Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 6 | Page 6

striking at the heart of the Mahometan
power, by attacking the sultan in Bagdad. For their adventures and fate,
see Wilken, vol. ii. p. 120, &c., Wichaud, book iv. - M.] [Footnote 12:
William of Tyre, and Matthew Paris, reckon 70,000 loricati in each of
the armies.] [Footnote 13: The imperfect enumeration is mentioned by
Cinnamus, and confirmed by Odo de Diogilo apud Ducange ad
Cinnamum, with the more precise sum of 900,556. Why must therefore
the version and comment suppose the modest and insufficient
reckoning of 90,000? Does not Godfrey of Viterbo (Pantheon, p. xix. in
Muratori, tom. vii. p. 462) exclaim? - Numerum si poscere quaeras,
Millia millena militis agmen erat.] [Footnote 14: This extravagant
account is given by Albert of Stade, (apud Struvium, p. 414;) my
calculation is borrowed from Godfrey of Viterbo, Arnold of Lubeck,
apud eundem, and Bernard Thesaur. (c. 169, p. 804.) The original
writers are silent. The Mahometans gave him 200,000, or 260,000, men,
(Bohadin, in Vit. Saladin, p. 110.)] [Footnote 15: I must observe, that,
in the second and third crusades, the subjects of Conrad and Frederic
are styled by the Greeks and Orientals Alamanni. The Lechi and Tzechi
of Cinnamus are the Poles and Bohemians; and it is for the French that
he reserves the ancient appellation of Germans. Note: He names both -
M.] II. The number and character of the strangers was an object of
terror to the effeminate Greeks, and the sentiment of fear is nearly
allied to that of hatred. This aversion was suspended or softened by the
apprehension of the Turkish power; and the invectives of the Latins

will not bias our more candid belief, that the emperor Alexius
dissembled their insolence, eluded their hostilities, counselled their
rashness, and opened to their ardor the road of pilgrimage and conquest.
But when the Turks had been driven from Nice and the sea-coast, when
the Byzantine princes no longer dreaded the distant sultans of Cogni,
they felt with purer indignation the free and frequent passage of the
western Barbarians, who violated the majesty, and endangered the
safety, of the empire. The second and third crusades were undertaken
under the reign of Manuel Comnenus and Isaac Angelus. Of the former,
the passions were always impetuous, and often malevolent; and the
natural union of a cowardly and a mischievous temper was exemplified
in the latter, who, without merit or mercy, could punish a tyrant, and
occupy his throne. It was secretly, and perhaps tacitly, resolved by the
prince and people to destroy, or at least to discourage, the pilgrims, by
every species of injury and oppression; and their want of prudence and
discipline continually afforded the pretence or the opportunity. The
Western monarchs had stipulated a safe passage and fair market in the
country of their Christian brethren; the treaty had been ratified by oaths
and hostages; and the poorest soldier of Frederic's army was furnished
with three marks of silver to defray his expenses on the road. But every
engagement was violated by treachery and injustice; and the complaints
of the Latins are attested by the honest confession of a Greek historian,
who has dared to prefer truth to his country. ^16 Instead of a hospitable
reception, the gates of the cities, both in Europe and Asia, were closely
barred against the crusaders; and the scanty pittance of food was let
down in baskets from the walls. Experience or foresight might excuse
this timid jealousy; but the common duties of humanity prohibited the
mixture of chalk, or other poisonous ingredients, in the bread; and
should Manuel be acquitted of any foul connivance, he is guilty of
coining base money for the purpose of trading with the pilgrims. In
every step of their march they were stopped or misled: the governors
had private orders to fortify the passes and break down the bridges
against them: the stragglers were pillaged and murdered: the soldiers
and horses were pierced in the woods by arrows from an invisible hand;
the sick were burnt in their beds; and the dead bodies were hung on
gibbets along the highways. These injuries exasperated the champions
of the cross, who were not endowed with evangelical patience; and the

Byzantine princes, who had provoked the unequal conflict, promoted
the embarkation and march of these formidable guests. On the verge of
the Turkish frontier Barbarossa spared the guilty Philadelphia, ^17
rewarded the hospitable Laodicea, and deplored the hard necessity that
had stained his sword with any drops of Christian blood. In their
intercourse with the monarchs of Germany and France, the pride of the
Greeks was exposed to an anxious trial. They might boast that on the
first interview the seat of Louis was a low stool, beside the throne of
Manuel; ^18 but no sooner had the French king transported