He was an upstart in epicureanism, and it is therefore not strange that he followed the recent and abominable12 practice of taking a child to wife. An earlier wife, of whom he had a son named Alexis and two daughters, had died, and, when he came to the throne, there was the customary scanning of the lists of royal families in order to secure an Empress. His choice fell on the nine-year-old daughter of Bela, King of Hungary, and the wondering maiden13 was brought to Constantinople by his resplendent officers and eunuchs and prepared for the impressive ceremonies of an imperial marriage. The tender little Margaret became the Empress Maria, and was entrusted14 to the care of the troop of strange beings whom she would learn to call her eunuchs. She would239 not be old enough to know that Isaac provoked a dangerous revolt at once by imposing15 the cost of his marriage on the overburdened provinces: or to perceive that the vast aggregation16 of palaces had, for the first time in Byzantine history, been looted by the mob. Isaac had ignobly17 lingered in the Blachern? palace while the people of Constantinople, after despatching Andronicus, had wandered through the imperial apartments and stolen all the money and portable treasures they contained. One pious18 looter had even carried off the autograph letter of Christ to King Abgar. But Isaac, as soon as his throne was secure, repented19 of his liberality, and, by means of extortion and spoliation and adulteration of the coinage, contrived21 even to surpass the luxury and parade of his predecessor22.
Maria will not interest us until, in her womanhood, she begins to encounter the adventures of a fallen Empress, and one or two anecdotes24 will serve to describe the kind of life she endured during the ten years’ reign25 (1185–1195) of her husband. Isaac was a florid-faced, red-haired young man with imperial appetites. His banquets consisted, Nicetas says, of “a mountain of bread, a forest of game, a sea of fishes and an ocean of wine,” at which he sat, richly perfumed and clothed with the conscious gorgeousness of a peacock, amidst a crowd of female relatives, and other females who were not relatives. When the dishes were removed, the choicest mimes26 and conjurers and musicians of the Empire were summoned to entertain him and his guests. It is narrated27 that one famous comedian28, when he was for the first time admitted into the presence of this cohort of wine-flushed ladies, bowed to the Emperor and said: “Let us make the acquaintance of these first, and then you may bring the rest.”
Nearly his whole reign was filled by a great revolt of the Wallachians and Bulgarians, and in 1195 he set out to take the field in person against them. One day he rode out from the camp to hunt, and had not proceeded240 far when he heard an alarming tumult30 in his rear. He found that his brother Alexis, who had astutely31 awaited his opportunity, was being acclaimed33 Emperor, and, without a struggle, he galloped34 across the country. He was captured, blinded and imprisoned35; and his young wife now gives place to a more interesting type of Empress. Maria remained in Constantinople, and will re-enter the story presently.
Euphrosyne Duc?na—that is to say, Euphrosyne of the famous Ducas family, into which some ancestor of hers had married—was an energetic and ambitious woman of middle age at the time of her accession. Her father, Gregory Camaterus, had been an imperial secretary, and had taken advantage of his favoured position to marry into the nobility. Euphrosyne must have been born some time before 1150, in the reign of Manuel, and have witnessed the later series of revolutions and assassinations36. In time she married the elder brother of Isaac Angelus, a provincial37 noble of no distinction or wealth, and, during the bloody38 reign of Andronicus, Alexis had taken refuge among the Turks. Even whole populations gladly put themselves under the Turks or Saracens to escape the vices39 of their Christian40 rulers. We cannot, however, say if Euphrosyne accompanied her husband or remained in Constantinople. At last Alexis heard the strange news that his brother was on the throne, and he hastened to Constantinople. He was arrested on the way by the Prince of Antioch, ransomed41 by Isaac, and promoted to high office and wealth. He was a more energetic, more handsome and superficially more attractive man than his younger brother, but his slender list of virtues42 did not include gratitude44.
He had communicated to Euphrosyne, if not received from her, his design of seizing the crown, and she threw herself ardently45 into the work of preparing the city. She was a woman of great ability, of persuasive46 tongue, and still not without beauty; and it was not difficult to persuade Senators and priests that Isaac was a disgrace to241 the purple. Her own husband was little, if at all, better, but he had the advantage of an imposing exterior47 and of concealing48 his real character. When a messenger reached her with the news that Alexis was declared, she bribed49 a priest to proclaim him from the pulpit of the cathedral, and promised heavy rewards to the nobles who would support him. Alexis himself was following the same line of lavishing50 offices (even if they had to be created) and money on his supporters. As a result Euphrosyne was able to occupy the palace almost without opposition51, and the Senators hastened to kiss her slippers52 and lie at her feet, while she “stroked the bellies53 of the pigs,” in the scornful language of Nicetas, who was a Court official of the time—on the wrong side. She announced that the new Emperor would adopt the name of Comnenus, instead of Angelus. It was an indiscretion, as the artisans of the city said that they had had enough of the Comneni, and met in the Forum54 to place a crown on the head of a popular astrologer of the hour. But Euphrosyne sent a troop of her obedient nobles to scatter55 the rabble56 and their king, and in a few days welcomed Alexis to his golden throne. People shook their heads, however, when, as Alexis came out of St Sophia wearing the crown, his fiery57 Arab at first refused to let him mount, and then plunged58 so violently that the crown fell off and was broken.
The people of Constantinople soon discovered that they had exchanged brother for brother. Alexis emptied the war-chest, which Isaac had at length filled, into the pockets of his supporters, leaving the Bulgarians and other foes59 to raid the provinces. He hastened to don the gorgeous golden robes, and to restore the opulent banquets and merry parties of his predecessor, and soon “knew no more about the cares of his Empire than the inhabitants of Thule.” Euphrosyne is said to have equalled him in luxury and display, but she had some idea of statesmanship. She promptly60 undertook to rule the Empire, and we can well believe that, even when she242 incurs61 the censure62 of Nicetas for going about in a golden litter borne on the shoulders of distinguished63 nobles, she was acting64 from policy. She ignored her husband, overruled his decrees, placed her own relatives in office, and had her own lovers. When important ambassadors were to be received, she had her throne placed beside that of the Emperor, and Senators had to visit and pay homage65 at her palace as well as at that of Alexis. Her husband was happy in his imperial lake of luxury, and for a time took no notice. If a noble offered him a sum of money for the office of ploughing the sand he accepted it cheerfully. Euphrosyne, however, forbade the selling of offices, and made a sincere effort to arrest that diversion of funds from public purposes which had been wasting the blood of the Empire for centuries.
Her integrity as a ruler soon excited the hostility67 of the vicious nobles, and a struggle began which makes it difficult for us to judge certain aspects of the character of Euphrosyne. The rule at Constantinople was to impeach68 the morals of an Empress when her public virtue43 was beyond question, and this the angry nobles proceeded to do. She had ventured to appoint a first minister on the mere69 ground of ability, and her brother Basil, her son-in-law and other nobles plotted to restrict her power. They approached Alexis and whispered that Euphrosyne was criminally intimate with a handsome young officer named Vatatzes, and that he might before long find his throne occupied by her paramour.
Nicetas, who was at the Court, has clearly no doubt about the liaison70, and we must admit that Euphrosyne’s family is not distinguished for asceticism71. Her youngest daughter, Eudocia, had been married in 1185 to the King of Servia, and had, after a few years, been driven from the Court, naked, for her misconduct, and brought back in shame to Constantinople. Euphrosyne’s brother Basil, who owed his office to her, was her chief accuser. Alexis, at all events, was convinced. He sent for the head of Vatatzes, who was in Bithynia at the time, and, when it243 was brought, addressed it, says Nicetas, “in words which cannot be included in this history.” Euphrosyne trembled, and appealed to her courtiers to intercede72. Alexis had gone to Thrace for a time, and he returned to find the Court divided into two parties over the affair. Some said that she was guilty; some were for punishing the libellers.
He went with Euphrosyne to the Blachern? palace, and his dark demeanour and refusal to sleep with her made her fear that her head would be the next to fall. She therefore demanded a trial of the charge, but Alexis merely handed her maids and eunuchs to the official torturer, and they could only obtain release from their horrible sufferings by declaring her guilty. Alexis was not normally a cruel man; very little blood was shed in his reign. But the suggestion that Euphrosyne meditated73 taking from him his throne and his splendid pleasures alarmed him. He stripped her of her gold and purple, dressed her in the rough tunic74 of a common prostitute, and handed her to two barbaric slaves to be conveyed to the Nematorea monastery75, near the entrance to the Black Sea. There, guarded by two uncivilized slaves who could hardly speak Greek, she looked back with bitterness on the two or three years of power and the ingratitude76 of her brother and son-in-law. But Constantinople pitied her, or at least despised her opponents. Basil and Andronicus were assailed77 in the street with jeers78 and popular songs, and began to repent20. They had not, they pleaded, imagined that the luxurious79 Emperor had energy enough to take such a step; they had wished only to restrict the power of Euphrosyne. They and others now pleaded with the Emperor to reconsider his decision, and, after a solitary80 confinement81 of six months, Euphrosyne returned in triumph to the palace and wielded82 more power than ever. It is pleasant to read that Alexis found himself incapable83 of ruling without her judicious84 aid; and that she took no vengeance85 whatever on her accusers.
244 In the following year Alexis fell seriously ill, and the question of successor was opened. He suffered much from gout and despised physicians. Unfortunately his own ideas of medical treatment were much more crude than those of the doctors of the time. He ordered his servants to cauterize86 his gouty limbs with red-hot irons, and passed into a dangerous condition. As he had no sons, a wide field was opened for competitors, owing to the abominable Byzantine system, which knew neither the hereditary87 principle nor serious election, and the palace was enlivened by the intrigues89 of a score of aspirants90. None of them seemed to have the faintest suspicion that the Byzantine Empire was within five years of its first destruction. However, to Euphrosyne’s relief, Alexis recovered, and, as the earlier husbands of his elder daughters died (Eudocia was still in Servia), they were wedded92 to distinguished nobles, and the year ended with prolonged gaieties at the Blachern? palace.
A long absence of the Emperor in Thrace left the supreme93 power in the hands of Euphrosyne, and, as so many Byzantine women had done, she held the reins94 with a firmer and more skilful95 hand than her husband. The only defect noted96 by the censorious Nicetas is that she was lenient97 to members of her own family. Fraudulent officials she punished with a severity that was rarely witnessed in the East, but the admiral Michael Stryphnus, who had married her sister, was permitted to indulge criminal malpractices, for which the Empire would soon pay a heavy price. He sold even the stores and equipment of the existing galleys98, and they rotted in the harbours, while pirates spread terror throughout the Mediterranean99 and the Black Sea. These were not crimes at which the short-sighted Emperor could cavil100. Not only did he cheat his people by creating and selling sinecures101, but he resorted to practices which amounted to piracy102. He once sent six galleys of the fleet into the Black Sea for the ostensible103 purpose of salving a wreck104, but with secret orders to board and loot every vessel105 they245 met. Large numbers of mercantile galleys were returning with cargoes106 from the Black Sea ports, often in charge of the merchants themselves, some of whom were flung overboard for resisting. The others returned to Constantinople in great anger, and, although they stood at the door of St Sophia, candle in hand, when the Emperor came to pray, he merely laughed at their complaints. From the clergy107 such sufferers received little sympathy; the patriarch was a brother of Euphrosyne. The city was full of violence and knavery108: the seas were scoured109 by pirates: the remoter provinces were ground between the imperial tax-gatherers and the foreign raiders.
Yet in this melancholy110 putrescence of the once mighty111 Empire Alexis and Euphrosyne maintained all the glamour112 of the imperial Court. Euphrosyne is the only Empress whom we find engaging in the chase as the Emperors did. Nicetas describes her setting out amid large companies of nobles, a falcon113 resting on her gold-embroidered glove, or a kennel114 of dogs rushing at her virile115 call. It is even said that she believed in, and practised, the incantations and divinations which had become generally popular among the decaying people. Her magic seems to have taken some unfamiliar116 form, since she had the snout cut off a famous bronze boar in the Hippodrome, had a beautiful marble statue of Hercules flogged, and ordered mutilations of other works of art that reminded Constantinople of better days. She seems to have been an able and well-disposed woman tainted117 by the perversity118 of her age.
The Empire was sinking rapidly, living on its capital, yet suffering the roads and bridges and forts to fall to ruin, the helpless provinces to writhe119 under the heel of every invader120, and the funds that should have been spent on defence to be wasted in courtly luxury and the maintenance of a crowd of ignoble121 parasites122. An anecdote23 of the time (about the year 1200) shows to what an extraordinary degree the funds had been diverted from246 the army. There was in Constantinople a descendant of the Comneni who, from his barrel-like shape, went by the name of John the Fat. This paltry123 and contemptible124 conspirator125 won a few followers126 among the nobility, went with them into the cathedral, and put upon his own head one of the imperial crowns that hung over the altar. The report ran through the city and a great crowd assembled and conducted the waddling127 and perspiring128 John to the palace. Alexis and Euphrosyne seem to have been at Blachern?, or in one of the Asiatic palaces, but the strange thing is that there seem to have been no guards whatever, where former Emperors had kept whole regiments129 of Scholarians and Excubitors or, at the later date, Varangians. We know that there were still Varangians in the imperial service, but they seem to have been too few to defend the numerous palaces. However, John the Fat had not wit or grit66 enough to secure the palace when he had entered, and, as darkness came on, a few imperial soldiers penetrated130 to his apartments and killed him.
At length, in the year 1202, the Empire passed into the penumbra131 of its great tragedy. Isaac II., the younger brother whom Alexis had displaced and blinded, had lived in Constantinople, in a humble132 mansion133 near the shore, during the seven years that followed his deposition134, and was regarded with so little concern that no watch was kept upon his movements. It was not noticed that the Latin soldiers who lived in, or constantly passed through, Constantinople were frequent visitors at his house, and it was not known that the letters he wrote to his daughter Irene, who had married Philip of Germany, were treasonable in their import. But the blind and neglected brother was dreaming of a return to his imperial debauches. It is probable that Maria, who would now be a comely135 young woman of sixteen, lived with him, but of that we are not assured; she was somewhere in Constantinople. At length the time seemed ripe for his effort, and he sent his son Alexis, a youth as ardently247 and unscrupulously bent136 on returning to power as he, to the Court of Philip and Irene in Sicily.
It was the eve of the fourth Crusade, and the knights137 of the West were gathering138 for a fresh effort to break the power of the Turk, and to gather loot by the way. To these noble buccaneers the Emperor Philip introduced the young Alexis and proposed that they should restore him and his father to their throne. Neither East nor West attracts our sympathy for a moment. The Angeli brothers were squabbling for the right to indulge their sordid139 tastes on an imperial scale, and the younger Alexis had no more serious ideal. The Venetians, who had an important voice in the matter, sought their own profit and a discharge of their debts, and there can be little doubt that the Western knights, as a body, were allured140 by the vague hope of plundering141, in one way or another, the richest and most splendid city in Europe. An infamous142 bargain was struck. The princes of Western chivalry143 did not hesitate to accept from the frivolous144 and irresponsible youth a promise of the payment of 200,000 silver marks, a year’s supply of provisions to their troops and other preposterous145 rewards for dethroning Alexis. Even the papacy had its share in the sordid bargain; the Greek Church was to be forced to submit to the Vatican.
In the month of April (1203) the fourth Crusade set sail in one hundred and seventy large vessels146, and some smaller ships, for Constantinople. Alexis awoke from his dreams to find that a score of worn triremes was all the navy he possessed147, and he must resign himself to meet a siege of his capital. The vivid story of the fall of Constantinople cannot be told here. Toward the end of June the Crusaders landed near Chalcedon and gazed with covetous148 eyes, most of them for the first time, at the innumerable spires149 of churches—schismatical churches, and therefore fair prey—that rose above the clustered houses, the princely villas150 that shone between the cypresses151 in the wealthier suburbs, and the bronze248 roofs and marble walls of the superb palaces which glittered in the sun among the vast imperial gardens on either side of the Sea of Marmora. When the news of their sailing had reached Alexis he had made it a table joke; now he and his trembled within the walls of their capital. By the middle of July the Crusaders were encamped outside the land walls; the Venetians lay beneath the walls which girt the shores; and the great assault began. Alexis, from a tower of the Blachern? palace, saw the double-edged axes of the brave English Varangians scatter the Germans and Italians, but he learned that the Venetians had broken in. Packing his treasures and his money, he took ship at dawn of the following day, with his daughter Irene, and fled to Thrace, where a retreat had been prudently152 prepared for such an emergency. George Acropolites, whose chronicle now opens, says that he took Euphrosyne, but Nicetas, an eyewitness153, more correctly observes that the imperial egoist deserted154 his wife, his city and his Empire.
In their anger at the flight of Alexis the people now swept aside Euphrosyne and her relatives, and turned to Isaac, for whom the eunuch-treasurer secured the Varangians. He was brought to the palace and proclaimed, and Euphrosyne, her discredited155 daughter, Eudocia, and other relatives, were put in confinement. The Latins were informed that the object of their expedition had been attained156, and when Isaac had ratified157 the preposterous contract signed by his son, the young Alexis rode proudly into the city between Baldwin of Flanders, almost the one noble of the crusading party, and the blind, but astute32 and formidable, Doge of Venice. One of the Latin knights, Villehardouin, has left us a vivid narrative158 of the conquest, and enlightened us as to the fate of some of the imperial women we have encountered. When the Latins entered the Blachern? palace they found the eyeless monarch8 sitting on his golden throne in robes “the like of which you would seek in vain throughout the world.” By his side sat the “most fair249 lady,” Maria, who, we may therefore conclude, had faithfully clung to her husband in his blindness and humiliation159. And amongst the crowd of fine ladies, superbly dressed and glittering with jewels, who stood about the throne, was Agnes, or Anna, the beautiful and pathetic widow of the Emperor Alexis, the Emperor Andronicus, and the would-be Emperor Branas. She was still only thirty years old. Her presence in the palace suggests that she had accepted some office in it under Isaac and Maria.
But the joy and confidence of the returning throng160 were doomed161 to be speedily overcast162. The end was merely postponed163 for a month or two. The Empire had, in its most solemn crisis, received a worthless and despicable pair of rulers, and the Latins pressed for their pound of flesh. Isaac, blind, gouty and weak-minded, spent his days among monks and astrologers, who, while they devoured164 the choicest dishes that the palace could afford, assured him that he had entered upon a long and glorious reign, that his gout would quickly disappear, and that his eyes would be miraculously165 restored to their arid166 sockets167. The younger Alexis drank and gambled with the experienced knights of the fourth Crusade. When the leaders of the Crusade pressed for the payment of their reward, all the wealth of Euphrosyne and her relatives was confiscated—Alexis had left little to seize—the jewels and plate of the palaces were pledged, even the precious reliquaries of the churches and monasteries168 and the great silver lamps of St Sophia were appropriated; yet the jaws169 of the West still stood wide open, and the Latin troops lingered and demanded food and drink. The fugitive170 Alexis had, in the meantime, raised an army in Thrace, and the citizens of Constantinople were embittered171 and disaffected172. In August a quarrel with some of Baldwin’s soldiers had led to a conflagration173 which, it being the height of summer, had burned for two days and destroyed nearly half the city. The clergy and people met in the cathedral to appoint a new Emperor, but,250 though some undistinguished officer afterwards accepted the title from the mob, no serious aspirant91 dare take the crown in face of the hostile Latins.
Isaac died in the midst of the turmoil174, and the young Empress Maria lost her crown almost as soon as she had received it. We shall see presently that she found consolation175 among the Crusaders, but it is necessary first to follow the adventurous176 fortune of Euphrosyne and her daughter. The young Alexis, distracted and feeble as ever, proposed to leave the city and join the Westerners in their camp without the walls. As he prepared for flight there came to him a fiery and ambitious young officer who felt that the time was opportune177 for laying his own hand on the sacred crown. Alexis Ducas Murtzuphlus—his last name, or nickname, was due to the fact that he had a peculiar178 connexion of the bushy eyebrows179 which stood out over his crafty180 eyes—was one of the party in the city who, to the applause of the crowd, urged direct war upon the Latins, and his popularity emboldened181 him to remove Alexis and ally himself with Euphrosyne. By a liberal outlay182 of money he secured the Varangian guards, and he then approached Alexis and whispered to him that his leaning to the Latins had exasperated183 the citizens. When Alexis trembled, the adventurer offered to lodge184 him in a secure retreat until the rage of the people should have calmed. It is hardly necessary to add that the young Emperor was conducted to one of the dungeons185 of the palace, where his egregious186 folly187 was presently ended with a bowstring.
Euphrosyne and her daughter were now delivered from their confinement and restored to the palace, and, as Murtzuphlus had the characteristic looseness of his age in regard to conjugal188 matters—he had already discarded two wives—he soon sought and obtained the affection of Eudocia. The contemporary courtier and writer Nicetas says that Eudocia was merely his mistress, but others say that he married Eudocia and it is difficult, as the sequel will show, to determine the point. Probably he251 did, after a time, marry Euphrosyne’s daughter, and he then set to work to defend the city against the Crusaders. The issue is one of the great pages of history, but its details do not concern us. On 9th April the Latins moved their formidable rams189 and catapults and towers against the walls, and the Venetians drew up their vessels along the Golden Horn. Three days later, after a furious assault, amid showers of mighty stones and the blaze of burning houses, the heroes of the cross burst into the city and began that historic ravage190 which puts them for all time far below the moral level of the Turks they had set out to combat.
Murtzuphlus, finding his troops discouraged, had retired191 to the Bucoleon palace, where Euphrosyne and Eudocia awaited the issue. He had lost, he said; and from the palace quay192, where the stone lion and bull, which gave the place its name, had witnessed so many flights, they took ship and sped in the direction of Thrace. The ex-Emperor Alexis would surely welcome his wife and daughter, and he would feel little tenderness in regard to the murder of his perfidious193 nephew. Murtzuphlus arrived in confidence at the ex-Emperor’s new home, and was received in apparent friendliness194. For some reason, however, which is not very clear, Alexis concealed195 under his friendly appearance a deadly and murderous hatred196 of the adventurer. It seems to me that, if a marriage had really taken place between Eudocia and Murtzuphlus, Alexis regarded it as invalid197. He ordered a bath to be prepared for his daughter and Murtzuphlus, and, when the young officer had entered it, sent in his servants to put out his eyes. Eudocia, we are told, stood at the door angrily upbraiding198 her father, and he turned upon her with language which leaves little doubt as to her character. I may add that the blind adventurer was captured by the Latins, as he wandered miserably199 about the provinces. He was taken to Constantinople and flung from the top of one of the loftiest columns in one of the public squares of the city.
252 In order to follow the further fortunes of our ex-Empresses we must turn back for a moment to Constantinople. After they had allowed their soldiers to loot and rape200 with impunity—to perpetrate, with the aid of their camp-followers and prostitutes, a veritable orgy of desecration201 in the most sacred shrine202 of the Greeks—for several days, the leaders of the Crusade met to divide the spoil. Twelve electors, chosen from amongst themselves, were in future to appoint the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, and its territories were to be distributed among his feudal203 supporters and the Venetians. Baldwin of Flanders was chosen to be the first Emperor of the new series. His most serious competitor was the commander of the army, Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat, who had occupied the Bucoleon palace, but the shrewd Doge of Venice had preferred to set on the throne a prince whose native seat was at a safer distance from Venice and Greece. Boniface had to be content with the title of King of Saloniki and such territory in Macedonia and Greece as he could wrest204 from, and hold against, the Greeks.
Among the noble dames205 whom Boniface found in the Bucoleon palace were Agnes, the widow of Andronicus and daughter of Louis of France, and Maria, the widow of Isaac. It is the last appearance in the chronicles of the unfortunate daughter of King Louis; we must assume that she spent the rest of her life in quiet attachment206 to the Latin Court. The Hungarian princess Maria was destined207 to enter once more the field of royal ambitions. She had not yet reached her thirtieth year, and her beauty won the heart, possibly an alliance with her supported the policy, of the ambitious Marquis. He married Maria in Constantinople, and started with his queen for Thessalonica, the seat of the new kingdom. How at the outset he nearly forfeited208 it by a civil war with Baldwin must be read elsewhere. The quarrel was adjusted and they settled in Thessalonica. And at their Court in that city there presently appeared the ex-Emperor253 Alexis, with his wife and daughter, soliciting209 peace and friendship.
Alexis had now concluded that the recovery of the Byzantine Empire was impossible and he was prepared to submit. He was compelled to lay aside such ensigns of royalty210 as he still wore, and a pleasant residence was afforded him and his family in Thessalonica. Nicetas makes the singular statement (followed at a later date by Ephraem) that Boniface sent Alexis and Euphrosyne “across the sea to the Prince of Germany.” It is clear that this is incorrect. They lived for some months at Thessalonica, and it is one of the few traits we have of Maria’s character that she received with kindly211 hospitality the man who had deposed212 and blinded her husband. But the tranquil213 life of a retired monarch did not suit Alexis, and we have already seen that his base character was devoid214 of gratitude. He was detected in an intrigue88 with the citizens of Thessalonica, and Euphrosyne and Eudocia had to accompany him once more in his wandering.
The next page in their career is singularly adventurous, but scantily215 preserved. As they wandered over the Greek province they met Leo Sgurus, a Peloponnesian noble who had been governor, under the Byzantine Empire, of part of Greece. He clung to his little power in the chaos216 which followed the fall of Constantinople, and Alexis decided217 to join him. The troops of Boniface were steadily218 restricting his range, and, shortly after the alliance with him of the imperial family, his life was little better than that of a brigand219. He lived in the decaying old citadel220 of Corinth, and marched out periodically at the head of his men to forage221 and to harass222 the Latin troops. In this quaint29 home the imperial family found shelter for a few further months, and Eudocia married Sgurus. It was the fourth romantic marriage of that adventurous princess, and was destined to be as unfortunate as its predecessors223. In her early girlhood she had been sent, while still immature224, to wed11 the King of254 Servia. He had adopted the robe of the monk6 soon afterwards, and his son and successor, a fiery, brutal225 youth, had claimed the pretty young bride of his father and married her. After some years she had, on a charge of misconduct, been thrust out of the Servian capital, her sole garment a narrow strip of cloth round her loins, and had had to await, in the castle of a sympathetic noble, the arrival of clothes and a litter from her father. Then, as we saw, she married the already married Murtzuphlus, and shared his adventures for a few months. Now she found herself the wife of an outlaw226, living in the rude and dilapidated chambers227 of the old Acropolis. But Sgurus was shortly afterwards captured by the troops of Boniface, and we lose sight of the unfortunate Eudocia. She was probably still in her early twenties, yet the widow of two kings, an Emperor, and an adventurer. Such was life in medi?val Byzantium.
Alexis and Euphrosyne took to ship when Sgurus was defeated, and sailed for ?tolia and Epirus (on the eastern coast of the Adriatic), where a certain Michael, a natural son of the Emperor’s uncle Constantine, had set up a sovereignty over the rude mountaineers and few towns of that isolated228 region. On the voyage the ship was captured by Lombard pirates, but Alexis and Euphrosyne were ransomed by their nephew, and at length reached Arta, the chief town of his dominion229. The Byzantine world was at the time full of small rulers, and would-be rulers. The leading Crusaders had received their various slices of the dismembered Empire, and here and there some fugitive Byzantine noble, especially if he were connected with the imperial house, had set up a small throne and defended it against the Latins. In this way Michael, the illegitimate son of Constantine Angelus, had fled from the captured city to Epirus, married a native lady of wealth, and constituted himself “despot” of the whole region. In his chief town, Arta, Euphrosyne tranquilly230 passed her last year or two of life. Her restless husband still thirsted for power, and, when he255 found that his nephew was not at all disposed to put on his head once more the crown which he demanded, he took to ship again and sailed for the lands of the Turk in Asia Minor231. Euphrosyne did not accompany him. She died at Arta, either just before or soon after his departure. Ten years’ experience of imperial life had sated her ambition.
The ex-Empress Maria, now Queen of Saloniki, continued for many years to enjoy the restricted power and state which she had won by her marriage, but they were years of anxiety and care. Two years after her settlement in Thessalonica, the Greeks rebelled and, in alliance with the Bulgarians, spread fire and sword over the province, and pinned Maria in the citadel of her capital. In that rebellion the Latin Emperor Baldwin was captured, and his brother and successor, Henry of Flanders, occupied the throne. Some years later Boniface was killed in his struggle against the Bulgarians, and Maria became regent for her infant son, Demetrius. It is the last glance we have in the chronicles of the beautiful Margaret of Hungary, who, as the Empress Maria, had come to spend so extraordinary a youth in the Byzantine capital.
There remained one other imperial daughter of Euphrosyne, Anna, who had married the able and ambitious noble Theodore Lascaris. When Murtzuphlus had abandoned Constantinople, Theodore had a momentary232 ambition to collect the scattered233 troops and make a struggle for the throne. He found that the attempt would be futile234, and, with his wife and three daughters, joined the throng of noble families at the quays235 who were flying from the doomed city and the barbarous troops of the West. They reached Nic?a, but the city, concerned about its future, refused to admit him. He persuaded the citizens, however, to receive his wife and daughters, and departed to seek allies among the Persians. In a short time he had an army powerful enough to take Nic?a, and he established himself as governor in the256 name of Alexis. When, in the year 1206, the Latins were diverted for a moment by the trouble in Greece, Theodore was crowned by the citizens, and Euphrosyne’s second daughter, Anna, attained the dignity of Empress.
Disappointed in Epirus, her father, Alexis, had now, as we saw, deserted the little kingdom of his nephew and sailed for Asia Minor. In earlier years he had befriended the Turkish Sultan of Iconium, and he now proposed to ask the hospitality of the Sultan and intrigue for the crown of his son-in-law. The Turk received him with great cordiality, and wrote to inform the Emperor Theodore that his father-in-law, in whose name he was presumed to hold power, had arrived in Asia. We must not too hastily admire the gratitude of the Turk; he had regarded with some concern the establishment of Theodore’s empire at Nic?a, and welcomed a pretext236 to dispute it. But in the war which followed, the Sultan was defeated, and the active career of Alexis came to a close. He was treated with respect, but his son-in-law prudently confined him in a monastery under his own eyes at Nic?a, and the arch-intriguer ended his days in the monotonous237 chant of psalms238 and prayers. His daughter Anna died soon afterwards, the last of the group of imperial women who had struggled for power and wealth while the great Empire tottered239 to its fall. We shall find that that terrible catastrophe240 made no deep impression on the men and women who filled the less opulent Court at Nic?a, or on those who, half-a-century later, returned to the lamentable241 ruin from which they at length dislodged the Western knights.
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1
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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extort
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| v.勒索，敲诈，强要 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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aggregation
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| n.聚合，组合；凝聚 | |
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ignobly
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| 卑贱地，下流地 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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repented
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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mimes
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| n.指手画脚( mime的名词复数 )；做手势；哑剧；哑剧演员v.指手画脚地表演，用哑剧的形式表演( mime的第三人称单数 ) | |
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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comedian
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| n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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astutely
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| adv.敏锐地；精明地；敏捷地；伶俐地 | |
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astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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acclaimed
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| adj.受人欢迎的 | |
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galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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assassinations
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| n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 ) | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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ransomed
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| 付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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44
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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46
persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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50
lavishing
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的现在分词 ) | |
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51
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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52
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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53
bellies
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| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
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forum
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| n.论坛，讨论会 | |
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55
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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58
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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incurs
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| 遭受，招致，引起( incur的第三人称单数 ) | |
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censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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impeach
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| v.弹劾；检举 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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liaison
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| n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通 | |
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asceticism
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| n.禁欲主义 | |
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intercede
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| vi.仲裁，说情 | |
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meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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jeers
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| n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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cauterize
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| v.烧灼；腐蚀 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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90
aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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aspirant
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| n.热望者；adj.渴望的 | |
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wedded
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| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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cavil
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| v.挑毛病，吹毛求疵 | |
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sinecures
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| n.工作清闲但报酬优厚的职位，挂名的好差事( sinecure的名词复数 ) | |
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102
piracy
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| n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害 | |
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ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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knavery
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| n.恶行，欺诈的行为 | |
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scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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110
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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111
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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112
glamour
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| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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113
falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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114
kennel
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| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
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115
virile
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| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
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116
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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117
tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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118
perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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119
writhe
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| vt.挣扎，痛苦地扭曲；vi.扭曲，翻腾，受苦；n.翻腾，苦恼 | |
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120
invader
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| n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者 | |
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121
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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122
parasites
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| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
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123
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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124
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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125
conspirator
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| n.阴谋者，谋叛者 | |
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126
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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127
waddling
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 ) | |
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128
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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129
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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130
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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131
penumbra
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| n.（日蚀）半影部 | |
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132
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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133
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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134
deposition
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| n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物 | |
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135
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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136
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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137
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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138
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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139
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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140
allured
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| 诱引，吸引( allure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
plundering
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 ) | |
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142
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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143
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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144
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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145
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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146
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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147
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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148
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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149
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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150
villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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151
cypresses
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| n.柏属植物，柏树( cypress的名词复数 ) | |
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152
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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153
eyewitness
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| n.目击者，见证人 | |
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154
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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155
discredited
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| 不足信的，不名誉的 | |
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156
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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157
ratified
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| v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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158
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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159
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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160
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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161
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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162
overcast
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| adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天 | |
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163
postponed
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|
| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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164
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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165
miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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166
arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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167
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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168
monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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169
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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170
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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171
embittered
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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172
disaffected
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| adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的 | |
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173
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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174
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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175
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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176
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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177
opportune
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| adj.合适的，适当的 | |
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178
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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179
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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180
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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181
emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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182
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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183
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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184
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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185
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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186
egregious
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| adj.非常的，过分的 | |
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187
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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188
conjugal
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| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
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189
rams
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| n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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190
ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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191
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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192
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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193
perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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194
friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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195
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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196
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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197
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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198
upbraiding
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| adj.& n.谴责（的）v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的现在分词 ) | |
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199
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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200
rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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201
desecration
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| n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱 | |
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202
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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203
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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204
wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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205
dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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206
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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207
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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208
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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209
soliciting
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| v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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210
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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211
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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212
deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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213
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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214
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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215
scantily
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| adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地 | |
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216
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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217
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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218
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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219
brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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220
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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221
forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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222
harass
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| vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰 | |
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223
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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224
immature
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| adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的 | |
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225
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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226
outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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227
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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228
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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229
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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230
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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231
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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232
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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233
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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234
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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235
quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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236
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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237
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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238
psalms
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| n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 )；圣诗；圣歌；(中的) | |
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239
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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240
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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241
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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