The Varangian did not leave the Count of Paris until the latter had in
his hands his signet-ring, _semee_, (as the heralds express it,) _with
lances splintered_, and bearing the proud motto, "Mine yet unscathed."
Provided with this symbol of confidence, it was now his business to
take order for communicating the approaching solemnity to the leader of
the crusading army, and demanding from him, in the name of Robert of
Paris, and the Lady Brenhilda, such a detachment of western cavaliers
as might ensure strict observance of honour and honesty in the
arrangement of the lists, and during the progress of the combat. The
duties imposed on Hereward were such as to render it impossible for him
to proceed personally to the camp of Godfrey: and though there were
many of the Varangians in whose fidelity he could have trusted, he knew
of none among those under his immediate command whose intelligence, on
so novel an occasion, might be entirely depended on. In this
perplexity, he strolled, perhaps without well knowing why, to the
gardens of Agelastes, where fortune once more produced him an interview
with Bertha.
No sooner had Hereward made her aware of his difficulty, than the
faithful bower-maiden's resolution was taken.
"I see," said she, "that the peril of this part of the adventure must
rest with me; and wherefore should it not? My mistress, in the bosom of
prosperity, offered herself to go forth into the wide world for my
sake; I will for hers go to the camp of this Frankish lord. He is an
honourable man, and a pious Christian, and his followers are faithful
pilgrims. A woman can have nothing to fear who goes to such men upon
such an errand."
The Varangian, however, was too well acquainted with the manners of
camps to permit the fair Bertha to go alone. He provided, therefore,
for her safe-guard a trusty old soldier, bound to his person by long
kindness and confidence, and having thoroughly possessed her of the
particulars of the message she was to deliver, and desired her to be in
readiness without the enclosure at peep of dawn, returned once more to
his barracks.
With the earliest light, Hereward was again at the spot where he had
parted overnight with Bertha, accompanied by the honest soldier to
whose care he meant to confide her. In a short time, he had seen them
safely on board of a ferry-boat lying in the harbour; the master of
which readily admitted them, after some examination of their license,
to pass to Scutari, which was forged in the name of the Acolyte, as
authorised by that foul conspirator, and which agreed with the
appearance of old Osmund and his young charge.
The morning was lovely; and erelong the town of Scutari opened on the
view of the travellers, glittering, as now, with a variety of
architecture, which, though it might be termed fantastical, could not
be denied the praise of beauty. These buildings rose boldly out of a
thick grove of cypresses, and other huge trees, the larger, probably,
as they were respected for filling the cemeteries, and being the
guardians of the dead.
At the period we mention, another circumstance, no less striking than
beautiful, rendered doubly interesting a scene which must have been at
all times greatly so. A large portion of that miscellaneous army which
came to regain the holy places of Palestine, and the blessed Sepulchre
itself, from the infidels, had established themselves in a camp within
a mile, or thereabouts, of Scutari. Although, therefore, the crusaders
were destitute in a great measure of the use of tents, the army
(excepting the pavilions of some leaders of high rank) had constructed
for themselves temporary huts, not unpleasing to the eye, being
decorated with leaves and flowers, while the tall pennons and banners
that floated over them with various devices, showed that the flower of
Europe were assembled at that place. A loud and varied murmur,
resembling that of a thronged hive, floated from the camp of the
crusaders to the neighbouring town of Scutari, and every now and then
the deep tone was broken by some shriller sound, the note of some
musical instrument, or the treble scream of some child or female, in
fear or in gaiety.
The party at length landed in safety; and as they approached one of the
gates of the camp, there sallied forth a brisk array of gallant
cavaliers, pages, and squires, exercising their masters' horses or
their own. From the noise they made, conversing at the very top of
their voices, galloping, curvetting, and prancing their palfreys, it
seemed as if their early discipline had called them to exercise ere the
fumes of last night's revel were thoroughly dissipated by repose. So
soon as they saw Bertha and her party, they approached them with cries
which marked their country was Italy--"Al'erta! al'erta!--Roba de
guadagno, cameradi!" [Footnote: That is--"Take heed! take heed! there
is booty, comrades!"]
They gathered round the Anglo-Saxon maiden and her companions,
repeating their cries in a manner which made Bertha tremble. Their
general demand was, "What was her business in their camp?"
"I would to the general-in-chief, cavaliers," answered Bertha, "having
a secret message to his ear."
"For whose ear?" said a leader of the party, a handsome youth of about
eighteen years of age, who seemed either to have a sounder brain than
his fellows, or to have overflowed it with less wine. "Which of our
leaders do you come hither to see?" he demanded.
"Godfrey of Bouillon."
"Indeed!" said the page who had spoken first; "can nothing of less
consequence serve thy turn? Take a look amongst us; young are we all,
and reasonably wealthy. My Lord of Bouillon is old, and if he has any
sequins, he is not like to lavish them in this way."
"Still I have a token to Godfrey of Bouillon," answered Bertha, "an
assured one; and he will little thank any who obstructs my free passage
to him;" and therewithal showing a little case, in which the signet of
the Count of Paris was enclosed, "I will trust it in your hands," she
said, "if you promise not to open it, but to give me free access to the
noble leader of the crusaders."
"I will," said the youth, "and if such be the Duke's pleasure, thou
shalt be admitted to him."
"Ernest the Apulian, thy dainty Italian wit is caught in a trap," said
one of his companions.
"Thou art an ultramontane fool, Polydore," returned Ernest; "there may
be more in this than either thy wit or mine is able to fathom. This
maiden and one of her attendants wear a dress belonging to the
Varangian Imperial guard. They have perhaps been intrusted with a
message from the Emperor, and it is not irreconcilable with Alexius's
politics to send it through such messengers as these. Let us,
therefore, convey them in all honour to the General's tent."
"With all my heart," said Polydore. "A blue-eyed wench is a pretty
thing, but I like not the sauce of the camp-marshal, nor his taste in
attiring men who gave way to temptation. [Footnote: Persons among the
Crusaders found guilty of certain offences, did penance in a dress of
tar and feathers though it is supposed a punishment of modern
invention.] Yet, ere I prove a fool like my companion, I would ask who
or what this pretty maiden is, who comes to put noble princes and holy
pilgrims in mind that they have in their time had the follies of men?"
Bertha advanced and whispered in the ear of Ernest. Meantime joke
followed jest, among Polydore and the rest of the gay youths, in
riotous and ribald succession, which, however characteristic of the
rude speakers, may as well be omitted here. Their effect was to shake
in some degree the fortitude of the Saxon maiden, who had some
difficulty in mustering courage to address them. "As you have mothers,
gentlemen," she said, "as you have fair sisters, whom you would protect
from dishonour with your best blood--as you love and honour those holy
places which you are sworn to free from the infidel enemy, have
compassion on me, that you may merit success in your undertaking!"
"Fear nothing, maiden," said Ernest, "I will be your protector; and
you, my comrades, be ruled by me. I have, during your brawling, taken a
view, though somewhat against my promise, of the pledge which she
bears, and if she who presents it is affronted or maltreated, be
assured Godfrey of Bouillon will severely avenge the wrong done her."
"Nay, comrade, if thou canst warrant us so much," said Polydore, "I
will myself be most anxious to conduct the young woman in honour and
safety to Sir Godfrey's tent."
"The Princes," said Ernest, "must be nigh meeting there in council.
What I have said I will warrant and uphold with hand and life. More I
might guess, but I conclude this sensible young maiden can speak for
herself."
"Now, Heaven bless thee, gallant squire," said Bertha, "and make thee
alike brave and fortunate! Embarrass yourself no farther about me, than
to deliver me safe to your leader, Godfrey."
"We spend time," said Ernest, springing from his horse. "You are no
soft Eastern, fair maid, and I presume you will find yourself under no
difficulty in managing a quiet horse?"
"Not the least," said Bertha, as, wrapping herself in her cassock, she
sprung from the ground, and alighted upon the spirited palfrey, as a
linnet stoops upon a rose-bush. "And now, sir, as my business really
brooks no delay, I will be indebted to you to show me instantly to the
tent of Duke Godfrey of Bouillon."
By availing herself of this courtesy of the young Apulian, Bertha
imprudently separated herself from the old Varangian; but the
intentions of the youth were honourable, and he conducted her through
the tents and huts to the pavilion of the celebrated General-in-chief
of the Crusade.
"Here," he said, "you must tarry for a space, under the guardianship of
my companions," (for two or three of the pages had accompanied them,
out of curiosity to see the issue,) "and I will take the commands of
the Duke of Bouillon upon the subject."
To this nothing could be objected, and Bertha had nothing better to do,
than to admire the outside of the tent, which, in one of Alexius's fits
of generosity and munificence, had been presented by the Greek Emperor
to the Chief of the Franks. It was raised upon tall spear-shaped poles,
which had the semblance of gold; its curtains were of thick stuff,
manufactured of silk, cotton, and gold thread. The warders who stood
round, were (at least during the time that the council was held) old
grave men, the personal squires of the body, most of them, of the
sovereigns who had taken the Cross, and who could, therefore, be
trusted as a guard over the assembly, without danger of their blabbing
what they might overhear. Their appearance was serious and considerate,
and they looked like men who had taken upon them the Cross, not as an
idle adventure of arms, but as a purpose of the most solemn and serious
nature. One of these stopt the Italian, and demanded what business
authorized him to press forward into the council of the crusaders, who
were already taking their seats. The page answered by giving his name,
"Ernest of Otranto, page of Prince Tancred;" and stated that he
announced a young woman, who bore a token to the Duke of Bouillon,
adding that it was accompanied by a message for his own ear.
Bertha, meantime, laid aside her mantle, or upper garment, and disposed
the rest of her dress according to the Anglo-Saxon costume. She had
hardly completed this task, before the page of Prince Tancred returned,
to conduct her into the presence of the council of the Crusade. She
followed his signal; while the other young men who had accompanied her,
wondering at the apparent ease with which she gained admittance, drew
back to a respectful distance from the tent, and there canvassed the
singularity of their morning's adventure.
In the meanwhile, the ambassadress herself entered the council chamber,
exhibiting an agreeable mixture of shamefacedness and reserve, together
with a bold determination to do her duty at all events. There were
about fifteen of the principal crusaders assembled in council, with
their chieftain Godfrey. He himself was a tall strong man, arrived at
that period of life in--which men are supposed to have lost none of
their resolution, while they have acquired a wisdom and circumspection
unknown to their earlier years. The countenance of Godfrey bespoke both
prudence and boldness, and resembled his hair, where a few threads of
silver were already mingled with his raven locks.
Tancred, the noblest knight of the Christian chivalry, sat at no great
distance from him, with Hugh, Earl of Vermandois, generally called the
Great Count, the selfish and wily Bohemond, the powerful Raymond of
Provence, and others of the principal crusaders, all more or less
completely sheathed in armour.
Bertha did not allow her courage to be broken down, but advancing with
a timid grace towards Godfrey, she placed in his hands the signet which
had been restored to her by the young page, and after a deep obeisance,
spoke these words: "Godfrey, Count of Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine the
Lower, Chief of the Holy Enterprise called the Crusade, and you, his
gallant comrades, peers, and companions, by whatever titles you may be
honoured, I, an humble maiden of England, daughter of Engelred,
originally a franklin of Hampshire, and since Chieftain of the
Foresters, or free Anglo-Saxons, under the command of the celebrated
Edric, do claim what credence is due to the bearer of the true pledge
which I put into your hand, on the part of one not the least
considerable of your own body, Count Robert of Paris"---
"Our most honourable confederate," said Godfrey, looking at the ring.
"Most of you, my lords, must, I think, know this signet--a field sown
with the fragments of many splintered lances." The signet was handed
from one of the Assembly to another, and generally recognised.
When Godfrey had signified so much, the maiden resumed her message. "To
all true crusaders, therefore, comrades of Godfrey of Bouillon, and
especially to the Duke himself,--to all, I say, excepting Bohemond of
Tarentum, whom he counts unworthy of his notice"--
"Hah! me unworthy of his notice," said Bohemond. "What mean you by
that, damsel?--But the Count of Paris shall answer it to me."
"Under your favour, Sir Bohemond," said Godfrey, "no. Our articles
renounce the sending of challenges among ourselves, and the matter, if
not dropt betwixt the parties, must be referred to the voice of this
honourable council."
"I think I guess the business now, my lord," said Bohemond. "The Count
of Paris is disposed to turn and tear me, because I offered him good
counsel on the evening before we left Constantinople, when he neglected
to accept or be guided by it"--
"It will be the more easily explained when we have heard his message,"
said Godfrey.--"Speak forth Lord Robert of Paris's charge, damsel, that
we may take some order with that which now seems a perplexed business."
Bertha resumed her message; and, having briefly narrated the recent
events, thus concluded:--"The battle is to be done to-morrow, about two
hours after daybreak, and the Count entreats of the noble Duke of
Lorraine that he will permit some fifty of the lances of France to
attend the deed of arms, and secure that fair and honourable conduct
which he has otherwise some doubts of receiving at the hands of his
adversary. Or if any young and gallant knight should, of his own free
will, wish to view the said combat, the Count will feel his presence as
an honour; always he desires that the name of such knight be numbered
carefully with the armed crusaders who shall attend in the lists, and
that the whole shall be limited, by Duke Godfrey's own inspection, to
fifty lances only, which are enough to obtain the protection required,
while more would be considered as a preparation for aggression upon the
Grecians, and occasion the revival of disputes which are now happily at
rest."
Bertha had no sooner finished delivering her manifesto, and made with
great grace her obeisance to the council, than a sort of whisper took
place in the assembly, which soon assumed a more lively tone.
Their solemn vow not to turn their back upon Palestine, now that they
had set their hands to the plough, was strongly urged by some of the
elder knights of the council, and two or three high prelates, who had
by this time entered to take share in the deliberations. The young
knights, on the other hand, were fired with indignation on hearing the
manner in which their comrade had been trepanned; and few of them could
think of missing a combat in the lists in a country in which such
sights were so rare, and where one was to be fought so near them.
Godfrey rested his brow on his hand, and seemed in great perplexity. To
break with the Greeks, after having suffered so many injuries in order
to maintain the advantage of keeping the peace with them, seemed very
impolitic, and a sacrifice of all he had obtained by a long course of
painful forbearance towards Alexius Comnenus. On the other hand, he was
bound as a man of honour to resent the injury offered to Count Robert
of Paris, whose reckless spirit of chivalry made him the darling of the
army. It was the cause, too, of a beautiful lady, and a brave one:
every knight in the host would think himself bound, by his vow, to
hasten to her defence. When Godfrey spoke, it was to complain of the
difficulty of the determination, and the short time there was to
consider the case.
"With submission to my Lord Duke of Lorraine," said Tancred, "I was a
knight ere I was a crusader, and took on me the vows of chivalry, ere I
placed this blessed, sign upon my shoulder: the vow first made must be
first discharged. I will therefore do penance for neglecting, for a
space, the obligations of the second vow, while I observe that which
recalls me to the first duty of knighthood,--the relief of a distressed
lady in the hands of men whose conduct towards her, and towards this
host, in every respect entitles me to call them treacherous faitours."
"If my kinsman Tancred," said Bohemond, "will check his impetuosity,
and you, my lords, will listen, as you have sometimes deigned to do, to
my advice, I think I can direct you how to keep clear of any breach of
your oath, and yet fully to relieve our distressed fellow-pilgrims.--I
see some suspicious looks are cast towards me, which are caused perhaps
by the churlish manner in which this violent, and, in this case, almost
insane young warrior, has protested against receiving my assistance. My
great offence is the having given him warning, by precept and example,
of the treachery which was about to be practised against him, and
instructed him to use forbearance and temperance. My warning he
altogether contemned--my example he neglected to follow, and fell into
the snare which was spread, as it were, before his very eyes. Yet the
Count of Paris, in rashly contemning me, has acted only from a temper
which misfortune and disappointment have rendered irrational and
frantic. I am so far from bearing him ill-will, that, with your
lordship's permission, and that of the present council, I will haste to
the place of rendezvous with fifty lances, making up the retinue which
attends upon each to at least ten men, which will make the stipulated
auxiliary force equal to five hundred; and with these I can have little
doubt of rescuing the Count and his lady."
"Nobly proposed," said the Duke of Bouillon; "and with a charitable
forgiveness of injuries which becomes our Christian expedition. But
thou hast forgot the main difficulty, brother Bohemond, that we are
sworn never to turn back upon the sacred journey."
"If we can elude that oath upon the present occasion," said Bohemond,
"it becomes our duty to do so. Are we such bad horsemen, or are our
steeds so awkward, that we cannot rein them back from this to the
landing-place at Scutari? We can get them on shipboard in the same
retrograde manner, and when we arrive in Europe, where our vow binds us
no longer, the Count and Countess of Paris are rescued, and our vow
remains entire in the Chancery of Heaven."
A general shout arose--"Long life to the gallant Bohemond!--Shame to us
if we do not fly to the assistance of so valiant a knight, and a lady
so lovely, since we can do so without breach of our vow."
"The question," said Godfrey, "appears to me to be eluded rather than
solved; yet such evasions have been admitted by the most learned and
scrupulous clerks; nor do I hesitate to admit of Bohemond's expedient,
any more than if the enemy had attacked our rear, which might have
occasioned our countermarching to be a case of absolute necessity."
Some there were in the assembly, particularly the churchmen, inclined
to think that the oath by which the crusaders had solemnly bound
themselves, ought to be as literally obeyed. But Peter the Hermit, who
had a place in the council, and possessed great weight, declared it as
his opinion, "That since the precise observance of their vow would tend
to diminish the forces of the crusade, it was in fact unlawful, and
should not be kept according to the literal meaning, if, by a fair
construction, it could be eluded."
He offered himself to back the animal which he bestrode--that is, his
ass; and though he was diverted from showing this example by the
remonstrances of Godfrey of Bouillon, who was afraid of his becoming a
scandal in the eyes of the heathen, yet he so prevailed by his
arguments, that the knights, far from scrupling to countermarch,
eagerly contended which should have the honour of making one of the
party which should retrograde to Constantinople, see the combat, and
bring back to the host in safety the valorous Count of Paris, of whose
victory no one doubted, and his Amazonian Countess.
This emulation was also put an end to by the authority of Godfrey, who
himself selected the fifty knights who were to compose the party. They
were chosen from different nations, and the command of the whole was
given to young Tancred of Otranto. Notwithstanding the claim of
Bohemond, Godfrey detained the latter, under the pretext that his
knowledge of the country and people was absolutely necessary to enable
the council to form the plan of the campaign in Syria; but in reality
he dreaded the selfishness of a man of great ingenuity as well as
military skill, who, finding himself in a separate command, might be
tempted, should opportunities arise, to enlarge his own power and
dominion, at the expense of the pious purposes of the crusade in
general. The younger men of the expedition were chiefly anxious to
procure such horses as had been thoroughly trained, and could go
through with ease and temper the manoeuvre of equitation, by which it
was designed to render legitimate the movement which they had recourse
to. The selection was at length made, and the detachment ordered to
draw up in the rear, or upon the eastward line of the Christian
encampment. In the meanwhile, Godfrey charged Bertha with a message for
the Count of Paris, in which, slightly censuring him for not observing
more caution in his intercourse with the Greeks, he informed him that
he had sent a detachment of fifty lances, with the corresponding
squires, pages, men-at-arms, and cross-bows, five hundred in number,
commanded by the valiant Tancred, to his assistance. The Duke also
informed him, that he had added a suit of armour of the best temper
Milan could afford, together with a trusty war-horse, which he
entreated him to use upon the field of battle; for Bertha had not
omitted to intimate Count Robert's want of the means of knightly
equipment. The horse was brought before the pavilion accordingly,
completely barbed or armed in steel, and laden with armour for the
knight's body. Godfrey himself put the bridle into Bertha's hand.
"Thou need'st not fear to trust thyself with this steed, he is as
gentle and docile as he is fleet and brave. Place thyself on his back,
and take heed thou stir not from the side of the noble Prince Tancred
of Otranto, who will be the faithful defender of a maiden that has this
day shown dexterity, courage, and fidelity."
Bertha bowed low, as her cheeks glowed at praise from one whose talents
and worth were in such general esteem, as to have raised him to the
distinguished situation of leader of a host which numbered in it the
bravest and most distinguished captains of Christendom.
"Who are yon two persons?" continued Godfrey, speaking of the
companions of Bertha, whom he saw in the distance before the tent.
"The one," answered the damsel, "is the master of the ferry-boat which
brought me over; and the other an old Varangian who came hither as my
protector."
"As they may come to employ their eyes here, and their tongues on the
opposite side," returned the general of the crusaders, "I do not think
it prudent to let them accompany you. They shall remain here for some
short time. The citizens of Scutari will not comprehend for some space
what our intention is, and I could wish Prince Tancred and his
attendants to be the first to announce their own arrival."
Bertha accordingly intimated the pleasure of the French general to the
parties, without naming his motives; when the ferryman began to exclaim
on the hardship of intercepting him in his trade; and Osmund to
complain of being detained from his duties. But Bertha, by the orders
of Godfrey, left them, with the assurance that they would be soon at
liberty. Finding themselves thus abandoned, each applied himself to his
favourite amusement. The ferryman occupied himself in staring about at
all that was new; and Osmund, having in the meantime accepted an offer
of breakfast from some of the domestics, was presently engaged with a
flask of such red wine as would have reconciled him to a worse lot than
that which he at present experienced.
The detachment of Tancred, fifty spears and their armed retinue, which
amounted fully to five hundred men, after having taken a short and
hasty refreshment, were in arms and mounted before the sultry hour of
noon. After some manoeuvres, of which the Greeks of Scutari, whose
curiosity was awakened by the preparations of the detachment, were at a
loss to comprehend the purpose, they formed into a single column,
having four men in front. When the horses were in this position, the
whole riders at once began to rein back. The action was one to which
both the cavaliers and their horses were well accustomed, nor did it at
first afford much surprise to the spectators; but when the same
retrograde evolution was continued, and the body of crusaders seemed
about to enter the town of Scutari in so extraordinary a fashion, some
idea of the truth began to occupy the citizens. The cry at length was
general, when Tancred and a few others, whose horses were unusually
well-trained, arrived at the port, and possessed themselves of a
galley, into which they led their horses, and, disregarding all
opposition from the Imperial officers of the haven, pushed the vessel
off from the shore.
Other cavaliers did not accomplish their purpose so easily; the riders,
or the horses, were less accustomed to continue in the constrained pace
for such a considerable length of time, so that many of the knights,
having retrograded for one or two hundred yards, thought their vow was
sufficiently observed by having so far deferred to it, and riding in
the ordinary manner into the town, seized without farther ceremony on
some vessels, which, notwithstanding the orders of the Greek Emperor,
had been allowed to remain on the Asiatic side of the strait. Some less
able horsemen met with various accidents; for though it was a proverb
of the time, that nothing was so bold as a blind horse, yet from this
mode of equitation, where neither horse nor rider saw the way he was
going, some steeds were overthrown, others backed upon dangerous
obstacles; and the bones of the cavaliers themselves suffered much more
than would have been the case in an ordinary march.
Those horsemen, also, who met with falls, incurred the danger of being
slain by the Greeks, had not Godfrey, surmounting his religious
scruples, despatched a squadron to extricate them--a task which they
performed with great ease. The greater part of Tancred's followers
succeeded in embarking, as was intended, nor was there more than a
score or two finally amissing. To accomplish their voyage, however,
even the Prince of Otranto himself, and most of his followers, were
obliged to betake themselves to the unknightly labours of the oar. This
they found extremely difficult, as well from the state both of the tide
and the wind, as from the want of practice at the exercise. Godfrey in
person viewed their progress anxiously, from a neighbouring height, and
perceived with regret the difficulty which they found in making their
way, which was still more increased by the necessity for their keeping
in a body, and waiting for the slowest and worst manned vessels, which
considerably detained those that were more expeditious. They made some
progress, however; nor had the commander-in-chief the least doubt, that
before sunset they would safely reach the opposite side of the strait.
He retired at length from his post of observation, having placed a
careful sentinel in his stead, with directions to bring him word the
instant that the detachment reached the opposite shore. This the
soldier could easily discern by the eye, if it was daylight at the
time; if, on the contrary, it was night before they could arrive, the
Prince of Otranto had orders to show certain lights, which, in case of
their meeting resistance from the Greeks, should be arranged in a
peculiar manner, so as to indicate danger.
Godfrey then explained to the Greek authorities of Scutari, whom he
summoned before him, the necessity there was that he should keep in
readiness such vessels as could be procured, with which, in case of
need, he was determined to transport a strong division from his army to
support those who had gone before. He then rode back to his camp, the
confused murmurs of which, rendered more noisy by the various
discussions concerning the events of the day, rolled off from the
numerous host of the crusaders, and mingled with the hoarse sound of
the many-billowed Hellespont.