Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 168 -discontent Of The Greeks. CHAPTER IV. FROM A.D. ISM TO A. D. 12119. Fate of Mourtzouphlus?The Bulgarians invade the Empire?Defeat and capture of the Emperor Baldwin?Death of Enrico Dandolo ?The pseudo-Baldwin?Policy of Venice respecting her Eastern acquisitions?First written Code of Venetian Law?War with Eccellino Romano. DOGES. Enrico Dandolo. 1205. xi.iv. Pietro Ziani?abdicates. 1228. Xlv. Giacomo Thiepoi.o?abdicates. 1249. xi, vi. Marino Morosini. 1252. Xlvii. Rainiero Zeno. At the dazzling and triumphant epoch which we have just quitted, and upon which we have lingered with unwillingness to break away, how gladly should we close all notice of that portion of Byzantine History in which the Latins continue to occupy the foreground The little which remains incidental to our leading narrative is of another and most painful character, replete with disaster and dishonour. As soon as the Greeks, scattered over the wide Provinces of their dismembered Empire, began to recover from their panic, they regarded, with surprise and shame, the inconsiderable band which had changed their dynasty. In the short period of a year, they discovered that the loss of the Capital was not the loss of the whole Country; THEIR DETHRONED PRINCES. 169 that twenty thousand men, even if combined, could little hope to subdue the immeasurable tracts which they had already partitioned; and that mutual jealousy, resulting from ill-defined power, was beginning to create dissension among those whose very existence depended upon their union. The Emperor and the King of Thessalonica had all but appealed to arms; and, had it not been for the prudent mediation of Villehardouin and the reverence attached to the age and the wisdom of Dandolo, those swords which had jointly achieved th..