The History of the Crusades (vol. 1 of 3)Michaud, J. Fr. (Joseph Fr.)
History
The History of the Crusades (vol. 1 of 3)
Michaud, J. Fr. (Joseph Fr.)
Crusades
Antioch was so closely pressed, and the garrison had so little means of
defence left, that the Crusaders expected every day to become masters
of it. Accien demanded a truce of them, and promised to surrender if he
were not soon relieved. The Crusaders, ever full of blind confidence,
had the imprudence to accept the proposals of the governor. As soon as
they had concluded a truce with the Saracens, the leaders of the army,
who scarcely ever agreed, except upon the field of battle, and whom
the presence of danger did not always unite, were upon the point of
declaring war against one another.
Baldwin, prince of Edessa, had sent magnificent presents to Godfrey,
the two Roberts, the count de Vermandois, and the counts of Blois and
of Chartres, but in the distribution of his favours had, designedly,
omitted Bohemond and his soldiers. Nothing more was necessary to create
division. Whilst the rest of the army were celebrating the liberality
of Baldwin, the prince of Tarentum and his warriors breathed nothing
but complaints and murmurs.
At this time a richly-ornamented tent, which an Armenian prince
destined for Godfrey, and which, falling into the hands of Pancracius,
was sent to Bohemond, became a fresh subject of trouble and discord.
Godfrey haughtily claimed the present which had been intended for him,
and Bohemond refused to give it up. On each side they proceeded to
injurious terms and threats; they were even ready to have recourse to
arms, and the blood of the Christians was about to flow for a miserable
quarrel; but at length the prince of Tarentum, abandoned by the greater
part of the army, and overcome by the prayers of his friends, gave up
the tent to his rival, consoling himself in his vexation, with the hope
that war would soon put him in possession of a richer booty.
William of Tyre, who has transmitted to us this account, is astonished
to see the wise Godfrey claim such a frivolous object with so much
heat, and in his surprise he compares the weakness of the hero to the
slumbers of the good Homer. His thought would have been more just if he
had compared the discords and quarrels of the leaders of the crusade
to those which troubled the camp of the Greeks, and so long retarded
the taking of Troy. Whilst these quarrels engaged the attention of
the whole Christian army, the inhabitants of Antioch were introducing
reinforcements into the city, and preparing for a fresh resistance.
When they had received the succours and provisions necessary to defend
themselves and prolong the siege, they broke the truce, and again began
the war, with all the advantages that a peace too easily granted them
had procured.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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