DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0025
XXIV
INTRODUCTION.
these Seljukian Turks. The hollow alliance between the
Emperor and the Sultan of Nicsea was burst asunder; a
thrill of horror vibrated from Constantinople to the distant
shores of Britain at the conduct of the infidels, and a hand
of warriors rushed from every part of Christendom to the
rescue of the Holy Sepulchre, and to i-elease the Emperor of
Byzantium from the iron grasp of his Turkish conqueror.
In the first Crusade their success began with the siege
and conquest of Nicaja, and the plains of Asia Minor be-
came again the battle-field of nations. Here the chivalry
of Europe met the horsemen of the Saltan, and withstood
their shock, and Dorylseum became a second time the
scene of a decisive battle; the cities of Antioch of Pisidia
and Iconium recruited the Crusaders, after an exhausting
march through the bare and arid plains of Phrygia.
Thence they crossed the mountain barrier of Taurus, and
descending into Cilicia, proceeded to the conquest of Syria
and the Holy Land. The establishment of the Genoese
at Constantinople, and in numerous places along the coast
and in the interior, followed the march of the Crusaders,
and the Greek Emperor received an insidious foe into his
confidence, instead of an open enemy at his door, whilst
in the course of the ensuing half century the Seljukian
Turks had again invaded Asia Minor, and re-established
the flourishing kingdom of Iconium.
But soon a new power appeared on the stage of war.
In the beginning of the thirteenth century Zengis Khan
led his Mofful followers from their native deserts to the
conquest of the world. Their progress was not checked by
his death in 1227, for under his sons and grandsons their
power extended over China, Persia, Hungary, Russia, and
Syria; and when checked in Egypt, they spread themselves
over Armenia and Asia Minor. Here the Sultans of Ico-
nium offered some resistance to their progress, until Azad-
INTRODUCTION.
these Seljukian Turks. The hollow alliance between the
Emperor and the Sultan of Nicsea was burst asunder; a
thrill of horror vibrated from Constantinople to the distant
shores of Britain at the conduct of the infidels, and a hand
of warriors rushed from every part of Christendom to the
rescue of the Holy Sepulchre, and to i-elease the Emperor of
Byzantium from the iron grasp of his Turkish conqueror.
In the first Crusade their success began with the siege
and conquest of Nicaja, and the plains of Asia Minor be-
came again the battle-field of nations. Here the chivalry
of Europe met the horsemen of the Saltan, and withstood
their shock, and Dorylseum became a second time the
scene of a decisive battle; the cities of Antioch of Pisidia
and Iconium recruited the Crusaders, after an exhausting
march through the bare and arid plains of Phrygia.
Thence they crossed the mountain barrier of Taurus, and
descending into Cilicia, proceeded to the conquest of Syria
and the Holy Land. The establishment of the Genoese
at Constantinople, and in numerous places along the coast
and in the interior, followed the march of the Crusaders,
and the Greek Emperor received an insidious foe into his
confidence, instead of an open enemy at his door, whilst
in the course of the ensuing half century the Seljukian
Turks had again invaded Asia Minor, and re-established
the flourishing kingdom of Iconium.
But soon a new power appeared on the stage of war.
In the beginning of the thirteenth century Zengis Khan
led his Mofful followers from their native deserts to the
conquest of the world. Their progress was not checked by
his death in 1227, for under his sons and grandsons their
power extended over China, Persia, Hungary, Russia, and
Syria; and when checked in Egypt, they spread themselves
over Armenia and Asia Minor. Here the Sultans of Ico-
nium offered some resistance to their progress, until Azad-