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Authors: Steven Runciman
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regret his
indiscretion; but the harm was done. The resentment of the western knights and
populace against the haughtiness of the Emperor, their jealousy of his wealth
and their suspicions of Christians who used a ritual that they could not
understand were all given official sanction by the western Church.
Henceforward, though the Pope might modify his views, they felt justified in
every hostile action against Byzantium. And the Byzantines, on their side,
found their worst suspicions realized. The Crusade, with the Pope at its head,
was not a movement for the succour of Christendom, but a tool of unscrupulous
western imperialism. This unhappy agreement between Bohemond and Pope Paschal
did far more than all the controversy between Cardinal Humbert and Michael
Cerularius to ensure the separation between the eastern and western Churches.
1107: Bohemond
invades the Empire
Bohemond was well received in France. He spent
some time at the Court of King Philip, who gave him permission to recruit men
throughout the kingdom; and he enjoyed the active support of that eager
Crusader-by-proxy, Adela, Countess of Blois. Adela not only introduced him to
her brother, Henry I of England, whom he saw in Normandy at Easter 1106, and
who promised to encourage his work, but she also arranged for him to make an
impressive marriage-alliance with King Philip’s daughter, Constance, the
divorced Countess of Champagne. The wedding took place in the late spring of
1106; and at the same time King Philip agreed to offer the hand of his younger
daughter, Cecilia, child of his adulterous union with Bertrada of Montfort, to
Tancred. Constance never went to the East. Her married life and widowhood were
spent in Italy. But Cecilia sailed for Antioch about the end of the year. These
royal connections added to the prestige of the Norman princes.
Bohemond remained in France till late in 1106,
when he returned to Apulia. There he planned his new Crusade, which was to
begin uncompromisingly with an attack on the Byzantine Empire. Cheered by the
news that under Tancred’s rule Antioch was in no immediate peril, he did not
hurry. On 9 October 1107 his army landed on the Epirote coast of the Empire at
Avlona; and four days later he appeared before the great fortress of
Dyrrhachium, the key to the Balkan peninsula, which the Normans had long
coveted and had held for a while a quarter of a century before. But Alexius,
too, had had time to make his preparations. To save Dyrrhachium he was ready to
sacrifice his south-eastern frontier; and he made peace with the Seldjuk
Sultan, Kilij Arslan, from whom he hired mercenaries. Finding the fortress too
strong and too vigorously defended by its garrison to be taken by assault,
Bohemond settled down to besiege it. But, as in his earlier wars against
Byzantium, lack of sea-power was his ruin. Almost at once the Byzantine navy
cut off his communications with Italy and blockaded the coast. Then, early next
spring, the main Byzantine army closed in round him. As the summer came on,
dysentery, malaria and famine weakened the Normans; while Alexius broke their
morale by spreading rumours and sending forged letters to their leaders,
devices that his daughter Anna described with loving admiration. By September
Bohemond knew that he was beaten, and he surrendered to the Emperor. It was a
tremendous triumph for Byzantium; for Bohemond was by now the most renowned
warrior in Christendom. The sight of this formidable hero, towering personally
over the Emperor yet suppliant before him and obedient to his dictation, bore
witness which no one could forget to the invincible majesty of the Empire.
Alexius received Bohemond at his camp, at the
entrance to the ravines of the river Devol. He was courteous but cold to him,
and wasted no time in setting before him the peace treaty that he was to sign.
Bohemond hesitated at first; but Nicephorus Bryennius, Anna Comnena’s husband,
who was in attendance on his father-in-law, persuaded him
indiscretion; but the harm was done. The resentment of the western knights and
populace against the haughtiness of the Emperor, their jealousy of his wealth
and their suspicions of Christians who used a ritual that they could not
understand were all given official sanction by the western Church.
Henceforward, though the Pope might modify his views, they felt justified in
every hostile action against Byzantium. And the Byzantines, on their side,
found their worst suspicions realized. The Crusade, with the Pope at its head,
was not a movement for the succour of Christendom, but a tool of unscrupulous
western imperialism. This unhappy agreement between Bohemond and Pope Paschal
did far more than all the controversy between Cardinal Humbert and Michael
Cerularius to ensure the separation between the eastern and western Churches.
1107: Bohemond
invades the Empire
Bohemond was well received in France. He spent
some time at the Court of King Philip, who gave him permission to recruit men
throughout the kingdom; and he enjoyed the active support of that eager
Crusader-by-proxy, Adela, Countess of Blois. Adela not only introduced him to
her brother, Henry I of England, whom he saw in Normandy at Easter 1106, and
who promised to encourage his work, but she also arranged for him to make an
impressive marriage-alliance with King Philip’s daughter, Constance, the
divorced Countess of Champagne. The wedding took place in the late spring of
1106; and at the same time King Philip agreed to offer the hand of his younger
daughter, Cecilia, child of his adulterous union with Bertrada of Montfort, to
Tancred. Constance never went to the East. Her married life and widowhood were
spent in Italy. But Cecilia sailed for Antioch about the end of the year. These
royal connections added to the prestige of the Norman princes.
Bohemond remained in France till late in 1106,
when he returned to Apulia. There he planned his new Crusade, which was to
begin uncompromisingly with an attack on the Byzantine Empire. Cheered by the
news that under Tancred’s rule Antioch was in no immediate peril, he did not
hurry. On 9 October 1107 his army landed on the Epirote coast of the Empire at
Avlona; and four days later he appeared before the great fortress of
Dyrrhachium, the key to the Balkan peninsula, which the Normans had long
coveted and had held for a while a quarter of a century before. But Alexius,
too, had had time to make his preparations. To save Dyrrhachium he was ready to
sacrifice his south-eastern frontier; and he made peace with the Seldjuk
Sultan, Kilij Arslan, from whom he hired mercenaries. Finding the fortress too
strong and too vigorously defended by its garrison to be taken by assault,
Bohemond settled down to besiege it. But, as in his earlier wars against
Byzantium, lack of sea-power was his ruin. Almost at once the Byzantine navy
cut off his communications with Italy and blockaded the coast. Then, early next
spring, the main Byzantine army closed in round him. As the summer came on,
dysentery, malaria and famine weakened the Normans; while Alexius broke their
morale by spreading rumours and sending forged letters to their leaders,
devices that his daughter Anna described with loving admiration. By September
Bohemond knew that he was beaten, and he surrendered to the Emperor. It was a
tremendous triumph for Byzantium; for Bohemond was by now the most renowned
warrior in Christendom. The sight of this formidable hero, towering personally
over the Emperor yet suppliant before him and obedient to his dictation, bore
witness which no one could forget to the invincible majesty of the Empire.
Alexius received Bohemond at his camp, at the
entrance to the ravines of the river Devol. He was courteous but cold to him,
and wasted no time in setting before him the peace treaty that he was to sign.
Bohemond hesitated at first; but Nicephorus Bryennius, Anna Comnena’s husband,
who was in attendance on his father-in-law, persuaded him
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