Now let us leave speaking of Henry, the Regent of the empire, and speak
of Johannizza, the King of Wallachia and Bulgaria, who had taken Seres,
as you have already heard, and killed by treachery those who had
surrendered to him. Afterwards he had ridden towards Salonika, and
sojourned thereby a long while, and wasted a great part of the land.
The Marquis Boniface of Montferrat was at Salonika, very wroth, and
sorrowing greatly for the loss of his lord the Emperor Baldwin, and for
the other barons, and for his castle of Seres that he had lost, and for
his men.
And when Johannizza saw that he could do nothing more, he retired
towards his own land, with all his force. And the people in
Philippopolis—which belonged to Renier of Trit, for the Emperor Baldwin
had bestowed it upon him-heard tell how the Emperor Baldwin was lost,
and many of his barons, and that the marquis had lost Seres; and they
saw that the relatives of Renier of Trit, and his own son and his
nephew, had abandoned him, and that he had with him but very few
people; and they deemed that the Franks would never be in power again.
So a great part of the people, who were Paulicians,* betook themselves
to Johannizza, and surrendered themselves to him, and said: “Sire, ride
to Philippopolis, or send thither thy host, and we will deliver the
whole city into thy hands.”
[Note: An Eastern sect. They believed, among other things, that all
matter is evil, and that Christ suffered in appearance only.]
When Renier of Trit, who was in the city, knew of this, he doubted not
that they would yield up the city to Johannizza. So he issued forth
with as many people as he could collect, and left at the point of day,
and came to one of the outlying quarters of the city where dwelt the
Paulicians who had repaired to Johannizza, and he set fire to that
quarter of the city, and burned a great part of it. Then he went to the
castle of Stanimac, which was at three leagues’ distance, and
garrisoned by his people, and entered therein. And in this castle he
lay besieged for a long while, some thirteen months, in great distress
and great poverty, so that for famine they ate their horses. He was
distant a nine days’ journey from Constantinople, and could neither
obtain tidings therefrom, nor send tidings thither.
Then did Johannizza send his host before Philippopolis; nor had he been
there long before those who were in the city surrendered it to him, and
he promised to spare their lives. And after he had promised to spare
their lives, he first caused the archbishop of the city to be slain,
and the men of rank to be flayed alive, and certain others to be
burned, and certain others to have their heads cut off, and the rest he
caused to be driven away in chains. And the city he caused to be pulled
down, with its towers and walls; and the high palaces and rich houses
to be burned and utterly destroyed. Thus was destroyed the noble city
of Philippopolis, one of the three finest cities in the empire of
Constantinople.