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.J-
JERUSALEM AND THE CRUSADES
JERUSALEM
AND THE CRUSADES
BY ESTELLE BLYTH
WITH EIGHT PLATES IN COLOUR BY L. D. LUARD
AND A SERIES OF REPRODUCTIONS OF
PICTURES OF HISTORIC INTEREST
LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK
67 LONG ACRE, W. C.
AND EDINBURGH
H
D
TO
-, . , > , ( , ( , ( ,
MY FATHER AN.I/ MOTHER
IN A-,L L<<V'ANI> GRATITUDE
-
.,
ST. GEORGE'S COLLEGE
JERUSALEBI.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAG E
I. THE CITY AND THE LAND ... 1
II. THE PILGRIMS ... . 8
III. THE FIRST CRUSADE, 1096-1099 . 17
IV. THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM . . 36
V. THE KNIGHTS .... ... 45
VI. THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM 60
VII. THE SETTLING OF. THE KINGDOM .. v . . 74
VIII. THE KINGDOM f *f ITS HEIGHT ... 83
IX. THE SECOND CRUSADE : . . . . . 103
X. THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE. . ,. . . .119
- i
S 5^I. THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM . . . . 136
SLJ. THE FALL OF JERUSALEM, 1187 . 151
XIII. THE THIRD CRUSADE, 1189-1192 . . 168
XIV. THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE, 1212 .198
XV. THE LAST CRUSADES ...... 206
XVI. THE Loss OF ACRE .... . 224
XVII. THE Two GREAT ORDERS . 233
XVIII. WHAT THE CRUSADERS DID . ... 256
ARABIC WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BROUGHT
IN BY THE CRUSADERS . . . 262
MEANINGS OF CHRISTIAN NAMES .... 260
INDEX 267
vi
ILLUSTRATIONS
THE SARACENS FELL LIKE HEADS OF CORN BEFORE RICHARD'S
BATTLE-AXE. (Colour) ..... Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
THE CITY OF JERUSALEM ....... 4
JERUSALEM PILGRIMS LANDING AT JOPPA, AND PAYING TOLL
TO ENTER THE HoLY ClTY .... 12
PETER STARTED OFF HIMSELF, FOLLOWED BY A CROWD OF
HALF-ARMED PEASANTS. (Colour) . . . . 18
CRUSADERS AND SARACENS IN BATTLE AT NICEA IN THE
FIRST CRUSADE ....... 26
UP WENT BoEMOND, THE FIRST BY RlGHT OF LEADERSHIP.
(Colour) ... 30
THE TOWER OF DAVID, JERUSALEM ..... 34
PETER IN A MOMENT HELD UP AN ANCIENT SPEAR-HEAD.
(Colour) ... . .40
THE TOIL-WORN SOLDIERS FROM THE NORTH FELL UPON
THEIR KNEES. (Colour) .... 48
How A CITY WAS BESIEGED IN THE MIDDLE AGES . . 56
GODFREY OF BOUILLON, FIRST KING OF JERUSALEM, ON HIS
THRONE ...... 64
THE CASTLE OF A GREAT CRUSADER : BUILT BY RAYMOND
OF TOULOUSE AT TRIPOLI IN 1103 .... 74
vii
THE CRUSADES
FACING PAGE
A GREAT TORTRESS OF THE CRUSADERS: RuiNS OF KERAK,
IN MOAB 88
STANDARD BEARERS AND TRUMPETERS OF A SARACEN ARMY
ON THE MARCH .... . 90
ANTIOCH, AN ANCIENT CITY OF THE CRUSADERS . . 110
THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM . . . . .158
RICHARD I IN BATTLE WITH THE SARACENS . . . 166
BARBAROSSA RESTS AND WAITS FOR THE CALL OF HIS COUNTRY.
(Colour) ......... 172
Louis FLUNG HIMSELF OVERBOARD. (Colour) . . 204
ST. Louis, KING OF FRANCE, CROSSES THE SEA TO PALES-
TINE, AND IS KEPT IN A SARACEN PRISON . . 204
THE FAMOUS CITY OF ACRE, SEEN FROM THE SEA . . 218
THEY HURRIED TO CONSTANTINOPLE. (Colour) . . . 228
THE RUINS OF THE GREAT CASTLE OF RHODES . . . 232
SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT FOR JERUSALEM . 242
Vlll
JERUSALEM AND
THE CRUSADES
CHAPTER I
THE CITY AND THE LAND
" Those holy fields
Over whose acres walked those blessed Feet,
Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nailed
For our advantage on the bitter Cross."
SHAKESPEARE.
FAR away from England, in the small, narrow land
of Palestine, which is part of the Turkish Empire,
there is an ancient walled-in city called Jerusalem.
Of course we all know about Jerusalem, because we
have read about it in the Bible ; but then the Bible
does not bring us very far down in the history of
the world, and the story of Jerusalem does not end
with the Bible story by any means. Some of the
strangest and most exciting chapters of her history
are those that have happened afterwards ; and this
book is about one of those periods perhaps one of
the most wonderful of them all.
THE CRUSADES
But before we can begin to build our story, we
must have a little patience to gather first all the
stones we want, so that they lie ready to our hand ;
and the first thing to do is to get some idea of
how the Holy Land lies with regard to the rest of
the world. We know that Palestine is part of the
peninsula of Arabia, a narrow strip lying at the
top of the bell- shaped peninsula, and stretching
down towards Egypt, which is, of course, in Africa.
The coast-line is washed by the Mediterranean, and
if you run your finger along that blue sea, past
Italy, through the Straits of Gibraltar, and up north,
leaving Spain and France on your right, to the
British Isles, you will see one way of coming to
Palestine.
The Holy Land itself is like a road, long and
narrow, and that is one reason that, while it has
been fairly easy to conquer Palestine, it has been so
very hard to keep it. It has long chains of moun-
tains, none of the peaks being very high except
Hermon, which wears a beautiful, sparkling crown
of snow, and on whose lower slopes nice brown
bears are hunted still. Palestine is a very beautiful
land indeed, the skies are so blue, and the flowers in
spring are so many and so bright. Though it is
covered with rocks and stones, the rich red earth
between is very good, so that corn and vines and
flowers and fruit and vegetables of many kinds grow
quite easily, and are generally much larger than in
2
THE CITY AND THE LAND
England, where the sun is not always to be seen.
It is a very hot land, too, and in some parts of it
the heat in summer is so great that the people can
hardly bear it ; that is in the low-lying places like
Jericho and Tiberias. But up in the mountains and
highlands, or by the sea, it is never too hot to be
borne. From Christmas time to the middle of
February it is generally very cold, with sharp, cut-
ting winds and heavy rain ; and snow falls, but not
every year. Then from February onwards it grows
brighter and warmer every day, until in the summer
months May, June, July, and August, and so on
it is really very hot indeed, and the stone walls be-
come so hot on the outside that they feel quite
burning under your hand if you touch them. The
air is very clear, and the stars burn like great lamps
at night, even when there is a moon ; and as for the
moon, when it is full the light is so strong that you
can read by it. There are no damp, cold fogs. After
a few hours of rain, the sun will burst through the
angry clouds, turning the silver-green olives into
fairy trees hung in diamonds fallen straight out of
the rainbow. And there is nothing more lovely
than a snowy day, when the ground is all white, with
a cloudless blue sky overhead, and sunshine every-
where. There is not a single day, summer or winter,
on which the sun does not shine for at least a part
of it. In every way it is a most lovely land there
are no words to say how beautiful.
3
THE CRUSADES
There is not much water in Palestine in the way
of rivers and lakes, but there are many springs ; and
the rain-water is stored up in great, deep cisterns cut
out of the rock. Sometimes we use the old cisterns
that the Romans made, hundreds of years ago, when
they ruled in Palestine : that was long before the
Crusaders' days, of course.
In the days of the Crusaders there were many
more forests and many more trees than there are
now, and wild beasts were common. There are still
some bears, leopards, wolves, jackals, cheetahs,
hyenas, and foxes, and so on but they are not
really common. There are also some poisonous
snakes, and insects that sting, such as scorpions and
centipedes ; but the land was so much better covered
in the old days that all these things were far more
common, and the Crusaders often suffered a good
deal from their poisonous stings, not knowing what
they were.
Jerusalem itself, the Holy City for whose pos-
session the Crusaders and Saracens fought so fiercely
for so many years, is a little walled-in city. Ii
stands upon hills, with valleys running round it 01*
three sides like a very deep moat, and a sharp little
valley cuts right through the City from north to
south, so that one end of it is much higher than
the other. It is surrounded by low, gently-rising
hills on all sides, the Mount of Olives being on the
due east. In the easternmost corner of the city is
4
THE CITY AND THE LAND
the Dome of the Rock, which is now the Mosque
(or place of worship) of the Moslems, who look
upon it as one of their greatest treasures. The
Rock is the threshing-floor that David bought from
Oman the Jebusite, and on which he offered a sacri-
fice after the plague was stayed in Jerusalem ; and
over it Solomon, great David's son, built his wonder-
ful Temple afterwards, and put the Altar of Sacrifice
on the Rock. You can still see the holes in the Rock
which were made for the feet of the Altar to rest in.
When the Crusaders had Jerusalem, the great
Temple Church of the Knights Templars stood
here, on this ground, and three of the murderers
of Thomas a Becket are buried here, one of them
being that Reginald Fitz-Urse who was the chief,
and who came to Jerusalem afterwards as a pilgrim
because he was so sorry for his wicked deed.
In the middle of the City is a wonderful church
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built
over the place which many people have believed for
centuries to be the real Tomb of Christ. It was to
take this Holy Sepulchre that the Crusaders came,
and came again, because they thought that no one
ought to have it except Christians. Just outside
the great door, on the right hand as you go in, is
buried an English Crusader, Sir Philip d'Aubigny;
his name can still be read on the flat stone covering
his grave, though the letters are getting a little faint
under the tread of the many feet that pass over it.
5
THE CRUSADES
Sir Philip d'Aubigny was one of the Barons who
signed Magna Charta, and he suffered for it at the
hands of the angry King John afterwards. Later
on he was for a time tutor to the little King,
Henry III, and when he was no longer wanted
there, he became a Crusader, and spent fourteen
years in the Holy Land, where at last he died, and
where he now lies buried.
On the higher ground at the west of the City
is the Citadel, called also the Tower of David ; and
near it is the Upper Room where Christ ate the
Last Supper with His disciples, and where, after
His Resurrection, the Holy Spirit came upon the
twelve Apostles. Under this room is the spot
where King David is buried, and a story is still
told in Jerusalem of his grave which the Crusaders
were told in their day, and which they thoroughly be-
lieved. It is that David keeps watch over his own
tomb, in which is buried also all his treasure, and
if anyone tries to break in to steal, or even to look,
such a strong and awful wind beats upon him that
he is driven back, terrified almost to death. And
David, an old man with long white beard and
calm but terrible eyes, sits there in his crown,
guarding his treasure until it is wanted not for
any greedy person or nation, but for the good of
Jerusalem herself.
And now I shall not have to keep you any
longer from the beginning of our story for a story
6
THE CITY AND THE LAND
it is, all about kings, and knights, and ladies, of
sieges and battles, and brave deeds, of towns lost
and won just like any old tale or romance, only
much better because it is quite true. Perhaps this
will show you (if you have not already found it
out for yourself), that history is as good as any
tale of romance or faery that ever was written.
You will see, too, the many links between our own
England with that lovely, far-off land where Christ
our Lord once dwelt.
CHAPTER II
THE PILGRIMS
" With naked foot and sackcloth vest,
And arms enfolded on his breast,
Did every pilgrim go."
SCOTT.
IN the eleventh century after Christ, Jerusalem
was in the hands of Mohammedan rulers, to whom
also it was a Holy City. There were Christians
living in the City, of course, and they had churches
and houses, but they had no power at all, and were
often badly treated. These Mohammedan governors
of Jerusalem and of Palestine were Arabs at one
time ; that is to say, they were the natives of
Arabia, whose ancestors had been the first to follow
the Prophet Mohammed, after whom they were
called Mohammedans : the word Moslem means
the same thing. The Arabs were great warriors,
and at first they conquered wherever they went,
not only in Syria, but in Spain, in North Africa,
and in China, India, and Persia. They were a fine
people, generous and not unjust to the Christians
over whom they ruled ; they were brave, too, and
learned in many things. They were great law-
8
THE PILGRIMS
givers, men of science, poets, geographers, doctors,
astronomers, and builders. Some of the most
beautiful buildings in the world were the work of
their clever hands ; and the names they gave to
some of the stars have never been changed. The
Arabs sometimes called themselves Sharkeyan, or
Men of the East ; but we have changed the name
into Saracens, which means exactly the same thing.
We must remember this word, for we shall come
across it over and over again as we get further
into our story.
About two hundred years before the First
Crusade there were two great rulers in the world,
one in the East and one in the West. Charlemagne
in the West ruled over nearly the whole of Europe,
and he would have liked to add in Constantinople
also, which was part of the great Greek Empire, but
he did not succeed in getting so far east. In the
East the ruler was that great Haroun al Rasheed,
the Khalif of Bagdad, whose name we know so well
because he was the Khalif of the Arabian Nights.
His great kingdom stretched from the borders of
India right down to Egypt. He traded with China
and with Europe, the chief traders being the Jews
of Palestine, who took their rich robes and spices to
Spain, while the Venetians and the Genoese in their
turn carried their treasures east. Haroun al Rasheed
encouraged all kinds of learning in his kingdom, and
he loved the companionship of wise and clever men ;
9
THE CRUSADES
he was also brave and just and generous, so that
his reign was really a Golden Age for all his great
dominions. He sent the keys of Jerusalem to
Charlemagne, and invited him to come and rebuild
the Christian Churches in Palestine (798), but
Charlemagne, though he would have dearly loved
to do so, could not leave his own kingdom. These
two great men, like a balance, kept the peace of
East and West by their friendship for each other :
but Haroun al Rasheed died in 809 and Charlemagne
in 814, and with their deaths this peace was broken.
Charlemagne's people buried him sitting upright in
his chair, the Book of the Gospels in his hand, just
as Patriarchs are buried still in the East, because
they could not bear to lay him down as if his work
were done and he had quite gone away from them
in an unending sleep.
With the passing of years the Arabs became
weaker, and began to lose their hold of the lands
they had taken. A young and strong people were
rising up, who pushed the Arabs back and back in
all directions. These conquerors of the Arabs were
a Tartar tribe from the north of Europe, called
Turcomans or Turks ; they were also Moslems.
They were brave fighters as the Arabs were, but
they were also a cruel, wild, and restless people.
They did not care at all for what are called the
gentle arts, architecture, painting, poetry, and music,
because they were such a restless race, always want-
10
THE PILGRIMS
ing to be up and doing. They were a people who
lived in tents, which they could move easily from
place to place, and so of course they did not care
for building beautiful houses, and they were far too
fond of fighting to care for any quieter pursuits.
Neither did learning or trade please them. They
cared only for what they could get by conquest, and
they despised any life but that of fighting. The
Turks overcame the Arab Saracens in Syria, and
having gained many battles in Asia Minor, they
invaded the Greek Empire. Then they began to
draw very near indeed to the borders of the Christian
lands in the East, and so to Europe itself. Even
the sea did not stop them, for Turkish pirates terri-
fied the coasts of the Mediterranean, and ravaged
Asia. And in 1065 they captured Jerusalem from
the Egyptian Saracens, who held it at the time.
The new governors of Jerusalem were not as just
and kind as the late rulers had been, on the whole ;
they oppressed the Christians who lived under them,
and they were especially unkind to the pilgrims.
Who were the pilgrims ?
From all parts of the world people came to visit
the holy places in and near Jerusalem, the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the place
where Christ's Tomb was, the Church built over
the Manger at Bethlehem, where He was born,
the Mount of Olives from which He ascended to
heaven, and many more besides these, all very
ii
THE CRUSADES
sacred because of their connection with Him, and
also with the patriarchs and kings and prophets of
old. These travellers were called pilgrims (the word
means travellers through strange lands), and they
came in a long, never-ending stream to visit the
Holy Land, but especially Jerusalem. They were
a great mixture, and many a strange life-story was
hidden under the rough pilgrim dress. For men of
all countries and of all classes met here in a common
fellowship of purpose. Rich men who had left all
that this world could give; strong men coming to
pray for the life of wife or child, dearer to them than
their own ; earnest priests burning with their desire
to see the places Christ had seen ; brave Knights,
perhaps seeking forgiveness for past wrongs done ;
monks ; poor pilgrims who had begged their way
out all these, and many more, pressed eastwards,
each with his own burden of sin or sorrow or care
to lay down in the Holy City. It was a long and
hard journey they had to take, if by sea, in little
rocking ships which were the mere toys of the great
waters they had to cross, sailing ever in fear of the
cruel pirates or sea-robbers, who roamed the seas
like wolves in search of prey. Or if they went across
the continent it was no more easy or safe, for the
parts we now call Germany, Austria-Hungary, and
the Balkan States, were then for the most part just
wild tracts of land, dark with forests, and torn by
great rushing rivers and waterfalls, while the moun-
12
JERUSALEM PILGRIMS LANDING AT JOPPA, AND PAYING TOLL
TO ENTER THE HOLY ClTY
From an ancient MS. in
the British Museum.
TILDFN f
C
THE PILGRIMS
tains were peopled by fierce, savage men, every bit
as cruel and as pitiless as the wild beasts who roared
through the great forests.
Pilgrims who had made the journey brought back
the most wonderful stories of the dangers and ad-
ventures they had passed through. They always
tried to travel only during the summer months, "for
in November, December, and January no vessel can
cross the sea because of storms." " Such storms, too ! '
said the pilgrims, in which there was " no stone or
sand at the bottom of the sea that was not moved
when the sea raged and raved thus." Then there
were perils from great fish, especially one called
Troya Marina, which would attack small ships, and
even big ones if it were very hungry. This monster
could sometimes be sent away after it had been well
fed with bread, or it might even be frightened off
by " a man's angry and terrible face." But if it saw
that you were afraid, it just snapped you up in a
moment. There was also a fish called a melar,
which drove its long, sharp tooth into a ship from
below, and shook it as if it had run upon a rock ;
and a " very truthful sailor ' said that there were
fish in the sea a mile long. The wonderful stories
which the pilgrims told were believed by every one,
and no doubt they frightened a good many people
from taking such a terrible journey. But even with-
out these large and hungry and bad-tempered fish,
the pirates and the storms were enough to face, so
13
THE CRUSADES
that it really needed plenty of courage and persever-
ance to be a pilgrim.
And even when they reached Jerusalem, the
pilgrims' troubles were not over ; for the Saracen
governors would not allow any one to enter unless
he paid the sum of thirty bezants first, which was
a very large sum of money in those days. If a
pilgrim could pay, he was allowed to enter by a
small gate on the east side of the City called St.
Lazarus's Postern (a postern is a small gate), from
which he went straight to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, all round which was the Christian quarter.
The Saracens would not let the pilgrims enter by
any of the chief gates of the City, nor pass through
the crowded markets where its business was carried
on, for they did not want the pilgrims, who were
foreigners, to see and know too much of what was
going on in the Holy City.
Now many of the pilgrims had spent all their
money on the long journey ; others, always poor,
had begged their way from place to place. These
now stood without the walls, and had nothing to
give for their entrance. How cruelly hard for them
to have come all this way, through so many dangers,
so many hardships, and all for nothing ! They could
not get in. Sometimes a pilgrim-knight, or a priest
from within the city, filled with pity for their trouble,
would pay the thirty bezants, and so some poor pil-
grim would get in after all; but, of course, there
THE PILGRIMS
were many and many who found no one to pay for
them, and these unfortunate people had no choice
but to stay outside, or even sadly to turn homewards
again. It sometimes happened that pilgrims died
there, outside the walls, and the bodies of these
were thrown out to the jackals, or else carelessly
buried in a big common grave in a place called the
Potter's Field. The pilgrims liked to die in Jeru-
salem, and they did not seem to mind the wretched
way in which their bodies might be treated after-
wards. Many of them used to pray that they might
die when they had seen the holy places. " Thou
Who hast died for us," they prayed, " and Who art
buried in this sacred place, take pity on our misery,
and take us from this vale of tears." There is a nice
story told of one of the Dukes of Normandy, the
father of William the Conqueror, who came to
Jerusalem as a pilgrim. He was so sorry for the
pilgrims whom he saw waiting outside the walls,
and who could not pay to get in, that he gave a
large sum of money to the Turkish governor to
allow some of them to enter. The Turkish gover-
nor was just as generous on his part, for he returned
the money to the Duke, and allowed the pilgrims
to enter free.
Of course the pilgrims' tales were not all full of
horrors and adventures, or very few indeed who
heard them would have had the courage or the wish
to take the same journey. They described as well
'5
THE CRUSADES
the wonderful cities they had seen on the way, the
riches of the East, the holy places, and the beauty
of the Holy Land itself. " Now you must know
that, as a matter of fact, the whole of the Holy
Land was, and is at this day, the best of all lands,"
wrote a monk who lived upon Mount Zion ; and
the pilgrims would tell, as this monk did, of the
" wild boars, roes, harts, partridges, and quails which
were so plentiful that it was a wonder to see them
. . . the lions and bears, and different wild beasts,
the camels and the dromedaries, stags, gazelles, and
buffaloes. In short, there are all the good things in
the world, and the land flows with milk and honey."
There was this side of the picture to tempt others
out to Palestine, as well as the terrible tales of the
sufferings the pilgrims had to undergo, and with
which they tried to rouse the people of Europe to
avenge them, and to put a stop to the many cruel
things that were done in Palestine.
But Europe was much too busy with its own
wars and other affairs, and for a long time it paid
no attention to these complaints. It seemed as if
things would go on for ever like this, only getting
worse, for no one would listen or help, and the
pilgrims, as we have seen, were quite unable to help
themselves. But it is always darkest before dawn,
and already the clouds were beginning to break, and
the light of coming help to shine through.
16
was
CHAPTER III
THE FIRST CRUSADE, 1096-1099
" The burning eye, the swarthy beard,
The glittering arms with gems inlaid,
The starry swords the Paynims feared,
The glory of the first crusade."
JOHN DAVIDSON.
" These were the great who triumphed easily,
In thought and glance, in word and deed supreme."
JOHN DAVIDSON.
AMONG the pilgrims who returned to tell the story
of his trials and hardships and adventures was one,
Peter the Hermit, whose great work it was to make
Europe listen to the cry of Jerusalem. -
Peter was a Frenchman, of a noble family of
Picardy, and had been a Knight, but because he
had done some bad deed, he put off his armour and
became a hermit. He was a small, mean-looking
man, but he had keen, wonderful eyes, and a great
gift of words, so that men could not help listening
to him. Peter went to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage
in the year 1093. It seemed to him that there was
nothing but trouble everywhere trouble amongst
the Christians who lived in Jerusalem, and trouble
17 B
THE CRUSADES
also for the men who were his fellow-pilgrims ; and
he learnt a good deal more from the ao-^d Je au ty
of Jerusalem, Simeon, with v *,.+ i-n w
The Patriarch told him all ^ ^^e wrongs done
to the Christians, and their sufferings and fears, and
how they were not able to help themselves. Simeon,
who was old and very sad, wept much as he told
Peter all these things. " It may be," he said, " that
when the cup of our sufferings is full, God will move
the hearts of our fellow- Christians in the West to
help His Holy City."
" Write," said Peter, burning with indignation
at what he heard, " write to the Kings of the West !
Tell them these things. I myself will take the
letters, and will pray the people of Europe to draw
sword and free Jerusalem ! "
The stories he heard, and the things he saw,
weighed upon Peter the Hermit's mind, and gave
him no rest by day or night. And while he was
praying at the shrines and altars and visiting the
holy places, he saw visions of saints and angels, and
heard voices calling to him out of heaven, which told
him that he was chosen to be the deliverer of his
fellow-Christians at Jerusalem. Once, as he was
praying at the Holy Sepulchre itself, he thought he
heard the voice of Christ Himself say, "Arise, Peter,
hasten to announce the sorrows of My people. It is
time that My servants were helped, and My holy
places delivered."
18
THE FIRST CRUSADE
Straightway Peter arose : the time for prayer
was past, the time for work had come. Was he
not called to this great task ? Strong in this belief
Peter made haste back to Europe, where he went
first to Rome to beg for the Pope's support. The
Pope listened to him, and promised to help him.
He gave Peter his blessing, and said that he would
help in every way he could the work which had been
given to Peter by the Lord Himself.
Thus encouraged, Peter started to go through
Europe, preaching a holy war. He preached all
through Germany, France, and Belgium, but not
in Spain. The reason for this was that the Saracens
had a strong kingdom in Spain, and the Spanish
Christians had enough fighting to do at home to
protect themselves from these Saracens, or Moors as
they were called, without travelling all the way to
Palestine to fight them there. Peter preached boldly
and fervently. His words came straight from a
heart on fire with the earnestness of his faith. He
told of the perils of the journey, the sufferings of
the pilgrims when they arrived at Jerusalem, and the
hardships of the daily life of the Christian dwellers
in the City. He also described the Holy Land, the
beautiful City of Jerusalem, the wonders of the holy
places, the Sepulchre of the Lord Christ. " Is it
right," cried Peter, " that those blessed places which
have been made holy by Christ's own Presence on
which the very Feet of Christ stood should belong
19
THE CRUSADES
to the enemies of Christ ? " (For so, in their narrow-
ness and hate, the Christians of that day called all
who were not Christians.) "Up, brothers," he cried,
" and win back the City of the Lord for Himself! "
With a mighty shout the listening crowds
replied, " Dieu le veult ! "(God wills it).
In every city, town, and village where he
preached, hundreds of people swore to follow Peter
to this holy war. And to each one who made this
promise a red cross was given, to be worn on the
shoulder ; this was called taking the cross, and from
this the wearers came to be called Crusaders, or
soldiers of the Cross. At first these crosses were all
red, and the English kept theirs always so. But
Richard I himself used a white one in the Third
Crusade, and in the later Crusades the soldiers of
different nations wore their crosses in different
colours to mark them out. The White Ensign,
which is the naval flag of England to-day, is just
the red cross of the early Crusades on the white
ground, as they wore it on a white over-garment,
called a surcoat.
And now the Knights of Europe came forward
and took counsel together, and many of them made
up their minds to join the Crusade also. They,
too, were stirred to the heart by the Hermit's
preaching, and longed to strike a good blow for the
Sepulchre of Christ. But they could see further
than Peter the Hermit and his excited followers,
20
THE FIRST CRUSADE
and they knew well the great danger that Europe
was in. For the fierce pirates on the Mediterranean
coasts were slowly drawing nearer and threatening
Europe ; while if Constantinople fell, and with it
the Greek Empire, the chief defence of Europe
against the wild tribes of the East would be gone.
Like wise men and good soldiers, the Knights
began steadily to prepare for the great task which
they had taken upon them.
Peter the Hermit, however, became impatient.
He was longing to be afoot and away ; he saw no
use in all these preparations ; he expected miracles
to be worked for them in the coming warfare. He
refused to wait till the great army was ready, and
started off himself, leading a strange crowd of half-
armed peasants, men and women of all ages, who
had gathered round him as he preached in the
different countries of Europe. A German knight,
called Walter the Penniless, went with him as joint
commander.
In this mad way did Peter the Hermit start
on his crusade.
Eager and ready were the unfortunate crowds
who followed him, but they were rough, ignorant
people, who had no idea what lay before them
the length of the journey, its perils, its hardships.
Every walled city they came to they would cry
out that here was Jerusalem already. The fate of
these poor peasants was only to be expected ;
21
THE CRUSADES
without proper food, without arms, they starved,
and fell sick, and died in numbers every day. The
wild mountain tribes in the heart of Europe swept
down upon them as they trudged along, and killed
them like sheep, robbing their few poor valuables
as they lay dying or dead. There was no sort of
order or discipline amongst the crowd. Peter, for
all his fiery words, was no commander of men, and
his rough and ignorant followers simply would not
obey him. Of all the thousands who had set out
in such glad hope, Peter himself was the only one
who got even so far as Constantinople. Here, in
remorse and shame, he had to wait long for the
coming of the regular army.
The Knights of Europe were following with a
large and well-armed force. They had the Pope's
blessing, and his promise of heaven to all who fell
in this most holy war. The chief leader was
Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, a Belgian
Knight. Brave yet gentle, pure of heart, and true
in all his dealings, wise yet very humble, the name
of Godfrey shines with a clear and steady light in
the dark ages in which he lived. He was the first
soldier of his day, and had won for himself a great
name while he was quite a youth by killing with
his own hand the Emperor Rudolph of Suabia, the
rival of the Emperor Henry IV, whose standard-
bearer Godfrey then was. Again, he had been the
first to scale the walls of Rome at its capture by
22
THE FIRST CRUSADE
the Emperor Henry as he was the first to enter
the City of Jerusalem later on. No other Crusader
has left so famous a name in arms as Godfrey,
except our English Richard. Good man and true
soldier, he holds the admiration and honour of us
all to-day.
With Godfrey were other Knights, men also
famous in their different ways. There was Hugh,
Count of Vermandois, a brother of the King of
France; and another French Knight, Raymond,
Count of Toulouse, surnamed the Wise ; and
Stephen, Count of Blois, who had married Adela
of England, the daughter of William the Conqueror,
and was the father of Stephen, who was afterwards
King; Tancred of Sicily, called the Perfect Knight,
about whom you will read later on in Tasso's great
poem " Jerusalem Delivered " ; and Boemond the
Cunning (or Wise), Prince of Tarentum, also from
Sicily, who was the tallest man in the army. We
must remember their names, for we shall meet with
them often enough as we go on. And there was
Robert, Duke of Normandy, the generous, unlucky,
shiftless elder son of William the Conqueror ; and
Edgar the Atheling, who was the last of the old
Saxon royal line of England : these two were fellow-
soldiers of the Cross, though sworn foes each of the
other's House at home. Many Bishops and other
men of note also took the Cross ; but of the Kings
of Europe not one. There was good reason for
23
THE CRUSADES
this. The Kings of France and Germany were
quarrelling with the Pope, who had excommunicated
them ; this means that the Pope would not allow
them to go to any services until they were at peace
with himself again, and if they died while they were
still excommunicated, no priest would dare to bury
them for fear of the Pope's curse. William Rufus
of England was a bad and selfish man, who believed
in nothing, and cared for nothing but himself and
his own ends. Both he and the French King were
very well pleased to send each a brother to the Holy
War, instead of taking that long, hard journey
themselves.
During the six months of preparation no work
of any kind was done in Europe, save the forging
of weapons and armour. Knights sold their lands
at half their value to raise money for men, arms,
and horses. Poor men left their work and their
shops. The churches were crowded day and night
with Crusaders, confessing their sins, and praying
for God's blessing on the great adventure. No
bad deeds were done no robberies, no murders
during all those six months of preparation, and
when we think what lawless and bloodthirsty days
those were, we can understand a little better how
real was the feeling that stirred the hearts and
changed the lives of these men of the First
Crusade. In none of the later Crusades was there
this earnestness and purity and faith.
24
THE FIRST CRUSADE
So passed the winter of 1095-96.
The First Crusade started in the spring of 1096.
It was drawn from nineteen different nations. Men
who knew not each other's language marched cheer-
fully side by side, the one great end in view ; there
were ten thousand Knights and seventy thousand
men-at-arms. They went overland through Ger-
many, Hungary, Servia, Bulgaria, and the Greek
Empire, choosing the longer way by land because
they were not sure of the sea route. At Constanti-
nople the Greek Emperor, Alexius Comnenus, re-
fused to ferry the Crusaders over the Hellespont,
unless they first swore fealty to him for the lands
they were going to win. Some of the Knights did
actually consent to this impertinent request, and
Boemond of Sicily was the chief of these ; he did it
for love of those wonderful treasures which he saw
in the Treasure Chamber of Alexius, who had slily
ordered the door to be left a little open as Boemond
was passing by, that he might see and be tempted.
But Godfrey and the nobler ones all refused. The
army spent the winter at Constantinople, and the
men from the colder northern lands were full of
wonder at the rich luxurious life led by the pleasure-
loving Greeks. Some sort of agreement was made
at last between Godfrey and the Emperor, that the
latter should help the Crusaders with guides and
extra troops for the war. Alexius solemnly pro-
mised all this, but in the end he gave neither guides
25
THE CRUSADES
nor soldiers. Perhaps his childish pride was satisfied
by having teased an empty form of homage out of
some of the Crusaders, and he wanted nothing more
to do with them. As he had broken his part of the
agreement, the Crusaders did not think themselves
bound to keep theirs, and so the matter ended.
At Nicea, in Asia Minor the wonderful city
with three hundred and seventy towers and three
mighty gates the Crusaders had their first meeting
with the Saracens ; they defeated them after long
and severe fighting, and took the town (June 24,
1097). After Nicea came a long and weary march,
through such great heat that the war-horses failed
and gave out, and the falcons dropped dead from the
wrists of their masters. But at last they came before
Antioch ; and this great city fell before the Crus-
aders' eager attack, as Nicea had fallen, but only
after a long and terrible siege, and with the loss of
more men than the little Christian army could well
afford. If you look at Antioch on the map you
will see that from its position it is one of the gates
into Syria, and it was really necessary that the
Christians should hold it, so that though all this
fighting on the way to Jerusalem delayed the
Crusaders very much, and cost them many lives
that would be wanted badly later on, they were
only doing what they had to do if they meant to
take and keep the Holy City.
Before Antioch was taken, the Crusaders received
26
CRUSADERS AND SARACENS IN BATTLE AT NICEA
IN THE FIRST CRUSADE
From a very old stained-glass window in
the Abbey of St. Denis, France, made a
few years after the Crusade.
?.K
THE FIRST CRUSADE
a frantic appeal from Thores, Prince of Edessa, who
sent Christian Armenian messengers to ask their
help against the Turks, who were pressing upon him
and his people, from Mosul. Godfrey saw that it
would be a great help to the Christians to hold
Edessa, as that would enable them to keep off the
wild Turkish hordes. So he sent his brother
Baldwin with a small force all that could be spared
to take and hold Edessa, which he did with great
success. Awtioch was a great city, strong and well
defended ; and it seemed as if it could never be
taken, with its thick walls, and citadel standing high
up on the south, from whence it overlooked every-
thing. It had many great gates, one called after
St. George, and another after St. Paul ; while there
were also the Dog Gate and the Iron Gate, each
one of which was strongly defended. Boemond and
Tancred, the two Knights of Sicily, lay before the
Gate of St. Paul, and the rest of the army was
divided into camps, so that the whole city was en-
circled by the Christian host. When the Crusaders
arrived it was late in the autumn, and for a time all
went well, for their spirit was high after the taking
of Edessa, and there was plenty of food to be
gathered in the rich country all around. But when
the winter closed in upon them, and food gave out,
so that the men ate thankfully roots, and dead
dogs, and horses, and, in fact, anything they could
find, while the bitter storms of rain and hail and
27
THE CRUSADES
snow froze their hands to their swords, and their
hearts within them then, indeed, it was a very dif-
ferent thing. Godfrey was wounded, and his men
fell into all kinds of bad ways, so that some had even
to be put to death in order to frighten others from
doing bad deeds. Some of the Knights actually
deserted ; and once Peter the Hermit, in a fit of
madness and despair, ran away, and had to be
searched for and brought back. But still the
Crusaders held on ; and when Godfrey was about
again things became better.
The coming of spring brought better weather,
and with it fresh hope to the Crusaders ; but it
brought also the ill news that a large Saracen force
was advancing to the relief of Antioch. By the
end of May 1098 this army was only seven days'
march from the city, and the Princes of the Crusade
prepared themselves for a tremendous struggle.
Now there was an Armenian called Firuz, the
son of an armourer in Antioch, who had charge of
three towers on the south-west of the city. Firuz
had become a Moslem, but when he saw the brave
way in which the Christians were fighting, he felt
stirred to help the men of his old faith. He went
secretly to the Crusaders, and offered to let them
into the city by night. Godfrey and the other
Princes had hoped all along to take Antioch openly
and gallantly, by force of arms ; but now, with this
great new army so close at hand, they dared delay
28
THE FIRST CRUSADE
no longer, and they agreed with Firuz for a certain
night and hour, though this secret way of doing
things was very unwelcome to them all.
On the night of June 2, 1098, Boemond led a
party to the foot of the tower agreed upon. Firuz
was ready on his side, and a rope-ladder was quickly
fixed to the wall. Up went Boemond, the first by
right of leadership as he was first in courage ; and
after him sixty valiant men climbed silently up.
But their weight broke the ladder, and another had
to be let down, up which the rest swarmed ; and
then, while some seized the tower and killed the
guards, others made haste to open a small gate
below by which their companions outside could
enter. A furious fight followed, in which the
garrison of Antioch had very much the worst of it ;
and when the sun arose, the Crusading Princes and
the host, anxiously watching from their camps, saw
the banner of Boemond of Tarentum floating out
bravely on the walls, from which the Saracen flag
had waved till then, mocking all their efforts during
the long winter of siege.
So Antioch was won.
Three days later the Saracen army appeared ;
and for three weeks the newcomers besieged the city
in their fury at being too late to save it from the
Christians. The Crusaders' hearts began to fail
and they really had gone through a great deal
already but a wonderful thing happened about
29
THE CRUSADES
this time, which they all said was a miracle, and
which cheered them up as nothing else could have
done.
A monk named Peter Bartholomew went to one
of the Bishops in the camp, and said that he had
seen the Apostle St. Andrew in a vision by night,
who led him to a Church in Antioch, where, under
the altar, was lying buried and forgotten the Lance-
head with which the Side of Christ was pierced.
Peter Bartholomew told the Bishop that he had seen
this vision before the fall of Antioch, but that he
had been afraid to tell of it lest he should be laughed
at ; but now the vision had come again, and he dared
not keep it to himself any longer. And this time,
added the monk, trembling with fear and excite-
ment, he had seen two Men in shining robes, One
of whom was the Lord Christ Himself; and the
other, who was St. Andrew, had rebuked him for
his want of faith.
The Bishop did not believe the story of Peter
Bartholomew ; but others did, and twelve men were
sent into the Church with the monk to dig under
the altar in the place he showed them. From morn-
ing till nightfall the twelve dug and dug in vain;
and now they began to grumble and mutter, and
to point at Peter Bartholomew, as one who dreamed
mad dreams, perhaps, but who saw no blessed visions.
Then Peter Bartholomew leapt into the hole him-
self, calling upon Heaven to make true the vision,
30
Up went Boemond, the first by right of leadership
c
THE FIRST CRUSADE
and in a moment he held up an ancient spear-head,
all thick and brown with rust. Shouts of joy hailed
the sight. Peter Bartholomew was honoured of
all men now ; the unbelieving Bishop took back
his words ; and the whole army was refreshed and
made strong again by what they called a wonderful
miracle.
But Boemond, the conqueror of Antioch, vowed
that it was all some trick of Peter Bartholomew ;
and a few months later he brought up the story
again, and had an inquiry made as to the truth of
it. Many were found to swear on this side and on
that, and at last Peter Bartholomew boldly said that
he would go through the Ordeal by Fire in order to
prove the truth of his vision and his discovery. In
those days, when men could not be sure which of
two sides was the right one, they would often put
it to the Ordeal, or trial, by Fire, or by Water, or
by Arms. In the Ordeal by Fire the person who
was accused had to walk barefoot over burning coals
or wood, or red-hot iron ; if he escaped unhurt, he
was said to be innocent ; if he was burnt, he was
guilty. So now Peter Bartholomew offered of his
own free will to go through the Ordeal by Fire, and
all the army crowded out to see him do it.
First of all they made a large pile of olive-wood,
which burns very quickly and fiercely ; and when
the dry wood began to crackle, and the flames to
spurt out, a priest said in a loud voice, " If the Lord
THE CRUSADES
Himself has spoken with this man face to face if
the Blessed Andrew has shown him the Lance that
pierced the Lord, let him pass through the Fire
without receiving any hurt. Or, if not, let him be
burnt with the Lance which he carries in his hand."
All that great crowd fell upon their knees, and an-
swered " Amen ! " Then Peter Bartholomew stood
forth, and called God and all the Saints to witness
that he had spoken the very truth, and taking
the Lance -head in his hand, he passed through
the Fire, " and then came out by the Grace of
God."
The eager crowd pressed in upon him to make
sure that he was indeed unhurt, and they pressed in
so close that they threw poor Peter Bartholomew
down upon the ground, and " trampled him under
their feet, cut off pieces of his flesh, broke his back-
bone, and broke his ribs." Poor Peter Bartholomew,
this was very hard indeed, when he had just come
safely through the Ordeal by Fire ! He was only
saved from being killed by a Knight, who called
some soldiers, and took him away. While they
were dressing his wounds, the monk told them that
our Lord had appeared to him again in the Fire, and
had spoken to him there. He had some bad burns
upon his legs, as well as all the broken bones ; and
he died the next day.
" He has died of the Ordeal by Fire ! ' said
Boemond; and he still refused to believe. But all
3 2
THE FIRST CRUSADE
the army was quite certain that Peter Bartholomew
was a very holy man, now that he was dead.
Poor Peter Bartholomew, and his hurts, and his
story, however, were soon forgotten. What really
mattered was that Antioch was won ; and Boemond,
who had taken it, was left to hold " the Gate." So
now two of the most valuable of the Crusading
princes were left behind, and lost to the army
advancing upon Jerusalem.
It was now three years since the Crusaders had
started, and the hardest part of the task had yet
to be done. In the spring of 1099 they began their
march down through Syria, following the coast-line
west of the wooded mountains of Lebanon. The
country is at its best in the spring, and its beauty
and richness made the Crusaders all the more eager
to possess it, and to see Jerusalem. They were
war-worn ; they had been three years upon the
way ; but their spirit was as high as on the day they
started. They passed through Sidon, Tyre, Acre,
Carmel, Caesarea, Lydda (where St. George of Eng-
land was beheaded, and where his grave can still be
seen), and Ramleh. They were drawing very near
to Jerusalem now. At Lydda Godfrey divided his
army into three parts, so as to come upon the enemy
on the north, south, and west ; and then began the
last part of the march, through the Plain of Sharon
and up the Mountains of Judea to Jerusalem. God-
frey and his division came up straight from the coast.
33 c
THE CRUSADES
Tancred with a hundred Knights marched south by
Bethlehem, taking that little town amongst the
olives on his way, as its Christian inhabitants had
begged him to do.
In spite of the longer round, Tancred was the
first of the Crusaders to see Jerusalem.
It was a hot day in June ; the blue sky was not
dimmed by even the shadow of a cloud, and the sun
beat down fiercely upon the bare, brown, rounded
hills of Judea, and upon the daring little force that
marched so steadily upon its way. Tancred and his
hundred knights made a long round so as to escape
being seen from the City, and rode up the western
slope of Olivet, and then, suddenly, the full beauty
of the Holy City broke upon their eager eyes the
City with its battlemented walls, its towers and
minarets and domes, resting like a crown upon the
hills on which it is built, and in the clear air seeming
almost within a stone's throw. With one consent
the toil-worn soldiers from the North fell upon their
knees, and there were tears on many faces as they
vowed again never to rest or cease from war until
they put off their armour within those sacred walls.
As they looked and wondered, an old hermit
one of those who lived alone in the caves upon the
Mount of Olives ventured out of his cell, and
offered to point out to them the different places in
the City. That noble dome was the Temple;
further back to the right rose the Tower of David
34
THE TOWER OF DAVID, JERUSALEM
The great stronghold of the Crusaders
in Jerusalem.
\_Photo : Underwood.
BL1
ro r .
TILDf
C
THE FIRST CRUSADE
the citadel in 1099 as it is in 1913 and there
ah ! there at last ! was the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, to free which these hardy soldiers had
come all this long and difficult way. The hermit's
words fired afresh the longings and the hopes of
his hearers. Laying mail-clad hands on their long
cross-handled swords, the Crusaders cried out aloud,
demanding to be led at once against the foe. They
had waited too long already !
Godfrey came next, having passed through the
Plain of Sharon and the Land of the Philistines on
his way up from Jaffa. Out of the army of seventy
thousand who had started so joyfully and so proudly
three years before, only twenty thousand were left
now. They had reached the City, indeed, but the
hardest part of the task was still to come a siege
of forty days.
35
CHAPTER IV
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
" A mighty troop around,
With their trampling shook the ground :
Waving each a bloody sword,
For the service of their Lord."
SHELLEY.
THE month of June is a hot and heavy time of year
in the Holy Land, and greatly did the Crusaders
suffer. The City was surrounded by brushwood,
stubborn and hindering to the feet, but there were
hardly any trees to give them shelter from the burn-
ing sun. Water, too, was short, for the Saracens
had been careful to choke or poison all the wells and
cisterns round about the City, so that the Crusaders
were afraid to use them. They were therefore obliged
to bring their water from that well at Bethlehem
from which three of David's mighty men of war
brought him water, having first broken through the
whole host of the Philistines to get it: it is still
called David's Well. But Bethlehem is about five
and a half miles distant from Jerusalem, and the
Pools of Solomon, another place from which they
had to fetch water, is further still, on the way to
36
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
Hebron ; and often the parties sent out were at-
tacked or even cut off by the enemy. Near to
Jerusalem the only water to be had was from the
Pool of Siloam, and that was not much use, for
the water was bad, and there was very little of it
either at this time of year. The flow also was not
regular.
The City being protected on the east, south, and
west sides by valleys, Godfrey pitched his camp on
the north-east, where the ground is flat up to the
walls. His lines were nearest to the City, in the
most dangerous position, as befitted the leader.
Next came the camp of the Flemings ; the Nor-
mans and English were opposite to the Damascus
Gate, almost due north, Tancred and his Italians
being on their further side. Beyond these again,
on the north-west, was the French camp. It was
necessary to divide these soldiers of many languages
and races, for in spite of the common aim which
bound them all together, old jealousies and quarrels
would ever and again break out, and cause trouble,
and perhaps bloodshed, in the Crusading camp.
Godfrey set about building the great towers of
assault for the siege. These were high wooden
towers, covered with skins to make them armour-
proof, and mounted upon platforms on wheels, so
that they could be moved easily from one place to
another as they were wanted. The soldiers who
manned them were able in this way to draw nearer
37
THE CRUSADES
to the City, and, protected themselves, to hurl against
the walls the huge stones which tore holes, or breaches,
even in their great thickness, by which to enter. The
wood for these towers was brought from Mizpah, and
at a great cost of time and labour. Sickness and
fever were abroad in the camp, and the cattle died
in numbers for want of food and water.
As the siege became closer, the Saracens began
to be afraid that their own supplies would fall short.
They therefore turned out all the Christians who
lived in the City men, women, and children, old
and young together, without difference, and without
pity. These, to the number of some thousands, were
thus thrown upon the care of Godfrey, who was
already troubled enough to feed and keep his own
army without all these extra, and for the most part
helpless, people. The Christians also brought with
them the terrible news that the Saracens were
threatening to destroy the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre itself, if the Crusaders continued to press
the siege. This report, however, only stirred up the
Crusaders to real fury, and so to fresh and greater
efforts, though their ranks were now much thinned
by sickness and death.
The heat was unusually great, even for July,
and the Crusaders, in their heavy armour and close
helmets, felt it cruelly ; sometimes they would tear
up large pieces of earth, and lay them against their
skin, in the vain hope of cooling themselves a little.
38
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
The supply of water got lower and lower, and was
becoming so bad that even the horses refused to touch
it. But Godfrey never lost hope, never slackened in
his efforts, nor loosed his grip on the City ; and the
forty thousand Saracens within the walls began to
feel the pressure of his hand. They sent messengers
to Egypt, asking for help, but these were captured
by the Crusaders, who were very much encouraged
by this proof of the fear within the City. More
wood still was wanted for the siege towers, which
were often destroyed in the fighting, but a good
store of timber had been hidden by the Saracens,
before the siege began, in a cave, which the Crusaders
found by a lucky chance ; and one of the Syrian
Christians who had been turned out of the City
guided them to a little wood five or six miles north
of Jerusalem, from which they could cut as much
as they wanted.
At this darkest time came the Genoese fleet
to Jaffa, with arms, wood, and food ; and thus
strengthened and helped, Godfrey made up his
mind to try one last fierce assault upon the City.
It was better, he said, that his men should fall by
the sword before those holy walls than that they
should die slowly, without honour, done to death
by the hot sun and by their hardships. A three
days' fast was ordered, solemn services were held
day and night, and a procession of armed soldiers,
and priests bearing crosses and chanting as they
39
THE CRUSADES
went, walked slowly round the walls. The Saracens
watched them from the battlements above, and
mocked them as they went. Peter the Hermit
preached in the Christian camps, encouraging the
soldiers by his fiery words, promising heaven to
those who fell in this holy war. Eagerly the men
drank in his wonderful promises, dull eyes brightened,
rough hands grasped sword-hilts more firmly, pious
hearts prayed for success. These were men ready
to dare and do all.
The first attack was made upon Thursday, July
14, 1099. It was not successful, and the Crusaders,
a good deal disheartened, drew off. The next day,
however, they repeated it. Crusaders and Saracens
alike fought bravely and desperately, both seeming
to feel that this was the final effort of this long and
weary siege. Over and over again it seemed as
though the Crusaders must be beaten back after
all. But, so say the old stories of this tremendous
day, at the very moment when all seemed lost, the
good Knight St. George Patron of soldiers and of
Christian Palestine, and afterwards of England, too
rode down from the Mount of Olives, and with
flashing lance led the Crusaders on to victory. Cer-
tain it is that they made a last fierce attack, and
the City was won.
Over the broken walls rushed the Crusaders,
dodging falling stones, hitting, cutting, right and
left, sparing no one who came in their way. The
40
Peter in a moment held up an ancient spear-head (page 31)
. ENOX
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
Saracens fought bravely enough, but at last their
hearts failed them, and they fled. Down the
narrow streets, all slippery with blood, the Crusaders
followed them, shouting, killing, drunk with slaugh-
ter. The City rang with the clash of steel, the
shouts of the victors, the yells of the hunted and
the dying ; wounded men were trodden under foot,
women and children pricked out at the point of
sword or lance from the dark corners where they
had hidden, trembling and afraid. The Jews fled
to their synagogue, and the Crusaders surrounded
them with shouts, and burnt them in it. " These
are Jews they sold Christ to death ! ' they said.
" They, too, are the enemies of God. Let them
perish ! ' Blood blood, everywhere : there is no
deed of mercy or of kindness to tell about this day.
" We have mingled our blood with our tears,"
wrote a Moslem poet, very truly. Poor Jerusalem,
so deeply stained with blood, so full of darkness and
fear and cruelty that July day.
The glory of the day was drowned in the
streams of blood that followed on the victory. The
Crusaders, maddened by complete success after
defeat, by fulfilment after waiting, were neither to
have nor to hold ; they cut down all they met,
men, women, and children, young and old. The
Princes of the Crusade had no hold over their
men ; they might promise quarter, but they could
not prevail on their men to give it. The unhappy
THE CRUSADES
Saracens fled to the Mosque (the old Temple of
Solomon), and they were cut down there, without
regard to age or sex, or to the sacredness of the
place. " If you desire to know what was done
with the enemy," wrote a Crusader after the battle,
" know that in Solomon's Porch and in his Temple
our men rode in the blood of the Saracens up to
the knees of their horses." Tancred tried to hide
a few Saracens on the roof of the Temple, hoping
thus to save their lives. They were seen, hounded
down, and cut to pieces with the rest. Out of all
the City only three hundred Saracens were saved,
by Raymond de St. Gilles. This good Knight shut
them up in the Tower of David for some days, and
then sent them under safe guard to Ascalon.
The Crusaders seemed to have forgotten all the
high and noble purpose with which they had started
on their journey, and to care now for the plunder
only. It was a time of terror and of cruel things
done and suffered, and it has left an everlasting
stain upon the taking of Jerusalem.
Towards nightfall the work of blood slackened
a little, and the Christians of the city (who had
been hiding in terror of their bloodthirsty deliverers,
who seemed no less to be feared than their old
Saracen oppressors), began to peep timidly out of
their safe places, and to welcome the victors. The
cry of all now was for Peter the Hermit Peter,
whom not all the hardships, dangers, and difficulties
42
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
of his way had been able to turn back Peter,
whose stirring words had persuaded Europe to send
out this army of rescue. With heart and voice the
people hailed Peter as the fount from which had
flowed the stream of their deliverance, and for that
short hour the poor hermit was the chief man in
the City. The rest of his story is quickly told.
He left Jerusalem not many days after, and carried
the wonderful story of its capture back to Europe.
There he entered a monastery, and died some four-
teen years later, forgotten by those whom he had
stirred and led to such great deeds.
But where was Godfrey while the deeds of
horror and cruelty and bloodshed were torturing
the City ? He perhaps despairing of controlling
his unruly men had gone on foot to the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre, and there was found in
prayer. The soldiers, beginning to get tired of
their horrid work, followed him there, and throw-
ing down their dripping swords upon the sacred
stones, they wept and praised God for what He
had done by them. For they thought in their
ignorance that even the many cruel deeds they
had done that day were well pleasing in His
sight. A night of solemn services in the Church
followed, and so the new day drew slowly on.
But with the new day the soldiers' repentance
died, as their vigour returned after food and rest,
and the old cruel thirst for blood awoke in them
43
THE CRUSADES
once more. They set again upon the unhappy
Saracen inhabitants of the conquered City, and
for seven days this went on. It is said that not
one Saracen escaped, except the three hundred
whom Raymond de St. Gilles had saved on the
first day. It seems strange that such brave and
noble Knights as the Princes of the First Crusade
certainly were should have allowed this slaughter,
but they did nothing to stop it. " My soldiers,"
said Tancred, " are my glory and my riches ! Let
them have the spoil, and let me have for my share
trouble, danger, and weariness, rain and hail/' This
was, of course, very unselfish and high-minded of
Tancred, whom men called the Perfect Knight,
but on the other hand it left his men entirely
free to kill and rob and torture as they pleased.
Perhaps one reason why the Princes did not inter-
fere was that they wished to clear the City utterly
of all its old inhabitants and ways, and thought
that this was the quickest as well as the surest
plan. Every Crusader was allowed to keep the
house he took. Here, then, was at once a reason
and an excuse for them to kill and rob ! At the
end of that week of blood the City was cleared of
all its former inhabitants. It was in every way
a new City, with new citizens, a new language,
under a new rule and new conditions.
44
CHAPTER V
THE KNIGHTS
" A true Knight,
Nor yet mature, yet matchless ; firm of word,
Speaking in deeds, and deedless in his tongue,
Not soon provoked ; nor, being provoked, soon calmed ;
His heart and hand both open, and both free."
SHAKESPEARE.
" The firmest bulwark of Jerusalem was founded on the Knights
of the Hospital and of the Temple." GIBBON.
WE must break off here for a few pages to look at
two great Orders of Knighthood which come again
and again into this Story of the Crusades, for if we
know a little about them first it will be easier for us
to keep the whole story straight and clear in our
minds as we go on.
First of all, what was a Knight ?
He was a soldier, generally a man of good birth,
whose life was sworn to the threefold service of God,
his King, and his lady. In the very olden days,
even before the times of the Crusades, when the law
was weak, and no man was safe unless he was strong
enough to defend himself and to make others afraid
of him, the poor and the weak, women and old
45
THE CRUSADES
people were at the mercy of any who were stronger
than they. And so, arising out of this great need of
the weak for protection, there came the service of
the Knights of old. We know how King Arthur
and his Knights of the Round Table cleared the land
of Britain of enemies, put down wrong-doing and
violence and lawlessness with a heavy hand wherever
they found it, and helped women and all who were
weaker than themselves. That was the true ideal, or
purpose, of Knighthood. There were also Knights-
errant, or wandering Knights men who had, per-
haps, no lands or duties to tie them to one place, or
who, to keep some vow made in a time of sickness
or danger, wandered through the world for a certain
number of years ; not going to any special place, but
to many lands, just as they found they could be of
service to any. As the laws became stronger, how-
ever, and so made the different countries safer, the
need for these Knights - errant gradually passed
away.
The making of a Knight was no easy matter. It
began at a very early age, the boy, who was a child
of noble, or at least gentle, birth, being sent when he
was about seven years old to the household of some
famous Knight, to be taught there all that was neces-
sary to make him, in his turn, a good and worthy
Knight. Here he learned to do any work that was
required of him, no matter how lowly it might seem,
for the first idea of Knighthood was service. Thus
46
THE KNIGHTS
we see Gawaine, though he was a King's son, thinking
it no shame to serve in King Arthur's kitchen. The
boy had also to wait upon his master the Knight as
his attendant or squire, and to learn the care and
training of horses, and all the noble art of war;
besides singing and the making of verses, so that at a
great feast he could add his share to the pleasure of
it. And as he grew up he learned to be brave and
yet gentle ; to be just as much at home in the saddle
as in the presence of ladies ; to fear none ; to rever-
ence all women ; to train horses ; and to handle men ;
he learnt also the lighter but hardly less favoured
pursuits of hawking and hunting, or venerie.
Before he received his Knighthood, the young
squire had to watch all the night before in prayer in
church, kneeling in front of the high altar on whose
steps his yet untried armour was laid. This was
called keeping his vigil, or watch. Early in the new
day, at a solemn service, his sword was buckled
round him, the spurs were fastened to his heels, and
some noble Knight, or perhaps the King, struck him
on the shoulder with the flat of his sword as he knelt
before him and made his solemn promise to be pure
and brave ; to be courteous to all women ; to defend
all who were weaker than himself, or who suffered
any wrong, and to be true to his King ; to keep from
all wrong-doing and from violence. Sometimes he
would be struck lightly upon the cheek with the
words, " Remember that the Saviour of the world
47
THE CRUSADES
was buffeted and scorned " : or, " Receive this blow,
but never any other."
" The monarch he lifted a Damascene blade
O'er the kneeling count's brow on high ;
A blow on his shoulder full gently he laid,
And by that little action a knight he is made,
Baptized into chivalry.
' Bear thou this blow/ said the King to the Knight,
' But never bear blow again ;
For thy sword is to keep thine honour white,
And thine honour must keep thy good sword bright,
And both must be free from stain.' '
It was natural enough that, as the numbers of
Knights increased in every war, and for other reasons,
they should band themselves together, forming small
companies here and there of men who had sworn to
keep the same rules. In this way began the great
Orders of Knighthood which played such a fine part
in the history of the Middle Ages. With two of
these Orders the story of the Crusades has very much
to do.
AVhen Jerusalem was in the hands of the Sultans
of Egypt, the Christian pilgrims, though they suf-
fered a good deal in some ways, were yet encouraged
rather than not, as their coming brought a certain
amount of money into the City. The Native Chris-
tians in Jerusalem were allowed to live within the
City because they were subjects, but to the pilgrims
and to such Christians from the West who visited
48
-rtek.
\
I
,R,
FOUNDATIONS.
l_
THE KNIGHTS
Jerusalem, or who had settled there for any purpose,
no such favour was given. Some Italian merchants
from Amalfi, however, gave large presents to the
Sultan of Egypt and to his chief courtiers, by means
of which they received permission to build a Hospice
or hospital near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
at which Western pilgrims and other travellers could
be lodged. This Hospice was dedicated in later days
to St. John the Baptist, and to it was added in time
a convent, a Church (also of St. John), and a Hospice
for women, named after St. Mary Magdalene. The
Brothers and Sisters who served in these Hospices
lived in a very simple way, and their work was to
look after the sick and wounded. In 1065 the
Seljuk Turks took Jerusalem, but they left the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre because they could
get money from the pilgrims who came to visit it,
and for some reason they left also the Hospices near
it. After the taking of the City by Godfrey, the
Hospitallers (as the members of the Order were
called) did good work in nursing the wounded.
Many Crusaders of gentle birth laid aside their arms
and joined the Order ; others gave money and lands,
Godfrey being especially generous and free in his
gifts.
In time the Order became more and more a
military one. The habit or dress was black, with a
large eight-pointed cross of white upon the breast or
arm, the eight points meaning the Eight Beatitudes
49 D
THE CRUSADES
or Blessings spoken by our Lord. This cross is
now often called the Maltese Cross, because later
on the Order settled in Malta, and the Knights are
sometimes called the Knights of Malta. With its
growing riches the Order of St. John built larger
Hospitals and other buildings, and a fine Church at
Jerusalem.
There was always fighting going on in and round
Jerusalem, and the Chancellor of the Order proposed
to the Brethren that they should become a fighting
Order, and help to support and to defend the King-
dom. " He gave back to the Brethren the arms
which they had quitted," or given up. But some of
the Brethren did not like the idea at all, for they
thought that fighting was against the object of their
Order, which was to heal. However the Patriarch
of Jerusalem approved of the idea, and new rules
were drawn up, and the Order was divided into three
parts the Knights of noble birth who were to fight ;
the clergy who were to serve the Churches of the
Order, to visit the Hospitals, and to follow the army
to battle ; and the serving Brethren, who were men
of lowly birth, and who served the Knights, and
worked in the Hospitals. The Hospitallers fought
on the left wing in battle, and the Templars on the
right. The Knights of St. John won great honour
in all the wars in Palestine ; the Order grew in
wealth and in fame, and began to set up Houses in
Europe as well as in Palestine.
50
THE KNIGHTS
The Hospitallers did not lose their name for
kindness and the care of the suffering and the sick ;
and a little story (which may or may not be true)
is told which shows how they put the care of the
poor before all other things. Saladin (so runs the
tale) had heard many stories of the goodness of the
Knights Hospitallers, and he wished to see for him-
self if what was said was true. So he disguised
himself and went to the Hospitallers' House in
Acre, pretending to be a poor pilgrim. He was
kindly received by the Knights, given free lodging,
and food was set before him. But Saladin said he
could not eat the food, good as it was, for there
was a strange fancy upon him which prevented him
from eating any but one thing. The Serving Breth-
ren pressed him to tell them what it was, and at last
the pretended pilgrim confessed that he wanted the
right fore-hoof of the Grand Master's charger. The
Serving Brethren, who thought the pilgrim must be
mad, repeated his words to the Grand Master, who
at once ordered the noble war-horse to be brought
from the stable. Then he himself blindfolded it,
and with grief in his heart, but with a steady hand,
he took an axe and lifted it up to strike the blow.
Then Saladin stood forward, and confessed that his
only thought in making such a strange request was
his wish to prove the truth of all that he heard of
the goodness of the Order to all strangers and the
poor. He did not tell them his name, but every
THE CRUSADES
year he sent a large present of money to the Hospi-
tallers' House at Acre. It is a nice story because
it ends well, and the horse was not hurt after all 1
When Saladin captured Jerusalem, he spared the
Church and other buildings of the Knights Hospi-
tallers, and gave them to the Mosque as an endow-
ment. Some ruins of these beautiful buildings,
which are more than seven hundred years old, can
still be seen a beautiful entrance gateway of the
old Hospital, decorated with carvings of the Signs
of the Zodiac, and part of the old cloisters round
a courtyard at the back of the big new Church
which the Germans (to whom this place was given
some years ago) have built where the Hospital of
the Knights of St. John once stood.
The Order of the Temple was the other great
Order which played just as large a part in the
history of Christian Jerusalem. The Order had a
small beginning. In the year 1117, Sir Hugh de
Payens (or de Paganis), a French Knight, with eight
other Knights of noble birth, called themselves " The
Poor of the Holy City," and swore to protect the
Passes that led up to Jerusalem from the Plains of
Sharon on the west, and the Roads of the Jordan
Valley on the east. Baldwin II gave the valiant
nine a house near the Temple, from which they then
took their name ; and rules were drawn up for the
new Order, which quickly grew in honour and in
strength. The Templars were always a military
52
THE KNIGHTS
Order, and they lived under far stricter rules than
the Hospitallers. They were to keep nothing for
their own use ; neither gold nor silver was allowed ;
their food and clothing were of the plainest. The
great Seal of the Order showed their poverty, for
it was two Knights riding on one horse. They were
also called the Poor Knights of Christ. One of the
Knights, when he was taken prisoner and was told
to pay a large ransom, said, " I have no goods but
a knife and a girdle. The duty of a Templar is
to conquer or die." Their habit was of white, to
which a long red cross was afterwards added, to
show that they were ready to shed their blood in
the service of Christ.
When he was knighted the Templar made a
very solemn vow, or promise. " I swear to give
my speech, my strength, and my life to defend the
belief in the Unity of God and the mysteries of
the faith. When the Saracens invade the lands
of the Christians, I will pass over the sea to deliver
my Brethren. I will give the succour (help) of my
arm to the Church and the King against the infidel
princes. So long as my enemies shall be only three
to one against me, I will fight them, and will never
take flight : alone I will combat them if they are
unbelievers."
The rules of the Order of the Temple laid down
that all things were to be done in three, as that
number would always remind them of the Mystery
53
THE CRUSADES
of the Holy Trinity. Three times a week the
Knights gave money to the poor; three times a
week they heard Mass, and were allowed to eat
meat ; three times a year the whole number of the
Order was called over. A Knight who had done
wrong was called a recreant Knight, and his punish-
ment was ordered to be given " in open Chapter,"
that is, before all the Brethren of his House, to add
to his shame. The Banner of the Order, called
Beauseant, was seen in the forefront of every fight,
with its motto, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy Name be the glory ! ' The Banner
was half white and half black, to show that the
Templars " were fair and favourable to the friends
of Christ, but black and terrible to His enemies."
Men of the highest birth, and of princely houses,
joined the Order, whose valour in battle was known
to all the world. They were "lions in war, and
gentle as lambs at home. When they were called
to arms they did not ask how many of the enemy
there were, but where they were." " When the
conflict has begun," St. Bernard said of them, " they
throw aside their former gentleness, exclaiming, ' Do
not I hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee ! ' and
in going into battle they were the first, as in return-
ing they were the last. When the trumpet sounded
the advance, they sang first the Psalm, " Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us," and then made a " most
terrible attack " in silence. If a Templar turned his
54
THE KNIGHTS
back upon the enemy, or even saved his life on a
stricken field, or fought against Christians, he was
considered to have behaved shamefully, and his
punishment was a heavy one. His white mantle
with the blood-red cross, which was the sign of his
Knighthood, was taken away from him ; he was
not allowed to mix with any of the Brethren, but
had to eat his meals on the ground, and was not
allowed to use a napkin for a whole year ; he
was not even allowed to drive away the dogs if
they came prowling round and stole his food. At
the end of the year, if the Grand Master and the
Brethren thought that he had been punished enough,
he was received again into the full life of the Order.
There are many instances of the way in which
the Templars ever proved their valour, both as men,
and as an Order ; as at the capture of Ascalon by
the Saracens in the year 1153, when two hundred
Templars, and their standard-bearer, an English
Knight, Sir Reginald de Argentine, refused as one
man to surrender, and were cut down. But I think
there is no instance known to history of a Templar
who turned his back upon a right. If they had been
as unselfish as they were brave, nothing on earth
could have stood against them.
The Order of the Temple became rich and ad-
mired quite suddenly. New Houses sprang up,
first in different parts of the Holy Land Safed,
Gaza, Athlit, Jaffa, Acre, Beyrout as well as the
55
THE CRUSADES
great mother- house at Jerusalem and then in Eng-
land, as well as all over the continent. The Knights
paid no taxes, so their riches grew most comfortably.
Some of the old Houses of the Order can still be
traced in England, and Templar Churches, too,
built in round shape like the Temple in Jerusalem.
These two great Orders the Hospitallers and
the Templars were closely bound up with the
history of the Christian Kingdom, and of the
Crusades. The fall of the Kingdom broke their
greatness. The story of their later years we shall
take up in its place.
There is one special Saint, who is the Patron
of soldiers, of Palestine, and of England, whose
story we may look at here ; and that is Saint
George. So many stories are told about him, that
we have not, perhaps, a very clear idea of him in
our minds, beyond the fact that he killed the
dragon ; but the Crusaders believed in him so
firmly, and said that he came to their help so
many times when they were in danger or in
trouble, that we shall find his name appearing time
after time in the story of the Crusaders.
St. George lived in the reign of Diocletian, who
was one of the most cruel of all the Roman Em-
perors. His father was put to death for being a
Christian, and, after this, St. George and his mother
went to live at Lydda, a small town in the Holy
Land, near Jaffa. His mother died when he was
56
THE KNIGHTS
only seventeen, and St. George became a soldier,
and a very brave and clever one, so that he was
marked out even among such brave and splendid
soldiers as the Romans were. He was known, too,
for his kindness to all who were weak and unhappy
or helpless, and for his love of giving. His beauti-
ful looks, his courage, and the praises of his many
friends made Diocletian take notice of him ; and
he became very fond of him, and made him a
Tribune, though he was so young. The Emperor
did not know that St. George was a Christian, for
in those days of long ago, when the Christians
were so often put to death just because they were
Christians, they were forbidden to speak openly of
their faith to the heathen people among whom
they lived, but were only to confess it if they
were asked the direct question, " Are you a
Christian ? "
So Diocletian became fonder and fonder of St.
George, and grew to trust him more and more
until he began his cruel persecution of the Chris-
tians. Then St. George's blood was fired by the
sight of the sufferings of his fellow-Christians, and
the awful ways in which they were put to death
-by the sword, and the rack, by burning, and by
being torn to pieces by wild beasts which had been
kept hungry for days before, so that they might
be all the more fierce. St. George went boldly
to the Emperor, and spoke out all that was in
57
THE CRUSADES
his mind. Diocletian was filled with anger, and
threw him into prison.
The Roman guards laid St. George upon the
floor of the cell, placed his feet in a wooden case
called stocks, and laid a great stone upon his
breast, so heavy that it almost crushed him ; but
in the midst of his pain the Soldier Saint only
prayed to God. The next day they bound him
to a great wheel, all set round with sharp spikes
that tore and cut his body as they spun it round,
but still the Saint uttered no cry ; and there came
a voice from heaven that said, " George, fear thou
nothing, for I am with thee." Looking up, he
saw One clad all in white, from Whose Face and
garments there shone out a bright and wonderful
light, and Who held out His Hand to him, saying,
" Be thou strong and brave, and suffer all that is
done to thee, for the sake of Christ thy Lord."
Two of the guards who were standing there saw
the wonderful vision, and they became Christians,
and were put to death at once.
Once more Diocletian commanded St. George
to give up his faith ; but all his promises and threats
were nothing to the Saint. Then the Emperor, in
anger, gave the word that he should be beheaded ;
and he was led out to die, and very gladly he
laid down his life for his faith.
The people of the Holy Land have always held
St. George in great honour; and to this day the
58
THE KNIGHTS
picture of him slaying the dragon is found in
every Church. It was from them that we English
learned to honour him, too, for the Crusaders took
him as their Patron, or Chief Saint of England,
and " St. George for England ! ' became the battle-
cry with which English soldiers charged to victory
again and again.
St. George lies buried at Lydda, where his grave
can still be seen. All the old pilgrims went to
visit it, and a great feast was held there every
year, the Feast of St. George, and it is kept up
to this day.
At one time Edward the Confessor was the
Patron Saint of England ; but King Richard, our
great English Crusader, altered that. It was well
done; for certainly St. George the Soldier is a
better Patron of a fighting race than the meek
and silent Confessor. And because he belonged
first, and still belongs to Palestine, our having him
for our Patron is another little link in the golden
chain that joins the history of our England with
that of the Holy Land.
59
CHAPTER VI
THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM
GODFREY, THE FIRST KING OF JERUSALEM, 1099-1100
" Here on earth
Shall splendour sit upon thy name for ever."
ROBERT BROWNING.
" Sans peur et sans reproche."
ON the eighth day of the young Kingdom the
Princes of the Crusade held a solemn council to
choose a King. It was not at all easy to pick out
the best from a band of men, each of whom was so
famous all through Europe for his princely rank,
his valour, and his noble deeds. In the middle
of the discussion Robert of Flanders rose up and
said, " Noble Knights and Princes, we know all
that a leader must be chosen from amongst us
who are here assembled one whose fame, whose
birth, and whose valour fits him for the crown of
the City where Christ died for us. Let us then
put aside all selfish thoughts, and the pride that
makes us want the Kingship for ourselves, and
let each one honestly and faithfully give his voice
to choose him who is the best. For my part,
60
THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM
whosoever he be that is chosen, him will I faith-
fully serve and follow."
There could be no manner of doubt, after this,
as to which of the Princes was the most worthy
to be King in Jerusalem ; but first, as a matter
of form and of courtesy, the crown was offered to
Duke Robert of Normandy, brother of William II,
King of England, as being the highest in rank
amongst them. He would not hear of it.
"Nay," he said, "though I came here for God's
service, I have not let my Dukedom go from me
so fully as to be at the service of my vow ; and
I desire, if it please God, to return to my own
people."
So he refused it, and it was well that he did
so for the Kingdom ; for though brave and gene-
rous to a fault, he was lazy and selfish. Unable
to rule himself, how could he have kept in hand
the proud Knights and Barons who made the
Kingdom ? Soon afterwards he returned to Nor-
o
mandy ; and his unhappy, restless life ended with
twenty-eight years of captivity in Carnarvon Castle,
as the prisoner of his youngest brother.
All choices then fell upon Godfrey. Humble as
he was brave, Godfrey at first refused ; but when
it was pressed upon him as the Will of God, he
gave in, and allowed them to lead him to the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there to be crowned
King of Jerusalem. But when they tried to put
61
THE CRUSADES
the crown upon his head, he would not suffer them
to do so.
" It is not fitting," he said, "that I should wear
a crown of gold in the City where my Lord Christ,
the true King of Jerusalem, once wore for me and
for my sins the Crown of Thorns."
He would use neither the crown nor the title of
King, but would only call himself " Baron of the
Holy Sepulchre," in which Church he hung up the
golden crown of Jerusalem.
Godfrey de Bouillon was forty years old when
he was crowned at Jerusalem. In appearance he
was very tall and broad, with brown hair and blue
eyes. His face was very handsome, and of a stern
expression, but he could also look gentle and kind.
He was one of the most famous soldiers of his
day ; he was brave and wise, just and true, with-
out a shadow of selfishness or of meanness to stain
his name. When he was elected King of Jerusa-
lem a careful inquiry was held to find out if he
had ever done anything which would make him
unworthy to rule in the Holy City. But the worst
charge that could be brought against him was that
of his squires, who said that their master would
often pray for such a long time that he forgot the
hours of his meals, and so the food was spoilt.
Poor hungry squires ! So Godfrey de Bouillon has
come down to us of the twentieth century as a
pure and upright man, a just and true Knight
62
THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM
" without fear and without reproach," and a wise and
fearless soldier. " If all honour should fail out of the
land," said a Saracen chief, " yet is Duke Godfrey
alone enough to restore it, and bring it to light."
As to his strength and his brave deeds there
was only one voice that he was second to no
Knight in Europe. There are one or two stories
told of him which show how strong his arm was
and how true his aim. An Arab camel-driver
came to him one day, saying that he had heard
many wonderful tales of Godfrey's mighty deeds,
but that he wished to see for himself if all that
was said of him could really be true. Godfrey,
without more ado, pulled out his sword, and with
a single blow cut off the head of one of the man's
camels.
*' Ah ! ' said the Arab, " but there is magic in
your sword ; it is that, and not your own strength
which enables you to strike such a blow."
" Lend me your own sword, then," answered
Godfrey ; and taking the camel-driver's sword, he
repeated his feat on another of the unfortunate
camels. The Arab was quite convinced of Godfrey's
great strength, and he went away with his camels,
not wishing to lose any more of them by asking for
further proof.
Another story tells how once, in the heat of
battle, Godfrey with one sweeping stroke of his
sword cut a Saracen rider right through the middle
63
THE CRUSADES
of his body, so that the horse galloped on with
the legs and part of the body still in the saddle,
while the upper half fell to the ground. On another
occasion he cut a Saracen right through from the
head downward, so that one arm and shoulder fell
to the ground. These stories, and many others,
were told round camp-fires by Crusading or Saracen
soldiers, and we may be sure that they lost nothing
in the telling.
One of Godfrey's first acts as King for King
he really was, though he would not use the name
was to divide the new Kingdom into fiefs, or coun-
ties, each of which he put under one of the Princes
of the Crusade. Boemond of Sicily, as we know,
was Prince of Antioch. Raymond of Toulouse
had Tripoli of Syria and the Lebanon. To Tan-
cred, the Perfect Knight, fell Galilee ; while Baldwin
de Bouillon, Godfrey's brother, had Edessa. A good
part of these lands were not yet won, and to the
new rulers fell the task of conquering before they
could possess them. The rest of the Crusaders
returned home, except a hundred Knights who pre-
ferred to stay on with Godfrey, seeing that though
Jerusalem was won, the work was not yet finished
by any means. At no time did Godfrey's army
number more than twenty thousand men.
Godfrey's sword was not allowed to rest in its
sheath for any length of time. Word was brought
to him that a large Saracen army was coming up
64
._._-._:^ *
GODFREY OF BOUILLOX, FIRST Kixr,
ox HIS THRONE
From an illuminated MS., " History of Go:. "
of Bouillon ," in the British Museum.
. wto : Art Illustration Co.
V Y(
ASTOF
"ILDE '
THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM
from Egypt. It was composed of fierce and tried
warriors from that land, and from Damascus and
Bagdad, and it was led by Afdhal, an Armenian
renegade ; that is, he had once been a Christian,
but had become a Moslem for the sake of gain.
Without delay Godfrey marched to Gaza to meet
these Saracens, taking with him all the men of his
army who could be spared from the defence of
Jerusalem. He brought with him a large number
of cattle for the use of the army, and these herds,
following behind, raised a great cloud of dust, which
the Saracens believed to be a second large Christian
host. Godfrey, with five thousand men, placed
himself so as to prevent the Saracens in Ascalon
a strong city not far off from getting out to help
the attacking force. Raymond of Toulouse and
his men were between the Saracens and their fleet ;
Tancred, Count Robert of Flanders, and Robert of
Normandy led the attack from the centre.
Fierce was the fighting on both sides, and the
little Crusading army seemed likely to be swallowed
up by the great numbers of the Saracens ; but when
these latter began to get tired, and to feel their losses,
which were heavy, they could get no help from
Ascalon, or Gaza, or their own ships, for Godfrey
had closed up every way by which their friends
could have come to them. When Robert of Nor-
mandy captured the sword and banner of Afdhal,
a panic arose among the Saracens, and they flung
65 R
THE CRUSADES
down their arms, and sought safety in flight. But
Godfrey and Raymond of Toulouse lay between
them and escape, and falling upon the hurrying
Saracens, they slew numbers of them. Afdhal,
however, managed somehow to reach Ascalon, where
he hastened on board one of his ships, and set sail
for Egypt at once. As the ship sailed rapidly away,
Afdhal looked back at the Land he had been so
certain of taking, and he contrasted in his mind
his proud coming with his present wretched state
a general without an army, a soldier without a
sword, a man covered with dishonour. Flinging
up his arms with a very bitter cry, he exclaimed
aloud, " O Nazarene, Thou hast conquered ! "
No sooner were the Crusaders free from the
danger of the Saracens than they fell into another
which was almost worse. Quarrels broke out
amongst themselves, and no man would give way
to another for the sake of peace. Godfrey laid siege
to Ascalon, an important Saracen seaport, which
was very strongly fortified. Raymond of Toulouse
wished to have it for his own, as a reward for his
share of the work. Godfrey's answer was that it
must always be a part of the Kingdom, as it was
far too valuable to be given up to any one man.
Raymond of Toulouse then went off in hot anger,
taking all his men with him, and by doing this he
weakened Godfrey's army so much that he had to
raise the siege. Raymond marched in haste to
66
THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM
Arsuf, and tried to take it, but he was unsuccess-
ful ; and in his anger he determined that Godfrey,
coming after him, should not succeed where he,
Raymond, had failed. He therefore said to the
Saracens of Arsuf, " When Godfrey the King comes,
have no fear of him, for his army is so small and
weak that he cannot take your town, nor do you
any harm."
Having by this mean act stained his name for
all time with the blackness of horrible treachery,
Raymond of Toulouse marched away in haste from
Arsuf, not caring to meet Godfrey too soon after-
wards.
Godfrey was not far behind him. He arrived
to find that the Saracen governor of Arsuf knew
exactly all his weakness, and the mocking of the
Saracens upon the walls was very hard indeed to
bear. Moreover, they captured one of his best
Knights, Sir Gerard d'Avesnes, and thrust him out
upon the city walls, bound to a wooden cross, while
they threatened first to torture and then kill him
if Godfrey persisted in trying to take Arsuf.
" Take no thought for me ! " cried Gerard aloud
from his cross. " It is but one life against the
Kingdom's good. Heed it not at all ! '
But Godfrey raised the siege, partly to save
Gerard d'Avesnes, whose brave arm he could little
spare in these days of difficulty and treachery and
danger, and partly because he dared not risk his
67
THE CRUSADES
small army in the attempt. By and bye Gerard
was released, and returned to his friends in safety,
though with many hurts ; and Godfrey rewarded
him by making him Sieur, or Lord, of St. Abraham
as the Crusaders called Hebron.
But Godfrey's anger was hot against Raymond
of Toulouse for his mean and wicked deed. He
wished to fight a duel with him, but the other
Princes of the Crusade prevented this.
"Shame would fall upon us all," they said, "if
you, the King, and such a famous Knight as Count
Raymond, should fight in the sight of all men,
to the confusion of ourselves and the triumph of
our enemies."
Godfrey listened and gave way ; his life was
his own no longer ; he must use it only in the
service of the Kingdom. So peace was made be-
tween him and Raymond, and the army returned
in triumph to Jerusalem. The sword and banner
of Afdhal were hung up in the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, where all might see these signs
of the first victory of the Christian Kingdom of
Jerusalem. Raymond of Toulouse, who was still
greedy of power, and not at all content with what
he had already, stayed only a little while longer
in Jerusalem, and then went to Constantinople,
where the Emperor Alexius gave him Laodicea.
Many of the Crusaders had fallen in the siege
of Jerusalem, and in the fighting later, and the
68
THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM
new fiefs kept those great Knights who owned
them fully occupied. But soon a new danger
faced the victors. The Land had been won, partly
by the hot haste of the Crusaders, against whose
fury nothing could stand for long, and partly
through the fear of the people of the country
themselves of these armed men from the far West.
But now, in times of quiet, the latter saw how
small was the force that had mastered them, and
they were determined to turn the Christians out.
The Moslem peasantry refused to plant and sow,
hoping in this way to starve out the Crusaders,
and there was no safety in travel, except well
armed and in numbers.
The ranks of the Crusaders were swelled from
time to time by fresh arrivals of pilgrims, who
hastened out from Europe, some to rejoice in the
victory of the Christian arms, others hoping to
get some share of the spoils. At Christmas,
Boemond of Antioch and Baldwin of Edessa
came to Jerusalem, together with Daimbert, Bishop
of Pisa in Italy, who afterwards became Patriarch
at Jerusalem. Their journey was a very hard one,
and they suffered a good deal both from cold and
from the enemy ; but Tancred, now Prince of Galilee,
helped them as they passed through his lands, and
they spent the winter at Jerusalem, assisting Godfrey
to settle the new Kingdom.
Godfrey was not only a great soldier, but a
69
THE CRUSADES
great law-giver, as was only to be expected from
one who was descended from Charlemagne ; and
now, in the short times of peace that came every
now and then, he made wise laws, modelled on
those of the West. To the Church he was always
a good friend, and he gave to the Canons of the
Holy Sepulchre the rich vine-lands north of Jeru-
salem, and two villages (Bireh, the Beeroth of the
Bible, and Ain Senia) all which is still some of
the richest and most fruitful land in Palestine.
He made three Courts of Justice : the First sat
under the King direct, to settle any troubles be-
tween the great lords, who were always quarrelling
amongst themselves ; the Second was composed of
men of note and of good name, to keep the law
amongst the people of the towns and the lesser
gentry ; the Third was for the native Christians,
under native Christian judges. Slaves were allowed,
whose only protection was the kindness of each
one's master. The value set upon a slave was
not very high ; one slave was counted equal to
a falcon, two slaves to a war-horse. Godfrey also
gave gifts of lands to the lesser Knights who had
remained with him, partly as a reward for all that
they had done, and partly to persuade them to
stay on in the Country ; for if they were all to
leave Palestine in search of riches or adventures
in other places, he could not hope to keep the
Land they had so hardly won. He made Baronies
70
THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM
of the chief districts Jaffa, Nablus, Acre, Beyrout,
Galilee, Sidon, Haifa, and Kerak ; and it is strange
that to this very day these parts, under the Turkish
Government, follow almost the same lines as those
which were mapped out by Godfrey more than
nine hundred years ago. These Barons, of course,
had each one his own following of Knights,
squires, and men-at-arms, and when the Christian
Kingdom was at its greatest it could gather three
thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine Knights
to the battle. Godfrey's laws were all written out
by hand and richly illuminated, each sheet being
sealed with the Seal of the Kingdom, and they
were kept in a special casket or box in the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre, from which they came to
be called " The Letters of the Holy Sepulchre."
Having ordered things at home as far as he
was able to, the great Godfrey turned his thoughts
to making strong friendships abroad, which would
be of help to the Kingdom in times of trouble.
Such friendships between nations and governments
are called alliances, and Godfrey made a very wise
alliance with the Venetians, who were then a great
sea-going and trading people. A Venetian fleet
came in the spring of 1100 to open up trade with
the new Kingdom, and Godfrey agreed with the
Venetians that if they would help him for three
months they should have the third part of every
town that was taken, a church and a market as
THE CRUSADES
well, and free shelter in any town along the coast
for all shipwrecked crews.
In the spring Godfrey took the field once more,
and went up north to help Tancred to subdue
Galilee, which has always been a very restless and
difficult country. Marching in the hot sun, fighting
continually, camping by swamps and marches that
were humming with poisonous mosquitoes, (for the
country was new to him, and he did not know his
way about it clearly yet), Godfrey fell ill of Syrian
fever. He struggled against it with no thought of
himself at all, but the sickness was stronger than
his courage or his will, and Godfrey died at Jaffa,
on his way back to Jerusalem, on July 18, 1100.
In sorrow and mourning the soldiers brought the
body of their great leader up to Jerusalem, and
buried him in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
under the Place of Calvary, and within a few feet
of the Holy Tomb itself. His sword and spurs,
and the Cross of the Kingdom, (worn also by the
Kings who came after him), were hung up in the
Church. They are shown to travellers to this day
in the Franciscan \ r estry of the Church. The
sword is the straight cross-handled weapon of the
Crusaders ; the spurs are of some dull yellow metal,
with star-shaped rowels very much bent ; and the
cross is of gold with a deep red carbuncle glowing
in the midst of it. It is the Jerusalem Cross which
the Crusaders invented ; a big cross in the centre
72
THE BEGINNING OF THE KINGDOM
surrounded by four smaller ones, and they gave it
two beautiful meanings ; one was to remind them
of the Five Wounds of Christ in His Hands, His
Feet, and His Side : the other was the Christian
Kingdom of Jerusalem, the big cross being the
Holy City itself, and the small ones the four chief
Principalities belonging to it Antioch, Edessa,
Galilee, and Aleppo, or, as some say, Kerak. The
Jerusalem Cross is a most beautiful one in shape ;
and it is wonderful to feel, as you hold this one in
your hand, that Godfrey once wore it in Jerusalem.
Over Godfrey's grave his people wrote in Latin
the simple words :
' c Here lies Duke Godfrey de Bouillon
Who won all this Land to the faith of Christ :
His soul reigns with Christ.
Amen."
73
CHAPTER VII
THE SETTLING OF THE KINGDOM
BALDWIN I, 1100-1118
" Red gleamed the Cross and waned the Crescent pale."
BYRON.
s
No sooner was the great Godfrey laid to rest under
Calvary, than bitter quarrels broke out once more
amongst the Crusaders as to who was to succeed
him. Each Knight wanted to be King, and the
Patriarch Diambert was too proud and greedy a
man himself to do anything but make these quarrels
worse. Sir Gamier de Gray, a cousin of Godfrey's,
but a Knight of little fame, seized the Tower of
David, one of the strong places of the City, which
commanded nearly the whole of it from its high
position at the western end, and which he -declared
that Godfrey had promised to give him for his own.
Godfrey's brother, Baldwin, was away at the time
with Boemond of Antioch, fighting in Armenia;
but as soon as he heard of Godfrey's death he
gave over his own new Principality of Edessa to
his cousin Baldwin du Bourg, and started for
74
en
P
O
u <
H
a
o
<
U
TIL!
THE SETTLING OF THE KINGDOM
Jerusalem in hot haste, with a small force of one
thousand men and four hundred Knights. He was
attacked on the way at the Dog River, near
Beyrout, by a large Saracen force, but he defeated
it, and reached Jerusalem in safety. At his coming
the quarrels all died away, for it was so plain that
he had not only the chief right to succeed Godfrey
as King, but that he was by far the best man to
do so. So Baldwin I was crowned on Christmas
Day 1100, in the Church of the Nativity at
Bethlehem, because he, like his great brother,
would not receive the golden crown in Jerusalem.
Baldwin was a man of great strength of body,
and he was also upright, just, and wise. He was
a man of few words, who kept his thoughts to
himself, so that men were afraid of him, for they
could not guess what was in his mind. He was
quick to see what should be done, as well as firm
and strong in all he did. He thought more of his
royal state than Godfrey had done, and he never
forgot that he was a King; neither would he allow
that freedom and friendship between his Knights
and himself that Godfrey had encouraged. His
people were proud of their tall and noble-looking
King, and if they feared him much they also
trusted him. And in Baldwin the greedy and
cunning Patriarch found a hard master, who saw
through his smooth words, and trusted him not
at all.
75
THE CRUSADES
A story has come down to us about Baldwin
which shows us what kind of man he was. He
was clearing the country between Jerusalem and
Ascalon of Saracens as far as he was able, and at
one place, hearing of a large band of Saracen robbers
who made all that part doubly unsafe, he went
after them. The robbers hid in one of the great
caves which are found all over Palestine. Baldwin
lit fires at the entrance of the cave, meaning to
smoke them out, and after a while two of the
robbers crept out to make terms with him. Baldwin
received them well, put a rich robe upon one of
them, and sent him back to bring out his fellows.
As soon as he had disappeared within the dark
cavern, Balwin killed the one who had remained
with him. After a while the first robber came
out again, followed by ten others. Again Baldwin
sent back one, and killed the ten. This time the
messenger brought out thirty. One was sent back
and the thirty beheaded. At last all the robbers
came out, to the number of over two hundred wild,
fierce men, savage and cruel ; and Baldwin had them
all put to death. Then, piling up the fires to a
greater heat, he waited till the wives and children
of the robbers were forced to come out. Some
were able to pay large sums of money for their
lives ; the rest, who could not pay, were put to
death. Baldwin then left this scene of blood, and
marched east to Jordan ; but the terror of his name
76
THE SETTLING OF THE KINGDOM
was such that all men trembled before him, and
simply dared not do wrong, for fear of the strong
King's anger and his heavy hand.
Baldwin made an alliance with the Genoese
fleet as Godfrey had done with the Venetian ; and
having won Casarea, an important seaport, with
their help, he made them gifts of streets, churches,
and markets in different cities. The Christian
armies of Palestine were never very large, and as
they were always at war, they were always wanting
to be made up again. A good many English and
German soldiers came out from Europe, and with
their help Baldwin tried to take the forest-covered
country between Jerusalem and its seaport of Jaffa.
But at Ramleh, a few miles out of Jaffa, the Sara-
cens made a sudden attack upon him, and he only
escaped being captured through the help of a Sara-
cen Emir, or Prince, whose wife Baldwin had once
saved when she was in danger.
Now, the Patriarch Daimbert had never liked
Baldwin, against whose strong rule he dared not
openly rebel. Outwardly the two were friends,
but Baldwin rightly distrusted the Patriarch, and
Daimbert feared and hated the King. At last it
came to an open quarrel between them, and of
course the cause was money. The pilgrims, who
came to Jerusalem in crowds now that it was so
safe as a Christian City, brought in a great deal
of money which should have gone, as most of it
77
THE CRUSADES
was meant to go, in keeping up the Christian
Kingdom. But Daimbert took for himself all that
he could lay hands upon ; he lived richly and
luxuriously, kept a great household like a King,
and did not care about the Kingdom one little
bit. All this made Baldwin very angry, for he
did not know where to turn for money, and often
could hardly pay his own Knights and soldiers.
He sent time after time to Daimbert to say that
the money must be given over to him, to be used
in the proper way in the service of the Kingdom.
At first Daimbert said he had none to give ; then,
when Baldwin's anger became uncomfortably hot,
he sent him two hundred marks, and said that
that was all he had. But Arnold the Chancellor
of the Holy Sepulchre went secretly to the King,
and told him that the Treasury of the Church was
full, but that the Patriarch wished to keep it all
for his own use. Baldwin was furious. He forced
his way into the Patriarch's private room, and
found him eating off gold and silver plate. Truly,
Baldwin's rage was awful to behold.
" By heaven ! ' he cried, " you feast and we
fast : you eat the money given by the faithful !
By what right dare you take to yourself the gifts
made at Christ's Sepulchre by the pilgrims, while
we whose very blood has bought the City we
suffer toil and weariness and hunger ! Share with
us the cup of bitterness which we now drink, or,
7*
THE SETTLING OF THE KINGDOM
by heaven ! you shall drink no other, neither touch
any more the money of the Church ! '
Daiinbert's guest, an Italian Cardinal, shrank
away affrighted from the King as he towered over
the Patriarch in his righteous wrath, but the
Patriarch sullenly replied, "It is written in the
Word of God that they who serve the altar shall
live by the altar."
" Say you so ! ' thundered Baldwin. " But, by
heaven ! if you help me not to keep the Kingdom
I will help myself!'
It was a stormy scene. Baldwin went on furi-
ously demanding that all the contents of the
Treasury should at once be given up to him, while
Daimbert would only sullenly deny that he had
anything to give up. At last, however, an empty
peace was made between them, on the Patriarch's
promising to provide thirty Knights for the service
of the Kingdom, and with this Baldwin had to be
content. But after a while Daimbert fell back
into his old greedy, grasping ways, and at last he
was openly accused of stealing, and had to fly to
Antioch ; and not long after his old secret enemy,
Arnold the Chancellor, became Patriarch in his
place.
And now sad days came upon the Crusaders,
for the great leaders of the First Crusade were
laying down their arms for ever. Boemond of
Antioch was besieged by the Greeks and Saracens
79
THE CRUSADES
together, and only just managed to escape by being
carried through the enemy's ranks in a coffin. He
went to Italy to get help, but on his way back
he was taken ill, and died at Tarento, his old home
(1104). Raymond of Toulouse was killed a very
few months later, in February 1105, whilst be-
sieging Tripoli. He was also Lord of St. Gilles
in Palestine, a place which is now called Sinjil.
Sad indeed was King Baldwin at the loss of these
great men, his old friends and tried brothers-in-
arms ; and the loss to the Kingdom was great.
Their courage had dared the First Crusade, their
swords had won the Kingdom, and their wisdom
had kept it in the face of many difficulties. But
now, their work completed, one by one the
Princes of the First Crusade laid down their arms
in death.
Baldwin the King had work to do yet. He
led his victorious army in turn against Tripoli,
Tyre, Sidon, Beyrout, and Acre all of them im-
portant coast-towns and captured them all with
the help of the Italian fleets. Tripoli was well
given to Bertram de St. Gilles, son of that Ray-
mond who had died in trying to take it, and it
became the capital of one of the chief Principalities
of the Kingdom. Baldwin also strengthened the
Kingdom within itself by making great Seignories,
or Baronies, under Knights who were able to hold
the strong places of the Kingdom ; and he built
80
THE SETTLING OF THE KINGDOM
several fine castles, whose ruins still remain. He
tried always to be a wise and just ruler, and his
people admired and trusted him.
Encouraged by the success of his arms in Pales-
tine, Baldwin bethought him of conquering Egypt
also ; for as Egypt is the southern boundary of
Palestine, it was always a gateway by which an
enemy could attack the Christian Kingdom. But
fever weakened the Christian army, and Baldwin,
sick unto death himself, sadly gave the order to
turn back. This order filled the army with grief
and despair, for they knew well that nothing but
a sickness to death would have persuaded Baldwin
to turn his back upon a fight. Crowding into the
sick King's tent, they burst into loud and selfish
lamentations : " For," said they all, " if the King
lead us not thither, we may have no hope of see-
ing Jerusalem and our friends again."
Baldwin raised himself in bed and spoke to them
sternly.
" Brothers-in-arms," he said, " shall the death
of one man weaken your hearts and your swords
in the midst of our enemies ? Remember, in God's
Name, that there are yet many with you whose
strength and skill are greater than mine. Quit
you like men, and, sword in hand, uphold our King-
dom of Jerusalem as indeed ye have sworn to do."
After receiving their promises, which they now gave
readily, being ashamed of their unmanly fears, the
81 F
THE CRUSADES
King continued, " Lay not my body, I beseech
you, in this strange part, but carry it to Jerusalem,
and lay me there by my brother Godfrey's side."
So the army began its sad march homeward,
and on the third day the King died at El Arish,
a town near Gaza, on the borders of Egypt, and
which is now the boundary between the Holy Land
and Egypt. It is a hot and sandy part, bare and
desolate, and it is little wonder that Baldwin did
not wish to lie there, so far away from the City
which was to every Crusader the goal of all his
hopes. The soldiers preserved the body of Baldwin,
and carried it back to Jerusalem, as Godfrey had
been carried back, just eighteen years ago. They
reached Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and the people
of the City, coming out with joy to meet, as they
thought, the victorious army, were met instead by
the dead body of their King (1118). Baldwin was
buried near Godfrey in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, and on his tomb the hand of some ad-
mirer wrote that he was the " Hope of his Country
and the Strength of the Church." Though he had
been three times married, Baldwin I left no children.
82
CHAPTER VIII
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
BALDWIN II, 1118-1131 ; FULKE, 1131-1144
" See a disenchanted nation
Springs like day from desolation ;
To Truth its state is dedicate,
And Freedom leads it forth, her mate."
SHELLEY.
BALDWIN I left the crown in his will to his brother
Eustace. But Eustace was in France, and the
Barons of the Kingdom were really afraid to wait
all the long time till he could arrive, so they chose
the dead King's cousin, Baldwin de Burgh, who
had succeeded him as Count of Edessa when he
took the crown of Jerusalem. Eustace, who was
as unselfish as his two brothers, though not so great
in other ways, raised no trouble at losing a King-
dom, as he very well might have done, but allowed
the choice made to pass unquestioned, for the sake
of the Kingdom.
The new King Baldwin was not a young man,
but he was as brave and vigorous in character as
he was tall and strong in body. He had married
83
THE CRUSADES
an Armenian wife, and unfortunately this brought
great trouble in after years upon the Kingdom.
For his two daughters, Milicent and Alice, though
they were beautiful women and very clever, were
bad and ambitious, and they cared for nothing in
life but to be rich and powerful and feared. Bald-
win II was crowned at Bethlehem, and for the
first two years of the new reign the Kingdom en-
joyed great peace and prosperity.
About four years after Baldwin's accession, the
Saracen Emir, or Prince, of Aleppo, invaded the
Kingdom with a large army. He took prisoner
Jocelyn of Edessa, the King's nephew, and eighty
Knights ; and when Baldwin set out to recover
Edessa, the Emir managed to capture him also,
and sent him loaded with chains to a strongly forti-
fied city of the Saracens. When the ill news be-
came known, fifty Armenians disguised themselves
as monks, and bravely ventured into the city to
try and rescue the King, who had always been kind
to all Armenians for the sake of his wife. They
failed, however, and Baldwin remained a prisoner
for more than a year ; and the fifty brave Armenians
were put to a cruel death by the Saracens. Baldwin
was set free at last by Jocelyn of Edessa, who killed
the Emir, and sent his head to encourage the Chris-
tian army, which was having a good deal of hard
fighting at the time all round Antioch, Aleppo, and
Tyre. After this there came a long and much-
84
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
needed peace, which Baldwin used for the strengthen-
ing of the Kingdom in every way that he could think
of. It was in his reign, we must remember, that
the Order of the Knights Templars was founded,
or begun, and the Hospitallers became a real fight-
ing Order.
Baldwin's great trouble was that he had no son
to succeed him, and his two daughters were such
proud and greedy women that no one could have
borne their rule for any length of time, and he
knew that it was of no use to hope that the Barons
would allow either of them to reign after him. So
it seemed to Baldwin that the best thing he could
do for the Kingdom would be to marry one of his
daughters to a strong and good Knight, who should
succeed him on the throne and rule the Kingdom
well. Alice, the elder daughter, married Boemond
of Antioch, the son of the Boemond of the First
Crusade. Though he was so young, Boemond
gave promise of being as great as his father, but
unfortunately he died soon after, leaving one little
daughter, Constance, to succeed him as Lady of
the great, unrestful Principality. By the law of
the Kingdom the little Constance was the ward,
or charge, of the King her grandfather until she
came of age, which the Letters of the Holy Sepul-
chre had fixed at twelve years old for a woman if
she married at that age, but if she did not, she
was considered to be under age until she was
THE CRUSADES
sixty ! But Alice made up her mind to be the
real ruler of Antioch herself, for she was greedy of
power and jealous even of her own child. She
therefore made a secret treaty, or agreement, with
Zanghi the Saracen, who was Sultan of Egypt, to
help her against her own father. Luckily the
people of Antioch refused to join her in her re-
bellion, and so her evil tricks were found out and
stopped in time. Baldwin the King was so angry
at the whole thing that it is said to have, shortened
his life, and he died rather suddenly at Jerusalem
in the winter of 1131, soon after his return from
Antioch, where he had been to settle matters after
Alice's treachery was found out.
Baldwin's other daughter, Milicent, he had
married to Fulke, Count of Anjou, who had come
out to the Holy Land as a pilgrim, and had stayed
on at Jerusalem. Fulke was about forty years old
when he married Milicent. He had been married
before, and had one son, that Geoffrey Plantagenet
who married the Empress Matilda, daughter of
Henry I of England, some years before Fulke
came out to Jerusalem. The son of Geoffrey
Plantagenet and Matilda was afterwards our
Henry II, who was the father of Richard I, the
Lion-Heart, England's great Crusader. So here
the history of England begins to touch the history
of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem : and per-
haps it was from his great-grandfather Fulke that
86
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
Richard Cceur-de-Lion inherited the love and desire
for Jerusalem that made him take the Cross and
fight so sturdily for her.
When Baldwin II died, Fulke the Pilgrim suc-
ceeded him as King of Jerusalem, as had been the
wish of Baldwin. Unlike the first three Kings,
who had all been big men, Fulke of Anjou was
small and slight, with red hair and blue eyes ; but
like them he was brave and wise, generous as well
as just. He had but one fault, said his people who
loved him, and that was that he had such a bad
memory ! He never remembered either a face or
a name, and so he would receive a man one day
with all honour and friendship, and make him many
fair promises which he really meant to keep, and
the next day pass him by without even remember-
ing his face. No wonder that, as a writer of his
own time complained, " men who counted on their
friendship with the King fell into confusion " when
they found themselves quite overlooked and for-
gotten. But in spite of this fault and it was a
very trying one for a King to have Fulke was a
good and clever King, who really did his best for
the people; and under him the Kingdom rose to
its fullest glory, and at his death it began to die.
For Fulke had the mind of the first Kings in that
he set the honour and the good of the Kingdom
above his own ; and after him came Kings who
were foolish and weak and often selfish as well.
87
THE CRUSADES
Unfortunately his wife, Milicent, was not a good
woman, and her bad deeds troubled the King and
the Kingdom for some years, and in the end
brought shame upon both.
Fulke had not been King many years before
the Sultan Zanghi of Egypt and the Greek Emperor
joined together to attack Antioch ; and though
Fulke fought bravely, he had to give up one of
his best fortresses to the enemy a loss he felt
most bitterly. However five years later he joined
with the Damascenes (the people of Damascus,
which some say is the oldest city in the world),
and recovered another very valuable stronghold
from Zanghi, who did not venture to attack Fulke
again.
Being left at peace, Fulke was able to turn
his thoughts to the enriching of the Kingdom,
which the first Kings had had no time to do. He
built three strong castles on the southern frontier,
which stopped the Egyptian Saracens from invading
the Kingdom from that side, and two on the east.
The ruins of some of these castles can still be seen.
He was not by any means as great a soldier or
King as the three men who had worn the crown
of Jerusalem before him, but he was brave and
wise, and he knew well how to keep and to
increase what they had gained. Under Fulke the
Kingdom was richer than it was at any other time,
either before his day or after it. The streets of
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THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
Jerusalem ran, broad and clean, between noble and
stately buildings with richly-carved fronts and
doorways Churches, convents, hospices, and the
private houses of Knights and Barons. Here moved
the busy crowds, prosperous and gaily dressed.
Moslem peasants in their bright and picturesque
dress brought in their fruit and vegetables from
the country on camel or on donkey-back, as they
do to-day. Sleek merchants from all parts of the
world, easy and secure under the good rule of
Fulke, drove hard bargains in the wares of many
lands in furs from Siberia, and horses from Syria
and Cyprus ; in china and silks from China ; in vases
of painted marble from far - off Mecca ; in slaves
from Russia and Armenia ; in pearls from the
Persian Gulf; in glass from Hebron (they make
glass to-day in Hebron, as they did in the twelfth
century) ; in ostrich feathers from the burning
deserts ; in rich enamels and tiles from Damascus,
Antioch, and Tripoli ; such tiles as still adorn the
Mosque of Omar and the Armenian Church at
Jerusalem. Knights and nobles and soldiers, shining
in armour, or dressed in the rich robes that showed
their high estate, passed through the crowded
streets ; high-born ladies, walking with dainty feet
over the hard stone pavings ; every race and every
language was at home in Jerusalem in the reign
of Fulke.
There were fifteen Latin Churches in the City,
89
THE CRUSADES
and nine on the Mount of Olives, not counting
those of other nations, but the centre of the life
of the City was the noble old Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, to save which the Crusaders had come,
and which they loved and guarded with such jealous
care. Within it arose by day and night the sweet
smell of incense, the chanting of priest and choir,
and the prayers of pilgrims and of strangers. The
Church was rich with pictures and decorations, and
stained-glass windows that gleamed like jewels set
high in the thick walls ; silver lamps shone like
clusters of stars in its dark corners and recesses ;
and the clang of armed feet was never silent as
Knights and men-at-arms passed in and out. The
memory of the Crusaders, their prayers and deeds,
still seems to cling to this wonderful old Church,
telling us how much they loved it in their day.
Under the Place of Calvary were buried the three
first Kings, Godfrey being in the middle ; their
graves were an ever-present reminder to the wor-
shippers of the great dead who had won the City.
In fact Godfrey was never forgotten while the
Kingdom lasted, and every year the anniversary
of his death (July 18th) was kept solemnly in Jeru-
salem, " with plenteous giving of alms in the great
Church ' (of the Holy Sepulchre) " as himself had
arranged while yet alive." The day of the taking
of Jerusalem (July 15th) was also kept, but with
rejoicings and thanksgivings. Some lines were
90
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STANDARD BEARERS AND TRUMPETERS OF A SARACEN
ARMY ON THE MARCH
From an ancient Saracen Manuscript
at Paris.
5 LIC
ASTOR, LENOX &MD
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
written or carved over the door of the Church
about this great anniversary :
" One thousand and one hundred years save one l
Since Blessed Mary bore her glorious Son;
When rose upon July its fifteenth sun
By Prankish might Jerusalem was won."
The pictures of the three Kings in glass and
mosaic, with those of many saints and prophets
of the Bible, were put up in the Church, though
coloured glass was very rare even in European
Churches in those days. The epitaph, or writing,
on the tomb of Baldwin I praised him as a " second
Judas Maccabeus, and his Country's hope, the
Church's pride and strength."
All around the Church there were then, as
there are now, the busiest streets of the City ;
the Markets for spices, silver, and silks, for herbs,
and meat and grain ; the street called Malquisnat,
where the pilgrims' food was cooked, and they
themselves were obliged to wash before going on
to the Church ; and in one street, not far from
the Church, called Patriarch's Street, was the Palace
of the Kings. It is now the house of the Greek
Patriarch, and is built on both sides of the street,
whose narrow breadth is crossed by an arch having
a room on top. Even now the house is very large ;
but when the Kings lived there a hundred men could
1 That is in 1099.
91
THE CRUSADES
be put up without any difficulty. In the shady
corners of the Markets there were fortune-tellers
and conjurers, wild, strange-looking men from
the deserts of Egypt or the far Sudan, who shook
out little heaps of sand upon a flat stone, and
drew in it curious signs and figures with their
finger-tips. They could read in the sand the
fortunes of the people, who asked them, half-
laughing, yet half-believing, too ; or see the future
in some dark liquid like ink, held in the hollow
of the hand just as to-day in Jerusalem fortunes
are read in sand and in ink. And in the back
streets of the City, which were so dark and narrow
and mysterious-looking, lived regular old witches,
who sold love-potions and charms, and medicines
made from mandrakes, and roots, and herbs, and
powdered pearls, all of which things were said to
work real wonders, and for which those who believed
in them paid very highly indeed, we may be sure.
Then, to the thin exciting note of the Syrian bag-
pipes and reed flutes, a brown bear, torn when a
cub from his home on Mount Hermon of the
snows, would slowly and heavily rise on his hind
legs and dance for the amusement of the passers-
by, poked at with long sticks by some, perhaps,
and laughed at, for certain, by all. And animals-
all animals, but especially wild ones do so hate
being laughed at, quite as much as we do.
Through these bright and busy streets the King
92
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
would often ride, his small, slight figure mounted
on the swift Syrian horses he loved and rode on
to his death, and his bright-red hair marking him
out amongst his train, his keen eyes glancing here
and there, seeing every face and yet remembering
so few; while his quick brain was busy all the
time with the cares of this strange Kingdom,
which seemed so strong and so great. And the
people loved and trusted him as not even Godfrey
the hero and the conqueror had been trusted.
Godfrey was too high and good a man for the
rough soldiers he had led ever to really understand ;
but Fulke, with his merry ways, his wise head,
and quick strong hand, was one whom all could
follow and admire, and he shared the life of his
people as the first Kings had never done. The
mistrustful Saracen trader, the wild Bedouin from
the desert, came without fear to Jerusalem, and
knew that under Fulke their ways were safe to
come and go, and their lives, too, in the City of
the Christians.
Not only in Jerusalem was there richness and
comfort and peace. All through the Land noble
castles and churches had sprung up. In Acre,
Antioch, Tyre, and Sidon the Crusaders built real
palaces and roofed them inside with costly cedar of
Lebanon. Through the streets, which were shaded
from the hot sun by coloured awnings, walked the
proud lords and barons in almost royal state, with
93
THE CRUSADES
golden coronets upon their heads, each of them like
a King with his following of soldiers and Knights
and servants ; even their war-horses were gay with
trappings of gold and silver. Floors of marble
and mosaic, ceilings painted in bright colours, rich
carpets from Persia, and curtains and pillows of silk
from Damascus, made their castles lovely within,
though from outside they might look grim enough
to frighten away any attack ; and on the flat stone
roofs and battlements the ladies walked in gowns
of many wonderful colours, rich with jewels and
with gold. In the middle of the castles were
courtyards, which were kept cool and fresh by
fountains and shaded by vines trained over trellises,
and by lemon and pomegranate and cypress trees ;
while here and there in the City were gardens, full
of the wonderful flowers and trees of Palestine.
" The Holy Land flourished like a garden of de-
light," wrote a pilgrim, full of praise and wonder
at what he saw as he travelled through it. " The
wildernesses were so fat (he means fruitful) that
where dragons and serpents once had their dwellings,
there were now green reeds and cane."
Knights and ladies dressed very richly and in
bright colours in time of peace, and kept high state
in the great castles. In war-time the Crusaders'
armour consisted of a hauberk, or coat, of chain-
mail, with leggings of the same ; a heavy close-fitting
helmet of steel, with nose and neck-pieces, covered
94
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
the head ; while the shield was of thick wood,
covered with leather, and over that bands of steel.
On these shields were painted (or, as it was called,
emblazoned) the arms of the Knight. They used
spears, swords, and bows in battle. Richard Coeur-
de-Lion's favourite weapon was the terrible iron
mace that few could even lift, so great was the
weight of it, but which he used so easily and so
mightily. The soldiers of the Christian Kingdom
never gave up their heavy armour, and though of
course it protected them wonderfully well they also
found it very hot and heavy in the East, and often
the men were tired out by the very weight of their
armour, marching in the hot sun, before they began
to fight. The Saracens, who wore very little
armour, and that of the lightest kind, did not suffer
nearly so much ; nor did their horses, untroubled
by great weights upon their backs. The Saracens
used curved swords something like scythes, which
were called scimitars, while the Crusaders kept to
the long straight blade that they understood best
how to use. But both Saracens and Crusaders
loved to have their swords made of the wonderful
steel of Damascus, which was famous then all over
the world, and is still remembered. The blade had
curious streaks upon it like water, which were made
by twisting iron and steel together in strips, and
beating them out into one solid piece. When the
blade was red-hot the armourer of Damascus would
95
THE CRUSADES
take it and plunge it hissing into the cold waters
of the river Barada (which is called Abana in the
Bible) ; and their boast was that nothing could ever
break a sword which had been cast in the forges
of Damascus and cooled in the Barada. Both
Crusaders and Saracens used music when going
into battle, the Christians having horns, pipes, and
trumpets, and the Saracens cymbals and sometimes
drums. When Khartoum was taken by the Eng-
lish and Egyptian troops in 1898 a good deal of
Crusading and Saracen armour was found amongst
the Dervishes, which, having lasted all those hun-
dreds of years, was still as good as ever for use,
and which many of them had put on to fight in.
After the battle of Omdurman, and when the
Sudan was safe and open to the rest of the world,
chain hauberks and steel helmets, shields and cross-
handled swords, which had first seen use in many
battles in Palestine eight and nine hundred years
ago, made their way down the Nile, and came into
the markets of Egypt, Palestine, and Europe.
Coins were struck at Acre, having on one side
the words in Arabic, " God is One," and on the
other, " Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." These are
still found in Palestine.
The Christian Kingdom had many sports and
amusements, as well as much fighting, to exercise
it. The Western Knights had brought with them
their hawks and hounds, and there was big game
96
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
in the Land as well as small ; they hunted bears
and leopards and wild boar, and for smaller game,
swift gazelles and hares. Sometimes they hunted
with cheetahs and leopards, as the Saracens did ;
and in times of peace Christians and Saracens went
out hunting together in all friendship and good
sportsmanship. In the evenings, seated by win-
dows set wide to let in the cool night breeze, or
in winter by blazing fires of sweet-smelling olive-
wood, oak, and pine, they told the old Western
tales from home of King Arthur, Beowulf, Roland
and the Peers of France, and Charlemagne, and
of the great deeds of valour performed by the
Leaders of the First Crusade. Great feasts they
had, too, when the long tables were heavy with
gold and silver plate, and the minstrels played
sweetly in the gallery.
Certainly the Crusaders found Palestine a mighty
pleasant Land to live in, and were very well content
too well content, perhaps to settle there for
good and all. " Consider," wrote a pilgrim, who
came to the Holy Land about this time, " how the
West has been turned into the East ; how he who
was of the West has become of the East ; he who
was Roman or Frank has become here a Galilean
or an inhabitant of Palestine ; he who was a citizen
of Rheims or of Chartres is become a citizen of
Tyre or of Antioch. The stranger has become the
native, the pilgrim the resident ; day by day our
97 G
THE CRUSADES
relations come from the West and stay with us.
Those who were poor at home God has made rich
here. Why should he who finds the East so
fortunate return again to the West ? ' That was
the trouble. The Christians were already beginning
to forget their own colder lands, and to dislike the
idea of returning to what were, perhaps, harder
lives at home ; and there is no blessing for a man
who deserts or forgets his own country only for
the sake of gain. " Men of every tribe and every
nation came there. They came in crowds from
beyond the sea, especially from Genoa, Venice, and
Pisa. But the greatest number came from France
and Germany," says our pilgrim ; and he goes on
to say that the Italians were more courageous at
sea, and the French and Germans on land. " The
Germans, the Franks, and the English are less de-
ceitful, less careful, but more daring than the
Italians ; less sober, more generous ; less wise and
careful ; more devout, more generous, more courage-
ous ; therefore they are considered more useful for
the defence of the Holy Land, and more to be
feared against the Saracens." I have altered some
of the words of the old writer (who liked to use
the very longest ones he could find), but it is nice
to know that all those years ago England gave her
best to help the Christian Kingdom. Perhaps it
was these English Crusaders who, being " generous,
devout and courageous," first made good the saying
98
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
that is still alive in Palestine, and which makes us
proud in hearing it spoken now " On the word
of an Englishman it is true."
We must never think that the Crusaders were
rough, lawless, savage people ; they counted amongst
them the best and noblest of Europe, and it was
not a set of barbarians who won the Kingdom of
Jerusalem, and ordered it so wisely for over eighty
years. Palestine was richer, more prosperous, and
more content under the Crusaders' rule than at any
other time in all her history. But as the Christians
grew richer, and left off the hardy habits they had
brought with them from home, they came to care
too much for ease and comfort and riches ; and this,
with the numbers of mean and selfish men who
hurried out to the East wanting only to get rich,
was what made the Kingdom weak, and in the
end brought it to its fall.
But in the day of Fulke there was no sign of
coming trouble. Everywhere there was ease and
comfort, wealth and prosperity, and there was little
sign of coming trouble to disquiet his people. Small
expeditions against the Saracens, or against robbers
who still troubled the Land in parts, kept the
Crusaders' swords in use, from time to time, and
as these were usually successful, they only added to
their contentment and self-satisfaction.
Fulke did not at all trust his wife's sister, Alice
of Antioch, for he remembered how false she had
99
9^63
THE CRUSADES
been to her own father, King Baldwin ; and as she
was beginning to be restless and troublesome again,
he thought of a way in which he could keep her
quiet. It was not a very good way, but it answered
his purpose. He sent to Europe to a Knight he
had known there in the old days, Raymond of
Poitou, and invited him to come out and marry
the little Constance of Antioch, who was now
about twelve years of age. Raymond was only
too ready to do this, for Constance was one of the
chief people in the Kingdom, as Antioch was one of
its richest provinces. Fulke thought that he would
find a good husband for his little niece, who would
also be a strong defender and ruler for Antioch,
but no one seems to have thought at all about
Constance herself and her wishes in the matter.
Now, Fulke knew very well that Alice would
never let the power pass out of her hands into
those of any other, so he tricked her in a way
that was not quite worthy of a King. He told
her that Raymond of Poitou was coming out to
marry her, and never even breathed the name of Con-
stance in connection with Raymond's coming. Alice
was delighted, though she had been married twice
already, for she thought it would mean more power
for her, and she looked out eagerly for the stranger's
arrival. But when Raymond did come, the Patri-
arch of Antioch, who had had his secret orders
100
THE KINGDOM AT ITS HEIGHT
from the King beforehand, married him at once
to the child Constance. Alice was furiously angry,
especially at the trick that had deceived her, but
she could not undo the marriage. Everyone was
glad that Fulke had got the better of her; Fulke
himself was laughing at her, and altogether it was
too much for her pride to bear. She left Antioch,
and from that day she troubled the province and
the Kingdom no more. In fact, Fulke had cut her
claws, and she was robbed of all power to do any
more harm. It was a pity for the Kingdom that
Fulke was never able to put a stop to Milicent's
power for working mischief.
The first great blow to the peace of the Kingdom
was the sudden death of Fulke himself at Acre.
He was walking one day outside the City walls
with Milicent the Queen, when he put up a hare
in the long grass. He was ever a keen hunter, and
calling for his horse and lance he set off in hot
pursuit ; but the horse caught its foot in a hole
hidden in the grass and fell, throwing the King
with such force that his skull was cracked. Sadly
his people carried him to the City, where he lay
for four days quite unconscious, and then, to their
deep sorrow, he died. Fulke's two sons, Baldwin
and Amaury, were only thirteen and seven years
of age when he died. Each of them was destined
in turn to wear the thorny crown of Jerusalem, to
101
THE CRUSADES
his own sorrow and the undoing of the Kingdom ;
and the Kingdom was thus left in the weak hands
of a boy of thirteen, and of his mother, a clever,
selfish, and ambitious woman, who cared nothing
for either King or Kingdom Milicent the
Armenian.
1 02
CHAPTER IX
THE SECOND CRUSADE
BALDWIN III, 1144-1162
" This mighty war
Shook realms and nations in its jar ;
Beneath each banner proud to stand,
Looked up the noblest of the land."
SCOTT.
BALDWIN III, the eldest son of Fulke and Milicent,
became King of Jerusalem at the age of thirteen.
He was a plucky, generous-hearted boy, tall and
broad like the first Kings, but full of fun like his
father ; fond of all outdoor sports and exercise, and
fond, too, of books, and especially of histories. His
manner, which was courteous and friendly, yet
always full of royal dignity, won him the hearts
of his people ; and, unlike his father, he had the
royal gift of never forgetting a face or a name.
He grew from a bright, high-spirited boy into a
man of clean and upright life. His great faults
were his passion for dicing and gambling ; but it
could never be said of Baldwin III that he forgot
a service or deserted a friend, and only once that
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THE CRUSADES
he broke a trust. If Fulke, the wise and merry
King, had lived to see his son grow up, and to
train him to wear what was surely the heaviest
crown in all Christendom, they two between them
might have brought the Kingdom to a lasting
greatness ; but the boy of thirteen was not able
to do it by himself. To begin with, he was
hindered in every way from the first day of his
reign by his mother Milicent, who insisted on being
crowned with him in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre as regent. Proud and crafty, Milicent
was no good helper to her open-minded son, and
she could have done so much to strengthen his
hands ; but she suspected everyone because she
herself was not straight, and she filled the mind
of Baldwin with mean and horrid doubts of every-
one around him, until the boy knew not whom
to trust. And a man who does not trust others
is never served well by them. Again, men re-
membered all the trouble she had brought upon
the Kingdom in the past, and they could never
trust her freely, for all her fair words and her
present good behaviour.
Directly Fulke's hand was off the Kingdom, and
she herself regent, Milicent gave as much power as
she could into the hands of her fellow-countrymen ;
and she persuaded Baldwin III, (as she had some-
times been able to persuade Fulke), to give posts of
honour and wealth to Armenians. These Armenians
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THE SECOND CRUSADE
often treated the people under them very badly,
especially the patient and hard-working peasants,
by taxing them unfairly, and by taking the same
taxes from them more than once. For all these
things Milicent was blamed and hated by the people.
They also thought that the young King was too
much under her power, and so they were afraid
to trust him entirely either. It was this feeling
on the part of his people that prevented Baldwin
from doing any really useful work for the Kingdom.
The two young Sieurs, or Lords, Jocelyn of
Edessa and Raymond of Antioch, had somehow
come to have each a bitter jealousy of the other;
and they spent all their time in trying to spite
each other, more like two naughty boys than the
heads of the two chief Principalities of the Kingdom.
Jocelyn was a foolish, vain, and light-minded youth,
who should have been busy in strengthening his
country ; for Zanghi, the terrible Sultan of Egypt,
was preparing for war, and Edessa lay right in
his path, so that he must either pass it by or take
it on his way to Jerusalem. But Jocelyn thought
far more of teasing Raymond than of sharpening
his sword ; and he laughed at his Knights when
they warned him of the danger that was coming
nearer every day. A most unlovely person was
this Jocelyn, both in mind and body ; weak, false,
and idle. And in the winter of 1144, Zanghi of
Egypt appeared before the walls of Edessa with
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THE CRUSADES
a great army. Jocelyn in a terrible fright sent
messengers here and there for help, even to his
old enemy Raymond of Antioch. But Raymond
refused to help him, putting his private quarrel
with Jocelyn above the service of the Kingdom.
The young King Baldwin was a boy, not long since
crowned ; and when his mother ordered the army
in his name to march to the help of Edessa, the
soldiers refused as one man to obey an order
given by the woman whom the whole country
hated and distrusted. There was no help for
Jocelyn anywhere, and he himself was as useless
in war as a baby, and far more troublesome to
those about him.
Zanghi took Edessa with very little trouble,
and not much loss. He undermined the great
towers of the city that is, he dug deep under
their foundations and, as the earth was taken
away, the stones were held up with great beams
of wood ; when all was ready the beams would
be set on fire. For twenty-two days this went
on, then suddenly the great towers fell crashing
to the ground ; the fierce soldiers of Zanghi rushed
in, killing all they found without mercy. As the
Crusaders had treated the Saracens at the taking
of Jerusalem in 1099, so were they treated now by
Zanghi at the fall of Edessa.
Great was the grief of the Christian Kingdom,
and of Europe, too, when the fall of Edessa was
1 06
THE SECOND CRUSADE
known. In every place men feared when they heard
that the army of the Cross had been beaten by the
Saracens, and they feared the name of Zanghi more
and more. But it happened that Zanghi was mur-
dered the following year by his own slaves; and hope
began to rise once more in the hearts of the Christians.
Meanwhile, the young King, boy though he
was, was proving his mettle by two campaigns.
One, carried out in the wild country beyond Jordan,
was quite successful, though it was a small affair;
the other, though it ended in loss and trouble,
yet showed that Baldwin III had the spirit of
the old Kings in him. The Armenian governor
of the Saracen town of Bozrah, in the Hauran,
(which is the rich corn-land beyond Damascus),
came secretly to Jerusalem, and offered to deliver
up the town with which he was entrusted to the
Christians, if they made it worth his while to do
so. The offer was eagerly welcomed by the Chris-
tians, for it would be something to have Bozrah
though Edessa was lost. No doubt Milicent, too,
was very anxious that this offer, made by a fellow-
countryman of her own, should be accepted. It
would seem that men were always ready enough
to fight in those days, for Baldwin gathered an
army quite easily, and went with it ; for though,
as King, he was leader in name, he was too young
really to command it.
The march was full of difficulties and hardships.
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THE CRUSADES
The Saracens, lightly armed and mounted on fleet
horses, hung upon them on all sides, and worried
them with showers of arrows by day and by night.
Water was scarce, and often too bad to drink.
After four days of this, the Christians, (every one
of whom, and also their horses, had been wounded
more or less badly by the darts of the Saracens),
came in sight of Bozrah, and camped for the night
in view of it ; meaning to attack it on the morrow
when they were a little rested.
So they lay down to dream of victory ; but at
midnight a messenger from the town arrived secretly,
and was taken to the young King's tent. He
brought bad news, for he said that the wife of the
Armenian governor had vowed that she at least
would have no share in the treachery of her
husband, and that she had warned the Saracens of
the coming of the Christians. The Saracens were
now occupying the town in great strength, and
were all on the alert.
" Let us go back ! " was the cry then, through
all the Christian camp. " AVe cannot take the
town now, and if we stay here the Saracens will
fall upon us. Why should we perish ? "
But the nobler minds amongst them mastered
the fears of the lesser men. " Christians cannot
turn their backs upon Saracens," said the Knights,
** but we must surely save our King. Let him
take the horse of John Gomane, which is the
1 08
THE SECOND CRUSADE
fleetest in our camp, and get back to Jerusalem in
safety. Later on he can avenge our deaths."
Baldwin struck in, in hot and generous anger.
He would have none of this. What did they
take him for him, the King ! If his army re-
mained, so would he ; was it for the King to leave
his soldiers in any difficulty ? The Knights gave
way; they could not but admire and love the
high-spirited boy of fourteen.
At dawn the Christian army began the home-
ward march. The wounded, and even the dead,
were bound upon the backs of the horses and of
the baggage-mules and camels, so that the enemy
might not know how much the Christians had
suffered from their attacks. It was very hot ;
water there was none ; the army was half choked
by the clouds of dust it raised as it marched
over the dry heavy ground ; and still all around
them hung the tormenting Saracens, with their
stinging flights of arrows. The Christians kept
good order in spite of everything ; and the fact
that there were no dead, or even wounded (as
they thought), amongst them, puzzled the Saracens
very much, and made them afraid to attack the
full army at close quarters. Instead, they set fire
to the dry stubble and brushwood which springs
up everywhere in Palestine, and the wind blew
the flames and smoke in the very faces of the
Christians. Now the men could bear no more,
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THE CRUSADES
and they cried to Archbishop Robert of Nazareth,
who marched with them, " Father, pray for us !
We can bear no more ! Pray for us, in the name
of the True Cross which you carry in our midst ! "
And as the Archbishop prayed, suddenly the
wind changed, and the smoke and flames blew
backwards into the faces of the Saracens instead.
But even so, the faces and hands of the Christians
were already black with the smoke, their eyes were
smarting, and their throats dry and parched with
the dust, and heat, and thirst. They were almost
at the end of their courage.
Then the Christians sent a message of truce to
the pursuing Saracens ; but the only one who knew
the language was a Knight, whom some of his com-
panions thought to be untrue to his side.
"Do you swear to deal truly in this?' 5 said
the Barons, as they charged him with their message
to the Saracens. " Will you faithfully repeat our
words to the enemy, and as faithfully tell us again
what their answer is ? "
" You suspect me unjustly," said the Knight
with bitterness. " I will do what you ask of me.
If I am guilty of treachery may I never return
to you ! Let me perish at the hands of our
enemy ! "
They sent him ; and before he had gone many
yards he fell dead, shot through and through with
Saracen arrows.
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THE SECOND CRUSADE
This hope being now at an end, the Christians
pressed doggedly on. As they passed by Damascus,
the Emir of that city sent messengers to invite
them in, to rest and refresh themselves. The
Christians, worn out, sick, and disheartened, longed
to enter that lovely city, with its cool rivers and
fountains, and its great belt of green surrounding the
walls for over a mile on all sides; "the Paradise
on earth," as the Prophet Mohammed had called
it in his day. But after taking counsel amongst
themselves, they all agreed that they dared not
trust the Emir's word ; and so they pressed on.
Then, say the Christian writers of that day, there
appeared to them the good Knight St. George,
and showed them a road which was unknown to
:he enemy, and by which they could escape.
So at last they reached Jerusalem in safety,
though not, perhaps, in much honour ; and the
people came out with joy to welcome the King.
" This our son was dead, and is alive again ; he
was lost, and is found ! ' they sang as he rode,
sadly enough, through the crowds in the streets to
his home.
The whole expedition had been a mistake. To
gain an advantage through the treachery of the
Armenian governor would never even have entered
Godfrey's mind ; but the whole spirit of the Chris-
tian Kingdom was much lower now. The only
good thing about it all was that the young Baldwin
in
THE CRUSADES
had proved himself a boy of fine and manly courage.
The miserable failure of the expedition was laid by
the people at Milicent's door; and they hated her
the more bitterly for it, without trying to find out
whether she were really in fault or not.
The Christian countries of Europe were sorely
troubled at the loss of Edessa. It was a double
danger, first to the Kingdom, of which it was an
outpost, and secondly to Europe ; for if the Saracen
Turks got hold of Jerusalem, it would leave them
free to try for Europe itself. Out of this fear
arose the Second Crusade. It was preached by
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and was composed only
of Germans under Conrad, King of the Romans,
and French under Louis VII of France. Louis, in
a fit of wickedness, had set fire with his own hand
to a Church at Vitry, in which perished thirteen
hundred people all his own subjects ; and he took
the Cross as a penance for this awful deed. Un-
fortunately the chief Knights and leaders of the
Crusade brought with them their wives, and these
had with them the women of their households ; so
that the whole army was very much hindered by
the presence of so many women, and all their bag-
gage. And in the end, whether by sickness, or by
the enemy's attacks, the unfortunate women all
perished ; and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the wife of
Louis (she who afterwards married our King
Henry II, and was the mother of Richard Coeur-
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THE SECOND CRUSADE
de-Lion), was the only one who reached the Holy
Land alive, with her ladies.
The Crusaders stayed at Antioch a long time ;
for Eleanor of Aquitaine was cousin to Raymond
of Antioch, and he kept them there by one excuse
after another, hoping to reap some good for himself
from the presence of this army arid the great King
of France. At last a very urgent message from
Milicent at Jerusalem brought the Crusaders from
Antioch to Acre, where Baldwin met them ; and
the three Kings held a great council together with
their chief men. It was a pity that instead of
trying to recover Edessa, which was what they
had really come out to do, they made up their minds
to try and take Damascus and its rich country all
round ; and more foolishly still they set out to do
it in the fierce heat of July. The Emir of Damascus
at that time was one Eyub, the father of the great
Saladin who afterwards fought against Richard I.
The Templars advised an attack, but the Kings
thought differently ; so they tried to take the city
by surprise, and were hopelessly defeated. After
which the whole Crusade beat a most unworthy
retreat. The Templars were accused of treachery
and greed, but no one could prove it against them ;
though no doubt there was very little honour or
faith left in the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem
by now.
No sooner were the Crusaders out of the Land
113 H
THE CRUSADES
than Nur-ed-din (the name means Light of the
Faith : he was a very fine man), the Sultan of
Aleppo and Damascus, invaded the Province of
Antioch, captured many of its castles, and finally
killed the Count, Raymond. It was all that King
Baldwin could do to keep Antioch for the Kingdom
during his lifetime. The Kingdom was getting
smaller and weaker. Edessa was gone, Antioch
was very unsafe, only Tripoli remained untouched ;
and to the fierce attacks of the Saracens from with-
out, was added the worse danger of quarrels, jealousy,
and treachery within. A great deal of the trouble
seemed to come from Milicent. She wanted so
much, and she cared nothing for anyone else, not
even for her son and his Kingdom. She was de-
termined to keep Jerusalem for her own, and she
openly defied her son. At last Baldwin had to
besiege her in the Tower of David, where she had
shut herself in ; and very likely he would have taken
both her and it, if the Patriarch had not made peace
between the royal mother and son. Milicent was
given Nablous for her lifetime, to which beauti-
ful town she retired at once, and where she died
about twelve years later.
A touch of brightness and success came to the
Kingdom in the capture of Ascalon, that most im-
portant seaport, which Baldwin took after four
months' siege. Baldwin gave generous terms to
the prisoners, and gave them guides to take them
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THE SECOND CRUSADE
across the desert to Egypt. It was not his fault
that these poor people afterwards perished through
the treaehery of a guide.
About this time Baldwin's young cousin Con-
stance of Antioch, being now a widow while still a
girl in age, surprised everyone by marrying a poor
and unknown Knight, of the name of Renaud de
Chatillon. Baldwin was very glad, as Antioch
badly needed a strong hand to keep it against the
attacks of the Saracens ; but the Patriarch of
Antioch, for some reason, was extremely angry at
the marriage, and spread abroad a great many stories
about Renaud. De Chatillon was naturally very
angry, and he took a rather mean revenge ; for he
pretended to have forgiven the Patriarch, and invited
him to be his guest ; and when he had got hold of
him, he covered the Patriarch's bald head with honey,
and fastened him up outside, where the wasps stung
his poor bald head very badly indeed. The whole
Kingdom was in a laugh about it, and the poor
Patriarch had to give up his charge and leave
Antioch for good.
Peace for four years followed the taking of
Ascalon ; and during this time of quiet Renaud de
Chatillon very meanly made an attack upon the
Island of Cyprus, for no reason at all except greed;
and he murdered and plundered from shore to
shore. Baldwin, too, did the only mean deed that
can be told against him, for he broke faith with
THE CRUSADES
some Saracen and Arab shepherds whom he had
allowed to feed their flocks and herds on the rich
Mountains of Lebanon. They were quiet and
peaceable people, but Baldwin was heavily in debt
when one of his friends suggested this evil plan to
him ; and the King himself, with a few followers,
went to the Lebanon, killed the shepherd-tribes with-
out mercy, and returned to Jerusalem rich in the
plunder of their flocks, horses, and other possessions.
Nur-ed-Din, who was almost as much feared
by the Kingdom as Zanghi had been, attacked
the Castle of Banias, which was held by the
Knights Hospitallers. Baldwin marched to their
relief, and Nur-ed-Din raised the siege, and retreated
swiftly, drawing on Baldwin in pursuit of him ; until
near Lake Huleh (in north Galilee) he surprised
the Christian army. Baldwin, with a handful of
men, just managed to escape to the Castle of
Safed, which was the nearest place of refuge ; the
rest of his men were either killed or kept as slaves
by their Saracen conquerors. Amongst the first
were eighty-seven Templars, whose death was a
great loss indeed to the Kingdom. Fortunately for
Baldwin and his crown, a small French army
arrived unexpectedly not very long after this
defeat ; and with the help of this force Baldwin
was able to drive the Saracens out of Tripoli and
Antioch, and also, to the great surprise of both
sides, to defeat them really badly at Damascus.
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THE SECOND CRUSADE
These small victories only helped to keep the
Kingdom alive ; they could not save it ; for the
Kingdom itself was fast rotting away to its fall
through the selfishness, greed, and jealousy of its
own Knights and rulers. Though Baldwin was
a good man himself, he was not strong enough to
change things. When the Knights Hospitallers
quarrelled with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and
revenged themselves by ringing the bells of their
Church just opposite whenever the Patriarch went
into the Holy Sepulchre to take service, so that
no one could hear a single word that was said,
Baldwin could do nothing with either side. And
it was the same in every difficulty ; Baldwin was
ready to do everything, and he was not strong
enough to do anything.
In 1162 Baldwin visited Antioch, and on his
return he fell ill, and died at Beyrout. He was
only thirty-two years old, but he was glad to go,
for the eighteen years of his reign had been full
of trouble and disappointment. Two years before
his death he had married Theodora, the niece of
the Emperor of Constantinople ; she, poor child,
was only thirteen at the time, but she brought
a great deal of money with her, which was badly
wanted for the Kingdom. Beyond this she was
no possible help either to Baldwin or to Jerusalem,
which she filled with tales of the selfish and ease-
loving life she led. Baldwin died, leaving the
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THE CRUSADES
Kingdom weak and shaken ; the Knights and Barons
for ever quarrelling with each other ; the Church
against everything that came in the way of its
getting richer ; and a strong and eager enemy almost
at the gate. His people mourned for him truly.
Perhaps they guessed that even sadder days were
coming upon the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem.
118
CHAPTER X
THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE
AMAURY, 1162-1174.
BALDWIN IV, the Leper, 1174-1185.
BALDWIN V, 1185-1186.
" Where wise men are not strong :
Where comfort turns to trouble :
Where just men suffer wrong.
Where sorrow treads on joy :
Where sweetest things soon cloy:
Where faiths are built on dust :
Where Love is half mistrust."
MATTHEW ARNOLD.
AMAURY, the younger brother of Baldwin III,
succeeded him without any real trouble, though
just at first the Knights and Barons could not
make up their minds to choose him. For Amaury
was not at all liked by the people. He was a very
fat, heavy, silent man, who seldom spoke, and never
laughed ; he stammered a little in his speech, too ;
and was cold both in heart and in temper. He
was not a good man, either, as Baldwin had been,
and he was something of a miser in his money
affairs. But because he had always given much to
the Church, and seemed to be really afraid of
themselves, the Patriarch and clergy insisted on
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THE CRUSADES
his being chosen ; and at length he was crowned in
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Now, no sooner was Amaury made King, than
he suddenly changed all his ways. Instead of
giving to the Church, he taxed it well for the uses
of the Kingdom ; he was no longer afraid of the
anger of the clergy, but snapped his fingers at their
rage. Therefore the Church joined with the rest of
the Kingdom in disliking the new King, only rather
more, perhaps, because of being so disappointed
in him. King Amaury found himself very much
alone, and he turned more and more to the thing
he most cared for, and that was reading. He
read a great deal, and he was well learned in his-
tory and in law ; but he had very few friends, and
even those who were oftenest with him could not
really love the cold, silent, heavy man, who seemed
to care only for his books, his money, and his food.
Amaury was married to Agnes, daughter of the
Count of Edessa, and had three children, Baldwin,
Sybil, and Isabella. The little Baldwin was the
godson of Baldwin III, his uncle; and when he
was baptized one of the Knights present said to King
Baldwin, " What will you give your nephew and
godson, Sire ? " " Give him ? " said the King, laugh-
ing ; " why, shall I not give him my name, and my
crown too ! " Men shook their heads at this careless
saying at the time, and whispered that it was a bad
omen for Baldwin the King.
1 20
THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE
Amaury's first little war was a successful one.
It was against Egypt, and though it was quite a
small affair altogether, he returned from that
country well pleased, and laden with spoils and
riches. But when he reached Jerusalem he heard
that while he was away Nur-ed-Din had defeated the
Counts of Tripoli and Antioch, and had taken the
stronghold of Banias or, rather, it had been weakly
given up to Nur-ed-Din by the Castellan, or Keeper,
of the castle, in a moment of most unworthy fear.
Banias was one of the most important and most
valuable castles in the whole Kingdom, and its
loss could not be made good ; and Amaury, in great
anger, hanged twelve Templars who had been there
when it was given up, for having allowed such a
deed. By doing this he made the whole Order
of the Temple his bitter enemies for life, and they
never lost a chance afterwards of working him harm.
Nur-ed-Din next made up his mind to send
the uncle of Saladin to take Egypt as well,
weakened as it was by Amaury's invasion just
before. Amaury saw the great danger of this to
his own Kingdom ; for if Nur-ed-Diri in Syria and
the north joined with Egypt in the south against
the Christians, the weak little Kingdom of Jeru-
salem would be crushed like a nut between crackers.
He therefore hastily made friends with the Sultan
of Egypt, and together they were able to stop
Nur-ed-Din's plans for a time.
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THE CRUSADES
Amaury often sent urgent letters to Europe
for help, but no good came of them. The old
Crusading spirit was almost dead ; men were now
more selfish, and they much preferred to make easy
pilgrimages (if, indeed, they made them at all) to
the tombs of saints in Europe ; for such journeys
gave them little trouble or danger, and were holidays
rather than pilgrimages. No one seemed to care
any longer for the City of Christ.
Amaury was disappointed time after time of the
help he needed so much ; but he still dreamed of a
great Christian Kingdom which should reach from
Jerusalem to Cairo ; and in the hope of doing this
he married Maria, the niece of the Emperor of Con-
stantinople. Having done one bad deed for he
sent away Agnes of Edessa to marry this young
Greek princess Amaury went on to break faith
with the Sultan of Egypt, his first ally ; and to
cover his own unfaithfulness he accused the Sultan
of having been untrue to him first, and made war
upon him. It was the great sin of the Christian
Kingdom that its people never kept their word, if
it suited them to break it; and from being un-
faithful to those outside, they soon came to being
unfaithful to each other ; and so they became
weaker and weaker. Amaury was quickly punished
for his sin, however, for the Greek alliance was not
the least help to him. The Emperor had promised
faithfully to send food for the Christian army, but
122
THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE
he sent so little that it was of no use at all. Storms
scattered the Greek fleet here and there ; and
Amaury was left without help from either the
Greeks or the Egyptians, with barely enough food
for himself and his own household, and without
any honour at all in the eyes of either his past or
his present allies. He gave up the thought of
this great Christian Kingdom from Jerusalem to
Cairo, and was glad to return safely to his own
land ; where, at Ascalon, he signed a treaty of
peace with the Sultan of Egypt.
After this shameful business Amaury returned
to Jerusalem ; where he spent most of his time in
reading, eating, and trying to squeeze money out
of his Kingdom, which was already as poor as it
could well be.
The next year, 1170, brought no comfort to
the Kingdom, but only fresh troubles ; for there
w r ere bad earthquakes from time to time, lasting
through three or four months, in which the city
of Tyre was badly hurt ; and Edessa, Antioch,
Aleppo, and Tripoli were reduced almost to ruins,
and half their inhabitants killed. " The cities were
heaps of stones." They were the strongest cities
in the Kingdom, too, and the money that had to
be spent on rebuilding and repairing them was so
much wanted for other purposes.
A great man had by now arisen in the East
Saladin whose name we know as that of the great
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THE CRUSADES
Saracen chief who fought against our own Richard I.
There has seldom been in any land a greater man
than Saladin ; wise, generous, and just, brave,
merciful, and very straight in all his dealings, he
was a second Godfrey, only that he was on the
other side. Saladin (the name may be translated
as meaning Splendour of the Faith) was now about
thirty years of age ; and he was Sultan of Egypt.
From his capital there he marched across the
deserts that separate Egypt from Palestine, and
entered the Christian Kingdom on the south.
Amaury hurried down to Gaza, with an army of
two hundred Knights and about two thousand men.
Saladin advanced a little further, plundered a few
towns and villages, and then went back. He did
not want to meet the Christians just yet in full
battle, for he knew that his men, lightly armed
and unused to the foreign ways of fighting, could
not yet be trusted to make a good stand against
the Christians in their heavy armour. Saladin
wished them to become well used to the Christians
by meeting them in small encounters, so that when
he was ready he could crush the Christian Kingdom
with one great blow. This was the dream of
Saladin. We shall see how far it came true.
Amaury found himself too weak to stand alone ;
he must have help from somewhere, and there
seemed no place but Constantinople that could
give it. He told his Barons in council that he
124
THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE
was going himself to get it. The Barons were
astounded. " If you, the King, go and leave us,"
they said, " who will keep the Kingdom ? '
" Let the Lord look to the Kingdom if it be
His ! " answered Amaury roughly and bitterly ; for
he was disgusted at their selfishness, in which they
thought only of themselves. "As for me, I go to
fetch help."
He went to Constantinople, and returned with
some gold, but no men. He found Nur-ed-Din
plaguing Galilee, burning here and plundering
there, but taking care never to stop long enough
in any one place for the Christians to catch him.
Amaury 's return sent Nur-ed-Din out of Galilee ;
and the Saracens were defeated soon after at Kerak,
on the other side of the river Jordan.
As Constantinople had failed him, Amaury
looked around for some other helper, and he found
a very strange one. In the Mountains of Lebanon
there lived a most strange and mysterious old man,
the chief of a great tribe ; he was called the Old
Man of the Mountains, and also the Chief of the
Assassins. His people were trained from their
earliest days to obey his orders exactly, no matter
what they were ; any disobedience, however small,
was punished by instant death. Very often the
Old Man would send them out to kill an enemy
of his, and this pleasant habit gave him his second
name of Chief of the Assassins. The Assassins
125
THE CRUSADES
were always successful ; they would follow a man
for weeks or for months, but in the end they
always killed him. In fact they dared not fail, for
the Old Man would have had them followed in
their turn by other Assassins, and put to death.
The Old Man sent messengers to King Amaury
with a strange offer.
" I will become a Christian, and all my people
with me," said the Old Man ; " I will lend you a
strong army to use as you please, if you on your
part will give me two thousand pieces of gold
every year."
Very gladly did Amaury agree ; and he sent
away the messengers with rich gifts, and his royal
word. But on their way home, the Templars fell
upon them suddenly, and cut nearly all of them
to pieces. This was their revenge upon Amaury
for having hanged twelve of their Order after the
loss of Banias.
The ill news filled Amaury with rage and
despair. His great plan was spoilt ; the last chance
of the Kingdom gone. He ordered the Grand
Master of the Templars to deliver up the chief of
the band which had killed the Old Man's messengers,
that he might be punished as he deserved. The
Grand Master refused. " I myself," he answered
proudly, " as Head of the Order, will do judg-
ment ! ' Whereupon Amaury seized the Knight
himself, and dealt with him very hardly ; for which
126
THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE
we may be sure the Templars did not love him
any better. Amaury was able to make the Old
Man believe that he himself had had no hand in
this horrid deed ; but the Assassins and their Chief
had had enough of Christian ways, and they made
no more offers of friendship.
There is a tribe living in the north of Palestine
now, which some people believe to be descended
from these Assassins of olden days. They are not
Assassins now, of course, but only rather a wild
and lawless set of men, who once made travelling
in that part of the Holy Land less safe than it
was elsewhere. It is things like this that help to
make Palestine such a nice Land full of links with
the past, that are old and yet ever new.
In 1173 the great and much-feared Nur-ed-Din
died. Amaury at once besieged Banias, but for
to this low state had Godfrey's Kingdom fallen
he actually accepted money from the widow of
Nur-ed-Din to go away and leave her in peace !
King Amaury returned to Jerusalem ill with fever.
There Greek, Syrian, and Latin doctors all tried
their skill upon him, and their different medi-
cines ; and under their too kind care the King died
(1174). He was only thirty-eight, and he had been
King for just twelve years. Those twelve years
were one long story of disgrace and weakness and
defeat ; but the blame for these things was not all
his. And to Amaury and his love for history we
127
THE CRUSADES
owe one of the most delightful histories ever written
the History of Jerusalem that Archbishop William
of Tyre wrote, and which tells us so much about
the Christian Kingdom.
Amaury's only son succeeded him, Baldwin IV,
a bright, clever, handsome boy of thirteen. He
was a reader, like his father, and yet as active as
his uncle Baldwin III had been. But he was a
leper. Leprosy is a fearful disease, which is found
in Eastern countries ; it slowly wastes away the
person till he becomes blind and miserable and
awful to look at, and can hardly be called alive,
but is just a breathing misery. The Crusaders
suffered a good deal from leprosy in the later years
of the Kingdom, for they were not careful how
they ate and drank and lived in the hot Land of
Palestine ; and they never thought that because it
was not the land of their birth, they ought to have
taken all the more care. They even brought the
fearful sickness back with them to Europe, where
it remained for many years. In some old Churches
in England you can still see a long narrow window,
set slanting in the thickness of the wall. Such
windows are called Leper Windows, (or " Squints "),
and they w r ere made so that the lepers, who were
not allowed to go into Church with the rest of the
worshippers, could look through, and see the altar
and the priest w r hile service was being held.
This awful sickness had shown itself in the
128
THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE
little King when he was only eight years old.
He was so beautiful and so healthy to look at
that no one could ever have thought of his
having it, and it was quite by chance that his
tutor, Archbishop William of Tyre, found it out.
The Archbishop noticed that Baldwin did not
seem to feel being pinched or touched by other
boys in play, for he never called out as they did ;
and when the doctors examined him, they found
that the disease had already got a firm hold of him.
All the many medicines that were tried upon
Baldwin did him no good at all ; for there is no
cure for leprosy, as far as we know, even now, and
the doctors in those days were not very clever.
It was a dreadful trouble to poor King Amaury,
and after it was found out he gave a great deal
of money to lepers. There were many lepers in
Jerusalem in those days, as there are even now.
Baldwin IV was crowned in the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, and Count Raymond of Tripoli
was made regent of the Kingdom.
That same year (1174) the people of Damascus
invited Saladin to be their ruler, instead of the young
son of Nur-ed-Din, who was only fourteen. Saladin
accepted the crown they offered him, and married
the widow of Nur-ed-Din. In this way he became
Sultan of a very great Empire indeed, which included
Damascus, Aleppo, and Cairo, right away to Sinai
in Arabia, and the land of Yemen. In his new
129 I
THE CRUSADES
strength Saladin marched against the Christian
Kingdom, and got near enough to Jerusalem to
frighten the people thoroughly ; but being stopped
by the strongly defended castle of Gezer, (between
Jaffa and Jerusalem), he turned back, plundering
the land as he passed through. For ten years
Saladin did not trouble the Kingdom ; but those
years were spent in thorough and careful preparation
for the great attack.
The leprosy of Baldwin quickly became worse,
and the Barons named his eldest sister Sybil to
succeed him. Sybil's first husband died, and their
little son, another Baldwin, was declared heir to
the Kingdom. Then Sybil married again, a young
Knight called Guy de Lusignan, who was hand-
some in face and pleasant in manner, but as weak
as a man could well be, and who was even less able
than the sick young King to lead or manage the
proud and unruly Barons of Palestine. And it
was this worthless Guy who was presently named
regent of the Holy Land, in the place of Count
Raymond of Tripoli.
We must go back a little way to that Renaud
de Chatillon who had married Constance of Antioch,
the niece of Baldwin III and of Amaury. Con-
stance was dead ; and Renaud married again in order
to get what he much wanted, power and great pos-
sessions in the rich country east of the Jordan.
Here he made friends with the Templars, who also
130
THE KINGDOM OX THE WANE
had lands in that part, and he joined them in
making little private attacks upon the Saracens,
robbing their caravans, or travelling parties, plunder-
ing their lands, and killing them whenever he had
the chance. The worst thing he did was to attack
a Saracen caravan during a time of peace, at a
place where they had camped for the night, not
far from Renaud's castle of Kerak. Renaud swept
down upon these unfortunate people while they
were at their evening meal, killed some of them,
tortured others, and shut them up in cells and in
grain-pits dark places where they could hardly
breathe. When they reminded him that he was
breaking faith by treating them so in a time of
peace, Renaud mockingly replied, " Ask your Pro-
phet to deliver you ! ' When Saladin heard of
these things that Renaud had said and done, he
swore a great oath that he would kill Renaud with
his own hand, if he ever fell into his power.
Saladin also complained of these things to Bald-
win, but the leper-King was powerless through his
illness, and Guy the regent was no use either ; he
was not only weak, but he did not care enough
about what went on to take any trouble to stop
wrong things being done. Renaud simply laughed
at both King and regent, and went on exactly as
before. Then Saladin swept through Galilee, doing
much harm to that fair Christian province; and then,
turning north, he besieged Beyrout. Luckily for
THE CRUSADES
the Christians, he was suddenly recalled to Damascus
by urgent affairs of his own, before he had time to do
much harm there.
The Barons by now were thoroughly tired of
Guy's folly and weakness. They forced the King
to take away the regency from him, and to name
as co-King with himself his little nephew, also
called Baldwin, Sybil's son. So now there were
two Kings in Jerusalem of the same name, Baldwin
IV and Baldwin V the one a helpless leper, the
other a helpless child. Guy was ordered by the
elder King to explain the many wrong things he
had done, or allowed, while he was regent ; but he
refused to appear before the court, and fled away
in haste to Ascalon. To that city the King, now
blind and very suffering, painfully followed him.
The great gates of the city were shut in his face ;
and when Baldwin, saying, " They will surely open
to me, for I am still the King ! ' beat with his
own poor hand upon those heavy doors, Guy and
the soldiers on the wall only laughed at him, and
mocked his weakness with many cruel words. So
Baldwin returned to Jerusalem, and took away all
the grand titles, or names of honour, that he had
given to Guy in better days, and made Count
Raymond of Tripoli regent in his place.
About this time the Patriarch of Jerusalem,
Heraclius, and the Grand Masters of the Hospi-
tallers and of the Templars, were sent by the Barons
132
THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE
of the Kingdom to make one last strong appeal to
Europe for help. Their words fell upon deaf ears.
The Kings were all too busy with their own affairs
to listen or help. Henry II of England gave
money, as a sort of make-peace to the Church for
the murder of Archbishop Thomas a Becket; but
his sons were all in arms against him, and he dared
not leave home. Henry had wished for many years
to lead a Crusade, (it is said that he had even taken
the Cross privately) ; and no doubt the fame of his
name as a soldier would have drawn many to follow
him, as a few years later the very name of his son
Richard brought men flocking to his banner. Ten
years before Henry had sworn in public to take the
Cross, but his life at home had been so full and so
troubled, that he had not dared to go so far away.
He now offered the Patriarch money for the King-
dom of Jerusalem, but he could not go himself, as
they had hoped. At this the Patriarch, who was
a very bad-tempered man, fell into a furious rage.
" You swore to lead an army to the Holy
Land," he said, " ten years ago ! And your pro-
mise is still unkept. You have deceived God,
and do you not fear the punishment of God upon
those who try to deceive Him ? You may kill me
in your anger, as you have killed my brother Thomas
of Canterbury ; it matters nothing to me whether
I die by the hand of the Saracens, or of you, who
are more cruel than any Saracen ! ' :
133
THE CRUSADES
Henry kept his temper wonderfully in the face
of the Patriarch's angry reproaches ; perhaps he
respected him for not being afraid to scold him,
the King. All he said was, " My mind is made up.
I cannot leave my Kingdom ; but any of my people
who wish may take the Cross."
But very few cared to do so, either in England
or on the Continent ; and the few Crusaders who
came out from time to time were too few to be
of any real use. The Christian Kingdom was ready
to fall. The Land was dotted all over with strong
castles, wherein the lord of each lived like a little
king, and cared chiefly for himself; making his
own treaties with his Saracen neighbours, and break-
ing them as soon as it suited him to do so. The
Knights Hospitallers and the Templars were open
foes of each other ; and neither Order would serve
the Kingdom unless well paid for its service. The
Patriarch Heraclius was a really bad man, greedy
and proud ; the clergy had no power, and many of
them were bad men too, caring only to get rich ;
so that the people said that the Church no longer
cared to feed its sheep, but only to shear them.
Some of the people showed openly that they only
thought about being rich, and living in ease and
comfort ; and each man seemed more selfish, greedy,
and unfaithful than his neighbour. If ever a King-
dom showed rottenness and bad faith, it was the
Kingdom of Jerusalem in its latter days.
134
THE KINGDOM ON THE WANE
While his Kingdom was thus bending to its
fall, Baldwin the Leper slipped out of his troubles
by death. The little Baldwin V followed him the
next day. Men were not afraid to say openly that
the child had been poisoned by his mother ; and
Sybil was certainly not a good woman, and every-
one knew that she would do anything to please
her idle husband, Guy, or to push him forward.
Baldwin IV and Baldwin V were both buried in
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, near Godfrey
and the other Kings, under the Place of Calvary.
They were the last of the Kings of Jerusalem to
be laid there.
CHAPTER XI
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM
GUY DE LUSIGNAN, 1186-1187.
" From shore to shore of either main
The tent is pitched, the Crescent shines
Along the Moslems' leaguering lines."
BYRON.
SYBIL was determined to be Queen in Jerusalem ;
and directly the two poor Kings were buried, she
sent for the Patriarch and the Grand Masters of
the Hospitallers and the Templars, and asked them
straight out to help her to this end. The Patriarch
and Gerard de Riddeford, the Grand Master of the
Templars, promised their support at once, but Roger
de Moulines, the Grand Master of the Hospitallers,
refused, because he knew how worthless Guy was ;
and many of the great Barons sided with him.
Sybil, however, named a day and an hour for her
coronation ; and when the time came, she entered
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, walking between
the Grand Master of the Templars and Renaud de
Chatillon. Now, there were three keys to the
Treasury where the crown and sceptre were kept,
136
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM
and unless all three were used the Treasury could
not be opened. Two of these keys were kept by
the Patriarch and the Grand Master of the Templars,
who gave theirs up ; but the Grand Master of the
Hospitallers, who held the third key, refused to
part with his one ; and without it the other two
were useless. They pressed him for it, and he
said he had hidden it. They hunted for it every-
where, but of course they could not find it, for it
was in his hand all the time. While all this was
going on the coronation service had to be stopped,
and Sybil and Guy and their following of Knights
and ladies, all very angry, had to sit in their places
in the Church, looking at nothing, and, no doubt,
feeling very foolish. At last the Grand Master of
the Hospitallers lost his temper, and flung the third
key down at their feet. " Do as you wish ! " he
said. " But I am clear of it ! "
Sybil got her own way ; she was crowned ; and
being told by the Patriarch to share the crown
with the person whom she thought most worthy
of that honour, she beckoned to Guy, and placed
it upon his head as he knelt there, saying to him,
" Sir Guy, I give it to thee, for I know none
worthier to wear it."
So the crown of Jerusalem, which Godfrey had
not thought himself worthy to wear, was set on the
head of this Guy de Lusignan ; a man who had had
to leave Europe in haste to escape being punished
137
THE CRUSADES
for murder. When Guy's brother at home heard
of the crowning at Jerusalem, he laughed mockingly.
" Those men who have made my brother a King,"
he said, "would surely have made me a god!"
While these things were happening at Jerusalem,
the angry Barons were gathered at Nablous, a town
twelve hours to the north of the Holy City ; from
where they sent a spy to Jerusalem to find out what
w r as going forward there. The spy returned with
the unwelcome news that Sybil had been crowned,
and Guy with her.
" Is Guy then made King ? ' said one of the
Knights, Baldwin of Kamleh. *' I will wager he
will not be King for one year ! As for me, the
crown is lost, and I shall go ; for I will have no
part in the shame and ruin of our Kingdom."
Raymond of Tripoli, one of the few really
noble-minded men who yet remained in the King-
dom, stopped him.
" Have pity on the Faith, and stay to help
us ! " he said. " The Knights of St. John are with
us ; and I am on truce with the Saracens, who will
help us if it must be so."
Very low indeed had the Christian Kingdom
fallen, that her chief men could even think of
asking the Saracens to help them against their
fellow-Christians ; but the Kingdom was dying, and
Raymond was ready to try anything that might
save her, if only for a little while. Raymond also
138
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM
advised the Barons to do homage to Guy for the
sake of the Kingdom, and they did so, though
very unwillingly. As Baldwin of Ramleh bent
his knee to the worthless King, he said, with more
truth than politeness, " Sir Guy, I do you homage,
but not with a willing heart, for I \vould not hold
my lands under you ! ' :
Guy had to swallow his rage as best he might ;
and very soon after Baldwin of Ramleh gave over
his lands to his son, and left Palestine for ever.
He would not stay on as the subject of such a man
as Guy.
Raymond of Tripoli went to his own castle of
Tiberias, and Guy made up his mind to besiege him
there ; for he hated and feared the upright Raymond,
and he wanted to revenge himself upon the Barons
by overthrowing the greatest of them. In the
meantime, while Guy was preparing for the attack,
Saladin, who w r as at peace with Raymond, sent to
the Count, asking leave for his eldest son, El-Afdal,
and a small Saracen force, to make an expedition
into Raymond's lands. Raymond could not well
refuse the request of his ally ; and as Saladin did
not say what his son wanted to do whether to
get food, or merely to have a day's hunting he said
that they might come, but that they must promise
to go and return in one day, while the sun was
still shining, and that they must hurt neither town
nor house upon their way. And Saladin gave his
139
THE CRUSADES
word that it should be so. Raymond, on his part,
to prevent any unlucky meeting between Christians
and Saracens, warned the people in every place
which the Saracens must pass to keep within their
walls upon that day.
But most unluckily the Grand Master of the
Templars got word of this; and he, being Guy's
friend, was very angry that Raymond and the Sara-
cens should make friends in this way. Gathering a
little force of about one hundred and forty Knights
and soldiers of the Temple, he hurried forth to attack
the Saracens, and came up with them as they were
on their way back. A fierce little fight followed, in
which the Templars, almost to a man, were cut to
pieces, only the Grand Master and a few of the
Knights escaping to Nazareth. The Saracens
quietly returned home ; and as they passed Tiberias
Raymond, from the castle walls, could easily see the
heads of the Templars which they carried on their
spears. He was greatly troubled at the sight. The
Templars were fellow-Christians and his brethren-
in-arms ; but he could not accuse the Saracens of
having broken their word. They had not touched
a single house, or town, or village, or castle ; the
Templars had attacked them, not they the Templars ;
and they had returned to their own country before
the sun was down.
The Grand Master of the Templars and a few of
his Knights had escaped, as we know, to Nazareth.
140
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM
The next day the Grand Master caused a procla-
mation to be made through the city, that he would
show a rich prize of war to any who cared to follow
him ; and the people of Nazareth greedily answered
the call though they had been too cowardly to
help in the fight. The Grand Master led this eager
crowd out to the scene of the fight, and showed
them the bodies of the Templars and their horses,
lying one on top of the other, just as they had fallen
in that stern little fight. Amongst the dead bodies
was that of one Sir Jacques de Maille, who had
borne himself with such bravery and force that the
Saracens had marked him out, even in a company
of such splendid fighters as all the Templars were.
The Saracens said that he must be St. George (in
whom they also believed), for no human person
could fight in such a way, nor do the deeds that
Sir Jacques had done that day ; and after the fight
they cut off little pieces of his garments, and wore
them as charms to make them as brave as he had
been.
It was the body of this Knight, and those of his
no less valiant companions, that the Grand Master
pointed out to the people of Nazareth, as they
followed hard upon his footsteps.
" There is prize of war for you, my masters 1 '
he said bitterly. " Where again will you find richer
treasure than these men who have given their lives
for the Kingdom 1 '
THE CRUSADES
Angry, ashamed, and disappointed, the people
of Nazareth crept back to their homes.
Soon afterwards Guy and Raymond made peace
Raymond with all his heart as his way was, and
Guy because he had to ; and Saladin, who was
not pleased at hearing this, at once advanced upon
Tiberias. Raymond advised the King to offer battle
near a certain place which was in a good position
for fighting, and where there was a fountain to
supply the army. He also advised that the piece
of the True Cross that was in Jerusalem should
be sent for, with the Patriarch Heraclius to carry
it, for the men always fought better when they had
this great treasure to guard. The Templars agreed
with Raymond in all this, and for the purpose they
gave Guy all the money that Henry II of England
had sent them a vast treasure by now, for he sent
them thirty thousand marks every year. Guy's
army numbered twenty thousand foot soldiers, a
large body of horse, and twelve hundred Knights ;
it was the best Christian army raised in Palestine
since the days of Godfrey.
Meanwhile Raymond's wife Eschowe and their
four sons w r ere closely besieged by Saladin in
Tiberias, and the Countess sent for help to Guy.
" I must give up the city," she said by her
messenger, " unless you can send me help very
quickly."
Guy sat in council with the Barons. They were
142
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM
all for going at once to the help of this gallant
woman. Only one voice was raised against it, and
that was the voice of Count Raymond, her husband.
To him the Kingdom was more than wife, or son,
or city.
" Sir King," he said, " leave Tiberias to its
fate, though my wife and my sons and all that I
have be lost, and the city, too. We had best lose
all that than try to stop Saladin. If he takes
Tiberias its riches will satisfy him, and by and bye
we can beat him and recover the city. But if we
go out against him now, when the heat is at its
worst and the springs are all low, we and our men
and our horses will certainly perish from the sun
and from want of water ; for there is no single
fountain between us and Tiberias."
" Here is some of the hair of the wolf ! " cried
the Grand Master of the Temple mockingly ; mean-
ing that Raymond was in secret treaty with Saladin,
and because of that did not want to fight him.
But the other Barons cried " Shame ! ' : upon this
mean suggestion ; and Raymond's word carried
the day.
But late at night the Grand Master of the
Temple went to Guy's tent, and persuaded him
not to follow Raymond's advice.
"It is but a trick of his," he said; "the man
is in league with Saladin and the enemies of God !
Let us march now, swiftly, and fall upon the Sara-
H3
THE CRUSADES
cens before they know of our coming, and we shall
save Tiberias, and the Kingdom, too !"
Guy was nothing but a shadow that danced in
the strong light of other men's wills. He listened
to the Grand Master, protested a little, and argued
a little, but of course in the end he gave in. The
Grand Master in triumph hurried from the royal
tent; and, in case any one should go into Guy after
him, and talk the foolish King into a change of
mind, he gave the order from the King to march
at once. As the first light of morning crept up
into the sky, the Christian army set out in gloom
and silence (July 1, 1187). The move was made
in deep unwillingness by the army. In the heart
of every man was the thought that was told in
Raymond's bitter cry, when he heard the King's
command : " Alas ! alas ! Lord God ! The war
is over ; we are dead men. The Kingdom is
undone ! '
It was fiercely hot, for Tiberias and Galilee in
the summer months are like steaming cauldrons.
The Christians in their heavy armour could hardly
move for weariness ; the horses panted and strug-
gled. The Saracen cavalry hung around them at
a safe distance, ready to strike down any who fell
behind ; and there were many who did so, from
being too tired to keep up with the rest. They
also fired the dry grass and stubble a favourite
Saracen trick, as we know so that the Christians
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM
could hardly set foot upon it. After a terrible
day, Guy was obliged to call a halt for the night ;
for the Templars and some of the other troops
were unable to keep up with the main army any
longer, and they would have been cut off by the
Saracens had the rest moved on too far ahead.
The Christian camp was so close to that of Saladin
that " a dog might have run from one to the
other " ; and the Christians could hear the Saracen
sentries calling to each other on their rounds, and
the cry of " God is most great ! ' of the men who
felt that victory was already given into their hands.
The two camps were set close by the Horns of
Hattin ; it is the little hill, (shaped in two points
like horns, from which it gets its name), from which,
it is said, our Lord preached the Sermon on the
Mount. From it the Christians could see the blue
waters of the Sea of Galilee, by which stood the
besieged city of Tiberias. In the darkness some
of the soldiers crept away to Saladin's camp, and
begged for a drink of water ; they had had none
all day. " Fall on our fellows now," said these
wretched deserters ; " they are weak ; they cannot
fight."
At daybreak Guy gave battle to end the suffer-
ings of his men. He had marched straight into
the lion's mouth, and the Christian host was bound
to be absolutely defeated. Even so, and knowing
that there was no hope for them, they fought like
145 *
THE CRUSADES
heroes. " But the grip of fear was on the throats
of the crowd," as a Saracen writer has it, " who
went like driven beasts to the shambles. They
counted as sure defeat and death, yet the fury of
the fight never slacked."
Guy ordered Raymond of Tripoli to cut a way
through the enemy, knowing that if any man could
do it he was that man. The Count, and a few
others of tried courage and daring like his own,
made a desperate charge ; the Saracens seemed to
give way before them easily enough, as they had
often done before ; but it was really a trick, and
they closed up again behind them at once, like a
sheer wall. Raymond and his party were cut off
from the rest of the army. Seeing this, and know-
ing that they had failed to help the main army,
and now could do no more, Raymond and those
who were with him rode straight on, and reached
Tyre, on the northern coast, in safety.
The chief fury of the fight raged round the
tent of Guy. It was scarlet in colour, and shone
like a flame in the middle of the host. Here, too,
was the piece of the True Cross, in the care of
the Bishops of Acre and Lydda, (for the Patriarch,
whose duty it was to carry it himself, had been
far too much afraid to come, and had pretended
that he was ill). While that red tent could be
seen by the Christians, they knew that all was not
yet lost, and that the Cross was safe as well. Near
146
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM
the tent Guy and a hundred and fifty of his chief
Knights made a gallant stand ; while the Saracens
swept round and round them " as a globe turns
round its pole," seeking for some place in which
to break through. The eldest son of Saladin,
El-Afdal, a boy of sixteen, was with his father,
watching his first battle. His story of it has come
down to us in his own words. " The King of the
Franks and his Knights made a gallant charge,"
he said, " and drove the Moslems back upon my
Father. I watched him, and I saw his dismay;
he changed colour, tugged at his beard, and rushed
forward, shouting, ' Give the devil the lie ! * So
the Moslems fell shouting upon the enemy, who
retreated up the hill. When I saw the Franks
flying, and the Moslems pursuing, I cried in my
glee, ' We have routed them ! ' But the Franks
charged again, and drove our men back once more
to where my Father was. Again he urged them
forward, and they drove the enemy up the hill.
Again I shouted, ' We have routed them ! ' But
my Father turned to me and said, ' Hold thy
peace ! We have not beaten them so long as that
tent stands there.' At that instant the royal tent
was overthrown. Then the Sultan dismounted, and
bowed himself to the earth, giving thanks to God,
with tears of joy." 1
The scarlet tent was overthrown just as the
1 Saladin (Stanley Lane-Poole).
H7
THE CRUSADES
Holy Wood also fell into the hands of the victors,
with the death of the Bishop of Acre, who had
held it up high for all to see, all through the day.
The Christian soldiers had done wonders, in spite
of the weariness and thirst which had made them
weak before ever the battle began. They had no
longer any strength to lift a sword. Many flung
themselves down upon the ground, and were killed
as they lay there, unable to resist. Their swords
were snatched from the hands of the Knights, who
were too weak to hold them. The dead lay every-
where in heaps, as stones are piled upon stones ;
bits of broken crosses, heads, hands, and arms cut
off from their bodies, broken weapons, shields, and
armour, strewed the blood-stained field in a dreadful
confusion. The field of battle, and also the country
for many miles around, showed the marks of this
awful fight for a long time after. The Saracens
said that thirty thousand Christians had fallen ;
they themselves had lost heavily, too ; and the
white heaps of bones could be seen for a full year
after the battle.
Guy and those few of his chief Knights who
were yet alive, were taken to Saladin's tent. There
was nothing in the conqueror's manner, nor in
that of his Emirs and officers who stood around
him, to add to the shame and misery of these
conquered men. The coolness of the rich silken
tent was beautiful to them, after the burning glare
148
THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM
outside. Saladin made Guy sit beside him, and,
at his command, his servants brought Guy to drink
a bowl of sherbet made with rose water and cooled
in snow, for he was suffering severely from thirst.
Guy drank a little, and then passed his bowl on to
Renaud de Chatillon, who was standing behind him.
Saladin sprang to his feet.
" Tell the King," he said to the interpreter,
"that it is he who has given this man drink, and
not I ! " meaning that though, according to the
Eastern custom, Guy's life was safe after receiving
food and drink at his hands, Renaud de Chatillon
could expect no mercy, having received nothing from
him. Pointing at Renaud as he stood near Guy,
Saladin went on :
" Twice I have sworn to kill that man ; once
when he tried to invade the holy cities, and again
when he took a caravan by treachery. Lo ! I will
avenge the Prophet upon you ! " he cried, turning
suddenly upon de Chatillon himself.
With his own scimitar Saladin cut off Renaud's
arm from the shoulder ; and the Saracen guards
dragged him outside the tent and finished the deed
there. Guy thought that his turn would come
next ; but to him Saladin said, " It is not the
custom for a King to slay a King. That wicked
man had broken every law of honour ; therefore
what has happened has happened ! '
Two hundred and thirty Knights of St. John
149
THE CRUSADES
and of the Temple were offered their lives if they
would give up their faith. One and all they refused
to buy their lives at the price of their honour, and
they were all beheaded.
Tiberias surrendered after the crushing defeat
at the Horns of Hattin. Saladin gave Raymond's
wife free way to join him at Tyre ; but the gallant
Count, the last of the Knights with the old Crusad-
ing spirit, died very soon after the battle, heart-
broken at the fall of the Kingdom. One by one
the Christian fortresses and cities fell before Saladin's
conquering sword. Tyre, Tripoli, and Ascalon alone
held out ; and Ascalon surrendered on the condition
that Guy was set free within the year, and that the
people were allowed to leave the city in safety,
with whatever possessions they wanted to take
with them.
The road to Jerusalem was open now to Saladin.
150
CHAPTER XII
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM, 1187
" Now shall the blazon of the Cross be veiled."
SHELLEY.
SIR BALIAN of Ibelin was one of the Knights
who had followed Raymond of Tripoli, in his fierce
charge through the Saracen lines at Hattin. He
was allowed by Saladin to go up to Jerusalem to
fetch his wife and children, under solemn promise
that he would only stay one night.
When Balian arrived, he found the City in a
state of the wildest fear and excitement ; and the
people pressed round him, begging him with tears
to stop and fight for them. They clasped him by
the hands and feet ; mothers held out their babies
to him, as if he could not refuse their wordless
appeal ; little children sobbed and wailed, the more
sadly that they knew not what the trouble was.
" Save us save us ! 5: was the cry on all sides.
" If you leave us we must perish ! If you do not
care for our trouble, at least save the City of God ! '
Poor JJalian ! Was ever a man more hardly
pressed ?
THE CRUSADES
" But, good people, I have given my word to
Saladin to go ! ' : he cried at last, in despair.
" No promise made to an unbeliever is binding
in the sight of God," answered the Patriarch,
quickly. He was not a good man, as we know,
and just now he was as frightened as any of them
that Balian would go away and leave them to
their fate ; and his head seemed to shake upon his
shoulders already. "Indeed," he added, "it would
be a far greater sin on your part to keep such a
promise than to break it, for it will be a lasting
shame upon you if you leave Jerusalem in her hour
of need. Be very sure that if you do so, you shall
never afterwards have any honour in the eyes of
men, wherever you may go. As Patriarch of the
Holy City I set you free of your oath ! '
Then Balian gave way ; and he sent a message
to Saladin, telling him that he was forced to break
his word. Perhaps Saladin had not really expected
him to keep it ; he knew too well that the Knights
of the Kingdom could not be counted on to keep
faith with any man.
Generous and merciful in all his dealings, Saladin
first offered good terms to the City. "Jerusalem
is the House of God," he said : " that is a part
of my faith. I am not willing to hurt the House
of God, if I can take it in peace and friendship.
I will give you thirty thousand bezants if you will
give up the City. I will give you land for five
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
miles all round the City for your own, to use and
to plant as you wish. I will fill the City with
food, so that its markets shall be the cheapest in
the world. You shall have peace from now till
Pentecost, and if after that time you think you
can hold the City, keep it if you can ; and if not,
give it up to me, and I will send you all in safety
and honour to Christian lands."
But the City refused his offer ; partly because
the Christians were burning to win back something
of what had been lost on the field of the Horns
of Hattin, and partly because they thought that it
was made out of weakness, and not out of the
greatness of a strength that was so sure that it
could afford to be merciful.
" God helping us," the Christian garrison said,
"we will never give up the City where our Saviour
died for us ! '
Saladin was better pleased at their refusing his
offer than he would have been had they accepted
it ; for, to his mind, it showed that they really cared
for the Holy City, and were ready to fight for
her to the end, no matter what it cost them. To
meet their courage, he gave them his word of
honour that he would not take the City except
with honour that is, by the sword, and not by
treaty or by agreement. Whichever side won,
the full price of the City must be paid in the
lives of men.
153
THE CRUSADES
So Saladin marched upon the City, and planted
his camp at first on the same ground that Godfrey
had used, eighty-nine years before ; and in Septem-
ber of the year 1187 the siege began. There were
only two Christian Knights beside Balian in the
City, and he had to make fifty more to act under
him as officers. Guy had taken all the money he
could find to prepare for the Battle of Hattin, and
because there was not enough money left in the
City to buy food or to pay the men, Balian stripped
off the silver and gold from the Holy Sepulchre,
and turned it into coin. Very bravely did the
Christians, led by the stout-hearted Balian, hold
out for eight days ; until a large part of the outer
wall fell in, having been undermined by the Saracens.
The Knights and soldiers then were all for sallying
out and dying in arms, as became soldiers. But
again the Patriarch interfered ; perhaps because he
was too bad a man to face death quietly. He
advised that Saladin should be asked to grant
them terms ; and to Balian, 'as the leader, fell the
hateful task of asking the conqueror for the mercy
they had despised before.
But though Balian went at the will of the
people, he was a soldier, and he would not be
the bearer of terms of shame for anyone. His
words to Saladin were hard and straight, and they
were understood by Saladin, who was himself a
soldier first of all.
154
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
"O Sultan," said Balian, "know that those of
us who are soldiers in the City are surrounded by
God knows how many people who will not fight,
because they hope to receive from you the same
grace as you have given to other cities. These
people fear death, and only long to live. But for
us who are soldiers, when we see that death cannot
be escaped, we will burn our houses, and our
churches, and our provisions. We will kill our
women and our children. We will destroy the
Rock and the Mosque, and every other holy place
that we honour. We will put to death every
Moslem slave that is in the City and there are
five thousand of them. We will kill every horse
and every beast we have. We will not leave you
a bezant or a jewel or a treasure for your enriching ;
nor one man or woman to be your slave. And
when we have done all this, we will sally forth, and
we will fight you for our lives. There shall not be
one man of us who will not take the life of a
Saracen, as payment for his own before he falls.
Thus we will either die gloriously, or we will
conquer you as we be Christian gentlemen ! "
The words of Balian were full of the desperate
courage of men who may have lost all, but who
will yet face death with readiness, and they made
Saladin think. He could not press such men too
hard, or he would lose all he hoped to win, and he
was afraid to face the loss of the Mosque and the
155
THE CRUSADES
Rock ; neither dared he bring his army into an
empty city, after a hard siege in which they had
done so well, and in which so many of their com-
panions had fallen. His men deserved a good
reward, and they would most certainly expect it.
Saladin saw very clearly that Balian' s words were
not empty ones, but that what he said he would
do, he would most certainly carry out, if he were
pressed too far. But even while Balian and Saladin
were talking together, the Saracens made another
fierce attack, and began to swarm into the City
over the fallen walls, and already ten or twelve of
their banners were waving there in triumph.
Saladin, seeing these signs of his own victory,
said to Balian, " Why do you talk to me about
terms when you see my people ready to enter ? It
is too late now ; the City is mine already ! '
Even as he spoke so strangely does the tide
of war change the Christians massed themselves
together for a last desperate charge, and drove the
Saracens back, and out again.
" Go back," said Saladin to Balian then ; " I
can do nothing more now. If you come again to-
morrow, I will willingly listen to what you have
to say."
Balian left the camp of victory, and returned
to the City. Here all was terror and confusion ;
women were sobbing and wringing their hands ;
soldiers hurrying to and fro between their posts ;
156
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
the wounded and the dying were carried hastily
away ; long processions of monks, priests, and nuns
walked barefoot, carrying crosses, and chanting
dolefully. The shadow of death was upon them
all. " But," said Bernard the Treasurer, who saw
all these things, " our Lord Jesus Christ would not
listen to any prayers that they made, by reason
of the sin in the City, which prevented any prayers
from mounting to the mercy-seat of God."
The next day Balian again went to Saladin.
" We will give up the City," he said hard words
for any soldier to utter " if the lives of the people
are spared."
" You speak too late," was Saladin's quick and
stern reply ; then generosity to a fallen foe drove
out anger from his mind, and he added, " Sir Balian,
for the love of God and of yourself, I will have some
pity on them. They shall give themselves up to me,
and I will leave them their property to do with as
they please ; but their bodies shall be my prisoners ;
and he who can ransom himself with money shall
do so, and he who cannot shall be my prisoner."
"Sir," said Balian, "what shall be the price of
the ransom ? '
"The same price shall be for poor and for rich
alike," answered Saladin : " for every man thirty
bezants, for every woman and every child ten
bezants. Whosoever cannot pay his ransom shall
be my prisoner."
157
THE CRUSADES
" We have no money ! ' said poor Balian ; and
he returned to the City with these hard terms. No
doubt he wished many and many a time that he
had never broken his word to Saladin in the begin-
ning, but had refused to listen to the prayer of the
people of Jerusalem to stay and lead their defence.
Now he had lost everything, the people hung upon
him like greedy leeches, expecting him to save
them at any cost, and used him as their messenger
to a mighty and victorious foe, whose terms were
very hard for a Christian Knight to carry or agree
to. His whole Knighthood was shamed in being
forced in this way to play the part of a go-between,
by the frightened City on the one side, and Saladin
on the other.
All through the night that followed, Balian
argued and talked with the Grand Masters of the
Templars and the Hospitallers, pressing them to
give him what treasure their Orders still possessed,
to ransom the poor in the City who could not
pay for themselves. At last he persuaded the two
Grand Masters to give up to him the contents of
their Treasuries ; and the next day, when he went
back to Saladin, the Sultan met his message half-
way by lowering the ransom by one half.
" Sir, you have fixed the ransom of the rich,"
then said Balian; "fix now the ransom of the poor,
for there are twenty thousand in the City who cannot
pay the ransom of a single man. For the love of
58
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
God, show a little mercy, and I will try to get from
the Templars, the Hospitallers, and others, enough
to ransom all."
" For one hundred thousand bezants all the
poor shall go free," answered Saladin.
But when Balian told him that they could not
raise even half that sum, Saladin said that he would
set free seven thousand men for thirty thousand
bezants, and that two women or ten children
should count as one man in this reckoning. He
also gave them fifty days, during which time they
were all free to do as they liked with their own
goods. " At the end of that time," said Saladin,
" all that is found in the City shall be mine, whether
it is the bodies of men, or only their possessions."
Balian returned to the City, where the people
were waiting for him, trembling to hear their fate.
He had been successful in his dealings with Saladin ;
he had got for the doomed City far better terms
than they had expected ; but even so the judgment
of the conqueror was a hard one ; and to know
that within fifty days they must leave their homes
and everything that they cared for, was quite
enough to make them all feel very sad. It must
have been very hard indeed for them to leave a
place that people grow to love as they often love
Jerusalem. So the people wept and wailed aloud
when they heard what Balian had to tell them.
They went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
159
THE CRUSADES
and, falling on their knees before the Sacred Tomb
itself, they wet the very stones with tears. From
one holy place to another they hurried in sad
processions, to say a last sad good-bye to all they
held most precious ; they kissed the very walls of
the City, and beat their heads against the stones.
" To leave Jerusalem was to tear the hearts out
of them."
All the gates of the City were now shut except
the Gate of David, at which Saladin set a strong
guard to prevent anyone escaping ; and Saracen
soldiers kept order in the streets. We are told that
not one of these dared to offer even a rough word
to the old inhabitants, for the commands of Saladin
were strict and clear ; and though some of the
officers and Emirs cheated and bargained with the
people, to try and gain something for themselves
before the fifty days were out, these things were
done secretly, and never came to the ears of
Saladin. The Saracens were allowed, however, to
buy from the Christians, who were only too glad
on their part to sell everything they had, to raise
the money for their ransoms. The Patriarch and
Balian had got thirty thousand bezants from the
Knights Hospitallers, which was all that the Order
had to give ; and they made everyone in the City
swear on the relics of the saints that they would
keep back nothing, but would give all they had
to the general ransom. The seven thousand who
1 60
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
were to be ransomed were then chosen, so many
from each street and ward of the City, and were
sent out. They were free. But still there were
many poor frightened people left who could not
pay, for during the siege they had given all they
had for the defence of the City, and for their
ransoms there was no money left. Seeing this,
Saladin's brother Saffadin (as his name is written),
who was one of his generals, went to the Sultan.
" Brother," he said, " I have helped you by
God's grace to conquer the Land and this City.
I pray you, give me a thousand slaves of those
that are still left within the walls."
" What will you do with them ? " asked Saladin.
"As it seems best to me," answered Saffadin.
Saladin asked no more questions, but gave
him the thousand, perhaps guessing at his purpose ;
and Saffadin set them free as his thank-offering
to God.
Then one of Saladin's generals, an Armenian
called Kukbury, went to the Sultan, and asked him
to let him have five thousand Armenians who were
in the City. " They came here as pilgrims before
the siege," Kukbury said ; " they are not fighters,
nor do they belong to the City at all. Should
they not go free, being strangers ? ' And Saladin
said, " Be it so, " and gave him all the five
thousand Armenians. So these, too, went free.
And after this, the Patriarch, seeing that every
161 L
THE CRUSADES
one seemed to get what he wanted from this
generous and merciful man, went in his turn to
Saladin and asked for some ; and Saladin gave
him seven hundred ; and when Balian asked for
some, he gave him five hundred.
" And now," said Saladin, who seemed never to
tire of giving, " I will make my alms." And he
ordered the little Postern of St. Lazarus to be set
open, that all the poor who really could not pay
might leave the City by it, free. From sunrise
until sunset the stream of people passed out through
the little gate, wondering greatly at their own
deliverance. Even so there were eleven thousand
left. Then Balian went to Saladin and he forced
the Patriarch to go with him and begged the
Sultan to hold them both as prisoners in the place
of the eleven thousand, until money could be raised
in Europe for their ransom. But Saladin replied,
" I will not take two men against eleven thousand ;
speak of it to me no more." So the eleven
thousand went free in their turn. To the women
and children who went before him, crying for
mercy, Saladin showed a wonderful pity. If their
husbands and fathers were in prison, he ordered
them to be set free ; if they were dead, he gave
largely to the widows from his own treasure,
according to their rank and state. " And he
gave them so much, that they gave praise to God
162
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
for the honour and wealth that Saladin showed to
them ' as well they might !
At the last the Patriarch made haste to leave
Jerusalem. While others had been full of the
trouble of the City, he had been very careful to
get hold of all the gold and silver, the jewels and
treasures, that were still left in the Holy Sepulchre
and the other Churches, and these he made ready
to take away with him. Saladin's Emirs were very
angry when they saw this, for their Sultan had
already been so generous that to take more in this
way seemed to them like stealing ; besides they
wanted something themselves, after all they had
done. They begged Saladin not to allow it ; but
Saladin said that his word had been given, and it
was not his will that any man should be able to
accuse him of breaking it. So the greedy Heraclius
made off with as much as he could carry.
With all this, the City of Godfrey and Fulke
was so rich that when the Saracens came to take
it over they found many treasures in it still.
Amongst the richest of all the spoil was a large
gold cross, blazing with jewels, which the Templars
had set up upon the Rock itself, and which the
Saracen soldiers horrified the Christians by dragging
through the dirt of the streets. But deeds like
this, done in ignorance or malice, can do no harm
beyond the pain they give ; it could not hurt the
163
THE CRUSADES
Cross. Saladin also stripped off the covering of
marble which the Knights had put all over the
Rock, to keep it safe from pilgrims and others,
who used to chip off little pieces to take away
with them, either to keep as a great treasure or to
sell in other lands.
Now Saladin divided the remainder of the Chris-
tians into three parties to send them away ; one
party he put under the Templars, one under the
Hospitallers, and the third under Balian himself.
With each party he sent fifty of his own most
trusted officers, to guard them on their way into
Christian land. These Saracen guards were as
tender-hearted as their great master, for they would
walk themselves in order that the Christians might
ride when they were tired or footsore ; and when
the little children cried from weariness, they thought
it no trouble to pick them up, and carry them over
the rough ground. Sybil, the Queen, and her sister,
Isabella, had been amongst the first to leave Jeru-
salem, free from tax or question. Sybil joined Guy
later on ; but she had been through hard times,
and she did not live to be an old woman. Not
one of the conquered Christians was hardly treated
by Saladin, nor even mocked at in their fall by the
Saracen guards, for the spirit of Saladin was strong
in all his host. A very different taking of Jerusalem
was this to that July day eighty-nine years ago,
164
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
when the Crusaders cut down men without pity,
and their horses trod the Temple courts knee-deep
in blood.
The Christians from Jerusalem reached Tripoli
safely after a weary march, which all the kindness
of their Saracen guards could not make anything
but long and very sad. And at Tripoli, instead of
a welcome and shelter, they found harder fare than
all that had gone before. For the Count of Tripoli
refused to let these sad wanderers enter his city.
He was not the great Raymond who had cut his
way through the Saracens at the Battle of Hattin,
for he was dead by now ; the new Count was
Boemond of Antioch, who had succeeded him at
Tripoli by Raymond's own wish. This hard and
most unknightly Knight sent out his soldiers to
seize any of the travellers who still had a little
money left, and forced them into the city, where
he threw them into prison until they had given
up everything they had. Those who were too poor
to be worth robbing were not allowed within the
city walls ; and so they wandered away, some even
into far Armenia, and settled down with thankful-
ness wherever they were allowed to do so.
Saladin captured Jerusalem on October 1, 1187.
As soon as the City was really his, he set to work
to clear the Temple of every sign of its use by
Christians. The altars were taken away and the
165
THE CRUSADES
pictures destroyed, and Saladin gave a wonderful
pulpit of inlaid wood from Damascus, which is still
standing in the place where he put it, as his thank-
offering. His name and titles were written round
the dome of what had been the Templar's Church,
which from that day onward was to be known
and used as a Mosque. If any man had earned
the right to record his deeds in a place of worship,
"in the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merci-
ful," surely that man was Saladin. By and bye many
Christians, on payment of a tax, were allowed by
him to return to Jerusalem, and to settle down
there again in peace.
Jerusalem being safely in his hands, Saladin
pushed on with the conquest of the whole Land,
which fell under his power bit by bit. Soon only
Tripoli, Antioch, and Tyre among the cities were
left of the once great Christian Kingdom of Jeru-
salem. The Christian rule in Palestine was broken
for ever. Crusades might come and come again ;
and parts here and there be recovered for a time ;
but the Kingdom as a Kingdom was dead, slain
as much by the selfishness and want of faith
amongst its own people as by the sword of
Saladin.
As for Guy, when he was released a year later
he went to Cyprus, and got the title of King of
Cyprus from Richard I. Then he joined Richard
1 66
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM
in Palestine, and at once broke his parole, or word
of honour, given to Saladin as a condition of his
being set free, that he would not take arms against
the Saracens again. He was a most unworthy
Knight, but he did not live long to disgrace the
name of Christian and King by his broken promises
and his oft-stained honour.
167
CHAPTER XIII
THE THIRD CRUSADE, 1189-1192
" Therefore friends,
As far as to the Sepulchre of Christ,
Whose soldiers now, under Whose blessed Cross
We are empress6d and engaged to fight,
Forthwith a power of England shall we levy."
SHAKESPEARE.
" England ! awake ! awake ! awake !
Jerusalem thy sister calls ! "
BLAKE.
" JERUSALEM has fallen ! The Holy City has
fallen ! "
The dreadful news spread all through Christen-
dom, and startled the Kings of Europe; startled
them at last and too late. They had turned a
deaf ear for so long to the cry for help; they had
been so full of their own concerns, that they had
cared very little really about the Christian Kingdom.
Perhaps they thought that the soldiers of the Cross
could never be defeated. But the impossible had
happened, the Christian power had been utterly
overthrown, the King of Jerusalem was a prisoner,
the chief of his Knights were dead, the Orders of
168
THE THIRD CRUSADE
the Hospitallers and the Templars had been almost
wiped out, and Jerusalem herself, together with
the Sepulchre of Christ, was in the hands of
Saladin.
The very awfulness of the news stirred the
people of Europe to action. A new Crusade was
preached everywhere for the recovery of Jerusalem,
and all who did not take the Cross were made to
give the tenth part of their possessions in a tax
called the Tithe of Saladin. It was the first time
that a Crusade had been preached in England, but
the people caught at the idea with eagerness, and
hundreds of them rushed to take the Cross. The
Crusade was under the Kings of France and Eng-
land, Philip II and our own Richard Lion-Heart.
As the Tithe of Saladin did not bring in enough
by itself, both Kings raised money in other ways ;
Philip chiefly by squeezing the Jews, and Richard
by selling honours, titles, and offices to his sub-
jects. " I would sell London itself if I could only
find a buyer! " he said not because he loved London
so little, perhaps, as because he loved Jerusalem so
much. The fire of a true Crusader burned hotly in
Richard's heart, but he was the only one of the
Princes of the Third Crusade who put any real
love or faith into the expedition. Many very strict
rules were made, so that the soldiers might behave
as true Crusaders should. Swearers were to be fined,
and also to have their heads first shaved and then
169
THE CRUSADES
covered with hot pitch and feathers ; a murderer
was to be tied to the body of the victim, and the
two bodies thrown together into the sea or buried
in the same grave. The army of the Third Crusade
counted over four hundred thousand men, English,
French, and Germans, and Richard himself had
two hundred and nineteen ships, all well manned
and fitted out.
The German army was a splendid one, as large as
the English and French forces put together, and very
well trained ; and it was under Frederick I, whom
his people called Barbarossa because of his long red
beard. There are several Barbarossas in history.
Two of them were Turkish pirates, brothers, whose
exploits filled Europe with terror for many years,
and after the greatest of whom one of the Turkish
warships is now called ; but the Barbarossa whom
we of the West know most of was this Frederick
the German Emperor. He was a very Knightly
man, for certain, and before he started on his
Crusade he sent a message to Saladin to warn him
of his coming, and thus began his war in a far
more gentlemanly spirit than either of the other
Kings.
But Frederick was not the man to free Jerusalem.
He led his army overland, (1189), and it melted
day by day under the fierce attacks of enemies
through whose countries he passed. Nothing went
well with him. He expected help from the Armen-
170
THE THIRD CRUSADE
ians, and they turned their backs upon him, and
joined the Greeks, who would not help him, either.
Before very long, Barbarossa himself met his death,
not in the shock and glory of battle, as he would
have wished, but in crossing a river, in whose ice-
cold currents he was caught and swept away (1190).
His death broke up the German army. The men
wandered apart, seeking shelter where they could
find it, some in Antioch, some in Aleppo, (where
the Saracens made slaves of them) ; many died by
the way ; and out of that splendid army of two
hundred thousand men, not even five thousand
reached home.
The rushing river tore away poor Barbarossa in
its icy clutches, now tossing him up like a leaf, now
dragging him down, now spinning him round and
round in some hidden undercurrent. He was never
seen again. But his people declared that Barbarossa
was not dead ; the river had borne him home, they
said ; and he was now in a cavern in the Kyffhauser
Mountain in Thuringia, waiting till his country
should need his strong arm and his wise head again.
And so the story comes down to us to-day ; and
when we hear the name of Frederick Barbarossa our
thoughts turn to that dark cavern in Thuringia,
where the Red Beard rests and waits for the call of
his country, his good sword lying ready to his hand.
He was joined to the great company of waiting
Kings, who rest in peace and in patience, till the
171
THE CRUSADES
cry of their country in some hour of sore need shall
call them forth : and those Kings are Arthur of
Britain, who waits in Avalon ; Charlemagne of
France ; Roderic of Spain ; and Barbarossa of
Germany. May they rise in all good fellowship !
The Kings of France and England met at Sicily ;
and here there first began the quarrels which in
the end broke up the Crusade. When at last
they started for Palestine, Richard's sister Joan, the
widowed Queen of Sicily, and Berengaria of Navarre,
to whom he was betrothed, accompanied him in a
ship of their own.
" They loved each other dear,
And lived as birds in cage,"
sang a poet of their day ; and it was very lucky
for them that they were such good friends, for the
journey to Palestine, under the banner of such a
fighter as Richard, was no easy pleasure-trip for
women. Fierce storms scattered the fleet, and for
some days the different ships did not know which
of their companions had escaped the angry waves.
When at last the sea calmed down, Richard found
the Princesses' ship in safe harbour at Limasol in
Cyprus ; but, unluckily for himself, the Emperor of
the Island, a Greek named Isaac, had treated them
very roughly and unkindly in refusing to let them
land, though they were ill and unhappy after the
storm. Richard landed at once in great anger ;
172
o
a
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TILDEN FOUNDAT;
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
defeated the Cypriots ; put Isaac in chains of silver
(because he was an Emperor) ; took a large sum of
money from him ; and gave him into the hand of
Guy de Lusignan, and his daughter to be Sybil's
maid-in-waiting. He did all these things with the
speed of lightning, as his custom was ; and he had
conquered the Island before all the inhabitants even
knew that he had come. It was certainly not safe
to cross the Lion's path ! Richard's conquest of
Cyprus made Philip of France very angry, for he
expected Richard to share it with him ; to which
Richard replied that he had taken it alone, and he
would keep it alone.
At Cyprus, Guy de Lusignan met King Richard,
who, filled with pity for the misfortunes of the fallen
King of Jerusalem, gave him a handsome share of
his booty, and the title of King of Cyprus. And in
the strong Castle of Limasol, Richard was married
to Berengaria of Navarre. The room in which the
marriage took place is still to be seen, the great
walls being fifteen feet thick. Richard was dressed
very richly, as became the royal bridegroom and
the conqueror. He wore rose-colour, covered with
crescents of pure silver, and a scarlet hat em-
broidered with birds and beasts. His red saddle
shone with gold, and the high peak at the back
showed the Lions of England in gold ; while his
sword-hilt and his long spurs were of solid gold.
He was a fine man, this English Richard of ours,
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THE CRUSADES
whom we love to look back on and to remember.
"He was tall of stature, graceful in figure," wrote
one of his followers, who knew him well, and evi-
dently loved him well, too ; "his hair between red
and auburn, his limbs were straight, his arms not
to be matched for wielding the sword, or for striking
with it ; while his appearance was commanding."
" He had the valour of Hector, he was gifted with
the eloquence of Nestor, and the prudence of
Ulysses " ; (which is only rather a long way of saying
that he was perfect !). " A man who never knew
defeat, impatient of an injury, and impelled to
assert his rights, though all he did was marked
by an inborn nobleness of mind." " He was far
superior to all others in strength, and notable for
prowess in battles, and his mighty deeds outshone
the most brilliant description we could give of
them."
Such was our Richard Coeur -de - Lion, the
greatest man of the West, eagerly pressing forward
through storms and fighting and delay to Palestine ;
there to meet Saladin, the greatest man of the
East.
From Cyprus Richard pressed onward, till he
came to Acre, which King Philip of France and
his Crusaders were besieging. But there was so
much idleness and carelessness and quarrelling in
the camp, that they had made very little way
against the city, which was well defended and
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
provisioned. " The chiefs envy one another and
strive for place," said the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, who came with Richard ; " the poor folk
are in want, and find no one to help them. In
the camp there is neither order, cleanliness, faith,
nor charity a state of things which I call God
to witness I would never have believed had I not
seen it."
The Crusaders had suffered almost as much in
the siege of Acre as the city itself; for Saladin
and his army lay behind their lines, and prevented
their getting in food from the country, while the
storms often kept the little ships from landing com
and other things. It was much worse during the
winter, of course ; the Crusaders were starving,
and sickness was abroad in the camp, brought on
by hunger and weakness, as much as by bad food
and the cold. A sack of corn cost a hundred
pieces of gold, one egg was six deniers, horses were
killed and eaten, and even those that died from
sickness or age were used for food. Men ate grass
like cattle, and picked at the bones left by the
camp dogs in the road. Even the Knights could
not always keep from stealing food, they were so
hungry ; and beans were sold by number and not
by weight. Some of the soldiers but not many-
even deserted to Saladin, who received them very
kindly, and gave them food and warm clothing,
and sent them to Damascus. Those who stayed
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THE CRUSADES
on, and fought and suffered and were hungry, were
the better men ; but hunger and cold break a man's
pride, and make him do things that are mean and
wretched.
But with the coming of Richard things changed,
so great was his fame. The Crusaders, who had
grown very tired of the long useless siege, now
burned to prove their metal to the mocking Saracens.
" Now let the will of God be done ! " they cried
joyfully when Richard landed, tall and glowing in
his armour, his heavy battle-axe shining in his hand,
" for the hope of all rests upon King Richard ! "
These words only made the jealous French
King more vexed and jealous still. Like all small-
minded men, he had not enough fame to be able
to spare any of it to another. But Richard was
ill when he landed, of the fever that troubled him
during all his time in Palestine. From his bed
he gave orders that forts, and war-engines called
petrarise, should be prepared, for casting huge
stones against the city walls, but he himself could
not stand. The jealous King of France was glad
of his illness, "for now," he said, "is the time to
prove my own skill in war ! I will attack Acre
and take it while Richard is thus laid aside. Why
should all the glory be to him ? '
Richard heard in the camp outside the sounds
of preparation for the attack; and when he knew
what was being planned, he sent to Philip, warning
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
him to wait till he himself was able to join him,
or at least until the rest of the English fleet should
arrive from Cyprus. Philip refused, and the attack
failed miserably ; whereupon the King of France
took to his bed ill and angry or, no doubt, ill
from anger at having failed, and made himself look
so foolish before the Christian host. All this time
King Richard, " whose fever was getting worse,
lay on his bed fretting sorely when he saw the
Saracens challenging our men, whilst his sickness
prevented him from attacking them. For the
constant onsets of the enemy gave him more
trouble than the fiery pains of his fever."
As soon as the two Kings were both well, they
set hard to work to replace the siege-engines which
had been destroyed in Philip's foolish attack.
Richard's engines were very much feared by the
Saracens, for they did more harm than the others.
" When a single stone from one great engine
killed twelve men, the Saracens sent the stone to
Saladin to see ; and the messengers who carried it
said that ' that devil the King of England ' had
brought with him a great store of such terrible
stones, which either broke to pieces or ground into
powder whatever they fell upon." The Templars
and the Hospitallers each had an engine, and the
Saracens were very much afraid of the Hospitallers'
petraria, too, for it never seemed to fail of its aim.
Philip built one which he called " Bad Neighbour "
177 M
THE CRUSADES
(meaning that it was a bad neighbour to the city) ;
and the Saracens quickly built one to meet it,
which they mockingly named " Bad Kinsman."
In spite of all these terrible engines, and the
constant attacks of the Crusaders, Acre was a very
hard city to take ; it was very strong in its posi-
tion and defences, and it was garrisoned by the
pick of the Saracen troops, who were now well
tried in war. In fact, it held out for about two
years, though the Crusaders pressed it hard, and
all Saladin's attempt to help the city were prevented.
At last, starved and despairing, the Saracen garrison
asked for terms, with Saladin's consent. The
Christian Kings said that Saladin must give back
the wood of the True Cross, which he had taken
at the Battle of Hattin ; set free fifteen hundred
Christian captives whom he held ; give up Acre ;
and ransom the garrison for twenty thousand
pieces of gold. They on their part promised to
spare the lives of all who were in the city. Saladin
agreed to these terms, for he could not help himself;
but as he did not pay the ransom up to time
perhaps with him, too, as with the Christian army,
gold was scarce the Crusaders put to death all
the Saracens in Acre ; there were about five
thousand of them. We need not believe that
Richard was so very willing to allow this horrid
deed to be done ; but in his time all Saracens
were looked upon as " the enemies of God," and
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
therefore as not fit to live. Richard wrote of this
massacre of prisoners sadly enough, as we may
think. " Thus, as in duty bound," he says, ** we
put them to death." Saladin was stung to hot
anger by this cruel act, and replied by putting to
death some thousands of his Christian prisoners.
It was certainly rather hard on the poor prisoners
on either side, but then no one seems to have
given a thought to them ; they were just like cards
in a game, to be used as the players thought
best.
The Crusaders had been fighting constantly
amongst themselves all the time of the siege.
Philip was jealous of Richard, and Richard's temper
was hot and quick ; the Knights and soldiers of
both Kings, of course, were no better friends than
their masters. No sooner had Acre fallen, than
Philip gave out that he was going back to France.
He was ill, he said ; but the Crusaders, who knew
that Richard had suffered far more than Philip
from fever, believed that he was jealous rather than
ill. Philip asked Richard to let him have two ships,
and the generous Lion-Heart let him have them at
once ; he also left any of his men who wished to
remain, under the command of Leopold, Duke of
Austria ; and made Richard many solemn promises
not to enter or to trouble his dominions in any way
as long as he remained in Palestine. So King Philip
turned his back upon the Crusade, and departed ;
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THE CRUSADES
" and instead of blessings, he received wishes of mis-
fortune from all " ; for all men agreed with Richard
when he said of Philip, " He does against the Will
of God, and the eternal dishonour of his Kingdom,
so shamelessly fail in his vow."
Left to himself, Richard did his best to pull
his men together, and to give them back some of
the Crusading spirit which they seemed to have
lost so easily. He sent Guy de Lusignan to try
and recover some faint-hearted men who had de-
serted to Acre, where they knew they would find
ease and plenty of food ; and when Guy's weak ways
failed to persuade them to return, the Lion-Heart him-
self set off in hot haste, and by his fiery force and
his stern words he fairly shamed a number of the
wretches into following him meekly back to camp.
Directly Richard could move his army he
marched down the coast towards Jaffa, on his way
to Jerusalem ; using the old road by the sea that
the Romans had made, when they ruled in Palestine
all those hundreds of years ago. In the midst of
the host was a covered car in which was carefully
borne the Standard of the Cross. At night, when
the men lay down to sleep, heralds would pass be-
tween the lines crying aloud, " Help ! Help ! for
Holy Sepulchre ! ' to remind them of their vows.
When the soldiers heard the heralds' cry they awoke,
and wept, and prayed to God to help them in the
fight. That was no easy march through the hot
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
sun of September, troubled all the time by the
enemy, who were " like mountain-torrents rushing
down upon them from the heights," stung by
poisonous insects and by scorpions and snakes,
which lay hidden under stones or lurked in the dry
grass.
Richard defeated Saladin in the great battle of
Arsuf, in which over seven thousand Saracens were
left dead upon the field. It was perhaps the most
splendid of all Richard's battles in Palestine, as it
was his completest victory, and it was fought in
the breathless heat of a September day in the plains.
Richard, "who was very skilful in military matters,"
had divided his army into five parts, giving the
Templars the first place, which was always theirs,
and which was, of course, the place of honour ; next
came Richard's own men of Anjou ; then his men
from Poitou under Guy de Lusignan ; then the
English and Normans with the Royal Standard ;
and last of all the Knights Hospitallers. Richard
ordered the battle so that the Saracens were faced
wherever they might turn ; one body of the
Crusaders was between them and the sea, another
guarded the mountain ways ; and the whole army
marched on "at a gentle pace" so as to keep well
together.
Suddenly, with noise and shouting, Saladin's
advance-guard of ten thousand men burst upon
the Crusader's rear, " hurling darts and arrows, and
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THE CRUSADES
making a terrible din with their cries." These were
followed by a body of men " very black in colour " ;
and then came the Bedouins, " a people light of foot
and most eager for battle " ; while behind them all
the main Saracen army, twenty thousand strong,
" on steeds swifter than eagles, thundered down upon
us, till the whirling dust blackened the very air."
The two armies were locked in battle almost before
they knew it. The Saracens, just by the weight of
their numbers, forced an opening in the Crusading
ranks ; but those behind held well together, and met
them with a fury equal to their own, marching back-
wards so that their faces were towards the enemy.
The Crusaders' horses suffered, " being pierced
through and through with arrows and darts' 1 ;
and every man seemed to bear his wound as
well.
All the time the Saracens were pressing hard
upon the rear of the army, which was formed by
the Hospitallers, who at last sent word to Richard
that they could bear up no longer, unless their
Knights were allowed to charge. But Richard for-
bade it, for he did not think the time had yet
come. So the Hospitallers held on, bearing the
hardest part of that day's fight, in having to obey
an order that they saw no use for, and doing
nothing. By now the Saracens were so close to
them that their heavy maces rang upon the Crusa-
ders' armour, and hand to hand fights were going
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
on all the time. At last the Grand Master of the
Hospitallers himself rode up to Richard, and said,
" Lord King, we are grievously beset, and are
likely to be branded with eternal shame as men
who dare not strike in their own defence. Each
one of us is losing his horse for nothing, and why
should we put up with it any longer ? '
Richard only answered, " My good Master, it
must needs be borne, for none can be everywhere."
The Grand Master returned to his place, to
find the Saracens pressing on, and dealing death
amongst his men, " while there was no chief or
count who did not blush for very shame that he
might not strike a blow back." At last two of
the Knights Hospitallers swung round, and calling
out, " St. George ! St. George ! ' they turned upon
the Saracens. Eagerly the whole of the Hospi-
tallers turned at that well-known battle-cry, and
body after body of horse turned with them, until
the whole line was thundering down upon the
Saracens in one of the finest and fiercest cavalry
charges the world has ever seen. Who can de-
scribe the surprise and the horror of the Saracens
when the men whom they had counted as cowards,
and half-dead, turned upon them in this furious
way ! Richard had meant all along to make just
such a wild charge as this, when the time came;
the Hospitallers had forced him to make it earlier ;
but he was not the man to be outdone by a sur-
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THE CRUSADES
prise. Putting spurs to his horse, he dashed right
through the Hospitallers to their head, and led
that grand charge himself.
Still for a time the battle wavered. Both armies
were composed of brave and tried soldiers, who would
fight to the very end ; and now one side held the
day, and now the other. Richard had said to the
Master of the Hospitallers earlier in the day, " No
man can be everywhere," but he himself seemed to
be in all places at once. Urging on the horse he
had brought from Cyprus, until it was as madly
excited as himself, he was now chasing the Saracens
up the narrow hill-passes, now in the front, now in
the rear ; " helmets clinked as the enemy fell before
him, and sparks leapt out from the battery of his
sword." At last the Saracens seemed to have been
driven off; and the weary Crusaders set to work to
pitch their tent outside the town of Arsuf. But
while they were in the very middle of doing this, a
great mass of Saracens fell upon them from behind.
Out dashed Richard, calling to his men, and with
only fifteen companions he flung himself upon the
foe. His great shout, three times repeated, " God
and the Holy Sepulchre aid us!" brought the rest of
the army rushing pell-mell after him ; the Saracens
wavered, broke, and gave way before the terrible
Lion-Heart, and fled back headlong to the woods of
Arsuf from which they had just come.
Richard had won the day. Many brave men
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
had fallen on both sides; and the Crusaders especially
mourned for the loss of one splendid Knight, Sir
James d'Avesnes, whose dead body was found on
the field, lying in a circle of fifteen Saracens, who
had all been slain by his mighty sword.
If Richard had followed up the Battle of Arsuf,
he might have even reached Jerusalem and taken
it, before Saladin had time to collect another army
to stop him. But Richard did not know how strong
his hand had been. His name, since Acre and
Arsuf, had become a real terror to the Saracens,
so that they fled at the very sound of it. In vain
did Saladin rebuke his men. " Are these the deeds
of my brave troops ? ' he said. " Where is that
prowess which they promised to put forth against
the Christians, to overthrow them utterly ? Lo !
these Christians cover the whole Country at their
pleasure ! It is a disgrace to our nation, the most
warlike in the world ! "
The Saracen chiefs listened to his words in deep
shame, with heads bent down ; and at last one of
them spoke.
" Most sacred Sultan," he said, " saving your
Majesty, this charge is unjust, for we fought with
all our strength against the Franks and did our
best to destroy them, but it was of no use. And
further, there is one among them greater than any
man we have ever seen ; he always charges before
the rest, slaying and destroying our men ; he is
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THE CRUSADES
the first in everything, and is a most brave and
excellent soldier. No one can resist him, or escape
from his hands. Such a King as he seems born
to command the whole earth ! '
It was not only the Saracen soldiers who feared
the Lion- Heart's name. "What then! do you see
King Richard ? ' the rider would exclaim to a
frightened horse ; while the Saracen mothers hushed
their children with the words, " If you cry, King
Richard will hear you, and he will come and take
you!'
The Saracens were always hoping that some
lucky chance would give King Richard into their
hands, for they knew that if they once got hold of
him, the whole Crusade would fall to pieces at once.
Richard was no easy man to trap, however ; but
once the Saracens came upon him as he lay asleep
under some trees, and they would certainly have
caught him if one of his Knights, called Sir William
de Preaux, had not cried out in Arabic, " I am the
King ! ' Hearing this, the Saracens turned from
pursuing Richard and seized hold of de Preaux,
while the King and the rest got safely away. De
Preaux remained a prisoner for many months, but
he was well treated ; and Richard did not forget
him, but before he left the Holy Land he gave a
large ransom for him, and set him free.
Richard had all the rashness and pride of courage
that goes with great strength of body. Alone, he
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
would gallop up to the front ranks of the enemy,
waving that great battle-axe of his round his head,
and daring any or all of them to single combat ;
then, scornfully turning his back upon them, as if
he despised them for not answering to his call, he
would ride slowly back to his own lines, while the
Saracens simply dared not accept his challenge. Or
he would ride out with a small following, and return
to camp rich in plunder, with ten or twenty Saracen
heads fastened to the saddles, after the savage
custom of those days. He would rush hot-headed
into the greatest dangers, while his Knights and
soldiers held their breath in very fear for his safety,
and come out untouched, laughing at their fears.
"There was never a man like him, nor one whom
the enemy feared so much, who destroyed so many
Saracens single-handed."
Richard was a good leader as well as a brave
and strong fighter. He could put heart into his
men, no matter what dangers and troubles they had
to face ; they would have followed him anywhere.
But his fiery temper, and his proud and masterful
ways, made the lesser chiefs of the Crusade dislike
him very much, and all the more because they
were afraid to cross his will in any way ; while
in his heart each one thought himself at least as
good as the King of England. Richard saw quite
well that these silly quarrels were killing all their
hopes of success. He tried more than once to bring
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THE CRUSADES
back old friendships. " Our differences of opinion
may be not only useless, but dangerous to the army,"
he said in Council to the other Princes. And then
for a little while things would go smoothly in the
camp, until some outburst of temper from Richard
himself, or some fresh piece of trickery in another,
made the whole quarrel blaze up again. When
Leopold of Austria had the impudence to strike
his banner into the ground beside the Lions of
England, Richard, burning with rage, tore it up
and trampled it under foot. That was before Philip
of France left Palestine, and he smoothed the
trouble over with soft words ; but Leopold never
forgave the insult to his flag.
Little by little the Crusading army fell away.
Numbers died from sickness, wounds, and fever ;
and many of the chiefs got tired of the affair and
went home, taking their men with them. Only
Richard seemed to have heart for everything, no
matter what troubles and perils lay before him in
the road to Jerusalem ; but even he could not
conquer single-handed. He did his best ; he built
and repaired castles and fortresses, fought small
fierce encounters with the enemy almost every day,
and held his own English and Norman troops
together with an iron hand. All the while he was
o
pressing on nearer to Jerusalem ; and so great was
the terror of his name, that even Saladin could not
keep his men quite in hand. Thousands of the
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
Saracens fled from the City, and even soldiers
deserted, when they heard that Richard had only
to pass the steep rocky hills that lie between Jaffa
and the Holy City to be upon them. It was at
this time, when one good blow would have given
Jerusalem into the Crusaders' hands, that Leopold
of Austria said that he was ill, and went home;
putting his own private grudge against Richard
before the good of the Crusade, and his own vows
as a Crusader. With Leopold went so many of
the French, Austrian, and Burgundian soldiers, that
Richard had hardly any left beside his own men.
It was really the jealousy of Leopold of Austria
that saved Jerusalem to the Saracens.
On the 12th of June Richard set out at earliest
dawn to surprise a large body of Saracens who, so
his own spies had brought him word, were lying in
wait at the Fountain of Emmaus to surprise him.
It was just the sort of mischievous and dangerous
expedition that Richard's very soul delighted in.
He caught them unawares, killed twenty, and
captured Saladin's herald a person of some im-
portance as w r ell as much spoil. " The rest of the
Saracens he pursued over the mountains, routing
and slaying them, until, after piercing one of the
enemy, and casting him dying from his horse, he
looked up and beheld in the distance the City of
Jerusalem." Raising his shield before his eyes, he
cried aloud, "Ah, fair Lord God! since I may not
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THE CRUSADES
save Thy Holy City, let me not even see it!"
Then turning his horse's head he rode swiftly away,
followed by his wondering escort. The hilltop
from which Richard saw Jerusalem is one lying to
the north of the City ; its Bible name is Mizpah ;
but the Crusaders called it Mount Joy, because it
was often from here that they got their first sight
of Jerusalem. They built a Church there which
they called St. Samuel's, and which is still in use
as a mosque ; the place to-day is called Nebi Sam-
weel (Prophet Samuel).
After this great disappointment, Richard fell
back on Jaffa, meaning to take ship there for
England, where Philip of France, and Richard's
own traitor brother John, were working every kind
of mischief in his absence. But there was fighting
to be done first. Saladin, with a great army, suddenly
swept down upon the seaside city and took it ; and
Richard, who was making a last hasty visit to Acre,
was sent for with all speed, and came back to find
the Saracens plundering Jaffa, and the Christian
garrison shut up in the citadel, too weak and too
few in number to stop them. Saracen banners
waved upon the walls and towers, and the wild
music of Saracen cymbals and trumpets floated out
to sea. At first Richard thought that the town
was altogether in their hands, even to the citadel
itself, and it seemed of no use to land. But just
then he saw a man fling himself into the sea from
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THE THIRD CRUSADE
the citadel, and begin to swim towards the ships
as they waited. Very soon the bold swimmer was
pulled up on board Richard's own ship ; it was an
all-red ship, the decks were covered with a red
awning, and a broad red flag flew from it. The
messenger from the citadel was a priest.
" Oh, noble King ! " he said as soon as he had
breath to speak with, " the people who are left
hunger for your coming ! They will perish on the
spot, unless God helps them through you ! "
" Perish the hindmost man in this ! " shouted
Richard ; and the red ship set in hard for the shore.
Over the side leapt Richard, waist-deep in the water,
careless of the sharp hidden rocks and the uneven
places that make the Jaffa shore so dangerous.
One after the other his Knights and men splashed
in after him, and in a breath they were all amongst
the Saracens. These fell like heads of corn before
the great sweep of Richard's battle-axe. He cleared
for himself a path right through the city to the
Templar's House. He flung himself up the outer
stairway, alone, and a moment later the Banner of
England was floating out from the top, run up by
the King's own hand. At sight of that flag which
has been in all times the sign of safety and pro-
tection the garrison with shouts of joy rushed out,
adding their swords to the few already fighting
round Richard. A few minutes more, and Jaffa
was in Richard's hand.
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THE CRUSADES
Saladin sent his chamberlain at night to speak
of peace with Richard. The Saracens found the
King in a right merry mood, as he generally was
after he had refreshed his soul in battle.
" Eh ! " he said, " this Sultan of yours is mighty,
and there is none greater or mightier than he in
this land of Islam. Why, then, did he make off at
my first appearance? I was not even armed or
ready to fight ; I am still wearing only the shoes
I wore on board ! Why, then, did you fly ? " Then
he burst out into open praise of Saladin, feeling
for him the honour that one brave man will always
feel for another. " But I thought he could not
have taken Jaffa in two months, and yet he made
himself master of it in two days ! Greet the Sultan
from me," he added to the chamberlain ; " give him
my greeting, and tell him that I beg him in God's
Name to give me the peace I ask at his hands.
There must be an end to all this. My country
over the sea is in a bad way ; I must go to it.
There is no use to us or to you in letting things
go on in this way."
Richard arid Saladin made out conditions of
peace through their messengers. " If you give me
these two cities, Jaffa and Ascalon," said Richard,
"the troops I leave there will be always at your
service ; and if you have any need of me, I will
hasten to come to you and be at your service ; and
you know that I can help you." To this Saladin
192
THE THIRD CRUSADE
returned answer : " Since you trust with such trust
in me, I propose that we share the two cities ; Jaffa
and what is beyond it shall be yours, whilst Ascalon
and what is beyond it shall be mine." But Richard
said that he must have Ascalon, and he gave Saladin
eight days in which to give it up to him ; and as
Saladin would not consent to this at all, the talk
of peace fell through for that time. The Saracens
were very angry because they had lost the rich
plunder of Jaffa when Richard retook it, and Saladin
saw that they would not fight well while their anger
was still hot ; but, on the other hand, it would be a
shame to him to keep his great army in sight of the
little Crusading one, and not strike one blow. There
was one small fight, during which Richard, lance in
hand, rode along the whole length of the Saracen
army from right to left, and not one of them left the
ranks to close with him. Then Saladin, angry and
ashamed, moved his whole army to another place.
Soon after the recapture of Jaffa, Richard fell
very ill again of Syrian fever, and the knightly
Saladin refused to fight until he was well enough
to take the field once more. The Sultan also sent
Richard presents of ice and fruit, especially peaches
and pears for which the sick King had a great
longing, and very welcome they must have been to
him in his burning fever. He sent his own doctor
to attend him, for the Crusading doctors, or barber-
surgeons as they were called, were very rough men
193 N
THE CRUSADES
and little taught, and in any case they knew next
to nothing about Syrian fevers.
Richard slowly recovered, and Saladin sent him a
splendid Arab horse from his own stables. Richard,
well-pleased, leaped upon its back at once to try its
paces ; whereupon the horse, turning a glad head
that way, galloped swiftly towards the Saracen camp,
its old home. The Crusaders rushed out with loud
shouts of horror at seeing their King carried off at
such speed towards the enemy's camp ; but Richard
was able to check its mad rush almost at once, and
returned safely to his own place. The Crusaders
swore that it was a trick of Saladin's to get hold of
Richard's person, but the Lion-Heart knew well
that no such meanness was ever in the mind of
Saladin. Another time, Richard's horse was killed
during a fight, and Saladin sent him straightway
two of his best horses. " It were shame," he said
by the messenger who brought the horses, "that so
gallant a Knight and so noble a King should fight
on foot." Richard took the gift in the same gene-
rous spirit that it was offered. He would have
done the same himself for Saladin if he had had the
chance. Saladin was a very open-handed Prince, it
is clear ; no wonder that his devoted friend and
servant, Beha-ed-Din (who wrote his Life), should
say of him in praise, that " no one could outstrip
him in the matter of presents, his heart was so large,
and his generosity so great."
194
THE THIRD CRUSADE
Richard's fever grew worse, and the news that
he had from England of all the bad things that John
was doing there, gave him no rest. Most likely he
would have held on to the end but for this ; but as
it was, he gave way to Saladin about Ascalon, and
the treaty of peace was brought to him in his tent,
where he lay ill, for him to sign. Richard said, " I
am not strong enough to read it ; but I solemnly
declare that I will make peace ; and here is my
hand ! " It showed how much he trusted to Saladin's
honour, that he could take the treaty thus on faith.
The next day the chief Crusading Knights, all fast-
ing as the custom was, swore to keep the treaty of
peace ; but Richard said, " I will not take the oath,
for it is not the custom for Kings to do so." So
his word and his hand were Richard's bond ; and
Saladin was content with that, for he knew the
English King.
So though Richard recovered, he and Saladin
fought no more. Richard had very few men left
by now to fight with, even if his own Kingdom
had not needed him so badly. Saladin, too, was
more ready for peace than for war, for he was suffer-
ing from the painful illness which had troubled him
for years past, and which carried him to his grave
within a few months of Richard's leaving. So these
two great men were glad to agree to a peace for
three years, on terms that were equally good for
both sides.
'95
THE CRUSADES
" Tell your Sultan that I shall return to take
Jerusalem from him ! ' Richard said to the Saracen
Emirs. And Saladin sent back word, " If it pleases
God to take Jerusalem out of my hand, there is
none more worthy to hold it than King Richard."
Richard took ship for England, dressed as a
Templar, and on one of the Templars' ships ; but
he did not get home for fourteen months. The
jealous Duke of Austria had been longing for years
for a chance of doing harm to Richard, and he way-
laid him on his way through Europe, and imprisoned
him. For many months no one could find any
trace of him at all, but at last he was discovered in
a distant castle ; and then such a huge ransom was
asked for him, that everyone in England had to be
taxed heavily in order to raise it. But the English
people gave willingly ; and when at last Richard
landed in England, the people crowded round him
with loud cries of welcome and rejoicing, kissing
his hands and his garments, and even the long cross-
handled sword that had done such good work in the
Holy Land.
"Look to yourself; the devil has broken loose
again ! " wrote Philip of France to his secret ally,
John. And the black-hearted John, coward and
craven that he was, being sorely afraid of the punish-
ment he so richly deserved, hastened to kneel before
Richard and make his peace. He brought his
mother with him, to speak for him to Richard, for
196
THE THIRD CRUSADE
he knew very well that he could hardly expect
Richard to forgive such meanness and treachery as
his had been ; and he knew also that Richard would
never refuse anything that his mother asked of
him.
" Sire and my brother, forgive," he said.
Richard looked at him as he knelt, and half
pitied him for his fears, half scorned him for his
meanness and his treachery. Raising him, he an-
swered, " John, I wish that I might as easily wipe
out the harm you have done, as you will forget this
my pardon ! '
Richard never took the Cross again, though he
always meant to do so ; he was kept far too busy
at home ; and about six years later he was killed
while laying siege to the castle of one of his own
nobles, who he thought was hiding from him a great
treasure, a part of which should have been his by
right as King.
Splendid King Richard English King Richard !
His name and his fame and his great deeds belong
to us still, and as we tell the story of them we shall
always feel proud of our English Crusader.
197
CHAPTER XIV
THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE, 1212
" We are but little children weak,
Nor born in any high estate ;
What can we do for Jesus' sake,
Who is so High and Good and Great ? "
Hymn A. # M., 331.
WHEN Richard Cceur-de-Lion left Palestine, it must
have seemed to the people there that their last hope
for the Holy Land had gone with him. He had not
been able to recover Jerusalem, but he had done a
good deal, for he had regained most of the seaports
for the Christians ; and though very little else re-
mained of the Christian Kingdom beyond a narrow
strip of coast-land, still that strip was a valuable one,
and well worth having. He had also made Saladin
agree that all pilgrims should have free and safe
entry to the holy places. The two great Orders
of the Hospitallers and the Templars remained in
Palestine, to show that Christendom had even now
some share in the Land of Christ. If they had
only been friends and worked together, they might
have done a great deal towards recovering the lost
power of the Christian Kingdom, but they were
198
THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE
far too jealous of each other, and would only act
alone.
A small Crusade went out from Germany soon
after Richard's departure, expecting to reap where
Richard of England had sown ; but when they
arrived they found that there was nothing for them
to do, and they were not wanted in the least. The
Land was quiet ; the three years' truce made by
Richard and Saladin was not yet over ; and as the
Christians needed peace so much to repair and to
strengthen their places of defence, they refused to
break the truce. In fact, they even talked of getting
it renewed when the three years were out. The
Germans did a little fighting here and there, and
thereby broke the truce. They then went home,
not much better either in honour or in pocket for
this very foolish little Crusade.
As the truce had been broken, the Christians
were very much afraid of being punished by the
Saracens, and they sent many urgent messages to
Europe for help. But help was not to be had for
the asking in these days. Everything in Europe
was in a state of turmoil. Richard's death, which
happened suddenly, while fighting against a rebel-
lious subject of his own, was followed by the shame-
ful reign of John. France \vas in a state of trouble
and unrest ; and Germany had had enough of Cru-
sades for the present. An army which called itself
a Crusade did at last set out, but it never reached
199
THE CRUSADES
Jerusalem ; for it spent all its force in tearing Con-
stantinople from the hands of the Greek Emperors,
and setting up there a Latin Kingdom, that lasted
for about fifty-seven years (1204-1261). Constanti-
nople was a city of many and wonderful riches ; it
was easier to reach than Jerusalem ; and while it
was in the hands of Western rulers, men preferred
to go there for what they could get, rather than
make the long and difficult journey to Palestine.
Perhaps they were beginning to think more of
filling their pockets in the quickest and easiest way,
than of adding honour to their country, or even
to their own names. So it was that no one seemed
to care very much what happened to poor Palestine ;
where, after all (men said), the Christians of the
Kingdom had shown themselves to be rather a
faint-hearted lot, and altogether too fond of making
and breaking promises to be easy to help. In the
old days the Crusaders had loved the Holy Land
-but especially Jerusalem so much, that they had
not minded how much they suffered in order to
help her; but now they hardly remembered her,
she was so far away, and they were all so busy
with their own affairs.
But out of all this carelessness and hardness of
heart, there arose what was perhaps the most
wonderful Crusade of all that of the Children.
In 1212 a half-crazy priest, named Nicholas,
was struck by a sudden idea, which he declared
200
THE CHILDREN S CRUSADE
was sent to him from H eaven ; and he went
through France and Germany preaching a Children's
Crusade.
" Why have the other Crusades all failed ? '
he said. " Was it not because the men who joined
them were not pure in heart and in thought ? To
you children it is given to set Jerusalem free !
God calls you ! He will most surely work miracles
for you all along your way. The waters of the
sea shall be dried up for you to pass over. The
Saracens will flee in terror before you. And you,
the pure in heart, shall see the City of God.
Lo ! it has been revealed to me that these things
shall be ! '
As Nicholas and his fellow -preachers went
through the streets, talking in this wild way, the
children everywhere left their games and their work
to listen. The boys thought of all the delightful
adventures by the way, the robbers and the pirates
and the wild beasts they were to overcome ; the
girls thought of the miracles that would be worked
for them, and of the strange new countries they
would see, where the sun always shone, and the
woods were full of wonderful new birds and flowers.
How much better it would be to join this great
adventure, than to stay at home, doing the same
dull work day after day, until they were old and
worn out ! In vain the fathers and mothers begged
and scolded, and threatened and punished ; some
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THE CRUSADES
even put their children in prison to keep them safe.
Somehow or other the children got away ; and fifty
thousand of them took the Cross, led by a boy of
fifteen, named Stephen. Waving branches and cry-
ing, " We go to Jerusalem to deliver the Holy
Sepulchre ! " these poor children started joyfully
upon their way. The German bands went to
Genoa, the French to Marseilles. "Lord Jesus,
give us back Thy Holy Cross," they sang as
they went.
After these helpless little Crusaders there crept
a dark stream of thieves, cut-throats, and bad
people of all sorts, who robbed and murdered them
without mercy. Many of the children died of the
hardships of the journey, the long hours of trudging
over rough ground, and wading through ice-cold
streams, the heat by day and the cold by night.
Many of them must have longed for the safe
shelter of homes and mothers, as they huddled
together, trembling and afraid, through the long
dark night.
About seven thousand of them, however, reached
Genoa. There the sight of the bright blue sea
restored their courage and their hope. Day after
day these poor, trustful children crowded down to
the shore, expecting every moment to see the
great waves of the Mediterranean roll slowly back-
ward, to leave a dry road for their feet. But no
miracle turned the course of the sea ; and the
202
THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE
rough sailors and shippers in the harbour mocked
the tears and disappointment of the Child Crusa-
ders. Finally, some kind-hearted Genoese nobles
took charge of a few children of good birth, to
bring up in their own households ; and more than
one Genoese family of to-day counts its descent
from these little Crusaders. The others sadly tried
to make their way home again. Very few of them,
if any, ever got back, and those were ragged, foot-
sore, and wretched children in spirit no longer.
Even sadder was the story of the French band.
They made their way to Marseilles with great
weariness and trouble, and they, too, expected that
the sea would dry up before their feet. It did not ;
but after some days of waiting and hoping, two
merchants who traded between France and the
East, with seven good ships of their own, spoke
to the children, and offered to take them to the
Holy Land. Their names were Hugh Ferreus and
William Porcus names which sound less well
turned into English as Iron Hugh and Pig William ;
but which were, without a doubt, quite good enough
for such men as they turned out to be.
" We will take you," said these soft-spoken
merchants, " not for money, but purely for the love
of the Holy Land and your own goodness ! '
" Oh, do you know our Lord's own Holy Land,
good masters ? ' cried the Child Crusaders. And
they made up their minds at once that this was
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THE CRUSADES
the way they were meant to go ; not dry-shod
through the sea, but in ships with these good men
as their guides. Perhaps the miracles were to be
worked only in the sight of the Saracens. With
great joy and thankfulness did they accept this
welcome and unlocked for offer. Carrying their
banners, and raising their cry, " Lord Jesus, give
us back Thy Holy Cross ! ' they crowded eagerly
into the seven ships which were rocking at anchor
in the Bay of Marseilles. Not many days after
they had put out to sea a bad storm blew up, and
two of the ships went down, and all on board
were drowned. The other Child Crusaders mourned
for the loss of their companions, who now would
never share with them the wonderful triumphs that
awaited them in their conquest of the Holy Land.
The two merchants mourned, too, but for very
different reasons. The remaining five ships, which
were really less happy in their safety from the sea,
arrived in good time at Alexandria, the great sea-
port of Egypt.
Once in anchor there, the thoughts of the two
merchants were made plain to the unhappy fright-
ened children ; for their trade was in stealing fair
strong children from Europe, that they might sell
them as slaves in Eastern markets. No tears, no
prayers, could help the Child Crusaders now ; those
cruel men were hard as iron. The Sultan of Cairo
bought forty of the strongest and best-grown boys
204
i
ST. Louis, KING OF FRANCE, CROSSES THE SEA TO
PALESTINE, AND is KEPT IN A SARACEN PRISON
From an early 14th-century window in
the Abbey of St. Denis, France.
THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE
to train up for service in his body-guard ; and of
these, twelve gallant little fellows refused to change
their faith, and so were killed at once. No voice
has ever reached us out of the darkness that hides
the fate of the rest of the Child Crusaders. We
only know that they passed through the horrors of
the slave markets of Egypt, into the awful misery
of life-long bondage.
205
CHAPTER XV
THE LAST CRUSADES
" Faith,
Unchanged by sufferings, time, or death ;
And Valour, lion-mettled lord,
Leaning upon his own good sword."
SCOTT.
WE are to think of the lovely land of Palestine as
a shore to which the full tide, pouring in at its
height, brought Crusades, both small and great, as
well as stray companies of men from time to time.
But now the tide was going out ; real Crusades were
very few, and the little companies of men were fewer
still. In a few years more the tide would be out
altogether, and then the Holy Land would be left
to help herself as best she could ; because men now
cared only for what they could get out of her, and
they seldom brought her anything, but came with
empty, greedy hands that would be filled, no matter
how. The people of Palestine were beginning to
understand at last that no one cared any longer
about Crusades, and all the trouble and hardships
of them. Though there were here and there priests
who preached them, and a few who were ready to
206
THE LAST CRUSADES
take the Cross, the Kingdoms of Europe were having
to fight hard each one for its own place and safety
among the nations, and every sword and every penny
was wanted for that.
In 1216 Andrew, King of Hungary, led a small
Crusade to the Holy Land, but he never reached
Jerusalem, and nothing came of it except a few
uncertain battles. Andrew himself left the Crusade
early on, in order to take back to Hungary some
ancient treasures he had got hold of; amongst these
was what he quite believed to be one of the twelve
waterpots of stone, in which the water was turned
into wine at Cana of Galilee. The rest of the army,
wandering into Egypt, suffered dreadfully from
hunger, and were fed by the kind-hearted Sultan
of that land, who was moved to tears by their pains,
and for three weeks sent them three thousand loaves
of bread every day.
Ten years later Frederick II of Germany led
a well-armed force to Palestine. At Acre the
Knights Hospitallers and the Templars joined him,
and received him as their King in right of his wife,
who was a daughter of the Prince who now bore
the empty title of King of Jerusalem. Frederick
made a treaty with the Saracens by which the
Christians were to have the Holy City itself, the
Saracens only keeping the Mosque, the old Temple
Church of the Knights Templars, for their house
of worship. But men were afraid either to follow
207
THE CRUSADES
Frederick openly, or to stand apart from him. He
had quarrelled with the Pope before leaving Europe,
and they knew that if they sided with Frederick,
the Pope would most likely excommunicate them
with him ; and if they went against Frederick too
boldly he was strong enough to punish them. So
between the two fears the Crusade of Frederick II
of Germany got no support ; and when he reached
the Holy City he met with a very cold welcome.
He went straight to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre ; it was empty. Frederick crowned him-
self in the sight of his own Knights and soldiers,
for no one else was there ; and there was no service
of any sort, no prayers said, no vows taken. How
Frederick and his following soldiers all must have
despised the silly fear of the Pope of far-off Rome,
that kept the priests and people of Jerusalem from
going to the crowning of the man who had actually
recovered Jerusalem for the Christians !
Not that Frederick cared for either one or the
other. He had come to Jerusalem to show the Pope
that he could do so, with or without his blessing. " I
promised I would come," he said, " and I am here.
But," he added, " I am not here to deliver the
Holy City, but to keep up my own name ! ' Per-
haps what gave him the most pleasure, was writing
from Jerusalem to tell the Pope that, " by a miracle,"
he had got back the City of Christ for the Christians.
It was really quite like a miracle to have recovered
208
THE LAST CRUSADES
Jerusalem, without having shed one drop of blood.
The Pope was extremely angry at the thought of
any miracle being worked for a man with whom
he had had a quarrel, but not all his angry words
could undo what Frederick had done.
Frederick left Jerusalem two days after he entered
it. His Crusade and his coming had brought no real
comfort to the Christians of Jerusalem. Though they
had been given back the City, they lived in daily
terror of being attacked by the Saracens, and they
spent most of their time in flying to the Tower
of David for safety. And sure enough, as soon
as the ten years' truce made by Frederick was over,
the Saracens from Kerak, beyond Jordan in the
Land of Moab, marched suddenly upon Jerusalem,
and took it from the Christians, who were far too
frightened to resist. The Saracens also levelled to
the ground the Tower of David, which had been
for so many years the chief fortress of the City.
A small Crusade followed on this bad news, led
by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, a son of King John,
and nephew of the Lion-Heart. When the Saracens
heard his name they thought that it was King
Richard himself, who had come back from the grave
to punish them, and they were filled with the wildest
fears. But they need not have troubled themselves
in the least, for Richard of Cornwall was a very
different man from his uncle. The Templars and
the Hospitallers both refused to help him in any
209 o
THE CRUSADES
way ; and Richard could only visit Jerusalem as a
pilgrim, see the holy places, and return to England,
having done nothing at all.
Worse days were in store for Jerusalem. A
fierce Turkish tribe, called the Kharezmians, swept
down upon the City, some twenty thousand of them ;
and at their approach all the Christians fled from
their houses, for they had heard of the cruel and
bloodthirsty ways of the invaders. They fled in
haste, taking what they could carry with them, but
thinking more of saving their lives than of their
possessions ; and the Kharezmians found only a few
old and sick people who could not escape, and whom
they murdered at once. They then set out to trick
the Christians into returning, by hoisting Christian
flags upon the walls.
The Christians, looking out from their hiding-
places all around the City, saw the flags, and believed
that some miracle had saved the City for them. " A
miracle ! Behold, a miracle ! Yea, the Lord hath
done great things for us already, whereof we re-
joice ! " They hastened back in joy, mothers carry-
ing their babies ; little children trotting joyfully
behind, happy in the thought of going home ; men
driving back the donkeys and mules, laden with the
few things they had been able to carry out with
them in their hasty flight. There was not a sign,
not a sound, from the City to make them afraid, as
they poured in through the gates, all rejoicing as
210
THE LAST CRUSADES
they made their way to their deserted homes. But
presently the great gates of the City swung-to
heavily ; no escape was possible this time. And at
nightfall the savage Kharezmians went from house
to house, and simply butchered the unfortunate
citizens whom they had tricked too well, all to
this end.
Every Christian was hateful to these wild people ;
and they even broke open the coffins of Godfrey
and the other Kings, and burnt the poor dead dust.
So great was the terror that these Kharezmians
brought with them wherever they went, that the
Christians and the Saracens joined together to turn
them out of the Holy Land ; but they were de-
feated in an awful battle near Jaffa, and thirty
thousand Christian and Saracen soldiers fell that
day. Of the Christians, only thirty-three Templars,
twenty Hospitallers, and five Knights of a German
Order, remained alive. Fortunately the Sultan of
Egypt sent a large army against them soon after,
and the Kharezmians were wiped out in ten bloody
fights. They disappeared from the Land, and from
history at the same time ; and it is quite certain that
the world has not missed them at all.
Out of all this darkness and unrest arose at last
the Ninth Crusade that of Louis IX, King of
France, and Saint (1248).
This good King had a very bad illness, of which
he so nearly died, that one of the two ladies who
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THE CRUSADES
were nursing him thought he really was dead ; but
the other one declared that he was not ; and while
they were arguing about it, the King suddenly came
out of his faint, and in a weak voice commanded
that the Cross should be brought to him, that he
might take it to show his gratitude to God for
having spared his life. This was done, and " when
the Queen, his mother, heard that he had recovered
his speech, she showed as much joy as could be ;
but when she was told by himself that he had taken
the Cross, she displayed as much grief as if she had
seen him dead." For she feared the long journey to
the Holy Land, with all its dangers and hardships ;
and she feared also for the safety of France, during
the many months that the King must be away.
But Louis, having taken the Cross, never rested
until he had got together a large army ; and they
all took ship at Marseilles in August 1248. There
were many of the bravest of the French Knights
and nobles who took the Cross with the King, and
amongst these was one whom he loved very much,
and who was really the greatest friend he had in the
world ; and this Knight, the Sieur de Joinville, has
written the story of the Crusade of St. Louis, which
is one of the nicest books that ever were written.
De Joinville tells us how they embarked, and how
" the door of the vessel was opened, and the horses
were led inside ; then they fastened the door and
closed it up tightly, because when the ship is at sea
212
THE LAST CRUSADES
the whole of the door is under water." Poor horses,
they must have suffered a good deal in their dark,
cramped stable, with the noise of the sea beating
against the ship just near their heads all the time,
and getting no light or air or exercise at all. But
in those days, when men were often so cruel and
hard to each other, 1 suppose they thought very
little of the sufferings of animals. "When the
horses were in, the captain of the ship called to his
men, ' Are you all ready ? ' and when he knew they
were, he called for the priests to come forward, and
' Chant in God's Name ! ' Then all together, led by
the priest, they sang the Hymn, 'Come, Holy Ghost,
our souls inspire ' : the master cried to his men, ' Set
sail in God's name ! ' And in a little time the wind
struck the sails, and carried them out of sight, so
that they saw nothing but sea and sky." There
were some among the Crusaders who did not much
enjoy the voyage, for de Joinville wrote, " When
you fall asleep at night you know not but that ere
the morning you may be at the bottom of the sea" ;
which is not a very happy thought to go to sleep
on. Evidently the good Knight, though he was so
gallant on shore, was not a very cheerful or willing
sailor.
Louis reached Egypt after many adventures, and
anchored before the city of Damietta. The Sultan
of Egypt had had word of the coming of this great
French Crusade, and his own forces were all drawn
213
THE CRUSADES
up on the sea-shore. "Fine troops to look at,"
wrote de Joinville, "for the Sultan's arms are of
gold, and the sun striking upon the gold made the
arms shine forth brilliantly. The noise they made
with their cymbals and Saracenic horns was frightful
to hear."
Louis took counsel with his Knights : should they
land and face this terrible enemy with the few troops
they had, or wait until the main army joined them ?
Many of the Knights were for waiting ; but in the
end Louis settled the question by saying that he
would land, because there was no good harbour near
Damietta where he could shelter while he waited,
and he was afraid of bad winds driving him further
along the coast, or right out to sea, and so he might
lose a good chance of battle.
On the day fixed, the French ships, or galleys as
they were called, put in closer to shore, and when
the word was given, the rowers bent to their oars,
and the galleys flew along. Each gallant Knight
and Baron was thirsting to be the first to land and
meet the foe, who were waiting for them on shore,
just as eager for the fight as the French were. De
Joinville was one of the first to land, and just after
his foot had touched shore, the Banner of St. Denis
was landed. A Saracen horseman, as soon as he
saw that, dashed into the midst of this landing-
party, expecting that his companions would follow
him, and they would capture the French flag at the
214
THE LAST CRUSADES
outset. But the rest shamefully held back, perhaps
they did not understand what he was doing, and
the gallant Saracen, fighting alone, was cut to pieces
by the long French swords in a moment.
When King Louis saw that the Banner of St.
Denis had been borne ashore, he flung himself over-
board, though the sea just there was so deep that
it came right up to his shoulders. Half swimming,
half wading, he pushed forward, " his shield round
his neck, his helmet on his head, and lance in hand,
until he came up with his people who were on shore."
As soon as he saw the Saracen lines he laid his lance
in rest, and would have rushed upon them, but his
Knights forcibly held him back.
Three times the Saracens had sent word to their
Sultan by carrier-pigeons that the French King had
landed with his host ; and they were troubled and
surprised at receiving no orders from him in reply.
But the Sultan was dying, and knew nothing of the
trouble of his soldiers ; and word reached the men
upon the shore that he was actually dead, and their
hearts failed them, and they drew off. Then King
Louis, whose way had been so marvellously cleared
before him, called all his army together, and they all
sang " with loud voices " and great joy the Te Deum.
After this, Louis led his men forward, and pitched
camp before the strong city of Damietta, which he
knew he must take before he went any further.
After hard fighting the city was taken ; but the
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THE CRUSADES
rising of the river Nile delayed him in Egypt for many
months. During this time of idleness the waiting Cru-
saders fell into all kinds of trouble and mischief, quar-
relling a great deal amongst themselves, both Knights
and men. At last the river went down, and the army
could leave Damietta, of which place they were all
thoroughly tired by now. Louis had made the city
very strong during the weeks of waiting, and now
he left his Queen and her ladies there, with a strong
force to guard them. He himself marched on
Cairo. The country round was full of canals, or
small waterways, by which the Egyptian peasants
watered their fields ; and the French, who did not
know the country, got mixed up among these canals
and were separated from each other. All the time,
wherever they went, they were followed by bands
of Egyptian Saracens, ready to catch and kill any
of them who happened to fall behind.
When Louis saw how the whole army was
delayed and troubled by these canals, he set his
men to build a bridge over the Nile, by which they
and the heavy waggons could cross quickly and
safely; but while they were working, his brother
found a shallow place which they could ford. The
Prince thought that this was a splendid chance to
win honour for himself; and without waiting for
the main army to come up, he hurried across the
river with about two thousand men, and attacked
the strong city beyond, called Mansourah. It was
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THE LAST CRUSADES
really well garrisoned, but the Saracens all hid when
they saw the French coming, and so the Crusaders
thought they had run away. They did not trouble
to look carefully first, but broke ranks, and spread
all over the city in search of plunder. Suddenly
the Saracens showed themselves on the roofs of
the houses, which in the East are made flat, and
covered over with stones like a terrace ; and with
yells and wild cries they hurled down great stones
upon the Crusaders, who were all crowded together
in the narrow winding streets below. At the same
time other Saracen soldiers rushed out of their
different hiding-places, and attacked them on all
sides. The Prince himself, and many of the chief
French Knights were killed, and all would have
perished if Louis had not arrived just in time to
save the day. As it was, the Crusaders had lost
many more brave men than they could spare ; and
while their defeat had left them heavy of heart
and disappointed, it had encouraged the Saracens
very much indeed.
The Crusaders held Mansourah ; but the Saracens
pressed them close on every side, and they suffered
very much from sickness and hunger. Louis himself
fell ill, and seemed about to die ; but from his sick-
bed he gave orders that the sick and wounded
should be taken to Damietta to be healed there.
As the ships, crowded with sick and helpless men,
were setting off, the Saracens made a sudden onset,
217
THE CRUSADES
seized the ships, dragged all the sick upon deck to
be killed, and threw them into the river, without
caring whether they were really dead or only very
badly hurt. At the same time, a second large
Saracen force attacked the Crusading camp on
shore, overcame the French army, and captured
the sick King himself.
The Saracens asked a very large ransom for
Louis, and threatened him with torture if it were
not paid in full. They also asked for one hundred
and fifty thousand livres as the ransom of the
whole army. Louis at once agreed to this ; at
which the Sultan of Egypt was much surprised,
and said, " By my faith, the Frenchman is generous
and liberal, not to bargain about so large a sum !
Go, tell him from me, that for my part I will
forgive him one hundred thousand livres of the
ransom."
As soon as Louis' own ransom was paid the
Templars giving a good part of it the French
King went to Acre in Palestine ; but his army
was too small by now to be much more than a
guard. Out of the two thousand eight hundred
Knights he had led so proudly from France, only
one hundred of those who were still alive said that
they would stay on with him, to share his good or
evil fortune ; and with those who returned home went
many of the soldiers as well. With the little force
that remained faithful to him, King Louis did all
218
in
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OS
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H
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t
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ASTO" .
TILDEN
THE LAST CRUSADES
that he could to repair and strengthen some of
the cities of Palestine. He also bought with his
own money, and set free, twelve hundred Christians,
whom the Saracens had made slaves. At last,
seeing that he could do no more, he returned to
France ; where he received a mighty welcome from
his people.
For sixteen years Louis remained in France ;
and during the whole of that time he wore the
Cross, and only longed for the day to come when
he would be free once more to lead a Crusade to
the Holy Land. At last the chance came to him.
His wise and good government had made France
so strong and peaceful, that he was able to leave
her with a quiet mind. Once more he turned his
face towards the East ; and with him went the
young Prince Edward of England, afterwards
Edward I, who was eager to use his sword in the
service of the Holy Sepulchre, and to win, if he
might, some such honour in Palestine as the great
King Richard had won there, a hundred years before.
The French and English armies set sail at
different times, having agreed to meet in Palestine.
On the way Louis landed at Carthage, a strong
city in Africa belonging to the Saracens, meaning
to take both it and the province of Carthage from
the Sultan of Egypt, who owned it. But here the
good King was struck down by the great heat,
(it was August, which is a burning month), and
219
THE CRUSADES
he lay sick unto death in his tent. Knowing that
death was very near, Louis asked his Knights to
lift him out of his bed, and lay him upon the
ground. His dying thoughts turned with sadness
and affection to Jerusalem, whose freedom he must
leave to other hands to win. " O God, I will
enter Thy House I will worship in Thy holy
place ! ' he said ; and repeating over and over
again the word "Jerusalem! Jerusalem!' King
Louis died (1470).
The English army that Edward brought to this
Crusade was a very small one. There were only
a thousand men all told, but the Templars and the
Hospitallers joined him in Palestine, and the spirit
of the warlike Prince was in them all. With him
came his young wife, Eleanor of Castile, whose
courage was equal to his own, though her strength
of body might not be.
This eager little army reached Palestine safely,
though not till after King Louis' death ; and so
swift and successful were the attacks of Edward
that the Saracens were filled with fear and anger.
It was a large army of Egyptian Saracens, under
their Sultan, Bibars, against which this gallant little
army set itself ; though the wise heads in the Prince's
train were sure that it was worse than useless to try
to stand before such a force. Edward laughed all
such unworthy fears and counsels to scorn, for he
knew what English soldiers could do. " If all other
220
THE LAST CRUSADES
Christians go away, yet will I and Fowyn, my
groom, remain ! " he said. And he drove Bibars out
of Acre, and then beat him soundly in a hard-fought
battle at Nazareth. Bibars, who had never been
defeated so often or so badly in all his years of
warfare, fell back in a very black temper before
the Prince ; and really it was a little hard upon
him, for he was in the habit of conquering in most
places, and he liked to carve his name and his
many great titles upon the different castles he
captured from the Christians, adding after his name
the proud words, " Father of victory and Pillar of
the faith."
Bibars, being obliged to give way before this
small but terrible army from a little Island over
the sea, fell into a great rage, and suggested to
the Old Man of the Mountains of that day, that
it would be a very good thing to get Edward
out of the way. The Old Man thought so, too,
and accordingly he sent one of his Assassins to
murder him. The Assassin persuaded Edward's
Knights to let him into the Prince's tent, by pre-
tending that he wished to become a Christian, and
had many questions to ask Edward about his faith ;
and then, while they were talking, he suddenly
sprang upon Edward like a tiger, and aimed a
dagger at his side. Edward quickly bent to one
side, so that the dagger struck him on the arm
instead, and snatching up a small wooden stool
221
THE CRUSADES
from the floor he knocked the Assassin down.
His servants heard the noise of the scuffle, and
came rushing in to his help, and a Knight named
Latimer killed the Assassin before he could rise
from the ground. But then the wound in the
Prince's arm turned black, and everyone was afraid
that the dagger had been poisoned ; and the Master
of the Templars and all the doctors shook their
heads, and said that the flesh must be cut out all
round, or the Prince would surely die.
Eleanor cried out at this, thinking of the pain he
would have to bear ; for the doctors in those days
were not proper doctors at all, but often just rough,
strong-handed men, called barber-surgeons, who, most
likely, killed many more people by their ignorance
than they cured by their skill or by luck. After
every battle the barber-surgeons went amongst the
wounded to look to their hurts, and they would
cut this one, and probe that one, until the air was
full of the screams of the unfortunate soldiers.
Probably they suffered far more under the doctors'
hands than in the battle itself. So it was little
wonder that Eleanor begged them not to cut
the wounded Prince. But Edward's brother, Ed-
mund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, said bluntly,
" Madame, it is better that you should cry than
that all England should weep ! " And Edward
thrust out his arm. "Cut, and spare not," he
said ; " I can bear it." Turning to his favourite
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THE LAST CRUSADES
Knight, Sir John de Vesci, he added, "Take the
Princess away, for it is not lit for her to see." So
the Knight carried poor Eleanor out of the tent,
she struggling and crying all the time. The doctors
cut away with all their might and skill, and Eleanor
nursed the Prince back to health when they had
done with him.
Sickness and fighting had thinned the ranks of
the little English Crusade so much that Edward
had to give up all thoughts of marching on Jeru-
salem, though it was very bitter to the proud spirits
of himself and his men to turn back from the great
thing they had set out to do. It was just at this
time, moreover, that he heard of the death of his
father, Henry III, which made it necessary that
he should return to England, and quickly. For
things were going badly at home. King Henry
had let slide a great deal that should have been
taken up, and England needed the strong hand of
Edward I to guide her.
223
CHAPTER XVI
THE LOSS OF ACRE
"The earth quakes and trembles because the King of Heaven
hath lost His Land whereon His Feet once stood."
ST. BERNARD.
IN spite of the constant fighting that had been going
on in Palestine for so many years, the Christians
there had increased in number, and there were now
many more than there had been in the days of the
earlier Crusades. As long as Saladin was alive there
was safety and protection for men of all creeds,
as a general rule; but after his death, in 1193, life
became very much harder for the Christians. They
had few rights, and those few were not always
respected by the Saracen rulers, who, on their part,
distrusted the Christians ; for they knew that they
were always longing for the old Christian Kingdom
to be set up again, and that they would do any-
thing they could to get help from Europe to bring
about that end. To Christian eyes the state of
Palestine seemed very sad indeed. There is a letter
from an English Knight Hospitaller, Sir Joseph de
Cancy, or de Chancy, to Edward I, written in
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THE LOSS OF ACRE
May 1281, which tells us how things were at that
date.
" Never in our remembrance," he wrote, " was
the Holy Land in such poor estate as it is at this
day, wasted by lack of rain, by divers (different)
pestilences, and the paynim (he means the Saracens).
. . . And now, Sire, the Holy Land was never so
easy of conquest as now, with able generals and
store of food ; yet never have we seen so few soldiers
or so little good counsel in it : ... And would to
God, Sire, that this might be done by yourself. And
this is the belief of all dwellers in the Holy Land,
both great and small, that by you with the help
of God, shall the Holy Land be conquered and
brought into the hands of Holy Christendom."
No doubt he hoped that King Edward would
lead out a powerful Crusade, and do what he had
been unable to do in the earlier days when he had
joined St. Louis. But Edward I could not leave
England now that he was King, and in his answer
to Sir Joseph he told him so.
A few cities and castles still belonged to the
Christians, and they were in the hands of either
the Knights Hospitallers or the Knights Templars.
Let us look at one or two of them, and get some
idea of how these old Crusaders built in Palestine to
guard their position there.
The stronghold called Pilgrim Castle, (which is
now known as Athlit), was built by the Templars
225 p
THE CRUSADES
in 1192, and a great part of it remains to-day; and
though in many places it has fallen into ruin, there
is still enough of it left standing to give shelter
to the peasants in that district, who live in the great
Banquetting-hall of the Knights. It was the most
strongly fortified of all the places ever held by
the Christians. " It stands in the deep sea, and
is fenced with walls, outworks, and such strong
barbicans and towers, that the whole world ought
not to be able to take it." So wrote a monk, who
saw it just eleven years before the Saracens took
it. It had two great towers, each a hundred feet
high ; it could take a garrison of four thousand men ;
and the two walls were forty feet and fifteen feet
in depth. Pilgrim Castle to-day is one of the
finest Crusading ruins left in the Land. It stands
partly on a small plain which is rather higher than
the country all round it, and partly on rocks pushing
out into the sea, so that from the great watch-tower
the Templars could see out over both land and sea,
for many miles on all sides, as well as across to
the Bay of Acre and the Hospitallers' city of St. Jean
d'Acre. The castle plain was entered by two narrow
gateways cut out of the rock, which were so narrow
that only one man could pass through at a time,
leading his horse. Unfortunately these passages
were made broader a few years ago, to let a royal
visitor's carriage and three horses abreast go through ;
226
THE LOSS OF ACRE
and every one who sees the place now wishes that
the Turkish Government had not been quite so
polite, but had let their visitor walk through like
other people. But at least you can still see on one
side the hollow place cut out of the stone, where
the sentry found shelter from the sun and from the
rain, while he stood on guard.
The city of Acre belonged for some time to the
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, to whose Order
it was given by our King Richard, and so it is
nearly always called St. Jean d'Acre in old books
of history or travel. It was the chief of the cities
remaining in Christian hands, and its position on
the sea, holding the Bay of Acre, made it the
strongest of the Christian possessions, as it was at
one time the richest, too. The city was three-
cornered in shape like a shield ; two sides faced
the sea, and the third overlooked the plain. There
were many castles and citadels in it belonging to
the Templars and the Hospitallers, and the walls
were so broad that two carts could easily pass each
other driving along on the top. The Crusaders always
built these great, deep walls, and the city of Tyre
when they held it had three such walls, each one
being a great height and twenty-five feet thick ; and
there were twelve strong towers as well. There
was a good harbour at Acre, which the Knights
guarded with very great care ; and the plain on the
227
THE CRUSADES
land side was very rich, and was carefully ploughed
and planted so as to give food to the great city. It
seemed as if such a strong city as Acre was, guarded
by such famous Knights as the Templars and Hospi-
tallers, could never be taken by any enemy.
But in 1291 the Sultan of Egypt led a mighty
Saracen army against Acre, which he had quite
made up his mind to take, and so to put an end
for ever to the Christian power in Palestine. The
other castles and strong places had fallen before
him, one after the other ; but both Saracens and
Christians knew that the fate of Acre would be the
fate of the Christian hold on Palestine.
The Saracens had brought with them huge
siege-engines, made of cedar of Lebanon and of
oak from Nazareth. From these they showered
great rocks and logs into the city without stopping.
The Templars twice advised that terms should be
made with the Saracens, but the rest of the garrison
cried out " Treason ! treason ! ' at the very idea,
and refused to listen. At last on May 4, 1291,
which was the twenty-ninth day of the siege, a
great body of Saracens was seen advancing to the
attack ; all were well armed, and carried big golden
shields which caught the light of the bright May sun-
shine, and threw it back into the eyes of the anxious
watchers on the city walls. All that day and the
night that followed, the attack and defence were
228
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'
THE LOSS OF ACRE
carried on furiously ; and the Templars and the
Hospitallers fought like giants and heroes upon
their crumbling walls. At last the Saracens drew
off for a time. Many lesser attacks followed during
the next two weeks, and on the 18th of May the
Christians sallied forth and attacked the Saracens ;
but they were driven back, and the Grand Masters
of the Hospitallers and of the Templars were
wounded. There were now only about a thousand
Christian soldiers left in Acre; and the Templars
took refuge in their great tower overlooking the
sea. A violent storm of hail and rain suddenly
broke over the city, as sometimes happens in
Palestine, and during this the Saracens cut their
way into the city. The Christians fought bravely
from street to street, but they were driven back
inch by inch. The Master of the Templars was
killed at his post at one of the gates ; the city was
plundered from end to end ; and many Christians
were burnt alive in the Churches to which they
had fled for safety.
Many of the ladies of Acre fled down to the
seashore then, and offered their jewels to the
boatmen ; choosing rather to face the perils of the
stormy Bay in little boats, than the Saracen victors
who were beginning to pour into the city, excited,
and thirsting for blood and treasure. While the
storm howled and shrieked all round, and the cries
229
THE CRUSADES
of death and of victory filled the streets, these
frightened women, whose dainty feet had never
touched rough places before, stood in the driving
rain by the shore, on which the waves beat so
furiously, and tried to bribe the boatmen with all
their rich and shining store of jewels chains of
gold, and pearls, and rubies ; these rough seamen
might have all, if only they would take them away
at once from the city of terror. The sea was
tossing violently, and the boatmen were not willing
to venture out upon it in their little boats, unless
they were very well paid for it ; and in the fears
of these high-born women was a splendid chance
for them to make hand over hand. While the
ladies begged and pleaded, and the boatmen
bargained and argued, one small ship actually went
down before their eyes, and all on board were
drowned. The sight of these poor people struggling
and crying out in the water only made the boatmen
less willing to put out to sea themselves ; though
death in the storm-tossed Bay seemed to the Chris-
tian ladies of Acre better than waiting on in the
lost city behind them.
The Saracens were still pouring in over the
ruined walls, killing everyone who crossed their
path without mercy, and sixty thousand Christians
of all ages were either killed, or sold into slavery.
Blood ran like water, and the screams of the dying
230
THE LOSS OF ACRE
who were trampled under foot, and of hunted
women and children as they fled in terror from
their pursuers, were mixed with the loud shouts
of the triumphant Saracens.
A number of the besieged Christians, and some
Knights and ladies among them, had fled to the
Templars' Tower for safety. Soon this was left
like a rock in the midst of the sea ; for the Saracens
held the harbour and the city, a good part of
which had been in flames. For a few days that
lonely gallant Tower held out, but the Saracens
were hard at work undermining it ; and at last it
fell with a terrific crash, shaking the ground like
an earthquake, and every one who was in it lady,
and Knight, and Templar was crushed to death
in that tremendous fall.
It had been a terrible siege, lasting forty-three
days ; but the last Christian city of Palestine had
made a splendid defence, worthy of the best days
of the Kingdom. "After its loss all Christian
women, poor and rich, who dwell on the shores
of the Mediterranean, dress in black as mourning
for Acre to this day." This is what a German
pilgrim wrote, who visited the Holy Land in 1350,
nearly sixty years after the siege.
The fall of Acre ended every hope of the
Christians again holding the Land in rule. What
was the use of Crusades when the whole Land
23 1
THE CRUSADES
would have to be reconquered from end to end ;
when the strong castles built by Christian hands
would be turned to use against them by the
Saracens ? Europe, which had not cared to help
while yet there was time, had now for ever lost
the chance.
232
THE RUINS OF THE GREAT CASTLE OF RHODES
\_Photo: Underwood.
OR, LENOX
TILDEN FOUNDAT
CHAPTER XVII
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
" Glory, glory, glory,
To those who have greatly suffered and done !
Never name in story
Was greater than that which ye shall have won."
SHELLEY.
ONLY seven of the Knights Hospitallers remained
alive after the fall of Acre, and these managed to
escape to Cyprus. Here their Grand Master, who
was one of the seven, joined them; and, after a
time, he called them together to talk over with
him the sad state of their Great Order, and how
they could restore its lost fortunes.
" My dear Brethren," he said, " Jerusalem is
fallen, as you know, under the tyranny of the
Saracens. A mighty power has forced us Little
by little out of the Holy Land. For more than
an age past we have been obliged to fight as many
battles as we have defended places. St. Jean d'Acre
is the latest witness of our efforts, and almost all our
Knights lie buried in the ruins of that once great
and proud city. Brethren, it is for you to fill the
places of those who have been thus lost to our
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THE CRUSADES
Order ! It is the valour of you all that must bring
about our return to the Holy Land. You hold in
your hands the lives, not only of our Order, but
of the vast number of fellow-Christians who groan
in slavery under the Saracens."
One by one the Knights made answer solemnly
that they were all ready to give their lives for
the Holy Land, and that they only longed to meet
their ancient foe once more in the open field, and
to restore the Order to the proud position it had
always held.
With this end ever in view, the Knights of St.
John settled at Limasol, the town that Richard
had taken a hundred years before, and where he
had been married to Berengaria. They refortified
it; and as the Order began to grow in strength
and in numbers, they built Churches and hospitals
in other places on the Island. In time, too, the
Order built a good-sized fleet, which sailed about
in the waters between Palestine and Europe, and
worked hard and well in keeping down the pirates
of Egypt and Barbary, and rescuing many Christians
whom they were carrying off into slavery. Only
once did the Knights of St. John have a chance
of entering the Holy Land again, and you may
be sure they caught at it eagerly. A Tartar Prince
who was leading an army against the Saracens asked
for Christian help in his attempt, and the Knights
were only too glad to answer the call, for they
234
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
hoped that it would lead to their returning once
more to Jerusalem, and living in the old House
of the Order. But the Tartar expedition came to
nothing in the end, and the Knights were dis-
appointed of their hope.
When the Order had been in Cyprus for a little
longer than a hundred years, the King of Cyprus
of that time became so dreadfully jealous of its
power that it became necessary for the Knights to
leave the Island. They therefore took ship and
sailed to the Island of Rhodes, which they stormed
very valiantly, and so gained possession of it, to-
gether with the small islands lying near it. This
was in the year 1310. The Knights built beautiful
Houses here, as they had done in Cyprus ; and
planted and sowed, and made the Islands all much
richer and more prosperous than they had ever
been before. They were now often spoken of as
the Knights of Rhodes, and their name was as great
as it had been when they were the Knights of St.
John of Jerusalem. Besides improving their new
property, guarding the seas, helping pilgrims, and
caring for the sick, the Knights had often to be
at war ; for while they held Rhodes they made it
into a sort of gate of defence to Europe, and time
after time they had to beat off the fierce attacks
of Saracen armies, both Turkish and Egyptian.
But, try as they might, none of these could ever
pass the Knights of Rhodes. It was while they
235
THE CRUSADES
were at Rhodes that the Order was divided into
separate branches, called Langues, each nation
having its own Langue, with its special officers
and duties. These Langues are still kept up in
Europe ; England, Germany, and Austria each have
one ; and though they are so different in race and
language, the members of these Langues count
themselves Brethren all of the one great Order.
Less than a hundred years after the Knights
had settled at Rhodes, the Order was almost wiped
out of existence again by the Turkish Sultan Ba-
jazet, who led a very great army against the Chris-
tians, and defeated them in several battles. In one
battle the whole Christian army was either cut up
or put to flight, and only the Knights of St. John
and a few others made a stand ; but the numbers
of the Turks flowed over them like waves, and
those who did not fall at once upon the field were
killed the next day, to the number of at least ten
thousand, by the victors. The Turks swept forward
on their victorious way, took Athens, and besieged
Constantinople. In his trouble the Greek Emperor
of Constantinople was foolish enough to call in
the help of a fierce Tartar chief called Tamerlane.
Tamerlane will always be remembered as one
of the most bloodthirsty savages the world has
ever seen. He had a favourite saying which shows
what kind of man he was : " A King is never
safe if the foot of his throne does not swim in
236
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
blood ! ' and he lived up to this entirely ; for he
was really not worthy to be called a soldier, but
only a butcher. No one seemed able to stand
against him. He invaded Russia and India, Syria,
Armenia, and Asia Minor, not only because he
cared for the riches of victory, but simply for the
sheer love of killing, and of shedding blood ; and
wherever he passed he left his mark a pyramid
of human heads. When the Greek Emperor asked
him to help, Tamerlane was quite delighted at the
thought of fighting in new lands. He hurried to
Constantinople, with eight hundred thousand men
as savage and bloodthirsty as himself, sacking
Aleppo and Bagdad on his way, and leaving his
well-known mark upon Bagdad in the shape of a
pyramid of ninety thousand heads set up amongst
the smoking ruins of the destroyed city. Tamerlane
and Bajazet met in a tremendous battle, in the
midst of which some Tartar soldiers in Bajazet's
army deserted to Tamerlane, and gave up the
Sultan himself to his foe.
Having settled matters with Bajazet, Tamerlane
began to look around with greedy eyes for fresh fields
of victory and blood ; and he attacked Smyrna, which
was defended by the Knights Hospitallers. No de-
fence, however brave, was of any use against such
a monster as Tamerlane ; the city fell, and Tamer-
lane put everyone he found in it still alive to a cruel
death, whether they were already wounded or not,
237
THE CRUSADES
and passed on, leaving the usual pyramid of heads
to mark his triumph.
The Knights Hospitallers had learnt an awful
lesson from Tamerlane, and they doubled their de-
fences at Rhodes, making three lines of fortifica-
tions and thirteen large towers, with a deep moat
all round. They also built a new castle about this
time, which they called St. Peter's of the Freed ; it
was for the special use of all the Christian prisoners
and slaves whom their ships were able to rescue
from the Saracens. The Knights also trained their
dogs to search for escaped Christian slaves, just as
St. Bernard's are now trained to find travellers who
are lost in the snow.
The Knights' fleet was always at work, chasing
Turkish vessels in search of Christian slaves on
board, and even boldly running into Turkish and
other Saracen harbours to snatch these wretched
people out of the very hands of their owners. In
fact the Knights worried the Saracens so much in
this way that the Sultan of Egypt tried to come to
some agreement with them, by which they should
let his ships alone. But the Knights knew how
strong they were, and their terms were very hard
ones. They were to be allowed to build a wall
round the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; six
Knights were to live in Jerusalem to look after the
pilgrims, and that without paying taxes of any sort ;
all the holy places were to be open to the pilgrims ;
238
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
and the Order was to be allowed to free all Christian
slaves by simply paying the price given for them,
or by giving a Moslem prisoner in exchange. The
Knights also said that one Knight Hospitaller must
be allowed to live in each of those towns in Palestine
which were most often visited by the pilgrims, so
that they could look after them as they passed
through. No doubt the Saracens did not like these
terms at all, for not very long afterwards the Sultan
made a sudden attack on Cyprus, and the Knights
at once hastened to help the Christians there. The
Cypriots were defeated, however, and the Knights
lost very heavily in numbers. After this, the Sultan
of Egypt attacked Rhodes itself, out of revenge for
the help that the Knights had given to Cyprus ; but
though he did a great deal of harm in a siege that
lasted forty days, the Egyptian forces had to draw
off at last.
In time there arose a great Turkish Sultan,
Mahommed II, called the Conqueror. He swore
that he would never rest until he had taken Rhodes
from the Knights, and he prepared a vast army for
its capture. He had a great number of cannon,
which were then new in warfare, and which had
been cast at Adrianople, (which was then the capital
of the Turkish Empire), by a Bulgarian master-
gunner. This man had offered his services first to
the Emperor of Constantinople, who was so foolish
as to refuse to have anything to do with the cannon,
239
THE CRUSADES
partly because they were new, and partly because
he was too miserly to pay the price asked for them ;
so the Bulgarian offered his work to the Sultan of
Turkey. The warlike Mahommed was wise enough
to see how well these might serve him, and all the
more because the invention was new, and so his
enemy would have no cannon to meet his own.
He gave the Bulgarian whatever he asked for in
the way of money and workmen ; and with the help
of these cannon, which were taken with great diffi-
culty over the rough ways from Adrianople to
Constantinople, he captured the City of the Em-
perors from the Greeks. After this great conquest
there was nothing left to keep him out of Europe,
except little Rhodes and the fearless men who
held her.
The Knights worked hard day and night pre-
paring for the siege ; they broke down Churches
and hospitals and houses, so that the Turks might
have nowhere to take cover if they landed; they
even destroyed the crops and fruit-trees, so that
there might be nothing for them to eat. All the
inhabitants of Rhodes took part in the work ; even
the nuns came out of their convents to work with
their hands at the fortifications.
When at last the Turkish fleet of one hundred
and sixty ships, and a hundred thousand men, ap-
peared before Rhodes and it was a gallant sight
to see from the shore the Knights were ready for
240
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
them. The Turks were led by a Greek, who had
given up his faith and his country for the sake of
the riches and power he got in the service of
Mahommed the Conqueror ; and the chief engineer
was a German, who nearly succeeded in tricking
the Knights to their fall. For he went to them
o
secretly, and pretended that he had escaped from
the Turkish army, and that he was a Christian, and
only wanted to help his fellow-Christians against their
enemies and his. Some of the Knights believed
his story, and they all treated him kindly, until
some of the older Knights, watching him carefully,
found out that he was trying to send news to the
Turks of the strength and the defences of Rhodes,
and of the plans of the Knights. So he was seized
at once, and rightly paid for his meanness and
treachery with his life.
Time after time the Turks fiercely attacked the
Island, and time after time the little army of the
Knights beat them back. The Grand Master,
Sir Peter d'Aubusson, was seen everywhere, leading,
encouraging, and directing his men : they said in
Rhodes that he never slept nor took off his armour,
for though he would be the last to leave his post
at night, the first rays of the rising sun would find him
back again, all ready for the dangers of the day.
The Turks almost gave up the attempt as useless.
When they built a floating bridge from which to
attack one of the forts, an English sailor called
241 Q
THE CRUSADES
Rogers swam boldly out and cut the ropes, so that
it floated away in the wrong direction and was lost.
At last, after three months' furious fighting, the
Turks did give it up as hopeless, and sailed away.
They had lost twenty-four thousand men in killed
and wounded, and they had gained nothing. The
people of Rhodes watched the sails of the Turkish
ships disappearing over the horizon, and could hardly
believe that the terrors of the siege were really
over (1480).
Now, at last, the Knights could put off their
battered and blood-stained armour, and crowd into
the Churches to offer up their thanks and praise for
this great deliverance.
Rhodes was saved for this time. But forty years
later, after the death of the great Peter d'Aubusson,
"the darling and delight of his Knights, the sword
and buckler of Christendom," and another furious
and determined siege gave the Island into the hands
of the Turks. This was in the year 1523. "Nothing
in the world has been so well lost as Rhodes ! "
said the Emperor Charles V of Spain, when he
heard of its fall. The Knights, who had held
Rhodes for two hundred and twenty years, were
homeless and broken once more. Less than five
thousand in number, they gathered in Crete ; and
by and bye, to show the honour he felt for their
brave defence, Charles V gave them the Island of
Malta.
242
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
The record of the Knights of Malta (as they
were now called) was just as splendid as it had
been in the Holy Land, in Cyprus, and in Rhodes.
They enriched the Island with many beautiful build-
ings, as well as in its better crops and fruits. But
the chief glory of the years the Knights spent
in Malta is its siege by the Turks in 1565, which
lasted for four months, and is one of the most
famous sieges there have ever been ; and the Grand
Master, La Valette, who directed the defence, will
never be forgotten. This is the story of the siege.
A great Turkish army was sent against the
Island by the Sultan Sulieman the Magnificent :
it was he who built the beautiful walls of Jerusalem
that close her in to this day. The Turkish force con-
sisted of a hundred and sixty ships and more than
thirty thousand trained soldiers, with many great guns
which did much harm to the forts of Malta. The
Knights fastened a great chain right across the mouth
of the harbour, so that the Turkish vessels could not
get close in to the shore ; but even so the attacks they
made upon the Island were fierce, and never seemed
to stop, whether by day or by night. Then the Turks
managed to capture one of the chief forts, that of St.
Elmo, and this was a terrible blow to the Knights,
though they made a most splendid defence. The
Knights who were holding this Fort had received the
Holy Communion the night before, and by dawn
they were all at their posts upon the half-ruined walls,
243
THE CRUSADES
ready to a man to die there, but never to give in.
For four hours the Turks rushed up against them
in never-failing numbers ; for though they, too, had
lost heavily there were still so many of them that
there were always fresh men to take the place of
those who fell. But there were only sixty Knights
left to hold the Fort, and they were all of them
wounded and exhausted. Almost all of these sixty
Knights fell in the last attack made by the Turks,
but a few who were found alive were held to
ransom ; others were crucified, or hung up by the
feet till they died in slow torture. Down came
the Cross of St. John, and the crescent flag ran
up in its place, amid the excited shouts of the
victors. This sight was worse than death to La
Valette, the Grand Master, and the Knights, as they
looked on from the other forts, not daring to leave
their own place to help their comrades. Even after
St. Elmo had fallen, the Knights who were left
in the other forts held out, and at last they beat
off what remained of the great Turkish army. The
Turks had lost heavily, for they were fearless fighters
then as they are now, and they did not spare them-
selves any more than they regarded the lives of those
whom they fought against.
And if that great army had suffered, what of
the Knights ? Malta lay in ruins, and nearly all
the Knights were dead, but still they had kept it for
the Cross. If they had not held it with such glorious
244
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
pluck, the story of Malta would have been what
the story of Rhodes has been, since it was torn
from the hands of the Knights of St. John. The
capital of Malta is named Valetta after the brave
Grand Master who saved the Island ; and to this
day the place is full of memories and traces of the
great Order. In the Church of St. John are buried
many of the Grand Masters and Knights ; their
coats-of-arms are carved over the doorways of old
houses still in use ; the skulls and bones of soldiers
who fell in the Great Siege are still to be seen,
stored up in a chapel ; and in the Governor's Palace
are treasured the arms and armour with which they
did such good service, and the coats-of-arms of the
Grand Masters almost from the beginning.
The Order of St. John remained on in Malta,
building itself up after the siege. It was often at
war with the Turks, who attacked the Island
again and again ; or with the pirates of the Medi-
terranean for the mastery of the sea. On this
hung not only the safety of the Knights and their
Island, but of Europe itself.
In 1792 the French Republic seized all the
property of the Langue in France, and even be-
headed many of the Knights, who the Republicans
said were aristocrats ; and six years later the great
Napoleon himself went to Malta to put down the
Order there. The Maltese sided with the French,
and Napoleon took over the Island as part of the
245
THE CRUSADES
French dominions, and gave the Knights three
days in which to leave the place they had held so
gallantly for nearly three hundred years. Napoleon
then sailed back to France, taking with him every-
thing in the way of treasures, jewels, relics, and
historical records of the Order that he could lay
hands upon, from the different Churches and Houses.
Not very many things were saved from him that
were of value, but the Knights had been able to
paint over the beautiful silver gates in the Cathedral
before he came, so that Napoleon did not guess
what they w r ere made of, and left them alone,
thinking that they were of no real value. The
gates are in their place to this day. But Napoleon
had broken the power of the great Order of St.
John of Jerusalem for ever. It was never again
a Sovereign, or ruling, Order ; and three months
after Napoleon had spoiled it of its treasures,
Nelson besieged and captured Malta, which has
ever since belonged to the English Crown.
The Order has changed, of course, in many
ways to suit the changes of the passing years, but
it still lives, and is strong for good. A French
writer has said of the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem, that " Of all the Orders which took
birth during the Wars of the Holy Land, it is the
only one which has been true to the spirit of its
first foundation, and has continued ever since to
defend religion."
246
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
In Jerusalem, at the present day, the English,
German, and Austrian Langues are all at work.
The English Langue has a wonderful Hospital for
eye-diseases ; and in the English Cathedral of St.
George the Martyr there is a Chapel of the Order.
The Germans have a Church and Hospice ; and
the Austrians a Hospital, working in the name of
their Langues. In this way the double motto of
the ancient Order is remembered and lived up to
by all three :
" Pro Fide, pro utilitate Hominum,"
which means that its aim was the defence of the
faith and the service of men. The Order has now
gone back to the use of its old name, and its
Members are no longer called the Knights of
Rhodes or the Knights of Malta, but the Knights
of St. John of Jerusalem.
The Order of St. John of Jerusalem is a link
between our times and those wonderful days when
the Knights Hospitallers gathered in their shining
armour under the Standard of the Cross.
THE TEMPLARS
The Knights of the Temple suffered as heavily
in the siege of Acre as did the brother- Order of
St. John ; and after it was over the very few who
were left escaped to Cyprus, which was their nearest
247
THE CRUSADES
place of refuge. There they elected a new Grand
Master in the place of one who had been killed in
the siege. But when Palestine fell under the
power of the Saracens once more, the whole purpose
of the Order was gone, for now they were no
longer wanted to defend the Temple or the Holy
Land. The Temple was now the Mosque of the
Saracens. The Holy Land was no longer in
Christian hands ; and the Templars are not strong
enough even to try for its recovery alone. Nor
were the people of Europe at all likely to help
them. If the Order had broken up there and then,
after the siege of Acre, its history would have closed
in glory, as it had begun. But the Knights of
the Temple were no longer the Poor Knights of
Christ ; they had about nine thousand Houses, rich
and splendid buildings, scattered all through Europe ;
they were enormously rich ; their Grand Masters
were the friends and the tutors of Princes ; and the
pride of a Templar was fast becoming a common
proverb amongst the people. One Grand Master
of the Temple brought to Paris in his train one
hundred and fifty thousand gold florins, and ten
horseloads of silver. Few people would dare to
meddle lightly with an Order that was so powerful
and so rich, while the Knights themselves were
quite strong enough to interfere as much as they
wanted to in the affairs of other people. And they
did interfere, too far too much ; so that in every
248
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
land men were beginning to hate the name and
sight of the Templars almost as much as they feared
them. The famous Temple in Paris was, of course,
one of the Houses of the Order. It was used during
the French Revolution as the prison of the little
Dauphin, the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoin-
ette. Later on it was destroyed by the people of
Paris in one of their excited risings ; and it was really
just as well, for the memory of the cruel imprison-
ment of the little Dauphin, and of all his sufferings
there, would have blackened its walls for ever.
In 1307 that is, only sixteen years after the
fall of Acre Philip IV, the Fair, of France, who
was badly in need of money at the time, cast his
eyes upon the Order. He saw its richness, its great
Houses, its strength, and he coveted all three. But
the Order of the Temple had always been under
the special care of the Popes, and the man who
would touch it must be very careful indeed. So
Philip, knowing this, was wise enough first to make
good his plans with the Pope, who had been born
a French subject, and whom Philip himself had
helped to become Pope. King and Pope agreed
upon the horrid plot ; and one night the Grand
Master and sixty of the brethren were suddenly
arrested. They were accused of the most terrible
sins ; of worshipping a hideous idol called Baphomet,
which was made of skin, and had terrible glowing
eyes of carbuncle ; of being in league with devils ;
249
THE CRUSADES
and of roasting little children, and then smearing the
fat upon their idols as a sacrifice to them. Some
of the charges brought against the Templars seem
to us now almost too silly to be believed by grown
men and women, but in those days people were very
ignorant, and they were easily made to believe what
their priests and leaders told them.
Soon all Europe was howling out against the Order,
and demanding that every Templar should be put to
death. One hundred and thirty-eight Templars were
examined and tortured ; and under tortures so horrible
that we can hardly bear to read about them even
now, when so many centuries have passed, some of
the Knights confessed to having done some of the
wicked things of which they were accused. This
was all that their enemies wanted. Later on, fifty-
four of the Templars took back their words, and
said how very sorry and ashamed they were at
having uttered such words, even under torture ; but
this did not save them. Altogether, one hundred
and thirteen Templars were burnt in Paris. A good
deal of the property of the Order was given to the
Hospitallers, so that it might not be said that Philip
was a thief as well as a murderer. In Spain, Portu-
gal, and Germany the Templars were also cruelly
tortured, and their houses and riches were seized;
but the Knights themselves were not put to death.
The last of the Templars who suffered death
in Paris was the Grand Master, who had already
250
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
suffered so much in the torture of his Brethren of the
Order. He was condemned to be burnt to death
at a slow fire, so that he might have just as much
pain to bear as it was possible to give him ; and
this cruel sentence was carried out in Paris, which
had already seen so many dreadful things done to
the Templars within her walls. A large crowd
gathered to see him die. But before he died, the
Grand Master solemnly declared that he and all
his Order were perfectly innocent of the horrible
charges upon which they had been done to death ;
and he said that the King of France and the Pope
would very soon follow him into the other world,
to answer before the Throne of God for their wicked
and unjust dealings with the Order. Men remem-
bered his dying words when it came to pass that
both King Philip and the Pope died, quite suddenly
and unexpectedly, within a very short time.
Having done all his own Templars to death in
this horrible way, Philip then wrote to King
Edward II of England, urging him to put down
the Templars there ; but for some time Edward
refused to do anything against them. The Templars
were very strong in England, and they had a good
deal of property in different parts. Some of the
Houses of the Order we can still find traces of in
the names of the places where they were, such as
Temple Hurst, Templecombe, Temple Rothley,
Temple Newsom, and so on ; and of course the
251
THE CRUSADES
great Temple Church in London. Edward wrote
many letters, saying that the Templars in England
were good and upright men, who were honoured
by all ; and he begged the Pope to make a very
careful and long inquiry, so that the Order might
be cleared of the dreadful charges th,at had been
brought against it, and which he felt sure were all
untrue. The poor weak King w r as a good man in
himself, and he did not want to do anything unjust
to the Templars ; but he knew in his heart of hearts
that if the King of France and the Pope only went
on worrying him long enough, he would have to
give way in the end, simply because he was so weak
that he could never hold to his own will and his
own way, against the wishes of other people. He
honestly tried his best to save the English Templars.
Richard Lion- Heart would have settled the question
very quickly, once and for all, with his sword, and
not with his tongue or his pen ! But the Pope
wrote back at once to Edward, telling him that as
a faithful son of the Church it was his duty to
follow the pious example of the King of France,
and to root out those wicked men, the Templars,
from his land. He was also careful to add that all
the property of the Templars was not to be touched,
but must be kept in his, the Pope's, name until
he had made up his mind what was to be done
with it.
The weak King then gave way, and the English
252
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
Templars were arrested and brought to trial (1308).
They firmly denied every charge that was brought
against them of wicked dealings, worshipping idols,
murdering children, and playing with black magic ;
but all the same they were made to suffer a cruel
imprisonment for three years. Some of the Knights
Templars were quite old men, who had fought
bravely in the Holy Land, and had held high
places with honour ; but nothing saved them now
from the wicked men who sought their lives-
and even more, their wealth. During those three
years they were brought to trial, put to torture,
and then sent back to prison, bent and broken ; and
this happened not once but many times. At last
they were dragged into St. Paul's Cathedral, and
there made to say just what their enemies wished
them to. Those who were yet alive were then set
free. A large part of their great property fell to
the Knights Hospitallers in England, as it had
done in France. The Temple Church in London
was given to that Aymer de Valence, Earl of
Pembroke, whose monument is in Westminster
Abbey.
The great Order was dead.
But the property of the Templars, which had
been taken from them in such mean and unjust
ways, brought no good fortune to the new owners.
Aymer de Valence was murdered. The Duke of
Lancaster, who next held the Temple Church, was
2 53
THE CRUSADES
beheaded after an unsuccessful rebellion. Hugh
le Despenser, the friend of Edward II, was hung,
with a crown of stinging nettles bound in mockery
upon his head. Edward the King himself, who
had been too weak and too much afraid of other
men's words to protect his own people, though he
had not actually gained anything by the putting
down of the Order in England, met with a violent
and painful death at the hands of his subjects. It
seemed to men who lived in those days, that every
one of those who had worked against the Templars
came to a terrible end. Were the Templars in
the right then after all ; and were those who had
destroyed the great Order all quite wrong ? For
a short time the Hospitallers held the Temple
property in London ; but in the reign of Henry VII
it passed into the possession of the Crown.
The Order was dead, but no one could ever
forget it ; people still talked of its great deeds in
Palestine, and of the awful end of the Knights.
Later on a legend sprang up, which many believed,
that every year on the anniversary of the day on
which the Order was put down, the heads of seven
of the murdered Templars rose above their graves.
The ghost of a Templar, wearing a long white
mantle of the Order with its blood-red cross, came
into the churchyard, and cried aloud three times,
*' Who shall now defend the Holy Temple ? Who
shall free the Sepulchre of the Lord?" And the
254
THE TWO GREAT ORDERS
seven heads made sad and solemn answer : " Not
one ! For the Order of the Temple is destroyed ! >1
The old legend at least shows that men were not
altogether happy in their minds at the way in which
the great Order had been swept off the face of
the earth.
" With the Templars perished a world ; chivalry,
(or knighthood), the Crusades ended with them.
A greedy trading spirit rose up. . . . The souls of
men (were found) cold and incredulous."
255
CHAPTER XVIII
WHAT THE CRUSADERS DID
" What God opens must open be,
Though man pile the sand of the sea.
What God shuts is open no more,
Though man weary himself to find the door."
CHRISTINA ROSSETTI.
IN the fall of Acre all the Western Christian power
in the Holy Land was broken. The ruling power
was Moslem, and the Christian subjects found that
safety for them lay, not in numbers, but in living
very quietly in those rough and restless days, and
in keeping out of the way of notice as much as
possible. Churches were rebuilt, however, in some
of the cities Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem-
and Christian congregations grew up round them,
holding to their faith, but without having any voice or
share in the government of the Country, until they
gave up wanting it. From the day when Saladin
took the Holy City in 1187, right down through
the eight hundred years, and more, that have passed,
the Holy Land has been under Moslem rule. Some-
256
WHAT THE CRUSADERS DID
times it seems to us as if the Crusades were only
like a great storm that swept over Palestine, and
did nothing for her; but really they left such a
deep mark on her that it can never be lost. And
that at least is something for Westerns to remember.
And so our story of the Crusades is done. It is
a story of striving and fighting, of gallant deeds
and some very black ones ; but on the whole it is
a noble story, and one that we can be proud of.
One or two points in it stand out so sharp and
clear that we had better stop to look at them.
The first is that the true Crusading spirit was a
fine one, for it was a spirit of real love and self-
sacrifice, and when that spirit died out of men, the
life of the Crusades died with it, and the world was
left much poorer and colder for its loss.
Again, one reason why the Crusaders, who did
so much yet managed to keep so little, was that
they were not really one at heart amongst them-
selves after the first. Each man was jealous of his
neighbour; the Church was jealous of the Crown;
the King of his Knights ; one Order of the other ;
and there was not one of them that would stand
loyally by the other, even in a time of danger. If the
Christian Kingdom had only been true to itself, the
attacks made from outside would not have been
able to beat it down. It is the secret foe within
the city that is the real danger, not the open enemy
outside the gate.
257 *
THE CRUSADES
The Crusades did a great deal of good both to
Palestine and to Europe. They opened, as it were,
a door between the East and the West, which
has never been shut since ; pilgrims, soldiers, and
travellers, all passing to and fro between the two,
made each part of the world better known to the
other ; and as travelling has gone on getting easier
and quicker, so everyone has become more friendly,
as they have grown to know each other better.
The Crusaders brought into the Holy Land their
own free ideas, their customs, and their language ;
and it was just because they believed so thoroughly
in all their own ways, that they were able to press
them upon Palestine so firmly that the mark has
not been lost, and it never will be. Even to-day
there are signs of Western blood in the people in
some parts of Palestine ; the dress of the women
of Bethlehem is still very much like that worn by
the ladies of the Crusading Kingdom ; Western words
have slipped into Arabic, and have become a part of
the language, so that it has been forgotten how they
first came in.
The Crusaders gained a good deal, too, in many
ways from Palestine, and Europe gained through
them. They brought back to their homes in the
West the riches and the bright colours of the East ;
carpets and glass, and many little things which make
a home comfortable and beautiful ; as well as words
that crept into their different languages, and stayed
258
WHAT THE CRUSADERS DID
there perhaps in exchange for the ones they left
behind in Arabic ! And in all the Crusaders there
was that fierce love of adventure that was the cause
of their travelling East, and which took firm root
in Europe, and led to the wonderful voyages of
the old explorers like Christopher Columbus, and
Marco Polo, and Vasco de Gama ; and which still
lives to-day in men like Nansen, and our own
Captain Scott, the immortal hero of the white
Antarctic. In many ways the Crusaders have
helped both the East and the West to understand
that, in spite of all the many ways in which they
are happily unlike, they are yet not two different
worlds, but the two halves of the same round globe.
The Crusaders thought that as long as you were
a Christian, it did not matter at all what sort of a
Christian you were ; and that everyone who was not
a Christian was in some strange way " the enemy of
God " ; but we know a little better than that now.
Still, on the other hand, we may very well learn
from these Soldiers of the Cross that it is a fine and
a good thing to have a very strong belief in our
religion, and to be ready to fight for it, and to give
up something for the sake of it.
It is often said of the Crusaders that they were
rough, and cruel, and bloodthirsty, and unfaithful
to their promises ; and it is true ; but they were a
fine set of men in many ways. And in any case
it is always better, whenever we can, to look at the
259
THE CRUSADES
beautiful side of things and of people (when there
is one). And we shall get into our minds a much
better and truer picture of the Crusaders and of the
work they have done for the Holy Land, and also
for the world, if we remember first the good they
did, and let the bad part come next. " Whatsoever
things are true, and pure, and lovely, think on these
things." I mean, that it is better for us to think
of the goodness of (iodfrey, the uprightness of
Saladin, the courage of Hidiard Cceur-de-Lion, the
unselfishness of Haymond of Tripoli, than of the
meanness of Kenaud de C'liatillon, or the greed of
the Patriarch Hcraclius.
One other point we must remember and we
shall understand it better and better as \ve grow
older is that the Ilolv Land was never held for lon^
J
by any Power, alter that Power left, oil' earing for it.
It has been so all through history, even before the
days of the Crusaders, and it will be so to the verv
end. Every country and every faith has poured
out its treasure, in thought, and lives of men, and
gold, upon Jerusalem ; but n<> matter how great the
treasure spent, how much the blood that was .shed,
none of them have ever been able to buy her for
their own. This is because she belongs to all the
world, in a wonderful and mysterious way that we
ran just see, but cannot understand ; and one day
the love and service of the nations will shine out as
jewels in her crown.
260
WHAT THE CRUSADERS DID
" O City, sorrowful, yet full of grace !
The sinking sun adorns
With a celestial smile thine altered face
Beneath its crown of thorns.
The heavy storms of rage and sorrow beat
Around thy sacred heart :
Thou hast a deadly wound ; yet strangely sweet
And beautiful thou art.
And thou hast drawn from all the colder lands
Beyond the northern sea,
Hearts burning for thy wrongs, and eager hands
To fight for God and thee." 1
1 " Death at the Goal." B. M.
2OI
ARABIC WORDS IN THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE BROUGHT IN BY THE
CRUSADERS
ADMIRAL: a naval commander. From Amir, a chief.
ALCOHOL : pure spirit to drink. From al-koJil, a fine powder.
ALCOVE : a recess in a room. Through the Spanish from the
Arabic for vault.
ALEMBIC : a vessel or vase used in chemistry. Through Greek
and Arabic.
ALGEBRA : a way of reckoning by signs or letters. Through
Spanish and Arabic.
ALKALI : something used in chemistry.
AMBER : from the French and Arabic.
ARRACK: a fiery drink made from palm juice, rice, and sugar.
Ar., araq, juice.
ARSENAL: a place for storing arms, &c. Ar. dar sincCat,
workshop.
ARTICHOKE : a vegetable.
ASSASSIN: a murderer. Ar., hashish, a drug or drink made
from hemp. The Assassins used to be excited with this
before being sent out to kill their victims.
AZIMUTH : a term in astronomy. Ar., al-sumut, the direction.
AZURE : blue. Ar., azrak, blue.
CALIPH : Ar., successor. The successors of Mahommed were
called Caliphs.
CARAT : a weight used in goldsmiths' 1 work. Ar., qirat, a bean
used as a weight.
262
ARABIC WORDS
CHECK-MATE : is from Sheikh mayeet (and in the Persian Shah
mdt\ meaning " the chief is dead."
CHEMISTRY : from Khem, the ancient name for Egypt.
CIPHER : the in arithmetic. Ar., sifr, empty.
CIVET : an animal of Africa, like a cat. From the Arabic
through French.
COFFEE : Turkish, qaveh, and Ar., qahweh (wine).
COTTON : Ar., qutun.
CRIMSON : Old English and French, from Ar., qermezun, the
insect from which the colour is made.
DRAGOMAN : a guide or interpreter in the East. Through
Spanish and Ar., tarjumaan, an interpreter.
EMIR, or Amir : chief or ruler. Ar., amir, ruler.
FAKIR : a religious beggar, like the begging friars of the
Middle Ages. Ar.,faqir, a poor man.
FELUCCA: a small sea-vessel or boat. A\'.,fuluka, a ship.
GAZELLE : a kind of small antelope. Ar., ghazal, a wild goat.
GIRAFFE : through French and Spanish from the Arabic name.
HUBBUB : Sudanese, hooboob, a sandstorm.
LUTE : a musical instrument. Ar., al- "ud.
MAGAZINE : a place for keeping military stores. Ar., makhzan.
MATTRESS : Ar., matrah, a place.
MINARET : a small tower or turret from which the Moslem hours
of prayer are called. Ar., manarat, light-house (nar, fire).
MONSOON : a wind of the Indian Ocean that comes at certain
* * . t . .
times. Through Italian from Ar., maivsim* season.
C7- - * . ) i
NAKER: a kettledrum. Through French from Ar., naqqara,
kettledrum.
SAFFRON : a yellow flower of the crocus kind. Ar., safra, yellow.
SENNA : dried leaves ussd s a rr.edicine. Through French
and Arabic.
SHERBET: a drink made from fruit juices. Ar., sfiarbat, a
drink.
263
THE CRUSADES
SHRUB : a drink made from lemon, currant, raspberry, &c.
From the same Arabic word as Sherbet.
SIMOOM : a hot choking wind in the northern Arabian and
African desert. Ar., samm, poison.
SIROCCO : east wind. Ar., shark, east.
SOFA : Ar., saffa, to sit in order.
SYRUP : from the same word as Sherbet and Shrub.
TALISMAN : a kind of charm, sometimes a pass-word. From
the Ar., tilsaman, and through the Greek and German.
TALLY-HO : the hunting cry, is from the Ar., taal hone.,
come here.
TAMARIND: a fruit tree of the West Indies. Ar., tamar-il-Hind,
the date of India.
TARIFF : a list of fees charged by a government upon things
brought in from a foreign country. Ar., taarif, to know,
to give information.
VIZIR : a Minister of State. From the Ar., Wazir, a bearer of
burdens.
ZENITH : the point of the heavens which seems exactly over-
head as you look up. Ar., samt-el-ras, the way of
the head.
ZERO : 0, nothing, cipher. Ar., sifr.
264
MEANINGS OF CHRISTIAN NAMES
ALICE : Noble cheer. A Teutonic name.
AMAURY : Work-ruler. A Teutonic name.
BALDWIN : Prince-friend. A Teutonic name.
CONSTANCE : Firm, faithful. A Latin name.
EDWARD : Rich guard. Anglo-Saxon name.
FREDERIC : Peace-ruler. A Teutonic name.
FULKE : Peoples' guard (like folk). A Teutonic name.
GODFREY : God's peace. A Teutonic name. Geoffrey comes
from the same root.
Louis : Famous warrior. The Latin form of a Teutonic name.
MILICENT : Strength in the Teutonic form ; Sweet Singer in
the Latin.
RAYMOND : Wise protection. A Teutonic name.
RENAUD: Power of judgment. A Teutonic name. Reginald
is one form of Renaud.
RICHARD : Stern King. A Teutonic name.
SAFFADIN (Seyf-el-Din) : Sword of the faith.
SALADIN (Saleh-el-Din) : Splendour of the faith.
TANCRED : Grateful speech. A Teutonic name.
265
INDEX
ACRE, siege of, 174 et seq.; loss of,
224
Afdhal, the Armenian renegade, 65,
68
AlexiusComnenus, Emperorof Greece,
25, 68
Alice of Antioch, 85, 86, 99
Amaury, King, 101, 119, 121, 122, 125,
126, 127
Andrew, King of Hungary, Crusade
of, 207
Antioch, fall of, 26, 27
Arabs in Jerusalem, the, 8, 10
Armenians in Palestine, 84, 104, 161
Arsuf, battle of, 181
Ascalon, 65, 66, 114, 150
Assassins, the, 125, 126, 127, 221
d'Aubigny, Sir Philip, 5
d'Aubusson, Sir Peter, 241, 242
Aymer de Valence, 253
BAJAZET, 236, 237
Baldwin de Bouillon, of Edessa, after-
wards Baldwin I, 27, 64, 69, 74;
and the Saracen robbers, 76 ; alli-
ance with Genoese, 77 ; victories
over the Saracens, 77, 80 ; quarrel
with Patriarch Daimbert, 77 ; death
of, 82 ; tomb of, 91
Baldwin de Burgh, afterwards Bald-
win II, 74, 83 ; taken prisoner by
Emir of Aleppo, 84 ; his daughters,
84, 85, 86 ; death of, 86
Baldwin III, 101, 103; campaigns
against the Saracens, 107, 113, 116 ;
breach of faith with shepherd
tribes, 115 ; death of, 117
Baldwin IV, the leper, 120, 128, 132;
death of, 135
Baldwin V, 130 ; co-king with Bald-
win the leper, 132 ; death of,
135
Baldwin of Ramleh, 138, 139
Balian of Ibelin, Sir, 151
Banias, loss of, 121, 126, 127
Berengaria of Navarre, 172, 173 ^ -
Bertram de St. Gilles, 80
Bibars, Sultan, 220, 221
Boemond of Antioch, the cunning
Prince of Tarentum, Knight of
Sicily, 23, 25, 27; conquest of
Antioch by, 29, 31, 32, 33, 64 ; at
Jerusalem, 69 ; death of, 79
Boemond of Antioch, his son, 85
Bozrah, Baldwin Ill's expedition to
take, 107
CHANCY, Sir Joseph de, on state of
Palestine, 224
Charlemagne, 9
Children's Crusade, the, 198
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 5, 35,
38, 61, 71, 72, 82, 90, 208
Citadel of Jerusalem, 6
Conrad, King, 112
Constance of Antioch, 85 ; marriage
with Raymond of Poitou, 100 ;
marriage with Renaud de Chatil-
lon, 115, 130
Crusaders, the, 19 ; armour of, 95,
96 ; sports of, 96 ; what they did,
256 et seq.
Crusades, the the First, 17 ; the
Second, 112; the Third, 168 ; Ger-
man, 170, 199, 207 ; the Children's,
198 ; smaller Crusades, 199, 200 ;
the last, 206
Cyprus, conquest by Richard Cceur-
267
THE CRUSADES
de-Lion, 172; settlement of Knights
Hospitallers at, 234 ; settlement of
Knights Templars at, 247
DAIMBERT, Patriarch of Jerusalem,
69, 77
Damascus, siege of, 113
swords, 95
Damietta, siege of, 213-215
David, King, grave of, 6
Diocletian and St. George, 56, 57
EDESSA, siege of, 27 ; capture by
Zanghi the Sultan, 105, 106, 112
Edgar the Atheling, 23
Edward I in Palestine, 219, 220;
Bibars defeated by, 220, 221 ;
assassination of, 221 ; return to
England, 223 ; Sir Joseph de
Chancey's appeal to, 224
Edward II, trial and persecution of
Knights Templars by, 252, 254
El-Afdal, 139, 147
Eleanor of Aquitaine, 112, 113
Eleanor of Castile, 220, 222
Emir of Aleppo, Baldwin II taken
prisoner by, 84
Eschowe, wife of Raymond of Tripoli,
142
Eyub, Emir of Damascus, 113
FIRUZ, the Armenian, 28
Fitz-Urse, Reginald, 5
Frederick Barbarossa, Crusade of,
170-172
Frederick II, Crusade of, 207
French Langue, the, 245
Fulke, Count of Anjou, King of Jeru-
salem, 86, 87 ; Jerusalem enriched
by, 88; defeat of Sultan Zanghi
and the Greek Emperor by, 88 ;
character of, 93 ; Alice of Antioch
outwitted by, 100 ; death of, 101
GARNIER de Grey, Sir, 74
Genoese in Palestine, the, 77
Geoffrey Plantagenet, 86
Gerard d'Avesnes, Sir, 67
Gerard de Riddeford, 136
German Crusades, 170, 199, 207
Godfrey de Bouillon, 22, 25, 27, 28,
33 ; at siege of Jerusalem, 35, 37,
38, 39, 43, 49; crowned King of
Jerusalem, 60 ; defeat of Saracens,
65 ; siege of Arsuf by, 67 ; treachery
of Raymond of Toulouse towards,
67, 68 ; laws made by, 70 ; Vene-
tian alliance formed by, 71 ; death
and burial, 72, 73 ; tomb of, 90
Guy de Lusignan, 130, 135 ; appointed
regent, 132 ; coronation together
with Sybil, 137 ; attack upon Ray-
mond of Tripoli, 139 ; total defeat
at Horns of Hattin, 144 ; later years,
166 ; made King of Cyprus by
Richard I, 166, 173 ; with Richard's
forces, 180, 181
HAROUN al Rasheed, 9
Henry II of England, 133
Heraclius the Patriarch, 132, 134, 142,
146, 152, 160, 161, 162, 163
Holy Land, the, 1 et seq.
Horns of Hattin, battle of, 144
Hospices for pilgrims at Jerusalem,
49
Hospitallers, the. See Knights Hos-
pitallers
Hugh, Count of Vermandois, 23
Hugh de Payens, Sir, 52
Hugh Ferveus, 203
ISAAC, Emperor of Cyprus, 165
JACQUES de Maille, Sir, 141
Jaffa, siege of, 190
James d'Avesnes, 185
Jerusalem, 1, 4 ; pilgrimages to, 11 ;
captured by the Turks, 11 ; siege by
First Crusaders, 36 ; retaken by
Seljuk Turks, 49, 52; founding of
the Kingdom under Godfrey de
Bouillon, 60, 70 ; prosperity under
Fulke, 88 ; decline of the King-
dom, 112, 114, 117, 119, 134, 135,
166 ; fall of, 151-167
Jerusalem Cross, the, 72, 73
268
INDEX
Joan, Queen of Sicily, 172
Jocelyn of Edessa, 84, 105
John,' Kins?, 190, 196, 199
Joinville, Sieur de, 212, 214
KHAEEZMIANS, raids upon Jerusa-
lem, 202, 203
Knights, the, 45
Knights Hospitallers, in war against
the Saracens, 49 et seq., 56, 117,
134, 160, 164, 211; at siege of
Acre, 177 ; charge at battle of
Arsuf, 181-184; castles of, 225;
city of St. Jean d'Acre, 226, 227 ;
settlement in Cyprus, 223 ; settle-
ment in Rhodes, 235 ; Langues of,
236 ; defeat by Bajazet, 236 ; defeat
by Tamerlane, 237 ; Rhodes taken
by Turks from, '242; settlement in
Malta, 242, 243 ; siege of Malta by
Turks, 243 ; Templars' property
given to, 253, 254
Knights of Malta, 50, 243 ; order dis-
banded by Napoleon, 245
Knights Templars, in wars with the
Saracens, 50, 52, 56, 113, 116, 121,
126, 127, 132, 136, 140, 141, 142,
158, 159, 164, 177, 181, 196, I 1 .)*,
207, 209, 211, 218 ; castles of, 225 ;
later history of, 247 et seq. ; riches
of, 248 ; in France, 248-251 ; in
England, 251
Kukbury, 161
LA VALETTE, Grand Master of
Knights of Malta, 243, 244, 245
Langues of Order of St. John of
Jerusalem, 236 ; the French, 245 ;
in Jerusalem, 247
Leopold, Duke of Austria, 17!t ; jeal-
ousy of Richard 1, 188, 189 ; Richard
made prisoner by, 196
Leper windows, 128
' Letters of the Holy Sepulchre,"
71
Louis VII of France, in Second Cru-
sade, 112
Louis IX, Crusade of, 211-218 ; siege
of Damietta by, 215; captured by
Saracens, 218; return to France,
218 ; second Crusade and death at
Carthage, 219, 220
MAHOMMED II, war against Knights
Hospitallers at Rhodes by, 239,
240
Mahommedans in Jerusalem, the, 8
Malta, settlement of Kuights Hospi-
tallers in, 243 ; siege by Turks,
243 ; taken by Napoleon, 245 ;
taken by English under Nelson,
246
M;m.-,ourah, taking of, 216, 217
Milicent, daughter of Baldwin II, 85,
86, 88, 101 ; as regent, 104 ; hatred
of people towards, 106, 112, 113;
death of, 114
NICEA, taken by Crusaders, 26
Nicholas, Children's Crusade preached
by, 200
Ninth Crusade, the, 211
Nur-ed-Din, 114, 116, 121, 127, 129
OLD Man of the Mountains, the, 125,
126, 221
Order of the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem, 49 et seq. ; later history
of, 246. See also Knights Hospi-
tallers
Order of the Knights of the Temple,
52 et seq. ; later history of, 247 et
seq. 8ce also Knights Templars
PALESTINE, 1 ; in later years, 224
Peter Bartholomew, 30-33
Peter d'Aubusson, Sir, 241
Peter the Hermit, 17, 28 ; at siege
of Jerusalem, 40, 42, 43 ; death
of, 43
Philip II of France, 169 ; jealousy of
Richard I, 172, 175, 176, 179 ; siege
of Acre by, 174 ; departure from
Palestine, 179; treachery to Richard,
190, 196
Philip IV of France, attack on
Knights Templars, 249
Pilgrim Castle, 225-227
269
THE CRUSADES
Pilgrims, the, 11
Potters' Field, 15
RAYMOND de St. Gilles, 42, 44, 78
Raymond of Antioch, 105, 106, 113,
114
Raymond of Poitou, 100
Raymond of Tripoli, appointed regent,
129 ; besieged by Guy de Lusignan,
138, 139; Eschowe, his wife, be-
sieged in Tiberias, 142 ; peace with
Guy de Lusignan, 142 ; at battle of
Horns of Hattin, 146; death of, 150
Raymond the Wise, Count of Tou-
louse, 23, 64, 65, 67, 68
Reginald de Argentine, Sir, 55
Renaud de Chatillon, 115, 130, 136,
149
Rhodes, siege by Turks, 240-242
Richard Coeur-de-Lion, Crusade of,
87, 95, 169, 170, 172 ; conquest of
Cyprus by, 172 ; quarrels with
chief leaders, 172, 174, 175, 176,
179, 188; Philip II's jealousy of,
172, 175, 176, 179 ; marriage with
Berengaria of Navarre, 173 ; at
siege of Acre, 176 ; sufferings from
fever, 176, 177, 179, 193, 195 ; Sala-
din defeated at Arsuf by, 181 ;
daring character of, 186, 187 ; Leo-
pold of Austria's jealousy and de-
sertion of, 188, 189; rout of the
Saracens before Jerusalem by, 189 ;
Jaffa taken by, 190; relations with
Saladin, 193 ; truce with Saladin,
195 ; taken prisoner by Leopold,
196 ; death of, 197, 199
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, crusade of,
209
Robert, Duke of Normandy, 23, 61, 65
Robert of Flanders, 60, 65
Rock of Jerusalem, the, 4
Roger de Moulines, 136
SAPPADIN, 161
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 112
St. George, grave of, 33 ; at siege of
Jerusalem, 40 ; life of, 56-59, 111
St. Jean d'Acre, 226, 227, 233
St. Louis, Crusade of, 211-218
St. Peter's of the Freed, 238
Saladin, the Sultan, at house of
Knights Hospitallers, 51 ; ambi-
tion of, 123, 124 ; elected ruler of
Damascus, 129 ; siege of Beyrout
by, 131 ; expedition into Raymond's
lands by, 139, 140 ; siege of Tibe-
rias by, 142 ; Guy de Lusignan
defeated at Horns of Hattin by,
144 ; conquest of Palestine by, 150,
166 ; siege of Jerusalem by, 151-
167 ; Balian's appeals to, 152-159 ;
merciful treatment of citizens of
Jerusalem, 160-162, 164, 165; Acre
surrendered by, 178 ; defeated by
Richard Coeur-de-Lion at battle of
Arsuf,181-185 ; truce with Richard,
192, 195 ; relations with Richard,
193, 194 ; illness and death of,
195
Saracens, the, 9, 14 ; treatment of
the pilgrims, 14 ; Antioch taken
from, 28, 29 ; besieged in Jerusalem
by the First Crusaders, 38, 39, 40,
42 ; defeated under Afdhal, 65 ;
armour of, 95, 96 ; Baldwin's wars
against, 107; defeat of Guy de
Lusignan at battle of Horns of
Hattin, 144 ; massacred at siege of
Acre, 178; defeat at Arsuf, 181-
185 ; terror of Richard Coeur-de-
Lion, 185, 188 ; attacks on the
French Crusaders, 214, 217 ; taking
of Acre by, 228-231
" Squints," or leper windows, 128
Stephen, Count of Blois, 23
Stephen, leader of the Children's
Crusade, 202
Sulieman, Sultan, 243
Sybil, Queen, 120, 130, 135, 136, 164
TAMERLANE, 236-238
Tancred of Sicily, 23, 27, 34, 37, 42,
44, 64, 65, 69, 72
Templars' Tower, Acre, fall of, 231
Temple at Jerusalem, the, 5, 34 ; de-
spoiled by Saladin, 165
Temple, the, Paris, 248
Temple Church, London, 252, 253
Tiberias, siege of, 142
Tithe of Saladin, 169
270
INDEX
True Cross, the wood of, 146, 170, 178
Turks, Jerusalem captured by, 11;
wars with Knights Hospitallers at
Rhodes, 236
Tyre, siege of, 227
VENETIANS in Palestine, the, 71
WALTER the Penniless, 21
William de Preaux, Sir, 186
William Porcus, 203
William Rufus, 24
ZANGHI, Sultan, 88 ; siege of Edessa
by, 105, 106
THE END
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