1 Thefe misfortunes were fo far from extinguishing, that they rather tended to increase the enthusiasm of the Chriftians. The moft eminent chieftains of the age, renowned for their prowess in arms, engaged in the crufade without delay. Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Brabant, a defcendant of the Emperor Charlemagne, with his two brothers, Euftace and Baldwin, Hugh Count of Vermandois, brother to the king of France, Robert Duke of Normandy, eldeft fon of William the Conqueror king of England, Robert Count of Flanders, Stephen Count of Blois, one of the richeft and moft powerful princes of that age, the number of whofe caftles equalled that of the days of the year, were the leaders of the French, the Norman, and the English forces. Adhemer the legate of the Pope, and Raimond, Count of Thouloufe, took the com mand of thofe who went from the fouth of France, Lombardy, and Spain; Eohemond, and his coufin, the accomplished Tancred princes of the Norman race, were accompanied by feveral nobles of that province. They were followed by their mumerous adherents and vaffals, whofe fervices were either prompted by zeal and attachment to their ref pective lords, or purchafed with rewards and promifes. Their principal force was cavalry, chiefly com pofed of gentlemen invefted with the honour of knighthood. When their collected forces were muftered upon the plains of Bithynia, the knights and their martial attendants amounted to 100,000 fighting men, completely armed with the helmet and coat of mail. The Princefs Anna the daughter of the Greek Emperor compared their numbers, but much in the ftile of eaftern exaggeration, to locufts, to leaves of trees, or the fand of the fea. Conftantinople was at that time the largest, as well as the most beautiful city in Europe. It alone retained the image of ancient manners and arts. It was the place where manufactures of the moft curious fabric were wrought, and was the mart of Europe for all the commodities of the eaft. This feat of empire, elegance, and magnificence was appointed as a general rendezvous for all the crufaders. Several contemporary writers were witneffes to this fingular affembly of different nations, and they have given a lively picture. of the characters and manners of each people. When the polite natives of the metropolis of the east speak of the northern warriors, they defcribe them as barbarous, illiterate, fierce, and favage; and they fometimes inveigh against them with great feverity, and relate inftances of their violence, in terms not unlike thofe which ceding historians had employed in defcribing the incurfions of the Goths and Vandals, when they overturned the Roman empire. On the other hand, the crufaders, while they defpifed the effeminate manners and unwarlike character of the Greeks, were furprised at the wealth and magnificence of their metropolis. pre The 1 The progrefs of the Crusaders was attended by many flattering inftances of fuccefs. They took Nice, at that time the capital of the Turkish empire, the feat of Sultan Solyman in Afia Minor, and they defeated him in two pitched battles. After croffing mount Taurus, they befieged Antioch, a place of great ftrength. Before the capture of that important place, many of their troops were loft by famine, and after it, many perifhed by peftilence but undismayed by these misfortunes, they continued their zealous career. The lofty walls of Jerufalem at length ftruck their eyes, and as foon as they beheld this hallowed object of their affections, they raised a general shout of joy, and then devoutly fell proftrate on their faces, and. kiffed the ground whereon the Redeemer of mankind had deigned to tread. The city was ftrong both by nature and art, and defended by the Saracen Caliph of Egypt, at the head of a garrifon well appointed, and more numerous than the Chriftian army. Forty days were employed in the fiege, at the end of which they took the city by ftorm: In the ardour of rage and victory they put multitudes of Jews and Turks to the fword, and fuch was their thirft for the extirpation of the Infidels, that according to the candid account which Godfrey himself gives of the tranfaction, fo great was the flaughter of the enemy, in the temple of Solomon, that his men ftood in blood above the ancles. They then walked with naked feet in folemn proceffion to the holy fepulchre, there to return thanks for fo great a victory. The Arabian writers writers affert that they continued the maffacre of the Turks in the adjacent country for several weeks together, and affembling all the Jews, burned them in their temple. The Latin hiftorians are very far from contradicting these statements, nor do they relate any inftances of clemency on this occafion. On Robert Duke of Normandy declining the honour, Godfrey of Bouillon, the moft worthy of the Champions of Chriftendom, was proclaimed king of Jerufalem. In imitation of his Saviour, he was crowned with thorns; he rejected the appendages of royalty, and contented himself with the modeft title of Defender and Baron of the holy fepulchre. A. D. 1099. Many of his companions returned to Europe, and his fhort reign, which continued only for one year, did not give him time to eftablifh his new kingdom. The conquefts acquired in this firft Crufade were comprifed within the fmall territory of Jerufalem, the dominion of which lafted rather longer than fourfcore years. The principality of Antioch and Edeffa, extending over Mefopotamia, poffeffed by Bohemond, and retained about forty years, and the Tiberiad affigned to Tancred. Encouraged by fuch delufive profpects of eftablishing a Chriftian empire in the holy land, the Pope and the Clergy continued to recommend this facred war with inereafed ardour. It was ftill reprefented to the people as the caufe of God and of Chrift, in which death would confer the merit of martyrdom, and paradife would be equally the reward of defeat, or of victory. › The The Second Crufade A. D. 1147.. Forty eight years after the deliverance of Jeru falem the fecond crufade was undertaken. St Bernard, famed for his eloquence and piety, and the great influence, which he obtained amongst thẹ people, flourished at the beginning of the twelfth century. Armed with the authority of Pope Eugene III. he fanned the flame of military fanaticifm. With a voice, that was in every place obeyed without delay, he called the nations to the protection of the holy fepulchre. The fame of his pretended miracles and predictions removed every doubt of fuccefs from the minds of his credulous hearers; infomuch, that all who were able to bear arms were eager to participate in the glory of this warfare. Bernard was invited by the Eithops and Nobles of France to become a leader in the expedition, which he fo zealously recommended; but the Pope would not allow him to accept the flattering offer. The event proved him more fortunate in advancing the interests of the Churchı, than in the fuccefs of his projects, or the fulfilment of his predictions. The court of Rome profited by his labours, and canonized his memory. Conrad III. emperor of Germany, and Louis VII. king of France, were the principal leaders in the fecond crufade. From the hands of Bernard they re z A. D. 1147. ceive l |