Curiosities of Christian History Part 38

THE CRUSADERS' FIRST SIGHT OF JERUSALEM (A.D. 1099).

When the Crusaders, in the spring of 1099, marched from Antioch towards Jerusalem, and reached some spot sacred to history, the natural greed and jealousy among the chiefs were too apparent. A warrior-chief would rush to plant his flag first on a town or house and claim to be its possessor.

Others, more earnest, marched barefooted beneath the banner of the cross, and deplored among themselves the covetous and quarrelsome temper of their leaders. On reaching Emmaus, a deputation of Christians came from Bethlehem to bespeak help, and Tancred, in the middle of the night, with a small band of a hundred hors.e.m.e.n, went and planted his own flag on the top of the church at Bethlehem, at the very hour at which the birth of Christ had been announced to the shepherds of Judaea. Next day, on June 10th, 1099, at dawn, the army of Crusaders from the heights of Emmaus had their first gaze at the Holy City. Ta.s.so, in "Jerusalem Delivered," thus gives voice to the scene: "Lo! Jerusalem appears in sight! Lo! every hand points to Jerusalem. A thousand voices are heard as one in salutation of Jerusalem. After the great sweet joy which filled all hearts at this first glimpse came a deep feeling of contrition, mingled with awful and reverential affection Each scarcely dared to raise the eye towards the city which had been the chosen abode of Christ, where He died, was buried, and rose again. In accents of humility, with low-spoken words, with stifled sobs, with sighs and tears, the pent-up yearnings of a people in joy, and yet in sorrow, sent s.h.i.+vering through the air a murmur like that which is heard in leafy forests what time the wind blows through the leaves, or like the dull sound made by the sea which breaks upon the rocks, or hisses as it foams over the beach." It was thought at the time there were 20,000 armed inhabitants and 40,000 men in garrison of fanatical Mussulmans. About 40,000 Crusaders were outside of both s.e.xes, of whom 12,000 were foot soldiers and 1,200 knights.

CRUSADERS PREPARING TO a.s.sAULT JERUSALEM (A.D. 1099).

While the crusading army were preparing their scaling towers and engines for hurling stones, one day Tancred had gone alone to pray on the Mount of Olives and to gaze upon the Holy City, when five Mussulmans sallied forth to attack him. He killed three and the other two took to flight. There was at one point of the city ramparts a ravine, which had to be filled up to make an approach, and the Count of Toulouse issued a proclamation that he would give a _denier_ to every one who would go and throw three stones into it. In three days the ravine was filled up. After four weeks' labour a day was fixed for delivering the a.s.sault; but as several of the chiefs had serious quarrels, it was resolved that before the grand attack they should all be reconciled at a general supplication with solemn ceremonies for Divine aid. After a strict fast, all the Crusaders went forth armed from their quarters, and, preceded by their priests barefooted and chanting psalms, they moved in slow procession round Jerusalem, halting at all places hallowed by some fact in sacred history, listening to the discourses of their priests, and raising eyes full of wrath at hearing the scoffs addressed to them by the Saracens, and at seeing the insults heaped upon certain crosses they had set up, and upon all the symbols of the Christian faith. "Ye see," cried Peter the Hermit, "ye hear the threats and blasphemies of these enemies of G.o.d. Now this I swear to you by your faith, by the arms ye carry, to-day these infidels are full of pride and insolence, but to-morrow they shall be frozen with fear. Those mosques which tower over Christian ruins shall serve for temples to the true G.o.d, and Jerusalem shall hear no longer aught but the praises of G.o.d." The Christians raised a great shout in answer to their apostle, and repeated the words of Isaiah: "They shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun."

THE CRUSADERS CAPTURING JERUSALEM (A.D. 1099).

On July 14th, 1099, a third a.s.sault had been made against the city of Jerusalem; the machines of the Crusaders threw millstones against the walls, while the citizens threw pots of lighted tow, which would easily break, so as to destroy the machines. The enemy during the a.s.sault brought up two witches to enchant the machines and render them useless, but while they were enchanting a large stone struck both of them dead, and then a great shout arose among the besiegers. Duke G.o.dfrey's men threw fire on the bags of straw and cus.h.i.+ons of the wall, then threw a bridge to one end of the tower, by which he and his men entered, and then opened the gate of St. Paul, at three o'clock on Friday, the hour when Christ had yielded up the ghost. The Turks were then put to death in such numbers that no one could walk the streets without treading on dead bodies. When Tancred learned that many Turks had fled for refuge within the courts of the Temple, his men rushed inside and slew great numbers, and it was said carried off much gold and silver. Meanwhile, horse and foot were pouring into the city, and every inhabitant met with was slain, so that the streets flowed with blood. Ten thousand Turks were said to have been slain within the precincts of the Temple alone. The Crusaders, dispersing through the streets, and searching every secret place they could find, drew out master and mistress with their children and all their family from the secret chambers, and either put them to the sword or threw them headlong and broke their necks. He who first got possession of a house or palace claimed it as his own permanent property; for it had been agreed amongst the princes that, when the city was taken, each should keep what he could get. And thus, whoever first took possession of a house fixed a banner, s.h.i.+eld, or some kind of weapon at the door as a sign to others that the house was already occupied.

THE CRUSADERS' FIRST VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES (A.D. 1099).

When Jerusalem was captured in 1099, and the spoils had been collected by the pilgrims, they began, with sighs and tears, with naked feet, and with every sign of humility and devotion, to visit each of the holy places which the Lord had hallowed by His presence, and in particular the Church of the Resurrection and of our Lord's Pa.s.sion. It was most pleasant to behold with what devotion the faithful of both s.e.xes, whilst their minds were exhilarated with spiritual enjoyment, approached, shedding tears, to the holy places, and gave thanks to G.o.d for having brought their pious labours and long service to the desired consummation. All thence derived hopes that it would be the earnest of a future resurrection, and these present benefits gave them a firm expectation of those which were to come, that the earthly Jerusalem which they now trod would be to them the way to the heavenly Jerusalem. The bishops too and priests, having purified the churches of the city, and especially the precincts of the Temple, consecrated to G.o.d the holy places, and celebrating Ma.s.s before the people, gave thanks for the blessings which they had received. Many men of the greatest credit affirmed that they saw their dead companions going round with the princes to visit the holy places. The venerable Peter the Hermit, by whose zeal the undertaking was commenced, was now recognised and affectionately saluted by all. When all the places had been visited, the princes returned to their houses and hostels, to enjoy the gold, silver, jewels, costly garments, corn, wine, and oil, besides plenty of water, from the want of which they had suffered so much during the siege.

There was an abundance of everything that could be desired, and the market was maintained at low prices.

ST. BERNARD ROUSING A SECOND CRUSADE (A.D. 1174).

As Louis VII., in his quarrel with the Pope, had once invaded Count Theobald's dominions, and burnt alive thirteen hundred Christians, his conscience led him to restore the balance by slaughtering as many infidels, and hence he pressed the Pope to direct a second crusade. The Pope took the matter up, but was glad to devolve the burden of agitating among the nations on Bernard. This pleased Louis equally well, and at their joint solicitation meetings were arranged to be harangued by the inspired monk of Clairvaux. Pale and attenuated to a degree almost supernatural, even the glance of Bernard's eyes filled his contemporaries with wonder and awe. That he was kept alive at all appeared to them to be a standing miracle. But when the light from that thin calm face fell upon them, when those firm lips gave out words of love, devotion, and self-sacrifice, they were carried away with their feelings. A stage had been erected on the top of a hill, where a vast crowd, headed by the King and his knights, was collected. The mere sight and sound of Bernard's voice stirred up a sea of faces, and brought out a unanimous shout demanding "Crosses! crosses!" Bernard began to scatter broadcast among the people a supply of crosses, as the pledge of their wild enthusiasm. He also kept up the enthusiasm by visiting the towns of North-western Germany, and he enrolled his thousands of enthusiasts. He said at last he had scarcely left one man to seven women. All the chroniclers of the day describe a succession of miracles as attending Bernard wherever he went.

Soon all the chivalry of Europe were ready to advance to the Holy Land, conquering and to conquer.

A FRENCH QUEEN AS A CRUSADER (A.D. 1147).

When Eleanor of Aquitaine was Queen of Louis VII. of France, being beautiful, a fine musician and songstress, and expert in the songs and recitations of the troubadours, she was so carried away by the eloquence of the monk Bernard when preaching for the crusade that she vowed to join her husband and go to the Holy Land. Her youth, beauty, and gaiety made the King do anything. She made her court ladies array themselves like Amazons, and act as her bodyguard. They joined in the exercises eagerly as in any frolic, and sent their distaffs as presents to the knights and n.o.bles who had not courage to go from home. The freaks of these ladies led to many mishaps and disasters in the field; and instead of obeying orders, the Queen and her Amazons insisted on encamping in a lovely, romantic valley, which deranged all the wisest plans, and led to the loss of seven thousand of the flower of French chivalry. She then began to flirt with her uncle, a handsome old beau, whom she met for the first time at Antioch, and her vagaries caused disgust to Louis, who left her in a huff.

When she entered Jerusalem, the burning object of every Crusader's dreams, she was in such a fit of temper that she saw nothing interesting, and then began a lasting quarrel between her and the King. While Louis was besieging Damascus she had to be kept in personal restraint at Jerusalem, and even started another flirtation with a handsome young Saracen. After great disasters and vexations, the King and Queen left Constantinople, and reached France in 1148. She never ceased to mock the King for his dowdy habits during the next four years while they lived together. In 1150 the young Prince Henry of England, aged seventeen, first saw the Queen, and she was fascinated by him, and took measures to marry him after securing a divorce from Louis. The celerity of her marriage to Henry in 1152, after obtaining her divorce, astonished all Europe, she being thirty-two and Henry twenty.

ST. BERNARD AFTER THE EVENT OF HIS CRUSADE.

The influence of St. Bernard in rousing the Second Crusade was due to the reputation he had acquired above all his rivals and contemporaries, who knew that he had refused all ecclesiastical dignities, and yet was the oracle of Europe, and the founder of one hundred and sixty convents. He was warned, however, by the example of Peter the Hermit, and declined any military command. After the calamitous event of his great undertaking, the Abbot of Clairvaux was loudly accused as a false prophet, the author of the public and private mourning; his enemies exulted, his friends blushed, and his apology was slow and unsatisfactory. He justified his obedience to the Pope, expatiated on the mysterious ways of Providence, imputed the misfortunes of the pilgrims to their own sins, and modestly insinuated that his own part of the mission had been approved by signs and wonders.

A PILGRIM PRINCE BRINGING RELICS FROM THE HOLY LAND (A.D. 1172).

Henry, Duke of Saxony, married Matilda, then a girl of twelve, eldest daughter of Henry II. of England, in 1168, and four years after the Duke resolved to visit the Holy Land, not as a fighting Crusader, but only as a pilgrim, so that his feet might stand and his knees bend where once the feet of the Saviour had stood. He took costly presents, and while approaching Jerusalem the clergy came forth to welcome him, chanting hymns and songs of joy. He made magnificent offerings at the Holy Sepulchre, and left money to keep three lamps perpetually burning before the holy shrine.

Henry visited all the sacred places, was feted by King Baldwin, and then by the Turkish Sultan. The Sultan, after presenting Henry with a gorgeous cloak, ordered eighteen hundred war-steeds to be brought out that the guest might choose the best, and it was then decorated with silver bits and jewelled saddles. He was also offered a lion and two leopards, as well as six camels loaded with gifts. The Emperor at Constantinople was equally liberal, and gave ma.n.u.scripts of the Holy Gospels and many relics of saints and martyrs. When Henry reached his home in Brunswick and displayed his treasures before his d.u.c.h.ess and their subjects, he found in his collection the following gems: a tooth of St. John the Baptist; a great toe of St. Mark; the arms of St. Innocent and St. Theodore; a sc.r.a.p of the dresses of the Virgin Mary, of St. Stephen the protomartyr, St. Laurence, and Mary Magdalene; some of the wood of the cross; a few splinters from the crown of thorns; a piece of the column to which our Lord was bound when scourged; a part of the table used at the Last Supper; and many other rarities. The wood of the cross was enshrined in a large silver crucifix decorated with fifty-one pearls, thirty-nine corals, and ninety-six other jewels. These spoils were distributed among the different churches in Brunswick and the monastery of Hildesheim, and received with immense satisfaction and pride.

THE POPE WRITING UP ANOTHER CRUSADE (A.D. 1187).

In 1187 Pope Gregory VIII. sent a letter to the faithful, reciting that "whereas we doubt not that the disasters of the land of Jerusalem which have lately happened through the irruption of the Saracens have been caused by the sins of the whole people of Christendom, therefore we have enacted that all persons shall for the next five years on every sixth day of the week fast on Lenten fare, and wherever Ma.s.s is performed it shall be chanted at the ninth hour, also on the fourth day of the week; and on Sat.u.r.day all persons without distinction who are in good health shall abstain from eating flesh. We and our brethren do also forbid to ourselves and to our households the use of flesh on the second day of the week as well, unless it shall so happen that illness, or some great calamity, or other evident cause shall seem to prevent the same, trusting that by so doing G.o.d will pardon us and leave His blessing behind Him." The princes of the earth, on receiving these mandates and exhortations of the Supreme Pontiff, exerted themselves with all their might for the liberation of the land of Jerusalem, and accordingly the Emperor, the archbishops, bishops, dukes, earls, and barons of the empire a.s.sumed the sign of the cross.

THE EMPEROR'S HYPOCRITICAL CRUSADERs.h.i.+P (A.D. 1189).

Frederick I. (Barbarossa), Emperor of Germany, was said to have joined Henry II. of England and Philip of France in a crusade from mere worldly ambition rather than any sincere devotion. An Arabian chronicler, Ibn Gouzi, thus describes his visit to Jerusalem before leaving the East: "The Emperor was ruddy and bald. His sight was weak. If he had been a slave, he would not have been worth two hundred drachmas. His discourse showed that he did not believe his Christian religion. When he spoke of it, it was to sneer at it. Having cast his eyes on the inscription in letters of gold which Saladin has placed above the venerated chapel, which said, 'Saladin purged the Holy City from those who wors.h.i.+pped many G.o.ds,' he had it explained to him; and then asking why the windows had gratings, he was told it was to keep out the birds. He answered, 'Yes, you have driven away the sparrows, but instead of them you have let in hogs,' meaning the Christians. When the Emir, enforcing the Sultan's order to avoid what might displease Frederick, rebuked the Mussulmans for uttering on the minarets the pa.s.sages in the Koran against the Christians, Frederick, hearing of it, told him, 'You have done wrong. Why for my sake omit your duty, your law, or your religion? By heaven, if you come with me to my states----'" At this point the chronicler's account was mutilated, and the rest is unknown.

FULK OF NEUILLY, THE PREACHER OF THE THIRD CRUSADE (A.D. 1195).

As Peter the Hermit was the soul of the First Crusade and St. Bernard of the Second, so Fulk of Neuilly, who died 1202, was the missionary of the Third Crusade in 1195. He had been wild in youth, but settled down and attended the lectures of Peter the Chaunter in Paris, and took copious notes of the brilliant pa.s.sages. He then poured forth Peter's eloquence in his own next Sunday's sermon, and began to be considered eloquent and stirring. One day his hearers were so overwhelmed with enthusiasm that they tore their clothes, threw away their shoes, and cast themselves at his feet, demanding rods and scourges to inflict instant penance on themselves. Usurers came and threw their gains at his feet. The Pope, Innocent III., heard of Fulk's enthusiasm and highly approved it, and suggested to him a mission to stir up the people. He did so, and went the round of France, distributing crosses, blessing wells, and working miracles. He shaved and wore a sackcloth s.h.i.+rt and rode on a palfrey. He received vast subsidies. But notwithstanding his zeal and success, a profound mistrust settled on mankind that these holy alms were devoted by the Pope and him to other uses. He died of fever in 1202, supposed to have been brought on by grief at these malappropriations. Other preachers, especially the Abbot Martin, had also kept up the missionary enthusiasm, and at last a crusade of Cery began in 1200, the fruit of this stirring of the people.

DEATH OF RICHARD I., A CRUSADER (A.D. 1199).

While Richard I., who had returned from Palestine in 1194, was in 1199 besieging the castle of Chalus in Limousin and was reconnoitring it on all sides, one Bertram de Gurdun aimed an arrow from the castle, striking the King in the arm and inflicting an incurable wound. A physician attempted to extract the iron head from the wound, but took out only the wood at first, and in butcher fas.h.i.+on had to probe again for the rest. The King, feeling that he could not survive, disposed of his wealth, and then ordered the arbalister to be called to his presence. The King asked what harm he had done that the bowman should kill him. The latter at once made answer that the King had slain his father and two brothers with his own hand, and also had intended to kill the speaker, but that he, the latter, was quite ready and willing to endure the greatest torments, being well content that one who had inflicted so many evils on the world should do so no more. The King pardoned the soldier and ordered him to be discharged; but the King's servants, notwithstanding, privily flayed him alive and then hanged him.

FRENCH AND VENETIANS PILLAGING CONSTANTINOPLE.

When the French and Venetians in 1204 besieged and pillaged Constantinople, the Emperor's wife and child had to take refuge in the house of a merchant. The patriarch escaped, riding on an a.s.s without attendants. The conquerors entered the Cathedral of St. Sophia, tore down the veil, the altar, and all its ornaments. They made a prost.i.tute mount on the patriarch's throne and sing and dance in the holy place, to ridicule the hymns and processions of the wors.h.i.+ppers. The tombs were stripped of everything saleable. There were many Pagan statues which peculiarly provoked the contempt and zeal of the invaders. The statues of the victorious charioteers, the sphinx, river-horse, and crocodile, of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, of the eagle and serpent, and other designs of Pagan heroes and G.o.ddesses, were cast down and disfigured and then burnt. The most enlightened of the invaders searched for and seized the relics of the saints; and it is said that the Abbot Martin transferred a rich cargo to his monastery of Paris. The supply of heads and bones, crosses and images, served the wants of the churches of Europe, and proved most lucrative plunder. The libraries also shared the general fate.

THE POPE TURNS ON CRUSADERS AGAINST THE HERETICS (A.D. 1208).

The southern part of France had long been noted for the variety of heresies caused amongst its mixed population. In 1145 St. Bernard went forth to preach against the heretics of Toulouse, where there were churches without flocks, flocks without priests, and Christians without Christ, where men were dying in their sins without being reconciled by penance or admitted to the Holy Communion, and their souls sent pell-mell before the awful tribunal of G.o.d. But even St. Bernard could make little impression on the unG.o.dly population, who drowned his voice and caused him to shake the dust from his feet and to curse the town of Vertfeuil. He died in 1153, and for fifty years later the heretics of Southern France, generally called the Albigenses, vexed the orthodox souls of Popes and Church Councils. At last, about 1208, a fiery and zealous Crusader, on returning from Palestine, was enlisted by Pope Innocent III., and aided by two Spanish monks to extirpate, since they could not hope to convert, these troublesome heretics whom the Pope described as worse than the Saracens. A rally was made of all the fanatical offscourings in the world to help in this heretic hunt, and for fifteen years all the towns and strong castles of the South were taken, lost, pillaged, sacked, and ma.s.sacred with unbridled ferocity. The brutal Simon de Montfort, after the ma.s.sacre of chiefs, confiscated the lands and appropriated these to himself. It was a relief to Christians when that unscrupulous bandit, after besieging Toulouse for nine months, was killed by a shower of stones discharged from the walls in 1218.

CRUSADERS FEROCIOUS AGAINST HERETICS (A.D. 1209).

The Crusaders, in 1209, though zealous for their religion, scarcely showed a glimmering of its influence in the conduct of their warlike operations against the Albigenses. They spread desolation wherever they went, destroying vineyards and crops, burning villages and farmhouses, slaughtering unarmed peasants, women, and children. When La Minerve, near Narbonne, after an obstinate defence, yielded and the besieged were offered their freedom if they recanted their heresy, one of the Crusaders shouted out, "We came to extirpate heretics, not to show them favour."

This voice from the crowd sharpened their fury, and one hundred and forty of both s.e.xes were burnt to death. At a castle called Brau, De Montfort cut off the noses and tore out the eyes of one hundred of the defenders, leaving to one of them one eye only, that he might lead out the rest. At Lavaur, Almeric and eighty n.o.bles were ordered to be hanged; but because one of the gibbets fell down in using it, they were all butchered with the sword. The sister of Almeric, being deemed an obstinate heretic, was thrown into a well and a pile of stones upon her. A chaplain of the Crusaders at one place reported that four hundred captives were burned with immense joy. One lady at Toulouse, lying on her deathbed, being charged as a heretic, was carried out in her bed and burnt amid the merriment of the orthodox. Yet Simon de Montfort, who had been chosen general of these brutal legions, after despatching so many dissenters of the period, on returning to Northern France was hailed as champion of the faith, and the clergy and people met him in procession, shouting, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." At the siege of Beziers, it is mentioned, where Catholics and heretics both joined in defending their town, Arnold of Citeaux incited the Crusaders to slaughter not only men but women and children indiscriminately, brutally adding, "Kill them all; the Lord knoweth them that are His." The series of campaigns against the Albigenses was said to give the Pope the idea of establis.h.i.+ng the Inquisition as a more effectual way of putting down all heretics.

HOW THE ORTHODOX VIEWED THE ALBIGENSES (A.D. 1214).

In 1214 the depravity of the heretics called Albigenses, who dwelt in Gascony, Arumnia, and Alby, gained such power in the parts about Toulouse and in Aragon that they not only practised their impieties in secret, but preached their erroneous doctrine openly. The Albigenses were so called, says Roger of Wendover, from the city of Alba, where that doctrine was said to have taken its rise. At length their perversity set the anger of G.o.d so completely at defiance that they published the books of their doctrines amongst the lower order before the very eyes of the bishops and priests, and disgraced the chalices and sacred vessels in disrespect of the body and blood of Christ. Pope Innocent was greatly grieved, and enjoined the chiefs and other Christian people that whoever undertook the business of overthrowing the heretics should, like those who visited the Lord's sepulchre, be protected from all hostile attacks both in property and person. The Crusaders met in large a.s.sembly, and then marched to lay siege to the city of Beziers. The heretics there, on seeing their a.s.sailants, scornfully threw out the book of the Gospel, blaspheming the name of the Lord. The soldiers of the faith, incensed by such blasphemy, in less than three hours' time scaled the walls, and sacked and burnt the city, and a great slaughter of the infidels took place as the punishment of G.o.d, but very few of the Catholics were slain. After a few days, when the report of this miracle was spread abroad, the followers of this heretical depravity fled to the mountains, and abandoned their castles, which were stocked with all kinds of food and stores.

THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE (A.D. 1212).

While the fever for crusading against heretics was kept alive in 1212, a singular development occurred among the little children, who copied what they saw. A shepherd boy named Stephen, at the village of Cloies, near Vendome, arose, who professed to have been commanded by the Saviour in a vision to go and preach the cross. This tale at once was accepted, and he gathered children about him, who went through the towns and villages chanting, "O Lord, help us to recover Thy true and holy cross." The numbers increased as they went along, so that when they reached Paris they were computed at fifteen hundred, and at Ma.r.s.eilles at thirty thousand, marching under banners, crosses, and censers. Parents in vain tried to keep their children from joining in the enthusiasm, and it is related that those who resorted to locks and bars were confounded on seeing these give way and allow the little captives to go free. Stephen, like his betters, was credited with miraculous power, and the threads of his dress were treasured as precious relics. He was carried along on a triumphal car, and had a miniature bodyguard. At last some buccaneering s.h.i.+ppers, on pretence of giving them a free pa.s.sage to Egypt and Africa, kidnapped and sold them as slaves. While this juvenile army was parading through France, a like movement was set on foot by a boy, Nicolas, in Germany, but his following was less successful, and soon became scattered. The sagacious Pope Innocent, in alluding to these childish outbreaks, was pleased to observe that the children put to shame the apathy of their elders.

MORE PREACHING OF THE CRUSADE (A.D. 1236).

In 1236, says Matthew Paris, on a warrant from the Pope, a solemn preaching was made both in England and France by the brethren of the orders of Preachers and Minorites and other famous clerks, theologians, and religious men, granting to those who would a.s.sume the cross a full remission of the sins of which they truly repented and made confession.

These preachers wandered about amongst cities, castles, and villages, promising to those who a.s.sumed the cross much relief in temporal matters--namely, that interest on debts should not acc.u.mulate against them with the Jews, and the protection of his Holiness the Pope should be granted for all their incomes and property given in pledge to procure necessaries for their journey; and thus they incited an immense number of people to make a vow of pilgrimage. The Pope afterwards sent also Master Thomas, a Templar, his familiar, into England with his warrant to absolve those Crusaders whom he chose and thought expedient from their vow of pilgrimage, on receiving money from them which he considered that he could expend advantageously for the interests of the Holy Land. When the Crusaders saw this, they wondered at the insatiable greediness of the Roman Court, and conceived great indignation in their minds, because the Romans endeavoured thus impudently to drain their purses by so many devices. For the preachers also promised the same indulgence to all, whether they a.s.sumed the cross or not, if they contributed their property and means for the a.s.sistance of the Holy Land. The Pope thus acc.u.mulated an endless sum of money to defend the Church. But peace was soon after made and the project abandoned; nevertheless, the money was never restored, and thus the devotion of many became daily weakened.

ESCAPING THE CRUSADE BY PAYING MONEY (A.D. 1241).