The Crusade of St Louis
(The Eighth Crusade)
_Some grey crusading knight austere
Who bore St Louis company
And came home hurt to death...._
MATTHEW ARNOLD: _A Southern Night._
A hundred years earlier, the news of the destruction of Jerusalem would
have stricken all Europe with horror and roused her to action. It was
not so now. That earlier fervour of religion which had sent pilgrims
rejoicing to an almost certain death had died away, and had been
replaced by a more practical form of faith which found its outlet in a
zeal for converting the souls of men, and healing their bodies, rather
than in a thirst for the blood of infidels.
In the narrow dirty lanes of cities the inspired monk or eager friar
was still to be found; but the followers of St Francis of Assisi or St
Dominic were soldiers of the Cross in a more Christ-like, if a less
military, spirit than Peter the Hermit or Bernard of Clairvaux, and
stirred up the people rather to cleaner and healthier lives than to
take arms for the Holy War.
Amongst the sovereigns of Europe at this time, of whom Frederick II.
was a fair example, there yet remained one of the old type, one who was
filled with the purest zeal {219} for religion mingled with the desire
to win glory as became a true knight.
This was Louis IX. of France--the St Louis of the Eighth Crusade--who,
if he accomplished nothing towards establishing Christian rule in the
Holy Land, yet remains to us in history as an example of the very few
who took up the Cross and carried on the war, inspired only by holy and
unselfish motives.
"Louis and his fair queen appear, indeed, as brilliant stars, shining
through the blackness of a sky overcast with clouds; but they could not
dispel the darkness, or lend more than a transitory gleam of brightness
to illumine the gloomy prospects."[1]
[1] W. E. Dutton.
King Louis found a devoted hero-worshipper and chronicler in the Sire
de Joinville, a great French noble, who accompanied him upon the Eighth
Crusade, and whose story will often be told here in his own words.
Louis IX. came to the French throne at no easy time, for he was but a
boy of ten, and the powerful French barons were eager to win their
independence of the royal power. But they found their match in the
Queen Regent, Blanche of Castile, who, for the first time, put her
dependence upon the people of her land, and trusted to them to defend
their young king against the rebellion of the nobles. She also, as we
have seen, won over to her side Count Theobald of Champagne, by whose
help the rebels were soon forced to yield, and who, for love of her,
afterwards became one of the leaders in the Seventh Crusade.
The young Louis was brought up by her more as a monk than a king, and,
as he grew older, his own tastes turned entirely in the same direction.
"You are not a {220} king of France," cried a woman who was trying to
win his favour in an unjust cause, "you are a king only of priests and
monks. It is a pity that you are king of France. You ought to be
turned out."
"You speak truly," was the gentle answer, "it has pleased God to make
me king; it had been well had He chosen some one better able to govern
this kingdom rightly."
Yet he was one of France's wisest rulers, taking a personal interest in
the troubles of her people that was rare, indeed, in those days.
"Ofttimes it happened that he would go, after his mass, and seat
himself in the wood of Vincennes, and lean against an oak, and make us
sit round him. And all those who had any cause in hand came and spoke
to him, without hindrance of usher or any other person. Then would he
ask, out of his own mouth, 'Is there anyone who has a cause in hand?'
And those who had a cause stood up. Then would he say, 'Keep silence
all and you shall be heard in turn, one after the other.' And when he
saw that there was anything to amend in the words of those who spoke on
their own behalf, or on behalf of any other person, he would himself,
out of his own mouth, amend what he had said."
His love of justice is seen in his answer to the Pope, when Gregory,
after a second violent quarrel with the Emperor Frederick, had deposed
him and offered the crown to Louis' brother. Gentle as was the King's
usual speech, he replies now, "Whence is this pride and daring of the
Pope, who thus disinherits a king who has no superior nor even an equal
among Christians--a king not convicted of the crimes laid to his
charge? To us he has not only appeared innocent, but a good neighbour;
{221} we see no cause for suspicion either of his worldly loyalty or of
his Catholic faith. This we know, that he has fought valiantly for our
Lord Christ both by sea and land. So much religion we have not found
in the Pope, who endeavoured to confound and wickedly supplant him in
his absence, while he was engaged in the cause of God."
There can be no doubt that it was in his character as a Crusader that
Frederick mainly attracted Louis, for he had little else in common with
him. For a long time the French King nursed in secret his desire to
follow his hero's example, since his mother would not hear of his
deserting his own kingdom. But at length the clear call came.
"It happened, as God so willed, that a very grievous sickness came upon
the king in Paris, and brought him to such extremity that one of the
ladies who was tending him wished to draw the cloth over his face,
saying he was dead; but another lady, who was on the other side of the
bed, would not suffer it, saying that the soul was still in his body.
And as he listened to the debate between these two ladies, Our Lord
wrought within him and soon sent him health, for before that he had
been dumb and could not speak.
"And as soon as he could speak, he asked that they should give him the
Cross, and they did so.
"When the queen, his mother, heard that speech had come back to him,
she made as great joy thereof as ever she could. But when she knew
that he had taken the Cross--as also he himself told her--she made as
great mourning as if she had seen him dead."
Not even his mother's grief could hinder this ardent soldier of the
Cross, whose chief wish now was to {222} persuade his nobles to follow
him. At the Christmas of that year he presented each of his barons
with a new robe. When these were put on, they were found to have the
red cross embroidered between the shoulders. The wearers had "taken
the cross," and must accompany their king.
Two years were spent in preparing supplies, and at the end of the year
1248, King Louis, with the Queen, his wife, embarked and sailed to
Cyprus, where he remained until the spring of 1249. On landing in
Egypt at the Point of Limesol, he met with a strange occurrence.
"The king," says Joinville, "landed on the day of Pentecost. After we
had heard mass, a fierce and powerful wind, coming from the Egyptian
side, arose in such sort, that out of two thousand eight hundred
knights, whom the king was taking into Egypt, there remained no more
than seven hundred whom the wind had not separated from the king's
company, and carried away to Acre and other strange lands, nor did they
afterwards return to the king of a long while."
This sounds like a story from the "Arabian Nights," and one can
understand the King's haste to escape, with the remnant left him, from
the region of this mysterious wind of the desert. So he sailed to
Damietta, "and we found there, arrayed on the seashore, all the power
of the Sultan--a host fair to look upon, for the Sultan's arms are of
gold, and when the sun struck upon them they were resplendent. The
noise they made with their cymbals and horns was fearful to listen to."
[Illustration: _The Landing of St Louis in Egypt_]
Waiting only until he saw his ensign of St Denis safe on shore, "the
king went across his ship with large steps, and would not leave from
following the ensign, but leapt into the sea, which was up to his
arm-pits. So he went, {225} with his shield hung to his neck, and his
helmet on his head, and his lance in his hand, till he came to his
people who were on the shore."
Seized with panic at the sight of the many brave ships and the landing
of the Crusaders, the garrison of Damietta fled without striking a
blow. Says Joinville, "The Saracens sent thrice to the Sultan, by
carrier-pigeons, to say that the king had landed, but never received
any message in return, because the Sultan's sickness was upon him.
Wherefore they thought that the Sultan was dead, and abandoned Damietta.
"Then the king sent for all the prelates of the host, and all chanted
with a loud voice, _Te Deum laudamus_.
"Afterwards the king mounted his horse, and we all likewise, and we
went and encamped before Damietta."
There they remained until they were joined by the King's brother, the
Count of Poitiers; and after that a march was made upon Babylon,
"because, if you wanted to kill the serpent, you must first crush its
head."
Now when they tried to cross the delta of the Nile, which at that part
of Egypt lies between four "branches" of the river, they encamped
between the stream that flows to Damietta, and that which flows to
Tanis, and found the whole host of the Sultan lying upon the farther
side of the latter, and ready to defend the passages.
The King at once gave orders to build a causeway across the river; but
as fast as this was made the Saracens dug holes and let in the water
which had been dammed up, thus washing away the work. They constantly
harassed the camp also, and tried to cut off the French army in the
rear; and when they began to use Greek fire also, the hearts of the
Crusaders began somewhat to quail.
{226}
"The fashion of the Greek fire was such that it came frontwise as large
as a bottle of verjuice, and the tail of fire that issued from it, was
as large as a large lance. The noise it made in coming was like
Heaven's own thunder. It had the seeming of a dragon flying through
the air. It gave so great a light because of the great abundance of
fire making the light, that one saw as clearly through the camp as if
it had been day....
"When my Lord Walter, the good knight who was with me, saw this, he
spoke thus: 'Lord, we are in the greatest peril that we have ever been
in, for if they set fire to our towers and we remain here, we are but
lost and burnt up; while if we leave these defences which we have been
sent to guard, we are dishonoured. Wherefore none can defend us in
this peril save God alone. So my advice and counsel is, that every
time they hurl the fire at us, we throw ourselves on our elbows and
knees, and pray to our Saviour to keep us in this peril....'
"Every time that our saintly king heard them hurling the Greek fire, he
would raise himself in his bed, and lift up his hands to Our Saviour,
and say, weeping, 'Fair Lord God, guard me my people.'
"And verily I believe that his prayers did us good service in our need.
At night, every time the fire had fallen, he sent one of his
chamberlains to ask how we fared, and whether the fire had done us any
hurt."
At length, when things were getting very serious for the Crusading
army, there came a Bedouin, or Arab of the desert, to the camp, and
offered to show them a ford over the river if they would pay him five
hundred besants.
Risky as was the undertaking--for the offer might have been a mere
piece of treachery, with the object of placing the host in an entirely
unprotected position, and {227} of drowning most of their number--the
King decided in its favour, and determined to lead the way, with his
three brothers, across the ford.
"Then, as the dawn of day was appearing, we collected from all points
and came to the Bedouin's ford; and when we were ready we went to the
stream and our horses began to swim. When we got to the middle of the
stream, we touched ground and our horses found footing; and on the
other bank of the stream were full three hundred Saracens, all mounted
on their horses.
"Then said I (the Sire de Joinville) to my people, 'Sirs, look only to
the left hand, and let each draw thither; the banks are wet and soft,
and the horses are falling upon their riders and drowning them.'
Thereupon we moved in such sort that we turned up the stream and found
a dry way, and so passed over, thank God! that not one of us fell; and
as soon as we had passed over, the Turks fled."
But disaster was at hand. The Templars had been given the post of
honour in the vanguard, and close after them came the Count of Artois,
brother to the King, with his men.
"Now it so happened that as soon as the Count of Artois had passed over
the stream, he and all his people fell upon the Turks, who had fled
before them. The Templars notified to him that he was doing them great
despite in that, while his place was to come after them, he was going
before them, and they besought him to suffer them to go before, as had
been arranged by the king. Now it chanced that the Count of Artois did
not venture to answer them because of my Lord Foucaud of Merle, who
held the bridle of his horse; and this Foucaud of {228} Merle was a
very good knight, but heard naught of what the Templars were saying to
the Count, seeing that he was deaf, and was all the while crying, 'Out
on them! Out on them!'
"Now when the Templars saw this, they thought they would be shamed if
they suffered the Count to outride them, so they struck spurs into
their horses, helter-skelter, and chased the Turks, and the Turks fled
before them, right through the town of Mansourah and into the fields
beyond towards Babylon.
"But when the Crusaders thought to return, the Turks threw beams and
blocks of wood upon them in the streets, which were narrow. There were
killed the Count of Artois, the Lord of Couci, who was called Raoul,
and so many other knights that the number was reckoned at three
hundred. The Temple, as the Master has since told me, lost there
fourteen score men-at-arms, and all mounted."
The whole blame of this disastrous affair must be laid at the door of
the Count of Artois, in spite of Joinville's attempt to put it on the
shoulders of Lord Foucaud. When the Grand Master of the Templars had
warned the Count of the risk of pursuing men who had but given way to a
moment's panic, the latter openly accused him of treachery.
"Do you suppose," cried the Master, "that we have left our homes and
our substance and taken the habit of a religious in a strange land,
only to betray the Cause of God and to forfeit our salvation?"
And with that he prepared to go to almost certain death. Then William
Longsword, son of the Earl of Salisbury, did his best to turn the Count
from such a course of destruction, and was met with insult. "See {229}
how timid are these tailed English! It would be well if the army were
purged of such folk!" "At least," returned Longsword, "we English
to-day will be where you will not dare to touch our horses' tails."
Longsword fell that day with his face to the foe, Artois, in trying to
escape, and the whole force must have been destroyed had not the King's
division come to the rescue, while Joinville, who tells the tale,
managed to hold the bridge across to the town. Says the latter, "We
were all covered with the darts that failed to hit the sergeants. Now
it chanced that I found a Saracen's quilted tunic lined with tow: I
turned the open side towards me and made a shield of it, which did me
good service, for I was only wounded by their darts in five places, and
my horse in fifteen. And it chanced again that one of my burgesses of
Joinville brought me a pennon with my arms and a lance head thereto,
and every time that we saw that the Turks pressed too hardly upon the
sergeants, we charged them and they went flying.
"The good Count of Soissons, in that point of danger, jested with me,
and said, 'Seneschal, let these curs howl! We shall talk of this day
yet, you and I, in ladies' chambers.'"
At sunset, when the King's crossbow men came up, the Saracens fled, and
Joinville, hastening to Louis, conducted him with loving care to his
tent. "And as we were going, I made him take off his helmet, and lent
him my steel cap, so that he might have air.
"When he had passed over the river, there came to him Brother Henry,
Provost of the Hospitallers, and kissed his mailed hand. The king
asked if he had any tidings of the Count of Artois, his brother, and
the Provost said that he had news of him indeed, for he {230} knew of a
certainty that his brother, the Count of Artois, was in Paradise.
"'Ah, sire,' said the Provost, 'be of good comfort therein, for never
did King of France gain such honour as you have gained this day. For,
in order to fight your enemies, you have passed swimmingly over a
river, and you have discomfited them, and driven them from the field,
and taken their war-engines and also their tents, wherein you will
sleep this night.'
"Then the king replied, 'Let God be worshipped for all He has given
me!' but the big tears fell from his eyes."
In spite of the Provost's cheering words, the King's army was still in
a position of great danger. That very night an attack was made upon
the camp, which was but the first of a series of attacks which cut
Louis off entirely from Damietta and forced him to retreat to the
"Island."
"When I was laid in my bed," says Joinville, "when indeed I had good
need of rest because of the wounds received the day before--no rest was
vouchsafed to me. For before it was well day, a cry went through the
camp, 'To arms! To arms!' I roused my chamberlain, who lay at my
feet, and told him to go and see what was the matter. He came back in
terror, and said, 'Up, lord, up: for here are the Saracens, who have
come on foot and mounted, and discomfited the king's sergeants who kept
guard over the engines, and have driven them among the ropes of our
tents.'
[Illustration: _The Last Fight of William Longsword_]
"I got up and threw a tunic over my back and a steel cap on my head,
and cried to our sergeants, 'By St Nicholas, they shall not stay here!'
My knights came to me, all wounded as they were, and we drove the {233}
Saracens from among the engines, and back towards a great body of
mounted Turks."
A day or two later, the Saracens, encouraged by the sight of the
bloodstained coat of arms belonging to the Count of Artois, which they
were told was that of the King, and that Louis was now dead, came
together in a great battle against the French host. In this fight so
many on both sides were killed that the river was full of the dead.
Then a worse thing fell upon them, for, says Joinville, "because of the
unhealthiness of the land--where it never rains a drop of water--there
came upon us the sickness of the host, which sickness was such that the
flesh of our legs dried up and the skin became spotted, black and earth
colour, like an old boot; nor could anyone escape from this sickness
without death."
Famine followed, for the Turks had cut off all sources of supplies from
Damietta; and, in desperation, an attempt to treat with the enemy was
made. The conditions proposed were that Louis should give up Damietta
in return for the kingdom of Jerusalem; and when the Saracens asked
what pledge they offered that they should regain the port, the French
offered them one of the King's brothers.
They promptly replied that they would be satisfied with no one but the
King himself, whereupon, "my Lord Geoffrey of Sargines, the good
knight, said he would rather that the Saracens should have them all
dead or captive than bear the reproach of having left the king in
pledge."
When Louis saw that there was no alternative but death or retreat,
since none of his officers would agree that he should be given up, he
once more gave the order {234} to try to return to Damietta. The King
could have easily escaped thither by means of a little boat, but he
would not abandon his people, many of whom were very sorely sick. But
Louis himself was weak with illness, so that he could scarcely sit upon
his horse; yet he persisted in trying to guard the river banks while
Joinville and others got the sick men on board. What happened then was
told by Louis himself to his faithful friend. "He told me that of all
his knights and sergeants there only remained behind with him my Lord
Geoffrey of Sargines, who brought him to a little village, and there
the king was taken. And, as the king related to me, my Lord Geoffrey
defended him from the Saracens as a good servitor defends his lord's
drinking-cup from flies; for every time that the Saracens approached,
he took his spear, which he had placed between himself and the bow of
his saddle, and put it to his shoulder and ran upon them, and drove
them away from the king. And then they brought the king to the little
village; and they lifted him into a house, and laid him, almost as one
dead, in the lap of a burgher-woman of Paris, and thought he would not
live till night."
Thus did Louis fall into the hands of the Saracens, and was left in
sorry plight indeed. He was sufficiently conscious to beg Lord Philip
de Montfort to try once again to make terms of peace, but while this
was being done, "a very great mischance happened to our people. A
traitor sergeant, whose name was Marcel, began to cry to our people,
'Yield, lord knights, for the king commands you; and do not cause the
king to be slain!'
"All thought that the king had so commanded, and gave up their swords
to the Saracens. The Emir (the {235} officer of the Sultan), saw that
the Saracens were bringing in our people prisoners, so he said to my
Lord Philip that it was not fitting that he should grant a truce, for
he saw very well that we were already fallen into his hands."
Meantime Joinville and his men had fared no better by water than his
comrades had by land. He himself, indeed, had the narrowest possible
escape from death, and was only saved by the generosity of a Saracen,
whose former dealings with Frederick II. of Germany had made him favour
the Crusaders. Joinville was exceedingly weak and ill, but as his boat
was in mid-stream he hoped to escape to Damietta with those of the sick
whom he had been able to rescue.
"My people," says he, "had put on me a jousting hauberk, so that I
might not be wounded by the darts that fell into our boat. At this
moment my people, who were at the hinder point of the boat, cried out
to me, 'Lord, Lord, your mariners, because the Saracens are threatening
them, mean to take you to the bank!' Then I had myself raised by the
arms, all weak as I was, and drew my sword on them, and told them I
should kill them if they took me to the bank. They answered that I
must choose which I would have; whether to be taken to the bank, or
anchored in mid-stream till the wind fell. I told them I liked better
that they should anchor than that they should take me to the shore
where there was nothing before us save death. So they anchored.
"Very shortly after we saw four of the Sultan's galleys coming to us,
and in them full a thousand men. Then I called together my knights and
my people, and asked them which they would rather do, yield to the
{236} Sultan's galleys or to those on land. We all agreed that we
would rather yield to the galleys, because so we should be kept
together, than to those on land, who would separate us and sell us to
the Bedouins.
"Then one of my cellarers said, 'Lord, I do not agree in this
decision.' I asked him to what he did agree, and he said to me, 'I
advise that we should all suffer ourselves to be slain, for then we
shall go to Paradise.' But we heeded him not."
When Joinville saw that he must be taken either way, he threw his
casket of jewels into the river, and turned to find one of his mariners
urging, "Lord, if you do not suffer me to say you are the king's cousin
they will kill you all, and us also." So he told him he could say what
he pleased. The sailor at once cried out loud, "Alas, that the king's
cousin should be taken!" with the result that the Saracens on the
nearest galley at once anchored near their boat.
But help of an unexpected kind was at hand. A Saracen, who had lived
on land in the East belonging to the Emperor Frederick, swam aboard,
and throwing his arms round Joinville's waist, said, "Lord, if you do
not take good heed you are but lost; for it behoves you to leap from
your vessel on to the bank that rises from the keel of that galley; and
if you leap, these people will not mind you, for they are thinking only
of the booty to be found in your vessel."
So he leapt, but so weak was he that he tottered and would have fallen
into the water had not the Saracen sprung after him and held him up in
his arms.
A rough reception awaited him, however, for they threw him on the
ground and would have killed him had {237} not the Saracen held him
fast in his arms, crying "Cousin to the King!"
He was certainly in sorry case, for he had no clothing save for the
steel hauberk, which the Saracen knights, pitying his condition,
exchanged for a fur-lined coverlet and a white belt, in which he girt
himself for lack of proper clothes. Still under the protection of "his
Saracen," Joinville saw with sad eyes the slaughter of the sick upon
the bank and in the boats, and was himself subjected to a sore trial of
faith. For his protector, who was evidently a man of some authority,
tried to tempt him to embrace the religion of Islam by causing all his
mariners to be brought before him, telling him that they had all denied
their faith.
"But I told him never to place confidence in them, for lightly as they
had left us, so lightly, if time and opportunity occurred, would they
leave their new masters. And he answered that he agreed with me; for
that Saladin was wont to say that never did one see a bad Christian
become a good Saracen, or a bad Saracen become a good Christian.
"After these things he caused me to be mounted on a palfrey and to ride
by his side. And we passed over a bridge of boats and went to
Mansourah, where the King and his people were prisoners. And we came
to the entrance of a great pavilion, where the Sultan's scribes were;
and there they wrote down my name. Then my Saracen said to me, 'Lord,
I shall not follow you further, for I cannot; but I pray you, lord,
always to keep hold of the hand of the child you have with you, lest
the Saracens should take him from you.'"
Truly, in his case, for the sick and sorry Joinville, as well as for
the protection he provided for the little lad, {238} the "child called
Bartholomew," that unknown Saracen showed himself worthier of the name
of Christian than many of those who fought under the banner of the
Cross.
When the French lord entered the pavilion with his little charge, he
found it full of his brother barons, "who made such joy that we could
not hear one another speak, for they thought they had lost me."
Joy was soon turned to grief, however, for many of their number were
taken by the Saracens into an adjoining courtyard and asked, "Wilt thou
abjure thy faith?"
"Those who would not abjure were set to one side, and their heads were
cut off, and those who abjured were set on the other side."
Then the Sultan sent to ask what terms they were willing to make.
"Would you give, for your deliverance, any of the castles belonging to
the barons oversea?" But they replied that they had no power over
these castles, which belonged to their sovereign King. Then he asked
if they would surrender any of the castles belonging to the Knights
Templars and Hospitallers. But they answered that this could not be,
for when the knights of the Temple or the Hospital were appointed to
these castles, they were made to swear, on holy relics, that they would
not surrender any of them for man's deliverance.
"The council of the Sultan then replied that it seemed to them that we
had no mind to be delivered, and that they would go and send us such as
would make sport of us with their swords, as they had done of the
others belonging to our host. And they went their way."
With Louis himself the counsellors of the Sultan had gone still
further, threatening him with torture if he did not do as they willed.
"To their threats the King {239} replied that he was their prisoner,
and that they could do with him according to their will."
Finding that they could not terrorise the King they came back to him
once more and asked how much money he was willing to pay for a ransom,
besides giving up Damietta.
To this Louis replied that if the Sultan would accept a reasonable sum,
he would see if the Queen would pay it for their deliverance. This
answer, to those who held the Eastern idea of women, was astounding,
and they asked, "How is it that you will not tell us definitely that
these things shall be done?" To which Louis replied, with spirit that
he did not know if the Queen would consent, seeing that she was his
lady, and mistress of her own actions. Then they took counsel with the
Sultan, and brought back word that if the Queen would pay five hundred
thousand _livres_ (about £405,000) he would release the King.
"And when they had taken the oath that this should be so, the King
promised that he would willingly pay the five hundred thousand _livres_
for the release of his people, and surrender Damietta for the release
of his own person, seeing that it was not fitting that such as he
should barter himself for coin."
When the Sultan heard this, he said. "By my faith, this Frank is
large-hearted not to have bargained over so great a sum! Now go and
tell him that I give him a hundred thousand _livres_ towards the
payment of the ransom."
The prospects of the unfortunate Crusaders seemed therefore to be
brightening, when, as they were being conveyed down the river to the
Sultan's camp as a preliminary to being set free, all was suddenly
darkened {240} again by the murder of their generous captor at the
hands of some of his own traitorous Emirs.
One of these, indeed, came to King Louis, with the heart of the Sultan,
all reeking with blood, in his hand, and said: "What wilt thou give me?
For I have slain thine enemy, who, had he lived, would have slain thee!"
"But the King answered him never a word."
Nothing now but death seemed the probable fate of the despairing
prisoners, who meantime, were thrown into the hold of the galley and
"so pressed together that my feet came against the good Count Peter of
Brittany, and his came against my face."
But the Saracen Emirs seem to have thought that more profit could be
made out of them alive than dead, and were ready to observe the terms
already proposed, if the King would renew his oath to this effect,
"that if he did not observe his covenant he should be as dishonoured as
a Christian who denies God and His law, and who spits upon the Cross
and tramples on it."
Though he fully meant to keep his word, the pious soul of Saint Louis
revolted against so blasphemous a declaration, and he absolutely
refused to take such an oath. They threatened him with instant death,
but he replied tranquilly that he "liked better to die as a good
Christian rather than to live under the wrath of God."
By the exercise of further fiendish cruelty the Saracens attained their
object. They took the old white haired Patriarch of Jerusalem, and
tied him to the pole of the pavilion with his hands behind his back,
and so tightly "that the said hands swelled to the size of his head,
and that the blood started from between the nails." Then the Patriarch
cried to the King, "Sire, for the love of God, swear without fear; for
seeing that you intend to hold to {241} your oath, I take upon my own
soul whatsoever there may be of sin in the oath that you take."
It seems certain that by his firmness and courage Louis had earned the
respect and admiration of the Saracens. Joinville says that they
wanted to make him their Sultan, and only desisted because they said he
was the most steadfast Christian that could be found. "They said that
if Mohammed had suffered them to be so maltreated as the King had been,
they would never have retained their belief in him; and they said
further that if their people made the King to be Sultan, they would
have to become Christians, or else he would put them all to death."
In spite of this, however, their fate still hung in the balance, for
some recalled the precept of Mohammed, "For the assurance of the faith,
slay the enemy of the law."
But better counsels prevailed, and on the day after Ascension Day, in
the year 1250, all were released save the Count of Poitiers, who
remained as hostage till the ransom should be paid.
Many of the Crusading barons no sooner regained their ships than they
set sail for France, but the King remained behind, to see that the
ransom was paid. In connection with this ransom Joinville tells us of
an incident that marks even more emphatically Louis' upright character.
"When the money had been counted, there were those of the council who
thought that the King should not hand it over until he had received his
brother back. But the King replied that he would hand it over, seeing
that he had agreed with the Saracens to do so, and as for the Saracens,
if they wished to deal honestly, they would also hold to the terms of
their agreement. Then Lord Philip {242} of Nemours told the King that
they had miscounted, by ten thousand _livres_, to the loss of the
Saracens (but without their knowledge).
"At this the King was very wroth, and said it was his will that the ten
thousand _livres_ should be restored, seeing he had agreed to pay two
hundred thousand before he left the river.
"Then I touched Lord Philip with my foot, and told the King not to
believe him, seeing that the Saracens were the wiliest reckoners in the
whole world. And Lord Philip said I was saying sooth, for he had only
spoken in jest, and the King said such jests were unseemly and
untoward. 'And I command you,' said the King to him 'by the fealty
that you owe me as being my liegeman--which you are--that if these ten
thousand _livres_ have not been paid, you will cause them to be paid
without fail.'"
Nor would Louis listen to those who advised him to leave the river on
account of its proximity to the Saracens, and go to his ship, which
waited for him out at sea. But he had promised his foes not to go away
until the payment had been made, and no considerations of personal
safety would induce him to break his word.
"So soon, however, as the ransom was paid, the King, without being
urged thereto, said that henceforth he was acquitted of his oaths, and
that we should depart thence, and go to the ship that was on the sea.
Then our galley was set in motion, and we went a full great league
before we spoke to one another, because of the distress in which we
were at leaving the Count of Poitiers In captivity.
"Then came Lord Philip of Montfort in a galleon, and cried to the King:
'Sire! Sire! Speak to your brother, the Count of Poitiers, who is on
this other ship!' Then {243} cried the King 'Light up! Light up!' and
they did so. Then was there such rejoicing among us that greater could
not be. The King went to the Count's ship, and we went too. A poor
fisherman went and told the Countess of Poitiers that he had seen the
Count released, and she caused twenty _livres_ to be given to him."
Nor was Louis the only star to shine in the dark firmament of the
Eighth Crusade. All those anxious weeks there lay at Damietta the poor
young Queen, in terrible anxiety for the fate of her husband, and for
the future of those who were with her in the city.
In the midst of her grief and trouble was born her little son Tristan,
the "child of sorrow," and he was but a day old when she heard that all
the men of the five cities of Italy, who were with her in the city,
were minded to flee away. With heroic courage she sent for them to her
bedside and urged them not to leave Damietta to its fate, for if so the
King would be utterly lost.
To this they replied: "Lady what can we do? For we are dying of hunger
in this city?" But she told them that for famine they need not depart,
"for," said she "I will cause all the food in this city to be bought,
and will keep you all from henceforth at the King's charges."
Thus did the brave Queen keep Damietta until it had to be given up
according to the terms of the treaty; upon which she went to Acre,
there to await the King.
The release of the prisoners was, for all practical purposes, the end
of the ill-fated Eighth Crusade, but Louis could not bear to return to
France without even a glimpse of the Holy Land which lay so very near
his heart.
His brother had deserted him, but the faithful Joinville was still at
his side, and with the latter was now to be found the little child,
Bartholomew, who had in so {244} strange a manner been placed under his
protection. There were not wanting those who urged the King to return
to France, and look after the affairs of his kingdom, but Louis was
firm. The Queen Mother, Blanche, was well able to fill his place, and
he was determined not to leave the kingdom of Jerusalem while any hope
remained of striking a blow on its behalf. Again and again he had
urged Henry III. of England to bring an army to its relief, he had even
promised to give up Normandy if he would do this; and he could scarcely
believe that he would persist in his refusal. If he should fail there
was yet a faint hope that the Pope himself might lead an army in the
cause of God; while there was the slightest chance, therefore, he would
hold himself ready to act.
So Louis went first to Acre to rejoin his Queen, and then set to work
to rebuild the fortifications of the seaports, Cæsarea, Joppa, and
Sidon, which had been destroyed by the Saracens, though they were still
ruled by Christian chieftains. And then four more years passed away.
It was while Louis was engaged in fortifying Joppa that he was told
that the Sultan was willing that he should go to Jerusalem under a
"sure and safe conduct." It was the King's dearest wish to visit the
Holy Sepulchre, but after grave consideration, acting on the advice of
his council, he determined not to do so. His reason was the same as
that of Richard of England in the Third Crusade. "For if he, the
greatest Christian King, went a pilgrimage without delivering the city
from God's enemies, then would all other kings and pilgrims, coming
thereafter, rest content with going on pilgrimage after the same manner
as the King of France, and give no heed to the deliverance of
Jerusalem."
{245}
A pilgrimage in sackcloth to Nazareth was all, therefore, that the king
would allow himself, and meantime his hopes of aid from Europe grew
fainter and fainter.
Then came bad news from France. Queen Blanche, who seems to have been
more to the king than wife or children, was dead, and Louis must return
to his deserted kingdom. On St Mark's day (April 24th) of the year
1254, the king and queen sailed from Acre, but they were not destined
to reach France without further adventures.
"On the Saturday we came in sight of the Isle of Cyprus, and of a
mountain in Cyprus which is called the Mountain of the Cross. That
Saturday a mist rose from the land, and descended from the land to the
sea; and by this our mariners thought we were further from the Isle of
Cyprus than we were, because they did not see the mountain above the
mist. Wherefore they sailed forward freely and so it happened that our
ship struck a reef of sand below the water; and if we had not found
that little sandbank where we struck, we should have struck against a
great mass of sunken rocks, where our ship would have been broken in
pieces, and we all shipwrecked and drowned.
"As soon as our ship struck, a great cry rose in the ship, for each one
cried 'Alas!' and the mariners and the rest wrung their hands because
each was in fear of drowning.
"When I heard this, I rose from my bed where I was lying, and went to
the ship's castle with the mariners. As I came there, Brother Raymond,
who was a Templar and master of the mariners, said to one of his
varlets: 'Throw down the lead.' And he did so. And as soon as he had
thrown it, he cried out and said. 'Alas, we are aground!' When
Brother Raymond heard that, he {246} rent his clothes to the belt, and
took to tearing out his beard, and to crying: 'Ay me! Ay me!'"
In marked contrast to this not very helpful master of mariners stands
one of Joinville's knights who "brought me, without a word, a lined
overcoat of mine, and threw it on my back, for I had donned my tunic
only. And I cried out to him, and said, 'what do I want with your
overcoat that you bring me, when we are drowning?' And he said to me,
'By my soul, lord, I should like better to see us all drowned than that
you should take some sickness from the cold, and so come to your
death.'"
An effort was made to get the king off the threatened ship by means of
the galleys, but the latter held off; and in this they acted wisely,
seeing there were full eight hundred persons on board the ship who
would have jumped into the galleys to save their lives, and thus have
caused the latter to sink.
Morning came and found the ship fast aground, and seeing there was much
damage done to her keel, the servants of the king implored him to
embark in another vessel. By his decision Louis showed once again that
wonderful unselfishness which forms one of his best claims to the title
of Saint.
After hearing the opinion of the master mariners, and his nobles, he
called together the seamen and said to them.
"I ask you, on your fealty, whether, if the ship were your own, and
freighted with your own merchandise, you would leave her?"
And they replied all together "No!" for they liked better to put their
bodies in peril of drowning than to buy a new ship at great cost.
{247}
"Why then," asked the king, "do you advise me to leave the ship?"
"Because," said they, "the stakes are not equal. For neither gold nor
silver can be set against your person and the persons of your wife and
children who are here; therefore we advise you not to put yourself or
them in danger."
Then the king said, "Lords, I have heard your opinion and that of my
people, and now I will tell you mine, which is this: If I leave the
ship there are in her five hundred people and more who will land in
this Isle of Cyprus, for fear of peril to their body--since there is
none that does not love his life as much as I love mine--and these,
peradventure, will never return to their own land. Therefore I like
better to place my own person, and my wife, and my children in God's
hands than do this harm to the many people who are here."
Their next adventure might have been more serious, at least for some of
the crew. Sailing away in comparative safety in the damaged ship they
came at length to the island of the sea called Pentelema, which was
peopled by Saracens who were subjects of the King of Sicily and the
King of Tunis.
"The queen begged the king to send thither three galleys to get fruit
for the children; and the king consented, and ordered the masters of
the galleys to go thither, and be ready to come back to him when his
ship passed before the island. The galleys entered into a little port
that was on the island; and it chanced that when the king's ship passed
before the port, we got no tidings of the galleys.
"Then did the mariners begin to murmur among themselves.
{248}
"The king caused them to be summoned, and asked them what they thought
of the matter. The mariners said it seemed to them that the Saracens
had captured his people and his galleys.
"'But we advise and counsel you, sire, not to wait for them; for you
are between the kingdom of Sicily and the kingdom of Tunis, which love
you not at all. If, however, you suffer us to sail forward, we shall,
during the night, have delivered you from peril, for we shall have
passed through the strait.'
"'Truly,' said the king, 'I shall not listen to you, and leave my
people in the hands of the Saracens without at least, doing all in my
power to deliver them. I command you to turn your sails and we will
fall upon them.'
"And when the queen heard this, she began to make great lamentation and
said, 'Alas! this is all my doing!'
"While they were turning the sails of the king's ship and of the other
ships, we saw the galleys coming from the island. When they came to
the king, the king asked the mariners why they had tarried; and they
replied that they could not help themselves, but that the fault lay
with certain sons of burgesses of Paris, of whom there were six, who
stayed eating the fruit of the gardens, wherefore they had been unable
to get them off, nor could they leave them behind.
"Then the king commanded that the six burghers' sons should be put into
the barge a-stern; at which they began to cry and to howl, saying,
'Sire, for God's sake, take for ransom all that we have, but do not put
us there, where murderers and thieves are put; for we shall be shamed
to all time.'
{249}
"The queen and all of us did what we could to move the king; but he
would listen to none of us.
"So they were put into the barge, and remained there till we came to
land; and they were there in such danger and distress that when the sea
rose, the waves flew over their heads, and they had to sit down, lest
the wind should carry them into the sea.
"And it served them right; for their gluttony caused us such mischief
that we were delayed for eight good days, because the king had caused
the ships to turn right about."
So at length Louis came to his own land of France; but his heart was
full of longing for the "holy fields" of Palestine, and he was not
content to live a life of luxury at the court while Jerusalem was yet
in the hands of the infidel.
"After the king returned from overseas, he lived in such devotion that
never did he wear fur of beaver or grey squirrel, nor scarlet, nor
gilded stirrups and spurs. His clothing was of camlet and blue cloth,
the fur on his coverlets and clothing was deer's hide, or the skin from
the hare's legs, or lambskin. He was so sober in his eating that he
never ordered special meats outside what his cook prepared; what was
set before him that did he eat. He put water to his wine in a glass
goblet, and according to the strength of the wine he added water
thereto by measure; and would hold the goblet in his hand while they
mixed water with his wine behind his table. He always caused food to
be given to his poor, and after they had eaten, caused money to be
given to them."
Thus, for the next fifteen years the king fulfilled the duties of his
royal position in France; and all the while {250} the voice of the East
was calling, calling with insistent voice, as news of lost cities,
quarrels between those who should have united themselves against the
Saracens, and invasions of new and hostile races reached his ears.
{251}