A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 35

People were restrained neither by the ties of blood nor the love of country; they saw nothing but G.o.d. All that was in the granaries, or was destined for food, was left under the guardians.h.i.+p of the greedy agriculturist. The journey to Jerusalem was the only thing hoped for or thought of. Joy animated the hearts of all who set out; grief dwelt in the hearts of all who remained. Why do I say "of those who remained"? You might have seen the husband setting forth with his wife, with all his family; you would have laughed to see all the _penates_[399] put in motion and loaded upon wagons.

The road was too narrow for the pa.s.sengers, and more room was wanted for the travelers, so great and numerous was the crowd.[400]

[Sidenote: The mult.i.tude of crusaders]

(b)

Such, then, was the immense a.s.semblage which set out from the West.

Gradually along the march, and from day to day, the army grew by the addition of other armies, coming from every direction and composed of innumerable people. Thus one saw an infinite mult.i.tude, speaking different languages and coming from divers countries. All did not, however, come together into a single army until we had reached the city of Nicaea.[401] What shall I add? The isles of the sea and the kingdoms of the whole earth were moved by G.o.d, so that one might believe fulfilled the prophecy of David, who said in his Psalm: "All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and wors.h.i.+p before Thee, O Lord, and shall glorify Thy name;" and so that those who reached the holy places afterwards said justly: "We will wors.h.i.+p where His feet have stood." Concerning this journey we read very many other predictions in the prophets, which it would be tedious to recall.

[Sidenote: Mingled sorrow and joy of the crusaders]

Oh, how great was the grief, how deep the sighs, what weeping, what lamentations among the friends, when the husband left the wife so dear to him, his children also, and all his possessions of any kind, father, mother, brethren, or kindred! And yet in spite of the floods of tears which those who remained shed for their friends about to depart, and in their very presence, the latter did not suffer their courage to fail, and, out of love for the Lord, in no way hesitated to leave all that they held most precious, believing without doubt that they would gain an hundred-fold in receiving the recompense which G.o.d has promised to those who love Him.

Then the husband confided to his wife the time of his return and a.s.sured her that, if he lived, by G.o.d's grace he would return to her. He commended her to the Lord, gave her a kiss, and, weeping, promised to return. But the latter, who feared that she would never see him again, overcome with grief, was unable to stand, fell as if lifeless to the ground, and wept over her dear one whom she was losing in life, as if he were already dead. He, then, as if he had no pity (nevertheless he was filled with pity) and was not moved by the grief of his friends (and yet he was secretly moved), departed with a firm purpose. The sadness was for those who remained, and the joy for those who departed. What more can we say? "This is the Lord's doings, and it is marvelous in our eyes."

53. A Letter from a Crusader to his Wife

One of the most important groups of sources on the crusades is the large body of letters which has come down to us, written by men who had an actual part in the various expeditions. These letters, addressed to parents, wives, children, va.s.sals, or friends, are valuable alike for the facts which they contain and for the revelation they give of the spirit and motives of the crusaders. A considerable collection of the letters, in English translation, may be found in Roger de Hoveden's _Annals of English History_, Roger of Wendover's _Flowers of History_, and Matthew Paris's _English History_ (all in the Bohn Library); also in Michaud's _History of the Crusades_, Vol.

III., Appendix. In many respects the letter given below, written at Antioch by Count Stephen of Blois to his wife Adele, under date of March 29, 1098, is unexcelled in all the records of mediaeval letter-writing. Count Stephen (a brother-in-law of Robert of Normandy, who was a son of William the Conqueror) was one of the wealthiest and most popular French n.o.blemen who responded to Pope Urban's summons at Clermont. At least three of his letters to his wife survive, of which the one here given is the third in order of time. It discloses the ordinary human sentiments of the crusader and makes us feel that, unlike the modern man as he was, he yet had very much in common with the people of to-day and of all ages. He was at the same time a bold fighter and a tender husband, a religious enthusiast and a practical man of affairs. When the letter was written, the siege of Antioch had been in progress somewhat more than five months; it continued until the following June, when it ended in the capture of the city by the crusaders. Count Stephen was slain in the battle of Ramleh in 1102.

Source--D'Achery, _Spicilegium_ ["Gleanings"], 2d edition, Vol. III., pp. 430-433. Adapted from translation by Dana C.

Munro in _Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints_, Vol. I., No. 4, pp. 5-8.

Count Stephen to Adele, his sweetest and most amiable wife, to his dear children, and to all his va.s.sals of all ranks,--his greeting and blessing.

[Sidenote: Count Stephen reports prosperity]

You may be very sure, dearest, that the messenger whom I sent to give you pleasure left me before Antioch safe and unharmed and, through G.o.d's grace, in the greatest prosperity. And already at that time, together with all the chosen army of Christ, endowed with great valor by Him, we have been continually advancing for twenty-three weeks toward the home of our Lord Jesus. You may know for certain, my beloved, that of gold, silver, and many other kind of riches I now have twice as much as your love had a.s.signed to me when I left you. For all our princes, with the common consent of the whole army, though against my own wishes, have made me up to the present time the leader, chief, and director of their whole expedition.

[Sidenote: Early achievements of the crusaders]

Doubtless you have heard that after the capture of the city of Nicaea we fought a great battle with the treacherous Turks and, by G.o.d's aid, conquered them.[402] Next we conquered for the Lord all Romania, and afterwards Cappadocia.[403] We had learned that there was a certain Turkish prince, a.s.sam, dwelling in Cappadocia; so we directed our course thither. We conquered all his castles by force and compelled him to flee to a certain very strong castle situated on a high rock. We also gave the land of that a.s.sam to one of our chiefs, and in order that he might conquer the prince we left there with him many soldiers of Christ. Thence, continually following the wicked Turks, we drove them through the midst of Armenia,[404] as far as the great river Euphrates. Having left all their baggage and beasts of burden on the bank, they fled across the river into Arabia.

[Sidenote: The arrival at Antioch (1097)]

The bolder of the Turkish soldiers, indeed, entering Syria, hastened by forced marches night and day, in order to be able to enter the royal city of Antioch before our approach.[405] Hearing of this, the whole army of G.o.d gave due praise and thanks to the all-powerful Lord. Hastening with great joy to this chief city of Antioch, we besieged it and there had a great number of conflicts with the Turks; and seven times we fought with the citizens of the city and with the innumerable troops all the time coming to their aid. The latter we rushed out to meet and fought with the fiercest courage under the leaders.h.i.+p of Christ. And in all these seven battles, by the aid of the Lord G.o.d, we conquered and most a.s.suredly killed an innumerable host of them. In those battles, indeed, and in very many attacks made upon the city, many of our brethren and followers were killed and their souls were borne to the joys of paradise.

[Sidenote: The beginning of the siege]

We found the city of Antioch very extensive, fortified with the greatest strength and almost impossible to be taken. In addition, more than 5,000 bold Turkish soldiers had entered the city, not counting the Saracens, Publicans, Arabs, Turcopolitans, Syrians, Armenians, and other different races of whom an infinite mult.i.tude had gathered together there. In fighting against these enemies of G.o.d and of us we have, by G.o.d's grace, endured many sufferings and innumerable hards.h.i.+ps up to the present time. Many also have already exhausted all their means in this most holy enterprise.

Very many of our Franks, indeed, would have met a bodily death from starvation, if the mercy of G.o.d and our money had not come to their rescue. Lying before the city of Antioch, indeed, throughout the whole winter we suffered for our Lord Christ from excessive cold and enormous torrents of rain. What some say about the impossibility of bearing the heat of the sun in Syria is untrue, for the winter there is very similar to our winter in the West.

[Sidenote: The Christians defeated near the seash.o.r.e]

I delight to tell you, dearest, what happened to us during Lent.

Our princes had caused a fortress to be built before a certain gate which was between our camp and the sea. For the Turks, coming out of this gate daily, killed some of our men on their way to the sea.

The city of Antioch is about five leagues distant from the sea. For this purpose they sent the excellent Bohemond and Raymond, count of St. Gilles,[406] to the sea with only sixty hors.e.m.e.n, in order that they might bring mariners to aid in this work. When, however, they were returning to us with these mariners, the Turks collected an army, fell suddenly upon our two leaders, and forced them to a perilous flight. In that unexpected fight we lost more than 500 of our foot-soldiers--to the glory of G.o.d. Of our hors.e.m.e.n, however, we lost only two, for certain.

On that same day, in order to receive our brethren with joy, and entirely ignorant of their misfortunes, we went out to meet them.

When, however, we approached the above-mentioned gate of the city, a mob of foot-soldiers and hors.e.m.e.n from Antioch, elated by the victory which they had won, rushed upon us in the same manner.

Seeing these, our leaders went to the camp of the Christians to order all to be ready to follow us into battle. In the meantime our men gathered together and the scattered leaders, namely, Bohemond and Raymond, with the remainder of their army came up and told of the great misfortune which they had suffered.

[Sidenote: A notable victory over the Turks]

Our men, full of fury at these most evil tidings, prepared to die for Christ and, deeply grieved for their brethren, rushed upon the wicked Turks. They, enemies of G.o.d and of us, hastily fled before us and attempted to enter the city. But by G.o.d's grace the affair turned out very differently; for, when they tried to cross a bridge built over the great river Moscholum,[407] we followed them as closely as possible, killed many before they reached the bridge, forced many into the river, all of whom were killed, and we also slew many upon the bridge and very many at the narrow entrance to the gate. I am telling you the truth, my beloved, and you may be a.s.sured that in this battle we killed thirty emirs, that is, princes, and three hundred other Turkish n.o.bles, not counting the remaining Turks and pagans. Indeed the number of Turks and Saracens killed is reckoned at 1230, but of ours we did not lose a single man.

On the following day (Easter), while my chaplain Alexander was writing this letter in great haste, a party of our men lying in wait for the Turks fought a successful battle with them and killed sixty hors.e.m.e.n, whose heads they brought to the army.

These which I write to you are only a few things, dearest, of the many which we have done; and because I am not able to tell you, dearest, what is in my mind, I charge you to do right, to watch carefully over your land, and to do your duty as you ought to your children and your va.s.sals. You will certainly see me just as soon as I can possibly return to you. Farewell.

FOOTNOTES:

[396] The term Turks is here used loosely and inaccurately for Asiatic pagan invaders in general. The French had never destroyed any "kingdoms of the Turks" in the proper sense of the word, though from time to time they had made successful resistance to Saracens, Avars and Hungarians.

[397] Among the acts of the Council of Clermont had been a solemn confirmation of the Truce of G.o.d, with the purpose of restraining feudal warfare [see p. 228]. In the version of Urban's speech given by Fulcher of Chartres, the Pope is reported as saying that in some parts of France "hardly any one can venture to travel upon the highways, by night or day, without danger of attack by thieves or robbers; and no one is sure that his property at home or abroad will not be taken from him by the violence or craft of the wicked."

[398] Pope Urban's appeal at the Council of Clermont.

[399] The _penates_ of the Romans were household G.o.ds. William of Malmesbury here uses the term half-humorously to designate the various sorts of household articles which the crusaders thought they could not do without on the expedition, and hence undertook to carry with them.

[400] This was in the summer of 1097. The whole body of crusaders, including monks, women, children, and hangers-on, may then have numbered three or four hundred thousand, but the effective fighting force was not likely over one hundred thousand men.

[401] The crusaders reached Nicaea May 6, 1097. After a long siege the city surrendered, although to the Emperor Alexius rather than to the French.

[402] This battle--the first pitched contest between the crusader and the Turk--was fought at Dorylaeum, southeast of Nicaea.

[403] Romania (or the sultanate of Roum) and Cappadocia were regions in northern Asia Minor.

[404] The country immediately southeast of the Black Sea.

[405] Antioch was one of the largest and most important cities of the East. It had been girdled with enormous walls by Justinian and was a strategic position of the greatest value to any power which would possess Syria and Palestine. The siege of the city by the crusaders began October 21, 1097.

[406] Bohemond of Tarentum was the son of Robert Guiscard and the leader of the Norman contingent from Italy. Raymond of St. Gilles, count of Toulouse, was leader of the men from Languedoc in south France.

[407] The modern Orontes.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE GREAT CHARTER

54. The Winning of the Charter

The reign of King John (1199-1216) was an era of humiliation, though in the end one of triumph, for all cla.s.ses of the English people. The king himself was perhaps the most unworthy sovereign who has ever occupied the English throne and one after another of his deeds and policies brought deep shame to every patriotic Englishman. His surrender to the papacy (1213) and his loss of the English possessions on the continent (1214) were only two of the most conspicuous results of his weakness and mismanagement. Indeed it was not these that touched the English people most closely, for after all it was rather their pride than their real interests that suffered by the king's homage to Innocent III. and his bitter defeat at Bouvines. Worse than these things were the heavy taxes and the illegal extortions of money, in which John went far beyond even his unscrupulous brother and predecessor, Richard. The king's expenses were very heavy, the more so by reason of his French wars, and to meet them he devised all manner of schemes for wringing money from his unwilling subjects. Land taxes were increased, scutage (payments in lieu of military service) was nearly doubled, levies of a thirteenth, a seventh, and other large fractions of the movable property of the realm were made, excessive fines were imposed, old feudal rights were revived and exercised in an arbitrary fas.h.i.+on, and property was confiscated on the shallowest of pretenses. Even the Church was by no means immune from the king's rapacity. The result of these high-handed measures was that all cla.s.ses of the people--barons, clergy, and commons--were driven into an att.i.tude of open protest. The leaders.h.i.+p against the king fell naturally to the barons and it was directly in consequence of their action that John was brought, in 1215, to grant the Great Charter and to pledge himself to govern thereafter according to the ancient and just laws of the kingdom.