Palestine, or, the Holy Land: From the Earliest Period to the Present TimeRussell, Michael
History
Palestine, or, the Holy Land: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time
Russell, Michael
Palestine -- Description and travel; Palestine -- History
At the moment when all was considered lost, a knight was seen on Mount
Olivet, waving his glittering shield as a sign to the soldiers that they
should rally and return to the charge. Godfrey and Eustace cried aloud to
the army, that St. George was come to their succour. The spirit of
enthusiasm instantly revived, fatigue and pain were no longer felt, the
princes led their columns to the breach, and even the women insisted upon
sharing the honours of the fight. In the space of an hour the barbacan was
broken down, and Godfrey's tower rested against the inner wall. Exchanging
the duties of a general for those of a soldier, the Duke of Lorraine
fought with his bow: "The Lord guided his hand, and all his arrows pierced
the enemy through and through." Near him were Eustace and Baldwin, "like
two lions beside another lion." At three o'clock, the hour when the
Saviour of the world was crucified, a soldier, named Letoldus of Tourney,
leaped upon the fortifications; his brother, Engelbert, followed, and
Godfrey was the third Christian who stood as a conqueror upon the ramparts
of Jerusalem. The glorious ensign of the Cross streamed from the walls,
and the whole city was soon at the mercy of the besiegers. The Mussulmans
fought for a while, then fled to their temples, and submitted their necks
to the sword. The victors, in a document which is still preserved,
boasted, that in the mosque of Omar, whither they pursued the fugitives,
they rode in the blood of Saracens up to the knees of their horses.
After the slaughter had terminated, and the soldiers had soothed their
minds by certain acts of devotion, the expediency of forming a regular
government became manifest to all parties. Godfrey, a hero whose name can
not be too highly honoured, was chosen by the unanimous suffrages of rival
warriors to be the first Christian king of Jerusalem. Bohemond, the son of
Robert Guiscard, reigned at Antioch; Baldwin, the brother of Godfrey, at
Edessa; and the Count of Toulouse, at Tripoli. The dominion of the
crusaders extended from the confines of Egypt to the Euphrates on the
east, and to the acclivities of Mount Taurus on the north; and several of
their principalities lasted nearly two hundred years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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