END OF THE ARMED PILGRIMAGE.
THE Templar and the English knight after a variety of adventures reached
Acre, having on their way fallen in with Father Yves, whom King Louis
had sent on a mission to 'the Old Man of the Mountains'--that remarkable
personage to whose behests kings bowed, and at whose name princes
trembled--and a knight of the noble House of Coucy, who had come from
Constantinople, and whose accounts of the state of the Latin empire of
the East much increased Bisset's desire to go and offer his sword to the
Emperor Baldwin de Courtenay, then struggling desperately to maintain
his throne against Greeks and Turks.
On reaching Acre, however, the ambassadors found that King Louis and the
court were at Sajecte, and without delay repaired thither to present the
gifts sent by Oulagon, and inform him of the unexpected event which had
frustrated the object of their mission. Louis was deeply grieved at the
failure of his attempt to open the prison doors of the unfortunate
captives, and with tears bewailed their unhappy fate.
But soon after this, the saint-king found that the case was not
desperate. The Sultan of Damascus went to war with the Mamelukes, and
both parties craved the alliance of the French monarch. Louis,
therefore, sent John de Valence to Cairo once more to demand the release
of the captives, and this time he obtained something like satisfaction.
Two hundred knights were immediately set at liberty, and allowed to
depart for Acre, which they reached in safety.
At length, however, news came to King Louis, while he was at Sajecte,
which compelled him to turn his thoughts towards France, where he was
much wanted, and to deliberate on the expediency of returning to his own
kingdom.
When it was known in France that the king was a prisoner in the hands of
the Saracens, the utmost excitement prevailed throughout the land; and
suddenly among the pastoral population appeared a man bearing a letter,
to which he pretended to attach a mysterious importance.
'This,' said he, solemnly, 'I have received from the mother of God; and
it commands me to assemble all the Christian shepherds and herdsmen, and
to march at their head to deliver the king. Follow me then, and fear
not, for the battle is not to the strong, but reserved for the weak and
humble.'
It appears that this man's eloquence, and the mystery which he affected,
fascinated the shepherds and herdsmen of France, and they flocked to him
in multitudes; and his followers, having been joined by outlaws and
exiles, ere long formed a formidable force, and caused much alarm.
At first, indeed, the queen-mother, Blanche of Castille, naturally
anxious for her son's release, favoured the enterprise. But the priests,
aware it might be that the leaders of the movement had ulterior objects
in view, set their faces decidedly against it, and the leaders of the
shepherds retaliated by stirring up the populace against the priests,
and by the massacre of several ecclesiastics. On hearing this, Queen
Blanche changed her policy, took part against the shepherds, caused
their leader to be beheaded, and their army to be dispersed. Moreover,
the populace, who had at first held the shepherds in high honour, began
to suspect them of imposture, and slaughtered them without mercy; and
all was still doubt and dismay and confusion, when messengers brought to
Sajecte news that Queen Blanche had breathed her last.
Louis was profoundly affected when he heard of his mother's death, and
mourned sadly for two or three days, without speaking with any one.
However, at the end of that time, he was visited by the papal legate,
and sent for the Lord of Joinville; and Joinville, who was on the point
of going into a meadow to amuse himself with martial exercises, entered
into conversation.
'Ah, seneschal,' began the king, mournfully, 'I have lost my mother.'
'Well, sire,' said Joinville, calmly, 'I am not surprised at such an
event, seeing that she was no longer young, and that to all of us death
must come some time; but, sire, I am surprised that so great a prince
should grieve so outrageously; for you know that the wise man says,
"Whatever grief the valiant man may suffer in his mind, he ought not to
show it on his countenance; for he that does so causes pain to his
friends and pleasure to his enemies."'
'However, seneschal,' said the legate, 'the king is much satisfied with
the good and agreeable services you have rendered him, and earnestly
wishes for your honour and advancement. He commands me to tell you, as
he knows it will give you pleasure at heart, that he intends to embark
for France on this side of Easter.'
'In truth, it does give me pleasure,' said Joinville. 'And I pray that
the Lord may ever induce the king to act in accordance with his will.'
And soon after Louis, with his queen and his knights and nobles,
returned to Acre, and made preparations for his departure.
It happened that when John de Valence and his associates went to Cairo,
to treat for the release of the French captives, and also for the
remains of some of the French warriors who fell at Mansourah, the
Saracens suddenly reminded him of the Earl of Salisbury.
'I wonder,' said an emir, 'that you Christians, who venerate the ashes
of the dead, make no inquiry for the bones of that most illustrious and
noble-born William, to whom you give the name of Longsword; whereas we,
seeing that he was slain in battle and on account of his illustrious
qualities, have treated his remains with all respect.'
On hearing this, the ambassadors were somewhat confused.
'How,' asked they, one of another, 'can we disparage this man, because
he was an Englishman, when even the Saracens accord the honour due to
his nobility of soul?'
Accordingly, the Crusaders requested that Salisbury's bones might be
given to them; they carried them to Acre, where they were laid, with
much respect, in the church of the Holy Cross.
It was on the afternoon of the day when the burial took place that
Bisset, who had been maturing his project of repairing to
Constantinople, entered his lodgings, and took Walter Espec by one hand
and Guy Muschamp by the other.
'Boys,' said he, 'this crusade, as I foresaw, has resulted in naught
save disaster, and, as fighting men, it behoves us to consider whither
we are now to carry our swords. For my part, I am resolved to turn the
gifts of the Tartar warrior into money, and make without delay for
Constantinople, and fight for the Latin Emperor. Are you willing to
accompany me and share my fortunes, or must we part?'
'In truth, sir knight,' replied Walter, frankly, 'I sigh for the green
fields and the oak forests of my native land; and, therefore, I would
fain embark with the army of King Louis, and return to Europe.'
'As you will, sir squire,' said Bisset, a little mortified: 'albeit, I
cannot but deem that you are not moved so much by the desire to visit
your native land, as to be near to a certain noble demoiselle, on whose
gratitude you have some claims. Well, on my life, I blame you not; for
at your age I might have felt as you do, and, mayhap, lived to repent my
delusion. But, be it known to you that, as matters stand, the Sultan of
Damascus has intimated that he will permit any of the pilgrims to visit
Jerusalem. Now, have you the courage--for courage will be needed--to
enter the Holy City, held as it is by fierce Saracens, and kneel at the
Holy Sepulchre?'
'By Holy Katherine, sir knight!' exclaimed Walter, bluntly, 'you must
hold me excused. Happy, indeed, should I deem myself in the privilege of
kneeling at the Holy Sepulchre, even at the cost of much labour and
fatigue. But these are not the days of Godfrey and the Baldwins; and I
care not to trust to the tender mercies of Bibars Bendocdar and his
Mameluke myrmidons. I will not needlessly put my head again into the
lion's mouth.'
'And what say you on the point, my gay and puissant warrior?' asked
Bisset, turning to Guy Muschamp.
'Oh,' answered Guy, merrily, 'as says the good Walter, so say I, neither
to Jerusalem nor to Constantinople do I go. I have a father and mother
and kindred at home, whose faces I long to see. Wherefore, I go to
England, and to no other place.'
Walter Espec sighed, as he was in the habit of doing, at the mention of
kindred, and gave himself up to painful reminiscences.
'Sir knight,' said he, addressing Bisset, after a long silence, 'deem
you that my lost brother can be in the hands of him who is known as the
Old Man of the Mountains?'
'What!' exclaimed Bisset, 'rearing as an assassin? The saints
forefend!'
'It is strange,' said Walter, after a pause, 'that I have begun to hope
better things; for, as I lay asleep last night, methought I saw him in
the flesh, and that he looked high and brave, and that he told me how
the blessed Katherine had preserved him from evil.'
'May your dream be realised ere we depart from this holy land, good
Walter!' said Guy, with sympathy.
'Amen,' added Bisset, earnestly. 'More unlikely things have come to
pass.'
And, in truth, such a result was not altogether impossible; for at that
moment Walter Espec and Osbert Espec were both within the walls of Acre.
But Walter was preparing to embark for Europe; and Osbert was on the eve
of setting out for the castle of Kakhow, not to return for many days.
But the stars had decreed that they were to meet.