The Story of the Emperor Alexios
and the First Crusade
_Nought is more honourable to a knight
Nor battle doth become brave chivalry
Than to defend the feeble in their right
And wrong redress in such as wend awry
While those great Heroes glory got thereby._
SPENSER: _Faery Queene._
In the August of 1096, the first great army of the Crusaders began to
move towards the East, under the command of Godfrey of Boulogne,
together with his brothers Eustace and Baldwin.
This Godfrey, leader of the Teuton host, is thus described by one of
his own day: "He was of a beautiful countenance, tall of stature,
agreeable in his discourse, of excellent morals, and at the same time
so gentle that he seemed better fitted for the monk than for the
knight. But when his enemies appeared before him, and the combat was
at hand, his soul became filled with a mighty daring; like a lion, he
feared not for his own person; and what shield, what buckler, could
withstand the fall of his sword?"
Four other armies set out after him in due course, travelling by land
to Constantinople; for, in those days, not even the stoutest general
could face the {69} horrors of a sea-voyage in the untrustworthy
vessels of the Mediterranean shore.
Marching through Europe in perfect order, Godfrey's troops met their
first check on the borders of Hungary. Here they not only found the
track marked out by the bodies of those who had perished in the
previous year, but a distinct air of hostility was seen in the attitude
of the people. Knowing nothing of the actual facts, Godfrey cautiously
arranged for a meeting with King Carloman. Matters were explained on
both sides and a mutual arrangement was made by which Godfrey's troops
were allowed to pass through Hungary buying food as they went, while
Baldwin, the brother of Godfrey, with his wife and children remained
behind as hostages until the Crusaders should arrive at the further
boundary--the River Save.
"So, day by day, in silence and peace, with equal measure and just
sale, did the duke and his people pass through the realms of Hungary."
Once within the Emperor's domains, one would have thought the Crusaders
on safe ground. But this was by no means the case. The second army of
the Crusaders, which started almost at the same time as the first, was
led by the brother of the French King, Hugh of Vermandois, a headstrong
and self-willed prince. He chose, together with Robert of Normandy,
son of the Conqueror, and some less important leaders, to make his own
way through Italy in disorderly fashion; and after leaving in that
pleasant land many of his followers with Duke Robert, he embarked at
Bari for the East. A tempest cast him on the Austrian coast, which was
under the Emperor's rule. Hugh at once despatched four and twenty
knights dressed {70} in golden armour to demand a fitting reception for
himself and his followers; and was answered by the arrival of an armed
escort, which led him as a prisoner before the Governor. There was
some excuse for the conduct of Alexios, extraordinary as it seems; for,
so far, the hordes of so-called Crusaders had brought such desolation
and destruction upon his land that he had come to the conclusion that
the Turks, at this time apparently inactive, were safer neighbours than
the troops of Christendom. But Alexios was as wily as he was timid.
After a short imprisonment, Hugh was brought to Constantinople and
treated as the honoured guest of the Emperor--treated indeed so well
that he fell a victim to his host's perfidious charm, did homage to
him, and promised to persuade the other chieftains to follow his
example.
This was the state of affairs when Godfrey of Boulogne appeared on the
plains of Thrace, and hearing of the imprisonment of Count Hugh, he
sent at once a peremptory message to demand his release. This demand
met with absolute refusal, upon which Godfrey promptly gave orders to
ravage the surrounding country.
Immediately alarmed, as usual, by the prospect of armed conflict,
Alexios implored Godfrey to desist and to meet him in friendly
conference at Constantinople. To this Godfrey agreed, and was met by
Hugh himself outside the city walls. The latter sang the praises of
the Emperor with enthusiasm, but Godfrey was still on his guard. A
warning had reached him from some French merchants living in the city
that treachery was meditated; and he therefore refused either to enter
within the walls or to partake of the rich food which the Emperor sent
to the camp.
[Illustration: _Duke Godfrey marching through Hungary_]
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Then Alexios vainly tried to persuade the Crusader to settle his army
for the winter in the luxurious quarters of the Greek nobles across the
Bosphorus, where they would act as a buffer between Constantinople and
hostile forces from the East, at the same time removing themselves to a
safe distance from the city.
This also Godfrey refused; and the alarm of the Emperor grew into panic
when he realised that the army of another Crusader, Bohemond, his
ancient enemy, who had already established a claim upon a large part of
his Empire, was fast nearing his boundaries. It was absolutely
necessary to make friends with Godfrey before the arrival of the
dreaded Bohemond. As there seemed a possibility of the Crusaders, in
their wrath at the refusal of supplies, attacking the city itself, a
compact was made. Godfrey had no desire to use up his strength in
fighting fellow-Christians, and readily accepted the Emperor's terms.
The son of Alexios was sent as hostage to his camp, and the leaders, on
their side, swore fealty to the Emperor for the time they were obliged
to remain on his borders, and forthwith entered the city in peace and
security.
But Alexios was still consumed with secret terror of the vast host
which had swarmed into his land; and, on the pretext of an insufficient
food supply, he managed to persuade Godfrey, after a brief sojourn, to
transport his troops across the Bosphorus. With his usual craft, he
then arranged that the vessels which had taken them over should
immediately return.
Meantime the dreaded arrival of Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum, had
actually taken place. A weak attempt was made to drive him back by
force; but this was quickly overcome, and when Bohemond {74} sent the
prisoners taken in the conflict back to the Emperor with an indignant
and reproachful message, the wily Alexios promptly disowned all
knowledge of the affair, professed the most affectionate regard for his
ancient enemy, and sent him a pressing invitation to visit the capital
city.
Now Bohemond was of a very different nature from the simple and upright
Godfrey of Boulogne. He was an excellent leader, bold and skilful in
warfare, but his character was warped by a mean, designing, and crafty
spirit which entirely incapacitated him from playing a heroic part.
When met by Godfrey in Constantinople and informed by him of the terms
made with Alexios, he declared at first that nothing in heaven or on
earth should induce him to swear fealty to his former foe. The Emperor
ceased to press the matter, and merely treated him with more than
ordinary magnificence of hospitality. Then, as though by chance, the
Count was one day taken by an officer to a great room in the palace,
crammed with costly jewels, ornaments of gold and silver, rich silks
and brocades. The man's weak point had been observed too well. "What
conquests might not be made if I possessed such a treasure!" cried
Bohemond.
"It is your own!" replied the officer. The promise of an independent
lordship near Antioch completed the bribe, and Count Bohemond was no
longer to be feared.
[Illustration: Map of the Crusades]
Of very different stuff was Raymond, Count of Toulouse, the first to
volunteer but the last of the Crusading chiefs actually to set out for
the East. He was now over fifty years of age, and, declaring that that
was the last journey he should ever make, he {77} determined to be well
prepared. With the idea of choosing a route as yet untried by his
predecessors, Raymond took his way through Lombardy into the desolate
country of Dalmatia and Slavonia.
"It was already winter," says a writer of the time, "when Raymond's men
were toiling over the barren mountains of Dalmatia, where for three
weeks we saw neither beast nor bird. For almost forty days did we
struggle on through mists so thick that we could actually feel them,
and brush them aside with a motion of the hand." The weak, the sick,
and the old suffered terribly from the attacks of the wild natives upon
their rear; the bareness of the country gave no chance of even
purchasing food, much less of foraging. It was with intense relief
that they entered the Emperor's domains, "for here," writes one of the
travellers, "we believed that we were in our own country; for we
thought that Alexios and his followers were our brothers-in-arms."
In this belief the troops of Raymond found themselves mistaken, for
they were harassed on all sides by the Emperor's soldiers. Alexios, as
usual, disclaimed all responsibility, and begged the Count to hasten to
Constantinople. There, to his disgust, the old warrior found that
Godfrey, Bohemond, and the other leaders had all taken the oath of
fealty, and were very anxious that he should follow their example.
This Raymond emphatically refused to do. "Be it far from me," said he
to Alexios, "that I should take any lord for this way save Christ only,
for whose sake I have come hither. If thou art willing to take the
cross also, and accompany us to Jerusalem, I and my men and all that I
have will be at thy disposal."
Meantime came news to the Count that the army {78} he had left when he
accepted the call to Constantinople, had been attacked by the troops of
the perfidious Emperor, whose aim, possibly, was to frighten Raymond
into submission; but he had quite mistaken his man. Furious at this
treachery, Raymond called upon his colleagues to join him in an attack
upon the capital. But here he met with unexpected opposition.
Bohemond, indeed, went so far as to threaten that if an open conflict
took place, he would be found on the side of the Emperor, and even
Godfrey urged most strongly that he should overlook everything rather
than weaken their cause by fighting against fellow-Christians.
Strangely enough, though Raymond accepted unwillingly the advice of
Godfrey, his upright character and vigorous simplicity seem to have won
the respect and affection of the Emperor more than all the rest. It is
true that Raymond refused steadfastly to pay him homage, "and for that
reason," says the chronicler, "the Emperor gave him few gifts"; but we
read in the record of the daughter of Alexios, who gives us a vivid
account of this period, "One of the Crusaders, Count Raymond, Alexios
loved in a special way, because of his wisdom, sincerity, and purity of
life; and also because he knew that he preferred honour and truth above
all things."
By this time such remnants of the army as had lingered in Italy under
Robert of Normandy, together with all that was left of the rabble led
by Peter the Hermit, had joined the main body of the Crusaders and were
ready to advance upon the Turkish stronghold of Nicæa.
The full array of the armies of the First Crusade, before they were
decimated by war and famine, must {79} have constituted a truly
overwhelming force. Their number must have been about six hundred
thousand; in the words of the daughter of Alexios, "all Europe was
loosened from its foundation and had hurled itself against Asia." The
horsemen wore coats of mail, with pear-shaped shields, each with its
own device, and carried a long spear and short sword or battle-axe.
The foot-soldiers bore the cross-bow or long-bow, with sword, lance,
and buckler. "They were covered," says a Saracen historian, "with
thick strong pieces of cloth fastened together with rings, so as to
resemble dense coats of mail."
Such was the appearance of the host which now marched upon the
stronghold of Nicæa to begin a siege which is memorable for the light
it throws upon the despicable character of the Emperor Alexios.
When the Crusaders first drew near to the city, says one of them, "the
Turks rushed to war, exultingly dragging with them the ropes wherewith
to bind us captive. But as many as descended from the hills remained
in our hands; and our men, cutting off their heads, flung them into the
city, a thing that wrought great terror among the Turks inside."
After this defeat the Sultan David deserted the city and hastened away
to rouse his countrymen to give active help at this crisis; and the
Crusaders, much encouraged, renewed the siege. The great obstacle to
success was the fact that the city was protected on the west by a lake,
which made it impossible to surround the walls. Aid was sought of
Alexios, who sent boats from which skilful archers poured their arrows
against the ramparts. It was evident that these must very shortly fall.
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Knowing this to be the case, the Emperor sent a secret envoy to offer
the Turks better terms than could be expected from the Crusaders, if
they would give up the city to him.
Hence, just as the latter were preparing to make their last assault,
they saw, with a disappointed fury that can be imagined, the Imperial
flag floating from the citadel. The glory and the spoils of victory
were both with Alexios, and though he tried to smooth the matter over
by lavishing gifts upon the Crusaders, the feelings of the latter were
truly expressed by Count Raymond when he said, "Alexios has paid the
army in such wise, that, so long as ever he lives; the people will
curse him and declare him a traitor."
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