The History of Chivalry

he Lake occupied-Surrender of Nice to the Emissaries of Alexius-Discontent-March towards Antioch-The Army divides into two Bo

er 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

igues 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 i

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 contro

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

rtly 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 eas

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

ched his division towards the spot assigned him on the Sunday after Ascension-day.[212] His coming, however

ough 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 moun

oach 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 lik

very 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 l

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 gr

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 des

cessantly against the walls, while moveable towers of wood, called beffroys, filled with armed men, were rolled close to the fortificat

rs 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-soldier

3] 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 w

mense 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 inequalit

e siege of Nice, the immense numbers of the crusaders did not produce that scarcity of provision which ultimately fell upon them; for Alexius,

ll continued to return the assailants combat for combat, the whole day being consumed in a st

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

fects of a climate totally different from their own. "Thus," says one of the followers of the Cross, "nothing was to

abours 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

t were much raised by the fact of the sultauness, the wife of Soliman, who had hitherto courageously undergo

the Cross an officer on whose art and fidelity he could depend, to secure for the imperial crown a city whi

ithin 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

tins.[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

r 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 th

e 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 proceed

orce,[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

Soliman soon came up with the forces of 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

ents, 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

ed thousand horse, and the ringing of their armour, together with the trumpets of the Christian host, and the shouts of t

rovided 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 al

[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

swords;[256] but now, in turn, the swarming multitudes of their foes, pouring down fresh from the mountains on every side, no longer retreated,

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, co

t 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 caval

ted 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! G

ot, 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

ought 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 hastene

d, with renewed hope, couched his lance, and T

led lances, drove down upon the Turks. Hugh of Vermandois attacked them on the flank, and R

ls 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

have been anticipated. Only four thousand men[271] are supposed to have fallen on the part of the Christians; these were principally, also, o

nd 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 thu

emy. 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 th

dded 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 fertilit

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 s

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 w

r 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

gth, 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 th

erously 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 admini

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

he 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

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 Tho

el-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 t

g 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 suffer

s return from his victorious expedition, together with reinforcements from the ma