siderable slaughter on both sides; and Peter having made a number of the enemy prisoners, had put them to death without remorse. Provisions, it would seem, were amply supplied under the walls of Nissa, and everything passed tranquilly till Peter once more began his march for Constantinople.

A body of German stragglers, having remained behind with the baggage, the women and a small part of the army, chose that inauspicious moment for setting fire to the mills and other buildings in the neighbourhood, in revenge apparently for some offence which had been given them by the Bulgarian merchants, on the preceding night. No sooner was this outrage discovered, than the armed citizens rushed forth, cut to pieces the actual perpetrators of the offence; and, not satisfied with this retribution, they attacked the rear-guard of the crusaders, carried off an immense quantity of baggage, and captured all the women, children, and old people, with the slaughter of many of the most inoffensive persons of the camp.

Peter seems to have shown much moderation on the present occasion; for, turning back, he applied himself to investigate the particulars of the lamentable affair which had occurred, entered into a peaceful negociation with the Duke, and induced him to restore the baggage and give up the prisoners. Just as this was accomplished, however, another wanton outrage on the part of the Hermit's ungovernable followers, a thousand of whom attempted

to seize upon the town, brought on a general conflict, in which the army of the crusaders was totally routed and dispersed, and Peter himself was obliged to fly alone, into the forests that covered that part of the country. Numbers of his companions were slain, almost all the women were carried away captive, and he wandered on for some time with all his bright hopes destroyed and his heart left desolate. At length, he met with some other crusaders, fugitives like himself, and by accident, he and five distinguished knights assembled on the top of a high mountain. At first their force amounted to no more than five hundred men; but Peter and his comrades now used every stratagem they could devise, in order to call around them any parties of the dispersed host. Horns were sounded, signals were made, and before night no less than seven thousand men were once more collected. With these the Hermit immediately recommenced his march towards Constantinople; and a number of other fragments of his former army joining him by the way, the only farther difficulty was to obtain food, of which the army suffered a great scarcity till it reached the city of Philippopoli.

There, compassion and ample supplics awaited the army; the Emperor Alexius, who had not yet learned to fear the hosts of the crusade, sent deputies to meet the Hermit, and treat him with all kindness; and Peter, whose force was now again swelled to the amount of thirty thousand men,

marched on to Constantinople, and united his troops to those of Walter the Pennyless.

Before his arrival, the latter leader had been joined by a great number of Lombards and Italians, composed almost entirely of the lowest and the most vicious classes of society. These men soon became tired of repose, and insolent from favour and prosperity; innumerable acts of rapine and plunder were committed by them in the neighbourhood of Constantinople; and in the end the Emperor found himself compelled to send them upon fair excuses across the Bosphorus, humanely warning them not to attempt to penetrate into Bithynia, till they were supported by other forces. In Asia, however, their licentiousness broke all bounds: Peter the Hermit, losing all command over them, returned to Constantinople; the Italians and Germans, separating from the French and Normans, who remained under the nominal command of Walter the Pennyless, marched on to a fortress, in which they were attacked by a large force of Mahommedans, after having previously lost a detachment which was cut to pieces in the open country. The fort itself was without water, and the unhappy crusaders endured indescribable torments for eight days, at the end of which time their leaders went over to the infidels, renounced their religion, betrayed their companions, and the Christians who had remained in the fortress were slaughtered to a man.

Shortly after this event, in order, as some writers

suppose, to avenge their brethren, or as others believe, in the false hope of finding Nicea captured by those who went before, the body of French and Norman crusaders, under Walter the Pennyless, marched on in spite of his earnest remonstrances, and were almost immediately afterwards encountered by the Turkish forces. The battle was fierce and long; and from every account, we are led to believe that Walter displayed both great military skill and the most desperate valour. Every advantage, however, was on the side of the Turks; the Christians were scattered in all directions, their leader fell under seven mortal wounds, and only three hundred escaped in a body from that fatal field to the small fortress of Civitot, where they were immediately besieged.

The entreaties of Peter the Hermit induced the Emperor Alexius to send forces to their relief, and they were brought back in safety to Constantinople. The Emperor, we are told, deprived them of their arms in order to prevent the recurrence of excesses such as they had committed previous to their overthrow, and enjoined them to return to their native land, a command which, we have reason to believe, was disobeyed.

Such was the termination of the expeditions conducted by Walter the Pennyless and Peter the Hermit; but a still larger body of rabble, even more disorderly and base than that of which their armies were composed, had yet to march, under a

leader less worthy than his predecessors. This force was gathered together by a German priest, called Gottschalk; and I am inclined to suppose that the whole multitude which now poured forth from the northern and central parts of Germany towards Constantinople, was in fact led by this man; although he himself, at the head of about fifteen thousand of his followers, preceded the great mass. His conduct was cruel and atrocious; and having penetrated into Hungary, he suffered every sort of crime to be committed, till the rage of the Hungarians was roused for the destruction of himself and his companions. The immediate act of barbarity which would seem to have determined the King of Hungary to destroy the barbarous guests who had forced themselves into his dominions, was the impalement of a young Hungarian in the market-place of Mersburg. The pillage of the country had previously taken place with impunity; but this last act induced Carloman to arm the whole population against the intruders, and Gottschalk and his band were surrounded by the Hungarian forces, in the neighbourhood of Belgrade.

The crusaders, however, occupied a strong position; and drawing themselves up in array, threatened to sell their lives dearly. Under these circumstances, Carloman, if we may believe Albert of Aix, had recourse to a stratagem, which was not very honourable. He promised that if the followers of Gottschalk would lay down their arms, he would