Page:Constantinople by Brodribb.djvu/171

 Except that he was more treacherous, Alexius III. proved no better than Isaac II. His wife Euphrosyne conducted the business of the administration, if the sale of places, the receiving of bribes, and the farming of revenues on ruinous terms, can be called by that name. Thrace was left in the hands of the Vallachians; the admiral of the fleet sold without concealment the stores of the navy; the seas were crowded with pirates; even the emperor condescended to become a pirate, and sent six vessels into the Euxine, with private instructions to pick up what they could. Rich men were seized by parties of courtiers, and held captive until they had paid ransom. The patriarch refused to interfere; at last the people assembled before his palace and threatened to throw him out of the windows; the Venetians and Pisans fought battles in the streets; the Turks were shamefully bought off; the Bulgarians and Sclavonians were in arms; and the empire, despite the splendour and magnificence of the court, seemed on the point of falling to pieces.

The conquest of Constantinople by the Flemings and Venetians finished at a blow what the bad rule of the Comnenans was destroying rapidly and surely.