The Deeds of God Through the FranksGuibert, Abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy
History
The Deeds of God Through the Franks
Guibert, Abbot of Nogent-sous-Coucy
Crusades -- First, 1096-1099
There was another kind of man in this army, who was bare-footed,
carried no arms, and was not permitted to have any money. Dirty,
naked, and poor, he marched in front of everyone, feeding on the
roots of herbs, and on the most wretched things that grow. A Norman,
well-born, said to have been formerly a knight, but now a
foot-soldier, he saw them wandering without a leader, and laid aside
his arms and the clothing he wore, wishing to declare himself their
king. He had himself called Tafur, a term taken from the barbarian
language. Among the pagans they are called Tafur whom we call, to
speak less literally, Trudennes, that is, men who kill time, that is,
who pass their time wandering aimlessly here and there. It was the
Tafur's custom, whenever the people he was leading arrived at a
bridge to be crossed, or at a narrow pass to be traversed, to rush
forward to observe very carefully, and if he saw that anyone of his
men possessed two deniers, he would quickly separate him from the
general group, order him to purchase arms, and assign him to the
section of the army that bore weapons. However, those in whom he saw
a love of the simple life, who had no impulse or desire to save money,
he made members of his inner circle. Perhaps some might think that
these men were not useful for the general good, and that he could
have fed others what he was uselessly giving to them. But no one can
describe how useful they were in carrying food, in collecting tribute,
in hurling stones during the sieges of cities. They were better at
carrying heavy burdens than the asses and mules, and they were as
good at hurling projectiles as the machines and launchers. Moreover,
when pieces of flesh were found among the pagan bodies at Marra, and
elsewhere, during a terrible famine, a hideous rumor (based on
something that had been done furtively and very rarely) circulated
widely among the pagans, that there were some men in the Frankish
army who eagerly fed upon the corpses of Saracens. To circulate this
rumor among them even more vividly, the men carried the battered
corpse of a Turk out in full view of the other Turks, set it afire,
and roasted it as if the flesh was going to be eaten. When they
learned what had happened, thinking that the charade was real, they
grew even more afraid of the fearlessness of the Tafurs than of our
other leaders. Like the ancient pagans, the Turks were tormented
more by unburied bodies than any Christian seems to be concerned with
his soul or fears damnation. To incite their wrath even more
fiercely, at the siege of Antioch the Bishop of Puy promulgated an
edict throughout the army, offering an immediate reward of twelve
deniers for every decapitated Turkish head brought to him. When the
bishop received the heads, he ordered them placed on long poles,
before the walls of the city, where the enemy could see them. When
they saw this, they squirmed in anguish. The bishop also did
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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