These troubles were originated, however, not by the Greeks, but by the Bulgarians, and were due to the arrogance and pride of Baldwin.  John, King of this savage people, was of the Latin Church.  Being as orthodox as he was barbarous, he rejoiced mightily at the fall of the Greeks, and sent an embassy of congratulation to the new Latin Emperor.  Weak as he was upon his unstable throne, Baldwin actually had the folly and impudence to assault these ambassadors, to treat them as rebels, and to send a message to their master that, before his servants could be received at the Byzantine court, he must first deserve pardon by touching with his forehead the footstool of the imperial throne.  It was not likely that a high-spirited and independent sovereign would brook such a message.

He instantly threw the whole weight of his influence and strength into the cause of the Greeks, and with their leaders concerted a scheme of general and simultaneous massacre worthy of his barbarism and their treachery.  The secret was well kept; the conspirators were in no hurry to strike the blow.  They waited patiently till a time when it seemed as if the force of the Latins was at the lowest; that is, when Prince Henry, brother of the Emperor, had crossed the Hellespont with the flower of the troops.  The empire in Europe was covered with thin and sparse garrisons; there were no forces in Constantinople to come to their succor should they try to hold out; they might be taken in detail and at once.  And then those Byzantine Vespers began.  It was a revolt of thousands against tens; there was a great slaughter, a rush of the little bands who escaped upon Adrianople, where there was a fresh slaughter; and while the Greeks were up in successful revolt, the Bulgarians, accompanied by a savage band of fourteen thousand Comans, invaded the country, mad for pillage and revenge.

The position was one of extreme peril.  Baldwin sent messengers to his brother, ordering him to return in all haste, and then made such hasty preparations as were possible, and sallied forth to the siege of Adrianople.  Had he waited for Henry’s return, all might have gone well with him, but he would not wait.  It was the rule of the crusaders never to refuse battle, whatever the odds, a rule to which their greatest victories as well as their greatest disasters were chiefly due.  What Godfrey did before Ascalon, Baldwin was ready to do before Adrianople.  He had with him no more than a hundred and forty knights, with three trains of archers and men-at-arms—­say two thousand men in all.  The gallant Villehardouin, Marshal of Romania, who was destined to survive this day and write its story, led the vanguard.

The main body, with whom was Baldwin, was commanded by the Count of Blois; the rear was brought up by old Dandolo.  The slender ranks of the little army were continually being recruited by the accession of the fugitive remains of the garrisons.  On the way to Adrianople they met the light cavalry of the Comans.  Orders were given not to pursue these light horsemen, who fought after the manner of the Parthians.  In a solid phalanx the western knights were able to face any odds, but scattered and dispersed they would fall beneath the weight of numbers.