Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine; Hugh, Count of Vermandois, and brother of Philip, King of France; Robert, Duke of Normandy; Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum; Robert, Count of Flanders; and Raymond, Count of Toulouse; each of whom conducted an army towards Constantinople. [Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF CHRISTIAN CONSTANTINOPLE. (_From an Engraving in Anselm Banduri's "Imperium, Orientale," Paris,_ 1711.)] Among the leaders of the first Crusade, the most distinguished was Godfrey VI., Lord of Bouillon, Marquis of Anvers, and Duke of Lorraine. Inferior in political power to some of his companions, he was superior to them all in that influence which depends upon personal character. Although still young in years, he had earned fame in many a well-fought field; and his name was known throughout Europe in connection with acts of private virtue no less than with gallant feats of arms. Amidst the cruelty and licentiousness so commonly attributed to the men of that age, the character of Godfrey is presented to us almost without blemish; and if we make some reservation for the partiality of monkish chroniclers towards the great leader of the Crusade, there will still remain evidence of facts which entitle the memory of the Lord of Bouillon to the highest honour. Robert the Monk, one of his contemporaries, who was present at the siege of Jerusalem, speaks of Godfrey in the following terms:--"He was of beautiful countenance, tall of stature, agreeable in his discourse, of excellent morals, and at the same time so gentle that he seemed better fitted for the monk than for the knight; but when his enemies appeared before him, and the combat was at hand, his soul became filled with a mighty daring: like a lion, he feared not for his own person; and what shield, what buckler, could withstand the fall of his sword?" Long before the Crusade had been preached at Clermont, Godfrey had heard the tales of the sufferings of the Christians in Palestine, and had said that he desired to travel to Jerusalem, not with scrip and staff, but with spear and shield. At the time when the standard of the Cross was raised throughout Europe, he was suffering from a bad fever, but "immediately he shook disease from his limbs, and rising, as it were, with expanded breast, from years of decrepitude he shone with renovated vigour."[15] In order to furnish money for the expedition he had undertaken, he sold to the Church of Liège his beautiful domain and castle of Bouillon; and the standard which he raised was joined by his brother Baldwin, his relation, Baldwin de Bourg, and many other knights of fame.