volume one

niSTOEY OF THE CIIUSA.DES. 99
Wlien it had been determined to besiege Nice, tbe posts
were distributed to the various bodies of the Christian army.
The camp of the Crusaders extended over a vast plain, intersected
by ri\'ulets Avhich fell from the mountains. Fleets
from Greece and Italy transported provisions, and kept the
besiegers in a state of abundance, roulcher de Chartres
reckons in the camp of the Christians nineteen nations,
differing in manners and language. Each nation had its
quarters, which they surrounded with walls and palisades,
and as they were without wood or stone for the di\dsions,
they employed the bones of the Crusaders lying unbiu'ied in
the country round Nice ;
" by which," Anna Comnena says,
" they at once constructed a tomb for the dead and an abode
for the living." In each quarter they quickly raised magnificent
tents, which served as churches, in which the chiefs and
the soldiers assembled to perform the ceremonies of religion.
Different war-cries, drums, the use of which had been introduced
into Europe by the Saracens, and sonorous horns,
pierced with several holes, summonded the Crusaders to
their military exercises.
The barons and knights wore a hauberk^ or coat of mail, a
sort of tunic, composed of smaU. rings of iron or steel. Over
the coat of arms of every squire floated a blue, red, green,
casque, covered with
or white scarf. Every warrior wore a '
silver for the princes, of steel for the knights and nobles,
and of iron for the common men. The knights bore round
or square bucklers, and long shields covered the foot-soldiers.
The arms employed in fight by the Crusaders were the lance,
the sword, a species of knife, a poniard, called misericorde,
the club, the masse cVarmes, with which a warrior could, at a
single blow, strike an enemy to the earth ; the sling, from
which were thrown stones and balls of lead ; the bow, and
the cross-bow, a miu-derous weapon, till that time "unknown
to the Orientals. The warriors of the "West did not then
cover themselves with that heavy iron armour described by
the historians of the middle ages, which they afterwards
borrowed from the Saracens.
The princes and knights bore upon their shields figures or
signs of different colours, which served as rallying-points for
their soldiers. Here might be seen, painted on the bucklers
and standards, leopards and lions; there, stars, towers,
6*