of the Cross for the recovery or the
release of the Holy Sepulchre. The Greek emperors were terrified and
preserved by the myriads of pilgrims who marched to Jerusalem with
Godfrey of Bouillon (1095-99) and the peers of Christendom. The second
(1147) and the third (1189) crusades trod in the footsteps of the first.
Asia and Europe were mingled in a sacred war of two hundred years; and
the Christian powers were bravely resisted and finally expelled (1291)
by Saladin (1171-93) and the Mamelukes of Egypt.

In these memorable crusades a fleet and army of French and Venetians
were diverted from Syria to the Thracian Bosphorus; they assaulted the
capital (1203), they subverted the Greek monarchy; and a dynasty of
Latin princes was seated near three-score years on the throne of
Constantine.

During this period of captivity and exile, which lasted from 1204 to
1261, the purple was preserved by a succession of four monarchs, who
maintained their title as the heirs of Augustus, though outcasts from
their capital. The _de facto_ sovereigns of Constantinople during this
period, the Latin emperors of the houses of Flanders and Courtenay,
provided five sovereigns for the usurped throne. By an agreement between
the allied conquerors, the emperor of the East was nominated by the vote
of twelve electors, chosen equally from the French and Venetians. To
him, with all the titles and prerogatives of the Byzantine throne, a
fourth part of the Greek monarchy was assigned; the remaining portions
were equally snared between the republic of Venice and the barons of
France.

Under this agreement, Baldwin, Count of Flanders and Hainault, was
created emperor (1204-05). The idea of the Roman system, which, despite
the passage of centuries devoted to the triumphs of the barbarians, had
impressed itself on Europe, was seen in the emperor's letter to the
Roman pontiff, in which he congratulated him on the restoration of his
authority in the East.

The defeat and captivity of Baldwin in a war against the Bulgarians, and
his subsequent death, placed the crown on the head of his brother Henry
(1205-16). With him the imperial house of Flanders became extinct, and
Peter of Courtenay, Count of Auxerre (1217-19), assumed the empire of
the East. Peter was taken captive by Theodore, the legitimate sovereign
of Constantinople, and his sons Robert (1221-28) and Baldwin II.
(1228-37) reigned in succession. The gradual recovery of their empire by
the legitim