Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/404

 386 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. of cloth of gold with which lie was to be invested. The Count of St. Paul followed with the imperial sword. At the church, or Great Minster, as the Western writers often called it, solemn mass was celebrated. The rite was a mixture of that of the Orthodox and Latin churches. After the Trisa- gion had been intoned, the legate, acting for the patriarch, placed the imperial crown on the head of Baldwin, pronounc- ing at the same time the word aStoc — "he is worthy" — w^hich was taken up and repeated by the other bishops and by the people. After the new emperor had communicated, and had received all the imperial insignia, he headed a pro- cession, escorted, right and leftj by the Waring guard, armed as usual with their double-edged bills. The streets and houses through and by which the procession passed were decorated with the rich carpets which had escaped the three fires and the general plunder. Baldwin was thus conducted into the neighboring palace of Bucoleon, and a Frank emperor was seat- ed, for the first time, on the throne of Constantine.