contains the account of the auspicious events of which he is the
author. The inscription of this letter is the description of divine
goodness, which is a sea for pens, a sea in which they may swim for
ages. It is a blessing for which the gratitude should be measureless.
Let thanks then be rendered to God for this blessing of to-day; it is
a blessing which will last for ever; let no one say: _The like has
been seen_. The affairs of Islamism are in the happiest condition; the
faith of those who believe in it is strengthened. The Mussulmans have
destroyed the error which infidels had spread over these places. God
has faithfully fulfilled, with regard to his religion, the compact he
entered into. Religion was exiled and a stranger; she now inhabits
her natural dwelling: the reward is received, that reward purchased
at the price of life. The commandment of the truth of God, which was
powerless, is now in vigour; his house is re-peopled, though it was
abandoned after it had been destroyed. The order of God is arrived,
and the noses of the polytheists are abased. Swords advanced by night,
and the sick were asleep. (That is to say, I believe, that Saladin
surprised the Crusaders, and that the Christians did not expect what
happened to them on his part.) God has performed the promise he made
to raise his religion above all religions. Its light is more brilliant
than that of the morning; the Mussulmans are restored to their
heritage, which had been wrested from them. They have been awakened,
they have conquered that which they could not have hoped to conquer,
even in their dreams; their feet are firmly fixed upon the hill; their
standards have floated over the mosque; they have prayed upon _the
black stone_. In acting thus, the _servant_ proposed to himself nothing
short of these great results; he only confronted _this evil_ (the evils
of this war) in the hope of this great blessing; he only made war
on those who opposed him, that the word of God might be spread; for
the word of God is exalted; he has only fought that he might by that
means merit eternal life, and not the wealth of this world. Perhaps,
tongues may have accused him of having a contemptible object, and
men’s thoughts have calumniated him; but he has extinguished these
thoughts by means of time and patience. He who sought a precious thing
placed himself in danger. He who exerted himself to render his life
illustrious, exposed himself. Otherwise, the _servant_ has only acted
after having consulted with the wisest of his doctors. The _servant_
has written this letter, and already God has caused him to triumph
over his enemies. The towers of the infidel are cast down; he drew
his sword, and it became a wand; his attacks became weak; he turned
his bridle; and, as a chastisement from God, he has not found hands
to act with. His swords have slept in their scabbards, his lances
have lost their noses (points), and for a long time they were raised
to inflict death. The land of Jerusalem is become pure; it was as a
woman who has her rules. God is become one God, and he was _trinary_
(or three). The houses of the infidel are destroyed, the dwellings of
polytheism are cast down. The Mussulmans have taken possession of the
fortified castles. Our enemies will not return to them again, for they
are branded with the seal of weakness and degradation. God has placed
beauty where deformity was.
* * * * *
The first time the servant attacked them,[132] God came to his succour,
and assisted him with his angels; he broke them with a rupture past
remedy; he precipitated them with a fall which would not allow the
infidels to rise up again. He made a great number of prisoners, and
killed many of their people. The field of battle was covered with dead,
arms, and horses. How many swords became like saws, with striking! How
many horsemen rushed towards the destiny which destroyed them! The
king himself (of Jerusalem) advanced and cleared all before him. That
day was a day of testimony (of the favour of God and the valour of the
Mussulmans). The angels were witnesses. Error was at bay; Islamism took
birth. The ribs of the infidels were materials for the fire of hell.
The king was taken, and he held in his hand the most firm of his ties,
the most strong of the _bonds_ of his religion and of his belief. That
was the _cross_, the leader, the guide of the partisans of pride and
tyranny. They (the Christians) never advanced towards a peril without
having this in the midst of them; they flew round it as moths fly round
a light. Their hearts gathered together under its shade; they fought
under this light with the greatest courage. They considered it as the
strongest tie that could bind them together; they believed it to be a
wall which would defend them on this day. On that day the greater part
of the infidels were taken. Not one of them turned his back, except the
Count.[133] May God curse him! He was eager for carnage in the day of
victory, and full of base tricks in the day of degradation; he saved
himself! but how? he stole away for fear of being struck by the lance
or the sword; God afterwards took him in his own hands, caused him to
die according to his promise, and sent him from the kingdom of death
to hell. After the defeat, the servant passed through the province
(Palestine), and gathered together the Abassides subjects that were
scattered about it;—those subjects who carried terror to the hearts of
their enemies; and he conquered by their aid such and such places.
* * * * *
This province (Palestine) is full of wells, lakes, islands, mosques,
minarets, population, armies. The servant will change the tares of
error for the good seed of the true faith; he will cast down the
crosses of the churches, and will cause the _izan_ (the summons of the
Mussulmans to prayers) to be heard. He will change into _pulpits_ the
places on which the infidels immolated (altars), and of churches he
will make mosques.
“There remained nothing but Jerusalem; every banished man, every
fugitive had here taken refuge; those from afar as well as those near
had here shut themselves up; they considered themselves as there
protected by the favour of God; they believed that their Church would
intercede for them. Then the servant arrived before the city; he beheld
a city well peopled; he beheld troops who had agreed to die; for whom
death would be sweet if their city was doomed to fall. He came to
one side of the city, but he found that the valleys (or the gardens)
were deep; that bad passages were numerous; that the walls, like a
necklace, surrounded it, and that towers, like large beads,[134] were
placed along the middle of the walls. Then he directed his course to
another side, where there was such an ascent as he desired, a place
and an asylum for the cavalry; he surrounded this side and made his
approaches to it; he caused his tent to be pitched in a spot exposed
to the attempts of the enemy; he attacked the walls vigorously, and at
length got possession of them. The besieged sent to him, offering to
pay him a tribute for a certain time; they wished to obtain a cessation
of their distress, and wait for reinforcements. The servant deferred
his answer, and drew his machines nearer; the machines that are the
sticks and cords that punish castles for their resistance. Their
strokes prepared the victory. Possession was taken of the towers; the
walls were void of combatants; stone crumbled away into dust again,
as it had been at first. The gates fell into the hands of the army of
the servant. Then the infidels despaired; the leader of the impiety
came out then: this was _Ben_ or _Bezbar-ran_; he requested that the
city should be taken by capitulation and not by storm; the abjection
of ruin and distress was imprinted upon his countenance, which before
shone with the glory of royalty; he prostrated himself in the dust,
he before whom nobody had dared to raise their eyes, and said: There
(pointing to the city) are thousands of captive Mussulmans;—this
is the determination of the Franks: if you take the city by force,
if you place the burden of war heavily on their backs, they will
immediately kill their captives; they will afterwards kill their wives
and children; then they will have nothing to wish for but death;
but not one of them will die without having sacrificed many of your
people.’ The officers were of opinion that the city should be taken
by capitulation; for, said they, if it is taken by storm, there is
no doubt but that the besieged will rush headlong into danger, and
will sacrifice their lives for a thing they have so well defended. In
the sorties they had precedingly made, they had displayed incredible
courage, and their attacks had been terrible.
* * * * *
But God has driven them out of this territory, and has cast them down;
he has favoured the partisans of the truth, and has shown his anger
against the infidels. These had protected this city by the sword; they
had raised buildings at the point of the sword and with columns of
soldiers. These (the infidels) have placed churches there, and houses
of the Diweieh, Deuïourjeh, &c., and of the Hospitallers. In these
houses are precious things in marble.
“The servant has restored the mosque _Alasca_ to its ancient
destination. He has placed imauns in it, who will there celebrate the
true worship. The _khothbeh_ (or sermon) was made there on Friday, the
14th of Chaaban. Little was wanting to make the heavens open with joy,
and the stars dance. The word of God has been exalted; the tombs of the
prophets, which the infidels had stained, have been purified, &c. &c.”
Towards the end of his letter, Saladin says that his troops are spread
all over the province; he boasts of the fertility and richness of it,
and says he is going to complete the conquest of it. He adds that the
fleet has put to sea; and that he is about to restore the walls of
Jerusalem.
_No. 14._
_Khothbeh, or Sermon made at Jerusalem, the first Friday after Saladin
had taken Possession of that City, by Mohammed Ben Zeky._
Mohammed Ben Zeky ascended the mimber, or pulpit, and commenced the
khothbeh, or sermon, by reciting the surate _Falchah_ (the first of
the Koran) from the beginning to the end. Then he said: “May the crew
of the unjust perish! Praises be to God, the master of worlds!” Then
he read, 1st, the commencement of the surate _Alin’am_: “Praise to God
who has created the Heavens;” 2nd, a verse of the surate _Soubhana_:
“Praise to God who has no son;” 3rd, three verses of the surate
_Alkehef_: “Praises to God who has sent the book to his servant.”
Then he read, 1st, the verse: “Praise to God, and salvation to his
servants;” 2nd, a verse of the surate _Seba_: “Praises to God to
whom belongs all that is in heaven or earth;” 3rd, several verses of
the surate _Falhr_: “Praises to God the creator of the Heavens.” His
intention was to bring together all the _Temeh-houdah_ (praises which
are contained in the Koran). After this, he commenced the khothbeh in
these terms:—
“Praise to God, who has raised Islamism into glory by his aid; who has
abased polytheism by his power; who rules worldly things by his will;
who prolongs his blessings according to the measure of our gratitude;
who defeats infidels by his stratagems; who gives power to dynasties,
according to his justice; who has reserved future life for those who
fear him, by an effort of his goodness; who extends his shadow over
his servants; who has caused his religion to triumph over all others;
who gains the victory over his servants without any one being able to
oppose him; who triumphs in his caliph, without any one being able to
resist him; who orders what he wills, without any being able to make
objections to it; who judges according to his will, without any one
being able to avert the execution of his decrees. I praise this God
for having by his assistance rendered his elect victorious; for the
glory he has given them; for the aid he has granted to his defenders;
I praise him for having purified the house filled with pollution, from
the impieties of polytheism. I praise him inwardly and outwardly. I
give testimony that there is no other God but this God; that he is
the only one, and has no associate; the only one, the eternal one, who
begets not, neither is he begotten, and has no equal. I give testimony
that Mahomet is his servant and his messenger, this prophet who has
removed doubts, confounded polytheism, extinguished falsehood; who
travelled by night from Medina to Jerusalem; who ascended into the
heavens, and reached even the cedar Almontéhy. May the eternal felicity
of God be with him, with his successor Abou Bekr Alsadic, &c.
“O men! publish the extraordinary blessing by which God has made easy
to you the recapture and deliverance of this city which we had lost,
and has made it again the centre of Islamism, after having been during
nearly a hundred years in the hands of the infidels.
* * * * *
This house was built and its foundations laid for the glory of God and
in the fear of Heaven. For this house is the dwelling of Abraham; the
ladder of your prophet (peace be with him!); the kiblah towards which
you prayed at the commencement of Islamism, the abode of prophets,
the aim of saints, the place of revelation, the habitation of order
and defence; it is situated in the land of the gathering, the arena
of the meeting; it is of this blessed land of which God speaks in his
sacred book. It was in this mosque that Mahomet prayed with the angels
who approach God. It was this city to which God sent his servant, his
messenger, the word which he sent to Mary. The prophet he honoured with
a mission did not stray from the rank of his servant. For God said,
_the Messiah will not deny that he is the servant of God; God has no
son, and has no other God with him_. Certes, they have been in impiety,
they who have said that the Messiah, the son of Mary, was God.
“This house is the first of the two kiblah, the second of the mosques,
the third of the héramëin; it is not towards it that the people come
in crowds after the two mesdjed; it is towards it that the fingers are
pointed after the two places. [I suppose Mecca and Medina.] If you were
not of the number of the servants whom God has chosen, certes he would
not have favoured you particularly by this advantage which has been
granted to no other brave men, the honour of which no one can dispute
with you; how fortunate you are in being the soldiers of an army which
has made manifest the miracles of the prophet, which has made the
expeditions of Abou Bekr, the conquests of Omar, &c. God has rewarded
you by the best of rewards in that which you have done for his prophet.
He has been grateful for the courage you have shown in punishing
rebels; the blood which you have shed for him has been acceptable to
him; it has introduced you into the Paradise which is the abode of
the blessed; acknowledge, then, the value of this blessing, offer up
to him necessary thanksgivings; for God has shown for you a marked
beneficence in granting you this blessing, in selecting you for this
expedition. For the gates of Heaven have been opened for this conquest;
its splendour has cast a light which has penetrated even to the deepest
darkness; the angels who approach the Divine Majesty have rejoiced
at it; the eye of the prophets and the messengers has beheld it with
joy. Since, by the favour of God, you are the army which will conquer
Jerusalem at the end of time, the troop which will raise the standards
of the faith after the destruction of the prophecy.
* * * * *
This house, is it not that of which God spoke in his book? for he says,
Be he praised who made his servant travel by night,’ &c.; is this not
the house which the nations have revered; towards which the prophets
came, in which the four books sent from God have been read? Is this not
the house for which God stopped the sun, under Joshua, and retarded the
march of day, in order that his conquest should be easy, and should be
accelerated? Is this not the house which God committed to Moses, and
which he commanded his people to save; but, with the exception of two
men, these people would not; God was angry against these people, and
cast them into the desert, to punish them for their rebellion.
“I praise the God who has conducted you to the place from which he
banished the children of Israel; and yet these were distinguished above
other nations. God has seconded you in an enterprise in which he had
abandoned other nations that had preceded you; which has caused there
to be but one opinion amongst you, whilst formerly opinions differed;
rejoice that God has named you among those who are near him, and has
made of you his own army, after you became his soldiers by your own
free will. The angels (who were sent towards this house) have thanked
you for having brought hither the doctrine of the unity.
* * * * *
Now the powers of the heavens pray for you, and pour benedictions upon
you. Preserve this gift in you, by the fear of God. Whoever possesses
it is saved. Beware of the passions, of disobedience, of falling
back, of flying from an enemy. Are you eager to take advantage of the
opportunity to destroy what anguish remains? Fight for God as you
ought; sacrifice yourselves to please him, you his servants, since
you are of the number of the elect. Beware that the devil do not come
down among you again, and that irreligion introduce not itself into
your hearts. Did you figure to yourselves that your swords of steel,
your chosen horses, your untiring perseverance, have gained you this
victory? No, it was God; it was from him alone that your success
came. Beware, servants of God after having obtained this victory, of
becoming disobedient and rebellious; for then you will be like her
who cut to pieces that which she had spun, or like him to whom we
have sent our verses, and who has rejected them; the devil has laid
hold of him, and he has wandered from the faith. The holy war! the
holy war! that is the best of your worships, the most noble of your
customs; help God, and he will help you; hold to God, and he will hold
to you; remember him, and he will remember you; do good towards him,
and he will do good towards you; endeavour to cut off every diseased
member, to destroy even to the last enemy; purify the rest of the earth
of those nations with whom God and his messenger are angry. Lop off
the branches of impiety, and fear, for already the days have grown.
Vengeance of Mussulman attacks, of the Mahometan nation. God is great:
he gives conquests, he degrades impiety; learn that this is a great
opportunity—seize it; it is a prey, cast yourselves upon it; it is
a booty, get possession of it. It is an important business, apply
your whole means to it, give yourselves up to it entirely; put the
battalions of your tribes on the march for it. For this business draws
towards its end, and the treasuries are filled with wealth. God has
already given you the victory over these vile enemies. These enemies
were equal to you, or perhaps more numerous than you; but however that
might be, he has manifested that one of you is worth twenty other men.
God will aid you as you cause his orders to be obeyed, and abstain from
that which he has prohibited. He will strengthen all us Mussulmans by a
victory; if God helps you, you have no other conqueror to fear; but if
he withdraw his help from you, who will be he that shall help you after
him?”
Then the preacher prayed for the Imaun Alnassir, the caliph, and
said: “O God! eternalize the sultan, thy servant, who humbles himself
before thy majesty, who is grateful for thy blessings, who cherishes
the remembrance of thy favour. Preserve thy keen sword, thy brilliant
star, who protects and defends thy religion, who defends the harem! the
seid, the triumphant prince, the _reuniter_ of the word, of the faith
(that is to say, who has so acted that the Mussulman princes, with one
accord, with one unanimous feeling, marched against the infidels); the
exterminator of the cross, the good of the state and of religion (salah
eddounia wa eddyn). The sultan of the Mussulmans, the purifier of the
sacred house, Aboul Modhaffer Yous-ben-Ayoub, the verifier of the power
of the emir of the believers; O God! grant that thy angels may surround
his throne; make good the reward due to that which he has done for the
religion of Abraham; reward his actions for the sake of the Mussulman
religion. O God! prolong for Islamism,” &c.
_No. 15._
_Bull of Gregory VIII., A.D. 1187._
Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God; to all those of the
worshippers of Our Lord Jesus Christ to whom these letters shall come,
health and the apostolic benediction.
Having learnt the terrible severity of the judgments which the divine
hand has exercised over Jerusalem and the Holy Land, we have been, we
and our brethren, penetrated with such horror, afflicted with such
lively grief, that, in the painful uncertainty of what it would be
best for us to do on this occasion, we have only been able to partake
the sorrows of the psalmist, and to exclaim with him, “Lord, the
nations have invaded thy heritage, they have profaned thy holy temple;
Jerusalem is no more than a desert, and the bodies of the saints have
served as pasture to the beasts of the earth, and to the birds of the
heavens.” For in consequence of the intestine dissensions which the
wickedness of men, by the suggestion of the demon, had given birth to
in the Holy Land, behold Saladin, without any warning, at the head
of a formidable army, comes pouring down upon the city. The king and
the bishops, the Templars and the Hospitallers, the barons and the
people, hasten to the rescue, bearing with them the cross of the Lord,
that cross which, in memory of the passion of Christ, who was nailed
to it, and which thus purchased the redemption of the human race, was
regarded as the most secure rampart to be opposed to the attacks of the
infidels. The conflict begins; our brethren are conquered, the holy
cross falls into the hands of the enemies; the king is made prisoner,
the bishops are massacred, and such of the Christians as escape death,
cannot avoid slavery. Flight saves a few, and very few; and these tell
us that they saw the whole of the Templars and Hospitallers perish
before their eyes. We think it useless, beloved brethren, to inform you
how, after the destruction of the army, the enemies spread themselves
over the whole kingdom, and rendered themselves masters of most of the
cities, with the exception of a small number, which still resist. It is
here we are compelled to say with the prophet, “Who will change my eyes
into a fountain of tears, that I may weep night and day the massacre
of my people!” Nevertheless, far from allowing ourselves to be cast
down, or to be divided, we ought to be persuaded that these reverses
are only to be attributed to the anger of God, against the multitude
of our sins; that the most efficacious manner of obtaining the
remission of them is by tears and groans, and that at last, appeased
by our repentance, the mercy of the Lord will raise us up again, more
glorious for the abasement into which he has plunged us. Who could,
I say, withhold his tears in so great a disaster, not only according
to the principles of our divine religion, which teaches us to weep
with the afflicted, but further, from simple motives of humanity, when
considering the greatness of the peril, the ferocity of the barbarians,
thirsting for the blood of Christians, their endeavours to profane
holy things, and to annihilate the name of the true God, in a land in
which he was born; pictures which the imagination of the reader will
represent to him better than we can paint them. No; the tongue cannot
express, the senses cannot comprehend what our affliction has been,
what that of the Christian people must be, at learning that this land
is now suffering as it suffered under its ancient inhabitants; this
land illustrated by so many prophets, from which issued the lights of
the world; and, what is still greater and more ineffable, where was
incarnate God the creator of all things; where, by an infinite wisdom,
and an incomprehensible mercy, he consented to subject himself to the
infirmities of the flesh, to suffer hunger, thirst, the punishment
of the cross, and by his death and glorious resurrection, effected
our salvation. We ought not then to attribute our disasters to the
injustice of the judge who chastises, but rather to the iniquity of
the people who have sinned; since we see in Scripture that, when the
Jews returned to the Lord, he put their enemies to flight, and that
one of his angels was sufficient to annihilate the formidable army of
Sennacherib. But this land has devoured its inhabitants; it has not
been able to enjoy a long tranquillity, and the transgressors of our
divine law have not preserved it long; all thus giving this example
and this instruction to such as sigh after the heavenly Jerusalem,
that it is only by the practice of good works, and amidst numerous
temptations, that they can attain it. The people of these countries had
beforehand reason to fear that which has now happened to them, when
the infidels got possession of a part of the frontier cities. Would to
God that they had then had recourse to penitence, and that they had
appeased, by a sincere repentance, the God they had offended! for the
vengeance of that God is always only delayed. He does not surprise the
sinner; he gives him time for repentance, until at length his exhausted
mercy gives place to his justice. But we who, amidst the dissolution
spread over this country, ought to give our attention, not only to the
iniquities of its inhabitants, out to our own, and to those of all
Christian people, and who ought, still further, to dread the loss of
those of the faithful that still remain in Judæa, and the ravages with
which the neighbouring countries are threatened, amidst dissensions
which prevail between Christian kings and princes, and between
villages and cities; we who see nothing on all sides but scandals and
disorders, we ought to weep with the prophet, and repeat with him,
“Truth and the knowledge of God are not upon earth; I see nothing
reign in their place but falsehood, homicide, adultery, and thirst for
blood.” It is everywhere urgent to act, to efface our sins by voluntary
penance, and, by the help of true piety, to return to the Lord our
God, in order that, corrected of our vices, and seeing the malice and
ferocity of the enemy, we may do for the support of the cause of the
Lord, as much as the infidel does not fear to attempt to do every day
against him. Think, my beloved brethren, for what purpose you came into
this world, and how you ought to leave it; reflect that you will thus
pass through all that concerns you. Employ, then, the time you have
to dispose of in good actions, and in performing penance; give that
which belongs to you, because you did not make yourself, because you
have nothing which is yours alone, and because the faculty of creating
a hand-worm is above all the powers of the earth. We will not say,
reject us, Lord, but permit us to enter into the celestial granary that
you possess; place us amidst those divine fruits, which dread neither
the injuries of time nor the attempts of thieves. We will labour to
reconquer that land upon which the truth descended from heaven, and
where it did not refuse to endure the opprobrium of the cross for
our salvation. We will not hold in view either a love of riches or a
perishable glory, but your holy will, O my God! you who have taught
us to love our brothers as ourselves, and to consecrate to you those
riches, the disposal of which, with us, is so often independent of
thy will. It is not more astonishing to see this land struck by the
hand of God, than it is to see it afterwards delivered by his mercy.
The will of the Lord alone can save it; but it is not permitted to
ask him why he has acted thus. Perhaps it has been his will to prove
us, and to teach us that he who, when the time of repentance is come,
embraces it with joy, and sacrifices himself for his brothers, although
he may die young, his life comprises a great number of years. Behold
with what zeal the Maccabees were inflamed for their holy law, and
the deliverance of their brethren, when they precipitated themselves,
without hesitation, amidst the greatest perils, sacrificing their
wealth and their lives, and exhorting each other, mutually, by such
speeches as these: “Let us prepare ourselves, let us show ourselves
courageous, because it is better to perish in fight than to behold the
evils of our nation, and the profanation of holy things.” And they only
lived under the law of Moses, whilst you have been enlightened by the
incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the example of so many
martyrs. Show courage, then; do not fear to sacrifice these terrestrial
possessions which can last but so short a time, and in exchange
for which we are promised eternal ones, above the conception of the
senses, and which, in the opinion of the apostle, are worthy of all the
sacrifices we can make to obtain them.
We promise, then, to all those who, with a contrite heart and an humble
mind, will not fear to undertake this painful voyage, and who will be
determined so to do by motives of a sincere faith, and with the view of
obtaining the remission of their sins, a plenary indulgence for their
faults, and the life everlasting which will follow.
Whether they perish there, or whether they return, let them know that,
by the mercy of the all-powerful God, and by the authority of the holy
apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own, they are liberated from all
other penance that may have been imposed upon them, provided always
that they may have made an entire confession of their sins.
The property of the Crusaders and their families will remain under the
special protection of the archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of
the Church of God.
No examination shall be made as to the validity of the rights of
possession of a Crusader, with regard to any property whatever, until
his return or his decease be certain; and till that time his property
shall be protected and respected.
He cannot be compelled to pay interest, if he owe any to anybody.
The Crusaders are not to march clothed in sumptuous habits, with
dogs, birds, or other such objects, which only display luxury and
ostentation; but they are to have what is necessary, are to be clothed
simply, and are rather to resemble men who are performing a penance,
than such as are in search of a vain glory.
_Given at Ferrara, the 4th of the calends of November._
* * * * *
[Then follows the ordinance for a general fast, to appease the anger of
God, in order that he may enable them to recover Jerusalem.]
The anger of the Supreme Judge being NEVER so effectively appeased as
when we seek to subdue our carnal desires,—
Consequently, as we make no doubt that the misfortunes which have
recently fallen upon Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the invasion of
the Saracens, have been produced by the crimes of the inhabitants and
those of the Christian people; we, with the unanimous advice of our
brethren, and the approbation of a great number of bishops, order that,
from this day, for five years, the fast of Lent shall be observed every
Friday, during the whole day.
We further order, that in all places where divine service is
celebrated, it shall be at nine o’clock, and that from the Advent of
the Lord to his Nativity.
Every one, without distinction, abstaining from eating flesh on the
Friday and Saturday of each week, we and our brethren further interdict
the use of it on Tuesdays among ourselves, unless personal infirmities,
a festival, or some other good cause excuse us; hoping by this means
that the Lord will be appeased, and will leave us his benediction.
Such are our regulations on this subject, and whoever shall infringe
them shall be considered as a transgressor of the fast of Lent.
_Given at Ferrara, the 4th of the calends of November._
_No. 16._
_The Council of Paris, held in 1188, under the Pontificate of Pope
Clement III. The Tenths, called Saladin Tenths, were then decreed,
to provide for the Expenses of the War against Saladin, King of the
Turks._
In the month of March of the year of grace 1188, towards Mid-Lent,
a general council, to which were summoned the archbishops, bishops,
abbots, and barons of the kingdom, was convoked at Paris by King
Philip. An infinite number of soldiers and people there took the cross.
It was resolved, with the consent of the clergy and the people, that,
considering the urgent wants then experienced (the king having nothing
more at heart than the undertaking of the voyage to Jerusalem), a
general tenth, from which no one should be exempt, which was named the
_Saladin tenth_,[135] should be pre-levied for that year only.
_Establishment of the Tenth._—In the name of the holy and indivisible
Trinity, greeting. It is ordered by us, Philip, king of France, with
the advice of the archbishops, bishops, and barons of our dominions,
that the bishops, prelates, and clerks of the churches convoked, and
the soldiers who have taken the cross, shall not be troubled for the
repayment of the debts they may have before contracted, with Jews or
Christians, until two years have revolved, reckoning from the first
festival of All Saints which shall follow the decree of our said lord
the king: so that at the following All Saints the creditors shall
receive a third of that which is due to them, and thus, from year to
year, at the same period, until the entire acquittal of the debt. The
interests for anterior debts shall run no longer, dating from the day
on which the debtor shall have taken the cross. The Crusader who is
a legitimate heir, son or son-in-law of a soldier not a Crusader, or
of a widow, shall procure for his father or his mother the advantage
granted by the present decree, provided he be not in the enjoyment of
other revenues than that arising from the labour of his father and
mother; but if their son or son-in-law was not at their charge, or
even if he did not bear arms and the cross, they shall not enjoy the
said advantage; but the debtors who shall have lands and revenues,
within the fortnight which follows the approaching festival of John
the Baptist, shall point out to his creditors the lands and revenues
upon which they shall be able to recover their debts, on the terms
above expressed, and according to the form prescribed, by means of
the lords in the jurisdiction of whom these lands shall be. The lords
shall have no power to oppose this consignment, short of satisfying the
creditor themselves. Those who shall not have lands or revenues enough
to form such a consignment, shall furnish their creditors guarantees
and securities for the acquittal of their debts at the term fixed; if
within the fortnight after the festival of St. John the Baptist, they
have not satisfied their creditors by a consignment of lands, or by
guarantees and securities, if they have no property, as it has been
ordered, they shall not enjoy the privilege granted to others. If a
clerk or a crusade soldier be the debtor of a clerk or of a crusade
soldier, he shall not be troubled before the next All Saints, provided
he can furnish him with a good guarantee for payment at that time.
If one of the Crusaders, eight days before the Purification of the
Virgin, or later, consign, in favour of his creditor, some money, some
work, or some bill, the creditor cannot be forced on that account
to consider him liberated. The bargain by which a man has bought of
another Crusader the annual produce of an estate is good and valid. If
a soldier or a clerk has engaged or consigned his lands or his revenue
for some years to another Crusader, or to a clerk or a soldier not
crossed, the debtor, for that year, shall collect the produce of the
lands or the revenues; but the creditor, after the expiration of the
years during which he has enjoyed the consignment or the guarantee,
shall continue to enjoy it a year longer, to compensate for the loss
of the first year; so that, however, the creditor shall have for
that first year half of the revenue for the cultivation, if he has
cultivated the vines and the lands which were consigned to him as
security. All bargains which shall have been made eight days before
the Purification of the Virgin, or which shall be made after, shall be
authentic. It will be necessary for all the debts coming within the
favour of the present decree, that the debtor shall give a guarantee
as good, or even better than that which he had given before. If the
parties are not agreed upon the goodness of the guarantee, it shall
be referred to the lord of the creditor; if he do not answer to this
demand, the affair shall be taken before the suzerain. If the lords
or princes under whose direction the creditors or the debtors may be,
refuse to give their hand to the execution of that which is ordered by
the present decree, on account of the privileges given to the debtor,
or of the consignments to be made, and if, warned by the metropolitan
or the bishop, they have not done it within forty days, they will
be liable to excommunication; but if the lord or the suzerain make
it his duty to show, in presence of the metropolitan or the bishop,
that he has not failed in this formality towards the creditor, or
even the debtor, and that he is ready to execute what is ordered, the
metropolitan or the bishop cannot excommunicate him. No Crusader,
whether clerk, soldier, or other, shall be held responsible but for
debts already demanded legally at the time at which they shall have
taken the cross; he shall not be passible to others before his return
from the Holy Land. They who are not Crusaders shall pay, at least
this year, the tenth of all their property and revenues, except the
monks of the order of Citeaux, of the Chartreux, of Fontevraud, and
the lazar-houses, with regard to the property which belongs to them.
Nobody shall meddle with the property of the communes, unless it be
the lord of whom they hold. For the rest, every one shall retain the
rights he had before in the commune. The grand justiciary of an estate
shall always levy the tenths of it. Let it be observed, that they
who are subject to pay the tenth, shall pay it upon all their goods
and revenues, without beforehand subtracting their debts. It is not
till after they have paid the tenth that they may pay their creditors
from the remainder of their property; all laymen, as well soldiers as
those that are subject to the _taille_ (poll-tax, or something like
land-tax), upon taking the oath, under pain of anathema, and clerks
under pain of excommunication, shall pay the tenth. The soldier who is
not crossed shall pay to his lord who is crossed, and of whom he holds,
the tenth of his own property and of the fief which he holds of him. If
he holds no fief of him, he will pay him the tenth of his own property,
and will pay the tenth to those of whom he holds directly. If he holds
of no lord, he will pay the tenth of his own property to him upon whose
fief he lives. If a man possessing an estate in proper, finds upon
his estate tenths belonging to another than to him to whom he owes
them, and if the proprietor can prove that they legitimately belong to
him, the former cannot retain these tenths. The crossed soldier, a
legitimate heir or son-in-law of a non-crossed soldier, or of a widow,
will receive the tenth of his father or mother. Nobody shall lay hands
on the property of archbishops, bishops, chapters, or churches that
depend upon them, but the archbishops, bishops, chapters, or churches
themselves. If the bishops collect the tenths, they shall remit them
to those who are appointed to receive them. The Crusader subject to
the _taille_, or to the tenth, and who shall refuse to pay them, shall
be arrested, and placed at the disposal of him to whom he is indebted.
He who has arrested him cannot be excommunicated for doing so. He who
shall pay his tenth with readiness, according to the law and without
constraint, shall be recompensed by God.
_No. 17._
_Note upon the Greek Fire, taken from the Manuscript Life of Saladin,
by Renaudot._
It is certain that the artificial fire called _Greek fire_, _sea fire_,
or _liquid fire_, the composition of which is found in the Greek and
Latin historians, was very different from that which the Orientals
began at this time to make use of, and the effect of which was the more
surprising, from the cause of it being entirely unknown; for whereas
the first was prepared of wax, pitch, sulphur, and other combustible
materials, there was nothing in this but naphtha or petrol, of which
there were springs near Bagdad, like those of which the ancients
speak, near Ecbatana and on the frontiers of Media. All naturalists
agree that this bituminous matter takes fire very easily, and that it
is impossible to extinguish it with anything but sand, vinegar, and
urine. An experiment was made with it before Alexander, by lighting a
great quantity of it by trains, which burnt for a long time without
being able to be extinguished; a buffoon, even, having been rubbed
with it, the fire injured him so seriously that there was great
difficulty in saving his life. And yet, notwithstanding the ancients
were acquainted with it, it is not known that they frequently employed
it in war, nor that it entered into the composition of the true Greek
fire, invented, according to common opinion, by Callinichus, under
Constantine Pogonatus, but which is, notwithstanding, more ancient
by many centuries. Thus it is very probable that the Orientals, not
having made any use of it before this siege, Ebn-el-Mejas employed it
successfully as a new invention; and that the Christians, on account of
the resemblance, called it the Greek fire, from the idea they conceived
that it might be the same as that with which the whole Levant was
acquainted. This fire having been in use for the defence of besieged
places, was called _oleum incendiarium_, _oleum medicum_; and it was
employed in the time of Valentinian, under whom Vegetius, a military
author, who gives the composition of it, wrote his work. Æneas, an
ancient author quoted by Polybius, also speaks of it in his _Treatise
upon the Defence of Cities_, and Callinichus added nothing new to it,
except the machines, or copper pipes, by means of which they employed
it for the first time at sea, and burnt the Arabian fleet near Cyzicus.
The Greeks continued afterwards to use these machines, with which they
armed their fire-ships, and never communicated the knowledge of it
to any other nation; any more than did the Mahometans their naphtha
fire, when they had once learned the practice. Thus the names became
confounded by the ignorance of the two nations; the Greeks calling,
with much reason, the artificial fire of the Mussulmans, _Media fire_,
and the Latins comprising both under the name of _Greek fire_; as the
Orientals afterwards called gunpowder _naphtha_, from the relation they
found between it and that fire which it made them abandon.
_No. 18._
_Memoir upon the Forest of Saron, or the Enchanted Forest of Tasso._
Most of the places in Palestine, in which battles were fought between
the Franks and the Saracens, were, towards the end of the eighteenth
century, the theatre of many conflicts between the French and the
Mussulmans. The French, in 1799, put the Syrians to flight in the
neighbourhood of Arsur, on the same spot where Richard gained a great
victory over Saladin. We feel pleasure in presenting to our readers the
very interesting Memoir of M. Paultre, who made the campaign in Syria,
and who identified the forest of Saron, or the enchanted forest of
Tasso.
“The 24 Ventose, an 7 (14th of March, 1799), our army, leaving Jaffa
to march upon St. Jean d’Acre, after an hour and a half’s progress,
arrived on the edge of a torrent, which flowed from Lidda, and fell
into the sea at a short distance on our left; the crossing of this
torrent presented many difficulties to our artillery.
“Before us was a plain of about a league in width, but which, on our
left, extended to the sea, where it was inclosed by _dunes_, or small
sand-hills, covered with verdure; whilst on our right, it extended for
two or three leagues, and was lost in the declivities of the mountains
of Gofna and Naplouse, called by the Hebrews, Mount Garizim. The
torrent we had just passed was the ancient boundary between the tribes
of Dan and Benjamin with that of Ephraim, on the territory of which we
were about to march.
“The plain appeared to be closed before us by a wooded ascent,
extending from the principal chain which ran along the plains of
Palestine, on our left, quite to the seashore; our route was through
these woods, and it would have been dangerous to approach them without
having reconnoitred them; the more so from our knowing the Syrian army
to be at a small distance from us, and it might be expected they had
thrown some parties into them, to oppose our passage, and take the
advantage which difficult and covered places might offer them. This
forest, placed upon a very elevated hill, presented to us a picturesque
aspect, which pleasingly recalled the sites of our beautiful wooded
countries of France.
“The French general availed himself of the moment which the passage
of the torrent retarded the march of the army, to have the different
issues of this forest reconnoitred by our vanguard, and to assure
himself that the roads were practicable. At nine o’clock in the
morning, the general who commanded the cavalry informed him that the
route was free, that there was no party of the enemy in the woods, and
that the army might advance with safety. According to this advice, the
march was resumed, and after proceeding for an hour over a level plain,
we began to enter the wood, and ascend a hill, where the road became
very difficult for our pieces and our carriages. The route we followed
appeared to be very little frequented, although our guides assured us
it was the high road to Jaffa, St. Jean d’Acre, and Damascus. Sands,
rocks, bushes, ravines, and steep hills, rendered our march very
painful; it might have been said that routes had never been traced in
these cantons; and I cannot better compare that which we followed than
to the cross-roads of our least-frequented forests in France. Branches
of trees, whole trunks, fallen from age or accident, with enormous
rocks, at every step barred the way, and our sappers had infinite
trouble to clear a passage for our carriages and loaded camels. If the
enemy had known how to take advantage of the circumstance, and had
augmented our difficulties by some redoubts or barricades of trees,
it would have been impossible for us to have forced the passage; some
parties of infantry, or only some armed peasants, would have been
able to do us much injury, and entirely have stopped the march of
our army, in places already nearly impassable by their nature. But
happily, we had to do with enemies who had no suspicion of even the
first elements of military tactics; for, whilst our columns traversed
with so much difficulty these woody and rocky mountains, where it
would have been so easy to stop us, and fight us with advantage, they
awaited us peaceably, four leagues further on, in a clear plain, where
our artillery and our manœuvres gave us every advantage over them;
as they had good reason to know on the morrow. After a painful march
of two leagues, across the forest, the army halted on issuing from
the wood, and took up a position on the northern side of the hill,
near the village of Meski, where our headquarters were established.
A torrent flowed at a small distance in front of our position; and
our light troops, who had already passed it, informed us that they
could perceive, in a vast plain which extended from the side of St.
Jean d’Acre, parties of Syrian and Mameluke cavalry, which indicated
the neighbourhood of the enemy’s army. Dispositions were then taken
to keep us in readiness, in case they should march to attack us; but
the evening and the night passed without a blow being struck; and,
on the morrow, after having crossed the torrent without opposition,
we presented ourselves before them in battle-array in the plain of
Quoquoun, at the foot of the mountains of Naplouse, and, after a slight
affair, we drove them back to the plain of Esdrelon, whence they
effected their retreat upon St. Jean d’Acre.
“_Description of the Forest of Saron._—The woods we had just crossed
are known in the country under the name of the Forest of Saron; they
extend over a vast hill, which is one of the western counterforts of
the chain which separates the valley of the Jordan from the plains
of Palestine, and which is itself a prolongation of Mount Libanus.
This hill, designated by the Hebrews, Mount Saron, is detached from
the principal chain below the city of Naplouse, and extends to the
sea, where it terminates by low rocks and hills, between Jaffa and
Arsouf, the ancient Apollonius; it may be of eight or nine leagues in
length, from Mount Garizim, where it quits the principal chain, to the
seashore; its mean width is between two and three leagues, and its
height is progressive, from Naplouse to the shore of the Mediterranean,
where it terminates in rocks and hills of a moderate height. It is
bordered on the north by the torrent of Arsouf (Naher-el-Hadder),
which has its source below Naplouse, in Mount Garizim; passes near
the ruins of ancient Antipatris, and falls into the sea near Arsouf,
after a course of seven or eight leagues. To the south, it is parallel
with the torrent of Lidda, the ancient Disopolis, which rises in Mount
Acrabatene, off Jericho, near Gofna and Gazer, passes Lidda, and falls
into the sea at about a league north of Jaffa, after a course of from
eight to ten leagues. These two torrents flow parallel with each other,
and make almost the same turns, being directed by the declivity of
the same hill. The mean distance between their beds is from five to
six leagues, which was the width of the land of the ancient tribe of
Ephraim, upon the centre of which extended Mount Saron, whose base,
two or three leagues wide, terminates at these torrents, by two little
lateral plains, of a league in width, or thereabouts.
“The forest covers the side of the hill, from the principal chain to
within three-quarters of a league of the seashore; which gives it a
length of from seven to ten leagues, and from two to three in width.
The chain of Mounts Acrabatene and Garizim appeared to me barren, or
covered only with brushwood. The declivities of Mount Saron are more
steep and broken on the north than on the south side; its base is a
limestone rock, which, in many places of the forest, rises above the
surface in great blocks, heaped one upon another. In general, I cannot
better compare the sites of this part of Palestine, than to those of
the environs of Fontainebleau. The forest of Saron is composed solely
of oaks, of the species designated by the ancients, _Quercus cerrus_;
its leaves are more smooth and less indented than those of our common
oaks. The capsule of the acorns is of very large dimensions; I have
seen many of from ten to twelve lines in diameter, at their opening,
and which had contained acorns of that size; the scales or shells which
cover this capsule were not rounded and placed one upon another, as
with that of the oaks of Burgundy, but were terminated in points, and
bent outwards in a volute form, or like little hooked points, which
has obtained for this oak the name of _Quercus cunita_; the leaves
were covered with those tubercles, known in commerce as gall-nuts.
These oaks did not appear to me to be susceptible of gaining any
considerable size; most of them, although announcing great age, might
be embraced by a single man, and had, at most, a square of from seven
to eight inches. The trunk was knotty and not very straight, and in
few cases was more than from twenty-five to thirty feet high; their
top was rather orbicular than pyramidal, like that of our apple and
chestnut-trees of Europe. Their bark was, however, more smooth and less
furrowed than that of our oaks of the same age. In general, the growth
of these trees was nearly like that in the gravelly woods of the dry
and elevated coasts of Lower Burgundy, and I believe that the same
cause, want of depth of vegetable earth and moisture, may produce this
resemblance, although under different climates. And yet I suspect the
wood to be very hard, and of good quality; but being knotty, twisted,
and of small size, it can be of very little use for building purposes:
thus, Solomon, to build his temple, was obliged to get his timber
from Libanus, whilst the forest of Saron was at the very gates of
Jerusalem. Our first Crusaders, at the time of the siege of the holy
city, being obliged to bring thither the wood for the construction
of their machines and towers of attack, complained that this forest
could only furnish them with pieces of small dimension, which rendered
their building labours long and difficult. Perhaps, since that period,
there has been no occasion for having recourse to this forest, which
now is only used by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, who cut, on
its outskirts, the wood they stand in need of. The government takes
no notice of a property which can be turned to no public profit;
considering the difficulty of transporting squared timber, in a country
where carriages are not used, and where everything is carried upon the
backs of camels; besides, so little wood is used for firing in hot
climates, that this forest cannot have much value for that purpose even.
“I have now to prove that this forest of Saron was that in which our
first Crusaders, at the siege of Jerusalem in 1099, went to cut their
timber for the construction of the machines and towers they employed in
the attack of the city.
“According to William of Tyre, it was a Syrian who pointed it out to
the duke of Normandy and the count of Flanders. This historian places
it at a distance of seven or eight miles from Jerusalem, and remarks
that the trees of this forest being of small growth, and not capable
of furnishing the strong timber of which they stood in need, the
difficulty of procuring any other in a country in which woods were very
rare, obliged them to form these machines of pieces fastened together,
which required much time and labour.
“Casu affuit quidam fidelis indigena natione Syrus, qui in valles
quasdam secretiores, sex aut septem ab urbe distantes milliaribus
quosdam de principibus direxit, ubi arbores, etsi non ad conceptum opus
aptas penitùs, tamen ad aliquem modum bonas invenerunt plures.”
William of Tyre is mistaken in the distances, when stating this forest
to be six or seven miles from Jerusalem, whilst it is really ten or
eleven leagues from it. He places it likewise in a deep valley, which
could only be correct if considered with reference to the mountains of
Gosna and Naplouse, from which the Crusaders might have descended to
cut the wood of which they stood in need.
“Raoul of Caën, equally a contemporary historian, is more exact in the
placing of this forest, and proves to us in an irrefutable manner, that
it was that of Saron in which the Crusaders went to cut the timbers for
the siege; for he places it at the foot of the mountains of Naplouse,
exactly where it now exists.
“Lucus erat in montibus, et montes ad Hyerusalem remoti ei, quà modò
Neapolis, olim Sebasta, ante Sychar dictus est, propiores, adhuc ignota
nostratibus via, nunc celebris et fermè peregrinatium unica.”—_Rad.
Cad._ cap. 121.
“In fact, to come from St. Jean d’Acre to Jerusalem, it is necessary
to pass through this forest; and I do not know how the Crusaders could
pass it without observing it, in their march from Antioch to the holy
city. Apparently having followed the shores of the sea from Cæsarea
to Jaffa, and the high hills that were on their left, prevented their
seeing it.
“Le Perè Maimbourg does better; knowing that Palestine is a country
in which woods have at all times been rare, in his History of the
Crusades,’ he doubts the existence of this forest, which is, to the
best of my belief, the only one in these cantons.
“Tasso, whose poetical and rich imagination delighted in creating so
many wonderful things, was not stopped by such trifling considerations,
and in his _Jerusalem Delivered_, the forest of Saron has supplied him
with one of the finest episodes of his poem.
“I must here hazard some ideas upon the origin of the name of the
forest, of the city, and of the country of Saron. M. D’Anville, in his
map of Palestine, gives to the part of the territory of the tribe of
Ephraim, comprised between the torrent of Lidda and that of Apollonias,
the name of _Saronas_, which he writes as the name of the country; and
it is precisely on this spot that the forest of Saron exists, of which,
perhaps, M. D’Anville had no kind of knowledge. He likewise places
between these two torrents above Lidda, a city called Thamnath Sara, in
a country which he denominates _Tamnitica_, which now forms part of the
forest where Mount Saron again unites with the principal chain.
“In the map of the Holy Land, by M. Robert, after the manuscripts of
the Sieurs Sanson, there is a city of Sarona, situated between Lidda
and Antipatris, towards the centre of the present forest. He makes this
city a royal city of the Hebrews. He places, as M. D’Anville does, the
city of Thamnath Sara; and at a short distance to the north, a city of
Ozensara.
“The resemblance of these different names leads me to think they may
be all formed from the primitive _Sar_, which, in many languages,
signifies oaks, woods, forests as Diodorus points out, in book v.,
when saying that the Gauls gave the name of _Saronides_ to certain
philosophers of their country, because they dwelt in forests of oaks,
and taught under the shade of those trees. We have preserved this _sar_
in the word _sarman_, the wood of the vine; in _serpe_ (or _sarpe_, low
Breton), an instrument to cut wood; _surbacane_, a perforated stick,
to throw small arrows or other projectiles; _sarse_, a wooden cask;
_esserter_, or _essarter_, to pull up bushes in a place about to be
cultivated.
“I leave it to pens more versed than mine in the science of etymology,
to follow this subject in a more learned and certain manner.
_No. 19._
_Ralph Dicet._
Ralph Dicet was of London, and lived, as it is said, in the reign of
John; he was a man remarkable for his piety and learning.
He says: “In 1185, the king of England (Henry II.) convoked the
conventual abbots, the counts and barons, near the Fountain of the
Clerks,[136] at London.
“After having heard the patriarch, and the master of the Hospitallers,
the king entreated all who were present to send to Jerusalem all the
assistance in their power. They then deliberated whether it was proper
for the king to go in person to Palestine, or whether he ought to
remain in England, to govern it, as he had engaged to do, before the
assembled church. The king promised to furnish succours, in men and
money, to repress all violences and iniquities of every kind, and that
equity and mercy should preside over all judgments. It appeared most
prudent for the king to govern his kingdom with suitable moderation,
and to defend it from the irruptions of the barbarians.
“In the same year, the kings of France and England had an interview at
Gisors, where they received the cross from the hands of the archbishop
of Tyre. It was agreed that all the French Crusaders should wear a
red cross, those of England a white cross, and those of the counts of
Flanders a green one.[137]
Ralph says that when the cross was taken in England, a general tenth
upon all property was levied, for the assistance of Jerusalem. This
levy was made with so much violence as to terrify both the clergy and
the people. Under the title of alms, it was enforced with a spirit of
exaction and rapacity.
After this observation, the historian places the letters patent of
Philip, king of France, and Richard, king of England, which order that
the Crusaders should set out from both countries in the octave of
Easter, under pain of excommunication and interdiction; and forbid any
one to do injury to the Crusaders during their absence. These letters
are dated 30th December.
Ralph Dicet’s work terminates in the year 1199. It is excellent for
dates, and for many passages of it.
_No. 20._
_Ralph of Coggershall._
Ralph of Coggershall, an Englishman by birth, flourished about the year
1220, in the reign of Henry III., son of John. He was of the order of
Citeaux. His merit and his learning raised him to the dignity of abbot
of the monastery of Coggershall, in the county of Essex. He is the
author of many works.
D. Martenne, when publishing Ralph’s “Chronicon Anglicanum,” is
astonished, and apparently with reason, that the English, who are so
jealous of the glory of their country, have shown such neglect for the
works of this author, whom their scholars value so highly.
Ralph, like the other chroniclers, is dry and brief, and it is not
before the invasion of Palestine by Saladin that he abandons the style
of the chronicler to assume that of the historian.
After having spoken of the arrival of the kings of France and England
in Sicily, of that which Richard did in the isle of Cyprus, of the
victory which this prince gained over the Saracen vessels before
landing at Acre, of the siege and reduction of that place, of the
divisions which broke out between Philip Augustus and Richard, of the
taking of several maritime cities by Richard, and of the death of the
marquis of Montferrat, Ralph of Coggershall relates that the duke of
Burgundy, left in Palestine by Philip Augustus, who had returned home,
came to join Richard, in order to fight together against the enemies
of Christ; and that it was resolved to go and besiege Jerusalem. He
describes the victory which Richard gained over a rich caravan which
was on its way to that city. He says, that while this prince was in
his camp, before the castle of Ernald, and the duke of Burgundy, with
his troops, was in the fortress of Betenoble, a spy came to warn the
king that in the night he had heard some men and camels come down from
the mountains, and that he had followed them. He added, that he had
discovered they were sent by Saladin to the duke of Burgundy, and that
the camels, to the number of five, were loaded with gold, silver, and
silken vestments. The spy had orders from the king to take with him
some of the king’s guards, and lie in ambush for the messengers of
Saladin on their return. All which he did; he surprised them, took
them, and brought them to the king. Richard drew from one of them by
torture the secret intrusted to them. He acknowledged that the sultan
had sent them to the duke. On the following day Richard sent for the
duke, the patriarch, and the prior of Bethlehem. He had a private
conference with them, and swore, before them, on the Gospel, that he
was ready to go with his army and besiege Jerusalem, or Babylonia, or
Berytus, without the possession of which places the king could not be
crowned. Richard, after having taken this oath, desired the duke to
take his. The duke refused, because the Templars and the French had
assured him he should incur the anger of Philip, if Richard, by their
means, triumphed in Jerusalem. Richard flew into a great rage, treated
the duke as a traitor, and reproached him with receiving presents from
Saladin. The duke denied all he was accused of. Then Richard sent
for the messengers of Saladin. When they had been introduced, and
had revealed their secret, the king ordered his guards to shoot them
to death with arrows in presence of the whole army; which was done,
without the troops of Richard or of the duke knowing the cause of this
severity, or whence these messengers came, or what they had done. The
duke of Burgundy, much ashamed, immediately retired with his troops,
and took the road to Acre. Richard, upon hearing of this retreat,
instantly sent messengers to the guards of the city, forbidding them to
allow any Frenchman to enter. The duke encamped without the walls. The
king struck his camp on the following day; and, following the duke, he
also pitched his tents on the outside of the city.
Ralph then gives long details of the battle of Jaffa, which took place
soon after. As this battle is one of those in which the valour and
skill of Richard were displayed with the greatest advantage, and as the
historians we have followed in our account of the third crusade, have
only presented us with inexact details of this event, we think it but
justice to the lion-hearted king to give an extract from that which
Ralph says of it.
Richard had been reposing with his army three days before Ptolemaïs,
when he was informed that Saladin was besieging Jaffa with all his
troops; and that the city would soon be taken, and the garrison
slaughtered, if he did not afford the besieged prompt assistance.
Richard, afflicted with this news, endeavoured to bring back the duke
of Burgundy to sentiments of concord; but this prince rejected all
his advances, and set out with his troops that same night for Tyre.
Shortly after arriving there, he finished his life miserably in the
delirium of a fever; which Ralph considers as a just chastisement from
heaven Richard embarks with a part of his army, and trusts himself to
the seas; but the vessels were driven towards the isle of Cyprus, by
contrary winds and the fury of the waves, so that they who remained
on land believed that the king had retreated secretly. This likewise
accounts for some authors having said that Richard went to the isle of
Cyprus. The king, and those who accompanied him, after having struggled
against the winds and waves for three days, at length succeeded, by
rowing obliquely, in anchoring with three vessels in the port of Jaffa.
Saladin, by repeated assaults, had already rendered himself master of
the city, and had put to death all the infirm and the wounded. The
garrison had retired into the castle, and were already thinking of
surrendering by capitulation, when the patriarch, who went freely from
one army to the other, told them that Saladin’s soldiers had resolved
to kill them all, to avenge their relations and friends, whom Richard
had put to death without pity on several occasions; and that they
would not escape death, if even Saladin should grant them permission
to retire. In spite of this information, the garrison hesitated, and
saw no hope of avoiding the fate which awaited them, when the vessels
of the king appeared in the port. This sight restored their courage.
On his part, Richard, perceiving that the fortress of the city was not
taken, jumped on shore fully armed, followed by his troops, and like a
furious lion, rushes amidst the hosts of enemies that cover the shore.
He advances audaciously, through the arrows which pour upon him from
all sides, cutting down all in his way. The Turks, unable to stand
against such an attack, and believing that Richard had brought a more
numerous army with him, precipitately abandoned the siege, and not
without experiencing a great loss. They were so terrified, that nothing
could stop them before they had got safely within the walls of Rœmula.
The king, after this encounter, went boldly and pitched his tents
under the walls of the city, in a plain near to Saint Abacue, for the
Crusaders could not remain in the city on account of the odour arising
from the dead killed on both sides, which had been placed, by mistake,
by the side of a number of carcasses of pigs.
When it was announced to Saladin, on the following day, that
Richard had arrived with only eighty soldiers, and the four hundred
cross-bowmen who formed his guard, he broke into a great rage with his
army, for having fled before so small a number. He immediately ordered
his cavalry to return to Jaffa, and to bring him, the next day, the
king alive and a captive.
That night Richard reposed tranquilly in his camp, suspecting nothing;
when, at daybreak, the infidels surrounded his camp so completely, that
there was no passage by which he could take refuge in the city. Three
thousand Saracens entered Jaffa; and the Christians, awakened by noise
and cries, were struck with terror at finding themselves enveloped on
all sides.
At the sight of such a sudden danger, Richard quickly assumes his
armour, mounts on horseback, and banishing all fear, appears, on the
contrary, more bold in proportion with the number of his enemies. He
animates his men to the fight; he tells them they ought not to fear
death when they have to defend their religion, and avenge the insults
offered to Christ; that it would be more glorious for them to fall for
the law of Christ, and in falling, courageously to strike down his
enemies, than to give themselves basely up to them, or to seek safety
in a flight which was become impossible. Whilst addressing them thus,
Richard ranged his companions in a close battalion, so that, during
the combat, the enemy might be able to find no open space through
which to break them. He then caused to be planted, at the foot of
every one, tent-poles, which served them for a rampart. Whilst they
were thus employed, as well as the time permitted, and that, on their
side, the infidels, armed and waited, talking among themselves, one
of the chamberlains of the king rushed from the city, and arrived at
the camp, crying out with a lamentable voice, as it has been reported
to us by Hugh de Nevil, who was in this battle, “Alas! my lord, we
shall all perish; we have no resource left. A numberless multitude
of pagans have got possession of the city, and we have before us
troops as uncountable, who threaten us with death.” The king, in great
anger, commanded him to be silent; and swore he would strike off his
head if he dared to speak such words before any one of the soldiers.
Richard immediately harangued his troop afresh; he exhorted them not
to be terrified by the numbers of the pagans; he told them he would
go into the city to ascertain what was passing; and, taking with him
six determined warriors and the royal standard, he intrepidly enters
Jaffa, opens himself a road with sword and lance, precipitates himself
upon the enemies, who are assembled in the public places, attacks them,
cuts them down, kills them. The warriors who accompany him overturn all
they meet, and slaughter them without mercy. The irruption of the king
was so sudden and so violent, that most who fell were ignorant what
power it was that destroyed them. The enemies fled before the king, who
pursued them as flocks fly before a lion inflamed by hunger.
Richard having, by his incomparable valour, cut down or put to flight
the infidels who were in the city, made some of the soldiers of the
garrison, who had retired into the castle, come and take charge of the
gates and walls of the place.
After this incredible victory, the king returned with his six warriors
to the army. Nevertheless, he was much afflicted at having so few
horses; for there were but six and a mule in all the camp. To animate
his soldiers still further, Richard related to them what the Lord had
done in the city, by means of his arm, and how so small a number had
triumphed over such a host of enemies: “For this reason,” exclaimed
he, “let us invoke the aid of the all-powerful God, in order that
he may to-day crush our enemies. Be sure to resist the first shock,
and sustain courageously the violence of the first blows. Beware of
breaking; for if separated, you will be torn to pieces like sheep,
without strength and without defence. If, on the contrary, you can
sustain the first charge without breaking, you will have nothing to
fear from the courage of your enemies. You will triumph, with the help
of God, over the enemies of Christ. But if I see any one of you show
the least fear, or leave a passage for the enemy, or turn aside, I
swear, by the all-powerful God, I will myself strike off his head.”
When the king had thus exhorted and animated his men to the fight, all
raised their lances, and, by their prayers, invoked the assistance of
God; but whilst many among them, no doubt, were reflecting that they
had nothing but a cruel death before them, the sound of trumpets and
the noise of clarions announced the approach of the infidels, who came
down upon the Christians like a torrent, with their lances directed
towards them, and uttering loud and frightful cries. The Turks expected
that the Christians would give way at the first charge; that they
would disperse over the plain; that their ranks would be broken; and
that they would allow themselves to be cut to pieces almost without
resistance. But the Christian battalion remained firm and motionless,
without yielding a foot to either the terror or the violence of the
assault. The Turks wondered at this unheard of audacity in so small a
number, and reining up their horses, retired backwards some distance,
yet not so far but that they might touch each other with their lances
on both sides. Not an arrow was discharged, not a javelin was thrown;
they only threatened each other with gesture, voice, and countenance.
The Turks remained thus for half an hour, and then returned to their
first position, murmuring and talking to themselves. They drew back
from the Christians nearly half a stadium. Upon seeing this, the king
broke into loud laughter, crying, “Brave soldiers of Christ! did not
I tell you so? Did not I tell you they would not dare to measure
themselves with you, unless we attacked them first? They have shown us
all their courage, and everything that they thought could inspire us
with fear and terror. They thought to frighten us by their numbers, and
that we should not dare to resist their first charge. They expected us
to submit, like women, to their blows, and fly here and there over the
plain. Cursed be he now who would seek to avoid their charge, or who
would fear to measure himself with them. Sustain their assaults with
courage, as you have just done, until, with the help of God, we triumph
over them.”
Richard had scarcely ceased to speak, when the infidels advanced
afresh, uttering their cries, and sounding their trumpets; they,
however, halted at a short distance from the Christians. The latter
remaining motionless as before, and showing, if possible, greater
intrepidity, the infidels returned a second time to their position,
without venturing to strike a blow. They repeated this five or six
times, from the first hour of the day to the ninth. Richard, who began
to be tired of such long inactivity, and whose courage increased
proportionately with the intrepidity of those around him, ordered his
troop, when the infidels came down again, to launch some arrows and
darts at them, and let them feel the points of their lances, so as to
provoke them to fight. He commanded his cross-bowmen to march before
the soldiers, and discharge their arrows, bolts, and javelins at the
enemy, which was done; and when the Turks, according to their custom,
advanced uttering hideous cries, and appeared ready to overwhelm the
Christians, the latter attacked them with their lances, their swords,
and all sorts of weapons, overthrowing them and killing them. The
carnage soon produced cries of agony and disorder in the ranks of the
enemy. Some were run through with lances, others were cast headlong
from their horses; these were wounded in the head, those were pierced
by arrows; and a vast number were slain by darts and javelins. The
intrepid Richard, whose resplendent arms glittered like fire, and
who had till that moment neither given nor received a wound, now all
at once dashed amidst the infidel ranks, with his sword in one hand,
and his lance in the other,[138] striking sparks from the helmets and
armour of all he encountered, right and left. He rushed among the
thickest of the enemy’s battalions, without seeking to avoid their
blows, and without ceasing to deal mortal ones. At one time he was
surrounded by a hundred Saracens, who attacked him alone. He falls
upon them; he strikes off the head of one at a blow; he divides the
shoulders from the body of another; he cuts off the hand of this one,
and the arm of that one; others he overthrows, and renders incapable
of defence. The rest disperse, and seek to avoid his blows. Richard
inspires such terror that no one dares to wait for him, no one dares
encounter him. The soldiers of Richard follow their king as they would
have followed their standard; they penetrate the enemy, slaughtering
without compunction, all who either resist or fall in their way. The
infidels fall with lamentable cries; striking the earth with head and
feet, and their lives gush out with their blood. Although they attacked
the Christians with vigour, and hurled a shower of darts, it pleased
God, however, that not one of their blows should be mortal, and that in
this fight not a single Christian should perish, with the exception of
one soldier, who, separating himself from his comrades, met with the
death he wished to avoid by flight. The soldiers to whom Richard had
confided the guarding of Jaffa, admiring the invincible courage of the
king and his companions, issued in a body from the city, and fell with
vigour upon the Turks. The latter, pursued without any intermission
by Richard and his little army, took to flight, after losing a great
number of their men, and concealed themselves in holes and caves.[139]
Ralph, of Coggershall, after describing this astonishing victory, says
that Richard being attacked by the plague, determined to return into
Europe. He gives an account, in a few words, of the treaty made with
Saladin. He says that that which confirmed the king of England in the
resolution of leaving Asia, was the news he received of his brother
John’s attempts to usurp his authority in his kingdom. The battle of
Jaffa was fought in the dog-days, and it was in the autumn that Richard
set sail for Europe. The account which the author gives of the manner
in which the king was made prisoner in Germany, is sufficiently curious
to be repeated here. Ralph is the only one of the chroniclers we have
analyzed who furnishes minute details on this subject.
King Richard, says he, with some of his people, was annoyed during
six weeks, by a tempestuous sea. When he arrived within three leagues
of Marseilles, and learnt that the Count de St. Gilles, and some
other nobles, through whose states he must pass, had agreed to place
ambushes for him, he resolved to return to England through Germany. He
went back, and landed at the isle of Corfu. He found there two pirate
vessels, which had had the audacity to attack his, and which his pilot
recognised. Richard, on account of the courage and hardihood they had
shown, made a bargain with the pirates, and agreed to go on board
their vessels. He only took with him a small number of his people.
These were Baldwin de Betune; Master Philip, the king’s clerk; Anselm,
his chaplain, who himself related to us all he saw and heard; and some
knights of the Temple. They landed on the coast of Sclavonia, at a city
named Gazara. They immediately sent a messenger to the neighbouring
castle, to request of the lord, who was master of the province, and
nephew to the marquis of Montferrat, liberty to pass through his
states. The king, on his return, had purchased three rubies of a Pisan,
for which he gave nine hundred byzants. He had had one of these rubies
set in a gold ring; and he charged the messenger to offer this ring
to the lord of the castle. The latter inquired the names of those who
demanded the passage. The messenger replied that they were pilgrims
returning from Jerusalem, and he named Baldwin de Betune, adding that
it was a merchant called Hugh, who sent him the ring. The lord of the
castle, after having for a long time examined the present, replied to
the messenger, “His name is not Hugh, but Richard, king of England.
I have sworn,” added he, “that I will make prisoners of all pilgrims
who come into this country, and that I will not receive any present
from them; but on account of the value of this, and of the dignity
of him who sends it, and who has honoured me thus without knowing
me, I return you the ring, and I grant free liberty of passage.” The
messenger went and reported this answer to the king. The pilgrims, very
little satisfied with the message, left the city secretly in the night,
mounted upon horses they had purchased, and made the best of their
way across the country. But the lord sent a spy after them, to follow
their steps and arrest the king. When Richard entered a city in which
dwelt the brother of the lord, the latter called to him a trustworthy
person, named Roger d’Argenten, a Norman by birth, who had been with
him twenty years, and to whom he had given his niece in marriage; and
ordered him to go to all the houses in which pilgrims lodged, and
endeavour to discover, by language, or by some other sign, if the king
were not among them. He promised him half the city if he could arrest
the prince. Roger, after a long search, discovered the king, who for a
considerable time dissembled, and was only induced to reveal himself
by the prayers and tears of Roger. The latter immediately advised
Richard to steal away, and gave him the best horse he could procure.
He then went to his master, and told him that the news of the arrival
of Richard was false, and that it was only Baldwin de Betune and his
companions, who were returning from pilgrimage. But the master flew
into a great rage, and ordered them all to be arrested. The king had
left the city secretly with William de l’Etang, and a servant who
understood the German language. He travelled three days and three
nights without taking any food. At last, pressed by hunger, he turned
from his road, to enter a city called Ginana, in Austria, on the
Danube. To complete his ill fortune, the duke of Austria was then at
Ginana. The king’s servant, on going to the market, displayed several
byzants, and created suspicions by his discourse; he was arrested and
interrogated. He answered that he served a rich merchant, whom he
expected in three days. He was then released; and he went instantly to
the king, relating to him what had happened, and advising him to depart
without delay. But the king, who was fatigued, determined to rest for
a few days. The servant, after going to the market to buy provisions,
had one day the imprudence to carry with him the king’s gloves, stuck
in his girdle. These gloves were very remarkable, and the servant was
again arrested. Being taken before a magistrate of the city, he was
put to the torture, and threatened with having his tongue cut out if
he did not at once reveal the truth. The servant yielding to the agony
of the _question_, made the confession demanded of him. Information
was instantly sent to the duke; the house in which the king lodged was
surrounded, and he was summoned to surrender. The king declared he
would only surrender to the duke himself. The latter arrived, and the
king, making a few steps to meet him, gave up his sword to him.[140]
The duke, highly elated, led away the king, whom he treated honourably.
He afterwards placed guards about him, who never left him, night or
day, but kept watch, with drawn swords in their hands.
After this recital, Ralph makes many sad reflections upon the captivity
of Richard, which he can only explain as a secret judgment of God,
so astonishing and deplorable does it appear to him, that a king who
had escaped so many dangers in Syria, should become the prisoner of a
Christian prince, without having an opportunity to defend himself or
give battle. He follows the king through his captivity, and describes
his deliverance and return to his dominions. He gives an account of
what happened to this prince when he had regained his kingdom, and
pursues his history to the time of his death, which was in 1229. Ralph
has drawn such a portrait of Richard as cannot fail to interest our
readers, on account of the prominent part which that king has played in
the history of the crusades.
“We had reason to hope,” says he, “that Richard, considering the
liberality of his excellent mind and his great skill in the art of
war, would be the model of Norman kings. In the early days of his reign
he was affable to everybody; being well disposed in religious affairs,
and inclined to listen to just demands; he immediately filled up the
vacant bishoprics and abbeys. He promised to render justice to all.
He restored to many, for sums of money, their charters, privileges,
and liberties, or else renewed them. The money he thus obtained
served as means for his voyage to Jerusalem. He quitted his kingdom
almost immediately afterwards, and commenced his expedition with much
devotion, great preparation, and infinite expense. God protected him
throughout, and caused him to escape all the dangers of this war; and,
by his help, the king wrested from the hands of the infidels a great
portion of the Holy Land. God still evidently watched over him during
his return and his captivity, and preserved him from the hands of new
and numerous enemies. But when Richard was restored to his subjects,
he forgot the victorious hand that had preserved him: in the maturity
of age he took no pains to correct the vices which had disfigured his
youth. He displayed so much harshness and obstinacy, that he tarnished
by excessive severity all the virtues that had graced the commencement
of his reign. He always turned a threatening eye upon those who
talked to him of state affairs; he made reproaches or censures with
a terrible air, and showed a furious countenance to those who did
not satisfy his demands for money, or perform the promises they had
made to pay him some. In private he was affable and winning, and even
condescended to play or to joke. He was so greedy of money that he
wished to empty every purse. He pressed the English to such a degree,
in order to discharge the amount of his ransom, that he spared no order
and no condition. Nevertheless, Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury and
justiciary of the kingdom, mitigated, as much as he could, the effects
of the cruel edicts of the king.”
Ralph, in another part of his works, after having praised the new
king of England for having restored to the ecclesiastical benefices
their revenues and their titularies, adds, that Richard took great
delight in the divine service, and particularly in the solemnities
of religion. He says that his chapel was richly ornamented; that he
accompanied, with his sonorous voice, and encouraged by presents, the
singers of the church; but that from the _secrète_ of the mass to the
_post-communion_, he prayed in silence, and with an earnestness which
nothing could disturb. He afterwards names two abbeys which he founded
or repaired, both of the order of Citeaux; one was that of Bon-Port, in
Normandy, in the diocese of Rouën; the other, that of the Pine, in the
diocese of Poictiers.
_No. 21._
The continuator of the history of William of Tyre relates nothing which
is not found in the text, except a little trick which Saladin attempted
to play off upon Richard, at the time of the battle of Jaffa, and
which we think worthy of being presented to our readers. We quote the
chronicle:—
“Saladin asked where the king of England was. They answered him, Sire,
see him yonder on the ground, on foot, with his men.’ How,’ said
Saladin, is the king on foot among his men; is he not ashamed?’ Then
Saladin sent him a horse, and charged the messenger to say, that such
a one as he should not be on foot among his men in such danger. The
sergeant performed the commands of his lord. He came to the king and
presented to him the horse sent by Saladin. The king thanked him for
it, and ordered one of his own sergeants to mount it and show its paces
before him. After the sergeant had spurred the horse into a gallop, and
wished to return towards his master, he found he could not; for the
horse, in spite of all he could do, carried him away to the Saracen
host. Saladin was much ashamed of this.”
This chronicle, when speaking of the deliverance of Richard from his
captivity, does not hesitate to say that it was by the advice of Philip
Augustus, that such an enormous ransom was required, and that the king
of France had a good share of it.
Another chronicler, Gauthier Vinisauf, says that Richard gave eight
noble Turkish prisoners in exchange for William de Protelles (others
name him Porcelot), who had saved his master, when taken by surprise,
by throwing himself in the way of the Saracens, exclaiming, “I am King
Richard.”
_No. 22._
_Extract from an anonymous Chronicle contained in the MSS. of the
Sorbonne, No. 454, of the Thirteenth Century._[141]
Then the king Richard turned back, and directed his course as straight
and as well as he was able towards Germany, where he landed, and, with
a small train, wandered about till he came to Austria (Osterriche),
where he was watched by spies, and known. When he fancied he was
discovered, he took the dress of a servant, and set to work in the
kitchen to turn the capons; but the spy knew him, and went and informed
the duke; and when the duke heard it, he sent so many knights and
people that they were much the stronger, and the king was taken and
sent away to a fortress, and his companions to another; and the king
was sent from castle to castle, so that no one knew where he was, nor
did the soldiers who guarded him know who he was.
* * * * *
_How Richard the King was taken out of Prison by Blondel the
Minstrel_.—We have told you how King Richard was put in prison by the
duke of Austria, and that no one knew where he was except the duke
and those he trusted. It happened that the king had for a long time
entertained a minstrel, born near Artois, whose name was Blondel.
This person declared to himself that he would seek his lord over the
whole earth till he had found him; and set out, and wandered about
from day to day, by land and water, until he had sought for a year and
a half without hearing anything of the king. And it so happened that
he entered into Austria, and chance led him straight to the castle
where the king was confined. And the _Aubergiste_, near the castle was
a widow woman, and he asked her to whom that castle belonged, which
was so fine, so strong, and well placed. The hostess replied that “it
belonged to the duke of Austria.” “Pretty hostess,” said Blondel,
“is there any prisoner confined in it?” “Certes,” said she, “there
is one, who has been confined nearly four years, but we do not know
who he is; they guard him very carefully, and we have no doubt he is
a gentleman—somebody of high quality.” When Blondel heard this he
was infinitely delighted, and his heart whispered him that he had at
length found him he sought; but he was careful not to allow the hostess
to know this. That night he slept soundly, for his mind was at rest;
and when the cock announced the day, he arose and went to the church
to pray God to assist him. He then came to the castle, and addressed
himself to the castellan, telling him he was a minstrel, and played
upon the lute, and that he would willingly remain with him if it were
agreeable to him. The castellan was a young and handsome knight, and
said he would gladly retain him. Then Blondel was delighted, and went
to fetch his lute and his wallet; and he exerted himself so that
he greatly pleased the castellan, and became a favourite with his
household. Here he remained all the winter without being able to make
out who the prisoner was. At length, near the festival of Easter, as he
was one day walking in the garden which surrounded the tower, examining
it in all directions, in the hope of seeing the prisoner, whilst his
thoughts were thus engaged, the king perceived Blondel, and, wishing
to make himself known to him, called to his mind a song which they had
made together, and which no one knew but the king and Blondel. So he
began to sing the first verse of it in a loud and clear voice, for he
sang very well. And when Blondel heard it, he became certain it was
his lord; and his heart had never experienced such joy as that day.
And he went from the orchard to the chamber in which he slept, and
fetched his lute; then he began to play, and in his playing expressed
his pleasure at having found his lord. Thus Blondel remained till
Pentecost, and performed his part so well that nobody suspected him.
Then Blondel went to the castellan, and said to him: “Sir, if agreeable
to you, I would willingly return to my own country, for it is a long
time since I left it.” “Blondel, good brother,” said the castellan,
“you will not do so if you will take my advice; but remain where you
are, and I will advance your fortunes.” “Certes, sir,” said Blondel,
“I cannot remain on any account.” When the castellan found that he
could not detain him, he bade him farewell, and gave him a good new
horse. Having left the castellan, Blondel travelled so quickly that
he soon arrived in England, and informed the barons and the friends
of the king where and how he had found him. When they heard this news
they were much delighted, for the king was the bravest knight that ever
wore spur. They then determined among themselves that they would send
into Austria, to the duke, to procure the deliverance of the king; and
selected two of the most valiant and prudent knights for the purpose.
They travelled so quickly that they soon reached the duke of Austria,
whom they found in his castle. They saluted him on the part of the
barons of England, and said: “Sire, they pray and beseech you to take
ransom for their lord; they will give you as much as you may require.”
The duke replied that he would consider of it. And when he had taken
advice upon the matter, he said: “If you wish to recover your lord, you
must bring two hundred thousand marks sterling; if not, say no more
about it, for it will be time and trouble thrown away.” Having received
the answer, they bade farewell to the duke, and said they would report
it to the barons. They then returned to England, and told the barons
what the duke had said; and the barons replied that he should never be
detained for that. Then they got together the ransom, and sent it to
the duke, and the duke delivered the king to them; but not before he
had given him good security that he would never molest him.
_No. 23._
_Extract from a Journey made into the country of Wales by Baldwin,
Archbishop of Canterbury._
We have spoken, in the seventh book, of the preaching of Archbishop
Baldwin, and of the account written by Gerald the Welshman (Giraldus
Cambrensis), known also under the name of _Barri_. We think we shall
gratify our readers by giving an extract from this relation, which
will furnish some idea of the manners of the inhabitants of Wales
in the twelfth century. The preachers went first to Hereford and
Radnor. In this latter city a bishop of the country and a monk of the
order of Cluni took the cross; at the same time was enrolled Rhys,
son of Gruffydh, prince of the southern part of Wales. Their example
was followed by Eineon, son of Eineon Clyd, prince of Ekenia, and
by several other inhabitants. Giraldus relates what had happened to
the lord of Radnor, in the reign of Henry I. This nobleman entered a
church, where, without respect to the sanctity of the place, he passed
the night with his horses and hounds. Rising early, according to the
custom of hunters, he found that he was struck blind, and was told that
all his hounds were dead. He was conducted back to his castle by the
hand, and when he had for a long time led a sad and an unhappy life,
he determined to go to Jerusalem, in order that the light of the faith
might not be extinguished within him. When arrived in Palestine, he
proceeded to fight with the Saracens, and mounting a fiery horse, he
rushed amidst the enemies’ ranks, and expired with glory.
In the province of Warthrenion, near Radnor, an adventure no less
miraculous was related among the people. Einon, son-in-law of Rhys,
lord of the country, was one day hunting in the forests. One of his
people struck a hind with an arrow. This hind, contrary to custom, had
horns of twelve years, and as large as those of the male. This animal
was considered as a prodigy of nature; but the hunter who had killed it
instantly lost his right eye, was struck with paralysis, and remained
during the rest of his life in a languishing state.
The people of this province held in reverence a stick which had
belonged to St. Cyricus; this stick was crooked at both ends, in the
shape of a cross, and was ornamented with gold and silver. It possessed
the special virtue of curing the evil and humours of the neck. Those
who were attacked by this sort of complaint, touched the stick, after
having paid a denier. “It happened in our time,” says Giraldus, “that
a man suffering from the evil only placed a single obole before the
stick, and the evil was only half cured; upon this the sick man offered
a second obole, and was quite cured. Another man obtained his cure by
promising a denier, but as he did not perform his promise, his evil
returned, and did not entirely disappear until he had offered three
deniers.”
Near Eleiven, in the church of Glascum, was a bell, which was said to
have been that of St. David’s. A woman, to liberate her husband, who
was shut up in a neighbouring castle, carried thither the bell, which
she had secretly taken from St. David’s church; but the castellans
would not deliver the husband, and retained the bell: the castle was
consumed during the night by a miraculous fire, which spared nothing
but the wall against which the bell was suspended. An almost similar
miracle happened at the little village of Luel. The church, which had
been set fire to, was entirely consumed, with all it contained, with
the exception of the box which contained the _host_.
In the province of Elevein two great lakes burst their banks, one of
which was constructed by nature, and the other by the hand of man. The
natural dyke changed its place, and the lake appeared two thousand
paces off, in a valley, where it preserved its fish. Giraldus, when
relating this singular circumstance, adds, “that in Normandy, some
time before the death of Henry II. all the fish in a lake were beheld
fighting during a whole night, and that crowds were drawn together to
witness this strange spectacle. The next morning, not a single fish was
left alive.”
In the country of Haga and Brecknock, in a lake across which the river
Wye passes, before Glastonbury, the water all at once appeared of a
green colour. Old men said this phenomenon took place at the time when
the country was desolated by Noël, son of Meredith. It happened in the
same country, that a little boy, endeavouring to take a nest of doves,
in the church of St. David, his hand remained fastened to a stone,
which was considered as a miracle wrought by the saint, who wished to
preserve the birds of his church. This boy, followed by his parents and
friends, came and threw himself at the foot of the altar, and passed
three nights fasting and praying: the stone was detached from his hand,
and he was delivered. Giraldus says that he saw this boy, then become
an old man, in the course of his journey, and that he related this
prodigy to him. The stone was preserved in the church of St. David, and
the impression of the five fingers of the boy was still visible.
A miracle not less incredible happened near St. Edmondsbury. A poor
woman, with the appearance of devotion, approached the box or _tronc_
of a holy personage, and instead of placing an offering in it, found
means to steal from it every day some portion of the alms of the
faithful. She kissed the tronc in such a manner, that a piece of money
stuck to her tongue, which she conveyed to her mouth without being
observed. One day, whilst kissing the tronc in her customary manner,
her lips became fixed to it; she spit out the money which she had in
her mouth, but could not release her lips from the box, during a whole
day. A great number of Christians, and even Jews, came to behold this
miracle, and were struck with surprise and admiration.
Archbishop Baldwin and his train preached the crusade in the fields
where they found the labourers and shepherds. They gave the cross to
a great number of men, who joined them in a state of perfect nudity;
their wives having concealed their clothes to prevent their enrolling
themselves in the crusade.
Whilst crossing the territory of Brecknock, Giraldus heard that in
the church of Heveden, the concubine of the rector of the church
imprudently sat down on the wooden coffin of St. Orsana, sister of
King Ofred. This coffin was more elevated than the altar. When the
concubine wished to rise up, she could not release her thighs from the
wood, to which they were firmly fixed. The people crowded in, she was
overwhelmed with blows, her clothes were torn off her back, and she was
only relieved by the help of the Divinity, who, at length, was moved to
pity by her tears and prayers.
The psalm-book of Quindreda, sister of St. Kenelmus, likewise operated
great prodigies. On the eve of the festival of St. Kenelmus, at
Winehelcumbe, a crowd of women came from all the neighbouring places
to be present at the festivities given by the monks. The _subcellarius
fornicationem incurrit_ with one of those in the corridors of the
cloister. On the following day, in the procession, he carried the book
of psalms of which we have spoken; but when he wished to lay it down,
the book remained attached to his hands. He then remembered the sin
he had committed the night before; he confessed, performed penance,
and, seconded by the prayers of his brethren, at length succeeded in
breaking the chains the Divinity had imposed upon him. This book of
psalms possessed admirable and frequently tried virtues. When the
body of Kenelmus was being carried to the cemetery, and the people,
on the way, cried out, “He is a martyr!” Quindreda, who was suspected
of having killed her brother, answered, “It is as true that he has
been assassinated as it is true that my eyes, drawn from my head, are
fastened to this psalter.” At these words the two eyes of Quindreda
fell from their sockets upon the open book, and left the stains of
blood upon the leaves.
They likewise exhibited, in the same country, a collar or crown, which
they said had belonged to St. Canaucus. A thief having endeavoured to
steal it, was deprived of sight, and spent his life in darkness.
Giraldus related many other prodigies no less extraordinary. We repeat
some of them in his own words. A soldier named Gilbert Hagernill, was
delivered, _per fenestram ejectionis_, of a foal, in the presence of
a great number of witnesses. He had been ill three years before the
event. A mare produced an animal of extraordinary swiftness, which in
its fore quarters resembled a horse, and in its hind quarters a stag.
Near the rivers Avon and Neth Giraldus was told of an adventure which
had happened to a curate named Elidore. This curate, when twelve years
of age, had fled from the paternal roof. After having remained two days
in a cavern, he perceived two little men, who came towards him, and
said: “Will you come with us? We will take you to a land of delights.”
The youth followed the pigmies along a subterraneous and dark road, and
discovered a beautiful country which was intersected by woods, meadows,
and rivers, but which was not lighted by the sun. Young Elidore was
conducted before the king of this dark country, who, after admiring him
for a long time, gave him to the prince, his son. The subjects of this
prince were of very small stature; they had light curly hair, which
flowed over their shoulders. They had little horses, as big as our
hounds. They ate neither meat nor fish, and lived, for the most part,
upon milk. They never swore or took oaths, and detested falsehood. When
any of them went upon the earth, they could not at all comprehend the
inconstancy, perfidy, and ambition of the men whom the sun enlightened.
They appeared to have no exterior worship, no religious observances,
but confined themselves entirely to the love of truth.
Young Elidore sometimes reascended to the earth, and came to see his
mother, to whom he related his discoveries and adventures. His mother
advised him to bring with him a little of the gold which he described
as being so plentiful in that wonderful country. He wished to obey her,
and stole a golden ball, with which the king’s son was accustomed to
play. As he entered the paternal dwelling, his foot remained fixed to
the sill of the door; the golden ball he had brought, rolled to the
feet of his mother, but was immediately picked up by two pigmies, who
loaded Elidore with jeers and raillery. The latter, quite ashamed of
his fault, wishing to return to the country of the Gnomes, in vain
endeavoured to find the road; and although he continued his search
for more than a year, he never succeeded. He finished by seeking
consolation in study, and became a priest. He had learnt, says
Giraldus, the language of the pigmies, and retained several words of
it: this language very much resembled Greek.
This story, which is very like one of the _Thousand and One Nights_,
may have furnished Swift with the idea of _Gulliver_; it is given at
great length by Giraldus. The curate, Elidore, adds our traveller,
related these marvellous adventures in his old age, and could not
repeat them without shedding tears.
In the country of Haverford and Ross, an innumerable multitude of
people followed Archbishop Baldwin, and took the cross. The orators of
the holy war preached in Latin and in French, and although the people
did not understand a word they spoke, they were moved to tears. An
old woman, who, during three years, had been blind, sent her son to
Archbishop Baldwin, in order to obtain a morsel of the robe of that
holy pontiff. The young man not having been able to penetrate the crowd
which surrounded the archbishop, brought back to his mother a clod of
earth upon which the archbishop had trodden, and left his footmark;
the blind woman pressed this clod to her mouth, then applied it to her
eyes, and recovered her sight.
The preachers of the crusade appeared in the isle of Mona, or Anglesea.
In this isle, Roderick, the youngest of the sons of Awen, took the
cross with a great number of his subjects. The inhabitants of this isle
pointed out, with great respect, a stone which bore the shape of a
man’s thigh, and which, by a miraculous virtue, when it was displaced,
returned of itself, to the spot it had at first occupied. Count Hugh,
of Chester, caused it to be fastened with strong chains to the bottom
of the sea; but on the next day, it was again found in the place from
which it had been taken.
The archbishop finished his tour by visiting the environs of Deva, or
Chester; these countries were not less rich in marvels than the others.
Many of the princes and nobles of this country took the cross.
When crossing the river Conway, Giraldus informs us that at the source
of that river the enchanter Merlin lived; he gives, on this subject
(chap. viii.), a curious notice upon the two Merlins; the one was of
Scotland and the other of Wales; the latter was named Ambrose, and was
born of a demon, in the city of Caermardyn, which owes its name to him.
_No. 24._
_Letter to M. Michaud upon the Assassins, by Am. Jourdain._
In the course of your labours, you must often, Monsieur, have met with
the names of these sectaries, known by the appellation of _Assassins_,
whose religious principle consisted in blind obedience to that Old Man
of the Mountains, who reigned only by murder, and the most horrible
crimes. More than once perhaps you will have attributed to the love
of the marvellous which prevails in ages of ignorance, barbarism,
and credulity, the accounts of Western authors, contemporaries of
the crusades, respecting their perseverance, and their imperturbable
audacity in the pursuit and execution of crime. Nevertheless, we must
confess, to the disgrace of our species, these accounts are even below
the truth, and are confirmed by the unanimous concurrence of Arabian
and Persian writers.
I will not describe these sectaries to you according to William of
Tyre, James of Vitry, and an infinite number of historians with whom
you are well acquainted; I should, if I did so, teach you nothing you
did not know before. But I will devote this letter to presenting you
with a short sketch of the origin, the dogmas, and history of the
Assassins, even of their present state; for some remains of them still
exist in the mountains of Syria. I shall be highly gratified if I can
add any interest to your work, or give you at least a proof of the
pleasure I receive in being serviceable to you.
Before entering on the matter, it will not be useless to recall to
your mind the origin of the two great religious sects which divide the
Mussulmans—the _Sunnites_ and the _Chütes_.
Mahomet dying without naming his successor, there arose two factions
among the people, one of which wished to elevate to the caliphat,
Ali, the son-in-law of this false prophet, and the other the pious
Abou-Bekr. The courageous firmness of Omar cut the difficulties short,
and the party of Abou-Bekr triumphed. Omar governed after him, and
had Othman for his successor. It was not till the death of this weak
prince, that Ali obtained possession of the throne, always regarded by
his partisans as his heritage.
Nevertheless, scarcely had his reign begun, than factions arose on
all sides, whose aim it was to deprive him of the sceptre. Ali had
contributed to this state of things, by disdaining the arts of policy,
and by offending by refusals and even by disgraces, some of the
officers of Mahomet, whose credit was great. One of these factious
persons, Moaviah, an ambitious and powerful rival, aided by the cunning
of Ibn-el-Ass, the famous conqueror of Egypt, sustained by Ayesha,
the widow of Mahomet, who could not pardon the husband of Fatima, for
having suspected her conjugal fidelity, and profiting skilfully by the
faults of Ali, succeeded at length in wresting an authority from him
whose legitimacy could not be contested; at the same time terminated
by murder the course of a life which was about, probably, to end in
humiliation and troubles of all kinds. His two sons experienced a fate
not in any way more fortunate; they perished, victims of the ambition
of the Ommiades, a house of which Moaviah was the first prince.
From that time there existed in the Mussulman empire two parties,
whose opposition had religion for its basis, and which exist even
at the present day:[142] these are the Sunnites and the Chütes. The
first recognised the legitimacy of the succession in the persons of
Abou-Bekr, Omar, and Othman, and placed Ali in the same rank with these
three caliphs. The second, on the contrary, treat the first vicars of
Mahomet as usurpers, and maintain that Ali was his only and veritable
successor.
The numbers of the partisans of Ali became very great, particularly
in Persia; but these partisans were not long before they themselves
were divided into several parties, united in their veneration for Ali
and his posterity, but divided with regard to the prerogatives they
attached to this noble origin, and to the branch which possessed the
rights of the _Imamat_, that is to say, the spiritual and temporal
power. Of all the sects to which this difference of opinions gave
birth, the most powerful was that of the Ismaëlians. It was thus called
because it pretended that the dignity of Imaun had been transmitted
by an uninterrupted line of the descendants of Ali, to a prince named
Ismaël, and that after his death the Imamat had reposed upon persons
unknown to men, up to the moment at which the triumph of the house of
Ali was to be effected; to this sect belonged the Carmates and the
Fatimite caliphs, who wrested Egypt and Syria from the Abasside caliphs
of Bagdad, after having laid the foundation of their power in Africa,
and formed a great empire, to the period when Saladin overturned their
throne to erect one for a descendant of Abbas. But as the Fatimites
acknowledged no other legitimate authority but their own, they employed
a great number of missionaries in spreading their dogmas, and gaining
proselytes in secret.
Such is, Monsieur, the sketch I have deemed it necessary to make,
before proceeding with the founder of the sect which is the object of
my letter.
This founder was named Hassan, son of Sabbah. He was born in the
environs of Thous, a city of Korassan, celebrated for having given
birth to several great men. His father lived in the practices of a
mortified life and of an austere doctrine, but he followed in secret
the sect of the Rafedhites, or the partisans of Ali. To divert,
however, all suspicion from his opinions, he intrusted the education
of his son to a famous doctor, Movaffeceddin, of Nichapour, who was a
virtuous Sunnite. He pretended to an Arabian origin, and gave himself
out as descended from the family of Sabbah-Homairi; but this was a
fable to which no one gave faith, and it was very well known that his
ancestors inhabited some villages in the dependence of Thous.
Hassan speaks thus of his first years of conversion to the sect of
the Ismaëlians:—“From the age of seven years I laboured to acquire
knowledge and talents. I made, as my fathers had done, profession of
that sect of Chütes who recognise the succession of the twelve Imauns.
* * * * *
I had occasion to become acquainted with a _refik_, named Amireh-Zanab,
and a most intimate friendship grew up between us. I believed that the
dogmas and opinions of the Ismaëlians were only those of philosophers,
and I imagined that the sovereign of Egypt (that is to say, the
Fatimite caliph) was a sectary of this philosophy. This persuasion
engaged me in warm discussions with Amireh; whenever he wished to
defend his own doctrines, we had disputes and controversies respecting
the dogmas of them. It was in vain for him to attack the doctrines
of my sect, I did not yield at all to his arguments, and yet he
insensibly made an impression on my mind. Whilst things were in this
state we separated, and I was afflicted with a long illness. I then
said inwardly to myself: “The doctrine of the Ismaëlians is conformable
with truth, and it is only obstinacy that prevents me from adhering to
it. If then, as God forbid! the fatal moment is come for me, I shall
die without having embraced the truth.” I was, however, restored to
health, and soon after made acquaintance with another Ismaëlian, named
Abou-Nedjm-Sanadj. I questioned him upon the true system of Ismaëlian
belief: he explained it to me clearly, and I very soon penetrated
all the depths of it. I afterwards met with an Ismaëlian Dai, named
Moumen, to whom the cheik Abdelmelik-ben-Attach, dai of Irac, had given
permission to exercise the functions of missionary. I informed him of
the wish I had to make my profession of faith to him, and he acceded
to my request. At the time that the cheik Abdelmelek came to Rey, I
accompanied him, and my conduct having pleased him, he confided to me
the ministry of a dai. You must go into Egypt,’ said he, in order to
render your homage to the Imaun Mostanser, and may that be a blessing
to you!’ Mostanser-billah, a descendant of Ali, then occupied the
caliphat of Egypt and the _Imamat_. When, therefore, the cheik left Rey
for Ispahan, I set out for Egypt.”
Hassan was received in Egypt with great distinction, for the fame of
his merit had preceded him thither, and the Imaun Mostanser admitted
him to the most familiar intimacy. This high degree of favour ruined
him. The courtiers, jealous of his credit, laboured to procure his
disgrace, and a difference having arisen between him and the celebrated
Bedr-Al-djemali, generalissimo of the caliph’s troops, Hassan
succumbed. His enemies seized him and threw him, with some Franks,
into a vessel about to sail to Africa. Scarcely was he on the sea when
a horrible tempest arose and placed the ship in great danger; all the
passengers were overcome by terror, expecting nothing but death; Hassan
alone preserved his self-possession and tranquillity. When interrogated
upon this extraordinary conduct, “Our lord,” answered he, “has promised
me that no harm should happen to us;” and, in effect, at the end of a
short time, the sea resumed its calm. The cry of miracle soon arose,
and Hassan made so many disciples of the companions of his voyage.
Another time, the vessel was driven into the port of a Christian city,
the governor of which allowed our pious doctor to reimbark, after
having treated him with hospitality. At length, the vessel being cast
upon the coast of Syria, Hassan abandoned it, and directed his course
towards Persia, by land. He passed through Aleppo and Bagdad, and went
from thence to Konsistan, Ispahan, Yezd, and Carmania, preaching his
doctrine everywhere. From Carmania he returned to Ispahan, where he
sojourned more than four months, at the end of which he set out for
Konsistan. He remained here three months, and then went to Damegan,
where he dwelt for three years, making a great number of proselytes.
Hassan, after various other wanderings, took possession of Altamont,
a strong castle, situated in the Roudbard, a country near Casbin.
Mirkhond, a Persian historian, relates, that he proposed to Mehdi, a
descendant of Ali, who possessed this place, to purchase as much land
of him as could be comprised within the skin of an ox, for the sum
of 3,000 dinars. Mehdi having consented to this bargain, Hassan took
the skin of an ox, of which he made thongs, and tying these together,
passed the line all round the castle. It was by means of this trick
that he made himself master of Altamont, which afterwards became the
central point of the power of the Ismaëlians.
This power, by the ability and activity of Hassan, made a rapid
progress; it was already established throughout the province of
Roudbar, in which his sectaries built a number of strong castles;
nobody was talked of in Persia but Hassan, who threatened to bring the
whole of that great country under his domination. Melik-chah, alarmed
at what he heard, ordered one of his generals to destroy Hassan and his
partisans, and to raze his fortresses; but in vain; and death overtook
Melik-chah before his troops had obtained the least advantage.
The troubles which followed his death, and the division which arose
among the children of this prince, on the subject of the succession to
the throne, left the field free for Hassan to augment the number of
his proselytes. The best-fortified castles of the north-west of Persia
fell into his hands. At length, the sultan Sindjar, having made himself
master of this kingdom, set seriously about the destruction of the
Ismaëlians. Hassan, by artifice, got rid of this dangerous enemy. He
seduced one of the servants of the prince; who, whilst he slept, placed
a sharp stiletto near his head. When the sultan, on awaking, saw this
poniard, he was seized with great fear; but as he was ignorant of the
hand that placed it there, he preserved silence upon the circumstance.
At the end of some days he received the following letter from the head
of the Ismaëlians:—“If good intentions were not entertained towards
the sultan, the poniard which he found near his head would have been
plunged into his heart.” Sindjar was so terrified, that he consented to
make peace with the Ismaëlians upon three conditions: the first was,
that they should add no new constructions to their castles; the second,
that they should purchase neither arms nor machines of war; and the
third, that he should make no new proselytes. He even granted Hassan,
by the title of pension, a portion of the revenues of the country of
Coumes.
From that time Hassan lived peaceably in the castle of Altamont, in
the greatest seclusion, practising the exercises of austere piety,
and employing himself in the composition of dogmatic treatises upon
his doctrine. It is said that he only ascended to the terrace of his
palace, at Altamont, twice during thirty years. He required of his
sectaries the most rigid exactitude in the observances of religion.
Even paternal tenderness could not lead him to deviate from this
severity. Hosséin, his son, having killed the daï of Couhestan, he
punished him with death; another son, for having drunk wine, met with
the same fate. A man having played upon the flute, in the castle of
Altamont, he commanded him to be turned out of the place, and resisted
all the prayers that were made to him to obtain his pardon. Some
authors pretend, that by sacrificing his sons thus, he wished to prove
to the Ismaëlians that he had no intention of fixing the sovereign
power in his own family; I doubt whether such a reason can justify
Hassan in his barbarity. And yet it would not be the first time that
policy has sacrificed the feelings of the heart to state interests.
The ability of this man in the management of affairs equalled his
fanaticism. History has preserved several proofs of this, of which I
shall only quote the following. Hassan had studied under the imaun
Movassek-eddin, in company with Nizam-el-Moulk, one of the greatest
statesmen Islamism ever produced; and community of labours established
the strictest friendship between them. They entered into a mutual
promise that the first of the two that should obtain honours should
share them with the other, and that fortune should not affect their
attachment. Hassan, after having for a long time led a miserable
life, went to Nichapour, where he found Nizam-el-Moulk minister of
the great Melik-chah; this was about the year 1073 of the Christian
era. Nizam-el-Moulk, faithful to his promise, received Hassan with
great kindness, and procured him a post at the court. Endowed with an
expansive mind, rare cunning, and great talents for administration,
this aspirant was not long in insinuating himself into the good graces
of the Sultan, and acquiring his confidence. One day, Melik-chah having
conceived some doubt of the probity of his first minister, asked him in
how short a time he could draw out a clear statement of the receipts
and expenses of the provinces. We should observe, that at that period
the dominions of this prince extended from Antioch, in Syria, to
Kachkar, in Turkistan. Nizam-el-Moulk said it would require two years;
Hassan offered to perform the labour in forty days, provided the Sultan
would place at his disposal all the writers of the court; and his offer
being accepted, he realized his promise. He was preparing to present
the result of his researches to the prince, when Nizam-el-Moulk, who
saw his ruin approach, found means to get the statements into his
hands, and to mutilate them. When Hassan appeared before the Sultan,
the prince put several questions to him relative to the situation
and finances of the empire. Hassan had recourse to his papers, and
found them incomplete; he hesitated, stammered, and could not answer.
Nizam-el-Moulk skilfully took advantage of his tergiversations to
degrade Hassan in the mind of Melik-chah. “Wise and prudent men,” said
he, “required two years to perform the work commanded by your majesty;
an ignorant man, who has pretended to terminate it in forty days, is
unable to give satisfactory answers to the questions put to him.” The
prince, in his anger, was desirous of punishing Hassan; but, as he was
a creature of his court, he allowed the affair to drop, and satisfied
himself with despising him. This anecdote, which does little honour to
the character of Nizam-el-Moulk, and shows no delicacy on the part of
Hassan, towards the man to whom he owed his fortune, proves at least
that the latter possessed great aptitude for business.
Such was the man whom the Ismaëlians, or rather the Assassins of the
Crusaders, recognised as their chief, and to whom they gave the name
of _Séidouna_,—Our Lord. But before we proceed, it is necessary to
enter into some details upon the principles of this sect, upon the
denominations that it bore, and upon its organization.
You have seen, sir, the origin of the denomination of Ismaëlian, given
to the branch of the partisans of Ali to which Hassan belonged. This
name is not, however, the only one under which these heretics were
known by orthodox Mussulmans. They were likewise called _Bathenians_,
_Nezzarians_, _Molaheds_, and _Hachichens_; but the two last epithets
alone applied to the proselytes of Hassan.
The title of Bathenian designated the principles established by the
Ismaëlians. One of the characters of their religion was to explain, in
an allegorical manner, all the precepts of the Mussulman law; and this
allegory was carried so far by some of their doctors, that it tended
to nothing less than the destruction of all public worship; and to the
elevation of a purely philosophical doctrine, and a very licentious
morality, upon the ruins of all revelation and all divine authority.
This is why they were called _Bathenis_, or _Bathenians_; which is to
say, _partisans of interior worship_.
_Molahed_, the plural of the Arabian word _Molhed_, signifies
_impious_; the partisans of Hassan did not receive this epithet till
towards the year 1164 of Christ, and under the reign of one of his
successors, named Hassan, the son of Mohammed. This prince, from
his youth, gave himself up to the study of the dogmatic books of
the sect; and as his father, to whom he succeeded, was unacquainted
with science, he appeared in the eyes of the people a very profound
scholar, and an extraordinary man. This good opinion, with respect to
his person, increased daily, and the Ismaëlians became more blindly
willing to execute his orders. Hassan, rendered bold by this success,
put forth some extravagant opinions, and gave himself out to be the
Imaun of the age. His father was still living; and, in his ignorance,
scrupulously followed the doctrines of his sect. The pretensions of
his son disgusted him, and he put to death two hundred and fifty of
those who favoured them. As long as Mohammed lived, Hassan suppressed
his real intentions; but he resumed them the moment the death of his
father put him in possession of the throne. He permitted everything
that religion prohibited, abolished the exterior practices of the
Mussulman faith, allowed his subjects to drink wine, and dispensed
with all the obligations which the law of Mahomet imposes on its
sectaries; he declared that the knowledge of the allegorical sense of
the precepts dispenses with the observance of the literal sense, and at
length caused himself to be proclaimed son of Nezzar, son of the caliph
Mostanser, and the caliph of God on the surface of the earth.[143]
This heretical conduct procured for the Ismaëlians the denomination of
_Molahed_, impious.
The surname of Nezzarians is derived from that Nezzar, of whom I have
spoken, and was given to those Ismaëlians who adhered to the party
of that prince, the eldest son of Mostanser, caliph of Egypt. The
sectarians of Hassan were of the party of Nezzar.
I now come to the epithet of _Assassins_. The origin of this word had
been the object of numerous researches, which still remained without
any satisfactory result, when an illustrious scholar proved, in an
evident manner, supporting all he advanced upon various Arabian texts,
that it was a corruption of the word _hachichen_; and that it was given
to the Ismaëlians, because they made use of an intoxicating liquor
called _hachich_. This hachich is a preparation of the leaves of hemp,
or some other part of that vegetable, which they employ in different
manners; as a liquor, under the form of confections; or as pastilles,
sweetened with saccharine substances; and even as fumigations. “The
intoxication produced by the _hachich_,” says M. Silvestre de Sacy,
“throws the person who takes it into an ecstasy similar to that which
the Orientals experience in the use of opium; and according to the
testimony of a great many travellers, we may be satisfied that men in
this state of delirium imagine that they enjoy the ordinary objects
of their wishes, and taste of a felicity, the acquisition of which
costs them little, but the use of which, too often repeated, changes
the animal organization, and leads to marasma and death. Some of
them, in this state of transient insanity, losing the consciousness
of their weakness, commit actions of a brutal nature, capable of
disturbing public order. It cannot be forgotten that, during the
sojourn of the French army in Egypt, the general-in-chief was obliged
strictly to prohibit the sale and use of these pernicious substances,
the indulgence in which has become a necessity for the inhabitants
of Egypt, particularly the lower classes of the people. Those who
give themselves up to this custom, are still called _Hachichin_,
_Hachachin_; and these two expressions plainly show why the Ismaëlians
have been called by the Latin historians of the crusades, sometimes
_Assissini_, and sometimes _Assassini_.
With a small acquaintance with the Arabic tongue, and an observation
upon the alterations certain words of that language have experienced
in being transferred to the works of Latin and Greek authors, it is
impossible to raise any objection to the correctness of the etymology
advanced by M. Silvestre de Sacy. We may, however, believe that all
Ismaëlians did not employ the hachich; that their chief alone was
acquainted with this preparation, and that he only administered it to
those whom he destined to exercise the infamous trade of _fedai_, or
_assassins_; for there prevailed among the partisans of this sect a
remarkable hierarchy: the _dai_, _the refik_, and the _fedaï_, formed
three perfectly distinct classes.
The chief of the sect dwelt, as I have said, in the castle of Altamont,
placed amidst mountains. It was the situation of this abode which gave
him the title of _Cheik Aldjebal_,—_Lord of the Mountain_; but as
_cheik_ signifies equally _lord_ and _old man_, our historians of the
crusades took it in the latter sense, and called the prince of the
Assassins the _Old Man of the Mountain_.
The _daïs_ formed the first class of the sect; it was reserved to
them to propagate the doctrine.[144] They exercised the functions of
missionaries, spreading themselves throughout the provinces, preaching
the dogmas of their worship, and receiving the profession of faith
of such as were converted. There were, still further, degrees among
these. They called _dai aldoat_,—_dai of dais_, him who had several
missionaries under his orders, and whose jurisdiction comprised several
provinces. The Ismaëlians had _dais aldoat_ in Syria, Irac, Dilem,
Korassan, &c.
Under the name _refik_, it appears, the body of the sectaries was
comprised.
The _fedaïs_ were the blind ministers of the Old Man of the Mountain;
it was in their hands he placed the knife under which were to fall,
without pity, all who opposed the establishment of his doctrine, or
combated it by dangerous arguments; princes, generals, doctors,—nobody
was safe from their blows; and they showed in the execution of the
crime, a perseverance equalled only by their fanaticism.
The word _fedaï_, in its proper signification, means a _devoted man_,
and the application of it was very just, since this class of the
Ismaëlians had for the orders of their prince a devotedness without
example. It is true this blind obedience was purchased by stratagem;
for I have not the least doubt that we must apply to the fedaïs that
which Marco Paolo relates of the young people brought up by the Old
Man of the Mountains. “This traveller, whose veracity is generally
acknowledged,” says M. de Sacy, “informs us that this prince caused
young people to be brought up, chosen from amongst the most robust of
the inhabitants of the places over which he ruled, to make of them the
executioners of his barbarous decrees. All their education had for
object to convince them that by blindly obeying the orders of their
chief, they would secure themselves, after their death, the enjoyment
of all the pleasures which delight the senses.[145] To attain this
aim, this prince caused delicious gardens to be made round his palace.
There, in pavilions, decorated with all that Asiatic luxury can
imagine that is rich and brilliant, dwelt young beauties, consecrated
solely to the pleasures of those for whom these enchanting places
were destined. It was to this spot the Ismaëlian princes caused to be
transported, from time to time, the young men of whom they meant to
make the blind instruments of their will. After having caused them
to swallow a draught which plunged them into a profound sleep, and
deprived them for some time of the use of all their faculties, they
had them conveyed to these pavilions, worthy of the gardens of Armida.
Upon awaking, everything which struck their ears or their eyes threw
them into a ravishment of delight, which left reason no empire in
their minds. Uncertain if they had already entered upon the enjoyment
of the felicity of which a picture had so often been held up to their
imagination, they abandoned themselves with transport to all the
various seductions by which they were surrounded. After they had passed
some days in these gardens, the same means as had been employed to
bring them there, without their knowledge, were again had recourse to
to remove them from them. Advantage was carefully taken of the first
moments of an awakening, which for them had put an end to the charm of
so much enjoyment, to cause them to describe to their young companions
the wonders of which they had been witnesses, and to convince them
that the happiness of which they had during several fast-flitting days
partaken, was but the prelude or foretaste of what they could secure
an eternal possession of by their submission to the orders of their
prince.”
This draught, endowed with such wonderful powers, was nothing but
the _hachich_, with the virtues of which the chief of the sect was
acquainted, and the use of which was not spread till some centuries
after.
This, sir, is what Oriental historians furnish us with respecting
the origin, dogmas, and political organization of the sect of the
Assassins. As to its history, the extent of its dominions, and its
power, these are points, for the development of which a much greater
space would be requisite than that to which I am obliged to limit
myself. Nevertheless, I will devote a few lines to these articles, for
the gratification of your curiosity.
Mirkhoud has left us, in his work entitled _Bouzat Alsafa_, a history
of the Ismaëlians of Persia. This piece is the more valuable and
authentic, from having been extracted word for word, from a history
written by the celebrated vizier Atha-el-Mulk, who was sent by Holagon,
after the ruin of the Ismaëlians, into the castle of Altamont, and
had an opportunity of consulting their original historical memoirs.
Mirkhoud, or rather Atha-el-Mulk, informs us, then, that the Persian
dynasty of the Ismaëlians furnished eight princes, including
Hassan-ben-Sabbah, and that it subsisted during a space of 166 years,
to the time at which Holagon, at the instigation of several princes who
detested the Ismaëlians on account of their excesses, conquered Persia,
destroyed the castles of the sect, and sent Rokn-eddin-Karchar, the
last sovereign of Altamont, to the other side of the Oxus. This great
event took place in 1256.
But this principal branch, or rather this _stock_ of the Ismaëlians, is
not that of which such frequent mention is made in our crusades; Hassan
Sabbah, after having laid the foundation of his power in Persia, sent
missionaries, of both the first and second order, into all parts of
the Mussulman world; and these missionaries were particularly active
in Syria. A certain very celebrated Seljoukide emir, who governed
Aleppo, seconded their designs wonderfully. Redoun (that was the name
of this prince) formed a friendship with the Ismaëlians, embraced their
principles even, and granted them open protection. From that period,
that is to say 501 of the Hegyra, dates the origin of the great power
they exercised in Syria, which subsisted nearly two hundred years; but
these Ismaëlians were subject to the sovereign of Altamont, and were
directed by _daïs_: it is even remarkable that most of the _fedaïs_,
employed in committing murder in Syria, were Persians by nation, and
had doubtless been educated for that execrable profession in the
delicious gardens of Altamont, and by the virtue of the _chich_.
Europe has taken too little interest in the history of the Ismaëlians,
as obtained from Oriental writers, to be certain of the extent of
country occupied by these sectaries. The geography of Persia, likewise,
is enveloped in too much obscurity to allow us to assign an exact
position to the various castles they inhabited. But what I can affirm
is, that the province of Roudbar, in which was placed the seat of
their empire, is, according to the _Ferhenk Choouri_,—the Persian
dictionary, explained in Turkish, a large district, comprising many
villages, and situated between Casbin and Guilan, in the neighbourhood
of Theheran, the present capital of Persia.
William of Tyre informs us that the Ismaëlians possessed ten fortresses
in Syria, and reckons them at sixty thousand souls. Their principal
establishment was at Massiat, an important, well-fortified place,
situated to the west of Hamah, at the distance of a day’s march.
They obtained possession of it in 505 of the Hegyra, after having
assassinated the emir who governed it; and have kept it even up to
our times. In addition to Massiat, they held seven fortresses in
the parallel of Hamah, from Hemes to the Mediterranean, and in the
neighbourhood of Tripoli. They began to appear in Syria towards the
end of the fifth century of the Hegyra. Their power increased rapidly
under the Seljoukide Redevan, who embraced their doctrine. During the
whole course of his reign, they had a house in Aleppo, in which they
exercised their worship. They were so much dreaded, that they carried
off women and children out of the open streets in mid-day, without any
one daring to oppose their violences. They publicly plundered people of
a sect opposed to their own; gave asylum to the greatest criminals, and
gathered from impunity fresh audacity for the commission of new crimes.
These barbarians carried their insolence so far as to seize, by force
of arms, cities and strong castles; it was thus they entered Apamea,
from which place Tancred drove them.