volume one

HISTORY OF THE CEUSAHES. 281
capaWe of bearing arms. Several princes and knights,
arrived from the West, likewise joined him. The Christians
marched boldly forth to meet tlie Mussulmans, the patriarch
of Jerusalem carrying through the ranks the wood of the
holy cross. The war-cry of the Christian soldiers was :
^'Christ lives, Christ reigns, Christ commands.''''* The two
armies were soon in sight of each other on the plains of
Jaffa, and instantly the trumpets sounded, and gave the
signal of battle. Both sides fought with fury ; the infidels
surrounded the Christians, and pressed them so closely that
they had scarcely room to wield their arms, and victory was
on the point of being determined in favour of the Mussulmans,
when Baldwin snatching the white flag from the hands
of his squire, and followed by a hundred and sixtv knights,
rushed into the very thickest ranks of the enemy. This
act of bravery decided the fate of the battle, and the Christians
regained their courage. The fight lasted during the
whole day, but towards the approach of night, the Mussulmans
fled in disorder, leaving dead upon the field the emir
of Ascalon and four thousand of their bravest soldiers.
Baldwin, who, some few days before, had been believed to
be dead, reentered Jerusalem in triumph. He gave a great
part of the booty to the hospitallers of St, John, whose
office it was to entertain the poor and all pilgrims ; and, to
employ the expression of an old chronicle, he thus shared
with Grod the spoils of the Saracens.
The Christians assembled in the churches rendered thanks
to Grod for the deliverance of the kingdom ; but this last
victory could not dry all the tears which a first reverse had
caused to flow, and funereal hymns were mingled with the
songs of joy. In this campaign perished many of the
princes and knights who had lefb Europe after the first cru-
* We here follow the version of Foulcher de Chartres, who makes use
of the word vivit instead of vincit, which appears to have prevailed afterwards.
The device Chrislus regnat, vincit, irnj}erat, forms the leijend of
the reverse of all the gold coins struck in France from the time of John to
that of Louis XVI., under the different names of Francs a pied el a cheval,
of Agnelets, or Ecus d'or, or Louis. In the most ancient, the Francs,
the verb vincit is the first: X. P. C. vincit; X. P. C. regnat ;
X. P. C. imperat; Christ conquers, Christ reigns, and Christ governs
which proves that this device or war-cry may be traced back to the time
of the crusades.
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