[821] Mere restlessness is stated by Mills to have been the cause of Andrew's abandonment of the enterprise, but this was any thing but the case. Andrew, it is true, was of a weak and unstable character; but there were far too many dissensions in Hungary, and tragic horrors in his own family, to permit of his remaining in Palestine without total ruin to himself and his dominions.--See _Bonfinius_. [822] Godefrid. Moc.; James of Vitry. [823] Bernardus; James of Vitry. [824] Matthew Paris. [825] The whole of the siege of Damietta, and the events that followed, I have taken from James of Vitry and the old French of Bernard the Treasurer, with the Recueil des Hist. Arabes. [826] James of Vitry, Bernard the Treasurer. [827] This pestilence seems to have been somewhat like the sea scurvy. It was not at all confined to the city, though it raged more furiously within the walls. Nevertheless, many of the soldiers of the Cross were attacked by it. James of Vitry, describing its effects, says, "A sudden pain took possession of the feet and legs: soon after, the gums and the teeth became affected with a sort of gangrene, and the sick persons were not able to eat: then, the bones of the legs became horribly black; and thus, after having suffered long torments, during which they showed much patience a great number of Christians went to repose in the bosom of the Lord." [828] James of Vitry; Bernardus. [829] Recueil des Hist. Arabes; Matthew Paris; Bernard the Treasurer. [830] Bernard. [831] Matthew Paris. [832] Matthew Paris, ad. ann. 1228. [833] Bernardus. [834] Rainaldus; Sanut.; William of Nangis, 1232. [835] Bernard the Treasurer; Cont. of William of Tyre. [836] For some curious particulars concerning the disputes between the emperor and the Templars, see the old French of Bernard the Treasurer. [837] Bernard. [838] This story is doubtful. Matthew Paris says, that the Templars and Hospitallers gave information to the sultaun that Frederic would, on a certain day, make a pilgrimage to bathe in the River Jordan. It was not at all likely, however, that two Orders which were always at enmity should unite for such a purpose. [839] Matthew Paris, ann. 1229.