Venice

by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

Baldwin grew very impatient of the delay of the Armenian troops. They were absolutely needful to insure his success in any siege or attack. At last his impatience overcame his prudence; and in March, a small contingent having arrived, he set out for Adrianople, where in April he was joined by Dandolo and the Venetians, who doubled his numbers. The lofty ramparts of the great city could not be easily taken, nor its numerous garrison hastily overcome. The King of Bulgaria with his troops had come to the aid of Lascaris. Fourteen thousand Comans, who, mounted on their fleet steeds, used their bows and lances with unequalled dexterity, continually skirmished almost within bowshot of the army of the Latins, inspiring even these brave soldiers with doubt and hesitation. At length, however, these taunts produced their effect, and the whole Crusading army were eager to chastise the insolence of these barbarians. Even Dandolo, "the Prudent of the Prudent," was as much in favor of an attack as he was ignorant of its risks; and it was settled that he, with a few of the barons, should remain in charge of the camp and siege-works with a reserve corps, while Baldwin should lead the attack.

With the first movement of the Crusaders, the Comans retreated; and Baldwin, deceived by their tactics, pursued them fully two leagues, when suddenly he perceived that he had been led almost within the lines in which King John had disposed his troops for battle. The Comans then wheeled round and attacked their pursuers with the swiftness of lightning. Just when Baldwin thought himself on the point of victory, the whole Bulgarian army was upon him, and he must retreat or see his own army cut to pieces. He decided on retreat; and Dandolo and Villehardouin were informed by the first stragglers who reached the camp of the total rout of the army, the death of the Count of Blois, and the capture of the Emperor Baldwin.

This news fell upon Dandolo like a thunderbolt, and he immediately saw that a retreat to Constantinople must be made at once. The Bulgarians were approaching, and the Latins were too few to meet them. In the night, in spite of many obstacles, the retreat was begun; after four painful days the old Doge and the remnant of the troops reached the capital, bringing such tidings as overwhelmed the whole city with grief and dread. No news had they of Baldwin's fate; not only the Count of Blois, but the flower of the army of the Crusaders, had been cut off in the retreat; the Bulgarians might soon attack Constantinople; the neighboring cities favored Lascaris, and aided the Comans; and worst of all, they had learned that these bold horsemen had met and destroyed every man of the Armenian army which had been sent to Baldwin. The garrison of the capital was small, provisions were scarce, and it would require months for help to come from Venice, France, or the Vatican.

And now came the crudest blow of all in the death of Dandolo. He died at the Boucoleon on June 14. His disease (dysentery) might have been overcome had his mortification and anxiety been less; he could not survive the thought that the great undertaking to which he had devoted all his powers, and which had been so fruitful of great results, should end ingloriously for Venice and for himself.

He was interred in St. Sophia with imperial honors; his armor was buried with him, and for nearly two centuries and a half his grave was unviolated, and Gentile Bellini had the proud satisfaction of bringing the cuirass, the sword, and the helmet which the great Doge had worn at the taking of Constantinople to Venice, and presenting them to the descendants of the grand old hero.

There is an inexpressible sadness in the death of the Doge under such a weight of sorrow and disappointment, and tortured by apprehensions of evil which were never realized. King John did not suspect the weakness of the Latins; the Comans fled to the north to avoid the summer's heat; and the Bulgarian monarch turned his back on Constantinople, and attacked the King of Thessalonica.

The result of Dandolo's achievements was of vast import and value to his beloved Republic. She acquired world-wide glory and new territory, greater scope for commerce and extended feudal domain; her standard now floated above almost every seaport, large or small, from the Lido to the Golden Horn.

"The great power of Venice over the Adriatic, the Ægean, and especially over the islands mentioned, and over a portion of the Morea, dates from the Latin conquest,—a power which was used, on the whole, well and wisely, which introduced or continued fairly good government, and which has left traces in well-constructed roads and fortresses. But, as was natural, the results of the Latin conquest were more markedly visible in Venice herself than in any of the possessions she obtained. Her marts were filled with merchandise; her ships crowded the great canals and her harbor with the spoils of Asia and the products of the Levant; her architecture reproduced and improved upon that of Constantinople. The spoils of the New Rome were her proudest ornaments. Her wealth rapidly increased. The magnificence of the New Rome was transferred to Venice, which was during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the most splendid of Christian cities."

A fourth of Constantinople was assigned as a residence for the Venetians, where they were permitted to have their own magistrates and laws; throughout the Greek realm the coins, weights, and measures of Venice were recognized, and the treaty of 1198 was resumed with its privileges to Venetian merchants. The Doge of Venice was to be represented in Constantinople by an officer who should protect the commercial interests of Venice in the East. Marino Zeno, who had been a close friend of Dandolo, was at once elected to this office of Balio, or Podestà. Three Councillors of State, a Treasurer and an Advocate, a Court of Proprio and a Court of Justice of the Peace, and a commandant of the troops of the Republic in Romania were sent out to support Zeno in his lofty and arduous duties.