Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/111

Rh were full of insolence. Baldwin answered by expressing his contempt for the emperor, remarked that the imperial sword was good enough against effeminate and unarmored bodies, alluding to the death of Hagiochristophorides, and told him that, instead of being used to wear a helmet and armor and to sleep in the open air under his shield, he had been brought up tenderly, had feared to be whipped by his tutor, and was a stranger to the noise of war or the call of the trumpet to battle.

He volunteered the advice that the best thing the emperor could do would be to lay aside his crown, and give it and the other imperial insignia to a prince who could win battles, and to be careful to keep in the good graces of such a prince. The emperor appears to have taken the insolence good-naturedly, and on Baldwin afterwards endeavoring to explain away his offensive language, and on his flattering the emperor, he and Richard were sent back to prison. Shortly afterwards Baldwin was set at liberty, on his consenting never again to give aid to those who were fighting against Isaac.

Isaac's enemies, however, were pressing upon him from every side. The aged Sultan of Iconium, when he heard of the revolution in Constantinople which had placed Isaac on the throne, and that the imperial army was engaged against the Sicilians, passed over into Thrace and made a great raid, in which he captured many flocks, much other booty, and a great number of prisoners. Nicetas hints that he only retired on receiving large presents and a promise of an annual payment.

Isaac escaped invasion from the King of Hungary by asking the hand of a daughter of Bela, king of that country, who was only ten years old. The expenses of the marriage led him into new difficulties. To meet these expenses he levied heavy tribute upon the Wallachs of the Balkans. Thereupon they revolted. They were led by two brothers, Peter and Asan, who came to the capital to represent