The Eastern Empire. R O 
suspended (heir open enmity, but when the sultan was dri¬ 
ven to the distant retreat of Iconium, the Byzantine princes 
more freely expressed their indignation at the frequent pas¬ 
sage of the western fanatics, who violated the majesty, and 
endangered the safety of the empire. Religious zeal inflamed 
those profane causes of national hatred. Schismatic and 
heretic were the names applied by the Christians of the East 
to their brethren of the West; and the Greek clergy in the 
crusade of Louis VII., washed and purified the altars which 
had been defiled by the sacrifice of a French priest In the 
tumult which raised Andronicus to the throne, the unhappy 
foreigners were exposed to the unrelenting cruelty of popular 
fury ; and the most grateful sight to the persecutors was the 
head of a Roman cardinal, the pope’s legate, fastened to the 
tail of a dog, and dragged through the city. The few who 
escaped, spread over Europe an account of the wealth and 
weakness, the perfidy and the malice, of the Greeks; and in 
the sequel, the French and the Venetians were invited, and 
almost compelled, to achieve what the first crusaders had 
rejected—the conquest of the empire of the East. 
The indolence of the emperor Isaac was almost as intoler¬ 
able to his subjects as the active vices of his predecessors. 
His luxury swelled the annual expences of the palace to four 
millions sterling, while the remains of the Greek empire were 
daily becoming less. The isle of Cyprus had been usurped 
by another Isaac of Comnenian line ; and by the sword of 
Richard of England, it was transferred to Guy of Lusignan. 
The disastrous and unpopular reign of Isaac at length fur¬ 
nished a pretext to his ungrateful brother Alexius to subvert 
his throne. The emperor was seized at Stagyra, in Macedo¬ 
nia, conducted to Constantinople, deprived of sight, and shut 
up in a lonesome tower ; while his son Alexius, in the dis¬ 
guise of a common sailor, escaping to an Italian vessel 
passed the Hellespont, and found a secret refuge in Sicily, 
As lie was traversing Italy on a visit to his sister Irene, wife 
of Philip, king of the Romans, he heard, with pleasure, that 
the bravest warriors of the West were assembled at Venice, 
on a new crusade; and from their swords he implored and 
hoped the restoration of his father, and the recovery of his 
own rights. 
He attached himself to the crusaders, and was strongly 
supported by their chiefs. On his part, he promised, in his 
own and his father’s name, that as soon as they were re-seated 
on the throne of Constantinople, they would submit them¬ 
selves and their subjects to the Roman church, recompense 
the crusaders with two hundred thousand marks of silver, 
and either accompany them in person to Egypt, or maintain 
a stipulated force for the service of the holy land. 
The usurper Alexius had despised the first rumour of his 
nephew’s alliance with the French and Venetians; and in 
consequence had made no opposition to their approach, 
which his navy might easily have done. He now beheld, 
with terror and consternation, their camp pitched insight of 
his palace. 
Scarcely had the allies thrown themselves on the shore, 
when the Grecian army vanished from their sight: the 
tower of Galata, in the suburb of Pera, was stormed by 
the French; the Venetian fleet broke the chain which guarded 
the harbour; and a capital, containing nearly half a million 
of inhabitants, was besieged by 20,000 Latins. 
Hunger and scarcity soon prevailed through the camp of 
the besiegers; and the usurper was animated by the resolu¬ 
tion of his son-in-law, Theodore Lascaris, who recalled the 
pusillanimous Greeks to the defence of their religion, as he 
knew they were regardless of their country. A breach was 
made in the walls; but the Franks, attempting to enter it, 
were oppressed by superior numbers. The naval attack of 
the Venetians had been more successful: the standard of the 
republic was already fixed on the rampart, when the aged 
doge being informed of the distress of his allies, drew off 
his troops to their support, and found them encompassed by 
the squadrons of the Greeks. The emperor, dismayed by 
the approach of succour, withdrew his formidable host; and 
desgrting his family, his people, and his empire, passed the 
Bosphorus in the night, and reached an obscure harbour in 
M E. The Eastern Empire. 331 
Thrace, carrying with them the imperial ornaments and 
treasure. 
The Greek nobles, as soon as they were apprised of the 
abdication of Alexius, raised Isaac from the dungeon to the 
throne; and the confederates, at dawn of day, were surprised 
by a message from the lawful emperor, who was impatient 
to embrace bis son, and to evince his gratitude to his deli¬ 
verers. 
Isaac cheerfully ratified the engagements which his son 
had contracted; and the young Alexius, with his father, 
was solemnly crowned in the cburch of St. Sophia, A. D. 
1203. It was agreed by both parties, that the re-union of 
the Greek and the Latin church should be left to time and 
political address; but the pressing wants of the crusaders 
were relieved by the disembursement of a large sum, and 
the suburbs of Galata and Pera were assigned for their 
quarters. By the proper application of 1600 pounds of 
gold, the young emperor persuaded the confederates to defer 
the deliverance of the holy land to another year, and en¬ 
gaged the marquis of Mountserrat to attend him with an 
army in the tour of the provinces ; while Baldwin, with the 
French and Flemish crusaders, awed by their presence the 
fickle inhabitants of the capital. 
The popularity and prosperity of Alexius were of short 
duration. While he was receiving the homage of distant 
provinces, the citizens of Constantinople detested him as an 
apostate, who had renounced the manners and religion of 
his country for the sake of aggrandizement. His secret 
covenant with the crusaders was more than suspected: the 
people were devoutly attached to their mode of faith, and 
every house resounded with the danger of the church, and 
the dreaded tyranny of the pontiff of Rome. 
On the other hand, the pious fervour of the crusaders 
was scandalized at the toleration of a Turkish mosque 
within the walls of Constantinople; and the flames which 
they kindled for the destruction of that building spread into 
the thickest and most populous parts of the city. The 
conscious Latins retired from the indignation of the inha¬ 
bitants to their station at Pera ; and Alexius, on his return, 
balancing the different claims of patriotism and gratitude, 
lost the favour of his allies, without securing the affections 
of his people. The chiefs of the West pressed him with 
their importunities, and declared, thht unless their just claims 
were fully and immediately satisfied, they would no longer 
regard him as a sovereign or an ally, but take means of en¬ 
forcing their demands by arms. 
The imperial family was despised in the eyes both of the 
Greeks and Latins; and the citizens of Constantinople, 
dreading the impending catastrophe, clamoured round the 
senate, demanding a more worthy emperor. This disposi¬ 
tion among the commonalty engaged John Ducas, of the 
former imperial house, from the thickness of his eye brows 
surnamed Murtzuphlus, to attempt usurping the sovereign 
dignity. In order to effect his design, he prepossessed the 
young emperor against the Latins, whom he had hitherto 
protected; and playing off the one party against the other, 
rendered both odious to the people, and fanned the flame 
of disaffection. Still, however, he retained the confidence 
of the young emperor, to whose person his office of great 
chamberlain gave him easy access. By this faithless minister 
Alexius was deluded into a dungeon ; and the insults which 
he suffered for some days, were terminated by a cruel death 
from the hand of Murtzuphlus himself. Isaac Angelussoon 
followed his unfortunate son to the grave; and as the osten¬ 
sible views of the traitor were popular, lie was immediately 
proclaimed emperor. 
On this shocking tragedy being acted, the French and 
Venetians, forgetting the cause of their complaints against 
Alexius, swore revenge against the perfidious Murtzuphlus 
and his adherents. Yet tbe doge, with the cool prudence of 
age, was disposed to negociate, if the usurper would sacri¬ 
fice the Greek church to the safety of the state; but this 
being refused, hostilities were resorted to on both sides. 
After various operations, attended with no decisive effects, 
the confederates at length had completed their preparations for 
a general 
