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 aSOA BKjaWlia ^T TSill TUMI Df TMiE filfSlDSilBl
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH FRAIS^COIS MICHAUD 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FREN C.H 
 
 BY W. ROBSON 
 
 IN THKEE VOLUMES 
 
 VOL. I 
 
 REDFIELD 
 
 34 BEEKMAN STREET, NEW YORK 
 Fc-Jrtb Edition.] 18 5 5.
 
 Annex 
 
 Q 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 "When we consider the European reputation this work 
 has so long enjoyed, we find it more difficult to discover the 
 cause of its having been hitherto withheld from the vast 
 body of English readers, than we do to ofier reasons for the 
 present publication. Mutual difi'usion of knowledge among 
 nations must keep pace with the facilities and extension of 
 intercourse so suddenly and wonderfully created by science ; 
 and we confidently look to the period when no such work as 
 this can be confined to the mere scholars of countries foreign 
 to that in which it was written. It is in vain to say that 
 Erench is so generally understood in England as to render 
 translations from that language unnecessary ; a long experi- 
 ence has taught us that this is not true. AYe have no faith 
 in a universal acquaintance with a difiicult language, all the 
 niceties of which must be understood before it can be appre- 
 ciated or enjoj^ed. AVith a pretty extensive well-educated 
 circle of friends, we do not know, and never did know, six 
 English persons, male or female, who could translate La 
 Eontaine's Eables with ease and spirit. Although Erench 
 is taught at every respectable middle-class scliool, it is 
 comparatively neglected by some of the highest ; it is soon 
 forgotten by the pupils of the former, and cultivated prin-
 
 IV PKEFACE. 
 
 cipally orally by those of the latter ; and we may safely assert 
 that out of the millions who are now readers, very few 
 would have the courage to attack so large a work as this in 
 the original language, which they know they cannot master 
 without dictionary and grammar. AYhere there is one who 
 would take it up with the double purpose of practising 
 Prench and studying history, there are hundreds who, as a 
 relaxation from political, commercial, or industrial pursuits, 
 vrould be satisfied with being amusingly instructed by read- 
 ing it at ease and at leisure in their own language. As ideas 
 are the principal objects of books, all good works should be 
 translated. 
 
 And we unhesitatingly claim a place among these for 
 that which we are about to lay before the public. It were 
 superfluous to speak of the advantages derived from the 
 science to which it belongs ; and there can be no doubt 
 that the Crusades form one of the most important sections 
 of human history ; not only instructive, but extraordinary ; 
 supplying abimdance of edifying matter to the statesman, 
 the philosopher, the poet, the novelist, and the citizen. If 
 it be true that no page of history should be considered as a 
 blank to the statesman, which leaf of her vast volume can 
 he turn with much more promise of instruction ? He will 
 behold men, of powerful and ambitious minds, seizing upon 
 the worst passions of various ages, — superstition, cupidity, 
 and cruelty, — and wielding the energies of incredible multi- 
 tudes, in endeavours to work out their own ends and 
 views. Many an invaluable lesson may he gather from the 
 want of foresight, prudence, knowledge, and unanimity dis- 
 played in these astonishing enterprises ; wliilst the causes of 
 numerous effects now in operation may be plainly traced to 
 these eventftd periods. 
 
 But to none will this great field present so rich a harvest 
 as to the philosopher. He will see all the feelings and
 
 PEEFACE. 
 
 passions of man in undisguised, full play, from the noblest 
 aspirations of true religion and pure honour, to the most 
 degraded abasements of superstition, hypocrisy, and sen- 
 suality. He will contemplate some exalted characters, like 
 that of Tancred, the mirror of knighthood, able equally to 
 support success and disasters — never forgetful of mercy in 
 the hour of victory, or abandoned by Christian resignation 
 in the deepest misery ; sincere in religion, unblemished in 
 honour, and, though valiant as their own good swords, yet 
 overflowing with kindliest charities. But of these he will 
 find but few ; for, generally, he will easily trace the wicked- 
 ness of the ends desired in the means employed to obtain 
 them. And yet he will close the book with the pious and 
 cheering reflection, that however horrible in plan and exe- 
 cution the Crusades may appear to us, there is no doubt 
 that, as regards the whole of the Creator's great scheme, 
 they considerably advanced the happiness of mankind. The 
 European world never stood in greater need of having its 
 scum removed than at the periods of the Crusades, particu- 
 larly the first ; and if, as vfQ shudder at the catastrophe of 
 Lisbon, we hope that the added welfare of the globe was at 
 least commensurate with the calamity, so, when we remember 
 that six millions of human beings lost their lives by sword 
 fire, disease, famine, and shipwreck in these disastrous wars, 
 . we trust and believe that the advantages we derive from 
 them may be equal to the sacrifice. 
 
 For the poet and the novelist the Crusades are rich 
 sources of wealth ; for imagination can scarcely soar above 
 the characters and scenes, nor can fiction exceed the won- 
 ders of the events. 
 
 But to no class will the great lesson of the Crusades be 
 more profitable than to the citizens of our own country and 
 times. Gibbon says : " Some deep reasoners have suspe6ted 
 that the whole enterprise, from the synod of Placentia, was
 
 n PEEFACE. 
 
 contriyed and executed by the policy of Eome. The suspi- 
 cion is not founded either in nature or in facts. The suc- 
 cessors of St. Peter appear to haye followed, rather than 
 guided, the impulse of manners and prejudices ; -w-ithout 
 much foresight of the seasons, or cultiyation of tlie soil, they 
 gathered the ripe and spontaneous fruits, without much toU. 
 or danger." 
 " Now, with all due respect for the great historian, we 
 cannot agree with this ; and we feel assured that most 
 of the readers of this history will come to the conclu- 
 sion that the popes and other ambitious, wily, and greedy 
 churchmen were the prime movers and general supporters 
 of the Crusades ; and that entirely for the sake of keeping 
 up, by means of fanatical, superstitious outbreaks, their 
 influence oyer men's minds. Peter the Hermit might sug- 
 gest the idea to the pope ; but what could the humble ceno- 
 bite haye done without the sanction of the Holy See ? and 
 the eagerness with wliich the pontiff laid hold of the scheme 
 proyes what great advantages he hoped to derive from it. 
 The most ambitious, the most talented, and the most un- 
 scnipulous popes were always the greatest instigators of the 
 crusades. 
 
 Can we assert that Innocent III. followed the spirit 
 of his age, when he set such bloodhoimds as Simon de 
 Montfort on to gorge themselves ^vith slaughter in the most 
 civilized Christian cities of Europe, and to devastate the most 
 smiling and luxuriant plains of the world ? The crusade 
 against the Albigeois was executed under the same influence 
 that so earnestly promoted and preached fresh expeditions 
 to the Holy Land ; but the beautiful country of Langnedoc 
 presented a richer harvest, and much less danger in reaping 
 it, than the exhausted and burning plains of Syria ; and the 
 work was, in comparison, not half so thoroughly performed 
 in the East as in the West.
 
 PREFACE . VU 
 
 Kotwithstanding its glories, the fii'st Crusade was so dis- 
 astrous that if it had not been for such men as St. Bernard, 
 Foulke of Neuilly, and Innocent III,, no other crusades 
 would have ever taken place. The popes and the fanatics 
 they employed were obliged to be constantly stirring the fire 
 to keep it burning. And what was the nature of the fuel they 
 threw on ? — To the superstitious they promised Paradise ; 
 to the ambitious and covetous, dominions and wealth ; ta. 
 the vicious and volupt-uous, indulgences ; to the criminal, 
 pardon; and to all, impunity! Can any one believe that 
 Bernard, one of the best scholars of his age, the rival of 
 Abelard, was the dupe of his own knavery, or performed 
 it for nothing ? Power, with many minds, is like money 
 with others ; they must have it, however detestable the 
 means employed to gain it. Some of the immediate dis- 
 ciples of St. Bernard, with the utmost simplicity, express 
 their regret that the crowds that surrounded him were 
 so dense, they could not see him perform his miracles, 
 they only heard of them. No one can believe that this 
 shrewd man imposed upon himself by the tricks with 
 which he deluded the multitude, or practised his jugglery 
 gratuitously ! By his preaching he became one of the 
 greatest men of his time ; and by his legerdemain he became 
 a saint. 
 
 The popes and their satellites availed themselves of 
 the worst parts of the superstitions of the periods at 
 which they lived ; they mingled them with the passions of 
 cupidity and false glory, and employed their victims, as the 
 Crusaders may safely be called, to their own aggrandisement. 
 Of the advantages, in the shape of influence, the popes 
 gained by wars called holy, there need be no question ; and 
 when we find such zealous preachers as Foulke of Neuilly 
 and Cardinal de Cour9on, more than suspected of appropri- 
 ating to themselves the treasures offered to the cause of
 
 viil PEEFACE. 
 
 Obrist, -we may justly suppose that the underlings partook 
 of solid, tangible gold as largely as their leaders did of 
 power and glory. 
 
 jVIr. Macaulay, in his " Essay on Ranke's History of the 
 Popes," although he has scarcely touched on the Asiatic 
 crusades, has, with his wonted elegance, gone into questions 
 closely allied Avith these volumes. "We have sometimes 
 thought that Mr. Macaulay was like Burke, more splendid 
 than convincing ; and we cannot help entertaining a hope 
 that a perusal of this work will weaken the effects of one of 
 his prominent positions, and diminish the faith in his pro- 
 phecy of the perpetuity of the prosperity of the Eoman 
 Catholic religion . He says, " It is impossible to deny that 
 the policy of the Church of Eome is the very masterpiece of 
 human wisdom." 
 
 Unless we sink to the admission that the cunning of 
 the serpent is the highest of wisdom, and join that tribe 
 of Indians that worship the principle of evil, we, never- 
 theless, do deny it, and that most earnestly. There is 
 nothing large, nothing exalting, nothing ennobling in the 
 policy of Eome, to entitle it to the character of the highest 
 wisdom. The popes have been influenced by as many various 
 passions as so many other men ; and if they employed every 
 art to gain honour to the papal tin-one, it was only the better 
 to obtain their own ends. Some were inflamed by ambition, 
 some by wealth, many by the hopes of enriching their 
 families, and many by the worst of passions and most 
 desradins: of vices — there is nothinoj like a continuous course 
 of wisdom in this. Mr. Macaulay says in the very next 
 paragraph, " Among the contrivances which have been de- 
 vised for deceiving and oppressing mankind, it occupies the 
 highest place." 
 
 Is this the character of wisdom ? "Wisdom is an attri- 
 bute of the Deity ! it is above geniiis, above knowledge ;
 
 PEEFACE. ix 
 
 because it combines with goodness to employ both these. 
 To term successful cunning wisdom, and foretell its per- 
 petual success, is to cast virtue prostrate at the feet 
 of vice, and to destroy for ever every holy human 
 aspiration. "It is not, and it cannot come to good" — 
 Hamlet's is a sounder creed than Mr. Macaulay's. — If we 
 look for the real benefits derived by the human race from 
 the Crusades, we shall find that not one of them Avas con- 
 templated by the chm'chmen who planned and promoted 
 these expeditions ; whilst, of the advantages they aimed at, 
 except some wealth to the general church, most were never 
 attained, and the rest quickly crumbled into ruin. "Wliere 
 then is the Avisdom of this boasted policy ? The miraculous 
 regenerations of papal power were the effects of circumstances 
 rather than of profound wisdom. ]Mr. Macaulay has given 
 a highly- coloured picture of the order of the Jesuits and 
 their founder, attributing too much, as we think, to Loyola 
 — wiser and cooler heads than his perfected the schemes of 
 the fanatic. 
 
 We could, " if it were our hint," say much more on 
 this head ; but we must conclude by showing that it was 
 this part of Mr. Macaulay's essay that led us into this 
 apparent digression. When our readers see in the text and 
 appendix the very interesting documents concerning the 
 institution of the Assassins, under the Old Man of the 
 Mountain, we think they must be struck, as we were, with 
 the wonderful analogy between this sect and the Society of 
 Jesus. The same careful physical selection in their tools ; 
 the same elaborate, imaginative education ; the same abnega- 
 tion of self; the same blind and perfect obedience; the 
 same unscrupulousness as to means ; the same devotedness 
 to one aim, — the power of the Old Man or the General ; — 
 these really almost lead us to believe they had one common 
 source, and that the Spaniard was a pupil of the Syrian. 
 
 I*
 
 X PEEFACE. 
 
 This will certainly not be the least instnictive portion of 
 our work. 
 
 'We have several histories of the Crusades, in dispraise of 
 which we shall say nothing, only claiming for Michaud's 
 the rank which is generally accorded to it, of the most com- 
 plete. Of OUT own part of the labour, we will only presume 
 to say that we have honestly endeavoured to make the trans- 
 lation faithful, and to convey to the English reader as close 
 an idea of the style of the original as the nature of the two 
 languages will permit. 
 
 W. E.
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 
 
 "We are not of those who tlimk that readers are without 
 curiosity as to the position in life, actions, and fortunes of 
 the authors who afford them instruction or pleasure ; the 
 eagerness with which the birthplaces of men of genius are 
 sought for and commemorated ; the fondness with which 
 their most trifling actions are dwelt upon ; and the endless 
 collections that are made of their conversations and sayings, 
 prove that this cannot be the case. 
 
 In a prefatory memoir, we can scarcely go into so many 
 details of the life of Michaud, as, perhaps, the subject de- 
 serves. Michaud was not a mere author, whose history 
 may be read in his works. He lived at a momentous 
 period, and was no idle spectator of passing events ; a com- 
 plete life of Michaud would, indeed, swell to a history of 
 Trance from 1790 to 1839. 
 
 Joseph Fran9ois Michaud, born at Albens, m Savoy, on 
 the 19th of June, in the year 1767, was descended from a 
 family that traced its nobility beyond the tenth century. 
 One "of his ancestors, Hugh Michaud de Corcelles, was 
 deservedly distinguished by the emperor Charles Y. The 
 father of Joseph was obliged to leave his country, in conse- 
 quence of what is termed by his biographer, a piece of boyish 
 rashness, but which we prefer relating to any of the warlike 
 deeds of the abovenamed Hugh. AYhilst on a shooting 
 party, he sought refreshment in a cottage, and found the 
 mistress of it in the greatest distress ; for, at the moment of
 
 Xl BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE. 
 
 Lis entrance, officers were bearinor aM'av her liumble far- 
 niture, for the paltry sum of sixty francs. He offered to 
 pay the amount if they would come with him to his home ; 
 but they refused, and continued their operations in his pre- 
 sence. This irritated him to such a degree, that he threat- 
 ened to make use of his gun ; and, at length, struck one of 
 them so severe a blow with the stock of it, that the fellow 
 died immediately. He retired to a place near Bourg, in 
 Bresse, where he married ; and he afterwards established 
 himself as a notary and commissary at Terrier, in that 
 province. An early death left his widow burdened with a 
 numerous family, of which Joseph was the eldest. Xotwith- 
 standing this calamity, he received an excellent education at 
 the college of Bourg, and acquired great credit as a rhe- 
 torician and a composer of French verses. His studies and 
 some juvenile travels completed, it became necessary for him 
 to fix upon a mode of getting a living ; and the Ilarro^^"ne33 
 of his mother's resources confining his efforts to trade, he 
 went into the house of a bookseller at Lyon, attracted, no 
 doubt, by the affinity between the bookseller and the man of 
 letters. He remained here till 1790, when the passage of 
 the rich, influential, and intellectual Countess Fanny de 
 Beauharnais through that city, aroused all the provincial 
 muses to make their ofleriugs to the great lady. Among 
 the poets, Michaud was so successful, that he thought him- 
 self warranted in following her to Paris, ^vith the view of 
 pursuing a literary career under her auspices. Immediately 
 on his arrival, he laid the contents of his poetical portfolio 
 before the public, and soon became the associate of Cerisier, 
 in the Gazette UniverseUe. and with Esmenard, in the Po5- 
 tiUon de la Guerre. His opinions and early associations led 
 him towards the Eoyalist party, to which the accession of 
 his talents was veiy acceptable. He may be said to have 
 been faithful to his colours, throu£:h all the disasters of the 
 ujihappy cause he had embraced ; for, in spite of imprison- 
 ment, banishment, and repeated concealments, we find him, 
 in 1799, publishing two satirical pamphlets against Buona- 
 parte, by the orders of Louis XYIII. One of his escapes 
 was so well managed, and so opportunely effected, that we 
 will offer an account of it to our readers. He had been sent 
 prisoner to Paris, walking between two mounted gendarmes,
 
 BIOGllAPlllCAL ISOTICE. XIU 
 
 who were directed not to spare him, aud if fatigue relaxed 
 his speed, they were to refresh him with the flat sides of 
 their sabres. As he entered Paris in this forlorn condition, 
 he was met by his zealous friend, Giguet, whose sorrow only 
 set his fertile brain to work to devise means for his escape. 
 As Michaud was, diu"ing many days, conducted from his- 
 prison to the Tuileries, to undergo examination, Giguet at 
 first thought that the best way would be to blow out the 
 brains of the two gendarmes that escorted him ; but this he 
 rejected as unworthy of a man of genius. Choosing a point 
 in Michaud' s passage that would answer his purpose, he 
 stopped the party, and aftecting to know nothing of the 
 matter, and not to have seen his friend since his arrival in 
 Paris, was eager in his inquiries as to how his health was, 
 what he was doing, where he was going, and insisted upon 
 his breakfasting with him. "No, no," answered Michaud, 
 "I have a little afiair yonder, at the Tuderies, just a few 
 words of explanation to give — only the business of a minute 
 or two. — Begin breakfast without me, I shall be back pre- 
 sently." " That won't do ; that won't do ; they do not 
 despatch people so quickly as all that. Perhaps they won't 
 begin with you ; let us have our breakfast first. I dare say 
 these gentlemen (pointing to the gendarmes) have not 
 breakfasted, and will have no objection to a cutlet and a 
 glass of Bourdeaux wine ! and here's the best house in Paris, 
 close at hand." The gendarmes, after a little faint hesita- 
 tion, sufiered themselves to be seduced; and prisoner, guards, 
 and friends were soon comfortably seated at table. They 
 eat, they drink, they pass bumper toasts, and talk a little 
 about everything ; but most particularly about Bresse and 
 the good cheer that was there always to be met with — but 
 the pullets of Bresse ! never was such eating as the pullets 
 of Bresse ! The mouths of the gendarmes watered at the 
 bare description of them. " Parbleu, gentlemen," cried 
 Giguet, " since you have never partaken of our country pul- 
 lets, I will undertake to convince you that there are none 
 such in the eighty-three departments. We have plenty of 
 time ; you can eat a little bit more, and appetite comes with 
 
 drinking (and he filled the glasses) . Waiter, here ! a 
 
 Bresse pullet ! no tricks, mind ; it must be from Bresse — • 
 not from Mans. But, stop ; Michaud, you understand these
 
 X17 EIO GRAPHICAL NOTICE 
 
 thinors better tlian anvbodv : liave an eve to these fellows : 
 go down into the kitchen, and see that they don't cheat ns. 
 Good health to you, gentlemen." Whilst they are drinking, 
 ISIichaud rises, and is soon. out of the house. Giguet had 
 the art to keep the guards another half-hour at table, by 
 sa^Tng his friend was only watching the cooking, for a Bresse 
 piillet was worth nothing if not roasted a la Bresse ; and 
 when thev discovered Michaud was not in the kitchen, he 
 asserted it must either be a joke, or else he was ill, and gone 
 home; and contrived to lead tliem a long useless search in a 
 way dii'ectly opposite to that which he knew the late prisoner 
 had taken. Michaud' s escape was a happy one; for that very 
 day, the council had condemned him to death. Poor Giguet' s 
 friendly zeal cost him nearly a month's imprisonment, and 
 placed his life even in jeopardy. 
 
 The career of Buonaparte was so successful, that, at length, 
 further resistance seemed useless, and Michaud even wrote 
 complimentary verses on the marriage of Napoleon with 
 Maria Louisa, and upon the birth of the young king of 
 Rome. But this submission to circumstances was no,volun- 
 tarv homas:^; he was still at heart faithfullv attached to the 
 Bourbons. For a length of time he resisted the tempting 
 offers of the emperor, and one of his refusals, for its wit, if 
 not for its patriotism, almost deserves to be placed by the 
 side of Andrew Marvel's. Fontaines, Buonaparte's emissary, 
 said to him : " There must be an end to all resistance ; it is 
 diminishing every day. Come, do as other men do. Look 
 at Delille, for instance, he has just accepted a pension of six 
 thousand francs." "Oh! as to that," replied Michaud, 
 " he is so frightened, that he would accept a pension of a 
 hundred thousand francs, if vou were to offer it to him." 
 Posterity, perhaps, may be thankful that he was di*iven from 
 politics to literature. During one of his necessary exiles, he 
 had written his beautiful poem of " Le Printemps d'un 
 Proscrit :" he afterwards became associated with his brother 
 as a bookseller, and planned and executed the works of 
 which we will furnish a list. T^'hatever opinion might be 
 entertained of his talents, it is more than probable that 
 without his implied submission to Buonaparte, he never 
 would have obtained that object of the hopes of all French 
 authors, the immortal fauteuil in the Academy. This honour
 
 BIOGEAPHICAL NOTICE. XV 
 
 he attained in 1818, and, upon the publication of his fourth 
 volume of the "History of the Crusades," had the gratifica- 
 tion of signing himself " Knight of the Order of St. John 
 of Jerusalem," and " Knight of the Holy Sepulchre :" titles 
 bestowed upon him, unasked, by the commanders represent- 
 ing the order of St. John of Jerusalem in France. 
 
 He watched with intense anxiety the madly ambitious 
 career of Buonaparte, and hailed with unfeigned delight the 
 return of his patrons, the Bourbons. He had no cause to 
 complain of their ingratitude, and occupied as good a posi- 
 tion as a literary man could expect, when the escape from 
 Elba, during a hundred days, disturbed his occupations, and 
 placed him in considerable danger. He left Paris ; returned 
 again, and put himself forward for a struggle : but finding 
 resistance dangerous and useless, he retired to the depart- 
 ment of the Am, where he concealed himself till the tempest 
 had blown over ; his celebrated journal, the Quotidienne, in 
 the mean time, degenerating into the Feuille du Jour, or 
 rather, as a wit said, " La Eeuille de la veille (last night's 
 journal) ; for it was only edited by scissors, and contained 
 nothing but scraps from the Moniteur and other inoffensive 
 journals." The JVain Jaune (yellow dwarf) took unfair ad- 
 vantage of an enemy, who, he knew, could not answer him, 
 and bestowed upon JMichaud the sobriquet of " G-rand Master 
 of the Order of the Extinguishers," which stuck to him with 
 the burlike pertinacity of sobriquets, for many years after 
 the second restoration of the Bourbons. He welcomed this 
 last event by the publication of a pamphlet entitled " The 
 History of the Eifteen Weeks, or the Last Eeign of Buona- 
 parte," which had a great sale, twenty-seven editions of it 
 appearing in a very short period. Having, since his success 
 as an author, separated from his brother as a bookseller, and 
 sold his share in the printing office, he, after 1815, gave 
 himself -up to the prosecution of his great work on the cru- 
 sades, and even parted with his portion of " La Biographie 
 Universelle." His love of politics led him, at this time, to 
 get returned as deputy for the department of the Ain : but 
 alas ! he found it a very different thing for a man with a 
 weak voice, and totally " unaccustomed to public speaking," 
 to sit and write uncontrolled and imobserved in his closet, — 
 and to be subject to the "retort courteous" of an enemy
 
 XVI 3310 GRAPHICAL ^'OTICE. 
 
 who watches for your mistakes, corrects your errors, and 
 mercilessly refutes all your favourite arguments : after the 
 trial of one sessions, he retired from his deputyship, and 
 gave up all hopes of fame as an orator. 
 
 During the celebrity of his journal, the Quotidienne, he 
 was made reader to the king, with a salary of 3,000 francs ; 
 to which appointment was attached the somewhat strange 
 stipulation, that he should never be called upon to perform 
 its duties. After 1819, when a plan was devised of buying 
 up the influential joiu-nals, Michaud and his fellow-proprie- 
 tors were ofiered 500,000 francs for theirs, which our author 
 declined. " Monseigneur," said he to the excellency who 
 soKcited him, " there is but one thing for which I could be 
 tempted to sell the Quotidienne, and that would be a little 
 health. If you could give me that, I might allow myself to 
 be corrupted." The minister, Yillele, returned repeatedly to 
 the charge, but when, in consequence of the increasing 
 weakness of his health, the sexagenarian Michaud parted 
 with the greater part of his shares of the journal, it was • 
 only to pass them over to another self, his friend Laurentie. 
 
 Whilst carrying on his great work, he had been surprised 
 to meet with a vast quantity of matter which he had not 
 dreamt of when he began it ; and he conceived the idea of 
 not only reconstructing his history, but of going to the 
 Holy Land, in search of more information. Although it 
 was too late for such an attempt, his fame procured him 
 encouragement ; and the king, Charles X., so far favoured it 
 as to give him 25,000 francs to defray his expenses. He 
 set out at the beginning of 1830. Whatever gratification 
 he derived from his voyage, it must have been sadly damped 
 by the news he received from France during that eventful 
 year. To complete his griefs, he likewise at this period lost 
 200,000 francs, the greater part of his fortune, which he 
 had imprudently placed in unsafe hands. He still, however, 
 had a moderate competence, and might have passed the re- 
 mainder of his days in ease, but for that mismanagement to 
 which the families of literary men are so frequently subject. 
 On his return from the Holy Land he sojourned for a time 
 in Italy, where he was kindly welcomed by his natural 
 sovereign, Charles Albert. In 1837 he was named member 
 of the Academie des Inscriptions ; but honours from mon-
 
 BIOGKAPHICAL KOTICE. XVll 
 
 arclis and academies could not put off the fatal liour, and 
 he died at the elegant village of Passy on the 30th of Sep- 
 tember, 1839. On this occasion was exhibited an instance 
 of what our poet calls " the ruling passion, strong in death." 
 Eew authors had reccLved more adulation, and no one could 
 be more covetous of it. Extraordinary instances are told 
 of the copious draughts of this intoxicating beverage that 
 were offered to him, and of the greediness with which he 
 swallowed them. " J^ever," says his biographer, " although 
 he loved to be called the La Fontaine of journalism, did he 
 think of the second fable of the good man." * One of the 
 most extravagant of his flatterers said to a friend, admitted 
 for a last interview, — " With all his weakness, not the least 
 trace of decline of intellect ; still the same facility of expres- 
 sion, still the same lucidity." — This aroused Michaud, upon 
 whom the affectionate words of a sincere friend had just 
 before produced no effect. He started, and sitting upright 
 in his bed, exclaimed, in a tremulous voice, — " Yes ! yes ! 
 
 still the same ! still " and he sunk exhausted and dying 
 
 on his pillow : these were his last words ! 
 
 To criticise the works of Michaud properly would require 
 a volume ; we can therefore only lay before our readers a list 
 of such as from their merit and celebrity are ever likely to 
 fall under the eye of English readers. His greatest claim to 
 the attention of posterity is doubtless the one before us, "The 
 History of the Crusades," of which his biographer, who is 
 certainly less of an eulogist than any one we ever saw assume 
 a similar task, very justly says, — " It may be said, without 
 exaggeration, that it is one of the most valuable historical 
 works that our age has produced. To its completion he sacri- 
 ficed almost every moment of twenty of the best years of his 
 life." No reader requires to be told that it was a labour of 
 love. — He was the founder of, and a considerable contributor 
 to, *' La Biographic XJniverselle," a work which England may 
 envy Erance the conception and execution of ; and if to these 
 we add his beautiful poem of " Le Printemps d'un Proscrit," 
 we think we name all that he wrote that would be interesting 
 at the present day : the other historical works are feeble, 
 and the political squibs of a journalist after a lapse of half 
 
 * Le Corbeau et le Renard.
 
 XVm BIOGEAPHICAL ^'OTICE. 
 
 a century, are only acceptable to him who may be writing 
 the history of the time. In this latter vein we may, how- 
 ever, suppose him to have excelled ; mixed up from an early 
 age with politics and journalism ; possessed of a lively ima- 
 gination and great facility of expression ; constantly in the 
 world, and deeply interested in its movements ; we can fancy 
 his vers de societe, of vvhich so much is said, to have been 
 piquant and sparkling. AYe subjoin a specimen, written 
 upon Buonaparte's expedition to Egypt ; — 
 
 Que de lauriers tombes dans I'eau, 
 Et que de fortunes perdues ! 
 Que d'hommes coutent au torabeau, 
 Pour porter Bonaparte aux nues ! 
 Ce heros vaut son pesant d'or ; 
 En France, personne n'en doute ; 
 Mais il vaudrait bien plus encore, 
 S'il valoit tout ce qu'il nous coute. 
 
 What laurels in the waters fall, 
 What fortunes sink no more to rise ! 
 What men lie shrouded in death's pall, 
 That Bonaparte may gain the skies ! 
 This hero 's worth his weight in gold ; 
 In France of that there's no one doubts ; 
 But greater far his worth, if sold 
 At what he costs — or thereabouts ! 
 
 As a conversationalist his reputation stands even higher 
 than that of our Coleridge ; for the stream was quite as 
 constant and abundant, and at the same time much more 
 pellucid. One of our English biographical dictionaries says 
 he was censor of the press under Louis XVIIL, but this we 
 believe is not correct ; indeed it was an office scarcely suit- 
 able for the editor and proprietor of such a journal as the 
 Quotidienne. He was a member of the Academy and of the 
 Institute, a knight of St. John of Jerusalem and of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, and for a short time representative of the 
 department of the Ain. These were his temporary honours 
 — much more durable and brilliant ones belong to him as 
 the author of the work before us.
 
 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 The history of the middle ages presents no spectacle 
 more imposing than the Crusades, in which are to be seen 
 the nations of Asia and of Europe armed against each other, 
 two religions contending for superiority, and disputing the 
 empire of the world. After having been several times 
 threatened by the Mussulmans, and a long time exposed to 
 their invasions, all at once the West arouses itself, and 
 appears, according to the expression of a Greek historian,* 
 to tear itself from its foundation, in order to precipitate 
 itself upon Asia. All nations abandon their interests and 
 their rivalries, and see upon the face of the earth but one 
 single country vrorthy of the ambition of conquerors. One 
 would believe that there no longer exists in the universe any 
 other city but Jerusalem, or any other habitable spot of 
 earth but that which contains the tomb of Jesus Christ. All 
 the roads which lead to the holy city are deluged with blood, 
 and present nothing but the scattered spoils and wrecks of 
 empires. 
 
 In this general confusion we may contemplate the sub- 
 limest virtues mixed with all the disorders of the wildest 
 passions. The Christian soldiers have at the same time to 
 contend against famine, the influence of climate, and enemies 
 the most formidable ; in the greatest dangers, in the midst 
 of their successes and their constant discords, nothing can 
 
 * Anna Comnena, History nf the Emperor Alexius,
 
 XX rs'TEODrcTioy. 
 
 exhaust eitlier their perseverance or their resignation. After 
 four years of fatigue, of miseries, and of victories, Jeru- 
 salem is taken by the Crusaders ; but as their conquests are 
 not the work of wisdom and prudence, but the fruit of blind 
 enthusiasm and ill-directed heroism, they create nothing but 
 a transient power. 
 
 The banner of the cross soon passes from the hands of 
 Godfrey de Bouillon into those of his weak and imbecile 
 successors. Jerusalem, now a Christian city, is obHged 
 again to apply for succour to the West. At the voice of 
 St. Bernard, the Christians take arms. Conducted by an 
 emperor of Grermany and a king of France, they fly to the 
 defence of the Holy Land ; but they have no longer great 
 captains among them ; they have none of the magnanimity 
 or heroic resignation of their fathers. Asia, which beholds 
 their coming without terror, already presents a new spec- 
 tacle. The disciples of Mahomet awaken from their apathy ; 
 they are at once seized with a frenzy equal to that which 
 had armed their enemies ; they oppose enthusiasm to enthu- 
 siasm, fanaticism to fanaticism, and in their turn burn with 
 a desire to shed their blood in a religious war. 
 
 The spirit of discord which had destroyed their power is 
 no longer felt but among the Cln-istians. Luxury and the 
 manners of the East weaken the courage of the defenders 
 of the cross, and make them forget the object even of the 
 holv war. Jerusalem, which had cost the Cioisaders so 
 much blood, falls again into the power of the infidels, and 
 becomes the conquest of a wise and warlike piince, who had 
 united under his banner the forces of Syria and Egypt. 
 
 The genius and fortune of Saladin inflict a mortal blow 
 upon the iU-assured power of the Christians in the East. 
 In vain an emperor of the "West, and two kings celebrated 
 for their bravery, place themselves at the head of the whole 
 powers of their states to deliver Palestine ; these new armies 
 of Crusaders meet everywhere with brave enemies and 
 invincible barriers, and all their united eflbrts produce 
 nothing but illustrious disasters. The kingdom of Jeru- 
 salem, for whose ruius they contend, is no longer anything 
 but a vain name ; soon even the captivity and the miseries 
 of the holy city cease to inspire the sentiments of piety and 
 enthusiasm that they had given birth to among the Chris-
 
 INTllODUCTIO]!?. XXI 
 
 tians. The Crusaders who had taken up arms for its 
 deliverance, suffer themselves to be seduced bj the wealth 
 of G-reece, and stop short to undertake the conquest of 
 Constantinople. 
 
 From that time the spirit of the Crusaders begins to 
 change ; whilst a small number of Christians still shed their 
 blood for the deliverance of the tomb of Jesus Christ, the 
 princes and the knights are deaf to everything but the 
 voice of ambition. The popes complete the corruption of 
 the true spirit of the Crusaders, by urging them on, by 
 their preaching, against other Christian people, and against 
 their own personal enemies. The holy wars then degenerate 
 into civil wars, in which both religion and humanity are 
 outraged. 
 
 These abuses of the crusades, and the dire passions which 
 had mixed themselves with them, plunge Europe in disorder 
 and anarchy ; when a pious king undertakes once more to 
 arm the powers of the AVest against the infidels, and to 
 revive among the Crusaders the spirit which had animated 
 the companions of Godfrey. The two wars directed by this 
 pious chief, are more unfortunate than all the others. In 
 the first, the world is presented with the spectacle of a cap- 
 tive army and a king in fetters ; in the second, that of a 
 powerful monarch dying in its ashes. Then it is that the 
 illusion disappears, and Jerusalem ceases to attract all the 
 attention of the West. 
 
 Soon after, the face of Europe is changed ; intelligence 
 dissipates barbarism ; the crusades no longer excite the same 
 degree of enthusiasm, and the first eftect of the civilization 
 it begins to spread is to weaken the spirit of the fanaticism 
 which had given them birth. Some few useless efforts are 
 at times made to rekindle the fire which had burnt so 
 fiercely in Europe and Asia. The nations are so completely 
 recovered from the pious delirium of the Crusades, that 
 when Germany finds itself menaced by the Mussulmans 
 who are masters of Constantinople, the banner of the cross 
 can with difficulty gather an army around it ; and Europe, 
 which had risen in a mass to attack the infidels in Asia, 
 opposes but a feeble resistance to them on its own ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 Such is, in a few words, the picture of the events and
 
 Xiii INTEODUCTION. 
 
 revolutions which the historian of the crusades has to 
 describe. A writer who has preceded us by two centuries^ 
 and who calls the history of the Crusades a right royal his- 
 tory, is surprised at the silence preserved to his time.* " ] 
 esteem it," says he, "a deplorable thing that such persons 
 inferior in no* way to those who have been so much cele- 
 brated by the Greeks and the Eomans, should have falleu 
 into sucii obscurity, that we search in vain to discovej 
 who they were and* what they did ; and they appear to m« 
 highly culpable, who, possessing learning and the skill to 
 write* have left these histories neglected." Everybody 
 ought now to be of this opinion, and regret that our great 
 writers have not entertained the noble subject of the Cioi- 
 sades. AYhen I undertake to supply the want created by 
 their silence, I am duly impressed with the difficulty of the 
 task. 
 
 They who, among us, have written ancient history, had 
 for guides the historians of Eome and Athens. The bril- 
 liant colours of Livy, of Tacitus, of Thucydides presented 
 themselves naturally to their pencils ; but I have no models 
 to follow, and am compelled to make those historians of the 
 middle ages speak whom our times despise. They have 
 rai-elv sustained me in mv labour bv the charm of their stvle, 
 or the elesance of their narrations ; but if thev have afforded 
 me no lessons in the art of writing:, thev transmit to me at 
 
 CI? ' » 
 
 least events whose interest will make up for the deficiency 
 of their talent or mine. Perhaps it will be found, in the 
 perusal of this history, that a period in which everything is 
 astonishing loses nothing by being presented in a simple and 
 faithful picture. The unaffected style of our old historians, 
 in my view, appears to reanimate the persons and the cha- 
 racters they describe ; and if I have profited by that which 
 thev have taught me, the ao:e in which thev lived will not be 
 ill represented in my pages. It would have been easy for 
 me to have censured with severity, as has usually been done, 
 their ignorance and their credulity, but I respect in them 
 the frankness and the candour of the periods of which they 
 
 * History of the Holy War made by the French and other Christians 
 for the deliverance of Judea and the Holy Sepulchre, composed in Greek 
 and French, by Yves Duchat, a Trojan. This history is translated almost 
 literally from the History of Accolti, entitled De Bello Sacro.
 
 IKTRODUCTIOIS". XXlll 
 
 are the interpreters. AYithout yielding faith to all they 
 say, I have not disdained the fables they relate to ns, and 
 which were believed by their contemporaries ; for that which 
 was thought worthy of credit then serves to picture to us 
 the manners of our ancestors, and forms an essential part of 
 tlie history of past ages. 
 
 We do not now require much sagacity to discover in our 
 ancient chronicles what is fabulous and what is not. A far 
 more difficult thing is to reconcile, upon some points, the 
 frequent contradictory assertions of the Latins, the Greeks, 
 and the Saracens, and to separate, in the history of the cru- 
 sades, that which belongs to religious fanaticism, to policy, 
 or to human passions. I do not pretend to resolve more 
 skilfully than others these difficult problems, or to elevate 
 myself above my subject, by ottering positive judgments 
 upon the nations and ages which will present themselves 
 before me. Without giving myself up to digressions in 
 Avhich it is always easy to make a display of learning, after 
 having scrupulously examined the historical monuments 
 which remain to us, I will tell honestly what I believe to be 
 the truth, and will leave dissertations to the erudite, and 
 conjectures to philosophers. 
 
 In an age in which some value is set upon an opinion of 
 the crusades, it will be first asked, if the wars of the Cru- 
 sades were just. Upon this head we have but little to an- 
 swer : whilst the Crusaders believed that they were obeying 
 God himself, by attacking the Saracens in the East, the lat- 
 ter, who had invaded a part of Asia possessed by Christian 
 people, who had got possession of Spain, who threatened 
 Constantinople, the coasts of Italy, and several countries ot 
 the West, did not reproach their enemies with making an 
 unjust war, and left to fortune and victory the care of de- 
 ciding a question almost always useless. 
 
 We shall think it of more importance in this history to 
 examine what was the cause and the nature of these remote 
 wars, and what has proved to be their influence on civiliza- 
 tion. The crusades were produced by the religious and 
 military spirit which prevailed in Europe diuing the middle 
 ages. The love of arms and religious fervour were two 
 dominant passions, which, mingling in some way, lent each 
 other a mutual energy. These two great principles united
 
 XXIV LNTEODUCTION. 
 
 and acting together, gave birth to the holy war ; and car- 
 ried, among the Crusaders, valour, resignation, and heroism 
 of character to the highest degree of eminence. 
 
 The part which the union of these two principles neces- 
 sarily had in the undertaking of the holy wars will be plainly 
 perceived in our narration. It will be much less easy for us 
 to make all the results of the crusades appreciated. Some 
 writers have seen nothing in these great expeditions but the 
 most deplorable excesses, without any advantage to the ages 
 that succeeded them ; others, on the contrary, maintain that 
 we owe to thein all the benefits of civilization. It is not, at 
 present, my business to examine these two conflicting opi- 
 nions. Without believing that the holy wars have done 
 either all the good or all the harm that is attributed to them, 
 it must be admitted that they were a source of bitter sorrow 
 to the generations that saw them or took part in them ; but, 
 like the ills and tempests of human life, which render man 
 better, and often assist the progress of his reason, they have 
 forwarded the experiences of nations ; and it may be said, 
 that after having for a time seriously agitated and shaken 
 society, they have, in the end, much strengthened the foun- 
 dations of it. This opinion, when stripped of all spirit 
 of exaggeration or system, will, perhaps, appear the most 
 reasonable ; I, besides, experience some pleasure in adopting 
 it, from its being consolatory to the age in which we live. 
 The present generation which has witnessed the outbreak of 
 so many passions on the political scene, which has passed 
 through so many calamities, will not see without interest 
 that Providence sometimes employs great revolutions to 
 enlighten mankind, and to ensure the future prosperity of 
 empires.
 
 CONTENTS TO VOL. I. 
 
 Biographical Notices of the Author . . . . . . Page xi 
 
 Introduction to the History of the Crusades .. xix 
 
 BOOK I.— A.D. 300-1095. 
 FIKST CRUSADE. 
 
 Early pilgrimages to the Holy Land — Veneration for the Holy Sepul- 
 chre — Palestine visited by the early Christians — Jerusalem their peaceful 
 asylum — Profaned by Fire Worshippers — Recaptured by Heraclius — 
 Spread of the religion of Maiiomet — Worship of the Magi annihilated 
 by Mohammedanism — Empire of Persia torn by intestine wars — Anarchy 
 of the East — Fanaticism and bravery of the Saracens — Their conquests 
 —Paganism annihilated by Mohammedanism — Monarchy of the Goths 
 overturned — Charles Martel — The caliph Omar captures Jerusalem — 
 Christians persecuted by the Mussulmans — Pilgrimages of Peter the 
 Hermit, &c. — Haroun-al-Raschid — Charlemagne — Siege of Constanti- 
 nople — Bagdad — Conquest of the Arabians — St. Bernard — Commerce of 
 the East— Caliphs of Bagdad — The Fatimites — The Greeks — Antioch — 
 Zimisces, emperor of the Greeks — Fatimite caliphs capture Jerusalem — 
 Caliphs of Cairo — William of Tyre — Persecutions of the Jews — Pilgrims 
 welcomed everywhere — King Robert — Memphis— Bethlehem — Monas- 
 teries for the pilgrims — Hospitals at Jerusalem — Mystery of the Re- 
 demption — Pilgrimages of distinguished persons the forerunner of the 
 Crusades — The Turks — The Sultan Mamouh — Togrul-Beg — Victorious 
 career of the Turks — Malek-Scha — Jerusalem captured — Nicea — The 
 Greeks — The Seldjouc tribes — Eleven emperors of Constantinople 
 put to death — Death of Zimisces — Military ardour of the Franks — 
 Michael Ducas — Pope Gregory VII. — Power of the popes — Rome — 
 Pope Hildebrand — Pope Victor III. incites the Christians to take arms 
 against the infidels — Conquests of the Genoese and Pisans — Peter the 
 Hermit — His interviews with the patriarch of Jerusalem and Pope 
 Urban II. — The crusades instigated by Peter — First determined on at 
 the council of Clermont, convoked by Urban II. — Enthusiasm in their 
 favour pp. 1-60. 
 
 Vol. I.— 2
 
 XXVI CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK II.— A.D. 109G-1097. 
 
 Immense armies collected in various parts of Europe— Peter the 
 Hermit chosen general of the crusade — Opposed by the Hungarians and 
 Bulgarians — Semlin — Nissa — The Crusaders reach Constantinople — 
 Alexius Comnenus — Rapacity and crut-lties of the Crusaders — Their 
 defeat and slaughter — Fresli armies sent from Europe — Their distin- 
 guished leaders — They wage war against the Greeks — Alliance of Godfrey 
 de Bouillon with Alexius of Constantinople — Wretched situation of the 
 remains of Peter's army in Bithynia — The Turkish power — Kingdom of 
 Ezeroum — Siege of Nice — Battle of Gorgoni— The Turks defeated by 
 the Crusaders — Sultan of Nice desolates the country — Antiochetta — 
 Iconium — Tarsus captured by Baldwin — His conflicts with Tancred — 
 Capture of Alexandretta and Edessa by the Crusaders— They arrive in 
 Mesopotamia pp. 61-125. 
 
 BOOK III.— A.D. 1097-1099. 
 
 The Crusaders everywhere triumphant — Their sufferings in passing 
 Mount Taurus — Enter Syria — Damascus — Aleppo — Capture of Chalcis 
 and Artesia — Siege of Antioch — Sweno, king of Denmark — Barbarous 
 treatment of the Turks — Ambassadors from Egypt — City of Harem — 
 The Crusaders relieved by the Pisans and Genoese — Baldwin, prince of 
 Edessa — Antioch captured — Quarrel of Godfrey de Bouillon and Bohe- 
 mond — Kerbogha, sultan of Mossoul — Sultan of Persia sends an im- 
 mense army against the Crusaders — Contests before Antioch — Sufferings 
 of the Crusaders — Subtle poUcy of Alexius — Kerbogha besieges Antioch 
 — Pretended miracles — The sacred lance — Speech of Peter the Hermit to 
 the Saracen leaders, and Kerbogha's haughty reply — Saracens defeated by 
 the Crusaders — Instances of heroic bravery — Magnificent encampment 
 of Kerbogha — The miraculous influence of the holy lance doubted — 
 Death of Baldwin count of Hainault — Fatal epidemic at Antioch — Death 
 of Bishop Puy — Docility of a lion — Geoffrey de la Tour — Foulque and 
 his widow — Hezas, the emir, allies himself with the Crusaders, and 
 defeats the sultan of Aleppo — Letters conveyed by pigeons — Miracu- 
 lous prodigies — Capture of Maarah — Conquests in Syria by the Cru- 
 saders pp. 126-186. 
 
 BOOK IV.— A.D. 1099-1103. 
 
 The Crusaders take their departure from Antioch, and march for 
 Palestine — Siege of Archas — Pons de Balasu — Arnold de Rohes, and 
 his disbelief in prodigies — Fanatacism of Barthelemi — The holy lance — 
 Ordeal by fire — Hatred of the Latins towards the Greeks — Caliph of
 
 CONTENTS. xxvi; 
 
 Cairo — Emir of Tripoli defeated — Palestine — Phoenicia — Plain of Berytu* 
 — Serpents — Ptolemais — Emmaus and Bethlehem — Alarm from an eclipse 
 — The city of Jerusalem — Enthusiasm of the Crusaders on first beholding 
 it — Siege of Jerusalem — Indignities heaped upon the Christians — Foun- 
 tain of Siloe — The Genoese fleet enter the port of Jaffa — Gaston de 
 Beam — Mount of Olives — Address of Arnold de Rohes — Speech of Pete} 
 the Hermit to the Crusaders — Tower of Tancred— Machines used at the 
 siege of Jerusalem — The Saracen magicians — Miraculous appearance oi 
 St. George — The Crusaders enter Jerusalem by storm — Creton Rheim- 
 hault — Everard de Puysaie — Mosque of Omar — Slaughter of the Mus- 
 sulmans, and pious fervour of the Christians — Destruction of the Jews — 
 Wealth found in Jerusalem — Discovery of the " true cross" — Speech ol 
 the count of Flanders — Prophetic visions — Godfrey elected king of Jeru- 
 salem — Rejoicings among the Christians, and despair of the Mussulmans 
 — Elegy of ModhafFer Abyverdy — Afdhal, the Muj^sulman commander — 
 Signal defeat of the Saracens at Ascalon — Tasso — Godfrey's quarrel with 
 Raymond — Siege of Ascalon — Riou de Loheac — Stephen de Salviac — 
 Peter de Salviac — Death of Gaston de Beam — Peter the Hermit and 
 many of the Christian leaders return to Europe — William IX., count 
 of Flanders, sets out for the East — William, count de Nevers, defeated 
 by the Turks — Eude, duke of Burgundy, slain — Conrad, marshal of 
 Henry I. of Germany — Wolf IX., duke of Bavaria — Humbert II., count 
 of Savoy, departs for the Holy Land — Alexius, emperor of Constan- 
 tinople, opposes the Crusaders — City of Ancyra captured — The Crusaders 
 defeated by the Turks — Capture of Tortosa — Invasions of the Tar- 
 tars — Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered" — Ordinances of Gaston de 
 Beam pp. 187-264. 
 
 BOOK v.— A.D. 1099-1148. 
 
 Kingdom founded by the victories of the Crusaders — State of Palestine 
 at that period — Political measures of Godfrey — Tiberias captured by 
 Tancred — Siege of Arsur — Jerusalem visited by numerous pilgrims and 
 distinguished Crusaders — Archbishop Daimbert elected patriarch of Jeru- 
 salem — " Assizes of Jerusalem" — Death of Godfrey — His brother Bald- 
 win elected king— Carries on successful hostilities against the Infidels of 
 Palestine, Egypt, &c. — Csesarea and Arsur besieged and captured — City 
 of Ramla taken by the Saracens — Hospitallers of St. John — Insidious 
 poUcy of Alexius — Josselin de Courtenay — Baldwin taken prisoner — 
 Bohemond, prince of Antioch, visits Italy, and returns with a large army 
 against Alexius — His death — Release of Baldwin — Distresses of Antioch 
 — Quarrels between Baldwin and the patriarch of Jerusalem — The 
 Genoese and Pisan fleets assist the Crusaders — Siege and capture of 
 Ptolemais — Armies of Egypt defeated— Tripoli, Biblies, Sarepta, Berytus, 
 and Sidon, taken by the Crusaders — Sigur, prince of Norway — The 
 " tme cross" — Death of Tancred — The Christians defeated — Palestine 
 devastated — Death of Baldwin — Baldwin du Bourg elected king of 
 Jerusalem — Taken prisoner — Eustache Grenier, regent — The Venetians
 
 xxvm co^'TE^'Ts. 
 
 destroy the fleet of the Saracens, and conquer Tyre-- -Release of Baldwin 
 — Several cities of Egypt captured — The I^maelians — Zengui, prince of 
 Mossoul — Dynasty of the Atabecks — Flourishing state of Antioch, 
 Edessa, Tripoli, Sic. — Knights of St. John and of the Holy Sepulchre — 
 The Templars — Death of Baldwin du Bourg — Foulque of Anjou crowned 
 king of Jerusalem — Raymond of Poiciers appointed governor of Antioch 
 — The emperor of Constantinople attacks Antioch — Melisende, queen of 
 Jerusalem — Baldwin III. ascends the throne — Disastrous retreat from 
 Bosra — The country of Traconite— Conquests of Zengui — Death of Jos- 
 selin de Courtenay — Noureddin, son of Zengui, captures Edessa, and 
 threatens Jerusalem pp. 265-328. 
 
 BOOK VI.— A.D. 1142—1148. 
 
 SECOND CRUSADE. 
 
 Europe aroused to a second crusade by the impending dangers of Jeru- 
 salem and the Holy Land — The Abbot St. Bernard — Louis VIL of 
 France — He destroys Vitri, repents, and determines on a crusade against the 
 infidels — Pope Eugenius 111. invokes the assistance of the faithful — Pons, 
 abbot of Vezelai — Preaching of St. Bernard — State of the Germanic 
 empire — Conrad 111. invokes a general diet at Spires, and engages in the 
 crusade — Many distinguished personages take the cross — Enthusiausm of 
 the Germans — Conrad and Louis VII. arrive at Constantinople — Hypo- 
 critical policy of the emperor, and treachery of the Greeks — Alarm 
 created by an eclipse of the sun — The Crusaders defeated by the Turks — 
 The oriflamme — Fatal blunder of Geoffrey de Ran^on — Reported death 
 of Louis VII. — Everard des Banes, grand master of the Templars — 
 Perfidious policy of the Greeks — Sufferings of the Crusaders — Louis VII. 
 arrives at Antioch with a small portion of his army — Eleanor of Guienne 
 repudiated by her husband, Louis VII. — He proceeds to the Holy Land 
 — Conrad arrives at Jerusalem — Baldwin III. urges on the war — The 
 Crusaders besiege Damciscus, and are repulsed — Ayoub, the father of 
 Saladin — The Sclaves — Crusaders in Spain and Portugal — Sugar, 
 minister of France — Unfortunate results of this crusade — The con- 
 quests of Noureddin — The deaths of Raymond, Josselin, Suger, and 
 St. Bernard pp. 329-381. 
 
 BOOK VII.— A.D. 1148-1188. 
 
 TniED CEUS.VDE. 
 
 The religion of Mahomet — State of the East at the time of the third 
 crusade — Dynasties of the Saracens and the Turks almost annihilated — 
 Caliphs of Bagdad, the chiefs of Islamism — Heroic character of Nour-
 
 COISTTEKTS. XIIX 
 
 eddin — Capture of Asoalan by Baldwin III. — Baldwin's death — His 
 brother Amaury elected Ins sa<cPS-or — Distracted state of Egypt — War- 
 like preparations against — Capture of Bilbeis by Baldwin — The Syrians 
 invade Egypt — Baldwin marries tlie daughter of thf emperor Manuel — 
 Makes war on Esypt — Deposition and death of the caliph. The Fatimite 
 dynasty extinguished — Extensive power of Noureddin, the sultan of 
 Aleppo and Damascus — Saladin, the vizier of Egypt — Death of Nour- 
 eddin — Empire of the Atabecks declines — Death of Amaury — The vic- 
 tories of Saladin in Syria — Baldwin IV., king of Jerusalem — The Mame- 
 lukes—Guy of Lusignan— Renaud de Chatillon — Raised to the throne of 
 Antioch — His various military adventures — Rebellion of Gay de Lusig- 
 nan — Distracted state of Jerusalem — Interview between Henry II. of Eng- 
 land and Heraclius, patriarch of Constantinople — Philip Augustus, king 
 of France — Deaths of Baldwin IV. and V. — Guy de Lusignan, the sove- 
 reign of Jerusa'em — Sybilla, daughter of Amaury — The Templars defeated 
 with great slaughtj^r — Tibrrias taken by S.iladin — Disastrous defeat of the 
 Christians — Capture of the "true cross" — Guy de Lusignan and many 
 distingui.-hed knights taken prisoners or slain — Saladin captures Ptole- 
 niai's, Ascalon, Gaza, and numerous other cities in Palestine — He takes 
 possession of Jerusalem — Sufferings of the Christians — The archbishop 
 of Tyre preaches in supjiort of the holy war — Henry II. of England, 
 Richard I. and Philip of France determine on renewiiig the holy war — 
 Persecution and massacre of the Jews — Archbishop Baldwin preaches 
 the crusade in England — Frederick Barbarossa engages in the crusade — 
 Miraculous vision —Contentions between the Greeks and the Latins — 
 Andronicus of Constantinople dethroned — The Greeks defeated by Bar- 
 barossa — His victorious career — His death pp. 382—450. 
 
 BOOK VIII.— A.D. 1188-1192. 
 
 The conquests of Saladin — Cotirad of Montferrat— Siege of Tyre — 
 Marquis of Montferrat— The " Green Knight"— Siege of Tripoli— Wil- 
 liam, king of Sicily, engages in the holy war — Admiral Margaritt defends 
 Tripoli — Capture of Tortosa — Heroic defence of Carac — Release of Guy 
 de Lusignan — His siege of Ptolemais, and his numerous conflicts with 
 Saladin — Description of Ptolemais — Karacoush, minister of Saladin — 
 Conrad, marquis of Tyre, fits out a fleet for the Holy Land— Bravery of 
 the Mamelukes — Death of Andre de Brienne — Defeat of the Crusaders at 
 Ptolemais by Saladin— Death of Frederick, duke of Swabia, and of 
 Sybilla, wife of Guy de Lusignan — Disputes about the succession to the 
 kingdom of Jerusalem — Humphrey de Thorone — Conrad — Eleanor of 
 Guienne — Philip of France arrives at Palestine — Cyprus captured by 
 Richard I. — His marriage to Berengaria of Navarre — Jane, queen of 
 Sicily — Isaac Comnenus — Disputes respecting the sovereignty of Jeru- 
 salem — Arrival of Richard I. before the walls of Ptolemais — His quarrels 
 with Philip of France — Conflicts with Saladin — Ptolemais taken by the 
 Christians — Guy de Chatillon, Josselin de Montmorency, and some of
 
 XXX CONTEXTS. 
 
 the bravest nobility of Europe, slain — The Mohammedans — Leopold, 
 duke of Austria — Philip of France quits Palestine, and returns to 
 France — Battle of Arsur — Ascalon destroyed by Saladin, and rebuilt by 
 Richard I. — Richard marches on Jerusalem — Conrad assassinated — 
 Treaty of peace between Richard and Saladin — Guy de Lusignan obtains 
 the sovereignty of Cyprus — Palestine ceded to Henry, count of Cham- 
 pagne — Characters of Richard I. and of Saladin — Leopold of Austria 
 detains Richard as a prisoner — Death of Saladin — Malek-Adel takes 
 possession of Egypt pp. 451-500.
 
 H I S T E Y 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CKUSADES. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 A.D. 300—1095. 
 
 Eeom tlie earliest ages of tlie Church, a custom had been 
 practised of making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Judea, 
 full of religious remembrances, "\A-as still the promised land 
 of the faithful ; the blessings of heaven appeared to be in 
 store for those who visited Calvary, the tomb of Jesus 
 Christ, and renewed their baptism i-n the waters of the 
 Jordan. Under the reign of Constantino, the ardour for 
 pilgrimages increased among the faithful ; they flocked from 
 all tlie provinces of the empire to worship Jesus Christ upon 
 his own tomb, and to trace the steps of their God in that 
 city which had but just resumed its name, and which the 
 piety of an emperor had caused to issue from its ruins. The 
 Holy Sepulchre presented itself to the eyes of the pilgrim.3 
 siu-rounded by a magnificence v/hich redoubled their vene- 
 ration. An obscure cavern had become a marble temple, 
 paved with precious stones and decorated with splendid 
 colonnades. To the east of the Holy Sepulchre appeared 
 the chm'ch of the Eesurrection, in which they could admire 
 the riches of Asia, mingled with the arts of Greece and 
 Bome. Constantine celebrated the thirty-first year of his 
 reign by the inauguration of this church, and thousands of 
 Christians came, on occasion of this solemnity, to listen to 
 the paneg}Tic of Christ from the lips of the learned and holy 
 bishop Eusebius.
 
 2 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. ^ 
 
 St. Helena, the motlier of tlie emperor, repaired to Jeru- 
 salem, at a very advanced a2:e, and caused churches and 
 chapels to be built upon Moimt Tabor, in the city of 
 ]Srazareth, and in the greater part of the places which Christ 
 had sanctified by his presence and his miracles. From this 
 period, pils^rimages to the Holy Land became much more 
 frequent. The pilgrims, no longer in dread of the persecu- 
 tions of the Pagans, could now give themselves up, without 
 fear, to the fervour of their devotion ; the Eoman eagles, 
 ornamented with the cross of Jesus Christ, protected them 
 on their march ; they everywhere trampled under-foot the 
 fragments of idols, and they travelled amidst the abodes of 
 their fellow- Christians. 
 
 TTlien the emperor Jidian, in order to weaken the autho- 
 rity of the prophecies, undertook to rebuild the temple of 
 the Jews, numerous were the prodigies related by which 
 God confounded his designs, and Jerusalem, for that attempt 
 even, became more dear to the disciples of Jesus Christ. 
 The Christians did not cease to visit Palestine. St. Jerome, 
 who. towards the end of the fourth centurv, had retired to 
 Eethlehem, informs us in one of his letters that pilgrims 
 arrived in crowds in Judea, and that around the holy tomb 
 the praises of the Son of God were to be heard, uttered in 
 manv languages. From this period, pilgrimages to the 
 Holy Land were so numerous, that several doctors and 
 fathers of the Church thought it their duty to point out the 
 abuses and danger of the practice. They told Christians 
 that long voyages might turn them aside from the path of 
 salvation : that their God was not confined to one cit^' ; that 
 Jesus Christ was everywhere where faith and good works 
 were to be foiuid ; but such was the blind zeal which then 
 drew the Clu"istians towards Jerusalem, that the voice of the 
 holy doctors was scarcely heard.* The counsels of en- 
 lightened piety were not able to abate the ardour of the 
 pilgrims, who believed they should be wanting in faith and 
 zeal, if they did not adore Jesus Christ in the very places 
 
 * See the letter of St. Gregory of Xyssen, translated into Latin and 
 commented on by Casaubon. St. Augustin, and St. Jerome himself, raised 
 their voices against the abuses of pilgrimages. (See the first of the 
 Appendix, in which is an abridgment of the pilgrimage of St. Jerome 
 and St. Eusebius of Cremona.)
 
 niSTORT OF THE CEUSADES. 3 
 
 where, according to the expression of St. Jerome, the light 
 of the gospel first shone from the top of the holy cross. 
 
 As soon as the people of the West hecame converted to 
 Christianity, they turned their eyes to the East. From the 
 depths of Gaul, from the forests of Germany, from aU the 
 countries of Europe, new Christians weve to be seen hasten- 
 ing to visit the cradle of the faith they had embraced. An 
 itinerary for the use of pilgrims served them as a guide 
 from th'e banks of the Ehone and the Dordogne to the shores 
 of the Jordan, and conducted them, on their return, from 
 Jerusalem to the principal cities of Italy.* 
 
 When the world was ravaged by the Goths, the Huns, 
 and the Vandals, the pilgrimages to the Holy Land were 
 not at all mterrupted. Pious travellers were protected by 
 the hospitable virtues of the barbarians, who began to 
 respect the cross of Christ, and sometimes even followed 
 the pilgrims to Jerusalem. In these times of trouble and 
 desolation, a poor pilgrim, who bore his scrip and staff, often 
 passed through fields of carnage, and travelled without fear 
 amidst armies which threatened the empii-es of the East and 
 
 the West. 
 
 Illustrious families of Kome came to seek an asylum at 
 Jerusalem, and upon the tomb of Jesus Christ. Christians 
 then found, on the banks of the Jordan, that peace which 
 seemed to be banished from the rest of the world. This 
 peace, which lasted several centuries, was not troubled before 
 the reign of Heraclius. Under this reign, the armies of 
 Cosroes, king of Persia, mvaded Syria, Palestine, and Egypt; 
 the holy city fell into the hands of the worshippers of fire ; 
 the conquerors bore away into captivity vast numbers of 
 Christians, and profaned the churches of Jesus Christ. All 
 the faithful deplored the misfortunes of Jerusalem, and shed 
 tears when they learned that the king of Persia had carried 
 off, among the spoils of the vanquished, the cross of the 
 Saviour, which had been preserved in the church of the 
 llesurrection. 
 
 * See, in the Appendix at the end of the volume, a bibliographical, 
 historical, and geographical analysis of " The Itinerary from Bordeaux to 
 Jerusalem," by M. Walcknaer : this piece throws great light upon 
 ancient geography, and that of the middle ages. 
 
 2*
 
 4i niSTOHT or the CErsADZS. 
 
 • 
 
 Heaven, at length, touched br the prayers and afflic- 
 tion of the Christians, blessed the anns of Heraclius. who, 
 after ten years of reverses, triumphed over the enemies of 
 Christianity and the empii^e, and brought back to Jerusa- 
 lem the Christians whose chains he had broken. Then was 
 to be seen an emperor of the East, walking barefooted in 
 the streets of the holv citv, carrvinsr on his shoulders to the 
 summit of Calvary, the wood of the true cross, which he 
 considered the most glorious trophy of his victories. This 
 imposing ceremony was a festival for the people of Jerusalem 
 and the Christian church, which, latter stiQ, every year 
 celebrates the memorv of it.* AVhen Heraclius re-entered 
 Constantinople, he was received as the liberator of the 
 Christians, and the kings of the West sent ambassadors to 
 congratulate him. 
 
 But the joy of the faithful was not of long duration. 
 Towards the befrinning: of the seventh centurv there had 
 arisen, in an obscure comer of Asia, a new religion, opposed 
 to all others, which preached dominion and war. Mahomet 
 had promised the conquest of the world to his disciples, who 
 had issued almost naked from the deserts of Arabia. 
 By his passionate doctrine he was able to inflame the 
 imaofination of the Arabs, and on the field of battle knew how 
 
 o ... 
 
 to inspire them with his own impetuous courage. His first 
 successes, which must have greatly exceeded his hopes, were 
 like so many miracles, increasing the confidence of his par- 
 tisans, and carr^'inc: con\"iction to the minds of the weak 
 and wavering. The political state ot the East seemed to 
 ofier no obstacle to the progress of a sect, which, from its 
 birth, showed itself everywhere with fire and sword. The 
 worship of the Magi was sinking into contempt ; the Jews 
 scattered throughout Asia were opposed to the Sabeans, and 
 divided amongst themselves ; and the Christians, under the 
 names of Eutychians, Xestorians, Maronites, and Jacobites, 
 were engaged in heaping, reciprocally, anathemas upon one 
 another. The empire of Persia, torn by intestine wars, and 
 attacked bv the barbarous races of Tartarv, had lost both 
 its power and splendour; that of the Greeks, weakened 
 
 * This festival is known under the name of the Exaltation of the Holj 
 Cross, and is celebrated on the 14th of September.
 
 # 
 
 niSTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 5 
 
 both wifhin and witlioiit, was hastening to its fall ; " every- 
 thing was perishing in the East," says Bossuet. A new 
 religion, a new empire, sprang up easily in the midst of ruins. 
 The armed doctrine of Mahomet invaded, withm a very 
 short period, the three Arabias, a part of Syria, and a large 
 di\T.sion of Persia. 
 
 After the death of the Prophet of Mecca, his lieutenants 
 and the companions of his first exploits carried on his great 
 work. The sight of conquered provinces only increased the 
 fanaticism and the bravery of the Saracens. They had no 
 fear of death in the field of battle, for, according to the 
 w^ords of their prophet, paradise, with all its voluptuous 
 pleasures, awaited those who precipitated themselves upon 
 the enemy, and behind them hell opened its abysses. Their 
 conquests were so much the more rapid, from their uniting, 
 in their military and religious government, the prompt deci- 
 sion of despotism with all the passions that are met with in 
 a republic. Masters of Persia and Syria, they soon took 
 possession of Eg)'pt ; their \dctorious battalions flowed on 
 into Africa, planted the standard of the Prophet upon the 
 ruins of Carthage, and carried the terror of their arms to 
 the shores of the Atlantic. Prom India to the Straits of 
 Cadiz, and from the Caspian Sea to the ocean, language, 
 manners, religion, everything was changed ; what had 
 remained of Paganism was annihilated, together with the 
 worship of the Magi ; Christianity scarcely subsisted, and 
 Europe itself was threatened with a similar destruction. 
 Constantinople, which was the bulwark of the "West, saw 
 before its walls innumerable hordes of Saracens : several 
 times besieged both by sea and land, the city of Constan- 
 tino only owed its safety to the Greek fire, to the assistance 
 of the Bulgarians, and to the inexperience of the Arabs in 
 the art of navigation. 
 
 During the first age of the Hegira, the conquests of the 
 Mussulmans were only bounded by the sea which separated 
 them from Europe ; but when they had constructed vessels, 
 no nation was safe from their invasion; they ravaged 
 the isles of the Mediterranean, the coasts of Italy and 
 Greece ; fortime or treason made them masters of Spain, 
 where they overturned the monarchy of the Goths ; they 
 took advantage of the weakness of the children of Clovis to
 
 niSTOET or THE CIiUSiJ)ES. 
 
 • 
 
 penetrate into the southern provinces of Gaul, and were 
 oi^y stopped in their invasions by the victories of Charles 
 Martel. 
 
 Amidst the first conquests of the Saracens, they had 
 turned their eyes towards Jerusalem. According to the 
 faith of the Mussulmans, Mahomet had been in the city of 
 Da^'id and Solomon; it was from Jerusalem that he set 
 out to ascend into heaven in his nocturnal voyage. The 
 Saracens considered Jerusalem as the house of God, as the 
 city of saints and miracles. A short time after the death 
 of the Prophet, the soldiers of Omar besieged it. The 
 Cln-istians, animated by despair, swore to defend the city. 
 The siege lasted four months, each day being marked by 
 sorties or attacks ; the Saracens approaching the walls 
 repeating the words of the Koran — '• Let us enter into the 
 holy land which God has promised us." After enduring all 
 the miseries of a long siege, the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
 at length surrendered to the caliph Omar, who himself 
 came into Palestine to receive the kevs and the submission 
 of the conquered city. 
 
 The Christians had the grief of seeing the church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre profaned by the presence of the chief of the 
 infidels. The patriarch Sophronius, who accompanied the 
 cahph, coidd not refrain from repeating these words of 
 Daniel, — " The abomination of desolation is in the holy 
 place." Jerusalem was filled with moui'ning, a gloomy 
 silence reigned in the churches, and in all the places in 
 which the hymns of the Christians had so long resounded. 
 Although Omar had left them the exercise of their worship, 
 they were obliged to conceal their crosses and their sacred 
 books. The bell no longer summoned the faithful to prayer; 
 the pomp of ceremonies was interdicted, and rehgion 
 appeared but as a desolate widow. The caliph ordered a 
 mosque to be erected on the spot whereon the temple 
 of Solomon had been built. The aspect of this edifice, 
 consecrated to the worship of the infidels, still further 
 increased the affliction of the Christians. History relates 
 that the patriarch Sophronius was imable to support 
 the sight of so many profanations, and died in despair, 
 deploring the misfortunes and capti\'ity of the holy city. 
 
 In the mean time, the presence of Omar, of whose
 
 ^ HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 7 
 
 moderation the East boasts, restrained the jealous fanaticism 
 of the Mussulmans. After his death the faithful had much 
 more to suffer ; they were driven from their houses, insulted 
 in their churches ; the tribute which they liad to pay to the 
 new masters of Palestine was increased, and they were for- 
 bidden to carry arms or to mount on horseback. A leathern 
 girdle, which they were never allowed to be without, was the 
 badge of their servitude ; the conquerors would not permit 
 the Christians to speak the Arab tongue, sacred to the 
 disciples of the Koran ; and the people who remained 
 faithful to Jesus Christ had not liberty even to pronounce 
 the name of the patriarch of Jerusalem without the per- 
 mission of the Saracens. 
 
 All these persecutions could not stop the crowd of 
 Christians who repaired to Jerusalem ; the sight of the 
 holy city sustaining their courage as it heightened their 
 devotion. There were no evils, no outrages, that they could 
 not support with resignation, when they remembered that 
 Christ had been loaded with chains, and had died upon the 
 cross in the places they were about to visit. Among the 
 faithful of the West who arrived in Asia in the midst of the 
 early conquests of the Mussulmans, history has preserved 
 the names of St. Arculphus and St. Antoninus of Plaisance.* 
 The latter had borne arms with distinction, when he deter- 
 mined to follow tlie pilgrims who were setting out for 
 Jerusalem. lie traversed Syria, Palestine, and Eg}q:)t. On 
 his arrival on the banks of the Jordan, Judea had not yet 
 fallen into the hands of the infidels ; but the fame of tlieir 
 victories already filled the East, and their armies were 
 threatening the holy city. Several years after the pilgrimage 
 of St. Antoninus, Arculphus, accompanied by Peter, a 
 Erench hermit, set out from the coast of England in a vessel 
 bound for Syria. He remained nine months at Jerusalem, 
 then under the dominion of the enemies of Christ. On 
 liis return to Europe, he related what he had seen in Pales- 
 
 * The voyage of St. Antony is found in three very ancient manuscripts, 
 which may be consulted in the Imperial Library. It has been printed 
 also in a small volume in 4to. (See the Appendix.) The relation of the 
 pilgrimage of St. Arculphus, arranged by Adaman in 690, was published 
 by Gretzer of Ingoldstadt, 1619, in 4to., under this title, " De Locis 
 Terrae Sanctse." It has since been published by Mabillon. 
 
 #
 
 8 HISTOET or THE CKUSADES. g| 
 
 tine, and in all tlie sacred spots visited by tlie pilgrims of 
 t]ie West. The account of his pilgrimage was drawn up by 
 a holv monk of the Hebrides, for the information and 
 edification of the faithful. 
 
 The Christians of Palestine, however, enjoyed some short 
 intervals of security during the ci^'il wars of the Mussul- 
 mans.* If they were not freed from their bondage, they 
 could at least weep in peace upon the tomb of Christ. The 
 dynasty of the Ommiades, which had estabhshed the seat of 
 the Mussulman empire at Damascus, was always odious to the 
 ever-fonnidable party of the Alides, and employed itself less 
 in persecuting the Christians than in preserving its own 
 precarious power. Merwan II., the last caliph of this 
 house, was the most cruel towards the disciples of Christ ; 
 and when he, with all his family, sunk under the power 
 of his enemies, the Christians and the infidels united in 
 thanks to heaven for ha'V'ing delivered the East from his 
 tyi'anny. 
 
 The Abassides, established in the city of Bagdad, which 
 they had founded, persecuted and tolerated the Christians 
 by turns. The Christians, always livino: between the fear 
 of persecution and the hope of a transient security, saw at 
 last the prospect of happier days dawn upon them with the 
 reign of Haroun al Easchid, the greatest caliph of the race 
 of Abbas. Under tbis reign the glory of Charlemagne, 
 which had reached Asia, protected the churches of the East.f 
 His pious liberality relieved tlie indigence of the Christians 
 of Alexandria, of Carthage, and Jerusalem. The two greatest 
 princes of then' age testified their mutual esteem by frequent 
 embassies : they gent each other magnificent presents ; and, 
 in the friendly intercourse of two powerful monarchs, the 
 East and the AYest exchanged the richest productions of 
 their soil and their industry. The presents of Haroiui 
 created a lively surprise in the court of Charlemagne, and 
 
 * Litcida plerumqve recepit intervalla. — ^^^'illiam of Tyre. 
 
 t A capitulary of Charlemagne, of the year 810, is conceived in these 
 terms : " De eleemosyna mittenda ad Hyerusalem propter ecclesias Dei 
 restaurandas." Ob hoc maaime (says Eginard) iransmarinorum regum 
 amiciiias expetens, ut Christianis sub eorum dominatu degentibus 
 refugerium aliquod ac relevatio proteniret. — Vita Caroli Magni, cap. 27, 
 p. 101, edit, of Bredow, 12mo. Helmstadt, 1806.
 
 HISTOEY OE THE CRUSADES. 9 
 
 gave a high idea of the arts and riches of Asia. The 
 monarch of the Franks took pleasure in showing to the 
 envoys of the caliph the magnilicence of the religious cere- 
 monies of the Christians. Witnesses, at Aix-la-Chapelle, of 
 several processions, in which the clergy had exhibited all 
 their most precious ornaments, the ambassadors, on their 
 return to Bagdad, reported that they had seen men of gold. 
 
 There was no doubt policy in the marks of esteem which 
 Haroun lavished upon the most powerful of the princes of 
 the West. He was making war against the emperors of 
 Constantinople, and might justly fear that they would 
 interest the bravest among Christian people in their cause. 
 The popidar traditions of Byzantium foretold that the Latins 
 would some day be the liberators of Greece ; and in one of 
 the first sieges of Constantinople by the Saracens, the 
 report only of the arrival of the Franks had re-animated 
 the courage of the besieged, and carried terror into the 
 ranks of the Mussulmans. In the time of Haroun, the 
 name of Jerusalem already exercised so powerful an influence 
 over the Christians of the West, that it was sufficient to 
 rouse their warlike enthusiasm, and raise armies to serve 
 against the infidels. To talvc from the Franks every pretext 
 for a religious war, which might make them embrace the 
 cause of the Grreeks, and draw them into Asia, the caliph 
 neglected no opportunity of obtaining the friendship of 
 Charlemagne ; and caused the keys of the holy city and of 
 the holy sepulchre* to be presented to him. This homage, 
 rendered to the greatest of the Christian monarchs, was cele- 
 brated with enthusiasm in contemporary legends, which 
 afterwards caused it to be believed that this prince had made 
 the voyage and completed the conquest of Jerusalem.f 
 
 Haroun treated the Christians of the Latin Church as his 
 own subjects ; and the children of the cahph imitated his 
 moderation. Under their sway, Bagdad was the abode of 
 the sciences and the arts. The caliph Almamon, says an 
 Arabian historian, was not ignorant that they who labour 
 
 * Claves sepiilcri Domini, claves etiam civitatis et moniis cum vexillo 
 detulerunt. — William of Tyre. 
 
 f A relation of this pretended voyage may be found in the old 
 chronicles. Sanuti and Robert Gaguin have mentioned it, without doubt 
 from traditions existing in their time.
 
 10 niSTOET OF THE CEUSADE3. 
 
 m tlie advancement of reason are the elect of God. Intel- 
 ligence polished the manners of the chiefs of Islamism, and 
 inspired them with a toleration till that time unknown to 
 Mussulmans, ^"hilst the Arabians of .Ifrica were pursuing 
 their conquests towards the West, ^Yhilst they took posses- 
 sion of Sicily, and Eome itself saw its subui'bs and its 
 churches of St. Peter and St. Paul invaded and pillaged by 
 infidels, the servants of Jesus Christ prayed in peace within 
 the walls of Jerusalem.* The pilgrims of the West, who 
 arrived there without danger, were received in an hospital, 
 the foundation of which -was attributed to Charlemagne. 
 According to the report of the monli Bemard,t who himself 
 performed the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, about the 
 middle of the ninth centun', the hospital for the pilgrims of 
 the Latin Church was composed of twelve houses or hos- 
 telries. To this pious establishment were attached fields, 
 vineyards, and a garden, situated in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. 
 This hospital, like those which the emperor of the West 
 founded in the north of Europe, had a library always open 
 to Christians and travellers. From the tenth century there 
 existed in the neighbourhood of the Fountain of Siloe, a 
 cemetery, in -^hich were interred the pilgrims who died at 
 Jerusalem. Among the tombs of the faithful dwelt the 
 servants of God. This place, says the relation of St. 
 Antoninus, covered with fruit-trees, dotted -with sepulchres 
 and humble cells, brings together the dead and the liA-ing, 
 and presents at once a cheerfid and a melancholy picture. 
 
 * At the commencement of the ninth century, pilgrims flocked thither 
 quite from the extremities of Europe. Dicuil, who wrote in Ireland in 
 the year 825, gives several details : — Fidelis frater. . . . narravit coram 
 me .... qnhd odorationis causa in urbe Jerlm. {Hierusalem) clerici et 
 laid a Britannia usque ad Nilum velijicavei^nt. — Dicuil, De Mensura 
 Orbis, edit. Walcknacr, p. 17. 
 
 t Ibi habetur hospitale, in quo suscij}iunfur omnes qui causa devotionis 
 ilium adeunt locum, lingua, loquentes Romand, cui adjacet ecclesia in 
 honore SanctcB Maria; nobilissimam habent bibliothecam studio prcedicti 
 imperatoris Caroli Magni. — This passage is taken from the Voyage of 
 the monk Bernard to the Holy Land. This monk was a Frenchman by 
 birth ; he set out for Palestine in 870 with two other monks, one of whom 
 was of the monastery of St. Innocent, in the country of Benevento, and 
 the other a Spanish monk. (See an account of tb.is pilgrimage in the 
 Appendix.)
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 11 
 
 To the desire of visitiug the tomb of Jerusalem was joined 
 the earnest ^^•ish to procure relics, which were then sought 
 for \\'ith eagerness by the devotion of the faithful. All who 
 returned from the East made it their glory to bring back to 
 their country some precious remains of Christian antiquity, 
 and above all the bones of holy martyrs, which constituted 
 the ornament and the riclies of then* churches, and upon 
 which princes and kings swore to respect truth and justice. 
 The productions of Asia likewise attracted the attention of 
 the people of Europe. AYe read in* Gregory of Tours, that 
 the wine of Graza was celebrated in Erance in the reign of 
 Gontran ;t that the silk and precious stones of the East 
 added to the splendour of the dresses of the great and the 
 noble ; and that 8t. Eloi, at the court of Dagobert, did nob 
 disdain to clothe himself in the rich stufis of Asia. Com- 
 merce attracted a great number of Europeans to Egypt, 
 vSyria, and Palestine. The Venetians, the Genoese, the 
 Pisans, — the merchants of Amalfi and Marseilles, — had all 
 stores at Alexandria, in the maritime cities of Phenicia, and 
 in the city of Jerusalem. Before the church of St, Marie- 
 la-Latine, says the monk Bernard, already quoted, extended 
 a large place or square, which was called the jMarket of the 
 Eranks. Every year, on the 15th of September, a fair was 
 opened on jNlount Cahary, in which Avere exchanged the 
 productions of Europe for those of the East. 
 
 Greek and Syrian Christians were established even in the 
 city of Bagdad, where they devoted themselves to trade, 
 exercised the art of medicine, and cidtivated the sciences. 
 They attained by their learning the most considerable em- 
 ployments, and sometimes even obtained the command of 
 
 * Alii causa negotiaiionis acti, alii causa devotionis et peregiunatioyns. 
 — J. DE ViTRY. Quod Latini devotionis gratia aut negotiationis adve- 
 nientes. — Sanuti. Non dcfuerunt de occidentalibus niulti qui loca 
 sancia, licet in hostiurn potestate redacta, aut devotionis, aut cotnmer- 
 ciorum, aut utriusque gratia, visitarent aliquoties. — William of Tyre. 
 Diversarum gentium undique prope innumera multitudo, 15 die Sep- 
 tembris anniversario more, in Hierosolymarn conveaire solet ad com- 
 mercia mutuis conditionibus ct emptionibus peragenda. — Voyage of St. 
 Arculphus. 
 
 f There is an excellent dissertation, by M. de Guegnes, upon the com- 
 merce of the French in the Levant before the Crusades, in the 37th vol. 
 of the " Memoires de rAcadeuiie des Inscriptions."
 
 12 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 cities and tlie goYernment of provinces. One of the 
 caliphs of the race of Abbas* declared that the disciples of 
 Christ were the most worthy to be trusted with the admi- 
 nistration of Persia. In short, the Christians of Palestine 
 and the Mussulman provinces, the pilgrims and travellers 
 who returned from the East, seemed no longer to have any 
 persecutions to dread, when all at once new storms broke 
 out in the East. The children of Haroun soon shared the 
 fate of the posterity of Charlemagne, and Asia, like the 
 "West, was plunged into the horrors of anarchy and civil 
 war. 
 
 As the empire founded by Mahomet had for its principle 
 the spirit of conquest ; as the state was not defended by any 
 provident institution ; and as aU depended upon the personal 
 character of the prince, it might easily be perceived that 
 symptoms of decay began to appear as soon as there 
 remained nothing else to conquer, and the chiefs ceased 
 either to make themselves feared or to inspire respect. The 
 caliphs of Bagdad, rendered eifeminate by luxury, and cor- 
 rupted by long prosperity, abandoned the cares of empire, 
 buried themselves in their seraglios, and appeared to reserv^e 
 to themselves no other right than that of being named in 
 the public prayers. The Arabians were no longer governed 
 by that blind zeal, and that ardent fanaticism which they 
 had brought from the desert. Degenerated, like their chiefs, 
 they no longer resembled their warlike ancestors, who woidd 
 weep at not having been present at a battle. The authority 
 of the caliphs had lost its true defenders ; and when des- 
 potism surrounded itself with slaves purchased on the 
 banks of the Oxus, this foreign militia, called in to defend 
 the throne, only precipitated its fall. New sectaries, 
 seduced by the example of Mahomet, and persuaded that 
 the world would obey those who should change its manners 
 or opinions, added the danger of religious dissensions to 
 that of political troubles. In the midst of the general con- 
 fusion, the emirs or lieutenants, of whom several governed 
 , vast kino^doms, no lonG:er offered anvthing bevond a vain 
 homage to the successor of the Prophet, and refused to send 
 him either money or troops. The gigantic empire of the 
 
 * Mohamed. 
 
 {
 
 niSTORT OF THE CEUSADES. 13 
 
 Abassides crumbled away on all sides, and tbe world, 
 according to the expression of an Arabian writer, was 
 within the reacli of him who would take possession of it. 
 The spii'itual povrer was itself di\ided ; Islamism beheld at 
 one time five caliphs, each of whom assumed the title of 
 commander of the faithful, and vicar of Mahomet. 
 
 The numerous d}Tiasties which sprung up amidst the 
 troubles of Asia, shared amongst them the spoils of tlie 
 sovereigns of Bagdad ; those which ruled over Persia and 
 upon the banks of the Tigris, under the pretence of defend- 
 ing the Mussulman religion, subjected their spiritual chiefs 
 to the most humiliating subser\dency. At the same time 
 the Eatimites, who pretended to be descended from Alj, 
 and who had usurped the title of caliph, raised armies, and 
 launched anathemas against the Abassides ; they had taken 
 possession of Egj'pt, and they threatened to invade Syi'ia, 
 and to march to Bagdad, and dethrone the ^dcars of the 
 Prophet. 
 
 The Greeks then appeared to rouse themselves from their 
 long supineness, and sought to take advantage of the divisions 
 and the humiliation of the Saracens. Nicephorus Phocas 
 took the field at the head of a powerful army, and recaptured 
 Antioch from the Mussulmans. Already the people of Con- 
 stantinople celebrated his triumphs, and styled him " the 
 star of the East, the death and the scourge of the infidels.''^ 
 He might, perhaps, have merited these titles, if the G-reek 
 clergy had seconded his efforts. Kicephorus was desirous 
 of giving to tliis war* a religious character, and to place in the 
 rank of martyrs all who should fall in prosecuting it. The 
 prelates of his empire condemned his design as sacrilegious, 
 
 * Lebeau, in his " History of the Lower Empire," relates, after con- 
 temporary historians, an incident which plainly shows what was the spirit 
 of the Greeks at that time. " A small town of Silicia being invaded by 
 the Saracens, the cure of the place, named Themal, was saying mass at 
 the time. At the noise which he hears he descends briskly from the 
 altar, without taking off his pontificals, arms himself with a hammer 
 which seived for a bell in many eastern churches, goes straight to meet 
 the enemy, wounds, knocks down, crushes all that he meets, and puts 
 the rest to flight. Although he had delivered his tow^n from an invasion 
 of the Saracens, the cure Themal was censured and suspended by his 
 bishop. He was so ill treated that he sought refuge with the Saracens, 
 and embraced the religion of Mahomet."
 
 14 HISTOET OF THE CKUSADES. 
 
 and opposed to him a canon of St. Basil, the text of which 
 recommended to him who had killed an enemy to abstain 
 during three years from a participation in the lioly mys- 
 teries. Deprived of the powerful sthnulus of fanaticism, 
 Kicephorus found among the Greeks more paneg\Tists than 
 soldiers, and could not pursue his advantages against the 
 Saracens, to whom, even in their declijie, religion prescribed 
 resistance and promised victory. Hia triumphs, which were 
 celebrated at Constantinople with enthusiasm, were confined 
 to the taking of Antioch, and only served to create a perse- 
 cution against the Christians of Palestine. The patriarch of 
 Jerusalem, accused of keeping up an understanding with the 
 Greeks, expired at the stake, and several churches of the 
 holy city were consigned to the flames. 
 
 A Greek army, under the command of Temelicus, had 
 advanced to the gates of Amida, a city situated on the banks 
 of the Tigris. This army was attacked, in the midst of a 
 hurricane, by the Saracens, who routed it, and made a great 
 number of prisoners. The Christian soldiers who fell into 
 the hands of the infidels, heard, in the prisons of Bagdad, 
 of the death of iNicephorus ; and as Zimisces, his successor, 
 gave no attention to their deliverance, their chief -wTote to 
 him in these terms : — " You who leave us to perish in an 
 accursed land, and who do not deem us worthy to be buried, 
 according to Christian usages, in the tombs of our fathers, 
 we cannot recognize you as the legitimate chief of the holy 
 Greek empire. If you do not avenge those who fell before 
 Amida, and those who now sigh in foreign lands, God will 
 demand a strict accoimt of them of you, at the terrible day 
 of judgment." AVhen Zimisces received this letter at Con- 
 stantinople, says an Armenian historian,* he was penetrated 
 with grief, and resolved to avenge the outrage inflicted upon 
 religion and the empire. On all sides preparations were set 
 
 * We owe a great portion of thf^se details to an ancient Armenian 
 manuscript, composed in the twelfth century by Matthew of Edessa, 
 several fragments of which have been translated into French by Messrs. 
 ISIartin and Chahan de Cirbier. These fragments were printed under the 
 title, " Historical Details of the First Expedition of the Christians into 
 Palestine, under the Emperor Zimisces." In the Appendix of thb» 
 history is an interesting letter from Zimisces to the king of Armenia.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 15 
 
 on foot for a fresh war against the Saracens. The nations 
 of the AVest werel no strangers to this enterprize, which 
 preceded, by more than a year, the first of the Crusades. 
 Venice, which then enjoyed the commerce of the East, 
 forbade her people, imcler pain of death, to convey to the 
 Mussuhnans of Africa and Asia, either iron, wood, or any 
 species of arms. The Christians of Syria and several 
 Armenian princes repaired to the standard of Zijnisces, who 
 took the liekl, and carried war into the territories of the 
 Saracens. So great was the confusion which then prevailed 
 among the Mussulman powers, and with such rapidity did one 
 dynasty succeed to another, that history can scarcely distin- 
 guish what prince,* or what people ruled over Palestine 
 and Jerusalem. After having defeated the Mussulmans on 
 the banks of the Tigris, and forced the caliph of Bagdad to 
 pay a tribute to the successors of Constantino, Zimisces 
 penetrated, almost without resistance, into Judea, took pos- 
 session of Cesarea, of Ptolemais, of Tiberias, Nazareth, and 
 several other cities of the Holy Land. He was encamped 
 upon Tabor when he received a deputation of the inhabitants 
 of E,amala and Jerusalem, who promised him obedience, and 
 required of him troops to defend their cities. Zimisces 
 received their submission and their request favourably,t and 
 pursued the wreck of the Saracen army, which had sought 
 refuge in some cities of Phenicia and in the mountains of 
 Libanus. 
 
 After this first campaign, the Holy Land appeared to be 
 on the eve of being delivered entirely from the yoke of the 
 infidels, when the emperor died poisoned. His death at 
 
 * The second memoir of the Xhh6 Guenee upon Palestine may he read 
 here. This estimable scholar speaks of the different dynasties which, at 
 this period, had by turns conquered Jerusalem. We have felt that all 
 these details, though quite in their place in a memoir, would only inter- 
 rupt the course of our narration, without furnishing the reader with any 
 useful information. 
 
 t Whilst reading the letter of Zimisces, which gives an account of 
 these events, we feel astonished that he does not show more eagerness to 
 see Jerusalem ; but such was the character of the Greeks, that they set 
 more value on the acquisition of relics, which were borne in triumph to 
 Constantinople, than in delivering the holy city and the tomb of Christ. 
 It is thence apparent that this expedition was not at all directed by the 
 same spirit as the crusades.
 
 16 HISTOST or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 once put a stop to the execution of an enterprize of which 
 he was the soul and the leader. The Christian nations had 
 scarcely time to rejoice at the delivery of Jerusalem, when 
 they learnt that the holy city had again fallen into the hands 
 of the Fatimite caliphs, who, after the death of Zimisces, 
 had invaded Syria and Palestine. 
 
 The caliphs of Cairo, who had taken advantage of the 
 transient conquests of the Greeks to extend their empire, 
 at first treated the Christians as allies and auxiliaries. In 
 the hope of enricliing their new dominions and repairing 
 the e"vils of war, they favoured the commerce of the Euro- 
 peans, and tolerated the devotion of pilgrimages to the Holy 
 Land. The markets of the Franks were re-established in 
 the city of Jerusalem ; the Christians rebuilt the hospitals 
 of the pilgrims, and the churches which were falling to 
 decay. They began to forget the peaceful domination of 
 the Abassides, and felicitated themselves upon liAing under 
 the laws of the sovereigns of Cairo ; and still greater right 
 had they to hope that all their troubles were about to be at 
 an end, when they saw the caliph Hakim, whose mother 
 was a Christian, ascend the throne. But God, who, according 
 to the expression of conteniporan** authors, wished to try 
 the virtues of the faithful, did not long delay to confound 
 their hopes and raise new persecutions against them. 
 
 Hakim, the third of the Fatimite caliphs, signalized his 
 reign by all the excesses of fanaticism and outrage. Unfixed 
 in. his own projects, and wavering between two religions, 
 he by turns protected and persecuted Christianity. He 
 respected neither the policy of his predecessors nor the laws 
 which he himself had established. He changed, on the 
 morrow, that which he had ordained the preceding day, and 
 spread disorder and confusion throughout his dominions. 
 In the extravagance of his mind and the intoxication of 
 power, he carried his madness so far as to believe himself a 
 god. Tlie terror which he inspired procured him worship- 
 pers, and altars were raised to him in the neighbourhood of 
 Fostat, which he had given up to the flames. Sixteen 
 thousand of his subjects prostrated themselves before him, 
 and adored him as sovereign of the living and the dead. 
 
 Hakim despised Mahomet, but the Mussulmans were too 
 numerous in his states to allow him to think of persecuting
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 17 
 
 tliem. The god trembled for the authority of the prince, 
 and allowed all his anger to fall upon the Christians, whom 
 he gave up to the fury of their enemies. The places which 
 the Christians held in the administration, and the abuses in- 
 troduced into the mode of levying the imposts, with which 
 duty they were charged, had drawn upon them the hatred 
 of all the Mussulmans. "When the caliph Hakim had once 
 given the signal for persecution, he found himself at no loss 
 for executioners. At first, they who had abused their power 
 were the objects of pursuit ; the Christian religion became 
 the next crime, and the most pious among the faithful were 
 deemed the most guilty. The blood of the Christians flowed 
 in all the cities of Egypt and Syria, their courage in the 
 midst of torments only adding to the hatred of their per- 
 secutors. The complaints which escaped them in their 
 sufferings, the prayers, even, which they addressed to Jesus 
 Christ to put an end to their e^dls, were considered as a 
 revolt, and piuiished as the most guilty treasons. 
 
 It is probable that motives of policy joined with those of 
 fonaticism in the persecution of the Christians. Gerbert, 
 archbishop of Eavenna, who had become pope, under the 
 name of Sylvester II., had witnessed the ills to which the 
 faithful were subjected in their pilgrimages to Jerusalem. 
 On his return he excited the nations of the West to take 
 up arms against the Saracens. In his exhortations, he made 
 Jerusalem herself speak, made her deplore her misfortunes, 
 and conjure her Christian children to hasten and break her 
 chains. The people were deeply moved with the complaints 
 and groans of Sion. The Pisans, the Grenoese, with Boson, 
 king of Aries, undertook a maritime expedition against 
 the Saracens, and made an incursion upon the coasts of 
 Syria. These hostilities, and the number of the pilgrims, 
 which increased every da)", might well create distrust in the 
 masters of the East. The Saracens, alarmed by sinister 
 predictions, and b}^ the imprudent menaces of the Cliristians, 
 saw nothing but enemies in the disciples of Christ ; from 
 that time terror and death guarded the gates of Jerusalem. 
 
 It is impossible, says William of T}Te, to describe all the 
 species of persecutions to which the Christians were then 
 exposed. Among the instances of barbarity cited by the 
 historians, there is one which gave to Tasso the idea of his
 
 18 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 affecting episode of Olindus and Sophronia. One of tlie 
 bitterest enemies of the Christians, in order to increase the 
 hatred of their persecutors, threw, in the night, a dead dog 
 into one of the principal mosques of the city. The first 
 who repaired thither to morning prayer were seized with 
 horror at the sight of this profanation, and proclaimed their 
 anger aloud. Threatening clamours soon resounded in every 
 part of the city ; the crowd assembled in a state of tumul- 
 tuous excitement around the mosque ; the Christians were 
 at once accused of this act of sacrilege, and all swore to 
 wash out the outrage to their prophet in the blood of the 
 perpetrators. All Christians were about to be immolated 
 to the revenge of the Mussulmans, and already were they 
 prepared for death, when a yoimg man, whose name history 
 has not presen-ed, presented himself in the midst of them. 
 " The greatest misfortune that could happen," said he, 
 " would be that the church of Jerusalem should perish. 
 "Wlien a people is threatened with destruction, it is just that 
 a single man should sacrifice himself for the salvation of 
 all; I here and now offer myself as a \-ictira to die for 
 you ; to you I leave the charge of doing justice to my 
 memory, and I recommend myself to your prayers." After 
 pronouncing these words, which dissolved the assembly in 
 tears, he quitted them, and repaired to the chiefs of the 
 Mussulmans ; he declared himself alone to be the author of 
 the crime imputed to the Christians, and invoked upon 
 himself the death with which his brethren were menaced. 
 The Mussubnans, without being in the least touched by his 
 generous devotion, were satisfied with the \'ictim who offered 
 himself to their vengeance : the sword was no longer sus- 
 pended over the heads of the Christians, and he who had 
 immolated himself for their safety, went, according to the 
 expression of AVilliam of Tyre,* to receive in heaven the 
 reward reserved for those whose mmds burn with a love of 
 perfect charity. 
 
 * Et ita pro fratribus animamponens, cumpietate dormitionem accepit 
 optimam, habens positayn gratiam. — William of Tyre. The translator 
 of the Latin historian Du Preau thus renders the thought of the original : 
 — " Thus, giving up his life for his brothers, exchanged the misery of this 
 world for a happy eternal repose, and received the high reward prepared 
 for all lovers of perfect charity."
 
 niSTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 19 
 
 Nevertlieless, otlier misfortunes awaited the Christians of 
 Palestine ; all religious ceremonies were interdicted ; the 
 greater part of the churches were converted into stables ; 
 that of the Holy Sepulchre was completely destroyed. The 
 Christians, driven from Jerusalem, were scattered throughout 
 the countries of the East. Old historians relate, that the 
 world took part in the mourning of the holy city, and was 
 seized with trouble and consternation. AYinter, with its 
 frosts and storms, showed itself in regions where, till that 
 time, it had been unknown. The Bosphorus and the Nile 
 bore sheets of ice upon their bosoms. Earthquakes were 
 felt in S}Tia and Asia IMinor ; and their shocks, which were 
 repeated during two months, destroyed several large cities. 
 "When the account of the desti'uction of the holy places 
 arrived in the AYest, it drew tears from all true Christians. 
 "We read in the chronicle of the monli Grlaber, that Europe 
 had likewise been presented with signs which foreboded 
 great calamities : a shower of stones had fallen in Burgundy, 
 and a comet and threatening meteors had appeared in the 
 heavens. The airitation was extreme amono: all Christian 
 nations ; nevertheless, they did not take up arms against the 
 Mussulmans, but the whole of their vengeance fell upon 
 the Jews, whom all Europe accused of having provoked the 
 fury of the infidels. 
 
 The calamities of the holy city rendered it still more 
 venerable in the eyes of the faithful ; persecution redoubled 
 the pious delirium of those who went into Asia to contem- 
 plate a city covered with ruins, and to behold an empty 
 sepulchre. It was in Jerusalem, filled with mourning, that 
 God most manifestly distributed his blessings and delighted 
 to point out his will. Impostors constantly took advantage 
 of this opinion of the Christian people, to mislead the cre- 
 dulity of the multitude. To gain credit for their words, it 
 was quite sufficient to exhibit letters which, they said, had 
 fallen from heaven into Jerusalem. At this period, a pre- 
 diction, which announced* the end of the world and the 
 approaching coming of Jesus Christ into Palestine, very 
 
 * It was pretended that the thousand years of which the Scripture 
 speaks, were about to be accomplished, and that the end of the world 
 was approaching. In an act of donation made by St. Geraud, Baron 
 d'Aurillac, are these words, " Approjnnquante mundi termino.'* 
 
 Vol. I.— 3
 
 20 HISTORY OF THE CETJSADES. 
 
 mucli increased tlie veneratioii of tlie people for the holy 
 places. The Christians of the AVest arrived in crowds at 
 Jerusalem, with the design of d}'ing there, or there awaiting 
 the coming of the sovereign judge. The monk Grlaber 
 informs us, that the affluence 'of pilgrims surpassed all 
 that could be expected from the devotion of these remote 
 times. Eirst were seen on the holy march the poor and the 
 lower classes, then counts, barons, and princes, all reckoning 
 as nothing the grandeurs of the earth. 
 
 The inconstancy of Hakim had, in a degree, mitigated the 
 misfortunes of Jerusalem, and he had just granted liberty to 
 the Christians to rebuild their churches, when he died by 
 the hand of the assassin. His successor, guided by a wiser 
 policy, tolerated both pilgrimages and the exercise of the 
 Christian religion. The chrn-ch of the Holy Sepulchre was 
 not entirely rebuilt till thu^ty years after its destruction ; 
 but the spectacle of its ruins still inflamed the zeal and the 
 devotion of the Christians, 
 
 In the eleventh century the Latin Church allowed pil- 
 grimages to suffice instead of canonical penitences ; sinners 
 were condemned to quit their country' for a time, and to lead 
 a wandering Hfe, after the example of Cain. This mode of 
 performing penance agreed better ^-ith the active and restless 
 character of the people of the "West. It ought to be added, 
 that the devotion of pilgrimages, whatever may be the 
 opinion of an enlightened philosophy, has been received, 
 and even encouraged, in all religions. It belongs, too, to a 
 sentiment natural to man. If the sight of a land once 
 inhabited by heroes and sages awakens in us touching and 
 noble remembrances ; if the soul of the philosopher finds 
 itself ajntated at the sifrht of the ruins of Palmvra, Babvlon, 
 or Athens; what lively emotions must not the Christians have 
 felt on beholding places which God had sanctified by his 
 presence and his blessings ? 
 
 The Christians of the "West, almost all unhappy in their 
 own coimtries, and who often lost the sense of their evils in 
 long voyages, appeared to be only employed in seeking upon 
 earth the traces of a consoling and helpful di^inity, or of 
 some holy personage. There existed no province without 
 its mart}T or its apostle, whose support they went to 
 implore ; there was no citj^ or secluded spot which did not
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 21 
 
 preserve tlie tradition of a miracle, or had not a eliapel open 
 to pilgrims. The most guilty of sinners, or the most ferve;it 
 of the faithful, exposed themselves to the greatest perils, 
 and repaired to the most distant places. Sometimes they 
 directed their steps to Apulia and Calabria, they visited 
 Mount Gargan, celebrated by the apparition of St. Michael, 
 or Mount Cassin, rendered famous by the miracles of St. 
 Benedict ; sometimes they traversed the Pyrenees, and, in a 
 country given up to the Saracens, esteemed themselves happy 
 in praying before the relics of St. Jago, the patron saint of 
 Gralicia. Some, like King E-obert, went to Rome, and 
 prostrated themselves on the tombs of the apostles St, Peter 
 and St. Paul ; others travelled as far as Egypt, where Christ 
 had passed his infancy, and penetrated to the solitudes of 
 Scete and Memphis, inhabited by the disciples of Anthony 
 .and Paul. 
 
 A great number of pilgrims undertook the voyage to 
 Palestine ; they entered Jerusalem by the gate of Ephraim, 
 where they paid a tribute to the Saracens. After having 
 prepared themselves by fasting and prayer, they presented 
 themselves in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, covered 
 with a funeral cloth or robe, which they preserv^ed with care 
 during the remainder of their lives, and in which they were 
 buried after their death. They viewed with holy respect 
 Mount Sion, the Mount of Olives, and the Valley of Jehosha- 
 phat ; they quitted Jerusalem to visit Bethlehem, where the 
 Saviour of the world was born ; INIount Tabor, rendered 
 sacred by the transfiguration ; and all the places memorable 
 for his miracles. The pilgrims next bathed in the waters of 
 the Jordan,* and gathered in the territory of Jericho palms 
 which they bore back as e^adences and relics to the West. 
 
 Such were the devotion and spirit of the tenth and 
 eleventh centuries, that the greater part of the Christians 
 would have thought themselves wanting in the duties of 
 religion if they had not performed some pilgrimage. He 
 who had escaped from a danger, or triumphed over his 
 enemies, assumed the pilgrim's staif, and took the road to 
 the holy places ; he who had obtained by his prayers the 
 
 * These and the following details have been drawn from the accounts 
 of several 'pilgrimages, in Mabillon, in the " Recueil des Bollandistes," 
 and the chronicles of the times.
 
 22 HISTOET or THE CSrSAJDES. 
 
 preservation cf a fotlier or of a son, went to return his 
 thanks to heaven far from his domestic hearth, in places 
 rendered holy by religious traditions. A father often 
 devoted his child iii the cradle to a pilgrimage, and the 
 first duty of an aflectionate and obedient son, when past the 
 age of childhood, was to accomplish the vow of his parents. 
 More than once a dream, a -vision in tbe midst of sleep, 
 imposed upon a Christian the obligation of performing a 
 pilo:rimage. Thus, the idea of these pious journeys miied 
 itself up witli all the affections of the heart, and wiih. all 
 the prejudices of the human mind. 
 
 Pilgrims were welcomed everywhere, and in return for 
 the hospitality they received, they were only asked for their 
 prayers ; often, indeed, the only treasure they carried with 
 them. One of them, desirous to embark at Alexandria for 
 Palestine, presented himself with his scrip and staff on 
 board a ship, and offered a book of the holy Evangelists m 
 pa^Tiient for his passage. Pilgrims, on their route, had no 
 other defence against the attacks of the wicked but the 
 cross of Christ, and no other guides but those angels whom 
 God lias told " to watch over his children, and to direct them 
 in all their waysy 
 
 The jrreatest merit in the eves of the faithful, next to 
 that of pilgrimage, was to devote themselves to the service 
 of the pilgrims. Hospitals were built upon the banks of 
 rivers, upon the heights of mountains, in the midst of cities, 
 and in desert places, for the reception of these travellers. In 
 the ninth centuiy, the pilgrims who left Burgundy to repair 
 to Italy, were received in a monastery built upon Mount 
 Cenis. In the following century, two monasteries, in 
 which were received travellers who had strayed from 
 their way, occupied the places of the temples of idolatry 
 on Montes Jovis,* and thence lost the name they had 
 received from Paganism, and took that of their pious 
 founder, St. Bernard de Meiiton. Christians who travelled 
 to Judea, found on the frontiers of Hungary, and in the 
 
 * These mountains, called Monts de Joux (Montes Jovis), now bear 
 the names of the Greit and Little St. Bernard. "When St. Bernard 
 founded these two hospitals, the inhabitants of the Alps were still idola- 
 ters, and the Saracens had penetrated into Le Valais, where they con- 
 stantly annoyed the march of the pilgrims.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 23 
 
 provinces of Asia Minor, a great number of asylums raised 
 
 by charity. 
 
 Christians established at Jerusalem went to meet the 
 pijo-rims, and often exposed themselves to a thousand dangers 
 whilst conducting them on their route. The holy city con- 
 tained hospitals for the reception of all travellers. In one 
 of these hospitals the women who performed the pdgrmiage 
 to Palestine, were received by religious females devoted to 
 the offices of charity. The merchants of Amalfi, Venice, 
 and Genoa, the richest among the pilgrims, and several 
 princes of the West, fuimished, by their benevolence, the 
 means of keeping these houses open for all poor travellers.* 
 Every year monks from the East came into Europe to collect 
 the self-imposed tribute of the piety of the Christians. A 
 pilgrim was a privileged being among the faithful. When 
 he had completed his journey, he acquired the reputation of 
 particular sanctity, and his departure and his return were 
 celebrated by religious ceremonies. ^Hien about to set out, 
 a priest presented to him his scrip and staff, together with a 
 gown marked with a cross ; he sprinkled holy water over his 
 vestments, and accompanied him, at the head of a proces- 
 sion, as far as the boundaries of the liext parish. On his 
 return to his country, the pilgrim gave thanks to God, and 
 presented to the priest a palm-branch, to be depositedon 
 the altar of the chui^ch, as an evidence of his imdertakmg 
 being happily terminated. 
 
 The poor, in their pilgrimages, found certain resources 
 against misery ; when coming back to their country, they 
 received abundant alms. Vanity sometimes induced the 
 rich to undertake these long voyages, which made the monk 
 Glaber say, that many Christians went to Jerusalem to make 
 themselves admired, and to be enabled, on their return, to 
 relate the wonders they had seen. Many were influenced 
 by the love of idleness and change, others by curiosity and 
 an inclination to see various countries. It was by no means 
 rare to meet with Christians who had spent their lives m 
 holy pilgrimages, and had visited Jerusalem several times. 
 Every pilgrim w^as obhged to carr}^ with him a letter from 
 
 * William, duke of Normandy (917), Richard I. (943), and Richard II 
 sent considerable sums into Syria.— See Glabeu, lib. i. cap. 4 ; Dv 
 
 CHENE, vol. iv.
 
 24 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 his prince or his bishop, a precaution which must have pre- 
 vented many disorders. History' does not record a single 
 act of violence committed bv one of the travellers who 
 absolutely covered the route to the East. A Mussulman 
 governor, who had seen a vast number of them pass to 
 Emessa, said : " They have not left their homes with any 
 bad desiirn : they only seek to fulfil their law."* 
 
 Every year, at the period of the festivals of Easter, number- 
 less troops of pilgrims arrived in Jadea to celebrate the 
 mystery of the Redemption, and to behold the miracle of the 
 sacred fire, which a superstitious multitude believed they saw 
 descend from heaven upon the lamps of the holy sepulchre. 
 There existed no crime that might not be expiated by the pil- 
 grimage to Jerusalem, and acts of devotion at the tomb of 
 Christ. We find in the "Acts of the Saints," that, in the time 
 of Lothaire, this opiiiion was established among the Pranks. 
 An old relation, preserved by a monk of Hedon, informs us 
 that a powerful lord of the duchy of Brittany, named Frot- 
 monde, the murderer of his uncle and his brother, presented 
 hunself in the habit of a penitent before the king of France 
 and an assembly of bishops. The monarch and the prelates, 
 as an expiation for the blood he had ylied, caused him to bo 
 tightly bound \vith chains of iron, and ordered him to visit 
 the holy places, his brow marked with ashes, and ids body 
 clothed in a winding-sheet. Frotmonde, accompanied by 
 his servants and the accomplices of his crime, set out for 
 Palestine ; after having for some time sojourned at Jeru- 
 salem, he crossed the desert, went to the banks of the Xile, 
 traversed a part of Africa, proceeded as far as Cartilage, and 
 came back to Pome, where Pope Benedict 111. advised him 
 to commence a new pilgrimage, to complete his penance 
 and obtain an entire remission of his sins. Frotmonde saw 
 Palestine a second time, penetrated as far as the shores of 
 the Ped Sea, remained three years on Mount Sinai, and 
 went mto Armenia, to visit the mountain on which tlie 
 ark of Xoah had rested after the deluge. On his return 
 to his country he was received as a saint; he shut himself 
 
 * No7i (/i/(Bnmt mala, sed legem eorum adimplere cpiitnl. — Glii.i.e- 
 BARD. The account of the pilgrimage of St. Guillebard (VillibaJdu« ■, 
 drawn up by a nun of Heindenheim, at his relation, is to be found in the 
 " Acta Sanctorum Ord. Sanct. Ben." saeculi 3, part. 2.
 
 niSTOKY OF THE CEUSADE3. 25 
 
 \ip in the monastery of Eedon,* and died regretted by the 
 eenobites whom he had edified by the relation of his pil- 
 grimages. 
 
 Many years after the death of Protmonde, Centius, 
 prefect of E-ome, who had nsed violence to the Pope in the 
 chnrch of St. Mary the G-reat, who had dragged him from 
 the altar, and placed him in a dungeon, needed nothing more 
 to expiate this sacrilege than to perform the pilgrimage to 
 the Holy Land. Poulque-jSTerra, count of Anjou, charged 
 with crimes, and stained with blood, thought to eftace all his 
 cruelties by a voyage to Jerusalem. His brother, whom he 
 had caused to perish in a dungeon, presented himself 
 wherever he went, before his eyes ; it appeared to him that 
 the numerous victims sacrificed to his ambition in unjust 
 wars issued from their tombs to disturb his sleep, and 
 reproach him for his barbarity. Pursued everj^diere by 
 these frightful images, Poulque left his states, and repaired 
 to Palestine, in the gaib of a pilgi-im. When he arrived at 
 Jerusalem, he passed through the streets of the holy city 
 with a cord about his neck, beaten with rods by his domes- 
 tics, repeating in a loud voice these words : " Lord, have 
 pity on a perjured and fugitive Christian." During his 
 abode in Palestme,t he bestowed numerous benefactions, 
 comforted the miseries of the pilgrims, and left everywhere 
 testimonials of his devotion and charity. He returned to 
 his duchy, bringing with him a portion of the true cross, and 
 
 * The account of the pilgrimage of Frotmonde, drawn up by an 
 anonymous monk of Redon, is inserted in the " Acta Sanctorum Ordin. 
 Sanct. Ben." sseculi 4, part. 2. 
 
 f The aggregated history of the annals and chronicles of Anjou, which 
 describes tlae pilgrimages of Foulque, relates an incident which appears 
 to deserve to be known, for the full relation of which we refer to the 
 Appendix. 
 
 A Latin chronicle, entitled " Gesta. Consulum Andegav. Spicilegium," 
 torn. X. p. 465, relates the same fact, with more brevity and some circum- 
 stantial differences : — 
 
 Dixerunt, nuUo modo ad sepulcrum optatum pervenire posset nisi 
 super illud et crucem Dominicam mingeret ; quod vir prudens licet 
 invitus annuit. Qusesita igitur arietis vesic4, purgata atque mundata, et 
 Optimo vino repleta, quae etiam apte inter ejus femora posita est, et 
 comes discalciatus ad sepulcrum Domini accessit, vinumque super sepul- 
 crum fudit, et sic ad libitum cum sociis omnibus intravit, et fusis multis 
 lacrymis peroravit.
 
 26 HISTOET OF THE CBrSADES. 
 
 the stono upon which he had knelt ^vhen he praj-ed before 
 the tomb of Christ. 
 
 Foidque, on returning to his dominions, Avas desirous of 
 having always under his eyes an image of the places he had 
 visited, and caused to be built, near the castle of Loches, a 
 monastery and a church, which bore the name of the Holy 
 Sepulchre. In the midst of the remembrances of his pil- 
 grimage, he still heard the voice of remorse, and set off a 
 second time for Jerusalem. He once more edified the 
 Christians of the holy city by the expressions of his repent- 
 ance and the austerities of his penance. As he was returning 
 to his duchy, in passing tln-ough Italy, he delivered the 
 Eoman state from a brigand who plundered the towns and 
 villages, and made war upon all merchants and pilgnms. 
 The pope praised his zeal and his bravery, gave him absolu- 
 tion for his sins, and permitted him to bear about with him 
 the relics of two l;oly mart^Ts. AVhen he left Eome, he 
 was conducted in triumph by the people and the clergy, who 
 proclaimed him their liberator. On his arrival in Anjou, he 
 re-established peace in his dominions, which had been in 
 great confusion during his absence. Restored to his countr}-, 
 his faDiily, and his subjects, who had forgotten his cruelties ; 
 reconciled with the Church, which declared him its benefactor, 
 he appeared to have no more crimes to expiate, or wishes to 
 form for his old age ; but neither the absolution of the pope, 
 nor the peace of his states, nor the blessings of the people 
 — notliiiig could calm his soul, for ever torn with remorse. 
 He could not escape from the image of his brother, which 
 pursued him still, and recalled to his mind the crimes with 
 which he had stained himself, without cessation he was 
 before him, pale, disfigured, dragging his chains, and invoking 
 heaven to take ven2:eance on the fratricide. Foulque resolved 
 to make a third pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; he returned into 
 Palestine, watered anew the tomb of Christ with his tears, 
 and made the holy places resound with his groans. After 
 having ^^sited the Holy Laud, and recommended his soul to 
 the prayers of the anchorites charged to receive and console 
 pUgrims, he quitted Jerusalem to return to his coimtry, 
 Avhich he was doomed never to see again. He fell sick, 
 and died at Metz. His body was transported to Loches, 
 and buried in the monaster}- of the Holy Sepulchre, which
 
 niSTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 27 
 
 he had caused to be built. His heart was deposited in a 
 church at Metz, where was shown, for many ages after his 
 death, a mausoleum, which was called the tomb of Foulque, 
 count of Anjou. 
 
 At the same period, towards the middle of the eleventh 
 century, Eobert-le-Frison, count of Flanders, and Beren- 
 ger li., count of Barcelona, resolved likewise to expiate 
 then sins by the voyage to the Holy Land. The latter died 
 in Asia, not bemg able to support the rigorous penances he 
 had imposed upon himself. Kobert came back to his domi- 
 nions, where his pilgrimage caused him to find grace in the 
 eyes of the clergy, whom" he had wished to plunder. These 
 two princes had been preceded in their pilgrimage by 
 Frederick, count of Verdun.* Frederick was of the illus- 
 ti-ious familv which was one day to reckon among its heroes 
 Godfrey de Bouillon. On setting out for Asia, he renounced 
 earthly grandeur, and gave up his county to the bishop of 
 Yerdun. Eeturned into Europe, he resolved to terminate 
 his days in a monastery, and died prior of the abbey of St. 
 Wast, near Arras. 
 
 The weak and timid sex was not deterred by the difficulties 
 and the perils of a long voyage. Helena, born of a noble 
 family of Sweden, quitted her country, which was buried in 
 idolatry, and travelled on foot into the East. When, after 
 having visited the lioly places, she returned to her country, 
 she was sacrificed to the resentment of her relations and her 
 compatriots, and gathered, sa^^ an old legend, the palm of 
 martyrdom. t A few of the faithful, touched vrith her piety, 
 raisecl a chapel to her memory in the isle of Zealand, near 
 a fountain, which is still called the Fountain of St. Helena. 
 The Christians of the North for a long time went in pilgrimage 
 to this island, where tliey contemplated a grotto which 
 Helena had inhabited before her departure for Jerusalem. 
 
 Among the celebrated pilgrims of this age, we observe the 
 name of Eobert II., duke of Normandy, father of 'Winiam 
 the Conqueror. History accuses him of having caused his 
 
 * The pilgrimage of Frederick is related by Dom Calmet, vol. i. p. 1072, 
 of the " Civil History of Lorraine." It is to be found also in the " His- 
 tory of the Bishops of Lorraine," vol. i, pp. 203 — 205. 
 
 t See the Life of St. Helena, in the seventh volume of the month of 
 July, pp. 332, 333, of the Bollandists. 
 
 3*
 
 28 UISTOKT OF THE CHUSADES. 
 
 brother Eiehard to be poisoned. Eemorse urged him to 
 make the pligi-image to Palestine ; and he set out accom- 
 panied by a great number of knights and barons, bearing 
 the scrip and staff, walking barefoot, and clothed in the sack 
 of penitence. He attached, he said, more value to the pains 
 he suffered for Christ's sake than to the richest city of his 
 dukedom. On his arrival at Constantinople, he despised 
 the luxury and the presents of the emperor, and appeared at 
 court in the guise of the humblest of the pilgrims. Ha\ing 
 fallen sick in Asia Minor, he refused the ser^'ices of the 
 Christians of his suite, and caused himself to be carried in a 
 litter by Saracens. Meeting a pilgrim from Xormandv, the 
 latter asked him if he had any message that he could deliver 
 for him to his country. " Go and tell my people," said the 
 duke, " that you have seen a Christian prince being carried 
 to Paradise by devils." When he arrived at Jerusalem, he 
 found a crowd of pilgrims, who, not ha\-ing the means of 
 paying the tribute to the inhdels, awaited the arrival of some 
 rich lord who might deign, by his charity, to open for them 
 the gates of the holy city. Robert paid a piece of gold for 
 each of them, and followed them into Jerusalem amidst the 
 acclamations of the Christians. During his sojourn here he 
 caused himself to be remarked for his devotion, and still 
 more for his charity, which he extended even to the infidels. 
 As he was returning into Europe, he died at Xicea, in 
 Bithvnia. res^ardiug onlv the relics he had brousfht with him 
 from Palestine, and regretting that he had not finished his 
 davs in the holv citv. 
 
 • • • 
 
 The greatest blessing for the pilgrims, and that wliich 
 thev demanded of Heaven as a reward for their labours and 
 fatigues, was to die, like Jesus Christ, in the holy city. 
 "WTien they presented themselves before the holy sepulchre, 
 they were accustomed to offer up this prayer : — " Thou who 
 died for us, and wast bimed in this holy spot, take pity of 
 our misery, and withcbaw us at once from this valley of 
 tears." History tells of a Christian, bom in the territory 
 of Autun. who. on his arrival at Jerusalem, sou£:ht death in 
 the excess of his fastings and mortifications. One dav he 
 remained a long time in prayer on the Mount of OKves, with 
 his eyes and his hands raised towards heaven, wliither God 
 seemed to call him. On his return to the hospital of the
 
 niSTORT OF THE CRUSADES. 29 
 
 pilgrims, he cried three times, " Glory to thee, oh God P^* 
 and died suddenly in the sight of his companions, who 
 envied him his fate, and believed themselves witnesses of a 
 miracle. 
 
 The inclination to acquire holiness by the journey to 
 Jerusalem became at length so general, that the troops of 
 pilgrims alarmed by their numbers the countries through 
 which they passed, and although they came not as soldiers, 
 they were designated " the armies of the Lordr In the 
 year 1054, Litbert, bishop of Cambrai, set out for the Holy 
 Land, followed by more than three thousand pilgrims from 
 the provinces of Picardy and Flanders. f When he began 
 his march, the people and the clergy accompanied him three 
 leagues from the city, and mth eyes bathed in tears, im- 
 plored of Grod the happy return of their bishop and their 
 brethren. The pilgrims traversed Germany without en- 
 countering any enemies, but on reaching Bulgaria, they 
 found none but men who inhabited the forests and subsisted 
 upon plunder. Many were massacred by these barbarous 
 people, and some perished with hunger in the midst of the 
 deserts. Litbert arrived with much difficulty at Laodicea, 
 embarked with those who followed him, and was cast upon 
 the coast of Cj^rus by a tempest. He had seen the greater 
 part of his companions perish, and the remainder were 
 nearly sinking under their various miseries. Eeturned to 
 Laodicea, they learnt that still greater dangers awaited 
 them on the route to Jerusalem. The bishop of Cambrai 
 felt his courage abandon him, and believed that Grod himself 
 was opposed to his pilgrimage. He returned through a 
 thousand dangers to his diocese, where he built a church in 
 honour of the holy sepulchre, which he had never seen. 
 
 Ten years after the voyage of Litbert, seven thousand 
 Christians, among whom were the archbishop of Mayence, 
 and the bishops of Spires, Cologne, Bamberg, and Utrecht, 
 set out together from the banks of the Ehine, to repair 
 
 * Raoul Glaber bestows great praise on this pilgrim, named Lethal, 
 " who," says he, " was not one of those who go to Jerusalem to court 
 admiration, — ut solummodo mirabiles habeantur.^^ 
 
 t This pilgrimage of Litbert, or Liebert, is described in his life, written 
 by Raoul (Radulfus), his contemporary. See vol. iv. month of June, 
 pp. 595 — 605, of the BoUandists.
 
 30 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES, 
 
 to Palestine. This numerous caravan, Avliich was the 
 forerunner of the Crusades,* crossed Germany, Hungary, 
 Bulgaria, and Thrace, and was welcomed at Constantinople 
 by the emperor Constantino Ducas, After haAing Aisited 
 the churches of Byzantium, and the numerous relics which 
 were the objects of the veneration of the Greeks, the pilgrims 
 of the AVest traversed Asia Minor and Syria without danger; 
 but when they approached Jerusalem, the sight of their 
 riches aroused the cupidity of the Bedouin Arabs, undisci- 
 phned hordes, who had neither country" nor settled abode, 
 and who had rendered themselves fonnidable in the civil 
 wars of the East. The Arabs attached the pilgrims of the 
 West, and compelled them to sustain a siege in an aban- 
 doned Aillage ; and tjiis was on a Good Friday. On such a 
 sacred day, the pilgrims even who had arms employed them 
 with much hesitation and scruple. Enclosed within the 
 ruins of an old castle, they resisted for a time, but on the 
 third day famine compelled them to capitulate. When they 
 came to the arrangement of the conditions of the peace, 
 there arose a violent quarrel, which was near leading to the 
 massacre of all the Christians by the Arabs. The emir of 
 Eamala, informed by some fugitives, came happily to their 
 rescue, delivered them from the death with which they were 
 threatened, and permitted them to continue their journey. 
 As the report of their combats and their perils had preceded 
 them, their arrival created a great sensation in Jerusalem. 
 They were received in triumph by the patriarch, and con- 
 ducted, to the sound of timbrels and bv the lio;ht of torches, 
 to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. During their abode 
 at Jerusalem, the misery into which they were fallen excited 
 the pity of the Christians. They could not visit the banks 
 of the Jordan, or the places most renowned in Judea, as 
 these were all now infested by the Arabs and exposed to 
 their incursions. After haAing lost more than three thou- 
 sand of their companions, they retiu'ned to Europe, to relate 
 
 * Ingulfus, a Norman monk, who Lad accompanied the pilgrims who 
 left Normandy, has made the relation of this pilgrimage. The account of 
 Ingulfus has been copied almost literally by Baironius. An account of 
 the same pilgrimage is likewise to be found ii; the chronicle of Marianus 
 gcotus, pp. 429, 430.
 
 UISTORY OF TILE CilUSADES. 31 
 
 their tragical adventures, aud the dangers of a pilgrimage to 
 the Holy Land.* 
 
 New perils and the most violent persecutions at this 
 period threatened both the pilgrims of the West and the 
 Christians of Palestine. Asia was about once again to change 
 masters, and tremble beneath a fresh tyranny. During 
 several centuries, the rich countries of the East had been 
 subject to contmual invasions from the wild hordes of Tar- 
 tary. As fast as the victorious tribes became effeminated 
 by luxury and prosperity, they were replaced by others 
 retaining all the barbarism of the deserts. The Turks, 
 issuing from countries situated beyond the Oxus, had 
 rendered themselves masters of Persia, where the imcal- 
 culating policy of Mamouh had received and encouraged 
 their wandering tribes. The son of Mamouh fought a 
 battle with them, in which he performed prodigies of valour; 
 "but fortune," says Feristha, "had declared herself unpro- 
 pitious to his arms ; he looked around during the fight, and 
 except the body which he immediately commanded, his whole 
 army had devoured the paths of flight. '' Upon the very 
 theatre of their ^-ictory the Turks proceeded to the election 
 of a king. A large number of arrows were collected into a 
 bundle. Upon each of these arrows was inscribed the name 
 of a tribe, of a family, and of a warrior. A child di-ew three 
 of the arrows in the* presence of the whole army, and chance 
 assigned the throne to Togrul-Beg, grandson of Seldjouc. 
 Togrul-Beg, whose ambition equalled his coiu-age, embraced, 
 together vath his soldiers, the faith of Mahomet, and soon 
 joined to the title of conqueror that of protector of the 
 Mussulman religion. 
 
 The banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates were then 
 troubled by the revolt of the emirs, who shared the spoils of 
 the caliphs of Bagdad : the caliph Cayem implored^ the 
 assistance of Togrul, and promised the conquest of Asia to 
 the new master of Persia. Togrul, whom he had named his 
 temporal \'icar, marched at the head of an army, dispersed 
 the factious and the rebellious, ravaged the pro^dnces, and 
 
 * It would have been easy for me to have spoken of a great number of 
 other pilgrimages undertaken before the Crusades. An abridgment of 
 the most interesting accounts will be found in the Appendix at the end of 
 this volume.
 
 32 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 entered Bagdad, to prostrate himself at tlie feet of the 
 caliph, who proclaimed the triumph of his liberators and 
 theii' sacred claims to the empire. In the midst of an 
 imposing ceremony, Togrul was successively clothed with 
 seven robes of honour ; and seven slaves bom in the seven 
 climates of Arabia were presented to him. Two crowns 
 were placed upon his head, and, as an emblem of his domi- 
 nion over the East and the AVest, thev girded him with two 
 scimitars. This ceremony rendered the usurpation of the 
 Turks legitimate in the eves of the Mussulmans. The 
 empire which the \'icar of ^lahomet pointed out to their 
 ambition was speedily conquered by their arms. Under the 
 reign of Alp-Arsland, and that of Malek-Scha, the successors 
 of Togrul, the seven branches of the dvnasty of Seldjouc 
 shared amongst them the largest kingdoms of Asia. Thirty 
 years had scarcely passed away since the Tartars conquered 
 Persia, and already their military and pastoral colonies ex- 
 tended from the Oxus to the Euphrates, and from the Indus 
 to the Hellespont. 
 
 One of the lieutenants of !Malek-Scha carried the terror 
 of his arms to the banks of the Nile, and wrested Syria 
 from the hands of the Eatunite caliphs. Palestine yielded 
 to the power of the Tui'ks, and the black flag of the Abassides 
 floated triumphantly over the walls of Jerusalem. The con- 
 querors spared neither the Christians nor the children of 
 Aly, whom the caliph of Bagdad represented to be the 
 enemies of Grod. The Eg}'ptian garrison was massacred, 
 and the mosques and the churches were delivered up to 
 pillage. The holy city was flooded with the blood of Chris- 
 tians and Mussulmans. 
 
 The possession of Jerusalem in no degree arrested the 
 barbarous fury of the Turks. As their empire was recent 
 and ill-established, as they were threatened with the armies 
 of Cairo, and even with those of the AVest, their tyranny 
 became restless, jealous, and riolent. The Christians trem- 
 bled under the hardest and most humiliating subjugation ; 
 they were despoiled of their propeiirs', and reduced to the 
 most frightful deofree of misen\ Thev imderwent much 
 greater evils than they had suflered during the reign of 
 Hakim. 
 
 A gi'eat number of those who had quitted their families
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSAHES. 33 
 
 and their country to ^dsit the tomb of Christ, lost their lives 
 before they were able to enjoy the felicity of saluting the 
 holy city ; and they who arrived at Jerusalem after having 
 escaped a thousand dangers, found themselves exposed to 
 the insults and cruelties of the new masters of Judea. The 
 pilgrims of the Latin Church who returned into Europe, 
 related all that they had suffered in their voyage, and told, 
 with groans, of the outrages committed upon the religion of 
 Christ. They had seen tlie holy sepulchre profaned, and 
 the ceremonies of the Christians become the sport of the 
 infidels ; they had seen the patriarchs of Jerusalem and the 
 venerable guardians of the holy places dragged from their 
 sanctuary and cast ignominiously into dungeons. These 
 recitals, exaggerated by repetition, flew from mouth to 
 mouth, and drew tears from the eyes of the faithful. 
 
 Whilst the Turks, under the command of Toutousch and 
 Ortock, were desolating Syria and Palestine, other tribes of 
 that nation, led by Soliman, nephew of Malek-Scha, had 
 penetrated into Asia Minor. They took possession of all 
 the pro\'inces through which pilgrims were accustomed to 
 pass on their way to Jerusalem. These countries, in which 
 the Christian religion had first shone forth, and the greater 
 part of the Greek cities whose names were conspicuous in 
 the annals of the primitive chm^ch, sunk under the yoke of 
 the infidels. The standard of the prophet floated over the 
 walls of Edessa, Iconium, Tarsus, and Antioch. Nicea had 
 become the seat of a Mussulman empire, and the divinity of 
 Christ was insulted in that city wherein the first oecumenic 
 council had declared it to be an article of faith. The 
 modesty of the vu'gins had been sacrificed to the brutal lust 
 of the conquerors. Thousands of children had been circum- 
 cised.* Everywhere the laws of the Koran took place of 
 those of the Evangelists and of Greece. The black or white 
 tents of the Turks covered the plains and the mountains of 
 
 * A picture of the excesses and shameless debaucheries committed by 
 the Turks after the conquest of Asia Minor, may be found in a letter of 
 Alexis, quoted by the Abbe Guibert, lib. i., cap. 4 : — " Dicit eos quem- 
 dam abusione sodomitica intervenisse episcopum ; matres correptse in 
 conspectu filiarum multipliciter repetitis diversorum coitibus vexabantur. 
 Filiee existentise terminum prcecinere saltando cogebantur, — mox eadem 
 passio ad filias," &c.
 
 S-i mSTOEX OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 EitliYiiia and Cnppadocia, and their flocks pastured among 
 the ruins of the monasteries and churches. 
 
 The Greeks had never had to contend against more cruel 
 and terrible enemies than the Tiu-ks. "Whilst the court of 
 Alp-Arslan and Malek-Scha blazed with magnificence and 
 cultivated tlie knowledge and intelligence of the ancient Per- 
 sians, the rest of the people remained in a state of barbarism, 
 and preserved, amidst the conquered nations, all the ferocious 
 and savage manners of Tartarv. The children of Seldjouc 
 loved better to abide under their tents than in the walls of 
 cities ; they lived upon the milk of their flocks, disdaining 
 both agriculture and commerce, in the conviction that war 
 would supply all their wants. For themselves, their home 
 was every region in which their arms could prevail and 
 their flocks find rich pastiu-es. A\Tien they passed from one 
 country into another, all the members of the same family 
 marched together ; thev took with them all that thev loved, 
 and all that they possessed. A constantly wandering life, 
 and frequent quarrels among themselves and with their 
 neighbours, kept up their military spirit. Every warrior 
 carried his name inscribed upon his javelin, and swore to 
 make it respected by his enemies. So eager were the Turks 
 for battle, that it w^as quite sufiicient if a chief sent his bow 
 or his aiTows among his tribe, to make them all instantly 
 fly to arms. 
 
 The patience with which they supported huager, thirst, 
 and fatigue, rendered them invincible. Xo nation of the 
 East surpassed them in horsemanship, or in skill with the 
 bow ; nothing could exceed the impetuosity of their attack, 
 and they were at the same time redoubtable in flight, and 
 implacable in victory. They were not guided in their expe- 
 ditions by a desire for glory or a sense of honour, but simply 
 by a love of destruction and pillage. 
 
 The report of their invasions had spread among the na- 
 tions of Caucasus and the Caspian Sea, and new migrations 
 appeared to arrive every day to strengthen their armies. As 
 thev were docile in war, and turbulent and rebellious in 
 peace, it was the pohcy of their chiefs to lead them con- 
 stantly on to new conquests. Malek-Scha, with a view to 
 get rid of his lieutenants rather than to reward them, had 
 given them pennission to attempt the conquest of the lands
 
 niSTOKT OF THE CRUSADES. 35 
 
 of the Greeks and Eg}^tians. It was an easy matter to 
 raise armies, to which were promised the spoils of the 
 enemies of the prophet and his k^gitimate vicar. All who 
 had not shared in the booty of preceding wars flocked to 
 the standards, and the wealth of Gfreece soon became the 
 prey of Turkish horsemen, who had but recently issued from 
 their deserts with A\-oollen caps and stirrups of M^ood. Of 
 all the hordes subject to the dynasty of Seldjouc, the troops 
 that mvaded Syria and Asia Minor were the poorest, the 
 most wild, and the most intrepid. 
 
 In the depth of their misery, the Greeks of the conquered 
 provinces scarcely dared to lift their eyes to the sovereigns 
 of Byzantium, who had not had the courage to defend tliem, 
 and therefore left them no hope that they would assist them 
 in their troubles. In the midst of revolutions and civil 
 wars, the Greek empire was hastening to its fall. Since 
 the reign of Heraclius, Constantinople had seen eleven of 
 its emperors put to death in their own palace. Six of these 
 masters of the world had terminated their days in the 
 obscurity of cloisters ; several had been mutilated, deprived 
 of sight, and sent mto exile ; the purple, stained and degraded 
 by so many revolutions, decorated only wicked and con- 
 temptible princes, or men without character or virtue. 
 Theu' whole employment was their own personal safety; 
 and they were compelled to share their power with the 
 accomplices of their crimes, of whom they lived in a constant 
 state of dread. They frequently sacrillced cities and pro- 
 vinces, to purchase from their enemies a few moments of 
 security, and aj^peared to have nothing to ask of fortune 
 beyond the existence of the empire during their own worth- 
 less Hves. 
 
 The Greeks still cherished great names and great remem- 
 brances, of which they were proud, but which only served 
 to show their present weakness and degradation. In the 
 midst of the luxury of Asia and the monuments of Greece 
 and Bome, they were scarcely less barbarous than other 
 nations. In their tlieological disputes they had lost the 
 true spirit of the Evangelists ; among them everything 
 was corrupted, even religion. A universal bigotiy, says 
 Montesquieu, depressed their courage and paralyzed the 
 whole empire. They neglected the dangers of their coun-
 
 36 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 try, and became zealots for a relic or for a sect. In war, 
 
 superstition pointed out to tlie Grreeks lucky and unlucky 
 davs, in ^Yllich a general ought or ought not to give battle ; 
 and as religion inspii-ed in them nothing beyond an apathetic 
 resio-nation in reverses, they consoled themselves for the 
 loss of provmces by accusing their inhabitants of heresy. 
 
 Among the Greeks, stratagem and perfidy were decorated 
 •^-ith the name of policy, and received the same encomiums 
 as valour; they esteemed it as glorious to deceive their 
 enemies as to conquer tliem. Their soldiers were followed to 
 the seat of war by light chariots, which carried their arms; and 
 they had perfected every machine which could supply the place 
 of courage in either sieges or battles. Their armies displayed 
 great military pomp, but were deficient in soldiers. The 
 onlv thing they inherited from their ancestors was a turbu- 
 lent and seditious spirit, which mixed itself with their 
 effeminated manners, and was sure to break out when their 
 country was threatened with danger. Discord unceasingly 
 reigned among both the army and the people ; and they 
 continued madly to dispute the right to an empire whose 
 very existence was menaced, and blindly gave up its defence 
 to barbarians and strangers. In short, the corruption of the 
 Greeks was so great, that they could neither have endured 
 a good prince nor good laws. jS^icephorus Phocas, who had 
 formed the project of re-establishing discipline, died assas- 
 sinated. Zimisces had also paid with his life for his efforts 
 to rouse the Greeks from their pusillanimous degradation. 
 "Wlien the emperor Eomanus-Diogenes was made prisoner by 
 the Tui'ks, his misfortunes were the signal for a fresh revolt 
 against his person. Sent back ^ith honours by the sultan 
 of Persia, he met with nothing but executioners in an empire 
 he had endeavoured to defend, and died with misery and 
 despair in a desert island of the Propontis. 
 
 AVhilst the empne of the East approached near to its fall, 
 and appeared sapped by time and corruption, the institutions 
 of the AYest were in their infancy. The empire and the 
 laws of Charlemagne no longer existed. Xations had no 
 relations with each other, and mistaking their political 
 interests, made wars without considering their consequences 
 or their dangers, and concluded peace, without being at all 
 aware whether it was advantageous or not. Eoyal authority
 
 HISTORY or THE CETJSADES. 37 
 
 was nowliere sufficiently strong to arrest tlie progress of 
 anarcliy and the abuses of feudalism. At the same time 
 that Europe was full of soldiers, and covered with strong 
 castles, the states themselves were without support against 
 their enemies, and had not an army to defend them. In the 
 midst of general confusion, there was no seciu'ity but in 
 camps and fortresses, by turns the safeguards and the terror 
 of the towns and the country. The largest cities held out no 
 asylum to liberty, and the life of man Avas reckoned so trifling 
 an object, that impunity for murder could be purchased with a 
 few pieces of money. Frequently, to detect crime, the judges 
 had recourse to water, fire, and iron ; upon the blmd and 
 dumb evidence of the elements, victims were condemned to 
 death ; it was sword in hand that justice was invoked ; it was 
 by the sword that the reparation of wrongs and injuries was 
 to be obtained. No one would then have been understood 
 who would have spoken of the rights of nature, or the rights 
 of man ; the language of the barons and the lords comprised 
 only such words as treated of ivar ; war was the only science, 
 the only policy of either princes or states. 
 
 Nevertheless, this barbarism of the nations of the West \ 
 did not at all resemble that of the Turks, whose religion • 
 and manners repelled every species of civilization or cultiva- 
 tion, nor that of the Greeks, who were nothing but a cor- 
 rupted and degenerated people. Whilst the one exhibited 
 all the vices of a state almost savage, and the other aE the 
 corruption of decay ; something heroical and generous was 
 mingled with the barbarous manners of the Franks, which 
 resembled the passions of youth, and gave promise of a 
 better future. The Turks were governed by a gross bar- 
 barism, which made them despise all that was noble or great; 
 the Greeks were possessed by a learned and polished bar- 
 barism, M'hich filled them with disdain for heroism or the 
 military virtues. The Eranks were as brave as the Tin-ks, 
 and set a higlier value on glory tlian any other people. The 
 principle of lionour, which gave birth to chivalry in Europe, 
 directed their bravery, and sometimes assumed the guise of 
 justice and virtue. 
 
 The Christian religion, which the Greeks had reduced to 
 little formulae and the vain practices of superstition, was, 
 with them, incapable of inspiring either great designs or
 
 38 mSTOEY OF THE CEVSADES. 
 
 noble fhoughts. Among the nations of tlie "West, as they 
 were vet unacquainted with the di^puted dogmas of Chris- 
 tianity, it had more empii'e over their minds, it disposed 
 their hearts more to enthusiasm, and formed amongst them, 
 at once, both saints and heroes. 
 
 Although rehgion might not always preach its doctrines 
 with success, and its influence was subject to abuse, it 
 had a tendency to soften the manners of the barbarous 
 people that had invaded Europe ; it afforded a holy au- 
 thority to the weak ; it inspii^ed a salutary fear in the 
 strong, and frequently corrected the injustice of human 
 laws. 
 
 In the midst of the darkness which covered Europe, the 
 Christian rehgion alone preserved the memory of times past, 
 and kept up some degree of emulation among men. It 
 presented, also, for happier days, the language of the royal 
 people, the only one capable of expressing the grand and 
 noble ideas of moral virtue, in which the genius of legis- 
 lation had elevated its most splendid monuments. "V^hilst 
 despotism and anarchy pervaded the cities and the kingdoms 
 of the ~W"est, the people invoked religion against t}Tanny, 
 and the princes called in its aid against license and revolt. 
 Often, mid the troubles of states, the title of Christian 
 inspired more respect, and awakened more enthusiasm than 
 did the name of citizen in ancient Eome. As the Christian 
 religion had preceded all the then existing institutions, it natu- 
 rallv remamed for a lone: time surrounded bv the veneration 
 and love of the people. Under more than one relation the 
 nations appeared to recognise no other legislators than the 
 lathers of the councils, no other code than that of the gospel 
 and the holy Scriptui'es. Europe might be considered as a 
 religious society, wherein the preservation of the faith was 
 the principal interest, and in which men belonged more to 
 the church than to the countiw. In such a state of thincrs 
 it was easy to inflame the minds of the people, by showing 
 them that the cause of religion and of Christians stood in 
 need of defence. 
 
 Ten years before the invasion of Asia Minor bv the Turks, 
 Michael Ducas, the successor of Eomanus-Diogenes, had im- 
 plored the assistance of the pope and the princes of the 
 West. He had promised to remove all the barriers which
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CETJSADES. 39 
 
 separated the Greek from the Eoman Chiireh, if the Latins 
 "would take up arms against the infidels. G-regory YII. then 
 filled the chair of St. Peter, and his talents, his knowledo-e, 
 his activity, his boldness, together with the inflexibility of 
 his character, rendered him capable of the greatest under- 
 takings. The hope of extending the religion and the empire 
 of the Holy See into the East, made him receive kindly the 
 humble supplications of Michael Ducas. He exhorted the 
 faitliful to take up arms against the Mussulmans, and 
 engaged to lead them himself into Asia. The misfortunes 
 of the Christians of the East, said he, in his letters, had 
 moved him even to feel a contempt for death ; he would 
 rather expose his life to deliver the holy places, than live to 
 command the entire imiverse. Excited by his discoui'ses, 
 fi^fty thousand pilgrims agreed to follow Gregory to Con- 
 stantinople, and thence to Syria; but he kept not the 
 promise he had made, and the aflairs of Europe, in which 
 the ambition of the pontiff was more interested than in 
 those of Asia, suspended the execution of his projects. 
 
 Every day the power of the popes was augmented by the 
 progress of Christianity, and by the ever-increasing influence 
 of the Latin clergy. Eome was become a second time the 
 capital of the world, and appeared to have resumed, under 
 the monk Hildebrand, the empire it had enjoyed under the 
 Caesars. Armed with the two-edged sword of Peter, Grregor}^ 
 loudly proclaimed that all the kingdoms of the earth were 
 under the dominion of the Holy See, and that his authority 
 ought to be as universal as the chiu-ch of which he was the 
 head. These dangerous pretensions, fostered by the opinions 
 of his age, engaged him immediately in violent disputes with 
 the emperor of Grermany. He desired also to dictate laws to 
 Prance, Spain, Sweden, Poland, and England ; and thinking 
 of nothing but making himself acknowledged as the great 
 arbiter of states, he launched his anathemas even against 
 the throne of Constantinople, which he had imdertaken to 
 defend, and gave no more attention to the deliverance of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 After the death of G-regory, Victor III., although he 
 pursued the policy of his predecessor, and had at the same 
 time to contend against the emperor of Grermany and the 
 party of the anti-pope Guibert, did not neglect the oppor-
 
 40 * HISTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 tunity of making war against the Mussulmans. The Sara- 
 cens, inhabiting Africa,* disturbed the navigation of the 
 Mediterranean, and threatened the coast of Italv. Victor 
 invited the Christians to take arms, and promised them the 
 remission of all their sins if they went to fight against the 
 infidels. The inhabitants of Pisa, Grenoa, and several other 
 cities, urged by their zeal for religion, and their desire to 
 defend their commerce, equipped fleets, levied troops, and 
 made a descent upon the coasts of Africa, where, if we are 
 to beheve the chronicles of the time, they cut in pieces an 
 army of one hundred thousand Saracens. That we may not 
 doubt, says Baronius, that God interested himself in the 
 cause of the Christians, on the very day on which the Italians 
 triumphed over the enemies of Christ, the news of the 
 victory was carried miraculously beyond the seas. After 
 having given up to the flames two cities, Al-Mahadia and 
 Sibila,t built within the territories of ancient Carthage, and 
 forced a king of Mauritania to pay a tribute to the Holy 
 See, the G-enoese and the Pisans returned to Italy, where the 
 spoils of the conquered were employed in ornamenting the 
 churches. 
 
 The pope Victor, however, died without realizing his 
 promise of attacking the infidels in Asia. The glory of 
 delivering Jerusalem belonged to a simple pilgrim, possessed 
 of no other power than the influence of his character and 
 his genius. Some assign an obscure origin to Peter the 
 Hermit ; others say he was descended from a noble family 
 of Picardy ; but all agree that he had an ignoble and vulgar 
 exterior. Born with a restless, active spirit, he sought, 
 in all conditions of life, for an object which he could meet 
 with iu none. The study of letters, bearing arms, cehbacy, 
 marriage, the ecclesiastical state, oflered nothing to him that 
 
 * This expedition, which was a true crusade, a^ pears to have been 
 forgotten by all the historians of the crusades. 
 
 ■f Al-Mdhadia, the chief of the citi?s conquered by the Christians, 
 according to Oriental geographers, was founded in the year 303 of ihe 
 Hegira, by Obeidallah, or Abdallah. It was still considerable in the 
 fifteenth century. Shaw, who saw it in 1730, calls it El-Medea. It is 
 situated thirty marine leagues south of Tunis. J^ibila, which is the other 
 city conquered in this expedition, and which Shaw takes for the ancient 
 Turris Annibalis, is two leagues more to the south, on the same coast of 
 the Mediterranean.
 
 HISTORY or TUE CRUSADES. ^il 
 
 could fill Ills heart or satisfy his ardent mind. Disgusted 
 with the world and mankind, he retired amongst the most 
 austere cenobites. Fasting, prayer, meditation, the silence 
 of sohtude, exalted his imagination. In his visions he kept 
 up an habitual commerce ^Yith heaven, and believed himself 
 the instrument of its designs, and the depositary of its will. 
 He possessed the fervour of an apostle, with the courage of a 
 martyr. His zeal gave way to no obstacle, and all that he 
 desired seemed easy of attainment. AYhen he spoke, the 
 passions with which he was agitated animated his gestures 
 and his words, and communicated themselves to his audi- 
 tors.* Such was the extraordinary man who gave the 
 signal to the Crusaders, and who, without fortune and 
 without name, by the ascendancy of his tears and prayers 
 alone, succeeded in moving the West to precipitate itself in 
 a mass upon Asia. 
 
 The fame of the pilgrimages to the East drew Peter from 
 his retreat, and he followed into Palestine the crowd of 
 Christians who went to visit the holy places. The sight of 
 Jerusalem excited him much more than any of the other 
 pilgrims, for it created in his ardent mind a tliousand con- 
 flicting sentiments. In the city, which exhibited every- 
 where marks of the mercy and the anger of Grod, all objects 
 inflamed his piety, irritated his devotion and his zeal, and 
 filled him by turns with respect, terror, and indignation. 
 After ha^dng followed his brethren to Calvary and tlie tomb 
 of Christ, he repaired to the patriarch of Jerusalem. The 
 
 * Anna Comnena calls Peter the Kermit Cucvpiettore, which appears 
 to be taken from the Picard word kiokio, little, and from the word Petrus, 
 Peter, little Peter. If we are to believe Oderic- Vital, the hermit had 
 still another name, and was called Peter of Achiris. He is styled in this 
 manner in the chronicle of the counts of Anjou ; " Heremita quidam 
 Petrus Achiriensis." William of Tyre informs us that he was a hermit 
 in name and in fact : ^^ Heremita nomine et effectu.^' Adrian Barland, 
 in his book De Gestis Ducnm Brabantits, expresses himself thus : — 
 *' Petrus Heremita, Arabianensis, vir nobilis, prima setate rei militari 
 deditus, tametsi litteris optimo imbutus, sed corpore deformis ac brevis 
 staturae," &c. The life of Peter the Hermit has been written by Andre 
 Thevet, in his " History of the most Illustrious and Learned Men of 
 their Ages," and by Father Outtreman, a Jesuit. Several families have 
 pretended to be descended from Peter the Hermit. The most rational 
 and best supported claim is that of the family of Souliers, which still exists 
 in the Limousin.
 
 ±2 nisTOEY or the ckusades. 
 
 wliite liairs of Simeon, his venerable figure, and, above all, 
 tlie persecution Avhicli he had imdergone, bespoke the full 
 confidence of Peter, and they wept together over the ills of 
 the Christians. The hermit, his heart torn, his face bathed 
 in tears, asked if there was no termination to be looked for, 
 no remedy to be devised, for so many calamities ? " Oh, 
 most faithful of Christians!" repHed the patriarch, "is it 
 not plain that our iniquities have shut us out from all access 
 to the mercy of the Lord ? All Asia is in the power of the 
 Mussulmans, all the East is sunk into a state of slavery ; no 
 power on earth can assist us." At these words Peter iater- 
 rupted Simeon, and pointed out to him the hope that the 
 warriors of the West might one day be the liberators of 
 Jerusalem. " Yes, without doubt," replied the patriarch, 
 " when the measure of our afilictions shall be full, when God 
 will be moved by our miseries, he will soften the hearts of 
 the princes of the West, and will send them to the succour 
 of the holy city." At these words Peter and Simeon felt 
 their hearts expand with hope, and embraced each other, 
 shedding tears of joy. The patriarch resolved to implore, 
 by his letters, the help of the pope and the princes of 
 Europe, and the hermit swore to be the interpreter of the 
 Christians of the East, and to rouse the West to take arms 
 for their dehverance. 
 
 After this interview, the enthusiasm of Peter knew no 
 bounds ; he was persuaded that Heaven itself called upon 
 him to avenge its cause. One day, whilst prostrated before 
 the holy sepulchre, he believed that he heard the voice of 
 Christ, which said to him, — "Peter, arise ! hasten to proclaim 
 the tribulations of my people ; it is time that my servants 
 should receive help, and that the holy places should be deli- 
 vered." Pull of the spirit of these words, which sounded 
 unceasmgly in his ears, and charged with letters from the 
 patriarch, lie quitted Palestine, crossed the seas, landed on 
 the coast of Italy, and hastened to cast himself at the feet 
 of the pope. The chair of St. Peter was then occupied by 
 Urban II., who had been the disciple and confidant of 
 both Grregory and Victor. Urban embraced with ardour a 
 project which had been entertained by his predecessors ; ho 
 received Peter as a prophet, applauded his design, and bade 
 him go forth and aimounce the approaching dehverance of 
 Jerusalem.
 
 niSTOEY or THE CEUSADES. 43 
 
 Peter tlie Hermit traversed Italy, crossed tlie Alps, visited 
 all parts of France, and the greatest portion of Europe, 
 inflamino; all hearts with the same zeal that consumed his 
 own. He travelled mounted on a mule, with a crucifix iu 
 his hand, his feet bare, liis head uncovered, his body girded 
 with a thick cord, covered with a long frock, and a hermit's 
 hood of the coarsest stuff. The singularity of his appear- 
 ance was a spectacle for the people, whilst the austerity of 
 liis manners, his charity, and the moral doctrines that he 
 preached, caused him to be revered as a saint wherever he 
 came. 
 
 He went from city to city, from province to province, 
 working upon the courage of some, and upon the piety of 
 others ; sometimes haranguing from the pulpits of the 
 churches, sometimes preaching in the high roads or public 
 places. His eloquence was animated and impressive, and 
 filled with those vehement apostrophes which produce such 
 effects upon an uncultivated multitude. He described the 
 profanation of the holy places, and the blood of the Chris- 
 tians shed in torrents in the streets of Jerusalem. He 
 invoked, by turns. Heaven, the saints, the angels, whom he 
 called upon to bear witness to the truth of what he told 
 them. He apostrophized Mount Sion, the rock of Calvary, 
 and the Mount of Olives, which he made to resound with sobs 
 and groans. ^Hien he had exhausted speech in painting the 
 miseries of the faithful, he showed the spectators the crucifix 
 which he carried with him ; sometimes striking his breast 
 and wounding his flesh, sometimes shedding torrents of 
 tears. 
 
 The people followed the steps of Peter in crowds. The 
 preacher of the holy war was received everywhere as a 
 messenger from Grod. They who could touch his vestments 
 esteemed themselves happy, and a portion of hair pulled 
 from the mule he rode was preserved as a holy relic. At 
 the sound of his voice, differences in families were reconciled, 
 the poor were comforted, the debauched blushed at their 
 errors ; nothing was talked of but the virtues of the eloquent 
 cenobite ; his austerities and his miracles were described, 
 and his discourses were repeated to those who had not heard 
 him, and been edified by his presence. 
 
 He often met^ in his journeys, with Christians from the 
 
 Vol. L— 4
 
 44 niSTOEY OF THE CEUS.U3ES. 
 
 East, "who had been banished from their conntiy, and \\ an- 
 dered over Europe, subsisting on charity. Peter the Hermit 
 presented them to the people, as lining evidences of the 
 barbarity of the infidels ; and pointing to the rags "with 
 Mliicli they "were clothed, he burst into torrents of invectives 
 against their oppressors and persecutors. At the sight oi 
 these miserable "uretches, the faitlifid. felt, by tiu'ns, the 
 most lively emotions of pitv, and the fury of vengeance ; all 
 deploring in their hearts the miseries and the disgrace of 
 Jerusalem. The people raised their voices to"wards heaven, 
 to entreat Grod to deign to cast a look of pity upon his 
 beloved city ; some offering their riches, others their prayers, 
 but all promising to lay down their lives for the deliverance 
 of the holy places. 
 
 In the midst of this general excitement, Alexius Comnena, 
 "who "uas threatened by the Turks, sent ambassadors to the 
 pope, to solicit the assistance of the Latins. Some time 
 before this embassy he had addressed letters to the princes 
 of the "West, in -which he had described to them, in a most 
 lamentable manner, the conquests of the Turks in Asia 
 Ivlinor. These savage hordes, in their debauches and in the 
 intoxication of victory, had outrag^ed both nature and 
 humanity.* They were now at the gates of Byzantium, 
 and, "without the prompt assistance of all the Christian 
 states, Constantinople must fall under the most frightful 
 domination of the Turks. Alexius reminded the princes of 
 
 * This letter of Alexius, quoted in extract by the Abbe Guibert, and 
 the whole of it by Robert the Monk. M. Heeren, in his learned Latin 
 commentary on the Greek historians, doubts its authenticity. The 
 principal reason he gives for his opinion is, that this letter differs too 
 strongly from the known character of the Greek emperors. This reason 
 does not appear to me sufficient : we know very well that the Greek 
 emperors affected great haughtiness in their correspondence, but we know 
 also that they spared no prayers when ther were in any danger, or 
 •wanted assistance : nothing suits better with vanity than servility. Some 
 critics cannot believe tliat Alexius should have spoken in his letters of the 
 beautiful women of Greece ; the thing may, however, well be beUeved, 
 when we recollect that t'tie Turks, who were invading the empire of 
 Byzantium, sought with great eagerness to obtain Greek women. Mon- 
 tesquieu remarks it, when speaking of the decline of the empire. It 
 seems then very natural that Alexius should speak of the beautiful women 
 of Byzantium, when addressing the Franks, whom the Greeks considered 
 barbarians, and governed by the same tastes as the Turks.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 45 
 
 Christianity of the holy relics preserved in Constantinople, 
 and conjured them to save so sacred an assemblage of 
 venerated objects from the profanation of the infidels. After 
 having set forth the splendour and the riches of his capital, 
 he exhorted the knights and barons to come and defend 
 them ; he offered them his treasures as the reward of their 
 valour, and painted in glowing colours the beauty of the 
 Greek women, whose love would repay the exploits of his 
 liberators. Thus, nothing was spared that could flatter the 
 passions, or arouse the enthusiasm of the warriors of the 
 West. The invasion of the Turks was, in the eyes of 
 Alexius, the greatest misfortune that the chief of a Christian 
 kingdom had to dread ; and to avert such a danger, every- 
 thing appeared to him just and allowable. He could support 
 the idea of losing his crown, but not the shame of seeing 
 his states subjected to the laws of Mahomet : if he was 
 doomed one day to lose his empire, he could console himself 
 for that loss, provided Grreece escaped the Mussulman yoke, 
 and became the prize of the Latms. 
 
 In compliance with the prayers of Alexius and the wishes of 
 the faithful, the sovereign pontiff convoked a council at Plai- 
 sance, in order there to expose the dangers of the Grreek and 
 Latin Churches in the East. The preachings of Peter had so 
 prepared the minds and animated the zeal of the faithful, 
 that more than two hundred bishops and archbishops, four 
 thousand ecclesiastics, and thirty thousand of the laity obeyed 
 the invitation of the Holy See. The council was so numerous 
 that it was obhged to be held in a plain in the neighbourhood 
 of the city. 
 
 At this assembly all eyes were turned upon the ambas- 
 sadors of Alexius ; their presence in the midst of a Latin 
 council, announced sufficiently plainly the disastrous con- 
 dition of the East. AVTien they had exhorted the princes 
 and the wan^iors to save Constantinople and Jerusalem, Urban 
 supported their discourse and their prayers with all the 
 reasons w hich the interests of Christianity and the cause of 
 religion could furnish. The council of Plaisance, however, 
 came to no determination upon the war against the infidels. 
 The deliverance of the Holy Land was far from being the 
 only object of this council : the declarations of the empress 
 Adelaide, who came to reveal her own shame, and that of
 
 46 HISTOET or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 her husband, anathemas against the emperor of G-ermany 
 and the anti-pope, Giiibert. occupied, during several davs, 
 the attention of Urban and the assembled fathers. 
 
 It must be added, too, that among the states of Italv, in 
 which coimtrv this council was held, the spirit of commerce 
 and Kbertv began to weaken the enthusiasm of religion. The 
 greater part of the cities only thought of the advantages 
 that might accrue to them from the troubles ; some enter- 
 taining hopes they would increase their wealth, others 
 looking to them as a means of securing their independence, 
 and none ^-ieldinsr so freely as other nations to the influence 
 of the popes. AVhilst the Christian world revered in Urban 
 the formidable successor of G-regory, the Italians, whose 
 charity he had frequently implored, were best acquainted 
 with his disgraces and misfortunes : his presence did not in 
 anv desree warm their zeal, and his decrees were not alwavs 
 laws for them, who had seen him, trom the depths of misery 
 and in exile, launch his thim-ders against the thrones of the 
 AVest. 
 
 The prudent Urban avoided trying to arouse the ardour 
 of the Italians ; he did not think tlieir example at all likely 
 to lead on other nations. In order to take a decided part 
 in the civil war, and to interest all Europe in its success, he 
 resolved to assemble a second synod, in the bosom of a 
 warlike nation, which, from the most distant times, had been 
 accustomed to give impulsion to Eui'ope. The new council 
 assembled at Clermont, in Auvergne, was neither less 
 numerous nor respectable than that of Plaisance ; the most 
 reno^vned holy men and learned doctors came to honour it 
 with their presence, and enlighten it with their counsels. 
 The citv of Clermont was scarcelv able to contain within 
 its walls all the princes, ambassadors, and prelates who had 
 repaired to the council; ''so that," says an ancient chro- 
 nicle,* " towards the middle of the month of Xovember, the 
 cities and villages of the neio:hbourhood were so filled with 
 people, that they were compelled to erect tents and pavilions 
 in the fields and meadows, although the season and the 
 coimtiy were extremely cold." 
 
 Before it gave up its attention to the holy war, the council 
 
 * See William Aubert's " History of the Conquest of Jerusalem."
 
 HISTOllY OF TKE CIIUSADES. 47 
 
 at first considered the reform of the clergj and ecclesiastical 
 discipline ; and it then occupied itself in placing a restraint 
 npon the license of wars among indi\'iduals. In these bar- 
 barous times even simple knights never thought of redressing 
 their injuries by any other means than arms. It vras not 
 an uncommon thing to see families, for the slightest causes, 
 commence a war against each other that would last diu-ing 
 several generations ; Europe was distracted with troubles 
 occasioned by these hostilities. In the impotence of the 
 laws and the governments, the Church often exerted its 
 salutary influence to restore tranquiUity : several coimcils 
 had placed their interdict upon private wars during four 
 days of the week, and their decrees had invoked the ven- 
 geance of Heaven against disturbers of the public peace. The 
 council of Clermont renewed the truce of Grod, and threatened 
 all who refused " to accept peace and justice'''' with the 
 tliunders of the Church. One of its decrees placed widows, 
 orphans, merchants, and labourers under the safeguard of 
 religion. They declared, as they had already done in other 
 councils, that the churches should be so many inviolable 
 sanctuaries, and that crosses, even, placed upon the high 
 roads should become points of refuge against violence. 
 
 Humanity and reason must applaud such salutary decrees ; 
 but the sovereign pontiff", although he presented himself as 
 the defender of the sanctity of marriage, did not merit the 
 same praises when he pronounced in this council an anathema 
 against Philip I. : but such was then the general infatuation, 
 that no one was astonished that a king of France should be 
 excommunicated in the very bosom of his own kingdom. 
 The sentence of Urban could not divert attention from an 
 object that seemed much more imposing, and the excom- 
 munication of Philip scarcely holds a place in the history of 
 the comicil of Clermont. The faithful, gathered from all the 
 provinces, had but one single thought ; they spoke of nothmg 
 but the e\dls the Christians endured in Palestine, and saw 
 nothing but the war which was about to be declared against 
 the infidels. Enthusiasm and fanaticism, which always 
 increase in large assemblies, were carried to their full height. 
 Urban at length satisfied the impatience of the faithful, 
 impatience which he, perhaps, had adroitly excited, and 
 which was the surest guarantee of success.
 
 48 HISTOET OF TRE CErSADES. 
 
 The council held its tenth sitting in the g;reat square or 
 place of Clermont, which was soon filled by an immense 
 crowd. Followed by his cardinals, the pope ascended a 
 species of throne which had been prepared for hbn ; at his 
 side was Peter tiie Hermit, clad in that whunsical and uncouth 
 garl) wliich had evei'}"\vhere drawn upon hun the attention 
 and the respect of the multitude. The apostle of the holy 
 war spoke first of the outrages committed against the religion 
 of Christ ; he reverted to the profanations and the sacrileges 
 of which he had been a witness ; he pictured the torments 
 and persecutions which a people, enemies to God and man, 
 had caused those to suffer who had been led bv religion to 
 visit the holy places. He had seen, he said, Christians 
 loaded with irons, di-agged into slavery, or harnessed to the 
 yoke, like the vilest animals ; he had seen the oppressors 
 of Jerusalem sell to the children of Christ permission to 
 salute the temple of their God, tear from them even the 
 bread of their misery, and torment their poverty itself to 
 obtain their tribute ; he had seen the ministers of God 
 dragged from their sanctuaries, beaten with rods, and con- 
 demned to an ignominious death. AVhilst describing the 
 misfortunes and degradation of the Christians, the coun- 
 tenance of Peter was east doAvn, and exhibited feelings of 
 consternation and hoiTor ; his voice was choked with sobs ; 
 his lively emotion penetrated every heart. 
 
 Urban, who spoke after Peter, represented, as he had 
 done, the holy places as profaned by the domination of the 
 infidels. That land, consecrated by the presence of the 
 Saviour, that mountain whereon he expiated our sins by his 
 sufferings, — that tomb in which he deigned to be enclosed 
 as a victim to death, had all become the heritage of the 
 impious. The altars of false prophets were raised within 
 those walls which had contained the august assemblv of the 
 apostles. God had no longer a sanctuary in his own city ; 
 the East, the cradle of the Christian religion, now witnessed 
 nothing but saci-ilegious pomps ; impiety had spread its 
 darkness over all the richest coimtries of Asia. Antioch, 
 Ephesus, Xicea, had become Mussulman cities ; the Turks 
 had carried their ravages and their odious dominion even to 
 the Sti-aits of the Hellespont, to the very gates of Constan- 
 tinople, and from thence thev threatened the West.
 
 HISTORY OF TITE CRUSADES. 49 
 
 Tlie sovereign pontiff* addressed himself to all tlie na- 
 tions that were represented at the council, and particularly 
 to the French, who formed the majority :— " Nation beloved 
 by God," said he, " it is in your coui^age that the Chris- 
 tian church has placed its hope ; it is because I am well 
 acquainted with your piety and yoiu* bravery, that I have 
 crossed the Alps, and am come to preach the word of 
 God in these countries. You have not forgotten that the 
 land you inhabit has been invaded by the Saracens, and that 
 but for the exploits of Charles IMartel and Charlemagne, 
 Prance would have received the laws of Mahomet. Eecall, 
 Avithout ceasing, to your minds the danger and the glory of 
 your fathers ; led by heroes whose names should never die, 
 they delivered your countr^^, they saved the AVest from 
 shameful slavery, jNIore noble triumphs await you, under 
 the guidance of the God of armies ; you will deliver 
 Europe and Asia ; you will save the city of Jesus Christ, — 
 that Jerusalem which was chosen by the Lord, and from 
 whence the law is come to us." 
 
 As Urban proceeded, the sentiments by which he was 
 animated penetrated to the very souls of his auditors. When 
 he spoke of the captivity and the misfortunes of Jerusa- 
 lem, the whole assembly was dissolved in tears ; when he 
 described the tyranny and the perfidy of the infidels, the 
 warriors who listened to him clutched their swords, and 
 swore in their hearts to avenge the cause of the Chris- 
 tians. Urban redoubled their enthusiasm by announcing 
 that God had chosen them to accomplish his designs, and 
 exhorted them to turn those arms against the Mussulmans 
 which they now bore in conflict against their brothers. They 
 
 * We have at command several historians who report the speech of 
 Urban ; they are agreed as to the principal points, but differ in the 
 details. The- monk Robert, who was present at the council, says : Hcec 
 et id genus plurima ubi Papa Urbanus urhano sermone peroravit. 
 Baldric or Boudri expresses himself thus : His vel hujuscemodi aliis, &c. 
 Everything leads ns to believe that the pope pronounced his discourse in 
 the language of the country. That which renders this opinion more pro- 
 bable, is that Urban was a Frenchman, and that otherwise it was of con- 
 sequence to make himself well understood by the barons and the knights, 
 who were not acquainted with Latin. If he had not pronounced his 
 discourse in the vulgar tongue, he would not have produced that extra- 
 ordinary enthusiasm which contemporary history says so much of.
 
 50 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 
 
 were not now called upon to revenge the injuries of men, 
 but injuries offered to divinity ; it was now not the conquest 
 of a town or a castle that was offered to them as the reward 
 of their valour, but the riches of Asia, the possession of a 
 land in which, according to the promises of the Scriptures, 
 flowed streams of milk and honey. 
 
 The pontiff sought to awaken in their minds, by turns, 
 ambition, the love of glory, religious enthusiasm, and pity 
 for their Clu-istian brethren. "There scarcely exists," said 
 he, " a Christian family into which the Mussulmans have 
 not brought moumuig and despair. How many Christians 
 every year leave the West, to find in Asia nothing but 
 slavery or death ! Bishops have been delivered over to the 
 executioner ; the virgins of the Lord have been outraged ; 
 holy places have been despoiled of their ornaments ; the 
 offerings of piety have become the booty of the enemies of 
 God ; the children of the faithful have forgotten in bondage 
 the faith of their fathers, and bear upon their bodies the 
 impression of their opprobrium. Witnesses of so many 
 calamities, the Christians of Jerusalem would long since 
 have left the holy city, if they had not imposed upon them- 
 selves the obhgation of succouring and consoling pilgrims, 
 if they had not feared to leave Avithout priests, \s-ithout altars, 
 without worshippers, a land where still smokes the blood of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 " I will not seek to dry the tears which images so painful 
 for a Christian, for a minister of religion, for the common 
 father of the faithful, must draw from you. Let us weep, 
 my brethren, let us weep over the errors which have armed 
 the anger of Grod against us ; let us weep over the captivity 
 of the holy city ! But evil be to us, if, in. our sterile pity, 
 we lono:er leave the heritacce of the Lord in the hands of the 
 impious ! Why should we taste here a moment's repose 
 whilst the children of Jesus Christ live in the midst of 
 torments, and the queen of cities groans in chains ? 
 
 " Christian warriors, who seek without end for vain pre- 
 texts for war, rejoice, for you have to-day found true ones. 
 Tou, who have been so often the terror of your fellow- 
 citizens, go and fight against the barbarians, go and fight for 
 the deliverance of the holy places ; you who sell for yile pay 
 the strength of your arms to the fury of others, armed with
 
 HISTOET OF THE CKUSADES. H 
 
 the sword of the Machabees, go and merit an eternal re^^^^d. 
 If you triumph over your enemies, the kingdoms of the 
 East ^Yill be your heritage ; if you are conquered, you vrill 
 have the glory of dying in the yery same place as Jwsus 
 Christ, and Grod will not forget that he shall have found you 
 iu his holy ranks. This is the moment to prove that you 
 lire animated by a true courage ; this is the moment in which 
 you may expiate so many ^^olences committed in the bosom 
 of peace, so many victories purchased at the expense of 
 justice and humanity. If you must have blood, bathe your 
 hands in the blood of the inhdels. I speak to you with harsh- 
 ness, because my ministry obliges me to do so: soldiers or 
 
 HELL, BECOME SOLDIERS OF THE LIVIKG GOd! When JcsUS 
 
 Christ summons you to his defence, let no base affections 
 detain you in your homes ; see nothing but the shame and 
 the evils of the Christians ; listen to nothing but the groans 
 of Jerusalem, and remember well what the Lord has said to 
 you : ' He tvho loves Ida father and his mother more than me, 
 is not worthy of me ; whoever will abandon his house, or his 
 father, or his mother, or his w'ife, or his children, or his 
 inheritance, for the sake of my name, shall he recompensed a 
 hundredfold, and possess life eternal.'' " 
 
 At these words the auditors of Urban displayed an 
 enthusiasm that human eloquence had never before inspired. 
 The assembly arose in one mass as one man, and answered 
 him with a unanimous cry, — " It is the will of God ! It is 
 the ivill of God !''* " Yes, without doubt, it is the will of 
 God," continued the eloquent Urban ; " you to-day see the 
 accomplishment of the word of our Saviour, who promised 
 to be in the midst of the faithful, when assembled in his 
 name ; it is He who has dictated to you the words that I 
 have heard. Let them be jour war-cry, and let them 
 announce everywhere the presence of the God of armies." 
 On finishing these words, the pontiff exhibited to the assem- 
 bled Christians, the sign of their redemption. " It is Christ 
 himself," said he to them, "who issues from his tomb, and 
 presents to you his cross : it will be the sign raised among 
 the nations, which is to gather together again the dispersed 
 
 * Dieu le veut was pronounced in the language of the times Dieu li 
 volt, or Diex le volt.
 
 52 jiisTOUY or THE crusades. 
 
 children of Israel. AYear it upon your shoulders and upon 
 your breasts ; let it shine upon your arms and upon your 
 'standards ; it \\-ill be to yoii the surety of victory or the palm 
 of martyrdom ; it ^vill unceasingly remind you that Christ 
 died for* you, and that it is your duty to die for him." 
 
 "When Urban had ceased to speak, loud acclamations 
 burst from the multitude. Pity, indignation, despair, at the 
 same time agitated the tumultuous assembly of the faithful : 
 some shed tears over Jerusalem and the fate of the Chris- 
 tians ; others swore to exterminate the race of the Mussul- 
 mans ; but, all at once, at a signal from the soyereign pontiff, 
 the most profound silence preyailed. Cardinal Grregory, 
 who afterwards occupied the chair of St. Peter under the 
 name of Innocent II., pronounced, in a loud voice, a form 
 of general confession, the assembly all fell upon their knees, 
 beat their breasts, and received absolution for their sins. 
 
 Adhemar de Monteil, bishop of Puy, demanded to be first 
 allowed to enter into the way of God, and took the cross 
 from the hands of the pope ; several other bishops following 
 liis example. Raymond, count of Thoulouse, excused him- 
 self by his ambassadors for not being able to be present at 
 the council of Clermont ; he had already, he said, fought 
 against the Saracens in Spain, and he promised to go and 
 fight against tliem in Asia, followed by the bravest and most 
 faithful of his warriors. The barons and knights who had 
 heard the exhortations of Urban, all took a solemn oath to 
 revenge the cause of Jesus Christ ; they forgot their private 
 quarrels, and even they who were at actual war had no 
 longer any enemies than the Mussulmans. All the faithful 
 promised "to respect the decrees of the council, and decorated 
 their garments ^yith a red cross. From that time, all who 
 engaged to combat the infidels were termed " Bearers of the 
 Gross,'"* and the holy war took the name of Grusade. The 
 
 * The cross which the faithful wore in this crusade was of cloth, and 
 sometimes even of red-coloured silk. Afterwards they wore crosses of differ- 
 ent colours. The cross, a little in relief, was sewed upon the right shoulder 
 of the coat or mantle, or else fastened on the front of the helmet, after 
 having been blessed by the pope or some bishop. The prayers and cere- 
 monies used on this occasion are still to be found in the Romish ritual. 
 On returning from the Holy Land, they removed this mark from the 
 shoulder and placed it on the back, or else wore it at the neck. (See Le Pere 
 MoNTFAUcoN, DucANGE, Mailly, and Le Pere d'Outremant.)
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 53 
 
 faithful solicited Urban to place himself at their head ; but 
 the pontiff, who had not yet triumphed over the anti-pope 
 Guibert, who was dealing out at the same time his 
 anathemas against the king of France and the emperor of 
 G-ermany, could not quit Europe without compromismg the 
 power and the policy of the Holy kSee. He refused to be 
 chief of the crusade, and named the bishop of Puy apostolic 
 legate with the army of the Christians. 
 
 He promised to all wlio assumed the cross, the entire 
 remission of their sins. Their persons, their families, their 
 property, were all placed under the protection of the Church, 
 and of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. The council 
 declared that eyery yiolence exercised upon the soldiers of 
 Christ should be punished by anathema, and recommended 
 its decrees in favour of the bearers of the cross to the 
 watchful care of all bishops and priests. It regulated the 
 disciphne and the departure of those who had enrolled 
 fchemselyes in the holy ranks, and for fear reflection might 
 deter any from leaving their homes, it threatened with 
 excommunication all those who did not fulfil their vows. 
 
 Fame soon spread everj^here the war that had just been 
 declared against the infidels. When the bishops returned 
 to their dioceses, they still continued to bestow their bless- 
 ings upon the crosses of the crowds of Christians that 
 required to be led to the conquest of the Holy Land. Urban 
 went through several provinces of France, to finish the work 
 he had so happily begun. In the cities of Eouen, Tours, 
 and Mmes he held councils, in which he deplored the fate 
 of the Christians of the East : everywhere the people and 
 the great, the nobles and the clergy, obeyed the pressing 
 exhortations of the pontiif, and promised to take arms 
 against the Mussidmaus. 
 
 It might be said that the French had no longer any other 
 country than the Holy Land, and that to it they were bound 
 to sacrifice their ease, their property, and their lives. This 
 enthusiasm, which had no bounds, was not long in extend- 
 ing itself to the other Christian nations ; the flame which 
 consumed France was communicated to England, still dis- 
 turbed by the recent conquest of the IsTormans ; to Grer- 
 many, troubled by the anathemas of Gregory and Urban ; 
 to Italy, agitated by its factions ; to Spain even, although it
 
 54 niSTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 had to combat the Saracens on its own territory. Such was 
 the ascendancy of the religion outraged by the infidels, such 
 "was the influence of the example given by the French, that 
 all Christian nations seemed to forget, at once, the objects of 
 their ambition or their fears, and furnished, for the crusade, 
 soldiers that they absolutely required to defend themselves. 
 The entire AVest resounded with these words: "^e wJio 
 will not take tcj) Jiis cross and come with me, is not icorthy 
 of me.^^ 
 
 The devotion for pilgrimages, which had been increasing 
 during several centuries, became a passion and an imperative 
 want for most Christians ; every one was eager to march to 
 Jerusalem, and to take part in the crusade, which was, in all 
 respects, an armed pilgrimage. The situation in which 
 Europe was then placed, no doubt contributed to increase 
 the number of pilgrims : '• all things were in such disorder," 
 says William of T\Te, "that the world appeared to be 
 approaching to its end, and was ready to fall again into the 
 confusion of chaos." Everv^"here the people, as I have 
 already said, groaned under a horrible servitude ; a frightful 
 scarcity of provisions, which had, during several years, deso- 
 lated France and the greater part of the kingdoms of the 
 "West, had given birth to all sorts of brigandage and violence ; 
 and these proving the destruction of agriculture and com- 
 merce, increased still further the horrors of the famine. 
 Villages, to^iis even, became void of inhabitants, and sank 
 into ruins. The people abandoned a land which no longei 
 nourished them, or could offer them either repose or security: 
 the standard of the cross appeared to them a certain asylum 
 against misery and oppression. According to the decrees of 
 the council of Clermont, the Crusaders were freed from all 
 imposts, and could not be pursued for debts during their 
 voyage. At the name of the cross, the very laws suspended 
 their menaces, tyranny could not seek its victims, nor justice 
 even the guilty, amidst those whom the Church adopted for 
 its defenders. The assiu-ance of impunity, the hope of a 
 better fate, the love of license, and a desire to shake off the 
 most sacred ties, actuated a vast proportion of the multitude 
 which flocked to the banners of the crusade. 
 
 Many nobles who had not at first taken the cross, and 
 who saw their vassals set out, without having the power to
 
 IIISTOBY OF THE CEUSADES. §5 
 
 prevent them, determined to follow tliem as military chiefs, 
 in order to preserve some portion of their authority. The 
 greater part of the counts and barons had no hesitation in 
 quitting Em-ope, which the council had declared to be in a 
 state of peace, as it no longer aftbrded them an opportunity 
 of distinguishing themselves by their valour ; they had all 
 many crimes to expiate; "they were promised," says 
 Montesquieu, " expiation in the indulgence of their 
 dominant passion, — they took up, therefore, the cross and 
 arms." 
 
 The clergy themselves set the example. Many of the 
 bishops, w^ho bore the titles of coimts and barons, and who 
 were accustomed to make war in defence of the rights of 
 their bishoprics, thought it their duty to arm for the cause 
 of Jesus Christ. The priests, to give greater weight to 
 their exhortations, themselves assumed the cross ; a great 
 number of pastors resolved to follow their flocks to Jeru- 
 salem ; not a few of them, as we shall see hereafter, having 
 in their minds the rich bishoprics of Asia, and allowing 
 themselves to be led by the hope of some day occupying the 
 most celebrated sees of the Eastern church. 
 
 In the midst of the anarchy and troubles v»^hich had deso- 
 lated Europe since the reign of Charlemagne, there had 
 arisen an association of noble knights, who wandered over 
 the world in search of adventures ; they had taken an oath 
 to protect innocence, to fight against infidels, and, by a 
 singular contrast, called themselves the Champions of God 
 and of Beauti/, The religion which had consecrated their 
 institution and blessed their sword, called them to its defence, 
 and the order of chivahy, which owes a great part of its 
 splendour and progress to the holy wars, saw its warriors 
 hasten to range themselves under the banners of the cross. 
 
 Ambition was, perhaps, not foreign to the devotion for 
 the cause of Christ. If religion promised its rewards to 
 those who were going to fight for it, fortune promised them, 
 likewise, riches and the thrones of the earth. All who 
 returned from the East, spoke with enthusiasm of the wonders 
 they had seen, and of the rich provinces they had traversed. 
 It was known that two or three himdred Norman pilgrims 
 had conquered Apulia and Sicily from the Saracens. The 
 lands occupied by the infidels appeared to be heritages pro-
 
 56 HISTOUT OF THE CEUSA-DES. 
 
 mised to kniglits whose whole wealth consisted in their birth, 
 their valour, and their sword.* 
 
 AVe should nevertheless deceive ourselves if we did not 
 believe that religion was the principle which acted most 
 powerfullv upon the greater number of the Crusaders. In 
 ordinarv times men follow their natural inclinations, . and 
 onlv obev the voice of their own interest ; but in the times 
 of the Crusades, rehgious fever M'as a blind passion, which 
 spoke louder than all others. Eehgion permitted not any 
 other srlorv, anv other fehcitv to be seen bv its ardent 
 defenders, but those which she presented to their heated 
 imagination. Love of countrv, family ties, the most tender 
 affections of the heart, were all sacriticed to the ideas and 
 the opinions which then possessed the whole of Europe. 
 Moderation was cowardice, indifference treason, opposition 
 a sacrilegious interference. The power of the laws was 
 reckoned as notliinsr amon2:st men who believed thev were 
 fighting in the cause of Grod. Subjects scarcely acknow- 
 ledged the authority of princes or lords in anything which 
 concerned the holy war ; the master and the slave had no 
 other title than that of Christian, no other duty to perform 
 than that of defending his rehgion, sword in hand. 
 
 They whom age or condition appeared to detain in Europe, 
 and whom the council had exempted from the labours and 
 peiils of the crusade, caused the heaven which called them 
 to the holy war to speak aloud.f "Women and children im- 
 printed crosses upon their dehcate and weak hmbs, to show 
 the will of God.i Monks deserted the cloisters in which 
 they had sworn to die, beheving themselves led by a divine 
 
 * Robert le Frisin, second son of tlie count of Flanders, not being 
 allowed a share of the wealth of his house, said to his father, " Give me 
 men and vessels, and I will go and conquer a state among the Saracens of 
 Spain." 
 
 t The archbishop of Dol could not refrain from showing his surprise 
 by words very remarkable for the time : Eicessit tamen medicina rnodum, 
 quia plus quam debuit in quibusdam eundi voluntas surrepsit. — Baldric, 
 Archiep. lib. i. 
 
 X The Abbe Guibert quotes the example of a monk who made a large 
 incision on his forehead in the form of a cross, and preserved it with pre- 
 pared juices. He took care to report that an angel had made this 
 incision, which procured for him, during both the voyage and the war, 
 all the help he could desire. He became archbishop of Csesarea. Foulque,
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 57 
 
 inspiration ; laermits and anchorites issued from forests and 
 deserts, and muisfled ^Yith the crowd of Crusaders. AVhat is 
 stni more difficult to believe, thieves and robbers, quitting 
 their secret retreats, came to confess their crimes, and pro- 
 mised, whilst recei^'ing the cross, to go and expiate them in 
 Palestine. 
 
 Europe appeared to be a land of exile, which every one was 
 eager to quit. Artisans, traders, laboiu'ers, abandoned the 
 occupations by which they subsisted ; barons and lords even 
 renounced the domains of their fathers. The lands, the 
 cities, the castles for which they had but of late been at 
 war, all at once lost their value in the eyes of their pos- 
 sessors, and were given up, for small sums, to those whom the 
 grace of God had not touched, and who were not called to 
 the happiness of visiting the holy places and conquering the 
 East. 
 
 Contemporary authors relate several miracles which 
 assisted in heating the minds of the multitude. Stars fell 
 from the firmament ; traces of blood were seen in the 
 heavens ; cities, armies, and knights decorated with the 
 cross, were pictured in the clouds. The monk E-oberfc 
 asserts that on the very day on which the council of 
 Clermont determined on the holy war, that decision was 
 proclaimed beyond the seas. " This news," adds he, 
 "raised the courage of the Christians in the East, and 
 caused despair among the nations of Arabia." As the most 
 effective of prodigies, saints and kings of preceding ages 
 were said to have issued from their tombs, and many 
 Erenchmen declared they had seen the shade of Charle- 
 magne exhorting the Christians to fight against the Mus- 
 sulmans. 
 
 AVe will not relate all the other miracles reported by his- 
 torians, which were believed in an age in which nothing was 
 more common than prodigies, in which, according to the 
 remark of Eleury, the taste for the wonderful prevailed 
 greatly over that for the true. The readers of this history 
 will find quite enough of extraordinary things in the descrip- 
 
 of Chartres, relates that a vessel laden with Crusaders having been 
 wrecked on the coast of Brundusiura, all the shipwrecked bodies appeared 
 with a kind of cross imprinted on their flesh, and on the very part on 
 which it had been worn on their clothes when they were alive.
 
 58 mSTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 tion of so many great events, for Tv-hich the moral world, 
 and even nature herself seemed to have interrupted their 
 laws. AVhat prodia^y, in fact, can more astonish the philo- 
 sopher, than to see Eui'ope, which may be said to have been 
 agitated to its very foundations, move all at once, and like a 
 single man, march in arms towards the East ? 
 
 The council of Clermont, which was held in the month of 
 November, 1095, had fixed the departiu-e of the Crusaders 
 for the festival of the Assumption of the following year. 
 Diuing the winter nothing was thought of but preparations 
 for the voyage to the Holy Land ; every other care, every 
 other labour was suspended in the cities and the plaius. 
 In the midst of the general excitement, the religion, which 
 animated all hearts, watched over public order. All at once 
 there was no more robbery or brigandage heard of* The 
 AYest was silent, to employ an expression from the Scripture, 
 and Europe enjoyed during several months a peace that it 
 had never before known. 
 
 Thev who had taken the cross encourao^ed each other, 
 and addressed letters and sent ambassadors to hasten their 
 departure. The benedictions of the heavens appeared to be 
 promised to those who should be first ready to march to 
 Jerusalem. Men even, who at the first had found fault 
 with the delirium of the crusade, accused themselves of 
 inditference for the cause of relisnon, and showed no less 
 fervour than those who had given the example. All were 
 eager to sell their possessions, but could find no piu'chasers. 
 The Crusaders despised everything they could not carry 
 with them ; the productions of the earth were sold at a low 
 price, which all at once brought back abimdance even in the 
 midst of scarcity. 
 
 As soon as the spring appeared, nothing could restrain 
 
 * Erai eo ternpore antequam gentium fieret tanta profeciio, maxima 
 ad invicem hostilitatibus iotius Francorum regni facta turbatio ; crebra 
 vbique latrocinia, rianon obsessio, passim audiebantur, immo fiebant 
 incendia infinita — Max ergo et mira et incredibili, ob insperabilitatem, 
 animorum immutaiione commoti, signumpontijicis prcBceptione indicium, 
 cruces videlicet, ab episcopis et presbyteris sibi precantur imponi, et 
 siciifi rapidissimi venti impetus solet non magna pluvicE undd restringi ; 
 ita iUico contigit ad inricem simultates tiniversarum et bella sopiri, per 
 inditam sibi aspirationem, haud dubium quin Chrisii. — Guxbert, Abb. 
 lib i. ch. 7.
 
 niSTORT OF THE CRUSADES. 59 
 
 the impatience of the Crusaders, and tliey set forward on 
 their march to the phices at which they were to assemble. 
 The greater number went on foot ; some horsemen appeared 
 amongst the multitude ; a great many travelled in cars ; 
 they were clothed in a variety of manners, and armed, in 
 the same way, with lances, swords, javelins, iron clubs, 
 &c. &c. The crowd of Crusaders presented a whimsical and 
 confused mixtui^e of all ranks and all conditions ; women 
 appeared in arms in the midst of warriors, prostitution not 
 being forgotten among the austerities of penitence. Old 
 age was to be seen with infancy, opulence next to misery ; 
 the helmet was confounded with the frock, the mitre with 
 the sword. Around cities, around fortresses, in the plains, 
 upon the mountains, were raised tents and pavilions ; every- 
 where was displayed a preparation for war and festivity. 
 Here was heard the sound of arms or the braying of trum- 
 pets ; whilst at a short distance the air was filled with psalms 
 and spiritual songs. From the Tiber to the ocean, and from 
 the Ehine to the other side of the Pyrenees, nothmg was to 
 be seen but troops of men marked with the cross, who swore 
 to exterminate the Saracens, and were chantmg their songs 
 of conquest beforehand. On all parts resounded the war- 
 cry of the Crusaders — •" It is the ivill of God ! It is the will 
 of God r 
 
 Fathers themselves conducted their children, and made 
 them swear to conquer or die for Jesus Christ. Warriors 
 tore themselves from the arms of their wives and from their 
 families, promising to return victorious. Women or old 
 men, whose weakness was left without support, accompanied 
 their sons or their husbands to the nearest city, and there, 
 not being able to separate themselves from the objects of 
 their affections, determined to follow them to Jerusalem. 
 They who remained in Europe emded the fiite of the 
 Crusaders, and could not restram their tears ; they who 
 went to seek death in Asia were fuU of hope and joy.* 
 Families, whole villages set out for Palestme, and drew into 
 their ranks all they met with on their passage. They 
 marched on without forethought, and would not believe that 
 
 * Tristitia remaneniibus, gaudium aufem eundbus erai. — Fulc, 
 
 Cap.not.
 
 60 HISTOKT OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 he Avlio nourislies the sparrow would leave pilgrims clothed 
 with the holy cross to perish with want. Their ignorance 
 added to their illusion, and lent an air of enchantment to 
 everything they saw; they believed at every moment they 
 were approaching the end of their pilgrimage. The children 
 of the villagers, when they saw a city or a castle, asked if 
 tliat was Jerusalem?* Many of the great lords, who had 
 passed their lives in their rustic donjons, knew very little 
 more on this head than their vassals ; they took with them 
 theii' hunting and fishing appointments, and marched with 
 their falcons on their wrists, preceded by their hounds. 
 They expected to reach Jerusalem, enjoying themselves on 
 the road, and to exhibit to Asia the rude luxury of their 
 castles. 
 
 In the midst of the general delirium, no sage caused the 
 voice of reason to be heard; nobodv was then astonished 
 
 * 
 
 at that which now creates so much surprise. These scenes 
 so strange, in which every one was an actor, could only be a 
 spectacle for posterity. 
 
 * Videres mirum quiddam: ipsos infanfulos, dum ohviam habent 
 qxKsUbet castella vel urhes, si hcec essct Jerusalem, ad quam tenderent, 
 rogitare. — Guibert, Abb.
 
 BOOK 11. 
 
 A.D. 1096—1097. 
 
 The number of Christians who had taken the cross in the 
 greater part of the countries of Europe were quite sufficient 
 to form many large armies. As these armies might exhaust 
 the countries through which they had to pass, the princes 
 and captains who were to conduct them agreed among them- 
 selves that they should not all set out at one time, but 
 should pursue different routes, and meet again at Constan- 
 tinople. 
 
 "Whilst they were engaged in preparations for departure, 
 the multitude who followed Peter the Hermit in his preach- 
 ings, became impatient to advance before the other Cru- 
 saders ; and being without a chief, they cast their eyes upon 
 him whom they considered as an envoy from heaven. They 
 chose Peter for their general ; the cenobite, deceived by the 
 excess of his zeal, believed that enthusiasm could alone 
 answer for all the successes of war, and that it woidd be 
 easy to conduct an undisciplined troop which had taken up 
 arms at the sound of his voice. He yielded to the prayers 
 of the multitude, and, clothed in his woollen mantle, a hood 
 over his head, sandals on his feet, and only mounted on the 
 mule upon which he had traversed Europe, he took upon 
 himself the command. His troop, which set out from the 
 banks of the Meuse and Moselle, proceeded towards G-er- 
 many, and was increased upon the road by a vast number of 
 pilgrims hastening from Cliamxpagne, Burgundy, and other 
 parts of Prance. Peter soon saw from eighty to a hundred 
 thousand men under his standard. These first Crusaders, 
 dragging in their train women, children, old men, and 
 numerous sick, began their march upon the faith of the 
 miraculous promises made them by their general ; in the 
 persuasion they were filled with, that God himself called 
 upon them to defend his cause, they hoped that rivers 
 would open before their battalions, and that manna would 
 fall from heaven to feed them. The army of Peter tlie 
 Hermit was divided into two bodies ; the vanguard marched
 
 62 • niSTOET OF THE CEIJSADES. 
 
 under tlie orders of ^^alter tTie Penniless,* whose surname, 
 preserved by history, proves that the chiefs were as miserable 
 as the soldiers. This vanguard only reckoned eight horse- 
 men ; all the rest went to the conquest of the East asking 
 charity bv the way. As long as the Crusaders were upon 
 the French territorv, the charity of the faithful who were 
 on their route pro^^.ded for their wants. They warmed the 
 zeal of the Grermans, amongst whom the crusade had not 
 been preached. Their troop, which was considered every- 
 where as the people of Grod, met vriih no enemies on the 
 banks of the Ehine ; but new Amalekites, the Hungarians 
 and the Bulgarians, awaited them on the shores of the 
 Morava and the Danube. 
 
 The Hungarians, who had issued from Tartary, had a 
 common origin with the Tiuks, and, like them, had ren- 
 dered themselves formidable to the Christians. In the tenth 
 century they had invaded Pannonia, and carried the ravages 
 of war into the richest coiuitries of Europe. !Xations ter- 
 rified at the progress of their arms, considered them as 
 a scoui'ge which Avas sent as a forerunner of the end of the 
 world. Towards the middle of the eleventh century they 
 embraced the Christianity they had persecuted. Once 
 obedient to the faith of the Gospel, they began to build 
 cities and cultivate their land ; they felt what it was to have 
 a country, and ceased to be the terror of their neighbours. 
 At the period of the first crusade, the Hungarians boasted 
 of having a saint among their kings,t but, still separated 
 from the Christian republic by their position, they did not 
 at all partake of the fervour of the Crusaders, and looked on 
 Avith indifference at the preparations of Europe for the 
 conquest of Asia. 
 
 The Bulgarians, who were descended from the ancient 
 
 * William of Tyre tells us that "Walter had exchanged his fortune for 
 the name by which he is known. Latin historians designate him sine 
 habere, sine pecunid ; the old French chronicles call him, senz avehor, 
 senz-aveir ; the English writers term him the penniless. Walter was a 
 Burgnndian gentleman. Some historians say that an uncle of Walter the 
 Penniless was first named lieutenant to Peter, and that the latter had not 
 the command till after the death of his uncle, who died just as the 
 pilgrims entered the territories of the Bulgarians. 
 
 t St. Stephen had been king of Hungary before Coloman, who reigned 
 at the time of the first crusade.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 63 
 
 people of tlie Sclaves, liad by turns protected and ravaged 
 the empire of Constantinople. Their warriors had killed 
 Nicephorus in battle, and the skull of an emperor, enchased 
 in gold, served for a long time as a cup for their chiefs in 
 the orgies of victory. They were afterwards conquered by 
 Basil, who put out the eyes of fifteen thousand of his 
 prisoners, and by this act of barbarity roused the whole 
 nation against Greece. At the time of the crusade, Bul- 
 garia was under the power of the Greek empire, but it 
 despised the laws and the power of its masters. The Bid- 
 garian people spread along the southern banks of the 
 Danube, in the midst of inaccessible forests, preserved their 
 savage independence, and only recognized the emperors of 
 the East when they saw their armies. Although they had 
 embraced Christianity, the Bulgarians did not consider the 
 Christians as their brothers ; they neither respected the 
 laws of nations nor the rights of hospitality, and during the 
 eleventh centiu-y they were the terror of the pilgrims of the 
 West who journeyed to Jerusalem. 
 
 Such were the people whose territories the Crusaders 
 Avere about to cross, and among whom want of discipline 
 must necessarily expose them to the most direful reverses. 
 "VVhien the vanguard entered Hungary, they were only dis- 
 turbed in their march but by a few insults, which Walter 
 had the prudence not to avenge ; but the resignation of the 
 pilgrims could not hold out long against the misery which 
 every day increased. Want and its attendant e-sols soon 
 dispersed all the sentiments of moderation to which reli- 
 gion had for a moment given birth in the hearts of its 
 defenders. The governor of Bulgaria not having been able 
 to furnish provisions, they spread themselves about over the 
 country, carried off the flocks, burnt the houses, and mas- 
 sacred several of the inhabitants who opposed their violences. 
 The irritated Bulgarians ran to arms, and fell upon the 
 soldiers of Walter loaded with their booty. A hundred and 
 forty Crusaders perished in the midst of flames, in a chi^irch 
 in which they had taken refuge ; the rest sought safety in 
 flight. After this defeat, which he did not endeavour to 
 repair, Walter continued his march through the forests of 
 Bulgaria, pursued by famine, and dragging along the WTeck 
 of his army. He presented himself as a supplicant before
 
 G4 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 
 
 the governor of Xissa, v^ho was touched with the misery 
 of the Crusaders, and gave them provisions, arms, and 
 clothing. 
 
 The soldiers of Walter, tried hy merited reverses, con- 
 ducted bv a chief who was wanting in neither skiU nor 
 courage, became ap^ain attentive to the voice of religion, 
 and passed through Thrace vrithout committing any dis- 
 orders. After two months of fatisiue and miserv, thev 
 arrived under the walls of Constantinople, where the em- 
 peror Alexis permitted them to wait for the army of Peter 
 the Hermit. 
 
 This army, which was then passing through Germany, 
 was about to be treated Averse than its vanguard had been. 
 The cenobite Peter, more enthusiastic than his soldiers, 
 was more sldlful in exciting their zeal than in directing it. 
 He showed neither the moderation nor the prudence of his 
 lieutenant, and had no idea how to avoid the dangers which 
 awaited him on his route. On arriving on the frontiers of 
 Hungary, he learnt the ill-fortune that his companions had 
 met with,* and the projects of hostilities formed, as he was 
 told, against the army of the pilgrims. Tlie bodies of seve- 
 ral of the Crusaders hung at the gates of Semlin, which the 
 historians of tlie crusades call Ma]IeviUe,f attracted his 
 regard and drew forth his indignation. At this sight, he 
 gave the signal for vengeance and war. The trumpets 
 sounded, the soldiers seized their arms, and hastened to the 
 carnage. Terror preceded them into the city. On their 
 first attack the people took to flight, and sought refuge 
 upon a hill, one side of which was defended by woods and 
 rocks, and the other by the Danube. They were pursued 
 and forced into this last asylum by the furious midtitude of 
 the Crusaders. ISIore than four thousand of the inhabitants 
 of Semlin fell under the swords of the conq^uerors. The 
 
 * Among the small number of knights in the army of Peter, were 
 Renaud de Bre'is, Gauthier de Breteuil, Fealcber d' Orleans, and Godfrey 
 Burel d'Etampes. 
 
 t William of Tyre and other Latin historians call this city 3/<2//e Villa; 
 in the tirst place because they were ignorant of its proper name, and in 
 the second because it was fat:;! to the Crusaders. All the French his- 
 torians who have spoken of the crusades have transiated Malle Villa by 
 Malleville. — See Marsigli, Danubius Pannonico, Mysicus.
 
 HISTORY OF TUE CKUSADES. 65 
 
 bodies carried down Ly the river bore the tidings of tliis 
 horrible victory as far as Belgrade. 
 
 At this intelligence the Bulgarians and Hungarians were 
 seized with grief and indignation, and in all parts flew to 
 arms. The Crusaders still remained in Semlin, and were 
 glorifying themselves upon their triumph, when all at once 
 an army, assembled in haste by Coloman, king of Hungary, 
 presented itself to their view. Peter had nothing to oppose 
 to his enemies but tlie soldiers whose bliad fury he had 
 himself excited, and with whom it was impossible to make 
 any military disposition. He did not dare to wait for the 
 army of Coloman, and hastened to cross the Morava. 
 
 On gaiuing the territories of the Bulgarians, the Cru- 
 saders found the villages and cities abandoned ; even Bel- 
 grade, the capital, was without inhabitants ; they had fled 
 into the forests and mountains. Peter's soldiers, after a 
 painful march, in want of pro\dsions, and "v^'ith difficulty 
 finding guides to conduct them, arrived at last at the gates 
 of Nissa, a place sufficiently well fortified to be seciu-e from 
 a first attack. The Bulgarians showing themselves upon 
 their ramparts, and the Crusaders leaning on their arms, 
 inspired each other with a mutual fear. This fear at first 
 prevented hostilities ; but harmony could not last long 
 between an army without discipline and a people that had 
 been irritated by Adolence. 
 
 The pilgrims, after having obtained provisions, had just 
 set forward on their march, when a quarrel between the 
 inhabitants and some of the soldiers caused war to break 
 forth with inveteracv.* A hundred German Crusaders, 
 whom William of Tyre styles cliildren of JBelial, and who 
 fancied they had cause of complaint agamst some merchants, 
 wishing to avenge themselves, set fire to seven mills placed 
 upon the Nissava. At the sight of this fire, the inhabitants 
 of Nissa rushed from their ramparts, and falling upon Peter's 
 rear-guard, massacred all who fell in their way, bore ofi" two 
 thousand carriages, and made a great number of prisoners. 
 Peter, who had already quitted the territory of Nissa, warned 
 of the disaster of his companions, returned immediately 
 
 * Consult William of Tyre, or still better, Albert d'Aix, who, of all 
 the historians of the crusades, enlarges most upon these first expeditions.
 
 66 niSTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 -vN-itli the "bulk of his armv. The eves of the Crusaders, 
 on approaching the city, -were shocked everywhere by be- 
 holding the most sorroTvful spectacle. They recognized 
 amons: the dead friends and brothers, and burned to revencre 
 them. 
 
 The cenobite, however, who feared fresh reverses, had 
 recourse to negotiations and prayers. Deputies were sent 
 into Xissa, to demand the prisoners and the baggage of his 
 armv, which had been taken bv the Bulo:arians. These 
 deputies reminded the governor that they had taken up the 
 cross, and that they were going to fight in the East for the 
 cause of Jesus Christ. They appealed to the religion and 
 humanity' of the inhabitants of Xissa, whom thev called 
 their brethren. 
 
 The governor, who saw nothing in these peaceful words 
 but the language of fear, showed himself inflexible to their 
 prayers. He sternly sent them back to their general, telling 
 them that the Crusaders had themselves given the signal 
 for the war, and that he could see in them nothing but 
 enemies. AVhen this answer was reported to the army of 
 Peter, ever}' soldier was fii-ed with indii]:nation. In vain the 
 cenobite endeavoured to calm their spirits and attempt fresh 
 negotiations ; they accused his fidehty, they suspected his 
 courage. The most ardent ilew to arms ; nothing was heard 
 but complaints and menaces ; and no Crusader would submit 
 to any directions but those of his own angry will. AVhilst 
 Peter was conferring Avith the governor of Xissa, two thou- 
 sand soldiers approached the ramparts, and endeavoured to 
 scale them. They were repulsed by the Bulgarians, and 
 supported by a p^reat number of their companions. The 
 fight became general, and the fire of carnage blazed on all 
 parts around the chiefs, who were still speaking of conditions 
 of peace. In vain the hermit had recourse to supplications, 
 to stop the mad progress of his soldiers, in vain he placed 
 himself between the combatants ; his voice, so well known 
 to the Crusaders, was lost in the din of arms. They braved 
 liis authority ; they despised his prayers. His army, which 
 fought Tsithout order and without leaders, was routed and 
 cut to pieces. The women, the children, who followed the 
 Crusaders, their horses, their camp equipages, the chest of 
 the army, which contained the numerous oflerings of the
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 67 
 
 faithful, all became tlie prey of an enemy whose fury and 
 vengeance nothing could stop. 
 
 The hermit Peter, with the wreck of his troop, took 
 refuge on a hill in the neighbourhood of the city. He 
 passed the night in alarms, deploring his defeat, and the sad 
 effects of the violences of which he had himself given the 
 signal and the example among the Hungarians. He had 
 around him no more than five hundred men. The trumpets 
 and the clarions were sounded without ceasing, to recall 
 those who had escaped the carnage, and had lost themselves 
 in their flight. 
 
 Whether it was that the Crusaders could find no safety 
 but under their own standards, or whether they were still 
 mindful of their oath, none turned back from the crusade. 
 On the day following their defeat, seven thousand fugitives 
 came to rejoin their general. A few days after, Peter 
 mustered beneath his command thirty thousand combatants. 
 All the rest had perished in the battle fought under the walls 
 of Nissa. The army of the Crusaders, reduced to a deplora- 
 ble condition, sought no opportunity of avenging their 
 defeat, but marched with melancholy steps towards the 
 frontiers of Thrace. They were without the means either of 
 subsisting or fighting. They had to fear a fresh defeat if 
 they encountered the Bulgarians, and all the horrors of 
 famine if they came to a desert country. Misfortune ren- 
 dered them more docile, and inspired them with sentiments 
 of moderation. The pity which their misery excited was 
 more serviceable to them than the terror which they had 
 wished to create. "Wlien they ceased to be an object of 
 di'ead, assistance was afforded them. When they entered 
 the territories of Thrace, the Greek emperor sent deputies 
 to complain of their disorders, but at the same time to 
 announce his clemency. Peter, who dreaded new disasters, 
 wept with joy when he learnt that he had found favour with 
 Alexis. Pull of confidence and hope, he pui^sued his march, 
 and the Crusaders, carrying palms in their hands, arrived 
 without further obstacles under the walls of Constantinople. 
 
 The Grreeks, who entertained no love for the Latins, were 
 more prodigal and kind in the assistance they afforded them 
 from finding them less formidable. They secretly applauded 
 the courage of the Bulgarians, and contemplated with com- 
 
 VoL. I.— 5
 
 68 HISTOET or THE CBUSADES. 
 
 placencY the ^an-iors of the "West covered v,it\i the rags of 
 iudigence. The emperor was desirous of seeing the extra- 
 ordinarv man who had roused the western world bt liis 
 eloquence, and Peter was admitted to an audience of Alexis. 
 In the presence of all his court, the emperor extolled the 
 zeal of the preacher of the crusade ; and as he had nothing 
 to fear from the ambition of a hermit, he loaded him with 
 presents, caused arms, money, and provisions to be distri- 
 buted amons: his armv, and advised him to defer the com- 
 raencement of the war to the amval of the princes and 
 illustrious captains who had assumed the cross. 
 
 This advice was salutarv. but the most renowned heroes 
 of the crusade were not yet ready to leave Europe ; they 
 were to be preceded by fresh troops of Crusaders, who, 
 marching without forethought and without discipline in the 
 steps of tlie army of Peter, should commit the same excesses, 
 and be exposed to the same reverses. A priest of the Pala- 
 tinate had preached the crusade in several pro^'inces of 
 G-ennany. At his voice fifteen or twenty thousand men had 
 taken the oath to fight the infidels, and had assembled in an 
 armed body. As the preachers of the holy war passed for 
 men inspired by God. the people believed they were obeying 
 the will of heaven in taking them for chiefs of the crusade. 
 G-otschalk obtained the same honour that had been conferred 
 on Peter the Hermit, and was elected general by the men 
 he had prevailed upon to take arms. This army arrived 
 in Hungary towards the end of siunmer. The harvest, which 
 was abundant, furnished the G-ermans with a ready oppor- 
 timity of giving themselves up to intemperance. In the 
 enjoyment of tumultuous scenes of debauchery, they forgot 
 Constantinople. Jerusalem, and Christ himself whose worship 
 and laws they were marching to defend. Pillage, violarion, 
 and murder were evervwhere left as the traces of their 
 passage. Coloman assembled troops to chastise their license, 
 and to recall them to a sense of the maxims of justice and 
 the laws of hospitahty. The soldiers of Grotschalk were full 
 of courage, and, at first, defended themselves with advantage. 
 Their resistance even inspired serious alarm among the 
 Hungarians, who resolved to employ stratagem to reduce 
 them. The o:eneral of Coloman feimed to be desirous of 
 peace. The chiefs of the Hungarians presented themselves
 
 HISTOET OF THE CKUSADES. 69 
 
 in tlie cainp of the Crusaders, no longer as enemies, but as 
 brothers. By dint of protestations and caresses, they per- 
 suaded them to allow themselves to be disarmed. The 
 Germans, slaves of the most brutal passions, but simple and 
 credulous, yielded to the promises of a Christian people, and 
 abandoned themselves to a blind confidence, of which they 
 very shortly became the victims. vScarcely had they laid 
 down their arms when the chief of the Hungarians gave the 
 signal for the carnage. The prayers, the tears of the Cru- 
 saders, the sacred sign which they bore upon their breasts, 
 could not divert the blows of a perfidious and barbarous 
 enemy. Their fate was worthy of pity, and history might 
 have shed tears over it if they had themselves respected the 
 laws of humanity. 
 
 We are doubtless the less astonished at the excesses of 
 the first Crusaders, when we reflect that they belonged to 
 the lowest class of the people, always blind, and always 
 ready to abuse names and things the most holy, Avhen not 
 restrained by laws or leaders. The ci\dl wars, which had so 
 long disturbed Europe, had greatly increased the number of 
 vagabonds and adventurers. Grermany, more troubled than 
 the other coimtries of the West, was filled with men trained 
 in brigandage, and became the scourge of society. They 
 almost all enrolled themselves under the banners of the 
 cross, and carried with them into a new expedition the spirit 
 of license and revolt wdth which they were animated. 
 
 There assembled on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle 
 a new troop of Crusaders, more seditious, more undisciplined, 
 even, than those of Peter and Grotschalk. They had been told 
 that the crusade procured the forgiveness of all sins ; and 
 in this persuasion they committed the greatest crimes with 
 security. Animated by a fanatical pride, they believed 
 themselves entitled to despise and ill-treat all who did not 
 join in the holy expedition. The war they were about to 
 wage appeared to them so agreeable to God, and they thought 
 by it to render such a signal service to the Church, that all 
 the wealtli of the earth would be scarcely sufficient to pay 
 them for their devotion. Everything which fell into their 
 hands appeared a conquest over the infidels, and became the 
 just reward of their labours. 
 
 No captain durst place himself at the head of this fero-
 
 70 HISTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 cious troop ;* they wandered on in disorder, and obeyed none 
 but those Avho partook their wild delirium, A priest named 
 Yolkmar, and a Count Emicio, who thought to expiate the 
 wildness of his vouth bv the excess of his fanaticism, at- 
 tracted, by their declamations, the attention and confidence 
 of the new Crusaders. These two chiefs were astonished 
 that people should go so far to make war upon the Mussul- 
 mans, who kept up under their o^ti law the tomb of Jesus 
 Christ, whilst they left in peace a nation which had crucified 
 its God, To inflame men's passions still more, they took care 
 to make heaven speak, and to support their opinions by mira- 
 culous -sisions. The people, for whom the Jews were ever}'- 
 where an object of hatred and hon-or, had already shown 
 themselves but too ready to persecute them. Commerce, 
 which they almost alone carried on, had placed in their hands 
 a great part of the gold then circulating in Europe, The 
 si2:ht of their wealth necessarilv irritated the Crusaders, who 
 were, for the most part, reduced to implore charity of 
 the faithful to procure the means for undertaking their 
 voyage. It is probable, lilie\\'ise, that the Jews, by their 
 railleries, insulted the enthusiasm of the Christians for the 
 crusade. 
 
 All these motives, joined to the thirst for pillage, lit up 
 the fires of persecution. Emicio and Yolkmar gave both 
 the sisrnal and the example. At their voice a furious mul- 
 titude spread themselves through the cities of the Ehine 
 and the Moselle, massacring pitilessly all the Jews that they 
 met with in their passage. In their despair, a great number 
 of these victims preferred being their own destroyers, to 
 awaiting certain death at the hands of their enemies. Several 
 shut themselves up in their houses, and perished amidst flames 
 which they themselves had kindled ; some fastened large 
 stones to their garments, and precipitated themselves and 
 their treasures into the Ehine or the Moselle. Mothers 
 stifled their children at the breast, saying that they preferred 
 sending: them thus to the bosom of Abraham, to seeino: them 
 given up to the fury of the Christians, TTomen and 
 old men implored pity to assist them to die ; all these 
 
 * Amongst this confused multitude were Thomas de Feii, Cleremhault 
 de Vaudeuil, Guillaume Charpentier, Count Herman, &c.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 71 
 
 wretcTied creatures calling upon deatli as earnestly as otlicr 
 men ask for life. In the midst of these scenes of desolation, 
 history takes pleasure in doing justice to the enlightened 
 zeal of the bishops of Worms, Treves, Mayence, and Spiers, 
 who raised the voice of religion and humanit}^, and opened 
 their palaces as so many asylums for the Jews against the 
 pursuit of murderers and villains. 
 
 The soldiers of Emicio prided themselves upon their 
 exploits, and scenes of carnage filled them with exultation. 
 As proud as if they had conquered the Saracens, they set 
 out on their march, loaded with booty, invoking the heaven 
 they had so cruelly outraged. They were slaves to the most 
 brutal superstition, and caused themselves to be preceded by 
 a goat and a goose, to which they attributed something 
 divine.* These mean animals at the head of the battalions 
 were as their chiefs, and shared the respect and confidence 
 of the multitude, with all those who furnished examples of 
 the most horrible excesses. All people fled at the approach 
 of these dreaded champions of the cross. Christians who 
 met them on their route vfere forced to applaud their zeal, 
 whilst trembling for fear of becoming victims to it. This 
 unrestrained multitude, without being acquainted with the 
 people or the countries through which they had to pass, 
 ignorant even of the disasters of those who had preceded 
 them in this perilous career, advanced like a hurricane 
 towards the plains of Hungary. Mersbourg shut its gates 
 upon them, and refused them provisions. They were indig- 
 nant that so little respect should be shown to the soldiers of 
 Christ, and deemed it their duty to treat the Hungarians as 
 they had treated the Jews. Mersbourg,t situated on the 
 
 * Fuit et aliud scelus detestabile : in hdc congregatione pedestris 
 populi stulti, et vesance levitatis, anserem quemdam divino spiritu assere- 
 bant afflatum, et capellam 7ion mimes eodem repletam, et has sibi duces 
 secundcB via fecerant in Jerusalem, quos et nimium venerebantur et 
 bestiali more his intendebant ex totd aninii intentione. — Alb. Aq. lib. i. 
 cap. 31. 
 
 t The Mersbourg of the Crusaders is now called Ovar ; in German 
 XJngarisch-Altenburgh ; in Sclavonic Stare-Hrady. It is situated in the 
 marshes that the Leytha forms on its embouchure into the Danube. Its 
 position is such that it is impossible to go from Austria into Hungary on 
 that side without passing by it. (See Busching, Geog.) The name of 
 Mersbourg, which Albert d'Ai.x gives to this place, is no longer in use ;
 
 72 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 Leytha, a river wliicli floAvs into tlie Danube, was defended 
 by marshes. The Crusaders crossed the river, cut down a 
 forest, and formed a causeway, which conducted them close 
 under the walls of the place. After some preparation the 
 signal was given, the ladders were raised against the ram- 
 parts, and the general assault was begun. The besieged 
 opposed a spirited resistance, and showered upon their 
 enemies a tempest of darts and arrows, with torrents 
 of boiling oil. The besiegers, encoiu'aging each other, 
 redoubled their efforts. Victory appeared to be about to 
 declare for them, when suddenl^y several ladders pelded to 
 the weight of the assailants, and dragged down with them 
 in their fall the parapets and the fragments of the towers 
 that the rams had shaken. The cries of the wounded, and 
 the rattling of the falling ruins, spread a panic among the 
 Crusaders. They abandoned the half-destroyed ramparts, 
 behind which their enemies trembled, and retired in the 
 greatest disorder. 
 
 " Grod him.self," says William of Tyre, " spread terror 
 through their ranks, to piuiish their crimes, and to accom- 
 plish that word of the wise man : ' The impious man flies 
 without being pursued.' " The inhabitants of Mersbourg, 
 astonished at their victory, at length quitted the shelter of 
 their ramparts, and found the plain covered with the fliers, 
 who had cast away their arms. A vast number of these 
 furious bemgs, whom, recently, nothing could resist, allowed 
 themselves to be slaughtered without resistance. Many 
 perished, swallowed up in the marshes. The waters of the 
 Danube and the Leytha were reddened A^ith their blood, and 
 covered with their bodies. 
 
 The vanguard of this army met with the same fate among 
 the Bulgarians, whose territories they had gained. In the 
 cities and the plains, these unworthy Crusaders found every- 
 where men as ferocious and implacable as themselves, who 
 appeared — to employ the words of the historians of the times 
 
 but that of Altenburgh, which has succeeded it, and which signifies old 
 city, indicates sufficiently clearly a more ancient name ; and the name of 
 Moiswn, whicli other historians of the crusades give to the same place, is 
 still found in the Latin and Hungarian name of the county of Wiesel- 
 bourg, upon which this city depends ; Mesony wanmgye, Mesoniensis 
 Comitatus.
 
 niSTOKV OF TJIE CRUSADES. 73 
 
 — to have been placed upon the passage of the pilgrims as 
 instruments of divine wrath. A very small number escaped 
 the carnage. Among the few who found safety in flight, 
 some returned into their own country, where they were 
 welcomed by the scorn and jeers of their compatriots ; the 
 rest arrived at Constantinople, where the Greeks learnt the 
 new disasters of the Latins, with so much the more joy, 
 from having suifered greatly from the excesses committed by 
 the army of Peter the Hermit. 
 
 This army, united to that of AValter, had received under 
 its standard an accession of Pisans, Yenetians, and Genoese, 
 and might amomit to about a hundred thousand combatants. 
 The remembrance of their misery caused them for a time to 
 respect the commands of the emperor and the laws of hos- 
 pitality ; but abundance, idleness, and the sight of the riches 
 of Constantinople, brought back to their camp, license, 
 insubordination, and a thirst for plunder. Impatient to 
 receive the signal for war, they pillaged the houses, the 
 palaces, and even the chuiThes, of the suburbs of Byzantium. 
 To deliver his capital from these destructive guests, Alexis 
 furnished them with vessels, and transported them to the 
 other side of the Bosphorus. 
 
 ]>^othing could be expected from a band composed of a 
 confused mixture of all nations, and the wrecks of several 
 undisciplined armies. A great number of the Crusaders, on 
 quitting their country, had thought of nothing but accom- 
 plishing their vow, and only sighed for the happiness of 
 beholding Jerusalem ; but these pious dispositions had all 
 vanished on their route. "WTiatever may be the motive that 
 brings them together, when men are not confined by any 
 restraint, the most corrupted gain the ascendancy, and bad 
 examples constitute the law. As soon as the soldiers of 
 Peter had passed the straits, they considered all they met 
 their enemies, and the subjects of the Greek emperor suffered 
 much more than the Turks from their first exploits. In 
 their blindness, they allied superstition with license, and 
 under the banners of the cross, committed crimes which 
 make nature shudder.* But discord soon broke out amongst 
 
 * There were in the army of Peter the Hermit, says Anna Comnena, 
 ten thousand Normans, who committed horrible excesses in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Nicea. They chopped children in pieces, stuck others upon
 
 74 IIISTOBT OF THE CBrSADES. 
 
 them, and retaliated upon tliem all the evils they had inflicted 
 upon Christians. 
 
 They had established their camp in the fertile plains which 
 border the Gulf of Xicomedia. Every day parties strayed 
 into the neighbourhood, and returned loaded -with booty. 
 The partition of the spoil excited frequent quarrels among 
 them. The French, of an assuming and bantering character, 
 attributed to themselves all the success of this commence- 
 ment of the war, and treated the Itahans and G-ermans with 
 contempt. The latter separated themselves from the army, 
 and under the conduct of a chief named Rinaldo,* advanced 
 towards the mountains which border upon Nicea. There 
 they rendered themselves masters of a fort, whose garrison 
 they massacred, and although their troop was not numerous, 
 and stood in great want of provisions, they were bold enough 
 to await the army which was approaching to besiege them. 
 They were not able to resist even the first attacks of the 
 Turks, and were almost all put to the sword ; their general, 
 and some few of his soldiers, onlv saved their lives by 
 embracing the faith of Mahomet, and by taking a disgraceful 
 oath to fi2:ht ai3^ainst the Christians. 
 
 "WTien the news of this disaster reached the camp of the 
 Crusaders, it brought with it agitation and trouble. The 
 French, who, a few days before, could not endure the Ger- 
 mans and the Italians.wept over their tragical fate, and were 
 eager to march to avenge them. In vain Walter, who com- 
 •nanded them, represented to them that the Crusaders whose 
 OSS they deplored had fallen ■sictims to their own imprudence, 
 and that their principal duty was to avoid their example ; 
 nothing could restrain the impatience and the blind ardour 
 of his soldiers. The latter beheved that they already saw 
 the Turks flying before them, and feared they should not be 
 able to overtake them. Murmurs arose in the Christian 
 
 spits, and exercised all sorts of cruelties against aged persons. (See the 
 Alexiad, book i.) We have no need to repeat our caution against the 
 exaggeration of Anna Coranena, who is always pleaised with an oppor- 
 tunity of accusing the Crusaders. 
 
 * This Rinaldo, of whom nothing else is known, except that he was an 
 Italian, is the only personage so called who has any event of importance 
 in the first crusade attached to his name. Tasso, who has taken most of 
 his characters from history, has borrowed the person and character of 
 Rinaldo, in the " Jerusalem Delivered," entirely from his imagination.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CEI'SADES. 75 
 
 army against a general wliom they accused of want of 
 coiu'ao;e, because he foresaw reverses. From murmurs they 
 passed to revolt, and the order for departure and attack was 
 forced from him by violence. AValter, groaning, followed a 
 headstrong multitude, who marched in disorder towards 
 jSTicea, and whom the Tui^ks would soon punish for the 
 contempt ^vith which they had treated the advice of their 
 leaders. 
 
 The sultan of Nicea, foreseeing their imprudence, had 
 concealed a part of his army in a forest, and waited for them 
 with the rest of his troops in a plain at the foot of the 
 mountain. After a march of some hours, in a country 
 which was unloiown to them, the Christians were unex- 
 pectedly attacked by the Turks, whom they beheved to be 
 in Hight. They formed in haste, and at first defended them- 
 selves vahantly. But the enemy had the advantages of 
 position and numbers, and they were soon surrounded on all 
 sides, and completely routed. The carnage was horrible ; 
 Walter, who was worthy of commanding better soldiers, fell 
 pierced by seven arrows. With the exception of three 
 thousand men, who took refuge in a castle close to the sea, 
 the whole army perished in a single battle, and there soon 
 remained no more of them than a confused heap of bones, 
 piled up in the plains of Xieea, as a deplorable monmnent 
 to poiut out to other Crusaders the road to the Holy Land. 
 
 Such was the fate of that multitude of pilgiims who 
 threatened Asia, and yet never beheld the places they went 
 to conquer. By their excesses they had prejudiced the 
 whole of Grreece against the enterprize of the crusades, and 
 by their manner of fighting had taught the Turks to despise 
 the arms of the Christians of the West. 
 
 Peter, who had i^turned to Constantinople before the 
 battle, and who had long lost all authority among the Cru- 
 saders, declaimed against their indocihty and their pride, 
 and beheld in them nothing but brigands,* whom Grod had 
 deemed unworthy to contemplate or adore the tomb of hia 
 
 * Instead of acknowledging his fault, says Anna Comneua, he laid it 
 upon those who had disobeyed his orders and insisted upon doing as they 
 pleased, calling them robbers and brigands, whom God had deemed 
 unworthy of seeing and adoring the tomb of his Son. — Alexiad, lib. x. 
 ch. 8.
 
 76 IIISTOKY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 Son. From tliat time it was quite eA'ident that tLe apostle 
 of the holy war possessed no quality to enable him to act as 
 its chief. * Coolness, prudence, inflexible firmness, alone could 
 conduct a multitude whom so many passions impelled, and 
 who listened to nothing but enthusiasm. The cenobite 
 Peter, after having prepared the great events of the crusade 
 by his eloquence, lost in the crowd of pilgrims, played 
 nothing but an ordinary part, and was in the end scarcely 
 to be perceived in a war that was his work. 
 
 Em^ope, without doubt, learnt with terror and astonish- 
 ment the unhappy end of three hundred thousand Crusaders, 
 whom she had seen depart ; but they who were to follow 
 were not at all discouraged, and resolved to profit by the 
 lessons which the disasters of their companions had given 
 them. The West soon saw on foot armies more regular and 
 more formidable than those which had been destroyed on 
 the banks of the Danube, and in the plains of Bithynia. 
 
 AYhen describing their march and their exploits, we are 
 about to trace much nobler pictures. Here the heroic spirit 
 of chivalry will display itself in all its splendour, and the 
 brilliant period of the holy war \nl\ commence. 
 
 The leaders of the Christian armies which now quitted the 
 West were ah-eady celebrated by their valour and their 
 deeds. At the head of the great captains who commanded 
 in this crusade, history, as well as poetry, must place 
 Godfrev de BouiUon,* duke of the Lower Lorraine. He 
 was of the illustrious race of the counts of Boulogne, and 
 descended on the female side from Charlemagne. From his 
 earliest youth he had distinguished himself in the open war 
 carried on between the Holy See and the emperor of Ger- 
 many. On the field of battle he had killed Eodolphe de 
 !Rhenfield, duke of Suabia, to whom Gregory had sent the 
 imperial crown. ^AHien the war* broke out in Italy for the 
 cause of the anti-pope Anaclet, Godfrey was the fiLrst to 
 enter the city of Eome, besieged and taken by the troops of 
 Henry. He afterwards repented of ha^ing embraced a party 
 
 * Godfrey of Bouillon was born at Baysy, a village of Wallon Brabant, 
 now in the department of La Dyle, two leagues south-east of Nevilles, 
 and not far from Fleurus. Aubert le Mire, and the Baron Leroy, in the 
 geography of Brabant, report that in their time the remains of the castle 
 in which Godfrey was brought up were to be seen.
 
 IIISTOllT or THE CRUSADES. 77 
 
 which Adctory itself could not make triumphant, and which 
 the greater part of Christendom considered sacrilegious. 
 To expiate exploits condemned as useless by the spirit of 
 his age, he made a vow to go to Jerusalem, not as a simple 
 pilgrim, but as a liberator. 
 
 Contemporary historj^, which has transmitted his portrait 
 to us, infonns us that he joined the bravery and virtues of a 
 hero to the simplicity of a cenobite.* His prowess in fight 
 and his extraordinary strength of body made him the pride 
 of camps. Prudence and moderation tempered his valour ; 
 his devotion was sincere and disinterested; and in no 
 instance during the holy war did he employ his courage or 
 inflict his vengeance but upon the enemies of Christ. Faith- 
 ful to his word, Hkeral, affable, full of humanity, the princes 
 and knights looked upon him as their model, the soldiers as 
 their father — all were eager to fight under his standard. If 
 he was not the leader of the crusade, as some writers pre- 
 tend, he at least obtained that empire which virtue bestows. 
 Amidst their quarrels and divisions, the princes and barons 
 constantly appealed to the wisdom of Godfrey, and in the 
 dangers of war, his counsels became absolute orders. 
 
 At the signal of the duke of Lorraine, the nobility of 
 Prance and the borders of the E;hine were prodigal of their 
 treasures in preparing for the crusades. All things service- 
 able in war mounted to so exorbitant a price, that the pro- 
 duce of an estate was scarcely sufiicient to defray the equip- 
 ment of a single knight. The women despoiled themselves 
 of their most precious ornaments to furnish forth their sons 
 and their husbands for the expedition. Men even, say the 
 historians, who in other times would have suffered a thousand 
 deaths rather than give up their hereditary domains, either 
 sold them for a low price or exchanged them for arms. Gold 
 and steel appeared to be the only desirable objects in 
 existence. 
 
 Now appeared the stores of riches w^hich had been con- 
 cealed by fear or avarice. Ingots of gold, coined pieces, 
 
 * An anonymous historian of the crusades, when speaking of Godfrey, 
 expresses himself thus : Tantum lems, nt magis in se monachum quam 
 militem figuraret. Guibert further says : Cujus mira humilitas et 
 monachis jam imitmida modestia. — See Bongars, p. 548.
 
 78 nisTOEY or the ceusades. 
 
 savs tiie Abbe Guibert, were to be seen in beaps in tbe 
 tents of the principal Crusaders, lUie the most common finiita 
 in tbe cottages of villagers. 
 
 Manv barons, having neither lands nor castles to sell, 
 implored the charity of the faithful vrho did not take up the 
 cross, and might hope to participate in the merits of the 
 holv "war by assisting in the equipment of the Crusaders. 
 Some ruined their vassals ; others, like AVilliam, viscount de 
 ]Melun,* pillaged the burghs and villages to place themselves 
 in a condition to combat the infidels. Godfrev de Bouillon, 
 guided by a more enlightened piety, was content with 
 alienating his domains. AVe read in Eobert G-aguin that he 
 permitted the inhabitants of Metz to redeem their city, of 
 which he was sttzerain. He sold the principality of Stenai 
 to the bishop of Verdun, and ceded his rights over the duchy 
 of Bouillon to the bishop of Liege for the small sum of four 
 thousand silver marks and a pound of gold, which makes an 
 historian of the Crusaders sayf that the secular princes 
 ruined themselves for the cause of Jesus Christ, whilst the 
 princes of the Chm-ch took advantage of the fervour of the 
 Chrisrians to enrich themselves. 
 
 The duke de Bouillon had gathered under his standard 
 eio:hts' thousand foot-soldiers and ten thousand horsemen. 
 He began his march eight months after the council of 
 Clermont, accompanied by a great number of German and 
 Trench nobles. He took with him his brother Eustace de 
 Boulogne, his other brother Baldwin, and his coiLsin Baldwin 
 de Bourof. These two last, who were destined one dav. hke 
 Godfrey de Bouillon, to become kings of Jerusalem, held 
 then the rank of simple knights in the Christian army. 
 Thev were all less animated bv sincere pietv than bv the 
 nope of achieving a great iortune in Asia, and quitted with- 
 out regret the mean possessions that they held in Europe. 
 vStill fiuther were to be remarked in the train of the duke 
 de Lorraine, Baldwin, count de Hainaut ; Garnier, count de 
 Grai ; Conon de Montaigu, Dudon de Contz, so celebrated 
 
 * Abbot Guibert speaks thus of William, viscount de Melun : Cum 
 Jerosolymitayium esset agressurus, iter direptis contiguomyn sibi pau- 
 perum substantiolis. profanum riaiicum praparavit. — Lib. W. c. 7. 
 
 t Le Pere Maimbourg.
 
 HISTOHY OF THE ClirSADES. 79 
 
 in tte " Jerusalem Delivered ;" the two brothers Henri and 
 Godfrey de Haehe, G-erard de Cherisi, Einaldo and Peter de 
 Toul, Hugh de St. Paul, and his son Engelran. These 
 chiefs brought with them a, crowd of other knights, less 
 known, but not less formidable by their valour. 
 
 The army commanded by the duke of Lorraine, composed 
 of soldiers formed by discipline and tiied in battle, offered to 
 the Germans a very different spectacle from the troop of 
 Peter the Hermit, and re-established the honour of the 
 Crusaders in all the countries they passed through. They 
 met with assistance and allies where the first champions of 
 the cross had found nothing but obstacles and enemies. 
 Godfrey deplored the fate of those who had preceded him, 
 without seeking to avenge their cause. The Hungarians 
 and the Bulgarians, on their part, forgot the violences com- 
 mitted by the soldiers of Peter, Gotschalk, and Emicio ; 
 they admired the moderation of Godfrey, and offered up 
 vows for the success of his arms. 
 
 Whilst the duke de Lorraine was advancing towards Con- 
 stantinople, Prance was raising other armies for the holy 
 war. A few months after the council of Clermont, the nobles 
 of the kingdom assembled to deUberate upon the affairs of 
 the crusade. In this assembly, held in the presence of 
 Philip I., who had just been excommimicated, no one was 
 opposed to the war preached under the auspices of the Holy 
 See ; no one even thought of invoking policy either to mode- 
 rate or direct the passions which agitated Europe. The 
 cabinets of princes were as much infatuated as the multi- 
 tude, and it may be said that the fortune of Prance took 
 charge alone of these great events, w*hich, though unfor- 
 tunate at first, afterwards concurred to raise the monarchy 
 which had fallen into ruins under the feeble successors of 
 Charlemagne. 
 
 Towards the middle of the tenth century, the chief of the 
 third dpiasty had consecrated the usurpation of the nobles, 
 and to obtain the title of king, had almost abandoned the 
 little that remained of the rights of the crown. Philip L, 
 grandson of Hugh Capet, found that his dominions extended 
 but little beyond Paris and Orleans ; the rest of Prance was 
 governed by the great vassals, of whom several siu-passed 
 the monarch in power. Eoyalty, the only hope of the
 
 80 HISTORY or THE CETJSADES. 
 
 people against the oppressions of the nobles and the clergy, 
 was so feeble, that we are at the present time astonished 
 that it did not fall, so numerous were the difficulties and the 
 enemies that surrounded it on all sides. As the monarch 
 was exposed to the censures of the Church, it was an easy 
 matter to lead his subjects to disobedience, and to legiti- 
 matize any sort of revolt, by gi^Tug it the colour of a sacred 
 pretext. 
 
 The crusade removed far from Europe all who could have 
 taken advantage of the unhappy situation in which the 
 kingdom was placed ; it saved the country from a ci^'il war, 
 and prevented such sanguinary discords as had broken out 
 in Germany under the reign of Henry and the pontificate of 
 G-regory. 
 
 Such were the considerations which might present them- 
 selves to the most enlightened men, and which must strike 
 us more strongly than they would the contemporaries of 
 Philip.* It would be difficult to believe that any one of the 
 counsellors of the king of France perceived, in all their 
 extent, these salutary results of the crusade, which were 
 recognized long after, and which have only been properly 
 appreciated in the age in which we live. On the other hand, 
 they had no conception that a war in which all the most 
 dangerous passions should be brought into action would be 
 accompanied by great misfortunes and calamitous disorders. 
 Ambition, license, the spirit of enthusiasm, all so much to 
 be dreaded by the country', might also bring about the ruin 
 of armies. Xot one of the enemies of Philip, not one of 
 those who remained at home, made this reflection. Every- 
 body, as we have already said, they who were of the party of 
 the Holv See and thev who adhered to rovalty, allowed them- 
 selves to be carried along by the current of events, without 
 
 * Nothing is more common than to attribute the combinations of a 
 profound policy to remote ages. If certain persons are to be believed, 
 the men of the eleventh century were sages, and we are barbarians. I 
 feel it just to report the opinion of Montesquieu on this subject : "To 
 transport all the ideas of the age in which we live into remote periods is 
 the most abundant source of error. To those people who wish to render 
 all ancient ages modem, I will repeat what the priests of Egypt said to 
 Solon, ' Oh Athenians ! you are but children.* " — Esprit des Lois, liv. 
 XXX. c. 18.
 
 « 
 
 HISTOllY OF THE CRUSADES. 81 
 
 either perceiving the causes of them or foreseeing their con- 
 sequences. The most wise blindly followed that invisible 
 destiny which orders the world as it pleases, and makes use 
 of the passions of men as of an instrument to accomplish its 
 designs. 
 
 In a superstitious age the sight of a prodigy or of an 
 extraordinary phenomenon had more influence over the 
 minds of men than the oracles of wisdom or reason.* His- 
 torians inform us, that whilst the barons were assembled, 
 the moon, which was in eclipse, appeared of the colour of 
 blood. AVhen the eclipse was over, its disc was surrounded 
 by an unprecedented splendour. Some weeks after, says the 
 Abbe Guibert, the northern horizon was seen to be all on 
 fire, and the terrified people rushed from the houses and 
 cities, believing that the enemy was advancing, fire and 
 sword in hand. These phenomena, with several others, 
 were regarded as signs of the will of God, and presages of 
 the terrible war about to be made in his name. They everj^- 
 where redoubled the enthusiasm for the crusade. Men who 
 had hitherto remained indifferent now partook of the general 
 delirium. All Frenchmen called to the profession of arms, 
 and who had not yet taken the oath to fight against the 
 infidels, hastened now to take the cross. 
 
 The men of the Yermandois marched with the subjects of 
 Philip under the colours of their count Hugh, a young 
 prince whose brilliant qualities had been much admired by 
 the coui't. Proud of being a brother of the king of Prance 
 and the first of the Prench knights, he distinguished him- 
 self by his bravery and the ostentation of his manners. He 
 displayed invincible courage in the field of battle, but 
 allowed himself to be too easily overcome by flattery, and 
 was wanting in perseverance in reverses. Although fortune 
 
 * Eo tempore cuyn inter regni primates super Tide expeditione res 
 fieret, et colloquium ah eis cum Hugone Magna, sub Philippi regis pra- 
 sentid, Parisiis haberetur, mense Februario, tertio idus ejusdem, tuna, 
 ecHpsim patiens, ante noctis medium, sanguineo paulatim coepif colore 
 velari, donee in cruentissimum iota horribiliter est converse ruborem ; et 
 ubi aurora crcpvsculo naturce redid, circa ipsum lunarem circulum 
 iusolitus splendor emicuit. Quidam autem cestivi diei vespertind irruente 
 hord, tanta aquilonis plagce efflagratio apparuit, ut plurimi e domibus 
 suis sese proriperent, qucerentes quinam hostes provincias suas adeo gravt 
 ambusti'jiie vastarent. — Guibert, Abb. lib. i. ch. 17.
 
 82 nisTOEX or the ceusades. 
 
 ■^vas not too kind to him, not one of the heroes of the crusade 
 exhibited more honourable and disinterested intentions. If 
 he had not merited bv his exploits the surname of Great. 
 which history has given him, he would have obtained it for 
 ha^'ing only listened to his zeal, and for ha^'ing sought 
 uothinof but glorv in a war which offered kingdoms to the 
 ambition of princes and simple knights. 
 
 Eobert, siunamed Courte-hev.se, duke of Xormandy, who 
 led his vassals to the holy war, was the eldest son of Wil- 
 liam the Conqueror. He joined to noble quahties some of 
 the faults the most reprehensible in a piince. He could not, 
 even in his early youth, endiu'e paternal authority; but, dra^vn 
 away more by a desii'e for independence than by a real 
 ambition, after having made war against his father for the 
 sake of reigning in Xonnandy, he neglected the opportunity 
 of ascending the throne of England on the death of AYilliam. 
 His levitA', his inconstancv, and his wealoiess, caused him to 
 be despised both by his subjects and his enemies. His pro- 
 fusion ruined his people, and reduced him, if we may credit 
 the monk Oderic A^ital, to a condition bordering upon 
 absolute poverty. The historian I have just quoted relates 
 a trait, which, although diilicult to be believed, at the same 
 time describes both Kobert and the age he lived in. " He 
 was often compelled to remain in bed for want of clothes, 
 and frequently was absent from mass because his nudity 
 prevented him fr'om assisting at it." It was not an ambition 
 for conquering kingdoms in Asia, but liis inconstant, chivalric 
 dispositioD, that made him assiune the cross, and take up 
 arms. The Xormans, a wandering and warlike people, who 
 had made themselves remarkable among: all the nations of 
 Europe for their devotion to pilgrimages, hastened in crowds 
 to his banner. As Duke Eobert had not the means of pro- 
 viding for the expenses of an army, he pledged Xormandy 
 with his brother "William Eufus. AYiUiam, v»hom his age 
 accused of impiety, and M'ho laughed at the knight errantry 
 of the Crusaders, seized with joy the opportunity of governing 
 a proAince which he hoped one day to unite to his kingdom. 
 He le^-ied taxes upon the clergy, whom he did not like, and 
 caused the silver plate of the churches to be melted to pay the 
 sum of ten thousand silver marks to Eobert, who set out for 
 the Holy Land, followed by ahnost all the nobihty of his duchy.
 
 HISTOEY OP THE CETJSADES. 
 
 83 
 
 Another Eobert, coimt of Flanders, placed himself at the 
 head of the Prisons and the Flemings. He was son of 
 Kobert, sui'named the Frison, ^Yho had usurped the prin- 
 cipality of Flanders from his own nephews, and who, to 
 expiate his victories, had performed, some time before the 
 crusade, the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The yoimg liobert 
 easily found soldiers for his enterprize hi a coimtry where 
 everybody had borne arms during the ci\dl wars, and where 
 the people were animated by the tales of a great number of 
 pilgrims returned from the Holy Land. He exhausted the 
 treasures of his father, to embark in an expedition which 
 procured him the reputation of a bold knight, together with 
 the surname of " The Lance and SwonV of the Ch^nstians. 
 Five hundred horsemen sent by Eobert the Frison to the 
 emperor iUexis had already preceded him to Constantinople. 
 
 Stephen, count of Blois and Chartres, had also taken up 
 the cross. He passed for the richest noble of his times. 
 The number of his castles was said to be equal to that of 
 tlie days of the year. AVliat might be really considered a 
 phenomenon in the eleventh century, this prince loved and 
 cultivated letters. He proved to be the soul of the councils 
 by his eloquence and his intelligence ; but he could not long 
 together support the fatigues of war, and he sometimes was 
 but timid in the field of battle. 
 
 These four chiefs were accompanied by a crowd of knights 
 and nobles, among whom history names Eobert of Paris, 
 Evrard of Prusaie, Achard de Montmerle, Isouard de INIuson, 
 Stephen, count d'Albermarle, Walter de St. Valery, Eoger 
 de Barneville, Fergant and Conan, two illustrious Bretons, 
 Guis de Trusselle, Miles de Braie.s, Eaoul de Baugency, 
 Eotrou, son of the count dePerche; Odo, bishop of Bayeux, 
 uncle of the duke of Normandy ; Eaoul de Gader, Tve and 
 Alberic, sons of Hugh de Grandmenil. The greater part of 
 the counts and barons took with them their wives and 
 children, and all their war equipages. They crossed the 
 Alps, and directed their march towards the cities of Italy, 
 with the intention of embarking for Greece. They found 
 in the neighboiuhood of Lucca Pope Urban, who gave them 
 his benediction, praised then' zeal, and offered up prayers 
 for the success of their enterprize. The count de Verman- 
 dois, after having received the standard of the Church from
 
 84 niSTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 the hands of the sovereign pontiff, repaired to Itoine, with 
 the other princes, to visit the tombs of St. Peter and St. 
 Paul. The capital of the Christian world was then the 
 theatre of a civil war. The soldiers of Urban, and those of 
 the anti-pope Gruibert, disputed, arms in hand, for the church 
 of St. Peter, and by turns carried off the offerings of the 
 faithfid. "WTiatever some modem historians may say, the 
 Crusaders took no part in the troubles which divided the 
 city of Rome ; and what is still more astonishing. Urban did 
 not call to the defence of his own cause one of the warriors 
 whom his appeal had induced to take up arms. Por the rest, 
 the spectacle which presented itself in the city of St. Peter 
 must have been a subject of scandal to the greater part of 
 the Prench knights. Some, satisfied with having saluted 
 the tomb of the apostles, and perhaps cured of their holy 
 enthusiasm by the sight of the violences which profaned the 
 sanctuary, abandoned the standard of the cross, and returned 
 into their own country. Others pursued their march towards 
 Apulia ; but when they arrived at Pari, the winter beginning 
 to render the navigation dangerous, they were forced to wait 
 duiing several months for a lavoui'able moment to embark. 
 
 The passage of the Prench Crusaders, however, had 
 awakened the zeal of the Italians. Bohemond, prince of 
 Tarentiim, was the first who resolved to associate himself 
 with their fortunes, and to partake of the glory of the holy 
 expedition. He was of the family of those knights who had 
 founded the kingdom of Xaples and Sicily. Pifty years 
 before the crusade, his father, Pobert Gruiscard (the subtle) 
 had quitted the castle of Hauteville, in jSTormandy, with thirty 
 foot-soldiers and five horsemen. Seconded by some of his 
 relations and compatriots, who had preceded him into Italy, 
 he fought ^^ith advantage against the G-reeks, the Lombards, 
 and the Saracens, who disputed Apulia and Calabria with 
 him. He soon became sufficiently powerful to be by turns 
 the enemy and the protector of the popes. He beat the 
 armies of the emperors of the East and the "West, and when 
 he died he was engaged in the conquest of G-reece. 
 
 Boliemond had neither less cunning nor less talents than 
 his father, Pobert Guiscard. Contemporary authors, who 
 never fail to describe the physical qualities of their heroes, 
 inform us that his height was so great that it exceeded by a
 
 HISTORY or THE CKIJSADES. 85 
 
 cubit that of the tallest man in his army ; his eyes were 
 blue, and appeared full of passion and haughty pride. His 
 presence, says Anna Comnena, was as astonishing to the 
 eyes as his reputation was to the mind. When he spoke, his 
 hearers believed that eloquence had been his only study ; 
 when he appeared under arms, he might be supposed to have 
 done nothiug but wield tlie lance and the sword. Brought 
 up in the school of the Norman heroes, he concealed the 
 combiuations of policy beneath an exterior of violence ; and 
 although of a proud and haughty character, he could put up 
 Avith an injury when vengeance would not have been profit- 
 able to him. Everything that could contribute to the success 
 of his designs appeared to him to be just. He had learnt 
 from his father to consider every man whose wealth or states 
 he coveted as his enemy ; he was neither restrained by the 
 fear of God, the opinion of men, nor his own oaths. He 
 liad followed Bobert in the Avar against the emperor Alexis, 
 and had distinguished himself in the battles of Durazzo and 
 Larissa ; but, disinherited by a will, he had nothing at his 
 father's death but the memory of his exploits, and the 
 example of his family. He had declared war against his 
 brother Boger, and had recently compelled him to cede to 
 him the principality of Tarentum, when the expedition to 
 the East began to be talked of in Europe. The deliverance 
 of the tomb of Christ was not the object that kindled his 
 zeal, or induced him to assume the cross. As he had sworn 
 an eternal hatred to the Greek emperors, he smiled at the 
 idea of traversing their empne at the head of an army ; and, 
 fidl of confidence in his own fortunes, he hoped to win a 
 kingdom before he should arrive at Jerusalem. 
 
 The little principality of Tarentum coidd not supply him 
 with an army ; but in the name of religion, a leader had then 
 the power of raising troops in all the states. Enthusiasm 
 for the crusade soon seconded his projects, and brought a 
 great number of warriors to his standard. 
 
 He had accompanied his brother and his uncle Eoger to 
 the siege of Amalfi, a flourishing city which refused with 
 contempt the protection of the new masters of Apulia and 
 Sicily. Bohemond, who knew well how to speak in proper sea- 
 son the language of enthusiasm, and to conceal his ambition 
 beneath the coloiu's of religious fanaticism, preached himself
 
 86 HISTOKT or THE CETJSADES. 
 
 the crusade in the army of the besiegers. He vrent among 
 the soldiers, talking of the princes and the great captains 
 who had taken the cross. He spoke to the most pious "war- 
 riors of the religion wliich was to be defended, and exalted 
 before others the glory and fortunes Avhich would crown 
 their exploits. The army was won oyer by his discourses, 
 and the camp soon resounded with the cry of " It is the idll 
 of God ! It is the will of God !" Bohemond congratulated 
 himself in secret on the success of his eloquence, and tore 
 his coat of arms into strips, of which he made crosses, and 
 ordered his officers to distribute them among the soldiers. 
 Tliere now only wanted a chief to command the holy expe- 
 dition, and the new Crusaders came to solicit the prince of 
 Tarentura to place himself at their head. Bohemond 
 appeared at first to hesitate ; he refused that which he 
 ardently desired; and the soldiers assembled around him 
 redoubled their solicitations. At length he seemed to yield 
 to their importimities, and obey their will. Instantly the 
 eagerness and enthusiasm became more animated and more 
 general. In an incredibly short space of time the whole 
 army swore to follow him into Palestine. Eoger was obliged 
 to raise the siege of Amalfi, and the happy Bohemond gaye 
 himself up entirely to the preparations for his yoyage. 
 
 A short time after he embarked for the coasts of Greece 
 with ten thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot. 
 Every illustrious knight of Apuha and Sicily followed the 
 ])rince of Tarentum. ^"ith him marched Eichard, prince of 
 Salerno, and Eandulf, his brother ; Herman de Cani, Eobert 
 de Hanse, Eobert de Soiu-deval, Eobert the son of Tristan, 
 Bode de Chartres, and Humphrey de ^Nlontaigu. AH these 
 warriors were celebrated for their exploits, but no one 
 amongst them was more worthy to attract the attention of 
 
 • 
 
 posterity' than the braye Tancred.* Although he belonged 
 to a family in which ambition was hereditary, he was fired 
 by no other passion than a desire to fight against the infidels. 
 Piety, glor}'. and perhaps his fiiendship for Bohemond alone, 
 led him into Asia. His contemporaries admired his romantic 
 
 * Raoiil de Caen has written, half in prose and half inverse, the "Gestes 
 de Tancrede." (See " Thesaurus Novus Anecdotorum" of D. Martenne, 
 vol. i., or the " Recueil de Muratori," torn, ill.)
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 87 
 
 pride and liis haughty austerity. He jdelded to no supe- 
 riority but that of virtue, with the exception of occasional 
 submission to the power of beauty. A stranger to all the 
 motives and interests of policy, he acknowledged no other 
 law but religion and honour, and was always ready to die in 
 their cause. The annals of chivalry present no model more 
 accomplished ; poetry and history have united to celebrate 
 him, and both have heaped upon him the same praises. 
 
 The Crusaders from the southern provinces of France had 
 marched under the command of Adhemar de Monteil and 
 Kaymond, count de St. Gilles and Thoulouse. Bishop 
 Adhemar acted as the spiritual chief of the crusade ; his 
 title of apostolic legate, and his personal qualities, earned 
 for him in the holy war the confidence and respect of the 
 pilgrims. His exhortations and his counsels contributed 
 greatly to the maintaining of order and discipline. He con- 
 soled the Crusaders in their reverses, he animated them 
 amidst dangers ; clothed at the same time Avith the insignia 
 of a pontiff and the armour of a knight, he exhibited in the 
 tent a model of the Christian virtues, and in the field often 
 gave proofs of undaunted valour. 
 
 Kaymond, who marched with Adhemar, had had the glory 
 of fighting in Spain by the side of the Cid ; and of con- 
 quering several times the Moors under Alphonso the G-reat, 
 who had bestowed his daughter Elvira upon him in marriage. 
 His vast possessions on the banks of the Rhone and the 
 Dordogne, and still more his exploits against the Saracens, 
 rendered him one of the most remarkable among the great 
 leaders of the crusade. Age had not extinguished in the 
 count of Thoulouse either the ardour or the passions of 
 youth. Hasty and impetuous, of a character haughty and 
 inflexible, he had less ambition to conquer kingdoms than to 
 make every will bend beneath his own. Both Greeks and 
 Saracens have acknowledged his bravery. His subjects and 
 his companions in arms hated him for his obstinacy and 
 \'iolence. Unhappy prince, he bade eternal farewell to his 
 country, which was one day to be the theatre of a terrible 
 crusade preached against his own family ! 
 
 All the nobility of Gascony, Languedoc, Provence, the 
 Limousin, and Auvergne, accompanied E-aymond and Adhe- 
 mar. Contemporary historians name among the knights
 
 88 HISTORY or THE CRrSADES. 
 
 and lords who bad taken tlie cross, Heracle, coimt de I'olig- 
 nac, Pons de Balazan, Guillaunie de Sabran, Eleazar de 
 Castrie, Eleazar de Montredon, Pierre Bernard de Mon- 
 taonac, PaATnond de Lille. Pierre Ea^nnond de Hautpool, 
 Gouffier de Lastours, Guillaume V., lord of Montpellier, 
 Eoo-er, count de Foix, Eaymond Pelet, Seigneur d'Alais, 
 Isard, count de Die, Eaimbaud, count d' Orange, Guillaume, 
 count de Perez, Guillaume, coimt de Clermont, Gerard, son of 
 Guillabert, count de Eoussillon, Gaston, A^scount de Beam, 
 Guillaume Amanjeu d'Albret, Ea^^nond, \'iscount de Tu- 
 renne, Ea^^nond. ^-iscount de Castillon, Guillaume d'Urgal, 
 and tbe count de Fortcalquier. After the example of Adbemar, 
 tbe bishops of Apt, Lodeve, and Orange, and the archbishop 
 of Toledo, had taken up the cross, and led a part of their 
 vassals to the holy war. 
 
 Eavmond, count of Thoulouse, followed bv his wife Eh-ira 
 and his sons, placed himself at the head of a himdred thou- 
 sand Crusaders, advanced to Lyous, where he crossed the 
 Ehone, traversed the Alps, Lombardy, and Frioul, and 
 directed his march towards the territory of the Greek empire, 
 over the savage mountains and tlirough the equally savage 
 nations of Dalmatia.* 
 
 Alexis, who had implored the assistance of the Latins, 
 was terrified when he learnt the numbers of his Hberators. 
 The leaders of the crusade were only princes of the second 
 order, but thev drew with them all the forces of the "W^est. 
 Ajana Comnena compares the multitude of the Crusaders to 
 the sands of the sea or the stars of the heavens, and their 
 innumerable bands to torrents which unite to form a great 
 river.f Alexis had learnt to dread Bohemorwi on the plains 
 of Durazzo and Larissa. Although he was less acquainted 
 with the courage and ability of the other Latin princes, he 
 repented of ha^Hng imparted to them the secret of his "sreak- 
 ness by asking their aid. His alarms, which were increased 
 
 * Consult tbe history of Raymond d'Agiles, chaplain of the count de 
 Thoulouse, for the description of this march of the Qrusaders of the 
 south across a country till that time unknown. 
 
 t An Armenian historian says of the preparations for this crusade, 
 " The gates of the Latins were opened, and the inhabitants of the West 
 saw issuing from their countries armies and soldiers numerous as locusts 
 or the sands of the sea."
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 89 
 
 by the predictions of astrologers and the opinions spread 
 among his people, became more serious as the Crusaders 
 advanced to^Yards liis capital.* 
 
 Seated on a throne from which he had hurled his master 
 and benefactor, he could liave no faith ui virtue, and was 
 better aware than another what ambition might dictate. He 
 had displayed some courage in gaining the purple, but only 
 governed by dissimulation, — the ordinary policy of the 
 Grreeks and all weak states. If Anna Comnena has made 
 an accomplished prince of him, the Latins have represented 
 him as a perfidious and cruel monarch. Impartial history, 
 which alike rejects the exaggerations of eulogy or satire, 
 can see nothing in Alexis but a weak ruler, of a superstitious 
 character, led away much more by a love of vain splendour 
 and display than by any passion for glory. He had it in his 
 power to put himself at the head of the Crusaders, and 
 reconquer Asia Minor, by marchiug with the Latins to 
 Jerusalem. This great enterprize alarmed his weakness. 
 His timid prudence made him believe that it would be suffi- 
 cient to deceive the Crusaders to have nothing to fear from 
 them, and to receive a vain homage from them in order to 
 profit by their victories. Everything appeared good and just 
 to him which would assist in extricating him from a position 
 of which his policy increased the dangers, and which the 
 unsteadiness of his projects made every day more embar- 
 rassing. The more earnestly he endeavoured to inspire 
 confidence, the more suspicious he rendered his good faith 
 By seeking to inspire fear, he discovered all the alarms which 
 he himself experienced. As soon as he had notice of the 
 march of the princes of the crusade, he sent them ambas- 
 sadors to compliment them, and to penetrate their intentions. 
 In the meanwhile, he placed troops everywhere to harass 
 them on their passage. 
 
 The count de A^ermandois, cast by a tempest on the shores 
 of Epirus, received the greatest honours from the governor 
 of Durazzo, and was led a prisoner to Constantinople by the 
 orders of Alexis. The Greek emperor hoped that the brother 
 
 * Nothing can be more diffuse than historians upon the march of the 
 different princes of the crusade ; each body of the Christian army has its 
 particular historian, which is very injurious to perspicuity: it is exceed- 
 ingly difficult to follow so many different relations.
 
 90 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 of the king of France would become, in his hands, a hostage 
 that might protect him from the enterprizes of the Latins ; 
 but he only awakened suspicion, and provoked the hatred of 
 the leaders of the crusade. Godfrey de Bouillon had arrived 
 at Philippopoh, when he heard of the captivity of the count 
 de Yermandois. He sent to the emperor to demand instant 
 reparation for this outrage ; and as the deputies reported 
 but an unfavourable answer, he restrained neither his own 
 indignation nor the fary of his army. The lands through 
 which they passed were treated as an enemy's country, and 
 during eight days the fertile plains of Thrace became the 
 theatre of war. The crowd of Greeks who fled towards the 
 capital soon informed the emperor of the terrible vengeance 
 of the Latins. Alexis, terrified at the fruits of his own 
 policy, implored the pardon of his prisoner, and promised to 
 restore him his liberty when the French should have arrived 
 at the gates of Constantinople. This promise appeased 
 Godfrey, who caused the war to cease, and resmned his 
 march, treating the Greeks everywhere as friends and 
 allies. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Alexis employed every effort to obtain 
 from the count de Yermandois the oath of obedience and 
 fidelity, hoping that his submission would lead to that of the 
 other princes of the crusade, and that he should have less to 
 fear from their ambition if he could reckon them in the 
 number of his vassals. The brother of the king of France, 
 who, on an'i^-ing in the ten-itories of the empire, had written 
 letters filled ^-ith pride and ostentation, could not resist the 
 caresses and presents of the emperor, and took all the oaths 
 that were requii-ed of him. On the arrival of Godfrey, he 
 appeared in the camp of the Crusaders, who rejoiced at his 
 deliverance, but coidd not pardon him for ha\4ng yielded 
 submission to a foreign monarch. Cries of indignation arose 
 aroimd him when he endeavoured to persuade Godfrey to 
 foUow his example. The more gentle and submissive he'had 
 shown himself in his captrrity, the more strong became the 
 opposition and resistance to the wiU of the emperor of his 
 companions, who had di^a^vn their swords to avenge the insult 
 offered to him. 
 
 Alexis refused them provisions, and thought to reduce 
 them by famine ; but the Latins were accustomed to obtain
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 91 
 
 all they wanted by violence and Tictory. At tlie signal of 
 their leader, they dispersed themselves over the surrounding 
 country, pillaged the villages and the palaces near the 
 capital, and, by force, brought abundance to their camp. This 
 disorder lasted several davs ; but the festival of Christmas 
 vras approaching, and the epoch of the birth of Christ 
 revived generous sentiments in the breasts of the Christian 
 soldiers and the pious Godfrey. Advantage was taken of 
 these feelings to bring about peace. The emperor granted 
 provisions, and the Crusaders sheathed their swords. 
 
 But it was impossible for harmony to subsist long between 
 the Grreeks and the Latins. The Latins haughtily boasted 
 of having come to the rescue of the empire. On all occa- 
 sions they spoke and acted as masters. The Greeks despised 
 the barbarous courage of the Latins, and placing all their 
 glory in the refinement of their manners, believed that they 
 disgraced the language of Greece when pronouncing the 
 names of the warriors of the "West. The rupture which 
 had for a long time subsisted between the churches of Eome 
 and Constantinople, increased the antipathy which the 
 difference of manners and customs had given birth to. On 
 both sides anathemas were launched, and the theologians of 
 Greece and Italy detested each other more than they detested 
 the Saracens. The Greeks, who employed themselves in 
 nothing but vain subtleties, had never been willing to place 
 in the list of martyrs those who had died fighting against 
 the infidels. They abhorred the martial character of the 
 Latin clergy, boasted that they possessed in their capital all 
 the relics of the East, and could not understand what they 
 could be going to seek at Jerusalem. On their side, the 
 Franks could not pardon the subjects of Alexis for not par- 
 taking in their enthusiasm for the crusade, and reproached 
 them with a culpable indifierence for the cause of God. All 
 these motives of discord and hatred provoked frequent scenes 
 of violence, in which the Greeks displayed more perfidy than 
 courage, and the Latins more valour than moderation. 
 
 Throughout all these divisions Alexis constantly sought to 
 obtain from Godfrey the oath of obedience and fidelity; 
 sometimes he employed protestations of friendship, some- 
 times he threatened to exercise powers that he did not 
 possess. Godfrey braved his menaces, and placed no faith iu 
 
 Vol. L— 6
 
 92 HISTOEY OF THE CiiL SADES. 
 
 his promises. The imperial and the Latin troops were twice 
 called to arms, and Constantinople, badly defended by its 
 soldiers, had cause to fear beholding the standard of the 
 Crusaders floating over its walls. 
 
 The report of these serious quarrels conveyed joy to the 
 heart of Bohemond, who had just landed at Diu-azzo. He 
 believed the time was come to attack the Greek empire, and 
 to divide the spoils. He sent envoys to Grodfrey, to invite 
 him to take possession of Byzantium, promising to join him 
 with all his forces, for the prosecution of this great enter- 
 prize. But Grodfrey did not forget that he had taken up 
 arms for the defence of the holy sepulchre, and rejected the 
 proposal of Bohemond, reminding him of the oath he had 
 taken to fight against the infidels. 
 
 This embass}" to Bohemond, the object of which could not 
 be concealed, redoubled the alarm of Alexis, and made him 
 employ every means to subdue the firmness of Godfrey de 
 Bouillon. He sent his own son as a hostage to the army of 
 the Crusaders. From that time all mistrust was dissipated. 
 The princes of the West swore to respect the laws of hos- 
 pitaHty, and repaired to the palace of Alexis. They found 
 the emperor surrounded by a splendid court, and entirely 
 occupied in. endeavouring to conceal his weakness under an 
 exterior of vain magnificence. The chief of the Crusaders, 
 and the princes and knights who accompanied him, in an 
 apparel on which shone the martial luxur}'' of the West, 
 bowed before the throne of the emperor, and bent the knee 
 to a mute and motionless majesty. After this ceremony, 
 during which the Greeks and the Latins must have afforded 
 each other a strange spectacle, Alexis adopted Godfrey for 
 his son, and placed the empire under the protection of his 
 arms. The Crusaders engaged to replace the cities they had 
 taken belonging to the empire in the hands of the emperor, 
 and to pay him homage for the other conquests they might 
 make. Alexis, on his part, promised to aid them by land 
 and by sea, to fiumish them with provisions, and to share 
 the perils and the glory of their expedition. 
 
 Alexis considered this homage of the Latin princes as a 
 victory. The leaders of the Crusaders returned beneath their 
 tents, where his gratitude loaded them with presents. Whilst 
 Godfrey caused it to be proclaimed in his army by sound of
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 93 
 
 trumpet, tliat tlie most profound respect for the emperor 
 and the laws of Constantinople should be preserved, Alexis 
 ordered all his subjects to carry provisions to the Franks, 
 and to observe the laws of hospitality. The alliance they 
 had just made appeared to have been sworn to in good faith 
 on both sides ; but Alexis could not destroy the prejudices 
 the Grreeks entertained against the Latins, nor could Godfrey 
 restrain the turbulent multitude of his soldiers. Besides, 
 the emperor of Byzantium, although he might feel re-assured 
 as to the intentions of the duke of Lorraine, still dreaded 
 the arrival of Bohemond, and the union of several large armies 
 in the neighboiu-hood of his capital. He engaged Grodfrey 
 to pass with his troops over to the Asiatic shore of the Bos- 
 phorus, and turned his attention to whatever means his policy 
 could suggest to abate the pride, and even to diminish the 
 powers of the other Latin princes who were marching 
 towards Constantinople. 
 
 The prince of Tarentum was advancing through Mace- 
 donia, now listening to the harangues of the deputies from 
 Alexis, and now contending with the troops which opposed 
 his passage. Several provinces and several cities had been 
 ravaged by the Italian and Norman Crusaders, when their 
 chief received an invitation from the emperor to precede his 
 army, and come to Constantinople. Alexis made Bohemond 
 protestations of friendship, in which the latter placed no 
 faith, but from which he hoped to reap some advantage. He, 
 on his part, declared his good feeling, and went to meet 
 Alexis. The emperor received him with a magnificence 
 proportionate to the fear he entertained of his arrival. 
 These two princes were equally skilled in the arts of seducing 
 and deceiving. The greater cause they had to complain of 
 each other, the warmer were their protestations of friend- 
 ship. They complimented each other publicly on their 
 victories, and concealed their suspicions, and perhaps their 
 contempt, under an exterior of reciprocal admiration. Both 
 luiscrupulous on the subject of oaths, Alexis promised vast 
 domains to Bohemond, and the Norman hero swore without 
 hesitation to be the most faithful of the vassals of the emperor. 
 
 Eobert, coimt of Flanders, the duke of Normandy, and Ste- 
 phen, count of Chartres and Blois, as they arrived at Constan- 
 tinople, rendered their homage, in their turn, to the Grreek
 
 94 HISTOKY or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 emperor, and received, as others had done, the reward of 
 their submission. The count of Thoulouse, who arrived the 
 last, at first answered the messengers of Alexis, that he was 
 not come into the East to seek a master. The emperor, to 
 bend the pride of Eavmond and his Provencals, was obliged 
 to stoop to them.* He flattered by timis their avarice and 
 their vanity, and took more pains to show them his treasures 
 than his armies. In states in their decay it is not uncommon 
 for wealth to be mistaken for power, and the prince believes 
 he reigns over all hearts as long as he possesses the means 
 of coiTupting them. Ceremonial was, besides, at the court 
 of Constantinople, the most serious and the most import- 
 ant of aU thing's : but whatever value mav be attached to 
 vain formula, we cannot but be astonished to see warriors 
 so haughty, who went to conquer empires, on their knees 
 before a prince who trembled vrith. the fear of losing his own. 
 Thev made him pay dearly for an uncertain and transient 
 submission, and not unfrequently contempt was apparent 
 through their outward marks of respect. 
 
 During a ceremony in which Alexis received the homage 
 of several French princes, Count Eobert of Paris advanced 
 to seat himself by the side of the emperor. BaldAvin of 
 Hainaut pulled him by the arm, and said, " You shoidd 
 remember, when you are in a foreign country, you ought to 
 respect its customs." "Truly!" replied Eobert, "this is a 
 pleasant cIo^ti who is seated, whilst so many illustrious 
 captains are standing!" Alexis was desirous of ha^'ing his 
 words explained to him, and when the counts were gone, he 
 retained Eobert, and asked him what were his birth and 
 countrv. '• I am a Prenchman," replied Eobert, '• and of 
 the most illustrious rank of nobles. I only know one thing, 
 and that is, that in my country there is a place near a church 
 to which all repair who bum with a desire to signalize their 
 valour. I have often been there without anvbodv vet having 
 dared to present himself before me." The emperor took 
 care not to accept this kind of challenge, and endeavoured 
 to conceal his sui^^rise and vexation by giving some useful 
 
 ♦ The Crusaders who followed Raymond are designated by historians 
 Provencalex. This comes from the ancient denomination of Protincia 
 Romana, or Provencia Narhojiensis, which comprised Languedoc, 
 Dauphine, and Proveace.
 
 IlISTOKY or THE CllUSADES. 95 
 
 advice to tlie daring warrior. "If joii waited then," said 
 he, " without meeting enemies, you are now going where 
 you ■v^'ill find enough to satisfy you. But do not put yourself 
 either at the head or the tail of the army ; remain in the 
 centre. I have learnt how to fight with the Tiu'ks ; and 
 that is the best place you can choose." 
 
 The "pohcy of the emperor, however, was not without 
 efifect. The pride of a great number of the counts and 
 barons was not proof against his caresses and his presents. 
 There stiU exists a letter which Stephen of Blois addressed 
 to Adela his wife, in which he felicitates himself on the 
 welcome he had received at the court of Byzantium. After 
 having described all the honours with which he had been 
 received, he exclaims, whilst speaking of Alexis, " Truly, 
 there is not at this time such a man beneath the heavens !" 
 Bohemond could not have been less struck with the liberality 
 of the emperor. At the sight of an apartment filled with 
 riches, "There is here," said he, " enough to conquer king- 
 doms with." Alexis immediately ordered these treasures to 
 be conveyed to the tent of the ambitious Bohemond, who at 
 first refused them with a kind of modesty, and finished by 
 accepting them with joy. He went so far as to demand the 
 title of grand domestic or of general of the empire of the 
 East. Alexis, who had himself held that dignity, and who 
 knew that it was the road to the throne, had the coiu-age to 
 refuse him, and contented himself with promising the office 
 to the future services of the prince of Tarentum. 
 
 Thus the promises of the emperor retained for a short 
 period the Latin princes under his laws. By his skilfully-distri- 
 buted favours and flatteries he created a spirit of jealousy 
 among the leaders of the crusade, ^Raymond de St. Grilles 
 declared himself against Bohemond, whose projects he 
 revealed to Alexis ; and whilst this prince debased himself 
 thus before a foreign monarch, the courtiers of Byzantium 
 repeated with warmth, that he excelled all the other chiefs 
 of the crusade, as the sun excels the stars. 
 
 The Franks, so dreaded in the field of battle, were power- 
 less against the skill and address of Alexis, and could not 
 sustain their advantage amidst the intrigues of a dissolute 
 court. An abode at Byzantium might become otherv\'ise 
 dangerous for the Crusaders ; the spectacle of the luxury of
 
 96 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 
 
 tlie East, whicli tliey beheld for the first time, vras calculated 
 to corrupt them. The Christian knights, according to the 
 report of the historians of the times, were never vreary of 
 acbiiiring the palaces, the splendid edifices, the riches, and 
 perhaps the heautitiil Greek women, of whom Alexis had 
 spoken in liis letters addressed to the princes of the AYest. 
 Tancred alone, inflexible to all solicitations, would not expose 
 his ^irtue to the seductions of Byzantium. He deplored 
 the weakness of his companions, and, followed by a smaU 
 number of knights, hastened to quit Constantinople, without 
 ha^-ing taken the oath of fidelity to the emperor. 
 
 The departure and resistance of Tancred disturbed the 
 joy which the success of his policy had given Alexis. He 
 applauded himself for ha^'ing softened, by his presents, the 
 principal leaders of the crusade ; but he did not so entirely 
 depend upon his means of corruption as to be perfectly free 
 ii-om apprehension. Every day brought new Crusaders, 
 whom he must seduce and load with presents ; the xery riches 
 he displayed to them might, in the end, awaken their 
 ambition, and inspire them with most fatal designs. He 
 felt by no means secure against their enter]^)rizes until all 
 the annies of the AVest were on the other side of the Bos- 
 phorus. There, "without the power of insulting the capital 
 of the empire, they turned all their attention to their 
 preparations for the war against the Saracens. 
 
 -:\-S the Crusaders advanced across the plains of Bithynia, 
 they saw, seeking refuge in their tents, several soldiers of 
 Peter's army, who having escaped from the sword of the 
 Saracens, had lived concealed in the mountains and forests. 
 They were clothed in the rags of niiser\', and with lamenta- 
 tions and tears related the disasters of the first army of the 
 Christians. On the east they pointed to the fortress in 
 which the companions of Einaldo, pressed by hunger and 
 thirst, had surrendered to the Turks, who had massacred 
 them all. Xear to that they showed them the mountains, 
 
 * - - _ 
 
 at the foot of which had perished "Walter and his whole 
 army. Everywhere the Crusaders encountered the remains 
 of their brethren ; evers-where they found reason to deplore 
 the imprudence and disasters of the first soldiers of the 
 cross ; but nothing aflected them so deeply as the sight of 
 the camp in wliich Walter had left the women and the sick,
 
 HISTORY or TUE CRUSADES. 97 
 
 wheu he was forced by his soldiers to advance to the city of 
 Nicea. There the Christians had been surprised by the 
 Mussulmans, at the moment their priests were celebrating 
 the sacrifice of the mass. Yv^omen, children, old men, all 
 whom weakness or sickness detained in the camp, pursued 
 to the foot of their altars, had been either borne away into 
 slavery, or slaughtered by a pitiless enemy. The remem- 
 brance of so great a calamity stifled discord, silenced ambi- 
 tion, and rekindled zeal for the deliverance of the holy places. 
 The leaders profited by this terrible lesson, and laid down 
 useful regulations for the maintenance of discipline. The 
 formidable armv of the Crusaders advanced in the best order 
 through the country of the infidels, and commenced the 
 war with the first days of the spring. 
 
 Although the empire of the Seljoucide Tiu-ks, at the period 
 of the arrival of the Crusaders in Asia, ah'eady inclined 
 towards its fall, it nevertheless presented a formidable 
 barrier to the warriors of the AYest. The kingdom of 
 Ezeroum, or Eoum, extended from the Orontes and the 
 Euphrates to the neighbourhood of the Bosphorus, and 
 comprised the richest provinces of Asia Minor. The Turks 
 were animated by the double enthusiasm of religion and 
 victory. Abandoning the cares of agricultiu-e and commerce 
 to the Greeks, their slaves, they knew no profession but that 
 of arms, or desired other wealth but the booty obtained from 
 their enemies. Their present chief was the son of Soliman, 
 whose victories over the Christians had procured him the 
 name of the Sacred Champion. David, surnamed Kilidge- 
 Arslan, or the Sicot^d of the Lion., brought up amidst the 
 troubles of civil war, and for a long time detained a pri- 
 soner in the fortress of Kora^an by the orders of Malek- 
 Scha, had ascended the throne of his father, and main- 
 tained his position by his valour. He possessed a genius 
 rich in resources, and a character not to be subdued by 
 reverses. On the approach of the Crusaders, he summoned 
 his subjects and his allies to his defence. From all the 
 provinces of Asia Minor, and even from Persia, the bravest 
 defenders of Islamism hastened to range themselves beneath 
 his banner. 
 
 Not content with assembling an army, he at first gave all 
 his attention to the fortifying of the city of Nice, to which
 
 98 HISTOJBY OS THE Cri.USADES. 
 
 the earliest attempts of the Christians would be directed. 
 This city, the capital of Bithviiia, and celebrated by the 
 holding of two councils, was the seat of the empire of 
 Eoum ; and it was there that the Turks, as in an advanced 
 post, awaited an opportunity to attack Constantinople, and 
 precipitate themselves upon Eiu'ope. High mountains 
 defended the approach to it. Towards the west and the 
 south the Lake of Ascanius bathed its ramparts, and pre- 
 served to the inhabitants an easy communication with the 
 sea. Large ditches, filled with water, surrounded the place. 
 Tlu'ee hundred and seventy towers of brick or stone protected 
 the double enclosure of its walls, which were wide enough 
 for the passage of a chariot. The chosen of the Turkish 
 warriors composed its garrison, and the sultan of Eoum, 
 ready to defend it, was encamped upon the neighbouring 
 mountains, at the head of an army of a hundred thousand 
 men. 
 
 Pull of just confidence in their own strength, and ignorant 
 of that which could be opposed to them, the Crusaders 
 advanced towards Xice. Xever had the plains of Bithynia 
 presented a more magniiicent or a more terrible spectacle. 
 The numbers of the Crusaders exceeded the population of 
 many great cities of the "West, and were sufficient to cover 
 the largest plains. The Turks, from then* encampments on 
 the summits of the mountains, must have beheld, "^dth terror, 
 an army composed of more than a hundred thousand horse 
 and five hundred thousand foot,* the picked men of the 
 warlike nations of Europe, who were come to dispute with 
 them the possession of Asia.f 
 
 * The contemporary historians who have spoken of the crusades, and 
 who have made this enumeration, had doubtless in their minds the num- 
 bering which is found in Scripture, which makes the number of the 
 soldiers of Israel amount to six hundred and thirty-three thousand five 
 huudred and fifty. I believe I ought to add some passages from the 
 historians : Siomries qui de domibus mis egressi votv.m jam iter ceperani, 
 simul illuc adessent, procid dubio sexagies centum millia bellatorum 
 adessent. — Foulcher de Chartres. Opinioneyn hominum vincebat numerus, 
 guamvis cestimarentur sejcagies centum millia itinerantium. — Malmesbury, 
 book iv. 
 
 t Such might be the character of the hundred thousand horse ; but the 
 five hundred thousand foot by no means merited such a description. — 
 Trans.
 
 niSTOEY OF THE CIIUSA.DES. 99 
 
 Wlien it had been determined to besiege Nice, tbe posts 
 were distributed to the various bodies of the Christian army. 
 The camp of the Crusaders extended over a vast plain, inter- 
 sected by ri\'ulets Avhich fell from the mountains. Fleets 
 from Greece and Italy transported provisions, and kept the 
 besiegers in a state of abundance, roulcher de Chartres 
 reckons in the camp of the Christians nineteen nations, 
 differing in manners and language. Each nation had its 
 quarters, which they surrounded with walls and palisades, 
 and as they were without wood or stone for the di\dsions, 
 they employed the bones of the Crusaders lying unbiu'ied in 
 the country round Nice ; " by which," Anna Comnena says, 
 " they at once constructed a tomb for the dead and an abode 
 for the living." In each quarter they quickly raised magnifi- 
 cent tents, which served as churches, in which the chiefs and 
 the soldiers assembled to perform the ceremonies of religion. 
 Different war-cries, drums, the use of which had been intro- 
 duced into Europe by the Saracens, and sonorous horns, 
 pierced with several holes, summonded the Crusaders to 
 their military exercises. 
 
 The barons and knights wore a hauberk^ or coat of mail, a 
 sort of tunic, composed of smaU. rings of iron or steel. Over 
 the coat of arms of every squire floated a blue, red, green, 
 or white scarf. Every warrior wore a ' casque, covered with 
 silver for the princes, of steel for the knights and nobles, 
 and of iron for the common men. The knights bore round 
 or square bucklers, and long shields covered the foot-soldiers. 
 The arms employed in fight by the Crusaders were the lance, 
 the sword, a species of knife, a poniard, called misericorde, 
 the club, the masse cVarmes, with which a warrior could, at a 
 single blow, strike an enemy to the earth ; the sling, from 
 which were thrown stones and balls of lead ; the bow, and 
 the cross-bow, a miu-derous weapon, till that time "unknown 
 to the Orientals. The warriors of the "West did not then 
 cover themselves with that heavy iron armour described by 
 the historians of the middle ages, which they afterwards 
 borrowed from the Saracens. 
 
 The princes and knights bore upon their shields figures or 
 signs of different colours, which served as rallying-points for 
 their soldiers. Here might be seen, painted on the bucklers 
 and standards, leopards and lions; there, stars, towers, 
 
 6*
 
 100 UISTOEY OF TJIE CRUSADES. 
 
 crosses, Asiatic trees, and European trees. Several caused 
 to be represented on their shields the birds of passage which 
 they had met A^dth on their route, which birds, by changing 
 their climate annually, presented to the Crusaders a symbol 
 of their o^tl pilgrimage. These distinctive marks at the 
 time served to animate their valour in the field of battle, and 
 were destined, at a future day, to be one of the attributes of 
 rank among the nations of the West. 
 
 In the immense crowd of Crusaders, no count, no prince, 
 deigned to receive orders from any one.* The Christians 
 presented the image of a republic under arms. This republic, 
 in which everything appeared to be in common, recognised 
 no other law but that of honour, no other tie but that of 
 religion. So great was their zeal, that chiefs performed the 
 duties of common m^en, and the latter required no signal to 
 rush to victory or encounter death. The priests passed 
 continually amongst the ranks, to recall to the Crusaders 
 the maxims of scriptural morality. Their discourses were 
 not thrown away; for, if we may credit contemporary authors, 
 who seldom spare the champions of the cross, the conduct of 
 the Christians during the siege of Nice offered nothing but 
 examples of warlike virtue and subjects of edification. 
 
 In the first days of the siege the Christians made several 
 assaidts, in Avhich they uselessly displayed prodigies of 
 valoiu*. Kilidge-Arslan, who had placed both his family and 
 his treasures in Nice, animated the garrison by his letters, 
 and resolved to spare no efforts to succour the besieged. 
 He called together the chiefs of his army ; he reminded them 
 of the advantages they had gained over the Christians, and 
 predicted still more brilliant trophies to their valour. " The 
 greatest disorder," he told them, "reigned in the Christian 
 army, and the numbers of their enemies assured them the 
 victory. They were going to fight for their wives, their 
 children, and the country which they owed to the conquests 
 
 * Quis tot principes, tot duces, tot equites, tot pedites, sine rege, sine 
 imperatore dimicante hacteniis audivit, neque siquidem in isto exercitu 
 alter alteri prsefuit, alius aliis imperavit. — Baldric, ch. 13. 
 
 The reader may keep his attention fixed upon this, as the source of 
 most of their disasters ; and in all the history of the Crusaders there is no 
 miracle greater than that an army so constituted could achieve anything.
 
 IIISTOIIT or THE CRUSADES. 101 
 
 of their fathers ; the religion of the prophet implored their 
 help, and the richest booty would be the reward of their 
 exploits." The Mussulmans, animated by the speeches and 
 the example of their chief, prepared for battle, and descended 
 the mountains. Their army, divided into two bodies, attacked 
 with impetuosity the quarter of Godfrey de Bouillon and 
 that of Eaymond de Thoulouse, who had just arrived before 
 Nice. The Provencals were not able to resist the first 
 shock, but they rallied soon at the voices of Eapnond and 
 Adhemar. " Then the two armies," says Matthew of Edessa,* 
 who speaks of this battle, "joined, mingled, and attacked 
 each other, with equal fury. Everywhere glittered casques 
 and shields ; lances rung against cuirasses ; the air resounded 
 with piercing cries ; the terrified horses recoiled at the 
 din of arms and the hissing of arrows ; the earth trembled 
 beneath the tread of the combatants, and the plain was for 
 a vast space bristling with javelins." Godfrey, Tancred, and 
 the two E/oberts, appeared to be everywhere at once, and 
 carried death and terror into the ranks of the infidels. The 
 Turks could not long withstand the impetuous valour of the 
 Crusaders ; they were put to the rout, and pursued by the 
 conquerors even to the mountains which served them as a 
 place of refuge. 
 
 The sultan, instead of deploring his defeat, only thought 
 of avenging the disgrace of his arms, and on the very mor- 
 row, at break of day, led back his troops to the combat. The 
 Turks attacked the Christians, uttering loud cries. Some- 
 times they rushed with fury into the ranks of the Crusaders, 
 sometimes they fought at a distance, pouring in showers of 
 arrows. Then they feigned to fly, only to return to the 
 charge with greater fury. This second battle, in which the 
 Turks showed the courage of despair seconded by all the 
 stratagems of war, lasted from morning till night. The 
 victory, which was for a long time doubtful, cost the Chris- 
 tians two thousand lives. The Crusaders made a great many 
 
 * The Armenian history of Matthew of Edessa is among the manu- 
 scripts of the Imperial Library, " Ancien Fonds," No. 99. We quote it 
 from a translation which M. de St. Martin has been so kind as to com- 
 municate to us, and likewise the translation which M. Cerbeid, Armenian 
 professor at the Imperial Library, has made for the purpose of elucidating 
 some manuscripts.
 
 102 HISTOKY or THE CRUSJJDES. 
 
 prisoners ; four thousand Mussulmans fell on the field of 
 battle ; the heads of a thousand were sent to Alexius ; and 
 the rest, by the aid of machines, were cast into the city, to 
 inform the garrison of this fresh defeat of the Turks. 
 
 Kilidge-Arslan, despairing to save Nice, retired with the 
 wreck of his army, and hastened to gather together in the 
 provinces new forces, with which to oppose the Christians. 
 The Crusaders, ha^-ing no longer to dread the neighbourhood 
 of an enemy's army, pushed on the siege with Tigour. 
 Sometimes they made approaches by galleries covered by a 
 double roof of boards and hurdles ; sometimes thev dra2:s:ed 
 towards the walls towers mounted on a number of wheels, 
 constructed with several stages, and loaded ^vith arms and 
 soldiers. Here the rams beat against the walls with re- 
 doubled shocks ; at a short distance balistas vomited, without 
 ceasing, beams of wood and showers of arrows ; and cata- 
 pultas cast into the air combustible matters and enormous 
 stones, which fell with a crash into the citv. 
 
 The Christians employed in this siege all the machines* 
 known to the Eomans. The Greeks were better acquainted 
 with the construction of them than the Latins, and directed 
 their operations. It is likewise probable that the Greeks 
 who were in Xice, and subject to the power of the Mussul- 
 mans, instructed the latter in the means of defending the 
 place. 
 
 The Christians allowed the besieged no respite, and they 
 defended themselves with obstinate ftiry. All the inhabitants 
 of Xice had taken arms. Their ramparts were covered 
 with formidable machines, which hurled destruction among 
 the assailants. Fiery darts, beams, enormous pieces of stone, 
 launched from the height of the walls, destroyed, day after 
 day, the labours of the Crusaders. ^WTien the Christians 
 had made a breach in the ramparts, another wall arose from 
 the bosom of the ruins, and presented a new barrier to the 
 besiegers. 
 
 As the Crusaders attacked without order or precaution, 
 their imprudence and their rashness were often very fatal to 
 
 * The Pisans, the Genoese, and the greater part of the nations of Italy, 
 after the Greeks, showed themselves most skilful in the construction of 
 machines for war.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 103 
 
 them. Some were crushed "beneath the fragments of their 
 own machines ; others fell pierced with poisoned darts ; 
 sometimes, even, savs an historian, the besiegers sported 
 with their efforts, catching them with iron hands,*- or hooks, 
 which, falling upon them, seized them, and lifted them ahve 
 into the city. After having stripped them, the Turks hung 
 them upon their ramparts, and then launched them, by 
 means of their machines, stark naked into the camp of the 
 Christians. 
 
 A Saracen, t whom history describes to us as a giant, 
 performed during this siege exploits which surpass those 
 related of fabulous antiquity. He was not less remarkable 
 for his skill than for the strength of his arm ; he never cast 
 a javelin in vain, and all whom he hit were sure to sink 
 beneath the blow. AVhen he had exhausted his arrows, and 
 could make no more use of his bow, he seized masses of 
 rock, and rolled them down upon the assailants. One day, 
 when he was standing on the platform of a tower attacked 
 by Raymond, he alone defied the efforts of tlie enemies. At 
 one time he hurled a shower of stones upon the besiegers ; 
 then, raising his voice, he defied the bravest of the Chris- 
 tians to the combat, loading them with the most violent 
 abuse. All eyes were turned towards him, and a thousand 
 arrows flew at once from the Christian army to punish his 
 audacity. For a moment all the efforts of the besiegers 
 
 • were directed against a single man. His body was covered 
 with wounds and bristling with arrows ; but he defended 
 himself skilfully, and was still braving the crowd of his 
 enemies, when Godfrey, attracted by the noise of this general 
 
 • attack, seized a cross-bow, and taking aim at the redoubt- 
 able Saracen, shot him through the heart, and his immense 
 body rolled from the platform into the ditch. 
 
 This victory, which appears rather to belong to the heroes 
 
 , of the epopea than to those of history, was celebrated by the 
 
 acclamations of the Christian army. The Crusaders, who 
 
 gained several other advantages, redoubled their zeal and 
 
 * These iron hands were nothing more than the machine called the 
 raven by the Romans, which they employed in grappling vessels : they 
 likewise made use of it in sieges. 
 
 t See William of Tyre, lib. iii.
 
 104 niSTOET OF THE CEUSJJ^ES. 
 
 tlieir valorous efforts, and the besieged "began to offer a less 
 animated resistance. As the Saracens received provisions 
 and reinforcements bv the Lake Ascanius, it was resolved 
 to cut off this last resource. A large number of boats, 
 furnished bv the Greeks, were transported bj land, and 
 launched into the water in the night-time. AVhen day 
 appeared, the lake was covered with barks, each bearing 
 fifty combatants ; the flags were displayed, and floated over 
 the waters, and the lake and its shores resounded with the 
 various war-cries and the noise of the trumpets and drums. 
 At this sight the besieged were struck vrith. surprise and 
 terror ; and the Christians renewed theii' attacks with greater 
 success. The soldiers of Eavmond had undermined the 
 
 * 
 
 foundations of one of the principal towers of Nice. This 
 tower sank down in the middle of the night, and its fall 
 was accompanied by so frightful a noise, that both the 
 Christians and the ^Mussulmans were aroused from their 
 sleep, and believed that an earthquake had taken place. On 
 the followino: dav the wife of the sultan, with two infant 
 children, endeavoured to escape by the lake, and fell into 
 the hands of the Christians. AVhen the news of this reached 
 the city, it greatly increased the general consternation. 
 After a siege of seven weeks, the Mussulmans had lost all 
 hopes of defending Xice, and the Christians were expecting 
 every day to be able to take it by assault, when the policy 
 of Alexius intervened to deprive their arms of the honour of 
 a complete conquest^ 
 
 This prince, who has been compared to the bird who seeks 
 his food in the tracks of the lion, had advanced as far as 
 Pelecania. He had sent to the army of the Crusaders a 
 weak detachment of Greek troops, and two generals intrusted 
 with his confidence, less for the purpose of fighting than to 
 negotiate, and seize an opportunity to get possession of 
 !Xice bv stratao^em. One of these ofilcers. named Butu- 
 mitus, ha\'ing got into the city, created in the inhabitants 
 a dread of the inexorable vengeance of the Latins, and 
 advised them to surrender to the emperor of Constantinople. 
 His propositions were listened to, and when the Crusaders 
 were preparing to begin a last assault, the standards of 
 Alexius all at once appeared upon the ramparts and towers 
 of Nice
 
 UTSTOllY or THE CRUSADES. 105 
 
 This sight created the most lively surprise in the Christian 
 army. The greater part of the leaders could not restrain 
 their indignation, and the soldiers who were preparing for 
 the assault returned to their tents trembling with rage. 
 Their fury was increased when they found they were pro- 
 hibited from entering more than ten at a time into a city 
 which they had conquered at the price of their blood, and 
 which contained riches which had been promised to them. 
 In vain the Greeks alleged the treaties made with Alexius, 
 and the services they had rendered the Latins during the 
 siege ; the murmurs were never silenced for a moment, 
 except by the largesses of the emperor. 
 
 This prince received the greater part of the chiefs at 
 Pelecania, where he duly praised their bravery and loaded 
 them with presents. After having taken possession of Nice, 
 he gained a new victory, perhaps not less flattering to his 
 vanity ; he at length triumphed over the pride of Tancred, 
 who took the oath of fidelity and obedience to him. JSTever- 
 theless, he did not stifle the suspicions they had conceived of 
 his perfidy. The liberty to which he restored the wife and 
 children of the sultan, and the kind manner in w^hich he 
 treated the Turkish prisoners, gave the Latins good reason 
 to believe that he sought to conciliate the enemies of the 
 Christians. Nothing more was necessary to renew former 
 hatreds, and from this period war was almost declared 
 between the Greeks and the Crusaders. 
 
 A year had passed away since the Crusaders had quitted 
 the West. After having reposed some time in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Nice, they prepared to set forward on their 
 march towards Syria and Palestine. The provinces of Asia 
 Minor Avhich they were about to cross were still occupied by 
 the Turks, who were animated by fanaticism and despair, 
 and who formed less a nation than an army, always ready to 
 fight and to pass from one place to another. In a country 
 so long ravaged by war, the roads were scarcely to be seen, 
 and all communication between cities was stopped. In the 
 mountains, defiles, torrents, precipices, must constantly 
 create impediments to the march of a numerous army ; in 
 the plains, mostly uncultivated and barren, famine, the want 
 of water, the burning heat of the climate, were inevitable 
 evils. The Crusaders fancied they had conquered all their
 
 106 HISTOSY or TKE CHL'SADES. 
 
 enemies at Xice, and ^tliout taking any precaution, with- 
 out any other guides than the Greeks, of Trhom they had so 
 much reason to comnlain, they adyanced into a country with 
 which they were totally unacquainted. They had no idea of 
 the obstacles they should encoimter in their march, and 
 their ignorance created their security. 
 
 They had dJAided their army into two bodies, which 
 marched at some distance the one from the other, across 
 the mountains of Lesser Phrygia. By marching thus sepa- 
 rately they could more easily procure proyisions ; but they 
 ran the risk of being surprised by an actiye and yigilant 
 enemy. Kilidge-Arslan, twice conquered by the Christians, 
 had slathered to2:ether new forces. At the head of an army, 
 which the Latin historians say amounted to two hundred 
 thousand men, he followed the Crusaders, watching for an 
 opportunity to surprise them, and to make them pay dearly 
 for the conquest of Xice. 
 
 ^Tiilst the main army, commanded by G-odfrey, Eaymond, 
 Adhemar, Hugh the Great, and the count of Flanders, was 
 crossino^ the plain of Dorylaeum, the other body, which was 
 commanded by Bohemond, Tancred. and the duke of Xor- 
 mandy, directed its march to the left. It was following the 
 banks of a little riyer, and was adyancing into a yaUey to 
 which the Latin historians haye giyen the name of Gorgoni 
 or Ozellis.* Some intimations had been giyen by the 
 Greeks that the enemy was niorh, but the Crusaders belieyed 
 they had nothing to fear. After a day's march, on the eyening 
 of the 30th of Jime, they arriyed at a place which offered them 
 abundant pasturage, and they resolyed to encamp. The 
 Christian army passed the night in the most profound secu- 
 
 * This valley, formed on the north bv the mountain in-Eengni, and 
 •watered by a river which runs from west to east, and which is perhaps the 
 Bathis of the ancients, having the villages of Taochanlu and Gourmen on 
 the eeist, and that of Yen-Euglu on the west ;* this last is but three 
 marine leagues, or nine miles, from Dorylseum. Albert d'Aix calls this 
 valley Dogorganhi, which appears to be the Oriental name, from which 
 the Latin historians have made that of Gorgoni, which paints in some 
 sort the horrors of this fatal day. Ozelli? is apparently the name which 
 the Greeks gave it. "SVe owe these particulars to the learned inquiries of 
 Walckeuaer. 
 
 See Arrowsmith's Map of Constantinople and its environs.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 107 
 
 rity ; but on the morrow, at daybreak, the scouts and clouds 
 of dust on the heights announced to them the presence of 
 the enemy. Immediately the camp was roused, and all flew 
 to arms. Bohemond, thus become the leader of the army in 
 the midst of peril, hastened to make the necessary dispo- 
 sitions for receiving the Tiu-ks. The camp of the Christians 
 was defended on one side by the river, and on the other by 
 a marsh covered with reeds. The prince of Tarentum caused 
 it to be surrounded with chariots, and with pahsades made 
 of the stakes employed in erecting the tents. He next 
 assigned the posts to the infantry, and placed the women, 
 the children, and the sick in the centre of them. The 
 cavalry, divided into three bodies, advanced to the head of 
 the camp, and prepared to dispute the passage of the river. 
 One of these bodies was commanded by Tancred, and Wil- 
 liam his brother, and another by the duke of Normandy and 
 the count de Chartres. Bohemond, who commanded the 
 centre, placed himself with his horsemen upon a height, 
 whence he might observe everything, and follow the order 
 of the battle. 
 
 Scarcely had the prince of Tarentum finished his pre- 
 parations, when the Saracens, uttering loud cries, descended 
 from the mountains, and, when within bow-shot, discharged 
 a shower of arrows upon the Christians. This did very 
 little harm to the horsemen, who were defended by their 
 shields and their armour, but it wounded a great many 
 of the horses, which threw the ranks into disorder. The 
 archers, the sliugers, the crossbow-men, scattered here and 
 there upon the flanks of the Christian army, were not able 
 to return to the Turks all the arrows that were launched at 
 them. The horsemen becoming impatient to make use of 
 the lance and the SAvord, the most eager of them impru- 
 dently crossed the river and fell upon the Saracens. But 
 the latter avoided the melee; as fast as the Crusaders pre- 
 sented themselves before them, they opened their ranks, 
 dispersed, rallied at some distance, and darkened the air 
 with a fresh cloud of arrows. The speed of their horses 
 seconded them in these evolutions, and secured them from 
 the pursuit of the Crusaders, whom they fought whilst 
 appearing to fly. 
 
 This mamier of fighting was quite in favour of the
 
 lOS mSTOKY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 Turks, and rendered tlie disposition the Christian army made 
 before the battle, entirely useless. Every leader, eyery 
 horseman, took counsel only of his o^^ii coui'age, and aban- 
 doned himself to its dictates. The Christians fought in dis- 
 order upon ground with which they were quite unacquainted, 
 and the bravest ran the greatest risks. Eobert of Paris, 
 the same who had seated himself on the imperial throne by 
 the side of Alexius, was mortally wounded, after having seen 
 forty of his companions fall around him. AVilliam, the 
 brother of Tancred. fell pierced with arrows. Tancred him- 
 self, whose lance was broken, and who had no weapon left 
 but his sword, onlv owed his safety to Bohemond, who came 
 to his succour, and extricated him from the hands of the 
 infidels. Whilst the victory between strength and agility 
 remained uncertain, new troops of Saracens descended from 
 the mountains and joined the fight. The sultan of Xice 
 took advantaofe of the moment at which the cavalry of the 
 Crusaders could scarcely resist the shock of the Turkish 
 army, to attack their camp. He ordered a body of his 
 choicest soldiers to draw their swords and follow him. He 
 crossed the river, and overcame every obstacle that was 
 placed in his way. In an instant the camp of the Christians 
 was invaded and filed by the Turks. The Saracens massa- 
 cred aU who came within reach of their swords ; sparing 
 none but younor and beautiful women, whom thev destined 
 for their seraglios. H we are to believe Albert of Aix, the 
 daughters and the wives of the barons and knights preferred 
 on this occasion slavery to death ; for they were seen, in the 
 midst of the tumult, decking: themselves in their most beau- 
 tifid vestments, and presenting themselves thus before the 
 Saracens, seeking by the display of their charms to soften 
 the hearts of a pitiless enemy.* In the meanwhile Bohe- 
 mond, rendered aware of the attack upon the camp, came 
 promptly to its succour, and forced the sultan to rejoin the 
 body of his army. Then the confiict recommenced on the 
 banks of the river with increased fury. The duke of Xor- 
 mandy, who had remained alone with some of his knights 
 
 * Hdc crudelitate atrocissimcE mortis stitpefactce tenercE puellce et 
 nobilissimce, vesiibus ornari festinabant, se offerentes Turcis, ut saltern 
 amore honestarum formarum accensi et placati, discant captivarum 
 misereri. — Alb. Aq. lib. iii. cap. 4.
 
 IIISTOIIY or TUE CllUSADES. 109 
 
 on the field of battle, snatclied his white pennon embroi- 
 dered with gold from the hand of him wlio bore it, and 
 rushed into the thickest of the fight, crying nloud, " It is 
 the will of God I It is the tvill of God)'' He cut down 
 Avith his sword all who were in his path ; among the victims 
 to his valour being one of the principal Turkish emirs. 
 Tancred, Eichard prince of Salerno, Stephen count of Blois, 
 and other chiefs, followed Eobert's example and seconded his 
 valour. Bohemond, who was pursuing the sultan of Nice, 
 met a troop of soldiers who were flying, and stopped them, 
 saying, " Whither are you flying, Christian soldiers ? Do 
 you not see that their horses have more speed than ours ? 
 I'ollow me, I will show you a safer road than flight!" 
 Scarcely had he spoken these words, than he rushed with 
 them into the midst of the Saracens, and renewed the fight. 
 In the disorder of the melee, the women, who had been 
 liberated from the hands of the Saracens, and who were 
 eager to revenge their outraged modesty, went through the 
 ranks bearing refreshment to the soldiers, and exhorting 
 them to redouble their courage to save tliem from slavery. 
 
 But so many generous efforts were nearly proving useless. 
 The Crusaders were exhausted with fatigue, and could not 
 long resist an enemy whose force was being constantly 
 renewed, and who overwhelmed them with numbers. The 
 Christian army, surrounded on all sides, w^as compelled to 
 retreat fighting and to retire to the camp, into which the 
 Turks were upon the point of entering with them. It is 
 im.possible to paint the confusion and the despair which 
 reigned at that moment among the Crusaders. Priests 
 were seen imploring, by their groans and their prayers, the 
 assistance of the God of armies ; women filled the air wdth 
 lamentations for the dead and the wounded ; whilst soldiers 
 fell on their knees to the priests to obtain absolution for 
 their sins. Amid this frightful tumult the voices of the 
 leaders were but little attended to ; the most intrepid were 
 covered with wounds, burning with thirst and heat, and 
 coidd fight no longer. They despaired of seeing Jerusalem, 
 and were in momentary expectation of death, when all at 
 once a thousand voices proclaimed the approach of Eaymond 
 and Grodfrey, who were advancing with the other division 
 of the Christian army.
 
 110 HISTORY OF THE CSUSAHES. 
 
 Before the commencement of the "battle, Boliemond had 
 sent messengers to inform them of the attack of the Turks. 
 On learning this, the duke of Lorraine, the count de Yer- 
 mandois, and the count of Flanders, at the head of the mam 
 body of their army, had directed their march towards the 
 valley of Grorgoni, followed by Eaymond and Adhemar, who 
 brought up the baggage, at the head of the rear-guard. 
 "When they appeared upon the ridge of the mountains on 
 the eastern side, the sun was in the midst of his course, and 
 his light shone full upon their shields, their helmets, and 
 their naked swords ; the ensigns were displayed ; the noise 
 of their drums and clarions resounded afar ; and fifty thou- 
 sand horsemen, fully armed and eager for the fight, advanced 
 in good order. This splendid sight revived the hopes of the 
 Crusaders, and cast fear and dread among the infidel ranks. 
 
 Scarcely had Godfrey, who, followed by fifty knights, had 
 preceded his army, mixed with the combatants, when the 
 sultan sounded a retreat and retired to the heights, where 
 he hoped the Crusaders would not dare to follow him. The 
 second body of the Christian army soon arrived on the plain 
 smoking with the blood of the Christians. The Crusaders, 
 recognising their brothers and companions stretched in the 
 dust, became impatient to revenge their death, and with 
 loud cries demanded to be led to the fight. Even the com- 
 batants who had been fighting from morning, now would not 
 hear of repose. The Clu'istian army immediately formed in 
 order of battle. Bohemond, Tancred, and Robert of Xor- 
 mandy, placed themselves on the left ; Grodfrey, the count 
 of Flanders, and the count of Blois led on the right wing. 
 Raymond commanded the centre, and the rear-guard, or body 
 of reserve, was placed under the orders of Adhemar. Before 
 the leaders gave the word, the priests passed among the 
 ranks, exhorting the Crusaders to fight manfully, and gi\dng 
 them their benedictions. The soldiers and the leaders, 
 drawing their swords, and threatening the enemy, cried with 
 one voice, " Jif is the will of God! It is the tcill of God!^' 
 and this animating war-cry was repeated by the echoes of 
 the mountains and the valleys. At length the Christian 
 army advanced, marching full of confidence against the 
 Turks, for whom the rocks and the hills appeared to be a 
 sure place of refuge.
 
 HISTORY OE THE CRUSADES. IH 
 
 The Saracens remained motionless on tlie mountains, and 
 had apparently exhausted their arrows. The nature of the 
 ground did not allow them to perform their rapid evolutions 
 or pursue their usual tactics. JN^either were they animated 
 by the hopes of victory ; but, in an attitude which expressed 
 fear, they awaited their enemies in silence. The count of 
 Thoulouse, who attacked them in front, broke through their 
 ranks at the first charge. Tancred, Godfrey, Hugh, and the 
 two Roberts, attacked them on their flanks with the same 
 advantage. Adhemar, who had gone round the mountaias, 
 directed his attack upon the rear of the enemies, and com- 
 pleted the disorder. The Saracens found themselves sur- 
 rounded by a forest of lances, and became only solicitous 
 to secure safety by escaping over the rocks and through the 
 woods. A great number of emu's, three thousand officers, 
 and more than twenty thousand soldiers, lost their lives in 
 the battle and the flight. 
 
 The camp of the enemy, which was at two leagues' dis- 
 tance, fell into the hands of the Crusaders. The conquerors 
 there found abundance of pro\dsions, magnificently orna- 
 mented tents, immense treasiu'es, all sorts of beasts of 
 biu'then, and above all, a gi'eat number of camels. The 
 sight of these animals, which were then unknown in the 
 AYest, caused them as much siu'prise as joy. They mounted 
 the horses of the Saracens, to pursue the remains of the 
 conquered army. Towards nightfall they returned to their 
 camp loaded with booty, preceded by their priests, singuig 
 hymns and canticles of thanksgiving. Both leaders and sol- 
 diers had covered themselves with glory in this great conflict. 
 'We have named the principal leaders of the army; historians 
 point out many more, such as Baldwin of Beauvais, Gralon 
 de Calmon, Graston de Beam, Gerard de Cherisi, all of whom 
 signalized themselves by exploits, says AVilliam of Tyre, the 
 remembrance of which t\t11 never perish. 
 
 The day after the victory the Crusaders repaired to the 
 field of battle for the purpose of burying the dead. They 
 had lost fom^ thousand of their companions, and they 
 paid them the last duties in tears ; the clergy offered up 
 their prayers for them, and the army honoured them as 
 martyrs. They soon, however, passed from funeral cere- 
 monies to transports of the wildest joy. On stripping the
 
 112 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 Saracens, they quarrelled for their blood-stained habits. In 
 the excess of their delight, some of the soldiers would put 
 on the armour of their enemies, and clothing themselves in 
 the flowing robes of the Mussulmans, would seat themselves 
 in the tents of the conquered, and, with imitative gestures, 
 ridicule the luxury and customs of Asia. Such as were 
 without arms took possession of the swords and crooked 
 sabres of the Saracens, and the archers filled their quivers 
 with the arrows which had been shot at them during the 
 fight. 
 
 The intoxication of victory, however, did not prevent 
 their doing justice to the bravery of the Turks, who, from 
 that time, boasted of having a common origin with the 
 Franks. Contemporary historians, who praise the valour of 
 the Turks, add, that they only wanted to be Christians to 
 make them quite comparable to the Crusaders. That which, 
 otherwise, proves the high idea the Crusaders entertained of 
 their enemies, is, that they attributed their victory to a 
 miracle. Two days after the battle, says Albert of Aix, 
 although no one was pursuing them, the infidels continued 
 flying, exclaiming as they went, " It is the icill of God ! It 
 is the tvill of QodV'^ After the victory, the Christian army 
 invoked the names of St. George and St. Demetrius, who 
 had been seen, as they said, fighting in the ranks of the 
 Christians. This pious fable was accredited among both 
 the Latins and Grreeks. A long time subsequent to the 
 victory, the Armenians erected a church in the neighbour- 
 hood of Dorylaeum, where the people were accustomed to 
 assemble on the first Friday of March, and believed that 
 they saw St. Greorge appear on horseback, lance in hand. 
 
 Whilst the Crusaders were felicitating themselves on 
 their victory, the sultan of jS'ice, who did not dare again to 
 encounter the Christians in the field, undertook to deso- 
 late the country which he coidd not defend. At the head 
 of the wreck of his army, and ten thousand Arabs who had 
 joined him, he preceded the march of the Christians, and 
 laid waste his own provinces. The Turks burnt the harvests, 
 pillaged the cities, the boiirgs, and the houses of the Chris- 
 tians, and carried away in their train the ^^dves and children 
 of the Greeks, whom they detained as hostages. The banks 
 of the Meander and the Ca'ister, Cappadocia, Pisidia,
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CllUSADES. 113 
 
 Isaiiria, and all the country as far as Mount Taurus, were 
 given up to pillage, and entirely laid waste. 
 
 "When the Crusaders resumed their march, they deter- 
 mined not to separate again, as they had done on entering 
 Phrygia. This resolution certainly rendered them safe from 
 surprise or hostile attack, but it exposed so numerous an 
 army to the risk of perishing b}^ famine and misery in a 
 country devastated bv the Turks.* The Christians, who 
 marched without forethought, and were never provisioned 
 for more than a few days, were not long before they felt the 
 want of food. They found nothing on their route but 
 deserted fields, and soon had no other subsistence but the 
 roots of wild plants and the ears of corn which had escaped 
 the ravages of the Saracens. By far the greater number of 
 the horses of the army perished for want of water and 
 forage. 
 
 Most of the knights, who were accustomed to look with 
 contempt on foot-soldiers, were obliged, like them, to march 
 on foot, and carry their arms, the weight of which was 
 enough to exhaust them. The Christian army presented a 
 strange spectacle — knights were seen mounted on asses and 
 oxen, advancing at the head of their companies ; rams, 
 goats, pigs, dogs, every anim^al they could meet with, was 
 loaded with baggage, which, for the most part, was left 
 abandoned on the roads.f 
 
 The Crusaders then traversed that part of Phrygia which 
 the ancients called "burning Phrygia." AVhen their army 
 arrived in the country of Sauria,;]: they endured all the hor- 
 rors of thirst, of which the most robust soldiers could not 
 resist the terrible power. We read in William of Tyre, 
 that five hundred perished in one day. Historians say that 
 women were seen giving premature birth to their ofl:spring 
 in the midst of burning and open fields ; whilst others, in 
 
 * I have madp earnest researches to discover by vv^hat means the Chris- 
 tian army was provisioned, and I can learn nothing beyond the fact that 
 the Crusaders carried hand-mills with them. 
 
 t Tunc autem vcre vel riderefis, vel forsiian pietate lachrymaremini, 
 cum miiltis riostrum jumentis egentes, verveces, capras, sues, canes, de 
 rebus stiis onerabant. Equites etiam supra boves cum amis suis 
 interdum scandebant. — Ful. Cam. apud Bougais, p. 589. 
 
 t The Isauria trachea of the ancients.
 
 11^ niSTOET or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 despair, wi'th cliildreii tlier could no longer nourisli, implored 
 death ^itli loud cries, and, in the excess of their agony, 
 rolled naked on the earth in the sight of the whole armj.* 
 The authors of the time do not forget to mention the falcons 
 and birds of prev which the knights had brought with them 
 into Asia, and which almost all perished under the burning 
 sun. In vain the Crusaders called for a repetition of the 
 miracles which Grod had formerly wrought for his chosen 
 people in the desert. The sterile valleys of Pisidia resounded 
 during several days with their prayers, with their complaints, 
 and perhaps, likewise, with their blasphemies. 
 
 In the midst of these burning countries they at length 
 made a discovery which saved the army, but which was veiy 
 near becoming as fatal to them as the horrors of thirst. 
 
 The dogs which had followed the Crusaders had abandoned 
 their masters, and wandered over the plains and into the 
 mountains in search of a spring. t One day several of them 
 were seen returning to the camp with their paws and their 
 hides covered with moist sand, and it was judged that they 
 had foimd water. Several soldiers obsen^ed their track, and 
 discovered a river. The whole army rushed towards it in a 
 mass. The Crusaders, famishing with heat and thirst, cast 
 themselves headlong into the water, and quenched the inward 
 heat without moderation or precaution. More than three 
 hundred of them died almost immediately, and many fell 
 seriously ill, and could not continue their march. 
 
 At lencjth the Christian armv arrived before Antiochetta, 
 which opened its gates to them. This city, the capital of 
 Pisidia, was situated in the midst of a territory interspersed 
 with fields, rivers, and forests. The sight of a smiling and 
 fertile country invited the Cliristians to repose for a few 
 days, and made them soon forget all the evils they had 
 undergone. 
 
 As the fame of their victories and their march had sprerd 
 throughout the neighbouring countries, the greater part of 
 
 * QuamplurimcB namque fcEtae mtdieres exsiccatis faucibus, arefactis 
 
 visceribus media plated in omnium aspectu fcetus siios enixm relinque- 
 
 bant ; alicp mlsercE juxta foetus suos in via cornmuni volutabantur, omnem 
 pudorem et secreta aua oblita. — Alb. Aquem. lib. iii. cap. 2. 
 
 t This remarkable circumstance is taken from the Life of Godfrey, by 
 Jean de Launel, ecuyer seigneur de Cbantreau, and Du Chaubert.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CETJSADES- 115 
 
 the cities of Asia Minor, some from fear, and others from 
 affection to the Christians, sent deputies to offer them 
 supplies and to swear obedience to them. Thus they 
 found themselves masters of several countries of whose 
 names or geographical position they were perfectly ignorant. 
 Most of the Crusaders were far from being aware that 
 the provinces they had just subdued had seen the pha- 
 lanx of Alexander* and the armies of Rome, or that the 
 G-reeks, the inhabitants of these countries, were descended 
 from the Grauls, who, in the time of the second Brennus, 
 had left Illyria and the shores of the Danube, had crossed 
 the Bosphorus,* pillaged the city of Heraclea, and founded 
 a colony on the banks of the Halys. Without troubling 
 themselves with traces of antiquity, the new conquerors 
 ordered the Christian churches to be rebuilt, and scoured 
 the country to collect provisions. 
 
 During their abode at Antiochetta, the joy of their con- 
 quests was, for a moment, disturbed by the fear of losing 
 two of their most renowned chiefs. Eaymond, count of 
 Thoulouse, fell dangerously ill. As his life was despaired 
 of, they had already laid him upon ashes, and the bishop 
 of Orange was repeating the litanies of the dead, when a 
 Saxon count came to announce that Raymond would not die 
 of this disease, and that the prayers of St. Grilles had obtained 
 for him a truce loitJi death. These words, says AVilliam of 
 Tyre, restored hope to all the bystanders, and soon Eajnnond 
 showed himself to the whole army, which celebrated his cure 
 as a miracle. 
 
 About the same time, Godfrey, who had one day wandered 
 into a forest, was in great danger from defending a soldier 
 who was attacked by a bear. He conquered the bear, but 
 being wounded in the thigh, and the blood flowing copiously, 
 he was carried in an apparently dying state into the camp of 
 the Crusaders. The loss of a battle would have spread less 
 consternation than the sad spectacle which now presented 
 itself to the eyes of the Christians. All the Crusaders shed 
 tears, and put up prayers for the life of Godfrey. The 
 wound did not prove dangerous, but weakened by the loss 
 of blood, the duke de Bouillon was a length of time before 
 
 * Consult, for this expedition, Pelloutier, Histoire des Celtes, 
 Vol. I.— 7
 
 116 HISTOllY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 lie regained Ha strength. The count de Thoulouse had 
 likewise a long convalescence, and both were obliged during 
 several weeks to be borne in a litter in the rear of the army. 
 
 Greater evils threatened the Crusaders. Hitherto peace 
 had reigned amongst them, and their union constituted their 
 strength. All at once, discord broke out amongst some of 
 the leaders, and was on the point of extending to the whole 
 armv. Tancred and Baldwin, the brother of Grodfrey, were 
 sent out on a scouring party, either to disperse the scattered 
 bands of Turks, or to protect the Christians, and obtain from 
 them assistance and pro\'isions. They advanced at first into 
 Lvcaonia as far as the city of Iconium ;* but ha\ing met 
 Avith no enemy, and finding the country* abandoned, they 
 directed their march towards the sea-coast, through the 
 mountains of Cilicia. Tancred, who marched first, arrived 
 without obstacle under the walls of Tarsus, a celebrated city 
 of antiquity, which takes great pride from having been the 
 birthplace of St. Paul. The Turks who defended the place 
 consented to display the flag of the Christians on their walls, 
 and promised to surrender if they were not speedily relieved. 
 Tancred, whom the inhabitants, for the most part Christians, 
 alreadv considered as their deliverer, was encamping without 
 the walls, when he saw the detachment commanded by 
 Baldwin approach. The leaders and the soldiers congra- 
 tulated each other on their reunion, and expressed the 
 greater joy from having, reciprocally, taken each other for 
 enemies. 
 
 But this harmony was soon troubled by the pretensions 
 of Baldwin. The brother of G-odfrey was indignant at 
 seeinf the colours of Tancred and Bohemond flying on the 
 walls of Tarsus. He declared that as his troop was the 
 more numerous, the city ought to belong to him. He de- 
 manded, at least, that the two parties should enter together 
 into the place, and should share the spoils of the garrison 
 and the inhabitants. Tancred rejected this proposition with 
 scorn, and said that he had not taken arms for the purpose 
 of pillaging Christian cities. At these words Baldwin broke 
 into a rage, and bestowed the grossest abuse upon Tancred, 
 Bohemond, and the whole race of Xorman adventurers. 
 
 * Now Konieh, in Caramania.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 117 
 
 After long debates, it was agreed on both sides, that the 
 affair should be decided by the inhabitants, and that the city- 
 should belong to "whichever they should choose for master. 
 The assembled people at first appeared inclined towards 
 Tancred, to whom they thought they owed their deliverance; 
 but Baldwin made the Tui-ks and the inhabitants sensible of 
 the superiority of his numbers, and threatened them vdth 
 his anger and his vengeance. The fear which he inspired 
 decided the suffrages in his favom- ; and the flag of Tancred 
 was cast into the ditches of the town, and replaced by that 
 of Baldwin.* 
 
 Blood was about to flow to avenge this outrage, but the 
 Italians and Normans, appeased by their chief, listened to 
 the voice of moderation, and quitted the disputed city to 
 seek other conquests elsewhere. Baldwin entered in triumph 
 into the place, of which the fortress and several towers were 
 still in possession of the Turks. He so much feared that 
 his new conquest would be disputed, that he refused to open 
 the gates to three hundred Crusaders whom Bohemond had 
 sent to the assistance of Tancred, and who demanded an 
 asylum for the night. These latter, being obliged to pass 
 the night in the open field, were siu-prised and massacred by 
 the Tiu-ks. The following morning, at the sight of their 
 brethren stretched lifeless, and stripped of their arms and 
 vestments, the Christians could not restrain their indigna- 
 tion. The city of Tarsus resounded with their groans and 
 complaints. The soldiers of Baldwin flew to arms, they 
 threatened the Turks who still remained in the place, and 
 vowed vengeance upon their own leader, whom they accused 
 of the death of their companions. At the first outbreak of 
 this danger Baldwin was obliged to fly, and take refuge in 
 one of the towers. A short time after he appeared sur- 
 rounded by his own people, mourning with them the death 
 
 * Ancient history presents us with something exceedingly like that 
 which is rel-ited here. During the civil wars that divided the Roman 
 empire under the triumvirate, Cassius and Dolabella disputed the posses- 
 sion of the town of Tarsus. Some, says Appian, had crowned Cassius, 
 who had arrived first in the city; others had crowned Uolabella, who 
 came after him. Each of the two parties had given a character of public 
 authority to their proceedings; and in conferring honours, first to one and 
 then to the other, they each contributed to the misfortunes of a city so 
 versatile in its likings. — Appian, Hist, of the Civil Wars, b. iv. c. 8.
 
 118 HISTORY OF THE CErSADES. 
 
 of the Crusaders, and excused himself by sajdng, that he 
 had bound hhnself by an oath that none but his o\Yn soldiers 
 should enter the town. Thus speaking, he pointed to several 
 towers which were still occupied by the Turks. In the midst 
 of the timiidt, some Christian women, whose noses and ears 
 the Turks had cut off, by their presence added to the fury of 
 the soldiers of Baldwin, and they immediately fell upon the 
 Tui'ks who remained in the city, and massacred them all 
 \\'ithout pity. 
 
 In the midst uf these scenes of violence, Baldwin received 
 an unexpected reinforcement. A fleet was seen approaching 
 the coast full sail. The soldiers of Baldwin, who expected 
 to have to deal with more infidels, hastened fullv armed to 
 the shore. As the fleet drew near, they interrogated the 
 crew of the first ship. The crew replied in the Frank lan- 
 guage. Soon they learnt that these, whom they had taken 
 to be Mussulmans, were pirates from the ports of Flanders 
 and Holland. These corsairs had for ten years cruised in 
 the Mediterranean, where thev had made themselves re- 
 markable by their exploits, and still more frequently by 
 their pii^acies. Upon hearing of the expedition of the 
 Christians of the West, they had made sail for Syria and 
 Palestine. On the imitation of the Crusaders, they joA'fully 
 entered the port of Tarsus. Their chief, Guymer, who was 
 a Boulonnais, recognised Baldwin, the son of his ancient 
 master, and promised with his companions to serve under 
 him. Thev all took the cross, and with it the oath to share 
 the glory and the labours of the holy war. 
 
 Aided by this new reinforcement, and lea^'ing a strong 
 garrison in the city of Tarsus, Baldwin resumed his march, 
 follo^ving the route of Tancred, and soon came in sight of 
 Malmistra,* of which the Italians liad just taken possession. 
 The latter, on seeing Baldwin, were persuaded that he was 
 come to dispute their new conquest, and prepared to repulse 
 force by force. AYhen Tancred endeavom^ed to appease his 
 irritated soldiers, murmiu-s arose against him. They accused 
 him of having forgotten the honour of chivalry, his modera- 
 tion beinof in their eves nothino: but a shameful weakness. 
 
 * This is the Me»sis of Abouifeda. See an article upon this city in 
 Mannert, torn. vi. p. 2, p. 101, which is very learned and very well done.
 
 niSTORY or THE CUUSABES. 119 
 
 The effect that such reproaches must have had upon a spirit 
 like that of Taucred, may be easily imagined. The moment 
 they suspected his coui^age, he no longer made an ettort to 
 restrain his anger, and swore to avenge his wrongs in the 
 blood of his rival. He himself led the soldiers, and rushed 
 out of the town at their head to encounter the troops of 
 Baldwin. They at once came to blows. On both sides 
 courage was equal; but the fury of revenge doubled the 
 efforts of the Italians. The soldiers of Baldwin had the 
 advantage in numbers. They fought with the animosity 
 peculiar to ci\al wars ; but at length the troops of Tancred 
 were forced to give way ; they left many of their companions 
 in the hands of their adversaries and upon the field of battle, 
 and re-entered the town deploring their defeat in silence. 
 
 jN'ight restored calm to their excited spirits. The soldiers 
 of Tancred had acknowledged the superiority of the Flemings, 
 and believed, as blood had flowed, they had no longer any 
 outrage to avenfre, whilst the followers of Baldwin remem- 
 bered that the men whom they had conquered were Chris- 
 tians. On the morrow nothing was heard on either side but 
 the voice of humanity and religion. The two chiefs at the 
 same time sent deputies, and in order to avoid an appearance 
 of asking for peace, both attributed their overtiuTs to the 
 inspiration of Heaven. They swore to forget their quarrels, 
 and embraced in sight of the soldiers, who reproached them- 
 selves with the sad effects of their animosity, and longed to 
 expiate the blood of their brothers by new exploits against 
 the Turks. 
 
 Tancred with his troop departing from Malmistra, passed 
 in triumph along the coasts of Cilicia, and penetrated as far 
 as Alexandretta, of which he easily took possession. In 
 proportion as he made himself dreaded by his enemies, he 
 made himself the more beloved by his companions. When 
 he rejoined the Christian army covered with glory and loaded 
 with booty, he heard all around him nothing but praises of 
 his moderation and valour, The presence of Baldwin, who 
 had preceded him, on the contrary, oidy excited murmurs, 
 as they attributed to him the death of so many Christian 
 soldiers. Grodfrey loudly blamed the ambition and avarice 
 of his brother. But caring little for these reproaches, Bald- 
 win yielded to his rival, without pain, the suflrages of the
 
 •■-? 
 
 120 HISTORY OF THE CfiUSADES. 
 
 army, and preferred a principality to the love and esteem of 
 the Crusaders ; and fortune soon offered him an opportunity 
 of realizing his ambitious projects. 
 ( During the siege of ]S^ice, an Armenian prince named 
 ^j^Ht4iXPanciatius had come to join the ChiTifian army. In his 
 youth lie had been king of northern Iberia. Driven from 
 his kingdom by his own subjects, and for a length of time a 
 prisoner at Constantinople, he had followed the Crusaders in 
 the hope of re-concpiering his states. He had particularly 
 attached himself to the fortunes of Baldwin, whose aspiring 
 character he understood, and whom he hoped to associate in 
 his designs. He spoke to him continually of the rich pro- 
 vinces which extended along the two shores of the Euphrates.^ 
 These provinces, he said, were inhabited by a great number 
 of Christians, and the Crusaders had but to present them- 
 selves there to make themselves masters of them. These 
 discourses inflamed the ambition of Baldwin, who resolved a 
 second time to qiut the main army of the Christians, and to 
 go to the banks of the Euphrates, to conquer a coiuitry of 
 such boasted wealth. 
 
 He had just lost his wife, Gimdechilde, who had accom- 
 panied him to the crusade, and who was buried with great 
 pomp by the Christians. This loss did not stop him in the 
 execution of his projects. As he was not beloved in the 
 Christian army, when he was ready to set out no leader was 
 willing to join him, and several even of his own soldiers 
 refused to accompany him. He could only take with him 
 from a thousand to fifteen hundred foot-soldiers, a troop 
 despised in the army, and two hundred horsemen, seduced 
 by the hopes of pillage. But nothing coidd abate his ar- 
 dour, and as the chiefs of the crusade had decided in a 
 council that nobody should be allowed to withdraw from the 
 standard of the armv, he set out the dav before this decision 
 was published in the camp of the Christians.* At the head 
 of his little army he advanced into Armenia, finding no 
 enemy able to impede his march. Consternation reigned 
 among the Turks, and the Cln^istians, everj^where eager to 
 throw off the yoke of the Mussulmans, became powerful 
 auxiliaries to the Crusaders. 
 
 > 
 * When Baldwin quitted the Christian army, it had arrived at Marrash.
 
 irisTOiiY or THE crju^ADES. 121 
 
 Turbessel and Eavendel were tlie first cities that opeued 
 tlieir gates to the fortuiiate conqueror. This conquest soon 
 produced a separation between Baldwin and Pancratius, who 
 both entertained the same projects of ambition ; but this 
 ditference did not at all delay the march of the brother of 
 Grodfrey. The Crusader prince opposed violence to cun- 
 ning ; he threatened to treat his rival as an enemy, and thus 
 drove him away from tlie theatre of his victories. Baldwin 
 wanted neither guide nor assistance in a country of which 
 the inhabitants all flocked out to meet him. As he pursued 
 his march, fame carried his exploits into the most distant 
 places ; the intelligence of his conquests preceded him be- 
 yond the Euphrates, and reached even the city of Edessa. 
 
 This city, so celebrated in the times of the primitive 
 church, was the metropolis of Mesopotamia. As it had 
 escaped the invasion of the Turks, all the Christians of that 
 neighbourhood had, with their riches, taken refuge within 
 its waUs. A G-reek prince, named Theodore,* deputed by 
 the emperor of Constantinople, was the governor of it, and 
 maintained his power by paying tribute to the Saracens. 
 The approach and the victories of the Crusaders produced 
 the most lively sensations in the city of Edessa, The people 
 and the governor joined in soliciting the aid of Baldwin. 
 The bishop and twelve of the principal inhabitants were 
 deputed to meet the Crusader prince. They described to 
 him the Avealth of Mesopotamia, the devotion of their fellow- 
 citizens to the cause of Jesus Christ, and conjured him to 
 rescue a Christian city from the domination of the infidels. 
 Baldwin readily yielded to their prayers, and immediately 
 prepared to cross the Euphrates. 
 
 He had the good fortune to escape the Turks, who were 
 waiting for him on his passage, and without drawing a 
 sword he arrived in the territories of Edessa. As he had 
 placed garrisons in the cities which had fallen into his 
 power, he had no greater force with him than one hundred 
 horsemen. As soon as he drew near to the city, the whole 
 
 * None of the Latin historians have given us the name of the governor 
 of Edessa. The name of Theodore is found in the History of Matthew of 
 Edessa, from which we have taken, according to the translation of 
 M. Corbied, several curious details, which would be sought for in vain 
 elsewhere.
 
 122 HISTOKY or TKE CEUS.U)£S. 
 
 population came out to meet him, bearing branches of olive 
 and singing hymns. It must have been a curious spectacle 
 to behold so small a number of warriors, surrounded by an 
 immense multitude, who implored their support and pro- 
 claimed them their hberators. They were welcomed with^ 
 so much enthusiasm, that the prince or governor of Edessa, 
 who was not beloved by the people, took umbrage, and began 
 to see in them enemies more to be dreaded by him than the 
 Saracens. In order to attach their chief to himself, and 
 engage him to support his authority, he offered him great 
 riches. But the ambitious Baldwin, whether because he 
 expected to obtain more from the affections of the people 
 and the fortune of his arms, or that he considered it dis- 
 graceful to place himself in the pay of a foreign prince, 
 refused with contempt the offers of the governor of Edessa, 
 and even threatened to retire and abandon the city. The 
 inhabitants, who di*eaded his departure, assembled in a 
 tumultuous manner, and implored him Avith loud cries to 
 remain amonsf them : the orovernor himself made new efforts 
 to detain the Crusaders, and to iaterest them in his cause. 
 As Baldwin had made it pretty clearly understood that he 
 woidd never defend states that were not his own, the prince 
 of Edessa, who was old and childless, determined to adopt 
 him for his son and nominate him Ms successor. The cere- 
 mony of the adoption was performed in the presence of the 
 Ci-usaders and the hihabitants. According to the custom of 
 the Orientals,* the Greek prince made Baldwin pass be- 
 tween his shirt and his naked skin, and kissed liim as a sign 
 of alliance and paternity. The aged wife of the governor 
 repeated the same ceremony, and from that time Baldwin, 
 considered as then' son and heir, neglected nothing for the 
 defence of a cit}' which was to belong to him. 
 
 An Armenian prince, named Constantine, who governed 
 a province in the neighbourhood of Mount Taurus, had also 
 come to the assistance of Edessa. Baldwin, seconded by 
 this useful auxiliarv. and followed by his own horsemen and 
 the troops of Theodore, took the field, in order to attack 
 
 /• /. 
 
 * Intra lineam interulam, quam nos rocamus cotnisiatn, nudum intrare 
 eum faciens, sibi adstrhijcit ; et deinde omnia osculo libata firmavit ; 
 idem et mulier post modum fecit. — Guib. Abb. lib. iii. ad finem. 
 
 V
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 125 
 
 tune, hastened to Edessa, to increase the army and the court 
 of the new monarch. The advantages which resulted to the 
 Crusaders from the foundation of this new state, have made 
 their historians forget that they were the fruit of injustice 
 and Aaolence. The principaHty of Edessa served as a check 
 upon the Turks and the Saracens, and was, to the period of 
 the second crusade, the principal bidwark of the power of 
 the Christians in the East.
 
 \lil^ 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 A.D. 1097—1099. 
 
 The great army of the Crusaders had traversed the states 
 of the sultan of !Xice and Iconium ; throughout its passage 
 the mosques were given up to the flames or converted into 
 churches : but the Christians had neglected to fortify the 
 cities of which they had-rendered themselves masters, or to 
 found a military colony in a country wherein the Turks were 
 always able to rally and re-establish their fonnidable power. 
 This fault, which must be attributed to a too great confidence 
 in victory, became fatal to the Crusaders, who, in the midst 
 of their tiiumphs, lost the means of communication -sNith 
 Europe, and thus deprived themselves of the assistance they 
 might have received from Greece and the "U^est. 
 
 TeiTor opened to the pilgrims aU the passages of Mount 
 Taurus. Throughout their triumphant march the Christians 
 had nothing to dread but famine, the heat of the climate, 
 and the badness of the roads. They had, particularly, much 
 to suffer in crossins: a momitain situated between Coxon and 
 Marash, which their historians denominate '* The Mountain 
 of the Devil.'" This mountain Avas very steep, and offered 
 only one narrow path, in which the foot-soldiers marched 
 with difficulty; the horses, which could not keep their 
 footinfj, draiTojed each other down the abvsses ; and the 
 army lost a great part of its baggage. In the course of this 
 disastrous march, savs an historian who was an eve-witness, 
 the soldiers gave themselves up to despair, and refused to 
 proceed. Being encimibered Vidth their arms, they either 
 sold them at a low price or cast them down the precipices. On 
 all sides were to be seen waniors wounded by their frequent 
 falls, and pilgrims exhausted with fatigue, who could not con- 
 tinue their route, and filled the air and mountains with their 
 cries and groans. The passage of the Christian army across 
 this mountain occupied several days ; but when they had at 
 length passed the chains of Mount Taurus and Mount 
 Amanus, the sight of Syria revived their courage, and made
 
 HISTORY OF TUE CIUJSADE3. 123 
 
 the nearest Turkish cities. lie defeated the troops of the 
 emir Baidoukh in several encounters, and forced them to 
 retire into the city of Samosata. The Christians approached 
 the place, pillaged the subiu-bs, and the houses of the neigh- 
 bourhood, without meeting with the least resistance ; but as 
 they were engaged in dividing their booty, they were attacked 
 unexpectedly by the infidels and routed. After having lost 
 two thousand lighting men, they returned to Edessa, where 
 the news of their defeat spread the greatest consternation. 
 
 Misunderstandings soon broke out between Theodore and 
 Baldwin, who mutually reproached each other with their 
 reverses. The Edessenians, who had declared for the Cru- 
 sader prince, would not hear of any other master, and were 
 not long in satisfying his impatience to reign. They forgot 
 that Theodore^ by his courage and skill, had maintained their 
 independence in the centre of a country constantly exposed 
 to the invasions of the Mussulmans. They accused him of 
 having burdened his subjects with imposts, to satisfy the 
 avidity of the Turks, and wdth having employed the power 
 of infidels to oppress a Christian people. They formed, says 
 Matthew of Edessa, a plot against his life, of which Baldwin 
 w^as not ignorant. Warned of the danger which threatened 
 him, Theodore retired into the citadel, which commanded 
 the city, and placed no reliance on anything but force to 
 defend himself against the seditious. 
 
 Upon this a most furious tumult w'as created among the 
 people. The enraged midtitude flew to arms, and pillaged 
 the houses of the inhabitants who were suspected of being 
 the partisans of Theodore. They swore to treat him as a 
 declared enemy. They attacked the citadel, some beating in 
 the gates, and others scaling the walls. Theodore seeing 
 that his enemies were masters of one part of the ramparts, 
 no longer endeavoured to defend himself, but proposed to 
 capitulate. He agreed to abandon the place, and to renounce 
 the government of Edessa, requesting permission to retire, 
 with his family, to the city of Melitene. This proposition 
 was accepted with joy ; the peace was signed, and the inha- 
 bitants of Edessa swore upon the cross and the Evangelists 
 to respect the conditions of it. 
 
 On the following day, whilst the governor was preparing 
 for his departure, a fresh sedition broke out in the city. The 
 
 7*
 
 124 HISTORY or TUE CfiUSADES. 
 
 factious repented of ha-ving allowed a prince whom they had 
 so cruellv outraged, to live. Xew accusations were brought 
 against him. It was said that he had only signed the peace 
 Avith perfidious intentions. The furv of the people soon 
 rose above all bounds, and a thousand voices demanded the 
 death of Theodore. They penetrated, tumultuously, into the 
 citadel, seized the aged governor in the midst of his family, 
 and precipitated him from the heights of the ramparts. 
 His bleeding^ body was dragged thi'ough the streets by the 
 multitude, who prided themselves upon ha^-ing murdered an 
 old man as much as if they had gained a -^-ictory over the 
 infidels. 
 
 Bald^vin, who may, at least, be accused of not having 
 defended his adoptive father, was soon surrounded by all the 
 people of Edessa, who ofiered hun the government of the 
 cit}-. He refused it at fii'st, "but in the end," says an old 
 historian, " they combated his objections with so many 
 reasons, that they forced him to consent, and estabhshed him 
 instead of the other." BaldAvin was proclaimed hberator 
 and master of Edessa. Seated on a blood-^^^tained throne, 
 and in constant di-ead of the fickle nature of the people, he 
 soon inspired his subjects with as much fear as his enemies. 
 "Wliilst the seditious trembled before hun, he extended the 
 limits of his territories. He puiThased the city of Samosata 
 with the treasures of his predecessor, and obtaiQed posses- 
 sion of several other cities by force of arms. As fortune 
 favoured him ia everything, the loss even, which he had 
 lately experienced, of his wife, Gundechilde, promoted his 
 projects of aggi-andizement. He espoused the niece of an 
 Ai-menian prince, and by that new alliance he extended his 
 possessions as far as ]\Iount Taurus. All Mesopotamia, with 
 both shores of the Euphrates, acknowledged his authority, 
 and Asia then beheld a French knight reigning without dis- 
 pute over the richest provinces of the ancient kingdom of 
 Assyria. 
 
 Baldwin thought no more of the dehverance of Jerusalem, 
 but gave all his attention to the defence and aggrandizement 
 of his states.* 3Iany knights, dazzled by such a rapid for- 
 
 * In the first book of the Jerusalem Delivered, when the Eternai 
 turns his eyes on the Crusaders, he sees in Edessa the ambitious Baldwin, 
 who only aspires to human grandeurs, with which he is solely occupied.
 
 niSTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 129 
 
 the power of the Saracens, in the first age of the Hegira ; 
 it was afterwards retaken by the Greeks, under Nicephorus 
 Phocas ; and, fourteen years before, the Turks had rendered 
 themselves masters of it. At the approach of the Christians, 
 the greater part of the Saracens of the neighbouring cities 
 and provinces had sought security in Antioch for them- 
 selves, their ^^dves, and treasures. Baghisian,* or Accien, 
 grandson of Malek-Scha, who had obtained the sovereignty 
 of the city, had shut himself up in it, with seven thousand 
 horse and twenty thousand foot-soldiers. 
 
 The siege of Antioch presented many difficulties and 
 dangers. The chiefs of the Crusaders deliberated upon the 
 propriety of imdertaking it ; and the first who spoke in the 
 council thought that it would be imprudent to commence a 
 siege at the beginning of wiater. They did not dread the 
 arms of the Saracens, but the rains, the tempests, and the 
 horrors of famine. Thev advised the Crusaders to await in 
 the provinces and neighboui'ing cities the arrival of the aid 
 promised by Alexius, and the return of spring, by which time 
 the army would have repaired its losses, and received beneath 
 its standards fresh reinforcements from the AYest. This 
 counsel was listened to ^ith much impatience by the greater 
 part of the leaders, among whom were conspicuous the 
 legate Adhemar and the duke of Lorraine. " Ought we 
 not, at once," said they, "to take advantage of the terror 
 spread among the enemy ? Is it right to leave them time 
 to rally and recover from their alarm ? Is it not well kno\vn 
 that they have implored the succour of the caliph of Bagdad 
 and the sultan of Persia ? Every moment of delay may 
 strengthen the armies of the Mussulmans, and rob the 
 Christians of the fruits of their victories. You talk of the 
 arrival of the Greeks ; but do we stand in need of the Greeks 
 to attack enemies already many times conquered ? Was it 
 necessary to await for new Crusaders from the West, who 
 
 * The name of this Seljoucide prince has been disfigured by the greater 
 part of the Latin historians. Tudebode and the monk Robert call him 
 Cassianns; Foucher de Chartres, Gratianus ; William of Tyre, Acxianus; 
 Albert d'Aix, Darsianus : M. de Guignes, and the greater part of the 
 Orientalists, call him, after Abulfeda, Baghistan; but in oiher Oriental 
 historians he is named Akby Syran (brother of the black), which is more 
 conformable to the corrupt name of Accien, which he bears in our 
 " History of the Crusades."
 
 130 IIISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 
 
 Tvould come to share tlie glories and the conquests of the 
 Christian army, ^^ithout having shared its dangers and its 
 labours r As to the rigours of winter, which they appeared 
 so much to di-ead, it was an insult to the soldiers of Jesus 
 Christ to think them incapable of endiu-ing cold and rain. 
 It was, in some sort, to compare them to those birds of 
 passage which fly away and hide themselves in secret places, 
 when they see the bad season approach.* It was, besides, 
 impossible to think that a siege could be protracted to any 
 length with an army full of ardour and courage. The Cru- 
 saders had only to remember the siege of ]S'ice, the battle 
 of Dorylfeum, and a thousand other exploits. AVhy should 
 they be restrained by the fear of want and famine r Had 
 they not hitherto found in war all the resources of war ? 
 Thev must know that victory had always suppUed the wants 
 of the Crusaders, and that abundance awaited them in that 
 city of Antioch, which would not be long in opening its 
 gates to them." 
 
 This discourse won over the most ardent and the most 
 brave. Such as entertained a contrary opinion dreaded to 
 be accused of timidity, and remained silent. The council 
 decided that the siege of Antioch should at once be com- 
 menced : and on that verv day the whole Cliristian army 
 advanced under the walls of the city. Bohemond and Tan- 
 cred took their posts on the east, opposite the gate of St. 
 Paul ; to the right of the Italians were the Xormans, the 
 Bretons, the Flemings, and the French, commanded by the 
 two Eoberts ; the count de Yermandois and the count de 
 Chartres encamped towards the north, opposite the gate of 
 the Dog ; the count of Thoulouse, the bishop of Puy, and 
 the duke of Lorraine, ^vith the troops they commanded, 
 occupied the space which extended from the gate of the 
 Dog to the spot where the Orontes turning towards the west 
 approaches the walls of Antioch. The Crusaders left open 
 the southern part, defended by the mountain of Orontes, and 
 likewise neglected to invest the western side of the city, 
 
 * Plurimum quoque interest ad disciplinam militiae, insuescere milites 
 nostros, non solum parta victoria frui, sed si etiam res sit lentior, pati 
 tadium, et quamvis serae spei exitum eispectare, nee »tcut eestivas aveSy 
 instante hyeme, tecta ae recessum circumspicere . — Accolti, de Bello 
 contra Turcas, lib. ii.
 
 HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 127 
 
 them quickly forget all their fatigues. That country into 
 which they were about to enter embraced within its terri- 
 tories Palestine, the object of all their wishes, prayers, and 
 labours. In all ages Syria has attracted conquerors, by the 
 fertility of its soil and its wealth. In the time of David and 
 Solomon, it already boasted sevei-al flourishing cities. At 
 the period of the Crusades it had undergone a great many 
 re^'olutions, but its fields, though covered with celebrated 
 ruins, still preserved some portion of their fecundity. 
 
 The first of the Syrian provinces that presented itself to 
 the eyes of the Christians was the territory of Antioch. 
 Towards the east extended the states of the sultans of 
 Aleppo and Mousoul. Further, at the foot of Mount 
 Libanus, was seen the principality of Damascus ; on the 
 coast stood Laodicea, Tripoli, and the cities of Sidon and 
 Tyre, so celebrated in both sacred and profane antiquity. 
 All these cities, which scarcely maintained a shadow of their 
 former splendour, were governed by emirs who had shaken 
 off the yoke of the sultans of Persia, and reigned as sovereign 
 princes over the ruins of the empire of Malek-Scha. 
 
 The Crusaders advanced as far as the ancient Chalcis, 
 then called Artesia, of which they made themselves masters. 
 To arrive before Antioch they had to pass over a bridge 
 built over the Orontes, and defended by two towers masked 
 with iron. JS^othing could resist the van, commanded by the 
 duke of JNTormandy. The Normans soon got possession of 
 the bridge, and passed the river. Terror seized upon the 
 Mussulman ranks, and they sought shelter, with the greatest 
 haste, within the walls of the city. The whole Christian 
 army, drawn up in battle array, with trumpets sounding 
 and flags flying, marched towards Antioch and encamped 
 within a mile of its walls. 
 
 The sight of this city, so celebrated in the annals of 
 Christianity, revived the enthusiasm of the Crusaders. It 
 was within the walls of xlntioch that the disciples of Jesus 
 Christ first assumed the title of Christians, and the apostle 
 Peter was named the first pastor of the young church. No 
 city had contained within its bosom a greater number of 
 martyrs, saints, and doctors ; no city had beheld more 
 miracles worked for the faith. During many centuries, the 
 faithful had been accustomed to come into one of its
 
 128 niSTOEY OF THE CErsAD£S. 
 
 subui'bs to pray at the tomb of St. Babvlas, who, during 
 the reign of Julian, had silenced the oracles of Apollo. For 
 a long time Antioch was considered in Christendom as the 
 eldest daughter of Sion ; it bore the name of Theopolis (the 
 city of God), and pilgrims visited it with no less respect 
 than Jerusalem. 
 
 Antioch was as much celebrated in the annals of Rome as 
 in those of the Church. The magnificence of its edifices and 
 the residence of several emperors had obtained it the name 
 of the Queen of the East. Its situation, amidst a smiling 
 and fertile country, attracted strangers to it at all times. 
 At two leagues eastward was a lake abounding in fish, 
 which communicated with the Orontes ; whilst on the south, 
 were the submbs and the fountain of Daphne, so renowned 
 in paganism. Kot far from this arose the mountain of 
 Orontes, covered with gardens and country houses ; on the 
 north was another mountain, sometimes called the Black 
 Mountain, on account of its forests, and sometimes the 
 Water Mountain, on accoimt of its numerous springs. The 
 river Orontes* flowed at the foot of the ramparts of Antioch 
 towards the west, and fell into the sea at a distance of tlu'ee 
 or four leagues from the city. 
 
 Within the walls were four hills separated by a torrent, 
 which cast itself into the river. Upon the western hill was 
 built a very strong citadel, which dominated over the city. 
 The ramparts of Antioch, whose sohdity equalled that of a 
 rock, were three leagues in extent. " This place," says an 
 old author, " was an object of terror to those who looked 
 upon it, for the number of its strong and vast towers, which 
 amounted to three hundred and sixtv." Wide ditches, the 
 river Orontes and marshes, still further protected the inha- 
 bitants of Antioch, and cut off an approach to the city. 
 
 In spite of all these fortifications of nature and art,t 
 Antioch had been several times taken. It fell at once into 
 
 * At the present day named Aassy (the Rebel), or el Macloub, the 
 Reversed, because it flows from south to north, an opposite direction to 
 that of the other rivers of the same country. 
 
 t Ancient Antioch is not to be recognised in the straggling village 
 that the Turks call Antakie; it is even suflBciently difficult to ascertain its 
 ancient extent. We may consult the description of it given by Pococke 
 and Drummond, and compare it with that which is said by Raymond 
 d' Agiles, Albert d'Aix, William of Tyre, and the ancient historians.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 131 
 
 tvhicli the river protected, and thus gave the besieged liberty 
 to make sorties or receive succours. 
 
 The Tui'ks had shut themselves up within their walls ; not 
 a soul appeared upon the ramparts, and not the least noise 
 ■was heard in the citv. The Crusaders fancied that they saw 
 in this appearance of inaction and this profound silence the 
 discouragement and terror which had taken possession of 
 their enemies. Eliuded by the hope of an easy conquest, they 
 took no precautions, and spread themselves about over the 
 neighboimng country. The abundance of ^orovisions, the 
 beautifid sky of Syria, the fountain and the shades of 
 Daphne, and the banks of the Orontes, famous in Pagan 
 antiquity for the worship of Venus aud Adonis, made them 
 lose sight of the holy war, and spread license and corruption 
 among the soldiers of Christ. 
 
 AVhilst they thus neglected, amongst scenes of intem- 
 perance and debauchery, the laws of disciplme and the 
 precepts of the Scriptures, they were attacked by the gar- 
 rison of Antioch, which surprised them, some scarcely 
 guarding the camp, and the rest scattered about in the 
 neighbouring country. All Avhom the hopes of pillage or 
 the attractions of pleasure had di^awn into the villages and 
 orchards bordering upon the Orontes, met with either slavery 
 or death. Young Alberon, archdeacon of Metz, and son of 
 Coiu-ad, comit of Lunebourg, paid with his life for the enjoy- 
 ment of amusements which accorded but very little with the 
 austerit}^ of his profession. He was surprised by the Turks* 
 at the moment when, stretched upon the grass, he was 
 playing at dice with a Syrian courtezan. His head was 
 struck off with one blow of a sabre. The courtezan was 
 not killed till she had satisfied the brutal passion of their 
 conqueror. Their heads, with those of a great number of 
 Christians, were cast into the camp of the Crusaders, who 
 now deplored their disorders, and swore to take revenge for 
 their defeat. 
 
 The desire to repair one fault made them commit another. 
 
 * Alearum ludo pariter recreari et occupari cum matrona quadam, quae 
 magnae erat ingenuitatis et formositatis. jNIatronam vero vivara, et intac- 
 tam armis, rapientes traxerunt in urbem, per totam noctem immoderatse 
 libidinis suce incesto concubitu earn vexantes, nihilque humanitatis in 
 earn exhibentes. — Alb. Aq. lib. iii. p. 46.
 
 132 HISTOEY or THE CEUSJLDES. 
 
 Thev resolved upon scaling tlie walls of Aiitioch, without 
 ha\T.'ng either ladders or machines of war. The signal was 
 triveu for a general assault. Vengeance and fanaticiism 
 animated both soldiers and leaders ; but their eftbrts could 
 neither shake the walls of the city, nor disturb the security 
 of the besieged. Their attacks, though renewed several 
 times and at several points, were always unsuccessful. 
 Experience, for whose lessons they always paid so dearly, at 
 length taught them, that if they wished to make themselves 
 masters of the place, no other means was left them but to 
 invest it completely, and prevent the arrival of any succour 
 from without. 
 
 Thev established a bridge of boats upon the Orontes, and 
 passed some troops over towards the western side of the 
 citv. All the means in their power were employed to stoj) 
 the sorties of the enemy — sometimes they erected wooden 
 fortresses near the ramparts, whilst at others they prepared 
 baUstas, which launched large stones upon the besieged. The 
 Crusaders, in order to close the gate of the Dog upon the 
 Tui'ks, were obliged to heap up against it enormous beams 
 and fragments of rock. At the same time they intrenched 
 their camp, and redoubled their efforts to secui'e themselves 
 against siu'prise on the part of the Saracens. 
 
 The Christian army was now solely occupied with the 
 blockade of the citv. Although this determination was 
 dictated by imperious necessity, the slowness of a siege did 
 not at all agree -with the impatience of the warriors of the 
 "West. On their arrival before Antioch, the Chi-istian sol- 
 diers had dissipated in a few days the provisions of several 
 months : thev had onlv thought of fighting the enemv in 
 the field of battle, and, ever full of confidence in victory, 
 thev had neither sought to protect themselves against the 
 rigours of ^^^.nter, nor to prevent the approaches of the 
 famine with which they were threatened. 
 
 The want of provisions was not long before it was felt. 
 As soon as winter had set in, they found tliemselves a prey 
 to every species of calamity. Ton-ents of rain fell daily, 
 and the plains, an abode upon which had rendered the soldiers 
 of Christ efieminate, were almost all buried beneath the 
 waters. The Christian camp, particularly in the vaUey, was 
 submerged several times ; tempests and inundations carried
 
 IIISTOIIY OF THE CEUSADES. 133 
 
 away tlie pavilions and tents ; moisture relaxed the bows ; 
 and rust gnawed into both lances and swords. The greater 
 part of the soldiers Avere without clothes ; and contagious 
 diseases carried off both men and animals. Eains, cold, 
 famine, epidemic diseases, made such ravages, that, according 
 to the report of William of Tyre, the Crusaders had not 
 either time or space to bury their dead.* 
 
 In the midst of the general distress, Bohemond and 
 the duke of Normandy were commissioned to go and scour 
 the country in search of provisions. In the course of 
 their incursion they defeated several detachments of Sara- 
 cens, and returned to the camp Avith a considerable booty. 
 But the provisions they brought could not be sufficient to 
 support a large army for any length of time ; every da}^ they 
 made fresh incursions, and every day were less successful. 
 All the country of Upper Syria had been ravaged by the 
 Turks and Christians. The Crusaders Avho were sent on 
 these foraging parties often put the infidels to flight; but vic- 
 tory, which was almost always their only resource in moments 
 of want, could not bring back abundance to their camp. 
 
 To fill up the measure of their miseries, all communication 
 was stopped with Constantinople ; the fleets of the Pisans 
 and Genoese no longer coasted the countries occupied by 
 the Crusaders. The port of St. Simeon, situated at three 
 leagues from Antioch, saw no vessel now arrive from either 
 Greece or the West. The Flemish pirates, who had taken 
 up the cross at -Tarsus, after possessing themselves of Lao- 
 dicea, had been surprised by the Greeks, and Avere detained 
 prisoners during several Aveeks. The darkest future lay 
 before the Christians ; they no longer talked of anything but 
 of the losses they had sustained, and of the evils with Avhich 
 they Avere threatened ; each day the most afflicting intel- 
 ligence was spread through the array. 
 
 It Avas said that the son of Savcuo, king of Denmark, 
 Avho had assumed the cross, and was leading fifteen hundred 
 horsemen to the holy Avar, had been surprised by the Turks 
 
 * We have taken the details of the siege of Antioch from the following 
 authors : William of Tyre, Albert d'Aix, Baudry, Robert, Tudebode, 
 Raymond d'Agiles, Guibert, Raoul de Caen, Foiicher de Chartres, 
 Oderic-Vital, Paul Emile, Bernard Thesaurius, Accolti, Duchat, Mailly, 
 De Guignes, Albufaradge, &c. &c.
 
 134 UISTOET OF THE CltUSADES. 
 
 whilst advancing rapidly across the defiles of Cappadocia. 
 Attacked bv an enemy superior in numbers, he had defended 
 himself during a whole day, ^vithout being able to repulse 
 the infidels, ^Yith all the eftorts of his corn-age or the battle- 
 axes of his warriors. Tlorine, daughter of Eudes I., duke of 
 Biu'gundy, who accompanied the Danish hero, and to whom 
 he was to be married after the taking of Jerusalem, had 
 valiantly fought by his side. Pierced by seven arrows, but 
 still fighting, she sought with Sweno to open a passage 
 towards the mountains, when they were overwhelmed by 
 their enemies. They fell together on the field of battle, after 
 having seen all their kniofhts and their most faithful servants 
 perish around them. " Such were the news that came to 
 the camp of the Christians," says AYilliam of T}Te, "and so 
 full were they of sadness and grief, that more than ever were 
 their hearts depressed with the increase of their calamities." * 
 Each succeeding day famine and disease made greater 
 ravages. The provisions t brought to the camp by a few 
 S^Tians were at so high a price that the soldiers could not 
 obtain any ; the multitude filled the camp with lamentations, 
 and there was not a Crusader who had not to weep for the 
 death of several of his companions. Desertion was soon 
 added to the other scourges. The greater part of the Cru- 
 saders had lost all hope of taking Antioch, or of ever reaching 
 
 * The historian of Burgundy, Urbain Plancher, without alleging any 
 reason, and without quoting any authority, treats thjs event as a fahle, 
 although it is attested by William of Tyre, Albert d'Aix, and several other 
 nearly contemporary historians. Mallet says nothing of it in his " His- 
 tory of Denmark;" nevertheless Langbeck, in his collection of the Danish 
 historians, says he has seen a basso-relievo, in bronze, in which the Sweno, 
 of whom this history speaks, is represented with the attributes of a 
 Crusader. This basso-relievo was executed by the order of Christian V. ; 
 at the bottom of the portrait of Sweno are several Latin verses which 
 describe his glorious and tragical death. The " Scriptores Rerum Dani- 
 carum" may be consulted for the dissertation in which Langbeck dis- 
 cusses the passages of the ancient historians, and clearly demonstrates the 
 truth of their accounts. This dissertation is entitled, " Infelix Suenonis 
 Danici adversus Turcas." 
 
 t According to William of Tyre, the bread which sufficed for the daily 
 food of one man cost two sous instead of a denier ; an ox two marks of 
 silver, instead of five sous ; a kid or a lamb five or six sous, instead of 
 three or four deniers ; the expense of a horse for a single night arose as 
 high as eight sous, whilst it had only been two or three deniers at the 
 commencement ot the siege.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CErSADES. 135 
 
 the Holy Land. Some sought refuge from misery in Meso- 
 potamia, now governed by Baldwin ; whilst others repaired 
 to the cities of Cilicia which had fallen into the hands of the 
 Christians. 
 
 The duke of Normandy withdrew to Laodicea, and did 
 not return until he had received three summonses from the 
 army in the name of religion and of Jesus Clu-ist. Tatius, 
 the general of Alexius, quitted the camp of the Crusaders 
 with the troops he commanded, promising to return with 
 reinforcements and provisions. His departure caused little 
 regret, and his promises, in which they had no confidence, 
 did not at all alle\date the despair of the sufferers. This 
 despair was carried to its height among the defenders of the 
 cross Avhen thev saw those who ouofht to have set them an 
 example of patience and courage desert them. William, 
 viscount de Melun, whose extraordinary exploits with the 
 battle-axe had procured him the name of the Carpenter, 
 could not support the miseries of the siege, and deserted the 
 standard of Christ,* Tlie preacher of the crusade, Peter 
 the Hermit, whom the Christians, doubtless, blamed for all 
 the miseries of the siege, was unable to bear their complaints 
 or share their misfortunes ; and despairing of the success of 
 the expedition, he fled secretly from the camp.f His deser- 
 tion caused a great scandal among the pilgrims, " and did 
 not astonish them less," says Abbot Gruibert, "than if the 
 stars had fallen from the heavens." Pursued and overtaken 
 by Tancred, he and William the Carpenter were brought 
 back disgraced to the camp. The army reproached Peter 
 with his base desertion, and made him sM'ear upon the Scrip- 
 tures that he would never again abandon a cause which he 
 had preached. They threatened with the punishment usually 
 inflicted upon homicides all M'ho should follow the example 
 he had given to his companions and brothers. 
 
 But in the midst of the corruption which reigned in the 
 Christian army, ^drtue itself might have thought of flight, 
 and have excused desertion. If contemporary accounts are 
 
 * Sed non hoc metu prseliorum, ut speramus, fecerat ; sed tantum famis 
 injuriam pati nunquam didicerat. — Rob. Mon. lib. iv. 
 
 •f This great faster, says IMaimbourg, who by a voluntary austerity 
 which had acquired him such a great reputation of sanctity, made profes- 
 sion to eat neither bread nor meat, could not endure a necessary fast.
 
 136 HlSTOltT OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 to be credited, all the vices of the infamous Babylon pre- 
 vailed among the liberators of Sion. Strange and unheard-of 
 spectacle ! Beneath the tents of the Crusaders famine and 
 voluptuousness formed a hideous union; impure love, an 
 unbounded passion for play, with all the excesses of 
 debauch, were mingled with images of death.* In their 
 misfortunes, the greater part of the pilgrims seemed to 
 disdain the consolations that might have been derived from 
 piety and virtue. 
 
 And yet the bishop of Buy, and the more -virtuous portion 
 of the clergy used every effort to reform the manners of the 
 Crusaders. They caused the voice of religion to hurl its 
 thunders asjainst the excesses of libertinism and licentious- 
 ness. They recalled to their minds all the evils that the 
 Christian army had suffered, and attributed them entirely to 
 the vices and debaucheries of the defenders of the cross. 
 An earthquake which was felt at this time, an aurora borealis, 
 which was a new phenomenon to great part of the pilgrim.s, 
 were pointed out to them as an announcement of the anger 
 of Heaven. Fasts and prayers were ordered, to avert tlie 
 celestial indignation. The Crusaders made processions 
 round the camp, and hymns of penitence resounded from all 
 parts: The priests invoked the wrath of the Church against 
 all who should betray the cause of Christ by their sins. To 
 add to the terrors which the threats of religion inspired, a 
 tribunal, composed of the principal leaders of the army and 
 the clergy, was charged with the pursuit and punishment of 
 the guilty. Men surprised in a state of intoxication had 
 their hair cut off; whilst blasphemers, or such as gave them- 
 selves up to a passion for play, were branded with a hot iron. 
 A monk accused of adultery, and convicted by the ordeal 
 of fire, was beaten with rods, and led naked through the 
 camp. As the judges became aware of the guilty, they must 
 have been terrified at their numbers. The severest punish- 
 ments coidd not entirely stop the prostitution whicli had 
 become almost general. They determined upon shutting 
 up all the women in a separate camp — an extreme and im- 
 prudent measure, which confounded vice and virtue, and 
 
 * Et quis esse poterat aditus voluptatis, ubi erat indesinens suspicio 
 mortis ! — Guib. lib. vi. cap. 15.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 137 
 
 produced crimes more disgraceful than those they desired to 
 prevent. 
 
 Among all these calamities, the camp of the Crusaders 
 was filled with Syrian spies, who daily bore into the city 
 accounts of the plans, the distress, and the despair of the 
 besiegers. Bohemond, in order to deliver the army, employed 
 a means of a nature to disgust CA^en barbarians. My pen 
 refuses to trace such pictures, and I leave William of T}Te, 
 or rather his old translator, to speak. " Bohemond," says 
 he, " commanded that several Turks, M'hom he held in close 
 confinement, should be brought before him. These he 
 caused instantly to be executed by the hands of the officers 
 of justice, and then ordering a great fire to be lighted, he 
 had them spitted and roasted, as flesh prepared for the 
 supper of himself and his troops ; at the same time com- 
 manding, that if any one made inquiries about what was 
 going on, that they should be answered in this fashion: 
 ' The princes and rulers of the camp have this day decreed 
 in council, that all Turks or spies that shall henceforward he 
 found in their camp, shall he, in this maimer, forced to make 
 meat icith their oivn bodies, as ivell for the princes as the 
 tvhole army.^ " 
 
 The servants of Bohemond executed exactly the orders 
 and instructions which he had given them. The strangers 
 who were in the camp soon flocked to the quarters of the 
 prince of Tarentum, and when they saw what was going on, 
 adds our ancient author, ivere marvellously terrified, fearing 
 to share the fate of the victims. They made haste to quit 
 the camp of the Christians, and everywhere on their road 
 spread an account of that which they had seen. Their story 
 flew from mouth to mouth, even to tlie most distant countries : 
 the inhabitants of Antioch, and all the Mussulmans of the 
 Syrian cities, were seized with terror, and no more ventured 
 to approach the camp of the Crusaders. " By these means," 
 says the historian we have above quoted, " it ensued from 
 the cunning and conduct of the seigneiir Bohemond, that 
 the pest of spies was banished from the camp, and the 
 enterprises of the Christians were not divulged to the 
 enemy." 
 
 The bishop of Buy, at the same time, employed a strata- 
 gem much more innocent and conformable with the spirit of
 
 138 HISTOET OF THE CEL'SADES. 
 
 liis ministiy and his profession. He caused tlae lands in the 
 neighbourhood of Antioch to be ploughed and sowed, in 
 order to protect the Cln^stian armv from the attacks of 
 famine, and, at the same time to lead the Saracens to believe 
 that nothing could exhaust the perseverance of the besiegers. 
 
 In the meanwhile the winter was stealing away ; the con- 
 tagious diseases committed fewer ravages ; and the princes 
 and the monasteries of Armenia sent pro^'isions to the 
 Christians.* The famine began to be less felt. The ameh- 
 oration in the condition of the pilgrims was attributed to 
 their penitence and their conversion ; and they returned 
 thanks to Heaven for ha^■ino; made them better and more 
 worthy of its protection and mercy. 
 
 It was at this period that ambassadors from the caliph of 
 Egvpt arrived in the camp of the Crusaders. In the pre- 
 sence of the infidels the Christian soldiers endeavoured to 
 conceal the traces and remembrances of the lengthened 
 miseries thev had undersrone. Thev clothed themselves in 
 their most precious vestments, and displayed their most 
 brilhant arms. Knights and barons contended for the glory 
 of strength and skill in tournaments. Xothing was seen 
 but dancing and festivity, amidst which abundance and joy 
 appeared to reign. The Egyptian ambassadors were received 
 in a magnificent tent, in which were assembled all the prin- 
 cipal leaders of the army. They did not disguise, in their 
 address, the extreme aversion that their master had always 
 entertained for an alliauce "«"ith the Christians ; but the 
 victories which the Crusaders had gained over the Turks, 
 those eternal enemies of the race of Ali, had led him to 
 beheve that God himself had sent them into Asia, as the 
 instruments of his vengeance and justice. The Eg\'prian 
 caliph was disposed to ally himself with the rietorious 
 Christians, and was preparing to enter Palestine and Svria. 
 As he had learnt that the wishes of the Crusaders were 
 confined to an ardent desire to behold Jerusalem, he pro- 
 mised to restore the Christian churches, to protect their 
 worship, and open the gates of the Holy City to all the 
 
 * This circumstance is taken from an Armenian manuscript of Matthew 
 of Edessa. It is surprising that the Latin historians have made no men- 
 tion of it ; but they never speak of any means of providing provisions 
 employed by the Crusaders.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 139 
 
 pilgrims, upon condition that they would repair thither 
 without arms, and Avould remain there no longer than one 
 month.' If the Crusaders submitted to these conditions, 
 the caliph promised to become their most generous supporter; 
 if they declined the blessing of his friendship, the nations 
 of Eg)^t and Ethiopia, with aU those that inhabit Asia 
 and Alrica, from the Straits of Grades to the gates of Bagdad, 
 would arise at the voice of the legitimate vicar of the pro- 
 phet, and would show the warriors of the West the power 
 of their arms. 
 
 This discourse excited violent murmurs in the assembly 
 of the Christians ; one of the chiefs arose to answer it, and 
 addressing hunself to the deputies of the caliph : " The 
 religion that we follow," said he to them, " has inspired us 
 "with the design of re-establishing its empire in the places in 
 which it was born ; and we stand in no need of the concur- 
 rence of the powers of the earth to accomplish our vows. 
 We do not come into Asia to receive laws or benefits from 
 Mussulmans, nor have we forgotten, besides, the outrages 
 committed by Egyptians upon the pilgrims of the West ; we 
 still remember that Christians, imder the reign of the caliph 
 Hakem, were delivered over to executioners, and that their 
 churches, particularly that of the Holy Sepulchre, were razed 
 to the ground. Yes, without doubt, we have the intention 
 of visiting Jerusalem, but we have also taken an oath to 
 deliver it from the yoke of the infidels. Grod, who has 
 honoured it by his sufferings, wills that he shall be there 
 served by his people. The Christians resolve to be both its 
 guardians and its masters. Go and tell him who sent you 
 to make choice of peace or war ; tell him that the Christians 
 encamped before Antioch fear neither the nations of Egypt, 
 nor those of Asia, nor those of Bagdad, and that they only 
 ally themselves with powers which respect the laws of justice 
 and the standards of Jesus Christ." 
 
 The orator who spoke thus expressed the opinion and 
 sentiments of the assembly: nevertheless, they did not 
 entirely reject the alliance with the Egyptians. Deputies 
 were chosen from the Christian army to accompany the 
 ambassadors of Cairo on their return, and to bear to the 
 caliph the definitive propositions of peace of the Crusaders. 
 
 Scarcely had the deputies left the camp of the Christians, 
 
 Vol. I.— 8
 
 140 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 -when the latter obtained a fresh victor}^ over the Turks. 
 The sultans of Aleppo and Damascus, ^-ith the emirs of 
 Csesarea, Emessa, and Hieropolis, had raised an army of 
 twenty thousand horse to succour Antioch ; and this army 
 was already on its march towards the city, when it was sur- 
 prised and' cut to pieces by the prince of Tarentum and the 
 count de St. Gilles, who had gone out to meet it. The 
 Turks lost in this battle two thousand men and one thousand 
 horses ; and the city of Harem, in which they in yain sought 
 an asylum after their defeat, fell into the hands of the Chris- 
 tians.* At the moment the ambassadors from Egypt were 
 about to embark at the port of St. Simeon, the heads and 
 spoils of two hundred Mussulmans were brought to them 
 upon four camels. The conquerors cast two hundred other 
 heads into the cit^' of Antioch, whose garrison was still in 
 eypectation of succour ; and they stuck a great number upon 
 pikes round the walls. They exhibited thus these horrible 
 trophies, to ayenge themselyes of the insults the Saracens 
 had, on their ramparts, heaped upon an image of the Virgin 
 which had fallen into their hands. 
 
 But the Crusaders were soon to signalize themselyes in a 
 much more perilous and murderous battle. A fleet of 
 Genoese and Pisans had entered the port of St. Simeon, and 
 the news of their arriyal causing the greatest joy in the 
 army, a great number of soldiers left the camp and hastened 
 towards the port, some to learn news from Europe, and 
 others to buy the proyisions of which they stood so much in 
 need. As they were returning loaded with proyisions, and 
 for the greater part luiarmed, they were unexpectedly 
 attacked and dispersed by a body of foiu' thousand Turks, 
 who laid wait for them on their passage. In yain the prince 
 of Tarentum, the count de St. Gilles, and Bishop Adhemar, 
 flew to their aid with their troops ; the Christians could not 
 resist the shock of the infidels, and retreated in disorder. 
 
 The account of this defeat soon spread alarm among the 
 Crusaders who had remained before the city. Immediately 
 Godfrey, to whom danger gaye supreme authority, ordered 
 the leaders and soldiers to fly to arms.* Accompanied by 
 
 * A chronicle printed at Paris in 1517, which bears for title, " Grand 
 Voyage d'Outre-Mer," places the following speech in the mouth of God-
 
 HISTORY or THE CEUSADES. 141 
 
 his brother Eustace, the two Eoberts, and the count de Yer- 
 mandois, he crossed the Orontes, and hastened to seek the 
 enemy, still engaged in following up their first advantage. 
 As soon as he came in presence of the Saracens, he com- 
 manded the other chiefs to follow his example, and rushed, 
 sword in hand, into the thickest of the enemy's ranks. The 
 latter, accustomed to fight at a distance, and principally to 
 employ the bow and arrow, could not resist the sword and 
 lance of the Crusaders. They took to flight, some towards 
 the mountains, and others towards the city. Accien, w^ho, 
 from the towers of his palace, had witnessed the victorious 
 attack of the Crusaders, immediately sent a numerous de- 
 tachment to renew the fight. He accompanied his soldiers 
 as far as the gate of the Bridge, which he caused to be shut 
 after them, telling them it should only be opened to them 
 when they returned victorious. 
 
 This new body of Saracens were soon beaten and dis- 
 persed ; and there remained no hope to them but to endeavour 
 to regain the city. But Godfrey, who had foreseen every- 
 thing, had posted himself upon an eminence between the 
 fugitives and the gates of Antioch. It was there that the 
 carnage was renewed ; the Christians were animated by their 
 victory, and the Saracens by their despair and the cries of 
 the inhabitants of the city, who were assembled on the ram- 
 parts. JSTothing can paint the frightful tumult of this fresh 
 conflict. The clashing of arms and the cries of the com- 
 batants would not permit the soldiers to hear the orders of 
 their leaders. They fought man to man, and without order, 
 whilst clouds of dust covered the field of battle. Chance 
 directed the blows of both the conquerors and the con- 
 quered, and the Saracens, heaped as it were together by 
 their terror, impeded their own flight. The confusion was 
 so great that several of the Crusaders were killed by their 
 
 frey : — " Brave seigneurs, my brothers and companions in Jesus Christ ; 
 if the news we hear be true, that for our sins these cruel dogs have thus 
 killed these valiant men, and of great consideration, I only perceive two 
 things, that we shall die with them as good and loyal Christians, assured 
 of receiving our guerdon from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for 
 whose service we came here and have quitted our native lands and our 
 kindred; or if it should please him, that he allow us to take vengeance 
 and obtain victory over these vile dogs who have thus degraded and 
 weakened Christianity in its valiant men."
 
 142 UISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 companions and brothers in arms. A great number of 
 Saracens fell almost ^Yitbout resistance under the swords of 
 the Christians, and more than two thousand, who sought 
 safety in flight, were drowned in the Orontes. " The old 
 men of Antioch," says William of Tyre, " whilst contem- 
 plating this bloody catastrophe from the height of their 
 walls, grieyed that the}'' had liyed so long, whilst the women 
 who "^T-tnessed the death of their children, lamented their 
 own fecundity." The carnage continued during the whole 
 day ; and it was not till night-fall that Accien allowed the 
 gates to be opened for the reception of the miserable remains 
 of his troops, still hotly pursued by the Crusaders. 
 
 The leaders and soldiers of the army had performed pro- 
 digies of yalour. Bohemond, Tancred, Adhemar, Bald^yin 
 du Bourg, and Eustace had appeared eyerywhere, leading 
 their warriors in the paths of danger. The whole army 
 spoke of the lance-thrusts and maryellous feats of arms of 
 the count de Yermandois and the two [Roberts. The duke 
 of jS^ormandy sustained a single combat witb a leader of 
 the infidels, who adyanced towards him surrounded by his 
 troop. With one blow of his sword he split his head to 
 the shoulder, and, as the Saracen fell dead at his feet, ex- 
 claimed, "J devote thy impure soul to the poicers of hell.'' ^ 
 Tancred, says Eaoul de Caen, distinguished himself amongst 
 the most intrepid of the knights. In the heat of the melee ^ 
 the Christian hero, as modest as he was braye, made his 
 squire swear to preserve silence upon the exploits of which 
 he was a witness.* " Godfrey, who, in this memorable day, 
 had displayed the skill of a great captain, signaHzed his 
 brayery and yast strength by actions which both history and 
 poetry haye celebrated. No armour seemed proof against 
 
 * Sed est quod stupeam, nee satis valeam stupere : cum homo tarn 
 pretiosus laudis emptor mox prsesentis ya armigeri silentio concluserit 
 adjurato. — Gest. Tunc. cap. 52 ; Muratori, vol. id. Tlie historian whom 
 we have just quoted endeavours to explain the fact which he relates. He 
 asks himself whether it was from modesty or a religious spirit, or whether 
 Tancred might fear not to be believed, either upon his own word or that 
 of his squire, that the Christian hero desired silence to be preserved. In 
 all these cases the fact appears to him to be a prodigy. He adds that the 
 squire was faithful to his oath, and that it was not till a long time after- 
 wards that the feats of Tancred on that day became known. We have 
 but to compare this with what old Horace says of his heroes.
 
 HISTORY or TIIJS CRUSADES. 143 
 
 bis trenchant blade ; lances, helmets, and cuirasses flew in 
 shivers beneath its strokes. A Saracen of surpassing strength 
 and stature offered him single combat in the midst of the 
 melee, and with his first blow dashed the shield of Grodfrey 
 in pieces. Indignant at such audacity, the Christian hero 
 raised himself in his stirrups, and rushing on his antagonist, 
 dealt him so terrible a blow on the shoulder, that he divided 
 his body into two parts.* The one, say the historians, fell 
 to the ground, whilst the other remained on the horse, which 
 returned to the city, where this spectacle redoubled the con- 
 sternation of the besieged. In spite of these astonishing 
 exploits, the Christians sustained a considerable loss. Whilst 
 celebrating the heroic valour of the Crusaders, contemporary 
 history is astonished at the multitude of martyrs which the 
 Saracens sent to heaven, and who, on arriving in the abodes 
 of the elect, Avith crowns upon their heads, and palm branches 
 in their hands, addressed God in these words : " Why have 
 you not spared our blood which has flowed for you this 
 
 *day?"t 
 
 The infidels passed the night in burpng such as had 
 been killed under the walls of the city. They interred them 
 near a mosque built on the outer side of the bridge of 
 the Orontes. After the funeral ceremonies, they returned into 
 Antioch. As, according to the custom of the Mussulmans, 
 these bodies had been buried with their arms, their orna- 
 ments, and their vestments, this plunder held out too strong 
 a temptation for the gross multitude that followed the army 
 of the Crusaders. They crossed the Orontes, precipitated 
 themselves in a crowd upon the graves of the Saracens, 
 exhumed the dead bodies, and tore off the arms and habili- 
 ments with which they were covered. They quickly retiu*ned 
 
 * Sic lubricus ensis super crus dextrum integer exigit, sicque caput 
 integrum cum dextra parte corporis iramersit gurgite, partemque quae 
 equo prsesidebat remisit civitati. — Rob. Mon. Cujus ense trajectus 
 Turcus duo factus est Turci; ut inferior alter in urbem equitaret, alter 
 arcitenens in flumine nataret. — Rad. Cad. 
 
 ■f* Feruntque in ilia die martyrisati ex nostris militibus seu peditibus 
 plusquam mille, qui in coelum loetantes ascendebant, atque candidati 
 ferentes stolam recepti martyrii, glorificantes et magnificantes Dominum 
 Deum nostrum trinum et unum, in quo feliciter triumphabant ; et dicebant 
 concordabili voce : Quare non defendis sanguinem nostrum, qui hodie pro 
 tuo nomine effusus est ? — Gesta Francorum, lib. xviii. cap. 18, p. 13.
 
 I4i4i HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 to exhibit in tlie camp tlie silk stuffs, bucklers, lances, jave- 
 lins, and rich swords found in the coffins ; nor did this 
 spectacle at all disgust the knights and barons. On the day 
 follo\ving the battle, among the spoils of the vanquislied, 
 they contemplated with joy fifteen hundi-ed heads separated 
 from their trunks, which were paraded in triumph through 
 the armv, recalling to them their own victory, and the loss 
 thev had inflicted on the infidels. All these heads were cast 
 into the Orontes, and, together with the bodies of the Mus- 
 sulmans di'owned in the conflict of the preceding day, carried 
 the news of the victory to the Genoese and Pisans disem- 
 barked at the port of 8t. Simeon. The Crusaders, who, at 
 the commencement of the battle, had fled towards the sea 
 or the mountains, and who had been lamented as dead, 
 retiuTied to the camp, and joined their brethren in the 
 thanks offered to heaven for the triumphs of the . Christian 
 army. From this time the cliiefs thought of nothing but 
 taking advantage of the teiTor with which they had inspired 
 the Saracens. Masters of the cemeterv of the Mussulmans, 
 the Crusaders destroyed the mosque which had been built 
 outside the walls of the city, and employed the stones of the 
 tombs even in erecting a fortress before the gate of the 
 brido-e, bv which the besieored made their sorties. Exiv- 
 mond, who had been accused of want of zeal for the holy 
 war, caused the fort to be constructed, and charged himself 
 with the defence of this dangerous post. It was proposed 
 to raise another fortress near the first, and as no other of 
 the leaders presented himself to forward the construction of 
 it, Tancred oflered his services to the Crusaders. But, 
 generous and loyal knight as he was, he possessed nothing 
 but his sword and his renown. He asked the necessary 
 money of his companions, and himself undertook the dangers 
 of the enterprise. All were eager to second his courageous 
 devotedness ; the labours which he directed were soon 
 finished, and from that period the besieged foimd themselves 
 completely enclosed within the circle of their walls. 
 
 The Crusaders, after having thus finished the blockade of 
 the place, sm'prised the Syrians who had been accustomed 
 to bring provisions into Antioch, and only gave them libei-ty 
 and life upon their swearing to supply the Christian army. 
 Having learnt that Accien had sent a great part of the
 
 USITORY OF THE CRUSADES. 145 
 
 horses of his garrison into a valley at a few leagues from the 
 city, they repaired thither by circuitous routes, and got pos- 
 session of this rich booty. Two thousand horses, and as 
 many mules, were led in triumph into the camp of the 
 Christians. 
 
 As the fleet of the Pisans and Grenoese had brought with 
 them a great number of labourers and engineers, they were 
 employed in directing and carrying on the works of the 
 siege. Machines of war were constructed, and the city of 
 Antioch was pressed more vigorously, and threatened on all 
 sides. AVhilst despair supplied the place of courage among 
 the Saracens, the zeal and emulation of the Crusaders were 
 redoubled. Many whom misery or fear had driven from the 
 Christian army rejoined their standards, and sought by their 
 exertions to obliterate the remembrance of their desertion. 
 The besiegers allowed themselves no repose, and only seemed 
 to live to fight. The women seconded the valour of the 
 warriors. Some mingled with them in the ranks, whilst 
 others bore them food and ammunition to the battle-field. 
 Children even formed themselves into troops, exercised 
 themselves in military evolutions, and took up arms against 
 the Saracens. The inhabitants of Antioch opposed their 
 children to those of the Christians, and several times these 
 5'oung combatants came to blows in the presence of the 
 besiegers and the besieged, who animated them with voice 
 and gesture, and joined the combat even to support such of 
 their party as seemed to yield. 
 
 There was formed at the same time another military force 
 still more formidable to the Saracens.* The mendicants 
 and vagabonds who followed the Christian army were em- 
 ployed in the labours of the siege, and worked under the 
 orders of a captain, who took the title of " Hoi truant,^'' or 
 king of the beggars. They received pay from the general 
 treasury of the Crusaders, and as soon as they were in a 
 condition to purchase arms and clothes, the king renounced 
 them as his subjects, and forced them to enter into one of 
 the troops of the army. This measure, whilst forcing the 
 vagabonds to abandon a life of dangerous idleness, changed 
 
 * These particulars are related by Abbot Guibert, lib. iv. In this 
 hifctorian will be found most particulars regarding morals.
 
 146 HISTORY or THE CIIUSJlDES. 
 
 them into useful auxiliaries. As they were accused of 
 violating tombs and feeding on human flesh,* they inspired 
 great terror among the iniidels, and the sight of them alone 
 put to flight the defenders of Antioch, who trembled at the 
 thoughts of falling into their hands. 
 
 Antioch was so closely pressed, and the garrison had so 
 little means of defence left, that the Crusaders expected 
 every day to become masters of it. Accien demanded a 
 truce of them, and promised to surrender if he were not soon 
 relieved. The Crusaders, ever full of blind confidence, had 
 the imprudence to accept the proposals of the governor. As 
 soon as they had concluded a truce with the Saracens, the 
 leaders of the army, wlio scarcely ever agreed, except upon 
 the field of battle, and whom the presence of danger did not 
 always unite, were upon the point of declaring war against 
 one another. 
 
 Baldwin, prince of Edessa, had sent magnificent presents 
 to Godfrey, the two Eoberts, the count de Yermandois, and 
 the counts of Blois and of Chartres, but in the distribution 
 of his favours had, designedly, omitted Bohemond and his 
 soldiers. I^othing more was necessary to create division. 
 Whilst the rest of the army were celebrating the liberality 
 of Baldwin, the prince of Tarentum and his warriors breathed 
 nothing but complaints and murmurs. 
 
 At this time a richly-ornamented tent, which an Armenian 
 prince destined for Godfrey, and which, falling into the hands 
 of Pancracius, was sent to Bohemond, became a fresh sub- 
 ject of trouble and discord. Godfrey haughtily claimed the 
 present which had been intended for him, and Bohemond 
 refused to give it up. On each side they proceeded to inju- 
 rious terms and threats ; they were even ready to have 
 recourse to arms, and the blood of the Christians was about 
 to flow for a miserable quarrel ; but at length the prince of 
 Tarentum, abandoned by the greater part of the army, and 
 overcome by the prayers of his friends, gave up the tent to 
 his rival, consoling himself in his vexation, with the hope 
 that war would soon put him in possession of a richer booty. 
 
 William of Tyre, who has transmitted to us this account, 
 
 * Rt si Sarracenum noviter interfectum invenerunt, illius carnes, ac si 
 essent pecudis, avidissime devorabant. — Gesta Francorum.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 147 
 
 is astonished to see the wise Godfrey claim such a frivolous 
 object with so much heat ; and in his surprise he compares 
 the weakness of the hero to the slumbers of the good Homer. 
 His thought would have been more just if he had compared 
 the discords and quarrels of the leaders of the crusade to 
 those which troubled the camp of the Greeks, and so long 
 retarded the taking of Troj. Wliilst these quarrels engaged 
 the attention of the whole Christian armv, the inhabitants 
 of Antioch were introducing reinforcements into the city, 
 and preparing for a fresh resistance. When they had 
 received the succours and provisions necessary to defend 
 themselves and prolong the siege, they broke the truce, and 
 again began the war, with all the advantages that a peace 
 too easily granted them had procured. 
 
 Antioch, after a siege of seven months, would have 
 escaped from the hands of the Christians, if stratagem, 
 policy, and ambition had not effected for tkem that which 
 patience and bravery had been iniable to achieve. Bohemond, 
 whose sole motive for undertaking the crusade had been a 
 desire to improve his fortunes, was constantly on the watch 
 for an opportunity of realizing his projects. Baldwin's 
 great success had awakened his jealousy, and haunted him 
 even in his sleep. He dared to direct his views to the pos- 
 session of xlntioch, and was so far favoured by circumstances, 
 as to meet with a man who might be able to place this city 
 in his power. This man, whose name was Phirous, was, 
 whatever some historians who give him a noble origin may 
 say, the son of an Armenian, who was by trade a maker of 
 cuirasses.* Of a restless and busy character, he was con- 
 stantly anxious to change and improve his condition. He 
 had abjured the Christian religion from a spirit of incon- 
 
 * Matthew of Edessa does not name the Mussulman who gave up 
 Antioch to the Christians. Abulfaradge calls him Ruzebach, and says 
 that he was a Persian by origin. Anna Comnena pretends that he was an 
 Armenian. Most historians call him Pyrrus, or Phirous. William of 
 Tyre gives him the name of Emir Feir, and Sanuti calls him Hermuferus. 
 It mav most probably be said that he had abjured Christianity. If authors 
 are not agreed as to his name, it may be believed that some have called 
 him by his proper name, and that others have designated him by a name 
 which expressed his profession. WiUiam of Tyre says that he was bora 
 of a family called in Armenian Beni Zerra, that is, the family of the makert 
 of cuirasses, 
 
 8*
 
 148 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 stancY, and in tlie hope of advancing his fortune ; he was 
 endowed with admirable self-possession, and with audacity 
 proof against any accident : and was at all times ready to 
 perform that for money which could only have been expected 
 from the most ardent fanaticism. Xothing appeared unjust 
 or impossible to him that promised to gratify his ambition 
 or his avarice. Being active, adroit, and insinuating, he had 
 wormed himself into the confideuce of Accien, and was 
 admitted into his council. The prince of Antioch had in- 
 trusted him with the command of three of the principal 
 towers of the place. He defended them at first with zeal, 
 but without any advantage to his fortune, and he grew weary 
 of a barren fideht^' the moment his busy brain suggested 
 that treason might be more profitable. In the intervals of 
 the various conflicts he had had many opportunities of seeing 
 the prince of Tarentum. These two men divined each other's 
 character at the fii'st glance, and it was not long before this 
 spnpathy proouced mutual confidence. In their first meet- 
 ings Phirous complained of the outrages he had experienced 
 from the Mussulmans ; he deeply regretted having abandoned 
 the religion of Christ, and wept over the persecutions the 
 Christians had suflered in Antioch. Xo more than this was 
 required to place the prince of Tarentum in possession of 
 the secret thoughts of Phirous. He commended both his 
 remorse and his good feeling, and made him the most mag- 
 nificent promises. Then the renegado opened his heart to 
 him. They swore an inriolable friendship to each other, 
 and planned an active correspondence. They met several 
 times afterwards, but always with the greatest secrecy. At 
 everv interview Bohemond told Phirous that the fate of the 
 Christians was in his hands, and that it only rested with 
 himself to merit their gratitude, and receive from them vast 
 recompenses. On his side, Phirous protested that he was 
 anxious to serve the Christians, whom he considered as his 
 brothers, and, in order to assure the prince of Tarentum of 
 his fidelity, or else to excuse his treason, he said that Jesus 
 Christ had appeared to hitn, and had advised him to give up 
 Antioch to the Cliristians.* Bohemond required no such 
 
 * Apparuit enim ei Dominus Jesus Christus per visxim, et ait ; Vade et 
 redde civitatem Christianis. — Gesta Franconim, lib. v. cap. 12.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 149 
 
 protestation. He had no difficulty in believing what he so 
 ardently desired, and as soon as he had agreed with Phirous 
 upon the means of executing the projects they had so long 
 meditated, he called an assembly of the principal leaders of 
 the Christian army. He began by laying before them with 
 much earnestness both the evils with which the Crusaders 
 had hitherto been afflicted, and the still greater evils with 
 which they were threatened. He added, that a powerful 
 army was advancing to the assistance of Antioch ; that a 
 retreat could not be effected v^ithout disgrace and danger ; 
 and that there remained no safety for the Christians but in 
 the capture of the city. It was true, the place was defended 
 by impregnable ramparts ; but they should recollect that aU 
 victories were not obtained by force of arms or in the field 
 of battle ; and that such as were won by address were 
 neither the least important nor the least glorious. They, 
 then, who could not be conquered must be deceived, and the 
 enemy must be overcome by a great but skilful enterprise. 
 Among the inhabitants of Antioch, so diverse in their man- 
 ners and religions, so opposed in their interests, there must 
 be some to be found who would be accessible to the bait of 
 gold, or the allurements of brilliant promises. The question 
 of a ser\ice so important to the Christian army, was of such 
 magnitude that it was right to promote every kind of under- 
 taking. The possession of Antioch itself did not appear to 
 him to be too high a reward for the zeal of him who should 
 be sufficiently adroit, or sufficiently fortunate, as to throw 
 open the gates of the city to the Crusaders. 
 
 Bohemond was careful not to explain himself more clearly, 
 but his purpose was easily divined by the jealous ambition 
 of some of the leaders, who perhaps entertained the same 
 views as himself. E-aymond, particidarly, warmly refuted 
 the artful insinuations of the prince of Tarentum. " We 
 are all," said he, " brothers and companions, and it would be 
 unjust, after all have run the same risks, that one alone 
 should gather the fruits of our joint labours. For myself," 
 added he, casting a look of anger and contempt upon Bohe- 
 mond, •' I have not traversed so many countries, braved so 
 many perils, lavished so much blood and treasure, or sacri- 
 ficed so many of my soldiers, to repay with the price of our 
 COlKJuests some gross artifice or shameful stratagem worthy
 
 J.50 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 only of women." These vebement words had all the success to 
 be expected among warriors accustomed to prevail by force 
 of arms, and who esteemed no conquest that was not the 
 reward of yalom\ The greater number of the leaders 
 rejected the proposition of the prince of Tarentum, and 
 added their railleries to those of Eaymond. Bohemond, 
 whom history has surnamed the Ulysses of the Latins, did- 
 all in his power to restrain himself and conceal his vexation. 
 He went out from the council smiling, persuaded that 
 necessity would soon bring the Crusaders to his opinion. 
 
 As soon as he had regained his tent, he sent emissaries 
 through all the quarters of the camp to spread secretly the 
 most alarming intelligence. As he foresaw, consternation 
 seized the Christians. Some of the leaders were sent to 
 ascertain the truth of the reports prevalent in the camp ; 
 and soon returned with an accoimt that Kerbogha, sultan of 
 Mossoul, was advancing towards Antioch with an army of 
 two hundred thousand men, collected on the banks of 
 the Euphrates and the Tigris. This army, which had 
 threatened the city of Edessa and ravaged Mesopotamia, 
 was at a distance of only seven days' march. At this 
 recital the fears of the Crusaders were redoubled. Bohe- 
 mond passed through the ranks, exaggerating the danger, 
 and affecting to show more depression and terror than all 
 the rest ; but in his heart he was dehghted, and smiled at 
 the idea of soon seeing all his hopes accomplished. The 
 leaders again assembled to deliberate upon the means neces- 
 sary to be taken in such perilous circumstances. Two 
 opijiions di^-ided the council. Some T^ished that the siege 
 should be raised, and that they should march to meet the 
 Saracens ; whilst others were of opinion that the army 
 should be formed into two bodies, one of which should act 
 against Kerbogha, whilst the other should remain to guard 
 the camp. This last opinion appeared likely to prevail, 
 when Bohemond demanded permission to speak. He had 
 not much difficulty in making them sensible of the imprac- 
 ticability of both the plans proposed. If they raised the 
 siege, they would be placed between the garrison of Antioch 
 and a formidable army. If they continued the blockade of 
 the city, and half of the army only went to meet Kerbogha, 
 they were almost certain of a defeat. " The greatest penis,"
 
 IIISTORT OF TilE CRUSADES. 151 
 
 added the prince of Tarentmii, " surround us. Time presses ; 
 to-morrow, perhaps, it will be too late to act ; by to-morrow 
 we may have lost the fruits of all our labours and all our 
 victories ; but no, I cannot think so ; God, who has led us 
 hitherto by the hand, will not allow that we shall have 
 fought for his cause in vain. He ivlll save the Christian 
 army, he ivill conduct us to the tomb of his Son. If you 
 will accept the proposal I have made to you, to-morrow the 
 standard of the cross shall float over the walls of Antioch, 
 and we will march in triumph to Jerusalem." 
 
 When he had finished these words, Bohemond showed 
 the letters of Phirous, who promised to give up the three 
 towers which he commanded. Phirous said that he 
 was ready to perform this promise, but he declared he 
 would have nothing to do with any one but the prince of 
 Tarentum. He required, as the price of his services, that 
 Bohemond should remain master of Antioch. The Itahan 
 prince added that he had already given considerable sums to 
 Phirous ; that he alone had obtained his confidence, and 
 that a reciprocal confidence was the surest guarantee of the 
 success of so difiicult an enterprise. "As for the rest," 
 continued he, " if a better means of saving the army can be 
 found, I am ready to approve of it, and wiUingly renoimce 
 my share in a conquest upon which the safety of all the 
 Crusaders depends." 
 
 The danger became every day more pressing; it was 
 shameful to fly, imprudent to fight, and dangerous to tem- 
 porize, Fear silenced all interests and all rivalry. The 
 more opposition the leaders had shown at first to the pro- 
 ject of Bohemond, the more eagerly did they now produce 
 cogent reasons for adopting it. A divided conquest became no 
 longer a conquest. To divide or share Antioch might give 
 birth to a crowd of divisions in the armv, and lead to its 
 ruin. They only gave that which was really not yet their 
 own ; and they gave it to secure the lives of the Christians. 
 It were better that one man should profit by the labours of 
 all, than that all should perish for opposing the good fortunes 
 of that one. Moreover, the taking of Antioch was not the 
 object of the crusade — they had taken up arms to dehver 
 Jerusalem. Every delay was opposed to that which religion 
 looked for from its soldiers, to that which the AVest expected
 
 152 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 from its bra\'est knights. All the leaders, with the exception 
 of the inflexible Eaymond, united in according the princi- 
 pality of Antioch to Bohemond, and conjured him to hasten 
 the execution of his project. 
 
 Upon leaving the council, the prince of Tarentum sent 
 information of the resolution of the leaders to Phirous, who 
 placed his own son in the prince's hands as a hostage. The 
 execution of the plan was fixed for the next • day. To lull 
 the garrison of Antioch in the greatest security, it was 
 agreed that the Christian army should quit the camp, and 
 direct its march at first towards the route by which the 
 prince of Mossoul was expected to arrive, and that at night- 
 fall it should meet under the walls of Ascalon. On the 
 following day, early in the morning, the troops received 
 orders to prepare for their departure. At some hours before 
 night the Crusaders issued from their camp, and marched 
 away, trumpets sounding and standards flying. After a 
 march of a short distance, they retraced their steps, and 
 returned in silence under the walls of Antioch. At a signal 
 given by the prince of Tarentum, they halted in a valley on 
 the west, and near to the tower of the Three Sisters, in 
 which Phirous commanded- It was there that the leaders 
 revealed to the army the secret of the great expedition which 
 was to open to them the gates of the city. 
 
 The projects of Phirous and Bohemond, however, were 
 very near fadriig. At the moment that the Christian army 
 quitted their camp, and aU was prepared for carrying out 
 the plot, a report of treason all at once was spread through- 
 out Antioch. The Christians and newly-converted Mussul- 
 mans were suspected ; the name of Phirous even was whis- 
 pered, and he was accused of keeping up an intelligence 
 \vith the Crusaders. He was obliged to appear before 
 Accien, who interrogated him closely, and fixed his eyes 
 intently upon him in order to penetrate his thoughts ; but 
 Phirous dispersed all his suspicions by his firm countenance. 
 He himself proposed the proper measures to be taken 
 against the traitors, and adrised his master to change the 
 commanders of the principal towers. This advice was 
 approved of, and Accien determined to foUow it on the 
 morrow. In the mean time orders were given to load "with 
 chains and put to death, during the darkness of the night,
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 153 
 
 all the Christians that should be found in the city. The 
 renegade was then sent back to his post, loaded with 
 praises for his carefulness and fidelity. At the approach 
 of night everything appeared tranquil in Antioch, and 
 Phirous, escaped from such threatening danger, awaited the 
 Crusaders in the tower which he had agreed to surrender to 
 them. 
 
 As his brother commanded a tower near his own, Phirous 
 went to find him, and sought to engage him in the plot. 
 "Brother," said he to him, "you know that the Crusaders 
 have quitted their camp, and that they are gone to meet the 
 army of Kerbogha. When I think of the miseries they 
 have endured, and on the death which threatens them, I 
 cannot help feeling a sort of pity for them. Tou are not 
 ignorant, likewise, that this night all the Christian inhabi- 
 tants of Antioch, after having undergone so many outrages, 
 are going to be massacred by the orders of Accien. I can- 
 not help pitying them ; I cannot forget that we were born 
 in the same religion, and that we were formerly brothers." 
 These words did not produce the effect he expected. " I am 
 surprised," replied his brother, " that you should pity men 
 who ought to be objects of horror to us. Before the Chris- 
 tians appeared under the walls of Antioch, we were loaded 
 with benefits. Since they have besieged the city, we have 
 passed our lives in dangers and alarms. May all the evils 
 they have brought upon us recoil upon them ! As to the 
 Christians who live amongst us, do you not know that the 
 greater part of them are traitors, and that they think of 
 nothing but delivering us up to the sword of our enemies ?" 
 On finishing these words, he cast a threatening look upon 
 Phirous. The renegade saw that he was suspected. He 
 could not acknowledge a brother in the man who refused to 
 be his accomplice, and as his only answer, plunged his 
 dagger into his heart. 
 
 At length the decisive moment arrived. The night was 
 dark, and a rising storm increased the depth of the obscurity. 
 The ^-ind, which rattled among the roofs of the buildings, 
 and the peals of thunder, prevented the sentinels from hear- 
 ing any noise around the ramparts. The heavens seemed 
 inflamed towards the west, and the sight of a comet which 
 then appeared in the horizon, seemed to announce to the
 
 154 HISTOEY OF THE CSUSADEa. 
 
 euperstitious minds of the Crusaders the destined moment 
 for the ruin and destruction of the infidels.* 
 
 They awaited the signal ^^ith impatience. The garrison 
 of Antioch was plunged in sleep ; Phirous alone watched, 
 and meditated his conspiracy. A Lombard named Payen, 
 sent by Bohemond, mounted the tower by a ladder of leather. 
 Phirous received him, telling him all was ready ; and as an 
 evidence of his fi.dehty, pointed to the dead body of his 
 brother, whom he had just slain. T^Tiilst they were con- 
 versing, an officer of the garrison came to visit the posts. 
 He presented himself, with a lantern in his hand, before 
 the tower Phirous commanded. The latter, without ap- 
 pearing the least disturbed, made the emissary of Bohemond 
 conceal himself, and went forward to meet the officer. 
 After recei^ing praise for his ^'igilance, he hastened to send 
 Payen back with instructions for the prince of Tarentum. 
 The Lombard, on his return to the army, related what he 
 had seen, and, on the part of Phirous, conjured Bohemond 
 not to lose another moment. 
 
 But all at once fear took possession of the soldiers ; at the 
 moment of execution all saw the whole extent of the dan- 
 ger, and not one of them put himself forvvard to mount the 
 rampart. In vain Grodfrey and the prince of Tarentum em- 
 ployed by turns promises and threats ; both leaders and 
 soldiers remained motionless. t Bohemond himself ascended 
 by a ladder of ropes, in the hope that he should be seconded 
 bv the most brave ; but nobody felt it his duty to follow in 
 his footsteps. He reached the tower alone, where Phirous 
 reproached him warmly for his delay. Bohemond hastily 
 
 * A comet appeared on the very night of the taking of Antioch, June 3, 
 1098. — See Robert. Monach. lib. v. ad finem ; Chronicon Fossa Notes, in 
 Muratori, torn. vii. ; Chronica Mailross. ab anno 733 ad 1270, per 
 diversos auctores in Rerum Anglicarum Script, torn. i. ; Annales Waver- 
 lienses, ibid. torn. ii. ; Pingie, Cometoyraphie, tom. i. p. 382. 
 
 f The anonymous author of a chronicle entitled Passages d'Ouire- 
 Mer, expresses hiraself thus, p. 46 : — " But there was not one among 
 them who did not refuse to mount except Bohemond, whom jEmiscrius 
 received with great joy, and showed him his brother lying in his bed, whom 
 
 he had just killed because he would not join the enterprise cunctis 
 
 vero, qui cum Bohemondo erant. diffidentibus ad ascensum, solus Bohe- 
 mondus foederis fide fultus, per funem ascendit. — Bemardtis TAesaurius, 
 cap. 36 ; Muratori, tom. iii.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 155 
 
 descended to his soldiers, and repeated to them that all was 
 ready to receive them. His discourse, and still more, his 
 example, at length reanimated their courage, and sixty of 
 them commenced the escalade. They ascended by the ladder 
 of leather, led on by one Foulcher de Chartres, whom the 
 historian of Tancred compares to an eagle conducting her 
 ycuDg ones, and flying at their head.* Amoug these sixty 
 brave men was the count of Flanders, together with several 
 of the principal chiefs. A^ery soon sixty more Crusaders 
 quickly pressed upon the heels of the first,t and these again 
 were followed by such numbers and v»ith such precipitation, 
 that the parapet to which the ladder was fixed tottered, and 
 at length fell with a loud crash into the ditch. Such as 
 were nearly attaining the summit of the tower fell upon the 
 lances and swords of their companions who were following 
 them. Disorder and confusion prevailed among the assail- 
 ants, nevertheless the leaders of the plot viewed everj^thing 
 with a tranquil eye. Phirous embraced his new companions 
 over the bloody corpse of his brother ; he even yielded to 
 their swords another brother who happened to be with him, 
 and then surrendered to the Crusaders the three towers 
 intrusted to his command. Seven other towers soon fell 
 into their hands, and Phirous loudly summoned the whole 
 Christian army to his aid. He fixed a new ladder to the 
 rampart, by which the most impatient ascended, and he 
 pointed out to others a gate which they might easily burst 
 open, and by it crowds rushed into the city. 
 
 Godfrey, Raymond, and tlie duke of Normandy were 
 soon in the streets of Antioch at the head of their batta- 
 
 * Sicut aquila provocans pullos suos advolandura, et super eos volitans. 
 — Rad. Cair. torn. iii. p. 66. 
 
 t All these details of the siege and the taking of Antioch, which appear 
 to belong to the epopea, are taken literally from the ancient historians of 
 the crusades. See Albert d'Aix, lib. iii. and iv. ; William of Tyre, lib. v.; 
 Robert the Monk, lib. v. and vi. ; and the authors of the Collection of 
 Bonyars. All these historians agree in the principal circumstances. The 
 monk Robert, in the recital that he makes of it, expresses his surprise in 
 these words : " Non est lingua carnis quee satis valeat enarrare, quid 
 Francoriim manus valuit persundare." Foulcher de Chartres, who, 
 according to common opinion, was the first to mount the adder of ropes, 
 never speaks of himself in his narration, which fact is uite consistent 
 with the spirit of the Christian knights.
 
 156 IIISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 lions. All the trumpets were sounded, and from tlie four 
 hills the city resounded with tlie terrible cry of " It is the 
 iciJl of God ! It is the icill of God ! " At the first report 
 of the tumult, the Christians dwelling in Antioch all believed 
 that their last hour was come, and that the Mussulmans 
 were about to sacrifice them. The latter, half asleep, poured 
 out of their houses to ascertain the cause of the noise they 
 heard, and died without knowing who were the traitors, or 
 by whose hands they were slain. Some, when aware of the 
 danger, fled towards the mountain upon which the citadel 
 Avas built, whilst others rushed out at the gates of the city. 
 All who could not flv fell beneath the swords of the con- 
 querors. 
 
 In the midst of this bloodv victorv, Bohemond did 
 not neglect taking formal possession of Antioch, and at 
 dawn his red standard was seen floating over one of the 
 highest towers of the city. At the sight of this the Cru- 
 saders who were left in charge of the camp broke into loud 
 acclamations of joy, and hastened to take a part in this fresh 
 conquest of the Christians. The slaughter of the Mussul- 
 mans was continued vdih unabated fury. The greater part 
 of the Christians of Antioch, who, during the siege, had 
 suflered much from the tyranny of the infidels, joined their 
 liberators, several exhibiting the fetters by which they had 
 been loaded by the Turks, and thus further provoking the 
 Adndictive spirit of the A'ictorious army. The public places 
 were covered with dead bodies, and blood flowed in torrents 
 in the streets. The soldiers penetrated into the houses ; 
 religious emblems pointed out such as were Christians, 
 sacred hj'mns indicated their brethren ; but everything that 
 was not marked with a cross became the object of vengeance, 
 and all who pronounced not the name of Christ were 
 massacred A^dthout mercy. 
 
 In a single night more than six thousand of the inhabi- 
 tants of Antioch perished. Many of those who had fled 
 into the neighbouring fields were pursued and brought back 
 into the city, where they found either slavery or death. In 
 the first moments of the confusion, Accien, seeing that he 
 was betrayed, and no longer daring to trust any of his 
 officers, resolved to fly towards Mesopotamia, and go to meet 
 the army of Kerbogha. .Escaping through one of the gates,
 
 HISTOIIY OF THE CEUSADES. 157 
 
 he proceeded without an escort over mountains and through 
 forests, till he fell in with some Armenian woodcutters. 
 These men at once recognised the prince of Antioch, and as 
 he bore upon his countenance marks of depression and grief, 
 they judged that the city must be taken. One of them, 
 drawing near to him, snatched his sword from him, and 
 plunged it into his body. His head was carried to the new 
 masters of Antioch, and Phirous had an opportunity of con- 
 templating without fear the features of him who, the day 
 before, might have sentenced him to death. After having 
 received great riches as the reward of his treachery, this 
 renegade embraced the Christianity he had abandoned, and 
 followed the Crusaders to Jerusalem. Two years after- 
 wards, his ambition not being satisfied, he returned to the 
 religion of Mahomet, and died abhorred by both Mussulmans 
 and Christians, whose cause lie had by turns embraced and 
 betrayed. 
 
 Wiaen the Christians were tired of slaughter, they pre- 
 pared to attack the citadel ; but as it was built upon a 
 mountain, inaccessible on most sides, all tneir efforts were 
 useless. They contented themselves with surrounding it 
 with soldiers and machines of war, in order to confine the 
 garrison, and then spread themselves throughout the city, 
 giving way to all the intoxication which their victory inspired. 
 The pillage of Antioch had yielded them immense riches ; 
 and although they had found but a small stock of provisions, 
 they abandoned themselves to the most extravagant excesses 
 of intemperance and debauchery. 
 
 These events passed in the early days of June, 1098 ; the 
 siege of Antioch had been begun in the month of October 
 of the preceding year. After this victory, three days passed 
 quickly av/ay in the midst of rejoicings, but the fourth was 
 a day of fear and mourning. 
 
 A formidable army of Saracens was drawing near to An- 
 tioch. From the earliest period of the siege, Accien, and the 
 sultan of Nice, whom the Christians had despoiled of his do- 
 minions, had applied to all the Mussulman powers to procure 
 assistance against the warriors of the AVest. The supreme 
 head of the Seljoucides, the sultan of Persia, had promised 
 to aid them ; and at his voice all Corassan, says Matthew of 
 Edessa, Media, Babylon, a part of Asia Minor, and all the
 
 158 msTOEY or the ceusades. 
 
 East, from Damascus and the sea-coast to Jerusalem and 
 Arabia, had arisen at once to attack the Christians.* Ker- 
 hoo-ha, sultan of Mossoul, commanded this army of the 
 ^lussulmans. This warrior had fought for a length of time, 
 at one period for the sultan of Persia (Barkiarok), at others 
 for the various princes of the family of Malek-Scha, who 
 contended for the empire. Often defeated, and twice a 
 prisoner, he had grown old amidst the tumults of ci\'il war. 
 As full of contempt for the Christians as of confidence in 
 himself, a true model of the fierce Circassian celebrated by 
 Tasso, he considered himself the liberator of Asia, and tra- 
 versed Mesopotamia with all the pomp and splendour of a 
 conqueror. The sultans of Xice, Aleppo, and Damascus, 
 with the sovernor of Jerusalem and twentv-eis^ht emirs from 
 Persia, Palestine, and Syria, marched under his command. 
 The Mussulman soldiers were animated by a thirst for ven- 
 geance, and swore by their prophet to exterminate all the 
 Christians. On the third day after the taking of Antioch, 
 the army of Kerbogha pitched its tents on the banks of the 
 Orontes. 
 
 The Christians were made aware of its arrival by a 
 detachment ot three hundred horsemen, who came to 
 reconnoitre the place, and advanced even under the walls. 
 Inquietude and alarm succeeded immediately to festivity 
 and rejoicing. They found that they had not stores to sus- 
 tain a sie2:e : and several of their leaders were sent with 
 their troops towards the port of St. Simeon, and into the 
 neighbouring country, to collect all the provisions they could 
 find ; but the territory of Antioch had been so completely 
 ravaged during many months, that they could not procure 
 anything like enough for the maintenance of a numerous 
 army. The return of all who had been sent in quest of 
 provisions completed the terror of the Christians. At the 
 verv moment of their arrival the infidels attacked the ad- 
 vanced posts of the Crusaders ; and, even in these early 
 contests, the Christian armv had to lament the loss of 
 several of its bravest warriors. Bohemond was wounded in 
 
 * Matthew of Edessa estimates this army at a hundred thousand horse 
 and three hundred thousand foot. Abulfaradge speaks of " mille mille " 
 horse. The Latin historians do not exaggerate so much, but do not at all 
 agree in their accounts.
 
 HISTOUT OF THE CETJSADES. 159 
 
 a sortie ; in vain Tancred and Grodfrey performed prodigiea 
 of valour ; the Mussulmans forced the Christians to shut 
 themselves up in a place of which the latter had but just 
 made themselves masters, and in which they were soon 
 closely besieged in their turn. 
 
 Placed between the garrison of the citadel and a besieging 
 army, the Crusaders found themselves in a most critical 
 position. To prevent their being relieved by any supplies 
 by sea, two thousand Mussulmans were sent by Kerbogha 
 to take possession of the port of St. Simeon, and of all 
 vessels which brought provisions to the Christian army. 
 Famine was not long in making its appearance, and soon 
 exercised cruel ravages among the besieged. 
 
 From the earliest period of the siege the Crusaders could 
 scarcely procure the common necessaries of life at theii 
 weight in gold. A loaf of moderate size sold at a bezant, 
 an egg was worth six Lucquese deniers, whilst a pound of 
 silver was given for the head of an ox, a horse, or an ass. 
 Grodfrey bought for fifteen silver marks a half-starved camel, 
 and gave three marks for a goat, which at other times 
 would have been rejected by the poorest soldiers of his 
 army. Surrounded by the vast riches conquered from the 
 Saracens, the Crusaders w^ere thus condemned to all the 
 horrors and miseries of famine. After having killed most 
 of their horses, they were compelled to make war upon 
 unclean animals. The soldiers and the poor who followed 
 the army supported themselves on roots and leaves ; some 
 went so far as to devour the leather of their bucklers and 
 shoes, whilst the most wretched exhumed the bodies of the 
 Saracens, and, to support their miserable existence, disputed 
 with death for his prey. In this frightful distress, discon- 
 solate mothers could no longer nourish their babes, and 
 died with famine and despair. Princes and knights, whose 
 pride and haughtiness had been the most conspicuous, were 
 brought to the necessity of asking alms. The count of 
 Planders went begging to the houses and in the streets of 
 Antioch for the commonest and coarsest orts, and often 
 obtained none. More than one leader sold his arms and all 
 his appointments for food to support him a single day. As 
 long as the duke of Lorraine had any provisions he shared 
 them with his companions ; but at length he made the sacri-
 
 160 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 fice of his last war-horse, and found himself, as were all the 
 other Crusaders, reduced to the most cruel necessities. 
 
 Many of the Crusaders endeavoured to fly from a city 
 which presented to them nothing but the image and the 
 prospect of death; some fled by sea, through a thousand 
 dangers, whilst others cast themselves amongst the Mussul- 
 mans, where they purchased a little bread by the abandon- 
 ment of Christ and his religion. The soldiers necessarily 
 lost courao^e when they saw that coimt de Melun, who so 
 often defied death in the field, a second time fly from famine 
 and misery. His desertion was preceded by that of the 
 count de Blois, who bore the standard of the Crusaders, and 
 presided at their councils. He had quitted the army two 
 days before the taking of Antioch, and when he learned the 
 arrival of Kerbogha, he, with his troops, immediately 
 marched towards Constantinople. 
 
 Deserters made their escape during the darkness of night. 
 Sometimes they precipitated themselves into the ditches of 
 the city, at the risk of their lives ; sometimes they descended 
 from the rampart's by means of a cord. Every day the 
 Christians found themselves abandoned by an increasing 
 number of their companions ; and these desertions added to 
 their despair. Heaven was invoked against the dastards ; 
 Grod was implored that they might, in another life, share the 
 fate of the traitor Judas. The ignominious epithet of rope- 
 dancers (sauteurs de corde) was attached to their names, 
 and devoted them to the contempt of their companions. 
 "William of T}*re refuses to name the crowd of knights who 
 then desei-ted the cause of Jesus Christ, because he considers 
 them as blotted out from the book of life for eA'er.* The 
 wishes of the Christiims against those who fled were but too 
 completely fulfilled ; the greater part perished from want, 
 and others were killed by the Saracens. Stephen, count of 
 Chartres, more fortunate than his companions, succeeded in 
 reaching the camp of Alexius, who was advancing with an 
 army towards Antioch. To excuse his desertion, he did not 
 fail to paint, in the darkest colours, all the misfortunes and 
 dangers of the Christians, and to make it appear by his 
 
 * Alii raulti, quorum nomina non tenemus, quia delecta de libro vitae, 
 praesenti operi non sunt inserenda. — Will, of Tyre, lib. iv.
 
 HISTORr OF THE CRUSADES. 161 
 
 accounts that God had abandoned the cause of the Crusa- 
 ders. The despair of several Latin pilgrims who followed 
 the army of the Gi-reeks was so violent, that it urged them 
 to horrible blasphemies.* They, groaning, asked why the 
 true Grod had permitted the destruction of his people ? why 
 he had allowed them, who were going to deliver the tomb of 
 his Son, to fall into the hands of his enemies ? Nothing 
 was heard among the Latin Crusaders but such strange 
 speeches, and Gruy, the brother of Bohemond, exceeded all 
 the rest in his despair. In the excess of his grief, he blas- 
 phemed more than any, and could not understand the mys- 
 teries of Providence, which betrayed the cause of the Cliris- 
 tians. " O God," cried he, " what is become of thy power ? 
 If thou art still an all-powerful God, what is become of thy 
 justice ? Are we not thy, children, are we not thy soldiers ? 
 "Who is the father of a family, who is the king who thus 
 suffers his own to perish when he has the power to save 
 them ? If you abandon those who fight for you, who will 
 dare, henceforward, to range themselves under your sacred 
 banner?" In their blind grief, all the Crusaders repeated 
 these impious words. Such was the frenzy of despair 
 in which sorrow had plunged them, that, according to the 
 report of contemporary historians, all ceremonies of religion 
 
 * These speeches and the complaints of the Crusaders are almost all 
 translated from contemporary historians. We feel it our duty to report 
 the text of them here. 
 
 O Deus verus, trinus et unus, quam ob rem hsec fieri permisisti ? 
 cur populum sequentem te in manibus inimicorum incidere permisisti ? 
 et viam tui itineris, tuique sancti sepulchri liberantem tam cito mori 
 concessisti ? Irofecto, si hoc verum est, quod nos ab istis nequissimis 
 audivimus, nobis referentibus, nos et alii Christiani derelinquemus te, nee 
 te amplius remorabimur, et unus ex noljis non audebit ulterius nomen 
 tuum invocare. Et fuit is sermo moestissimus valor in tota militia; ita 
 quod nuUus nostrorum audebat, neque archiepiscopus, neque e])iscopus, 
 neque abbas, neque presbyter, neque dericus, neque quisque laicus Christ! 
 invocare nomen per plures dies. Nemo poterat consolari Guidonem. — 
 De Hierosohjmitano itinere, Dnc?tene's Collection, torn. iv. p. 799. 
 
 The following is the speecii which Robert the Monk puts into the mouth 
 of Guy, the brother of Bohemond : — 
 
 O Deus omnipotens, ubi est virtus tua ? Si omnipntens es, cur haec 
 fieri consensisti .' Nonne ei ant milites tui et peregrini ? Qais unquani 
 rex aut imperator aut potens dominus familiam suam ita peruiisit occidi, 
 si uUo modo potuit adjuvare ? Quis erit unquam miles tuus aut pere- 
 grinus i &c. &c. — Robert. Monach. lib. v.
 
 162 HISTOET or THE CETJSADES. 
 
 Tvere suspended, and no priest or layman during many days 
 pronounced the name of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The emperor Alexius, who had advanced as far as Philo- 
 melium, was so terrified hy all he heard, that he did not dare 
 to continue his march towards Antioch. He thought, says 
 Anna Comnena, it was rash to attempt to succour a city 
 whose fortifications had been ruined by a long siege, and 
 whose only defenders were soldiers reduced to the lowest 
 state of misery. Alexius further reflected, says the same 
 historian, upon the indiscretion and the inconstancy of the 
 Franks, upon their manner of making war Avithout art or 
 rules, and upon the imprudence with which, after having 
 conquered their enemies, they allowed themselves to be 
 surprised by the very same people whom they had con- 
 quered. He likewise thought of .the difficulty he should 
 have in making his arrival known to the Crusaders, and of 
 the still greater difficulty of making their leaders agree 
 wii:h him upon the best means to save them. All these 
 motives appeared reasonable ; but it is easy to believe 
 that Alexius was not sorry to see a war going on which de- 
 stroyed at the same time both Turks and Latins. However it 
 may be, the resolution which he took of returning to Con- 
 stantinople threw all the Christians of Phrj'gia and Bithynia 
 into the greatest alarm. The report then current was (and 
 if we may believe Anna Comnena, it was from the insinua- 
 tions of Alexius) that the Mussulmans were approaching -with 
 numerous armies. They were constantly believed to be 
 coming, and the soldiers of the emperor themselves laid 
 waste all the country round Philomelium, which, they said, 
 the Saracens were about to invade. Women, children, all 
 the Christian families followed the arniy of Alexius, as it 
 returned to Constantinople. They bade an eternal adieu to 
 their native country, and deplored the loss of their property 
 of all kinds. Nothing was heard in the army but lamenta- 
 tions and groans ; but they who evinced the greatest grief 
 were the Latins, whose wishes. were all centred in Syria, and 
 who lost all hope of assisting their brethren besieged in the 
 city of Antioch. 
 
 When the news of this retreat reached Antioch, it greatly 
 augmented the depression of the Crusaders. jS'ot a hope 
 remained to them; famine carried off every day a great
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 163 
 
 number of soldiers ; their weakened arms could scarcely liffc 
 tlie lance or the sword ; they had neither strength to defend 
 their own lives nor to bury their dead. In the midst of such 
 frightful misery, not a tear was seen, not a sob was heard ; 
 the silence was as complete in Antioch as if the city had 
 been buried in the most profound night, as if not one liying 
 person was left in it. The Crusaders had not even the 
 courage of despair left. The last feeling of nature, the love 
 of life, was becomiDg daily extinct in their hearts ; they 
 feared to meet each other in the public places, and concealed 
 themselves in the interior of the houses, which they looked 
 upon as their tombs. 
 
 The towers and the ramparts remained almost without 
 defence. Bohemond, who had taken the command of the 
 place, sought in vain by his speeches to raise the courage of 
 the Crusaders ; in vain the trumpets and the serjeants-at- 
 arms called them to the combat. Whilst the Mussulmans 
 shut up in the citadel, and those who besieged the city, every 
 day renewed their attacks, the Christian warriors remained 
 immovable in their dwellings. In order to drive them from 
 their retreats, Bohemond was obliged to give several quarters 
 of the city up to the flames. Baoul de Caen deplores, in 
 pompous verses, the conflagration and the ruiu of churches 
 and palaces, huilt tvith the cedars of Mount Lebanon, and in 
 which shone the marble of Mount Atlas, the crystal of Tyre, 
 the brass of Cyprus, the lead of Amathontis, and the iron of 
 England. The barons who could no longer enforce the 
 obedience of their soldiers, had not strength to ofi'er them an 
 example. Then they bitterly remembered their families, 
 their castles, their wealth, all which they had quitted for this 
 unfortunate war ; they could not comprehend the reverses 
 of the Christian army, and little was wanting, says William 
 of Tyre, to make them accuse God of ingratitude, for having 
 refused so many sacrifices made to the glory of his name. 
 
 Matthew of Edessa relates that the Christian leaders 
 offered to give up the city to Kerbogha, upon the single 
 condition that he would allow them and their soldiers to 
 return to their own countries, taking with them their bag- 
 gage. As the Saracen general rejected their proposal, 
 several of them, actuated by despair, formed the project of 
 abandoning the army, and flying by night towards the coast, 
 
 Vol. I.— 9
 
 164! UISTOBY or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 "but were prevented by the exhortations of Godfrey and 
 Bishop Adbemar, who pointed out to them the disgrace 
 which such a step would bring upon them in the eyes of 
 both Europe and Asia. 
 
 The famine had continued its ravages for more than two 
 weeks, and the ^Mussulmans pressed on the siege with the 
 greater ardour, from the conviction that they should soon be 
 masters of the city. Fanaticism and superstition, which 
 had precipitated the Crusaders into the abyss in which they 
 were now plunged, alone had the power to re-animate their 
 courage, and extricate them from such fearful perils. Pro- 
 phecies, revelations, and miracles became every day the more 
 frequent subjects of report in the Christian army. St. 
 Ambrose had appeared to a venerable priest, and had told 
 him that the Christians, after overcoming all their enemies, 
 would enter Jerusalem as conquerors, and that Grod would 
 there reward their exploits and their labours.* A Lombard 
 ecclesiastic had passed the night in one of the churches of 
 Antioch, and had there seen Jesus Christ, accompanied by 
 the Virgin and the prince of the apostles. The Son of Grod, 
 irritated by the conduct of the Crusaders, rejected their 
 prayers, and abandoned them to the fate they had too richly 
 merited ; but the Yii'gin fell at the knees of her son, and 
 by her tears and lamentations appeased the anger of the 
 Saviour. "Arise," then said the Son of God to the priest, 
 " go and inform my people of the return of my commisera- 
 tion ; hasten and annoiuice to the Christians, that if they 
 come back to me, the houi* of their deliverance is at hand." 
 
 They whom God had thus made the depositaries of his 
 secrets and his will, oftered, in attestation of the truth of 
 theii' ^'isions, to precipitate themselves from a lofty tower, 
 to pass through flames, or to submit their heads to the 
 executioner; but these proofs were not necessary to persuade 
 the Crusaders, always ready to believe in prodigies, and who 
 had become more credulous than ever in the moment of 
 danger and in the excess of their misfortunes. The ima- 
 
 * We have thought it our duty to report all these criiraculous visions as 
 they are found in contemporary historians, because they produced a great 
 effect upon the mind of the Christians, and that in becoming the origin 
 and the cause of the greatest events, they are in themselves important 
 events for histor}'.
 
 HISTOBT or THE CETJSADES. 165 
 
 gination of both leaders and soldiers was easily led away 
 by the promises which were made to them in the name of 
 Heaven. The hopes of a more prosperous future began to 
 re-animate their courage. Tancred, as a good and loyal 
 knight, swore, that as long as he had sixty companions left, 
 he would never abandon the project of delivering Jerusalem. 
 Grodfrey, Hugli, Kaymond, and the two Roberts took the 
 same oath. The whole army, after the example of their 
 leaders, promised to fight and to suffer until the day 
 appointed for the deliverance of the holy places. 
 
 In the midst of this reviving enthusiasm, two deserters 
 came before the Christian army, and related that, when 
 endeavouring to escape from Antioch, they had been stopped, 
 the one by his brother, who had been killed in fight, the 
 other by Jesus Christ himself. The Saviour of mankind 
 had promised to deliver Antioch. The warrior who had 
 fallen under the sword of the Saracens had sworn to issue 
 from the grave with all his companions, equally dead as him- 
 self, to fight with the Christians. In order to crown all 
 these heavenly promises, a priest of the diocese of Mar- 
 seilles, named Peter Barthelemi, came before the council of 
 the leaders, to reveal an apparition of St. Andrew, which 
 had been repeated three times during his sleep. The holy 
 apostle had said to him : " Gro to the church of my brother 
 Peter at Antioch. Near the principal altar you will find, 
 by digging up the earth, the iron head of the lance which 
 pierced the side of our Eedeemer. "Within three days this 
 instrument of eternal salvation shall be manifested to his 
 disciples. This mystical iron, borne at the head of the 
 army, shall efiect the deliverance of the Christians, and 
 shall pierce the hearts of the infidels." * Adhemar, E-ay- 
 
 * The discovery of this lance and the prodigies that it operated are 
 related by all the historians of the Crusades. The Arabian historian 
 Aboul-Maha^en agrees, in the principal circumstances, with the Latin 
 historians. The most credulous of the latter, and he who gives the 
 greatest number of details, is Raymond d'Agiles. Albert d'Aix, William 
 of Tyre, Guibert, and Robert, raise not the least doubt about the authen- 
 ticity of the lance. Foucher de Chartres, less credulous, says, when 
 relating the discovery, Audi fraudem et non fraudem. He afterwards 
 adds, whilst speaking of the lance, that it had been concealed in the place 
 from which it was taken : Invenit lanceam, fallaciter occultatam forsitan. 
 The historian Paulus Emilias, who relates the same fact, accompanies it
 
 166 HISTOKT OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 mond, and the other leaders believed, or feigned to believe, 
 in this apparition, an account of which soon spread through- 
 out the army. The soldiers said among themselves that 
 nothing was impossible to the Grod of the Christians ; they 
 further believed that Jesus Christ was interested in their 
 welfare, and that Grod ought to perform miracles to save his 
 disciples and defenders. During three days the Christian 
 armv prepared itself by fasting and prayer for the discovery 
 of the holy lance. 
 
 On the morning of the third day, twelve Crusaders chosen 
 from amongst the most respected of the clergy and the 
 knights, repaired to the church of Antioch with a great 
 number of workmen pro'S'ided with the necessary instru- 
 ments. They began by digging up the earth under the 
 principal altar. The greatest silence prevailed in the 
 church ; the spectators expecting every instant to see the 
 glitter of the miraculous lance. The whole army, assembled 
 round the doors, which they had had the precaution to shut, 
 awaited with impatience the results of the search. The 
 diggers worked during several hours, and had gone to the 
 depth of twelve feet without any appearance of the lance. 
 They continued their operations till evening without dis- 
 covering anything. The impatience of the Christians still 
 increased. In the middle of the night another attempt was 
 made. Whilst the tvv-elve witnesses were at prayers round 
 the sides of the hole, Barthelemi precipitated himself into it, 
 and in a short time re-appeared, holding the sacred iron in 
 his hands. A cry of joy arose among the spectators, which 
 was repeated by the soldiers who waited, at the doors, and 
 which soon resounded through all quarters of the city. The 
 iron on which all the hopes of the Christians were centred, was 
 exhibited in triumph to the Crusaders, to whom it appeared 
 a celestial weapon with which God himself would disperse 
 
 with highly philosophical reflections. Yves Duchat says, on commencing 
 the relation — " Then there happened a marvellous affair, of which some 
 have left a written account, which I would not affirm to be entirely true, 
 nor would I oppugn it as false." Anna Conmena says nothing about 
 the lance, but speaks of the nails which had been used to nail Christ to 
 the cross. Albu-faradge commits the same error. In general the 
 accounts of both the Greeks and the Arabians of this war must be read 
 with much precaution ; they furnish us with very few positive ideas.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 167 
 
 his enemies. Every mind became excited, and doubts were 
 no longer entertained of the protection of Heaven. Enthu- 
 siasm gave new life to the army, and restored strength and 
 vigour to the Crusaders. All the horrors of famine, and 
 even tVie numbers of their enemies were forgotten. The 
 most pusillanimous thirsted for the blood of the Saracens, 
 and all demanded with loud cries to be led forth to battle. 
 
 The leaders of the Christian army who had prepared 
 the enthusiasm of the soldiers, now employed themselves in 
 taking advantage of it. They sent deputies to the general 
 of the Saracens, to offer him either a single combat or a 
 general battle. Peter the Hermit, who had evinced more 
 exaltation than any other person, was chosen for this em- 
 bassy. Although received with contempt in the camp of 
 the infidels, he delivered himself no less haughtily or 
 boldly. " The princes assembled in Antioch," said Peter, 
 addressing the Saracen leaders, " have sent me to de- 
 mand justice of you. These provinces, stained with the 
 blood of martyrs, have belonged to Christian nations, and as 
 all Christian people are brothers, we are come into Asia to 
 avenge the injuries of those who have been persecuted, and 
 to defend the heritage of Christ and his disciples. Heaven 
 has allowed the cities of Syria to fall for a time into the 
 power of infidels, in order to chastise the offences of his 
 people ; but learn that the vengeance of the Most High is 
 appeased ; learn that the tears and penitence of the Chris- 
 tians have turned aside the sword of divine justice, and that 
 the God of armies has arisen to fight on our side. Never- 
 theless we still consent to speak of peace. I conjure you, 
 in the name of the all-powerful Grod, to abandon the terri- 
 tory of Antioch and retiu-n to your own country. The 
 Christians promise you, by my voice, not to molest you in 
 your retreat. We will even put up prayers for you that 
 the true Grod may touch your hearts, and permit you to see 
 the truth of our faith. If Heaven deigns to listen to us, 
 how delightful it will be to us to give you the name of 
 brethren, and to conclude Avith you a lasting peace ! But 
 if you are not willing to accept either the blessings of peace 
 or the benefits of the Christian religion, let the fate of 
 battle at length decide the justice of our cause. As the 
 Christians will not be taken by surprise, and as they are
 
 168 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 not accustomed to steal \'ictories, thev offer you the clioice 
 of combat."* AVheii finishing his discourse, Peter fixed his 
 eyes upon the leader of the Saracens, and said, " Choose 
 from amongst the brayest of thy army, and let them do 
 battle with an equal number of the Crusaders ; fight thyself 
 v.ith one of our Christian princes ; or give the signal for a 
 general battle. f Whatever may be thy choice, thou shalt 
 soon learn what thy enemies are, and thou shalt know what 
 tlie jrreat God is whom we serve !" 
 
 Iverbogha, who knew the situation of the Christians, and 
 who was not aware of tlie kind of succour they had received 
 in their distress, was much surprised at such language. He 
 remained for some time mute with astonishment and rage, 
 but at length said, " Return to them who sent you, and tell 
 them it is the part of the conquered to receive conditions, 
 and not to dictate them. Miserable vagabonds, extenuated 
 men, phantoms may terrify women ; but tlie warriors of 
 Asia are not intimidated by vain words. The Christians 
 shall soon learn that the land we tread upon belongs to us. 
 Nevertheless I am willing to entertain some pity for them, 
 and if they will acknowledge Mahomet, I may forget that 
 this city, a prey to famine, is already in my power ; I may 
 leave it in their hands, and give them arms, clothes, bread, 
 women, in sliort, all tliat they have not ; for tlie Koran bids 
 us pardon all who submit to its laws. Bid thy companions 
 hasten, and on this very day take advantage of my clemency ; 
 to-morrow they shall only leave Antioch by the sword. 
 They will then see if their crucified God, who could not 
 save himself from the cross, can save them from the fate 
 which is prepared for them." 
 
 This speech was loudly applauded by the Saracens, whose 
 fanaticism it rekindled. Peter wished to renlv, but the 
 sultan of Mossoul, placing his hand upon his sword, com- 
 manded that these miserable mendicants, who united blind- 
 ness with insolence, should be driven away. The Christian 
 deputies retired in haste, and were in danger of losing their 
 
 * This speech is reported by most of the Larin historians of the cru- 
 sades. We have preserved the spirit of it, with the most scrupulous 
 exactness. 
 
 t Anna Cornnena speaks of a pretended single combat between the 
 count of Flanders and the general of the Saracens.
 
 IIISTOKY OF THE CRUSADES. 169 
 
 lives several times whilst passing through the army of the 
 infidels. Peter rendei-ed an account of his mission to the 
 assembled princes and barons ; and all immediately prepared 
 for battle, Tlie heralds-at-arms proceeded through the 
 different quarters of the city, and battle "vvas promised for 
 the next day to the impatient valour of the Crusaders. 
 
 The priests and bishops exhorted the Christians to render 
 themselves worthy of fighting for the cause of Jesus Christ ; 
 and the whole army passed the night in prayer and acts of 
 devotion. Injuries were forgiven, alms were bestov/ed, and 
 all the churches were filled with warriors, who humbled 
 themselves before God, and implored a remission of their 
 sins. The preceding evening some provisions had been 
 found, and this unexpected abundance was considered as a 
 species of miracle. The Crusaders repaired their strength 
 by a frugal meal ; and towards the end of the night, that 
 which remained of bread and meal in Antioch served for the 
 sacrifice of the mass. A hundi-ed thousand warriors ap- 
 proached the tribunal of penitence, and received, with all 
 the evidences of piety, the God for whom they had taken 
 up arms.* 
 
 At length day appeared ; it was the festival of St. Peter 
 and St. Paul. The gates of Antioch were thrown open, and 
 the whole Christian army marched out in twelve divisions, 
 symbolical of the twelve apostles. Hugh the Great, though 
 weakened by a long illness, appeared in the foremost ranks, 
 and bore the standard of the Church. All the princes, 
 knights, and barons were at the head of their men-at-arms. 
 The only one of all the leaders that did not appear in the 
 ranks was the count de Thoulouse ; detained in Antioch by 
 the consequences of a woimd, he was charged with the duty 
 of watching the garrison of the citadel, whilst his companions 
 went to give battle to the army of the Saracens. 
 
 Eaymond d' Agiles,t one of the historians of the crusade, 
 
 * Letanias siipplices, ab ecclesia in ecclesiara, explicant ; confessione 
 peccatorutB sinceri se mundant, et episcopal! vel sacerdotali consequenter 
 absolutione promerita, corporis ac sanguinis Domini sacramento, plena 
 fide communicant, &c. — Gitibert, lib. vi. 
 
 Missae per ecclesias celebratse sunt ; omnesqiie sancta doniinici corporis 
 communione communicati sunt. — Robert. Mon. lib. vii. 
 
 t Vidi ego heec quae loquor, et dominicam lanceam ibi ferebam. — 
 Rayni. d' Affiles, p. 155, apud Beng.
 
 170 nisTOEY or the ceitsades. 
 
 bore the holy lance, and directed the attention of the soldiers 
 to it. Adhemar marched by the side of Eaymond, an- 
 nouncing to the Crusaders the help of the celestial legions 
 which Grod had promised them. A part of the clergy ad- 
 vanced in procession at the head of the army, singing the 
 martial psalm, " Let the Lord arise, and let his enemies be 
 dispersed.'' The bishops and priests who had remained in 
 Antioch, surrounded by the women and children, from the 
 top of the ramparts blessed the arms of the Crusaders, prav- 
 ino- the Lord to preserve his people and confound the pride 
 of his enemies. The banks of the Orontes and the neigh- 
 bouring mountains appeared to answer to these invocations, 
 and resounded with the war-crv of the Crusaders, " It is the 
 will of God! It is the will of God!'' 
 
 Amidst this concert of acclamations and prayers, the 
 Christian army advanced into the plain. To judge only by 
 the state of misery to which they had been reduced, they 
 had rather the appearance of a conquered army than of an 
 army of men marchins: to "V'ictorv. A oreat number of the 
 Crusaders were without clothes. The greater part of the 
 kniorhts and barons marched on foot. Some were mounted on 
 asses and camels, and, what is not an indiiferent circumstance 
 on this dav, Godfrey de Boudlon had been oblio:ed to bor- 
 row a horse of the count de Thoulouse. In the ranks were 
 sick and attenuated soldiers, weakened by famine, and march- 
 ing with difficulty, who were only supported by the hope of 
 conquering or of dying for the cause of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The whole country- round Antioch was covered with the 
 Mussulman battalions. The Saracens had divided their 
 army into fifteen bodies arranged in echelons. In the midst 
 of all these, the division of Kerbogha, says the Armenian 
 historian, appeared like an inaccessible mountain. The Sara- 
 cen general, who had no expectation of a battle, at first 
 believed that the Clu-istians were come to implore his 
 clemency. A black flag flying over the citadel of Antioch, 
 which was the signal agreed upon to announce the resolution 
 of the Crusaders, soon informed him that he had not to deal 
 with supplicants. Two thousand men of his army, who 
 guarded the passage of the bridge of Antioch, were cut in 
 pieces by the coimt de Vermandois. The fugitives carried 
 terror to the tent of their general, who was playing at chess.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 171 
 
 Aroused from his false security, the sultan of Mossoul or- 
 dered the head of a deserter to be cut off who had announced 
 to him the speedy surrender of the Christians, and then set 
 himself seriously to the task of fighting an enemy whose 
 auxiliaries were fanaticism and despair. 
 
 On marching out of Antioch* the Christians advanced 
 westwards towards the spot where the mountains draw near 
 to the Orontes. Ranged in order of battle, in a vast space 
 where the mountains formed a semicircle around them and 
 secured them from surprise, they extended across the plain 
 a league from the city. Hugh, the two E-oberts. the count 
 de Belesme, and the count of Hainaut placed themselves at 
 the head of the left wing ; Grodfrey was on the right, sup- 
 ported by Eustace, Baldwin du Bourg, Tancred, Einaldo de 
 Toul, and Erard de Puyset. Adhemar was in the centre, 
 with Graston de Beam, the count de Die, Eaimbaut of 
 Orange, "William of Montpellier, and Amanjeu d'Albret. 
 Bohemond commanded a body of reserve, ready to act upon 
 all points wdiere the Christians might require assistance. 
 Kerbogha, who saw the disposition of the Crusaders, ordered 
 the sultans of Nice, Damascus, and Aleppo, to make the 
 tour of the mountain and then reascend the Orontes, so as 
 to place themselves between the Christian army and the 
 city. He at the same time drew his army up in line of 
 battle to receive the Christians and repulse their attack. 
 He placed his troops partly on the heights and partly on the 
 plain. His right wing was commanded by the emir of 
 Jerusalem, and his left wing by one of the sons of Accien. 
 For himself he remained upon a high hill, to give his orders 
 and watch the movements of the two armies. 
 
 At the moment of the commencement of the battle, Ker- 
 bogha was seized with fear, and sent to propose to the 
 
 * Pierre Angelli, author of a Latin poem o-n the first crusade, which 
 has for title, Syriados Libri XII., describes this battle at great length, and 
 reports one part of the miraculous circumstances by which it was accom- 
 panied ; but his recital is too diffuse to excite much interest. The Syriade 
 begins with the first voyage of Peter the Hermit to Jerusalem, and is 
 nothing but a copy in verse of the histories of William of Tyre, Albert 
 d'Aix, and others. After having described the march and the early 
 labours of the Crusaders, the Latin poet arrives, towards the end of the 
 last canto, at the siege of Jerusalem, to which he only consecrates a 
 hundred verses.
 
 172 UISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 Christian princes, that in order to spare the effusion of 
 blood, they should select some of their knights to fight 
 against an equal number of Saracens. This proposal, which 
 had been rejected the day before, could not be adopted by 
 the leaders of an armv full of ardour and confident of vie- 
 tory. The Christians entertained no doubt that Heaven 
 had declared itself in their favour, and this persuasion must 
 render them invincible. In their 'enthusiasm, they looked 
 upon the most natui-al events as prodigies announcing to 
 them the triumph of their arms. A globe of fire, which on 
 the preceding evening had passed across the horizon and 
 burst over the camp of the Saracens, appeared to them a 
 sign foretelling their Adctory. As they left Antioch a light 
 rain refreshed the burning air of the climate and the season, 
 and was in their eyes a fresh proof of the favour of Heaven. 
 A strong ^vind, which assisted the flight of their javelins 
 and impeded that of the arrows of the Turks, was for them 
 as the wind of heavenly anger raised to disperse the infidels. 
 Animated by this persuasion, the Christian army showed 
 the greatest impatience to begin the fight. They marched 
 towards the enemy in perfect order. A profound silence 
 reissued over the plain, on all parts of which shone the arms 
 of the Clu-istians. 2s o sound was heard in their ranks but 
 the voices of the leaders, the hymns of the priests, and the 
 exhortations of Adhemar. 
 
 All at once the Saracens commenced the attack by dis- 
 charging a cloud of arrows and then rushing on the Crusa- 
 ders, uttering barbarous cries. In spite of their impetuous 
 shock, their right wing was soon repulsed and penetrated by 
 the Christians. Godfrey met '>rith greater resistance in 
 then left wing ; he succeeded, however, in breaking it and 
 carrving disorder amons: their ranks. At the moment that 
 the troops of Kerbogha began to give way, the sultan of 
 Kice, who had made the tour of the mountain and returned 
 along the banks of the Orontes, fell with impetuosity upon 
 the rear of the Christian army, and threatened destruction 
 to the bodv of reserve commanded bv Bohemond. The 
 Crusaders, who fought on foot, could not resist the first 
 charge of the Saracen cavalry. Hugh the Great, warned of 
 the danger of Bohemond, abandoned the pursuit of the fugi- 
 tives, and hastened to the succour of the body of reserve.
 
 HISTOltY OF THE CRUSADES. 173 
 
 Then tlie battle was renewed with redoubled fury. Kilidj 
 Arslan, who had to avenge the shame of several defeats as 
 well as the loss of his states, fought like a lion at the head 
 of his troops. A squadron of three thousand Saracen horse, 
 clothed in steel and armed with clubs, carried disorder and 
 terror through the ranks of the Christians. The standard 
 of the count de Vermandois was carried away, and retaken, 
 covered vrith the blood of Crusaders and infidels. Godfrey 
 and Tancred, who flew to the assistance of Hugh and Bohe- 
 mond, signalized their strength and valour by the death of a 
 great many Mussulmans. The sultan of JNTice, whom no 
 reverse could overcome, firmly withstood the shock of the 
 Christians. In the heat of the combat, he ordered lighted 
 flax to be thrown amongst the low bushes and dried grass 
 which covered the plain. Immediately a blaze arose which 
 enveloped the Christians in masses of flame and smoke. 
 Their ranks were for a moment broken ; they could no longer 
 either see or hear their leaders. The sultan of jSTice was 
 about to gather the fruits of his stratagem, and victory was 
 on the point of escaping from the hands of the Crusaders. 
 
 At this moment, say the historians, a squadron was seen 
 to descend from the summit of the mountains, preceded by 
 three horsemen clothed in white and covered with shinins: 
 armour. " Behold !" cried Bishop Adhemar,* " the heavenly 
 succour which was promised to you. Heaven declares for 
 the Cliristians ; the holy martyrs Greorge, Demetrius, and 
 Theodore come to fight for you." Immediately all eyes 
 Avere turned towards the celestial legion. A new ardour 
 
 * It is surprising that Raonl de Caen, who describes this battle, and in 
 epic verse too, lias related no marvellous circumstance. Raymond d'Agiles 
 makes no mention of the heavenly legion, but he says : Multiplicavit 
 insuper adeo Dominus exercitum nostrum, ut qui ante pugnam pauciores 
 eraraus quam hostes, in bello plures eis fuimus. Oderic Vital speaks 
 thus of the legion which appeared to descend froln heaven : Ecce, Deo 
 gratias, ab ipsis montanis visus est exire exercitus innumerabiiis, albis 
 equis insidentes, et in manibus Candida vexilla praeferentes. Hoc multi 
 viderunt Christianorum, et sicut putant, gentilium, et haesitantes, mira- 
 bantur quidnam esset. Tandem utrique cognoverunt signum de coelo 
 factum, et duces illius agminis, sanctos martyres Georgium, Demetrium, 
 et Theodorum sua signa ferentes prsecedere cognoverunt. Sarracenis 
 multustimor inhaesit, et Christianis spes meliorcrevit. — Od. Vital, lib. ix. 
 Robert the Monk and Baldric relate the same circumstance and the same 
 details.
 
 174 HISTOET or THE CHL'SADES. 
 
 inspired the Christians, who were persuaded that God hini- 
 sell" was coming to their aid, and the war-ciy " It is the will 
 of God r' was heard as at the beginning of the battle. The 
 "vsomen and children who had remained in Antioch, and 
 were collected on the walls, animated the courage of the 
 Crusaders by their cries and acclamations, whilst the priests 
 continued to raise their hands towards heaven, and returned 
 thanks to God by songs of praise and thanksgiving for the 
 succour he had sent to the Christians. Of the Crusaders 
 themselves each man became a hero, and nothing could 
 stand before their impetuous charge. In a moment the 
 ranks of the Saracens were evervwhere broken, and they 
 only fought in confusion and disorder. They endeavoured 
 to rally on the other side of a torrent and upon an elevated 
 point whence their trumpets and clarions resounded; but 
 the count de Yermandois attacked them in this last post 
 and completely routed them. They had now no safety but 
 in flight, and the banks of the Orontes, the woods, the 
 plains, the mountains were covered with the fugitives, who 
 abandoned both their arms and their hass^se. 
 
 Kerbogha, who had been so certain of victory as to have 
 announced the defeat of the Christians to the caliph of 
 Bagdad and the sultan of Persia, fled towards the Euphrates, 
 escorted bv a small bodv of his most faithful soldiers. 
 Several of the emirs had taken to flight before the end of 
 the battle. Tancred and some others, mounted on the 
 horses of the conquered enemy, pui'sued till night-fall the 
 sultans of Aleppo and Damascus, the emir of Jerusalem, 
 and the scattered wreck of the Saracen army. The con- 
 querors set fire to the intrenchments behind which the 
 enemv's infantrv had sous^ht refuo^e, and a vast number of 
 Mussulmans perished iq the flames. 
 
 According to the account of several contemporary his- 
 torians, the infidels left a hundred thousand dead on the 
 field of battle. Pour thousand Crusaders lost their lives on 
 this glorious day, and were placed among the ranks of the 
 martyrs. 
 
 The Christians found abundance beneath the tents of 
 their enemies ; fifteen thousand camels and a great number 
 pf horses fell into their hands. As they passed the night 
 in the camp of the Saracens, they had leisure to admire the
 
 HISTOEY OF TUE CRUSADES. 175 
 
 luxury of the Orientals, and they examined with the 
 greatest surprise the tent of the king of Mossoul,* re- 
 splendent with gold and precious stones, which, divided 
 into long streets flanked by high towers, resembled a for- 
 tified city. They employed several days in carrying the 
 spoils into Antioch. The booty was immense, and every 
 Crusader, according to the remark of Albert d'Aix, found 
 himself much richer than he was when he quitted Europe. 
 
 The sight of the Saracen camp after the battle proved 
 plainly that they had displayed much more splendour and 
 magnificence than true courage. The veteran warriors, the 
 companions of Malek-Scha, had almost all perished in the 
 civil wars which had for so many years desolated the empire 
 of the Seljoucides. The army that came to the succour of 
 Antioch was composed of raw troops, levied in haste, and 
 reckoned under its standards several rival nations, always 
 ready to take up arms against each other. f It is the duty 
 of the historian to admit that the twenty-eight emirs who 
 accompanied Kerbogha were almost all at variance with one 
 another, and scarcely acknowledged the authority of a chief. 
 On the contrary, the greatest union prevailed on this day 
 among: the Christians. The different bodies of their army 
 fought upon one single point, and afforded each other mutual 
 support, whereas Kerbogha had divided his forces. In this 
 battle, but more particularly in the circumstances whicli 
 preceded it, the sultan of Mossoul showed more presumption 
 than skill ; by the slowness of his march he lost the oppor- 
 tunity of assisting Accien or of surprising the Crusaders. 
 Afterwards, too certain of victory, he never dreamt of what 
 despair and fanaticism are able to effect. These two power- 
 ful principles greatly increased the natural bravery of the 
 Franks. The horrible distress to which they had been re- 
 duced only tended to make them invincible, and in that we 
 shall find the miracle of the day. 
 
 * This tent was able to contain more than two thousand persons. 
 Bohemond sent it into Italy, where it was preserved for a length of time. 
 
 f Gemaleddin, who of all the Oriental historians gives the greatest 
 number of details upon the taking and the battle of Antioch, reports that 
 a violent quarrel had broken out between the Turks and the Arabs ; he 
 even adds that the Arabs had retired before the battle, and that in the 
 course of it the Turks turned theii* arms against their allies.
 
 176 HISTORY OF THE CUV r.ADi-:.-^. 
 
 When the danger was past, the holy hmce which had ijjlveu 
 so much confidence to the Crusaders dui'ing the battle, no 
 longer excited their veneration, and lost all its marvellous 
 influence. As it remained in the hands of the count of 
 Thoulouse and his Proven9als, to whom it brought a great 
 number of oflerinsis, the other nations were not wiliino: to 
 leave them the sole advantage of a miracle which augmented 
 their consideration and their wealth ; and, as we shall soon 
 see, it was not long before doubts were raised upon the 
 authenticitv of the lance which had effected such wonders, 
 and the spii^it of rivalry did that which reason might have 
 done in a more enli2:htened age. 
 
 The -victory of Antioch appeared to the Saracens to be so 
 extraordinary an event that many of them abandoned the reh- 
 gion of their prophet. Those who defended the citadel were so 
 struck with terror and surprise, that they surrendered to 
 Raymond the very day of the battle. Three hundred of 
 them embraced the faith of the holy Grospel, and many 
 went among the cities of Svria declaring that the God of the 
 Christians must be the true Grod. 
 
 After this memorable day the Turks made scarcely any 
 eflbrt to impede the march of the Christians. This last 
 triumph of the Franks appeared to them like a decision of 
 heaven that men ought not to contend against. Most of 
 the emirs of Svria who had shared the spoils of the sultan 
 of Persia, considered the invasion of the Christians as a 
 passing calamity, ^\^.thout thinking of the consequences it 
 niicjht leave behind, and onlv sousfht to take advantacje of it 
 to assure their ovra domination and independence. The 
 dvnasty of the Seljoucides was every day losing its strength 
 and its splendour. The vast empire of Togi'ul, Alp-Arslan, 
 and Malek-Scha was crumbKno^ awav on all sides amidst 
 ci^il and foreign wars. This empire, created towards the 
 middle of the eleventh centurv, whose sudden increase had 
 alarmed Constantinople and carried terror even among the 
 nations of the West, was soon doomed to see other states 
 elevate themselves upon its ruins ; for, according to the 
 remark of an historian, it might be said that God was 
 pleased to show how insignificant the earth is in his eyes, 
 by thus causing to pass from hand to hand, like a child's 
 toy, a power so monstrous as to tlu-eaten the universe.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 177 
 
 The first care of the Crusaders after their \*ictory was to 
 put, if ^^'e may say so, Jesus Christ iu possession of the 
 countries they had just conquered, by re-establishing his 
 worship in Antioch. The capital of Syria had all at once a 
 new religion, and was inhabited by a new people. A con- 
 siderable part of the spoils of the Saracens was employed 
 in repairing and ornamenting the churches which had been 
 converted into mosques. The Greeks and the Latins min- 
 gled their vows and their hymns, and prayed together to tho 
 Grod of the Christians to conduct them to Jerusalem. The 
 leaders of the army then joined in addressing a letter to the 
 princes and nations of the West, in which they made a 
 relation of their labours and then" exploits. That they 
 might not trouble the joy that the news of their victories 
 must create, they took care to conceal the losses they had 
 sustained ;* but they must have made thom apparent by call- 
 ing new warriors to their aid. They solicited by prayers, 
 and even by threats, the immediate departure of all who had 
 assumed the cross, and yet still remained in the "West. 
 
 The Crusaders sent at the same time an embassy to Con- 
 stantinople, composed of Hugh, count of Yermandois, and 
 Baldwin, count of Hainault. The object of this embassy 
 was to remind the emperor Alexius of the promise he had 
 made to accompany tlie Christians with an army to Jeru- 
 salem. The coimt of Hainault perished, with all his train, 
 in Asia Minor. The count of Vermandois, who took a 
 different route, arrived safely at Constantinople ; but could 
 obtain nothing from Alexius. Hereupon, whether he was 
 ashamed of having failed in his mission, or whether he 
 feared to rejoin an army in which he could not maintain 
 the splendour of his rank, he determined to return to 
 Europe, where his desertion caused him to be compared to 
 the raven of the ark.f 
 
 Some days after the battle of Antioch, the greater part of 
 the pilgrims entreated the leaders to conduct them towards 
 the Holy City, the pruicipal object of their expedition. The 
 council of the princes and barons being assembled, the 
 
 * The leaders of the Crusades declared that the siege and the battle of 
 Antioch had scarcely cost them tea thousand men. 
 
 •f- Corvini generis legatus, postea non rediit. — Bald. lib. iv.
 
 178 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 opinions Trere at first divided. Some of the leaders thought 
 that thev ought to take advantage of the terror which the 
 \ictory of Antioch had created in the Saracens. " Both the 
 East and the AVest," said they, " have their eves upon us ; 
 Christ calls us to the deliverance of his tomb ; the Christians 
 who still gi'oan in the chains of the infidels implore the 
 assistance of oiu? arms ; we have seen the emir of Jerusalem, 
 and the soldiers who ought to defend the approach to the 
 Holy Sepulchre, fly before us ; all the routes are open to us ; 
 let us hasten then to comply with the impatience of the 
 Cnisaders, an impatience which was always so fatal to otK^ 
 enemies ; let us depart from an abode whose pleasures have 
 several times corrupted the soldiers of Christ ; let us not 
 wait till discord shall disturb our peace and rob us of the 
 fruits of our labours." 
 
 This ad"\'ice seemed to be dictated by wisdom and pru- 
 dence, but the majonty of the leaders were full of blind 
 security ; they could not resolve stiU to di-ead enemies they 
 had so often conquered, and the hopes of extending their 
 conquests in Syria made them forget Jerusalem. Specious 
 reasons were not wanting wherewith to combat the opinions 
 they had heard. The Christian army was deficient in horses; 
 it was exhausted by fatigue, by long miseries, and even by 
 its own victories. As it was now the height of summer, 
 though the Crusaders might have no enemies, they had to 
 dread during a long march the want of water, and the heat 
 of both the season and the climate. It was well known 
 that new wariiors from the "West were expected in Asia, 
 and prudence commanded them to wait for them. By the 
 beginning of winter everything would be prepared for the 
 conquest of Jerusalem, and the united Crusaders would then 
 march without obstacles or dangers towards Palestine. This 
 opinion obtained a majority of the sufirages. 
 
 The Crusaders had soon cause to repent of their determi- 
 nation. An epidemic disease made fearfid ravages in their 
 armv. Xothinir was to be seen in Antioch, savs an ancient 
 chronicle, but buryings and funerals, and death there 
 reigned, neither more nor less, than in some gi-eat battle 
 or defeat. Most of the women and the poor who followed 
 the army were the first victims to this calamity. A great 
 number of Crusaders who came from Grermany and other
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 179 
 
 parts of Europe met with death immediately on their arrival 
 at Antioch. Within one month, more than fifty thousand 
 pilgrims perished by this epidemic* The Christians had to 
 regret among their leaders Henry d'Asques, Eenaud d'Amer- 
 bach, and several other knights renowned for their exploits. 
 In the midst of the general mourning, the bishop of Puy, 
 who comforted the Crusaders in their misery, himself gave 
 way under his fatigue and died,t lihe the leader of the 
 Hebrews, without having seen the promised land. His re- 
 mains were buried in the church of St. Peter of Antioch, in 
 the very spot where the miraculous lance had been disco- 
 vered. All the pilgrims, whose spiritual father he had been, 
 honoured his funeral with their presence and their tears. 
 The leaders, who sincerely regretted him, wrote to the pope 
 to inform him of the death of his apostolic legate. They at 
 the same time solicited Urban to come and place himself at 
 their head, to sanctify the standards of the crusade, and to 
 promote union and peace in the army of Jesus Christ. 
 
 But neither the respect they entertained for the memory 
 of Adhemar, nor the spectacle of the scourge which was 
 devourins: the Christian armv, could close their hearts 
 against ambition and discord. The count of Thoulouse, 
 who still maintained his claims to the possession of Antioch, 
 refused to deliver up to Bohemond the citadel of which ho 
 had become master on the day the Christians had defeated 
 the army of Kerbogha. These two haughty rivals were 
 several times on the point of coming to blows, Eaymond 
 accusing the new prince of Antioch of ha\T.ng usurped that 
 which belonged to his companions, whilst Bohemond threat- 
 ened to bathe his sword, red with the blood of infidels, in 
 blood which he said he had too long spared. One day that 
 the princes and leaders were assembled in the basilica of the 
 church of St. Peter, engaged in regulating the affairs of the 
 crusade, their deliberations were disturbed by the most 
 
 * Albert d'Aix &ays a hundred thousand. ^ 
 
 f Tasso makes Adhemar die at the siege of Jerusalem, and makes him 
 die by the hands of a woman. Some historians attribute the canticle 
 " Salve Regina " to Bishop Adhemar. The bishops of Pily, his succes- 
 sors, bear in their coat of arms the sword on one side and the pastoral 
 staff on the other. It is added that the canons of the same city wore 
 every year, at Easter, a cloak in the form of a cuirass.
 
 ISO IIISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 violent quarrels. IS'otwitlistanding the sanctity of the place, 
 Eavmond, in the midst of the council, gave way to his pas- 
 sion and resentment. Even at the foot of the altar of Christ, 
 Bohemond hesitated not to make false promises in order to 
 draw the other chiefs to his party, and repeated several 
 times an oath which he never meant to keep, that of follow- 
 ing them to Jerusalem. 
 
 Every day trouble and disorder increased in the Christian 
 armv, some only thinking of aggrandising the states which 
 victorv had given them, whilst others wandered about S>Tia 
 in search of cities over which they might unfurl their stan- 
 dards. Bands were seen dispersed in all parts where there 
 was a chance of a rich booty, fighting among themselves for 
 their conquests when they Avere victorious, and a prey to all 
 sorts of horrors and miseries when they met with unfore- 
 seen resistance. The jealousy which prevailed among the 
 chiefs extended to the soldiers : the latter quarrelling for the 
 bootv gained from the enemy, in the same manner that the 
 princes and barons contended for the possession of cities 
 and proA-inces. Those whom fortune had not favoured com- 
 plained of their companions, until some lucky chance allowed 
 tliem in their turn to take advantage of all the rights of vic- 
 torv. On all sides the Crusaders accused each other reci- 
 procallv of ha^-ing enriched themselves by injustice and 
 violence, althou2:h evervbodv envied the most eruiltv. 
 
 And yet, amidst their conflicts or their misfortunes, the 
 Christians continued to show the most heroic bravery and 
 resignation ; they endured hunger, thirst, and fatigue with- 
 out a complaint, and neither destTts, rivers, precipices, the 
 heat of the climate, nor any other obstacle, could stop them 
 in their incursions. In every kind of peril they sought all 
 opportunities of proving their strength and skill, or of sig- 
 naliziuir their valour. Sometimes in the forests or moun- 
 tains they encountered savage animals. A French knight, 
 named Gruicher. rendered himself celebrated in the armv bv 
 overcomii^ a lion. Another knight, Geoffrey de la Tour, 
 gained great renown by an action which doubtless will 
 appear incredible. He one day saw in a forest a lion which 
 a serpent held within its monstrous folds, and which made 
 the air resound with his roaring. G-eoffrev flew to the 
 assistance of the animal, which appeared to implore his pity,
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 181 
 
 and witli one LIoay of his sAvord killed the serpent, "which was 
 intent upon its prey. If Ave may believe an old chronicle, 
 the lion thus delivered attached himself to his liberator as 
 to a master ; he accompanied him during tlie war, and when, 
 after the taking of Jerusalem, the Crusaders embarked to 
 return into Europe, he was drowned in the sea whilst fol- 
 lowing the vessel in which Greoftrey was.* 
 
 Several Crusaders, .whilst waiting for the signal of de- 
 ])arture for Jerusalem, went to visit their brethren who had 
 established themselves in the conquered cities. Many of 
 them repaired to Baldwin, and joined with him in contending 
 against the Saracens of Meso}X)tamia. A knight, named 
 Foulqiie, who went with several of his companions to seek 
 adventures on the banks of the Euphrates, was surprised 
 and massacred by the Turks. His wife, whom he had taken 
 with Ijim, was brought before the emir of Hazart or Hezas. 
 Being of rare beauty, one of the principal officers of the 
 emir fell in love with her,t and asked her of his master in 
 marriage, who yielded her to him, and permitted him to 
 espouse her. This officer, deeply in love with a Christian 
 woman, avoided all occasions of fighting against the Crusa- 
 ders, and yet, zealous in the service of his master the emir, 
 made incursions into the territories of the sultan of Aleppo. 
 1-iedowan, wishing to avenge himself, marched with an army 
 of forty thousand men to attack the cit}^ of Hezas. Then 
 the officer wlio had married the widow of Eoulque advised 
 the emir to implore the assistance of the Christians. 
 
 * This anecdote, which is here quoted without giving it any more im- 
 portance tlian it merits, is related in the Magnum Chronicon Belgicum, 
 which is found in the collection of the historians of Germany of Pistorius. 
 Tl'e author says the lion followed Geoffrey like a hare : — Eum sequitur, 
 sicut lepus ; et quamdiu fuit in terra, nunquam recedens, multa ei com- 
 mocla contulit tam in venationibus quam in hello ; qui carnes venaticas 
 abundanter dabat. Leo verb qusecunque domino suo adversari videbat, 
 l)rosternabar, quern, ut dicunt, in navi positum ciim domum rediret, 
 derelinquere noluit, sed nolentibus eum, ut crudele animal, in navem 
 recipere nautis, secutus est doniinum suum, natando per mare, usque quo 
 labore deficit. 
 
 Tiie same fact is related by le Pere Maimbourg, who adds to his recital 
 this singular reflection. " Strange instruction of nature, which casts 
 shame U])on men by giving them, as she has done more than once, lions 
 for masters." 
 
 t Albert d' Aixis the only historian who relates this and the following facts.
 
 182 HISTOEY or THE CEUS.U)ES. 
 
 Tlie emir proposed an alliance to Godfrey de Bouillon. 
 Godfrey at first hesitated, but the Mussulman returned to 
 the charge, and to disperse all the suspicions of the Chris- 
 tian princes, sent them his son Mahomet as an hostage. The 
 treaty ^as then signed, and two pigeons, says a Latin his- 
 torian, charged \\"ith a letter, brought the news to the emir, 
 at the same time announcins^ to him the early arriyal of the 
 Clmstians.* The army of the sultan of Aleppo was beaten 
 in seyeral encounters by Godfrey, and forced to abandon the 
 territory of Hezas, that it had begun to pillage. A short 
 time after this expedition the son of the emir died at 
 Antioch of the epidemic so fatal to the pilgrims of the West. 
 Godfrey, according to the custom of the Mussulmans, had 
 the body of the young prince enyeloped in rich purple stuff, 
 and sent it to his father. The deputies who accompanied 
 this funeral conyoy were ordered to express to the emir the 
 regrets of Godfrey, and to tell him that their leader had 
 been as much afflicted by the death of the young prince 
 Mahomet, as he could haye been by that of his brother 
 Baldwin. The emir of Hezas wept for the death of his son, 
 and neyer ceased to be the faithful ally of the Christians. 
 
 The leaders of the crusades s'till thought no more about 
 setting forward on their march to Jerusalem, and the 
 autumn adyanced without their being engaged in any expe- 
 dition of importance. In the midst of the idleness of the 
 camps, a celestial phenomenon offered itself to the eyes of 
 the Crusaders, and made a liyely impression upon the minds 
 
 * Some learned writers cannot trace messages by pigeons further back 
 than the reign of Saladia. It is true that it was in the reigns of Nouradin 
 and Saladin that regular posts, served by pigeons, were organized iu 
 Egypt ; but this means of communication was very ancient in the East. 
 ^ The recital of Albert d' Aix cannot be doubted. The historian speaks of 
 the surprise that this sort of messengers produce-d among the Crusaders; 
 and as the fact appeared remarkable to him, he has not neglected the 
 smallest details of it : — Legati sine mora columbas duas, aves gratas et 
 domitas, secum allatas eduxerunt e sinu suo, ac charta, ducis responsis 
 proniissisque fidelibus in^cripta, caudis illarum filo innodata, e manibus 
 suis has ad ferenda lee'a nuucia emiserunt. . . .Jam cum chartis sibi com- 
 missis aves ailvolaverunt, in solium et mensara duels Hasart fideliter 
 revers88. . . .Piinrei's autem ex more solito aves doir.esticaspie suscipiens, 
 chartas intitulatas a caudis earum solvit, secreta ducis Godfredi perlegit. 
 \S'e shall see in the fourth book of this history another example of this 
 means of communication employed by the Saracens.
 
 HISTORY or THE CEtJSADES. 183 
 
 of the multitude. The soldiers who guarded the ramparts 
 of Antioch saw during the night a luminous mass, which 
 appeared to be fixed in an elevated point of the heavens. It 
 seemed as if all the stars, according to the expression of 
 Albert d'Aix, Avere united in a space scarcely more extensive 
 than a garden of three acres. " These stars," says the same 
 historian, " shed the most brilliant light,* and shone like 
 coals in a furnace y They appeared for a long time as if 
 suspended over the city of Antioch ; but the circle which 
 seemed to contain them being broken, they dispersed in the 
 air. At the sight of this prodigy, the guards and sentinels 
 uttered loud cries, and ran to awaken the citizens of Antioch. 
 All the pilgrims issued from their houses, and found in this 
 phenomenon a manifest sign of the will of Heaven. Some 
 believed they saw in the united stars an image of the Sara- 
 cens, who were assembled at Jerusalem, and who would be 
 dispersed at the approach of the Christians ; others, equally 
 full of hope, saw in them the Christian warriors uniting 
 their victorious forces, and then spreading themselves over 
 the earth to conquer the cities ravished from the empire of 
 Christ ; but many of the pilgrims did not abandon them- 
 selves to these consolatory illusions. In a city where the 
 people had much to suffer, and had dwelt during many 
 months amidst death and its funeral rites, the future natu- 
 rally presented itself under the most sad and disheartening 
 colours. All who suffered, and had lost the hope of ever seeing 
 Jerusalem, saw nothing in the phenomenon presented to 
 their eyes but an alarming symbol of the multitude of pil- 
 grims, which was every day diminishing, and which promised 
 soon to be entirely dispersed, like the luminous clouds which 
 they had seen in the heavens. " Things, however," says 
 Albert d'Aix, " turned out much better than was expected ; 
 for, a short time afterwards, the princes, on their return to 
 Antioch, took the field, and brought under their dominion 
 several cities of Upper Syria." 
 
 The most important of their expeditions was the siege 
 and capture of Maarah, situated between Hamath and 
 Aleppo. Raymond was the first to sit himself down before 
 
 * Globes of fire, or ignited globes, as naturalists call them, might have 
 produced this appearance.
 
 184 HISTOET or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 this cit\', where he was soou joined by the duke of Kor- 
 mandv and the count of Flanders and their troops. The 
 Christians met with the most obstinate resistance from the 
 besies:ed during several days. The infidels poured arrows 
 and stones upon them m clouds, together with floods of an 
 inflammable matter, which several historians pretend to have 
 been the Greek fii-e. "VTiiliam of Tyre says that they hurled 
 from the summits of the towers upon the assailants quick 
 lime and hives filled with bees.* Want of provisions soon 
 began to be felt, and the Crusaders at length experienced 
 such distress, that many among them subsisted upon the 
 dead bodies of their enemies.t Historv ousjht, however, to 
 relate with hesitation the extremes to which famine is said 
 to have carried them, and to throw great doubt upon the 
 account of the public sale of human flesh in the camp of 
 the Christians.;]: 
 
 The Crusaders endured all their misfortunes with patience, 
 but thev could not support the outrages committed by the 
 inhabitants of Maarah upon the religion of Jesus Christ. 
 The infidels raised crosses upon the ramparts, covered 
 them with ordure, and heaped all sorts of insults upon them. 
 Tliis sis:ht so irritated the Christians, that thev resolved to 
 redouble their eftbrts to get possession of the city. They 
 constructed machines which shook the walls, whilst the 
 soldiers moimted to the assault ; and they succeeded, after 
 a lengthened resistance, in making themselves masters of the 
 
 * Lapides. iCTiem, et plena apibus alvearia, cclcem quoque vivam, 
 quanti poterant jaculabantur instantia, ut eos a muro propellereiit. — 
 Will. Tyr. lib. vi'i. cap. 9. 
 
 t Audivi namque. qui dicereut cibi se coactos inopia ad humante 
 carnis edulium transiisse, adultos gentiliutn cacabo immersisse, pueros 
 iufixisse verubus, et vorasse adu<tos; vorando cemulati sunt feras, torrendo 
 homines, sed caninos. Hunc ipsum fir.em membris propriis minabautur, 
 cum aliena deficerent ; nisi aut captse urbis, aut ceteris advenss intercessio 
 esuriem Irnisset. — Rad. Cadom. cap. 27. We cannot forbear adding to 
 this quotation the words of Albert d'Aix, who is astonished to see Chris- 
 tians eat the bodies of Mussulmans, but still more so at seeing them 
 devour dogs. Mirabile dictu et auribus horrendum, quod nefas est 
 dicere, nefas facere. Nam Christiani non solum Turcos sed Sarracenos 
 occisos, verum etiam canes arreptos et igni coctos comedere nonabhorrue- 
 runt prae inopia, quam audistis. — Ab. Ag. lib. v. cap. 29. 
 
 1^ This circumstance is related by Mailly, but he does not say upon 
 what authority.
 
 HISTOKY or THE CllUSADES. 185 
 
 towers and tlie ramparts. As they were overtaken by night 
 in the midst of their victory, they did not venture to pene- 
 trate into the place ; and when, with the break of day, they 
 spread themselves through the streets, not a sound was to 
 be heard, — every part of the city was deserted. The army 
 pillaged the uninhabited houses, but soon discovered, to 
 their great surprise, that the whole population of Maarah 
 had taken refuge in subterranean places. A large quantity 
 of straw, set on fire at the mouths of the caverns in which 
 the infidels were concealed, soon forced them to issue from 
 their retreats, and such was the animosity of the conquerors, 
 that the bewildered and trembling multitude implored their 
 pity in vain. All the inhabitants of Maarah were either 
 put to the sword or led into slavery ; the city was completely 
 razed to the ground, " which so terrified the neighbouring 
 cities," says an historian, "that of their own free will, and 
 without force, they surrendered to the Crusaders." 
 
 This conquest became the subject of fresh discord. Bohe- 
 mond, who had come to the siege, was desirous of keeping 
 a portion of the city, wlnlst Raymond pretended to reign 
 over Maarah as its sovereign. The debate grew warm ; the 
 camp of the Christians was filled with confusion and fac- 
 tions, and the Crusaders were very near shedding their own 
 blood to ascertain who should be master of a city which they 
 had just entirely deprived of inhabitants, and given up to 
 pillage. " But God, who was the leader of this great enter- 
 prise," says le Pere Maimbourg, " repaired by the zeal of 
 the weak and the lowly that which the passions of the great 
 and the wise of this world had destroyed." The soldiers 
 at length became indignant at the thoughts of shedding, for 
 miserable quarrels, the blood which they had sworn to de- 
 dicate to a sacred cause. AVhilst they M^ere most loud in 
 their complaints and murmurs, the report reached them that 
 Jerusalem had fallen into the hands of the Egyptians : they 
 had taken advantage of the defeat of the Turks, and of the 
 unfortunate delay of the Christian army in their invasion of 
 Palestine. This news redoubled the discontent of the Cru- 
 saders, and they loudly accused Raymond and their other 
 leaders of having betrayed the cause of Grod. They an- 
 nounced their intention of choosing fresli leaders, who 
 should have no other ambition but that of accomplishing
 
 186 HISTOET OF THE CEUS.U)ES. 
 
 their vows, and would conduct the Christian army to the 
 Holy Land. 
 
 The coimt of St. Gilles and the prince of Antioch, the latter 
 of whom was, perhaps, no stranger to the general movement, 
 went through the ranks, and addressed the soldiers, the one 
 upon the necessity of obedience, the other upon the glory 
 which awaited them at Jerusalem. The tumult soon became 
 more violent. The clergy menaced B.aymond with the anger 
 of Heaven, whilst his soldiers threatened to abandon his stan- 
 dard. The Proven9als themselves at length refused to obey 
 the inflexible coimt of Thoulouse, and the army set seriously 
 to work to demolish the ramparts of Maarah, the possession 
 of which was the object of contention. 
 
 "Whilst this was going on, Tancred had, by either force or 
 address, got possession of the citadel of Antioch, and planted 
 the standard of Bohemond in place of that of the count of 
 St. Gilles. Eavmond, thus left alone, and without any hopes 
 of realizing his pretensions, was obliged to yield to the 
 wishes of the army, and appeared to listen to the voice 
 of God. After havinor set fire to the citv of Maarah, he 
 marched out of it by the light of the flames, barefooted, and 
 shedding tears of repentance. Followed by the clergy, who 
 sang the psalms of penitence, he abjured his ambition, and 
 renewed the oath he had so often made, and so often for- 
 gotten, of delivering the tomb of Jesus Christ.
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 A.D. 1099—1103. 
 
 MoEE than six months had passed away since the taking 
 of Antioch, and several of the leaders of the crusade still 
 thought nothing of commencing their march to Jerusalem. 
 As soon as Raymond gave the signal for departure, his sol- 
 diers, and the knights who accompanied him, broke into loud 
 demonstrations of joy and a revived enthusiasm. The count 
 of Thoulouse was followed by Tancred and the duke of Nor- 
 mandy, who were both impatient to accomplish their vow 
 and conquer Palestine. Conducted by these three leaders, 
 a great part of the Christian army traversed the territories 
 of Csesarea in Syria, Hamath, and Edessa. From aU parts 
 both Christians and Mussulmans came eagerly to meet them, 
 the former to beg their assistance, the latter to implore their 
 clemency. Many emirs came to conjure Raymond to plant 
 his standard on their cities' walls, to protect them from 
 pillage, and render them safe from the enterprises of the 
 other Crusaders. The pilgrims everywhere on their passage 
 received provisions and rich tributes without the trouble 
 and risk of fighting for them. In the course of their tri- 
 umphant march, the sweetest fruit of their labours and the 
 terror that their arms inspired was the return of a vast 
 number of Christian prisoners, whose death they had 
 mouTDed, who were sent to them from the neighbouring 
 cities by the Mussidman chiefs. 
 
 They drew near to the sea-coast, and advanced, almost 
 trithout obstacle, as far as the vicinity of Archas. This city 
 was situated at the foot of Libanus, two leagues from the 
 sea, in a territor}^ covered with olive-trees, and rich with 
 corn. The count of Thoulouse, either from a desire to 
 conquer so rich a country, or from being provoked by the 
 insults and threats of the infidels, resolved to besiege 
 
 Vol, L— 10
 
 1S8 HisroKY or the ckusades. 
 
 Archas * In order to inflame the courage of his soldiers, 
 and associate them with him in his project, he promised 
 them as a reward for their labours, the pillage of the city 
 and the deliverance of two hundred Christian prisoners 
 confined in the citadel. 
 
 In the mean time Grodfrey, Eustace, and Eobert, count of 
 Flanders, had not yet set out from Antioch. They did not 
 begin their march* before the early days of spring. Bohe- 
 mond accompanied them as far as Laodicea,t and then 
 returned to his capital, after ha\-ing promised his compa- 
 nions to rejoin them before Jerusalem. At Laodicea the 
 Crusaders liberated the llemish pirates who had taken the 
 cross at Tarsus, and who, for more than a year, had been 
 detained prisoners by the Greeks, the masters of that city. 
 At the same place the Christian army received a reinforce- 
 ment of new Crusaders from the ports of Holland and 
 Flanders, and the British isles. Among these new de- 
 fenders of the cross was Edgar Athelmg, who, after the 
 death of Harold, had disputed the crown of England with 
 William the Conqueror. He came to endeavour to forget 
 the misfortunes of his country under the banners of the 
 holy war, and at the same time to seek a refuge from the 
 tvranny of the conqueror. The English and the new Cru- 
 saders from other countries were received with great joy 
 into the ranks of the Christian army, which, however, 
 pursued its march towards Palestine very slowly. 
 
 It grieved the greater part of the leaders to be obhged 
 to traverse such rich provinces without establishing their 
 domination in them. There was not a city in their route 
 upon the walls of which one of them had not a strong 
 secret inclination to plant his standard. These pretensions 
 gave birth to rivalries which weakened the army, and pre- 
 vented it from making useful conquests. Baymond still 
 
 * Archas is mentioned by Strabo, Ptolemy, Josephus, and the Itine- 
 rary of Antonine, \shich latter places this city at sixteen miles from 
 Tripoli. Pococke (torn. ii. p. 299) and Maundrell (vol. i. p. 41) speak of 
 a river which still bears this name. Abulfeda speaks of it under the name 
 of Aarkat. The Itinerary fiom Bordeaux to Jerusalem also mentions 
 Archas. 
 
 t Laodicea still exists under the name of Lakikieh. It has been long 
 famous for its trade in tobacco.
 
 HISTOKT OF THE CEUSADES. 189 
 
 obstinately prosecuted the siege of Archas, whicli opposed 
 to him the firmest resistance, Godfrey went to lay siege 
 to Gribel or Gibelet,* a maritime city, situated some leagues 
 from Laodicea. The leaders of the army never consented 
 to unite their efforts against the Saracens, but sold to the 
 emirs, b}^ turns, their inaction and their neutrality. 
 
 The only expedition in wliich success cro\^Tied their bra- 
 very was the attack of Tortosa.f Raymond, viscount do 
 Turenne, the viscount de Castellane, the seigneur d'Albret, 
 and some others of the principal leaders of the Grascons and 
 Proven9als, with a hundred horse and two hundred foot, 
 presented themselves before this city. The inhabitants 
 closed their gates, manned their ramparts, and forced the 
 Christians to retreat. The leader of this expedition, Eay- 
 mond de Turenne, who had not a sufficient number of troops 
 to undertake a siege or force a city to surrender, had recourse 
 to a stratagem, which succeeded. At night he caused to be 
 lighted in a neighbouring wood such a number of fires, that 
 the inhabitants of Tortosa were persuaded that the whole 
 Christian aimy was come to attack them, and before the 
 break of day they all fled to the mountains, taking with 
 them their most valuable effects. On the morrow the 
 Christians approached the city, the ramparts of which they 
 found deserted, and entered it without resistance. After 
 having pilbged the houses, and given up to the flames a city 
 they could not keep, they returned to the camp loaded with 
 booty. * 
 
 The Mussulmans shut up in Archas still held out against 
 the Christians. Although the army was encamped in a 
 fertile country, they soon began to experience the want of 
 provisions. The poorest of the pilgrims were reduced, as at 
 Antioch, to feed upon roots, and dispute with animals the 
 leaves of the trees and the grass of the fields. The nume- 
 rous clergy which followed the army sunk into the deepest 
 distress. Such as could fight went to ravaoje the surroundinef 
 
 * Gibel. This word signifies mountain, in Arabic. Gibel is the 
 Gabala of Strabo and Hiny ; the Gavala of the table of Peutinger. It 
 still subsists under its ancient name of Djebil, and the remains of an am- 
 phitheatre are still to be seen there. It is, I beliere, the Giblim of the 
 Bible, whence was embarked the wood of Lebanon sent to Solomon. 
 
 f Tortosa is the Antaradua of Ptolemy and the Itinerary of Bordeaux.
 
 190 HISTOEY OF Til£ CPa'SAJD£S. 
 
 country, and lived on pillage ; but those whom age, sex, or 
 mfirmities would not permit to cany arms, had no hope but 
 in the charitv of the Christian soldiers. The army freelv 
 assisted them, and gave up to them the tenth part of the 
 booty obtained from the infidels. 
 
 A great number of the Crusaders ^-ielded to the fatigues 
 of the siege, and perished M-ith misery and disease, whilst 
 many fell by the hands of the enemy, who defended them- 
 selves with obstinate valour. Among those whose loss was 
 most regretted, histoiy has preserved the name of Pons de 
 Balasu : he was his^hlv esteemed in the army for his intel- 
 hgence, and up to his death had written the history of the 
 crusade, in conjunction with ^Raymond d'Agiles. The Cru- 
 saders also irave their tears to the memory of Anselme de 
 Eibemont, count de Bonchain, whose piety and courage are 
 much praised in the chronicles of the tunes. Contemporary 
 authors relate his death as attended Avith such wonderful 
 circumstances as deserve to be preserved, because they aftbrd 
 a strong idea of the spiiit which animated the Crusaders. 
 
 One day (we follow the relation of [Raymond d'Agiles) 
 Anselm saw enter into his tent young Angelram, son of the 
 count de St. Paul, who had been killed at the siege of 
 Maarah.* '' How is it," said he, " that I see you still living 
 whom I saw dead on the field of battle r" " Know," replied 
 Anorelram, '■ that thev who fiirht for Jesus Christ do not die." 
 '' But whence comes that strange splendour with which I see 
 you surrounded?" Then Angelraia pointed out to him in 
 the heavens a palace of crystal and diamonds. " It is 
 thence," he added, " that I derive the beauty which surprises 
 you ; that is my abode, and there is a much more beautiful 
 one being prepared for you, which you will soon inhabit. 
 Farewell ; we shall meet again to-morrow." At these words, 
 adds the historian, Angeh-am returned to heaven. Anselm, 
 struck with this apparition, the next morning sent for several 
 ecclesiastics, and received the sacraments ; and, although in 
 full health, took leave of his friends, telling them he was 
 
 * Raymond d'Agiles, before relating this and several other similar 
 facts, expresses himself thus : — Quod si quicquam ^s.o prseter credita et 
 visa studeo referre, vel odio alicujus apposui, apponat mihi Deus omnes 
 inferni plagas, et deleat me de libro vitae. The same fact is reported in 
 Raoul de Caen.
 
 niSTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 191 
 
 about to quit the world in wliicli tney had known him. A 
 few hours afterwards, the enemy having made a sortie, 
 Ansehn flew, sword in hand, to meet them, and was struck 
 on the forehead by a stone, which, say the historians, sent 
 him to the beautiful palace in heaven that was prepared 
 for hiin. This marvellous recital, which was credited by the 
 Crusaders, is not the only one of the kind that history has 
 collected. It is useless to remind our readers that extreme 
 misery always rendered the Crusaders more superstitious 
 and credulous. Although the siege of Archas had no reli- 
 gious aim, and even turned the pilgrims aside from the prin- 
 cipal object of the holy war, it was not thence less abundant, 
 according to Eaymond d'Agiles, in muacles and prodigies of 
 all sorts. The belief of the people was frequently supported 
 bv the most enlisfhtened of the leaders, who found it neces- 
 sary to warm the imaginations of the soldiers to preserve 
 their authority. Every day fresh parties were formed in the 
 Christian army, and the most powerful were always those 
 who circulated a belief in the greatest number of miracles. 
 It was during the siege of Archas that doubts arose among 
 the pilgrims about the discovery of the lance which had had 
 such an eflect upon the courage of the Crusaders at the 
 battle of Antioch, and the camp of the besiegers became all 
 at once divided into two great factions, strongly opposed 
 to each other. Arnold de Eohes, according to William of 
 Tyre, a man of dissolute manners, but well versed in history 
 and letters, M-as the first who dared openly to deny the truth 
 of the prodigy. This ecclesiastic, who was chaplain to the 
 duke of Normandy, drew into his party all the JSTormans and 
 the Crusaders from the north of France ; whilst those of the 
 south ranged themselves on the side of Barthelemi, who was 
 attached to the count de St, Gilles. The priest of Mar- 
 seilles, a simple man, who himself believed that which he 
 wished others to believe, had a new revelation, and related 
 in the camp that he had seen Jesus Christ attached to the 
 cross, cursing the incredulous, and devoting to the death 
 and punishment of Judas the impious sceptics who dared to 
 search into the mysterious ways of Grod. This apparition, 
 and the menaces of Christ, highly excited the imaginations 
 of the Proven9als, who had no less faith, according to Kay- 
 mond d'Agiles, in the tales of Barthelemi, than in the
 
 192 HISTOnY OF TnE CfiUS.VDES. 
 
 eWdence of the saints and apostles. But Arnold was aston- 
 ished that God should only reveal himself to a simple priest, 
 whilst so many \'irtuous prelates were in the army ; and, 
 witliout denying the intervention of the divine power, he 
 was not ^villing to admit any other prodigies than those 
 performed by the valour and heroism of the Christian 
 soldiers. 
 
 As the produce of the offerings made to the depositaries 
 of the holy lance were distributed to the poor, the latter, 
 who were in vast numbers in the army, were not sparing in 
 murmurs against the chaplain of the duke of Normandy, 
 and they attributed to his incredidity, and that of his par- 
 tisans, all the evils that the Crusaders had suffered during 
 the siege of Archas. Arnold and his party, which increased 
 every day, on the contraiy attributed the misfortunes of the 
 Christians to theh' divisions, and to the turbulent spirit of a 
 set of visionaries. Amougst these debates the Crusaders of 
 the northern provinces reproached those of the south with 
 want of bravery in fight, "udth being less anxious for glory 
 than pillage, and with passing their time in ornamenting their 
 horses and mules* The latter, on their side, did not cease 
 to reproach the partisans of Arnold with their want of faith, 
 and their sacrilegious railleries, and, Avithout ceasing, op- 
 posed new "sisions to the reasonings of the incredulous. One 
 had seen St. Mark the evangelist, another the holy Virgin, 
 and both had attested the veracity of the priest of 3Iar- 
 seilles. Bishop Adhemar had appeared to a third, informing 
 him that he had been kept several days in hell for having 
 entertained some doubts of the ti-uth of the holy lance. 
 
 These recitals only serv-ed still more to inflame the minds 
 of the army, and violence often came to the support of trickery 
 and credulity. At length Barthelemi, seduced by the im- 
 portance of the part he was mad.e to play, and perhaps, also, 
 by the miraculous tales of his partisans, which might 
 strengthen his own illusions, resolved to terminate all de- 
 bates by submittinor to the ordeal bv fire. This resolution 
 restored calm to the Christian army, and all the pilgrims 
 
 * Ranul de Caen, who was not a partisan of the lance, and who cries 
 out, whilst speaking of this pretended discovery, " O fatuitas rustica ! 
 O rusticitas credula!'' does not at all spare the Provencals, and has 
 transmitted to us the reproaches made to them in the Christian army.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. ]93 
 
 •were convoked to be witnesses of tlie judgment of Grod. On 
 the day fixed (it was Grood I^riday), a funeral pile, made of 
 branches of olive, was erected in the middle of a vast plain. 
 Most of the Crusaders were assembled, and evervthing: was 
 prepared for the terrible ordeal. The flames had already 
 mounted to a height of twenty cubits, when Barthelemi 
 was seen advancing, accompanied by the priests, who w'alked 
 in silence, barefooted, and clothed in their sacerdotal habits. 
 Covered by a simple tunic, the priest of Marseilles bore the 
 holy lance, surrounded with floating streamers. AVhen he 
 arrived within a few paces of the pile, one of the principal 
 of the clergy pronomiced in a loud voice the following 
 words : — " If this man has seen Jesus Christ face to face, 
 and if the apostle Andrew did reveal tlie divine lance to 
 him, may he pass safe and sound through the flames ; but if, 
 on the contrary, he is guilty of falsehood, may he be burnt, 
 together with the lance which he bears in his hands." At 
 these words all the spectators bowed, and answered as with 
 one voice, " Be the will of Grod accomplished." Barthelemi 
 threw himself on his knees, took Heaven to witness the 
 truth of all that lie had said, and, after recommending him- 
 self to the prayers of the bishops and priests, rushed through 
 the funeral pile at a part where an opening of two feet wide 
 had been made for his passage. 
 
 The numerous spectators lost sight of him for a moment, 
 and many pilgrims, says Eaymond d'Agiles, were beginning 
 to lament him, when they saw him appear on the side opposite 
 to that by which he had entered. He was immediately sur- 
 rounded and pressed upon by an innumerable crowd, who 
 cried out "miracle," and were eager to touch his vestments. 
 But Barthelemi was covered with mortal wounds. He was 
 carried in a dying state to the tent of the count of Thou- 
 louse, where he expired a few days after, still protesting his 
 innocence and veracity. He was buried beneath the spot 
 where the funeral pile had been erected. Eaymond of St. 
 Gilles and the Proven9als persisted in regarding him as an 
 apostle and a martyr. The greater number of the pilgrims 
 allowed themselves to be satisfied with the judgment of God* 
 
 * Videns quid actum est, populus, calliditate verbosa seductum ee 
 fatetur, errasse poenitet. — Rad. Cad. cap. 109.
 
 194 HISTOET or THE CBUS.U)ES. 
 
 and the miraculous lance from that time ceased to work 
 miracles.* In vain the Crusaders from the southern pro- 
 vinces endeavoured to substitute for it the ring and cross of 
 of Adhemar ; they attracted neither the devotion nor the 
 offerings of the pilgrims. 
 
 A\Tiilst the Crusaders were detained before the fortress of 
 Archas, thev received an embassy from Alexius. The Greek 
 emperor wished to impose upon the Latins, by promising 
 to follow them into Palestine with an army, if they would 
 allow him time to make the necessary preparations. Alexius 
 in his letters complained of the non-performance of the 
 treaties by which he was to be made master of the cities of 
 Syria and Asia ]Minor that had fallen into the hands of 
 the Christians ; but he complained without bitterness, and 
 showed so much circumspection in his reproaches as proved 
 that he likewise had some v.Tongs to repair. This embassy 
 was but ill received in the Christian army. The leaders 
 accused the Grreeks of the death of the count of Hainault, 
 and reproached the emperor with his shameful flight during 
 the siege of Antioch. They despised his complaints, and 
 gave no faith to his so often broken promises. 
 
 The Latins hated Alexius ever since the siege of Nice. 
 Hatred guided them on this occasion better than the most 
 clear-sighted policy could have done ; for in the end, if we 
 are to believe their historians, they learned that the emperor 
 of Constantinople maintained a secret understanding with 
 the caliph of Egypt, and that his design was to retard the 
 march and the progress of the Christian army. 
 
 The caliph of Cairo, who was governed by the same policy 
 as Alexius, kept up relations with the Crusaders which cir- 
 cumstances rendered more or less sincere, and which were 
 subordinate to the fear which their arms inspired. Although 
 he negotiated at the same time with the Christians and the 
 Turks, he hated the former because thev were the enemies 
 of the prophet, and the latter because they had deprived 
 him of Svria, His object was but to profit by the war, so 
 as to regam his possessions and extend the limits of his 
 empire. For several months he had been master of Jeru- 
 
 * Accounts of this event may be read in William of Tyre, Robert 
 d'Aix, and above all in Raymond d'Agiles, who does not omit the least 
 circumstance.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CnUSADES. 196 
 
 salem, and as lie trembled for his neT;v conquest, he sent 
 ambassadors to the Christian army. This embassy arrived 
 in the camp a short time after the departure of the deputies 
 of Alexius. 
 
 It was accompanied by the deputies whom the Christians 
 had sent into Egypt during the siege of Antioch. On their 
 arrival at Cairo they had at first been well received by the 
 caliph ; but as soon as he learned that the Christian army 
 was in a desperate situation, they were thrown into dun- 
 geons, and only owed their liberation to the triumphant 
 march of the Christian armv, which filled the East with the 
 fame of its victories. Their unexpected return gave the 
 greatest delight to their brothers and companions. They 
 listened with emotion to the account of then' captirity, and 
 loud cries of indignation arose throughout the army against 
 the caliph of Cairo. 
 
 The Egyptian ambassadors did all in their power to justify 
 their master and appease the anger of the Christians. They 
 had brought with them magnificent presents, destined by 
 the caliph for the principal leaders of the army. They were 
 to present to Godirey of Bouillon forty thousand pieces of 
 gold, thu'ty mantles, and several vases of gold and silver ; to 
 Bohemond they were to offer sixty thousand pieces of gold, 
 fifty purple mantles, several precious vases, rich carpets, and 
 an Arabian horse whose harness was covered with plates of 
 gold. Each leader was to receive a present proportioned to 
 his mihtary reputation, and to the idea that was entertained 
 of his importance in the Christian army. When the am- 
 bassadors had distributed the presents of the caliph accor- 
 ding to his instructions, they demanded permission to speak 
 in the council of the leaders. They announced that their 
 master had delivered Jeru.-alem from the domination of the 
 Turks, and that he anxiously desired to maintain peace with 
 the Christians. After having declared the benevolent and 
 friendly dispositions of the caliph, and after having repeated 
 that it was his intention to protect pilgi'images and the 
 exercise of the Christian religion, thev finished bv declarins 
 that the gates of Jerusalem should only be opened to tm- 
 armed Christians. Upon hearing this proposition, which 
 they had abeady rejected amidst the miseries of the siege of 
 Antioch, the leaders of the Christian army could not restrain 
 
 10*
 
 196 HISTORY or tue ceusades. 
 
 their indignation. As their only answer, they came to the 
 resolution to hasten their march towards the Holy Land, 
 and threatened the ambassadors of Eg^-pt to carry their 
 arms even to the banks of the Xile. 
 
 The Crusaders were drawing together their troops, which 
 had so long been dispersed, to march together towards Jeru- 
 salem, when they were attacked by the emir of TripoH. A 
 prompt and bloody defeat was the reward of the temerity of 
 the Mussulman prince. After ha^-ing lost a great number 
 of his soldiers, he was obliged to purchase peace and the 
 safety of his capital by the payment of a considerable tribute 
 to the Crusaders. He fui-nished them Avith provisions in 
 abundance, sent back three hundi-ed Christian prisoners to 
 the camp, and, to leave no pretext for future hostilities, he 
 engaged to surrender the places he possessed when their 
 standards should float over the walls of Jerusalem. 
 
 The Crusaders, satisfied "with this promise extracted from 
 fear, had no more enemies to combat, and now only thought 
 of that one conquest Avhich was to assure them all others. 
 Eavmond alone did not partake of the new ardour of the 
 Christian army; he was fixed in his determination to remain 
 before Archas, and only gave up the siege when his soldiers 
 had a second time threatened to abandon his colours. 
 
 The Crusaders commenced their march towards Palestine 
 at the end of the month of May.* Tlie inhabitants of Phoe- 
 nicia had finished their harvest. The Christians found pro- 
 visions evervwhere, and admired on their passage the rich 
 productions of Asia, which they already looked upon as the 
 reward of then labours. On their left rose the mountains 
 of Libanus, so often celebrated by the prophets ; between 
 the mountains and the sea, the fields they traversed were 
 covered with olive-trees, which grew to the height of elms 
 and oaks ; in the plains and on the hills were oranges, pome- 
 granates, and many other sorts of trees unknown in the 
 West, Among these new productions one plant, the juice 
 of which was sweeter than honev, above all attracted the 
 attention of the pilgrims : this plant was the sugar-cane. 
 
 * The picture of the march and the impatience of the Christians is to 
 be found in Tasso, in the same colours and almost the same circumstancea 
 as in the historians.
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 197 
 
 It was cultivated in several of the provinces of Syria, and 
 particidarly in tiie territory of Tripoli, where they had 
 found means of extracting from it the substance which the 
 inhabitants called zucra.^ According to Albert d'Aix, this 
 plant had afforded great assistance to the Christians w^hen 
 assailed by famine at the sieges of Maarah and Archas. 
 This plant, now become of such importance in commerce, 
 had been till this time unkno\Mi in the West. The pilgrims 
 made it known in Europe, and towards the end of the 
 crusades it was transported into Italy and Sicily, w^hilst the 
 Saracens introduced it into the kingdom of Grrenada, whence 
 the Spaniards afterwards conveyed it to Madeira and the 
 American colonies. f 
 
 When the pilgrims were all united to continue their 
 march to Palestine, they must doubtless have been struck 
 with terror as they contemplated the losses they had ex- 
 perienced. More than two hundred thousand Crusaders 
 had been cut off by battles, famine, misery, and disease. A 
 great number of them, unable to support the fatigues of the 
 holy pilgrimage, and losing all hope of seeing Palestine, had 
 returned to the West. Many had taken up their abode in 
 Antioch, Edessa, and other cities from which they had 
 driven the inhabitants, and which they were obliged to 
 defend against the infidels. With all these deductions, the 
 army which was to achieve the conquest of the Holy Land 
 
 * We think it right here to give the account of Albert d'Alx : — Cala- 
 mellos mellitas per cansporum planiciem abundanter repertos, quasvocant 
 ZUCRA, suxit populus, illarum salubri succo laetatus et vix ad saturitatem 
 prae dulcedine expleri hoc gustato valebant. Hoc enim genus herbae 
 summo labore agricolaruni, per singulos excolitur annos. Deinde, tem- 
 pore messis maturum mortariolis indigenae contundunt, succum collatum in 
 vasis suis reponentes quousque coagulatum indurescat sub specie nivis 
 vel salis albi. Quern rasum cum pane miscentes aut cum aqua terentes, 
 pro pulmento sumunt, et supra favura mellis gustantibus dulce ac salubre 
 
 videtur His ergo calamellis melliti saporis populus in obsidione 
 
 Albariae, Marrag et Archas, multum horrenda fame vexatus, est refocilla- 
 tus. — All). Aq. Kb. V. cap. 3. 
 
 t Sanuti proposed to plant the sugar-cane in Sicily and Apulia. This 
 idea was not carried into execution before the end of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury. The sugar-cane did not pass, as has been said, from Sicily to 
 America ; it was transported to Madeira from the coast of Spain, whither 
 it had been brought by the Saracens. The sugar-cane is still found in 
 some parts of the kingdom of Grenada.
 
 198 HISTOILY OJT THE CEUSADES. 
 
 scarcely numbered fifty thousand figating men under its 
 banners. 
 
 The leader3, however, did not hesitate to pursue their 
 enterprise. They who did remain in the ranks had borne 
 every trial ; they did not drag in their train a useless, em- 
 barrassmg multitude ; and it was much more easy to supply 
 them with provisions and estabhsh order and discipline 
 amongst them. Strengthened in some sort by their losses, 
 they were perhaps more formidable than they were at the 
 siege of Xice. The remembrance of their exploits increased 
 their confidence and courage, and the terror which their 
 arms inspired might well make the Saracens believe that 
 their army was still innumerable. 
 
 Most of the princes whom the war had ruined were in 
 the pay of the count of Thoidouse. This species of degra- 
 dation was doubtless painful to their pride ; but as they 
 approached the holy city it might be said that they lost 
 some of their indomitable arrogance, and that they forgot 
 both their pretensions and their quarrels. The most perfect 
 imion now prevailed among the Crusaders. In their impa- 
 tience to see Jerusalem, neither moimtains, defiles, rivers, 
 nor any other impediments at all damped their ardour ; the 
 soldiers would not even consent to take repose, and often, 
 contrary to the wishes of their leaders, marched dui'ing the 
 night. 
 
 The Christian army followed the coasts of the sea, where 
 they might be provisioned by the Pisan, G-enoese, and 
 Flemish fleets. A crowd of Christians and pious sohtaries 
 who inhabited the neighbouring mountaias, hastened to meet 
 their brethren of the AYest, brought them fresh provisions, 
 and guided them on their way. After a paiaful march over 
 rocks and along the dech\'ities of precipices, they descended 
 into the plaui of Berytus, and traversed the territory of 
 Sidon and T^tc. 
 
 "^Tiilst they remained three days on the banks of the 
 liver Eleuctera, thev were assailed by serpents called tarenta^ 
 whose bite produced death, attended by ^-iolent pain and 
 unquenchable thirst. The sight of these reptiles, which 
 they attempted to frighten away by striking stones one 
 against another, or by the clashing of their bucklers, filled 
 the pilgrims with fear and surprise ; but that whicli must
 
 IITSTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 199 
 
 have much more astonished them was the strange remedy 
 for their bite which the inliabitants pointed out to them, 
 and Avhich without doubt must have seemed to them far more 
 a subject of scandal than a means of cure.* 
 
 The Christians, having still continued to march along the 
 coast, arrived before the walls of Accon, the ancient Ptole- 
 mais, at the present day St. Jean d'Acre. The emir who 
 commanded in this city for the caliph of Egypt sent them 
 provisions, and promised to surrender as soon as they should 
 become masters of Jerusalem. The Crusaders, who had no 
 idea of attacking Ptolemais, received with joy the submission 
 and promises of the Egyptian emir ; but chance soon made 
 them aware that he had no other intention but that of 
 getting them out of his territories, and raismg up enemies 
 against them in the countries they were about to pass 
 through. The Christian army, after having quitted the 
 country of Ptolemais, had advanced between the sea and 
 Mount Carmel, and were encamped near the port of Csesarea, 
 when a dove, which had escaped from the talons of a bird of 
 prey, fell lifeless among the soldiers. The bishop of Apt, 
 who chanced to pick up this bird, found under its wing a 
 
 * I at first thought that these serpents could be only the dipsada, or 
 fire-serpent. I communicated this opinion to M. Walckenaer, who with 
 reason had seen nothing in the reptiles of which Albert d'Aix speaks, but 
 the common ^rec/ro of Egypt {Lacerta gecko of Linnaeus), which Belon and 
 Hasselquits have found in great numbers in Syria, Judea, and Egypt. 
 Tills species is very venomous ; it resembles other species of the same 
 genus and of the genus stellion, which appear to be harmless, and are 
 found in France, Italy, Sardinia, and on all the coasts of the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea, where it is called larente, f areata, tarentola, &c. The opinion 
 of M. Walckenaer appears the morrt reasonable, from the two species of 
 serpents and vipers to which naturalists have given the name dipaada ; 
 the one, the Coluber dipsas of Linnaeus, which is the dipsada, properly 
 speaking, being only found in America ; the other, the black viper, 
 Coluber prcester of Linnfeu-:, appears peculiar to Europe, and is more 
 common in the north than in the south. We may venture to quote the 
 passage of Albert d'Aix in Latin, which speaks of the remedy advised by 
 the inhabitants of the country against the bite of the tarenta : — Similiter 
 et aliam edocti sunt medicinam, ut vir percussus sine mora coiret cum 
 muliere, cum viro mulier, et sic ab omni tumore veneni liberaretur uter- 
 que. — Alb. Aq. lib. iv. cap. 40. The same historian speaks of another 
 remedy, which consisted in pressing strongly the place of the bite, to 
 prevent the communication of the venom with the other parts of the 
 system.
 
 200 niSTORT OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 letter written by tlie emir of Ptolemais to the emir of 
 Cresarea. " The cursed race of the Christians," wrote the 
 emir, " have just passed through my territories, and will 
 soon cross yours ; let the chiefs of all the Mussulman cities 
 be warned of their march, and let them take measures to 
 crush oiu' enemies." This letter was read in the councd of 
 the princes, and before all the army. The Crusaders, ac- 
 cording to the account of Eaymond d'Agiles, an eye-witness, 
 broke out into loud expressions of surprise and joy, no 
 longer doubting that God protected theii' enterprise, since 
 he sent the birds of heaven to reveal to them the secrets of 
 the infidels. Filled with new enthusiasm, they continued 
 their route, drawing away from the sea, and lea\'ing Anti- 
 patride and Jaffa on their right. They saluted in the east 
 the heights of Ephraim, and took possession of Lydda (the 
 ancient Diospolis), celebrated by the martyrdom of St. 
 George, and of Ramla, famous for the birth and tomb of 
 Samuel. 
 
 "When arrived at this last-named city, the Christians had 
 only a march of sixteen miles to be before Jerusalem. The 
 leaders held a council, in which some of them proposed to 
 go and attack the infidels in Eg^^t, instead of undertaking 
 the siege of the holy city.* " AS'^hen," said they, "we shall 
 have conquered the sidtan of Eg^-pt, the cities of Alexandria 
 and Cairo, with Palestine and most of the kingdoms of the 
 East, will fall under our power. If we go straight to Jeru- 
 salem, we shall want both water and provisions, and we shall 
 be obliged to raise the siege, without having the power to 
 undertake anything else." Such of the leaders as did not 
 agree with this opinion, answered, " That the Christian army 
 amounted to no more than fifty thousand combatants, and 
 that it would be m.adness to begin a march to distant, and, 
 to them, unkno^vn regions, and where they could look for no 
 assistance. On all sides they must expect dangers and 
 obstacles : nowhere should they be free from the dread of 
 
 * It is Raymond d'Agiles alone who speaks of this strange deliberation 
 of the leaders ; if this historian had not been present, we could give no 
 credit to it. — See Raym. d'Jffiles, in the Collection of Bon gars, p. 173. 
 Albert d'Aix contents himself with saying that the leaders, after having 
 traversed the territory of Ptolemai's, deliberated whether they should not 
 go to Damascus.
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 201 
 
 "want of provisions ; but the route to Jerusalem was mueli 
 more easy tliaii that to Alexandria or Cairo. The Crusaders 
 coidd pursue no wiser plan than to continue their march, 
 and prosecute the enterprise they had begun, leaving it to 
 Providence to provide for their wants, and protect them 
 from thirst and famine." 
 
 This latter opinion was adopted, and the army received 
 the signal for departure. The cities which lay in the route 
 of the Crusaders were all abandoned by the infidels. The 
 greater part of the pilgrims endeavoured to get in advance 
 of each other, that they miglit be the first to obtain pos- 
 session of the places and castles that were thus left without 
 inhabitants. The Crusaders, says Eaymond d'Agiles, had 
 agreed among themselves, that when one of the leaders had 
 planted his standard upon a city, or had placed any mark 
 whatever on the door of a house, he should become the 
 legitimate possessor of it. This imprudent agreement had 
 given birth to ambition and covetousness in the soldiers as 
 well as the barons. Many, in the hope of obtaining rich 
 possessions, abandoned their colours, wandered about the 
 country, and spread themselves even as far as the banks of 
 the Jordan. In the mean time, those to whom, according 
 to the expression of the historians, nothing ivas more dear 
 than the commandments of God, advanced, barefooted, under 
 the standard of the cross, lamenting the error of their bre- 
 thren. When they arrived at Emmaus, a considerable city 
 in the times of the Maccabees, and which was then no more 
 than a large village, known under the name of jNTicopolis, 
 some Christians of Bethlehem came to implore their assist- 
 ance. Touched with their prayers, Tancred set out in the 
 middle of the night with a detachment of three hundred 
 men, and planted the flag of the Crusaders upon the walls of 
 the city, at the same hoar in which Christ was born and was 
 announced to the shepherds of Judea. 
 
 During this same night a phenomenon appeared in the 
 heaven, which powerfully affected the imagination of the 
 pilgrims. An eclipse of the moon produced all at once the 
 most profound darkness, and when she at length re-appeared 
 she was covered with a blood-red veil. Many of the Cru- 
 saders were seized with terror at this spectacle ; but tliose 
 who were acquainted with the march and movements of the
 
 202 HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 
 
 stars, says Albert d'Aix, reassured their companions by 
 telling them that the sight of such a phenomenon announced 
 the triumph of the Christians and the destruction of the 
 infidels. 
 
 Bv the break of day, on the 10th of June, 1099, the 
 Crusaders ascended the heights of Emmaus. All at once 
 the holy city presented itself to their eyes.* The first who 
 perceived it exclaimed together, " Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! " 
 The rear ranks rushed forward to behold the city that was 
 the object of all their wishes, and the words, " It is the icill 
 of God ! It is the will of God ! " were shouted by the whole 
 army, and resounded over Moimt Sion and the Mount of 
 Olives, which offered themselves to the eager gaze of the 
 Crusaders. The horsemen dismounted from their horses, 
 and marched barefooted. Some cast themselves upon their 
 knees at beholding the holy places, whilst others kissed with 
 respect the earth honoured by the presence of the Saviour. 
 In their transports they passed by turns from joy to sad- 
 ness, and from sadness to joy. At one moment they feli- 
 citated themselves with touching the last term of their 
 labours ; and then wept over their sins, over the death of 
 Christ, and over his profaned tomb ; but all renewed the 
 oath they had so often made to deliver the holy city from 
 the sacrilegious yoke of the Mussulmans. 
 
 History furnishes very few positive notions of the foun- 
 
 * Tasso has spoken of the enthusiasm of the Crusaders at the sight of 
 Jerusalem. The historians of the crusades, Albert d'Aix, the author of 
 the Gesta Francorum, Robert the Monk, Baldric or Baudry, and William 
 of Tyre, present us with the same picture that Tasso does. We will 
 content ourselves with quoting here a passage from the " History of 
 Jerusalem and Hebron," which proves that the sight of that city likewise 
 awakens the enthusiasm of Mussulmans : " The coup cVoeil of Jerusalem," 
 says this history, " is very fine, particularly when seen from the Mount 
 of Olives. When the pilgrim arrives there, and sees the buildings nearer, 
 his heart is tilled with an inexpressible joy, jind he easily forgets all the 
 fatigues of his voyage." Hatiz, the son of Hadjar, improvised on his 
 arrival at Jerusalem four verses, of which this is the translation : " When 
 we approached the holy city, the Lord showed us Jerusalem ; we had 
 suffered much during our voyage, but we beheved ourselves then entering 
 into heaven." We have heard several modern travellers, of different man- 
 ners, religions, and opinions, say that they all felt a lively emotion at 
 seeing Jeru^alem for the first time. See the beautiful description that 
 JM. de Chateaubriand has given of it in his Itinerary.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 203 
 
 dation and origin of Jerusalem. The common opinion ig, 
 tliat Melchisedec, who is called king of Salem in Scriptiu-e, 
 made his residence there. It was afterwards the capital of the 
 Jebusees, which procured it the name of the city of Jebus. 
 It is probable that from the name of Jebus and that of 
 Salem, which signifies vision, or abode of 'peace, was formed 
 the name of Jerusalem,* which it bore under the kings of 
 Judah. 
 
 From the highest antiquity Jerusalem yielded in magnifi- 
 cence to none of the cities of Asia. Jeremiah names it 
 admirahle city, on account of its beauty ; and David calls it 
 the most glorious and most illustrious citij of the East. Erom 
 the nature of its entirely religious legislation, it always 
 showed an invincible attachment for its laws ; but it was 
 often a prey to the fanaticism of its enemies as well as that 
 of its own citizens. Its founders, says Tacitus, having fore- 
 seen that the opposition of their manners to those of other 
 nadpns would be a source of war, had given their attention 
 to its fortificatioils, and in the early times of the Eoman 
 empire it was one of the strongest places in Asia. After 
 having undergone a great many revolutions, it was at length 
 completely destroyed by Titus, and in accordance with the 
 denunciations of the prophets, presented no more than a 
 horrible confusion of stones. The emperor Adrian after- 
 wards destroyed even its ruins, and caused another city to 
 be built, giving it the name of Aelia, so that there should 
 remain nothing of the ancient Jerusalem. The Christians, 
 but more particularly the Jews, v^ere banished from it. 
 Paganism there exalted its idols, and Jupiter and Venus had 
 altars upon the tomb of Jesus Christ. In the midst of so many 
 profanations and vicissitudes, the people of the East and the 
 AVest scarcely preserved the memory of the city of David, 
 when Constantine restored it its name, recalled the faithful, 
 and made it a Christian city. Conquered afterwards by the 
 Persians, and retaken by the G-reeks, it had fallen a bloody 
 prey into the hands of the Mussulmans, who disputed the 
 possession of it, and subjected it by turns to the double 
 scourge of persecution and war.f 
 
 * The name of Solyraa was formed from that of Hierosolyma. 
 t The Mussulmans call Jerusalem El Cods (the holy), Beit-td- 
 Mocaddes (the holy house), and scraetimes El C/ierif (the noble). A
 
 201 KISTOHY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 At the time of the crusades, Jerusalem formed, as it does 
 at present, a square, rather longer than \\-ide, of about a 
 leao'ue in cii'cuinference. It extends over four hills : on 
 the east the 2loriah, upon which the mosque of Omar was 
 built in the place of the temple of Solomon ; on the south 
 and Avest the Acra, Avhich occupied the whole width of the 
 city ; on the north the Bezetlia, or the new cit j ; and on the 
 north-west the Golgotha, or Calvary, which the Greeks con- 
 sidered to be the centre of the world, and upon which was 
 built the church of the Hesurreetion. In the state in which 
 Jerusalem then was it had lost much of its strength and ex- 
 tent. Mount Sion no longer arose within its enclosure and 
 dominated over its walls between the south and west. The 
 three vallevs which surrounded the ramparts had been in 
 many places filled up by Adrian, and the access to the place 
 was much less difficult, particularly on the northern side. 
 Nevertheless, as Jerusalem under the Saracens had had to 
 sustain several sieges, and as it was at all times exposed to 
 fresh attacks, its fortifications had not been neglected. The 
 Egyptians, who had had possession of it for several months, 
 took advantage of the tardiness of the Christian army to put 
 it in a state of defence. 
 
 "WTiilst the Crusaders were advancing slowly towards the 
 city, the lieutenant of the caliph, Iftikhar-Eddaulah, ravaged 
 the neighbouring plains, burnt the villages, filled up or poi- 
 soned the cisterns, and surrounded himself with a desert in 
 which the Christians must find themselves a prey to all kinds 
 of misery. He caused provisions for a long siege to be 
 transported into the place ; he caUed upon all Mussulmans 
 to come to the defence of Jerusalem, and employed a great 
 number of workmen, day and night, to construct machines 
 of war, to raise the walls, and repair the towers. The gar- 
 rison of the citv amounted to fortv thousand men, and 
 twenty thousand of the inliabitants took up arms. 
 
 At the approach of the Christians, some detachments of 
 infidels had come out from Jerusalem to observe the march 
 and proceedings of the enemy, but were repulsed by Baldwin 
 
 description of Jerusalem may be seen in the extracts from the Arabian 
 history of Jerusalem and Hebron, translated into French and inserted in 
 the German J ouinal, entitled " The Mines of the Eaist."
 
 KISTOKY or THE CilUSADES. 205 
 
 du Boiirg and Tancred. The latter had hastened from Beth- 
 lehem, of whicli he had taken possession. After having pur- 
 sued the fugitives up to the gates of the holy city, he left 
 his companions and repaired alone to the Mount of Olives, 
 from whence he contemplated at leisure the city promised 
 to the arms and devotion of the pilgrims.* He was dis- 
 turbed in his pious contemplations by live Mussulmans Avho 
 came from the city, and finding him alone attacked him.f 
 Tancred made no effort to avoid the combat ; three of the 
 Saracens fell beneath his arm, whilst the other two took to 
 flight, AVitliout either hastening or retarding his speed, 
 Tancred rejoined the army, which, in its enthusiasm, was 
 advancing without order, and descended the heights of 
 Emmaus,;{; singing these words from Isaiah, " Jerusalem, lift 
 tip thine eyes, and behold the liberator tvho comes to break ihy 
 chains^ 
 
 On the day after their arrival the Crusaders employed 
 tliemselves in regularh^ laying siege to the place. The duke 
 of Normandv, the count of Flanders, and Tancred encamoed 
 tovrards the north, from the gate of Herod to the gate of 
 Cedar or of St. Stephen. jS'ear to the Flemings, the Nor- 
 mans, and the Italians, were placed the English, commanded 
 by Edgar Atheling, and the Bretons, conducted by their 
 duke, Alain Eergent, the sire de Chateau-Griron, and the 
 viscount de Dinan. Godfrey, Eustace, and Baldwin du 
 Bourg established their quarters between the west and the 
 north, around the enclosure of Calvary, from the gate of 
 Damascus to the gate of Jaffa. The count of Thoulouse 
 placed his camp to the right of Godfrey between the south 
 and the west ; he had near to him Baimbaud of Orange, 
 "William of Montpellier, and Gaston of Beam. His troops 
 at first extended to the declivity of Sion, and a few days 
 
 * Tasso here makes Tancred contend with Clorinda. The personages 
 of Clorinda and Herminia are the invention of the poet. 
 
 f Tliis fact, which Tasso has mixed with some fictions, is related by 
 Raoul de Caen, Gesta Tancredi, cap. 112. The same historian adds that 
 Tancred met upon the Mount of Olives a hermit who was born in Nor- 
 mandy, and who ha i been the enemy of Robert Guiscard and his family. 
 This hermit welcomed the Italian hero with respect, and showed hitn the 
 places around Jerusalem the most venerated by pilgrims. 
 
 X See, for this arrival of the Christians, William of Tyre, lib. vii. 
 cap. 25.
 
 206 HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 
 
 afterwards he pitched his tents upon the very summit of the 
 mountain, at the place where Christ celebrated Easter. By 
 these dispositions the Crusaders left ti-ee the sides of the 
 citv which were defended on the south by the valley of 
 (xibon or Siloe, and towards the east by the valley of Jeho- 
 shaphat.* 
 
 Every step that the pilgrims took around Jerusalem 
 brought to their minds some remembrance dear to their 
 religion. In this territorv, so revered by the Christians, 
 there was not a valley, not a rock which had not a name in 
 sacred history. All that they saw awakened or warmed 
 their enthusiasm. They could not withdraw their eyes 
 from the holy citv, or cease to lament over the state of 
 debasement into which it had fallen. This citv, once so 
 sunerb, looked as if buried in its own ruins, and thev then 
 might, to employ the expression of Josephus, have asked in 
 Jerusalem itself where was Jerusalem ? "With its square 
 houses without windows, surmoimted by flat terraces, it 
 appeared to the Crusaders like an enormous 2iass of stones 
 heaped up between rocks. They could only perceive here 
 and there in its bosom a few cypresses and some clumps of 
 aloes and terebinthi, among which arose steeples in the 
 quarter of the Christians, and mosques in that of the 
 intldels. In the valleys and the fields adjacent to the city, 
 ■which ancient traditions describe as covered with gardens 
 and groves, there struggled into gro^\i:h a few scattered 
 olives and thorny shrubs. The sight of these sterile plains, 
 and of the mountains burnt up by an ardent sun, offered to 
 the pilgrims nothing but images of mourning, and mingled 
 a melancholy sadness with their religious sentiments. They 
 seemed to hear the voices of the prophets which had an- 
 nounced the servitude and the misfortunes of the city of 
 God, and, in the excess of their devotion, they thought 
 themselves called upon to restore it to its ancient greatness 
 and splendour. 
 
 That which still further inflamed the zeal of the Crusaders 
 
 * In comparing the description of the siege of Jerusalem by the Cru- 
 saders \\ ith ihat ut the siege which the Romans carried on under Vespasian, 
 vce tind that the quarters of Godfrey were in the same place as those of 
 Titus, when he directed his first attacks against the city. See the History 
 of Josephus.
 
 HISTORY or THE crusades. 207 
 
 for the deliverance of the holy city, was the arrival amongst 
 them of a great number of Christians who had come out of 
 Jerusalem, and being deprived of their property and driven 
 from their homes, had sought assistance and an asylum 
 among their brethren from the West. These Christians 
 described the miseries which the Mussulmans had inflicted 
 upon all the worshippers of Christ. The Momen, children, 
 and old men were detained as hostages, whilst such as were 
 of an age to bear arms were condemned to labours which 
 surpassed their strength. The head of the principal hos- 
 pital for pilgrims had, with a great many other Christians, 
 been cast into prison, and the churches had been pillaged to 
 furnish support for the Mussulman soldiers. The patriarch 
 Simeon was gone to the isle of Cyprus to implore the 
 charity of the faithful, and save his flock, which was me- 
 naced with destruction if he did not pay the enormous 
 tribute imposed by the oppressors of the holy city. Every 
 day new outrages were heaped upon the Christians of Jeru- 
 salem, and several times the infidels had formed the project 
 of giving up to the flames and utterly destroying both the 
 Holy Sepulchre and the church of the Resurrection. 
 
 The Christian fugitives, whilst making these melancholy 
 recitals to the pilgrims, exhorted them to hasten their attack 
 upon Jerusalem. In the very first days of the siege, a 
 solitary, who had fixed his retreat on the Mount of Ohves, 
 came to join his prayers wdth those of the Christians driven 
 from Jerusalem, and conjured the Crusaders, in the name 
 of Christ, whose interpreter he declared himself, at once to 
 proceed to a general assault. Although destitute of either 
 ladders or machines of war, the Crusaders yielded to the 
 counsels of the pious hermit, believing that their courage 
 and their swords Avere sufficient to destroy the ramparts of 
 the Saracens. The leaders, who had seen so many prodigies 
 performed by the valour and enthusiasm of the Christian 
 soldiers, and who had not forgotten the lengthened miseries 
 of the siege of Antioch, yielded without difficidty to the 
 impatience of the army ; besides, the sight of Jerusalem had 
 exalted the mmds of the Crusaders, and disposed even the 
 least credulous to hope that Grod himself would second their 
 bravery by miracles. 
 
 At the first signal, the Christian army advanced in good
 
 208 HISTOEY OF THE CKUSADES. 
 
 order towards the ramparts. Xever, say the liistoriaas, did 
 the soldiers of the cross eyiuce so much ardour ; some, 
 joined in close battalions, covered themselves with their 
 bucklers, which formed an impenetrable vault over their 
 heads, and endeavoured with pikes and hammers to destroy 
 the wall ; whilst others, ranged in long files, remained at 
 some distance, and plied their slings and cross-bows in driving 
 the enemy from the ramparts. OH, boding pitch, large 
 stones, and enormous beams were cast upon the front ranlis 
 of the Christians without putting the least stop to their 
 labours. The outer wall began to fall beneath their strokes, 
 but the inner wall presented an insuperable obstacle, and 
 nothing was left to them but escalade. This bold method 
 was attempted, although only one ladder long enough to 
 reach the top of the walls coidd be found. The bravest 
 mounted, and fought hand to hand with the Saracens, who 
 were confounded \vith such rash coiu'a2:e. It is probable 
 that the Crusaders would have entered Jerusalem that very 
 day if they had had the necessary instruments and machines; 
 but so small a number of them could gain the top of the 
 walls, that they could not maintain themselves there. Bra- 
 very was useless ; Heaven did not perform the miracles 
 which the solitary had promised, and the Saracens at length 
 forced the assailants to retreat. 
 
 The Christians returned to their camp deploring their 
 imprudence and credulity. This first reverse taught them 
 that they must not always expect prodigies, and that before 
 they proceeded further they must construct machines of 
 war. But it was very diffici-dt to procure the necessary 
 wood in a country of barren sands and arid rocks. Several 
 detachments were sent to search for materials ; and chance 
 discovered to one of them some large beams, which Tancred 
 caused to be transported to the camp. They demolished 
 the houses, and even the churches in the vicinity of the city 
 which had not been given up to the flames, and every avail- 
 able bit of wood that had escaped the ravages of the 
 Saracens was employed in the construction of machines. 
 
 In spite of their discoveries and exertions, the progress of 
 the siege did not answer to the impatience of the Crusaders, 
 nor did they appear likely to be able to avert the evils that 
 threatened them. The most intense heats of the stunmer
 
 IIISTOIIT OF THE CRUSADES. 209 
 
 set in at the very time the pilgrims arrived before Jerusalem. 
 A scorching sun and southern vinds, loaded with the sands 
 of the desert, inflamed the horizon. Plants and animals 
 perished ; the torrent of Kedron was dry, and all the cisterns 
 had been filled up or poisoned.* Under a sun of fire, and 
 amidst burning and arid plains, the Christian army soon 
 became a prey to all the horrors of thirst. 
 
 The fountain of Siloe, which only flowed at inten^als, 
 could not suffice for such a multitude. A skinful of fetid 
 water, brought from a distance of three leagues, cost as 
 much as three silver deniers. Overcome by thirst and heat, 
 the soldiers turned up the soil with their swords, and bury- 
 ing themselves in the freshl3-moved earth, eagerly carried 
 to their lips every moist clod that presented itself During 
 the day they looked anxiously for the night, and at night 
 longed for the break of day, in the constantly disappointed 
 hope that the return of either the one or the other would 
 bring some little freshness, or a few drops of rain. Every 
 morning they were seen to glue their parched lips to the 
 marbles covered with dew. During the heat of the day the 
 most robust languished beneath their tents, seeming not to 
 have even strength left to implore the assistance of Heaven. 
 
 The knights and barons were not at all exempt from the 
 scourge which devoured the army, and many of them ex- 
 changed for the water of which they stood in daily need, the 
 treasures they had won from the infidels. " Pity, on account 
 of this extreme thirst," says the old translator of William 
 of Tyre, " was not so much due to tlie foot-soldiers as the 
 horsemen ; the foot-soldiers could be contented with a little, 
 but the horsemen could only supply their horses -^-ith drink 
 at great expense. As to the beasts of bui-then," adds the 
 same historian, " there was no more account taken of them 
 than of things abeady dead ; they were allowed to stray 
 away in the fields, where they died for want of water." 
 
 In this general misery the women and children dragged 
 their exhausted bodies across fields and plains, seeking 
 sometimes a spring and sometimes shade, neither of which 
 
 * An admirable picture is to be found in Tasso of this drought, which 
 is also described by Robert the Monk, Baldric, Raymond d'Agiles, Albert 
 d'Aix, William of Tyre, and by Gilles or Gilou, in his Latin poem upon the 
 first crusade.
 
 10 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 existed. Many who strayed from the army fell into the 
 ambushes of the Saracens, and lost either their lives or their 
 libert^^ Wlien some fortunate pilgrims discovered a spring 
 or a cistern in a remote or obscure place, they concealed it 
 from their companions, and prevented their approach to it. 
 Quarrels of a violent nature broke out on this account daily ; 
 and not unfrequently the Crusaders drew their swords for 
 the sake of a little muddy water ; in short, the want of water 
 was so insupportable an e^aL, that they hardly noticed the 
 scarcity of food. The intensity of thu'st and the heat of the 
 climate made them forget the horrors of the famine which 
 seemed to pursue the Christians everj^where. 
 
 If the besieged had at this period made a sortie, they 
 would have easily triumphed over the Crusaders, but the 
 latter were defended by the remembrance of their exploits ; 
 and in the distress to which they were now reduced, their 
 name alone still inspired the Saracens with dread. The Mus- 
 sulmans likewise might entertain the belief that their enemies 
 could not long resist the joint calamities of famine and 
 thirst. The old historians here employ the most pathetic 
 expressions to paint the frightful misery of the pilgrims. 
 Abbot Gruibert even goes so far as to say that men never 
 suffered so many e\'il3 to obtain benefits which were not of 
 this earth. Amidst such calamities, savs Ea^Tuondd'Aonles, 
 who was himself at the siege of Jerusalem, many forgot their 
 Grod, and thought no longer of either gaining the city, or 
 obtaining the divine mercy. The remembrance of their own 
 country increased their sufferings ; and so great was their 
 discouragement, that some deserted the standards of the 
 crusade entirely, and fled to the ports of Palestine and Syria 
 to wait for an opportunity of returning to Europe. 
 
 The leaders clearly saw there was no other remedy for the 
 evils the army endured but the taking of Jerusalem ; and yet 
 the labours of the siege went on very slowly, for they had 
 neither wood enough for the construction of machines, nor 
 workmen \Nith necessary implements. In addition, a report 
 was current that a formidable army had left Egypt for the 
 purpose of relieving the city. The wisest and the bravest 
 were beginning, in such a critical situation, to despair of the 
 success of the enterprise, when assistance was afforded them 
 of an unexpected kind.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CEITSADES. 211 
 
 They learned tliat a Genoese fleet liad entered the port of 
 Jaffa, laden with provisions and ammunition of all sorts. 
 This news spread the 2^reatest joy through the Christian 
 army, and a body of three hundred men, commanded by 
 Haymond Pelet, set out from the camp to meet the convoy, 
 which Heaven appeared to have sent the Crusaders in their 
 misery. This detachment, after having beaten and dispersed 
 the Saracens they met on their passage, entered the city of 
 Jaffa, which, being abandoned by its inhabitants, was occu- 
 pied by the Genoese. On their arrival, the Crusaders learnt 
 that the Christian fleet had been surprised and burnt by 
 that of the infidels, but they had had time to get out the 
 pro^dsions and a great quantity of instruments for the con- 
 struction of machines of war. All they had been able to 
 save was transported to the camp of the Christians. This 
 convoy arrived under the walls of Jerusalem, followed by a 
 great number of Genoese engineers and carpenters, whose 
 presence greatly revived the emulation and courage of the 
 army. 
 
 As they still had not sufiicient wood for the construction 
 of the machines, a Syrian conducted the duke of jN^ormandy 
 and the count of Flanders to a moiuitain situated at a dis- 
 tance of thirty miles from Jerusalem, between the Valley of 
 Samaria and the Yalley of Sechem. There the Christians 
 found the forest of which Tasso speaks in the " Jerusalem 
 Delivered."* The trees of this forest were neither protected 
 from the axe of the Crusaders by the enchantments of 
 Ismen nor the arms of the Saracens. Oxen shod with iron 
 transported them in triumph before Jerusalem. 
 
 None of the leaders, except Raymond of Thoulouse, had 
 
 * Maimbourg does not seem to credit the existence of this forest, and 
 says that it is an invention of Tasso's. He might have read in William 
 of Tyre this sentence, which is not at all equivocal : — Casu afFuit quidam 
 fidelis indigena natione Syrus, qui in valles quasdam secretiores, sex aut 
 septem ab urbe distantes milliaribus, quosdam de principibus direxit, ubi 
 arbores, etsi non ad conceptum opus aptas penitus, tamen ad aliquem 
 modum proceras invenerunt plures. Raoul de Caen .is much more 
 positive and explicit than William of Tyre ; this is the way in which he 
 expresses himself : — Lucus erat in montibus et montes ad Hyerusalem 
 remoti ei ; quae modo Neapolis, olim Sebasta, ante Sychar ddctus est, 
 propriores, adhuc ignota nostratibus via, nunc Celebris et ferme peregre 
 nantium unica. — Had. Cad. cap. 121. 
 
 Vol. I.— 11
 
 212 HISTOEY OF THE CEIJSADES. 
 
 sufficient money to pay for the labours they had com- 
 manded, but the zeal and charity of the pilgrims came to 
 their assistance. jMany offered the remains of the spoil 
 taken fiKjm the enemy ; the knights and barons themselves 
 became laborious workmen ; and every arm was employed, 
 and evervthmg in motion throughout the army. The women, 
 the children, even the sick, shared the toils of the soldiers. 
 "VYhilst the more robust were engaged in the construction of 
 rams, catapultas, and covered galleries, others fetched water 
 in skins from the fountain of Elpira, on the road to Damas- 
 cus, or from a ri^TLlet which flowed beyond Bethlehem, 
 towards the desert of St. John. Some prepared the skins 
 that were to be stretched over the machines to render them 
 fire-proof, whilst others traversed the plains and neigh- 
 bouring mountains to collect branches of the olive, the fig,* 
 and some other trees of the country, to make hurdles and 
 faggots. 
 
 Although the Christians had still much to suffer from 
 thirst and the heat of the climate, the hope of soon seeing 
 the end of their troubles gave them strength to support 
 them. The preparations for the attack were pressed on with 
 incredible acti\-ity ;" every day formidable machines appeared, 
 threatening the ramparts of the Saracens. The construction 
 of them was directed by Graston of Beam, of whose skill 
 and bravery historians make great boast. t Among these 
 machines were three enormous towers of a new structure, 
 each of which had three stages, the first for the workmen 
 who directed the movements of it, and the second and third 
 for the warriors who were to make the assault. These three 
 rolling fortresses were higher than the walls of the besieged 
 citj-X At the top was fixed a kind of drawbridge, which 
 
 * A sufficiently remarkable circumstance is, that the shrub which grows 
 most freely in the territory of Ji-rusaleia, and which the Crusaders must 
 have used, was the rhamnus, a thorny shrub, of which, if we give faith to 
 the opinion of Pierre Belon, was formed the crown of thorns of Christ. 
 Christopher Hasselquoit, it is true, is not of this opinion, and pretends 
 that the crown of thorns v. as of the shrub na?cba. 
 
 •j" Quemdam egregiura at magnificum virum, dominum videlicet Gas- 
 tonem de Beam, operi prefecerunt — Will. Tyren. lib. viii. cap. 10. 
 Raymond d'Agiles and Abbot Guibert speak also of Gaston de Beam. 
 
 X The chevalier de Felart, in his treaty on The Attack of Places, at 
 the end of his commentary upon Polybius, speaks of the tower of Godfrey,
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 213 
 
 could be let down on the ramparts, and present a road by 
 which to penetrate into the place. 
 
 But these powerful means of attack were not the only 
 ones which were to second the efforts of the Crusaders. The 
 religious enthusiasm which had already performed so many 
 prodigies was again to augment their ardour and confidence 
 m victory. The clergy spread themselves through all the 
 quarters of the army, exhorting the pilgrims to penitence 
 and concord. Misery, which almost always engenders com- 
 plaints and murmiu's, had soured their hearts, and produced 
 division among the leaders and the soldiers, who at other 
 times had disputed for cities and treasures, but for whom then 
 the most common things had become objects of jealousy and 
 quarrels. The solitary from the Mount of Olives added his 
 exhortations to those of the clergy, and addressing himself 
 to the princes and people: " You who are come," said he, 
 " from the regions of the West to worship the God of 
 armies, love one another as brothers, and sanctify yourselves 
 by repentance and good works. If you obey the laws of 
 God, he will render you masters of the holy city ; if you 
 resist him, all his anger will fall upon you." The solitary 
 advised the Crusaders to march round Jerusalem, invoking 
 the mercy and protection of Heaven. 
 
 The pilgrims, persuaded that the gates of the city were 
 not less likely to be opened by devotion than bravery, lis- 
 tened with docility to the exhortations of the solitary, and 
 were all eager to follow his counsel, which they regarded as 
 the language of God himself. After a rigorous fast of three 
 days, they issued from their quarters armed, and marched 
 barefooted and bareheaded around the walls of the holy city. 
 They were preceded by their priests clothed in white, carry- 
 ing images of the saints, and singing psalms and holy songs. 
 The ensigns were displayed, and the cymbals and trumpets 
 sounded afar. It was thus that the Hebrews had formerly 
 marched round Jericho, whose walls had crumbled away at 
 the soimd of their instruments. 
 
 The Crusaders set out from the Valley of Eephraim, which 
 
 whicli he improperly calls the tower of Frederick the First of Jerusalem. 
 He gives a detailed and, very exact description of this tower, which is like- 
 wise well described by contemporary historians.
 
 214 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 faces Calvary ; they advanced to"^ards tlie north, and saluted, 
 on entering* into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the tombs of 
 Marv, St. Stephen, and the first elect of God. On con- 
 tinuins: then' march towards the Mount of Olives, thev con- 
 templated with much respect the grotto in which Christ 
 sweated blood, and the spot where the Sa\"iour wept over 
 Jerusalem. AYhen they arrived at the summit of the moun- 
 tain, the most imposing spectacle presented itself to their 
 eyes. Towards the east were the plaiQs of Jericho, the 
 shores of the Dead Sea and the Jordan ; and to the west 
 thev saw at their feet the holv citv and its territory, covered 
 with sacred ruins. Assembled on the very spot whence 
 Clu-ist ascended into heaven, and where they still sought for 
 the vestiges of his steps, they listened to the exhortations of 
 the priests and bishops. 
 
 Arnold de Eohes, chaplain to the duke of iS'ormandy, 
 addressed them in a pathetic discourse, conjuring them to 
 redouble their zeal and perseverance. AYhen terminating 
 his discourse, he turned towards Jerusalem : " Tou see," 
 said he to them, '' the heritage of Christ trampled under- 
 foot by the impious ; here is, at last, the worthy reward of 
 all your labours ; here are the places in which G-od will 
 pardon all your sins, and will bless all your victories." At 
 the voice of the orator, who pointed out to them the church 
 of the Eesurrection and the rocks of Calvary, ready to 
 receive them, the defenders of the cross humbled themselves 
 before G-od, and kept their eyes fixed upon Jerusalem. 
 
 As Arnold exhorted them, in the name of Christ, to forget 
 all injui'ies, and to love one another, Tancred and Raymond, 
 who had had long and serious disputes, embraced each other 
 in the presence of the whole Christian army. The soldiers 
 and leaders followed their example. The most rich promised 
 to comfort the poor by their alms, and to support the 
 orphans of the bearers of the cross. All forgot their fatal 
 discords, and swore to remain faithful to the precepts of 
 evangelical charity. 
 
 Whilst the Crusaders were thus giving themselves up to 
 transports of devotion and piety, the Saracens assembled on 
 the ramparts of Jerusalem, raised crosses high in the air, 
 and treated them with all kinds of outrages, at the same 
 time insulting the ceremonies of the Christians bj their
 
 HISTOEY or THE CEUSADES. 215 
 
 gestures and theii' clamours.* "Tou hear them," said Peter the 
 Hermit ; " you hear the menaces and the blasphemies against 
 the true God ; swear to defend Jesus Christ, a prisoner, and 
 crucified a second time by the infidels. Tou see him who 
 expires afresh upon Calvary for the redemption of your 
 sins."t At these words the cenobite was interrupted by 
 the groans and cries of indignation which arose on all parts 
 against the infidels. " Yes, I swear by your piety," con- 
 tinued the orator, " I swear by your arms, that the reign of 
 the impious is near its end. The army of the Lord has 
 only to appear, and all that vain mass of Mussulmans will 
 disperse like a shadow. To-day they are full of pride and 
 insolence, to-morrow they shall be frozen with fear, and shall 
 fall motionless before you, like the guardians of the sepul- 
 chre, who felt their arms escape from their hands, and fell 
 dead with fright, when an earthquake announced the pre- 
 sence of a God on that Calvary on which you are going 
 to mount the breach. Still a few moments, and these 
 towers, the last bulwark of the infidels, shall be the asylum 
 of the Christians ; these mosques, which stand upon Chris- 
 tian ruins, shall serve as temples for the true God, and 
 Jerusalem shall only henceforward hear the praises of the 
 Lord." 
 
 At these last words of Peter the most lively transports 
 broke forth among the Christians ; they embraced, shedding 
 tears, and exhorting each other to support the evds and the 
 fatigues of which they should so soon receive the glorious 
 reward. The Christians at length descended the Mount of 
 Olives to return to their camp, and, taking their route 
 southward, they saluted on their right the tomb of David, and 
 passed close to the pool of Siloe, where Christ restored sight 
 to the man born blind. They perceived, further on, the 
 
 * Cruces fixerunt, super quas aut spuebant, aut in oculis omnium 
 niingere non abhorrebant. — Ab. Aq. lib. vi. 
 
 f See, for this procession, Baldric, bishop of Dol. lib. iv. ; Accolte, 
 lib. iv. ; Albert d^Aix, lib. vi. ; William of Tyre, lib. vii. It cannot 
 be doubted that the leaders caused this procession to be made round 
 Jerusalem, in order that the sif^ht of so many places should arouse the 
 enthusiasm of the Crusaders. We ii ust regret that Tasso, who speaks 
 of this procession, has scarcely said anything of ths places the Christians 
 \isited; these details would have furnished poetical beauties, without in 
 anything departing from the exactitude of history.
 
 216 IIISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 niins of the palaces of Judali, aud marclied along the de- 
 clmty of Mount Sion, where other remembrances arose 
 before them to add to their enthusiasm. Towards evening, 
 the Christian arm}' returned to tlieir quarters, repeating these 
 words of the prophet: The nations of the West shall fear 
 the Lord ; and the nations of the East shall see his glory. 
 "WTien thev had regained their camp, the greater part of the 
 pilgrims passed the night in prayer ; the leaders and the 
 soldiers confessed their sins at the feet of their priests, 
 and received their God, whose promises filled them with 
 confidence and hope. 
 
 AVhilst these things were passing in the Christian camp, 
 the most profound silence reigned over the walls of Jerusa- 
 lem ; nothing was heard but the voices of the men who, 
 from hour to hour, from the tops of the mosques of the city, 
 called the ^lussulmans to prayer. The infidels came in 
 crowds to their temples to implore the protection of their 
 prophet, and swore by the mysterious stone of Jacob to 
 defend a city which they called the House of God. The 
 besieged and the besiegers were stimidated by an equal 
 ardour to fight and to shed their blood, the former to pre- 
 serve, and the latter to conquer a city which both held 
 sacred. The hatred whicli animated them was so violent, 
 that during the whole siege no Mussulman deputy came 
 into the Christian camp, ngr did the Christiana deign 
 to summon the garrison to surrender. Between silch 
 enemies the shock must necessarily be terrible, and the 
 victory implacable. 
 
 The leaders of the Christian armv being assembled to 
 decide upon the day for attacking the city, it was resolved 
 to take advantage of the enthusiasm of the pilgrims, which 
 was at its height, and to press forward the assault, the pre- 
 parations for which were rapidly going on. As the Saracens 
 had raised a great number of machines on the sides of the 
 city most threatened by the Christians, it was agreed that 
 they should change the dispositions of the siege, and that 
 the principal attack should be directed towards the points 
 where the enemy had made the least preparations for 
 defence. 
 
 During the night Grodfrey removed his quarters eastward, 
 near to the gate of Cedar, and not far from the valley m
 
 UiSTOllY or THE CIlUSADErf, 217 
 
 which Titus v/as encamped when his soldiers penetrated into 
 the galleries of the temple. The rolling tower, and the 
 other machines of war which the duke of Lorraine had 
 caused to be constructed, were transported with incredible 
 difficulty in face of the walls he intended to attack. Tan- 
 cred and the two Roberts got ready their machines, between 
 the gate of Damascus and the angular tower, which was 
 afterwards called the toiver of Tancred.* 
 
 AVlien the Saracens, at daybreak, saw these new disposi- 
 tions, they were seized witli astonishment and affright. The 
 Crusaders might have taken profitable advantage of the 
 alarm which this change created in the enemy, but upon 
 steep ground it was difficult to bring the towers up close to 
 the walls. Raymond in particular, who was charged with 
 the attaclc on the south, found himself separated from the 
 rampart by a ravine, which it was necessary to have filled 
 up. He immediately made it known, by a herald-at-arms, 
 that he would pay a denier to every person who should cast 
 three stones into it. A crowd of people instantly flew to 
 second the eftbrts of his soldiers ; nor could the darts and 
 arrows, which were hurled like hail from the ramparts, at all 
 relax the ardour and zeal of the assailants. At length, at 
 the end of the third day, all was finished, and the leaders 
 gave the signal for a general attack. 
 
 On Thursday, the 14th of July, 1099, as soon as day ap- 
 peared, the clarions sounded in the camp of the Christians ; 
 all the Crusaders flew to arms ; all the machines were in 
 motion at once ; the stone-machines and mangonels vomited 
 showers of flints, whilst under the cover of tortoises and 
 galleries, the rams were brought close to the walls. The 
 archers and cross-bo\vmen kept up a continual discharge 
 against the rampart ; whilst the most brave planted their 
 ladders in places where the wall seemed to offer least resist- 
 
 * Raymond d'Agiles says that Godfrey's tower was transplanted by 
 night a mile from the spot where it had been constructed ; which leads us 
 to believe that the principal attack was directed near the gate of Cedar, 
 towards the entrance of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For the rest, we must 
 regret that M. de Chateaubriand, who has written a very interesting 
 dissertation upon the military positions of Tasso, has not thrown light 
 upon the obscurities of the historians which present themselves in this 
 portion of their accounts of the siege.
 
 218 HISTOET or THE CErSADES, 
 
 ance. On the north, east, and south of the city, the three 
 towers advanced towards the ramparts, amidst the tumult 
 and shouts of the soldiers and the workmen. Godfrey 
 appeared on the highest platform of his wooden fortress, 
 accompanied by his brother Eustace and Baldwin du Bourg. 
 He animated his people by his example ; and every javelin 
 that he cast, say the historians of the times, carried death 
 among the Saracen host. Ea^miond, Tancred, the duke of 
 Xormandv, and the count of Flanders fought amidst their 
 soldiers ; whilst the knights and men-at-arms, animated by 
 the same zeal as their principal chiefs, flew from place to 
 place where danger called them. 
 
 Xothing could equal the impetuosity of the first shock of 
 the Christians : but thev were evers-vN'here met by an obsti- 
 nate resistance. Arrows, javelins, boiling oil, G-reek fire, 
 fourteen machines which the besieged had now time to 
 oppose to those of their enemies, repulsed on all sides the 
 attacks and the efforts of the assailants. The infidels 
 issuing through a breach made in their rampart, attempted 
 to burn the machines of the besiegers, and carried disorder 
 among the Christian ranks. Towards the end of the day, 
 the towers of Godfrey and Tancred could no longer be 
 moved, whilst that of Eaymond fell to pieces. The combat 
 had lasted twelve hours, without victory ha-ving inclined to 
 the side of the Crusaders, when night came to put a tem- 
 porary end to the efforts of both parties. The Christians 
 returned to their camp trembling with rage and grief; the 
 leaders, but particularly the tv\'o Eoberts, lamenting tJiat 
 God Jiad not yet tliouglit tliem icorthy of entering ijito his 
 holy city, and adoring the tomb of his Son* 
 
 The night was spent anxiously on both sides, each deplor- 
 ing their losses, and trembling at the idea of others they 
 were likely to sustain. The Saracens dreaded. a surprise; 
 the Christians were afraid that the Saracens would bum the 
 machines they had left under the walls. The besieged were 
 
 * This circumstance is thus related by Abbot Guibert : — Est etiam 
 toihi non inferiori relatione compertum, Robertum Normandise comitem 
 Roberturoque alteram Flandriarum principem, junctis pariter convenisse 
 moeroribus, et se cum fletibus uberrimis conclamasse misemmos, quos 
 suae adoratione crucis, et visione, immo veneratione sepulchri, tantopere 
 Jesus Dominus judicaret indignos. — Lib. vii. cap. 6.
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 219 
 
 employed without intermission in repairing the breaches 
 made in the walls ; whilst the besiegers were equally active 
 in putting their machines in a state of service against a 
 fresh attack. The following day brought a renewal of the 
 same dangers and the same combats that the preceding one 
 had witnessed. The chiefs endeavoured by their speeches 
 to raise the courage of the Crusaders ; whilst the priests 
 and bishops indefatigably visited the tents of the soldiers, 
 promising them the assistance of Heaven. The Christian 
 army, filled with renewed confidence in victory, appeared 
 under arms, and marched in profound silence towards the 
 points of attack, whilst the clergy walked in procession round 
 the city. 
 
 The first shock was impetuous and terrible. The Chris- 
 tians were indignant at the resistance they had met with the 
 day before, and fought with fury. The besieged, who had 
 learnt the approach of an Egyptian army, were animated by 
 the hope of victory, and their ramparts were protected by 
 machines of a formidable description. . The mutually dis- 
 charged javelins hissed on all sides ; whilst stones and beams 
 launched by both Christians and infidels were dashed against 
 each other in the air with a frightful noise, and fell upon the 
 assailants. From the heiglit of the towers, the Mussidmans 
 unceasingly hurled lighted torches and fire-pots. The wooden 
 fortresses of the Christians approached the walls amidst a 
 conflagration which was increasing on all parts around them. 
 The infidels directed their attacks particularly against the 
 tower of Grodfrey, upon the summit of which shone a cross 
 of gold, the sight of which provoked their utmost fury. 
 The duke of Lorraine saw one of his esquires and many of 
 his soldiers fall by his side ; but although himself a mark 
 for all the arrows of the enemy, he fought on amidst the 
 dead and the wounded, and never ceased to exhort his com- 
 panions to redouble their courage and ardour. The count 
 of Thoulouse, who attacked the city on the south side, 
 brought up all his machines to bear against those of the 
 Mussulmans: he had to contend against the emir of Jeru- 
 salem, who animated his people by his words, and appeared 
 upon the walls surrounded by the elite of the Egyptian sol- 
 diery. Towards the north, Tancred and the two Roberts 
 stood motionless at the head of their battalions, on their
 
 220 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 rolling fortress, impatient to employ the lance and sword. 
 Already their rams had, upon several points, shaken the 
 ■walls, behind which the Saracens in close ranks presented 
 themselves as a last rampart against the attacks of the 
 Christians. 
 
 In the midst of the conflict two female magicians appeared 
 upon the ramparts of the city, calling, as the historians say, 
 upon the elements and the infernal powers. They could 
 not, however, themselves avoid the death which they invoked 
 upon the Christians, and fell dead beneath a shower of arrows 
 and stones.* Two Eg^-ptian emissaries, sent from Ascalon 
 to exhort the besieged to persist in their defence, were sur- 
 prised by the Crusaders as they were endeavouring to enter 
 the citv. One of them fell covered with wounds, and the 
 other, having revealed the secret of his mission, was, by 
 means of a machine, hurled upon the ramparts where the 
 Saracens were fighting. But the combat had now lasted 
 half the day, without affording the Crusaders any hope of 
 carrying the place: All their machines were on fire, and 
 they wanted water, but more particularly vinegar,t which 
 alone will extinguish the species of fire employed by the 
 
 * As Tasso often employs magic, we have sought with care for all that 
 relates to this species of the marvellous in the contemporary historians. 
 That which we have just quoted from William of Tyre, is the only 
 instance we have been able to find. Some historians likewise have said 
 that the mother of Kerboghawjis a sorceress, and that she had foretold to 
 her son the defeat of Antioch. It is in vain to seek for similar incidents 
 in the history of the first crusade. We ought to add that magic was 
 much less in vogue in the twelfth century than in that in which Tasso 
 lived. The Crusaders were no doubt very superstitious, but their super- 
 stitions were not attached to little things ; they were struck by the phe- 
 nomena they saw in the heavens ; they believed in the appearance of 
 saints, and in revelations made by God himself, but not in magicians. 
 Ideas of magic came to us a long time afterwards, in the fifteenth and 
 sixteenth centuries. The chroniclers of that period, who speak of anterior 
 facts, fill their recitals with whimsical and ridiculous fables, such as are 
 not to be found in more ancient authors. We must not judge of the 
 middle ages by the chronicles of Robert Gaguin, or by those of Arch- 
 bishop Turpin, the work of a monk of the twelfth century ; stiU less by 
 the romances of the same period. 
 
 f We report this circumstance here, in order to give an idea of the fire 
 which was launched against the Christians. Albert d'Aix expresses him- 
 self thus : — Qualiter ignis, aqua inextinguibUis soloaceti liquore restingui 
 valeat. — Alb. Aq. lib. vi. cap. 18.
 
 IlISTOllY OE TUE CRUSADES. 221 
 
 besieged. In vain tlie bravest exposed themselves to the 
 greatest dangers to prevent the destruction of the wooden 
 towers and the rams ; tliej fell, buried under the ruins, and 
 the flames consumed e\en. their bucklers and vestments. 
 Many of the most intrepid warriors had met with death at 
 the foot of the ramparts ; a great number of those who were 
 upon the towers had been disabled ; whilst the rest, covered 
 with sweat and dust, fatigued by the weight of their arms 
 and the heat, began to lose courage. Tiie Saracens, who 
 perceived this, uttered loud cries of joy. Among their 
 blasphemies they reproached the Christians with worshipping 
 a God who was not able to defend them. The assailants 
 deplored their fate, and, believing themselves abandoned by 
 Jesus Christ, remained motionless on the field of battle. 
 
 But the combat was destined soon to change its appear- 
 ance. All at once the Crusaders saw a knight appear upon 
 the Mount of Olives, waving his buckler, and giving the 
 Christian army the signal for entering the city.* Grodfrey 
 and Eaymond, who perceived him first and at the same time, 
 cried out aloud that St. George was come to the help of the 
 Christians ! The tumult of the fight allowed neither reflec- 
 tion nor examination, the sight of the celestial horseman 
 fired the besiegers with new ardour ; and they returned to 
 the charge. Women, even children and the sick, mingled in 
 the melee, brmging water, food, and arms, and joined their 
 eflforts to those of the soldiers to move the rolling towers, 
 the terror of the enemy, nearer the ramparts.f That of 
 Godfrey, in spite of a terrible discharge of stones, arrows, 
 and Greek fire, advanced near enough to have its draw- 
 bridge lowered upon the walls. Flaming darts flew, at the 
 same time, in showers against the machines of the besieged, 
 and against the sacks of straw, and hay, and bags of wool 
 which protected the last walls of the city. The wind assisted 
 the fire, and drove the flames upon the Saracens, who, enve- 
 loped in masses of flame and smoke, retreated before the lances 
 
 * This is repeated by William of Tyre and some other writers. 
 Raymond d'Agiles very naively says : Quis autem miles ille fuerit cog- 
 noscere non potuimus. — Raym. d Ag. p. 171, Bongars. 
 
 t Matthew of Edessa says that Godfrey used in this assault the sword 
 of Vespasian, which thus assisted, for the third time, in the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. No Latin historian mentions it.
 
 222 HISTOET OF THE CKUSADES. 
 
 and swords of the Crusaders. Godfrey, preceded by the . 
 two brothers Lethalde and Engelbert of Toumai, and fol- 
 lowed by Baldwin du Bouro^, Eustace, Eeimbault Creton,* 
 Grunher, Bernard de St. Yallier, and Amenjou d'Albret, 
 rushes upon the enemy, pursues them, and upon the track 
 of their footsteps enters Jerusalem. All the brave men 
 who fought with him on the platform of the tower, followed 
 their intrepid chief, penetrated with him into the streets, 
 and massacred all they met in their passage. At the same 
 time a report was spread in the Christian army that the 
 holr pontiif Adhemar, and several Crusaders who had fallen 
 during the siege, had appeared at the head of the assailants, 
 and had imfurled the standard of the Cross upon the towers 
 of Jerusalem. Tancred and the two Eoberts, animated by 
 this account, made fresh efforts, and at last threw them- 
 selves into the place, accompanied by Hugh de St. Paul, 
 Gerard de Eoussillon, Louis de Mouson, Conon and Lam- 
 bert de Montaisru. and Gaston de Beam. A crowd of heroes 
 followed them closely ; some entering by a half-opened 
 breach ; others scaling the walls with ladders ; and many 
 
 • Oderic Vital attributes to Reimbault Creton of Cambresis the glory 
 of having first entered Jerusalem. Other historians only name him among 
 those who followed most closely the steps of the brothers Lethalde and 
 Engelbert of Toumai. This is the text of Orderic Vital : — Reimboldus 
 Creton qui primus in expugnatione Jerusalem ingressus est, &c. The 
 descendants of Reimbolt Creton bore indifferently up to the sixteenth 
 century the names of Creton and Estourmel. This family preserved as 
 its device these words, '^Vaillant svr la Crete C^ and La Moriiere, the 
 historian of 1 icardy under Louis XIIL, speaks of them in these terms : 
 " It adds not a little to the lustre of this family, that it is acknowledged 
 that they owe the origin of their arms to the first crusade which the 
 Christians made for the recovery of the Holy Land, bestowed by the band 
 of Godfrey of Bouillon, king of Jerusalem, who, to do honour to the 
 valour of the sieur d'Estourmei, whom he had seen bear himself so 
 valiantly at the taking of that city, made him a present of a crenated 
 cross of silver, in which was enchased a piece of the true cross." This 
 precious reliquan* was passed down from generation to generation to the 
 eldest sons of this house. In the reign of Louis XIIL the marquis 
 d'Hautefort having espoused the only daughter of Antoine d'Estourmei, 
 cordon bleu, and first equerry to madame la duchesse d'Orleans, pre- 
 tended that this piece of the true cross made a part of the inheritance. 
 This discussion was submitted to the arbitration of the president of 
 Mesmes, who decided that the cross was to revert to the branch of the 
 house of Estourmel, which possesses it to this day.
 
 HISTOET or THE CRUSADES. 228 
 
 leaping from the tops of the wooden towers. The Mussul- 
 mans fled on all sides, and Jerusalem resounded with the 
 cry of victory of the Crusaders, — " It is the will of God ! It 
 is the will of God / " =* 
 
 The companions of Godfrey and Tancred beat the gate of 
 St. Stephen to pieces with axes, and the city was at once 
 thrown open to the crowd of Crusaders, who pressed for- 
 ward and contended for the honour of dealing the last blow 
 to the conquered infidels. 
 
 Raymond alone still experienced some resistance. Warned 
 of the success of the Christians, by the clashing of arms, 
 and the tumult he heard in the city, he endeavoured still 
 further to animate his soldiers. The latter, impatient to 
 join their companions, abandoned then* tower and machines, 
 which they could no longer move. They planted ladders 
 and swords, by the means of which they mounted the ram- 
 part, whither they were preceded by the count of Thoulouse, 
 ^Raymond Pelet, the bishop of Bira, the count de Die, and 
 William de Sabran. Nothing now could stop their progress ; 
 they dispersed the Saracens, who with their emir had taken 
 refuge in the fortress of David,t and soon all the Crusaders 
 united in Jerusalem embraced, wept for joy, and gave all 
 their attention to the completion of their victory. 
 
 Despair, however, for a moment forced the bravest of the 
 Saracens to rally, and they charged with impetuosity the 
 
 * The details of this assault are repeated by all contemporary historians ; 
 several describe it at length. Foulcher de Chartres, who without doubt 
 distingmshed himself there, is the one who says the least. Anna Com- 
 nena says that the Christians took Jerusalem in fifteen days, but gives no 
 details. 
 
 t The Oriental authors give no details of the siege of Jerusalem. The 
 manuscript history of Jerusalem and Hebron, which is in the Imperial 
 Library, and of which M. Jourdain has been kind enough to translate 
 several fragments for me, contains nothing but vague notices. The author 
 contents himself with saying that the siege lasted more than forty days, 
 and that the Christians killed a great number of Mussulmans. We may 
 here make a general remark : when the Mussulmans experience reverses, 
 the Arabian authors are very sparing of details, and satisfy themselves 
 with telling things in a vague manner, adding, " So God has willed it, 
 may God curse the Christiatis." Aboul-Feda gives very few more details 
 than the rest. He says that the massacre of the Mussulmans lasted 
 during seven consecutive f'ays, and that seventy thousand persons were 
 killed in the mosque of Ouiar, which is evidently an exaggeration.
 
 224 HISTOKY OF THE CEUSAJDES. 
 
 Christians, who, in the security of victorr, were proceeding 
 to the pillage.* The latter were even beginning to give 
 wav before the enemy they had so recently conquered, when 
 Evei arJ de Puvsaie, of whom Eaoiil de Caen has celebrated 
 the bravery, revived the courage of his companions, placed 
 himself at* their head, and once more spread terror among 
 the infidels. From that moment the Crusaders had no more 
 enemies to contend with. History has remarked that the 
 Christians entered Jemsalem on a Friday, at the hour of 
 three in the afternoon ; exactly the same day and hour at 
 which Christ expired for the salvation of the human race. 
 It might have been expected that this memorable epoch 
 would have awakened sentiments of mercy in their hearts ; 
 but, iiTitated by the threats and protracted insults of the 
 Saracens, incensed bv the suiferings thev had undergone 
 durins: the siesre. and bv the resistance thev had met with 
 even in the city, they filled with blood and mournmg that 
 Jerusalem which thev came to deliver, and which thev con- 
 sidered as their own future country. The carnage soon 
 became general, for all who escaped from the swords of 
 G odfrey and Tancred, feE into the hands of the Provencals, 
 equally thii'sting for blood. The Saracens were massacred 
 in the streets and in the houses ; Jerusalem contained no 
 place of refuge for the vanquished. Some sought to escape 
 death by thi'owing themselves from the ramparts ; others 
 flocked in crowds to the palaces, the towers, but particularly 
 to the mosques. — but nowhere could they escape the pur- 
 suit of the Chrisrians. 
 
 TThen the Crusaders made themselves masters of the 
 mosque of Omar, in which the Saracens defended them- 
 selves for some time, a frightful repetition ensued of the 
 scenes of carnage which attended the conquest of Titus. 
 Horse and foot entered the mosque pele-mele with the van- 
 quished. In the midst of the most horrible tumult nothing 
 was heard but groans, screams, and cries of death ; the con- 
 querors trampling over heaps of bodies in pursuit of all who 
 endeavoured to escape. Raymond d'Agiles, an ocular wit- 
 ness, says that under the portico, and in the porch of the 
 mosque, the blood rose. up to the knees and the bridles of 
 
 * RaouJ de Caen, cap. 132 et 133.
 
 HISTORY OF TRE CRUSADES. 225 
 
 the horses.* To paint the terrible spectacle which was pre- 
 sented at two periods in the same place, it will suffice to 
 saj, borrowing the words of the historian Josephus, that the 
 number of the slain by far surpassed that of the soldiers 
 who immolated them to their vengeance, and that the moun- 
 tains near the Jordan in moans reechoed the frightful sounds 
 that issued from the temple. 
 
 The imagination turns with disgust from these horrible 
 pictures, and can scarcely, amidst the carnage, contemplate 
 the touching image of the Christians of Jerusalem, whose 
 chains the Crusaders had broken. They flocked from all 
 parts to meet the conquerors ; they shared with them aU 
 the provisions they had been able to steal from the Saracens; 
 and with them oft'ered up thanks to God for having granted 
 such a triumph to the arms of the Christians. Peter the 
 Hermit, who, five years before, had promised to arm the West 
 for the deliverance of the Christians of Jerusalem, must have 
 profoundly enjoyed the spectacle of their gratitude and 
 exultation. Amidst all the Crusaders, they appeared only 
 to see him ; they recalled his words and his promises ; it was 
 to him they addi-essed their songs of praise; it was him they 
 proclaimed their liberator. They related to him the evils 
 they had suffered during his absence ; they could scarcely 
 
 * We shall content ourselves with repeating here the words of Ray- 
 mond d'Agiles, Foulcher de Chartres, and Robert the Monk : — In eodem 
 templo decern millia decollati sunt ; pedites nostri usque ad bases cruore 
 peremptorum tingebantur ; nee foeminis nee parvulis pepercerunt. — 
 Ful. Caen. ap. Bong. p. 398. Tantum enim ibi huraani sanguinis 
 effusum est, ut caesorum corpora, unda sanguinis impellente, volverentur 
 per pavimentum, et brachia give trnncatce manus super cruorem fluita- 
 bant. — Rob. Mon. lib. 9. In templo et porticu Solomonis equitabatur 
 in sanguine usque ad genua et usque ad frsenos equorum. — Raym. d'Ap. 
 Bong. p. 179. These words of Raymond d'Agiles are evidently an 
 hyperbole, and prove that the Latin historians exaggerated things they 
 
 ought to have extenuated or concealed In a letter written to the 
 
 pope, the bishops, and the faithful, by Daimbert, archbishop of Pisa, 
 Godfrey of Bouillon, and Raymond de St. Gilles, is this remarkable 
 passage: " If you desire to know," say they, "what became of the 
 enemies we found in Jerusalem, know that in the portico of Solomon and 
 in the temple, our soldiers had the vile blood of the Saracens up to the 
 knees of their horses." — Si scire desideratis quid de hostibus ibi 
 repertis factum fuerit, scitote quia in porticu Salomonis, et in templo 
 nostri equitabant in sanguine fcedo Sarracenorum usque ad genua 
 equorum. — See Noims Thesaurus Anecdotorum , torn. i. p. 282.
 
 226 nisTOBT OF the ceusades. 
 
 believe what was passing before them ; and, in their enthu- 
 siasm, they expressed astonishment that God should thus 
 have employed only a single man to stir up so many nations, 
 and to effect such prodigies. 
 
 The sight of the brethren they had delivered, no doubt 
 recalled to the minds of the pilgrims that they were come 
 for the purpose of adoring the tomb of Christ ; and the pious 
 Godfrey, who had abstained from carnage after the victory, 
 quitted his companions, and, followed by three attendants, 
 repaired without arms and barefooted to the church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre.* The news of this act of devotion was 
 soon spread through the Christian army, and immediately 
 all vengeance and all fury were at an end ; the Crusaders, 
 castinor away their bloodv vestments, made the city resound 
 with their groans and their sobs, and, conducted by the 
 clergy, marched together, with their feet bare and their 
 heads uncovered, towards the church of the [Resurrection. 
 
 ^Tien the Christian army was thus assembled on Calvary, 
 night began to fall ; silence reigned over the public places 
 and around the ramparts ;t nothing was heard in the holy 
 city but hymns of penitence and these words of Isaiah, 
 " Tou who love Jerusalem, rejoice with her^^ The Crusaders 
 exhibited a devotion so animated and so tender, that it 
 might have been said, according to the remark of a modern 
 historian,;^: that these men who had just taken a city by 
 assault, and had committed a horrible carnage, had come 
 forth from a long retirement and a profound meditation 
 upon our mysteries. These inexplicable contrasts are often 
 to be observed in the history of the crusades. Some writers 
 have believed that they found in them a pretext to accuse 
 the Christian religion itself, whilst others, not less blind or 
 passionate, have endeavoured to palliate the deplorable 
 excesses of fanaticism ; the impartial historian contents 
 himself with relating them, and mourns in silence over the 
 weaknesses of human nature. 
 
 * Albert d'Aix names these three attendants Baldric, Adelborde, and 
 Stabulon. 
 
 f Some historians say that the Christians did not go to the Holy 
 Sepulchre until the day after the conquest. We here adopt the opinion 
 of Albert d'Aix, which appears to us the most probable. 
 
 i Le P. Maimbourg, Histoire des Croisades,
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 227 
 
 The pious fervour of the Christians only suspended the 
 scenes of carnage. The policy of some of the leaders might 
 make them believe that it was necessary to inspire the 
 Saracens with as much dread as possible ; they thought, 
 perhaps also, that if they released the men who had defended 
 Jerusalem, they should have to fight them over again, and 
 that it was not prudent for them, in a distant country and 
 surrounded by enemies, to undertake the charge of prisoners 
 whose number by far surpassed that of their own soldiers. 
 The approach of the Egyptian army likewise was announced, 
 and the dread of a new danger closed their hearts against 
 pity. In their council, a sentence of death was decreed 
 against all the Mussulmans that remained in the city.* 
 
 Eanaticism but too well seconded this barbarous policy. 
 All the enemies whom humanity or the fatigue of carnage 
 had at first spared, and even such as had been saved in 
 hopes of a rich ransom, were slaughtered. They compelled 
 the Saracens to cast themselves from the tops of the towers 
 and the houses ; they made them perish in the midst of 
 flames ; they dragged them from their subterranean con- 
 cealments to the public places, and there immolated them 
 upon heaps of dead. JS^either the tears of women nor the 
 cries of infants, not even the sight of the very place where 
 Christ had pardoned his executioners, could soften the 
 hearts of the angry conquerors. The carnage was so great 
 that, according to the report of Albert d'Aix, bodies were 
 seen heaped up, not only in the palaces, the temples, and 
 the streets, but even in the most retired and solitary places. 
 Such was the delirium of vengeance and fanaticism, that 
 these scenes appear not to have been revolting to the eyes 
 of those wno beheld them. The contemporary historians 
 describe them without thinking of excusing them, and 
 amidst recitals of the most disgusting details, never allow 
 a single expression of horror or pity to escape them.f 
 
 * Albert d'Aix gives the sentence which emanated from the council of 
 the leaders. This sentence is supported by the motives we have pointed 
 out. 
 
 t We have already quoted some of these historians ; others relate 
 nearly the same details, and with the same sang f void . We will quote no 
 other but Raymond d'Agiles, who expresses himself thus : — Alii namque 
 Ulorum, QUOD levhts erat, obtruncabantur capitibus ; alii autem
 
 228 nisTOHY OF the chusades. 
 
 The few Crusaders ayIio had preserved any feelings of 
 humanity had not the power to check tlie fury of an army 
 who thought they Avere avenging outraged rehgion. Three 
 hundred Saracens, who had taken refuge on the platform of 
 the mosque of Omar, were immolated on the day after the 
 conquest, in spite of the prayers of Tancred, who had sent 
 tliem his standard as a safeguard, and was indignant to find 
 t]iat so little respect was paid to the laws of honour and 
 chivalry.* The Saracens who had retreated to the fortress 
 of David were almost the only persons that escaped death. 
 Eaymond accepted their capitulation, and had the good 
 fortune and the glory to have it executed ; but this act of 
 humanity appeared so strange to the greater part of the 
 Crusaders, that they expressed less admiration for the 
 generosity of the count de St. Gilles than contempt for his 
 
 avarice.t 
 
 The carnage did not cease until the end of a week. Such 
 of the Saracens as had been able to elude pursuit during 
 this period were reserved for the service of the army. The 
 Oriental and Latin historians agree in stating the number 
 of the Mussulmans slaiu in Jerusalem to have been more 
 than seventy thousand. The Jews met vdth no more mercy 
 than the Saracens. The soldiers set fire to the synagogue 
 in which they had taken refuge, and all perished in the 
 flames. 
 
 But it began to be feared that the bodies heaped up in 
 the public places, and the blood which had flooded the 
 mosques and the streets might give rise to pestilential 
 diseases, and the leaders gave orders that the streets should 
 be cleansed, and that a spectacle wliich, now fury and fana- 
 ticism were satisfied, must have been odious to them, should 
 be removed from before their eyes. Some Mussulman pri- 
 soners, who had only escaped the sword of the conquerors 
 
 sagittati, de turribus saltare cogebantur ; alii vero diutissime torti et 
 ignibus adusti flammeriebantur (sic). Tidebantur per vicos et plateas 
 civitatis aggeres capitum et manuum atque pedum. — Raym. de Ag. 
 p. 178. 
 
 * Tankredus miles gloriosus super hac sibi illata injuria, vehementi 
 ira succensus est. — Alb. Aq. lib. vi. cap. 29. 
 
 t Comes Raymundus, avaritia corruptus, Sarracenos milites quos in 
 turrim David elapsos obsederat, accepta ingenti pecunia, illaesos abii'e 
 permisit. — Aid. Aq. lib. vi. cap. 28
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 229 
 
 to fall into a horrible state of slavery, were ordered to bury 
 tlie disfigured bodies of their friends and brothers. " They 
 wept," says Robert the Monk,* " and transported the car- 
 cases out of Jerusalem," They were assisted in this melan- 
 choly duty by the soldiers of Raymond, who, having entered 
 last into the city, had not had a large share of the plunder, 
 and sought to increase it by a close search of the bodies of 
 the Saracens. 
 
 The city of Jerusalem soon presented a new spectacle. 
 In the course of a few days only it had changed its inhabi- 
 tants, laws, and religion. Before the last assault it had 
 been agreed, according to the custom of the Crusaders in 
 their conquests, that every warrior should remain master 
 and possessor of the house or edifice in which he should 
 present himself first. A cross, a buckler, or any other 
 mark placed upon a door, was, for every one of the con- 
 querors, a good title of possession. This right of property 
 was respected by every soldier, however greedy of plunder, 
 and the greatest order soon reigned in a city but recently 
 given up to all the horrors of war. The victory enriched 
 t]ie greater part of the Crusaders. The conquerors shared 
 the provisions and the riches they had found, and such 
 as had not been fortunate in the pillage had no cause to 
 complain of their companions. A part of the treasures 
 was employed in assisting the poor, in supporting orphans, 
 and in decorating the altars they had freed from the Mus- 
 sulmans. 
 
 Tancred had as his share all the wealth found in the mosque 
 of Omar. Among • these riches were twenty candelabra of 
 gold, a hundred and twenty of silver, a large lamp.f and 
 many other ornaments of the same metals. This booty was 
 so considerable, that it would have been enough, say the 
 historians, to load six chariots, and employed Tancred two 
 days in removing it from the mosque. The Italian hero 
 gave up a portion of this to his soldiers and another to 
 Grodfrev, to whose service he had attached himself. He 
 distributed abundance of alms, and placed fifty gold marks 
 
 '*• Robert the IMonk expresses himself thus : " Flebant et extrahebant." 
 t Properly speaking, this was a kind of lustre which the Arabians call 
 tendour. The ^lussulmans have them of so large a size that it is necessary 
 to enlarge the doors of the mosques by a breach, in order to admit them.
 
 230 KISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 in the hands of the Latin clersT for the reestabKshment 
 and the decoration of the churches. 
 
 But the Crusaders soon turned their eves from the trea- 
 sures Trhich victory had bestowed upon them to admire a 
 conquest much more precious in their estimation ; this was 
 the true cross, which had had been borne away from Jeru- 
 salem bv Cosroes and brous^ht back a^ain bv Heraclius. 
 The Christians shut up in the city had concealed it from 
 the Saracens during the siege. The sight of it excited the 
 most lively emotions in the pilgrims. '' Of this tiling'^ says 
 an old chronicle, *' the Christians ivere as much delighted as 
 if they had seen the hody of Christ hung thereupon ^ It was 
 borne in triumph through the streets of Jerusalem, and then 
 replaced in the church of the Eesurrection. 
 
 Ten days after then' victory the Crusaders employed 
 themselves in restoring the tln^one of David and Solomon, 
 and in placing upon it a leader who might preserve and 
 maintain a conquest that the Christians had made at the 
 expense of so much blood. The council of the piinces being 
 assembled, one of the leaders (history names the count of 
 Flanders) arose in the midst of them, and spoke in these 
 terms :* '* Brothers and companions ; we are met to treat of 
 an affair of the greatest importance ; never did we stand in 
 greater need of the coimsels of wisdom and the inspirations 
 of heaven. In ordinarv times it is desirable that authority 
 should be in the hands of the most able ; with how much 
 greater reason then ought we to seek for the man most 
 worthy to govern this kingdom, still in a great measure in 
 the power of the barbarians. Already we are told that the 
 Egyptians threaten this city, for which we are about to 
 choose a master. The greater part of the Christian waniors 
 are impatient to retiu-n to their coiuitry, and to abandon to 
 others the- care of defending their conquests. The new 
 people then who are going to inhabit this land will have in 
 their neighbourhood no other Christian nations to assist 
 them in their need or console them in their disgraces. 
 Their enemies are near them, their allies are bevond the 
 seas. The king vre shall give them will be then- only sup- 
 port amidst the perils which will surround them. He then 
 
 * See, for this deliberatiou and this speech, the /fw^ory of Accolti, 
 lib. iv., and that of Yves Duchat.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 231 
 
 who is called upon to govern tliis country must have all the 
 qualities necessary to maintain his position with glory ; he 
 must unite with the bravery natural to the Franks, tem- 
 perance, good faith, and humanity ; for you know by such 
 virtues great principalities are acquired and kept as well as 
 by arms. Let us not forget, brothers and companions, that 
 our object to-day is not so much to elect a king for Jerusa- 
 lem, as to bestow upon it a faithfid guardian. He whom 
 we shall choose as leader must be as a father to all those 
 who have quitted their country and their families for the 
 service of Jesus Christ and the defence of the holy places. 
 He must make virtue flourish in this land where God him- 
 self has given the model of it ; he must win the infidels to 
 the Christian religion, accustom them to oiu* manners, and 
 teach them to bless our laws. If vou elect one who is not 
 worthy, you will destroy your own work, and will bring ruin 
 on the Christian name in this country. I have no need to 
 recall to your minds the exploits or the laboiu's which have 
 placed us in possession of this territory ; I -^tII not remind 
 you of the dearest wishes of our brothers who have remained 
 in the AYest. AVhat would be their sorrow, what would be 
 ours, if, on our return to Europe, we should hear that the 
 public good had been neglected and betrayed, or religion 
 abolished in these places where we have restored its altars ? 
 Many would then not fail to attribute to fortune, and not to 
 virtue, the great things we have done, whilst the evils which 
 this kingdom would undergo would pass in the eyes of men 
 as the fruit of our imprudence. 
 
 " Ho not believe, however, brothers and companions, that I 
 speak thus because I am ambitious of royalty, and that I am 
 seeking your favour or suffrages. No ; I have not sufficient 
 presumption to aspire to such an honour; I take Heaven 
 and men to witness, that even if you should offer me the 
 crown, I would not accept it, being resolved to return to 
 my o^Ti country. That which I have said to you is but for 
 the good and glory of all. For the rest, I supplicate you to 
 receive this advice as I give it to you, T\-ith affection, frank- 
 ness, and loyalty, and to elect for king him who by his \-ir- 
 tue shall be most capable of preserving and extending this 
 kingdom, to which are attached both the honour of your 
 arms and the cause of Jesus Christ."
 
 232 nisTOET or the ceusades. 
 
 Scarcely had the coiint of Flanders ceased speaking, than 
 all the other leaders gave him the warmest praise for his 
 prudence and good feelings. Most of them even thought of 
 offering him the honour he had declined, for he who in such 
 circumstances refuses a crown, always appears to be the 
 most worthy of it ; but Eobert had expressed himself with 
 frankness and good faith ; he longed to return to Eiu'ope, 
 and was satisfied with the honour of bearing the title of 
 "the Son of St. Greorge," which his exploits in the holy war 
 had obtained for him. 
 
 Among the leaders who could be called upon to reign 
 over Jerusalem, we must place in the first rank G-odirey, 
 Raymond, the duke of Xormandy, and Tancred. The only 
 object of Tancred was glory in arms, and he placed the title 
 of kniglit far above that of king. The duke of Xormandy, 
 like^Nise, had e^-inced more bravery than ambition ; after 
 having disdained the kingdom of England, he was not likely 
 to be anxious to srain that of Jerusalem. If we mav believe 
 an En2:lish historian.* he misfht have obtained the suffras^es 
 of his companions ; but he refused the throne of David from 
 indolence, which so irritated God against him, says the same 
 author, that nothing afterwards prospered with him during 
 the remainder of his life. The count of Thoulouse had 
 taken an oath never to return to Europe, but his companions 
 dreaded his obstinate and ambitious character ; and although 
 several authors have said that he refused to ascend the 
 throne on account of his great age, evei'}i:hing leads us to 
 believe that the Clmstians feared to have him for king. 
 
 The opinions of the leaders and the army were various 
 and uncertain. The clergy insisted that a patriarch should 
 be named before they elected a king ; the princes were not 
 at all agreed among themselves, and of the bodv of the 
 Crusaders, some would liave wished to choose him whom 
 
 * The English historian Brompton expresses himself thus whilst re- 
 lating the misfortunes that Robert afterwards experienced : — Sic reddidit 
 Dominus vicem pro vice duci Roberto, quia cum gloriosum in actibus 
 Jerosohmitantis eura Dominus redderet, regnum Jerosolimitantum sibi 
 oblatum renuit, magis eligeus quieti et desidiae in Xormania deservTre 
 quam regi regum in sancta civitate militare. Damnavit igitur eum Deus 
 desidia perenni et carcere sempitemo. — See the Histories Anglica 
 Scripiores, torn. i. p. 1002.
 
 HISTORY or Tlfe CRTJSADES. 233 
 
 they had followed through the holy war, whilst others, like 
 the Proven9als, who liad no attachment for the count of 
 St. Gilles, and were not desirous of remaining in Asia, gave 
 all their efforts to keep the crown of Jerusalem from the 
 prince under whose colours they served. 
 
 To terminate the debate, it was decided that the choice 
 should be made by a special council of ten of the most 
 highly respected men of the army. Prayers, fasts, and alms 
 were commanded, in order to propitiate Heaven to guide 
 them in the nomination they were about to make. They 
 who were called upon to choose the king swore, in the pre- 
 sence of the whole Christian army, not to listen to any 
 interest or any private affection, but to decree the cro"UTi to 
 wisdom and \drtue. These electors, whose names history 
 has not preserved, gave the utmost attention to ascertain 
 the opinion of the army upon the merits of each of the 
 leaders. AVilliam of Tyre relates that they went so far as 
 even to interrogate the familiar associates and servants of 
 all who had any pretensions to the crown, and that they 
 made them take an oath to reveal all they knew of the 
 manners, characters, and secret propensities of their mas- 
 ters. The servants of Grodfre}^ of Bouillon gave the most 
 striking evidence of his mildness and humanity, but above 
 all of his exemplary devotion. 
 
 To add to this honourable testimony, the exploits of the 
 duke of Lorraine during the holy war were dwelt upon. They 
 remembered that at the siege of Nice he had killed the most 
 redoubtable of the Saracens ; that he had split from shoulder 
 to haunch a giant on the bridge ofAntioch, and that in 
 Asia Minor he had exposed his life to save that of a soldier 
 who was overpowered by a bear. ]\Iany other feats of bravery 
 were related of him, which in the minds of the Crusaders 
 placed him above all the other competitors.* 
 
 Grodfrey was the leader decidedly in possession of the suf- 
 frages of the majority of the army and the people ; and that 
 he might not want anything in the expression of their wishes 
 for his success, revelations were announced that Grod himself 
 declared in his favour. " Many years before the crusade," 
 says Albert d'Aix, " a soldier named ITezelon de Kintz- 
 
 * See Abbot Guil/ert, lib. vii. cap. 12.
 
 234 HISTORY or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 veiler, had fallen asleep in a forest, and, being conveyed in 
 a dream to the summit of Sinai, he had seen Godfi'ey, 
 covered with glory, and accompanied by two celestial mes- 
 sengers, who announced to him that Grod had chosen him, 
 as he had done Moses, to be the conductor and chief of his 
 people." A clerk, Giselbert (a canon of St. Mary, of Aix 
 la Chapelle), related a vision not less miraculous. The duke 
 of Lorraine had appeared to him seated upon the throne 
 even of the sini. The birds of heaven from all climates and 
 all points of the horizon, flew around him in numberless 
 troops. The recital of this apparition was accompanied by 
 many other circumstances which we have not space to re- 
 peat ; but the Crusaders, who were much struck with them, 
 did not fail to see in the throne of the sun a faithful image 
 of that of Jerusalem, and in the birds of heaven the mul- 
 titude of pilgrims who would come from all countries to do 
 honoiu" to the glorious reign of Grodfrey.* 
 
 These "visions, which are despised in an enlightened age, 
 had great power over the Christian army, and did not 
 contribute less than the personal merit of the prince of 
 Bouillon to draw upon him the attention of all. In this 
 disposition of the general mind, the Crusaders looked -with 
 impatience for the decision of the council which was to give 
 a king to Jerusalem. 
 
 At length the electors, after mature deliberations, and an 
 anxious inquiry for all necessary information, proclaimed the 
 name of Grodfrey. This nomination caused the most lively 
 joy throughout the Christian army, and was considered as 
 an inspiration of heaven. By the authority given to him, 
 Grodfrey became the depositary^ of the dearest interests of 
 the Crusaders. Every one amons: them had in some sort 
 confided his own glory to him, by lea^-ing him the care of 
 watching over and guiding their conquests. They conducted 
 him in triumph to the church of the Holy Sepulchre, where 
 he took the oath to respect the laws of honour and justice. 
 He refused the diadem and the insignia of royalty, sa^dng 
 that he would never accept a crown of gold in a city in 
 which the SaAiour of the world had been crowned -^ith 
 
 * Albert d'Aix, who relates these two visions at length, terminates 
 thus : — Horum somniorum prsesignatione ex Dei ordinatione, populi 
 Christiani benevolentia, Godefrido in solio regni Jerusalem exaltato.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 235 
 
 ttoms. He contented himself witli the modest title of 
 defender and baron of the Holy Sepulchre. It has been 
 pretended that in this he only acted in obedience to the in- 
 sinuations of the clerg)', who were afraid of seeing pride 
 seated upon a throne over which the spirit of Christ ought 
 to reign. However this may be, Godfrey richly merited by 
 his virtues the title of king which history has given him, 
 and which was far more due to him than the name of king- 
 dom was to the feeble states he had to govern. 
 
 As the war had the triumph of religion for its object, the 
 clergy employed themselves in naming bishops, consecrating 
 churches, and sending pastors to all the cities that had sub- 
 mitted to the power of the Cliristians. Piety and disinter- 
 estedness ought to have presided in the choice of the ministers 
 of Chi'ist ; but since the death of the virtuous Adhemar, the 
 greater part of the Latin ecclesiastics, no longer restrained 
 by his example, had forgotten the humility and simplicity of 
 their profession. If William of T}Te may be believed, ad- 
 dress and intrigue openly obtained the suffrages, and the 
 spirit of the religion which had just given Jerusalem a good 
 king, could not succeed in bestowing upon it prelates re- 
 spectable either for their wisdom or their virtues. The 
 clergy, who had ventured to disturb the election of the king 
 by their intrigues, carried their pretensions as high as the 
 sovereignty of the city, and claimed with arrogance the 
 greatest part in the division of the booty won from the 
 infidels.* The Grreek priests, in spite of their rights, were 
 sacrificed to the ambition of the E-oman clergy, as they had 
 been in the city of Antiocli. The chaplain of the duke of 
 Normandy caused himself to be proposed as patriarch of 
 Jerusalem, in the place of Simeon, who had summoned the 
 warriors from the West. Simeon was stiU in the isle of 
 Cyprus, from whence he had continually sent provisions to 
 the Crusaders during the siege. He died at the moment in 
 which the Latm ecclesiastics were quarrelling for his spoils, 
 and his death came very opportunely to excuse their injus- 
 tice and ingratitude. Arnold, whose morals were more than 
 suspected, and whose conduct has merited the censure of 
 
 * We may see in Raoul de Caen tlie debates which arose on this sub- 
 ject, and particularly the accusation directed against Tancred by Arnold 
 de Rohes, in the name of the Latin clergy. 
 
 Vol. 1—12
 
 236 HiSTOEv: or the ceusades. 
 
 tlie gi'avest historians, vras nominated pastor of the church 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 In the meanwhile fame had proclaimed the conquesi of 
 the holy city throughout all the neighbouring countries. 
 In all the churches foiuided by the Crusaders in their pas- 
 sage, thanks were offered up to God for a victory which must 
 necessarily cause the triumph of the worship and the laws of 
 Christ in the East. The Christians of Antioch, Edessa, and 
 Tarsus, with those who inhabited Cilicia, Cappadocia, Syria, 
 and Mesopotamia, came in crowds to Jerusalem, some for the 
 purpose of fixing their abode there, others to visit the holj' 
 places. 
 
 "VYhilst the faithfid were rejoicing over their conquest, the 
 Mussulmans gave themselves up to despair. The few who 
 had escaped from the swords of the Crusaders spread con- 
 sternation wherever they Avent. The historians Abul-Ma- 
 hacam, Elmacin, and Aboul-Feda have described the desola- 
 tion which reigned at Bagdad. Zeimeddin, cadhi of Damascus, 
 tore out his own beard in the presence of the Caliph. The 
 whole divan shed tears whilst listening to the recital of the^ 
 misfortunes of Jerusalem. Fasts and prayers were ordered 
 to mitigate the anger of heaven. The Imans and poets de- 
 plored in pathetic verses and discourses the fate of the Mus- 
 sulmans who had become slaves of the Christians. " "VYhat 
 blood," said they, "has not flowed ? "Wliat disasters* have 
 not befallen the true believers ? "Women have been obliged 
 
 * We here give the translation of some passages of an elegy of the poet 
 Modhaffer Abyverdy upon the taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 
 inserted by Aboul-Feda in his Annales, torn. iii. p. 319. This translation 
 is by M. Jourdain. 
 
 " Our blood is mingled with our tears, and no part of our being remains 
 to us that can be the object of the blows of our enemies. 
 
 " O misfortune I if tears take the place of true arms, when the fires of 
 •war break forth ! 
 
 " How can the eye close its lids, when catastrophes such as otirs would 
 awaken even those who slept in the most profound repose ! 
 
 *' Your brethren have no other resting-places in Syria but the backs ol 
 their camels and the entrails of vultures I 
 
 " The Franks treat them like vile slaves, whilst you allow yourselves to 
 be drawn carelessly along by the skirt of the robe of effeminacy, as people 
 would do in perfect security ! 
 
 " What blood has not flowed ! how many women have been forced by 
 modesty to conceal their beauty with their bracelets !
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 237 
 
 to fly, concealing their faces ; cliildi'en have fallen under the 
 swords of the conquerors ; and there remains no other asylum 
 for our brothers, so lately masters of Syria, but the backs of 
 their camels, or the entrails of the vultures." 
 
 The caliph of Bagdad, deprived of his authority, had no- 
 thing to offer but his prayers and tears for the cause of the 
 Mussulmans. The factories of the Christians had inflicted a 
 mortal blow upon the dynasty of the Seldjoucides. The sultan 
 of Persia, retired to the extremity of Coracan, was occupied 
 in appeasing ci\dl wars, and scarcely gave a thought to the 
 emirs of Syria, who had shaken oft' his authority, and shared 
 his spoils amongst them. The greater part of the emirs were 
 quarrelling among themselves for the cities and provinces 
 threatened by the warriors of the "West. The discords m hich 
 accompany the fall of empires had everywhere sown trouble 
 and division among the infidels ; but such was their grief 
 when they learnt the conquest of Jerusalem by the Chris- 
 tians, that they united in weeping together over the outrages 
 committed upon the religion of Mahomet. The Turks of 
 Syria, and the inhabitants of Damascus and Bagdad placed 
 their last hope in the caliph of Cairo, whom they had so long 
 considered an enemy to the prophet, and came in crowds to 
 join the Egyptian army which was advancing towards Ascalon. 
 
 At Jerusalem they soon learnt that this army had reached 
 Gaza, in the ancient country of the Philistines. Godfrey 
 immediately caused his brother Eustace and Tancred, who 
 had quitted the city to go and take possession of Naplouse, 
 to be informed of this. He pressed the other leaders of the 
 crusade to unite with him and march to meet the Saracens. 
 The duke of jSTormandy at first refused to follow him, alleg- 
 ing that his vow was accomplished ; and the count of 
 Thoulouse, who had been forced to give up to the king 
 the fortress of David, which he pretended belonged to 
 him by right of conquest, rejected with haughtiness the 
 prayers of Godfrey, and treated the news of the approach of 
 the Saracens as a fable. 
 
 " Will the chiefs of the Arabs, the heroes of the Persians, submit to 
 such degradation ? 
 
 " Ah ! at least, if they do not defend themselves, from attachment to 
 their religion, let them be animated on account of their own honour, and 
 by the love of all that is dear to them !"
 
 238 HISTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 The refusal of tlie duke of Xormandy and Eaymond did 
 not prevent Godfrey from commencing his march, followed 
 bv Tancred, the count of Flanders, and several other leaders. 
 They learnt on their route that the emir Afdhal, the same 
 that had taken Jerusalem from the Turks, commanded the 
 army of the infidels. This general had under his standard 
 an almost countless multitude of Mussulmans, from the 
 banks of the Tigris and the Xile, the shores of the Eed Sea, 
 and the extremities of Ethiopia. A fleet had sailed from the 
 ports of A]exandi'ia and Damietta, laden with all sorts of pro- 
 visions, and the machines necessary for the siege of Jerusalem. 
 Afdhal had taken a solemn oath before the caliph to anni- 
 hilate for ever the power of the Crusaders in Asia, and to 
 entirely destroy Calvary, the tomb of Christ, and all the 
 monuments revered by the Christians. 
 
 The march and the intentions of Afdlial soon conveyed 
 terror to Jerusalem. Ea^nnond and the duke of Normandy 
 were again pressed to join the Christian amiy. Women, 
 old men, and priests with tears conjured the two princes to 
 have pity on the holy city they had delivered. They repre- 
 sented to them the fatal consequences of their inaction, 
 which rendered all the labours of the Crusaders useless, and 
 closed for ever the doors of the East against pilgrims. The 
 voices of all the nations of the AYest, they told them, would 
 be raised against them, and the blood of the Christians would 
 be on their heads. At last Eobert and Eaymond allowed 
 themselves to be prevailed upon, and marched ^vith their 
 troops to join Godfrey. The new patriarch desired to fol- 
 low them, bearing with him the wood of the true cross, the 
 sight of which, like that of the holy lance, would redouble 
 the enthusiasm and the bravery of the Crusaders. 
 
 All the Christians in a condition to bear arms quitted 
 Jerusalem to go and fight the Mussulmans. There only 
 remained in the holy city the women, the sick, and a part ot 
 the clergy, who, having Peter the Hermit at their head, 
 addressed night and day prayers to Heaven to obtain the 
 triumph of the defenders of the holy places, and the last 
 defeat of the enemies of Christ. 
 
 The Christian army, which had at first assembled at 
 Eamla, advanced across a sandy coimtry, and encamped on 
 the banks of the torrent of Sorex, in the plain of Saphoea,
 
 UISTORY OF TUE CRUSADES. 239 
 
 or Serfend, situated bet-sA-een Jaffa and Ascalon. The day- 
 after the Christians arrived on this plain, they perceived at 
 a distance, towards seven o'clock in the evening, a vast mul- 
 titude, which they took for the army of the enemy. Two 
 hundred horsemen, who were sent out to reconnoitre, soon 
 returned, however, with the agreeable intelligence that the 
 multitude they had taken for the Egyptian army was nothing 
 but a drove of oxen and camels. So rich a booty at first 
 awakened the avidity of the soldiers, but the prudent Grod- 
 frey, who saw nothing in this cii'cumstance but a stratagem 
 of the enemy to throw the Christian army in disorder, for- 
 bade his soldiers to leave their ranks. The other leaders, 
 after his example, endeavoured to restrain the men under 
 their command, and all remained firm beneath their standards. 
 
 The Crusaders learned from some prisoners they had made, 
 that the enemy were encamped at three leagues from them, 
 and that they were preparing to come and attack the Chris- 
 tian army. Upon receiving this advice, the leaders made 
 their dispositions to receive the infidels. The army was 
 drawn up in nine divisions, and formed a sort of square 
 battalion, so as to be able at need, to face the enemy at all 
 points. The Crusaders passed the night under arms. On 
 the following morning (it was the eve of the Assumption) 
 the heralds announced by sound of trumpet that they were 
 about to give battle to the infidels. At break of day the 
 Crusaders received the benediction of the patriarch of Jeru- 
 salem. The wood of the true cross was carried through the 
 ranks, and shown to the soldiers as a certain pledge of vic- 
 tory. The leaders then gave the signal, all the ensigns were 
 unfurled, and the army marched to meet the Saracens. 
 
 The nearer the Christians approached the army of Egypt, 
 the more were they filled with confidence and hope. Their 
 drums, cymbals, hymns, and war-songs animated them to 
 the fight. They marched towards the enemy, says Albert 
 d'Aix, as to a joyous feast. An emir of Palestine, who 
 followed the army as an auxiliary, could not sufiiciently 
 admire, if we may believe historians, this joy of the soldiers 
 of the cross at the approach of danger. He came to express 
 his surprise to the king of Jerusalem, and swore before him 
 to embrace a religion which could give so much strength and 
 bravery to its defenders.
 
 240 mSTOKY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 The Christians soon arrived in the plain of Ascalon. This 
 immense plain is bounded on the east and south by moun- 
 tains, and extends on the west to tlie sea. On the coast 
 was situated the city of Ascalon, over which the Mussulman 
 standards floated. At the extremity of the plain the army 
 of Egypt was di'awn up, with the sea and the mountains 
 behind it. The Crusaders advanced in two lines ; the count 
 of Thoulouse commanded the right wing, the two Roberts 
 and Tancred were placed at the left. Grodfrey commanded 
 a body of reserve, which was at the same time to keep the 
 garrison of Ascalon in check and fight with the army of 
 
 Egypt. 
 
 AAHiilst the Christian army was thus marching in battle 
 array, the drove of oxen and camels that they had met on 
 their route came to their rear, and followed all their move- 
 ments. The confused noise of these animals, mingled with 
 the soim^d of the drums and trumpets, and the clouds of 
 dust which arose uuder their steps, caused them to be taken 
 for squadrons of horse, and the Mussulmans were persuaded 
 that the Christian army was more numerous than their own. 
 They were drawn up in two lines, as the Crusaders were. 
 The Tm-ks from Spia and Bagdad were on the right ; the 
 Moors and Egyptians on the left ; the emir Afdhal occupied 
 the centre with the main body of the Eg^-ptian forces. This 
 army covered an immense space, and, says Eoulcher de 
 Chartres, like a stag wlio projects his branching horns, it 
 extended its wings to envelop the Christians ; but a sudden 
 terror rendered it motionless. 
 
 In vaiu the emir endeavoured to rouse the courage of his 
 soldiers. They fancied that millions of Crusaders had 
 arrived from the West ; they forgot both their oaths and 
 their threats, and only remembered the fate of the Mussul- 
 mans immolated after the conquest of Jerusalem. 
 
 Before engaging, all the Crusaders, fully armed, fell on 
 their knees to implore the protection of Heaven ; and rising 
 full of ardour and hope, marched against the Saracens. If 
 the most truthful historians are to be believed, they had not 
 more than fifteen thousand foot and five thousand horse. 
 TVlien they had arrived within bow-shot, the foot-soldiers 
 made several discharges of javelins, at the same time the 
 cavalry, increasing their speed, precipitated themselves upon
 
 niSTOKY OF THE CRUSADES. 241 
 
 the enemy's ranks. At this first charge the dulce of ISTor- 
 mandy, the count of Flanders, and Tancred broke through 
 the centre of the Egyptians. Duke Eohert, followed by his 
 bravest knights, penetrated to the place where Afdhal 
 fought, and got possession of the great standard of the 
 inlide],3, The foot-soldiers followed the horse into the 
 melee, and cast away their bows and javelins to make 
 use of sword and lance, arms much more terrible to the 
 Mussulmans. 
 
 On all sides the Saracens were thrown into disorder. 
 Towards the end of the battle Godfrey had had to contend 
 with a troop of Ethiopians, who bent one knee to the ground 
 to launch their javelins, and then, springing up, rushed upon 
 the Crusaders with long flails armed with balls of iron. This 
 redoubtable battalion could not alone resist the lances of the 
 Christians, and were soon dispersed. An invincible terror 
 seemed to paralyze the arms of the INIussulmans. AYhilst 
 the king of Jerusalem was pursuing the Ethiopians and 
 INIoors who fled towards the mountains in the vicinity of the 
 field of battle, the Syrians and the Arabs, who fought in the 
 left wing, were broken by the count of Thoulouse. Hotly 
 pressed by the conquerors, a great number of them preci- 
 pitated themxselves into the sea, and perished in the waves ; 
 others sought an asylum in the city of Ascalon, and such 
 was their eagerness, and so numerous were they, that two 
 tliousa,nd were crushed to death upon the drawbridge. 
 Amidst the general rout, Afdhal was on the point of falling 
 into the hands of the conquerors ; and, leaving his sword 
 upon the field of battle, had great difiiculty in gaining As- 
 calon. Historians add, that when, from the walls of that 
 city, he contemplated the destruction of his army, he shed a 
 torrent of tears. In his despair, he cursed Jerusalem, the 
 cause of all his evils, and blasphemed Mahomet, whom he 
 accused of having abandoned his servants and disciples. 
 
 This was a day of terror and death for the Mussulmans. 
 Erom the begimimg of the battle, the infidels, who had 
 pre\T,ously burned with a thirst of vengeance, appeared to 
 have no purpose but to escape by flight from an enemy who 
 granted no mercy to the conquered. In their mortal fear, 
 they let fall their arms, and suffered themselves to be 
 slaughtered witliout oflfering the least resistance. Their
 
 242 HiSTOET or the ckusades. 
 
 terrified crowd stood motionless on the field of battle, and 
 the sword, to employ the expression of a contemporary,* 
 mowed them down lilve the grass of the field. Some cast 
 themselves on the ground, and concealed themselves among 
 heaps of slain ; whilst others plunged into caverns, or scram- 
 bled up rocks or trees, where they were shot down with 
 arrows, like birds. f Afdhal, who did not believe himself to 
 be in safety in Ascalon, embarked on board a fleet which had 
 arrived from Egypt. Towards the middle of the contest, all 
 the Eg^'ptian vessels which were near the shore spread their 
 sails, and gained the open sea. From that moment no hope 
 of safety remained for the scattered army of these infidels, 
 who were, as they had said, to deliver the East, and whose 
 multitude was so great, that, according to the expression of 
 old historians, God alone knew the number of them. J 
 
 Such was this battle, whose prodigies poetry has taken 
 delight in celebrating, but which was, in reality, nothing but 
 an easy victory for the Christians, in which fanaticism even 
 had not the least share. On this day the presence of celes- 
 tial legions did not animate the battalions of the Crusaders, 
 and the martyrs St. George and St. Demetrius, whom they 
 always believed they saw in great perils, had no occasion to 
 be present in this fight. The Christians must have learnt 
 from this rencontre that their new adversaries were much 
 less to be dreaded than the Turks. The Egyptian army was 
 composed of many difierent nations, which were divided 
 among themselves ; the greater part of the Mussulman 
 troops had been le^-ied in haste, and fought for the first time. 
 The army of the Crusaders, on the contrary, had been proved 
 by manv victories, and their leaders were as skilful as thev 
 were brave. The bold resolution that Godfrey had taken of 
 
 * Eos tanquam segetem in transverse gladii secabant. — Bald. lib. iv. 
 
 t Subito sagitta transfigebant, et quasi aves volatili telo percussas, ab 
 ipsis arborum ramis moribimdos humi procumbere cogebant. — Alb. Aq. 
 lib. V. cap. 49. 
 
 X Anna Comnena, who speaks of the battle of Ascalon, says that the 
 Franks were at first conquerors, and that they were afterwards attacked 
 and beaten near Ramla. She mentions Baldwin, who was not then in 
 Palestine, and did not come thither till after the death of Godfrey. It is 
 easy to see that she confounds, as often happens with her, two different 
 periods, that of the battle of Ascalon and that of the battle of Ramla, 
 which was fought three years after, in the reign of Baldwin I.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 243 
 
 going to meet tlie enemy, raised the confidence of the sol- 
 diers, and assisted in creating fear and disorder among the 
 Egyptians.* 
 
 if AYilliam of Tyre and Eobert the Monk may be believed, 
 the Christians did not lose a single horseman. They might 
 have made themselves masters of Ascalon, but want of union 
 among the leaders prevented their taking due advantage of 
 their victory. t 
 
 After the defeat of the enemy, Raymond had sent a mes- 
 senger into the place to summon the garrison to surrender.;!; 
 He wished to plant his standard on the walls of the city, 
 and retain the conquest for himself. On the other hand, 
 Grodfrey claimed the possession of it and maintained that 
 Ascalon ought to form part of the kingdom of Jerusalem. 
 The debates became very warm. The count of Thoulouse, 
 who found all the leaders of the Christian army against him, 
 listened to nothing but the dictates of his blind anger ; he 
 recommended the garrison to defend themselves, and set 
 forward with his troops to return to Jerusalem. Godfrey, 
 after the desertion of Eaymond, in vain attempted to besiege 
 the city. The greater part of the Crusaders, impatient to 
 return to their own country, abandoned his colours ; and, 
 after making the inhabitants and garrison of Antioch pay 
 
 * It is commonly believed that this battle of Ascalon served Tasso as a 
 model for the great battle which terminates the Jerusalem Delivered. It 
 is easy to see that the poet had also in view the battle of Antioch, which 
 was fought at the gates of the city, of which the ChristiMns were the mas- 
 ters. Raymond could not be present, because he held the citadel of 
 Antioch in check, still in the power of the enemy. These circumstances, 
 and several others, are found equally in the battle of tbe Jerusalem 
 Delivered and in the historians who have described the battle of Antioch. 
 
 •j" There is in the Arabian history of Jerusalem and Hebron, a quatrain 
 addressed to the count of St. Gilles, upon the drfeat of Afdhal-Ben-Bedr- 
 al-Djemaly, general of the army of Egypt, before Ascalon : — 
 
 Tu as fait triompher par ton epee la religion du Messie, 
 
 Dieu nous preserve d'un homme tel que Saint Gilles ! 
 
 Jamais les hommes n'avaient entendu rien de pareil a ce qu'il a fait ; 
 
 II a mis dans la plus honteuse fuite Afdhul. 
 
 We quote this quatrain less for any idea that it contains, than to show 
 that Raymond enjoyed great fam.e among the Mussulmans. 
 
 X This emissary is called Bohemond by Raymond d'Agiles. It is 
 believed that it was Phirous who gave up Antioch to the Christians, that 
 had taken the name of Bohemond. 
 
 12*
 
 
 244 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 him a considerable sum, lie vras obliged to follow them to 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The quarrel which was begun between Eaymond and 
 Godfrey before Ascalon was renewed a few days after before 
 the city of Arsouf, situated near the sea, twelye miles to the 
 north of Eamla. The count of St. Gilles, who marched first 
 with his troops, undertook to besiege this place, but as he 
 met with an obstinate resistance, he abandoned the siege, 
 and continued his march, after ha\-ing warned the garrison 
 that they had nothing to fear from the king of Jerusalem. 
 A short time after, G-odfrey haying besieged the city, found 
 the Saracens determined to defend themselyes, and as he 
 learnt that their resistance was the fruit of the counsels of 
 Eaymond, he could not restrain his anger, but resolyed to 
 ayenge this affront in the blood of his riyal. He marched 
 with his ensigns displayed, against the count de St. Gilles, 
 who, on his part, was willing to meet him, and prepared for 
 the conflict. The Christians were on the point of pro- 
 ceeding to extremities, when the two Eoberts and Tancred 
 threw themselyes betvyeen Eaymond and Godfrey, and used 
 their utmost exertions to appease them. After a long alter- 
 cation, the two riyals, oyercome by the prayers of the other 
 chiefs, embraced in the presence of their soldiers, who had 
 taken part in. their animosity. 
 
 The reconciliation was sincere on both sides. The pious 
 Godfrey, says Albert d'Aix, conjured his companions to 
 forget the dissension that had broken out among the Chris- 
 tian warriors, and implored them, with tears in his eyes, to 
 remember that they had together deliyered the holy tomb, 
 that they were all brothers in Christ, and that concord was 
 still necessary to defend Jerusalem. AYhen the inhabitants 
 of Arsouf learnt that the leaders of the Christian army were 
 reconciled, they repented of their resistance, and engaged 
 to pay a tribute to Godfrey.* 
 
 After haying receiyed and giyen hostages as a guarantee 
 of the treaty, Godfrey, followed by all the other chiefs, 
 quitted the territory of Arsouf, to return to Jerusalem. The 
 
 Christian army was loaded with an immense booty. It 
 
 » t/ 
 
 * For tliis quarrel between Godfrey and Raymond, see Albert d Aix, 
 lib. vi. cap. 41, 42, and 43.
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 245 
 
 marched, followed by the di'oves of cattle it had met on the 
 banks of the Sorec, and brought back all the riches found 
 in the camp of the infidels. As they approached Jerusalem, 
 all the trumpets were sounded, and their victorious flags 
 were unfurled. A crowd of pilgrims, who came out to meet 
 them, filled the air with their songs of gladness ; these lively 
 expressions of joy mingled with the hymns of the priests ; 
 the echoes, says Eobert the Monk, repeated the sounds of 
 the warlike instruments and the acclamations of the Chris- 
 tians, and appeared to offer an application of these words 
 of Isaiah: " The mountains and the hills shall sing before 
 you the praises of the Lordy The Crusaders entered the 
 holy city in triumph. The great standard and the sword of 
 the sultan were suspended on the columns of the church of 
 the Holy Sepulchre. All the pilgrims, assembled in the 
 very places which the emir Afdhal had sworn utterly to 
 destroy, returned thanks to Heaven for a victory which 
 crowned all their labours. 
 
 The victory of Ascalon was the last of this crusade. At 
 length, liberated from their vows, after four years of toils 
 and dangers, the princes of the crusade quitted Jerusalem, 
 whose sole means of defence now were three hundred 
 knights, the wisdom of Grodfrey, and the sword of Tancred, 
 who had resolved to end his days in Asia. Some embarked 
 on the Mediterranean, whilst others marched across Svria 
 and Asia Minor. They arrived in the West bearing palm 
 branches in their hands, and singing hymns of triumph on 
 their way. Their return was considered as a miracle, a sort 
 of resurrection, and their presence was everpvhere looked 
 upon as a subject of edification and enthusiasm. INIost of 
 them had been ruined by the holy war ; but they brought 
 back from the East precious relics, Avhich were in the eyes 
 of the faithful a veritable treasure.* Their hearers were 
 
 * In the genealogical history of several houses of Brittany, is the fol- 
 lowing rather curious passage : " Rion de Loheac acquired in this voyage 
 beautiful and rich spoils from the enemies of Christianity, the Saracens ; 
 and above all things he was curious to seek for and collect heaps of the 
 sacred and precious relics which were in those regions, in the number of 
 which was a part and portion of the true cross upon which our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ suffered death for the salvation of the human race, and of 
 the stone of the sepulchre in which the said Saviour was buried. These 
 relics he intended to bring into his own country ; but being prevented by
 
 246 HISTORY Oi' THE CBl'SADES'. 
 
 never tired of listening to the recital of their lahours and 
 exploits. Tears, doubtless, mingled with the transports of 
 admiration and joy when they spoke of their numerous com- 
 panions whom death had swept away in Asia. There was 
 not a family that had not to weep a defender of the cross, or 
 did not glorifr itself with having a martyr in heaven. An- 
 cient chronicles have celebrated the heroic devotion of Ida, 
 countess of Hainault, who made the voyage to the East, and 
 braved all dangers in search of her husband. Sent by the 
 Crusaders to Alexius, the count of Hainault, with all the 
 persons of his suite, had disappeared, without any one being 
 able to say what had been their fate. Some said they were 
 still prisoners among the Turks, others that they were killed. 
 Ida sought through many countries of Asia, but returned to 
 France without ha^"ing obtained any tidmgs of her husband.* 
 The count of Thoulouse, who had sworn never to retiun 
 to the AYest, went to Constantinople, where the emperor 
 received him with distinction, and gave him the city of Lao- 
 dicea, Eaymond of Orange determined to share the destiny 
 of the count of Thoulouse, and finish his davs in the East. 
 Among the knights, companions of Eaymond de St. Gilles, 
 who returned to their own coimtry, we must not forget 
 Stephen and Peter de Salviac de Yiel Castel, whom their age 
 holds up as models of brotherly love. Stephen and Peter 
 de Salviac were twins, and the tenderest affection united 
 them from their infancy. Peter assumed the cross at the 
 council of Clermont, and Stephen, although married, and the 
 father of several children, determined to follow his brother 
 into Asia, and share with him the perils of so long a voyage. 
 In all battles they were seen fighting side by side, and 
 they together were present at the sieges of 2>^ice, Antioch, 
 
 a disease of which he died in the said country of Syria, he sent them to 
 his brother Gauthier de Loheac, by bis squire called Simon de Ludron, 
 who had accompanied him in this voyage." "We might quote many other 
 similar facts which prove that the Christians of the West set the greatest 
 vaJue upon reUcs brought from the East. 
 
 * This circumstance is related in the Chronicle of Hainault (Gisle- 
 herti Chronica Haniionice ;) — Tacendum non est, says this chronicle, 
 quod uxor ejus Yda comitissa doraini sui occasum ut audivit, sed incerta 
 si occisus fuerit, vel captus teneretur, Deum et virum suum dUigens, 
 partes illas eum labore magno et gravibus expensis adire non dubitavit : 
 unde ipsa prius de viro suo incerta, incertior rediit. — P. 37.
 
 UlSTOKY OjT the CRUSADES. 247 
 
 and Jerusalem. A sliort time after their return to Le 
 Quercy, they both died in the same week, and were buried 
 in the same tomb. On their tomb may still be read an 
 epitaph which has transmitted to us the remembrance of 
 their exploits and of their touching affection. Graston de 
 Beam returned with them into Ein-ope ; but some years after, 
 having re-entered upon his estates, he again took up arms 
 against the infidels, and -died in Spain, fighting against the 
 Moors. 
 
 Peter the Hermit, on his return to his country, concealed 
 himself from the eager ciu-iosity of the faithfid, and shut 
 himself up in a monastery he had founded at Huy.* He 
 lived there, in humility and penitence, and was buried among 
 the cenobites he had edified by his vii'tues. Eustace, the 
 brother of Godfrey and Baldwin, returned to take possession 
 of the moderate inheritance of the family, and gave no fur- 
 ther trouble to fame by his exploits. Alain Eergent, duke 
 of Brittany, and Eobert, coimt of Elanders, returned to their 
 states, repaired the evils caused by their absence, and died 
 regretted by their subjects.f 
 
 The duke of ISTormandy was less fortunate than his com- 
 panions. The sight of the holy places, or the long series of 
 labours and evils he had endured in the cause of religion, 
 had had no effect upon his indolent, undecided character. 
 On his return from the Holy Land, he passed through Italy, 
 where he fell in love with Sibylla, the daughter of the count 
 of Conversana, and allowed his passion to detain him from 
 
 * See the Life of Peter the Hermit, by le P. d'Oultremont. Peter 
 the Hermit was returning from the Holy Land in 1102, with a nobleman 
 of the country of Liege, named the count de Montaign, when he was 
 assailed by a violent tempest, during which he made a vow to build an 
 abbey. It was in performance of this vow that he founded the abhey 
 of Neufmontier at Huy, in Le Condrez, on the right bank of the 
 Meuse, in honour of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Alexander, 
 bishop of Liege, dedicated it in 1130. Peter died there at an advanced 
 age, and desired, from humility, to be buried outside the church. It was 
 not till a hundred and thirty years after his death that the abbot and 
 the chapter caused his relics to be removed to a coffin covered with marble 
 before the altar of the twelve apostles, in the year 1242, with a sufficiently 
 long epitaph, which M Morard, of the Academy of Sciences, read on 
 passing through Huy in 1761, which is reported in the 3rd vol. of the 
 MSS. of the Library of Lyon, by M. Delandine, p. 481. 
 
 f Robert, count of Flanders, was killed by a fall from his horse.
 
 24:8 niSTOEX OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 his duchy more than a year. By this delay he lost the 
 opportunity of ascending the throne of England, to which, 
 after the death of his brother AYilliam Eufus, his birth, and 
 the great reno\^'n he had acquired in the crusade, gave him 
 undoubted right. AYhen at length he returned to Isov- 
 mandy, he was received with transports of admiration and 
 joy ; but upon resuming the reins of government, he showed 
 nothing but weakness ; he gave himself up entirely to de- 
 •bauchery, and surrounded himself by none but dissipated, 
 greedy courtiers, who drew upon him the hatred of his sub- 
 jects. His brother, Henry I., who had succeeded William 
 liufus, took advantage of the degraded condition of Eobert, 
 and the contempt into which he was fallen, to take posses- 
 sion of Xormandy. At the end of a battle this finfortunate 
 prince was made prisoner by his brother, who led him in 
 triumph to England, and caused him to be confined in the 
 castle of Carditf, in the province of Grlamorgan. The remem- 
 brance of his exploits in the Holy Land had no effect in 
 mitigating his misfortunes. After twenty-eight years of 
 captivity, he died forgotten by his subjects, his allies, and 
 the ancient companions of his glor^'. 
 
 The return of the Crusaders, and the account of their 
 conquests, excited great enthusiasm, and renewed the eager- 
 ness for crusades and pilgrimages among the nations of the 
 West. They were not now affected by the passion for de- 
 livering the holy places, but by that of visiting and defending 
 them. Europe exhibited a second time the scenes which 
 had followed the council of Clermont ; new discourses were 
 heard, and fresh miracles related. Cities, lands, and castles 
 M'ere again offered for sale. He who preferred repose and 
 his country to the glory of the holy pilgrimage passed for a 
 very lukewarm Christian ; whilst all who had quitted the 
 standard of the crusade were objects of contempt in the 
 eves of the faithful, and were threatened with the thunders 
 of the Church, 
 
 A general cry was raised against the brother of the king 
 of France, who could not be pardoned for ha\'ing abandoned 
 the Christian armv in a cowardly manner, and retuimed to 
 Europe A^-ithout seeing Jerusalem. Stephen, count of 
 Chartres and Blois, was not allowed to remain in peace in 
 his states and family ; his people were astonished at his
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 24i9 
 
 shameful desertion, and his wife Adela reproached him with 
 having shrunk from the duties of religion and chivalry. 
 These unfortunate princes, and all who had deserted the 
 standards of the holy vrar, were obliged to quit Prance, and 
 again take the route for Asia. 
 
 Many of the princes and barons who had not partaken of 
 the enthusiasm of the first Crusaders, accused themselves of 
 culpable indifference, and were drawTi into the general move- 
 ment. Among these latter was William IX., count of Poic- 
 tiers, a relation of the emperor of Germany, and the most 
 powerful vassal of the king of Prance. An amiable and 
 intelligent prince, of not at all a warlike character, he left, 
 to take up the pilgrim's staff, a voluptuous and gallant court, 
 which he had often delighted with his songs. He took upon 
 him the cross at Limoges, and set out for the East, accom- 
 panied by a great number of his vassals, among whom were 
 a vast many women and youug girls. ^ His example was 
 followed by William, count of Nevers, Orpin, count of 
 ♦ Bourges, and Eude, duke of Burgundy. This last prince, 
 perhaps, was influenced less by a desire of visitmg Jerusalem 
 than by his anxiety to recover the remains of his daughter 
 Plorine, who had been killed with Sweno in Asia Minor. 
 
 In Italy, Albert, count of Blandras, and Anselm, arch- 
 bishop of Milan, placed themselves at the head of a 
 countless multitude of pilgrims. Germany witnessed the 
 departure of Conrad, marshal of the emperor Henry, "VYolf 
 IX., duke of Bavaria, the princess Ida, margravine of Austria; 
 and a great number of lords and knights. 
 
 In this new expedition, as in the first, many of the Cru- 
 saders were led away by a desire for seeking adventures and 
 visiting foreign countries. The brilliant success of Bald\vin, 
 Bohemond, and Godfrey aroused the ambition of the barons 
 who had remained in Europe. Humbert II., count of 
 
 * William IX. is the first troubadour known. He was a valorous and 
 courteous knight, but a great deceiver of ladies. He bade adieu in a 
 song to the Limousin, to Poitou, to chivalry, which he had loved so much, 
 and to mundane vanities, which he describes as coloured habits and 
 beautiful hose. On his return he sang the fatigues, the dangers, and the 
 misfortunes of this expedition, in a poem which is lost. His usual gaiety 
 pervaded it, according to Oderic Vital, in spite of the sadness of the sub 
 ject. — See the History of the Troubadours, by Millet, torn. 1.
 
 250 HISTORY Of tilt: CPlVSADES. 
 
 Savoy, who set out for the Holv Land with Hugh the Great, 
 made a donation to the monks of the Bourget, in order to 
 obtain by theii- prayers, a fortimate establishment {consulat) 
 in his foreisTi Tovacre.* Mauv lords andkniirhts made similar 
 donations, whilst others founded monasteries and churches, 
 setting out with the hope that God would bless their 
 arras, and enable them to acquire rich principalities in the 
 East. 
 
 The Crusaders assembled in several troops, and crossing 
 the territories of the Hungarians and Budorarians, united 
 under the walls of Constantinople to the amount of two 
 hundred thousand. These new pilgrims repeated the scenes 
 of 'violence which had so seriously alarmed Alexius in the 
 first expedition. The Greek emperor, faithful to his poKcy, 
 opposed force by cimning ; he flattered the vanity or the 
 avarice of men he coidd not subdue, and paid veiy dearly 
 for the insincere homage of the leaders of the crusade. He 
 called Eaymond to liis assistance, who was then in his 
 government of Laodicea. The presence and the persuasive 
 discoiu*se3 of the count of Thoulouse calmed the perturbed 
 spirits of the Crusaders for a few days ; and when they set 
 
 * Guichenon, in his History of the House of Savoy, expresses himself 
 thus : " William Paradin relates that this prince (Humbert, second count 
 of Savoy) went to the Holv Land in the crusade which was determined on 
 at the council of Clermont, under Godfrey of Bouillon," which the greater 
 part of the historians have confirmed after him (such as Pingon, Vanderb. 
 Dogliani, Chieja, Balderan, Buttel, and Henning). Papyrus Ma* son has 
 rejected this, because neither the manuscript chronicle, nor the authors 
 of the crusades, who name many lords of less consequence, have men- 
 tioned him. Botero has said nothing of him. " Nevertheless we cannot 
 doubt this voyage ; for about that time this prince save the monks of the 
 Bourget in Suvoy a property called Gutin. for the health of his soul, of 
 that of count Ame. his father, and of his ancestors. This donation, dated 
 at d'Yenne in Savoy (and not Jena in Thuringia, as is said in the Art of 
 Verifying Dates), imports that the count bestowed this liberality to 
 obtain from God a fortunate establishment (consulat) in his voyage 
 beyond sea. Now this word consulat then signified a principality, 
 government, or sovereignty. Oderic Vital gives to Roger, count of 
 Sicily, the title of consul of Sicily." Guichenon adds here many other 
 exam])!es of the same kind. That which created doubts of the voyage of 
 Humbert is the silence of the historians of the first crusade, as we.l as all 
 the acts of this prince that have been preserved, and which prove that he 
 was in Europe in the year 1100 ; but all these doubts vanish, when we 
 know that he went in the second expedition.
 
 HISTOIIT or THE CKUSA.DES. 251 
 
 forward on their marcli to Palestine, he was charged with 
 conducting them across Asia Minor. 
 
 Among this confused mass of pilgrims* was a crowd of 
 monks, old men, women, and young girls. They were with- 
 out discipline, and marched without either precaution or 
 order ; but they had such perfect confidence in their arms, 
 that they boasted, on leaving Constantinople, that they would 
 go to Bagdad, and wrest Asia from the hands of the infidels. 
 Their troop was divided into three bodies. At the head of 
 the first were the duke of Burgundy, the count of Chartres, 
 the archbishop of jNIilan, the count de Blandras, and Ray- 
 mond de St. Gilles. " The archbishop of Milan," says 
 Albert d'Aix, " had brought into Asia an arm of St. Am- 
 brose, with which he gave his benediction to the Crusaders. 
 Kaymond carried with him the lance that had been found at 
 Antioch, to which he looked for new miracles." 
 
 This first body, advancing towards Paphlagonia, took the 
 city of Ancyra by assault, and laid siege to the fortress of 
 G-angras. The garrison made a strong resistance, and forced 
 the Christians to retire. They were in want of provisions, 
 and entertained but little hopes of obtaining any in an 
 enemy's country ; and Avhilst sinking into despondency 
 they quite unexpectedly found themselves confronted by a 
 Turkish army. 
 
 Kilidge Arslan, who had retired to Iconium, wdiich became 
 the capital of his states, after the taking of Nice, had got 
 together the remains of his army, and recruited his strength. 
 The sultan of Mossoul, that same Kerbogha who, three years 
 before, had lost the battle of Antioch, had joined the son of 
 Soliman, and burned to meet the Christians again. 
 
 Although they both had a considerable number of troops, 
 they contented themselves, at first, with harassiug the Cru- 
 saders in their march. Sometimes the infidels got before 
 the Christians, and ravaged the country and filled up the 
 wells and the cisterns ; whilst at others, they laid ambushes 
 for them, and massacred all who strayed away from the main 
 body. The Christian army had suffered much in crossing the 
 
 * The details of this last expedition are found scattered in the works 
 of several historians. They who afford the most information are Albert 
 d'Aix, Oderic Vital, Foulcher de Chartres, Chronicon Uspergensis, 
 Alberici Chronicon, &c. &c.
 
 252 HISTOIIT OF THE CBUSADES. 
 
 defiles of Paphlagonia ; and fatigue, hunger, and thirst had 
 greatly weakened the strength of the pilgrims, when the 
 sultans of Mossoul and Icouium determined upon giving 
 them battle on the banks of the Halys. 
 
 Eavmoud, before the eno:a2:ement, caused the miraculous 
 lance to be carried through the Christian ranks ; whilst the 
 archbishop of Milan, followed by his clergy, exhibited the 
 arm of St. Ambrose, and oftered up prayers for victory ; but 
 neither the prayers of the clergy, nor the sight of the holy 
 lance, nor even the prodigies of valour displayed by the 
 Crusaders, could secure them a triumph. After a sangui- 
 nary conflict, they retired to their camp in great disorder. 
 The Tui'ks, who had met with a determined resistance, did 
 not at first dare to follow up their victory, and satisfied 
 themselves with remaining masters of the field of battle, and 
 plundering the dead. During the night the Crusaders became 
 aware of the extent of their loss. Raymond and the other 
 terrified leaders sought safety in flight. As soon as their 
 absence was discovered, terror and despair pervaded the 
 camp of the Christians ; every one attempted to fly, aban- 
 doning the baggage, the sick and the wounded. The roads 
 were soon covered with soldiers, women, and children, who 
 embarrassed each other in their confusion, and were igno- 
 rant where they might meet vdth the enemy, or where they 
 should look for the Christian army. The Turks, rendered 
 aware of their victory by the cries and groans which re- 
 sounded from the neighbouring mountains, hastened to the 
 camp of the Crusaders, massacring or making prisoners all 
 they met. They then hotly pursued the fugitives, slaugh- 
 terino: them without mercy. The darkness of the night 
 added to the horrors of this scene of carnage. The pilgrims 
 lost themselves in their confusion, and seemed to se^ 
 the swords they wished to avoid; others stopped ex- 
 hausted by fatigue, and awaited death as an end of their 
 calamities. 
 
 When day appeared, the country was covered with the 
 bloody, plundered bodies of the Christians. Eaymond de 
 St. Gilles, the duke of Burgundy, the count of Chartres, 
 the count of Biandras, and some other leaders who had fled 
 by difi*erent routes, met at Sinope, where they could scarcely 
 gather around them a few thousand men, the remains of au
 
 HISTORY or THE CUUSADES. 253 
 
 amiy "whicli had counted under its standards more than a 
 hundred thousand pilgrims. 
 
 A second army of Crusaders, led by the count de Nevers 
 and the count de Bourges, advanced as far as Ancyra, and 
 directed its course towards Heraclea.* This army looked 
 for traces of that which had preceded it ; but instead of 
 finding the Christians, they soon met with the victorious 
 anny of the Turks, which came to meet them, attacked them, 
 and routed them. The count de Nevers with great difficulty 
 found refuge in Germanicopolis. Taking for guides some 
 Grreek soldiers, he was pillaged and abandoned by them in a 
 desert. He v\'ent through the greatest dangers for several 
 days ; and, exhausted with fatigue and covered with rags, he 
 at length arrived at Antioch, whither the news of his defeat 
 had preceded him. 
 
 A third troop, composed, according to the authors of the 
 time, of more than a hundred and hfty thousand pilgrims, 
 set out from Constantinople under the orders of the count 
 of Poictiers, the duke of Bavaria, and Hugh de Vermandois. 
 They took possession of Philomelium and Samalia, and 
 marched across devastated provinces towards the city of 
 Stankon, where they expected to unite themselves with the 
 army of the count de Nevers. It was before this city that 
 the pilgrims heard of the disasters and defeat of the Chris- 
 tian armies that had preceded them. They advanced towards 
 Heraclea, and were not long in meeting with the army of 
 Kilidge Arslan, which was waiting for them in an advan- 
 tageous position. As they had no longer anything to hope 
 for except from their courage, they did not seek to avoid the 
 enemy. A rividet which separated the Christians from the 
 infidels, was the signal and the theatre of battle. The Cru- 
 saders, pressed by thirst, rushed towards it in crowds. The 
 Turks immediately discharged upon them a shower of jave- 
 lins and arrows. The two armies were soon completely 
 engaged; but the Christians fighting in a confined and 
 marshy place, could neither draw up their forces nor make 
 use of the lance or the sword. Their bravery and their 
 efforts were of no avail against the sldlful manoeuvres of 
 Kerbogha and Kilidge Arslan. The Turks penetrated the 
 
 * For these various positions, see the Map and the explanatory Memoir.
 
 254 HISTOET or THE CHUSADES. 
 
 Christian armv eyery where ; the carnage was horrible ; 
 scarcely a thousand of the Crusaders escaped from either 
 death or slavery. The margravine of Austria disappeared 
 amidst the tumult of the battle. Some say that she was 
 crushed under the feet of the horses ; whilst others assert 
 that she fell iuto the hands of the enemy, and went to live 
 and die in the harem of the sultan of Mossoul. The greater 
 part of the women and young girls that followed the Chris- 
 tian army met with the same fate. The count of Yer- 
 mandois, pierced by two arrows, fled across Lycaonia, and 
 arrived with a feeble escort at the city of Tarsus, Avhere he 
 died of his wounds. 
 
 The duke of Bavaria and the count of Poictiers, after 
 having wandered a long time in deserts and forests, arrived 
 almost naked at Antioch, in which city were assembled all 
 the Crusaders that had escaped after their defeat. The 
 leaders, by gathering together the wrecks of their troops, 
 were able to form an army of ten thousand men, with which 
 they marched to Jerusalem. Whilst coasting the Sea of 
 Syria, they took the city of Tortosa, which they gave up to 
 Ea^Tnond, although they had accused him., only a few days 
 before, of having been the cause of all their disasters. 
 Upon their arrival in Palestine, they found new enemies to 
 contend with. The duke of Burgundy* and the count of 
 Blois were killed in a battle fought near Eamla. Arpin, 
 coimt de Berri,t fell ali^e into the hands of the Saracens, 
 and died in slavery. The count de Blandras, the count of 
 Savoy, "William, count of Poictiers, the count de Xevers, and 
 the duke of Bavaria only led a small number of their soldiers 
 back to Europe. :|: 
 
 * The body of the duke of Burgundy was brought back to France, and 
 buried at Citeaux. Urban Planchier says in his history, that they ob- 
 served the anniversary of the death of this prince on the Friday before 
 Passion Sunday. After the death of her husband, ■Slahaul, the wife of 
 Eude, and mother of Floiine, retired to the abbey of Fontevrault. 
 
 + It has been said ti^at Arpin, on setting out for the crusade, sold the 
 county of Beiri to Philip, king of France, for the sum of 60,000 crowns. 
 This is the way in which the fact is related in the Hintori/ of Berri : " King 
 Piiilip redeemed his city of Bourges, which Henry his father had engaged 
 for 60.000 Ciowns, froin Arpin. Thus Bourges returned to its natural 
 prince." — History of Berri, by Chaumeau, p. 97. 
 
 X Ancient historians contain many other details concerning this expe- 
 dition that we have not thought it necessary to notice. This expedition
 
 HISTORY OF THE CFvUSADES. 255 
 
 Such are tlie principal events of tlie first crusade, the 
 commencement and the end of which were marked by the 
 greatest disasters, and which deprived Europe of more than 
 a milUon of men. When we reflect on the energies dis- 
 played and the forces employed in this expedition hy the 
 West, we are at first astonished that it did not succeed. 
 
 It has often been repeated, when speaking of this holy 
 war, in which the East beheld an army of six hundred thou- 
 sand men brought against it, " that Alexander conquered 
 Asia Avith thirty thousand men." It is more than probable 
 that the Grreeks who wrote the life of Alexander have dimi- 
 nished the number of his forces in order to heighten the 
 splendour of his victories ;* but, be that as it may, it must 
 be admitted that the expedition of the Macedonian con- 
 queror did not present the same dangers, or the same obsta- 
 cles that the Crusaders had to encounter. The armies 
 which left Greece for Asia had less to suffer from change of 
 climate, or the length and difficulties of the voyage than 
 those who came from the extremities of the West. The 
 Macedonians, in their invasion of the East, had scarcely any 
 nation to contend with but the Persians, an efieminate peo- 
 ple, previously several times vanquished by the Greeks ; 
 whilst the Crusaders had to pass through a crowd of un- 
 known, barbarous hordes, and when arrived in Asia, foimd, 
 as enemies, several nations of conquerors. 
 
 The Greeks of Alexander's expedition did not go into Asia 
 to introduce new laws, or change the manners and religion 
 of the people ; they even adopted something of the costumes 
 and usages of the Persians, which very much facilitated their 
 conquests. t In the crusades, on the contrary, Ave behold two 
 
 presents nothing but scenes of carnage and reverses, without glory or 
 results. We shall be obliged to return to it hereafter. 
 
 * Alexander, say the Greek historians, had thirtj'^ thousand infantry 
 and five thousand horse. A single historian, Anaximenes, makes the 
 Macedonian army amount to forty-eight thousand men. 
 
 t The Turks, thirty years before the taking of Jerusalem by the Chris- 
 tians, had scarcely met with any resistance to their invasions of some of 
 the richest provinces of Asia, because the Mussulman religion, which 
 they had recently embraced, was that of the countries against which they 
 directed their arms. If the Tartars at different epochs have invaded 
 several countries of the globe, and have maintained themselves in them, 
 it was because on issuing from their deserts they had almost no religic i,
 
 26Q HisTOEY or tue chusades. 
 
 religions armed one against the other, which redoubled tlie 
 hatred of the combatants, and forbade all approximatioD. 
 As soon as the standard of Mahomet floated over a city, the 
 Christians fled from it ; whilst the cross of the Christians 
 had the same effect upon the Mussulmans. As the greater 
 part of the jMussulman cities which fell into the hands of 
 the Christians were deserted, the latter were obliged to 
 people the provinces thev conquered, and exhaust their 
 armies, to found, in some sort, colonies wherever their arms 
 triumplied. If it be allowed that no wars are more san- 
 guinaiy than religious wars, there are certainly none in 
 which it is more difficult for a conqueror to extend or preserve 
 his conquests. This is a very important observation, if we 
 would appreciate the results of this crusade. 
 
 On all occasions where bravery alone was required, nothing 
 can be comparable to the exploits of the Crusaders. When 
 reduced to a small number of combatants, they triumphed no 
 less over their enemies than when they consisted of vast armies. 
 Forty thousand Christians obtained possession of Jerusalem, 
 defended by a garrison of sixty thousand Saracens. There re- 
 mained scarcely twenty thousand men under their standards, 
 when they had to contend with all the forces of the East in 
 the plains of Ascalon. If Alexander performed greater 
 things, and particularly if he conquered a greater number of 
 nations, it was because he commanded a disciplined army, of 
 which he was the absolute leader. All his military and 
 political operations were directed by one same mind and one 
 same will. It was not thus in the army of the Crusaders, 
 which was composed of many nations, and held within itself 
 the fatal germs of license and disorder. The feudal anarchy 
 Avith which Europe was then distracted followed the defenders 
 of the cross into Asia, and that turbident spirit of the 
 knights, which constantly led them to have recoiu'se to 
 
 and were thus disposed to adopt any advantageous faith they might meet 
 with in their passage. It will be objected to me that the Arabians, in the 
 first ages of the Hegira, invaded a great part of Asia and Africa, where 
 they found orher religions than their own long established ; but it may be 
 answered that these religions were sinking to decay. When the Mussul- 
 mans presented themst-lves in Europe, where the Christian religion was 
 better established than in the East, this religion offered an insurmountable 
 barrier to their progress.
 
 HISTOIIT or TUE CEUSADES. 267 
 
 arms, was precisely that which checked and bounded their 
 conquests. 
 
 When we think of their ever reviving discords, of the 
 calamities which were the consequences of thein, of that 
 excess of bravery that made them commit so many faults, 
 of that want of foresight which they almost always evinced 
 on the eve of great dangers, one thmg alone surprises 
 us, and that is, that they did not entirely fail in their enter- 
 prise. 
 
 Philosophy may, with some justice, oppose its reasonings 
 to the marvels of this war ; but she will tind in it an abun- 
 dant source of profound and new observations. In it she 
 will see man with his inexplicable contrasts ; in it she will 
 meet with the passions, with all that characterizes them, with 
 all they possess that most plainly exhibits the hmnan heart 
 and mind. Reason, without doubt, must deplore the dis- 
 orders, the excesses, and the delirium of the Crusaders ; but 
 such is human weakness, that we always interest ourselves 
 in great events wherein man is fully developed. 
 
 The imagination of the most indifferent must be struck 
 w4th the instances of heroism which the history of the cru- 
 sades aboimds in. If many of the scenes of this great 
 epoch excite our indignation or ou.r pity, how many of the 
 events fill us with admiration and surprise ! How many 
 names, rendered illustrious by this war, are still the pride of 
 families and nations ! That which is perhaps most posi- 
 tive in the results of the first crusade, is the glory of our 
 fathers, — that glory which is also a real good for a country ; 
 for great remembrances found the existence of nations as 
 well as families, and are the most noble sources of patriotism. 
 
 In remotest antiquity, one of those passions which some- 
 times act upon a wliole people, precipitated Greece upon 
 Asia. This war, famous and rich in exploits, inflamed the 
 imagination of the Grreeks, and was for a great length of 
 time celebrated in their temples and upon their stage. If 
 great national remembrances inspire us with the same enthu- 
 siasm, if we entertain as strong a respect as the ancients for 
 the memory of our ancestors, the conquest of the Holy Land 
 must be for us as glorious and memorable an epoch as the 
 war of Troy was for the people of Greece. These two wars, 
 however cUfierent in their motives, present almost the same
 
 258 HISTOET OF THE CHUSADES. 
 
 results to the enliglitened observer ; botli offer grand lessons 
 to policy and illustrious models to valour ; both founded 
 new states, new colonies, and established relations between 
 distant nations. Both had a marked influence upon the 
 ci^Tlization of the ages that followed them : both, in short, 
 developed great passions and fine characters, and thus 
 furnished the happiest subjects for the epic muse, who 
 dehgfhts only in celebrating prodigies and wonders. 
 
 AVhen comparing these two memorable wars, and the 
 poetical masterpieces that have celebrated them, we cannot 
 but think that the subiect of the *' Jerusalem Delivered" is 
 more wonderful than that of the '' Iliad." "We may still 
 further say, that the heroes of Tasso are more interesting 
 than those of Homer, and their exploits less fabulous. The 
 cause which armed the Greeks was much less important 
 than that which actuated the Christians. The latter, in 
 some sort, took up arms for the assistance of misfortune and 
 oppressed weakness. They went to defend a reUgion able 
 to make them sensible of ills that were endured far from 
 them, and to make them find brothers in regions uukuov>TL 
 to them. This character of sociability is not to be foimd in 
 any belief of the ancients. 
 
 The Crusaders exhibited another spectacle with which 
 antiquity was unacquainted — the union of religious humility 
 with the love of glory. History shows us constantly these 
 haughty heroes, the terror of Asia and the Mussulmans, 
 bending their %'ictorious brows to the dust, and marching 
 from conquest to conquest, covered with the sack of peni- 
 tence. The priests, who exhorted them in battle, only raised 
 their com-age by reproaching them with their sins. When 
 they met vrith reverses, a thousand voices were raised among 
 them to accuse their own misconduct ; and when they were 
 victorious, it was God alone that gave them the victory, and 
 religion forbade their claiming glory from it.* 
 
 The historian may be permitted to think that this differ- 
 ence between the heroes of the '' Hiad" and those of the 
 
 * Daimbert, Godfrey of Bouillon, and Raymond de St. Gilles, when 
 writing to the pope and the faithful of the We>t. say that the victory of 
 Dorylreum had filled the pilgrims with pride, and that God, to punish them, 
 opposed Antioch to them, which delayed them nine months.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CSUSADES. 259 
 
 holy war is not sufficiently marked in tlie poem of " Jeru- 
 salem Delivered."* Another reproach may likewise be 
 addressed to the bard of Einaldo and Godfrey ; the ideas of 
 magic and gallantry which he has too freely lavished upon his 
 poem are not in accordance v.ith the truth of history. 
 Magic, which is nothing but a sort of degenerated super- 
 stition, and which only deals with small things, was but 
 little known to the Crusaders. Their superstition, however 
 gross, had something noble and grand in it, which associated 
 them sufficiently with the spirit of the epopee, T^ithout the 
 poet having anything to alter ; their character and manners 
 were grave and austere, and exceedingly well suited to the 
 dignity of a rehgious epic. It was not till long after 
 the first crusade that magic formed any part of the super- 
 stition of the Franks, or that their warlike manners aban- 
 doned the prominently epic character which distinguished 
 them, to adopt the romantic character which they have pre- 
 served in all books of chivalry. It appears to us that we 
 discover in Tasso much more of the manners of the times 
 in which he hved than of those of the end of the eleventh 
 century, the period of the events which form the subject of 
 his poem. 
 
 But it does not enter into the plan or the object of this 
 work to carry such observations further.f After ha\ing 
 spoken of the heroic deeds and of all that was wonderful 
 in the first crusade, I will turn my attention to the imme- 
 diate effects it produced upon Europe and Asia. We are 
 sufficiently well acquainted with the evils by which it was 
 followed ; great disasters are the familiar subjects of history, 
 but the slow and almost insensible progress of the good 
 that may result from a great revolution, is much less easily 
 perceived. 
 
 The first result of this crusade was to carry terror among 
 
 * Tasso himself was of this opinion, as may be seen in an interesting 
 letter addressed to us by M. Bureau Delamalle. The admiration which 
 I entertain for the Poet of the Crusades, makes me exceedingly anxious 
 that M. Baour Lormian should finish the undertaking he has begun, so 
 worthy of his rare talent, a translation in verse of the Jerusalem Delivered. 
 
 •f" M. Guinguene, in his Histoire Litteraire d'lialie, has deigned to 
 adopt, with some modification, several of these observations, which is the 
 most worthy reward of my labours and researches. 
 
 Vol. I.— 13
 
 2G0 nrsTORY of the crusades. 
 
 tlie Mussulman nations, and to place it out of their po^ver 
 to undertake for a length of time any warlike enterprises 
 against the West. Thanks to the yictories of the Crusaders, 
 the Greek empire extended its limits, and Constantinople, 
 which was the road to the West for the tSaracens, was ren- 
 dered safe from their attacks. In this distant expedition 
 Eiu-ope lost the flower of its population, but it was not, as 
 Asia was. the theatre of a bloodv and disastrous war ; of a 
 war in which nothing was respected, in which provinces and 
 cities were, by turns, ravaged by the conquerors and the 
 conquered. Whilst the warriors of Europe were shedding 
 their blood on the plains of the East, the West remained in 
 profound peace. Among Christian nations it was then con- 
 sidered a crime to take up arms for any other cause than 
 that of Jesus Christ. This opinion contributed greatly to 
 check the frightful brigandage that had prevailed, and to 
 increase respect for the truce of God, which was, in the 
 middle ao:es. the crerm or the simal of the best institutions. 
 AVhatever were the reverses of the crusades, they were less 
 deplorable than the civil wars and the scourges of feudal 
 anarchv that had so Ions; ravas:ed all the countries of the 
 West. 
 
 This first crusade produced other advantages to Europe.* 
 The East, by the holy war, was in some sort laid open to the 
 West, which, before, was but little acquainted ^ith it ; the 
 IMediterranean became more frequented by European vessels, 
 navigation made some progress, and commerce, particularly 
 that of the Pisans and Grenoese, must have been increased 
 and enriched bv the foundation of the kinojdom of Jerusa- 
 lem. A great part, it is true, of the gold and silver of 
 Em'ope was carried into Asia by the Crusaders ; but these 
 treasures, heaped up and concealed by avarice and fear, had 
 been long abstracted from circulation ; the gold which was 
 not carried awav bv the Crusaders circulated more freelv, 
 and Europe, with a less quantity of money, appeared all at 
 once more rich than it had ever been. 
 
 We cannot perceive, whatever may have been asserted, 
 tliat in the first crusade Europe received any great quantity 
 
 * Iq our general conclusions, we shall often have to quote the works 
 of M. Heeren and M. Choiseuil d'Aillecourt upon the influence of the 
 crusades.
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 261 
 
 of kno'^\-ledge from the East. During the eleventh century, 
 Asia had been the theatre of the most sanguinary revolu- 
 tions. At this period the Saracens, but more particularly 
 the Turks, cultivated neither the arts nor the sciences. The 
 Crusaders had no other relation T\'ith them but a war of ex- 
 termination. On another side, the Franks held the Greeks, 
 among whom, besides, the arts and sciences were declining, 
 in too much contempt to borrow any kind of instruction 
 from them ; nevertheless, as the events of the crusade had 
 strongly affected the imagination of nations, this great and 
 imposing spectacle was sufficient to give an impetus to the 
 human mind in the "West. Several writers undertook to 
 trace the history of this memorable period. Raymond 
 d'Agiles, Robert the monk of St. Eemy, Tudebode, Foulcher 
 de Chartres, Abbot Guibert, Baudry, the bishop of Dol, and 
 Albert d'Aix were contemporary historians, and most of 
 them ocidar witnesses of the conquests and exploits they 
 have described. The histories they have left us are not desti- 
 tute of merit, and some of them are even better than that 
 which was written of the same kind among either the Greeks 
 or the Arabs. These writers were animated in their labours 
 by the same spirit of piety which governed the heroes of the 
 cross. This spirit of piety caused them to take up the pen, 
 and persuaded them that they wrote for the cause of God. 
 They would have thought themselves wanting in their duty 
 as Christians, if they had not employed their abilities in 
 transmitting the events of the holy war to posterity. In 
 whatever manner we judge of their motives, we cannot avoid 
 being convinced that they have rendered great services to 
 history, and that without them the heroic times of our 
 annals would have remained without monuments. 
 
 The wonderful portion of the character of this first cru- 
 sade likewise awakened the epic muse. Eaoul de Caen,* 
 who, in his history, sometimes sounds the epic trumpet in 
 order worthily to celebrate the "gestes" of Tancred, is not 
 deficient in either warmth or fancy. The conquest of Jeru- 
 salem was during the twelfth century the subject of several 
 works in verse. A Limousin knight, Geoffrey de la Tour, 
 
 * The verse of this writer is much better than his prose, which is very 
 incorrect, and sometimes unintelligible.
 
 262 HISTORY OF THE CEL'SADES. 
 
 called tlie prior or abbot of the Yigeois, described very tole- 
 rably the events of these wars in a large volume all written 
 in his maternal tongue, and in vidgar rhyme, in order that the 
 people might imderstand it tlie better. This poem, written 
 in verse, which was the fruit of the labour of twelve years, is 
 lost. Many other similar works have doubtless shared the 
 same fate ; but that which remains suffices to prove that 
 human intelligence began to expard at the commencement 
 of the twelfth century. 
 
 Before this period, the science of legislation, wliicli is the 
 first and most important of aD, had made but very little 
 progress. Some cities of Italy and the pro"s*inces near the 
 Pyrenees, where the Groths had encouraged the Eoman laws, 
 alone exhibited glimmerings of ciA^ilization. Among the 
 rules and ordinances that Gaston de Beam laid down before 
 his departure for the Holy Land, are to be found many points 
 and particulars which deserve to be preserv^ed by history, 
 because they exhibit the feeble beginnings of a legislation 
 which time and fortunate circumstances would perfect. 
 Peace, savs this legislator of the eleventh centurv, shall be 
 observed at all times towards clerJcs, monks, travellers, and 
 ladies and their suite. — If ani/ one takes refuge in the abode 
 of a lady, he shall enjoy security of person, on 'paying all loss 
 or consequent injury. Let the peasant live in peace ; let his 
 cattle and agricultural instruments be exempt from seizure.* 
 These benevolent dispositions were inspired by the spirit of 
 chivalry, which had made some progress in the wars against 
 the Saracens of Spain ; they were particularly the works of 
 the councils t which undertook to put a stop to private wars 
 
 * yTe have obtained these details from a manuscript history of Beam, 
 which has been kindly communicated to us by one of our most distin- 
 guished magistrates, who consecrates his leisure to the cultivation of 
 letters. This history, remarkable for a wise erudition and sound criti- 
 cism, is likely to throw a great light upon the remote times of which we 
 speak. 
 
 f All the ordinances of Gaston de Beam are to be found in the decrees 
 of the sjTiod or council held in the diocese of Elne, in Roussillon, the 
 16th of May, 1027. These dispositions had for object the Truce of God. 
 The council decreed that no unarmed clerk or monk should be attacked, 
 nor any man who was going to church or coming from it, or was walking 
 with women. At the council of Bourges in 1031, and in several others, 
 hese regulations were renewed ; labourers, their cattle and mills, were
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 263 
 
 and the excess of feudal anarchy. The holy wars beyond 
 the seas finished that which chivalry had begun, they per- 
 fected chivalry itself. The council of Clermont and the 
 crusade that followed it only developed and consohdated all 
 which preceding councils, all that the wisest lords and 
 princes, had done for the cause of humanity. 
 
 Many of the princes of the crusades, such as the duke of 
 Brittany and Robert count of Flanders, signalized their 
 return by establishing wise regulations. A few salutary in- 
 stitutions began to displace the violent abuses of feudalism, 
 and there might be seen, at least in some provinces, what a 
 regime founded by the sword could exhibit of a moderate 
 kind in its legislation. 
 
 It was in France that these changes were most obvious, 
 because France had taken the greatest part in the crusade. 
 jNIany nobles emancipated their serfs upon their following 
 them in this expedition. Giraud and Griraudet Adhemar de 
 ]Monthiel, who followed their brother, the bishop of Puy, to 
 the holy war, to encourage and reward some of their vassals, 
 by whom they were accompanied, granted them several fiefs 
 by an act drawn up in the same year as the taking of Jeru- 
 salem. We might quote many similar acts made during 
 the crusade and in the first year that followed it. Liberty 
 awaited in the West the small number that returned from 
 the holy war, who seemed to acknowledge no other master 
 but Jesus Christ. 
 
 In this crusade the nobility lost some portion of a power 
 which they had abused, but they had more splendour and were 
 held in greater honour. The king of France, although for a 
 long time obnoxious to the censures of the Church, and 
 although he did not distinguish himself by any great per- 
 sonal quaUties, had a more tranquil and prosperous reign than 
 his predecessors; he began to shake ofi" the yoke of the great 
 vassals of the crown, of whom several were ruined or perished 
 in the holy war. "We have often repeated that the crusade 
 placed great wealth in the hands of the clergy ; but we must 
 likewise add, that the clergy composed the most enlightened 
 
 placed under the safeguard of i-eligion. — Seethe Collection of the Councils 
 by le P. Labbe. It is not useless to remark that these regulations were 
 at first received in Aquitaine. The council of Clermont caused them to 1^ 
 adopted throughout the greater part of Europe.
 
 264 KISTOIIY OF THE carsADL3 
 
 part of the nation, and that tliis increase of prosperity was in 
 the nature of things. After the fii'st crusade, was seen that 
 which is always to be observed in all nations that are pro- 
 gressing in civilization. Power had a tendency to centralize 
 itself in the hands of him who protected Kberty. Glory 
 became the reward of all who were called upon to defend 
 their country; consideration and riches took a direction to- 
 wards that class from which intelligence was to be expected. 
 
 It is certain that knowledge arose in Europe among the 
 clergy, and that they alone were able to consecrate in some 
 wav manv of the salutary' results of the crusades. As long 
 as the clergy powerfidly assisted the progress of civihzation, 
 they preserved their wealth ; as soon as they went beyond 
 civilization, thev lost it. This is the course of thino^s on 
 earth. As lontr as institutions are favourable to societr, 
 society reveres them;* when under some relations they are 
 esteemed less useful, they lose their importance. "Without 
 anv necessitv for declamation, we must leave the inoratitude 
 natural to nations to take its course, as we must their in- 
 constancy, and to time ; which are but too powerful in destroy- 
 ing instruments which societ}' has employed with some 
 advantage. 
 
 Many cities of Italv had arrived at a certain dej^ree of 
 civilization before the first crusade ; but this civilization, 
 born in the midst of a barbarous age, and spread amongst 
 some isolated nations divided among themselves, had no 
 power to attain maturitA'. For civilization to produce the 
 salutary effects it is capable of, everything must at the same 
 time, have a tendency to the same perfection. EJnowledge, 
 laws, morals, power, all must proceed together. This is what 
 has happened in France ;t therefore must France one day 
 become the model and centre of ci\Tlization in Europe. The 
 holy wars contributed much to this happy revolution, which 
 may be seen even in the first crusade. 
 
 * I only here speak of the clergy with regard to its knowledge. The 
 opinion I express is not only applicable to France, but to all the states of 
 Europe. 
 
 t What a comment upon man's assumption is the history of France 
 since this was written I — Trans.
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 A.D. 1099—1148. 
 
 > 
 
 I HAVE related the disasters, the labours, and the con- 
 quests of the first Crusaders ; I now direct my attention to 
 the kingdom which was founded by their victories, the perils 
 of which several times summoned the nations of the AVest 
 to arms. If the recital of a war filled with adventures and 
 prodigies has excited the curiosity and surprise of my readers, 
 I trust they will not refuse to follow with me tlie progress 
 of that distant kingdom, which was the fruit of so many 
 exploits and so much glory, which cost so much blood and 
 so many tears. After having beheld the countless crowds 
 of pilgrims setting out for the deliverance of the Holy 
 Land, who will not be astonished to see two or three hun- 
 dred brave knights, the glorious remains of the Christian 
 armies, suffice for the defence of the pro"\T.nces and cities 
 conquered by the united powers of the West ? "What 
 spectacle can create more profound reflection in the minds 
 of thinking and enlightened men, tlian that of a new 
 people, cast, as it were by a tempest, on a foreign shore, in 
 the midst of a country from Avhich the arms, religion, and 
 customs of numerous nations are unceasingly employed to 
 expel them ? 
 
 The country in which the Crusaders had just established 
 themselves, and which the monuments of religion and his- 
 tory rendered so dear to the nations of the AVest, constituted 
 the kingdoms of Judah and Israel of antiquity. When the 
 Uomans carried their arms into this country, its new masters 
 added to the name which the Jews had given it that of 
 Palestine, or the country of the Palestinians. It was 
 bounded on the south and east by the deserts of Arabia and 
 Idumea, on the west by the Mediterranean, and on the north 
 by the mountains Libanus, 
 
 At the period of tlie crusades, as at the present time, a 
 great part of the soil of Palestine, upon which rise the
 
 266 HISTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 barren mountains of Sion, Hebron, Hebal, and Gelboei, 
 presented the aspect of a land upon which the curses of 
 Heaven had fallen. This land, formerly promised to the 
 elect people of God, had several times changed inhabitants. 
 All the sects, all the dvnasties of the Mussulmans, had dis- 
 puted the possession of it sword in hand, and revolutions 
 and wars had left numerous memorable ruins in its capital, 
 and in the greater part of its provinces. The religious ideas 
 of the Mussulmans and the Christians seemed alone to give 
 importance to the conquest of Judea ; history must, however, 
 guard against the exaggeration ^4th which certain travellers 
 have spoken of the sterility of this unfortunate country.* 
 Amidst the calamities which, during many ages, desolated 
 the pro^'inces of Palestine, some traces of its ancient splen- 
 dour may still be perceived. The shores of the Lake of 
 G-alilee and of the Jordan, some valleys watered by the 
 Besor, the Arnou, and the Jaboc, and the plains contiguous 
 to the sea which war had not ravaged, still recalled by their 
 fertility the promises of Scripture. Palestine yet boasted 
 some flourishing cities, and several of its ports offered a 
 commodious asylum to the vessels of Asia and Europe. 
 
 In the condition of Palestine at that time, if the territory 
 had been entirely subject to Godfrey, the new king might 
 have equalled in power the greater part of the Mussulman 
 princes of Asia ; but the young kingdom of Jerusalem con- 
 sisted but of the capital and about twenty cities or towns in 
 its neighbourhood. Several of these cities were separated 
 by places still occupied by the infidels. A fortress in the 
 hands of the Christians was near to a fortress over which 
 floated the standard of Mahomet. In the surroimding 
 country dwelt Turks, Arabs, and Egvptians, who all united 
 to make war upon the subjects of Godfrey. The latter were 
 not free from alarm even in their cities, which were almost 
 all badly garrisoned, and found themselves constantly exposed 
 to the terrors and evils of war. The lands remained uncul- 
 tivated, and all communications were interrupted. Amidst 
 so many perils, several of the Latins abandoned the pos- 
 sessions which rictoiy had bestowed upon them ; and that 
 
 * An excellent dissertation on the Holy Land, by the Abbe Guenee, 
 in Les Memoires de V Academic des Itiscriptions, may be consulted with 
 advantage.
 
 HISTORY 0¥ THE CEXJSADES. 267 
 
 the conquered country might not be left without inhabitants, 
 the interest of propert)^, or proprietorship, was called in to 
 strentjtlien the waverino- love for the new abode. Everv 
 man who liad remained a year and a day in a house, or upon 
 cultivated land, was recognised as the legitimate proprietor 
 of it. All rights of possession were annulled by an absence 
 of the same duration. 
 
 The first care of Grodfrey was to repel the hostilities of 
 the Saracens, and to extend the frontiers of the kingdom 
 intrusted to his defence. By his orders Tancred entered 
 into G-alilee, took possession of Tiberias, and several other 
 cities situated in the neighbourhood of the Lake of Grenesa- 
 reth. As the reward of his labours, he obtained possession 
 of the country he conquered, which in the end became a 
 principahty. 
 
 Tancred, master of a rich province, advanced into the 
 territories of Damascus, whilst Godfrey, in a fortunate ex- 
 cursion, imposed tributes upon the emirs of Caesarea, Ptole- 
 mais, and Ascalon, and brought to submission the Arabs 
 dwelling on the left shores of the Jordan. He was returning 
 victorious to Jerusalem, when the city of Asur, which had 
 surrendered after the battle of Ascalon, refused to pay 
 tribute, and shook off the yoke of the Christians. Grodfrey 
 resolved to lay, siege to this rebel city ;* he collected his 
 troops, marched them towards Asur, and proceeded to attack 
 
 * We have been guided principally in the history of Jerusalem, by 
 the chronicle of Fouloher de Chartres, that of Albert d'Aix, the anony- 
 mous author of the Gesta Francormn expugnanlinm Hiervsalem, and 
 the history of William of Tyre. There is iiotiiinjz; in French upon the 
 kingdom of Jerusalem. Being ignorant of the German language, we 
 regret our inability to avail ourselves of the second volume of the History 
 of the Crusades, by M. Walken, to the extent we could have wished. 
 We may say the same of the history by M. Hacken, and several other 
 German works upon the estal)lishment of the Christians in the East. 
 
 Among the Arabian liistorians from whom the learned D. Bertheraud 
 has made extracts, we have consulted — 1, IVie Musstdmaa Annalu of 
 Aboulfeda. 2. The History of Tabari, or rather the continuation of that 
 historian, who is called the Livy of the Arabians. 3. The History of 
 Jerusalem, by Moudgiredclin. 4. The History of Aleppo, by Kemaleddin. 
 5. The History of the Attabecs, by Ben Latir. Thu^e historians and 
 some others have furnished us wiili some points of comparison, and 
 some document frequently incomplete, generally useless. The Oriental 
 historians only become an abundant source of information at the epoch of 
 the reigns of Noureddin and Saladin. 
 
 1.3*
 
 268 HISTORY OF the crusades. 
 
 tlie town. Already had the rolling towers approached the 
 ramparts, the rams had shaken the walls to their founda- 
 tions, and the city was about to be carried, when the besieged 
 employed a mode of defence worthy only of barbarians. 
 Gerard of Avesnes, who had been left with them as an 
 hostage by Godfrey, was fastened to the top of a very high 
 mast which was attached to the very wall against which the 
 efforts of the besiegers were principally directed. At the 
 prospect of an inevitable and inglorious death, the unfortunate 
 Christian knight uttered loud and painful cries, and conjured 
 his friend Godfrey to save his life by a voluntary retreat. 
 This cruel spectacle pierced the heart of Godfrey, but did 
 not shake either his firmness or his- courage. As he was 
 sufficiently near to Gerard of Avesnes to make himself heard 
 by him, he exhorted him to merit the cro^vn of martyrdom 
 bV his resignation. " It is not in my power to save you," 
 said he ; " if mv brother Eustace were in your place, I could 
 not dehver him from death. Die, then, illustrious and brave 
 knight, with the courage of a Christian hero ; die for the 
 safety of your brethren, and for the glory of Jesus Christ." 
 These words of Godfrey gave Gerard of Avesnes the 
 courage to die. He begged his old companions to offer at the 
 holv sepulchre his horse and his arms, that prayers might be 
 put up for the health of his soul.* A short time after he 
 died under a shower of darts and arrows launched by the 
 hands of the Christians. 
 
 The soldiers of Godfrey, on witnessing the death of 
 Gerard, burned with rage to revenge him, and redoubled 
 their efforts to render themselves masters of the city. On 
 their side, the besieged reproached the Christians with their 
 barbarity, and defended themselves with vigour. The Greek 
 fire consumed the towers and the machines of the besiegers ; 
 Godfrey had lost a great number of his soldiers, and de- 
 spah'ed of reducing the city, which received succours by sea. 
 As winter was approaching, he resolved at last to raise the 
 siege and return to Jerusalem, deeply affected at having 
 caused the death of Gerard of Avesnes without any advantage 
 to the cause of the Christians. 
 
 During the siege of Asur several emirs from the moun- 
 
 * This account is found entire in Albert d^Aix, book vii. chaps. 8, 9, 
 &c.
 
 HISTORY OF TJIE CllUSAULS. 269 
 
 tains of Samaria came to visit Grodfrey. They were struck 
 with the greatest surprise when they tbund the king of the 
 Christians without a guard, Avithout splendour, sleeping on 
 a straw pallet like the meanest of his soldiers. They were 
 not less astonished when, at their request, he exhibited 
 before them his extraordinary strength by cutting off the 
 head of a camel at a single blow with his sword. The emirs, 
 after having offered presents to Godfrey, returned to their 
 own country, and related the wonders they had seen. Their 
 recitals, which history has not disdained, contributed greatly 
 to increase the fame of the king of Jerusalem. 
 
 When Godfrey reached his capital, he learnt the approach 
 of a great number of pilgrims, the greater part of whom 
 were Pisans and Genoese, led by the bishop of Ariana, and 
 Daimbert, archbishop of Pisa. To the Christians arrived 
 from the AV^est were added Bohemond, prince of Antioch, 
 Baldwin, count of Edessa, and liaymond, count of Thoulouse. 
 These latter had come to visit the holy places, and to 
 celebrate the epoch of the birth of Christ at Jerusalem. 
 
 Godfrey went out to meet the pilgrims as far as Beth- 
 lehem, with his knights and the clergy. " After they were 
 come into the holy city," says an old chronicle, "the king 
 received them and feasted them magnificently ; and detained 
 them in Judea during the winter, being much gratified with 
 the presence of his brother Baldwin." Daimbert, archbishop 
 of Pisa, had come into Palestine as legate from the Holy See. 
 By means of presents and promises he got himself to be 
 named patriarch of Jerusalem, in the place of Arnoul de 
 Kohes. This prelate, brought up in the school of Gre- 
 gory VII., maintained with warmth the pretensions of the 
 Holy See, and it was not long before his ambition introduced 
 trouble among the Christians. In the places even where 
 Christ had said that his kingdom was not of this world, he 
 who called himself his vicar desired to reign with Godfrey, 
 an d demanded the sovereignty of a part of Jaffa, and of a 
 quarter of Jerusalem in which the church of the E,esiu'rec- 
 tion was built. After some debates, the pious Godfrey 
 yielded to the imperious demands of Daimbert ; and such 
 was then the ascendancy of the Church and the clergy, that 
 the new king was obliged to consent to a treaty by which 
 the kingdom shoidd belong to the patriarch, if Godfrey 
 
 '«■
 
 270 niSTOET OF TUE CRUSADES. 
 
 should die without children. G-odfrey thus ackno\fledged 
 himself the vassal of the sovereign pontiff, and received 
 from the pope and his legate permission to reign over a 
 country conquered by his arms, Bohemond and Bald\vin 
 consented at the same time to receive from the pope the 
 investiture of their principalities. The prince of Antioch 
 had refused to render homage to the king of Jerusalem, but 
 he did not hesitate to acknowledge himself the vassal of a 
 power which bestowed empires, and was able to send fresh 
 armies into the East. 
 
 In the mean time the wise Godfrey, after having freed his 
 territory from the incursions of the Mussulmans, and carried 
 the terror of his arms beyond the Jordan, reflected that 
 victory was not all that was required to found a state. His 
 capital had been depopulated by the sword of the Crusaders ; 
 several other cities, like Jaffa, had lost the greater part of 
 their inhabitants ; and this new king reckoned among his 
 subjects Armenians, G-reeks, Jews, Arabs, renegades from 
 all religions, and adventurers from all countries. The state 
 confided to his care was like a place of passage, and had no 
 other supporters or defenders but travellers and strangers. 
 It was the rendezvous and the asylum of notorious sinners, 
 who came thither to mitigate the anger of God, and of 
 criminals, who thus eluded the justice of men. Both of 
 these were equally dangerous when circumstances awakened 
 their passions, or when fear and repentance gave way before 
 new temptations. Godfrey, according to the spirit of feudal 
 customs and the laws of war, had divided the conquered 
 lands among the companions of his victories. The new lords 
 of Jaffa, Tiberias, Bamla, and Xaplouse, scarcely acknow- 
 ledged the authority of a king. The clergy, encouraged by 
 the patriarch, assumed the tone of masters, and the bishops 
 exercised a temporal power equal to that of the barons. 
 Some attributed the conquest of the kingdom to their valour, 
 others to their prayers ; every one claimed the reward of 
 either his piety or his labours ; and whilst the greater part 
 aimed at domination, all insisted upon independence. 
 
 Godfrey undertook to rule so many conflicting preten- 
 sions, and to bring a tumultuous government into some 
 regular form. In order that the execution of his project 
 might have the greater solemnity, he chose the circumstance
 
 HISTORY OF THE CIU'SADES. 271 
 
 vrhicli had conducted the Latin princes to Jerusalem. After 
 ha-sdng accompanied them as far as Jericho, to celebrate with 
 them the festival of the Epiphany, he returned to his capital, 
 where he assembled the enlightened and pious men of the 
 city, of whom he formed the states, or the assizes, of his 
 kingdom. In this solemn assembly the first care was to 
 regulate and determine the duties of the barons, the lords, 
 and the common subjects, towards the king, and the duties 
 of the king towards the lords and subjects. The king was 
 to undertake to maintain the laws, to defend the Church, to 
 protect widows and orphans, to watch over the safety of both 
 people and lords, and to lead in war. The lord, who was the 
 lieutenant of the prince, as regarded his vassals, was to 
 guarantee them from insult, and to protect their property, 
 their honour, and their rights. The first duty of the counts 
 and barons towards the king was to serve him in council and 
 fight. The first obligation of a subject or a vassal towards 
 his prince or his lord, was to defend him or avenge him in 
 every case of outrage, and to protect the honour of his wife, 
 his daughter, or his sister ; to follow him in all perils, and to 
 surrender himself as hostage for him, if he fell into the 
 hands of his enemies.* 
 
 The king and his subjects, the great and the small vassals, 
 mutually engaged their faith to each other. In the feudal 
 hierarchy, every class had its privileges maintained by 
 honour. Honour, that grand principle among knights, com- 
 manded all to repulse an injury inflicted upon a single one, 
 and thus became, restrained within just limits, the secui'ity 
 of public liberty. 
 
 AVar was the great affair in a kingdom founded by knights 
 and barons ; every one capable of bearing arms was reckoned 
 as something in the state, and protected by the new legisla- 
 tion ; all the rest, with the exception of the clergy, whose 
 existence and privileges were held by divine right, were 
 
 * The Assizes of Jerusalem, transported into the kingdom of Cypru.^, 
 were collected in the thirteenth century, by John d'Ibelin, count of Jaffa 
 and Ascalon. They were printed by Baumancir, and commented upon 
 by Thomas de la Thauraasiere. It is to be lamented that the French 
 publicists, and Montesquieu himself, have studied so superticially this 
 monument of modern legislation, which is able to throw great light upon 
 the history, laws, and manners of the middle ages.
 
 272 IIISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 reckoned as nothing, and scarcely merited any attention from 
 the legislators. The Assizes of Jerusalem did, indeed, deign 
 to take notice of villains, slaves, peasants or cultivators, or 
 captives taken in war ; but they Mere only considered in the 
 light of property, of which they wished to assure the enjoy- 
 ment to its legitimate possessors. Those who had lost them 
 could reclaim them as thev coidd a falcon or a hound : the 
 value of a falcon and a slave was the same ; a war-horse was 
 estimated at more than double the value of a peasant or a 
 captive. The laws did not condescend to notice these un- 
 happy classes, and left it to religion alone to protect them. 
 
 To watch over the execution of the constitutional laws of 
 the state, and to decide in all disputes, two courts were in- 
 stituted ; the one presided over by the king, and composed 
 of the nobles, was to pronounce judgment upon differences 
 among the great vassals ; the other, presided over by the 
 \-iscount of Jerusalem, and formed of the principal inha- 
 bitants of each city, was to regulate the interests and the 
 rights of the citizens and the common people. A third- 
 court was instituted, which was reserved for Oriental Chris- 
 tians ; the judges of it were bom in Syria, spoke its lan- 
 guage, and decided according to the laws and usages of the 
 coimtry. Thus all the citizens of the kingdom were judged 
 bv their peers, and enjoyed the benefits of an institution 
 which has not been despised in ages much more enlightened. 
 
 The Franks, with their warlike character, were certain to 
 evince disdain for the slow, and often uncertain, forms of 
 justice ; they adopted, in their legislation made for the East, 
 the ordeal bv iron or fiire, which had taken its birth among 
 the nations of the North. Judicial combat was also ad- 
 mitted in criminal causes, and sometimes even in ci^-il ones. 
 Among a warlike people everything must present the image 
 of war ; every action commenced against a baron or a knight 
 was, in his eyes, an injmw — an afli'ont — that he ought to 
 repulse sword in hand ; Christian knights were likewise 
 persuaded that God would not allow innocence to succumb 
 in an unequal combat, and ^'ictory appeared to them at once 
 the triumph of human laws and divine justice. 
 
 Such dispositions still bespeak the barbarity of the most re- 
 mote a£es: but a sfreat number of other laws attest the wisdom 
 of the legislators of the Holv Land : their code contamed
 
 HISTORY or TUE CRUSADES. 273 
 
 every institution that was reasonable in the feudal system. 
 Palestine was then blessed by the revival of wise laws created 
 for Europe, but wliich Europe had forgotten amidst the 
 anarchy of civil wars ; many ameliorations made in feudal 
 legislation in some of the states of the West, particularly 
 m the cities of Italv, were consecrated in the new laws of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 It miist be believed that in this circumstance religion 
 sometimes mingled her usefid inspirations with those of 
 human sagacity ; justice and humanity assumed a more 
 sacred character in the presence of the holy tomb. As all 
 the subjects of Grodfrey were called upon to defend the cause 
 of God, the quality of a soldier of Jesus Christ might make 
 the dignity of man respected. If it be true that the esta- 
 blishment of the commons, or a second court, was the work 
 of the Crusaders, we cannot, with truth, assert that these 
 wars contributed nothing towards the progress of civilization. 
 The laws which they made, and in which may be plainly seen 
 the first glimpses of regulated liberty, were a new spectacle 
 for Asia ; they must likewise have been a subject of surprise 
 and a means of instruction for Europe itself, where pilgrims 
 related, on their return, the usages and customs established 
 by the Pranks in the Holy Land. This code of legislation, 
 the best, or rather the least imperfect that had existed pre- 
 vious to that time, and which increased or was modified 
 under other reigns, was deposited with great pomp in the 
 church of the Resurrection, and took the name of the Assizes 
 of Jerusalem, or Letters of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 After this ceremony, which was performed in the presence 
 of all the pilgrims, the Latin princes then at Jerusalem 
 returned to their own states ; Baldwin to Edessa, Bohemond 
 to his principality of Antioch, and Raymond to Laodicea, of 
 which he had rendered himself master, and which he governed 
 in the name of the emperor of Constantinople. Scarcely 
 had Tancred returned to his principality when he was 
 attacked by all tlie forces of the sultan of Damascus. God- 
 frey, accompanied by his faithful knights and a great number 
 of pilgrims eager to fight under his command, repaired im- 
 mediately into Galilee, defeated the Saracens, and pursued 
 them to the mountains of Libanus. 
 
 As he was returning from this expedition, the emir of
 
 274 nisTOET OF the crusades. 
 
 C^esarea came out to meet liim, and presented to liim an 
 offering of some of the fruits of Palestine. Godfrey only 
 accepted a single cedar-apple, and almost dii-ectly fell ill. 
 This maladv, which they did not hesitate to attribute to 
 poison, created the most serious alarm among his followers. 
 Godfrev with great difficulty reached Jaffa, whence he was 
 conveyed to liis capital, where he died, committing to the 
 companions of his ^ictories the charge of the glory of reli- 
 gion and of the kingdom of Jerusalem. His mortal remains 
 were deposited within the enclosure of Calvary, near to the 
 tomb of Christ, which he had delivered by his valour. His 
 death was mourned by the Christians, of whom he was the 
 father and the support, and by the Mussulmans, who had 
 often experienced his justice and his clemency. History 
 mav sav of him what the holy Scripture says of Judas 
 Maccabeus : " It was" he who increased the glory of his 
 people, when, like a giant, he put on his arms in the fight, 
 and his sword was the protection of the whole camp." 
 Godfrev of Bouillon surpassed all the captains of his age in 
 his skill in war ; and if he had lived some time longer, would 
 have merited a name among great kings. In the kingdom 
 he founded he was constantly held up as a model for princes 
 as well as warriors. His name still recalls the vii-tues of 
 heroic times, and will live honoiu-ed amongst men as long as 
 the remembrance of the crusades. 
 
 After the death of Godfrey great disputes arose upon the 
 choice of his successor. The patriarch Daimbert endea- 
 voured to avail himself of the rights conveyed by the pro- 
 mises of Godfrey, and claimed the throne of Jerusalem ; but 
 the barons would submit to no chief but one of their com- 
 panions in arms. Garnier, count de Gray, took possession 
 of the Tower of David, and of the other fortresses of Jeru- 
 salem, in the name of Baldwin, count of Edessa. The 
 patnarch invoked the authority of the Church to the assist- 
 ance of his cause ; and as Coimt Garnier died suddenly, the 
 clers^v of Jerusalem attributed his death to divine justice, 
 which the impious projects of the barons and Imights had 
 offended. Daimbert wrote to Bohemond, prince of Antioch, 
 and conjured him to come and defend what he called the 
 ricrhts of the Church and the cause of God. Jerusalem was 
 filled with agitation and trouble; but whilst they were
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 275 
 
 tumultuously deliberating, deputies from Antioch came to 
 announce that their prince had been surprised in an expe- 
 dition against the Turks, and was held prisoner by the 
 infidels. This ne^YS spread consternation and grief among 
 the Christians, and made them more sensible of the necessity 
 for calling Baldwin to the throne, Avith whose valour they 
 were so well acquainted. 
 
 Baldwin,* to whom deputies had been sent, shed tears on 
 learning: the death of Godfrey, but soon consoled himself 
 with the hope of obtaining a crown. The county of Edessa 
 had become richer and more extensive than the mean king- 
 dom of Jerusalem, several cities of which still belonged to 
 the Saracens ; but such was the active and enterprising 
 spirit of Baldwin, that the prospect of a kingdom to be 
 conquered appeared to him preferable to a country of which 
 he was in peacefid possession. After having given up the 
 county of Edessa to his cousin Baldwin du Bourg, he began 
 his march with four hundred horsemen and a thousand foot. 
 The emirs of Emessa and Damascus, informed of his intended 
 march, laid wait for him in the narrow and difficult roads 
 near the coast of the Sea of Phoenicia. Baldwin feigned to 
 fly before the army of the infidels, and having drawn them 
 into an open country, routed them, making a great many 
 prisoners, whom he carried to Jerusalem. f The knights, 
 the barons, and a portion of the clergy came out to meet 
 the conqueror. Baldwin made his triumphant entrance into 
 the city in the midst of the acclamations of the whole Chris- 
 tian population, who flocked eagerly to see the brother of 
 Godfrey. But whilst the inhabitants thus manifested their 
 joy, the patriarch, with some of his partisans, protested 
 against the election of the new king, and, feigning to believe 
 that he was in safety nowhere but close to the tomb of 
 Christ, retired in silence to Mount Sion, as if to seek an 
 asylum there. Baldwin did not think it worth while to 
 disturb the retreat of the patriarch, and, satisfied with having 
 
 * Dolens aliquantulum de fratris morte et plus gaudens de hsereditate. 
 — Fulch. Cam. lib. x. cap. 22. 
 
 t The Christians were in so much danger in this expedition, that 
 Fouh'her de Chartres exclaims in his history, " I would rather have been 
 at Chartres or Orleans," — "Ego quidem vel Carnoti vel Aureliania 
 mallem esse quam ibi."— Lib. x. cap. 22.
 
 276 HISTOEY OF THE CKUSJlDES. 
 
 obtained the suffrages of tlie barons and knights, ^vished to 
 assiure to himself new titles to the CTO^vn, by gaining more 
 \-ictorie3 over the Saracens. He marched from Jerusalem, 
 followed by his bravest knights, and presented himself before 
 Asealon. 
 
 The season beins; too far advanced to lav resrular siesre to 
 the citv. he ravas:ed the enemv's country*, penetrated into 
 the mountains of Engaddi, surprised Segor, and seized a 
 troop of brigands in a cavern which they had chosen as a 
 place of retreat. In this campaign, which was little more 
 than a pilgrimage, the soldiers of Baldwin passed along the 
 shores of the Dead Sea. the sight of which recalled the 
 memory of the punishment of Sodom; they ^-isited the 
 valley famous as the burial-place of the ancestors of Israel, 
 and that in which it is believed Moses caused a stream 
 of li^ing water to spring from the side of a barren rock. 
 The Christian soldiers were never wearv of admirino: these 
 places, rendered sacred by scriptural remembrances. The 
 historian Poidcher de Chartres, who accompanied Baldwin, 
 displays in his recital the greatest enthusiasm, and tells us 
 with livelv iov. that he watered his horses at the miraculous 
 fountain of the legislator ot the Hebrews.* 
 
 The little anny of the Christians came back to Jerusalem 
 loaded with boot^'. After Baldwin's return, the patriarch 
 did not venture to say anything more about his pretensions, 
 and consented to crown the successor of Godfrey with his 
 own hands. The ceremony was performed with great solem- 
 nity at Bethlehem, in the presence of the barons, the 
 bishops, and the principal people of the kingdom. 
 
 Tancred was not present at the coronation of the new 
 king, for the two companions of Godfrey had not forgotten 
 their ancient quarrel. Tancred had protested against the 
 elecrion of Baldwin, and refused to pay him homage. Bald- 
 win, on his part, disputed Tancred' s right to the principahty 
 of Galilee, and summoned him to appear before him as 
 a contumacious vassal. The reply of Tancred was laconic, 
 
 * " Ubi ego ipse Fulcherius adaquavi meos." — In Bongarg, p. 405. 
 The same historian speaks in the same chapter of the Dead Sea, and of the 
 phenomena he had remarked. Foulcher de Chartres seldom neglects an 
 opportunity of speakincf of himself; these words, " Ego Fulcherius," 
 very frequently appear in his narration.
 
 HISTORY or THE CllUSAHES. 277 
 
 and full of proud contempt for liis rival. " I do not know," 
 said he, addressing the messengers of Baldwin, " that your 
 master is king of Jerusalem." He did not deign to make 
 any reply to a second summons. At length their mutual 
 friends employed prayers and entreaties, to which Tancred 
 reluctantly gave way. The two princes agreed to have an inter- 
 view between Jerusalem and Jaffa, in which interview Tancred 
 consented to forget past injuries, but would not renounce a 
 principality which he held from Grodfrey. The debates 
 between the prince of Galilee and the king of Jerusalem 
 were not terminated when messengers arrived from xA.ntioch, 
 conjuring Tancred to repair immediately to tlieir city, to 
 govern a state which had been without a head since the cap- 
 tivity of Bohemond. Tancred yielded to their entreaties, 
 and immediately set out for Antioch, abandoning to Hugli de 
 Saint Omer the city of Tiberias and the principality of Galilee. 
 
 These differences with Tancred did not impede Baldwin's 
 wars against the infidels, or his endeavours to extend his 
 young kingdom. AVhilst Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Mesopo- 
 tamia coidd bring numberless armies against the Christians, 
 Baldwin could only muster under his standard a small body 
 of warriors, to whom were added a few pilgrims from the 
 "West, the greater part without horses and very badly armed. 
 His bravery and activity surmounted all obstacles, and car- 
 ried him through all dangers. From the beginning of his 
 reign, we see with surprise the kingdom of Jerusalem, dis- 
 turbed in its infancy by discord, and only defended by a few 
 knights, rise in the midst of formidable enemies, and carry 
 terror amongst neighbours much more powerful than itself. 
 
 The king of Jerusalem took advantage of the arrival of a 
 Genoese fleet, to punish the rebellion of the inhabitants of 
 Arsur, and to lay siege to their city both by sea and land. 
 On the third day the city fell into the hands of the Christians. 
 A short time after, Baldwin besieged Caesarea, a city built 
 by Herod in honour of Ca?sar. The siege was carried on 
 with vigour ; on the fifteenth day everything was ready for a 
 general assault, and as soon as* the trumpet had given the 
 first signal, all the soldiers confessed and received absolution 
 for their sins. ^ The patriarch, clothed in white vestments, 
 with a crucifix in his hand, led them to the foot of the ram- 
 parts ; — the city was soon taken, and the inhabitants put to
 
 278 HISIOKT OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 the sword. The Christians, particularly the Genoese, car- 
 ried away by a thirst for pillage, and still more by ven- 
 geance and the fury of battle, stained their victory by hor- 
 rible cruelties.* The Mussulmans who escaped from the 
 massacre of Csesarea, carried terror into the cities of Ptole- 
 mais and Ascalon, and all the countries still under the domi- 
 nation of the Egyptians. 
 
 The cahph of Eg^pt, to revenge the death of his warriors, 
 assembled an army, which advanced as far as the country 
 round Eamla. Baldwin got together, in haste, a troop of 
 three hundred knights and a thousand foot-soldiers, and 
 marched to meet him. "When he perceived the standards of 
 the Eg\'ptian army, ten times more numerous than that of 
 the Christians, he represented to his soldiers that they were 
 going to fight for the glory of Christianity ; " if they fell, 
 heaven would be open to them ; if they triumphed, the fame 
 of their -v-ictory would be spread throughout the Clu-istian 
 world. There could be no safety in flight ; their home was 
 beyond the seas ; in the East there was no asyluni for the 
 conquered." After having thus animated his soldiers, Bald- 
 win divided his troops into six battalions. The t^'o first, on 
 chargino; the enemy, were overwhelmed by numbers ; two 
 others, which followed, shared the same fate. Two bishops, 
 who were with Bald^^'in, then advised him to implore the 
 mercv of Heaven : and. at their desire, the kins^ of Jerusalem 
 ahghted Irom his horse, fell on his knees, confessed, and re- 
 ceived absolution. Springing to his feet, he resumed his 
 arms, and rushed upon the enemy at the head of his two 
 remaining battalions. The Christian warriors fought hke 
 lions, animated by their war-cry " Victo?y or Death !^^ 
 Baldwin had attached a white kerchief to the point of his 
 lance, and thus pointed out the road to carnage. The \ic- 
 
 * "William of Tyre, in his account of the taking of Caesarea, speaks of a 
 precious vase which fell to the share of the Genries-e. " At this time," 
 says he, " was found a vase in the shape of a di^h, of a bright green 
 colour, which the Genoese, beUeving it to be an emerald, were desirous of 
 haviiie, at the valuation of a large sum of money, to make an offering of 
 to their church as an excellent ornament, and which they are accu:«tomed 
 to exhibit to the great lords who pass through their city." Tnis vase 
 found at Csesarea. and preserved at Genoa till the end of the last century, 
 is now in the Cabinet of Antiques in the Innperial Library at Paris. 
 [Qy. whether restored to the Genoese in 1815 ? — Trans.]
 
 HISTOKr or THE CRUSADES. 279 
 
 tory was for a length of time uncertain ; but at last, says an 
 historian, the will of God was declared in favoiu' of the sol- 
 diers of Christ. The Egyptian army liad lost its leader, and 
 was entirely routed ; five thousand infidels remaining on the 
 field of battle. 
 
 The enemy fled in such complete disorder that they aban- 
 doned their tents and their baggage. As Baldwin was pur- 
 suing them, his ear was struck by tlie plaintive cry of a 
 woman. He checked his war-horse, and perceived a female 
 Mussulman in the pains of childbirth. He threw his mantle 
 to her to cover her, and ordered her to be placed on carpets 
 laid upon the ground. By his commands, fruits and a skin 
 of water were brought to this bed of pain, and a female 
 camel furnished milk for the nourishment of the newlv-born 
 child. The mother was confided to the care of a slave, with 
 orders to conduct her to her husband. The latter, who held 
 a distinguished rank among the Mussulmans, shed tears of 
 joy on beholding a wife whose death he was lamenting, and 
 vowed never to forget the generous action of Baldwin. 
 
 Conqueror of the Saracens, the king of Jerusalem had 
 sent back his troops, and was reposmg at Jaffa, after the 
 fatigues of the war, when he learnt that the Mussulman 
 army had rallied, and was in fidl march to attack the Chris- 
 tians. Baldwin, whom victory had rendered rash, without 
 assembling all his troops, went immediately to meet the 
 enemy, at the head of two hundred knights, and a few pil- 
 grims lately arrived from the AYest. IS'ot at all dismayed 
 by the number of the Saracens, he gave battle ; but, at the 
 first charge, the Christians were surrounded, and only sought 
 a glorious death, fighting by the side of their leader. The 
 king of Jerusalem, obliged to fly, concealed himself among 
 the long dried grass and bushes which covered the plain. 
 As the Saracens set fire to these, Baldwin with difficulty 
 escaped being biu-nt ahve ; and, after many perils, was glad 
 to take refuge in Eamla. 
 
 Night checked the pursuit of his enemies, but on the fol- 
 lowing day, the place which served him as an asylum was 
 threatened with an immediate siege, and had no "means of 
 defence. Baldwin was a prey to the most distressing anxiety, 
 when a stranger, who had by some means got into the cit'y, 
 demanded to speak instantly with the king of Jerusalem.—
 
 280 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 
 
 " It is gratitude," said he to him, " which brings me here. 
 Thou hast been generous towards a wife who is most dear to 
 me — thou hast restored her to me and her family, after 
 having saved her life. I brave a thousand dangers to acquit 
 rnvseli' of so sacred a debt. The Saracens surround the 
 city of thy retreat on all sides ; to-morrow it will be taken, 
 and not one of its inhabitants will escape death. I come to 
 offer thee means of safety. I am acquainted with a path 
 which is not guarded ;* hasten then, for time presses. Thou 
 hast but to follow me ; before the da^^^l of day thou wilt be 
 among thy people." 
 
 Baldwin hesitated — he shed tears at the idea of what 
 must be the fate of his companions in misfortune ; but, at 
 length, he yielded to the generosity of the Mussulman emir, 
 and, accompanied by a weak escort, they both departed from 
 the city, in the middle of a stormy night. On gaining the 
 distance of a few leagues from Eamla, they separated with 
 tears in their eyes ; the emir rejoined the Mussulman army, 
 and Baldwin succeeded in getting to the city of Arsur. 
 
 At break of day the Saracens advanced towards the ram- 
 parts of Eamla. They quickly gained possession of the 
 citj% and all they met with in the place were massacred. 
 Some soldiers who escaped the Saracens' swords, carried the 
 sad news to the neighbourino: cities. It was the first defeat 
 the Christians had experienced since their arrival in Pales- 
 tine. As it was confidently said that Baldwin had been 
 slain at the taking of Eamla, this loss added greatly to the 
 general consternation. The great bell of Jerusalem an- 
 nounced the approach and invasion of the Saracens. The 
 priests, the monks, the pilgrims, clothed in sackcloth and 
 barefooted, went in procession through the streets of the 
 holy city ; women and children filled the churches^ and with 
 tears in their eyes and uplifted hands implored the mercy of 
 Heaven. The bravest were beginning to despah' of the safety 
 of the kingdom, when Bald\A'in suddenly appeared among 
 his people, says "William of Tyre, like the morning star, and 
 revived their hopes by his presence. 
 
 The king of Jerusalem assembled at Jaffa the wreck of his 
 armv: and the Christian cities sent him all their inhabitants 
 
 * This singular fact is related by William of Tyre with all its details. — 
 Chap. X.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSAHES. 281 
 
 capaWe of bearing arms. Several princes and knights, 
 arrived from the West, likewise joined him. The Christians 
 marched boldly forth to meet tlie Mussulmans, the patriarch 
 of Jerusalem carrying through the ranks the wood of the 
 holy cross. The war-cry of the Christian soldiers was : — 
 ^'■Christ lives, Christ reigns, Christ commands.''''* The two 
 armies were soon in sight of each other on the plains of 
 Jaffa, and instantly the trumpets sounded, and gave the 
 signal of battle. Both sides fought with fury ; the infidels 
 surrounded the Christians, and pressed them so closely that 
 they had scarcely room to wield their arms, and victory was 
 on the point of being determined in favour of the Mussul- 
 mans, when Baldwin snatching the white flag from the hands 
 of his squire, and followed by a hundred and sixtv knights, 
 rushed into the very thickest ranks of the enemy. This 
 act of bravery decided the fate of the battle, and the Chris- 
 tians regained their courage. The fight lasted during the 
 whole day, but towards the approach of night, the Mussul- 
 mans fled in disorder, leaving dead upon the field the emir 
 of Ascalon and four thousand of their bravest soldiers. 
 
 Baldwin, who, some few days before, had been believed to 
 be dead, reentered Jerusalem in triumph. He gave a great 
 part of the booty to the hospitallers of St, John, whose 
 office it was to entertain the poor and all pilgrims ; and, to 
 employ the expression of an old chronicle, he thus shared 
 with Grod the spoils of the Saracens. 
 
 The Christians assembled in the churches rendered thanks 
 to Grod for the deliverance of the kingdom ; but this last 
 victory could not dry all the tears which a first reverse had 
 caused to flow, and funereal hymns were mingled with the 
 songs of joy. In this campaign perished many of the 
 princes and knights who had lefb Europe after the first cru- 
 
 * We here follow the version of Foulcher de Chartres, who makes use 
 of the word vivit instead of vincit, which appears to have prevailed after- 
 wards. The device Chrislus regnat, vincit, irnj}erat, forms the leijend of 
 the reverse of all the gold coins struck in France from the time of John to 
 that of Louis XVI., under the different names of Francs a pied el a cheval, 
 of Agnelets, or Ecus d'or, or Louis. In the most ancient, the Francs, 
 the verb vincit is the first: X. P. C. vincit; X. P. C. regnat ; 
 X. P. C. imperat; Christ conquers, Christ reigns, and Christ governs ; 
 which proves that this device or war-cry may be traced back to the time 
 of the crusades.
 
 282 niSTOEY OF TUE CCUSADrS. 
 
 sade. Stephen, count of Chartres and Blois, and Stephen, 
 dulve of Burgundy, who had arrived in Palestine ^vith the 
 remains of an army dispersed by the Turks in Asia Minor, 
 were killed imder the walls of Eamla. As the Grreeks were 
 accused of having prepared the ruin of the armies sent to 
 the assistance of the Latins, murmurs arose in all the Chris- 
 tian colonies against the emperor Alexius. This prince, con- 
 stantly in dread of the powers of the "West, sent to congra- 
 tulate the king of Jerusalem on his victories, and exerted 
 himself to procure the liberty of the Christians Avho had 
 fallen into the hands of the Egyptians and Turks. After 
 haring delivered or ransomed some Christian knights, he re- 
 ceived them at Constantinople, loaded them with presents, 
 and sent them back to their own country. 
 
 But whilst thus breaking the chains of a few captives, he 
 was equipping fleets and raising amiies to attack Antioch, 
 and obtain possession of the cities on the coast of Syria 
 which belonged to the Latins. He offered to pay the ran- 
 som of Bohemond, still a prisoner among the Tiu-ks, not for 
 the purpose of setting him at liberty, but to have him 
 brought to Constantinople, where he hoped to obtain from 
 him the renunciation of his principality. Bohemond, who 
 saw through the projects of Alexius, gained the good- will 
 of the emir who detained him prisoner, promised him his 
 alliance and support, and persiuided him to accept for his 
 ransom, half the sum offered by the emperor of the Greeks. 
 After a captirity of four years, he returned to Antioch, 
 where he employed himself in repulsing the aggi'essions of 
 Alexius. The fleets of the Pisans and the Grenoese came to 
 his relief, and several battles, both bv sea and land, were 
 fought with various success ; the Latins and the Greeks, by 
 turns, obtaining the advantage. 
 
 T\nbilst this war was being carried on between Alexius and 
 Bohemond, the Franks neglected no opportunity of coming 
 into collision witli the infidels. Bohemond, Baldwin du 
 Bourg, count of Edessa, and his cousin Josselin de Courte- 
 nay,* master of several cities on the banks of the Euphrates, 
 united their forces to attack Charan, a flourishing cit>^ of 
 Mesopotamia. The Christians, after a siege of several days, 
 
 * See Gibbon for the interesting memoir of this noble family, whose 
 name so frequently occurs in our own history, and is, I believe, still 
 extant, in the Courtenays, earls of Devon. — Trans.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 283 
 
 were on the point of entering tlie place, when the count of 
 Edessa and the prince of Antioch disputed the possession of 
 it. Whilst the debates kept the best leaders in the Chris- 
 tian tents, the Saracens of Mossoul and Aleppo came to the 
 assistance of the city, and gave battle to the besiegers. A 
 great number of Christians were slain in this conflict ; and 
 many fell into the hands of the infidels, who, in the intoxi- 
 cation of victory, insulted both the vanquished and the reli- 
 gion of Christ. History relates that the railleries of the 
 Mussulmans inspired rage and despair among the army of 
 the Christians, and that towards the end of the fight, one 
 knight braved alone the victorious infidels, and rushed among 
 the enemy's ranks, crying, " Let all zvho are willing to sup 
 with me in Paradise, follow me^ This brave knight at first 
 astonished the Saracens by his daring, but he soon fell, 
 pierced with many wounds. The archbishop of Edessa, 
 Josselin de Courtenay, and Baldwin du Bourg were loaded 
 with irons, and taken to the prisons of Mossoul. The 
 prince of Antioch and Tancred were alone able to escape the 
 pursuit of the Mussulmans, with a small number of their 
 soldiers. This defeat spread terror among all the Christians 
 of the East. Bohemond, on his return to his capital, was 
 menaced at the same time by the Grreeks and the Saracens ; 
 and, as he had now neither allies nor auxiliaries, and was 
 destitute of both men and money, he determined to go back 
 into Europe, and to call upon the nations of the West to 
 assist him. 
 
 After having spread abroad a report of his death, he em- 
 barked at Antioch, and, concealed in a coffin,* passed through 
 the fleet of the G-reeks, who rejoiced at his death, and heaped 
 curses on his memory. On arriving in Italy, Bohemond 
 went to throw himself at the feet of the sovereign pontiff" ; 
 describing the misfortunes he had endured in defence of the 
 holy religion, and invoking the vengeance of Heaven upon 
 Alexius, whom he represented as the greatest scourge of the 
 Christians. The pope welcomed him as a hero and a martyr; 
 he praised his exploits, listened to his complaints, intrusted 
 to him the standard of St. Peter, and permitted him, in the 
 
 * ** Anna Comnena adds, that to complete the deceit, he was shut up 
 with a dead cock ; and wonders how the barbarian could endure the con- 
 finement and putrefaction." — Notes to Gibbon. — Trans. 
 
 Vol. I.— 14
 
 284 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 name of tlie Church, to raise in Europe an army to repair 
 his misfortimes and avenge the cause of Grod. 
 
 Bohemond next went to France, where his adventures and 
 exploits had made his name familiar to all classes. He pre- 
 sented himself at the court of Philip I., who received him 
 with the orreatest honours, and s^ave him his daus^hter Con- 
 stance in marriage. Amidst the festi\"ities of the court, 
 he was by turns the most brilliant of knights and the most 
 ardent of missionaries ; he attracted general admiration 
 by his skill in the tournaments, and preached war against 
 the enemies of the Christians. He easily fired hearts already 
 glowing "uith a love of military' glory ; and a great number 
 of knights contended for the honour of accompam*ing him 
 into the East. He crossed the Pvrenees and raised soldiers 
 in Spain ; he returned into Italy and met every^vhere with 
 the same eagerness to follow him. All preparations being 
 completed, he embarked at Bari, and sailed towards the ter- 
 ritories of the Greek emperor, where his threats and the 
 fame of his expedition had already spread terror. 
 
 The prince of Antioch never ceased to animate by his 
 speeches the ardour of his numerous companions : to some 
 he represented the G-reeks as the allies of the ^Mussulmans 
 and the enemies of Christ ; to others he spoke of the riches 
 of Alexius, and promised them the spoils of the empire. He 
 was on the point of realizing his brilliant hopes, when he 
 was, all at once, abandoned bv that fortune which had 
 hitherto performed such prodigies in his favour. 
 
 The city of Durazzo, of which he had undertaken the 
 siege, for a long time resisted all his eiforts ; disease, in the 
 meanwhile, ravaging his army. The warriors who had fol- 
 lowed him in the hopes of pillage, or from a desire to visit 
 the Holy Land, deserted his standard ; he was forced to make 
 a disgi'aceful peace with the emperor he had endeavoured to 
 dethrone, and came back to die in despair in the little prin- 
 cipality of Tarentum, which he had abandoned for the con- 
 quest of the East. 
 
 The unfortunate issue of this crusade, which was directed 
 entirelv as^ainst the Greeks, became fatal to the Christians 
 estabhshed ia Svria, and deprived them of the succours they 
 had reason to expect from the West. Tancred, who still 
 governed Antioch, in the absence and after the death of 
 ^-T^o^iiond, was attacked several times by the Saracens
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADE3. 285 
 
 of Aleppo, and only resisted them by displaying prodigies of 
 valour. Josselin and Baldwin da Bourg did not return to 
 their states till after five years of captivity. AVhen Baldwin 
 came back to Edessa, he was so poor that he coidd not pay 
 his common domestics ; and an Armenian prince, whose 
 daughter he had married, was obliged to redeem the beard * 
 of his son-in-law, which he had pledged for the means of 
 paying his soldiers. The resources of the government of 
 Antioch were not less exhausted than those of the county 
 of Edessa. In the extremes of their misery, Tancred and 
 Baldwin du Bourg had several disputes ; each, by turns, 
 called in the Saracens to defend his cause, and everything was 
 in confusion on the banks of the Euphrates and the Orontes. 
 Neither was Jerusalem free from discord. Baldvrin could 
 not pay his soldiers, and demanded money of the patriarch, 
 who was the depositary of the alms of the faithful. Daim- 
 bert at first refused to assist the king, who resolved to em- 
 ploy force to compel him : " Yes," said he to the patriarch, in 
 a transport of anger, " I will bear away the treasures of the 
 church and the holy sepulchre ; I wish to save Jerusalem 
 and the Christian people ; when I have accomplished that 
 noble project, I will restore the riches of the all-powerful 
 Grod." Daimbert, intimidated by the menaces of Baldwin, 
 consented to give up a part of his treasures ; but as fast as 
 the king of Jerusalem experienced new wants, he made fresh 
 demands, to which the pontifi* responded by an insulting 
 refusal. He accused the king of profaning and plundering 
 the sanctuary ; whilst the king, on his part, accused Daim- 
 bert of betraying the cause of the Christians, and of dissi- 
 pating in pleasures and festivities the treasures of Jesus 
 Christ. The quarrels of Baldwin and the patriarch were 
 renewed every year ; both, in the end, often conveyed their 
 complaints to the Holy See, w-hich pronounced no decision 
 likely to conciliate the angry parties. The death of 
 Daimbert could alone put an end to these discussions, which 
 spread scandal through the church of Christ, and by weak- 
 
 * This may at first appear a singular pledge ; but when wc remember 
 the great consideration in which beards were and are held in the East, we 
 are reconciled to the fact. Beckford makes Vathek inflict loss of beard 
 upon the sages who cannot decipher the magic characters upon the sabres, 
 as the greatest possible punishment ; and ffew were better acquainted with 
 Eastern manners than the master of Font-hill Abbey. — Trans.
 
 286 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 enins: the aathoritv of the kiDc:, -were likely to lead to tlie 
 ruin of the kingdom. 
 
 "Wliilst the patriarch was unceasingly making complaints 
 against Baldwin, the king seldom made anv other reply than 
 gaining new Adctories over the infidels ; nothing being able 
 to divert him from his pui'pose of ever}' day aggrandizing 
 his dominions. The prosperity and the safety of Jerusalem 
 appeared closely connected with the conquest of the mari- 
 time cities of S\'ria and Palestine ; it beins: bv them alone 
 that it could receive succour, or establish prompt and easy 
 communications with the ^^est. The maritime nations of 
 Europe were interested in seconding, in this instance, the 
 enterprises of the king of Jerusalem. The navigation of 
 the Mediterranean, and the transporting of pilgrims to the 
 Holv Land, were to them an inexhaustible source of riches ; 
 the ports of Syria would offer to them a commodious asylum 
 for their vessels, and a safe entrepot for their commerce. 
 
 From the period of the first crusades the Pisans and the 
 Grenoese had constantly sent vessels to the seas of the East ; 
 and their fleets had aided the Christians in several expedi- 
 tions against the Mussulmans, A Genoese fleet had just 
 arrived in the seas of Syria when Baldwin undertook the 
 siege of Ptolemais. The Genoese were invited to assist in this 
 conquest ; but as religion was not the principle to bring them 
 into action, they required, in return for their assistance and 
 theii' labour, that they should have a third of the booty ; 
 they likewise stipulated to have a separate church for them- 
 selves, and a national factory and tribunal in the conquered 
 city. Ptolemais was besieged bv land and sea, and after a 
 bloodv resistance of twentv davs, the inhabitants and the 
 garrison proposed to surrender, and nnplored the clemency 
 of the conquerors. The city opened its gates to the Chris- 
 tians, and the inhabitants prepared to depart, taking with 
 them whatever they deemed most valuable ; but the Genoese, 
 at the sight of such a rich booty, paid no respect to the capi- 
 tulation, and massacred without pity a disarmed and defence- 
 less people. This barbarous conduct, which Baldwin could 
 neither repress nor pimish, excited the Mussulmans more 
 than ever against the Christians. 
 
 At each fresh conquest of Baldwin's, a new army' came 
 from the banks of the Nile to impede the course of his vic- 
 tories *, but the Eg^-ptians had for a long time been accus-
 
 niSTOHY OF TKE CRUSADES. 287 
 
 tomed to fly before tlie Pranks, and they were never seconded 
 in their expeditions by the Mussulmans of Syria, who were 
 jealous of their appearance in their territories. A small 
 number of Christian warriors, who could never have been 
 taken for an army if they had not performed prodigies, were 
 suiBcient to put to the rout a multitude of soldiers who 
 made a sortie from the walls of Ascalon. In consequence 
 of this victory, several places which the Egyptians still held 
 on the coasts of Syria, fell into the hands of the Christians. 
 
 Bertrand, son of Raymond de St. Gilles, arrived from 
 Europe with the purpose of attacking the city of Tripoli. 
 This city, taken at first by the Egyptians before the first 
 crusade, and fallen again under the power of a Turkish 
 commander, had, in order to defend itself against the Chris- 
 tians, once more recognised the authority of the caliph of 
 Egypt. But tins caliph thought more about punishing the 
 rebellion of Tripoli than of providing for its defence. He 
 liad put the principal inhabitants in irons, had levied heavy 
 tributes, and when the people implored his assistance against 
 the enemies of Islamism, the caliph sent a vessel to demand 
 a beautiful slave who was in the city, and whom he destined 
 for his seraglio. The irritated people, instead of giving up 
 the slave he demanded, sent him a piece of wood, saying, 
 " T'liat lie might make something out of that to amuse himself 
 idthy * The inhabitants of Tripoli, -then being without 
 hope, surrendered to the Christians. 
 
 llaymond, count de St. Grilles and of Thoulouse, one of 
 the companions of Grodfrey, after having wandered for a long 
 time about Asia, had died before this place, of which he had 
 commenced the siege. In memory of his exploits in the 
 first crusade, the rich territory of Tripoli was created a 
 county, and became the inheritance of his family. 
 
 This territory was celebrated for its productions. Limpid 
 streams, rushing with impetuosity between the rocks of 
 Libanus, flowed in many chaimels to water the numerous 
 gardens of Tripoli. In the plains, and on the hills adjacent 
 to the sea, grew in abundance wheat, the vine, the olive, and 
 the white mulberry, whose leaves nourish the silkworm, 
 which had been introduced by Justinian into the richest 
 provinces of his empire. The city of Tripoli contained 
 
 * These details are taken from the Arabian historian Novdiry.
 
 288 niSTOEY OF the crusades. 
 
 more t lian four thousand workmen, skilful in tlie manufac- 
 tures of woollen stuffs, of silk, and of linen. A great part 
 of these advantages was, no doubt, lost for the conquerors, 
 who, during the siege ravaged the country round, and on 
 taking the citv, carried fire and sword throughout the whole 
 of it. 
 
 Tripoli contained other riches for which the Franks showed 
 no less disdain than they had e^*inced for the productions of 
 industry. A library established in this citv, and celebrated 
 throuo^h all the East, contained the monuments* of the an- 
 cient literature of the Persians, the Arabians, the Eg^'ptians, 
 and the Greeks. A hundred copyists were there constantly 
 employed in transcribing manuscripts. The cadi sent into 
 all countries men authorized to purchase rare and precious 
 books. After the taking of the city, a priest, attached to 
 Count Bernard de St. Gilles,t entered the room in which 
 were collected a vast number of copies of the Koran, and as 
 he declared the library of Tripoli contained only the impious 
 books of ]\[ahomet, it was given up to the flames. Some 
 eastern authors have bitterly deplored this irreparable loss ; 
 but not one of our contem.porary chronicles has spoken of 
 it, and their silence plainly shows the profound indifference 
 v^-ith which the Erank soldiers were witnesses of a fire which 
 consumed a hundi'ed thousand volumes. 
 
 Biblies, situated on the smiling and fertile shores of Phoe- 
 nicia; Sarepta, where St. Jerome saw still in his day the tower 
 of Isaiah ; and Berytus, famous in the early ages of the 
 Chm'ch for its scliool of eloquence, shared the fate of Tri- 
 poli, and became baronies bestowed upon Christian knights. 
 After these conquests the Pisans, the Genoese, and several 
 
 * Sir William d'Avenant elegantly calls books "the monuraents of 
 deceased minds." — Trans. 
 
 f Aboulteda in his account justifies the Genoese for the massncre of the 
 Mussulmans ; the city being taken by assault, they did not exc ed the 
 usual rights of war. Another Arabian historian, Ebn-Abi-Tai, says that 
 the Christians exhibited at the taking of Tripoli the same destructive fury 
 as the Arabs had uho burnt the library of Alexandria. Tlie same his- 
 torian speaks of the incredible number of three millions of voluanes. We 
 have preferred the version of NovaVry, who reduces the numb'irof vohimes 
 to a hundred thousand. This author states that the library of Tripoli 
 •was founded by the cadi Aboutaleb Hasen, who had himself composed 
 several works.
 
 HTSTORT OF THE CRUSADES. 289 
 
 warriors who had followed Baldwin in his expeditions, 
 returned into Europe ; and the king of Jerusalem, abandoned 
 by these useful allies, was obliged to employ the forces which 
 remained in repulsing the invasions of the Saracens, who 
 pe]ietrated into Palestine, and even displayed their standards 
 on Mount Sion. He had given up the idea of subduing the 
 maritime cities which still belonged to the Egyptians, when 
 Sigur, son of Magnus, king of Norway, arrived in the port 
 of Jaila. Sigur was accompanied by ten thousand Nor- 
 wegians, who, three years before, had quitted the north of 
 Europe for the purpose of visiting the Holy Land. Baldwin 
 went to meet the prince of Norway, and conjured him to 
 join with him in fighting for the safety and aggrandizement 
 of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Sigur acceded with joy to 
 the prayer of the king, and requued nothing as a recompense 
 for his labour but a piece of wood from the true cross. 
 
 The patriarch of Jerusalem, in order to give additional 
 value to that Avhich the prince required, hesitated at first to 
 grant it, and made Vvith him a treaty at least as solemn as if 
 it had concerned the possession of a kingdom. When they 
 had both taken an oath to fulfil the conditions of the treaty, 
 Sigur, accompanied by his warriors, entered Jerusalem in 
 triumph. The inhabitants of Jerusalem beheld with smprise, 
 mingled with their joy, the, enormous battle-axes, the light 
 hair, and lofty stature of the pilgrims from Norway ; the 
 presence of these redoubtable Avarriors was the sure presage 
 of Adctory. It was resolved in a council to besiege the city 
 of Sidon ; Baldwin and Bertrand, count of Tripoli, attacked 
 the ramparts of the place, whilst the fleet of Sigur blockaded 
 the port, and directed its operations against the side next 
 the sea. After a siege of six weeks the citv surrendered to 
 the Christians ; the knights of Baldwin and the soldiers of 
 Sigiu" performed during the siege prodigies of valour, and 
 showed, after their victory, the humanity which always 
 accompanies true bravery. After this conquest Sigur quitted 
 Palestine, accompanied by the blessings of the Christian 
 people. He embarked to return to Norway, carrying wdth 
 him a piece of the true cross, a precious memorial of his 
 pilgrimage, which he caused to be placed in a church of 
 Drontheim, where it was for a long time the object of the 
 veneration of the faithful.
 
 290 niSTOET OF THE CfiUSADES. 
 
 Baldwin, on his return to Lis capital, learnt with grief 
 that Grervais, count of Tiberias, had been surprised by the 
 Turks, and led prisoner, together with his most faithful 
 knights, to the city of Damascus. Mussulman deputies 
 came to offer the king of Jerusalem the liberty of Gervais in 
 exchange for Ptolema'is, Jaffa, and some other cities taken 
 by the Christians ; a refusal, they added, would be followed 
 by the death of Count Gervais. Baldwin offered to pay a 
 considerable sum for the liberty of Gervais, whom he loved 
 tenderly : " As for the cities you demand," said he to them, 
 '" I would not give them up to you for the sake of my own. 
 brother, nor for that of all the Christian princes together." 
 On the return of the ambassadors Gervais and his knights 
 were dragged to an open place in Damascus, and shot to 
 death by the Saracens with arrows. 
 
 The Christians shed tears at the death of Count Gervais, 
 but they soon had to weep for a much more painful loss. 
 Tancred, who governed the principality of Antioch, died in 
 an expedition agamst the infidels. He had raised high in 
 the East the opinion of the heroic virtues of a French 
 knight ; never had weakness or misfortune implored his aid 
 in vain. He gained a great many victories over the Sara- 
 cens, but never fought for the ends of ambition. Nothing 
 could shake his fidelity, nothing appeared impossible to his 
 valour. He answered the ambassadors of Alexius, who re- 
 quii'ed him to restore Antioch : ** I would not give up the 
 city which is confided to me even if the warriors who pre- 
 sented themselves to conquer it had bodies and bore arms of 
 fire." "Whilst he lived, Antioch had nothing to fear from 
 the invasion of the infidels or the discord of the inhabitants. 
 His death consigned the colony to disorder and confusion, it 
 spread mourning through all the Christian states of the 
 East, and was for them the signal of the greatest reverses. 
 
 The kingdom of Jerusalem had hitherto only had to con- 
 tend against armies drawn from Egypt ; the Turks of Syria, 
 much more terrible in war than the Egyptians, had never 
 united their forces to attack the Christians of Jerusalem.* 
 
 The sultans of Damascus and Mossoul, with several emirs 
 of Mesopotamia, assembled an army of thirty thousand 
 
 * The governor of Mossoul is called by the Latins Maledoctus, Mandult, 
 and by the Arabians Mauduts. Togdequin was prince of Damascus.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEITSADES. 291 
 
 fighting men, and penetrated tlirougli the mountains of 
 Libanus into Galilee. During more than three months the 
 banks of the Jordan and of the Lake of Genesarethwere devas- 
 tated by the horrors of war. The king of Jerusalem placed 
 himself at the head of his knights to encounter this re- 
 doubtable enemy, and was defeated by the Saracens on the 
 plains near Mount Tabor. Roger of Sicily, who had been 
 governor of Antioch since the death of Tancred, and the 
 counts of Tripoli and Edessa, came with their troops to the 
 assistance of Baldwin. The Christian army, although it 
 then mustered under its banners eleven thousand combat- 
 ants, took up its encampment on the mountains, and did not 
 dare to risk a battle. The Christians, intrenched upon the 
 heights, beheld their fields ravaged and their cities burnt. 
 All the banks of the Jordan seemed to be in flames ; for a 
 vast number of Saracens from Ascalon, T}Te, and other 
 Mussulman cities, had taken advantage of the reverses of 
 the Christians to lay waste many of the provinces of Pales- 
 tine. The country of Sechem was invaded, and the city of 
 JSTaplouse delivered up to pillage. Jerusalem, which was 
 without defenders, shut its gates, and was in momentary 
 fear of falling again into the power of the infidels. 
 
 The Turks, however, dreading the arrival of fresh pilgrims 
 from the West, abandoned Galilee, and returned to Damas- 
 cus and Mossoul. But other calamities soon followed those 
 of war. Clouds of locusts from Arabia finished the devas- 
 tation of the fields of Palestine. A horrible famine pre- 
 vailed in the county of Edessa, the principality of Antioch, 
 and all the Christian states. An earthquake was felt from 
 Mount Taurus to the deserts of Idumea, by which several 
 cities of Cilicia were reduced to heaps of ruins. At Samo- 
 sata, an Armenian prince was swallowed up in his own 
 palace ; thirteen towers of the walls of Edessa, and the 
 citadel of Aleppo, fell down with a fearfid crash ; the towers 
 of the highest fortresses covered the earth with their remains, 
 and the commanders, whether Mussulmans or Christians, 
 fled with their soldiers to seek safety in deserts and forests. 
 Antioch suffered more from the earthquake than any other 
 city. The tower of the uorthern gate, many public edifices, 
 and several churches were completely destroyed. 
 
 Gr^at troubles always inspired the Christians with feelings 
 
 14*
 
 292 UlSTOHY OF TUE CRUSADES. 
 
 of penitence. A crowd of men and women rushed to the 
 cburch of St. Peter of Antioch, confessed their sins to the 
 patriarch, and conjured him to appease the anger of Heaven. 
 The shocks, nevertheless, were rencAved during five months ; 
 the Christians abandoned the cities, and, a prev to terror, 
 "wandered among the mountains, which now were more 
 thicklv inhabited than the greatest cities. The few who 
 remained in cities constantly formed religious processions, 
 put on habits of mourning, and totallv renounced pleasures 
 of every kind. In the streets and the churches nothing was 
 heard but lamentations and prayers ; men swore to forgive 
 all injui'ies, and were profuse in their charities. At length 
 Heaven appeared to be appeased ; the earthquake ceased its 
 ravages, and tlie assembled Christians celebrated the mercy 
 of God by a solemn festival. 
 
 Scarcely were the Christians delivered from these alarms 
 than a new tempest threatened Syria and Palestine.* Mau- 
 doud, nrince or governor of Mossoul, had been killed by two 
 Ismaelians, as he was comin": out of a mosque. As the 
 prince of !^^ossoul was consicfered the most firm support of 
 Islamism and the most redoubtable enemv of the Christians, 
 the caliph and the sultan of Bagdad placed him in the rank 
 of the mart^TS. and resolved to reven£:e his death. Thev 
 accused the Franks and tlie sultan of Damascus of the 
 miu'der of a Mussuhnan prince. A numerous army set out 
 from the banks of the Tigris, and advanced towards Svria, 
 to punish at the same time both the Christian and [Mussul- 
 man infidels. The warriors of Bagdad, united with those of 
 Mossoul. penetrated as far as the lands of Aleppo, and 
 carried destruction and death wherever they went. In 
 this pressing danger the Saracens of Damascus and Meso- 
 potamia did not hesitate to form an alliance vdih the Chris- 
 tian princes. The king of Jerusalem, the prince of Antioch, 
 and the count of Tripoli united their ti'oops with those of 
 the Mussulmans. The Christians were full of zeal and 
 ardour, and were eager for battle, but their new allies were 
 not willins^ to crive them the advantasre of a victorv, as thev 
 mistrusted the soldiers of Clirist, and used everv effort to 
 
 * We have avoided mentioning too frequently the sultans and emirs of 
 Syria, whose names seem the more barbarous as they are correctly 
 written.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 293 
 
 avoid a decisive engagement, in whicli tliey dreaded tlie 
 triumpli of their auxiliaries as much as that of their foes. 
 After having ravaged the territory of Aleppo, and the banks 
 of the Euphrates and the Orontes, the warriors of Bagdad 
 returned to their own country "udthout trying their strength 
 with their formidable adversaries. The Christians in this 
 campaign did not illustrate their arms by any very brilliant 
 exploits, but they kept up the division among the Saracens, 
 and the discord of their enemies was more serviceable to 
 them than a great \"ictory. 
 
 The king of Jerusalem, no longer ha"sdng the Turks of 
 Bagdad or the Turks established in Syria to contend with, 
 turned his attention towards Egypt, whose armies he had so 
 frequently dispersed.* He collected his chosen warriors, 
 traversed the desert, carried the terror of his arms to the 
 banks of the Nile, and surprised and pillaged the city of 
 Pharamia, situated three days' journey from Cairo. The 
 success of this expedition gave him room to hope that he 
 should one day render himself master of a great kingdom, 
 and he was returning triumphant, and loaded with booty, to 
 Jerusalem, when he fell sick at El-Arrich, on the confines of 
 the desert which separates Egypt from Palestine. His life 
 was soon despaired of, and the companions of his victories, 
 assembled around him, could not conceal their deep sorrow. 
 Baldwin endeavoured to console them by his discourses : 
 "My dear companions," said he to them, "you who have 
 suffered so many evils and braved so many perils, why do 
 you allow yourselves to be overcome by grief? Remember 
 that you are still in the territories of the Saracens, and that 
 you stand in need of all your customary courage. Consider 
 that you only lose in me a single man, and that you have 
 among you several warriors who surpass me in skill. Think 
 of nothing but of returning victorious to Jerusalem, and of 
 defending the heritage of Christ. If I have fought a long 
 time with you, and my many labours give me the right of 
 addressing a prayer to you, I conjure you not to leave my 
 bones in a foreign land, but to bury them near to the tomb 
 of my brother Godfrey." 
 
 The king of Jerusalem then caused his servants to be 
 
 * Tabari and Aboul-Feda.
 
 294 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 assembled, and gave them orders for liis sepulture. After 
 having nominated Baldwin du Bourg as his successor, he 
 expired, siuToimded by his companions, who, though deeplj 
 grieved, endeavoured to conceal their tears, that the Sara- 
 cens might not learn the great loss the Christians had 
 experienced. 
 
 Baldwin lived and died in the midst of camps. During 
 his reign, which lasted eigliteen years, the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem were annually warned of the approach of the 
 Saracens by the sound of the great bell ; and they scarcely 
 ever saw the wood of the trae cross in the sanctuary, for 
 this sacred relic always accompanied the armies to battle, 
 and its presence not unfrequently was sufB.cient to give 
 victory to the Christians. 
 
 During the time he occupied the throne of Jerusalem, 
 the only means Baldwin had of keeping up his necessary 
 army arose from the tenths of the produce of the cultivated 
 lands, some taxes upon commerce, the booty obtained from 
 enemies, and the ransom of prisoners. When peace lasted 
 some months, or war was unsuccessful, the revenues of the 
 state were diminished to half their usual amount, and could 
 not meet the most necessary expenses. The forces of the 
 kins^dom were scarcelv sufficient to defend it in the hour ot 
 danger. Baldwin could never undertake any great enter- 
 prise except when reinforcements arrived from the West ; 
 and when pilgrims who bore arms returned to their own 
 country, he was often obliged to abandon an expedition 
 which he had begun, and sometimes found himself without 
 means of resistance, when exposed to the attacks of an 
 enemv alwavs eao:er to avensre his defeats. 
 
 The brother and successor of Godfrey was often on the 
 point of losing his kingdom, and only preserved it by pro- 
 digies of valoiu". He lost several battles by his rashness 
 and imprudence ; but his wonderful activity always extri- 
 cated him from whatever perils he chanced to fall into. 
 
 The historians of the times bestow warm eulogies upon 
 the briUiant qualities of Baldwin. In the first crusade he 
 made himself greatly hated for liis ambitious and haughty 
 character ; but as soon as he had obtained what he desired 
 and ascended a throne, he was at least equally admired for 
 his generosity and clemency. "When he became king of
 
 niSTORT or THE CKUSADES. 295 
 
 Jerusalem, he followed the example of Godfrey, and deserved 
 in his turn to be held up as a model to his successors. 
 
 His extreme love for women sometimes drew upon him 
 the severe censures of the clergy. To expiate his offences, 
 in accordance with the opinions of the times, he richly en- 
 dowed churches, particularly that of Bethlehem ; and many 
 other religious establishments owe their foundation to him. 
 Amidst the tumult of camps, he added several articles to 
 the code of his predecessor ; but that which did most honour 
 to his reign, was his constant anxiet}^ to repeople Jerusalem. 
 He offered an honourable asylum to all the Christians scat- 
 tered over Arabia, Syria, and Egypt. Christians persecuted 
 by Mussulmans came to him in crowds, with then* wives, 
 their children, and their wealth. Baldwin distributed 
 amongst them lands and uninhabited houses, and Jerusalem 
 began to be flourishing. 
 
 The last wishes of Baldwin were accomplished. The 
 Christian army, preceded by the mortal remains of its chief, 
 returned to Jerusalem. Baldwin du Bourg, who came to 
 the holy city to celebrate the festival of Easter and to visit 
 the brother of Godfrey, arrived on Palm -Sunday at the hour 
 in which the clergy and tlie people, according to ancient 
 custom, go in procession to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. As 
 he entered by the gate of Ephraim, the funeral train of 
 Baldwin, accompanied by his warriors in mourning, entered 
 by the gate of Damascus. At this sight melancholy cries 
 were mingled with the hymns of the Christians. The 
 Latins were deeply afflicted, the Syrians wept, and the 
 Saracens, says Eoulcher de Chartres, who were witnesses of 
 this moiu-nful spectacle, coidd not restrain their tears. In 
 the midst of the sorrowing people, the count of Edessa 
 accompanied the funereal convoy to the foot of Calvary, 
 where Baldwin was buried close to Godfrey. 
 
 Although the late king had pointed out Baldwm du Bourg 
 as his successor, the barons and the prelates met to elect a 
 new prince. Several proposed to offer the crown to Eustace 
 de Boulogne, the brother of Godfrey. Josselin de Courtenay, 
 one of the first counts of the kingdom, declared himself in 
 favour of Baldwin du Bourg. Josselin, on arriving in Asia, 
 had been welcomed and loaded with favours by the count of 
 Edessa, who gave him several cities on the Euphrates.
 
 296 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 Expelled afterwards ignominiously by his benefactor, who 
 accused him of ingratitude, he had taken refuge in the king- 
 dom of Jerusalem, in which he had obtained the principality 
 of Tiberias. AVhether he wished to make amends for old 
 offences, or whether he hoped to obtain fresh benefits, he 
 represented to the assembled barons, " that Baldwin du 
 Bourg belonged to the family of the last king ; that his 
 piety, his wisdom, and courage were known to the entire 
 East ; and that no country on that side or beyond the sea 
 could offer a prince miore worthy of the confidence and love 
 of the Christians. The benedictions of the inhabitants of 
 Edessa pointed him out to the choice of the barons and 
 knights, and Pro\^dence had opportunely sent him to Jeru- 
 salem to console the Christian people for the loss of Grodfrey 
 and Baldwin." This discoui'se united all the suffrages in 
 favour of Baldwin du Bourg, who was crowned a few days 
 after, and made over the county of Edessa to Josselin de 
 Courtenay. 
 
 Scarcely was BaldAAin du Bourg seated on the throne of 
 Jerusalem than he was obliged to fly to the succour of 
 Antioch, attacked by the Saracens of Damascus and the 
 Tmcomans from the banks of the Euphrates. Boger of 
 Sicily, son of llichard, who since the death of Tancred 
 governed Antioch during the minority of the son' of Bohe- 
 mond, had been killed in a bloody battle. Baldwin, accom- 
 panied by the count of Tripoli, hastened to the banks of the 
 Orontes, attacked the victorious Mussulmans, and dispersed 
 their army.* 
 
 After this victory he returned to Jerusalem, when he 
 learnt that Josselin de Courtenay had been made prisoner 
 by the Turks. Baldwin flew to the defence of the county 
 of Edessa, which was threatened \\-ith an invasion, and him- 
 self fell into the hands of the Mussulmans. 
 
 Old chronicles have celebrated the intrepid zeal of fifty 
 Armenians, who swore to deliver two princes so much be- 
 loved by their subjects, and whose captivity spread desola- 
 tion among the Christians of the East. Their eftbrts broke 
 the chains of Josselin, but after having braved a thousand 
 dangers \Nithout being able to release Baldwin du Boui'g, 
 
 * See, for an account of this disaster, Kemaleddin and Tabari.
 
 mSTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 297 
 
 they were themselves taken by the infidels. They all died 
 amidst tortures, and received from Heaven alone, add the 
 same chronicles, the reward of their generous devotion. 
 
 Josselin, escaped from his prison, repaired to Jerusalem, 
 where he deposited in the chui^ch of the Holy Sepulchre the 
 chains which he had borne among the Turks, and entreated 
 prompt assistance for the deliverance of Baldwin, The 
 mourning kingdom was menaced by the Saracens of Egypt, 
 who, seeking to talie advantage of the captivity of Baldwin, 
 had assembled in the plains of Ascalon for the purpose of 
 driving the Franks from Palestine. In this pressing danger 
 the Christians of Jerusalem could pay attention to nothing 
 but the defence of the kingdom. After the example of the 
 inhabitants of Nineveh, they first sought to mitigate the 
 anger of Heaven by penitence and prayer. A rigorous fast 
 was commanded, during which women withheld the milk of 
 their breasts from their children in the cradle, and the flocks 
 even were driven to a distance from their pastures and de- 
 prived of their ordinary nourishment. War was proclaimed 
 by the sound of the great bell of Jerusalem. The Christian 
 army, which consisted of little more than three thousand 
 combatants, was commanded by Eustache Glrenier, count of 
 Sidon, named regent of the kingdom in the absence of Bald- 
 win. The patriarch of the holy city bore the true cross at 
 the head of the army ; he was followed, says Robert of the 
 Mount, by Pontius, abbot of Cluni, carrying the lance with 
 which the side of the Saviour was pierced, and by the bishop 
 of Bethlehem, who held in his hands a vase, in which the 
 Christian priests boasted of having preserved the milk of 
 the Virgin mother of Grod !* 
 
 The Christians met the army of the Saracens on the plains 
 of Ascalon. The battle immediately began, and the Pranks 
 were at once surrounded by the Mussulmans, who reckoned 
 forty thousand men beneath their standards. The defeat of 
 the Christians appeared certain, when all at once, says the 
 
 * The account of this battle, and the preparations for it, are taken from 
 Robert of the Monnt {Robortus de Monte, Appendice ad Sigebertum). 
 This author speaks of the fast the troops were ordered to undergo, as had 
 been done at Nineveh : " Universo pecori pabula negabantur." He also 
 speaks of the milk of the holy Virgin, carried in a vase: — " Episcopus 
 Bethleemides ferens in pyxide lac:; sanctte Marise virginis."
 
 298 nisTOET OF the ceusades, 
 
 liistorian we liave just now quoted, a light Kke to that of a 
 thunderbolt darted tlirough the air, and fell upon the army 
 of the Mussuhnans. This light, which the Christians con- 
 sidered as a miracle from Heaven, became the signal for the 
 rout of the Saracens. The Mussulman warriors, still more 
 superstitious than the Christians, were fascinated by a sud- 
 den terror, and no longer had either courage or strength to 
 defend themselves. Seven thousand of them fell on the 
 field of battle, and five thousand perished, swallowed up by 
 the waves of the sea. The victorious Christians returned to 
 Jerusalem, singing the praises of the Grod of armies. 
 
 The Christian knights thenceforth wept vdth. less bitter- 
 ness over the capti\-ity of a king without whom they had 
 been able to conquer the army of the Saracens ; but the 
 army of the Franks, employed in the defence of cities and 
 frontiers constantlv thi-eatened bv the enemv, could not leave 
 the kingdom to make new conquests ; and the warriors, who 
 were detained in the Christian cities, after so great a victory, 
 were deeply afiiicted at their inaction, and appeared to place 
 all their hopes in succours from the AYest. It was just at 
 this time that a Venetian fleet arrived ofi" the coast of S}Tia. 
 
 The Venetians, who for several centuries enjoyed the com- 
 merce of the East, and feared to break their profitable rela- 
 tions with the Mussuhnans of Asia, had taken but very little 
 interest in the first crusade, or in the events that had fol- 
 lowed it. They waited the issue of this great enterprise, to 
 take a part and associate themselves without peril with the 
 victories of the Christians ; but at length, jealous of the ad- 
 vantages that the Grenoese and the Pisans had obtained in 
 Svi'ia. they wished likewise to have a share in the spoils of 
 the Mussulmans, and prepared a formidable expedition 
 against the infidels. Their fleet, whilst crossing the Medi- 
 terranean, fell in with that of the Grenoese, which was re- 
 tuminof from the East : thev attacked it with furv, and 
 forced it to fly in great disorder. After having stained the 
 sea with the blood of Christians, the Venetians pursued their 
 course towards the coasts of Palestine, where thev met the 
 f.eet of the Saracens, just issuing from the ports of Egypt. 
 A violent conflict ensued, in which aU the Egyptian vessels 
 were dispersed or destroyed, and covered the waves with 
 their wrecks.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CKrSA.DES. 299 
 
 "Whilst tlie Venetians were tlius destroying tlie fleet of 
 the Mussulmans, an army sent by the caliph of Cairo was 
 beaten by the Christians under the walls of Jaffa. The doge 
 of Venice, who commanded the Venetian fleet, entered the 
 port of Ptolemais, and was conducted in triumph to Jerusa- 
 lem. When celebrating the double victory, they resolved to 
 ■profit by it, by following it up by an important expedition. 
 In a council, held in presence of the regent of tlie kingdom 
 and the doge of Venice, it was proposed to besiege either 
 the city of Tyre or the city of Ascalon. As the opinions 
 were divided, it was resolved to interrogate God, and to fol- 
 low his will. Two strips of parchment, upon which had 
 been written the names of Ascalon and Tyre, were deposited 
 upon the altar of the Holy Sepulchre. In the siglit of a 
 numerous crowd of spectators, a young orphan advanced 
 towards the altar, took one of the strips, and the chance fell 
 upon the city of Tyre. 
 
 The Venetians, more devoted to the interests of their 
 commerce and of their nation than to those of a Christian 
 kingdom, demanded, before beginning the siege of Tyre, 
 that they should enjoy a church, a street, a common oven, 
 and a national tribunal in every city in Palestine. They 
 further demanded other privileges and the possession of a 
 third of the conquered city. The conquest of Tyre appeared 
 to be so important, that the regent, the chancellor of the 
 kingdom, and the great vassals of the crown accepted the 
 conditions of the Venetians without hesitation : in a deed 
 which history has preserved,* they engaged not to acknow- 
 ledge Baldwin du Bourg or any other prince who would 
 refuse to subscribe to it. 
 
 When they had thus, by a treaty, shared the city they 
 were about to conquer, they began their preparations for 
 the siege. Towards the commencement of the spring, the 
 Christian army set out from Jerusalem, and the Venetian 
 fleet sailed from the port of Ptolemais. The historian of 
 the kingdom of Jerusalem, who was for a long time arch- 
 bishop of Tyre, stops here to describe the antique wonders 
 of his metropolis. In his recital, at once religious and pro- 
 fane, he invokes by turns the testimony of Isaiah and of 
 
 * This act is reported in its entirety by William of Tyre.
 
 300 HISTOET OF THE CRTJSADES. 
 
 A'irgii; after having spoken of the king, Hyram, and the 
 tomb of Origen, he does not disdain to celebrate the 
 memory of Cadmus, and the country of Dido. The good 
 archbishop boasts above all of the industry and the com- 
 merce of Tyre ; of the fertility of its territory, its dyes so 
 celebrated in all antiquity, that sand which is changed into 
 transparent vases, and those sugar-canes which, from that 
 time, were souo^ht for bv every reHon of the universe. Tvre, 
 in the time of Baldwin, was no longer that sumptuous city, 
 whose rich merchants, according to Isaiah, were princes ; 
 but it was yet considered as the most populous and the most 
 commercial of all the cities of Sj^ia. It was built upon a 
 deliffhtfal beach, which mountains sheltered from the blasts 
 of the north ; it had two large moles, which, like two arms, 
 stretched out into the waves, to form a port to which no 
 tempest could find access. Tyre, which had kept the victo- 
 rious Alexander seven months and a half before its walls, 
 was defended on one side by a stormy sea and steep rocks, 
 and on the other by a triple wall surmounted by high 
 towers. 
 
 The doge of A^enice, with his fleet, entered the port and 
 closed up all issue on the side of the sea. The patriarch of 
 Jerusalem, the regent of the kingdom, and Pontius, count 
 of Tripoli, commanded the army by land. In the early days 
 of the siege, the Christians and the Mussulmans fought with 
 obstinate ardour, and with equal success ; but the divisions 
 among the infidels soon came in to second the efforts of the 
 Franks. The caliph of Egypt had yielded half of the place 
 to the sultan of Damascus, to induce him to defend it 
 against the Christians. The Turks and the Eg;s^tians were 
 divided among themselves, and would not fight together. 
 The Eranks profited by these divisions, and every day gained 
 great advantages. After a siege of some months, the walla 
 crumbled away before the machines of the Christians ; pro- 
 \dsions began to be short in the citv, and the infidels were 
 ready to capitidate, when discord arose to disunite the 
 Christians in their turn, and was on the point of rendering 
 useless the prodigies of valour, and the labours of the long 
 siege. 
 
 The land army complained aloud of being obliged to sup- 
 port alone, both fighting and fatigue ; the knights and their
 
 niSTOJlT OF THE CP.rSADES. 801 
 
 soldiers tlireatened to remain as motionless under their tents. 
 
 *as the A^enetians did in their ships. To prevent the effect 
 of their complaints, the doge of Venice came into the camp 
 of the Christians, with his sailors armed with their oars, and 
 declared that he was ready to mount the breach. From that 
 time a generous emulation animated equally the zeal and 
 courao;e of the land and sea forces. The Mussulmans, beinfi: 
 without hope of succonr, after a siege of five months and a 
 half, were oblis^ed to surrender. The standards of the kinir 
 of .Jerusalem and the doge of Venice waved over the walls of 
 Tyre ; the Christians made their triumphal entry into the 
 city, whilst the inhabitants, according to the terms of the 
 capitulation, Avent out with their wives and children.* 
 
 The day on which they received at Jerusalem the news of 
 the conquest of Tyre, was a festival for the population of the 
 holy city. To the sound of the bells the Te JDeum was sung 
 on bended knees ; Hags were hoisted on the towers and the 
 ramparts of the city ; branches of olive, and garlands of 
 flowers were suspended in the streets and public places, and 
 rich stuffs were hung upon the outsides of the houses, and 
 upon the doors of the churches. Old men reminded their 
 neighboiu-s of the splendour of the kingdom of Judah, and 
 young Airgins repeated in chorus the psalms in which the 
 prophets had celebrated the city of T>Te. 
 
 The doge of Venice, on his return to the holy city, was 
 saluted by the acclamations of the people and the clergy. 
 The barons and the principal inhabitants did all in their 
 power to detain him in Palestine ; they even went so far as 
 to offer him the crown of Baldwin ; some believing that that 
 
 * Albert d'Aix finishes his history in the first year of the reign of 
 Baldwin II., and Foulcher de Chartres terminates his after the siege of 
 Tyre. We may consult for this reign many passages of Baroniu!^, Robert 
 of the Mount, Sanuti, and particularly William of Tyre and Bernardus 
 Thesaurius. We are in possession of the second part of a History of 
 Jerusalem, the anonymous author of which speaks of the reigns of the 
 two first Baldwins. 
 
 . It will be said perhaps that I have borrowed from these different his- 
 torians too many details ; but I could not resist the desire I had to im- 
 part to my read'ers things that have never hitherto been related in the 
 French language. It is surprising that, notwithstanding Jerusalem was 
 almost always governed and defended by the Franks, no writer of our 
 nation has spoken of it.
 
 302 niSTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 prince had died among the infidels, others only recognising 
 a kins: when at the head of an army, or on the field of 
 battle. The doge refused the crown they oflered him ; and, 
 satisfied with the title of prince of Jerusalem, sailed with his 
 victorious fleet back to Italy. 
 
 AVhilst they were oflerinor the throne of Jerusalem to q, 
 foreign prince, the captivity of Baldwin du Bourg was draw- 
 ing to an end. The emir Balac,* who held him prisoner, 
 after ha^'iug conquered in a battle ten thousand Christians 
 commanded by Josselin, besieged the citadel of a Mussulman 
 city of S\Tia, and was preparing to succour the city of Tyre, 
 when he was wounded by a javelin, and died regretted by 
 the most ardent disciples of Mahomet. Baldwin was then 
 enabled to purchase his liberty, and, after a captivity of 
 eighteen months, appeared once again among the Christians. 
 The king of Jerusalem had promised the Saracens a consi- 
 derable sum as his ransom ; but it was much more easy for 
 him to fight and conquer his enemies than to fulfil such a 
 promise. The Mussulmans, besides, by ill-treating the 
 hostages he had left with them,t furnished him with a pre- 
 text to attack them. Allien the infidels demanded of him 
 tlie stipulated price of his liberty, he only replied by gaining 
 victories over them. The Christian knights, who seemed to 
 have forgotten him, now that they saw him once again in 
 arms, returned thanks to Heaven for his deliverance, and 
 came in troops to range themselves under his baimers, and 
 recognised with joy the authority of a prince who appeared 
 only to have issued from his prison to lead them to new 
 combats. 
 
 The Christian states at that period numbered as enemies 
 the caliphs of Bagdad and Damascus, the emirs of Mossoul 
 and Aleppo, and the descendants of Ortoc, who were mas- 
 ters of several places on the Euphrates. ;]: The Egyptians 
 were weakened by their numerous defeats, and of all their 
 ancient conquests on the coasts of S\Tia, only retained the 
 
 * The emir Balac was a prince of the family of Ortoc, who possessed 
 many places on the Euphrates, reigned in Aleppo and ^lesopotamia, and 
 could set on toot innumerable armies of Turcomans. 
 
 t Edma, the daughter of Baldwin, still a child, was violated by the 
 Mussulmans, to whom her father had given her as an hostage. 
 
 % See, as well for the incursion of the Turks as of those of the Chris- 
 tians, Kemaleddin, Tabari, and Aboul-Feda.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 303 
 
 city of Ascalon. But the garrison of this place, formed of 
 the wrecks of several conquered armies, still threatened the 
 territories of the Christians. Although the Egyptians had 
 lost the cities of Tyre, Tripoli, and Ptolemais, they still con- 
 tinued masters at sea, and their fleets cruised Mathout obsta- 
 cle along the coasts of Syria, when the maritime nations of 
 Europe did not happen to send succour to the Franks esta- 
 blished in Palestine. 
 
 The Turks, accustomed to the military and pastoral life, 
 did not aspire to the empire of the seas, but they never left 
 the Christians at rest. They made themselves dreaded, not 
 so much by their great armies, which were frequently no- 
 thmg but confused and undisciplined multitudes, but by 
 their continual, harassing incursions. Docile and patient, 
 they endmed hunger, thirst, and fatigue, better than they 
 would face an enemy. Their knowledge of the country, 
 their being accustomed to the climate, and the intelligence 
 they kept up with the inhabitants, gave them, in all their 
 warlike expeditions, a decided advantage over the Christians. 
 Their soldiers surpassed the Franks in the arts of shooting 
 with the bow, or hurling a javelin, as well as in horseman- 
 ship ; and their leaders were practised, and excelled in all 
 the stratagems of war. Their tactics consisted in wearing 
 out their enemies, in preparing ambushes for them, or in 
 drawing them into difiicult positions, where they might 
 triumph without fighting. The endless discord which pre- 
 vailed among the Mussulman princes of Syria, and the revo- 
 lutions which daily threatened their power, prevented them 
 from following up, for any length of time, the same plan of 
 defence or attack ; but when in the enjoyment of a transient 
 tranquillity, sometimes excited by a thirst for plunder, or 
 sometimes animated by the prayers and the counsels of the 
 caliph of Bagdad, they would burst like a sudden and unex- 
 pected storm over the territories of Antioch, Edessa, Tripoli, 
 or the kingdom of Jerusalem. If the Mussulmans expe- 
 rienced a defeat, they retired with the hope of finding a 
 more favourable opportunity ; if they were conquerors, they 
 ravaged the cities and the plains, and returned to their coun- 
 try, loaded with booty, singing these words : " Tlie Koran 
 o'ejoices, and the Gospel is in tears.'''' 
 
 The hopes of booty every year attracted new hordes and
 
 304 HISTOET OF THE CErSADES. 
 
 tribes, Vnieh poured do^vu from Moimt Caucasus, Mount 
 Taurus, from Koracan aud tlie banks of the Tio^ris. These 
 tribes, for the most part ^ild and barbarous, mingled among 
 the Mussulmans of Syria and Mesopotamia, and replaced in 
 armies and cities the hosts which war had swept awar. 
 Among the tribes which had thus estabhshed themselves 
 in Svria, history' must not forget that of the assassins or 
 Ismaelians, whose sect had sprung up, towards the com- 
 mencement of the eleventh century, in the mountains of 
 Persia. A short time before the first crusade, they took 
 possession of a part of Libanus, and founded a colony be- 
 tween Tripoli and Tortosa, which colony was governed by a 
 chief whom the Franks called — tJie Old ALan, or the Lord of 
 the Mountain. The chief of the Ismaelians only reigned 
 over about twenty castles or to^^iis, and scarcely more than 
 sixty thousand subjects : but he had converted despotism 
 into a species of worship, and his autliority was without 
 bounds. His subjects considered that he alone was the de- 
 positaiy of the laws of Mahomet, and that aR who opposed 
 his will merited death. The Old Man of the Mountains, 
 according to the belief of the Ismaelians. coidd distribute, at 
 his pleasure, the dehghts of Paradise to his servants ; that he 
 who died in an act of obedience to his chief, ascended to 
 heaven, whither the prophet of Mecca welcomed him, whilst 
 he who died in his bed went tlu-ough long probationary pains 
 in the next world. 
 
 The Ismaelians were divided into three classes : the peo- 
 ple, the soldiers, and the guards. The people lived by the 
 cultivation of the lands and by commerce ; they were docile, 
 laborious, sober, and patient : nothing could exceed the skill, 
 strength, and courage of the soldiers, whose qualities were 
 particularly valued in the defence or sieges of cities. The 
 greater part of the Mussulman princes were very desirous 
 of having them in their pay. 
 
 The most distinguished class was that of the guards or 
 feda'ls. Xothing was neglected in their education. Prom 
 their infancy their bodies were strengthened by constant 
 and violent exercises, and their minds were cultivated by the 
 study of the arts. They were taught the languages of Asia 
 and Europe, in order that they might be sent into those 
 countries to execute the orders of their master. All sorts
 
 HISTOllY or THE CRUSADES. 305 
 
 of means were employed to inflame their imaginations and 
 heighten their courage ; during their sleep, which was pro- 
 voked by intoxicating drinks, they wore transported into 
 delicious gardens, and awoke surrounded by the seductions 
 of voluptuousness. It was there that the Old Man of the 
 Mountains, by showing them the image of the joys of Para- 
 dise, inspired them with a blind obedience. In the midst of 
 illusions which fascinated them, their n^aster could order 
 them to cast themselves from the height of a tower, to pre- 
 cipitate themselves into flames, or to pierce themselves with 
 mortal wounds. When the Old Man of the Mountains had 
 pointed out to them any one he wished to punish, they went, 
 armed with a poniard, indifterently, to seek him in palaces or 
 camps, and were impeded by neither obstacles nor dangers. 
 Princes often intrusted the charge of their revenge to the 
 chief of the Ismaelians, and looked to him for the death of 
 their rivals or enemies. Powerful monarchs were his tribu- 
 taries. The fears which he inspired, and the murders com- 
 mitted by his orders, heaped up his treasures. Surrounded 
 by his intrepid soldiery, he sent death into distant regions ; 
 the terror of his name was spread everywhere, whilst he 
 himself had nothing to fear from his enemies. 
 
 * The Ismaelians, as implacable sectarians, entertained a 
 profound aversion for the Turks of Syria. Many of them 
 were in the pay of the emirs and the sultans of that na- 
 tion ; but they sold their services at a very high price, and 
 often took an active part in the bloody revolutions which 
 precipitated from thrones the Mussulman dynasties of the 
 East. They had less hatred for the Christians, because the 
 latter fought against the Turks ; nay, sometimes they became 
 useful auxiliaries to the Pranks. When Baldwin du Bourg 
 was liberated, they proposed to deliver up Damascus to him, 
 a great number of their Avarriors being in that city ; but the 
 plot being discovered, they miscarried in their enterprise, 
 and six thousand Ismaelians were slaughtered by the 
 Mussulmans.* 
 
 * Our learned Orientalists have furnished us with some very useful 
 and profound works on the Ismaehans ; at their head is M. de Sacy, who 
 has made us acquainted with the doctrine and many of the usages of this 
 singular people. M. Jourdain has on this subject supplied us with a very 
 interesting memoir.
 
 306 niSTOKT OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 The Old Man of tlie Mountaius commanded the death of 
 the emir of Mossoul, who had defended the city of Damas- 
 cus against the Christians. The murder of the Mussulman 
 emir threw S^-ria into a state of excitement and trouble : 
 but from the bosom of this disorder arose a new and for- 
 midable power. Zengui, son of Aksancar, one of the most 
 skilful captains of his age, obtained the principality of 
 Mossoul, got possession of Emessa and Aleppo, with several 
 other cities of Svria, and founded the dynasty of the Ata- 
 becks, or governors of the prince, which was destined to 
 dominate oyer the East, and render itself formidable to the 
 Christians.* 
 
 Whilst this new power was rising in S}Tia, the Christian 
 states of the East were at their highest point of prosperity. 
 The county of Edessa, which contained a great portion of 
 the rich provinces of Mesopotamia, had all the Armenian 
 princes as its allies and auxiliaries. Several cities of Coele- 
 syria, Cilicia, and Lower Armenia constituted the principality 
 of Antioch, the most extensive and the most flourishing of 
 the Christian provinces. 
 
 The coimty of Tripoli comprised several places situated 
 on the Sea of Phoenicia, from Margath to the river Adonis. 
 This river, celebrated in both sacred and profane history, 
 bounded on the north the kingdom of Jerusalem, which, 
 towards the south, extended on the sea-coast as far as the 
 gates of Ascalon, and towards the east, to the deserts of 
 ^Vrabia. 
 
 These four states formed a redoubtable confederacy. 
 Europe beheld with pride these Christian colonies, which 
 had cost her so much blood ; she was afflicted at their re- 
 verses, and rejoiced at their progress. The safety of Chris- 
 tianity appeared identified with their preservation. The 
 bravest of the Christians were alwavs ready to devote 
 themselves for the heritage of Cln-ist ; religion offered no 
 recompense equal to that promised to their valour, and 
 charit)' itself became warlike. 
 
 Erom the bosom of an hospital consecrated to the service 
 of pilgi-ims and the poor, issued heroes armed against the 
 
 • See, for the origin and the reign of Zengui, the History of the 
 Atabecks, by Ben Latir.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEIJSADES. 307 
 
 infidels, — the humanity and the bravery of the knights cf 
 St. John* were equally conspicuous. Whilst some grew old 
 in the offices of hospitality, others went forth to combat 
 with the enemies of their faith. After the example of these 
 pious knights, several men of gentle birth met near the place 
 where the temple of Solomon had stood, and took an oath to 
 protect and defend the pilgrims who repaired to Jerusalem. 
 Their union gave birth to the order of the Templars, which, 
 from its origin, was approved of by a council, and owed its 
 statutes to St. Bernard. 
 
 These two orders were governed by the same principle 
 that had given birth to the crusade, the union of the military 
 spirit with the religious spirit. E-etired from the world, 
 they had no other country but Jerusalem, no other family 
 but that of Jesus Christ. AYealth, evils, and dangers were 
 all in common amongst them ; one will, one spirit, directed 
 all their actions and aR their thoughts ; all were imited in 
 one house, which appeared to be inhabited but by one man. 
 They lived in great austerity, and the severer their discipline 
 became, the stronger appeared the bonds by which it en- 
 chained their hearts and their wills. Arms formed their 
 only decoration ; precious ornaments were never seen in 
 their houses or churches ; but lances, bucklers, swords, and 
 standards taken from the infidels abounded. At the cry of 
 battle, says St. Bernard,t they armed themselves with faith 
 within and with steel without ; they feared neither the 
 number nor the fury of the barbarians, they were proud to 
 conquer, happy to die for Jesus Christ, and believed that 
 every victory came from Grod. 
 
 ^Religion had sanctified the perils and the violences of war. 
 Every monastery of Palestine was a fortress, in which the 
 din of arms was mingled with the voice of prayer. Humble 
 cenobites sought glory in fight ; the canons, instituted by 
 Grodfrey to pray near the holy tomb, after the example of 
 
 * The history of the knights of St. John has been written in Italian by 
 Bosio, and translated into French by Boyssat. The history since written 
 by the Abbe de Vertot has caused all that preceded it to be forgotten. 
 The Templars, after their tragical end, had no historian of their exploits 
 in the Holy Land ; but they have in our days found a very eloquent one in 
 M. Raynouard. 
 
 f See Saint Bernard, Exhortatio ad Milites Templi. 
 
 Vol. I.— 15
 
 308 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 
 
 the Hospitallers and the Templars, had clothed themselves 
 with the casque and the cuirass, and, under the name of the 
 Elnights of the Holy Sepulchre, distinguished themselves 
 amongst the soldiers of Christ. 
 
 The glory of these military orders ^Yas soon spread 
 throughout the Christian world. Their renown penetrated 
 even to the isles and the most remote nations of the West. 
 All who had sins to expiate hastened to the holy city to 
 share the labours of the Christian warriors. Crowds of men, 
 who had devastated their own country, came to defend the 
 kingdom of Jerusalem, and take part in the perils of the 
 most firm defenders of the faith. 
 
 There was not an illustrious family in Europe which did 
 not send at least one knight to the military orders of Pales- 
 tine. Princes even enrolled themselves in this holy militia, 
 and laid aside the insignia of their dignity to assume the 
 red coat of arms of the Hospitallers, or the white mantle of 
 the knights of the Temple. In aU the nations of the "West 
 castles and cities were bestowed upon them, which ofiered 
 an asylum and succour to pilgrmis, and became auxiliaries to 
 the kingdom of Jerusalem. As monks, as soldiers of Christ, 
 they were remembered in every will, and not unfrequently 
 became the heirs of monarchs and princes. 
 
 The knights of St. John and of the Temple for a length 
 of time were deserving of the greatest praises ; more happy 
 and more worthy of the benedictions of posterity would 
 they have been, if, in the end, they had not allowed them- 
 selves to be corrupted by their success and their wealth ; 
 and if they had not frequently disturbed the welfare of the 
 state of which their bravery was the support ! These two 
 orders were like a crusade that was unceasingly renewed, 
 and preserved emulation in the Christian armies. 
 
 The military customs and manners of the Franks who 
 were then engaged in Palestine, present an object worthy of 
 fixing the attention of the historian and the philosopher, 
 and may serve to explain the rapid rise and the following 
 decline of the kingdom of Jerusalem. The spirit of ho- 
 nour which animated the warriors, and permitted them 
 not to fly, even in an unequal fight, was the most active 
 principle" of their bravery, and with them took the place of 
 discipline. To abandon a companion in danger, or to retire
 
 IIISTOBT OF THE CSIJSADES. 309 
 
 before an enemy, was an action infamous in the sight of Grod 
 or man. In battle, their close ranks, their lofty stature, 
 their war-horses, like themselves covered with steel, over- 
 turned, dispersed, or bore down the numerous battalions of 
 the Saracens. In spite of the weight of their armour, 
 nothing could exceed the rapidity with which they passed to 
 places the most distant. They were to be seen fighting 
 almost at the same time in Egypt, on the Euphrates, and on 
 the Orontes ; and only left these their customary theatres 
 of victory to threaten the principaHty of Damascus, or some 
 city of Arabia. In the midst of their exploits they recog- 
 nised no other law but victory, abandoned and rejoined at 
 pleasure the standards which led them to the enemy, and 
 required nothing of their chief but the example of bravery. 
 
 As their mihtia had under its colours warriors of divers 
 nations, the opposition of characters, the difiJerence of man- 
 ners and language kept alive amongst them a generous 
 emulation ; but sometimes, likewise, gave birth to discord. 
 Very frequently chance, or some unexpected cu-cumstance, 
 decided an enterprise or the fate of a campaign. When the 
 Christian knights believed themselves in a condition to fight 
 an enemy, they went to seek him, without taking the least 
 pains to conceal their march ; confidence in their strength, 
 in their arms, and, above aU, in the protection of Heaven, 
 made them neglect the stratagems and the artifices of war, 
 and even the precautions most necessary to the safety of an 
 army. Prudence in their chiefs frequently appeared to 
 them an evidence of timidity or weakness, and many of 
 their princes paid with their lives or their liberty for the 
 vain glory of encountering useless perils in the Christian 
 cause. 
 
 The Pranks of Palestine saw scarcely any dangers or 
 enemies except such as met them in the field of battle. 
 Several important enterprises, which fortune alone seemed 
 to direct, were necessary to assure the safety and the 
 prosperity of the Christian states in Asia. The first of 
 these enterprises was to lower the power of the caliphs of 
 Egypt ; the second, to conquer and preserve the maritime 
 cities of Syria, in order to receive fleets and succour from 
 the West ; the third was to defend the frontiers, and oppose 
 on aU sides a barrier against the Tui'ks and Saracens. Each
 
 310 niSTOHY OF THE CErSADE3. 
 
 of these great interests, or rather all of these interests united, 
 constantly occupied the Franks established in Asia, without 
 their having any other policy but that of circumstances, and 
 without their employing, in order to succeed, any other 
 means but their swords. It is in this view we must admire 
 their efforts, and find the bravery, which supplied the place 
 of everything, wonderful. 
 
 Among the illustrious pilgrims who at this time repaired 
 to Palestine, and took part in the labours of the Christian 
 knights, histor}' ought not to forget Foulque, count of 
 Anjou. He was the son of Foulque le Eechin and Ber- 
 trade de Montfort, who became the wife of Philip I., and 
 for whose sake the king of Prance had braved all the 
 thunders of the Church. Poulque of Anjou could not be 
 consoled for the death of his wife Eremberge, daughter of 
 Elie, count of Maine. His grief led him into Palestine, 
 where he maintained during a year a hundred men-at-arms, 
 whom he led to battle. He united piety with valour, and 
 attracted admiration by displacing all the qualities of a good 
 prince. Baldwin, who had no male offspring, oflfered him 
 his daughter Melisende in marriage, and promised to have 
 him nominated his successor. Poulque accepted the pro- 
 position with joy, and became son-in-law to the king of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Prom that time the two princes gave all their attention 
 to promote the prosperity of the kingdom and to defend it 
 against the Saracens. Their union served as a model to 
 Christian princes, and lasted till the death of Baldwin, who, 
 seeing his last hour approach, ordered himself to be carried 
 to the spot where Christ had risen again, and died in the 
 arms of his daughter and his son-in-law, to whom, with his 
 latest breath, he recommended the glory of the Christians 
 of the East. 
 
 Baldwin had a right mind, a lofty spirit, and unalterable 
 mildness. Eehgion presided over his least actions and 
 inspired all his thoughts ; but he perhaps had more devotion 
 than was suited to a prince or a warrior. He was constantly 
 seen prostrated on the earth, and, if we may believe Wilham 
 of Tyre, his hands and knees were hardened by practices of 
 piety. He passed eighteen years on the throne of Edessa, 
 and twelve on that of Jerusalem; he was made prisoner
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 311 
 
 twice, and remained seven years in the cTiains of the infidels. 
 He had neither the faults nor the high qualities of his pre- 
 decessor. His reign was rendered illustrious by conquests 
 and victories in which he bore no part ; but he was not the 
 less regretted by the Christians, who loved to contemplate 
 in him the last of the companions of Godfrey. 
 
 Under his reign the public manners began to decline : by 
 his directions a council was assembled at Naplouse to check 
 licentiousness, and punish offenders against order and mo- 
 rality. But the decrees of this council,* deposited in the 
 churches, only served to prove the existence of disorders 
 among the Christians, and did not, in any way, stop the pro- 
 gress of corruption, which rapidly increased under the follow- 
 ing reigns. Baldwin was more happy in the measures which 
 he undertook to increase the number of his subjects and enrich 
 his capital. An edict suppressed all duties upon grain and 
 vegetables brought into the holy city by the Syrians. Bald- 
 win, by this means, improved the trade and popiilation of Jeru- 
 salem, and revived agriculture in the neighbouring provinces. 
 
 Foulque, count of Anjou, was crowned king of Jerusalem 
 after the death of Baldwin. At his accession to the throne, 
 discord disturbed the Christian states, and even threatened 
 with speedy ruin the principality of Antioch. The son of 
 Bohemond, who had recently assumed the reins of govern- 
 ment, had been killed in a battle against the Turks of Asia 
 Minor, and a daughter, whom he had had by Alise, sister of 
 Melisende, was called to the inheritance of her father's 
 throne ; but the weakness of her sex and age did not permit 
 her to make good her claim. AHse, her mother, wished to 
 get possession of the royal seat, and in the prosecution of 
 her projects did not scruple to avail herself of the aid 
 of the Saracens. Another candidate appeared in E-oger, 
 king of Sicily, who, as a member of the family of Bohemond 
 and Tancred, had pretensions to the principality of Antioch. 
 The people, the clergy, and the nobility were divided into 
 several factions. 
 
 * We will relate in full the decrees of the council of Naplouse, which 
 form a precious monument of the history of these distant times ; but the 
 greater part of the crimes and offences against which the fathers of this 
 council raised their voices, do not. permit us to give these statutes in 
 French or English, or present the most curious details of them.
 
 312 niSTOET or the ceusades. 
 
 The king of Jerusalem, as protector of the confederation 
 of the Franks in Asia, determined to re-establish order, and 
 took the road to Antioch Tvith his barons and the knights of 
 the Temple and St. John. The count of Tripoli, who had 
 embraced the party of Alise, undertook to stop the king of 
 Jerusalem on his passage. The powers of these two princes 
 met ; a battle ensued, and the plains of Phoenicia were 
 stained ^vith the blood of Christians shed in unnatural strife. 
 Foulque of Anjou, after having routed the troops of the 
 count of Tripoli, gained the banks of the Orontes, silenced 
 the contending factions, and re-estabhshed, peace. To per- 
 fect his work, he resolved to bestow the daughter of Bohe- 
 mond on a husband able to defend her rights, who would 
 merit the confidence of the Christian warriors. S}Tia pre- 
 senting to him no prince or knight worthy of his choice, he 
 turned his eyes towards the princes of Europe, and nominated 
 Eavmond of Poictiers governor of Antioch, as Baldwin II. 
 had chosen him himself governor of Jerusalem. Thus 
 Europe, which had found defenders for the Christian states 
 of Asia, supplied them also with princes and kings. Eay- 
 mond of Poictiers, brother of TTilliam, duke of Aquitaine, 
 left France with the scrip and staff of a pilgrim, and came 
 into Svria to espouse the daughter of Baldwin, and reign 
 ■u-ith her on the banks of the Orontes. 
 
 The troubles of Antioch had re-sdved the pretensions of 
 the emperors of Constantinople. John Comnenus, son 
 and successor of Alexius, put himself at the head of an 
 army, took possession of some places in Cilicia, and en- 
 camped before the walls of Antioch. After several conflicts, 
 in which victory remained uncertain, neirotiations were 
 opened, which ended in the oath of obedience to the emperor 
 being taken by Baymond of Poictiers. The two princes, 
 united bv a treatv, resolved to turn their arms ao:ainst the 
 Saracens. Their troops, which they commanded in person, 
 attacked without success Aleppo and several other cities of 
 Svi'ia : the want of a e:ood understandinir. which accom- 
 panied the G-reeks and Latins at all times, was sure to defeat 
 their enterprises. The emperor returned with vexation to 
 Antioch, of which he endeavoured to make himself master, 
 but was compelled by a sedition to leave the city hastily. He 
 i^on formed the project of ^-isiting Jerusalem at the head of
 
 HISTORY OF THE CETJSADE3. 813 
 
 Ms army, witli tlie intention, if the Latins are to be believed, 
 of obtaining possession of Palestine. Foulque sent ambas- 
 sadors to inform him that be could only be received in the 
 holy city in the character of a simple pilgrim ; whereupon 
 John, who did not dare to complain, sent presents to Foulque 
 of Anjou, and gave up, without much pain, his idea of a 
 pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After a campaign, for w^hich he 
 had drawn out all the strength of the empire, he returned 
 to his capital, having obtained nothing by his enterprise but 
 the vain and hollow homage of the prince of Antioch. 
 
 Foulque of Anjou, after having re-established peace among 
 his neighbours, found, on his return, that discord not only 
 prevailed in his states, but had even made its way into his 
 own house. Walter, count of Csesarea, accused Hugh, 
 count of Jaffa, of the crime of treason towards his king. 
 This latter noble had drawn upon himself the hatred of the 
 king and the principal people of the kingdom, some say by 
 his pride and disobedience, and others by his guilty con- 
 nection with the queen Melisende. When the barons had 
 heard Walter of Caesarea, they decided that a battle, en 
 cliamp clos, should take place between the accused and the 
 accuser ; and as the count of Jaffa did not appear in the 
 lists on the day nominated, he was declared guilty. 
 
 Hugh was descended from the famous lord of Puyset, who 
 raised the standard of revolt against the king of Pranp§, 
 and who, conquered in the end by Louis le Grros,* despoiled 
 of his possessions and banished his countr}^ had taken 
 refuge in Palestine, where his exploits had secured him the 
 county of Jaffa, which he had transmitted to his son. Hugh 
 possessed the turbulent and impetuous character of his 
 father, and, like him, could neither pardon an injury nor 
 submit to an act of authority. On learning that he was 
 condemned without being heard, he set no bounds to his 
 anger, but hastened immediately to Ascalon, to implore the 
 aid of the infidels against the Christians. The Mussulmans, 
 highly pleased with the division which had sprung up among 
 
 * The castle of Puyset, near Orleans, was besieged three times by all 
 the forces of Louis le Gros ; this castle was at length taken and demo- 
 lished. Veilly, and all the French historians, having neglected to read 
 William of Tyre, make the seigneur de Puyset die in the kingdom of 
 Naples.
 
 314 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 their enemies, at once took tlie field, and ravaged tlie country 
 as far as the city of Asur. Hugh, after ha\TQg contracted a 
 criminal alliance ^^ith the Saracens, shut himself up in Jaffa, 
 ^vhere he was soon besieo^ed by the kins: of Jerusalem. 
 
 The thirst of vengeance animated both parties ; Foulque 
 of Anjou had sworn to punish the treason of his vassal ; and 
 Hugh was equally determined to succeed, or bury himself 
 under the ruins of Jaffa. Before the king's forces com- 
 menced the attack, the patriarch of Jerusalem interposed 
 his mediation, and recalled to the minds of the Christian 
 warriors the precepts of Grospel charity. Hugh at first 
 rejected all mention of peace with indignation ; but having 
 been abandoned bv his followers, he at last lent an unwillino^ 
 ear to the pacific appeals of the patriarch, and consented to 
 lav down his arms. The kins: of Jerusalem sent home his 
 army, and the count of Jafia agreed to quit the kingdom, 
 into which he was not to return till after three years of 
 exile. He was awaiting at Jerusalem the favoiu-able moment 
 for liis departure, when an unexpected circumstance was on 
 the point of renewing stifled quarrels. " It happened," 
 says "W^illiam of Tvre,* *'' as the count was playing at dice in 
 the sti-eet of the Turners, before the shop of a merchant 
 named Alpham, that a soldier, a Breton by nation, having 
 drawn his sword, fell suddenly upon the said count, who, 
 being attentive to his game, expected nothing less than such 
 an attack, and with the first cut, without the least warning, 
 dealt him such a blow with the said sword on the face as 
 stretched him upon the ground." At the sight of such a 
 ti-agical scene the people gathered round in crowds, anxiously 
 iuquiring the cause of it. The whole city was filled with 
 rumours of various kinds ; aU mourned the fate of the count 
 of Jaffa, and thought no more of his rebellion. They did 
 not even hesitate to whisper complaints against the king, 
 whom they accused of having himself directed the poniard 
 of the assassin. The king, however, caused the murderer 
 to be immediately aiTCsted, and he was tried with the utmost 
 rigour of the laws. He was ordered to have his limbs 
 broken ; and the king, whilst confirming the sentence, only 
 
 * TVhen quoting William of Tyre, I avail myself always of the old 
 translation, whose nai/and simple style associates best with the spirit and 
 manners of the twelfth century.
 
 niSTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 815 
 
 added tliat the assassin of the count of Jaffa should not, as 
 was usual, have his tongue cut out, in order that he might 
 name his accomplices. The unhappy wretch expired, de- 
 claring that no one had induced him to commit the deed, 
 but that he thought he should serve religion and his king 
 bj it. Every one was thus left free to form conjectures 
 according to the feeling that animated him, or the party he 
 had adopted. The count of Jaffa was not long in recovering 
 from his wound; at the end of a few months he quitted 
 Palestine, and went to Sicily, where he died before the time 
 fixed for the end of his exile. 
 
 Queen Melisende entertained a deep resentment at all 
 which had taken place ; by which she proved that she was not 
 a stranger to the origin of these fatal discords. " From the 
 day on which the count left the kingdom," says "William of 
 Tyre, " all who had against him been informers to the king, 
 and brought him into his ill graces, so incurred the indig- 
 nation of the queen that they were not in too great safety 
 of their persons, and even the king did not seem to be quite 
 at his ease among the relations and favourites of the queen." 
 The anger of the queen, however, yielded to time, and did 
 not outlive the count of Jaffa. Foulque himself, whether it 
 was that age had blunted his feelings, or that it appeared 
 more prudent to him to efface the last traces of an unfor- 
 tunate affair, repented of having compromised the honour of 
 the queen, and neglected nothing that could make her 
 forget the excess of his jealousy and the rigours he had 
 employed. 
 
 Amidst these disagreeable events the king of Jerusalem 
 had reason to congratulate himself at having no invasion 
 of the Mussulmans to repel. The prince of Mossoul, 
 Zengui, attacked some Christian fortresses, but he was soon 
 diverted from his enterprises against the Franks by the pro- 
 ject of uniting the principality of Damascus to his states. 
 The Mussulman prince who reigned at Damascus could find 
 no other means of resisting Zengui than by calling in the 
 Christians to his help. The king of Jerusalem, after having 
 received hostages and considerable sums of money, took the 
 field at the head of his army, for the purpose of defending a 
 Mussulman city ; but Zengui, who feared to try his strength 
 with the Franks, did not venture to attack Damascus. 
 
 15*
 
 316 nisTOEY or the ceusades. 
 
 According to the conditious of the alliance vrith. the Chris- 
 tians, the citv of Paneas, or Ca?sarea of Philippi, -^hich had 
 recentlv fallen, into the hands of the Saracens, was to -be 
 given lip to them. The warriors of Damascus and Jerusa- 
 lem marched together to lav siege to that city, situated at 
 the foot of Libanus, and near the sources of the Jordan. 
 For the second time the standards of Christ and Mahomet 
 were seen floating over one army and one camp. Caesarea 
 of Phihppi capitulated after a siege of a few days, and was 
 given up to the king of Jerusalem. 
 
 This conquest was the most important event that signal- 
 ized the latter years of the reign of Foulque of Anjou. The 
 king of Jerusalem, whilst hunting in the plain of Ptolemais, 
 fell fi'om his horse, and died of the fall, leaving no one to 
 succeed him but two children of tender age. He was less 
 regretted on account of his personal quahties than for the 
 sad condition in which his death left the kingdom. "William 
 of Tvre, who praises the ^irtue3 of Foulque of Anjou, 
 remai'ks. with a naivete worthv of these remote times, that 
 this prince had red hau-, and yet he could not be reproached 
 with any of the faults usually attributed to men of that 
 colour. He was more than sixty years of age when he 
 ascended the throne of Jerusalem ; in the last vears of his 
 life his memoiy was so weakened that he did not know his 
 own servants, and had not sufficient strenofth and activitv to 
 be the head of a kincjdom surrounded bv enemies. He 
 emploved himself more in building fortresses than in col- 
 lecting armies, and in defending his frontiers than in making 
 new conquests. Under his reign the military ardour of the 
 Christians seemed to grow weaker, and was displaced by a 
 spirit of discord, which brought about calamities much 
 greater than those of war. At the period of the coronation 
 of Foulque of Anjou, the Christian states were at the 
 highest degree of their prosperity ; towards the end of his 
 reign thev showed a tendencv to decline. 
 
 Baldwin III., thirteen years of age, succeeded his father, 
 and Queen Melisende became regent of the kingdom. Thus 
 the reins of government fell from the weak and powerless 
 hands of an old man into those of a woman and a child. 
 Parties soon sprung up around the throne ; the clergy, the 
 knights, the barons, even the people took a dangerous part
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 317 
 
 in affairs of state, and tlie autliority of the prince, which 
 hitherto had been but that of the general of an armj, lost 
 under the regency of Queen Melisende the consideration 
 and splendour it had derived from victory. The government 
 insensibly assumed the turbulent form of a republic, and in 
 the political relations which the Christians held at this 
 period with the Saracens,* the latter believed that several 
 chiefs were at the head of the kingdom of Jerusalem. 
 
 Baldwin did not wait for the period of his majority to be 
 crowned king, being scarcely fourteen years old, when, in 
 the presence of the barons and the clergy, he received the 
 sword t with which he was to defend religion and justice ; the 
 ring, the symbol of faith ; the sceptre and the crown, marks 
 of dignity and power ; and the apple or globe, as an image 
 of the earth and the kingdom he was called upon to govern. 
 Young Baldwin already displayed courage above his age ; in 
 the very first days of his reign he achieved a glorious expe- 
 dition beyond the Jordan, in which he gained possession of 
 the Valley of Moses ; but he had not experience enough to 
 know what enemies he ought to attack or what allies he 
 ought to defend. On his return from the expedition of the 
 Jordan he undertook an unjust and unfortunate war, the 
 presage of a sad future for the kingdom of Jerusalem. 
 
 An Armenian, who governed the city of Bosra in the name 
 of the sultan of Damascus, came to Jerusalem to offer to 
 deliver up to the Christians the place which he commanded, 
 and the barons and principal people were convoked to hear 
 his proposals. The wiser part of the assembly referred to 
 the aUiance made wdth the Saracens of Damascus ; the 
 
 * In William of Tyre may be seen the letter which the vizir of Damascus 
 addressed to the Christian princes of Jerusalem. 
 
 t The Assizes of Jerusalem speak thus of the coronation of the king : — 
 Ly met I'anneau au doi«t, qui sinefie foi ; et aspres ly ceint I'espee, qui 
 sinefie justice, a deffendre foi et sainte esglise ; et aspres la couronne, qui 
 sinefie la dignite ; et aspres le sceptre, qui sinefie chastier et deffendre ; et 
 aspres la pomme, qui sinefie la terre du royaume. [Although oftering a 
 translation, I cannot resist giving this very curious piece of old French. — 
 Trans.] 
 
 They put the ring on his finger, as signifying faith ; then they girded 
 on the sword, which means he must defend justice, faith, and the holy 
 church; next the crown, which denotes dignity; after that the sceptre, 
 with which he is both to punish and defend ; and at last the apple or globe, 
 which signifies the kingdom of the earth.
 
 318 HISTOEY or THE CKUSADES. 
 
 promises of an -iiiLknown soldier appeared to them to have 
 no security, and to inspire no confidence ; they said the 
 kin^^dom of Jerusalem did not want for enemies to combat, 
 or conquests to attempt ; it was their duty to attack the 
 most formidable, and protect the others as useful auxiliaries. 
 This advice, which was the most reasonable, was that which 
 obtained the smallest number of suffrages. Wonders were 
 related of the country they were about to conquer ; Bosra 
 was the capital of Upper Arabia, all the riches of that 
 countr}^ appeared abeady to belong to the Christians, and 
 all who opposed a conquest so brilliant and so easy were 
 accused of treason. They deliberated in the midst of 
 tumult,* and the cries of a misled multitude smothered the 
 voice of reason and prudence. The coimcil of the barons 
 and the principal people decided that an expedition, upon 
 which so many hopes were built, should be undertaken. 
 
 The Christian army was soon on its march, and across the 
 mountains of Libanus. When it arrived in the territory of 
 Damascus, its first conflict was with the Saracens gathered 
 together to oppose its passage. After sustaining several 
 severe encounters, the Christians succeeded in gaining the 
 country called Traconite, where they found nothing but plains 
 burnt up by the ardent rays of the sun. The roads were 
 difficult, and the locusts ha^ing fallen into the wells and 
 cisterns, had poisoned all the waters. The inhabitants, con- 
 cealed in subterranean caverns, laid ambushes in all direc- 
 tions for the Christian army ; whilst the Mussulman archers, 
 planted upon all the hills and acchvities, left the warriors of 
 Jerusalem not a moment's repose. The misfortunes of the 
 army (it is William of Tyre who speaks) increased every 
 day, and there wa^ poured upon the Christians such a quan- 
 tity, and as it were continually, of all sorts of arrows, that 
 they appeared to descend upon them Wee hail or heavy rain 
 upon houses covered icith slates and tiles, men and beasts 
 heing stucTc all ot'er icith them. Nevertheless, the hope of 
 winning a rich city sustained the courage of the Christian 
 soldiers, and enabled them to brave all these perils. But 
 
 * "William of Tyre attributes the determination of the king and the 
 barons to the cries of the populace of Jerusalem ; the same historian 
 relates this expedition with many details in his sixteenth book, ch. vii. — 
 xiii.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 319 
 
 ■when they arrived within sight of Bosra, it was an- 
 nounced to them that the wife of the Armenian commandant 
 had called the garrison to arms, and that she was prepared 
 to defend the city which her husband had promised to give 
 up to the king of Jerusalem. This unexpected news at once 
 sj)read consternation and discouragement through the Chris- 
 tian army. The knights and barons, struck with the mis- 
 fortunes that threatened the Christian soldiers, pressed the 
 king to abandon his army, and save his person and the cross 
 of Christ. Young Baldwin rejected the advice of his faithful 
 barons, and insisted upon sharing all their perils. 
 
 As soon as the order for retreat was given, the Mussul- 
 mans, with loud cries, set out in pursuit of the Christians. 
 The soldiers of Jerusalem closed their ranks, and marched in 
 silence, sword in hand, bearing away their wounded and dead. 
 The Saracens, who could not shake or break through their 
 enemy, and who, in their pursuit, found no trace of carnage, 
 believed they were actually JBghting against men of iron. 
 The region which the Christians were traversing was covered 
 with heath, thistles, and other plants dried hj the heat of 
 the summer. The Saracens set fire to these ; the wind bore 
 the flames and smoke towards the Christian army, and the 
 Franks marched over a burning plain, with clouds of smoke, 
 ashes, and dust floating over and aroimd them. William of 
 Tyre, in his history, compares them to smiths, to such a 
 degree were their clothes and their faces blackened by the 
 fire which devoui'ed the plain. The knights, the soldiers, 
 and the people who followed the army, gathered in a crowd 
 around the bishop of Nazareth, who bore the wood of the 
 true cross, and conjured him with tears to put an end by 
 his prayers to calamities they were no longer able to bear. 
 
 The bishop of Nazareth, touched by their despair, raised 
 the cross, imploring the mercy of Heaven, — and, at the 
 moment the direction of the wind was changed. The flames 
 and the smoke which desolated the Christians were imme- 
 diately wafted against the Mussulmans. The Eranks pur- 
 sued their march, persuaded that God had wrought a miracle 
 to save them. A knight, whom they had never before seen, 
 mounted on a white horse, and bearing a red standard, 
 preceded the Christian army, and conducted it out of 
 danger. The people and the soldiers took him for an angel
 
 S20 KDROET OF THE CBrSJLDBS. 
 
 £rom heaven, and his miraculous presence re-animated their 
 stzcngth and. their courage. At length the army of Baldwin, 
 after haTing undergone sSL sorts of misery, returned to 
 Jerusalem, where the inhabitants rejoiced at its arrival, 
 singing iheae words from the Scriptures, — " I/et u^ give 
 amrtelce^ wp to joy, for tliM peopJ-e thai u-a-s dead is resivs- 
 cxtated; it wa^ lost, and behold h^re it is fouiid againr 
 
 But whilst the inhabitants of Jerusalem were rejoicing at 
 tiie return of their warriors, the Christian states lost one 
 of tlieir most important places, and experienced an irre- 
 parable misfortune. Zengui, whom the caliph of Bagdad 
 and all true Mussulmans considered as the buckler and the 
 support of Islamism, extended his empire from Mossoul to 
 Hie fiontiers of Damascus, and was continuing without 
 intermission the course of his victories and conquests. The 
 Christians made no effort to stop the progress of so redoubt- 
 able a poww. Zengui, who united -vvith bravery all the 
 Feaomoes of a skilful policy, left them in a deceitftil security, 
 and determined only to awaken them from their long sleep 
 when he had it in his power to give a mortal blow to their 
 empire. He knew, by experience, that nothing was more 
 £ital to the Christians than too long a repose ; the Franks, 
 who owed ereiything to their arms, were almost always 
 weakened by peace, and when not fighting against the 
 Saracens, generally fell out among themselves. 
 
 The kingdom of Jerusalem had two formidable barriers, 
 tbe prindpaUty of Antioch and the county of Edessa. 
 Saymondof Poictiers defended the Orontes from the invasion 
 of the Saracens, and old Josselia de Courtenay had been for 
 a long time the tearrM* of the infidels on the banks of the 
 ^Ei^hrates; but he was recently dead. He had fought to his 
 last breath, and even on his bed of death made his arms and 
 his bravet^' respected. 
 
 Josselin was besieging a castle near Aleppo, when a tower 
 fell down neso* him and covCTed him with its ruins. He was 
 txanspoorted in a dving state to Edessa, and as he lay lan- 
 gnishing on his bed, expecting nothing but death, it was 
 announced to him that the sultan of Iconium had laid siege 
 to one of his strong places ; upon which he sent for his son 
 and commanded him to go instantly and attack the enemy. 
 Young Josaelin hesitated, and represented to his father that 
 
 I
 
 HI5T0EY or THE CEUSADES. 321 
 
 he tad not a gtifficient number of troops to meet tte Turks. 
 The old warrior, who had never acknowledged the existence 
 of obstacles, was determined before he died to leave an exam- 
 ple to his son, and caused himself to be borne in a litttr at 
 the head of his soldiers. As they approached the besieged 
 citj, he was informed that the Turks had retired, whereupon 
 he ordered his litter to stop, raised his eves towards heaven 
 as if to return thanks for the flight of the Saracens, and 
 expired surrounded by his faithful warriors. 
 
 His mortal remains were transported to Edessa, the inha- 
 bitants of which citT came out to meet and join the funeral 
 procession, which presented a most affecting spectacle. Here 
 were to be seen the mourning soldiers baring the coffin of 
 their chief; and there a whole people lamenting the loss of 
 their support and defender, and celebrating the last victory 
 of a Christian hero. 
 
 Old Josselin died deploring the fate of Edessa, about to 
 be governed by a weak and pusillanimous prince : for from 
 his childhood the son of Courtenay had been addicted to 
 drunkenness and debaucherv. In an asre and a countrv in 
 which these vices were sufficiently common, the excesses of 
 young Josselin had frequently scandalized the Christian 
 "w^uriors. As soon as he was master, he quitted the citv of 
 Edessa, to take up his abode at TurbesseL a delicious retreat 
 on the banks of the Euphrates. There, entirelv abandoned 
 to his vicious inclinations, he neglected the pav of his troops 
 and the fortifications of his forts, equally heedless of the 
 cares of government and the menaces of the Saracens. 
 
 Zengui had been for a length of time watching for a 
 favourable opportunity of surprising the citv of Edessa ; as 
 this conquest would not only flatter his pride and ambition, 
 but would render him dearer to all the disciples of Mahomet. 
 In order to retain Josselin in his £incied securitv, the prince 
 of Mossoul feigned to make war against the Saracens ; but 
 at the moment he was supposed to be most busiiv engaged 
 in an attack upon several Mussulman castles in the east of 
 Mesopotamia, he appeared at the head of a formidable army 
 before the walls of Edessa.* A great number of Cnrds and 
 
 * Kemaleddin, an Arabian historian, and William of Tyre agree as to 
 the priadpal drcamsianoes oi tlus sieige.
 
 322 nisTOET OF the cbusades. 
 
 Turcomans, wandering and barbarous tribes, bad joined bis 
 standard, attracted by tbe bopes of a ricb booty. At tbe 
 lii'st signal given by Zengui, the city was suiTounded on all 
 sides ; seven enormous wooden towers were raised higher 
 than the rampai^ts ; numbers of formidable machines un- 
 ceasinglv battered the walls, or hurled into the city stones, 
 iavelins. and inflammable matters ; whilst the foundations of 
 the towers of the fortifications were being undermined by 
 the infidels. The walls, which were only supported by 
 slight, ill-fixed posts, were falling to pieces, and, covering 
 the earth with their ruins, seemed ready to offer an easy 
 passage to the Mussulman soldiers. 
 
 AVhen on the point to give the signal for destruction, the 
 fierce Mussulmans stopped, and summoned the city to sur- 
 render. The sight of the death which threatened them did 
 not at all weaken the courage of the inhabitants, and they 
 answered that they would all perish sooner than give up a 
 Christian city to the iofidels. They exhorted each other to 
 merit the cro^vn of martyrdom : " Let us not fear," said they, 
 " these stones launched agaiast our towers and our houses ; 
 he who made the firmament, and created legions of angels, 
 defends us agaiast his enemies, or prepares us an abode in 
 heaven." Animated by such discourses, the inhabitants of 
 Edessa exerted themselves to destroy the towers and the 
 works of the besiegers, the hopes of beiug succoured re- 
 doubliag their zeal and courage. They expected, says an 
 Armenian author, assistance from a nation which they called 
 the valiant, and every day looked to see, from the height of 
 their walls, the standards of the victorious Franks. 
 
 The hoped-for succoui's were vainly expected. "When 
 Josselin learnt the danger of his capital, he aroused himself 
 from his sloth, and sent information of it to Ea}TQond of 
 Poictiers, and the queen regent of Jerusalem. But the 
 prince of Antioch, who disliked Josselin, refused to assist 
 Edessa, and the troops of Jerusalem, although set forward 
 on their march, could not arrive in time. Josselin ought to 
 have devoted himself to repair the consequences of his faults, 
 but he had not the courage to seek death under the walls of a 
 city he could not save, and whose defence he had neglected. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth day of the siege, several towers feU 
 dcwn with a horrible crash ; and Zengui at once ordered his 
 
 >
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CRUSADES. 323 
 
 anny to enter the place. To paint the frightful scenes of 
 this last attack, I must borrow tiie words of a contemporary- 
 author : — " The moment at which the sun began to shine 
 above the horizon, appeared like a night illumined by the 
 fires of the storm. As soon as the ramparts and towers 
 fell, all the city was filled with terror. Nevertheless the 
 defenders of Edessa thought not, for a moment, of flight, 
 but all joined in the cry of the brave, conquer or die. 
 Some employed themselves in propping up the walls, whilst 
 others boldly flew to meet the enemy ; the clergy, clothed in 
 helmet and cuirass, marching at their head. The bishops, 
 bearing each a cross in his hands, bestowed their benedic- 
 tions on the people and animated them to the fight." 
 
 The enemy advanced uttering frightful cries ; even amidst 
 the din of a general assault, the voices of the Saracen 
 heralds-at-arms were heard encouraging the soldiers, and 
 promising the pillage of the city to the conquerors. Then, 
 to employ the expression of an Armenian poet, the pusilla- 
 nimous were seen shedding torrents of tears, whilst the 
 brave, heedless of the stroke of the sabre, rushed amidst the 
 ranks of the Mussulmans. 
 
 Neither prodigies of valour, nor the last efibrts of despair 
 could save the city or its inhabitants. A great part of the 
 Mussulman army was already in the place ; and all who 
 crossed the steps of the conquerors fell beneath the sword. 
 Most of those who sought safety in the citadel, found death 
 under its ramparts, and were trampled upon and stifled by 
 the crowd. The city of Edessa presented, everywhere, the 
 most lamentable scenes ; some fell whilst flying, and died, 
 crushed to death by the feet of the horses ; whilst others, 
 hastening to the succour of their friends and neighbours, 
 were themselves slaughtered by the barbarians. Neither 
 the weakness of a timid sex, nor age on the brink of the 
 tomb ; neither the cries of infants, nor the screams of young 
 girls who sought safety in the arms, or beneath the garments 
 of their parents, coidd abate the rage of the Saracens. They 
 whom the sword had not yet reached, looked for nothing but 
 death ; some crept to the churches to await it, and died em- 
 bracing the altars of Christ ; whilst others, yielding to their 
 despair, remained motionless in their houses, where they 
 were massacred with their families.
 
 324 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 The citadel soon surrendered ; the soldiers who defended 
 it only asking their lives ; but, notwithstanding the capitula- 
 tion, many were put to the sword. A great part of the 
 priests who had survived the carnage were condemned to 
 slaverv ; an Armenian patriarch was stripped of his vest- 
 ments, dragged through the streets, and beaten with rods. 
 Matthew of Edessa, one of the most celebrated historians 
 of Armenia, fell under the sword of the Mussulmans. Hugh, 
 a Latin archbishop, ha^'ing endeavoured to escape, was, with 
 aU his clergy, slaughtered by the infidels. His treasures, 
 which he carried with him, and which might have been use- 
 fiillv employed for the defence of the city, became the prey 
 of the enemy. Pious historians impute the fall of Edessa 
 to the avarice of this prelate, and appear to beheve that he 
 was punished in another world for having preferred his gold 
 to the safety of his fellow- citizens.* 
 
 "WTien the Mussulmans had become masters of the citadel, 
 their priests ascended the steeples of the churches to pro- 
 claim these words : '' Oh Mahomet ! prophet of heaven, we 
 have gained a sreat victorv in thv name : we have destroved 
 the people that worshipped stone, and torrents of blood 
 have been shed to make thy law triumph." After this pro- 
 clamation, the Saracens redoubled their excesses. The 
 Gazis or conquerors satiated themselves with blood ; the 
 dead bodies were mutilated, and their heads sent to Bagdad; 
 and even to Ivhorasan. All who remained ahve in the city 
 of Edessa were treated as a flock of animals, and sold in the 
 pubhc places. The Christians, loaded "with chains, after 
 having lost their propeiiy, their country, and their liberty, 
 had the still further grief of seeing their religion, which was 
 aU they had left to console them in their misfortunes, made a 
 subject of ridicule by the infidels. The churches were plun- 
 dered of their ornaments, and the sanctuarv became the 
 scene of the most shocking debaucheries. Many of the 
 
 * We have before us in manuscript some historical and geographical 
 notes upon the city of Edessa, communicated to us by M. J. Chaban de 
 Cerbied, an Armenian professor. This work is rendered more valuable 
 bv M. J. Chahan de Cerbied's (its author) being born at Edessa, where 
 he passed many years. These notes are to be published in a general 
 picture of Armenia, which will not fail to attract the atteation of the 
 learned.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 325 
 
 faithful whom the horrors of war had spared, could not sup- 
 port the sight of such profanations, and died with despair. * 
 
 Thus a city, whose citadel, ramparts, and position on two 
 mountains, rendered one of the strongest places in Asia, fell 
 into the power of the Mussulmans. The traditions of reli- 
 gion and history carry back its origin to the highest anti- 
 quity. Narses, in a path^ic elegy, deplores the faU of this 
 celebrated city, and makes itself speak of its ancient splen- 
 dour.t " I was," says she, " as a queen in the midst of her 
 court ; sixty towns standing around me formed my train ; 
 my numerous children passed their days in pleasures ; the 
 fertility of my fields, the freshness of my limpid waters, and 
 the beauty of my palaces were admired ; my altars, loaded 
 with treasures, shed their splendour afar, and appeared to be 
 the abode of angels. I surpassed in magnificence the proud- 
 est cities of Asia, and I was as a celestial edifice built upon 
 the bosom of the earth." 
 
 The conquest of Edessa exalted the pride of the Saracens. 
 The caliph of Bagdad ordered that the barbarous destroyer of 
 the Christians should be named in the public prayers of the 
 
 * The greater part of the Arabian historians assert that Zengui sought 
 to repair the evils his army had caused to the inhabitants of Edessa. 
 Keinaleddin relates the following anecdote on this subject, which makes 
 us at the same time acquainted with the Mussulman spirit of history and 
 manners. We will transcribe the Latin extract from Dom. Berthereau : 
 — Norredinus ingressus est urbem, diripuit earn, incolas jugo captivitatis 
 submisit ; illis evacuata fuit urbs, pauci tantum remanserunt. Ex cap- 
 tivis unam misit ancillam Norredinus ad Zeineddinum Ali Koudgoucum, 
 pro rege, patris sui in Mosula inter muneraquse ad eum misit ; quamcum 
 vidisset ille, statim ilia usus est ; lavit se postea, dixitque suis : Nostisne 
 quid mihi hac die accident ? Dixerunt, non. Dixit : Cum Roham 
 cepimus, regnante Zengui, inter res raptas in manus meas incidit ancilla 
 pulchra, ejusque pulchritudo mihi admodiim placuit ; ad earn declinavit 
 cor meum, statimque jussu Zengui martyris fuit inclamatum : Redde 
 servos opesque raptas. Metuendus porro erat et reverendus ; ancillam 
 reddidi, ei vero semper adhaesit cor meum : nove vero misit mihi dona 
 Norredinus, quae inter, ancillas misit plures, quas inter eamdem ancillam. 
 Coitu earn subegi, ne adhuc etiam toUetur. — Kemaleddin, Hist, de Halep. 
 p. 62, translation of Dom. Berthereau. 
 
 t M. Cerbied has translated this piece into French, which for several 
 reasons deserves to be known. This poem, in seven cantos, was com- 
 posed by Narses-le-Beau, the Armenian patriarch of the city of Edessa, 
 to console his fellow-citizens in their misfortune, and arouse the zeal of 
 the defenders of the Christian religion against the Turks.
 
 326 HisTOEY or the ceusades. 
 
 Fridays, and that the whole ^lussulinan people should offer up 
 thanks to Heaven for his ^-ictories. Zengui left some troops 
 in the conquered city, and pursued the course of his triiunphs ; 
 but fortune did not permit him to finish that which he had 
 beo-un. He was besieo:ino: the castle of Schabar, in Meso- 
 potamia, when he was assassinated by some slaves whom ill- 
 treatment had irritated. The news of his death consoled 
 the Clu-istians for their defeats, alid they expressed a joy as 
 immoderate as if they had beheld the whole power of the 
 ^Mussulmans fall at once. But this joy was of very short 
 duration, for abundance of new enemies and new misfor- 
 tunes soon followed to overwhelm them. 
 
 Josselin, who had taken advantage of the troubles which 
 ensued upon the death of the prince of Mossoul to retake 
 the citv of Edessa, ill-guarded by tlie Mussidmans, found 
 himself unexpectedly besieged by Xoureddin, the second son 
 of Zengui. Xoureddin had received, as his share of the 
 
 O ... 
 
 heritage of his father, the principality of Aleppo, and was 
 easfer to signalize his zeal against the Christians. Josselin 
 and his companions, who had surprised the city of Edessa 
 amidst the darkness of night, were wanting in machines of 
 war to besiege and get possession of the citadel. ~\Vhen the 
 citv was invested by the prince of Aleppo, the Christian 
 warriors who were placed between the garrison of the for- 
 tress and the ^Jussulman army, saw at once the danger of 
 their position. As in desperate circumstances, a thousand 
 resolutions are, by turns, formed and rejected ; whilst they 
 deliberated, the enemy pressed and tlu'eatened them.- There 
 soon remained no safety for them in a citv which they had 
 entered as conquerors ; and, after ha\'ing braved death to 
 get possession of it, they decided upon facing equal perils to 
 get out of it. The soldiers of Josselin, consisting of Chris- 
 tians who had gathered to the city, and of the small number 
 of inliabitants who had survived the massacre of their bre- 
 thren, had now nothing left but their endeavours to escape 
 tlie barbarity of the Mussulmans. They made their prepa- 
 rations for flight in silence ; the gates were opened in the 
 middle of the night, and eveiw one bearing away that which 
 he esteemed most valuable, a weeping crowd pressed along 
 the streets. Already a great number of these unhappy 
 fugitives had passed the gates of the city, headed by the
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 327 
 
 warriors commanded by Josselin, and had advanced into the 
 plain where the Saracens were encamped, when the garrison 
 of the citadel, warned by the tumult, made a sortie, and 
 uniting themselves with the soldiers of Noureddin, who 
 hastened towards the city, gained possession of the gates 
 by which the Christians were issuing. Many severe con- 
 flicts were here maintained, of which darkness increased the 
 horrors. The Christians succeeded in opening themselves 
 a passage, and spread themselves about in the neighbouring 
 fields. They who carried arms united in battalions, and en- 
 deavoured to pass through the camp of the enemy ; whilst 
 others, separated from the troop of warriors, went on at 
 hazard, wandered about the plains, and everywhere found 
 death following their footsteps. Whilst relating the events 
 of this horrible night, William of Tyre cannot restrain his 
 tears. " Oh disastrous night ! " cries the historian Aboul- 
 farage, " da^-n of hell, day without pity, day of misfortune 
 which arose upon the children of a city formerly worthy of 
 envy! " In Edessa, out of Edessa, nothing was heard but 
 cries of death. The warriors who had formed battalions, 
 after having pierced through the army of the infidels, were 
 pursued as far as the banks of the Euphrates, and the roads 
 were strewed with their remains, their arms, and their bag- 
 gage. Only a thousand of them succeeded in gaining the 
 city of Samosata, which received them within its walls, and 
 deplored their misfortunes, without being able to avenge 
 them. 
 
 History relates that more than thirty thousand Christians 
 were slaughtered by the soldiers of Zengui and Noureddin. 
 Sixteen thousand were made prisoners, and dragged out 
 their lives in misery and slavery. Noureddin in his ven- 
 geance did not spare either the ramparts or buildings of a 
 rebel city ; he razed the towers, the citadel, and the churches 
 of Edessa to the ground. He banished all the Christians 
 from it, and left nothing but a few mendicants to dwell 
 amidst the ruins of their country. 
 
 Zengiii had been considered as a saint, as a warrior 
 beloved by Mahomet, for having conquered the city of 
 Edessa ; the blood-stained expedition of Noureddin rendered 
 him dear to the Mussulmans, contributed much to the exten- 
 sion of his renown and his power, and already the Imans
 
 328 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 and the poets promised to his arms the much more glorious 
 conquest of Jerusalem. 
 
 The inhabitants of Jerusalem and other Christian cities 
 shed tears of despair on learning the fall and destruction of 
 Edessa, sinister presages adding much to the terror which 
 the news from the banks of the Euphrates inspired them 
 ^vith. Thunder fell upon the churches of the Holy Sepul- 
 chre and Mount Sion ; a comet with shining hair was seen 
 in the heavens, and spread general consternation ; several 
 other signs appeared, says William of Tyre, contrary to cus- 
 tom, and out of time, indicative of future things. As a 
 c^o^vning misfortune, Eodolphe, chancellor of Jerusalem, 
 was taken by force to the siege of Tyre, and scandal pre- 
 vailed in the sanctuary. All the faithful of the East were 
 persuaded that Heaven had declared itself against them, and 
 that horrible calamities were about to fall upon the Christian 
 people.
 
 BOOK VL 
 
 SECOND CRUSADE. 
 
 A.D. 1142—1148. 
 
 The Christian colonies, threatened by the Mussuhnans, 
 called upon the princes of Europe to assist them. The 
 bishop of Gaballa in Syria, accompanied by a great number 
 of priests and knights, repaired to Yiterbo, where the sove- 
 reign pontiff then resided. The recitals of the Christian 
 embassy not only caused tears to flow from the eyes of the 
 chief of the faithful ; the misfortunes of Edessa, and the 
 impending dangers of Jerusalem excited universal commise- 
 ration and dread. Cries of alarm were raised throughout 
 Europe. Eorty-five years had passed away since the deli- 
 verance of the Holy Sepulchre, yet the minds of men were 
 not at all changed, and eagerly, as at the first crusade, they 
 flew to arms. In this instance it was principally the voice 
 of St. Bernard that excited the nations and kings of Chris- 
 tendom to range themselves under the banners of the cross. 
 Born of a noble family of Burgundy, St. Bernard, whilst yet 
 in the dawn of manhood, had, with thirty relations and com- 
 panions whom his discourses and his example* influenced, 
 secluded himself in the monastery of Citteaux. He was 
 sent two years after to Clairvaux, a then unknown retreat, 
 which he Advified with his presence, and rendered one of the 
 most celebrated monasteries of Christendom. Many of the 
 most learned doctors consulted the wisdom of the abbot of 
 
 * Godfrey, who was abbot of Clairvaux after St. Bernard, has left us 
 a life of this saint, in which he does not speak of the crusade ; the reason 
 of this is that St. Bernard was reproached with the crusade, and that his 
 panegj'rist thence thouf^ht proper to pass over this remarkable epoch. 
 We have several other lives of St. Bernard ; the best and most complete 
 is that which is printed in La France Litteraire.
 
 330 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 Clairvaux, and several councils bowed to his decisions. By 
 the power of his eloquence alone he humbled the anti-pope 
 Leo, and placed Innocent II. in the chair of St. Peter. 
 Pope Innocent III. and Abbot Suger were his disciples. 
 Prelates, princes, and monarchs glorified themselves in fol- 
 lowing his counsels, believing that God spoke by his mouth. 
 
 "When the ambassadors from the East arrived in Europe, 
 Louis YII. had just ascended the throne of France. The 
 reign of this young monarch begau under the most happy 
 auspices. Most of the great vassals who had revolted 
 against the roval authority had laid down their arms and 
 renounced their pretensions. By a marriage with the 
 dau2:hter of AVilliam IX., Louis had added the duchy of 
 Aquitaine to his kingdom. France, in her enlarged con- 
 dition, had nothing to fear from neighbouring states, and 
 whilst civil wars were desolating both England and Grer- 
 many, she flourished in peace under the administration of 
 Suger. 
 
 Peace was not for a moment disturbed but by the unjust 
 pretensions of the pope and bv the intrigues of Thibaut, 
 count of Champagne, who took advantage of the ascendancy 
 he had over the clergy to direct the thunders of the Church 
 against his sovereign. Louis resisted the attempts of the 
 Holy See ^vith firmness, and was determined to punish a 
 rebellious and dangerous vassal. Urged on by a spirit of 
 blind revenge, he carried fire and sword through the states 
 of Thibaut ; he besieged A'itri ; was himself first in the 
 assault, and put to the sword every inhabitant to be met 
 with in the city. A great number of persons of all ages 
 had taken refuge in a church, hoping to find the altar a 
 secure asylum against the anger of a Christian prince ; but 
 Louis set fire to the church, and thirteen hundred people 
 perished in the flames. An action so barbarous spread ter- 
 ror among the nation whom Louis was appointed to render 
 happv ; when he returned from this expedition to his capi- 
 tal, the people received him in melancholy silence ; his 
 ministers allowed him to read their regret in the dejection 
 of their countenances ; and St. Bernard, like another Am- 
 brosius, boldly compelled him to hear the complaints of 
 religion and outraged humanity. 
 
 In an eloquent letter, he represented to the monarch the
 
 HISTOKY OF THE CRTTSADES. 331 
 
 country desolated, and pointed to the Church despised and 
 trampled under foot. "I will fight for her," he said, "to 
 the death ; but instead of bucklers and swords, I will em- 
 ploy the arms which become me — my tears and my sprayers 
 to Gody At the voice of the holy abbot, Louis became 
 sensible of his error ; and the dread of the anger of Heaven 
 made such a lively impression upon his mind, that he sank 
 into a deep and alarming depression. He believed he saw 
 the hand of God ready to strike him; he renounced all 
 pleasures, and abandoned even the care of his authority, in 
 order to devote himself to grief and tears. The abbot of 
 Clairvaux, who had awakened his remorse, was obliged to 
 calm his spirits and reanimate his courage, by representing 
 to him the great mercy of Grod. The king of Prance re- 
 covered from his remorseless dejection ; but as in the 
 opinion of his age great crimes could only be absolved by 
 a voyage to the Holy Land, his earnest desire to expiate 
 the tragical death of the inhabitants of Yitri made him form 
 the resolution of going to combat against the infidels. 
 
 Louis YII. convoked an assembly at Bourges, at which he 
 made his project known to the principal nobility and the 
 clergy. Grodfrey, bishop of Langres, applauded his zeal, 
 and in a pathetic discourse deplored the captivity of Edessa, 
 and the dangers and disasters of the Eastern Christians. 
 His eloquence moved his auditors-; but the oracle of the 
 assembly, he who held all hearts in his hand, had not yet 
 spoken. Whether that he was yet not convinced of the 
 utility of the crusade, or that he was desirous of giving it 
 more solemnity, St. Bernard advised the king of Erance to 
 consult the Holy See before he undertook anj^thing. This 
 advice was generally approved of. Louis sent ambassadors 
 to Rome, and resolved to convoke a new assembly as soon 
 as he should have received the answer of the sovereign 
 pontiff. 
 
 Eugenius III., who then filled the chair of St. Peter, had 
 already in several of his letters solicited the assistance of 
 the faithful against the Saracens. The Holy See had never 
 had stronger motives for the preaching of a crusade. A 
 spirit of sedition and heresy was beginning to insinuate 
 itself among the people, and even among the clergy of the 
 West, threatening at the same time the power of the popea 
 
 Vol. L— 16
 
 332 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 and the doctrines of the Church. Eugenius had to contend 
 against the troubles excited by Arnold of Bressia; and 
 nothing was talked of in the capital of the Christian world 
 but rebuilding the Capitol, and substituting for the pontifical 
 authoritv that of the consuls and tribunes of ancient Eome. 
 In such a state of things, a great event like that of a crusade 
 was hkelv to turn men's minds from dansrerous novelties, 
 and make them rallv round the sanctuarv. The sovereiom 
 pontiif could not avoid seeing in a holy war the double 
 advantage of defending Jerusalem against the enterprises of 
 the Saracens, and the Chui'ch and himself against the attacks 
 of heretics and innovators. Eugenius congratulated the 
 king of Prance on his pious determination, and bj his 
 letters again exhorted all Christians to assume the cross 
 and take up arms, promising them the same privileges and 
 the same rewards that Urban II. had granted to the war- 
 riors of the first crusade. Detained in Italy, where he was 
 engaged m appeasmg the troubles of Eome, he regretted 
 not being able, as Urban had done, to cross the Alps, and 
 reanimate the zeal of the faitliful by his presence and his 
 discourses ; but he confided to St. Bernard the honourable 
 mission of preaching the crusade in France and G-ermany. 
 
 After having received the approbation of the Holy See, 
 Louis convoked a new assembly at Yezelai, a little city of 
 Burgundy ; and the reputation of St. Bernard and the letters 
 addressed by the pope to all Christendom, drew to this 
 assembly a great number of nobles, knights, prelates, and 
 men of all conditions. On the Palm-Sunday, after having 
 invoked the Holy Grhost, all who had come to hear the abbot 
 of Clairvaux repaired to the side of a hill just without the 
 gates of the city. A large tribune was erected, in which 
 the king in his royal robes, and St. Bernard in the humble 
 costume of a cenobite, were saluted bv the acclamations of 
 an immense multitude. The orator of the crusade first read • 
 the letters of the sovereign pontift', and then spoke to his 
 auditors of the taking of Edessa by the Saracens, and of the 
 desolation of the holy places. He showed them the universe 
 plunged in terror on learning that God had begun to desert 
 his beloved land ;* he represented to them the city of Sion as 
 
 * Commota est quidem et contremuit terra, quia coepit Deus coeli per- 
 dere terram suam. — St. Bernard, epist, cccxxii.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 333 
 
 imploring their succour, Christ as ready to immoLkte himself 
 a second time for them, and the heavenly Jerusalem opening 
 all its gates to receive the glorious martyrs of the faith. 
 "You cannot but know," said he to them, "we live in a 
 period of chastisement and ruin ; the enemy of mankind has 
 caused the breath of corruption to fly over all regions ; we 
 behold nothing but unpunished wickedness. The laws of 
 men or the laws of religion have no longer sufficient power 
 to check depravity of manners and the triumph of the wicked. 
 The demon of heresy has taken possession of the chair of 
 truth, and God has sent forth his malediction upon his sanc- 
 tuary. Oh, ye who listen to me ! hasten then to appease 
 the anger of Heaven, but no longer implore his goodness by 
 vain complaints ; clothe not yourselves in sackcloth, but cover 
 yourselves with your impenetrable bucklers ; the din of arms, 
 the dangers, the labours, the fatigues of war are the penances 
 that Grod now imposes on you. Hasten then to expiate your 
 sins by victories over the infidels, and let the deliverance of 
 the holy places be the reward of your repentance." 
 
 These words of the orator excited the greatest enthusiasm 
 in the assembly of the faithful, and, like Urban at the coun- 
 cil of Clermont, St. Bernard was interrupted by the repeated 
 cries of ^^ It is the will of God! It is the will of God V 
 Then raising his voice, as if he had been the interpreter of 
 the will of Heaven, he promised them, in the name of Grod, 
 success to their holy expedition, and thus continued his 
 discourse : — 
 
 " If it were announced to you that the enemy had in- 
 vaded your cities, your castles, and your lands, had ravished 
 your wives and your daughters, and profaned your temples, 
 which among you would not fly to arms ? AVell, then, all 
 these calamities, and calamities still greater, have fallen upon 
 your brethren, upon the family of Jesus Christ, which is 
 yours. Why do you hesitate to repair so many evils — to 
 revenge so many outrages ? Will you allow the infidels to 
 contemplate in peace the ravages they have committed on 
 Christian people ? Eemember that their triumph will be a 
 subject for grief to all ages, and an eternal opprobrium upon 
 the generation that has endured it. Yes, the living Grod has 
 charged me to announce to you that he will punish them 
 who shall not have defended him against his enemies. Fly
 
 334 nisTOKY or the ceusaues. 
 
 then to arms ; let a liolr rage animate you in the fight ; and 
 let the Christian world resound with these words of the 
 prophet, ' Cursed he Tie who does 'not stain his sword tvith 
 hlood ! ' If the Lord calls jou to the defence of his heri- 
 tage, think not that his hand has lost its power.* Could he 
 not send twelve legions of angels, or breathe one word, and 
 all his enemies would crumble away into dust ? But God 
 has considered the sons of men, to open for them the road 
 to his mercy. His goodness has caused to dawn for you a 
 day of safety, by calling on you to avenge his glory and his 
 name. Christian wamors, he who gave his life for you, to- 
 day demands yours in return. These are combats worthy of 
 you, combats in which it is glorious to conquer, and advan- 
 tageous to die. Illustrious knights, generous defenders of 
 the cross, remember the example of your fathers who con- 
 quered Jerusalem, and whose names are inscribed in heaven; 
 abandon then the things that perish to gather eternal palms, 
 and conquer a kingdom which has no end." 
 
 All the barons and knights applauded the eloquence of St. 
 Bernard, and were persuaded that he had but uttered the 
 will of Grod. Louis YII., deeply moved by the words he 
 had heard, cast himself, in the presence of all the people, 
 at the feet of St. Bernard and demanded the Cross. Clothed 
 with this revered sign, he himself addressed the assembly of 
 the faithful, to exhort them to follow his example. In his 
 discourse he showed them the impious Philistine casting op- 
 probrium upon the house of Da\'id, and reminded them of the 
 holy determination which God himself had inspired in him. 
 He invoked, in the name of the Christians of the East, the aid 
 of that generous nation of which he was the chief ; of that 
 nation which would not endure shame when directed at 
 itself or its allies, and which always carried terror amidst 
 the enemies of its worship or its glory. At this discourse 
 the whole auditory was melted in tears. The touching piety 
 of the monarch persuaded all who had not been convinced 
 by the eloquence of St. Bernard. The hill upon which this 
 vast multitude was assembled, resounded for a length of 
 time with the cries of ^^ It is the will of God! It is the 
 
 * Nunquid potest mittere angelorura plusquam duodecim legiones, aut 
 certe dicere verbo, et liberabitur terra sua .'* — St. Bernard, epist. cccxxii.
 
 HISTOIir OF THE CHUSADES. 335 
 
 loillof God!'' and ''the Cross! tlie Cross!'' Eleanor of 
 Guienne, who accompanied Louis, received, as his wife, the 
 sign of the cross from the hands of the abbot of Clairvaux. 
 Alphonso, count of St. Gilles de Thoulouse, Henry, son of 
 Thibaut, count of Champagne, Thieri, count of Elanders, 
 William of Nevers, Kenaud, count de Tenniere, Yves, count 
 de Soissons, William, count de Panthien, William, count de 
 Varennes, Archanbaud de Bourbon, Enguerard de Coucy, 
 Hugh de Lusignan, the count de Dreux, brother of the 
 king, his uncle the count de Maurinne, and a crowd of 
 barons and knights followed the example of Louis and 
 Eleanor. Several bishops, among whom history remarks 
 Simon, bishop of ISToyon, Grodfrey, bishop of Langres, Alain, 
 bishop of Arras, and Arnold, bishop of Lisieux, threw them- 
 selves at the feet of St. Bernard, taking the oath to fight 
 against the infidels. The crosses which the abbot of Clair- 
 vaux had brought were not sufiicient for the great number 
 who claimed them. He tore his vestments to make more, 
 and several of those who surrounded him, in their turns, 
 tore their clothes into strips in order to satisfy the impa- 
 tience of all the faithful whom he had inflamed with a desire 
 for the holy war. 
 
 To preserve the memory of this day. Pons, abbot of Veze- 
 lai, founded upon the hill where the knights and barons had 
 assembled, a church, which he dedicated to the holy cross.f 
 The tribune, from the top of which St. Bernard had preached 
 the crusade, remained there a long time the object of the 
 veneration of the faithful. 
 
 After the assembly of Yezelai, the abbot of Clairvaux 
 continued to preach the crusade in the cities and neighbour- 
 ing countries. Prance soon resounded with the fame of the 
 miracles by which Grod seemed to authorize and consecrate, 
 in some sort, his mission. He was everywhere considered 
 as the messenger of Heaven, as another Moses, who was to 
 conduct the people of Grod. All the Christians were per- 
 suaded that the success of the enterprise depended upon St. 
 Bernard, and in an assembly held at Chartres, in which were 
 met several barons and princes, illustrious by their exploits, 
 
 * The pulpit from which St. Bernard preached the crusade remained in 
 the church of Vezelai until the period of the revolution of 1789.
 
 336 nisroET of the csrsADEs. 
 
 it ^vas resolved by unanimous consent, to give him the com- 
 mand of the holy war. The Crusaders, they said, could 
 never fail to be victorious under the laws of a leader to 
 whom God appeared to have coniided his omnipotence. The 
 abbot of Clairvaux, who remembered the example of Peter 
 the hei-mit, refused the perilous employment with which 
 thev desired to honour him ; he was even so much terri- 
 fied by the pressing entreaties of the barons and knights, 
 that he addressed himself to the pope, and conjured the 
 sovereign pontiff not to abandon him to the fantasies of men. 
 
 The pope answered St. Bernard that he only need arm 
 himself with the sword of the word of God, and content him- 
 self with sounding the evangelical trumpet to announce the 
 war. The abbot of Clairvaux employed himself in nothing 
 thereafter, but his mission ; and he acquitted himself with 
 so much zeal, and his preachings produced such an extraor- 
 dinary, and I will venture to add, so unfortunate an effect, 
 that they depopulated cities and countries. He wrote to 
 Pope Eugenius : " The villages and the castles are deserted ; 
 and there are none left hut widows and orphans, ivhose hus- 
 bands and parents are still living.''^ 
 
 "While St. Bernard was thus preaching the crusade in the 
 pro"vinces of Prance, a German monk, named Eodolphe, ex- 
 horted the people of the Ehine to massacre the Jews, whom 
 he represented in his vehement discourses as the allies of the 
 Saracens, and the most dangerous enemies of the Christian 
 religion. The abbot of Clairvaux fearing the effect of these 
 preachings, hastened into Germany to impose silence on this 
 seditious apostle of the holy war. As the German monk 
 had flattered the passions of the multitude, St. Bernard re- 
 quired all the ascendancy of liis virtue and his fame to com- 
 bat his doctrines. He ventured to raise his voice in the 
 midst of an -irritated people, and to make them feel that 
 Christians ought not to persecute Jews, but pray to Heaven 
 for their con\'ersion ; that it belonged to Christian piety to 
 pardon the weak, and make war against the exalted and 
 proud. The preacher of the crusade at length silenced the 
 turbulent orator, and sent him back to his monastery, re- 
 minding him that the duty of monks was not to preach, but 
 to weep ; that they ought to consider cities as jy^^i^ons, and 
 solitude as their paradise.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 337 
 
 This action of St. Bernard,* wMch was scarcely observed in 
 his own barbarous age, and which has been turned into ridi- 
 cule in ours, does honour to his character, and may excuse 
 the extravagant zeal he displayed for a disastrous war. 
 AVhen he arrived in Grermany, the Grermanic empire was be- 
 ginning to breathe after the long troubles that had followed 
 the election of Lothaii'e. Conrad III., clothed with the 
 purple, had just convoked a general diet at Spires. The 
 abbot of Clairvaux repaired thither with the intention of 
 preaching war against the Mussulmans, and peace among 
 Christian princes. St. Bernard pressed the emperor, Con- 
 rad, several times to take up the cross ; he at first exhorted 
 him in private conferences, and afterwards renewed his 
 exhortations in sermons preached in public. Conrad could 
 not make up his mind to take the oath to go and fight 
 against the infidels in Asia, alleging the recent troubles of 
 the Grerman empires. St. Bernard replied that the Holy 
 See liad placed him upon the imperial throne, and that the 
 pope and the Church would support their work. " Whilst 
 you shall defend his heritage, God himself will take care to 
 defend yours ; he will govern your people, and your reign 
 will be the object of his love." The more hesitation the 
 emperor felt, the warmer became the zeal and eloquence of 
 St. Bernard to persuade him. One day as the orator of the 
 crusade was saying mass before the princes and lords con- 
 voked at Spires, all at once he interrupted the service to 
 preach the war against the infidels. Towards the end of his 
 discourse, he transported the imagination of his auditors to 
 the day of judgment, and made them hear the trumpets 
 which were to call all the nations of the earth before the 
 tribunal of Grod. Jesus Christ, armed with his cross and 
 surrounded by his angels, addressing himself to the emperor 
 of Grermany, recalled to him all the benefits with which he 
 had loaded him, and reproached him with ingratitude. Con- 
 rad was so much aflected by this vehement apostrophe, that 
 he interrupted the speaker, and, with tears in his eyes, cried 
 
 * The Abbe Velly thus relates the same fact: — "Satisfied mth the 
 character of preacher and thaumaturge (performer of miracles), St. Ber- 
 nard set out for Germany, where he put to silence another monk, who, 
 without having the authority of the pope, dared to exhort the Christian 
 nations to take up arms for the assistance of their brethren in Asia."
 
 338 HiSTOET or the ceusades. 
 
 out : " I Jcnoio icliat I owe to Jesus Christ, and I swear to go 
 icherever he shall call me'"' Then the nobles and the people 
 who believed thev had been witnesses of a miracle, threw 
 themselves on their knees and returned thanks to God for 
 his blessings. Conrad received from the hands of the abbot 
 of Clairvaux the emblem of the Crusaders, together with a 
 flag which was placed upon the altar, and which Heaven 
 itself had blessed. A great number of barons and knights 
 assumed the cross in imitation of Conrad, and the diet which 
 had been assembled to deHberate upon the interests of the 
 empire, was occupied entirely with the safety of the Chris- 
 tian colonies in Asia. 
 
 A new diet was convoked in Bavaria, where the letters of 
 St. Bernard determined a great number of bishops and Ger- 
 man nobles to take the cross. Ladislas, duke of Bohemia, 
 Odoacer, marquis of Svria, Bernard, count of Carinthia, 
 Amadeus, duke of Tiu-in, and the marquis de Montferrat 
 took the oath to go into the East to fight the Saracens. 
 Among the prelates who enrolled themselves under the ban- 
 ners of the Cross, history names the bishop of Passau, the 
 bishop of Eatisbon, and the ^ise Otho of Frisingen, brother 
 of the emperor, to whom posterity owes a relation of the 
 principal events of this war. 
 
 The most dear interests, the most tender affections had 
 no power to detain the knights and princes in their coun- 
 tries and homes. Frederick, nephew of the emperor, who 
 had taken the cross, allowed himself not to be moved by the 
 teai's of his aged father, the duke of Suabia, who died Tvitli 
 grief, in spite of the consolations of St. Bernard. A war- 
 crv was heard from the Bhine to the Danube ; Germanv, 
 althoug:h so lon^ asdtated bv its o\nti troubles, found in all 
 parts warriors for the holy expedition. Men of all condi- 
 tions obeyed the voice of the preacher of the holy war, and 
 followed the example of kings and princes : a thing to be 
 wondered at, says Otho of Frisingen, thieves and robbers 
 were seen performing penance, and swearing to shed their 
 blood for Jesus Cluist. "Everv reasonable man," adds the 
 same historian, '•' a witness of the changes that were ope- 
 rated in them, plainly perceived the work of God, and was 
 not the less astonished at it." 
 
 The Germans were so easily persuaded, that they came
 
 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 339 
 
 and listened to the abbot of Clairvaux, wlio preached to them 
 in a language they did not understand, and returned con- 
 vinced of the truth and holiness of the discourse. The 
 sight of a preacher so much reverenced, appeared to bestovv^ 
 a marvellous sense upon every one of his "words. The mira- 
 cles which were attributed to him, and which were performed 
 sometimes in private, sometimes in public, as Otho of Fri- 
 singen says, were like a divine language which warmed the 
 most indifferent, and persuaded the most iacredulous. Shep- 
 herds and labourers abandoned the fields to follow him into 
 towns and cities ; when he arrived in a city, all laboiu-s were 
 suspended. The war against the infidels,, and the prodigies 
 by which God promised his protection to the soldiers of the 
 cross, became the only business of men of all classes. Some- 
 times the abbot of Clairvaux assembled the clergy, and 
 preached reform in their manners ; sometimes he addressed 
 the people and animated them against the Saracens. 
 
 St. Bernard Adsited all the cities of the Rhine, from Con- 
 stance to Maestricht ; in each city, say the ancient chroni- 
 cles, he restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and 
 cured the lame and the sick ; they report thirty-six miracles 
 performed in one day, at each prodigy the multitude crying 
 out,* " Jesus Christ, have mercy upon us ! all the saints, suc- 
 cour us!" The disciples who followed the abbot of Clair- 
 vaux could not help regretting that the tumult which was 
 constantly raised upon his passage, prevented their seeing 
 several of his miracles. t Every day an increasing crowd 
 pressed around him. History relates that he was once on 
 the point of being stifled by the multitude w^hich followed 
 
 * These exclamations were pronounced in old German : — Christ uns 
 gende, die heiligen alle helffen uns. 
 
 t Philip, archdeacon of Liege, afterwards a monk of Clairvaux, has 
 made a detailed relation of the miracles of St. Bernard, from the first 
 Sunday in Advent, the first day of December, 1146, to Thursday, the 
 second day of the following January. In his relations he produces ten 
 ocular witnesses, whose names he gives. Le Pere Maimbourg, in his 
 History of the Crusades, does not appear to believe in the authenticity of 
 the miracles of St. Bernard ; the author of the Life of Suger, 3 vols, in 
 12mo., sharply reproves Maimbourg for his incredulity. We do not think 
 it at all necessary to go into this question ; we believe it to be quite suffi- 
 cient to know that the contemporaries of St. Bernard had faith in his 
 miracles, and that this faith made them perform things which simple 
 reason might call miraculous. 
 
 16*
 
 340 HISTOET OF THE CETJSADES. 
 
 Ms steps, and only owed liis safety to the emperor of Ger- 
 many, Avho took him in his arms, and drove back the people, 
 who were impatient to see and touch him whom they re- 
 garded as the interpreter and messenger of God. 
 
 After having set German}^ in a blaze ^vith his preaching, 
 and revived the zeal of the countries of Italy by his pathetic 
 letters, St. Bernard returned to Trance, to announce the 
 success of his mission. His absence had suspended every- 
 thing, and that multitude of Crusaders, upon whom his elo- 
 quence had acted so powerfully, appeared to have neither 
 chief, direction, nor rallying-point whilst he was not in the 
 midst of them. The king of France and the nobles of the 
 kingdom, assembled at Etampes, had formed no resolution ; 
 but the return of St. Bernard restored life to the councils 
 of the princes and the barons, and made them resume with 
 new ardour the enterprise of the holy war. 
 
 When he made, before the lords and prelates, the recital 
 of his journey, and of the prodigies God had effected by 
 his hand; when he spoke of the determination he had 
 induced the emperor of Germany to form, a determination 
 which he called the miracle of miracles, all hearts expanded 
 with enthusiasm, and were filled with hope and joy. 
 
 At the same time several ambassadors appeared in the 
 assembly of Etampes, to announce that their princes had 
 determined to enrol themselves under the banners of the 
 cross ; and letters were read from distant countries, by 
 which a great number of foreign lords and barons promised 
 to join the Erench in their projected expedition against the 
 Saracens. Erom that period no doubt was entertained of 
 the happy results of the crusade ; and the zeal which was 
 displayed by all the nations of Europe was considered as a 
 manifest expression of the will of Heaven. 
 
 Among the ambassadors who were present at the assembly 
 of Etampes were some from Roger, king of Apulia and 
 Sicily, who offered the Crusaders vessels and provisions, and 
 promised to send his son with them to the Holy Land, if 
 they determined to go by sea. The Sicilian deputies re- 
 minded the king of France and his barons of the perfidy of 
 the Greeks towards the Franks in the first crusade. " Tou 
 may," said they, "brave the forces of the most powerful 
 nations, but nothing can secure you against the artifices and
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 341 
 
 macHnations of a deceitful and perfidious people." The 
 assembly deliberated upon the offers of the king of Sicily, 
 and upon the route it would be most advisable to take ; the 
 greater part of the barons, full of confidence in their arms 
 and the protection of Grod, could not be brought to doubt 
 the faith of the Greeks. The route by sea seemed to offer 
 fewer wonders to their curiosity, and fewer perils for the 
 exercise of their bravery ; besides, the vessels which Eoger 
 could furnish would not nearly suffice to transport aU whom 
 religious zeal would lead to join the holy bands. It was 
 therefore resolved that preference should be given to the 
 route by land. The historian Odo de Deuil speaks with 
 deep regret of this resolution, which proved so fatal to the 
 Crusaders, and about which they had neglected to consult 
 the Holy Ghost. The Sicilian deputies could not conceal 
 their sorrow^ and returned to their country predicting all 
 the misfortunes that would ensue. 
 
 The assembly of Etampes appeared to act under a much 
 better influence when it became necessary to choose the 
 persons who should be intrusted with the government of the 
 kingdom during the pilgrimage of Louis A^II. When the 
 barons and the prelates had deliberated upon this important 
 choice, St. Bernard, who was their interpreter, addressed the 
 king, and, pointing to Abbot Suger and the count de Nevers, 
 said, " Sire, tliere are two weapons, and they are enough.'*^ 
 It was necessary that this choice of the assembly should 
 obtain the approbation of the king and the suffrages of the 
 people. The abbot of St. Denis had blessed France with a 
 loug peace, and had been the author of the glory of two 
 reigns. He was opposed to the crusade ; and what perfects 
 his eulogy, he had preserved his popularity without sharing 
 in the prevailing opinions. Suger advised the king not to 
 abandon his subjects, and represented to him that his errors 
 would be much better repaired by a wise administration of 
 the kingdom God had placed him over, than by conquests 
 ill the East. He who could dare to give such advice as this, 
 was more worthy than any other to represent his sovereign ; 
 but Suger at first refused an employment of which he 
 plainly saw the burthen and the danger. The assembly 
 would not make another choice ; and the king himself had 
 recourse to prayers and tears to induce his minister to take
 
 342 HISTORY or the cnrsADEs. 
 
 Lis place in the government of the kingdom. The pope, 
 who arrived a short time after in France, ordered Suger to 
 ^ield to the wishes of the monarch, the nobles, and the 
 nation. The sovereign pontiff, in order to facilitate the 
 honom-able task which he imposed upon the abbot of St. 
 Denis, launched, beforehand, the thunders of the Church 
 against all who should make anv attempts against the regal 
 authority during the absence of the king. 
 
 The count de Xevers, who had likewise been pointed out 
 by the assembly of the barons and bishops, declmed, as the 
 abbot of St. Denis had done, the dangerous charge which 
 they offered him. When he was warmly pressed to accept 
 the government of the kingdom, he declared that he had 
 made a vow to enter into the order of St. Bruno. Such was 
 the spirit of the age, that this intention was respected as 
 the will of Grod ; and whilst the assembly congratulated 
 themselves upon inducing a monk to leave his cloister to 
 govern a kingdom, thev saw without astonishment a prince 
 take an eternal farewell of the world, and bury himself in a 
 monastery. 
 
 From this time preparations for departure were actively 
 commenced, and all the pro\'inces of France and Germany 
 were in motion. The same motives which had armed the 
 companions of Godfrey in the first expedition, inflamed the 
 courage of the new Crusaders. The eastern war held out 
 to their ambition the same hopes and the same advantages. 
 The greater part of the people were animated by the never- 
 forgotten remembrance of the conquest of Jerusalem. The 
 relations that this conquest had established between Syria 
 and Emope added still to the zeal and ardour of the soldiers 
 of the cross ; there was scarcelv a family in the West that 
 did not furnish a defender to the holy places, an inhabitant 
 to the cities of Palestine. The Christian colonies in the 
 East were to the Franks as a new country ; warriors who 
 assumed the cross appeared to be only arming themselves to 
 defend another France, which was dear to all Christians, and 
 which might be called the France of the East. 
 
 The example of two monarchs also necessarily influenced 
 many warriors when rang-ino: themselves under the banners 
 of the crusade. Many of those turbulent nobles, who were 
 then called prcedojies, must have had, as well as Louis YII.,
 
 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 343 
 
 numerous guilty violences to expiate. The spirit of chivalry, 
 which was every day making fresh progress, was not a less 
 powerful principle with a nobility purely and entiiely warhke. 
 A great number of women, attracted by tlie example of 
 Eleanor of Guienne, took up the cross, and armed themselves 
 with sword and lance. A crowd of knights eagerly followed 
 them ; and indeed a species of shame seemed attached to all 
 who did not go to fight the infidels. History relates that 
 distaffs and spindles were sent to those who would not take 
 arms, as an appropriate reproach for their cowardice. The 
 troubadours and trouveres, whose songs were so much liked, 
 and who employed themselves in singing the victories of 
 knights over the Saracens, determined to follow into Asia 
 the heroes and the dames they had celebrated in their verses. 
 Queen Eleanor and Louis the Young took several trouba- 
 dours and minstrels with them into the East, to alleviate 
 the tediousness of a long journey. 
 
 And yet the enthusiasm of the Crusaders did not bear 
 quite the same character as that of the first crusade. The 
 world was not, in their eyes, filled with those prodigies 
 which proclaim the especial will of Heaven ; great phe- 
 nomena of nature did not work upon the imagination of the 
 pilgrims so vividly. God seemed to have delegated all his 
 power to a single man, who led the people at his will by his 
 eloquence and his miracles. Nobody was seen, nobody was 
 heard, but St. Bernard ; whereas in the time of Peter the 
 Hermit orators everywhere abounded, and nature seemed 
 charged by God himself to promote the crusade. 
 
 The only extraordinary occurrence of the time was the 
 peace w^hich prevailed throughout Em-ope.* As at the 
 approach of the first crusade, wars between indi\'iduals, civil 
 troubles, and public outrage ceased all at once. The de- 
 parture of the Crusaders was accompanied by less disorder 
 than at the setting out of the first expedition ; they neither 
 
 * A German historian speaks thus of this crusade : — Si autem aliter 
 non, hac tamen ratione, exitum habuit expeditio frequens, purgaretur eo 
 genera hominum qui rapinis consueverunt victitare ; moestum devotione 
 qualicunque, omnes id genus homines, pro remedio peccatorum sacram 
 amplexi militiam, in earn nomine dedere volentes expeditionem. — Krantz, 
 vi. sax. c. 13 ; De Regibus Hierosoli/morum, auctore Christophano 
 Besoldo, p. 214.
 
 34ri HISTOfiT OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 showed tlie same imprudence in the choice of their leaders, 
 nor the same impatience to march. France and G-ermany 
 had not to suffer the depredations of an undisciplined mul- 
 titude. The first crusade, some of the armies of which were 
 commanded by princes and knights, and others bv adven- 
 turers and monks, exhibited all the Hcense and the tumul- 
 tuous passions that are met with in unsettled repubhcs. In 
 the second holy war, which was led by two powerful princes, 
 the more regrdar forms of a monarchy were preserved. The 
 smaller vassals gathered around their lords, and the hitter 
 were obedient to the orders of the king of France or the 
 emperor of G-ermany. Such good order in the outset of the 
 holy enterprise appeared to promise certain victory, and 
 could create no forethought of the disasters which awaited 
 the Christian armies. 
 
 The city of Metz was the rendezvous of the French Cru- 
 saders, and Eatisbon that of the G-ermans. The roads 
 which led to these cities were covered with pilgrims, march- 
 ing under the banners of their lords. A great number of 
 warriors also repaired to the ports of Flanders, England, and 
 Italy, where fleets were prepared for the transport of pro- 
 visions and arms, with Crusaders who were impatient to 
 arrive in Asia. 
 
 As the routes to the East were now known, the pilgrims 
 deceived themselves less with regard to the countries they 
 had to pass through. The sovereign pontiff had advised the 
 barons and knights not to take with them either dogfs or 
 birds for sport ; they renounced the luxury of their castles, 
 and contented themselves with their arms.* They even had 
 the precaution to take with them things that might be re- 
 quired in a distant journey ; the Crusaders, but particularly 
 the Germans, carried all sorts of instruments for throwing 
 bridges, cutting down forests, and clearing roads. 
 
 The greatest difficulty was to fixid money to defi^ay the 
 expenses of the holy war. All whom infirmities or particular 
 circumstances detained in Europe were anxious to assist, by 
 
 * The pope had forbidden luxury amoag the Crusaders ; he expressed 
 himself thus ia a circular : — Xec eant in restibus pretiosis, et cum canibus 
 fcive avibtts. aut aliis quae ostentationi potius et lasciviae, quam necessariis 
 videantur usibus deservire, sed in modesto apparatu, et habitu, in quo 
 poeniteatiam potiu3 agere quam inanem affectari gloriam videantur.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CKUSADES. 345 
 
 their offerings, tlie enterprise of tbe crusade. According to 
 the devotion of the times, the greater part of the rich who 
 died without having seen Jerusalem, left by their will a sum 
 for the promotion of pilgrimages to the East. All these 
 pious gifts were, no doubt, considerable, but they could not 
 suffice for the support of a large army. To porcure the 
 necessary money Louis YII. had recourse to loans, and levied 
 imposts, which were regulated and approved of by the 
 sovereign pontiff. St. Bernard and Peter the Venerable 
 had exerted themselves with much courage against the per- 
 secution of the Jews ; but the abbot of Cluny thought they 
 ought to be punished in that which they held dearest, their 
 wealth, amassed hy usury, and even hy sacrilege. He advised 
 the king of France to take from the Jews the money neces- 
 sary for the war against the Saracens. It is probable that 
 the advice of Peter the Venerable was not disdained, and 
 that the Jews furnished a considerable part of the expenses 
 of the crusade. The clergy also, who had so much enriched 
 themselves by the first crusade, w-ere obliged to advance 
 considerable sums for tliis expedition. The monastery of 
 Pleury alone paid three hundred silver marks and a large 
 sum in gold. In many other abbeys the vases and church 
 ornaments were sold to purchase arms, and to pay the 
 expenses of a war undertaken for the glory of Christ. 
 
 The lords and barons followed the example of the king of 
 Prance. Some pledged or sold their lands, but the greater 
 part made their vassals furnish means for their pilgrimage. 
 The hea"sy taxes laid upon the people, and particularly the 
 spoliation of the churches, excited many complaints, and 
 began to cool the ardour for the crusade. " There was,"* 
 says an ancient historian, " neither state, condition, age, nor 
 sex, Avhich was not forced to contribute to the equipment of 
 the king and the princes going with him ; whence followed 
 the discontent of every one, and innumerable maledictions, 
 as well directed against the king as the troops." 
 
 * We quote here the words of Belle Forest, which we should not use 
 if they were not translations from contemporary chronicles. We will only 
 repeat a single passage, which is taken from the chronicle of Raoul : — 
 De dicette : Per totam Galliam fit descriptio generalis ; non sexus, non 
 ordo, non dignitas quempiam excusavit, quin auxilium regi conferret ; cujus 
 iter multis imprecationibus persequebatur.
 
 346 histout of the ckusades. 
 
 Nevertheless Louis YII. prepared for his undertaking 
 by acts of devotion ; he visited the hospitals, and caused 
 prayers to be put up in all the churches for the success of 
 the crusade. "When his departure drew near, he went to 
 St. Denis, to take the famous Oriflamme, which was borne 
 before the kings of France in battle. The church of St. 
 Denis was at that time decorated with great magnificence ; 
 amono' the historical monuments which were there collected, 
 the portraits of Grodfrey de Bouillon, Tancred, Eavmond de 
 St, Gilles, and the battles of Dorylseum, Antioch, and 
 Ascalon,* traced upon the windows of the choir, must have 
 attracted the eyes and fixed the attention of Louis and his 
 companions in arms. The king, prostrated on the tomb of 
 the holv apostle of France, implored his protection and that 
 of his pious ancestors, whose ashes reposed in the same 
 place. The pope, who had come to St. Denis, placed anew 
 the kingdom of France imder the safeguard of rehgion, and 
 presented to Louis YII. his scrip and stafi", as the emblems 
 of his pilgrimage. After this ceremony Louis set out, 
 accompanied by Queen Eleanor and a great part of his court. 
 He wept while he embraced Abbot Suger, who could not 
 himself restrain his tears. The people, says a modem his- 
 torian, who crowded his passage, after having followed him 
 for a long distance with the most vociferous applauses, re- 
 turned in melancholy silence to their homes as soon as he 
 was out of sight. He left Metz at the head of a hundred 
 thousand Crusaders, traversed Grermany, and directed his 
 march towards Constantinople, where he had appointed to 
 meet the emperor of the West. 
 
 The emperor Conrad, after having caused his son Henry 
 to be crowned, left Eatisbon in the beginning of spring. He 
 was followed by an army so numerous, that, according to the 
 report of Otho, of Frisingen, the waves were not sufficient 
 to transport it, nor the fields spacious enough to contain all 
 its battaHons. He had sent ambassadors to announce his 
 coming to Constantinople, and to demand permission to cross 
 the territories of the Grreek empire. Manuel Comnenus re- 
 turned him a most friendly and flattering answer ; but when 
 
 * Montfaucon speaks of these pictures in Les Monuments de la Mo- 
 narchie Francaise, vol. i.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 347 
 
 the Germans arrived in Bulgaria and Thrace, they were not 
 long in perceiving that they must not reckon upon the pro- 
 mises that had been made them. 
 
 At the time of the first crusade, Constantinople was in 
 great dread of the Turks, which was of service to the 
 Franks ; but from that period the capital of the Greeks had 
 experienced no alarms, and no longer feared the attacks of 
 the Mussulmans. An opinion likewise had spread through 
 all the provinces of the empire, that the warriors of the 
 AYest entertained the project of taking possession of Con- 
 stantinople. This report, probable in itself, and strength- 
 ened by the threats of the Crusaders, was very little calcu- 
 lated to reestablish peace and harmony between people who 
 despised each other reciprocally, and, perhaps with equal 
 reason, exchanged accusations of violations of the faith of 
 treaties. 
 
 Manuel Comnenus, whom Odo de DeuH will not even 
 name, because, he says, his name is not written in the book 
 of life, was the grandson of Alexius I., who reigned at the 
 time of the first crusade. Paithful to the policy of his an- 
 cestor, more able, and above all more artful and hypocritical 
 than he, he neglected no means to annoy and ruin the army 
 of the Germans. In his councils the warriors of the West 
 were considered as men of iron, whose eyes darted flames, 
 and who shed torrents of blood with the same indifference 
 as they would pour out the same quantity of water. At 
 the same time that he sent them ambassadors, and furnished 
 them with provisions, Manuel formed an alliance with the 
 Turks, and fortified his capital. The Germans, in the course 
 of their march, had often to repulse the perfidious attacks of 
 the Greeks, and the latter had, more than once, cause to com- 
 plain of the violence of the Crusaders. A relation of Conrad, 
 who had remained siciv in a monastery at Adrianople, was 
 slain by the soldiers of Manuel ; Frederick, duke of Suabia, 
 gave the monastery in which this crime had been committed, 
 up to the flames ; and torrents of blood flowed to avenge an 
 assassination, . . 
 
 Upon approaching Constantinople, the Germans had set 
 up their tents in a rich valley watered by the river Melas. 
 All at once a violent storm burst over the neighbouring 
 mountains ; the river, increased by the torrents, inundated
 
 348 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 the plain where the Christian army was celebrating the feast 
 of the Assumption,* and as if it had conspired -with the 
 Greeks, says a French historian, and as if it imitated their 
 perfidy and treason, it carried away the horses and baggage, 
 and brought desolation into the camp of the Crusaders. The 
 Gre>?ks afforded some succour to the German soldiers, but 
 they saw with joy, in an event they affected to deplore, a 
 presage of the defeats which threatened the armies of the 
 Latins. 
 
 Constantinople, on the arrival of Conrad, presented the 
 novel spectacle of two emperors who had inherited the wrecks 
 of the empire of Augustus, and each of whom called himself 
 the successor of Caesar and Constantine. Their pretensions 
 created some divisions ; the emperor of the West had a va- 
 liant army to support his rights ; he of the East did not 
 dare to insist too openly upon his. He called in perfidy to 
 bis aid, and wounded vanity avenged itself in a manner as 
 cowardly as it was cruel. 
 
 As soon as the Germans had passed the Bosphorus, they 
 foimd themselves exposed to all sorts of treachery. All who 
 straggled from the army were slain by the soldiers of Com- 
 uenus ; the gates of all the cities on their route were closed ; 
 when they asked for provisions, they were obliged to put the 
 money into the baskets which were lowered down from the 
 walls, and af cer all, they frequently obtained nothing but in- 
 sult and ridicule. The Greeks mixed lime with the flour 
 they sold them ; and when the Crusaders had anytliing for 
 sale, they were paid in a false coin, which was refused 
 when they became purcliasers. Ambuscades awaited them 
 throughout their route ; the enemy was aware of their line 
 of march, and as the height of perfidy, furnished them at 
 Constantinople with faithless guides, who misled the army 
 in the defiles of Mount Taurus, and deKvered them up, Avorn 
 out with fatigue, to famine and despair, or to the swords of 
 the Mussulmans. The Germans, ill-treated by the Greeks, 
 did not seek to revenge themselves, although it would have 
 been easy to have done so, and, according to the ideas of the 
 age, might have appeared glorious. This is the reason why 
 
 * Otto of Frisingen, an eye-witness, describes this misfortune at great 
 length.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 349 
 
 Montesquieu says, that the Germans were the lest sort of 
 people in the ivorlcl. The French, who came after them, 
 showed themselves less patient, and were more respected. 
 The emperor sent the principal lords of his court to the 
 king of Erance, before whom they prostrated themselves, 
 and only spoke to him on their knees. French haughtiness 
 was more surprised than pleased at such homage, and only 
 answered the flattery of the East by a disdainful silence. 
 The two monarchs had an interview, in which they recipro- 
 cated the most tender caresses, and sought to sui'pass each 
 other in magnificence. If Manuel on this occasion excelled 
 his rival in the display of his riches, he showed less sincerity 
 than Louis in the demonstrations of his friendship, for in 
 the midst of the banquets which he gave to the Crusaders, 
 the latter learnt that he preserved a close alliance with the 
 sultan of Iconium, and that the Turks were fully informed 
 of the plans of the French king. 
 
 This treachery irritated the Erencb lords, and when the 
 emperor required them to render him homage, as the 
 leaders of the first crusade had done, it was proposed in the 
 council that the only reply should be to take possession of 
 Constantinople. " You have heard," said the bishop of 
 Langres, " that the Grreeks propose to you to recognise their 
 empire, and submit to their laws : thus then weakness is to 
 command strength, and cowardice bravery ! What has this 
 nation done ? What have their ancestors done, that they 
 should show so much pride ? I will not speak to you of the 
 snares and the ambushes that they have everywhere planted 
 in your way ; we have seen the priests of Byzantium ming- 
 ling ridicule with outrage, purify Mdth fire the altars at which 
 our priests had sacrificed. They ask of us new oaths, which 
 lionour repudiates. Is it not time to revenge treasons, and 
 repulse insults ? Hitherto the Crusaders have sufiered 
 more from their perfidious friends than from their open ene- 
 mies. Constantinople has long been a troublesome barrier 
 between us and our brothers of the East. It is our duty at 
 last to open a free road to Asia. The G-reeks, you know, 
 have allowed the sepulchre of Christ, and all the Christian 
 cities of the East, to fall into the hands of the infidels. 
 Constantinople, there is no doubt, will soon become a prey 
 to Turks and barbarians, and by her cowardly weakness, she
 
 350 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 \nll one day open the barriers of tho "West. The emperors 
 of Bvzantimn neither know how to defend their own pro- 
 ATQces nor will they suffer others to do it for them. They 
 haye always impeded the generous efforts of the soldiers of 
 the cross ; eyen lately, this emperor, who declares himself 
 your support, has endeayoured to dispute their conquests 
 ^ith the Latins, and rayish from them the principality of 
 Antioch. His aim now is to dehver up the Christian armies 
 to the Saracens, Let us hasten then to preyent our own 
 ruin by effecting that of these traitors ; let us not leaye 
 behind us a jealous and insolent city, which only seeks the 
 means of destroying us ; let us cast upon lier the eyils she 
 prepares for us. K the G-reeks accomplish their perfidious 
 designs, it is of you the ~V\^est will one day ask back its 
 armies. Since the war we undertake is holy, is it not just 
 that we shoidd employ eyery means to succeed ? Necessity, 
 country, religion, all order you to do that which I propose 
 to you. The aqueducts which supply the city with water 
 are in our power, and offer an easy means of reducing the 
 inhabitants. The soldiers of Manuel cannot stand against 
 our battalions ; a part of the walls and towers of Byzantium 
 has crumbled away before our eyes, as by a species of 
 miracle. It appears that God himself calls us into the 
 city of Constantine, and he opens its gates to you as he 
 opened the gates of Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem to your 
 fathers."* 
 
 T^^hen the bishop of Langres had ceased to speak, seyeral 
 knights and barons raised their yoices in reply. The Chris- 
 tians, they said, were come into Asia to expiate their own 
 sins, and not to punish the crimes of the Greeks, They had 
 taken up arms to defend Jei'usalem, and not to destroy Con- 
 stantinople, It was true they must consider the Greeks as 
 heretics, but it was not more just for them to massacre them 
 than to massacre the Jews ; when the Christian wamors 
 assumed the cross, God did not put into their hands the 
 sword of justice. In a word, the barons found much more 
 policy than religion in that which they had heard, and coidd 
 not conceive that it was right to undertake an enterprise 
 
 * Odo de Deuil gives an account of this deliberation, and reports the 
 speech of the bishop of Langres, on whom he bestows the greatest praise.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 351 
 
 which was not in accordance with the principles of honour. 
 Neither had they faith in the misfortunes with which they 
 were threatened, and relied upon Providence and their own 
 valour to enable them to siu-mount all obstacles. The most 
 fervent of the pilgrims dreaded any delay in the march of 
 the Crusaders, and this fear increased their scruples ; at 
 length the loyalty of the knights, the general pious impa- 
 tience to behold the sacred places, and perhaps also the pre- 
 sents and the seductions of Manuel, procured a triumph for 
 the party advocating moderation. 
 
 The emperor was nevertheless alarmed at seeing a body of 
 warriors, full of confidence and courage, thus deliberate so 
 near to him on the conquest of his capital. The homage 
 that the barons and knights paid him did not at all re-assure 
 him as to their intentions. To hasten their departure, he 
 caused a report to be spread that the Grermans had gained 
 great victories over the Turks, and that they had made 
 themselves masters of Iconium. This succeeded even be- 
 yond Manuel's hopes. 
 
 "When the Crusaders, impatient to pursue the Turks, were 
 leaving Constantinople, they were surprised by an eclipse of 
 the sun. A superstitious multitude saw in this phenomenon 
 nothing but a fatal presage, and believed it to be either the 
 warning of some great calamitj^, or of some new treachery 
 on the part of Manuel ; and the fears of the pilgrims were 
 not long in being realized. Scarcely had they entered 
 Bithynia when they were taught how to appreciate the false 
 reports and perfidy of the Grreeks. Louis, when encamped 
 upon the shores of the Lake Ascanius, in the neighbourhood 
 of Nice, received information of the complete defeat of the 
 G-ermans. The sultan of Iconium, on the approach of the 
 Christians of the West, had assembled all his forces, and at 
 the same time solicited the aid of the other Mussulman 
 powers to defend the passages of Asia Minor. Conrad, 
 whom William of Tyre styles vir simplex, whom le Pere 
 Maimbourg compares to a victim crowned with flowers that 
 is being led to slaughter, had advanced, on the faith of some 
 unknown guides, into the mountains ot Cappadocia. Impa- 
 tient to be before the French, for whom he was to have 
 waited, he marched on in perfect ignorance of the roads, and 
 without provisions to feed the multitude which followed him.
 
 352 HISTOBY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 At a time that he entertained no suspicion of their vicinity, 
 he was surprised bv the Turks, who covered the summits of 
 the mountains, and rushed down upon the exhausted and 
 famished Christians.* The Mussulmans were lightly armed, 
 and performed their evolutions with the greatest rapidity. 
 The Gi-ermans could scarcely move under the weight of their 
 bucklers, corselets, and steel brassets ; every day skirmishes 
 were fought, in which the Christians had the disadvantage. 
 Such as were more lightly armed, and bore sheep-skin buck- 
 lers, sometimes would rush among the enemy and put them 
 to flight ; but the Turks soon rallied upon the heights, and 
 darted down again, like birds of prey, upon the terrified 
 Christians. A crowd of pilgrims, whose arms only consisted 
 of their scrip and staif, created the greatest trouble and con- 
 fusion in the Christian army. The Mussulmans took advan- 
 tajre of their disorder, and never allowed their enemies a 
 moment*s repose. Despair and terror put an end to all dis- 
 cipline among the Crusaders ; they no longer obeyed the 
 orders of their leaders, but every one sought to insure his 
 own safety by flight. At length the rout became general ; 
 the country was covered with fugitives, who wandered about 
 at hazard, and found no asylum against the conquerors. 
 Some perished with want, others fell beneath the swords of 
 the Mussulmans ; the women and children were carried ofl" 
 with the baggage, and formed a part of the enemy's booty. 
 Conrad, who had scarcely saved the tenth part of his army, 
 was himself wounded by two arrows, and only escaped the 
 pursuit of the Saracens by a kind of miracle. 
 
 The news of this disaster threw the French into the 
 greatest consternation. Louis, accompanied by his bravest 
 warriors, flew to the assistance of Conrad. The two monarchs 
 embraced in tears. Conrad related the particulars of his 
 defeat, and complained the more bitterly of the perfidy of 
 Manuel, from feeling the necessity of excusing his own im- 
 prudence. The two princes renewed their oath to repair 
 together to Palestine, but the emperor of G-ermauy did not 
 keep his word. AYhether he was ashamed of being without 
 
 * Otto of Frisingen, an ocular witness, gives none of the details of the 
 rout of the Germans, saying as his excuse that he had nothing agreeable 
 to relate. The Gesta Ludovici and William of Tyre supply the silence of 
 Otto of Frisingen.
 
 HISTORY OE THE CSUSADES. 353 
 
 an army, whether he could not endure the haughtiness of 
 the Trench, or that he dreaded their too just reproaches, he 
 sent back the few troops he had left, and returned to Con- 
 stantinople, where he was very well received, because he was 
 no longer to be feared. 
 
 The French army, in the mean time, pursued its march, 
 and, leaving Mount Olympus on its left, and Mount Ida on 
 its right, passed through ancient Phrygia. The French, 
 on their passage, passed Pergamus, Ephesus, and several 
 other celebrated cities, which the Grreeks had allowed to go 
 to ruin. Winter was coming on, and the abundant rains 
 and melted snows had swollen the rivers till they overflowed 
 the country, and made the roads impracticable. The inha- 
 bitants of the mountains, a savage, wild people, fled away at 
 the approach of the Christians, taking with them their 
 flocks, and all that they possessed. The inhabitants of the 
 cities shut their gates against the Crusaders, and refused 
 provisions to all who had not full value to give in return. 
 Whilst the French army was crossing Phrygia, Manuel sent 
 ambassadors to the king of France, to inform him that the 
 Turks were assembling in all parts for the purpose of im- 
 peding his march. He ofifered the Crusaders an asylum in 
 the cities of the empire ; but this ofier, accompanied by 
 menaces, appeared to be only a snare, and Louis preferred 
 braving the enmity of the Turks to trusting to the promises 
 of the Grreeks. The Christian army pursuing its march 
 towards the frontiers of Phrygia, arrived at last at the banks 
 of the Meander, towards the embouchure of the Lycus. 
 The Tiu'ks, who had destroyed the army of the Grermans, 
 prepared to dispute the passage of the river with the French. 
 Some were encamped on the mountains, others on the banks ; 
 the rains had swollen the Meander, and the passage was 
 dif&cult and dangerous. 
 
 Animated by the speeches and the example of their king, 
 no obstacle could stop the French. In vain the Turks 
 showered their arroAvs upon them, or formed their battle- 
 array on the banks ; the French army crossed the river, 
 broke through the ranks of the barbarians, slaughtered 
 vast numbers of them, and pursued them to the foot of 
 the mountains. The two shores of the Meander were 
 covered with the bodies of the Turks ; the historian Nice-
 
 354 HISTORY OF THE CETJSAHES. 
 
 tas,* who some rears after saw their heaped-up hones, could 
 not help saying, whilst praising the courage of the Franks, 
 " that if such men did not take Constantinople, their mode- 
 ration and patience were much to be admired." 
 
 After the battle they had fought with the Saracens, some 
 pilgrims asserted that they had seen a knight, clothed in 
 white, march at the head of the army, and give the signal for 
 victory . Odo of Deuil, an ocular '^\-itness, speaks of this 
 apparition, without gi'^'ing faith to it, and satisfies himself 
 with saying that the Christians would not have triumphed 
 over the Turks without the protection and the will of God. 
 
 This victory gave great confidence to the Crusaders, and 
 rendered their enemies more cautious. The Turks, whom it 
 was impossible to pursue far in an unknown country, rallied 
 again after the battle of the Meander. Less confident in 
 their strength, and not daring to attack an army that had 
 conquered them, they watched for a moment in which they 
 might safely surprise them. The imprudence of a leader 
 who commanded the French vanguard soon presented to 
 them this opportunity. On quitting Laodicea, a city 
 situated on the Lvcus, the Crusaders had directed their 
 course towards the mountains which separate Phrygia from 
 Pisidia. These mountains ofiered nothing but narrow pas- 
 sages, in which they constantly marched between rocks and 
 precipices. The French army was divided into two bodies, 
 commanded every day by new leaders, who received their 
 orders from the king. 
 
 Every evening they laid down in council the route they 
 were to foUow the next day, and appointed the place where 
 the army was to encamp. One day when they had to cross 
 one of the highest mountains, the order had been given to 
 the vanguard to encamp on the heights, and to wait for the 
 rest of the army, so that they might descend into the plain 
 the next day in order of battle. Geoffrey de Ean9on, lord 
 of Taillebours:, this dav commanded the first bodv of the 
 French army, and bore the Oriflamme, or royal standard. 
 
 * Nicetas, in his account, confounds the army of the French with that 
 of the Germans, who did not fight on the banks of the Meander ; all 
 which Louis did he attributes to Conrad. The German historians have 
 followed him, and state the victory near the Meander to have been gjiined 
 by the sovereign of their own nation.
 
 HISTOEY or THE CEUSADES. 355 
 
 He arrived early at tlie spot where lie was to pass the night, 
 which offered no retreat for his soldiers but woods, ravines, 
 and barren rocks. At the foot of the mountain they beheld 
 an extensive and commodious valley ; the day was fine, and 
 the troops were in a condition to march without fatigue 
 several hours longer. The comit de JMaurienne, brother of 
 the king, Queen Eleanor, and all the ladies of her suite, who 
 had accompanied the vanguard, pressed Greoffrey de Ean9on 
 to descend into the plain. He had the weakness to comply 
 with their wishes ; but scarcely had he gained the valley, 
 when the Turks took possession of the heights he had 
 passed, and ranged themselves in order of battle. 
 
 During this time the rearguard of the army, in which was 
 the king, advanced full of confidence and security ; on seeing 
 troops in the woods and on the rocks, they supposed them 
 to be the French, and saluted them with cries of joy. They 
 marched without order, the beasts of bui'den and the chariots 
 were mingled with the battalions, and the greater part of 
 the soldiers had left their arms with the baggage. The 
 Turks, perfectly motionless, waited in silence till the Chris- 
 tian army should be enclosed in the defiles, and when they 
 thought themselves sure of victory, they moved forward, 
 uttering frightful cries, and, sword in hand, fell upon the 
 unarmed Christians, who had no time to rally. The disorder 
 and confusion of the Trench army cannot be described. 
 "Above us," says an ocular witness, "steep rocks rose up 
 to the clouds ; beneath us precipices, dug by the torrent, 
 descended to the infernal regions." The Crusaders were 
 upon a narrow path, upon which men and horses coidd 
 neither advance nor retreat ; they dragged each other down 
 into the abysses ; whilst rocks, detached from the tops of the 
 mountains, rolling do\Mi with horrible noise, crushed every- 
 thing in their passage. 
 
 The cries of the wounded and the d^dng mingled with the 
 confused roar of the torrents, the hissing of the arrows, and 
 the neighing of the terrified horses. In this frightful tumult 
 the leaders gave no orders, and the soldiers could neither 
 fight nor fly. The bravest rallied around the king, and 
 advanced towards the top of the mountain. Thirty of the 
 principal nobles that accompanied Louis perished by his 
 side, selling their lives dearly. The king remained almost 
 
 Vol. I.— 17
 
 356 niSTOKT OF tue ceusades. 
 
 alone on the field of battle, and took refuge upon a rock, 
 whence he braved the attack of the infidels who piursued 
 him. "U^ith his back against a tree, he singly resisted the 
 efl'orts of several Saracens, who, taking him for a simple 
 soldier, at length left liim, to secure their share of the pil- 
 lage. Although the night began to fall, the king expected 
 to be attacked again, when the voices of some Prenchmen 
 who had escaped the carnage, gave him the agreeable infor- 
 mation that the Turks had retired. He mounted a stray 
 horse, and, after a thousand perils, rejoined liis vanguard, 
 where all were lamenting his death. 
 
 After tliis defeat, in which the king had been exposed to 
 such dangers, the report of his death was not only spread 
 throughout the East, but reached Europe, where it filled the 
 Christians, particularly the French, with grief and terror. 
 "William of T^'re, whilst relating the disastrous defeat of the 
 Crusaders, expresses astonishment that God, always full of 
 mercv, should have allowed so manv illustrious warriors 
 armed in his cause, to perish so miserably. The Crusaders 
 who formed the vanguard of the army, whilst deploring the 
 death of their brethren, raised their voices against Geoffrey 
 de Eancon, and demanded that the loss of so much blood 
 shotild be visited tipon him. The king, however, had no'; 
 sufficient firmness to punish an irreparable fault, and only 
 so far yielded to tlie wishes of the barons and the soldiers 
 as to give them as a leader an old warrior named Gilbert, 
 whose skill and bravery were the boast of the whole army. 
 Gilbert shared the command with Evrard des Barres, grand 
 master of the Templars, who had come, with a great number 
 of his knights, to meet the Christian armv. Under these 
 two leaders, whom the king himsell obeyed, the Cinisaders 
 continued their march, and avenged their defeat several times 
 upon the Mussulmans. 
 
 On their arrival in Pisidia the French had almost every- 
 where to defend themselves against the perfidy of the Greeks 
 and the attacks of the Turks ; but winter was even a more 
 dangerous enerav than these to the Christian armv. Tor- 
 rents of rain fell everv dav : cold and humiditv enervated 
 the powers of the soldiers ; and the greater part of the 
 horses, being destitute of forage, perished, and only served 
 to feed the anny, which was without provisions. The clothes
 
 HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 357 
 
 of the soldiers hung about them in rags ; the Crusaders 
 sold or abandoned their amis ; the tents and baggage lay 
 scattered on the roads, and the army dragged in its train a 
 crowd of sick, and numbers of poor pilgrims, who made the 
 air resound with their cries and lamentations. The king of 
 Prance consoled them by his discoui'ses, and relieved them 
 by his charitable gifts ; for in the midst of so many reverses 
 God alone seemed to sustain his courage. " Never," says 
 Odo of Deuil, " did he pass a single day without hearing 
 mass, and without invoking the God of the Christians." 
 
 At last the Christians arrived before the walls of xA.ttalia, 
 situated on the coast of Pamphylia, at the mouth of the river 
 Cestius. This city, inhabited by Greeks, was governed in 
 the name of the emperor of Constantinople. As the inha- 
 bitants were mistrustful of the intentions of the Christian 
 army, they refused to open their gates to them, and the 
 Crusaders were obliged to encamp on the neighbouring 
 plains, exposed to all the rigours of the season. 
 
 They could neither find provisions for themselves nor 
 forage for their horses in a barren uncultivated country, 
 constantly ravaged by the Turks. The Greeks refused to 
 assist them in their distress, and sold them everything at 
 its weight in gold. Famine, and the evils which the Chris- 
 tians had hitherto suffered, became still more insupportable 
 to them when they lost all hope. Louis YII. having called 
 a council, the chief men of the army represented to him 
 that the Crusaders were without horses and without arms, 
 they were not in a condition to give an enemy battle, nor 
 could they support the fatigues of a long march. There 
 remained, they added, no other resource for the Christians 
 but to abandon themselves to the perils of the sea.* The 
 king did not agree with their opinion, and wished that they 
 should only embark the multitude of pilgrims that embar- 
 rassed the march of the army. "As for us," said he, "avo 
 will redouble our courage, and we will follow the route 
 which our fathers, who cong^uered Antioch and Jerusalem, 
 followed. Whilst anything remains to me, I will share it 
 with my companions ; and when I shall have nothing left, 
 
 * The Crusaders had then a march of forty days before them to arrive 
 at Antioch by land. They might have reached it in three days by sea.
 
 358 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 Avliicli of you will not undergo ^vith me poverty and misery ?'* 
 The barons, touched v^ith this speech, swore to die with 
 their king, but were not willing to die without glory. Ani- 
 mated by the example of Louis, they might triumph over 
 the Turks, over their misfortunes, and the rigours of winter ; 
 but they were without defence against famine and the per- 
 fidy of the Grreeks. They reproached Louis YII. with not 
 having followed the counsels of the bishop of Langres, and 
 with having pardoned enemies more cruel than the Mussul- 
 mans, more dangerous than the tempests or rocks of the 
 ocean. 
 
 As at the end of this council, strong murmurs against the 
 Greeks arose in the Christian army, the governor of Attalia 
 became fearful of the effects of despair, and came to offer 
 Louis vessels, in which to embark all the Crusaders. This 
 proposition was accepted ; but they had to wait for the pro- 
 mised vessels more than five weeks. In so long a delay the 
 Crusaders consumed all the resoiu'ces they had left, and 
 many died of hunger and misery ; the vessels which at 
 length arrived in the ports of Attalia, were neither large 
 enough nor suflicient in number to embark the whole Chris- 
 tian armv. The Crusaders then perceived the abyss of evils 
 into which they were about to fall; but such was their 
 resignation, or rather the deplorable state of the army, that 
 they committed no -v-iolence towards the Grreeks, and did not 
 even threaten a single city which refused to help them. 
 
 A crowd of poor pilgrims, among whom were barons and 
 knights, appeared before the king, and spoke to him in these 
 terms : — " We have not means wherewith to pay for our 
 passage, and we cannot follow you into Syria ; we remain 
 here victims to misery and disease ; when you shall have left 
 us, we shall be exposed to greater perils ; and being attacked 
 by the Turks is the least of the misfortunes we have to 
 dread. Hemember that we are Franks, that we are Chris- 
 tians ; give us leaders who may console us for your absence, 
 and assist us to endure the fatigue, the hunger, and the 
 death which await us." Louis, in order to reassure them, 
 spoke to them in the most feelmg terms, and distributed 
 considerable sums amongst them. He was as liberal in his 
 assistance, says Odo de Deud, as if he had lost nothing, or 
 wanted nothing for himself. He sent for the governor of
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 359 
 
 Attalia, and gave liim fifty silver marks to provide for the 
 siek who remained in the city, and to conduct the land army 
 as far as th.e coasts of Cilicia. 
 
 Louis yil. gave as leaders for all who could not embark, 
 Thierri count of Flanders and Archambaud de Bourbon ; he 
 then went on board the fleet that had been prepared for 
 him, accompanied by the queen Eleanor, the principal lords 
 of his court, and all that remained of his cavalry. "Whilst 
 looking at the Crusaders whom he left at Attalia, the king 
 of France could not refrain from tears ; a multitude of pil- 
 grims assembled upon the shore, followed with their eyes the 
 vessel in which he had embarked, putting up vows for his 
 voyage ; and when they had lost sight of him, they thought 
 of nothing but their own dangers, and sank into the deepest 
 despondency. 
 
 On the day following the departure of Louis YIL, the 
 pilgrims, who were expecting the escort and the guides that 
 had been promised them, saw the Turks come upon them, 
 eager for murder and pillage. Archambaud and Thierri for 
 a moment re-animated the courage of the Crusaders, and 
 several times repulsed the infidels. But the Turks returned 
 to the charge without ceasing ; every day the Christians 
 sustained fresh encounters without being able to compel 
 their enemy to retreat. The G-reeks would not consent to 
 receive them into the city, and there remained to the Cru- 
 saders no means of safety. Despair stifled in their breasts 
 even the sentiments of humanity ; every one of these unfor- 
 tunate wretches became insensible to the fate of his com- 
 panions, and felt nothing but his own ills, saw nothing but 
 his own dangers. The soldiers did not endeavour to rally 
 or to succour each other ; they no longer recognised or fol- 
 lowed leaders ; the leaders themselves were no longer guided 
 by the spirit of religion, or governed by the love of glory. 
 In the midst of the general desolation, Archambaud and 
 Thierri, only anxious to avoid death, threw themselves on 
 board a vessel which was going to join the fleet of Louis VII. 
 The horrible disorder that then reigned among the mise- 
 rable remains of the Christian army and the sick in the city 
 of Attalia, is perfectly beyond description. 
 
 Two troops of pilgrims, one of three thousand and the 
 other of four thousand, resolved to brave all dangers and
 
 860 HISTOET OF THE CErSAI>ES. 
 
 marcli towards Cilicia. Tliej had no boats to cross over- 
 fiowing rivers ; they had uo arms with which to resist the 
 Turks, and they ahnost all perished. Others who followed 
 them shared the same fate, whilst the sick in the city of 
 Attalia were ruthlessly massacred. It has been a painful 
 task for the historian to record even a few details of these 
 frigiitful disasters ; and it is in this place we find the words 
 of the old chronicles so applicable — " Grod alone knows the 
 number of the mart^-rs whose blood flowed beneath the 
 blade of the Turks, and even under the sword of the 
 Greeks." 
 
 Many Christians, bewildered by despair, believed that the 
 God who thus left them a prey to so many ills could not be 
 the true God ;* three thousand of them embraced the faith 
 of Mahomet and joined the Mussulmans, who took pity on 
 their wretchedness. The Greeks were soon punished for 
 their perfidious cruelty ; pestilence uniting its ravages with 
 those of war, left the city of Attalia almost without inhabi- 
 tants, a very few weeks after the departure of "Louis YII. 
 
 "^""hen Louis arrived in the principality of Aiitioch,t he 
 had lost tliree-fourths of his armv ; but he was not the less 
 warmly welcomed by Ea^Tuond of Poictiers. The French 
 who accompanied him soon forgot, in the midst of pleasures, 
 both the dangers of their voyage and the deplorable death 
 of their companions. 
 
 Antioch could then boast of haATng within its walls the 
 countess of Thoulouse, the countess of Blois, Sibylla of 
 TTanders, Maurille countess de Eoussy, Talquery duchess 
 de Bouillon, and several other ladies celebrated for their 
 birth or their beauty. The fetes which Eaymond gave 
 them received additional splendour from the presence of 
 Eleanor of Guienne. This young princess, daughter of 
 "William IX. and niece of the prince of Antioch, united the 
 most seducing gifts of mind to the graces of her person. 
 She had been much admired at Constantinople, and had 
 found no rival in the court of Manuel. She was accused, 
 and with some reason, of being more desirous of admiration 
 than became a Christian queen. It was neither sincere 
 
 * Odo de Deuil is the only writer who speaks of these events ; but his 
 account appears to us full of obscurity in some parts. 
 t The 19th of March, 1U8.
 
 niSTOur OF tue crusades. 361 
 
 piety nor an inclination to perform penance, that had led 
 her to make a pilgrimage to Constantinople. The fatigues 
 and dangers of the journey, the misfortunes of the Cru- 
 saders, the remembrance of the holy places, always present 
 to the minds of true pilgrims, had not in the least abated 
 her too lively taste for pleasures, or her strong inclination 
 for gallantry. 
 
 liaymond of Poictiers, amidst the fetes given to Queen 
 Eleanor, did not forget the interests of his principality; he 
 was anxious to weaken the power of jS'oureddin, the most 
 formidable enemy of the Christian colonies, and ardently 
 desired that the Crusaders would assist him in this enter- 
 prise. Caresses, prayers, presents, nothing w^as spared to 
 engage them to prolong their sojourn in his states. The 
 prince of Antioch addressed himself at first to the king of 
 France, and proposed to him, in a council of the barons, to 
 besiege the cities of Aleppo and Caesarea, in Syria. This 
 enterprise, which favoured his ambition, oifered real advaii- 
 tages to all the Christian states of the East, which were 
 threatened by the constantly increasing power of Noureddin; 
 but Louis VIL, who had been only brought into Asia by a 
 spirit of devotion, answered Eaymond that he could engage 
 himself in no war before he had visited the lioly places. 
 
 The prince of Antioch did not allow himself to be dis- 
 couraged by this refusal ; he employed every means to touch 
 the heart of the queen, and resolved to make love subser- 
 vient to his designs. William of Tyre, who has left us the 
 portrait of Eaymond, informs us that he was '''■mild and 
 afftible of speech,^ exliihitinf/ in Ids countenance and manner, 
 I do not know loliat sinc/ular grace and hehaviour of an excel- 
 lent and magnanimous prince ^ He undertook to persuade 
 Queen Eleanor to prolong her stay in the principality of 
 Antioch. It was then the beginning of spring ; the smiling 
 banks of the Orontes, the groves of Daphne, and the beau- 
 tiful skies of Syria, doubtless added their charms to the in- 
 sinuating speeches of Eaymond. The queen, seduced by 
 the prayers of this prince, infatuated with the homage of a 
 voluptuous and brilliant court, and, if historians may be be- 
 lieved, too much disposed to pleasures and indulgences un- 
 
 * See the translation of William of Tyre, book xiii. ch. 21.
 
 362 HISTORY OF THE CETJSADES. 
 
 worthy of lier, warmly solicited the king to delay his departure 
 for the holy city. The king, iu addition to an austere devotion, 
 possessed a jealous and suspicious disposition ; the motives 
 therefore that made the queen desirous of remaining at An- 
 tioch strengthened his determuiation to go to Jerusalem. 
 The instances of Eleanor filled his mind with suspicions, and 
 rendered him still more inexorable ; upon which Raymond, 
 disappouited in his hopes, was loud in his complaints, and 
 determined to be revenged. This prince, says AVilliam of 
 Tyre, " icas impetuous in his iciU, and of so choleric a dis- 
 position, that iL'hen he was excited he listened to neither rhyme 
 nor reason.^' He easily communicated his indignation to 
 the mind of Eleanor, and this princess at once boldly formed 
 the project of separating herself from Louis YIL, and of 
 dissolving their marriage, under the plea of relationship. 
 Ea^Tnond, on his part, swore to employ force and violence 
 to detain, his niece in his dominions. At length the king of 
 Erance, outraged both as a husband and a sovereign, resolved 
 to precipitate his departui'e, and was obliged to carry off his 
 own wife, and bear her into his camp by night. 
 
 The conduct of the queen must have scandalized both the 
 infidels and the Christians of the East ; and her example was 
 likely to produce fatal effects in an army in which there were 
 a great number of women. Among the crowd of knights, 
 and even of Mussulmans, who during her abode at Antioch 
 by turns were favoirred by her partiaUty,* a young Turk is 
 particularly mentioned, who received costly presents from 
 her, and for whom she desired to abandon the king of France. 
 In such affairs, ingeniously remarks Mezerai, " more is fre- 
 quently said than there is ; hut sometimes also there is more 
 than is said." However that may be, Louis ATI. could not 
 forcret his dishonour, and felt oblio:ed some years after to re- 
 pudiate Eleanor, who married Henry II., and bestowed the 
 duchy of Gruienne upon England, which was for Erance one 
 of the most deplorable consequences of this second crusade. 
 
 * Some romancers, and even some historians, have advanced that Eleanor 
 of Guieune was in love with Saladin, who founded the dynasty of the 
 Ayoubites. Saladin, the son of Ayoub, was born the same year that 
 Eleanor married Louis YII., and was scarcely ten years old at the time 
 of the second crusade. Her second son, by Henry II. of England, 
 became the great rival of Saladin in military glory. — Trans.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CETJSADES. 363 
 
 The king and the barons of Jerusalem, who dreaded the 
 stay of Louis VII. at Autioch, sent deputies to conjure him, 
 in the name of Jesus Christ, to hasten his march towards 
 the holy city. The king of France yielded to their wishes, 
 and crossed Syria and Phoenicia without stopping at the 
 court of the count of Tripoli, who entertained the same pro- 
 jects as Raymond of Poictiers. His arrival in the Holy Land 
 created the greatest enthusiasm, and re-animated the hopes 
 of the Christians. The people, the princes, and the prelates 
 of Jerusalem came out to meet him, bearing in their hands 
 branches of olive, and singing the same words as the Saviour 
 of the world was saluted with — " Blessed he lie loJio comes in 
 the name of the Lord^ The emperor of Grermany, who had 
 left Europe at the head of a powerful army, had just reached 
 Jerusalem in the character of a simple pilgrim. The two 
 monarchs embraced, wept over their misfortunes, and re- 
 pairing together to the church of the Hesurrection, adored 
 the inscrutable decrees of Providence. 
 
 Baldwin III., who then reigned at Jerusalem, was a young 
 prince of great hope ; and being as impatient to extend his 
 own renowTi as to enlarge his kingdom, he neglected no 
 means to obtain the confidence of the Crusaders, and urge 
 on the war against the Saracens. An assembly was con- 
 voked at Ptolemais, to deliberate upon the operations of this 
 crusade. The emperor Conrad, the king of Prance, and the 
 young king of Jerusalem repaired thither, accompanied by 
 their barons and their knights. The leaders of the Chris- 
 tian armies, and the heads of the Church deliberated to2:e- 
 ther upon the subject of the holy war in the presence of 
 Queen Melisinde, the marchioness of Austria, and several 
 other Grerman and French ladies, who had followed the 
 Crusaders into Asia. In this brilliant assembly the Chris- 
 tians were astonished at not seeing the queen, Eleanor of 
 Guienne, and were thus reminded with regret of the sojourn 
 at Antioch. The absence of Raymond of Antioch, and the 
 counts of Edessa and Tripoli, who had not been invited to 
 the meeting, must necessarily have created sad reflections, 
 and given bii'th to presages upon the effects of discord among 
 the Christians of the East. 
 
 The name of the unfortunate Josselin was scarcely men^ 
 tioned in the council of the princes and barons ; nothing 
 
 17*
 
 364 niSTORY OF the ceusades. 
 
 was said of Edessa, the loss of wliicli had raised the entire 
 "West to arms, nor of the conquest of Aleppo, which had 
 been proposed bv Eaymond of Antioch. From the begin- 
 ning of the reign of Baldwin, the princes and lords of Pales- 
 tine had cherished a project for extending their conquests 
 beyond Libanus, and gaining possession of Damascus. As 
 the Christians, when they entered into a Mussulman pro- 
 vince or city, divided amongst them the lands and the 
 houses of the conquered, the people who dwelt on the bar- 
 ren mountains of Judea, the greater part of the warriors of 
 Jerusalem, and even the clergy, all appeared to direct their 
 wishes towards the territory of Damascus, which offered the 
 rich booty to its captors of pleasant habitations, and fields 
 covered with golden harvests. The hope of driving the 
 Mussulmans from a fertile province, and enriching them- 
 selves with their spoils, made them even forgetful of the re- 
 doubtable power of Xoiireddin and the Attabecks. In the 
 assembly at Ptolemais, it was resolved to commence the war 
 by the siege of Damascus. 
 
 All the troops assembled in Gralilee in the beginning of the 
 spring, and advanced towards the source of the Jordan, com- 
 manded by the king of France, the emperor of Germany, and 
 the king of Jerusalem, preceded by the patriarch of the holy 
 city, bearing the true cross. The Christian army, to which 
 were attached the knights of the Temple, and of St. John, 
 in the early days of June set out from Melchisapar, a little 
 city, memorable for the miraculous conversion of St. Paul, 
 and crossing the chains of Libanus, encamped near the town 
 of Dary, from whence they could see the city of Damascus. 
 
 Damascus is situated at the foot of the Anti-Libanus, 
 fortv-five leagues from Jerusalem ; hills covered "with trees 
 and verdure arise in the neio-hbourhood of the citv, and in 
 its territory were several towns which have maintained a 
 name in history. A river which falls impetuously from the 
 mountains, rolls over a golden-coloured sand, and separating 
 into several branches, waters the city, and bears freshness 
 and fertility to the valley of Ahennefsage, or the valley of 
 violets, planted with all sorts of fruit-trees. The city of 
 Damascus was celebrated in the remotest antiquity, having 
 seen both the rise and fall of the city of Palmyra, whose 
 ruins are still objects of curiosity and wonder in its neigh-
 
 HISTORY OF TKE CEUSADES. 365 
 
 bourbood. Ezekiel boasts of its delicious wines, its nume- 
 rous workshops, and its wools of admirable tints ; and several 
 passages of Scripture represent Damascus as the abode of 
 voluptuousness and delight. The beauty of its gardens, and 
 the magnificence of its public edifices, many of which were 
 built of marble of difierent colours, were much admired. 
 
 Damascus, after being conquered in turn by the Hebrews, 
 the kings of Assyria, and the successors of Alexander, fell 
 into the hands of the Romans. From the age of Augustus 
 the preaching of St. Paul had filled it with Christians ; but 
 at the beginning of the Hegira it was attacked and taken 
 by the lieutenants of Mahomet, and a great part of the 
 inhabitants, who, after capitulation, endeavoured to seek an 
 asylum in Constantinople, were pursued and massacred by 
 the fi.erce conquerors, in the territories of Tripoli. 
 
 From this time, Damascus, which formed a government 
 or a principality, had remained in the power of the Mussid- 
 mans. At the period of the second crusade, this principality, 
 attacked by turns by the Franks, the Ortokides, and the 
 Attabecks, and almost reduced to nothing but its capital, 
 belonged to a Mussulman prince, who had no less occasion 
 to defend himself against the ambition of the emirs than 
 the invasion of foreign enemies. Noureddin, master of 
 Aleppo and several other cities of Syria, had already made 
 several attempts to gain possession of Damascus, and had 
 by no means abandoned the hopes of uniting it to his other 
 conquests, when the Christians formed the resolution of 
 besieging it. 
 
 The city was defended by high walls on the east and the 
 south; whilst on the west and the north it had no other de- 
 fence but its numerous gardens, planted with trees, in all parts 
 of which were raised palisades, walls of earth, and little towers, 
 in which they could place archers. The Crusaders, when 
 ready to begin the siege, resolved in a coimcil to take pos- 
 session of the gardens first, hoping to find therein water and 
 abundance of fruits. But the enterprise was not Avithout 
 great difficulties ; for the orchards, which extended to the 
 foot of the Anti-Libanus, were like a vast forest, crossed by 
 narrow paths, ni which two men coiild scarcely walk abreast. 
 The infidels had everywhere thro^vn up intrenchments, 
 where they could, without danger to themselves, resist the
 
 866 nisTOEY OF the crusades. 
 
 attacks of the Crusaders. !N"otliing could, however, damp 
 the braverv and ardour of the Christian army, which pene- 
 trated on several sides into the gardens. From the heights 
 of the little towers, from the interior of the wall enclosures, 
 and from the bosoms of the bushv trees, clouds of arrows 
 and javelins were showered upon them. Every step taken 
 by the Christians in these covered places was marked by a 
 combat in which they could scarcely see their enemy. The 
 infidels, however, attacked without intermission, were, in the 
 end, obHged to abandon the positions they had occupied and 
 fortified. The king of Jerusalem marched first at the head 
 of his army and the knights of St. Jolni and of the Temple ; 
 after the Christians of the East, advanced the Erench Cru- 
 saders, commanded by Louis YII. ; whilst the emperor of 
 Grermany, who had got together the poor remains of his 
 army, formed the body of reserve, to protect the besiegers 
 from the surprises of the enemy. 
 
 The king of Jerusalem pursued the Mussulmans with 
 ardour ; his soldiers rushing vrith. him into the midst of the 
 enemy's ranks, comparing their leader to David, who, accord- 
 ing to Josephus, had conquered a king of Damascus. The 
 Saracens, after an obstinate resistance, united on the banks 
 of the river which flows under its walls, to drive away with 
 arrows and stones the crowd of Christians brought thither 
 bv faticrue and heat. The warriors commanded bv Baldwin 
 endeavoured several times to break through the army of the 
 Mussulmans, but always met with an invincible resistance. 
 It was then the emperor of Germany signahzed his bravery 
 by a deed of arms worthy of the heroes of the first crusade. 
 Followed by a small number of his people, he passed through 
 the Erench army, whom the difficulties of the situation 
 almost prevented from fighting, and took his place in the 
 vanguai'd of the Crusaders. Nothing could resist the impe- 
 tuosity of his attack, all who opposed him falling beneath 
 his arm ; when a Saracen of gigantic stature, and completely 
 clothed in armour, advanced to meet him, and defy him to 
 the combat. The emperor at once accepted the challenge, 
 and flew to meet the Mussulman warrior. At the sight of 
 this singular combat, the two armies remained motionless, 
 waiting in fear, till one of the champions had defeated the 
 other, to re-commence the battle. The Saracen warrior was
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 367 
 
 soon liurled from his horse, and Conrad with one hlow of his 
 sword, dealt npon the shoulder of the Mussulman, divided 
 his body into two parts.* This prodigy of valour and 
 strength redoubled the ardour of the Christians, and spread 
 terror among the infidels. From this moment the Mussul- 
 mans began to seek safety within the walls of the city, and 
 left the Crusaders masters of tlie banks of the river. 
 
 Eastern authors speak of the fright of the inhabitants of 
 Damascus after the victory of the Christians. The Mussul- 
 mans prostrated themselves t upon ashes during several days; 
 they exposed in the middle of the great mosque, the Koran 
 compiled by Omar ; and women and children gathered around 
 the sacred book to invoke the aid of Mahomet against their 
 enemies. The besieged already contemplated abandoning 
 the city ; they placed in the streets, towards the entrance 
 into the gardens, large posts, chains, and heaps of stones, in 
 order to retard the march of the besiegers, and thus to afford 
 them time to fly with their riches and their families by the 
 north and south gates. 
 
 The Christians were so thoroughly persuaded they should 
 shortly be masters of Damascus, that it became a question 
 among the leaders, to whom the sovereignty of the city 
 should be given. The greater part of the barons and lords 
 who were in the Christian army, courted the favour of the 
 king of France and the emperor of Germany, and all at 
 once forgot the siege of the city, in their earnest endeavours 
 to obtain the government of it. Thierri of Alsace, count of 
 Flanders, who had been twice in Palestine before the cru- 
 sade, and who had given up to his family all his possessions 
 in Europe, solicited the principality more warmly than the 
 others, and prevailed over his opponents and rivals. This 
 preference gave birth to jealousy, and infused discouragement 
 in the army ; as long as the city they were about to conquer 
 remained a bait for their ambition, the leaders showed them- 
 
 * Percussit eum inter coUura et sinistrum humerura ictu mirabili ; ita 
 quod ensis secuit totutn pectus cum humeris et descendit obliquando 
 usque ad latus dextrum, taliter quod pars dexteiior abscissa penitiis cum 
 capita cecidit super terram, et tunc oranes Turci, qui ictum tarn formida- 
 biiem viderant stupefacti, statim fug4 remedio nostrorum gladios evase- 
 runt. — G. C. chap. ii. 
 
 ■f" All these details, and some others which were not known to the 
 authors of the West, are taken from the Arabian chronicle of Ibnferat.
 
 368 nisTOET OF the ceusades. 
 
 selves full of ardour and courage, but ^YbeIl tbey were with- 
 out hope, some remained inactive, whilst others, no longer 
 regardiug the Christian glory as their own cause, sought 
 every means to. insure the failure of an enterprise from 
 which they should reap no personal advantage. 
 
 The leaders of the besieged took advantage of these feel- 
 ings to open negotiations with the Crusaders. Their threats, 
 their promises and presents, succeeded in destroying what 
 remained of the zeal and enthusiasm of the Christians. 
 They addressed themselves particularly to the barons of 
 Syria, and exhorted them to be on their guard against war- 
 riors come, as they said, from the West, to take possession 
 of the Christian cities of Asia. They threatened to deliver 
 up Damascus to the new master of the East, Xoureddin, 
 whom nothing could resist, and who would soon take pos- 
 session of the kinofdom of Jerusalem. The barons of Svria, 
 whether deceived by these speeches, or that, in theu* hearts, 
 they dreaded the successes of the Franks who had come to 
 succour them, employed themselves only in retarding the 
 operarions of a siege they had. themselves prosecuted with 
 ardour ; and, abusing the confidence of the Crusaders, 
 they proposed a plan, which, being adopted too hghtly, com- 
 pleted the ruin of all the hopes that had been bmlt on this 
 crusade. 
 
 In a council, the barons of S^Tia proposed to the leaders 
 to change the mode of attack ; the closeness of the gardens 
 and the river, said they, prevented the placing of the ma- 
 chines of war in an advantas:eous manner : and the Christian 
 armv, in the position it occupied, might be surprised, and 
 ran the risk of beius: surrounded bv the enemv ^^ithout the 
 power of defending itself. It appeared to them, therefore, 
 much more certaui and safe to assault the city on the south 
 and east sides. 
 
 Most of the chiefs possessed more valour than prudence, 
 and the confidence which victory inspired made them think 
 everything possible : besides, how could they mistrust the 
 Christians of the East, for whom they had taken up arms, 
 and who were then.' brothers ? In addition to this, the fear 
 of dragguig out the siege to a gi-eat length made them adopt 
 the advice of the barons of Syria. After having changed 
 their points of attack, the Christian army, instead of finding
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 369 
 
 easy access to the place, saw nothing before them but towers 
 and impregnable ramparts. Scarcely had the Christians 
 seated themselves in their new camp when the city of 
 Damascus received vrithin its walls a troop of twenty thou- 
 sand Curds and Turcomans, determined to defend it. The 
 besieged, whose courage was raised by the arrival of these 
 auxiliaries, put on, says an Arabian historian, the buckler of 
 victory, and made several sorties, in which they gained the 
 advantage over the Cin-istians. The Crusaders, on their 
 part, made several assaults upon the city, and were always 
 repulsed. Encamped upon an arid plain, they were desti- 
 tute of water ; all the adjacent country had been devastated 
 by the infidels, and the corn that had escaped the ravages of 
 war was concealed in caves and subterranean hiding-places, 
 which they could not discover. The Christian army wanted 
 pro^dsions ; then discord revived among them ; nothing was 
 spoken of in the camp but perfidy and treason ; the Chris- 
 tians of Syria no longer united with the Christians of 
 Europe in their attacks upon the city ; they were j?(.)Ou iii- 
 formed that the sultans of Aleppo and Mossoul were coming 
 with a numerous army ; then they despaired of taking the 
 city, and raised the siege. Thus the Christians, without 
 having exercised their constancy, or tested their courage, 
 abandoned, at the end of a few days, an enterprise, the pre- 
 parations for which had cost so much to Europe, and raised 
 such expectations in Asia. One of the circumstances of 
 this siege the most Avorthy of remark is, that Ayoub, chief 
 of the dynasty of the Ayoubites, commanded the troops of 
 Damascus, and that he had with him his son, the young 
 Saladin, who was destined one day to be so formidable to 
 the Christians, and render himself master of Jerusalem. 
 Tlie eldest son of Ayoub having been killed in a sortie, the 
 inhabitants of Damascus raised a tomb of marble to his 
 memory, which was to be seen under the ramparts of the 
 city many centuries after. An old Mussulman priest, who 
 had passed more than forty years in a neighbouring cavern, 
 was obliged to quit his retreat, and came into the city which 
 the Christians were besieging. He regretted his solitude 
 troubled by the din of war, and became ambitious of gather- 
 ing the palm of martyrdom. In spite of the representations 
 of his disciples, he advanced, unarmed, in the front of the
 
 370 HISTOEY or THE CEVSADES. 
 
 Crusaders, found on the field of battle the death he 
 desired, and was honoured as a saint hj the people of 
 Damascus. 
 
 If we mav believe the Arabian historians, the Christian 
 ecclesiastics who followed the army nes^lected no means of 
 rekindling the enthusiasm of the soldiers of the cross. 
 Dui-iug a conflict under the walls of the city, a grey-headed 
 Christian priest, mounted on a mule, and carrying a cross in 
 his hands, advanced between the two armies, exhorting the 
 Crusaders to redouble their braver}' and ardour, and pro- 
 mising them, in the name of Jesus Christ, the conquest of 
 Damascus. The Mussulmans directed all their arrows at 
 him ; the Christians pressed around to defend him ; the 
 combat became fierce and bloody ; the priest fell at length 
 pierced with many wounds, upon a heap of slain, and the 
 Crusaders abandoned the field of battle. 
 
 The greater part of both Arabian and Latin authors* 
 describe the siege of Damascus in a contradictory manner, 
 but all aojree in attributino: the retreat of the Christians to 
 
 DO 
 
 treachery. A Mussulman historian asserts that the king of 
 Jerusalem received considerable sums from the inhabitants 
 of Damascus, and that he was deceived by the besieged, 
 who gave him pieces of lead covered with a thin coating of 
 gold.f Some Latin authors attribute the shameful raising 
 of the siege to the covetousness of the Templars ; others to 
 ^Raymond of Antioch, who burned to revenge himself on the 
 king of France, ^"illiam of Tvre, whose opinion ought to 
 
 * Abulfeda, Abulfarage, and some other Arabian historians speak of 
 tlie siege of Damascus ; but it is difficiilt to reconcile their account with 
 that of the Latins. We have taken some few circumstances from them 
 that appeared the most probable. The Chronicle of Ibuferat is that which 
 gives the most circumstantial details. 
 
 f The Chronicle of Geuvais attributes the retreat of the Christians to 
 the pertidy of the Templars : — Cum civitas Christianis reddenda esset, 
 accesserunt Templarii. dicentes se primam habituros pugnam, ut omnes 
 deinde in communi victoriam obtinerent, statuerunt itaque tentoria sua 
 inter civitatera et exercitum Christianorum, et cum his qui erant in civitate 
 paganis proditionis pactum inierunt. Cives igitur eorum agnoscentes 
 cupiditafem, promi^erunt eis tres cados plenos hisantis aureis, si eos ab 
 obsidione liberarent. Delusi itaque Christiani per milites Temph, Damasco 
 recesserunt. Post modicum vero cum Templarii promissos a viribua 
 recipissent cados, in eisdem non nummos aureos, sed cunreos invenerant, 
 miraculoque quae ascripserunt.
 
 HTSTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 371 
 
 have great weight, accuses the barons of S}Tia;* but surely 
 all must blame the ignorance and incapacity of the other 
 chiefs of the crusade, who followed advice without examining 
 it, and proved themselves incapable of remedying an evil 
 they had not foreseen. 
 
 After so unfortunate an attempt, it was natural to despair 
 of the success of this war. In the council of leaders the 
 siege of Ascalon was proposed, but men's minds were soured, 
 and their courage v»as depressed. The king of France and 
 the emperor of Germany thought of returning into Europe, 
 bearing back no other glory than that of having, the one 
 defended his o\^ti life against some soldiers on a rock in 
 Pamphylia, and the other of having cleft a giant in two 
 under the walls of Damascus. " From that day," says Wil- 
 liam of Tyre, " the condition and state of the Oriental Latins 
 began continually to proceed from bad to worse." The Mus- 
 sulmans learnt no longer to dread the warriors and princes of 
 the West. Full of confidence in their arms, they who had 
 only thought of defending themselves, formed the project of 
 attacking the Franks, and were excited to their enterprise 
 by the hopes of sharing the spoils of an enemy who had 
 invaded several of their provinces. Whilst the infidels thus 
 regained their daring and their pride, and united against 
 their enemies, discouragement took possession of the Chris- 
 tians, and the division which prevailed so fataUy among 
 them weakened every day their spirit and their power. " The 
 Franks who returned into Europe" (we leave William of 
 T}Te to speak) " could not forget the perfidies of the Oriental 
 princes, and not only showed themselves more careless and 
 tardy concerning the aftairs of the kingdom of Jerusalem, 
 but discouraged all those equally who had not been the 
 voyage with them, so that they who heard speak of this 
 crusade never after undertook the road of this peregrination 
 with so much good-will or so much fervour." 
 
 This crusade was much more unfortunate than the first ; 
 no kind of glory mitigated or set oft' the reverses of the 
 Christians. The leaders committed the same faults that 
 Godfrey and his companions had committed ; they neglected, 
 as they had done, to found a colony in Asia Minor, and to 
 
 * William of Tj/re, b. xvii. chap. 6.
 
 372 HisTOBT or the ceusadzs. 
 
 posaeflB themselves of cities which might protect the march 
 of pilgrims into Syria. "We admire the patience with which 
 they endured the outrages and the perfidies of the Greeks ; 
 but this moderation, more rehgious than poUtic, only led 
 them to their ruin. We must add that they entertained too 
 low an opioion of the Turks, and did not take sufficient 
 heed of the means necessary to contend with them. The 
 Grermans, in particular, were so fuU of confidence, that, 
 according to the report of !Xicetas, they would rather have 
 thought of taking shovels and pick-axes with them than 
 swords or lances, believing that they had nothing to do but 
 to cut themselves a road across Asia ]Minor. By another 
 singularity, the Crusaders, in this war, did not employ the 
 cross-bow* which a council of the Lateran had condemned 
 as too miurderous, and the use of which was interdicted to 
 the warriors of the West. The infantry was left almost 
 without arms, and when the Crusaders had lost their cavalry, 
 thev had no defence against an enemy. 
 
 The Christian armies, as in the first crusade, dragged in 
 their traiu a great number of cliildren. women, and old men, 
 who could do nothing: towards victorv. and vet alwavs oreatlv 
 augmented the disorder and despair consequent upon a 
 defeat. With this multitude no discipline could be esta- 
 blished ; nor is it apparent that the leaders made any attempt 
 to prevent the etfects of Hcense. Geofii^ey de Eancon, 
 whose imprudence caused the destruction of half the French 
 armT. and placed the king of France in the greatest peril, 
 had no other punishment but his repentance, and thought 
 he expiated his neglect of duty by prostrating himself at 
 the tomb of Christ. That which was still more injurious to 
 discipline was the depravity- of manners in the Christian 
 army, which must be principally attributed to the gi'eat 
 number of women that had taken arms, and mixed in. the 
 raiil:f= of the soldiery. La. this crusade there was a troop of 
 A--:. OS, commanded by a general whose dress was much 
 : : : e admired than her courage, and whose gilded boots 
 r rd her the name of " tlie lady with the legs of gold.'' ^ 
 Another cause of the dissoluteness of manners was the 
 extreme facility with which the most vicious men, even con- 
 vi r- 1 malefactors, were admitted amone the Crusaders, 
 be. Bernard, who considered the crusade as a road to heaven,
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CSUSADES. 373 
 
 summoned the greatest sinners to take part in it, and re- 
 joiced at seeing them thus enter into the way of eternal Kfe. 
 In a council of liheims, of which the abbot of Clam'aux was 
 the oracle, it was decreed that incendiaries should be 
 punished by serving Grod one year either in Jerusalem or 
 JSpain. The ardent preacher of the holy war did not reflect 
 that great sinners, enrolled under the banners of the cross, 
 woidd be exposed to new temptations, and that during a 
 long voyage it would be much more easy for them to corrupt 
 their companions than to amend their own conduct. Dis- 
 orders were unhappily tolerated by the leaders, who beHeved 
 that Heaven was ever indulgent towards Crusaders, and did 
 not wish to be more severe than it. 
 
 And yet the Christian army, amidst a most frightful state 
 of morals, presented examples of an austere piety. Sur- 
 rounded by the dangers of war, and harassed by the fatigues 
 of a long pilgrimage, the king of France never neglected 
 the most minute practices of rehgion. The greater part of 
 the leaders took him for their model, and when in camp, 
 paid more attention to religious processions than to mihtary 
 exercises ; so that many warriors actually placed more con- 
 fidence in then' prayers than in their arms. In general, 
 through the whole of this crusade, sufficient dependence was 
 not placed on human means and human prudence, — every- 
 thing was left to Pro\'idence, which seldom protects those 
 who stray from the ways of reason and wisdom. 
 
 The first crusade had two distinctive characters, — piety 
 and heroism ; the second had scarcely any other principle 
 but a piety which parrook more of the devotion of the 
 cloister than of a generous enthusiasm. The influence of 
 the monks who had preached it, and who then meddled very 
 much in temporal affairs, was but too evident through the 
 whole of this crusade. The king of France in his misfor- 
 tunes displayed nothing but the resignation of a martyr, and 
 in the field of battle was only distinguished by the ardour 
 and courage of a soldier. The emperor of G-ermany did not 
 evince greater ability ; he lost all by his mad presumption, 
 and from having thought himself able to conquer the Turks 
 without the assistance of the Frencli. Both were Kmited 
 in their views, and were greatly wanting in that energv 
 which produces great actioas. In the expedition which
 
 374 HISTOET OF THE CEIJSADES. 
 
 they directed, there was notMng elevated, everything seemed 
 to keep down to the level of their character. In a word, this 
 war developed neither heroic passions nor chivalric qualities. 
 Camps had no great captains to admire or imitate ; and the 
 period we have described can boast of only two men of 
 marked genius, — he who had roused the Western world by 
 liis eloquence, and the wise minister of Louis, who had to 
 repair in France all the misfortunes of the crusade. 
 
 All the energies of this crusade were not directed against 
 Asia. Several preachers, authorized by the Holy See, had 
 exhorted the inhabitants of Saxony and Denmark to take up 
 arms against some nations of the Baltic, still plunged in the 
 darkness of paganism. This crusade was led by Henry of 
 Saxony, several other princes, and a great number of bishops 
 and archbishops. An army, composed of a hunded and fifty 
 thousand Crusaders, attacked the barbarous and savage 
 nation of the Sclaves, who unceasingly ravaged the sea- 
 coasts, and made war upon the Christians. The Christian 
 warriors wore upon their breasts a red cross, under which 
 was a round figure, representing and symbolizing the earth, 
 which ought to be obedient to the laws of Christ. Preachers 
 of the gospel accompanied their march, and exhorted them 
 to extend the limits of Christian Eiurope by their exploits. 
 The Crusaders consigned to the flames several idolatrous 
 temples, and destroyed the city of Malehon, in which the 
 pagan priests were accustomed to assemble. In this holy 
 war the Saxons treated a pagan people exactly as Charle- 
 magne had treated their own ancestors ; but they were not 
 able to subdue the Sclaves. After a war of three years, the 
 Saxon and Danish Crusaders grew M'eary of pursuing an 
 enemy defended by the sea, and still further by their despair. 
 They made proposals of peace ; the Sclaves, on their part, 
 promised to become converts to Clmstianity, and to respect 
 Christian people.* They only made these promises to pacify 
 their enemies ; and when the latter laid down their arms, 
 they retiurned to their idols and resumed their pii-acies. 
 
 * This crusade from the north is mentioned by Otto of Frisingen. 
 Saxo the grammarian gives the most ample details in his thirteenth book. 
 The reader may likewise consult the Latin History of Germany, by 
 Kruntz. The History of Denmark, by Mallet, does not say a word of 
 this war.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 375 
 
 Other Crusaders, to whom Christendom paid very little 
 attention, prosecuted a more successful war on the banks of 
 the Tagus. It was several centuries since Spain had been 
 invaded by the Moors, and still two rival nations disputed 
 empire and fought for territory in the names of Maliomet 
 and Jesus Christ.* The Moors, often conquered by the Cid 
 and his companions, had been driven from several provinces, 
 and when the second crusade set out for the East, the 
 Spaniards were besieging the city of Lisbon. The Christian 
 army, small in numbers, was in daily expectation of rein- 
 forcements, when a fleet which was transporting to the East 
 a great number of French Crusaders, entered the mouth of 
 the Tagus. Alphonso, a prince of the house of Burgundy 
 and grandson of King Kobert, commanded the besieging 
 army. He visited the Christian warriors, whom Heaven 
 appeared to have sent to his assistance, and promised, as 
 the reward of their co-operation, the conquest of a flourishing 
 kingdom. He exhorted them to join him in combating 
 those same Saracens whom they were going to seek in Asia 
 through all the perils of the sea. " The Grod who had sent 
 them would bless their army ; noble pay and rich possessions 
 would be the meed of their valour." Nothing more was 
 necessary to persuade warriors who had made a vow to fight 
 with the infidels and who were eager for adventures. They 
 abandoned their vessels and joined the besiegers. The Moors 
 opposed them with determined pertinacity, but at the end 
 of four months Lisbon was taken, and the garrison put to 
 the sword. They afterwards besieged several other cities, 
 which were wrested from the Saracens ; Portugal submitted 
 to the power of Alphonso, and he assumed the title of king. 
 Amidst these conquests the Crusaders forgot the East, and, 
 without incurring much danger, they founded a prosperous 
 
 * Arnold, a Flemish preacher, on the publication of the second crusade, 
 exhorted the nations of France and Germany to enrol themselves in this 
 pious army; he followed the Crusaders who laid siege to Lisbon, under 
 the command of Arnold count d'Arschot. Arnold sent an account of this 
 siege to Milo, bishop of Terouane, in a letter published by Dom Martene, 
 in the first volume of his great collection, upon two manuscripts. The 
 relation of Arnold, an eye-witness, different from that of Robert of the 
 Mount, is adopted by Fleury. The historian of Portugal, Manoel de 
 Faria y Sousa, speaks also of this expedition of the Crusaders.
 
 376 HisTOET or the ceusades. 
 
 and splendid kingdom, whicli lasted mucli longer tlian that 
 cf Jerusalem. 
 
 We may judge by these crusades, undertaken at tlie same 
 time, against nations of the north and others of the south, 
 that the principle of holy wars began to assume a new cha- 
 racter ; Crusaders did not light only for the possession of a 
 sepulchre, but they took up arms to defend their religion 
 AvhereTer it might be attacked, and to make it triumphant 
 among all nations that rejected its laws and refused its 
 benefits. The diversity of interests which set the Crusaders 
 in action, necessarily divided their forces, weakened their 
 enthusiasm, and was sure to be injurious to the success of a 
 holy war. 
 
 France, which then turned anxious looks towards Pales- 
 tine, no longer demanded of God the deliverance of the holy 
 places, but the return of a king over whose misfortunes they 
 had wept. For a length of time, Suger, who was unable to 
 sustain the royal authority, had endeavoured to recall his 
 master by letters full of tenderness and devotion. Their 
 internew, which proved an affecting spectacle for the French, 
 alarmed the courtiers, who were desii-ous of awakening sus- 
 picions of the fidehty of the minister. A kingdom at peace 
 and a flourisliing people were the reply of Suger. The king 
 praised his zeal, and bestowed upon him the title of Father 
 of his Coimtiy. Suger enjoyed a great advantage, as he 
 had been the only man of any consequence in Europe who 
 had opposed the crusade. His wise foresight was everywhere 
 the subject of praise, whilst all complaints were directed 
 ao^ainst St. Bernard. There was not a familv in the king- 
 dom that was not in mourning ; and the same desolation 
 reigned throughout Germany. So many widows and orphans 
 had never been seen, and the glory of mart^Tdom, promised 
 to all whose loss was regretted, had no power to dry their 
 tears. The abbot of Clairvaux was accused of having sent 
 Christians to die in the East, as if Em-ope had been lis-ithout 
 sepulchres ; and the partisans of St. Bernard, who had seen 
 his mission attested by his miracles, not knowing what to 
 replv, were struck ^ith stupor and astonishment. '' God, in 
 these latter days," said they among themselves, "has neither 
 spared his people nor his name ; the children of the Church 
 have been given over to death in the desert, or massacred by 
 the sword, or devom'ed "by hunger ; the contempt of the
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 377 
 
 Lord lias fallen even upon princes ; Grod liaa left them to 
 wander in unkno^Yn ways, and all sorts of pains and afflic- 
 tions have been strevred upon their paths." So many evils 
 resulting from a holy war, from a war undertaken in the 
 name of Grod, confounded the Christians who had most 
 applauded the crusade, and St, Bernard himself was aston- 
 ished that God had been willing to judge the universe before 
 the time, and without remembrance of his mercy. " What 
 a disgrace is it for us," said he in an apology addressed to 
 the pope, " for us who went everywhere announcing peace 
 and happiness ! Have we conducted oiu-selves rashly ? 
 Have our courses been adopted from fantasy ? Have we 
 not followed the orders of the head of the Church and those 
 of the Lord ? AVhy has not Grod regarded our fasts ? Why 
 has he appeared to know nothing of our humiliations ? With 
 what patience is he now listening to the sacrilegious and 
 blasphemous voices of the nations of Arabia, who accuse 
 him of having led his people into the desert that they might 
 perish! All the world knows," added he, " that the judg- 
 ments of the Lord are just ; but this is so profound an 
 abyss, that he may be called happy who is not disgraced by 
 it." St. Bernard was so thoroughly persuaded that the 
 unfortunate issue of the crusade would furnish the wicked 
 with an excuse for iusulting the Heity, that he congratulated 
 himself that so many of the maledictions of men fell upon 
 him, making him as a buckler to the living Grod. In liis 
 apology, he attributes the want of success in the holy war 
 to the disorders and crimes of the Christians ; he compares 
 the Crusaders to the Hebrews, to whom Moses had pro- 
 mised, in the name of Heaven, a land of blessedness, and 
 who all perished on their journey, because they had done a 
 thousand things against Grod. 
 
 St. Bernard might have been answered that he ought to 
 have foreseen the excesses and disorders of an undisciplined 
 multitude, and that the brigands called upon to take up the 
 cross were not the people of Grod. It appears to us, at the 
 present time, that the partisans of the abbot of Clairvaux 
 might have found better reasons for the justification of the 
 holy war. The second crusade, although unfortunate, pro- 
 cured several advantages for Europe. The peace which 
 reigned in the West, caused states to flomish, and repaired, 
 in some sort, the disasters of a distant war. It was held
 
 378 HISTOET OF THE CETJSADES. 
 
 shameful to cslitj arms in Europe, whilst the Crusaders were 
 contending with the Saracens in the East. Eeligion itself 
 watched over Grermany, which had heen so long troubled by 
 c.i\il wars. Conrad, a weak monarch without character, who 
 had lost his army in Asia, was more powerful on his return 
 from Palestine than he had been before he quitted his domi- 
 nions. The king of France also found his authority in- 
 creased, from ha\ing been defended during his absence by 
 the thunders of the Church and the eloquence of St. Ber- 
 nard.* The crusade gave him a pretext for imposing taxes 
 upon his people, and placed him at the head of a numerous 
 army, where he accustomed the great vassals to consider him 
 as their supreme head. 
 
 Stni, if it is true that the divorce of Eleanor of Gruienne 
 was one of the consequences of the crusade, it must be ad- 
 mitted that the evils which resulted from this war were much 
 greater for the French monarchy than any good it derived 
 from it. The kingdom which then lost the province of 
 Aquitaine, which fell into the hands of the EngHsh, was 
 doomed to become the 'pvey of the children that Eleanor had 
 by her second marriage. A following age saw the descend- 
 ants of these children crowned kings of France and England 
 in the church of Xotre Dame, at Paris, and the successors 
 of Louis TIL found themselves almost reduced to seek an 
 asvlum in foreign lands. 
 
 Flattery imdertook to console Louis the young, for the 
 reverses he had experienced in Asia, and represented him, 
 upon several medals,t as the conqueror of the East. He 
 left Palestine with the project of returning thither ; and in 
 
 * St. Bernard wrote to the Estate? of the kingdom, assembled by Suger, 
 to repress the ambition of a brother of the king and some great vassals. 
 He also wrote to the abbot of St. Denis : " Whilst Louis,*' said he in his 
 letter, " is fighting for a king whose reign is eternal ; whilst in the flower of 
 his age he exiles himself from his kingdom to serve Him who causes them 
 to reign that serve him, is it possible there can be men so rash as to create 
 disorder and troubles in his states, and to attack in his person the Lord 
 and his Christ V'—Ep. 337. 
 
 f The legend of one of these medals is conceived in these terms : — 
 Regi invicto ab oriente reduci, 
 Frementes laetitia cives. 
 In another medal the Meander is represented, and a trophy raised upon 
 its banks, with this inscription — 
 
 Turcis ad ripas Mseandri caesis fugatis.
 
 KISTORT OF TKE CRUSADES. 379 
 
 his journey to Eome, lie promised tlie pope to place himself 
 at the head of a new crusade. 
 
 And never did the Christian colonies stand in greater 
 need of assistance. From the time the French quitted 
 Palestine not a day passed without some new misfortune 
 befalling the Christians established in S}Tia. A very short 
 time after the siege of Damascus, Raymond of Poictiers lost 
 his life in a battle against the Saracens, and his head was 
 sent to the caliph of Bagdad. Josseliu, after having lost 
 the city of Edessa, himself fell into the hands of the inhdels, 
 and died in misery and despair in the prisons of Aleppo. 
 Two emissaries of the Old Man of the jNIountain assassi- 
 nated Eaymond 11. , count of Tripoli, under the walls of his 
 capital, which was plunged into trouble and desolation. Two 
 young Mussulman princes, of the family of Ortok, excited 
 by theii' mother, believed that the moment was come to re- 
 conquer Jerusalem from the Christians. An army which 
 they had assembled, came and pitched its camp on the 
 Mount of Olives, and the holy city only owed its safety to 
 the courage of some knights who induced the people to take 
 arms. Noureddin had got possession of all the Christian 
 cities of Mesopotamia, and several places in the principality 
 of Antioch had opened their gates to him. Arrived on the 
 shores of the sea, which he had never before seen, he bathed 
 in its waves, as if to take possession of it ; and, still accom- 
 panied by victory, he established the seat of his empire at 
 Damascus, whence he menaced the city of Jerusalem. 
 
 The afflicting news of these occurrences created great sor- 
 row among the Christians of the "West, and the sovereign 
 pontiff exhorted the faithful once again to take up the cross 
 and arms ; but neither the danger of the Christians beyond 
 the sea, nor the exhortations of the pope, could change the 
 opinion which the French had formed against distant wars. 
 Louis YII. was obliged to renounce his intention of retiu-n- 
 ing to the Holy Land. At this period a circumstance 
 occurred which it is very difficult to give credit to. The 
 abbot Suger, who had so strongly opposed the first expedi- 
 tion, formed the resolution of succouring Jerusalem ; and 
 in an assembly held at Chartres, exhorted the princes, 
 barons, and bishops to enrol themselves under the banners 
 of the holy war. As he was only answered by the silence of 
 grief and astonishment, he formed the project of attempting 
 
 Vol. L— 18
 
 3S0 HISTORY OF THE cnrsA.DES. 
 
 an enterprise alone in wluch two monarclis had failed. 
 Suger. at the age of seventy, resolved to raise an army, to 
 maintain it at his own expense, and to lead it himself into 
 Palestine. In accordance with the devotion of the time, he 
 went to Tours, to 'dsit the tomb of St. ]Martin, in order to 
 obtain the protection of Heaven, and already ten thousand 
 pilgrims had taken up arms, and were preparing to follow 
 him into Asia, when death came to prevent the execution of 
 his designs. 
 
 In his last moments Suger invoked the assistance and the 
 prayers of St. Bernard, who sustained his courage, and ex- 
 horted hioi not to tiu-n his thouc]rhts from the heavenly Jeru- 
 salem, in which both of them hoped soon to meet ; but iu 
 spite of the exhortations of his friend, the abbot of St. Denis 
 regretted, when d^-ing, not ha\'ing been able to succour the 
 holy city. St. Bernard was not lonor before he followed 
 Suger to the tomb, bearing with hun a deep regret at having 
 preached an unfortunate war. 
 
 France lost in the same year two men who had greatly 
 illustrated her, the one by talents and qualities useful to his 
 country, the other by his eloquence and virtues dear to aU 
 Christians, At a time when general attention was given to 
 the defence of the pri^'ileges of the CTiurch. Suger defended 
 the interests of royalty and the people ; whilst eloquent 
 preachers were animating the public zeal for holy wars 
 which were always accompanied by disasters, the skilful 
 minister of Louis YII. Avas preparing France, at a future day, 
 to gather the salutary- fruits of these great events. He was 
 accused of having gone too deeply into the mundane affairs of 
 his age ; but politics never banished from his mind the pre- 
 cepts of the gospel. According to the judgment of his con- 
 temporaries, he lived at the court like a wise courtier, and 
 in his cloister like a pious monk.* If there is in the church 
 of France, wrote St. Bernard to Pope Eugenius, any vase of 
 price which would embellish the palace of the King of 
 
 * We have a life of Suger, written hy his secretary. We have in French 
 a Life of the abbot of St. Denis, in three volumes. L'Academie Fran^aise 
 in 1778 proposed the Eulogy of Suger as a subject for a prize ; the dis- 
 course of M. Garrat, which was crowned, contains many very eloquent 
 passages. We have before us another discourse which was published in 
 1779, which presents an exaggerated, but very ingenious satire upon the 
 "'' "nd administration of Suger.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 381 
 
 kings, it is doubtless tlie venerable abbot Suger. As abbot 
 of St. Denis, he, perhaps, enjoyed more wealth than any 
 monk ought to possess, since we see he proposed to main- 
 tain an army, but he always employed his treasiu'es in the 
 service of his country and the Churc^i, and never had the 
 state been so rich as under his administration. His whole 
 life was a long series of prosperity, and of actions worthy of 
 being remembered. He reformed the monks of his order 
 without incurring their hatred ; he created the happiness of 
 the people without proving their ingratitude ; and served 
 kings, and yet obtained their friendship. Tortune favoured 
 all his undertakings, and that there should be nothing un- 
 prosperous in his life, and that he might be reproached with 
 no fault, he died Avhen he was about to conduct an army to 
 the East. 
 
 Sager and St. Bernard, united by religion and friendship, 
 had a very different destiny ; the first, born in a low condi- 
 tion, gave himself to the disposal of fortune, who carried 
 him up to the highest dignities ; the second, born in a more 
 elevated rank, hastened to descend from it, and was nothing 
 but by his genius. St. Bernard rendered few services to the 
 state, but he defended rehgion with indefatigable zeal ; and 
 as church then took precedence of country, he was greater 
 than the abbot Suger in the eyes of his contemporaries. 
 "Whilst he lived, the eyes of all Europe were fixed upon the 
 abbot of Clairvaux ; he was as a light placed in the midst of 
 Christendom, every word he preached had the holy authority 
 of the religion he taught. He stifled all schisms, silenced 
 all impostors, and by his labours, merited in his age the title 
 of the last father of the Church, as richly as the great Bos- 
 suet merited it in his. 
 
 St. Bernard may be reproached with having too frequently 
 issued from his retreat, and with not having always been, as 
 he himself expresses it, the disciple of oaks and beeches. 
 He had a hand in most of the political events of his time, 
 and interfered in all the afiairs of the Holy See. Christians 
 often asked who was the head of the Church ; popes and 
 princes sometimes murmured against his authority ; but it 
 must never be forgotten that he unceasingly preached mode- 
 ration to kings, humanity to the people, and poverty to the 
 clergy.
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 THIED CEUSADE. 
 
 A.D. 1148—1188. 
 
 "VVe cannot help being conyinced, whilst reading this his- 
 tory, that the religion of Mahomet, thoroughly warlike as 
 it is in principle, does not endue its disciples ^vith that 
 obstinate bravery, that boundless devotedness, of which the 
 Crusaders presented so many examples. The fanaticism of 
 the Mussulmans required victory to keep up its power or its 
 violence. Bred in a conviction of blind fatalism, they were 
 accustomed to consider successes or reverses as simple de- 
 crees of Heaven ; victorious, they were ftdl of ardoui' and 
 confidence ; conquered, they were depressed, and without 
 shame succumbed to an enemy, whom they believed to be 
 the instrument of destiny. An ambition for renown seldom 
 excited their courage, and even in the excesses of their war- 
 like fervour, the fear of chastisements and punishments kept 
 their faces towards the enemy more frequently than any 
 generous love of glory. A chief, whom they themselves 
 dreaded, was the only captain that could lead them to vic- 
 tory ; and thus despotism became necessary' to their valom\ 
 
 After the conquest of the Christians, the dynasties of the 
 Saracens and the Turks were dispersed and almost annihi- 
 lated ; the Seljoucides themselves had fallen back to the 
 very extremities of Persia, and the people of S\Tia scarcely 
 knew the names of those princes whose ancestors had 
 reigned over Asia. Everything, even despotism, was de- 
 stroyed in the East. The ambition of the emirs took advan- 
 tage of the general disorder ; slaves shared the spoils of 
 their masters ; provdnces and cities became so many prm- 
 cipahties, the uncertain and transient possession of Avhich 
 was a constant subject of dispute. The necessity for de- 
 fending the Mussuhnan religion, whilst threatened bv the 
 Christians, had alone preserved the credit of the rnbnhs of
 
 HISTORY OF TKE CRUSADES. 383 
 
 Bagdad. Tliev were still the chiefs of Islamism ; their 
 approbation seemed necessary for the preservation of the 
 power of usurpers or conquerors ; but their authority, which 
 was nothing but a sacred phantom, commanded nothing but 
 
 ? ravers and vain ceremonies, and inspired not the least fear, 
 n this state of degradation their only employment seemed 
 to be to consecrate the fruit of treachery and \dolence. It 
 was not sufficient to bestow cities and employments which 
 they had no power to refuse ; all whom vi(?cory and license 
 had favoured came to prostrate themselves before the vicars 
 of the prophet ; and crowds of emirs, viziers, and sultans, to 
 borrow an Eastern expression, appeared to rise from the 
 dust of their feet. 
 
 The Christians were not sufficiently aware of the state of 
 Asia, which they might have conquered ; aud agreed so ill 
 among themselves that they could never take advantage of 
 the divisions which prevailed among their enemies. They 
 seldom had, either in attack or defence, a well-sustained 
 ])lan, and their impetuous bravery, directed generally by 
 chance or passion, could only be compared to the tempest, 
 whose fury rages or abates at the pleasure of the winds 
 which reign over the horizon. Fortime, which had offered 
 them such a brilliant opportunity for extending their empire, 
 became, at last, adverse to them, and from the bosom of the 
 chaos in "v^hich the East was plunged, arose a formidable 
 power, which was destined to conquer and destroy them. 
 
 JN'oureddin, son of Zengui, who had obtained possession 
 of Edessa before the second crusade, had inherited the con- 
 quests of his father, and added to them by his valour. He 
 was bred among warriors who had sworn to shed their blood 
 in the cause of the Prophet, and when he mounted the 
 throne he revived the austere simplicity of the early caliphs. 
 Koureddin, says an Arabian poet, united the most noble 
 heroism with the profoundest humility. When he prayed 
 in the temple, his subjects believed they saw a sanctuary in 
 another sanctuar}^ He encouraged the sciences, cultivated 
 letters, and, above all, applied himself to the maintenance 
 of justice throughout his states. His people admired his 
 clemency and moderation ; and the Christians ^ven were 
 forced to praise his courage and his profane heroism. After 
 the example of his father Zengui, he made himself the idol 
 of his soldiers by his liberahty ; by taking charge of their
 
 384 niSTOET OF the CErSADES. 
 
 families, he prevented tlieir desire for the possession of 
 lands, and thus accustomed them to consider the camp as 
 their home and their country. In the midst of armies 
 , which he had liiraself formed, and ^Yhich respected in him 
 the avenger of the Prophet, he restrained the ambition of 
 the emirs, and directed their efforts and their zeal towards 
 one sole object, the triumph of Islamism, His victories, 
 his fortune, his religious and political virtues drew upon 
 him the attention of the entire East, and made the Mussul- 
 mans believe that the period of their deliverance had arrived. 
 
 Baldwin III., who undertook to stop the career of ]^ou- 
 reddin, displayed great valour in several battles. The most 
 important and the most fortunate of his expeditions was the 
 taking of i\scaloii, in which the Mussulmans always kept 
 up a formidable garrison. This city, which is situated in a 
 fertile plain, and which the Mussulmans call tlie Spouse of 
 Syria, was succoured by an Eg}^tian fleet, and for a long 
 time resisted all the efforts of the Christians. Hivers of 
 blood flowed before its walls diu-ing several months ; both 
 Mussulmans and Christians fighting with fury, and neither 
 giving nor receiving quarter. During the siege the knights 
 of the Temple particularly distinguished themselves by their 
 valour ; the thirst for booty, far more than the love of glory, 
 making them brave the greatest perils. The garrison and 
 the inhabitants, exhausted by fatigue and pinched by famine, 
 at length opened the gates of the city. Baldwin granted 
 them a capitidatioii, permitted them to retire into Egypt 
 with their families, and caused a Te Deum to be sung in the 
 great mosque, which he consecrated to St. Paul. 
 
 After this victorv the king of Jerusalem marched to en- 
 counter Xoureddin, and compelled him to raise the sieges of 
 both Paneas and Sidon. Baldwin was en2:aQ:ed in assistinix 
 the principality of Antioch, always disturbed by fiictions, 
 always threatened by the Mussulmans, when he was poisoned 
 by a Syrian physician. As soon as he became sensible of 
 his danger, he set out for Jerusalem, and died in the city of 
 Berouth. His remains were transported to the holy city, 
 the clergy coming out to meet the funeral train. The 
 people descended from the mountains to join the procession, 
 and through the country, and in the cities nothing was heard 
 but lamentations. Xoureddin himself, if we are to believe
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 385 
 
 a Christian historian,* was affected by the sorrow of the 
 Franks. Some of his emirs advising him to take advantage 
 of this melancholy occasion to enter Palestine, " Grod forbid," 
 replied he, " that I should disturb the proper grief of a 
 people who are weeping for the loss of so good a king, or 
 lix upon such an opportunity to attack a kingdom which I 
 have no reason to fear." Hemarkable vrords, which at once 
 denote two great men, and which further shovv' what a 
 serious loss the Christians had sustained. 
 
 As soon as the funeral ceremonies of Baldwin III. were 
 over, warm debates arose upon the choice of a successor. 
 The greater part of the barons and knights attached to the 
 memory of Baldwin proposed to call to the throne his 
 brother Amaury, count of Jaft'a and Ascalon. This party 
 was the most reasonable and the most conformable to the 
 laws and interests of the kiugdom ; but the brother of 
 Bakb\vin, by tlie haughtiness of his deportment, had made 
 himself many enemies among the people, the clergy, and 
 the army, lie was reproached with an ambition and an 
 avarice fatal to the interests of the Christians ; and he was 
 accused of not being restrained by honour, justice, or even 
 the precepts of religion,t in the execution of his projects. 
 His partisans extolled his active and enterprisiug character, 
 his bravery so often proved, and his great skill in war. 
 Among the nobles of the kingdom who opposed his succes- 
 sion, and attributed to him ambitious views much to be 
 dreaded, were several who themselves nourished aspiring 
 projects, and allowed themselves to be seduced by the hope 
 of ascending the throne. The conflicting parties were on 
 the point of taking up arms to sustain their pretensions 
 or their hopes, when the grand master of the Hospi- 
 tallers exhorted the barons and knights to preserve the 
 peace and the laws of the kiugdom by crowning young 
 Amaury. " The cro^\'n," said he to them, " which you 
 refuse to place upon the head of a Christian prince will soon 
 be upon that of JVoureddin or of the caliph of Egypt. It 
 this misfortune should happen, you will become the slaves 
 
 * Robert of the Mount. 
 ^ t William of Tyre says that he was once much scandalized by a ques- 
 tion Amaury put to him concerning the next woild.
 
 380 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 of the infidek, and the world will accuse you of having 
 opened the gates of the holy city to the Saracens, as the 
 traitor Judas gave up the Saviour of the world into the 
 hands of his enemies." This speech, and the sight of the 
 troops which Amaurv had already collected to defend his 
 rio-hts, disarmed the factions which disturbed the kingdom. 
 The brother of Baldwin was crowned in the Holy Sepulchre, 
 and received the oaths of allegiance of those even who had 
 openly declared themselves opposed to his claims. 
 
 Assoon as Amaury had ascended the throne, he directed 
 all his energies towards Eg\'pt, now weakened by the vic- 
 tories of the Christians. The caliph of Cairo having refused 
 to pay the tribute due to the conquerors of Ascalon, the 
 new king of Jerusalem placed himself at the head of his 
 army, traversed the desert, carried the terror of his arms to 
 the banks of the Xile, and only returned to his kingdom 
 when he had forced the Eg^-ptians to puix-hase peace. The 
 state in which Egypt was then placed was likely soon to 
 recall the Christian's thither ; and happy would it have been 
 for them if they had known how to profit by their advan- 
 tages ; and if their fruitless attempts had not served to 
 favoiu* the progress of a rival power. 
 
 Eg^-pt was at that time the theatre of a civil war, occa- 
 sioned by the ambition of two leaders who disputed the 
 empire of it. Eor a length of time the caliphs of Cairo, like 
 those of Bagdad, shut up in their seraglio, had borne no 
 resemblance to the warrior from whom they derived their 
 origin, who had said, whilst pointing to his soldiers and his 
 sword, " These are my family and my race.'^ Eners'ated by 
 effeminacy and pleasures, they had abandoned the govern- 
 ment to their slaves, who adored them on their knees, and 
 imposed laws upon them. They no longer exercised any 
 real authority but in the mosques, and only preserved the 
 disgraceful privilege of confirming the usurped power of the 
 viziers, who corrupted the armies, disturbed the provinces, 
 and in the field of battle quarrelled with each other for the 
 right of reigning over both people and prince. 
 
 Each of the viziers, to secm-e the triumph of his cause, 
 called in by turns the arms of the neighboiu-ing powers. 
 On the arrival of these dangerous auxiliaries, all was in con- 
 fusion on the banks of the Xile. Blood flowed in all the
 
 HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 387 
 
 provinces, sometimes slied by the executioners, sometimes by 
 the soldiers ; Egypt Avas at once desolated by its enemies, its 
 allies, and its inhabitants. 
 
 Chaver, ^vho, amidst these revolutions, had raised himself 
 from the humble condition of a slave to the post of vizier, 
 had been conquered and displaced by Dargan, one of the 
 principal officers of the Egyptian mihtia. Obliged to fly 
 and abandon Egypt, where his rival reigned, he went to seek 
 an asylum at Damascus, imploring the assistance of Noured- 
 din, and promisiug a considerable tribute if that prince 
 would furnish him with troops to protect his return into 
 Egypt. The sultan of Damascus yielded to the prayers of 
 Chaver. To command the army which he resolved to send 
 into Eg;v'pt, he selected Chirkou, the most skilful of his 
 emirs, who having always shown himself cruel and implaca- 
 ble in his military expeditions, was likely to be without pity 
 for the vanquished, and to take all advantage of the miseries 
 of a civil war, for the benefit of his master. The vizier 
 Dargan was not long in being warned of the projects of 
 Chaver and the preparations of Noureddin. To resist the 
 storm about to burst upon him, he implored the aid of the 
 Christians of Palestine, and promised to give up his trea- 
 sures to them if they succeeded in preserving his power. 
 
 AVliilst the king of Jerusalem, seduced by this promise, 
 was collecting an army, Chaver, accompanied by the troops 
 of jN'oureddin, crossed the desert, and approached the banks 
 of the Nile. Dargan, who came out to meet him with the 
 Egyptian army, was conquered by the Syrians, and lost his 
 life in the battle. The city of Cairo soon opened its gates 
 to the conqueror. Chaver,* whom the victory had delivered 
 
 * Among the Arabian authors who give the greatest number of details 
 of the conquest of Egypt, the continuator of Tabari deserves remark ; 
 Chehabeddin, son of Mohammed, the author of the Roudatins (the two 
 gardens or lives of Noureddin and Salaheddin), is also very explicit upon 
 this war between the Christians and the Mussulmans. Moudjireddin, in 
 his History of Jerusalem, says a few words of the conquest of Egypt by 
 Chirkou. Aboulmahason speaks also of the conquest of Egypt by the 
 Turks. When speaking of the influence the Franks exercised at Cairo, 
 he says they had a particular quarter of the city, and a market which 
 Chaver had had built for them. Kemaleddin, in his History of Aleppo, 
 relates these events with his usual clearness. This author agrees with 
 Tabari. Ibu-elatir, in his History of the Attabeks, says but a very few 
 
 18*
 
 388 UlSTOST OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 from "his enemy, shed torrents of blood in the capital to in- 
 sure his triumph, received amid the general consternation 
 the congratulations of the caliph, and resumed the reins of 
 government. 
 
 It was not long, however, before di\-isions arose between 
 the general of Noureddin, who daily placed a more excessive 
 price on his services, and the vizier, whom Chirkou accused 
 of perfidv and ingratitude. Chaver desired in vain to send 
 the Mussulmans back into Syria ; they replied to him only 
 bv threats, and he was on the point of being besieged in 
 Cairo by his own deliverers. All the Egyptians, particularly 
 the people of the capital, were seized with trouble and con- 
 sternation. 
 
 In the midst of so pressing a danger, the vizier Chaver 
 placed his only hope in the Christian warriors, whose ap- 
 proach he had not long since so much dreaded. He made 
 the king of Jerusalem the same promises that he had offered 
 to Noureddiu ; and Amaury, who only wanted to enter 
 Egvpt, whatever might be the party that prevailed there, set 
 out upon his march to defend Chaver with the very same 
 army he had collected to fight against him. "When arrived 
 on the banks of the Xile, he united his troops ^ith those of 
 the \-izier, and thev sat down before the city of Bilbeis, into 
 which Chirkou had retired. Xoureddin's general resisted 
 during three months all the attacks of the Christians and 
 Egvptians ; and when the king of Jerusalem proposed peace 
 to him, he demanded payment of the expenses of the war. 
 After some negotiations, in which he displayed great haugh- 
 tiness, he marched out of Bilbeis still threatening the Chris- 
 tians, and led back his army to Damascus, loaded with the 
 spoils of his enemies. 
 
 Chirkou had beheld the riches of Egypt, and become 
 acquainted with the weakness of its government ; the first 
 
 words about the conquest of Egypt ; he agrees with the continuator of 
 Tabari and Keraaleddin. Dzeraaleddin, in his History of Egypt, is also 
 very brief on this important event. Macrizi, in his Kitab-alsoloueJc 
 Timaresch Doiial Almoulouek (Institution on the Knowledge of the 
 Dynasties of Kings), only speaks with brevity of these events. Amongst 
 the Latin authors who have spoken of the conquest of Egypt, we princi- 
 pally quote William of Tyre, and the Latin history of the latter years of 
 the kingdom of Jerusalem, which is met with in the Collection of Bongars.
 
 IITSTORT OF THE CRUSADES. 389 
 
 advice he offered to iN oureddiu, after his arrival, therefore, 
 v,as to endeavour to unite this rich country to his own 
 empire. The sultan of Syria sent ambassadors to the caliph 
 of Bagdad, not to ask aid of him, but to give a religious 
 colour to his enterprise. During several centuries, the 
 caliphs of Bagdad and Cairo had been divided by an impla- 
 cable hatred ; each of them boasting of being the vicar of the 
 Prophet, and considering his rival as the enemy of God. In 
 the mosques of Bagdad, they cursed the caliphs of Egypt 
 and their sectarians ; in those of Cairo, they devoted to the 
 infernal powers, the Abassides and their partisans. 
 
 The caliph of Bagdad did not hesitate to comply with the 
 wishes of Koureddin. AVhilst the sultan of Syria was solely 
 occupied by his endeavours to extend his empire, the ^dcar 
 of the Prophet was only ambitious to preside alone over the 
 Mussulman religion. He commanded the Imans to preach 
 a war against the Fatimites, and promised the delights of 
 Paradise to all who shoidd take up arms in the holy expedi- 
 tion. At the call of the caliph, a great number of faithful 
 Mussulmans flocked to the standard of Xoureddin, and 
 Chirkou, by the order of the sultan, prepared to return into 
 Egypt, at the head of a powerful army. 
 
 The fame of these preparations spread throughout the 
 East, particularly in Egypt, where it created the most seri- 
 ous alarms. Amauiy, who had returned to his own states, 
 received ambassadors from Chaver, soliciting his help and 
 aUiance against the enterprise of Noureddin. The states of 
 the kingdom of Jerusalem were assembled at Kaplouse, and 
 the king there exposed to them the advantages of another 
 expedition into Egypt. An impost was levied to carry on a 
 war from w'hich the greatest hopes were entertained, and the 
 Christian armv soon set out from Graza to fight with the 
 troops of Xoureddin on the banks of the Nile. 
 
 In the mean time Chu'kou was crossinix the desert, where 
 he encountered the greatest dangers. A \dolent tempest 
 surprised him on his march ; all at once the heavens were 
 darkened, and the earth, which was strewed with the pros- 
 trate Syrians, became like a stormy sea. Immense waves of 
 sand were lifted by the winds, and rising into whirlwinds or 
 forming moving moimtains, scattered, bore away, or swal- 
 lowed up men and horses. In this tempest the Syrian
 
 ByO nisTOEY or the CErsADES. 
 
 army abandoned its baggage and lost its provisions and 
 arms, and when Chirkou arrived on tlie banks of the Xile, 
 lie had no means of defence left except the remembrance of 
 his former victories. He took great care to conceal the losses 
 he had experienced, and the wTeck of an army dispersed bv 
 a fearful tempest proved sufficient to throw all the cities of 
 Egypt into consternation. 
 
 The vizier Chaver, frightened at the approach of the 
 Syrians, sent ambassadors to the Christians, to promise them 
 immense riches, and press them to hasten their march. On 
 his side, the king of Jerusalem deputed to the caliph of 
 Egypt, Hugh of Csesarea, and Foulcher, a knight of the 
 Temple, to obtain the ratification of the treaty of alliance 
 with the Egyptians. Amam-y's deputies were introduced 
 into a palace in which no Christian had ever before been 
 admitted. After haA-ing traversed several corridors filled 
 with Moorish guards, and a vast number of apartments and 
 courts in which glittered all the splendour of the East, they 
 arrived in a hall, or rather a sanctuary, where the caliph 
 awaited them, seated on a throne shining with gold and pre- 
 cious stones. Chaver, who conducted them, prostrated him- 
 self at the feet of his master, and supplicated him to accept 
 the treaty of alliance with the kino^ of Jerusalem. The 
 prayer of the vizier was an imperious order, and the com- 
 mander of the faitliful, always docile to the will of the lowest 
 of his slaves, made a sign of approbation, and stretched his 
 uncovered hand out to the Christian deputies in presence of 
 the officers of his court, whom so strange a spectacle filled 
 with grief and surprise. 
 
 The army of the Franks was close to Cairo ; but as the 
 policy of Amaiuy was to lengthen the war, in order to pro- 
 long his stay in Egypt, he neglected opportunities of attacking 
 the Syrians with advantagfe, and graye them time to recruit 
 their strength. After having: left them a long time in repose, 
 he gave them battle in the isle of Maalle, and forced their 
 intrenchments, but did not follow up his -victory. Chii'kou, 
 in his retreat, endeavoured to reanimate the depressed courage 
 of the soldiers of Xoui-eddin, the latter not haviag yet for- 
 gotten the evils they had encountered in the passage over the 
 desert. This calamity, still recent, together with the first 
 victory of the Christians, destroyed the confidence thev had
 
 HISTORY or TUE CliUSADES. 391 
 
 in their arms and tlie protection of tlie Prophet. One of the 
 lieutenants of Chirkou, upon \Yitnessing their gloomy rage, 
 cried out in the midst of the Mussulman army : " Toa who 
 fear death or slavery, return into Syria; go and tell jSToureddin 
 that to repay him for the benefits with which he has loaded 
 you, you abandon Egypt to the infidels, in order to shut 
 yourselves up in your seraglios with women and children," 
 
 These words reanimated the zeal and fanaticism of the 
 Syrian warriors. The Franks and the Egyptians who pur- 
 sued the army of Chirkou, were conquered in a battle, and 
 forced to abandon in disorder the hills of Baben,* where 
 they had pitched their tents. The general of Noureddin 
 took all possible advantage of his victory ; he passed as a 
 conqueror along the fertile banks of the Nile ; penetrated, 
 without encountering an obstacle, into lower Egypt ; placed a 
 garrison in Alexandria ; and returned to lay siege to the city 
 of Koutz, the capital of the Thebais. The ability with 
 Avhich Chirkou had disciplined his army, and planned the 
 last battle he had fought with his enemies ; his marches and 
 his counter-marches in the plains and valleys of Egypt, from 
 the tropic to the sea, announced the progress of the Mus- 
 sulmans in military tactics, and w^arned the Christians be- 
 forehand of the enemy that was destined to put an end to 
 their victories and conquests. 
 
 The Turks defended themselves during several months in 
 Alexandria, against the seditions of the inhabitants and the 
 numerous assaults of the Christians. They at length ob- 
 tained an honourable capitulation, and as tlieir army Avas 
 becoming weaker every day by famine and fatigue, they re- 
 tired a second time to Damascus, after exacting very dear 
 payment for the transient tranquillity in which they left the 
 people of Egypt. 
 
 A^fter the retreat of the Syrians, the vizier Chaver has- 
 tened to send back the Christians, whose presence made him 
 very uneasy. Tie engaged to pay the king of Jerusalem an 
 annual tribute of a hundred thousand crowns in gold, and 
 consented to receive a garrison in Cairo. He loaded the 
 barons and knights with rich presents, and the soldiers even 
 
 * Near the castle of Toura, two leagvxes from Cairo, opposite ancient 
 Memphis.
 
 392 UISTOUT OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 bad a sliare in liis bounties, proportionate to the fear tbe 
 Franks inspired bim with. The Christian warriors returned 
 to Jerusalem, bearing with them riches which dazzled both 
 people and nobles, and inspii^ed them witli other thoughts 
 than that of defending the heritage of Chi'ist. 
 
 As Amaury returned to his capital, the sight of his moun- 
 tainous and 'sterile provinces, the poverty of his subjects, 
 and the narrow limits of his kingdom, made him deeply re- 
 gret having missed the opportunity of conquering a great 
 empire. Soon after his return he married a niece of the 
 emperor flannel ; but whilst the people and his court gave 
 themselves up to joy, and put up vows for the prosperity of 
 his familv and his kingdom, one single thought occupied him 
 night and day, and haunted him even amongst the most sump- 
 tuous and brilliant festi\ities. The riches of the caliph of 
 Cairo, the populousness and fertility of Egypt, its numerous 
 fleets, and the commodiousness of its ports, presented them- 
 selves constantly to the mind of Amaury. His first endeavour 
 was to make the marriage he had just contracted subservient 
 to his projects, and he sent ambassadors to Constantinople, 
 with instructions to induce Manuel to assist him in the 
 conquest of Egypt. Manuel approved of the plans of the 
 king of Jerusalem, and promised to send him fleets and 
 share with him the glory and perils of a conquest which 
 must so deeply interest the Christian world. Then Amaury 
 hesitated no longer to declare his designs, and called toge- 
 ther the barons and principal people of his kingdom. In 
 this assembly, in which it was proposed to invade Egypt, the 
 wisest, among whom was the grand master of the Templars, 
 declared loudly and decidedly that the undertaking was 
 unjust. '• The Christians," said they, ''ought not to set the 
 Mussuhnans the example of violating treaties. It perhaps 
 would not be a difficult matter to obtain possession of Egypt, 
 but it would not be so easy to keep it as to conquer it. 
 Xoureddin was the most formidable enemy of the Chris- 
 tians : it was asrainst him they should bring all the imited 
 forces of the kingdom to bear. Egypt must belong to the 
 power that should remain ruler of Svria, and it was not pru- 
 dent or wise to endeavour to anticipate the favoiu-s of for- 
 tune, and send armies into a country of which they should 
 only open the gates to the son of Zengui, as they had done
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 893 
 
 in tlie instance of Damascus. They would sacrifice Christian 
 cities, Jerusalem itself, to the hope of conquering a kingdom. 
 Noureddin had alread}^ taken ad\^antage of the king of Jeru- 
 salem's being engaged on the banks of the Mle, to get pos- 
 session of several places Avhich belonged to the Christians. 
 Bohemond prince of Antioch, ani Raymond count of Tripoli, 
 had been made prisoners of war, and groaned in the chains of 
 the Mussulmans, as victims of an ambition which had seduced 
 the king of Jerusalem far from his Idngdom and the Christian 
 colonies of which he ought to be the support and defender." 
 
 The knights and barons who expressed themselves thus, 
 added that the sight alone of Egypt would not fail to cor- 
 rupt the Christian warriors, and enervate the courage and 
 jsubdue the patriotism of the inhabitants and defenders of 
 Palestine. These opinions, however prudent and just, had 
 no effect upon the king of Jerusalem and the partisans of 
 the war, among whom was conspicuous the grand master of 
 the Hospitallers, who had exhausted the riches of his order 
 by extravagant expenses, and had raised troops for whose 
 pay he had assigned the treasures of Egypt. The greater 
 part of the lords and knights, to whom fortune seemed to 
 be waiting on the banks of the Nile in order to bestow upon 
 them her favours, suffered themselves to be easily persuaded 
 to the war, and found it very convenient to consider as an 
 enemy the sovereign of a country which held out so rich a 
 booty to them. 
 
 AVhilst these preparations for the conquest of Egypt were 
 in agitation in Jerusalem, the same projects occupied the emirs 
 and the council of jSToureddin. Onhis return from the banks of 
 the Nile, Chirkou had announced to the sultan of Damascus, 
 " that the government of Cairo wanted both officers and sol- 
 diers ; and that revolutions, the cupidity of the Pranks, and 
 the presence of the Syrians, had weakened and ruined the 
 empire of the Patimites. The Egyptian people," added he, 
 " accustomed to change masters, Mere neither attached to the 
 caliph, whom they did not know, nor to the vizier, who brought 
 upon them all sorts of calamities. They were ready to sub- 
 mit to the domination of a prince who should be powerful 
 enough to protect them against both their enemies and the 
 scourge of ci\Tl wars. The Christians were likewise aware 
 how feeble this empire was, and it was to be dreaded that
 
 39^ niSTOHY OF THE CHrSADES. 
 
 they would "be the first. Sucli a f\ivoiira"ble opportunity 
 should not be neglected, or a conquest despised "which for- 
 tune appeared to oifer to the first power that should make 
 its appearance in Egypt." 
 
 Thus the kins: of Jerusalem and the sultan of Damascus 
 entertained the same \'iews, and both made preparations for 
 the same conquest. In the chiu'ches of the Christians, as in 
 the mosques of the Mussulmans, prayers were put up for the 
 success of a war about to be carried on on the banks of the 
 ^ile. As each of the two parties sought to give the best 
 colour to their projects and proceedings, at Damascus it was 
 asserted that the caliph of Esypt had made an impious 
 alliance with the disciples of Christ, whilst at Jerusalem it 
 was asserted that the ^-izier Chaver, in defiance of treaties, 
 kept up a perfidious correspondence with Xom-eddin. 
 
 The Chi^istians were the first to violate theii' treaties. 
 Amaury set out at the head of a numerous army, and ap- 
 peared in the character of an enemy before Belbeis, which 
 place he had promised to the knights of St. John, as a re- 
 ward for the ardour and zeal they had shown for his expedi- 
 tion. This city, situated on the right bank of the Nile, 
 was besieged, taken by assault, and after being pillaged, 
 consigned to the flames. 
 
 The misfortunes of Belbeis spread consternation through- 
 out Egypt, and the people, imtated at the account of the 
 cruelties practised by the Pranks, took up arms and drove 
 the Christian garrison out of Cairo. Chaver assembled 
 troops in the pro^^.nces, fortified the capital, and set fire to 
 the ancient city of Eostat, which burnt for more than six 
 weeks. The caliph of Cairo again implored the assistance of 
 Xoureddin, and to excite his pity and prove his distress, he 
 sent him in a letter the hair of the women of his seraglio. 
 The sultan of Damascus attended with joy to the prayers of 
 the caliph of Egypt, and as an army was ready to march, he 
 gave orders to Chirkou to cross the aesert and hasten to the 
 banks of the Xile. 
 
 ^Vhilst the Syrians were coming to the aid of Egypt, 
 thi'eatened bv the Christians. Chaver emploved even' means 
 in his power to stop the king of Jerusalem in his march, and 
 suspend in his hands the thunderbolt ready to fall upoo
 
 IIISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 395 
 
 Egypt. Ambassadors were sent to implore the pity of 
 Amaury, and to give some \Yeight to their prayers, offered 
 him two millions of crowns of gold. The offer of so enor- 
 mous a sum, which Egypt, for so long a time devastated, 
 could not possibly have furnished, seduced the king of the 
 Christians, who was as much inlluenced by a love of gold as 
 an ambition for conquests. He allowed himself to be thus 
 deceived by the Mussulmans, to whom he himself had been 
 wanting in faith ; and whilst he was waiting for the treasures 
 they had promised him, the Egyptians restored the fortifi- 
 cations of their cities, and assembled everywhere in arms. 
 The Christians looked in vain for the fleets promised by 
 Manuel, and soon, instead of welcoming auxiliaries, they 
 learnt that Chirkou had arrived for the third time in Egypt 
 at the head of a fonnidable army. Then Amaury opened 
 his eyes, and set about repairing his error. He flew to 
 meet the Syrians, and ofler them battle ; but their general 
 avoided the encounter, and united his forces Avith those of 
 the Egyptians. Tlie evil was irreparable ; the king of Jeru- 
 salem could not resist the two united armies, and ashamed 
 of being deceived by those whom he had himself sought to 
 deceive, he retui'ned to his kingdom, and was pursued to 
 the verge of the desert by the troops of JN^oureddiu. 
 
 Before the enterprise, hopes of success had dazzled the 
 minds of all; but when it had failed, they, as generally, 
 perceived the injustice of it. The Christians all became 
 aware of the evils with which Jerusalem was menaced, and 
 reproached Amaury with not being able to preserve peace, 
 or knowing how to make war. In the mean time Noured- 
 din's general entered the capital of Egypt in triumph. 
 
 Chirkou hoisted his standard on the towers of Cairo, and 
 Egypt, which thought it had received a liberator into its 
 bosom, soon found that he was a master. Chaver paid with 
 his life the evils he had inflicted upon his country ; he was 
 killed in the camp of Chirkou, and his authority became 
 the reward of the conqueror. The caliph, who, in order to 
 save himself, had demanded the head of his first minister, 
 appointed the general of Noureddin as his successor, styling 
 him in his letters, the victorious i^ince. It was thus that 
 the degraded monarch of Egypt jested with his own favours
 
 890 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 by flattering a man he did not know, and for whose death he 
 was, most likely, desirous ; an image of blind fortune, who 
 scatters at hazard good and evil, and views her favourites 
 and her m-tims with equal indiiference. 
 
 Some time after, the caliph of Cairo, always invisible in 
 his palace, was deposed by the orders of Xoureddin, and 
 died peaceably without kno^^ing that he had lost his empire. 
 His treasiu-es served to appease the murmurs of the people 
 and the soldiery ; the black flag of the Abassides displaced 
 the green standard of the children of Ali, and the name of 
 the caliph of Bagdad was heard of only in the mosques. The 
 dvnasty of the Fatimites, which reigned more than two 
 centuries, and for which so much blood had been shed, was 
 extiugfuished in a sinorle dav, and found not even one de- 
 fender. From that time the Mussulmans had onl_y one 
 religion and one cause to defend ; Egypt and Syria obeyed 
 the same chief, and the richest provinces of the East were 
 imited under the powerful hand of jS'oureddin. 
 
 The sultan of Aleppo and Damascus had spread, the terror 
 of his arms from the banks of the Euphrates and the IHgris 
 to the soiu'ces of the Xile ; he had everywhere governors 
 and armies ; and posts of pigeons, which he had established, 
 carried at the same time his orders into the principal cities 
 of Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. The justice of his laws 
 and his victories over the Christians had created for him 
 such a reputation for sanctitj^ among the Mussulmans, that 
 a shower of rain which fell in the midst of a drought, was 
 considered by them as a miracle granted to his prayers. 
 Dui^ing the war of Egypt he had taken several fortresses 
 belono-ins: to the Franks : and the destruction of the Chris- 
 tian colonies was still the aim of all his labours and all his 
 exploits. Full of confidence in the protection of Mahomet, 
 the devout Xoureddin employed his leisure in constructing, 
 with his own hands, a pulpit, which he meant himself to 
 place in the principal mosque of Jerusalem. 
 
 The sultan of Damascus was preparing to commence what 
 the Mussulmans called a sacred war, and for the success of 
 which public prayers had been ofi"ered up ; but this glory 
 was reserved for a young ^^arrior brought up in armies, 
 whose name was yet unkno^vn in the East.
 
 HISTORY OF TUE CRUSADES. 397 
 
 Saladin,* this young warrior, was sprung from the people 
 who inhabit the mountains situated beyond the Tio^ris. His 
 father Ayoub, and his uncle Chirkou, after the example of 
 the warriors of their nation, M'ho fight for pay under JMus- 
 sulman powers, had left Curdistan to serve in the troops of 
 the sultan of Bagdad. They had both attained high mili- 
 tary employments ; but Chirkou, a violent and brutal man, 
 having run through the body with his sword an officer of 
 justice, the two brothers were obliged to take to flight, and 
 came to offer their services to the Attabeks of Syria, whom 
 they assisted in their wars against the Christians. The young 
 Saladin, although he was brought up at the court of Damas- 
 cus, under the eye of an ambitious father, did not at first 
 appear to be eager for either fortune or glory. In his youth 
 he was fond of dissipation and pleasures, and remained a 
 long time a stranger to the cares of politics or the dangers 
 and labours of war. Having followed his uncle Chirkou in 
 his first expeditions to Egypt, he had distinguished himself 
 by the defence of Alexandria ; but he suffered so much, that 
 when JN^oureddin commanded him to return to the banks of 
 the Nile, he sought pretexts to avoid obedience. When the 
 sultan repeated his orders, Saladin set out, as he himself said 
 afterwards, with the despair of a man who is led to death. 
 " Thus it is," says the historian Hamad Eddin, who was for 
 a long time his secretary, " that men know not what they 
 refuse or what they desire ; but God, who knows all things, 
 sports with their designs, which always terminate according 
 to the views of Providence." 
 
 At the death of Chirkou, the caliph of Egypt, who trem- 
 bled for his power, named Saladin to the post of vizier, 
 because he thought him the least capable, by his talents or 
 
 * Saladin has had many historians. Among the Arabian authors the 
 most celebrated are Bohaddin, who has written his hfe ; Omad-el-Cathed, 
 secretary of the sultan, and author of the Phatah ; Schahab-Eddin, author 
 of the hves of Noureddin and Saladin, entitled El Revdatahis (or the two 
 gardens). Several particulars relative to the Mussulman hero are to be 
 met with in Aboulfeda, who was of the family of Ayoub, and in several 
 other Arabian writers quoted by D. Bf rthereau. There is a Life of Saladin 
 in French, by Marin. In the Imperial Library [of France — Trans.] two 
 manuscript Lives may likewise be consulted, one by the Abbe Renaudot, 
 and the other by Galland, the translator of the Thousand and One Nights,
 
 398 HISTOKT OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 reputation, of usurping the supreme authority. The son of 
 Avoub deceived both the king and the army, who saw in him 
 nothing but a young dissipated soldier, without ambition. 
 Eut he changed his conduct and reformed his manners ; 
 liitherto he had appeared fit only for the idleness and the 
 obsciu'ity of a seraglio ; but, all at once, he came forth a new 
 man, like one born for empire. His gra^-ity inspired the 
 respect of the emirs ; his liberality secured hun the sutfrages 
 of the army : and the austerity oi' his devotion rendered him 
 dear to all true believers. A religious revolution Avhich he 
 brought about without trouble or the effusion of blood, made 
 known his prudence and humanity, and showed that fortune 
 destined him for extraordinary things. The caliph of Bag- 
 dad felicitated him publicly ^yith having annihilated the sect 
 of the Fatimites, and made him a present of a vest of 
 honoiu'. His name was celebrated by the poets, and mLxed 
 with those of Mahomet and Xoui-eddin in the pubhc prayers. 
 
 Saladin, master of Egypt, sent for his father Ayoub, and 
 Avished to associate him vdih himself in the government. 
 When Ayoub arrived at Cairo with all his family, he was 
 compared to Jacob, and Saladin to the patriarch Joseph, 
 whose name he bore. Aided by the counsels of his father, 
 Saladin stilled all plots de\dsed against him, and restrained 
 the ambition and jealousy of the emirs. 
 
 In a council in which his son had spoken too openly of his 
 projects, Ayoub, brought up among the intrigues of the 
 comets of Asia, exclaimed ^dth vehemence against all traitors, 
 and swore he would cut olf the head of even Saladin himself, 
 if he received orders from the sultan of Damascus to do so. 
 "WTien left alone with his son, he reproached him with his 
 indiscretion and imprudence. " I have spoken against you," 
 added he, " before your rivals and enemies ; but know that if 
 Noureddin should come to attack you, I would be the first to 
 take arms ; if he required only the tribute of a sugar-cane from 
 us, he should not obtain it of me." According to the advice 
 of Ayoub, Saladin spoke only of his perfect submission to 
 the commands of his master, and took honour to himself as 
 being the lowest of the slaves of jS"oureddin, to whom he 
 sent deputies and presents ; but he could not destroy all his 
 suspicions. Xoureddin had determined upon going into 
 Egypt himself, when death surprised liim, and delivered
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 399 
 
 Saladiii from the uneasiness which a jealous and vindictive 
 master naturally inspired. 
 
 At the death of Noureddiu, the empire founded b_y the 
 Attabeks declined towards its rain. The sultan of the 
 Attabeks only left a child to succeed him, the emirs abeady 
 began to quarrel for the divisions of his power, and Syria 
 was about to return to the chaos into which the fall of the 
 Seljoucides had plunged it. The Mussulman nations, ter- 
 rified at the evils before them, eagerly sought the yoke of 
 Saladin, and recognised with joy for their master a warrior 
 who was the only person capable of defending their religion 
 or their dominions. Saladin inherited not only the power of 
 JNToiu-eddin, but was anxious to follow up the projects of his 
 predecessor, and nothing pleased his ambition more than the 
 idea of pursuing the war against the Christians. 
 
 Amaury, instead of taking advantage of the troubles of 
 Syria, was desirous of resuming his projects against Egypt ; 
 and requesting the aid of the emperor of Constantinople, 
 the latter sent him a fleet and some troops. The Christians 
 laid siege to Damietta ; but the eternal divisions between the 
 G-reeks and Latins prevented the success of the enterprise. 
 Amaiury, entertaining still the hope of succeeding in his 
 designs, sent ambassadors into Europe, thinking that the 
 prospect of the conquest of Egypt would arm the knights 
 of the West. As the deputies of Amaury returned without 
 obtaining aid, he himself repaired to Constantinople to 
 solicit fresh succours. He was received with magnificence ; 
 and great promises were made him ; but he died wdthout 
 seeino: them realized. Thus King Amaurv, during the whole 
 of his reign, had but one single thought, for which he 
 exhausted all the resources of his kingdom. The obstinacy 
 which he evinced for the execution of an unfortunate pro- 
 ject, advanced the progress of the Mussulmans, and must 
 have recalled to the Christians of the West the words which 
 the prophets repeated to the Hebrews, — " Children of 
 Israel, direct neither your looks nor your steps towards 
 JEgyptr 
 
 Amauiy, at his death, left a distressed kingdom, and as 
 the governor of its states a son, thii'teen years of age, sick 
 and covered with leprosy. Ba^nnond, count of Tripoli, and 
 Milo de Plansy, lord of Carac and Montroyal, disputed the
 
 400 HISTOKT OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 reofencv durins: the minoritr of Youn^ Baldwiu. MlIo, by 
 liis intrigues, obtained the suffrages of the barons, but was 
 found, a short time after, pierced with several wounds in- 
 flicted by a sword, in one of the streets of Ptolemais : 
 Eavmond succeeded his rival, with whose death all Palestine 
 accused him. 
 
 The father of the count of Tripoli had been killed by the 
 Ismaehans. and he himself had remained eio:ht vears in the 
 chains of the infidels. The fourth in descent from the 
 famous count de St. Gilles, he possessed the bravery, the 
 activitv, and the ambition of the hero from whom he drew 
 his origin ; but with them, that obstinacv of character, which, 
 in difficult times, irritates the passions and provokes im- 
 placable hatreds. More impatient to reign over the Chris- 
 tians than to conquer the infidels, Uaymond considered the 
 right of commaDding men as the onlv reward of the evils he 
 had suffered ; he demanded with haughtiness the recompense 
 of his services and his long toils, and conceived that justice 
 would triumph, and the safety of the kingdom be preserved, 
 solely by his elevation. 
 
 If, amidst the disorders which continually agitated the 
 Christian states, the new regent had had sufficient authority 
 to direct the policy of the Franks, and make peace or war 
 at his will, history might justly accuse him of having favoured 
 the power of Saladin, and of having prepared the downfall 
 of the kingdom of Jerusalem. After the death of iS^oiu'ed- 
 din, the son of Avoub had had to contend with the family 
 
 -^ ft ft 
 
 of his old master, the emirs faithfid to the d^Tiasty of the 
 
 ' ft' ••' 
 
 Attabeks, and aU who wished to profit by the troubles of 
 Svria, and erect independent states for themselves. Prudence 
 commanded the Christians to foment the discord which pre- 
 vailed among the Saracens, and to ally themselves with even- 
 party which was opposed to Saladin. Instead of following 
 this wholesome policy, and stiiTing up war in S^Tia, they 
 determined upon renewmg Amaury's unfortunate attempts 
 upon Egypt. A Sicihan fleet having arrived in Palestine, 
 aided by the Sicilians, the Christians laid siege to Alexan- 
 
 ft •' o 
 
 dria, where aR sorts of miseries combined to destroy their 
 army. Prequently-repeated reverses conveyed no instruc- 
 tion to the Pranks of the proper manner to make war with 
 Saladin. As they were returning from their imprudent and
 
 niSTOIir OF TUE CKUSADES. 401 
 
 unfortunate expedition, the Mussulman governor of the city 
 of Emessa, then besieged by the new sultan of Damascus, 
 solicited their alliance and support. The Christian warriors, 
 after having placed a price upon their services which it was 
 impossible the governor could pay, entered upon a campaign 
 without an object, threatening those they pretended to 
 defend, and ravaging at the same time the territories of their 
 allies and their enemies. Nevertheless, their presence in 
 Syria, and their transient alliance with the Mussulman 
 princes, alarmed Saladin, who was making war against the 
 son of Noureddin, shut up in the city of Aleppo. The 
 sidtan, resolving to keep them at a distance from the theatre 
 of his conquests, made their leaders brilliant promises and 
 rich presents, and soon succeeded in obtaining a truce, of 
 which he took advantage to strengthen his power and extend 
 the limits of his empu-e. 
 
 The Pranks returned to Jerusalem, satisfied with having 
 compelled Saladin to ask for peace. After having impru- 
 dently consented to a truce, they committed n second fault, 
 which was to violate the treaty they had just signed, and 
 that not to imdertake an important enterprise, but to make 
 an incursion into the territories of Damascus. They rai^aged 
 the country, and pillaged the towns and villages that they 
 found without defence, whilst Saladin continued making use- 
 ful conquests in Syria, and rendering himself sufficiently 
 powerful to punish them for the infraction of their engage- 
 ments. 
 
 The sultan of Cairo and Damascus soon assembled a for- 
 midable army and advanced towards Palestine. The whole 
 country was in flames through which the Saracens passed ; 
 at their approach the Christians abandoned the cities and 
 towns to take refuge in mountains and caverns. Baldwin IV., 
 who had recently assumed the reins of government, placed 
 himself at the head of the Franks ; but fearing to mea- 
 sure himself with Saladin, he shut himself up in Ascalon, 
 whence he contemplated with consternation his desolated 
 provinces. 
 
 Everything appeared to presage the approaching fall of 
 the kingdom, and Saladin was already distributing its cities 
 among his emirs, when. Providence, which at length took 
 pity on the situation of the Christians, offered them an
 
 4:02 IIISTOEY OF THE CETJSADEg. 
 
 opportunity of repairing their misfortunes. The menaces 
 ot Saladin and the sight of the ravages he was committing 
 exasperated the Christian soldiers. Baldwin led forth his 
 army from Ascalon, and surprised the Mussulmans in the 
 very same plains whereon Godfrey and the leaders of the 
 first crusade gained their celebrated \T.ctory over the Egypt- 
 ians. Saladin could not resist the impetuosity of their 
 attack, and lost the battle after having defended himself 
 valiantly in the midst of his Mamelukes, a new military 
 force, which he had himself formed, and by which he was 
 always surrounded in time of danger. Saladin saw all his 
 army perish in this disastrous battle, which was never effaced 
 from his memory, and which, as he said in a letter, " made the 
 star of the family of Ayoub to pale." Mounted on a camel, 
 and followed by a few officers, Saladin experienced the greatest 
 daugers in his flijiht across the desert, and returned almost 
 alone to Egypt, whence he had so recently set out at the 
 head of a formidable army. 
 
 And yet the Christians did not reap much advantage from 
 then victory ; they laid siege in vain to the cities of Hemessa 
 and Harem, whilst Saladin soon got together fresh troops in 
 'Egvpt, and returned to threaten the kingdom of Jerusalem. 
 The \'ictory of Ascalon elated the Christians, and made them 
 rash ; Saladin, on the contrary, rendered more cautious by 
 defeat, took advantage of every false step of his enemies, 
 planned ambuscades, employed all the stratagems of war, 
 and several times surprised and beat them on the banks of 
 the Jordan, and in the vicinity of Paneas. Baldwin, who 
 was very near falling into the hands of the Saracens, col- 
 lected all the forces that were left in his dominions ; but he 
 could obtain no advantage over Saladin, and was obhged to 
 sue for peace, which the state of his kingdom and his own 
 infirmities rendered every day more necessary. 
 
 The leprosy by which he was attacked made alarming pro- 
 gress ; he lost his sight, and was no longer able to undertake 
 the cares of government. As he mistrusted most of the 
 barons and leading men of his kingdom, he offered the 
 government to Philip, count of Elanders, who was come into 
 Asia to combat the infidels ; but Philip preferred making 
 war upon the Mussulmans to governing the Christians of 
 Palestine.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 403 
 
 The count of Tripoli was pointed out by the opinion of 
 both the people and the nobles, as the only person capable 
 of governing ; but the suffrages of the people only augmented 
 the suspicions of Baldwin, who had long dreaded the ambi- 
 tion of Raymond. Obliged to abandon a throne, the weak 
 monarch trembled at the idea of placing on it a man who 
 might soon make him forgotten ; and he chose in preference 
 a knight without name or glory, whose only title arose from 
 his having espoused Sibylla, daughter of King Amaury, and 
 widow of the marquis of Montferrat, surnamed Long Sword. 
 Guy of Lusignan did not justify the choice of Baldwin by 
 his conduct, and disgusted every one by the excess of his 
 pride. In this state of things, the interests of the Christian 
 colonies required that the truce made with the Mussulmans 
 should be strictly observed ; but such was then the destiny 
 of the kingdom of Jerusalem, that nobody had sufficient 
 power or ascendancy to maintain peace, whilst the meanest 
 of the barons or knights could, at his w^ill, provoke war. 
 The rashness and imprudence of one man again brought 
 dow^n upon Palestine the whole force of Saladin. 
 
 Old chronicles have related the romantic adventures and 
 extraordinarv fortune of Eenaud de Chatillon. Born at 
 Chatillon-sur-Indre, of obscure parents, he followed the 
 army of Louis the Young into Asia, and enrolled himself in 
 the troops of Raymond of Poictiers, prince of Antioch. Ray- 
 mond having lost his life in battle, his widow Constance was 
 solicited to select a new husband, who might be associated 
 with her in the government. This princess passed by the 
 most illustrious nobles and knights, for she had remarked 
 the personal beauty and chivalric bravery of Renaud de 
 Chatillon, and would accept of no other husband. By this 
 marriage, w^hich, according to "William of Tyre, filled the 
 Christian barons with surprise, she all at once raised a 
 young obscure man to the throne of Antioch. 
 
 Although Renaud de Chatillon had obtained the love of 
 Constance, he could not conciHate the confidence and esteem 
 of his new subjects. A formidable party was formed against 
 him, at the head of which was the patriarch Amaury. 
 Renaud, full of vexation and anger, cast into prison all who 
 were opposed to him. By his orders the patriarch was led to 
 the top of one of the towers of the citadel, and, with his bare 
 
 Vol. L— 19
 
 404 iiisTOiiY or TILE ciirsjLDEa. 
 
 head rubbed vrith houey, left, in the heat of summer, during 
 a whole day exposed to flies and insects.* Eenaud de Cha- 
 tillon, after ha^ing tilled the city of Ascalon with terror and 
 mourning, was desirous of signalizing his reign by some 
 warlike enterprise. Become the leader of an army in which 
 he had been a soldier, he began by making war against the 
 emperor of Constantinople, and armed several vessels, with 
 which he ravaged the isle of C}~prus. The Greek emperor 
 hastened to avenge the insult, and was soon with an army 
 encamped within sight of Ascalon. Eenaud not being mas- 
 ter of a sufficient force with which to defend himself, had 
 recourse to baseness to disarm the anger of his enemy, and 
 came, with a cord round his neck, and torn vestments, to lay 
 his sword at the feet of the emperor, who granted him peace. 
 TV^hen the Greeks had resumed their way to Constantinople, 
 Henaud tamed his arms against the Saracens. He at once 
 put to flight the army of Xoureddin, who had advanced to- 
 wards the territor}' of Antioch ; but, led away by thirst for 
 booty, he fell into an ambuscade, was made prisoner and 
 conducted to Aleppo, where the Mussulmans detained him 
 many years. At last some of his ancient companions suc- 
 ceeded in breaking his chains, and what is not unworthy of 
 remark, the produce of the booty made in an incursion on 
 the territories of Damascus was the price of his liberty. 
 
 When Henaud de Chatillon issued from his captivity, his 
 wife Constance was no longer hving, and the son of Eay- 
 mond, arrived at tlie age of maturity, governed the pruici- 
 pality of Antioch, Eenaud repaired to Jerusalem, where 
 the remembrance of his exploits and misfortunes, suffered 
 in the cause of the Christians, secured him a welcome from 
 the king and the barons. Having, m a second marriage, 
 espoused the widow of Homfrey de Thourou, he became lord 
 of Carac, and some castles situated on the confixies of Arabia 
 and Palestine. Eenaud led into these cities and fortresses 
 a great number of Templars, whom he associated with his 
 fortunes. He had just established himself there, and had 
 already begun to ravage the frontiers of Arabia, when the 
 
 * This was a common punishment in the East. In the Persian " boai- 
 death,^' as described by Plutarch, the criminal was nailed down in a boat, 
 leaving only his head bare ; — thus smeared, exposed, and left t« AW. — 
 Trajis.
 
 HISTORY OF TUE CKUSADES. 405 
 
 truce was concluded T^-ith Saladin. Kotliiug could induce 
 Henaud de Chatillon to lay down liis arms ; every day he 
 made fresh forays in the neighbourhood of Carac, and plun- 
 dered the caravans of the Mussulman pilgrims on their vraj 
 to Mecca. Heedless of the rights of nations or humanity, 
 he imprisoned women and children, and massacred unarmed 
 men. 
 
 Saladin complained to Baldwin of these infractions of 
 treaties ; but it was not in the power of the king of Jerusa- 
 lem to give him the satisfaction he demanded. The sultan, 
 irritated by the conduct of the Franks, seized fifteen hun- 
 dred pilgrims, who were cast upon the shores of Egypt by 
 a tempest, and threatened to detain them unless the Mus- 
 sulman prisoners were promptly set at liberty. Neither the 
 demands of Saladin, nor the prayers of Baldwin, nor even 
 the fate of the Christian captives, had the least effect upon 
 Eenaud de Chatillon and the Templars, so long accustomed 
 to sport with all treaties made with the Mussulmans. 
 
 Thereupon Saladin again determined upon war, and set 
 out a third time from the banks of the Nile, to enter Pales- 
 tine at the head of an army. At the approach of danger, 
 the Christians united their efforts to stop the progress of 
 the Saracens. An assembly, formed of all classes of citizens, 
 ordered a general contribution to be levied, the produce of 
 which was employed in repairing the fortifications of the 
 castles and cities, whilst all the barons and knights flew to 
 arms. But the time was not yet come in which Saladin 
 should invade the kingdom of Jerusalem. In each of his 
 expeditions he appeared to try the strength of the Christians, 
 and when he met with strong resistance, waited patiently 
 for a more favourable moment. After having ravaged Gali- 
 lee by his lieutenants, and commenced the siege of Berouth, 
 he suddenly drew off his forces to go and make war upon 
 the Attabeks, who were masters of Mossoul and several 
 cities of Mesopotamia. 
 
 The Christians took no other advantage of his absence 
 but to renew their incursions upon the territory of Damas- 
 cus. Eenaud de Chatillon made several expeditions to the 
 shores of the Bed Sea, and even conceived the daring pro- 
 ject of going to the cities of Mecca and Medina, and plun- 
 dering the Kaaba and the tomb of the Prophet. A troop of
 
 406 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 intrepid warriors set foi-ward on their marcli under his 
 orders ; they surprised the Egyptian merchants who were 
 bearing back the treasures of India, by way ot the Bed Sea ; 
 and, preceded by terror, advanced in triumph, into a country 
 which had never before seen the Christians. Eenaud and 
 his companions had already reached the valley of Kabid, 
 situated ten leagues from Medina, when they were surprised 
 and attacked by a Mussulman army, which had been hastily 
 despatched from Syria. After an obstinate and sanguinary 
 combat, victory favoured the Saracens. Eenaud escaped the 
 pursuit of the conquerors as if by a miracle, and returned 
 with a small number of his troops to the castle of Carac. 
 Some of the prisoners were led into Egypt, where the sen- 
 tence of the cadis condemned them to the death of the 
 lowest criminals. Others were conveyed to Mecca, where 
 their blood was shed with that of the Aictims immolated at 
 the ceremony of the great Ba^-ram.* 
 
 These horrible executions did not satisfy the vengeance of 
 Saladin. AVhen he heard of the expedition of the Chris- 
 tians, which he considered a frightful sacrilege, his anger 
 knew no bounds, and he swore upon the Koran to revenge 
 the insult offered to the Mussulman religion. The sultan, 
 whom the Christians already styled the scourge of God, re- 
 entered Galilee \^-ith sword and flame, and advanced towards 
 the castle of Carac, constantly repeating the oath he had 
 taken of slaying Eenaud with his own hand. The Mussul- 
 mans would have rendered themselves masters of the castle, 
 but for the bravery of one knight, who alone maintained the 
 drawbridge, and by a glorious death deprived Saladin of 
 this conquest. A Christian army was soon upon the march 
 to repel this attack of the Saracens. Saladin, despairing for 
 the present of wreaking his revenge upon Eenaud, laid 
 waste the lands on the banks of the Jordan, in the very face 
 of the Christian army, which did not dare to attack him. 
 After having several times renewed his attempts upon the 
 fortress of Carac, and given up to the flames Naplouse, 
 Sebosto, and several other cities, he at length consented to a 
 truce, and led back his army into Mesopotamia. 
 
 * Schahabbedin, Tabari, and Aboulfeda relate this fact at great 
 length.
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 407 
 
 Saladin availed himself of the peace made with the Chris- 
 tians, to dissipate tlie troubles ^Yhich had arisen in his states, 
 and to pursue his conquests in Syria. At each truce he got 
 possession of a city or a province ; he extended his domi- 
 nions, and thus placed under his control countries which 
 became so many the more enemies for the Christians. The 
 Franks, on the contrary, when war was suspended, gave 
 themselves madly up to their internal divisions ; peace with 
 them gave birth to a thousand new factions, and the king- 
 dom then found in its own bosom enemies much more dan- 
 gerous than those against whom they had been at war. 
 
 The knights and barons, on their retin-n to Jerusalem, 
 accused Gruy de Lusignan of having neglected the opportu- 
 nity for conquering Saladin, and reproached him with having 
 permitted the ravages exercised by the Mussulmans in the 
 richest provinces of Palestine. Baldwin, who had yielded up 
 the royal authority with great regret, listened to the com- 
 plaints of the barons, and hastened to reascend a tottering 
 throne. He undertook to dissolve the marriage with Sibylla, 
 and cited Gruy de Lusignan before the patriarch of Jerusa- 
 lem and the nobles of the kingdom, in order to deprive him 
 of the counties of Ascalon and Jaffa. As Gruy did not ap- 
 pear on the day named, Baldwin, although infirm and blind, 
 repaired to Antioch, and finding the gates shut, struck them 
 several times with his hand without causing them to be 
 opened.* This unfortunate prince caUed upon Heaven to 
 witness this insult, and returned to Jerusalem, swearing to 
 revenge himself upon Gruy de Lusignan. On his side, Guy 
 no longer observed any measures, but took up arms to sus- 
 tain his revolt. In this emergency, Baldwin could find no 
 better means of punishing Gruy than to oppose to him a 
 regent and a new king. By his orders, Baldwin Y., who 
 was five years of age, and born of the first marriage of 
 Sibylla with the son of the marquis de Montferrat, was 
 crowned in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the pre- 
 sence of the nobles and the clergy. Eaymond, count of 
 Tripoli, less odious to Baldwin than Gruy, obtained the re- 
 gency and assumed the reins of government. 
 
 The kii^gdom of Jerusalem, which had proceeded rapidly 
 
 * I am inclined to think this was a kind of ceremony — the liege lord 
 demanding entrance to the fortress of his vassal. — Trans.
 
 408 nisTOEY or the ceusades. 
 
 to decay since the reisri of Bald^vin III., became now an 
 object worthy of pity. The stormy passions, almost always 
 inseparable from a feudal government, had long since weak- 
 ened all the springs of authority. The royalty, for whose 
 remains thev were quarrellmg, was nothing but a vain name ; 
 in the mJdst of the factions by which he was surrounded, a 
 king of Jerusalem coidd neither revenge his o^ti injuries, 
 nor those of the Church or of Christ. Want of courage 
 was the only crime he could punish without exciting the 
 murmurs of the barons, because with them cowards found 
 no defenders. Amaury had ignominiously hung twelve 
 Templars, accused of having neglected the defence of a for- 
 tress : but he had not the nower to receive an ambassador 
 sent by the Old Man of the Jlountain, in whom the hope of 
 freeing Inmself from a tribute paid to the grand master of 
 the Templars, had awakened a desire to become a Christian. 
 AVhen the ambassador was assassinated in Jerusalem bv a 
 
 * 
 
 Tem.plar, Amaury liad no autliority to bring the murderer 
 to judgment ; deplorable weakness of a king who possesses 
 not the first prerogative of royalty, that of maintaining jus- 
 tice and causing the rights of nations to be respected ! 
 
 The kingdom was covered A^-ith strong castles, the com- 
 manders of which barely recognised the authority of the 
 king. On the summit of every mountain upon which ap- 
 peared threatening towers, in caverns even, Avhich had been 
 transformed into fortresses, barons commanded as masters, 
 and made peace or war at their pleasure. The military 
 orders, the only support of the state, were divided among 
 themselves, and sometimes shed their blood in quarrels fatal 
 to the cause of the Christians. 
 
 Discord reigned between the clergy' and the knights of 
 the Temple and St. John ; the military orders were not sub- 
 ject to the jurisdiction of ecclesiastics, and the clerg}', accus- 
 tomed to dictate laws to princes, could not endure the 
 hauijhtv independence of a few warriors. Led awav bv the 
 spirit of discord, the Hospitallers raised edifices in front of the 
 church of the Resurrection, and often drowned the voices 
 of* the priests who celebrated the praises of G-od at the foot 
 of his altars. Som.e of them even ^ent so far as to pureue 
 priests with arrow-shots into the' very church of the Holy 
 Sepidchre. As the only vengeance, the priests gatliered 
 together in bundles the arrov>s that had been shot at them.
 
 HISTORY OE THE CRUSADES. 409 
 
 and placed them on an elevated spot on the Mount of Olives, 
 that every one might be acquainted with the sacrilege. 
 
 These quarrels, which were every day renewed, were car- 
 ried before the tribunal of the Holy See, whose decisions 
 frequently only inflamed the minds of the disputants the 
 more. The Church of Home, very far from restoring peace 
 to the Christians of the East, often cast amongst them fresh 
 coals of discord. The schisms which troubled the A¥est, 
 more than once kindled war in the holy places, even upon 
 the tomb of Christ. 
 
 Concord seldom prevailed long between the inhabitants of 
 Palestine and the European warriors who came into Asia to 
 combat the infidels. The Syrian barons employed the forces 
 of their auxiliaries to carry out their own ambitious views ; 
 and the latter, by their pride and disdain, laid a high price 
 upon their services. Almost always on the arrival of fresh 
 pilgrims, a treaty was violated or a truce broken, in order to 
 make incursions upon the territories of the Saracens ; and 
 not unfrequently, the Crusaders, without even seeing the 
 enemy, abandoned Palestine to the perils of a war they had 
 themselves provoked. 
 
 In the cities, particularly the maritime cities, several 
 nations dwelt together, and disputed precedence and sove- 
 reignty, sword in hand. All who came to establish them- 
 selves in the Holy Land, brought with them and preserved 
 the remembrances and prejudices of their native country. 
 In the cities of Ascalon, Tyre, or Ptolemais, the inhabitants 
 were much more interested in the glory and prosperity of 
 Pisa, Grenoa, and Venice, than in the safety of the kingdom 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 The greater part of the barons and knights displayed 
 none of the heroic resignation of the early soldiers of the 
 cross, in supporting fatigues or braving difficidties. Since 
 the conquest of Egypt had been contemplated, war was only 
 considered as a means of acquiring wealth ; and the thirst 
 for booty destroyed the principle of honour, the love of glory, 
 and even all anxiety for the cause of Christ. The question 
 was no longer what enemy was to be attacked, what ally was 
 to be defended, but what city or province was to be delivered 
 up to pillage. Discipline degenerated in the camp ; the 
 Christian warriors still displayed their natural bravery, but 
 they neither knew how to obey nor to command, and anarchy
 
 410 HISTOEY or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 reigned as completely in the amiy as througliout the king- 
 dom. Many of the leaders abandoned their colours under 
 the most perilous circumstances, and sold their inaction or 
 their neutrality. Some, like the Templar Meslier and his 
 companions, forgetful of their vows, ravaged the Christian 
 provinces ; whilst others, urged on by ambition or vengeance, 
 allied themselves with the Saracens, and received in the ser- 
 vice of the infidels the reward of their disgraceful apostasy. 
 Heligion, which ought to have been the connecting tie 
 between the Christians established in the Holy Land, and 
 which alone could preserve among them sentiments of pa- 
 ti'iotism, — religion had lost all empire over their minds. AYar 
 was still made in its name, but its laws were impractised and 
 unacknowledged. The conversion of the Maronites of Liba- 
 nus, who rejoined the Church of Eome in the reign of Bald- 
 win TV., was celebrated at Jerusalem as a victory gained 
 over heresy, but it had- not the effect of bringing back the 
 Christians to the spirit of the Scriptures. Pious men who 
 lived in a con'upted age, groaned under the depra^-ity of 
 manners which every day made such frightful progress.* 
 The respectable archbishop of Tp-e trembles as he traces the 
 history' of this unhappy period, and fears lest truth should 
 give to his recitals the colour of satire. " There is," says 
 he, " scarcely one chaste woman to be found in the city of 
 Jerusalem." The leaders of the Christian colonies, equally 
 vrith the heads of the Church, themselves set the example of 
 licentiousness. The Christians beheld a queen of Jerusalem, 
 the widow of Baldwin III., keep up a criminal intercourse 
 with Andronicus, and seek an abode among the Saracens 
 "uith the companion of her debaucheries.f Bohemond, 
 prince of Antioch, repudiated his wife Erina, to espouse a 
 courtesan. The patriarch, disgusted with such a scandal, ex- 
 communicated young Bohemond, and placed an interdict 
 
 * Jacques de Vitri does not spare the Christians of the East in his 
 History, particularly in the chapters entitled " De corruptione prselato- 
 rum ; de regTilaribus irregtdariter viventibus ; de corruptione Terrse 
 Sanctae." The satires of Juvenal would appear moderate by the side of 
 the pages of this historian, who had been in the Holy Land in the quality 
 of a legate. 
 
 t This was the sanae Andronicus who afterwards ascended the throne 
 of Constantinople, and became notorious for his cruelties.
 
 HISTOEY OE THE CRUSADES. 411 
 
 upon his states ; and tlius the guilty amours of a Christian 
 prince produced trouble and desolation throughout a whole 
 nation. The sight even of the tomb of Christ was unable 
 to inspire more holy thoughts. The patriarch Heraclius, 
 who only owed his elevation to mundane and profane quali- 
 ties, lavished the treasures due to pilgrims and the poor, 
 upon infamous prostitutes, and the Christian people were 
 often astonished to see the notorious Paque de Rivery dis- 
 play, even in the sanctuary, ornaments purchased with the 
 alms of the faithful. 
 
 A people thus degenerated could not possibly preserve the 
 kingdom of Christ. Tlie eyes of all were turned towards 
 the West, and Heraclius, attended by the two grand mas- 
 ters of the Temple and St. John, was sent into Europe to 
 solicit the prompt assistance of kings and their warriors. 
 The king of France, Philip Augustus, received the Christian 
 deputies with great honoLu-s ; but as he had but recently as- 
 cended the throne, the interests of his kingdom would not 
 permit him to go in person to the defence of Jerusalem. 
 Henry II., king of England, appeared to be the last hope of 
 the Christians ; he had promised the pope to make the pil- 
 gi'image to the Holy Land, as an expiation of the murder of 
 the archbishop of Canterbury, and Heraclius repaired to his 
 court, presenting him with the keys and standard of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, and pressing him to perform his promise. 
 The bad reputation of the patriarch had preceded him into 
 Europe, and very much weakened the effect of his words ; 
 he displayed, likewise, neither the meekness nor the charity 
 of the Scriptmes, and only irritated those whom he sought 
 to persuade or convince. As the English monarch hesitated 
 to fulfil his promises, alleging his advanced age and the wel- 
 fare of his dominions, Heraclius loaded him with the most 
 outrageous reproaches, threatening him with the anger of 
 Heaven. The aged Henry appearing irritated by this lan- 
 guage, the patriarch redoubled his insolence and pride. 
 "You may," said he, on terminating his discourse, "treat 
 me as you treated my brother Thomas, for it is quite indif- 
 ferent to me whether I die in Syria by the hands of infidels, 
 or perish here by the orders of you who are more wicked 
 than a Saracen." Henry endeavoured to conceal his anger, 
 and did not dare to punish the envoy of the Christians ; he 
 
 19*
 
 412 iriSTOHY OF TUE CRrSADES. 
 
 even treated liim with great magnificence, "but yet did not 
 leave England. He contented himself with sending the 
 Christians of Jerusalem a large sum of money, and exhort- 
 ino- his subjects to arm themselves for the defence of the 
 Holy Land. 
 
 The zeal for crusades began at this time to abate, and 
 several ambassadors retiu'ned to Jerusalem without having 
 been able to arouse the enthusiasm of the western Chris- 
 tians. iSTations, to be excited to active ardour for holy 
 wars, required the example of princes or kings. The war- 
 riors of Europe paid little attention to the exhortations of 
 the pope and Heraclius. The deputies returned into Pales- 
 tine without having obtained the assistance they demanded ; 
 and their appearance produced discouragement and despair 
 among all the Christians of the East. 
 
 The unfortunate king, Baldwin, had entirely lost the 
 faculties of both mind and body ; and, tormented by his suf- 
 ferings, he every day drew nearer to the tomb, presenting 
 but too faithful an image of the weakness and decline of his 
 kingdom. Whilst the approach of death filled his palace 
 with mourning, parties contended for a throne which tottered 
 to its fall, and for a crown which the most wise compared to 
 the crown of thorns of Christ. AVhen he closed his eyes, 
 the e\'ils increased, and discord submitted to no restraint. 
 The count of Tripoli wished to retain the reins of govern- 
 ment as regent ; whilst Sibylla was desirous of bestowing 
 the sceptre upon her husband. In the midst of these dis- 
 sensions Baldwin Y., the weak and fragile hope of the king- 
 dom, died suddenly. All who had aspired to his authority 
 were accused of his death : unhappy period, in which such 
 accusations could possibly be well founded, and in which a 
 whole people could think of reproaching a queen with the 
 murder of her own son ! 
 
 Scarcely was Baldwin dead than his mother desired to 
 reign in his place ; and in order to satisfy the ambition of 
 herself and Guy de Lusignan, she disdained no artifice and 
 spared no perfidious promises. Whilst the count of Tripoli 
 was gathering together at jS'aplouse the barons and principal 
 men of the kingdom, the daughter of Amaury, by the advice 
 of the patriarch and the grand master of the Templars, 
 announced her intention of separating herself from her
 
 HISTORY OF THE CKUS_ides. 413 
 
 husband, aud clioosing a ^Ya^rior able to defend the kingdom. 
 AVben this report had circulated through Jerusalem, Sibylla 
 ordered the gates of the city to be shut, and repaired to the 
 church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the presence of the 
 tomb of Christ, Heraclius took the oath of allegiance to her 
 in the name of the clergy and the people, pronounced her 
 divorce with a loud voice, and commanded her in the name 
 of Heaven to bestow her hand and sceptre upon him she 
 deemed most worthy of them. At these words Sibylla 
 placed the crown upon the head of her husband, who was 
 on his knees before her, saying it was not in the power of 
 man to separate those whom God had united. 
 
 Whilst a part of the people and some of the barons, 
 seduced by vain promises, applauded the choice of Sibylla, 
 the partisans of Kaymond were highly indignant at having 
 been deceived by a woman. The coronation of Gruy de 
 Lusignan naturally alarmed all who thought that Jerusalem 
 stood in less need of a king than of a defender. Baldwin 
 of Eamla, one of the most skilful captains of his times, 
 despaired of the safety of the kingdom, and retired into 
 the principality of Antioch, repeating the threats of the 
 prophets against Jerusalem. Geoftrey de Lusignan, when 
 he heard of the elevation of his brother, could not forbear 
 exclaiming : " Well, if they have made a king of him, they 
 would have made a god of me if they had Jcnown Twe." 
 
 When that which had taken place at Jerusalem was an- 
 nounced to the barons assembled at Naplouse, most of them 
 I'esolved to abandon Palestine ; but the count of Tripoli 
 detained them, advising them to name a new king, and 
 bestow the crown upon Homfrey de Thorou, who had re- 
 cently married Isabella, the second daughter of Amaury. 
 He even promised to gain the support of Saladin for this 
 election, and succeeded in persuading the assembly. Whilst 
 they were yet deliberating, young Homfrey, terrified at the 
 burden they wished to impose upon him, iled away secretly 
 by night, and hastened to the capital to ask pardon of Queen 
 Sibylla, protesting that he preferred ease and life to the 
 throne of Jerusalem. This ilight disconcerted all measures 
 and changed all projects. Several barons, not knowing to 
 what party it would be best to ally themselves, went and 
 took the oath to Guy de Lusignan ; whilst others, returning
 
 414 HISTOEY OF TUE CiiUSADES. 
 
 to their castles, awaited coming events. Eaymond retired 
 to his county of Tiberias, of which he had obtained the 
 sovereignty. 
 
 The retreat and the murmnrs of the enemies of Gruv only 
 increased his pride. The more he stood in need- of mildness 
 and moderation, the more haucrhtiness and severitr he dis- 
 plaved. His disdainful manners drove from him the barons 
 who had remained faithful to him. Stimulated by the grand 
 master of the Templars, who was the declared enemy of the 
 count of Tripoh, he made preparations to besiege the city 
 of Tiberias ; whilst Eaymond, who was determined to defend 
 himself, carried away by the excess of his anger, implored 
 the aid of Saladin against the king of Jerusalem. 
 
 At the approach of the e^ils about to fall upon the 
 kingdom, nothing was heard but complaints and seditious 
 clamours ; but neither the dangers of the Christian colonies, 
 nor the aspect of the threatened holy places, could silence 
 ambition or check revolt. The historian of the kingdom of 
 Jerusalem here feels the pen fall from his hand, and stops, 
 terrified at the events which are left for him to describe. 
 
 Amidst the general disorder and agitation, the supersti- 
 tious minds of the Chiistians beheld nothing in the future 
 but great calamities, and ever^'thing seemed to present 
 sinister presages to their eyes. " The signs which were dis- 
 played in the heavens," says a contemporary chronicle, 
 " allowed it to be plainly perceived that God held in abomi- 
 nation that which was going on. Impetuous winds, tem- 
 pests, and storms arose on all sides ; the Hght of the sun 
 was obscured daring several days, and hailstones as large as 
 the eggs of a goose fell from heaven. The earth, equally 
 agitated by frequent and horrible earthquakes, gave notice 
 of coming ruin and destruction, with disasters and defeats 
 in war which were soon to visit the kingdom. Neither could 
 the sea confine itself within its boimds and limits, but an- 
 nounced to us, by its horrible floods or its unusually impe- 
 tuous "uaves, the anger of God ready to fall upon us. Fire 
 was seen blazing in the air like a house in flames ; you would 
 have sworn that all the elements and architecture of God 
 were angr^', and abhorred the excesses, wickednesses, dis- 
 soluteness, and ofiences of the human race." 
 
 Such were the presages that struck the greater number of
 
 HISTOJIY OE THE CIJUSADES. 415 
 
 the Christians ; but thinking men could perceive much more 
 certain signs of the approaching fall of the kingdom of Jeru- 
 salem. Mossoul, Aleppo, and all the Mussulman cities of 
 Sp'ia and Mesopotamia, had submitted to the power of Sala- 
 din. The son of Ayoub had triumphed over the emirs and 
 the scattered family of Noureddin. All the treasures of 
 Egypt, all the forces of Asia, were in liis hands ; there re- 
 mained only one conquest for him to make, and fortune, 
 which had levelled all obstacles before him, soon furnished 
 him with a pretext and an opportunity of giving the last 
 blow to the power of the Christians. 
 
 The truce made with the king of Jerusalem was broken 
 at the same time by both Christians and Mussulmans. 
 Eenaud de Chatillon continued his incursions upon the 
 territories of the infidels, and only replied to the complaints 
 of Saladin by new violations of treaties. A Mussulman 
 army, which the sultan of Damascus had sent to the assist- 
 ance of the count of Tripoli, advanced into the country of 
 Galilee, whither five hundred knights of the Temple and 
 St. John hastened to defend the Christian territory, and 
 give battle to the Saracens. They were speedily over- 
 whelmed by numbers, and almost all perished on the field of 
 battle. Old chronicles, whilst celebrating the bravery of 
 the Christian knights, relate prodigies which we have now 
 great difficulty in believing. These indomitable heroes, 
 after having exhausted their arrows, plucked from their own 
 bodies such as had pierced tViem, and launched them back 
 upon the enemy ; pressed by fatigue and heat, they drank 
 their own blood, and revived their strength by the very 
 means which must weaken it ; at length, after having broken 
 their lances and swords, they rushed upon their enemies, 
 fought body to body, rolling in the dust with the Mussulman 
 warriors, and died threatening their conquerors. Above all 
 the rest, nothing could equal the heroic valour of Jacques 
 de Maille, a knight of the Temple. IMounted on a white 
 horse, he remained alone in the field of battle, and fought 
 on, surrounded by heaps of slain. Although hemmed in on 
 all sides, he refused to surrender. The horse which he rode, 
 worn out with fatigue and exhausted by wounds, sunk under 
 him, and dragged him Avith him ; but the intrepid knight 
 arose, lance in hand, covered with blood and dust, and
 
 416 insTOiiY or the ceusades. 
 
 bristling with arro^^'s, and rushed upon the ranks of the 
 Mussulmans, astonished at liis audacity ; at length he fell, 
 covered with wounds, but fightmg to the last. The Saracens 
 took him for St. George, whom the Christians believed they 
 saw descend from heaven to join their battalions. After his 
 death the Turkish soldiers, whom an historian calls the 
 children of JBahylon and Sodom, drew near with signs of 
 respect to his body, slain by a thousand wounds ; they wiped 
 off the blood, they shared the rags of his clothes and the 
 fragments of his arms, and, in their brutal excitement, 
 evinced their admiration by actions that make modesty 
 blush when speaking of them.* 
 
 The grand master of the Templars, with two of his 
 knights, were all that escaped from the carnage. This battle 
 was fought on the 1st of May, 1187. In the season, says 
 an ancient chronicle, in which flowers and roses are gathered 
 in the fields, the Christians of iS^azareth found nothing but 
 the traces of slaughter and the mangled bodies of their 
 brethren. They buried them in the church of St. Mary, 
 repeating these prophetic words : " Daughters of Galilee, 
 put on your garments of mourning ; and you, daughters of 
 Sion, iceep over the ills that threaten the kings of Judah^^ 
 The terror which this sanguinary defeat created for a 
 moment appeased the discords of the Christians. The king 
 consented to be reconciled to the count of Tripoli, whilst on 
 his part Eaymond resolved to forget hi^, private injuries, and 
 to use every eftbrt to repair the misforiainea he had brought 
 upon the kingdom. He repaired to Jerusalem, where Guy 
 de Lusignan, coming forth to meet him, received him with 
 marks of sincere affection. The two princes embraced 
 before the people, and swore to fight in ujiison for the 
 heritage of Christ. 
 
 After the rupture of the truce, Saladin employed himself 
 in getting together a formidable army. Turks, Arabs, 
 Curds, and Egyptians flocked to his standard ; he promised 
 the spoils of the Christians to the Mussulman families that 
 
 * The Latin history of the kingdom of Jerusalem contains this curious 
 passage : Quidam verb, ut fama ferebat, ardentiiis cseteris movebatur, et 
 abscissis viri genitalibus, ea tanquam in usutn gignendi reservare deposuitj 
 ut vel mortua membra, si fieri posset, virtutis tantae suscitarent hseredem. 
 -—See the Collection of Bongars, p. 1151.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 417 
 
 had been driven from Palestine ; he distributed cities and 
 provinces beforehand to his faithful emirs, and held out to 
 all his soldiers the certainty of pillage or a glorious martyr- 
 dom. The caliph of Bagdad and all the imauns of Egypt, 
 Syria, and Mesopotamia put up prayers for the triumph of 
 his arms and the deliverance of Jerusalem. He crossed the 
 Jordan, and advanced into Galilee at the head of eighty 
 thousand horse. 
 
 lu a council held at Jerusalem, Gruy de Lusignan, the 
 count of Tripoli, and the barons deliberated upon the mea- 
 sures most proper to be adopted to save the kingdom. The 
 kniglits of the three military orders, the troops of the king 
 and the nobles, the garrisons of cities, with all Christians 
 able to bear arms, received orders to assemble on the plain 
 of Sephouri. It was determined to employ in the prosecu- 
 tion of the war the treasures sent by Henry II., which were 
 kept in the house of the Temple ; and to associate the 
 English monarch in the glory of this holy expedition, the 
 arms of England were represented on the standards of the 
 Christian army. The wood of the true cross, which had 
 so often animated the Crusaders in fight, was exhibited to 
 the people as a last means of safety, and carried in 
 triumph to the place where the defenders of Jerusalem were 
 assembled. 
 
 An army of fifty thousand fighting men had been collected 
 on the plain of Sephouri, when the leaders learned that 
 Saladin had carried the city of Tiberias by assault, and 
 threatened the citadel, in which were shut up the women 
 and children of the count of Tripoli. The Christians who 
 had escaped from the sword of the Saracens, in the utmost 
 terror, took refuge in the camp of Sephouri, conjuring the 
 king and the chiefs to put an end to the ravages of the 
 infidels. The barons assembled in the tent of Guy, and all 
 at once exclaimed that it was necessary to march imme- 
 diately against the enemy. Raymond then arose and de- 
 manded permission to speak. "I am about," said he, "to 
 lay before you advice which will surprise you ; but I offer it 
 with the greater confidence from its being opposed to my 
 personal interests. My desolated country, my cities in 
 ashes, my subjects ready to submit to death or slavery, my 
 Avife exposed to the insults of the Mussulmans all implore
 
 418 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 instant yuccour from me and you; but it is my duty to 
 think of the safety of the Christian cities now left without 
 gaffisons. In this army assembled on the plain of Sephouri 
 exists the only hope which the Christians of the East have 
 left. You behold here all the soldiers of Christ, all the 
 defenders of Jerusalem ; if they perish, the infidels have no 
 other foes to dread. Beware, then, of leading this multitude 
 of men and horses into a drv and arid country, where the 
 season, with thii'st and hunger, must soon deliver them up 
 without defence to the enemy. The number even of the 
 Christian soldiers inspires me with more alarm than confi- 
 dence. They present nothing but a confused troop of men 
 got together in haste, and totally unable to support fatigue. 
 The Mussulman archers are more skilful than our soldiers 
 in casting javelins, and may harass us on our march, without 
 our being able to defend ourselves ; the cavalry of Saladin 
 is more numerous and better trained than ours, and may 
 attack us with advantage on the plains, across which we 
 must pass. Abandon, then, I entreat you, Tiberias to the 
 Mussulmans, and let us save an army which may yet repair 
 our losses. 
 
 "I swear before God and before man, that I would willingly 
 abandon the county of Tripoli, with all the lands I possess, 
 to procure the safety of the citv of Christ. Our only aim 
 must be to destroy tlie power of Saladin, and at the same 
 time to preserve some defenders for the kingdom of Jeru- 
 salem. If we go to meet the enemy and should be con- 
 quered, Grod liimself will not be able to save the Christians, 
 but will allow us to be delivered up to the infidels. If, on 
 the contrary, the enemy come to offer themselves to our 
 arms, all our losses will be repaii'ed, and the evils that will 
 fall upon me, will become for me a source of gratification, 
 since I shall have suffered for the cause of Christ and the 
 safety of his people." 
 
 The more generosity there was in this advice, the less 
 sincere it was esteemed. The grand master of the Templars, 
 blinded by his hatred for Eavmond, interrupted him several 
 times ; he reminded the assembly of the alliance of the 
 count of Tripoli with Saladin, and exclaimed aloud that he 
 could plainly perceive tlie wolfs skin iindei' the fleece of the 
 shee^, AYhen Eaymond invoked the name of Christ, the
 
 HISTORY or THE CRUSADES. 419 
 
 grand master repeated witli bitterness, tliat the name of 
 Mahomet was better fitted to the mouth of a traitor. The 
 eoiuit of Tripoli made not the least reply to the insulting 
 words of the grand master, but finished his speech by these 
 words, uttered with an accent of perfect conviction : " I 
 ivill suhmit to the punishment of death if these tilings do not 
 fall out as I have said.'' 
 
 The council of the knights and barons adopted the opinion 
 of liaymond ; but when G uy was left alone in his tent, the 
 grand master came to him, and infused into his mind tlie 
 blackest suspicions of the conduct and secret designs of tlie 
 count of Tripoli. The feeble Lusignan, who liad already 
 issued several contradictory orders, gave the command for 
 marching to meet the enemy. For the first time, the king 
 of Jerusalem was obeyed, and that was for the ruin of the 
 Christians. 
 
 The undetermined conduct that Lusignan had exhibited, 
 communicated itself to the other chiefs, and this want of a 
 fixed purpose spread trouble and confusion throughout the 
 arm}^ The disheartened soldiers quitted the camp of 
 Sephouri with reluctance, and saw nothing around them but 
 presages of an approaching defeat. The Christian army 
 advanced towards Tiberias, and were marching in silence 
 across a plain, which modern travellers call the plain of 
 Batouf, when they perceived the standards of Saladin. 
 
 The Mussulman army was encamped on the heights of 
 Loubi, with the Lake of Tiberias in its rear ; it covered the 
 tops of the hills, and commanded ail the defdes tlirough 
 which the Christians had to pass. The barons and knights 
 then remembered the advice of Eaymond, but they had lost 
 the opportunity of following it, and the courage of the 
 Christian soldiers alone coidd repair the errors of their 
 leaders. The bold and desperate resolution was formed of 
 cutting themselves a passage through the army of the 
 enemy, so as to gain the banks of the Jordan. On the 4th 
 of July, at break of day, the Christians began tlieir march. 
 From the moment they were in motion, the Mussulman 
 archers unceasingly poured upon them showers of arrows. 
 The army of the Franks was bravely enduring, on its march, 
 the attacks of the Saracen archers, wlien Saladin descended 
 into the plain at the head of his cavalry. Then the Chria-
 
 420 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 tians Tvere compelled to stop, and fight with the enemv that 
 disputed their passage.* The first shock was impetuous and 
 terrible ; but as the Franks had for many days been short 
 of both provisions and water, and were oppressed by heat 
 and thirst, they had less strength than courage, and fell 
 more from lassitude than in consequence of their wounds. 
 The bishops passed through the ranks, and endeavoured to 
 revive the ardour of the soldiers by the images of religion. 
 
 The true cross, placed upon an elevated spot, for a 
 moment reanimated them, and drew around it the most 
 fervent and the most intrepid. Saladin himself said, in a 
 letter, that the Christian soldiers fought around the cross 
 with the gi^atest bravery, and that they seemed to consider 
 it the strongest tie that bound them together, and as their 
 impenetrable buckler. t But the sight of a revered sign, 
 and the passing ardour which it created, only served to in- 
 crease the disorder of the fiijht. All the Mussulman forces 
 united in one body to attack the Christians, The cavalry of 
 8aladin poured down upon them several times with irresist- 
 ible impetuosity, and penetrated through their ranks ; victory 
 was evidently about to incline to the side of the Saracens, 
 when night put an end to the conflict. The Franks and 
 the Saracens both remained on the plain where they had 
 fought all day, and prepared to renew the battle on the 
 morrow. 
 
 The Saracens were confident of victory. Saladin went 
 through the ranks of his army, inflaming the courage of the 
 Mussulman soldiers by his presence and his speeches. 
 " To-morrow," said he, "is a festival for the true believers, 
 for it is on Friday that Mussulmans otfer up their prayers, 
 and that Mahomet listens to the vows that are made to 
 
 * Among the Christian historians who have spoken of the battle of 
 Tiberias, the following may be consulted : Chronica Ten'CB Sanctts ; the 
 two continuations of WiiHam of Tyre, by Harold and Hugh de Plagon ; 
 and the Latin history of Jerusalem. Jacques de Vitri, William de Xew- 
 bridi^e, the Chronicle of Gervais, Paiile Emile Roger de Hoveden, and 
 Matthew Paris also give some details of this battle, and of the events by 
 vrhich it was followed. None of these authors, however, have described 
 it at sufficient length to give a complete idea of it ; they are not even 
 always agreed, and ought to be read with much precaution. 
 
 t Saladin adds in his letter that the Franks flew round the cross like 
 muths round light.
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 421 
 
 liim." The Mussulmans replied to their leader by the 
 loudest acclamations. Saladin then placed archers on the 
 heights, ordered four hundred charges of arrows to be dis- 
 tributed, and disposed his troops in such a manner, that the 
 Christian army should be surrounded from the very com- 
 mencement of the contest. The Christian soldiers took 
 advantage of the darkness to rally and close in their ranks ; 
 but their powers were exhausted. Sometimes they exhorted 
 each other to brave death ; and at others, raising their hands 
 towards heaven, implored the All-Powerful to save them. 
 They then uttered threats against the Saracens, ^^ho were 
 near enough to hear them ; but sad and sinister presenti- 
 ments appeared to deprive them of all hopes of victory. In 
 order to conceal their alarms, they made their camp resound 
 during the whole night with the noise of drums and trumpets. 
 At last daylight appeared, and was tlie signal for the entire 
 ruin of the Christian army. As soon as the Franks beheld 
 the whole of the forces of Saladin, and found themselves 
 surrounded on all sides, they were seized with surprise and 
 terror. The two armies remained for a considerable time 
 drawn up in sight of each other, Saladin waiting until the 
 sun had completely illumined the horizon, to give the signal 
 for attack. From dawn a strong wind had prevailed, which 
 blew full in the faces of the Christians, and covered them 
 with clouds of dust. "When Saladin gave the fatal word, 
 the Saracens rushed upon their enemies from all sides, utter- 
 ing the most terrifying cries. To employ the expressions of 
 Oriental writers, — " It icas then that the sons of JPm^adise 
 and the children of fire foncjht out their terrihle quarrel; 
 the arrows sounded in the air like the noisy fiight of birds ; 
 the ivater of swords (^ic), the Hood of arrows spouted out 
 from the hosom of the melee, and covered the earth like the 
 ivater s of rain^* The Christians at first defended them- 
 selves vahantly, but Saladin having set fire to the dry grass 
 
 * The continuator of Tabary speaks -with much detail of tliis battle ; 
 the author of the Roudatain, in the description which he has given of this 
 day, shows all the enthusiasm of a Mu^snlman. We find in these two 
 histories, and even in Omad (the secretary of Saladm), more words than 
 things, more ( 'liental figures than historical circumstances. They may, 
 however, be profitably consulted by comparing their accounts with those 
 of the Latins,
 
 422 nisTOEY OF the ceusades. 
 
 that coTered the plain, the flames surrounded their army, 
 and scorched the feet of both men and horses. 
 
 Disorder began to prevail in their ranks, but they fought 
 bravely still. Swords gleamed through the flames, and the 
 Christian knights, rushing from masses of smoke and fire, 
 precipitated themselves, lance in hand, upon their enemies. 
 In their despair, they endeavoured to pierce through the 
 battalions of the Saracens, but ever^-where met ^^'ith an in- 
 vincible resistance. Again and again they retiu-ned to the 
 charge, and as often were they repulsed. A prey to hunger 
 and a consuming thirst, they saw nothing around them but 
 burning rocks and the sparkling swords of their enemies. 
 The mountain of Ettin arose on their left, and in it they 
 endeavoured to find an asylum ; but, hotly pursued by the 
 Saracens, they were cast, some down precipices, and others 
 into narrow ra\-ines, where their bravery was of no avail. 
 
 The knights of the Temple and St. John performed pro- 
 digies of valour, and fought imtil the close of dav, rallvinfr 
 round the wood of the true cross. This sacred standard was 
 borne by the bishop of Ptolemais, M'ho was killed in the heat 
 of the battle. The bishop of Lidda, who took it up and en- 
 deavoured to fly, was stopped, and taken prisoner. A cry 
 of despair arose from among the Franlis when they saw the 
 sign of their safety in the hands of the conqueror ; even the 
 most brave cast away their arms, and without attempting to 
 fly, rushed upon the swords of the infidels. The field of 
 battle became nothing but a scene of desolation; and the 
 Christian warriors who had not been able to save the cross 
 of Christ, no longer feared either death or slavery. The 
 king of Jerusalem was made prisoner with his brother 
 Geoftrey, the grand master of the Templars, Eenaud de 
 Chatillon, and all the most illustrious knights of Palestine. 
 Ea^-mond, who commanded the vanguard of the Christian 
 army, after ha^-ing fought valiantly, opened for himself a 
 passage through the Saracens, and fled to Tripoli,* where, a 
 
 * Many Christian historians accuse Raymond of having assisted the 
 cause of Saladin. No Mussulman historian is of this opinion ; indeed 
 several of them speak of him as the most cruel enemy of the Saracens. 
 The continuator of Tabary positively says that the count of Tripoli was 
 opposed to the marching of the Franks towards Tiberias. M. Marin, in 
 his History of Saladin, has discussed this point of history, and the proofs
 
 histohy or the crusades. 423 
 
 sliorfc time afterwards, lie died of despair, accused by the 
 Mussulmaus of having violated treaties, and by the Chris- 
 tians of having betrayed both his religion and his country. 
 Bohemond, prince of Antioch, Henaud of Sidon, the young 
 count of Tiberias, and a small number of soldiers accom- 
 panied [Raymond in his flight, and were the only persons 
 that escaped after this day, so fatal to the kingdom of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The Oriental historians whilst describing the victory of the 
 Saracens, have celebrated the bravery and firmness of the 
 Frank knights, covered with their cuirasses, made with rings 
 of steel. These brave warriors at first presented an impe- 
 netrable wall to the strokes of the Saracens ; but when their 
 horses sunk, exhausted by fatigue, or wounded by lances or 
 javelins, Saladin met with very little more resistance, and the 
 battle became a horrible carnage. An Arabian author, a 
 secretary and companion of Saladin, who was present at this 
 terrible conflict, has not been able to refrain from pitying 
 the disasters of the vanquished. " I saw," says he, " the 
 hills, the plains, the valleys covered with their dead bodies ; 
 I saw their colours abandoned and soiled with blood and 
 dust ; I saw their heads struck off*, their members dispersed 
 and their carcasses piled up Hke stones." After the 
 battle, the cords of the tents were not sufficient to bind 
 the prisoners ; the Saracen soldiers drove them in crowds, 
 like vile herds of cattle. The conquerors divided the cap- 
 tives amongst them, and the number was so great, that, ac- 
 cording to an historian, a pair of shoes was exchanged for 
 a Christian knight. 
 
 that he gives leave no doubt respecting the sincerity of the intentions of 
 Raymond. Abulfeda, in the short description which he gives of the day 
 of Hetin, praises the valour of Raymond, and says that he died of the 
 grief created by the defeat of the Christians. In a letter written in the 
 name of Saladin by the Cadi Alfdel to the Iman Nassir-Sedin-Illah- 
 Aboul-Abbas-Ahmed, are these remarkable words: "Not one of the 
 Christians was able to escape except the count of Tripoli. May God curse 
 him ; God caused him afterwards to die, and sent him from the kingdom 
 of death to hell." This letter of Saladin's, which speaks also of the 
 taking of Jerusalem, has been preserved by Ebu-Khilcan in his Biography. 
 M. Jourdain had the intention of giving a translation of it ; but the text 
 presents so many difficulties, from the use of Oriental figures and bad 
 copying, that he was obliged to be satisfied with making some extracts 
 from it.
 
 424 HISTORY or the ceusades. 
 
 Saladin caused a tent to be erected in his camp, in wliicli 
 he received Gruy de Lusignan, and the principal leaders of 
 the Christian annv, whom -v-ictoiy had placed in his hands. 
 He treated the king of the Franks with kindness, and ordered 
 him to be serA-ed with a drink cooled in snow. As the king, 
 after having dinink, presented the cup to Eenaud de Cha- 
 tnion, who was next to him, the sultan stopped him, and 
 said. '' That traitor shall not drink in my presence, for I will 
 show him no favour." Then addressing himself to Eenaud, 
 he made him the most severe reproaches for his violation of 
 treaties, and threatened him with death if he did not em- 
 brace the rehgion of the prophet he had insulted. Eenaud 
 de Chatillon replied with noble fii-mness, and braved the 
 menaces of Saladin, who struck him with his sabre. Some 
 Mussulman soldiers, at the signal of their master, threw 
 themselves upon the disarmed prisoner, and the head of a 
 maitvr of the cross fell at the feet of the king of Jerusalem. 
 On the following day the sultan ordered the knights of 
 the Temple and St. John, who were among the prisoners, to 
 be brought before him : and, as they were led past his throne, 
 said, " I wiU deUver the earth of these two unclean races." 
 The grand master of the Templars found favoiu* before him, 
 doubtless because his imprudent counsels had given up the 
 Christian army to the swords of the Saracens. A great 
 number of emirs and doctors of the law sun-ounded the 
 throne of Saladin, and the sultan permitted each of them to 
 slav a Christian knight. Some of them refused to shed 
 blo'od, and turned their eyes away from so odious a specta- 
 cle ; but others, arming themselves with swords, massacred 
 kniahts bcund with fetters, without pity, whilst Saladin sat 
 on his throne, applauding the horrible execution. The 
 knights received the palm of' martyrdom with joy ; most of 
 the prisoners were anxious for death ; and many among 
 them, although not beloniring: to the military- orders, cried 
 aloud that they were Hospitallers or Templars, and, as if they 
 feared thev should want executioners, pressed before each 
 other, in order to secure the fatal stroke from the hands of 
 the infidels. 
 
 Saladin disor&ced his Wctorv bv this barbarity- ; the fear 
 with which the Christians inspired him, even after defeat, 
 made him cruel. He became more Inunane and generou.=3
 
 HISTOET or THE CRUSADES. 425 
 
 when lie felt more assured of his victory and confident of his 
 power. Two days were devoted by the Mussulmans to re- 
 turning thanks to Heaven for the victory with which it had 
 blessed their arms ; and then Saladin gave his attention to all 
 the advantages that might be obtained from it. As soon as 
 he became master of the citadel of Tiberias, he sent the wife 
 of Raymond to Tripoli ; and was, with his army, very shortly 
 under the ramparts of Ptolemais. This city, full of mer- 
 chants, and which, at a later period, sustained the attacks of 
 the most powerful armies of the Yf est, during three years, 
 did not stand out two days against Saladin. The inhabitants 
 had liberty to retire with their most valuable property ; and 
 the churches were converted into mosques, in which thanks 
 were offered up to I\Laliomet for the triumphs obtained over 
 the Christian soldiers. 
 
 The terror which preceded his arm}' opened to Saladin t e 
 gates of Naplouse, Jericho, Eamla, and a great number of 
 other cities which were left almost without inhabitants. The 
 cities of Csesarea, Arsuf, Jaffa, and Berouth shared the fate 
 of Ptolemais ; the yeUow standards of Saladin floated over 
 their walls. On the sea-coast, the cities of Tyre, Tripoli, 
 and Ascalon still remained in the hands of the Christians. 
 Saladin attacked Tyre without success, and determined to 
 wait for a more favourable opportunity to renew the siege. 
 Ascalon presented itself to him as a conquest of much greater 
 importance, as it would assure his communication with 
 Egypt. This city was besieged by the Mussulmans, but it 
 resisted, at first, with more firmness than Saladin had ex- 
 pected. AYhen a breach was effected, the sultan proposed 
 peace ; but the inhabitants, with whom despair supplied the 
 place of courage, sent back his messengers without granting 
 them a hearing. The king of Jerusalem, whom Saladin led 
 with him in triumph, then entreated the defenders of Asca- 
 lon not to compromise the safety of their families and the 
 Cliristians of the city by a useless defence. After this 
 appeal, the principal among them came to the tent of the 
 sultan: "It is not for ourselves," said they, " that we are 
 coriie to implore mercy, but for our wives and children. Of 
 what importance is a perishable life to us r AVe look for a 
 more solid blessing, and that death alone can procure us. 
 Q-od alone, th'e master of all events, has allowed you to
 
 42G UISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 obtain ^•ictones over the unhappy Christians ; but you shall 
 not enter into Ascalon unless you take pity on our families, 
 and promise to restore the king of Jerusalem to liberty." 
 
 Saladin, touched by the heroism of the inhabitants of 
 Ascalon, accepted the conditions proposed. Such devoted- 
 ness merited the redemption of a prince of nobler character 
 and more worthy of the love of his subjects than Gruy de 
 Lusignan. Saladin consented to liberate the captive monarch 
 at the expiration of a year. 
 
 The moment was now come in which Jerusalem was again 
 fated to fall into the power of the infidels ; and all Mus- 
 sulmans earnestly implored Mahomet for this crowning 
 triumph for the arms of Saladin. After having taken Gaza, 
 and several fortresses in the neighbourhood, the sultan drew 
 his army together and marched towards the holy city. A 
 queen in tears, the children of the wan-iors slain at the 
 battle of Tiberias, a few fugitive soldiers, and some pilgrims 
 recently arrived from the West were the only guardians of 
 the Holy Sepulchre. A gi'eat number of Christian families 
 which had left the devastated proAinces of Palestine, filled 
 the capital, and, very far from bringing it any assistance, 
 only served to increase the general trouble and conster- 
 nation. 
 
 AVhen Saladin drew near to the holv city, he caused the 
 principal inhabitants to be sent for, and said to them : " I 
 acknowledge, as well as you, that Jerusalem is the house of 
 God ; I do not wish to profane its sanctity by the effusion 
 of blood : abandon its walls and I will bestow upon you a 
 part of my treasm-es ; I will give you as much land as you 
 win be able to cultivate." "'\\'e cannot," they replied, 
 " yield the city in which our God died ; still less can we give 
 it up to you." Saladin, enraged by their refusal, swore upon 
 the Koran to lay prostrate the towers and ramparts of 
 Jerusalem, and to avenge the death of the ^Mussulmans 
 slaughtered by the companions and soldiers of Godfrey of 
 Bouillon. 
 
 At the moment in which Saladin was speaking to the 
 deputies, an eclipse of the sun all at once left the heavens 
 in utter darkness, and appeared to be a presage fatal for the 
 Christians. iSTevertheless, the inhabitants, encouraged by 
 the clerg}', prepared to defend the city, and chose as their
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 427 
 
 commander Ealeau d' Ibelin, who laad been present at the 
 battle of Tiberias. This old warrior, whose experience and 
 virtues inspired confidence and respect, immediately set 
 about repairing the fortifications, and training the new de- 
 fenders of Jerusalem. As he was deficient in officers, he 
 created fifty knights froui amongst the citizens ; and all the 
 Christians able to bear arms, placed themselves under his 
 command, and swore to shed their blood in the cause of 
 Christ. They had no money to meet the expenses of the 
 war, but all means of obtaining it seemed legitimate in a 
 danger that threatened the city of God. They despoiled 
 the churches, and the people, terrified at the approach of 
 Saladin, beheld, without scandal, the precious metal which 
 covered the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre converted into 
 coin.* 
 
 The standards of Saladin were soon seen floating over the 
 heights of Emails, and the Mussulman army encamped on 
 the same places on which Godfrey, Tancred, and the two 
 Roberts had pitched their tents when they besieged the holy 
 city. The besieged at first resisted boldly, and made fre- 
 quent sorties, in which they bore in one hand a lance or a 
 sword, and in the other a shovel filled with dust, which they 
 cast upon the Saracens. A great number of Christians re- 
 ceived the palm of martyrdom, and ascended, say the his- 
 torians, to the heavenly Jerusalem — many Mussulmans fell 
 beneath the swords of their enemies, and went to dwell on 
 the hanhs of the river ivJiicJi waters Paradise. 
 
 Saladin, after being encamped for several days on the 
 western side of the city, directed his operations towards the 
 north, and caused the ramparts which extended from the 
 gate of Jehoshaphat to that of St. Stephen to be undermined. 
 The bravest of the citizens made a sortie, and endeavoui'ed 
 to destroy the machines and works of the besiegers, en- 
 couraging each other by repeating these words of Scripture : 
 
 * For the siege of Jerusalem we may consult the continuator of 
 Tabary, the author of the Roudalains, and the letter from Saladin before 
 mentioned. All the Arabian historians are agreed as to the principal 
 circumstances. Moujireddin, in his History of Jerusalem, of all the 
 Arabian writers of this period, gives the fewest particulars of the siege and 
 capture of the holy city. We need not repeat that the greater part of 
 these historians are known to us by the Latin extracts of Dom. Bertreau. 
 
 Vol. I.— 20
 
 428 HJSTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 "^ single one of us shall make ten inJideJs fiy^ and ten of us 
 sliall put to flight ten thousand'^ They performed prodigies 
 of valour, but they could not interrupt the progress of the 
 siege. Ivepulsedby the Saracens, they were forced to return 
 to the citv, whither their appearance brought terror and 
 discouragement. The towers and ramparts appeared ready 
 to fall at the first signal for a general assault. Despair then 
 took entire possession of the inhabitants, who saw no means 
 of defence \vithin their power but tears and prayers. The 
 soldiers crowded to the churches instead of flying to arms ; 
 and not even the promise of a hundred pieces of gold could 
 keep them on the tottering ramparts for one night. The 
 clergy made processions through the streets, to invoke the 
 protection of Heaven. Some struck their breasts with stones, 
 whilst others tore their bodies with hair-cloth, cryiug aloud 
 for mercy ! 2s othing was heard in Jerusalem but sobs and 
 groans; '''hut our Jesus Christ j'^ says an old chronicle, 
 " would not hear them, for the luxury and impurity that icere 
 in the city v:ould not allow either orisons or prayers to 
 ascend before him.'' The despair of the inhabitants inspired 
 them with the most contradictoiy projects at the same time; 
 at one moment thev formed the resolution of issuins: in a 
 body from the city, and seeking a glorious death in the 
 ranks of tlie infidels ; whilst, the next, they placed their 
 last hope in the clemency of Saladin. 
 
 Amid the general trouble and agitation, the Greek and 
 S}Tian Christians, with the Melachite Christians, endured 
 verv unwillino:lv the authoritv of the Latins, and accused 
 them of aU the misfortunes of the war. A plot for giving 
 up the city to the Mussulmans was discovered, which re- 
 doubled the general alarm, and made the principal inhabi- 
 tants determine upon demanding a capitulation of Saladin. 
 Accompanied by Baleau d'Ibelin, they went and proposed 
 to the sultan to give up the place to him upon the con- 
 ditions he had himself proposed before the siege. But 
 Saladin remembered that he had sworn to take the citv by 
 assault, and put the inhabitants to the sword ; and he sent 
 back the deputies without giving them the least hope. 
 Baleau d'Ibelin retiurned several times, renewing his sup- 
 plications and his prayers, but always found Saladin inexo- 
 rable. One day, whilst the Christian deputies were earnestly
 
 HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 429 
 
 imploring him to accept their capitulation, turning towards 
 the place, and pointing to his standards which floated over 
 the walls, — "How can you ask me," said he, "to grant con- 
 ditions to a city Avhich is already taken ? " 
 
 Nevertheless, the Saracens were repulsed ; and Baleau, 
 reanimated by the success the Christians had obtained, 
 replied to the sidtan : " You see that Jerusalem is not 
 without defenders ; if we can obtain no mercy from you, we 
 will form a terrible resolution, and the fruits of our despair 
 shall All you Avith terror. These temples and palaces that 
 you are so anxious to conquer, shall be totally destroyed ; all 
 the riches which excite the ambition and cupidity of the 
 Saracens, shall become the prey of the flames. We will 
 destroy the mosque of Omar ; and the mysterious stone of 
 Jacob, which is the object of your worship, shall be broken 
 and pounded into dust. Jerusalem contains five thousand 
 Mussulman prisoners ; they shall all perish by the sword. 
 We will, with our own hands, slay our wives and children, 
 and thus spare them the shame of becoming your slaves. 
 When the holy city shall be but a heap of ruins — one vast 
 tomb — we will march out of it, followed by the angTy manes 
 of our friends and kindred ; we will march out armed with 
 sword and fire ; and no one of us will ascend to Paradise 
 without having consigned ten Mussulmans to hell. We 
 shall thus obtain a glorious death, and shall die calling down 
 upon your head the maledictions of the Grod of Jerusalem." 
 
 This spirited speech alarmed Saladin, and he invited the 
 deputies to come again on the following day. He consulted 
 with the doctors of the law, who decided that he might 
 accept the capitulation proposed by the besieged, without 
 violating his oath. The conditions were signed on the 
 following day in the tent of the sultan, and thus Jerusalem 
 again fell into the power of the infidels, after having been 
 eighty-eight years under the domination of the Christians, 
 The Latin historians- had remarked that the Crusaders entered 
 the city on a Friday, and at the same hour that Christ had 
 submitted to death to expiate the crimes of the human race. 
 The Saracens retook the city on a Friday, the anniversary of 
 the day on which, according to their creed, Mahomet set out 
 from Jerusalem to ascend into heaven. This circumstance, 
 which might influence Saladin in his agreement to sign the
 
 430 HISTORY OF THE CErSADES. 
 
 capitulation, did not f\iil to add a new splendour to his 
 triumph with the Mussulmans, and caused him to be regarded 
 as the favourite of the Prophet. 
 
 All the warriors who were in Jerusalem when the capitula- 
 tion was signed, obtained permission to retire to Tvre or 
 Tripoh. The conqueror granted life to the inhabitants, and 
 allowed them to purchase then' liberty. All Christians, with 
 the exception of the Greeks and Syrians, received orders to 
 quit Jerusalem at the expu-ation of four days. The rate of 
 ransom was fixed at ten pieces of gold for the men, five for 
 the women, and two for the chddren. Such as could not 
 purcliase their liberty, remained in slavery. 
 
 These conditions had at first been received "with joy by 
 the Christians ; but when they saw the day approach on 
 which they were to leave Jerusalem, they experienced nothing 
 but the most bitter grief at quittins: the holy places. They 
 watered the tomb of Christ with their tears, and regretted 
 that thev had not died to defend it : thev visited Calvary 
 and the churches they were never to see again, amidst groans 
 and sighs ; they embraced each other in the streets, weeping 
 and lamenting over their fatal dissensions. Such as were 
 unable to pay their ransom, and would only quit Jerusalem 
 to become shives to the Saracens, gave themselves up to all 
 the excesses of despair. But such, in. these deplorable 
 moments, was their attachment to the religion whose pre- 
 cepts they had not always followed, that the insults offered 
 to the sacred objects of their worship, afflicted them more 
 than their own misfortunes. 
 
 At lenofth the fatal dav* arrived on which the Christians 
 were to quit Jerusalem. All the gates were shut except 
 that of David, by which the people were to go out. Saladin, 
 seated on an elevated throne, saw all the Chi-istians pass 
 before him. The patriarch, followed by the clergy, appeared 
 the first, carrving the sacred vases, the ornaments of the 
 
 * Most historians say that Saladin granted a delay of forty days to 
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the position that matters were in, 
 Saladin could not remain forty days before a captured city ; and what 
 proves that historians are mistaken in this respect is, that they themselves 
 say that Saladin took Jerusalem in the beginning of October, and that he 
 set out on the day of AH Saints, which is always the first of November, 
 from Ptolemais to go to the siege of the city of Tyre.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 431 
 
 cliurcli of the Holy Sepulchre, and treasures, of which God 
 alone, says an Arabian author, knew the value. The queen 
 of Jerusalem, accompanied* by the barons and knights, 
 came next. Saladin respected her grief, and addressed some 
 words of kindness to her. The queen was follo^A"ed by a 
 great number of women, bearing their children in their arms, 
 and uttering the most piercing cries. Many of them drew 
 near to the throne of Saladin, and said to him : " You see 
 at your feet the wives, the mothers, the daughters of the 
 warriors you detain prisoners ; we leave for ever our country 
 which they have defended with glory; they helped to support 
 our lives ; in losing them, we have lost our last hope ; if you 
 deign to restore them to us, they will lessen the miseries of 
 our exile, and we shall be no longer without help upon earth." 
 Saladin was touched with their prayers, and promised to 
 sofceii the misfortunes of so many bereaved families. He 
 restored the children to their mothers, and the husbands to 
 their wives, who were amongst the unredeemed captives. 
 Several Christians had abandoned their most valuable goods, 
 and bore upon their shoulders, some their parents weakened 
 by age, and others their infirm or sick friends. Saladin was 
 affected by this spectacle, and rewarded with gifts the virtue 
 and piety of his enemies ; he took pity upon all distresses, 
 and allowed the Hospitallers to remain in the city to tend 
 pilgrims, and assist such as were prevented from leaving 
 Jerusalem by serious illness. 
 
 When the Saracens began the siege, the holy city con- 
 tained more than a hundred thousand Christians. The 
 greater part of them were able to purchase their own. 
 liberty; and Baleau d'Ibelin, who was the depositary of the 
 treasures destined for the defence of the city, employed 
 them in procuring the freedom of part of the inhabitants. 
 Malec Adel, brother of the sultan, paid the ransom of two 
 thousand captives. Saladin followed his example, by break- 
 ing the chains of a great number of poor and orphans. 
 
 * Marin and most historians say that Sibylla was not at Jerusalem 
 during the siege : they are in error. The author of the Roudatains says 
 positively that that princess came out of Jerusalem with the other captives, 
 followed by her treasures and her attendants. She asked permission of 
 Sidadin to rejoin her husband, who was then detained a prisoner at 
 Naplouse
 
 432 nisTORT OF the ceusades. 
 
 There only remained in bondage about fourteen thousand 
 Christians, amongst ^Yhom there were four or five thousand 
 children of tender age, who Avere insensible of their mis- 
 fortunes, but whose fate the Christians the more deplored, 
 from the certainty that these innocent victims of war would 
 be brought up in the idolatry of jMahomet. 
 
 Many modern writers have compared the generous con- 
 duct of Saladin with the revolting scenes which accompanied 
 the entrance of the first Crusaders into Jerusalem ; but we 
 must not forget that the Christians offered to capitulate, 
 whilst the Mussulmans sustained a long siege with fanatical 
 obstinacy ; and that the companions of Grodfrey, who were 
 in an unknown land, in the midst of hostile nations, carried 
 the city by assault, after bra\TJig numberless perils, and 
 suffering all kinds of miseries. But we beg to observe that 
 we do not make this observation to justify the Christians, 
 or to weaken the praises history owes to Saladin, and which 
 he even obtained from the people he had conquered. 
 
 After having done honoiu* to misfortune and consoled 
 humanity, Saladin gave his attention to his triumph. He 
 entered Jerusalem preceded by his victorious standards. A 
 great number of imauns, doctors of the law, and the ambas- 
 sadors of many Mussidman princes, formed his train. By 
 his orders all the churches, except that of the Holy Sepidchre, 
 were converted into mosques. The sultan caused the walls 
 and the vestibule of the mosque of Omar to be wasliedwith 
 rose-water, brought from Damascus, and with his own hands 
 placed in it the pulpit constructed by Noureddin. On the 
 first Fridav which followed his entrance into Jerusalem, the 
 people and the army assembled in the principal mosque, and 
 the chief of the imauns, ascending the pulpit of the Prophet, 
 returned thanks to God for the victories of Saladin. " Glory 
 to God," said he, "who has caused Islamism to triumph, 
 and who has broken the power of the infidels. Praise with 
 me the Lord, Avho has restored to us Jerusalem, the dwelling 
 of God, the abode of saints and prophets ; it was from the 
 bosom of this sacred dwelling that God caused his servant 
 to travel during the darkness of night ; it was to facilitate 
 the conquest of Jerusalem by Joshua that God formerly 
 arrested the course of the sun ; and it is in this city, at the 
 end of time, will assem^ble all the prophets of the earth."
 
 HISTOET OP THE CRUSADES. 433 
 
 After having recapitulated tlie wonders and miracles of 
 Jerusalem, the preacher of Islamism addressed himself to 
 the soldiers of Saladin, and congratulated them with having 
 braved so many perils, and having shed their blood to 
 accomplish the will of Mahomet. " The soldiers of the 
 prophet," added he, " the companions of Omar and Abou- 
 beker, have appointed you places in their holy bands, and 
 expect you amongst the elect of Islamism. AVitnesses of 
 your last triumph, the angels on the right hand of the 
 Eternal have rejoiced ; the hearts of the messengers of God 
 have leaped with jo}'. Praise, then, with me the Lord ; but 
 yield not to the weaknesses of pride, and do not, above 
 everything, believe that it was your swords of steel, with 
 your horses, rapid as the wind, that have triumphed over 
 the infidels. God is God; God alone is powerfid ; God 
 alone has given you the victory ; he orders you not to stop 
 in a glorious career in which he himself leads you by the 
 hand. The lioh/ war ! the holy war ! that is the most pure 
 of your adorations, tlie most noble of your duties. Cut 
 down all the branches of impiety ; cause Islamism to triumph 
 everywhere ; deliver the earth of the nations against which 
 God is angry." 
 
 The chief of tlie imauus then prayed for the caliph of 
 Bagdad, and terminated his prayer by naming Saladin. " O 
 God ! " cried he, " watch over the days of thy faithfid servant, 
 who is thy sharp sword, thy resplendent star, the defender 
 of thy worship, the liberator of thy sacred dwelling. O God ! 
 let thy angels surround liis empire, and prolong his days for 
 the glory of thy name !" 
 
 Thus Jerusalem had changed its worship on changing its 
 masters. Whilst the holy places resounded with the sacri- 
 legious praises of the prophet, the Christians departed sadly, 
 plunged in profound grief, and detesting the life which the 
 Saracens had spared. Hepulsed by their brethren of the 
 East, who accused them of having given up the tomb of 
 their God to the infidels, they wandered about SjTia, without 
 assistance and without asylum ; many died of grief and 
 hunger ; the city of Tripoli shut its gates against them. 
 Among this distracted multitude, one woman, urged by 
 despair, cast her infant into the sea, cursing the Christians 
 who refused them succour. They who directed their course
 
 43i insTOKT or the ceusades. 
 
 to Egypt were less unfortunate, and touched the hearts of 
 the Mussulmans ; many embarked for Europe, whither they 
 came to announce, with lamentations, that Jerusalem was in 
 the hands of Saladin. 
 
 The loss of the holy city was generally attributed to the 
 crimes of its inhabitants. Such was the policy of those 
 times, that it explained everything by the corruption or the 
 sanctity of the Christians ; as if crime had not its moments 
 of good fortune, and ^-irtue its days of calamity. There is 
 no doubt that the corruption of manners had weakened the 
 springs of government, and enervated the courage of the 
 people ; but the never-ending discords of the Christians did 
 not contribute less than their licentiousness and forgetfulness 
 of scriptural morality, in producing the disasters of Jerusa- 
 lem. AYhen we reflect, likewise, that this weak kingdom, 
 surrounded by enemies, was able to support itself, and defer 
 its ruin for eiofhtv-eisrht vears, we are much less astonished 
 at its fall than at the leno^th of its duration. The kino:dom 
 of Jerusalem owed its preservation and splendour to the 
 divisions of the Turks and Saracens, and the numerous sup- 
 plies it received from Europe ; it fell as soon as it was left 
 to itself, and its enemies united to attack it. 
 
 As it was at that time, however, believed that the welfare 
 of Christianity and the glory even of God were attached to 
 the preservation of Jerusalem, the loss of the holy city 
 created throughout Europe as much surprise as consterna- 
 tion. The news of this disaster was first brought into Italv ; 
 and Pope Urban III., who was then at Eerrara, died of 
 grief. Christians forgot all the ills of their own countrv to 
 weep over Jerusalem ; it even superseded all other afflictions 
 in private families. Priests carried from city to city images,* 
 representing the holy sepulchre trampled under the feet of 
 horses, and Christ cast to the earth by Mahomet. Melan- 
 choly songs deplored the capti^-it^* of the king of Jerusalem 
 and his knights, the fate of the virgins of the Lord aban- 
 doned to the insults of infidels, and the misfortunes of 
 Christian children brought up in slavery and in the worship 
 of fake prophets. 
 
 * This fact, which is not mentioned by our Western authors, is related 
 with many details by "Boha-eddin and Abul-feda.
 
 . HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 435 
 
 Superstition, joined with despair, created a belief in the 
 most sinister prodigies. On the day Saladin entered into 
 the holy city, says Rigord, the monks' of Argenteuil saw the 
 moon descend from heaven upon the earth, and then re- ascend 
 to lieayen. In many churches the crucifixes and images of 
 the saints shed tears of blood in the presence of the faithful. 
 A Christian knight had a dream, in which he saw an eagle 
 flying over an army, holding in his claws seven javelins, and 
 uttering in an intelligible voice. Evil he to Jerusalem* 
 
 Every one accused himself of having brought down the 
 vengeance of Heaven by his own offences ; and all the faithfid 
 sought to appease by penitence a God whom they believed to 
 be irritated. " The Lord," said they among themselves, " has 
 poured out the floods of his WTath, and the arrows of his 
 anger are batlied in the blood of his servants. Let our 
 A^hole life pass away in mourning, since we have heard a 
 voice complaining on the mountain of Sion, and the children 
 of the Lord are scattered." The sacred orators addressed 
 God himself, and made the churches resound with their 
 invocations and prayers. "O powerful God!" cried they, 
 " thy hand has armed itself for the triumph of thy justice! 
 Filled with tears, we come to implore thy goodness,"^ in order 
 that thou mayest remember thy people, and that thy mercies 
 may exceed our miseries ; deliver not over thy heritage to 
 shame; and let the angels of peace obtain the fruits of 
 penitence for Jerusalem." 
 
 The Christian world was for a moment changed. Whilst 
 weeping for the loss of the tomb of Christ, people recalled 
 the precepts of the holy Scriptures, and became all at once 
 better. Luxury was banished from cities ; injuries were 
 forgotten, and alms were given abundantly. Christians slept 
 upon ashes, clothed themselves in hair-cloth, and expiated 
 their disorderly lives by fasting and mortification. The 
 clergy set the example ; the morals of the cloisters were 
 reformed, and cardinals, condemning themselves to poverty, 
 promised to repair to the Holy Land, supported on charity 
 by the way. 
 
 These pious reformations did not last long; but men's minds 
 
 * These prodigies remind us of those related by the historian Josephus, 
 in his account of the conquest of Jerusalem. 
 
 20
 
 436 msTOEY OF the cetjsades. 
 
 v\-ere not the less prepared for a new cnisade by tliera, and 
 all Europe was soon roused by the voice of Gregory YIII,, 
 who exhorted the faithful to assume the cross and take up 
 arms. The first care of the sovereign pontiff was to re- 
 establish peace among Christian nations ; and with that view 
 he repaired to Pisa, to endeavour to terminate the angry 
 disputes that had arisen between the Pisans and the 
 Grenoese. Gresrorv died without finishinsr the work he had 
 begun, and left the direction of the crusade to his successor, 
 Clement III., who, immediately after his accession to the 
 pontifical throne, ordered prayers for the peace of the AVest 
 and the deliverance of the land of the pilgrims. 
 
 "William.* archbishop of Tvre, had quitted the East to 
 come into Europe to solicit the assistance of the Christian 
 princes, and was charged by the pope to preach the holy war. 
 AYilliam was more able and more eloquent than Heraclius, 
 who had preceded him in this mission, and, further, more 
 worthy by his virtues of being the interpreter of the Chris- 
 tians, and to speak in the name of Christ. After ha^'ing 
 awakened the zeal of the nations of Italy, he repaired to 
 Prance, and \\a.s present at an assembly convoked near 
 Gisors, by Henry II. of Eno;land, and Philip Augustus of 
 Prance. On the arrival of William, these two kings, who 
 were at war for the country of Yexin, laid down their arms. 
 The bravest warriors of France and England, tinited by the 
 dangers of their brothers of the East, came to the assembly 
 whose object was the deliverance of the holy places. Wil- 
 liam was received with enthusiasm, and read with a loud 
 
 * Marin, in Lis History of Saladin, and several others after him, have 
 pretended that the William who came into Europe to preach the crusade, 
 was not the author of the Hiatory of Jerusalem. This assertion is founded 
 on an obscure passage of Hugh de Plagon, and is not at all confirmed by 
 the testimony of contemporary hi-torians. Matthew Paris, and all the 
 other authors of the time, give the name of \Villiam to the archbishop of 
 Tyre who came into Europe ; if this William had not been the same as 
 the historian of this name, would it not have been remarked by contem- 
 porary chronicles .' AH these chronicles give us some details of the birth 
 and life of William, author of the History of Jerusalem ; and if another 
 William, archbi.-hop of Tyre, came into the West, why have not the 
 historians of the time made him known, and said something of him .■' His 
 mission was sufficiently important, the see in which he was placed attracted 
 attention enough, fjr the second to be mentioned as well as the first, if 
 tliere was one.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 437 
 
 voice, to the princes and kniglits, an account of the taking 
 of Jerusalem by Saladin. After this reading, which drew 
 tears from all the assembly, William exhorted the faithful 
 to take the cross. " The mountain of Sion," said he, " still 
 resounds with the words of Ezekiel : O children of men, 
 remember that day in which the king of Babylon triumphed 
 over Jerusalem ! In one single day all the evils that the 
 prophets announced fell upon the city of David and Solo- 
 mon. That city, filled by all Christian nations, remains now 
 alone, or rather is only inhabited by a sacrilegious people. 
 The queen of nations, the capital of so many provinces, has 
 paid the tribute imposed upon slaves. All her gates have 
 been broken, and her guardians exposed with cattle in the 
 markets of infidel cities. The Christian states of the East, 
 which caused the religion of the cross to flourish in Asia, 
 and formed the bulwark of the West against the invasions 
 of the Saracens, are reduced to the cities of Tyre, Antioch, 
 and Tripoli. We have seen, according to the expression of 
 Isaiah, the Lord extending his hand and its inflictions from 
 the Euphrates to the torrent of Egypt. The inhabitants of 
 forty cities have been driven from their homes, despoiled of 
 their wealth, and are now wandering with their weeping 
 families among the nations of Asia, without finding a stone 
 whereon to lay their heads.''' 
 
 After having thus described the misfortunes of the Chris- 
 tians of the East, William reproached the warriors who 
 listened to him, with not having come to the aid of their 
 brethren, and with having allowed the heritage of Christ to 
 be taken from them. He was astonished that they coidd 
 entertain another thought, that they could seek any other 
 glory than that of delivering the holy places ; and addressing 
 himself to the princes and knights : "To meet you here," 
 said he, " I have traversed fields of carnage ; nay, within 
 sight even of this assembly I have seen preparations for 
 war : what blood is it you have shed, what blood is it you 
 are about to shed again ? AVhy are you armed with these 
 swords ? You are fighting here for the banks of a river, 
 for the limits of a province, or for a transient renown, whilst 
 infidels trample the banks of Siloe, whilst they invade the 
 kingdom of Grod, and whilst the cross of Christ is dragged 
 ignominiously through the streets of Bagdad. You shed
 
 438 HISTORY or the CliUSADES, 
 
 torrents of blood for Tain treaties, whilst the very Grospel, 
 that solemn treaty between God and men, is being outraged ! 
 Have vou forgotten the deeds of your fathers ? A Chiis- 
 tian kingdom was founded by them in the midst of Mussul- 
 inan nations. A crowd of heroes, a crowd of princes born 
 in vour countrv, went to defend and govern it. K you have 
 permitted tlieir work to perish, come at least and deliver 
 their tombs, which are in the power of the Saracens. Does 
 vour Europe no longer produce such warriors as Grodfi^y, 
 Tancred. and their companions ? The prophets and saints 
 buried at Jerusalem, the churches transformed into mosques, 
 the very stones of the sepulchres, all cry to you to avenge 
 the glory of God and the death of your brethren. VThaX ! 
 whv^the blood of Xaboth, the blood of Abel which arose 
 towards heaven, foimd avengers, and shall the blood of 
 Christ arise in vaia against his enemies and his execu- 
 tioners ? 
 
 " The East has beheld base Cliristians, whom avarice and 
 fear have rendered the allies of Saladin ; I do not suspect 
 thev will find imitators among you; but remember what 
 Christ has said : ' He iclw is not for me is against me.' If 
 you do not defend the cause of God, what cause will you 
 dare defend ? If the kins: of heaven and earth find vou not 
 beneath his colours, where are the powers whose standards 
 you will follow r "WTiy then are the enemies of God no 
 lono^er the enemies of all Christians ? ^Tiat will be the joy 
 of the Saracens amidst their impious triumphs, when they 
 shall be told that the AVest has no more warriors faithful to 
 Christ, and that the princes and kings of Europe have learnt 
 with iudifierence the disasters and captivity of Jerusalem r" 
 
 These reproaches made in the name of religion afiected 
 the hearts of the princes and knights deeply. Henry II. 
 and Pliilip Augustus, to that time implacable enemies, em- 
 braced each other in tears, and put themselves forward the 
 first to receive the cross. Eichard, duke of Guienne, son 
 of Henry, Philip, count of Flanders, Hugh, duke of Bur- 
 gundy, Henr}', count of Champagne, Thibaut, count of 
 Blois, Eetrou, count of Perche, the counts of Xevers, de 
 Bar, Tendome. Soissons, the two brothers Josselin and 
 Matthew de ^Montmorency, "svith a crowd of barons and 
 knights, together with several bishops of Prance and Eng-
 
 niSTOET OF THE CllUSADES. 439 
 
 land, all took the oath to deliver the Holy Land. The 
 whole assembly shouted the words " the Cross ! tlie Cross V 
 and this war-cry soon resounded through all the proA-inces. 
 The spot on which the Mthful met was afterwards called the 
 sacred Jield, and a church was built upon it to preserve the 
 remembrance of the pious devotion of the Christian knights. 
 As money was wanting to carry out the holy enterprise, it 
 was resolved in the council of the princes and bishops that 
 all who did not take the cross should pay a tenth part of 
 their revenues and of the value of their property of all kinds. 
 The terror which the arms of Saladin had inspired, caused 
 the name of the Saladin tithe to be given to this tax. Ex- 
 communications were published agamst all such as refused 
 to pay a debt so sacred. In vain the clergy, of whom Peter 
 of Blois undertook the defence, alleged the'liberty and inde- 
 pendence of the Church, and pretended they could not be 
 called on to assist the Crusaders otherwise* than by their 
 prayers ; the ecclesiastics were told that they ought to set 
 the example, that the clergy was not the Church, and that 
 the wealth of the Church iDelonged to Christ. The orders 
 of the Chartreux, of Citeaux and Fontevi-ault, with the hos- 
 pital for lepers, were all that were exempt from a tribute 
 raised for a cause which was believed to be that of all 
 Christians.* 
 
 In the two first crusades, the greater part of the villagers 
 who had taken the cross, had done so to emancipate them- 
 selves from slavery. Some disorders naturally resulted from 
 this ; the country was deserted, the lands were uncultivated ; 
 in this crusade means were taken to set bounds to the too 
 forward zeal of the labourers : all serfs who em-olled them- 
 selves for the holy war, without the permission of their 
 lords, were condemned to pay the Saladin tithe, as if they 
 had not taken the cross. f 
 
 JN"otwithstanding all this excitement, the peace which had 
 
 * For the history of this period, the following authors may be con- 
 sulted with advantage: — The Acts of Ryraer, the historian Riijord, Roger 
 of Hoveden, Matthew Paris, William of Newbridge, the Chronicle of 
 Alberic of Trois Fontaines, Otho of St. Blaise, Brompton, the Chronicle 
 of Gervais, &c. 
 
 t "The noblest monument of a conqueror's fame and of the terror 
 which he inspired, is the Saladin tenth." — Gibbon, — Trans.
 
 440 HISTOEY OF THE CRUSA.DES. 
 
 been s-^om to by the kings of France and England was not 
 long held sacred. Eicbard, ^vno was duke of Guienne, ha^'ing 
 had a quarrel ^mh the count of Thoulouse, Henry took 
 up arms to assist his son. Philip flew to the defence of his 
 vassal ; and Xormandy, Berr}', and Auvergne were soon in a 
 blaze. The two monarchs, urged by the solicitations of the 
 nobles and bishops, met for a moment in the sacred field in 
 which they had laid down their arms, but they could not 
 agree upon the conditions of the peace ; and the elm-tree 
 imder which they held their confereil'ce, was cut do^ii by the 
 orders of Philip. Negotiations were renewed several tmies 
 without putting a stop to the war. The king of Prance re- 
 quired that Eichard should be cro^Tied king of England, in 
 the lifetime of his father, and that he shoidd espouse Alice, 
 a Prench princess, whom Henry detained in prison. The 
 king of England, jealous of his authority, could not consent 
 to accept these conditions ; and woidd neither yield up his 
 crown nor the sister of Philip, of whom he was enamoured. 
 Eichard, irritated by his father's refusal, threw himself into 
 the party of Philip Augustus, and declared openly against 
 Henry ; on all sides they flew to arms, and the produce of 
 the Saladin tithe was employed to carry on a sacrilegious 
 war, which outrao;ed both moralitv and nature. 
 
 This war was not a good augury for that which was about 
 to be undertaken in Asia : the pope's legate excommunicated 
 Eichard, and threatened Philip with placing his kingdom 
 under an interdict. Philip despised the menaces of the 
 legate, and told him that the Holy See had no right to med- 
 dle with the quarrels of princes ; Eichard, still more violent, 
 drew his sword, and was on the point of cutting down the 
 legate. Peace seemed every day to be at a greater distance ; 
 in vain cries of indignation arose from the people ; in vain 
 the great vassals refused to take part in a quarrel which in- 
 terested neither religion nor country. Henry, who consented 
 to an interview, stiU haughtily rejected the conditions that 
 were proposed to him. He resisted for a long time both 
 the prayers of his subjects and the counsels of the bishops ; 
 and the terror only \vith which the thunder of Heaven, which 
 feh by his side during the conference, inspii'cd him, could 
 overcome his obstinacy. He at length accepted Philip's 
 conditions, but soon repented of his acquiescence ; and
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 441 
 
 shortly after died of grief, leaving his maledictions to !Richard, 
 who had made open war against him, and to his youngest 
 son, who had engaged in a conspirac}'' against him. 
 
 Hichard accused himself of the death of his father, and, 
 pressed by repentance, he remembered the vow he had made 
 in the sacred field. Now become king of England, he began 
 seriously his preparations for the holy expedition. He re- 
 paired to his kingdom, and convoked, near Northampton, an 
 assembly of the barons and prelates, in which Baldwin, arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, preached the crusade. The preacher 
 of the holy war then Avent through the provmces of England 
 to raise the zeal and emulation of the faithful.* Miraculous 
 adventures attested the sanctity of his mission, and brought 
 under the banners of the cross the wild and credulous inha- 
 bitants of Wales, and several other countries where the mis- 
 fortunes of Jerusalem had never been heard of. 
 
 The enthusiasm of the English for this crusade, mani- 
 fested itself at first by a violent persecution of the Jews, 
 great Qumbers of whom were massacred in the cities of 
 London and York. A vast many of these unfortunate 
 people found no means of escape from their persecutors but 
 in a self-inflicted death. These horrible scenes were renewed 
 every crusade. AYhen money was required for the holy ex- 
 pedition, it was perceived that the Jews were the depositaries 
 of the general wealth ; and the knowledge of the treasures 
 accumulated in their hands, seemed to lead the people to 
 remember that it was they who had crucified their Grod. 
 
 E-ichard did not take much pains to repress the misguided 
 multitude, but availed himself of the persecution of the 
 Jews to increase his own treasures. But neither the spoils 
 of the Jews, nor the produce of the Saladin tithe, for the 
 non-payment of which the English were threatened with 
 imprisonment, at all satisfied the king of England. Richard 
 
 * There is extant in Latin an account of the journey of Archbishop 
 Baldwin through the country of Wales, entitled Itinerarium Cambrice, 
 drawn up by Barry, who accompanied the preacher of the crusade. This 
 journey is curious, from the singular prodigies and miracles which are 
 related in it. If this relation may be credited, Archbishop Baldwin 
 neglected no means to induce the people to take the cross ; he enrolled 
 one day, says Barry, a great number of men who came to him in a state 
 of nudity, their clothes being secreted by their wives and friends, who 
 wishad to prevent their going.
 
 442 HISTOSY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 alienated the domains of the cro\m, and put to sale all the 
 great di2:nities of the kingdom ; lie would sell, he said, the 
 city of Loudon, if he coidd fijid a purchaser. He went 
 afterwards into Xorraandy, where the ''Estates" permitted 
 him to exhaust that rich province, and gave him full means 
 to support a war in which the whole people took so great an 
 interest. 
 
 A great number of warriors assumed the cross in France 
 and England, and the preparations for the crusade were 
 finished amidst general fermentation. Many barons and 
 lords, however, did not announce the period of their de- 
 parture, and delayed, under various pretexts, the pilgrimage 
 to which they had engaged themselves bv oath. The cele- 
 brated Peter of Blois, addressed a pathetic exhortation to 
 them, in which he compared them to reapers who put off 
 beginning their work until the harvest was finished. The 
 orator of the holy war represented to them that strong and 
 courageous men found a countiy everywhere, and that true 
 pilgrims ought to resemble the birds of heaven.* He recalled 
 to their ambition the example of Abraham, who abandoned 
 liis home to elevate himself among the nations, who crossed 
 the Jordan with a staff only, and retiu-ned followed bv two 
 
 * • 
 
 troops of warriors. This exhortation revived the ardour for 
 the crusade, which had evidently begim to cool. The mon- 
 archs of Prance and England had an interview at Xonan- 
 court, where they agreed to proceed to Palestine by sea. 
 They made, at the same time, several regulations to secure 
 order and discipline in the armies they were about to lead 
 into Asia. The laws of religion, and the penalties that they 
 inflict, did not appear to them suflicient in this case. The 
 justice of these barbarous ages was charged ^-ith the onerous 
 task of suppressing the passions and Wees of the Crusaders: 
 whoever gave a blow, was to be plunged three times into the 
 
 * The discourse of Feter of Blois, -nrhich is printed in his works, has 
 for title, Tractatiis de Jerosolymitand Peregrinaiione. After having 
 quoted several passages from the Bible and Testament to exhort the Cru- 
 saders to set out. he cites two verses from the tenth chapter of Juvenal, 
 and two verses from the Fasti of Ovid. He is not satisfied with pre- 
 senting to the pilgrims the example of Abraham, but points out to them 
 all the kings and captains of profane antiquity. Peter of Blois does not 
 spare, in his discourse, the princes and nobles who compelled the clergy 
 to pay tribute towards the expenses of the holy war.
 
 HISTOET or THE CKUSADES. 443 
 
 sea ; lie wto struck T\'itli the sword, had his hand cut off ; 
 he who abused another, gave to the person he had offended 
 as many ounces of silver as he had uttered invectives ; when 
 a man was convicted of theft, boiling pitch was poiu-ed upon 
 his shaven head, it was then covered with feathers, and he 
 was abandoned on the nearest shore ; a muixlerer, bound to 
 the corpse of his victim, was to be cast into the sea, or buried 
 alive. 
 
 As the presence of women had occasioned many disorders 
 in the first crusade, they were forbidden to go to the Holy 
 Land. Gambling M-ith dice, or other games of chance, 
 together with profane swearing or blasphemy, were strictly 
 Ibrbidden among the Crusaders ; and luxury of the table or 
 in clothes was repressed by a law. The assembly of ISTonan- 
 court made many other regulations, and neglected nothing 
 likely to bring back the soldiers of Christ to the simplicity 
 and wtues of the Gospel. 
 
 Whenever princes, nobles, or knights set out for the holy 
 war, they made their wills, as if they were certain never to 
 return to Europe. AVhen Philip came back to his capital, 
 he declared his last will, and regulated, for the period of his 
 absence, the administration of his kingdom, which he con- 
 fided to Queen Adela, his mother, and his uncle, the Cardinal 
 de Champagne. After having fulfilled the duties of a king, 
 he laid down the sceptre, to take, at St. Denis, the staff and 
 scrip of a pilgrim,, and went to Yezelay, where he was to 
 have another interview with Eichard. The two kings again 
 swore an eternal friendship, and both called down the 
 thunders of the Church upon the head of him who should 
 break his oaths. They separated full of friendship for each 
 other ; Eichard hastened to embark at Marseilles, and Philip 
 at Genoa. An English historian remarks that thev were 
 the only kings of Prance and England that ever fought 
 together for the same cause ; but this harmony, the work of 
 extraordinary circumstances, was not likely to exist long 
 between two princes acted upon by so many motives of 
 rivalry. Both young, ardent, brave, and magnificent; Philip 
 the greater king, Eichard the greater captain; both animated 
 by the same ambition and the same passion for glory. 
 Desire for renown, much more than piety, drew them to 
 the Holy Land : both haughty and prompt to revenge an in-
 
 444 HISTORY OF THE CBUSADES. 
 
 JLirv', they acknowledged, in their various differences, no other 
 arbitrator or judge but the sword : rehgion had not sufficient 
 empire over their minds to humble their pride, and each 
 would have thou2:ht himself des^raded, if he had either de- 
 manded or accepted peace. To ascertain, at a glance, how 
 little hope could be founded on the union of these two 
 princes, it is only necessary to observe, that Philip, on 
 ascending his throne, had shown himself to be the most 
 inveterate enemy of England, and that Eichard was the son 
 of that Eleanor of Guienne, the first wife of Louis YII., 
 Avho, after the second crusade, had quitted her husband, 
 threatening Erance with her revenge. 
 
 After the conference of Grisors, the archbishop of Tyre 
 repaired to Germany, to solicit Frederick Barbarossa to take 
 the cross. This prince had signalized his valour in forty 
 battles ; a long and fortunate reign had rendered his name 
 illustrious ; but his age recognised no glory as true but that 
 which was won in Asia. He wished to deserve the praises 
 of his pious contemporaries, and took up arms for the 
 deliverance of the Holy Land ; he was, likewise, doubtless 
 influenced by the scruples which his quarrels with the pope 
 had left upon his conscience, and by his desire to perfect 
 liis reconciliation with the Holy See. 
 
 A oreneral diet was assembled at Mavence. The nobles 
 and prelates would not allow Germany to remain indifferent 
 to a cause which had inflamed the zeal of the other nations 
 of Eui'ope. Frederick, whose devotion they encom*aged, 
 descended from his throne, amidst general acclamations, and 
 received the sign of the Crusaders from the hands of the 
 archbishop of Tyre. His example was followed by his son, 
 Frederick duke of Swabia ; Leopold duke of Austria, and 
 Berthold duke of Moravia ; Herman, marquis of Baden, the 
 count of Nassau, the bishops of Besan9on, Munster, Osna- 
 burg, and Passau, with a crowd of barons and knights, like- 
 "wise swore to deliver the tomb of Christ. 
 
 The war against the infidels was preached in all the 
 churches. Happy, said the sacred orators, are they who 
 undertake this holy voyage ; more happy are they who never 
 return from it. Among the prodigies that appeared to 
 announce the will of Heaven, the miraculous vision of a 
 virgin of Lewenstein, is particularly mentioned. She had
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 445 
 
 learnt the conquest of Jerusalem on the very day that the 
 Saracens had entered the lioly city, and rejoiced at this 
 lamentable event, saying tliat it would furnish a means of 
 salvation for the warriors of the AVest.* 
 
 The multitude of those who presented themselves to re- 
 ceive the cross was so great, that means were obliged to be 
 taken to repress their ardour. Prederick, who had followed 
 liis uncle Conrad in the second crusade, was aware of the 
 disorders and misfortunes that might result from too great 
 a number of followers. He refused to receive under his 
 banners any who coidd not take with them three marks of 
 silver ; and rejected all such vagabonds and adventurers as 
 had, in the other expeditious, committed so many excesses, 
 and dislionoured the cause of the Christians by their 
 brigandage. 
 
 iVedericli, before his departure, sent ambassadors to the 
 emperor of Constantinople, and the sultan of Iconium, to 
 demand freedom of passage through their states ; and wrote 
 to Saladin, to declare war, if he did not restore to the Franks 
 Jerusalem and the other Christian cities that had surrendered 
 to his arms.f The embassy addressed to Saladin, shows the 
 spirit of chivahy in which Frederick entered upon this 
 crusade. That which, without doubt, induced him to 
 address the sultan of Iconium, was an opinion then spread 
 through Europe, that the IMussulman prince had evinced a 
 desire of embracing the Christian religion.;]; Frederick left 
 Eatisbon at the head of an army of a hundred thousand 
 combatants, and crossed Hungary and Bulgaria, as the first 
 Crusaders had done. He arrived in the provinces of the 
 Greek empire before Kichard and Philip had embarked for 
 Palestine. 
 
 Isaac Angelus was then seated on the throne of Constan- 
 tinople ; this prince had only been brave on one single day, 
 and his coiu-age procured him an empire. Andronicus, the 
 
 * Canfipratensis apud Suriimi, die Junii, cap 20. This is likewise 
 related by Besoldo, De JlegiOvs Hyerosolimitanorum, p. 274. 
 
 t Tiie letter written by Frederick to Saladin, and the answer of Saladin 
 to Frederick, have been preserved by Baronius and Matthew Paris. 
 
 X In the w.orks of Peter of Blois is a letter which Alexander III. wrote 
 to the sultan of Iconium, giving him counsels to direct him in his con- 
 rersion. The same letter is in many other collections.
 
 446 HISTORY or the crusades. 
 
 IseTO of the Greeks, having been warned by soothsayers 
 that he would be dethroned by one of his subjects, who bore 
 the name of Isaac, desired to get rid of Isaac Angelus, and 
 sent one of his officers to conduct him to prison. Isaac, 
 animated by despair, instead of obeying, threw himself upon 
 tlie minister of Andronicus, struck liim to the earth, and 
 running into the pubhc streets, cried out : " J have killed 
 the devil! I have killed the devil!'' Upon the report of 
 this event spreading through the city, the people assembled 
 in crowds and proclaimed Isaac emperor. In vain Andronicus 
 endeavoured to quiet the storm ; he was seized by his ovntl 
 soldiers, and loaded with chains. Dragged through the 
 streets by an infuriated multitude, he underwent in one day 
 more torments than he had inflicted upon his enemies during 
 all his reign, and Constantinople beheld a populace a hun- 
 dred times more barbarous than all her tyrants. 
 
 It was amidst these bloody and disgusting scenes that 
 Isaac was clothed with the imperial purple. He did not 
 possess the savage character of Andronicus, but he was 
 entirely incapable of defending the empire against its ene- 
 mies. Instead of raising armies, he gathered together in 
 his palace a troop of monks, who kept up his sense of secu- 
 rity by their prayers, and turned his attention from the 
 cares and duties of state by their visions and prophecies. 
 The mutual hatred of the Greeks and Latins had increased 
 under his reign and that of Andronicus. The Latins who 
 inhabited Constantinople were driven from the city, their 
 houses were given up to the flames, and a great number of 
 them were put to death. They who escaped the carnage 
 took refuge in the vessels and galleys, and made sanguinary 
 reprisals on the islands and shores of the Hellespont, The 
 monks who surrounded Isaac partook of the blind hatred % 
 
 entertained by the people for the Christians of the AYest, 
 and dreaded their vensreance. Thev adnsed the successor 
 of Andronicus to mistrust the emperor of Germany, and to 
 betm}' him if he could not conquer him. 
 
 Faithful to their counsels, Isaac promised to entertaru the 
 Germans in his states, and at the same time formed an 
 alliance ^^-ith Saladin. He sent orders to liis governors to 
 harass the Crusaders, and even to attack them by open force. 
 These imprudent hostilities exposed the weakness of the
 
 HISTOET OF THE CHUSAEES. 447 
 
 Greeks, and were of service to the Germans ; for Frederick, 
 after having put the troops of Isaac to flight, took every 
 advantage of his victory. Isaac, constantly intoxicated by 
 the incense of his courtiers, and seduced by the promises of 
 the monks, only replied to the victories of Frederick by 
 letters full of haughtiness and menaces ; he refused to 
 acknowledge him as emperor, and could see nothing but a 
 vassal in a prince Avho was marching in triumph towards his 
 capital. Whilst his subjects were from ail parts Hying before 
 the Germans, he gave himself in his letters the titles of onost 
 suhlime, most powerful emperor, the angel of the ivhole earth ; 
 and caused the ambassadors of Frederick to be imprisoned. 
 The patriarch of Constantinople preached, by his orders, in 
 the church of St. Sophia, the mm-der of the Latins. 
 
 Nevertheless, terror at length took possession of the heart 
 of Isaac, and from that moment this prince altered the tone 
 of his language, and became the most humble of suppKants. 
 Frederick was now for him, the most virtuous emperor of the 
 Germans, and he voluntarily granted him much more than 
 he had before refused him. After having required hostages, 
 he himself gave them, and fed during several months an 
 army he had sworn to destroy. He endured without a 
 murmur the violences which the Crusaders committed in 
 their passage,- and treated an army that laid waste his pro- 
 vinces as if they had saved his empire. The emperor of 
 Germany received magnificent presents, and all the vessels 
 of the Greek navy were employed in transporting the 
 Crusaders into Asia. 
 
 The Germans embarked at GaUipoli, and crossed the 
 Hellespont. The sight, of the coasts of Asia, and the easy 
 victories they had obtained over the Greeks, made them 
 forget the obstacles and dangers of a long and painful 
 march. They saw nothing in the regions they were about 
 to traverse but laurels to be gathered and kingdoms to be 
 destroyed or founded ; but it was not long ere this brilliant 
 prospect disappeared. "Whilst they remained in the terri- 
 tories of Isaac, they had to suffer from the perfidy of the 
 Greeks ; and when they arrived among the Turks, they had 
 fresh enemies to contend with. The sultan of Iconium, who 
 had been as liberal of his promises as the emperor of Con- 
 stantinople, did not prove at aU more faithful to his word.
 
 448 UISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 "\\"hen the Germans arrived on the banks of the Meander, 
 near Laodicea, they found the Turks dra-wTi up in order of 
 battle upon the heights, and ready to surprise them in the 
 defiles : the latter vrere, however, punished for the treachery 
 of their master, and cut to pieces ; theii* bodies covered the 
 passages they had been charged to defend. 
 
 The Crusaders, ever persuaded that Heaven protected 
 their arms, attributed this victory to miracles. Several 
 knights declared, upon oath, that they had seen St. George 
 and St. Victor,* clothed in white, and armed with lances, 
 fighting at the head of the Christians ; but the celestial 
 powers that had thus enabled the Germans to triumph over 
 the arms of their enemies, did not destroy the obstacles 
 which impeded the march of their victorious army. The 
 Crusaders soon felt the want of provisions in a country 
 ravaged at the same time by the conquerors and the con- 
 quered. Snow, raiai, and the rigours of winter rendered 
 their march exceedingly painful through a mountainous 
 region, intersected by torrents that had overflowed their 
 banks. Hunger and disease destroyed a great number of 
 the soldiers. To remedy the evils which threatened his 
 army with entire ruin, Frederick was obliged to attack 
 Iconium, the very capital in which he had expected to find 
 peace and all the provisions he stood in need of. 
 
 At the first signal the ramparts were scaled ; Iconium 
 was taken by assault, and given up to pillage. The beaten 
 sultan then fulfilled his promises, and this last victory 
 restored abundance in the Christian armv. 
 
 From this time t!ie Germans spread teiTor in every 
 countrv around them. The Armenians solicited their 
 alliance, and the independent tribes of the Turcomans, on 
 several occasions, felt the eflects of their courage. During 
 their triumphal march they attracted the admiration of. the 
 natives by their discipline ; and the emirs, charged with 
 announcing their arrival to Saladin, praised their indomi- 
 table valour in fight, and their heroic patience in the labours 
 and fatigues of war. 
 
 The leader of this formidable army had conquered several 
 
 * The monk Pant, who was himself a Crusader, and Crasius, both 
 attest this miracle.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 449 
 
 nations, and dictated laws to two empires, without having 
 yet done anything towards the aim of liis enterprise. After 
 having crossed Mount Taurus, near Laureuda, he had 
 resumed his march towards Syria at the beginning of 
 spring, and was proceeding along the banks of the river 
 Selef.* Attracted by the freshness and limpidity of the 
 waters, he wished to bathe ; but, seized all at once by a 
 mortal coldness, he was dragged out insensible, and soon 
 after died, humbly bowing to the will of God, who would 
 not allow him to behold the land he was going to defend. 
 His death was more fatal to his army than the loss of a 
 great battle ; all the Germans wept for a chief who had so 
 often led them to victory, and whose name alone was the 
 terror of the Saracens. The bones of this unfortunate 
 monarch were preserved for the purpose of being buried in 
 that Jerusalem he had sworn to deliver, but in which he 
 could not even obtain a tomb. William, who had been to 
 preach the crusade in Europe, buried the remains of Frede- 
 rick in the city of Tyre, and pronounced the funeral oration 
 of the most powerful monarch of the Christians. 
 
 After the death of Erederick, grief weakened the courage 
 of his soldiers ; some deserted the banners of the crusade, 
 whilst the others listlessly and sadly continued their march 
 under the orders of Frederick, duke of Swabia, who re- 
 
 * Most historians make Frederick perish in the river Cydnus, in which 
 Alexander bathed; but they have confounded the Cydnus with the Selef, 
 according to historians of the time. The Cydnus, which is now called 
 Kara-sou, that is to say, black loater, flows from Antitaurus into Lower 
 Armenia, near ancient Diansea ; it enters Cilicia, pas>es by the city of 
 Tarsus, and falls into the sea two leagues from that city. Selef, a little 
 river, has its source in the mountains of Isauria, and bathes the walls of 
 Seleucia ; the inhabitants commonly call it "the water of Selefke." 
 According to Afmenian historians, it was in this river Frederick Barba- 
 rossa met his death. S. Narses, of Lampron, sent by the Armenians to 
 compliment the emperor of Germany, says that that prince, bathing in the 
 river Selef, was carried away by the rapidity of the stream, and that, being 
 weakened by age, he was not able to contend against it, and was drowned. 
 (This precious and authentic information is giver us by M. Cahan de Cer- 
 bied, Armenian professor.) The Arabian historian Omad relates that 
 Frederick Barbarossa was drowned in endeavouring to cross the river on 
 horseback ; the force of the stream carried him towards a tree, against 
 which he struck his liead. He was dragged out of the water, adds Omad, 
 and his soul being ready to quit his body, the angel of death took pos- 
 session of it, and carried it to hell.
 
 450 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 minded them of the yiii:ues of his father, but was unable 
 to lead them to A-ictorv. The contests they still had to 
 maintain against the Saracens, together with hunger, fatigue, 
 and disease, reduced the armj of the Germans to six or 
 seven hundred horse, and about five thousand foot. This 
 miserable wreck of a formidable army crossed Syria; and 
 the report of their disasters having preceded them, their 
 arrival must have created more terror than confidence 
 among the Christians, who were then carrying on the siege 
 of Ptolemais.
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 A.D. 1188—1192. 
 
 Whilst the crusade was being preached in Europe, 
 Saladin was following up the course of his victories. The 
 battle of Tiberias and the taking of Jerusalem had created 
 so general a terror, that the inhabitants of the Holy Land 
 were persuaded it was useless to endeavour to resist the 
 army of the Saracens. Amid this consternation, one city 
 alone defied and checked all the united forces of the new 
 conqueror of the East. Saladin was exceedingly anxious 
 for the conquest of Tyre, and had twice collected both his 
 fleets and his armies to attack it. But the inhabitants had 
 sworn to die rather than surrender to the Mussulmans ; 
 which noble determination was the work of Conrad, who 
 had recently arrived in the city, and appeared to have been 
 sent by Heaven to save it. 
 
 Conrad, son of the marquis of Montferrat, bore a name 
 renowned throughout the West, and the fame of his 
 exploits had preceded him into Asia. In his earliest 
 youth he had distinguished himself in the war of the Holy 
 See against the emperor of G^erman3^ A. passion for glory 
 and a love of adventure then led him to Constantinople, 
 where he suppressed a sedition which threatened the imperial 
 throne, and killed the leader of the rebels on the field of 
 battle. The sister of Isaac Angelus and the title of Caesar 
 were the reward of his courage and his services ; but his 
 restless character would not allow him to enjoy his good 
 fortune long. Whilst surrounded by peaceful grandeur, he 
 was roused by the fame of the holy war, and, heedless of the 
 tenderness of a bride, or the gratitude of an emperor, he 
 hastened into Palestine. Conrad reached the coast of 
 Phoenicia a few days after the battle of Tiberias. At the 
 moment of his arrival, the city of Tyre had named deputies 
 
 Vol. T.— 21
 
 452 HISTORY or tue crusades. 
 
 to demand a capitulation of Saladin ; but his presence 
 revived the courage of the besieged, and changed the face 
 of everything. He caused himself to be made commander, 
 he widened the ditches, and repaired the fortifications ; and 
 the inhabitants of Tvre, attacked by t^ea and land, becoming 
 all at once invincible warriors under his orders, were able to 
 contend with the fleets and armies of the Saracens. 
 
 The old marquis of Montlerrat, the father of Conrad, who 
 had left his peaceful states to visit the Holj Land, was 
 present at the battle of Tiberias. Made prisoner by the 
 Mussulmans, he languished in the prisons of Damascus, 
 until his children might be able to deliver him or purchase 
 his liberty. 
 
 ISaladin sent for him to his army, and promised the brave 
 Conrad to restore his father, and grant him rich possessions 
 in Syria, if he woidd open the gates of Tyre to him. fie 
 threatened at the same time to place the old marquis before the 
 front rank of the Saracens, and expose him to all the ai-rov. s 
 of the besieged. Conrad haughtily replied that he despised 
 the gifts of infidels, and that the life of his father was k^s 
 dear to him than the cause of the Christians. He added 
 that nothing shoidd stop his exertions, and that if th.e 
 Saracens were so barbarous as to sacrifice an old man w Ijo 
 had surrendered himself tipon the word of Saladin, he should 
 take glory from being descended from a martyr. After thi,s 
 reply the Saracens renewed their attacks, and the Tyrians 
 continued to defend themselves bravely. The Hospitallers, 
 the Templars, and the bravest of the warriors that were still 
 in Palestine, repaired to Tyre to take part in this glorious 
 defence. Among the Franks who distinguished themselves 
 by their valour, no one was more remarkable than a Spanish 
 gentleman, known in history by the name of Tlw Green 
 Kniglit. Alone, say the old chronicles, he repulsed and 
 dispersed whole battalions of the enemy ; he fought several 
 times in single combat, always overcoming the most intrepid 
 of the Mussulmans, and creating in Saladin the strongest 
 admiration for his courage and his feats of aiTQs. 
 
 The city did not contain a single citizen that was not an 
 active combatant ; the children even were so many soldiers, 
 and the women animated the warriors by their presence and 
 theii' applause. On board the ships, tmder the walls, battles
 
 HISTOE,!' OF THE CRUSADE3. 453 
 
 vvere contiuuallj fouglit ; and tbe Saracens, on all occasions, 
 asrain met witli the Christian heroes that had so often 
 inspired them with fear. 
 
 kSaladin, despairing of taking Tyre, resolved to raise the 
 siege, and attack Tripoli ; but was not more successful in 
 this new enterprise. AVilliam, king of Sicily, upon being 
 informed of the disasters in Palestine, sent assistance to 
 tlie Ohristians. Admiral Margarit, whose talents and vic- 
 tories liad procured for him the surname of King of the Sea 
 and the Kew Neptune^ arrived on the coast of Syria with 
 fifty galleys, three hundred knights, and five hundred foot- 
 soldiers. The Sicilian warriors hastened to the defence of 
 Tripoli, and, commanded by the Green Knight, who had so 
 eminently distinguished himself at the siege of Tyre, forced 
 Saladin to abandon his undertaking. 
 
 The city and country of Tripoli, since the death of Eay- 
 inond, had belonged to Bohemond, prince of Antioch. 
 Saladin, exasperated by his double disappoiutment, laid 
 waste the banks of the Orontes, and forced Bohemond to 
 purchase a truce of eight months. The ]Mussulraans then 
 took possession of Tortosa and some castles built on the 
 heights of Libanus. The fortress of Carac, from which had 
 issued the war so fatal to the Christians, defended itself 
 during a whole year against a Mussulman army. The be- 
 sieged, destitute of all succour, and a prey to every kind of 
 evil and privation, carried resignation and bravery to perfect 
 heroism. " Before they would surrender," says the conti- 
 nuator of AVilliam of Tvre, " thev sold their wives and 
 children to the Saracens, and there remained not an animal 
 in the castle of which they could make food." They were 
 at length, however, forc3d to yield to Saladin ; tiie sidtan 
 granting them their lives and their liberty, and restoring to 
 them their wives and children, vrhom a barbarous heroism 
 had condemned to slavery. 
 
 Throughout his conqui-sts, Saladin still kept Gruy de Lu- 
 si«rnan in chains : but when he became master of Carac and 
 the greater part of Palestine, he at lengtli set the unfortunate 
 king of Jerusalem free, after having made him swear upon 
 the Grospel to renounce his kingdom for ever, and to return 
 to Europe. This promise, extorted by force, could not be 
 regarded as binding in a war in which fanaticism set at
 
 454! HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 nouglit the power of an oath, on the one side or the other. 
 Saladin himself never entertained an idea that Guy would 
 keep his word ; and if he consented to liberate him, it was 
 doubtless from the fear that a more able prince would be 
 chosen in his place, and from the hope that his presence 
 would bring discord among the Christians. 
 
 Guy was scarcely released from captivity, when he made 
 his bishops annul the oath he had taken, and sought ear- 
 nestly for an opportunity of reconstructing a throne upon 
 which fortune had for a moment placed him. He presented 
 himself in vain before Tyre ; that city had given itself up to 
 Conrad, and would not ackiiowledge as king a prince who 
 had not been able to defend his own states. The king of 
 Jerusalem wandered for a long time about his own kingdom, 
 accompanied by a few faithful attendants, and at length 
 resolved to undertake some enterprise that should draw 
 attention, and unite under his banners the warriors who 
 flocked from all parts of Europe to the assistance of the 
 Holy Land. 
 
 Guy laid siege to Ptolemais, which had surrendered to 
 Saladin a few days after the battle of Tiberias. This city, 
 which historians call by turns Acca, Accon, and Acre, was 
 built at the western extremity of a vast plain. The Medi- 
 terranean bathed its walls ; it attracted, by the commodious- 
 ness of its port, the navigators of Europe and Asia, and 
 deserved to reign over the seas with the city of Tyre, which 
 was situated not far from it. Deep ditches surrounded the 
 walls on the land side ; and, at equal distances, formidable 
 towers had been built, among which was conspicuous The 
 Cursed Tower, which dominated over the city and the plain. 
 A dyke, built of stone, closed the part towards the south, 
 terminated by a fortress, erected upon an isolated rock in 
 the midst of the waves. 
 
 The plain of Ptolema'is is boimded on the north by Mount 
 Saron, which the Latins called Scala Tyrorum, — the ladders of 
 the T^-rians ; on the east by the mountains of Galilee ; and 
 on the south by Mount Carmel, which stretches into the 
 sea. The plain is intersected towards the city by two hills, 
 — the Turon, or the Mountain of the Worshipper, and the 
 Mahameria, or the Hill of the Prophet. Several rivers or 
 torrents descend from Mount Saron or from the mountains
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 455 
 
 of Gralilee, and flow impetuously into the sea at a short 
 distance from Ptolemais. The most considerable of these 
 torrents is the Belus, which discharges itself to the south of 
 the city. In the rainy season it overflows its banks, and 
 forms around it marshes covered with rushes and reeds. The 
 other torrents, whose beds in summer present nothing but 
 an arid sand, overflow in winter like the Belus. Duriuo- 
 several months of the year a great part of the plain of 
 Ptolemais is imder water ; and when summer comes to dry 
 the long-flooded fields, the exhalations corrupt the air and 
 spread around the germs of epidemic diseases. 
 
 T^evertheless, the plains of Ptolemais were fertile and 
 smiling : groves and gardens covered the country near the 
 city ; some villages arose on the declivities of the mountains, 
 and houses of pleasure dotted the hills. Religious and 
 profane traditions had bestowed names upon several spots in 
 the neighbourhood. A little hill reminded travellers of the 
 tomb of Memnon ; and upon Mount Carmel was pointed out 
 the retreat of Eli and Pythagoras, Such were the places 
 that were soon to become the theatre of a sanguinary war, 
 and see assembled and fighting the armies of Europe and 
 Asia. 
 
 Guy de Lusignan had but nine thousand men when he 
 laid siege to Ptolemais ; but the whole West was preparing 
 to fly to the defence of the Holy Land. The army of the 
 Christians soon became of sufiicient magnitude to excite 
 serious alarm among the Saracens. Erench, English, and 
 Elemish warriors preceded Philip and E-ichard, luider the 
 command of Jacques d' Avesnes, one of the greatest captains 
 of his time, and the bishop of Beauvais, brother to the count 
 of Dreux. The Grenoese, the Venetians, and the Pisans, 
 with the greater part of the Crusaders from the provinces of 
 Italy, arrived in Palestine under the orders of the arch- 
 bishops of Pisa and Eavenna. The cries of alarm of the 
 Christians of the East had resounded even to the north of 
 Europe, where young warriors had taken up arms to combat 
 the infidels. All the nations of the West furnished Jerusalem 
 with defenders, and eighty thousand Crusaders attacked the 
 ramparts of Ptolemais, whilst the powerful monarchs who 
 had placed themselves at the head of the crusade, were still 
 engaged in preparations for their departure.
 
 456 HISTOET OF THE CEU3ADES. 
 
 vSaladiii, who had at first despised the Christians, now 
 thought it prudent to gather his powers together to oppose 
 tliem. After assemhhng his army at Damascus, he crossed 
 Anti-Libanus, and the mountains of GaUlee, and encamped 
 at a short distance from Ptolemais. He pitched his tents 
 and pavilions at the extremity of the plain, on the mountains 
 of Casan, from whence he could overlook all the sea-coast. 
 On one side his army extended from the river Belus, and on 
 the other as far as Jiahumeria, or the Sill of the ATosqiie. 
 The sultan occupied all the elevated posts, and all the 
 passages by which the Christians could pass out from the 
 spot upon which they were encamped. Thus the besiegers 
 were besieged, and the army before the walls of the city saw 
 the banners of the Mussulmans floating around it. 
 
 The Christians made their intrenchments, dug wide 
 ditches,* and raised towers at proper distances around their 
 camp, in order to repulse the attacks of Saladin or the gar- 
 rison of Ptolemais. The Mussulman army had scarcely 
 pitched its tents when it presented itself in battle array 
 before tlie trenches of the Crusaders, and fought with them 
 several combats, in which victory was doubtful. In one of 
 these conflicts the sultan penetrated to the city, and after 
 haA^ing ascertained from the top of the towers the position of 
 the Crusaders, he joined the garrison in a sortie, and sur- 
 prised, and drove them into their camp. By entering into 
 Ptolemais, Saladin revived the courage of the inhabitants 
 and troops ; he arranged measures necessary for the providing 
 of supplies, he left them some of his chosen warriors, and 
 gave them for leaders the most intrepid of his emirs, 
 ^Uelchou, the faithful companion of his victories, and 
 Karacoush,t whose capacity and bravery had been often 
 
 * The chronicle entitled Historia Hierosolymitana relates all th;xt 
 passed in the kingdom of Jerusalem from 1177 to the siege of Ptoleniciis 
 inclusively. The Chronicle of the Holy Land, the two continviators of 
 William of Tyre, Florent and the bishop of Ptolemais, give some parti- 
 culars of the siege, but much less than the Arabian historian>, to whom 
 we shall often have recourse. 
 
 t Karacoush was the first minister of Saladin in Egvpt. It was he 
 who caused the well of Joseph to be dug, built the citadel, and began the 
 inclosure of Cairo. Karacoush was short and hump-backed. His name 
 is employed now in Egypt for a sort of Punchinello, who amuses the 
 people in the streets, in whose mouth are placed abundance of obscenities.
 
 HISTORY or THE CEUSADES. 457 
 
 tried during the conquest of Egypt. The sultan then 
 returned to his camp, prepared to combat afresh the army of 
 the Crusaders. 
 
 The roads of Galilee were covered with Mussulman 
 soldiers coming from Damascus ; and as Saladin looked 
 daily for the arrival of a fleet I'rom Egypt, which would make 
 him master of the sea, he hoped soon to be able to triumph 
 over the Christians, and deliver Ptolemais. A few days 
 after the victory he had gained, a great number of vessels 
 appeared upon the sea, directing their course towards the 
 land. Both armies Avere filled with hope and joy, the Mus- 
 sulmans believing them to be a fleet from the ports of 
 Damietta and Alexandria, whilst the Crusaders confidently 
 hoped them to be a Christian armament coming to their 
 aid. The standard of the cross was soon seen floating from 
 the masts of the vessels, which, whilst it excited the liveliest 
 joy in the Christians, equally depressed the Mussulmans. 
 Two fleets from western ports entered the Bead of Ptolemais. 
 The first bore the German Crusaders, commanded by the 
 duke of Gueldres and the landgrave of Thuringia, and the 
 other the warriors of Eriesland and Denmark, who, after 
 having fought the Saracens in Spain, came to defend the 
 kingdom of Jerusalem. Conrad, marquis of Tyre, could not 
 I'emain idle while this war was going on ; he armed vessels, 
 raised troops, and united his forces with those of the 
 Christian army. 
 
 The arrival of the new reinforcements restored the ardour 
 of the Crusaders. The Christian knights, according to an 
 Arabian historian,* covered wdth their long cuirasses of steel, 
 looked, from a distance, like serpents spread over the plain; 
 when they flew to arms, they resembled birds of prey, and 
 in the melee, they were as indomitable lions. In a council, 
 several emirs proposed to Saladin to retire before an enemy 
 as numerous, they said, as the sands of the sea, more \T.olent 
 than tempests, and more impetuous than torrents. 
 
 The Christians, encoiu*aged by the reinforcements that 
 
 * The Arabian historians Chehabeddin, the author of the Roudatains, 
 Omad of Ispahan, and Bohaddin, give many more particulars of the 
 siege of Ptolemais than the Latin historians. These three Mussulmaa 
 historians ace >inpanied Saladin in all his expeditions.
 
 458 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 continued to arrive daily, resolved to attack Saladin, and 
 drive him beyond the mountains. They marched out from 
 their intrenchments, and di'ew up in order of battle. Their 
 army extended from the moutli of the Belus to the hill of 
 Turon. The Crusaders, full of zeal and ardour, were com- 
 manded by many illustrious captains, among vrhom the 
 grand master of the Templars, the marquis of Tyre, the 
 counts of Blois, Bar, and Clermont, ^^■ith de Brioude, and 
 Guy and Gauche de Chatillon, were conspicuous. The 
 clerg)' even appeared in arms ; the archbishops of Eavenna, 
 Pisa, Canterbiu*y, Besancon, Nazareth, and Montreal; the 
 bishops of Beauvais, Salisbury, Cambrai, Ptolemais, and 
 Bethlehem, assumed the helmet and cuii'ass, and led warriors 
 on to battle. The Christian army presented so redoubtable 
 an aspect, and appeared so full of confidence, that a Chris- 
 tian knight cried out, in the height of his enthusiasm: 
 " Let God remain neuter, and the victory is ours /" 
 
 The king of Jerusalem, who caused the book of the 
 Evangelists to be borne before him, wrapped in a covering of 
 silk, and supported by four knights, commanded the right 
 wing ; he had under his orders the French and the Hos- 
 pitallers ; his lines extended to the Belus. The Venetians, 
 the Lombards, and the Syrians formed the left wing, which 
 was flanked bv the sea, and marched under the banners of 
 Conrad. The centre of the army was occupied by the 
 Germans, the Pisans, and the English, headed by the land- 
 grave of Thuringia. The grand master of the Templars, 
 with his knights, and the duke of Gueldres, with his soldiers, 
 formed the body of reserve ready to hasten wherever danger 
 or the chances of the day might call them. The guardian- 
 ship of the camp was intrusted to Gerard d'Avesnes and 
 Geofirev de Lusio:nan. 
 
 AYhen the Christian army was drawn up on the plain, the 
 Saracens issued from their intrenchments, and prepared to 
 sustain the shock of the Crusaders. Saladin placed himself 
 vrith. his Mamelukes in the centre : his nephew Teki-eddin 
 Omar, one of his most skilful lieutenants, commanded the 
 right wing, which extended to the sea at the north-east of 
 Ptolemais ; the princes of Mossoui and Sandjar commanded 
 the left wing, bearing upon the river Belus. By this dis- 
 position, Saladin inclosed the Christians between the river
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 459 
 
 Belus and the sea, and left tliem no means of retreat if for- 
 tune should favour his arms. 
 
 The archers and cavalry of the Christians commenced the 
 conflict. At the first clmrge they broke the right "vving of 
 the Mussulmans, commanded by the nephew of Saladin. 
 The cavalry and infantry of the marquis of Tyre advanced 
 upon the field of battle, the Saracens giving way before 
 them as they proceeded. Pursuing the enemy, who fled in 
 disorder, the Christians ascended the hill of the Mosque, 
 and planted theii' standards in the camp of the infidels. The 
 count of Bar even penetrated to the tent of the sultan, 
 which was given up to pillage. An Arabian historian,* who 
 followed the army, says of himself, that upon beholding the 
 rout of the Mussulmans, he took to flight, and did not stop 
 till he came to Tiberias. The terror was so great, that 
 several Saracens fled as far as Damascus. Saladin remained 
 almost alone upon the field of battle, and was several times 
 in great danger.f 
 
 Followed by a few of his faithful IMamelukes, he en- 
 deavoured to rally his scattered forces, and at length suc- 
 ceeded in reviving their courage. No sooner had he the 
 means of support, than he returned to the fight with cha- 
 racteristic energy, rushing down upon the Christians, whom 
 he surprised in all the disorder of victory. The Mussulman 
 cavalry now charged in their turn, and dispersed the cavalry 
 of the Franks. The different bodies of the Christian army- 
 became soon separated from one another, and in vain en- 
 deavoured to rally in their flight. The grand master of the 
 Templars then advanced with the reserve, to support the 
 
 * This (lay I was among the holy men, and I was upon the hill with 
 them, looking at the tight, and watching for what would happen to the 
 enemy. We had no idea that the battle would reach us ; but when the 
 enemy became mingled with us, we mounted on our mules, without any 
 warlike equipments, and seeing that all the army had turned their backs, 
 we fled away. We reached Tiberias, with others who had taken the same 
 road. Every one of us had forgotten to either eat or drink. Other 
 fugitives went as far as Damascus without stopping on their way, con- 
 stantly pursued by fear. — Chehaheddin. 
 
 t The author of the Roudatains says that one thousand Mussulman 
 horsemen were all that maintained and recovered the battle. Saladin, 
 adds the same author, remained alone upon the field, and angels defended 
 him. 
 
 21*
 
 460 liisTony of the ceusades. 
 
 troops that fled, but lie met tlie ^lussulman cavalry in full 
 career, that crushed evervthing in their passage. The re- 
 sen-e was broken at the first shock ; they returned several 
 times to the charge, but ^vithout being able tp stand against 
 the impetuosity of the Saracen horsemen. On all sides, 
 victory was escaping from the hands of the Crusaders, 
 terror pervaded the whole Christian army, and disorder and 
 confusion reisrued everywhere. TThilst the left wlug' was 
 put to flight, and the body of reserve was makmg vam 
 efibrts to check the Mussulmans, the right wing and the 
 centre were attacked not only by the princes of Aleppo, 
 Mossoul, and Sandjar, with Teki-eddin Omar, but by tlie 
 garrison of Ptolemais, which issued frora the city in order 
 of battle. 
 
 The Saracens made a most hon-ible slaughter ; every part 
 of the Christian army was broken and put to flight, and 
 ntter destruction threatened them if then* camp should fall 
 into the hands of the enemy. The conquerors proceeded at 
 once to the attack of the iutrenchments, but the height of 
 the walls, the depth of the ditches, and the bravery of 
 Geoflrey de Liisignan and Jacques d'Avesnes,* stopped the 
 Mussubnan cavalry, and preserved the last asylum of the 
 Christian army. 
 
 During the contest, Saladin appears to have been every- 
 where at once : after having re-established the battle in his 
 right wing, he returned to the centre, and thence passed to 
 the left. Ten times he crossed the lines of the Christians, 
 and himself directed every charsre of his cavalry. The battle 
 lasted duriug the whole day ; in the evening, still many 
 combats were kept np around the camp of the Christians, 
 and night aloue brought repose to the two annies. As the 
 Mussulmans and Christians had by turns been victors, the 
 loss was equal on both sides. The Crusaders had to deplore 
 the death of several of their leaders ; the grand master of 
 the Templars, covered with wounds, was made prisoner on 
 the field of battle, and led to the camp of the infidels. The 
 emirs reproached him with ha\'ing taken up arms against 
 Saladin, who had generously broken his chains after the 
 
 * Our author before mentions Gerard d'Avesnes as left in charge of 
 the camp ; but T am not sufficiently certain there were not two of tha 
 name to alter the text. — Trans.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 461 
 
 battle of Tiberias. He replied with haughty firmness, and 
 received the palm of martyrdom. Andre de Brienne \Yas 
 cast from his horse whilst' endeavouring to rally the Cru- 
 saders He in vain implored assistance of his compamons, 
 whom fear rendered deaf to pity, and Erard de Brienne, 
 whilst precipitating his flight, trampled under his horse s 
 feet his brother, expiring on the field of battle. 
 
 The Latin historians attribute the defeat of the Crusaders 
 to an unexpected accident,* which threw the combatants into 
 disorder.t An Arabian horse, which had been taken from 
 the enemy, escaping in the heat of the battle, was pursued by 
 some soMiers, and it was believed they were flying belore 
 the Saracens. All at once a rumour prevailed that the 
 Christian army was conquered and dispersed, and this 
 news redoubled the tumult, and gave birth to general 
 terror. T^Tiole battaUons, seized with a panic, abandoned 
 their triumphant banners, and sought safety m a precipitate 
 
 flight. X -u ^1, 
 
 We only report this singular circumstance to show ttie 
 spirit of the contemporary chronicles. The fate of the battle 
 micrht be much better explained by saying that the Christian 
 soldiers abandoned the fight for the sake of plunder ; and 
 that the greater part of the leaders, less skilful than brave, 
 neither knew how to prevent or repair the reverses to which 
 an undisciplined armv must be exposed. 
 
 In the plain of Ptolemais, trod by two hundred thousand 
 warriors, on the morrow was only to be seen, to employ an 
 Oriental image, birds of prey and wolves attracted by the 
 scent of carnage and death. The Christians did not dare 
 to leave their intrenehments, and victory itself could not 
 reassure Saladin, who had seen his whole army put to flight. 
 The most frightful disorder prevailed m the camp oi the 
 Saracens ; the slaves had pillaged it at the commencement 
 of the battle, and had fled, carrying away the booty that 
 escaped the hands of the Crusaders. Both the emu^s and 
 
 * This accident of a loose horse is related by the anonymous author of 
 the History of Jerusalem {Historia Hierosolymitana). 
 
 t The Arabian historians say that a horse escaped from a vessel, and 
 was pursued ; he threw himself among the Mussulmans, who presented 
 him to Saladin, which was considered an evil presage.— See Chehabeddim, 
 the historian of Saladin.
 
 462 uisTOiir of the ckusades. 
 
 soldiers had lost their baggage ; some pursued the fugitive 
 slaves, whilst others addressed their complaints to Saladin. 
 Amidst such confusion and tumult, it was impossible for 
 the sultan to follow up the advantage he had gained,, and as 
 winter was approaching, and the Mussulmans were short of 
 provisions, he abandoned the plain, and retned to the moun- 
 tain Karouba. 
 
 The Christians, who now remained masters of the plain, 
 extended their lines over the whole chain of hills that sur- 
 rounded the city of Ptolemais ; the marquis of Montferrat, 
 with his troops, the Venetians, the Pisans, and the Crusaders 
 commanded by the archbishop of Eavenna and the bishop of 
 Pisa, encamped towards the north, and occupied ground 
 from the sea to the road to Damascus. Xear the camp of 
 Conrad, the Hospitallers pitched their tents, in a valley 
 which had belonged to them before the taking of Ptolemais 
 by the Saracens. The Genoese occupied the hill which con- 
 temporary historians call Mount IMusard. The French and 
 English, who were in front of the Cursed Tower, were placed 
 in the centre, imder the orders of the counts of Dreux, 
 Blois, and Clermont, and the archbishops of Besan9on and 
 Canterbury. Close to the camp of the French floated the 
 banners of the Flemings, commanded by the bishop of Cam- 
 brai, and Pavmond II., viscount de Turenne. 
 
 Gruy de Lusignan encamped with his soldiers and knights 
 upon the hill of Turon, which part of the camp served as 
 citadel and head-quarters to the whole army. The king of 
 Jerusalem had with him the queen Sibylla, his two brothers 
 G-eoffrey and Aimar, Humphrey de Theron, the husband of 
 the second daughter of Amaury, the patriarch Heraclius, 
 and the clergv of the holv city. The viscount de Chatel- 
 lerault, who was of the same country as Guy de Lusignan, 
 ranged himself imder the standard of the king of Jerusalem. 
 The knights of the Temple, and the troop of Jacques 
 d'Avesnes, fixed their quarters between the hill of Turon 
 and the Belus, and guarded the road that led from Ptolemais 
 to Jerusalem. On the south of the Belus stood the tents 
 of the Germans, the Danes, and the Prisons : these northern 
 warriors, commanded by the landgrave of Thuringia and the 
 duke of Gueldi'es, were placed along the shore of the Eoad
 
 HISTORY OF TUE CEUSADES. 463 
 
 of Ptolemais, and protected the disembarkation of the Chris- 
 tians who arrived from Europe by aea. 
 
 Such was the disposition of the Christian anny belore Ptole- 
 niais, and this order was preserved during the whole siege. 
 The Christians dug ditches on the dechvities of the hills whose 
 heights they occupied ; they raised high walls round their 
 quarters, and their camps were so inclosed, says an Arabian 
 historian, that the birds could scarcely find entrance. _ All the 
 torrents which fell from the neighbouring mountains over- 
 flowed their banks, and covered the plain with their waters ; 
 and the Crusaders, having nothing to fear from surprise by the 
 army of Saladin, prosecuted the siege without intermission. 
 Their machines battered the walls night and day, and with 
 each morning their assaults were renewed. The garrison, 
 which opposed them with obstinate bravery, could not much 
 longer defend itself without the aid of the IMussulman army. 
 Every day pigeons bearing letters under their wings, and 
 divers, who threw themselves into the sea, were sent to warn 
 Saladin of the imminent dangers of Ptolemais. 
 
 At the approach of spring, several Mussulman princes of 
 Mesopotamia and Svria came to range themselves and then- 
 troops under the standards of the sultan. Then Saladm 
 quitted the mountain of Karouba, and his army descending 
 towards the plain of Ptolemais, defiled m sight ot the 
 Christians, with colours spread and drums and trumpets 
 sounding. The Crusaders had soon fresh contests to main- 
 tain. The ditches they had dug,, to employ the expression 
 of a Mussulman historian, became their own sepulchres, and 
 were often fiUed with their dead bodies. The hopes they 
 had fondly entertained of getting possession of the city, 
 vanished at the sight of such formidable enemies. They had 
 constructed during the winter three rolling towers, similar 
 to those which Godfrev of Bouillon had erected at the 
 takino- of Jerusalem, these three towers arose above the 
 walls°of Ptolemais, and threatened the city with destruction. 
 Whilst the Crusaders were engaged in repelling the attacks 
 of Saladin, inflamed arrows and pots filled with burning 
 naphtha were hiu4ed on their machines, that were left unpro- 
 tected at the foot of the ramparts. All at once the Chris- 
 tians saw flames arise in the air, and their wooden towers,
 
 464 niSTOEY or the crusades. 
 
 seized upon by au unextinguishable fire, were consumed and 
 reduced to ashes before their eyes, as if they liad been struck 
 by the lightning of heaA'en. So gi'eat was the t€rror spread 
 among the Crusaders by this conflagration, that the land- 
 gi'ave of Thuringia quitted the siege and returned to Europe, 
 belie\'ing that God no longer protected the cause of the 
 Christians. 
 
 Saladin followed up his attacks so incessantly, that he left 
 his enemv no repose. Every time that an assault was 
 attempted on the city, the noise of drums and trumpets 
 resounded from the ramparts to warn the Mussulman troops, 
 who then flew to arms and attacked the camp of the Chns- 
 tians. 
 
 The Eoad of Ptolema'is was often covered with vessels from 
 Eui'ope, and Mussulman vessels from the ports of Egypt and 
 Sp'ia. The latter brought supplies to the city^ and the 
 former to the Christian army. At a distance might be seen 
 masts sui'mounted with the standards of the cross, and 
 others bearing the banners of Mahomet, which seemed to 
 mingle and float together. Several times the Franks and 
 Saracens were spectators of the conflicts between their fleets 
 laden with arms and provisions, that took place near the 
 shore. At the sight of a naval combat the warriors of the 
 cross and of Mahomet struck upon their shields, and 
 announced by their cries their hopes and their fears. Some- 
 times even the two armies were so excited as to attack each 
 other on the plain to assure the victory, or avenge the defeat 
 of those who had fought upon the waves. 
 
 In the battles that took place sometimes on the banks 
 of the Belus, and sometimes under the walls or at the foot 
 of the hills, the Saracens often prepared ambushes, and did 
 nqt disdain to have recourse to all the stratagems of war. 
 The Christians, on the contrary, placed no confidence in 
 anything but theii* valour and their own good swords. A 
 car. upon which was raised a tower, surmounted by a cross 
 and a white flag, served them as a rallying-point, and 
 was their guiding star in battle. AMien the enemy gave 
 way, the thirst for booty soon made every man quit the 
 ranks ; their chiefs, almost always -u-ithout authority in the 
 tumult of battle, became no more than simple soldiers in the 
 meUe, and had nothing to oppose to the enemy but their
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 4)65 
 
 Bword and lance. Saladin, more respected by his troops, 
 commanded a disciplined army, and often profited by the 
 disorder and confusion of the Christians to combat them 
 'with advantage and snatch a victor}-. Every battle began at 
 sunrise, and the Christians were generally conquerors up 
 to the middle of the dav : but when even thev had invaded 
 and partly plundered tbe camp of the Mussulmans, and at 
 evening returned home loaded with booty, they were almost 
 sure to find their o^^m camp had been broken into by the 
 troops of Saladin or the garrison. 
 
 Alter the sultan's descent from the mountain of Karouba, 
 an Egyptian fleet entered the port of Ptolemais. At the 
 same time Saladin welcomed to his camp his brother Malec- 
 Adel, who brought with him troops raised in Egvpt. This 
 double reinforcement revived the courage of the Mussulmans, 
 but they did not long profit by these advantages, and the 
 hope of conquering the Christians began to give way to the 
 most serious alarms. A report was spread throughout the 
 East that t^e emperor of G-ermany had quitted Europe at 
 the head of a numerous army, and was advancing towards 
 Syria. Saladin sent troops to meet such a formidable 
 enemy, and several Mussulman princes quitted the sultan's 
 armv to defend their own states, which were menaced bv the 
 Crusaders coming from the AVest. Ambassadors were sent 
 to the caliph of Bagdad, the princes of Africa and Asia, and 
 to the Mussulman powers of Spain, to engage them to unite 
 their eflbrts against the enemies of Islamism. AMiilst terror 
 thus took possession of the Saracens, the Crusaders conceived 
 fresh hopes, and redoubled their eiforts to gain possession of 
 Ptolemais before the arrival of the Germans. After several 
 contests, they resolved to make one last attempt to drive the 
 Mussulman armv bevond the mountains. Mai'chins: from 
 their camp, they presented themselves in order of battle 
 before the Saracens. The Mussulman historians compare 
 their multitude to that which ^viU assemble at the last dav in 
 the valley of Jehoshaphat. 
 
 At the first signal, the two armies approached, mingled, 
 and soon appeared nothing but one horrible, contending mass. 
 Arrows hissed tlirough the air, lances crossed, and the rapid 
 blows of sabres and swords resounded from the bucklers and 
 steel casques. The Christian knights seemed animated with
 
 466 HISTORY OF THE Cia'SADES. 
 
 an invincible ardoui'. The Templars and Hospitallers carried 
 death wherever they directed their course ; S>Tians and 
 Franks, foot-soldiers and horsemen, contended for the prize 
 of valour, and rushed together to meet peril and find ^'ictorT 
 or death. The ^Mussulman armv could not resist their 
 
 • 
 
 impetuosity', and at the first charge retired in disorder. The 
 plains and hills were covered with Saracen warriors, who fled, 
 throwins: awav their arms. Victory remained with the 
 Chi'istians : but soon the thii^st of bootv led them to abandon 
 their ranks, and the face of the battle was changed. The 
 Mussulmans had time to rally, and returned to surprise the 
 conquerors, who were pillaging the tent and camp of the 
 sultan. All at once the Christians were surrounded on 
 every side ; and havino; laid down their arms in their 
 eagerness for booty, could not defend themselves, but 
 were seized by a terror like that \s"ith which they had 
 inspired their enemies. The Mussulmans, irritated by their 
 defeat, immolated to their vengeance every Christian that 
 fell in their way. Such of the Crusaders a§ were most 
 gi'eedy of plimder, lost their lives, together with the spoils 
 vrith which thev were loaded, and were slauo;htered without 
 defence in the very tents they had invaded. " The enemies 
 of God," says Bohaheddin, " dared to enter into the camp of 
 the lions of Islamism ; but they experienced the terrible 
 effects of divine ^^Tath. They fell beneath the sword of the 
 Mussulmans as leaves fall in autumn, under the gusts of the 
 tempest. The earth was covered with their bodies, heaped 
 one upon another, like lopped branches which fill the valleys 
 and hills in a forest that has been cut down." Another 
 Arabian historian speaks thus of tliis bloody battle : — '" The 
 Christians ftll under the swords of the conquerors, as the 
 wicked will fall into the abode of fire at the last day. Nine 
 ranks of dead covered the ground between the hill and the 
 sea, and each rank was of a thousand warriors." 
 
 AVhilst the Chrisrians were being conquered and dispersed, 
 the garrison of Ptolema'is made a sortie ; and, penetrating 
 into their camp, carried oft' a great number of women and 
 children that were left xs-ithout defence. The Crusaders, 
 whom night saved from destrucrion, returned to their camp, 
 deploring their double defeat. The sight of their plun- 
 dered tents and the losses they had experienced, qidte de-
 
 niSTORT OF THE CRUSADES. 467 
 
 presseo their courage ; and the death of Frederick Barba- 
 rossa, with the disasters of the German army, of ^Yhich they 
 ^\"ere soon informed, appeared to fill up their cup of wretched- 
 ness. The despair of the leaders was so great that they 
 determined to return to Europe, and, in order to secure their 
 departure, were seeking to obtain a disgraceful peace of 
 Saladin, wlien a fleet arrived in the Eoad of Ptolemais, and 
 landed a great number of Prench, English, and Italians, 
 commanded by Henry, count of Champagne. 
 
 Once more hope was restored to the Crusaders ; the 
 Christians were again masters of the sea, and might, in 
 their turn, make Saladin tremble, who had believed he had 
 nothing more to dread from them. They renewed their 
 attacks upon tlie city with spirit. The count of Cham- 
 pagne, who had restored abundance to the camp, caused to 
 be constructed, at great expense, rams of a prodigious size, 
 with two enormous towers composed of wood, steel, iron, 
 and brass. These machines are said to have cost fifteen 
 hundred pieces of gold. Whilst these formidable auxiliaries 
 menaced the ramparts, the Christians mounted several times 
 to the assault, and were, more than once, on the point of 
 planting the standard of the cross on the walls of the 
 infidels. 
 
 But the besieged contiiuied to repulse them, and the 
 Mussulmans shut up in the city supported the horrors of a 
 long siege with heroic firmness. The emirs Karacoush and 
 Melchoub were unremitting in their endeavours to keep up 
 the courage of their soldiers. Vigilant, present everywhere, 
 sometimes employing force, and as often stratagem, they 
 allowed no opportunity of surprising the Christians to 
 escape, or to render their attacks abortive. The Mussul- 
 mans burnt all the machines of the besiegers, and made 
 several sorties, in which they drove the Christians to the 
 security of their camp. 
 
 The garrison received daily reinforcements and provisions 
 by sea; sometimes barks stole along the shore, and got 
 into Ptolemais under tlie favour of night ; at others, vessels 
 from Berytus, manned by apostate Christians, hoisted the 
 white flag with a red cross, and thus deceived the vigilance 
 of the besiegers. The Crusaders, to prevent all communi- 
 cation by sea, resolved to get possession of the Tower of the
 
 4G8 KISTOEY OE THE CKrSAJ)ZS. 
 
 Spies, wliicli overlooked and dominated tlie port of Ptoie- 
 mais. A vessel, upon which was placed a wooden tower, 
 advanced towards the fort thev wished to attack, whilst a 
 bark tilled with combustible matters, to which fire had been 
 set. was laimched into the port among the ^lussulmau fleet. 
 Evervthing seemed to promise success to this attempt, when, 
 all at once, the wind changed, and drove the blazing fire-ship 
 full upon the wooden tower, which was rapidly consumed by 
 the flames. The duke of Austria, who commanded this 
 perilous expedition, followed by several of the bravest of his 
 warriors, had mounted the tower of the infidels sword in 
 liand ; but at the sight of the conflagration which was 
 devourins: the vessel he came on, he cast himself into the 
 sea, covered with his own blood and that of the Saracens, 
 and 2:ained the shore almost alone. 
 • "Whilst the duke of Austria attacked the tower, the army 
 left their camp to make an assault upon the city. The 
 besiegers performed prodigies of valour without success, and 
 were obliged to return in haste to defend their own tents, 
 underscoing fire and pillage by the army of Saladin. 
 
 It was amidst this double defeat that Frederick, duke of 
 Swabia, arrived under the walls of Ptolemais with five 
 thousand men, the deplorable remains of a numerous army. 
 When the Christians in Syria had heard of the preparations 
 of the Grermans, their invincible powers were the theme of 
 ever\' tonsfue, and the Crusaders before Ptolemais were 
 animated by the most sangidne expectations ; but when 
 they arrived, and related the disasters they had undergone, 
 their presence spread mourning and depression throughout 
 the army. 
 
 Frederick wished to sisTialize his arrival bv an attack 
 upon the Saracens. " The Christians," say the Arabian 
 writers, " issued from their camp like ants swarming to 
 their prey, and covered the valleys and hills." They 
 attacked the advanced post of the Mussulman army, en- 
 camped upon the heights of Aiadhiat, not far from the 
 mountains of Galilee. Saladin, whom a serious illness pre- 
 vented from mounting on horseback, caused himself to be 
 carried to Mount Karouba, from whence he could overlook 
 all that went on, and issue his orders. The Christians 
 renewed their attacks several times without producing any
 
 HISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 469 
 
 effect upon their enemies ; and after having- fought the whole 
 day, they renounced the hope of a triumph, and returned to 
 their camp, \Yhere the famine, which was beginnmg to be 
 severely felt, allowed them nothing wherewith to recruit 
 their exhausted strength. 
 
 Every leader of this multitude of Crusaders was obliged 
 to feed the troops that he commanded, and they at no 
 thne were possessed of more than provisions for one week. 
 "When a Christian fleet arrived, they enjoyed abundance ; but 
 when no vessels appeared for a time, they were destitute of 
 the commonest necessaries of life. As winter approached, 
 and the sea became more stormy, \\ant was necessarily 
 proportionately increased. 
 
 "When the Crusaders made incursions upon neighbouring 
 lands to procure provisions, they fought amidst the ambus- 
 cades of the Saracens. Animated by despair, they several 
 times attacked the enemy in their intrenchments, but were 
 always repulsed. At length famine began to make frightful 
 ravages in the Cliristian army ; a measure of flour, that 
 weighed two hundi'ed and fifty pounds, was sold for ninety- 
 six crowns, a sum so exorbitant that not even princes could 
 pay it. The leaders insisted upon fixing the prices of all 
 provisions brought to the camp ; the venders then hid them 
 in the earth, and the scarcity was increased by the very 
 measures adopted to lessen it.* The Crusaders v/ere obliged 
 to feed upon their horses ; next they devoured leather, 
 harness, and old skins, which were sold for their weight in 
 gold. Many Christians, driven from their camp by famine, 
 took refuge in that of Saladin ; some embraced Islamism to 
 obtain relief in their misery ; whilst others, going on board 
 
 * Florentinus, bishop of Ptolemais, relates, that when the famine began 
 to reign among the besiegers, to put a check upon the greediness of those 
 who sold provisions at too high a price — 
 
 Barones constituunt uno prorsus ore 
 Ut deiitur cibaria precio minore. 
 Sed enornovissimus pejor fit priore 
 Dum non audent vendere coiisueto more. 
 Non enim tiim cibaria inveniuntur 
 Per forum venalia ; sed effodiuntur 
 Paviraenta, domini recluduntur. 
 Sic inops et locuples famem patiuntur.
 
 470 HISTOET or THE CEUSADES. 
 
 ^Mussulman vessels, and braving the perils of the sea, went 
 to pillage the isle of Cyprus and the coasts of S}Tia. 
 
 Durins; the rainy season the waters covered the plains, 
 and the Crusaders remained crowded together on the hills. 
 The carcasses left on the banks of the rivers, or cast into 
 the torrents, exhaled a pestilential odour, and contagious 
 diseases Avere verv soon added to the horrors of famine. 
 The camp was filled with mourning and funeral rites ; from 
 two to three hundred pilgrims were buried daily. Several 
 of the most illustrious leaders found in contasdon the death 
 thev had so often braved in the field of battle. Frederick, 
 duke of Swabia, died in his tent, after haATug escaped aU the 
 perils of war. His unhappy companions in arms gave tears 
 to his memory, and, despairing of the cause of the Chris- 
 tians, for wliich thev had suffered so much, returned to the 
 "\^>st. 
 
 To complete their misfortune, Sibylla, the wife of Gruy de 
 Lusignan, died, with her two children, and her death gave rise 
 to fresh discord. Isabella, second dauo;hter of Amaurv, and 
 sister to Queen Sibylla, was heir to the throne of Jeru- 
 salem ; consequently Humphrey de Thoron, the husband of 
 this princess, immediately asserted her rights. On the 
 other side, Guv de Lusisfuan could not consent to abandon 
 his, and maintained that the character of king was indelible ; 
 no one had the right to deprive him of a crown he had once 
 worn. Amidst these disputes, Conrad, already master of 
 Tvre, was all at once seized ^ith the ambition of reisTiins: 
 over Jerusalem and Palestine ; he succeeded in gaining 
 the love of Isabella, induced the council of bishops to dis- 
 solve the marriage of Humphrey, and, although himself 
 married to the sister of the Emperor Isaac, espoused the 
 sister and heiress of Baldwin, determined to defend with 
 the sword the rights which this new union gave him. 
 
 The Christians, though plunged in such horrible misery, 
 and at the same time coustantlv menaced bv Saladin, were 
 entirely engaged by the pretensions of the two rival princes. 
 Humphrey, who defended his rights very weakly, was in 
 great dread of the threats of Coni-ad, and was wise enough 
 31 't to regret a sceptre which he must win, or a wife who 
 had abandoned him. He renounced all his claims, and 
 would have been happy if liis docility had restored unaui-
 
 HISTORY or TnE CRUSADES. 471 
 
 mity ; but there remained still two kings for an invaded, or 
 rather a nominal kingdom, and the two factions divided the 
 army. Some were touched by the misfortunes of Guy, and 
 declared themselves his partisans; whilst others, admiring 
 the bravery of Conrad, thought the kingdom shoidd fall 
 to him who was most capable of defending it. Guy was 
 reproached with having fostered the power of Saladin ; the 
 marquis of T3're, on the contrary, was praised for having 
 preserved the only two cities that remained in the power of 
 the Franks : he alone, they added, could fiu^nish the Chris- 
 tians with provisions, and put an end to the famine which 
 was consuming them. 
 
 Not one of the Crusaders was ignorant of this quarrel. 
 Dissension spread from the leaders to the soldiers ; they 
 heaped abuse upon each other, and were even ready to cut 
 the throats of their comrades to determine who should 
 possess a broken sceptre and the vain title of king. The 
 bishops at length calmed the fury of these differences, and 
 persuaded therivals to refer the matter to the judgment of 
 Bichard and Philip. 
 
 These two princes, who had embarked at Genoa and Mar- 
 seilles, met at Messina. Sicily was then at war with Ger- 
 many for the succession of William II. Constance, the heir 
 of William, had married the Emperor Henry VI., and had 
 charged him with the duty of proclaiming her rights, and 
 defending her inheritance ; but Tancred, natural brother of 
 Constance, who had obtained the love of the nobility of 
 Sicily, had usurped the throne of his sister, and maintained 
 himself upon it, by force of arms, against the efforts of the 
 Germans. 
 
 This prince, not firmly settled on his throne, was much 
 alarmed at the approach of the Crusaders. He feared in 
 Pliilip an ally of the emperor of Germany, and in Eichard, 
 the brother of Queen Jane, the widow of William, whom he 
 had ill-treated, and still detained in prison. Being totally 
 unable to contend with tliem, he attempted to conciliate 
 them by his submission and attentions : he at first succeeded 
 with Philip beyond his expectations, but had much more 
 trouble in appeasing Kichard, who, immediately after his 
 arrival, haughtily demanded the liberty of Jane, and took 
 possession of the two forts which commanded Messina.
 
 472 uiSTOET or the ceusades. 
 
 The English soon got embroiled with the subjects of Tan- 
 cred, and the banners of England were seen floating over the 
 capital itself. By this act of violence and authority Hichard 
 gave great umbrage to Philip, whose vassal he was. The king 
 gave orders that Eichard's standards should be removed; 
 and the impetuous Coeur de Lion was forced to comply, 
 though trembUng with rage. This submission, although it 
 was accompanied with menaces, seemed to appease Philip, 
 and put an end to the quarrel ; but from that time Eichard 
 became friendly with Tancred, Avho endeavoured to create 
 suspicions of the loyalty of the king of France, and to secure 
 peace to himself, sowed dissension among the Crusaders. 
 
 The two kinjrs bv turns accused each other of breach of 
 faith and perfidy, and the Erench and EngUsh took part m 
 the hatred of their monarchs. Among these divisions, 
 Phihp pressed Eichard to espouse the princess Alice, who 
 had been promised to him in marriage; but' the face of cir- 
 cumstances had changed, and the king of England refused 
 with contempt a sister of the king of Erance, whom he had 
 himself earnestly sought, and for whom he had made war 
 against his own father. 
 
 Eleanor of Guienne, who had only ceased to be queen of 
 the Erench to become their implacable enemy, had for a long 
 time endeavoured to dissuade Eichard from this marriage. 
 In order to complete her work, and create an eternal di^ision 
 betvN'een the two kings, she brought with her into Sicily, 
 Eerengaria, the -daughter of Don Sancho of Xavarre, with 
 the view of marrying her to the king of England. The re- 
 port of her arrival augmented the suspicions of Phihp, and 
 was a fresh source of complaints on his part, ^"ar was 
 upon the point of breaking out, but some wise and pious 
 men succeeded in soothing these angrj' spirits ; the two kings 
 formed a new aUiance boimd bv new oaths, and discord was 
 for a moment quelled. But a friendship which required to 
 be sworn to so often, and a peace which every day demanded 
 a fresh treatv, were verv little to be relied on. 
 
 Eichard, who had just been making war upon Christians, 
 all at once became a prey to repentance and penitence ; he 
 assembled the bishops that had accompanied him in a chapel, 
 presented himself before them in his shirt, confessed his 
 sins, and listened to their reproofs with the docihtj of the
 
 HISTOEY OF TRE CEUSADES. 473 
 
 humblest of the faitlifiil. Some time after this whimsical 
 ceremony, his mind* being naturall}^ inclined to superstition, 
 he took a fancy to hear Abbot Joachim, \Yho lived in re- 
 tirement in the mountains of Calabria, and passed for a 
 prophet. 
 
 In a voyage to Jerusalem, this solitary had, it was said, 
 received from Jesus Christ the faculty of explaining the 
 Apocalypse, and to read in it, as in a faithful history, all that 
 was to take place on earth. On the invitation of the king 
 of England, he quitted his retreat, and repaired to Messina, 
 preceded by the fame of his visions and miracles. The 
 austerity of his morals, the singularity of his behaviour, with 
 the mystical obscurity of his discourses, at once procured 
 him the confidence and veneration of the Crusaders. He 
 was questioned upon the issue of the war they were about 
 to make in Palestine ; and he predicted that Jerusalem 
 would be delivered seven years after its conquest by Saladin. 
 "Why, then," said Bichard, "are we come so soon?" 
 " Tour arrival," replied Joachim, "is very necessary; Grod 
 will give you the victory over his enemies, and will render 
 your name celebrated above all the princes of the earth." 
 
 This speech, which did not at all flatter the passions or 
 impatience of the Crusaders, could only minister to the self- 
 love of Eichard. Philip was very little aflected by a predic- 
 tion which was afterwards also falsified by the event ; and 
 was only the more anxious to encounter Saladin, the re- 
 doubtable conqueror, in whom Joachim saw one of the seven 
 heads of the Apocalypse. As soon as spring rendered the 
 sea navigable, Philip embarked for Palestine. He was 
 received there as an angel of the Lord, and his presence 
 reanimated the valour and hopes of the Christians, who had 
 during two years unsuccessfully besieged Ptolemais. The 
 French fixed their quarters within bow-shot of the enemy, 
 and, as soon as they had pitched their tents, proceeded to the 
 assault. Thev might have rendered themselves masters of 
 the city ; but Philip, inspired by a cliivalric spirit, rather 
 than by a wise policy, was desirous that Ilichard should be 
 
 * Fleury relates this fact in his Ecclesiastical History, after the English 
 historian Roger Hoveden. The same Roger speaks of the predictions 
 and visions of Abbot Joachim, who finished by incurring the censore of 
 the Holy See.
 
 474 HISTORY OP THE CRUSADES. 
 
 present at this first conquest. This generous consideration 
 proved fatal to the enterprises of the Christians, and gave 
 time to the Saracens to receive reinforcements. 
 
 Saladin had passed the winter on the mountain of 
 Karouba, and fatigue, frequent combats, "want, and disease 
 had greatly reduced his army. He himself likewise was 
 weakened by a complaint which the physicians could not 
 cure, and which, on many occasions, prevented him from 
 accompanving his warriors to the field of battle. When he 
 heard of the arrival of the two powerful Christian monarchs, 
 he once more, by his ambassadors, called upon the Mussul- 
 man nations for assistance. In aU the mosques prayers were 
 put up for the triumph of his arms and the deHverance of 
 Islamism ; and in every Mussulman city the Imauns ex- 
 horted the true believers to hasten to the war. 
 
 " Numberless legions of Christians," said they, " are come 
 from countries situated beyond Constantinople, to bear away 
 from us conquests that gave such joy to the Koran, and to 
 dispute with us a laud upon which the companions of Omar 
 planted the standard of the Prophet. Spare neither your 
 lives nor your treasures to oppose them. Your marches 
 against the infidels, your perils, your wounds, all, even to 
 the passage of the torrent, is written in the book of God. 
 Thirst, hunger, fatigue, death itself will become for you 
 treasures in heaven, and will open to you the gardens and 
 delicious bowers of Paradise. In whatever place you may 
 be, death must overtake vou; neither vour mansions nor 
 your lofty towers can defend you against his darts. Some 
 among you have said, Let us not go to seek for battles dui'ing 
 the heats of summer, or the rigours of winter ; but heU will 
 be more terrible than the rigours of winter or the heats of 
 summer. Go, then, and bravely fight your enemies in a war 
 undertaken for religion. Victory or Paradise awaits you ; 
 fear God more than the infidels ; it is Saladin who calls vou 
 to his baiuiers ; and Saladin is the friend ol the Prophet, as 
 the Prophet is the friend of God. If you do not obey, 
 your families will be driven from S\Tia, and God will plant 
 in your places other nations better than you. J erusalem, 
 the sister of Medina and ISIecca, "^-ill fiiU again into the 
 power of idolaters, who give a so]i, a companion, an equal to 
 the Most High, and wish to extinguish the knowledge of
 
 niSTOET or THE CEUSADES. 475 
 
 Grod. Arm yourselves then with the buckler of victory ; 
 disperse the children of fire, the sons of hell, whom the sea 
 has vomited upon your shores, and remember these words of 
 the Koran : ' lie who shall abandon his dwelling to defend 
 the holy religion, shall meet with abundance and a great num- 
 ber of companions.'' " 
 
 ■Animated by such discourses, the Mussulmans flew to 
 arms, and from all parts flocked to the camp of Saladin, 
 whom they looked upon as the arm of victory, and the 
 beloved son of the Prophet. 
 
 "WTiilst this was going on Eichard was retarded in his 
 march by interests quite foreign to the crusade. At the 
 moment that his rival was waiting for him to take a city 
 from the Saracens, and was willing to share even glory with 
 him, he made himself master of a kingdom, and kept it for 
 himself. 
 
 On leaving the port of Messina, the English fleet was dis- 
 persed by a \iolent tempest ; three vessels were wrecked 
 upon the coast of Cyprus, and the unfortunate crews, who 
 escaped, were ill-treated by the inhabitants and cast into 
 prison. A ship, on board of which were Berengaria of 
 Navarre, and Jane, queen of Sicily, upon presenting itself 
 before Limisso, was forbidden to enter the port. A short 
 time after, Eichard arrived with his fleet, which he had suc- 
 ceeded in getting together again, and himself met with an 
 insolent refusal. Isaac, of the family of Comnenus, who, 
 during the troubles of Constantinople, had got possession of 
 the isle of Cyprus, and governed it with the ostentatious 
 title of emperor, dared to threaten the king of England. 
 
 His menaces became the signal for war ; and both sides 
 were eager for the conflict. Isaac could not resist the first 
 shock of the English ; his troops were beaten and dispersed ; 
 his cities opened their gates to the conqueror, and the em- 
 peror of Cyprus himself fell iuto the hands of Eichard, who, 
 to insult his vanity and avarice, caused him to be bound 
 with chains of silver. The king of England, after having 
 delivered the inhabitants of Cyprus from a master whom 
 they called a tjnrant, made them repay this service with the 
 half of their property, and took possession of the island, 
 which was erected into a kingdom, and remained nearly 
 three hundred years under the domination of the Latins. 
 
 Vol. I.— 22
 
 476 HISTOKY OF THE CKUSADES. 
 
 It was on tliis island, in the bosom of victory, and in the 
 \dcinity of the ancient Amathus, that Eichard celebrated 
 his marriage ^Yith Berengaria of Navarre. He then set out 
 for Palestine, dragging after him Isaac, loaded with chains, 
 and the daughter of that unfortunate prince, in whom, it is 
 said, the new queen found a dangerous rival. 
 
 The Franks celebrated the arrival of Eichard with feux 
 dejoie, lighted up throughout the camp. When the English 
 had united their forces with those of the Christian army, 
 Ptolemais saw beneath its walls all that Europe could boast 
 of as illustrious captains and valiant warriors. The tents of 
 the Eranks covered a vast plain, and their army presented 
 a most majestic and terrible aspect. A spectator, on be- 
 holding on the coast of the sea the towers of Ptolemais, 
 and the camp of the Christians, in which they had built 
 houses and traced streets, traversed unceasingly by an im- 
 mense crowd, might have supposed he saw two rival cities 
 which were at war with each other. Each nation had its 
 leader and its separate quarter, and so many languages were 
 fc^poken by the Crusaders, that the Mussulmans could not 
 find interpreters enough to enable them to understand all 
 the prisoners. In this confused multitude, each people had 
 a different character, different manners, and different arms ; 
 but, at the signal for battle, all were animated by the same 
 zeal and the same ardour ; the presence of the two monarchs 
 had re-established discipline, and Ptolemais could not have 
 prolonged its resistance, if discord, that eternal enemy of 
 the Christians, had not entered their camp with Eichard. 
 
 The debates relative to the succession to the throne (^i 
 Jerusalem were renewed on the arrival of the English. 
 Philip declared for Conrad, which was quite enough to de- 
 termine Eichard to give his voice for Gruy de Lusignan. 
 The Christian army was filled with troubles, and again 
 dirided into two factions : on one side were the Erench, the 
 Grermans, the Templars, and the Genoese ; on the other, the 
 English, the Pisans, and the knights of the Hospital. The 
 two parties, ready to break into open war, no longer united 
 their efforts or their arms against the Saracens ; whenever 
 the king of Erance, at the head of his warriors, proceeded 
 to the assault, the king of England remained in his tent in
 
 HISTOKY OF THE CRUSADES. 477 
 
 a state of sullen repose.* The besieged had never more 
 than one of the monarchs to contend with at once, and the 
 Christian army, after it had received such powerful auxi- 
 liaries, became much less redoubtable to the Saracens. 
 
 Amidst the disputes which divided the Crusaders, both 
 kings fell dangerously ill, and their hatred and suspicion 
 were so great, that each accused the other of having made 
 an attempt upon his life. As Saladin sent them refresh- 
 ments and physicians, and as they addressed frequent 
 messages to him, each party reproached the monarch who 
 was opposed to him with keeping up an impious under- 
 standing with the Saracens. 
 
 The perils of the army, however, with the glory of religion 
 and the interests of the crusade, for a moment stifled the 
 voice of faction, and induced the Crusaders to unite against 
 the common enemy. After long debates, it was decided 
 that Guy de Lusignan should retain the title of king during 
 his life, and that Conrad and his descendants should succeed 
 to the kingdom of Jerusalem. It was at the same time 
 agreed that when one of the two monarchs should attack 
 the city, the other should watch over the safety of the camp, 
 and keep the army of Saladin in check. This agreement 
 re-established harmony ; and the Christian warriors, who had 
 been upon the point of taking arms against each other, now 
 only contended for the glory of conquering the infidels. 
 
 The siege was resumed with fresh ardour, but the Mussul- 
 mans had employed the time wasted by the Christians in 
 vain disputes, in strengthening the city. When the besiegers 
 appeared before the walls, they met with a resistance en- 
 tirely unexpected, whilst the army of Saladin continued 
 indefatigable and unceasing in its attacks. At the earliest 
 break of day, the drums and trumpets constantly sounded 
 the signal for battle, both from the walls of Ptolemais and 
 
 * Could not the reader imagine these kings were playing the siege of 
 Troy, and that Richard was the sulky Achilles ? There is a strong re- 
 semblance in the constitution of the forces before Troy and the independent 
 nations, baronies, and counties of the Crusaders — thence the dis^sensions, 
 delays, and disasters of both. History becomes the test of poetry, and 
 Homer shines forth not only the great poet, but the veracious historian 
 and clear-sighted philosopher. — Trans.
 
 478 nisTOEY OF the crusaces. 
 
 the camp of the sultan, SaLidin animated his troops "by his 
 presence ; whilst his brother, Malec-Adel, offered an example 
 of bravery to the emirs. Many great battles were fought at 
 the foot of the hills on which the Christians were encamped, 
 and twice the Crusaders gave a general assault ; but on 
 both occasions were obliged to return hastily to their tents, 
 to defend them against Saladin. 
 
 In one of these attacks, a Christian knight singly defended 
 one of the gates of the camp against a host of Saracens. 
 The Arabian writers compare this knight to a demon 
 animated by all the fires of hell. An enormous cuirass* 
 entirely covered him ; arrows, stones, lance-thrusts, made no 
 impression on him ; all who approached him were slain, and 
 he alone, though stuck all over with javelins and surrounded 
 by -enemies, appeared to have nothing to fear. Ko weapons 
 or force being able to prevail, the Greek fire was at length 
 employed, which being poured upon his head, devoured by 
 flames, he perished like one of the enormous machines that 
 the besieged had burnt under the walls of the city. 
 
 Every day the Crusaders redoubled their efforts, and by 
 turns repulsed the army of Saladin, or made assaults upon 
 Ptolemais. In one of these assaidts, they filled up a part 
 of the ditches of the city witli the carcasses of their dead 
 horses and the bodies of their companions who had fallen 
 beneath the swords of the enemy, or been swept away by 
 disease. The Saracens raised up these horrid masses heaped 
 up under their walls, and cast them back again in fragments 
 upon the banks of the ditches, where the sword and lance 
 were for ever immolating fresh victims. Neither the spec- 
 tacle of death, nor obstacles, nor fatigue aftected the Chris- 
 tians. When their wooden towers and their battering-rams 
 were reduced to ashes, they dug into the earth, and by sub- 
 terranean ways advanced under the foundations of the ram- 
 parts. Every day they employed some fresh means or some 
 new machine to subdue the place. An Arabian historian 
 relates that they raised near their camp a hill of earth of a 
 prodigious height, and that by constantly throwing the earth 
 up before them, they brought this mountain close to the 
 
 * I would fain translate this word shield or buckler ; but as I cannot 
 find the word cuirasse ever used for one of these, am obliged to follow 
 my original. — Trans.
 
 niSTOllY OF THE CRUSADES. 479 
 
 city. It liad advanced wifchin half a bow-shot, when the 
 Mussulmans issued from their gates, and precipitated them- 
 selves in front of this enormous mass, which grew nearer 
 and nearer, and already threatened their walls. Armed with 
 swords, pickaxes, and 'shovels, they attacked the troops em- 
 ployed in forwarding it, using every effort to remove it back 
 towards the plain ; but were only able to arrest its progress 
 by dio-ging vast and deep ditches in its passage. 
 
 Among all the Christian warriors, the French distinguished 
 themselves greatly, and directed their efforts principally 
 against the Cursed Tower, which was erected at the eastern 
 sfde of the city. A great part of the walls began to tall, 
 and must soon offer a passage to the besieging army. AVar, 
 famine, and disease had weakened the garrison ; the city 
 had not soldiers enough left to defend the ramparts and 
 move about the machines employed against those of the 
 Christians. The place not only stood in need of provisions, 
 but of warlike munitions and Greek fire. The warriors who 
 had gone through so much, began to feel discouragement, 
 and the people loudly murmured against Saladin and the 
 emirs. In this extremity, the commander of the garrison 
 came and proposed a capitulation to Philip Augustus, who 
 swore by the God of the Christians that he would not spare 
 a sinc^le inhabitant of Pfcolemais, if the Mussulmans did not 
 restore all the cities that had fallen into their power since 
 
 the battle of Tiberias. -, ' ^ -ni -t 
 
 The chief of the emirs, irritated by the relusal ot I'lniip, 
 retired, saying that he and his companions would rather 
 bury themselv'es beneath the ruins of the city, than listen to 
 such terms, and that they would defend Ptolemais as a lion 
 defends his blood-stained lair. On his return into the place, 
 the commander of the Saracens communicated his courage, 
 or rather his despair, to every heart. When the Christians 
 resumed their assaults, they were repulsed with a vigour 
 that astonished them. " The tumultuous waves of the 
 Franks," says an Arabian author, " rolled towards the place 
 with the rapidity of a torrent ; they mounted the half-rumed 
 walls as wild goats ascend the steepest rocks, whilst the 
 Saracens precipitated themselves upon the besiegers like 
 stones detached from the summits of mountains." 
 
 In one general assault, a Florentine knight of the family
 
 480 HISTOEY OF THE CKUSADES. 
 
 of Bonaguisi, followed by some of his men, fought lils way 
 into one of the towers of the infidels, and got possession of 
 the Mussulman banner that floated from it. Overpowered 
 by numbers, and forced to retreat, he returned to the camp, 
 bearing the flag he had carried ofl" from the Saracens. ]n 
 the same assault, Alberic Clement, the first marshal of 
 France of whom history makes mention, scaled the ram- 
 parts, and, sword in hand, penetrated into the city, where 
 he found a glorious death. Stephen, count of Blois, and 
 several knights were burnt by the Greek fire, the boihng 
 oil, the melted lead, and heated sand which the besieged 
 poured down upon all who approached the walls. 
 
 The obstinate ardour of the Mussulmans was sustained 
 during sevei-al days ; but as they received no succour, many 
 emirs, at length despairing of the safety of Ptolemais, 
 threw themselves, by night, into a bark, to seek an 
 asylum in the camp of Saladin, preferring to encounter the 
 anger of the sultan, to perishing by the sword of the Chris- 
 tians. This desertion, and the contemplation of their ruined 
 towers, filled the Mussulmans with terror. AV^hilst pigeons 
 and divers constantlv announced to Saladin the horrible dis- 
 tresses of the besieged, the latter came to the resolution of 
 leaving the city by night, and braving every peril to join the 
 Saracen army. But their project being discovered by the 
 Christians, they blocked up and guarded every passage by 
 which the enemy could possibly escape. The emirs, the 
 soldiers, and the inhabitants then became con\dnced that 
 they had no hope but in the mercy of Philip Augustus, and 
 promised, if he would grant them liberty and life, to cause 
 to be given np to the Christians sixteen hundred prisoners, 
 and the wood of the true cross. By the capitulation they 
 engaged to pay two hundred thousand pieces of gold to the 
 leaders of the Christian army, and the garrison, with th3 
 entire population of Ptolemais, were to remain in the power 
 of the conquerors till the execution of the treaty. 
 
 A Mussulman soldier was sent from the city to announce 
 to Saladin that the garrison was forced to capitidate. The 
 sultan, who was preparing to make a last eftbrt to save the 
 place, learnt the news with deep regret. He assembled his 
 council, to know if they approved of the capitulation ; but
 
 EISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 481 
 
 scarcely were the principal emirs met in his tent, when they 
 beheld the standards of the crusaders floating over the walls 
 and towers of Ptolemais. 
 
 Such was the conclusion of this famous siege, which lasted 
 nearly three years, and in which the crusaders shed more 
 blood and exhibited more bravery than ought to have sufficed 
 lor the subjugation of the whole of Asia. More than a 
 himdred skirmishes and nine great battles were fought 
 before the walls of the city ; several floiu'ishing armies came 
 to recruit armies nearly annihilated, and were in their tui'n 
 replaced by fresh armies. The bravest nobility of Europe 
 perished in this siege, swept away by the sword or disease. 
 Among the illustrious victims of this war, history points out 
 Philip, count of Elanders, Gruy de Chatillon, Bernard de 
 St. Yallery, Yautrier de Mory, Raoul de Fougeres, Eudes de 
 Gonesse, Eenaud de Maguy, Geoffroi d'Aumale, viscount de 
 Chatellerault, Josselin de Montmorency, and Eaoul de 
 Marie ; the archbishops of Besan^on and Canterbury ; with 
 many other ecclesiastics and knights whose piety and exploits 
 were the admiration of Europe.* 
 
 In this war both parties were anunated by religion ; 
 each side boasted of its miracles, its saints, and its pro- 
 phets. Bishops and imauus equally promised the soldiers 
 remission of their sins and the crown of martjTdom. Whilst 
 the king of Jerusalem caused the book of the Evangelists to 
 be borne before him, Saladin would often pause on the 
 iield of battle to offer up a prayer or read a chapter from the 
 Koran. t The Eranks and the Saracens mutually accused 
 each other of ignorance of the true God and of outraging 
 him by their ceremonies. The Christians rushed upon their 
 enemies crying, ^' It is the will of God ! It is the icill of 
 God!'''' and the Saracens answered by their war-cry, '• Islam! 
 Islam!'''' 
 
 Eanaticism frequently augmented the fury of slaughter. 
 
 * Either the English took less part in the crusades than we generally 
 imagine, or a French historian does not mete thein due honour ; the 
 archbishop of Canterbury is the only name clearly English in this list. I 
 shall have occasion to recur to this subject. — Trans. 
 
 f Saladin had a copy of the Koran, compiled by Omar, always carried 
 with his army.
 
 482 HISTOEY OF TUE cet:s.u)es. 
 
 The Mussulmans from the height of their towers insulted 
 the religious ceremonies of the Christians.* They raised 
 crosses on their ramparts, beat them with rods, covered them 
 with dust, mud, and filth, and broke them into ^ thousand 
 pieces before the eves of the besiegers. At this spectacle 
 the Christians swore to avenge their outraged worship, and 
 menaced the Saracens with the destruction of ever)' Maho- 
 medan pulpit. In the heat of this rehgious animosity, the 
 Mussulmans often massacred disarmed captives ; and in more 
 than one battle they burnt theirf Christian prisoners in the 
 very field of conflict. The crusaders but too closely imitated 
 the barbarity of their enemies ; funeral piles, lighted up by 
 fanatical rage, were often extinguished in rivers of blood. 
 
 The Mussulman and Christian warriors provoked each 
 other durinof siusjle combats, and were as lavish of abuse 
 as the heroes of Homer. Heroiues often appeared in tlie 
 melee, and disputed the prize of strength and courage with 
 the bravest of the Saracens. J Children came from the city 
 to fight with the children of the Christians in the presence 
 of the two armies. 
 
 But sometimes the furies of war gave place to the 
 amenities of peace, and Franks and Saracens would for a 
 moment forget the hatred that liad led them to take up 
 arms. During the course of the siege several tournaments 
 were held in the plain of Ptolemais, to which the Mussulmans 
 were invited. The champions of the two parties harangued 
 each other before entering the lists ; the conqueror was 
 bonie in triumph, and the conquered ransomed like a pri- 
 
 * Florentinus, bishop of Ptolemais, describes with horror the impiety 
 of the Turks :— 
 
 Milites aspiceres super mures stantes 
 Turcos, sanctam manibus crucena elerantes 
 Cum flagellis asperis eam verberantes, 
 Et cum impropriis nobis minitantes. 
 f " One of our people," says Omad, " having been made prisoner, was 
 burnt, and the flames accompanied him to his place of everlasting repose ; 
 we took a Christian, we burnt him, and the flames that devoured him 
 mingled with the fires of hell." — See the MS. of Dom Berthereau. 
 
 X A combat of children is related by Omad of Ispahan ; and the same 
 author speaks of the Christian heroines who mingled in the fight. He 
 adds, that the young women fought, and the old women animated them 
 by their cries.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSAI>ES. 483 
 
 soner of war. In these warlike festivities, wliicli brought the 
 two nations together, the Franks often danced to the sound 
 of Arabian instruments, and their minstrels afterwards 
 played or sang to the dancing of the Saracens. 
 
 Most of the Mussulman emirs, after the example of 
 Saladin, affected an austere simplicity in their vestments and 
 manners. An Arabian author compares the sultan, in his 
 court, surrounded by his sons and brothers, to the star ot 
 night, which sheds a sombre light amidst the other stars. 
 The principal leaders of the crusade did not entertain the 
 same love of simplicity, but endeavoured to excel each other 
 in splendour and magnificence. As in the first crusade, the 
 princes and barons were followed into Asia by their hunting 
 and fishing appointments, and the luxuries of their palaces 
 and castles. When Philip Augustus arrived before Ptole- 
 mais, all eyes were for a moment turned upon the falcons he 
 had brought with him. One of these having escaped from 
 the hands of his keeper, perched upon the ramparts of the 
 city, and the whole Christian army was excited by endeavours 
 to recapture the fugitive bird. As it was caught by the 
 Mussulmans, and carried to Saladin, Philip sent an ambas- 
 sador to the sultan to recover it, ofiering a sum of gold that 
 would have been quite snfficient for the ransom of many 
 Christian warriors. 
 
 The misery which so often visited the Crusaders, did not 
 at all prevent a great number of them from indulging in 
 excesses of license and debauchery. All the vices of Europe 
 and Asia were met together on one spot. If an Arabian 
 author may be believed, at the very moment in which the 
 Franks were a prey to famine and contagious diseases, 
 a troop of three hundred women from Cyprus and the neigh- 
 bouring islands arrived in the camp. These three hundred 
 women, whose presence in the Christian army was a scandal 
 in the eyes of the Saracens, prostituted themselves among 
 the soldiers of the cross, and stood in no need of employing 
 the enchantments of the Armida of Tasso to corrupt them. 
 
 Nevertheless, the clergy were uni-emitting in their exhor- 
 tations to the pilgrims to lead them back to the morals of 
 the Gospel. Churches, suj^mounted by wooden steeples, 
 were erected in the camp, in which the faithful were every 
 day called together. Not unfrequently the Saracens took 
 
 22*
 
 484 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 
 
 advantage of the moment at which the soldiers left their in- 
 trenchments unofuarded to attend mass, and made living but 
 anuopng incui'sions. Amidst general corruption, the siege of 
 Ptolemais presented manv subjects of edification. In the 
 camp, or in the field of battle, charity hovered constantly 
 around the Christian soldier, to soothe his misery, to watch his 
 sick pallet, or dress his wounds. During the siege the warriors 
 from the North were in the greatest distress, and could gain 
 little assistance from other nations. Some pilgrims from 
 Lubeck and Bremen came to their aid, formed tents of the 
 sails of their vessels to shelter their poor countrymen, and 
 ministered to their wants and tended their diseases. Forty 
 German nobles took part in this generous enterprise, and 
 their association was the origin of the hospitable and military 
 order of the Teutonic knights. 
 
 When the Crusaders entered Ptolemais, they shared the 
 sovereignty of it amongst them, each nation taking possession 
 of one of the quarters of the city, which had soon as many 
 masters as it had had enemies. The king of Jerusalem was 
 the only leader that obtained nothins: in the division of the 
 first reconquered place of his kingdom. 
 
 The capitulation remained luiexecuted ; Saladin, under 
 various pretexts, deferring the completion of the conditions. 
 Pichard, irritated by a delay which appeared to him a breach 
 of faith, revenged himself upon the prisoners that were in 
 his hands. AVithout pity for disarmed enemies, or for the 
 Christians he exposed to sanguinary reprisals, he massacred 
 five thousand Mussulmans before the city they had so vali- 
 antly defended, and within si»ht of Saladin, who shared the 
 disgrace of this barbarity by thus abandoning his bravest and 
 most faithful warriors. 
 
 This action, which excited the regret of the whole Chris- 
 tian army, suflS^ciently exposed the character of Eichard, and 
 showed what was to be dreaded from his violence ; a barba- 
 rous and implacable enemy could not become a generous 
 rival. On the day of the surrender of Ptolemais, he 
 committed a gross outrage upon Leopold, duke of Austria, 
 by ordering the standard of that prince, which had been 
 planted on one of the towers, to be cast into the ditch. 
 
 Leopold dissembled his resentment, but swore to avenge 
 this insult whenever he should find an opportunity.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 485 
 
 Richard, for ever carried away by his violent and imperious 
 character, desired to command as a master, and alone dictate 
 laws for the whole army of the Crusaders. He endeavoured 
 to corrupt the troops of Philip by largesses ; he set a price 
 upon infidelity and treason ; and Philip, fearing to compro- 
 mise the dignity of a king and the interests of the crusade by 
 punishing the outrages and perfidy of his rival, resolved to 
 return to Prance, where fortune offered him more than one 
 opportunity of usefully revenging himself upon the king of 
 Ens^land. 
 
 Philip quitted Palestine, leaving in the army ten thousand 
 foot and five hundred horse, under the command of the duke 
 of Burgundy. On his arrival at Tyre, from which port he 
 embarked, he received a solemn embassy from Saladin, who 
 sent him magnificent presents, and complimented him as 
 the most powerful monarch of the West. He soon arrived 
 in Italy, where the holy pontiff' praised his devotion, and 
 bestowed upon him the palms of pilgrimage. AVelcomed 
 on his return to his kingdom by the benedictions of his 
 people, he carried back the sacred oriflamme to the church 
 of St. Denis, and returned thanks to the apostles of Prance 
 for having protected his life and the glory of his arms amidst 
 the greatest perils. 
 
 When Philip left Palestine, Eichard remained at the head 
 of an army of a hundred thousand Crusaders. After having 
 repaired the walls of Ptolemais, and allowed his soldiers 
 some little repose, he passed the Belus, crossed Moiuit 
 Carmel, and marched towards Csesarea. A fleet from Ptole- 
 mais kept close to the shore, and transported the provisions, 
 machines of war, and baggage of the Christian army. Sala- 
 din, whom Arabian writers often compare to a lioness that 
 has lost her young, upon receiving intelligence of the march 
 of the Crusaders, gathered together his army, and set out in 
 pursuit of them ; sometimes getting in advance and attack- 
 ing their van, at others harassing their flanks, and seizing 
 every soldier that ventured to stray from the main body. 
 Although Caesarea was only twelve leagues from Ptolemais, 
 the Crusaders could not accomplish the distance in less 
 than six days. All the Christians, who were unable to 
 keep up with the army, and fell into the power of Saladin, 
 were put to death by his orders, and their bodies left upon
 
 4S6 HISTORY or TUE CEUSADES. 
 
 the sliore, as an expiation of tlie massacre of tlie garrison of 
 Ptolemais. 
 
 Eichard, 'vnIio found that perils and obstacles multiplied in 
 his route, desired an interview with Malek-Adel, and pro- 
 posed to make peace, if the Mussulmans would restore the 
 city of Jemsalem to the Christians. Malek-Adel replied that 
 the last of the soldiers of Saladin would perish^ rather than 
 renounce conquests made in the name of Islamism. Eichard, 
 irritated bv this refusal, swore that he would obtain by vic- 
 tory that which he could not obtain from Saladin, and gave 
 orders for the army to pursue their march.* 
 
 The Crusaders advanced towards the city of Arsur, march- 
 ing over a long but narrow plain, intersected by torrents, 
 ravines, and marshes, and covered in many places with 
 fragments of rocks, marine plants, and reeds. They had 
 the sea on their right, and on the left rose the steep moun- 
 tains of Xaplouse, defended by the inhabitants of the country 
 and the troops of Saladin. At every passage of a torrent, 
 at every dune or hillock of sand, at every villao;e, a fresh 
 contest had to be sustained, whilst the Mussulman archers, 
 placed upon the heights, annoyed them unceasingly with 
 their arrows. Eichard's army marched in order of battle; 
 the cavalry being placed in the centime ; whilst the foot, 
 closing their ranks, presented an impenetrable wall to the 
 enemy, and braved their constantly renewed attacks. 
 
 The army of the sultan got in advance of the Crusaders, 
 and laid waste evervtliino: in their wav ; exhausting their 
 efforts and ingenuibt" to retard, or entii'ely stop their march. 
 Across the plain of Arsur flowed a toiTent which cast itself 
 into the sea near the ramparts of the city ; and not far 
 from this torrent, a wood of oaks, which historians call the 
 
 * The march and the contests of the Christians and the Mussvilmans 
 are described in fullest detail by Omad-al-Kabel, secretary to Saladin, in 
 his book entitled the Pheta ; and by Schahabeddin, author of the RouiJa- 
 tain. These two historians almost always make the Mussulmans triumph. 
 " We have," say they, '• animated tbe tongues of lances and swords to 
 speak to the Christians, and to hear their words. Then God rendered 
 sweet to us all that was bitter, and by his goodness drew near to us all 
 that was at a distance." We shall not follow these two historians, nor 
 even Bohaddin, through the combats of the Mussulmans and Christians, 
 combats in -which the latter are, by their account, always conquered, and 
 yet always continue to advance into their enemy's country.
 
 niSTOEY OF THE CKUSADE3. 487 
 
 forest of Sarun, and which is believed to be the forest cele- 
 brated by Tasso, extended along the declivities of the moun- 
 tains of Naplouse : it was upon this spot Saladin awaited 
 the Crusaders to offer them a decisive battle. 
 
 A part of his army covered the heights, whilst the 
 remainder encamped upon the banks of the torrent of 
 Arsur. The Christians soon arrived in face of their enemy, 
 and di'ew up in order of battle. The Danes, Flemings, and 
 Tuscans, commanded by Jacques d' Avesnes, formed the van. 
 Richard marched in the centre, at the head of the English, 
 Normans, Gascons, the S^T-ian troops, and those of the 
 count of Champagne: the rear-guard Avas composed of 
 French and Germans, under the orders of the duke of Bur- 
 gundy and Leopold of Austria. Whilst the archers were 
 showering their arrows from a distance, Saladin passed 
 through the ranks, and roused the courage of his soldiers, 
 who replied to him with cries of Allah ac bar! — God is 
 powerful.* Profound silence prevailed in the Christian 
 army ; the black cuirasses of the Crusaders seeming to 
 darken the horizon, whilst sixty thousand swords gleamed 
 out from amidst clouds of dust. All at once the Christian 
 infantry opened their ranks, and the cavalry rushed forward 
 towards the enemy, drawn up on the banks of the torrent 
 of Arsur. Jacques d' Avesnes, who commanded them, pene- 
 trated twice into the closely-pressed ranks of the Saracens, 
 and twice was compelled to retreat in disorder. At the third 
 charge his leg was severed by the stroke of a sabre, but he still 
 pursued the infidels, when the arm with which he fought 
 was struck off at a blow. The Christian hero fell amidst 
 the enemy, calling aloud upon Eichard, and conjuring him 
 to avenge his death. 
 
 * Omad says that the Mussulmans surrounded the army of their enemy 
 as the eyelashes sunv^nd the eye. The Mussulman authors speak highly 
 of Jacques d' Avesnes. All the historians of Saladin do not agree as to 
 his defeat, and say that Richard got possession of Jaffa after being con- 
 quered. Aboul-feda is more honest; Tabary agrees also that the Mus- 
 sulmans were put to flight ; the same historian adds to his faithful account 
 the following remarkable circumstance: — "Near the Mussulman army 
 was a thick wood, into which they retreated. The Franks believed that 
 this retreat was a stratagem, and did not dare to pursue their enemies, 
 whom they might have destroyed if they had followed up their victory." 
 For these authors, see the Latin extracts of Dom -Bc-rthereau.
 
 488 IIISTOET OF THE CRUS.IDES. 
 
 The king of England advanced witli the main body, 
 sweeping away the crowd of Saracens that opposed his 
 passage, and pursuing them to the other side of the torrent ; 
 but whilst he yielded to his ardour, and advanced before the 
 Christian army, the chosen troops of the Mussulmans de- 
 scended from the mountains of Naplouse, and poured down 
 upon the rear of the Christians. Eichard was forced to 
 retrace his steps to support the French and Germans, who 
 were beginning to give way. The plain in which the battle 
 was fought, could scarcelv contain all the combatants. The 
 Christians and Mussulmans closed, and attacked each other 
 man to man ; the foot fought pellmell with the horse, 
 exhorting each other to brave death. The cries of rage, 
 despaii', and agony were mingled with the clashing of 
 swords, lances, and shields. The two armies, confounded 
 and mixed together, became nothing but one horrible spec- 
 tacle. If we believe the somewhat improbable account of 
 an English historian,* Hichard and Saladin met in the 
 vielee, and rushed upon each other sword in hand, and the 
 two armies instantly became motionless, leaving to their 
 great leaders the honour of deciding the fate of the battle. 
 This singular circumstance, which poetry might envy his- 
 tory, is not mentioned by Arabian writers.f The battle 
 lasted almost during the whole day. Towards evening the 
 Mussulmans were broken on all sides, and retreated in 
 disorder into the forest of Saron, whither the fear of an 
 ambuscade prevented the Christians from pursuing them, 
 and destro^'ing the wreck of their army. 
 
 The battle of Arsur was one of the most celebrated of 
 this war ; in it the ^lussulmans lost a great number of their 
 bravest emirs, and particularly regretted a chief of Saladin' s 
 Mamelukes, whose heroic courage is highly celebrated by 
 their historians. Xo Saracen warrior was more prompt to 
 
 * Arabian historians say nothing of the single combat between Richard 
 and Saladin. English historians alone mention it. 
 
 t I cannot attach much consequence to the silence of the Arabian, 
 writers on this subject, neither can 1 think, with our author, such a ren- 
 contre so improballe in such a melee. The principal argument against it 
 is, that Saladin survived the battle. Richard was at least twelve years 
 younger than Saladin, and in the full vigour of a large, powerful frame, 
 whilst Saladin was weakened by toil and disease. — Trans.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES. 489 
 
 meet danger, and he was always the first to fly to the 
 assistance of his companions, though he himself needed aid 
 from no man. His horse being slain, this brave emir was 
 encumbered with the weight of his iron armour, and received 
 several mortal wounds. Many Mussulman soldiers hastened 
 to his relief; hut he was already amongst the inliahitants of 
 heaven ! 
 
 The Christians wept for the death of Jacques d'Avesnes, 
 who had so often shown them the path to victory. In this 
 glorious day the loss of the Crusaders was much less than 
 that of the Mussulmans ; their leaders and soldiers displayed 
 a degree of skill that they had never evinced before. The 
 Saracen cavalry, superior to that of the Crusaders, had not 
 room to perform their usual evolutions with advantage in so 
 confined a field. They attacked the Christians several times 
 with great impetuosity, but the Crusaders withstood them 
 with immovable firmness, and constantly rallied around 
 their great standard, which floated from the summit of a 
 rolling tower. A remarkable circumstance of this battle is, 
 that it was principally gained by the infantry, a force which, 
 although held in contempt in the first crusade, had learnt 
 to be redoubtable under the walls of Ptolemais. 
 
 Bichard, who had conquered the Saracens, was not wise 
 enough to profit by theii' defeat ; instead of pursuing the 
 enemy, or marching straight to Jerusalem, he led his army 
 to Jaffa, the ramparts of which Saladin had demolished, 
 and which the Mussulmans had abandoned. He occupied 
 himself with repairing the fortifications, and sent for the 
 Queen Berengaria, Jane, the widow of the king of Sicily, and 
 the daughter of Isaac. Surrounded by a brilliant court, he 
 forgot, in the intoxication of pleasure and festivities, the 
 conquest of Jerusalem, for which he had come into Asia. 
 During this fatal repose, he was on the point of losing with 
 his life and liberty the fruit of all his victories. Being one 
 day hunting in the forest of Saron, overcome by heat or 
 fatigue, he alighted from his horse and fell asleep under 
 a tree. All at once he was aroused by the cries of those 
 who accompanied him, — a troop of Saracens was close upon 
 them ! He sprang upon his horse, and prepared to defend 
 himself ; but was near sinking beneath the force of numbers, 
 when a knight of his suite, named William Fourcelet, cried
 
 4i90 iiisTortY or the ceusades. 
 
 out in tlie Arabic tongue, '■^ I am the Icing ; spare my lifer* 
 At these words, this generous warrior was surrounded by 
 the Mussidmaus, who made him prisoner and conducted him 
 to Saladin. The king of'Eugland, thus saved by the heroism 
 of a French knight, escaped the pursuit of the enemy, and 
 returned to Jaffa, where his army learnt with terror the 
 danger they had been in of losing their leader. 
 
 Eichard formed the project of besieging Ascalon ; and 
 Saladin being doubtful of his power to defend that city, 
 resolved to destroy it. In vain the inhabitants came to 
 implore his pity ; in the space of a few days the strongest 
 and most flourishing city of Syria was consumed by fire, and 
 remained nothing but a heap of ruins. 
 
 The demolition of Ascalon excited gi'eat sorrow among 
 the Mussulmans ; and the king of England, who had enter- 
 tained hopes of rendering himself master of the place, was as 
 much afflicted as if he had lost one of liis conquests. This 
 city, which had cost the Cln-istians and Mussulmans so 
 much blood, opened at once to the Crusaders the gates 
 of Palestine and Egypt. Eichard undertook to rebuild the 
 ramparts that the Mussulmans had destroyed, and led his 
 army into the plain, covered by the ruins of Ascalon. 
 
 It was a curious spectacle to behold thirty thousand 
 warriors from the ^V^est employed in rebuilding the walls of 
 a city of Syria. The Crusaders, as the Hebrews have been 
 described to us whilst erecting the temple of Jerusalem, were 
 obliged to work with the sword in one hand and the tools of 
 masonrv in the other. Saladin migrht have distui'bed their 
 labours : but he preferred giving his army a little repose, and 
 recruiting its numbers ; persuaded that the divisions that 
 existed among his enemies would soon work to his advantage. 
 The Christian army obeyed Eichard very unwillingly. 
 Leopold of Austria, accused by the king of England of 
 remaining idle with his Grermans, contented himself with 
 repUing tliat lie was neither a carpenter nor a mason. The 
 greater part of the knights who were thus employed in 
 moving stones and digging ditches, were exceedingly indig- 
 nant, and said aloud that they did not come into Asia to 
 rebuild Ascalon, but to conquer Jerusalem. 
 
 * This gallant act of devotedness of William de Pourcelet, a Proven^a) 
 gentleman, is related by both the Latin and Oriental historians.
 
 HISTOST OF TKE CEUSADES. ' 491 
 
 "Whilst the Christian armj Avas in this dissatisfied state, 
 the marquis of Tyre, who had been ill-treated by Eichard, 
 courted the alliance of the sultan, and promised to restore 
 Ptolemais to him, if the Mussubnans would agree to protect 
 him against his enemies. The king of England, warned of 
 this perfidious negotiation, became only anxious to defeat 
 the projects of Com-ad, and himself made propositions to 
 Saladin. He renewed the promise he had made to Malek- 
 Adel to return into Europe if Jerusalem and the wood of the 
 true cross were restored to the Christians. " Jerusalem," 
 replied Saladin, '" never belonged to you ; we cannot without 
 a crime abandon it to you, for in it were accomplished the 
 mysteries of our religion," As to the wood of the true cross, 
 Saladin considered it as an obiect of scandal, as an insult to 
 divinity. He had refused to give it up to the king of 
 Georgia or the emperor of Constantinople, both of whom had 
 offered him considerable sums for it. " All the advantages' 
 to be procured by peace," said he, " cannot bring me to 
 restore this disgracel'ul monument of their idolatrj^ to the 
 Christians." 
 
 Eichard, who really considered the restitution of the true 
 cross of very little importance, did not reiterate his demand ; 
 but as he was desirous of peace, he made other proposals, in 
 which he adroitly interested the ambition of Malek-Adel, the 
 brother of the sultan. The widow of AVilliam of Sicily, the 
 sister of Richard, was offered in marriage to the Mussulman 
 prince ; under the auspices of Saladin and Eichard, they 
 mio-ht reign together over Mussulmans and Christians, and 
 govern the kingdom of Jerusalem. The historian Omad was 
 charged by Malek-Adel with the task of communicating this 
 proposition to Saladin, who appeared to adopt it without 
 repugnance.* The project of this singular union created 
 great surprise among the imauns and doctors of the law ; and 
 
 * This negotiation is related by the principal Arabian historians, Bo- 
 haeddin and the author of the Phatah. Although Christian writers have 
 not spoken of it, it would be diffic;ult to cast doubt upon, or weaken the 
 evidence of Arabian authors, w^ho were ocular witnesses, and were them- 
 selves mixed up with the affair. It is this negotiation that gave Madame 
 Cottin the idea of her romance of Mathilda, or the Crusades; a work 
 full of eloquent pictures and heroic sentiments, drawn from the history 
 of chivalry.
 
 492 HISTOET OF THE CSrSADES. 
 
 the Christian bishops, ^-hen they were informed of it, 
 expressed the strongest indignation, and threatened both 
 Jane and Eichard ^^"ith the thunders of the Church. 
 
 The execution of this plan appeared impossible in the 
 midst of a religious war ; and everything leads us to believe 
 that Saladin only affected to give it attention that he might 
 gain time to fortify Jerusalem, which the Christians still 
 demanded of him. Skilful workmen from Aleppo were, by 
 his orders, employed in widening the ditches and repairing 
 the walls. Among the Mussulman workmen were two 
 thousand Christian prisoners, condemned to rebuild the 
 fortresses occupied by the infidels. Saladin encouraged the 
 labours by his presence and his example, animating the zeal 
 of the people and soldiers by frequently reminding them of 
 the ^'ictories of the Mussulmans, andof the massacre of their 
 brethren slaughtered before Ptolemais. 
 
 The conquest of the holy city was the object of the war, — 
 the great reward promised to the labonrs of the crusaders ; 
 and they at leugth earnestly pressed Eichard to march 
 towards Jerusalem. He was obliged to yield to their impa- 
 tience, and led them as far as Bethonopolis,* situated 
 between Ascalon and the capital of Palestine. At the 
 approach of the Franks, Saladin ordered all the country 
 through which their army must pass to be laid waste. By 
 the commands of the sultan the ramparts of Eamla and 
 Lidda, with the fortress of Xitro, were demolished. All the 
 routes which led to Jerusalem were sruarded by Mussidman 
 cavalry, who unceasingly harassed the Christians, and pre- 
 vented their receiving provisions from Ptolemais or other 
 maritime cities. 
 
 In proportion with their approximation to Jerusalem, the 
 enthusiasm and ardour of the Crusaders increased ; but 
 Eichard and most of the leaders did not at all partake of the 
 impatience of the soldiers. The Christian army was only 
 one day's march from the sea-coast, and yet want of pro- 
 visions began to be sensibly felt. If in the plains of Ptole- 
 
 • M. Paultre, in his manuscript history of the states of Syria, believes 
 that this city, so named by the historians of the crusade, is the citv of 
 Eleutberopolis, situated nine or ten leases east of Ascalon, on the road 
 to Jerusalem, in a valley crossed by the torrent of Ascalon, seven leagues 
 west of Jerusalem, and sLt of Rair.la.
 
 IIISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 493 
 
 mais, where the Crusaders could look for provisions to the 
 Mediterranean, they had experienced all the horrors of 
 famine, what miseries had they not reason to expect under 
 the walls of Jerusalem ? Mussulman troops were encamped 
 in the plains of Jericho and Hebron, and in the country of 
 jSaplouse, and had the power at all times to throw succour 
 into Jerusalem, if that city were besieged by the Christians. 
 Winter, besides, was beginning to create a dread of conta- 
 gious diseases ; the leaders of the army were divided among 
 themselves, and even the sight of danger could scarcely bring 
 them to act in concert. All these circumstances produced 
 doubt and irresolution in the minds of Kichard and the most 
 prudent of the barons and knights. 
 
 Hichard entertained hopes that Saladin would come and 
 offer him battle, and that a victory would at once throw open 
 the gates of Jerusalem to him ; but the sultan, who had 
 proved the strength and bravery of the Christians at Arsur, 
 was not willing to expose his conquests to the hazard of a 
 battle. E-ichard, on his part, dreaded the perils and fatigues 
 of a protracted siege, and suddenly led back his army to the 
 plains of Ascalou. 
 
 The multitude of the Crusaders, who were ignorant of or 
 did not appreciate the motives of the king of England, only 
 obeyed him with murmurs, and most of the leaders, declared 
 enemies of E-ichard, mingled their complaints with those of 
 the soldiers. Several dissatisfied Crusaders deserted the 
 standards which no longer pointed out to them the road to 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Whilst the army was marching despondingly back to the 
 plains of Ascalon, the Genoese and Pisans, continually at 
 variance, broke into open war within the walls of Ptolemais. 
 Conrad took part with the Grenoese, whilst the king of 
 England as eagerly defended the Pisans, and terminated 
 tliis civil war by forcing Conrad and the Grenoese to retreat 
 to the city of Tyre. 
 
 Amidst these sanguinary disputes, Conrad, who had an 
 ambassador at the court of Saladin, unable longer to endure 
 the authority of liichard, entered into an alliance with the 
 Mussulmans. Saladin, by treaty, abandoned to the marquis 
 of Tyre all the cities the latter might take from the Chris- 
 tians, and promised to aid him in his conquests, only re-
 
 494 niSTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 
 
 servine: the "bootv for the Mussulman soldiers. This treaty, 
 dictated bv hatred to Eichard, was the signal for the death 
 of Conrad; a very short time afterwards the marquis of 
 Tyre perished by an unknowTi hand. 
 
 English authors assert that Conrad had had quarrels with 
 the chief of the IsmaeHans, and that he was assassinated by 
 the orders of this redoubtable enemv. Two youusj slaves left 
 the voluptuous gardens, in which their master had brought 
 them up, to execute his vengeance. They arrived at T^Te, 
 and, in order to conceal their purpose the better, received 
 baotism. Thev engaged tliemselves in the serm-e of Conrad, 
 and remained six months- about his person, apparently only 
 occupied in offering up prayers to the God of the Christians. 
 One day, as the marquis was coming from dining with the 
 bishop of Beauvais, the two Ismaelians attacked him, and 
 "wounded him mortally. ^Iiilst the people congregated 
 tumultuously, one of the assassins fled into a neighboiunng 
 church, into which, likewise, the bleeding marquis was 
 borne. The Ismaeiian, who had concealed himself, suddenly 
 rushed through the crowd, and again falling upon Conrad, 
 struck him repeatedly with his dagger, till he was quite 
 dead. The two assassins were seized, and both died amidst 
 tortures, without uttering a single gi'oan, or naming the 
 person who had employed them to take away the life of the 
 marquis of Tyre.* 
 
 The continuator of Tabarv savs that Saladin had offered 
 the Old Man of the Mountains ten thousand pieces of gold 
 if he would cause the marquis of Tyre and the king of 
 England to be assassinated ; but the prince of the moun- 
 taui, adds the same historian, did not think proper to deliver 
 Saladin entirely from his war with the Franks, and only 
 performed half of that which had been required of him. 
 The Christians did not attribute the death of Conrad to 
 Saladm, but many among them accused Eichard of it. A 
 short time after the murder, a letter was published, in which 
 the lord of the mountain avowed himsell' to be the author 
 of the assassination ; but this letter bore no character of 
 authenticitv about it. The savage lord of the mountain 
 
 * The assassination of Conrad is thus related in the continuator of 
 Tahary. — See the MS. of D. Berthereau.
 
 HISTORY OF TUE CETJSADES. 495 
 
 coiild not write, and could have no interest in making the 
 apology of a Christian prince.* The king of England him- 
 self strengthened the public suspicions by taking possession 
 of Tyre, and giving the widow of Conrad in marriage to his 
 nephew, the count of Champagne. However it may be, 
 this accusation, which was accredited among the Christians, 
 announced plainly the idea they entertained of the character 
 of Eichard. The account of the death of Conrad soon 
 reached Europe, and Philip Augustus, dreading the same 
 fate, no longer appeared in public without being surrounded 
 by a guard. The court of France accused Eichard of the 
 blackest attempts ; but it is probable that Philip, on this 
 occasion, showed more fear than he really felt, in order to 
 render his rival the more odious, and to arm against him the 
 hatred of the pope, and the indignation of all the princes of 
 Christendom. 
 
 After the death of Conrad, Eichard had no rivals to sus- 
 pect, or enemies to fight with among the Christians ; the 
 opinion even that was entertained of his character, only 
 served to augment his authority, by creating a dread of his 
 hatred or vengeance. He took advantage of a moment, in 
 which Saladin disbanded part of his army, to get possession 
 of the castle of Darcum, built upon the confines of Pales- 
 tine, towards Egypt. He undertook several other enter- 
 prises, which spread terror and surprise among the Sara- 
 cens ; and, all at once, to satisfy the wishes of the Crusaders, 
 marched towards Jerusalem, in which city Saladin had shut 
 himself up with all the troops he could gather together. At 
 the approach of the Christians, the sidtan convoked his 
 emirs, and made them swear, on the stone of Jacob, to be 
 buried beneath the ruins of the city rather than yield it up 
 to the soldiers of Eichard. 
 
 The Christian army encamped at the foot of the moun- 
 tains of Judea, all the passes of which were guarded by the 
 troops of Saladin and the Saracen peasants of Naplouse and 
 Hebron. As Eichard di^ew near to Jerusalem, his aversion 
 
 * Our author's argument is very weak here. Gibbon says :— " I can- 
 not believe that a soldier so free and fearless in the use of his lance as 
 Richard, would have descended to whet a dagger against his valiant 
 brother Conrad de Montferrat. "—Z>edme and Fall, vol. viii. p. 426.— 
 Trans.
 
 496 uisTOEY or the crusjjjes. 
 
 to the idea of allowing the duke of Austria and the duke of 
 Bui'Ofundy to share in such a glorious conquest increased ; 
 whilst ther were not at all willinor to assist the kiasr of 
 England in an enterprise that would so much augment his 
 pride and renown. Erery time that he proposed to proceed 
 against the holy city, the zeal of the leaders of the army 
 appeared to cool;* and when Eichard sought to defer the 
 conquest, most of them endeavoured to arouse the enthu- 
 siasm of the Crusaders, and repeated the oath they had 
 taken to deliver the tomb of Christ. Thus the proximity to 
 Jerusalem, which ought to have united the Christians more 
 firmly, only served to increase their di^'isions, and spread 
 trouble, disorder, and discouragement through the whole 
 armv. 
 
 The Christians were but a few leagues from Jerusalem, 
 and the council assembled to determine what steps must be 
 taken. Manv of the leaders thouorht that thev ouiiht at 
 once to besiege the city, and spoke of the consternation 
 of the Mussulmans. The soldiers of Saladin, said they, 
 had not forgotten the evils of Ptolema'is, and trembled at 
 the idea of again shutting themselves within the ramparts 
 of a citv. Eusdtives from Jerusalem had informed them that 
 the presence even of Saladin could not keep up the spirits of 
 the soldiers, and that all the inhabitants, seized with terror, 
 were upon the point of fiying to Damascus. 
 
 They who maintained an opposite opinion, among whom 
 was Eichard, thought that the reports spread regarding the 
 disposition of the Mussulmans were but a snare of Saladin's, 
 by which he hoped to lure the Crusaders into places in 
 which he could destrov them without fi2:htino:. "At the 
 moment in which we are speaking," said they, "the Mus- 
 
 * It is difficult to follow the accounts of several historians at this 
 period, who affirm that Richard was not willing to take Jerusalem. M. 
 Paultre, a distinguished officer who made ihe campaign of 1799, has fur- 
 nished us with all the means of understanding the old chronicles, and to 
 appreciate their testimony. Historians, from ignorance of the country, 
 are often deceived with resjiect to military events. The situation of 
 places and a knowledge of tlie country are often the best commentaries 
 we can have upon the old historians of the crusades. M. Paultre has 
 MmseLf related part of the events which we repeat ; and his account, 
 which he hais kindly confided to us, has giren us useful information, which 
 will throw light upon this part of onr history.
 
 HISTOIIY OF THE CEUSADES. 497 
 
 sulmau cavalry surround the plain on wliich our army is 
 encamped. It is difficult and dangerous to advance across 
 the mountains of Judea. The roads, bordered bj precipices, 
 are, in many places, cut through the solid rock, and are 
 dominated by steep heights, from -which ill-armed peasants 
 will be sufficient to crush, or at least to stop the columns of 
 the Christians. How are we to transport through such 
 narrow passes our baggage, our machines, or our munitions 
 of war ? If our bravery should succeed in surmounting all 
 these difficulties, will it be easy to keep up our communi- 
 cations with the coast ? If we are conquered, how shall 
 we make our retreat, pursued by the army of Saladin ?" 
 
 Opinions continued to be divided : the king of England 
 wished to retreat to Ascalon ; whilst the dukes of Austria 
 and Burgundy warmly maintained that they ought to march 
 towards Jerusalem. Twenty-four knights were selected to 
 determine upon the course that was to be adopted, and the 
 Christian army awaited their decision ^vith an impatience 
 mingled with fear. After having deliberated for some time, 
 the twenty-four knights concluded that the army could not 
 pursue its march without danger, and that the most 
 prudent plan would be to retreat towards the sea-coast. 
 Eichard, after having given the order for retreat, whether 
 he was sincerely afflicted, or whether he wished to regain 
 the confidence and esteem of the Crusaders, turned towards 
 Jerusalem with his eyes filled with tears, and covering his 
 face with his buckler, declared himself unworthy to behold a 
 city that he could not conquer. 
 
 The Crusaders once more turned their backs upon Jeru- 
 salem, which they had sworn so ofteii and so solemnly to 
 deliver, the soldiers totally unable to comprehend the policy 
 or intentions of their leaders. E-ichard, Avho had led the 
 Christian army towards the holy city, might at least be 
 accused of want of determination of purpose.* The un- 
 certainty of his plans completed the destruction of the 
 confidence which his skill and great military talents had 
 created; and tlie despair of the Crusaders put an end to 
 the fear of a chief they no longer loved. Discord broke out 
 with fresh fury ; such as remained partisans of Eichard, 
 
 * Gibbon's conclusion is very different. He says, "The laurels of Richard 
 were bUsted by the prudence or enry of his companions." — Trans.
 
 498 nisTOKT OF the chusades. 
 
 reproached his enemies "with misleading the spirit of the 
 army ; but all parties mutually accused each other of favour- 
 ing the cause of the infidels. As is generally the case in 
 unsuccessful wars, perfidy and treachery were the subjects 
 most current among the Crusaders. 
 
 The most violent complaints were uttered against Richard, 
 who replied to his enemies in a strain of high-minded bra- 
 very, worthy of an Amadis or a Roland. At the head of a 
 weak detachment, he took a convoy of seven thousand 
 camels on the way to Jerusalem ; on another occasion, going 
 on board a vessel with a few knights, he landed at Jafia, 
 where the banners of Saladin floated over the towers and 
 ramparts ; he pursued the conquerors sword in hand, and 
 forced them to abandon their temporaiy conquest. A few 
 days after, the king of England, with a troop of his chosen 
 knights, attacked a body of seven thousand Mussulman 
 horse ; he rushed in amongst them, and with a stroke of his 
 sabre struck dead at his feet the leader of the Saracens, who 
 all appeared stupified and motionless witli surprise and fear. 
 
 But all these perils and all this glory were lost for the 
 cause of the Cliristians. Richard became every day more 
 odious to his associates ; the duke of Burgundy with the 
 French retired discontented to Ptolema'is ; the Grennans, 
 commanded by the duke of Austria, quitted Palestine, and 
 Richard remained alone with the English.* Hitherto the 
 king of England, as he himself told the ambassadors of 
 Saladin, had taken but little interest in the deliverance of 
 the holy places, and had only performed such prodigies 
 of valour to increase his fame in the Christian world. A 
 desire to eflace the glory of Philip, much more than a zeal for 
 religion, governed him in his contests with the Saracens ; he 
 underwent the labours of the holy war in the hope that his 
 exploits in Palestine would assist him in triumphing over his 
 
 * The historian Bohaeddin rebates that Richard, in an interview with 
 Aboubeker, the ambassador of Saladin, said — " That he only sought for 
 a pretext to return to Europe ; that he took little interest in the affairs of 
 Palestine ; that the Christians could not stand against the Mussulman 
 power when deprived of his support; that a very small force would be 
 sufficient to take the few places they still possessed ; that the sultan need 
 not be difficult, as the peace would only be simulated, and would serve 
 to remove the only obstacle to the conquests of that prince." — See Life 
 of Saladin, by Marin.
 
 HISTORY OP THE CEUSADES. 499 
 
 rivals and enemies beyond tlie seas ; but as lie began to fear 
 being left without an army, and dreaded the enterprises 
 of Phdip, and the plots of his brother John, against his 
 Eiu-opean states, he determined to resume his negotiations 
 \Yith Saladin. The various thou2:hts that harassed his 
 mind, the shame of not having couquered Jerusalem, the 
 fear of losing his own kingdom, made him adopt and reject 
 resolutions of the most opposite nature. At one time he 
 determined upon returning to Europe without making peace 
 at all — first lie supplicated, then he menaced Saladin, and 
 endeavoured to frighten him, by spreading a report that the 
 pope was about to arrive in Palestine with an army of two 
 hundred thousand Crusaders. 
 
 Winter had not yet passed away, and the passage of the 
 Mediterranean was not without danger. "The sea is stormy," 
 wrote he one day to Saladin, " but I will brave its tempests, 
 and return to Europe if you are disposed to make peace. 
 But if you stdl desire war, I will brave all its perils, and will 
 lay siege to Jerusalem." Saladin was encamped in the 
 vicinity of Hamla, and called his emirs together to deliberate 
 upon the proposals of Kichard. "Up to this period," said 
 he, " we have fought with glory, and the cause of Islamism 
 has triumphed by our arms. I fear that death may surprise 
 me during a peace, and may prevent my terminating the 
 good work we have begun. Since Grod gives us victory, he 
 commands us to continue the war, and we ought to obey his 
 ■\^tLi." Most of the emirs applauded the courage and firm- 
 ness of Saladin, but they represented to him, " that the cities 
 were without defence, and the provinces were devastated; 
 the fatigues of war had weakened the Mussulman army ; the 
 horses wanted forage, and provisions for the soldiers were 
 dearer than gold." "If we reduce the Franks to despair," 
 added they, " they may still overcome us, and wrest all our 
 victories from our hands. It is wise to observe the maxim 
 of the Koran, which orders us to grant peace to our enemies 
 when they ask it. Peace will give us time to fortify our 
 cities, to recruit our forces, and resume the war with advan- 
 tage ; when the Pranks, always faithless in treaties, will 
 offer us fresh pretexts for attacking them." 
 
 Saladin plainly perceived by this speech of his emirs, that 
 the greater part of the Saracen warriors were beginning to 
 
 Vol. I.— 23
 
 500 UISTORY OE THE CEUSADES. 
 
 lose the ardour and zeal they had evinced for the cause of 
 Islamism. The sultau was abandoned by sereral of his 
 auxiliaries, and dreaded the appearance of division in 
 his own empire. The armies were close to each other, 
 and the dust which arose from the two camps, says an 
 Arabian author, mingled in the air and formed but one 
 cloud. Keither the Christians nor the Mussulmans showed 
 the least impatience to go beyond the boundaries of their 
 ramparts and ditches, and both being equally tired of the 
 war, it became the interest of the two leaders to make 
 peace. The disposition of the minds of the combatants, 
 with the impossibility of pursuing any warlike enterprises, 
 at length led to the adoption of a truce for three years and 
 eight months.* 
 
 It was determined that Jerusalem should be open to the 
 devotion of the Christians, and that they should hold all the 
 seacoast from Jaffa to Tyre. The Saracens and the Chris- 
 tians had both claims upon Ascalon, which M'as considered 
 as the key to Egypt, and which the Arabs called the spouse 
 of Syria. To terminate these disputes, it was agreed that 
 this city should be again demolished. It is not unwortliy 
 of remark, tliat not a word was said about the true cross, 
 which had been the subject of the first negotiations, and for 
 which Eichard had sent several ambassadors to Saladin. The 
 principal leaders of the two armies swore, on the one side 
 upon the Koran, and on the other upon the Gospel, to 
 observe the conditions of the treaty. Eoyal majesty assumed 
 something more imposing and august than even the sanctity 
 of an oath, for the sultan and the king of England contented 
 themselves with givmg their word and touching the hands 
 of the ambassadors. 
 
 All the Mussulman and Christian princes of Syria were 
 in\'ited to sign the treaty concluded between Eichard and 
 Saladin. Among those who were called upon to be guaran- 
 tees of the peace, neither the prince of Antioch, who had 
 taken little share in the war, nor the chief of the Ismaelians, 
 the enemy of both Christians and Mussuhnans, was forgot- 
 
 * The Latin historians say that the truce was for three years, three 
 months, three weeks, and three days. We prefer the version of the Oriental 
 writers, who say that the truce was for three years and eight months. 
 Omad, whose account we adopt, declares he wrote the treaty with his own 
 hand.
 
 HISTOllY OF THE CRUSADES. 501 
 
 tcD. Gruy de Lusignan alone was not named in tlie treaty. 
 This prince enjoyed a momentary importance from tlie dis- 
 sensions he had given birth to, and sunk into oblivion as 
 soon as fresh subjects of discord arose among the Crusaders. 
 Despoiled of his kingdom, he obtained that of Cyprus, a far 
 more real possession, but for which he was obliged to pay 
 the Templars, to whom Eichard had sold it. Palestine was 
 ceded to Henry, count of Champagne, the new husband of 
 that Isabella who appeared to be promised to all the pre- 
 tenders to the crown of Jerusalem, and who, by a singular 
 destiny, had married three kings, without being able to 
 ascend a throne. 
 
 The conclusion of the peace was celebrated by tourna- 
 ments and festivities, inwhicli the Mussulmans and Christians 
 laid aside the fanaticism and hatred which had led them to 
 shed so much blood. Most of the warriors of the West, by 
 the invitation of Saladin, visited the holy places they had been 
 unable to deliver, and then embarked for Europe. At the 
 moment of departure, the French lost the duke of Burgundy, 
 who fell sick and died in the city of Tyre, as he was pre- 
 paring to leave Palestine. 
 
 Thus. finished this third crusade, in which all the western 
 powers in arms obtained no greater advantages than the 
 taking of Ptolemais and the demolition of Ascalon ; in it 
 Germany lost, without glory, one of the greatest of its 
 emperors and the finest of its armies. If we may believe 
 Arabian authors, six hundred thousand Crusaders appeared 
 before Ptolemais, and scarcely one hundred thousand of 
 these warriors saw their native country again. Europe had 
 the greater reason to deplore the losses of this war, from the 
 fact of her armies having been so much better composed than 
 in preceding expeditions ; criminals, adventurers, and vaga- 
 bonds, had been strictly excluded from the ranks. All that 
 the West could boast of the most noble and illustrious of its 
 warriors had taken up arms. 
 
 The Crusaders that contended mth Saladin were better 
 armed and better disciplined than any that preceded them in 
 Palestine ; the foot-soldiers employed the cross-bow, which 
 had been neglected or prohibited in the second crusade. 
 
 * Gibbon says, — " A personal interview with Richard was declined by 
 Saladin, who alleged their mutual ignorance of each other's language." — 
 Vol. viii. p. 429. —Trans.
 
 502 HiSTonr or the CErsADEs. 
 
 Their cuirasses, and tlieir bucklers covered with thick leather, 
 defied the arrows of the Saracens ; and on the field of battle, 
 soldiers were often seen bristling M^ith arrows and darts, 
 whom the Arabs compared to porcupines, still keeping their 
 ranks and fighting bravely. The Saracens had likewise made 
 some progress in the art of war, and began to resume the use 
 of the lance, whch they did not employ when the first Cru- 
 saders arrived in Svria. The Mussulman armies were not 
 confused multitudes ; they remained longer under their 
 banners, and fought with less disorder. The Curds and 
 Turks surpassed the i'ranks in the art of attacking and 
 defending cities and castles. The Mussulmans had, besides, 
 more than one advantage over the Crusaders ; they made 
 war upon their own territories and in their own climate ; they 
 were under the command of one single leader, who communi- 
 cated the same spirit to all, and only presented to them one 
 cause to defend. 
 
 In this crusade the Pranks appeared to be more polished 
 than they had been till that time. Great monarchs making 
 war against each other without ceasing to give evidences of 
 mutual esteem and generous feeling, was a new spectacle for 
 the world. Subjects followed the example of their princes, 
 and lost beneath the tent much of their barbarism. The 
 Crusaders were sometimes admitted to the table of Saladiu, 
 and emirs received at that of Eichard. By thus mingling 
 together, Saracens and Chi'istians might make a happy 
 exchange of usages, manners, knowledge, and even virtues. 
 
 The Christians, rather more enlightened than during the 
 first crusades, stood in less need of excitement from the 
 visions of fanaticism. The passion for glory was for them 
 almost as powerful a principle as religious entliusiasm. 
 Chivalry also made great progress in this crusade ; it was 
 held in such honour, and the title of k^'ight was so glorious, 
 even in the eves of the infidels, that Saladin did not disdain 
 to be decorated with it. 
 
 The sentiment of honour, and the humanity which is 
 inseparable from it, often dried tears that the disasters of 
 war had caused to flow ; tender and ATrtuous passions associ- 
 ated themselves in the minds of heroes with the austere 
 maxims of religion and the sanguinary images of battle. 
 Amidst the comiption of camps, love, by inspiring the
 
 HTSTOET OF THE CEUSADES. 603 
 
 kniglits and troubadours who had taken the cross with noble 
 and delicate sentiments, preserved them from the seductions 
 of gross debauchery. More than one warrior, animated by 
 the remembrance of beauty, caused his bravery to be greatly 
 admired, whilst fighting against the Saracens. It was in this 
 crusade that the Chatelain de Coucy fell, mortally wounded, 
 by the side of King Eichaed. In a song, which is still 
 extant, he had bid adieu to Prance, saying that he went to 
 the Holy Land to obtain three things of inestimable value to 
 a knight, — Paradise, glory^ and the love of his mistress* A 
 chronicle of the middle ages relates, that after he had 
 received a mortal wound and was about to breathe his last 
 siirh, the faithful Chatelain first confessed himself to the 
 legate of the Pope, and then charged his squire to bear his 
 heart to the lady de Payel. The last commands of Coucy, 
 and the horrible banquet that a cruel husband caused to be 
 served up to the victim of his jealousy, show at once what 
 chivalry could inspire of the most touching kind, and that 
 which the manners of the twelfth century could exhibit of 
 the most barbarous. f The troubadours celebrated in their 
 songs the chivalric love of the noble Chatelain, and the 
 despair of the beautiful De Vergy, when she learnt she had 
 eaten the heart of her faithful knight. If we may believe 
 old chronicles, the lord de Payel, pursued by remorse and the 
 opinion of his contemporaries, was obliged to go to the Holy 
 Land, to expiate his crime and the death of his unfortunate 
 wife. 
 
 In this crusade, in which so many knights rendered them- 
 
 * L'amour de sa mie. — Trans. 
 
 t The adventures of the Chatelain de Coucy and the lady de Fay el are 
 related in an old chronicle quoted by the President Faucher. There 
 exists in the Imperial Library a manuscript copy of this chronicle, which 
 appears to have been written towards the beginning of the thirteenth 
 century, a short time after the third crusade. M. Roquefort, whose 
 authority is of great weight in all which concerns the middle ages, does 
 not appear to adopt the account of the chronicle quoted in his article 
 ♦' Coucy" of La Biograpfde Universelle, and is of the opinion of Father 
 Papon, who attributes the adventure of the Chatelain to the troubadour 
 Cabestan. We may object to M. Roquefort, that the adventure of 
 Cabestan is not the same as that of Coucy, and that one may be true 
 without rendering the other doubtful. We find in the works of Belloy 
 a dissertation which has not been refuted, which proves the truth, if not of 
 some details, of the principal facts related in the chronicle we have quoted.
 
 50^ msTOiir or tile ceusades. 
 
 selves illustrious, two men acquired an immortal glory, one 
 by a useless bravery, and qualities more brilliant than solid, 
 the other by real successes and virtues that mi^^ht have 
 served as models to Christians. The name of Eichard re- 
 mained during a century the terror of the East, and the 
 Saracens and Turks celebrated him in their proverbs a long 
 time after the crusades. He cultivated letters, and merited 
 a place among the troubadours ; but the arts did not at all 
 soften his character ; it was his ferocitv as well as his courag^e 
 that procured him the surname of Cceur de Lion. Carried 
 awav bv the inconstancy of his inclinations, he often chancjed 
 his projects, his affections, and his principles of action ; he 
 sometimes braved religion, and very often devoted himself to 
 its service. Sometimes hicredLdous, as often superstitious ; 
 measureless in his hatred as in his friendship, he was extra- 
 vao^ant in evervthiuEf, and only showed himself constant in 
 his love for war. The passions which animated him scarcely 
 ever permitted his ambition to have an aim or a determinate 
 object. His imprudence, his presumption, and the unsteadi- 
 ness of his plans, made him lose the fruits of his exploits. 
 In a word, the hero of this crusade is more calculated to 
 excite surprise than to create esteem, and appears to belong 
 less to history than to the romances of chivalry. 
 
 AYith less rasliness and bravery than Eichard, Saladin 
 possessed a more firm character, one far better calculated 
 to carry on a religious war. He paid more attention to the 
 results of his enterprises ; more master of himself, he was 
 more fit to command others. AVhen mountinc: the throne 
 of the Atabeks, Saladin obeyed rather his destiny than his 
 inclinations ; but when once firmly seated, he was governed 
 by only two passions, — that of reigning, and that of securing 
 the triumph of the Koran. On all other subjects he was 
 moderate, and when a kiugdom or the glory of the prophet 
 was not in question, the son of Ayoub was admired as the 
 most just and mild of Mussulmans. We may add that the 
 stern devotion* and ardent fanaticism that made him take 
 up arms against the Christians, only rendered him cruel and 
 
 * Saladin had but little indulgence in religious matters. The Abbe 
 Renaudot, in his manuscript history, relates that he caused a philosopher 
 to be strangled who ventured to preach new doctrines in the city of 
 Aleppo.
 
 IIISTOEY OF THE CEUSADES. 505 
 
 btirbarous in one single instance. He displayed the virtues 
 of peace amidst the horrors of war. " From the bosom of 
 camps," says an Oriental poet, " lie covered the nations tvith 
 the wings of his justice, and poured upon his cities the plen- 
 teous showers of his liherality.'''' The Mussulmans, always 
 governed by fear,* were astonished that a sovereign could 
 inspire them with so much love, and followed him with joy 
 to battle. His generosity, his clemency, and particularly 
 his respect for an oath, were often the subjects of admiration 
 to the Christians, whom he rendered so miserable by his 
 victories, and of Avhose power in Asia he had completed the 
 overthrow. t 
 
 * To know the character and virtues of Saladin, it is sufficient to quote 
 the discourse he addressed to his son El-daher, to whom he had confided 
 the government of a province : — " My son," said he, " you are about to 
 reign over states that I have bestowed upon you. My infirmities give me 
 reason to fear that I may never see you again; I recommend you, then, 
 my son, as my last command, to love and honour God, who is the source of 
 all good, and to observe the precepts of his law ; for your welfare depends 
 upon it. Spare human blood, for fear it should fall again upon your own 
 head ; for blood once shed never sleeps. Endeavour to gain the hearts of 
 your subjects ; administer justice, and be as careful of their interests as 
 of your own. You will have to render an account to God of this trust 
 which I confide to you in his name. Show respect and condescension for 
 the emirs, the imauns, the caliphs, and all persons placed in authority. It 
 is only by mildness and clemency that I have attained the elevated posi- 
 tion in which you behold me. We are all mortal, O my son 1 entertain 
 then no malice, no hatred against any one. Be careful, above all things, 
 to offend nobody ; men only forget injuries when they have revenged 
 them, whilst God grants us pardon for our errors for a simple repentance ; 
 for he is beneficent and merciful." This speech of Saladin to his son has 
 been transmitted to us by Bohaeddin, who heard it delivered. — See the 
 Life of Saladin, by Marin, book xiii. 
 
 t Although, happily, the time is gone by in which an English writer 
 would break a lance in defence of the entire character of Richard, much 
 as I admire the general reflections and spirit of ray author, I cannot but 
 think he has scarcely done him justice. His faults are always thrown into 
 high relief, whilst his good qualities, — for he had some, — are either shaded 
 or entirely concealed. la the disputes which his position naturally drew 
 him into, his antagonists are always made to be in the right, Richard in 
 the wrono-. Not a single act is recorded before Ptolemais, and yet Richard 
 had five thousand prisoners ; most authors say three thousand, but the 
 larger number is assumed, for the sake of the massacre. The more 
 eminent the exploits of Richard, in an army constituted like that of the 
 Crusaders, the greater were sure to be the envy and hatred of his fellow- 
 leaders. Richard is no worse than other heroes of the sword, from
 
 506 nisTOEY or the crusades. 
 
 The third crusade, -which was so glorious for Saladin, was 
 not entirelv -uithout advantages for Europe. Manv Cru- 
 saders on the way to Palestine, stopped in Spain, and by 
 their rictories over the Moors, prepared the deliverance of 
 the kingdoms situated beyond the Pyrenees. A great 
 number of Germans, as in the second crusade, prevailed 
 upon by the solicitations of the pope, made war upon the 
 barbarous inhabitants of the shores of the Baltic, and thus, 
 by useful exploits, extended the limits of the Christian re- 
 public in the AVest. As in this war the greater part of the 
 Crusaders went to Palestine bv sea, the art of navig^ation 
 made a sensible advance ; the maritime nations of Europe 
 acquired an accession of prosperity, their fleets became more 
 formidable, and they were able, with glory, to dispute the 
 empire of the sea with the Saracens. 
 
 In several states of Europe, commerce, and the spirit of 
 the holy wars contributed to the enfranchisement of the 
 lower classes. Many serfs, upon becoming free, took up 
 arms. It was not one of the least interesting spectacles of 
 this crusade, to see the standards of several cities of Erance 
 and Germany floating in the Christian army amongst the 
 banners of lords and barons. 
 
 This crusade was particularly beneficial to Erance, from 
 which it banished both civil and foreign wars. By prolonging 
 the absence of the great vassals and the enemies of the 
 kkigdom, it weakened their power, and gave Philip Augustus 
 authority to levy imposts, even upon the clergy. It afforded 
 him an opportunity of surrounding his throne with a faithful 
 guard, to keep up regular armies, and prepare, though at a 
 distance,* that victory of Bovines which proved so fatal to 
 the enemies of Erance. 
 
 A long captirity awaited Eichard on his return to Europe. 
 The vessel in which he embarked was shipwrecked on the 
 coast of Italy, and fearing to pass through Erance, he took 
 
 Achilles downward. I greatly fear it is his successful rivalry with the 
 more astute French monarch that is the cause of this bias. Against the 
 comparison with Saladin I say nothing — Saladin was a greater man than 
 Richard. — Trans. 
 
 * This crusade terminated in 1192 ; the battle of Bovines was fought 
 in 1214.— Trans.
 
 HISTOKY or THE CKUSADES. 507 
 
 the route of Germany, concealed under the hahit of a simple 
 pilgrim. His liberality betrayed the monarch, and as he 
 had enemies everyAvhere, he was seized bv the soldiers of 
 the duke of Austria. Leopold had. not sutiicient generosity 
 to forget the outrages received from Eichard at the siege of 
 Ptolemais, and detained him prisoner. It was not known 
 in Europe what had become of King Eichard, when a gentle- 
 man of Arras, named Blondel, set out in search of his 
 master, and traversed Germany in the dress and with the 
 lyre of a minstrel. On his arrival before a castle, in which, 
 it was said, languished an illustrious captive, Blondel began 
 to sing the first couplet of a song which he had composed 
 in conjunction with Eichard. Erom the top of a high tower 
 a voice answered him, and sang the second couplet.* Then 
 the faithful troubadour returned into England to announce 
 that he had discovered the prison of the king. The duke of 
 Austria, terrified at this discovery, did not dare to detain 
 longer his redoubtable captive in his own hands, and gave 
 him up to the emperor of Germany. Henry VI., who had 
 likewise insults to revenge, was rejoiced to get Eichard in 
 his power, and kept him in chains, as if he had made him a 
 prisoner in the field of battle. The hero of the crusade, 
 who had filled the world with his renown, Avas cast iuto a 
 dark dungeon, and rem.ained a long time a victim to the 
 vengeance of his enemies — and they were Christian princes. 
 He was brought before the German diet, assembled at 
 Worms, where he was accused of all the crimes that hatred 
 and envy could invent. But the spectacle of a king in 
 chains was so affecting, that no one durst condemn Eichard, 
 
 * Our author bas given an extract from the interesting manuscript 
 which has furnished him with this account ; but it is so hjng, the French 
 is so old, and the story so well known, I have thought best to omit it — a 
 translation would spoil it. It is remarkable that the manuscript chronicle 
 makes Richard see Blondel, and sing Jirs-t — our author reverses this : — 
 Ensi com il estoit en cctte pensee, li rois regarde et vie Blondel, et pensa 
 comment li se feroit a lui connoistre, et li souvint d'une canchon que ils 
 avoient fait entre aus deux que nus ne savoit fois que il roi. Si com- 
 mencha haut et clerement a canter le premier vier, car il cantoit tres 
 bien. There appear to me discrepancies in the language of this manu- 
 script chronicle, which make the date of it, the thirteenth century, very 
 apocryphal. — Trans. 
 
 23*
 
 50S msTOET or the ceusades. 
 
 and when "he offered bis justification, the bishops and nobles 
 melted into tears, and besougbt Henry to treat bim with 
 less injustice and rigour. 
 
 Queen Eleanor implored all tbe powers of Europe for the 
 release of ber son. Tbe complaints and tears of a mother 
 touched tbe beart of Celestine, who bad recently ascended 
 tlie cbair of St. Peter. Tbe pope several times demanded 
 tbe bberty of tbe king of England, and even excommuni- 
 cated tbe duke of Austria and tbe emperor ; but tbe thunders 
 of the Cburcb bad so often been launched against tbe 
 tbrones of Germanv, tbat they no longer inspired fear, 
 Hem-^- braved tbe anathemas of tbe Holy kSee ; tbe capti\-ity 
 of Eicbard lasted another vear ; and be ouly obtained his 
 liberty after engaging to pay a considerable ransom. His 
 kingdom, which be had ruined at his departure for tbe Holy 
 Land, exhausted itself to hasten bis return ; and England 
 gave up even her sacred vases to break tbe chains of her 
 monarch. He was received with enthusiasm by tbe English ; 
 his adventures, which di-ew tears, obbt crated the remem- 
 brance of his cruelties, and Europe only recollected his 
 exploits and his misfortunes. 
 
 After the truce made %vith Eicbard, Saladin retired to 
 Damascus, where he enjoyed his glory but one year. Tbe 
 Orientals celebrate tbe edifying manner in which he died, 
 distributing: his alms or benevolences to Mussulmans and 
 Christians alike. Before he expired he ordered one of bis 
 officers to carry his shroud through tbe streets of his capital, 
 and to cry with a loud voice : '• Behold all that Saladin, 
 v:ho overcame the East, hears aivay of his conquests^ 
 
 Scarcely had he ceased to breathe, when nothing remained 
 but a vain remembrance of bis laws and bis victories ; his 
 death was attended by tbat which so frequently happens in 
 Oriental monarchies, where nothing is regulated concerning 
 tbe succession ; where victory appears to be tbe most legiti- 
 mate title, and where a too numerous offspring await the 
 death of the prince in fear, servitude, and in ignorance of 
 tbe affairs of tbe state. 
 
 Saladin only left behind bim slaves intimidated by his 
 glory and bis boundless power, who divided bis authority 
 among them, but could not support the weight of it.
 
 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES. 509 
 
 Twelve of bis sons and relatives succeeded him and dis- 
 puted the sovereignty. Malek-Adel, the brother of the 
 sultan, and companion in bis exploits, profited by the inex- 
 perience of his nephews, and took possession of Eg^-pt and 
 Mesopotamia. The most powerful of the emirs followed 
 bis example, and shared the cities and provinces amongst 
 them. Asia then beheld that empii-e fall to decay, which, 
 raised for the ruin of the Chi^istians, bad, in its growth and 
 progress, twice roused all the nations of the AYest to arms. 
 
 EITD OE VOL. I.
 
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