volume one

482 HISTOEY OF TUE cet:s.u)es.
The Mussulmans from the height of their towers insulted
the religious ceremonies of the Christians.* They raised
crosses on their ramparts, beat them with rods, covered them
with dust, mud, and filth, and broke them into ^ thousand
pieces before the eves of the besiegers. At this spectacle
the Christians swore to avenge their outraged worship, and
menaced the Saracens with the destruction of ever)' Mahomedan
pulpit. In the heat of this rehgious animosity, the
Mussulmans often massacred disarmed captives ; and in more
than one battle they burnt theirf Christian prisoners in the
very field of conflict. The crusaders but too closely imitated
the barbarity of their enemies ; funeral piles, lighted up by
fanatical rage, were often extinguished in rivers of blood.
The Mussulman and Christian warriors provoked each
other durinof siusjle combats, and were as lavish of abuse
as the heroes of Homer. Heroiues often appeared in tlie
melee, and disputed the prize of strength and courage with
Children came from the city
the bravest of the Saracens. J
to fight with the children of the Christians in the presence
of the two armies.
But sometimes the furies of war gave place to the
amenities of peace, and Franks and Saracens would for a
moment forget the hatred that liad led them to take up
arms. During the course of the siege several tournaments
were held in the plain of Ptolemais, to which the Mussulmans
were invited. The champions of the two parties harangued
each other before entering the lists ; the conqueror was
bonie in triumph, and the conquered ransomed like a pri-
* Florentinus, bishop of Ptolemais, describes with horror the impiety
of the Turks :—
Milites aspiceres super mures stantes
Turcos, sanctam manibus crucena elerantes
Cum flagellis asperis eam verberantes,
Et cum impropriis nobis minitantes.
f " One of our people," says Omad, " having been made prisoner, was
burnt, and the flames accompanied him to his place of everlasting repose ;
we took a Christian, we burnt him, and the flames that devoured him
mingled with the fires of hell."— See the MS. of Dom Berthereau.
X A combat of children is related by Omad of Ispahan ; and the same
author speaks of the Christian heroines who mingled in the fight. He
adds, that the young women fought, and the old women animated them
by their cries.