volume one

niSTOET or THE CEUSADES. 475
Grod. Arm yourselves then with the buckler of victory
disperse the children of fire, the sons of hell, whom the sea
has vomited upon your shores, and remember these words of
the Koran :
' lie who shall abandon his dwelling to defend
the holy religion, shall meet with abundance and a great number
of companions.'' "
Animated by such discourses, the Mussulmans flew to
arms, and from all
whom they looked
parts flocked to the camp of
upon as the arm of victory,
Saladin,
and the
beloved son of the Prophet.
"WTiilst this was going on Eichard was retarded in his
march by interests quite foreign to the crusade. At the
moment that his rival was waiting for him to take a city
from the Saracens, and was willing to share even glory with
him, he made himself master of a kingdom, and kept it for
himself.
On leaving the port of Messina, the English fleet was dispersed
by a \iolent tempest ; three vessels were wrecked
upon the coast of Cyprus, and the unfortunate crews, who
escaped, were ill-treated by the inhabitants and cast into
prison. A ship, on board of which were Berengaria of
Navarre, and Jane, queen of Sicily, upon presenting itself
before Limisso, was forbidden to enter the port. A short
time after, Eichard arrived with his fleet, which he had succeeded
in getting together again, and himself met with an
insolent refusal. Isaac, of the family of Comnenus, who,
during the troubles of Constantinople, had got possession of
the isle of Cyprus, and governed it with the ostentatious
title of emperor, dared to threaten the king of England.
His menaces became the signal for war ; and both sides
were eager for the conflict. Isaac could not resist the first
shock of the English ; his troops were beaten and dispersed
his cities opened their gates to the conqueror, and the emperor
of Cyprus himself fell iuto the hands of Eichard, who,
to insult his vanity and avarice, caused him to be bound
with chains of silver. The king of England, after having
delivered the inhabitants of Cyprus from a master whom
they called a tjnrant, made them repay this service with the
half of their property, and took possession of the island,
which was erected into a kingdom, and remained nearly
three hundred years under the domination of the Latins.
Vol. I.— 22
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