volume one
volume one volume one
356 niSTOKT OF tue ceusades. alone on the field of battle, and took refuge upon a rock, whence he braved the attack of the infidels who piursued him. "U^ith his back against a tree, he singly resisted the efl'orts of several Saracens, who, taking him for a simple soldier, at length left liim, to secure their share of the pillage. Although the night began to fall, the king expected to be attacked again, when the voices of some Prenchmen who had escaped the carnage, gave him the agreeable information that the Turks had retired. He mounted a stray horse, and, after a thousand perils, rejoined liis vanguard, where all were lamenting his death. After tliis defeat, in which the king had been exposed to such dangers, the report of his death was not only spread throughout the East, but reached Europe, where it filled the Christians, particularly the French, with grief and terror. "William of T^'re, whilst relating the disastrous defeat of the Crusaders, expresses astonishment that God, always full of mercv, should have allowed so manv illustrious warriors armed in his cause, to perish so miserably. The Crusaders who formed the vanguard of the army, whilst deploring the death of their brethren, raised their voices against Geoffrey de Eancon, and demanded that the loss of so much blood shotild be visited tipon him. The king, however, had no'; sufficient firmness to punish an irreparable fault, and only so far yielded to tlie wishes of the barons and the soldiers as to give them as a leader an old warrior named Gilbert, whose skill and bravery were the boast of the whole army. Gilbert shared the command with Evrard des Barres, grand master of the Templars, who had come, with a great number of his knights, to meet the Christian armv. Under these two leaders, whom the king himsell obeyed, the Cinisaders continued their march, and avenged their defeat several times upon the Mussulmans. On their arrival in Pisidia the French had almost everywhere to defend themselves against the perfidy of the Greeks but winter was even a more and the attacks of the Turks ; dangerous enerav than these to the Christian armv. Torrents of rain fell everv dav : cold and humiditv enervated the powers of the soldiers ; and the greater part of the horses, being destitute of forage, perished, and only served to feed the anny, which was without provisions. The clothes
HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 357 of the soldiers hung about them in rags ; the Crusaders sold or abandoned their amis ; the tents and baggage lay scattered on the roads, and the army dragged in its train a crowd of sick, and numbers of poor pilgrims, who made the air resound with their cries and lamentations. The king of Prance consoled them by his discoui'ses, and relieved them by his charitable gifts ; for in the midst of so many reverses God alone seemed to sustain his courage. " Never," says Odo of Deuil, " did he pass a single day without hearing mass, and without invoking the God of the Christians." At last the Christians arrived before the walls of xA.ttalia, situated on the coast of Pamphylia, at the mouth of the river Cestius. This city, inhabited by Greeks, was governed in the name of the emperor of Constantinople. As the inhabitants were mistrustful of the intentions of the Christian army, they refused to open their gates to them, and the Crusaders were obliged to encamp on the neighbouring plains, exposed to all the rigours of the season. They could neither find provisions for themselves nor forage for their horses in a barren uncultivated country, constantly ravaged by the Turks. The Greeks refused to assist them in their distress, and sold them everything at its weight in gold. Famine, and the evils which the Christians had hitherto suffered, became still more insupportable to them when they lost all hope. Louis YII. having called a council, the chief men of the army represented to him that the Crusaders were without horses and without arms, they were not in a condition to give an enemy battle, nor could they support the fatigues of a long march. There remained, they added, no other resource for the Christians but to abandon themselves to the perils of the sea.* The king did not agree with their opinion, and wished that they should only embark the multitude of pilgrims that embarrassed the march of the army. "As for us," said he, "avo will redouble our courage, and we will follow the route which our fathers, who cong^uered Antioch and Jerusalem, followed. Whilst anything remains to me, I will share it with my companions ; and when I shall have nothing left, * The Crusaders had then a march of forty days before them to arrive at Antioch by land. They might have reached it in three days by sea.
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HISTOEY or THE CRUSADES. 357<br />
of the soldiers hung about them in rags ; the Crusaders<br />
sold or aband<strong>one</strong>d their amis ; the tents and baggage lay<br />
scattered on the roads, and the army dragged in its train a<br />
crowd of sick, and numbers of poor pilgrims, who made the<br />
air resound with their cries and lamentations. The king of<br />
Prance consoled them by his discoui'ses, and relieved them<br />
by his charitable gifts ; for in the midst of so many reverses<br />
God al<strong>one</strong> seemed to sustain his courage. " Never," says<br />
Odo of Deuil, " did he pass a single day without hearing<br />
mass, and without invoking the God of the Christians."<br />
At last the Christians arrived before the walls of xA.ttalia,<br />
situated on the coast of Pamphylia, at the mouth of the river<br />
Cestius. This city, inhabited by Greeks, was governed in<br />
the name of the emperor of Constantinople. As the inhabitants<br />
were mistrustful of the intentions of the Christian<br />
army, they refused to open their gates to them, and the<br />
Crusaders were obliged to encamp on the neighbouring<br />
plains, exposed to all the rigours of the season.<br />
They could neither find provisions for themselves nor<br />
forage for their horses in a barren uncultivated country,<br />
constantly ravaged by the Turks. The Greeks refused to<br />
assist them in their distress, and sold them everything at<br />
its weight in gold. Famine, and the evils which the Christians<br />
had hitherto suffered, became still more insupportable<br />
to them when they lost all hope. Louis YII. having called<br />
a council, the chief men of the army represented to him<br />
that the Crusaders were without horses and without arms,<br />
they were not in a condition to give an enemy battle, nor<br />
could they support the fatigues of a long march. There<br />
remained, they added, no other resource for the Christians<br />
but to abandon themselves to the perils of the sea.* The<br />
king did not agree with their opinion, and wished that they<br />
should only embark the multitude of pilgrims that embarrassed<br />
the march of the army. "As for us," said he, "avo<br />
will redouble our courage, and we will follow the route<br />
which our fathers, who cong^uered Antioch and Jerusalem,<br />
followed. Whilst anything remains to me, I will share it<br />
with my companions ; and when I shall have nothing left,<br />
* The Crusaders had then a march of forty days before them to arrive<br />
at Antioch by land. They might have reached it in three days by sea.
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