Part 18

Joanna, the sister of King Richard, had married the king of Sicily. He was now dead, and the throne had been seized by one Tancred, and Joanna had been shut up in a castle. King Richard determined to redress his sister’s wrongs, and after arriving at Genoa, where he found Philip, Richard set out on his way to Messina, stopping at Ostia, Naples, and Salerno, by the way. Having arrived at Messina, where Philip had also landed, Richard, having met his own fleet on the Italian side of the strait, entered the harbor with his ships and galleys fully manned and gayly decorated, while musicians were stationed on the decks, to blow trumpets and horns as the fleet sailed along the shore. The Sicilians were quite alarmed to behold such a formidable host of foreign soldiers, and his allies, the French, did not like this grand display any better, for Philip had arrived with disabled ships, and immediately began to be very jealous of the growing fame of King Richard. Philip determined to leave Messina as speedily as possible, and proceed on his way towards the Holy Land, but having attempted it, and encountered a severe storm, he was obliged to turn back again. As winter had now set in, both kings found that they must remain there until spring. As soon as Richard landed his troops at Messina, he formed a great encampment on the seashore near the town, and then sent an embassy to Tancred, demanding Joanna’s release. Tancred, awed by Richard’s power, immediately complied with this demand, and Joanna being safely out of the power of her enemy, Richard forthwith attacked the city of Messina, and having captured it, Tancred made peace with Richard upon the following terms:—

Richard had a nephew about two years of age, named Arthur. Tancred had an infant daughter. So it was agreed that Arthur and this young daughter of Tancred should be affianced, and that Tancred should pay to Richard twenty thousand pieces of gold as her dowry. Richard was to receive this money as guardian of his nephew, and also twenty thousand pieces of gold besides, in full settlement of all claims of Joanna.

This treaty was drawn up in due form and signed, and sent for safe keeping to the Pope at Rome, and Richard having received the money, began immediately to lavish it in costly presents to the barons and knights in both armies, which gave King Philip cause for suspicions, as he thought Richard was endeavoring to buy the allegiance of his troops, and soon an open quarrel occurred between the two sovereigns. Richard’s use of this trust money demonstrates the small regard he had for the just rights and claims of others. But the distrust which existed between Richard and Philip was no longer concealed. Tancred showed Richard a letter, which was said to have been written by Philip, in which Richard was bitterly denounced as a treacherous foe. Richard indignantly showed this letter to Philip, who denied having written it, and the two kings were soon in a hot dispute. Philip then declared that Richard was endeavoring to break his engagement with his sister Alice. Whereupon Richard retorted that he would never marry her.

The matter was finally settled by a compromise. Richard promised to pay a large sum of money to Philip, who agreed to relinquish all claims on the part of Alice. So Philip sailed away in March, and Richard selected from his fleet a few of his most splendid galleys, and with a chosen company of knights and barons, proceeded to the port in Italy, where Berengaria was staying, under the care of Joanna, Queen Eleanor having returned to England; and King Richard conducted the ladies to Messina. It being the season of Lent, the marriage was still postponed; and Joanna and Berengaria were provided with a strong and well-manned ship, and sailed with the expedition; it being the purpose of Richard to land at some port, after Lent, where the marriage ceremony would be performed. King Richard’s fleet consisted of nearly two hundred vessels. There were thirteen great ships, and over fifty galleys, besides a large number of smaller vessels. Richard sailed at the head of his fleet, in a splendid galley, called the _Sea-Cutter_. This fine fleet sailed out of the harbor with flying banners, affording the Sicilians an imposing spectacle.

But storms overtook this brilliant array of ships, and soon the fleet was dispersed. Some of the vessels were driven to Rhodes; others took refuge in Cyprus. Richard’s galley went to Rhodes; but the ship containing Berengaria and Joanna was swept onward by the gale to the mouth of the harbor of Limesol, the principal port of Cyprus. The king of Cyprus, in accordance with the custom of those times, had seized upon the wrecks of several vessels belonging to Richard’s fleet; and the commander of the ship in which the princess and queen had sailed, feared to land, lest some harm should come to the royal ladies.

After the storm, Richard set out with his part of the fleet, to find the missing vessels; and having arrived before Cyprus, he found the galley of Berengaria and Joanna safe, but learned that the king of Cyprus had seized upon several of his wrecked vessels, and claimed them as his prize. This was a common practice at that time, and the king of Cyprus had acted in accordance with a customary law, which, though a violation of the real rights of property, gave a person the liberty to confiscate wrecked vessels or goods. In later times, this law was annulled, but the king of Cyprus had the law upon his side; notwithstanding, Richard immediately prepared for war, for he was only too glad to find some pretext for attacking and capturing the fair isle of Cyprus. Richard’s assault upon Limesol was successful; and King Richard, having signaled the galley of Joanna to advance, the whole army landed, and the ladies were lodged in one of the most magnificent of the palaces of the king of Cyprus. The daughter of the king of Cyprus was very beautiful, and was greatly terrified when she was brought into the presence of her father’s conqueror. Richard gave her as an attendant to Berengaria, and sent the defeated king of Cyprus to Tripoli, in Syria, where he was shut up in a dungeon, and secured with chains, which, however, in honor of his rank, were made of silver, overlaid with gold. But what mattered it to the poor imprisoned monarch that his galling chains were of costly metals, when he was shut up in a gloomy dungeon, and his daughter a prisoner in the hands of his enemy?

This poor king died in captivity, broken-hearted, four years after. Now, at last, the marriage of King Richard and Berengaria was celebrated with royal splendor. After the marriage ceremony, there was a coronation, when Richard was crowned king of Cyprus, and Berengaria as queen of both England and Cyprus.

The appearance of King Richard and Berengaria on this occasion was very striking. King Richard wore a rose-colored satin tunic, which was fastened by a jeweled belt about his waist. Over this was a mantle of striped silver tissue, brocaded with silver half-moons. He wore also a costly sword; the blade was of Damascus steel, the hilt of gold, and the scabbard was of silver, richly engraved. On his head was a scarlet bonnet, brocaded in gold, with figures of animals. He carried in his hand a truncheon, which was a sort of sceptre, very elaborately adorned. He was tall and well-formed, with yellow curls and a bright complexion; and when mounted upon his magnificent charger, he appeared a perfect model of military and manly grace. This horse was named Faunelle, and became quite a historical character, acquiring great fame by his strength and courage, and by the marvellous sagacity he displayed in the various battles in which he was engaged with his master. His trappings were very rich; the bit, stirrups, and all the metallic mountings of the saddle and bridle were of gold, and the crupper was adorned with two golden lions. The costume of Queen Berengaria was equally magnificent. The veil was fastened to her head by a royal diadem, resplendent with gold and gems, and was surmounted by a _fleur de lis_, with so much foliage added to it that it had the appearance of being a double crown, symbolizing her double queenship, both of England and Cyprus.

The chief landing-point for expeditions of crusaders to the Holy Land was Acre, called also St. Jean d’Acre. It received its name from a military order, known as the Knights of St. John, who founded a monastery there for the safety and entertainment of pilgrims. This place was at this time in the hands of the Saracens; and Philip, the French king, who arrived before Richard, had in vain tried to capture it. King Richard, having left Cyprus, together with his bride and sister, proceeded on his way to join Philip at Acre; but he met with one adventure which is worthy of note. In sailing along, his fleet fell in with a ship of large size. Richard ordered his galleys to press on, as the ship seemed to be endeavoring to escape. As they came nearer, they perceived that the strange ship was filled with Saracens. King Richard thereupon ordered his men to board the ship and capture it. The Saracens, feeling that escape was hopeless, scuttled the ship, determined to sink with her rather than fall into the hands of the Christians. Then a dreadful combat ensued. Each side fought with ferocious energy; for although the Saracens expected to die, they were resolved to first wreak their fury upon their foes. The Saracens employed Greek fire, which was a celebrated means of warfare in those days. It was some kind of combustible matter, which was set on fire and thrown at the enemy. Nothing could extinguish it, and besides the great heat it produced, it threw forth dense volumes of poisonous and stifling gases, which soon suffocated those near by. It was thrown on the ends of darts and arrows, and even water did not extinguish it; so that the sea all around this Saracen ship was a mass of lurid flames. Although many of Richard’s men were killed, the Saracen ship was captured before it had time to sink, and the Christians, rushing on board, transferred to their own vessels nearly all of its valuable cargo. But their treatment of their Saracen foes was barbarous in the extreme. They killed and threw into the sea all but about thirty-five men out of twelve or fifteen hundred. These were saved, not from humanity, but in the hope of securing large sums for their ransom. King Richard afterwards defended this brutal conduct by declaring that they had found on board the Saracen ship large jars filled with poisonous snakes, which the infidels were about taking to Acre, to let them loose near the crusaders’ camp.

When Richard’s fleet arrived at Acre, the crusaders encamped there were much encouraged; for their situation was getting very critical, and they had accomplished little or nothing.

The crusaders were not as well disciplined as the Saracen army, which was united under the command of the valiant and powerful Saladin. Among the Christians there were constant quarrels, caused by the petty jealousies and hostilities of the knights and barons. There was one great wrangling over the title of King of Jerusalem, which, although it was an empty title (for the city was still in the hands of the Saracens), there were many claimants for; and each one of them intrigued incessantly to gain partisans to his side. A short time after Richard landed with his bride and army at Acre, fresh quarrels arose between the two kings; and so serious was the difference, that when Philip planned an assault, Richard would not assist him; and when Richard, likewise, made an attack, Philip refused to aid. So that neither assault was successful against their common foe, while large numbers of their own men were killed.

[Illustration: RICHARD TEARING DOWN THE AUSTRIAN BANNER.]

Although the allies failed to capture Acre by assault, the town was at length obliged to surrender to the Christians on account of the famine, which caused such distress that the Saracens entered into negotiations for surrender, which were as follows: “The city was to be surrendered to the allied armies, and all the arms, ammunition, military stores, and property of all kinds which it contained, were to be forfeited to the conquerors. The troops and the people of the town were to be allowed to go free on payment of a ransom. The ransom by which the besieged purchased their lives and liberty was to be made up as follows: The wood of the cross on which Christ was crucified, which was alleged to be in Saladin’s possession, was to be restored. Saladin was to set at liberty the Christian captives which he had taken in the course of the war from the various armies of crusaders, and which he now held as prisoners. The number of these prisoners was about fifteen hundred. Saladin was to pay two hundred thousand pieces of gold. Richard was to retain a large body of men—it was said that there were five thousand in all—consisting of soldiers of the garrison, or inhabitants of the town, as hostages for the fulfilment of these conditions. These men were to be kept forty days, or, if at the end of that time Saladin had not fulfilled the conditions of the surrender, they were all to be put to death.”

Saladin was not within the city, but was encamped with his army upon the surrounding mountains; and finding that he could not aid the besieged inhabitants, he agreed to these overbearing terms, which King Philip had in vain tried to make more honorable. Although the treaty had been made in the names of both the kings, Richard entered the city as the conqueror, assigning to Philip a secondary place; and having taken possession, Richard established himself and Berengaria in the principal palace, leaving Philip to secure quarters as best he might. Richard also enraged the archduke of Austria, who was also one of the crusaders, by pulling down the banner of the duke, which he had ventured to place on one of the towers.

Now, again, the disputes regarding the title of the King of Jerusalem were renewed. Two knights, Guy of Lusignan and Conrad of Montferrat, claimed this title, and Philip and Richard espoused opposite sides, Philip agreeing to help Conrad’s claims, and Richard taking part with Guy. This occasioned so much hard feeling that Philip, who had been sick, announced that he was too ill to remain longer in such an unhealthy climate; and leaving ten thousand French troops under the command of the duke of Burgundy, King Philip returned to France.

We now come to the barbarous massacre of the five thousand Saracen prisoners, by the orders of King Richard, which shocking deed has left a dark blot upon the fame of Richard, even though he gloried in the act and considered it a proof of his zeal in the cause of Christ. The writers of those days praised it, and maintained that, as the Saracens were the enemies of God, whoever killed them did God service. How they could be so blinded by ignorance and superstition we cannot understand; and it appears very amazing that the religion of love which Jesus of Nazareth preached, by his words and his example, could have been so misunderstood by the perverted minds of men; that such a diabolical spirit of ferocious brutality could be esteemed as commendable worship of Almighty God.

The time which had been agreed upon for Saladin to comply with the stipulations of the surrender of Acre having expired, Richard ordered the five thousand prisoners, which he held as hostages, to be brutally beheaded; and a false rumor having been raised, that Saladin had put to death his Christian prisoners, the soldiers of Richard were easily infuriated to be willing to execute this barbarous order. In the face of Saladin’s humane treatment of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, when he captured that city, Mussulman though he was, this shocking barbarity of the crusading army, while calling themselves Christians, was an atrocious crime, which no plea of supposed zeal or ignorant superstition can excuse.

Saladin and his army were now retreating towards Jerusalem, which city was his chief point to defend. Richard, having repaired the walls of Acre, and placed a garrison to hold it, proceeded with thirty thousand men in pursuit of the Saracens. The recovery of the Holy Sepulchre was the great object of the crusaders. All their efforts were considered of no avail, if they failed to accomplish this important end. Richard’s army were to follow the sea-shore to Jaffa, which was a port nearly opposite Jerusalem. This band of crusaders presented a brilliant appearance. The knights wore costly armor, and were mounted on horses richly caparisoned. Some of the horses were protected like their riders, with armor of steel. The columns were preceded by trumpeters and bearers of flags and banners, with very gorgeous decorations. When the expedition halted at night, heralds passed through the several camps, to the sound of trumpets, and at a signal all the soldiers knelt, and the heralds exclaimed, “God save the Holy Sepulchre!” and all the soldiers shouted, “Amen.”

Thus the Christian army advanced to Jaffa. The two armies, Christian and Saracen, then met on a plain near the seashore, called Azotus. Saladin commenced the attack upon the wing of Richard’s army, composed of the French troops under the command of the duke of Burgundy. They resisted and drove the Saracens back. Then Richard gave the signal for a charge, and rode forward at the head of his troops, mounted on his famous charger, and flourishing his heavy battle-axe. This axe was a ponderous weapon. Richard had ordered it made before leaving England, and it was so immense that few men could lift it. But as Richard Cœur de Lion was a man of marvellous strength, he wielded this huge weapon with prodigious force. When it came down upon the head of a steel-clad knight, on his horse, it often crushed both man and steed to the ground. The darts and javelins of the Mohammedans glanced off from King Richard’s steel armor, without inflicting any wound, while Saracen after Saracen was felled to the earth by the blows from his ponderous battle-axe.

It was not long before Saladin’s army was flying in all directions, pursued by the crusaders. After this battle Richard established his army in Jaffa. In the meantime Saladin was collecting forces for a more vigorous resistance. Historians have condemned this inactivity of Richard’s army for so many weeks at Jaffa, thus enabling Saladin to rally his men and become more determined in his defence. During the time while Richard’s army was resting and feasting at Jaffa, King Richard and Saladin entered upon several negotiations, which were carried on through Saphadin, the brother of Saladin, who was provided with a safe conduct through the enemies’ lines. One of these propositions was that Richard and Saladin should cease hostilities and become allies, and that their difficulties should be settled by a marriage between Joanna, Richard’s sister, the ex-queen of Sicily, and Saphadin, the brother of Saladin. But this, and all other propositions, at length came to naught, and in November, Richard advanced with his army as far as Bethany, with a forlorn hope that they might find themselves strong enough to attack Jerusalem. But this hope was vain. Richard’s men were dying from sickness and famine, caused by a large amount of their provisions being spoiled by the fall rains which had now set in, and many of the discouraged soldiers deserted. These losses so thinned King Richard’s ranks, that he was obliged to retreat to Acre. While they were at Bethany, a band of crusaders had ascended a mountain overlooking Jerusalem. King Richard was asked to come and see the holy city in the distance. “No,” said he, covering his face with his cloak, “those who are not worthy of conquering Jerusalem should not look upon it.”

While at Acre, Richard learned that Saladin was besieging Jaffa. The historian Guizot thus describes the rescue of Jaffa from the Saracens:—

“When King Richard arrived at Jaffa, the crescent already shone upon the walls; but a priest who had cast himself into the water in front of the royal vessel told Richard that he could yet save the garrison, although the town was already in the hands of the enemy. The ship had not yet reached the landing-stage, and already the king was in the water, which reached to his shoulders, and was uttering the war-cry ‘St. George!’ The infidels, who were then plundering the city, took fright, and three thousand men fled, pursued by four or five knights of the cross. The little corps of Christians intrenched themselves behind planks of wood, and tuns; ten tents held the whole of the army. Day had scarcely dawned, when a soldier flew to Richard’s bedside. ‘O king, we are dead men!’ he cried; ‘the enemy is upon us.’ The king sprang up from his bed, scarcely allowing himself time to buckle on his armor, and omitting his helmet and shield. ‘Silence!’ he said to the bearer of the bad news, ‘or I will kill you.’ Seventeen knights had gathered round Cœur de Lion, kneeling on the ground, and holding their lances; in their midst were some archers, accompanied by attendants who were recharging their arquebuses. The king was standing in the midst. The Saracens endeavored in vain to overawe this heroic little band; not one of them stirred. At length, under a shower of arrows, the knights sprang on their horses, and swept the plain before them. They entered Jaffa towards evening, and drove the Mussulmans from it. From the time of daybreak Richard had not ceased for a moment to deal out his blows, and the skin of his hand adhered to the handle of his battle-axe.”

Still more graphically do the old chronicles thus describe this battle:—