomfited and flying.’ When my Lord Peter heard
this, he and his people who were without, they entered in; and
there were no more than ten knights with him, but there were some
sixty sergeants, and they were all on foot. And when those who were
on the wall at that place saw them, they had such fear that they
did not dare to remain there, but avoided a great space on the
wall, and fled helter-skelter.
“Now the Emperor Mourzuphles, the traitor, was near by, at less
than a stone’s throw of distance, and he caused the silver horns to
be sounded, and the cymbals, and a great noise to be made. And when
he saw my Lord Peter, and his people, who had entered in on foot,
he made a great show of falling upon them, and spurring forward,
came about half-way to where they stood. But my Lord Peter, when he
saw him coming, began to encourage his people, and to say: ‘Now,
Lord God, grant that we may do well, and the battle is ours. Here
comes the emperor! Let no one dare to think of retreat, but each
bethink himself to do well’ Then Mourzuphles, seeing that they
would in no wise give way, stayed where he was, and then turned
back to his tents.”
After this, according to Robert of Clari, Lord Peter’s men break
open a gate, and Crusaders enter into the city. See _Li
Estoires de chiaus qus conquisent Constantinoble, de Robert de
Clari en aminois, chevalier_, pp. 60–62. The volume in the British
Museum is undated, and there is this note in the catalogue, “No
more printed.” The volume itself is noteless, though there are
printed marks here and there which would suggest that notes were
intended. The Chronicle of Robert of Clari win also be found in
Hopf’s _Chroniques Gréco-romanes inédites ou peu connues_, etc.,
pp. 1–85, Berlin, 1873.]
When the knights see this, who are in the transports, they land, and
raise their ladders against the wall, and scale the top of the wall by
main force, and so take four of the towers. And all begin to leap out
of the ships and transports and galleys, helter-skelter, each as best
he can; and they break in some three of the gates and enter in; and
they draw the horses out of the transports; and the knights mount and
ride straight to the quarters of the Emperor Mourzuphles. He had his
battalions arrayed before his tents, and when his men see the mounted
knights coming, they lose heart and fly; and so goes the emperor flying
through the streets to the castle of Bucoleon.
Then might you have seen the Greeks beaten down; and horses and
palfreys captured, and mules, and other booty. Of killed and wounded
there was neither end nor measure. A great part of the Greek lords had
fled towards the gate of Blachernæ. And vesper-time was already past,
and those of the host were wear of the battle and of the slaying,. And
they began to assemble in a great open space that was in
Constantinople, and decided that they would take up their quarters near
the walls and towers they had captured. Never had they thought that in
a whole month they should be able to take the city, with its great
churches, and great palaces, and the people that were in it.