The beautiful villas of the Byzantine nobles

The beautiful villas of the Byzantine nobles and merchants existing in the neighborhood of the capital were ruthlessly plundered and destroyed. After passing the Bosphorus the army began to encounter more serious difficulties, and met with a series of disasters. The latter were due partly to bad management and partly to the difficulties inherent to the enterprise itself. The difficulty of finding provisions in a country which was already thinly inhabited, and the inhabitants of which were treated as enemies, was the first cause of these disasters.

The fact that the journey was made in summer through a country which was even then largely troubled with malarial fever added much to the difficulties. All their misfortunes were attributed by the Crusaders to the Greeks, and a disposition began to develop itself very early among the former to conquer Christian people when they were unable to subdue the Mahometans.

The division of Crusaders under Louis VII. met that under the leadership of Conrad at Nicnea. The feeling of hostility created among the French division was not less than that which had been aroused among the Teutons. Louis found the subjects of the Emperor Manuel not less exacting than had Conrad. It must be said to his credit that he put down disorder in his camp with a stronger hand. Soldiers found plundering were severely punished. Some were sentenced to the loss of their hands and feet.

Division under Conrad

Both king and nobles had about them much more of the religious spirit of the Crusaders than was to be found in the division under Conrad. Louis seems also to have prevented his army being encumbered by so large a crowd of camp-followers and pilgrims as accompanied Conrad. In spite, however, of the more complete organization of his army, it was with difficulty that lie made his way to Constantinople. On his arrival an incident occurred which showed the bitter feeling of hostility towards the Greeks which had sprung up, and the intensity of the sentiment which had led the Crusaders to take up arms. While the army was encamped before the capital they learned that Manuel had concluded the treaty with the Sultan of Iconium, of which I have already spoken.