ZARA. 263 of the leaders of both sides was required to put an end to this quarrel. What was its immediate cause it is perhaps im- possible to learn. The author of the ^'Devastatio " says that the barons kept the spoil to themselves, and did not share it with the poor men of the arm}-. The explanation is possible, and is in accordance with the policy which was followed throughout the expedition until its end. The leaders were in league with the Venetians, while the mass of the Crusad- ers, who had set their minds on pilgrimage, saw only that they were being made use of to benefit the Venetians and their own leaders. What is certain is that the army was al- ready considerably demoralized, and that some at least of the leaders joined with a large body of the pilgrims in distrust- ing the Venetians. The quarrel increased the bitterness of feeling between the opposing sections. A large number of the Crusaders were anxious to leave for Egypt or Syria; a large number, Villehardouin says, were tired of the expedition and wished to return home. During the weeks which followed there was great and con- tinual dissatisfaction between the Venetians and the Crusad- ers. Possibly there is truth in the statement of Villehardouin that many wished the army to break up, and were anxious to return home. They had not come out to fight either the King of Hungary or the Emperor of Eomania, as it began to be whispered they were to be called upon to do. They had no desire to give their services to the traders of Venice. The great French chronicler wishes to leave the impression that the disaffection was merely wanton and without just cause. The narrative, however, of every independent contemporary, and especially of the " poor knight," Eobert de Clari, shows that abundant cause existed. The expedition had already fallen under the expressed censure of the Church. Each man knew, without such official censure, that in taking part against a Christian city he had violated his oath, and had been untrue to the pledges he had given and the convictions which had led him to join the enterprise. The treatment the Crusad- ers had received on the Lido, their loss of the autumn, their journey across the Adriatic, " with great speed but with sad
