_Progress of Society--The Rise of Poetry in Modern Europe--Troubadours--
Trouveres--Various Poetical Compositions--Effect of Poetry upon Chivalry--
Effect of the Crusades on Society--State of Palestine after the Second
Crusade--Cession of Edessa to the Emperor Manuel Comnenus--Edessa
completely subjected by the Turks--Ascalon taken by the Christians--State
of Egypt under the last Califs of the Fatimite Race--The Latins and the
Atabecks both design the Conquest of Egypt--Struggles for that Country--
Rise of Saladin--Disputes among the Latins concerning the Succession of
the Crown--Guy of Lusignan crowned--Saladin invades Palestine--Battle of
Tiberias--Fall of Jerusalem--Conquest of all Palestine--Some Inquiry into
the Causes of the Latin Overthrow._
Before proceeding to trace the events which occurred in the Holy Land
between the second and third crusades, it may be as well to keep our eyes
upon Europe for a few moments, and to remark the advance of society
towards civilization. Prior to the period of the first expedition to
Palestine, Germany had been occupied alone in struggling against the
papal authority, and in fighting for dominions in Italy, the limits of
which were always sufficiently vague to admit of disputes and aggressions
on all parts. Apulia and the southern portion of Italy had been subjected,
as we have seen, by the Normans; and the rest of that country, with the
exception of some small republican cities, was divided into feudal
baronies, the right of homage over which was very uncertain. Engaged in
private wars and feuds, where personal interest was the sole object,
unmixed with any refining principle, the Chivalry of Italy made but small
progress. From time to time a great and distinguished chief started up,
and dignified his country; but the general feeling of knightly zeal was
not extended far in Italy, or was wasted in the petty purposes of confined
and unimportant struggles. In Germany also Chivalry advanced but little.
There was much dignified firmness in the character of the people;
and--under the walls of Damascus--in the wars with the pope, and with the
Norman possessors of Calabria--the German knights evinced that in the
battle-field none were more daring, more powerful, or more resolute; but
we find few instances where enthusiasm was mingled with valour, and where
the ardour of chivalric devotion was joined to the bold courage of the
Teutonic warrior. In Spain the spirit was at its height; but Spain had her
own crusades; and it was quite enough for the swords of her gallant band
of knights to free their native land, inch by inch, from her Saracen
invaders. Military orders[603] were there instituted in the middle of the
twelfth century; and the knights of Calatrava and St. James might
challenge the world to produce a more chivalrous race than themselves;
still the object of all their endeavours was the freedom of their native
country from the yoke of the Moors, and they engaged but little in any of
those great expeditions which occupied the attention and interest of the
world. It is to France, then, and to England, under the dominion of its
Norman monarchs, that we must turn our eyes; and here, during the course
of the twelfth century, we shall find great and extraordinary progress.
Previous to the epoch of the crusades, France, though acknowledging one
king, had consisted of various nations, whose manners, habits, and
languages differed in the most essential points.[604] The Provençal was as
opposite a being to the Frank of that day, as the Italian is now to the
Russian. The Norman and the Breton also descended from distinct origins,
and in most cases these separate tribes hated each other with no slight
share of enmity.
The character of the Norman was in all times enterprising, wandering,
cunning, and selfish; that of the Breton, or Armorican, savage, ferocious,
daring, and implacable; but imaginative in the highest degree, as well as
superstitious. The Provençal was light, avaricious, keen, active, and
sensual; the Frank, bold, hardy, persevering, but vain, insolent, and
thoughtless.[605] Distinctive character lies more generally in men's
faults than their virtues; and thus, all these different races possessed
the same higher qualities in common. They were brave to a prodigy;
energetic, talented, enthusiastic; but during the eleventh, and the
beginning of the twelfth centuries, the rude state of society in which
Chivalry had arisen, continued to affect it still. The first crusade,
however, gave an impulse to all those countries that joined in it, which
tended infinitely to civilize Europe, by uniting nations and tribes, which
had long been separated by different interests, in one great enterprise,
wherein community of object, and community of danger, necessarily
harmonized many previously discordant feelings, and did away many old
animosities, by the strong power of mutual assistance and mutual
endeavour. The babel of languages which Fulcher describes in the Christian
camp before long began to form itself into two more general tongues.
Latin, notwithstanding all the support it received in the court, in the
church, and in the schools, was soon confined to the cloister; and the
_langue d'oc_, or Provençal, became the common language of all the
provinces on the southern side of the Loire, while the _langue d'oil_ only
was spoken in the north of France. The manners and habits of the people,
too, were gradually shaded into each other; the distinctions became less
defined: the Provençal no longer looked upon the Breton as a savage; and
the Frank no longer classed the Provençal with the ape. A thousand
alliances were formed between individuals of different tribes, and the
hand of kindred smoothed away the remaining asperities of national
prejudice. Such assimilations tend of course to calm and mollify the mind
of man; so that the general character of the country became of a less rude
and ferocious nature. At this time, too, sprang up that greatest of all
the softeners of the human heart, poetry; and immense was the change it
wrought in the manners and deportment of that class which constituted the
society of the twelfth century. The poetry of that age bore as distinct
and clear a stamp of the epoch to which it belonged, as any that the world
ever produced; and it is absurd to trace to an earlier day the origin of a
kind of poesy which was founded upon Chivalry alone, and reflected nothing
but the objects of a chivalrous society.
It is little important which of the two tongues of France first boasted a
national poet, and equally unimportant which gave birth to the most
excellent poetry. The _langue d'oc_ was the most mellifluous; the _langue
d'oil_ was the most forcible; but neither brought forth any thing but the
tales, the songs, the satires, the ballads of Chivalry.
It is more than probable that some musical ear in Provence first applied
to his own language the melody of regularly arranged syllables, and the
jingle of rhyme. No sooner was this done than the passion spread to all
classes. Chivalrous love and chivalrous warfare furnished subjects in
plenty; and the _gai savoir_, the _biau parler_, became the favourite
relaxation of those very men who wielded the lance and sword in the
battle-field. The Troubadours were multiplied to infinity; the language
lent itself almost spontaneously to versification; and kings, warriors,
and ladies, as well as the professed poets, occasionally practised the new
and captivating art, which at once increased chivalrous enthusiasm, by
spreading and perpetuating the fame of noble deeds, and softened the
manners of the age, by the influence of sweet sounds and intellectual
exercises. The songs themselves soon became as various as those who
composed them, and were divided into _Sirventes_, _Tensons_,
_Pastourelles_, and _Nouvelles_, or _Contes_.[606] The Conte, or tale in
verse, needs no description, and the nature of the Pastourelle also is
self-evident. The _Sirvente_ deserves more particular notice. It was in
fact a satire, of the most biting and lively character; in which wit and
poetry were not used to cover or to temper the reprobation of either
individual or general vice, but rather, on the contrary, to give point and
energy to invective. The keen bitterness of the Troubadours spared neither
rank nor caste; kings, and nobles, and priests, all equally underwent the
lash of their wit; and it is from these very sirventes that we gain a
clear insight into many of the customs and manners of that day, as well as
into many, too many, scenes of grossness and immorality, from which we
would fain believe that Chivalry was free. The Tensons, or _Jeux partis_,
were dialogues between two persons on some subject of love or chivalry,
and in general show far more subtilty than poetical feeling. To these
were added occasional epistles in verse; and _Plaintes_, or lamentations,
in which the death or misfortune of a friend was mourned with a touching
simplicity that has since been too often imitated with very ineffective
art. Other compositions, such as the _Aubade_ and the _Serenade_, were in
use, the difference of which from the common _lay_ consisted merely in
their metrical construction: the word _alba_ being always repeated at the
end of each stanza of the aubade, and the word _ser_ continually
terminating each division of the serenade.[607] Such was the poesy of the
_Langue d'oc_ and the Troubadours. The _Langue d'oil_ had also its poets,
the Trouveres, and its poesy, which differed totally from that of the
_Langue d'oc_. The art was here more ambitious than with the Provençals;
and we find, among the first productions of the Trouveres, long and
complex poems, which would fain deserve the name of Epics. The first of
these, both in date and importance, is the Norman romance of Rou, which
bears a considerable resemblance, in its object and manner, to the
fragments of old Scandinavian poetry which have come down to us, but has a
continuous and uniform subject, and strong attempts at unity of design.
The romance of the Rose also, commenced by Guillaume de Lorris,[608] and
concluded by Jean de Meung, is one of the most extraordinary compositions
that the world ever produced, and stands perfectly alone--an allegory in
twenty-two thousand verses! Various subjects, quite irrelevant to the
object of the song, are introduced in its course; and the poet mingles his
tale with satire and sarcasm, which were fully as often misdirected as
deserved. Besides these were all the famous romances of Chivalry which
probably originated in the fabulous but interesting story of Charlemagne's
visit to the Holy Land, falsely attributed to the archbishop Turpin. This
work bears internal evidence of having been written after the first
crusade, and, we have reason to suppose, was translated into French,[609]
from the Latin manuscript of some monkish author.
In all the romances of the Round Table, we trace the end of the twelfth,
and the beginning of the thirteenth century. They could not have been
composed prior to that epoch; for we find many customs and objects
mentioned, which were not known at an earlier period; and it is probable,
from various circumstances, that they are not referable to a later age.
Besides these, multitudes of _Fabliaux_[610] have descended to us from the
Trouveres, and in this sort of composition, it is but fair to say, we find
more originality, variety, and strength, though less sweetness and less
enthusiasm, than among the compositions of the Troubadours. At this period
also we meet with an institution in Provence, of which I shall speak but
slightly, from many motives, though undoubtedly it had a great influence
upon the character of Chivalry: I mean the Court of Love, as it was
called, where causes concerning that passion were tried and judged as
seriously, as if feelings could be submitted to a tribunal. Could that be
the case, the object of such a court should certainly be very different
from that of the Provençal Court of Love, the effect of which was any
thing but to promote morality. It tended, however, with every thing else,
to soften the manners of the country, though all the mad absurdities to
which it gave rise were a scandal and a disgrace to Europe.
Besides all these causes of mitigation, the constant journeys of the
people of Europe to the Holy Land taught them gradually the customs of
other nations; and in that age there was much good to be learned by a
frequent intercourse with foreigners. The great want of Europe was
civilization; the vices of the day were pretty equally spread through all
countries, and the very circumstance of mingling with men of different
habits and thoughts promoted the end to be desired, without bringing any
great importation of foreign follies or crimes. Many useful arts, and many
sciences, previously unknown, were also obtained from the Saracens
themselves; and though in the crusades Europe sacrificed a host of her
noblest knights, and spent immense treasures and energies, yet she
derived, notwithstanding, no small benefit from her communication with
Palestine.
The state of that country, in the mean while, was every day becoming more
and more precarious. The nations by whom it was surrounded were improving
in military discipline, in political knowledge, and in the science of
timing and combining their efforts, while the Christians were losing
ground in every thing but courage. The military orders of the Temple and
St. John were the bulwarks of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem; but at the
same time, by their pride, their disputes, and their ambition, they did
nearly as much to undermine its strength at home as they did to support it
with their swords in the field of battle.
It would be endless to trace all the events in Palestine which brought
about the third crusade, and to investigate minutely the causes which
worked out the ruin of the Christian dominion in the Holy Land. The simple
facts must be enough in this place.
Although the crusade which went forth for the express purpose of
delivering Edessa never even attempted that object, Joscelyn of Courtenay
did not neglect to struggle for his lost territory, and gained some
splendid successes over the infidels, which were all in turn reversed, by
his capture and death in prison.[611] After his failure, the difficulty
of keeping Edessa was so apparent, that the monarch of Jerusalem[612]
determined to yield it to the Emperor Manuel Comnenus, on condition of his
defending it against the Turks. Manuel, therefore, received the
principality; but the weak and cowardly Greeks soon lost what the valiant
Franks could not maintain; and before a year was over, Nourhaddin the
Great, sultaun of Aleppo, was in full possession of Edessa and all its
dependencies. Baldwin III., however, who had cast off the follies of his
youth, and now displayed as great qualities as any of his race, more than
compensated for the loss of that principality by the capture of
Ascalon.[613]
After this great success, eight years of varied warfare followed; and at
the end of that period Baldwin died, leaving behind him the character of
one of the noblest of the Latin kings. His brother Almeric ascended the
vacant throne, but with talents infinitely inferior, and a mind in no
degree calculated to cope with the great and grasping genius of
Nourhaddin, who combined, in rare union, the qualities of an ambitious and
politic monarch with the character of a liberal, frugal, and
unostentatious man.
Almeric was ambitious also; but his avarice was always a check on his
ambition, and he suffered himself often to be bribed, where he might have
conquered. At this time[614] the Fatimite califs of Egypt had fallen into
a state of nonentity. The country was governed by a vizier, and the high
office was struggled for by a succession of military adventurers.
Such a state of things awakened the attention of the monarchs of Jerusalem
and Aleppo, and each resolved to make himself master of Egypt. An
opportunity soon presented itself. Shawer, the vizier of Egypt, was
expelled from his post by Dargham, a soldier of fortune. The disgraced
vizier fled to the court of Nourhaddin, and prayed for assistance against
the usurper. Nourhaddin willingly granted a request which yielded the
means of sending his troops into Egypt; and two Curdish refugees, uncle
and nephew, who had risen high in his army,[615] under the names of Assad
Eddyn Chyrkouh, and Salah Eddyn or Saladin, were despatched with
considerable forces to expel Dargham, and to re-establish Shawer. Dargham
saw the gathering storm, and to shelter himself from its fury called the
Christians from Palestine to his aid. But the movements of the Moslems
were more rapid than those of Almeric; and, before the King of Jerusalem
could reach Cairo, Chyrkouh had given battle to Dargham, and defeated and
killed him, and Shawer was repossessed of the authority he had lost.
Shawer soon found that his power was fully as much in danger from his
allies as it had been from his enemies; and, to resist the Turks whom he
had brought into Egypt, he was obliged to enter into a treaty with the
Christians. Almeric marched immediately to Cairo, and after a multitude of
manoeuvres and skirmishes, forced Chyrkouh and Saladin to quit the
country; displaying, through the whole of this war, more scientific
generalship than was at all usual in that age. No sooner were the Turks
gone, than the Latin monarch[616] broke his truce with the Egyptians, and
Shawer was once more obliged to apply to Nourhaddin. Chyrkouh again
advanced into the Fatimite dominions with increased forces, obliged
Almeric to retreat with great loss, took possession of Cairo, beheaded
Shawer, and installed himself in the office of vizier to Adhad, calif of
Egypt, though he still retained the title of lieutenant for Nourhaddin of
Aleppo. Not long after these successes, Chyrkouh died, and Nourhaddin,
doubtful of the fidelity of the Turkish emirs, gave the vacant post to
Saladin, the nephew of the late vizier; in which choice he was as much
guided by the apparently reckless and pleasure-seeking despotism of the
young Curdish chief, as by the military skill he had shown when forced
unwillingly into action. Saladin, however, was scarcely invested with
supreme power in Egypt when his real character appeared. He cast from him
the follies with which he had veiled his great and daring mind; and, by
means of the immense treasures placed at his command, soon bound to his
interests many who had been at first disgusted by his unexpected
elevation. The califs of Egypt had been always considered as schismatics
by the califs of Bagdat, to whom Nourhaddin still affected homage; and
Saladin was forthwith instructed to declare the Fatimite dynasty at an
end, and to re-establish in Egypt the nominal dominion of the Abassides.
This was easily accomplished; Adhad, the calif, either died before the
revolution was completed, or was strangled in the bath; the people little
cared under whose yoke they laboured. The children of the late calif were
confined in the harem; and Motshadi, calif of Bagdat, was prayed for as
God's vicar on earth.
Saladin's ambitious projects became every day more and more apparent, and
Nourhaddin was not blind to the conduct of his officer. Submission quieted
his suspicions for a time; and, though repeated causes for fresh jealousy
arose, he was obliged to forego marching into Egypt in person, as he
undoubtedly intended, till death put a stop to all his schemes. No sooner
was Nourhaddin dead, than Almeric attacked his widow at Paneas,[617] and
Saladin began to encroach upon other parts of his territories: but Saladin
was the only gainer by the death of the great sultaun, and made himself
master, by various means, of the whole of his Syrian dominions, while
internal dissensions and changes in the government of Palestine gradually
weakened every bulwark of the Latin throne. Almeric[618] died in returning
from Paneas, and his son, Baldwin IV, surnamed the Leper, succeeded him.
Had his corporeal powers been equal to the task of royalty, it is probable
that Baldwin would have been a far greater monarch than his father; but,
after many struggles for activity, he found that disease incapacitated him
for energetic rule, and he intrusted the care of the state to Guy of
Lusignan, who had married his sister Sybilla, widow of the Marquis of
Montferrat, to whom she had borne one son.[619]
Guy of Lusignan soon showed himself unworthy of the charge, and
Baldwin,[620] resuming the government, endeavoured to establish it in such
a form that it might uphold itself after his death, which he felt to be
approaching. With this view he offered the administration to the Count of
Tripoli,[621] during the minority of his sister's child; but the Count
refused to accept it, except under condition that the charge of the young
prince should be given to Joscelyn de Courtenay, the surviving branch of
the Courtenays of Edessa, and son of the unhappy count who died in a
Saracen prison. He also stipulated that the castles and fortresses of the
kingdom should be garrisoned by the Hospitallers and Templars; and that in
case the boy should die in his youth, the question of succession should be
determined by the Pope, the Emperor of Germany, the King of France, and
the King of England.[622] Not many years after this the king died, and
Baldwin V. succeeded, but his death followed immediately upon his
accession. Without abiding by the dispositions of the former monarch, no
sooner was the young king dead, than the Grand Master of the Temple,
Renauld of Chatillon, Count of Karac, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem
joined to raise Sybilla to the throne, in spite of the formal protest of
all the other barons and the Grand Master of the Hospital. The gates of
Jerusalem were shut;[623] and it was only by sending one of their
followers, disguised as a monk, that the nobles assembled with the Count
of Tripoli at Naplousa could gain any tidings of what passed. Sybilla was
crowned in form; and then the patriarch, pointing to the other crown which
lay upon the altar, told her that it was hers to dispose of, on which she
immediately placed it on the head of Guy of Lusignan.[624] After this some
of the barons refused to do homage to the new king, and some absented
themselves from his court; but the imminent danger in which the country
was placed at length brought back a degree of concord, when concord could
no longer avail.
Saladin had by this time made himself master of all Syria;[625] and had
not only consolidated into one great monarchy dominions which for ages had
been separated into petty states, but also, by the incessant application
of a powerful and expansive mind, he had drawn forth and brought into
action many latent but valuable resources which had previously been
unknown or forgotten. He had taught the whole interests of his people to
centre in his own person, and he now determined to direct their energies
to one great and important enterprise. That enterprise was the conquest of
Palestine, and with an army of fifty thousand horse, and near two hundred
thousand foot, he advanced towards Jerusalem, and laid siege to
Tiberias.[626] Within the walls of that fortress the Countess of Tripoli
held out against the Saracens, while her husband joined Guy of Lusignan,
and brought his forces to the field in defence of the Holy Land.
The conduct of the Count of Tripoli is very obscure.[627] That from time
to time he had treated with the Saracens is evident, and almost every
European authority, except Mills, accuses him of having, in this instance,
betrayed his countrymen into the hands of the infidels. Whether with or
against his advice matters little to the general result--the Christians
marched down to meet Saladin at Tiberias.[628] Beyond doubt it was by the
counsel of the Count of Tripoli that they pitched their tents in a spot
where no water was to be found. The troops suffered dreadfully from
thirst; and in the morning, when they advanced to attack Saladin in the
cool of the dawn, the wary monarch retired before them, resolved not to
give them battle till the heat of the risen sun had added to their
fatigues. To increase the suffocating warmth of a Syrian summer's day, he
set fire to the low bushes and shrubs which surrounded the Christian camp;
so that when the battle did begin, the Latin forces were quite overcome
with weariness and drought. The contest raged throughout the day, the
Christians fighting to reach the wells which lay behind the Saracen
power,[629] but in vain; and night fell, leaving the strife still
doubtful. The next morning the Latins and Turks again mixed in combat. The
Count of Tripoli[630] forced his way through the Saracens, and escaped
unhurt; but the scimitars of the Moslems mowed down whole ranks of the
Christians, for their immense superiority of numbers allowed them to
surround the height upon which the king and the chief of his army were
stationed, and to wage the warfare at once against every face of the Latin
host. Such a conflict could not long endure. Multitudes of the infidels
fell, but their loss was nothing in proportion to their number, when
compared with that which their adversaries underwent.
The Grand Master of the Hospital[631] alone clove his way from the field
of battle, after having staid till victory had settled upon the Paynim
banners. He reached Ascalon that night, but died on the following day of
the wounds he had received. The King--Renault de Chatillon, Count of
Karac, who had so often broken faith with the Moslems--and the Grand
Master of the Temple, whose whole order was in abhorrence among the
Mussulmans--were taken alive and carried prisoners to the tent of Saladin.
That monarch remained for some time on the field, giving orders that the
knights of St. John[632] and those of the Temple, who had been captured,
should instantly embrace Islamism, or undergo the fate of the scimitar. A
thousand acts of cruelty and aggression on their part had given cause to
such deadly hatred; but at the hour of death not one knight could be
brought to renounce his creed; and they died with that calm resolution
which is in itself a glory. After this bloody consummation of his victory,
Saladin entered the tent where Lusignan and his companions expected a
similar fate: but Saladin, thirsty himself, called for iced sherbet, and
having drank, handed the cup to the fallen monarch, a sure pledge that his
life was secure. Lusignan in turn passed it to Renaul of Chatillon,[633]
but the sultaun, starting up, exclaimed, "No hospitality for the breaker
of all engagements!"[634] and before Chatillon could drink, with one blow
of his scimitar, Saladin severed his head from his body.
Tiberias surrendered immediately. City after city now fell into the power
of the victor, and at length, after an obstinate defence, Jerusalem once
more was trodden by the Moslems.[635] But the conduct of the infidel
sultaun on this occasion shames the cruelty of the crusaders. When the
people could hold out no longer, Saladin, who had at first offered the
most advantageous terms, insisted that the city should now throw itself
upon his mercy.
He then agreed upon a moderate ransom for the prisoners, and promised to
let each man carry forth his goods without impediment. When this was done,
with extraordinary care he saw that neither insult nor injury should be
offered to the Christians; and, having taken possession of the town, he
placed a guard at one of the gates to receive the ransom of the
inhabitants as they passed out. Nevertheless, when the whole wealth which
could be collected in the town had been paid down, an immense number of
the poorer Christians remained unredeemed. These were destined to be
slaves; but Bernard the Treasurer relates, that Saif Eddyn, the brother of
the monarch, begged the liberty of one thousand of these, and that about
the same number were delivered at the prayer of the Patriarch and of
Baléan de Ibelyn,[636] who had commanded in the place, and communicated
with the Curdish monarch on its surrender. After this Saladin declared
that his brother, the Patriarch, and Ibelyn had done their alms, and that
now he would do his alms also; on which he caused it to be proclaimed
through the city,[637] that all the poor people who could give no ransom
might go forth in safety by the gate of St. Lazarus; but he ordered that
if any attempted to take advantage of this permission who really could pay
for their deliverance, they should be instantly seized and cast into
prison. Many of the nobler prisoners also he freed at the entreaty of the
Christian ladies; and in his whole conduct he showed himself as moderate
in conquest, as he was great in battle.
Antioch and the neighbouring towns, as well as the greater part of the
county of Tripoli,[638] were soon reduced to the Saracen yoke, and with
the exception of Tyre, which was defended by the gallant Conrad, Marquis
of Montferrat, the whole of Palestine became subject to the victor of
Tiberias.
Such was the sudden and disastrous termination of the Christian dominion
in the Holy Land;[639] a misfortune which all the contemporary writers
attribute to the vices of the inhabitants. Without presuming to assign it,
as they do, to the special wrath of Heaven, we may nevertheless believe
that the gross and scandalous crimes of the people of Jerusalem greatly
accelerated its return to the Moslem domination. After the successes of
the first crusade, the refuse of European populations poured into
Palestine in hopes of gain, and brought all their vices to add to the
stock of those that the country already possessed. The clergy were as
licentious as the laity, the chiefs as immoral as the people. Intestine
quarrels are sure to follow upon general crime; and unbridled passions
work as much harm to the society in which they are tolerated, as to the
individuals on whom they are exercised. The Latins of Palestine retained
their courage, it is true; but they knew no confidence in each other.
Virtue, the great bond of union, subsisted not among them, and each one
caballed, intrigued, and strove against his neighbour. The ambition of the
two great military orders bred continual hatred and opposition,[640] and
the discord that existed between the Hospitallers and the clergy caused
another breach in the harmony of the state.
During the time that the kingdom of Jerusalem was thus dividing itself, by
passions and vices, into ruinous factions and enfeebled bodies, Saladin
and those that preceded him were bending all their energies to consolidate
their power and extend their dominion. Zenghi was a great warrior,
Nourhaddin a great monarch,[641] and Saladin added to the high qualities
of both, not only a degree of civilization in his own person which neither
had known, but, what was still more, the spirit of civilization in his
heart.
Saladin was as superior to any of the princes of Palestine in mind as he
was in territory; and with clear and general views of policy, keenness and
strength of perception in difficulties, consummate skill in war,
innumerable forces, and the hearts of his soldiers, it was impossible that
he should not conquer. There can be no doubt that the Latins were a more
powerful and vigorous race of men than the Turks. The event of every
combat evinced it; and even in their defeats, they almost always left more
dead upon the field of the enemy's forces than of their own. Their armour,
too, was weightier,[642] and their horses heavier and more overpowering in
the charge. But the Turkish horseman and the Turkish horse were more
active and more capable of bearing long fatigue, privation, and heat than
the European; and this in some degree made up for the slighter form and
lighter arms of the Saracen.
In war, also, as a science, the Turks had improved more than the
Christians. We find that the troops of Saladin employed means in their
sieges that they had acquired from the crusaders; that they stood firmly
the charge of the cavalry; that they now fought hand to hand with the
mailed warriors of Europe, and mixed all the modes of chivalrous warfare
with those they had practised before.
We do not perceive, however, that the Latins adopted their activity or
their skill with the bow; and at the same time it must be remarked, that
the armies of the Moslem fought as a whole, under the absolute command of
one chief; while the Christians, divided in the battle as in the time of
peace, were broken into separate corps under feudal leaders, who each
consulted his own will fully as much as that of his sovereign.
Many other causes might be traced for the Christian fall and the Mussulman
triumph; but perhaps more has been already said than was required.
Whatever were the causes the result was the same--Jerusalem was taken by
the Moslem, and consternation spread through Christendom.