(Gilles, AD 1550) as sighted in A Tale of Three Cities by Bettany Hughes wrote that ‘though all other cities have their period of government and are subject to the decays of time, Constantinople alone seems to claim a …show more content…
With the Seijuk Turks of central Asia bearing down on Constantinople, Emperor Alexius I turned to the West for help, resulting in the declaration of “holy war” by Pope Urban II at Clermont (France) that began the First Crusade (Livius, 2011). As armies from France, Germany, and Italy poured into Byzantium, Alexius tried to force their leaders to swear an oath of loyalty to him in order to guarantee that land regained from the Turks would be restored to his empire After Western and Byzantine forces recaptured Nicaea in Asia Minor from the Turks, Alexius and his army retreated, drawing accusations of betrayal from the Crusaders (Livius,