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Illus
-81
EDWARD III OF ENGLAND KILLS HIS ATTEMPTED ASSASSIN
The perfidious servant entered his chamber, poignard in hand, and
immediately plunged at Edward, who was in bed. The blow was mis-directed,
only wounding Edward in the arm. Edward, who was endowed with great
strength, lifted himself up, overthrew the assassin, wrenched the
poignard from his hand, and plunged it into the bosom of the Mussulman.
It was thought that the poinard was poisoned, and Eleanor, the wife
of the black the black prince, had the courage to suck the wound
in the arm. Every effort was unavailing, and it was thought that
Edward would die, when an Arab presented himself and offered to
cure Edward if he would send away his wife and his mistress and
follow his regime. The advice of this physician was followed and
Edward recovered. - Book XV *Notes; pages 196 Edward enters Syria.
. . . page 197 attempted assassination. . . After Edward, no prine
from the West ever crosses the seas to combat with the infidels
in Asia, and the crusade in which he took a part so little glorious,
was the last of those which had for object the delivernce or recovery
of the holy Land. ... among the circumstances of the failure of
this Crusade of no least importance the vacancy of the papal throne,
leaving no voice raised to animate the Crusaders. . .no authority
powerful enough, particularly after the death of St. Louis. page
199. . . The european indifference was fatal to the Christian colonies
of the East ; it gave them up without defence to the mercy of an
enemy who every day became more powerful, and whose fanaticism was
inflamed by victory. . - Book II History
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Illus
-82
THE DISHONORABLE TRUCE
Kelaoum from that time had it in his power to attack the Christians
; but busied in establishing his authority among the Mamelukes,
and in replulsing the Tartars, who had advanced towards the Euphrates,
he consented to conclude a truce with the Franks of Ptolmais.
It may plainly be perceived by this treaty, which the Arabian
authors have preserved, what were the designs of the sultans of
Cairo, and the extent of the ascendancy they assumed over their
feeble enemies. The Christians engaged, in the event of any prince
of the Franks making an expedition into Asia, to warn the infidels
of the coming of Christian armies from the West. This was at the
same time signing a dishonorable condition, and renouncing all
hopes of a crusade. - Book XV *Note; page 202 . . .thus all the
treaties raised a new barrier between the Christians of the East
and those of the West. . . there were no checks upon the sultan
of Cairo, who always found some pretext for breaking them. . ..
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Illus
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INVOCATION TO MOHAMET
In the meanwhile, Kelaoun was still detained in Egypt by sickness,
and feeling his end approach, the sultan sent for his son and
his principal emirs ; he recommended to the latter, to serve his
son as they had served himself ; and to the former, to follow
up the war against the Christians without any intermission, conjuring
him not to grant his remains the honor of sepulture before he
had conquered the city of Ptolemais. Chalil swore to accomplish
the last wishes of his father ; and when Kelaoun had closed his
eyes, the ulemas and the imauns assembled in the chapel in which
his remains were deposited, and read during the whole night verses
from the Koran, never ceasing to invoke their prophet against
the disciples of Christ. Chalil did not delay setting forward
on his marchwith his army. The Franks hoped that the death of
Kelaoun would give birth to some disorders among the Mamelukes
; but hatred for the Christians was a sufficient bond of union
for the Mussulman soldiers ; the siege even of Ptolemais, the
hope of annihilating a Christian city, stifled all the germs of
discord, and consolidated the power of Chalil, whom they proclaimed
beforehand the conqueror of the Franks, and the PACIFICATION OF
THE MUSSULMAN RELIGION. -Book XV *Notes; page 210 The Saracens,
on there part, became astonished at the resistance which all their
attacks met with ; so many combats, in which their innumberable
multitude had not been able to obtain a decided advantage, began
to give them discouragement. In the infidel army it was impossible
to explain the invincible bravery of the Christian soldiers without
assigning miraculas causes for it. A thousand extraordinary tales
flew from mouth to mouth, and struck the imagination of the gross
crowd of the Mussulmans. They believed they saw two men in every
one of those with whom they fought ; in the excess of their astonishment,
they persauded themselves that every warrior who fell beneath
their stroke was born of himself, and returned stronger and more
terrible than ever to the field of battle. The sultan of Cairo
appeared to have lost all hope of taking the city by assault.
. . . .On may 4th, a day fatal to the Christians, the signal for
a fresh assault was given. They were already upon the breach,
when the knights of the Temple formed a rash resolution of making
a sortie, and attacking the camp of the Mussulmans. They found
the enemy's army drawn up in order of battle ; after a bloody
conflict, the Saracens repulsed the Christians, and pursued them
to the foot of the ramparts. the grand-master of the Temple was
struck by an arrow and fell in the midst of his knights. The grand-master
of the Hospital, at the same time received a wound which disabled
him. The rout then beacme general, and all hope of saving the
city was lost. There were scarcely a thousand Christian warriors
left to defend the gate of St. Anthony against the whole Mussulman
army.
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Illus
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SANUTI SHOWING MAPS OF THE EAST TO POPE JOHN XXII
Sanuti thus describes the first audience he obtained with the sovereign
pontiff ; " I am not sent hither," said he, " by any king, any prince,
or any republic ; it is from the impulse of my own mind that I come
to throw myself at the feet of your holiness, and to propose to
you an easy means of crushing the enemies of the true faith, of
extirpating the sect of Mohamet, and of recovering the Holy Land."
On finishing these words, Sanuti presented two books to the pope,
one covered with red and the other with yellow, and four geographical
charts, the first of the Mediterranean Sea, the second of the earth
and of the sea, the third of the Holy Land, the fourth of Egypt.
The books of the noble Venetian contained the history of the Christian
establishments in the East, and wise councels respecting the undertaking
of another crusade. The pope bestowed great praises upon Santuti,
and furnished him with introductions to several sovereigns of Europe.
The Christian princes, particularly the king of France, received
him with kindness, lauded his piety, and admired his talents, but
took care not to follow his advice. - Book XVI *Note; pages 214
to 226
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Illus
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THE VETERAN
- Book XVI *Notes; pages 227 to 240
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Illus
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CONSTANTINE
PALAEOLOGUS HARANGUING THE DEFENDERS OF CONSTANTINOPLE
Amidst these deplorable disputes the voice of patriotism was never
listened to, and indifference , selfishness, and cowardice were
able to conceal themselves under the respectable appearance of religion
and orthodoxy. A great part of the population of Constantinople
had abandoned the sity ; among those that remained, the richest
had buried their treasures, which they might have employed in the
general defence, and which they soon lost, with their liberty and
their lives. The imperial city only contained within its bosom four
thousand nine hundred and seventy defenders, and the emperor was
obliged to plunder the churches to support them. Thus, from eight
to nine thousand combatants formed the entire garrison of Byzantium,
and the last hope of the empire of the East. Constantine called
together the principal leaders of the garrison to deliberate upon
the dangers which threatened the empire. In a pathetic discourse
he endeavoured to revive the courage and the hopes of his companions
in arms ; speaking to the Greeks of patriotism, and to the Latin
auxilliaries of religion and humanity, he exhorted them all to have
patience, but above all to preserve concord. The warriors who were
present at this last council listened to the emperor in melancholy
silence ; they did not dare to interrogate each other upon the means
of defence, which all knew to be useless. They embraced each other
with tears, and returned to the ramparts, filled with the most sinister
forbodings. - Book XVI
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Illus
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MAHOMET II BEFORE CONSTANTINOPLE
Mahomet encouraged the combatants with voice and gesture from the
shore. When the Ottomans appeared to be failing in their attempt,
he could not restrain his anger ; urging his horse into the sea,
he seemed to threaten the elements, and, like a barbarian king of
antquity, to accuse the waves of being obstacles to his conquests.
The sultan burned to avenge this disgrace to his arms, and resolved
to make a last effort to render himself master of the port of Constantinople.
As the entrance of it was guarded by several large vessels, and
closed by a chain of iron that could neither be broken nor passed
; the ottoman monarch employed an extraordinary method, which the
besieged had not forseen, and the success of which displayed the
force of his will and the extent of his power. In a single night,
between seventy and eighty vessels, which were at anchor in the
canal of the Black Sea, were transported by land to the gulf of
Ceras. The road was covered with planks, plastered with grease,
along which a multitude of soldiers and workmen made the vessels
slide. - Book XVI *Notes; pages 245 to 251
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Illus
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THE OTTOMANS PENETRATE HUNGARY
Calixtus III thanked the head of the empire for his advice, and
pressed him to set the example. But the indolent Frederick contented
himself with renewing his promises ; and whilst the emperor was
thus exhorting the pope to maintain a crusade, and the pope, on
his side, was urging the emperor to take arms, the Ottomans penetrated
into Hungary and advanced against Belgrade. On the 6th of August,
1456, the Turks were defeated under the walls of Belgrade, which
they had besieged forty days, and which they had threatened to treat
in the manner as they had treated the Greek capital. The presence
of Hunnuriades and the ardent zeal of John Capistran had so excited
the valour of the Hungarians that they destroyed the Ottoman fleet,
which covered the Danube and the Save, and the army commanded by
Mahomet himself. The festival of the Transfiguration, instituted
by a bull of the pope, and marked to take place on the 6th of August,
reminded the universal church, every year of the defeat of the Turks
before belgrade. - Book XVII
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Illus
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THE SINEWS OF WAR
After the death of Paul II, who had not time to achieve his work,
and did not witness the effect of his preachings, his successor,
Sextus IV, neglected nothing for the defence of Christendom. When
scarcely seated on the pontifical throne, he deputed cardinals to
several states of Europe, to preach peace among Christians and war
against the Turks. The legates were specially intrusted to press
the levying of the tenths for the crusade. They were authorized
to launch the thunders of excommunication against those who should
oppose this impost, or who misapplied the produce of it. It severity,
which occasioned troubles in England, and still more in Germany,
succeeded in other countries, and furnished the sovereign pontiff
with means for preparing for war. Great advantage might have been
taken of a powerful diversion of the Persians. But the Venetians,
the king of Naples, and the pope, alone put themselves forward to
make war against the Ottomans. The sovereign pontiff had caused
twenty-four galleys to be built with the produce of the tenths levied
for the crusade. This fleet, commanded by Cardinal Caraffa, and
collected in the Tiber, after having been blessed by Sextus IV,
went to join that of Venice and Naples, and cruised along the coasts
of Ionia and Pamphylia, to the great terror of all the maritime
Ottoman cities. The Venetians did not fail to direct the operations
of the Christian fleet against the cities whose wealth and commerce
gave them any cause for jealousy. Satalia and Smyrna were given
up to the horrors of war ; the first of these, situated on the coast
of Pamphylia, was the ENTREPOT for the productions and the merchandise
of India and Arabia. The second, situated in the Ionian Sea, possessed
rich manufactures and a flourishing trade. The Christian soldiers
committed in these two cities all the kinds of excess with which
the Turks were then reproached. After this piratical expedition,
the fleet regained the ports of Italy, and Cardinal Caraffa returned
triumphant to Rome, followed by twenty-five captives mounted upon
superb horses, and by twelve camels, loaded with the spoils of the
enemy. The ensigns taken from the Mussulmans, and the chain of the
port of Satalia, were solemnly suspended over the gate and in the
vaulted roof of the Vatican. - Book XVII *Notes; pages 266 described
.. page 267 mentions the Mussulmans make prey of Cyprus which the
Christians had defended against the |Mamelukes and Turks and held
it till the middle of the following century. The eyes of the whole
Christian world were fixed on the isle of Rhodes. This isle, defended
by the knights of St. John, recalled to the faithful the remembrance
of the Holy Land. . . Several historians have related at great length
the events of the siege of Rhodes.
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Illus
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THE CRUSADERS CROSSING MOUNT TAURUS
Terror opened to the pilgrim all the passages of Mount Taurus. Throughout
their triumphant march the Christians had nothing to dread but famine,
the heat of the climate, and the badness of the roads. They had,
particularly, much to suffer in crossing a mountain situated between
Coxon and Marash, which their historians denominate "THE MOUNTAIN
OF THE DEVIL." This mountain was very steep, and offered only one
narrow path, in which the foot soldiers marched with difficulty
; the horses, which could not keep their footing, dragged each other
down the abysses ; and the army lost a great part of its baggage.
In the course of this disastrous march, says an historian who was
an eye-witness, the soldiers gave themselves up to despair, and
refused to proceed. Being encumbered with their arms, they either
sold them at a low price or cast them down the precipices. On all
sides were to be seen warriors wounded by their frequent falls,
and pilgrims exhusted with fatique, who could not continue their
route, and filled the air and mountains with their cries and groans.
- Book II *Notes; page 274
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