Chapter XXII: The Effect of the Crusades

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till earth and sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border nor Breed nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends
of the earth.
RUDYARD KIPLING: Ballad of East and West.

The sacred fire of enthusiasm for the "Cause of God" still flickered faintly in Europe during the years that immediately preceded the fall of Constantinople. Our own Henry V., during his lifetime, sent out a knight of Burgundy, Gilbert de Lannoy, to see what chances there were of the success of a new Crusade; and Henry's dying words showed that he had not forgotten his design. "Good Lord, Thou knowest that mine intent had been, and yet is, if I may live, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem."

But with the fall of Constantinople, all further hope of wresting the Holy Land from the infidel came to an end. Never again did a prince of the West set out to recover those "holy fields," and to this day they are ruled by the Sultan of Turkey.

It is said of Columbus that he had in mind the idea of stirring up an Eastern War in the "Cause of God" before there had dawned upon him the vision of that Western {277} enterprise which was to open the gate to a new world. And that religious zeal did not die with the Crusades is to be seen in the constant stream of pilgrims to the Holy Land which, for a hundred years, followed the final defeat of Christendom, and which, suspended though it was during the spiritual apathy of the eighteenth century, has continued down to the present day.

But the Age of Warfare was over when Constantinople fell, and with the dawn of that great awakening of thought and literature which we call the Renaissance, men turned away from bloodshed to the joys of discovery and enterprise in a new world.

A little later, when the Wars of the Reformation broke out, and Europe took up the sword anew, the whole spirit of the Western world had changed. The East had lost its glamour, and the antagonism between religious and political parties had waxed so hot in Christendom that the old feud between Christian and pagan was entirely laid aside.

Yet the Crusades, in spite of their apparent failure, had done a great work. First and foremost they had succeeded in deferring the rule of the Turk in Europe, and by the constant checks they offered to his progress, had prevented him from conquering anything but the merest fringe of the West. The advantage of this, apart from considerations of religion, will be seen at once if we compare the condition of the subjects of the Sultan with that of the more progressive of the Christian races of Europe.

But the benefits conferred upon Europe by the Crusades are by no means only of this negative character. The Saracen of the Middle Ages was a learned and cultured gentleman, skilled in medicine, in music, and in various {278} other sciences, and, generally speaking, as much superior to the rough uneducated Crusader of the Western World as he was to the savage Ottoman Turk.

Foes though they were in name, there was always a certain amount of friendly intercourse between the Crusaders and the Saracens, and the former were bound to be affected in some degree by the civilisation of the latter. Sometimes a dark-faced "leech" would return in the train of a Crusading baron to Europe, and there would teach some of his mysteries of healing to the rough-and-ready doctors of the West.

To the Arabs we owe our "Arabic" system of numbers, used instead of the clumsy Roman figures, and the knowledge of the decimal notation, by which nearly every civilised country except our own reckons its money. From Architecture to Geography, all those branches of knowledge which distinguish the educated from the uneducated mind, may be traced back to the keen and subtle intelligence of the East.

Next perhaps in importance comes the opening up of the East to the West for purposes of Commerce. Many a knightly Crusader thought it no shame to carry on an extensive trade in the silks and spices of Palestine in order to fill his coffers upon his return and that he might be recompensed for the expenses of his undertaking. The constant crossing and recrossing of the Mediterranean soon set on foot a steady stream of commercial enterprise between the seaports of Italy and those of Syria, and the existence of a Latin Empire of Constantinople impelled Venice, the main cause of its establishment, to still closer communication with the East. To her, as "the Southern terminus of a great land trade-route," was carried the produce of England, {279} Norway, Flanders, France and Germany as to a huge market, and she distributed it throughout the Eastern world, receiving in return the wealth of the latter to be carried back to Europe. It was only when the discovery of America opened up an entirely new field of enterprise that this great stream of commerce began to diminish.

Another effect of the Crusades was upon the great world of literature. Such a unique event as a Holy War was bound to inspire the writers of history even in the days when such writers were rarely to be found. William of Tyre was only one amongst several chroniclers of the First Crusade, and the story of the Crusades of later days have been vividly told by Richard of Devizes, Villehardouin and the Sire de Joinville, many of whose telling descriptions have been quoted in the pages of this book.

It was but natural that the gallant adventures of the Crusaders should form the theme of many of the epics and _chansons_ of Chivalry. Charlemagne, Roland and Bevis of Hampton may never have seen the Holy Land, but they became the heroes of Crusading exploits nevertheless; while Richard Lion-Heart and Godfrey of Boulogne, actual leaders in the Holy War, became the central figures of more or less impossible legendary adventures.

Through all this stream of literature ran that quickening, inspiring spirit of hope--perhaps the greatest gift of the Crusades to a world which, in the years between the Empire of Charlemagne and the Renaissance, might easily have fallen into a deadened condition of indifference and disruption.

This is scarcely the place to speak of the great unifying effect upon Europe, nor of the influence of the {280} movement upon the feudal conditions of the time; but we have seen enough to know that the Western World was decidedly the better, spiritually, mentally and physically, for that gigantic failure which we know as the Crusades.

{281}

List of Books Consulted

The following books have been especially useful in the compilation of this little volume. My thanks are also due to Messrs Dent for permission to use some extracts from Sir Frank Marzials' charming translation of Villehardouin's Chronicle and that of the Sire de Joinville in their "Everyman" series.

Archer and Kingsford. _The Crusades; the Story of the Latin
Kingdom of Jerusalem_.
Chronicles of the Crusaders by _Richard of Devizes, Geoffrey de
Vinsauf and the Sire de Joinville_.
F. W. Cornish. _Chivalry_.
Sir G. W. Cox. _Crusades_.
W. E. Dutton. _History of the Crusades_.
J. F. Michaud. _History of the Crusades_.
H. Stebbing. _History of Chivalry and the Crusades_.
Gibbon's _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_.

{282}

Index

Aaron, 20
Abraham, 11, 16, 33, 29
Abu Bekr, 18, 24
Abu Talib, 12, 16, 18, 20
Acre, 130, 131, 132, 135, 136, 137, 149,
152, 153, 154, 202, 210, 212, 243, 244,
245, 251, 255, 256, 257, 259
Adam, 20
" and Eve, 11
Adela, wife of Stephen of Blois, 103
Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, 62, 91, 92
Aleaume of Clari, 190
Alexandria, 38, 199
Alexios, Emperor of the Eastern
Empire, 54, 58, 64, 65, 70, 73, 74, 77,
78, 79, 103, 173, 174, 178, 180, 181,
182, 186, 187, 188
Allah, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24,
28, 29, 31, 40, 273
Amalric, King of Jerusalem, 119
Amina, 12
Amrou, 38, 39
Amurath, 270, 271
Andrew, King of Hungary, 201, 202, 207
Anjou, Men of, 138
Antioch, 74, 81, 82, 86, 88, 92, 93, 102,
103, 104, 105, 113, 127, 193, 251
Arabia, 10, 37
Aragon, King of, 253
Arnulf, 97
Artois, Count of, 227, 228, 230, 233
Ascalon, 101, 142, 145, 147, 149
Ascension Day, 241
Attaleia, 113
Austria, Duke of, 201
Ayesha, 27
Auxerre, Count of, 253

Babylon, 94, 146, 178, 225
Bagdad, 43, 54, 103
Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, 51, 68,
69, 81, 85, 86, 102, 103, 105, 108, 117, 119
" of Bethune, 156
" Count of Flanders 162, 192
" Son of John of Brienne, 214
Balian of Ibelin, 123, 124
Balkans, The, 268
Barbarossa, Emperor Frederick 126, 127
Barons' War, The, 252, 255
Barthelemy, Peter, 90, 92, 93
Bavaria, Duke of, 201
Beauvais, Bishop of, 150
Becco, William, 199
Bedouins, 139, 226, 227, 236
Berengaria of Navarre, 128, 130
Bernard of Clairvaux, 107, 108, 109, 110, 117, 161, 218
" of St Valery, 98
" the Wise, 43
Bethlehem, 95, 211
Bevis of Hampton, 279
Bibars, Sultan, 251
Blanche, Queen Regent of France, 219, 244, 245
Blondel, 158
Bohemond of Antioch, 73, 74, 77, 81,
82, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 102, 103, 104, 105, 193
Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat, 167,
168, 174, 175, 178, 181, 188, 193
Brindisi, 196, 209, 210
Burgundy, Duke of, 139, 149
Byzantine, Province in the Peloponnesus, 268
Byzantine, Cæsars, 274

Cadesia, Battle of, 36
Cæsarea, 102
Cæsars, Byzantine, 274
Canabus, 188, 189
Cantacugenus, 267, 268
Charlemagne, 40, 43, 279
Charles, Emperor, 43
" V., 51, 270
Children's Crusade, The, 199
Church of the Blessed Virgin, 43
" of the Holy Sepulchre, 44, 46, 47, 98, 102, 120, 211
" of the Nativity, 96
" of St Mary, 50
" of St Peter, 90, 208
Clairvaux, Abbott of, 108, 109
Clement III., Pope, 126
" IV., Pope, 251, 252
Columbus, 276
Conon of Bethune, 180
Conrad of Germany, 109, 110, 111, 112,
114, 117, 130, 131, 135, 149, 150, 151, 156
Constantine, 35, 271, 272, 274
Constantinople, 35, 38, 39, 54, 58, 63,
65, 66, 68, 70, 73, 74, 77, 78, 103, 104,
110, 112, 114, 173, 178, 179, 184, 185,
187, 193, 194, 251, 265, 267, 268, 270,
271, 272, 273, 276, 277
Couci, Lord of, 238
Crusades, The, 10, 255; _First_, 10, 44,
49, 50, 55, 65, 78, 87, 107, 108, 117,
279; _Second_, 108, 109, 113, 114, 117;
_Third_, 126, 128, 145, 155, 158, 244;
_Fourth_, 159, 161; _Fifth_, 161, 163, 173,
193, 214; _Sixth_, 195, 200, 201;
_Seventh_, 213, 217, 219; _Eighth_, 219,
243, 251; _Ninth_, 251, 255
Cypriotes, The, 129
Cyprus, Island of, 128, 152, 201, 245, 247, 259, 264

Damascus, 36, 37, 117, 121, 153
Damietta, 203, 204, 207, 208, 222,
225, 230, 233, 234, 239, 243
Dandolo, 162, 163, 165, 176, 193
David, Sultan, 66, 79, 81, 85, 88, 91
Doge of Venice, 162, 163, 164, 165,
170, 175, 176, 177, 181, 193
Dorylæum, 82
Ducas, John, 266

Edessa, 86, 103, 108
Edward I., 252, 255, 256, 258
Egypt, 13, 30, 35, 38, 43, 47, 119, 121,
194, 203, 204, 207, 217, 222, 225
El Amin, 13
Eldred, 47
Eleanor, 109, 110, 256
El Hakim, 44, 45, 54
Emir of Joppa, 255, 256
Emmaus, 95, 153
England, 47, 53, 94, 101, 102, 155, 157,
204, 244, 256, 278
Euphrates, The, 32, 38
Eustace, 68
Eve, and Adam, 11

Fall of Jerusalem, The, 119
Fatima, 14, 29
Flanders, 117, 162, 168, 192, 279
Flemings, The, 185
Forduce, 57, 58, 61, 102, 104, 108, 110,
117, 135, 162, 195, 196, 202, 204, 220,
245, 253, 279
Foucand, Lord of Merle, 227, 228
Frederick II., 194, 207, 208, 210, 211,
212, 213, 218, 220, 221, 235, 236
French Crusaders, 255
Fulk, 162, 167, 175

Gabriel, 15
Gate of St Romanus, 274
Genoa, 195, 196, 251, 256, 272
Geoffrey of Perche, 167
" de Rancogne, 113
" of Sargines, 233, 234
" de Villehardouin, 163, 164,
165, 166, 169, 170, 173, 182,
186, 189
" de Vinsauf, 124, 137, 140,
141, 142, 146, 150, 152
Gerard, Grand Master of Hospital of
St John, 50, 121, 122
Gilbert de Lannoy, 276
Godfrey of Boulogne, 50, 68, 69, 70,
73, 74, 77, 81, 91, 97, 101, 102, 105,
201, 279
Godwin, Earl, 47
Golden Gate, The, 191
" Horn, The, 273
Gotschalk, German priest, 66
Grand Master, of Templars, 228, 257
Gregory IX., Pope, 209, 212, 214, 215, 220
" X., Pope, 257
Guardian of the Redeemer's Poor, 50
Guiscard, Robert, 55
Guy of Lusignan, 119, 120, 121, 123,
129, 130, 131, 135, 138, 150, 152

Hamza, 19
Harmozan, 36
Haroun-al-Raschid, 40, 43
Hegira, The, 26, 33
Helena, 35
Henry II., 126, 127
" III., 244, 252, 255
" V., 276
" VI, The Emperor, 157
" Emperor of Germany, 159
" Count of Champagne, 131, 151, 152
" King of Cyprus, 259, 260
Heraclius, 30, 35, 123
Hildebrand, 55
Hinnon, 95
Holy City, The, 10, 31, 35, 38, 43, 55,
56, 87, 94, 98, 102, 119, 121,
123, 125, 126, 148, 152, 153, 155,
211, 212, 216, 217
" Father, The, 161
" Lance, The, 91, 93
" Sepulchre, The, 35, 46, 47, 50,
51, 101, 138, 180, 216, 244
" War, The, 9, 10, 51, 53, 92, 93,
109, 118, 162, 193, 194, 195, 201,
209, 218, 255, 279
" Week, 191, 210
Hospital of St John, The, 50
Hospitallers, Knights, 50, 51, 52, 105,
117, 137, 138, 140, 141, 204, 210, 211,
229, 238, 251, 256, 260
Honorius, 208, 209
Hugh of Vermandois, 69, 70, 92
" the Merchant, 156
Hungarians, The, 268, 270
Hungary, 47, 63, 66, 67, 69, 170, 175, 201, 271

Iblis, 11
India, 13, 269
Innocent III., Pope, 161, 162, 194, 195,
200, 201, 208
Isaac, Greek Emperor, 127, 129, 173,
174, 180, 182, 183, 184, 187, 188
Isabella, Queen, 151
Ishmael, 11
Israel, 130
Israelites, 38, 61
Italy, 13, 57, 69, 78, 128, 202, 278

Jacob, 37
Jehoshaphat, 147
Jerusalem, 10, 20, 26, 34, 35, 37, 43,
47, 50, 51, 52, 56, 58, 61, 77, 87, 92,
94, 95, 98, 103, 105, 107, 108, 114,
117, 121, 122, 123, 148, 152, 153, 155,
160, 163, 164, 193, 208, 212, 214, 216,
218, 233, 244, 249, 251, 252, 254, 256,
264, 270, 276
Jews, The, 15, 26, 29, 32, 37, 38, 44, 209
Joanna, 148
John of Brienne, 201, 202, 203, 204, 207, 208, 212
" of England, 157, 158, 194
" St, Knights of, 51
Joinville, Sire de, 219, 222, 225, 227,
228, 229, 230, 235, 236, 237, 241, 243,
246, 252, 253, 254, 279
Joppa, 94, 142, 145, 146, 148, 153, 155,
159, 160, 161, 211, 217, 244, 251
Jordan, The, 121, 147, 202
Joseph, 20
Jura Mountains, 168

Kaaba, 11, 17, 19, 29, 30, 31
Kadija, 13, 14, 17, 20
Kerboga, 89, 90, 91
Khalil Sultan, 258, 263
Khosru, 34, 35, 36
Knights Hospitallers, 50, 51, 52, 105,
117, 137, 138, 140, 141, 204,
210, 211, 238, 251, 256, 260
" of St John, 51
" Templars, 51, 105, 117, 120,
137, 138, 148, 204, 210, 211,
212, 227, 228, 238, 251, 256

Laodicea, 104, 105, 112
Latins, The, 216
Lebanon, 81
Leopold, Duke of Austria, 132, 156, 157
Libanus, Mountains of, 94
Lombards, 103, 104, 168
Lombardy, 77, 168, 174
Louis, Count of Blois, 162, 169
" of France, 108, 109, 110, 111,
112, 113, 114, 117
" IX., King, 213, 219, 221, 222,
229, 233, 238, 239, 241, 242,
243, 246, 249, 253

Malek-Camhel, 211, 213
Mansourah, 228, 237
Manuel of Constantinople, 269
" Greek Emperor, 110, 111, 112
Marseilles, 128, 168, 196, 199
Matthew de Clermont, 263
" of Paris, 215
Maynard, 156
Meander, River of, 112
Mecca, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24,
26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 270
Medina, 20, 23, 26
_Melech Ric_ (King Richard), 142
Middle Ages, The, 277
Mizpeh, Mount, 95
Mohammed, 12-20, 23, 24, 26-35, 39,
132, 241, 269, 270-273
Moriah, Mount, 51
Moses, 23
Mosque of Omar, 211
Murad, Turkish Chieftain, 268

Navarre, King of, 213, 253, 255
Nazareth, 211, 245, 251, 255
Nicæa, 54, 65, 66, 78, 79, 81, 111, 112
Nicephorus, 40, 43
Nicholas, 195
" IV., Pope, 257
Nile, The, 194, 203, 207, 225
Normandy, 136, 155, 157, 244
Notre Dame, Church of, 167

Odo, Duke of Burgundy, 166
Olives, Mount of, 97, 98
Omar, 36, 37, 38, 39, 211
Orkhan, 266, 268, 271
Orontes, River of, 81, 94
Othman, 39
Otho of Germany, 194, 207, 208
" de Grandison, Sir, 258, 259, 260, 263
Ottoman Empire, The, 266

Palæologus, Michael, 251, 265, 266
" John, 268, 271
Pelagius, Cardinal, 204, 207
Pentelema, Island of, 247
Persia, 12, 34, 35, 36, 269
Peter of Brittany, 240
" the Hermit, 55, 56, 57, 62, 63,
64, 65, 78, 91, 96, 98, 107, 161, 218
" Lord of Bracuel, 190, 191
Philip de Montfort, 234, 235
" of France, 52, 126, 127, 128,
130, 131, 132, 135, 136, 157, 194, 207
" of Germany, 174, 177
" of Nemours, Lord, 241, 242
" the Bold, 255
Placentia, Council of, 58
Poitiers, Count of, 225, 241, 242, 243
Poitou, Men of, 138
Poland, King of, 271
Porcus, 199
Prophet, The (Mohammed), 17, 20, 24
27, 28, 31, 32, 34
Ptolemais, City of, 199

Ramadan, 14
Ramleh, Town of, 94
Raoul, Lord of Conci, 228
Raymond, Count of Toulouse, 62, 74,
77, 78, 80, 81, 90, 92, 93, 96, 101, 102,
103, 104
Raymond, of Tripoli, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123
Red-Cross Knights, 52
Reinaldo, 65, 66
Reginald of Châtillon, 119, 120, 121, 123
Renaissance, The, 277, 279
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, 215
" of Devises, 128, 130, 132, 135, 279
" Lion Heart, 127, 128, 130,
131, 132, 135, 136, 137, 139,
141, 142, 145-159, 215, 244, 279
Robert of Clari, 189, 190
" of Normandy, 69, 78, 81, 82, 95, 101
Roderick, "last of the Goths," 39
Roland, 279
Rome, 9, 31, 34, 35, 196, 208, 210, 271

Saladin, 119, 121, 123, 124, 125, 129,
130, 132, 142, 146-150, 153, 155, 159,
185, 207, 237
Saphadim, 124, 146-150, 154, 155, 159
Seljukian Turks, The, 54, 55, 87, 266
" Sultan, The, 266
Sicily, Island of, 61, 128, 131, 155, 207, 247, 255
Simon de Montfort, 162, 178
Sion, Mount, 96
Soissons, Bishop of, 167
" Count of, 229
St Andrew, 90
St Chrysostom, 81
St Denis, 222, 254
St Dominic, 218
St Francis of Assist, 218
St George, 92, 94
St Louis, 252, 254, 255
St Mark, 181, 182, 245
St Nicholas, 230
St Paul, 85
St Peter, Church of, 81
St Sophia, Church of, 188, 189, 192, 273, 274
St Theodore, 92
Stephen of Blois, 103, 105
" of Chârtres, 89
Sweyn, Son of Godwin, 47
Syria, 13, 29, 30, 87, 146, 184, 214, 216, 217, 278

Tabor, Mount, 202
Tamerlane, Chief of Tartar hordes, 268, 269
Tancred, 81, 85, 91, 102, 104, 105, 128, 157, 165
Templars, Knights, 51, 105, 117, 120,
137, 138, 148, 204, 210, 211, 212, 227,
228, 238, 251, 256
Temple, Church, The, 53
" The, 147
Theobald of Champagne, 219
Thrace, Plains of, 70, 267, 268
Tiberias, 121, 122, 123, 132
Tower of David, The, 101
Tristan, Knight, 49
Truce of God, 46
Tunis, 247, 248, 254, 255
Turkey, Sultan of, 276
Turkestan, 54, 269
Tyre, City of, 87, 94, 123, 131, 135, 150, 151, 155, 160
Tyrol, The, 158

Urban II., Pope, 56, 57, 58, 61

Walter of Brienne, 165
Walter, Lord, 226
" the Penniless, 63-66
William de Pratelles, 146
" Longsword, 203, 228, 229
" of Tyre, 279
" Longchamp, 158
" the Conqueror, 47, 89

Yolande, Daughter of John of Brienne, 209

Zeuzhi, Sultan, 108

* * * * *

TOLD THROUGH THE AGES

Legends of Greece and Rome
Favourite Greek Myths
Stories of Robin Hood and his Merry Outlaws
Stories of King Arthur and his Knights
Stories from Herodotus
Stories from Wagner
Britain Long Ago
Stories from Scottish History
Stories from Greek Tragedy
Stories from Dickens
Stories from the Earthly Paradise
Stories from the Æneid
The Book of Rustem
Stories from Chaucer
Stories from the Old Testament
Stories from the Odyssey
Stories from the Iliad
Told by the Northmen
Stories from Don Quixote
The Story of Roland
Stories from Thucydides
The Story of Hereward
Stories from the Faerie Queene
Cuchulain: The Hound of Ulster
Stories from Xenophon
Stories from Shakespeare
Stories from Dante
Famous Voyages of the Great Discoverers
The Story of Napoleon
Stories of Pendennis and the Charterhouse
Sir Guy of Warwick
Heroes of the Middle Ages
The Story of the Crusades
The Story of Nelson
Stories from George Eliot
Froissart's Chronicles
Shakespeare's Stories of the English Kings
Heroes of Modern Europe
The Story of King Robert the Bruce
Stories of the Scottish Border
The Story of the French Revolution
The Story of Lord Kitchener
Stories of the Saints
The Story of St Elizabeth of Hungary
In Feudal Times
The High Deeds of Finn
Early English Travel and Discovery
Legends of Ancient Egypt
The Story of the Renaissance
Boyhood Stories of Famous Men
Stories from French History
Stories from English History
Famous English Books and their Stories
Women of the Classics
In the Days of the Guilds
Science through the Ages

_Other volumes in active preparation_

End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Crusades, by E. M. Wilmot-Buxton