on a field towards the south of Thrace, and while they were busied in celebrating the feast of the Assumption, a river, swollen by mountain torrents, inundated the plain. The water swept away men, baggage, and horses, and festivity was changed for desolation. When the distressed soldiers arrived under the walls of Constantinople, like former bands of Europeans, they were lost in admiration of the exterior beauty of the city. But Conrad apprehended the duplicity of Manuel, and, in indignation at the Grecian's infraction of the treaty relating to intercourse, he crossed the. Bosphorus without meeting or conferring with the emperor.* Manuel received the king of France as an equal. He met him in the court of his palace, and, after mutual embraces, conducted him into an apartment, where they sat with equal dignity. In the midst of feasts and public rejoicings, the French monarch learned that the emperor and the sultan of Iconium were in correspondence. The impatience of the barons and knights to visit Jerusalem overcame every suggestion to revenge, and made them think that the defence of the Holy Land, and not the destruction of the Greek empire, was the object for which they had taken up arms; that they must expiate their own sins, and not punish the crimes of the Greeks. But there were not wanting men who urged that the time was arrived for removing the barrier between Europe and Asia. By the negligence of the Greeks,‡ Cinnamus, p. 33, and Odo de Diagolo, cited in Du Cange's note. There is no doubt that no feudal superiority was claimed by Manuel over Louis. Without any violation of good manners, there might have been some distinction between the host and the guest. A great deal of learning has been squandered on the useless question, in what this distinction consisted; or whether the emperor sat on a high stool, and the king on a low one. This was the general opinion of the world; but when the Popes became unpopular, all the odium was cast on them. Dante makes a Crusader, in the second holy war, say, Poi seguitai lo 'mperador Currado, the sepulchre of Jesus Christ had fallen into the hands of the Turks. The emperors had always impeded the efforts of the Crusaders, and yet had demanded their conquests. The traitors, then, should be destroyed, rather than the new soldiers of God: for, if the Greeks should accomplish their perfidious designs, Europe would demand from the French that army which a mistaken humanity had ruined. God himself had called them to the city of Constantine, and he would open to them its gates as he had opened to their precursors those of Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The passage through Bithynia completed, Conrad entered Licaonia, the heart of the dominions of the Seljuk Turks. The Sultan had assembled from every quarter of his states all the troops that could possibly be brought into the field, and the number was so great, that the rivers could not satisfy their thirst, or the country furnish provisions. The imperial guides conducted the objects of their care either through deserts where the soldiers perished from hunger, or led them into the jaws of the Muselmans. In their occasional transactions, the bread which the Croises purchased was mixed with chalk, and various other cruel frauds were practised by the Greeks.* The assaults of the Turks Quivi fu' io da quella gente turpa, Disviluppato dal mondo fallace, Il cui amor molte anime deturpa, E venni del martirio a questa pace. Del Paradiso, canto 15. I follow'd then The emperor Conrad; and his knighthood he Did gird on me; in such good part he took Whose people, by the shepherd's fault pos sess Your right, usurping. There by that foul crew Was I released from the deceitful world, Whose base affection many a spirit soils, And from the martyrdom came to this peace. Carey's Translation. *That the guides were treacherous was a palpable fact. Whether they acted under secret orders of Manuel, or were seduced from their duty by the Turks, is a question. Archb. of Tyre, 903. Gesta, 395. Nicetas is unsparing in his censure of the emperor. G. Villani, a careful writer, casts all the blame on the Greeks, lib. iv, cap. iv. p. 126, were incessant. The staff of the pilgrim | ous for years, and the consequences of was a poor defence from a scimitar, and the heavily armed Germans could not retreat from the activity of the Tartars. Only a tenth part of the soldiers and palmers that had left the banks of the Danube and the Rhine, escaped the arrows of the Moslems, and with their commander secure their retreat to the French army. Louis had been lulled into security by the flattering assurances of Manuel, that Conrad, so far from standing in need of succour, had even defeated the Turks, and taken Iconium. The French king was lying in camp on the borders of the lake near Nice, when . some wretched German fugitives arrived with news of the perfidy of the Greeks, and the triumph of the Muselmans. The allied monarchs soon met, and consulted on the road which the champions of the cross should take. They united their Crusaders, turned aside from the path which had been trodden by the feudal princes of Europe, and marched in concert as far as Philadelphia in Lydia but the Germans had lost their baggage, and on a prospect of new calamities, many returned to Constantinople, and near Ephesus (to which place the army directed its course) the emperor himself embarked, and courted that friendship which formerly he had despised. The the valour of the French were so appalling, that the trembling Greeks confessed that great praise should be given to the moderation and patience of men in not having levelled Constantinople with the ground. The Crusaders proceeded in good order and discipline through the town of Loadicea, into the barrier mountains between Phrygia and Pisidia. The vanguard of the army advanced beyond the appointed rendezvous. The rearguard, in which was the king, being ignorant that their companions had passed the place, which was now nigh at hand, were in haste to march. They moved forwards with perfect confidence that the heights before them were in possession of their friends. Their ravenous enemy, who always hovered round them, seized the moment when the ranks of the Christians were divided, and casting aside their bows and arrows, fell upon them with tumultuous rapidity sword in hand. It was in a defile of the mountains that the Turkish tempest burst on the Latin troops. Rocks ascending to the clouds were above the Croises, and fathomless precipices beneath them. The French could not recover from the shock and horror of the surprise. Men, horses, and baggage were cast into the abyss. The Turks were innumerable, and irresistible. The life of the king was saved more by fortune than by skill. He escaped to an eminence with a few soldiers, and in the deep obscurity of the night made his way to the advanced guard. The snows of winter, deficiency of stores, and the refusal of the Greeks to trade with them, were the evils with which the French had to contend. They marched, or rather wandered, for they knew not the roads, and the discipline of the army was broken. They arrived at Attalia, the metropolis of Pamphilia, seated on the sea shore near the mouth of the Cestrus. But the unchristian Greeks refused hospitality to the enemies of the infidel name. The country round the city, though beautiful by nature, was not much cultivated, for it was perpetually devastated by the Muselmans. The French were therefore obliged to repose *Nicetas, 35, 37. De Guignes, livre xi. * Archb. of Tyre, 901, 903. M. Paris, 68. Archb. of Tyre, 905, 6. Gesta Ludov. 398, French recruited themselves on the shores of the Egean sea, and pursued their march in an easterly direction. They rejected with disdain an offer of Manuel of a protection from Moslem fury, and they gallantly kept up their course with the usual portion of suffering, till they arrived at the banks of the Meander. They found there the Turks, who, having safely deposited their spoils, came to dispute with the Latins the passage of the river. The Muselmans on the mountains exhausted their quivers, and then rushed to close combat. But if the Asiatics were exalted by confidence, the heroes of the west were inspirited by the desire to wipe away the disgrace of their precursors' defeat. The battle was not of long duration; the French made so great a slaughter of their foe, that the bones of the Muselmans were conspicu in the fields, protected only by their tents from the inclemency of the season. Famine had so dreadfully thinned the ranks of the army, and so many horses and other beasts of burthen had perished, that the most sage and prudent among the Crusaders advised their companions to turn aside from scenes of desolation, and proceed by sea to Antioch. But when the king offered to share with his barons all the vicissitudes of plenty and poverty, and incited them to follow the route of the conquerors of Jerusalem, the brave peers of France were touched by honourable pride, and it was agreed that the simple pilgrims, women and children alone, should make the proposed passage. The city of Attalia was saved by the governor, who averted the vengeance of the French by offering them ships. But when, after five weeks had passed, and the vessels arrived, it was found that they were not sufficient for the purpose, and the order of things was changed. The king and his soldiers embarked for Antioch. The way-worn pilgrims and the sick were committed to the charge of Thierri count of Flanders, who was to march with them to Cilicia, and the king distributed among them all the money which his necessities could spare. But when Louis quitted the harbour, the Turks fell upon the Christians who were left behind, and the escort was found to be feeble and ineffective. The people of Attalia not only declined to open their gates, but even murdered the sick. Every day the Turks killed hundreds of the pilgrims, and as it was evident that flight alone could save the remainder, Thierri escaped by sea. Seven thousand wretched votaries of the cross attempted to surmount the higher difficulties of the land journey to Jerusalem; but the Holy City never opened to their view, and in perishing under Moslem vengeance, they thought that the loss of the completion of the pilgrimage was compensated by the glories of martyrdom. The nobility, the clergy, and people of Antioch, received the French king with every demonstration of respect; and prince Raymond, observing the alarin of the Turks in Aleppo and Cesarea, at this arrival of fresh succour to the Christians, wished that some new enterprise should be undertaken while the panic continued. The gaiety of the court of Antioch had more charms for the queen than a journey over the såndy plains of Syria. Devoted to gallantry and pleasure, Eleanora urged her own and her uncle's* wishes upon the king, but no blandishments of persuasion, or petulant threats of divorce, could remove Louis from his purpose of marching into Palestine. He received with joy some ambassadors of the king of Jerusalem; he repaired to the Holy City, entered it in religious procession, while crowds of ecclesiastics and laymen were singing the psalm, "blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." His arrival had been preceded by that of the emperor of Germany, the dukes of Saxony and Bavaria, and the ruined German band. Conrad had requested, and received the hospitality of his relation, and Manuel was more ready to assist him forwards to Jerusalem, where new perils awaited him, than to see him return to his hereditary dominions without further loss.† A council was held at Ptolemais, composed of the princes, barons, and prelates of Syria and Palestine, and the new commanders from Europe. The misfortunes of the Edessenes were forgotten, or yielded to higher feelings, for though the recapture of the principality of the Courtenays was the great object of the crusade, yet there were Muselman cities in Syria far more dangerous to Jerusalem than the remote city of Edessa. The decree for a march to Damascus was passed, and the emperor of Germany, and the kings of France and Jerusalem, brought their troops into the field; but the best disciplined parts of the army were the knights of the Temple and St. John. Eager to relieve Damascus from the yoke under which she had groaned. for nearly five centuries, the champions of Christianity soon arrived under her walls. The eastern and southern quarters of the city were seemingly impreg nable, and the other sides, faced by fields and gardens, having towers and ditches Eleanora was the grand-daughter of William VII., duke of Aquitain, (the Crusades, p. 97, ante,) who was the father of Raymond, prince of Antioch. + Gesta Lud. 401--403. Bouquet, XIII. 274, 661. O. Frising, c. 45, 47. Archb. of Tyre, 907, 8. at frequent intervals, were not apparently so formidable, as solid and lofty battlements. Against the west and the north, therefore, the Latins directed their attacks. As the post of danger was the post of honour, the king of Jerusalem claimed and received it for his soldiers and the military orders. The king of France was in the rear, and on the account of the smallness of his force, the emperor of Germany fought without the concert of his allies. Numerous and of long continuance were the engagements between the Latins and the Syrians. The French fought with their wonted bravery, but the German cavaliers were peculiarly useful, for they contended equally well on foot and on horse. The king of Jerusalem pressed his foes to the river which runs round the city; but they rallied, and his ranks were fainting for want of support. The emperor and his soldiers rushed through the bands of Frenchmen, supported the first line of the army, and compelled the Syrians to take refuge in Damascus. The city was apparently in the power of the Croises, and the people abandoned themselves to despair. Arms were thrown aside; round the examplar of the Koran, written by Omar, some invoked the aid of the prophet, while others prepared for flight. But instead of taking possession of Damascus, the Latins anticipated the event, and thought only to whom the prize should be given. Much time was wasted in intrigues, and the imaginary conquest was at last bestowed upon Thierri count of Flanders, whose claims to distinction were principally founded on the fact, that the present was his second journey to the Holy Land. The barons of Palestine were indignant at this assumption of power and violation of right they even negotiated with the Muselmans, and received their bribes and promises. They persuaded the council * Archb. of Tyre, 910--912. Gesta, 405407. It was on this occasion that Conrad celebrated his personal prowess as much as Godfrey of Bouillon had done at the siege of Antioch. Namely, with one stroke of his sword he cut a Saracen (completely armed) in twain, from the shoulder through the body to the hip! + Archb. of Tyre, 912, 913. Gesta, 407, 409. The archbishop of Tyre made sedulous inquiries with respect to the cause of the failure on Damascus. and found that the story in the text that the attack should be made on the other sides of the city, and prophesied that the walls would yield to the first assault. Deserting the places which they had gained with so much labour and bloodshed, the commanders removed their camp: but when they found themselves on a sandy, sterile land, and contemplated the loftiness and strength of the towers which were before them, they repented of their haste and imprudence, and suspected the treachery of the advice that they had followed. They were no longer indulging in the gardens of the city, and with their usual want of caution they had not husbanded thir camp stores. A return to their old station would be useless, for the Saracens had repaired the fortifications, and those scourges of the Franks, Noureddin and Saphadin, had strengthened the garrison. After sustaining for a short time the sallies of new troops, and rejecting in a council of war the advice of some unsubdued spirits for an attack on Ascalon, the Christian army raised the siege of Damascus, and retrograded to Jerusalem in sorrow and in shame. Conrad soon returned to Europe, with the shattered relics of the German host, and his steps were a year afterwards traced by the French king,* was the general as well as the best opinion. Gervas (X. Script. col. 1365,) relates a tale that the Damascenes, knowing the cupidity of the Templars, promised them three casks full of besants, if they would persuade the king to raise casks which were sent to the Templars containthe siege. The object was effected, but the ed only pieces of brass, and no gold. The Arabic account of the matter is that the emir of Damascus played off the common trick of making the Franks of Syria believe that if the new Cru saders took the city, they would also capture Jethe resident Christians the town of Cesarea Phirusalem and other places. He even offered to lippi, which was at that time a Muselman town. The Syrian Franks then terrified their comrades with a report of the march of Saphadin, emir of Mosul, and the emperor of Germany raised the siege. Ben Latir, Not. des MSS. du Roi, vol. I. p. 558. Louis was not ignorant of his wife's gallantries in the Holy Land. About a year after his return to France, he got himself divorced from her, on the decent pretence of consanguinity. This was a great sacrifice of interest to the point of honour, for she separated the duchy of Aquitain from France. Henry, duke of Normandy, (afterwards Henry II., king of England, loved her person, or her dowry, and married her only two months after her divorce. M. Paris, the queen, and most of the French lords.* plored Suger to restore the fortunes of the Holy Land, knowing that he possessed more credit in France than all the other princes and prelates, and that his piety equalled his authority. Papal benediction was bestowed upon him, though the Pope was at first amazed at the enthusiasm of a man nearly seventy years of age: but his influence was exerted in vain. Angry at the timidity of his countrymen, his own courage rose; he re tine himself, and his reliance on the favour of Heaven made him hope that the vassals of St. Denys alone would be more powerful than the congregated myriads of Europe. To assure himself in the possession of that favour, he repaired in religious humility to the church of St. Martin, at Tours, a place next in sanctity of St. Denys; accepted the signs of a Christian militant, and, in full confidence that he would not survive the perilous journey, he offered to God the sacrifice of his life. But he was not destined to fall like a religious hero. All aspirations for glory were humbled by a fever; he died at St. Denys, and his successor in the abbacy pursued the usual duties of his station, without superadding those of a martial description.* Among the few men whose virtues and abilities spread some rays of moral and intellectual light over the twelfth century was Suger, the abbot of the celebrated religious fraternity of St. Denys, in France. Strongly imbued with the superstition of his time, his fondest wish was for the overthrow of the Moslems. As minister of Louis VII., however, he had exposed to his royal master the em-solved to conduct a small army to Palesbarrassment of the state finances, the fierce and menacing aspect of the crown vassals, and other circumstances of a political nature, sufficient to deter him from quitting his dominions. But the spirit of romantic devotion in the heir of Charlemagne could not be quenched, and Louis well consulted the interests of his kingdom in delivering the sceptre to the charge of the abbot of St. Denys. After his return from Palestine, the king ardently wished to re-cross the seas, and by martial achievements to obliterate the memory of former disasters. But the sense of generous shame was not so strong in the minds of the French cavaliers as in that of the monarch, and the royal wish was not espoused. When all thoughts of a crusade had apparently died away, France was astonished at the appearance of a martial missionary in the person of him who had opposed the second holy war. Yet Suger could not be justly charged with an inconsiderate versatility of opinion. He had endeavoured to preserve in the royal mind the idea of the preponderance of royal duties, and he did not now urge the king to fight the Moslems. The abbot, too, might perform actions which were inconsistent with the qualities, of a regent or sovereign. The clergy of the east im 70. Eleanora was most likely perfectly easy on the subject of separation, for, in her judicial office in the Provençal courts of love, she had decided (in an appeal cause) that true love could not exist between married people. Raynouard, Choix des Poésies Originales des Troubadours, vol. ii. p. 107. "Nous n'osons contredire l'arrêt de la comtesse de Champagne, qui, par un jugement solennel, a prononcé que la véritable amour ne peut exister, entre époux," p. 110. It was indeed a maxim in the courts of love in Provence, that, "le mariage n'est pas une excuse légitime contre l'amour. Archb. of Tyre, 910, 914. CHAPTER X. STATE OF THE HOLY LAND BETWEEN THE SECOND AND THIRD CRUSADES. Continuation and close of the Edessene history. -Siege and capture of Ascalon.-Death of Baldwin III.-His successor Almeric.-Politics of Egypt.-Saladin.-The Turks and the Franks contend for lordship over Egypt. -Final defeat of the Latins.-Termination of the Fatimite government.-Saladin becomes lord of Egypt.-Death of Almeric.--Baldwin IV. his successor.-His disposition of his kingdom.--His death.--Civil strife.--Guy de Lusignan king.--Saladin resolves upon the destruction of the Latins.--Eventful battle of Tiberias.--Cruelty of Saladin.--Consequences of the battle of Tiberias.-Jerusalem is recaptured by Saladin.-Humanity of the conqueror. Tripoli.-Antioch.-Retrospect. THE soldiers who marched under the * Gervaise, Hist. de Suger, lib. 6, Hist. Lit de la France, tome 12, art. Suger. I have inserted |