volume one

92 HISTOEY OF THE CiiL SADES.
his promises. The imperial and the Latin troops were twice
called to arms, and Constantinople, badly defended by its
soldiers, had cause to fear beholding the standard of the
Crusaders floating over its walls.
The report of these serious quarrels conveyed joy to the
heart of Bohemond, who had just landed at Diu-azzo. He
believed the time was come to attack the Greek empire, and
to divide the spoils. He sent envoys to Grodfrey, to invite
him to take possession of Byzantium, promising to join him
with all his forces, for the prosecution of this great enterprize.
But Grodfrey did not forget that he had taken up
arms for the defence of the holy sepulchre, and rejected the
proposal of Bohemond, reminding him of the oath he had
taken to fight against the infidels.
This embass}" to Bohemond, the object of which could not
be concealed, redoubled the alarm of Alexis, and made him
employ every means to subdue the firmness of Godfrey de
Bouillon. He sent his own son as a hostage to the army of
the Crusaders. From that time all mistrust was dissipated.
The princes of the West swore to respect the laws of hospitaHty,
and repaired to the palace of Alexis. They found
the emperor surrounded by a splendid court, and entirely
occupied in. endeavouring to conceal his weakness under an
exterior of vain magnificence. The chief of the Crusaders,
and the princes and knights who accompanied him, in an
apparel on which shone the martial luxur}'' of the West,
bowed before the throne of the emperor, and bent the knee
to a mute and motionless majesty. After this ceremony,
during which the Greeks and the Latins must have afforded
each other a strange spectacle, Alexis adopted Godfrey for
his son, and placed the empire under the protection of his
arms. The Crusaders engaged to replace the cities they had
taken belonging to the empire in the hands of the emperor,
and to pay him homage for the other conquests they might
make. Alexis, on his part, promised to aid them by land
and by sea, to fiumish them with provisions, and to share
the perils and the glory of their expedition.
Alexis considered this homage of the Latin princes as a
victory. The leaders of the Crusaders returned beneath their
tents, where his gratitude loaded them with presents. Whilst
Godfrey caused it to be proclaimed in his army by sound of