ABSTRACT
This chapter explains what the crusaders who passed through Constantinople in 1097, 1147 and 1203-04 said they saw in the capital of the Byzantine empire. Accounts of Constantinople by crusaders are not only few in number. They are also almost useless in providing 'hard facts' about either the monuments of Constantinople or the topography of the city. The armed pilgrims whom we call crusaders did not have the opportunity to see Constantinople at their leisure. Geoffrey of Villehardouin and Robert of Clari are the only two crusaders who had a great deal of time in Constantinople, months and perhaps years to get to know the city, as its conquerors in 1204. To describe Robert of Clari's description of Constantinople as 'tall tales told by the Greeks of Constantinople to the simple-minded traveler from the West'99 is to dismiss both Robert and the inhabitants of Constantinople and to misunderstand them.
