[125] This treaty, made under the walls of Constantinople, is still preserved, and is to be found in Muratori, vol. xii.
[126] Et là, il eut maintes choses alléguées se trouvant en grand emoy ceux de l’ost, pour leur être ainsi pris ce jour là.—Villehardouin, liv. v.
[127] Et sachez qu’il y en avait qui eussent volontiers desiré, que la vague et le vent les eussent ravis jusqu’au delà de l’archipel; car à tels ne chaillait sinon que de parter de là, et aller leur voie droite en leurs maisons.—Idem.
[128] According to Gunther, the taking of Constantinople was more wonderful than all that has been related by Homer and the poets of antiquity.
[129] Gunther says it was a German count that set fire to the city,—comes Teutonicus; he did it to prevent the Greeks from rallying:—Comes Teutonicus jussit urbem in quâdam parte succendi, ut Græci duplici laborantes incommodo, belli scilicet atque incendii, faciliùs vincerentur; quod et factum est, et hoc illi consilio victi penitùs in fugam conversi sunt.
[130] The crowd of Greeks fled principally by the Golden Gate. M. le Chevalier, in his Voyage de la Propontide, informs us that vestiges of the Golden Gate are still to be seen within the inclosure of the seven towers. This gate was a triumphal arch erected by Theodosius, after his victory over Maximus; it was surmounted by a statue of Victory in bronze, and ornamented profusely with gold. On the remains of this gate may still be read these Latin verses:—
Theodosi jussis, gemino nec mense peracto,
Constantinus ovans hæc mœnia firma locavit;
Tam citò tam stabilem Pallas vix conderet arcem.
Raoul de Dicetto, quoted by Ducange, says that these words were upon the Golden Gate:—Quando veniet rex flavus occidentalis, ego per meipsam aperiar. Raoul de Dicetto wrote thirteen years before the taking of Constantinople.
[131] Agnes, daughter of Louis VII., had been at the age of eight years, given in marriage to Alexius Comnenus, the son of Manuel, in 1179. After the death of Alexius, his murderer Andronicus usurped the empire and married Agnes, but had no children by her. Agnes remained a widow at Constantinople to the time of its being taken, when she married Branas, who was attached to the party of the Latins.
[132] Nicetas speaks of the carnage which followed the taking of Constantinople. We have quoted the words even of Villehardouin, who does not materially contradict Nicetas. The pope in his letters warmly reproached the Crusaders on this subject. Gunther only carries the number of slain, on the entrance of the Crusaders into Jerusalem, to two thousand persons, and attributes this slaughter to the Latins established at Constantinople, who had great cause of complaint against the Greeks. The same historian informs us that the ecclesiastics that followed the army contributed, by their discourses, to put an end to the massacre. He does not omit this occasion to praise the piety and humanity of Martin Litz, who went through the ranks of the victorious army, preaching moderation to the conquerors.