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Illus
-11
GODFREY MEETS THE REMAINS OF THE ARMY OF PETER THE HERMIT
As the Crusaders advanced across the plains of Bithynia, they saw,
seeking refuge in their tents, several soldiers of Peter's army,
who having escaped the swords of the Sacarens, had lived concealed
in the mountains and forests. They were clothed in the rags of misery,
and with lamentations and tears related the disasters of the first
army of the Christians. On the east they pointed to the fortress
in which the companions of Rinaldo, pressed by hunger and thirst,
had surrendered to the Turks, who had massacred them all. Near to
that they showed them the mountains, at the foot of which had perished
Walter and his army. There the Christians had been suprised by the
Mussulmans at the moment their priests were celebrating the sacrafice
of the mass. - Book II History
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Illus
-12 PRIESTS EXHORTING
THE CRUSADERS
In the immense crowd of Crusaders, no count, no prince, deigned
to receive orders from any one. The Christians presented the image
of a republic under arms. This republic, in which everything appeared
to be in common, recognized no other law but that of honor, no
other tie but that of religion. So great was their zeal that cheifs
perfomed the duties of common men, and the latter required no
signal to rush to victory or encounter death. The priests passed
continually amongst the ranks, to recall to the Crusaders the
maxims of Scriptural authors, who seldom spare the champions of
the cross, the conduct of the Christians during the siege of Nice
offered nothing but examples of warlike virtue and subjects of
edification. - Book II
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Illus
-13
CRUSADERS THROWING HEADS INTO NICE
This second battle, in which the Turks showed the courage of despair,
seconded by all the stratagems of war, lasted from morning to
night. The victory . . . cost the Christians two thousand lives.
The Crusaders made a great many prisioners; four thousand Mussulmans
fell on the field of battle; the heads of a thousand were sent
to Alexius, and the rest, by the aid of machines, were cast into
the city, to inform the garrison of this fresh defeat of the Turks.
- Book II
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Illus
-14
THE BATTLE OF NICEA
"Then the two armies," says Matthew of Edessa, who speaks of this
battle, "joined, mingled, and attacked each other with equal fury.
Everywhere glittered casques and shields ; lances rung against cuirasses
; the air resounded with piercing cries ; the terrified horses recoiled
at the din of arms and the hissing of arrows ; the earth trembled
beneath the tread of the combatants, and the plain was for a vast
space bristling with javelins." Godfrey, Tancred, and the two Roberts
appeared to be everywhere at once, and carries death and terror
into the ranks of the infidels. The Turks could not long withstand
the impetous valor of the Crusaders ; they were put to the rout
and pursued by the conquerors even to the mountains, which served
them as a place of refuge. - Book II
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Illus
-15
THE BATTLE OF DORYLAEUM
Bohemond ordered a body of his choicest soldiers to draw their swords
and follow him. He crossed the river, and overcame every obstacle
that was placed in his way. In an instant the camp of the Christians
was invaded and filled by the Turks. The Sacarens massacred all
who came within reach of their swords ; sparing none but young and
beautiful women, whom they destined for their seraglios. If we are
to believe Albert of Aix, the daughters and wives of the barons
and knights preferred on this occasion slavery to death ; for they
were seen, in the midst of the tumult, decking themselves in their
most beautiful vestments, and presenting themselves thus before
the Sacarens, seeking by the display of their charms to soften the
hearts of a pitiless enemy. In the mean while Bohemond, rendered
aware of the attack upon the camp, came promptly to its succour,
and forced the sultan to rejoin the body of his army. Then the conflict
recommenced on the banks of the river with increased fury. The duke
of Normandy, who had remained alone with some of his knights on
the field of battle, snatched his white pennon embroidered with
gold from the hand of him who bore it, and rushed into the thickest
of the fight, crying aloud, "IT IS THE WILL OF GOD ! IT IS THE WILL
OF GOD !" He cut down with his sword all who were in his path ;
among the victims to his valour being one of the principal Turkish
emirs. - Book II
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Illus
-16
BURYING THE DEAD AFTER THE BATTLE OF DORYLAEUM
The day after the victory the Crusaders repaired to the field of
battle for the for the purpose of burying the dead. They had lost
four thousand of their companions, andthey paid them their duties
in tears ; the clergy offered up their prayers for them, and the
army honored them as martyrs. They soon, however, passed from funeral
ceremonies to transports of the wildest joy. On stripping the Saracens,
they quarrelled for their blood-stained habits. In the excess of
their delight, some of the soldiers would put on the armour of their
enemies, and clothing themselves in the flowing robes of the Mussulmans,
would seat themselves in the tents of the conquered, and, with imitative
gestures, ridicule the luxury and customs of Asia. Such as were
without arms took possession of the swords and crooked sabres of
the Saracens, and the archers filled their quivers with the arrows
which had been shot at them during the fight. - Book II
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Illus
-17
THE BATTLE OF ANTIOCH
The right of this city, so celebrated in the annuals
of Christianity, revived the enthusiasm of the Crusaders. It was
within the walls of Antioch that the disciples of Jesus Christ first
assumed the title of Christians, and the apostle Peter was named
the first pastor of the young church. For a long time Antioch was
considered in Christendom as the eldest daughter of Sion ; it bore
the name of Theopolis (the city of God), and the pilgrims visited
it with no less respect than Jerusalem. The ramparts of Antioch,
whose solidity equaled that of a rock, were three leagues in extent.
"This place," says an old author, " was an object of terror to those
who looked upon it, for the number of its strong and vasty towers,
which amounted to three hundred and sixty." Wide ditches, the river
Orontes, and marshes still further protected the inhabitants of
Antioch, and cut off an approach to the city. - Book III
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Illus
-18 FLORINE OF BURGUNDY
It was said that the son of Sweno, king of Denmark, who had assumed
the cross, and was leading fifteen hundred horsemen to the holy
war, had been surprised by the Turks whilst advancing rapidly across
the plains of Cappadocia. Attacked by an enemy superior in numbers,
he had defended himself during a whole day, without being able to
repulse the infidels, with all the efforts of his courage or the
battle-axes of his warriors. Florine, daughter of Eudes I., duke
of Burgundy, who accompanied the Danish hero, and to whom he was
to be married after the taking of Jerusalem, had valiantly fought
by his side. Pierced by seven arrows, but still fighting, she sought
with Sweno to open a passage towards the mountains, when they were
overwhelmed by their enemies. They fell together on the field of
battle, after having seen all their knights and most faithful servants
perish around them. - Book III *Note; covered page 75. Note: page
79. The Duke of Normandy sustained a single combat with a leader
of the infidels, who advanced towards him surrounded by his troop.
With one blow of his sword split his head to the shoulder, and,
as the Saracen fell dead at his feet, exclaimed, "I devote thy impure
soul to the powers of hell."
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Illus
-19
BOHEMOND ALONE MOUNTS THE RAMPART OF ANTIOCH
The night was dark, and a rising storm increased the
depth of the obscurity. The wind, which rattled among the roofs
of the buildings, and the peals of thunder, prevented the sentinels
from hearing any noise around the ramparts. The heavens seemed inflamed
towards the west, and the sight of a comet, which then appeared
in the horizon, seemed to announce to the suspicious minds of the
Crusaders the destined moment for the ruin and destruction of the
infidels. But all at once fear took possession of the soldiers ;
at the moment of execution all saw the whole extent of the danger,
and not one of them put himself forward to mount the rampart. In
vain Godfrey and the prince of Tarentum employed by turns promises
and threats ; both leaders and soldiers remained motionless. Bohemond
himself ascended by a ladder of ropes, in the hope that he should
be seconded by the most brave ; but nobody felt it his duty to follow
in his footsteps. - Book III *Notes;
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Illus
-20
THE MASSACRE OF ANTIOCH
The Crusaders had obtained possession of the city by treachery.
The soldiers penetrated into the houses. . . . Everything that was
not marked with a cross became the object of vengeance, and all
who pronounced not the name of Christ were massacred without mercy.
In a single night more than six thousand of the inhabitants of Antioch
perished. . . . Phirous, the betrayer, received from the Christians
great riches as the reward of his treachery ; this renegade now
embraced the Christianity he had abandoned ; two years afterwards,
his ambition not being satisfied, he returned to the religion of
Mahomet, and died abhorred by Christians and Mussulmans, whose cause
he had by turns embraced and betrayed. - Book III Notes;
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