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Authors: Robert Payne
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troops who had orders to see they were given everything they asked for and that none strayed from the path. This was the only uneventful part of the journey.
They paused in Belgrade to set their baggage trains in order and to regroup. King Coloman had given them extra provisions and they were inno clanger of starving. Halfway between Belgrade and Nish, the Crusaders were met by envoys sent by the provincial governor to act as escorts throughout the rest of the journey to Constantinople. Thus, the army was preserved, losing no one along the way.
The towns and villages they passed through were all poverty-stricken. The poverty on the Byzantine frontiers startled the Crusaders, who knew little about the endless Bulgarian wars. It was Byzantine policy to make a wasteland of the frontiers. The Crusaders reached Philippopolis, in Thrace, a city founded by Philip of Macedon, built on three hills in the midst of a vast plain, and there at last they saw a Greek city in its splendor, with its high walls, Greek temples and Christian churches. Philippopolis was a small foretaste of Constantinople, a well-ordered city run by Byzantine officials long trained in government.
It was here at Philippopolis that Godfrey received some startling information, which boded ill for the future. He learned that Hugh, Count of Vermandois, had already reached Constantinople, the first of the Crusader princes to arrive there. In a few days came rumors that Hugh had been thrown into prison. Godfrey believed the rumor and sent Henry dâEsch and Baldwin of Mons, Count of Hainault, to intercede with the emperor. Godfreyâs troops marched to Adrianople and beyond. No message came from the emperor. Fearing that they, too, would be arrested and disarmed when they reached Constantinople, the leaders of the army decided upon a show of strength. They had camped in a rich pastureland and fanned out in murderous raids on the surrounding villages. The raids lasted for eight days and were called off only when Byzantine officials came hurrying to the camp with the news that Hugh the Great had been released from prison.
The Lotharingian princes continued their march to Constantinople, expecting trouble. They had no high opinion of the Byzantine officials and distrusted the emperor. They were in a foreign country where the people spoke a language they could not understand, where customs were very different, and where they were at the mercy of an army far greater than theirs. They did not know the rules of the game, but in the following months they would learn to play it well. Godfrey reached Constantinople on December 23, and he would remain there for four hectic months, waiting for the other Crusader armies to reach the staging ground.
At the emperorâs orders Godfreyâs army encamped on the northern bank of the Golden Horn. The high officers were billeted in monasteries and private houses, while the soldiers lived in tents. It was a bitter winter with cold winds blowing in from the Black Sea, sudden snowstorms, and it rained nearly every day. Hugh the Great came to the camp, Godfrey embraced him, and they swore to march together to Jerusalem. Hugh, now living well at the Emperor Alexius Comnenusâs expense, brought a message: the emperor had invited Godfrey to visit him at the Blachernae Palace. Godfrey rejected the invitation in high dudgeon. He was Duke of LowerLorraine, a descendant of Charlemagne, and he did not need either the brother of a French king or a Byzantine emperor to tell him what to do. Least of all was he prepared to swear allegiance to Alexius. He knew that this would be demanded of him just as it would be demanded of all the other princes coming from the West. He regarded himself as a temporary guest on Byzantine soil, and he had no intention of being overly friendly with the landlord. He sent his trusted ambassador Henry dâEsch together with Conon de Montaigue and his own kinsman Baldwin of Le Bourg to the emperor with his
They paused in Belgrade to set their baggage trains in order and to regroup. King Coloman had given them extra provisions and they were inno clanger of starving. Halfway between Belgrade and Nish, the Crusaders were met by envoys sent by the provincial governor to act as escorts throughout the rest of the journey to Constantinople. Thus, the army was preserved, losing no one along the way.
The towns and villages they passed through were all poverty-stricken. The poverty on the Byzantine frontiers startled the Crusaders, who knew little about the endless Bulgarian wars. It was Byzantine policy to make a wasteland of the frontiers. The Crusaders reached Philippopolis, in Thrace, a city founded by Philip of Macedon, built on three hills in the midst of a vast plain, and there at last they saw a Greek city in its splendor, with its high walls, Greek temples and Christian churches. Philippopolis was a small foretaste of Constantinople, a well-ordered city run by Byzantine officials long trained in government.
It was here at Philippopolis that Godfrey received some startling information, which boded ill for the future. He learned that Hugh, Count of Vermandois, had already reached Constantinople, the first of the Crusader princes to arrive there. In a few days came rumors that Hugh had been thrown into prison. Godfrey believed the rumor and sent Henry dâEsch and Baldwin of Mons, Count of Hainault, to intercede with the emperor. Godfreyâs troops marched to Adrianople and beyond. No message came from the emperor. Fearing that they, too, would be arrested and disarmed when they reached Constantinople, the leaders of the army decided upon a show of strength. They had camped in a rich pastureland and fanned out in murderous raids on the surrounding villages. The raids lasted for eight days and were called off only when Byzantine officials came hurrying to the camp with the news that Hugh the Great had been released from prison.
The Lotharingian princes continued their march to Constantinople, expecting trouble. They had no high opinion of the Byzantine officials and distrusted the emperor. They were in a foreign country where the people spoke a language they could not understand, where customs were very different, and where they were at the mercy of an army far greater than theirs. They did not know the rules of the game, but in the following months they would learn to play it well. Godfrey reached Constantinople on December 23, and he would remain there for four hectic months, waiting for the other Crusader armies to reach the staging ground.
At the emperorâs orders Godfreyâs army encamped on the northern bank of the Golden Horn. The high officers were billeted in monasteries and private houses, while the soldiers lived in tents. It was a bitter winter with cold winds blowing in from the Black Sea, sudden snowstorms, and it rained nearly every day. Hugh the Great came to the camp, Godfrey embraced him, and they swore to march together to Jerusalem. Hugh, now living well at the Emperor Alexius Comnenusâs expense, brought a message: the emperor had invited Godfrey to visit him at the Blachernae Palace. Godfrey rejected the invitation in high dudgeon. He was Duke of LowerLorraine, a descendant of Charlemagne, and he did not need either the brother of a French king or a Byzantine emperor to tell him what to do. Least of all was he prepared to swear allegiance to Alexius. He knew that this would be demanded of him just as it would be demanded of all the other princes coming from the West. He regarded himself as a temporary guest on Byzantine soil, and he had no intention of being overly friendly with the landlord. He sent his trusted ambassador Henry dâEsch together with Conon de Montaigue and his own kinsman Baldwin of Le Bourg to the emperor with his
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