German route The German crusaders, accompanied by the papal legate and cardinal Theodwin, intended to meet the French in Constantinople. Ottokar III of Styria joined Conrad at Vienna, and Conrad's enemy Géza II of Hungary allowed them to pass through unharmed. When the German army of 20,000 men arrived in Byzantine territory, Emperor Manuel I Komnenos feared they were going to attack him, and had Byzantine troops posted to ensure against trouble. A brief skirmish with some of the more unruly Germans occurred near Philippopolis and in Adrianople, where the Byzantine general Prosouch fought with Conrad's nephew, the future emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. To make matters worse, some of the German soldiers were killed in a flood at the beginning of September. On 10 September, however, they arrived at Constantinople, where relations with Manuel were poor, resulting in the Battle of Constantinople, after which the Germans became convinced that they should cross into Anatolia as quickly as possible. Manuel wanted Conrad to leave some of his troops behind, to assist in defending against attacks from Roger II, who had taken the opportunity to plunder the cities of Greece, but Conrad did not agree, despite being a fellow enemy of Roger.
German route The German crusaders accompanied by the papal legate and cardinal Theodwin intended to meet the French in Constantinople Ottokar III of Styria joined Conrad at Vienna and Conrad's enemy Géza II of Hungary allowed them to pass through unharmed When the German army of 20000 men arrived in Byzantine territory Emperor Manuel I Komnenos feared they were going to attack him and had Byzantine troops posted to ensure against trouble A brief skirmish with some of the more unruly Germans occurred near Philippopolis and in Adrianople where the Byzantine general Prosouch fought with Conrad's nephew the future emperor Frederick I Barbarossa To make matters worse some of the German soldiers were killed in a flood at the beginning of September On 10 September however they arrived at Constantinople where relations with Manuel were poor resulting in the Battle of Constantinople after which the Germans became convinced that they should cross into Anatolia as quickly as possible Manuel wanted Conrad to leave some of his troops behind to assist in defending against attacks from Roger II who had taken the opportunity to plunder the cities of Greece but Conrad did not agree despite being a fellow enemy of Roger