The Song of the Siege of Acre
Translated with an introduction by Patrick DeBrosse
Introduction
On July 4, 1187, the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Hattin. Saladin, the victor of the battle, moved quickly to subdue the kingdom's cities and strongholds. Only one city, Tyre, remained in Christian hands; and the future of the Latin East was in serious doubt. In desperation, Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, laid siege to the city of Acre, one of the most important strategic locations in the kingdom. After several grueling years, Guy's army, bolstered by the arrival of the Third Crusade, succeeded in recapturing the city from Saladin. From Acre, Richard I of England was able to launch a campaign that rolled back some - but not all - of Saladin's conquest. For the next century, Acre served as the capital for the revitalized kingdom.
The Song of the Siege of Acre (Carmen de Accone Oppugnatione) narrates the beginning of this story. It is a Latin poem, written in elegiac couplets, the meter of lament, as the poet informs us. The poet describes the Battle of Hattin, Saladin's conquest of the kingdom, the Siege of Tyre, and the first year of the Siege of Acre (1189-90). The anonymous poet was an eyewitness, who offers an extremely detailed account of the conflict, as well as unique insights into the thoughts and feelings of the soldiers in the Christian army. The poet seems, remarkably, to have written the Song during the Siege of Acre. As Hans Prutz, the poem's original editor, noted, the poet ends the Song by predicting a triumph for Frederick Barbarossa and he dedicates the work to Thierry, Archbishop of Besançon; and both men died in 1190, well before the conclusion of the siege. Prutz believed that the poet was a Burgundian crusader, who accompanied Thierry to the East, but this theory cannot be correct. Thierry did not arrive at Acre until August 1190, after news of Frederick's death had already reached the Christian siege camp. It seems that the poet was, in fact, with the army well before the arrival of Thierry, that he wrote the conclusion of the Song by July of 1190, and that he subsequently added a dedication to Thierry, sometime between August (when Thierry arrived at Acre) and November (when Thierry died). Uncertainty, therefore, colors the Song throughout all its verses: uncertainty about the outcome of the siege, uncertainty over the future of the Latin East, and even uncertainty over God's plan for humanity. Though the poet does not have the answers to these questions, he is aware that he is part of a monumental story, worthy of commemoration for posterity. With his striking, occasionally beautiful, verse, the poet brings his readers through the highs and lows of his emotions over the campaign, as he attempts to discover what type of story he is writing.
I have translated the Latin literally as much as possible, in order to maintain the poet's narrative style and turns of phrases. It has been necessary to insert names, words, and phrases in some places to clarify the narrative action or to render a passage into grammatically correct English. The Song is built around couplets, so the translation is couplet-by-couplet, rather than line by line. There are no explicit section divisions in the manuscript, but there are several natural sections to the poem: the prologue (lines 1-22), the events from the death of King Baldwin IV through Saladin's conquest of the kingdom (23- 440), the assembly of the Third Crusade and the defense of Tyre (441-535), the Siege of Acre (536-1384) and the epilogue (1385-1421). The translation follows Prutz's edition of the Latin in most cases, but I have, on some occasions, disagreed with Prutz's transcription (or with his emendations) and inserted a translation based upon the original manuscript.
Revisions to the translation are currently underway. Last updated: August 18, 2018.
- Patrick C. DeBrosse
Bibliography
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Latin Ms. 11340, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b107214917/f6.item.r=11340.zoom
[The only known (16th-century) copy of the manuscript. A marginal note indicates that the original may have been from a manuscript of Haute-Seille Abbey in Lorraine]
Prutz, Hans."Ein zeitgenössisches Gedicht auf die Belagerung Accons." Forschungen zur Deutschen Geschichte 21 (1881): 449-94.
[An edition of the Latin, with an introduction on the poet]
DeBrosse, Patrick C. "The Carmen de Accone Oppugnatione: A Re-examination of a Key Source for the Siege of Acre (1189- 1191)." MA thesis. University of East Anglia, 2016.
[A modern study on the Song of the Siege of Acre]
The Song of the Siege of Acre (Carmen de Accone Oppugnatione) narrates the beginning of this story. It is a Latin poem, written in elegiac couplets, the meter of lament, as the poet informs us. The poet describes the Battle of Hattin, Saladin's conquest of the kingdom, the Siege of Tyre, and the first year of the Siege of Acre (1189-90). The anonymous poet was an eyewitness, who offers an extremely detailed account of the conflict, as well as unique insights into the thoughts and feelings of the soldiers in the Christian army. The poet seems, remarkably, to have written the Song during the Siege of Acre. As Hans Prutz, the poem's original editor, noted, the poet ends the Song by predicting a triumph for Frederick Barbarossa and he dedicates the work to Thierry, Archbishop of Besançon; and both men died in 1190, well before the conclusion of the siege. Prutz believed that the poet was a Burgundian crusader, who accompanied Thierry to the East, but this theory cannot be correct. Thierry did not arrive at Acre until August 1190, after news of Frederick's death had already reached the Christian siege camp. It seems that the poet was, in fact, with the army well before the arrival of Thierry, that he wrote the conclusion of the Song by July of 1190, and that he subsequently added a dedication to Thierry, sometime between August (when Thierry arrived at Acre) and November (when Thierry died). Uncertainty, therefore, colors the Song throughout all its verses: uncertainty about the outcome of the siege, uncertainty over the future of the Latin East, and even uncertainty over God's plan for humanity. Though the poet does not have the answers to these questions, he is aware that he is part of a monumental story, worthy of commemoration for posterity. With his striking, occasionally beautiful, verse, the poet brings his readers through the highs and lows of his emotions over the campaign, as he attempts to discover what type of story he is writing.
I have translated the Latin literally as much as possible, in order to maintain the poet's narrative style and turns of phrases. It has been necessary to insert names, words, and phrases in some places to clarify the narrative action or to render a passage into grammatically correct English. The Song is built around couplets, so the translation is couplet-by-couplet, rather than line by line. There are no explicit section divisions in the manuscript, but there are several natural sections to the poem: the prologue (lines 1-22), the events from the death of King Baldwin IV through Saladin's conquest of the kingdom (23- 440), the assembly of the Third Crusade and the defense of Tyre (441-535), the Siege of Acre (536-1384) and the epilogue (1385-1421). The translation follows Prutz's edition of the Latin in most cases, but I have, on some occasions, disagreed with Prutz's transcription (or with his emendations) and inserted a translation based upon the original manuscript.
Revisions to the translation are currently underway. Last updated: August 18, 2018.
- Patrick C. DeBrosse
Bibliography
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Latin Ms. 11340, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b107214917/f6.item.r=11340.zoom
[The only known (16th-century) copy of the manuscript. A marginal note indicates that the original may have been from a manuscript of Haute-Seille Abbey in Lorraine]
Prutz, Hans."Ein zeitgenössisches Gedicht auf die Belagerung Accons." Forschungen zur Deutschen Geschichte 21 (1881): 449-94.
[An edition of the Latin, with an introduction on the poet]
DeBrosse, Patrick C. "The Carmen de Accone Oppugnatione: A Re-examination of a Key Source for the Siege of Acre (1189- 1191)." MA thesis. University of East Anglia, 2016.
[A modern study on the Song of the Siege of Acre]
The Song of the Siege of Acre
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As a complaining thumb turns to write sad elegies
That imitate the lyre in bitter griefs, I see as things totter, as the upright perish, as falsehood stands, As faith lies dead in the world. Public injustice has moved the people along with their leaders: People run to swords, leaders to arms. The plowshare is shaped into a sword, the pruning knife into a spear,[1] Bulls give their skins to the veteran’s shields. Now the mother sits bereaved without a child, the child stands alone without a father, The bride lies widowed without a husband. The merchant does not do business, the rustic does not tend the fields, Kings do not rule their kingdoms. Therefore I long to tell with succinct brevity what was the cause, What was the order, and who was the author of the new Fall. And you,[2] whom Burgundy bore, whom France nurtured, With whose noble ancestors both flourished, You, with whom as a prelate the city of Besançon rejoices, Whose might the city of Acre has known well, You, under whose leadership the conquered faith has breathed well And enemies of the faith have succumbed to the perpetual yoke, Water, I pray, the work of the writer with your dew, For indeed this small garden will have to be credited to you. Thus far the famous victress, the holy and powerful land of Syria, Was prospering under eminent kings, And for some time all Egypt, with Babylon, Had paid its tribute to Holy Jerusalem Until the crimes of the people broke the strength of the Mother. The mother who had been free, now groans as a slave. Moreover, silent envy crept in And a huge misdeed, inclined for all wickedness, burst forth. From the time after the death of the king[3] whom leprosy was attacking Perfidy and sin appeared: Of course the sister of the king, Sibylla,[4] the only survivor, Deprived of her brother, had very recently lost a child.[5] And because there was no male heir in the kingdom, The woman succeeded into power by a new law. But also, left a widow by her first husband,[6] she had married Guy.[7] She conveys the man into the kingdom And, surrounding his head with a red diadem,[8] She brings him back a consort of great honor. For surely it seemed absurd to spurn the spouse Whom the Faith had lawfully joined to her. This was the original cause of the evil, which moved the world to swords, Confusing treaties, laws, and the Faith. The Gemini were glowing with rays, and the heat of Phoebus Had moved from Taurus, his host, into new zodiac signs,[9] First, Jerusalem decided to scatter the seeds of fate:[10] The seeds are not going to have good fruits. After Guy was made king, Discord stirs up the leaders, as does he[11] Who had, for some time, been spurred forward by a longing for royal power. In this affair, because he had often, wickedly, sighed after the kingdom, He was more savage than a dragon with the new successor. For he was objecting that the king had intruded into the royal powers Neither by lawful succession nor, moreover, by his consent. Therefore, his wickedness clothes him with this cause: Blaming the king and inciting the magnates. He, alone, evilly plots against the kingdom, conspires against all, Condemns the Faith for his injuries. Winged with rage, swift with fury, He arranges to begin a treaty with destitute, unhappy Damascus. He had easily been able to win over the tyrant[12] to himself, The tyrant whom he had always known to be the leader of villainy. There another Pilate is won over to Herod, And the kisses taste of the wretched Judas. And thenceforth, since pledges had been given, both count and tyrant were protected. Both men returned joyful. Behold, the Damascene[13] calls forth his subjected cities, A dispatched letter moves armies everywhere, Every land conspires against the borders of Syria: Egypt, Libya, Media, Persia, Arabia, And almost all the region which had suffered the military might of the tyrant Are compelled to bear his sad yoke. They prepare arms. They come together, those whom gifts move, whom gold lures, Or whom a dream of profit or of righteousness leads. Meanwhile anxiety was tormenting the count, with the fury of anguish, Anxiety which the sad work of Faith might have brought about. And tasting beforehand the bad death for his very soul, He had now foreseen the results of the plot for himself. Of course, events show that all the troops of the king of Damascus Had assembled, together with their leader. This affair rattles the mind of the count and he regrets his plunder: Alas, piety comes too late and the injury is too great! He protects the king with plans and he strives to look after the strength of the kingdom. He warns them to prepare arms, He divulges all, he teaches what he heard, and reveals the military strength of the tyrant, And he tells everything about his arrangement. Gathered in an assembly, the king takes counsel with all of the leading men To determine by what art, what strength, what force they might stop the enemy, Managing what may be possible then or what should follow thereafter: whether It is desirable for the castles to be fortified, or for the countryside to be defended. Perhaps the Tripolitan might have given useful advice, But, as it were, the people are suspicious and they fear this man. He would have advised that the villages and countryside be exposed to the enemy, That the cities be defended, that the castles garrison men. So, unencumbered by this advice, the cohort grumbles, wrongly, but quite confidently, Wanting to run to war, that the enemy may not harry the ancestral land, Lest the enemy should invade all the ends of Syria And lest the Faith should bear, thereafter, everlasting infamy. With that advice, the majority of the people withdraw: All the troops hasten from the emptied cities. And, as if thoroughly careless of the longed-for triumph, They rush toward the enemy and block up the roads. The province of Galilee holds the pagan battle lines. They place their camp on the near side of the waters of the Jordan. After the enemy acquainted themselves with the nearby tents of the king, They strive to hasten their march to that place.[14] Therefore, simultaneously, the fury of the gentiles flies together, And the barbarian throng spreads out its wings for villainy. Horrid smoke bursts out from the camp, following the enemy: The smoky color shows the Christian natives that the enemy approaches. When the king and the magnates have seen the smoke of the tyrant, The scorned royal camp complains loudly at the delay. And, lest the enemy should preempt and overpower the troops, Or else lest the enemy restrain the men of the Faith with stealthy maneuver, The throng raises a royal standard against the hostile crowd; And, leading the way, the throng bore the Vexillum Crucis[15]. That attack, however, displeases many there. The Tripolitan count hates this expedition and urges against it: The place on which their camp sat was naturally advantageous to the Christians, Fertile with foliage, supplied with water, flourishing with both. Therefore the count urges delays and endeavors to guard the river; But his labor bears no fruit. And because the people had already burst forward, it is necessary And it is acceptable for this foot-dragger to follow the advancing banners. In the first wing, about to feel the tumult of Fate, Stands the legion of the Temple, holding pride of place. The rest of the throng rushed forward in confused order, The count claims the rear guard and follows the others closely. The tyrant does not expose himself to battle any less, And he rouses his men against the Christians. Now he attacks the mountains with an uproar: He bangs the winds with clanging and has rocked the stars with swelling trumpets The fields glisten with metal caps, the high mountains shine forth with swords, The ground flashes with the helmet. A powerful diligence was in the enemy, to be sure: The cunning man summons his troops and orders a delay. Thus he tries to cut our battle lines off from the waters, That thirst and the scarcity of water may harass those cut off. Such great prudence was not in our cohort, When it left the river that traverses the arid plains. When the tyrant sees us stand apart from the river, He assails and attacks the protruding men with the sword. Yielding, the isolated, faithful troops dash inwardly toward the bank of the river. The troops send their hands to arms. The order of Templars charges in the front line, It sheds the enemy’s blood with the help of cast javelin. And as for those whom the spear of this order does no good when it has been cast, The bow and the sword supply an office for them. A cloud of missiles, sent by the enemy, rises And they fly as if a great pillar of hail. It shakes the athletes of the faith and the cohort of Templars. The relentless arrow engulfs the pious cohort within. If fate were being fair, then this legion, rejoicing, Would have grandly borne happy triumph and honor from Mars. But if you should see so many thousands attack so few, the sight would commend The upright in their slaughter as much as the victors in their massacre. The cross-bearer, both protector and prior of the Sepulcher, falls. A barbarous hand lifts up the Cross and takes it away. When the faithful saw the sacred banners taken away, Right away, fear scattered them everywhere, as if their spirits left them. The force of all the nobles of Syria is forced to be trapped together, As if surrounded by a certain abyss. The solemn victims for Christ make the swords of the gentile people drunk: Gore is strewn into the plains, And besides some people, whom flight freed, All either bore violent death, or else earned capture. Modern men wish to call this place, which saw such a vile crime, Bethulia,[16] in the manner of old. As history teaches, Holofernes the Babylonian is said to have been struck down here, “By the hand of a female.”[17] Fortune wounds the orphans of the leaders much less than, moreso, it wounds the Cross; And the public responsibility torments the pious. The Antiochene[18] is captured there with the king; But, having been captured by the enemy, he bowed his head for execution. Here, at the same time, fell three thousand of our people. Two bishops also lay prostrate.[19] I shall not recount everyone, whose end and whose luster of martyrdom Calls forth praises throughout the lands. The count felt that flight was protection for himself, And he flies toward Acre, and he enters a fleet and sets out for Tyre. If the heavy die of fate were turning itself, It was waiting on the outcome of things in the citadel of the city.[20] And perhaps the die would have given the walls and the city to the nimble enemy, If Christ the Defender had not been present with them. Instead, the pilgrim coming from the city of Constantine, The marquis,[21] looked after Tyre and its citizens. Then he allies the citizens of the city to himself, he strengthens the men, He promises his help and counsel. After the sad misfortunes, when news of the defeat had been heard, The marquis fortified each stronghold of Tyre. Thereafter he strengthens the citadels with his own men. And, mistrusted, the count, received by a ship, departs from the city for Tripoli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . All Syria, compelled to bear the yoke, trembles. For the conqueror moves himself against the fortresses and cities, And they were able to be captured by fear or, more so, by the sword. If Acre had been fortified as before by the men, If Jerusalem were not orphaned by her leader, Then neither place would ever have borne the gentile yoke. Each would have been safe with her army, high in her towers. The enemy easily stormed the gates at this point; and the glory was cheap Where there was no need for the sword.[22] A light force was able to conquer the girly-men of the sex. Otherwise, what would be praiseworthy in pursuing a toothless mob? Pagan ferocity gave the captives Free rein for thirty days of peaceful consideration, That each man may either ransom a pause for himself, with tribute mediating, Or else combine hasty exile with gold. There are some whose origins guide them back to the land of their birth, Those to whom shame suggests exile. The conqueror invites the happy maniples forward for gifts. A right hand of giving distributes the acquired wealth: He devotes some fortresses and certain cities to his men, Those whom the fate of the nobles enriches and whom honor decorates. The cheerful desire to give transcends the worth of each man, Until it rains over and above his many debts. Nor is the conqueror’s prudence mistaken in doing this, As thus he urges greedy hands into fierce wars. Behold, Zion may lament, she who, bereaved mother and world of faith, Suffers her sons to follow barbarian laws. Why did your grace depart? Why did your sense of honor yield? Why your liberty? Why your strength, before? You have borne the punishments of your Father that we have earned. You, once free, lying fallen, conquered! O Nazareth, you chaste home and bedchamber of modesty, You, the daughter, suffer with the mother as a gloomy seat. You lie hidden beneath a filthy cultivator, clothed in robes of sadness, Lamenting both your mother’s injuries and your own.[23] O holy city, to which the famous author Tiberius gave his name,[24] Forgetful of ancient renown, bitter, you groan.[25] You, fortunate place, have seen the table of Christ, When five thousand truly felt celestial grace.[26] You, Bethlehem, secret wet nurse of Christ, Once sanctified with the gore of infants, remain silent.[27] Herod’s callousness, renewed, shut up your words,[28] The Herod who was before a rage against your inhabitants.[29] Save the holy sepulcher of Father Jerome,[30] That a barbarous hand may not, perchance, destroy it! Acre, you who were once a port of safety for the Faith, And, for a long time, were a calm gadfly for exiles, Although you may sit, suffering, about to watch a swift triumph, Nearly the whole world is going to bring aid to you.[31] Ascalon would have flourished for a long time with full honor, If it had not suffered the burden of hunger and thirst.[32] Fate, likewise, exposed the walls of the castle of Mount Peter[33] to the enemy, Nor did its summit do it any good.[34] If both friends had not been dead, This one would hold the power of the sea and that one the power of the mountain. Should I not fear the expenditure of material, I would be able to lament properly the rest of the towns, along with the castles. But because I have proposed to cover many things concisely, I will, therefore, pursue that work with succinctness. The heat was milder than is accustomed, because a weaker, toothless Phoebus Was fleeing the constellation of Leo. The sun was giving its rights to autumn And the love of the sun was occupying the features of Virgo, neighboring Libra.[35] The enemy’s shrewdness had defended the captured towns with provision, arms, soldiers And, likewise, the captured castles. And all the thirst of the tyrant had not yet been assuaged, But, rather, desire for all the kingdom consumes this tyrant And because Tyre alone was waging war for the honor of the kingdom, He threatens the city by ship and no less, by horse. The mighty tyrant now applies his wings to the walls, With a twofold siege, by land and by sea. But the protected nature of the place thrives with its characteristic persistence And its partnership of sea and land. The wall, which is battered with frequent waves, Surrounds each side of the city in the manner of a belt The wall both dashes the waters of the sound and rebounds the waves of the sea: This is no place for ships and oars. Nevertheless, by some art the foreigner carries himself to the gates And the wave both sends out and brings back rafts with its power. This celebrated harbor and lovely beach becomes safe from the waves, When the rampart unites with Notus.[36] Yet, this is not an easy approach, And twin towers, rising from the capital into the stars, guard the harbor. Unless the land were to unclasp this city for the enemy within a narrow space of time, The wave would clasp onto the place with a full embrace. And because the ground does not allow the obstructing arms of the sea to come together, The builder offers six gates there. Yonder, five heights glitter with just as many fortifications, Which hold back the enemy and watch over the place. The tyrant occupies these . . . . . with a siege[37] A machine, fixed to the ground, whirls large stones, But he also does not rest from harassing the faithful by ship, That our stony precipices may not oppose the rafts. In any event, the enemy was not able to storm the harbors While the defending solider maintained his gate in the citadel. Since the watchman proves useful, as do deception, skill, and strength. Therefore, Saladin consults the magnates and the leaders of his knights: If he returns without praise, shame looms; and if he remains without triumph, He will bear eternal dishonor thenceforth. As the inconstancy of fickle fate drives off their minds, And while fear and shame vex them, In the middle of the magnates a certain leader stands up,[38] And he comforts all with false hope and restrains their fear. Surely a nocturnal vision had deceived the man Deluding him with false hope and a weighty dream: In his dreams he had seen himself enter the gates of the city And easily approach the fortresses with his rafts, But he was a bad interpreter of his own fortune, Since he does not perceive the sad and evil omen following him. Thus he understands himself to be sole captain of the ship, Having embraced a new course into his own ruin. Therefore the Damascene, deceived by a vain vision, Appears and invites the rafts forward to arms; Indeed, he, cherishing foolish dreams to himself, places the man in command of the rafts, As if headlong against his own interests. A certain deserter foretells that intention with the true order To the Christians and he reveals the matter to them. The marquis, with whose aid Tyre revived its strength in arms - Those few arms which it had - safeguards the rafts in the city. The boat was Tyre’s only helper, therefore an upright pirate, Hugh,[39] Who was a Galilean, advised they make use of the boat, Odo was his brother, and Tiberias begot both. A third younger brother[40] was absent from here and from them. These two jump on the waves with a few ships and men To expose their heads to the gale, And because the small cohort provides strength to them, They stretch out into the deep, that the enemy may not enter into flight. After they have caught sight of the wretched leader who had seen the omen, They smash into and leap upon his raft. From there, they seize the leader and strike down his attendants so as to bind the captive; But flight frees some of them. After much confusion they seized seven ships, And the rest of the fleet departs for the safety of flight. The leader lacked the desired hope, the event unfolds with the expected order reversed, The troublesome lot rolls back against his lord: Truly not free, but bound, he goes off into the city. Conquered, not a conqueror, he sits in the citadel of the tower. This downfall wounds the ears and the spirit of the tyrant, And he rends the hair of his head with his hand. While the troops see their master rage, Anguish goads them on and they fear the man: They storm the walls, very violently. Each man tears up the fortifications From the base, beside the gates, with the help of the pick, And with the hooked iron tool they cut out the entrails of the walls, The whole cohort safe with covering over them. And although stone may frequently beat the cohort with a blow, The cohort prefers violent death with Mars to flight without Mars. Meanwhile, the victory won was holding the happy Christian nobles in the port Until the crisis, once recognized, stirred them. After Hugh the Galilean has learned what happened, he goes off again against the enemy: He feels the angry din, he hastens to arms; But because the first labor had weakened him afterwards, The marquis, fearing injuries to him, advises Hugh against Mars. Nevertheless, Hugh drives back the guards of the gate with a sword And liberates the entrances for himself with the sword’s help. That sword still does not seem satisfied until it spills gore And it chases the barbarous spears from the walls. Alone, he chases away all of the enemies, until shame rouses them And recalls their minds, which desired flight. The Galilean is beset there, he bears wounds, which he does not feel. Nor does this passion lead him to suffer spears. The other of the brothers approaches to help, And all the Christian throng flows into one, exits the gates, and brings help: The throng eliminates the enemy from the gates, And the Galilean recovers his breath, thanks to the assisting hand of his brother. Then the greatest slaughter comes to pass Because the barbarous troops bore the deaths of nearly fifty of their men And we suffered the loss of one man. Whereupon, in a rage, the wounded leader of villainy prepares to go, And, tested enough, because nothing could be done on land or on sea, He then takes counsel from his men: What should he do? He orders the king to advance publicly as if for execution And that the man be brought out with the city watching, And, together with the king, the elderly marquis is brought out for execution,[41] For ages the child looks at his father. Yet this sight of the condemned does not frighten the city for its leader, Nor does love bend the child for his father. Thus the preconceived hope of the tyrant was fruitless And he sees that he cultivated a destructive shore. The execution of the leaders was called off and, turned back, The marquis and the king are sent together to Damascus in chains. Therefore the Damascene is again received by the mountains with many soldiers, While some of the Muslim throng remains outside Tyre.[42] Because the route of the sea is not safe here for these remaining troops, It is decided that all the rafts be consumed by flames and fire. Here a battering ram and another machine of war are surrendered to the fires. Iron prows collapse into the ashes. This affair carried forth eternal disgrace to the gentiles, And it was the highest glory for our Faith. And you, famous, unconquerable Tyre, The guardian of all orphans, the only future, be strong! You will redeem the kingdom of Syria And you, a loving mother, will shelter the world’s faithful in your joyful bosom. Harsh Scorpio, more sluggish than the cold, had followed Libra As autumn was premeditating flight,[43] When the swift leader of villainy, with troops gathered from every direction, Prepares to enter Antiochene fields. Indeed, noting, in the city’s obedience, many things to come, He thus dreads to transport troops into Tripoli, Since many pilgrims and exiles had recently flowed hither. These Christians were fleeing barbarian dominion. Moreover, this city was fertile, illustrious, and rich, With provision, fortification, and many soldiers. And also, wounded Tyre had made a pledge to this city for a treaty: Tyre’s help and its ships were promised. Therefore Saladin places four neighboring cities, Previously under Tripoli’s control and command, on the sea. Beirut, Biblium, Jibala, and Laodicia, Conquered by fear, are indeed forced to yield to the enemy.[44] And also the city of Tartus proffers itself to him, And its ships preserved the city’s right of liberty.[45] Thus in possession of a vow, having secured those cities, The barbarous enemy completes the proposed journey. He regards the rest so lightly, citadels which, once upon a time, The dutiful love of kings had built for themselves, And which their forefathers had once begot. Saladin did not remember the former pains, attacking such great fortifications. Yet he did not return without a great slaughter of his own men, And our nobles bore the glory magnificently. Indeed Antiochene manliness began to sally forth from the gates And their hands attack the enemy with the sword. The Antiochenes press back some enemies, who desire to scale the walls with ladders, And they kill many enemies, as the gore witnesses. At the same time, this Fortune smiled at our troops, And they do not often bear a light honor of manliness. The harshness of the air and the severity of the wintry cold Were consuming the fields with snow, frost, plague, and ice. No less, the heavy air conspires with the city against the enemy: Thus Faith knew that the elements stood by her. The enemy had now pressed there for fifty days with a siege of the place, And the long delay does not please him. Therefore he works to form a peace for himself And, simultaneously, for the city, after common terms were made: The citadels, with their fortifications, will be surrendered to the man[46] without Warfare, If a year should not bring the aid of reinforcements.[47] O too much blind Hope, never going to see triumph And not going to have for herself the desired honor! Indeed, the dreadful lot may in a short time bring forth against the tyrant Sad, evil events leading to his own destruction. Scarcely will the abundant sun complete the whole journey and year When heavy care and labor will recline on the man. Behold, the inglorious Damascene enters into the enemy’s citadels, Having a wound within his such-small heart. But yet, he does not wish to unloose pain upon his troops Because he may lack Tripoli and the house of Antioch. Neither this city nor that were robbed of their strength And, with the example of Tyre, they held onto their rights. Rumor of the new Fall flies forth, diffused to peoples throughout the whole world,[48] Peoples whom the Faith hallows, And, first, it was breaking the waters with a stern toward the Sicilian king,[49] Who protected his harbors with rich care. The harbinger of these tidings moves the Roman Empire,[50] Nor does the letter pass by the honor of Latium. The sad epistle perturbs the king of the French,[51] It urges that he furnish Syria with the help of his soldiers. The diseased state of things convulses the Ocean: Anguish knocks the English realms forward, as all Flanders also rages. How can I recall all the peoples? How can I tell all the regions? The worshipers of the cross weep over the new loss. A pious prelate sent from the city of Albano[52] Carries out the vast task of his master, the highest prelate,[53] He who, revealing the mysteries of the cross to the people, Marks many and adorns them with the so-famous sign of the cross. Fruitful Gaul, which is a comrade and a daughter to the Faith, The first place receiving this father, obeys him. But because the English king[54] had recently attacked The king of the French and the French-born magnates with arms, The displeased prelate endeavors boundlessly to arrange a peace: He urges treaties, he chases away warfare. To this place, a Tyrian prelate,[55] once he had slipped away from the enemy, Comes in a wavering ship with the help of chance. These two pontiffs work to unite the kings And they form a peace between each leader. All the glory of the soldiers of the kings and magnates Had assembled as one at the Castle of Gisors And because love of peace had united all, Each prelate marks those who are to be hauled overseas for the cross.[56] White-haired in mind, although a boy in years, the first king[57] hastens To the sacred signs of the cross, in order to be redolent of his father.[58] The English king and his son[59] are marked with the same sign, The rest of the army was marked at the same time. It is a long delay to write down the men Whose hearts bore the cross for the praise of the Faith. Love of the child does not recall the father, nor devotion of the wife the husband: Instead the common cause moves them. It was the middle of the month, to which Mars first fixed his name, Whereafter it was called March. Now Aries had rammed forward his head, And it was the next birth of spring out of all the cold of winter,[60] When the Roman ruler[61] comes into the city of Mainz. All the halls echo with soldiers. For the day long-ago fixed by the king Was summoning all the leaders of the empire together, with the people following. Caesar[62] sends relics in to the standards and, first of those present, He wished to be marked and to become a companion of the cross. Following Caesar’s great example, the joyful crowd Departs with the princeps, carrying the burden of the same sign of the cross. Caesar makes arrangements: in what time, in what order or form the same expedition Should exist; what the route should be; or what the day of departure should be. The whole time of the plan is delayed for a year, That thus the journey may be prepared by the thirteenth month, So with the kings the mustered horsemen may pass through With the obedience of the whole land; so the crowd of footsoldiers may come …. Thus a fair purpose had composed the kings together, And a common love united them. If only the lot should smile upon the undertakings, And happy times come to the titles of the Holy Cross. With these things arranged, a letter is accordingly sent from Caesar to Damascus, Telling the master of crime: “The [highest] Roman princeps and patron of the faith Dedicates himself to send a few writings to the Damascene. Thus far, mutual commerce between us Was a pledge of firm peace and of trustworthy love. The first injury burst forth from you: You dared to enter, to attack, the jurisdiction of the place of the Sepulcher. You bore off both the banner and the wood of the Holy Cross When, at the same time, so many men lay dead, killed by the enemy. Moreover, you toppled the now-subdued cities and conquered castles With deceptions, skill, betrayal, and fear. And the king and the venerable patriarch lie captured And the legion of the Temple lies poured out with its leader. And, furthermore, a princeps is killed, a marquis captured, two pontiffs are felled: Great is the offense. Therefore Roman potestas will not bear such crime, And the owed punishment will pursue the crime’s mastermind. You, race of destruction, choose whatever you wish for yourselves. Nowhere, neither sea, nor land, nor rampart, will bring help.” After so great a decree was written, the tyrant did not offer Composed answers via the messenger: stupefaction is born in the enemy. He does not wish to expose his sad mind to the legate. All the same, he offers gifts to conceal his fear. But the count refuses the gifts because he seeks nothing in common with the tyrant, And thereafter he returns and is received by Tyre. But the anxiety of grief was tormenting the Sicilian king. So that he may augment the fighting power for the Tyrians, he prepares arms: Besides the assembled horsemen, whom royal grace defends, Whom love of gold and copper guides, A certain army had come together, into the Sicilian borders, Which competes to enter the ships by the Cross, not pay. The surviving strength of Syria, protected with such aid, smiled; And, apart from the yoke, it was free from the enemy. The prefixed day was approaching, and Phoebus was pursuing Taurus, And the rite of spring was nourishing April. Now the journey was driving the people, those who are going to be carried by ship. The common people stand together and undertake the route without the king. They seek out the ports and the sea by diverse paths. They come, mingled: from here the horseman, from there the footman. So great a love of faith fires the people That everywhere the common crowd breaks off the delay without the kings. But because War again arises between the French-born and the English, War distracts the kings from their purpose. And Caesar invites counts everywhere through letters describing the task and the route: The order of leaders assembles. All come to the city of Regensburg, which the Danube nourishes with its broad current. Behold the established day: The light, by which Saint George holds his feast, had given itself to the globe,[63] Bearing abundant joys to the people. Now the power of the sun was neighbor to the Gemini. The heat was very close, so as to burn the Ethiopians now.[64] Soon afterwards Caesar hastens his journey towards the Hungarians, And he makes himself friend to the kingdoms of the land with the aid of a peace. All the soil patiently bears the imperial yoke, Soil which either love of manliness, or fear of its punishment, motivates. Indeed, after countless men had gathered together there, The fields tremble from a hundred knights on horseback. The army bests the phalanxes of Alexander,[65] Nor has the honor of a king flourished with such great soldiers. And neither Julius, chasing Pompey, nor Cato,[66] scouring the scorched fields, Ever led so many thousands. Yet Greece spreads out so many snares for the so-great conqueror, When the story demands,[67] I will tell of it. My hand tries to cross over to a greater businesses, Following the affair and the material in just order. The king of Syria,[68] lately free from prison and the enemy, presented himself to Tripoli, Having been driven from Tyre by an enemy.[69] And also coming here, Geoffrey, Guy’s brother,[70] Wanted to bear help to his brother from the world of the French. From there, the brotherly battle line returns to Tyre, But the royal camp sits outside the fortifications and gates. For they wait for the surviving people whom the refuge still holds there, Or those whom France sends to them. But although the tents might have been few in number, Nevertheless, Guy and Geoffrey’s force did not hold this place without praise. For when the enemy, as luck would have it, rushed upon the men, The little army bore solemn honor from that enemy. There a certain river is jutted against by those fields, An extended mountain, moreover, overlooks the water of the current. Thus the enemy was trapped among us And he did not enjoy the aid of a bridge across the waves, as desired. Many of the gentile people fall into the waves; Some perish, submerged, while others fall by the sword. The next month, retaining for itself its name and zodiac sign from Augustus, Was consuming the earth with the fire of Leo:[71] The greatest part of the world, flowing through many places, Was cutting the waters with ships and they were nearly scraping our shores. But since Acre had wickedly begun to be closed to our keels, The rafts sail toward and put into Tyre. The port scarcely takes in ships; and Since loaded ships were shut out from things, the ships often endured Notus. Moreover, Tyre does not adequately provision the people, whom it does not take, And it leaves them exposed to Sun and Notus. The nobles take counsel with the king, They pray that he transfer his troops to Acre. Speaking of manliness, the chaste crowd deserves to be heard. Therefore, the king was very soon swift with their prayers. All the troops take the encircling tents away onto the proposed path: They leave the pestilential land. During all this, a new discord had arisen through the city:[72] The marquis[73] harasses the Pisans and he chases them with the sword. For the righteous cohort seeks to follow the king and to abandon the Tyrian walls; But the marquis forbids them. Nevertheless, the cohort escapes from the unwilling prince by force, through the gates; And, joining itself to the king, it brings aid to him. The fourth day preceding September was at hand:[74] Virgo had been born, winged Eurus[75] was rippling the waters When the cohort,[76] devoted to war, makes its way, As it prepares to surround the city of Ptolemais[77] with a siege. Lest the enemy should suddenly rush upon the summit of the opposing mountain, Our troops hasten to pursue the position. The mountain, stretched out broadly into the plain, rises before them And it furnishes them with a sort of lodging at night. First, however, the whole cohort travels through the narrow pass And is received into the entrances of the high summit. Then the king, having the higher ground, gives in to sleep. The crowd, spread out, rests in the fields. The vigilant sentries guard the troops and the camp, Until the next day’s light has felt the power of the sun. The warmth of Phoebus, clearing away the tears of Dawn, Rouses the king, along with the rest. Guy prepares arms. The lines of battle advance in formation; and An abundance of oars follow through the sea, as sterns cut the water. The faithful assail the city by land and by sea, One part guards the sea, the rest secure the ground. A mountain there, overlooking the defenses and rising from a sort of swelling, Watches the water located under its summit. The king and the leading magnates pitch tents there, The rest of the crowd claims a spot by the river. Some make some shelter with cut trees, Having used reeds to serve as a covering. The next light dawning invites the nobles to the city, Who attached barren timbers to the walls. From these they intend to scale the walls, But the enemies snatch away the ladders and throw down the men. If the hard work of assailing were enough for us,[78] The power of the hostile army, captured in the city, would have yielded: Most of the defenders had been insufficient for this fight Because the crowd was unarmed, horsemen rare, the diet weak in the city; And not yet had the barbarian[79] invaded the neighboring mountains with an army, Moving his barbarian banners from the rear. That day was not fair to us Because our cohort quit the walls and returned without praise. In the meantime, the tyrant attaches his banners to the mountain; and He places his camp, filled with the soldiers gathered from every direction. It was the fifth day of September, which precedes the Ides,[80] When the enemy army sees our battle lines. The next day’s light appears, Then the joyful enemy attacks our celebrations with War and draws up troops; And, because he had caught the hope of the baseless celebration, Invading, he rushes upon our army with his own. Someone, whom arrogant and foolish pride leads, Rushing on first, falls dead by our sword. Because the defenses of the humble wall and crimineus[81] liquid Chase the barbarous standards far away from the camp. Yet somehow they storm the wall, not without danger: They seize control of the entrances and cut off flight. Many, indeed, fall. Many others, whom flight and fate rescue, Let go of their banners, arms, or horses. And although, considering the lopsided totals, we were few in number, Nevertheless, our men bore few losses. So far, the enemy has not conquered anything by the sword. From far-off, they harass us with the bow, but frequent arrows do not help them. Therefore, they regroup in their mountains without a triumph, Those for whom that day bore no fruit. Afterwards, they prevent our men from roaming the fields; And, staying mobile, they trap our men from the rear and hem them in closer. And the iuvenes[82] whom the sea holds, who guard the harbors in ships, Who put up a blockade to seize supplies,[83] In the high parts of the ships they build something like towers joined together by beams: The dutiful hand sweats. But for all that, the craftsman’s skill profits him nothing, Since the creator's plan is duped with equal skill. The tower to which the fly gives its name[84] hinders that work, And a line rises over the prows of the ships. In that place, the caretakers of the Tower of Flies and of the city put out beams And the top juts out from the beams.[85] But still, Virtue keeps the busy assembly occupied with enemies, Either at sea, or else at land; And if Divine Love and Piety had not been protecting us, We would have borne losses, and the enemy side honor. Fifty ships, which the Ocean had sent to us over the vast sea, Pulled ashore. While these ships occupied the port, Twenty-thousand noblemen advance simultaneously and offer assistance. Over these men, James[86] was prefect, a proven knight and a famous man: He was famous for his ancestors, proven by his sword. The hero, flourishing with skill, renowned with the soldier, powerful in War, Did not bring us trivial relief here. But because the Marquis was refusing to conform himself properly to the king, A heavy concern weighs upon the man thereafter. Therefore the same king sends letters to Tyre; A letter asks the marquis to want to devote himself to arms. The governance of the whole people is promised to him, If he should bear forces and aid to the Faith. As luck would have it, a cheerful rumor teaches that an eloquent count, Called the Landgrave,[87] had lately come to Tyre. The happy marquis grows cheerful with the arrival of the count, He receives this man, now he pledges his things and himself to him; Indeed, fellowships of blood were joining them And long-standing love was making these men one in spirit. Faith, therefore, advises this - a dispatched letter tells this: The Marquis is departing, provisioned with arms, a fleet, and men. The army receives all these things with happy faces: The hope of great joy nourishes the crowd. Error gets on its way.[88] Then Manliness excites their spirits for battle: They fix the time of combat: behold, the day was at hand. The care of the common people for the kingdom, Chose two commanders and leaders for their forces: James is placed in command of the French, And the Landgrave governs the remaining throngs. The king nurtures his own. The marquis is, with help, stronger than all. He shows his obedience and his judgment to the whole army. A fiery comet had recently been seen over the people - Portending signs and writing the fates[89] to come. How many times does this comet show itself to the sight of men? This is usually the messenger of an enemy, of famine, or of plague. Eight days [of the month] of October had passed,[90] Scorpio, successor of Libra, was going into the sunrise, gleefully clamping claws, When [stepmotherly][91] Fortune brought outcomes unfavorable for our side, As the course of events teaches. It was midday and sweltering And, throughout this time, both the sun and the heat were scorching the earth. Then, all at once, every knight and all the common footmen sally forth from the camp, Side-by-side, all the men in their proper [formations]. If our cohort had been restrained by a single leader, Who would have ruled the uncontrolled bridles of his people, If the company of the leading men had been advancing in right formation, Great honor would have been taken by us from the enemy. But the unbridled people, lacking a master, Were unjustly, overwhelmingly, overwhelmed by Fate, and were without praise. The hostile multitude come, with their front rank bearing down on us,[92] And the barbarian banners show their battle lines. The Bedouin, wrapped in white clothing, Come armed with spears and precede their men. After whom the Parthians arrive, learned at how to harass enemies with arrows And to ride always while sitting backward. The other people follow, Whom India, Media, Libya, or the land of Babylon had sent Why am I delaying, muttering on?[93] One can hear the troops sally forth, Those whom the region to the south or the east rears. Our side, seeking the first fruits of Mars, assaults the hostile multitudes. We bear the first trophies. And now the enemy clothe themselves with the protection of flight And they also return themselves to the mountain and depart, grieving. But while it teases us like this, the die of unjust Fortune mocks[94] us more, If you note the facts well. Not yet had the siege taken hold of the city with a full circuit, Instead, the enemy was still holding onto a passageway. Now inside, now outside, They still went to, or returned from, anyplace their minds called them. Some of them, therefore, had set up ambushes; And, since the tyrant ordered them to delay, they hid for a long time So that, if Mars were wavering and gloomy,[95] They would rush against the enemy from the rear and destroy flight. After they saw their men yield, They hasten to seek our troops by sallying from the walls. When the enemies noticed that their reinforcements had come, They turn about[96], against our leaders. And our nobles, so close to seizing the hostile camp, Give their backs to flight and refuse to tarry. The sword sells them a path through the middle of the enemy, Those whom strength, chance, or a horse rescued. Many, however, fell, whom, trapped, the enemy cuts off on both sides, Restricting their path. Here the leader or master of the Temple fell earlier,[97] An interpreter and proof of his name: Surely “Gerard” was “bearing Ardean traits”,[98] Since he was constant in mind, upright in life, feared in War. And bearing the banner, the marshal fell at the hands of the enemy: Here we bore the losses of both the banner and the man at the same time. One may cry out, when mention appears of such a great fall, Bewailing the banners and their leader. While I record the losses of the sacred legion of the Temple And the Fates, so-often wicked for just men, Tears burst from my eyes Because this battle line often bore the danger alone, with spilt blood. Truly, the city of Tiberias tells enough of this: Martyrdom, tearful loss, sad crime. But nor does Bethulia keep quiet its slaughter,[99] Where the barbarous mob poured out so many noble men. On top of these, the fields of Ptolemais, consecrated with pious dew,[100] Felt the ultimate stream of Templar blood. But I cannot explain the pressures of the burden Which the so-sacred order of the Temple so often bore. Here the leaders fall, whom their own audacity exposed to fate, And their strength did not prevail The famous Andrew of Brienne, to whom never flight, But always hope and righteousness, was a friend. Here two young men whom Lotharingia bore Succumb to the Fates: Simon was here, Richard there. It is indeed anguish to recount the whole, and I will not describe all in detail, So many people whom a single day snatched from us simultaneously. Yet we did not suffer iniquitous fates without the slaughter of the enemy side, As Rumor teaches well: Nearly two thousand died at the same time, but we do not suffer The full burden of slaughter with our own in equal measure. The whole vicinity turns red, colored with holy blood, Nearby fields are white with pious corpses. Confession and martyrdom are formed then, One shining with dazzling whiteness and another reddening with gore. Therefore the double crown of each signifies Lilies and roses for the martyrs, with duty protected. After the space of three days the tyrant commands that the strewn corpses, Scattered through the fields, be collected directly. That he would leave nothing behind for our tears, He finally adds a sad work of our anguish That everywhere, at the same time, those corpses, who are to be seen, Would be dragged into the river, he orders that the slain be carried by carts. The wave of the river is said to have lacked its accustomed course On account of the interposing of crowded corpses. A new course here moves the tyrant to weightier things: He thinks that the final Fates answer to him. Indeed, he began to harass our tents repeatedly, for a long time, Desiring lucky battles, That our men, if, perchance, they should wish to sally forth, would be able to be Cut off and thus utterly pressed by the enemy. An edict went forth from the leaders, to prevent anyone from rushing forth hastily Against the enemy or any horseman from withdrawing from the camps, But so that first the army would box in the enemy with the constructed fortification Of a double rampart with the help of this bulwark, And both so that the tyrant would cease to harass our camp so often And so he may not take the camp with his men. This cause was, furthermore, driving our cohorts, That they would surround the enclosed places with a new rampart. Behold, Rumor reports that delays are besetting Caesar in Grecian parts. She heaps fear upon us. The way was not free for Augustus, for all Greece was restricting His movements for him. Hence, all the leaders of the troops and the craftsmen Of the happy expedition struggle to apply themselves to the wall. Now, with high beams erected, three individual machines are prepared, Having the toughness and likeness of a castle, That is may overcome the highest citadels of the city. A heavy wooden tower bursts out from there into the stars. But because winter was coming directly, public care Delayed that work into the time of spring Thus, awaiting at the time spring’s help for themselves, Our cohort saw the practical wisdom. The sixth day proceeding before the Kalends of January Had returned to the globe, bringing the yearly holidays, When Christ wished to be born to a virgin, The ancient word, having a covering of his mother’s flesh,[101] Leading the way, the Evening Star was crossing the honor of the stars of Phoebus and the moon was carrying help for the night The tyrant hears that nearly forty ships Were coming into his hands for help and counsel. Having been reinforced with this help, he shuts the route through the Neighboring waters to us, he bribes the sea, he arms the waters. Thus he wholly replenishes the men for the city, He strives to fortify the defenses with a fresh army and a new strength. He commands that the weak be driven out and that the strong stay, Encouraging his own with words and by replenishing. With equal example and form, our leaders set forth To anticipate the hostile forces. Indeed, it was a sad weight for those that their boats were without passage Of the sea and that thus those boats lay still. Therefore the marquis is sent to Tyre, Which prepares ships and which furnishes many a fleet for aid. But because the stiff winter was hindering the journey and both hostile weather and The wind were hindering the sails on the ships, For three months we were deprived of the sea, Without loss, destruction, hunger, bloodshed, anguish, or thirst. No doubt Divine Love and Piety was nurturing their own, Both hope and strength were a great abundance to them. Furthermore, boldness had come into being for us beyond the camp, And they bound far from their camps. They began to roam through the fields, to ransack farms and houses, To look for firewood, to follow avarices, And the enemy is again permitted to spread out ambushes for us, We bore nothing of evil and dishonor; But the tyrant bore many setbacks from us And he enters ambushes, which he extends, by duty. The fourth day of the month named after Mars arrived,[102] When the marquis strikes the waters with a considerable fleet, That he may redeem the delay with manliness and that he may convey Strength to the faith by his arrival and support. For a long time he sells seized harbors to himself; The enemy falls back into the walls; the barbarous fleet departs. Now our ships roam hence, now thence, The land and the seas forbid departure to the enemy. For the boat defends the gates from the side of the sea, a certain company of footmen Rob away the entrances of the land, And the cavalry legion guards the fortifications of the rampart. Our army is idle with these three duties. A temperate place is in the plain, which stands off from the city, And the place borders the village of Cayphas. Here, certain knights of our side were once going For a walk along the beach and the waters of the channel. Since together they were hauling common profits with them, The barbarous mob came forth from their mountains. That mob, seeing our nobles rambling through the countryside, Hastens thither and quickens their pace, Namely that it may be able to suddenly trap the few knights And, lacking assistance, our troop may fall. Our cohort, having disdained flight, rushes against the enemy first, With hope from within curbing the mind. A crash of arms is heard from the camps; now it calls us forward to swords, The shouting invites the leaders to arms. The marquis proceeds with the king and, with much of the Landgrave’s army. They bring men and help. Indeed, a long-standing agreement had joined both men, Now something new had united both men, so I think: steadfast love. This was a condition of the renewed treaty between them: That the marquis hold Tyre in full peace, While, if a favorable lot should deliver Syria, [Tyre] will fall to him with Sidon, Beirut, and Jibala; Furthermore, besides these places the whole country will support this man, The country which lies from the borders of Tripoli all the way to Tyre. This continuation was standing by common assent, And the matter was very strong because of the fair council of the leading men. Therefore, seeing our battle lines, the enemy, trying to escape, departs, he shows backs, He abandons the fields, He hastens the journey to the mountains; but the river leading the way impedes many, Hence the water drowns them and hems them in. And he who does not trust himself to the waters, either is undone, felled by the sword, Or, captured, submits to iron chains. If obstructing night had not come to us, few would have escaped from the place Whole and without destruction; And our nobles, bearing the palm of Mars, Lost at the same time five and two men. It was spring, and Aquillon and Boreas[103] were bringing ships And a most great fleet was splitting the waters of the sea: The first boat, coming from the Sicilians regions, Was a true sign concerning the death of King William.[104] This king, the maker of faith and the faithful tiller of peace, Was bringing many advantages to the Christians. Therefore the new Rumor of death harasses the faith of man, Which allegedly weeps that his guardian had fallen. But because an outstanding heir[105] had succeeded him, Who may care for the advantages of the faith with a like mind, Our manliness lived a little again when Tancred divided The Kingdom of Sicily in half; grief began to depart. For since the before-said king already saw that the supreme Fates approached, He saw a useful work for his own men: He had placed Tancred in command of the Sicilian kingdoms, And all devoted prayers for the same great king. It was the time, at which Easter comes so that the faithful celebrate the holy:[106] Phoebus was driving his horses into April. And now a long delay was weighing down the leaders and the people simultaneously, Because they have existed without war for a long time. Therefore they work to complete the unfinished towers, They cover the camp with hides and they place flooring. The maker applies his finished citadels to the walls, A machine follows whirling many stones. Therefore a repeated messenger is sent from the city to Saladin, the leader, That he should show his men And that he should openly expose all the troops in succession, that he should occupy The entrances of the rampart, that he should level the ground: That unless he should come to help quickly, he will bear the loss of the city And all the men, whom he set up there, will perish in the city. The day arrived, on which the middle Ides of April closes all,[107] The earth laughs with sprouted plant. The tyrant moves the whole camp from the emptied mountains into the plain, He deploys his troops, he occupies the fields. He hurls repeated assaults at us, that he may keep us out from the rampart, That he may thence pursue us far away. Furthermore, that he may draw our battle lines outside And that thus the undefended machine may bear injury with our men. And, yet, nothing proposed is useful to him, The guards of the rampart block him by night and by day, Moreover, at the same time they harass the walls, they scatter the enemy With numerous pebbles, the machine hurls stones. A short journey is separating the sea from the city, The sea and the wave of the channel receive the river there. The nobles of Pisa held these places, but when the enemies went out, The leaders dashed out from the camps. This legion is always unoccupied with arms, the knight, thriving at the point of the sword, Does not know leisure, a strong meeting for arms. The noble army does not fear to meet the marched-out enemy, But rather it compels all to enter into flight together Because the die or flight rescued few from wars, Besides those, whom the river drowns there. For indeed outside, the shut-out enemies, seeing the closed doors of the gates, Did not keep the road. Truly the fear of the city was great, Lest our mixed-up army would flow together into the city and go within. That fear brought the danger straight forward to the hostile side And was the greatest cause of destruction. Thus the clash had cut off all the surviving men from the camp, The bare walls are deprived of their defenders. This matter excites the spirits in us, and if Night should permit it, Glory would have been gained by us here. For this Fortune would be unexpected, Because our cohort was hardly able to be idle from arms. Therefore, the tools of Mars could not be prepared easily, When night was pressing the day. Therefore the lot was seductive, But this lot, lacking the shown and good end, did not give full joys. But however long delayed, The victory had redeemed great and perpetual honor for us, If the favorable lot were not limited by our vice, Which the outcome and the order of the affair sufficiently expose. Diverse error had led some people astray from us, Whom crime and love of base profit were moving: If I do not report these, the unkind end nevertheless shows them, As does the sad result, the harsh plague. For although the grace of fortune and the open matter smiled sufficiently On the friendly face for the proposals, And also the elements would have promised a triumph to us, Soothing Air, friendly Sea, joyful Earth. Furthermore, the city having confessed its stupor as if Now it would nearly lack the help of a defender, You would see that all inside had come into the titles of the faith, If we should pursue the work begun. Now nothing was standing in our way, when Envy and Gold corrupted us, These two joined at the same time. And a two-fold cause hence carried off our titles, and the enemy our ruin: Once a certain desire, now crime. That day, which proceeds the Ides of the month of May,[108] Carried the sad Fates for the injury of the faith, And if the destructive little matter were grievous, Then the judgment of the people is permitted, as it was before: Of course, the greatest cause of the scattered triumph, Was that erected timbers had joined the walls. For the triple machine did not stand against The falling towers along the wall for eight and ten days.[109] An unquenchable pyre is sent into the camp, Thus the triple machine burns with the three castles. Here the iron ram is consumed, here ten floors covered with the hides of cows Are burnt up by fire. Thus the long labor perishes, but useless Hope chills, The field of fruit does not favorably return a seed. For the ferocity of the wind, as if a protectress of the enemy and of the city, Blows to warm the pyre for our injury: The breeze gave the fires strength and madness to such an extent, That the scent of the flame becomes doubled, And because all may be arranged by celestial will, The wooden mass is dissolved into fresh ashes, And because the footsoldier-mob had entered those citadels, The fiery globe envelops many bodies. Nevertheless, many just escape, whom the lot, fear or fickleness or, rather Catastrophe had delivered from there. For these many have at last exposed the head to debris, Those to whom the creeping flame was denying a path. The greatest free party labors in the flames with a rope, And the rope, leading the way, was the protection for it. In the fire, chalices, plates, silver vessels melt, The armor, the helmets, the iron mass, flow together. This loss moves some, it troubles some not at all, But nevertheless the impious motive shocks the pious. Many attributed this crime to some leaders, If only they would bear fitting rewards with their merits! So, however, I free from charge all the faithful from the disaster, Whatever swift Rumor may declare, I myself deny. Let the Rumor be absent that those signed with the cross or washed in baptism Are guilty of fraud and of the charged crime! Therefore do not let that Rumor obscure the manly spirits: From a sad beginning will be an honorable end. Coming from the camp of Saladin, a certain deserter Teaches us many things about the Roman princeps. But because the deserter was seized, either by duty or by prayer or by force, And was guilty of joined treason, Few showed faith; but, abandoning the camp, Another arrives speaking truths of Caesar in order: In what order, with what assistance, with what army, what strength The imperial honor crosses over from the Greeks, With what agreement Greece settled a peace with Caesar, With what manliness he would free the paths for himself, Moreover, with what hostages or what leader Prudent Caesar prepares to approach the citadels of Antioch He had fixed each day for himself and his leaders there, That the messenger may return openly. Thus this Rumor revives ruined spirits for us, And a new hope raised the former burden. No less, a knight sent by the king of the French and, at the same time, By the princeps of the English arrives. He greets those primates on the first front, Primates among whom he had known that the leaders of the faith were. The page, which follows, promises swift men And offers the arrivals of the kings and their assistance, To excuse the men, he holds out and offers an explanation, Absolving the long delays with reason. The final part of the writing, confirms the masters’ minds, That honesty and strength may not be torpid in them. The French and English world shines with how much peace, How much love joins the kings and perseverance decorates them. The writings teach what roar of foot soldiers, what glory of horsemen Or what supply of arms approach. Stirred, the strong army rises to these promises, And the seen letter cheers the leaders. Moreover, hunger was troubling the enemy in the city, And many with them within were weak. For these reasons, therefore, we began to delay the affairs of war, And the care and labor of Mars dies, Meanwhile, the enemy very frequently displays lights and signs to the tyrant And request reinforcement, And although many a fleet may watch over the harbor, A frequent ship stealthily exits from the city by night; The clandestine ship exits and enters the waters through the estuary, And thus shows the conditions of their city. With this help the long hunger and other injuries became known to the tyrant And serious weaknesses became known to him as well, And the barbarian both lures and calms those men with pleasant storytelling And he nurtures his men with vain hope. Therefore, he often exhibits all the maniples openly And as if he assembles them and presses them to war, That, if, perchance, he should be able to wrest us from the wall, The barbarous horseman would penetrate inside the camp at the same time, That thus the tyrant, giving them passage through the whole enclosure, May emancipate the enemies of the city from us. Therefore he began to harass us frequently along the rampart And he displays his strength everywhere. The holy day had arrived, when Christ wished to enlighten His disciples with the Holy Spirit.[110] Some had left the safety of our rampart to roam far away, But nevertheless without fear. Yet this rash boldness of the armed men is permitted, If I should admit the truth, and it was not controlled. For it had chased the hostile banners beyond the accustomed Passage and past the Latin Tower; Although, in fact, the enemy fell back with trickery, Wishing to thus remove us from our camp. But since the cisterns, which then were giving drink to the enemy, Might have poisoned the waters with felled corpses, Now our side began to remove itself from the danger And to approach the rampart again with a safe pace. And this affair did not escape notice. Saladin roused to arms As if arranging to have a clash of war. Here he arranges all his lines and he seeks combat: The footsoldier throng bears slings, the horseman throng bears arrows, And standing before our nobles in their positions, All oppose their whole hearts to the enemy. For the strength and manliness of the horsemen took the powerful to advance; The throng of the Temple is present, leading the way together: That foremost battle line always exposes itself to war And learned to follow the final fates with a few men. Hence the presence of the soldier enlivens us, A crowd as large as our walls was in the enemy. The tyrant was not able to vanquish, and nor was he able to remove, Those whom the lot raised first with the help of the sword. Thus the pernicious labor lacked effect, And the enemy also returns himself to his camp not without loss. For this short Fortune carried off twenty foot soldiers from the enemy, As two lay dead from us. But I pass over many, whom the sling or the bow struck, Whom it is clear had recovered after a short time. After these events, departures by the troops are restrained And common care binds all of the leaders with this command, That neither the footsoldier throng nor the horseman may roam to and fro, The renewed law of the angry people forbids free reins, Until the unbound common people, when it is time, with a strong plan, Will bear free bridles for supremacy. But the hostile violence does not rest, for indeed A diverse care and the resulting fear urges this violence on. It had felt the approach of the Roman princeps, from whom he, fearing future injuries, Does not know that the emperor has a delay. Our rest is the greatest cause of labor for him, And our peace nurtures the seed of war in the enemy. For because we withdraw more from war, The enemy subject themselves to this war, if the place were for them. And although he was never going to feel the honor of the prize, The returned barbarian strives to go to the track. When the troops were disposed and the maniples exposed simultaneously, He, spread out, comes forth into the field from his camp. The thirteenth light, which comes before the Kalends of June,[111] Happy, was smiling by the service of its sun. Happy, indeed, for us but, made gloomy, it assisted the tyrant, As the following stanza will thoroughly discuss. Dawn, recalling the destruction of cremated Memnon,[112] Was mourning, with dew wetting the sad cheeks, When Saladin displays all his battle lines in the rising of the sun: The crash shakes the fields with a dull roar. The footsoldier company, equipped with shields, leads the way, about to feel The first clash of war, yet scarcely any are going to return: This battle line, protected with the defense of the shield alone, and not with arms, Was Mars’s first victim. Preceding, therefore, as if by the bow it were the equal of the wall It defends itself and its comrades with this weapon’s help The battle line which might have begun to flow into the wall and, at the same time, Might have passed over all snares, which the soil covers there, Our footsoldiers rush out, soldiers whom noble manliness arms, Whom strength protects and ennobles, They clear the doors and remove the bolts, They tear their enemy from the rampart and cast them down. And wishing to avenge the garrison for their flight, The pits impede and hamper the enemy’s flight, And our nobles following then from their rear slay those falling in, They mark the fields with gore, And the bow harasses and javelins pursue with countless wounds, The surviving enemies, whom flight aids in the meantime, And if all their knights were not giving aid here, Since they were battering our army with their shields, And if our horseman could have run out from the rampart, The full grace of Fortune would have belonged to us, so I reckon. The second battle line is following close behind, Those who wear red caps on their foreheads, using the sling to hurl stones. But when they saw the danger of the former disaster, These lines fear the sights, the danger, the sinister fates. And now they almost do not dare to commit themselves To the rampart following the example of their comrades, who fell before. Although the gentile horseman had abandoned his horses already, Namely so that they would relieve the footmen with this help, Until it predicted for itself the decision of war, The reinforcement of horse attacks again, they who were before the foot. Therefore the tyrant seeing that losses threaten his men, Has withdrawn and reveals banners that will be moved far away, He protects troops from assaults and recalls the willing, Who fear to suffer the greater and heavier punishment. He returns into his camp without praise and without triumph And he orders his fallen corpses to be removed. He orders the funeral mound to be heaped up, yet without this commotion, That the known proceeding may not cheer the Frankish men. Yet that work did not remain unnoticed, because a certain deserter Revealed everything with his information. Indeed, he teaches that thousands of knights died during this misfortune Of the part of unkind fortune Besides those, whom the trust in shields leads into swords; No one had used these men of horse, rather they had used these men of foot. It is known that the tyrant sent out a thousand men here But our loss and anguish were light. As Rumor reports, we have suffered there no dishonor or injury And we have squandered nothing, With a few excepted, who suffered occasional wounds, Who nevertheless recovered, with the help of God. Indeed on that night, on which this affair took place, behold, I do not know, If a client has been sent by the enemy, He shows the enemy about to come again for tomorrow’s time; But the thing alarmed us but little. Nevertheless the king and the leaders work to augment the strength of our rampart, So that they can have the place more securely: They shore up the entrances, so that every horseman may exit through the gates Of the rampart repeatedly or at least may ward off the enemy. The next day’s light rises, by which the deserter had said The enemy was going to come again, and yet they have not reappeared. No doubt the tyrant had changed his intention, As he saw that work was pointless for his forces. And furthermore, their own punishment had betrayed many gentiles And had made the leaders sluggish to arms, And if Rumor does not deceive, About twenty ships were about to come from Babylon. For these reasons, Saladin delayed his return, That he would thus help the city with strong naval aid And our leaders mostly began to fortify the seas with ships And feared but little. They equip fifty boats and emptying just as many vessels they make The vessels be exposed through the surface of the channels, That the coming hostile fleet may not able to pass over And that it may not bring help to its citizens, That the barbarian may send no horsemen or provisions into the city, Or that no supply may drive away hunger. The field swelling with a small hill and the Latin Tower And the middle was provided with a rampart for the enemy, Of course the barbarian had planned to mark the conditions Of the city yonder, revealing signals and notes to them. It happened that the footsoldier company had exited the gates at the hour Of the Evening because of the rampart about to be restored. When that Christian company saw the neighboring places which the enemy occupies, Scorning, it directs its step to that place: It rushes into adverse parts, it demands the places of the enemy. They withdraw, those whom slashing drives and fear impels. From this we suffered stones, which barbarous sling was hurling, The mass of which were large through the fields. The tyrant had previously equipped footsoldiers with these arms, That they would press and scatter our men. We have, therefore, thoroughly removed these stones from the enemy With flight coming to aid separated enemies. And thus we occupied the brow of this mountain, Until dark night approved the way for us. That one thing alarms the Damascene, He orders his maniples to be armed by the following light, And moreover he commands the countryside to be strewn with pebbles again, That he may call the Franks to arms again. The sixth day preceding the Nones of June in order came[113] And it was both the time of summer and it was a beginning. Harsh Phoebus was pressing Indian and Ethiopian fields with his Libyans more than usual, And however much more sparingly he may burn the remaining regions, He had strewn his strength into Syria. The enemy, from that cause, had scattered his battle lines into the evening times, That labor would not be burdensome to them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The pounding drums of war mark the decision. The troop of infantry tests the fields and extended in its order, leading the way, It fittingly seizes the route. By this fleeing he knew that the wretched brood of men were idle with arms, and The common people are accustomed to be unpracticed at war. And when, by chance, they approach the interval of war With an unclothed body, only the first tends to suffer dangers. This precedes the shields and whirls pebbles with tensed sling And knocks down those as they are about to enter into the rampart. Of course his knight sends forth those about to hurl and urges footsoldiers From the rear and does not allow the footsoldiers to be wandering. Our nobles are armed, granting that the next Hesperus[114] Was approving rest and a delay. Now, indeed, our footsoldier company had advanced, Seeing that their enemies held the inner fields, And however small in number, they were nevertheless large in strength, The barbarous banners had turned into swift flight. You would see that many of the hostile mob had fallen from this first event, If you should mark the deeds well. But although our side was bearing no peril, Nevertheless, it greatly sustained this work of labor. For a certain legion coming through the plains surrounded our maniples To come to rescue their own, And this labor was so great, that if we were not able to be firmly In place with bent knee, And from bent knee our crowd began to brandish Unsheathed swords against the adverse throngs. The armored horseman precedes, and thus the armored hand Has removed our footmen from danger. For when he saw them nearly yield to destruction, The knight offered help with an opposed point. The footsoldier company thus escaped and augmented by the help of their knight(s) Rescues the Latin Tower. Great was the noise all over through the other places, The enemy was harassing our men very frequently with fire. They lit the funeral pile on shields, but we saw that nothing was burnt there, And injury had been done nowhere. And if night had not withdrawn the help of the sun, fitting punishment And weighty labor would have poured forth against the enemy. For the knight would have torn barbarous tents to pieces, If dark night did not forbid the begun journey. That lot had seized nearly two thousand from the tyrant; It is clear that scarcely seven from us had laid to rest. Thus gentile horseman, wrapped in yellow dressings, perished. For this the yellow color had decorated the arms: This habit always adorns the friends of Saladin, Whom the barbarian wishes to be similar to himself in arms. And our battle lines return, they plead against the iniquities The swift coming of night and his horses. After these the king stationed the horsemen, who guard the gates, Who protect the entrances for him by night and by day. Meanwhile a long famine was tormenting the leaders with the common people in the city: The mule or the horse was giving sustenance. Therefore the leader’s public concern dedicates itself to composing letters And to writing down their weakness to their tyrant. And he commits the composed writings to a sad, dispatched carrier, Promising golden gifts to the man, That thus he may swim and conquer the gales. The messenger enters the waters with his body stripped naked. It was a difficult way straight forward on land, through enemies, Lest the supply of letters should be vulnerable to them. For that reason, the legate enters the channel, he shows his shaved head to the waves, Bearing a load of letters from the city. And divine vengeance did not miss him: The wind pushes the swimmer, a wave engulfs him, a gale shakes him. The hand refuses its duty of swimming for this man, Fright fetters the exhausted feet, he shouts and prays for help. The wretched man shows himself with his own shouting, And his hoarse murmur and weak noise is heard. Our sailors leap upon and rescue the wretched man from the danger: They discover the writings and note the trickery. Marquis Conrad received both the letters and the man, But he nevertheless delayed punishing the guilty. He transfers this man to the king first as well as the letters, to be read Before the king and his magnates at the same time. The packed page, sent to the Damascene and the rest, stands out, Pages whose manner and course were this: “Caracois,[115] your knight trapped in the city, Sends his obedience to Saladin, according to his ability. King of kings, Saladin, I am astonished that your strength is motionless: To what has your bright reputation yielded? Why has your such great power not awoken, power with whose praise A fifth crown surrounds your head? I pray that this power deliver us likewise from prison, That it crush the unworthy enemy and press those inferior men. A very tough famine tortures us; And manliness will not supply five days for your slaves in the city. I pray that either I may implore swift help, or else we will attempt the road To begin the decision of prompt battle. Indeed, I prefer to die with praise than, conquered, to live repulsively; Or, a slave, to yield to the enemy. Yet I do not think that life can be rescued from servile law for me, If you do not extend the hand.” The legation of writing was noted by the leaders: This cheering thing strengthens our men for arms. The legate suffers capital punishment: The severed head is aimed and sent into the city, That the corpse may at least bring the city its secrets back, Secrets which the returning man was going to expose while alive. Yet on account of him there was a split opinion with many, And it was concerning the manner of punishments to be given: Either to be gutted from the sinews, or to be mutilated from his ears and his nose, Or to disappear burnt alive on funeral piles, Either to be bent on a cross, or to be drowned in the waters, it seems right for him, Or, better, to be deprived sight, tooth, and hand. Thus a useless chunk may be returned to them And thus the wretch may live in the city with torn off members. Either the severed hand may just be sent into the city, Or sent bearing with it the letters and all the writings. The common people shout that this man ought to die thoroughly, That the enacted vengeance may further chastise the guilty survivors. Thus far has my Muse of lament groaned [….] And the mournful Camena[116] has sounded sad measures, Indeed, the uninterrupted course of events and material has compelled The work here sadly to employ sad elegiacs. No doubt, they do not follow the history which was sent ahead, But nor were they worthy of a lofty pen. I refuse to add by writing whatever the gentiles or the tyrant have done In writings and songs. I judge that nothing good begins describing the loss of faith, Nor is it proper to tell the perfidious deeds of history. But because the end is at hand, both the limit of anguish and glory draw nigh, I ponder both the thing and the meter to be changed. Now, therefore, it is pleasant to bring forth the Homerics[117] Of joyful triumph about to come presently through both rule and meter: With which order the kings have proposed to go to the parts of the East And the leaders to cross the water, With how much strength Augustus will have subdued the world of the Greeks, With what force he has thrown open the road, With what good time, with which auspices, with what army Caesar has taken Iconium In order to ravage the place, How, with a hundred thousand slain, he attacked the city of Antioch here Without the destruction of his own.[118] Therefore, farewell, light elegiacs, cease your laments! And it remains for a grand work to shed light on joyful things. [Summa tibi laus sit a pravis vituperari, [119] Grande boni signum displicuisse malis! Nullum suffodias, nullum sub murmure rodas, […………] Non tua parva tibi nec grandia sint aliena; Sit gratum, quod habes, sufficiensque tibi! Si bene sobrius es, prorsus vitetur adulans, Cum [tibi] dicit “ave,” sicut ab hoste cave! Vix quisquam tam sobrius est, tam durus et asper, Horum blandicias ut superare queat. Non te promoveat grandis persona loquentis, Nec tam quis quam quid predicat ipse vide! In tam sublimi te numquam culmine ponas, In quo stando tremas et gradiendo cadas]. [1] Joel 4:10. cf. Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3, Virgil, Georgics I, 506 [2] Thierry II of Montfaucon, Archbishop of Besançon. [3] Baldwin IV, King of Jerusalem (d. 1185) [4] Sibylla of Jerusalem [5] Baldwin V, King of Jerusalem (d. 1186) [6] William Longsword of Montferrat (d. 1177) [7] Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem. [8] The poet uses caprae instead of caput both here and below. Is this a clue to his regional dialect? [9] Early summer of 1187. The poet frequently uses the signs of the Zodiac to place events in time. [10] Prutz suggested that “comiscere” be emended to “cum miserae,” presumably based on the metrical flaw. This would result in a couplet meaning, “When Jerusalem first felt the seeds of unhappy fate, (the seeds) are not going to have good fruits.” [11] Raymond III, Count of Tripoli. For Raymond's depiction in this poem, see Marshal Whithead Baldwin, Raymond III of Tripolis and the Fall of Jerusalem (1140-1187) (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1936), 157-8. [12] Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan. The author refers to Saladin as “the tyrant” regularly throughout the poem. [13] Another of the poet’s nicknames for Saladin. [14] The Battle of Hattin, described here, took place on July 4, 1187. [15] Here, the relic of the True Cross, though the phrase is pregnant with deeper meaning. See Cecilia Gaposchkin, Invisible Weapons: Liturgy and the Making of Crusade Ideology (Ithaca and London: Cornell Univeristy Press, 2017), 83-5. [16] i.e. Hattin [17] Judith 9:10, 13:15, 16:5, - 13:10. [18] Reynald of Châtillon. [19] Rufinus, Bishop of Acre, who was killed, and Bernard, Bishop of Lydda, who was, in fact, captured. [20] i.e. Tyre [21] i.e. Conrad of Montferrat, coming from Constantinople. [22] Acre fell to Saladin on July 9, 1187. Jerusalem capitulated on October 2, 1187. [23] Nazareth fell in July of 1187. [24] i.e. Tiberias. [25] Tiberias surrendered to Saladin on July 5, 1187. [26] John 6:5-15 [27] Matthew 2:16-18. [28] Bethlehem surrendered shortly after Ascalon in September of 1187. [29] i.e. Herod the Great [30] St. Jerome, the famous doctor of the Church, was buried in Bethlehem. [31] Evidence that this bit of the poem must have been composed after the Siege of Acre began. [32] Ascalon surrendered to Saladin September 4, 1187. [33] Probably Kerak Castle. See the Itinerarium Peregrinorum, Bk. 1, Ch. 15. [34] Kerak fell in November of 1188 [35] The beginning of the autumn of 1187. Saladin made an attempt against Tyre in August of 1187 but, finding resistance stiff, withdrew. He returned in November of 1187 and began a second, more serious siege. [36] Notus, the South Wind. [37] As Prutz notes, the meter indicates a missing word. Such gaps are denoted by ellipses throughout. [38] Abd al-Salam the Maghribi? [39] Hugh of Galilee, also known as Hugh of Tiberias. [40] Ralph or William. The charters attest to Ralph’s presence at Tyre in 1187. [41] William III, Marquis of Montferrat, father of William Longsword and Conrad of Montferrat. William III had been taken prisoner at Hattin. [42] Saladin abandoned the siege on January 1, 1188. [43] Late autumn, though the author seems confused about the timeline. Saladin made some small offensives to the north in late 1187, but his main northern campaign began in June of 1188. [44] Beirut fell on August 6, 1187, Gabelus on July 16, 1188, and Laodicia on July 23, 1188. [45] In fact, Saladin attacked Tartus (Tortosa) on July 3, 1188 and spent until July 11 razing many of its buildings and defenses. [46] i.e. Saladin [47] The truce between Saladin and Antioch was for the period between October 1188 and May 1189. [48] See Virgil, Aeneid IV, 173-184. [49] William II, King of Sicily. [50] i.e. the Holy Roman Empire [51] Philip Augustus, King of France. [52] Henry, Cardinal-Bishop of Albano. [53] Pope Gregory VIII, who died on December 17, 1187 and was succeeded by Clement III. [54] Henry II, King of England. [55] Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre. [56] King Henry and King Philip took the cross on January 21, 1188. [57] i.e. Philip Augustus [58] Louis VII, who participated in the Second Crusade. [59] Richard Lionheart, Count of Poitou, had already taken the cross. [60] The court at Mainz assembled on March 27, 1188. [61] Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor. [62] Along with “Augustus,” one of Emperor Frederick’s titles. [63] April 23, 1189. [64] A reference to a theory from antiquity about the cause of the dark skin of Africans. [65] Alexander the Great, ancient King of Macedon, a famous conqueror. [66] Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Cato the Younger, renowned generals of ancient Rome. [67] Or, possibly, “When the campaign concludes.” [68] i.e. King Guy [69] Conrad of Montferrat had denied Guy entry to Tyre. [70] Geoffrey of Lusignan. [71] August of 1189. [72] i.e. Tyre. [73] i.e. Conrad of Montferrat. [74] August 28, 1189. [75] The East Wind. [76] i.e. The army under King Guy. [77] An alternative name for Acre, derived from the name of a nearby ancient settlement. [78] cf. Virgil, Georgics 1, 145. [79] i.e. Saladin [80] September 8, 1189. [81] Prutz was unsure of this word. Though his transcription appears to be correct, crimineus makes little sense in context. [82] Literally, "young men," though the word is fraught with interpretative difficulties. See Conor Kostick, The Social Structure of the First Crusade (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 187-212. [83] Prutz believed fructus to be a corruption, but the sense is obvious: the iuvenes are tasked with stopping the flow of food into Acre. [84] i.e. The Tower of Flies, which protected Acre's harbor. [85] It appears that the Christians have already begun to build makeshift siege towers on top of their ships and that the defenders of Acre have responded by shoring up their harbor defenses. This culminated with the Christian naval assault on the Tower of Flies in September 1190: see John D. Hosler, The Siege of Acre, 1189-1191: Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, and the Battle That Decided the Third Crusade (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018), 79-82. [86] James of Avesnes. [87] Ludwig III, Landgrave of Thuringia. [88] Cf. Matthew of Vendôme, Tobias, I, 104? [89] Signum may be a play on words: it is both a "sign", as in prophecy, and the word for a battle standard. The battle standards are part of the vision that the comet has presented to the Christians. The Latin, fatum can mean fate (in our sense), a prophecy, or death. This is an ominous portent for the Christians. [90] A mistake for October 4, 1189. [91] The meter is defective in this passage. Prutz suggests "mensis" in line 719, "noverca" here, and "ordine" in line 726. None of these are necessary for the sense, but they do fit the meter. Fortuna Noverica is a rather imaginative emendation, but I have retained it, since it is a common image in medieval literature. [92] Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, II, 476; Lucan, Civil War, VII, 321. [93] The manuscript only has "murmans" here. Murmurans disrupts the meter, but seems to make sense in context. [94] In the Latin, "teases" (ludit) and "mocks" (illudit) are a pun. The Die of Fortune has moved on from lighthearted teasing to cruel mockery. [95] Prutz suggested mobilis ("fickle") for nubilus. The line's meter is flawed. [96] Literally, they turn their "chests", pectora, to face the Christian leaders. Since pectora also means their hearts (thus, their spirits), the phrase implies that the Saracens both literally turned around to repel the assault, and rallied their fleeing spirits. [97] For the section through line 786, Helen Nicholson, “’Martyrum collegio sociandus haberet’: Depictions of the Military Orders’ Martyrs in the Holy Land, 1187–1291,” in Crusading and Warfare in the Middle Ages: Realities and Representations. Essays in Honour of John France, Simon John and Nicholas Morton (eds.) (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014), 111-2. [98] Gerard of Ridefort, Grand Master of the Knights Templar. The author puns on his name. Gerens is Latin for "bearing." Ardea was an Italian town which, according to ancient Roman legend, was tragically destroyed by Aeneas, in spite of its heroic resistance under the leadership of the warrior Turnus. The sense is that Gerard was brave, strong, and virtuous, but doomed. He is "interpreter and proof of his name" because the very name Gerald is fulfilled in his life, as though the name itself were prophesying him. [99] References, respectively, to heavy Templar losses in battles at Tiberias and Hattin. [100] In other words, the fields outside Acre were covered in Christian blood. [101] December 25, 1189. [102] March 4, 1190. [103] Two mythological embodiments of North Wind. [104] King William had died on November 18, 1189. [105] Since King William died without a child, he was succeeded by Tancred, his illegitimate cousin. [106] March 25, 1190. [107] April 13, 1190? [108] A mistake for May 5, 1190. [109] Likely a mistake for “eight.” [110] May 13, 1190. [111] May 19, 1190. [112] Memnon was a figure from ancient mythology, the son of the dawn, who fell during the Trojan War. [113] A mistake for May 26, 1190. [114] In ancient mythology, the evening star, the embodiment of twilight. [115] The Western name for Emir Baha al-Din al-Asadi Qara Qush, commander of the Muslim garrison in Acre. [116] Goddess equated with the Muses. [117] Dactylic hexameter. [118] The author’s unawareness of Emperor Frederick’s death betrays that this passage must have been written before August of 1190. [119] Here the manuscript continues for a further 13 lines, excerpted from a poem on the Four Cardinal Virtues once attributed to Hildebert of Lavardin. See A. B. Scott, "The Poems of Hildebert of le Mans: A New Examination," Medieval and Renaissance Studies 6 (1968): 76. Prutz believed these lines to be completely unrelated to the above Song of the Siege of Acre, but they may prove useful for reconstructing the manuscript tradition. |