_The Effects of the Council of Clermont--State of France--Motives of the
People for embracing the Crusade--Benefits produced--The Enthusiasm
general--Rapid Progress--The First Bodies of Crusaders begin their
March--Gautier Sans Avoir--His Army--Their Disasters--Reach
Constantinople--Peter the Hermit sets out with an immense Multitude--
Storms Semlin--Defeated at Nissa--His Host dispersed--The Remains
collected--Joins Gautier--Excesses of the Multitude--The Italians and
Germans separate from the French--The Germans exterminated--The French cut
to pieces--Conduct of Alexius._

The immediate effects of the council of Clermont are detailed with so much
animation by Guibert of Nogent, that I shall attempt to trace them nearly
in his own words, merely observing, that previous to his departure from
France, Urban II., having taken every means in his power to secure the
property of the crusaders during their absence, committed the chief
direction of the expedition to Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, in Auvergne.[107]

"As soon as the council of Clermont was concluded," says the historian, "a
great rumour spread through the whole of France, and as soon as fame
brought the news of the orders of the pontiff to any one, he went
instantly to solicit his neighbours and his relations to engage with him
in the _way of God_, for so they designated the purposed expedition.

"The Counts Palatine[108] were already full of the desire to undertake
this journey; and all the knights of an inferior order felt the same zeal.
The poor themselves soon caught the flame so ardently, that no one paused
to think of the smallness of his wealth, or to consider whether he ought
to yield his house and his fields, and his vines; but each one set about
selling his property, at as low a price as if he had been held in some
horrible captivity, and sought to pay his ransom without loss of time.

"At this period, too, there existed a general dearth. The rich even felt
the want of corn; and many, with every thing to buy, had nothing, or next
to nothing, wherewithal to purchase what they needed. The poor tried to
nourish themselves with the wild herbs of the earth; and, as bread was
very dear, sought on all sides food heretofore unknown, to supply the
place of corn. The wealthy and powerful were not exempt; but finding
themselves menaced with the famine which spread around them, and beholding
every day the terrible wants of the poor, they contracted their expenses,
and lived with the most narrow parsimony, lest they should squander the
riches now become so necessary.

"The ever insatiable misers rejoiced in days so favourable to their
covetousness; and casting their eyes upon the bushels of grain which they
had hoarded long before, calculated each day the profits of their avarice.
Thus some struggled with every misery and want, while others revelled in
the hopes of fresh acquisitions. No sooner, however, had Christ inspired,
as I have said, innumerable bodies of people to seek a voluntary exile,
than the money which had been hoarded so long was spread forth in a
moment; and that which was horribly dear while all the world was in
repose, was on a sudden sold for nothing, as soon as every one began to
hasten towards their destined journey. Each man hurried to conclude his
affairs; and, astonishing to relate, we then saw--so sudden was the
diminution in the value of every thing--we then saw seven sheep sold for
five deniers. The dearth of grain, also, was instantly changed into
abundance; and every one, occupied solely in amassing money for his
journey, sold every thing that he could, not according to its real worth,
but according to the value set upon it by the buyer.

"In the mean while, the greater part of those who had not determined upon
the journey, joked and laughed at those who were thus selling their goods
for whatever they could get; and prophesied that their voyage would be
miserable, and their return worse. Such was ever the language one day; but
the next--suddenly seized with the same desire as the rest--those who had
been most forward to mock, abandoned every thing for a few crowns, and set
out with those whom they had laughed at but a day before. Who shall tell
the children and the infirm that, animated with the same spirit, hastened
to the war? Who shall count the old men and the young maids who hurried
forward to the fight?--not with the hope of aiding, but for the crown of
martyrdom to be won amid the swords of the infidels. 'You, warriors,' they
cried, 'you shall vanquish by the spear and brand; but let us, at least,
conquer Christ by our sufferings.' At the same time, one might see a
thousand things springing from the same spirit, which were both
astonishing and laughable: the poor shoeing their oxen, as we shoe horses,
and harnessing them to two-wheeled carts, in which they placed their
scanty provisions and their young children; and proceeding onward, while
the babes, at each town or castle that they saw, demanded eagerly whether
that was Jerusalem."

Such is the picture presented, by an eyewitness, of the state of France
after the first promulgation of the crusade; and a most extraordinary
picture it is. The zeal, the enthusiasm, the fervour of the spirit, the
brutal ignorance and dark barbarity of the people, are the objects that
catch the eye from the mere surface; but underneath may be seen a hundred
fine and latent tints which mingle in the portrait of the age. There may
be found the hope of gain and the expectation of wealth in other lands, as
well as the excitement of devotion; and there also may be traced the
reckless, daring courage of a period when comfort was unknown, and when
security was scarcely less to be expected among the swords of the
Saracens, than in the fields of France and Germany. While the thirst of
adventure, the master-passion of the middle ages, prompted to any change
of scene and circumstances, imagination portrayed the land in view with
all that adventitious splendour which none--of all the many betrayers of
the human mind--so well knows how to bestow as hope.

The same land, when the Jews marched towards it from the wilderness, had
been represented to them as a land flowing with milk and honey,--rich in
all gifts; and doubtless that inducement moved the stubborn Hebrews, as
much as the command of him they had so often disobeyed. Now the very same
prospect was held out to another host of men, as ignorant of what lay
before them as the Jews themselves; and it may be fairly supposed that, in
their case too, imaginary hopes, and all the gay phantasma of ambition,
shared powerfully with religion in leading them onward to the promised
land.

Still zeal, and sympathy, and indignation, and chivalrous feeling, and the
thirst of glory, and the passion for enterprise, and a thousand vague but
great and noble aspirations, mingled in the complicated motive of the
crusade. It increased by contagion; it grew by communion; it spread from
house to house, and from bosom to bosom; it became a universal desire--an
enthusiasm--a passion--a madness.

In the mean while, the crusade was not without producing a sensible
benefit even to Europe. The whole country had previously been desolated by
feuds[109] and pillage, and massacre. Castle waged war with castle: baron
plundered baron; and from field to field, and city to city, the traveller
could scarcely pass without injury or death. No sooner,[110] however, had
the crusade been preached at the council of Clermont, than the universal
peace, which was there commanded, called the _Truce[111] of God_, was
sworn throughout the country, the plunder ceased and the feuds
disappeared. The very fact of the wicked, the infamous, and the
bloodthirsty having embraced the crusade, either from penitence or from
worse motives, was a positive good to Europe. That not alone the
good,[112] the religious, the zealous, or the brave, filled the ranks of
the Cross is admitted on all hands; yet those who had once assumed that
holy sign were obliged, in some degree, to act as if their motives had
been pure, and their very absence was a blessing to the land they left.

Still the crusade went on; and the imagination of the people being once
directed towards a particular object found, even in the phenomena which in
former days would have struck nations with fear and apprehension, signs of
blessing and omens of success. An earthquake itself[113] was held as good
augury; and scarcely a meteor shot across the sky without affording some
theme for hope.

The sign of the Cross was now to be seen on the shoulder of every one; and
being generally cut in red[114] cloth, was a conspicuous and remarkable
object. As these multiplied, the hearts even of the fearful grew strong,
and the contagion of example added to the number every hour. Peter the
Hermit, indefatigable in his calling, though his mind seems day by
day[115] to have become more excited, till enthusiasm grew nearly akin to
madness, gathered a vast concourse of the lower orders, and prepared to
set out by the way of Hungary. But the real and serviceable body of
crusaders was collected from among another class, whose military habits
and chivalrous character were well calculated to effect the great object
proposed.

In France, Hugh, the brother of King Philip, Robert, Count of Flanders,
Stephen, Count of Chartres and Blois, Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, William,
Bishop of Orange, Raimond, Count of Toulouse, and many others of the
highest station, assumed the Cross, and called together all the knights
and retainers that their great names and influence could bring into the
field. Robert, Duke of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror of England,
accompanied by a number of English barons, prepared also for the crusade.
Godfrey of Loraine, and his brothers were added to the number; and
Boemond, Prince of Tarento, the valiant son of Robert Guiscard, cast from
him the large possessions which his sword and that of his father had
conquered, and turned his hopes and expectations towards the east.

The immense multitudes thus assembled are said to have amounted to nearly
six millions of souls;[116] and one of the most astonishing proofs of the
rapidity with which the news of the crusade must have spread, and the
enthusiasm with which it was received, is to be found in the fact, that
the council of Clermont was held in the November of the year 1095, and
that early in the spring of 1096 a large body of the crusaders was in
motion towards Palestine.

The historians of the day are not at all agreed in regard to which was the
multitude that led the way towards the Holy Land. It appears[117] almost
certain, however, that _Gautier sans avoir_, or Walter the Penniless, a
Burgundian gentleman, without fortune, who had assembled a considerable
band of the lower classes under the banner of the Cross, was the first who
set out in compliance with the general vow. He was, according to all
accounts, a complete soldier of fortune, renowned for his poverty even to
a proverb, but by no means, as has been asserted, without military fame.
All[118] the contemporary writers designate him by his cognomen of
poverty; but all at the same time describe him as an illustrious warrior.
Nevertheless, the host that he led was rather an ill-governed crowd of men
on foot than an army; and but eight knights accompanied the leader on his
expedition. The difficulties of the undertaking were incalculable; and the
followers of Walter had provided but little for the necessities of the
way. It showed, however, no small skill in that leader to conduct the
disorderly rabble by which he was followed, so far as he did in safety.

Passing through Germany,[119] he entered into Hungary; where, entangled
among the marshes and passes of that kingdom, his whole followers must
have perished inevitably, had he not met with the greatest kindness and
assistance from the king and people of the country, who, professing the
Christian religion, understood and venerated the motives of the crusade.

Thus the host of Walter swept on till their arrival at Semlin, where some
stragglers were attacked and plundered by a party of Hungarians less
humane than their brethren. The arms and crosses of the crusaders who had
thus been despoiled, were fixed upon the walls of the city as a sort of
trophy; but Walter, though strongly urged by his followers to seek
vengeance for the insult, wisely forbore and passing forward, entered into
Bulgaria. Here the champions of the Cross met with no further aid. The
people regarded them with jealous suspicion; the cities shut their gates
upon them; all commerce was prohibited, and all supplies denied.

Famine now imperiously urged them to violence; and having taken possession
of whatever flocks and herds they could find, the crusaders soon found
themselves attacked by the Bulgarians, by whom considerable numbers were
cut off and destroyed.

Walter himself, with great wisdom[120] and resolution, forced his way
through innumerable difficulties, till he had left behind him the
inhospitable country of the Bulgarians; and at length brought his army,
infinitely wasted by both famine and the sword, to the neighbourhood of
Constantinople. Here he obtained permission to refresh his forces, and
wait the arrival of Peter the Hermit himself, who followed close upon his
steps.

The multitude which had been collected by the Hermit was even of a less
uniform and regular description than that which had followed _Gautier sans
avoir_. Men, women, and children,--all sexes, ages, and professions,--many
and distinct languages--a quantity of baggage and useless encumbrance,
rendered the army of Peter as unwieldy and dangerous an engine as ever was
put in motion. Notwithstanding its bulk and inconsistency, it also
proceeded in safety, and without much reproach, through Germany and
Hungary; but at Semlin, the sight of the crosses and vestments which had
been stripped from[121] the stragglers of Walter's host roused the anger
of the multitude. The town was attacked and taken by assault, with all the
acts of savage ferocity which usually follow such an occurrence; and the
crusaders, without remorse, gave themselves up to every barbarity that
dark and unrestrained passions could suggest.[122]

The news of this event soon reached the king of Hungary; who, calling
together a considerable force, marched to avenge the death and pillage of
his subjects. His approach instantly caused Peter to decamp from Semlin;
but the passage of the Morava was opposed by a tribe of savage Bulgarians:
few boats were to be procured; those that were found were of small
dimensions; and the rafts that could be hastily constructed were but
little manageable in a broad and rapid river. Some of the crusaders thus
perished in the water, some fell by the arrows of the enemy; but the tribe
that opposed the passage being defeated and put to flight, the rest of
Peter's followers were brought over in safety.

The Hermit now, after having sacrificed the prisoners to what was then
considered a just resentment, pursued his way to Nissa, in which town the
Duke of Bulgaria had fortified himself, having abandoned Belgrade at the
approach of the army of the Cross. Finding, however, that Peter did not at
all contemplate taking vengeance for the inhospitality shown to _Gautier
sans avoir_, the duke wisely permitted his subjects to supply the
crusaders with necessaries.

Thus all passed tranquilly under the walls of Nissa, till Peter and his
host had absolutely departed, when some German stragglers, remembering a
controversy of the night before with one of the Bulgarian merchants, set
fire to several mills and houses without the walls of the town.

Enraged at this wanton outrage, the armed people of the city rushed out
upon the aggressors, and, not contented with sacrificing them to their
fury, fell upon the rear of the Hermit's army, glutted their wrath with
the blood of all that opposed them, and carried off the baggage, the
women, the children, and all that part of the multitude whose weakness at
once caused them to linger behind, and left them without defence.

The moment that Peter heard of this event, he turned back; and, with a
degree of calmness and moderation that does high honour to his memory, he
endeavoured to investigate the cause of the disaster, and conciliate by
courtesy and fair words. This negotiation was highly successful; the duke,
appeased with the vengeance he had taken, agreed to return the prisoners
and the baggage, and every thing once more assumed a peaceful aspect; when
suddenly, a body of a thousand imprudent men, fancying that they saw an
opportunity of seizing on the town, passed the stone bridge, and
endeavoured to scale the walls. A general conflict ensued; the
ill-disciplined host of the crusaders was defeated and dispersed, and
Peter himself, obliged to fly alone, took refuge, like the rest, in the
neighbouring forests.

For some time he pursued his way over mountains,[123] and wastes, and
precipices; and it may easily be conceived that his heart--so lately
elated with honour, and command, and gratified enthusiasm--now felt
desolate and crushed, to find the multitude his voice had gathered
dispersed or slain, and himself a wandering fugitive in a foreign land,
without shelter, protection, or defence. At length, it is said, he met by
chance several of his best and most courageous knights at the top of a
mountain, where they had assembled with no more than five hundred men,
which seemed at first all that remained of his vast army.[124] He caused,
however, signals to be made and horns to be sounded in the different parts
of the forest, that any of the scattered crusaders within hearing might be
brought to one spot.

These and other means which were put in practice to call together the
remnants of his army, proved so successful, that before night seven
thousand men were collected, and with this force he hastened to march on
towards Constantinople. As he went, other bands, which had been separated
from him in the confusion of the flight, rejoined him, and the only
difficulty, as the host advanced, was to procure the necessaries of life.

The news of Peter's adventures flew before them, and reached even
Constantinople. Alexius, the emperor, who had not yet learned to fear the
coming of the crusaders, sent deputies to meet the Hermit, and to hasten
his journey; and at Philippopoli the eloquent display of his sufferings,
which Peter addressed to the assembled people, moved their hearts to
compassion and sympathy. The wants of the host were plentifully supplied,
and, after reposing for some days in the friendly city, the whole body,
now again amounting to thirty thousand men, set out for Constantinople,
where they arrived in safety, and joined the troops which Walter the
Penniless had conducted thither previously.

Here they found a considerable number of Lombards and Italians; but these,
also, as well as the troops which they had themselves brought thither were
not only of the lowest, but of the most disorderly classes of the people.
It is no wonder therefore--although Alexius supplied them with money and
provisions, and tried to secure to them the repose and comfort that they
needed in every respect--that these ruffian adventurers should soon begin
to tire of tranquillity and order, and to exercise their old trades of
plunder and excess.[125] They overturned palaces, set fire to the public
buildings, and stripped even the lead off the roofs of the churches, which
they afterward sold to the Greeks from whom they had plundered it.

Horrified by these enormities,[126] the emperor soon found a pretext to
hurry them across the Bosphorus, still giving them the humane caution, to
wait the arrival of stronger forces, before they attempted to quit
Bithynia. Here, however, their barbarous licentiousness soon exceeded all
bounds, and Peter the Hermit himself, having lost command over his
turbulent followers, returned to Constantinople in despair, upon the
pretence of consulting with the emperor on the subject of provisions.[127]

After his departure, the Lombards and Germans separated themselves from
the French and Normans, whose crimes and insolence disgusted even their
barbarous fellows. _Gautier sans avoir_ still continued in command of the
French, who remained where Peter had left them; but the Italians[128] and
Germans chose for their leader one Renault, or Rinaldo, and, marching on,
made themselves masters of a fortress called Exorogorgon, or Xerigord.
Here they were attacked by the sultaun Soliman, who cut to pieces a large
body placed in ambuscade, and then invested the fort, which, being ill
supplied with water, he was well aware must surrender before long.

For eight days the besieged underwent tortures too dreadful to be dwelt
upon, from the most agonizing thirst. At the end of that time, Rinaldo and
his principal companions went over to the Turks, abandoned their religion,
and betrayed their brethren. The castle thus falling into the hands of the
infidels, the Christians that remained were slaughtered without mercy.

The news of this disaster was soon brought to the French camp, and
indignation spread among the crusaders.[129] Some say a desire of
vengeance, some a false report of the fall of Nice, caused the French to
insist upon hurrying forward towards the Turkish territory. Gautier wisely
resisted for some time all the entreaties of his troops, but at length
finding them preparing to march without his consent, he put himself at
their head, and led them towards Nice. Before reaching that place, he was
encountered by the Turkish forces. The battle was fierce, but unequal:
Gautier and his knights fought with desperate courage,[130] but all their
efforts were vain; the Christians were slaughtered in every direction; and
Gautier himself, after having displayed to the last that intrepid valour
for which he was renowned, fell under seven mortal wounds.

Not above three thousand Christians effected their escape to Civitot. Here
again they were attacked by the Turks, who surrounded the fortress with
vast piles of wood, in order to exterminate by fire the few of the
crusaders that remained. The besieged, however, watched their moment, and
while the wind blew towards the Turkish camp, set fire to the wood
themselves, which thus was consumed without injury to them, while many of
their enemies were destroyed by the flames.[131]

In the mean time one of the crusaders had made his way to Constantinople,
and communicated the news of all these disasters to Peter the Hermit. The
unhappy Peter, painfully disappointed, like all those who fix their
enthusiasm on the virtues or the prudence of mankind, was driven almost to
despair, by the folly and unworthiness of those in whom he had placed his
hopes. He nevertheless cast himself at the feet of the emperor
Alexius,[132] and besought him, with tears and supplications, to send some
forces to deliver the few crusaders who had escaped from the scimitar of
the Turks.

The monarch granted his request, and the little garrison of Civitot were
brought in safety to Constantinople. After their arrival, however, Alexius
ordered them to disperse and return to their own country; and with wise
caution bought their arms before he dismissed them;[133] thus at once
supplying them with money for their journey, and depriving them of the
means of plundering and ravaging his dominions as they went. Most of the
historians[134] of that age accuse Alexius of leaguing with the Turks,
even at this period, to destroy the crusaders, or, at least, of triumphing
in the fall of those very men whom he had himself called to his succour.

The conduct of Alexius in this transaction is not very clear, but it is
far from improbable that, fearful of the undisciplined multitude he had
brought into his dominions, horrified by their crimes, and indignant at
their pillage of his subjects, he beheld them fall by their own folly and
the swords of the enemy, without any effort to defend them, or any very
disagreeable feeling at their destruction. And indeed, when we remember
the actions they did commit within the limits of the Greek empire, we can
hardly wonder at the monarch, if he rejoiced at their punishment, or blame
him if he was indifferent to their fate.

Thus ended the great expedition of Peter the Hermit: but several others of
a similar unruly character took place previous to the march of those
troops, whose discipline, valour, and unity of purpose ensured a more
favourable issue to their enterprise. I shall touch but briefly upon these
mad and barbarous attempts, as a period of more interest follows.

The body of crusaders which seems to have succeeded immediately to that
led by Peter the Hermit was composed almost entirely of Germans, collected
together by a priest called Gottschalk.[135] They penetrated into Hungary;
but there, giving way to all manner of excesses, they were followed by
Carloman, the king of that country, with a powerful army, and having been
induced to lay down their arms, that the criminals might be selected and
punished, they were slaughtered indiscriminately by the Hungarians, who
were not a little glad to take vengeance for the blood shed by the army of
Peter at Semlin.

About the same period, immense bands of men and women came forth from
almost every country of Europe, with the symbol of the crusade upon their
shoulders, and the pretence of serving God upon their lips. They joined
together wheresoever they met, and, excited by a foul spirit of fanatical
cruelty, mingled with the most infamous moral depravity, proceeded towards
the south of Germany. They gave themselves up, we are told,[136] to the
pleasures of the table without intermission: men and women, and even
children, it is said, lived in a state of promiscuous debauchery; and,
preceded by a goose and a goat,[137] which, in their mad fanaticism, they
declared to be animated by the divine spirit, they marched onward,
slaughtering the Jews as they went; and proclaiming that the first duty of
Christians was to exterminate the nation which had rejected the Saviour
himself. Several of the German bishops bravely opposed them, and
endeavoured to protect the unhappy Hebrews; but still, vast multitudes
were slain, and many even sought self-destruction rather than encounter
the brutality of the fanatics, or abjure their religion.

Glutted with slaughter, the ungodly herd now turned towards Hungary; but
at Mersburg they were encountered by a large Hungarian force, which
disputed their passage over the Danube, absolutely refusing the road
through that kingdom to any future band of crusaders. The fanatics forced
their way across the river, attacked Mersburg itself with great fury and
perseverance, and succeeded in making a breach in the walls, when suddenly
an unaccountable terror seized them--none knew how or why--they abandoned
the siege, dispersed in dismay, and fled like scattered deer over the
country.

The Hungarians suffered not the opportunity to escape, and pursuing them
on every side, smote them during many days with a merciless fury, that
nothing but their own dreadful cruelties could palliate. The fields were
strewed with dead bodies, the rivers flowed with blood, and the very
waters of the Danube are said to have been hidden by the multitude of
corpses.

Disaster and death had, sooner or later, overtaken each body of the
crusaders that had hitherto, without union or command, set out towards the
Holy Land; but each of these very bands had been composed of the refuse
and dregs of the people. I do not mean by that word _dregs_ the poor, but
I mean the base--I do not mean those who were low in station, or even
ignorant in mind; but I mean those who were infamous in crime, and brutal
in desire. Doubtless, in these expeditions, some fell who were animated by
noble motives or excellent zeal; but such were few compared with those
whose objects were plunder, licentiousness, and vice. The swords of the
Hungarians and the Turks lopped these away; and I cannot find in my heart
to look upon the purification which Europe thus underwent with any thing
like sorrow. The crusade itself was by this means freed from many a base
and unworthy member; and Chivalry, left to act more in its own spirit,
though still participating deeply in the faults and vices of a barbarous
age, brought about a nobler epoch and a brighter event.

CHAPTER V.

_The Chivalry of Europe takes the Field--The Leaders--Godfrey of
Bouillon--Conducts his Army towards Constantinople--Hugh the Great--Leads
his Army through Italy--Embarks for Durazzo--Taken Prisoner--Liberated--
Robert, Duke of Normandy--Winters in Italy--Arrives at Constantinople--
Robert, Count of Flanders--Joins the rest--Boemond of Tarentum--Tancred--
Their March--Defeat the Greeks--Boemond does Homage--Tancred avoids it--
The Count of Toulouse arrives--Refuses to do Homage--Robert of Normandy
does Homage._

While the undisciplined and barbarous multitudes who first set out were
hurrying to destruction, various princes and leaders were engaged, as I
have before said, in collecting the Chivalry of Europe under the banner of
the Cross. Six distinguished chiefs--Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of
Loraine--Hugh the Great, Count of Vermandois, and brother of Philip, King
of France--Robert, Duke of Normandy, brother of William Rufus--Robert,
Count of Flanders--Boemond, Prince of Tarentum--and Raimond, Count of
Toulouse--conducted six separate armies towards Constantinople: and I
propose, in this chapter, to follow each of them till their junction in
Bithynia.

It is indeed a pleasure to turn our eyes from scenes of horror and crime
to the contemplation of those great and shining qualities--those noble and
enthusiastic virtues, which entered into the composition of that rare
quintessence, the spirit of Chivalry.

Doubtless, in the war which I am about to paint there occurred many things
that are to be deeply regretted, as furnishing abundantly that quantity of
alloy which is ever, unhappily, mixed with virtue's purest gold: but, at
the same time, I now come to speak of men, in many of whom splendid
courage, and moral beauty, and religious zeal, and temperate wisdom, and
generous magnanimity, combined to form the great and wonderful of this
earth's children. Indeed, if ever there was a man who well merited the
glorious name of a true knight, that man was Godfrey of Bouillon; and few
have described him without becoming poets for that once.

I will not borrow from Tasso--who had the privilege of eulogium--but, in
striving to paint the character of the great leader of the crusade, I
shall take the words of one of the simplest of the writers of his
age,[138] and give them as nearly as possible in their original tone: "He
was beautiful in countenance," says Robert the Monk, "tall in stature,
agreeable in his discourse, admirable in his morals, and at the same time
so gentle, that he seemed better fitted for the monk than for the knight;
but when his enemies appeared before him, and the combat approached, his
soul became filled with mighty daring; like a lion, he feared not for his
person--and what shield, what buckler, could resist the fall of his
sword?"

Perhaps of all men of the age, Godfrey of Bouillon was the most
distinguished. His mother Ida, daughter of Godfrey, Duke of Loraine, was
celebrated for her love of letters,[139] and from her it is probable that
Godfrey himself derived that taste for literature, so singular among the
warriors of that day. He spoke several languages, excelled in every
chivalrous exercise, was calm and deliberate in council, firm and decided
in resolution; he was active, clearsighted, and prudent, while he was
cool, frank, and daring; in the battle he was fierce as the lion, but in
victory he was moderate and humane.

Though still in his prime of years when the crusades were preached, he was
already old in exploits: he had upheld Henry IV. on the imperial throne,
had attacked and forced the walls of Rome, and had shone in a hundred
fields, where his standard ever was raised upon the side of honour and of
virtue.

Long ere the idea of such an enterprise as the crusade became general in
Europe, Godfrey had often been heard to declare, when tales were brought
him of the miseries of the Holy Land, that he longed to travel to
Jerusalem,[140] not with staff and scrip,[141] but with spear and shield;
and it may well be conceived that his was one of the first standards
raised in the ranks of the Cross. A fever that had hung upon him for some
time left him at the tidings, and he felt as if he had shaken off a load
of years, and recovered all his youth.[142]

His fame as a leader soon collected an immense number of other barons and
knights, who willingly ranged themselves under his banner; and we find
that besides Baldwin, his brother[143]--and many other relations--the
lords of St. Paul, of Hainault, of Gray, of Toul, of Hache, of Conti, and
of Montagne, with their knights and retainers, had joined him before the
beginning of August,[144] and towards the middle of that month they began
their march with all the splendour of Chivalry.[145]

The progress of this new body of crusaders was directed, like that of
Peter the Hermit, towards Hungary; but the conduct maintained by the
followers of Godfrey was as remarkable for its strict discipline,
moderation, and order, as that of his predecessors had been for turbulence
and excess.[146] The first objects, however, that presented themselves on
the Hungarian frontier were the unburied corpses of the fanatic crowd
slain near Mersburg.

Here then Godfrey paused during three weeks,[147] investigating calmly the
causes of the bloody spectacle before him; after which he wrote to
Carloman, king of Hungary; and his letter on this occasion, mingling
firmness with moderation, gives a fair picture of his noble and dignified
character. Having mentioned the horrible sight which had arrested him in
his progress, and the rumours he had heard, he proceeds--"However severe
may have been the punishment inflicted on our brethren, whose remains lie
round about us, if that punishment was merited, our anger shall expire;
but if, on the contrary, you have calumniated the innocent, and given them
up to death, we will not pass over in silence the murder of the servants
of God, but will instantly show ourselves ready to avenge the blood of our
brethren."[148]

It was easy for Carloman to prove that the aggression had been on the side
of the crusaders; and after various acts of confidence between
Godfrey[149] and the king, the army of the Cross was permitted to pass
through Hungary, which they accomplished in safety and peace, maintaining
the strictest discipline and regularity, and trading with the people of
the country with good faith and courtesy. Hence, proceeding through
Bulgaria and Thrace, Godfrey led his troops peacefully on to Philippopoli,
where he was met by deputies from the emperor, charged with orders to see
that the crusaders should be furnished with every kind of necessary
provision.

In passing through Dacia and Bulgaria, the army of Godfrey had been not a
little[150] straitened for food, and it is impossible to say what might
have been the consequences, had the same dearth been suffered to continue.
The prudent conduct of the emperor did away all cause of violence, and
after the arrival of his deputies, the troops of the Cross celebrated his
liberality with joy and gratitude.

News soon reached the army[151] of Godfrey, however, which changed their
opinion of Alexius, and showed him as the subtle and treacherous being
that he really was. To explain what this news consisted of, I must turn
for a moment to another party of crusaders, who, while Godfrey pursued
his peaceful course through Hungary, marched towards the general
meeting-place at Constantinople, by the way of Italy.

Hugh, Count of Vermandois, had assembled an army even superior in number
to that of Godfrey of Bouillon, and was himself in every respect
calculated to shine at the head of such an armament. He was gallant,[152]
brave, handsome, and talented; but the calm and dignified spirit of
moderation, which so characterized Godfrey of Bouillon, was wanting in the
brother of the French king. Joined to his expedition, though marching in
separate bodies, and at distinct times,[153] were the troops of Robert,
Duke of Normandy, and Stephen, Count of Blois; with those of Robert, Count
of Flanders, in another division.[154]

The count of Vermandois, impetuous and proud, took his departure before
his companions, traversed Italy, and embarking at Barri, landed with but a
scanty train at Durazzo. His expectations were high, and his language
haughty, supposing he should find in the Greek emperor the same humbled
supplicant who had craved, in abject terms, assistance against the
infidels from his Christian brethren of the west. But the position of the
emperor had now changed. The Turks, occupied with other interests, no
longer menaced his frontier. The imperial city slept in peace and
splendour; and if he had any thing to fear, it was from his own restless
and turbulent subjects rather than from his Saracen foes. Nor, in fact,
had he ever been desirous of any thing like the expedition that was
entering his dominions. He had prayed for aid and assistance to defend his
country, but Urban had preached a crusade, and the princes were now in
arms to reconquer the Christian territories in Asia, as well as to protect
those of Europe. He had gladly heard of the crusade, and willingly
consented to it, it is true, as he well knew it would afford a mighty
diversion in his favour, but he then dreamed not of the armed millions
that were now swarming towards his capital. His position, too, had
changed, as I have said, and he immediately determined upon a line of
policy well suited to the weak subtlety of his character.

Alexius was one of those men whose minds are not of sufficient scope to
view life as a whole, and who therefore have not one great object in their
deeds; who act for the petty interests of the moment, and whose cunning,
compared with the talents of a really great mind, is like the skill of a
fencing-master compared with the genius of a great general. He saw not,
and felt not, the vast ultimate benefit which he might receive from
maintaining a dignified friendship with the princes commanding the
crusade. He did not perceive what an immense and powerful engine was
placed, if he chose it, at his disposition.--In his narrow selfishness, he
only beheld a temporary danger from the great forces that were
approaching, and he strove to diminish them by every base and petty
artifice. He did not endeavour to make himself great by their means, but
he tried to bring them down to his own littleness. It is true, that on
some occasions he showed feelings of liberality and humanity; but from his
general conduct it is but fair to infer that these were the
inconsistencies of selfishness; and that though he was sometimes prudent
enough to be liberal, he was not wise enough to be uniformly generous.

On the arrival of Hugh at Durazzo, he was at first received with respect,
and entertained with honour and profusion; and thus finding himself at
ease, he was induced to remain for a time in confident security. Suddenly,
however, without a pretence for such violence, he was arrested, together
with his train, and sent to Constantinople, some authors say, _in
chains_.[155]

Nevertheless, it is not probable that Alexius dared to carry his
inhospitality so far; and one of the historians[156] of the day
particularly marks, that the prisoner was treated with every testimony of
respect. Guibert also ventures a supposition respecting the motives of
Alexius, far superior to the general steril course of ancient chronicles.
He imagines--and I wonder that the idea has not been adopted by any
one--that the object of the Greek emperor, in confining Hugh, was to
obtain from him, before the other princes should arrive, that act of
homage which he intended to exact from all. The brother of the king of
France himself having taken the oath, would be so strong a precedent, that
it is more than probable, Alexius[157] fancied the rest of the crusaders
would easily agree to do that which their superior in rank had done
previous to their arrival.

At Philippopoli[158] the news of Hugh's imprisonment reached the army of
Godfrey de Bouillon, and with the prompt but prudent firmness of that
great leader's character, he instantly sent messengers to Alexius,
demanding the immediate liberation of the Count of Vermandois and his
companions, accompanying the message with a threat of hostilities, if the
demand were not conceded.

Godfrey then marched on to Adrianople,[159] where he was met by his
deputies, bringing the refusal of the emperor to comply with his request:
in consequence of which the country was instantly given up to pillage; and
so signal were the effects of this sort of vengeance, that Alexius
speedily found himself forced to put his prisoners at liberty. The moment
that a promise to this effect was received, Godfrey recalled his forces;
and with wonderful discipline and subordination, they instantly abandoned
the ravages they were before licensed to commit, and marched on peacefully
towards Constantinople. Had the armies of the Cross continued to show such
obedience and moderation, Palestine would now have been Christian.

In the neighbourhood of the imperial city Godfrey pitched his tents, and
the innumerable[160] multitude of his steel-clad warriors struck terror
into the heart of the fearful monarch of the east.[161] To the Count of
Vermandois, however, it was a sight of joy; and issuing forth from
Constantinople with his friends and followers, he galloped forward to the
immense camp of the crusaders, where, casting himself into the arms of
Godfrey,[162] he gave himself up to such transports of delight and
gratitude, that the bystanders were moved to tears.

The emperor now turned the whole force of his artful mind to wring from
Godfrey an act of homage, and for several weeks he continued, by every
sort of fluctuating baseness, to disturb his repose, and to irritate his
followers. At one time, he was all professions of kindness and liberality;
at another, he breathed nothing but warfare and opposition. Sometimes the
markets were shut to the crusaders, sometimes the private stores of the
emperor himself were opened.

At length, after having twice defeated the bands of plunderers sent by
Alexius to attack him,[163] Godfrey gave way to his wrath, and for six
days successively ravaged the country round Constantinople with fire and
sword. Alexius on this again changed his conduct, and with every
profession of regard demanded an interview with the chief of the
crusaders, offering his son as a hostage for his good faith. With this
safeguard Godfrey, followed by several other noble knights, entered
Constantinople, and proceeded to the imperial palace, clothed in his robes
of peace,[164] and bearing purple and ermine and gold, instead of the iron
panoply of war.[165]

The great leader was received by the emperor with the highest distinction,
was honoured with the kiss of peace, and underwent that curious ceremony
of an adoption of honour (as it was then called) as son to the
emperor.[166] He was clothed with imperial robes,[167] and the monarch,
calling him his son, nominally placed his empire at Godfrey's disposal. In
return for the distinctions he had received--and probably pressed by Hugh,
Count of Vermandois, who loved not to stand alone, in having yielded
homage to Alexius--Godfrey consented to give the emperor his hand,
according to the feudal forms of France, and to declare himself his
liegeman.

His fears dissipated by this concession, and his hopes of winning the
princes who were to follow, by so illustrious an example, raised to the
highest pitch, Alexius loaded Godfrey and his followers with magnificent
presents, and suffered them to depart. Peace was now permitted to remain
unbroken; and after having refreshed themselves for some days, the army of
the crusaders passed the Hellespont, and encamped at Chalcedon,[168] to
wait the arrival of their brethren.

It is more than probable that Godfrey was induced to quit the original
place of rendezvous by the solicitations of Alexius, who took care, it has
been since observed, to guard his capital from the presence of any two of
the crusading hosts at one time.

Boemond, prince of Tarentum, and son of the famous Guiscard, had quitted
Italy shortly after the departure of Godfrey from Loraine. Various tales
are told of the manner in which he first declared his purpose of joining
the crusade. Some have asserted, that on hearing of the expedition, while
engaged in the siege of Amalfi, he dashed his armour to pieces with his
battle-axe,[169] and caused it to be formed into small crosses, which he
distributed among his soldiery. Others reduce the anecdote to a less
chivalrous but perhaps more civilized degree of energy, and state, that
he caused his mantle to be cut into crosses for his troops.[170]

As many relate the tale, it is likely to have had some foundation; and
there is no doubt that Boemond abandoned all his vast possessions in
Italy, with the reserve only of Tarentum, and devoted himself to the wars
of the Cross. His presence might have proved more generally advantageous
to the cause, had he not, by this enthusiastic renunciation, given himself
other motives in the warfare before him, besides those of religion and
humanity. He had naturally in his veins quite sufficient of the blood of
Guiscard to require no additional stimulus to the desire of conquering for
himself. He was nevertheless one of the best soldiers of the Cross, so far
as military skill availed--bold, powerful, keen, and active; and
possessing that sort of shrewd and even wily art, which, joined with his
other qualities, formed an enterprising and successful leader, more
perhaps than a distinguished knight.

With him, however, came the noblest of all the Christian Chivalry,
Tancred--whose valour, generosity, enthusiasm, and courtesy have been the
theme of so many a song--of whom Tasso, in seeking to describe him in the
highest language of poetry, could say nothing more than truth,

  Vien poi Tancredi, e non è alcun fra tanti
  Tranne Rinaldo--O feritor maggiore,
  O più bel di maniere e di sembianti
  O più eccelso ed entrepido di core.[171]

Few characters can be conceived more opposed to each other than those of
the relations,[172] Tancred and Boemond; and yet we find Tancred willingly
serving in the army of the Prince of Tarentum, as second to that chief.
The same unambitious modesty is to be discovered throughout the whole
history of the young knight; and though we ever behold him opposed to
meannesses, by whomsoever they may be adopted, we still see him willing to
take upon himself the danger and labour of an inferior station.

Under the banners of these chiefs marched a host of Italian and Norman
nobles; the army, it is said, amounting to ten thousand horse,[173] and an
immense multitude of foot, in which view of the forces we must remember
that only men of noble birth were usually admitted to fight on
horseback.[174] These troops were even increased as they marched to the
seacoast of Apulia; and the great body of those Normans who, not a century
before, had taken complete possession of the country, now left it for the
Holy Land.

Mills,[175] following his particular theory, supposes Urban the pope to
smile with triumphant self-gratulation on seeing the army of Boemond
depart; but it seems strange, that the prelate should rejoice in the
absence of the very men by whom he had been always protected, while his
enemies remained, and were even in possession of the old church of St.
Peter[176] at Rome, as we learn by a contemporary crusader.

The forces of Boemond and Tancred landed at Durazzo, and made their way,
with much more regularity than could have been expected, through
Epirus.[177] They were harassed, however, on their march by various
skirmishes with the Greek troops, who did every thing in their power to
destroy the crusading army, although Alexius[178] had sent messengers to
Boemond himself congratulating him on his arrival, and promising every
kind of assistance. These attacks, nevertheless, only amounted to a petty
degree of annoyance, till the host of the Cross came to the passage of
the Axius. Here, a part of the forces having traversed the river with
almost the whole of the cavalry, the rear of the army was suddenly
attacked by an infinitely superior body of Greeks.[179]

Tancred, already on the other side, lost not a moment, but, spurring his
horse into the water, followed by about two thousand knights, he charged
the Greeks so vigorously as to drive them back with considerable loss in
killed and prisoners. When brought before Boemond, the captives justified
themselves by avouching the commands of the emperor, and Tancred would
fain have pursued and exterminated the forces of the perfidious Greek.
Boemond, however, more prudently forbore, and, without retaliation of any
kind, advanced to Adrianople.

I see no reason to qualify this moderation as subtilty, which Mills has
not scrupled to do. Boemond was artful beyond all doubt, but this was not
a fair instance of any thing but wisdom and self-command. At Adrianople,
well knowing the character of Alexius, to whom he had frequently been
opposed, and foreseeing that his troops might be irritated by various acts
of annoyance,[180] Boemond drew up his army, and, in a calm and temperate
speech, represented to them that they had taken up arms in the cause of
Christ, and therefore that it was their duty to refrain from all acts of
hostility towards their fellow-christians.

Shortly after this, the Prince of Tarentum was met by deputies from the
emperor, inviting him to come on with all speed to Constantinople, leaving
his army behind, under the command of Tancred. Boemond at first refused to
trust himself in the power of his ancient enemy,[181] but Godfrey of
Bouillon having visited him in person, and guarantied his security, the
Italian chief agreed to the arrangement proposed, and accompanied the Duke
of Loraine to the imperial palace. Gold and dominion were always motives
of great force with the mind of Boemond, and Alexius did not spare such
temptations, either present or to come, for the purpose of inducing the
Prince of Tarentum to do homage to the eastern empire. His promises were
limitless, and the actual presents[182] which he heaped upon the
Normo-Italian immense. He also granted him, it is said, a territory in
Romania, consisting, in length, of as much ground as a horse could travel
in fifteen days; and, in breadth,[183] of as much as could be traversed in
eight; besides which, he loaded him with jewels and gold, and rich
vestments, till Boemond, from one of his most inveterate enemies, became
one of his firmest allies. This, indeed, proceeded from no confidence or
friendship on either side. Boemond still felt how little Alexius could
forgive the injuries he had in former days inflicted, and dared not trust
himself to eat of the meat set before him at the emperor's table.

Alexius, with all the penetration of his race, evidently dived into the
Norman's thoughts, and saw that he aspired even to the imperial crown
itself.[184] No reliance, therefore, existed between them; but, on the one
hand, Boemond, for considerations of interest, forgot his dignity, and did
homage to the emperor, while Alexius, on his part, agreed that the homage
should be void, if the promises he made were not exactly fulfilled.[185]

The news of his relation's humiliation soon reached Tancred, who was
leading on their united forces towards Constantinople; and though
unquestionably, the lamentation attributed to him by his biographer[186]
is somewhat more poetical than real, little doubt can be entertained that
the gallant prince was painfully struck by Boemond's disgraceful
concessions. Hugh of Vermandois had done homage to obtain his liberty;
Godfrey of Bouillon, to restore peace and unanimity between the Christian
emperor and the crusaders; Boemond _sold_ his homage, with no palliating
circumstance.

The determination of Tancred seems to have been taken almost immediately
on hearing this news, and marching upon Constantinople as if it were his
intention to follow exactly the course of his relation, he suddenly
crossed the Hellespont[187] without giving notice to any one, and joined
the army of Godfrey at Chalcedon.[188]

This conduct greatly irritated Alexius, and he made several efforts to
bring Tancred back without success; but the arrival of Raimond de St.
Gilles, Count of Toulouse, with the immense army of the Languedocian
crusaders, soon called the attention of the emperor in another direction.
The Count of Toulouse has been very variously represented, and no doubt
can exist that he was a bold and skilful leader, a courageous and resolute
man. He was, it is said, intolerant and tenacious of reverence, fond of
pomp and display, and withal revengeful, though his revenge was always of
a bold and open character. Not so his avarice, which led him to commit as
many pitiful meannesses as ever sprang from that basest of desires. He was
proud, too, beyond all question; but where his covetousness did not
overbalance the other great principle of his nature, he maintained, in
his general conduct, that line of moral firmness which dignifies pride,
and raises it almost to a virtue.

Under the banners of the Count of Toulouse marched the gay Chivalry of all
the south of France--Gascons, and Provençals, and Auvergnats--people, in
whose hearts the memory of Saracen invasions from Spain was still fresh;
and whose quick and passionate dispositions had at once embraced with
enthusiasm the holy war. A glorious train of lords and knights followed
their noble chief, and the legate of the pope, as well as several other
bishops, gave religious dignity to this body of the crusaders.

The count directed his course by Sclavonia towards Greece, notwithstanding
that the season was unfavourable, as he set out in winter.[189] During the
journey he displayed, in the highest degree, every quality of a great
commander. Innumerable difficulties, on which we cannot pause, assailed
him even during the first part of his march through the barren and
inhospitable passes which lay between his own fair land and Greece. When
he had reached the dominions of Alexius, whose call for aid he had not
forgotten, the count imagined, to use the words of his chaplain, that he
was in his native land, so much did he rely upon the welcome and
protection of the Greek emperor. But he, like the chiefs who had preceded
him, was deceived, and the same series of harassing persecutions awaited
him on the way. An act of seasonable[190] but barbarous vengeance,
however, in mutilating and disfiguring several of the prisoners, so much
frightened the savage hordes which the emperor had cast upon his track,
that the rest of the journey passed in comparative tranquillity. Like
those who had gone before, the count was permitted to enter the imperial
city with but few attendants.

Here the same proposal of rendering homage was made to Raimond which had
been addressed to the other leaders of the crusade, but he rejected it at
once with dignified indignation, and maintained his resolution with
unalterable firmness.[191] The means which had been tried with Godfrey of
Bouillon were now employed against the Count of Toulouse; and as no very
strong body of crusaders was soon expected from Europe, the emperor seems
confidently to have anticipated the destruction of the Languedocian force.
The Bosphorus lay between it and the armies of Godfrey, of Hugh, of
Boemond, and of Robert of Flanders,[192] whose arrival we have not thought
it necessary to dwell upon, as it was accompanied by no circumstance of
interest. Alexius had taken especial care, that no vessels should remain
on the other side of the Straits, which would facilitate the return of the
crusaders even if they should wish it,[193] and Boemond was devoted to his
cause from motives of interest.

Under these circumstances Alexius did not scruple to order a night attack
to be made upon the camp of the French knights. At first it proved
successful, and many fell under the treacherous sword of the Greeks. At
length, however, the Languedocians recovered from their surprise, repulsed
the enemy with great loss, and for some time gave full way to their
indignation. Raimond even resolved to declare war against the emperor, but
abandoned his intention on finding that the other princes would not
succour him, and that Boemond threatened to join his arms to those of
Alexius. Thus upheld, the emperor still continued to insist on the homage
of the count; but Raimond declared that he would sooner lay down his head
upon the block than yield to such an indignity.[194] "He had come,"[195]
he said, "to fight for one Lord, which was Christ, and for him he had
abandoned country, and goods, and lands, but no other lord would he
acknowledge; though, if the emperor would, in person, lead the host
towards Constantinople, he would willingly put himself and his troops
under his august command."

All that could ultimately be obtained from him, even at the intercession
of his companions in arms, was a vow that he would neither directly nor
indirectly do any act which could militate against the life or honour of
the emperor.[196]

This concession, however, seemed to satisfy Alexius, upon whose weakness
the ambitious spirit of Boemond was pressing somewhat too hard. The power
of Raimond of Toulouse, the monarch saw, might be used as a good
counterpoise to the authority which the Prince of Tarentum was inclined to
assume; and in consequence, Alexius soon completely changed his conduct,
and loaded the count with distinctions and courtesy. The pleasures of the
imperial palace, the rivalry which the artful emperor contrived to raise
up between him and Boemond, and the false but polished society of the
Greek court, excited and pleased the Count of Toulouse, who remained some
time in the midst of pomp and enjoyment.

His character, also, though it had much of the steady firmness of the
north, had, in common with that of his countrymen in general, a sparkling
and vivacious urbanity, a splendid yet easy grace, which suited the taste
of the Greeks much more than the simple manners of the northern crusaders.
Indeed, to judge from the terms in which she speaks of him, his handsome
person and elegant deportment seem to have made no small impression on the
imagination of the princess Anna,[197] although Raimond had already passed
the middle age.

Boemond, however, had by this time departed, and had marched from
Chalcedon with Godfrey and the rest of the crusading host[198] towards
Nice, the capital of the Turkish kingdom of Roum.[199] His honour demanded
the presence of the Count of Toulouse, and abandoning the pleasures of
Constantinople, he superintended the embarkation of his troops, and
hastened to join the rest of his companions in arms.

Scarcely had the forces of the count quitted Constantinople, when another
army appeared under the walls of that city. Its principal leader was
Robert, Duke of Normandy--a man, debauched, weak, and unstable; endowed
with sufficient talents to have dignified his illustrious station, had he
possessed that rare quality of mind which may be called _conduct_. He was
eloquent in speech, brave in the field, skilful in warlike dispositions,
and personally humane, even to excess;[200] but at the same time he was
versatile as the winds, and so easily persuaded, that the common
expression, _he had no will of his own_, was, perhaps, more applicable to
him than to any other man that ever existed.

On the first preaching of the crusade, he had caught the flame of
enthusiasm with others, and perhaps not more than those around him; for we
must not take the immediate sale of his dutchy of Normandy to William
Rufus as a proof of his zeal. It was, in fact, but a proof of that
wretched facility which ultimately brought about his ruin. The price he
obtained,[201] was only ten thousand marks of silver, but with so petty a
sum this modern Esau thought he could conquer worlds. With him was
Stephen, Count of Blois, more famous in the council than the field,[202]
while all the Norman and English crusaders of rank, together with Eustace,
brother of Godfrey of Bouillon,[203] joined themselves to his forces.

Thus, followed by a numerous and well-equipped army, Robert took the way
of Italy, and having encountered the pope at Lucca, proceeded to Apulia,
where he remained to pass the winter. Here, however,[204] many deserted
his army, and returned to their native land, and several were drowned,
subsequently, in their passage to Durazzo; but, on the whole, the march of
Robert of Normandy was more easy and less disastrous than that of any
other chief of the crusaders.

We find no mention of any attack or annoyance on the part of Alexius; and,
on the arrival of the Norman host at Constantinople, the oath of homage
seems to have been presented and received, with a sort of quiet
indifference well according with the indolent and careless character of
the Duke.[205] Alexius simply informed the leaders, that Godfrey, Boemond,
Hugh, and the rest had undergone the ceremony proposed. "We are not
greater than they,"[206] replied Robert, and the vows were taken without
hesitation.

Loaded with presents, and supplied with money and provisions, of both
which Robert stood in great want, the Norman crusaders now passed the
Hellespont, and marched towards Nice to join their companions. The timid
Alexius thus found himself delivered from the last body of these terrific
allies; and, indeed, the description given of their arrival, in rapid
succession, before Constantinople, is not at all unlike the end of
Camaralzaman's history in the Arabian Nights, where no sooner is one army
disposed of, than another is seen advancing towards the city from a
different quarter of the globe.

CHAPTER VI.

_Germ of After-misfortunes already springing up in the Crusade--Siege of
Nice--First Engagement with the Turks--Siege continued--The Lake
occupied--Surrender of Nice to the Emissaries of Alexius--Discontent--
March towards Antioch--The Army divides into two Bodies--Battle of
Doryloeum--Dreadful March through Phrygia--Adventures of Baldwin and
Tancred--Arrival at Antioch--The City invested._

One of the most unfortunate events which occurred to the crusaders in
their march was their stay at Constantinople, for it was the remote but
certain cause of many other evils. The jealousies and differences raised
up among them by the intriguing spirit of Alexius were never entirely done
away; and besides this, the intervention of petty motives, long
discussions, and schemes of individual aggrandizement chilled the fervour
of zeal, and thus weighed down the most energetic spring of the
enterprise.

Enthusiasm will conquer difficulties, confront danger and death, and
change the very nature of the circumstances in which it is placed, to
encouragement and hope; but it will not bear to be mingled with less
elevated feelings and considerations. The common ambitions and passions of
life, cold reasonings, and thoughtful debates, deaden it and put it out;
and amid the intrigues of interest, or the speculations of selfishness, it
is extinguished like a flame in the foul air of a vault. A great deal of
the enthusiasm of the crusade died away amid the bickerings of
Constantinople; and even the cowardly effeminacy of the Greeks proved in
some degree contagious, for the army of the Count of Toulouse, we find,
had at one time nearly disbanded itself. The luxury of the most luxurious
court of Europe, too, was not without its effect upon the crusaders, and
the memory of the delights of the imperial city was more likely to afford
subjects of disadvantageous comparisons, when opposed to the hardships of
Palestine, than the remembrance of the turbulent and governless realm from
which they had first begun their march.

The greatest misfortune of all, however--the cause of many of their vices,
and almost all their miseries,--was the want of one acknowledged leader,
whom it would have been treason to disobey. Each chief was his own king,
but he was not the king of even those who served under him. Many who had
followed his banner to the field were nearly his equals in power, and it
was only over his immediate vassals that he had any but conditional right
of command. In respect to his vassals themselves, this right was much
affected by circumstances; and over the chiefs around him, he had no
control whatever. Thus, unity of design was never to be obtained; and
discord, the fatal stumblingblock of all great undertakings, was always
ready in the way, whenever the folly, the passions, or the selfishness of
any individual leader chose to dash upon it the hopes of himself and his
companions.

Nevertheless, during the siege of Nice, which was the first undertaking of
the crusaders, a considerable degree of harmony seems to have prevailed
among the leaders. Each, it is true, conducted his part of the attack
according to his own principles, but each seemed happy to assist the
other, and we hear of no wrangling for idle punctilios. The morals, too,
of the troops were hitherto pure, reaching a much higher point of virtue,
indeed, than might have been anticipated from the great mixture of
classes. I do not mean to say that they were free from vice, or were
exempt from the follies of their nature or their age; but the noble and
dignified manner in which the chiefs of the crusade, and the people in
general, bore the conduct of Alexius (mentioned hereafter), would lead me
to believe that they had preserved a considerable share of purity and
singleness of heart.

The first body of the crusaders which reached the city of Nice was that
led by Godfrey of Bouillon. He was not alone, however, being accompanied
by Hugh, Count of Vermandois; and very shortly after, the troops of Robert
of Flanders and Boemond of Tarentum arrived, and took up their position on
the northern side, while those of Godfrey had marked their camp towards
the east. The Count of Toulouse and the Bishop of Puy followed, and sat
down before the southern side,[207] leaving the west open for the Duke of
Normandy, who was expected from day to day.[208]

This city, the capital of the kingdom of Roum, was occupied by the
Seljukian Turks, and strongly defended by a solid wall, flanked by three
hundred and fifty towers. It was situated in the midst of a fertile plain,
and the waters of the lake Ascanius, to the west, gave it a facility of
communication with a large extent of country. The army of the crusaders,
after the arrival of the Count of Toulouse,[209] waited not the coming of
Robert of Normandy, but began the siege in form. Their forces were already
immense; and after the junction of Peter the Hermit with the ruins of his
multitude, and the Duke of Normandy with his powerful army, the amount of
the fighting men is said to have been six hundred thousand, without
comprising those who did not carry arms.[210] The number of knights[211]
is stated to have reached nearly two hundred thousand, which left a fair
proportion of inferior soldiers.

The general disposition of the troops had been made before the arrival of
the Count of Toulouse, and he marched his division towards the spot
assigned him on the Sunday after Ascension-day.[212] His coming, however,
was destined to be signalized by the first regular battle between the
Turks and their Christian invaders.

Soliman, or Kilidge Aslan, the sultaun of Roum, on the approach of the
crusaders, had left his capital[213] defended by a strong garrison, and
travelling through his dominions, hastened in every direction the levies
of his subjects. He soon collected a considerable body of horse,[214] and
leading them to the mountains which overlooked the plain of Nice, he sent
down two messengers to the city to concert with the governor a double
attack upon the camp of the Christians.

The messengers fell into the hands of the outposts of Godfrey. One was
killed on the spot, and the other, under the fear of death, betrayed the
secrets of the sultaun, giving at the same time an exaggerated account of
his forces.[215] Information of Soliman's approach was instantly sent to
Raimond of Toulouse, who was advancing from Nicomedia,[216] and by a
night-march he succeeded in joining the army of the Cross in time.
Scarcely had he taken up his position, when the Moslems began to descend
from the mountains, clad like the Christians in steel,[217] and borne by
horses fleet as the wind. Divided into two bodies,[218] the one attacked
the wearied troops of the Count of Toulouse, seeking to force its way
into the city, while the other fell upon the quarters of Godfrey of
Bouillon.

Doubtless Soliman thought to meet, in the immense multitude before him, a
wild and undisciplined crowd, like that of Peter the Hermit; but he soon
found bitterly his mistake. The crusaders received him every where with
chivalric valour, repulsed him on all points, became in turn the
assailants, and the plain round Nice grew one general scene of conflict.
The charging of the cavalry, the ringing of the lances and the swords upon
shields and corslets, the battle-cries of the Christians, and the
_techbir_ of the Turks; the shouts, the screams, the groans, rose up, we
are told, in a roar horrible to hear.[219]

At length, finding that the sally he had expected was not made, Soliman
retreated to the mountains; but it was only to repeat the attempt the
following day.[220] In this, although the besieged now comprehended his
intention, and issued forth upon the Christians on the one side, while he
attacked them on the other, he was not more fortunate than before. He was
again repelled with great loss, owning his astonishment at the lion-like
courage of the Christian leaders, who with a thousand lances would often
charge and put to flight twenty times the number of Turkish horsemen.

According to a barbarous custom prevalent at that time, and which even
descended to a much later period, the crusaders hewed off the heads of the
fallen Moslems,[221] and cast many of them into the city. Others were sent
to Constantinople in token of victory; and Alexius, as a sign of gratitude
and rejoicing, instantly despatched large presents to the principal chiefs
of the crusade, with great quantities of provisions for the army, which
had long been straitened to a fearful degree.

After the defeat of Soliman,[222] the siege was pressed with renewed
vigour; and battering-rams, catapults, and mangonels were plied
incessantly against the walls, while moveable towers of wood, called
beffroys, filled with armed men, were rolled close to the fortifications,
for the purpose of carrying on the fight hand to hand with the enemy, and
of endeavouring to effect a lodgment on the battlements.

In the mean while, the plains round Nice offered a spectacle of the most
extraordinary brilliancy. The glittering arms of the knights, their
painted shields, and fluttering pennons--the embroidered banners of the
barons, their splendid coats-of-arms and magnificent mantles--the gorgeous
robes of the Latin priests, who were present in immense numbers, and the
animated multitude of bowmen and foot-soldiers, mingled with thousands of
that most beautiful of beasts, the horse, all spread out in the unclouded
brightness of an Asiatic sky, formed as shining and extraordinary a scene
as the eye could look upon.

Not frightened, however, by the terrific splendour that surrounded them,
the Turks continued to defend their battlements with persevering valour.
Every attack of the Christians was met with dauntless intrepidity, and
every laboured attempt to sap the wall, or its towers, was frustrated with
unwearied assiduity. Those who approached near were either slain by
poisoned arrows,[223] or crushed under immense stones; and the moment any
one was killed at the foot of the wall,[224] "it was horrible to see the
Turks," says an eyewitness, "seize upon the body with iron hooks let down
from above, and lifting it up through the air strip it completely, and
then cast it out from the city." Innumerable artifices were resorted to by
the assailants to force their way into the town; and none of the chiefs
seem to have been more active and ingenious than the Count of
Toulouse,[225] who once succeeded in undermining a tower, and casting it
to the ground. Before this work was concluded, however, night had fallen
over the army, and ere the next morning the laborious activity of the
Turks had repaired the damage which their wall had suffered.

Two of the principal[226] German barons, also, contrived a machine of
wood, to which they gave the name of _the fox_. It was capable of
containing twenty knights, and was secured by its immense solidity from
all the efforts of the enemy. When this was completed, a vast multitude
began to push it towards the part of the curtain which they intended to
sap, but the inequality of the ground and the great weight of the machine
itself caused some of the joints to give way, when the whole fabric fell
to pieces, crushing under its ruins the unhappy knights within.

The arrival[227] of Robert of Normandy brought a vast accession of
strength to the besiegers; notwithstanding which, during the remainder of
the siege of Nice, the immense numbers of the crusaders did not produce
that scarcity of provision which ultimately fell upon them; for Alexius,
interested more than any one in the capture of the city, took care, after
the first few days, that the supplies should be ample and unremitted.

Nevertheless the courage of the garrison did not at all decrease, and for
five weeks they still continued to return the assailants combat for
combat, the whole day being consumed in a storm of arrows from the bows
and arbalists, and of stones from the catapults and mangonels.[228]

Numerous instances of extraordinary personal courage, shown on both sides,
are of course recorded, and each different historian has his own hero,
whose deeds are lauded to the sky. One Turk in particular signalized
himself by an immense slaughter of the crusaders, showing himself exposed
upon the battlements, and plying his terrible bow, which winged death in
every direction. The Christians became so fearful of him, that that most
imaginative passion, terror, began to invest him with some supernatural
defence.[229] The best-aimed arrows proved totally ineffectual, and
reports spread rapidly that he might be seen, still sending destruction
around from his hand, while twenty shafts--each carrying the fate of a
common mortal--were sticking unheeded in his flesh. Godfrey of Bouillon,
to end the panic that this man occasioned, at length took a crossbow
himself, though that machine[230] was considered but a fit weapon for a
yeoman, and directing the quarry with a steadier hand than those which had
before aimed at the Turkish archer, he sent the missile directly to his
heart.[231]

A multitude of the noblest crusaders had now fallen before the bows of the
enemy, and many more had yielded to the effects of a climate totally
different from their own. "Thus," says one of the followers of the Cross,
"nothing was to be seen on the highways, in the woods, and the fields, but
a crowd of tombs,[232] where our brethren had been buried."

At last, the leaders perceived the existence of a circumstance, their
neglect of which, in the very first instance, showed how much the art of
warfare was then in its infancy. One evening, after a fierce assault, the
soldiers stationed near the water, who, in common with the rest of the
host, usually rested from the labours of the siege during the night,
suddenly perceived boats upon the lake Ascanius, and it immediately became
evident that the Turks received every kind of supply by this easy means of
communication. As soon as this was discovered, various vessels were
brought from Constantinople, and being drawn to the lake over a narrow
neck of land which separated it from the sea, were filled with imperial
archers;[233] and the blockade of the town was thus rendered absolute.
This was executed during the night, and all hope abandoned the Turks from
the next morning, when they beheld that which had proved their great
resource suddenly cut off.

The crusaders now hoped to force the city to surrender at discretion; and
their expectations of such an event were much raised by the fact of the
sultauness, the wife of Soliman, who had hitherto courageously undergone
all the miseries and dangers of a siege, being taken in endeavouring to
make her escape by the lake.[234]

By this time the besieged had determined to surrender; but Alexius had
taken care to send with the army of the Cross an officer on whose art and
fidelity he could depend, to secure for the imperial crown a city which he
would probably have rather seen still under the dominion of the Turks,
than in the hands of the Latins.

This man's name was Taticius, or, according to the crusaders' corruption,
Tatin.[235] His face was dreadfully mutilated, and his mind seems to have
been as horrible as his countenance. What communication he kept up within
the town it is difficult to discover; and how this communication was
concealed from the Latins is hardly known, but probably it took place, as
Mills conjectures, by means of the lake and the Greek vessels which now
covered it. Certain it is, that the Turks entered into a private treaty
with the emissary of Alexius, who granted them the most advantageous
terms, securing to them not only life,[236] but immunity and protection.

It had been covenanted beforehand, between the emperor and the crusaders,
that on the fall of the city it should be resigned to Alexius, who
promised to give up to the troops all the riches it contained,[237] and
to found there a monastery, and an hospital for pilgrims, under the
superintendence of the Latins.[238] Not contented with this, or doubting
the faith of his allies, he took the means I have stated to secure
possession. Suddenly the imperial ensigns appeared upon the walls of Nice,
when the host of the crusade was just rushing to the attack in the full
confidence of victory. It was now found that the people of the city had
surrendered privately to Alexius, and had admitted his troops within the
walls; but it required the greatest efforts of the leaders of the crusade,
although disgusted with this treachery themselves, to quiet their forces,
and reconcile them to the perfidy of their base ally.[239]

On the part of the Christians, the wife and children of Kilidge Aslan, who
had fallen into their hands, were delivered to the Turks; and, at the same
time, all those prisoners which had been taken by Soliman, on the defeat
of _Gautier sans avoir_, were restored to liberty. So little, however, did
Alexius keep his treaty with the crusaders, that, instead of yielding to
them the whole plunder of Nice, he contented himself with distributing
some rich presents to the chiefs,[240] and some money to the poor of the
army; and suffered them, thus dissatisfied and injured, to raise their
camp and march on towards Jerusalem, without permitting them to set foot
within the city they had conquered.[241]

The army of the Cross waited no time under the walls of Nice, but as soon
as the principal leaders had returned from Pelicanum, whither they had
gone once more to confer with Alexius, it began its march.[242] At the end
of the second day the forces of the different chiefs[243] were
accidentally separated,[244] Boemond and the Duke of Normandy taking a
path considerably to the left of that followed by Godfrey and the rest of
the host. They proceeded on their way, notwithstanding, knowing that they
could not be very far from the principal body, and towards night pitched
their camp in the valley of Gorgon, in the midst of some rich meadows, and
near a running stream.[245]

Their situation was, nevertheless, not near so desirable as they imagined,
for Soliman, who during the siege of Nice had made the most immense
efforts for the purpose of relieving that city, now that it had fallen,
hung with the whole of his force,[246] to the amount of nearly two hundred
thousand men,[247] upon the left flank of the army of the crusaders,
concealing his own evolutions by his perfect knowledge of the country, and
watching those of his enemies with the keen anxiety of a falcon hovering
over her prey. No sooner had the separation we have mentioned taken place
in the host of the Cross, than the sultaun hastened his march to overtake
the army of Boemond, which was infinitely the weaker of the two divisions.

Accustomed to every sort of rapid movement, Soliman soon came up with the
forces of the Prince of Tarentum and the Duke of Normandy.

The crusaders had been from time to time warned, during the preceding
day, that an enemy was in the neighbourhood, by the sight of scattered
parties of Arabs hovering round their army.[248] They nevertheless
encamped by the side of a beautiful stream, that, flowing on through the
rich valley in which they were advancing, proceeded to join itself to the
waters of the Sangarius. Here they passed the night in repose, taking
merely the precaution of throwing out sentinels to the banks of the
stream. Early the next morning, Boemond and Robert again commenced their
march, and had advanced some way,[249] when the immense army of Soliman
began to appear upon the hills.

Boemond instantly sent off messengers to Godfrey of Bouillon, and the rest
of his noble companions, of whose proximity he had now become aware, and
gave orders for drawing up his forces, for pitching the tents, and for
making a rampart of the wagons[250] and baggage for the defence of the
sick and the weak from the arrows of the Turks. In the mean while, turning
to his knights and men at arms, he addressed them with the brief eloquence
of courage. "Remember the duties of your calling!" he exclaimed. "Behold
the peril in which you are placed--charge boldly to meet the
infidels--defend your honour and your lives!"

While he spoke, the Turks rushed down to the battle with terrific
cries,[251] which, mingling with the tramp of two hundred thousand horse,
and the ringing of their armour, together with the trumpets of the
Christian host, and the shouts of the chiefs and the heralds, raised so
fearful a din, that no one could hear another speak among the followers of
the Cross.

The army of Boemond, hastily drawn up, presented a mingled front of horse
and foot soldiers, and pilgrims,[252] some but half-armed, some not armed
at all; while the Turks came down in one torrent of cavalry. The immense
numbers which it contained all blazing with glittering arms, and provided
with bows of horn and scimitars, dazzled and dismayed the troops of the
Christians. As the infidels approached, the European Chivalry dropped the
points of their long lances, and prepared to hurl back their foes, as was
their wont, by the heavy and decided charge which proved always so
effective; but suddenly, each Moslem raised his bow even as he galloped
forward,[253] a thick cloud seemed to come over the sun, and then, two
hundred thousand arrows dropping at once among the crusaders, a
multitude[254] of men and horses were instantly stretched upon the plain.

Before the Christians could rally from the surprise, a second flight of
arrows followed the first, doing dreadful execution among the
foot-soldiers and the steeds of the knights.[255] But now Tancred and
Boemond led on their troops to the charge, and spurred their horses into
the midst of the enemy. The Turks, as was their habit, yielded ground on
every side, avoiding, by the swiftness of their chargers, the lances and
the swords of the Christians, and, like the Parthians of old, continuing
their fearful archery even as they fled.

Vain were all the efforts of the European Chivalry, though, throwing away
their useless spears, they endeavoured to reach the Turks with their
swords;[256] but now, in turn, the swarming multitudes of their foes,
pouring down fresh from the mountains on every side, no longer retreated,
but pressed closer and closer upon them; and as each adversary fell
beneath the vigorous blows of the knights, new foes started up to meet
them.

In the mean while, thick and fast was mown the flower of the Christian
army. The brother of Tancred, famed alike for his beauty and his courage,
was slain before the eyes of his relation.[257] Tancred himself,
surrounded by a thousand enemies, fought as if Fate had put the weapon in
his hands, but fought in vain. Boemond, with all his efforts, could
scarcely extricate his gallant cousin from the torrent of adversaries in
the midst of which he struggled, and even then it was with the loss of the
banner of Otranto.[258]

Borne back by the growing multitude that pressed upon them, the knights
gave way before the Saracens, and were driven struggling upon the very
pikes[259] of the foot-soldiers that were advancing to their support. At
the same time Soliman, whose numbers gave him the means of surrounding the
army of the crusaders, directed several large bodies of his cavalry
through some marshes to the rear of the Christians, and in a moment the
camp[260] of Boemond was invaded and deluged with the blood of the old,
the women, and the helpless![261]

Robert of Normandy, however, who had commanded the reserve, now beholding
the flight of his allies, roused all the courage of his heart; and
uncovering his head in the midst of the fray, shouted forth his
battle-cry[262] of "Normandy! Normandy! Whither fly you Boemond?" he
exclaimed; "Your Apulia is afar! Where go you Tancred? Otranto is not near
you! Turn! turn upon the enemy! God wills it! God wills it!" And seizing
his banner, he spurred on with his followers against the Turks, drove them
back, rallied the cavalry, and restored order and regularity to the
defence.

Boemond, in the mean while, had turned his arms towards the camp; and the
Turks had retreated from that quarter of the field, bearing with them all
that was valuable, and a considerable number of prisoners. The army of the
crusade was now concentrated on one spot, while that of the Turks,
surrounding it on all sides, gave it not a moment's repose. Soldier fell
beside soldier, knight beside knight.[263] Fatigue and thirst rendered
those that remained little capable of defence; and the dust and the hot
sun made many of the wounds mortal, which otherwise would have been slight
in comparison. In this conjuncture,[264] the women that remained proved
infinitely serviceable, bringing to the troops water from the river, and
by prayers and exhortations encouraging them to the fight.

Thus lasted the battle for many hours, when first a cloud of dust, rising
from behind the hills, announced that some new combatants were hurrying to
the field. Then rose above the slope banner, and pennon, and lance, and
glittering arms, while the red cross fluttering on the wind brought hope
and joy to the sinking hearts of the crusaders, and terror and dismay to
the victorious Turks.[265] In scattered bands, spurring on their horses as
for life, came the Chivalry of the west to the aid of their brother
Christians. None waited for the others; but each hastened to the fight as
the fleetness of his charger would permit, and rank after rank, troop
after troop, banner followed by banner, and spear glittering after spear,
came rushing over the mountains to the valley of the battle. "God wills
it! God wills it!" echoed from hill to hill.[266]

Robert of Normandy shouted his war-cry, Boemond, with renewed hope,
couched his lance, and Tancred rushed upon the slayers of his brother.

At the same time[267] Godfrey of Bouillon arrayed his army as they came
up, and, with levelled lances, drove down upon the Turks. Hugh of
Vermandois attacked them on the flank, and Raimond of Toulouse, with the
warlike bishop of Puy, soon increased the forces of the Cross.

The Turks[268] still made great and valorous efforts to maintain the
superiority they had gained, but the charge of the Latin Chivalry was
irresistible. The infidels were driven back, compelled to fly in disorder,
and pursued over the mountains by the victorious crusaders.[269] In the
hills the Christians, who followed hard upon their course, discovered the
camp of the Saracens, where immense booty, both in gold and
provisions,[270] became the recompense of their exertions. Here, also,
they found all the prisoners who had been taken in the first part of the
battle, and a great number of beasts of burthen, of which they were
themselves in great need. Among the rest was a multitude of camels, an
animal which few of the Franks had ever seen before. These were all
brought to the Christian encampment, and rejoicing succeeded the fatigues
and horrors of the day.

The loss of the crusaders, after so long and severe a battle, if we can
depend upon the account generally given, was very much less than might
have been anticipated. Only four thousand men[271] are supposed to have
fallen on the part of the Christians; these were principally, also, of the
inferior classes, who, unprotected by the armour which defended the
persons of the knights, were fully exposed to the arrows of the Turks.

Three men of great note, among the champions of the Cross, were added to
this list of killed[272]--William, the brother of Tancred; Geoffrey of
Mount Scabius; and Robert of Paris, whose conduct at the court of Alexius
we have before mentioned. The loss on the part of the Turks was infinitely
more considerable, and thus, at the close of the battle of Doryloeum, the
Christian leaders found that they had marked their progress towards the
Holy Land by a great and decisive victory.

The crusading armies now paused for several days,[273] enjoying the repose
and comfort which the spot afforded, and which their exhausted troops so
much required. The wounds of the soldiers who had suffered in the late
battle were thus in some degree healed; and the abundance of provisions
the enemy had left behind served to renovate the strength and raise up the
hopes and enthusiasm of the Christians. In the mean while, the Turks, who
had survived their defeat at Doryloeum, spread themselves in large bands
over the country, and, pretending to have totally overcome the Latins,
forced themselves into the cities, destroying and wasting every thing in
their way.[274] The Christians thus, in their march through Phrygia, had
to cross a large tract which had been completely ravaged by the enemy.
With their usual improvidence, they had exhausted the provisions they had
found in their adversary's camp; and ignorant of the country, they had
provided themselves with no water, so that they had to encounter all the
heat of the solstitial days of a Phrygian climate, without a drop of
liquid to allay their burning thirst. Men and horses fell by thousands in
the way;[275] and the women, parched with drought, and dying with fatigue,
forgot delicacy, feeling, and even the ties of human nature--rolled
prostrate on the ground with the agony of thirst--offered their naked
bosoms to the swords of the soldiers, and prayed for death--or threw down
their new-born children in the track of the army, and abandoned them to a
slow and miserable fate! The most terrible mortality prevailed among the
beasts of burden, so that the animals accustomed to bear the baggage of
the host having nearly all died by the way, dogs and oxen, and even
hogs,[276] are said to have been loaded with the lighter articles of
necessity, while an immense quantity of luggage was cast away on the road.
Many falcons and dogs--a part of knightly equipage never forgotten--had
been brought from Europe to Asia; but the dogs, spreading their nostrils
in vain to the hot wind for the least breath of moisture, left the
long-accustomed hand that they were wont to love, and straying through the
desolate land, died among the mountains; while the clear eye of the noble
falcon withered under the fiery sky, which nothing but a vulture could
endure; and, after long privation, he dropped from the glove that held
him.[277]

At length water was discovered, and the whole army rushed forward to the
river. Their intemperate eagerness[278] rendered the means of relief
nearly as destructive as the thirst which they had endured, and many were
added to the victims of that horrible march by their own imprudent
indulgence in the cool blessing that they had found at last. The country
now had changed its aspect, and nothing presented itself but splendid
fertility till the host of the crusade reached the city of Antiochetta,
where, surrounded by rivulets, and forests, and rich pastures, they
pitched their tents, determined to enjoy the earthly paradise that spread
around them.

Some of the warriors, however, whose energetic spirit no fatigues could
daunt[279] or subdue, soon tired of the idle sweets of Antiochetta[280]
and voluntarily separated themselves from the army, seeking either renown
or profit, by detached enterprises. Tancred on the one hand, with the
Prince of Salernum, and several other nobles, five hundred knights, and a
party of foot-soldiers, set out from the army of Boemond, to explore the
country, and ascertain the strength of the enemies by which they were
surrounded. Detaching himself, at the same time, from the division of
Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin, the brother of that leader, joined Tancred
with a somewhat superior force, actuated probably more by the hope of his
own individual aggrandizement, than by any purpose of serving the general
cause of the crusade.

After wandering for some time through the districts round Iconium and
Heraclea,[281] which the Turks had taken care to desolate beforehand, the
two chieftains again separated, and Tancred, pursuing his way by Cilicia,
came suddenly before Tarsus. The Turks, by whom that city was garrisoned,
knowing that the greater part of the populace was opposed to them,
surrendered almost immediately on the approach of the Christian leader,
and while he encamped with his forces under the walls, waiting, according
to stipulation, for the arrival of Boemond, his banner was hoisted upon
the towers of the town.[282] Scarcely had this been done when Baldwin also
appeared, and at first, the two armies, each conceiving the other to be an
enemy, prepared to give one another battle. The mistake was soon
discovered, and Tancred welcomed his comrade in arms to Tarsus. The
feelings of Baldwin, however, were less chivalric than those of the noble
chief of Otranto, and the banner of Tancred flying on the walls of Tarsus
was an object that he could not long endure. After passing a day or two in
apparent amity, he suddenly demanded possession of the city, declaring,
that as he led the superior force, he was entitled to command. Tancred
scoffed at the absurd pretence, and both parties had nearly betaken
themselves to arms.[283] The noble moderation of the Italian leader
brought about a temporary reconciliation. He agreed that the people of the
city themselves should be referred to, and choose the chief to whom they
would submit. This was accordingly done, and the inhabitants instantly
fixed upon the knight to whom they had first surrendered.[284] But Baldwin
was yet unsatisfied; and after having made a proposal to sack and pillage
the town, which was rejected with scorn and abhorrence by his more
generous fellow-soldier, he caballed with the citizens and the Turks, till
he won them to throw down Tancred's banner, and yield themselves to him.
Mortified, indignant, even enraged, the steady purpose of right within the
bosom of the chief of Otranto maintained him still in that undeviating
course of rectitude which he had always pursued; and, resolved not to
imbrue a sword drawn for honour and religion in the blood of his
fellow-christians,[285] he withdrew his forces from before Tarsus, and
turned his arms against Mamistra. The Turks here, more bold than those of
the former city, beheld his approach unawed, and held out the town for
several days, till at length it fell by storm, and the victorious chief
planted his banner on those walls with far more honourable glory than that
which surrounded the standard of Baldwin at Tarsus.

In the mean while, another body of crusaders, detached from the troops of
Boemond, arrived before the city in which Baldwin had established himself,
and demanded entrance, or at least assistance and provisions. Baldwin[286]
cruelly caused the gates to be shut upon them; and had it not been for the
charitable care of some of the Christian inhabitants, who let them down
wine and food from the walls, they would have been left to expire of want.
A fate hardly better awaited them. The Turks had still, by their
capitulation, maintained possession of several of the towers of Tarsus,
but fearful of the superior force of Baldwin, they sought but a fair
opportunity to escape without pursuit. The very night that the detachment
of which I have spoken above arrived, the Turks carried their intentions
into effect,[287] and finding a small body of Christians sleeping under
the walls without defence, they made the massacre of the whole the first
step in their flight. The soldiers of Baldwin and the citizens of Tarsus,
who had together witnessed, with indignation, the barbarous conduct of the
French chieftain, now rose in absolute revolt.[288] Baldwin, however,
having remained in concealment for a few days, contrived to pacify his
followers, and to overawe the city. After this he joined himself to a band
of piratical adventurers, who about that time arrived accidentally at
Tarsus, and who, mingling their lust of prey with some dark and
superstitious notions of religion, had turned their course towards the
Holy Land, in the pleasant hope of serving both God and Mammon with the
sword.[289] With these Baldwin continued to ravage Cilicia, and at length
approaching Mamistra, in which Tancred had established himself, he pitched
his tents upon the immediate territory of that city. Tancred now gave way
to his indignation, and issuing forth, though accompanied by very inferior
forces, he attacked Baldwin sword in hand, when a fierce engagement ensued
between the two Christian armies. The struggle was severe but short: the
superior numbers of the French prevailed, and Tancred was forced to
retreat into the city. On one side, the Prince of Salernum was made
prisoner by Baldwin,[290] and on the other, Gilbert of Montclar was taken;
but the next day, shame for their unchristian dissensions took possession
of each chief. Peace was agreed upon; they embraced in sight of the two
hosts; the captives were exchanged, and, as usual, Satan got the credit of
the dispute. Baldwin proceeded, after this, to join the main army, and
left his piratical associates to aid Tancred in laying waste the country.

During these events the great body of the crusade had remained for some
time at Antiochetta, where the people continued to acquire new health and
strength, in the enjoyment of that tranquillity and abundance which had
been so long withheld from them. Not so the chiefs, two of whom[291]--and
those of the most distinguished--had nearly, in this period of repose and
peace, found that death which they had so often dared in the midst of
battle and hardship.

Godfrey of Bouillon, in delivering a pilgrim from the attack of a
huge[292] bear in the woods of Antiochetta, had almost fallen a victim to
his chivalrous courage: he received so many wounds, that even after having
slain his ferocious adversary, he could not drag himself from the forest
to the camp; and remained long and dangerously ill in consequence. At the
same time, the Count of Toulouse was seized with a violent fever, which
brought him to the brink of the grave. He was taken from his bed and laid
upon the ground--as was customary among the pilgrims at the hour of death,
that they might expire with all humility--and the Bishop of Orange
administered the last sacraments of the church:[293] but a certain Count
of Saxe, who accompanied the army, came to visit the leader of the
Provençals, and told him that St. Giles (the patron saint of the Counts of
Toulouse) had twice appeared to him in a dream, assuring him that so
valuable a life should be spared to the crusaders.

Whether from the effect of that most excellent medicine, hope, or from a
natural turn in his disease, the count suddenly began to recover, and
before long was sufficiently well to accompany the army in a litter. The
chiefs of the crusade now directed their march towards Antioch, suffering
not a little from the desolate state of the country, which, devastated on
every side by the Turks, afforded no means of supplying the immense
multitude that followed the standard of the Cross. After passing Iconium
and Heraclea, their fatigues were destined to increase rather than
diminish. Their road now lay through uninhabited wilds, which Robert the
Monk describes in language at once picturesque and terrific.[294] "They
travelled," says he, "with deplorable suffering through mountains where no
path was to be found except the paths of reptiles and savage beasts, and
where the passages afforded no more space than just sufficient to place
one foot before the other, in tracks shut in between rocks and thorny
bushes. The depths of the precipices seemed to sink down to the centre of
the earth, while the summits of the mountains appeared to rise up to the
firmament. The knights and men-at-arms walked forward with uncertain
steps, the armour being slung over their shoulders, and each of them
acting as a foot-soldier, for none dared mount his horse. Many would
willingly have sold their helmets, their breastplates, or their shields,
had they found any one to buy, and some, wearied out, cast down their
arms, to walk more lightly. No loaded horses could pass, and the men were
obliged to carry the whole burdens. None could stop or sit down: none
could aid his companion, except where the one who came behind might
sometimes help the person before him, though those that preceded could
hardly turn the head towards those that followed. Nevertheless, having
traversed these horrible paths, or rather these pathless wildernesses,
they arrived at length at the city named Marasia, the inhabitants of which
received them with joy and respect."

At Marasch the host was rejoined by Baldwin, whose wife died a few days
before his arrival. His brother Godfrey,[295] too, was still suffering
from the effects of his combat with the wild beast, and all the chiefs of
the crusade, indignant at his conduct at Tarsus, gave him but a chilling
and gloomy reception.[296] The spirit of individual aggrandizement was
still the strongest passion in the breast of Baldwin, and the coldness of
his companions in arms yielded him no great encouragement to stay and
employ his efforts for the general object of the expedition, rather than
for the purposes of his own selfish ambition. He very soon abandoned the
rest of the chiefs, contriving to seduce two hundred knights, and a large
party of foot-soldiers, to join him; and as his course was thenceforth
separate from the rest of the crusaders, I shall follow the example of
Guibert, and briefly trace it out, till it falls again into the general
stream of events.

Accompanied by Pancrates,[297] an Armenian, who painted in glowing colours
the wealth of the provinces on the other side of the Euphrates,[298] and
the facility with which they might be conquered, he set out with the vague
hope of plundering something and overcoming some one, he knew not well
what or whom. However, his skill as a commander was certain to find matter
on which to exercise itself, in a country possessed by an active enemy,
while his rapacious propensities were very likely to be gratified in a
rich and plentiful land, where the many were oppressed by the few.
Turbessel[299] and Ravendel fell immediately into his hands, and were at
first placed under the command of his companion, Pancrates; but beginning
to suspect that personage, he forced him to deliver up the cities, by
imprisonment, torture, and a threat of having him torn limb from
limb.[300] He then passed onward, crossed the Euphrates, and at the
invitation of Thoros, sovereign of Edessa, entered that city, to free it
from the power of the Turks. Thoros, a weak and childless old man, was
driven by the inhabitants--who were terrified at their infidel neighbours,
and had no confidence in their feeble monarch--to adopt the brother of
Godfrey, with all the curious ceremonies then practised on such occasions.
He passed his own shirt over Baldwin's shoulders,[301] pressed him to his
naked breast, and publicly declared him his son.[302]

The transactions that followed are very obscure, and as I have not been
able to satisfy myself in regard to the share which Baldwin had in the
tumults that succeeded, and the death of Thoros, I will but state the
facts, without attempting to trace them to secret causes, which are now
hidden in the dark tabernacle of the past. Something we know--Baldwin was
ambitious, unscrupulous, intriguing, cruel--and shortly after his arrival,
the people of Edessa rose against their unhappy prince, slew him, and
elected Baldwin in his place. It does not absolutely appear that Baldwin
was the instigator of these riots, or the prompter of the death of Thoros;
but it does appear that he did not exert himself as he might have done to
put them down. That it was in his power to suppress them is evinced by the
rapidity with which he reduced the Edessians[303] to the most submissive
obedience, immediately that the rank for which he had to contend was his
own. He afterward proceeded to aggrandize his dominions, by attacking
various of the neighbouring cities, and thus, in continual struggles, he
passed his days, till some time after his companions in arms had completed
their conquest of the Holy Land.

In the mean while, Tancred took possession of the whole country as far as
the town of Alexandretta, in the Gulf of Ajasse; and the great army of the
crusade continued its march, throwing forward Robert of Flanders to seize
on Artesia.[304] The Mahommedan soldiery prepared to resist; but the
Armenian inhabitants opened the gates to their Christian deliverers, and
the infidels were massacred without mercy. On the news of this event,
Baghasian, the commander of the Turkish garrison of Antioch, apparently
not knowing the immediate proximity of the whole Christian force,
endeavoured to cut off, by stratagem, the small army of the Count of
Flanders, who was accompanied by only one thousand knights. For this
purpose the Turk advanced from Antioch,[305] followed by nearly twenty
thousand horsemen, whom he placed in ambush in a plain near the city,
while he himself, at the head of a petty detachment, armed alone with
bows of horn,[306] advanced as if to reconnoitre the Christian troops.
Robert of Flanders and his knights suffered themselves to be deceived, and
charged the enemy, who fled before them, but in a moment they were
surrounded by immensely superior numbers, who, with terrific cries, rushed
on, to what appeared a certain victory. The gallantry[307] and courage of
the Christian warriors served to deliver them from the danger into which
the excess of that very courage had brought them, and charging the Turks
with vigour in one decided direction, they succeeded in cutting their way
through, and effecting their retreat to the city.

Here, however, they were besieged by the enemy; but the arrival of
Tancred, on his return from his victorious expedition, together with
reinforcements from the main army, relieved them from the presence of the
Turks, who retreated upon Antioch.

CHAPTER VII.

_The Host of the Crusade invests Antioch--Description of that City--
Difficulties and Errors of the Crusaders--Improvidence--Famine--Spies--
Desertions--Embassy from the Calif of Egypt--Succours from the Genoese and
Pisans--Battle--Feats of the Christian Knights--Boemond keeps up a
Communication within the Town--The Town betrayed to the Christians--
Massacres--Arrival of an Army from Persia--The Christians besieged in
Antioch--Famine--Desertions--Visions--Renewed Enthusiasm--Diminished
Forces of the Christians--Battle of Antioch--The Crusaders victorious--
Spoils--Disputes with the Count of Toulouse--The Chiefs determine to
repose at Antioch--Ambassadors sent to Alexius--Fate of their Embassy._

The army now began to approach towards Antioch; and it was evident, that
the task which the champions of the Cross had undertaken was becoming more
and more difficult, as it drew near its consummation. The host was
proceeding further and further from all resources; its enemies were
gathering strength and falling back upon fresh supplies; multitudes of the
invaders had died, and others were each day joining the dead: little hope
of fresh reinforcements could be entertained, and the flame of enthusiasm
was waxing dim, while fatigue, privation, and continual anxiety were
gradually bringing disgust to the enterprise. The council of leaders,[308]
well aware of the increasing dangers, now issued orders that in future no
party whatever should absent itself from the main body; and all
considerable detachments having rejoined it, they marched on to the valley
of the Orontes. Over that river a stone bridge of nine arches was the only
passage: this was strongly fortified, and closed with doors plated with
iron, from which circumstance it had received the name of the iron-bridge.
The Turks defended this formidable position with great valour against
Robert, Duke of Normandy, who commanded the advance guard of the crusading
army; but on the arrival of Godfrey and the other forces, the bridge was
carried, the river passed, and Antioch invested.

In the vast plain situated at the foot of the mountains,[309] the Orontes
wanders on towards the sea, skirting, during a part of its course, the
steep boundary which closes in the plain of Antioch from the south. On one
of the bendings of the river was situated the town of Antioch, which,
climbing up the hills, took within the embrace of its massy walls three
high peaks of the mountain, one of which standing towards the north is
separated from the others by a steep precipice, and was then crowned by a
high and almost impregnable citadel.[310] The town itself, which extended
in length two miles, was so strongly fortified by art and nature, that
none of the active means then known seemed likely to take it by assault.
The walls of the city were not absolutely washed by the Orontes; for
between them and that river was a space of level ground, the breadth of
which Raimond d'Agiles estimates at an arrow's flight; but, as the river
turned in its course, it approached nearer to the town, and an antique
bridge,[311] which the crusaders at first neglected to secure, gave
infinite facility to the Turks, both in annoying their adversaries, and in
procuring supplies. On the other side, spreading from the river to the
foot of the mountains, was a marsh supplied constantly by some fresh
springs. Over this also was thrown a bridge, which equally remained in the
hands of the infidels.

The encampment of the crusaders was conducted without any degree of
military science.[312] Various points were left open and unguarded; each
chief seemed to choose his own situation, and form his own plan of attack;
and the most scandalous waste and profusion from the very first laid the
foundation of after want and misery.

Such were the obstacles which impeded the progress of the forces of the
Cross, and which might, ultimately have rendered all their efforts
abortive, had not other circumstances arisen to bring about an event that
their own skill and conduct would never have accomplished. It is not
necessary here to describe the position of the several leaders: suffice
it, that Tatin, as he is called by the writers of that day, the commander
of the troops of Alexius, took up his station in a spot detached from the
rest. Three hundred thousand men capable of bearing arms,[313] sat down
under the walls of Antioch; and such a profusion of provisions was found,
even for this immense multitude, that the greater part of each animal
slaughtered was wasted, the crusaders in the wantonness of luxury refusing
to eat any but particular parts of the beast.[314]

Such was the formidable appearance of the city, however, that a council
was held to consider whether it would be advisable to attack it at once,
or, remaining beneath the walls, to wait and see if famine would spare the
work of the sword, or spring bring fresh resources to the besiegers. This
opinion was soon negatived, and the attack began; but the walls of Antioch
resisted all efforts. Every means then known was employed by the crusaders
to batter the heavy masonry of those mighty bulwarks, but in vain.
Moveable towers, and catapults, and mangonels, and battering-rams, were
all used ineffectually; while the besieged, in a variety of sallies,
harassed night and day the Christian camp, and destroyed many of the
assailants.

The consequences[315] of their first improvidence were soon bitterly
visited on the heads of the crusaders. Famine began to spread in the
camp; and pestilential diseases, engendered by unwholesome food and the
neighbourhood of a large tract of marshy land, in the autumn and winter
seasons, raged through the hosts of the Cross, and slew more fearfully
even than the arrows of the enemy. Death in every shape grew familiar to
their eyes, and the thought of passing to another world lost all the
salutary horror which is so great a check on vice. Crimes of various
descriptions were common;[316] and the sharp urgency of famine, joined
with that horrible contempt of all human ties, which the extreme of mortal
need alone can bring, induced many of the crusaders, deprived of other
aliments, to feed upon the dead bodies of the slain.[317] At the same
time, the Turks suffered not their miseries to pass without aggravation,
but kept the unsparing sword constantly at their throats;[318] while, by a
number of spies, dressed in the garb of Greeks and Armenians, the garrison
became aware of all the movements and necessities of their besiegers.[319]
To correct the crimes of the camp, a court was instituted, with full power
to try and punish; while, to prevent the immorality which was growing too
glaring for endurance, the women were separated from the general host, and
provided for and protected apart.

At the same time, Boemond employed a somewhat savage mode of freeing the
army from the spies by which it was infested. Having detected some Turks
in disguise, he caused them to be slain and roasted in his presence;
declaring, that famine knew no delicacies, and that in future he should
feed upon such fare. Still, however, the mortality and the dearth
increased; and though an excursion made by Boemond[320] and Robert of
Flanders brought a temporary supply to the camp, yet that was soon
improvidently wasted like the rest, and the scarcity became more rigorous
than ever. Desertion of course followed.[321] Among such a multitude,
there were many whose hearts were not of that firm and all-enduring mould
which could alone carry on an enterprise surrounded by such horrors and
distresses. Taticius,[322] the Greek, upon pretence of searching for
assistance at Constantinople, retreated with the few troops he commanded;
and his example was fatal to the resolution of many others. Various bodies
of crusaders abandoned the army, and found refuge in the different
Christian states that still subsisted in the neighbouring countries: many
tried to tread their way back to Europe; and the Count de Melun,[323] a
celebrated warrior, but a notorious plunderer, attempted to quit the host
of the Cross, and seek some other adventure, where personal danger was not
accompanied by famine and privation. Even Peter the Hermit himself,[324]
no longer looked upon as a great leader or an inspired preacher, seeing
misery, death, and horror pursuing the object of all his enthusiasm, and
feeling himself, perhaps, less valued than his zeal merited, was abandoned
by that ardour which had been his great support. Whereas, had he been
still regarded as a prophet, or followed as a mighty chief, he would
probably have borne the extremity of suffering without a murmur; now, told
to endure want and wretchedness as a private individual, he yielded, like
the weakest of those that surrounded him, and tried to flee from the pangs
which he had no stimulus to endure. Both of these fugitives[325] were
brought back by Tancred; and after undergoing a severe reprimand, were
forced to vow that they would never abandon the enterprise till the army
had reached Jerusalem.

In the mean while,[326] the camp of the crusaders received embassies from
two different and unexpected quarters. Which arrived first, or at what
period of the siege either arrived, is of little consequence, and
impossible exactly to determine; for on this subject, as well as every
other collateral circumstance, each of the contemporary authors differs
from his fellows; and the historian may think himself fortunate when he
finds them agreeing even on the principal facts. The news of the progress
of the Christian host had spread even to Cairo;[327] and the calif of
Egypt, from whose hands Syria had been wrested by the Turks, sent deputies
to the leaders of the crusade, probably more with the intent of
ascertaining their real condition, and the likelihood of their ultimate
success, than for the purpose of binding himself to them by any formal
treaty. His messengers, however, were charged to congratulate the Latins
on their progress, and to offer the most advantageous terms of union, if
they would consent to act in concert with the Egyptian power. They[328]
detailed the mild and liberal measures which the calif had employed
towards the Christians of their country, and they engaged the leaders to
send back ambassadors to the court of their sovereign.[329]

After the siege had continued some time, a most welcome aid, both in men
and stores, arrived at the little port of St. Simeon, situated at the
mouth of the Orontes. This town had already, for many years, served as a
seaport to Antioch, which, in its high prosperity,[330] had carried on
considerable trade with the Italian cities of the Mediterranean; and to it
the states of Genoa and Pisa now sent a large reinforcement of
soldiers,[331] and several ship-loads of provisions.

The famished crusaders proceeded towards the spot in straggling crowds,
and Boemond,[332] with the Count of Toulouse, at the head of some regular
troops, marched down to escort their newly arrived brethren, and the
supplies they were conveying, to the general camp of the crusaders. The
Turks of Antioch, however, let no opportunity of vengeance and annoyance
pass unemployed. Boemond, embarrassed with a multitude of rabble, and
encumbered with baggage, was encountered, as he returned through the
mountains, by a large body of Moslems, who, taking him unprepared, slew a
great number of the people, and put the leaders and their knights to
flight. Boemond arrived breathless at the camp, but the rumour of the
battle had preceded him. Godfrey of Bouillon[333] was already in the
saddle; and now, joined by Raimond and Boemond, together with Hugh of
Vermandois, the Duke of Normandy, and Robert of Flanders, he advanced to
the top of the hills, behind which the victorious Turks were winding
onward, on their return to the city.

A skirmish took place for the position on the mountains, but the
Christians obtained it with little difficulty; and thus cut off the enemy
from the town.[334] The Turks were forced to fight once more; but they
were opposed no longer by an undisciplined crowd; and the Chivalry of
Europe never displayed that almost superhuman valour[335] which
distinguished them, with greater effect. Allowing even for the
exaggeration of eulogy, the efforts of the knights must have been
extraordinary. Godfrey is reported to have mown the heads of the Turks as
a mower strikes down the thistles; and all the authorities of that day
repeat the tale of his having at one blow severed an armed infidel in
twain, though protected by his cuirass.[336] Every chief rivalled the
other; and, beyond all doubt, several of the infidels must have fallen by
the hand of each knight. While thus the sword raged among the Turkish
host, many made their way to the bridge, and rushed across it in such
crowds, that hundreds were thrust over into the water. On the other side,
too, Boemond, with a large body of pikemen on foot, opposed their
passage,[337] and hurled them at the point of the lance into the river,
the banks of which were lined with the crusaders, who repelled even those
that swam to land.[338] Thus lasted the fight till the sun going down put
a stop to the carnage; and the Christians, with songs of victory and
loaded with spoil, returned to their camp for the night. More than two
thousand men, several of whom were of high rank, were left by the Turks on
the field of battle: a multitude found death in the Orontes; but the
number of the fallen was never correctly ascertained,[339] although the
Christians, with the characteristic barbarity of the time, dug up many of
the dead bodies that the Turks had buried during the night.[340]

Various efforts both from within and without were made to raise the siege,
but in vain. On one occasion an immense body of Saracens, Arabs, and Turks
was defeated by seven hundred Christian knights, to which small
number[341] the disposable cavalry of the army was reduced. Famine,
however, disease, and tempests did more to alarm and destroy the crusading
force than all the efforts of the infidels. The winds[342] became so high
that the tents even of the chiefs were blown down, and for some time they
were forced to sleep in the open air. An earthquake[343] was felt towards
the beginning of the year, and was of course considered as an omen. A
comet,[344] too, blazed through the sky; but as the superstitious fancied
they beheld in it the form of the Cross, this rather increased than abated
their hope. In the midst of these circumstances Stephen,[345] Count of
Blois, never very famous for his valour, pretended illness, and retired
from the army of the crusade, accompanied by four thousand men, whom he
led to Alexandretta. A more serious desertion, also, was threatened,
though no design ever existed of its execution: Boemond[346] himself began
to murmur at the length of the siege. He was poor, he declared: he had
given up every thing in his native country for the Cross, and he could not
waste his blood and treasure, and see all his soldiers fall in a siege
which was to be productive of no advantage to himself. Such murmurs had
their object, and might perhaps spring, in some degree, from a weak
quarrel with Godfrey of Bouillon, on the subject of a tent, which had been
sent to the duke by the Prince of Armenia, but which had been waylaid by
Pancrates, the Armenian I have had occasion to mention in speaking of
Baldwin; and had by him been given to Boemond. The Prince of Tarentum had
been obliged to yield it by the decision of all the leaders; but though
this was a subject of irritation, he had more ambitious projects in view.

Boemond for some time, through a proselyte Turk to whom he had given his
name at baptism, had kept up a communication with the commander of one of
the chief towers, on that part of the city wall which looked towards the
gorges of the mountains. This man,[347] by birth an Armenian, had embraced
Mahometanism, and raised himself high in the opinion of the prince of
Antioch. He had in consequence received the command of the important[348]
station I have mentioned, while his two brothers occupied the neighbouring
towers.[349] The origin of his communication with Boemond is variously
stated, but the event is the same. He was won over by magnificent promises
to engage that he would admit that chief and his followers into the town
when called upon.

Boemond, however, did not intend at all that the intelligence which he had
thus practised within the walls should be lost to himself, and benefit
others alone:[350] but knowing[351] the jealous nature of his companions,
he waited patiently till circumstances compelled them to concede to him
the sovereignty of Antioch, in the event of its being taken by his means.
At first the proposal was rejected by the other leaders; but soon,
increasing reports that an immense army, commanded by the warlike sultaun
of Persia, was advancing to the relief of the besieged, induced the
Christian chiefs, under the distress and despondency which affected the
army generally, to concur in the views of the ambitious Prince of
Tarentum. Boemond then intrusted his secret to Godfrey and the other
great leaders, but it was under the most solemn promises of silence[352]
on the subject; for, notwithstanding all the precautions that could be
taken, it was well known that the Turkish spies infested the Christian
camp. With the utmost caution all the measures were concerted for carrying
the project into effect, and through the whole army the rumour was spread
that the preparations made by the chiefs were for the purpose of laying an
ambush for the Persian forces, that were approaching. Phirouz, the
Armenian traitor, was warned that Boemond was about to take advantage of
his offer; and as soon as night had completely set in, the Prince of
Tarentum, with a body of chosen knights, proceeded into the
mountains,[353] as if with the design of surprising the host of the
Persians. Only seven hundred men, however, were selected for this perilous
expedition; and marching in the dead of the night, they crossed the
valleys and precipices of the rocky chain on which the city rested, and
halted in a deep dell at some distance from the walls. The wind was
blowing in sharp gusts, and its howlings among the gorges of the mountains
prevented the tramp of the armed men from reaching the watchers on the
walls. Having assembled their forces in the valley, Godfrey and Boemond
explained to their followers the real nature of the enterprise they
meditated. A single interpreter was sent forward, to confer with their
traitorous coadjutor, and to ascertain that all was prepared. Phirouz
assured him that he was ready, and asked eagerly where were the knights;
being told that they were near,[354] he pressed them to advance, lest any
thing should excite the suspicion of the other commanders, especially as,
from time to time, men with lighted torches patrolled the wall during the
night, and it was necessary that they should take advantage of the
interval. Godfrey, Robert of Flanders, and Boemond instantly led the
troops to the foot of the fortifications; a rope was let down, and a
ladder of hides raised. At first,[355] no one could be found to mount.
Unaccustomed to carry on any warlike operations during the night, a
thousand unwonted fears took possession of the bosoms of the crusaders. At
length, urged by the chiefs, and encouraged by Phirouz from above, one
knight--which of the body is not certain[356]--began to ascend the ladder,
and was followed by several others. Silence then succeeded, and temporary
hesitation once more took possession of the force below: but the voices of
their companions who had ascended, whispering assurances of safety and
fidelity, soon renewed their courage, and many attempting to climb the
ladder at once,[357] it gave way under their weight, precipitating them
upon the lance-heads that were buried in the fosse. The clang of their
armour as they fell was a new cause of alarm, lest the sound should reach