Editing Fourth Crusade (section)

=== Apulia to Acre ===
Several crusaders, instead of going on to Venice, turned south at [[Piacenza]] in the summer of 1202 intending to go directly to the Holy Land from ports in southern Italy. Among them were [[Vilain of Nully]], [[Henry of Arzillières]], [[Renard II of Dampierre-en-Astenois|Renard II of Dampierre]], [[Henry of Longchamp]] and Giles of Trasignies with their retinues. They do not seem to have been acting in concert or travelling together. Ultimately, several hundred knights and accompanying infantry reached the Holy Land via south Italian ports. The force was so small that King [[Aimery of Jerusalem]] refused to break his truce with the [[Ayyubids]] to allow them to go to war, despite the pleas of Renard, who was fulfilling the crusading vow of the late Count [[Theobald III of Champagne]] and possessed ample funds. As a result, eighty crusaders under Renard decided to go to the [[Principality of Antioch]], which had no such truce. Advised against such a move, they were ambushed on the road and all but Renard were killed or captured. Renard remained in captivity for thirty years.{{sfn|Queller|Compton|Campbell|1974}}

When the crusade was diverted to Zara, many crusaders returned home or else remained behind in Italy. Some bypassed the Venetian fleet and found other means of going to the [[Holy Land]]. [[Geoffrey I of Villehardouin|Geoffrey of Villehardouin]], the historian's nephew, was one of them. [[Stephen du Perche (died 1205)|Stephen of the Perche]], was prevented from going with the main army on account of illness. Upon his recovery in March 1203, he took ship in southern Italy and travelled directly to the Holy Land with many others who had remained behind, including Rotrou de Montfort and Yves of La Jaille. Stephen re-joined the main army after the fall of Constantinople.{{sfn|Queller|Compton|Campbell|1974}}

Following the siege of Zara, more contingents abandoned the main army. The crusaders sent Robert of Boves as an envoy to the pope, but after his mission was done he went straight to the Holy Land. Abbot Martin of Pairis joined him on the trip to Rome and afterwards took ship for Palestine at [[Siponto]]. Martin arrived in Acre on 25 April 1203 in the midst of an outbreak of plague. According to the ''[[Devastatio Constantinopolitana]]'', after the decision was made at Zara to place Alexios IV on the throne of Constantinople, the leaders of the crusade granted permission for about 1,000 men to leave and find their own way to the Holy Land. In fact, about 2,000 men abandoned the main army at that stage. Most of them were among the poorer crusaders, and two ships carrying them sank with loss of life. The German crusader Garnier of Borland also abandoned the main army after Zara.{{sfn|Queller|Compton|Campbell|1974}}

From Zara, an official embassy, led by [[Renaud of Montmirail]], was dispatched to the Holy Land. It included Hervé of Châtel, [[Guillaume de Ferrières|William III of Ferrières]], Geoffrey of Beaumont and the brothers John and Peter of Frouville. They were supposed to return to the main army within fifteen days of accomplishing their mission. In fact, they remained in the Holy Land and did not return until after the fall of Constantinople.{{sfn|Queller|Compton|Campbell|1974}}

In the winter of 1203–1204, [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] led a large contingent of defectors disgusted with the attack on Zara and opposed to the Constantinople venture. He and his men had even avoided the ruins of Zara and camped in Hungary.<ref name="Lippiatt 2012">{{citation |author=G. E. M. Lippiatt |title=Duty and Desertion: Simon of Montfort and the Fourth Crusade |journal=Leidschrift |volume=27 |issue=3 |year=2012 |pages=75–88 |url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/72758/27-03-08_Lippiatt_printklaar.pdf}}.</ref> Among Simon's followers were his brother, [[Guy de Montfort, Lord of Sidon|Guy de Montfort]]; the [[Yvelines|Yvelinois]] Simon V of Neauphle, Robert IV Mauvoisin and Dreux II of Cressonsacq; Abbot [[Guy of Vaux-de-Cernay]]; and the unnamed abbot of [[Cercanceaux Abbey|Cercanceaux]]. Shortly afterwards they were joined by [[Enguerrand II of Boves]].{{sfn|Queller|Compton|Campbell|1974}}<ref name="Lippiatt 2017">{{citation |first=G. E. M. |last=Lippiatt |title=Simon V of Montfort and Baronial Government, 1195–1218 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017}}.</ref> They marched up the coast from Zara back to Italy and then down the Italian coast, where they embarked for Palestine.{{sfn|Queller|Compton|Campbell|1974}}