Such were the scenes of magnificence which were presented to the view of Godfrey and his companions as they entered the Greek Capitol. The emperor received the great leader of the Crusade with the highest distinction, clothed him with imperial robes, and called him his son.[1] The character of Godfrey is shown to us in so high and noble an aspect, that it is not probable he was much affected by these flatteries; but whatever may have been his motives, he consented to do homage to the emperor, according to the feudal laws of France.
Alexius now made costly presents to the Crusaders, and gave them honourable conduct from the city. After having refreshed themselves for. several days, the array passed the Hellespont and encamped at Chalcedon, there to await the other divisions of the Crusade.
Circus and Hippodrome of Ancient Constantinople.
—From an Engraving in the Imperium Orienatale.
Soon after the departure of Godfrey from Lorraine, Bohemond, Prince of Tareutum, and his relation Tancred, had quitted Italy with an immense body of troops, including 10,000 horse. While the character of Bohemond was ambitious, grasping, and unprincipled, the virtues of Tancred have been unanimously extolled by the historians of the day, and have been celebrated in undying verse from the pen of Tasso.
The army under those leaders landed at Durazzo, and passed through Epirus to Adrianople. Although Alexius had communicated with Bohemond, promising him assistance, the Greek troops harassed the advancing forces, and various engagements took place, with considerable loss on both sides. Bohemond then, at the invitation of the emperor, visited Constantinople, leaving his army behind under the command of Tancred. Influenced by large gifts of money and lands, Bohemond did homage to the emperor, and became one of his firmest allies.
Impressed with a sense of the humiliation of a concession which had been bought with gold, Tancred determined not to submit to similar demands. On receiving the news, the young knight immediately marched his army towards Constantinople, and crossing the Hellespont, without giving any notice of his intention, joined the forces of Godfrey at Chalcedon. Alexius made many efforts to bring back Tancred to Constantinople, and to induce him to do homage, but without success; and the attention of the emperor was presently drawn in another direction, by the arrival of Raimond of St. Gilles, Count of Toulouse, with an army of Crusaders from Languedoc.
Raimond, who is represented as being revengeful and avaricious, but possessing considerable moral firmness, in conjunction with pride, refused to pay his allegiance to the emperor. The troops of the Count of Toulouse were at a considerable distance from the army of his friends, and Alexius did not hesitate to order a night attack to be made from the city upon the French camp. The Languedocians, however, repulsed their assailants with great loss, and further negotiations, which afterwards took place, only resulted in a second refusal on the part of Raimond to pay the required homage. He, however, consented to take a vow that he would make no attempt against the life or honour of the emperor.
Alexius then changed his conduct, and invited the count to the palace, where the luxury and magnificence which surrounded him produced its effect, and Raimond remained for some time amidst the pleasures of the court. Bohemond and Godfrey, however, had already marched from Chalcedon towards Nicæa, the capital of the Turkish kingdom of Rhoum. On receiving the news of their departure, the Count of Toulouse quitted Constantinople and hastened to follow the main body of the army.
Another army, forming the last division of the first
- ↑ The ceremony of the "adoption of honour," as it was called, was a curious custom of the time.
