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382 A HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES II 
Customs of the Moslems. Perhaps he exaggerated the depravity of the Syrian
Christians, especially of the "poulains", the descendants of the first Latin
settlers, whose effeminacy and immorality shocked him. But at best he found
them a lascivious and treacherous people, always eager to teach the westerners
their vicious habits. He charged that they did not scruple at serving as
spies for the "infidel" against their own people.'5 In Acre, the key city
of the Latin kingdom, where criminals thronged, where women of the street
accepted the favors of the clergy, and where the scum of the Mediterranean
came to prey upon the newly arrived crusaders, the eloquent James of Vitry
restored something of the spiritual ardor of the early crusading era. 
 In the west troubadours no less than preachers aided the pope in awakening
interest in the crusade. Pons of Capdolh (Chapdeuil) expresses the wish that
the kings of France and England would make peace, and that the king of Apulia
(Frederick II) and the emperor (Otto IV) would become friends until the Holy
Sepulcher should be recovered by the Christians. With equal fervor a poem
of Aimery of Péguilhan, inspired by the call of Innocent III, urges
the young William IV of Montferrat to emulate the deeds of his forebears
who had won fame and honor in Syria.16 An anonymous troubadour appeals to
Philip II, Otto IV, and John of England to make peace and go forward together
to the conquest of Syria.'7 
 Meanwhile the Lateran Council afforded Innocent III an op.. portunity for
arranging the final details.18 Brindisi and Messina were designated as the
places of assembly for departure on June i, 1 2 I 7, at which time Innocent
himself intended to visit Sicily to bestow his blessings upon the departing
pilgrims. The clergy were to urge and, if necessary, compel all crusaders
to fulfill their vows, and see to it that the nobles provided and equipped
their assigned quotas of armed men. After the expedition was under way the
clergy should aid in maintaining discipline through guidance and 
 15 James of Vitry, Historia Iherosolimitana (ed. Bongars), I, par. 74-79,
pp. 1089 ff. 
 16 F. Diez, Die Poesie der Troubadours (Paris, 1845), pp. 212-213. For the
fixing of the dates of these poems see also K. Lewent, Das altprovenzalische
Kreuzlied (Erlangen, 1905), pp. 28 ff. Cf. A. Pillet and H. Carstens, Bibliographic
des Troubadours (Halle, 1933). 
 17 R. Zenker, "Peire von Auvergne," Romanische Forschungen: Organ für
Romanische Sprachen und Mittellatein, XII (Erlangen, 1900), 798 ff.: 
"Al rei Felip et a'n Oto et al rei Joan eisamen laus que fasson acordamen
entr' els        
 18 J. D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio,
XXII (Venice, 1778; reprinted Paris, 1903), 1058-1067, analyzed in some detail
by Röhricht, Fiinft. Kreuz., pp. 6 ff. The constitution is also in PL,
CCXVII, cols. 269 ff. See also W. E. Lunt, Papal Revenues in the Middle Ages,
II (New York, 1934), 86 ff.