Success of an Assault given against the Rules of War by the Advice of a Hermite who pretended a Revelation for it The Description of Duke Godfrey 's Engines The solemn Procession of the Besiegers about the City The second General Assault for three days together Two Magicians who were Conjuring upon the Walls have their Brains beaten out with a Stone from Duke Godfrey 's wooden Castle The Artifice of Godfrey to drive the Enemies from the Walls He is the first that by the Bridge of his Castle mounts the Walls Jerusalem taken The fearful Slaughter of the Saracens By Godfrey 's Example the whole Army return solemn Thanks to God at the Holy Sepulchre An Assembly of the Princes to chuse a King and a Patriarch The Speech of Robert Duke of Normandy upon this Subject Godfrey of Bullen chosen and proclaimed King of Jerusalem The memorable Battle of Ascalon against the Sultan of Egypt and the Victory of the Christians which concluded this first Crusade The Return of the Crusades The Conquests of Godfrey of Bullen and his Death An Abridgment of the History of the Kingdom of Jerusalem till the time of the second Crusade The Reign of Baldwin the First The flourishing Estate of the Christians in the East till his Death The Reign of Baldwin the Second The Relation of the founding the Military Orders of the Knights Hospitallers The Captivity of King Baldwin His Deliverance His Victories and Death He is succeeded by his Son-in-Law Fowk d' Anjou The Prosperity of his Reign His Death and the Regency of Queen Melesintha during the Minority of Baldwin the Third The Occasion of the second Expedition of the Crusades The Relation of the two Josselins de Courtenay Earls of Edessa The taking of that City by Sanguin Sultan of Alepo and afterwards by Noradin his Son The Character of that Prince and his Conquests over the Christians Applications made to Lewis the young King of France His Character and what moved him to undertake the Crusade He Consults Saint Bernard concerning it The Character of that Saint and the Order he received from Pope Eugenius the Third to Preach the Crusade The General Assemblies of Bourges Vezelay and Chartress for the Crusade It is Published by Saint Bernard in France and Germany The Emperor and King take up the Cross The Abbot Sugere declared Regent in France His Character and Advice concerning the Expedition The Voyage of the Emperor The Description of the Tempest which almost ruined his Army upon the Banks of the River Melas The Fleet of the Crusades take Lisbon from the Saracens The Original of the Kings of Portugal The Character and Perfidy of the Greek Emperor Manuel His underhand Treating with the Turks The miserable Overthrow of the Emperor's Army The Voyage of King Lewis to Constantinople and his Reception The Advice of the Bishop of Langress who Counsels the King to take Constantinople his Speech upon that Subject the reason that his Advice was not followed the Treacheries of Manuel thereupon The Kings Voyage into Asia His Interview with the Emperor Conrade and the Return of that Prince to Constantinople The Description of the River Meander and the famous Passage of the King of France with his Army over it year 1099 JErusalem which after that Herod the Great had beautified it with the most magnificent Structures and had repaired the Temple had been one of the Wonders of the World and one of the fairest Cities of all the East was nothing but a horrible Heap of Cinders and Ruines after its fatal Destruction till such time as the Emperor Adrian who was the last that ruined it caused it to be rebuilt in a manner far different from what it was before For in times-past there was comprised within the Circuit of its Walls four Mountains upon which it was successively Built The first called Salem otherwise Acra which was founded by Melchisedeck The second opposite to that towards the South and which was far higher was the Holy and Famous Mount Sion which David after he had taken the Fortress of the Jebusites joyned to the former by a Wall which invironed it on all parts to distinguish it from the other which in comparison of this new City was called the Lower City The third was the Mountain of Moriah between these towards the East where the Temple of Solomon stood And the fourth upon the North was the Hill Betheza where the same King built a new Town which was afterwards much inlarged by Hezekiah and took in all the Valley between the East and the North to the lower Town This Glorious City of God was afterwards destroyed by the Chaldeans and with the Temple restored to its first Estate in divers Ages by Zorobabel Nehemiah the Machabees and by Herod the Great and was at the last overthrown to the very Ground and laid in Heaps of Rubbish by the Emperor Titus Vespasian three only of the fairest Towers called the Hippico year 1099 Phasele and Mariamne which Herod had Builded escaping the general Desolation for Titus was willing to preserve them as also part of the North Wall of the higher Town to which they were joyned that they might remain as Monuments of the Greatness of his Victory when Posterity should by the Strength of those make a Judgment how Impregnable that City was which he had taken though defended by such mighty Walls and lofty Towers But the Jews Revolting in the time of the Emperor Adrian that Prince after he had made the most horrible Slaughter among the Rebels caused those three Towers and the Wall also to be demolished and razed to the very Foundation thus without designing it intirely accomplishing the dreadful Prediction of the Son of God That the day should come when there should not be one Stone left upon another in that miserable City After this that Emperor to immortalize his own Name in abolishing that of Jerusalem caused a new City to be there Built which according to his own Name was called Aelia giving it also a quite differing Form from the Ancient City whose Memory as well as Name he thought thereby for ever to extinguish For he left out of it the whole Mountain of Sion which had been the best and most Beautiful as well as strongest part of Jerusalem almost all that which had been called the New City and a great part of the Lower Town He made Mount Moriah be levelled and inclosed that and the little Remainder of the New and Low Town as also Mount Calvarie which was nothing but a little Corner of Mount Gihon which was out of the Ancient City towards the West So that this Aelia as it was not by one half so large as Jerusalem so it had quite a differing Figure For the Ancient Jerusalem in its Dimensions approached to a Square though not altogether Regular being something longer than it was broad for it was Extended from North to South a good League the Breadth from East to West being something
rest of Cilicia even to Alexandretta whilest Baldwin having made a great Progress in Armenia whither he was gone to joyn the gross of the Army was called to the Principality of Edessa where he established himself by that Adventure which I am now about to relate Edessa an ancient and famous City of Mesopotamia known in the sacred History by the Name of Rages which it afterwards changed into that of Rohais and which at this day is called Orfa was in times past under the Power of the ancient Greeks who governed it under the Emperor of Constantinople and after that the Turks had taken from him this Province yet it was still maintained as a little Principality paying a certain Tribute to these Infidels who nevertheless ceased not to Tyrannize over this poor City now hopeless of all Succours The Inhabitants who were all Christians having heard of the famous Actions of Prince Baldwin who pushed on his Conquests as far as Euphrates defeating the Turks in all Encounters obliged their Prince to send to him to desire his Assistance and to offer him the honorable Terms of being his adopted Son and declared Successor Baldwin did not refuse so fair an Occasion which his good Fortune seemed to offer him by possessing him of so considerable an Estate in Asia He adventured therefore to pass the Euphrates being followed by not above one hundred Horse which were all he could spare from the keeping such important Places which he had Conquered nevertheless with this little Troop he bassled the Turks who either openly opposed his Passage or laid Ambuscades in his Way to surprize him and entring Edessa he was received with such extraordinary Acclamations and Honors that the good old Man who had adopted him conceived such a Jealousy of him that repenting of what he had done he resolved in short to get quit of him and send him back at any rate But Baldwin after he had in two or three Rencounters with the Turks who possessed all the Country about Edessa given a Tast of his Courage and Conduct the whole Populace who were ripe for such a Revolution and wanted only an Occasion to revenge themselves of a thousand Evils which they had suffered under the Government of this Covetous old Man ran immediately to their Arms and besieged the Castle and notwithstanding all the Prayers and Opposition which Baldwin made against their Intentions they cut this miserable Man in pieces whilest he endeavoured to escape by throwing himself from a Window opposite to that Quarter which was assaulted After which notwithstanding all the Repugnance which Baldwin either had or feigned to have thereby to shew that he had no share in so horrid an Action he was constrained the next Morning to permit himself to be solemnly proclaimed Prince of Edessa and to be put in Possession of the Treasure of the deceased Prince which according to the Destiny of Covetous Men he had scraped together for another who knew how to employ it better than himself For with one part of it he bought the strong Town of Samosata upon the Euphrates he who held it thinking it better Husbandry prudently to sell it at a good Rate than to expose himself to the danger of losing it for nothing and with another part he levied good Troops with which he took all the places which were capable of incommoding Edessa and in short in a small time he established a most powerful Estate extending it on both sides both towards the South from Euphrates as far as Selencia upon the Tygris and towards the North as far as the strong places upon Mount Taurus He had also the dexterity and good Fortune to unite to his Principality a great part of Armenia by an alliance with one of his Princes whose Neice he married after the death of the generous Gundechilda his Lady who having followed him died at Maresia during the March of the Army of the Confederate Princes Whilst Prince Baldwin made such a marvellous Progress on this side of the Euphrates the Christian Army having reduced all the lesser Armenia took the Road through Comagena towards Syria and drew within fifteen miles of Antioch after having taken the City of Artesia the Inhabitants whereof having cut the throats of the Turkish Garrison had opened their Gates to the Earl of Flanders who was advanced with a thousand choice horse to receive it He there made a defence for divers days with a great deal of Courage and glory against twenty thousand Turks who came from Antioch to retake it and who after a terrible Assault which they maintained for one whole day were constrained to retire upon the Approach of the Christian Army to defend the pass of a Bridge upon the Orontes about two or three Leagues from Antioch year 1097 After the repose of a few dayes during which Tancred and the rest of the Lords except Count Baldwin came to rejoyn the Army it was resolved notwithstanding the Season was now far advanced to besiege this great City in regard the Reputation of the Christian Arms and the happy Success of their great design seemed absolutely to depend upon the taking of Antioch which covered the Country of Palestine This resolution was no sooner taken but it was put in immediate Execution for the next morning Robert Duke of Normandy who led the Vanguard of the Army fell smartly upon the Bridge which the Turks who never behaved themselves better than upon this occasion as vigorously maintained but the Bishop of Pavia coming up to reinforce them did so animate the Normans and the English that some of them having forced the Barricadoes and the two Towers which commanded the Bridge whilst others passing over the Shallows and some throwing themselves into the River swam over they put the Turks to slight and opened the passage for the whole Army That Night they encamped near the River and the next day which was Wednesday the twenty first of October putting themselves in order of Battle and adorning themselves in their fairest Arms with Trumpets founding and Colours flying the whole Army marched as it were in a terrible Triumph and encamped within a mile of Antioch Antioch so renowned in the Greek and Latin Histories and which at present consists only of some part of the beautiful Ruines where sometime that noble City stood was at that time one of the fairest and largest Cities in the World giving place to none for the strength which both Art and Nature had bestowed upon it It was situated in a most fertile and delicious Plain between the Mountains Amanus and Orontes upon the River of that name whose Stream flowed along by the Walls on the Western side being within four or five leagues of its mouth The Town was in length from the East to the West above a league without comprehending the Suburbs which were very large There were two Mountains between the South and East separated by a narrow Valley through which a little River slid along into the
less On the contrary this new City which was of a Figure altogether Irregular yet approaching to Square extended it self in Length from East to West some twelve hundred Paces and in Breadth from South to North about a third part so much Moreover the Ancient City was wholly inaccessible on the South part by reason of the broaken Rocks of the Mount Sion which Invironed it it was also the same upon the East having the deep Valley of Jehoshaphat between the Mount of Olives and Mount Moriah But this New City which had Mount Sion close by the South Side of it was easily Commanded from thence and the Valleys having been in a manner filled up by the Romans it was very accessible particularly upon the North. It continued a long time in this Estate under the Power of the Gentiles till such time as the Great Constantine peopled it with Christians having there builded the Magnisicent Church of the Resurrection which Incloses the Holy Sepulchre where the Pagans had with the most impious Profaneness erected the Temple of the Idol Venus After this quitting the profane Name of Aelia if recovered that venerable Name of Jerusalem a Name Consecrated by the Sacred Records and by so many Holy Mysteries which for ever after to this present time it hath retained It was taken from the Romans by the Persians under the Reign of King Cosroës and by his Successor Restored to the Emperor Heraclius and not long after about the middle of the seventh Age falling into the Hands of the Saracens the Caliph Omar one of the earliest Successors of Mahomet built there a round Temple of eight Angles or Faces for a Mosch in the same place where sometimes stood the Temple of Solomon and tho it did not in the least Resemble that except in the Greatness of the Porch which was raised very high and with fair Galleries in the Middle whereof stands this Round yet doth it to this Day retain that Name About four hundred Years after this the greatest part of Syria and Palestine falling under the Dominion of the Turks they also took Jerusalem from the Sultan of Egypt and thirty eight Years after it was retaken from them by him making use of the Occasion which was offered him by the memorable Victory of the Christians over the Turks in the Battle of Antioch This Saracen Prince who notwithstanding his Ambassy doubted not but the Christians who looked upon Jerusalem as the end of their Enterprise would certainly besiege it year 1099 forgot nothing which was necessary to put it into a Condition to make a good Defence for with great diligence he caused the Walls and Towers to be repaired although they were very strong before having also a double Wall he provided the Place with all manner of Stores both of Ammunition and Provision he caused all the Christians that were able to bear Arms to quit the City and put into it a Garrison of fourty thousand of his Best Soldiers besides that there were twenty Thousand Inhabitants who were Armed and to whom for their Encouragement he promised a perpetual Exemption from all manner of Taxes and Tributes He caused also the Cisterns and Wells for six miles round the City to be filled up and made a most horrible Wast throughout the Country that so the Christian Army at the same Time that they were to Combat with so strong an Enemy within the Walls might have Famine a more terrible Enemy to Combat with in the Field and above all he hoped to destroy them for Want of Water in those dry and barren Countries where the Heat is great and Thirst most insupportable This was the Estate and Posture in which Jerusalem then stood immediately before it was besieged by the Christians whose Army was not in Truth so Numerous as that which defended the Place For of that immense Multitude of the Crusades who passed into Asia and were at the Siege of Nice there came not above sixty thousand of both Sexes among which there were not more than twenty Thousand Foot and fifteen hundred Horse who were in a Condition to fight the greatest part of the rest being dead either with Diseases or in the several Encounters some were returned some wore put into Garrisons in the conquered places and some followed the Princes Baldwin and Bohemond to defend their new Principalities of Edessa and Antioch Nevertheless both Princes and Soldiers were determined either there to perish or to carry the Pince and to accomplish their Vow either by a Devout Death or Glorious Victory After they had therefore repulsed the Enemies who sallied out they began chearfully to form the Siege in this manner Godfrey of Bullen Earl Eustace his Brother and Tancred took their Post upon the West near to the Fortress which they called the Tower of David The Earl of Tholose was upon his Right directly opposite to the Gate of this Tower and after a little while he enlarged his Quarters Southward to the Extremity of Mount Sion over against the Church of the Holy Virgin The Remainder of the City on the South and towards the East was left free in Regard the Hollow Vallius and the Craggy Rocks made the Approaches Extreme Difficult The North side was surrounded by the Duke of Normandy the Earls of Flanders and St. Paul who lay before the Gate which was then called St. Stephens but now Damascus Gate to the Angular Tower near the Valley of Jehosaphat Moreover that they might avoid a tedious Siege like that of Antioch it was resolved to attack the Place by main Force therein also following the Advice of a Solitary who lived with a great Opinion of his Sanctity in a Cave in the Mount of Olives for he had promised the Christians that they should have the Victory that day telling them he had it in Command from God to acquaint them with that Message although it was told him on the other hand that they were not at all provided with necessary Materials for an Attack But as it appeared afterwards in all kind of Affairs but especially in those of War it is a most dangerous Folly to quit the Rules of Art and Prudence blindly to follow the uncertain Ways of pretended Revelations which one ought rarely to trust in Regard they are so often false and when they are true one is not bound to believe them but upon Invincible Proofs and without those one is obliged always rather to follow good Sense and Reason which God hath given to Men next to his Divine Word to be their Rule and Guide However upon the fifth day of the Siege early in the Morning a General Assault was given upon the Word of this Recluse which was looked upon as an Oracle Never was there seen greater Ardor in the Soldiers whose Courage was redoubled by the certainty of their Belief in the Promise of this Holy Man that they should that very day take Jorusalem Some part were drawn up in close Rank and they advanced holdly after
the whole Army was divided and in perpetual contests for several days But the Sultan who made use of that Opportunity to endeavour to put some succour into the place during this discourse of Peace the King's Party which was the least reunited again with the Legate Hereupon the Conferences for Peace were broken and it was resolved to pursue the Siege with all imaginable Vigor But it lasted not long for one of the Towers which lay upon a Corner of the Town being by the force of the Machins so ruined that it was easie to enter by the Breach and there appearing no great number of Defendants to secure the Breach the Legate made choice of a very dark night wherein the Wind blew very loud to cause it to be attacked The Soldiers approached the Tower and the Gate adjoining which they set on sire and passed to the second Wall whilest others clapt up Ladders and scaled the first Wall in diverse places without resistance then the King being immediately advertised of this strange Success led his Troops thither in good order and with the same facility gained the second Wall and the next morning being the fifth of November by break of day they took the third Wall with so little resistance that there was but one man lightly wounded in his Foot Immediately the Christian Standards were planted upon the Towers which the Sultans perceiving they retired with precipitation setting fire to their Camp and Bridge that so they might not be pursued Thus Damiata which had cost so much Blood and labour for eighteen Months was in one night taken by the Christian Army without Noise without Tumult there being none left in this fair and great City in Condition to defend it For the extreme Famine which they had indured and the diseases which followed upon it had made such a horrible ravage that of eighty thousand Soldiers and Citizens which were in it at the Beginning of the Siege there were scarcely lest three thousand alive and of those not above one hundred who were able to bear Arms. All the Streets and houses were filled with dead and dying Persons which the living who with extreme weakness expected the same Fate were not able to bury so that the Army was forced for a long time to encamp without the City before they could get it cleansed There were found in the City infinite Riches in Vessels of Gold Silver Pearls precious Stones Silks and all manner of Indian Drugs and Spices year 1219 But the Sarasins during the Siege having buried most of their Money and notwithstanding that the Legate had denounced the Anathema against those who should conceal any of the Booty which he ordered to be brought together to make a just distribution among the whole Army yet particular persons concealed the greatest part of the Booty so that there could never be got together above four hundred thousand Crowns in Money which was distributed among the Soldiers There were about four hundred among the Prisoners who were the most considerable who were reserved to be exchanged for those who had been taken by the Enemies during the Siege year 1220 The Principal Mosque which was supported by one hundred and fifty Marble Pillars and invironed by five curious Galleries with a noble Cupelo in the middle upon which was a lofty Spire was consecrated to God in honour of the blessed Virgin and upon the Feast of the Purification the Cardinal Legate accompanied by the Patriarch the Bishops and Clergy of Ptolemais followed by the King the Princes the Lords and all the Chief Commanders went in Solemn Procession there to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries of the Christian Religion after which they built a new Bridge which joyned the City and the Fort which they had during the Siege built upon the other bank of the Nile and then Damiata by the consent of the Legate and the whole Army was annexed to the Realm of Jerusalem and to add to the good Fortune some few dayes after a Party of a thousand Soldiers being commanded to go abroad for Forrage and Provisions failing up the second branch of the River Nilus which is called the Tanitique the Egyptians terrified by their comming cowardly abandoned the strongest of their Castles which was built upon the Ruines of the Famous City of Tanis in Ancient Time the Capital City of Egypt and the Residence of the Pharaohs the place where Moses to move the heart of that obdurate Prince wrought all those memorable Prodigies which are recorded in the Holy Story in the Book of Exodus It is also reported that in a place near Damiata the Christians found a Book written in Arabick the Author whereof who assures us that he was neither Jew Christian nor Mahometan predicted the Victories of the great Saladin the taking of Ptolemais by the Kings of England and France that of Damiata nine and twenty Years after and that one day there should come a King from the East whose name should be David and another from the West whom he does not name who joyning together should overthrow the Empire of the Mahometans and recover the City of Jerusalem But as one cannot judge of the Truth of this Prophecy by the former part of the things which it doth predict since they were already come to pass when the Book was found so it must be Posterity who only can be able to make a certain judgment of the truth of the second part when it shall happen to be accomplished which we have not yet seen The End of the Third Part. THE HISTORY OF THE CRUSADE OR The Expeditions of the Christian Princes for the Conquest of the Holy Land PART IV. BOOK I. The CONTENTS of the First Book The Condition the manners and the Religion of the People of Georgia who resolve to join with the Princes of the Crusade but are hindred by an irruption of the Tartars into their Country The Emperor Frederick sends a considerable relief to Damiata The return of King John de Brienne to the Army of the Crusades The Legate Pelagius opposeth his advice and makes them resolve upon a Battle against Meledin who once more offers Peace upon most advantageous Terms The Legate occasions the refusal of them The humour and discription of this Legate An account of the miserable adventure of the Christian Army which by the innundation of the Nile is reduced to the Discretion of Meledin The wise Policy of this Sultan who saves the Army by a Treaty which he was willing to make with the Crusades This misfortune is followed by the Rupture of Frederick the Emperor with the Pope The Character of that Emperor The Complaints of Pope Honorius against him His Answers and their Reconciliation A famous Conference for the Holy War King John de Brienne comes to desire assistance throughout Europe The death of Philip the August His Elogy his Will and his Funerals New Endeavours of the Pope and the Emperor for the Holy War The Marriage of Frederick with
his Navy year 1270 All things being thus disposed for so great an Enterprise the King declared Matthew de Vendosme Abbot of St. Dennis and Simon de Clermont Count de Neele Regents of the Realm during his Absence and after that having taken the Standard of St. Dennis according to the custom of his Ancestors as also the Scarf and the Pilgrim's Staff he parted the first day of March in the year one thousand two hundred and seventy accompanied with the Cardinal d' Albano whom Pope Clement had nominated his Legate for this Crusade and came to Aigues-Mort where he did not imbark till the beginning of July at the same time that the other part of his Fleet sailed from Marseilles and at last all of them after having been soundly beaten by a furious Tempest arrived at Cagliari There it was that the King held a great Council of War to which all the Princes the Lords and principal Officers of the Army were called He then proposed to them the Enterprise of Tunis and after it had passed by plurality of Voices in the affirmative although there were many who had much rather have gone directly to the Holy Land they set sail and steered away directly for Africa and within two days about the twentieth of July came within view of Tunis and Carthage Upon the Coast of Africa over against Sicily there is a Peninsula whose circumference is about three hundred and forty Stadia or two and forty miles which advanceth it self into the Sea between two Gulphs which it there makes That which is upon the West forms it self into a most commodious Port and the other turning a little between the East and South joyns it self to a very narrow Chanal by which there is an Entrance into a great Lake which Extends it self three or four Leagues within the Land and which hath since been called by the name of the Lake of Guletta It was in this fair Peninsula that the famous Rival of Rome year 1270 the Ancient City of Carthage stood in the place between these two Seas But since its last destruction by the Arabian Sarasins about the seventh Age there remained nothing at the time of this Crusade amidst the Ruins of that Magnificent City but a little Burrough upon the Port which was called Marsa and a Tower upon the point of the Cape with a strong Castle upon the Hill of Byrsa where anciently stood the Fortress of Carthage About some five Leagues from this great City drawing towards the South East a little below the Gulph and the Lake of Guletta there stood a little City called Tynis or Tynissa and at present Tunis of which the Great Scipio made himself Master before he besieged Carthage and which afterwards grew so great by the Ruins of Carthage that it was in the time of St. Lewis one of the greatest fairest and strongest Cities of all Africa For the Walls which the Turks afterwards demolished were forty Cubits high with very good Ramparts and Fortresses to support them and with divers Towers to flank them for their mutual defence It had eight Gates with their Portcullisses a very deep Ditch which environed it on the Land side and all manner of Fortifications which were used in those Times with large Suburbs which contained about ten thousand Houses But it was still become much greater since the greatest part of the Moors of Granada who had been driven out of Spain retired thither and applied themselves to all manner of Arts and Trades It is at present a kind of Republick under the Protection and Domination of the Grand Seignior ever since it was taken by Sinan Bassa from the Spaniards in the year one thousand five hundred seventy four It had before been twice taken by the Spaniards once by Charles the Fifth in the year one thousand five hundred thirty five and a second time by Don John of Austria after the Battle of Lepanto But formerly it had been under particular Kings since a certain Person one Abraham Aben Ferez who commanded there for the King of Morocco usurped this Realm from him about sixty years before this Crusade and it was his third Successor Muley Otmen Ostensa who reigned at Tunis then when St. Lewis whom he had made to hope his conversion undertook this Voyage At first this Holy King had reason to believe that this Prince had an Intention to accomplish his Promise by reason that there was not found any who opposed his landing and that he had opportunity to seize the Port of Carthage and after that the Tower almost without any resistance But he was quickly disabused by seeing a great Army sally out of Tunis to relieve the Castle of Carthage but that did not hinder but that it was taken by the Seamen only with the assistance of five hundred Cross-bows which they desired of the King assuring him that they would carry the place by Scalade which they accordingly did with so much Courage and Success that they made themselves Masters of it in an instant without any other loss than only one of their Companions whose Death they revenged by that of all the Sarasins who defended the place who were partly cut in pieces and partly smothered in the Vaults whither they retreated to save themselves and to the Entries of which the Seamen put fire The King who was advanced and drawn up in Battalia between the Castle and the Enemies to hinder their relieving the place stopped them so well by the brave Countenance which he made that the Sarasins durst never quit their Post they retired at Night towards Tunis and satisfied themselves with returning every day in greater numbers giving continual alarms and pickeering on all sides according to their manner without staying in one place either regularly to attack one Quarter or to march in Battalia and combat foot to foot with their Enemy This was what was done in this last Enterprise of St. Lewis in nine or ten days towards the end of July For in regard the King of Tunis had an Army composed of an infinite multitude of Arabs and Moors who had always a safe retreat under the Walls of Tunis which was extraordinarily provided with all sorts of Machins of War it was not thought convenient by his Council to attack them or to undertake the Siege of the City before the arrival of the King of Sicily who was daily expected In the mean time the King retrenched himself and fortified his Camp in a Vally below Carthage whither the Enemies came continually to Skirmishes in which they constantly had the worse but without ever coming to a General Battle year 1270 But the King of Sicily whom St Lewis daily pressed to hasten thither and who notwithstanding did not arrive till a Month after him was the Cause by his long delay of the unfortunate Success of this Voyage which he had with such earnestness advised for his private Interest For it being high Summer which is a season very improper for making
Orontes all the way of its passage watring the inward part of the City for these two mountains and two other lesser Hills were all within the Circumference of the Walls which were of an extraordinary height and thickness and defended by above four hundred fair Towers a mighty deep Ditch and a Counter-Scarp well fortified with Palisado's and invironed with a Morass and Pools of water in those parts where by reason of their lying upon the plain the Avenues to the City lay more easie of access And besides all this there was a powerful Army of Turks within the place for its defence as also two Castles upon the Mountain in one of which was the Palace of Sultan Accien who reigned in Antioch fourteen years after the Turks had taken it from the Sarasens and as he had a long time to foresee that the Army of the Christians must come upon him in their passage into Palestine he had used all imaginable diligence to furnish himself which all things necessary to sustain a long Siege hoping in that time to receive great succours from the Turkish Princes and especially the Sultan of Persia who had promised not to fail him and whom Soliman was gone to solicit in the common Cause year 1097 And that which rendred this attempt most extream difficult was not only the Greatness but the Situation of the City which would not admit of being wholly invironed but that there was free Egress and Regress for Succours to come to the besieged The Christian Army consisted not now in above three hundred thousand men the Sieges the Battles the Diseases and Disertions and other losses which they had sustained in their Passage over the Mountains and Deserts together with the Garrisons which they were obliged to put in the conquered Places had reduced them to one half but nevertheless the Princes according to the resolution which they had taken did not cease to form the Siege in this following manner All the South side was left open by reason that it was impossible to attack the City on that side in regard of the Rock and Mountains which rendred the Passage inaccessible So that they were contented to environ it on the side of the Plain beginning at the foot of the Mountain on the East and so drawing by the North towards the West between the Town and the River which in that part for about a mile came so near the Western part that it served for a Ditch upon that Quarter Prince Bohemond and Tancred took their Post over against the Eastern Gate called St. Paul's Gate through which they go to the famous and delightful Suburb of Daphne sometimes so celebrated for the Temple and Oracle of Apollo and afterwards much more for the Tomb of that illustrious Martyr Babylas who silenced the Devil for ever giving any more doubtful Answers to the foolish Inquirers Hugh the Great the Duke of Normandy the Earl of Blois and the Earl of Flanders were posted at the Right drawing more towards the North to the Port commonly called the Dogs Gate The Earl of Tholose with the Bishop of Pavia were encamped before that Gate and possessed all the space between that and the third Gate which afterwards was called the Dukes Gate by reason that Duke Godfrey with his Lorrainers and Germans was posted there his Quarters being extended to that place where the Orontes beginning to turn from the North to the West slides down by the Walls of Antioch so that the greatest part of the Army was encamped between the Town and the River which was there passed by a large stone Bridge just over against the fourth Gate of the Town which was therefore called the Bridge Gate This Gate was also open to the besieged as well as that of St. Georges upon the West by reason that the River was between these two Gates and the Besiegers who by an Error not easily to be excused did not at first raise good Forts against these two Gates as afterwards something with the latest they were constrained to do But this Failure was nothing in comparison of another far greater and which cost the whole Army very dear For the besieged making no manner of Sallies to hinder their Approaches and seeming to be buried in a profound Quiet not so much as bringing one Engine to the Walls for their Defence they in appearance looked as if they had lost all their Courage and their Hope so that it was the Common Imagination that the Christians could not fail presently to make themselves Masters of the Town So that hereupon they took the Liberty to ramble up and down the Country year 1097 and to straggle all over the Villages round about to make merry and without any necessity to wast that mighty plenty of provisions with which that fertile Soil abounded and in short they neither kept Order nor Discipline in the Camp partly by reason of the false opinion which possessed them that this contemptible Enemy would surrender the Town without a Blow but principally by the misfortune that both Duke Godfrey and Prince Raymond were fallen sick which had like to have intirely ruined their Affairs year 1097 The Enemies quickly advertised by their Spies of this disorder failed not to make advantage of it they began at last after so long a silence to make a mighty noise with their Engines and afterwards instantly to assail the Camp upon all Quarters so that the besiegers seemed now to be besieged Their Cavalry fallying at the Bridge-Gate over-ran that Quarter which was beyond the River cutting in pieces all those whom they found dispersed and without Arms as if it had been in a time of perfect Peace Nor was it possible for their Companions to succour them in regard that they must either by swimming or fording come to their Assistance neither of which could quickly be performed Others of them made Sallies either openly and in good Order assaulting the Quarters which were negligently guarded or by surprize creeping along the River side and the Marish among the Reeds they fell upon such as were idly walking or diverting themselves in the Gardens and Orchards as if they had not been in an Enemies Country In this manner the unfortunate Alberon Archdeacon of Mets a young Prince of the Blood Imperial miserably perished for as he was walking with a Lady of great Quality in one of these Gardens he was surprized by the Infidels who cut off his head and carried the Lady Prisoner into the City where after the barbarous Villains had committed all the Outrages imaginable against her Honor they cut off her head also and threw them into Godfrey's Camp After which the Besiegers ashamed to be so affronted by the mistake of the Courage of their Enemies began now to act after new Measures and recalling their Ancient Vertue to think of taking the City in good Earnest They therefore began to attack it by main Force with all sorts of Engines and gave a general Assault with all the
Reason and that Ingratitude which is so common among men defacing the fairest Character of Humanity should not be found in the most Savage Creatures whom the Charms of good Offices have devested of their natural Fierceness towards their Benefactors But to return to our History The taking of Marra revived the sleeping Quarrel between the Earl of Tholose and the Prince of Tarentum For the Earl pretended to dispose of this Place as he had done before of Albaria and Rugia upon which he had seized during the Summer but Bohemond who thought there was no manner of Reason that Raimond should do that here which he would not suffer to be done at Antioch opposed him stoutly and in the Dispute they so heated one the others Spirits that the Tarentine thinking he had Reason to do the same on his part returned and immediately drove out all the Earls Forces out of the Forts which they held at Antioch The Princes themselves could in no fort disapprove of this Procedure which they found to be but reasonable especially after having discoursed Raimond at Rugia between Marra and Antioch they found it impossible to perswade him to hear Reason which obliged them to leave him and return to Antioch Thus the great Design of the Conquest of the Holy Land which all the Forces of the Infidels had not been able to hinder seemed in a manner to be ruined by this Difference between two Persons otherwise reputed extraordinary Virtuous and as wise as any of that Age. So that we may see that Wisdom and Reason instantly lose all their Authority when once Passion by the Heart seizing upon the Mind makes herself Mistress there year 1098 But God who was the Chief in this Enterprize repaired that by the Zeal of the feeble and the little ones which was in Danger of being ruined by the Great and the Wise men of the World For the Soldiers of Count Raymond who on one side suffered extremely for want of Provisions after they had been one Month at Marra and on the other hand had a passionate Desire to atchieve the Conquest of Jerusalem thought that the Ambition of the Earl was the only Obstacle who after the Example of Bohemond endeavoured to establish his own Fortune in these Conquests as the other had done in Cilicia during the Summer And therefore making an Insurrection while the Conference was at Rugia they threw down all the Walls of Marra thereby to take away from the Earl the Temptation which he might have to keep it and stay there and more over after his Return they protested that if he would not immediately march in the Head of them towards Jerusalem they would chuse another Captain who they were assured would lead them that they were resolved to accomplish their Vow and that they did not believe they should find themselves alone or abandoned by the other Princes Raimond extremely surprised at this Resolution and fearing in Truth that he should be wholly deserted by his own as he was already by the others his first Zeal which had been so weakened by his Jealousie against the Prince of Tarentum began afresh to flame in his Soul by seeing that of his Soldiers like a Torch that is just ready to be extinguished at the Approach and Touch of another In Conclusion he presently altered his Resolution and setting fire to Marra to shew that he had quitted all Pretensions to it upon the Thirteenth of January he marched out barefoot in the Posture of a Penitent by that Humiliation to repair the Scandal which he had given to his Soldiers who had justly accused him of Ambition He was followed with an incredible Chearfulness of his whole Army who made no Scruple seeing him in this Estate but that he had taken up the same Fervor which he had so well witnessed in being the first Person who took upon him the Cross and who upon all Occasions was wont to animate others by his Example and Perswasion to embrace it with the same Zeal And God also was pleased to bless this generous Action for Robert Duke of Nomandy and Prince Tancred being advertized of this News immediately parted from Antioch whilest the other Princes prepared to follow and joyned him at Capharda where he had posted himself after he had quitted Marra taking the right hand Way toward the Sea year 1099 The taking of Antioch and the great Victory which they had obtained over the Turks the Persians and Arabians had so filled all Syria Phenicia and Palestine with the Terror of the Christian Arms that most of the Emirs who held any Places in those Provinces under the Sultans of Persia or Babylon and Egypt sent their Ambassadours with rich Presents to the Princes to desire their Friendship and Protection promising to pay them Tribute and furnish them with Provisions in their Passage Now in Regard the Principal Design was to go immediately to Jerusalem and to leave the Conquest of the rest till that was taken the Princes thought fit to accept their Offers only the Emir of Tripelis was refused for Earl Raymond perswaded them to besiege Arcas by Reason of the Advice which he received from some Christians who were detained Prisoners at Tripolis that it would either easily be taken or that the Emir to obtain Peace would compound with them for a mighty Sum of money and likewise restore them to their Liberty Arcas which others call Archis was a very strong Town situate upon a Hill some two Leagues from Tripolis and one from the Sea in the middle of a most beautiful and fertile Plain which extends it self along the Lebanon and Antilebanon to the Sea shore The Earl who thought to carry it presently assaulted it the eleventh day of February but the Emir having placed in it a very strong Garrison he was repulsed and constrained to besiege it which he did to no purpose for three months losing before it a great Number of Valiant Men and amongst the rest Anselm de Ribemont descended from the Ancient Earls of Valenciennes and Chastelain of that City one of the most renowned among the Crusades and the Accident by which it happened being altogether extraordinary it well deserves a particular place in this History year 1099 This brave Lord being one Night about to go to Bed having fought stoutly all that day he saw his excellent Friend the young Engelram the Son of the Earl of St. Paul who a little before was slain at the Siege of Marra enter into his Tent. Now Anselm who had an undaunted Soul and to whom the Sight of his Friend gave an extraordinary Joy And how now my dear Engelram said he without being at all disordered are you still alive whom I saw dead at Marra Those replyed Engelram who finish their Lives in the Service of Jesus Christ never die But how comes it Said Anselm that I see you now incomparably more beautiful than you were before Look replyed Engelram shewing him a most admirable Structure in
the manner of the Ancient Romans covering themselveslike Tortoises with their Bucklers whilst others were extended in long siles and followed them at a just distance year 1099 to have convenient Room to make use of their Bows their Slings and Cross-Bows to drive the Enemy from the Walls with great Stones Darts and Arrows which they showered continually upon them whilest in the mean time the first endeavoured in Despite of pieces of Rock and Beams which they threw down from the Walls to crush them to come at the Wall and with Pick-Axes Mattocks Levers and such sort of Iron Instruments wanting Rams they tried to make a Breach or Passage through the Wall and they acted with so much Force and Courage that they overthrew the Out-Wall and made a Passage to the very Foot of the Inward-Wall but that being too strong to receive any Damage by such pittiful Tools there was no Hope but to force the Place by a Scalade and so little Care had been taken to make Provision relying upon the Promise of the Hermit who told them if they had no more than one Ladder of Osiers they should nevertheless take the City that when they came to make Use of them there was no more than one sound Ladder that was long enough to reach the Walls notwithstanding which these Braves transported with mad Courage being prepossessed with the Belief that they should carry the Town planted that Ladder and mounted with so much Resolution that pushing one another upwards many of them got up to the Top and threw themselves over the Wall where they desperately fought hand to hand against the Saracens who were amazed at this more than Heroick Boldness and there is no doubt but if they had had more Ladders Jerusalem had been that day taken for the Enemies who did not in the least expect such an irregular and brisk Attempt had not brought any of their Engines to the Walls But seeing there could but by one Ladder mount a very few men who must needs be exposed to a Multitude of Enemies without Hope of Succour a Retreat was sounded after having lost in that rash Attempt a great many brave men who yet sold their Lives at so dear a Rate that twice their Number of the Saracens paid theirs in lieu of them Duke Godfrey who was ashamed of the Fault he had committed by preferring the idle Visions of a simple Hermit before the just Rules of Military Art remonstrated to the Princes that if they resolved to carry the Town by Force it was necessary to attack it with good Engines of War since they were to sight with men who having once would not a second time be surprised in their Defence against a Scalade This Advice was approved by all but the difficulty was to know where they should be furnished with Materials to frame them there being never a Forrest in all the Country For as for the famous Enchanted Woods of Ismena Clormea Renaud and Armida and a hundred other such like Inventions of Tasso they are nothing but the agreeable Visions of a Poetical Fancy which takes a great deal of Delight in pleasing others with making new Creations which never were except in his own or the Imaginations of his Readers but which must as the Amusements of Fables and Chimera's be rejected by Historians who are to entertain their Readers with nothing but solid Truth But this is most certain that while they were in this Trouble a Christian of the Country informed the Princes that about three or four Leagues off in the Way that leads to Arabia there was a Valley quite out of any Road where in a great Cavern there was a good Quantity of large Beams of Cedar and Cypress and that there was thereabout some Trees of which they might make very good Use although they were of no considerable Height The Duke of Normandy and the Earl of Flanders went thither with some Troops being Conducted by this Guide where they really found such Wood which they caused to be carried to the Camp They also carried thither all the Planks Joists and Beams of the Houses near the City which they could sind and for a whole Month they wrought all sorts of Engines which are made use of in Sieges as also some of a new Invention according as they were designed by Duke Godfrey and Gaston de Foix Prince of Bearne who took care of the Management of these Works but that which mightily advanced them was that nine great Ships being arrived at Joppa with Provisions from Pisa and Genoa for the Army and despairing to defend themselves in that little Fleet against that of the Saracens which was coming to attack them they broke up the Ships and setting Fire to what they could not carry to the Camp the Seamen applied themselves most industriously to the building of these Engines year 1099 All this time the Army was ready to perish with the excessive Thirst which it indured for the Brook Cedron which divides the Valley of Jehosaphat hath very little Water except in the Winter and the Fountain of Siloe which is at the Foot of Mount Sion toward the South afforded but a very little Water so that there was scarce any to be had but what was to be found two Leagues off and that with great Hazard of falling into the Hands of the Saracens who lay continually in Ambuscades to surprize such whose Thirst constrained them to straggle abroad to seek for Water and besides what was to be had was so little and there were so many People besides the Beasts that were to drink that it became presently pudled and stinking In this Extremity there could be no other Resolution but so soon as ever the Engines which were preparing were sinished to give a General Assault with a sirm Determination either to carry the Place or perish in the Attempt And therefore before the Execution of so dangerous an Enterprize and whilest the Preparations were making it was thought fit that publick Prayers should be made by the whole Army to implore the Mercy of Almighty God and to crave his Blessing and Assistance For this Purpose after a Fast of three days upon Fryday the eighth of July there was a solemn Procession where the Bishops and Clergy barefooted followed by the Princes and Soldiers in their Arms surrounded the City setting out at the Church of Sion and passing by the Oratory of St. Stephen through the Valley of Jehosaphat and so by the Mountain of Olives to the Place from whence Christ Jesus ascended into Heaven Here it was that Peter the Hermit and Arnold the Chaplain to the Duke of Normandy made such Powerful Exhortations to reunite the Hearts of the Army that all the Chiefs and the Soldiers and particularly Tancred and Count Raymond who had had the greatest Differences embraced each other in Token of a mutual Reconciliation and Exhorted one another to revenge those Injuries and Outrages which were offered to Jesus Christ by the Saracens
Promise of Repayment after the War he went according to the Custom of his Ancestors to St. Dennis to take the Oriflame or Standard of that Saint From thence he departed a little before Whitsunday towards the middle of June taking his way for Mets where was to be the general Rendezvous of all his Troops whilest in the mean time the Emperor as before was agreed marched with his towards Constantinople where they were to rejoyn their Forces The Emperor accordingly having assembled almost all the Forces of the Empire parted from Noremberg about the End of May upon Ascention Day with a most flourishing Army consisting in seventy Thousand Men at Arms all Curiassiers without computing the light Horsemen and with an Infantry the most numerous and in the best Condition that ever any Emperor had seen before After having passed the Danube at Batisbonne crossed through Austria Hungaria Bulgaria and Thracia without any of those mischievous Rencounters which happened to the first Crusades upon the seventh of September they entred into a fair large and delicious Valley in the middle whereof ran the River Melas in his Passage into the Gulph of that Name or the Black Sea and sometimes borrowing the Name of Cardia an Ancient City of the Thracian Chersonesus The Beauty of so agreeable a place obliged the Emperor to stay there to refresh his Army and to Celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin which was the next day But there happened a sad Accident which seemed to portend the unlucky Success of this fatal War For the Army encamping while it was yet Early day and it happening to be a Serene and Glorious Evening and the Medows on each side of the River extending themselves a great length to the very Foot of the Mountains there was nothing during the whole Voyage to be seen so fair and magnificent as this Encampment For the Camp represented some fair and lofty City being composed of an Infinite Number of very rich Tents which were disposed in diverse Streets the whole length of the Plain as far as one could well discern till they came to a little rising Hill where stood the Pavilions of Duke Frederick and appeared like the Cittadel of this Enchanted City They passed the Evening with great Jollity solacing themselves after the Fatigues of so long a March which they had endured a little before they were to go to their Repose after that the Bishops had begun the Solemnity of the following Festival by the Publick Prayers for the Eve of Ascention the Heavens began to be darkned with a few small Clouds which produced some light Drops rather of Dew than Rain but within a Moment after there arose one of those furious Whirlwinds which they call Hurricanes which made such a disorder as is not imaginable for immediately the Impetuosity of these contrary Winds which rushed one against the other with a most dreadful roaring was so great that having broken all the Cordages which held up the Tents all this City without Foundation was partly tumbled down to the Ground year 1147 and partly hoisted up into the Air where the Winds which wrapt themselves up in the Pavilions made them sly about and afterwards tore them in a thousand pieces this Storm was succeeded by such fearful Deluge of Rain as made a thousand litle Torrents come rolling down from the Neighbouring Mountains into the Plain which by their Rapidity carried before them Men Beasts Moveables and what ever they incountred in their Passage and at the same time the South-Wind the most violent of the rest drove up the Water of the River and swelled it with the Huge Waves of the Sea to that prodigious height that it overflowed all the Banks in that furious manner that all the Plain was drowned to the very Foot of the Mountains It is impossible to express the Tumult the Consternation and the Desperation of the Army upon this Terrible Accident all that the great Lords and Cavaliers could do was to run half naked to their Horses to get to the Mountains over this new Sea which had now taken Possession of those Beautiful Medows with which they were before so much delighted As for the poor Foot some of them got hold of the Tails of the Horses whilest others quaking with Wet and Cold as well as Fear followed the Track of the Horsemen a great many got upon the Waggons as upon a Rampart and others stood immoveable in the Places where they were up to the middle in Water waiting for the End of this Dreadful Tempest some by mistake falling into the River by reason the Banks could not be discerned miserably perished in the Waters and almost all lost the greatest part of their Baggage The loss of men however was not extraordinary in regard that the Tempest was too violent to last long The Inundation ceased in a few hours and the Waters falling immediately after the dispersed Souldiers rendevouzed upon the Mountain before the Emperor who learnt in this Rencontre how easie it is in a Moment for God to abase the Pride of men and when he pleaseth to humble the most formidable Powers of the Earth which are weak and miserable in Comparison of him This Prince who entertained himself with these Pious and Christian Meditations received this Blow of the Hand of Almighty God with great Humility and Submission to the Orders of his Providence and evidenced an extraordinary Greatness of Soul and Constancy of Mind under this Affliction thereby to encourage his Army at the Head of which he continued to march very chearfully leading them to lodge in the Suburbs of Constantinople there in some measure to recover this Loss In this time a fair Fleet composed of above a hundred Sail of Germans English Flemings and French which several private Persons had rigged out to make their Voyage more easily and quickly by Sea was diverted by an Adventure which was worth more than one Crusade and in which they happily found in Europe all that Glory which they went to search after in Asia This Fleet set Sail from England the twelfth of April having on board three or four Thousand men commanded by their particular Captains After they had for a long time met with foul Weather and Cross Winds at last they came to an Anchor before Lisbon thinking there to refresh themselves when they were surprised by finding that great City besieged by an Army of Christians to whom God sent this unexpected Succour to take Lisbon from the Sarasins and to make it the Capital City of that Realm which a Prince descended from the House of France had newly founded This Prince was Henry the Grand-Son of Robert of France Duke of Burgundy and Second Son of King Robert He being young and a passionate Lover of Glory went to seek for it in Spain at the Wars against the Moors towards the latter end of the Reign of Ferdinand the first King of Castile and made his first Campagne under that famous Captain
Guy Cardinal of Florence the Pope's Legat in his Army and the Bishops of Langres and Lizieux The Count de Dreux his Brother Thierry Earl of Flanders Henry Earl of Troyes the Son of Thibald Earl of Champagne Ives de Nele and many other Lords of the first Quality who came with him from Attalia The young King Baldwin with his Mother Queen Melesintha also assisted at it together with the Patriarch of Jerusalem the Arch-Bishops of Cesarea and Nazareth the Bishops of Ptolemais Sidon Beritus Paneas and Bethlehem the Earls of Napolis Tiberias Sidon Cesaria Beritus as also the Constable Manasses and the great Masters of the Temple of the Hospitallers It was a long time under Debate what was most advantageous to be undertaken for the common Interest and in conclusion they determined to besiege Damascus Which being as it were in the Centre and Midst of the four Principalities which the Christians held in the East might be equally dangerous to them all Upon this all the Troops were appointed to rendezvous the five and twentieth Day of May at Tiberias where a general Review being made of the Army they advanced to Paneas near the Head of Jordan the Patriarch carrying the true Cross or at least that which was believed to be so before them The Measures which were taken for the Siege were according to the Opinion of the Lords of that Country who were best acquainted with the Strength and Weakness of the place After which crossing the celebrated Mount Lebanon they descended into the fair Champain of Damascus and encamped at Daria a little Village about two Leagues from Damascus from the most elevated place whereof the Towers of that stately City were easily to be discerned Damascus one of the most ancient and sometimes one of the fairest and greatest Cities of Asia is situate in a large Plain at the Foot of Mount Lebanon which is watered with two Rivers and a great number of little Springs and Fountains which notwithstanding its natural Inclination to Sterility it being a hungry sandy Soil render it very fruitful and delightful These two Rivers take their Rise upon the East at no very great distance from the Foot of the Mountain Amana which is a part of Mount Lebanon the lesser is called Abana and slows all along by the Walls of the City upon the West the greater which is Pharpar and which some have confounded with the Orontes and for the beauty of its Streams is called Chryorrhoas or Golden Stream after having passed through the City and wandred through the Fields and the Valleys of the neighbouring Country loseth it self under the Earth either because being divided into a multitude of Canals which are drawn to render the Earth more fruitful that it is so diminished that at last it ends in them or that by some unknown Subterranean Passages it dischargeth it self into the Phenician Sea It was the great Conveniency of making these Canals year 1148 which made all that part of the City towards the North and a great part of the West be inclosed with a prodigious number of Gardens and Orchards where were planted an infinite of Trees producing all manner of Fruits the most delicious of all the East These Gardens were divided one from the other by little narrow Passages which cutting one another and turning and winding several ways without any regular Art or Figure formed a kind of undesigned Labyrinth where it was easie for those who were unacquainted with them to lose themselves in those delightful places Every Garden had its House and its little Tower according to the Mode of the Orientals for the Convenience and the Lodging of its Master So that the City being very populous the number of Gardens which covered those sides was very great and extended themselves almost two Leagues so that viewing it upon that side it represented to the Sight a large Forest which seemed to extend it self to the very Walls But on the contrary the other side which lay to the East and South had not so much as a Tree a Hedge or a Bush but shewed a bald Champaign from whence it was easie to discern the whole City which was defended with high Walls which were fortified with great Towers whereof four which listed up their proud Heads above the rest were of an extraordinary heighth and strength and above all it was defended by a Fortress which was esteemed the fairest and most regular of all Asia This City had been taken from the Sarasins by the Turks whose Sultan Dodequin made a most cruel War against the Christians between the time of the first and the second Crusade After his death his Successors seeing themselves attacked by Sanguin the redoubted Sultan of Alepo and Ninevch who endeavoured the Conquest of all Syria joyned themselves with the Christian Princes to make War against this common Enemy They assisted them according to the Treaty in the Taking of Paneas which they had taken from the Christians before and Sanguin from them again But there being little Faith to be expected from Infidels they soon brake the Peace and declared themselves as before the mortal Enemies of the Christians For this reason it was that the Resolution was sixed to attack them and above all things to carry this City which was in a Condition to give the Check-mate to the four Christian Principalities of the East Hereupon it was also resolved in the Council to attack the Town on the Garden-sides that so the Army might have the Convenience of the River the Fruits and Forrage which were there to be had in abundance The next Morning therefore the Army being divided into three Bodies marched in good Order towards Damascus drawing from the West towards the North to the Garden-Quarter of the City The young King of Jerusalem Baldwin the Third commanded in Person the first Body composed of his own Troops and those of the Princes of Syria who had the same Interest with him in the Siege The French made the second having at their Head King Lewis to support the first which they followed at a little distance to be always ready to afford them Succour The Emperor with his Germans had the Rere to oppose the Enemy's Cavalry if they should attempt to fall upon them as they made their Approaches Baldwin who thirsted mightily after Glory and was transported with Joy to meet with so fair an Opportunity to display his Courage in the View of the French and Germans did instantly press to make the first Attack which was easily granted him in regard he alledged that his People were better acquainted than the rest with the nature of the place and the Turnings of the Gardens He was a Prince who was now advanced to the Flower of his Youth being between eight and nine and twenty Years of Age he was of Stature something less than the Middle but of a Proportion so just and regular in all the parts of his Body that his want of Heighth did not lessen
the Christians but a very few private Soldiers and not one Man of Condition except the valiant James d' Avesne who was slain at the beginning of the Battle of the Vanguard But it must be said that if King Richard knew how to vanquish in this famous Day with all the Glory which can be gained upon a like Occasion he had Hanibal's Misfortune not to have the Art to make Advantage of his Victory For if instead of amusing himself with Rebuilding the Maritim Towns which Saladin had ruined which might have been more commodiously done at another Season he had marched straight to Jerusalem most assuredly he might have taken it without Resistance by reason that Saladin was fled among the Mountains and those who were left there for the Defence of the Place not being able to hope to be Relieved and fearing to meet with the same Measure which those who had so obstinately defended Acre would scarcely have had the Courage to defend it against him But whether it were his Prosperity and the excessive Joy with which so great a Victory had disturbed his Mind which made him incline to tast the Pleasure of being so great a Conqueror or whether it were that after having done very well one naturally loves to take the more easy part and not to hazard that Glory which one hath already acquired certain it is that this is a Fault with which almost in all Ages one hath occasion to reproach the greatest Captains and it is observable that most frequently they have lost the Opportunity of finishing a War by attacking after great Success the Enemy and following the fortunate Blow which they had given Thus King Richard after so fair a Victory lost the rest of the Year in re-building and re-peopling the Maritim Towns and especially Jaffa whither he caused the two Queens to come and where in that time he ran a far greater Danger than he he had done in besieging of Jerusalem One Day as he was hunting he with five or six of his Gentlemen fell into a great Ambuscade of the Sarasins where he had been infalibly taken and lead Captive to Saladin if one of the Lords who accompanied him whose Name was William de Pourcellets a Gentleman of Provence who was wholly devoted to his Service had not done an Action which History ought to recommend to Posterity as a most illustrious Example of that inviolable Fidelity which Servants owe to their Masters and much more Subjects to their Soveraigns though to the hazard of their Lives For seeing the King who valiantly defended himself with mighty Blows of his Sword in danger to be taken or slain as already four of the Company were who lay extended upon the Grass at their Masters Feet he cried out in the Language of the Sarasins I am the King Whereupon all of them desirous to have a share in the taking of so great a King ran to him and gave King Richard the liberty to save himself whilest without regarding any others they all fell with Precipitation upon him whom they took for the King Saladin who had nothing of the Barbarian in his Conduct acting like a generous Prince treated his Prisoner according to the merit of so brave an Action And King Richard for his part failed not to recompence him with Honours proportionable to his Deserts for he gave in Exchange for him ten of the greatest and richest Noblemen among his Prisoners to manifest the Esteem which he had for this brave Man whom alone he valued at the rate of ten Princes for whose Ransoms he might have expected very great Riches and Treasures This was the Glory which by his Virtue this gallant Man acquired for himself whilest living and which dying he bequeathed to his illustrious House which to this day preserves its Lustre and maintains its Rank among the most Ancient and the most Noble of Provence All this time Saladin ceased not to lay all the Country Wast and thereby to take away all manner of Subsistence from the Christians as also to ruine all the Cities of Palestine except Jerusalem and two or three strong Fortresses whilest Richard unprofitably wasted his time in rebuilding those Places which being demolished could give no trouble to his principal Design He also suffered himself to be amused by a Treaty of Peace extremely Advantageous to him which Saphadin the Brother of Saladin pretended to negotiate between them year 1191 by which he proposed to the King to relinquish to him all the Country on this side Jordan to the Sea provided that Ascalon which was to be demolished should appertain to neither Party These Offers seemed so Advantageous to Richard who was already imbroiled with the French under the Duke of Burgundy that he was very much disposed to conclude with Saphadin But at length he perceived that he was deluded and that the Barbarian more cunning than honest had not begun this Negotiation but to gain time and to throw him upon the Winter He thereupon fell into an extreme Rage and as Rage is one of the worst of Councellors which puts Men upon acting without any certain Rules or Measures to satisfy this inpetuous Passion he blindly followed its Conduct and at that unseasonable time of the Year undertook the Siege of Jerusalem which if he had consulted Reason he ought to have done and might happily have effected it three or four Months before year 1192 He went therefore with Precipitation enough in the Month of January with the whole Army already much diminished by the departure of many of the Crusades who were displeased with his Delays of Peopling Planting and Rebuilding in which he consumed the Summer and passing by Rama which Saphadin in his Retreat had demolished he advanced within three or four Leagues of Jerusalem All the Souldiers witnessed an excessive Joy to find themselves within View of that City where they hoped shortly to worship before the Sacred Sepulchre of Jesus Christ so great an Assurance had they of the Victory But when the Counsel was assembled the Passion of King Richard being something cooled and the Matter debated in cold Blood the greatest part of the Captains adjudged that the Enterprise was too rash to hope that it should Prosper There it was remonstrated That the Town was very Strong and well provided that Saladin was there in Person with the choicest of his Troops not at all doubting but that there he was in a Condition of Security as Affairs then stood the Season being such that an Army could not possibly undertake a Siege without putting themselves against all the Rules of Art and War into a most manifest Danger of being Ruined That in effect the Country being intirely ruined by the Wast which Saladin had made there was not Subsistence to be found for one single day for the Army and that it being in the deep of Winter there was no probability of getting Provision by the Sea And for that extraordinary Ardor which the Soldiers shewed it ought