Selected quad for the lemma: honour_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
honour_n	john_n	lord_n	marry_v	1,825	5	9.4004	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51463	The history of the crusade, or, The expeditions of the Christian princes for the conquest of the Holy Land written originally in French, by the fam'd Mounsieur Maimbourg ; Englished by John Nalson.; Histoire des Croisades. English	Maimbourg, Louis, 1610-1686.; Nalson, John, 1638?-1686.	1685 (1685)	Wing M290; ESTC R6888	646,366	432

the whole Realm the Germans not daring to appear in the Field But after so many Victories as he besieged their General Diepold in a certain Castle to which he had driven him the Contempt which he had of his Enemies was the occasion of his falling into their Hands for in the Night the General surprized him in his Tent and carried him Prisoner to the Castle all covered in Blood where he shortly after died more of Grief than of his Wounds so much nearer than their Swords had done did the Trouble and Affliction go to his heart to see himself in the power of those whom he had so despised complaining that he had so ill guarded himself against the Cowardly Germans who he said by Day-light though in compleat Armour durst not venture to attack the French stark naked and unarmed Thus by his Presumption he lost that in a Moment which by his Valour and great Abilities he had acquired by abundance of gallant Actions which he had performed in four Years before As for his Brother John de Brienne who among all the great Lords of France was chosen by King Philip the August to marry the young Queen of Jerusalem he received that Honour with all the marks of a profound Acknowledgment and promised the Ambassadors before their Parting that he would with all the Forces he could raise come for Palestine before the Expiration of the Truce Now Saphadin who apprehended there would be a new Crusade to accompany this King who was sent for from France offered the Christians to prolong the Truce but the Templers rejecting his Proposition the War was broke out afresh when John de Brienne arrived there which was the 3d of September in the Year 1210. year 1210 And whereas Saphadin believed that this new King would bring a great Army with him he found that he had only brought a few Troops together with about three hundred Knights who had imbarked with him at Marseilles to serve at their own Charges against the Infidels For the Troubles of Germany and Italy by occasion of the new Schism in the Empire and the War which was breaking out between Philip the August year 1210 and the Emperor Otho who was excommunicated by the Pope together with the famous Crusade which then began to be set on foot in France against the Albigenses hindred the raising of one to accompany King John de Brienne into the Holy Land So that he was able to raise no greater Fond of Mony than forty thousand Livres which he had from the French King and as many more which the Pope procured him from the Romans upon his Estate the Earldom of Brienne which he was forced to mortgage for it He did not however fail with his small Power to do all that could be expected from a Prince equally wise and valiant for presently after his Coronation which was celebrated at Tyre he took the Field and entring upon the Territories of the Infidels he took divers places from them and returned without Loss bringing a considerable Booty from them to Ptolemais But so soon as the Sarasins understood what a small number of Men he had brought with him out of Europe they joyned all their Forces and came to encamp about that City with a mighty Army commanded by Coradin so that the Christians durst not stir out but were in a manner besieged especially after the Sultan had seized upon all the neighbouring Places principally the Mountain of Thabor upon which he built a Fortress from whence they made continual Incursions year 1211 even to the very Gates of Ptolemais Hereupon the Knights and Persons of Quality who came along with the King seeing they were too weak to sally and sight their Enemies in the plain Field and being unable to suffer themselves to be lock'd in the City without doing any thing they returned before the Winter into France so that this poor Prince remained almost all alone in danger to have taken Possession of a Kingdom only to have the Displeasure and the Shame to see himself driven out of it unless he received some seasonable Assistance year 1212 This News gave a mighty trouble to the Pope who now began to apprehend that his principal Design which was the Relief of the Holy Land would be wholly ruined by being so long delayed he resolved therefore after the Example of Pope Vrban II. the first Author of the Crusades to employ his utmost power to procure one by calling a General Council that thereby he might engage all the Christian States and Kingdoms in it But in regard that considering the present posture of Affairs in Europe year 1213 this great Assembly could not be so soon held and that besides the pressing Evil required a more speedy Remedy he writ his Circular Letters to all faithful People to excite them to march with all possible haste to the Relief of their oppressed Brethren in Palestine And after having renewed the Prohibitions which he had so often made before That upon pain of Excommunication none should presume to sell any Merchandise more especially any Arms to the Sarasins he commanded certain Prayers with Fasting and Alms to be used in the Church for the imploring the Mercy and Pity of God and his Blessing upon the Council which was to be held for the taking care of the Necessities of the Church and above all other things the Relief of the Holy Land He also resolved to try other Ways since he saw those which had before been made use of did not prosper and addressed himself to Saphadin Sultan of Babylon and Damascus who was now become almost as potent as his Brother the great Saladin had been who took Jerusalem He writ to him to exhort him to restore that holy City to the Christians which besides that of it self it brought no considerable Advantage to him put him to vast Expences to be always in a Condition to resist the whole Powers of Christendom who would eternally arm themselves to take it from him He remonstrated to him That it was much better for him as a wise Politician freely and by Reason to do that which he must one day be constrained to do whether he would or not with the loss of his Honour and possibly all that he might upon the Surrender of that City quietly and peaceably be permitted to possess in the East That it was impossible but he must at last fall under those Arms whose invincible Force he was sufficiently sensible of already and whose Courage and Valour were above all fear of Danger That they esteemed it not only a point of Honour but of Religion to re-conquer that holy City which their Ancestors had taken by Force with not above twenty thousand Men from forty thousand Defendants and in the very sight of an Army incomparably greater than theirs That in restoring to the Christians that City which he could not long defend against them he would thereby assure himself of the rest of his Dominions by the

they could find Courage enough to oppose them and telling them it was the easiest matter in the World to surround them and take them alive and make them all Slaves this he spoak with so much assurance and protested that he would march at the head of those who had the Courage to follow him to a most undoubted Victory that a great many of the People and all the Soldiers resolved the next morning under his Conduct to attack the French in their Quarters But this Infamous Coward was so far from the Intention of executing what he pretended that retiring to the great palace as he said a little to repose himself he followed the Example of his usurping Predecessor old Alexis and in the night made his escape upon a Ship which he had caused to be made ready for him He took along with him the Empress Euphrosine Wife to Alexis and her Daughter the Princess Eudoxia of whom he was so desperately Amorous that he chose rather to lose his Honor and his Empire than to expose himself to the Danger of missing the Satisfaction of his Passion which cost what it would he was resolved to gratifie as he did by abandoning his Lawful Wife to espouse that foolish Princess So blind and Tyrannous is irregular Love in a Heart which yields it self up to its Usurpation where when once those Gross and Earthy Flames prevail they extinguish all the Lights of Reason and Vertue and even those more common Principles of good sense and Nature So soon as this Shameful Flight of Murtzuphle was known the People ran thundring to the Church of Sancta Sophia to make a new Emperor and in the Tumult Theodore Lascaris who was just returned to Constantinople was instantly chosen and compelled to take the Helm of this Ship of the Government which was now agitated by such a Furious Tempest But in a few Moments after this new Prince perceiving that this Ardor of the People began to slag and that instead of following him to oppose the Enemy every man began to think of saving one he also took the same Measures and before day made his Escape in the best manner that he could Upon this the whole City threw down their Arms and fell to their Prayers and Processions to implore the Mercy and Compassion of the Conquerors addressing themselves principally to the Marquis of Montferrat who was known among them and to whom the flattering Greeks already gave the Title of Emperor believing that he ought to be the man Thus by the most astonishing and prodigious Event which hath nothing comparable to it in all History the greatest City of the World the richest and according to the manner of those times the best fortified and defended by above four hundred thousand men was taken by Assault and peaceably possessed by the Confederates whose Army did not consist in above twenty thousand Combatants Which may inform the Christians That this very same City which at this day is neither so strong so well furnished nor peopled by far as it was then and upon the taking whereof the Conquest of the Eastern Empire would most certainly depend could never be able to resist one of those great Armies which their Divisions so fatal to the Interest of Christian Religion oblige them so often to bring into the Field for their mutual Destruction But this is an Evil which for a long time we have deplored and must still lament unless it shall please Almighty God in whose hands are the Hearts of Princes to give a firm and solid Peace among them and inspire the Heart of some generous Hero with Courage equal to this of these Brave French Princes who with so few Forces accomplished this glorious Enterprise which would not be so great an Impossibility even for their Descendants to undertake if they were in a Condition of Assurance from the Hatred the Ambition and the Jealousie of their Neighbours The Princes pleasingly surprized to find that they had nothing but Suppliants where they expected Enemies immediately with the Generosity which always accompanies true Valour year 1204 promised them their Lives their Honour their Liberty and one part of their Estates which they knew by the Laws of War all appertained to the Conquerors They therefore commanded them to retire into their Houses and then gave the Soldiers the Plunder of the City for that day but with strict Command to shed no blood and to preserve the Honor of the Women above all other things they also commanded that all the Spoils should be brought into Common Repositories to the End that a just Distribution might be made with Equality according to the Merit and Quality of every Person This being done the Marquis of Montferrat went to the great Pal●ce of the Emperors where were the two Empresses Agnes the Sister of Philip the August the Widow of the two Emperors Alexis the Son of Manuel and Andronicus and Margaret the Widow of the Emperor Isaac and most of the Ladies of the first Quality who were retired thither The Marquis treated them with all imaginable Honor and Civility due to their Character and not long after married the Empress Margaret At the same time Prince Henry having presented himself before the Palace of Blaquerness whither the greatest part of the Nobility and men of Condition were retired they rendred themselves to him as Prisoners of War their Lives only saved There were found in these two Palaces most Inestimable Riches which the two Princes caused to be most carefully guarded from Spoil and Imbezlement As for the Soldiers who dispersed themselves all over the City as they pleased no man daring to resist them the Historian Nicetas who was present affirms that they committed all the most horrible Excesses that can be imagined by all sorts of Violence Cruelty Avarice Lust and Impiety not sparing so much as the Churches the Shrines the Images the Reliques the Holy Vessels the very Boxes where the consecrated Host was kept nor the most Sacred Mysteries of Religion but profaned them with a thousand such abominable Sacriledges as the very thought of them is sufficient to raise in devout Minds the greatest Horror and detestation but on the contrary those of our Historians who have with the greatest Exactness given us the Relation of all the Circumstances of the taking and plundring of Constantinople say nothing at all of this disorder although they were more likely to know the Truth than Nicetas who during the first Tumult together with the Patriarch John Camaterus saved himself with his Family at Selyvrea They only assure us that the Soldiers made there the greatest Booty in Gold Silver Vessels Pearls precious Stones Cloth of Gold Silks Rich Furs and in all sorts of precious Moveables that ever was made at the taking of any City since the Creation of the World as the Mareshal de Ville Hardouin after his manner ingeniously expresseth himself But to speak without Dissimulation I believe after the matter is throughly considered

one may affirm that one of them says too much and the other too little For as to what concerns Nicetas it is but reading this part of his History and one shall be perfectly convinced that the Excess of his Grief and the hatred which upon all Occasions he makes appear against the Latins transported him beyond all Limits whatsoever not only to speak sharply but with a kind of Fury in Exaggerations mingled with Invectives injurious reproaches and most tragical Exclamations which as they are insupportable even in a Declamer upon a feigned Subject who is paid for making Lies and Scurrilities are intolerable and wholly unworthy of an Historian who ought not to be credited when he writes after such a manner As for our Writers who most assuredly were men of Honour and Honesty as it is below all men of Spirit and Courage there is great Probability that they would not be guilty of so base a Vice as lying and cheatting the World with Falsities though it is impossible they might think themselves dispensable if they did not relate all the ill things which were done and which are impossible to be prevented in such dismal Events as the taking of Cities by Assault For as it is very likely that all the Soldiers who were not Saints though they were Crusades might commit disorders like to those which in our time we have known upon such occasions so this is certain that the report was too publick not to be too true for Pope Innocent in a Letter which some time after he writ to the Marquis of Montferrat the General of the Army although he at last approved of the taking of Constantinople as a means to make the Enterprise of the Holy Land succeed year 1204 yet nevertheless he complains of the great Excesses committed upon this Occasion and above all of the Violation of the Churches which were dispoiled of their Ornaments and of their Riches Be it how it will this is most certain that both the Officers and Soldiers who before were poor and at best but in an indifferent Condition as being reduced to an extreme Necessity of all things became that day Rich and in an instant exchanged their Wants for a most prodigious Plenty of all things for without accounting the Moveables the Statues the Pictures and the Jewels and a hundred other things of mighty Value and that part of the Booty which most of them reserved to themselves notwithstanding all the Prohibitions to the contrary yet there remained to the French after all their Debts to the Venetians were paid and they too had half of the Spoil above four hundred thousand Marks in Silver to be distributed among them besides that a fourth part of what was thus brought to the common Stock was reserved for him who should be chosen Emperor And nevertheless the Greeks had time enough during the Night after the Assault to hide as they did the greatest part of their Silver and best things which they afterwards peaceably injoyed Besides the three dreadful Fires must needs be supposed to have consumed an infinite of Goods and Treasure and the Emperors and most eminent Persons of the Empire who made their Escape both by Sea and Land had carried with them whatever they had that was most portable and precious So that hereby one may judge of the Riches of this imperial City which fell under the Power of the Crusades without any other Loss in the taking than of one single Knight who in too eagerly pursuing the flying Greeks fell into a Ditch which they had cut in the Street and was slain by his Fall But in my Opinion the best part of this great Booty was the precious Treasure of an infinite number of holy Relicks which the Emperors after great Constantine had caused to be transported from the whole East and especially from Palestine to Constantinople and which since the taking thereof have inriched many famous Churches in Italy Germany Flanders and all Europe especially France For from thence came the greatest part of those which are in the Royal Church of St. Dennis Philip the August to whom the Emperor Baldwin sent them in Person receiving them and transporting them thither with a Pomp and Magnificence worthy of the Piety of so great a King From thence we have the sacred Crown of Thornes the true Cross the top of the Spear with which our Saviour's precious Side was pierced and the other holy Relicks which are reverenced in the sacred Chappel of Paris where they were put by St. Lewis who by the Consent of the Emperor Baldwin de Courtenai his Kinsman redeemed them out of the Hands of the Venetians to whom they were pawned And that I may not trouble the Reader with a long Catalogue those which are possessed by the Churches of Soissons Troyes Beauvais Langres Chartres Laon and so many others as appears by the Deeds of those Churches came all from hence and from hence it was that the Church of Amiens had the Head of that Divine Precursor of Christ Jesus St. John the Baptist which renders it so Famous Nor can the Truth of that precious Depositum be longer doubted since that Monsieur Cange in the excellent Treatise which he hath written about that Relick hath so solidly Established and so cleared the Truth by dissipating all the Clouds which have been raised to obscure it that in my Opinion there are none but those who are willfully Blind but must see the Truth of it There remained nothing now to be done but to create a new Emperor and for this Purpose there had been twelve Electors named so soon as the Siege of Constantinople was resolved upon There were six Venetians which were the Admiral Vitalis Dandolo Otho Quirini Bertaccio Contarini Nicholas Navagieri Pantaleon Barbo and John Basegio the French also named as many on their Part which were the Bishops of Soissons Troyes and Halberstad the Bishop of Bethlehem whom the Pope had caused to pass from Palestine to the Army to be his Agent there John Bishop Elect of Acre and the new Abbot of Los in Montserrat An Election of this Nature was without doubt a very tender Affair in regard that there being many Pretenders to this extraordinary Honor there was great reason to fear that those who were excluded by the Choice of their Competitors should abandon the new Emperor year 1204 and by leaving him almost alone put him out of the Condition of maintaining himself in an Empire newly conquered and wholly unsetled Besides there was reason to apprehend that the Electors of the French would be mightily divided by reason of the underhand Influence of the Pretenders upon them and that consequently the Venetians would indubitably be the Masters of the Election who would all concur to place that Honor upon the Person of the Doge who notwithstanding the loss of his Sight was most capable of Governing a great Empire as for a long time he had made it apparent by his most admirable