_The History of Palestine from the Fall of Jerusalem to
the Present Time_.
State of Judea after the Fall of Jerusalem; Revolt under Trajan; Barcochab;
Adrian repairs Jerusalem; Schools at Babylon and Tiberias; The Attempt
of Julian to rebuild the Temple; Invasion of Chosroes; Sack of Jerusalem;
Rise of Islamism; Wars of the Califs; First Crusade; Jerusalem delivered;
Policy of Crusades; Victory at Ascalon; Baldwin King; Second Crusade;
Saladin; His Success at Tiberias; He recovers Jerusalem; The Third
Crusade; Richard Coeur de Lion; Siege and Capture of Acre; Plans of
Richard; His Return to Europe; Death of Saladin; Fourth Crusade; Battle of
Jaffa; Fifth Crusade; Fall of Constantinople; Sixth Crusade; Damietta
taken; Reverses; Frederick the Second made King of Jerusalem; Seventh
Crusade; Christians admitted into the Holy City; Inroad of Karismians;
Eighth Crusade under Louis IX.; He takes Damietta; His Losses and Return
to Europe; Ninth Crusade; Louis IX. and Edward I.; Death of Louis;
Successes of Edward; Treaty with Sultan; Final Discomfiture of the Franks
in Palestine, and Loss of Acre; State of Palestine under the Turks;
Increased Toleration; Bonaparte invades Syria; Siege of Acre and Defeat
of French; Actual State of the Holy Land; Number, Condition, and Character
of the Jews.
The destruction of Jerusalem, though it put an end to the polity of the
Hebrew nation as an independent people, did not entirely disperse the
remains of their miserable tribes, nor denude the Holy Land of its proper
inhabitants. The number of the slain was indeed immense, and the multitude
of captives carried away by Titus glutted the slave-markets of the Roman
empire; but it is true, nevertheless, that many fair portions of Palestine
were uninjured by the war, and continued to enjoy an enviable degree of
prosperity under the government of their conquerors. The towns on the
coast generally submitted to the legions without incurring the chance of a
battle or the horrors of a siege; while the provinces beyond the Jordan,
which formed the kingdom of Agrippa, maintained their allegiance to Rome
throughout the whole period of the insurrection elsewhere so fatal, and
especially to the inheritance of Judah and of Benjamin.
It has been already suggested that soon after the Roman army was
withdrawn, many of the Jewish families, Christians as well as followers
of the Mosaical Law, returned to their sacred capital, and sought a
precarious dwelling among its ruins. To prevent the rebuilding of the
city, Vespasian found it necessary to establish on Mount Zion a garrison
of eight hundred men. The same emperor, it is related, commanded strict
search to be made for all who claimed descent from the house of David, in
order to cut off, if possible, all hope of the restoration of that royal
race, and more especially of the advent of the Messiah, the confidence in
whose speedy coming still burned with feverish excitement in the heart of
every faithful Israelite. A similar jealousy, which dictated a similar
inquisition, was continued in the subsequent reign,--a fact strongly
illustrative of the spirit which prevailed at that period among the
descendants of Abraham, and explanatory also of their successive revolts
against the Roman power.
Under the mild sway of Trajan, the Jews in Egypt, Cyprus, and even in
Mesopotamia, flew to arms, to avenge the insults to which they had been
subjected, or to realize the hopes that they have never ceased to
cherish. After a war remarkable for the waste of blood with which it was
accompanied, the unhappy insurgents were everywhere suppressed; having
lost, according to their own confession, more than half a million of men
in the field of battle, or the sack of towns. The skill and fortune of
Adrian, who soon afterward occupied the imperial throne, were displayed in
the island of Cyprus, from which the Jews were expelled with tremendous
slaughter, and prohibited from ever again touching its shores.
To check the mutinous disposition, or to weaken the influence of the
vanquished tribes, an edict was promulgated by their Roman masters,
forbidding circumcision, the reading of the Law, and the observance of the
weekly Sabbath. Still further to defeat their favourite schemes, and to
blast all hopes of a restoration to civil power in Jerusalem under their
Messiah, it was resolved by the government at Rome to repair to a certain
extent the city of the Jews, and to establish in it a regular colony of
Greeks and Latins. At this crisis appeared the notorious Barcochab, whose
name, denoting the "son of a star," made him be instantly hailed by a
large majority of the nation as that predicted light which was to arise
out of Jacob in the latter days. Recommended by Akiba, one of the most
popular of the Rabbim, to the confidence of Israel, this impostor soon saw
himself at the head of a powerful army; amounting, say the Jewish
annalists, to more than two hundred thousand men. In the absence of the
legions now called to other parts of the East, he found little difficulty
in taking possession of Jerusalem; and before a competent force, under the
renowned Julius Severus, could arrive in Palestine, the false Messias had
seized fifty of the strongest castles, and a great number of open towns.
The details of the sanguinary campaigns which followed are given by the
vanquished Jews with more minuteness than probability. Severus, who had
learned all the arts of desultory warfare when employed against the
barbarians of Britain, used a similar policy on the banks of the Jordan;
choosing to cut off the supplies of the enemy, and attack their posts with
overwhelming numbers, rather than encounter their furious fanaticism in a
general engagement. Bither, a strong city, and defended by Barcochab in
person, was the last to yield to the Romans. At length it was taken by
storm, at the expense of much human life on either side; but as the leader
of the rebellion was among the slain, the victors did not consider their
success too dearly bought, as with the star whose light was extinguished
in the carnage of Bither the hope of Israel fell to the earth. Dio Cassius
relates, that during this war no fewer than 580,000 fell by the sword,
besides those who perished by famine and disease. The whole of Judea was
converted into a desert,--wolves and hyenas howled in the streets of the
desolate cities,--and all the villages were consumed with fire.
It was after these events that Adrian, to annihilate for ever all hopes
of the restoration of the Jewish kingdom, accomplished his plan of
founding a new city on the waste places of Jerusalem, to be peopled by
a colony of foreigners. This town, as we have elsewhere observed, was
called AElia Capitolina; the former epithet alluding to AElius, the
praenomen of the emperor,--the latter denoting that it was dedicated
to Jupiter Capitolinus, the tutelar deity of Rome. An edict was issued,
interdicting every Jew from entering the new city on pain of death, or
even approaching so near it as to be able to contemplate its towers and
the venerable heights on which it stood. The more effectually to keep
them away, the image of a cow was placed over the gate which leads to
Bethlehem. But the more peaceful Christians, meanwhile, were permitted
to establish themselves within the walls; and AElia, it is well known,
soon became the seat of a flourishing church and of a bishopric.[165]
From this period the history of the Holy Land is less connected with the
Jews than with the policy of the different governments by which their
country has been occupied. More attached to their ancient faith than when
it was established at Jerusalem, we find them, both in the East and West,
labouring with the most indefatigable zeal to revive its principles and
extend its authority. Hence their celebrated schools at Babylon and
Tiberias,--the source of all legislation, and the seat of judgment in all
cases of doubtful opinion. Hence, too, those mixed titles, so long
recognised in their tribes, the Patriarch of Tiberias and the Prince of
the Captivity,--appointments which, during a long period, constituted a
bond of union, partly spiritual and partly political, among all the
descendants of Jacob. The numerous remains of that people, though still
excluded from the precincts of Jerusalem, were nevertheless permitted to
form and to maintain considerable establishments both in Italy and in the
provinces; to acquire the freedom of Rome; to enjoy municipal honours;
and to obtain, at the same time, an exemption from the burdensome and
expensive offices of society. The moderation or the contempt of the
Romans gave a legal sanction to the form of ecclesiastical police, which
was instituted by the vanquished sect. The Patriarch was empowered to
appoint his subordinate ministers, to exercise a domestic jurisdiction,
and to receive from his brethren an annual contribution. New synagogues
were frequently erected in the principal cities of the empire; and the
Sabbaths, the fasts, and the festivals, which were either commanded by
the Mosaic Law or enjoined by the traditions of the Rabbim, were
celebrated in the most solemn and public manner. They were, in like
manner, restored to the privilege of circumcising their children, on the
easy condition that they should never confer on any foreign proselyte the
distinguishing mark of the Hebrew race. Such gentle treatment insensibly
assuaged the stern temper of the Jews. Awakened from their dream of
prophecy and conquest, they assumed the behaviour of peaceable and
industrious subjects. Their hatred of mankind, instead of flaming out in
acts of blood and violence, evaporated in less dangerous gratifications.
They embraced every opportunity of overreaching the idolaters in trade;
and they pronounced secret and ambiguous imprecations against the haughty
kingdom of Edom, the name under which they were pleased to denounce the
Roman empire.[166]
The glories which were shed upon Palestine by the munificent zeal of
Constantine and his mother have already been repeatedly mentioned. The
splendid buildings which arose in every part of the Holy Land announced
the triumph of the new faith in the country where it had its origin;
exciting at once the pride of the Christian, and the jealousy, resentment,
and despair of the Jew. The government of Constantius was not more
favourable to the children of Israel; nor was it till the accession of
Julian that they were encouraged to look for revenge upon their enemies,
if not for protection to their despised countrymen. The edict to rebuild
the Temple on Mount Moriah, and to establish once more at Jerusalem the
worship enjoined by Moses, called forth their utmost exertions in behalf
of a prince who at least abandoned a rival religion, destined, as they
apprehended, to supplant their own more ancient ritual.
The issue of this attempt to reinstate the ceremonies of the Jewish Law in
the capital of Palestine is known to every reader. The workmen employed in
digging the foundation of the new Temple were terrified by flames of fire
darting forth from the ground, and accompanied with the most frightful
explosions. No inducement could prevail on them to persevere in labours
which appeared to excite the anger of Heaven. The enterprise was
relinquished, as at once hopeless and impious; and there is no doubt that,
whatever additions may have been made to the circumstances by ignorance
and a too easy belief, the views of Julian were frustrated by the
occurrence of some very extraordinary event, which still finds a place
even in Roman history. The skeptic may smile when he reads in the pages of
a Christian Father, that flakes of fire which assumed the form of a cross
settled on the dresses of the artisans and spectators; that a horseman was
seen careering amid the flames; and that, when the affrighted labourers
fled to a neighbouring church, its doors, fastened by some preternatural
force within, refused to admit them into the sacred building. In such
details the imagination is consulted more than the reason; and it cannot
be denied that certain authors, who wrote long after the reign of Julian;
have admitted traditionary anecdotes into the narrative of a grave event.
It is deserving of notice, however, that the mark of the cross, said to
have been impressed upon the bystanders, is not the most incredible of the
circumstances recorded. Many instances have been known of persons touched
by the electric fluid, whose bodies exhibited similar traces of its
operation,--straight lines cutting one another at right angles--and hence
that part of the description which appears the least entitled to belief
will be found to be strictly within the limits of nature.[167]
The policy of the emperors continued to depress the Jews in Palestine,
while it granted to them the enjoyment of considerable privileges in all
the other provinces where their presence and peculiar views were less
hazardous to the public peace. During the same period, the Christian
church possessed the countenance of the civil power, and gradually
extended its doctrines into Armenia, as well as into the more important
region of the Lower Mesopotamia. It was not till the beginning of the
seventh century that the course of events was materially disturbed by an
invasion of the Persians, under Chosroes, who had resolved to humble the
government of Constantinople, and to check its pretensions in the East.
The part of the army appointed to serve against Palestine was entrusted
to Carnsia, an experienced general, who invited the Jews to join his
standard. This people, ever ready to aid the cause of revolt, assembled,
it is said, to the number of 24,000 men, and made preparations for an
attack on Jerusalem. A sanguinary warfare had ensued, even before the
arrival of their allies from beyond the Euphrates; and both sides,
accordingly, were exasperated to the highest degree of fury, and
importuning Heaven to hasten the moment of revenge. The Christians within
the walls massacred their enemies in cold blood, while the assailants
without carried destruction to every point which their arms could reach.
At length, the advance of the Persians secured to the Jews the hour of
triumph and retaliation, when they fully quenched their thirst for
vengeance in the blood of the Nazarenes. The victors are said to have
sold the miserable captives for money. But the rage of the Jews was
stronger than their avarice; for not only did they not scruple to
sacrifice their treasures in the purchase of these devoted bondsmen at a
lavish price, but they put to death without remorse all whom they bought.
It was rumoured that no fewer than 90,000 Christians perished. Every
church was demolished, including that of the Holy Sepulchre,--the
greatest object of Jewish hatred. The stately building of Helena and
Constantine was abandoned to the flames, and the devout offerings of
three hundred years were rifled in one sacrilegious day.
But the arms of Persia did not long support the persecuting spirit of the
Jews. The Emperor Heraclius, who had spent some inglorious years on the
throne, was alarmed into activity by the progress of the enemy, who had
threatened even the walls of Constantinople itself. The discipline of
ancient Rome, which was not yet quite extinct among the legionary
soldiers, maintained its wonted superiority over the less martial troops
of Chosroes, and recovered in the course of a few campaigns all the
provinces that the invaders had overrun. Heraclius visited Jerusalem as a
pilgrim, when the wood of the true cross, which, it was rumoured, had
been carried away to Persia, was reinstated with due solemnity. Several
Christian churches, too, were restored to their former magnificence; and
the law of Adrian was again put in force, which prohibited the Jews from
approaching within three miles of the holy city.[168]
Palestine continued to acknowledge the power of the emperor until the
rise of Islamism changed the face of Western Asia. The armies of the
califs, which wrested from Persia the dominion of the surrounding
nations, conquered in succession the provinces of Arabia, Syria, and
Egypt, and at length planted the crescent on the walls of Jerusalem. The
victories of Omar in 636 decided the fate of the venerable city, and laid
the foundations of a mosque on the sacred hill where the Temple of
Solomon had stood. This conqueror was assassinated at Jerusalem in 643;
after which, the establishment of several califates in Arabia and Syria,
the fall of the Ommiades, and the elevation of the Abassides involved
Judea in trouble for more than two hundred years. In 868, Achmet, a Turk,
who from being governor had made himself sovereign of Egypt, conquered
the capital of Palestine; but his son having been defeated by the califs
of Bagdad; the holy city again returned under their dominion in the year
905 of our era. Mohammed Ikschid, another Turk, about thirty years after,
having in his turn seized the throne of the Pharaohs, carried his arms
into Palestine, and reduced the capital. The Fatimites, again, issuing
from the sands of Cyrene, expelled the Ikschidites from Egypt in 968, and
conquered several towns in Judea. Ortok, towards the end of the tenth
century, made himself master of the holy city, whence his children were
for a time driven out by Mostali, Calif of Egypt. In 1076, Meleschah, the
third of the Turkish race, took Jerusalem, and ravaged the whole country.
The Ortokides, who, as we have just related, were dispossessed by
Mostali, returned thither, and maintained themselves in it against
Redouan, Prince of Aleppo. They were expelled once more by the Fatimites,
who were masters of the place when the crusaders first appeared on the
confines of Syria.
Several generations passed away, during which the affairs of the Holy Land
created no interest in Europe, and when Christians and Jews, who could
hardly obtain the most limited toleration from their Mohammedan masters,
sought an asylum among the states of Europe. In the Travels of Benjamin of
Tudela are to be found some incidental notices which leave no doubt as to
the fact that his countrymen, unable to bear the persecution directed
against them, had gradually abandoned the birthplace of their fathers.
Jerusalem, in the twelfth century, did not contain more than two hundred
descendants of Abraham, poor, depressed, and calumniated; while at
Tiberias, the seat of learning and of their sovereign patriarch, the
number did not exceed fifty,--the victims of suspicion and jealousy, not
less on the part of the Christians than of the Moslem, who had already
begun to contend with each other for the sepulchre of Christ.
It has often been observed, that pilgrimage to the holy places of
Palestine was from a very early period regarded as at once a wholesome
discipline and an acceptable reverence on the part of Christian
worshippers. The Arabian califs were, on various accounts, inclined to
favour the resort of Europeans to these shrines of their faith. They saw
in it a fruitful source of revenue; while, as the progeny of Abraham,
they were not disposed to take offence at the veneration lavished upon
the prophetic son of David, whose tomb the fortune of war had placed in
their hands. But the Seljukian Turks, those irreclaimable barbarians, who
had no sympathy with the believers in Christ, laid on them such burdens
and vexatious restraints as were altogether intolerable. The cries of the
unhappy pilgrims had long resounded throughout all Christendom; and the
indignation which was universally felt against the bigoted Mussulmans was
inflamed in no slight degree by the eloquence of Peter the Hermit, who
had witnessed in foreign lands the afflictions of his brethren. Yielding
to the impulse of the age, Pope Urban the Second convoked a general
council at Clermont, in Auvergne, to whom he addressed an oration well
fitted to confirm the enthusiasm which he found already kindled. He
encouraged them to attack the enemies of God, and in that holy warfare to
earn the reward of eternal life promised to all the faithful servants of
the Redeemer; suggesting, that as a mark of their profession as well as
of their Saviour's love, they should wear red crosses on their garments
when fighting the battles of Christianity.
The warlike spirit of the time was roused by every motive which can touch
the heart of man in a rude state of society,--the love of glory, religion,
revenge, and enterprise. Many of the most illustrious princes of the
Christian world took up the cross, and were followed by persons of both
sexes, and of all ages, classes, and professions. A vast army poured in
from every country, under the most distinguished leaders, of whom the
principal were, Godfrey, Duke of Brabant and Bouillon; Robert of France,
the brother of King Philip; and Robert, Duke of Normandy, the son of the
English monarch. Bohemond, too, the chief of the Normans of Apulia, and
Raymond, Count of Toulouse, led many renowned warriors to Syria.
The tumultuary bands who marched under the standard of the Hermit
suffered hardships altogether unknown to modern war. In passing through
the countries watered by the Danube, and the hilly countries which lie
between that river and the Mediterranean, more than half their number
fell victims to disease, famine, and the rage of the barbarians whose
lands they infested. But, in spite of these misfortunes, Bohemond, one of
the leaders, laid siege to Antioch in 1097; and on the 15th July, two
years after, the ancient and holy city of Jerusalem was taken by assault,
with a prodigious slaughter of the garrison. Ten thousand Mohammedans
were slain on the site of the Temple of Solomon; a greater number was
thrown from the tops of houses; and a fearful carnage was committed after
all resistance had ceased.
The siege had lasted two months with various success, and a considerable
loss of life on either aide; and hence arose the savage ferocity which
disgraced, on the part of the victors, the last scene of this miserable
tragedy. The assailants having endured much from drought, as well as from
the sword of the enemy, betook themselves to pious exercises in order to
avert the anger of Heaven. The soldiers, completely armed, made a holy
procession round the walls. The clergy, with naked feet, and bearing
images of the cross, led them in the sacred way. Cries of _Deus id
vult_,--God commands it,--rent the air; and the people marched to the
melody of hymns and psalms, and not to the sound of drums and trumpets. On
Mount Olivet and Mount Zion they prayed for assistance in the approaching
conflict. The Saracens mocked these expressions of religious feeling, by
throwing mud upon crucifixes which they raised for the purpose; but these
insults had only the effect of producing louder shouts of sacred joy from
the Christians. The next morning every thing was prepared for battle; and
there was no one who was not ready either to die for Christ, or restore
his city to liberty. The night was spent in watching an alarm by both
armies. At dawn of day the conflict began which was to determine the fate
of the great European expedition, and when noon arrived the issue was
still in suspense, or seemed rather to incline in favour of the
Mohammedans. The cause of the Western World appeared to totter on the
brink of destruction, and the most valiant among the crusaders allowed
themselves to fear that Heaven had deserted its own cause and people.[169]
At the moment when all was considered lost, a knight was seen on Mount
Olivet, waving his glittering shield as a sign to the soldiers that they
should rally and return to the charge. Godfrey and Eustace cried aloud to
the army, that St. George was come to their succour. The spirit of
enthusiasm instantly revived, fatigue and pain were no longer felt, the
princes led their columns to the breach, and even the women insisted upon
sharing the honours of the fight. In the space of an hour the barbacan was
broken down, and Godfrey's tower rested against the inner wall. Exchanging
the duties of a general for those of a soldier, the Duke of Lorraine
fought with his bow: "The Lord guided his hand, and all his arrows pierced
the enemy through and through." Near him were Eustace and Baldwin, "like
two lions beside another lion." At three o'clock, the hour when the
Saviour of the world was crucified, a soldier, named Letoldus of Tourney,
leaped upon the fortifications; his brother, Engelbert, followed, and
Godfrey was the third Christian who stood as a conqueror upon the ramparts
of Jerusalem. The glorious ensign of the Cross streamed from the walls,
and the whole city was soon at the mercy of the besiegers. The Mussulmans
fought for a while, then fled to their temples, and submitted their necks
to the sword. The victors, in a document which is still preserved,
boasted, that in the mosque of Omar, whither they pursued the fugitives,
they rode in the blood of Saracens up to the knees of their horses.
After the slaughter had terminated, and the soldiers had soothed their
minds by certain acts of devotion, the expediency of forming a regular
government became manifest to all parties. Godfrey, a hero whose name can
not be too highly honoured, was chosen by the unanimous suffrages of rival
warriors to be the first Christian king of Jerusalem. Bohemond, the son of
Robert Guiscard, reigned at Antioch; Baldwin, the brother of Godfrey, at
Edessa; and the Count of Toulouse, at Tripoli. The dominion of the
crusaders extended from the confines of Egypt to the Euphrates on the
east, and to the acclivities of Mount Taurus on the north; and several of
their principalities lasted nearly two hundred years.
Many attempts have been made to defend the policy and excuse the
enormities of the Christian warriors in their enterprise against the
Moslem occupants of the Holy Land. These two points ought to be more
carefully distinguished than they usually are, whether in the pages of
friends or enemies; for while the general expediency of a combination of
the Christian powers may be supported on good grounds, the cruelty of some
of their measures deserves the severest censure. It is remarked by Mr.
Mills, that the massacre of the Saracens on the capture of the holy city
did not proceed alone from the inflamed passions of victorious soldiers,
but from remorseless fanaticism. Benevolence to Turks, Jews, infidels, and
heretics made no part of Christian ethics in those rude times; and as the
Moslem in their consciences believed it was the will of Heaven that the
religion of their prophet should be propagated by the sword, so their
antagonists laboured under the mental delusion that they themselves were
the ministers of God's wrath on a disobedient and stiff-necked people. The
Latins, on the day after the victory, massacred three hundred men, to whom
Tancred and Gaston de Bearn had promised protection, and even given a
standard as a pledge of safety. But every engagement was broken, in
consequence of the resolution that no pity should be shown to the
Mohammedans,--an expedient which was justified by the opinion now
prevalent among the invaders, that in conjunction with the Saracens of
Egypt they might again reduce the city and recover all the ground they had
lost. It was for this reason that the inhabitants of Jerusalem, armed and
unarmed, were dragged forth into the public squares, and slain like
cattle. Women with children at the breast, boys, and even girls were
slaughtered indiscriminately, and in such numbers that the streets were
covered with dead bodies and mangled limbs. No heart melted into
compassion or expanded into benevolence. The stones of the city were
ordered to be washed, and the melancholy task was performed by some Moslem
slaves. The Count of Toulouse, whose avarice prevailed over his
superstition, was loudly condemned for accepting a ransom from a few of
the devoted prisoners, whom he sent in safety to Ascalon. So unrelenting,
in short, was the passion of revenge among the crusaders, that they set
fire to the synagogues of the Jews, many of whom perished in the
flames.[170]
Such conduct merits the deepest execration that moralist or statesman may
be pleased to pour upon it. We are nevertheless convinced that, in the
peculiar circumstances of the Christian world when Peter the Hermit called
its chiefs to arms, a united war against the Mohammedan states of Syria
was dictated by the soundest political wisdom. The subjects of Omar had
already conquered an establishment in Sicily and Spain, and attempted the
subjugation of France. Their views were directed towards universal
dominion in the West, as well as in the East; they hoped to witness the
triumph of the crescent in Europe not less certainly than in Asia, and to
be able to impose a tribute on the worshippers of Christ, or compel them
to relinquish their creed on the remotest shores of the Atlantic. Those,
therefore, who perceive in the Crusades nothing but a mob of armed
pilgrims running to rescue a tomb in Palestine must take a very limited
view of history. The point in question was not merely the recovery of that
sacred building from the hands of infidels, but rather to decide which of
the two religions, the Christian or Mohammedan, should predominate in the
world; the one hostile to civilization, and only favourable to ignorance,
despotism, and slavery; the other friendly to improvement, learning, and
freedom in all ranks and conditions of society.
It is asserted by Chateaubriand, that whoever reads the address of Pope
Urban to the council of Clermont must be convinced that the leaders in
these military enterprises were not actuated by the petty views which have
been ascribed to them; but, on the contrary, that they aspired to save the
Western World from a new inundation of barbarians. The spirit of Islamism
is conquest and persecution; the gospel, on the contrary, inculcates only
toleration and peace. The Christians, moreover, had endured for several
centuries all the oppressions which the fanaticism of the Saracens
impelled them to exercise. They had merely endeavoured to interest
Charlemagne in their favour; for neither the conquest of Spain, the
invasion of France, the pillage of Greece and the Two Sicilies, nor the
entire subjugation of Africa, could for nearly six hundred years rouse the
Christians to arms. If at last the cries of numberless victims slaughtered
in the East, if the progress of the barbarians, who had already reached
the gates of Constantinople, awakened Christendom, and impelled it to rise
in its own defence, who can say that the cause of the Holy Wars was
unjust? Contemplate Greece, if you would know the fate of a people
subjected to the Mussulman yoke. Would those who at this day so loudly
exult in the progress of knowledge wish to live under a religion that
burned the Alexandrian library, which makes a merit of trampling mankind
under foot, and holding literature and the arts in sovereign contempt? The
Crusades, by weakening the Moslem hordes in the very centre of Asia,
prevented Europe from falling a prey to the Turks and Arabs; they did
more, they saved her from revolutions at home, with which she was
threatened; they suspended intestine wars by which she was ever and anon
desolated; and, finally, they opened an outlet to that excess of
population which sooner or later occasions the ruin of nations.[171]
The administration of Godfrey was gentle and prosperous. He gained a
decisive victory over the Vizier of Egypt, who had encamped on the plains
of Ascalon with the view of assisting his Syrian allies to recover
Jerusalem from the hands of the Christians. According to the spirit of the
age, he joined to the qualities of a brave soldier the profession of an
ardent faith and the utmost reverence for the authority of the church. He
refused a precious diadem offered to him by his companions in arms,
declaring that he would never wear a crown of gold in the city where the
Saviour of the world had worn a crown of thorns. In the same feeling he
was disposed to reject the title of king and to exercise his office under
the name of Defender and Baron of the Holy Sepulchre.
Upon the demise of this distinguished commander, which is supposed to have
taken place at Jaffa, the government devolved upon his brother Baldwin,
who sustained its glory and interests with a steady hand. About the year
1118, he was succeeded on his throne by his nephew, who bore the same
name, and who, although sometimes unfortunate, did not tarnish the honour
of his family. Melisandra, his eldest daughter, married Foulques of Anjou,
and conveyed the kingdom of Jerusalem into the hand of her husband, who
enjoyed it ten or twelve years, when he lost his life by a fall from a
horse. His son, Baldwin the Third, a youth of a rash temper and destitute
of experience, assumed the sceptre of Jerusalem, which he held twenty
years,--a period rendered remarkable by the events of the second Crusade,
and the rise of various orders of knighthood,--the Hospitallers, Templars,
and Cavaliers.
The news from Palestine, that certain reverses had been sustained by the
Christians, acted so powerfully on the pious spirit of St. Bernard and the
troubled conscience of Louis the Seventh, the king of France, as to
suggest a second confederation among the European princes for the security
of the Holy Land. This new apostle of a sacred war was, on many accounts,
greatly superior to Peter the Hermit. He was a man of noble birth;
possessed learning sufficient to rival the attainments of Abelard, his
contemporary; and could speak with a degree of eloquence to which no
orator of his age had the boldness to aspire. The French monarch, who had
assembled around him a powerful and most splendid army, was joined by the
Emperor of Germany, Conrade the Third, whose thousands equalled those of
his warlike brother, and whose zeal in the cause of Christendom was not
less active.
But the experience of their predecessors, fifty years before, was lost
upon these fearless soldiers of the Cross. Without suitable preparation,
they encountered the dangers of a long march through hostile countries and
sickly climates, the effects of which appeared in the rapid diminution of
their numbers, in mutual invectives, and in increasing despair. Not more
than a tenth part of the Germans reached the coast of Syria. The French,
who had suffered less than their allies, were sooner ready to take the
field against the Saracens; and after proving their arms in a few
unimportant skirmishes, they resolved to lay siege to Damascus in concert
with the battalions of Conrade. But the evil genius of intrigue defeated
their designs. After a fruitless display of force more than sufficient to
have reduced the place, the Christian chiefs withdrew from before the
ramparts of the Syrian capital, and fell back upon Jerusalem in sorrow and
shame. Conrade soon returned to Europe with the shattered remains of his
gallant host; and about a year afterward his example was imitated by the
French king and the greater number of his generals, who were disgusted
with the narrow policy on which the war had been conducted.
Baldwin the Third, dying without male issue, transmitted the precarious
throne of Jerusalem to his brother Amaury, or Almeric; who, after of a
reign of eleven years, was succeeded by his son, Baldwin the Fourth. The
young sovereign, being incapable of the duties of government, passed his
minority under the wise counsels of Raymond, Count of Tripoli, who
endeavoured to sustain the weight of kingly power in the midst of very
formidable enemies. The name of Noureddin was long terrible to the
Christians of Palestine, who had gradually lost their warlike virtues; but
they were now about to encounter a still more able, and much more
celebrated antagonist, in the person of Saladin, the hero of the Crescent,
and one of the most distinguished leaders of that very romantic age.
Baldwin had given his sister Sybilla, widow of William, surnamed
Longue-Epée, or the Long-sword, in marriage to Guy of Lusignan. The
grandees of the kingdom, dissatisfied with the choice, divided into
parties. The king, dying in 1184, left for his heir Baldwin the Fifth, the
son of Sybilla and William just mentioned, a child not more than eight
years of age, and who soon afterward sunk under a constitutional
distemper. His mother caused the crown to be conferred on her husband, the
ambitious Guy,--a measure which did not allay the jealousy of the nobles
who had opposed their union. An alarming dissension prevailed among the
barons, some of whom refused to take the oath of allegiance to the new
sovereign, and even offered the diadem to Humphrey de Thoron. But the
intrigues of Sybilla and the terror of Saladin prevented an open rupture,
while events of a more important nature were about to occupy the attention
of either party.
The sultan had received from several of the Christian warriors just ground
of offence, and failing to obtain redress from the feeble government of
Jerusalem, he took the field in order to chastise with his own hand the
more guilty of the aggressors. He encamped near the Lake of Tiberias,
where Guy, listening to counsellors who saw not the danger of placing the
fortunes of the kingdom on the issue of a single battle, resolved to
attack him. For a whole day the engagement was in suspense, and at night
the Latins retired to some rocks in the neighbourhood, hoping that they
might find a little water to quench their thirst. At the approach of dawn
the two armies stood for a while gazing upon each other, as if conscious
that the fate of the Moslem and the Christian worlds was in their hands.
But no sooner did the sun appear than the Crusaders raised their war-cry,
and the Turks sounded their trumpets and atabals,--a mutual challenge to
renew the sanguinary conflict. Thi bishops and clergy ran through the
ranks cheering the soldiers of the church. A fragment of the true cross,
intrusted to the knights of the Holy Sepulchre, was placed on a hillock,
around which the broken squadrons repeatedly rallied, and recovered
strength for the combat whereon the interests of their faith were
suspended. But the Crescent, supported by more numerous and stronger
hands, triumphed on the plain of Tiberias. The Christians were defeated
with great loss; the king, the Master of the Templars, and the Marquis of
Montferrat were taken prisoners, and the piece of holy wood, in which they
had put their trust, was snatched from the grasp of the Bishop of Acre.
This victory placed the greater part of Palestine in the power of
Saladin, who, upon the whole, used his success with moderation and
clemency. The fugitives from every quarter fled to Jerusalem, hoping to
escape in that asylum the swords and fetters of the Turks. One hundred
thousand persons are said to have been crowded within the walls; but so
few were the soldiers, and so feeble was the government of the queen,
that the holy city presented no serious obstacle to the progress of the
Moslem arms. Saladin declared his unwillingness to stain with human blood
a place which even the followers of the Prophet held in reverence, as
having been sanctified by the presence of many inspired individuals. He
therefore promised to the people, on condition that they would quietly
surrender the city, a supply of money, and lands in the most fertile
provinces of Syria.
This offer was rejected, as implying a sacrilegious contract to yield
into the hands of infidels the sacred spot where the Saviour of mankind
had died. He therefore swore that he would enter their streets sword in
hand, and retaliate upon them the dreadful carnage which the Franks had
committed in the days of Godfrey. Two weeks were spent in almost
incessant fighting, during which the advantage was generally on the side
of the assailants. Finding resistance vain, the besieged at length
appealed to the clemency of the conqueror. It was, stipulated that the
military and the nobles should be escorted to Tyre, and that the
inhabitants should become slaves, if not ransomed at certain rates fixed
by Saladin. Thus, to use the words of the historian, "after four days had
been consumed by the miserable inhabitants, in weeping over and embracing
the Holy Sepulchre and other sacred places, the Latins left the city and
passed through the enemy's camp. Children of all ages clung round their
mothers, and the strength of the fathers was used in bearing away some
little part of their household furniture. In solemn procession, the
clergy, the queen, and her retinue of ladies followed. Saladin advanced
to meet them, and his heart melted with compassion when he saw them
approach in the attitude of suppliants." The softened warrior uttered
some expressions of pity; and the women, encouraged by his tenderness,
declared, that by pronouncing one word he might remove their distress.
"Our fortunes and possessions," said they, "you may freely enjoy; but
restore to us our fathers, our husbands, and our brothers. With these
dear objects we cannot be entirely miserable. They will take care of us;
and that God whom we reverence, and who provides for the birds of the
air, will not forget our children." Saladin was a barbarian in nothing
but the name. With the most courteous generosity, he released all the
prisoners whom the women requested, and loaded them with presents. Nor
was this action, so worthy of a gentle and chivalrous knight, the
consequence of a merely transient feeling of humanity; for when he had
entered the city of Jerusalem, and heard of the tender care with which
the military friars of St. John treated their sick countrymen, he allowed
ten of their order to remain in the hospital till they could fully
complete their work of charity.[172]
The Mohammedans, being once more in possession of the holy walls, took
down the great cross from the Church of the Sepulchre, and soiled it with
the mire of the streets. They also melted the bells which had summoned the
Christians to devotion, and at the same time purified the Mosque of Omar
by a copious sprinkling of rose-water. Ascalon, Laodicea, Gabala, Sidon,
Nazareth, and Bethlehem opened their gates to the victorious Saladin, who,
indeed, found no town of consequence able to resist his arms except Tyre,
garrisoned by a body of excellent soldiers under the gallant Conrade. All
the inhabitants took arms, and even the women shot arrows from the walls,
or assisted in strengthening the fortifications. The Saracens cast immense
stones into the place, and attacked it with all the other means in their
power; but the spirit of freedom triumphed over the thirst of revenge, and
the conqueror of Tiberias was finally compelled to relinquish the siege.
The intelligence that Jerusalem had fallen under the dominion of the
unbelievers created in all parts of Europe a profound sensation of grief
and disappointment. The clergy, as on former occasions, preached to all
classes the duty and honour of assuming the Cross, and even of dying is
the service of the Redeemer, should the sacrifice of life be required at
their hands. But the enthusiasm of the eleventh century had now very
generally passed away. Every family had to lament the loss of kindred in
the field of battle or in the bonds of a hopeless captivity; and hence,
the inducements which had crowded the ranks of Godfrey and Conrade were
at this time listened to both in France and England with comparative
indifference.
At length, however, about the year 1190, Philip Augustus, the French King,
the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, and the celebrated Richard
Coeur de Lion succeeded in raising forces, with the view of wresting once
more the Holy Land from the thraldom of the Saracens. Philip received the
staff and scrip at St. Denys, and Richard at Tours. They joined their
armies at Vezelay, the gross amount of which was computed at one hundred
thousand, and marched to Lyons in company. There the royal commanders
separated; the former pursued the road to Genoa, the latter to
Marseilles,--the island of Sicily being named as the place of their nest
meeting.
Among the other fruits of the victory of Tiberias reaped by the brave
Saladin was the possession of Acre, or Ptolemais, one of the moat valuable
ports on the coast of Syria. The Crusaders, aware that they could not
maintain their ground in the East without a constant communication with
Europe, resolved to recover this city at whatever expense of life or
treasure; and with this view they had invested it more than twenty-two
months before Richard could carry his reinforcements into Palestine. Upon
his arrival, an unhappy jealousy arose between him and the King of France,
which divided the Christians into two great parties; nor was it until each
had attempted with his separate force to ascend the ramparts of Ptolemais,
and had even been repulsed with great loss, that they consented to unite
their squadrons, and act in unison. A reconciliation being effected, it
was determined that the one should attack the walls, while the other
guarded the camp from the approaches of Saladin. But the town had already
suffered so dreadfully from the length of the siege, now extended to about
two years, that the garrison were disposed to sue for terms The sultan
endeavoured to infuse his own invincible spirit into the minds of his
people, and to revive for a moment their languid courage, by turning their
hopes to Egypt, whence succour was expected. As no aid appeared, the
citizens wrung from him permission to capitulate. They were accordingly
allowed to purchase their safety by consenting to deliver the city into
the hands of the two kings, together with five hundred Christian prisoners
who were confined in it. The true cross also was to be restored, with one
thousand such captives as might be selected by the allies; it being
covenanted, at the same time, that unless the Mussulmans within forty days
paid to Richard and Philip the sum of two hundred thousand pieces of gold,
the inhabitants of Acre should be at the mercy of the conquerors.
It was on the 12th of July, 1191, that Ptolemais was recovered by the
Europeans; and in the following month, Richard (for the King of France had
already turned his face homewards) gained an important victory over
Saladin at Azotus. The progress of Coeur de Lion being no longer disputed,
he quickly arrived at Jaffa. That city was now without fortifications; for
when the tide of conquest ebbed from the Moslem, their commander gave
orders to dismantle all the fortresses in Palestine. It was his policy to
keep the invaders constantly in the field, and to exhaust them by
incessant marching and sudden attacks. Some time was accordingly lost in
restoring the works of this ancient town,--a period which was employed by
the enemy in recruiting their ranks, and preparing to contest once more
the laurels gained by the conquerors of Azotus.
Richard, still full of confidence, declared to the Saracens that the only
way of averting his wrath was to surrender the kingdom of Jerusalem as it
existed in the reign of Baldwin the Fourth. Saladin did not reject this
proposal with the disdain which he felt, but made a modification of the
terms, by offering to yield all of Palestine that lay between the river
Jordan and the Mediterranean. The negotiation lasted some time without
farther concession on either side, when at length it became manifest that
the enemy were not in earnest, but merely sought to derive advantage from
the delay which they had the ingenuity to create. Hence the meditated
attack on Jerusalem was postponed, and dissension began to prevail in the
ranks of Plantagenet. The winter was passed amid privations of every
description, which, as they were partly owing to the negligence of the
king, gave rise to numerous desertions. The inactive season of the year
was occupied in rebuilding the walls of Ascalon,--a task in which the
proudest nobles and the most dignified clergy laboured like the meanest of
the people. On the return of spring both armies appeared in the field; but
as political disturbances in England demanded the presence of Richard, be
manifested for the first time a greater disposition to negotiate than to
fight. He made known to Saladin that he would be satisfied with the
possession of the holy city and of the true cross. But the latter replied,
that Jerusalem was as dear to the Moslem as to the Christian world; and,
moreover, that he would never be guilty of conniving at idolatry by
permitting the worship of a piece of wood. Thwarted by the religious
prejudices of his enemies, the English commander attempted a different
expedient. He proposed a consolidation of the Christian and Mohammedan
interests, the establishment of a government at Jerusalem, partly European
and partly Asiatic; and this scheme of policy was to be carried into
effect by the marriage of Saphadin, the brother of the sultan, with the
widow of William, King of Sicily. The Moslem princes would have acceded to
these terms; but the union was thought to be so scandalous to religion,
that the imans and priests raised a storm of clamour against it; and
Richard and Saladin, accordingly, though the most powerful and determined
men of their age, were compelled to submit to popular opinion.
In the month of May, therefore, Coeur de Lion began his march towards
Jerusalem, with the firm resolution of accomplishing the main object of
his armament. The generals and soldiers vowed that they would not leave
Palestine until they should have redeemed the Holy Sepulchre. Everything
wore the face of joy when this resolution was announced. Hymns and
thanksgivings gave utterance to the general exultation. Terror seized the
Mussulmans who were appointed to defend the sacred walls, and even Saladin
himself gave way to apprehension for their safety. The Crusaders arrive at
Bethlehem; and here the stout mind of Plantagenet began to vacillate. He
avowed his doubts as to the policy of a siege, as his force was not
adequate to such a measure, and also to the regular maintenance of his
communications with the coast, whence his supplies must be derived. He
submitted his difficulties to the barons of Syria, the Templars, and
Hospitallers, declaring his readiness to abide by their decision, whether
it should be to advance or to retreat. These officers received information
that the Turks had destroyed all the cisterns which were within two miles
of the city, and they felt that the intolerable heats of summer had begun;
for which reason, it was resolved that the attack on Jerusalem should be
deferred, and that the army, meantime, should proceed to some other
conquest.
Saladin, aware of the hesitation which had chilled the wonted ardour of
his foe, resolved to profit by this turn of affairs, so little to be
expected under such a leader. He advanced by forced marches to Jaffa, with
the view of reducing it before Richard could send relief. Attacking it
with his usual vigour, he succeeded in breaking down one of the gates; and
such of the inhabitants as could not defend themselves in the great tower
or escape by sea were put to the sword. Already were the battering-rams
prepared to demolish that fortress, when the patriarch and some French and
English knights agreed to become the prisoners of the sultan, fixing, at
the same time, a heavy sum for the ransom of the citizens, if succour did
not arrive during the next day. Before the morning, however, the brave
Plantagenet reached Jaffa; and so furious was his onset, that the Turks
immediately deserted the town; while their army, which was encamped at a
little distance, no sooner saw the standard of Richard on the walls, than
they retreated some miles into the interior.
But the English chieftain, harassed by unfavourable tidings from home, and
perplexed by dissensions in his camp, became heartily desirous of peace.
Nor was Saladin less willing to grant repose to his country, now exhausted
by protracted wars. The two heroes exchanged expressions of mutual esteem;
but as Richard had often avowed his contempt for the vulgar obligation of
oaths, they only grasped each other's hands in token of fidelity. A truce
was agreed upon for three years and eight months; the fort of Ascalon was
dismantled; but Jaffa and Tyre, with the intervening territory, were
surrendered to the Europeans. It was provided, also, that the Christians
should be at liberty to perform their pilgrimages to Jerusalem, exempted
from the taxes which the Moslem princes were wont to impose.[173]
Towards the end of the year 1192, Richard the Lion-hearted withdrew from
the Holy Land on his way to England,--a journey beset with many perils
and adventures, which it is no part of our task to describe. We are told
that his valour struck such terror into his enemies, that long after his
death, when a horse trembled without any visible cause, the Saracens were
accustomed to say that he had seen the ghost of the English prince. In a
familiar conversation which Saladin held with the warlike Bishop of
Salisbury, he expressed his admiration of the bravery of his rival, but
added, that he thought "the skill of the general did not equal the valour
of the knight." The courteous prelate replied to this remark, the justice
of which, perhaps, he could not question, by assuring the sultan that
there were not two such warriors in the world as the English and the
Syrian monarchs. Without entering minutely into the comparison of two
characters which presented little in common, it must be acknowledged,
that the courage of Richard at the head of his gallant troops prevented
many of the evils which had been anticipated from the defeat at Tiberias.
Palestine did not, as was apprehended, become a Moslem colony. A portion
of the seacoast, too, was preserved for the Christians; while their great
enemy was so enfeebled by repeated discomfitures, that fresh hostilities
could be safely commenced whenever Europe should again find it expedient
to send into the East a renewed host of military adventurers. Richard,
besides, gained more honour in Syria than any of the German emperors or
French kings who had sought renown in foreign war; and although a rigid
wisdom might censure his conduct as unprofitable to his country, it must
be admitted that his actions were in unison with the spirit of the times
in which he lived, when valour was held more important than the
acquisition of wealth, and achievements in the field were esteemed more
highly than the most beneficial results of victory.
Saladin did not long survive the departure of his distinguished rival. He
died in the year 1193; leaving directions, that on the day of his funeral
a shroud should be borne on the point of a spear, and a herald proclaim in
a loud voice, "Saladin, the conqueror of Asia, out of all the fruits of
his victories, carries with him only this piece of linen." The soldiers of
this distinguished sultan rallied round his brother Saphadin, whom they
raised to the throne. Nor did the new monarch disappoint the expectations
that were entertained of his wisdom and valour; for by the exertions of
military skill, as well as by a sagacious policy, he strengthened the
government which was committed to his hands, and was found, at the
expiration of the truce, ready to meet the armies of the combined powers
of Christendom.
The fourth Crusade was called into existence by the active zeal of Pope
Celestine the Third, and of Henry the Sixth, the German emperor, who was
joined by many of the subordinate princes of Northern Europe. The term of
peace fixed by Richard and Saladin had indeed expired; but both Christians
and Moslem, exhausted by war and famine, were disposed to lengthen the
period of repose, and at all events to abstain from a renewal of their
sanguinary conflicts. Nevertheless, when the new champions of the Cross
arrived at Acre, all remonstrances against fresh aggression were
disregarded. Saphadin, who was informed of their hostile intentions,
anticipated them in the field, and before they could advance to Jaffa, he
had battered down the fortifications, and put thousands of the inhabitants
to the sword. A general action, it is true, took place soon afterward, in
which the strength and discipline of the Germans secured the victory; but,
when advancing to Jerusalem, the conquerors allowed themselves to be
turned aside in order to reduce the insignificant fortress of Thoron,
where they met with a repulse so serious as to defeat the main object of
the campaign. Factious contentions now disturbed the councils of the
Latins; vice and insubordination raged in the camp; and, to crown their
miseries, the Crusaders were informed that the Sultans of Egypt and Syria
were concentrating their troops with the view of attacking them. Alarmed
at this intelligence, the German princes deserted their posts in the
night, and fled to Tyre; the road to which was soon filled with soldiers
and baggage in indiscriminate confusion; the feeble relinquishing their
property, and the cowardly casting away their arms.
Another battle took place in the neighbourhood of Jaffa, which terminated,
as before, to the advantage of the Christians. But the death of the
Emperor Henry, the patron of the expedition, again disconcerted their
measures. Many returned to Europe to assist at the election of his
successor; while the residue of the army, thrown into a fatal confidence
by their late triumphs, were destroyed by a body of Turkish auxiliaries,
who surprised them during the revels in which they commemorated the
virtues and abstinence of St. Martin.
The crown of Palestine meantime, greatly shorn of its lustre, had devolved
upon Isabella, daughter of Baldwin and sister to Sybilla. Her third
husband, Henry, Count of Champagne, was acknowledged as king; and upon his
death she was advised to give her hand to Almeric of Lusignan, the brother
of Guy, who had formerly swayed the sceptre. This union being approved by
the clergy and barons, the marriage was celebrated at Acre, where Almeric
and Isabella were proclaimed the sovereigns of Cyprus and Jerusalem.
The repeated failure of the Christian armaments impressed upon the people
of Europe a belief, either that the real difficulties of the enterprise
had been concealed from them, or that the time fixed in the counsels of
Providence for the deliverance of the Holy Land had not yet arrived. In
such circumstances, it required the authority of the church and the power
of eloquence, seconded by the performance of numerous miracles, to rouse
the slumbering zeal of those who had money to give or arms to use in the
service of the Cross. Fulk, the preacher, who equalled Peter the Hermit in
the ardour of his address, and Bernard in oratorical talents, co-operated
with the pope, Innocent the Third, in convincing the several kingdoms
under his spiritual dominion of the necessity of a fifth combined effort,
in order to expel the infidels from the sacred inheritance.
The voice of religion was again listened to with pious obedience, and a
large force was mustered in France and the Low Countries. As, however, the
arms of the Christian chiefs on this occasion were not employed against
the Saracens, but against their own brethren of the Grecian empire, the
object of our work does not require that we should do more than follow
their steps to the shores of the Bosphorus. In April, 1204, Constantinople
fell into their hands, and was subjected to all the horrors and indignity
which usually punish the resistance of a strong city. The remains of the
fine arts, which the Eastern Church had preserved as consecrated memorials
of her triumph over paganism, were destroyed with peculiar industry by the
less polished Latins, who were pleased to view with contempt the superior
taste of their rivals. The establishment of the Crusaders in the capital
of the Lower Empire, where they elected a sovereign and formed an
administration, was the only result of the fifth expedition against the
Moslem. Their dominion lasted fifty-seven years, at the end of which
Manuel Paleologus, descendant of Lascaris, and son-in-law of the Emperor
Alexis, recovered the throne of the Cesars, and finally expelled the
usurpers from the city of Constantine.
The successes of the French, against the Greeks had, however, an indirect
influence in promoting the welfare of the Christians in Palestine. The
Mussulmans were alarmed, and Saphadin gladly concluded a truce for six
years. But the country was doomed to be soon deprived of the tranquillity
afforded by a cessation of arms. Almeric and his wife being dead, Mary,
the daughter of Isabella by Conrade of Tyre, was acknowledged Queen of
Jerusalem; while Hugh de Lusignan, son of Almeric by his first wife, was
proclaimed King of Cyprus. There was not at that time in Palestine any
powerful nobleman capable of governing the state; on which account the
civil and ecclesiastical potentates resolved that Philip Augustus of
France should be requested to provide a husband for Mary. The French
monarch fixed his eyes on John de Brienne who was esteemed among the
knights of Europe as equally wise in council and experienced in war.
The hopes inspired by this union raised the pretensions of the Christian
community so high, that they refused to prolong the truce which still
subsisted between them and the sultan. The latter, therefore, marched an
army to the neighbourhood of Tripoli, and threatened hostilities. The
young king took the field at the head of a respectable force and
displayed his valour in many a fierce encounter; and though he did not
succeed in concerning his foes, he saved his states from the utter
annihilation with which they were threatened. He foresaw, however, the
approaching ruin of the sacred cause; for he could not fail to observe
that, while the Saracens were constantly acquiring new advantages, the
Latin barons were embracing every opportunity of returning home. He
accordingly wrote to the pope, that the kingdom of Jerusalem consisted
only of two or three towns, and that its fate must already have been
determined but for the civil wars which had raged among the sons of
Saladin.