Ben- “Wherefore, miserable men, do you kill Christ’s people and mine? I have no quarrel with your Emperor.”
Maria- In addition to all of these conflicts while traversing the Byzantine Empire, the two sides also clearly had different expectations of the goal of the Crusade.
Ben- As Peter Holt describes it, “Alexius had no representative present to demand that the city should be handed over in accordance with the agreement.”
Michael- As a result, the Crusaders were free to take the land for themselves. They would end up creating various independent states, including the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the principality of Antioch, …show more content…
The Crusaders wanted riches, land, and salvation. The Byzantines wanted loyalty and conquered territory in Asia Minor. Crusaders were appalled to be asked to swear to a foreign emperor as they did not share the same ideology and did not want to give up land that they conquered with their own efforts.
Maria- As I remember, Anna Comnena describes relations as “uncompromising.”
Charlie- Naturally, with such negative views of each other emerging, there was no reconciliation in sight.
Maria- Correct Charlie. The Orthodox Church was so closely tied to the Byzantine Emperor that, since the Emperor was appalled by the behavior of the Westerners, so was the Church.
Michael- These mutually negative views that prevented reconciliation would be reaffirmed in 1101 when the newly established Crusader states would suffer a major defeat to the Turks while Westerners attempted to reinforce the armies defending this land.
Maria- That’s right! As presented in a German chronicle by Ekkehard of Aura, the Crusaders believed that
Ben- “the Byzantine Emperor had betrayed the Christians to the