volume one

452
HISTORY or tue crusades.
to demand a capitulation of Saladin ; but his presence
revived the courage of the besieged, and changed the face
of everything. He caused himself to be made commander,
he widened the ditches, and repaired the fortifications ; and
the inhabitants of Tvre, attacked by t^ea and land, becoming
all at once invincible warriors under his orders, were able to
contend with the fleets and armies of the Saracens.
The old marquis of Montlerrat, the father of Conrad, who
had left his peaceful states to visit the Holj Land, was
present at the battle of Tiberias. Made prisoner by the
Mussulmans, he languished in the prisons of Damascus,
until his children might be able to deliver him or purchase
his liberty.
ISaladin sent for him to his army, and promised the brave
Conrad to restore his father, and grant him rich possessions
in Syria, if he woidd open the gates of Tyre to him. fie
threatened at the same time to place the old marquis before the
front rank of the Saracens, and expose him to all the ai-rov. s
of the besieged. Conrad haughtily replied that he despised
the gifts of infidels, and that the life of his father was k^s
dear to him than the cause of the Christians. He added
that nothing shoidd stop his exertions, and that if th.e
Saracens were so barbarous as to sacrifice an old man w Ijo
had surrendered himself tipon the word of Saladin, he should
take glory from being descended from a martyr. After thi,s
reply the Saracens renewed their attacks, and the Tyrians
continued to defend themselves bravely. The Hospitallers,
the Templars, and the bravest of the warriors that were still
in Palestine, repaired to Tyre to take part in this glorious
defence. Among the Franks who distinguished themselves
by their valour, no one was more remarkable than a Spanish
gentleman, known in history by the name of Tlw Green
Kniglit. Alone, say the old chronicles, he repulsed and
dispersed whole battalions of the enemy ; he fought several
times in single combat, always overcoming the most intrepid
of the Mussulmans, and creating in Saladin the strongest
admiration for his courage and his feats of aiTQs.
The city did not contain a single citizen that was not an
active combatant ; the children even were so many soldiers,
and the women animated the warriors by their presence and
theii' applause. On board the ships, tmder the walls, battles