had of Plunder and that Avarice which is the governing Passion of these Barbarians blinded them in such sort that abandoning their advantageous Post they tumbled down from the Mountain in the greatest Disorder to fall upon the Camp which they believed they should rifle at their Discretion finding it without Defence But those who guarded it shewed them their Mistake and defended it so vigorously that the Emperor making a short Turn upon a Signal which was given him by Fire and Smoak charged them upon their Backs so that being shut in between two powerful Bodies they were most of them cutt in Pieces and the rest scattered leaving the Passage free to the victorious Army year 1190 Frederick nevertheless found it very difficult to believe that he was betrayed by the Sultan of Iconium in regard that his Ambassadors were still in his Retinue and they always highly disavowed these to be their Masters Troops but it was not long before he came to be disabused for about the Feast of the Ascension which was the third Day of May the Ambassadors took the Opportunity of the Night to steal away forcing along with them Godfrey the Emperor's Interpreter and in the same place where the Sultan Chisiastlan the Father of this had defeated the Army of the Emperor Manuel about fourteen Years before he found more than thirty thousand Men imbodied into an Army to oppose his Passage in the Straits which might easily be maintained by a very inconsiderable Number The Turks had gathered great heaps of Stones that so they might from the high Rocks shower them down out of their Slings upon the Christians upon whom also they might with ease tumble down huge pieces of the Craggs which they had before loosened for that purpose But Frederick very dexterously drew the Army out of that Danger also for having promised to a certain Prisoner that he would give him his Life upon Condition that he should as he offered for that Favour conduct the Army by another way over the Top of this Mountain which was three Miles in the Ascent he passed it the same Day though not without great Difficulty and with the Loss of above a thousand Horses and as many Beasts of Burthen who tumbled over the Precipices on the one Side and the other As soon as he was descended into the Plain he incamped there to refresh his Army a little in that place which was very commodious in regard of the plenty of Forrage But the Turks who with their dreadful Multitude filled all the Country having run from all parts during the whole Night the next Morning fell upon the Rereguard whilest that another Party of them having cut them off from the Van charged them in the Front This was one of the greatest and most dangerous Combats which happened in all the Voyage but the Dukes of Suabia and Moravia and the Marquis of Baden who commanded that Body combated with so much Courage and Conduct that they forced the Enemies to a shameful Flight after their having left a great many of their Number dead upon the place and without so much as the Loss of one Man though there were a great many wounded and among them Frederick the Son of the Emperor who had two of his Teeth broaken out by a Blow from a Sling a great part also of the Baggage was lost the less Valiant among the Turks having taken the Opportunity of the heat of the Fight to fall upon those who guarded it After this as the Troops of the Enemies increased daily more and more they gave such continual Alarms that the Souldiers were forced almost continually to stand to their Arms to defend themselves against these Infidels who attacked them Night and Day without Intermission though they were continually beaten and that one time among many that they ventured to attack the Camp by Night there were slain above six thousand of them and among the rest one hundred seventy four of their most considerable Officers But after all These Victories could not deliver the Army from the most terrible and dangerous of their Enemies which was Famine for all the Provisions which they had carried with them being either consumed by so long a March or lost with the Sumpters and that part of the Baggage which had been taken and all the Country being either Barren or Uninhabited or desolated by the Enemies who made a horrible Wast throughout the Army was forced to kill the Mules and Horses which would otherwise have been lost for want of Forrage so that there remained but a few of them and they so feeble and meagre that their Masters were so far from receiving the Benefit of being carried by them upon their March that they were forced to walk on foot and lead them by the Bridles Insomuch that I cannot but relate a pretty Adventure which happened thereupon and which the Historian Nicetas as much a Greek all over as he was yet thought fit to dedicate to the Memory of Posterity as a Prodigy of Valour comparable even to the Fables which have been invented to frame the Heroes of the first Ages A certain German Cavaleer of an extraordinary Force and Stature being mighty unwilling to part with his Horse who by reason of his Poverty was in no condition to carry him marched on foot year 1190 leading him softly at a good Distance from the rest of his Troop when he was presently set upon by fifty of the stoutest among the Turks who constantly hovered about the Army and who all together discharged their Arrows against him but this valiant Man regarding them with a Look fierce and contemptuous received them all upon a Buckler with which his left Arm was covered through which he had put his Bridle by which he held his Horse and holding his Sword in his other hand he kept still on his Way without so much as once stopping or turning till at last a Turk more resolute than his Companions leaving his Bow and putting Spurs to his Horse came galloping upon him with his Sable in his Hand and with all his Force discharged a mighty Blow upon the German which had no more effect than if he had struck it against a Rock whereupon the fierce Vndaunted perceiving that he could not make a sure Blow at the Rider who was too high for him he with a dreadful Reverse cut off both the Horses Foreleggs at the Knees and the poor Animal at the instant sinking upon his Stumps the Rider still sitting in the Saddle he discharged such a horrible Blow upon his Head that he cut him quite down to the very Saddle and wounded the Horse into the Bargain This so affrighted his Companions as well it might that taking the Souldier for some Daemon rather than for a Man they betook themselves to their Spurs as if the Devil had drive them leaving the Hero coolly and at leisure to pursue his way to the Camp where he arrived a good while after the rest The Emperor
the Shoar near the City seeing after they had fought most valiantly for a long time that it was impossible to resist the infinite number of the Sarasins who having on all sides surrounded them and making themselves Masters of the Vessel threw themselves in Shoals upon her they imitated Samson and resolved to bury themselves together with their Enemies for boreing Holes in the Ship they let in the Water so fast that during the Combat she sunk in a Moment to the Bottom nothing but the top of the main Mast appearing above the Water And certainly all had been lost if God in Mercy had not been intreated by the incessant Prayers and Tears of the Bishops who continued Night and Day in Prayers to implore his Pity and Compassion and that upon the third day he was pleased to cause the Tempest to cease so that the River returned to its Chanal and the Waters again came to their old Course to run within their Banks As soon as the Tempest was over the Army which had saved themselves by getting upon the higher Grounds returned to their Camp and some time after ten Soldiers Friselanders and Germans performed an Action so Heroick as astonished both the Sarasins and Christians who were equally the Spectators and Admirers of it For the Enemy having repaired their Bridge of Boats which hindred the Ships from passing up the River to the Place where the Army was resolved to pass the Nile these ten brave resolute Men having put themselves into two Shallops undertook to gain it and break the Bridge They set upon it then in open day and mounting it chased those who defended it with dreadful Blows of the Sword from their Posts and having made themselves Masters of it whilest some of them fought at the Entrance of the Bridge to defend it against all the Forces of the City year 1218 as sometimes the famous Horatius Cocles had done at Rome opposing the whole Army of Porsenna upon a Bridge of the Tiber others of them broak this Bridge of Boats and in despight of the fearful Tempest of Stones Darts and Wildfire which were showred upon them from the Ramparts and Towers of the City they brought off diverse of the Boats which composed the Bridge as it were in Triumph to their Companions who with the loud noise of Drums Trumpets and Acclamations celebrated the Praises of their Victory and an Action which well deserves to be consecrated to their eternal Glory and the Knowledge of Posterity by immortal History So that this Obstacle being removed all the Ships sailed up above the City year 1219 and the Engines being sitted for the Combat the Resolution was taken to pass to the other side of the River and Land in the sight of the Sultan who had fortified all the Bank with good Retrenchments behind which his Army was drawn up in Battalia in the great Lines which being ranged upon a rising Ground like a kind of Amphitheatre gave them the Opportunity of discharging all their Arrows and Darts together upon the Enemy without being in danger of hurting one another And in truth it did not only seem a most temerarious Action to attempt a Passage so well defended but wholly impossible to succeed But God was pleased in an instant to open it against all Appearance by one of the most extraordinary Events imaginable and which could not reasonably be attributed to any thing besides that Providence which he hath for those whom he hath taken into his Protection For the same Night which was the fourth or fifth of February and that all things were disposed to adventure the Passage the Morrow of the following Day the Sultan Meledin with his Emirs and the principal Commanders of the Army leaving in his Camp the most resolute of his Troops to receive the Enemy not doubting but they would be able to do it he posted with full speed towards Caire as if he had been pursued by a victorious Army after a mighty Overthrow nor could there ever be assigned any Reason for this precipitate Flight but that sort of Terror which God sometimes fills the Hearts of those withal whom he will punish and of which we find frequent Examples in the Holy Scriptures A Christian Renegade who had for a long time served the Sultan and who was big with the Desire of being the first Discoverer of a thing so astonishing came running to the Bank of the Nile and called aloud in French that they should pass over immediately for that the Sultan had forsaken his Men and was fled desiring them presently to send a Skiff as they did to take him in that so they might be the better assured of what he told them In this time the Army of the Sarasins seeing themselves abandoned by the Sultan believing themselves betrayed they disbanded and presently fled after him in the greatest Fear and Disorder So that the Christians ravished to see such a visible Effect of the divine Protection passed the River without Resistance but not altogether without Difficulty in regard that the Banks of the Nile were so Muddy and Slimy on that side that the Horses whom they led by the Bridles being up to the Saddle Skirts in the Quick-Sands and Quagmires did not gain the Bank without extreme Trouble which made it clearly appear that if there had been but a few Defendants it had been almost impossible to have forced it As soon as all the Army was passed over they entred into the Camp of the Sarasins which they plundred and then they took up their Quarters about the City which was invironed with good Lines and a great Ditch which was drawn from one Part to the other to the River Nile upon which they built a Bridge of Boats that so they might have a Communication with those who were incamped on the other side the River to guard the Ships upon which the Attack was to be made upon the side next the Water There was necessity however of making use of all manner of Precautions for as the City was extreme strong so there were in it fourty thousand Men who were resolved to make a brave Defence it was also Winter and many Diseases especially the Scurvy raged among the Soldiers and many died of them The Siege was like to prove long so that the Enemies had leisure to come to the Relief of the Besieged with potent Armies The first that appeared was Coradin who after he had gathered all the Troops that he possibly could in Syria year 1219 to which he joined all that could be drawn of the dismantled Garrisons he marched directly to Jerusalem and before he passed further he set on all hands to work to demolish that Holy City which then was held to be Impregnable he â—ased the Walls and all the Towers to the very Foundations the Tower of David only excepted which could not defend it self singly and in short reduced that strong and famous City to the condition of a miserably Village either that
the one side and the other but especially of the Sarasins who left among the Slain with which the whole Field was covered the Valiant Fracardin their General and divers of their Admirals who were surprized and slain in the Camp The King with those few Men who escaped this bloody Day lodged himself near the Machins which had been taken and which the brave Gaucher de Chastillon to whom the King gave the Guard of them preserved notwithstanding all the Attempts which the Sarasins who were posted close by vainly made under the savour of the darkness to recover them The two following Days were imployed in fortifying the Camp and passing over the greatest part of the Troops which were in the Duke of Burgundy's Camp on the other side the River and certainly this diligence was no more than necessary for the King was advertised by his Spies upon the Thursday in the evening that he who succeeded Fracardin was resolved to attack the Camp the next morning with their whole Army which had received a great reinforcement from Grand Caire For this new General whom the Sarasins had chosen for his extraordinary Valour and admirable Conduct having caused to be carried round the Camp upon the top of a Lance the Coat of Arms of the Count d' Artois which was richly Embroidered with his Arms the Flowers de Lys Or caused it to be Proclaimed that it was the King himself who was slain and that the Christian Army being in the utmost Consternation after the loss of their King and so many gallant Men as were slain in the Battle they ought to Attack them instantly in those feeble retrenchments without giving them leisure to recover or to save themselves The Sarasins who believed that they were to be led to a certain Victory and to the Booty rather than the Combate by their great shouts of Joy witnessed that they were ready to march against the Enemy and accordingly it was resolved that they should go the next Morning to attack the Christians in their Camp The King who had received this advice made very good use of it for having disposed all things during the Night for the receiving the Enemy he caused the Army to disloge about break of Day and divided it into eight Bodies year 1250 which he placed in Battalia before the Retrenchments which lay all along the bank of the River the Army was drawn up all upon one line that so they might possess the whole length of the Camp and make head against the Enemies in all places if they should attack them on all sides at once as by reason of their infinite multitude it might very well be imagined they would The Count d' Anjou who commanded the first Body was upon the Right hand above the River towards Caire and had a this left Guy d' Ibelin the Constable and Baldwin his Brother High Steward of Cyprus who lead the Auxiliaries of that Kingdom The Valiant Gaucher de Chastillon followed with the third Body composed of the brave Nobility and Gentry of France William Sonnac Great Master of the Temple made the fourth with the little remainder of his Knights Gui de Malvoisin one of the stoutest Knights of the Army led the fifth The Earl of Flanders was with his Body posted in the place where the Retrenchments turned towards the River to secure the Camp on that side Joinville Seneschal of Champagne was upon his left drawing down to the River and the Count de Poitiers who was next him appeared alone upon Horseback at the head of a great Battalion which made the last of the Bodies to whom Josserand de Brianson who came along with him joyned himself with twenty of his Knights who fought that Day on Foot so that the two Princes the Brothers of the King had the two Wings of the Army The General of the Sarasins who observed it and who was a great Captain ranged his Men also according to the order of the Kings Army and extended himself upon two great lines which answered to the length of the Retrenchments He placed all his old Souldiers upon the first dividing them into so many Battalions which were sustained by his best Horse which were drawn up in a separate Body before the Army All his Battalions were incomparably stronger than the Christians and he strengthened them more or less according as he observed the opposite Battalions which they were to encounter were Stronger or Weaker For as for Cavalry the French had but a few the greatest part of the Horses having been either killed or wounded in the last ingagement Upon the second Line he ranged an infinite number of new Troops which were come to him from Caire and all the upper Egypt The Armies stood thus facing one another till about Noon when the Sarasins began to move from all p arts and with dreadful shouts mingled with the sound of an infinite number of Drums Trumpets and Cornets they charged upon all the French Battalions all together with so much Fury that those who had for a long time been acquainted with the Wars in the East assure us that they had never seen the like in all the Battles wherein they had fought against the Sarasins For at the same time that some of them discharged their Darts and Arrows in infinite Numbers to disorder the Christians the first Ranks of their Infantry running in to them threw from their long Brasen Pipes their dreadful Wild-fire among them to break their Ranks and at the same time the Cavalry which followed them indeavoured to enter by the breaches which the Fire had made and to hinder the Souldiers while they were buisy to secure themselves from the Wild-fire from closing their ranks and getting into order again The Battalion of the Count d' Anjou which received the first charge from the left Wing of the Enemies and was at first so disordered that the Souldiers not being able to rally again presently that Prince was in great danger either to be slain or taken by the Sarasins The King who was in the middle of his Troops to give the necessary orders for all things being advertised of the extreme danger of his Brother did an Action which it will be very difficult to find one to equal it even among the most boasted Actions of the so much celebrated Heroes of Antiquity For he had no sooner received the News but without deliberating one Moment and without staying to give out his Orders or even so much as commanding any to follow him he ran to his relief and spurring his Horse at full speed towards the Battalion of the Count breaking throw the Crowd he threw himself with his Sword in his hand like Lighting into the middle of the Sarasins who were carrying off the Count wounding overturning and trampling under his Horses feet what ever opposed his passage laying about him on both sides upon the Insidels with his terrible Sword year 1250 whose furious blows made Heads and Arms fly off at
Elogy and Character Meledin succeeds him An Error of the Christians after the taking of Pharus Cardinal Albano arrives with a potent Reinforcemet to the Crusades The Division between the King and the Legate and the Cause of it An heroick Action of certain Souldiers who break the Enemies Bridge The Army passeth the Nile Sultan Meledin flies The City Besieged by Land Two great Armies of Sarasins besiege the Camp They atack the Lines and force them A great Combat within the Lines The Enemy at last repulsed The Arrival of St. Francis before Damiata His Conference with the Sultan The Battle without the Lines lost by the Crusades An Advantageous Peace offered to the Christians by the Sultan The Reasons for and against it It is at last rejected by the Legate Damiata taken by Night PART IV. BOOK I. THE Condition the manners and the Religion of the People of Georgia who resolve to joyn with the Princes of the Crusade but are hindred by an irruption of the Tartars into their Country The Emperor Frederick sends a considerable relief to Damiata The return of King John de Brienne to the Army of the Crusades The Legate Pelagius opposeth his advice and makes them resolve upon a Battle against Meledin who once more offers Peace upon most advantageous Terms The Legate occasions the refusal of them The humour and description of this Legate An account of the miserable adventure of the Christian Army which by the inundation of the Nile is reduced to the Discretion of Meledin The wise Policy of this Sultan who saves the Army by a Treaty which he was willing to make with the Crusades This misfortune is followed by the Rupture of Frederick the Emperor with the Pope The Character of that Emperor The Complaints of Pope Honorius against him His Answers and their Reconciliation A famous Conference for the Holy War King John de Brienne comes to desire assistance throughout Europe The Death of Philip the August His Elogy his Will and his Funerals New endeavours of the Pope and the Emperor for the Holy War The Marriage of Frederick with the Princess Jolante the daughter of King John de Brienne Heiress of the Realm of Jerusalem John de Brienne is dispoiled of his Crown by his new Son-in-Law He puts himself under the Protection of the Pope Honorius The good Offices of the Pope to pacifie the Princes The death of Lewis the eight King of France He is succeeded by his Son Lewis the ninth The Death of Pope Honorius He is succeeded by Gregory the ninth The Portraict of this new Pope The Army of the Crusades much diminished by diseases The Emperor takes shipping He stays at Otranto where the Lantgrave of Thuringia dies A great rupture between the Pope and the Emperor The Pope excommunicates him Their Manifests The Revenge which Frederick takes He passes at last into Syria His differences with the Patriarch and the Templers His Treaty with the Sultan his Coronation at Jerusalem his return and accord with the Pope The Conference of Spolata for the Continuation of the Crusade The History of Theobald the fifth Earl of Champagne and King of Navarr His Voyage to the Holy Land with the other Princes of the Crusade His description and his Elogy A Crusade published for the Succour of Constantinople An Abridgement of the History of the Latin Emperors there The Causes of the little Success of the King of Navarr's Enterprise A new Rupture between the Pope and the Emperor The Occasions thereof The deplorable effects of that breach which ruins the Affairs of the Holy Land The Jealousie among the Princes occasions their loss Their defeat at the Battle of Gaza The unsuccessful Voyage of Richard Earl of Cornwall The death of the Constable Amauri de Montfort His Elogy his Burial and that of his Ancestors and of Simon de Montfort in the Monastery of Hautebruiere A Council called at Rome The Pope's Fleet defeated by the Emperor's and the taking of the Legates and Prelates going to the Council The death of Pope Gregory The election of Celestin the fourth and of Innocent the fourth He breaks with the Emperor and retires into France BOOK II. THE Original of the Tartars and their Empire They drive the Corasmins the Descendants of the Ancient Parthians out of Persia The Irruption of these Barbarians into Palestine The intire Desolation of Jerusalem The Effect which this produced in the West The Relation of the first Council of Lyons where Frederick is excommunicated and deposed The Decree of the Council for the Crusade The Decision of the Pope touching the Deposition of Dom Sanches King of Portugal A marvellous Example of Fidelity in the Governour of Conimbra The Emperor 's Manifest and his Exploits A Crusade published against him which hinders the Effect of the General Crusade for the deliverance of the Holy Land St. Lewis undertakes it singly with the French He takes the Cross and causes many of the Nobility and Gentry of France to follow his Example in the Assembly of Paris The Conference of Clugri for this Crusade The Ambassage of Frederick to St. Lewis and the wise Conduct of the King in reference to the Emperor The Politick Reasons to justifie this Enterprise of St. Lewis with an account of what was done at the beginning of it His Voyage to Aigues-Mortes where he takes shipping His arrival in the Isle of Cyprus He commits a great Error by staying there six Months The Death of divers Lords there That of Archambald de Bourbon The Marriage of his Grand-daughter Beatrix of Burgundy with Robert the fourth the Son of St. Lewis from whom the Princes of the August House of Bourbon are descended The Ambassage of the Tartars to St. Lewis during his stay in Cyprus His arrival in Egypt The Battle of Damiata and the taking of that City from the Sarasins who abandon it and the reason of their doing so The Entry of the King into Damiata The Error which he commits by stopping there The Army grows dissolute and debauched by lying idly there The arrival of the Count de Poitiers The Resolution which is taken of going directly to Caire The Situation of the Places where the two Armies are incamped The unsuccessful attempt of the Crusades to turn the Nile They pass the River The first Battle of Massore where the Count d' Artois is slain The second Battle and the admirable Actions of the King The Plague and Famine in the Camp An unfortunate Retreat wherein the whole Army is defeated and the King with all the Princes and Lords are taken Prisoners An Heroick Action of Gaucher de Chastillon in this Retreat The admirable Constancy of the King in his Imprisonment His Treaty with the Sultan The Original of the Mamalukes The Revolution in the Empire of Egypt by the Murder of the Sultan The Confirmation of the Treaty with the Admirals The King absolutely refuseth to take the Oath which these Barbarians would exact from him The Refutation of the
which the Princes and whole Army had of this wicked Man was the reason that they were always upon their Guard against him and the Soldiers who were not given much to Dissimulation in the case charged him openly every Day with whole Vollies of Curses and thousands of Execrations After the Reduction of Nice the Princes that they might not lose that commodious Season of the Year marched immediately towards Syria and the third day after for the conveniency of Forrage and Subsistence they separated into two Bodies Bohemond with the Duke of Normandy and the Earl of Blois taking the left hand and Godfrey with the other Princes the right but yet without distancing the Armies above two Miles asunder And certainly it appeared quickly that this last Precaution was not without great Prudence as well as Necessity for three days after this Separation as Bohemond was got into a large Vally called the Gorgonian Plain where he incamped in the Night upon the Brink of the Rivulet which runs through it he was advertised by his Scouts that he was like to have the whole Army of the Sultan upon his Hands for Soliman after his Repulse at Nice being reinforced with new Troops coasted along the Coverture of the Mountains on the left hand of the Christians with three hundred and sixty thousand Turks and Persians all Horse with an insinite number also of Arabians who were also Cavalry and having by his Espials understood that Bohemond who had the least part of the Christian Army was ingaged in that Valley he doubted not but so to surround him as to cut them all in pieces without their being able to defend themselves and therefore in the Night he secretly passed the Valley intending to surprize the Christians early the next Morning upon their decamping year 1097 he therefore seized by break of Day upon all the Passes of the Hills extending his Troops to the right and left and placing them at the several Avenues leading out of the Valley And no sooner was Bohemond advertised hereof by his Scouts but he also discovered the huge Clouds of Dust which rose from the Mountains and heard the horrible Cries of this vast Multitude of Barbarians who made the Valley resound with their dreadful Shouts thereby to terrify and surprise the Christians and within two Moments after he perceived Soliman himself advancing at the head of his best Troops followed with one hundred and fifty thousand Horse who whilest the other made a halt upon the Hills came powring down into the Valley to Charge the Christians whom he expected to find half Vanquished by their own Fear and Disorder But Bohemond whose Soul was not to be shaken and who by a long Experience in War had a mighty presence of Mind in the most dangerous Occasions did without the least mark of Astonishment perform whatsoever was necessary either to avoid or to defer the Misfortune which in this Extremity seemed Inevitable He immediately dispatched some Cavaliers to advertise Duke Godfrey of the Danger which threatned him and gave Command to the Infantry instantly to remove the Camp into a place between the Rivulet and a great Morrass all covered with Reeds and to make a Palisade of the Stakes which served them in setting up their Tents and to fortify that with a second Circumference of the Waggons and Carriages After which having placed himself at the Head of the Cavalry with the Duke of Normandy and the Earl of Blois they incouraged the Soldiers by their Looks Gesture and Voice exhorting them couragiously to Encounter those Enemies whom they might more justly despise than fear having twice before seen them turn their Backs and assuring them that they should immediately receive Assistance from their Companions and that they could not possibly however but upon this Occasion obtain immortal Glory either by Death or Conquest And thereupon with an invincible Fierceness they led them to the Charge but the Turks at the same Instant by the Command of Soliman made a Halt till such time as the Christians who came to the Charge with their Lances in the Rest were within Bow-shot and then the Turks poured upon them a whole shower of Arrows and immediately wheeled off yet all the time that they seemed to slye they ceased not to shoot their Arrows against those that pursued them and ever as the Christians retreated to the gross Body facing about and charging them as before this new sort of Combat did extreamly incommode the Christians who could not come to Blows with the Enemy and yet lost abundance of their Horse which were wounded with the Arrows In the mean time the other part of the Turks Army having forced the Camp made there most terrible Havock plundring and killing without Mercy the Women Children and Ecclesiasticks and other defenceless People The Soldiers oppressed by the multitude of their Enemies were at their last and all was in a manner lost when Bohemond year 1097 to whom this News was brought came slying to their Assistance with a party of the Cavalry But in the mean time Soliman who saw his Design thrive so well charged so furiously upon the Christians that after a long Resistance they began to give ground but the brave Duke of Normandy snatching a white Cornet embroidered with Gold from the hands of him that carried it and who was carried away with the Crowd of those that fled he cried aloud It is the Will of God and at the same time he threw himself into the thickest of the Enemies followed by a small number of brave Men who accompanied him this brave Action raised so much Shame and Courage among the rest that as if they had all on the suddain been inspired with new Vigor they spurred up at full speed after him into the thickest Squadrons of the Saracens overturning all on every side that opposed their Passage This Heat was much more increased by the return of Bohemond who having Repulsed the Arabs who came with no other Design but that of Plundring were not able to sustain the first Shock of his Cavalry who threw himself like a Lion into the throng of his Enemies to rejoyn the Duke of Normandy who after he had renewed the Combat seemed to sustain his People more by his Courage and Example than by the strength of their Arms for what with Weariness the heat of the Sun and intolerable Thirst their Force was so abated that they had much to do to sustain the Combate It is true that even the Women upon this Occasion signalized their Courage in the midst of a thousand Darts and Arrows carrying them Water from the Rivulet to refresh them but alas this small Succor was too little to ballance the greatness of their Distress for being oppressed by the infinite number of their Enemies who enlarged their Squadrons to the right and left with a design to encompass them having lost a great many brave Men and among the rest Prince William the Brother of Tancred they were
the Plain whither it was descended to defend the Pass and if the Entry into the River was easie the getting out was difficult the further Bank being not only possessed by the Enemies but very steep and high and that which made the Difficulty greater was that there was not one fordable place to be found all the Country People though several Examined agreeing in the Protestation that they never knew any passing there And besides all this so soon as any of the Soldiers entred the River to search for a Ford the Turks on the other side also entred the River and showred down their Arrows upon them Nevertheless the Desire which the Army had to pass and fight the Infidels was so great that after having tried both above and below to find out a Ford in the River without regarding the Arrows of the Enemies they at the last found one turning a little upon the left hand which those of the Country had never known The King after he had given Orders to the Cavalry of the Avant-Guard to pass the Ford he put himself at the Head of the Rere which faced the Turks who had charged them there and running upon them at a full Cariere before they had the Liberty according to their Custom to retire he cut a great part of them in pieces and repulsed the rest with Sword and Lance at their very Reins even to the Mountains At the same time Thierri Earl of Flanders Henry the Son of Thibald Earl of Champagne and William Earl de Mascon having thrown themselves with the first Squadrons into the River were followed by all the rest and in Despight of the Arrows which like Hail were showred most furiously upon them from the opposite Bank which did but little Execution upon those armed Troops they gained the other Shoar and sustained the Shock of their Enemies till the rest of the Troops got over and drew up in Batalia Immediately thereupon they made a most furious Charge upon the Turks who now no longer able to use their Bows were presently overthrown for these Barbarians having no defensive Arms and not accustomed to fight Foot to Foot against the Franks were constrained to give way to that Terrible Shock and therefore betook themselves to Flight leaving a great Number of their Men extended upon the Earth and a great many of Prisoners the rest were pursued to the Mountains where they saved themselves year 1148 but the Camp which they had pitched in the Plain fell to the Share of the Soldiers thus the whole Army having now no more Enemy neither in Front or Rear which durst appear passed the River with Ease some behind the Horse others upon the Wagons and Planks of Timber There ran a Report in the Army that a Cavalier in white Arms who was never seen before nor after passing before the rest as it were to shew them the Way they were to take gave the first Charge upon the Squadrons of the Enemy But as it was the Humour of those times to feign such Visions to render extraordinary Actions as this was more miraculous one may without scruple dispense with disbelieving this Apparition Eudes a Monk of St. Dennis who was the Successor of Sugerius and who was by that great Abbot recommended to the King as an able Man to serve him both as his Chaplain and his Secretary during that Voyage satisfies himself with saying that there were several who affirmed they saw that white Cavalier but that for his own particular he was resolved neither to be deceived nor to deceive others and that he saw no such thing He adds like a man of Sense that without having Recourse to this Marvel which was not easie to prove there was another Passage not less remarkable or surprising and which ought to be wholly attributed to the Divine Protection and that is that in this Attempt there was not one Person of Quality lost except Milon or Miles the Lord of Nogent who was drowned A strange and marvellous Adventure which we have seen repeated within a few days by that admirable Reflux and if I may venture to express it so Circulation of the same Events which produces the same thing in succeeding Ages which have happened in those past so long ago For in the War with Holland where the King of France by the prodigious Success of his Arms made himself Master in less than one Champagne of above thirty strong places he commanded a Party of his Cavalry to pass the Rhine not far from its Mouth under the Conduct of the Generous Count de Guiche where those Braves in the View of their Enemies who were drawn up on the other side to oppose them passed that great River partly by a Ford till that time unknown and partly by swimming without any other considerable Loss than that of the Count de Nogent who there perished in signallizing by a glorious Death his Zeal and Courage in one of the fairest Occasions that were ever seen But it is in short that one ought to expect that what ever was great or Heroick in their Ancestors is in our time to be performed by their Descendants under a King who hitherto hath carried the Glory of this August Monarchy to a higher Degree than any of his Illustrious Predecessors have done since Charlemain The End of the First Part. THE HISTORY OF THE CRUSADE OR The Expeditions of the Christian Princes for the Conquest of the Holy Land TOME II. BOOK I. The CONTENTS of the First Book The Rereguard of the Kings Army Defeated in the Mountains of Laodicea for want of observing the Kings Orders The Description of that Combat A most Heroick Action of the King in an extreme Danger of his Life His March and admirable Conduct to Attalia The new Perfidy of the Greeks in Betraying the Royal Army The Arrival of the King at Antioch and his Difference with Prince Raymond The Conquenty March to Jerusalem where he is met by the Emperor Conrade The Councel at Ptolemaïs where the Siege of Damascus is resolved The Description of the City of Damascus The manner of the March of the Christian Army towards that City The young King Baldwin makes the first Attack his Character and extraordinary Valour in the Attack against the Gardens and Suburbs of Damascus The great Combat upon the Bank of the River A brave Action of the Emperor Conrade An Account of the Siege of Damascus and the Treachery of the Syrians which occasioned the ill Success of that Enterprise The Return of the Emperor and the King The Murmurs against St. Bernard and his Apology The Conquest of Noradin after the raising of the Siege The Death of King Baldwin and his Elogy His Brother Amauri Succeeds him The History of that Princes Life who by his Avarice looseth the Opportunity of Conquering all Egypt The History of Syracon who Seizes upon the Kingdom of Egypt and leaves it to his Nephew Saladin The Elogy and first Conquest of that Prince The
Hellespont and to give him sufficient Security for his Promises of which he knew he would be liberal but which he had no manner of Reason to repose any sort of Confidence in That he was resolved to have in Hostage four and twenty of the principal Officers and Lords of his Court and eight hundred others of inferior Quality whom he must forthwith send to him together with the Ambassadors of the Sultan of Iconium whom he restrained at Constantinople contrary to the Law of Nations That upon these Conditions he would give him the Assurance of his Oath that he had no designs upon his Empire as he had vainly imagined or at least made a shew of believing that so he might have some Pretext though a very ill one for the violation of his Faith There is certainly nothing so Insolent as a proud Coward in Prosperity when he finds himself extraordinarily advanced by his good Fortune nor is there any thing so Low Mean and Croaching when once his Haughtiness is tamed and brought down by the reverse of Adversity This Isaacius who a little before boasted with insufferable Insolence that he was the only Emperor and next to God the Lord and Master of other Kings now thought himself very happy to be offered a Treaty which gave him liberty to accept even of these dishonourable Conditions which were sufficiently humbling for him He therefore without Delay sent the Ratification with the Ambassadors the Hostages and great Presents to the Emperor who passed the Winter at Adrianople till Easter approaching he went to Callipolis where he was resolved to pass the Hellespont There he did not fail to find far more Shipping than Isaacius had promised him for there were of Barkes Brigantines Galliots and Gallies near upon five hundred so much hast did that poor Prince make to deliver himself from these dangerous and troublesome Guests who had perfectly recruited themselves of all their Fatigues and very well inriched themselves at his Expence in so good a winter Quarter Thus the Army to which diverse new Crusades had come to joyn themselves and which was in a Condition as good or better than when it first marched out of Germany year 1190 began to pass the Sea upon Good Friday the twenty third day of March and in seven days were all transported over the Hellespont They had so good a Passage that not one Man was lost such Care did the Emperor take who was continually jealous and watchful over the Greeks and fearing least when the first were passed over they might set upon the last he was resolved to embarque with the last himself as he did upon the seventh Day and happily joyned the rest of his Army in Asia near the City of Lampsacus The next Morning he began his March and quitting the left hand Way which he had found was so difficult and dangerous when he accompanied his Uncle the Emperor Conrade he took to the Right by the Sea Coast crossing over Mysia Troas Phrygia and Lydia by the Cities of Thyatira and Philadelphia to the Meander which he passed near Laodicea where the Army reposed for a few days The Inhabitants of this City furnished them with all manner of Refreshments year 1190 with an incredible Chearfulness which was a pleasing Surprise to the Emperor who now believed that the Sultan of Iconium whose Government extended as far as that side of the Meander would inviolably keep his Promise which he had given him and which he daily repeated by his Ambassadors who followed the Camp But he was no sooner arrived at that dangerous Mountain which is near the Head of the Meander and which the defeat of the Rereguard of the French Army under Lewis the Young had made so Memorable but he found the Enemies in the Head of him and presently understood that this perfidious Infidel Prince had not made him all those fair Promises but to draw him into the Snare which he had artfully had by his infamous Treachery Which should instruct Christian Princes that they ought to take all imaginable Precaution and extraordinary Security when the necessity of their Affairs obliges them to treat with those People who wanting that true Faith which they owe to God usually take no care of preserving it towards Men. This Sultan was Caïscosroës who about ten years before had been dispoiled of his Dominions by his Brother Rucratin and was afterwards re-established by the Greeks This Prince had a little before concluded an Alliance with Saladin who had given his Daughter in Marriage to his Son Melich who succeeded him He had also a secret Intelligence with Isaacius who corresponded with both these Sultans against the Latins whom he mortally hated as do all the Greeks but more especially in those times So that all the Ambassadors which this perfidious Infidel had sent to Frederick and whom Isaacius had apparently by Force detained at Constantinople were sent for no other Purpose but to abuse the Emperor with greater ease and to draw him from Laodicea into those desert Countries from whence he had caused all the Provisions to be withdrawn that so he might destroy that Army by Famine and by the infinite multitude of Troops which he had gathered out of all Asia continually to molest the Army in their March and to attack them at all the difficult Passes In short they found that the Straits of the Mountain were possessed by the Turks but nevertheless they were such miserable Cowards that would not abide more than the first Shock of the Germans who there made a great Carnage among them and put the rest to flight However they rallied the next Morning and came again in far greater Numbers but rather like Thieves than Souldiers vexing the Army on all Sides with slinging great Stones and discharging their Arrows after which they would save themselves according to their Custom by retireing at full Speed and then presently return again after the same manner without giving the Germans who were heavily armed the possibility of coming to Blows with them and having thus combated with them all the Day they in the Night seized upon the Avenues of another Mountain which were extraordinary strait and through which they knew the Christian Army must necessarily pass the following Day But Frederick who disposed all things with an incredible presence of Mind thought of a pretty Stratagem which succeeded perfectly to his Wish He divided his Army into two Bodies leaving the smallest Party in the Camp which was at the Foot of the Mountain after which seeming to be afraid of the Turks and to dispair of forcing the Pass he marched in the Morning with the greatest Party quite another way as if he designed to find some other Passage He was not distanced far from the Camp when the Turks really believing that his Fear was the occasion of his Flight and the hast which he made to draw himself out of such a dangerous Place had made him abandon his Camp but that the desire they
at so great a charge to have the Honor to die by his Commands Nor did he recover out of this profound Lethargie till he understood that the Confederate Army after the Reduction of Duras had assured themselves of the Isle of Corfu and then indeed he began to give Orders for the Defence of Constantinople causing all the Soldiers which were quartered round the Country to enter into the City year 1203 all that he could do to hinder them from entring into the Port was to arme twenty Gallies to guard the Chain so disfurnished was his Arsenal by the Negligence or Covetousness of his Brother-in-Law Michel Stryphnus the high Admiral who had turned the Sails the Cordage the Anchors and even the Bolts and Iron Nails of his Navy into Gold and Silver Having in this manner provided for the Defence of Constantinople so soon as he saw the Confederate Army was landed at Scutari he drew out and encamped also with the greatest part of his Army upon the Bank of the Bosphorus opposite to the Camp of the Confederates who took some days to refresh themselves before they resolved to pass the Arm of the Sea in the sight of the Emperor and his Army which was incomparably more in number than theirs And in the mean time Alexis caused his Brother-in-Law with the choice of his Cavalry to pass over three or four Leagues below the two Camps to hinder the Latins from forraging and to glean up such as they found straggling for Forrage in the Fields This gave an occasion to some brave men to make a happy Presage of this War by such an uncommon Action of Galantry as made it equally apparent how resolute and undaunted the French were and what shameful Cowards those were upon whom the Emperor depended as the most Valiant men of his Army For about fourscore Cavaliers under the Conduct of Eudes and William de Champlite the Count Gras who came along with the Marquis Montferrat of Oger de Saint Cheron and Manasses de L' Isle being gone out to score the Fields and Convoy the Forragers discovered at a good distance this Brigade of Greeks wherein there was at least five hundred men at Arms with a Proportionate number of Foot incamped at the Foot of a Hill which covered them This great in equality could not hinder these Valiant men from a sudden and generous resolution to attack them even in their Camp Having therefore divided themselves into four little Squadrons at the same time that the Greeks dispising so finall a number of Horse who had no Infantry to sustain them were putting themselves in Battle without their Camp with an Intention to surround them they marched to charge the Enemy who made shew of receiving them but upon the first shock these cowardly Greeks unable to indure the Sight of the Latins whom they thought Devils rather than men seeing with what Heat and Fury they ran to the Charge immediately routed themselves and betook them to a shameful Flight following the example of their Captains who were not in the Rere at that time so that the Squadrons who pursued them for a good League killed a great many without resistance whilest the rest saved themselves upon their ships leaving the Conquerors Masters of their Camp where they found a rich Booty which infinitely rejoyced the whole Army who now regarded no more the Cowardly Multitude of their Enemies but as a sort of People with whose spoils they were to inrich themselves There is nothing so pitifully Timerous as a wicked man who is attacked with a potent Enemy without at the same time that his guilty Conscience makes a cruel War within his Soul Alexis who was astonished at this unlucky beginning and who had now more than ever before his Eyes the terrible Image of his Crimes the dreadful Punishment whereof he feared the Latins were to execute besieved that it was his best way to endeavour to make a Peace and avoid an unpropitious War but withal without shewing any Fear that so he might obtain what he did so earnestly hope For this purpose the next day he sent to the Princes a Gentleman of Lombardy called Nicholas Rossi who was an Inhabitant of Constantinople The Lombard after he had shewn them his Letters of Credence the Confederates being Assembled in the Palace of Scutari to give him Audience delivered himself after this manner He acquainted them that the Emperor his Master was very well acquainted with their Merit and their Quality which did not give place to any in the World except crowned Heads That he was well informed that they had taken upon them the Cross and armed themselves against the Sarasins to recover the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus Christ out of their wicked Hands that therefore he was much amazed to find that instead of pursuing that glorious Design they were entred upon the I erritories of a Prince a Christian Emperor year 1203 That if they wanted Provisions he should with great Joy be ready most liberally to supply them with what ever they wanted that so he might have the Satisfaction on his part to contribute something to that Holy Enterprise that after this he fairly desired them to retreat with all Expedition out of the Countries of the Empire lest otherwise he should to his great regret find himself constrained to employ all his Forces against them which had they five times the Number of Troops they had they would find it impossible for them to resist This was what the Envoy had in charge to say who by the cunning Artifice of the Tyrant was taught not to touch in the least upon that jarring String of his violent Usurpation which he very well knew was the sole Canse of this Enterprise It was for this reason that the Princes after a Moments Deliberation upon what was fit to be done upon this occasion desired Conon de Bethune a Knight who had the Reputation to be one of the discreetest men and best Speakers of his time to give an Answer to the Envoy which with great Majesty and Eloquence he did in these Terms Tell your Master from the Princes and Confederate Lords that his Astonishment is neither rational nor sincere That he knows better than to need any Information that it is not upon the Lands of his Empire that we are entred since the Empire does not appertain to him but to the Prince Alexis his Nephew whom you see here present in this August Assembly and who is the only lawful Heir of the Emperor Isaac from whom his Brother hath most unjustly and cruelly usurped the Empire But that if repenting of this horrible Injustice he will come and beg his Pardon of the Prince who hath Arms in his Hand to punish him and at the same time lay the Crown at his Feet which he hath ravished from him by the most detestable Treason and Violence the Princes hope they shall be able not only to procure him that favour but to prevail with the Emperor Alexis
Two great Armies of Sarasins besiege the Camp They attack the Lines and force them A great Combat within the Lines The Enemy at last repulsed The Arrival of St. Francis before Damiata His Conference with the Sultan The Battle without the Lines lost by the Crusades An advantageous Peace offered to the Christians by the Sultan The Reasons for and against it It is at last rejected by the Legate Damiata taken by Night year 1204 WHilest the Confederate Princes did with so much Glory and good Fortune conquer a whole Empire those who had separated from them to go directly into Palestine or who had taken other ways to put themselves under other Commanders met with all manner of ill Success and were so far from supporting that tottering State that in conclusion they did nothing but weaken the poor remainders of the Christian Power in the Holy Land The Truce which had for some time continued between them and the Sarasins having been broaken by one of the Admirals of Egypt and no sort of Satisfaction to be obtained for it the War broke out more furiously than before between King Emeri and Coradin the Son of Saphadin who was as great a Captain as his Father By Saphadin's Orders therefore he immediately advanced with a powerful Army and incamped within a League of Ptolemais Now John de Nele who commanded the great Fleet which had been equipped in Flanders and who staid at Marseilles to Winter having heard this News made hast from thence and whereas he should have joyned the Princes who besieged Constantinople as Count Baldwin had ordered him he sailed directly for Ptolemais where he landed having more Soldiers aboard his Fleet than there was in the whole Army of the Consederate Princes So that with those who were already passed by the Ports of Brindes and Otranto under Simon de Montfort Renard de Dampierre and the other Lords who had quitted the Confederates before they left Venice together with that great Multitude of Bretons who followed the Monk Herloin thither there were more Forces than might have chased the Infidels out of Palestine But there happened so many ill Accidents to them as ruined all their Designs for the Plague which began a little before in Ptolemais raged so furiously among these new Comers that it is reported there died in that City at one time above two thousand Persons in an Hour so that almost one half of them perished of that terrible Disease and the remainder to avoid that Danger year 1204 instantly re-imbarking failed back again to Europe There was also a fearful Dissention between the Christians themselves and the Crusades occasioned by a War betwixt Livon King of Armenia and Bohemond Earl of Tripolis and Prince of Antioch for the Principality of that State and as many great Lords and among others Renard de Dampierre with whom Theobald Count de Champagne at his Death had intrusted his Troops took the Part of Bohemond and marched to his Assistance they were surprized by the Sultan of Alepo who defeated them so intirely that there was scarce one who escaped either being taken or flain Villaine de Nevilly one of the most valiant Men of his time was there unfortunately slain and his Bother William de Nevilly Bernard de Montmirail and John de Villiers were taken as Renard de Dampierre General of the Champenois who was led to Alepo where he remained a Prisoner for thirty Years as for the poor Bretons they having only the Monk to lead them and he knowing better how to persuade them to take Arms than how to manage them they like those who followed Peter the Hermite were quickly dispersed and neither knowing what they had to do nor how to do it they perished either by the Plague or Famine or the Swords of the Infidels and the poor remainders of that great number did not without great Difficulty at last regain their Country of Bretany without having done any thing worthy of the great Zeal and Courage which carried them out of it But it hath been an old Observation that Lions with a timerous Stagg for their Captain will all prove Harts and that even fearful Deer when led by a Lion will do like Lions But in short there was not one of those who separated from the Army of the Confederates to go without them into the Holy Land who had not sufficient Reason of Repentance either for the Disgrace or the Damage which he suffered Even Simon de Momfort who before this had done so many Wonders in the War against the Albigenses was forced to return into France without bringing home with him from the Voyage any thing except the Trouble to have done nothing So dangerous it is to quit the main Body to which one is related and from which no better Fortune is to be expected but like a Branch cut from the Stem of a Tree to be blasted and withered In this miserable Estate were the Christians in the East and almost reduced to the utmost Dispair when they received the News of the taking of Constantinople by the Confederate Princes of whom even those who had abandoned them were constrained to demand Help from those to whom they had before denied theirs tho it was not to be expected that so small a Number ingaged in so great an Enterprise as the settling of their new Conquests and inlarging them could for the present be able to afford them It is impossible however to express the Joy which this News gave the Christians of Palestine who now did not question in the least but the Way was opened for the most short and certain Deliverance of the Holy Land from the Oppression of the barbarous Infidels But in regard of the Fear they were in of losing all after so many Misfortunes as one upon the Neck of another had fallen upon them King Emeri had before made a most disadvantageous Truce with the Infidels for six Years whereupon all the Crusades who were in Palestine went to wait upon the new Emperor at Constantinople The Legate himself Peter de Capua Cardinal of St. Marcellus being sent for thither by Baldwin to regulate the Affairs of the Church sailed thither and was followed by his Collegue the Cardinal of St. Praxede and such a multitude of the Oriental Christians of all Conditions that the King was almost left quite alone without any Forces considerable enough to oppose the Infidels if they should attempt to break the Truce as they quickly after did The Pope was hereupon mightily afraid and extremely troubled that his Legats should also without his Order abandon the Holy Land But the Providence of God averted this threatned Misfortune by a War which presently broke out among the Sarasins one against another and the Pope comforted himself with the Conquest of Constantinople which was altogether so unexpected to him He now no longer condemned this Enterprise of the Crusades as he had done formerly the fortunate Success thereof fully justifying the Undertaking
thereby he might strengthen his Army by the Troops which otherwise he must be obliged to leave for the defence of so strong a Garrison or possibly that he feared that the Christian Army after they had taken Damiata would enter victorious into Palestine and take that City which he knew to be the end of their Enterprise and the occasion of all the Crusades which had been made in Europe This being done he marched directly to Damiata and as his Army was far more numerous than that of the Christians which wasted every day and also that he had seized upon certain very advantageous Posts by the negligence of those who ought to have defended them the besiegers found themselves in a manner as straitly besieged by his Army as Damiata was by theirs and that they were more easily and dangerously to be attacked themselves than they could attack the City their retrenchments being nothing so terrible or strong as the Treble Wall with which the City was surrounded And in truth Coradin who was a brave and a great Captain attempted the lines three several times with all the Vigour imaginable and particularly upon Palm Sunday having made himself Master of the Bridge which joined the two Camps he had forced them on that side if the brave Duke of Austria who with the Germans and Templers came rushing in upon him had not chocked his Success and at last repulsed him after a most obstinate Combat maintained from morning till it was high noon This was the last of those fair actions which that gallant Duke performed in this Crusade for having on one side accomplished his vow having staid in the Levant above six Months longer than the time of Service which he had only vowed for a year and on the other side his own Affairs recalling him into his Dominions he took Sea in the Spring and this example was quickly followed by a great number of Crusades who wearied with the length and the inconveniences of the Siege returned into Europe So that the Army being extremely weakned by this retreat and the diseases ran the Fortune of being at last forced in their retrenchments if the great Succours of new Crusades of all Nations whom the Pope pressed continually to part from all the Ports of Italy had not come most seasonable in the very nick of time with great plenty of all manner of refreshments in abundance of which the besiegers stood in great want And certainly the arrival of these recruits was no more than necessary for shortly after Meledin having recovered his courage out of the Swound into which it had fallen raised an Army more numerous than the first and marched to join his Brother Coradin that so with their joint forces they might make one great attempt for all upon the Camp of the Christians which they believed was then in no condition of resisting them so soon therefore as the necessary time to make all the Preparations for so great an Action was over these two great Armies of Sarasins having ranged themselves in Battalia early in the morning upon the last day of July presented themselves in good order before the Lines and made four or five several attacks thereby to divide the forces of the Christians which notwithstanding their recruits were not by far so numerous as theirs It was fought with incredible heat and Fury on the one side and the other the Sarasins animated by the presence of their Sultans and the certain hope they had conceived that they should that day deliver the besieged City the Christians by the fatal necessity to which they were reduced either to repulse the Enemy or to be all cut in pieces their camp being shut up between two mighty Armies an Enemies City and a great River over which it was impossible for them to escape In this time those who attacked the quarter of the Knights Templers made such a vigorous impression and returned so often to the Assault that they forced the Lines on that side entered the Camp charged furiously upon the Infantry whom the Knights had posted for the defence of that place and pressed so stoutly upon them that at length they put them to slight and pursued their point so briskly being followed by their reserves who came crouding after them into the lines that the intire ruin of the Army seemed inevitable when the French and English arriving in good time with their Swords in their hands year 1219 made these fierce Enemies stop short in their carreer and again turned the Face of the Combat For being all Fresh men and desirous above all things to signalize their Courage by some gallant action they charged the Enemy according to their manner with so much fury that they forced them to recoil and beat them back again to the Lines where the Sarasins finding themselves sustained by those without who continually mounted over the Works they also took their turn and as they had been themselves beaten back so now they made the French retreat But in a minute after the shame and madness which they had to be thus bassed redoubling their Courage and their Strength they came up to the Charge again and three several times fell upon the Enemy with such irresistable Valour that being unable to sustain their Fury they tumbled over the Lines and into the ditch when at the same time those of the City making a notably Sally by setting fire to the Machins which put the Christians into great fear and disorder gave them the opportunity of regaining their advantage Thereupon the great Master of the Temple and the other of the Knights of the Teutonick Order who hasted to their relief observing that the Sarasins who believed themselves assured of the Victory advanced with precipitation and disorder shouting for Joy as they ran to the Charge they marched to charge them in the Flanks on both sides whilest the French who now took new Courage by the sight of these Succours attacked them in the Front so that being beset on three sides by so many Valiant men whom the danger of losing all had rendred furious they were almost all cut in pieces and those who followed them were chased over the Lines and the Ditch which was almost filled up with the heaps of the slain After which the Army falling upon those of the Town who had made the Sally they were presently repulsed with a most dreadful Slaughter though notwithstanding they had first destroyed a great number of Machins by setting them on fire which could not in that great Confusion be suddainly quenched Thus ended this great Battle which lasted from morning until night On the other side the Venetians the Pisans and Genoese who were wholly managed by the Legate were not much more fortunate in their Enterprise and though they had assured him the Success was infallible yet they happened to be mistaken for all the new Machins which they had built upon four great Ships were in several Assaults which they gave to little
to combate his Enemies without fear of the greatest dangers either had not power or severity sufficient to make himself be obeyed and to cause the discipline of War to be exactly observed The Army therefore Marching over the Bellies of all those who presented themselves to oppose them or molest them in their passage and the Knights of the Temple having cut in pieces five hundred Sarasin Horse who pretending to come over to the King had a design treacherously to surprize his Person a little before Christmas came to incamp in sight of Massora over against the Army of the Sarasins the River only parting them but which could not hinder the Christians from the Resolution of passing it that so they might come to a Battle with them It is certain that there was commited a second mighty Error for whereas they ought to have sounded the River above and below to have found some Ford as King Lewis the Young had done at the Famous passage of the Meander they indeavoured to make a Causway over this Arm of the Nile and to turn the course of the River that so they might gain a free passage for the Army For this purpose they built great Wooden Towers with several stories of Stages upon which the Crosbows and Archers were placed there were also Wooden Castles and covered Gallies built for the defence of the Labourers and eighteen Machins the Invention of Josselin Courvaut a great Ingeneer of that time were framed in the manner of a Counter Battery to oppose six great Machins of the Sarasins which did terrible Execution upon the Army but after they had spent near two Months in these Works with the loss of a great many Men year 1250 they found themselves no further advanced than at the beginning for the Enemies ruined more in one day than could be repaired in five and all the Machins were either broken by their Slings which discharged against them stones of a Prodigious bigness or else burnt by the Greek Wild-fire which was discharged upon them in a most dreadful manner For these Fires which were with an extreme violence thrown from a certain kind of Sling through their Pipes which were almost as large as our Canons appeared in the Air like flaming Dragons of the bigness of a Barrel with a long train like a Rocket year 1250 which making a noise like thunder and afterwards falling down darted themselves against the Men and the Engines with the same impetuosity as one shall see the Waves of the Sea during a Tempest dash themselves one after another against the Rocks which lie upon the Shoar insomuch that nothing was able to resist the furious outrage of this Fire which in a moment consumed whatsoever it met withal so that they now despaired of making their passage by these wayes when chance presented them with that which they ought long before to have found out by their own diligence and industry For at length the Constable Imbert de Beaujeu acquainted the King that an Arabian who had deserted the Enemies offered to shew them a Ford something below the place where they were incamped provided they would give him five hundred Besants The Condition was immediately accepted and the Arabian was assured of his Reward if his Promise proved true and thereupon it was resolved trial having been made that the next Morning being Shrove-Tuesday one part of the Army should pass the Ford whilest the other guarded the Camp against the Enemies who had the passage open on the other side and thereby might fall upon them in the Reer The King with the three Princes his Brothers resolved to be of the number of those who were to pass the Ford whilest the Duke of Burgundy remained to guard the Camp The next Morning early the Troops were divided into three Bodies the Vanguard was given to the Templers Robert Count d' Artois lead the Body of the Battle and the third the King reserved as the Reerguard to himself commanding the Troops as they landed on the other side to draw up in the same manner In this Order they marched along the River descending to the Ford which was found very dangerous and more difficult than they believed there being in it several places so deep that the River being high they were forced to swim However they passed it without loss in the view of three hundred Horse who made shew as if they would defend the Pass the Templers being in the Van according to the King's Orders drew up first in Battalia and stopped in expectation of the passage of the rest But the Count d' Artois was no sooner got to the other side of the River but that seeing the Sarasins fly he galloped in pursuit of them with his whole Brigade at full speed The Templers who could not indure to be put out of the Port which the King had assigned them cried out to them to halt till the rest of the Army was drawn up but all was to no purpose in regard that a stout old Knight whose Name was Fouquant de Melle to whom the King had committed the charge of the Count d' Artois being deaf understood not what they meant but on the contrary cried out with all his might following the Count Fall on Fall on the Day is our own Whereupon the Templers losing all their patience and believing their honor would suffer if they did not advance spurred up after the Count without staying till the King was passed and charged with the first even to the Camp of the Enemies over against the Causway in the place where all their Machins were upon which they instantly seized But they were not satisfied with this for seeing that those who guarded them being surprized with such a brisk Attacque which they did not in the least expect fled towards Massora they followed them at full speed and passing after them quite throw the Town into the Champion upon the Way to Caire never considered the danger to which they exposed themselves of being surrounded by the gross of the Army which advanced from the other side of the City to fall upon their Reer And thereupon the Fugitives perceiving their disorder and the small number of those who so blindly pursued them and seeing themselves succoured by their Men who advanced to their relief they faced about and stopped the Pursuers constraining them to think of a retreat But it was now to late for when they thought to repass thorough the Town of Massora they found all the streets possessed and stopped by the Sarasins who having surrounded them on every part and discharging upon them from the houses as at a certain mark they were almost all Slain the Count d' Artois himself fell there also after he had for a long time defended himself in a House which he had gained and Barricado'd against the Enemy and with him Raoul de Couci and above three hundred Knights with their Attendants year 1250 as also two hundred Templers there lost
of Theodorick the Valiant the Son of Gerard of Alsatia and Duke of high Lorrain And from him in a lineal Descent to this present time are derived all the Princes of that fair Dutchy which not long after his time lost its ancient Name of the Mosellane retaining only that of Lorrain as it doth to this day But whether Godfrey Duke Bossu having no Children adopted his Nephew who was of his own Name and made him his Heir giving him the Earldom of Bullen which belonged formerly to the House of Ardenna or that it came by Ida upon her Marriage with the Earl of Bullen it is most certain the Surname of Bullen which was given to this young Prince hath by him and his Heroick Actions been rendered one of the most Celebrated in the World It is this Glorious Name which in the last Age was so happily Reunited with that of the Tour of Avergne which by a Marriage hath received that of Bullen to restore it to its ancient Lustre as we have seen it by the Virtues the Dignities the great Employments and fair Actions of the Princes of that Noble House As for Prince Godfrey it was impossible for Nature to bestow a more happy Inclination to all sorts of Virtues than which she had given him nor was any thing wanting in his Education which might Contribute to the improvement of that Stock such was the exact Care of his Father who was a most Wise and Virtuous Prince and more especially of his Mother a Lady of a most extraordinary Merit and an Excellent Spirit year 1096 which she had Cultivated also by a Diligence very uncommon to her Sex which she had employed in the Study of all curious Learning and in truth she was a Princess of most admirable Virtue and of a Piety so resplendent that after her death she obtained the glorious Title of a Saint It is said also that by the Assistance of Divine Illumination she did predict the future Greatness of her three Sons Eustace Godfrey and Baldwin For one Day as the Earl her Husband demanded of her what she had hid in her Lap she being playing with the Children she very seriously answered that she had there three great Princes one Duke one King and one Earl which was afterwards Verisied in the admirable Fortunes of these three Princes For Godfrey was Duke of Lorrain and King of Jerusalem Baldwin was King of the same Realm and Prince of Edessa and Eustace whom some will have to be the eldest Brother was Earl of Bullen after the Death of his Father It is also added that she had a strange Dream before the Birth of Prince Godfrey for the Sun seemed to descend from his Heavenly Orb and to fall into her Lap and that she saw her little Son Enthroned in the midst of that Glorious Luminary but it is the Humor of some Writers to render the Nativities of great Men more Illustrious at least as they think by Prodigies and Revelations which after wards the Noble Actions of these Hero's make easily to pass for real Truths especially with Persons who love to divert themselves with matters very Extraordinary and Surprizing But this is most certain which the Countess herself with a great deal of Pleasure was used to relate after the glorious Success which her Sons had in the Holy War that long before there was the least Discourse of the Crusade Prince Godfrey was used to say that he would one day take a Voyage to Jerusalem but not as the poor Pilgrims did only to satisfy his Devotion but as a Captain and a Conqueror at the head of a Puissant Army to Chase the wicked Insidels from that Holy Place Which must needs proceed singly from the impetuosity of his Courage and which considering the Condition of his Fortune very unfit to execute so great a Design may very well pass for a Prophetick Motion and looks like a Presage of that Glory and good Fortune which God had allotted for him and in order to which he seemed beforehand to prepare him by a thousand Beautiful Actions wherein he acquired a most Illustrious Reputation throughout all Europe After the Death of the Duke his Unckle the Emperor Henry the Fourth who pretended that the Dutchy of the Lower Lorrain for want of Heirs Male of the House of Ardenna was devolved to him conferred it upon his Son Conrade leaving nothing to Godfrey besides the Marquisate of Antwerp And on the other side Albert Earl of Namur his Kinsman and Thiery the Bishop of Verdun attempted to take from him Bullen and Verdun So that this Prince who was not yet Seventeen years of Age was compelled to have recourse to an early Valour for the Recovery of one part and the Defence of the other part of his Inheritance And therefore putting himself into the Castle of Bullen which Albert assisted by the Forces of the Bishop of Verdun had besieged he so vigorously repulsed his Enemies in all their attacks that he forced them to a dishonourable Retreat after they had lost the better part of their Army and in the same quarrel he undertook a single Combat against the said Earl in the presence of the Emperor and his whole Court during the Combat he had the Misfortune in making a notable Blow at the Head of his Enemy to break his Sword short within half a foot of the Hilt but notwithstanding this Disaster it was impossible to perswade him to determine the difference upon such terms of accommodation as upon this occasion were tendred to him but pursuing his point he fought with redoubled Ardor till at length having tumbled down his Enemy with a mighty Blow which he gave him with the Pommel of his Sword upon his head being now a Conquerer he accepted that Agreement which before he had generously refused whilest being disarmed he ran the utmost hazzard of being Vanquished And afterwards surmounting those just resentments which he might well have entertained against the Emperour who had so Injuriously deprived him of his Dutchy he nevertheless followed him in those Wars which he made in Germany and Italy whereupon all occasions he rendred him very signal Services and it is reported that he himself took the Imperial Eagle in the Famous Battle against the Saxons who had declared for Emperor Rodolph of Suabia when Victory beginning to declare herself for that Prince he ravished it from him together with his Life by giving him a mortal Wound with the very Cornet which he had newly taken And afterwards when the Emperor took the City of Rome from Pope Gregory the Seventh he was the first man that possessed himself of the breach and thereby Entred the Town They further add that after this falling into a most violent distemper which reduced him to the utmost Extremity of Danger he made a Vow to undertake an Expedition to the Holy Land as not long after did many Princes and Bishops according to the Devotion so much in Vogue at that time and
it was obliged to halt upon the Frontier of Hungary to treat with King Carloman concerning their passage For in Truth he had sufficient reason to be distrustful of this Army of the Crusades after the horrible injuries which he had received from those of Peter Godescalc and Emico The Treaty was however quickly concluded by the open and plain dealing between the King and the Duke who had an Interview upon a certain Bridge The King demanded as Hostages Prince Baldwin and the Princess his Lady and coasting all along with the Army of Godfrey ordered the Magazines to furnish them with Provisions at a reasonable price till such time as the greatest part of the Troops were passed over the Savus where he returned the Hostages with a thousand Protestations of Amity to the Duke whose Conduct and Fidelity he had in extraordinary admiration With the same order Godfrey caused his Army to pass over the vast Countries of Bulgaria and the Territories of the Greek Emperour according as he had promised his Embassadors who were sent to him by Alexis whilest he was upon his March until at length he arrived at Philipopolis in Thracia where he received Intelligence of the detention of Hugh the Great This young Prince who was Brother to Philip the first King of France had not to speak Truth either so much Experience or so much Ability as the other Princes of the Crusade who were possessed of very fair Estates but however he was a person admirably well composed full of Honour Vertue and Goodness extream Brave and of an Humour sweet and indearing the advantage which he had by his Illustrious Birth above the rest gave him a title to a greater Respect and he was therefore treated with so much Honour and Duty by all that though diverse others had in reality a greater Command and Interest in the Army yet nevertheless his Name was more Celebrated among strangers and especially the Greeks The Princes which accompanied him in this Voyage were Robert Duke of Normandy Son to William the Conquerer with the Noble Troops of English Normans and Brittains Stephen Earl of Chartres and Blois whose power was so great that it was commonly said that he was owner of more Places and Castles then there were days in the year Prince Eustace of Bullen Brother to Duke Godfrey and Robert Earl of Flanders who following the example of the Duke of Lorrain sold his Estate to furnish the Charges of this War These Princes who together composed a most puissant and numerous Army having stated their measures and conferred a long time at Paris with Hugh the great in the presence of the King his Brother put themselves upon their Way in the Month of September and having traversed France and Italy and received the Benediction of the Pope whom they found at Leuca and also having visited Rome and the Holy Places to implore the Divine Assistance the Winter being too far advanced for them commodiously to pass into Epirus they were obliged to distribute their Army about Bari Brindes and Otranto there to attend the coming of the Spring and the conveniency of imbarquing their Forces But Hugh suffering himself to be transported by the heat of his Conrage and the Impatience natural to Young Persons and above all others those of the French Nation was not able to support this delay but exposed himself too rashly to the Faith of the Greeks imbarking at Bari to pass to Duras as he did very slenderly accompanied and in a condition in no sort suitable to his Quality and the Majestick Name of France which he was to sustain during this War But the Governour of that place whether it were that he had secret Orders to secure such of the Crusade as he could surprize or that he believed he should do his Master the Emperor a considerable Service by putting into his hands so great a Prince who might serve for a Hostage to secure him against the Latins immediately upon his arrival seized him and sent him under a strong Guard through By-ways to Constantinople where the Emperor detained him Prisoner Godfrey who presently after this adventure arrived at Philipopolis where he received an account of it sent immediately to the Emperour to demand the Liberty of this Prince and those who accompanied him and in the mean time advanced with his Army as far as Adrianople But perceiving by the Answer which he received from Alexis what he was to Expect he acted like an open Enemy and for eight days wasting the Country all along as he went he marched directly to Constantinople where he raised such a consternation that Alexis sent to him to his Camp to desire a Peace making him all the Promises of receiving a just satisfaction In short Godfrey still advancing encamped two days before Christmass within view of this great City when with joy he received Hugh the Great to whom the Emperor had now given his Liberty and who came to pay his thanks to his Deliverer and Benefactor accompanied with Drogon de Neele Clerembaud de Vendeuïle and William Viscount of Melun commonly called the Carpenter either because he was so notable an Artist in framing of Engines of War or that according to the mode of Expression in those times he used so terribly to hack and hew his Enemies that neither Cask Shield nor Curiass was able to resist the Force of his blows But this Peace by reason of the perfidiousness of Alexis lasted not long for perceiving that after he had given orders privately to prohibit the furnishing them with provisions the Army began to live at Discretion he had recourse to Artifice and desired Godfrey to take up his Quarters in the fair Houses Palaces Hamblets and Villages which lay all along the Bosphorus to the Euxine Sea pretending the Rigor of the season was too extream to permit them to continue in their Camp but the truth is with a design to lock up this great Army in the little space which is between the Strait and the River which discharges it self into the Port that there he might more easily destroy them He had also a design to surprize the Duke inviting him to come to the Palace to confer with him about the War but finding that the Duke would not be decoyed and that he did with good reason distrust him he endeavoured again to famish the Army prohibiting the furnishing them with any kind of provisions he also attacked them both by Sea and Land for he commanded out his Cavalry against those who were sent to forrage and caused many Vessels manned with Archers to fall down the River who incessantly discharged upon such of the Soldiers as appeared But his Enterprize prospered accordingly for Godfrey with ease defeating the Greek Cavalry made himself Master of the Bridge of Blakerness in despite of all that the Emperors People endeavoured to do to oppose him and having without danger repassed the Main of his Army who set sire at their parting to the Houses and
his League with the Princes of the Crusade The Ambassadours of Alexis slighted The advantagious composition with the Emir of Tripolis The March of the Christian Army to Jerusalem Lidda Rama Nicopolis and Bethlehem taken by the Christians The extraordinary expressions of their Devotion upon the first discovery of the Holy City AFter the Arrival of these Princes at Constantinople Duke Godfrey and Tancred being advanced as far as Nicomedia and having levelled the ways over the Mountains from that Town to the City of Nice they invested that place the sixteenth day of May. They staid some time for the coming of the other Princes and of Peter the Hermit who was gone into Asia to recollect some of those unfortunate Reliques of his Forces which had saved themselves in the Woods And then it was resolved without staying for the Troops of Raymond Earl of Tholose and those of the Duke of Normandy and the Earl of Blois which were not yet come up that they should begin to form the Siege of Nice Nice the Capital City of Bythinia and which is famous to this day for the first and seventh Oecumenical Councils which were held there against the Heresies of the Arians and the Iconoclasts was at this time a fair and spaious City liyng about fifteen or sixteen Leagues from Nicomedia in the middle of a most fertile and pleasant Valley on all sides encompassed with high Mountains except on the Western Quarter where the great Lake of Ascanius which by small Vessels furnisheth it plentifully with all the Commodities of the Country serves instead of a natural Fortification rendring it wholly inaccessible on that side It was encompassed with double Walls of an extraordinary thickness and flanked with very fair and lofty Towers strongly built and placed at convenient distance to defend each other and that part of the Curtain which was between them It was also strengthened without the Counterscarp with a great retrenchment admirably Palisadoed and which was extream difficult of access by reason of the great number of Springs and Rivulets which falling from the Mountains and being stopped by the Fortifications drowned all the adjacent fields to what degrees the defendants pleased Old Soliman who after the Turks had entred the lesser Asia pushed his Conquests by a continual succession of Victories as far as the Propontis had taken extraordinary pains in the fortifying of this City where he established the Seat of his Empire that he might be so much the nearer Constantinople and upon occasion one day pass over more commodiously into Europe The young Soliman who about ten years after succeeded him usually kept a very strong Garrison there but upon the noise which the Enterprize of the Christians of the West were about to make he reinforced it with the choicest of his Troops for he did not doubt but in order to their opening a passage to Jerusalem this place would be the first that would be attacked He himself was gone into Persia year 1097 to request the assistance of all the Princes of his Nation and returning just in the nick of time to succour the City he posted himself in the Mountains at the same time when the Christian Army not suspecting that such a terrible Enemy was so near began the Siege However the Christians applyed themselves to a formal Siege distributing their several Quarters in his open view their Army being far more numerous then his and consisting in above four hundred thousand Combatants Bohemond after he had taken care for Provisions for the Army in a very plentiful manner returning to the Camp posted himself on the Northwest quarter of the City with his Nephew Tancred who extended his quarter on the right hand even to the Lake Godfrey of Bullen with Baldwin took the Right Hand over against the Principal Gate of the City taking up all that space between the North and the East upon that side where the City was most strongly fortified After them upon the South East quarter encamped Hugh the Great in the same place where after their arrival the Duke of Normandy and Count Stephen were to make their attack so soon as they should come up All the South side was reserved for Count Raymond who was upon his way in Bythinia and not far distant from the Camp That part towards the West South-West which lay upon the Lake could not be blocked up so close but that the Enemies had that way the convenience of furnishing themselves with Provisions The Town being in this manner begirt quite round the besiegers began briskly with a General Assault which upon the fourteenth day of May was given at the same time upon all the several Quarters with all kind of military Engines The Combat was maintained all that day till the darkness of the Night obliged them to discontinue it and was again renewed in the Morning with extraordinary fury though without Effect For the besieged were not only gallant men but every minute in expectation of being relieved by Soliman to whom they had dispatched an Express both to inform him of their Condition and to advertise him that he might easily do it by forcing the Christian Camp on that part which lay to the Southward which was but as yet very slenderly guarded but it so fell out that the Letters of the Sultan were intercepted that very day as they were going to the Town to assure the besieged that he would not fail the next morning according to their advice to attack that part of the Camp Notice thereupon was immediately given to Prince Raymond who was not far off who marched with such diligence that by good Fortune the next morning very early he arrived in the Camp He was no sooner begun to make his Lodgement but the Turks descended from the Mountain and divided themselves into two great Bodies to attack the Christian Camp in two quarters One party of them marched to the right towards the South believing according to the advice which they had received from the besieged that the passage there was free whilest the other advanced to the Quarter of Duke Godfrey which lay next the Earl to prevent his sending any succours from that part and thereby to be the better able to put his designed relief into the City year 1097 But the gallant Raymond whom the Turks little expected to have found there received them in so good a posture and charged their Troops who looked for nothing less than such opposition with so much fury that he presently put them into disorder and having routed them and cut the best part of them in pieces the rest were forced to betake themselves to a hasty slight pursuing them to the very foot of the Mountains whilst Godfrey in his quarter dealt in the same manner with those who made the false attack upon his Post Nevertheless the besieged failed not at all in their Courage but made a very obstinate defence under the Protection of their Walls whose strength was so great as
bid defiance to all the Engines which were made use of against them nor were they out of hopes but that still they should receive the Relief which they had sent to desire of Soliman by the way of the Lake which still was open Whilst matters stood in this posture the Duke of Normandy and the Earl of Blois arrived with their Army in the beginning of June and took up their Posts in the Quarter assigned them at the beginning of the Siege This was the first time that the Christian Princes had seen all their Forces together and taking a review of the Army they found it to be the most gallant and numerous that ever had been seen in any Age. For without computing the Priests Monks Women Children and Servants of which the number was infinite those who were present at this general muster assure us that there were no fewer than six hundred thousand Combatants of which there were at the least a Hundred thousand Horse bravely armed moreover the Venetians Genoese and those of Pisa who were Masters of the Sea assisted them with a mighty Fleet and supplied this vast Army continually with store of Arms Engines of War and all manner of Provisions But that which was most admirable was that these Noble Princes to avoid the displeasure of Almighty God which for their horrible disorders had ruined the former Crusades under the Hermit Peter Godescale and Count Emico did by their Authority and Example and by the powerful Exhortations which the Bishops continually made to the Soldiers so admirably regulate them and maintained so good and severe a Discipline that all sorts of Vices and Debauches were banished from the Camp During this Soliman who was resolved to try the last of his skill for the Relief of the Town upon a sudden made a descent from the Mountains and made a second attack upon the Quarter of Raymond with a Body of sixty thousand men sustained by the Gross of his whole Army but the Count and the rest of the Princes who were advertised of this Design of the Enemies getting betwixt this advanced body and the rest of the Sultans Army put them into such a consternation that they immediately fled leaving four thousand of their companions dead upon the spot whose heads the victorious Christians cutting off with their Engines threw them over the Walls thereby to strike the greater Terror into the Hearts of the besieged But notwithstanding all that year 1097 they continued the defence like brave men and they were thereto encouraged both by reason that the Lake being free and open they received every day some little relief or other as also because there were among the Turks of this Garrison many resolute men who had determined never to abandon the defence of the place but with their lives and among others one whose bravery though mixed with too much of the brutal was such that he was from one of the Towers which he defended looked upon by the whole Christian Army with astonishment and his Actions seemed the Prodigies of Valour and Courage This valiant man who by reason of his huge Bulk extraordinary Strength and the Fierceness of his barbarous and menacing Air seemed much to resemble a Giant defended one of the strong Towers which were assaulted by Count Raymond he had been often repulsed but yet repeated the surious Attack when this monstrous Turk coming to the Platform made a terrible havock among the Assailants tumbling down with a mighty impetuosity such as had mounted the scaling Ladders wounding them with such vast Arrows as no Shield nor Curiass was able to resist And not herewith contented he insulted most intollerably over the Christians who sell under his Arms with all the bitter and bloody ralleries imaginable for being attacked on all hands he could not forbear calling them feeble and effeminate Cowards who were sitter for the Distaff than the Lance and finding that his Bow and Arrows were not sufficient to drive off the Assailants who pressed hard to the foot of the Wall he threw away his Buckler and his Arms and exposing himself naked to an infinite number of Arrows which were shot at him he with both his hands fell to throwing down stones of a prodigious bigness upon those who were attempting to undermine the Wall and which is almost incredible if we were not assured from those who were Eye witnesses of the Spectacle though he had above twenty Arrows sticking in him that his Breast looked as if it were bristled with them yet he did not cease to throw down stones upon the Assailants nor to bestow his reproachful language upon them till Duke Godfrey who was come thither from his own quarter not able to indure this insolence of a Barbarian with a well placed Arrow shot him through the very heart and tumbled him dead into the Ditch Thus the bravest man of the Turks seemed to stay to receive an honourable Death from the hand of the gallantest of the Christians Hitherto the besieged being not out of hope defended the place with resolution enoughâ— but when they saw that the Christians by the help of certain little Vessels of War which the Emperor had sent from Civitot were now become absolute Masters of the Lake and that Count Raimond had by undermining overthrown the great Tower which he had been so long attacking and that the Wife of Soliman as she was endeavouring to make her escape was taken prisoner with her two Sons year 1097 they begun to enter into a Treaty with the Emperors People who from the very beginning of the Siege had secretly solicited them by his Lieutenant to surrender the place to him with great promises of advantage and though the Princes discovered this cunning Treaty and the persidiousness of Alexis yet they did not in the least oppose the Rendition of the place unto him so after a Siege of seven weeks the Town was surrendred upon Articles to the Emperor and he to gain the good opinion of the Infidels if they should one day attempt to reconquer it causing the Wife and two sons of Soliman and the whole Turkish Garrison to be transported to Constantinople gave them all the kind Treatment imaginable endeavouring thereby to draw them to his Service During which time that he might the better conceal his cowardly Treachery under the fairest shews he made most magnificent Presents to all the principal Commanders and bestowed good Largesses upon the poor Soldiers that he might after a fashion make them some Satisfaction for the loss of the Spoils of the Vanquished which he had promised them before the taking of the City But this persidious Prince was resolved to perform nothing of what he had promised to the Franks and having drawn all the Advantages he possibly could from them at the last to work their Ruine and Destruction which without doubt he had effected if his former Treacheries had not been too frequent and apparent to doubt of his Intentions and the Distrust
obliged to give way and retire all the way of the Retreat facing their Enemies till they came to the Camp where they hoped by the favour of the Retrenchments to secure themselves from the danger of being inclosed by their Enemies But now the Arabs had also renewed their Attack perceiving that the Christians were repulsed and they pursued their Point so home that the Army was reduced to the utmost Extremity and in all appearance could not possibly long resist the Force of so many Enemies when the first Squadrons of Duke Godfrey's Army who hasted to their Succor began to appear For so soon as he understood the Danger in which the Army of Bohemond was he with the Earl of Vermandois ran with all speed being followed by all the Cavalry consisting in sixty thousand Men to their Assistance whilest the Earl of Tholose and the Bishop of Pavia according as it was agreed brought up the Infantry to the Combat These Succours appearing upon the Mountains being at the same time discovered both by the Christians and the Infidels made in an instant a strange alteration in the face of the Battle year 1097 for the Christians reassumed their Courage when they saw Godfrey with fifty Horse joyn the three Princes to communicate to them the Design which he had formed with the Earl of Tholose And Soliman who was afraid so much to his Disadvantage to engage with the whole Christian Army in the Plain retreated towards the Hills from whence he came in the Morning not imagining that the Christians would there dare to attack him But he quickly found he had deluded himself for no sooner were the Earls of Vermandois and Tholose come up but the whole Army was put in order of Battle just about Noon without giving so much as time for those who had been engaged already to take their repast except whilest they were drawing up into their Order The Norman Princes that is Duke Robert Bohemond Tancred and Richard Prince of Salernum his Cosin had the left Battalion upon that side towards the Entrance into the Valley Duke Godfrey with his two Brothers and the Earls of Vermandois and Flanders were upon the right Count Raymond led the main Body betwixt those two inclining a little to the left that way where the access to the Mountain was less Difficult the Horse were disposed upon the Wings and in the Intervals of the Battle and the two Points to the intent they might the better sustain the Infantry upon all occasions The Princes in drawing up the Squadrons animated the Soldiers by the sight of the Cross which they carried in the Colours and upon their Coats thereby to remind them of their Vow which they had made to vanquish or to dye for the Glory of him who for their Salvation died upon the Cross they remonstrated to some of them That the Enemies they were to Combat were those whom they had two several times before Vanquished at Nice that they were for the most part cowardly Arabians accustomed rather to steal than fight and who were not used to set upon their Enemies but like Thieves to robb them by Surprize as they did now upon the Army after it was divided But now that they saw them conjoyned they shewed plainly by the little assurance of their Countenances and their suddain Retreat that the very sight of their Vanquishers had taken away their Courage and their Judgment and that they ought to be looked upon as half beaten before the Engagement They told others That in fighting valiantly as the Soldiers of Christ Jesus and under his Conduct they went to a most assured Happiness either in Heaven by the glorious Crown of Martyrdom if they died in this Battle or if they survived it they might expect on Earth the Riches and the Spoils of all Asia as the product of their Victory And that they might be understood by all and speak all in one Word they cried with a loud Voice and with all their Force as they passed from Rank to Rank lifting up one Hand to Heaven and with the other drawing their Swords It is the Will of God It is the Will of God Whereupon the whole Army repeated the same Words with such a terrible Harmony that the Hills the Vallies the Rocks and Mountains shook with the dreadful Eccho which repeated a million of times It is the Will of God It is the Will of God After which Prayers being made and the Bishops having given them their Benediction the whole Army moved gently in a most beautiful Order towards the Enemy who all this time stood firm without the least Motion in his Post that he might thereby secure the Advantage he had taken After the Christians covered with their Bucklers had sustained the first discharge of the Saracens who darkned the very Skye with the infinite multitude of their Arrows Count Raymond without giving them leisure to make a second Charge ran at full speed with Lance in Rest upon their Squadrons with the whole Body of his Cavalry and they being unable to sustain so rude a Shock as was given them by the European Lancers to which they had neither Shields nor Brest-plates to oppose were overthrown and tumbled down Horse and Man The Infantry which followed them close then entring as at a Breach with their Swords in their Hands without ever regarding the Enemies Arrows made an extraordinary Carnage both amongst the Men and Horses whilest in the mean time Godfrey and Bohemond who had extended their Squadrons to hinder the Enemies Wings from encompassing them charged them in the Flank and fought with good Success but that which compleated the Ruine of the Infidels was that the Bishop of Pavia who according as was agreed among the Princes having marched his Body behind the Mountain upon the left hand immediately fell upon their Rere which he assailed most vigorously and with mighty Shoots thereby the more to terrify and astonish them For immediately the Arabs who were not acquainted with sighting hand to hand and who feared to be surrounded between the two Armies began to betake themselves to their Heels and in conclusion the Fear and the Disorder which dispersed itself over the whole Army put them in a moment to a general Rout the greatest part of them saving themselves by the swiftness of their Horses which it was in vain to hope to overtake by the heavy Cavalry of the Christians However they pursued them till Night killing many who in their Flight incumbred one another so as they could not make that hast which their Fear and Danger required from them Their Camp immediately fell into the hands of the Christians wherein the Soldiers according as the Generals had promised them inriched themselves with a prodigious quantity of Booty and Plunder which they found there The Christians in these two Combats lost not above four thousand Men among which only three Persons of Quality who were slain in the first Attaque William the Brother of Tancred
Vigor imaginable but as the strongest Engines were too feeble against those Massy Walls and that the unshaken Towers were defended by an Army which might in the open field have given Battle to the Crusades it was resolved to attempt it by a long Siege and the Regular way of Art for this purpose they laid a Bridge of Boats over the Orontes to repulse those who had the Liberty to pass by the Bridge Gate they built Forts to block up the besieged and to empeach their frequent Sallies and in short nothing was omitted that might straiten them of Provision and at last oblige them by Famine to surrender the Town But the Consumption of Provisions which so great an Army occasioned the continual Excursions of the Turkish Garrisons who were about Antioch who wasted all the Country the frequent loss of Convoys and the Rigor of the following Winter almost famisht the Besiegers so that at Christmas the Army had neither Forrage nor Provisions It is true that Bohemond and the Earl of Flanders who were almost continually on horseback did what was possible to get subsistence oftentimes beating the Enemy who attempted to hinder them But as there was a general Desolation in the Country and that there came nothing by Sea in that tempestuous and rough Season so though for the most part they returned loaden with glory for having beaten the Turks yet they brought but a light stock of Provision for so great a multitude which was not easily satisfied This great evil so terrible of it self and which encreased daily was also accompanied with so many others as must in conclusion have reduced the Army to despair the continual Rains had so dammaged the Tents that the Souldiers lay almost quite exposed most of the Horses died so that there were not many above a thousand left in the whole Army At the same time arrived the deplorable account of the Misfortune of Swenon the Son of the King of Denmark who coming to the Siege with fifteen hundred fresh Cavaliers all brave and choice men was by Solyman surprized in a Valley and cut in pieces Many daily deserted following the example of the Traitor Talin the Emperors Lieutenant who pretending to go to solicit his Master for succour abandoned the Army many also of the principal Officers of the Army withdrew and among the rest the stout William the Carpenter Vicount of Melun And which is most surprizing even Peter the Hermit he who was the forwardest of all others to take up the Cross was also one of the first who deserted it and this great Faster who by his voluntary austerity by which he had gained so high a Reputation of Sanctimony making Profession to eat neither bread nor flesh was not able to resist the Severity of this constrained Abstinence which not only the Soldiers year 1097 but the chief commanders also supported so joyfully rather than violate the Vow which they had made unto Almighty God An example which gives us to understand that there is rarely a solid Foundation for this outside Sanctimony especially when it comes to make so great a Noise and that commonly God Almighty permits it to be followed with remarkable humiliation either to discover the falseness and illusion of it if feigned or to cure it of the Vanity of being proud of it the best of all that is good if it be true and certainly the confusion which Peter drew upon himself by so cowardly an Action was sufficient to cure him of that distemper For Tancred who foresaw the dangerous consequence of this pernicious flight persued these two Deserters and brought them back to the Tent of his Uncle Bohemond who there in the presence of all the Princes severely reproached them with their base Cowardize but at the Importunate intreaties of Hugh the Great whose Kinsman the Carpenter had the honor to be they were pardoned though with this condition that they should publickly make Oath that they would accomplish their Vow and not abandon this Enterprize till they had delivered the Holy Sepulchre In short every day produced new misfortunes and now the Pestilence which is the usual Attendant of Famine began to make a terrible Destruction in the Army Whereupon the Bishops had recourse to extraordinary Prayers and admirable Regulations were made and severe Orders given out against the Vices and Disorders which had slipt into the Camp and which with good reason it was apprehended were the Causes of God's displeasure against them nor was it long before the Supernatural Efficacy of this procedure became most visible for from that time the Plague began to decrease and Duke Godfrey whose distemper seemed to be communicated to the whole Army beginning also to recover his Health he by his presence inspired new life Health Vigor and Courage into the Souldiers A great Succour of twenty eight thousand Horse who attempted to force the quarter of Bohemond were defeated by this brave Prince and the Earl of Tholose and which is the Miracle they had only Seven hundred Horse divided into six squadrons with which they engaged and vanquished this great number of Enemies upon the Nineteenth day of February between the River and the Lake where they had put themselves in Battle that they might not be surrounded After which they returned to the Camp loaden with the spoils of their Enemies and that which they most wanted a great number of Horses And as a Trophee of their Victory they threw over the Walls a hundred of the Heads of the principal Turks thereby also to punish the Insolence of the Besieged who insulted over the Christians a little before by shewing them upon the Walls one of the Standards which they had taken in a Sally wherein was painted the Image of the Blessed Virgin About the same time the Ambassadors of the Sultan of Aegypt arrived in the Camp to treat of an Alliance with the Princes to whom he promised to joyn his Forces against their Common Enemies and not long after two Fleets from Genoa and Pisa arrived very Fortunately at the Port of St. Simeon with all sorts of Provisions which were very welcome after a five-month-Siege but this Arrival was the occasion of a great Mischief as well as of a great advantage For so soon as the Arrival of these two Fleets was known in the Camp the Souldiers ran thither in Shoals every one with Precipitation resolving to purvey for themselves such things as they wanted There was reason to fear that the Enemy would lay hold of this Opportunity and Disorder and therefore Bohemond and the Earl of Tholose who were to conduct the Egyptian Ambassadors to the Port in order to their imbarquing hasted with their Troops to convoy in their return this great multitude of Souldiers who were gone without any order and without their Arms. And that which they apprehended fell out accordingly for they fell into an Ambuscade of four thousand of the Enemies who had secretly sallied out of the Town by the
Bridge-Gate And meeting with these disorderly Souldiers in the Plain loaden with Provisions and without other Arms than their Swords they fell in among them and notwithstanding all the Valour of Count Raimond and the Prince of Tarrentum they could not stop the Rout but that the Souldiers fled towards the Mountains leaving all their Provisions and a thousand of their Companions dead upon the place year 1098 Godfrey who was immediately advertized of this Disaster by some who fled with the first took a Party resolving immediately to charge the Turks whom he doubted not with the Joy of their Victory and the Greediness of the Booty to find in sufficient Disorder drawing out therefore four Batalions sustained with all the Cavalry at the head of whom were Hugh the Great the Duke of Normandy and the Earls of Flanders and Bullen he passed the Bridge of Boats and marched directly towards the Enemies with all the Marks of Hope and Courage in the way he joyned the two Princes whom he had given over for lost and who after they had unprofitably used their utmost Efforts to rally their Fugitives had disingaged themselves very fortunately from the Turks In the mean time Accien who had an account of this Victory and who from one of the Towers of his Castle observed this great Movement of the Crusades began to be in pain for the return of his Men he therefore commanded the greatest part of his Army to sally out to their Relief He conducted them himself to the Gate and giving order to have it shut after them he thus addressed himself to the Souldiers That after the advantages which their Companions had had against their Enemies it would be a shame to them to think of Precautions or to assure themselves of a Retreat that this was the time that they must think of nothing but Victory or Death and that they should never see this Gate opened to them but after an intire Conquest of their Enemies On the other side Godfrey who marched but slowly at the Head of his Troops having understood by the hasty return of his Scouts that the Conquerors who had joyned the Succours from the Town drew near loaden with their Booty drawing his Sword and turning to his Men after he had cast a fierce and menacing look towards the Enemy he cryed Follow me It is the Will of God Giving them to understand by this action that upon this occasion they should trust to their Swords only without using either Lances or Arrows Whereupon all the Souldiers in an instant drawing their Swords and making a kind of Penthouse of their Bucklers against the Arrows of the Infidels who running hither and thither incessantly discharged upon them they marched gravely neither with Precipitation nor Heaviness till they came up to the Enemies at Swords point thereby rendring their Bows and Arrows useless The Barbarians terrified with this confident March which put them out of their way of sighting and took away the Service of their Bows they presently recoiled upon their Reserves who were come to relieve them and being incumbred with the Spoils they had taken were in no condition to resist the Swords of the Christians against whom they did not much delight to combat but at a distance so that the Fight was not very long for after the first Squadrons of the Enemy were repulsed the Christians fell into the middle of them with their Infantry and on all hands made a most horrible Slaughter of these miserable Wretches with the mighty Blows of the Sword so that they were totally routed some flying to the Mountains others towards the City not dreaming that the Gate was shut against them Here it was that Despair and the fatal Necessity of vanquishing or dying which Accien had denounced against them made them renew the Combat in the view of the whole Town which ran to the Walls and stood there as in an Amphitheatre to be Spectators and Witnesses either of their shame in being vanquished or of their Glory in being Victors For Godfrey after he was pretty well assured of the Victory had disingaged himself from the Combat with a Design to prevent the Runaways getting into the Town by cutting off their Retreat and therefore being got to a rising Ground near the Bridge he flew like Lightning among his Enemies who fled at full Speed thinking he had been at their Heels who was at their Head to stop their Cariere Never was there seen any thing comparable to the Effects of that extraordinary and prodigious Force which Nature had bestowed upon this Prince there was not one Blow of his terrible Sword which did not carry a dreadful Death along with it here he made a Head with the Cask that was on it roll off from the Shoulders there a whole Arm with the Cimiter which it yet grasped some he cleft down to the very Shoulders others he cut asunder in the Middle filling all with Horror Blood and Terror year 1098 which way soever he turned himself and at the same time the other Princes who pursued the Fugitives with their Swords at their Backs finding them stopped by the Squadron of Godfrey made a most dreadful Slaughter among them or whilest they indeavoured to save their Lives made them lose them in a manner as dreadful for they constrained them blindly to precipitate themselves into the Orontes where the Soldiers dispatched them with their Pikes which the poor Wretches could no way escape but by Swimming The Places adjacent resounded with the lamentable Cries and the Tumult of the Barbarians dying either in the Field or in the River which began to be discoloured with the Blood of the Slain and the Noise was Ecchoed by those who from the Walls saw the woeful Slaughter of their Companions so that in conclusion Accien was obliged to open the Gate to help those who could to make their Escape by the Bridge into the Town It was upon this Occasion that Godfrey performed an Action of which the whole Earth talks as of a Prodigy of Strength and Valour and which I should not have adventured to have given a place to in this History if it were not attested both by all the Writers of that Age and by the Testimony of so many Eye-Witnesses of its Truth One of the principal Captains of the Enemies of a Stature much exceeding the common transported with Fury to observe that Godfrey kill'd all that came within the reach of his terrible Sword at the entry of the Bridge where he had posted himself to obstruct the Passage and that the Turks to avoid his dreadful Blows threw one another headlong into the River he ran up to him foaming with Rage with his Sword advanced in the Air and with all his force discharged so terrible a Blow upon the Duke that he split his Shield in two pieces which he had opposed to it to ward it off his Head when Godfrey raising himself upon his Stirrups gave him such a furious Reverse that his
be ready to march against the Enemy the next day which was the twenty eighth of June being the Eve of the Apostle St. Peter and St. Paul This Order was received with a marvellous Chearfulness every one prepared his Arms and fell to his Devotions the Bishops and Priests Administred the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist all that Night to the Principal Officers and the greatest part of the Soldiers Upon break of Day the Army which by the nine Months Siege of Antioch was reduced to less than one half issued out by the Bridge-Gate divided into six great Batallions which followed one another every one sustained by a very small Squadron of Cavalry for that the greatest part of the Horses were dead and eaten by their Masters during the extream Famine and who this day were therefore constrained to serve on Foot Hugh the Great accompanied with the Earl of Flanders commanded the first Body the great Standard of the Christian Army being carried before him One shall not find in all the fabulous Histories of the feigned Heroes any thing comparable to the Actions of this brave Prince upon this Occasion he was so Meagre and Weak by reason of the extream Famine which he had indured in the Siege that he was scarce able to support himself insomuch that he was requested by the other Princes to stay with those who were left to guard the Retrenchments which were made against the Castle If it shall please God said he I will never lose so fair an Occasion of dying Gloriously for the sake of Jesus Christ I will this day Fight at the Head of the Army and I shall esteem myself extraordinary Happy to be of the number of those who by a Death precious in the Sight of God and full of Glory in the Sight of Men shall gain the glorious Crown of Martyrdom In short he was the first that marched out of the Town and who gave the first happy Presage of the Victory by cutting in pieces two thousand Turks who were advanced out of the Fort to hinder the Sally Duke Godfrey led the second Brigade composed of Lorrainers and Germans year 1098 The Duke of Normands followed after him with his Body After him the Bishop of Pavia with his Troops which were increased by a part of Count Raymond's who being sick remained in the Town with those who kept the Guard against the Castle Tancred led the fifth Batallion and the sixth was conducted by Bohemond There was little need of saying any thing to inspire the Soldiers with Courage who were already prepossessed with so advantagious Imaginations of certain Victory A little pleasant Dew which fell upon them as they marched out increased their Belief and consirmed them in an Opinion that God had sent it for their Refreshment and to give them an Increase of Strength And in effect whether there was any thing extraordinary in it at this time or that their Imagination impregnated with the favourable Visions which had been published among them acted more powerfully upon their Bodies they felt themselves strengthened in such a strange manner that they began to sing and with a mighty loud Voice to cry It is the Will of God it is the Will of God and made no manner of Scruple but that they were going to a most assured Victory So soon as all the Battalions were drawn out they marched Westward to that Quarter where the Mountains abutted upon the River to the end that having them upon their Backs they might not be surrounded by the mighty number of their Enemies after which making a half turn to the left towards the North where the Mountains make a kind of Semicircle they divided every Batalion into two thereby forming twelve which were ranged in two Lines extending a great length thereby to possess all the space between the Mountains and the Orontes Hugh the Great the Earl of Flanders and the Duke of Normandy had the left hand towards the Mountain which covered them Godfrey of Bullen was on the Right extending himself to the very River having Eustace his Brother to sustain him together with the Earls of St. Paul and Toul Baldwin de Bourg Renaud de Beauvais Valon de Chaumont Erard du Puiset and Tancred with his Brigade The Bishop of Pavia was in the middle having the main Body of the Battle with the Troops of the Earl of Tholose which in his Absence were Commanded by the Earls of Die and Rousillon William de Montpellier Gaston de Foix Prince of Bearne Amaneu d' Albret Raymond Viscount of Turene Raimbaud Earl of Orange and Peter Viscount de Castellane Raymond de Agiles Canon of Pavia writes in his History that he carried the Holy Spear before his Bishop who altho he was Armed for his own Safety yet fought no other way than by his Exhortations by his Voice and Gesture animating the Army in shewing them the Sacred Steel He also adds that by an extraordinary Wonder which ought to be attributed to the Faith which these Soldiers had in Christ Jesus whom they honoured in this Spear which they believed was Consecrated by his Blood not one Man of those who fought in that Body received any Wound in this terrible Day Bohemond Commanded the Body of Reserves Composed of his Batallion which was the strongest of them all there being divers other Troops added to his to the intent that he might send Succor to any of the rest which might be too hard pressed by the Enemy One part of the Clergy which came out of the City in Procession at the Head of the Army was placed in his Quarter to implore the Aid of Heaven during the Combat the other which were barefooted upon the Walls displayed the Cross and the Ensigns towards the Army continually giving them their Benediction and with grievous Groans accompanied with the lamentable Cries of the Women and Children who followed them begging the Almighty Protection of God against the wicked Enemies of his most Holy Name In the mean time Corbagath who had so mightily mistaken the Christian Army was ingaged in a Game at Chess when he was informed by a Signal from the Castle that they were issued out of the Town and finding contrary to his Opinion that they made Head that way with an intention to sight him he immediately gave out all necessary Orders for the receiving of them For he instantly sent Soliman the Sultan of Damascus with him of Alepo and a brave Turk whose Name was Karieth with two great Bodies of Cavalry and Infantry to go round about the Mountain upon the right Hand to fall upon the Rere of the Christians by the way of the Sea-Coast But the Princes perceiving it sent a great Detachment composed of several Troops drawn from the two Wings under the Command of Renaud Earl of Toul year 1098 to stop those who might attack them on that Quarter during the Combat to be short he ranged his Army partly upon the Hills which he
of that furious Voice which made such a Horrid Noise opened two others by which his Blood and his Life flowed out together Eudas de Baugeny who carried the Princes Colours fell at the same time by the Stroak of a Poisoned Arrow but William de Beleme the Princes Esquire animated by the Example of his Master threw himself into the Throng of the Turks who endeavoured to take it and killing all that opposed him he recovered it all covered with their Blood and shewed it to the Crusades in that Condition being of the same Colour with those Crosses which they wore Godfrey who loved this Prince Hugh with a mighty Tenderness and who was reciprocally beloved by him and Tancred whom the Danger wherein he saw his Uncle rendred furious being in this time come in with their Troops the Combat was renewed with more Fury than before but it lasted not long by reason that the Enemies utterly unable to sustain the Force of so many Valiant Princes who were rejoyned against them and who being come up to the Throng rendred their Bows useless and their Artificial Fires vain they now fled like the Smoak towards the Mountains leaving in the Plain new Mountains raised by the Heaps of their slain Companions The Princes immediately facing about without offering to pursue them returned to their own Party who were still hotly disputing with those to whom this Diversion had given new Courage but that Courage was quickly cooled by the Knowledge which the Return of the Princes gave them of the defeat of their Companions and they who before were not able to resist them could less do it now that they returned Victorious and reinforced by the Troops of Earl Renaud and Bohemond to perfect and finish the Victory It is said that there were seen a mighty number of Cavaliers in White Arms who seemed to descend from the Mountains to assist the Crusades Whether it were so in Reality year 1098 or that the strong Perswasion which some might have of Aid from Heaven heightned their Imagination to represent to them this Prodigy it is certain that the Noise ran through the Army that the Heavenly Legions were descended to combat in Favour of the Christians under the Conduct of the Soldier Saints and Martyrs Maurice George and Demetrius The Bishop of Pavia however knew so well to make good use of this Credulity of the Army that therewith he animated the Soldiers to make the last Effort against the Insidels who now on every side beginning to stagger immediately upon this vigorous Charge turned their Backs and thought of nothing but how to save themselves by Flight There was between the Place of Battle and the Enemies Camp a little Valley divided by a small Rivulet which made the Passage very difficult now the Turks who made more hast than the Christians having passed it some time before them had the Leasure to rally upon the Mountain where with their broken Troops they formed a little kind of a new Army hoping thereby to discourage some and surprize others which they thought would follow them in Disorder But Hugh the Great with his French-Men who stuck closely to him having first passed the Valley charged them so Home that Tancred and the rest of the Princes which followed him being now come up before they could recover the Disorder of that brisk Charge cut them all in pieces except a few who repenting that they had staid so long found no small trouble to regain the Advantage which their first slight had given them After this Corbagath who hitherto had not quitted the rising Ground from whence he had with sufficient Cowardize beheld the Combat without taking the least share in it seeing that all was lost fled at full Speed towards the Euphrates every Hour taking fresh Horses and never looking behind him till he was got to the further side of that mighty River As for the rest the Christians were so extreamly weary with fighting and with killing that the Fugitives had a great advantage to escape for there were none that pursued them except Tancred who gave them chace for about two Leagues till the coming on of the Night obliged him to return The Enemies lost in this Battle one hundred thousand Horse and so great a Number of Foot that it was not possible to compute them and which was most remarkable this mighty Victory did not cost the Christians above four thousand Men and to comfort them for this inconsiderable loss they took the Camp of the Infidels which was full of inestimable Riches which did so reestablish the Army that not only the Princes and Lords but even the meanest Soldiers who had been reduced to the extremity of Misery and Poverty found themselves in much a better Condition and beyond Comparison far more Rich than they were before they undertook this Voyage and that which compleated the Joy was that the Emir to whom Corbagath had intrusted the Guard of the Castle instantly surrendred it and with three hundred of his Men turned Christians the rest having Liberty to retire whither they pleased Thus was Antioch taken and preserved by the most Memorable Exploits of War which ever were performed and which I thought my self obliged to recount with all its Cicumstances to the End that considering the Faults which the Crusades committed and the fearful Extremities to which they were reduced both during the Siege and afterwards the Reader may be satisfied that God who punishes the Offences of Men by his Justice and pardons them in his Mercy was the only support of this Enterprize which in all Humane Probability must otherwise have been most unfortunate so much doth it concern mighty Princes who make great Wars to make it the Principal Maxime of their Policy to gain Almighty God to be of their Party and that by returning to him with a true Conversion of their Hearts he may give Prosperity and Success to their Arms without which they must expect always to have him for their most Dreadful Adversary After this great Victory of which the Princes gave an ample Relation to Pope Vrban in a large Letter as also of all which they had done till that time they took Care of resetling Christian Religion in Antioch and then assembling to deliberate concerning the Principal Enterprise which was that of Jerusalem it was resolved to defer it to the first of November by reason of the great and excessive Heats year 1098 as also to give the Army some Repose and in the mean time to remonstrate to the Emperor his unworthy Carriage it was thought fit to send Hugh the Great and Baldwin de Mons Earl of Henault to press him to the Conditions which he had sworn to fulfil to come in Person instantly and joyn his Forces with those of the Princes if he expected that they on their Part should keep the Oath which they had taken Bohemond himself to whom all the rest except Count Raymond had already quitted all manner of
Heaven look there and see the Brightness and the Beauty of that Palace it is from thence that I have what you so much Admire in me And further added he seeing him transported with the Admiration of that Beautiful Palace I am to acquaint you that there is one far more Glorious preparing for you Adieu till to Morrow And thereupon he presently disappeared Early the next Morning Anselm having made his Servants send for the Priests he received the Sacraments and very pleasantly said to his Friends that they should not be surprized at what he was to tell them but that though now they saw him in perfect Health yet assuredly he should die that day and thereupon he related to them what he had seen the Night preceding before he went to sleep And the Event verified his Prediction for the Enemy making a furious Sally Anselm who never failed upon such an Occasion ran thither with his Sword in his Hand when a Stone which was discharged from an Engine hitting him upon the Head sent him instantly to that Beautiful Palace which Engelram told him was preparing for him in the Heavens Now in Regard that he who recounts this extraordinary Accident affirms upon his Salvation that he faithfully writ what he saw himself and that besides one cannot reasonably accuse so brave a Man as this famous Earl of Bouchain and Ribemont as guilty of so much Weakness as to make him pass for a Visionary Extravagant I cannot believe there is the least Place for calling in Question the Truth of this Relation And from hence our Brave Men may draw an Excellent Instruction and learn that in making a Christian War whether it be against Infidels or Hereticks or whether it be in Obedience to their own Prince who is only responsible to God for the Justice of his Arms which the Subjects have no Authority to examine there is such an Insinite Glory in Heaven to be acquired by their Courage on Earth that they ought to expose their Lives with all imaginable Frankness to all sorts of Dangers and Death it self After this all the Advantage that was gotten during this Siege before the Arrival of the other Princes was that Raymond Viscount of Turenne having with him the Viscount de Castellane the Lord Albret and ten or twelve other principal Gascons and Bearnois with about one hundred Horse and two hundred Foot took Torlosa in old Time called Antaradus a fair and great Town upon the Coast over against the Isle of Aradus six or seven Leagues from Arcas towards Antioch He thought to have taken it by Surprize but that Design did not thrive by reason he had so small a Number of Men wherefore in the Night at the side of a Wood which was in View of the City he caused such abundance of Fires to be made that the Inhabitants taking his Party to have been the Van of the Army and that all the rest was now come up to assault them the next day they fled away that Night so that the Viscount entred it the next Morning without Resistance and there found so rich a Booty as rejoyced the whole Army This Valiant Viscount was the Chief of that Illustrious House of Turenne which in Conclusion about two hundred years since happily fell into that de la Tour d' Avergne which by taking up the Name hath restored it not only to its first Splendor but hath also advanced it by an other Viscount Turenne to the highest pitch of Honor to which it could aspire This is he who after having done so many fair Actions in commanding the French Armies in Italy in Germany and Flanders as beyond Contradiction have given him the Reputation of a most accomplished Captain came to add to the Heap of his Glories the Execution of his Kings Commands in this last Campagne and who may well be celebrated as the chief Engineer of the Military Art year 1099 and Master of all those great Qualities which are requisite in the Character of the most compleat General of an Army all which are so conspicuous in him as justly render him one of the most admired able brave and eminent Generals even in the Opinion of the Confederates his Enemies And certainly it will be difficult to find any thing more admirable than the War of this Campagne of more than ten Months Continuance wherein he by his sole Presence and the terror of his Name not only stopped the Course of the greatest Army of his Enemies and hindred them from entring into the Provinces whilest in the mean time the King finished his Conquests but also in Conclusion won two Battles one on this the other on the further side of the Rhine constraining them in Disorder to retire as far as the River of Mein and after that terrible Inundation of sixty thousand Germans had thrown themselves over the Bridge of Strasbourg into Alsatia he there gave them the Diversion of weakening themselves by Famine and Sickness after which in the very Heart of Winter he marched against them over the Mountains and the mighty Snows and there either cut in pieces and dispersed or made Prisoners their forwardest Troops in three Combats and in Conclusion obliged the rest which he had reduced to one half of what passed the Bridge to repass it with so much Precipitation and Shame that to save themselves in their own Country they would not give him the Opportunity to Attacque them Thus it was that he sustained the Glory of that illustrious Name and rendred that of Turenne far more glorious than it was in the first Crusade after that Viscount Raymond alone took so great a City In the mean time the Duke Godfrey Earl Eustace and Robert Earl of Flanders who Marched in the month of March with their Armies in very good Condition Besieged Giblet otherwise called Gabala a Town upon the Sea between Tortosa and Laodicea but being requested by the Earl of Tholose to come to his Assistance upon the Rumor which he had cunningly raised that a great Army of Saracens were advancing to Assail him they accepted the Terms which the Governor offered them to obtain a Peace and came instantly before Arcas where they found no other Enemies to Combat with but those who were within the Town who made a very brave Defence But the two Ambassages which the Princes received shortly after determined the Siege which had been maintained so long For during the Siege of Antioch they had sent their Ambassadors to Babylon with those of the Sultan of Egypt to conclude with him that Alliance which he had desired and which was condescended unto upon Condition that he should joyn his Arms with those of the Christians That Jerusalem with all its Dependancies should be put into the Hands of the Christians That he should have such other Places as should be regained from the Turks who had usurped them from him and that the rest should be divided among them But the great Overthrow of Corbagath which that
other Thoughts about his Heart and that it was his Fear of the Christian Army which drew this Perjury from his Lips For as the Army quitting Ptolemaïs pursued their Way by Caiphas and the Passage of the Strait which lies between the Sea and Mount Carmel and was about to Encamp near the Lake of Cesarea a Pigeon which was escaped from the Talons of a Bird of Prey who astonished at the Noise of the Army had quitted her fell down half dead at the feet of the Soldiers being taken up there was found fastned to her a little Roll of Paper in which the Emir of Ptolemais had written to him of Cesarea that he should do all the Mischief that he could to this Army of Doggs who were about to pass his Territories for that he might more easily Incommode their Passage than he could and also that he should not fail by the same way to give the same Advertisement to the other Cities This Accident occasioned a wonderful Joy in the whole Army for from hence they concluded that God took a particular Care of their Interests since he was pleased in so uncommon a manner to discover to them the Secrets of their Malicious Enemies For this very reason the Princes staid in that place that they might with greaten Devotion celebrate the Holy Feast of Whit-Sunday which was the nine and twentieth day of May. After which leaving the Sea upon their right Hand as also the Cities of Joppa and Antipatris they took the Right-hand-way which leads through the pleasant Vallies which lie at the Foot of Mount Ephraim to Lidda or Diospolis a famous City of Judea and at that time particularly Famous for the magnificent Church which the Emperor Justinian had caused to be built in Honor of St. George in the place where that generous Soldier finished his Martyrdome but the Saracens despairing to maintain the Town had before ruined this noble Structure burning the prodigious Beams which sustained the Roof for fear the Christians should make use of them for Engines of War At the same time the Princes seized upon Ramatha by some called Arimathea Rama and Ramula a City which the Birth the Dwelling and the Sepulchre of the Prophet Samuel have rendred remarkable in the Holy Writings The Saracens had also abandoned that place in so great hast that they left behind them so much Provision as sufficed for three days to refresh the whole Army And because Rama was near unto Lidda it was thought fit to give the Fee-simple of those two Towns together with the Tithes of the Booty to a learned and virtuous Priest one Robert of the Diocess of Rouen who was setled the Bishop of that place to the intent that he should not only take Care of the Christians of Lidda but also of such Pilgrims who resolved to pass the remainder of their Lives in the Holy Land and with which Rama was to be peopled This being done the Army marched very early the next Morning Eastward and the same Evening arrived at Emmaus some sixty Furlongs which is about two Leagues and a half from Jerusalem This City which had in the time of the Machabees been a considerable Place was in our Saviour's time only a little Burrough having been ruined by Varus the Governor of Syria but it was rebuilt by the Romans after the end of the Jewish War and in memory of their Victories they called it Nicopolis as it was at that time called when the Christians seized it At that instant there arrived Deputies from Bethlehem who addressed themselves to Duke Godfrey to request him to send them present Succours year 1099 least the Saracens as they had just ground to apprehend who from all Parts ran to put themselves into Jerusalem should in their Passage fire that City Immediately Tancred who was particularly united in his Interests was dispatched thither and who after he had given all the necessary Orders for the Security of that Place and had planted his Ensign upon the Church rejoyned the other Princes the day following which was Tuesday the sixth of June a day after three years from the first Enterprise of the Voyage so long expected and so ardently desired a day wherein after infinite Pains and Travels they came with incredible Joy to see the Conclusion of their Vows For so soon as the Army was gâ—â— to the top of the Heights which are on the further side of Emaus from whence there was a fair Prospect of the lofty Towers of the Holy City the Princes the Officers the Soldiers and the whole Troop of Pilgrims which followed the Army broak out all together as it were by Consent into Cries of Joy Blessing and Praises to Almighty God which being reverberated and multiplied by the Ecchoes of the Rocks and Mountains with which the City is Invironed repeated in a few Moments a million of times It is the Will of God It is the Will of God And immediately they found their Hearts so lively touched and pierced with the extraordinary Sentiments of Piety Tenderness and Love of God upon the sight of those Holy Places Consecrated by the venerable Mysteries of the Redemption of Mankind that they threw themselves upon the Ground shedding abundance of devout Tears and kissing with unconceivable Pleasure that Soil which had been honored with the Footsteps of the Incarnate Word of God Thus do present Objects without any other Assistance make the most violent Impressions upon the Minds of Men and such as far surpass the most profound Meditations the most powerful Reasonings and the most elaborate Discourses of the most eloquent Orators or Preachers and the single View of them is more capable of softning the hardest Hearts than the finest Discourses at a distance which cannot possibly represent things with that Life and Efficacy which by the Eyes passes in a moment to the Soul Thus the Presence of those glorious Monuments of the Victories of the Son of God after these first motions of Piety inspired in the Hearts of the Crusades such an extraordinary Ardor to Conquer that they cried out to be instantly lead to the Siege of Jerusalem not as Jewish the Enemy and Murdress of the Saviour of the World to destroy it but as Christian and Captive to deliver it from the Tyranny of the Barbarians who hindred the whole World from the Liberty of rendring those Honors due to the Sepulcher of Jesus Christ The Princes therefore judging that they ought to make use of this admirable Disposition of their Soldiers instantly fell upon forming the Siege of this illustrious City of which before I proceed further it will be necessary to represent the Situation the Strength and the Condition wherein they found it at that time THE HISTORY OF THE CRUSADE OR The Expeditions of the Christian Princes for the Conquest of the Holy Land BOOK III. The CONTENTS of the Third Book The Present State of Jerusalem when the Christian Princes Besieged it The Distribution of their Quarters The ill
less On the contrary this new City which was of a Figure altogether Irregular yet approaching to Square extended it self in Length from East to West some twelve hundred Paces and in Breadth from South to North about a third part so much Moreover the Ancient City was wholly inaccessible on the South part by reason of the broaken Rocks of the Mount Sion which Invironed it it was also the same upon the East having the deep Valley of Jehoshaphat between the Mount of Olives and Mount Moriah But this New City which had Mount Sion close by the South Side of it was easily Commanded from thence and the Valleys having been in a manner filled up by the Romans it was very accessible particularly upon the North. It continued a long time in this Estate under the Power of the Gentiles till such time as the Great Constantine peopled it with Christians having there builded the Magnisicent Church of the Resurrection which Incloses the Holy Sepulchre where the Pagans had with the most impious Profaneness erected the Temple of the Idol Venus After this quitting the profane Name of Aelia if recovered that venerable Name of Jerusalem a Name Consecrated by the Sacred Records and by so many Holy Mysteries which for ever after to this present time it hath retained It was taken from the Romans by the Persians under the Reign of King Cosroës and by his Successor Restored to the Emperor Heraclius and not long after about the middle of the seventh Age falling into the Hands of the Saracens the Caliph Omar one of the earliest Successors of Mahomet built there a round Temple of eight Angles or Faces for a Mosch in the same place where sometimes stood the Temple of Solomon and tho it did not in the least Resemble that except in the Greatness of the Porch which was raised very high and with fair Galleries in the Middle whereof stands this Round yet doth it to this Day retain that Name About four hundred Years after this the greatest part of Syria and Palestine falling under the Dominion of the Turks they also took Jerusalem from the Sultan of Egypt and thirty eight Years after it was retaken from them by him making use of the Occasion which was offered him by the memorable Victory of the Christians over the Turks in the Battle of Antioch This Saracen Prince who notwithstanding his Ambassy doubted not but the Christians who looked upon Jerusalem as the end of their Enterprise would certainly besiege it year 1099 forgot nothing which was necessary to put it into a Condition to make a good Defence for with great diligence he caused the Walls and Towers to be repaired although they were very strong before having also a double Wall he provided the Place with all manner of Stores both of Ammunition and Provision he caused all the Christians that were able to bear Arms to quit the City and put into it a Garrison of fourty thousand of his Best Soldiers besides that there were twenty Thousand Inhabitants who were Armed and to whom for their Encouragement he promised a perpetual Exemption from all manner of Taxes and Tributes He caused also the Cisterns and Wells for six miles round the City to be filled up and made a most horrible Wast throughout the Country that so the Christian Army at the same Time that they were to Combat with so strong an Enemy within the Walls might have Famine a more terrible Enemy to Combat with in the Field and above all he hoped to destroy them for Want of Water in those dry and barren Countries where the Heat is great and Thirst most insupportable This was the Estate and Posture in which Jerusalem then stood immediately before it was besieged by the Christians whose Army was not in Truth so Numerous as that which defended the Place For of that immense Multitude of the Crusades who passed into Asia and were at the Siege of Nice there came not above sixty thousand of both Sexes among which there were not more than twenty Thousand Foot and fifteen hundred Horse who were in a Condition to fight the greatest part of the rest being dead either with Diseases or in the several Encounters some were returned some wore put into Garrisons in the conquered places and some followed the Princes Baldwin and Bohemond to defend their new Principalities of Edessa and Antioch Nevertheless both Princes and Soldiers were determined either there to perish or to carry the Pince and to accomplish their Vow either by a Devout Death or Glorious Victory After they had therefore repulsed the Enemies who sallied out they began chearfully to form the Siege in this manner Godfrey of Bullen Earl Eustace his Brother and Tancred took their Post upon the West near to the Fortress which they called the Tower of David The Earl of Tholose was upon his Right directly opposite to the Gate of this Tower and after a little while he enlarged his Quarters Southward to the Extremity of Mount Sion over against the Church of the Holy Virgin The Remainder of the City on the South and towards the East was left free in Regard the Hollow Vallius and the Craggy Rocks made the Approaches Extreme Difficult The North side was surrounded by the Duke of Normandy the Earls of Flanders and St. Paul who lay before the Gate which was then called St. Stephens but now Damascus Gate to the Angular Tower near the Valley of Jehosaphat Moreover that they might avoid a tedious Siege like that of Antioch it was resolved to attack the Place by main Force therein also following the Advice of a Solitary who lived with a great Opinion of his Sanctity in a Cave in the Mount of Olives for he had promised the Christians that they should have the Victory that day telling them he had it in Command from God to acquaint them with that Message although it was told him on the other hand that they were not at all provided with necessary Materials for an Attack But as it appeared afterwards in all kind of Affairs but especially in those of War it is a most dangerous Folly to quit the Rules of Art and Prudence blindly to follow the uncertain Ways of pretended Revelations which one ought rarely to trust in Regard they are so often false and when they are true one is not bound to believe them but upon Invincible Proofs and without those one is obliged always rather to follow good Sense and Reason which God hath given to Men next to his Divine Word to be their Rule and Guide However upon the fifth day of the Siege early in the Morning a General Assault was given upon the Word of this Recluse which was looked upon as an Oracle Never was there seen greater Ardor in the Soldiers whose Courage was redoubled by the certainty of their Belief in the Promise of this Holy Man that they should that very day take Jorusalem Some part were drawn up in close Rank and they advanced holdly after
who at the same time made a Mock-Procession about the Walls within the City as the Christians did without vomiting out a thousand Blasphemies against Christ and offering a thousand Insolencies and Indignities to a Cross which they opposed to that which was carried in this Devout Procession before the Christians The next Morning Godfrey who had resolved to make his Attack upon that Quarter which is between the East and the North because it was the weakest and the most convenient for his Engines to play removed his Camp thither in the Night and employed the three following Days as did the other Princes to dispose of their Engines They had besides Rams Slings to throw great Stones and other such Sort of Engines which were at that time in Use to batter Walls near at hand three great Castles of Wood of a new Structure Every one of them had three Stories whereof the lowest was for the Ingeniers and Workmen who by great Force rolled the Machin upon its Wheels the two others had their Platforms which jetted out from the Work so that the Combatants who were placed in them might from thence fight as upon sirm Ground either with their Enemies at a Distance or near at Hand according as they were able to advance the Machin the middle Story was as high as the Top of the Second Wall which was something higher than the Out-Wall of the City And the third Story which was raised with a narrow Top was so framed that from thence one might see the Enemies so as to have a sair Mark at them with Darts Stones or Arrows even to the very Heart of the City These Wooden rolling Castles had four sides which were covered with Hurdles to prevent the Damage which they might receive by the great Stones thrown from the Walls and the Hurdles were also covered with Raw Hides of Oxen Camels and Horses to resist the Violence of Fire But that which was the Chief Design of these Machines was that upon the side of the third Story towards the Town and which was just above the Platform of the middle Story Level with the Height of the Walls besides the two other Covertures there was a third which was framed with Joists and Planks and so fastned to the Engine above at the third Platform that being suddainly let down by two Pullies it was to fall upon the Wall like a Draw-Bridge thereby to enter into the Town It was resolved that there should be three Attacks and one of these Rolling Castles at every one of them year 1099 Duke Godfrey and Earl Eustace had the first a little below St. Stephens Gate drawing towards the East Duke Robert Prince Tancred and the Earl of Flanders with the second made the second a little lower at the left Hand near the Angular Tower which was afterwards called Tancred's Tower Earl Raymond made his at the opposite Angle at the South-West with the third which could not advance till he had caused certain deep Trenches to be filled up which lay between him and the Wall Upon Wednesday the thirteenth of July the Attack was begun which was continued all the next day with incredible Fury all the great Engines which were placed by the Castles played incessantly upon the Enemies with Huge Stones whilest at the same time the Slings the Archers and Cross-Bows discharged continually upon them the Castles advancing still forward all the Time The Captains stood all this while in the highest Story of the Rolling Castles accompanied with the most considerable and bravest men of the Army to animate their Soldiers by their Example and by the Danger which they ran being above all others exposed as the Mark of the Enemies Arrows Duke Godfrey with his Brother stood upon the highest Platform of his Castle from whence whilest it approached by little and little to the Wall he continually discharged his lusty Arrows into the Town and against those who defended the Walls scarce one of them falling in Vain for as he was without Contradiction one of the strongest men of his Time so he was the most dextrous and the best Marksman of his Age which hath given Rise to the Story which will have it That seeing three Birds flying to the Top of one of the Towers of Jerusalem he shot them all three upon one single Arrow And for this Reason it is that it is the received Opinion that those vast Arrows which are kept in the Armory of the House of Lorrain one of the most Illustrious of the World were his since it cannot be doubted but he was descended from that Noble Stem Godfrey had placed in the second Stage of his Castle the two Brothers Lethold and Engelbert most Vallant Gentlemen of Tournay and Guicher the stoutest man in the whole Army who incountring with a Lyon had cut him in two at one single Blow of his Sword these seconded the Efforts of their Noble Master and being accompanied with a many other Gallant Men they did wonderful Execution with the Sling and Arrows and in playing their Stone Bows which without ceasing poured continual Showers from their Platform upon the Town The other Princes also acted with the like Vigor some levelling the Ground that so the Castles might more easily advance whilest others presented the Scalade in many several places together thereby to make the greater Diversion to the Defendants whilest at the same time the Walls were battered continually with mighty Rams There was one of a Prodigious Magnitude with which after they had overthrown the Out-Wall to make Way for Duke Godfrey's Castle they also played so vigorously against the Inward Wall that therewith they made a very great Breach Those within the Town in the mean time sorgot nothing which might contribute to the rendring the Attempts of the Beliegers fruitless whom they exceeded both in Number of Men and Engines All their Walls were covered with them and they opposed four of an extraordinary Size against the three Rolling Castles from which they discharged Stones of a Prodigious Bigness which hitting the Engines fell upon the Platforms with a Terrible Noise crushing overthrowing and tearing all in pieces breaking the Braces and Posts and crushing all those who did not quickly get Shelter from that furious Tempest The very Air was obscured with that mighty Hail and the Stones which were discharged from one side and the other encountring one another seemed to Combat as well as the Men and with a Terrible Noise fell down together among the Assailants against whom the Besieged shoured down without ceasing their Arrows Darts and Stones to hinder their Approaches they also threw abundance of Pots of Fire and shot Fire Darts against the Machines to burn them and at the same time made a furious Sally at the Breach which was made by the great Ram to which they set Fire which was not without great Difficulty extinguished In short never was there seen so long an Assault nor a Combat maintained with that Equal Obstinacy on
both Parts for it was only the Night and the extream Weariness that obliged them on both sides to give over as it were to take a little Breath year 1099 The Night it self however did not pass in over much Tranquility on either part The Besieged were in continual Fear to be surprized under the favour of the Darkness and the Besiegers lest they should sally out to set Fire to the Machines which were already much indamaged and especially that of the Earl of Tholose which was rendred in a manner wholly unserviceable But however they wrought so hard upon it in the Night that the next morning the Combat was renewed on one side and the other with more Fury than before The Christians irritated by so long a Resistance made their utmost Efforts resolute either to lose all or to gain all and the Sarasins animated by the Success of the two preceding days and by the hope of present Succour which the Sultan of Babylon had promised them fought with new Courage and with so much Assurance of Victory that they could not forbear insulting over their Enemies and assailing their Assailants Above all they aimed at Duke Godfrey against whose Machin whilest it advanced over the great Breach in the Out-Wall they threw a vast Quantity of Fire-Works and huge Stones one of which crushed with its fall one of his Esquires just by his side There were also two famous Magicians whom they brought to the Walls who promised to stop the Dukes Castle by their Enchantments but while the poor Wretches were busie muttering their foolish Charms a great Stone thrown from one of the Dukes Slings spoiled their Conjurations crushing them both together sent them down to those Infernal Spirits which they were in Vain calling up to their Assistance The Assault had now lasted till one of the Clock in the Afternoon without any manner of Appearance of Advantage than it was the day before when the Soldiers discouraged to see themselves so often repulsed began a little to relax of their former Ardor and indeed to recoil in Despair of ever being able to force so many brave Men who defended themselves with so much Vigor and Advantage which the Sarasins perceiving sent forth great Cries of Joy intermingled with Horrible Blasphemies and Insulting Language against the Christians reproaching them with the Cowardize and Impotence of their Crucisied God when Duke Godfrey whether he really was assured that he saw it or whether his Imagination heated by the Ardor of the Combat and filled with the Images of War represented it to him cried out amain That Heaven was come to their Succour and that he saw upon his left hand upon the Top of Mount Oliver a Celestial Cavalier who shaking a shining Buckler towards the City gave the Signal to enter it And that which is most surprizing is that the Earl of Tholose who fought at a great distance from him against another part of the City declared the same thing at the same time to his Soldiers so that one must either conclude that these two Princes had before agreed this matter between them to re-incourage their Men when they saw them a little abate of their Courage and Vigor or else that by chance some Cavalier of the Army at that time getting upon that Hill was by the Princes who saw him at the same time taken for a Warriour-Saint who was descended from Heaven to their Succour Let it be as it will it is certain that this Vision or at least the Belief that it was very true had the most admirable Effect that ever was seen for no sooner was the Report blown about but the Soldiers perswading themselves that it was St. George who as the whole Army believed he had done at the Battle of Antioch was come again to sight for them instantly reassumed such a new Courage that they became quite other men for they returned to the Combat like so many furious Lions and even all without distinction of Age Sex or Condition rushed in to the Assault the Sick and Maimed not Excepted ran before the Rolling Machins so that having in less than an Hour levelled the Way which hindred their advancing they pushed them Home to the innermost Wall where for some time they fought at push of Pike and Javelin But Godfrey who was resolute to throw himself into the Town bethought himself of an Invention which facilitated his Passage and cleared the Walls in a Moment for the Enemies to break the Force of the Blows of the Stones and Rams which battered the Walls had put abundance of Sacks filled with Chaff Hay and Wool Rugs and Alatresses pieces of Cables and Ropes and a hundred other things of that Nature which they thought would by yielding and giing way year 1099 defend the Walls from those Blows of the battering Engines the Duke perceiving that the Wind blew at North and was upon his Back made a great quantity of fire Darts be shot against that soft and combustible Matter which catching hold of them very easily set them in a moment all into a Blaze the Flame which rose very high with a mighty thick Smoak being driven by the Violence of the Wind upon the Faces of those who defended the Walls and the two adjoyning Towers on the Right and Left they were forced at last to Retire and leave the Place Empty The Duke thereupon immediately letting down his Draw-Bridge which was of an exact Height to rest upon the Wall descended instantly to the second Stage where putting himself at the Head of all those brave Men which accompanied him he threw himself with his Sword in his Hand into the Town having at his Side Eustace his Brother Baldwin Earl of Bourg his Cousin and the two Valiant Brothers of Tournay Lethold and Engelbert who were followed by the brave Guicher and that choice Troop of Lords and Gentlemen who never Abandoned the Duke In a little while after the Duke of Normandy the Earl of Flanders and Tancred having used the same Artifice to drive the Enemies from the Walls threw their Bridge over the Wall also and entred at the Angular Tower being sollowed by Gaston de Foix the Earls Hugh de St. Paul Gerrad de Rousillon Raimband de Orange Louïs de Mouson Conon de Montaign Lambert his Son and all the rest who desired to have a share in the Glory of these great Men. In the same Instant the Soldiers seeing that the Princes threw themselves into the Town followed by the principal Persons of the Army they were so Animated that they ran to the Assault of their own Accord every one in the way that his Courage Inspired him with these presented the Ladders and pushed one another forward to gain the Battlements which the Enemies had Abandoned those mounted the second Stage of the Castles to pass over the Bridges and the greatest part desperately threw themselves in at the Breach which had been made the day before so that all the North Side
Rama where they took some of the Enemies Scouts had Advertised him that the Sultan was Incamped at Ascalon a City upon the Sea-Coast two good days Journeys from Jerusalem towards Egypt he resolved to go to meet him and notwithstanding the prodigious Inequality of their Forces to give him Battle For this Purpose having first Implored the Help of Heaven by publick Prayers at which he assisted with marvellous Devotion he parted from Jerusalem upon Tuesday the eleventh day of August with the Earl of Flanders and that Arnold de Rohes who by an Intrigue which is no part of my History to relate was now chosen Patriarch of Jerusalem with the Consent of the Pope This new Patriarch who for very many Reasons was not so very agreeable to the generality of the People thought to acquire Reputation by shewing his extraordinary Zeal upon this Occasion He therefore left Peter the Hermite to take Care that Prayers might be made to God Almighty for the happy Success of the Arms of the King whom he would follow carrying with him to Encourage the Soldiers a part of the Wood of the true Cross which an honest Christian had hid during the Siege lest the Sarasins should profane it The same day the King joyned Tancred and Count Eustace waiting the coming up of the Duke of Normandy and Earl Raymond who met him at Ibelin which was Anciently the City of Gath one of the five Cities of the Lords of the Philistins some few Miles from Lidda and Ramula The next day they advanced together to the Brook Soreck which was not above two or three Leagues from the Enemies Camp There they found a prodigious Number of Horses Oxen Camels Asses Sheep and Goats which were guarded by some Arabians who were easily Routed some of them being taken Prisoners by whom they gained Intelligence of the Posture of the Enemies so that they easily Seized upon these Flocks and Herds of Cattle but there being reason to fear that this was but a Snare which the Sultan had laid for the Christian Army to fall upon them whilest they were busie in dividing the Prey the King expresly Prohibited all Persons to meddle with the Booty and not to think of taking any thing from the Enemy till they had gained the Battle which they were going to give them year 1099 In short the next Morning being Friday and the Eve of the Assumption of our Lady the Army at break of day passed without any Trouble the Torrent which at that dry Season of the Summer had but very little Water in it and the Sultan who could never perswade himself that the Christians would dare to be so hardy as to Advance to him had given no Order to hinder their Passage or to Dispute it with them Never was there seen a greater Ardor than appeared in the Countenances of the Soldiers upon this Occasion so much Joy and so much Assurance of Victory appeared amongst them tho they were but a handful of Men in comparison of the infinite Multitude of their Enemies for those who speak with the least assure us that there were a hundred thousand Horse and above three hundred thousand Foot in their Army for the Sultan who had set his Resolution either to Preserve or Recover Jerusalem had Amassed all the Soldiers that possibly he could out of Egypt Lybia Affrica Ethiopia Arabia and the Towns which were yet Possessed by the Turks who joyned with him against the Christians as their common Enemies And the Historians who speak the most of the Christians will not allow them to be above twenty thousand among which about five thousand Horse they being not in a Condition to Re-mount the Cavalry since the Taking of Jerusalem But that which gave this Confidence to the Christians besides the Contempt which they had of these Numbers of Sarasins which they made no account of was the Zeal which they had for the Glory of Christ Jesus and the eager Desire which boyled in their Hearts to Revenge the horrible Blasphemy of the Sultan For they had learned from the Prisoners that this impious Miscreant had haughtily threatned to Extirpate all the Christians and their Religion out of the East that he would rase the very Foundations of the Holy Sepulchre and utterly Ruine all the Monuments of Christian Religion and thereby spoil the Longing of those of the West to make any more such Voyages to Jerusalem They passed then over the Torrent with Trumpets Sounding and great Shouts of Joy as if it had been in Triumph and that they intended with their small Army to Affront the mighty Number of their Despised Enemies But it happened by a very surprizing Accident that the Mistake of their Enemies supplied the Defect of their Number by making them appear to be far more than in Reality they were which mistake produced all the Effect that could have been hoped or wished had they been really so many as they appeared to be for that mighty number of Cattle which had been taken the day before and which the King had forbidden the Soldiers to meddle with followed the Army as they passed the Rivulet and without being in the least Conducted by any Ranged themselves in the order of Troops upon their March as if it had been the Rere-guard of an Army extending themselves to the left Hand to the very Foot of the Mountains which border upon the East covering all that large Campain which from the Brook extends it self even to Ascalon which lies on the right Hand upon the Sea Coast and as these Animals filled all the Plain even to the Mountains and that the Horses Excited by the Noise of the Trumpets fell to Neighing according to their couragious Nature in such a manner that they might be heard afar off so these great Herds of other Cattle in Marching raised such mighty Clouds of Dust between them and the Sarasins that not being able to distinguish clearly they took them for part of the Christian Army and particularly for Squadrons of Cavalry and consequently their Fear also multiplying them in their amazed Imaginations they conjectured that their Number was not at all inferior to theirs whereupon they were Seised with a general Consternation and not being able to disabuse their troubled imaginations they stood as if they had been stupid thinking they were to deal with a million of Christians who since the taking of Jerusalem were Arrived from the West In the mean time the Armies being thus near there was a necessity of Fighting that of the Christians was divided into three Bodies Count Raymond Commanded the Right Point which was extended to the Sea that so they might not be Surrounded on that side The King took the Left that so he might be opposite to the Right of the Enemy where their Principal Squadrons were ranged The Duke of Normandy the Earl of Flanders Tancred year 1099 and Gaston de Foix were in the middle with the main Body of the Battle These three Bodies were ranged
of Almada Sintria Palmela and a great many other Places After which it being now too late to pursue their Voyage into Palestine the greatest part of these generous Crusades highly Satisfied with the punctual Fidelity of the King who offered them one half of Lisbon nobly refused it and contenting themselves with the rich Presents which the King was pleased to make them Returned loaden with those and Glory into their respective Countries some of the most remarkable of the Captains being willing to remain in the Service of a King so Valiant and Liberal setled in Portugal and there Founded those illustrious Houses which to this very time hold the first rank of Nobility in that Kingdom See now what happy Success befel the smallest of the three Armies of this second Crusade whilest the other two incomparably the greater in Number but incomparably the less Successful disposed themselves to put in Execution their Enterprise by Land For in the same time that the Naval Army made Sail upon the Ocean the young King Lewis began to March with his by Land The Earl of Morienne and the Marquis de Monferat his two Uncles by the Mother joyned him at Mets with many brave Italian Troops he received also a Reinforcement of Troops which were raised in Lorrain by the Bishops of Metz and Toul by Renand Earl of Monson Brother to the Bishop of Metz and by Hugh Earl of Vaudemont So that this Army Royal was as strong in Cavalry and much better Mounted and Armed and not much inferior in Infantry to the Imperial Army which taking the same Way it Marched to joyn in Thracia But it was Difficult for one single Province to contain such a prodigious Multitude of Valiant Soldiers which might easily have Triumphed over the whole East if they had been sufficiently Precautioned as they ought against the most dangerous Enemy which they had to Encounter which was the Greek Emperor whom they took to be their Friend This Emperor was Manuel the Son of Calo Johannes and Grandchild of Alexis Comnenius who hath rendred his Name so Infamously Odious by his Persidiousness towards the Princes of the first Crusade and who notwithstanding never Arrived near the height of that horrible Baseness and Wickedness of this his Grandson of whom I speak He was a Prince in whom both his Good and his Evil Qualities were so Interwoven that in the beginning of his Reign made it doubtful whether he did not deserve the Empire of which his Father had Disinherited his Elder Brother to bestow it upon him For besides that the Lustre of some Virtues which he had seemed very well to Conceal his Vices He was in Person very well made tall but stooping a little his Face was very Pleasing his Colour Lively his Eyes Sweet and Winning accompanied with a certain Smile very natural to him and Charming to those who had the Honor to Approach him he had Spirit a natural Eloquence and a great deal of Knowledge he was besides Politick and Prudent above his Age year 1147 which was yet but in the Flower of his Youth and nevertheless Brave Fearless Hardy Daring and ready in the Execution of what he undertook never considering when he saw an Enemy whether he should give Battle or not and one who not only Loved War but supported the greatest Toils and Hardships of it with as much Pleasure as the meanest Soldier of Fortune But all these good Qualities were corrupted by his Wickedness which far surpassed them For in the time of Peace never was there any Prince more Dissolute than he in all manner of Debauches without taking the least Care in the World to preserve his Reputation by concealing his Vices for he Lived in most scandalous Incest with the Princess Theodora his Niece with as little Precaution as if she had been his Wife Besides he was cruelly Covetous rapaciously taking what he pleased and fottishly Prodigal lavishing all even the Mony with which he was to pay his Soldiers and maintain his Navies giving away his Treasures without Discretion and without Measure to his Niece to the Eunuchs and to Strangers who flattered him in his Brutal Passions He was after all this infinitely Jealous and outrageously Cruel where he suspected Superstitious even to Folly especially in Judicial Astrology believing in every thing the false Oracles of his Figure-Flingers who Abused him to his very Death promising him a little before it fourteen Years of a most delicious and pleasant Life but that which is infinitely more Dangerous he was Rash and Presumptuous in the matter of Religion insomuch that he commanded by an Edict that a place of Scripture should be Explained in his Sense which clearly gave it for the Heresy of Arius at another time he put out a Decree which openly favoured the false Law of the Impostor Mahomet But in short that of his devilish Qualities which was most eminent in him was his Persidiousness which made him commit the blackest and most horrid Crimes upon the Occasion of this second Crusade which have rendred his Memory eternally Execrable to the whole Earth He received at the first the Ambassadors of Conrade indifferently well they coming from his Brother-in-Law for these two Emperors had married two Sisters the Daughters of old Berengarius Earl of Luxemburgh and Sultzbach He also sent some Troops to meet the Emperor not so much out of Respect or Honor but to observe his Motion during the remainder of his March to Constantinople where at his Arrival he was but very coldly Received either because Manuel could not without some Displeasure see a Prince who took upon him that Quality which the Greeks pretend appertained only to their Emperor or that he feared that the Germans who had had great Differences upon the March with the Greeks should indeavour to Revenge themselves or rather that he was resolved to Execute what he had plotted against them as soon as he could possibly In short he did so violently press their Departure that without giving them the Liberty almost of taking Breath the Army was constrained to pass the Strait upon the Vessels which he had ready to waft them over into Asia where this perfidious Emperor had long before disposed all things for the ruine of this Army For so soon as he understood that great Preparations were making in the West for this second Crusade he secretly gave Advise to Mamut the Nephew of Soliman the Sultan of Iconium who Reigned in Lycaonia Cappadocia and Galatia and pressed him vigorously to take up Arms against this Army of the Crusades which he was like to have upon his Hands Whereupon the Sultan immediately sent to all the Princes of his Nation to come for their common Interest with all the Forces they could raise to Succour him against the Christians which they did before one could well think it possible sending him a most formidable Army composed of an infinite number of Turks of the two Armenia's Cappadocia Isauria Cilicia Persia and Media
along constantly with the Army perceiving that the two Bodies were so separated that it was impossible for the one to Assist the other ran immediately to Seise upon the Top of the Mountain where they presently cut in pieces all those of the scattering Infantry whom they found there for the most part Unarmed being not able to follow the Gross of the Army and having seised the Pass they cut off the Rereguard in such manner that it was impossible for them to joyn with the Van without passing through the whole Army of their Enemies It was a strange Surprise to these Troops who after they were Advanced a good way up the Mountain into the strait Passages believing there to find their Companions instead of them to meet with their Enemies who at an Instant discharged upon them a fearful Cloud of Arrows and who shooting from on high upon a company who were Intangled and Disordered one among another tumbled them down with mighty Blows of the Mace and Cimiter year 1148 before they almost thought of betaking themselves to their Arms. The first being Overthrown tumbled upon those in the Middle where were the Chariots Loaden with Arms and the Beasts of Burthen with the Baggage so that the most valiant Men of the Army which followed them were not able to get over that Stop to Charge the Enemy who made a horrible Butchery among those who could neither Retreat nor Advance The Men the Mules the Horses being crowded in Shoals came tumbling down upon those who indeavoured to gain a Passage to come to the Enemies who Fought with all manner of Advantage since in this fearful Confusion there was none in a Condition to Oppose them In the End the Lords followed by their best Soldiers and the King himself at their Head made so good Way that whilest the others Fled in Disorder indeavouring to escape round the Mountain they got up to the place where the Turks had Posted themselves in Battalia to support those of their Troops who had made the first Charge There it was that there was a kind of regular Combat the French Animating one another by the Presence of the King and by the little Account that was to be made of such as they had Vanquished at the Meander and principally by the fatal Necessity to which they were reduced either to Conquer or to Dye The Turks on the other hand were Incouraged by the great Advantage which they had already gained by the Disorder in which they saw their Enemies by the small Number of those that Charged them and especially by the Remembrance of the Fortune of the German Army which they had so luckily Defeated in the Straits of such sort of Mountains The Fight was maintained with extreme Fury for the French to whom still those who could Advance joyned themselves slew in like Lions among the thickest of their Enemies where they made a most horrible Slaughter But the Turks who had there their whole Army sending in continual Troops of fresh Men to Inforce their Men and the French who were but a small Handful surrounded with a vast Multitude could do no more than it was possible for Men to do so that it was impossible but being drained of all their Blood and Strength and not having time to take any Breath but that they must sink under that Misfortune most of those gallant Men being there either Slain or taken Prisoners the Count de Vaâ—ennes and his Brother Everard de Bretuïl Count Renaud de Tonnerre Gauthier de Montjay Ithier de Magni Manasses de Bulli and five and thirty other great Lords who Accompanied the King lost their Lives there in this glorious Occasion of defending his This brave Prince still Fought with an invincible Courage Invironed with so many Enemies and the Bodies of so many of his generous Friends who lay dead at his Feet till such time as some one of his Cavaliers laying hold of his Horses Bridle made way with their Swords quite through the Body of the Turks and so gained the Top of the Mountain where they Inclosed him with a Wall of their own Bodies to defend him till the Obscurity of the Night which now drew on apace favoured him with a Retreat But the greatest part of them being Slain by a great Troop of Turks who Pursued them without knowing that it was the King he found himself almost alone and therefore quitting his Horse he scrambled up a Rock by the help of some Bows of a Tree which grew there thinking that might be a convenient Place to enable him to defend himself from the Pursuers But the Turks Compassing him round some shot at him to bring him down others indeavoured to Climb up after him to Kill or take him Prisoner In all appearance it was impossible that he could Escape but nevertheless by a particular Protection of God and by a Prodigy of Courage and Valour he did escape this Danger His Curiass guarded him sufficiently against the Arrows and with his Sword cutting off the Hands and splitting the Sculls of those who indeavoured to get up to him upon the Rock he Defended himself with such an incredible Force and without Weariness that the Turks who took him for some ordinary Cavalier surprised by his astonishing Valour and fearing besides that here they should get nothing but Blows and loose also their Share in the Plunder they left him to run to the Booty before it was quite Night with the rest of their Companions In the mean time some Soldiers and Servants of the Army who under the Favour of the Darkness were indeavouring to Escape year 1148 among the Rocks passed by the Place where the King was and knowing him by his Voice for he called to them perceiving them to be of his own People and thereupon mounting upon a led-Horse after having wandred a good part of the Night in unknown and dangerous Places at the last they discovered the Fires of the Vanguard and a little after met with the Troops of Horse which were coming to meet them For the King during the Combat had commanded his Chaplain Eudes the Monk of St. Dennis to save himself as well as he could and make hast to the Camp of the Vanguard to order them to March instantly to his Relief but the Way being long and difficult and that they had not Notice till very late this Succour came too late and served to no other purpose but to Conduct the King to the Camp after having found him in this pittiful Estate It is impossible to express the Consternation which the Army was in seeing the King so slenderly Accompanied after the Loss of so many Lords of the first Quality and almost all the Rereguard except a few Soldiers who saved themselves in the Woods and Mountains and at last found the Way to the Camp whither they came straggling one after another all the Night There was scarcely any Person in the Camp but what had some Share in this deplorable
Loss One lamented his Father another his Son this his Brother that his Kinsman or his Friend some ran to Embrace those of their Acquaintance who were got off half Naked and without their Arms whilest others who conceived a like Hope for theirs in vain expected those who were never to Return However all of them Comforted themselves in this extream Grief by the Joy which they had at the Kings Escape after he had run such a fearful Danger of being Lost and had defended himself from it in that Heroick manner which hath been related and in short all of them in the midst of this Grief and Joy tumultuously and loudly demanded the Death of Geoffry who had most apparently been the only Cause of this horrible Loss by disobeying those Orders which had been prescribed him by the King and so furiously were they Incensed against him that nothing would satisfy them but to have him Hanged immediately And certainly it is impossible to deny but that he well deserved to have suffered Death but such was the Bounty and natural Goodness of the King and the Count de Morienne having also in a great Measure been Guilty of that Miscarriage for whom the King had a great Value he scaped with his Life The next Day when they were to Decamp the Army was reduced to very great Extremities For they discovered the Enemies upon the Tops of the Mountains ready to follow the remainder of the Army and to take all Advantages to Surprise them again upon their March The Provisions began to fail they had twelve days March to the Place whither they designed to go they wanted good Guides and must of necessity pass through Countries possessed by the Turks and the Greeks who were equally their Enemies All these Dangers and Difficulties how great soever did not yet abate the Courage of the French who are usually Reproached with loosing a great part of their Fire and their natural Confidence when they are under adverse Fortune however it did not happen so upon this Occasion which only made them more Wise and not less Valiant or Resolved The King to model this new Army divided it also into two Bodies one of which was the Rereguard He gave the Command of this to the Great Master of the Temple Everard de Barres a most valiant Gentleman who some days before was come to joyn the Army with a good Troop of the Knights of that Order The Conduct of the other he intrusted with an old Captain one Gilbert to whom all the others though in Quality much Superior to him yet made no Difficulty to submit themselves since the King himself protested that he would obey his Orders But he most humbly intreated the King to put himself between these two Bodies with a good Body of Horse and Foot that so he might be able from thence to send Assistance to either of them if they should happen to be much Pressed by the Enemy The Baggage marched in the Middle and a great part of the Horse were Ranged upon the Wings to the Right and Left to cover the Flanks of the Army In this manner it was that they Advanced and in this Order marched daily towards Pamphilia with so much Conduct that the Enemies who Coasted along with them and Attacked them four several times year 1148 were continually Repulsed and particularly one time the King seeing them Ingaged between two little Rivers Charged them so smartly that he took a sufficient Revenge upon them for the Defeat of his Rereguard cutting in pieces the greatest part of those Barbarians and putting the rest to a shameful Flight The most troublesom Enemy which he had to Combat was Want for all the Country was either Desert or ruined by the Enemies who laid all wast where-ever the Army was to pass so that they were reduced to that Extremity to Eat their Horses which they were also constrained to kill for want of Forrage for so great a Number But that which supported them still was the Example of the King who indured all these Inconveniences as if he had been one of the meanest Soldiers Some he commended others he incouraged and liberally bestowed what he had among them to Comfort the poor Creatures his Care was every where and he took his Share in all the Troubles of the War having his Curiass on almost Night and Day and performing all the Functions of a Great Captain and a Soldier with all the Vigor imaginable And to all this he added a Piety towards God so constant and regular that in all the time of this laborious Voyage he never failed to attend the Divine Offices of publick Prayers In Conclusion the Enemies after their last Defeat not daring to appear or to molest the Army they performed this long March with the greater Ease and about the twentieth of January Arrived near the City of Attalia Situate upon a Bay on the Coast of Pamphylia near the Mouth of the River Cestrius The Governor of that City which was under the Dominion of the Greek Emperor fearing that he was not able to Resist so great an Army if he declared himself their Enemy offered the King Provisions and Ships to Transport his Army into Syria which was the Thing he most ardently Desired thinking himself in no Condition to accomplish so long a March by Land for the King who had no Engines for a Siege and was willing to satisfy his Army by shortning the Voyage was very ready to accept of his Offer But there was no manner of Mischief which this Perfidious and true Greek who held Intelligence with the Turks did not do to Incommode and Ruine as far as he was able this whole Army during five Weeks which they lay there in Expectation of a Wind. And then he would find such a small number of Ships and those at such excessive Rates that the King was at last constrained to Imbarque himself without his Infantry He then treated with the Greeks who obliged themselves for a large sum of Mony which was paid in Hand to receive the Sick into the Town till they should be able to indure the Sea and to Convoy the rest who chose to go by Land through the midst of the Turks than to trust to these Treacherous Greeks who notwithstanding failed not to Sell and Betray them For so soon as the King was gone the Infidels who received Advertisement from these Traitors came pouring down from all Parts upon these who were to venture by Land and for those who were received into the Town the Greeks either Starved them or inhumanly Delivered them into the Hands of the Turks insomuch that of all those brave Men there was but a very few who Escaped by Land with the Earl of Flanders and Archambald de Bourbon who generously offered themselves to be their Conductors And now it was that it appeared too late to be a vain Scruple which was to so ill Purpose opposed against the wise Council of the Bishop of Langres
once most gloriously vanquished him But at length the Wise Conduct and the good Fortune of this Turkish Prince overcame all the Attempts that were made to stop the Course of his Victorious Arms. He pushed on his great Designs afterwards with more Ease by the Taking of Paneas after the deplorable Death of this unfortunate King who was poysoned by his Physician and died in the two and thirtieth Year of his Life year 1163 and the one and twentieth of his Reign year 1163 He was a Prince who by his admirable Qualities had gained so great an Esteem and the Hearts not only of his Subjects but of Noradin himself Insomuch that the generous Sultan openly protested that he would never draw any Advantage from the Grief and Consternation into which his unexpected Death had put the Kingdom saying with as much magnanimity of Soul as Modesty That he thought it decent to have a Share himself in the Grief and Respect which was due to that Prince who ought by all Men to be Lamented as having not left another like himself in the whole Earth Baldwin dying without Issue his Brother Amauri Succeeded him a young Prince of about twenty seven Years of Age who with a great many admirable Qualities had also a great number of no less Vices and above all his Avarice was the most Predominant and which after he had with Success enough made War against Egypt in the Beginning in the Conclusion occasioned the Loss of Jerusalem and the intire Ruine of the Christians in the East Egypt had for a long time been under the Dominion of the Sarasins of the Sect of Ali and the Soveraign Monarch was called the Caliph who led an easy and voluptuous Life in his magnificent Palace of Grand Cairo leaving the Administration of his Affairs to one who under his Authority Commanded all his Subjects and was called the Sultan of Egypt He who had been Sultan was one Sanar and he being thrown out by his Rival Dorgan went to implore the Assistance of Noradin then the most Powerful among the Turks who besides that he Possessed all Syria and Mesopotamia had also extended his Conquests even into Cilicia as far as Iconium having vanquished that Sultan in Battle Now this Conquering Prince who believed that Fortune pleased with his Ambition presented him a fair Offer to Seise also upon Egypt failed not to send a great Army under his General Syracon a little Man but a great Captain whose Merit and the Justice of his Master notwithstanding the lowness of his Birth had from a Slave advanced to the greatest Charge in his Kingdom Dorgan who perceived the Tempest coming that he might get Shelter had Recourse to the young King who dazled with the Promise of a great Tribute Marched into Egypt with all the Troops he could raise but something with the latest for Dorgan who after he had had the better of his Enemies was unfortunately slain by a Traitor leaving his Place to his Rival Sanar who instantly went to take Possession of it at Grand Cairo In the mean time the dextrous Syracon who was resolved to make his Advantage of this Alteration Seised upon Pelusium now called Belbeis fully Resolving if it were possible to make himself Master of all Egypt But Sanar inlarging the Promises which Dorgan had made to King Amauri was so Iucky as to gain him to his Party and joyning their Forces against Syracon who had not had time sufficiently to Fortify Pelusium year 1164 they constrained him to Deliver up the Town upon honorable Terms and Liberty to Retire to Damascus year 1165 Nevertheless the next Year he returned with a more powerful Army and the King also re-entred Egypt and for a Sum of Mony undertook the War against Syracon The Success was much to his Advantage at that time also for Syracon was Defeated in a great Battle and despairing to Defend Alexandria which he had taken year 1167 against the Arms of two Kings he was constrained a second time to come to an Accommodation and to quit the Realm of Egypt This did not however hinder but that at length he made himself Master of it by the Avarice and Infidelity of that same King whose Arms had twice with so much Glory chased him out of it For Amauri blinded with the ardent Desire which he had to possess the Treasures of Egypt after he had treated upon this Design with the Emperor Manuel whose Niece he had married contrary to his solemn Faith given broke the Peace which he had made with the Sultan year 1168 and upon the sudden taking Pelusium by Storm and giving the Plunder of it to his Soldiers he went and presented his Victorious Army before Grand Cairo which doubtless in the Consternation and Confusion wherein the Surprise had put the Egyptians must have fallen into his Hands if the same Avarice which made him undertake this unjust War had not also together with his Honor made him lose all the Profit of it For fearing if he took the Town by Force the Soldiers would have all the Booty as they had at Pelusium he thought it his wisest Course to treat of a Composition with the Sultan and he knowing the Covetous Disposition of the King year 1168 amused him so long with the pretence of gathering up for him two millions of Gold which he had promised him that the Army of Noradin which he expected had time to Arrive to his Succour conducted by the same Syracon who before had been his Enemy Amauri Surprized at this unexpected News marched imediately to give him Battle before he should joyn with the Egyptians But he found that this Captain as Politick as himself had wheeled off and taken another Way than he expected and was joyned with the Egyptians who now assembled from all Quarters against him And therefore finding that he had nothing to say to two such potent Enemies he was forced to return without the Money into his own Kingdom having lost his Labour his Honour and the yearly Tribute which the Egyptians paid him But it was quite otherwise with Syracon who by his Retreat finding himself in a Condition to Execute his first Design made Sanar be Assassinated as he came to do him the Honour of a Visit after which forcing the Caliph to Establish him in that Place he easily possessed himself of all Egypt where Noradin whose Creature he was willingly permitted him to Reign But it was not long that he rejoyced in his Crimes for he died the very same Year leaving for his Successor his Nephew the mighty Saladin who besides his Age which was pretty well advanced and the great Experience which under his Uncle he had gained in War possessed all the great Qualities and all the Accomplishments of Body and Mind which could be wished in a Captain to render him as they did the greatest and the most glorious Conqueror of his Age. But Ambition which especially among Infidels does think nothing Criminal that may advance their
of Tiberias That it was to lose all to lose their Honour by suffering the Princess his Wife who so bravely defended it to perish whilst they stood cowardly looking on And that all the other Cities despairing after such an Example to be relieved would instantly surrender to the Conquerors and follow the Fortune of Tiberias if it should be taken And for any thing else in drawing out the Garrisons from the Cities they should thereby have so good an Army and so numerous that there could not be any room for Fear but that they should beat that Enemy whom they had so often vanquished with far less Forces The four Sons also of the Princess Eschina which she had by her first Husband made a mighty Noise and with repeated Instances demanded Relief to be sent to their Mother The Queen Sybilla also employed for this purpose all the Power which she had over the Spirit of the King her Husband who was indeed her Creature So that in conclusion the greatest part of the Lords inclining to this Opinion some out of Complaisance to the Queen others out of Service to the four Princes of Tiberias and divers out of the design which Count Raymond had secretly communicated to them it was resolved that they should march directly against the Enemies with all the Forces which they could draw out of the Garrisons where none were to be lest but such as were incapable of bearing Arms. And thus with these Troops which were composed of a great many Men and a few Soldiers the Army consisting in twelve thousand Horse and twenty thousand Foot besides the Citizens who were compelled by Force to serve in the War they advanced towards Tiberias Now as Raymond who in Right of the Princess his Lady was Prince of Galilee was better acquainted with the Country than the rest and that he was not only esteemed a great Soldier but that he seemed also to have the greatest Interest in the Victory which was to deliver the Person which ought to be the dearest to him the Conduct of the Army was unanimously committed to him That perfidious Traytor who gave secret Advertisement of all things to the Enemies unfortunately or rather maliciously engaged them in a rude and steril Country among the Straits of the Rocks and Mountains where there was neither Water nor Forrage The Enemies who only waited for this lucky Minute failed not to encompass them with their Troops which were far more numerous after the same manner that the Romans had some time been inclosed in the Furcae Caudinae year 1187 which were not more Famous by the Shameful Ignomony into which the ignorance and the Temerity of their Captains there precipitated their Soldiers then these Straits for the deplorable Overthrow of the Christian Army which was betrayed into the Hands of the Infidels by the baseness of their Perfidious Conductor It was now high Summer in the beginning of July when the Heats of that Burning Climate are most insupportable and there was not one Drop of Water to be found among those Rocks so that the Men and Horses died with Thirst and were able to do no more there was therefore a Necessity of resolving immediately to sight the Enemy For though the Disadvantage was very great by reason that it was impossible to draw up the Army in Battalia in a Post which was so uneven and so strait and broken with Rocks that they could not attack the Enemy but by filing off yet it was impossible to avoid that Choice the Army was divided into a great many Bodies commanded by the Principal Lords who were to follow one another who were to sustain there Companions and who were reciprocally to be sustained by those which followed them The Enemies expected them in good Order to cut them off as they marched in these long Files before they should have Leisure to form themselves into Squadrons upon the Plain to give them Battle The great Master of the Temple who chose to have the Van with his Noble Knights advanced first and charged so furiously upon those Enemies which opposed him that overturning them upon those who followed them he put them into Disorder insomuch that these Gallant men who fought most Valiantly after the Example of their Captain killing overturning or putting to flight all that durst oppose their first Fury had they been sustained by the other Bodies who had Order to follow them the whole Army might with little Difficulty have been drawn from that disadvantageous Post and have had the Liberty of sighting in the Plain Field where they would doubtless have been able to have hoped or however disputed for the Victory but here it was that the detestable Treason of the Perfidious Earl of Tripolis made it self most infamously Visible For he had so ordered the Matter that he himself commanded that Body which was to follow the Templers and he had also disposed the other Troops in such manner that all the Lords who were of his Party were to follow him Now these Traytors would not advance alledging that this was to lead their Souldiers to a perfect Butchery to quit their advantageous Post and to march them thus in Files into the Plain which was all covered with the Battalions and squadrons of the Enemies who must needs cut them all in Pieces taking them thus without Trouble one after another So that these brave Knights infamously abandoned by their Reserves and on every side surrounded by an innumerable Multitude of Sarasins were all either slain upon the Place or taken Prisoners not so much as one of them escaping After this Defeat Saladin seeing that no more durst advance to the Combat approached to the Camp of the Christians which yet he would not adventure to attack but that he might complete their Dispair by taking from them all Appearance of a Possibility to draw themselves out of that wicked Strait he caused Fires to be made in the Woods which invironed the greatest Parts of those Rocks and set strong Guards upon all the other Avenues that so he might sight them with greater Advantage if they should endeavour to Retreat But six Fugitives who run to his Army and to gain Credence with him offered to become Sarasins as they presently did having assured him that the Christian Soldiers were half dead with Hunger and Thirst and under the greatest Consternation so oppressed with their Misfortune Weariness and Despair that they were scarce able to stand or go upon this Advice he instantly resolved to Charge them which he did with that Success that his Army powering in upon them by the Straits which the Christians had abandoned they fell upon these miserable People who were crouded together and who had neither Courage to defend themselves nor Power to fly cross the Flames and the Rocks that it was no longer a Combat but a Horrible Butchery and Slaughter So that almost all the Captains and Christian Soldiers either perished in this miserable Day or were taken Prisoners
Riches and for the famous Seige which was enterprized against it by Alexander the Great who from an Island which it was before made it a Peninsula joyning it by a prodigious Bank of Earth to the firm Land of the Continent was now under the utmost Consternation finding it self without Defendants and just upon the Point to run the same Fortune with Ptolemaïs The brave Marquis who landed in the Critical Moment and who had abundance of Courage Resolution and Conduct failed not to lay hold upon so fair an Occasion to purchase not only Glory but so considerable a Fortune in Phoenicia by saving this renowned City He therefore offered to defend them against all the Forces of the Sarasins with those which he had brought provided they would Obey him and as a Recompence for preserving of the City which was so visibly exposed to the extreme danger of falling under the Power of the Infidels that they would receive him for their Master and their Lord. All this was imediately consented unto and therefore to secure the City the next day he caused diverse of the Earl of Tripolis his Complices who were discovered to have a Design to seize upon the Fortress to be hanged for their Treason And in short he laboured with so much Diligence in repairing the Fortifications by the help of the Inhabitants and those who were retired thither from Ptolemaïs and furnished it with all things necessary to sustain a Siege that he saw himself in a Condition to resist all the Forces of Saladin And that crafty Prince fearing to receive an Affront before a City so well fortified offered Conrade to give Liberty to the old Marquis his Father and if he would put the Place into his Power to recompense him with so great a Sum of Money as should exceed all that he could reasonably hope But when he saw the Marquis so firm that neither Pity nor Interest were able to work upon him he then resolved to carry the Place by Force and therefore attacked it by Land with all manner of Engines and blocked it up by Sea with a mighty Fleet to prevent the landing of any Supplies by the Shipping of Genoua and Sicily But all his Attempts became fruitless by the Valour and good Fortune and strong Resolution of the Marquis who by two or three stout Sallies which he made with great Success obliged the Turks to remove to a greater Distance He also fitted out all the Shipping in the Port and joyning with the Fleet of Margaritus Admiral of the Royal Navy of Sicily he attacked the Fleet of Saladin ad defeated it so intirely that scarce a Ship escaped but either taken burnt sunk or constrained to avoid being taken to run ashoar in the View of Saladin himself who saw but could not prevent the Misfortune and now began to despair of Success since it was no longer possible for him to hinder the Succours which came from Europe to enter at Pleasure into Tyre And there entred such considerable Numbers of them who expected the arrival of the Army of the Crusades that Conrade had thereby the Means not only to establish his Dominions but also to carry the War among his Enemies and to meet with the good Fortune in one Encounter among many others to take one Prisoner of great Quality who was exchanged for the old Marquis his Father to whom he restored his Liberty by his Valour much more honourably than he could have done by a foolish Pity of his Captivity But Saladin who had a great Soul and who was not much astonished with an Accident which he had in some measure foreseen nor surprised with this little Reverse of his Fortune to which the Prudence and the Success of the greatest Captains must sometimes submit quickly repaired this Loss by throwing himself into the Principality of Antioch which he totally reduced in less than three Months under his Power For he took more than twenty Places and constrained the Capital City to come to Terms by which they promised to surrender to him if in a certain time they were not relieved by an Army of the Princes of Europe more potent than his Thus of all the Conquests which the Franks had made with so much Glory to the Christian Name in Syria Palestine and Mesopotamia there remained nothing but these three Cities Amioch year 1188 which was not theirs neither but upon a Condition which might fail Tripolis where the King who had nothing more left of his Kingdom was retired after his Deliverance and Tyre which the Marquis Conrade had so unexpectedly preserved And that which was yet more Deplorable was the Division which happened between the King and the Marquis who pretended to retain Tyre as having justly acquired it all the Men of Spirit were upon this divided into these two Parties so that it was of great Advantage to Saladin that he had delivered this unhappy King who by this new Disturbance was the cause of the Loss of all the rest Strange Revolution of Fortune which in so small a time made such a prodigious Change in the Condition of the Christians and the Insidels which though it may give one some Astonishment yet to me it doth not seem mighty Difficult to assign the Causes which therefore for a little we will indeavour to find For first The Crusades who founded the Realm of Jerusalem and those who after them atchieved those glorious Conquests altho they had their Passions and their Failings and were as other Men subject to humane Infirmities yet for the most they were good in the main Men who had a great Fond of Honour any Honesty solidly Devout and strongly inclined to the good of Religion fearing God and above all most zealous for his Glory Whereas whether the Manners of their Successors were by little and little corrupted by the contagious Commerce which they had with the Insidel Nations with which they were Surrounded or that great Numbers of wicked People who passed into the Holy to save themselves from the Pursuit of Justice carried thither and left by their pernicious Examples those Crimes to their Posterity which they had escaped the just Punishment of Most certain it is that some small time before the Fall of that Kingdom the Lives of the Christians of the East and even of the Clergy themselves were so horribly Desolute that it is impossible without Horror to represent the frightful Picture which the Writers of those Times and those who have Copied after them have drawn of their Crimes And I wish with all my Soul that it were possible to efface and abolish the Memory of them rather than with a kind of Scandal to expose them to the View of such honest People whose Modesty may recoil at the reading of them For this Reason as God punished the Offences of the Israelites whom himself had conducted by so many Miracles into this same Holy Land and that the Punishment which they had so justly merited was the depriving them of
their Empire and delivering them into the Hands of the Philistins Chaldeans and other Infidel People who were the Executioners of his Justice so did he punish the horrible Crimes of the Christians whom he had brought into Palestine by the victorious Arms of the first Crusades by depriving them of that Kingdom and abandoning them to be Slaves to those People whom their Ancestors had with so much Glory so often vanquished But farther to give some natural Reason for this Change the first Conquerors of Palestine were warlike and most valiant Men accustomed to Fatigues and such as frankly exposed themselves to all manner of Dangers and were never known to recoil let the number of their Enemies which they were to incounter be never so Prodigious they esteemed it a Happiness to dye Martyrs in combating gloriously for the Faith and for the Name of Jesus Christ And the Orientals against whom they fought were at that time little skilled in Wars cowardly undisciplin'd and half-armed People who were not able to abide above one Shock as having nothing to trust to but their Bows and Arrows which they shot at Rovers and commonly rather slying than fighting Whereas on the contrary the Christians having exchanged with the Infidels for all their Vices had also gotten their Cowardice their esseminate and idle way of Living loving Repose and Pleasure and hating the trouble of War and the Severity of that Discipline which is so necessary to a Soldier and which they wholly neglected The Turks and Sarasins on the other hand were become mighty Warlike under their victorious Sultans Sanguin Noradin Syracon and Saladin who having learnt at their Cost to arm themselves like the Europeans with good Curiasses and strong Lances had also taught them to follow their Colours year 1188 to fight hand to hand and had inspired them with Courage and Considence both by their Examples and the fortunate Success of their Arms. And in short The Conquerors of the Holy Land under the first Kings were under one sole Head who uniformly governed the whole Body of his Estate and Army which acted according to the Measures which he prescribed with a perfect Unity without Division without diversity of Interests Inclinations and Opinions as if the whole Army had been as one Man according to the Expression so frequent in the Scripture Whereas the Turks and Sarasins were then divided almost into as many particular Estates as there were Cities in Palestine and Syria and therefore could raise no great Armies but what must be commanded by many Chiefs who for the most part never accorded very well by reason of the diversity of their Opinions and Interests which made them almost continually be overthrown though they were incomparably the stronger in number of Soldiers than their Conquerors But upon the falling of the Realm the Christian Army was composed of the Troops of diverse Chiefs those of the King of Jerusalem the Prince of Antioch the Earl of Tripolis and the great Masters of the Temple and the Hospital who all of them had different Prospects and Designs which did not at all agree one with the other On the contrary all the Estates of the Infidels bordering upon the Christians Egypt Arabia Mesopotamia the Realms of Damascus and Cilicia were at that time united into one single Monarchy under the great Saladin and so their Army had but one Captain and Head who being most Wise and Valiant gave one Impression and a constant regular Movement to this great Body which did not act but according to his positive Orders And certainly it is most particularly this Unity which hath always made great Armies Victorious as may be seen in all Ages and Histories but was never more manifested than in this last Campaign which was so glorious and so advantageous to the King of France For on the one part the Emperour and the Spaniards and great part of the Princes of the Circles of the Empire and the Hollanders being leagued and confederated against him had raised very strong and numerous Armies to invade France both by Sea and Land On the other side that King alone without imploying any other Power but his own and giving out himself those Orders which were with Fidelity Executed always prevented them I do not say from entring but so much as approaching France Beat them thoroughly to the very Islands and in Person by main Force conquered one fair and large Province and his Army alone in Flanders under his auspicious Fortune commanded by the famous Prince of Conde having to oppose them three great Armies of the Emperour the King of Spain and the Hollanders joyned in one Body under three Chieftains yet cut in pieces their Rere took their Baggage ravished from them more than one hundred Colours and shamefully chased them from before Oudenard and pursued them beyond the Scheld And there it was that their Commanders having at last the Leisure to take Breath and to complain one to another were constrained to avow by their Flight which they disguised under the name of a Retreat that as there is but one Soul in one Body to give it Life Movement and the Power to perform those admirable Operations of a Man so there ought to be but one absolute Monarch in a Kingdom and one General in an Army to procure the Felicity of the People and to inable them to triumph gloriously over all the Enemies which go about to trouble their Repose or rob them of their Happiness But after these Reflections which I have made according to my little Art in Politicks which possibly will not appear altogether Useless or at least Indivertive it is time to return to my Subject and pursue this History of the Crusade THE HISTORY OF THE CRUSADE OR The Expeditions of the Christian Princes for the Conquest of the Holy Land PART II. BOOK II. The CONTENTS of the Second Book The Death of Pope Urban III. upon the News of the Loss of Jerusalem The Decrees of Pope Gregory VIII and the Rules of the Cardinals to move God Almighty to Mercy and Compassion upon the Christians Gregory makes Peace between the Pisans and the Genoese Clement III. his Successor sends his Legats to the King of France and to the King of England The Conference at Gisors where the Archbishop of Tyre proposes the Crusade which is received by the two Kings The Ordinances which they made for the Regulation of it The War re-commences between the two Kings which hinders the Effect of the Crusade Richard Duke of Guinne joins with King Philip against his own Father The Death of Henry II. King of England His Elegy and Character The Legates propose the Crusade at the Diet at Mayence The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa there takes upon him the Cross as do many other Princes and Prelates of the Empire The Description of that Emperor His March to Thracia where he is necessitated to combat the Greeks The Character of the Greek Emperor Isaac Angelus The Reason why this
coming of the Crusades parted from thence the latter End of April with those who were already come and descended down the Danubius as far as Presbourg whereupon Whitsunday he held a general Council of all the Princes Prelates and high Officers of his Army to regulate their March and to establish that good Order and those wholesome Laws against all Crimes and Licentiousness which were so necessary in an Army and which he was resolved should be most exactly obeyed as they were afterwards during the whole Voyage In Conclusion after having caused Henry his eldest Son to be crowned King of the Romans he took his March at the Head of a fair and flourishing Army year 1189 consisting in more then one hundred and fifty thousand Soldiers all choise men with which he crossed all Hungary with King Bela who came to receive him upon the Frontier conducted him as far as Belgrade from whence after a Repose of eight days he entred into Bulgaria which he was two Months in passing by reason that he was forced so often to combat with those Barbarous People who laid continual Ambushes in his Passage and whom he could defeat no other ways but by guarding the Passage on both sides of his Army and as fast as they could be taken hanging up these Thieves upon the next Trees where they were seized But he had something more to doe when he entred upon the Territories of the Greek Emperor where believing he should pass as a Friend and meet with all manner of Refreshments and Accomodations for his Army as had been promised him he found nothing throughout but Enemies Armed against him by the Perfidy of the Greek Emperor but it did not fail at last to fall heavy upon him as it had formerly upon the two Comnenius's Alexis and Manuel in the two first Crusades This Emperor was that Isaacius Angelus who about five Years before had been proclaimed Emperor in a Sedition which himself had raised for the Destruction of the Cruel Andronicus He was a man who had little either Soul or Heart but the Want of those was supplied with Presumption and Vanity in abundance by which he made all his Follies and those Vices most apparent which are most capable of rendring a Prince despicable and hated for he was sottish even to downright folly extreme light and inconstant cowardly Voluptuous Effeminate most foolishly Prodigal and infamously Covetous taking a Pleasure to receive from all sorts of Persons though it were but Toys add Trisles and making no Difficulty to take any thing that pleased his Fancy even to the horrible Sacriledge of robbing the Churches without any Scruple of their Jewels Plate and Ornaments and even the Consecrated Vessels to make use of at his Publick Entertainments notwithstanding that he seemed even to a strange Bigottry to make Profession of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin to whom he made most Magnificent Offerings and honoured her with Images consecrated to her the richest in the World all glistering with Gold and sparkling with the fairest Stones that could be procured As for any thing more he was aman without Truth Faith and Honour who delighted in nothing but the Injoyment of his Riches and the Sweets of Empire which he soolishly promised himself he should enjoy more than Thirty Years and in the Interim abandoning all the Care and Trouble of it to some one of his Favourites which was sometimes a doating old Eunuch otherwhiles some young fantastical Boy scarcely past the Discipline of a School or got free from the Ferula who now must manage a Sceptre and by whom he permitted himself to be lead as if he had been a meer Child See what sort of man this Emperor Isaacius was who after he had promised to Frederick not only all safe Passage but all manner of Assistance did all that lay in the Compass of his Power against him and that for these two more especial reasons First for that Saladin who knew well how to amuse him had made him abundance of Vain Promises to bestow Palestine upon him upon Condition that he should obstruct the Passage of the Occidentals That he should enter into an alliance with him and thereby oblige himself to send his Gallies to his assistance and that his Ambassadors which he had at the Court of Constaminople should be there treated with all manner of Honour The Second Reason was that he permitted himself most sottishly to be seduced by the Impostures of a remarkable Cheat the manner of which I am about to relate There was a certain Venetian who having got himself naturallized a Geeek at Constantinople took upon him the Name of Dositheos and there turned Monk in the famous Monastery of Studius from whence he hoped that he should one day be able to Mount to the highest Dignities of the Church Now whether this Fellow was really a great Master in the Art of Astrology and taking the true Horescope or that he was really acquainted with that which is more Criminal and the black Art or which I think was the most easie that he boldly played the Prophet at all Adventure in regard he had nothing to loose but his little Credit if his Prophecies should not prove true certain it is that he predicted to Isaacius a long time before it happened that he should one day attain the Empire That Prediction had made such an Impression upon his mind year 1189 and had gained so much Belief and Consideration with him that he believed it as an Oracle and happening luckily to fall out accordingly there was nothing which he thought too much to do for Dosithcos So that some little time after having made two Patriarchs of Constantinople be successively deposed under false Pretexts he having therefore elevated them to that Dignity he took a great Phancy to transferr his Dositheos from the Chair of Jerusalem whereof he possessed only the Titular Right as being one of the Imperial Cities But he found a great Obstacle to the Accomplishment of his Desire in Regard that in the Code of the Oriential Church there were found certain Canons of more than one Ages standing which prohibited these kind of Translations particularly of Metropolitans and much more of one Partiarchate to another To surmount this Difficulty he had recourse to a very pleasant Artifice which was apparently suggested to him by this false Dositheos and which succeeded according to his Wish There was in his Court the Famous Theodore Balsamon who of all the Greeks was esteemed the most able and skilful Canonist and who hath left us a Digest of the Canons of little Fidelity more then to inable the Adversaries of the Roman Church of which he declared himself upon all Occasions the Implacable Enemy from thence to draw Arguments of an Eternal Opposition This man was Patriarch of Antioch where he yet retained not the least Authority in regard that City was wholly in the Power of the Latins who had there a Patriarch of their own I would
into a dark and loathsome Prison thereby in a manner wholly Barbarous violating the very Law of Nations to oblige the Ambassadors of Saladin who used their utmost Efforts to engage him so deeply in a War with Frederick that he might not know how to go back from his Promises to their Master Then following the Advice of his Dositheos who was of Confederacy with the Sarasins he armed powerfully and sent his Cousin Manuel the Great Master of the Horse with a numerous Army and Orders to dispute the Passes with the Germans and to cut off all Provisions from them But the Cowardise of the Greeks was but a feeble Obstacle to the Invincible Forces of Frederick for not being able so much as to indure the sight of the Duke of Suabia who with his Sword in his Hand marched against them at the Head of the Vanguard they immediately turned their Backs and abandoned the Barricades and Retrenchments which they had made at the first Pass of the Mountains year 1189 which lead into Thracia So that all the Army falling into that Country the Emperor to punish the Treachery of the Greeks permitted them to live at Discretion as they did finding in the Fields great abundance of all kinds of Grain it being now August which the Greeks had not time to carry into the fenced Towns and Cities according to the Orders which had been given But that which finished his Ruin was the insupportable Vanity of Isaacius who sending to treat with Frederick did it in the most brutish manner in the World denying him the Title of Emperor for he sent to him to let him understand That he knew no other Emperor but of Constantinople which was himself and that if he would acknowledge him in that Quality for his Lord and Master and give him so many Hostages as he demanded for Security that he would Enterprize nothing contrary to his Service or Interests and give him the Moiety of all the Conquests which he should make upon the Sarasins then and upon no other Terms he was resolved to afford him the Liberty of the Passage which he desired Now whether the Greek Emperor was so indiscreet to command in this kind of Insolent Language which seems agreeable enough to his Character and his Genius or that the Envoys as Nicetas in excusing it would assure us exceeded the Limits of their Commission is uncertain But Frederick though he was not a little picqued yet had the Discretion to conceal and smother his Resentment till he had procured the Liberty of his Ambassadours And therefore he contented himself with returning this Answer with a disdainful Smile which manifested a great measure of Assurance and but little Sharpness That he trusted in God and in all those brave men which accompanied him that there was yet no great Necessity for his complying with such kind Terms that for any thing more when their Master speaking to the Ambassadours had restored to him his Ambassadours whom he held in Chains with so much Inhumanity and so much against the Law of all Nations to the Shame of the Christian Name which thereby he exposed to the Derision of the Sarasins he should have a Subject whereupon in some sort to acknowledge himself obliged to him the Honour of God and the Empire still excepted After with advancing daily without staying for the Answer of the Greek and seizing without Resistance upon all the Places in his Passage upon the twentieth fifth day of August he incamped within View of Philioppopolis a great and rich City upon the Hebrus scituate between three Hills at the Foot of Mount Hemus The Historian Nicetas Acominatus a person of Quality and first Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Emperor was then Governour of that Province whereof this was the Capital City Now as he received every Day several Orders by the lightness and instability of his Masters Mind who to Day would command that all Hands should be at work upon the Fortifications and to Morrow that they should demolish them and quit the Town he was before he could do the one or the other surprized in such manner as to be constrained with the principal of the Inhabitants to seek his Safety in quitting the City There Frederick quartered his whole Army to refresh his Men with the prodigious Plenty of Provisions which he found there for the City was very Rich by the Traffick which they had with the Armenians who were a great party of the Inhabitants and who loved the Franks extremely Four Days after this Manuel the General of the Greek Army being perpetually sollicited by the Emperor who accused him of Cowardice advanced within six Miles of Philippopolis with express Order to combat the Germans But he was so little acquainted with War that some of the Vancouriers of the Germans who were abroad to discover the Enemies Posture having taken some Prisoners who were straggling took a Resolution to assault their whole Army which they did with such Courage that those cowardly Greeks believing that they had all Frederick's in the Head of them shamefully turned their Backs leaving the Field intirely to those few Germans Nor did they after this find any thing that appeared like Body of an Army After which having taken some strong Places which were defended by the Alains whom Saladin had sent to aid the Greeks they were all for a Terror to the rest put to the Sword So that seizing upon Nicopolis Adrianople and all the Cities which are between the Egean and the Euxine Seas they inlarged their Conquests on both sides year 1189 to the very Gates of Constantinople Then it was that the perfidious Isaacius finding himself reduced to the last Extremities set the Ambassadors of Frederick at Liberty and in all suppliant and humble manner desired a Peace He offered all the Shipping that was necessary for his Passage into Asia intreating that this Passage might be as quick as could be and that he might have Hostages for his Security But Frederick who was resolved to pull down the foolish Pride of this feeble but presumptuous Prince who before would not treat with him but as King of the Germans made him now very sensible that he was the Emperor of the Romans and therefore like a Caesar he answered the Ambassadors That it was the Right of the Conquerors to give Laws to the Vanquished That it appertained to him who had conquered Thracia to dispose of it as he thought convenient That therefore the Year being so far advanced he was resolved to winter in Thracia with his whole Army to punish their Master for having so long retarded his Voyage by his foolish Perfidiousness and giving him the trouble to beat him and to take his Towns where he had now no longer any Right But if he expected any Favour from him that he must take Care against Easter in the Year ensueing to provide him so much Shipping as was necessary for the Transportation of his whole Army into Asia by the
of those Ideas might upon this Occasion frame to themselves the like Apparitions Be it as it will this is certain that a Cavaleer of Reputation and in no sort to be thought an idle or dreaming Visionary whose Name was Lewis de Helfenstein affirmed it positively before the Emperor and protested to him before the whole Army upon his Oath and upon the Faith of a vowed Pilgrim of the Holy Sepulchre and of a Crusade that he had more than once seen St. George at the Head of the Squadrons putting the Enemies to Flight This was also afterwards confirmed by the Turks themselves who related that they saw year 1190 at the Head of the Christian Army certain Troops in white Arms which were no where to be found among them I must needs acknowledge that one is not at all obliged to give Credit to these kind of Visions which for the most part are the Effects of great Illusions but I also know very well that an Historian hath no manner of Right by the Warrant of his own Authority to reject such as are supported by Testimonies so remarkable as this is and that if he be left at his own Liberty to disbelieve them as he shall please yet he cannot pretend to the Liberty by suppressing them to take from his Readers the Right which they have after the reading them to judge of them as they think fit Now as these Barbarians did again with the same ease as they had fled rally themselves Melich having quickly re-assembled them before Iconium sent to let the Emperor know from the Sultan his Father that he was ready to permit him free Passage and to furnish him with all manner of Provisions in Plenty provided that he would for Form sake only pay thirty thousand Crowns and oblige the Armenian Christians to yield to the Sultan those Places which they held in Cilicia which the Historians of that time do for this Reason so often confound with Armenia To this Frederick instantly answered sweetly and calmly according to his manner but magnificently and always like Caesar That a Roman Emperor especially at the Head of an Army of Crusades going to deliver the Sepulchre of Jesus Christ was not acquainted with the way of Merchandising for his Passage with Silver when he knew so readily how to open it more nobly with the harder Metal of the glittering Steel which he wore by his Side and which the Sultan should ere long find was a Key that would not only let him out of his Country but open to him the Gates and give him Entrance into his Capital City of Iconium And the following day without staying for any other Answer he removed his Camp which was already within View of Iconium and advanced towards the City to attack it Iconium which at this time is called Cogny the Capital City of Lycaonia and of all the Dominions of this Sultan which besides this Province extended into Pisidia Cappadocia Pamphilia and Isauria which not long after was called Caramania was afore this time a very good City and well Fortified where the Pacha Governour of the Province made his Residence But it was at this time much Greater more Rich and Populous environed with good Walls and fortified with a many fair Towers of a wonderful Thickness and extraordinary Height and besides it had in the fashion of a Citadel a very great Castle scituate upon a Mountain which commanded the Town and in the Opinion of a certain Writer who was present at that War the City was no way less than Cologne which is one of the biggest and most considerable Cities of Germany It was also very Beautiful without the Walls there being on the West side a great Park inclosed with stone Walls in which the Sultans had built two magnificent Palaces for their Diversion during the Heats of the Summer there were also round about it abundance of Gardins which made the coming to it on that part very pleasing but withal very difficult by reason that there was Convenience for the placing a great number of Souldiers who might from those Covertures discharge in great Security their Arrows against those who approached The Emperor nevertheless having commanded every Horseman to take a Footman behind him that so upon their lighting they might the better attack those who defended these Inclosures easily made himself Master of them and there lodged all the Army with a Resolution the next Morning being the twenty eighth of May to Assault the City though it was defended by a great part of the Enemies Army whilest the other part which was re-inforced to the number of two hundred thousand Men was in the Field ready to charge upon the Backs of the Christians in case they attempted any thing against the Town So soon therefore as the Day appeared the Emperor without deferring upon the Propositions of Peace which the Sultan made only to amuse him divided the Army into two Bodies He gave the Command of the first to the Duke of Suabia his Son accompanied with Florent Earl of Holland with Order to attack the City And the other he commanded himself to oppose the Enemies if they should attempt to fall upon them behind during the Attack year 1190 Never was there any Enterprise that appeared more unadvisable nor never any that did more happily succeed For the Sultan who was issued out to repulse the Assailants scarcely saw the foremost Squadrons who ran upon him with their Lances conched but that being seized with the Cowardly Apprehension of Death which he believed without flying was inevitable he ignominiously shewed them his Back and by his timerous Example drew all his Troops after him who fled with such a Pannick Fear that the Germans pursued them so briskly as not to give them liberty to shut the Gates before they also were entred with them into the City And no sooner were they gotten in but they put all to the Sword whom they met in the Streets and Market-places without distinction thereby to oblige them to retire into their Houses and leave the Streets free The Sultan with great difficulty saved himself in the Castle with his Children and that which was most considerable in the Court being hotly pursued by the Duke of Suabia who chased them with the Sword at their Backs killing and slaying all that opposed him or stood in his way to the very Gates of the Fortress Thus this great City was taken by the fearful Disorder occasioned by the Cowardly Timerousness of one Man And the Victors made themselves Masters of it without almost any Loss rather owing it to the fear of the Vanquished than to their own Valour since they found no Enemy that would give them occasion to exercise it in the Execution of a generous Enterprise All this time the Emperor who knew nothing of the Success of those who attacked the City was at hard Blows with the great Army of his Enemies for they knowing that he had only a Moyety of the Army
arrived at the same time with the other Fleet. So that Saladin perceiving he had two powerful Armies in the Head of him whose landing he could not oppose without exposing himself to be attacked by those who were incamped on the Hill drew off into another Eminence opposite to that of Turon and there retrenched himself in Expectation of Reinforcements which were marching towards him from all Quarters But the Captains of the Christian Army in a few days having also received fresh Supplies of Crusades French and Italians and seeing they had more Forces then the Christians had ever before had since their coming into Palestine as also that it would be difficult to force the Town in the View of such a Potent Army as was that of Saladin they resolved at last to oblige him to a Battle to which that Prince was already sufficiently inclined There was between the two Camps a fair and large Plain where the two Armies might with case range themselves in Battle and from the Hills they both descended as if it had been by concert at break of day the fourteenth of October The Christian Army consisted in forty thousand Horse and a hundred thousand Foot which were divided into four Bodies drawn up in three Lines the first which made the right Wing wherein the King would command was composed of his own Troops with those of France and the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem The Second which was the left was commanded by the Marquis of Montferrat who besides his own Troops which were the best in all the East had also those which Eudes Archbishop of Ravenna the Venetians and Lombards who were of his Party had brought to him The Body of the Battle which was the third was formed partly of the Germans under the Lantgrave the Danes and English with the Pisans under their ArchBishop who were of the King's Party And the fourth which was the Body of Reserve was conducted by Gerrard de Bibesford Great Master of the Temple accompanied with his Knights and the Germans under the Duke of Guelderland as also of the Catalonians who had joyned the French at Marseilles Geoffry de Lusignan and James de Avesnes with their Troops remained to guard the Camp and to defend it against those of the City who might fally out to attack it during the Battle The Cavalry was ranged in the Intervals of the Battallions of the Second Line and the Light-Horse being all Archers were in the Front followed by the men at Armes who were all of the Nobility who had acquired great Experience in the Wars of Europe and in whom consisted the Principal Strength of the Army On the other Side Saladin whose Army was by much more Numerous consisting in an Hundred thousand Horse and more Foot divided this great Army into seven Bodies he put six into two Lines which he opposed to those of the Christians and the seventh was for a Reserve besides the Troops which he left for the Guard of the Camp Never was there seen greater Ardour or Chearfulness in any Christian Army than appeared upon this Day there was not so much as one Soldier who made the least doubt of a certain Victory and who did not look upon the Turks as a Booty abandoned to them to inrich themselves with their Spoils and there was one among the Captains who seeing the Resolution of so many brave men as composed this flourishing Army the like whereof had never been seen in the Holy Land cried out by a horrible Trusport of his Indignation and a Presumption too justly to be blamed as Criminala is tthere hen any Power in all Asia which can be capable of resisting us in the Condition wherein we are It is impossible for me not to despise this Multitude of Enemies which face us and if God Almighty will but stand Neuter without aiding the one or the other Part we are most assured of the Victory since we have nothing else to do but to march to it over the Bellies of all this Army which opposes us Insupportable Vanity of the Spirit of Mankind which so easily loseth it self in the Foolish Ideas which its frames of its own Strength which in reallity without his Help is nothing but miserable Weakness as too plainly appeared in the Issue of this Battle The two Armies being drawn up stood facing one the other without attempting any thing till nine of the Clock in the Morning and then the first Battallions of the Christians suddainly opened upon the signal given the Cavalry advanced from between the Intervals and began the Combat year 1190 The Light-Horse after having discharged their Arrows covering themselves with their Bucklers sell with Sword in Hand upon the first Squadrons of the Enemies to whom they scarce gave time to make their first Discharge Whereupon the Men at Armes who followed them close entred at the Breaches they had made overturning and killing with the mighty Force of the Lance whatever they met with that opposed them and at the same time the Batallions of Foot who followed at a great Pace after the Cavalry threw themselves upon those People already disordered by the first Shock and charged in upon them with Sword and Pikes and in the first Heat fought with so much Fury that they found him to recoil and in a Moment after pressing vigorously upon them they threw them upon the Second Line which instead of sustaining them were so struck with a pannick Fear that they fell into a Rout and betook themselves to a manifest Flight leaving the Field quite naked that so according to their Custom they might themselves fly with the foremost The Christians now believing themselves with the Place of Battle intirely possessed of the Victory sent forth mighty Shouts of Joy which still the more terrified their Enemies who fled at loose Rein so that Saladin himself unable to stop them in this horrible Disorder was also carried along with the Croud of the Fugitives But this Joy did not last long by reason of a suddain Change of Fortune which happened from three or four Causes which altogether concurred in the disaster which attended the Christian Army For first the Soldiers who ought to have pursued their Point and have given Chace to the Enemies to hinder their rallying immediately fell upon the Camp which Fear had caused those who guarded it to abandon and fell to plundering especially the Tents of Saladin which were replenished with Infinite Riches nor was it in the Power of the Captains to prevent this disorder so much did the Sight of those magnificent Pavilions all shining with Silk and Gold inflame the Covetousness of the Soldiers who gave ear to nothing but the Dictates of their Greedy Avarice Now Saladin who was a great Captain and perceived this Disorder failed not to make his Advantage of it and therefore according to the Custom of these Barbarians so conformable to their Predecessors the Ancient Parthians they were as quickly rallied as they had
Archbishops of Besanson Nazareth and Montreal on the further side of Jordan The English were posted more to the East under the Conduct of Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury Hubert Bishop of Salisbury and Ranulph de Glanvile Next to them were the Flemmings accompanied by the Bishop of Cambray Raymond the Second Viscount de Turenne and the Lord of Issodun who extended themselves to the Hill of Turon Upon the Hill was the Quarter of the King who besides Queen Sibyl his Wise Geoffry and Aimar de Lusignan his Brothers Humphrey de Thoron his Brother-in-Law Hugh Lord of Tabary Renaud de Sidon the Patriarch Heraclius the Bishops of Accon and Bethlehem with all the principal Men of his Realm had also with him the Viscount of Chastelleraud with the Troops of Poiteumes in whom he had the greatest Confidence in regard they were his own Countrymen The Knights of the Temple encamped next under James d' Avesnes with his Hainaulters over against the Wicked Tower Lower towards the South the Lawgrave of Thuringia and the Duke of Guelderland were posted with the Germans Danes and Frisons upon the Hill of the Mosque on this side the River Belus The Archbishop of Pisa with the Pisans was lodged towards the Port and the Archbishop of Ravenna with the Venetians and Lombards a little lower upon the Brink of the Sea where the Lines ended upon the South This was the Disposition of the Christian Camp during all the time of this Siege which proved very long for three Reasons more especially First because Saladin who had re-inforced his Army with a prodigious number of Souldiers which repaired to him continually from all the Provinces of Africa and Asia attacked the Lines so often as the Christians attacked the City and that way made so great a diversion of their Forces that they never had a sufficient Force to take it by Assault The second was that the Garrison being very strong and consisting in the most valiant Men that Saladin had under the Command of Caracos the most experienced of all his Captains and under whom he himself had served his Apprenticeship in the Trade of War they defended themselves so well and made such furious Sallies and to so good Effect ruining the Works burning the Engines the Towers and the wooden Castles which were built by the Besiegers that after a great deal of Time and Trouble and the loss of many of their Men they were always as it were beginning which raised so much Dispair in some that quitting the Siege they returned into the West as among others did the Lantgrave after that the Besieged had burnt a Tower which with prodigious Labour he had raised higher than the highest of the City it self And without all doubt this precipitate Retreat gave occasion to that false and malicious Report which was so much to his Dishonour spread abroad That Saladin had beaten him home with a golden Sword and that by secret Confederacy he had suffered that formidable Machin to be burnt for want of a sufficient Defence But in short the third and principal Reason of the excessive length of this Siege was that both the one and the other received great Succours of Men and Provisions by Sea whereby they still indeavoured to increase their Power In the beginning the Christians were absolute Masters for a few days before the Battle they received a Re-inforcement of ten thousand Foot and five hundred Horse with all sorts of Munitions and in the first Year there came to them above five hundred Ships from Pavia Calabria and Sicily who after having discharged themselves of the Men and Provisions returned to fetch more But this Assistance failing by the Death of William King of Sicily and the Fleet which Saladin had rigged in Egypt riding Mistress of the Ocean the Besieged received all manner of Refreshments and the Besiegers were so miserably afflicted with a cruel Famine which constrained them to feed on the Carcasses of the dead Animals and which became so insupportable that a Party of the Army threw themselves in Disorder and in despight of the Wills of their Officers upon the Enemies Camp that there they might get some Provisions and in their Return falling into an Ambuscade were all cut in pieces However this continued not long in regard it was remedied by the good Conduct of the Marquis de Montferrat year 1190 who returning from Tyre with his Fleet which he went to sit out to Sea defeated that of Saladin in the View of the Town and revictualed the Camp which in a little time received a new Reinforcement of excellent Troops under the Conduct of young Henry Earl of Champagne and also all kind of Provisions and Arms which were now with Liberty brought in by Sea Thus as the Besiegers and Besieged were from time to time succoured by the Way of the Sea they were as it were by turns sometimes Weak and Strong according as they had the Command of that Passage On the other side Saladin who believed always that the best way was to cire out the Patience of the Christians or to famish them would by no means come to a declsive Battle so that Matters stood as it were in a continual Balance neither Party obtaining any considerable Advantage over the other But towards the end of the second Year of the Siege there happened a new Division between the King and the Marquis of Montferrat which indangered the Loss of all Queen Sibyl and her Daughter being dead by the Incommodities of so long a Siege Humphrey de Thoron the Husband of Isabella the Sister of the late Queen who had not the Courage to accept of the Realm when it was offered him intire before the Victories of Saladin had now an Inclination to pretend to it when it was reduced to the last Extremities Guy de Lusignan although with the Queen his Wife he had lost all manner of Right which he held only from her Life yet protested nevertheless that being Chosen Annointed and Acknowledged King he could not be divested of that August Character which he was absolutely resolved never to quit but together with his Life Hereupon the Princes were divided into diverse Factions But the Marquis of Montferrat who was the most powerful and most cunning among them taking the Part first of the one and then of the other with an Intention to remove them both endeavoured upon their Division to establish himself both in the Possession of the Princess and of the Realm And though the Enteprise was both surprizing and bold yet it did not appear to him to be very Difficult for being Brave Rich Liberal fortunate in War and of a mighty Reputation it was easy for him to gain a great Party among the Princes who knew very well there was no Comparison between him and his two Rivals For Guy de Lusignan had nothing that could appear in competition of his great Qualities and Humphrey de Thoron in his Face his Behaviour and his Humour
desired Tancred to send for him to Messina that from him he might be informed of the Success of this War which he was about to undertake to re-conquer Jerusalem from the Hands of the Infidels This is commonly the nature of Men especially of Great Men to have a longing desire to penetrate into the inscrutable Secrets of the time to come year 1190 by a dangerous and vain Curiosity which usurping upon the peculiar Prerogative of God Almighty who hath reserved this Knowledge incommunicably to himself he does not fail to punish that bold Presumption by some Misfortune either agreeable or contrary to the Prediction which is made But that which gave Richard the greater desire to consult this famous Abbot was the sad News of the deplorable Accident which had befallen the Emperor taking him out of the World in the middle of his victorious Course and which it was confidently reported had been predicted to him most clearly by the Abbot who positively affirmed that he should have no good Success This gave a mighty Confirmation to all those People who had conceived this Opinion of him that he had the Gift of Prophecy Come he did then and according to his custom taking upon him the Tone of a Prophet he presently told the two Kings with a serious Air and without a Moments Hesitation That it was to no manner of purpose that they were going to Jerusalem to deliver the Holy Land in regard that the Time appointed for its Deliverance was not yet come Philip the August who had a most solid Mind and who took no further care but to give good Order for the present thereby to assure the future in which consists the best Art of Prediction was in no pain for this Discourse of the Abbot to which he gave but little Credit But Richard who had a certain Weakness for those kind of Prophecies had a Curiosity to be further satisfied demanded of him upon what kind of Knowledge he founded this Prediction that he pronounced with such Assurance Whereupon this Visionary whose Head was full of nothing but the Chimera's of his own Dreams which he made upon the Apocalyps of which he thought he had as perfect an Understanding as St. John who writ these Revelations fell to interpreting the Visions contained in that Book and especially that of the horrible Dragon with seven Heads which would have devoured the Man-child which was to be born of the Woman cloathed with the Sun The sixth Head of this Monster he said was Saladin who had taken Jerusalem who should certainly be destroyed by the Christians who should regain this holy City but that according to the Mystery of the Numbers denoted in the Vision it should not be till seven Years from the Taking of it were accomplished If it be so briskly replied Richard interrupting him What have we done to come so far to no purpose Your Voyage answered the Abbot was necessary for your own Glory for that by doing this God will make you triumph over all your Enemies and will elevate you above all other Princes of the Earth The Events plainly shewed that these two first Predictions were most false since Jerusalem was not taken in that time and that the Voyage was in conclusion very unfortunate for King Richard who fell into the Hands of his Enemies and was very ill treated by them But his Illusion or rather his Extravagance and Folly appeared much more when pursuing the Interpretation of this Mystery according to the disorderly Capricioes of his own Imagination he added that the seventh Head of this Dragon was Antichrist who should be born in Rome and should be Pope for this dangerous Devote had the Confidence to publish this Folly and boldly to affirm that this Enemy of Jesus Christ was at that time in his youthful Age. That in the Year 1199. the sixth Seal of the fatal Book should be opened and that thereupon should ensue the Kingdom Persecution and the Death of Antichrist and that the Gospel should before that be preached in all the World But he might very well himself before his own Death see the falseness of his Prediction And from that time that he undertook with so much Confidence to maintain that Opinion he was most powerfully confuted and convinced of the little probability of his Prophecies by the Archbishops of Ousch and Roan the Bishops of Bayonne and D'Eureux and other learned Ecclesiasticks who were present at this Conference and shewed him by Scripture which plainly tells us that the Time which he undertook to limit was wholly unknown that his Conceptions were not only false but rash and vain Imaginations of his own Fancy which he endeavoured to obtrude upon the World for Truths Insomuch that King Richard himself who now undertook to be able to confute him made no more Account of him than King Philip had done and no further amused himself about him See what manner of Man this Abbot Joachim was and what Belief he gained upon the Minds of the English and French year 1190 who were not altogether so credulous as the Italians many of which though did not believe him but only among the Common People his Fictions passed Currant as if they had been Heavenly Oracles But it is observable that this hath constantly been the Destiny of those who would undertake to prophesie or to explain future Events by accommodating them to the Mysteries of the Apocalyps to lose the greatest part of their Reason and Understanding by dashing against that Rock which hath split so many Spirits as by their foolish Curiosity have at last only gained the infamous Reputation of being Visionary Extravagants The two Kings therefore without being retarded by the Predictions of this Man whom they sent back to his Solitude of Haute-Pierre in Calabria to write upon the Prophets and the Apocalyps resolved to pursue their Voyage so soon as the Season would permit Philip who always pressed the King of England not to delay the time parted the first in the Month of March with all his Fleet and arrived fortunately in two and twenty days upon Easter-Eve before Acre where he was received by the Crusades with incredible Transports of Pleasure as if an Angel from Heaven was come to the Relief of the Christian Army which had now besieged this important Place very near three Years So soon as he was arrived he visited the Works and took his Quarters so near the Walls that his Lodgment was within less than a Discharge of the Darts and Arrows of his Enemies He then began to plant his Slings for great Stones his Rams and other Engines which played to so good purpose and so furiously upon the place that in few days he had made a reasonable fair Breach At which time the French presented themselves before it in order to an Assault resolved to perish or to carry the Place and all the Honour of the Siege And no doubt can be made but the City had certainly that day been
taken considering the mighty Earnestness which so many brave Men shewed so fresh and so resolute if King Philip who always acted with great sincerity had not been something too scrupulous upon this Occasion even to the disadvantage of the publick Interest For whereas one of the Articles of the Treaty which he had made with the King of England imported that they should equally share their Conquests he understood this Article to extend even to Glory and was resolved that Richard should share it with him in the Taking of the Town which he was in a Condition to take without him And therefore contenting himself with lodging at the Foot of the Wall he resolved to put off the Assault till his Arrival And in truth that Prince was resolved to put to Sea immediately after Philip but he was constrained to defer it some time by reason that Queen Eleonor his Mother who brought along with her the Princess Berengera arrived the same day that Philip sailed He caused these two Princesses to be magnificently received at Messina where he affianced this new Mistriss after which Queen Eleonor returning for England taking with her Jane his Sister and the Princess Berengera he commanded part of his Fleet to attend them and himself with the rest darted at last upon Wednesday in Passion-Week from Messina eighteen days after King Philip the August It is true the Sea was not at all propitious to him for upon Good-Friday he was met by a most furious Tempest but having till this time been ever mighty fortunate he drew a great Advantage from this Accident and the Tempest which scattered his Navy was worth to him the Conquest of the Island of Cyprus The manner whereof I will in short recount The Island of Cyprus one of the fairest and greatest of the Mediterranean Sea lying about some hundred Miles from Syria was at that time under the Dominion of the Emperors of Constantinople who sent thither some Duke or Lieutenant to be their Deputy-Governor Isaac a Prince of the House of the Comnenius's by his Mother who was Daughter of another Isaac Brother to the Emperor Manuel had seized upon that Government during the Empire of Andronicus by virtue of Letters Patents from that Emperor which this Cheat had counterfeited and not long after he very openly usurped the absolute Dominion of the Place by taking upon him the Title and Authoritâ— of Emperor After the Death of the unfortunate Andronicus he maintained himself in his Usurpation year 1191 against all the Forces of Isaacius Angelus whom he defeated with the Assistance of Margeritus Admiral of the Fleet of William King of Sicily After which as this Tyrant who was one of the most wicked of Mankind saw himself assured in his new Empire according to the custom and nature of Tyranny which is indifferently to commit all manner of Crimes to enjoy the first which is committed by revolting from a lawful Master there was no manner of Wickedness Injustice Robbery Extortion Violence or Cruelty which he did not exercise upon the poor Islanders whom he reduced even to the utmost Dispair Nor had he much more Humanity towards Strangers for three great Ships of the English Fleet which by the Violence of the Tempest had been thrown upon the Island and stranded in the View of Limisso anciently called Amathus upon the South side of the Island this Barbarian who presently run with his Soldiers to the Bank caused all those who escaped the Wrack to be taken and after having inhumanely despoiled them of all they had about them and in their Ships he caused them to be bound Hand and Foot and thrown into a deep Dungeon there miserably to perish by Famine Nor would he permit the great Ship on Board of which were the two Princesses and which was in manifest danger of being lost to come within the Port of Limisso as they had earnestly desired Permission of him to do but would have them ride it out exposed to the Mercy of the Seas and the Waves that so he might have the brutish and cruel Pleasure either to see them sink to the Bottom or split against the Rocks In this time the Tempest being appeased Richard who had taken Port at Candia and from thence had sailed to the Rhodes where he re-assembled his Ships and hearing of the ill Treatment which some of his Ships had met with in the Island of Cyprus he came and presented himself with the rest of his Navy in good Order before Limisso the 6th Day of May and immediately sent to the Tyrant to demand Satisfaction for the Affront had been done him with a peremptory Command to him instantly to set such of the English at Liberty as he had made Prisoners and to make full Restitution of whatever he had taken from them The furious Brute fiercely replied to the Envoys of the King That they should go tell their Master that he was so far from giving him the Satisfaction he foolishly demanded that if he did not make the more haste and take the advantage of his Sails and Oars he must expect the same Treatment for himself And thereupon he marched directly to the Shoar with all the Troops which he kept in Pay and a multitude of confused undisciplined People ill armed and worse ordered who ran down in hopes of Booty and not in expectation of Blows But he was mightily mistaken in the Man with whom he was to deal for Richard furiously exasperated by his Answer gave present Order that all his Army should make a Descent by the help of the Barks and Chaloups and putting himself into the first Row of the Barks at the Head of his Archers he rained such a Storm of mortal Arrows as he rowed to the Shoar upon the Heads of his affrighted Enemies that under the favour of that Consternation he leaped first ashoar and was followed so courageously by his Men who sound none to oppose their Descent that they charged so briskly upon these Barbarians with their Swords in their Hands and fell into the Battalions of these cowardly and disorderly Greeks they presently put them into Confusion and in a few Minutes to a manifest Flight and in the Pursuit made a dreadful Slaughter among them till they got to the Mountains where they saved themselves Then returning the victorious Army entred Limisso without Resistance the Soldiers who were to have kept it having for fear abandoned the place This happy Beginning was presently succeeded by a Conclusion no less fortunate for the Night following he surprized Isaac who having rallied his People came to encamp within five Miles of Limisso and having cut the best part of his Troops in pieces dissipated the rest and taken all his Baggage So that this miserable Wretch abandoned of the Cypriots who the next day after the Victory came to do Homage to King Richard was constrained in most humble manner to beg a Peace which he obtained upon Conditions hard enough and sufficiently ignominious
having coasted along by Syria the leâ—ser Asia Greece Epirus and Calabria from time to time making such Stays by the Way as were necessary for the regaining of his Strength and Health he went to pay his Devotions at Rome There he was received with all imaginable Honour by Pope Celestin the III. who approving of his Return according to the Custom bestowed upon him and his Followers the Palmes and the Crosses in token that they had accomplished their Vow From thence passing by Land into France in the Month of December he arrived at Fountainbleau and from thence he repaired to St. Dennis where prostrating himself before the Altar of the Holy Martyrs he offered his Royal Robe and gave solemn Thanks to Almighty God who had delivered him from so many Dangers as he had run by Sea and Land and had at last happily reconducted him into his own Kingdom This was the Conclusion of this holy Enterprise of Philip the August and as one may say absolutely that it was very Fortunate by the Reduction of the City of Acre so it is most certain that it had been much greater if it had been performed by his single Forces for being composed of the very Flower of the Nobility and Gentry of France and conducted by the most Wise and Valiant King of that time they might without Difficulty have Triumphed over Saladin if the Conjunction of a most potent Rival had not infeebled them by than unhappy Division which his haughty jealous and ambitious Humour occasioned among them But in short this is generally the Fatality which accompanies such kind of Unions which being made among differing States and Princes for some common End usually by the growing of Discords among themselves terminate in the intire Ruin of those united Sentiments and Designs there being nothing so Improsperous especially in the Affairs of War as want of a good Understanding and Concord among Confederates which in reallity is seldom if ever to be expected from the multitude of Coordinate Captains which must needs produce Differences and Oppositions first in point of Opinion and afterwards by necessary Consequence in the very Union it self But in this time King Richard who was now the sole Commander of the Christian Army in Syria and Palestine proved not much more Fortunate in the end of his Enterprise by reason that he was so continually agitated by the Tempests of his own violent and tumultuous Passions that he was difficultly at any Agreement with himself but was become even his own Rival For on the one hand his Ambition and love of Glory mingled with some Remains of Piety and Religion transported him vigorously towards the pushing forward his Conquests against Saladin and above all to take Jerusalem which was the main End of this Crusade on the other the Jealousie of State and the Fear of the Armes of Philip whom in his Conscience he knew to be most justly Exasperated against him the Distrust which he had of the French which were left behind under the Command of the Duke of Burgundy the great Friend of the Marquis the Prince of Tyre his mortal Enemy and above all his Avarice which was his ruling Passion and the Covetousness of drawing immense summs of Money from the Sarasin Nobility whom he detained Prisoners and from Saladin himself who continualy sollicited him for a Peace all these Passions put him into great Discomposures of Mind and he was under very strong Temptations of making some Truce with the Sarasins and passing immediately into Europe But it must be said to the Glory of this King who doubtless was one of the bravest of his Age that at length his most noâ—â—e Passion which was the Love of Glory and it may be also that which he had for the good of Religion prevailed over the rest and in Conclusion carried him to the War which he recommenced in the most glorious manner in the World He employed some six Weeks in repairing the Breaches of Acre and in refreshing his Army which after the Retreat of Marquis Conrade and almost all the Italians and many other Crusades whom either Poverty or Weariness or Discontent caused to forsake this lingring War yet consisted in above one hundred thousand Men. After which towards the latter end of August he began to move and took the right hand along the Sea Coast to selve upon such maritim Places as Saladin had caused to be dismantled The Fleet constantly plyed along the Coast with them year 1190 to furnish them with Provisions but he had also on his left hand the Army of Saladin who coasted along the Mountains to molest him by continual Skirmishes in his March and to watch some favourable Opportunity to give him Battle upon any notable Advantage and upon the seventh of September the Infidel thought he had found the lucky Moment at the Pass of a River which dischargeth it self into the Sea near Antipatris For Saladin who had above three hundred thousand Men in his Army had divided them into three Bodies one of which was posted on this side the River to oppose the Passage of the Christians another was ranged on the further Bank to the intent that if the first Body should be broaken they might be ready to charge such as should attempt to pass the River Saladin himself with the third which was by much the greatest and composed of the choicest of all his Troops kept himself in the Coverture of the Mountains on the left of the Christian Army ready to fall upon the Rereguard at such time as the Van should be ingaged with his other Troops in disputing the Pass of the River King Richard who had stayed some days at Cesarea as well to refresh his Army as to repair the Ruines of that Place no sooner came within View of the River but that he saw it on both sides imbanked with his Enemies he resolved therefore to give them Battle both in regard there was no stopping to loose the Pass nor no retreating without manifest Danger of being surrounded and put into some Disorder by retireing Now as he marched always in Battalia for fear of being surprized his Army was instantly drawn into such Order as was convenient The Valiant James d' Avesnes that day commanded the Van with what remained of the Danes Brabanters Flemings and Hollanders The King led the Body of the Battle where were the English the Normans the Poiteuins the Gascons and the Levantine Troops near his Person was the Young Henry Count of Champagne his Nephew who to the Prejudice of what he owed to King Philip his Soveraign who was also his Uncle this young Prince being born of the Sister of the King the Daughter of Queen Eleonor and Lewis the Young was intirely devoted to King Richard The Rereguard was commanded by the Duke of Burgundy General of the French Army who was accompanied by the Templers and the German Troops who followed Leopold the Archduke of Austria who never abandoned the French but were most
strictly united with them during this Crusade So soon as the Armies came within View which was about Noon the Combat was not long deferred For James d' Avesnes who was one of the bravest and most prudent Captains of his Age charged so furiously upon the first Squadrons of the Enemies who were posted on this side the River that he broak into them twice overturning and killing all that opposed his Passage But being transported with the heat of his Courage as he returned to the third Charge followed but by a few in comparison of that fearful Number of those who succeeded in the place of the broaken Squadrons he received a terrible Blow with a Scymiter which cut off his Leg notwithstanding which he sustained himself by the force of his invincible Courage and failed not still to fight and to Slay on the right and the left all such as durst venture within the reach of his dreadful Sword till at last that also with the Sword fell by another unfortunate Blow of the Scymiter whereupon those cowardly Infidels fell upon him and by a thousand Wounds gave him a glorious Death after he had opened the Way to Victory by that Carnage which he had made of the most daring of the Sarasins and by the Flight of the more Cowardly For Richard who sustained him and who heard him a moment before his Death cry out aloud Brave King come and revenge my Death all in Fury at his Fall entred at the Breach which this illustrious Deceased had made and fell in like a Thunderclap among the thickest of the Enemies where the Flemings mad even to dispair to have lost their General already made a dreadful Slaughter among them that unable to stand the dreadful Shock they turned their Backs and sled amain towards the Mountains to save themselves So that the Bank being on this side cleared of the Enemies this valiant Prince without giving the couragious English leave to cool one Moment threw himself into the River which at this time was but very low and drawing by his Example all his Battail after him and the Vanguard who now had no other General year 1191 he advanced towards that great Body of Sarasins who pretended to defend the other Bank This he did with so much Resolution that they had not the Considence to expect him but instantly dispersed themselves and sled the King not offering to put himself to the trouble to pursue them so that finding himself Master of both the Banks of the River where no Enemy appeared he believed he was in perfect Possession of a compleat Victory when he found himself mistaken and perceived at a great Distance on the other side of the River a prodigious Cloud of Dust mingled with Darts and Arrows which might be seen sly from all Quarters as also one might hear a confused noise of the Instruments of War the cryes of Men and the neighing of Horses This was occasioned by the greatest part of the Army of the Sarasins commanded by Saladin himself who descending from the Mountains into the Plain had surrounded the Arrere-guard which he believed was at too great a distance to be secured by the main Battle For Saladin who was a great Captain had cut them off so much to his Advantage and had them so in the plain Field that he promised himself an assured Victory and doubted not but he should certainly either cut them in pieces or force them to surrender at Descretion But he quickly found that he had to do with People who were Masters in the Trade of War who having without any Confusion ranged themselves into four Battalions sustained on the right and left by what Cavalry they had formed the Face of a Battle every way and with little Loss sustained all the Efforts of the Sarasins who believed themselves already Conquerours till such time as Richard advertised of the Danger of these gallant Men quickly repassing the River came running at full Speed to their Assistance Then it was that for some time the Combat began to be more surious and bloody than it was before the two Kings by their Voice and Gesture but much more by their Example animating their Souldiers to aspire to Victory For after having done all that could be expected from two of the most able Captains in the World Providing against all Events giving out necessary Orders and themselves in the Charge giving the the first Blows it happened that in the Rencounter knowing each other by those Marks which distinguished them from the rest they both hit upon the same thought and each of them believing he had sound an Enemy worthy of himself and whom with honour he might combat both as a Souldier and a King they both believed that the general Victory would depend upon their particular Encounter and that he whom Fortune should declare her Favourite would not fail of having the Glory of singly obtaining the Victory So both of them at the same time charging his Arm with a strong Lance they furiously ran one against the other and being both of them most Stout and Valiant Men admirably mounted and animated with an ardent desire of Glory wherein Hatred had the least Share the Shock was extreme Rude and Violent their Lances flew into a thousand Splinters and Richard was something disordered with the mighty Blow which he received but he had managed his Lance with so much Adress and Force that he overthrew both Horse and Man upon the Ground This raised a mighty Shout from both the Armies as if Saladin had been slain and the Sarasins came tumbling in Shoals about him so thick either to relieve him if alive or to carry him off if he were dead that Richard who was approaching with his Sword advanced to finish his Victory was constrained to let it fall upon less considerable Enemies of whom he made a most horrible Slaughter for their interposing betwixt him and Glory Saladin the goodness of whose Armes had saved his Life sorely bruised in Body and tormented with the Shame of his Fall being mounted upon a fresh Horse did by his speedy Flight prevent a worse Destiny and left the Christians in possession of a cheap and perfect Victory For seeing that a great part of his Men frightned by the Belief they had that he was slain had already found their Heels and that the rest being altogether in Confusion and Disorder retreated before the Enemy he thought now no longer of any thing but how to save himself and after him the whole Army thought it no Disgrace to make the best hast they could from Death and Danger which followed them closely at the Heels Thus the Christian Army remained Victorious on all sides year 1191 and with so great a loss of the Enemies that what in the Battle and what in the Pursuit above fourscore thousand of them were slain and among them thirty two Emirs were found among the Dead on the Field of the Battle so great a Victory cost
delivered according to the Command of the Gospel he shook off the dust of his Feet against them and continued his preaching constantly to other Cities till such time as Pope Innocent being well imformed of the Vertue and the admirable Talent which this marvellous man had in preaching he appointed him by his Breve bearing Date November the fifth in the Year 1198 to publish the Crusade with all its Indulgences and prerogatives throughout all France Sometime after understanding that the Abbots of the Cistercian Order held their general Chapiter being accompanied with abundance of his Disciples he there solemnly took upon him the Cross as did also at the same time Garnier Bishop of Langress possibly to put himself into good Terms with the Pope who was not over well satisfied with him for his Conduct After which he made his Supplication to the Assembly that since there were met there so many Abbots famous for their Learning and their Vertue they would be pleased to appoint some one of their Number who might share with him in this glorious Employ for the Service of Jesus Christ and his Religion by assisting him in preaching the Crusade and accompanying him in this Holy Voyage But he could not meet with a Gratification in his Request it may be year 1199 because the Pope having already given Commission to some Abbots of the Cistercian Order to preach the Crusade in France Germany and Italy they did not judge it convenient to draw any more of their Abbots from their Charges to employ them in this Ministry So that Fouques departed from the Assembly and was scarce got out of the Gate of the Monastry where an Infinite Number of People were assembled upon the Report of the Arrival of this Holy Man but he began to preach up the Cross with so much fervency and Eloquence that all of them indifferently engaged themselves to take it upon them After which having made choice of one among his Disciples who was most capable to second him in this Exercise of preaching he travailed over almost all France where an infinite Number of Persons of all sorts and Conditions took upon them the Cross whilest Herloin a Monk of St. Dennis a very able and knowing man and well acquainted in the lower Bretanie did the same in all that Country and that those whom the Pope had commissioned to publish the Crusade in England proceeded there also with admirable Success For King Richard who ever since his return from the Holy Land wore the Cross as a mark of his Resolution to return thither made a most Magnisicent Entertainment at London where the greatest part of the Gentlemen who resorted thither to gain Honour in the Tilts and Tournaments which were held there engaged themselves after his Example to combat more nobly against the Sarasins for the Honour of Jesus Christ But whether this was done in reallity this Prince having an Intention to go once more to Palestine or that it was only in Appearance and to ingratiate himself with the Pope that so he might fix him to the Interests of his Nephew Otho and assure his Pretensions to the Empire is very uncertain but let it be which of them soever there presently after happened an Accident which put an end to his Intentions and Designs For having understood that the Poitouins were revolted from him he passed over with an Army so suddenly that by his only Presence he repressed the Rebels but though he knew how to overcome his Enemies yet he was not so happy in conquering his Passions and his Natural Temerity instigated by the Rebelious Vice of Covetousness brought this brave Prince to an untimely Grave when his Affairs were in the most flourishing and prosperous Condition For Vinomare Vicount of Limoges having found a mighty Treasure in some of his Lands offered him one half provided he might possess the other himself But King Richard who inordinately doated upon Money resolved to have it all alledging that the Treasure of right appertained to the Lord of the Fee and upon the Vicounts refusal he presently laid Siege to the Castle of Chalus where he imagined the Treasure was kept So soon as those of the Garrison saw their Prince in Person before the Place fearing to fall into his Hands they offered to surrender the place provided they might be permitted to march out of it honourably and with their Arms but this sierce Prince to discourage them commanded it to be signified to them that he did not use to capitulate with his Subjects that he was resolved to take the Place by Force and to hang every one of them who had dared to oppose him This terrible Menace reduced these poor people to Despair and that Despair begat in them a Courage and Resolution to defend themselves to the last Whereupon this Prince whose Heart was always a Stranger to fear coming to take a View of the place in order to attack it and approaching too near one Bertrand Gourdon a principal Officer of the Garrison knowing him took so true aim at him that he shot him out of a Cross-Bow with a barbed Arrow through the left hand and a little under his Shoulder the King inraged with the Wound caused the Place to be so furiously stormed night and day without Intermission that according to his Desire it was at last carried by Assault after which he caused all the Officers and Soldiers who defended it to be hanged Gourdon only excepted who had wounded him and whom after his recovery he resolved to put to death by the most cruel Punishments But it was in vain that he promised himself Health and Revenge For the Chirurgeon who when he attempted to draw out the Arrow left the Head behind being an unskilful Bungler made so many cruel and dangerous Incisions that the Wound Gangreen'd and the Cure became impossible year 1199 for in twelve days after he was hurt he died being in the forty second Year of his Age and the tenth of his Reign the sixth Day of April in the Year 1199. He died in the Arms of Gautier Archbishop of Roan with so many Sentiments and Marks of true Repentance as one shall rarely find greater among the most celebrated Saints So rigorously did he permit himself to be treated in those Extremities of his Life that by his Patience and Submission he might in some manner attone the Divine Justice by offering to God the Sacrifice of a Heart perfectly and truly humble and contrite and a Body mortified by the severe Pains which he endured besides those which he suffered by his Wound A little before his Death he caused Gourdon who had given him the mortal Wound to be brought into his Presence and calmly demanded of him Why he had endeavoured to take away his Life It is replied he siercely and very resolutely because thou hast slain my Father and my two Brothers because thou didst resalve by the ignominious Halter to take away my Life and because thou hast
to make such a Provision for him as may inable him to pass the rest of his Days in peaceable Honor but that without this compliance they desired him not to be so rash as to bring any more such Messages unto them This was the answer which in the name of the Princes was returned by the Brave and Sage Conon de Bethune whose illustrious House which before flourished in the Reign of Hugh Capet in the Person of Robert Lord de Bethune protector of Arras hath not only hitherto maintained its first Lustre but hath been much augmented in his Descendants by the great Employs and the high Dignities which their Merit and Services have acquired from the Bountiful acknowledgements of our Kings After this that the Confederates might once more try what was to be done by the Ways of sweetness before they should come to make use of Force they resolved to sail by the City upon the side of the Propontis and to shew the young Alexis to the People who would run to the Walls and invite them to declare in his Favour against the Usurper thereby if it were possible to avoid those Mischiefs of a War which must of Necessity be severe to such as must expect to be treated like Conquered Rebels and Complices in the Crimes of the detestable Tyrant But when they perceived that either the Fear of the Power of the Usurper or the hatred which the Greeks had to the Latins hindered the Constantinopolitans from doing any thing in favour of the Prince a great Council of War was held the next day on Horseback in the open Field where it was resolved that the French should attempt to pass over the Bosphorus below Scutari in sight of the great Army of Alexis Comnenius which was encamped on the further Bank and that they should attack Galatha to make themselves Masters of the Port at the same time that the Venetians should set upon the Gallies which desended the Chain at the Entry of it For this purpose the whole French Army was divided into six Bridages the first was that of the Earl of Flanders who had the Van in regard that he had under his Command more Archers and Cross-Bow men than any of the rest who were most proper to disperse the Enemies Henry his Brother accompanied with Matthew de Valincourt had the Second The Count de St. Paul with his Nephew Peter de Amiens led the third The fourth was commanded by Lewis Earl of Blois The Brave Matthew de Montmorenci the Son of the Constable Matthew the first with Geoffry de Ville-Hardouin Mareshal of Champagne was at the Head of the fifth And the Marquis Boniface brought up the Rear year 1203 with a fair and numerous Troop of his own Subjects and the French who inhabit betwixt the Alpes and the Rhone Never was there seen to appear greater Courage and Resolution than to engage in this Enterprise which seemed to be the most rash Undertaking in the World among all the Captains and the Soldiers For to shew that they were all determined either to die or to force their Passage in despight of the Army of the Enemies though ten times stronger than theirs they made their Wills and received Absolution from the Bishops and Abbots who to encourage them to do bravely put themselves also aboard the Ships with the Princes and Soldiers There were about two hundred who were ranged in two great Lines The Knights and the Men at Arms went foremost upon the flat bottom'd Boats their Servants holding their Horses sadled and caparison'd with rich Housses of Taffata down to their Feet and according to the manner of that Age adorned with the Arms of their Masters Upon each side of them rowed the Long-Boats filled with Archers and Cross-Bows who as they advanced to the other side discharged a mortal Shower of Steel without ceasing upon their Enemies The second Line was composed of Gallies every one of which towed a great Ship that so they might come up all together and make the stronger Charge upon the Enemy by fighting all at once on the several parts of the Bank upon which they were posted The whole Army being in this manner imbarked every one keeping the Order wherein the six Squadrons were disposed upon the two Lines early in the Morning the 8th Day of July they began to row to rights against the Enemy who on their side advanced in good Order towards the Shoar Never could there be seen any thing more terribly beautiful than this Spectacle The Sky was mighty serene and the Sun which now just began to raise his glorious Head above the Hemisphere darting his bright Beams upon the Helmets the Bucklers and the naked Swords which were advanced in the Air made such a dreadful Glittering as being augmented by the Reflection of the Bosphorus whose Waters being as smooth as polished Glass by reason of the great Calm which then happened dazled the Eyes of the Beholders and appeared as if all the Air had been on fire That glorious Luminary in this Rencounter was doubly favourable to the French by reason that the Fleet rowing from East to West they had it on their Backs at the same time that he shot his kind Beams directly into the Eyes of their Enemies besides that a small Easterly Wind rising with the Sun drove them gently toward the other Shoar which was at no great distance the Bosphorus in that place being not above half a League over So that one might easily distinguish the Squadrons and Battalions of the Greeks in very good Order and in prodigious numbers drawn up all along the opposite Shoar and the Emperor at the Head of them endeavouring to animate them by his Voice and Gesture to repulse that handful of Pirates as he called them in Contempt who had no other Force but what they borrowed from a Brutal Rashness and the little Esteem they had for their wretched Lives which they might without trouble be quickly eased of by throwing them headlong from the steep Banks which they endeavoured to gain and cooling their foolish and audacious Courage in the Waters of the Bosphorus The Shoar echoed and the Sea seemed to tremble at the dreadful Sound of a thousand Trumpets and Cornets and the Shouts of the Soldiers which were terribly repeated thereby to encourage one another and to strike a Terrour into their Enemies The very Oars were not wanting to make up the dreadful Harmony clashing against the Water with an extraordinary force to gain the Shoar which they quickly did with an incredible Heat both of the Mariners and Soldiers and above all the Captains and the Gentlemen of Quality For so soon as they came near the Land the Knights in their Compleat Armour covered with their Shields leap'd up to the Middle into the Sea with their Swords in their Hands and in despight of the dreadful Shower of Darts and Arrows which the Greeks from all Parts poured upon them they ran to charge the first Battalions
whereas the multitude of the Enemies was innumerable and therefore made continual Sallies especially under the Conduct of Theodore Lascaris the Emperor's Son-in-Law the most valiant Man of his Nation So that the French were obliged almost Night and Day to stand to their Arms to repulse them which did so tire out the Army and besides they had no great quantity of Provisions that there was a necessity for them to do what could be done quickly otherwise in a little time they would be obliged to raise the Seige For this Reason after having for ten Days continually battered the Walls it was with that Effect as gave them hopes they might carry the Place by Force It was therefore resolved to give a general Assault both by Sea and Land accordingly upon the 17th Day of July by Break of Day the whole Army fell on with all the Courage and Resolution imaginable The Venetians had drawn all their great Ships along the Brink in a great Line about three Flight Shots in length with Intervals between them for the Gallies which lay behind them when it was time to row close to the Shoar to make the Descent All the great Engines were placed upon the Decks and the Round Tops of the Masts were filled with Archers and Cross-Bows who might shoot downwards from that Heighth with great advantage There were also by the Main Masts great Towers raised with strong Timber which surpassed the heighth of those of the City upon the Tops of which five or six Soldiers might go in a Front by great and large Steps which were made from the Top to the Bottom They were covered with raw Hides to preserve them from Fire and they had long large and strong Ladders which were so fastned to the Timbers that by the help of certain Pullies and other little Engines which were made for the purpose they might have the furthest end fall upon the Walls like a Draw-bridge or be brought to rest upon the Towers in those places where they jutted out towards the Sea So soon as the Signal was given all the Engines from the Ships began to play in an instant and one might see an infinite of Stones Darts and Arrows fly to scatter those who defended the Walls and at the same time the Bridges were thrown upon the Walls and the Ladders clapp'd to the Towers the Soldiers three abreast year 1203 mounting the Ladders with a marvellous Resolution fought hand to hand against the Greeks who being assisted both by their number and the advantage of the place defended themselves successfully by rowling great Stones and peices of Timber upon the Assailants throwing abundance of Wild sire among them and discharging from all the Towers a prodigious Shower of Arrows to hinder the Gallies who did what they could from landing Here the famous Henry Dandolo did an Action which exacts the Justice of all Posterity to his Memory in celebrating his Name as one of the greatest Men in the World For quite worn with old Age and blind as he was yet was he to be seen in compleat Armour with his naked Sword in his hand upon the Fore-castle of the Capitana or Admiral-Gally having the great Standard of St. Mark born before him The old Prince transported with a valiant Impatience and and an extream Heat with which he burnt to have a share in the Combat briskly commanded the Sea-men to use their utmost Skill and Force to get ashoar upon peril of their Lives telling them if they did not land him presently he would hang them up every Man This Command given with such a terrible Menace and which Fear made still more strong was followed with such a quick Obedience that the Gally was in an instant brought to the Shoar through a terrible Storm of Stones Darts and Arrows which from all parts fell upon her Then was to be seen the Standard of St. Mark advance to the Walls followed by the brave Doge who caused himself to be lead to the Assault And at the same time by his Example and Heroick Courage he drew the rest after him for this sight gave so much both of Shame and Courage to the other Gallies who stood yet aloof that the Captains and Soldiers fearing they should fall under the Infamy of having abandoned their General in such a noble Danger they left playing the good Husband and rowed with all their force like resolute Men exposing themselves to the utmost Perils to gain the Shoar which they did almost all at the same time and throwing themselves with Precipitation out of the Gallies every Man as well as he could striving who should get first ashoar then ran like so many enraged Lions after their General to the Assault Never was any thing to be seen more furious or terrible for the Walls on that side being lowest and having for ten Days been continually battered were in many places ruined so that while some strove to enter by the Breaches others presented the Scaling Ladders the number of those who defended the Walls and Breaches far surpassed that of the Assailants so that both the one and the other found a stout Resistance nor did it seem probable that such a small number were capable of surmounting such a difficult Enterprise nor in probability had it succeeded but that all of a suddain the great Standard of St. Mark was seen planted and flying upon one of the Towers no Man to this day being ever able to give an Account how or by whom it was carried thither This made the Soldiers assume new Courage for according to the humour of those Times the Superstition whereof which was so advantageous to them the wise Captains knew very well how to improve they believed that S. Mark fought for them and commanded them to follow him and the Enemies astonished to to see it lost both their Judgment and their Courage so that believing that the City was taken and that the French were upon their Backs they forsook the Walls and giving all for lost ran to secure themselves in their Houses so that the Venetians finding no more Resistance siezed upon a great part of the Walls and made themselves Masters of twenty five of the hundred and ten Towers which were on the side of the Haven and when they saw the Greeks who had recovered their Consternation return with the Soldiers of the Garrison in a prodigious number and good Order to dislodge them sinding it impossible with so small a Force to be able to maintain their Post against so many Enemies they set fire to the adjacent Houses which being driven with extream Violence by a strong North Wind which then blew the whirling Flames were carried full in the Faces of the Greeks which obliged them to stop and endeavour by all Means immediately to extinguish the Fire year 1203 All this time the French made prodigious Attempts on their side to gain the double Wall which they attacked near the Palace of Blaquerness Of the six Battalious
the whole Realm the Germans not daring to appear in the Field But after so many Victories as he besieged their General Diepold in a certain Castle to which he had driven him the Contempt which he had of his Enemies was the occasion of his falling into their Hands for in the Night the General surprized him in his Tent and carried him Prisoner to the Castle all covered in Blood where he shortly after died more of Grief than of his Wounds so much nearer than their Swords had done did the Trouble and Affliction go to his heart to see himself in the power of those whom he had so despised complaining that he had so ill guarded himself against the Cowardly Germans who he said by Day-light though in compleat Armour durst not venture to attack the French stark naked and unarmed Thus by his Presumption he lost that in a Moment which by his Valour and great Abilities he had acquired by abundance of gallant Actions which he had performed in four Years before As for his Brother John de Brienne who among all the great Lords of France was chosen by King Philip the August to marry the young Queen of Jerusalem he received that Honour with all the marks of a profound Acknowledgment and promised the Ambassadors before their Parting that he would with all the Forces he could raise come for Palestine before the Expiration of the Truce Now Saphadin who apprehended there would be a new Crusade to accompany this King who was sent for from France offered the Christians to prolong the Truce but the Templers rejecting his Proposition the War was broke out afresh when John de Brienne arrived there which was the 3d of September in the Year 1210. year 1210 And whereas Saphadin believed that this new King would bring a great Army with him he found that he had only brought a few Troops together with about three hundred Knights who had imbarked with him at Marseilles to serve at their own Charges against the Infidels For the Troubles of Germany and Italy by occasion of the new Schism in the Empire and the War which was breaking out between Philip the August year 1210 and the Emperor Otho who was excommunicated by the Pope together with the famous Crusade which then began to be set on foot in France against the Albigenses hindred the raising of one to accompany King John de Brienne into the Holy Land So that he was able to raise no greater Fond of Mony than forty thousand Livres which he had from the French King and as many more which the Pope procured him from the Romans upon his Estate the Earldom of Brienne which he was forced to mortgage for it He did not however fail with his small Power to do all that could be expected from a Prince equally wise and valiant for presently after his Coronation which was celebrated at Tyre he took the Field and entring upon the Territories of the Infidels he took divers places from them and returned without Loss bringing a considerable Booty from them to Ptolemais But so soon as the Sarasins understood what a small number of Men he had brought with him out of Europe they joyned all their Forces and came to encamp about that City with a mighty Army commanded by Coradin so that the Christians durst not stir out but were in a manner besieged especially after the Sultan had seized upon all the neighbouring Places principally the Mountain of Thabor upon which he built a Fortress from whence they made continual Incursions year 1211 even to the very Gates of Ptolemais Hereupon the Knights and Persons of Quality who came along with the King seeing they were too weak to sally and sight their Enemies in the plain Field and being unable to suffer themselves to be lock'd in the City without doing any thing they returned before the Winter into France so that this poor Prince remained almost all alone in danger to have taken Possession of a Kingdom only to have the Displeasure and the Shame to see himself driven out of it unless he received some seasonable Assistance year 1212 This News gave a mighty trouble to the Pope who now began to apprehend that his principal Design which was the Relief of the Holy Land would be wholly ruined by being so long delayed he resolved therefore after the Example of Pope Vrban II. the first Author of the Crusades to employ his utmost power to procure one by calling a General Council that thereby he might engage all the Christian States and Kingdoms in it But in regard that considering the present posture of Affairs in Europe year 1213 this great Assembly could not be so soon held and that besides the pressing Evil required a more speedy Remedy he writ his Circular Letters to all faithful People to excite them to march with all possible haste to the Relief of their oppressed Brethren in Palestine And after having renewed the Prohibitions which he had so often made before That upon pain of Excommunication none should presume to sell any Merchandise more especially any Arms to the Sarasins he commanded certain Prayers with Fasting and Alms to be used in the Church for the imploring the Mercy and Pity of God and his Blessing upon the Council which was to be held for the taking care of the Necessities of the Church and above all other things the Relief of the Holy Land He also resolved to try other Ways since he saw those which had before been made use of did not prosper and addressed himself to Saphadin Sultan of Babylon and Damascus who was now become almost as potent as his Brother the great Saladin had been who took Jerusalem He writ to him to exhort him to restore that holy City to the Christians which besides that of it self it brought no considerable Advantage to him put him to vast Expences to be always in a Condition to resist the whole Powers of Christendom who would eternally arm themselves to take it from him He remonstrated to him That it was much better for him as a wise Politician freely and by Reason to do that which he must one day be constrained to do whether he would or not with the loss of his Honour and possibly all that he might upon the Surrender of that City quietly and peaceably be permitted to possess in the East That it was impossible but he must at last fall under those Arms whose invincible Force he was sufficiently sensible of already and whose Courage and Valour were above all fear of Danger That they esteemed it not only a point of Honour but of Religion to re-conquer that holy City which their Ancestors had taken by Force with not above twenty thousand Men from forty thousand Defendants and in the very sight of an Army incomparably greater than theirs That in restoring to the Christians that City which he could not long defend against them he would thereby assure himself of the rest of his Dominions by the
Peace which was offered him upon Condition that the Prisoners on both sides should be set at liberty year 1213 But these Letters of the Pope produced not those Effects which he hoped and promised himself for Saphadin who had so frequently combated against the Christians knew by Experience that the Crusades would overthrow themselves if the fury of their first Efforts were but prevented and above all having the Courage the good Fortune and the Success of Saladin he was not much moved by the Remonstrances of Innocent for whom he had no great Consideration And for the other Letters which the Pope writ to all Christian People they came to nothing at last but to raise those great Disorders which had happened in the former Crusades For it happened by a strange Illusion or rather a kind of Frensy which like a Plague spread it self over all France and Germany the Youths of all sorts of Conditions taking a strong Impression in their Minds that God would make use of their Hands to deliver the Holy Sepulchre out of the Hands of the Sarasins and that he commanded them to go to Jerusalem to atchieve that high Enterprise they assembled to the number of thirty thousand in France and twenty thousand in Germany who took upon them the Cross There were many Monks and Priests who undertook to justifie this Folly by another which was greater and as if God had commanded it put themselves at the Head of these Boys and other Vagabonds who maliciously followed them to make some advantage of this Disorder and it being impossible to stop the Torrent of this furious Folly they pleasantly marched along singing and crying all together with all their power Lord Jesus bestow upon us thy Holy Cross The greatest part of those of Germany taking disserent Roads either perished miserably on the Way or were dispoiled by Thieves and Robbers Those of France who could escape to Marseilles were there miserably cheated by two Merchants whose Names were Hugh le Fer and William Porc notorious Villains who having promised to transport them into Palestine for nothing putting them on Board seven of their Ships two of the Vessels were shipwrack'd with the loss of all those poor Boys with which they were charged and for those who were upon the other sive these Traytors carried them into Egypt and there sold them for Slaves to the Sarasins It is true that God who alone can bring Good out of Evil for his Glory drew this Advantage from this great Disorder and horrible Treachery that divers of these Innocents whom the Infidels endeavoured to force to deny and renounce their Faith persisted so constantly to confess Jesus Christ for whose sake they had taken the Cross that they chose rather to be cut in pieces than to renounce their Faith and by this irregular and frantick Action came at last to obtain the Crown of Martyrdom At last the memorable Victory which Philip the August obtained against Otho who having been crowned after the Death of the Emperor Philip troubled all Europe gave the Pope the occasion to accomplish by the General Council the great Design of the Crusade which he had begun by his Letters and which the Preachers by his Orders published every where This Emperor Otho made a most cruel War against the Pope who had always been his Protector so that he was at last constrained by his extream Ingratitude to excommunicate him as also for his openly invading the Churches Patrimony seizing upon what the Holy See had received from the magnificent Liberality of the Kings of France Philip the August who besides that he hated Otho as being the Nephew of his Enemy the King of England thought himself obliged to maintain what his Predecessors had done in favour of the Holy See sailed not to declare himself for the Pope and negotiated so powerfully with divers Princes of the Empire the principal whereof were the King of Bohemia the Dukes of Austria and Bavaria the Archbishops of Treves Mayence and Cologne that they deposed this ingrateful excommunicate Prince and elected Frederick whom his Father the Emperor Henry VI. had caused to be declared King of the Romans at the Age of three Years and who was also King of Naples and Sicily in Right of the Empress Constantia his Mother He came soon after into Germany where he was received by the Princes and crowned Emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle year 1213 by Thierri Bishop of Cologne And that he might support his Right by the Arms of his Protector he came directly to Vaucouleur where after a Conference with Lewis the Son of King Philip he made a new Treaty with the King and renewed the ancient Alliance which had been between his Predecessors and the Crown of France Otho on his side who had a powerful Party in Germany believing that if he could but ruin Philip he should be able easily to manage Frederick and the Pope made a League against France with the English Ferrand de Portugal Earl of Flanders who had revolted against his Master and his Benefactor who had married him to the Heiress of Flanders year 1214 and joyned the Troops of the English and Flemmings which together with his own composed an Army of above two hundred thousand Men So that making no doubt but that he should be able to cut the French Army in pieces who were not a third part so numerous he assailed them when they least expected a Battle as they were passing the Bridge of Bovines But Philip without being dismayed at this Surprise having put himself at the Head of the Rereguard whilst the Vant-guard re-passed the Bridge sustained their first Shock and gave a Check to the Enemies till such time as the other Troops were drawn up in Battalia upon his Right and Left according to the Orders which he had given And then the French animated by the Sight the Words but much more by the Example of their King who this Day behaved himself like one of the ancient Heroes charged with so much fury every where that after having fought victoriously in all places from Noon till Night the Army of the Enemies was totally routed All the principal Captains lay stretched out at length upon the place or else were taken Prisoners Otho only excepted who escaped by the swiftness of his Horse and retreated into the Lower Saxony where about two Years after he died with Grief to see himself forsaken by all the Princes of the Empire and another Emperor generally acknowledged and received by all the Germans This great Victory of Philip and that which Prince Lewis his Son obtained almost at the same time in Poitou against the King of England having made a great Calm in the Church and the Empire the Pope who during the Wars which troubled all Europe could not assemble the Council now caused it to be called year 1215 and accordingly it was held the Year following in the famous Church of the Lateran at Rome This was the twelfth Oecumenical
Sail for Ptolemais by the Straits of Gibraltar The King of Hungary arrived first at Cyprus about the Feast of the Nativity of our Lady and those who imbarked at the Ports of Brindes Messina and Genoa coming up within a few days he parted from thence accompanied with Hugh de Lusignan King of Cyprus and the Archbishop of Nicosia who had taken upon them the Cross and all together came happily to an Anchor in the Port of Acre After the Army had for some time refreshed themselves about the City where the Bavarians by an ill Beginning and an unlucky Presage of this War committed fearful Disorders upon the Lands of the Christians whom they treated most inhumanely King John de Brienne joyned himself with the Kings of Hungary and Cyprus with those few Troops which he had accompanied with the Knights of the Temple the Hospital and the Teutonick Order And the Truce which had been made with the Sarasins being expired they went and incamped in a convenient Place near the Brook Kison there to take a general Review of their Troops and then to march directly to find out Coradin who had already passed the River Jordan with a powerful Army and made a shew as if he would give the Christians Battle The Patriarch of Jerusalem whose Residence was now in the City of Acre believing that upon this Occasion he ought to imitate his Predecessors who were used to carry the sacred Cross in their Wars before the Kings therefore in the beginning of November being followed by all the Clergy in Procession went to the Camp carrying a part of that sacred Wood which the Christians had preserved For James de Vitri who was afterwards a Cardinal and who before had been Curate of Argentucil near Paris and then of Ogniez in the Diocess of Liege where he was made Canon Regular and at this time was Bishop of Acre and accompanied the Kings in this War assures us that he had heard it of some antient People in Palestine that before the Battle of Tiberias where they fought so unfortunately against Saladin they being according to custom year 1217 to carry the Cross before King Guy de Lusignan he was advised by a certain Presage of the future Loss to cause the sacred Wood to be cut and one part of it to be kept that such a precious Treasure in case it should be taken in the Battle as it happened might not be wholly lost Upon the Approach of the Patriarch the Kings and Princes came out of the Camp and walked barefooted to meet him to receive that sacred Pledge the Instrument whereupon our Salvation was wrought with a marvellous Devotion and perfect Confidence in Jesus Christ who they hoped would in that Sign give them Power to overcome all the Enemies of his holy Name as he had upon it overcome all the Enemies of our Salvation The next Morning the Army being drawn up in Battalia passed the Torrent marching Eastward towards the great Valley of Esdrelon anciently called Megiddo now called the Plain of Faba and that Day advanced as far as the Fountain of Tubany in old time called Jesreel near the City of that Name There the Couriers who were sent to discover the Enemy brought word that they had seen great Clouds of Dust so that it was believed Coradin was advancing to give them Battle That was then the thing which the Army most desired so that very early the next Morning the Army marched to meet the Enemy and entred into the great Valley of Jesreel having the Mountains of Gilboa on the right Hand and the Mount Hermon upon the left with a great Morass at the Foot of it This was a very commodious Post where they might advantageously make the Field of Battle but no Enemy appearing they advanced as far as Bethshan otherwise called Sythopolis a great City lying in a Plain very convenient for the giving Battle between the Mountain of Gilboa and the River Jordan Coradin had been there and incamped in the Plain boasting that there he would fight the Christian Army but when he understood that the Kings were there in Person and that their Army was stronger than his he durst not tempt Fortune by a decisive Blow and therefore following the Orders and the Example of his Father Saphadin who kept himself at Babylon expecting till the Christians should have weakned themselves he was already retired beyond the River the Day before which was the Occasion of the Dust which the Scouts had discovered and thought he had been therefore approaching to meet the Christians But it was the quite contrary for he was then retreating leaving the Country to the Kings who after they had with the whole Army with great Devotion washed themselves in the Waters of Jordan and coasted along the Sea of Tiberias or the great Lake of Genasareth to visit the Places consecrated by the Presence and the Miracles of Jesus Christ they returned about the end of the Month to Ptolemais with a very rich Booty and abundance of Prisoners which they had taken in the Country of the Sarasins But this not being what was expected from so great an Army and there appearing no Enemy to combat with in the Field they resolved to besiege the Fortress which Coradin had built upon the top of Mount Tabor which did extremely inconvenience the City of Acre This Tabor which is so famous in both the old and new Testament is one of the fairest and most pleasant Mountains of the World It raiseth its lofty Head in the middle of a fair Plain in Galilee about some thirty Furlongs in height which is near a League and half of our Measure so that like a Pharus or watch Tower it may be seen at a great Distance by those who sail upon the Sea and also from the top of this Mountain one may discover a great part of the Holy Land especially all the Champion of Galilee the main Ocean the Sea of Tiberias and the Course of the River Jordan All this Prospect lay so exactly round about it that Nature seemed to have pleased herself in forming this pleasant round Circle from the Base whereof Mount Tabor raiseth it self by small Degrees lessening the new Circles with an equal Roundness to the very Top which by reason of its Height looks like a mighty Pyramid to those who are at the Bottom of it It is on all sides very steep and on the North side wholly inaccessible and there is no coming up to it on the other sides but by very strait and difficult Passages And tho it be thus steep and high yet receiving continually the most pure Due of Heaven which falls sweetly from its Top and expands it self downwards it is cloathed particularly towards the West and South with abundance of Trees which are continually Green year 1217 loaden with pleasant Fruits and where the Birds who inhabit in these agreeable Thickets sill the Air with their melodious Songs the Earth which at the Foot of
formerly joyned to that great City and which had been demolished to be re-built with so much Expedition and Diligence that they had wholly finished it before the Army of the Sarasins could draw together to interrupt them in the Work The great Masters of the Temple and the Teutonick Order with a small number of Crusades under the Conduct of Gautier d' Avesnes remained between the City of Acre and Cesarea and there fortified an old Castle of the Pilgrims upon a Promontory which advanceth it self into the Sea near Mount Carmel and in the clearing of the Ruins found a Treasure which defrayed the Charges they were at in the repairing of it The Kings of Hungary and Cyprus with the greatest part of the Pilgrims and Earl Bohemond retired to Tripolis where a few days after the King of Cyprus died in the very Flower of his Age. And for the King of Hungary believing that he had accomplished his Vow he only staid till the Season was convenient to pass the Seas and then returned with his Men and all the Booty they had gotten into his own Kingdom where his Presence was become mighty necessary by reason of the dangerous Troubles which had been raised during his Absence and a deplorable Accident which happened to his House which is not at all relating to this History and that was the true Reason why nothing was able to prevail with him to make a longer Stay neither the Intreaties of the Patriarch nor the Excommunication which he thundred out against him and all such as should follow him into Europe But this Prince who doubted not but the too zealous Prelate had herein exceeded the Bounds of his Power gave himself no trouble for the severe Censure being satisfied that he had no Power or Jurisdiction over him and that no Power upon earth had any right over Kings in the Temporal Affairs of the Realms year 1218 with the Conduct whereof they are solely intrusted by God Almighty to whom alone they are obliged to give an Account of the Government of their Estates to which next to the Duty to God they owe their chief Care and their chief Diligence This Loss of the Assistance of two such considerable Kings accompanied with so many brave Men was quickly after repaired by another Re-inforcement which came very seasonably to begin the next Campaigne for almost at the same time that King John de Brienne Leopold Duke of Austria and the three great Masters of the Military Orders after they had sinished the Fortresses of Cesarea and the Pilgrims Castle were come to Ptolemais to deliberate upon what was to be done in the posture wherein their Affairs then stood they were agreeably surprized to see the greatest part of the Northern Fleet arrive for they had utterly despaired of it there having not been the least Account what was become of it since the time that it first put to Sea This great Fleet had weighed from the Mouth of the Mase the 29th Day of May and had happily passed the Coasts of England and France but they were a long time stayed by contrary Winds upon the Coast of Spain and after they had been bruised by a furious Tempest in which they lost several Ships upon the Coast of Portugal the rest of the Fleet which had been separated by the Storm had been with great difficulty at last met together about the middle of July in the River of Lisbon Now as the Earls of Holland and Wida who were gotten up to the Port of this great City had given Order to re-sit their Ships the Bishops of Lisbon and d' Evora the great Priors of the Temple and Hospital and the Commander of the Order of the Knights of St. James of the Sword or Palmela and many great Lords of the Realm came to wait upon them from Alphonsus II. King of Portugal to remonstrate to them That it was by a most particular Disposal of the Divine Providence for the Good of Portugal that the Tempest had thrown them upon the Port of Lisbon and that it shill continued to stay them there That thereby it appeared manifestly that God would make use of them to drive the Moors out of the Realm who having seized upon the Fortress of Alcazar held all the Country from Algarves to the Tagus in Subjection That before their Fleet could be repaired so as to be put into a Condition of going to Sea the Season for Navigation would be past And that if they should resolutely pursue their Voyage yet would it be ineffectual in regard that before they could arrive at Palestine it would be far advanced in the Year that they must pass the Winter there unprofuably That therefore it would be more advantageous and glorious for them to pass it in Portugal and lend them their Assistance to take Alcazar from the Sarasins which they conjured them to do by the Zeal which they had to Religion assuring them that this Enterprise of which they would give an Account to the Pope would be most pleasing to him and that thereby they should merit the Recompence of a Crusade The Earls having proposed this Affair to the Council of the Crusades there were many that opposed it protesting that they would immediately go to accomplish their Vow The Frisons above all appeared most determined in this Resolution and the Matter went so far that they separated from the Earls and parted with the first fair Wind the twenty sixth of July with above eighty Ships who were followed by some others of several Nations and tho the Weather for some time proved favourable to them they were constrained to Winter at Corneta at Gaieta and several other Ports of Italy But the Earls who after that Separation and those which had been lost during the Tempest had not above a hundred Ships believed that they could not more profitably serve Christendome than upon this Occasion resolved to undertake the Siege of Alcazar which accordingly therefore they undertook with the Portuguese in the beginning of the Month of August They first attempted to storm the Place but that Attempt not Succeeding in regard that the Garrison which was very strong defended themselves with abundance of Vigor they found themselves obliged to besiege it according to the regular Way by Sapping and Mining this they followed without making any great Progress till the ninth of September at which time a great Succor of four Moorish Kings of Andalusia appeared within a League of the Christian Army The Battle was not long deferred for the Christians year 1218 wonderfully encouraged by the Arrival of the Troops of the Templers who the Night before the Battle joyned the Army and much more by the Sight of the glorious Standard of the Cross which appeared in the Air as it were to give them not only the Signal of the Combat but an assured sign of Victory and Triumph went courageously against the Enemy although their numbers were incomparably greater than theirs The Battle began early
Effect which they had in vain expected from the others This Man was called Master Olivier who had been the Scholemaster of the Church of Cologne a most famous Preacher and who after he had preached the Crusade by the Pope's Order in Germany Frieseland and Flanders resolved also to go along with them and afterwards came to be Bishop of Paderborn and Cardinal by the Title of St. Sabine It is to him that we are obliged for the Relation of this Siege beginning after the taking of the Tower of the Nile in which by his Invention he had so great a Share but withal so much Modesty as not to make any the least mention of it This Person then who was a man of a great Soul and mightily beloved especially by the Soldiers which came from Cologne with whom he took up the Cross caused this new Machin to be made with the Charity-money which he had collected for the Crusade He caused two great Ships to be tied together with strong Cables and Hawsers and that they might be the stronger he caused strong Piles of Timber which joyned the Ships together at the Heads and Sterns to be fastned with strong Clasps and Bolts of Iron and all along between the two Ships were laid strong Planks from the Hatches of one Ship to the other upon which the Men might pass conveniently and these also were strongly fastned to the Ship at each End which kept them close from moving one from another Upon these two Ships thus joyned firmly together four of the strongest Masts that could be found were planted and joyned together in a Square by four of the largest Yards which were fastned to the Masts almost at the top upon these Yards there lay Joysts fastned and over them Planks nailed down in the manner of a Platform upon this was erected a wooden Castle higher than the Tower of the Nile and this Castle was covered with raw Hides of Oxen and Camels to defend it from the Enemie's Fire below this Castle upon the Platform was fastned a great Ladder covered with Planks in form of a Draw-bridge which hung by Pullies ready to be let down upon the Walls of the Tower and this was so long that it extended several Yards over the Heads of the Ships below this Machin there were placed certain long Tables very thick and strong which were so fastned to the Prows that by the help of Ropes they might be heaved out to the Walls of the Tower and served as Bridges for the Miners who might be at Work below in Sapping whilest the other attacked them above This Work being finished and approved by the Captains who found it was a most proper and rational Invention for the Execution of such a difficult Design they resolved to make use of it and to make their utmost Effort to carry the Tower And the better to dispose and animate the Soldiers and to obtain the Protection of God for the Army the Patriarch Bishops and all the Clergy followed by the King Princes and Officers went barefoot in Procession to the place where the Cross was kept which according to custom was carried to this War After which Friday the Feast of the Apostle St. Bartholomew was appointed for the Day to begin the Assault and choice was made for that Service of Officers and Soldiers of all the Nations who were to be Conducted by the brave Leopold Duke of Austria and this was done to avoid Jealousies and that they might all be Sharers in the Glory of so great an Action The Day which with so much impatience was expected being come the Attack was made in this manner A great Ship well armed sailed up the Nile which was mightily swelled and went as it were to shew the Way to the great Machin which followed it filled on all Sides below upon the Platform and the Castle with those Valiant Men upon whom the Eyes of the whole Army were fastned as the dear Pawns of their Honor and the Fortune of the rest These proud of the glorious Choice which had been made of them to sustain such an illustrious Enterprise looked upon the Danger and the Tower with a generous Contempt and a certain fierce and menacing Joy which shewed the Resolution they had taken either to Perish or to Conquer standing in the View of the City year 1218 and the Army upon the Machin as upon the Theatre of their Glory The Clergy marched bare-footed in Procession upon the Bank at the Right Hand of the Assailants singing of Psalms and imploring the Aid of the God of Armies in favour of his Champions against the Enemies of his holy Name And the Infidels who were run all to their Towers and their Ramparts answered these Songs of Piety with fearful Howlings and horrible Blasphemies at the same time discharging from their Stone-Bows and Slings a dreadful Shower of Stones to break or stop this Machin which crossing this furious Tempest sailed directly to the North side of the Tower which lies to Seaward not being able by reason of the scantness of the Water to get these heavy Ships into the Western Chanal between the Tower and the Bank that lies against the Town All the which Army was placed partly upon the Decks of the Ships as they lay at Anchor and partly drawn up upon the rising Grounds nearest the Enemy stood there to encourage the Assailants and to be Spectators and Witnesses of the brave Actions which were to be performed in a Combat of so extraordinary a nature So soon as the Anchors were dropt on all sides of the great Machin to keep it immovable in the distance which was necessary for the lower Bridges and the great Ladder which hung upon the Platform to reach to the Walls of the Tower those who were in the Wooden Castle gave a most furious discharge of Darts and Arrows from that high place downward upon the Enemies who defended the Tower at the same time some fastned the Bridges to the Walls whilest others threw themselves upon them with a most Heroick Courage and without thinking of the Dangers which threatned them in such different manners some marched to the foot of the Tower to endeavour a Breach with the Force of Pick-Axes and other Instruments whilest those above ran with their Swords in their hands directly against the Sarasins who defended the Walls whilest at the same time all the Engines of the City played upon the Assailants and threw their Wild-fire by the long brazen Conduits from the Tower against the Castle the Platform and the Bridges which began every where to take sire but there being great Provision made of Sand and Vinegar the Infallible Cure of this evil otherwise irremediable it was soon extinguished in all places except the end of the Draw-Bridge Ladder which had like to have occasioned the loss of all in a Moment For the Soldiers running violently to put out the fire the Bridge had like to have been quite overthown by the Crowd that
above fourscore of these miserable men being saved upon the broken Planks A Party also of Frieselanders who hitherto had so well behaved themselves having abandoned their Companions were no sooner returned into Frieseland but they were miserably swallowed up by the Sea which having this Year broken the Banks and passed all the Bounds overflowed all the Country with such a fearful deluge that above a hundred thousand Persons were swallowed up of the merciless Waves But nevertheless the loss which the Christian Army suffered by this desertion was quickly repaired by the Arrival of diverse Troops of Crusades who being excited by the Letters which Pope Honorius had writ continually to all the Princes of Europe arrived one after another during all the Autumm The Cardinal d' Albanâ— the Popes Legate for the Holy War arrived with the first accompanied with a fair Troop of the Nobility of Rome whom the Pope who was himself of the first of those orders had obliged to take upon them the Cross that so they might draw others by their Example There came also from Germany the Low Countries Venice Genoa and Pisa and many from France who inbarked at Genoa with Robert de Corceone an English man Cardinal of St. Stephen upon Mount-Coelius whom the Pope ordered to accompany them in this Voyage The most signal of those who with the consent of Philip the August went from France were the Counts Hervey de Nevers Hugh de la Marche Miles de Barr upon the Seine with his Sons and the Lords John d' Artois Ponce de Grancey Ithier de Tacy Savary de Mauleon and among the Prelates William Arch-Bishop of Bourdeaux William de Beaumont Bishop of Anger 's Gautier Bishop of Autun Miles de Chastillon de Nantueil Bishop Elect of Beauvais with Andrew his Brother and Peter de Nemours Bishop of Paris the Son of Gautier great Chamberlain of France and Brother to the Bishop of Meaux and Noyon This good Prelate after he had for ten years governed with great Wisdom the Church of the Capital City of the Realm where he took great care to maintain the Purity of the Faith against the Errors of Amauri of Chartres which he caused to be condemned resolved also to signalise his Zeal against the Infidels by taking upon him the Cross with which he gloriously consummated that kind of Martyrdom at Damiata where he died after the taking of the City Prince Oliver also the Son of Henry the third King of England came by the same passage in September with the Earls of Chester Winchester and Arundel and William de Harcourt accompanied with a Gallant Troop of English who had devoted themselves to the Holy War The Legate being arrived with so considerable a Succour presented to the King of Jerusalem the Duke of Austria and the other Princes the Letters by which the Pope after having extremely commended the Cardinal informed them that he had sent him principally to create and preserve a perfect Union in the Army and to animate them to do well by going before them not with the Pomp and Majesty of a Prince to command but with that humility worthy of Jesus Christ whom he represented and for whose Cause the Crusades in taking up his Cross had obliged themselves to combat But it must be avowed that this good Prelate did very ill acquit himself of his Charge and acted directly contrary to the Intentions of the Pope and the good Instructions which he had given him For at the first Conference which he had with King John de Brienne to whom all the Chief of the Crusades yielded Obedience he told him plainly and without a Complement that he was resolved to command the Army alledging for his reason that the Church having commanded the Crusade and that the Crusades who were come to the relief of the Holy Land were not Subjects of the King of Jerusalem but depended upon the Church by the Authority whereof they had taken upon them the Cross The King was extremely surprized with such a foolish Proposition which he had so little expected but as he was very discreet he did not declare it lest he should be obliged openly to break with a man whose Ambition year 1218 which keeps no measures especially when it is supported by a great name might carry him to dangerous Extremities in abusing a Power and Authority which Jesus Christ hath not given to the Church but for the spiritual Kingdom which is not of this World as he himself assures us and hath nothing to do with the Temporal On the other side notwithstanding this as this Prince had a great Soul he was resolved to do nothing to stain his Honour or to lessen the August Character of Royalty which he was resolved to support with the utmost Vigour against all that should enterprize any thing against it He therefore kept fair with the Legate he made no direct answer to any thing which he said but would turn the discourse to some other Subject always treating him with extraordinary Civility but in the same time he continued more positively than ever to give out his Orders independant of any other Person and caused them to be exactly obeyed and acted in all things so like an absolute Master and a King that the good Legate at last perceived that he had to do with a Prince who in rendring to God with a profound Veneration that which was due to him knew also continually how to maintain the Rights that appertained to Caesar This nevertheless did not fail to occasion some Trouble in the Army by dividing the principal Officers for those who found themselves any ways dissatisfied with the King inclined always to the Legate and he finding himself able to do nothing more usually came to the Council only to give his Opinion in contradiction to the King But at length the Arrival of the Sultan Meledin who came down the Nile to Damiata with a potent Army before the Christians had passed the River to besiege the City by Land obliged all the Commanders to re-unite and recover the time which they had wasted and lost by an extreme Negligence and seriously to dispose themselves to Combat the Enemy After some light Skirmishes wherein the Sarasins were constantly beaten upon the thirtieth of November there arose such a furious Tempest that the Sea repelling the Waters of the Nile and breaking over all the Banks the whole Army had like to have perished by the Inundation many of the Ships were driven ashoar and beaten in pieces and four great Vessels upon which there were Castles built in order to attack the City were driven by the Wind and the Waves against the Towers and the Walls where they were unfortunately Consumed by the Wildfire which the Besieged with ease threw into them in the sight of the Christians who during that dreadful Storm were not able to Relieve them Several Knights of the Temple who were in another great Ship which the Tempest had also forced to
purpose either broken by the Engines of the Town or burnt by the Greek Wildfire from which they were never able to secure them But the greatest of all the evils which the Besiegers suffered was the division which happened between the Infantry and Cavalry which had like in one day to have ruined the whole Army For the Cavalry in those times was in a manner wholly composed of Gentlemen who loved their ease and pleasure so much that they left the Foot to all the hard duty and exempted themselves from it The Foot who believed themselves undervalued loudly murmured against them reproaching them with want of Courage and accusing them of leaving them to shift for themselves in the most dangerous combats On the contrary the Cavalry maintained the quite contrary saying the Foot did nothing at all as appeared plainly in the last Battle within the Lines where the Infantry proved themselves good Footman in running for it and that all had been infallibly lost if the Cavalry had not spurred up to their assistance and almost alone repulsed the Enemies So that by the most foolish and strange adventure that ever was seen in an Army both Horse and Foot that they might manifest who had the greatest Courage and most Valour compelled the King to lead them against the Enemy and oblige them to a Battle It was then that St. Francis of Assise who by the earnest desire which he had to gain the Crown of Martyrdom by preaching the Faith to the Infidels was come to the Camp at Damiata and contrary to his custom in medling with matters which were not religious or agreable to his Profession opposed himself stoutly against this foolish Resolution And the Spirit of God being an Emanation of the divine Wisdom upon us which agrees perfectly with good sense and reason made him predict with a great deal of reason to these foolish Braves that if they would be so rash to undertake such an ill grounded Enrerprise it would prove fatal to them year 1219 But these People could hear no other Language but that of their Passions and such was their Fury that they compelled their Captains to go along with them making little Account of what St. Francis threatned them withal who was a man of no presence and whom they did not believe to be a Prophet Leaving therefore a few men to guard the Camp against the Besieged they marched against the Enemy in Battalia upon the nine and twentieth day of August The Sarasins upon the sight of them drew off and retreated into a large Champaign between the Nile and the Sea where there being no water and the season excessive hot they were reduced to the utmost extremities of weariness and thirst and broak all their Ranks and order to search for water to refresh themselves The Sarasins then who waited for this disorder to make advantage of it immediately faced about and came pouring upon the Cyprus Cavalry which was upon the left Wing and charging them in the Flank broak them and dissipated them in a moment whereupon the Italian Infantry who were covered by them presently fled and after them the Horse the Legate and Patriarch who carried the Cross being not able to stop them and in short all had been infallibly lost that day if the King who was in the main Battle perceiving the horrible disorder and letting the Fugitives pass by him that they might not hinder his march had not instantly advanced being followed by the Knights of the three orders the English French and Flemings who stopped the Pursuit of the Sarasins and made good an honourable retreat to their Camp where the Army entred well mortified with the ill Fortune which they had met withal in this foolish adventure For they lost above six thousand men besides the Prisoners among which were the Bishop of of Beauvais and his Brother Andrew de Chastillon Nantueil Gautier de Nemours Brother of Peter the Bishop of Paris John d' Arcis and Henry de l' Orme the Marshal of the order of St. John of Jerusalem and above thirty Knights of the Temple Thus the Prediction of the holy man St. Francis d' Assise was accomplished but he pursuing his principal design wandered from the Christian Camp and permitted himself to be taken by the Sarasins who after they had given him a thousand blows presented him to Meledin to get the reward which he had promised to those who should bring him a Christian dead or alive The good man notwithstanding this preached the Gospel to him with an admirable Zeal offering himself to the Flames for the proof of the truth thereof But he laboured in vain as to the design which he had propounded to himself being neither able to gain the Crown of Martyrdom by reason that the Sultan charmed with his discourse his Patience and his Vertue was so far from putting him to death that he gave him a thousand carresses and all the obliging Usage imaginable nor could he obtain the Conversion of this Prince the fear in which he was of his Subjects being more prevalent with him than the truth which was propounded to him So that the Saint finding there was no good to be done took his way back again and the Prayers which the Sultan whose presents he refused desired of him for his Salvation proved ineffectual by the just Judgement of God who rigorously punishes those who either out of fear or malice refuse his Grace and the tenders of Salvation For the Authors who have written for the Honour of St. Francis that in Virtue of his Prayers this Sultan was converted and baptized before his Death are under a mistake of the Sultan of Iconium who never saw St. Francis who this very year of the Siege of Damiata received Baptism at his death whereas this Sultan of Egypt neither died that year nor was ever baptized And it is a great weakness to give it no worse Title to make such fabulous relations of holy men for the Saints who in Heaven enjoy infinite happiness do neither desire nor stand in necessity that those who write their lives or make their Elogies should give them praises upon Earth that are not true whether it be in magnifiing their Actions or in attributing to them such miracles as may well be doubted and rationally disproved and which is the most abominable and pernicious flattery making them so perfect in all things as to be free from all manner of sin That which is certainly true in this matter is That Sultan Meledin not only treated St. Francis but after this the Christians and particularly the Prisoners with great humanity sending some of the principal of them to the Christian Camp to treat of a Peace year 1219 This Sultan who was a better Politician them a Soldier understood very well that notwithstanding his Victory he had many pressing Considerations to move him to labour all he could for a Peace All the provisions in the City were almost spent the Siege
having continued so long that by reason of the Famine many deseases began to make a cruel Ravage among the defendants so that he could not hope having so often deceived them with vain promises but that they must come to a Capitulation and besides he himself began to be straitned in provisions for his Army by reason that the Besiegers being Masters of the Sea with a strong Fleet received them in abundance and hindred all others from furnishing his Army with supplies so that it was impossible for him longer to subsist in the Posts which now he was in Moreover the inundation of the Nile having not been very favourable this year he feared that the scarcity which he foresaw would not permit him to raise or maintain an Army if he should be obliged to continue the War that after the taking of Damiata he should not therefore be in a condition of resisting the Crusades who would infallibly march against him in Grand Caire For these reasons therefore after the Retreat of diverse of the Crusades who had reimbarked themselves for Europe in the Month of September having again made an unsuccessful attempt against the Christians to force them in their retrenchments by the consent of his Brother Coradin he sent to propose a Peace or at least a Truce for several years upon Conditions which were very fair and advantageous to the Christians which were as follow That he would restore to them the true Cross which was taken by Saladin at the Battle of Tyberias That he would restore to the King all that they held in the Realm of Jerusalem and That he would give so much money as should be sufficient to rebuild the Walls of that City and put it into the same Condition wherein it was before That he would release all the Prisoners which had been taken in Egypt and Syria not only during this but all the preceding Wars That the strong holds of Thoron of Sephet and Beaufort should be surrendred to the Christians in the same condition which they were now in and in short that he would keep nothing but the two Cities of Crac and Montreal on the other side of Jordan in regard they were necessary for the Security of the Pilgrims which should travel to Mecca and that these two Cities should also be in some sort under the Authority of the King of Jerusalem by paying to him a moderate acknowledgement of tribute during the time of the peace or Truce Now this being a decisive affair there was an Assembly called of all the Commanders and Prelates and the question was debated Whether leaving the Enterprise of Damiata the Propositions of the two Sultans ought not to be accepted The opinions were diverse the King of Jerusalem and all the Lords and great Officers among the French English Germans Flemings and Hollanders were of the opinion that they ought to be received and without doubt this Judgment was founded upon reasons equally plausible and substantial For said they that which ought to govern us in this deliberation is the end which we have proposed to our selves in undertaking this War And what is that end Is it not to reconquer the Realm of Jerusalem and to recover the Sepulchre of Jesus Christ out of the hands of the Infidels for the deliverance whereof so many Crusades have from time to time been undertaken Nor had we besieged Damiata but upon the belief that the taking of that City would prove the most proper and conducive means to arrive at that end and although we have now besieged the place for seventeen Months yet we have not taken it and it is uncertain when we shall since not only our one Soldiers daily quit the tedious Service but the Enemies receive daily reinforcements and redouble their attacks which we did not without difficulty resist even when we were stronger and the Events of War being uncertain it is but reasonable to accept those offers now which we would willingly have embraced before the Siege That it is but to quit a certainty for an uncertainty to refuse them and that what we aim at ultimately is now offered unto us That when we have taken Damiata we should be willing to exchange it for the Realm of Jerusalem since that is the only reason for which we endeavour to take it and there is all the reason in the World to accept that now which will deliver the Army from all future difficulties and dangers in continuing the Siege and not only spare the blood of so many brave men as were dayly lost before the Town but also the exposing of the whole Army to the disgrace of not taking it at the last that if as might be objected it was to be feared that the Sarasins never intended to perform the Condition year 1219 which they so liberally offered it was easie to assure themselves of performance by taking sufficient Hostages from them and that admitting the worst they might so fortifie Jerusalem before the Army separated and before the Enemies could be in a Condition to obstruct them as to render it impregnable for the future On the other side the Legate who rarely was in the same Opinion with the King and who wanted neither Wit nor reason to support his own stifly maintained That these Propositions ought by no means to be accepted That this was nothing but the pure Artifice of the Sultans to prevent the taking of the City which they found it was impossble for them to relieve That all they offered being now only a naked Country and defenceless Villages it was easie to take it from them without the help of a Treaty That the Infidels had no other intention by all these seeming advantages which they offered to the Christians but to separate their Army by a delusive Peace that so they might afterwards with ease recover what they had yielded to them only to amuse them And for what concerned the true Cross they were certainly informed that the Sarasins had suffered it to be lost or destroyed since Saladin if after the most diligent search he could have found it would most willingly have restored it for the Ransom of so many Valiant men and so many considerable Emirs as were made Prisoners upon the taking of Ptolemais And in short that the Siege was now so far advanced that the Defendants being reduced to the last Extremities it was impossible but they must take Damiata and that after that it was easie to know what they had to do and that then they might if they pleased treat with more Honour and more advantage Now as the Legate had a strong Party and a great authority especially among the Ecclesiasticks and that his reasons also were not without a Foundation of great Probability the Patriarch the Arch-Bishops the Bishops and all the Ecclesiasticks together with the three great Masters of the Military Orders all the Italians and many other Crusades were in his Opinion so that the others also standing firmly to their Sense
many of the Crusades of all Nations believing that they had fully accomplished their Vow and being weary of a tedious War returned into their respective Countries and that which weakned them still more was that the King of Jerusalem who commanded the Army quitted them and returned into Palestine This King who was in no sort satisfied with the Legate who had so often shocked him and with whom he found it impossible to keep himself in any good Terms was not at all sorry to have a fair pretext to retire himself and the death of Livon the King of Armenia which then happened furnished him with a plausible reason to go and pursue the Right of the Queen his Wife who in Opposition to the Prince of Antioch pretended that that Realm appertained to her Besides he said that having heard that the Sarasins of Alepo were fallen into the Territories of the Templers he was obliged to go instantly to repel these dangerous Neighbours who made Advantage of his Absence So that notwithstanding what ever the Legate could remonstrate to him to stop his Journey he left the Command of the Army to him and imbarked with his Troops he carried them with him to the City of Acre promising nevertheless to return and join the Army so soon as he could But the long stay which he made to no purpose at Ptolemais year 1220 without either making War against the Sarasins or in Armenia made it evident that the reasons which he alledged to justifie his retreat were nothing but colourable pretences to withdraw himself So that the Crusades having not sufficient Troops to guard the Conquests and to march into the field were constrained to pass the Summer without doing any thing and in the Interim they writ to the Pope to intreat him to hasten the Supplies of the New Crusades which were expected and above all to procure the Emperor Frederick to put himself at the head of them that so under so great a General whose Commands no person would presume to dispute there might be no more such divisions as might retard the progress of the Christian Arms. This Prince who had more than once promised that he would presently accomplish his Vow yet continually put of the Voyage for reasons which appeared very plausible pretended that the present posture of the Affairs of the Empire would not admit of his Absence and that he had not yet received the Crown Imperial at Rome without which at that time they were scarcely thought to be compleat Emperors The Pope therefore to take from him these Excuses which he had hitherto made use of sent for him to Rome where he was solemnly crowned upon St. Cecily's day in St. Peter's Church together with the Empress Constance his Wife there he again received the Cross and renewed his Vow to take the Voyage to the Holy Land giving his Promise and his Oath to the Pope thereupon upon which Confidence the Pope writ to Damiata to encourage the Legate and Crusades assuring them that in the Month of March in the following year the Emperor would send before him the Duke of Bavaria the Bishop of Metz his Great Chancellour with considerable Succours and that he himself would follow in the Month of August with all his forces year 1221 The first part of his Promise he exactly performed and was something better than his word for besides that Lewis Duke of Bavaria according to his promise imbarked in the Spring with above four hundred Lords and Gentlemen Germans and Italians who conducted noble Troops which arrived happily at Damiata he also rigged out three and fourty Gallies out of the Ports of Sicily under the Command of the Bishop of Catania Chancellour of that Realm The Venetians the Genoese and the Pisans also brought thither great reinforcements as did the Arch-Bishops of Milan of Genoa and Candia and the Bishop of Brescia who were accompanied by many Italian Lords insomuch that the Legate who had a great longing to sight whilest he commanded the Army which he had once before drawn out to no purpose to meet the Enemy and now believed that with this reinforcement of so many brave Troops he might more easily execute his Enterprise He communicated his Design to the principal Commanders of the Army the Arch-Bishop of Milan and all the other Bishops who were constantly in the Council and they who were very willing to be at his Devotion were in his Opinion and all concluded as he did that such a flourishing Army ought not to lie idle but that without waiting any longer they ought to march against the Sultan who had not had much time to make his Preparations and who would doubtless perfect his Levies if they should any longer defer attacking of him But the Duke of Bavaria and so many Lords as accompanied him and generally all the Commanders who were not pleased to see a Churchman at the Head of an Army as a General in the day of Battle were unanimous in the opinion that since the Emperor could not possibly come so soon as was desired they ought to expect the King John de Brienne whom the whole Army desired as their General and who would most certainly be there in a very small time And in truth the Pope having understood that this Prince was withdrawn in discontent under pretence of the difference with the Prince of Antioch for the Kingdom of Armenia had writ to him in very pressing Terms to oblige him to return to Damiata and all the Lords of the Army who were resolved to have a Captain of his Quality and Valour pressed him so strongly to return and take the Command of the Army that in four or five days he arrived at Damiata and that which augmented the Joy of this happy return which was so welcome and had been so long hoped and wished by the Army was that Count Matthew Governour of Pavia for the Emperor came almost at the same time to anchor in the Port of Damiata with eight Gallies which Frederick year 1221 who was then in his Kingdom of Sicily had sent as a reinforcement upon which were seven hundred of the most brave among the Nobility and Gentry of Sicily who in their passage having met with twelve great Ships of the Sarasins had sunk four chaced the rest and taken two of them whom they brought in as the Trophees of their Victory to Damiata In this time Meledin who had had leisure to make advantage of this sad division which still continued between the King of Jerusalem and the Legate Pelagius being marched out of Grand Caire accompanied with his two Brothers Coradin Sultan of Damascus and Seraph Sultan of Alepo and the greatest part of his Allies which together made the greatest Army which they had ever had came and posted himself a little above the place where the Pelusiack and Tanitick the two Eastern Chanals of the Nilus divide themselves from each other there he retrenched himself very strongly and built a Fortress
which he called the new Damiata with two Bridges one upon the Pelusiack Chanal for the Convenience of Communication with Grand Caire which lies upon the Bank of the Nile on the right hand and the other upon the Tanitick to make his Excursions as far as Damiata that by this means he might draw the Christian Army into a Country where he believed he should most assuredly ruin them without running the hazard of coming to a Battle And the Success proved better for him than he had foreseen or could have imagined For immediately after the arrival of the King of Jerusalem a great Council was held to determine what was to be undertaken with so brave an Army as was then together There this Prince with great Judgement gave his Opinion That besides that it was extreme dangerous to engage the Army in such a Country particularly at that season of the year when the Nilus began to swell in order to its constant Immdation it was also to no purpose to make any further Conquests there which would weaken the Army and not conduce in the least to the great end which they had proposed to themselves For having Damiata and Tanis which were the two strongest places of Egypt and the two Keys of the Kingdom towards Palestine they would certainly hinder the Sultan who durst never leave these two strong places behind him from going to the Assistance of his Brother Coradin and that before he could possbly regain them they might easily reconquer all the Holy Land and rebuild Jerusalem which was the ultimate end of the Crusade And that after this if the Christians of the West had a desire to recover Egypt from the Insidels they might make another Crusade to the Success whereof a King of Jerusalem well established in his Dominions might contribute very much But on the other part the Legate who after the taking of Damiata to which without doubt he had contributed in a great measure and after the Retreat of John de Brienne which shewed that he was in fear of him was now become more hot fierce and untractable strongly opposed this advice And seeing himself supported in his Opinion not only by the Bishops but by the greatest part of the Crusades who were lately come who desired nothing so much as to see the Enemy he said a hundred things with more heat than Prudence to prove That this was to betray the Common Cause to let such a fair opportunity escape them of cutting in pieces a patched Army and consequently the taking of Grand Caire which had no manner of Fortifications capable of resisting them That besides that this would be the most Illustrious action in the World for the Glory of the Christian Name this was to strike directly at the Foundation of the Sarasin Empire and the way to reverse it from the top to the bottom that after this glorious Conquest there would remain nothing either in Palestine or Syria that could oppose the victorious Arms of the Christians And in short this Legate who was of an humour extremely Martial said so much and that with Menaces of Excommunication against those who should oppose it that the most ancient Captains among the Crusades who when they had before opposed this Prelate had not done it but that the King was at their head and the King himself fearing that he should render himself suspected and might make the Soldiers believe that he acted only for his particular Interest suffered himself at length to be hurried down this impetuous Torrent and concluded as the rest to come to a Battle It was then in the Month of July that the Christian Army composed of above seventy thousand men without computing those who were aboard the Fleet year 1221 which consisted in a great number of Vessels marched directly against the Sultan towards Caire which is about thirty Leagues from Damiata They marched between the two Eastern Branches of the Nile the Fleet being upon their right hand which sailed up the Tanitique Arm to furnish them with Provisions and if there were occasion to combate the Vessels of the Sarasins Immediately all the Enemies which were in the Field fled and retired to the main Body of the Sarasin Army on the other side the River and the Christians taking this flight for a happy presage of their Victory marched pleasantly almost as far as the half-way towards Caire to the Angle which these two Arms of the Nile make where they must of necessity stop by reason that the Enemy was incamped on the other side the River and which was extremely difficult and dangerous to pass in view of an Army more numerous than theirs Now though the Sultan saw his Design begin to thrive so well he having drawn the Christians to the place which he desired yet nevertheless seeing them in so good a condition and that they were much stronger than he had believed he was afraid that they would at last in despight of all his Art and Force find some way to pass the River the Christians having more than once before this done the same in the sight of stronger Armies than his For this reason therefore having no mind to be constrained to expose his Empire to the hazard of a Battle which he was afraid he might lose he chose rather once more to offer Peace upon the same conditions which he had before proposed adding moreover this time that he would leave them in the peaceable possession of Damiata with its Territories for above six Leagues round about it provided that they passed no farther And in truth this was all that which the Crusades could reasonably have desired or wished for nor was it possible to make a Peace either more glorious or more advantageous to all Christendom since thereby they would most assuredly recover the whole Realm of Jerusalem for which only the War was undertaken without the Expence of one drop of Christian Blood But it hath been an observation of more than one Ages Experience that when a Person who is not acquainted with the Mystery and Profession of War takes a Fancy in his imagination to the honour of that Employ and believes that he ought to do some wonderful action to render himself illustrious and considerable by his Arms there is nothing which he will not do to satisfie that foolish passion which usually carries him further than his Fear the common and natural disposition of those people who become courageous and resolute when they think their Enemies timerous and cowardly The Legate who had once before rejected the Propositions of Peace was now so far from hearkning to them that looking upon this offer of the Sultan's as an indubitable sign that he was in his own opinion desperate and gave all for lost unless he could weather this dreadful Tempest which hung over his head he pressed the Commanders now more vigorously than ever to come to the decision of a general Battle This Legate was a Spaniard by birth and by
profession a Benedictine Monk a man of Spirit and great Abilities but of a Nature extremely fierce and so mightily Opinionatretive that Pope Innocent the Third who had made him Cardinal had at one time thoughts of depriving him of that Dignity for opposing himself singly and pertinaciously against a Bulla which the whole Sacred College had signed in favour of the Cistercian Monks But that which at this time rendered him more conceited and obstinate in his own Opinion was that he had the weakness too common in all times to abundance of people which made him give strange credit to certain Predictions which still discovered his Vanity and Folly and with which he continually permitted himself to be abused For having heard it said in his Country that there was an old Prophecy which gave assurance that at that time there should a man go out of Spain who should ruin and overthrow the Sect and Empire of Mahomet in the East He had an imagination that he might be that glorious man who was designed by the Oracle for that mighty Action and consequently that he ought to attempt all things to finish that admirable Adventure And this ridiculous Fancy was the reason that by obstinately refusing the Peace which the Sultan offered upon conditions so advantageous to the Christians whilest he coveted all he lost all So much doth it import Princes not to trust the manage of their Affairs year 1221 but to such Persons who govern themselves by no other Rules but those of Conscience Reason Honour the Publick Good and the true Interest of their Masters The Sultan who then perceived that he had to do with people whose presumption had so far blinded them that they never once perceived the danger into which by an extreme imprudence they had thrown themselves now had no other thoughts but how to oppose their passage with all his Forces in expectation of executing the design which he had formed of destroying the Christian Army without ever drawing his Sword And in truth he guarded the other Bank of the Nile so well as it was easie for him to do with those innumerable Troops which he had disposed in all places where there was any possbility of landing that they could never come to lay a Bridge so that they were constrained to stay between the two Chanals of that great River near a Month wasting the time in little Combats and Skirmishes with their Arrows cross the River and in this time the Army was lessened by ten thousand men who weary of this slow and foolish way of fighting or doubting what would be the Event and fearing that which happened retired in good time to Damiata For the Nile which at this time continually increases being now risen to that height which the Sultan expected he caused the Sluces to be opened and filled all the great Canals which cross all the lower Egypt from the Western Arm of the Nile which anciently was called Canopus and afterwards Rossetta about two miles from Alexandria to the Pelusian Branch and having filled these Canals he brought his Ships in which passing over to the Tanitique below Damiata surprized the Christian Fleet which expected nothing less for they did not believe they could come thither but by the Tanitique Chanal and by Damiata which shut up that passage and in this surprise the Christians not being upon any Guard the Sarasins who were for the purpose provided of store of Greek wild-fire set the Ships on fire at their pleasure and the Christians being unfurnished of Materials to extinguish it the greatest part of the Ships were burnt and they hindred the rest without any difficulty from carrying Provisions to the Army The Commanders finding now too late that it was impossible for them either long to subsist there or to pass further thought of retreating towards Damiata marching at a good distance from the River and the Enemies Fleet which they kept upon their left hand but they had marched but a little way when the Sultan causing the other Sluces to be opened all the little Ditches which cross the Fields were presently filled and the water continually increasing all the Country was so drowned in a few hours that the whole Army found themselves under an inevitable danger of perishing insomuch that they were forced to do that which nothing but extream necessity could excuse by constraining them to accept what Meledin by a most surprizing adventure offered them at the same time to draw them out of that terrible danger to which they were reduced For whether it were that this Sultan who naturally had abundance of humanity could not see so many Princes and Lords of the highest Quality perish in this miserable manner or that God who disposeth absolutely of all hearts did upon this occasion mollifie that of this Egyptian to save this poor Army or at last that this Prince who was Wise and Politick chose rather presently to draw Damiata out of the hands of the Christians than to put it to the hazard not to take it at all though this Army should be lost it is certain that he offered them a Truce for eight years which was instantly accepted upon condition that Damiata should be presently surrendred to him and that he should reciprocally restore the true Cross which had been taken by his Uncle Saladin and that all the Prisoners which had been taken on both sides as well in Egypt as in Syria should be set at liberty Those who were in Garrison at Damiata made some difficulty of surrendring the place but as on the one part they were not provided to maintain a long Siege and that on the other the Sultan that he might be secure of it would have the King himself the Legate and the Duke of Bavaria for Hostages there was a necessity of yielding it so that the Treaty was with great sidelity performed on both sides and Meledin himself did such things as could not be reasonably expected from a Sarasin year 1221 and which at this time would be thought no dishonour to a Christian Prince to do them For after he had caused the Sluces to be shut up and the water to be let out to leave the Christians a free passage he also furnished them with plenty of Provisions for five dayes and upon the rendition of Damiata the tenth of September he sent his Son to attend the King and Princes and to furnish them magnificently with whatever was necessary for their return either by Sea or Land into Phoenicia This was the unhappy Effect which was produced by that Division which always continued during the whole War between the King of Jerusalem and the Legate Pelagius who assuredly had done much better if according to his Profession and the Intention of him from whom he was sent he had not gone beyond his Commission but had applied himself wholly to maintain a perfect Union among the Crusades and to exhort them to do bravely leaving the management of the War to the King
of this extraordinary Zeal of the People whilest the first heat of it lasted caused a new Crusade to be instantly published with great Indulgences to all those who would take up the Cross against Frederick and his endeavours proved so effectual that the same Romans who before had been raised against him and had driven him out of Rome in favour of the Emperor now took up the Cross against him So easily is the Spirit of the People turned from one Extremity to another especially when they are acted by some high Object of Devotion and that Religion or what they call so which is able to do all things when once it becomes Mistress of their Souls seems to call them to the performance of what they think their Duty It happened therefore that Frederick coming to Rome which he believed he should enter without resistance was strangely surprized to meet with a whole Army of Crusades who were marched out in Battalia to hinder his entrance and had posted themselves under the Walls in shelter of the Engines However he did not fail to attack them in the Order wherein they were rather with Fury than hope to overcome them and all those which he took both in this Combat and during the whole War he treated in the most cruel manner year 1239 and in hatred of this Crusade he caused their heads to be cut in a Cross After this there were no kind of disorders miseries and calamities publick and private which this cruel War did not produce between the two furious Factions of the Guelphes and the Gibelins who like Infernal Furies let loose with Fire in one hand and the Sword in the other laid wast all the Provinces and all the Cities of Italy whilest to satisfie their Revenge they buried one another under the Ruins of their miserable Country It was this Rupture which did the greatest mischief to the Army of the Princes of the Crusade who were already advanced as far as Lyons For the Pope who saw himself so vigorously attacked was so far from giving them any assistance that he himself desired it of all the World and sent to them to Lyons to desire them to procede no further but to defer their Voyage to the Holy Land till a more proper and convenient Season Besides all the Italians were wholly divided between the two parties of the Guelphes and Gibelins who made a mostcruel War against each other without thinking of the Crusade insomuch that all those who had a design to imbark themselves in the Ports of Italy could find there neither convenience nor safety for their transportation into Syria For the Genoese who were of the Pope's Party stood in need of all their shipping to oppose the Emperor's Navy which was commanded by his Son the King of Sardinia The Venetians were taken up in the Service of the Emperor of Constantinople against the Greeks and the Pisans who declared themselves highly for the Emperor Frederick were taken up in his Service against the Genoese so that there was only Province and Languedoc where the Crusades could hope for shipping to transport them But there being not a sufficient number of shipping to supply so great an Army of the Crusades they were forced to divide themselves One Part with the King of Navarr and the greatest part of the Princes embarked themselves at Marseilles and Aigues Mortes and the other being forced to take their Way by Land and as the first Crusades did to cross over all Germany Hungaria Bulgaria Tracia and all the lesser Asia they lost a World of men in that long March by Famine Diseases and the Ambushes which the Barbarians laid for them in the Straits of Mount Taurus insomuch that not above the third part of them ever came into Syria where the King of Navarr to whom the Sea had been very civil was arrived before and in Expectation of them year 1240 It seems that the condition of the Affairs of the Sarasins at that time in the East were extremely favourable to this Enterprize of the Christians For Meledin the Sultan of Egypt being dead the year before Edel his Successor and Nazer the Sultan of Damascus who was reentred into his Dominions out of which he had been driven by his Uncle Meledin made a most cruel War one against the other so that undoubtedly great advantages might easily have been made of this division of these Infidels if the Christians had not lost those opportunities by those divisions of their own which ruined all their Affairs And in truth the Emperor's Lieutenants having by his orders renewed the Truce with the Successor of Meledin notwithstanding all that the Templers could do to persuade them against it they would never join their Forces with those of the Crusades and besides although the princes had all owned the King of Navarr for their Head yet he found that he had nothing but the Title and Honour of the name without any manner of Authority for every one of them would be independant of another and act according to his own pleasure without receiving Orders from any Person Hereupon as the Army marched towards Ascalon which they resolved to rebuild the Duke of Bretany separating with his Troops from the rest of the Army without their consent made an irruption into the Terretories of the Sultan of Damascus from whence after having taken and sacked some places of small Strength he returned with a rich Booty was received with great Acclamations of the Soldiers as if he had gained some memorable Victory over his Enemies There is no Passion so dangerous to men of Courage as Jealousie of their Honour which by diminishing the Strength of their reason and Judgment in proportion as it augments their natural Boldness generally does precipitate them blindly into inevitable misfortunes The Duke of Burgundy the Count de Bar and the Constable Amauri de Montfort year 1240 were so piqued with the praises which were given to the Breton who in truth had done no such considerable Exploit to deserve them that they believed it would be a dishonour to them if they also should not do some brave thing to be talked on Dividing therefore from the main Body of the Army contrary to the opinion of all the other Commanders they took the Field and after having made a great Booty in a Country where they found no manner of resistance puft up with their good Fortune they resolved to attempt the surprizing of Gaza a strong City and admirably provided now though they knew nothing of it it happened also that the Sultan of Egypt had not only reinforced the Garrison but that his Army which advanced daily to oppose that of the Crusades was at no great distance from the City Conducted therefore by their ill Destiny after they had marched one whole night with Intention early in the Morning to execute their design before the Enemy should have notice of their march just upon the break of day they found themselves engaged
upon the twenty seventh he arrived about the twentieth of September in the Isle of Cyprus where the other Ships which came from Aigues-Mortes and Marseilles sooner or later as the Troops came up which were to be imbarqued upon them came to joyn him in a little time after There it was that St. Lewis committed a great Error which must not be dissembled and which most assuredly was the cause of his Misfortune by following against his own Judgment the advice of the Lords of his Army and the Barons of the Isle of Cyprus For one part of them being very glad to repose themselves and the other to have time to prepare themselves for the Voyage which they promised to undertake with the French and they lay so continually at him that they persuaded the King contrary to his Inclination to stay in the Island till after Easter pretending that the Winter was now approaching and that it was most convenient to expect the coming up of several other Troops which were to arrive and this occasioned two great Mischiefs For first the Waters in the Island were nothing so wholesome as those of Egypt and the Air was very bad and not at all favourable to Strangers who were not accustomed to it by reason whereof Diseases fell into the Army and considerable numbers of them died and divers even of the first Quality to the number of at least an hundred and fifty among whom were extremely regretted the Counts de Dreux Vendosme St. Paul and Montfort the Bishops of Beauvais and Noyon and the Illustrious Archambaud de Bourbon This is he who was the last of the Race of the Archambauds who having held during the time of seven Counts of that name Bourbon and a great part of Avergne for three hundred and eight years lost them happily for the Glory of that House by the Heiress thereof marrying into the August Race of St. Lewis there to revive again in the most glorious manner in the Descendants of that King who are raised as we see them at this day with greater Splendour than ever to one of the tallest Thrones of Christendom For the Prince John de Burgogne the second Son of Hugh the Fourth who was of this Crusade having married Agnes year 1248 the Inheretrix of Archambaud had by her only one Daughter Beatrix de Burgogne a Princess of the Blood of France by her Father and Heiress of Bourbon by her Mother Robert of France the fourth Son of St. Lewis and Count de Clermont in Beavoise married this Princess Beatrix by whom he had Lewis who took the Surname of the Inheritance of his Mother and was the first Duke of Bourbon and from him by James de Bourbon Constable of France his second Son are descended the Princes of that Royal House of which the Eldest after the Race of Valois was Extinct succeeded to the Crown of France from Henry the Great whose Grandson Lewis fourteenth the Inheritor of his admirable Vertues and the glorious Surname of The Great hath with the Crown rendred that Name the most August and the most revered of all the Earth which he hath received from so many Kings his Predecessors accounting from this St. Lewis to whom he is the Twelfth in a Lineal Succession And I cannot believe that this Digression will be disagreeable which I make of this Genealogy upon so favourable an opportunity since it falls in so naturally with the Subject of my History which I now am about again to pursue The second ill consequence which this too long stay in the Isle of Cyprus produced was the leisure which was thereby given the Sarasins who were then at War among themselves to reunite or at least to suspend their private quarrels to put themselves into a condition to oppose the Forces of the Christians And in truth when the King came to Land in the Isle of Cyprus the Sultan of Egypt who sometime before had seized upon Damasous and all the other Sultans upon his hands who were united against him for their common defence and would not treat at all of any peace as he desired unless he would first withdraw his Forces out of Syria He was himself sick at Damascus and fearing that the Christian Army should in the mean time fall into Egypt he was at last obliged at least to obtain a Truce from the Sultan of Alepo and to draw off his Army from before Emessa which he had besieged so that if St. Lewis in stead of stopping in Cyprus had gone directly to attack Egypt he had found it without any Forces capable of resisting him and might have made himself Master of it with very little difficulty Whereas during these six Months which were spent unprofitably in this Island the Sultan of Egypt had all the time and opportunity which he could desire to accommodate matters with the Sultan of Alepo and to recover of his Distemper as also to draw his Army into Egypt and there to raise new Troops and put all things into a posture to receive the Christians on the contrary the King's Army was extremely weakned by this long time of lying still and besides consumed all the great Provisions which had been made insomuch that unless the Emperor Frederick and the Venetians to whom he made applications for Provisions which the Isle could not furnish him withal and who served him with it in a manner infinitely obliging had not furnished him he had been constrained to return into France without doing any thing at all It was during his stay in this Island and towards the end of the Year that he received from Nicosia the Embassadors of one of the Tartarian Princes whose name was Ercalthay and who was then in the most Eastern Parts of Persia After they had presented their Letters of Credence which were written in the Persian Language and in Arabick Characters and translated into Latin by Father Andrew a Monk of the Order of St. Dominick who had formerly known these Ambassadors in Persia whither he had been sent by Pope Innocent they informed the King that the Great Cham of Tartary had about three Years before been baptized having been converted by the good Example and the Exhortations of the Empress his Mother the Daughter of a King of the Indians she having always been a Christian That their Master Prince Ercalthay who had also for a long time been a Christian had been sent by the Great Cham with a Potent Army against the Calife of Baldac as great an Enemy of the Christians as the Sultan of Egypt That that Sultan to afright the Sultan of Mussule or Nineveh who was also a Friend of the Christians had written to him that the King of France being come to attack Egypt had been defeated at Sea and had lost above sixty of his Ships which had been carried in Triumph into Damiata They added that their Master had not doubted but that this Defeat by the Egyptians was a pure Fiction year 1248 and that therefore
having understood that a King so renowned throughout the World was come to make War upon Egypt he had sent them to inform his Majesty that he was marching to besiege the Calife in Baldac in the beginning of the Summer and therefore requested him at the same time to attack Egypt and that the Sultan and the Calife being thereby hindered from mutually assisting the one the other they might both of them with more ease come to the ends which they had proposed All this which these Ambassadors had related and the account which they gave of the puissance of the Tartars was exactly conformable to the Letters which the Constable of Armenia who had made a Great Voyage into Tartaria had before written to the King of Cyprus so that St. Lewis received them with an incredible joy year 1249 and himself conducted them upon the Holy Days of the Nativity and Epiphany to the Divine Offices caused them to be entertained at his own Table and kept them there till the beginning of February that so he might treat with them with more deliberation After which he dispatched them loaden with Noble Presents together with Father Andrew and two other Religious of his Order two Cordeliers two Secular Ecclesiasticks and Gentlemen Attendants whom he sent Ambassadors some to the Prince Ercalthay and others to the Great Cham with most Magnificent Presents both for the one and the other There was sent to the Great Cham among other Rarities and curious Pieces of great value a most Sumptuous Tent of Scarlet in form of a Chappel where was to be seen in rich Embroidery all the Mysteries of the Life and Passion of Jesus Christ admirably represented in Silk raised with Gold there was also belonging to the Chappel sent all the necessary Ornaments and Furniture for the Celebration of the Divine Offices as also to each of them a small piece of the Wood of the Holy Cross and the King writ to them Letters full of the Spirit of Religion with which his Soul abounded in which he exhorted them to persevere in the love of God who by his Grace had been pleased to illuminate their Minds and had called them to the happy knowledge of himself The Legate also on his part did the same writing to the Mother of the Great Cham and to all the Christians of that huge Empire exhorting them to take great care to preserve themselves in the true Faith and the Unity of the Catholick Church under the Obedience of the Vicar of Jesus Christ upon Earth After this the King spent the rest of the Winter in pacifying some troubles among the Christians especially those of Syria and Palestine and in according the differences which were between the King of Armenia and the Princes of Antioch who were continually in some quarrel or other He caused also a great number of slat bottomed Boats to be built in order to the landing of his men and at last after he had assembled all his Troops who were with part of his Ships in the neighbouring Islands and had received a reinforcement from Europe of about two hundred English Gentlemen conducted by William Longsword Earl of Salisbury who were resolved to have a share in this War and after he had escaped the Treachery of certain Sarasins who were come disguised into Cyprus with intention to poyson him he imbarqued the Week before Whit sunday together with Henry King of Cyprus and set sail for Egypt But being by ill weather which separated his Fleet driven into Limisso he parted the day after the Feast from that Port and with a fair gale of Wind arrived in four days before Damiata which place he resolved to besiege Damiata of which I have formerly given the description both as to its Situation and Strength was at this time nothing so well fortified as it was when about thirty Years before it was taken by the Christians after a Siege of eighteen Months neither was it defended by such gallant men as those who sustained that long Siege and the Sultan of Egypt Melech-Salah although he was a great Soldier yet was much declined from his first Vigor being in a weak and languishing condition by reason of the great Sickness which he had had during the Winter at Damascus Nevertheless as he did expect that the King would make his first attempt against the City of Damascus which was the Key of Egypt he brought thither all the Army which came with him from Syria and so soon as the Signal was given from the Tower of Pharus that the Christian Fleet appeared he ranged his Army along the Shoar and caused his Ships and Gallies to descend to the Mouth of the Nile year 1249 so that the first object that appeared before the Eyes of the French were two great Armies one by Sea to oppose their Entry into the River the other by Land upon the Brink of the Shoar to hinder their descent from which two Armies they heard the terrible noise of their Instruments of War and the dreadful shouts of so many millions of Sarasins as made the Arched Roof of Heaven resound again the Sultan himself as ill as he was would put himself at the head of them armed completely from head to foot in his fairest Arms all of fine Gold and sparkling with precious Stones which receiving a marvellous reduplication from the shining Beams of the Sun cast such glittering Rayes as made him seem all on fire Hereupon the King held a Council with the King of Cyprus the Duke of Burgundy and William Hardoum Prince of Achaia who came from Morea John d' Ybelin Count de Jaffa who was come from Palestine and with the rest of the Princes and Great Lords They were all in the Opinion that they ought not to endeavour a descent in View of two such great Armies they having not the third part of the number of their Enemies and that they ought rather to expect the arrival of those who had been separated by the Tempest among whom there were above twelve hundred Knights who were the choice men of the Army But the King maintained the contrary opinion and made it clearly appear that if they deferred it any longer they might put themselves in evident danger of losing all in regard that they had no Port to which they might retire and secure themselves from a suddain Tempest which as it had done before might chance to overtake them and either separate them or force them ashoar upon the Enemies Coasts And that besides this delay would not only give the Enemies an increase of Courage but the time to retrench themselves with greater advantage This resolution of the King and the Power of his reasonings having dissipated the Fear which they had That they should not succeed in their attempt with so small a number it was ordered that the next morning they should move directly against the Enemies if they should again appear to dispute the descent the day following accordingly being the Friday after
Whitsunday the greatest part of the Knights and Soldiers descending from the Ships in their Arms into the Shallops and flat-Boats which were built in the Isle of Cyprus for the purpose the King ranged them in two great Lines which extended upon a long Front to possess the whole length of the Bank upon which the Enemies stood in Battalia in the same posture as the day before only the Sultan was not there by reason that his sickness increasing he had caused himself to be carried to a Country house about a League from Damiata The King was upon the right hand accompanied with the two Princes his Brothers the King of Cyprus the other Princes and the Flower of the Nobility and Knights who encompassed him with their Boats He was in his with the Cardinal Legate who himself carried his Cross which he held up aloft to animate the Soldiers by beholding the Saviour of the World represented dying for them and for whose sake they were going to expose their Lives The Bark which carried the Oriflame or Banner of St. Dennis went before all those which accompanied the King The Count de Jaffa was upon the Left hand drawing towards the Mouth of the River and appeared at the head of his Vessels in a magnificent Galliot painted all over with his Arms. And Count Errard de Brienne was in the middle of these two Squadrons with Baldwin de Reims who led a thousand Gallant Knights As soon as the Signal was given all these Vessels began to row towards the shoar and so soon as they approached within distance the Archers and Cross-Bows made a furious discharge to scatter the Enemy who advanced to the Bank shooting without Intermission from their side also and at the same instant sooner or later found themselves aground according as the Sea was deeper or shallower in diverse places to which they rowed the Soldiers leaped out of the Boats and advancing out of the Water upon the Sand they drew up in their Battalions covering themselves with their Bucklers and presenting the points of their Pikes and Swords to their Enemies who durst never so much as once charge them One of the first Barks which landed was that which carried the Banner of St. Dennis which the King no sooner perceived year 1249 but without staying till they could run his Barge aground and notwithstanding all the remonstrances of the Legate who used his utmost Power to restrain him he threw himself into the Sea up to the very Shoulders his Shield hanging about his neck his Cask upon his head and with his Sword in his hand he had in this Posture advanced directly against the Enemy if those who crouded after him had not in a manner by Force stop'd him till the Knights who animated by his Example precipitated themselves overboard with the desire to come up to him had put themselves into order of Battle as they did presently after Hereupon the Sarasins whom those who were already landed had beaten and repulsed twice or thrice seeing that the whole Army began to move to charge them in good order and that the King himself marched at the head of his Battalion they no longer thought of sighting but after a faint resistance the Governour of Damiata who commanded them being slain upon the place with two Admirals and a considerable number of their men they presently fell to running with so much Precipitation and disorder that they had not time to break their Bridge of Boats by which they entered into Damiata And that which was still more surprizing was that they instantly quitted the City which was one of the strongest in all Egypt and after having set fire to the Magazins and Merchants Ware-Houses they marched out and retreated towards Caire And to compleat the good Fortune of this famous day at the same time that the Army gained the shoar from the Enemy and that they fought upon Land in this Heroick manner the great Ships and the Gallies entring almost without resistance into the Mouth of the River constrained the Sarasins Ships to save themselves by Flight as they did all except those who having sailed up the River as far as the Bridge could not pass so soon through the passage which they had made but that they were taken by the Christians And in truth all this seemed to look like something miraculous to see a puissant Army which consisted principally in Cavalry routed in so short a time by so few men all on foot and all moiled in the Mud and Water so that they could not land but in small numbers and had scarce time to draw themselves up into some disorderly Battalions and that the Ships in which there were scarce any besides the Seamen should overcome and dissipate a great Navy well armed but above all that one of the strongest Cities of the East which it was believed could never be taken but by Famine should immediately after be abandoned by men who after all this were excellent Souldiers and wanted neither Skill nor resolution as had well been made appear both in Syria and as too well appeared afterwards in Egypt But besides that they were amazed at the Courage of the French and the surprizing Boldness of the King and that God as it may well be believed possessed their hearts with that kind of Pannick fear which makes valiant Men sometimes lose both their Judgment and their Courage I find that a false Rumor which was brought them of the Death of the Sultan by some who came from Caire and which was believed to be true by both the Armies contributed much to this extraordinary Event in regard that all the principal Officers had an inclination to go directly to Caire to take care of their particular Interests in this great revolution of Affairs which the Death of the Sultan would in probability make so that they thought no longer of Fighting or of keeping a City which they chose rather to set on fire than to leave it intire to their Enemies However it was it is most certain that they did abandon it and that so much of the Bridge of Boats as their precipitation had given them leave to break having been in a few hours repaired a great part of the Army marched over and seized upon it and having extinguished the Fire and cleansed the Houses and put the great Mosquee into the condition wherein it was when it was consecrated to God in the Honor of our Lady at the first taking of Damiata thirty years before the King made his solemn entry into the City And certainly he did it in a manner which evidently shewed that he had an intention that God alone should have the Honor of the Triumph of such a memorable Victory which had not been gained but by the extraordinary wonders of his Power and his Goodness For he commanded that the Cross should enter first year 1249 and should immediately be followed by the Legate the Patriarch the Archbishops the Bishops and all the
every stroak receiving himself also a thousand blows of the Sword and Mace upon his Cask and Shield till at last he forced his passage through all the Darts and Wild-fire which on all sides were Lanced at him and came up to his Brother and disingaged him from his Enemies After which being seconded by that brave Prince and his Men who animated by the sight of this Prodigy of Valor were now become quite other Men he repulsed routed and at length put to flight the remainder of the Enemies who opposed him after so great an Action But that which was still more odd was that the Count de Poitiers his other Brother who fought upon the Left against the Right Wing of the Sarasins had at the same time a Fortune much resembling that of the Count d' Anjou but a deliverance from his danger in a manner wholly different For the Enemies having overthrown him as they had done his Brother defeated his People who were all Infantry and forced the Camp on that side making the Count a Prisoner they were now leading him away without any hopes of his being relieved by the King who could not work the Miracle after those others he had done to be present in two places at one time Thereupon the Sutlers the Grooms and Servants who were all Armed and even the Women who followed the Camp to sell Provisions not contenting themselves to cry out for help ran upon their Enemies with so much resolution and charged them so furiously the Men with Swords the Women with great stones that they drive them out of the Camp and followed them so closely still beating of them till they came up to those who were carrying away the Prince they presently caused them to quite their Prize and consult their safety by running away and he thereupon instantly rallying his Battalion marched to sustain these brave Sutlers of the Camp And certainly the Courage and Valor which so much to their Honour they manifested upon this occasion makes it evident that provided they have heart and Resolution the most Heroick Actions may sometimes be performed by all sorts of Persons of what Quality or Profession soever nay even by the weaker sex since Virtue makes no distinction among such as follow her with equal Courage and Resolution The Fortune of the Knights of the Temple was not altogether so good for there being but a few of them left after their defeat in Massora and their weak Retrenchments which they had made of the Planks which they had pulled off from the Engines which had been taken from the Sarasins being quickly burnt by the Greek Wild-sire they were so overpowered with the multitude of their Enemies that they were almost all cut in pieces together with their Great Master who having lost his Eye in the first Battle lost his Life also in this second But at last all the other Bodies were Victorious and constrained their Enemies after a most bloody Combate to retire and leave behind them a great number of their bravest Men dead upon the place and to the Christians the Glory to have gained the Day without Cavalry and for the most part without defensive Arms in regard that the Wounds which they had received in the first Battle would neither permit them to put on their Curiasses nor to indure to Fight on Horseback and in short to have vanquished them upon such great disadvantages repulsing so many Horsemen who were well Armed against whom they fought This was what King Lewis took notice of to his Lords and to the principal Officers of his Army thereby to raise their Courage and their Hope but nevertheless the plain truth was that as on the one hand they did not find themselves in a condition to attack those Enemies whom they had with difficulty repulsed nor able to force them so as to March against Caire so on the other a longer stay in the place where they were incamped was but daily to weaken themselves and to give the Enemy the leisure to fortifie themselves they ought therefore after these two Victories to have retired to Damiata and not to have stayed so long till it was impossible for them to make a safe and honourable retreat But so it was that they stayed there all the Lent whilst in the mean time the new Sultan Almoadan Caiatadin arrived at Massora with a puissant Army which he brought with him from the East This redoubled the Courage of the Sarasins who to let the Christians understand their Arrival year 1250 received them with all the Testimonies of rejoycing And on the contrary all sorts of misfortunes came rolling one upon the neck of another to the disadvantage of the Christians who were not able to guard themselves against them For the infection of the dead Bodies which they had thrown into the Nile and which after the breaking of their Galls floated again upon the Water and were stopped at the Bridge which was made for the Communication of the two Camps putrefying infected the Air and filled the Camp with diseases and above all the Scurvy in that moist Country seized upon the Souldiers insomuch that there was scarcely a Tent wherein every Day there was not found some Person either Dead or Dying The Vessels also which brought Provisions from Damiata to the Camp by the way of the Sea and the River were all taken by the Sultan's Gallies who possessed themselves of all the passages of the Nilus both above and below Two great Convoys also which came by Land were intirely defeated by great parties of Sarasins who continually ranged the Campaign to hinder any thing from coming to the Army So that all Provisions being thus cut off abundance perished most miserably by Famine and they were reduced to feed upon certain Fishes of the Nilus which being fed with the putrid Carcasses of the Slain Poisoned rather than nourished such as were forced to live upon such corrupted food At last to compleat the Misfortune the King himself was seized with this Disease of the Camp so that in conclusion the Army after having in vain so obstinately and long contested with so many Evils was obliged to resolve upon a Retreat which certainly in the condition wherein they were was impossible and which two Months before they might have hoped to have done with Honour It is true that before this there had been some overtures of a Peace or Truce between the Commissioners of the King and those of the Sultan and that it proceded so far that the King was to surrender Damiata and that the Sultan also should yield to the Christians all the Places which he held in the Realm of Jerusalem But it appeared plainly that this was not proposed by the Sultan but to amuse the King for he had the confidence to demand that which there was no probability that it should ever be condescended unto which was that for the security of the Treaty the Person of the King should be delivered to him as
an hostage Whereupon one of the Commissiones Geoffrey de Sergines one of the wisest and most Valiant Knights of that Age briskly broke up the conference protesting that the French would chuse rather to be cut all in a thousand pieces than to indure being always subject to the intolerable reproach of having given the King of France for an Hostage or to owe their safety to such a base and detestable submission It was therefore upon a Tuesday the fifth of April that the Army attempted to retreat in view of an Enemy whose Forces were infinitely augmented by the conjunction of new Troops which he had received from time to time from all parts of his Empire All was done that could possibly be represented to the King to oblige him considering his Sickness to go before the Army and save himself as did the Legate and divers Bishops who went off in a great Gally which breaking through the Sarasins arrived safe at Damiata But he constantly refused protesting that he would dye a thousand times rather than abandon so many Gallant men who had so generously exposed their Lives for his and the Service of God Thus by his orders they began in the Evening to imbark the Sick and wounded upon those Vessels which were come up the Nilus for the Service of the Army when they approached Massora and for himself taking his way by Land he put himself with Geoffrey de Sergines into the Reerguard which was led by the brave Gaucher de Chastillon But certainly it was impossible without running the danger of losing all to make a movement before an Enemy who was ten times stronger and who only watched for this opportunity to fall upon an Army already half overthrown by Famine and Diseases and in truth they followed them so quickly that they had not so much time as to destroy the Bridge but that the Enemy passed it almost as soon as the Reerguard were got over whilest that a Party of the Sarasins falling into the Camp pitilesly cut the throats of all the Sick and Wounded who waited upon the bank of the River year 1250 for the Vessels that were to take them in After this there was nothing to be seen throughout but a fearful disorder which was followed by the most intire and lamentable loss that any History ever gives a Relation of for on the one part of all the Vessels which went down the Nilus to save themselves by Sea at Damiata there were only a few Boats which secured themselves under the favour of the Legate's great Gally which opened her way by the Force of her Oars all the rest were either taken or burnt by the Saltan's Fleet and one might hear the piteous cries of the Poor Sick Men who not being able to throw themselves into the River to yield themselves to the Enemies by Swimming were miserably consumed by the Flames whilest the greatest part of those who could get out of the burning Vessels either perished in the Waters or were slain by the Sarasins On the other side those who went by Land finding themselves presently surrounded by an infinite multitude of Enemies were so vigorously at tacked on all sides that after having in vain done all that was possible to defend themselves and to make way through so many Battalions and Squadrons as invironed them they were either all taken or Slain not so much as one escaping There it was that Guyde Chastell of the House of Chastillon upon the Marne Bishop of Soissons a most Valiant Man who chose rather to die by this kind of Martyrdom in a Holy War than to be taken Prisoner threw himself single his Sword in his hand into the midle of a Squadron of Sarasins who presently gave him that happy Death which he sought among a thousand Swords in Fighting against the Enemies of Jesus Christ The Greeks indeed are often used to reproach us that our Priests and Bishops make no scruple of going to the Wars and Fighting contrary to the Canons which prohibit them under most rigorous penalties to manage Arms and I must acknowledge that there have been great disorders in this particular among us in former Ages and that the Popes have frequently complained of it to our Kings But in these times of the Crusades our Ancestors believed well that the Canons did not extend to these Holy Wars to which when the Ecclesiasticks had devoted themselves by taking up the Cross as well as the Laicks it was permited them to fight against the Infidels and esteemed as Lawful as for a Shepherd who leaves his Flock to pursue the Wolves if he can to kill them Neither was it known that for this they ever abstained from the exercise of their sacred Function witness the Valiant Chaplain of the Lord de Joinville He was a Priest and constantly officiated for his Master but that nevertheless did not hinder him but that Armed with a Curiass and his Head covered with an Iron Cask his Sword in his hand he went and attacked six Captains of the Sarasins singly in the sight of both the Armies and beat them all to the admiration of all the beholders who could not but praise his Courage and his bravery This makes it clear that the Canons and the Councils which are the Laws of the Church ought to be taken and interpreted according to the usage which they permit or tolerate However it be the Bishop of Soissons believed that inexposing himself in this manner to a certain Death he should acquire a Crown of Immortality both in fame upon Earth and in Heaven nor ought it reasonably to be doubted but that he did At the same time Gaucher de Chastillon his kinsman who Commanded the Reer-guard performed an Action of the like extraordinary Merit and which deserves the Honor of Posterity the Recompence of Heroick Actions of which it may be his was one of the greatest that was ever done For having posted himself the last Man in a narrow passage through which the King was to go to gain a little Village called Kasel he alone for a long time sustained the shock of all the Sarasins upon whom facing about he threw himself like Lightning killing and slaying all those whom he could overtake and then after he had pursued them a while making his retreat whilest he received their Arrows and their Darts upon his Shield his Curiass and his Body which was all bristled with them he would return again upon his Enemies with greater fury than before and every time as he charged raising himself upon his Styrrops he cried amain Follow Chastillon Follow Chastillon my Noble Knights Where are all our gallant Men And thus he maintained continually this strange kind of Combate wherein he was singly against them all year 1250 till such time as being oppressed with the throng of his Enemies who yet were not able to dismount him they wounded him with a thousand Swords and Javelins and at last cut of his head as he still sate upon
greatest number of the French who concluded That he ought with all convenient Expedition to return into France First to give the necessary Orders for the Affairs of his Realm which stood in great necessity of his presence Secondly in regard that having but a very few Knights and Souldiers and who having nothing to subsist upon nor being Master so much as of any one place in the Realm of Jerusalem he could not remain there either with safety Honour or Advantage to himself or the Affairs of the Christians in the East And that he might serve them much more effectually if after having been sometime in France to raise Money and Levy new Troops he should have a desire to return into Egypt to take Vengeance upon these perfidious Enemies of God who had so barbarously violated their Faith and Treaty But all the Knights of the Temple and the Hospital the Patriarch the Prelates and all the Lords of Palestine Cyprus and Syria and even divers of the French Lords among which was the High Steward of Champagne the brave Lord Joinville declared themselves of the contrary opinion and strongly urged That the Honour of the King and welfare of all Christendom in the East obliged him to stay some time longer in the Holy Land That it would be most shameful to abandon so many brave Men as had so faithfully served him in Egypt and also to expose them to the fury of their Enemies who would find them after his retreat much weaker than they were at his coming thither That it was most certain that in the condition wherein things were the Christians of Palestine would not stay there year 1250 but so soon as they should see the King depart they would also abandon the Country and retire to Places of safety and therefore his suddain Retreat must of necessity occasion the loss of all the Realm of Jerusalem for the Conquest whereof the Christians of Europe and especially those of France had spent so much of their Blood and undertaken so many Crusades and that so many thousands of poor Captives who sighed in the Prisons of Caire whereof many were the Relations the Allies or the Friends of those who were in the opinion for the King's return would be reduced to the utmost dispair having once lost all hope of even a possibility of their deliverance since the Infidels would have nothing either to hope or fear from the Christians after having once chased them out of Palestine And in conclusion they added That the stay of the King in the Holy Land for some time longer would without doubt produce the quite contrary Effects to all these Misfortunes which would infallibly be consequent upon his return That it was well known that the King notwithstanding all his losses sustained in Egypt was in a condition to repair one part of them and to strike a terror into his Enemies in regard that all the Money which he had yet expended he had drawn out of the Purses of his Receivers who had gained it unjustly from him That he had still his whole Treasure intire with which he might raise store of good Troops and that so soon as it was known that he would pay well he could not want Souldiers but that men at Arms and Knights would resort to him from all places with which he might serve himself upon the present occasion to very good purpose there being in reality so great a Division among the Infidels that the Sultan of Alepo the most potent of the Sarasins of Syria made War against those of Egypt That he had already taken Damascus from them And that he was resolved in Person to lead his Army into Egypt to revenge the Death of the Sultan his Cousin whom those infamous Mamalukes had so barbarously murdered That the least advantage which the King could draw from this War would be to oblige these perfidious Wretches by the fear which they would have lest he should joyn with their Enemy to set all the Prisoners at liberty That however hereby he would hinder the Infidels from invading the Lands of the Christians And that in the mean time he might fortifie the places which were demolished and thereby leave the Country in a Condition to defend it self whensoever at last he should be obliged to return and leave the Holy Land After he had patiently heard all these Reasons the King took eight days more to consider of what Resolution he ought to make after which having again caused his Lords to be assembled and imploring before them the Light and the Grace of God's Holy Spirit he spoke to them in these Terms That he gave all of them hearty thanks for the Counsel which they had on both parts given him That if any worldly consideration could oblige him to return into France most assuredly it was the Interest of his Realm to which he owed his Principal Applications and his greatest Care But in regard that he was sufficiently satisfied that France had nothing to fear so long as it was under the wise Government of the Queen his Mother who had Forces Courage and Conduct enough to defend it against all those who should in his absence have any designs against it he was resolved not to abandon the Interests of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in Syria but that he would stay there some time longer to put them into a posture of safety That nevertheless he left all Persons who had a desire to it at liberty to return if they so pleased but withal he promised also on the other side to all those who were resolved to run his Fortune that he would make their choice so advantageous that they should have sufficient reason to be satisfied with it This Discourse of the King moved the whole Assembly though with very different Sentiments in some it excited tenderness and Devotion so that they devoted themselves most heartily with this amiable Prince to the Service of Jesus Christ in others it occasioned Grief and Sadness by understanding the King's Resolution which was so unexpected to them and by seeing that their honour obliged them against their Inclinations still to remain in Palestine But hereupon St. Lewis did not fail presently to give out Commissions and Money for making of Levies however for the satisfaction of the Queen his Mother he sent home the two Princes his Brothers into France whither he writ to all the orders of the Realm that admirable Letter by which after he had given them a full account of all the transactions which till then had happened he exhorted them by all the considerations both Divine and Humane year 1250 to come and share with him in the Glory which was to be acquired by generously sacrificing their Lives and Fortunes to the Service of Jesus Christ Whilest these things were doing the King who made his preparations with so much diligence received the Ambassadors which came to him from Europe and from Asia Pope Innocent sent to give him consolation by
of the two hundred thousand Livres which were yet unpaid which the King resolved before he would treat with them in regard that they had broken the Truce by not observing the Conditions of their former Treaty and thereupon as the Admirals gave him all the Satisfaction which he demanded he appointed them a day to meet him at Jaffa where a new Treaty was to be made by which the Admirals obliged themselves to put into his hands all the Places of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to which they should for the Future make no more pretensions and the King reciprocally promised to assist them with all his Forces against the Sultan of Damascus their Enemy So soon as the Sultan who was a man of Courage and Conduct understood that the King had accorded with the Egyptians he sent twenty thousand men to seize upon the Passes between Egypt and Palestine but this did not hinder the King from leading his Army to Jaffa the Castle whereof was very strong though the Town was wholly ruinous and fell to rebuilding and fortifyng of it at great charges and with incredible diligence although the Enemies gave continual Alarms to his Camp and daily made a shew as if they would attack it This made the Mamaluke Admirals who had not yet set their Army on foot and therefore durst not repair to Jaffa request the King to deferr their Interview and to appoint another day when they might be in a condition to attend him and in the mean time the Sultan of Damascus having assembled all his best Troops took a review of them about Gadres which was anciently called Gadara a strong City on the other side the Sea of Galilee and from thence passing over the Jordan he went and joined with thirty thousand Horse which he had sent before him to the Frontier of Egypt into which he entred to revenge upon the Admirals the death of his Cousin And they who had had leisure to prepare for his coming did not fail to give him a welcome like men of Courage year 1251 and who understood War It came presently to a Battle and at first the Sultan had the advantage breaking in upon one of their Wings so vigorously that he put it into disorder and wholly routed it But the Egyptians understanding that their Army was Victorious in the other Wing rallied and came to the charge more furiously than before against their Vanquishers and then those also who had been Victorious on the other side falling upon their Rere cut them in pieces and made the Victory so complete that all the Sultan could do was to save himself and retreat to Gadres sorely wounded with two thousand men which only escaped in that Bloody Battle After this great Victory the Admirals made a suddain turn like able Politicians For now perceiving that they had no more need of the Arms of the King they believed that to preserve to themselves the Kingdom of Jerusalem which by Treaty they were obliged to surrender unto him it was much better for them to make Peace with the Sultan who seing himself abandoned by the King would without doubt be very glad to revenge himself and for fear of having both Armies upon his Hands year 1252 to accomodate matters with them They sent therefore to him to Gadres offering him Peace and at the same time desiring it from him They excused themselves for the death of the Sultan of Egypt his Cousin by the necessity which they had to prevent their own by giving him his and remonstrated to him that it was for their Common Interests rather to unite against the Christians who were their Common Enemies than by their divisions to give them the opportunity to make use of their Arms to the mutual destruction one of another The Sultan who desired nothing so much willingly harkned to the Proposition so that without any difficulty a Peace was presently concluded betwixt them and the King by too long deferring to conclude with the one or the other of them was miserably deceived by them both and lost not only the noblest opportunity of recovering the Kingdom of Jerusalem by an honourable Treaty but on the suddain found he had two puissant Enemies to encounter who would now no more hear either of a Peace or a Truce and who might easily have both been ruined by keeping up the Quarrel between them and uniting with the one against the other as they both desired But though the King was a great Saint we must not believe that Saintships render men infallible especially in Policy and above all not in matters of War which is the remotest thing from Religion whose Principles are those of Love and Peace All the advantage which the King gained by this Rencontre was to quit himself of the two hundred thousand Livres to the Admirals which yet in reality he was no ways obliged to pay after they had so perfidiously broken their first Treaty Sometime after they had made this Peace with the Sultan of Damascus although they saw they had nothing to fear either from this Prince their Allie or from the Christians who were in too weak a condition to attack them yet considering that it was impossible for their Empire to subsist any considerable time without a Head they resolved at last to create one of their own Body to the exclusion of the Arabians Egyptians and all the Descendants of the Great Saladin and Saphadin And being well assured that there were none able to oppose them they accordingly chose for their Sultan one of the Mamaluke Admirals whom they named Azzadin Aibec or Elmahec For there is not one of these Sultans but who have different names in diverse Authors who have writ concerning them This Sultan was a Turcoman by Nation and from thence it is that many Historians call him Turquemin However from this time the Mamalukes held the Empire of Egypt not by Succession but Election till the Year one thousand five hundred and seventeen when Selim the Emperor of the Turks conquered it after he had in a great Battle overthrown and near Grand Caire taken Tomombey their last Sultan Mean time the Sultan of Damascus under the Favour of this Peace having assembled his Army came with thirty thousand men to discharge his Indignation upon the Territories of the Christians He presented himself before Acre and threatned to fire the Suburbs if they would not redeem them from that danger with fifty thousand Bysances of Gold but the Lord of Assur the Constable of the Realm thought fit to pay him in another Metal year 1252 and sent him away loaden with Blows instead of the Money he demanded And from thence therefore having understood that the King who had rebuilded Jaffa was about to repair Sidon or Sajetta had but a few Troops with him by reason that he had sent the greatest part of his Souldiers to seize upon Belinas formerly called Cesarea Philippi he marched with a design to surprize him The King who was advertised
Elmehec having been strangled in a Bath by his own Wise after he had reigned five years the Admirals who revenged his death by the Punishment of this Murderess of her Husband by common consent made choice of his Son Almansor who was within a year dethroned by one of his Emirs whom the rest placed upon the Throne and made him Sultan giving him the name of Melech Elvahet This new Sultan who was a great Captain searing that the Tartars after having conquered Palestine would come pouring into Egypt resolved to prevent them For this purpose therefore having drawn together all the Forces of Egypt he entred into Palestine and made an Alliance with the Christians of the Country against their Common Enemies and after he had for three days refreshed his Army about Ptolemais he marched directly against the Tartars who ravaged Galilee and upon the third of October gave them Battle in the Plain of Tiberias where he cut the greatest part of them in pieces and routed the rest and slew their General Cathogoba upon the place and having thus delivered himself from this formidable Enemy he returned covered with Glory and loaden with Spoils into Egypt But a while after one of his principal Emirs whose name was Bondogar or Bendocdar who continually importuned him to turn his Victorious Arms against the Christians seeing that contrary to the Custom of these Barbarians he would not violate the Faith which he had given them he most barbarously murdered him and caused himself to be chosen Sultan by the Mamalukes who infinitely esteemed him for his Courage And in truth as he was the most brave the most able and Politick so he was also the most wicked persidious and most cruel of all these Barbarians For to the end that he might reign in safety he put to death all that he could find of the race of the former Sultans and in a little time fourscore of the Admirals also fell under diverse Pretexts as Sacrifices to his Jeasousie being in reality guilty of no other Crime but the fear of the Tyrant who believing that they were as wicked as himself was under the continual apprehensions whilst they were living that they should treat him one day in the same cruel manner as he had done his Predecessor and by this procedure he rendred himself so terrible to all his Subjects that no person durst so much as adventure to make a Visit to an acquaintance or to talk with a particular Friend lest it might raise a Jealousie in the Sultan which did not fail to be followed by the death of him against whom it was conceived But as for any thing else he had whatever was requisite to make him a Conqueror for he was Bold undertaking fearless cunning vigilant sober chast not permitting his Souldiers either Wine or Women which he said weakned both there Bodies and their Minds and took away from them all the Vigour of Warriours and above all he had Fortune for his Reward and a constant Success when ever he acted by himself Such a Person was Bendocdar who had not slain his Predecessor but because he refused to make War against the Christians against whom consequently he did not fail presently to lead the Victorious Army which had defeated the Tartars year 1261 This was most fatal to the Christians of the Holy Land For the Infidels having at first defeated the Troops of the Lords of Baruth and Giblet with those of Ptolemais year 1262 and the Templers who were got together to oppose this Enemy who surprized them he wasted and ruined all the Country as far as to Antioch after which he came and presented himself with thirty thousand Horse before Ptolemais year 1263 ruined the Suburbs and came up to the very Gates of the City not a man daring to Sally out to oppose him he ruined the Church and Monastry of Bethlehem year 1264 took Cesarea by Treason the City and Castle of Assur by a long Seige and the impregnable Fortress of Sephet by composition But the Persidious Infidel basely broke his Articles year 1265 for he put to Death the Governour and the whole Garrison which consisted in six hundred Men because that having given them one Nights time to resolve whether they would save their Lives by turning Mahometans they were so incouraged by the Fathers James of Pavia year 1266 and Jeremy of Geneva two fervently Religious of the Order of St. Francis and by the Prior of the Temple that the next Day they all unanimously chose to lose their Heads which were accordingly taken from them to receive the Glorious Crown of Martyrdom As for the two Cordeliers and the generous Prior of the Temple who had so well animated the others to suffer for the sake of Christ they also received the Palms of Victory but after a manner more Glorious than the rest For the Tyrant furiously incensed against them for having snatched the Prey out of his hands and robbed him of what he thought to have made the Glory of his Victory was so filled with Rage and Madness against them that he caused them to be roasted alive and cruelly beaten with Cudgels whilest they were in this dreadful manner exposed to the Flames and afterwards causing them to be dragged to the place where the others were beheaded he caused their Heads also to be cut off there But he had the amazing displeasure to see that God did Honor to his Martyrs by a Heavenly Light which he himself with all his Sarasins saw shining every Night about their Bodies insomuch that he was obliged for the hiding of their Glory and his own Infamy to inclose the place with a mighty high Wall to hinder the sight of this wonder so confounding to his and so honourable to the Christian Religion year 1267 But he still pursuing the Torrent of his Conquests which found nothing that was able to stop their impetuous Course took the City and Castle of Jaffa by treachery a little after the Death of Count John for he never durst attempt it so long as that Noble Earl lived He also made himself Master of the Fortress of Beaufort and the most part of the places which appertained to the Templers And after having ravaged all the plain Country about Acre Tyre and Sidon and burnt the Suburbs of Tripolis he turned once again short upon Antioch year 1268 He found that great City so unprovided of all manner of necessaries to sustain a Siege by reason of the absence of Prince Conrade Cousin of Conradin to whose assistance he was gone into Italy that he took it without resistance slew there seventeen thousand Men and carried above a hundred thousand into Captivity Thus this City so illustrious that it was sometimes called the Eye of the East in regard of its admirable Beauty and which the first Crusades were not able to take but with a nine Months Siege which a thousand Heroick Actions which were there done have rendred so Famous in History was taken in a
moment and desolated to that degree by the Mamalukes that it became a vast solitude as it still continues to this Day So little assurance is there of any thing in this World where there needs no more but one Moment to Ruin and Destroy what hath been growing a many Ages Thus Bendoedar who found no more Enemies in the Field to give the least check to his Conquests still pushed his good Fortune forward into Syria whilest the Christians of the East divided into divers Factions seemed to combine with him for their mutual destruction And in vain were any Succours expected from the West for the Assistance which the Armenians and the Tartars came to desire against the Sarasins were always either hindred or diverted by the Quarrels which continued between the Popes and the House of Suabia and which were not to be determined but by the downfal of that Noble House to raise upon its ruines that of France which consequently took up the design of that Crusade again And it is this which I am now obliged to relate for the finishing of this History of the Crusades After the Death of Frederick the Second Pope Innocent did not fail to Excommunicate Conrade the Eldest Son of that Prince because he stiled himself Emperor against William Earl of Holland whom some German Princes who were of the Pope's Party had chosen to oppose Frederick Conrade who wanting the good qualities of his Father had all the ill ones and all the fierceness the Cruelty the insatiable desire of Revenge and the implacable hatred against the Popes entred with great Forces into Italy where he was with joy received by the Gibelins and favoured by the Venetians upon whose Shipping he passed the Gulph into Pavia and having joyned the Troops of his natural Brother Mainfrey his Lieutenant General in that Realm year 1268 he reduced under his obeysance in a short time what ever had declared for the Pope and having at last taken Naples he there executed his most cruel Vengeance by the Desolation of that fair and flourishing City This so amazed the Pope Innocent who after he had struck him with the Anathema had no other Arms to which he might have recourse to oppose him that he believed he was obliged to cause a Crusade to be published against him which without doubt did not contribute much to the Success of that which proved so unfortunate against the Sarasins And at the same time he caused the two Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily to be offered first to Charles d' Anjou who would not then accept them without the consent of the King his Brother who was then in Syria and afterwards to Richard Brother to Henry the King of England but he also refused them not thinking it was at all agreeable to Justice or a good Conscience to despoil the young Prince Henry his Nephew to whom the Emperor Frederick had left for his share the Kingdom of Sicily Whilest matters stood thus Conrade who had underhand procured the Death of this little Prince his Brother that he might have his Kingdom died himself of Poison which as it was believed was given him by his Brother Mainfrey to whom as not suspecting him Guilty of his Death Conrade left the Tuition of his Son Conradin then an Infant of the Age of three Years Innocent resolving to take advantage of his Death went and presented himself before Naples where in hatred of Conrade he was received with great Applauses Mainfrey himself being surprized also submitted to him and was received with all Civil treatment But presently after throwing himself into Nocere whither the Emperor Frederick had transplanted the Sarasins of Sicily he raised an Army and took the Field and Fortune declaring her self at first in his favour he in a Battle defeated the Army of the Pope which was Commanded by the Cardinal de Fiesque the Nephew of Innocent who being then Sick when he received this News at Naples died in a few Days after Alexander the Fourth his Successor had also the same Fortune for having Excommunicated Mainfrey this Prince who from the Example of his Father had learnt not to fear these Roman Thunderbolts Marched directly against the Pontifical Army which had taken the Field under the Conduct of Cardinal Vbald and he not being so great a Captain as his Enemy also lost a Battle which was fought between them Hereupon Mainfrey fierce with these two Victories and sure of the Favour of the Populace which always follows the strongest side caused himself to be Proclaimed King of Naples and Sicily with as much ease as he had with dexterity caused the report to be spread of the Death of the little Conradin his Nephew After which he lead his Victorious Army into the Ecclesiastick Estates where finding little resistance he seized upon the County of Fondi and his Partisans being animated by the report of his Victories the Gibelin Faction became presently the most powerful but principally in Lombardy Tuscany and even in Rome it self Alexander astonished with this Progress and fearing that he should at last fall under the Power of such a formidable Enemy had recourse to the King of England and following the Example of Innocent he offered him the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily for his Son Edmund to whom he also sent the Investiture of them and to oblige that King to undertake the enterprise he absolved him from the Vow which he had made in taking the Cross to be of the Crusade against the Sarasins in the East by changing it into that which he caused to be Preached every where against Mainfrey Also fearing lest the Partisans of the House of Suabia should place Conradin upon the Imperial Throne in the room of Count William who had been slain in the War against the Frieslanders he sent Prohibitions to all the Electors requiring them under pain of Excommunication not to chuse that young Prince But all this which signified just nothing against Mainfrey did a World of mischief to the Crusade which was designed against the Sarasins The Parliament which the King of England had called at London upon the subject of the Neopolitan War would give the King no Money and afterwards all the great Men of the Realm happening to be Embroiled with the Royal House this Project of the Pope's did not Succeed And for Germany one part of the Princes having chosen for their Emperor Alphonso King of Castile and the other Richard Earl of Cornwall year 1268 Brother to the King of England there arose a Schism in the Empire which occasioned mighty Troubles and Disorders there So that Italy Spain England and Germany having so many troublesome Affairs upon their hands there remained only France in a condition to serve the Holy See to any purpose in this occasion and all Christendom indeed against the Infidels For this reason therefore Vrban the fourth the Successor of Pope Alexander having again vainly tried the way of a Crusade against Mainfrey which for want of
Money to pay the Crusades came to nothing and seeing himself straitned by that Prince who joyning with the Rebells of the Church had constrained him to withdraw to Orvieta he had at last recourse to France He therefore made new Offers and Solicitations to Count Charles of Anjou and Provence to accept the Realms of Sicily and Naples as Fiefs escheated to the Church by the Felony of the Princes of Suabia who had injoyed them after the Normans And that he might do this more effectually he sent the Arch-Bishop of Cosenca into England to redemand from the King and Prince Edmond his Son the Right which he had invested him within these Kingdoms to which they could now no longer pretend since they had not accomplished the conditions upon which it was granted After which Simon de Brie Cardinal of St. Cecily passed as Legate into France to bestow the Investiture upon Charles who accepted of it by the King's consent and upon the pressing Solicitations of the Countess Beatrix his Lady who was ready to die with longing to be a Queen as well as her three other Sisters who had been so for a long time He therefore promised the Cardinal that he would presently March with a Powerful Army against Mainfrey And accordingly after that Clement the Fourth the Successor of Vrban had confirmed his Election he Sailed from Marseilles with thirty Stout Men of War and arrived safe at Rome where he expected his Land Army which this new Queen like a Female Hero led over the Alps quite through Italy receiving all the way as she passed the Auxiliary Troops of the Guelphs and being come thither she was Crowned Queen as the Count was King of Naples and Sicily in the Church of St. John of Latran by five Cardinals delegated by the Pope for the performance of that Ceremony he himself being then at Perusa After which the new King at the Head of his Army took the Field and forcing the passage of Goriglian and the Fortress of St. German he Marched directly towards the Enemy and in short gave Mainfrey Battle near Beneventum The Battle was bravely fought by Mainfrey who shewed himself a great Captain and Valiant Souldier but in Conclusion he lost it abundance of his gallant Men and he himself remaining among the Dead After which the young Conradin who was now about fifteen years of Age coming with a flourishing Army of Germans strengthened with the Gibelins of Tuscany and Lombardy attempted to recover the Inheritance of his Father but not being able to pursue the advantage which he had intirely at the beginning of the Battle which he fought against Charles he lost all For Charles who knew how to improve his error to his own advantage in conclusion won the Day from him near the Lake of Celano in a second Victory more Glorious and Compleat than the first But his Policy without doubt too severe not to say inhumane in this Rencontre made him dishonour it by cutting off the head of this unfortunate young Prince and that of Frederick of Austria by a Conduct which had nothing in it of the Genius and nature of St. Lewis or of the French Lords who all condemned this Action as Posterity will certainly do and which as it fails not to do justice to the good or evil Actions of Princes will certainly never pardon to his Memory In the mean time the great progress which the Sarasins daily made in the East against the Christians of Syria during the troubles of the West arriving at Rome the Popes Vrban and Clement failed not to write to St. Lewis and to the other Kings to pursue the Crusade which had been begun against these Barbarians But those which the Popes were obliged at the same time to publish against the Princes of Suabia and the Wars of Italy obstructed the doing of any thing effectually towards the General Crusade till such time as Charles after his two great Victories was peaceably established in the possession of his two Kingdoms For then the troubles of Italy being appeased year 1268 and Peace settled throughout all Europe the Pope and the King by agreement took up the design of that Crusade which it was impossible to execute whilest the private ones were published against Mainfrey King Lewis as much St. as he was could not hinder himself from retaining a boiling displeasure for the unhappy Success of his attempt upon Egypt and moreover inflamed as he was with a Zeal for the House of God he was wonderfully afflicted with sorrow to hear every Day that Bendocdar was ready to swallow up all and to chase the Christians wholly out of the Holy Land of Palestine It was therefore his passionate desire to take up the Cross again and to imploy the remainder of his Days in combating against the Enemies of Jesus Christ for the reconquering of his Inheritance which was almost intirely lost But in regard he was unwilling it should be said that in a matter of this importance he acted by the sole movement of his own Inclinations he sent privately to Pope Clement one of his Confidents to Communicate to him his design and to desire him to send a Legate into France with Command to exhort him and all his Subjects to undertake the Holy War The Pope who was very Wise considering that this Great Prince had already done beyond what could be expected from a most Christian King in the War against the Infidels deliberated a long time about this Affair But at last having well examined the matter he kindly assented to the King's desire and highly approved of his Pious Design and consequently resolved not to lose so fair an opportunity to form a Holy League against Bendocdar to which in the beginning of his Pontificate he had exhorted not only all the Kings of Europe but also the King of Armenia and Abagas the King of the Tartars in Persia For this purpose therefore he sent Simon de Brie Cardinal of St. Cecily his Legate into France and the Cardinal Othobon into England with order to pass from thence as he also did into Spain and Portugal then he ordained as he had done formerly that the Religious of the orders of St. Dominick and St. Francis should Preach the Crusade through all Germany as far as Denmark and Poland But nothing of all this had any Success except only in France by the diligence the Care the Example and admirable Zeal of St. Lewis For so soon as the Legate was arrived this devout King called a general Assembly of the Princes Prelates and Barons of his Realm to his Royal Palace in Paris where with all his Power and Eloquence animated with his Ardent Zeal he himself exhorted the whole Assembly To take upon them again the Cross to avenge the Injuries which the Sarasins had for so long time done to Jesus Christ in the fairest part of his Empire and to maintain the Christians in their proper Inheritance out of which the Sultan of Egypt and
his Navy year 1270 All things being thus disposed for so great an Enterprise the King declared Matthew de Vendosme Abbot of St. Dennis and Simon de Clermont Count de Neele Regents of the Realm during his Absence and after that having taken the Standard of St. Dennis according to the custom of his Ancestors as also the Scarf and the Pilgrim's Staff he parted the first day of March in the year one thousand two hundred and seventy accompanied with the Cardinal d' Albano whom Pope Clement had nominated his Legate for this Crusade and came to Aigues-Mort where he did not imbark till the beginning of July at the same time that the other part of his Fleet sailed from Marseilles and at last all of them after having been soundly beaten by a furious Tempest arrived at Cagliari There it was that the King held a great Council of War to which all the Princes the Lords and principal Officers of the Army were called He then proposed to them the Enterprise of Tunis and after it had passed by plurality of Voices in the affirmative although there were many who had much rather have gone directly to the Holy Land they set sail and steered away directly for Africa and within two days about the twentieth of July came within view of Tunis and Carthage Upon the Coast of Africa over against Sicily there is a Peninsula whose circumference is about three hundred and forty Stadia or two and forty miles which advanceth it self into the Sea between two Gulphs which it there makes That which is upon the West forms it self into a most commodious Port and the other turning a little between the East and South joyns it self to a very narrow Chanal by which there is an Entrance into a great Lake which Extends it self three or four Leagues within the Land and which hath since been called by the name of the Lake of Guletta It was in this fair Peninsula that the famous Rival of Rome year 1270 the Ancient City of Carthage stood in the place between these two Seas But since its last destruction by the Arabian Sarasins about the seventh Age there remained nothing at the time of this Crusade amidst the Ruins of that Magnificent City but a little Burrough upon the Port which was called Marsa and a Tower upon the point of the Cape with a strong Castle upon the Hill of Byrsa where anciently stood the Fortress of Carthage About some five Leagues from this great City drawing towards the South East a little below the Gulph and the Lake of Guletta there stood a little City called Tynis or Tynissa and at present Tunis of which the Great Scipio made himself Master before he besieged Carthage and which afterwards grew so great by the Ruins of Carthage that it was in the time of St. Lewis one of the greatest fairest and strongest Cities of all Africa For the Walls which the Turks afterwards demolished were forty Cubits high with very good Ramparts and Fortresses to support them and with divers Towers to flank them for their mutual defence It had eight Gates with their Portcullisses a very deep Ditch which environed it on the Land side and all manner of Fortifications which were used in those Times with large Suburbs which contained about ten thousand Houses But it was still become much greater since the greatest part of the Moors of Granada who had been driven out of Spain retired thither and applied themselves to all manner of Arts and Trades It is at present a kind of Republick under the Protection and Domination of the Grand Seignior ever since it was taken by Sinan Bassa from the Spaniards in the year one thousand five hundred seventy four It had before been twice taken by the Spaniards once by Charles the Fifth in the year one thousand five hundred thirty five and a second time by Don John of Austria after the Battle of Lepanto But formerly it had been under particular Kings since a certain Person one Abraham Aben Ferez who commanded there for the King of Morocco usurped this Realm from him about sixty years before this Crusade and it was his third Successor Muley Otmen Ostensa who reigned at Tunis then when St. Lewis whom he had made to hope his conversion undertook this Voyage At first this Holy King had reason to believe that this Prince had an Intention to accomplish his Promise by reason that there was not found any who opposed his landing and that he had opportunity to seize the Port of Carthage and after that the Tower almost without any resistance But he was quickly disabused by seeing a great Army sally out of Tunis to relieve the Castle of Carthage but that did not hinder but that it was taken by the Seamen only with the assistance of five hundred Cross-bows which they desired of the King assuring him that they would carry the place by Scalade which they accordingly did with so much Courage and Success that they made themselves Masters of it in an instant without any other loss than only one of their Companions whose Death they revenged by that of all the Sarasins who defended the place who were partly cut in pieces and partly smothered in the Vaults whither they retreated to save themselves and to the Entries of which the Seamen put fire The King who was advanced and drawn up in Battalia between the Castle and the Enemies to hinder their relieving the place stopped them so well by the brave Countenance which he made that the Sarasins durst never quit their Post they retired at Night towards Tunis and satisfied themselves with returning every day in greater numbers giving continual alarms and pickeering on all sides according to their manner without staying in one place either regularly to attack one Quarter or to march in Battalia and combat foot to foot with their Enemy This was what was done in this last Enterprise of St. Lewis in nine or ten days towards the end of July For in regard the King of Tunis had an Army composed of an infinite multitude of Arabs and Moors who had always a safe retreat under the Walls of Tunis which was extraordinarily provided with all sorts of Machins of War it was not thought convenient by his Council to attack them or to undertake the Siege of the City before the arrival of the King of Sicily who was daily expected In the mean time the King retrenched himself and fortified his Camp in a Vally below Carthage whither the Enemies came continually to Skirmishes in which they constantly had the worse but without ever coming to a General Battle year 1270 But the King of Sicily whom St Lewis daily pressed to hasten thither and who notwithstanding did not arrive till a Month after him was the Cause by his long delay of the unfortunate Success of this Voyage which he had with such earnestness advised for his private Interest For it being high Summer which is a season very improper for making
of War in Africa and that they wanted refreshments and above all fresh Water which is very scarce in that Country Diseases and especially the Flux and Fevers fell into the Army and in a short time made a most fearful destruction The greatest part of the bravest and youngest men of the Army were unable to resist the violence of this terrible Enemy which daily carried off abundance of them And among the rest John Tristan Count de Nevers a Young Prince of about twenty years of Age died upon the third of August and the King his Father who loved him most tenderly although it was a most sensible Affiction to him yet sacrificed it to the Will of Heaven with the resignation and constancy of a Christian Hero The Cardinal Legate did not survive the Young Prince above four or five days and Philip the eldest Son of St. Lewis was also seized with a quartan Ague of which by the Strength of his Age and the heat of the season he was quickly delivered But the King his Father who had already fallen into the Flux being shortly after seized with a continual Fever left the whole Army languishing with extreme Grief for his death which happened the five and twentieth day of August after he had received the Sacrament with an admirable Presence of Mind an incomparable Piety and Sedateness of Spirit having nothing in his heart or upon his lips but the Glory of God for which only he had undertaken this Voyage He was constantly saying with a dying but Intelligible Voice to those who applyed their Ear to his Mouth to receive his last words For the Love of God let us indeavour some way to have our Holy Faith preached and received at Tunis Ah! My God whom shall we find to send thither to declare thy Gospel It must be such a one would be say naming a certain Religious of the Order of St. Dominick who was known to the King of Tunis and with these Zealous Ejaculations and this Apostolick fervency which he had for the conversion and salvation of Tunis he rendred his pious Soul into the hands of Almighty God precisely at the same hour that Jesus Christ gave up his to his Father making the same wishes for the Salvation of the whole world I have believed that in the quality of an Historian of the Crusades I was obliged in giving an account of the death of St. Lewis to recount this admirable circumstance which is so essential to my Subject since it shews so well what was the end which he proposed to himself in forming this Enterprise of Tunis and for the other particularities which in such a wonderful manner appeared in his death and all that which is so precious before God in the death of the greatest Saints as they do not properly began to my Crusades I leave them as well as the other admirable and Holy Actions of his miraculous life to those able Writers who so many years ago have promised us and who as I hope will write it exactly after so many Originals and so many Copies as the Writers of his own and the following times have left us I shall only add to give some Idea of his Body and of his Mind that he was then about the Age of five and fifty years of a middle Stature and a delicate Complexion but which he had greatly weakned by his great Austerities His Visage was something long but full his Forehead large and Majestick his head a little inclining to one side his Eyes extreme sweet his Mouth little and pleasing his Speech easie and very agreable and in his whole Person an Air of Goodness so winning and so charming especially in a King that it was impossible to look upon him without loving him or to love him without paying him that respect which was due to the Majesty of so great a Prince And for the Qualities of his Soul whether Natural or acquired one may say That there are few Princes who have possessed them in those high Degrees of Perfection as he did for he had an admirable composure of Spirit quick and clear and which he had cultivated by the Study of polite Learning and a solid Judgement so that he was always the most able Person of his Council always penetrating further than any of them when any difficult matter was under consideration having very easie conceptions of things and expressing himself extempore with much Gracefulness and Ingenuity year 1270 whatever he had to deliver governing much by himself especially after his return from the Holy Land but yet never acting but with the advice of his Council except in the Treaty which he made with the English to whom to oblige them to quit the rest he surrendred Guienne and Gascony not out of any scruple as Nangis writes since he himself acknowldged in Council that the Kings of England could not pretend any Right to them but for Peace sake although herein his Policy was much mistaken by reason that this Treaty having brought a Stranger into France brought a War upon it which lasted above two hundred years before he could again be expelled out of it This indeed is the only blemish with which St. Lewis can be reproached for having in this occasion contrary to the advice of his Council suffered himself to be too far misled by the Goodness of his Nature For as for any thing else there was nothing to be found in his Life but an admirable composure of all Royal and Christian Vertues in a most exact Temperament For he was the most valiant courageous fearless firm and immoveable in the midst of the greatest dangers and withal the most sweet pacifick kind and most easie of Mankind Austere humble modest devout respectful to the Holy See zealous for the Glory of God and the Salvation of Souls retired patient and mortified above all that is admired in the most Apostolick Men and the most Renowned among Recluses for their penitent Life and yet nowithstanding at the same time he was obliging affable complaisant and of an agreable humour in his Conversation familiar with his Confidents easie in his Domestick Affairs an admirable Husband an indulgent Father a sure Friend a good Master and a most excellent King loving his Subjects and reciprocally beloved by them firm and inexorable in causing Justice to be done his Ordinances and Laws to be observed Jealous of the Rights of his Crown and those of the Gallican Church conformable to the Common Law against all the abuses all the Novelties and the indeavours of such as would shock them he was liberal and magnificent in the ordinary expences of his Houshold in Ceremonies and publick entertainments which upon certain occasions he made very much to the Honour of France with a Splendor and Majestick Pomp far surpassing all his Predecessors which made him be equally admired both by the French and strangers In short there was never seen a more perfect accord than what appeared in this admirable Monarch
searing a Pursuit from the half-dismounted Cavalry Within a Moment they would return again to make another Discharge upon these poor People at whom they shot from the higher Ground to the lower as at a Butt they in the mean time being neither able to defend themselves nor revenge their death So that without the Expence of one Man to the Turk the poor Conrade who himself was wounded though but slightly with two Arrows was compelled to abandon all his Baggage the Dead and Dying the Sick and the greatest part of his Infantry to the Mercy of the Turks who killed a great number and carried the rest into miserable Slavery the Emperor himself with great difficulty escaping not with above the tenth part of his Army retired to the French Camp which was now advanced as far as Nice For while the Emperor Conrade marched before and was making this unfortunate Voyage the King after having taken a Review of his Army at Metz passed the Rhine at Wormes the 29th of June where he was most magnificently entertained and the Danube at Ratisbonne from whence he marched to Newburgh and so through Austria and Hungary without any molestation But being once entred upon the Territories of the Greek Emperor he found oftner than once the perfidiousness of that unworthy Prince who had given underhand Orders to all his Officers to do him all the mischief which possibly they could do in his Passage He did the same also himself to the Ambassadors which the King had sent accompanied with a considerable number of the French Nobility who received a thousand Affronts and Displeasures at the same time that this dis-loyal Man made them a thousand Protestations of Amity and Friendship The King however who was resolute to pursue his first Design and who with case defeated the Troops which endeavoured to oppose his Passage dissembling these Injuries though some there were who counselled him to Revenge he being much stronger than the Emperor In Conclusion the beginning of October he arrived at Constantinople where Manuel who knew his own Guilt and was in mighty fear of such a formidable Power as he was in no possibility of resisting received him with all the Respects and Honours imaginable All the Great Persons of the Empire the Patriarch with the whole Clergy and all the several Companies of the City went out to meet him and the Emperor himself cloathed in his Imperial Robes received him at the Gate of the great Palace year 1147 The meeting of these two Princes was certainly a very great and extraordinary Appearance they were both about the same Years being near twenty eight both of them of a Majestick Composure admirably well shaped and of noble Presence and both of them most magnificently habited though after a different manner and as they both knew admirably well how to dissemble the one by Nature and Malice the other by Art and Prudence there was not the least Punctilio of Respect Tenderness and Affection which they did not upon this occasion reciprocally bestow one upon the other They embraced they kissed and entertained each other by their Interpreters for a long time in the Emperor's Chamber environed with the principal Lords of the one and the other Nation And the Emperor after he had given the King a thousand Praises upon the Subject of his glorious Enterprize and had wished him all manner of prosperous Success offering to serve him with all that ever he had his Forces and Estate he made him be conducted by all the great Lords of the Empire to the Palace which was most magnificently prepared for him The next Day he accompanied him to the Church of St. Sophia and the other most celebrated Churches which the King had a mind to visit after which he treated him at an Entertainment where the magnificent Preparations the sumptuous rich and admirable Variety accompanied with all the usual Attendants of Rejoycing surpassed all that ever had been done by his Predecessors in their most splendid Receptions of other Princes and Kings He himself also ordered that so he might satisfie the King's Devotion that the Festival of St. Dennis the Areopagite the Apostle of France whom the Greek Church acknowledged as well as the Latin should be celebrated with a most extraordinary Pomp causing the Divine Offices to be performed with all the most Ceremonious Solemnity and most admirable Musick which to the French who are naturally Lovers of Novelties was most pleasing and delightful In short he did all that possibly he could to please the King saying to him such smooth and obliging things and framing his Countenance his Eyes his Gestures and all his Actions into so perfect a Harmony and Composure of extream Joy and Satisfaction that the greatest part of the Lords who judged the depth of his heart by these deluding Appearances which lay uppermost upon his Actions were persuaded that he acted most sincerely and loved the King with all his heart But the Bishop of Langress who was a Man of wonderful Prudence and who observed every thing with a curious eye easily perceived that all this was Artifice and that under all these affected Testimonies of a feigned Amity there lay hid some dangerous Treason which ought by some generous Resolution to be prevented by putting the Greeks the mortal Enemies of the French out of the capacity of doing them any mischief Upon the Debate therefore of the Council which was holden to deliberate concerning the March of the Army which the Emperor pressed with a great deal of Heat and Earnestness when it came to the Bishop's share to speak he gave advice which if it had been followed as warmly as it was slighted imprudently had in a few days put a period to the War to the immortal Glory of the French as well as to the universal Good of Christendom For he said that In his Opinion it was neither convenient for the King to stay there any long time to attend the coming up of the Troops which were expected from Italy nor yet according to the sense of others to be so hasty to pass the Strait to joyn with the Germans but that in his Judgment the King ought to lay hold on that fair Occasion which God Almighty seemed to present him and to strike the last and the great Blow to that Holy War by making himself Master of Constantinople This Sir added he is the only absolute and necessary way for Your Majesty happily to finish this War to assure the Conquests in the East and to make new ones by repulsing to the remotest Confines of Persia those Infidels who now dispute with us the Possession of Palestine and of Syria For most certainly so long as we leave Constantinople behind us in the hands of the perfidious Manuel we are assured there of a most potent and treacherous Enemy who will not fail to cut off from us all Re-inforcements of men and all Supplies of Provision without which it is impossible for Armies to subsist and
who will do more towards our Destruction by his secret Correspondencies and Intelligence with our Enemies than all the Barbarians are able by their united Forces year 1147 The implacable the ineconciliable Hatred which this perfidious Nation have entertained against us is too frequently and too loudly proclaimed to permit us to repose the least Confidence in them Nor does it now sleep under these slight Appearances of Amity but out of pure fear of the Power of our Arms and so soon as they shall see themselves delivered from those uneasie Fetters we shall find the same Effects which others before us have felt and found from so many horrible Treasons of these Greeks who have neither any sense of Honour or Honesty or any manner of regard to the Dictates of common Faith or good Conscience Their Intentions are most evident and Manuel makes it very clearly appear that he intends not only to tread in the steps of his perfidious Father and Grandfather but to out-do them since he hath had the Confidence to demand of the French Nobility that they should do him Homage even in the Presence of Your Majesty Let us therefore once for all remove this dangerous Obstacle of our Conquests Let us by one generous Blow assure our selves both of the Freedom of Passage and of all the Cities of this Empire both in Europe and Asia which will doubtless follow the Fortune of this Capital City And let us not by a foolish Scrupulosity spare an Enemy who will never cease to employ all the blackest Contrivances of a mischievous Mind to ruin and destroy us It ever was and ever will be lawful to prevent our own by his Ruin who hath contrived ours And were there nothing else the repeated Attempts of his Troops and the Baseness of his People towards us in our Passage hither which doubtless was by his secret Orders so contrary to the Faith they had given us and for which that dis-loyal Man will not make the least Reparation are sufficient to legitimate the Vengeance which we ought to take upon him and his perfidious People In short Since this holy War which we have undertaken is just it is also just to make use of those Ways and Means which are absolutely necessary to make it successful and that nothing can assure us but the Taking of Constantinople And to me it appears the Voice of God who himself seems to call us to it and by opening the Gates of this City to us to give us an easie Conquest over it for we have nothing more to do but to cut off their Water by breaking the Conduits and slopping those proud Aqueducts which supply them therewith Or if we be obliged to make use of Force their Fortifications are all ruinous the Towers half demolished to our hands the Ditches almost filled and grown up the Walls weak and defenceless and for the most part ready to fall before our Faces as if God without the help of Engines had himself undertaken to make Breaches large enough in all reason for us to enter which we may do without Resistance since we have not only one of the bravest Armies that ever yet were seen but that also these pitiful Greeks with whom we have to do are most miserable Cowards without Conduct without Experience in War and abandoned of God for their Schism Heresie and horrible Perfidiousness and Impieties For which Reasons Sir I argue that before we advance any further in the Pursuit of the great End which Your Majesty hath proposed we ought to take this Way and this Means which will conduct us to it and which does not only appear of absolute necessity but highly just and equally easie This Discourse of the Bishop was diversly received in the Council Some of the Wisest approved it but it was contradicted by the Majority rather out of a vain Scrupulosity than any manner of Reason which they had to oppose it They confessed indeed that it was a very easie matter to take Constantinople and at the same time they could not deny but there was all the Justice and Prudence in the World to do it but on the other hand they alledged that having undertaken this War out of pure Devotion by their Arms to deliver the Holy Land from the Oppression of the Infidels they could not accomplish their Vow and by Consequence have no hope of the Remission of their Sins if they should chance to dye in sighting against Christians and taking their Cities from them All this while never considering what the Bishop had so well remonstrated That he who will most certainly attain the End which he proposes must make use of such Means as provided they be lawful are most necessary and conducing to it and that who endeavouring the one does the other must of necessity lay a Claim to the same proportion of Merits But thus it is When once a groundless Scruple under the specious name of Religion hath fixed it self in the Minds of Men it becomes so absolutely Master and is defended with so much Obstinacy that good Sense and Reason and that natural Right which God hath given to Man year 1147 for his Conduct in the Management of either publick or private Affairs cannot come so much as to obtain a fair Hearing But however when it was too late they afterwards found their mighty Error in not following this Judicious Counsel The crafty Greeks that so they might hasten away the King into Asia by giving a Jealousie to the French whom they knew to be extream amorous of Glory spread a malicious Report that the Germans had already taken Iconium and given Chace to the Infidels who fled before them At this the whole Army presently took fire to that degree that what with their Murmurings and what with their importunate Cries they constrained the King to pass over into Asia upon the Vessels of the Emperor which lay ready for that purpose and no sooner did he see the greatest part of them on the other side but he threw off the Mask For upon pretext of some particular Disorders committed by a private Soldier who had taken some Merchandize without paying for it he took occasion to stop and pillage all the French that were behind at Constantinople And though the King had commanded instant Justice to be done upon the Criminal yet he thereupon absolutely prohibited his Subjects from carrying any manner of Provision to the Army And so fierce and furious was he now grown on the suddain knowing that their Dependance was so great upon him that it was not without great difficulty that he was appeased And at the last notwithstanding all the generous Remonstrances of the Bishop of Langress not until there was a new Treaty concluded by which the King engaged that he would take neither Town nor Castle from him and that the French Princes should do him the same Homage which the Princes of the first Crusade had done to his Grandfather Alexis Manuel for his part
the King and sending away the little Remainder of his Infantry by Land himself with a few Noblemen who yet attended him took the Opportunity of the Return of the Greek Ambassadors who had followed the King to Ephesus year 1147 and went by Sea to Constantinople where his miserable Fortune which intituled him to pity procured a better Reception for him from his Brother in Law the Emperor than he found in his more prosperous Condition to whom the Attendance of a flourishing Army which he had before gave so much Occasion of Fear and Jealousie So Great is the Malignity of Humane Nature that it is a Pleasure to see men become unfortunate As for the Ambassadors which Manuel had sent to the King to Ephesus they only seved more to manifest the base Perfidy and Malice of this Emperor their Business was only to present the King with Letters from their Master by which he advertized the King that he was like to have upon his Hands such an innumerable Company of Turks that it was impossible for him to resist them and therefore he advised him to secure himself from so furious a Tempest by retiring into some Places within his Empire where he might be in safety The King who easily discovered the Malice of that wicked Prince whose Design was to stop his further Progress and by obliging him to divide his Troops to weaken himself in such sort as that he might become an easie Prey to the Infidels generously answered the Ambassadors That as he did not in the least Degree stand in Fear of the Turks so he stood in no Necessity of the Favour which the Emperor their Master pretended to do him and that he was fully resolved to pursue his Enterprise Whereupon the Ambassadors according to the Orders which they had received seeing they had unprofitably spent the other foolish Temptation of Fear presented the King with other Letters by which that Emperor discovered more plainly his Malicious Will for therein he complained mightily of the Disorders which he said the Kings Army committed in his Territories and with a kind of Menace gave him to understand that it was impossible for him hereafter to prevent his Subjects from taking Vengeance upon them upon all Occasions that should offer To this the King who amidst all the Goodness of his Natural Disposition ever retained a certain Air and Character of Greatness and a Noble Fierceness worthy of the Greatest of all Kings made no other Answer than by a Gesture of Disdain by a short turn Leaving the Ambassadors to carry that Account for he would send no other to their Master leaving Ephesus therefore which at that time was almost nothing but a miserable Heap of Ruins he went to pass the Feasts at Christmass in the open Fields in that fair and delicious Valley where now the rest of that City is situate After Christmass he quitted the Sea-Coast and advanced more within Land towards the East drawing right toward Laodicea a City of Lydia between Tralla and Apamia upon the River Lycus where it goes to lose it self in that of Meander upon the Banks whereof all the Army went to encamp in the beginning of the following Year The River of Meander so celebrated by the Songs of the Poets for the singing of her Swans of which they have there created great Numbers which never mortal man could yet find is one of the fairest Rivers of the lesser Asia and which in its Course waters more Countries than all the others for it hath so many several Windings and Turnings that it is said between the Head of its Spring and its Fall into the Sea it makes six hundred Semicircles It rises out of a Fountain sometimes called Aulocrene at the Foot of the Mount Selenus in the greater Phrygia and after having moistened that fair Province it turns from the East to the West running between the Mountains and the Hills through those rich and spacious Vallies and delightful Medows which on the right Hand divide Lydia and Ionia from Caria whose Boundary it is on the left Hand till it falls into the Egean Sea between the Cities of Miletus and Priena When the Army was arrived to the Banks of this famous River it was resolved to stay there to refresh themselves for a few days in that place which is one of the richest and most delightful Countries of all Asia But they were no sooner incamped but they perceived that the Turks had posted themselves most advantageously upon the Mountains which lye on both sides of the River For the Infidels had learnt by their Greek Spies who gave them constant Intelligence that the French marching from Ephesus took the way for Laodicea which lies on the further side of Meander and there they imagined they might combat them with great advantage and defeat them without difficulty in their passage over the River year 1148 For this purpose therefore they divided their Army into two Parts possessing themselves of all the Heights on both sides of the River that when the French Army should attempt to pass it the one should fall in upon their Rere at the same time that the others being posted on the further Bank should oppose the Van in their Endeavours to pass over and in Case either of them found themselves pressed they should retire to the Mountains which were at no great distance from them The King presently apprehended their Design and finding no Possibility of passing it in that place where he was encamped by reason the River was too deep and large resolved to pass up higher towards Laodicea and to secure his March he placed the Baggage and all that was feeble in the middle ranging his best Troops in the Rere and on his left towards the Mountains for he feared not to be attacked either in the Front or on that side where the River separated him from the Enemies who marched over against him to impeach his Passage In this Condition he marched some time but could make no manner of Progress because he was continually obliged to make Halts to repulse the Enemies who perpetually followed the Army coming to make a Discharge with their Arrows without coming nearer and then wheeling off at full Speed immediately returning in the same manner without ever coming to handy Blows So that the second day seeing that he could neither sight nor march at quiet he stopt short about Noon and resolved to attempt the Pass in the View of both the Armies who observed his Motions In Truth it was a brave and Generous Resolution but extreme difficult in the Execution for the Meander though it be not very Rapid by Reason of its many Windings yet it is very broad and deep It was in the Month of January when Rivers usually are at the biggest and it had now rained for four days in such abundance that its Waters were considerably increased there was one Army at his Back and another appeared drawn up in Batallia upon the further Bank and in
from a Column which the People took for a Prophetick Mark of the Destiny of this miserable Prince conformable to an ancient Oracle which ran currant by Tradition among them at Constantinople That the Ox should bellow and the Bull should weep It is true that the Combats and the Victories of the great Theodosius were represented upon this Column as are to be seen at this day at Rome those of Trajan and Antoninus upon the two famous Columns there which bear their Names and thus it is possible that among those Figures there may be the Representation of some barbarous Prince falling headlong from a high Tower which they took for a Prediction of this Emperor's Destiny but that there should be any real Prediction either in this Figure or in the Story of the Bull 's weeping to forebode the Death of Murtzuphle is what I cannot easily believe For in short these sort of Prophecys of which there are numerous Examples are so obscure that they either signify nothing at all or all that one would have them signify and that commonly they are taken in a Sense far different from that wherein by the Event they explain themselves Witness that Prediction which they had and upon which the Greeks so much relied that the Latins should never take Constantinople by Force because the Prophecy told them that the City should never be taken but by an Angel But the foolish Greeks were mightily mistaken in their Interpretation as the Event shewed there being the Picture of an Angel in the very place where the City was forced And this ought to teach Christians not to amuse themselves with these Predictions which are not at all authorised by the Holy Scripture or the Church and ordinarily those over curious Persons in their own Sottishness and Credulity find their own Punishment the Event deceiving them by proving contrary to their Hopes and Expectation which are cheated by the Ambiguous Riddles such as were formerly the Oracles of the Pagans This was the tragical End of one of the Tyrants as for the other the old Alexis it is true indeed that his was not altogether so sad but altogether as unhappy For having for some time followed Leon Scurus one of his Sons-in-Law who pretended to oppose the Progress of Marquis Boniface in Macedon and Greece when he saw that all things stooped under the Arms of this Victorious Prince he despaired of being able to save himself to prevent his being taken therefore he voluntarily yeilded himself and the Empress Euphrosine with the imperial Ornaments to the Marquis who instantly sent them to the Emperor After which the poor Alexis only desiring wherewith to pass the rest of his miserable Age in some sort of Repose there were some Lands assigned him for that purpose but it being found out that he fell to his old trade of secret Caballing the Marquis to take from him the means of doing Mischief since he could not cure him of the Will to do it sent him Prisoner to Montferrat Some say that he found Means to escape from thence and to pass over into Asia to his other Son-in-Law Lascaris who had seized upon Nice and against whom this perfidious Dotard stirred up the Turks so that he was forced to take him and clap him into a Monastery where he had time to finish his Life in Repentance Thus the Empire of Constantinople about nine hundred Years after its Establishment under the great Constantine was translated from the Greeks to the French by the strangest and most memorable Conquest that ever was made by so small a Force and in so little a time being undertaken and accomplished in one Campagne year 1204 This may disabuse those who have imagined that the Crusade was not prosperous and certainly four great Estates established for the Christians between the Sea and the River Tygris Egypt and Armenia and all the Eastern Empire reduced under the Power of the Crusades are Conquests worthy the Fortune and the Glory of the Caesars and the Alexanders And if those who succeeded them failed of that good Fortune or the Conduct to preserve them it is not to be attribute to them who did so gloriously accomplish these noble Enterprises But as the Matters which happened afterwards under the French Emperors of Constantinople are not at all related to the Crusade it is not requisite that I speak further of them but proceed regularly to pursue the Course of my History and to describe the Success of those who took the other Way and followed other Designs THE HISTORY OF THE CRUSADE OR The Expeditions of the Christian Princes for the Conquest of the Holy Land PART III. BOOK III. The CONTENTS of the Third Book The unfortunate Success of those who abandoned the Confederates to pass into Syria The Care of the Pope for Constantinople who sends Doctors from Paris to reduce the Schismaticks The Death of Mary the Empress Wife of Baldwin The Death of Isabella Queen of Jerusalem The Princess Mary her Daughter succeeds in the Realm and Marries Count John de Brienne The Relation how that Prince and Count Gautier his Brother conquered the Kingdom of Naples The Exploits of King John de Brienne The Pope procures him Aid A piteous Adventure of some young Men who by a strange Illusion took upon them the Cross The Design of Pope Innocent to procure a general Crusade favoured by the Victory of Philip the August against the Emperor Otho The Battle of Bovines The Relation of the Council of Lateran where the Crusade is Decreed The Pope himself Preacheth it His Death in that Holy Exercise A Fable concerning his Purgatory The Election of Pope Honorius III of that Name His Zeal and Industry to promote the Crusade Andrew King of Hungary the Head thereof The Princes that Accompanied him and their Voyage Their Conjunction with King John de Brienne Their Expedition against Coradin The Description of Thabor and the Relation of the Siege of that Fortress which had been built there by Coradin The Return of the King into Hungary The Arrival of the Northern Fleet of the Crusades under the Earl of Holland The Relation of their Adventures and Exploits against the Moors in Portugal The Siege and Battle of Alcazar The Victory of the Crusades Their Voyage to Ptolemais The Reasons of the Resolution which they took to attack Egypt The Description of Damiata The Account of that memorable Siege which lasted eighteen Months The Attack and taking of the Tower of Pharus A Description of certain Engines of a new Invention The Death of Saphadin upon the News of the taking of that Place His Elogy and Character Meledin succeeds him An Error of the Christians after the taking of Pharus Cardinal Albano arrives with a potent Reinforcement to the Crusades The Division between the King and the Legate and the Cause of it An heroick Action of certain Soldiers who break the Enemies Bridge The Army passeth the Nile Sultan Meledin flies The City Besieged by Land
in a Valley so deeply Sandy and loose that both the men and Horses who were soundly harrassed by the nights march had much difficulty to dragg their Legs out of this deep Sand. The Governour of Gaza who had by his Spies been advertised hereof laid himself in Ambush behind some little Hills and all of a suddain appeared upon the top of them with some of his Squadrons but without advancing as first resolving to observe the Countenance of the Christians And accordingly seeing that they made a Halt and shewed some surprize to find those People in order of Battle whom they had thought to have found asleep in their Beds he commanded some Squadrons to descend and charge them at full Speed and the light Arabian Horses running as freely upon these Sands as if they had been upon firm ground they made a furious discharge of their Arrows and then retreated to their main Body in a little time returning again in greater numbers shooting always without coming nearer than the distance of their Arrows and without danger of being pursued by the Christians who did not without difficulty advance over the heavy Sands so that wheeling and running round about the Army all day they harassed them till Night a Night that was to be spent in Arms without repose and repast and without the Possibility of advancing or retreating and in nothing but miserable trouble and waking dispair in which they were overwhelmed And indeed their Fortune was much more deplorable the next morning when the whole Army of the Sultan being joined to the Garrison of Gaza encompassed them on all sides and without fear attacking the poor Soldiers already half dead and almost unable to carry their Arms they came to charge them with the Sword and Lance. The Christians indeed performed in despight of their Fortune all that could be expected from men of Courage and infinitely above their Strength but there was a necessity that they must yield to multitude with which they were oppressed most of them being either slain or taken that miserable day Henry Count de Bar one of the most Valiant Princes of his time Simon Count de Clermont the Lords John de Barres Robert Malet Richard de Beaumont and many others of the Bravest and most remarkable men remained dead upon the place The Constable Amauri and seventy other great French Lords after having fought most courageously and by their long resistance given an opportunity to the Duke of Burgundy to make his escape were taken Prisoners and carried in Chains to Grand Caire Thus ended this unhappy Jealousie Ambition and Vain Glory which were governed by rashness and Imprudence in this fatal Encounter of our Ancient Worthies whose misfortune may teach all the Gallant men of our times that they can never be truely Brave unless their Courage be regulated by Prudence in the Commanders and Obediences in the Inferior Officers and Soldiers This unfortunate news did so astonish all the rest of the Army which was at Ascalon in no very good understanding among themselves that they presently returned to Ptolemais where the divisions which continued still among them as well as between the Sultans of Egypt and Damascus compleated the loss of all by two most Shameful Treaties with the Infidels For the Templers who had one part of the Army on their side made a Truce with Nazer Sultan of Damascus year 1240 upon condition that he should surrender to them the Castles of Beaufort and Saphet with all the Territory of Jerusalem and that they should assist him with all their Forces against Melech-Salah Sultan of Egypt who had dethroned his Brother Edel to possess himself thereof and the Hospitallers supported by the King of Navarr the Dukes of Burgundy and Bretany and the other part of the Army made a truce quite opposite to this with the Sultan of Egypt against the Sultan of Damascus After which the King of Navarr the Duke of Bretany and the greatest part of the Cusades embarking in the Port of Acre returned into their own Country almost at the same time that Richard Earl of Cornwall Brother to King Henry the third of England arrived in Palestine with good Troops of English Crusades This Prince who following the Example of his Uncle Richard Coeur de Lyon had taken the Cross with a great Party of the Nobility and Gentry of England embarked at Dover about Whitsontide and landing in France passed to Paris where he was magnificently received by St. Lewis who lodged him in his Palace and caused him to be royally treated and conducted to Lyons from whence passing by Roan to Arles where he was to be received by Count Raymond de Provence he came to Marseilles and about the middle of September he imbarked upon the Fleet which he had sent through the Straits and upon the eleventh of October in fifteen days after the departure of the King of Navarr he came to Anchor in the Road of Ptolemais The Sarasins had a strange fear upon them for this Prince whose very name was formidable to them renewing the memory of the famous Richard King of England who by his marvellous Feats of Arms was so terrible to these Infidels that the Women were wont to quiet their Children when they cried with threatning them with King Richard and the Horsemen to make a Skewish boggling Horse go forward would commonly say to him in clapping their Spurrs to him What dost think it is King Richard And certainly his Nephew wanted neither Spirit nor Courage neither Money nor Conduct to support a name so great and so terribly to the Sarasins He did all that could be expected from a very great Prince to put things into a Condition so that it might be hoped the War against the Infidels might be happily prosecuted for within three days after his arrival he caused it to be proclaimed by the sound of Trumpet through the whole City That if any one of those who remained in the Holy Land stood in need of Money he would furnish them during all the time of their Service But he quickly learnt that in the deplorable condition to which matters were reduced by the division which still continued among the principal Officers and above all the Templers and Hospitallers there was no appearance of succeeding by the way of Arms. And therefore seeing that it was impossible to bring them to any agreement and that the Sultan of Damascus did not at all observe the truce whereas he of Egypt offered to continue it with new advantages to the Christians he resolved at last by the advice of the Duke of Burgundy the great Master of the Hospital and the greatest part of the Crusades to accept of it upon these conditions That all the Prisoners an each side and especially those who were taken at the Battle of Gaza should be set at liberty and that the Christians should enjoy certain Lands which the Sultan possessed in Palestine Mean time the Earl whilest he staid for the