THE piety and chivalry exhibited by those Christian warriors, who, at an early period of European civilization, left their homes and their countries to rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the grasp of Moslem conquerors, have since seldom -- save in the case of men too sceptical to sympathize, or too stupid to comprehend -- foiled to excite admiration and curiosity. My object, in this book for boys, is to give an idea of the heroes who, animated by religion and heroism, took part in the battles, the sieges, the marvellous enterprises of valor and despair, which make up the history of those great adventures known as the Crusades.
I have endeavored, I would fain hope not without some slight degree of success, to narrate the events of the Holy War, from the time Peter the Hermit rode over Europe on his mule, rousing the religious zeal of the nation, to that dismal day when Acre, the last stronghold of the Christians in the East, fell before the arms of the successor of Saladin and of Bibars Bendocdar. During the two centuries that intervened, many of the greatest personages of Europe stitched the red cross on their shoulder, and signalized their prowess against the enemies of their religion. To that period we can, in a national point of view, look back with pride; for, while Germans can point to Frederick Barbarossa, and Frenchmen to Godfrey of Bouillon, Philip Augustus, and St. Louis, as prominent in "the world's debate," Englishmen can discern among the armed throng, far away, indeed, but still distinct in the distance, Richard Coeur de Lion, "the feudal king par excellence;" William Longsword, the flower of Anglo-Norman nobles; and our First Edward, the greatest of those mighty monarchs, strong in battle and wise in council, who for more than three hundred years were the pride of England and the terror of England's foes.
I believe that the examples of the great men whose gallant deeds are depicted in the following pages, are calculated to exercise a wholesome influence on the minds of youthful readers; and I trust that the work will not be deemed inappropriate to those for whose perusal it is more particularly intended.
J.G.I
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From John G. Edgar
The Crusades and the Crusaders, 1860
Table of Contents
Peter The Hermit
Pilgrimages To Palestine
Hermit, Patriarch, And Pope
The Pilgrim Princes
The Peasant Pilgrims
Walter The Penniless
Satan's Soldiers In Christ's Livery
Alexis And The Pilgrim Princes
Boemund Of Tarentum
The Siege Of Nice
The Battle Of Dogorgan
The Siege Of Antioch
Emipher And Boemund
The Great Battle
Siege Of The Holy City
Godfrey And His Successors
The Fall Of Edessa
The Preaching Of St. Bernard
Much Bruit And Little Fruit
The Hospitallers And The Templars
Affairs Of The East
Saladin The Great
The Conference Of Gisors
Frederick Barbabossa
The Voyage Of Coeur De Lion
The Siege Of Acre
Battle Op Assur
After Assur
Richard's Return
Sack Of The Holt City
The Saint-king
France In Motion
The Earls Of Salisbury And Dunbar
The King And The Chronicles
The Capture Of Damietta
Discord And Disorder
The Emir Fakreddin
The March To Mansourah
Bibars Bendocdar
The Battle Of Mansourah
Disasters And Calamities
The Queen At Damietta
The Last Of The Ayoubites
The Saint-king's Return
A Sultana And The Mamelukes
The Conqueror Of Evesham
The Saint-king In Old Age
Prince Edward And His Knights
The French At Tunis
Edward On His Voyage
Relief Of Acre
Edward In The East
Henry Of Cornwall
The Prince And The Assassin
Edward's Return
Mameluke Sultans
The City Of Refuge
