LVIII. CHAP. the height of threefcore feet in the vallies; and wherever lefs art and labour had been applied, the ground was fuppofed to be defended by the river, the morafs, and the mountains. Notwithstanding these fortifications, the city had been repeatedly taken by the Perfians, the Arabs, the Greeks, and the Turks; fo large a circuit must have yielded many pervious points of attack; and in a fiege that was formed about the middle of October, the vigour of the execution could alone justify the boldness of the attempt. Whatever strength and valour could perform in the field was abundantly difcharged by the champions of the crofs in the frequent occafions of fallies, of forage, of the attack and defence of convoys, they were often victorious; and we can only complain, that their exploits are fometimes enlarged beyond the fcale of probability and truth. The fword of Godfrey 9 divided a Turk from the fhoulder to the haunch; and one half of the infidel fell to the ground, while the other was transported by his horse to the city gate. As Robert of Normandy rode against his antagonist, "I devote thy head," he piously exclaimed, " to 91 Enfem elevat, eumque a finiftrâ parte fcapularum, tanta virtute intorfit ut quod pectus medium disjunxit fpinam et vitalia interrupit, et fic lubricus enfis fuper crus dextrum integer exivit; ficque caput integrum cum dextrâ parte corporis immerkt gurgite, partemque quæ equo præfidebat remifit civitati (Robert. Mon. p. 50 ). Cujus enfe trajectus, Turcus duo factus eft Turci; ut inferior alter in urbem equitaret, alter arcitenens in Alumine nataret (Radulph. Cadom. c. 53. p. 304.). Yet he jufti. fies the deed by the ftupendis viribus of Godfrey; and William of Tyre covers it by obitupuit populus facti novitate bilis (1. v. c. 6. p. 701.). Yet it inuft not have appeared incredible to the knights of that age. ... mira LVIII. "the dæmons of hell;" and that head was in- CHAP. ftantly cloven to the breaft by the refiftlefs ftroke of his defcending faulchion. But the reality or report of fuch gigantic prowess "must have taught the Moslems to keep within their walls; and against thofe walls of earth or stone, the fword and the lance were unavailing weapons. In the flow and fucceffive labours of the fiege, the crufaders were fupine and ignorant, without skill to contrive, or money to purchase, or industry to ufe, the artificial engines and implements of affault. In the conqueft of Nice, they had been powerfully affifted by the wealth and knowledge of the Greek emperor: his abfence was poorly fupplied by fome Genoefe and Pifan veffels, that were attracted by religion or trade to the coast of Syria: the ftores were fcanty, the return precarious, and the communication difficult and dangerous. Indolence or weakness had prevented the Franks from invefting the entire circuit; and the perpetual freedom of two gates relieved the wants and recruited the garrison of the city. At the end of feven months, after the ruin of their cavalry, and an enormous lofs by famine, defertion, and fatigue, the progress of the crufaders was imperceptible, and their fuccefs remote, if the Latin Ulyffes, the artful and ambitious Bohemond, had not employed the arms of cunning and deceit. The Chriftians of Antioch were numerous and discontented: Phirouz, a 9 See the exploits of Robert, Raymond, and the modest Tancred, who impofed filence on his fquire (Radulph. Cadom. c. 53.). F 2 Syrian LVIII. CHAP. Syrian renegado, had acquired the favour of the emir and the command of three towers; and the merit of his repentance disguised to the Latins, and perhaps to himself, the foul defign of perfidy and treason. A fecret correfpondence, for their mutual intereft, was foon established between Phirouz and the prince of Tarento; and Bohemond declared in the council of the chiefs, that he could deliver the city into their hands. But he claimed the fovereignty of Antioch as the reward of his fervice; and the propofal which had been rejected by the envy, was at length extorted from the diftrefs, of his equals. The nocturnal surprise was executed by the French and Norman princes, who afcended in perfon the fcaling-ladders that were thrown from the walls their new profelyte, after the murder of his too fcrupulous brother, embraced and introduced the fervants of Chrift; the army rushed through the gates; and the Moflems foon found, that although mercy was hopeless, resistance was impotent. But the citadel ftill refufed to furrender; and the victors themselves were speedily encompaffed and befieged by the innumerable forces of Kerboga, prince of Moful, who, with twenty-eight Turkish emirs, advanced to the deliverance of Antioch. Five-and-twenty days the Christians fpent on the verge of destruction; and the proud lieutenant of the caliph and the fultan left them only the choice of fervitude or death ". 93 93 After mentioning the diftrefs and humble petition of the Franks, Abulpharagius adds the haughty reply of Codbuka, or Kerboga; non evafuri eftis nifi per gladium (Dynaft. p. 242.). LVIII. Victory of the cru A. D. 1998, June In this extremity they collected the relics of their CHAP. In the eventful period of the fiege and defence of Antioch, the crufaders were alternately exalted by victory or funk in defpair; either fwelled with plenty or emaciated with hunger. A speculative reasoner might suppose, that their faith had a ftrong and ferious influence on their practice; 94 In defcribing the hoft of Kerboga, most of the Latin hiftorians, the author of the Gefta (p. 17.), Robert Monachus (p. 56.), Baldric (p. 111.), Fulcherius Carnotenfis (p. 392.), Guibert (p. 512.), William of Tyre (1. vi. c. 3. P. 714.), Bernard Thefaurarius (c. 39. p. 695.), are content with the vague expreffions of infinita multitudo, immenfum agmen, innumera copia or gentes, which correfpond with the μετα αναρίθμητων χιλιάδων of Anna Comnena (Alexias, 1. xi. p. 318-320.). The numbers of the Turks are fixed by Albert Aquenfis at 200,000 (1. iv. c. 15. p. 242.), and by Radulphus Cadomenfis at 400,000 horfe (c. 72. p. 399.). Their fa- mine and CHAP. and that the foldiers of the cross, the deliverers LVIII. of the holy fepulchre, prepared themselves by a fober and virtuous life for the daily contemplation of martyrdom. Experience blows away this charitable illufion: and feldom does the hiftory of profane war difplay fuch fcenes of intemperance and proflitution as were exhibited under the walls of Antioch. The grove of Daphne no longer flourished; but the Syrian air was still impregnated with the fame vices; the Chriftians were feduced by every temptation " that nature either prompts or reprobates; the authority of the chiefs was despised; and sermons and edicts were alike fruitless against thofe fcandalous diforders, not lefs pernicious to military difcipline, than repugnant to evangelic purity. In the first days of the fiege and the poffeffion of Antioch, the Franks confumed with wanton and thoughtlefs prodigality the frugal fubfiftence of weeks and months: the defolate country no longer yielded a supply; and from that country they were at length excluded by the arms of the befieging Turks. Disease, the faithful companion of want, was envenomed by the rains of the winter, the fummer heats, unwholesome food, and the close imprisonment of multitudes. The pictures of famine and peftilence are always the fame, and always difguftful; and our imagination may fuggeft the nature of their fufferings and their refources. The remains of treasure or spoil 95 See the tragic and fcandalous fate of an archdeacon of royal birth, who was flain by the Turks as he repofed in an orchard, playing at dice with a Syrian concubine. were |