Friendship were able to retard Men but they generously broke all those little Chains to enter into the more glorious Bonds of the Solemn Vow of the Crusade Here might you see Friends encouraging one another and entring into this new Amity making mutual Promises never to abandon each other there Enemies Embracing and Religiously Swearing most inviolably to maintain the Truce nay even the weeping Ladys who saw themselves ready to be Divorced from their Beloved Husbands and dearest Children yet did not cease to encourage them to pursue this glorious Enterprize and many of them had the Courage to take a share with them and resolved to follow them notwithstanding all the fearful Dangers and insinite Hazards and Hardships which were to be expected from so long and painful a Voyage Most certain it is that as there is nothing so Perfect or Holy which is not subject to be abused either by the Weakness or Mischievousness of Human Nature so in the beginning of this Holy War there happened so many strange Disorders as might well have rendered the Event of this Enterprise most disastrous if God Almighty himself had not appeared Ingaged in it to that degree as even against all Appearance by a kind of Miracle to bring it to that glorious Issue which was not reasonably to be expected from any inferior Power For an innumerable company of Peasants with their Wives and Children which they carried in their Carts abandoning their laborious Tillage would also have a part in this Voyage which was commonly called Gods Voyage so that all the Mobile of the Realm who upon this occasion entertained a Hope of bettering their Fortunes mingling with those who had undertaken the Cross served to no other purpose but to put all into Disorder and Confusion Nor was it possible to give Bounds to this tumultuary Rabble who to authorise their Actions had so fair a Colour and Pretext of Piety So that the smallest Number were those whom the Consideration of the Glory of the Christian Name or the Service of God obliged to follow this Design but too many Engaged themselves in it some out of Vanity and Affectation others out of a lightness of Spirit these for the Pleasure they proposed in the Voyage those to accompany their Friends and Acquaintance and many to free themselves from the Importunity of their Creditors or to enjoy the benefit of the Truce Great Numbers also of Monks and other Religious Persons weary of their Profession and Solitude abandoned their Cloisters and their Cells and out of the Love of Liberty took up the Cross in a different manner than that which they had obliged themselves to by their Vow and made use of the false Pretence of Zeal to Religion to violate one Vow by entring into another which they had no Power to do so that the Abbots to prevent a greater Mischief were obliged to permit the Monks to follow the Army of the Crusade since they were not able to hinder them who had gotten such a specious Pretence as was the Satisfaction of their ardent Desire which they seemed to have to take their Part in the Deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre Nor were the Women wanting in their little Cheats for they to make it be believed that they were by extraordinary Ways called by God to this Voyage invented those glittering Illusions which some believe have been renounced in our time upon other Occasions for having found a way by the Juice of Herbs to form certain little Crosses upon their Bodies resembling those which the Crusades wore upon their Habits with an impudent Malice they shewed them to every body as if they had been the miraculous Impressions of the Divine Power There were others who with no less Hypocrisie whether by an Excess of ill govern'd Devotion or by an indiscreet Fervour to gain a foolish Glory by a vain Ostentation of their Zeal burnt Crosses upon their Bodies with red hot Irons which they shewed with more affectation and seeming Pleasure than those who wore them upon their Habits Embroidered in Gold and Silver could shew theirs So that Illusion Hypocrisy Vain Glory and Indiscretion the Pests of Virtue and true Piety corrupted and profaned those Actions which otherwise might have been esteemed the most Religious and Heroick But that which prevented these Disorders from being so Mischievous as otherways they might have been was the great number of great Captains Gentlemen Lords and Bishops of France who followed the Princes who were of the Crusade and were joynt Commanders in this famous Enterprise yet without pretending to have any Superiority of Power one over the other which made it apparent that God only was their Conductor and General The Princes then whose Names shall be eternally Reverenced by Posterity and who have acquired immortal Glory in all History were Hugh the great Earl of Vermandois and Brother to Philip the first of France Robert Duke of Normandy Robert Earl of Flanders Raymond Earl of Tholouse and St. Giles Godfrey of Bullen Duke of Lorrain with his Brothers Baldwin and Eustace Stephen Earl of Chartres and Blois Hugh Earl of St. Paul with a very great number of other Lords of the first Quality who shall hereafter more commodiously be made known when Occasion shall present their noble Actions and when I come to describe as I am about to do the Voyage which they made by three several Ways according as before they had agreed in the Winter in order to their Rendevouzing at Constantinople as they did the following Year I am however to inform the Reader that the Respect which I have for him not permitting me to present him with any thing but what has the Warranty of Historical Reputation or Authentick Acts I shall not mention any Names but what I find Recorded in the Historians of those times and if any Persons of Quality who pretend that some of their Ancestors had a share in this Holy War will do me the Favour to send me Authentick Memoires thereof I will not fail in a new Edition of this Work to do Justice to the Merits of those Illustrious deceased and with Satisfaction to render what is due to their Memories and their Descendants year 1096 The first then of these Princes who advanced with his Troops towards Constantinople was the famous Godfrey of Bullen who altho he had not the absolute Command of the whole Army of the Crusades yet without Contradiction he had the greatest share both in the Trouble and Glory of this first Crusade He took the same way which Charlemain in his Conquest had trod before him through Germany all along by the Danubius to the Confines of Thracia This Prince was the Son of Eustace the second Earl of Bullen and Ida the Sister of Godfrey of Bossu Earl of Ardenna Bullen and Verdun and Duke of the lower Lorrain or Brabant to distinguish it from the higher Lorrain year 1070 which was otherwise called Mosellane and which at that time was under the Jurisdiction
both Parts for it was only the Night and the extream Weariness that obliged them on both sides to give over as it were to take a little Breath year 1099 The Night it self however did not pass in over much Tranquility on either part The Besieged were in continual Fear to be surprized under the favour of the Darkness and the Besiegers lest they should sally out to set Fire to the Machines which were already much indamaged and especially that of the Earl of Tholose which was rendred in a manner wholly unserviceable But however they wrought so hard upon it in the Night that the next morning the Combat was renewed on one side and the other with more Fury than before The Christians irritated by so long a Resistance made their utmost Efforts resolute either to lose all or to gain all and the Sarasins animated by the Success of the two preceding days and by the hope of present Succour which the Sultan of Babylon had promised them fought with new Courage and with so much Assurance of Victory that they could not forbear insulting over their Enemies and assailing their Assailants Above all they aimed at Duke Godfrey against whose Machin whilest it advanced over the great Breach in the Out-Wall they threw a vast Quantity of Fire-Works and huge Stones one of which crushed with its fall one of his Esquires just by his side There were also two famous Magicians whom they brought to the Walls who promised to stop the Dukes Castle by their Enchantments but while the poor Wretches were busie muttering their foolish Charms a great Stone thrown from one of the Dukes Slings spoiled their Conjurations crushing them both together sent them down to those Infernal Spirits which they were in Vain calling up to their Assistance The Assault had now lasted till one of the Clock in the Afternoon without any manner of Appearance of Advantage than it was the day before when the Soldiers discouraged to see themselves so often repulsed began a little to relax of their former Ardor and indeed to recoil in Despair of ever being able to force so many brave Men who defended themselves with so much Vigor and Advantage which the Sarasins perceiving sent forth great Cries of Joy intermingled with Horrible Blasphemies and Insulting Language against the Christians reproaching them with the Cowardize and Impotence of their Crucisied God when Duke Godfrey whether he really was assured that he saw it or whether his Imagination heated by the Ardor of the Combat and filled with the Images of War represented it to him cried out amain That Heaven was come to their Succour and that he saw upon his left hand upon the Top of Mount Oliver a Celestial Cavalier who shaking a shining Buckler towards the City gave the Signal to enter it And that which is most surprizing is that the Earl of Tholose who fought at a great distance from him against another part of the City declared the same thing at the same time to his Soldiers so that one must either conclude that these two Princes had before agreed this matter between them to re-incourage their Men when they saw them a little abate of their Courage and Vigor or else that by chance some Cavalier of the Army at that time getting upon that Hill was by the Princes who saw him at the same time taken for a Warriour-Saint who was descended from Heaven to their Succour Let it be as it will it is certain that this Vision or at least the Belief that it was very true had the most admirable Effect that ever was seen for no sooner was the Report blown about but the Soldiers perswading themselves that it was St. George who as the whole Army believed he had done at the Battle of Antioch was come again to sight for them instantly reassumed such a new Courage that they became quite other men for they returned to the Combat like so many furious Lions and even all without distinction of Age Sex or Condition rushed in to the Assault the Sick and Maimed not Excepted ran before the Rolling Machins so that having in less than an Hour levelled the Way which hindred their advancing they pushed them Home to the innermost Wall where for some time they fought at push of Pike and Javelin But Godfrey who was resolute to throw himself into the Town bethought himself of an Invention which facilitated his Passage and cleared the Walls in a Moment for the Enemies to break the Force of the Blows of the Stones and Rams which battered the Walls had put abundance of Sacks filled with Chaff Hay and Wool Rugs and Alatresses pieces of Cables and Ropes and a hundred other things of that Nature which they thought would by yielding and giing way year 1099 defend the Walls from those Blows of the battering Engines the Duke perceiving that the Wind blew at North and was upon his Back made a great quantity of fire Darts be shot against that soft and combustible Matter which catching hold of them very easily set them in a moment all into a Blaze the Flame which rose very high with a mighty thick Smoak being driven by the Violence of the Wind upon the Faces of those who defended the Walls and the two adjoyning Towers on the Right and Left they were forced at last to Retire and leave the Place Empty The Duke thereupon immediately letting down his Draw-Bridge which was of an exact Height to rest upon the Wall descended instantly to the second Stage where putting himself at the Head of all those brave Men which accompanied him he threw himself with his Sword in his Hand into the Town having at his Side Eustace his Brother Baldwin Earl of Bourg his Cousin and the two Valiant Brothers of Tournay Lethold and Engelbert who were followed by the brave Guicher and that choice Troop of Lords and Gentlemen who never Abandoned the Duke In a little while after the Duke of Normandy the Earl of Flanders and Tancred having used the same Artifice to drive the Enemies from the Walls threw their Bridge over the Wall also and entred at the Angular Tower being sollowed by Gaston de Foix the Earls Hugh de St. Paul Gerrad de Rousillon Raimband de Orange Louïs de Mouson Conon de Montaign Lambert his Son and all the rest who desired to have a share in the Glory of these great Men. In the same Instant the Soldiers seeing that the Princes threw themselves into the Town followed by the principal Persons of the Army they were so Animated that they ran to the Assault of their own Accord every one in the way that his Courage Inspired him with these presented the Ladders and pushed one another forward to gain the Battlements which the Enemies had Abandoned those mounted the second Stage of the Castles to pass over the Bridges and the greatest part desperately threw themselves in at the Breach which had been made the day before so that all the North Side
Rama where they took some of the Enemies Scouts had Advertised him that the Sultan was Incamped at Ascalon a City upon the Sea-Coast two good days Journeys from Jerusalem towards Egypt he resolved to go to meet him and notwithstanding the prodigious Inequality of their Forces to give him Battle For this Purpose having first Implored the Help of Heaven by publick Prayers at which he assisted with marvellous Devotion he parted from Jerusalem upon Tuesday the eleventh day of August with the Earl of Flanders and that Arnold de Rohes who by an Intrigue which is no part of my History to relate was now chosen Patriarch of Jerusalem with the Consent of the Pope This new Patriarch who for very many Reasons was not so very agreeable to the generality of the People thought to acquire Reputation by shewing his extraordinary Zeal upon this Occasion He therefore left Peter the Hermite to take Care that Prayers might be made to God Almighty for the happy Success of the Arms of the King whom he would follow carrying with him to Encourage the Soldiers a part of the Wood of the true Cross which an honest Christian had hid during the Siege lest the Sarasins should profane it The same day the King joyned Tancred and Count Eustace waiting the coming up of the Duke of Normandy and Earl Raymond who met him at Ibelin which was Anciently the City of Gath one of the five Cities of the Lords of the Philistins some few Miles from Lidda and Ramula The next day they advanced together to the Brook Soreck which was not above two or three Leagues from the Enemies Camp There they found a prodigious Number of Horses Oxen Camels Asses Sheep and Goats which were guarded by some Arabians who were easily Routed some of them being taken Prisoners by whom they gained Intelligence of the Posture of the Enemies so that they easily Seized upon these Flocks and Herds of Cattle but there being reason to fear that this was but a Snare which the Sultan had laid for the Christian Army to fall upon them whilest they were busie in dividing the Prey the King expresly Prohibited all Persons to meddle with the Booty and not to think of taking any thing from the Enemy till they had gained the Battle which they were going to give them year 1099 In short the next Morning being Friday and the Eve of the Assumption of our Lady the Army at break of day passed without any Trouble the Torrent which at that dry Season of the Summer had but very little Water in it and the Sultan who could never perswade himself that the Christians would dare to be so hardy as to Advance to him had given no Order to hinder their Passage or to Dispute it with them Never was there seen a greater Ardor than appeared in the Countenances of the Soldiers upon this Occasion so much Joy and so much Assurance of Victory appeared amongst them tho they were but a handful of Men in comparison of the infinite Multitude of their Enemies for those who speak with the least assure us that there were a hundred thousand Horse and above three hundred thousand Foot in their Army for the Sultan who had set his Resolution either to Preserve or Recover Jerusalem had Amassed all the Soldiers that possibly he could out of Egypt Lybia Affrica Ethiopia Arabia and the Towns which were yet Possessed by the Turks who joyned with him against the Christians as their common Enemies And the Historians who speak the most of the Christians will not allow them to be above twenty thousand among which about five thousand Horse they being not in a Condition to Re-mount the Cavalry since the Taking of Jerusalem But that which gave this Confidence to the Christians besides the Contempt which they had of these Numbers of Sarasins which they made no account of was the Zeal which they had for the Glory of Christ Jesus and the eager Desire which boyled in their Hearts to Revenge the horrible Blasphemy of the Sultan For they had learned from the Prisoners that this impious Miscreant had haughtily threatned to Extirpate all the Christians and their Religion out of the East that he would rase the very Foundations of the Holy Sepulchre and utterly Ruine all the Monuments of Christian Religion and thereby spoil the Longing of those of the West to make any more such Voyages to Jerusalem They passed then over the Torrent with Trumpets Sounding and great Shouts of Joy as if it had been in Triumph and that they intended with their small Army to Affront the mighty Number of their Despised Enemies But it happened by a very surprizing Accident that the Mistake of their Enemies supplied the Defect of their Number by making them appear to be far more than in Reality they were which mistake produced all the Effect that could have been hoped or wished had they been really so many as they appeared to be for that mighty number of Cattle which had been taken the day before and which the King had forbidden the Soldiers to meddle with followed the Army as they passed the Rivulet and without being in the least Conducted by any Ranged themselves in the order of Troops upon their March as if it had been the Rere-guard of an Army extending themselves to the left Hand to the very Foot of the Mountains which border upon the East covering all that large Campain which from the Brook extends it self even to Ascalon which lies on the right Hand upon the Sea Coast and as these Animals filled all the Plain even to the Mountains and that the Horses Excited by the Noise of the Trumpets fell to Neighing according to their couragious Nature in such a manner that they might be heard afar off so these great Herds of other Cattle in Marching raised such mighty Clouds of Dust between them and the Sarasins that not being able to distinguish clearly they took them for part of the Christian Army and particularly for Squadrons of Cavalry and consequently their Fear also multiplying them in their amazed Imaginations they conjectured that their Number was not at all inferior to theirs whereupon they were Seised with a general Consternation and not being able to disabuse their troubled imaginations they stood as if they had been stupid thinking they were to deal with a million of Christians who since the taking of Jerusalem were Arrived from the West In the mean time the Armies being thus near there was a necessity of Fighting that of the Christians was divided into three Bodies Count Raymond Commanded the Right Point which was extended to the Sea that so they might not be Surrounded on that side The King took the Left that so he might be opposite to the Right of the Enemy where their Principal Squadrons were ranged The Duke of Normandy the Earl of Flanders Tancred year 1099 and Gaston de Foix were in the middle with the main Body of the Battle These three Bodies were ranged
He came into France at the same time that Cardinal Henry the Bishop of Albano Legate from the Holy See arrived there And there are some Authors who assure us that Pope Clement honoured this Archbishop with the same Character and joyned him in Commission with the Cardinal to treat a Peace between the two Kings of England and France to the end they might unite in the Resolation of undertaking the War against Saladin That War which Philip the August had declared against Henry II. King of England for the Restitution of the Earldom of Vexin had been terminated by the Undertaking of Pope Vrban upon condition that the King of England as a Dependant for those Estates upon the Crown of France should in a time prefixed submit himself to the Judgment of the Court of France That Term being expired Henry not only still retained the Earldom which he was obliged to restore but also the Princess Alice the Sister of Philip who was designed to be married to Richard the Son of the King of England Philip resolved to do himself Reason for such a visible Injustice year 1188 was about to enter into Normandy with a potent Army where Henry also was expecting him with considerable Forces when the Archbishop of Tyre arrived very opportunely to suspend at least for a time the Anger of these two Princes And so it was that by the force of his Genius and his Eloquence he procured an Interview between them in a Plain between Trie and Gisors where they were used to meet when they treated one with the other The two Kings met there about the middle of January accompanied with the Princes Prelates and great Lords of both the Kingdoms And there it was that the illustrious Archbishop employed all the Power of his Eloquence and of his Wit to represent in that August Assembly The deplorable Estate into which the fatal Divisions of the Christian Princes of the East had reduced the Kingdom of Jerusalem which the first Crusades had from so many barbarous and Infidel Nations so gloriously conquered with their victorious Arms. He then remonstrated That of four puissant Estates which they had established upon the Ruins of the Mahomitan Empire and which extended the Dominions of the Christians from Cilicia to Egypt and from the Sea to the River Tygris there remained nothing to them now more than three Cities That Antioch dispairing to be able to preserve it self by its own Forces had already promised to surrender if it were not immediately relieved by those of the West That Tyre without necessary Succours was not in a condition to sustain a second Siege having in the first lost the greatest part of its Defendants That Tripolis was too weak to endure one and could no longer remain in Freedom than it pleased Saladin to present himself before it to add it to his other Conquests And that further after so lamentable a Loss as that of Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land there was great danger of losing also the very Hopes which remained to the Christians in those places from whence they might take a Beginning to re-establish the Kingdom of Christ Jesus if those two Kings the most potent of Christendom did not unite their Hearts and their Arms to run to the Relief of Christ and his Cause of whose only Grace and Goodness they held all which they did possess And in short he said upon that Subject so many pathetick things and in a manner so powerful and so touching that the two Princes whether they had in a former Conference which they had agreed this as one of the Articles of the Peace or that God in whose Hands are the Hearts of Kings to change them in a Moment by the extraordinary Working of his Power it is certain that they embraced one the other mutually in the Presence of the whole Assembly and did it with all the Marks of a perfect Reconciliation and a sincere and cordial Friendship as if there had never been any Subject of Discontent or Difference between them And at the same time might be heard on all sides the confused Voices of a Multitude of People who broak out into great Cries of Joy and from every Quarter was to be heard Long live King Philip Long live King Henry Let us go Let us go to this War against the Infidels under the Conduct of these two mighty Kings Let us deliver Jerusalem and extirpate the Enemies of Jesus Christ The Cross the Cross let it be given us the Sign of our Salvation and the Ruin of the Sarasins These Acclamations were also presently followed with that happy Success which attended the Legation of this brave Archbishop of Tyre that the two Kings first presenting themselves to receive the Cross from the hands of the Legates they were followed by Richard the Son of the King of England Duke of Guienne and Earl of Poitou who had voluntarily taken it before the Loss of Jerusalem but would now anew receive it from the hands of the Legates As also did Philip Earl of Flanders the Duke of Burgundy the Earls of Blois Dreux Champagne Perche Clermont Barr Beaumont Nevers James Lord of Avesnes and almost all the great Lords of France England and Flanders who were present at this Assembly And to distinguish the one from the other it was ordained that the French should take a Red Cross being the same they bore in the first Crusade the English a white one and the Flemmings one of Green It is said that at the same time there appeared one in Heaven bright and shining which helped to inflame the Devotion of those who took up the other as if God himself had manifestly called them to this Holy War by a sacred Signal from above And to render the Memory of so great an Action Eternal a Cross was erected and a Church built in the midst of the Field of this Conference which was ever after called The Holy Field year 1188 After this the Kings to support the Charges of this War and to prevent the Disorders which had been so injurious to the former Crusades resolved to publish these following Ordinances That all Persons who had not undertaken the Cross of what Quality soever even the Ecclesiasticks except the Chartreux the Bernardines and the Religious of Fontevraud should pay one Tenth of their Revenues and of their Moveables except their Arms their Habits Books Jewels and consecrated Vtensils and Ornaments which was afterwards called by the name of Saladin's Tenth by reason that it was raised upon the Occasion of making this War with Saladin That the Crusades should have liberty to raise a Tenth of all their Subjects who did not go to this War And that the Husbandmen who undertook to go and take the Cross without the Leave of their Lords first obtained should not be exempted from this Impost That all Interest upon Money lent should cease for all the time that the Debters were upon Service in the Holy Land That
being of an Humor not to forget themselves whilest they served others so advantageously they took occasion to be their own Paymasters by making themselves Masters of certain Places in Pavia where they afterwards became very Powerful by the Accession of divers of their Countrymen who flocked thither to them upon the Incouragement of their good Fortune and Renown The most considerable of these was a Person of Quality one Tancred Lord of Hauteville who of twelve Sons which he had not at all inferior to their Father in Courage sent eleven of them into Italy They were so fortunate that in a little time a fair Occasion presented itself to them to establish their Dominion in Italy For Baldwin Lieutenant to the Greek Governor being ill treated by him craving Aid of these Normans broak out into Terms of Defiance with him These Eleven Brothers the most renowned of their Nation and to whom all the rest yeilded Obedience carried themselves with such Conduct and admirable good Fortune that after having intirely defeated the Greeks in three Battles they chaced them out of almost all their Dependancies in Italy dividing the Conquests among themselves But still they acknowledged for their Captain and Chief the eldest Brother William Surnamed for his Valour Iron-Arme who was the first Earl of Pavia his two next Brothers Drogon and Humphry succeeded him and after them the Third which was the famous Robert Guischard This Prince who certainly was one of the greatest Men of his Age not contented with Pavia by the force of his Arms extended his Dominion into Calabria and Conquered the greatest part of that Country which is now called the Kingdom of Naples and took upon himself the Title of Duke of Pavia and Calabria for which he did Homage to Pope Nicholas the Second restoring to him such Lands as had been usurped from the Church He had afterwards great Differences with Gregory the Seventh who Excommunicated him but in the end being Reconciled he received Absolution and became his great Protector and at the earnest intreaty of that Pope it was that he with his Son Bohemond passed the Sea to make War with Alexis Commenius the Usurper of the Imperial Throne out of which his Predecessor Nicephorus Botaniatos had expelled the Emperor Michel Parapinacius who was come to Rome to Implore the Succor of the Pope and the Normans There can be nothing more Glorious than that which upon this Occasion was performed by this admirable Prince for he over-ran all Greece and with no more than fifteen thousand Men defeated Alexis in a set Battle who Encountred him upon the Frontier of Thrace with an Army of one hundred and seventy thousand Combatants Then leaving Bohemond in Thrace who successfully pusht on the War often beating Alexis as the Princess Ann his Sister Confesses he hasted to the Succor of the Pope who was closely Besieged by the Imperialists and Romans in the Castle of St. Angelo he constrained Henry the Emperor to depart from Italy Retook Rome from the Schismaticks conducted the Pope to Salernum returned to the East in his Passage defeated the Fleet of Alexis and having Rejoyned with Bohemond not long after he died full of Glory leaving his Estate to his Son Roger who after an unkind and unlucky War at last came to an Agreement with his Brother Prince Bohemond giving him for his Share the Principality of Tarentum year 1097 This Prince who was nothing Inferior to his Father in Skill or Courage was with his Uncle Roger Earl of Sicily at the Siege of Amalphi when the French Princes passed through Italy for the Levant So soon as he understood the Subject of their Voyage he declared publickly that he would be one with them either out of his great Zeal for the Glory of God or that he believed this might afford a fair Opportunity for him to Recommence the War with Alexis and by Possessing some part of the Empire establish himself in the East for he sent some of his People immediately to Duke Godfrey to obstruct the Peace between him and Alexis Be it as it will for it is no part of my Province to enter into Mens Intentions after the spiteful manner of most People and above all others Historians who to make themselves thought Able and Understanding too frequently fall into this piece of Malice It is most undoubted that Bohemond shewed such a mighty Ardor for this Holy Expedition that having in the Field torn a silken Cloak which he wore into Crosses he took the first himself and afterwards presented the rest to the principal Officers of his Army which were received with such an universal Applause that all the Souldiers protested they would follow him insomuch that passing quite through the quarter of Bohemond Earl Roger was in a manner wholy deserted and forced to retire Bohemond overjoyed at this Adventure applied himself with incredible Diligence to make Preparation for this Enterprize and in a short time passed the Sea after Hugh the Great but with another manner of Equipage than that Prince had done for he had in his Army ten thousand Horse and above so many Foot together with the greatest part of the Gentry of Sicily Calabria and Pavia and the Princes and Norman Lords the principal whereof were the brave Tancred his Nephew his Sisters Son the Earls Richard and Ranulph his Cousins the Sons of William Iron-Arme his Uncle Richard the Son of Earle Ranulph Herman de Canni Humphrey the Son of Raould and Robert de Sourdevall The Army passed through Epirus and Macedon where the Greek Imperialists who had their Winter Quarters there drawing together attended their Motions intending if possible to surprize them and at a certain Pass upon a River when one half of the Army was marched over they fell in upon the Rere But Tancred immediately Repassing followed by two thousand Horse charged them so home that having cut the forwardest of them in pieces the rest consulted their Safety with their Heels He took also many Prisoners whom he sent to Bohemond who reproaching them for this unworthy Action they assured him that what they had done was by particular Order from the Emperor notwithstanding that that perfidious Prince had wrote Letters full of Complements and Civility to Bohemond by that Artifice it seems thinking to amuse him and make him less Careful or Suspicious However this Blow so astonished Alexis that to avoid a greater he sent an Excuse to Bohemond and commanded his Officers to furnish his Army with Provisions he also requested Duke Godfrey with the principal Lords of his Army to meet this Prince and mediate a Reconciliation and the Duke knew so well how to soften that great Spirit that notwithstanding all the reason he had for his Distrusts he brought him along with him to pay his Duty to the Emperor and to take the same Oath with the rest of the Princes which he did with the same Intention lest it should procrastinate that great Design for which they
but they were mixed with so many Faults and Vices which exceeded his Perfections that they were obscured and sullied by them He was about the three and thirtieth Year of his Age of Stature very tall but of a Shape very disproportionate being become excessive gross either by his Intemperance or by a Swelling which remained after a long Quartane Ague which had left his Vifage of a pale Leaden Colour His Arms were also somewhat with the longest though very strong and Nervous and his Thighs too short in Proportion His Eyes were full of a Fire but a Fire that was too fierce and ardent His Hair extraordinary light and inclining towards Red which denoted his Complexion to be excessively hot and cholerick and naturally strong if the Violence of his Exercises his Passions and his Debauches had not so ruined it as to make it appear almost quite overthrown and wholly languishing It is said also that he had abundance of Cauteries or Issues upon his Body in order to the continual discharging of those corrupted Humours with which he abounded so much had that tedious Ague and the Disorders of his Life altered the Establishment and Foundation of his Health and all the beauteous Lineaments of his Face which Nature had bestowed on him He was however in the main a Prince magnanimous bold enterprizing brave fearless and of an invincible Courage by which he acquired the Sir-name of Caeur-de-Lion or Lyon's Heart a Name which the English and Normans bestowed on him and which the Memory of those noble Actions which he so happily and couragiously executed have preserved to him to this day It was nevertheless easily discoverable that he had something of the Fierceness and Brutallity of that Animal mixed with the noble Courage of the Lyon for it is certain that he was most violent rash and turbulent subject to the Transports of Fury hard and severe even to Cruelty which rendred him odious Besides he was inconstant making little Account of his Word and Faith without a true Sense of Friendship Tenderness or good Nature even to the Violation of the most sacred Laws and Rights of Nature as appears by his frequent taking up Arms against his own Father Above all He was as eager to draw Money from every thing as he was prodigal in wasting it when he had it He was presumptuous proud and arrogant voluptuous and debauched even in publick and so far from being concerned to conceal them that he would turn his Crimes into Raillery witness the Answer which he gave one day to that holy Man Fouques de Neuilly who preaching before him in Normandy told him seriously that it was time for him to set his Affairs in order and to quit himself of three dangerous Daughters which he had which would certainly prove his Ruin if he kept them any longer with him Richard who took him according to the literal meaning thinking that it was very easie to convince him of Imposture That is false said he to him thou Hypocrite I have no Daughters at all Pardon me Sir replied the good Man you have three very lewd ones your Arrogance your Avarice and your Luxury which will infallibly in a little time ruin you if you keep them them with you Very well replied the King year 1190 laughing instead of seriously thinking of Repentance and Amendment Since there is a necessity then of parting with them therefore I do immediately bequeath my Arrogance to the Templers my Avarice to the Monks and my Luxury to the Prelates of my Realm But as on the one side notwithstanding all his Debauches he had a Principle of Religion which was firmly rooted in his Soul and on the other side according to his impetuous Nature he was usually in the Extreams either of Good or Bad he had sometimes such great Transports of Devotion and was so sensible of the Enormity of his Crimes that to witness his Repentance and to satisfie God Almighty for his Follies he would do such things as certainly the most severe Directors of Conscience would never have thought fit to be exacted from so great a King And that which was infinitely advantageous to this Prince was that this Principle of Religion summoning up all its Power in his Soul at the Hour of his Death made him express the most rigorous Repentance that is possible to be found in the Histories of the greatest Saints Thus so long as a Man more especially a Prince preserves the Principles of true Faith by submitting his Sentiments to those of Religion and the Catholick Church one may still retain a Hope notwithstanding the Infirmities to which he is subject that this Root of Life will in time produce the Fruits of a true Conversion and like a Plant which keeps its Root how dead soever it may appear in the Winter and dispoiled of its Leaves and Flowers yet at the Return of the Spring it will recover its native Beauty and pleasant Verdure Sea now what kind of Men these two Kings were and from so vast a difference of their Tempers and Inclinations it will be easie to fore-see that they could not remain long in a good Understanding one with the other as appeared but too visibly in the Consequences of their future Voyage Philip whose Fleet waited for him at Genoa parted the first with a brave and flourishing Army composed of the greatest part of his Nobility and the choice Soldiers of France though it is hard to determine precisely in what number they consisted in regard the Writers of those times have not left us any certain Information But this is most certain that he was accompanied with the greatest Men of the Realm the Principal of which were Eudes Duke of Burgundy Peter Count de Nevers Renaud Count de Chartres Geoffrey Count de Perche Aubrey de Rullen Mareshal of France Matthew de Montmorency who was afterwards Constable of France the Counts de Beaumont Rochefort Valery Dreux de Mello Lord de Loches and Chattillon and William de Mello his Brother The Fleet was met at Sea with a furious Tempest which gave the King occasion to shew the Greatness of his Soul in the magnificent Gifts which he bestowed on chose who lost their Equipage being forced to throw it over-board for the Safety of their Lives At last he came to an Anchor upon the 6th of September in the Road of Messina where the two Kings had before agreed the place of their Joyning should be In this time King Richard after having waited eight days to no purpose the Arrival of his Fleet at Marseilles being pushed on by his natural Impatience he imbarked himself the 17th of August upon thirty Merchants Ships which he caused to be fitted up and after having Coasted all along by Genoa Tuscany and Champaign in Italy he arrived happily at Naples from whence he passed to Salernum there to expect News of his Fleet whose long and unaccountable Delay gave him an extraordinary Inquietude and Displeasure The Fleet had put
of a good House whose name was Nicholas Cannabus and notwithstanding all that he could do to oppose it they carried him to the Imperial Throne which was in the Body of the Church upon the right side over against the Tribunal and proclaimed him Emperor compelling the Patriarch also to Crown him Alexis astonished at this News ran to consult his Oracle the Traitor and he resolving to push his Treason to the utmost to the end that he might procure himself to be elected Emperor in the place of Cannabus got a Deputation instantly for himself to go to the Marquis Boniface to whom he promised on the Behalf of Alexis who implored his Assistance in this pressing Necessity to deliver to him the Palace and Fortress of Blaquerness as a pawn of his Fidelity provided he would instantly come with all his Forces to deliver him out of this extreme Danger in which he was The Marquis not doubting but that the rest of the Princes would be in this particular in his opinion accepted the Proposition but before he had the Leisure to conferre with them the Perfidious Murtzuphle being returned failed not the Night following to advertise the Principal Persons of the City and of the Militia of this Treaty And as he had a great Party of his Friends and Relations so having assured himself of the Guards of Strangers by the Lord Treasurers Interest whom he had gained he caused the People to be put in Arms before the Palace to hinder the Effect of this Treason of Alexis who as they were made to believe had sold the City to the Latins and for other Matters he took upon him so to order them that they should have nothing to fear then the Traitor making use of the Power which his Place about the Emperor gave him entred at Midnight into the Bed-chamber where the poor Prince was fast asleep without dreaming of his horrible Treachery he instantly awakned him and with a trembling Voice intercepted with Sighs as if he had been quite out of his Senses he told him that all was lost that all the City was in Arms that the Commonalty the Nobility and Gentry with the Guards were all ready to fall upon the Palace with intent to cut him in Pieces having understood by some of their Spies who were come from the Camp that he had a Design to deliver up the City to the Latins Whereupon the amazed Prince wholly abandoning himself to the Conduct of Murtzuphle that Perfidious Villain who pressed him to save himself throwing about him a Morning Gown he carried him through many windings into a strait Place in the remotest and most obscure part of the Palace whither he was no sooner come but he found men posted by this wicked Traitor who instantly seized upon him and clapping Irons upon his Hands and Feet dragged him into the most horrible Prison that was in that place This being done he went and immediately presented himself to the People and in a cunning Harangue gave them an Account of what had passed and what he had done to deliver them from the terrible Danger wherein they were of losing their Liberty he exhorted them generously with their Arms to assist him in preserving it and the Glory of the Empire against the Latins and to chuse an Emperor who had Courage to defend them against these Tyrants who endeavoured to oppress them Hereupon the Guards and all those who were of his Faction having saluted him Emperor with mighty Acclamations the People who are wont in Tumults blindly to take those Impressions which are given them did so too never thinking of the poor Cannabus the late Idol of their own making who was presently by this new Tyrant Unemperor'd again and sent to the Prison from the Throne to bear Alexis Company As for that other Fantome of an Emperor the miserable Isaac who was desperately Sick when the news was brought him of this suddain Revolution he died in a few hours after either of Fear or Grief or as some believe by the Cruelty of Murtzuphle whose Impatience of Competitors or even the Shadow of them would not permit him to wait till the Disease should put an end to the Destiny of this deplorable old man year 1204 But this is most certain that this Barbarian being in continual Fears lest the Latins should once more endeavour to restore the Prince Alexis after he had two or three times given Poison to this young unfortunate Emperor to ease himself of the Disquiets which might rise from that Quarter finding that they did not dispatch him so quickly as he expected he himself went to the Prison where he was kept and by an execrable Cruelty which is scarcely to be found among all the Examples of the most Sanguinary Tyrants which are branded with Infamy by Historians he there strangled him with his own Hands A notable Instruction for all Crowned Heads and which may inform them of how dangerous Consequence it is blindly to commit themselves to the Conduct of one single Person who having no Companions in his Ministry has the Opportunity of betraying them without being perceived and that there can be nothing more fatally dangerous to them than to trust to those who have once violated their Faith which they had given them as this wicked man had done who was one of the first that had declared himself for the Usurper Alexis Comnenius when he seized upon his Brothers Diadem Thus miserably perished the Young Alexis who having by a manifest Perjury broken the Oath which he had solemnly sworn to the Confederates who came to establish him in his Empire God the just Avenger of the Persidy of Princes of whom he is the sole Judge permitting him to lose his Empire and his Life by another Persidy more Execrable and by the Hands of the same Person whom he had raised so high and who by his wicked Counsels had perswaded him to that Perjury to destroy him Thus one may in all Ages see by a multitude of Examples that great Crimes especially of great men are usually punished even in this Life and most commonly by the very Instruments and Causes of those Crimes This Abominable Parricide being in a little time discovered notwithstanding all the Artifices with which Murtzuphle endeavoured to conceal it the Princes the Prelates and Confederate Lords assembled themselves to take a firm and the last Resolution upon an Affair so little foreseen or expected by them and it was at length concluded by them that for the present laying aside the Enterprise of the Holy Land they should endeavour to take Constantinople and imploy their Forces about it for the remainder of the Year of their Confederation and that for three Reasons first to revenge the horrible Murder committed upon the Person of him whom they had made Emperor and to overthrow the Throne of the Usurper who had seized upon it by such abominable Crimes Secondly to do themselves Justice by taking that by Force which it was
many of the Crusades of all Nations believing that they had fully accomplished their Vow and being weary of a tedious War returned into their respective Countries and that which weakned them still more was that the King of Jerusalem who commanded the Army quitted them and returned into Palestine This King who was in no sort satisfied with the Legate who had so often shocked him and with whom he found it impossible to keep himself in any good Terms was not at all sorry to have a fair pretext to retire himself and the death of Livon the King of Armenia which then happened furnished him with a plausible reason to go and pursue the Right of the Queen his Wife who in Opposition to the Prince of Antioch pretended that that Realm appertained to her Besides he said that having heard that the Sarasins of Alepo were fallen into the Territories of the Templers he was obliged to go instantly to repel these dangerous Neighbours who made Advantage of his Absence So that notwithstanding what ever the Legate could remonstrate to him to stop his Journey he left the Command of the Army to him and imbarked with his Troops he carried them with him to the City of Acre promising nevertheless to return and join the Army so soon as he could But the long stay which he made to no purpose at Ptolemais year 1220 without either making War against the Sarasins or in Armenia made it evident that the reasons which he alledged to justifie his retreat were nothing but colourable pretences to withdraw himself So that the Crusades having not sufficient Troops to guard the Conquests and to march into the field were constrained to pass the Summer without doing any thing and in the Interim they writ to the Pope to intreat him to hasten the Supplies of the New Crusades which were expected and above all to procure the Emperor Frederick to put himself at the head of them that so under so great a General whose Commands no person would presume to dispute there might be no more such divisions as might retard the progress of the Christian Arms. This Prince who had more than once promised that he would presently accomplish his Vow yet continually put of the Voyage for reasons which appeared very plausible pretended that the present posture of the Affairs of the Empire would not admit of his Absence and that he had not yet received the Crown Imperial at Rome without which at that time they were scarcely thought to be compleat Emperors The Pope therefore to take from him these Excuses which he had hitherto made use of sent for him to Rome where he was solemnly crowned upon St. Cecily's day in St. Peter's Church together with the Empress Constance his Wife there he again received the Cross and renewed his Vow to take the Voyage to the Holy Land giving his Promise and his Oath to the Pope thereupon upon which Confidence the Pope writ to Damiata to encourage the Legate and Crusades assuring them that in the Month of March in the following year the Emperor would send before him the Duke of Bavaria the Bishop of Metz his Great Chancellour with considerable Succours and that he himself would follow in the Month of August with all his forces year 1221 The first part of his Promise he exactly performed and was something better than his word for besides that Lewis Duke of Bavaria according to his promise imbarked in the Spring with above four hundred Lords and Gentlemen Germans and Italians who conducted noble Troops which arrived happily at Damiata he also rigged out three and fourty Gallies out of the Ports of Sicily under the Command of the Bishop of Catania Chancellour of that Realm The Venetians the Genoese and the Pisans also brought thither great reinforcements as did the Arch-Bishops of Milan of Genoa and Candia and the Bishop of Brescia who were accompanied by many Italian Lords insomuch that the Legate who had a great longing to sight whilest he commanded the Army which he had once before drawn out to no purpose to meet the Enemy and now believed that with this reinforcement of so many brave Troops he might more easily execute his Enterprise He communicated his Design to the principal Commanders of the Army the Arch-Bishop of Milan and all the other Bishops who were constantly in the Council and they who were very willing to be at his Devotion were in his Opinion and all concluded as he did that such a flourishing Army ought not to lie idle but that without waiting any longer they ought to march against the Sultan who had not had much time to make his Preparations and who would doubtless perfect his Levies if they should any longer defer attacking of him But the Duke of Bavaria and so many Lords as accompanied him and generally all the Commanders who were not pleased to see a Churchman at the Head of an Army as a General in the day of Battle were unanimous in the opinion that since the Emperor could not possibly come so soon as was desired they ought to expect the King John de Brienne whom the whole Army desired as their General and who would most certainly be there in a very small time And in truth the Pope having understood that this Prince was withdrawn in discontent under pretence of the difference with the Prince of Antioch for the Kingdom of Armenia had writ to him in very pressing Terms to oblige him to return to Damiata and all the Lords of the Army who were resolved to have a Captain of his Quality and Valour pressed him so strongly to return and take the Command of the Army that in four or five days he arrived at Damiata and that which augmented the Joy of this happy return which was so welcome and had been so long hoped and wished by the Army was that Count Matthew Governour of Pavia for the Emperor came almost at the same time to anchor in the Port of Damiata with eight Gallies which Frederick year 1221 who was then in his Kingdom of Sicily had sent as a reinforcement upon which were seven hundred of the most brave among the Nobility and Gentry of Sicily who in their passage having met with twelve great Ships of the Sarasins had sunk four chaced the rest and taken two of them whom they brought in as the Trophees of their Victory to Damiata In this time Meledin who had had leisure to make advantage of this sad division which still continued between the King of Jerusalem and the Legate Pelagius being marched out of Grand Caire accompanied with his two Brothers Coradin Sultan of Damascus and Seraph Sultan of Alepo and the greatest part of his Allies which together made the greatest Army which they had ever had came and posted himself a little above the place where the Pelusiack and Tanitick the two Eastern Chanals of the Nilus divide themselves from each other there he retrenched himself very strongly and built a Fortress
having understood that a King so renowned throughout the World was come to make War upon Egypt he had sent them to inform his Majesty that he was marching to besiege the Calife in Baldac in the beginning of the Summer and therefore requested him at the same time to attack Egypt and that the Sultan and the Calife being thereby hindered from mutually assisting the one the other they might both of them with more ease come to the ends which they had proposed All this which these Ambassadors had related and the account which they gave of the puissance of the Tartars was exactly conformable to the Letters which the Constable of Armenia who had made a Great Voyage into Tartaria had before written to the King of Cyprus so that St. Lewis received them with an incredible joy year 1249 and himself conducted them upon the Holy Days of the Nativity and Epiphany to the Divine Offices caused them to be entertained at his own Table and kept them there till the beginning of February that so he might treat with them with more deliberation After which he dispatched them loaden with Noble Presents together with Father Andrew and two other Religious of his Order two Cordeliers two Secular Ecclesiasticks and Gentlemen Attendants whom he sent Ambassadors some to the Prince Ercalthay and others to the Great Cham with most Magnificent Presents both for the one and the other There was sent to the Great Cham among other Rarities and curious Pieces of great value a most Sumptuous Tent of Scarlet in form of a Chappel where was to be seen in rich Embroidery all the Mysteries of the Life and Passion of Jesus Christ admirably represented in Silk raised with Gold there was also belonging to the Chappel sent all the necessary Ornaments and Furniture for the Celebration of the Divine Offices as also to each of them a small piece of the Wood of the Holy Cross and the King writ to them Letters full of the Spirit of Religion with which his Soul abounded in which he exhorted them to persevere in the love of God who by his Grace had been pleased to illuminate their Minds and had called them to the happy knowledge of himself The Legate also on his part did the same writing to the Mother of the Great Cham and to all the Christians of that huge Empire exhorting them to take great care to preserve themselves in the true Faith and the Unity of the Catholick Church under the Obedience of the Vicar of Jesus Christ upon Earth After this the King spent the rest of the Winter in pacifying some troubles among the Christians especially those of Syria and Palestine and in according the differences which were between the King of Armenia and the Princes of Antioch who were continually in some quarrel or other He caused also a great number of slat bottomed Boats to be built in order to the landing of his men and at last after he had assembled all his Troops who were with part of his Ships in the neighbouring Islands and had received a reinforcement from Europe of about two hundred English Gentlemen conducted by William Longsword Earl of Salisbury who were resolved to have a share in this War and after he had escaped the Treachery of certain Sarasins who were come disguised into Cyprus with intention to poyson him he imbarqued the Week before Whit sunday together with Henry King of Cyprus and set sail for Egypt But being by ill weather which separated his Fleet driven into Limisso he parted the day after the Feast from that Port and with a fair gale of Wind arrived in four days before Damiata which place he resolved to besiege Damiata of which I have formerly given the description both as to its Situation and Strength was at this time nothing so well fortified as it was when about thirty Years before it was taken by the Christians after a Siege of eighteen Months neither was it defended by such gallant men as those who sustained that long Siege and the Sultan of Egypt Melech-Salah although he was a great Soldier yet was much declined from his first Vigor being in a weak and languishing condition by reason of the great Sickness which he had had during the Winter at Damascus Nevertheless as he did expect that the King would make his first attempt against the City of Damascus which was the Key of Egypt he brought thither all the Army which came with him from Syria and so soon as the Signal was given from the Tower of Pharus that the Christian Fleet appeared he ranged his Army along the Shoar and caused his Ships and Gallies to descend to the Mouth of the Nile year 1249 so that the first object that appeared before the Eyes of the French were two great Armies one by Sea to oppose their Entry into the River the other by Land upon the Brink of the Shoar to hinder their descent from which two Armies they heard the terrible noise of their Instruments of War and the dreadful shouts of so many millions of Sarasins as made the Arched Roof of Heaven resound again the Sultan himself as ill as he was would put himself at the head of them armed completely from head to foot in his fairest Arms all of fine Gold and sparkling with precious Stones which receiving a marvellous reduplication from the shining Beams of the Sun cast such glittering Rayes as made him seem all on fire Hereupon the King held a Council with the King of Cyprus the Duke of Burgundy and William Hardoum Prince of Achaia who came from Morea John d' Ybelin Count de Jaffa who was come from Palestine and with the rest of the Princes and Great Lords They were all in the Opinion that they ought not to endeavour a descent in View of two such great Armies they having not the third part of the number of their Enemies and that they ought rather to expect the arrival of those who had been separated by the Tempest among whom there were above twelve hundred Knights who were the choice men of the Army But the King maintained the contrary opinion and made it clearly appear that if they deferred it any longer they might put themselves in evident danger of losing all in regard that they had no Port to which they might retire and secure themselves from a suddain Tempest which as it had done before might chance to overtake them and either separate them or force them ashoar upon the Enemies Coasts And that besides this delay would not only give the Enemies an increase of Courage but the time to retrench themselves with greater advantage This resolution of the King and the Power of his reasonings having dissipated the Fear which they had That they should not succeed in their attempt with so small a number it was ordered that the next morning they should move directly against the Enemies if they should again appear to dispute the descent the day following accordingly being the Friday after
their lives after having made a wonderful Slaughter among the Sarasins both in the Field and in their Camp The Great Master of the Temple who made a shift to disingage himself from his Enemies yet lost one of his Eyes in the Encounter and Peter Duke of Bretany with some others who fought like Lions after his Example retreated from this Slaughter all covered with Wounds and Blood which issued in great quantity from his Mouth the Seneschal Joinville and the Lords Hugh de Trichasteau Peter de Neville Raoul de Vanon Erard d' Esmeray Hugh of Scotland Renaud de Menoncour and a few more who were not got over when the Count ran upon the Enemy were invested with above six thousand Sarasins who coming from all quarters charged them most furiously and after having slain the Lord de Trichasteau and wounded almost all the rest they were just upon the point of taking them all Prisoners when they were stopped by the relief which the Count d' Anjon brought to their assistance and in a moment after forced to retire to the gross of their Army there appearing to them a mighty Cloud of dust which rise from the Neighbouring heights from whence also was to be heard the fearful Noise of Trumpets Cornets Drums Flutes and Fifes mingled with the neighing of Horses and the shouts of War like those of Men who were going to the charge which made them imagine that all the Christian Army was ready to fall upon them And in truth it was St. Lewis who having understood the disorder of his People was advancing to their assistance with all his Men at Armes and had made a halt upon that eminence to give out his Orders according to the Condition wherein he should find his own Men and the Enemies There was never any thing that appeared more beautiful and withal more formidable than this Prince so soon as this Cloud of dust which covered him was dissipated For whether it were that his charging Horse was really larger than any of his Guards or that he raised himself upon his styrops to speak to his Men and to incourage them in this dangerous occasion or that God was pleased to increase his Majesty in this great Day and to make him appear taller than he was it is certain that the Sieur Joinville who saw him in this condition from the plain where he was assures us that he surpassed all the Knights that were about him by the Head and Shoulders it was in this posture that having his head covered with a Golden Cask a mighty German Sword in his hand his Shield upon his left Arm an assured countenance and a Noble Fire sparkling from his Eyes which pierced the hearts of his Souldiers communicating some part of his generous Flames to every one that saw him he so animated his People that many gallant Men without staying for the Command flew to charge these six thousand Sarasins who were retreating and they also receiving them like Valiant Men and contrary to their custom Fighting Foot to Foot there never was seen in all these Wars a more furious Combate than this which was maintained with mighty blows of the Sword the Mace and Battle Ax. The King who beheld this great Combate transported by a generous impatience to come to blows was upon the point of spurring up after his Men to throw himself into the midst of his Enemies but John de Valery one of the wifest and most experienced Knights of his time remonstrated to him that it was not there that the affair was to be decided but that there was a necessity to draw up in Battalia more to the Right hand along by the River that so he might not be surrounded by the Enemy who without this precaution might easily fall upon his Rear and that also by this means he might receive succour from his Forces which were on the other side of the River with the Duke of Burgundy who now having no Enemy at their Head might have time enough to lay over a Bridge And the event presently shewed that this was wholesome advice For the Sarasins who after the defeat of the Count d' Artois and the Templers no longer doubted of the Victory came all together to attack the King whom they would easily have encompassed with their innumerable multitude if he had not been secured by having the River at his back The Combate was long and bloody and the Enemies charged at first with so much Vigor and gave such a furious Volly of Darts and Arrows that many of the Kings People believing all was lost year 1250 thought basely how to save themselves by getting back again over the River but with the ill fate of Cowards who commonly find their Death by flying they unhappily in their amazement mistook the Ford and so were drowned But the invincible courage of the King and the Heroick Actions which upon this occasion he performed again established all and even constrained Fortune at last to declare in favour of Vertue For having overthrown the Enemies and with his Sword in his hand charged into the thickest of their Battalions he presently drew after him by the greatness of the danger to which he exposed himself and by his example all the Lords and Knights who were about his Person and who all of them shewed prodigious effects of Valour but yet not comparable to those which this Noble King performed for being got mingled with the thickest of his Enemies at some distance from his Men six of the bravest of the Sarasins fell upon him and laid hold of the bridle of his Horse to carry him away by Force before he could be rescued but he disingaged himself from them all by his own single Valour and by the blows which he bestowed among them for he overthrew one with his Buckler and spurring his Horse against a second laid Horse and Man upon the Ground a third he ran quite through the Body and with a dreadful reverse made the Head and Cask roll from the shoulders of a fourth and one of them still hanging upon his Bridle he cut off both his hands at the wrists and so passed over the Bellies of them all still pursuing his point and advancing as resolved either to vanquish or to die so that if it had been a private Souldier who had so bravely acquitted himself he must have been esteemed an extraordinary Prodigy of Courage and Valour These great Actions did so increase the Courage and Strength of all his Men that after they had for three hours after Noon sustained the utmost Efforts of so many thousands of Enemies who believed they should easily Triumph over so small a Number they constrained them to recoil and at last after they had in vain attempted to regain their advantage to draw off towards the evening leaving to the Conquerors their Machins and their Camp upon which the Count d' Artois had seized at the beginning of this Famous Battle The Slaughter was great both on
his Mamalukes the particular Enemies of the Name and Nation of France were upon the point of driving them unless they were speedily assisted He protested That he was resolved even tho he were abandoned by all the rest of the World in such a Noble Enterprise to pursue it vigorously himself and to imploy all that he had his Forces his Fortunes and his Life in this Glorious Service and that he should infinitely rejoyce to lose it in his Service who had laid down his precious Life for the Love which he had to Mankind in that precious spot of Earth for the Recovery whereof he exhorted all the French who he doubted not had doubtless the same Courage with which their Ancestors had so gloriously conquered it to take up their Arms and accompany him in this Noble Enterprise A Discourse of this Nature spoken with unexpressible Graces and by so great a King whose Age Experience Wisdom Equity and Love which he had for his People and above all his Eminent Sanctity rendred so much beloved and revered by his Subjects did so sensibly affect the Hearts of all the whole Assembly that after the Legate had made his Speech upon the same Subject and the King himself had with a Marvellous Devotion received the Cross the greatest part of the Princes and Lords following his Example also took it upon them The first among them were the three Princes his Sons Philip his Eldest John Tristan Count de Nevers and Peter Count d' Alenson Alphonso Count de Poitiers and Tholouse his Brother Thibald King of Navarr and Count Palatine of Champagne his Son-in-Law Robert Count d' Artois his Nephew John Son to the Duke of Bretany Son-in-Law to the King of England the Counts Guy of Flanders Philip of Nemours Guy de Laval and Philip de Montfort year 1268 The Lords de Courtenay de Beaujeu de Montmorenci de Harcour de Valeri de Neele d' Estrees de Longueval de Varennes de Clermont de Fiennes de Rochefort de Mirepoix de Cleri de St. Cler de Roye de Precigni de Chastenoy de Saux de Beaumout de Mailly de Vandieres de Lionne d' Auteil d' Orillac and the brave Oliver de Termes all Illustrious Names known and still reverenced in our days after so many Ages in the Persons who are honoured by them and who have done them Honour by their Merits These were followed by all the other Knights and Lords of the Assembly except only the Lord Joinville High Steward of Champagne who having had enough of the first Voyage dispensed with himself for the second alledging that by the first he had ruined his poor Subjects of the Lordship of Joinville and in the ill humour in which he was by reason of this second Undertaking which he did not at all approve he hath written very plainly That it was the opinion of many Learned Men that those who gave the King this Advice sinned mortally in regard that the King was so weak in Body and brought so low that he was but just in a condition to maintain that Peace and justice which by his presence he caused to flourish in his Kingdom and which would by his absence be most certainly banished from thence But this was not the opinion of Clement the Fourth who was esteemed one of the most learned and pious Popes which the Church had ever had and who St. Lewis having consulted him concerning this Voyage extremely approved of it as did also the Confessor of this Holy King And this makes it evident That in all times the most severe Casuists have not always been the most knowing nor the safest advisers in difficult matters After this great Action St. Lewis applied himself with an indefatigable Zeal to dispose all things for the Crusade sparing neither diligence pains nor cost to put it into a condition to have better Success than he had met with in his first Voyage and to draw along with him not only the French his own Subjects but also such of other Nations as were willing to share with him in the Enterprise And for this purpose he did what was possible in conjunction with the Pope to make an Accord between the Venetians and the Genoese that so they might enter with him into this Holy Vnion But it was all Labour in vain for these two Republicks whose difference occasioned so many mischiefs to Palestine had too much animosity one against the other to unite so easily or so quickly As for the Venetians who had at first treated with him for his passage they at last excused themselves from furnishing him with Shipping by the fear which they said they had that the Sultan of Egypt resenting it should seize upon all their Effects within his Ports But the Genoeses who always ran counter to their Enemies and who upon this occasion acted more nobly offered him theirs He also by his Royal Liberality obliged Edward Prince of England to take up the Cross a Prince whom he highly valued for his Spirit and his Valour and gave him thirty thousand Marks in Silver to put him into an Equipage to accompany him like a great Prince offering the same Sum to James King of Arragon who had some years before taken upon him the Cross The Pope also on his side did not fail to excite the Kings and Princes of Europe as also the Greek Emperor by the Example of St. Lewis to joyn their Arms with those of this great King for the deliverance of the Holy Land from the oppression of the Sultan of Egypt who wanted not above two or three Cities to be Master of all that the Christians possessed in Syria Palestine and Egypt since the time that they were conquered by Godfrey of Bullen but all was in vain Ottocare the King of Bohemia the Dukes of Saxony Bavaria and Brunswick Otho Marquess of Brandenburg and divers others whom Clement excited to take the Cross and some of which had already taken it were so incumbred by the Schism of the Empire and besides so exasperated by the Death of Conradin which for a long time rendred the Name of the French odious to them that they could not be perswaded to entertain a thought of uniting with them in the Holy War The King of Castile who disputed the Empire and whose Brother had been taken with Conradin was in the same opinion The King of Portugal Alphonso the Third took the Cross indeed and abtained a Grant to receive the Tenths of all the Goods of the Church in his Realm for the Holy War but after all he performed nothing year 1269 James the King of Arragon made the fairest advances in the World towards this War He protested in the Assembly of the Princes at Toledo That he would accomplish his Vow although his Age seemed to dispense with him for it and notwithstanding all that could be done to divert him from it He promised at Valentia to the Ambassadors of the Greek Emperor and to those of