You have used Christians worse than the Arabs used the Latins,
for they at least respected women."
An immense mass of treasure was found in each of the imperial palaces
and in those of the nobles. Each baron took possession of the castle
or palace which was allotted to him, and put a guard upon the treasure
which he found there. "Never since the world was created," says the
marshal, "was there so much booty gained in one city. Each man took
the house which pleased him, and there were enough for all. Those who
were poor found themselves suddenly rich. There was captured an
immense supply of gold and silver, of plate and of precious stones, of
satins and of silk, of furs, and of every kind of wealth ever found
upon earth."
The sack of the richest city in Christendom, which had been the bribe
offered to the crusaders to violate their oaths, was made in the
spirit of men who, having once broken through the trammels of their
vows, are reckless to what lengths they go. Their abstinence and their
chastity once abandoned, they plunged at once into orgies of every
kind.
[Illustration: The lust of the army spared neither maiden nor the
virgin dedicated to God Painting by E.
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