volume one

niSTORT OF THE CEUSADES. 3
where, according to the expression of St. Jerome, the light
of the gospel first shone from the top of the holy cross.
As soon as the people of the West hecame converted to
Christianity, they turned their eyes to the East. From the
depths of Gaul, from the forests of Germany, from aU the
countries of Europe, new Christians weve to be seen hastening
to visit the cradle of the faith they had embraced. An
itinerary for the use of pilgrims served them as a guide
from th'e banks of the Ehone and the Dordogne to the shores
of the Jordan, and conducted them, on their return, from
Jerusalem to the principal cities of Italy.*
When the world was ravaged by the Goths, the Huns,
and the Vandals, the pilgrimages to the Holy Land were
not at all mterrupted. Pious travellers were protected by
the hospitable virtues of the barbarians, who began to
respect the cross of Christ, and sometimes even followed
the pilgrims to Jerusalem. In these times of trouble and
desolation, a poor pilgrim, who bore his scrip and staff, often
passed through fields of carnage, and travelled without fear
amidst armies which threatened the empii-es of the East and
the West.
Illustrious families of Kome came to seek an asylum at
Jerusalem, and upon the tomb of Jesus Christ. Christians
then found, on the banks of the Jordan, that peace which
seemed to be banished from the rest of the world. This
peace, which lasted several centuries, was not troubled before
the reign of Heraclius. Under this reign, the armies of
Cosroes, king of Persia, mvaded Syria, Palestine, and Egypt;
the holy city fell into the hands of the worshippers of fire ;
the conquerors bore away into captivity vast numbers of
Christians, and profaned the churches of Jesus Christ. All
the faithful deplored the misfortunes of Jerusalem, and shed
tears when they learned that the king of Persia had carried
off, among the spoils of the vanquished, the cross of the
Saviour, which had been preserved in the church of the
llesurrection.
* See, in the Appendix at the end of the volume, a bibliographical,
historical, and geographical analysis of " The Itinerary from Bordeaux to
Jerusalem," by M. Walcknaer : this piece throws great light upon
ancient geography, and that of the middle ages.
2*