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266 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. roughly as official and non-official writers. In the first class I have already stated that the graphic and singularly interest- ing account written, dictated, or revised by Yillehardouin takes the highest rank. The writer describes what he saw or heard. All the official accounts are open to the objection that they are the work of men who were either themselves leaders or were under the influence either of the leaders of the ex- pedition or of Philip of Swabia. They are all pleas of men writing for the defence. Their testimony is therefore not impartial, and may fairly be examined with suspicion. When they wrote, the crusade from which Europe had hoped so much had failed miserably in its object, had begun by destroy- ing a Christian city, and had ended by destroying a Christian instead of a Moslem state. The pope had indignantly con- demned the conduct of the Crusaders, and in doing so had probably expressed the opinion of the conscience of Western Europe. The writers in question had to explain the change of a crusade into a buccaneering expedition as best they could. The reason they assign for the diversion of the crusade to Zara, is, as we have seen, that many of the Crusaders having taken ship elsewhere or having refused to leave home, the number of those who reached Venice was far below that which the delegates had contracted for ; that the Venetians insisted upon their bargain, until at length they made a fair proposal by means of which the Crusaders would be able to pay the 34,000 marks which were still due to the republic under the contract for transport. These writers add that those who op- posed this proposal did so because they wished to break up the enterprise. The chief of them, Villehardouin, begins his excuses for the failure of the expedition with the departure of the Flemish fleet already mentioned. lie tells us that this fleet was a very fine one, was very well provided, and con- tained a great number of well-armed men. Baldwin of Flan- ders, however, did not go with it, but went overland to Ven- ice. The command of the fleet was given to Jan de Neele and two others.^ The pilgrims had great confidence in the ' Villehardouin, X.