Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/622

 6 1 2 Reviews of Books of the material. It would be very unjust to underestimate Gerland's own work. The second volume appears first because the first book of the manu- script which Hopf had prepared on this subject has been lost. Gerland thinks that Streit must have destroyed it. Whether this is true or not, 216 pages of manuscript, including the previous history and the account of the Crusade, are no longer in existence. This lengthy introduction to a short review seems necessary for the sake of those who are not acquainted with Hopf's work and the vicissitudes of his literary legacy. It is more excusable because the portion of a volume which we have does not lend itself to review as a completed book would. This part begins with the election of the Emperor Baldwin in 1204 and extends to the death of his brother Henry in 1216. Its greatest service is that it clearly portrays the ability of the Emperor Henry and shows that he was the real founder of the Latin Empire. His task was extremely difficult. He was constantly harassed by attacks from the Bulgarians and from the Greek rulers in Asia Minor. The Venetians, to whom the conquest had been mainly due, exacted their full pound of flesh; their disregard of everything save their own selfish interests was an almost constant hindrance to the strengthening of the Empire. Only when their own policy or needs made it imperative did they render any effective aid, and then Henry was quick to profit by it. The contests with the partizans of Boniface of Montferrat were also injurious. The settlement of ecclesiastical matters offered many problems: the ques- tions arising between the Greek and Roman Christians; the division of the offices between the Venetians, Pisans, and other Franks; the secu- larization of church property; the relation of the Venetian Patriarch Morosini to the pope, the papal legates, the emperor, the Venetians, and others — to mention only a few of the problems which confronted the emperor. All these are ably treated by Gerland. The attitude of Innocent III., which it has been so difficult to under- stand in many cases, is explained by the author as the result of his preoccupation with the idea of a new crusade which should proceed by way of Constantinople and Nicaea. This would explain, Gerland thinks, his attitude as peacemaker between all the contending parties and interests, and his willingness to pardon or overlook many actions which he must otherwise have condemned. In this connection it is very interesting to compare Gerland's view with tlic work of Luchaire on Innocent III. In many cases Gerland makes shrewd conjectures concerning the underlying causes of events. As a whole these seem very plausible. Gerland is careful to throw in such phrases as " Leider sind wir iibcr den Gang dieser- Verhandlungen sehr schlecht unterrichtet " and " ich glaube es annehmen zu diirfen." Unless the qualifying phrases are carefully noted, others may be led into error and may accept Gerland's ingenious deductions as of equal value with the mass of his statements.