Three crusading leaders, the brothers Stephanos, bishop of Metz, and Renaud, count of Moncon, together with Henry, bishop of Toul, arrived in Contantinople around the same time as Conrad III. However they could not bear the Germans, and so they decided, with their considerable army, to wait for Louis VII. This was not permitted by Manuel I and the Byzantines, whose agreement with Conrad III stipulated that none of his men should remain behind. They forced them, by harrying them and cutting off food, to cross the straits. A tense situation was defused by the ambassadors of Louis VII, who were waiting for him in the capital. They intervened to arrange that Stephanos, Renaud, Henry and their men should wait beyond the straits, with a suitable market