volume one

HISTORY OF THE CKrSA.DES. 299
"Whilst tlie Venetians were tlius destroying tlie fleet of
the Mussulmans, an army sent by the caliph of Cairo was
beaten by the Christians under the walls of Jaffa. The doge
of Venice, who commanded the Venetian fleet, entered the
port of Ptolemais, and was conducted in triumph to Jerusa-
lem. When celebrating the double victory, they resolved to
profit by it, by following it up by an important expedition.
In a council, held in presence of the regent of tlie kingdom
and the doge of Venice, it was proposed to besiege either
the city of Tyre or the city of Ascalon. As the opinions
were divided, it was resolved to interrogate God, and to follow
his will. Two strips of parchment, upon which had
been written the names of Ascalon and Tyre, were deposited
upon the altar of the Holy Sepulchre. In the siglit of a
numerous crowd of spectators, a young orphan advanced
towards the altar, took one of the strips, and the chance fell
upon the city of Tyre.
The Venetians, more devoted to the interests of their
commerce and of their nation than to those of a Christian
kingdom, demanded, before beginning the siege of Tyre,
that they should enjoy a church, a street, a common oven,
and a national tribunal in every city in Palestine. They
further demanded other privileges and the possession of a
third of the conquered city. The conquest of Tyre appeared
to be so important, that the regent, the chancellor of the
kingdom, and the great vassals of the crown accepted the
conditions of the Venetians without hesitation : in a deed
which history has preserved,* they engaged not to acknowledge
Baldwin du Bourg or any other prince who would
refuse to subscribe to it.
When they had thus, by a treaty, shared the city they
were about to conquer, they began their preparations for
the siege. Towards the commencement of the spring, the
Christian army set out from Jerusalem, and the Venetian
fleet sailed from the port of Ptolemais. The historian of
the kingdom of Jerusalem, who was for a long time archbishop
of Tyre, stops here to describe the antique wonders
of his metropolis. In his recital, at once religious and pro-
fane, he invokes by turns the testimony of Isaiah and of
* This act is reported in its entirety by William of Tyre.