Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/624

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against the famous merchant town of Amalfi, rebellious in their eyes against the Norman Duke, in its own eyes loyal to the Eastern Emperor. At the coming of the crusaders Bohemond took the cross, and rent up a goodly cloak into crosses for his followers. Count Roger was left almost alone to besiege Amalfi, and he went back to his own island. Yet, after this outburst of pious zeal, those who were highest in rank among the warriors of the cross tarried to spend a merry winter in that pleasant land, while many of the lower sort, already weary of the work, turned aside and went back to their homes. The Norman prelates, from whatever motives, crossed to the great island of the Mediterranean, a trophy of Norman victory only second to the yet greater island of the Ocean. There, under the rule of the Great Count of Sicily, the whilom Earl of Kent might see how conquerors of his own blood could deal
 * mond we find him accurately called —were warring