They arrived one after the other in the empire of the East and at the gates of Constantinople.

Godfrey de Bouillon was the first to appear there, and the Emperor Alexis Comnenus learned with dismay that other armies of crusaders would soon follow that which was already so large.

It was not long before Bohemond and Raymond appeared.

Alexis behaved towards these formidable allies with a mixture of pusillanimity and haughtiness, promises and lies, caresses and hostility, which irritated without intimidating them, and rendered it impossible for them to feel any confidence or conceive any esteem.

At one time he was thanking them profusely for the support they were bringing him against the infidels; at another he was sending troops to harass them on their road, and, when they reached Constantinople, he demanded that they should swear fealty and obedience to him, as if they were his own subjects.
One day he was refusing them provisions and attempting to subdue them by famine; and the next he was lavishing feasts and presents upon them.