§ 50. FIRST CRUSADE AND CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM.
Baldwin and Eustace. Hugh, count of Vermandois, was a brother of Philip I. of France. Robert of Normandy was the eldest son of William the Conqueror, and had made provision for his expedition by pledging Normandy to his brother, William Rufus, for ten thousand marks silver. Raymurid, count of Toulouse, was a veteran warrior, who had a hundred thousand horse and foot at his command, and enjoyed a mingled reputation for wealth, wisdom, pride, and greed. Bohemund, prince of Tarentum, was the son of Robert Guiscard. His cousin, Tancred, was the model cava lier. Robert, count of Flanders, was surnamed " the Sword and Lance of the Christians." Stephen, count of Chartres, Troyes, and Blois, was the owner of three hundred and sixtyfive castles. These and many other noblemen constituted the flower of the French, Norman, and Italian nobility.
The moral hero of the First Crusade is Godfrey of Bouil lon, a descendant of Charlemagne in the female line, but he had no definite command. He had fought in the war of emperor Henry IV. against the rebel king, Rudolf of Svvabia, whom he slew in the battle of Molsen, 1080. He had prodigious physical strength. With one blow of his sword he clove asunder a horseman from head to saddle. He was as pious as he was brave, and took the cross for the single purpose of rescuing Jerusalem from the hands of the infidel. He used his prowess and bent his ancestral pride to the general aim. Contemporary historians call him a holy monk in military armor and ducal ornament. His purity and disinterestedness were acknowledged by his rivals.
Tancred, his intimate friend, likewise engaged in the en terprise from pure motives. He is the poetic hero of the First Crusade, and nearly approached the standard of " the parfite gentil knyght " of Chaucer. He distinguished him self at Nicrea, Dorykeum, Antioch, and was one of the first to climb the walls of Jerusalem. He died in Antioch, 1112.
236 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
His deeds were celebrated by Raoul de Caen and Torquato Tasso.1
The emperor Alexius, who had so urgently solicited the aid of Western Europe, became alarmed when he saw the hosts arriving in his city. They threatened to bring famine into the land and to disturb the order of his realm. He had wished to reap the benefit of the Crusade, but now was alarmed lest he should be overwhelmed by it. His subtle policy and pre cautions were felt as an insult by the Western chieftains. In diplomacy he was more than their match. They expected fair dealing and they were met by duplicity. He held Hugh of Vermandois in easy custody till he promised him fealty. Even Godfrey and Tancred, the latter after delay, made the same pledge. Godfrey declined to receive the emperor's presents for fear of receiving poison with his munificence.
The Crusaders had their successes. Nic;ea was taken June 19, 1097, and the Turks were routed a few weeks later in a disastrous action at Dorylaeum in Phrygia, which turned into a more disastrous flight. But a long year elapsed till they could master Antioch, and still another year came to an end before Jerusalem yielded to their arms. The success of the enterprise was retarded and its glory diminished by the selfish jealousies and alienation of the leaders which cul minated in disgraceful conflicts at Antioch. The hardships and privations of the way were terrible, almost beyond de scription. The Crusaders were forced to eat horse flesh, camels, dogs, and mice, and even worse.2 The sufferings from thirst exceeded, if possible, the sufferings from hunger. To these discouragements was added the manifest treachery of the Greek emperor at the capture of Nicaea.3
1 Gibbon : "In the accomplished character of Tancred we discover all the virtues of a perfect knight, the true spirit of chivalry, which inspired the generous sentiments and social offices of man far better than the base philoso phy, or the baser religion, of the times." 2 Fulcher, I. 13, Sec., III. 336.
3 Raymund of Agiles says Alexius treated the crusading army in such wise that so "long as ever he lives, the people will curse- him and call him a traitor."