Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/402

 380 THE DECLINE AND FALL principal knights and citizens of that rich and industrious province.^*^ The vow which the chiefs had pronounced in churches, they ratified in tournaments ; the operations of war were debated in full and frequent assemblies ; and it was re- solved to seek the deliverance of Palestine in Egypt, a country, since Saladin's death, which was almost ruined by famine and civil war. But the fate of so many royal armies displayed the toils and perils of a land expedition ; and, if the Flemings dwelt along the ocean, the French barons were destitute of ships and ignorant of navigation. They embraced the wise resolution of choosing six deputies or representatives, of whom Villehardouin was one, with a discretionaiy trust to direct the motions, and to pledge the faith, of the whole confederacy. The maritime states of Italy were alone possessed of the means of transport- ing the holy warriors with their arms and horses ; and the six deputies proceeded to Venice, to solicit, on motives of piety or interest, the aid of that powerful republic. suteofthe In the invasion of Italv bv Attila, I have mentioned*^ the A.D. 697-1200 flight of the Venetians from the fallen cities of the continent, and their obscure shelter in the chain of islands that line the extremity of the Adi*iatic gulf In the midst of the waters, free, indigent, laborious, and inaccessible, they gradually coalesced into a republic ; the first foundations of Venice were laid in the island of Rialto ; and the annual election of the twelve tribunes was superseded by the permanent office of a duke or doge. On the verge of the two empires, the Venetians exult in the belief of primitive and perpetual independence.^- Against the Latins, their antique freedom has been asserted by the sword, and may be justified by the pen. Charlemagne himself resigned all claim of sovereignty to the islands of the Adriatic gulf ; his son Pepin was repulsed in the attacks of the lagiams, or canals, too deep for the cavalr}', and too shallow for the vessels ; and in everj' age, under the German Caesars, the lands of the republic have been cleai-ly distinguished from the kingdom of Italy. But the in- ^ The crusade and reigns of the counts of Flanders, Baldwin and his brother Henry, are the subject of a particular history by the Jesuit Doutremens (Constanti- nopolis Belgica, Turnaci, 1638, in 4to), which I have only seen with the eyes of Ducange. ^ History, &c. vol. iii. p. 469-471. •*2The foundation and independence of Venice, and Pepin's invasion, are dis- cussed by Pagi (Critica, torn. iii. a.d. 810, No. 4, &c.) and Beretti (Dissert. Chorograph. Italiae medii ^Evi, in Muratori, Script, torn. x. p. 153). The two critics have a slight bias, the Frenchman adverse, the Italian favourable, to the republic.