brothers of the Queen, in which Gertrude herself appears to have
participated, they murdered her in her own palace, and her children
only escaped by the care and fidelity of their tutor. Their uncles
fled from the country, carrying with them a large amount of treasure
collected by Andrew, who bitterly complained of their ingratitude in a
letter to the holy see.

The King shortly afterward married the daughter of Peter of Courtenay,
Count of Auxerre, and made a vow to raise another crusade. The Latin
Emperor of Constantinople dying about this time, the choice of a
successor lay between the Hungarian King and his new father-in-law. It
fell upon Andrew, and he was invited to take possession of the
imperial crown, but was dissuaded from accepting the honor by Pope
Honorius, who had already crowned Peter emperor of the East. Peter was
opposed by Theodore Comnenus, by whom he was arrested and thrown into
a dungeon. The Pope appealed for assistance to Andrew, then on his way
to the Holy Land. Andrew accordingly proceeded to Acre, which he
reached after a long voyage, but his expedition partook more of a
pilgrimage than of a crusade. He was absent from Hungary four years,
and returned to find the whole kingdom in disorder, the treasury
emptied, and greedy prelates and magnates devouring the substance of
the people.

To replenish his treasury, Andrew appropriated the gold and jewels
left by the empress Constantia, whose death, which took place about
this time, prevented her establishing her claim. He further supplied
his own extravagance, by farming the taxes to Jews, deteriorating the
coin, mortgaging the domains belonging to the fortified castles, and
selling the crown lands to wealthy magnates.