The marshal himself tells us that much
was stolen which never came into the general mass. The stores which
had been collected were, however, divided in accordance with the
compact which had been made before the capture. The Venetians and the
crusaders each took half. Out of the moiety belonging to the army
there were paid the fifty thousand silver marks due to the Venetians.
Two foot sergeants received as much as one horse sergeant, and two of
the latter sergeants received as much as a knight. Exclusive of what
was stolen and of what was paid to the Venetians, there were
distributed among the army four hundred thousand marks, or eight
hundred thousand pounds, and ten thousand suits of armor.
The total amount distributed among the crusaders and Venetians shows
that the wealth of Constantinople had not been exaggerated. Eight
hundred thousand pounds were given to the crusaders, a like sum to the
Venetians, with the one hundred thousand pounds due to them. These
sums had been collected in hard cash from a city where the inhabitants
were hostile, and where they had in their wells and cisterns an easy
means of hiding their treasures of gold, silver, and precious
stones--a means traditionally well known in the East.
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