456 THE CRUSADERS [CH. LVIII. nised the sacred geography of Lydda, Ramla, Emmaus, and Bethlem, and as soon as they descried the holy city, the crusaders forgot their toils and claimed their reward.* Jerusalem has derived some reputation from the number and importance of her memorable sieges. It was not till after a long and obstinate contest that Babylon and Rome could prevail against the obstinacy of the people, the craggy ground that might supersede the necessity of fortifications, and the walls and towers that would have fortified the most accessible plain.† These obstacles were diminished in the age of the crusades. The bulwarks had been completely destroyed and imperfectly restored; the Jews, their nation, and worship, were for ever banished; but nature is less changeable than man, and the site of Jerusalem, though somewhat softened, and somewhat removed, was still strong against the assaults of an enemy. By the experience of a recent siege, and a three years' possession, the Saracens of Egypt had been taught to discern, and in some degree to remedy, the defects of a place, which religion as well as honour forbade them to resign. Aladin, or Iftikhar, the caliph's lieutenant, was intrusted with the defence; his policy strove to restrain the native Christians by the dread of their own ruin and that of the holy sepulchre; to animate the Moslems by the assurance of temporal and eternal rewards. His garrison is said to have consisted of forty thousand Turks and Arabians; and if he could muster twenty thousand of the inhabitants, it must be confessed, that the besieged were more numerous than the besieging army.‡ * The greatest part of the march of the Franks is traced, and most accurately traced, in Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem (p. 11-67); un des meilleurs morceaux, sans contredit, qu'on ait dans ce genre (D'Anville, Mémoire sur Jerusalem, p. 27). [See Early Travels in Palestine (Bohn), p. 383-512. Dean Milman objects to Gibbon's mention of Bethlem here, because it lies to the south of Jerusalem. The distance, however, according to Maundrell (p. 455), is but two hours' travel, and while the crusaders were at Emmaus, the day before they saw Jerusalem, messengers from Bethlem invited a garrison. Tancred was in consequence sent there with a hundred knights. Wilh. Tyr. vii. 94. Alb. Aq. v. 43. Wilken, i. 270.-ED.] See the masterly description of Tacitus (Hist. 5. 11-13), who supposes that the Jewish lawgivers had provided for a perpetual state of hostility against the rest of mankind. [The fortifications of Jerusalem, by nature and art, have been described in a note to ch. 23, vol. ii. p. 537.-ED.] The lively scepticism of A.D. 1099.] BESIEGE JERUSALEM. 457 Had the diminished strength and numbers of the Latins allowed them to grasp the whole circumference of four thousand yards (about two English miles and a half),* to what useful purpose should they have descended into the valley of Ben Himmon and torrent of Cedront or approach the precipices of the south and east, from whence they had nothing either to hope or fear? Their siege was more reasonably directed againt the northern and western sides of the city. Godfrey of Bouillon erected his standard on the first swell of mount Calvary; to the left, as far as St. Stephen's gate, the line of attack was continued by Tancred and the two Roberts; and count Raymond established his quarters from the citadel to the foot of mount Sion, which was no longer included within the precincts of the city. On the fifth day, the crusaders made a general assault, in the fanatic hope of battering down the walls without engines, and of scaling them without ladders. By the dint of brutal force, they burst the first barrier, but they were driven back with shame and slaughter to the camp; the influence of Voltaire is balanced with sense and erudition by the French author of the Esprit des Croisades (tom. iv. p. 386-388), who observes that, according to the Arabians, the inhabitants of Jerusalem must have exceeded two hundred thousand; that in the siege of Titus, Josephus collects one million three hundred thousand Jews; that they are stated by Tacitus himself at six hundred thousand; and that the largest defalcation that his accepimus can justify will still leave them more numerous than the Roman army. * Maundrell, who diligently perambulated the walls, found a circuit of four thousand six hundred and thirty paces, or four thousand one hundred and sixtyseven English yards (p. 109, 110.) [Bohn, p. 475]: from an authentic plan, D'Anville concludes a measure nearly similar, of one thousand nine hundred and sixty French toises (p. 23-29), in his scarce and valuable tract. For the topography of Jerusalem, see Reland. (Palestina, tom. ii. p. 832-860.) + Jerusalem was possessed only of the torrent of Kedron, dry in summer, and of the little spring or brook of Siloe. (Reland, tom. i. p. 294. 300.) Both strangers and natives complained of the want of water, which in time of war was studiously aggravated. Within the city, Tacitus mentions a perennial fountain, an aqueduct, and cisterns for rain-water. The aqueduct was conveyed from the rivulet Tekoe, or Etham, which is likewice mentioned by Bohadin (in Vit. Saladin, p. 238). [Maundrell found the water-course of Kedron quite dry in the month of April; and a tanner dressed his hides in the pool of Siloam. That of Bethesda also had no water. At the foot of Mount Zion he saw Bathsheba's pool, and about a furlong from that of Siloam, a spring called the Fountain of the Virgin. Bohn, p. 468-473.-ED.] 458 CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM. [CH. LVIII. vision and prophecy was deadened by the too frequent abuse of those pious stratagems; and time and labour were found to be the only means of victory. The time of the siege was indeed fulfilled in forty days, but they were forty days of calamity and anguish. A repetition of the old complaint of famine may be imputed in some degree to the voracious or disorderly appetite of the Franks; but the stony soil of Jerusalem is almost destitute of water; the scanty springs and hasty torrents were dry in the summer season; nor was the thirst of the besiegers relieved, as in the city, by the artificial supply of cisterns and aqueducts. The circumjacent country is equally destitute of trees for the uses of shade or building; but some large beams were discovered in a cave by the crusaders; a wood near Sichem, the enchanted grove of Tasso,* was cut down; the necessary timber was transported to the camp by the vigour and dexterity of Tancred; and the engines were framed by some Genoese artists, who had fortunately landed in the harbour of Jaffa. Two moveable turrets were constructed at the expense, and in the stations, of the duke of Lorraine and the count of Thoulouse, and rolled forwards with devout labour, not to the most accessible, but to the most neglected parts, of the fortification. Raymond's tower was reduced to ashes by the fire of the besieged, but his colleague was more vigilant and successful; the enemies were driven by his archers from the rampart; the drawbridge was let down; and on a Friday, at three in the afternoon, the day and hour of the passion, Godfrey of Bouillon stood victorious on the walls of Jerusalem. His example was followed on every side by the emulation of valour; and about four hundred and sixty years after the conquest of Omar, the holy city was rescued from the Mahometan yoke. In the pillage of public and private * Gierusalemme Liberata, canto 13. It is pleasant enough to observe how Tasso has copied and embellished the minutest details of the siege. [Raymond's tower was not burnt, but much injured, since it was exposed to the destructive missiles of nine out of the fourteen machines, used in defending the city. On Godfrey's side, some burning arrows set fire to the bags of straw and cotton that protected the wall. The besieged were driven from their posts by the stifling smoke. The fall-bridge at the second story of the tower was let down, and according to Albert. Aq. (6. 19), two brothers. Ludolph and Engelbert, were the first who entered Jerusalem. This honour is claimed for others, but Guibert, who says (p. 595), that he could settle the point, A.D. 1099.] GODFREY ELECTED KING. 459 wealth, the adventurers had agreed to respect the exclusive property of the first occupant; and the spoils of the great mosque, seventy lamps and massy vases of gold and silver, rewarded the diligence, and displayed the generosity, of Tancred. A bloody sacrifice was offered by his mistaken votaries to the God of the Christians; resistance might provoke, but neither age nor sex could mollify, their implacable rage; they indulged themselves three days in a promiscuous massacre; and the infection of the dead bodies produced an epidemical disease. After seventy thousand Moslems had been put to the sword, and the harmless Jews had been burnt in their synagogue, they could still reserve a multitude of captives, whom interest or lassitude persuaded them to spare. Of these savage heroes of the cross, Tancred alone betrayed some sentiments of compassion; yet we may praise the more selfish lenity of Raymond, who granted a capitulation and safe conduct to the garrison of the citadel.† The holy sepulchre was now free; and the bloody victors prepared to accomplish their vow. Bareheaded and barefoot, with contrite hearts, and in an humble posture, they ascended the hill of Calvary, amidst the loud anthems of the clergy; kissed the stone which had covered the Saviour of the world; and bedewed with tears of joy and penitence the monument of their redemption. This union of the fiercest and most tender passions has been variously considered by two philosophers; by the one, as easy and natural; by the declines to record names that were afterwards disgraced by deeds of blood. Wilken, 1. 293.—ED.] *Besides the Latins, who are not ashamed of the massacre, see Elmacin (Hist. Saracen. p. 363), Abulpharagius (Dynast. p. 243), and M. de Guignes (tom. ii. p. 2, p. 99), from Aboulmahasen. The old tower Psephina, in the middle ages Neblosa, was named Castellum Pisanum, from the patriarch Daimbert. It is still the citadel, the residence of the Turkish aga, and commands a prospect of the Dead Sea, Judea, and Arabia. (D'Anville, p. 19-23.) It was likewise called the tower of David, πυργὸς παμμεγεθέστατος. Hume, in his History of England, vol. i. p. 311, 312, octavo edition. [The close of Peter the Hermit's career ought not to be overlooked. After his intercepted flight, he remained at his post, and accompanied an embassy to Kerboga. During the public solemnities which followed the delivery of Jerusalem, he received an address of thanks from the assembled priesthood. His mission being completed, he returned to his native land and built a monastery at Huy on the Meuse, where he died, and was buried in 1115. Wilken, i. 217. 299.—ED.] 460 BATTLE OF ASCALON. [CH. LVIII. other, as absurd and incredible. Perhaps it is too rigorously applied to the same persons and the same hour; the example of the virtuous Godfrey awakened the piety of his companions; while they cleansed their bodies, they purified their minds; nor shall I believe that the most ardent in slaughter and rapine were the foremost in the procession to the holy sepulchre. Eight days after this memorable event, which pope Urban did not live to hear, the Latin chiefs proceeded to the election of a king, to guard and govern their conquests in Palestine. Hugh the Great, and Stephen of Chartres, had retired with some loss of reputation, which they strove to regain by a second crusade and an honourable death. Baldwin was established at Edessa, and Bohemond at Antioch; and two Roberts, the duke of Normandy + and the count of Flanders, preferred their fair inheritance in the West to a doubtful competition or a barren sceptre. The jealousy and ambition of Raymond were condemned by his own followers; and the free, the just, the unanimous voice of the army, proclaimed Godfrey of Bouillon the first and most worthy of the champions of Christendom. His magnanimity accepted a trust as full of danger as of glory; but in a city where his Saviour had been crowned with thorns, the devout pilgrim rejected the name and ensigns of royalty; and the founder of the kingdom of Jerusalein contented himself with the modest title of defender and baron of the holy sepulchre. His government of a single year, too short for the public happiness, was interrupted in the first fortnight by a summons to the field by the approach of the vizir or sultan of Egypt, who had been too slow to prevent, but who was impatient to avenge, the loss of Jerusalem. His total overthrow in the battle of Ascalon sealed the establishment of the Latins in Syria, and signalized the valour of the French princes, who in * Voltaire, in his Essai sur l'Histoire Générale, tom. ii. c. 54, p. 345, 346. + The English ascribe to Robert of Normandy, and the Provincials to Raymond of Thoulouse, the glory of refusing the crown; but the honest voice of tradition has preserved the memory of the ambition and revenge (Villehardouin, No. 136) of the count of St. Giles. He died at the siege of Tripoli, which was possessed by his descendants. See the election, the battle of Ascalon, &c. in William of Tyre, l. 9, c. 1-12, and in the conclusion of the Latin historians of the first crusade. |