Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/663

Rh CRUSADES 629 of things the crusades had served and would serve to promote the Papal power. But if the popes had thus the means and the justification for interfering in the affairs of every kingdom, and acquired the power of demanding con tributions, levying subsidies, and dispensing with or enforcing vows, the mode in which the revenues so raised had been administered had roused a wide and deep suspicion which might more than counterbalance all the gains. Hence it came to pass that Innocent, even in the plenitude of his spiritual pretensions, was compelled to defend him self against charges of personal corruption ; and when in Fulk of Neuilly he had found an apostle not less devoted and only less eloquent than Bernard, the same suspicion cams in to chill enthusiasm and lead men to criticise rather than to worship. Nevertheless, a goodly company prepared for the great work was at length brought together, 1201, the most prominent among the leaders being Simon of Montfort, Walter of Brieune, and Geoffrey of Villehardouin, the historian of the crusade. But the story of previous crusades had at least opened men s eyes to the fearful, risks of a march across Asia Minor, and the army wholly lacked the means of transport by sea. In this strait whither could they betake themselves but to Venice 1 For 85,000 silver marks the doge, Henry Dandolo, covenanted to convey them to the Holy Land ; but when the fleet was ready, 51,000 marks only were forthcoming, although the counts of Flanders and St Pol had sold all their plate and strained their credit to the utmost. To the amazement of the crusaders the doge announced that the 34,000 marks would be remitted if they would conquer for the republic the town luestof of Zara, which had been unjustly taken from her by the Hungarian king. To Venice at this time came Alexius, the son of the Byzantine Emperor Isaac Angelus, whom his brother Alexius had blinded and thrust into a dungeon The pleadings of the younger Alexius may have wakened in the mind of Dandolo some thought of what was soon to be achieved at Constantinople ; but for the present he stuck to his bargain about Zara with inflexible pertinacity. Zara was taken, November 15, 1202 ; and the crusaders expressed their wish to hasten at once to the Holy Land. Dandolo replied that the new conquest must be guarded against the king of Hungary, and that famine in Western Asia rendered the eastward voyage during the winter impracticable. Envoys from Byzantium were also earnest in insisting that the ends of the crusade would be best promoted by placing Alexius on the imperial throne, and that the crusaders mission was rather the establishment of right everywhere than the wresting of a particular spot from the grasp of the Infidel. They added that the first care of Alexius would be to bring the Eastern Church into submission to the Roman See, while his second would be to provide 400,000 marks for the service of the crusaders, and to accompany them himself to the Holy Land. On hearing these tidings Innocent professed amazement and indignation ; but Dandolo was resolved that neither threats nor interdicts should interfere with the execution of his will. The Venetian fleet at length, 1203, reached Scutari, where they received a message from the usurper Alexius promis ing help if during their stay they would do his subjects no harm. The reply was a summons to come down from his throne ; and the appeal lay only to the sword. With ordinary courage Alexius must have carried the day ; by giving the order for retreat he sealed his own doom, and on his flight from the city the blinded Isaac Angelus, drawn from his prison, was again wrapped in the imperial robes, and his son Alexius raised to share his dignity. But fresh disappointments were in store for the crusaders. Alexius gave them to understand that the winter must be spent in Constantinople ; and Dandolo effectually supported him by saying that until the spring the Venetian fleet should iders -ed to itanti- e. not move. In the meantime feuds and factions were doing their old work in Constantinople. The young Alexius, offended at the plainness of speech which told him that solemn compacts must be adhered to, sent a squadron of fire ships against the Venetians. The project failed ; and in a little while his throne was filled by Alexius Ducas, called Mourzoufle from the darkness and shagginess of his eye-brows. Dandolo insisted on the restoration of Alexius ; and Mourzoufle had him killed in prison. This deed was held to justify the crusaders in placing a Latin emperor on the Byzantine throne ; and this task was achieved after a second siege, 1204, which was followed by riot and carnage altogether dis graceful to Western chivalry. Innocent III. might well ask how the return of the Greek Church to ecclesiastical unity was to be looked for when they saw in the Latins only works of darkness for which they might justly loathe them worse than dogs. The committee of twelve half French, half Venetian charged with the election of an emperor, fixed their choice on Dandolo ; but the old man, who had well-nigh completed his tale of a hundred winters, cared little for the office, while the Venetians had no wish to see one man at once doge and emperor. Two only remained who could well be made competitors for the throne the marquis of Montferrat, and Baldwin of Flanders. The choice of the electors fell on the latter, who was a descendant of Charles the Great, and a cousin of the French king ; and Baldwin was crowned by the Papal legate in the great church of Justinian. The crusaders had thus done great things, although not precisely the things which at the outse Innocent would have had them do. The old schism of the Greek Church had been brought to an end, and the dominion of the Holy See vastly enlarged. But the benefits secured tc Venice were at least more enduring. The conquest of Zara was the first step only toward the establishment of a great maritime empire ; the factories at Pera were exposed only to attacks by sea, and here her ships could guard them. Her settlements were seen in the* richest islands of the yEgean ; and this development of her greatness seemed to foster a spirit of independence which Innocent III. regarded with instinctive suspicion. It was the fault of the Venetians, he said, that the whole enterprize had not been brought already to a brilliant consummation. What might not an army which had done so much at Zara and Byzantium have achieved in the Holy Land? The Latin empire thus set up was not more durable than the kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin, as emperor, was really nothing more than a chief among his peers ; and although he thus lacked the authority of the sovereigns whose title he bore, he attempted tasks which even they must have failed to accomplish. By the crusaders the Greek people were regarded as barbarians or heathens, and their clergy as the ministers of a false faith. The former were excluded from all offices and dignities ; the Assize of Jerusalem was substituted for the Code of Justinian ; aiii no native was allowed to take part in the administration of this law. Such changes could portend nothing but future evil ; nor were other signs of speedy downfall wanting. The conquerors began to quarrel, and Baldwin found him self at open war with Boniface of Montferrat, now lord of Thessalonica. Like Boniface, the other chiefs of tho crusade had been splendidly rewarded. The count of Blois received the dukedom of Nice ; and the Venetian Dandolo became the sovereign of Romania, with Geoffrey of Villehardouin as his marshal. But the power of the Eastern Caesars was rather divided than crushed. New empires sprung up at Nice, Trebizond, andDurazzo; and the Latins encountered an enemy still more formidable in the Bulgarian Calo-John, who ordered a massacre of tho Latin con quest of Constanti nople. Balilwlii emperor o the East. Effect of tl crusade 01 the power of Venice. Latin rule in Constar tinople.