Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/13

 PREFACE. xi c. Was Yilleliardouin cognizant of the treachery of Ven- ice, if there were treachery, and does he conceal facts which were within his knowledire ? CD According to Yillehardouin and his adherents, the divei*sion of the expedition towards Zara was due to no foreign inter- ference, to no intrigue, to no treachery on the part of Venice, but to the facts, first, that from the commencement the Cru- saders were unable to agree upon the destination to be adopted, the leaders wishing to go to Egypt as undoubtedly the best point of attack, the majority of the host obstinately insisting upon going to Syria ; and, second, that in consequence of the non-arrival of the stipulated number in Venice the Crusaders were compelled to accept the proposal of the doge to take part in the expedition to Zara. Instead of being due to de- sign or treachery, the diversion was thus purely accidental. (3.) The conduct of Boniface. (•i.) The conduct of Philip of Swabia. (5.) The conduct of Innocent the Third. In reference to these latter subjects the principal questions under discussion are : a. Was there an undertakino; or an understandinor between Philip, Boniface, and Dandolo, previous to the depart- ure of the expedition from Venice, that it should be diverted from its purpose as a crusade into an expedi- tion directed against Constantinople? h. How far was Innocent cognizant of the designs of Philip and the leaders ? Upon this subject M. Winkelmann's* researches have thrown ^"Philip von Schwaben uud Otto von Braunschweig." Leipzig, 1873.