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276 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. eric as liis successor. Philip, brother of Henry, on failing to Philip of have his nephew recognized, had succeeded in hav- swabia. ^^^ himsclf elected emperor by one party, while Otho of Brunswick had been selected by the Guelfs. The pope opposed the pretensions of Philip, and had carried his opposition to such an extent that in March, 1201, Pliilip had been excommunicated. The result to the pretender had been very serious. His subjects were absolved from their obedi- ence. Many nobles and ecclesiastical princes had withdrawn from or were waverino: in their alleo^iance. Others, like the Bishop of Halberstadt, had joined the crusade in order to avoid the necessity of choosing between their temporal and their spiritual lord. Philip was a delicate, fragile-looking man of the blond German type, whose appearance suggested weakness. The physical weakness, at least, was more apparent than real. He could hold his own in the manly pursuits of his time. He had been brought up by his father for the Church, and Iiad been carefully trained in the monastery of Adelsburg, founded by a vassal of the house of Hohenstaufen. His education or natural temper made him a narrow churchman, a man ready for intrigue and for persistent petty opposition — a man, too, full of ambition. His great chance of recover- ing influence was to show that, notwithstanding the pope, he could hold his own. If in so doing he could thwart the great object of the pontiff's life, not only would he have suc- ceeded in triumphing over his rival, but he might expect that those who had deserted him would return to their alle- giance. The arrival of messengers from Alexis corresponding with the collection of the crusadino: army appears at a His ambition. , . , . ° -i i . i very early period to have suggested the idea to Philip that the crusade might be made use of, under the pre- text at least of assisting his brother-in-law. Philip had, how- ever, selfish reasons which disposed him to help young Alexis. He seems to have persuaded himself that he had a right to the imperial throne of the East through his wife, and one of his dreams was that it might be possible to unite the two em-