an unfortunate man Tho' the truth is the measuring a Princes worth by his Success is a Rule often false and always uncertain and the common Consent of all Nations will plead this in his Favour that having been once a King he ought ever to remain so But to put a sinal end to this unhappy Controversie King Richard made a pleasing Motion which rellished well to the Palate of that hungry Prince offering him the Island of Cyprus in exchange for his Kingdom of Jerusalem Which motion was willingly imbraced and the exchange actually made to the Content of both parties and the Kings of England bore the Title of King of Jerusalem in their style for many years after But in this exchange Guy had really the better Bargain in regard he bought a real Possession for an Airy Title However he lived not long to injoy it for he dyed soon after his Arrival there but his Family injoyed it for some hundred years after which it fell by some Transaction to the state of Venice and was at last wrested from them by the Turks who injoy it at this day Conrade being killed and Guy having renounced his Kingdom Henry Earl of Champaign was advanced to the Kingdom of Jerusalem by the procurement of King Richard his Uncle who to corroborate his Election by some Right of Succession married Isabella the Widow of Conrade and Daughter of Almerick King of Jerusalem he was a Prince valiant enough but in regard his Reign was short and most of it spent in a Truce he had not an opportunity to express it He took more delight in the style of Prince of Tyre then he did in that of being King of Jerusalem as accounting it more honourable to be Prince of what he had then to be called King of what he injoyed not And now the Christians promising themselves abundance of Peace and Tranquility began every where to build and to beautifie their Habitations The Templers fortified Gaza and King Richard repaired and walled Ptolemais Pomphyria Joppa and Askelon But alass this short liv'd Prosperity like an Autumn Spring came too late and was gone too soon to bring forth any mature Fruit However it was now agreed on by all parties that they should march immediately towards the City of Jerusalem which Holy and Sacred place was the mark at which they all principally Aimed And having prepared all things for the putting this resolution into Practice King Richard lead the Vant Guard of English the Duke of Burgundy Commanded in the main Body over his French and James of Avergn with his Flemings and Brabanters brought up the Rear Saladine who understood by his Spies the manner of their march Serpent like bit them by the Heels for not far from Bethlehem he violently assaulted the Rear of their Army but the English and French suddenly Wheeling about charged the Turks most furiously and Emulation formerly Poyson here proved a Cordial every Christian unanimously striving not only to Conquer their Enemies but to overcome their Friends to in the Honour of the Victory And our Royal Pilgrim in this Battel was so adventrous and fought with such invincible Courage and Resolution against those Enemies of Christianity that his Valour brought his Judgment into question in regard he was more careless of himself and exposed his Person to greater danger then beseemed the prudence of a General for having received a Wound as tho' by losing his Blood he had received a new Addition to his Strength he laid about him like a Mad-man killing divers of the Infidels with his own hands The Turks withstood the Christians force for a long time and strove hard to carry away the Honour of the Day but were at last forced to give Ground and leave the Christians in the Possession of the Victory which they obtained with little or no loss to themselves save James of Avergn who dyed here in the Bed of Honour But there were more Turks slain in this Battel then there had been in any other for forty years before And had the Christian improved this Victory and marched immediately to Jerusalem they might in all Probability have surprized it whilst the Turks were Blind-folded and in a kind of a maze at this Prodigious overthrow But the opportunity was wholly lost by the backwardness of King Richard and his English Soldiers say the French Writers whilst others impute it altogether to the Envy and Emulation of the French who rather chose to have so Glorious an Action left undone then to see it performed by the English together with the Treachery of Odo Duke of Burgundy who being more grieved for the loss of his Credit than careful to preserve a good Conscience was choaked with the shame of the sin which he had swallowed and dyed for Grief that his holding Correspondence with the Turks came to be discovered But most are of the Opinion that Richard attempted not the taking of Jerusalem because like a wise Architect he intended to build his Victories so as they might stand unshaken by securing the Country all along as he went It being Sensless and Imprudent to besiege Jerusalem an In-land City whilst the Turks were still in Possession of all the Sea-Ports and other places of Strength thereabouts Sometime after this Victory he intercepted divers Camels laden with very rich Commodities those Eastern Wars containing a great deal of Treasure in a little Room And yet of all this and of all that abundance of Wealth of England Sicily and Cyprus which he brought hither he carried nothing home save only one Gold-Ring all the rest being melted away and consumed in this hot Service He spent the Winter at Askelon and intended the following Spring to have gone to Jerusalem had not bad News out of Europe altered his resolution and put him in mind of returning home William Bishop of Ely whom he had left his Vice-Roy in England used many unsufferable Insolencies towards his Subjects So hard and difficult a thing it is for one of a mean and Contemptible Birth to personate a King without going beyond his Limits and over Acting his part And that which was yet worse his Brother John Earl of Morton had conspired with the French King to invade his Dominions Which reports and the concluding of this War a Subject not likely to answer the expence and Charge of of it especially now the Venetians Genoans Pisans and Florentines were gone away with their Fleet wisely shrinking themselves out of the Collar when they found their Necks too much Galled with their hard imployment made him desire a Peace of Saladine who thereby finding that he had all the Cords in his own hands knew well enough how to play his Game and make his best of those Exigencies wherein he knew King Richard to be plunged for he had those about him who had cunning and skill enough to read in King Richards Face what grieved and perplexed his mind and knew by his Spies every thing that was worth Observation
Never did his Holiness so meet with his match before however he loved his Flock in Europe too well to run the hazard of losing them by a long Journey into Tartaria and so the Conversion of the Tartarians was neglected About this time likewise the Grecian Emperour who had been now near sixty years confined to the Citys of Nice and Adrianople only recovered every foot of Land that the Latins had won from the Greeks after it had been enjoyed by five Succesive Latine Emperours except what was enjoyed by the Venetians who kept Candia till lately wrested from them by the Turks presently after the Greek Church wholly cast of their subjection to the Pope and declared the Patriarch of Constantinople to be absolute of himself without having any dependency on Rome the occasion of their disavowing the Popes Authority was this Germanus being upon this new revolution of the Grecian Empire chosen Patriarch of Constantinople a certain Archbishop preferred by him went to Rome there to have his confirmation but finding that Court so unreasonable in their demands of Fees that it would weaken him to be confirmed and shake his Estate to settle him in his Bishoprick he returned again without confirmation but with so great an outcry upon the Extortion of Rome that the Patriarch and the whole Clergy for ever after threw off the Popes heavy Yoke which they were no longer able to bear His Holiness stormed exceedingly at this loss and therefore dispairing to reduce them by fair means proclaimed open War against them and resolved to send an Army of Crossed Soldiers against those Schismatical Grecians as he had formerly done against the Albigenses It being customary with that imperious Prelate to make use of the Secular Power as his Hang-man to execute those whom he shall please to condemn But his Commands were herein but little regarded very few Volunteers entering themselves for this Service and most men entertaining a Religious Horror and Detestation of so odious an Imployment This irrepairable rent and division between the two Churches was very advantagious to the Turks and a greath inderance to the Holy War for the Greeks in Syria who had hitherto lived in some kind of friendly correspondency with the Latins differing indeed in Judgment but complying in Affections and uniting against the Turk the common Enemy of both began now to conceive so great a hatered for the Latins that they wished the Turk from whom they expected fair Quarter the free Exercise of their Religion and a secure dwelling in any City for paying a set Tribute might conquer rather than their fellow Christians from whom they expected nothing but a forcing of their Conscience and the bringing their Souls into subjection to the Popes Supremacy and therefore from thence forward never lent a helping hand to that War CHAP. VI. The Voyage of Theobald Kingof Navarre Of Robert Earl of Cornwall Jerusalem taken by the Corasines THe Ten Years Truce made by Frederick being ended he ordered Reinold his Vice-Roy to conclude another for the same term of years which tho' honourable enough and without any other fault than Frederick's having made it yet the Templars would not indure it pretending that it was a great Indignity to the Christians for the Turks to have access to the Sepulchre And Pope Gregory to despite the Emperour commanded his Trumpeters the Dominican and Franciscan Fryers to sound a fresh Alarum to the Holy War who amplifying with their Rhetorick the Calamity of the Christians the Tyranny of the Turks the Merit of the Cause and the Probability of Success prevailed with many to undertake the Voyage the principal whereof was Theobald King of Navarre Almerick Earl of Montfort Henry Earl of Champaigne Peter Earl of Bretaigne who having no Ships were forced to march with their Armies by Land through Grecia where they were entertained as others had been before them with Treachery Famine and all the Miseries that could attend an unfortunate Army insomuch that none ever after adventured to go that way into the Holy Land But having passed the Bosporus they marched to Antioch being more than half of them destroyed by the Turks in their passage thither and the rest miserably weaken'd and almost dead with sickness and famine However after they had for sometime refreshed themselves there the Templars conducted them to Gaza where they fell to spoiling and foraging the Sultan's Country assaulting no place of strength but only poor Villages who thought themselves sufficiently walled by the Truce But as they were returning home laden with Treasure the Turks in great numbers fell upon them near Gaza where after a bloody fight wherein the Christians behaved themselves with so much bravery that they were rather killed than conquered they were utterly overthrown Earl Henry being slain Almerick taken prisoner and the King of Navarre forced to save himself by the swiftness of his Spanish Gennet In the mean while the other Christians looked on and saw their Brethren slaughtered before their faces without being able to help them in regard their hands were tyed by the Truce and Reinoldus charged them not to infringe the Peace made with the Sultan As for the King of Navarre he stole home with as much fecresie as possible being greatly ashamed that his Voyage from which so much was expected had effected nothing but the ruin of its undertakers Fifteen days after his departure Richard Earl of Cornwall and Brother to King Henry the Third landed at Ptolemais accompanied by Theodoricus Lord Prior of the English Hospitallers divers Barons and an Army of brave and well-appointed Soldiers where he was joyfully received especially by the Clergy who Sang at his arrival Blessed is he who cometh in the Name of the Lord. This Prince was our English Croesus and the Tinn-Mines in Cornwall were his Indies that inriched him so that England never had a poorer King and a richer Subject than those two Brothers When he was got as far as the Mediterranean Sea the the Pope sent his Legate to command him back and forbid his proceeding any farther in his Voyage Whereat our Heroick Pilgrim was somewhat astonished that the Pope should so solemnly summon and then as suddenly discharge his Holy Souldiers as tho' he designed only to delude peoples devotions with false alarums However having vowed the Voyage and his Honour and Treasure being ingaged therein he resolved that his Holiness should not with a breath blast his generous Resolutions but went forward notwithstanding this Command to the contrary The Sultans in Syria hearing of his arrival offered him Peace but whilst he was treating of it he fortified Askelon which was the best Harbour in all Syria and beautified it with Marble and Statues caused the Christians killed at the late Battel of Gaza to be decently buried and gave a Priest an yearly Salary to Pray for their Souls so that the living being much taken with his kindness to the dead he thereby purchased as much love and honour as tho'
killed or which was worse forced them to forswear their Religion and then marching to Antioch took that likewise slaying twenty and carrying away an hundred thousand Christians tho' it is to be suspected that the number of the Captives were at first written in figures and in time increased some thousands by the addition of nothing after which he laid seige to Ptolemais it self Those woful tidings brought into Europe so wrought on the good disposition of King Lewis that he resolved upon a second Voyage to Palestine from which all the perswasions of his Nobles could no way divert him in which Voyage there went with him his two Sons Philip and Tristram Theobald King of Navarre his Son in law Guido Earl of Flanders and Prince Edward eldest Son of Henry King of England who was attended by his Brother Edmund Earl surnamed Crouchback not because he was crook-shouldered as was pretended by Henry Duke of Lancaster when he usurped King Richard's Throne but from his being a Croised Soldier in the Holy War Lewis being now on his way to Palestine it was concluded by the general consent of his Council That for securing the Christians passage to Syria they should first take the City of Carthage in Affrica or rather Tunis which being raised out of the Ruins of that famous City was now become a Nest of Pirates who had killed and taken captive many Pilgrims who were sailing that way to the Holy Land But no sooner was the Siege began than the Plague seized on the Christian Army whereof Thousands died and among the rest Tristram King Lewis's Son and he himself of a Flux soon followed after His loss was much lamented he being accounted the French Josia as well for the Piety of his Life as the Wofulness of his Death and his wilful ingaging himself in a needless and unfortunate War But notwithstanding this Mortality the Siege was continued and Tunis brought into such distress that they were glad to surrender the Town on these Conditions That it should pay yearly to Charles King of Sicily and Jerusalem the Sum of Forty Thousand Crowns That they should receive Christian Ministers freely to Exercise their Religion And that they should be at the whole charge of that Voyage Prince Edward would have had the Town beaten down and all the Inhabitants put to the Sword accounting the foulest Quarter too fair for such Villains and their Goods sacrificed as an Anathema to God and burnt to ashes because gotten by Robbery But seeing he could not prevail with others he resolved however to shew his own detestation by execrating his part of the Spoil and causing it to be burnt forbidding the English Soldiers to save any thing of it telling them that Coals stolen out of that Fire would sooner burn their Houses than warm their Hands It troubled not the conscience of other Princes however to inrich themselves therewith and glut themselves with the stolen Honey found in that Hive of Drones And not only so but terminated their Pilgrimage there too refusing to proceed any further therein Whereat Edward astonished struck his Hands on his Breast and swore That tho' they all forsook him yet he would enter Ptolemais if accompanied with Fowin his Horse-keeper only And accordingly he arrived safe there to the great comfort of the Christians who were in sore distress Whilst Theobald King of Navarre with the Queen and the Earl of Flanders died in their way home and most of the Spoil was cast away At his arrival at Ptolemis he found the Christians just losing their last stake Bondocdar having brought them to so low an ebb that they had resolved if some unexpected Succour reversed not their intentions within three days to resign it up But Edward's coming in the interim revived their hopes and made them take Courage both to desie their Enemies and their own thoughts of surrendring the City Having sufficiently victualed and manned Ptolemais he marched with Six or Seven Thousand Men to Nazareth which he took and slew those he found therein And being afterwards informed that the Turks were gathered together at Cakhow about Forty Miles from thence he marched thither and setting upon them early in the Morning slew a Thousand of them and put the rest to flight In which Battel as well as in several other Skirmishes he gave sufficient proof of his own personal Valour slaying many of the Infidels in single combat After this Victory he returned to Ptolemais where Elenor his Consort was delivered of a fair Daugher but the Joy occasioned thereby was soon turned into Sorrow by the apprehension of his being mortally wounded by one of the Assassines who resorting to him several times with Letters and Messages from the Admiral of Joppa who pretended a desire to turn Christian The first time of his coming as the Prince was lying on his Bed and reading the Letters he brought none being in the Room but them two he suddenly struck him into the Arm with an invenomed Knife and attempted to have fetched another blow but the Prince whose Valour was now awakened gave him such a blow with his Foot that he felled him to the ground and wresting the poysoned Knife out of his hand thrust it into the Murtherer's Belly and slew him yet so that he hurt himself therewith in the Fore-head It is storied that his Lady sucked out all the venom of his Wounds without prejudicing her self But however certain it is that by the help of Physick good Attendance and an Antidote the Master of the Templars gave him he shewed himself on Horse back safe and well within fifteen days after The Admiral hearing of his recovery solemnly disavowed his having any hand in the Treachery it being seldom known that any will own themselves the Parent of an unsucceeding Villany And having done as much and more than could have been expected from so small a number as he had with him he returned home full fraught with Honour And his Father King Henry being dead the English Nobility met him as far as the Alpes to attend him in his return home CHAP. IX Rodulphus the Emperour hindred from going into Palestine sends the Duke of Mechlenburg Charles King of Jerusalem prevented in his intended Voyage MUch talk there was now in Syria of the great preparations of Rodulphus who was after two and twenty years Interregnum chosen Emperour of Germany and though but a meer Earl of Haspurg yet being now advanced to the Emperial dignity layed the first foundation of the Anstrian Family but he was too much imployed at home by Civil Discords and reducing the Princes to obedience whose Knees were too stiff to do him Homage till he had rendered them more pliable by degrees to think of going into Syria But yet being somewhat unwilling to render their great expectations wholly frustrat he sent the Duke of Mechlenburgh with a good Army to assist the Christians who coming to Ptolemais made several succesful incursions into the Enemies Countries about
THE HISTORY OF THE HOLY WAR Began Anno 1095. by the Christian Princes of Europe AGAINST The Turks FOR THE Recovery of the Holy Land and Continued to the Year 1294. IN TWO BOOKS To which is added A Particular ACCOUNT of the Present War managed by the Emperour King of Poland and several other Princes against the Turks By THO. MILLS Gent. Illustrated with Copper-Plates LONDON Printed for Tho. Malthus at the Sun in the Poultrey 1685. To the Right Honourable Sir JAMES SMITH Kt. Lord Mayor Of the Honourable City of London My Lord HIstories in general are like so many Registers and Records of time that convey to us the knowledg of what passed in the Ages before us and thereby helps us to look back with Pleasure upon the great Actions and Noble Atcheivments of our Worthy Predecessors which renders the reading of them very Pleasant and Delightful The History of the Holy War has not only been the amusement of the Learned Pens of other Nations but of a * Dr. Fuller Celebrated Author of our own which tho' written in a less critical time than this wherein that War seems to have a new resurrection was received with the general approbation of all lovers of History But this Excellent History being now rare to be found several Persons who were extreamly delighted with its agreeable variety wherein no History in the World does excel it mightily Importuned me to revive it or else to write a more Brief and Compendious account of that Religous War that so it might be rendered the more Capable of an Vniversal Reading the latter of which I was upon their persuasions prevailed upon to undertake But having performed the Task imposed upon me I found my self at a loss for a Suitable Person to whom I might address to own and Patronise the work till at length I happily pitch'd my thoughts upon Your Lordship To Dedicate it is made necessary by Custom and to Dedicate it to Your Lordship as necessary by the nature and design of the Book it self My Lord it is a discourse of War and therefore to have offered it to any other than a Soldier and a Brave Son of Mars had been an unpardonable Folly and a Sacrilegious Robery of the God of War And among all the Brave Commanders of this Honourable City I find none whose Courage and Valiour Prudence and LOYALTY bears a better sound then Your Lordships Not only in the Opinion of Your Fellow Subjects but of the King too for it was the singular Wisdom and LOYALTY which you have Manifested upon all Occasions that Recommended You both to his Majesties Gracious Choice and the Peoples Vniversal desire for the Chief Magestrate of Englands Metropolis Wherefore I Humbly Beg You will be Pleased to Accept of the Dedication and Permit this History to pass into the World under the shelter of your Lordships Name and Approbation and Pardon the Authors Presumption in aspiring to so great an Honour Although for an Atonement of the ambition of this offering I can only urge it is the History of the Holy War wherein those of our Nation gave as large a Testimony of their Courage and Bravery against those Infidels and Enemies of our Faith as any Nation whatsoever Which Consideration may Peradventure prevail upon Your Lordship to allow it as a sufficient Expiation for the pride of this Oblation Especially in a Person who is with the most Profound Zeal and Respect My Lord Your Lordships most humble and most devoted Servant THO. MILLS By the absence of the Author from the Press several faults have escaped which the Reader is desired to mend with his Pen. ERATTA PAge 38 Read Gerard. p. 62. l. 18 r. Baldwine p. 63 l. 13 r. Pilgrims p. 69 l. 4 r. their own p. 75 l. 15 Dele prevented it p. 74 r. Ignatius Book 2 p. 49 l. 22 r. conceit p 52 l r Cyprus p 53 l 6 r Meladine p. 67. ad of Lancaster p. 71. l. 13 r. fight Directions to the Binder Place the Cut of the King of Poland page 84. and the Standard page 86. THE HISTORY OF THE Holy War BOOK I. CHAP. I. The Description of the City of Jerusalem and the Land of Judea Why it was called the Holy Land It is conquered by the Egyptians by the Galdeans and by the Romans JAcob having just before his death called all his Twelve Sons together to bless them and to tell them what should happen both to them and to their Children in succeeding Ages he preferred Judah altho' not the Eldest but the Fourth Son before the rest of his Brethren and advanced him to the Throne saying Judah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise thy hand shall be in the neck of thy enemies and thy Fathers children shall bow before thee Judah is a Lions whelp from the prey my son thou art gone up The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come meaning Christ the Saviour of the World to whom the gathering of the people shall be And after the return of the Israelites out of Egypt and the destroying the Canaanites and other Nations who inhabited Palestine a larger and fairer proportion thereof was alotted for the inheritance of this Royal Tribe than any of their Brethren enjoyed in which Patrimony there were several large fenced Cities the chief whereof was Hebron and great numbers of pleasant and fruitful Villages But altho' Judah had received the promise of the Kingly Dignity yet he was not till many years after the return out of Egypt invested with it but the Government was laid on the shoulders sometimes of one man and sometimes of another who were either by the special direction of Heaven or the favour of the People indifferently chosen out of any Tribe And when the Israelites grown weary of the Judges rule requested a King and God commanded Samuel to establish a Monarchical Government among them as tho' Jacob had been mistaken in his measures or the Promise to Judah had been quite forgotten that Tribe is neglected and a King chosen out of the Off-spring of Benjamen the youngest Son of Jacob. But Saal proving disobedient and rebellious against the Command of the Great and Supream Monarch of Heaven and Earth by whom alone King Reign the Royal Dignity was rent both from him and his Tribe and according to the Prediction of the Patriarch given to David the youngest Son of Jesse the Bethlehemite of the Tribe of Judah out of whose Loyns according to the flesh our Saviour came When he was first advanced to the Throne he only reigned over the Tribe of Judah and made choice of Hebron as his Royal Seat But being afterwards by the unanimous consent of all the Tribes chosen to be King of Israel he took the City of Jerusalem which is the Subject of this History from the Jebusites and made it the Royal Seat of the Kings of Isreal whereupon it was preferred by the great Jehovah
Christians Victories was someâ— what staid for Boemund Prince of Antiochâ— marching into Mesopotamia was takeâ— Prisoner and the Heroick Godfrey whâ— had till now been ever accustomed to Conquer was forced to depart with disgrace from the Siege of Antipatris CHAP. IX The Original of the Hospitallers The scuffling between the King and Patriarch of Jerusalem about the division of the City The Issue of the quarrel and thâ— Death of Godfrey the first King ABout this time under Serard theiâ— first Master began the Order oâ— Knights Hospitallers There was indeeâ— an Order called by that name more anciently in Jerusalem but they were nâ— Knights but poor Alms-men whose House was founded and themselveâ— maintained by the Merchants of Amuâ— phia a City in Italy But they had now more stately Buildings assigned them and their House dedicated to St. John oâ— Jerusalem the conditions upon which they were to be admitted to the Highest Order of this Knighthood were these they must be Eighteen years old at least of an able body not descended of Jewish or Turkish Parents no Bastards except to a Prince there being honour in that dishonour but born of honest and worshipful Parents they always wore a Red Belt with a White Cross and a Black Cloak whereon was the White Cross of Jerusalem which was a Cross crossed or five Crosses together in memory of our Saviours five Wounds Their Profession was to fight against Infidels and secure Pilgrims in their coming to the Sepulchre they vowed Poverty Chastity and Obedience to which was added by Reimundus de Podio their second Master that they must receive the Sacrament thrice a year hear Mass once a day be no Merchants or Usurers fight no private Duels and always stand neuters and take part with neither side if the Princes of Europe should fall out At their Inauguration they received a Sword to intimate that they must be valiant which Sword had a Cross Hilt to remember them that they must therewith defend Religion 2ly With this Sword they were struck three times over the shoulders to teach them patiently to suffer for Christ Thirdly They must wipe the Sword to intimate that their lives must be clean and undefiled Fourthly They had gilt Spurs put upon them to intimate that they must scorn Wealth and spurn it at their heels Fifthly They were to take a Taper in their hands to intimate that they were to enlighten others by their exemplary lives About the same time also were ordained the Knights of the Sepulchre who were for their Original and Profession much like the former and their Order continueth to this day they being made by the Padre Guardian of Jerusalem of such as have seen the Sepulchre and should be all Gentlemen but the Padre frequently dispenses with the severity of that Law and admits of those who bring fat enough though no blood Now also there arose a great Controversie between the King and the Patriarch the latter claiming the Cities of Jerusalem and Joppa with all their dependances as belonging of right to him and the other denying to deliver them The Patriarch affirmed they had always belonged to his Predecessors and that it did not become Princes who ought to be Nursing Fathers to the Church sacrilegiously to suck from and devour it On the other side the King alledged that the Christian Princes had now purchased Jerusalem with their Blood and bestowed it on him so that the Patriarchs over-grown Title was lost in that Conquest from which as upon a new Foundation all must now build their claims who challenge a right to any part in that City Besides which it would be unreasonable for the King of Jerusalem to enjoy nothing in Jerusalem but live there more like a Sojourner than a Prince in his Royal Palace and be confined only to an airy Title whilst the Patriarch should enjoy all the Command To this the Patriarch answered That the Christians new Conquest could not cancel his Ancient Right which he said was enjoyed even under the Saracens especially since that Voyage was purposely undertaken for the advancing of the Church and not the bare restoring her to her Liberty only which Argument he pressed so home that Godfrey notwithstanding he was unwilling at first yet afterwards not only granted him on Candlemas day a fourth part of the City but on the Easter following the King lying then on his Death-bed gave him all Jerusalem Joppa and whatsoever else he desired upon condition that he should hold it of the Patriarch till he should Conquer Babylon or some other Royal City to keep his Court in And that iâ— in the mean time he should have died without Issue it should immediately bâ—delivered into the Patriarchs Possession Not long after Godfrey had made this liberal Grant wherein he frankly gave away his whole Kingdom at once he died having Reigned one year wanting five days and was buried in the Temple of the Sepulchre where his Tomb remains inviolated to this day CHAP. X. Baldwin chosen King he keepeth Jerusalem in despite of the Patriarch GOdfrey being dead the Christians with an unanimous consent made choice of Baldâ—in who was â—â—ount of Edessa a City in Arabia and Brother to Godfrey to succeed him a Prince who was tall and of a comely Personage being like Saul higher by the head than any of his Subjects and being thus chosen to the Kingdom without troubling his head about his Brothers Religious scruple of wearing a Crown of Gold where Christ wore one of Thorns he accepted the Ceremony as well as the Title and was Crowned on the Christmas day following But before his Coronation there was a desperate Quarrel between him and the Patriarch who upon the death of Godfrey devoured Jerusalem and the Tower of David in his hope but coming to take possession found that a more difficult task than it was to obtain the grant from the dying King For Garnier Earl of Gretz refused to surrender it telling him that he would according to his duty keep it on the behalf of King Baldwin who was not yet arrived from Edessa This unexpected refusal made the Patriarch storm exceedingly but however Baldwin having the stronger Sword and actual possession of the City kept it perforce which made the Patriarch complain to Boemund Prince of Antioch and stir him up to take Arms against King Baldwin for the recovery of the Churches Right as he was pleased to term it But not succeeding therein the difference was made up for the present by the mediation of friends although it was not long before it brake out again to that degree that the Patriarch was glad to flee to Antioch and from thence to Rome to complain to the Pope from whom hâ— obtained a command to King Baldwin foâ— the re establishing him in the Patriarchaâ— Seat with which as he was returning home he died at Messena in Ciciliaâ— whereupon Bremarus an holy and devouâ— man was against his own will advanceâ— by King Baldwin to the Chair
But being disliked by the Pope because the King chose him he was soon deposed and Gibellinus the Popes Legate chosen in his stead who being thought by Arnulphus who had been chosen Patriarch aâ— the first taking of Jerusalem and was thrust out again to go to slowly to his Grave he was suspected to have hastened his death upon which he was substituted in his room by the especial favour of King Baldwin CHAP. XI A mighty Army of new Adventurers after many hardships and difficulty effect nothing Alexius his Treachery THE spreading Fame of the Christians great Success in Palestine summoned a new supply of Pilgrims out of Christendom Germany and other places which had been sparing at the first Voyage â—ut resolved now to make amends with â—ouble liberality The chief Adventurers â—ere Guelpho Duke of Bavaria Hugh Broâ—er to the French King and Stephen Earl â—f Bloys both which had very much sufâ—ered in their Reputation for having deâ—erted their fellows in the first Expediâ—on and therefore sought to regain their â—ost Honour by this second Adventure The Duke of Aquitain the Earl of Burundy and the Couar of Bogen with maâ—y more grear Men and Prelates leadâ—ng with them an Army of 250000 Men. All Europe was now big with expectaâ—ion to see what so great an Army would atchieve it being common for most men to measure Victories by the â—ultitudes of the Souldiers But in this â—ase it signified little for they did noâ—hing worthy admiration unless it were â—hat they went so far to do just nothing â—heir sufferings being far more famous â—han their doings being so consumed by Plague Famine and Sword that scarce one thousand of them ever reached Paâ—estine and those fitter to be sent to Hosâ—itals than to march into the Field But the chief cause why this Voyage miscarried so miserably was the Treathery of Alexius who perplexing himself with a groundless and ridiculous fear lest between the Latines in the East who were come thither upon pretence of conquering Palestine and those in the West his Graecian Empire lying in the midst should be ground to powder as betweeâ— two Milstones did them all the private mischief he could possibly procure whilst he publickly pretended to havâ— the greatest kindness for them imaginâ—able calling the chief Captains of theiâ— Army his Sons and thereby verifying the Proverb The more courtesie the morcraft But in private he would say to his friends that he took as great a pleaâ— sure to see those European Pilgrims iâ— Battel with the Turk as he would do to see two Mastiff Dogs sighting togetherâ— hoping that which side soever lost hâ— himself should be a gainer Wherefore he so ordered the matter that they haâ—â— no sooner passed Graecia and crossed thâ— Bosphorus but they were for thirty dayâ— together exposed as a mark to the Turkisâ— Arrows and cut off by their cowardly Enemies whilst they were pent up in the straits of unknown passages But in the mean time King Baldwiâ— imployed himself with better success iâ— Palestine For by the assistance of thâ— Genoan Fleet who were for their painâ— to have a third part of the spoil and a Street in every place that was taken he â—on several very considerable Havens â—ong the midland Sea there being beâ—re this but one only part for the Chriâ—ians to land at viz. Joppa He began with Antipatris to redeem the Christian â—onour which was morgaged there when Godfrey was forced to rise from before it But the Turks having gotten â—ogether a good Army gave him Battel â—t Rhamula where he gave them a very â—reat overthrow The Joy of which Victory continued â—ot long for the Turks being recruited â—nd resolving upon revenge set upon him â—gain in the same place and after a reâ—olute fight obtained the Victory it being â—he first great overthrow the Christians â—ad ever received in Palestine whereâ—n besides many others the Earls of Bloys and Burgundy lost their lives and the King himself was reported to be slain This Victory so entoxicated the Turks with Joy that they gave themselves to â—mirth and jollity without the least susâ—icion of a Reincounter which Baldwin â—eing informed of by his Spies returned suddenly upon them with fresh Souldiers â—nd with the back-blow of an unlook'd for Enemy which is commonly the most fatal bravely wrested the Victory out of the Infidels hands Nor were the rest of the Christian Princes idle but endeavoured likewise the inlarging of the Christian Dominions Tancred Prince of Galilee possessing him self of Apamea and Laodicea two Citieâ— in Coelosyria which were both built bâ— Antiochus Nor was it long before Ptolemais fell likewise into the Christian hands a City on the Mediterranean Sea which took its name from Ptolemeus Philometor King of Egypt The Genoan Gallies being ten in number doing the greatest service in the taking of it and therefore as a reward had granted them large profits from the Harbour a Church to themselves and Jurisdiction over the fourth part of the City which came aâ— last to be the very Seat of the Holy Warâ— there being in it a continual fighting against the Turks for an hundred and eighty years together But whilst the Arms of the Christians prospered so well in some places they were unsuccessful in others for Baldwâ—â— Count of Edossa and Earl Joceline besieging Charran in Mesopotamia had broughâ— it into such straits that it was ready to bâ— delivered to them when the Christian Captains falling out among themselves were set upon and defeated by the Pagans and the two Earls with diver others taken Prisoners However to mitigate the sorrow for this misfortune Byblus which was a very good Haven and built by Heveus the Sixth Son of Canaan was taken by King Baldwin and shortly after Tripoli was likewise conquered by his Victorious Arms who created one Bertram a Nobleman that had behaved himself well in the Siege Earl of Tripoli it being accounted a Title of great Honour in regard Tripoli was ever reckoned one of the four Tetrarchies of the Kingdom of Jerusalem And to revenge the many injuries they had received from treacherous Alexius Boemund Prince of Antioch with a great Navy spoiled the Havens of Graecia every one abhorring his unfaithful practice were willing to list themselves as Volunteers for this Service But an Agreement was soon made between them Sidon the most ancient and famous City of Phoenicia was by the help of the Danish and Norway Fleet added likewise to the Kingdom of Jerusalem flushed with which Conquest and the series of success that had for a long â—â—me attended them they next set down before Tyre a City which Sea and Land Nature and Art had combined together to make strong and impregnable it being incompassed by the Sea all but a narrow neâ— of Land that tacks it to the Coâ—nent which was fortified with mâ— Walls and Towers so that it was hâ— to determine whether the strength ofâ— City or the Wealth of its Inhabitaâ— was greatest But not being able
was to pay a Ransom 〈◊〉 an hundred thousand Michaelets for tâ—â— security whereof he left his Daughter 〈◊〉 Hostage But he paid the Turks with tâ—â— Saracens money whom he beat first 〈◊〉 Antioch and then at Damascus whiâ—â— place he unfortunately besieged aâ—â— thereby damped the Joy of his two foâ—mer Victories And the more to quâ— their swelling pride the young Princeâ— Antioch was overthrown in Battel aâ—â— slain Which ill success so afflicted Kiâ—â— Baldwins mind that for some time bâ— fore his death he renounced the worâ—â— and took upon him a Religious Habitâ— thing not very unusual in those days aâ— sometimes though not often practiâ—â— still as by the Late Queen of Sweden Wâ— is yet living CHAP. XIII Of Fulco the Fourth King of Jerusalem The remarkable Ruine of Rodolphus Patriarch of Antioch The Graecian Emperour demands Anti och The Prince thereof pays him Homage for it Theâ—amentable Death of Fulco FVlco Earl of Tours Mam and Anjou came about three years before on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he obâ—ained in Marriage Mellesent the Kings Daughter and thereupon had assigned â—he City of Tyre and some other Princeâ—y Accommodations for his present mainâ—enance and the Kingdom after his Father-in-laws decease which he received â—ccordingly He had one Son by a forâ—er Wife which was Jeffry Plantagenet Earl of Anjou to whom he left all his Lands in France and from whom our Kings of England are descended This Fulco was a very valiant man indued with many perfections both of body and mind In his Reign there was â—o Alterations worth remark in the Church of Jerusalem but in that of Antioch there was much stir who should succeed Bernard that peaceable and long liv'd Prelate who sate Thirty six yearâ— in the Chair and survived Eight Patriarchs of Jerusalem For the Clergâ— being long in their choice before theâ— could come to a result the Laity waâ— too nimble for them and clapped oâ— Rodolphus of honourable descent into thâ— Chair who cast off his Obedience to thâ— Pope and refused to acknowledge aâ—â— Superiour but St. Peter He was thâ— Darling of the Gentry but bated of thâ— Clergy because advanced without theâ— suffrage wherefore being conscious 〈◊〉 himself that he needed strong Arms sinâ— he was to swim against the stream 〈◊〉 screwed himself into the favour of tâ—â— Princess of Antioch Widdow to youâ— Boemund so that with her strength 〈◊〉 beat down all his Enemies promising hâ— in requital to make a Marriage betwâ—â— her and Reimund Earl of Poictou who wâ— then coming into those parts But 〈◊〉 deceived her and procured the Earl 〈◊〉 marry with the Lady Constantia hâ— Daughter who was but a Child wiâ—â— whom he had the Principality of Antioâ— The Patriarch that he might maâ—â— sure work and oblige him for ever to 〈◊〉 his friend bound him to it by an Oatâ— But as it is usual in those cases frienâ— unjustly gotten are seldom long injoyed of a sworn Friend he became his sworn Enemy and forced him to go to Rome there to answer many Accusations laid to his charge The chief whereof was that he made odious comparisons between Antioch and Rome and accounted himself equal to his Holiness When he arrived at Rome he found the Popes Doors shut against him but he quickly opened them with a Golden Key and upon his repentance for having refused to acknowledge Obedience to the Church of Rome he was dismissed only it was ordered by his Holiness that the Bishop of Ostia should be sent into Byria to examine matters relating to his other Crimes and proceed accordingly Whereat his Adversaries stormed extreamly expecting that he should have been immediately deposed But having mist their mark they resolved to have a second blow at him wherefore they prevailed with Albericus the Legate to favour their design which was not unknown to Rodolphus who coming to Antioch cited the Patriarch to appear but being called three several times came not which was variously commented upon by those who were present according as they affected or disaffected him Whereupon the Legate directed himself to the Arch-Bishop of Apamea who had formerly been one of the most vehemenâ— Accusers of Rodolphus but had lately beeâ— reconciled to him and demanded why he did not accuse the Patriarch now oâ— those Crimes which he had formerly laid to his charge To which the Arch-Bishop answered That what he theâ— did was done out of heat and prejudice and he thought it was his great sin so unadvisedly to discover the nakedness oâ— his Father like cursed Cham from which God had so far reclaimed him that he would rather die for his safety than accuse him Upon which Speech the Legate such was the Martial-Law in a Prelate in those days immediately deposed him and shortly after thrust out the Patriarch with great violence and shut him up in Prison where he remained a long time in Chains till at last he made his escape and went to Rome with an intent to have traversed his Cause again had not death cut him off About this time Calo Johannes the Graecian Emperour came with a great Army of Horse and Foot and demanded of Reimund Prince of Antioch to resign to him that whole Signiory according to the Composition which the Christian Princes made with Alexius his Father which insolent demand fretted Reimund and all the Latines to the heart in regard they had purchased an Inheritance with their own Blood and yet were required to turn Tenants at will to another They told him it was offered his Father when first taken and he refused it That Alexius kept not his Covenants nor assisted them according to the Agreement He called them his Sons indeed but disinherited them of their hopes and all the Portion that he gave them lay in promises never paid But all these Arguments signified little the Emperours Sword being far stronger than theirs for coming with so great a force he conquered in a few days all Cilicia and then besieged the City of Antioch it self whereupon the King of Jerusalem fearing it would give too great advantage to the Infidels to have the Christians fall together by the Ears among themselves made composition between them wherein Reimund obliged himself to do homage to the Emperour and hold his Principality of him Notwithstanding which about four years after he returned again but did not much harm only pillaged the Country And some few years after that he died being accidentally poisoned by one of his own Arrows which he had prepared for the Wild Bore having always carried it much fairer to the Latines than his Father had done in regard an honourable Foe is much more desirable than a Treacherous Friend Falco having Reigned in Jerusalem about Eleven years with abundance oâ— care and industry being almost continually imbroiled in Civil Discords which hindered him from much inlarging of hiâ— Dominion was slain as he was following his sport in Hunting to the great grieâ— of his Subjects He was buried with his Predecessors
the Kingdom Philip Earl of Flanders and the chief strength of the Kingdom being then absent in Celosyria wasting the Country about Emissa and Cesarea Baldwin was forced to keep himself close in the City not daring to venture on so strong an Enemy which fear of Baldwins having possessed Saladine with a belief that he needed not so great an Army to lie before the City he sent out several Parties to forrage and spoil the Country which the King observing resolved to take opportunity by the fore-lock and set on him when he least expected it To which end he sallied out with great privacy and silence and with about four hundred Horse a few Footmen suddenly assaulted his secure Enemies with such invincible Courage and Resolution that notwithstanding their number being Twenty six thousand Horse and Foot they were utterly routed and the Christians returned with great Triumph and Joy to Jerusalem But Saladine who was rather inraged than daunted by this overthrow resolved not to be long before he recovered his credit and therefore about two months after he fell with his Mammalukes like a mighty and raging Tempest upon the Christians as they were dividing the spoil of a Party of Turks whom they had vanquished a little before putting most of them to the Sword and the rest to flight and taking Otto Grand Master of the Templars and Hugh Son-in-law to the Count of Tripoli Prisoners the King himself hardly escaping So that both sides having sufficiently smarted consented to refresh themselves with a short Peace under the shelter whereof their troubled States breathed quietly for the space of about two years which Truce was the more willingly embraced by Saladine because a Famine then raged in the Kingdom of Damascus where it had scarcely rained for five years together But this welcom Calm was somewhat troubled with an unexpected Storm raised by Domestick Discords in King Baldwins Court. For the Kings Mother and Uncle two persons of turbulent spirits accused the Count of Tripoli of Treason as if he had when he was Governour of the Kingdom affected the Crown for himself which accusation so stung the King in the head that the Count coming shortly after to Jerusalem was as he was on the way thither commanded to stay which he looked upon as a great disgrace But some of the Nobility fearing the mischiefs which might proceed from this unhappy difference brought them to be reconciled But though the matter was seemingly made up yet the King ever after looked upon the Earl with a jealous Eye And the Earl seeing himself suspected proved afterwards really treacherous and disloyal though he is supposed by most Historians to be innocent of what he was then charged withal The Kingdom of Damascus having now recovered its self from the Famine and Saladine obtained his ends by the Truce would observe it no longer wherefore having gotten together a good Army he marcht out of Egypt through Palestine destroying and spoiling the Country all along as he went to Damascus And having strengthened himself with the addition of what Forces he had in Syria he entred the Holy Land again But the King who had not above seven hundred Men to twenty thousand met him at a small Village called Frobolt and opposing Valour to his multitudes overthrew him in a great and bloody Battel wherein Saladine himself was forced by speedy flight to escape the danger and by long Marches get him again to Damascus Nor had he any better success when shortly after he besieged Berytus being forced by the valour and courage of Baldwin to raise his Siege and depart with disgrace Wherefore Saladine finding such tough resistance in the Holy Land hoped to gain a better purchase by imploying his Arms in Mesopotamia to which end passing the River Euphrates he won Charran and divers other Towns after which returning again into Syria he besieged Aleppo which was the strongest place the Christians had in the whole Country being so fortified both by Nature and Art that it would have been almost impossible for him to have taken it had he not by his Bribes made a far larger Breach in the Governours Loyalty than he was able to do in the Walls of the City But having by this means possessed himself of Aleppo he marched again into the Holy Land being now more formidable than ever he had been before and carrying an Army of Terrour in the very mention of his name so that the poor Christians unanimously fled into their fenced Cities As for King Baldwin the Leprosie had arrested and confined him within the compass of his own Court where his great spirit long strove with his infirmity being loth to part with his Crown and disrobe himself of his Royalty before they were pluckt away by death but was however forced at last to stoop and retire himself to a private life appointing Baldwin his Nephew a Child of five years old to be his Successor and Guy Earl of Joppa and Askelon who was the young Childs Father in-law to be Protector of the Realm in his minority But soon after finding Guy to be a silly soft man he revoked the latter Act and designed Raimund Earl of Tripoli to succeed him Guy who though he was not valiant yet was very sullen stormed extreamly at his disgrace and leaving the Court in discontent returned home and fortified his Cities of Joppa and Askelon which greatly perplexed the Kings thoughts not knowing whom to name for Protector fearing lest Guys cowardliness should lose the Kingdom to the Turks or Raimunds treachery get it for himself so that anguish of mind and weakness of body ended his days when he was about five and twenty years of age happy in dying before the death of his Kingdom CHAP. XVIII The short Reign and woful Death of Baldwin the Fifth Guy succeeds him Tripoli revolts The Christians overthrown Their King taken Prisoner And the City of Jerusalem won by the Turks IT hath ever been accounted one of the greatest happinesses that can befal a Family for the Heirs to be of Age before their Fathers death in regard Minors have not only been the Ruine of Families but the overthrow of Kingdoms too And it being one of Gods threatnings against a wicked and disobedient People to give Children to be their Princes and Babes to Rule over them he scourged the Kingdom of Jerusalem three several times with that Rod within the compass of forty years Baldwin the Third Fourth and Fifth being all under Age and the last but five years old being the Posthumus Son of William Marquets of Montferat by Sybil his Wife Sister to Baldwin the Fourth and Daughter to King Almerick who was after the death of the Marquess married to this Guy Now the Earl of Tripoli demanding to be Protector of this young King according to the designation of his Uncle before his death Sybil who was Mother to this Infant to defeat Raimunds hopes of obtaining the Protectorship first murthered all natural affections
in her own breast and then murthered her Son by giving him a dose of Poison that so the Crown in her right might come to Guy her Husband This Prince unhappy in springing from so inhuman and barbarous a Mother Reigned but eight Months and eight Days Baldwin being thus dispatched Guy obtained by large Bribes to the Templars and Heraclius the Patriarch to be immediately crowned from which time the Christians affairs in the Kingdom of Jesalem posted towards their fatal period being spurr'd on the faster by the woful jarrings and discords among the Princes But we shall at present leave the Civil to discourse a little of the Ecclesiastical affairs of this declining Realm Whilst Heraclius was Patriarch of Jerusalem one Hymericus injoyed that honour at Antioch who wrote a bemoaning Letter to Henry the Second of England wherein he much lamented the woful state of the Christians in the East and endeavoured to persuade that Prince to undertake a Voyage into Palestine for their succour and relief and received from him in answer thereunto a Letter fraught with fair and ample promises the performance whereof I could never yet meet with in any of those Historians who wrote the Transactions of the Holy War But besides those Latine Patriarchs which commanded in the Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch there were Grecian Anti-Patriarchs who were appointed by the Emperour of Constantinople and having no temporal Power nor Jurisdiction over the Latines nor Profits of Church-Lands were forced to content themselves with a Jurisdiction over those of the Greek Church only We are not able to find out the exact Chain of their Succession and therefore are forced to content our selves with discovering here and there a Link And about this time we light on three that enjoyed that titular Dignity successively one after another the first whereof was Athanasius who was notwithstanding his being called Schismatick by some of the Historians of that Age a very learned and pious Man as appears by the many excellent Epistles which he wrote upon several occasions The second was Leontius commended likewise to Posterity for an honest Man and a good Scholar The third was Dositheus who was much inferiour to the two former both for Piety and Learning and being offered the Patriarchship of Constantinople by Isaac the Grecian Emperour he attempted to grasp at both and by that means held neither but between two Patriarchal Chairs fell irrecoverably to the ground In Antioch likewise we find several Greek Patriarchs whereof one whose name was Sotericus being displaced for several Heretical Tenets which he held concerning our Saviour he was succeeded by Theodorus Balsamon who was in his time the very Oracle of the Civil Law compiling and publishing many Learned Commentaries upon the Ancient Canons wherein he proved the Patriarch of Constantinople to have greater priviledges than the Bishop of Rome catching say the Romanists at every thing that sounded to the advancing of the Eastern Churches and the pulling down Rome when she lifts up her Head above Constantinople for which reason Bellar min will not allow him to be a good Author This Balsamon was likewise deceived by Isaac the Grecian Emperour who pretended that he would remove him to Constantinople upon condition he could prove the Translation of Patriarchs to be lawful in regard the Canons forbid it but having performed the task the Emperour who was very mutable in his mind bestowed the Patriarchs place upon another and left Balsamon to remain still at Antioch There being about this time a Truce between the Turks and Christians and Saladine's Mother supposing her self sufficiently guarded thereby adventuring to travel from Egypt to Damascus with abundance of Treasure and a very small Train she was notwithstanding the Truce surprized and riffled of all she had by Reinold of Castile which base and unchristian act so inraged Saladine that gathering together all his strength he immediately besieged Ptolemais And the Earl of Tripoli vext at his losing the Government was so blinded by passion and filled with rage against King Guy that he mistook his Enemy and revenged himself on God and Religion by basely revolting with his whole Principality which was a third part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to Saladine and assisting him in that Siege But the Knights Templars and Hospitallers sallying out falling on the Turks in their Camp killed 20000 thousand of them but not without some loss to themselves the Master of the Hospitallers and divers other persons of note being slain in the Fight However thâ— Victory remained to the Christians anâ— Saladine was forced to raise his Siege anâ— be gone which made the Earl of Tripolâ— either out of fear that the Christianâ— might prevail or else moved thereunâ— out of remorse of Conscience or discoâ—tented with the entertainment he me withal from Saladine who had learneâ— that Politick Maxim to give some honour but place no trust in a Fugitive reconcile himself to the King and sorry for his offence return again to thâ— Christians Whereupon Guy gathered togetheâ— the whole strength of his weak and declining Kingdom to do their last endeavour against the Turks to whom he adventured to give Battel near Tiberias although he had but 1500 Horse and 15000 Foot against 120000 Horse and 160000 Foot The Fight began about three of the Clock in the afternoon but night coming on forced them to give over till the next morning when both sides began afresh and the Christians fought with so much courage and resolution that their valour poised their Enemies numbers till at length the day waxing extream hot turned the Scales to the Pagans side there being more Christians slain by thirst and the Beams darted on them from the scorching Sun than with their Enemies weapons Reinold of Castile was slain upon the place and so were most of the Templars and Hospitallers And Gerard Master of the Templars and Boniface Marquess of Montferat were taken Prisoners together with the King himself who seeing his servants all slain before his Eyes with much importunity prevailed with Saladine to spare his Schoolmaster yea in this unfortunate Battel the very flower of the Christians Chivalry was cut down and what was yet most lamented saith Matthew Paris the Cross which freed men from the captivity of their sins was for mens sins taken captive This fatal Overthrow was generally imputed to the Earl of Tripoli who that day commanded a good part of the Christian Army and is reported by some Historians to have treacherously run away in the midst of the Battel But when a great action miscarries some or other must bear the blame and he having been false before this loss was charged on him right or wrong Saladine having obtained this Victory improved it so well that in one months time he conquered Berytus Biblus Ptolemais and all the Havens except Ayre froâ— Sidon to Askelon He used his Conqueâ— with great moderation giving life anâ— goods to all and forcing no Christians 〈◊〉 quit their
it was convenient to send an Army not so much to Conquer it as to receive it Henry Duke of Saxony was chosen General of the Pilgrims who was acompanied by Frederick Duke of Austria Hermand Landgrave of Thuringia Henry Palatine of the Rhine the Arch-bishops of Ments and Wittenburgh the Bishops of Bream and Halberstadt and Regenspurg and divers other Prelates so that it was an Episcopal Army and one might there have truly seen the Church Militant In their passage through Greece they found better usage then some of their Predecessors and being conveyed from thence by Shiping into Syria they presently brake the Truce made with the Turks by the King of England being impowered so to do by a Dispensation from the Pope who looked upon a peace Solemnly made the Usurper and free his Father from his Miserable Captivity The Soldiers were well enough pleased with the exchange of service for they knew well enough that in Palestine there was nothing to be got but Honour and here they hoped to get both Honour and Spoil Wherefore setting saile from Jadera they went directly to Constantinople and after some few hot skirmishes easily took the City whereupon Alexius the Usurper with his Wife Whores and Treasure being fled away blind Isaac and his son Alexius were saluted Joynt Emperors which brittle Honour was quickly broken for the Old Emperor being now brought out of a close pent Dungeon into the open Air died soon after and his Son was thereupon Villainously strangled by Alexius Ducas a man of base Parentage who was in a tumultuous manner chosen Emperor by the People but growing proud upon his being thus advanced to the Imperial Throne he gave some affronts to the Latins who still lay in their Ships before Constantinople whereupon they assaulted the City again the Second time and taking it by main force plundered all the inhabitants Ravishing the Women and using a Thousand Insolencies wherein the very Sanctuaries needed Sanctuaries to defend them from the violence of the inraged Soldiers And the Latines having thus Possessed themselves of Constantinople within twelve Months conquered all the Grecian Empire except Adrinople and divided it among themselves Making Baldwine Earl of Flanders Emperor of Grecia Boniface Marquiss of Montferrat King of Thessaly and Geoffrey a French Noble man Prince of Achaia and Duke of Athens And the Venetians got many rich Islands in the Egean and Ionian Seas And Thomas Maucrocenus was Elected the first Latine Patriarch of Constantinople CHAP. III. The Holy War turned upon the Albigenses THe Pope having lately diverted the Holy War and turned it upon the Grecian liked the Success of it so well that he afterwards made a common Trade of it for having about two years after procured the Levying a great Army for the Holy War he sent them against the Albingenses in France Who being accounted Hereticks by his Holiness he resolved to destroy them without Mercy That pretended Shepherd of the Church knowing no other way to bring home wandring Sheep then by worrying them to Death for the promoting which Pious Work he promised all those who would undertake it the same Pardon and Indulgences as to them that went to Conquer the Holy-Land And the better to perswade People to undertake it he only requests their Aid for forty days hoping to have eaten up those despised Hereticks at a mouthful Tho' therein he found himself mistaken for they found him and his Successor work enough for fifty years together However in regard the Seat of the War was nearer the Service shorter and the Wages the same with the Voyage into Palestine many entred themselves for this imploy neglected the other The chief whereof were the Duke of Burgundy the Earls of Nevers St. Paul Auxierne Geneva Poictiers and Montfort And of Church-Men Milo the Popes Legate the Arch-Bishops of Sens and Roven the Bishop of Clearmort Nevers Charters Baguex and many more every Bishop with the Pilgrims of his own Jurisdiction Their work was to destroy the Albingenses which were in great numbers in Daulphine Province and other parts of France and to Root out all their Friends and Favourers or suspected to be so Pope Innocent the Third having gathered together an Army of an hundred thousand Pilgrims Sackt the Cities of Besiers and Carcassone destroying many Papists among the Albingenses and cutting the Priests themselves in pieces even in their Priestly Ornaments After which Simon Earl of Monfort was made General of the Pilgrims who had been hitherto Commanded by Milo the Popes Legate which made the Earls of Fayl Tholouse and Cammurge with the Prince of Berne who were the Patrons of the Albingenses to shelter themselves under Peter King of Aragon whose Homagers they were One great Inconvenience ever attended that Army of Pilgrims for so soon as ever their forty days were expired in regard it was the full time set them by the Pope to merit Paradise in they would not stay a Night longer least peradventure having purchased Heaven they might by continuing longer in the Service be put into the Possession of it sooner then they were willing which being observed by the King of Aragon and that between the going out of the Old and the coming in of the New store of Pilgrims there was usually a very low ebb and their Army was almost dwindled to nothing he took the Earl of Monfort at the advantage before he was re-inforced with new Pilgrims and gave him Battel when he had not above two thousand two hundred Men left himself having an Army of thirty thousand Foot and seven thousand Horse which made him so over-Confident of Victory that out of Pride and Vanity he exposed his Person so openly at the Head of the Army that he did as it were invite his Enemies Arrows to hit so fair a Mark by which he was so mortally Wounded that he fell from his Horse and with his Body sunk the Hearts of his Soldiers who all presently run away Simon pursuing them to the very Gates of Thoulose and killing many thousands of them Yet in a few years the Face of this War was Changed for young Reimund Earl of Thoulose exceeding his Father both in Valour and Success re-gained in a few Months what Simon and his Pilgrims had been many years in Conquering And at last Simon as he laid Siege to Tholose had his Head shot off from his Body by a stone which a Woman let fly out of an Engine from the City wall In whose Death the raging storm of open War against those Albingenses ended In the prosecution whereof Three Hundred Thousand Craised Pilgrims had within the compass of fifteen years lost their lives so that there was not a City or Village in France but what had in it some Widows or Orphans to curse the Promoters of this Expedition but tho' the great storm was over yet many great drops feil upon them afterwards the Pope being still stiring up one or other to molest them CHAP. IV. King Almerick
the Miseries of the last Siege and fearing the same Tragedy would be acted over again set fire to the Houses and in the Night saved themselves by flight whereupon the French issued in and quenching the fire saved abundance of Treasure from the fury of the flames Which Loss so discouraged Meladine that to purchase Peace with the Christians he offered to restore them the whole Kingdom of Jerusalem in as ample a manner as ever it had been enjoyed by any of their Predecessors to release all Prisoners and disburse a great Sum of Money to defray the Charge of the War But such was their Pride and Folly that they refused to accept of it unless Alexandria the best Port in all Egypt were given them as an Over-plus the Pope's Legate and Robert Earl of Artois persuading them to grant Peace upon no other terms Wherefore the Turk seeing themselves in so desperate a condition their Extremity rendered their Sword the keener and made them provide with the greater resolution to defend their Country to the utmost About this time there arose a difference between the French and the English to the great prejudice of their Proceedings And Meladine King of Egypt died likewise the same Year and left his imbroiled Kingdom to Melcchsala his Son From Damiata the French marched up towards Cairo the Governor whereof being offended with the new King promised to deliver it into their hands And having passed an arm of the River Nilus Earl Robert marched forward with a third part of the Army and suddenly assaulted the Turks in their Tents whilst the King was absent and put them to flight which Victory so lifted him up with conceit that he adventured contrary to the advice of the Master of the Templers to set on the whole Turkish Power which lay incamped not far off without staying for the rest of the Army whereby he was utterly overthrown and as he was crossing the River in his flight found Water enough to drown him tho' not to wash away the stain of rashness and cowardize from his memory and our English Earl refusing to fly died fighting in the midst of his Enemies there escaping no more but four persons to carry News of this fatal overthrow to the rest of the Army It is easier for the Reader to conceive than for my Pen to express the general grief wherewith these doleful Tydings were received by the French among whom the Plague raged so furiously that it daily swept away Thousands And to increase their sorrow several sick persons whom the King had sent down the River to Damiata were set upon by the Egyptian King and having neither Hands to fight nor Legs to run were every one either burned or drowned except Alexander Gifford an English-man whose Name and Family still remains at Chellingworth in Stafford-shire who acquainted the French with what had happened They would now have been glad of those Terms which a little before they slighted but it was too late for the Turks now scorned to treat with them The French would have had the King provided for his own safety by flying back to Damiata But he refused and resolving to live or die overcome or perish with them marched forward to the fatal place where the last Battel was fought And whilst they were astonished at the sight of their mangled fellows the Egyptian King set upon them with an infinite number of men and put them all being but few in number and those very weak to the sword except Lewis and his two Brothers whom he took Prisoners The Turks having thus slain all the French Pilgrims instantly marched up with their Ensigns to Damiata hoping thereby to surprize it which if they had done King Lewis had been for ever lost But God disappointed them for they were easily discovered notwithstanding their disguise and forced to go away without their desire The News of this sorrowful Accident coming to Europe filled every one with grief and made Henry King of England who had made great preparation to undertake the Voyage to alter his mind and imploy his Money to a better use But to return to Egypt Melechsala did not long survive this Victory being slain soon after by Tanquemine a sturdy Mammaluke who succeeded him in the Egyptian Kingdom by whom King Lewis was released in exchange for Damiata being obliged besides the surrender of the City to pay many Thousand Pounds for the releasing of Christian Captives and to make satisfaction for the Damage done in Egypt for the securing whereof he was forced to pawn to the Turks the Pyx and Host whence it is that a Wafer-Cake and a Box is always wrote in the Borders of that Tapestry which we have brought us out of Egypt as a perpetual Memorial of that Victory But tho' Lewis was set at liberty yet he got not home till four years after CHAP. VIII The Mammalukes described The Death of Frederick The Conversion of the Tartars And the extinguishing the Caliphs of Babylon Charles made King of Sicily and Jerusalem King Lewis makes a second Voyage THose Mammalukes which had now seized on the Kingdom of Egypt were the Children of Christian-Parents which were by Saladine and his Successors taught the Mahometan Superstition and instructed in all Military Discipline at several Nurseries and being found by their Valour and Courage to be the chief support of the Turkish Kings were by them advanced to the chief places of profit and trust and thereby the better enabled to pull down their raisers Which was performed during the captivity of King Lewis by Tarquemine who slew Melechsala and thinking it unfit so great a Prince should go to the grave alone sent all his Children after him And was afterwards chosen by the rest of the Mammalukes King of Egypt whereupon he by their advice and consent made several Laws which were ever afterward observed by them as irrevokable The first whereof was That the Sultan or chief of the servile Empire should not succeed by Inheritance but be chosen out of the Mammalukes The second That none should be admitted into the Order of the Mammalukes that were born either of Turkish or Jewish Parents but only such as were born Christians The third was That tho' the Sons of Mammalukes should injoy their Fathers Lands and Wealth yet they should not take upon them the Name and Honour of a Mammaluke The fourth was That the Native Egyptians should be permitted the use of no other Weapons but such wherewith they were to fight against Weeds and Till and Manure their Land There were in this Government several things worthy admiration First That of Slaves they should act the King without playing the Tyrant Secondly That they should neglect their own Children when it is common for other men to idolize them and sacrifice all that they have to their welfare Thirdly That they should not fall out in the Election of their Kings in regard they were all equal among themselves Lastly That it should indure so