Memoirs or Chronicle of the Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of Constantinople by Geoffroi de Villehardouin
page 67 of 186 (36%)
page 67 of 186 (36%)
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ENTRY OF THE CRUSADERS INTO CONSTANTINOPLE - CORONATION OF THE YOUNG ALEXIUS Then did the barons mount their horses, and led the young man, with great rejoicings, into the city, to his father; and the Greeks opened the gate to him, and received him with very much rejoicing and great feasting. The joy of the father and of the son was very great, because of a long time they had not seen one another, and because, by God's help and that of the pilgrims, they had passed from so great poverty and ruin to such high estate. Therefore the joy was great inside Constantinople; and also without, among the host of the pilgrims, because of the honour and victory that God had given them. And on the morrow the emperor and his son also besought the counts and the barons, for God's sake, to go and quarter themselves on the other side of the straits, toward Estanor and Galata; for, if they quartered themselves in the city, it was to be feared that quarrels would ensue between them and the Greeks, and it might well chance that the city would be destroyed. And the counts and barons said that they had 48 already served him in so many ways that they would not now refuse any request of his. So they went and quartered themselves on the other side, and sojoumed there in peace and quiet, and with great store of good provisions. Now you must know that many of those in the host went to see Constantinople, and the rich palaces and great churches, of which there were many, and all the great wealth of the city-for never was |
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