appointed him to preach the Crusade in France and Germany and to exhort the People and Princes to take up the Cross principally by the Motive of Penitence for the Remission of their Sins which they should obtain by delivering their Brethren from the Tyranny of the Insidels or in laying down their Lives in so pious an Enterprise So that it is from hence easie to discover what was the only Argument which engaged St. Bernard in this Affair for before that though he was most earnestly sollicited even by Soveraign Authority yet would he never either discourse or give his Opinion upon a Voyage of that Importance as Geoffry his Secretary afterwards the Fourth Abbot of Claraval has assured us in the History which he hath left us of the Life of that great Saint The King now highly satisfied to see his Design succeed so well being so solemnly supported by the Pontifical Authority year 1147 failed not at Easter in the Year following to convoke a General Assembly at Verelay a little Village in Burgundy between Auxerre and Nevers There met so great a Number of Princes Prelates Lords and Gentlemen and People of all Sorts of Quality that they were constrained to hold the Assembly out of the Town upon the Brow of a Hill which abutted upon a great Plain which was filled with an Infinite Number of People who ran together from all Parts of France upon the Report of the Enterprise of a Holy War wherein every one was desirous to have a share there was about the Middle of the Hill a Tribunal Erected upon which after the Letter of the Pope had been read St. Bernard made a Speech to the People with marvellous Force of Spirit Eloquence and Zeal representing to them in most Tender and moving Terms the Miserable Condition of the Christians in the East particularly since the second taking of Edessa by Noradin For the sad News was already come to France by the late Envoys from Antioch and Jerusalem who were come to implore the Succours of the French He forgot nothing that might most effectually move their Hearts he pressed them with the Considerations of the Glory of their Ancestors whose Conquests they were in Honor bound to defend and preserve he urged their own Eternal Advantage which they might assure to themselves by this kind of Martyrdom which they Voluntarily underwent by the Spirit of Penitence for the Abolition of all the Disorders and all the Crimes of their former Lives and above all he insisted upon the Honor of Jesus Christ whom he made appear as marching himself at the Head of the Crusades to Jerusalem to be there as it were once again Crucified if it were necessary for the Salvation of those that followed him So soon as he had finished his Discourse the King who had heard him with all the Marks of a most tender and sensible Devotion rising from his Throne threw himself at his Feet humbly demanding of him the Cross which the Pope had sent to this pious Abbot to bestow upon him he received it from his Hands with an extreme Respect and having himself fastened it to his Right Shoulder he did not believe he prostituted the Royal Dignity in any sort by mounting in that Condition up to the Tribunal with St. Bernard and from thence to exhort the People as he did with incredible Zeal to follow the Example of their King This Action far stronger and more perswasive than all the Eloquence of the Saint was immediately followed with a General Acclamation of all those who stood round about who with one Voice as it were by Consent cried out The Cross The Cross And at the same time Queen Eleonor the Daughter of St. William Duke of Guienne and Earl of Poitiers presented herself to receive the Cross and was followed by all the Great Men of the Realm the Principal whereof were Robert Earl of Dreux Brother to the King Alphonsus Earl of St. Giles Tierry Earl of Flanders Guy Earl of Nevers Renald his Brother Earl of Tonnerre Yues Earl of Soissons William Earl of Ponthieu Henry the Son of Theobald Earl of Blois William Earl of Varrennes Archibald de Bourbon Enguerrand de Couci Geoffry Rancon de Taillebourg Hugh de Lusignan William de Courtenay Renauld de Montargis Ithier de Thoci Guicher de Montgeay Everard de Breteil Dreux de Mouchi Manasses de Bulli Ancel de Trenel Guerin his Brother William Bouteiller William Agilons de Trie and among the Prelats Simon Bishop of Noyon Godfrey Bishop of Langress Alwin Bishop of Arras Arnoeld Bishop of Lizieux Herbert Abbot of St. Peter of Sens and Theobald Abbot of St. Colomb of the same City In short there was not one of the whole Assembly who did not protest that they would have the Cross and St. Bernard after having thrown down from this Tribunal a great Quantity which he had caused to be made up in great Bundles was obliged to satisfie their Importunity to cut his Robe into small pieces and upon the Spot to make it into new Crosses which he dispersed among them being forced at last to give the rest the Liberty to cross themselves since it was impossible to make so many Crosses as would suffice so vast a Number This was what was done in the Assembly of Verelay as for the rest the King adjourned the Deliberation of what was further to be done to another far greater which was to be held the third Sunday after Easter at Chatres where almost all the Arch Bishops and Bishops of France were present as if it had been a General Councel year 1146 The Resolution of the King who was present at the Synod with all the other Princes of the Crusade was there generally approved and which one cannot without some difficulty believe if St. Bernard himself had not writ it that which made the greatest Impression upon Mens Spirits was that the happy Success of the Voyage and of the War depended upon him and that it was there resolved by a Common Consent not only that he should go along with them but also that he should have the General Command of the Army which could not fail of being always Victorious under a Cheistain who was believed to be the Disposer of God Almighties Power by the Gift of Miracles which all the World attributed to him So easily do the Spirits of men prepossessed with the Opinion of the Sanctity of a Person suffer themselves to be seduced to take an irregular Conduct abandoning good Sense and that Reason which God hath bestowed upon them to regulate and govern the Deliberation of those Affairs which they are about to undertake But St. Bernard who was a man of a different Complexion from Peter the Hermit and who knew admirably how to make Wisdom and Reason consort with Grace and Devotion opposed himself stoutly against this Resolution which he believed was wholy dissonant to Prudence and Reason He writ to the Pope concerning it and made it so evident to him who understood
and St. Paul at the Castle of Chinon bestowing his Maledictions upon his disobedient Sons which he would never be persuaded to revoke notwithstanding the repeated Instances which were made to him by the Bishops who waited on him in his Sickness He did however receive the Sacrament and Extream Unction with great Devotion giving manifest Tokens of his Repentance in submitting to the Divine Justice which he acknowledged had justly laid this great Change of Fortune upon him as a Punishment for those Crimes which he had committed in his Prosperity He had also the Misfortune that his Domesticks every one seizing upon something left him without any thing else but a poor Sheet to cover him But his Son Richard who had so furiously opposed him in his Life gave all the Testimonies of an excessive Sorrow for his Death and caused him to be carried most magnificently adorned in his Royal Robes to be interred at the Nunnery of Fontevraud where he had a desire to be buried This new King himself assisted at the Funerals where he testified by the abundance of his Tears that he was unfeignedly touched with Sorrow and Remorse for his Father's Death But it is reported that to his other Grief he had the Displeasure to be afflicted with an odd and unaccountable Accident for as he approached the Corps of the deceased King as he lay in the Coffin the Blood which gushed out of his Nostrils seemed to reproach him with his Ingratitude and unnatural Rebellion and even as the Discourse went the Parricide of his Father whom his Disobedience did in some measure seem to have hastned to his Tomb sooner than Nature which was yet strong and vigorous in him had intended He nevertheless stayed out the whole Ceremony till such time as the Royal Defunct was interred in the Quire of the Church of those Religious Nuns which verified the Revelation of a Monk who praying upon a certain time for the Prosperity of the King heard these words which he then did not understand but which were explained by the Event He shall take up my Sign and in carrying it shall be mightily tormented The Belly of his Wife shall rise up against him and at the last he shall be hid among the Veils For as he took the Cross for the Holy War he carried the Sign of Jesus Christ and he was immediately after cruelly tormented by the Persecutions of his Sons which continued till his Death after which he was covered with the Veil of Death being interred in a Quire of Veiled Nuns We must however do Justice to the Memory of this Prince who was one in this Crusade though it so happened that he never had his part in any Action in regard it was so long deferred by the War whereof he was the Occasion He was a French Man by Nation born in the City of Mans which he therefore used to call his Darling and most assuredly he was one of the greatest and most potent Kings that ever sat upon the English Throne and certainly had been the most fortunate if either he had never been a Father or if toward the latter end of his thirty and five Years Reign he had not met with the Opposition of the young and invincible Philip the August whose Fortune supported by his Courage and admirable Prudence was as a fatal Curb which according to the Prediction of the famous Morling was to tame this fierce and haughty Leopard or like a strong Dam which stopped short and broke that impetuous Torrent of his Power and Ambition year 1189 which menaced an Inundation over the rest of France whereof Henry already possessed a very great part For besides England where he reigned as Soveraign Monarch and Ireland which he had conquered Scotland which was Tributary to him he also possessed Normandy in the Right of Inheritance descending to him by his Mother Maud the Empress Daughter of Henry I. King of England and by Geoffrey Earl of Anjou his Father who was Son to Count Fowk he had Anjou Maine Touraine a great part of Berry and Avignion where he pretended to be Soveraign And in Right of Queen Eleonor his Wife whom Lewis the Young quitted to him by a Canonical Sentence he had Gascon Guienne Poitou and the other Countries which depended upon them Besides that Britanny fell to his third Son Geoffrey by the Marriage of the Heiress of that Country So that he was as potent on this Side the Sea where he was a Homager to the Crown of France as he was on the other side where he was King of England and Lord of Ireland He was of a middle Stature but of a Shape no way handsom by reason that he was extream gross and corpulent notwithstanding that he was not only very temperate but amidst the great Affairs in which he was always employed and which he managed with wonderful Application in continual Action either travelling or Walking or making use of the more violent Exercises of Riding the great Horse or Hunting that thereby he might abate the growing unwieldy by his Fatness to which his Sanguin Complexion had condemned him As for any thing else he was of Temperament robust and sound having a large full Breast and a big Head His Eyes were blew handsom and full of Fire His Hair yellow and soft inclining something too much towards the red His Voice hoarse his Speech rough and his Mind very fierce and Martial For his Mind he was very dexterous and of a penetrating Understanding but something more crafty than became so great a Prince He had however cultivated his Spirit with the Study of Ingenuous Learning which inabled him with a certain Eloquence very easily and naturally to express himself And there was in his Soul such a Stock of Vices as well as Vertues natural Perfections and Imperfections which were so blended together that if they would not permit it to be said of him that he was a very exceeding good Prince yet they very absolutely prohibit the fixing the Character of a very ill one upon him For he was gentle and sweet to every body when he was in dangers but harsh fierce and severe when he saw himself out of them he was complaisant abroad morose to his Domesticks liberal to Strangers and in publick but parsimonious to his own and too great a Husband in his private Affairs A great Promiser but a slender Performer above all things loving his Liberty and hating Constraint to that degree that he could not endure to be a Slave to his own Word or his Faith which he made no great scruple upon occasion to violate In matters of Justice he was too slow and sometimes by the Interposition of Money which he loved excessively he would wholly remit the Execution of it He drew great Sums from his Subjects with which he often chose rather to buy Peace than maintain War in which he did not delight though when he was forced to make War he did it like a great Captain and
upon the twenty seventh he arrived about the twentieth of September in the Isle of Cyprus where the other Ships which came from Aigues-Mortes and Marseilles sooner or later as the Troops came up which were to be imbarqued upon them came to joyn him in a little time after There it was that St. Lewis committed a great Error which must not be dissembled and which most assuredly was the cause of his Misfortune by following against his own Judgment the advice of the Lords of his Army and the Barons of the Isle of Cyprus For one part of them being very glad to repose themselves and the other to have time to prepare themselves for the Voyage which they promised to undertake with the French and they lay so continually at him that they persuaded the King contrary to his Inclination to stay in the Island till after Easter pretending that the Winter was now approaching and that it was most convenient to expect the coming up of several other Troops which were to arrive and this occasioned two great Mischiefs For first the Waters in the Island were nothing so wholesome as those of Egypt and the Air was very bad and not at all favourable to Strangers who were not accustomed to it by reason whereof Diseases fell into the Army and considerable numbers of them died and divers even of the first Quality to the number of at least an hundred and fifty among whom were extremely regretted the Counts de Dreux Vendosme St. Paul and Montfort the Bishops of Beauvais and Noyon and the Illustrious Archambaud de Bourbon This is he who was the last of the Race of the Archambauds who having held during the time of seven Counts of that name Bourbon and a great part of Avergne for three hundred and eight years lost them happily for the Glory of that House by the Heiress thereof marrying into the August Race of St. Lewis there to revive again in the most glorious manner in the Descendants of that King who are raised as we see them at this day with greater Splendour than ever to one of the tallest Thrones of Christendom For the Prince John de Burgogne the second Son of Hugh the Fourth who was of this Crusade having married Agnes year 1248 the Inheretrix of Archambaud had by her only one Daughter Beatrix de Burgogne a Princess of the Blood of France by her Father and Heiress of Bourbon by her Mother Robert of France the fourth Son of St. Lewis and Count de Clermont in Beavoise married this Princess Beatrix by whom he had Lewis who took the Surname of the Inheritance of his Mother and was the first Duke of Bourbon and from him by James de Bourbon Constable of France his second Son are descended the Princes of that Royal House of which the Eldest after the Race of Valois was Extinct succeeded to the Crown of France from Henry the Great whose Grandson Lewis fourteenth the Inheritor of his admirable Vertues and the glorious Surname of The Great hath with the Crown rendred that Name the most August and the most revered of all the Earth which he hath received from so many Kings his Predecessors accounting from this St. Lewis to whom he is the Twelfth in a Lineal Succession And I cannot believe that this Digression will be disagreeable which I make of this Genealogy upon so favourable an opportunity since it falls in so naturally with the Subject of my History which I now am about again to pursue The second ill consequence which this too long stay in the Isle of Cyprus produced was the leisure which was thereby given the Sarasins who were then at War among themselves to reunite or at least to suspend their private quarrels to put themselves into a condition to oppose the Forces of the Christians And in truth when the King came to Land in the Isle of Cyprus the Sultan of Egypt who sometime before had seized upon Damasous and all the other Sultans upon his hands who were united against him for their common defence and would not treat at all of any peace as he desired unless he would first withdraw his Forces out of Syria He was himself sick at Damascus and fearing that the Christian Army should in the mean time fall into Egypt he was at last obliged at least to obtain a Truce from the Sultan of Alepo and to draw off his Army from before Emessa which he had besieged so that if St. Lewis in stead of stopping in Cyprus had gone directly to attack Egypt he had found it without any Forces capable of resisting him and might have made himself Master of it with very little difficulty Whereas during these six Months which were spent unprofitably in this Island the Sultan of Egypt had all the time and opportunity which he could desire to accommodate matters with the Sultan of Alepo and to recover of his Distemper as also to draw his Army into Egypt and there to raise new Troops and put all things into a posture to receive the Christians on the contrary the King's Army was extremely weakned by this long time of lying still and besides consumed all the great Provisions which had been made insomuch that unless the Emperor Frederick and the Venetians to whom he made applications for Provisions which the Isle could not furnish him withal and who served him with it in a manner infinitely obliging had not furnished him he had been constrained to return into France without doing any thing at all It was during his stay in this Island and towards the end of the Year that he received from Nicosia the Embassadors of one of the Tartarian Princes whose name was Ercalthay and who was then in the most Eastern Parts of Persia After they had presented their Letters of Credence which were written in the Persian Language and in Arabick Characters and translated into Latin by Father Andrew a Monk of the Order of St. Dominick who had formerly known these Ambassadors in Persia whither he had been sent by Pope Innocent they informed the King that the Great Cham of Tartary had about three Years before been baptized having been converted by the good Example and the Exhortations of the Empress his Mother the Daughter of a King of the Indians she having always been a Christian That their Master Prince Ercalthay who had also for a long time been a Christian had been sent by the Great Cham with a Potent Army against the Calife of Baldac as great an Enemy of the Christians as the Sultan of Egypt That that Sultan to afright the Sultan of Mussule or Nineveh who was also a Friend of the Christians had written to him that the King of France being come to attack Egypt had been defeated at Sea and had lost above sixty of his Ships which had been carried in Triumph into Damiata They added that their Master had not doubted but that this Defeat by the Egyptians was a pure Fiction year 1248 and that therefore
thinking it very lawful to revenge Persidiousness by Treachery no sooner saw them disarmed but they fell upon them and put them all to the Sword except a very few who escaped the Massacre to carry the woful News into their own Country to the other Crusades who yet by their Misfortune grew never the Wiser or more Considerate For in the beginning of the Summer of this same Year a prodigious Multitude of People gathered from divers parts of France England the low Countries Lorrain and that part of Germany which lyes upon the Rhine drawing along with them an infinite of Women and People of the lewdest Condition in the World assembled themselves near Collen where they passed the Rhine in order to joyn with Count Emico who attended them with a great number of Crusades of the higher Germany of the same dissolute Complexion with themselves These People to Signalize their false Zeal by covering a most barbarous Action with the specious pretence of Piety most inhumanly Massacred all the Jews whom they found at Collen and Mayence where they forced the Arch-Bishops Palace where Rothard the Archbishop had secured a hundred of these poor Creatures as in a Sanctuary But it proved no Protection against the Fury of those Barbarians who Butchered them in a most savage manner cutting their Throats like Sheep sparing neither the Women for their Sex nor the Children for their innocent Age nor indeed was there any Sanctuary to be found against this horrible Barbarism which was inspired by Avarice and promoted by an insatiable Covetousness of the Riches of the Jews Insomuch that the remainders of them being reduced to the utmost Dispair chose rather to repeat the doleful Example of Saguntum Capua and with their own Hand to commit the bloody Execution so that barricadoing themselves within their Houses the pityless Mothers like Furies cut the Throats of their sucking Babes the Husbands their Wives and Daughters and the Fathers their Sons and the Servants chose rather to dispatch each other than to fall into the Hands of those incompassionate Monsters who profaned the Character and rendered the Name of Christian of which they were unworthy most Infamous and Detestable But it was not long before God Almighty by the remarkable Vengeance which he executed upon these wicked People manifested the Abhorrence which he had of their Crimes and that he had no Intention to make use of their Service in reconquering the Inheritance of his Son by the profane Hands of those who had declared themselves his Enemies by such Impieties as even the Infidels themselves would have blushed to commit For this huge Army of Bedlams which consisted of above two hundred thousand Men of whom there were not above three thousand Horse laying Siege to Mesbourg a strong place upon the Danubius in Hungary where they were denyed Passage and when they were just upon the point of gaining it was in an instant struck with such a Pannick Fear that they fled with so much Precipitation Blindness and Disorder and all perished there except a very few of the Horse who being well mounted saved themselves by Flight For the greatest part of them were Smothered whilest they indeavoured to pass the Morass with which the Town is Invironed others were slain by the Garrison who upon this occasion sallying out followed them with Death closely at the Heels many were cut off by the Peasants who ran from all parts to take Vengeance of these Robbers and a multitude of them were drowned whilest indeavouring to pass the Danube they tumbled headlong one upon another so that the Shoar of that great River was for some time covered with their dead Bodies insomuch that this prodigious multitude of distracted People who pretended with impunity to commit the most execrable Crimes in the World causing a Shee-Goat to be worshipped which was carried at the Head of the Army as their conducting Divinity vanished in a moment by a terrible Blow of the Divine Justice which would not indure to be affronted by their pretended Piety and making Religion only a Cover for those abominable Wickednesses wherewith they daily dishonored God year 1096 But to proceed the Army of Peter the Hermite did not meet with a Fortune much more advantageous It was now become very numerous by the Conjunction of an infinite number of Lombards Genoese Piemontanes and other People of Italy who having taken upon them the Cross with the earliest even presently after the Council of Clermont came in several Troops by themselves without any Leaders and being joyned with those Forces of Gautier near Constantinople they were commanded there to attend the Arrival of the Hermite by the Emperors Order who now began to entertain some suspicious Jealousies of this great Army of Franks who were to be followed by others as numerous as they So soon as Peter was arrived the Emperor who had an extream desire to see him sent for him to the Palace where the Hermite who by the Voyage he had made into the Levant was well skilled in the Language and as Eloquent an Orator as a great Captain made him a Discourse in publick upon the Subject of this Expedition and the Holy War of the Forces and Qualities of the Princes which were expected with which the Emperor appeared so well satisfied that he made the Hermite very fair Presents and bestowed upon him a round Sum of Money to buy Provisions for his Troops After which he sent him back to the Camp Exhorting him by no means to precipitate this great Affair and especially not to attempt the passing of the Straits till the Arrival of the Princes nor to expose his harrassed Troops against those of the Turks which were far stronger than his and against which his tired and feeble Men would be able to make no tolerable Resistance The truth is the greatest part of our Historians represent this Prince as the most perfidious and disloyal of Mankind one who under the fine appearance of a feigned Friendship covered that horrible Treason which he had contrived against the Latins which was by a thousand unworthy Artifices to bring them to Destruction as well as by the Arms of the Turkish Infidels on the other side the Greek Writers when they mention this Emperor and this War speak nothing like it and the Princess Anna his Daughter who hath written the History of her Father in a Stile Florid and Beautiful after the Genius of her Sex in her Alexiada paints him directly contrary and hath dressed him up like a Hero a Wise and Politick Prince who upon this Occurrence performed the most admirable things in the World But to deal sincerely and without Prejudice the best way in my Opinion is to avoid both these Extreams to the end thereby if possible to find out Truth in the middle Way But this is most certain that this Alexis Comnenius was no other than an Usurper of the Empire of his Master and his Benefactor who had given him the Command
had before-hand complotted their Destruction there perished a hundred thousand men besides an infinite Number of Women who were led into miserable Captivity The Earl of Poitiers having lost all was reduced to the deplorable Necessity to make his Voyage on Foot Hugh the Great could not finish his but died by the way at Tarsus in Cilicia The Earl of Tholose making Use of the small Remainder of the Pilgrims to regain Tortosa from the Saracens who had seized it abandoned his Benefactors and fortified himself in his Conquest following the Design which he had always cherished to acquire some little Principality in the East The rest after having visited the Holy Places conducted by their ill Destiny compleated their Misfortunes by joyning with the King in this unhappy Battle only the Earl of Poitiers escaped having taken Shipping at Jaffa in order to his return into France the rest who stayed were either slain upon the Place as were the Earls of Blois and Burgogne or taken Prisoners as were the Earl of Bourges and many other brave though unfortunate Persons The King nevertheless escaped to Rama and in a few days having drawn together the Troops of Antipatris Tiberias Jerusalem and Jaffa into which Place he had put himself he made a Sally to so good purpose upon his Enemies who prepared to besiege him that in the End he constrained them to take their Flight leaving to him all the Marks of an absolute Victory the Field of Battle the Bodies of the Slain all their Engines and their Baggage After which he took Ptoelmais by the Help of the Genoese who besieged it by Sea with seventy Ships he a second time defeated the Saracens of Egypt in the Plain of Rama he took the City of Tripolis year 1105 which under the Denomination of an Earldom and the Condition of Homage he conferred upon Bertrand the Son of the Earl of Tholose year 1109 who was dead about four years before he made himself Master of Sidon Beritus and all the Sea-Coast Towns excepting Tyre which he kept blocked up by the Fortress of Scandalion which he caused to be built upon the Coast some five Miles from that City in the same place where Alexander the Great had formerly formed his Camp when he besieged that City In the End after having also built upon the further side of Jordan the Castle of Mont-Real to bridle the Incursions of the Arabians and having carried his Victorious Arms even into Egypt year 1118 he died of the Flux and was interred near his Brother Godfrey at the Foot of Mount Calvary in a Chappel adjoyning to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre He left the Christians in Possession of four large Soveraignties which they had conquered in the East the first was the Earldom of Edessa which extended it self from the further side of Euphrates to the River Tygris the second was the Principality of Antioch in which was comprized all the Country which is between Tarsus of Cilicia towards the West and the City of Maraclea on the East upon the Coast of the Phenician Sea as far as Tortosa It was afterwards governed by Roger the Cousin of Tancred after the Death of that brave Prince who had governed it till after the Deliverance of his Uncle and then returning into France he married Constance the Daughter of King Philip the first and after having made War in Epirus and in Dalmatia with the Greek Emperor he died in Italy leaving behind him a Son of his own Name The third was the Earldom of Tripolis which extends it self along the Sea-Coast of Phenicia beyond Maraclea as far as the River Adonis which runs between Biblis and Baruth The fourth was the Kingdom of Jerusalem which beginning at the same River stretches it self almost to the Castle of Daron upon the Frontier of Idumea near unto Egypt In this flourishing Estate stood the Affairs of the Christians in the East at the death of Baldwin the second His Brother Eustace Earl of Bullen who ought to have succeeded him was at that time in France and in Regard there was a Necessity that they should have a King who should be actually within the Kingdom year 1118 to maintain things in that Condition wherein they stood against so many Potent Enemies which they had upon all hands therefore the Earl of Edessa his Cousin Baldwin de Bourg who was at that time at Jerusalem was called to the Succession of the Kingdom which he took upon him leaving the Earldom of Edessa to Josselin Earl of Courtenay who was his Kinsman Now in Regard that it was in the Beginning of his Reign that the Order of the Knights Templers were first founded in his Palace and that it is requisite something should be said of these Knights as also of the other Order which was called Hospitallers I think it will not be amiss in a few Words to inform the Reader of the Original the Intention the manner of Living and the Employ of these Military Orders which were established in Palestine under the first Kings of Jerusalem It is certain that before the Christian Princes had conquered the Holy Land there were Hospitallers at Jerusalem whereof some received and Entertained the Pilgrims which came from all Parts of Christendom to visit the Holy Places and others of them had the Charge of the Poor Sick and Diseased People and particularly of the Lepers of which there were great Numbers in those times Those who were called the Hospitallers of St. Lazarus are far more Ancient than the first of these as appears by the great Number of Hospitals and Insirmaries of the Name of St. Lazarus which were wholly intended and principally in the East for such as were afflicted with the Leprosie St. Gregory Nazianzen assures us that St. Basil built one at Cesarea dedicated to the same Saint the supposed Protector of the Lepers and that he gave Rules to these Charitable Hospitallers who devoted themselves to the Service of those diseased People As for the others who made Profession to serve the Pilgrims of the Holy Land they were not in being till a long time after that the Merchants of Amalphi in Italy who trafficked into Syria obtained Permission of one of the Caliphs to build a Monastery near the Holy Sepulchre to which they added a Hospital and an Oratory dedicated to St. John the Eleemosynary there to receive the poor Pilgrims as well as the sick and diseased For after they were embodied into a Community as formerly they took Care only of the Infirm and Leprous so now there were others who were particularly appointed to attend the Pilgrims and both the one and the other were indifferently called Hospitallers they lived a long time in this peaceable Exercise of Charity under one Superior who was called the Master of the Hospital until that after tho Conquest of Palestine by the Princes of the Crusade they took up Arms not only for the Desence of the poor Pilgrims but also to serve the Kings of
of Death causing his Litter to be set down in the middle of the Army he lifted up his Hands and Eyes all Bathed in Tears of Joy to Heaven and with great Devotion he returned his hearty Thanks unto Almighty God for all the Benefits which he had received from him but above all for the Favor which he had now done him to let him die like a Prince of the Crusade in making War against the Infidels and that he permitted him to Vanquish with the bare Report of his Approach and the Terror of his Name these Enemies of Christ Jesus and of his Holy Faith And thus did this Christian Hero Transported more with the Excess of his Joy than of his Pains render unto God his generous Soul going to the Eternal Triumphs of a Glorious Immortality in Heaven whilest his Army Victorious by him only without Fighting Re-conducted his Body in the Litter as in a Triumphant Chariot to Edessa there to receive the Honors due to one of the bravest Actions that ever were Performed year 1142 Thus it was that this Illustrious Lord finished his Glorious Life and thus it was that with the Disgrace of refusing to hold the Place of so generous a Father the young Josselin his Son began his Reign which he dishonored by a Vicious and Dissolute Life spent in all manner of Debauches and above all by the Loss of Edessa which was the cause of the Decay and in Conclusion of the Ruine of the Affairs of the Western Christians in the East But is no new thing to observe that what the Wisdom Courage and Vigilance of many great Men have not been able without great Difficulty to Establish should be Ruined in a moment by the Brutality Pusillanimity and Cowardice of one Dissolute and Voluptuous Man This new Earl Josselin quitted the City of Edessa which his Father and the two Baldwins his Predecessors who constantly kept their Court there had taken great Care to Fortifie and Retired to Turbessel a delightful House Situate upon the Banks of Euphrates where like a true Epicure he drowned himself in those Vices and continual Debauches which the mistaken World calls Pleasures without ever regarding the weighty and troublesom Affairs of State But to Ease him of those Toils which attend a Crown Sanguin the most Potent and Able of all the Turkish Princes Sultan of Alepo and Nineveh now called Mosula or Mussula laid hold of this Occasion of the Stupidity of this careless Prince and knowing that there was neither a good Garrison nor any kind of Provisions fit to sustain a Siege in Edessa he presently sate down before it and by a furious Assault Carried the Place before the Unfortunate Josselin who was of himself destitute of any Power to prevent it could procure any Assistance from his Neighbours for he had too much Disobliged Raymond Prince of Antioch with whom he lived in continual Broils to afford him any and Queen Melesintha was at too great a Distance to Assemble so suddenly such an Army as was necessary to relieve the Place So that the Conqueror had Opportunity enough to make a great Progress with his Arms had not his ill Destiny rather than the Christian Arms prevented him for as he was Besieging Cologembar a Town upon the Euphrates he was Slain by one of his Eunuchs who having thus revenged himself of some Affront done him by his Master saved himself by Flight His two Sons divided his Dominions between them Cotebin the Eldest had for his Share Nineveh and Assyria and Noradin the Younger Brother was Sultan of Alepo This young Prince who soon after made himself one of the most Potent Princes of all Asia had nothing about him that was either Turk or Barbarian except the Name and without retaining any thing of the Vices of his Nation he made himself most Conspicuous in his Conduct by all the Virtues and accomplishing Qualities of a great Captain He was equally Wise Provident Moderate Bold and Enterprising Couragious Valiant and Fortunate and what was most rare among Infidels he was a Man of Honor Probity and wondrous Devout in his own Religion which was Mahometan above all he was the most Vigilant of Mankind the Stoutest and most prompt to lay hold upon all Opportunities which presented themselves with the prospect of any noble Action as appeared particularly in the Rencounter I am going to relate Having understood at Nineveh that Earl Josselin being underhand Sollicited by the Inhabitants had Seized upon Edessa with a considerable number of Troops he ran thither immediately with such Forces as he could on the suddain get together to Invest it this he performed so readily that the Earl despairing to resist the Enemies within who yet held the Fortresses and those without who went about to cut off all Provisions from coming to him resolved before all the Passages were obstructed to save himself with his Soldiers by quitting the City which being accordingly put in Execution the greatest part of the Inhabitants who were afraid to fall into the Hands of Noradin would also Accompany him in this dishonorable Flight But that Prince falling upon the infortunate Inhabitants at the same time that those within the Fortresses Sallying out had broken in among them at the Gate which they had set open they were all cut in pieces and then immediately pursuing the flying Army of the Earl which were Retreated some two Leagues to gain a Pass upon the Euphrates he Charged them so briskly that in the End he put them to a total Rout so that the miserable Earl did not without great Difficulty Escape to Samosatia year 1143 where he Arrived almost alone Thus Noradin having no more Enemies able to keep the Field and having so easily Re-gained Edessa quickly made himself Master of the greatest Part of that Principality from whence he Menaced the other three and all that part of Christendom which was in the East with utter Ruin and Desolation In the mean time immediately after the first taking of Edessa by Sanguin there being great reason to fear that that powerful Turk who had the Courage and Ambition of a Conqueror would also indeavour the Conquest of Antioch a Dispatch was immediately sent to request the Succours of all the Princes of the West But the principal Application was made to Lewis seventh King of France to whom the Christian Princes of the East who were all of that Nation had Recourse as to their natural Lord and whom the cross Accident which happened a little after put into the most favourable Disposition in the World to undertake such an Enterprise This Prince was in the very Bloom of his Youth being about twenty four Years of Age he was of a most exact Shape and of a marvellous and in his Sex an uncommon Beauty of a sweet Temper Civil and Obliging extream Pious Tender and Sensible of the least Sufferings of his meanest Subjects whom he most passionately Loved and was no less Beloved by them but above all he
unquestionable he also added That he was ready to renounce his Religion and turn Mahometan Saladin who very well knew him by the Reputation which he had acquired and which had given him the Fame of one of the ablest and most valiant Knights of his Order accepted his Offers and to engage him the more strongly to his Party gave him his Niece in Marriage and in consequence a very good Army with which this infamous Apostate committed most horrid Discorders in Palestine but as he approached to Jorusalem which he believed he should be able to surprize with the third part of his Troops whilst the other desolated all the Country as far as Samaria or Sebastia even to Jericho the small number of Soldiers which were in the City with the Inhabitants sallied out at the Postern-Gates so luckily that the Traytor who expected no such matter was himself surprized and most of his Companions being cut in pieces he was constrained to sly with all the haste his Spurs could help him to thereby to escape the just Punishments which he knew he deserved for his detestable Perfidy This was some little Consolation to poor King Baldwin who had tasted little in his Life but went out of the World some few Days after with this small Satisfaction dying in the twenty fifth Year of his Age and the twelfth of his Reign not less with the Violence of his Disease than with the Grief which he had to see his poor Kingdom destitute of all hopes of Succour and left in the hands of a feeble Infant betwixt eight and nine Years of Age and which was in extream danger to be miserably torn in pieces by the Factions and Ambition of the Great Men. And indeed presently after the death of this Prince year 1186 those dangerous Contests for the Regency began to break out between the Earl of Tripolis and Guy de Lusignan But this Fire became a mighty Blaze by the death of the little King which happened about seven Months after that of his Unkle by a slow Poyson which it is said was given him either by Count Raymond his Governor who had some Pretensions to the Throne or as others believed by his own Mother Sybilla an ambitious and unnatural Woman who was not able to suffer this little Infant to take from her the Hope of being a Queen But let it be as it will that the Malignity of Men's Natures and the Liberty which they give themselves to publish their own Suspicions and the idle Reports of the People for undoubted Truths which hath often given Rise to the Belief of such supposed Crimes This is certain that the death of this Infant King gave the fatal Blow to this unhappy Kingdom year 1186 and to the Liberty of the unfortunate City of Jerusalem King Baldwin the Fourth had two Sisters Sybilla the Mother of this little Baldwin the Fifth which she had by her first Husband William Marquis of Montferrat his second Sister was Isabella the Daughter of Mary the second Wife of Amauri and Niece to Manuel the Emperor of Constaminople who was married to Alfred de Thoron Son to the late Constable of Jerusalem Now Raymond who was the nearest Relation to the deceased Kings pretended that in the present Condition of their Affairs he ought to succeed to the Kingdom to the Exclusion of the Females and he was supported in his Pretensions by the Militia the People and the Judgment of King Baldwin the Fourth who had intrusted him with the Minority of the young King his Nephew excluding from it Guy de Lusignan the second Husband of his Sister Sybilla On the other side all the great Lords of the Realm who were for maintaining the Succession to the lawful Heirs of the Sisters of Baldwin the Fourth were resolute to recognize the Princess Sybilla for their Queen but with this Condition that some Expedient should be found out to break her Marriage with Count Guy of Lusignan with whom they would have nothing to do both in regard that he was not reputed either brave or able as also that they could not endure that a Stranger newly come among them should possess the Throne to the prejudice of so many Lords of the Realm who might sill it more advantageously Nevertheless Sybilla who was altogether as dexterous as she was ambitious having for some time concealed the death of her Son knew so well how to gain the Patriarch and the great Masters of the Temple and the Hospital who made the most powerful Interest that she procured her self and Husband to be crowned almost at the same time that the death of the little King was divulged before the other Pretenders could have the leisure to enterprize any thing against her It is true indeed that they were so transported with Madness at this surprizing Artifice that they offered to declare Alfred de Thoron King but whether it were that he had little Ambition or little Courage he rejected the Tender and went himself immediately to recognize the new King by doing him Homage the others thereupon being astonished with his Action yet followed his Example though they detested in their hearts this Cowardly Submission of his as they termed it and reserved themselves for the future by some Opportunity or other to overthrow that Throne to which they now submitted only in Appearance and Compliance to the present Necessity But it was far otherwise with the Earl of Tripolis for he neither able to suffer nor to dissemble the Injury which he thought he received by preferring his Rival was so transported with Rage and Fury that he immediately retired into his own Estates and presently after to accomplish his Revenge committed a Fact the most black dishonourable and detestable that ever was recorded in any Story This Count Raymond the Third was descended in the Right Line from the famous Raymond Earl of Tholouse who was his third Grandfather and who after he had done so many fair Actions in the first Crusade died in the Year 1105. in the Fortress of Mount Pilgrims about two Miles from Tripolis which he then besieged Bertrand his Son who took that City succeeded his Father in the Earldom which he held of the Realm of Jerusalem and he left for his Successor Pontius de Tholouse his Son who married Cecilia the Widow of the valiant Tancred the Daughter of Philip the King of France which he had by Bertrada de Monfort who had also had by Fowk d' Anjou her former Husband the young Count Fowk who was afterwards King of Jerusalem From this Earl Pontius and Cecilia descended Raymond the Second Nephew to King Fowk and who was also his Brother in Law by the Marriage of the younger Sister of Queen Melesintha the Daughter of King Baldwin the Second and Wife of King Fowk So that Raymond the Third of whom I now speak who was the Son of Raymond the Second was by his Father second Cousin and by his Mother Cousin-german to King Amauri the Father
had put it self into the Hands of the Prince of Antioch he went and laid Siege to the famous City of Tyre which by the Vertue and good Fortune of one Person happened to be preserved in the manner which I am about to relate The most illustrious House of the Ancient Marquisses of Montferrat which was descended from the Dukes of Saxony was at that time one of the greatest in Europe and the strongest in Italy William the Third surnamed the Old who was the Head of it held the most considerable Rank among the greatest Princes of his time for his Vertue for his Estate his Alliances with the Emperour and the King of France but above all for the extraordinary Merit of four Princes his Sons which he had by the Marchioness his Lady who was the Sister of the Emperour Conrade His eldest Son Boniface received the Crown of Thessaly as the Reward of those famous Actions which he did after the taking of Constantinople William Longsword his second Son was designed to be the King of Jerusalem by Baldwin the Fourth who married his Sister the Princess Sybilla to him but he died about five Months after his Marriage leaving her with Child of the little King Baldwin who soon after died Reynier which was his third Son made also a Voyage to the Holy Land where he died two or three Years before the loss of Jerusalem And the last who was after the Name of the Emperour his Uncle called Conrade was he of all the Brothers who gained the greatest Reputation by the Glory of his Arms. This young Prince in whose Person Nature had joyned with a marvellous Beauty a most extraordinary Strength both of Body and of Mind and who with the heroick Courage incredible Heat and ready Resolution of undaunted Youth had also acquired the Address and Prudence of an old and experienced Captain and most perfect Understanding in the Military Art insomuch that the old Marquis his Father year 1188 had made no Difficulty notwithstanding his want of a Maturity of Age to give him the Command of an Army which he had raised for the Interests of the Pope against the Emperour Frederick his Kinsman at the Sollicitation of Manuel who extremely as well as the Pope feared the growing Power of that Emperour The young Conrade so well managed this War that in Conclusion he vanquished the German Army which was commanded by the Archbishop of Mayence whom he there took Prisoner and this high Reputation which he so well merited was the occasion that about seven or eight Years afterwards Isaac Angelus being come to the Constantinopolitan Empire gave him his Sister Theodora in Marriage together with the Dignity of Caesar and the Hopes that he should succeed him in the Empire And truly he made it appear by a most illustrious Action that he well deserved it For Branas the General of the Imperial Army having caused himself to be proclaimed Emperour Isaac who had not expected any thing less and who had neither Men nor Money wherewith to raise them and being also of a cowardly Spirit believed that all was lost and therefore instead of runing to his Arms he as his last Remedy had Recourse to the Prayers of the Monks whom he assembled at the Palace to implore the Succour and Assistance of God But the young Caesar drawing him from among the Religious whom he sent to pray to God in their Monasteries remonstrated to him so powerfully that he ought to joyn other Arms to those of his Prayers to combat and oppose his Enemies that by little and little he raised up his Spirits till at last he brought him to the Resolution of acting and dying however at the worst like an Emperour Thereupon he made him engage all that he had his rich Furniture of Gold and Silver that so he might have wherewith to levy Men and therein the young Conrade acted with so much Diligence and Readiness that in a few days he raised in Constantinople a very considerable number of Troops composed of Greeks and all manner of Asiatique Strangers Latins and even Turks and Sarasins who happened to have Business there These being joyned with those that belonged to the Court and the City Militia made up a very good Army with which he lead the Emperour against Branas who was advanced within View of Constantinople on the side of Blaquerness and in the Plain which is on the other side of that Suburb it was that he gave Battle to the Rebels with so much Vigour and such admirable Conduct that he intirely defeated them and having slain Branas with his own Hand he cut off his Head and presented it to the Emperor But he presently after perceived that this Prince according to the Custom of great Men who rarely love those Persons sincerely to whom they stand extremely obliged was so far from rewarding his Services that now he despised him and that he would give him no other Portion with his Sister but the vain Title of Caesar and the Honour of wearing purple Shoes Being therefore of a good fierce Temper and besides not over delicate as to matter of Conscience he resolved to take hold of the first Occasion to abandon him which he also did but in a manner which certainly neither became him as a gallant Man nor as a Christian He had taken the Cross for the Holy War when he came to Constantinople and there he understood the great Progress which the Arms of Saladin made in Palestine Now the Emperour who was advanced with a few Troops towards the Danubius to begin the War against the Wallachians had left him at Constantinople to gather up the rest of the Army and pressed him according to his Promise to make hast to joyn him with them But he resolving to delude the Emperour in his turn as he had been deluded by him instead of going to joyn with him he went aboard certain Ships which he had caused upon some other Pretext to be rigged out with all those Troops in whom he consided making no Scruple either to forsake the Emperour or the Princess his Lady but as if his Marriage had been null and void he left her and weighed Anchor for Palestine without knowing any thing of the defeat of the Christian Army or the Captivity of his Father As he approached to Ptolemais a few days after it was Surrendered to Saladin he was something surprized that he did not hear the Bells which were accustomed to be rung out when any Christian Vessels were ready to enter the Port year 1188 but in a moment after he was more astonished when in the place of the Cross he perceived upon the Towers all the Ensigns of the Sarasins by which he knew that the Town was reduced under the Dominion of the Insidels This made him take a sudden Resolution to sail to Tyre which was not distant above eight Miles from thence to the Northward This City so flourishing and so celebrated for its Antiquity for its
Actions have rendred as famous among Historians as those others more beautiful which have been given to the most renowned Princes to distinguish them by a particular Appellation and as an Elogy for their Vertues and Atchievements As for the Perfections of his Soul they yet far surpassed those of his Body for he had a most Beautiful Mind a most happy Memory which being joyned with the long Experience and the Care he had taken to instruct himself in all things had made him acquire an infinite Number of such pretty Sorts of Learning and Knowledge as might well rank him in the Catalogue of the most able men of his Time He was extreme Wife and Judicious Liberal and of great Humanity Affable and Courteous to all men condescending even to the meanest of his Subjects but terrible to his Enemies and above all to Rebels a great Captain personally Valiant and fearless in the greatest Dangers always carrying himself with mighty Evenness and Temper in both the one and the other Fortune though it was his Happiness not to be much acquainted with the Worse Being such as I have now described him and therefore equally feared loved and respected by all the Princes of the Empire he had called a General Diet at Mayence to meet the Fourth Sunday in Lont in the Year 1188. there the Legates came in Person where after they had happily composed all the Differences which remained between several Princes and Cities of the Empire they made the same Remonstrances for relieving the Christians of Palestine which they had before made to the Kings of France and England Frederick who for above ten years had fully reconciled himself with the Church had before formed that generous Resolution for his own Satisfaction to employ those Arms for Jesus Christ against the Sarasins which by the Misfortunes of the Times he had made use of against the Christians He nevertheless demanded the Advice of the Assembly thereupon but in such a manner as made it easily be known what was in the Intention of his Soul for he only proposed whether it was to the Purpose not whether he should refuse that Assistance which Jesus Christ himself demanded of him which was such a cowardly and shameful Ingratitude which he knew the whole Assembly would disdain but whether he should defer taking up the Cross after that the French and English had with much Ardour embraced it Whereupon all the Princes and the Prelates and all the Deputies of the Cities cried out with one Voice as if the Emperor had at the same instant inspired them all with his one Zeal and Courage That without deferring any longer they ought to take up the Cross that all the World might see that the German Nation especially under such an Emperor would never yield either in their Zeal or in their Courage to the English French or any Nation under Heaven So that now there was nothing more to be done but to conclude the Holy War and the Crusade The Emperor at the same instant descending from his Throne to receive the Cross by the Hands of the Legates year 1189 being assisted by Godfrey Bishop of Wirtsburgh and Frederick Duke of Suabia his Second Son who had already taken it himself upon the hearing the sad news of the Loss of Jerusalem but now would have it also in Ceremony after the Emperor his Father The greatest part of those who were present at that Assembly following that illustrious Example also took upon them the Cross with an incredible Ardour The Principal of which were Leopold Duke of Austria Berthodus Duke of Moravia Herman Marquis of Baden the Counts de Nassau de Thuringe de Missen de Hollandia and more than sixty others of the most eniment Princes of the Empire the Bishops of Besanson Cambray Munster Osnabrug Missen Passau Wirzbourg and more then ten besides all which besides the Legates went immediately to preach the Crusade in their several Diocesses and throughout Germany where an infinite Number of People of all Conditions took up the Cross But the Emperor who knew by the Experience of the Second Crusade that two great a Multitude occasioned nothing but Cumber Trouble and famine in an Army therefore caused an Edict to be published by which he prohibited all those who were not able to expend three marks in Silver to provide themselves of Necessaries for so long a Voyage to engage in it or list themselves for this Expedition and also commanded those of the greatest Ability to make the best Preparation for it that they were able that so they might have wherewith to serve themselves in their Necessities After which he gave Command that all the Crusades should repair to their Colours at Ratisbonne in the Month of April the Year insuing where he promised without fail to be himself upon the Feast of St. George and that he would then immediately advance without staying for the rest This being done he sent four several Ambassadours to so many Princes with whom he must necessarily treat before he undertook any thing further Henry Earl of Diets was sent to Saladin to summon them to restore the Holy Land which he had usurped from the Christians as also the Wood of the Holy Cross which he had taken at the Battle of Tiberias and in Case of his refusal to denounce War against him from the Emperor I do not here pretend to insert the Letters of these two great Princes which pass for Currant with many Historians in regard that it appears clearly that they are Counterfiets and the Forgeries of some Prolifick Scribe who had more desire to please than Art in the compiling of them so as to render them either probable or Pleasant Godfrey Baron of Wisenbach was dispatched to the Sultan of Iconium who pretended to be a Wonderful Friend to the Christians and who made many strong Protestations that he and all his should ever be at the Emperors Service who might at his Pleasure pass through his Estates with the same Freedom as if they were his own Frederick also himself at the same time writ to the Emperor of Constantinople and sent to desire Passage through his Territories and that he might be furnished with Provisions at the Price Currant To this he agreed but after a very indecent manner detaining the Ambassadour without any positive Resolution till those of the Sultan of Iconium passed by Constantinople to go into Germany there to make the Offers and Complements of their Master to the Emperor The Arch Bishop of Mayence was the only man of that Character who succeeded most advantageously in his Negotiation for he obtained of Bela King of Hungary all that he desired which was the Princess his Daughter for Frederick Duke of Suabia Son to the Emperor and Security of Passage and Provision for the Army at most reasonable Rates Thus all things being disposed to begin this great Enterprise Frederick who had passed all the Lent and the Festivals of Easter at Ratisbonne to attend the
Hellespont and to give him sufficient Security for his Promises of which he knew he would be liberal but which he had no manner of Reason to repose any sort of Confidence in That he was resolved to have in Hostage four and twenty of the principal Officers and Lords of his Court and eight hundred others of inferior Quality whom he must forthwith send to him together with the Ambassadors of the Sultan of Iconium whom he restrained at Constantinople contrary to the Law of Nations That upon these Conditions he would give him the Assurance of his Oath that he had no designs upon his Empire as he had vainly imagined or at least made a shew of believing that so he might have some Pretext though a very ill one for the violation of his Faith There is certainly nothing so Insolent as a proud Coward in Prosperity when he finds himself extraordinarily advanced by his good Fortune nor is there any thing so Low Mean and Croaching when once his Haughtiness is tamed and brought down by the reverse of Adversity This Isaacius who a little before boasted with insufferable Insolence that he was the only Emperor and next to God the Lord and Master of other Kings now thought himself very happy to be offered a Treaty which gave him liberty to accept even of these dishonourable Conditions which were sufficiently humbling for him He therefore without Delay sent the Ratification with the Ambassadors the Hostages and great Presents to the Emperor who passed the Winter at Adrianople till Easter approaching he went to Callipolis where he was resolved to pass the Hellespont There he did not fail to find far more Shipping than Isaacius had promised him for there were of Barkes Brigantines Galliots and Gallies near upon five hundred so much hast did that poor Prince make to deliver himself from these dangerous and troublesome Guests who had perfectly recruited themselves of all their Fatigues and very well inriched themselves at his Expence in so good a winter Quarter Thus the Army to which diverse new Crusades had come to joyn themselves and which was in a Condition as good or better than when it first marched out of Germany year 1190 began to pass the Sea upon Good Friday the twenty third day of March and in seven days were all transported over the Hellespont They had so good a Passage that not one Man was lost such Care did the Emperor take who was continually jealous and watchful over the Greeks and fearing least when the first were passed over they might set upon the last he was resolved to embarque with the last himself as he did upon the seventh Day and happily joyned the rest of his Army in Asia near the City of Lampsacus The next Morning he began his March and quitting the left hand Way which he had found was so difficult and dangerous when he accompanied his Uncle the Emperor Conrade he took to the Right by the Sea Coast crossing over Mysia Troas Phrygia and Lydia by the Cities of Thyatira and Philadelphia to the Meander which he passed near Laodicea where the Army reposed for a few days The Inhabitants of this City furnished them with all manner of Refreshments year 1190 with an incredible Chearfulness which was a pleasing Surprise to the Emperor who now believed that the Sultan of Iconium whose Government extended as far as that side of the Meander would inviolably keep his Promise which he had given him and which he daily repeated by his Ambassadors who followed the Camp But he was no sooner arrived at that dangerous Mountain which is near the Head of the Meander and which the defeat of the Rereguard of the French Army under Lewis the Young had made so Memorable but he found the Enemies in the Head of him and presently understood that this perfidious Infidel Prince had not made him all those fair Promises but to draw him into the Snare which he had artfully had by his infamous Treachery Which should instruct Christian Princes that they ought to take all imaginable Precaution and extraordinary Security when the necessity of their Affairs obliges them to treat with those People who wanting that true Faith which they owe to God usually take no care of preserving it towards Men. This Sultan was Caïscosroës who about ten years before had been dispoiled of his Dominions by his Brother Rucratin and was afterwards re-established by the Greeks This Prince had a little before concluded an Alliance with Saladin who had given his Daughter in Marriage to his Son Melich who succeeded him He had also a secret Intelligence with Isaacius who corresponded with both these Sultans against the Latins whom he mortally hated as do all the Greeks but more especially in those times So that all the Ambassadors which this perfidious Infidel had sent to Frederick and whom Isaacius had apparently by Force detained at Constantinople were sent for no other Purpose but to abuse the Emperor with greater ease and to draw him from Laodicea into those desert Countries from whence he had caused all the Provisions to be withdrawn that so he might destroy that Army by Famine and by the infinite multitude of Troops which he had gathered out of all Asia continually to molest the Army in their March and to attack them at all the difficult Passes In short they found that the Straits of the Mountain were possessed by the Turks but nevertheless they were such miserable Cowards that would not abide more than the first Shock of the Germans who there made a great Carnage among them and put the rest to flight However they rallied the next Morning and came again in far greater Numbers but rather like Thieves than Souldiers vexing the Army on all Sides with slinging great Stones and discharging their Arrows after which they would save themselves according to their Custom by retireing at full Speed and then presently return again after the same manner without giving the Germans who were heavily armed the possibility of coming to Blows with them and having thus combated with them all the Day they in the Night seized upon the Avenues of another Mountain which were extraordinary strait and through which they knew the Christian Army must necessarily pass the following Day But Frederick who disposed all things with an incredible presence of Mind thought of a pretty Stratagem which succeeded perfectly to his Wish He divided his Army into two Bodies leaving the smallest Party in the Camp which was at the Foot of the Mountain after which seeming to be afraid of the Turks and to dispair of forcing the Pass he marched in the Morning with the greatest Party quite another way as if he designed to find some other Passage He was not distanced far from the Camp when the Turks really believing that his Fear was the occasion of his Flight and the hast which he made to draw himself out of such a dangerous Place had made him abandon his Camp but that the desire they
And besides year 1204 he now was convinced that nothing could have been done more profitable and advantageous either for the Glory of God in the Good of the universal Church or in particular for the Deliverance of the Holy Land And for this purpose that such a Conquest might be preserved whereupon that of Palestine depended he writ his Circular Letters to all the Archbishops of France and their Suffragans by which he exhorted and commanded them to persuade the French to take Arms and march to the Assistance of their Brethren at Constantinople And above all he desired that they would send some zealous learned Men furnished with Books to labour in the Conversion of the Greeks The University of Paris which Philip the August had taken such care of that it might flourish in all manner of Learning and Knowledge was then in high Reputation throughout the World and this wise Pope who had himself been sometimes a Member of that great Body writ to them upon this Subject with so much force that many Doctors and Batchellors persuaded by his Reasons and inflamed with a Zeal truly Apostolical went to propagate the Light of Truth and the Orthodox Doctrine in the Greek Empire which had been obscured by many Errours of the Schism Thus the Divine Providence which with infinite Wisdom takes care of all things so disposed Matters that upon this Occasion it seemed to make a Retalliation by ordering that Paris should render the same Service to Greece which Greece had sometime bestowed upon France by sending thither St. Denis to be an Apostle for that Country The Pope also at that time did not fail to write to the victorious Army which had so gloriously executed that marvellous Enterprise to oblige them to stay another Year in that Empire to assure those Conquests provided that by the Infidels breaking of the Truce there was not an absolute necessity that they should speedily repair to Palestine to succour the Christians there against the Barbarians But whilst the Pope laboured with so much diligence for the Good of Christendom in the East there happened in the Holy Land two deplorable Accidents which very much disturbed the Joy of that happy Success of the Arms of the Confederates The first was the Death of the Countess Mary Sister of the deceased Count de Champagne Niece to Philip the August and Wife to Baldwin Earl of Flanders who had so generously taken up the Cross with her Husband resolving to run the same Fortunes with him but being big with Child she was not at that time in a Condition to go along with him and therefore after she had lain in she imbarked upon the Fleet which was commanded by John de Nele She had not been long at Ptolemais where she landed in expectation of her Husband Count Baldwin before she received the News that after the Taking of Constantinople he was elevated to the Imperial Throne The Joy which this News occasioned made such a violent Impression upon her Body extreamly infeebled with the Fatigues of so long a Voyage that not being able to surmount it she died of the two Excesses of Joy and Weakness So that the Ships which were sent by the Emperor to conduct her with Pomp to Constantinople to receive the Crown Imperial with her dearest Husband transported her Body only thither to be as it was with the most magnificent Ceremonies usual upon such sad Occasions interred in the Church of Sancta Sophia year 1205 This sad Accident was presently succeeded by another which brought a great Change in the Affairs of the Realm of Jerusalem For King Emeri de Lusignan dying in the City of Acre and the little Emeri his Son not long surviving him Isabella his Mother the Wife of Emeri at the same time also following them to the Tomb the Crown by Right of Succession descended to the Princess Mary her eldest Daughter who was usually called the Marchioness because she was born to her of the famous Marquis de Montferrat Prince of Tyre her second Husband Hereupon the Estates being assembled to provide a Husband for the young Queen who might be able to act and govern the Realm in a time wherein there was such need of a King of great Abilities to supply the defect of Forces which remained in the Realm after so many Disasters But the Jealousie and Ambition of so many Great Men of the same Realm not permitting them to agree in an Election of one of their own number they being all Rivals and resolved not to give place one to another at last year 1205 after they had a long time debated this tender and important Point they resolved that so they might steer an even Course betwixt the Natives and Strangers year 1206 since they could not possibly please them both year 1207 that they would not take one of the Natives of the Country but that they would send into France from whence the first Kings of Jerusalem came and into no other Country and from thence desire one of Philip the August and thereupon they dispatched the Bishop of Ptolemais and the Lord of Cesarea as their Ambassadors year 1208 to receive from the hands of that great King some Prince or Lord of France upon whom together with the young Queen they might confer the Crown of Jerusalem There was no question something very surprizing and unaccountable in the Conduct of Philip in this Encounter for there were in France many great Princes and Lords of very high Quality upon whom he might have cast his Eyes yet nevertheless whether their illustrious Merit his own particular Inclination or some unknown politick Reasons governed him in his Choice two several times successively he chose it is true out of a very Noble House though something inferiour in Quality to many others two Brothers whom upon two Occasions he preferred in the Disposal of two Crowns They were Gautier II. Count de Brienne in Champagne and his Brother John de Brienne the Son of Erard II. Count de Brienne and Agnes de Montheliard He married Gautier to Alberia eldest Daughter of Tancred King of Sicily who with her Mother Sybilla escaping out of the Prison wherein they had been kept by the Emperor Henry IV. in Germany had sled for Refuge into France This valiant Man accompanied with no more than threescore Knights and forty Esquires of the Crusades who resolved to follow his Fortune instead of going to Venice with the Princes had the Confidence to pursue the Rights of his Wife and re-conquer a Kingdom without any other Fond than twenty thousand Livres which he received from King Philip and five hundred Ounces of Gold which he had from the Pope which would raise but a very inconsiderable number of Troops but notwithstanding this with his few Men he acted with so much Courage and Conduct that after having defeated the Emperor's Lieutenants in several Encounters he made himself Master of Pavia Calabria Capua and even Naples it self and in a manner
a well known passion tied him and in which he expresseth himself in thoughts infinitely tender though at the same time full of that profound respect which he had lying so near his heart year 1236 So soon as he saw himself peaceably settled in his Dominions and that he believed himself safe on the side of Arragon the King of which Realm pretended some manner of ill grounded Title to that of Navarr he was resolved to accomplish the Vow which his Father Count Theobald had made when he took the Cross with the Earls of Flanders and of Blois He therefore took it himself and by his Example ingaged in the same Enterprise Hugh Duke of Burgundy Peter de Dreux surnamed Illclerk Duke of Bretagne John his Brother Count de Brain and Mascon Henry Count de Bar Guy Count de Nevers the Constable Amauri Count de Montfort the Counts de Joigni and Sancerre and many other Barons of France Navarr and Bretagne as the Counts Guiomar de Leon Henry de Goâ—tlo Andrew de Vitrey Raoul de Fougeres Geoffry de Avesnes and Fouques Paynel who all acknowledged him for their Head and General together with an infinite number of Crusades of France and Germany who waited only for a General of that high Reputation to conduct them year 1236 And certainly there was great probability of the Success of this third Effort which was about to be made happily to determine this Crusude if there had not happened Accidents which could not be foreseen which contributed extremely to the rendring it unfortunate and unsuccessful First by an unhappy Incounter it fell out that the Pope was obliged to publish in the same time another Crusade for the Relief of the Empire of Constantinople which was reduced to the last Extremity For the French as it is observed of them who know much better to make great Conquests in a little time than afterwards to preserve them very long were not so fortunate in keeping this Empire as they had been in gaining it the Emperor Baldwin the First lost it being taken prisoner in a Battle against the King of the Bulgarians who barbarously put him to death His Brother Henry who succeedeed him did truly for above ten Years hold it with great Success and Glory but his Successors found nothing of the same good Fortune For Peter de Courtenay Count d' Auxerre the Husband of Yolanda of Flanders Sister to the last Emperor having succeeded him was taken by treachery as he passed through Macedon to Constantinople and afterwards murdered by Theodore Comnenius Prince of Epirus and in a short time after the Empress who had taken her passage by Sea died of Grief at Constantinople after her delivery of the last Child she had by Peter her Husband Robert de Courtenay his second Son upon the refusal of his Eldest Brother Philip Count de Namur succeeded Peter in the Empire and had the Misfortune in his time to see it miserably dismembred For after he had lost a great Battle in Asia against John Ducas furnamed Vatacus the Successor and Son-in-Law of Theodore Lascaris the Conqueror took from him all that the French were Masters of on the other side the Bosphorus and the Hellespont And on the other side the Prince of Epirus won from him all Thessaly and a great part of Thracia insomuch that after his Death the French Barons seeing that his Brother Baldwin who was not above eight or nine years of Age was not in a condition to sustain the burthen of an Empire which was in so great disorder and attacked on all hands they sent to desire of the Pope to have King John de Brienne who was then the General of his Army for their Emperor assuring him that after his Death the Succession of the Empire should return to Baldwin who was to marry the Princess Mary his Daughter whom he had by his second Wife Berengera the Daughter of Alphonsus King of Castile It is true that this Emperor who was one of the greatest Captains of his time did in some measure re-establish the Affairs of this miserable Empire and with a poor handful of men he defeated a great Army which besieged Constantinople both by Sea and Land But at last two potent Armies Vatacus Emperor of the Greeks and Azen King of Bulgaria who had confederated against him attacked him on both sides with very great Forces whereas he had precisely no more men than were necessary to defend himself in Constantinople in which he was forced to shut himself up he was obliged to send Prince Baldwin his Son-in-Law to implore in Europe the Succours which he had so often desired and so long in vain expected and in the midst of these Transactions he died leaving to all Gentlemen in the History of his Life year 1237 an admirable Example by which they may learn by what ways they must expect in despight of all the disgraces of a malicious Fortune to raise themselves to the height of all earthly Greatness and Glories For he had nothing from his Father who would have constrained him contrary to his Martial Inclinations to devote himself to the Church notwithstanding which he made it his indeavour to find his good Fortune in himself and establish an Inheritance upon the Foundations of his Vertue and by that it was that he so well distinguished himself in the Court of Philip the August that that great Prince who knew how to esteem men for their Vertue judged him worthy not only of his Esteem but his particular Favour and after he had acquired a high Reputation for those Gallant Actions which together with his Brother he performed in Italy he raised him to the Throne of Jerusalem from whence it seemed that Fortune had not made him descend but to mount him with more Glory by his Vertue to the Empire of the East from whence it is easie to observe that true Merit is the best supporter of such Noble Persons who indeavour to obtain the favour of Kings year 1237 who without this are apt to tumble those down for their Vices whom they had for their pleasure raised rather than for their Vertue In this time Baldwin his Son-in-Law and Successor to the Empire found the Pope so well inclined to assist him that as if he had now had no other concern but for the Establishment of the Empire of Constantinople he writ to the Kings of France England and Hungary and to all the Bishops of those Realms to exhort them to contribute the utmost of their power to the Aid of the Emperor Baldwin the Second even so far as to permit those who had undertaken the Crusade for the Holy Land to change their Vow to that of succouring Constantinople He caused also a new Crusade to be preached every where for that purpose and that the greatest part of the money which was designed for the Holy Land should be employed that way Hereupon the Emperor Baldwin went into France and from thence into England with
first Battle of Massore where the Count d' Artois is slain The second Battle and the admirable Actions of the King The Plague and Famine in the Camp An unfortunate Retreat wherein the whole Army is defeated and the King with all the Princes and Lords are taken Prisoners An Heroick Action of Gaucher de Chastillon in this Retreat The admirable Constancy of the King in his Imprisonment His Treaty with the Sultan The Original of the Mamalukes The Revolution in the Empire of Egypt by the Murder of the Sultan The Confirmation of the Treaty with the Admirals The King absolutely refuseth to take the Oath which these Barbarians would exact from him The Refutation of the Fable touching the pawning of the Holy Eucharist to the Sarasins by the King Lewis His Deliverance and admirable Fidelity to his Promise and the perfidiousness of the Egyptians year 1244 ALL that vast Tract of Land which anciently comprised the Asiatick Sarmatia the two Scythia's the one on this side the other beyond the Mount Imaus with the third which was unknown to Ptolomy from Tanais to the Strait of Anian was formerly called as it is at this Day Tartaria from the Name of the River Tartar or Tattar which dischargeth it self at the farthest part of this vast Continent towards the East into the Northern Sea It was inhabited by an infinite number of People extremely Barbarous who were called Tartars and Mongols and who for a long time lived without Cities without Laws without Civil Policy being divided into divers Troops who had every one their Conductor to lead them from time to time into divers places proper for the feeding of their Flocks and Herds till such time as one named Cyngis obliged all the rest either by cunning or by force to acknowledge him for their Master and their Sovereign Then he took the Surname of Can which signifies Master Prince and Emperor and after having instructed and disciplined his new Subjects he lead them about the beginning of this Century into Indostan against King David to whom they were Tributaries and having vanquished him in a great Battle he put him with his whole Family to death excepting one of his Daughters whom he married and made himself Master of all that Country where his discendants which are called Mogols a name of the Tartars Reign even to this present day After which this Can being slain with a stroak of Lightning his Son Hocloda-Can who had as much Courage and Conduct as Ambition indeavoured the Conquest of all Asia and having divided his Troops whose number was infinite into four terrible Armies the Conduct of three of which he gave to three of his Sons year 1244 and to his Lieutenant Cabesabada the first of them moving Northward seized in Europe upon the Regions lying between the Tanais the Taurick Chersonesus and the Euxin Sea which at this time are called the lesser Tartars The second after having desolated the great Armenia and the Country of the Georgians penetrated Westward as far as Transylvania Hungary and Poland even to the Confines of Germany putting all before them to Fire and Sword The third entring into the leâ—ser Asia there defeated Gajazadin the Sultan of Iconium and compelled the Turks to pay Tribute to the Tartars The fourth having subdued all Persia obliged the Corasmins the Descendants of the Ancient Parthians to go in search of their Fortunes beyond the Tigris and Euphrates whereupon they addressed themselves to the Sultan of Egypt to desire of him some place of residence they being driven out of their own Country by the Tartars This Sultan who did not like such dangerous Guests and yet who was very glad to make use of them against his Enemies caused it to be told them that he left to them all the Country of Palestine upon which they might without difficulty seize in regard that the greatest part of the places there were open and without defence And this he did in revenge because almost all the Christians of the Holy Land following the Advice and Example of the Knights of the Temple having broken the Truce which they had made with him had confederated against him with the Sultan of Damascus his Enemy upon condition that he should relinquish to them all Palestine from Jordan to the Sea Certainly there is nothing more unlawful or dishonourable than to violate ones Faith when once it is given whether it be even to Infidels and Barbarians for he who receives it does at the same time acquire a natural Right to the observing of it so long as the Treaty continues except he does first violate and infringe it himself And the true Religion which Christians profess can never without being rendred extreme odious be pretended as a sufficient Reason to authorise Persidiousness which it prohibits and which it abhors and therefore we have frequently seen that the Breach of Faith which men have covered with the specious pretext of Religion as if God would permit us to deceive those who differ from us in their Belief hath always been followed by some great Misfortune which justifies the Providence of God by making it apparent that he is so far from approving such Infractions of mutual Treaties and Stipulations that he does most visibly and terribly punish such as are guilty of them as was manifested in this Rencounter For the Corasmins being assured of the Protection and the Assistance of the Sultan of Egypt who resolved to make use of them to revenge himself of these Infractors of the Peace which had been mutually sworn between him and the Christians instantly threw themselves all over Palestine with a fearful Number which covered all the Country like some mighty Inundation which being formed of a thousand Torrents precipitates it self from the Mountains and overflows all the Banks with a furious Tempest They did in consequence commit the most horrible mischiefs plundring sacking burning murdering and ruining all before them without resistance in this Surprize and after having taken and cut in pieces six thousand Christians who upon the noise of their approach had sled into Jerusalem they attacked and without difficulty forced the pitiful Retrenchments which had been there thrown up in hast and entring with the Sword they slew all they met cutting the Throats of such as had taken Sanctuary there even upon the Altar of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which till then had been reverenced by the Sarasins themselves and by a thousand execrable abominations profaning all the Sacred Places about the City and in short they did what ever Cruelty Avarice Luxury Impiety Rage and Fury and all the most brutish Passions could inspire the most brutish and unnatural of all mankind withal At last all the Forces of the Christians in the Countrey being joyned with those of the three Great Masters of the Military Orders and the Succors of the Sultans their Allies they came to a Battle near Gaza where the Corasmins had joyned the Troops of the Sultan of Egypt The
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
Prince Henry de Poitiers the Son of Bohemond the fourth of that name Prince of Antioch and of Plaisance the Daughter of Hugh Lord of Giblet From Henry de Poitiers and Isabella de Lusignan sprung Hugh the third who after the death of his Cousin Hugh the Second who died without Issue was King of Cyprus in Right of his Mother The last Husband of Isabella the Daughter of Amauri King of Jerusalem was Emeri King of Cyprus who had by her the Princess Melisantha who was second Wife to Bohemond the fourth Prince of Antioch and Father to Henry de Poitiers and by her he had the Princess Mary of Antioch who was the Subject of this difference For immediately after the death of Conradin Hugh the third the King of Cyprus who was descended in a right Line from Alice de Champagne the Daughter of Queen Isabella by her third Husband passed into Palestine and at Tyre caused himself to be crowned King of Jerusalem in right of his Grandfather But the Princess Mary of Antioch maintained that the Realm appertained to her in regard that being the Daughter of Melisantha she was nearer by one degree to Queen Isabella than Hugh who was the Son of her Cousin The Process hereupon lasted a long time The Princess Mary opposed the Coronation of Hugh but perceiving that the Patriarch took little notice of her opposition she appealed to the Holy see and came in person to pursue her right before Pope Gregory the tenth who appointed Delegates for the Examination of the matter She also presented her self to the Council of Lyons and there demanded Justice And the cause being remitted to the Barons of the Realm who neither esteemed nor much loved King Hugh the Princess at length with the consent of Pope John the twenty first judicially transferred to Charles d' Anjou King of Naples and Sicily all her Right and Title upon certain conditions by a Treaty year 1277 which was signed by the Cardinals and the Prelates of the Court of Rome And by this Right it is that the Realm of Jerusalem which hath been possessed by the Princes of the House of Suabia Kings of Sicily as Descendants from Queen Isabella year 1277 by Jolanta her Grand-Daughter the Wife of Frederick the Second was devolved to Charles d' Anjou and his Posterity and for this reason the Dukes of Lorrain who are descended from Ranatus d' Anjou King of Sicily by Jolanta his only Daughter Mother to Ranatus Duke of Lorrain bear the Cross of Jerusalem together with the Arms of the House of Anjou which they have added to their Atchievements The Kings of Arragon who usurped Sicily from the Anjouin Family and after them the Kings of Castile heirs to the House of Arragon have also taken to their Arms the Cross of Jerusalem and the Title of that Realm And thus these Princes have pleased themselves with the Shadow the Name and the empty shew leaving the Body the Substance and the reality to the Infidels the weak for want of Power and the strong for want of Zeal chusing rather to imploy their Arms in less difficult Enterprises For it is more easy to take what may be had of what is our own than to recover what belongs to us and might be had though not without trouble charge and hazard In the mean time Charles who resolved to take possession of his new Realm sent Roger Count de St. Severin to Ptolemais where he was received by the Governor who put the Fortress into his hands And King Hugh having refused two or three several times to appear before the Barons to make out the Reasons of his pretensions to that Realm they acknowledged Charles d' Anjou for their King and did him Homage which did still more augment the Division by reason that the King of Cyprus having his Party although it was weak yet was it able to give abundance of trouble even in Ptolemais which he had like to have surprized And certainly there was much danger lest Bendocdar who was so admirably skilled in making his own advantage in such opportunities should lay hold of this to seize upon those small remainders which were yet possessed by the Christians in Syria but that God himself was pleased to deliver them from this formidable Enemy For this Sultan receiving information that the Tartars had besieged a Fortress which he had upon the Euphrates he Marched immediately to relieve it and causing his Cavalry to Swim over this great River he thought to have surprized his Enemies but they received him so well that they cut in pieces almost all his Troops and it was not without great difficulty that he himself escaped having received a dangerous Wound in the Encounter but at last he got to Damascus where the Flux and Fever coming upon him by reason of his Wound he died in a few Days after the Battle It is impossible to express the joy which his Death occasioned among the Christians but it was much increased by the taking of the Fortress of Margath and by the Defeat of the Sarasins who indeavoured to retake it from the Knights of the Temple but above all by the great Victory of the Tartars for these People being entred into Syria laid all wast before them without giving any Quarter to the Sarasins when at length Melech-Sais the Successor of Bendocdar Marched out of Egypt with an Army of two hundred thousand Men to give them Battle The two Armies met and fought most furiously in the plain of Emessa and after a most terrible Slaughter on both sides the Egyptians in conclusion lost the Day and the Tartars who had also lost abundance of Men satisfying themselves with their Victory and the huge Booty which they had taken returned again beyond the Euphrates This without all doubt had been a conjuncture extremely favourable to the Christians and Charles King of Sicily who was the greatest Captain of his time an extreme lover of Glory and Greatness and who at the Solicitation of Pope Gregory the Tenth had taken the Cross and as King of Jerusalem had the principal Interest in the Holy War would certainly have led a powerful Army into Syria to recover the Realm of Jerusalem as was the Expectation of the whole World But the cruel adventure of the Sicilian Vespers year 1281 which happened almost at the same time having overthrown all his designs did also ruin all the hopes and the Affairs of Christendom in the East For on the one side King Hugh year 1282 who had been obliged to return into Cyprus entred now again into Syria year 1283 to make advantage of the Misfortune of King Charles and seized upon Tyre year 1284 and after his Death which happened at the same time King Henry his Son who succeeded to his Brother John was received in Ptolemais besieged and in five Days took the Fortress year 1286 and caused himself to be Crowned King of Jerusalem this also made the division increase among the Christians who divided
They were received at Naples at Rome and at Viterbum where the Cardinals were assembled upon the Election of a Pope and at all other Cities in their passage with honours of a different Nature from those which are accustomed to be given to Kings and which sufficiently shewed that they were esteemed to be in a Rank much Superior to them the Voice of the People which is said to be the Voice of God being a forerunner of that of the Church which six and twenty years after solemnly canonized him for a Saint year 1271 Mean time Edward Prince of England who had renewed his Vow during the Tempest and which he weathered so well that he lost not one of his ships sailed towards Ptolemais where he arrived in the Month of May having only three hundred Knights English and French with John Duke of Bretany It was with these few Troops strengthened with five hundred Frisons and another small Reinforcement which Prince Edmond his Brother brought to him from England that he hindred Bendocdar who had taken diverse Castles about Ptolemais from besieging that City He also prevailed with the Tartars the Enemies of this Sultan to enter into Palestine to oppose the Progress of that Conqueror But as on one part these Barbarians after having according to their manner ravaged the Country marched home again and on the other that Hugh King of Cyprus and Jerusalem not being strong enough to do any great matters obtained a Truce of Bendocdar who concluded it with him only to amuse him he was able to do nothing of Moment And therefore as soon as he was recovered of a dangerous Wound which he had received from an Assassin whom he trusted and whom he himself killed with the same poisoned Dagger with which the Traitor had struck him he returned opportunely to take possession of the Kingdom of England which Henry his Father dying left unto him year 1272 Thus this Crusade from which there was reason to expect such great things produced no manner of Effects for the deliverance of the Holy Land And since that time there could never any more be raised although the Pope's had frequently made great attempts to excite the Zeal of Christians therein to imitate that of their Ancestors For first of all Gregory the tenth who from being only Archdeacon of Leige was chosen Pope after the See had been vacant for three Months then when he was at Ptolemais with the Prince of England did more than any of his Predecessors to unite all the Christian Princes and even the Greeks and Tartars in a Holy League to chase the Sarasins out of Palestins and Syria year 1274 And it was he who particularly for this design about two years after held the second Council of Lyons which was one of the greatest and most numerous Assemblies which the Church had ever seen for there were present at it above a thousand Prelates with the Ambassadours of two Emperors of the East and West of the Kings of France Cyprus and all the Christian Princes beyond the Sea together with those of all Europe besides that James King of Arragon and the great Masters of the Temple and the Hospital were there in Person There a Decree was made for the prosecuting the Holy War and an Alliance was made for this purpose with Abagas the King of the Tartars who had sent his Ambassadors thither There Michael Paleologus was recognised for Emperor of Constantinople upon condition That he should join with the Latins in the War against the Sultan of Egypt and there the Election of the Emperor Rodolph was confirmed upon Condition That he should march at the head of the Crusades into Palestine which he also promised to the Pope with an Oath receiving from his hands the Cross at Lausanna whither he followed the Pope after the Council in his return to Italy year 1275 But in conclusion all this produced just nothing either because People were disgusted with this War and such a dangerous Voyage or that having been so long accustomed to hear of this War they were not at all moved with what was no Novelty Insomuch that the Cordeliers and the Jacobins whom the Pope sent all over Europe to preach up the Cross could not meet with so much as one man who would take it Michael Paleologus who had made a Re-union of short continuance between the Greek and the Latin Churches had never any other intention but thereby to hinder the Latins from uniting again to recover Constantinople and to restore Baldwin who did what lay in his Power to that purpose year 1275 especially with Charles King of Naples and Sicily Rodolph who from a bare Count of Habsbourg near Bale issued from a younger Brother of the House of Alsatia was come to be raised to the Empire thought of nothing but how most powerfully to establish his own House in Germany and herein he succeeded so well that it is since become so great and August under the Illustrious name of Austria which this Emperor bestowed upon it in giving that Dutchy to his Son Albert who afterwards also came to be Emperor as well as his Father So that this Emperor Rodolph never accomplished the Vow which he had made between the hands of the Pope who himself gave the Cross to him and to his whole Court and yet nevertheless he was not excommunicated for it as Frederick the Second had been Abagas singly was not strong enough to stop the Course of Bendocdar's Conquests who insolently laughed at all the vain attempts of the Princes of the West and openly threatned to make all the whole East the Trophee of his Arms and oblige it to submit to his Empire And as for the poor Christians of Palestine who most pressingly implored the succours of Europe they every day themselves advanced their own ruin by the fatal Effects of their division which became still greater by the Quarrel which arose among them at this time concerning the succession of a Kingdom which thereby they made all the haste they could to lose The Subject of this Quarrel is one of the points of History which Writers have made the least clear and which in fews words I will endeavour to explain Isabella the Daughter of Amauri King of Jerusalem and Heiress of that Realm had four Husbands The first was Aufrey de Thoron by whom she had no Children The Second was Marquis Conrade de Momferrat Prince of Tyre by whom she had the Marchioness Mary who married John de Brienne and made him King of Jerusalem Of this Marriage issued Jolanta the Wife to the Emperor Frederick the Second Mother to the Emperor Conrade who was Heir to this Realm and consequently without contradiction left it as of right to the Unfortunate Young Conradin The third Husband of Queen Isabella was Henry Count de Champagne whose Daughter Alice married Hugh de Lusignan the first of that name King of Cyprus by whom she had the Princess Isabella who was married to