3<;o HISTORY OF ENGLAND,

e h a p. last, in sight of that city where their Saviour hadv. died for them. Women themselves , concealing

leas, their sex under the disguise of armour, attended

the camp ; and commonly forgot still more theduty of their sex , by prostituting themselves,without reserve, to the army 1 he greatestcriminals were forward in a service, which theyregarded as a propitiation for all crimes ; andthe most enormous disorders were , during thecourse of those expeditions, committed by men,inured to wickedness , encouraged by example,and impelled by necessity. The multitude ofthe adventurers soon became so great, that theirmore sagacious leaders, Hugh count of Vermandois,brother to the French king, Raymond count ofToulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, prince of Brabant,and Stephen count of Blois I7 , became apprehensivelest the greatness itself of the armament shoulddisappoint its purpose ; and they permitted anundisciplined multitude, computed at 300,000 men,to go before them , under the command of Peterthe Hermit, and Walter the IMoneylefs IS . Thesemen took the road towards Constantinople throughHungary and Bulgaria ; and trusting , that Heaven,by supernatural assistance, would supply all theirnecessities , they made no provision for subsistenceon their march. They soon sound themselvesobliged to obtain by plunder what they had vain-ly expected from miracles ; and the enraged

Vertot Hist. des Chev. de Make, vol. X. p. 46.

17 Sim. Dunelm, p. 222. ' Matrix. Paris , p. 17.