Cardinal Peter Capuano

During a part at least of this time he was at Rome, where also was Cardinal Peter Capuano. Thus, while the crusading army was leaving Venice, its two chiefs, one in temporal and the other in spiritual things, were absent.

Boniface appears to have won over the cardinal entirely to his views. In spite of the way in which Peter Capuano had been treated by the Venetians, lie appears on this visit to Innocent to have made light of the expedition to Zara; to have spoken of it as a merely temporary incident, the punishment of a half-heretical people by* the occupation of their city, and as a punishment which would not entail the shedding of Christian blood. What is perhaps more remarkable is that in this visit to the pope the cardinal rather than Boniface seems to have been the chief advocate in favor of the proposal to help Alexis.1 It is easy to see what would be the arguments used. The Crusaders were short of money: had spent what they had, had been unable to borrow more, and had been compelled to agree to the Zara arrangement in order to get rid of their obligations to the Venetians.

Arrangement with Venice

Boniface would be careful to point out that the arrangement with Venice expired in June, and to urge that an expedition to Constantinople, with the object merely of restoring young Alexis, would be the only means of supplying money for the expedition ; the only means of buying over the aid of the Venetians, without whom it could never reach either Egypt or Syria, and, in short, the only means of preventing the crusade from absolute failure.

Innocent remained firm; refused to give any approval to the Zaran expedition, disavowed the legate’s approbation, and sent to the army an injunction to restrain them from accomplishing their unrighteous purpose. In reference, however, to the project for giving aid to young Alexis the arguments of Cardinal Peter and of Boniface made more impression. The pope, indeed, formally refused to sanction the proposal. lie did more.