d men on foot, exclusive of the priests, women, and
children. Gibbon is of opinion that this amount is exaggerated; but thinks
the actual numbers did not fall very far short of the calculation. The
Princess Anna afterwards gives the number of those under Godfrey of
Bouillon as eighty thousand foot and horse; and supposing that each of the
other chiefs led an army as numerous, the total would be near half a
million. This must be over rather than under the mark, as the army of
Godfrey of Bouillon was confessedly the largest when it set out, and
suffered less by the way than any other.

[Illustration: GODFREY DE BOUILLON.]

The Count of Vermandois was the first who set foot on the Grecian
territory. On his arrival at Durazzo he was received with every mark of
respect and courtesy by the agents of the emperor, and his followers were
abundantly supplied with provisions. Suddenly, however, and without cause
assigned, the count was arrested by order of the Emperor Alexius, and
conveyed a close prisoner to Constantinople. Various motives have been
assigned by different authors as having induced the emperor to this
treacherous and imprudent proceeding. By every writer he has been
condemned for so flagrant a breach of hospitality and justice. The most
probable reason for his conduct appears to be that suggested by Guibert of
Nogent, who states that Alexius, fearful of the designs of the Crusaders
upon his throne, resorted to this extremity in order afterwards to force
the count to take the oath of allegiance to him, as the price of his
liberation. The example of a prince so eminent as the brother of the king
of France, would, he thought, be readily followed by the other chiefs of
the Crusade. In the result he was wofully disappointed, as every man
deserves to be who commits positive evil that doubtful good may ensue. But
this line of policy accorded well enough with the narrowmindedness of the
emperor, who, in the enervating atmosphere of his highly civilised and
luxurious court, dreaded the influx of the hardy and ambitious warriors of
the West, and strove to nibble away by unworthy means the power which he
had not energy enough to confront. If danger to himself had existed from
the residence of the chiefs in his dominions, he might easily have averted
it, by the simple means of placing himself at the head of the European
movement, and directing its energies to their avowed object, the conquest
of the Holy Land. But the emperor,