volume one

324 HISTOET OF THE CEUSADES.
The citadel soon surrendered ; the soldiers who defended
it only asking their lives ; but, notwithstanding the capitulation,
many were put to the sword. A great part of the
priests who had survived the carnage were condemned to
slaverv ; an Armenian patriarch was stripped of his vestments,
dragged through the streets, and beaten with rods.
Matthew of Edessa, one of the most celebrated historians
of Armenia, fell under the sword of the Mussulmans. Hugh,
a Latin archbishop, ha^'ing endeavoured to escape, was, with
aU his clergy, slaughtered by the infidels. His treasures,
which he carried with him, and which might have been usefiillv
employed for the defence of the city, became the prey
of the enemy. Pious historians impute the fall of Edessa
to the avarice of this prelate, and appear to beheve that he
was punished in another world for having preferred his gold
to the safety of his fellow- citizens.*
"WTien the Mussulmans had become masters of the citadel,
their priests ascended the steeples of the churches to pro-
'' Oh Mahomet ! prophet of heaven, we
claim these words :
have gained a sreat victorv in thv name : we have destroved
the people that worshipped stone, and torrents of blood
have been shed to make thy law triumph." After this proclamation,
the Saracens redoubled their excesses. The
Gazis or conquerors satiated themselves with blood ; the
dead bodies were mutilated, and their heads sent to Bagdad;
and even to Ivhorasan. All who remained ahve in the city
of Edessa were treated as a flock of animals, and sold in the
pubhc places. The Christians, loaded "with chains, after
having lost their propeiiy, their country, and their liberty,
had the still further grief of seeing their religion, which was
aU they had left to console them in their misfortunes, made a
subject of ridicule by the infidels. The churches were plundered
of their ornaments, and the sanctuarv became the
scene of the most shocking debaucheries. Many of the
* We have before us in manuscript some historical and geographical
notes upon the city of Edessa, communicated to us by M. J. Chaban de
Cerbied, an Armenian professor. This work is rendered more valuable
bv M. J. Chahan de Cerbied's (its author) being born at Edessa, where
he passed many years. These notes are to be published in a general
picture of Armenia, which will not fail to attract the atteation of the
learned.