The First Crusade
Conflict between Emperor and Crusaders
Alexius' first contact with the regular armies of the First Crusade was with Hugh of Vermandois, younger brother of the French king. He crossed the Adriatic from Bari in October and his little fleet was wrecked in a storm. The Emperor was obliged to send an escort to bring what was left to the capital.
Hugh was followed by Godfrey of Bouillon, who arrived in December, and who immediately fell out with Alexius. The problem was partly the bad behavior of Godfrey's men—conflicts in the marketplaces, in the streets. The Greeks and the Franks mistrusted one another. Peter the Hermit's people had passed through not long before, setting a poor precedent, and it must be said that Godfrey's men did not help matters. They were arrogant and demanding and did not understand why the Greeks did not simply put the entire city at their disposal. Relations between the leaders were no better.
Alexius regarded the Crusaders as something like mercenaries, or at least as men in his service, whose goal was the recovery of Byzantine territory. But he was very familiar with these Latins and knew that they would tend to keep their conquests for themselves. So, he tried to insist on an oath of loyalty whereby the Crusaders swore any Byzantine lands they liberated—even lands that Byzantium had lost decades before—would be returned to the Emperor. Godfrey had no intention of doing this.