Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/395

 CLAIMS OF BONIFACE. 377 than by tlic Lombards. The sympathy therefore of tlic Venetians was more likely to be with IJoniface than with his rival. To these considerations others must be added. IJoni- face, with a noble figure and imposing presence which had caused him to be known as " The Giant," and with his great experience of war, was the popular type of an em])cror. Above all, he had been the recognized and official leader of the expedition. He had been solemnly appointed by the Crusaders, had shared his fortune with them, had led them to conquest and to plunder. His supreme authority had never been questioned. Moreover, he had been recognized by the inhabitants of the city as their ruler. The party of young Alexis w^ould be on his side, and his marriage with Margaret, or as she now called herself, Maria, the widow of the Emperor Isaac, would increase his followers within the city. 'Not to appoint him was to condemn him. He was the one whose name would naturally first rise to each man's lips. To appoint another over his head was to declare that he no longer pos- sessed the confidence of the host, but that he had been tried and had been found wanting. There were thus many reasons which indicated Boniface as the one likely to be elected emperor, and some of agaiusrhis them, as we have seen, were of a kind specially to recommend his appointment to Dandolo. There were others, however, which induced the great doge to look unfavorably upon his appointment, and which made it neces- sary for him to act energetically if he wished to prevent it. The power such a position would give Boniface was too dan- gerous for the interests of Venice. His territory was too near Venice, and his relations with Philip were too intimate to allow the republic to see him with equanimity the lord of the dominions to the west, east, and south of their possessions. Moreover, the marquis was well known to have intrigued with the Genoese, the great rivals of the Venetians in everything that regarded the trade of the republic in the East ; and al- though the interests of Boniface and the Venetians were for the moment united, he and their rivals might become the most formidable enemies they had ever faced were he Emperor