volume one

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niSTOET OF TUE CRUSADES.
should die without children. G-odfrey thus ackno\fledged
himself the vassal of the sovereign pontiff, and received
from the pope and his legate permission to reign over a
country conquered by his arms, Bohemond and Bald\vin
consented at the same time to receive from the pope the
investiture of their principalities. The prince of Antioch
had refused to render homage to the king of Jerusalem, but
he did not hesitate to acknowledge himself the vassal of a
power which bestowed empires, and was able to send fresh
armies into the East.
In the mean time the wise Godfrey, after having freed his
territory from the incursions of the Mussulmans, and carried
the terror of his arms beyond the Jordan, reflected that
victory was not all that was required to found a state. His
capital had been depopulated by the sword of the Crusaders ;
several other cities, like Jaffa, had lost the greater part of
their inhabitants ; and this new king reckoned among his
subjects Armenians, G-reeks, Jews, Arabs, renegades from
all religions, and adventurers from all countries. The state
confided to his care was like a place of passage, and had no
other supporters or defenders but travellers and strangers.
It was the rendezvous and the asylum of notorious sinners,
who came thither to mitigate the anger of God, and of
criminals, who thus eluded the justice of men. Both of
these were equally dangerous when circumstances awakened
their passions, or when fear and repentance gave way before
new temptations. Godfrey, according to the spirit of feudal
customs and the laws of war, had divided the conquered
lands among the companions of his victories. The new lords
of Jaffa, Tiberias, Bamla, and Xaplouse, scarcely acknowledged
the authority of a king. The clergy, encouraged by
the patriarch, assumed the tone of masters, and the bishops
exercised a temporal power equal to that of the barons.
Some attributed the conquest of the kingdom to their valour,
others to their prayers ; every one claimed the reward of
either his piety or his labours ; and whilst the greater part
aimed at domination, all insisted upon independence.
Godfrey undertook to rule so many conflicting pretensions,
and to bring a tumultuous government into some
regular form. In order that the execution of his project
might have the greater solemnity, he chose the circumstance