WHEN, in 1244, the sack of Jerusalem by the Earismians took place, most of the princes of Christendom were too much occupied with their own affairs to concern themselves particularly about the Holy Sepulchre. The Emperor of Germany was struggling with the Pope; the King of England was battling with his barons; the King of Castille Was contending with the Moors; the King of Denmark was at war with his own brother; the King of Sweden was at feud with the house of Tolekunger; and the King of Poland was exerting all his strength to resist the inroads of Tartar hordes. France alone was at peace and in a condition to send forth warriors to the East; and it was from France, that an answer was vouchsafed to the cry of distress that reached Europe from Asia.
It happened that, when news of the sack of Jerusalem reached Paris, Louis the Ninth was suffering from illness. Gradually becoming worse, the King ere long reached such a state of prostration, that his recovery was despaired of: and his attendants were at times in doubt whether he was dead or alive. As if by a miracle, however, he was snatched from the gates of death; and the first use he made of his faculties, was to order a cross to be attached to his vestments. On seeing her son wearing the cross, Queen Blanche was terrified -- "struck as fearfully," says the chronicler," as if she had seen him dead. The truth was, that, in gratitude for his unexpected recovery, the Saint-king had vowed to undertake an expedition for the recovery of the Sepulchre.
The resolution of the King was the reverse of agreeable either to his family or his subjects, and earnest attempts were made to divert him from his purpose. But, during his illness, his imagination had been affected in the highest degree; and his enthusiasm was much too ardent to be restrained. Steadfastly clinging to the idea, which haunted him while under the influence of fever, he formally took the cross, and sent intelligence to the East, that he was assembling an army, with which to cross the sea.
While the King of France was thus expressing his resolution to undertake a crusade, a Cardinal, as papal legate, arrived to publish a decree of the celebrated Council of Lyons, respecting the Holy Land. After the crusade had been preached in the churches of the kingdom, Louis summoned a parliament at Paris; and the Cardinal having first addressed the assembled peers and prelates, the King reminded them of the expeditions of Louis the Seventh and Philip Augustus, and appealed to them, as Christians and gentlemen, to take part in the expedition.
As the King finished his speech, his brothers, Bobert, Count of Artois, Alphonse, Count of Poictiers, and Charles, Count of Anjou, stepped forward and took the cross; and Queen Margaret, the Countess of Artois, and the Countess of Poictiers, followed the example of their husbands. At the same time, the Duke of Burgundy, the Count of Brittany, the Count de - Soissons, the Count de la Marche, Sir Peter de Montfort, the Lord of Courtenay, and many other French magnates, swore to accompany their King.
Matters having reached this stage, preparations commenced; and Louis set himself to provide the means of going to the East. It appears that, to defray the cost, of his expedition, the King applied to the Pope; and the Pope granted him a tenth of the clergy's revenues for three years. This tax was somewhat rigorously levied; and one poor priest, who only enjoyed twenty shillings of annual income, had to pay two yearly. Complaints from the clergy were heard on all hands; and laymen remarked, with a chuckle, that the estates of the clergy were shorn as bare as their crowns.
Notwithstanding the zeal displayed by Louis, preparations went on slowly; and three years passed ere he was in a position to leave France. Before departing, he convoked a second parliament; and, having made the peers and prelates swear loyalty to his family, in the event of his not returning, he repaired to St. Denis, and, from the hands of the legate, received the pilgrim's staff and scrip, and the oriflamme of France.
This ceremony over, Louis left Paris, to proceed to Aigrus-Mortes, which he had appointed as the place of embarkation. At Lyons, the Pope appeared to give the King his blessing; and Louis made an effort to reconcile the Pope and the Emperor. The Pope, however, refused to listen to the King's mediation; and Louis gave way to a false scruple, which proved the cause of severe calamities.
The truth was, that the safety of the French army much depended on the route selected; and the safest way to the Holy Land was understood to be through Sicily. Unluckily, however, Sicily was subject to the Empire; and the Emperor was under excommunication by the Pope; and Louis feared to set his foot in a land under ban. He therefore resolved upon a great sacrifice; and, instead of passing through Sicily to Syria, announced his intention of proceeding by way of Cyprus, into Egypt.
At Aigrus-Mortes, Louis had caused a harbor to be constructed; and there his fleet awaited him. Having embarked about the end of August, 1248, with his Queen, and the Counts of Artois and Anjou, Louis set sail for Cyprus, and after a voyage of four weeks, landed at Limisso, from which, sixty years earlier, Richard, King of England, had, battle-axe in hand, chased the Emperor Isaac.
Louis, however, had no occasion to emulate the prowess of Coeur de Lion; for a Christian king, surrounded by Christian barons, now reigned over Cyprus; and the reception of the saintly crusader was all that could have been wished. After being welcomed at Limisso by Henry de Lusignan, sovereign of the island, he proceeded to Nicosia, and, having entered that capital amid the cheers of the clergy, nobles, and people, he awaited the arrival of his friends and followers.
Previous article Next article
From John G. Edgar
The Crusades and the Crusaders, 1860
