volume one

86 HISTOKT or THE CETJSADES.
the crusade in the army of the besiegers. He vrent among
the soldiers, talking of the princes and the great captains
who had taken the cross. He spoke to the most pious "war-
riors of the religion wliich was to be defended, and exalted
before others the glory and fortunes Avhich would crown
their exploits. The army was won oyer by his discourses,
and the camp soon resounded with the cry of " It is the idll
of God ! It is the will of God !" Bohemond congratulated
himself in secret on the success of his eloquence, and tore
his coat of arms into strips, of which he made crosses, and
ordered his officers to distribute them among the soldiers.
Tliere now only wanted a chief to command the holy expedition,
and the new Crusaders came to solicit the prince of
Tarentura to place himself at their head. Bohemond
appeared at first to hesitate ; he refused that which he
ardently desired; and the soldiers assembled around him
redoubled their solicitations. At length he seemed to yield
to their importimities, and obey their will. Instantly the
eagerness and enthusiasm became more animated and more
general. In an incredibly short space of time the whole
army swore to follow him into Palestine. Eoger was obliged
to raise the siege of Amalfi, and the happy Bohemond gaye
himself up entirely to the preparations for his yoyage.
A short time after he embarked for the coasts of Greece
with ten thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot.
Every illustrious knight of Apuha and Sicily followed the
])rince of Tarentum. ^"ith him marched Eichard, prince of
Salerno, and Eandulf, his brother ; Herman
de Cani, Eobert
de Hanse, Eobert de Soiu-deval, Eobert the son of Tristan,
Bode de Chartres, and Humphrey de ^Nlontaigu. AH these
warriors were celebrated for their exploits, but no one
amongst them was more worthy to attract the attention of
•
posterity' than the braye Tancred.* Although he belonged
to a family in which ambition was hereditary, he was fired
by no other passion than a desire to fight against the infidels.
Piety, glor}'. and perhaps his fiiendship for Bohemond alone,
led him into Asia. His contemporaries admired his romantic
* Raoiil de Caen has written, half in prose and half inverse, the "Gestes
de Tancrede." (See " Thesaurus Novus Anecdotorum" of D. Martenne,
vol. i., or the " Recueil de Muratori," torn, ill.)