gaged in the investment of the place. After one of the longest and most costly sieges they ever carried on in Asia, the crusaders at last forced the place to capitulate, in spite of all the efforts of Saladin to render the garrison relief.

Richard and Philip. The arrogant and perfidious conduct of Richard led to an open quarrel between him and Philip. The latter determined to retire from the war rather than continue the enterprise in connection with so haughty and ungenerous a rival. Accordingly he returned to France. Such is the account of the matter as given by the French writers, while the English chroniclers declare that Philip's action was prompted solely by his jealousy of the superior military ability of the English king.

Richard and Saladin. The knightly adventures and chivalrous exploits which mark the career of Richard in the Holy Land, after the retirement of Philip from the field, read like a romance. Nor was the chief of the Mohammedans, the renowned Saladin, lacking in any of those knightly virtues with which the writers of the time invested the character of the English hero. About these two names gather very many of those tales of chivalric valor and honor with which the chroniclers of the crusades so liberally embellished this period of history.

Thus it is told that these two champions of the opposing faiths each held in such estimation the prowess and character of the other, that they frequently exchanged the most generous courtesies and knightly compliments. One was often a guest in the tent of the other. At one time when Richard was sick with a fever, Saladin, knowing that he was poorly supplied with delicacies, sent him a gift of the choicest fruits of the land. And on another occasion, Richard's horse having been killed in battle, the Sultan caused a fine Arabian steed to be led to the Christian camp as a present for his rival.

Richard's Captivity. For two years did Richard the Lionhearted contend in almost daily combat with his generous antagonist for the possession of the tomb of Christ. But the Christian hero was destined never to bow his knee at the shrine for the control

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of which he so valiantly battled. He finally concluded a truce of three years and eight months with Saladin, which provided that the Christians during that period should have free access to the holy places, and remain in undisturbed possession of the coast from Jaffa to Tyre.

Refusing even to look upon the city which he could not win with his sword, Richard now set out for home. But while traversing Germany in disguise, he was discovered and arrested by Leopold of Austria, for Richard had made the Duke, as well as many other princes, his implacable enemy by his imperious and overbearing disposition. Eventually he was given into the hands of Henry VI., the German Emperor, who was also Richard's enemy on account of some ill-treatment received at his hands. Henry cast his prisoner into a dungeon, and notwithstanding the outcry of all Europe that the champion of Christianity should suffer such treatment at the hands of a brother prince, refused to release him without an enormous ransom.

The English people, such was their hatred of John, the brother of Richard, who during his absence had virtually usurped the throne, and so great their admiration for the hero whose prowess had reflected such lustre upon English knighthood, set themselves to raise the sum demanded, even stripping the churches of their plate to make up the amount; and the lion-hearted crusader was at last set free, and finally reached England, where he was received with acclamations and unbounded joy.1

1 There is a story of somewhat doubtful authenticity which tells how Richard's place of imprisonment was discovered by a friend called Blondel, who traveled as a troubadour through Germany, seeking information as to where Richard was confined. Being told that a captive of rank was kept in a certain castle, he stationed himself beneath the window of the tower, and sang one of the couplets of a song composed by Richard and himself. Immediately Richard made response by singing the second couplet, and thus revealed himself to his friend.

The Crusaders bargain with the Venetians. None of the Crusades after the Third effected much in the Holy Land; either their force was spent before reaching it, or they were diverted from their purpose by different objects and ambitions. Among the most noted leaders of the Fourth Crusade was Baldwin IV., Count of Flanders, and Boniface II., Marquis of Montferrat, to which latter prince was assigned the chief command. It was determined to proceed by sea, and a contract was accordingly made with the Venetians for vessels and supplies for the voyage. But unfortunately the crusaders had promised to pay a larger sum than they were able to raise, and even after the nobles had generously given up their plate and ornaments, they still lacked a large amount.

The Venetians now proposed in lieu of money to accept the aid of the crusaders in punishing the recent revolt of the city of Zara in Dalmatia, upon the eastern shore of the Adriatic. The crusaders consented, being very ready to pay a debt by the loan of their swords. The Pope was very much angered that they should thus turn aside from the object of the expedition, and threatened them with all the thunders of the Church, but without effect. They rendered the proposed assistance, and thus discharged their obligation to the Venetians.

Capture of Constantinople by the Latins. An event which happened just at this time at Constantinople turned the faces of the crusaders towards that city instead of Jerusalem. A revolt had placed a usurper upon the Byzantine throne. The rightful claimant, Alexius, besought the aid of the Frankish warriors to regain the sceptre. As the champion of the unfortunate and wronged, the Christian knights listened favorably to the appeals of Alexius.

1 During the years 1195-1198 Henry VI. of Germany headed an army of German crusaders, which, before leading it to Palestine, he first employed in the conquest of Naples, and there sowed the seeds of future discord between that country and Germany. This expedition is sometimes reckoned as the fourth crusade, and thus the number increased to nine.

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His promises to aid them in the conquest of Jerusalem were also of great weight with them. The Venetians, in consideration of a share of the conquests that might be made, also joined their forces to those of the crusaders. The armament, consisting of over three hundred ships, bearing about forty thousand warriors, rounded the southern point of Greece, threaded the Ægean archipelago, and finally cast anchor within sight of Constantinople. The city was taken by storm, and Alexius was invested with the Imperial authority.

Scarcely was Alexius seated upon the throne, before the turbulent Greeks engaged in a revolt which resulted in his death. The crusaders, who seem by this time to have quite forgotten the object for which they had originally set out, now resolved to take possession of the capital, and set a Latin prince on the throne of Constantine. The determination was carried out. Constantinople was taken a second time by storm, and sacked, and Baldwin was crowned Emperor of the East.

Thus were the apprehensions of the Alexius who reigned at the time of the First Crusade realized; and thus did the Latins avenge themselves for a long succession of betrayals and atrocities on the part of the Greeks. A large portion of the provinces and cities of the Byzantine Empire that had not yet been torn away from it by the barbarians of Asia or Europe were now parcelled out among the Frankish knights, three eighths of the Empire, however, being reserved as the share of the Republic of Venice.

The Latin Empire thus established lasted only a little over half a century (1204-1261). The Greeks, at the end of this period, succeeded in regaining the throne, which they then held until the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453.

VI. THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE (1212).

During the interval between the Fourth and Fifth Crusades, the epidemical fanaticism that had so long agitated Europe seized upon the children, resulting in what is known as the Children's Crusade.

Nothing better illustrates the spirit of the times than this singular movement.

The preacher of this crusade was a child about twelve years of age, a peasant lad, named Stephen of Cloyes, from his birthplace near Orleans. The boy, who had a bright mind and a singularly sensitive spirit, appears to have been strangely stirred by what he heard and saw about him, — by the stories of the returned crusaders, the appeals of the preachers of a new crusade, and the mournful processions of the Church, symbolizing the captivity of Jerusalem. He brooded over these things until, like Joan of Arc, he was ready to see visions and hear voices. While in this frame of mind, he was visited by a priest, who represented that he was Jesus Christ, and commanded him to lead a crusade of children to the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre; assuring him that the victory which, on account of their pride and sins, had been withheld from the kings and princes who had hitherto engaged in the Holy Wars, would be granted to the children. To them would be given the honor of rescuing the sacred tomb from the hands of the infidels.

The child, fully believing that the stranger was a messenger from heaven, straightway set about the accomplishment of his commission. Repairing to the tomb of St. Denis, near Paris, a noted place of pilgrimage, he began to preach a children's crusade. In great amaze the pilgrims to the shrine crowded about the child preacher, listened with the greatest credulity to the story that he told of the appearance to him of the angel, and of the commission he had received, and became satisfied that God had indeed called the child.

A sort of frenzy now quickly overspread France and Germany, the children being the chief subjects of the contagion. Everywhere minor prophets, as they were called, sprang up, and imitated the preaching of Stephen. The children became wild with excitement. To the places appointed for rendezvous- Vendôme in France and Cologne in Germany-they flocked in vast crowds from all quarters. The greater number came from the homes of