volume one

HISTORY OE THE CRUSADES. 409
and placed them on an elevated spot on the Mount of Olives,
that every one might be acquainted with the sacrilege.
These quarrels, which were every day renewed, were car-
ried before the tribunal of the Holy See, whose decisions
frequently only inflamed the minds of the disputants the
more. The Church of Home, very far from restoring peace
to the Christians of the East, often cast amongst them fresh
coals of discord. The schisms which troubled the A¥est,
more than once kindled war in the holy places, even upon
the tomb of Christ.
Concord seldom prevailed long between the inhabitants of
Palestine and the European warriors who came into Asia to
combat the infidels. The Syrian barons employed the forces
of their auxiliaries to carry out their own ambitious views ;
and the latter, by their pride and disdain, laid a high price
upon their services. Almost always on the arrival of fresh
pilgrims, a treaty was violated or a truce broken, in order to
make incursions upon the territories of the Saracens ; and
not unfrequently, the Crusaders, without even seeing the
enemy, abandoned Palestine to the perils of a war they had
themselves provoked.
In the cities, particularly the maritime cities, several
nations dwelt together, and disputed precedence and sovereignty,
sword in hand. All who came to establish themselves
in the Holy Land, brought with them and preserved
the remembrances and prejudices of their native country.
In the cities of Ascalon, Tyre, or Ptolemais, the inhabitants
were much more interested in the glory and prosperity of
Pisa, Grenoa, and Venice, than in the safety of the kingdom
of Jerusalem.
The greater part of the barons and knights displayed
none of the heroic resignation of the early soldiers of the
cross, in supporting fatigues or braving difficidties. Since
the conquest of Egypt had been contemplated, war was only
considered as a means of acquiring wealth ; and the thirst
for booty destroyed the principle of honour, the love of glory,
and even all anxiety for the cause of Christ. The question
was no longer what enemy was to be attacked, what ally was
to be defended, but what city or province was to be delivered
up to pillage. Discipline degenerated in the camp ; the
Christian warriors still displayed their natural bravery, but
they neither knew how to obey nor to command, and anarchy