following up the establishment of public peace and his darling object,
the crusade, at the same time. The holy monarch did not forget that
the surest manner of softening the evils of war, as well as of his
absence, was to make good laws; he therefore issued several
ordinances, and each of these ordinances was a monument of his
justice. The most celebrated of all is the Pragmatic Sanction, which
Bossuet called the firmest support of Gallican liberties. He also
employed himself in elevating that monument of legislation which
illustrated his reign and which became a light for following ages.
The Count of Poictiers, who was to accompany his brother, was in the
mean time engaged in pacifying his provinces, and established many
regulations for maintaining public order. He, above everything,
endeavored to abolish slavery; having for a maxim "that men are born
free, and it is always wise to bring back things to their origin."
This good prince drew upon himself the benedictions of his people; and
the love of his vassals assured the duration of the laws he made.
We have said that Prince Edward, son of Henry III, had taken the oath
to combat the infidels. He had recently displayed a brilliant valor in
the civil war that had so long desolated England; and the deliverance
of his father and the pacification of the kingdom had been the reward
of his exploits. It was his esteem for the character of Louis IX, more
than the spirit of devotion, that induced him to set out for the East.
The King of France, who himself exhorted him to take the cross, lent
him seventy _livres tournois_ for the preparations for his voyage.
Edward was to follow Louis as his vassal, and to conduct under his
banners the English crusaders, united with those of Guienne. Gaston de
Béarn, to whom the French monarch advanced the sum of twenty-five
thousand livres, prepared to follow Prince Edward to the Holy Land.
The period fixed upon for the departure of the expedition was drawing
near. By order of the legate, the _curés_ in every parish had taken
the names of the crusaders, in order to oblige them to wear the cross
publicly, and all had notice to hold themselves in readiness to embark
in the month of May, 1270. Louis confided the administration of his
kingdom, during his absence, to Matthew, Abbot of St. Denis, and to
Simon, Sieur de Nesle; he wrote to all the nobles who were to follow
him into the Holy Land, to recommend them to assemble their knights
and men-at-arms. As religious enthusiasm was not sufficiently strong
to make men forget their worldly interests, many nobles who had taken
the cross entertained great fears of being ruined by the holy war, and
most of them hesitated to set out. Louis undertook to pay all the
expenses of their voyage, and to maintain them at his own cost during
the war--a thing that had not been done in the crusades of Louis VII
or Philip Augustus, in which the ardor of the crusaders did not allow
them to give a thought to their fortunes or to exercise so much
foresight. We have still a valuable monument of this epoch in a
charter, by which the King of France stipulates how much he is to pay
to a great number of barons and knights during the time the war beyond
the seas should last.
Early in the month of March, Louis repaired to the Church of St.
Denis, where he received the symbols of the pilgrimage and placed his
kingdom under the protection of the apostles of France. Upon the day
following this solemn ceremony, a mass for the crusade was celebrated
in the Church of Notre Dame at Paris. The monarch appeared there,
accompanied by his children and the principal nobles of his court; he
walked from the palace barefooted, carrying his scrip and staff. The
same day he went to sleep at Vincennes, and beheld, for the last time,
the spot on which he had enjoyed so much happiness in administering
justice to his people. And it was here too that he took leave of Queen
Marguerite, whom he had never before quitted--a separation rendered so
much the more painful by the sorrowful reflection it recalled of past
events and by melancholy presentiments for the future.
Both the people and the court were affected by the deepest regret; and
that which added to the public anxiety was the circumstance that
everyone was ignorant of the point to which the expedition was to be
directed: the coast of Africa was only vaguely conjectured. The King
of Sicily had taken the cross without having the least inclination to
embark for Asia; and when the question was discussed in council he
gave it as his opinion that Tunis should be the object of the first
attack. The kingdom of Tunis covered the seas with pirates, who
infested all the routes to Palestine; it was, besides, the ally of
Egypt, and might, if subdued, be made the readiest road to that
country. These were the ostensible reasons put forth; the true ones
were that it was of importance to the King of Sicily that the coasts
of Africa should be brought under European subjection, and that he did
not wish to go too far from Italy. The true reason with St. Louis, and
that which, no doubt, determined him, was that he believed it possible
to convert the King of Tunis, and thus bring a vast kingdom under the
Christian banners. The Mussulman Prince, whose ambassadors had been
several times in France, had himself given birth to this idea, by
saying that he asked nothing better than to embrace the religion of
Jesus Christ; thus, that which he had said to turn aside an invasion
was precisely the cause of the war being directed against his
territories. Louis IX often repeated that he would consent to pass the
whole of his life in a dungeon, without seeing the sun, if, by such
sacrifice, the conversion of the King of Tunis and his nation could be
brought about; an expression of ardent proselytism that has been
blamed with much bitterness, but which only showed an extreme desire
to see Africa delivered from barbarism and marching with Europe in the
progress of intelligence and civilization, which are the great
blessings of Christianity.
As Louis traversed his kingdom on his way to Aigues-Mortes, where the
army of the crusaders was to embark, he was everywhere hailed by the
benedictions of his people, and gratified by hearing their ardent
prayers for the success of his arms. The clergy and the faithful,
assembled in the churches, prayed for the King and his children and
all that should follow him. They prayed also for foreign princes and
nobles who had taken the cross and promised to go into the East, as if
they would, by that means, press them to hasten their departure.
Very few, however, responded to this religious appeal. The King of
Castile, who had taken the cross, had pretensions to the imperial
crown, nor could he forget the death of his brother Frederick,
immolated by Charles of Anjou. It was not only that the affairs of the
empire detained the German princes and nobles; the death of young
Conradin had so shocked and disgusted men's minds in Germany that no
one from that country would have consented to fight under the same
banners as the King of Sicily. So black a crime, committed amid the
preparations for a holy war, appeared to presage great calamities. In
the height of their grief or indignation, people might fear that
heaven would be angry with the Christians, and that its curse would
fall upon the arms of the crusaders.
When Louis arrived at Aigues-Mortes, he found neither the Genoese
fleet nor the principal nobles who were to embark with him; the
ambassadors of Palæologus were the only persons who did not cause
themselves to be waited for; for a great dread of the crusade was
entertained at Constantinople, and this fear was more active than the
enthusiasm of the crusaders. Louis might have asked the Greek Emperor
why, after having promised to send soldiers, he had only sent
ambassadors; but Louis, who attached great importance to the
conversion of the Greeks, contented himself with removing the
apprehensions of the envoys, and, as Clement IV died at that period,
he sent them to the conclave of the cardinals, to terminate the
reunion of the two churches.
At length the unwilling crusaders, stimulated by repeated exhortations
and by the example of Louis, set forward on their march from all the
provinces, and directed their course toward the ports of Aigues-Mortes
and Marseilles. Louis soon welcomed the arrival of the Count of
Poictiers, with a great number of his vassals; the principal nobles
brought with them the most distinguished of their knights and their
most brave and hardy soldiers; many cities likewise contributed their
supply of warriors. Each troop had its banner, and formed a separate
corps, bearing the name of a city or a province, the battalions of
Beaucaire, Carcassonne, Châlons, Perigord, etc., attracted observation
in the Christian army. These names, it is true, excited great
emulation, but they also gave rise to quarrels, which the wisdom and
firmness of Louis had great difficulty in appeasing. Crusaders arrived
from Catalonia, Castile, and several other provinces of Spain; five
hundred warriors from Friesland likewise ranged themselves with full
confidence under the standard of such a leader as Louis, saying that
their nation had always been proud to obey the kings of France.
Before he embarked, the King wrote once more to the regents of the
kingdom, to recommend them to watch carefully over public morals, to
deliver France from corrupt judges, and to render to everybody,
particularly the poor, prompt and perfect justice, so that He who
judges the judgments of men might have nothing to reproach him with.
Such were the last farewells that Louis took of France. The fleet set
sail on the 4th of July, 1270, and in a few days arrived in the road
of Cagliari. Here the council of the counts and barons was assembled
in the King's vessel, to deliberate upon the plan of the crusade.
Those who advocated the conquest of Tunis said that by that means the
passages of the Mediterranean would be opened and the power of the
mamelukes would be weakened; and that after that conquest the army
would go triumphantly into either Egypt or Palestine. Many of the
barons were not of this opinion; they said that, if the Holy Land
stood in need of prompt assistance, they ought to afford it without
delay. While they were engaged on the coast of Africa, in a country
with which they were unacquainted, the Christian cities of Syria might
all fall into the hands of the Saracens. The most redoubtable enemy of
the Christians was Beibars, the terrible Sultan of Cairo; it was him
they ought first to attack; it was into his states, into the bosom of
his capital, that the war should be carried, and not to a place two
hundred leagues from Egypt. They added to this, remembrances of the
defeats that ought to be avenged upon the very theatre of so many
disasters. Contemporary history does not say to what extent Louis was
struck with the wisdom of these last opinions; but the expedition to
Tunis flattered his most cherished hopes. It had been proposed by the
King of Sicily, whose concurrence was necessary to the success of the
crusade. It was, therefore, decided that the Genoese fleet should
direct its course toward Africa; and two days after, on the 20th of
July, it arrived in sight of Tunis and Carthage. At the sight of the
Christian fleet, the inhabitants of the coast of Africa were seized
with terror, and all who were upon the Carthage shore took flight
toward the mountains or toward Tunis. Some vessels that were in the
port were abandoned by their crews; the King ordered Florent de
Varennes, who performed the functions of admiral, to get into a boat
and reconnoitre the coast. Varennes found nobody in the port or upon
the shore; he sent word to the King that there was no time to be
lost--he must take immediate advantage of the consternation of the
enemy. But it was remembered that in the preceding expedition the
descent upon the coast of Egypt had been too precipitate; in this it
was determined to risk nothing. Inexperienced youth had presided over
the former war; now it was directed by old age and ripe manhood, and
it was resolved to wait till the morrow. The next day at dawn the
coast appeared covered with Saracens, among whom were many men on
horseback. The crusaders, nevertheless, commenced their preparations
for landing. At the approach of the Christians, the multitude of
infidels disappeared; which, according to the account of an
eyewitness, was a blessing from heaven, for the disorder was so great
that a hundred men would have been sufficient to stop the
disembarkation of the whole army. When the Christian army had landed,
it was drawn up in order of battle upon the shore, and, in accordance
with the laws of war, Pierre de Condé, almoner to the King, read with
a loud voice a proclamation by which the conquerors took possession of
the territory. This proclamation, which Louis had drawn up himself,
began by these words: "I proclaim, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and of Louis, King of France, his sergeant," etc. The baggage,
provisions, and munitions of war were landed; a vast space was marked
out, and the Christian soldiers pitched their tents. While they were
digging ditches and raising intrenchments to protect the army from a
surprise, they took possession of the tower built on the point of the
cape, and on the following day five hundred sailors planted the
standard of the lilies upon the castle of Carthage. The village of
Marsa, which was close to the castle, fell likewise into the hands of
the crusaders; the women and the sick were placed here, while the army
remained beneath their tents. Louis still hoped for the conversion of
the King of Tunis, but this pious illusion was very quickly dissolved.
The Mussulman Prince sent messengers to the King to inform him that he
would come and meet him at the head of a hundred thousand men, and
would require baptism of him on the field of battle; the Moorish King
added that he had caused all the Christians in his dominions to be
seized, and that every one of them should be massacred if the
Christian army presumed to insult his capital. The menaces and vain
bravadoes of the Prince of Tunis effected no change in the plans of
the crusade; the Moors, besides, inspired no fear, and they themselves
could not conceal the terror which the sight only of the Christians
created in them. Not daring to face their enemy, their scattered bands
sometimes hovered around the Christian army, seeking to surprise any
stragglers from the camp; and at others, uniting together, they poured
down toward the advanced posts, launched a few arrows, showed their
naked swords, and then depended upon the swiftness of their horses to
secure them from the pursuit of the Christians. They not unfrequently
had recourse to treachery; three hundred of them came into the camp of
the crusaders, and said they wished to embrace the Christian faith,
and a hundred more followed them announcing the same intention. After
being received with open arms, they waited for what they deemed a
favorable opportunity, and fell upon a body of the Christians, sword
in hand; but being overwhelmed by numbers, most of them were killed,
and the rest were allowed to escape. Three of the principals fell on
their knees and implored the compassion of their leaders. The contempt
the Franks had for such enemies obtained their pardon, and they were
driven out of the camp. At length the Mussulman army, now emboldened
by the inaction of the Christians, presented itself several times on
the plain. Nothing would have been more easy than to attack and
conquer it; but Louis had resolved to act upon the defensive, and to
await the arrival of the King of Sicily, before beginning the war--a
fatal resolution, which ruined everything. The Sicilian monarch, who
had advised this ill-starred expedition, was destined to complete, by
his delays, the evil he had begun by his counsels. The Mussulmans
flocked from all parts of Africa to defend the cause of Islamism
against the Christians. Preparations were carried on in Egypt to meet
the invasion of the Franks; and in the month of August, Beibars
announced by messengers that he was about to march to the assistance
of Tunis. The troops which the Sultan of Cairo maintained in the
province of Barca received orders to set forward. Thus the Moorish
army was about to become formidable; but it was not this host of
Saracens that the crusaders had most to dread. Other dangers, other
misfortunes, threatened them: the Christian army wanted water; they
had none but salted provisions; the soldiers could not endure the
climate of Africa; winds constantly prevailed, which, coming from the
torrid zone, appeared to the Europeans to be the breath of a devouring
fire. The Saracens upon the neighboring mountains raised the sand with
certain instruments made for the purpose, and the dust was carried by
the wind in burning clouds down upon the plain upon which the
Christians were encamped. At last, dysentery, that fatal malady of
warm climates, began to commit frightful ravages among the troops; and
the plague, which appears to be born of itself upon this burning, arid
sand, spread its dire contagion through the Christian army.
They were obliged to be under arms night and day; not to defend
themselves from an enemy that always fled away from them, but to guard
against surprise. A vast number of the crusaders sunk under fatigue,
famine, and disease.
It became impossible to bury the dead; the ditches of the camp were
filled with carcasses, thrown in in heaps, which added to the
corruption of the air and to the spectacle of the general desolation.
In spite of his sufferings, in spite of his griefs, Louis IX was
constantly engaged in endeavors to alleviate the situation of his
army. He gave orders as long as he had any strength left, dividing his
time between the duties of a Christian and those of a monarch. The
fever, however, increased; no longer able to attend either to his
cares for the army or to exercises of piety, he ordered the cross to
be placed before him, and, stretching out his hands, he in silence
implored Him who had suffered for all men.
The whole army was in a state of mourning--the soldiers walked about
in tears, demanding of heaven the preservation of so good a prince.
Amid the general grief, Louis turned his thoughts toward the
accomplishment of the divine laws and the destinies of France.
Philip, who was his successor to the throne, was in his tent; he
desired him to approach his bed, and in a faltering voice gave him
counsels in what manner he should govern the kingdom of his fathers.
The instructions he gave him comprise the most noble maxims of
religion and loyalty; and that which will render them forever worthy
of the respect of posterity is that they had the authority of his
example, and only recalled the virtues of his own life.
HEIGHT OF THE MONGOL POWER IN CHINA
A.D. 1271
MARCO POLO
The celebrated traveller, Marco Polo, was born at Venice in
1254, and died there in 1334, His father, a Venetian
merchant, had passed many years in Tartary, where he was
hospitably treated by Kublai Khan, to whose court, at an
early age, Marco was taken, and there was received into the
Khan's service. The training he acquired there fitted him to
become a professional politician rather than a traveller, in
the ordinary sense of the word; hence his more intimate
acquaintance with the social and political systems which he
describes.
Possessing, in a high degree, the versatility and subtlety
seen in so many of his nation, and improving his new
opportunities, he soon became among the high-class Tartars
as one of themselves. He adopted their dress and manners,
and learned the four languages spoken in the Khan's
dominions, of which he left a famous description in his book
of travels.
The empire seems at this time to have been at the height of
its splendor, and historians, as well as students and
readers of history, have been fortunate in possessing the
shrewd and candid observations of Marco Polo, whose unique
narratives still preserve their simple charm, nowise
impaired by comparison with our stricter historical methods.
It is our desire to treat of the great and admirable achievements of
the Grand Khan now reigning, who is styled Kublai Khan; the latter
word implying, in our language, lord of lords, and with much propriety
added to his name; for in respect to number of subjects, extent of
territory, and amount of revenue he surpasses every sovereign that has
heretofore been or that now is in the world; nor has any other been
served with such implicit obedience by those whom he governs.
Kublai Khan is the lineal and legitimate descendant of Genghis Khan,
the first emperor, and the rightful sovereign of the Tartars. He
obtained the sovereignty by his consummate valor, his virtues, and his
prudence, in opposition to the designs of his brothers, supported by
many of the great officers and members of his own family. But the
succession appertained to him of right. It is forty-two years since he
began to reign, and he is fully eighty-five years of age. Previously
to his ascending the throne he had served as a volunteer in the army,
and endeavored to take a share in every enterprise. Not only was he
brave and daring in action, but in point of judgment and military
skill he was considered to be the most able and successful commander
that ever led the Tartars to battle. From that period, however, he
ceased to take the field in person, and intrusted the conduct of
expeditions to his sons and his captains; excepting in one instance,
the occasion of which was as follows.
A certain chief named Nayan, who, although only thirty years of age,
was kinsman to Kublai, had succeeded to the dominion of many cities
and provinces, which enabled him to bring into the field an army of
four hundred thousand horse. His predecessors, however, had been
vassals of the Grand Khan. Actuated by youthful vanity upon finding
himself at the head of so great a force, he formed, in the year 1286,
the design of throwing off his allegiance, and usurping the
sovereignty. With this view he privately despatched messengers to
Kaidu, another powerful chief, whose territories lay toward the
greater Turkey, and who, although a nephew of the Grand Khan, was in
rebellion against him, and bore him determined ill-will, proceeding
from the apprehension of punishment for former offences. To Kaidu,
therefore, the propositions made by Nayan were highly satisfactory,
and he accordingly promised to bring to his assistance an army of a
hundred thousand horse. Both princes immediately began to assemble
their forces, but it could not be effected so secretly as not to come
to the knowledge of Kublai, who, upon hearing of their preparations,
lost no time in occupying all the passes leading to the countries of
Nayan and of Kaidu, in order to prevent them from having any
information respecting the measures he was himself taking.
He then gave orders for collecting, with the utmost celerity, the
whole of the troops stationed within ten days' march of the city of
Kambalu. These amounted to three hundred and sixty thousand horse, to
which was added a body of a hundred thousand foot, consisting of those
who were usually about his person, and principally his falconers and
domestic servants. In the course of twenty days they were all in
readiness. Had he assembled the armies kept up for the constant
protection of the different provinces of Cathay, it must necessarily
have required thirty or forty days; in which time the enemy would have
gained information of his arrangements, and been enabled to effect
their junction, and to occupy such strong positions as would best suit
with their designs. His object was, by promptitude, which is ever the
companion of victory, to anticipate the preparations of Nayan, and, by
falling upon him while single, destroy his power with more certainty
and effect than after he should have been joined by Kaidu.