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 WEAKENING OF THE EMPIRE BY THE CRUSADES. 131 The arclihishop cxcoiiinninicatcd those wlio had contracted and those who had agreed to the marriage. The scandal in- creased the discord which already existed among the Crusaders. Guy de Lusignan still claimed that the throne of Jerusalem was his. After considerable difficulty the Crusaders agreed to leave the choice to Ilichard and Philip. The two kings, however, were themselves at enmity. Each accused the other of treason, and their subjects naturally took the part of their sovereigns. In April, Eichard of England left Messina, in Sicily, with a England con- l^indred and fifty galleys for the Holy Land. It weakeniu*^ was in councction with this enterprise that England the empire, contributed her share towards the weakening of the Byzantine empire. Isaac Comnenos had seized Cyprus and riage, as told by Nicetas, is that Isaac had sent to propose marriage be- tween his sister and Boniface of Montferrat, that when the messengers found that Boniface was already married and that Conrad was a widower, they considered that the proposal might be made to the latter, and that it would be more advantageous, since he was the elder brother. Their promises were large, Conrad accepted, and came to Constantinople and married Theodora. After defeating Branas he refused to follow the em- peror to Adrianople, alleging that he had not received sufficient honors, that the privilege of being caesar only conferred upon him the doubtful honor of wearing different colored buskins from ordinary mortals, and that he had married Theodora incidentally and attached no importance to the marriage (Trap^pyov oc^or, Nicetas, p. 516 ; " obiter imperatoris soro- rem duxerat'"). Tlie account of Nicetas is ia conformity with that of other historians. Robert de Clari, however (pp. 24-2G), states that Con- rad escaped because he learned that Isaac had meditated treachery against him, that he had sent him out to fight Branas and had shut the gate of the city behind him, and that after his success he was warned that it was not safe for him to remain. The question whether Conrad's wife was living when he married Theo- dora is doubtful. Geoffrey is contradicted by Nicetas (j). 498) in saying that his Jirst wife was alive. The subject is examined in the " Rccueil des Ilistoriens Grecs," ii. 421. It appears to me that the balance of evi- dence is in favor of the opinion that Theodora was living at the time of the second marriage. See the "Itinerary of Richard I.," Bohn's Transla- tion, p. 141. The part played by the family of Montferrat in connection with the fiiU of Constantinople was more important than that played by any other family.