First Crusade - Page 9 of 21

Relations with Constantinople

Alexius Comnenus wanted warriors, but he wanted to control them himself and to employ them pursuing his goals, not theirs. The arrival of the People's Crusade had been unfortunate and embarassing, but the arrival of the real crusaders did not much impress the emperor, either.

The crusaders behaved badly, arguing with Byzantine merchants and getting into fights with the locals. They were loud, rude, demanding, and very well armed. Alexius needed them, but he found that he had to try to control them without angering them.

The sticking point came when Alexius insisted the crusaders swear an oath of allegiance to him. They lands they conquered that had been under Byzantine control were to be returned to him. Anyone gaining title to new lands were to become his vassals. If these barbarians were going to become his neighbors, he wanted to make sure they were not independent of Constantinople.

Most of the crusaders refused outright. The Greeks, they said, had lost their lands to the Turks. If the Franks won the lands from the Turks, then those lands would be Frankish by right of conquest. Negotiations were delicate if not always polite.

In the end, only Raymond of Toulouse took the oath, though Bohemond and others promised they would do so. The stay in Constantinople created a rift between the Greeks and the Franks that never fully healed. The Franks remained suspicious, the Greeks remained contemptuous, but both needed the other.

History of Western Civilization

Boise State University
Last Revised 17 August 1995