ABSTRACT
The First Crusade contingents of Hugh of Vermandois and Godfrey of Bouillon arrived in Constantinople earlier but all of the others came together in the spring of 1097. Alexios I Komnēnos invited each of the major leaders to an audience in the Blachernai palace and all those of the first rank accepted sooner or later, either eagerly or reluctantly. At these audiences commitments were made, mutual guarantees were exchanged, and Alexios gave them splendid gifts. Their first attempts to collaborate and to take collective decisions occurred in the context of establishing relations with the Byzantine emperor.
