before all the Cities of the Earth to be the place of his own habitation dwelling as were in a most immediate manner in the Temple of Jerusalem which was afterward built by King Solomon and commanding all the Tribes of Israel to repair thither to do him homage and adoration And says of it himself That he loved the gates of Sion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. Whereby it became a lively Type both of the Gospel Church and the state of the Redeemed in the everlasting injoyment of Heaven which is frequently in Sacred Writ called by the name of the New Jerusalem For which reason as well as its being the place of the Nativity and Death of our Saviour it hath acquired the Name of Holy But altho' Jerusalem and the Land of Judea was thus dignified by the Almighty yet the ungrateful Jews were perpetually multiplying Rebellions against him whereby he was provoked to scurge them with the Rod of the Gentels and give them up to the spoil and cruelty of their Enemies So that it was twice plundered by the Egyptians once in the Reign of Rehoboam and a second time upon the death of Josiah once by the Assyrians in the Reign of Manassch three times by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon first in the Reign of Jehoiakim secondly in the Reign of Jehoiachin and thirdly in the Reign of Zedekiah carrying all those three Kings and all the Inhabitants of the Land Captive into Babylon together with all the Treasure and Riches of the Kingdom and spoiling the City of Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord so that it lay wast for 70 years At the end whereof according to the Prophecy of the Prophet Jeremiah they were freed from their Captivity by Cyrus King of Persia When returning home they rebuilt the City and the Temple and by degrees became as formidable to their Enemies as ever they had been before till by their increasing wickedness they pulled down upon themselves the Vengeance of Heaven to their utter and final ruin The People of Judea and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem having filled up the â—easure of their sins by putting to death â—he Lord of Life and murthering him who came to save them from everlasting â—isery were presently after swallowed up â—y an universal and irrecoverable â—uine and rooted out from being â—ny longer a Nation by the victorious Arms of the conquering Romans who â—ackt the City of Jerusalem destroyed â—he Temple and carried away the Inhaâ—itants captive according to the unerring â—rediction of our blessed Saviour But aâ—out sixty years after this Destruction by â—itus Adrian the Emperour rebuilt the City â—hanging the situation of it somewhat more Westward and calling it by the name â—f Aelia And to shew his hatred to the â—weet and adorable name of Christ and â—espite against the Professors of Christiâ—nity he erected a Temple over our Saâ—iours Sepulcher wherein he placed the â—mages of Jupiter and Venus And that â—e might inrage the Jews likewise he â—aused Swine to be engraven over the â—ates of the City which they accounting â—o be a great profanation of their Land â—rake out into open Rebellion but were â—asily overcome and subdued by the Emâ—erour who to prevent the like Attempt or the future caused them all to be transported into Spain and left the whoâ—â— Country waste and forlorn which partâ— with its Inhabitants and fruitfulness tâ—gether those delicious streams of Miâ— and Honey wherewith it was wont 〈◊〉 flow being now wholly exhausted driâ— up and the Soil become altogethâ—â— barren and unfruitful The wretchâ— Jews being thus transported into Spaâ— were from thence scattered into all paâ—â— of the World so that there is scarce aâ— Nation under Heaven where some of theâ— are not to be found at this day After this Pagan Worship flourisheâ— in Jury and the Professors of Christianâ— were inhumanely and barbarously uâ— by the Roman Emperours under the fâ— Ten Persecutions until at last God out compassion to their deplorable miseâ— raised up Constantine the Great a Brâ—tain born as most Historians affirâ— whose healing hand quickly stanch that Issue of Blod wherewith the Churâ— of Christ had been so long afflicted aâ— blessed her Borders with Peace aâ— Tranquillity Whereupon the devout Helen wâ— was Mother to Constantine and as muâ— fam'd among the Christians for her Pieâ— as the Ancient Helen was among the Pâ—gans for her Beauty Notwithstanding â—he greatness of her Age being about Eighty years old travelled to Jerusalem â—nd having first purged Mount Calvary â—nd Bethlehem from Idolatry built in â—he places of Christs death and burial â—nd elsewhere in Palestine divers very â—ately and magnificent Churches so that Christianity flourished through all Paâ—stine being well provided of able Biâ—ops and Preachers and they indued with very liberal Maintenance But Constantine being succeeded by â—ulian who shamefully apostatized from â—he Christian Religion and turned again 〈◊〉 the Pagan Idolatry the Sun of the â—ospel was for a while eclipsed For in â—ope to prove Christs Prediction false â—e gave the Jews leave to rebuild their Temple who thereupon flockt together 〈◊〉 great numbers with Spades and Matocks of Silver to clear the Foundation â—nd were so desirous of accomplishing â—e work that the Women carried way the Rubbish in their Aprons and ontributed all their Jewels to advance â—e great design But a sudden and amaâ—ng Tempest which carried away their â—ools and Materials for Building and â—ith Balls of Fire scorched the forâ—ardest and most adventurous of â—he Builders made them desist and give over the Enterprize Yet the Christians afterwards in the place where the Temple stood built a stately Church for the Worship of Christ which remained a long time in the Christians hands and was the Ancient Seat of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem but is now in the possession of the Turks and the very entring into it prohibited to Christians upon pain of forfeiting their Lives or renouncing their Religion CHAP. II. The Holy Land conquered 1. By the Persians 2. By the Saracens And 3. By the Turks THE next remarkable Accident that happened in the Holy Land was under Phocas the Emperour who having murdered Mauritius and usurped the Imperial Dignity abandoned himself wholly to ease and pleasure whereby he betrayed the Empire to Forreigâ—â— Foes and invited Chosrees the Persian to invade his Territories who with a greaâ— Army subdued Syria and Jerusalem and carried away many Thousand Christians many of whom he sold to their Ancient Enemies the Jews And to grace his Conquest the more he carried the Cross away with him But Heraclius who succeeded Phocas having gotten an Army together passed into Persia and gave him an absolute overthrow and in his return took Jerusalem in his way and restored the Cross which was then accounted as a most precious Jewel to the Temple of the Sepulchre and appointed the fourteenth day of September to be the Feast of the exaltation of the Cross But wickedness and impiety abounding in and among the
the Kingdom Philip Earl of Flanders and the chief strength of the Kingdom being then absent in Celosyria wasting the Country about Emissa and Cesarea Baldwin was forced to keep himself close in the City not daring to venture on so strong an Enemy which fear of Baldwins having possessed Saladine with a belief that he needed not so great an Army to lie before the City he sent out several Parties to forrage and spoil the Country which the King observing resolved to take opportunity by the fore-lock and set on him when he least expected it To which end he sallied out with great privacy and silence and with about four hundred Horse a few Footmen suddenly assaulted his secure Enemies with such invincible Courage and Resolution that notwithstanding their number being Twenty six thousand Horse and Foot they were utterly routed and the Christians returned with great Triumph and Joy to Jerusalem But Saladine who was rather inraged than daunted by this overthrow resolved not to be long before he recovered his credit and therefore about two months after he fell with his Mammalukes like a mighty and raging Tempest upon the Christians as they were dividing the spoil of a Party of Turks whom they had vanquished a little before putting most of them to the Sword and the rest to flight and taking Otto Grand Master of the Templars and Hugh Son-in-law to the Count of Tripoli Prisoners the King himself hardly escaping So that both sides having sufficiently smarted consented to refresh themselves with a short Peace under the shelter whereof their troubled States breathed quietly for the space of about two years which Truce was the more willingly embraced by Saladine because a Famine then raged in the Kingdom of Damascus where it had scarcely rained for five years together But this welcom Calm was somewhat troubled with an unexpected Storm raised by Domestick Discords in King Baldwins Court. For the Kings Mother and Uncle two persons of turbulent spirits accused the Count of Tripoli of Treason as if he had when he was Governour of the Kingdom affected the Crown for himself which accusation so stung the King in the head that the Count coming shortly after to Jerusalem was as he was on the way thither commanded to stay which he looked upon as a great disgrace But some of the Nobility fearing the mischiefs which might proceed from this unhappy difference brought them to be reconciled But though the matter was seemingly made up yet the King ever after looked upon the Earl with a jealous Eye And the Earl seeing himself suspected proved afterwards really treacherous and disloyal though he is supposed by most Historians to be innocent of what he was then charged withal The Kingdom of Damascus having now recovered its self from the Famine and Saladine obtained his ends by the Truce would observe it no longer wherefore having gotten together a good Army he marcht out of Egypt through Palestine destroying and spoiling the Country all along as he went to Damascus And having strengthened himself with the addition of what Forces he had in Syria he entred the Holy Land again But the King who had not above seven hundred Men to twenty thousand met him at a small Village called Frobolt and opposing Valour to his multitudes overthrew him in a great and bloody Battel wherein Saladine himself was forced by speedy flight to escape the danger and by long Marches get him again to Damascus Nor had he any better success when shortly after he besieged Berytus being forced by the valour and courage of Baldwin to raise his Siege and depart with disgrace Wherefore Saladine finding such tough resistance in the Holy Land hoped to gain a better purchase by imploying his Arms in Mesopotamia to which end passing the River Euphrates he won Charran and divers other Towns after which returning again into Syria he besieged Aleppo which was the strongest place the Christians had in the whole Country being so fortified both by Nature and Art that it would have been almost impossible for him to have taken it had he not by his Bribes made a far larger Breach in the Governours Loyalty than he was able to do in the Walls of the City But having by this means possessed himself of Aleppo he marched again into the Holy Land being now more formidable than ever he had been before and carrying an Army of Terrour in the very mention of his name so that the poor Christians unanimously fled into their fenced Cities As for King Baldwin the Leprosie had arrested and confined him within the compass of his own Court where his great spirit long strove with his infirmity being loth to part with his Crown and disrobe himself of his Royalty before they were pluckt away by death but was however forced at last to stoop and retire himself to a private life appointing Baldwin his Nephew a Child of five years old to be his Successor and Guy Earl of Joppa and Askelon who was the young Childs Father in-law to be Protector of the Realm in his minority But soon after finding Guy to be a silly soft man he revoked the latter Act and designed Raimund Earl of Tripoli to succeed him Guy who though he was not valiant yet was very sullen stormed extreamly at his disgrace and leaving the Court in discontent returned home and fortified his Cities of Joppa and Askelon which greatly perplexed the Kings thoughts not knowing whom to name for Protector fearing lest Guys cowardliness should lose the Kingdom to the Turks or Raimunds treachery get it for himself so that anguish of mind and weakness of body ended his days when he was about five and twenty years of age happy in dying before the death of his Kingdom CHAP. XVIII The short Reign and woful Death of Baldwin the Fifth Guy succeeds him Tripoli revolts The Christians overthrown Their King taken Prisoner And the City of Jerusalem won by the Turks IT hath ever been accounted one of the greatest happinesses that can befal a Family for the Heirs to be of Age before their Fathers death in regard Minors have not only been the Ruine of Families but the overthrow of Kingdoms too And it being one of Gods threatnings against a wicked and disobedient People to give Children to be their Princes and Babes to Rule over them he scourged the Kingdom of Jerusalem three several times with that Rod within the compass of forty years Baldwin the Third Fourth and Fifth being all under Age and the last but five years old being the Posthumus Son of William Marquets of Montferat by Sybil his Wife Sister to Baldwin the Fourth and Daughter to King Almerick who was after the death of the Marquess married to this Guy Now the Earl of Tripoli demanding to be Protector of this young King according to the designation of his Uncle before his death Sybil who was Mother to this Infant to defeat Raimunds hopes of obtaining the Protectorship first murthered all natural affections
to caâ— it he raised his Siege and departâ— when meeting with the Persian Geneâ— who had an Army far superiour to 〈◊〉 he rashly gave him Battel and after desperate Fight lost all his Baggage a hardly escaped himself After a long Tempest of War caâ— a calm of Peace wherein Baldwin enjâ—ed a five years quiet in his old age â—ring which time he made several Vâ—ages for his pleasure and to take a viâ— of the Country and satisfie himself of 〈◊〉 situation and strength of the several pâ—ces One of his Journeys was to 〈◊〉 Red Sea not so called from the redâ—â— of the Water or Sand as some foolisâ— conceit but from the neighbouring Emites whom the Graecians call Erythrea or Red Men. And another he made to Egypt supposing himself obliged give one visit to that Country that so might in part repay the many Incursiâ— the Egyptians had made into his Kingdoâ— Where having first taken the City Pharamia anciently called Rameses and given the Spoil of it to his Souldiers he spent a considerable time in viewing that riddle of Nature the River of Nilus whose flowing Stream is a Confluence of Wonders first in regard of its undiscoverable Original but chiefly its increasing from the first of June to the midst of September in which time it overflows all Egypt and rises too high for the most penetrating Judgment ever to dive to its bottom or render the true reason of its Flux Great delight he took in viewing this River wherein he eat many Fish and his death in eating them for a Surfeit which he then got brought upon him the grief of an old wound which he received at the Siege of Ptolomais and ended in his death He died at Laris in his return from Egypt and was brought to Jerusalem and buried on Palm-Sunday in the Temple of the Sepulchre having Reigned almost Eighteen years The same day that Baldwin was buried Baldwin de Burgo his Kinsman and Count of Edessa accidentally came into the City intending there to keep his Easter At which time the Christian Princes were met together for the Electing a new King the most whereof were for bestowing the Crown upon Prince Estace Brother to the two former King but then absent in France in regard was unsafe to break the chain of Succesion there being nothing more commâ— in those cases than for the inverting 〈◊〉 order to bring confusion alledging likâ— wise that it would be high ingratitude the memories of Godfrey and Baldwin â— exclude their Brother since he was in a points fit to be a King Others opposed it objecting the dager of an Inter-regnum especially undâ— their circumstances who living in tâ— mouth of their Enemies to stay for Kingdom was the way to lose the Kinâ—dom And at length after much deba on both sides they proceeded to a pâ—sent Election and made choice of Baâ—win who on the Easter-day following wâ— Crowned by Arnulphus the Patriarch 〈◊〉 the name of Baldwin the Second In tâ— mean time some were secretly dispatchâ— to acquaint Prince Eustace with whâ— had passed and invite him to come aâ— challenge the Crown but he hearâ— that Baldwin was in possession of it pâ—ferred quietness before honour and 〈◊〉 though he was part of the way on 〈◊〉 Journey thither yet he very quietly wâ— back again About this time happened the death â—f that Arch Hypocrite Alexius the Graeâ—an Emperour who was succeeded by Calo Johannes of whom we shall have occasion to speak often in the succeeding part of this History Arnulphus who enjoyed the Patriarchal Dignity when Baldwin the Second came to the Crown was so infamous â—hat the report of his baseness at length came to the Popes Ear who sent away a Legate to depose him but Arnulphus hasted to Rome and with a great sum of Money bought himself innocent and obâ—ained yet the enjoyment of his place duâ—ing life Guarimund succeeded him being a veâ—y Religious man and one by whom the Christians obtained many Victories he called a Council at Neapolis wherein maâ—y wholsom things were concluded on for the reformation of manners After his death Stephen Abbot of St. John de â—alia was advanced who awakened the Patriarchs Title to Jerusalem after it had â—lept during the lives of his three Predecessors demanding it very imperiously of the King being a man of a high spiâ—it but he died in the midst of his Age â—nd in the beginning of his Projects his place being filled by William Prior of the Sepulchre who was a Flemin born anâ— better beloved than learned CHAP. XII The Knights Templars and Teutonicks instâ—tuted Tyre taken by the Christians Tâ— Death of Baldwin the Second ABout the beginning of this Kinâ— Reign the two great Orders 〈◊〉 Templars and Teutonicks first appearâ— in the world the former under Hugh 〈◊〉 Pagaris and Ganfred of St. Omer the first Founders they were much like tâ— Hospitallers in all things and like theâ— were poor at first but being afterwarâ— confirmed by the Pope at the intreatyâ— Stephen Patriarch of Jerusalem who eâ—joyned them to wear a White garmeâ— to which was afterwards added by â—â—genius the Third a Red Cross on the Breast they grew wonderful rich 〈◊〉 the Bounty of several Princely Patroâ— The latter were all Dutchmen well 〈◊〉 scended living at Jerusalem in a hoâ—â— which one of that Nation bequeathed his Countrymen that came thither 〈◊〉 Pilgrimage in the year 1190. their Orâ— was honoured with a Grand Mastâ— â—hereof the first was Henry A-walpot â—heir Habit being Black Crosses on White Robes It will certainly be very pleasant for â—he Reader to observe as he goes along â—ow this Kings Reign is strangely cheâ—uered with great variety of Fortune â—or first Roger Guardian to young Boeâ—und Prince of Antioch going forth to â—ght the Turks was conquered and kilâ—d But Baldwin on the 14th of August â—llowing compelled them to make a Reâ—tution of their Victory and with a â—hall Army gives them a great overâ—row And to moderate the Christians â—y for this Victory Joceline unadvisedâ—â— fights with Balack a petty King of â—â—e Turks and is beaten and taken Priâ—ner and the King attempting to rescue â—â—m was also taken himself However the Christians hands were â—t bound by the captivity of their King â—r Eustace Grenier who was chosen â—ice-Roy whilst the King was a Prisoâ—r stoutly defended the Country and â—oceline having made his escape out of â—ison fought Balack again at Hircapolis â—uted his Army killed him upon the â—lace with his own hands to crownall â—uarimund the Patriarch by the assistance 〈◊〉 the Venetian Fleet which were commanded by the Duke of Venice cook thâ— impregnable City of Tyre the Venetiaâ— were for this service to have a third pâ—â— of the City to themselves The Ciâ— was besides its own natural strength we stored with Men and Ammunition bâ—â— Famine increasing they consented 〈◊〉 yield upon honourable terms Not long after this the King returne home after having been eighteen month a Prisoner and
was to pay a Ransom 〈◊〉 an hundred thousand Michaelets for tâ—â— security whereof he left his Daughter 〈◊〉 Hostage But he paid the Turks with tâ—â— Saracens money whom he beat first 〈◊〉 Antioch and then at Damascus whiâ—â— place he unfortunately besieged aâ—â— thereby damped the Joy of his two foâ—mer Victories And the more to quâ— their swelling pride the young Princeâ— Antioch was overthrown in Battel aâ—â— slain Which ill success so afflicted Kiâ—â— Baldwins mind that for some time bâ— fore his death he renounced the worâ—â— and took upon him a Religious Habitâ— thing not very unusual in those days aâ— sometimes though not often practiâ—â— still as by the Late Queen of Sweden Wâ— is yet living CHAP. XIII Of Fulco the Fourth King of Jerusalem The remarkable Ruine of Rodolphus Patriarch of Antioch The Graecian Emperour demands Anti och The Prince thereof pays him Homage for it Theâ—amentable Death of Fulco FVlco Earl of Tours Mam and Anjou came about three years before on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he obâ—ained in Marriage Mellesent the Kings Daughter and thereupon had assigned â—he City of Tyre and some other Princeâ—y Accommodations for his present mainâ—enance and the Kingdom after his Father-in-laws decease which he received â—ccordingly He had one Son by a forâ—er Wife which was Jeffry Plantagenet Earl of Anjou to whom he left all his Lands in France and from whom our Kings of England are descended This Fulco was a very valiant man indued with many perfections both of body and mind In his Reign there was â—o Alterations worth remark in the Church of Jerusalem but in that of Antioch there was much stir who should succeed Bernard that peaceable and long liv'd Prelate who sate Thirty six yearâ— in the Chair and survived Eight Patriarchs of Jerusalem For the Clergâ— being long in their choice before theâ— could come to a result the Laity waâ— too nimble for them and clapped oâ— Rodolphus of honourable descent into thâ— Chair who cast off his Obedience to thâ— Pope and refused to acknowledge aâ—â— Superiour but St. Peter He was thâ— Darling of the Gentry but bated of thâ— Clergy because advanced without theâ— suffrage wherefore being conscious 〈◊〉 himself that he needed strong Arms sinâ— he was to swim against the stream 〈◊〉 screwed himself into the favour of tâ—â— Princess of Antioch Widdow to youâ— Boemund so that with her strength 〈◊〉 beat down all his Enemies promising hâ— in requital to make a Marriage betwâ—â— her and Reimund Earl of Poictou who wâ— then coming into those parts But 〈◊〉 deceived her and procured the Earl 〈◊〉 marry with the Lady Constantia hâ— Daughter who was but a Child wiâ—â— whom he had the Principality of Antioâ— The Patriarch that he might maâ—â— sure work and oblige him for ever to 〈◊〉 his friend bound him to it by an Oatâ— But as it is usual in those cases frienâ— unjustly gotten are seldom long injoyed of a sworn Friend he became his sworn Enemy and forced him to go to Rome there to answer many Accusations laid to his charge The chief whereof was that he made odious comparisons between Antioch and Rome and accounted himself equal to his Holiness When he arrived at Rome he found the Popes Doors shut against him but he quickly opened them with a Golden Key and upon his repentance for having refused to acknowledge Obedience to the Church of Rome he was dismissed only it was ordered by his Holiness that the Bishop of Ostia should be sent into Byria to examine matters relating to his other Crimes and proceed accordingly Whereat his Adversaries stormed extreamly expecting that he should have been immediately deposed But having mist their mark they resolved to have a second blow at him wherefore they prevailed with Albericus the Legate to favour their design which was not unknown to Rodolphus who coming to Antioch cited the Patriarch to appear but being called three several times came not which was variously commented upon by those who were present according as they affected or disaffected him Whereupon the Legate directed himself to the Arch-Bishop of Apamea who had formerly been one of the most vehemenâ— Accusers of Rodolphus but had lately beeâ— reconciled to him and demanded why he did not accuse the Patriarch now oâ— those Crimes which he had formerly laid to his charge To which the Arch-Bishop answered That what he theâ— did was done out of heat and prejudice and he thought it was his great sin so unadvisedly to discover the nakedness oâ— his Father like cursed Cham from which God had so far reclaimed him that he would rather die for his safety than accuse him Upon which Speech the Legate such was the Martial-Law in a Prelate in those days immediately deposed him and shortly after thrust out the Patriarch with great violence and shut him up in Prison where he remained a long time in Chains till at last he made his escape and went to Rome with an intent to have traversed his Cause again had not death cut him off About this time Calo Johannes the Graecian Emperour came with a great Army of Horse and Foot and demanded of Reimund Prince of Antioch to resign to him that whole Signiory according to the Composition which the Christian Princes made with Alexius his Father which insolent demand fretted Reimund and all the Latines to the heart in regard they had purchased an Inheritance with their own Blood and yet were required to turn Tenants at will to another They told him it was offered his Father when first taken and he refused it That Alexius kept not his Covenants nor assisted them according to the Agreement He called them his Sons indeed but disinherited them of their hopes and all the Portion that he gave them lay in promises never paid But all these Arguments signified little the Emperours Sword being far stronger than theirs for coming with so great a force he conquered in a few days all Cilicia and then besieged the City of Antioch it self whereupon the King of Jerusalem fearing it would give too great advantage to the Infidels to have the Christians fall together by the Ears among themselves made composition between them wherein Reimund obliged himself to do homage to the Emperour and hold his Principality of him Notwithstanding which about four years after he returned again but did not much harm only pillaged the Country And some few years after that he died being accidentally poisoned by one of his own Arrows which he had prepared for the Wild Bore having always carried it much fairer to the Latines than his Father had done in regard an honourable Foe is much more desirable than a Treacherous Friend Falco having Reigned in Jerusalem about Eleven years with abundance oâ— care and industry being almost continually imbroiled in Civil Discords which hindered him from much inlarging of hiâ— Dominion was slain as he was following his sport in Hunting to the great grieâ— of his Subjects He was buried with his Predecessors
casual and not the effect of Carelesness or Cowardize in the losing party But it was some help to the Christians that a certain concealed Christian within the City by Letters unsubscribed gave them constant and faithful Intelligence of all remarkable passages among the Turks within In the mean while the Plague and Famine raged in the Christian Camp and in the compass of one year had swept away above Fifty Princes and Prelates of note who together with all the rest of the common Souldiers in the opinion of those who wrote the History of that Siege went undoubtedly to Heaven Although it were before Pope Clement the sixth had commanded the Angels who durst not disobey him to convey every Soul into Paradice which should die in their Pilgrimage Among those who survived no Prince shewed more Valour and deserved greater commendation than Leopoldus Arch-Duke of Austria who fought so long in assaulting this City that his Armour was all gore Blood save only that part of it which was covered with his Belt For which reason renouncing the six Golden Larks the Ancient Arms of his Family he had assigned him by the Emperour as a Testimony of his valour a Fess Argentin a Field Gules And King Richard being now at last arrived in the Camp before Ptolemais having taken a Dromand or Saracen Ship which he mett in his way thither wherein were Fifteen Hundred Soldiers and two hundred and fifty Scorpions designed for the poysoning of Christians the Siege was carried on by him and his English Souldiers more fiercely than ever it had been before So that the Turks despairing of relief and their provisions wholly spent offered to yield up the City which the Christians would not accept of unless Saladine would promise to deliver all the Christian Prisoners which were then in his custody and restore them the Cross again which he promising to do the City was delivered and the Turkish Soldiers guarded safely out of it The Houses which were yet left standing in the City together with the Spoil and Prisoners were by the Kings of England and France divided among themselves whereupon divers great Persons who had been sharers in the pains but were hereby excluded from the gains departed in discontent and King Richards Soldiers rudely pulled down the Arch-Duke of Austria's Ensigns which he haâ—â— advanced in a principal Tower in thaâ— City and as some write threw them in to the Jakes whereat the Duke waâ— highly displeased but yet wisely dissenâ—bled his anger and seemed to forget thâ—â— Injury till he might remember it to hisadvantage which he afterwards did made King Richard pay severely for this affronâ— When the City was taken it grieveâ— the Christians that they could not finâ— out their Faithful Intelligencer whâ— had all along by his Letters acquainted them with the State of the City bâ— more that the Cross did no where appear being either carelesly lost or enviouâ—â— concealed by the Turks They demanded 〈◊〉 of Saladine with the delivery of the Christian Prisoners which he refused not but demanded a longer time for the performance in regard the Cross could not be found But King Richard supposing that it was only a pretence to gain time resolved to have all things performed according to their agreement which being not done he in the heat of his Passioâ— commanded Seven Thousand Turkish Prisoners to be immediately cut to pieces for which rash and cruel act he suffereâ— much in his reputation and was lookeâ— upon as the Murtherer of the like number of Christians whom Saladine in revenge put to the Sword whereas on the contrary the moderation of the French King was very much commended for sparing his Prisoners and reserving them to ransom so many Christians But that which most obscured the Glory of this Victory was the Christians being tent asunder with Faction and divided among themselves King Philip the Dukes of Burgundy and Austria most of the Dutch and all the Genoans and Templars fiding with King Conrade and King Richard Henry Count of Champaigne with the Hospitallers the Venetians and Pisans taking part with Guy Conrades side was very much weakned by the sudden departure of the French King who eighteen days after the taking of Ptolemais returned home pretending want of necessaries indisposition of body through the distemper of the Climate but the true cause was his not induring to hear King Richards Fame so much transcend his own together with a desire to seize on the Dominions of the Earl of Flanders who was then lately dead His own Souldiers mightily disswaded him from returning and besought him not to stop in so glorious a work wherein he had prospered so well already telling him that Saladine being already on his Knees he might peradventure be brought on his Face if this Victory were well pursued And since one of his pretences was want of necessaries King Richard generously offered him one half of his Provisions but all this would not prevail with him to stay and therefore with great importunity he obtained leave to depart having first taken an Oath not to molest the King of Englands Dominions during his stay in the Holy Land which Oath was forgot as soon as he got home And at his departure he left his instructions together with his Army to the Duke of Burgundy ordering him to move as slowly as possible in advancing that work wherein the King of England would have all the Honour which rendred this great undertaking less advantagious to the Christians in Syria than otherwise it might have been THE HOLY VVAR BOOK II. CHAP. I. Conrade slain Guy exchanges his Kingdom for the Isle of Cyprus Henry of Champaign chosen King King Richard obtains many Victories but at last makes a dishonourable Peace and in his return home is taken Prisoner in Austria SOon after the French Kings departure Conrade King of Jerusalem was cruelly murthered in the Market-place of Tyre the cause of whose Death is variously reported some falsely charging our King Richard with having procured it and others say he was killed by Humphred Prince of Thoron for marrying Isabella who had been before espoused to him But most affirm that he was stabbed by two Assassines by command of their Master the Old man of the Mountains whose only Quarrel with him was his being a Christian and that the two Murtherers being immediately taken and put to a cruel Death Gloried in the Meritoriousness of their suffering He had Reigned about five years and left on t Daughter Maria Jole on whom the Templers bestowed Princely Education But tho' Conrade was Dead his Faction still survived and those of his party affronted King Guy and strove to have him deposed telling him that the Crown was only tyed on his Head with a Womans Fillet which being now broken by the Death of Queen Sibyl who dyed together with all her Children of the Plague at the Siege of Ptolomais he had no longer any Right to the Kingdom especially being a worthless and
in the English Army He offered therefore to Consent that a Truce should be concluded on for three some say five years upon condition that the Christians would demolish all places which they had fortified since the taking of Ptolemais which was in Effect to be at the Charge of undoing all that they had hitherto done But however such was the urgency of King Richards occasion that he was glad to accept of those hard Conditions tho' he hated them at his Heart And thus this great undertaking of those two mighty and Warlike Kings began with great Confidence managed with much Courage and attended with good Success ended notwithstanding with some Honour indeed to the undertakers but no manner of Profit either to themselves or the Christian cause King Richard in this Voyage eternized his Memory and to the Glory of the English Nation render'd his Name so terrible to the Turks that they were used to say to their Horses when they started for fear what dost thou think King Richard is here But Profit neither he nor the French King got any both of them loosing the Hair of their Head in an acute disease which saith one Historian was more then either of them got by the Voyage And as for the poor Christians in Syria they left them in a far worse Case than they found them But to refresh the Readers Spirits a little amidst so many Miseries and sad Stories I must not omit one thing that King Richard did in Palestine which was no doubt an abundant Compensation for all the cost and pains of his Journey Which was his redeeming from the Turks for a great sum of Money a large Chest as much as four Men could lift full of Holy Relicks which precious Treasure they had gotten from the Christians at the taking of Jerusalem Richard the 2d. king of Englad. and Jerusalem King Richard having now signed the Peace with Saladine and thereby ended his Pilgrimage took Shipping in Syria to return to his Kingdom but meeting with a Storm on the Coast of Germany he suffered Shipwrack and therefore resolved to travel through that Country by Land as being his nearest way home without considering that the nearness of the way ought to have been measured not so much by the shortness of it as the safeness of it But however to prevent all danger he disguised himself and pretended to be one Hugo a Merchant whose only Commodity was himself whereof he made but a bad Bargain for being discovered in Austria by his large Expences which so far exceeded the degree of a Merchant that his Hostess detected him and the common People flocking about him used much Rudeness and Insolence towards him And being seized on by the Duke who resolved now to be revenged on him for the affront done him in Palestine he sold him to Henry the Emperor who kept him in Bonds Charging him with a Thousand faults committed in Sicily Cyprus and Palestine the Prooss whereof were as slender as the Crime were small so that Richard having an eloquent Tongue an innocent Heart and a bold Spirit easily acquited himself of all those furious Charges in the Judgment of all that heard him However before he could obtain his Liberty he was forced to pay a Ransom of an Hundred and Twenty Thousand Marks Collen weight which was in that age before the Indies had filled those Northern parts of the World with Gold and Silver so greata sum that to raise it in England they were forced to sell all their Church Plate and in lieu thereof for some Hundred years after to Celebrate the Sacrament in Challices of Latten or Tin After this Money Peter of Bloys who had drank as deep of this Helicon as any of that age sent this Prayer making an Apostrophe to the Emperor or to the Duke of Austria or to both together And now thou basest Avarice Drink till thy Belly burst Whil'st England powers large silver showers To Satiate thy thirst And this we pray thy Money may And thou be like accurst Part of this Ransome being paid and Hostages left for the securing the rest he returned into England having indured Eighteen Months Imprisonment But the Duke was after this sorely aflicted in his Dominions by Fire and Famine And in his Body by a Gangren which seised on him with that Violence that he was forced to cut his leg off with his own hand and died thereof but before his death he fortified Vienna with a strong Wall which he caused to be built with this Money and being in the time of his sickness troubled in conscience for having been so Cruel to our King he willed some Thousand Crowns to be returned to him again CHAP. II. The Death of Saladine Discords among the Turks the Death of Henry King of Jerusalem Almerick the Second Succeeds him The Pilgrims divert their Arms from Palestine to Constantinople and Conquer the Grecian Empire NOT long after King Richards return out of Palestine Saladine who had for sixteen years together been the Terror of the East ended his life He was a Prince fierce in fighting and yet mild in Conquering and when he had his Enemies in his hands delighted himself more in having the power then he did in the Act of revenge finding his life draw to a period he Commanded those about him to use no other Solemnities at his Funeral then a Black Cloth which he ordered them to carry before him and Proclaim that Saladine Conqueror of the East had now nothing left of all his Conquest but only this Black Shirt to attend him to his Grave He Left Nine some say Twelve Sons behind him who were all except one Murthered by Saphradin their Uncle whom Saladine made the overseer of his Will and he was not preserved by his Uncles pity but by the favour of some of his fathers Friends his name being likewise Saphradin Sultan of Aleppo Whereupon there arose much Intestine difference among the Turks during which time the Christians injoyed their Truce with much quiet and security only their peace was somewhat imbittered by the unfortunate death of King Henry who fell as he was walking in his Palace to solace himself out of a Window and brake his Neck After whose death Almerick Lusignan Brother to King Guy Marrying Isabella his Relict was in her right Crowned King of Jerusalem The Christians in Syria promising themselves much aid from his Isle of Cyprus of which he was also King but he abandoning himself to ease and pleasure proved a worthless and an unfortunate Prince In his time Henry Emperor of Germany to make amends for his Cruelty against King Richard and regain his Credit which was very much impaired thereby set on foot an other Voyage to the Holy Land Pope Celestine the third sending his Legat about to promote it by shewing how God himself had sounded the Alarm in the dissention of the Turks and persuading them that Jerusalem might now be recovered with the blows of her adversaries only
it was convenient to send an Army not so much to Conquer it as to receive it Henry Duke of Saxony was chosen General of the Pilgrims who was acompanied by Frederick Duke of Austria Hermand Landgrave of Thuringia Henry Palatine of the Rhine the Arch-bishops of Ments and Wittenburgh the Bishops of Bream and Halberstadt and Regenspurg and divers other Prelates so that it was an Episcopal Army and one might there have truly seen the Church Militant In their passage through Greece they found better usage then some of their Predecessors and being conveyed from thence by Shiping into Syria they presently brake the Truce made with the Turks by the King of England being impowered so to do by a Dispensation from the Pope who looked upon a peace Solemnly made the Usurper and free his Father from his Miserable Captivity The Soldiers were well enough pleased with the exchange of service for they knew well enough that in Palestine there was nothing to be got but Honour and here they hoped to get both Honour and Spoil Wherefore setting saile from Jadera they went directly to Constantinople and after some few hot skirmishes easily took the City whereupon Alexius the Usurper with his Wife Whores and Treasure being fled away blind Isaac and his son Alexius were saluted Joynt Emperors which brittle Honour was quickly broken for the Old Emperor being now brought out of a close pent Dungeon into the open Air died soon after and his Son was thereupon Villainously strangled by Alexius Ducas a man of base Parentage who was in a tumultuous manner chosen Emperor by the People but growing proud upon his being thus advanced to the Imperial Throne he gave some affronts to the Latins who still lay in their Ships before Constantinople whereupon they assaulted the City again the Second time and taking it by main force plundered all the inhabitants Ravishing the Women and using a Thousand Insolencies wherein the very Sanctuaries needed Sanctuaries to defend them from the violence of the inraged Soldiers And the Latines having thus Possessed themselves of Constantinople within twelve Months conquered all the Grecian Empire except Adrinople and divided it among themselves Making Baldwine Earl of Flanders Emperor of Grecia Boniface Marquiss of Montferrat King of Thessaly and Geoffrey a French Noble man Prince of Achaia and Duke of Athens And the Venetians got many rich Islands in the Egean and Ionian Seas And Thomas Maucrocenus was Elected the first Latine Patriarch of Constantinople CHAP. III. The Holy War turned upon the Albigenses THe Pope having lately diverted the Holy War and turned it upon the Grecian liked the Success of it so well that he afterwards made a common Trade of it for having about two years after procured the Levying a great Army for the Holy War he sent them against the Albingenses in France Who being accounted Hereticks by his Holiness he resolved to destroy them without Mercy That pretended Shepherd of the Church knowing no other way to bring home wandring Sheep then by worrying them to Death for the promoting which Pious Work he promised all those who would undertake it the same Pardon and Indulgences as to them that went to Conquer the Holy-Land And the better to perswade People to undertake it he only requests their Aid for forty days hoping to have eaten up those despised Hereticks at a mouthful Tho' therein he found himself mistaken for they found him and his Successor work enough for fifty years together However in regard the Seat of the War was nearer the Service shorter and the Wages the same with the Voyage into Palestine many entred themselves for this imploy neglected the other The chief whereof were the Duke of Burgundy the Earls of Nevers St. Paul Auxierne Geneva Poictiers and Montfort And of Church-Men Milo the Popes Legate the Arch-Bishops of Sens and Roven the Bishop of Clearmort Nevers Charters Baguex and many more every Bishop with the Pilgrims of his own Jurisdiction Their work was to destroy the Albingenses which were in great numbers in Daulphine Province and other parts of France and to Root out all their Friends and Favourers or suspected to be so Pope Innocent the Third having gathered together an Army of an hundred thousand Pilgrims Sackt the Cities of Besiers and Carcassone destroying many Papists among the Albingenses and cutting the Priests themselves in pieces even in their Priestly Ornaments After which Simon Earl of Monfort was made General of the Pilgrims who had been hitherto Commanded by Milo the Popes Legate which made the Earls of Fayl Tholouse and Cammurge with the Prince of Berne who were the Patrons of the Albingenses to shelter themselves under Peter King of Aragon whose Homagers they were One great Inconvenience ever attended that Army of Pilgrims for so soon as ever their forty days were expired in regard it was the full time set them by the Pope to merit Paradise in they would not stay a Night longer least peradventure having purchased Heaven they might by continuing longer in the Service be put into the Possession of it sooner then they were willing which being observed by the King of Aragon and that between the going out of the Old and the coming in of the New store of Pilgrims there was usually a very low ebb and their Army was almost dwindled to nothing he took the Earl of Monfort at the advantage before he was re-inforced with new Pilgrims and gave him Battel when he had not above two thousand two hundred Men left himself having an Army of thirty thousand Foot and seven thousand Horse which made him so over-Confident of Victory that out of Pride and Vanity he exposed his Person so openly at the Head of the Army that he did as it were invite his Enemies Arrows to hit so fair a Mark by which he was so mortally Wounded that he fell from his Horse and with his Body sunk the Hearts of his Soldiers who all presently run away Simon pursuing them to the very Gates of Thoulose and killing many thousands of them Yet in a few years the Face of this War was Changed for young Reimund Earl of Thoulose exceeding his Father both in Valour and Success re-gained in a few Months what Simon and his Pilgrims had been many years in Conquering And at last Simon as he laid Siege to Tholose had his Head shot off from his Body by a stone which a Woman let fly out of an Engine from the City wall In whose Death the raging storm of open War against those Albingenses ended In the prosecution whereof Three Hundred Thousand Craised Pilgrims had within the compass of fifteen years lost their lives so that there was not a City or Village in France but what had in it some Widows or Orphans to curse the Promoters of this Expedition but tho' the great storm was over yet many great drops feil upon them afterwards the Pope being still stiring up one or other to molest them CHAP. IV. King Almerick