Besides, not all the Byzantines were unprincipled and evil. The mob at the bottom and the courtiers and noblemen on top had glaring defects, but the middle-class Byzantines, of whom there were more than any other group, were often brave, high-spirited, and loyal; and they were always intelligent. The Byzantine father was steady and hard-working, and the mother sincerely pious and devoted to her children. Their life was sometimes hard, but it was often happy. And there always was a chance for self-respect.
LAST DAYS OF
THE EMPIRE
Geoffrey of Villehardouin and Robert of Clari—the two writer-crusaders—were among the last people to see Constantinople in all its glory, and even they were not able to walk through streets filled with magnificence for very long.
The knights and barons of the Fourth Crusade had promised to put the young Alexius on the throne. This they did, and for good measure they put his old blinded father back on the throne beside him too. They let the rulers wear the imperial purple shoes and the glittering brocaded robes, pretending to have restored the imperial power. Alexius and his father could indeed wield the scepter and wear the crown and be absolute monarchs, provided they did everything the crusaders told them to.
In return, the young Alexius had promised to pay the crusaders 200,000 marks of silver, to lead an army to the Holy Land with them, and to maintain and equip 500 of their knights in armor for as long as he lived.
This, however, was another matter, and when the two emperors made even a half-hearted attempt to live up to their promises, the Byzantines revolted. Another Alexius—Alexius Bushy Eyebrows—was made emperor and he made it known that the Venetians and the crusaders could whistle for their money. Not a single copper coin, let alone 200,000 silver ones, would they ever get from him!
This gave the crusaders the chance they had long been waiting for and probably planning for, and they didn’t waste any time in taking it. Proclaiming Bushy Eyebrows, as they called him, a traitor and a caitiff villain, they attacked the city with ships, ladders, and men-at-arms. On April 13, 1204, after five days of desperate fighting, they burst into it. There for three days and nights, the Christian soldiers—wearing the cross upon their shoulders—burned, robbed, and murdered the Christian Byzantines.
“Even the followers of Mahound, the false prophet, were more merciful when they took Jerusalem!” cried a Byzantine.