Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantium and the Crusades

The First Crusade and Byzantium 

Page 16

For Byzantium, the problem of a crusade did not exist in the eleventh century. Neither on the part of the masses nor of the Emperor himself did there exist religious enthusiasm, nor were there any preachers of a crusade. For Byzantium the political problem of saving the Empire from its eastern and northern enemies had nothing to do with the far-off expedition to the Holy Land. The Eastern Empire had witnessed crusades of her own. There had been the brilliant and victorious expeditions of Heraclius against Persia in the seventh century, when the Holy Land and the Holy Cross were restored to the Empire. Then there had been the victorious campaigns under Nicephorus Phocas, John Tzimisces, and Basil II against the Arabs in Syria when the Emperors definitely planned to regain possession of Jerusalem. This plan had not been realized, and Byzantium, under the menacing pressure of the overwhelming Turkish successes in Asia Minor in the eleventh century, had given up all hope of recovering the Holy Land. For Byzantium the Palestine problem at that time was too abstract; it was not connected with the vital interests of the Empire. In 1090-91 the Empire was on the verge of ruin, and when Alexius asked for western auxiliary troops, and was answered by the coming of crusaders, his motive was to save the Empire. In Alexius Muses, written in iambic meter and supposed to be a sort of political will to his son and heir, John, there are these interesting lines about the First Crusade:

Do you not remember what has happened to me? Do you fail to think of and take into account the movement of the West to this country, the result of which is to be that all-powerful time will disgrace and dishonor the high sublimity of New Rome, and the dignity of the throne! Therefore, my son, it is necessary to take thought for accumulating enough to fill the open mouths of the barbarians, who breathe out hatred upon us, in case there rises up the force of a numerous army hurling lightnings angrily against us, at the same time many of our enemies encircling our city rebell.

With this fragment from Alexius Muses one may compare the following passage from Anna Comnenas Alexiad, also on the First Crusade:

And such an upheaval of both men and women took place then as had never occurred within human memory; the simpler-minded were urged on by the real desire of worshipping at our Lords Sepulchre, and visiting the sacred places, but the more astute, especially men like Bohemond and those of like mind, had another secret reason, namely, the hope that while on their travels they might by some means be able to seize the capital itself, finding a pretext for this.

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Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/vasilief/first-crusade.asp?pg=16