Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/374

 356 ^'"E FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. therefore respecting its beauty. To him it was an " earthly heaven, a throne of divine magnificence, an image of the fir- mament created by the Almighty." The plunder of the same church in 1453 by Mahomet the Sec- ond compares favorably with that made by the Crusaders of 1204. The sack of the city went on during the three days after the capture.* An order was issued, probably on the third day, by the leaders of the army, for the protection of women. Three bishops had pronounced excommunication against all who should pillage church or convent.^ It was many days, however, before the army could be reduced to its ordinary condition of discipline. A proclamation was made through- out the army that all the booty should be collected, in order to be divided fairly among the captors. Three churches were selected as depots, and trusty guards of Crusaders and Vene- tians were stationed to watch what was tlnis brought in. Much, however, was kept back, and much stolen. Stern meas- ures had to be resorted to before order was restored. Many Crusaders were hanged. The Count of St. Paul hung one of his own knights with his shield round his neck because he had not given up the booty he had captured. A contemporary writer, the continuator of the history of William of Tyre, for- cibly contrasts the conduct of the Crusaders before and after the capture. AVhen the Latins would take Constantinople ' " Sed caeca cupiditas, quae facile persuadet, ita manus eorum victrices victas tenuit, ut non solum ecclesias violarent, immo etiam vascula, in qui- bus sanctorum reliquice quiescebant, impudenter eflfrangerent, aurum inde ct argentum et gcmmas turpiter evelleutes ; ipsas vero reliquias pro nihilo reputabant. Quo audito, seniores exercitus doluerunt valde, timentes ne talis victoria eis in exitium verteretur ; habito igitur consilio, legatus, qui viccm apostolici gerebat, cum archieiDiscopis et episcopis, sub districti anathematis iuterminatione preccpit, ne quis sibi retineret reliquias, sed omnes in manu bonae memoria; Guarneri, tunc Treccnsis episcopi, libera resignarent. Inter quas inventum est caput gloriosi martyris, nudum qui- dcm, nisi quod circulus argentcus ipsi capiti circumductus erat, et supra, in modum crucis extcnsus, totum comprehendcbat, in quo erat scriptum antiquis Uteris grsecis, quai adlmc ibi apparent : Anos MAMAS, quod in- terpretatur Sanctus Mamas." — Can. Lingoncnsis, "Exuv. Sac." i. 29.
 * " Tres dies gladiis saevibant." — Clari, Ixxx,