Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/316

 298 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. course was possible. AVliat was certain was that they must go first to Constantinople. The barons and Dandolo assem- bled, and before them Alexis solemnly ratified the con- vention of Zara. He promised them 200,000 marks. He would pay the cost of the navy for a year, would himself accompany them on their pilgrimage as far as he could, would maintain for a year an army of 10,000 men in the Holy Land, and would provision the army of pilgrims during his life.' The convention had, however, now to be submitted to the The conven- ^I'^iy, which had hithcrto been kept as far as possi- lldVo^he'^" t»le in the dark. When this was done the dissatis- ^^^^* faction among a large portion immediately broke out. There were many men, no doubt, in so large a host who were willing to go in search of adventure or of plunder, and who cared little whether this were to be found in Syria or in the rich capital of the world. The majority of the Crusaders had, however, left their homes in no such spirit, and were righteously indignant when they found they had been duped by their leaders and the Yenetians. They had been duped in many ways. They had taken up the cross at the call of Inno- cent. The pope, as thc}^ knew, believed the moment oppor- tune for striking at Islam, and had thrown all his exceptional energy into the fulfilment of this the great design of his life. Innocent's influence had been cast against Philip of Swabia, and in favor of Otho. Yet from the moment of the election of Boniface thej^ suspected that they had been duped into op- posing the pontiff's great design, and into supporting Philip's cause in Western Europe against the pope. They recalled that immediately after his appointment Boniface had visited his relation Philip, an excommunicated prince, the avowed enemy of Innocent, and had remained with him for many weeks. In the army were many partisans of Otho, the rival of Philip, and they could not but see that in the subsequent conduct of Boniface he w^as doing that which would be looked on favorably by Philip as well as severely condemned by the ' Robert de Claii, xxxii.