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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of With Spurs of Gold, by 
+Frances Nimmo Greene and Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: With Spurs of Gold
+       Heroes of Chivalry and their Deeds
+
+Author: Frances Nimmo Greene
+        Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+Release Date: May 30, 2008 [EBook #25651]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH SPURS OF GOLD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "'Ah, my ill-starred blade!' he cried; 'no longer may I
+be thy guardian!'" _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+
+  With Spurs of Gold
+
+  _Heroes of Chivalry and Their Deeds_
+
+  By
+
+  Frances Nimmo Greene
+
+  and
+
+  Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+     Boston
+     Little, Brown, and Company
+     1928
+
+     _Copyright, 1905,_
+     BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+
+  _All rights reserved_
+
+  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+These brief historical sketches were written primarily for young people,
+though it is hoped that some older readers may find pleasure in renewing
+their acquaintance with heroes of chivalry whose names are familiar
+still, but whose deeds are recalled to mind but vaguely.
+
+It is the purpose of the book to enliven the study of history by giving
+the romantic details omitted in text-books, and to enable the readers to
+form a more vivid and lifelike conception of the great men with whom it
+deals and the turbulent and picturesque times in which they lived.
+
+The endeavor of the authors has been to narrate events and portray
+character accurately and impartially, but in the sympathetic spirit that
+recognizes the wide difference between modern standards of conduct and
+the ideals of the Middle Ages,--the spirit that strives to depict
+vividly and adequately the fine, strong virtues and great deeds that won
+for these knights the unbounded admiration of their own age, rather than
+to dwell upon those traits and acts that are justly condemned by the
+finer moral sense of the twentieth century. Emphasis is laid upon the
+noble in character and deed rather than the ignoble, on the great rather
+than the little.
+
+In the preparation of the book many histories, chronicles, and legends
+have been consulted, and it is hoped that a fair degree of accuracy has
+been attained where the narrative belongs to the domain of history. The
+stories of Roland and the Cid, of course, are largely legendary, and
+there is evidently a considerable admixture of fiction in the
+contemporary accounts of Godfrey and Richard. The authors have
+endeavored to follow recognized historical authority closely when
+practicable; but historians differ so widely among themselves that it is
+often impossible to determine which version of events is most reliable.
+No important fact has been stated without good historical authority, but
+one or two minor incidents of Godfrey's life and crusade were taken from
+Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered." In the treatment of a few unimportant
+events, some imaginative details and circumstances strictly in harmony
+with the meagre historical record of facts have been added to give color
+and interest to the narrative. Also in several instances where the
+subject-matter of a conversation or speech is purely legendary, or is
+given by historians in the third person, it has been put in the first
+person in order to render the story livelier and more vivid. No other
+liberties have been taken with facts as related by historians of
+learning and repute.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+   INTRODUCTORY                                                       xi
+
+   "THIS IS THE RULE FOR THE GALLANT KNIGHT"                           1
+
+   A STEED! A STEED!                                                   3
+
+   ROLAND AND OLIVER                                                   7
+
+   THE CID RODRIGO DIAZ DE BIVAR                                      51
+
+   THE CID'S WEDDING                                                  84
+
+   GODFREY AND THE FIRST CRUSADE                                      89
+
+   THE TROUBADOUR                                                    139
+
+   THE CARRIER DOVE                                                  140
+
+   THE CAPTIVE KNIGHT                                                141
+
+   RICHARD COEUR-DE-LION                                           145
+
+   RICHARD'S LAMENT                                                  196
+
+   THE LAST CRUSADER                                                 198
+
+   THE CHEVALIER BAYARD                                              203
+
+   SIR PHILIP SIDNEY                                                 255
+
+   SIDNEY IN TOURNAMENT                                              291
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+   "'Ah, my ill-starred blade!' he cried; 'no longer
+       may I be thy guardian!'"                            _Frontispiece_
+
+   The Knighting of the Cid                                   _Page_ 59
+
+   "'Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath
+       found water!' cried Sigier"                               "  109
+
+   "There for months he was kept a close prisoner,
+       loaded with chains"                                       "  190
+
+   "As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer
+       among the Spanish who did not come to
+       speak kindly to him"                                      "  251
+
+  Sir Philip Sidney and Penelope Devereux                        "  266
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+
+THE MOORS IN SPAIN
+
+In the seventh century an Arab by the name of Mohammed, or Mahomet,
+established a new religion in the East. This religion was called Islam,
+meaning The Faith, and its followers were known as Mohammedans,
+Mussulmans, or Moslems. The principal article of their belief is
+expressed in the formula, "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is
+his prophet."
+
+The new faith spread rapidly, and Mohammed soon became the ruler of all
+the people who received him as a prophet. His successors, called
+Caliphs, or Khalifs, conquered Palestine, Syria, Persia, and northern
+Africa. The inhabitants of the countries thus added to the Mohammedan
+empire usually adopted the faith of their conquerors, and undertook to
+carry it into other lands.
+
+In 711 A. D., a body of these Mohammedans, under the leadership of
+Tarik, crossed the strait between Africa and Spain and landed at the
+place since known as Gibraltar (Jebel-el-Tarik, or The Rock of Tarik).
+The invaders were met near Xeres by the Christians, under the command of
+Roderick, King of the Visigoths, and the fierce battle of Jerez de La
+Frontera, or Guadalete, took place. At the end of three days' fighting,
+Roderick was slain, and the Christians were completely routed. Victory
+after victory for Tarik followed, and in three short years all Spain,
+except the extreme northern part, was in the hands of the invaders.
+
+These victorious followers of Mohammed, though people of various
+nationalities, were all designated by the Spaniards _Moors_, from the
+name of a tribe that came from Morocco, or _Saracens_, from an Arabic
+word meaning eastern. Often they were called simply _infidels_, meaning
+unbelievers.
+
+The Moors were not only skilled warriors, but a people of much
+intelligence, and made far more rapid advances in civilization than the
+Spaniards. They fostered education, and founded schools and libraries.
+They possessed a considerable knowledge of astronomy, algebra,
+chemistry, and natural history, and attained great excellence in the
+arts of music, poetry, and architecture. They built splendid cities,
+adorned with magnificent mosques and palaces. The wonderful mosque of
+Cordova and the beautiful Alhambra at Granada remain to this day as
+monuments of the Moorish skill in architecture.
+
+Nor were the Moors cruel or tyrannical rulers. It was not often that a
+Moorish emir or king ill-treated or persecuted his Christian subjects.
+As a rule, the Christians were allowed more privileges and greater
+freedom than was usually accorded to a conquered people in those days.
+But the Spaniards were proud and intensely religious, and they bitterly
+resented their state of subjection to a foreign and "infidel" people.
+Again and again they attempted to overthrow the power of the Moors and
+to drive them from Spain. For more than seven hundred years, war was
+waged at intervals between the conquerors and the conquered. There could
+be no permanent peace between Mohammedans and Christians, for each
+people despised the religion of the other, and each was determined to
+rule in Spain.
+
+Gradually, Moorish Spain, at first under the rule of one emir, became
+separated into a number of small kingdoms, which were often hostile to
+each other. This state of disunion among the Mohammedans materially
+aided the efforts of the Christians to regain control of Spain. Little
+by little the Spaniards reconquered their native land. In 1492 A. D.,
+Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon,
+conquered Granada; and with the fall of Granada ended the long rule of
+the Moors in Spain.
+
+
+THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE
+
+In the fifth century that part of Europe then called Gaul was invaded in
+succession by three Germanic races. The Visigoths first conquered and
+took possession of the southern part of the country. They were followed
+by the Burgundians, who settled in the eastern portion. Then came the
+terrible Franks, who were not content with seizing the northern
+territory, but immediately began a war of conquest against the other two
+tribes. The long conflict that followed ended at length in the triumph
+of the Franks. These fierce Franks then established themselves firmly as
+the ruling race, and in course of time Gaul came to be known as the land
+of the Franks, or France.
+
+The kingdom thus established by the Franks under their dreaded chief,
+Clovis, flourished for a time; but eventually the kings of his line
+became so weak in character and so wicked in conduct as to be unfit to
+rule, and the country fell into a state of wretched disorder. At last
+these Merovingian princes became so utterly incapable that the kingly
+authority fell into the hands of certain state officials called "Mayors
+of the Palace."
+
+In the eighth century one of these mayors--a bold and energetic warrior,
+by the name of Charles, or Karl--became in reality the ruler of France,
+though a weak Merovingian prince still bore the empty title of king.
+
+At that time the Mohammedans who had conquered Spain some years before
+were seized with the ambition to conquer all Europe and add it to the
+empire of Islam. Under the leadership of Abderrahman, Moorish governor
+of Spain, these Saracens crossed the Pyrenees and invaded France. The
+Christians of all races, roused by the greatness of the threatened
+danger, ceased warring among themselves and rallied as one people to the
+defence of their country and their religion. A large army under the
+command of Charles, or Karl, ruler of the Franks, met the invaders near
+Tours. There, in 732 A. D., was fought the famous battle of Tours, or
+Poictiers, in which Charles and his Christian warriors utterly routed
+the formidable Mohammedan army. By this great victory, the threatened
+advance of the Moslem power was checked, and Europe was saved to the
+Christian faith. The victorious general, Charles, because of this great
+blow dealt to the _Infidels_, received the surname of Martel, or the
+Hammer.
+
+But the fame of Karl Martel, though great and well-deserved, is far
+surpassed by the renown of his grandson, Charlemagne, or Charles the
+Great. The kingship of France, Charlemagne inherited from his father,
+Pepin, who, more ambitious than Karl Martel, dethroned the Merovingian
+puppet king and made himself king in name as well as in fact.
+Charlemagne, during his reign of forty-five years, added vast
+territories to his Frankish kingdom by successful wars waged against
+surrounding tribes of heathen Saxons, against the Moors in northern
+Spain, the inhabitants of Bavaria, the Avars beyond that country, and
+the people of Lombardy, in what is now Italy.
+
+In the year 800 A. D., on Christmas Day, the great Frankish king was
+crowned emperor by the Pope at Rome. He was hailed as a successor to the
+Roman Cæsars, the people shouting,--
+
+"Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, crowned by God, the great,
+pious, and pacific Emperor of the Romans!"
+
+Charlemagne, in truth, well deserved the title of emperor, for at that
+time his sway extended over France, northern Spain, northern Italy, the
+greater part of Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland,--almost half of
+Europe. But Charlemagne was more than a successful warrior, a conqueror
+of nations. He was a man of powerful intellect, whose keen insight,
+sound judgment, and iron will enabled him to rule wisely and well the
+various races of his vast empire. Charlemagne was an earnest student and
+a man of extensive learning for those days, familiar with Latin and
+Greek, proficient in logic, rhetoric, music, astronomy, and theology.
+Delighting in study himself, the emperor recognized the vital importance
+of general education. By founding schools and compelling attendance upon
+them, by himself setting an example of devotion to study, thus
+encouraging others to intellectual pursuits, by inviting to his court
+famous scholars from neighboring countries,--in every way possible,
+Charlemagne endeavored to impress upon his people the value of mental
+culture and the importance of education.
+
+His court became the resort of learned men and renowned knights from
+all lands, and the fame of Charlemagne spread far and wide. Poets
+celebrated his achievements as a warrior, his virtues as a man, his
+wisdom as a ruler. Nor was their praise unmerited. By the most wonderful
+military genius, this chieftain of a wild Frankish tribe carried out his
+ambitious project of establishing a great Christian empire. That he only
+partially succeeded in his more noble purpose of civilizing the
+barbarous tribes he ruled, was due solely to the magnitude of the task.
+The zealous and splendid effort he made, the measure of success he
+attained, in battling against the darkness and ignorance of his time,
+entitle Charlemagne to a place among the truly great men of the world.
+His greatness has stamped his name on the time, and the "Age of
+Charlemagne" stands out in happy contrast to the darkness of preceding
+and subsequent times.
+
+
+THE CRUSADES
+
+It was the custom in the earliest ages of Christianity for its followers
+to make pilgrimages to Palestine. All pious Christians desired to visit
+the land where Christ had lived and died for their redemption, and they
+believed firmly that the blessing of God awaited those pilgrims who
+made long and perilous journeys to worship at the tomb of their Lord.
+These pilgrimages became much more numerous in the fourth century, when
+the Roman emperor, Constantine, was converted to Christianity and put a
+stop to the persecution of the Christians. This emperor and his mother,
+Saint Helena, restored Jerusalem, and there erected magnificent churches
+for the worship of Christ. Then, from all parts of the Christian world,
+thousands of pilgrims journeyed to the Holy City in peace and safety.
+
+But Jerusalem was not destined to remain in the hands of the Christians.
+After having been taken by the Persians and retaken by the Christians,
+the city yielded in the seventh century to the Mohammedans, under the
+Caliph Omar, a successor of Mohammed. From that time on, Christians
+living in Palestine and pilgrims from other countries were oppressed and
+persecuted, and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem became both difficult and
+dangerous. During the reign of Charlemagne, respect for the fame and
+power of that great Christian emperor induced the celebrated Caliph
+Haroun-al-Raschid to treat the Christians with mildness, and to allow
+them to worship in peace at Jerusalem; but under the succeeding
+Mohammedan rulers of Palestine, the Christians were subjected to every
+manner of insult and outrage. Those courageous pilgrims who dared all
+the perils of a journey to Jerusalem and returned home in safety, spread
+abroad throughout Europe the sad story of their own trials, the
+sufferings of their fellow-Christians in Palestine, and the desecration
+of holy places.
+
+These stories excited deep indignation and pious horror in all hearers,
+for it was an age of intense religious faith and enthusiasm; and the
+feeling arose in the hearts of Christian people that it was an
+imperative religious duty to rescue the Holy Land and the Sepulchre of
+their Lord from the Infidels. This feeling grew and spread and
+strengthened into a religious conviction throughout Christendom. So when
+Peter the Hermit, a monk returned from Palestine, traveled through
+Europe, and preached eloquently the sacred duty of delivering the Holy
+Land, he found everywhere enthusiastic hearers.
+
+The people burned with zeal to undertake the pious task; and when Pope
+Urban, at the Council of Clermont, in 1095 A. D., gave the sanction of
+the Church to the enterprise, all Europe rushed to arms. Those who vowed
+to do battle for the holy cause bore the sign of the cross, and hence
+the expedition to Palestine was called a "crusade," from the Latin word
+_crux_, meaning cross.
+
+The history of this First Crusade is given in the sketch of Godfrey de
+Bouillon, and that of the Third Crusade in connection with the story of
+Richard Coeur-de-Lion. These two were the most famous crusades,
+although others were undertaken at different periods. The last crusade
+took place in the thirteenth century, under the leadership of Louis IX.
+of France--Saint Louis--and was unsuccessful. After that time, the
+Christians made no further attempt to rescue the Holy Land, and it is
+still in the hands of the Mohammedans.
+
+
+
+
+With Spurs of Gold
+
+
+
+
+"THIS IS THE RULE FOR THE GALLANT KNIGHT"
+
+
+    Amend your lives, ye who would fain
+    The order of the knights attain;
+    Devoutly watch, devoutly pray;
+    From pride and sin, oh turn away!
+    Shun all that's base; the Church defend;
+    Be the widow's and the orphan's friend;
+    Be good and leal; take naught by might;
+    Be bold and guard the people's right;--
+        This is the rule for the gallant knight.
+
+    Be meek of heart; work day by day;
+    Tread, ever tread, the knightly way;
+    Make lawful war; long travel dare;
+    Tourney and joust for ladye fair;
+    To everlasting honour cling,
+    That none the barbs of blame may fling;
+    Be never slack in work or fight;
+    Be ever least in self's own sight;--
+        This is the rule for the gallant knight.
+
+    Love the liege lord; with might and main
+    His rights above all else maintain;
+    Be open-handed, just and true;
+    The paths of upright men pursue;
+    No deaf ear to their precepts turn;
+    The prowess of the valiant learn;
+    That ye may do things great and bright,
+    As did Great Alexander hight;--
+        This is the rule for the gallant knight.
+
+    EUSTACHE DESCHAMPS
+    (_Fourteenth century_).
+
+
+
+A STEED! A STEED!
+
+
+    A steed! a steed! of matchless speed!
+      A sword of metal keene!
+    Al else to noble hearts is drosse--
+      Al else on earth is meane.
+    The neighing of the war-horse proude,
+      The rowling of the drum,
+    The clangour of the trumpet loude--
+      Be soundes from heaven that come.
+    And, oh! the thundering presse of knightes,
+      When as their war-cryes swelle,
+    May tole from heaven an angel bright,
+      And rouse a fiend from hell.
+
+    Then mounte! Then mounte! brave gallants all,
+      And don your helms amain;
+    Deathe's couriers, Fame and Honour, call
+      Up to the field againe;
+    No shrewish tear shall fill our eye
+      When the sword hilt's in our hand;
+    Heart-whole we'll parte and no whit sighe
+      For the fayrest of the land.
+    Let piping swaine and craven wight,
+      Thus weepe and puling aye;
+    Our business is like to men to fighte
+      And like to Heroes, die!
+
+    MOTHERWELL'S _Ancient Minstrelsy_
+    (_Author unknown_).
+
+
+
+
+ROLAND AND OLIVER
+
+
+THE TRAGEDY OF RONCESVALLES
+
+     "Roland is daring and Oliver wise,
+    Both of marvelous high emprise;
+    On their chargers mounted and girt in mail,
+    To the death in battle they will not quail."
+
+
+
+
+ROLAND AND OLIVER
+
+    "Montjoie! Whoever heard that cry
+     Would hold remembrance of chivalry."
+
+
+In days of old there lived a powerful Christian emperor by the name of
+Charlemagne. His kingdom extended over the greater part of the territory
+which now constitutes the countries of France, Germany, and Italy; and
+the "Franks," as his people were called, followed him with a loving
+loyalty that has been celebrated in song and story for twelve hundred
+years. Around Charlemagne were gathered not a few knights whose names
+will forever be remembered with that of their emperor, and whose deeds
+will live as long as the chivalric instinct thrills the breast of man.
+
+Now this great emperor, though loving and generous toward his subjects,
+could yet brook no shadow of opposition; and when he discovered that his
+beloved sister Bertha had, without his consent, wedded the knight,
+Milon, he at once banished the disobedient pair from the land of
+France.
+
+Fleeing before the awful displeasure of Charlemagne, Milon and his wife
+wandered about in foreign parts as mendicants, and at length took refuge
+in a cave near a small town in Italy. Here, under these adverse
+circumstances, a little son was born to them--one destined to be the
+hero of two countries, the "Roland" of "the French Iliad" and the
+"Orlando" of Italian song and story.
+
+While Roland was yet a little lad, his father departed for unknown lands
+to seek fame and fortune, leaving the boy and his mother to eke out a
+scanty existence as best they might.
+
+As Roland grew in years and in youthful graces, he became a favorite
+with the peasant boys of the village, and, in spite of his ragged
+clothes and his humble abode, was soon made their leader. But there was
+one lad in Sutri who had no love for the stalwart young mendicant.
+Oliver, son of the governor of the town, and consequently a youth of
+high station, conceived quite a dislike for him, and a feud existed
+between the two until it was ended by Roland in a most singular way.
+
+Meeting the son of the governor on neutral ground one day, the fiery
+young cave-dweller proposed that they settle their quarrel with their
+fists. Oliver, being in no whit a coward, quickly consented. The contest
+which ensued was a long and stubborn one, for the two lads were very
+nearly equally matched in strength and endurance and courage. Finally,
+however, the half-clad, disowned nephew of Charlemagne stood triumphant.
+The quarrel was indeed settled; for Oliver, being a lad of mettle, and
+loving and admiring valor wherever he found it, arose from his honorable
+defeat the sworn friend and admirer of his doughty conqueror.
+
+And the friendship of Oliver meant much to the poor lad who had defeated
+him. It often meant food when he was hungry, and clothes when he was
+cold, and always insured him support in all the boyish contests in their
+native village. But, better than all these, it meant to Roland the
+loyal, lifelong devotion of a comrade who became as part of his own
+soul.
+
+While Roland was yet only a stripling, the great emperor, Charlemagne,
+passed through the town of Sutri, and while there dined in public on the
+village green. Now the young Roland had not yet come to the age when he
+could provide for his mother and himself. The times were hard with
+them--especially hard on this great feast-day of the emperor, for they
+were hungry, and knew not where to turn for food.
+
+Now it chanced that Roland, fierce with the fierceness of the
+half-starved, came suddenly upon some of the emperor's attendants just
+as they were bearing trays of rich viands to place before their master.
+The sight of food and the thought of his mother's sufferings instantly
+swept all things else from the lad's mind. Rushing upon the attendants,
+he wrested the viands from them, and made off to his mother's cave
+before they could realize what had happened.
+
+When the emperor was informed of the incident, his brows knitted in deep
+thought, for he had dreamed a dream on the night before, which troubled
+him sorely. He had seen the fierce, half-famished lad in his vision, and
+had been warned to follow him.
+
+After a moment's thought, Charlemagne dispatched three of his knights to
+find the boy and bring him to the royal presence. The three who were so
+commissioned had little trouble in finding the lad, but they came near
+having a serious conflict with him when they attempted to enter,
+uninvited, the cave he felt to be his castle. His mother, however,
+restrained the impetuous youth with her pleadings, and the messengers
+of Charlemagne entered.
+
+When Bertha learned that the knights had come from the emperor, she
+disclosed to them her own identity and the identity of the lad they had
+come to seize. This was Roland's first knowledge of his great lineage,
+and he heard and beheld as in a dream, as the knights knelt before his
+mother and promised to obtain for her the emperor's pardon.
+
+Dazed, dreaming still, the gaunt, sinewy lad took his way to
+Charlemagne, in company with the knights who had been sent to fetch him.
+But in the presence of his emperor,--his kinsman,--the dream feeling
+passed, and Roland rose to the occasion with the pride and independence
+of his race.
+
+When the white-haired, careworn emperor looked upon his sister's son,
+his heart went out to him with a great yearning; for the lad was tall
+and strong, the lad was proud and unconquered. And Charles the Great
+opened his empty arms and took the boy to his heart, nevermore to be
+exiled from it.
+
+Roland and his mother returned to France with the emperor to be, from
+that time on, part of the royal household, and to enjoy riches and
+honor.
+
+But the great happiness that was Roland's was not without its heartache.
+He and his beloved Oliver were completely separated by this change, and
+drifted further away from each other with the drift of years.
+
+As soon as Roland was grown to manhood, Charlemagne made him captain of
+his "peers,"--the twelve knights who, for their bravery and their
+trustworthiness, were chosen to be next to the emperor himself in
+authority.
+
+Among all the twelve, young Roland was the most daring, the most
+impetuous. His splendid qualities won for him the hearts of the many;
+but the few were jealous of him, and charged that he exercised undue
+influence over the emperor and incited the white-haired Charlemagne to
+deeds of daring and violence that were none of his own conceiving. Chief
+among Roland's accusers was the envious Count Ganelon. Ganelon had
+become step-sire to the young peer by wedding the widowed Bertha, but
+the nearness of the tie between him and Roland only seemed to make him
+yet more bent on injuring the emperor's favorite.
+
+However much of truth there was in the charges of Roland's enemies, this
+is certain,--he did become the very darling of the emperor's heart, and
+he did perform such deeds of daring and prowess as made even the
+knightly peerage of Charlemagne behold with wonder and amazement.
+
+The first act of personal daring by which he distinguished himself was
+his engaging and slaying the giant Ferragus. This achievement won for
+Roland the hearts of the people, and led them to watch his crescent
+glory with national pride.
+
+Now in these days a terrible heathen enemy threatened the Christian
+faith and civilization of Europe. Years before, several Mohammedan races
+from Asia--dark, relentless, resistless--had swept over northern Africa,
+and, crossing Gibraltar, overrun the fair land of Spain. North, east,
+and west they spread, conquering the Christians and preaching their
+heathen doctrines with fire and sword. So the beautiful and once
+Christian Spain came to be ruled for many years by the invaders, who
+founded cities, built palaces, and raised Moslem kings to her thrones.
+Nor were the Mohammedans content here. They repeatedly attempted to
+cross the Pyrenees Mountains and overrun the rest of Europe.
+
+Now it chanced that just as a Moorish invasion seemed most imminent,
+Charlemagne had serious trouble within his own kingdom. Guerin de
+Montglave, Lord of Vienne and vassal to Charlemagne, revolted against
+the emperor.
+
+With his usual determination, King Karl dispatched a large army against
+Guerin, and would have waged bloody war against him had not the peers
+interposed and counselled otherwise. They represented to the emperor the
+seriousness of beginning civil war when the Moors were daily threatening
+invasion from the south, and finally succeeded in getting his consent to
+a settlement of the quarrel with Guerin by single combat.
+
+Guerin signifying his willingness to this plan, arrangements were soon
+made for the combat. As all expected, Roland was chosen to maintain the
+justice of the emperor's cause; and as both Roland's friends and enemies
+wished a happy settlement of the quarrel with Guerin, the selection was
+heartily approved.
+
+Guerin de Montglave chose his youngest grandson to do battle for Vienne;
+and many a smile was exchanged between Franks when they heard that this
+young knight accepted with delight the honor that his grandsire
+conferred upon him.
+
+The combat was to be held upon a small island in the Rhone, and the
+warriors of the two camps were accordingly grouped on opposite sides of
+the river, as spectators.
+
+When Roland and his antagonist faced each other at opposite ends of the
+field, each armed from top to toe, each with his face concealed by his
+visor, they were so nearly of the same size and bearing that they might
+easily have been mistaken, the one for the other, but for the colors
+that fluttered from their lances. Yet there was almost sorrow in the
+ranks of Charlemagne's army for the young stranger knight so soon to be
+laid in the dust,--for who could hope to match with Roland?
+
+Their sympathy was all too soon changed to astonishment, for in hardly a
+moment after the sound of the trumpet in signal for the onset, the
+champions clashed together in the center of the lists with apparently
+equal force. Both lances were shivered; both horses reeled from the
+shock; both riders kept their seats; both banks of the Rhone echoed and
+re-echoed with cheering.
+
+The combatants dismounted and drew their swords. For two hours and more
+they fought--stroke for stroke and thrust for thrust. The spectators
+stood breathless with amazement. Neither champion showed sign of
+weakening; neither gained advantage. Suddenly, with one mighty stroke,
+Roland buried his blade in the shield of his antagonist so deep that he
+could not withdraw it, and at almost the same instant the stranger
+knight struck so fiercely upon Roland's breastplate that his sword
+snapped off at the hilt.
+
+Having thus disarmed themselves, the two antagonists rushed together,
+each attempting to fling the other to earth. Long and full stoutly they
+struggled; and when at last it became apparent to the now silent,
+fearful spectators that neither would be likely to gain advantage, the
+combatants each suddenly snatched at the other's helmet to tear it away.
+Both succeeded. The straining spectators then beheld a most amazing
+sight. The two antagonists fell apart for an instant and looked into
+each others' uncovered faces, then rushed into each others' outstretched
+arms. This time there was no striving; they were apparently embracing
+each other in an ecstasy of delight.
+
+And such was indeed the case, for the stranger knight was _Oliver_. For
+nearly three hours had he and Roland striven against each other as
+strangers and enemies. Now they were face to face and heart to heart
+after the cruel striving--after years of separation. What wonder, then,
+that cause and country were forgotten!
+
+And in spite of cause and country and king and kinsman, the two boyhood
+comrades could not be induced to oppose each other further. Happily for
+all concerned, the trouble between Charlemagne and Guerin was settled in
+a few days in peaceful conference.
+
+Roland and Oliver, having thus found each other, refused to be separated
+again; and the good emperor honored the redoubtable Oliver by making him
+one of his peers.
+
+No longer was Roland undisputedly first in valor at the court of
+Charlemagne. Oliver had so grown in prowess since his first encounter
+with Roland that he was now the peer of his friend in every point.
+Indeed, so exactly equal were the achievements of these two that from
+their story has come the well-known expression "a Roland for an Oliver,"
+meaning, matching a deed with a deed as great. There was this difference
+between them, however: whereas Roland was fearless to recklessness and
+proud and presumptuous to his own destruction, Oliver was wise,
+discreet, and modest. Yet this very difference seemed to bind them more
+closely to each other. But there was a yet stronger and closer tie
+between them in Alda, the beautiful sister of Oliver.
+
+After their grandfather, Guerin, had repented of his revolt and again
+become submissive to the emperor, Alda came with her brother to the
+court of Charlemagne. Of all the ladies in the land she was the most
+beautiful, and the gentleness which distinguished her brother was hers
+in a marked degree. Many a mighty knight strove to win her favor; but
+though she was kind to all, her smiles were reserved for her brother's
+comrade, and erelong she became his promised wife.
+
+Great was Oliver's delight to find that the friend who had been a
+brother to him was to be his brother in yet another sense. King Karl,
+too, consented joyously to the troth, for he loved the gentle Alda even
+as he loved her courageous brother.
+
+But no time was there then for marriage feasts and rejoicings. The
+heathen were clamoring at the gates of Christendom, and it became the
+duty of every knight of the true religion to bid a hasty farewell to his
+lady and buckle on his sword.
+
+All France rushed to arms, and not a moment too soon. Marsilius, Saracen
+King of Spain, was preparing to cross the Pyrenees!
+
+Long and bitter was the war which ensued, but Charlemagne saved France
+to the Franks and to the true faith. But King Karl and his men were not
+content with merely saving France from the infidels. At one time the
+Frankish hosts crossed the Pyrenees and conquered nearly all of northern
+Spain. For seven long years King Karl and his Franks warred in the
+peninsula. Keep and castle went down before the Christians; city after
+city capitulated to them; the land was theirs from mountain to sea,
+except the single town of Saragossa, in which the Moslem king,
+Marsilius, together with a powerful army, had taken refuge.
+
+The beautiful Saracen city of Cordres was the last to fall before the
+arms of Charlemagne. Long and stoutly did the besieged stronghold hold
+out against the conqueror, but at last its gates were carried and its
+towers and walls battered to earth.
+
+    "Not a heathen did there remain,
+    But confessed him Christian, or else was slain."
+
+In celebration of the taking of Cordres, Charlemagne shortly afterwards
+held court with great pomp and splendor in a beautiful orchard in the
+heart of the conquered city.
+
+It was the custom of the emperor to take counsel of his peers and
+knights in all matters of import, and he now desired to discuss with
+them how best to bring to a happy close this long and bitter war,--for
+Marsilius was still in possession of Saragossa. With the fall of Cordres
+the end seemed near at hand; and Charlemagne rejoiced, for he had grown
+old and weary of strife, and he longed to return to his own again. No
+less relieved at heart, his warriors gathered about him that day, eager
+to plan some means of ending their cruel exile.
+
+The sky was fair, as with the promise of yet fairer things; and the
+olive-trees of Cordres spread out their branches above and about the
+Christian hosts as if in token of the peace they so earnestly craved.
+
+Seated upon a throne of beaten gold was the Emperor of ample France.
+Proud, and mighty of frame was he, but the curls that rested on his
+shoulders and the beard that flowed over his bosom were white as the
+snow-caps of the Sierra Nevadas. Small wonder the Moslems believed that
+two hundred winters had piled their snows upon his head!
+
+The flower of Frankish chivalry pressed about him--fifteen thousand
+doughty knights of France. Gorgeous carpets were spread upon the
+greensward, upon which the cavaliers sat at games or practised fencing
+with light arms. But nearest to the great Charlemagne--and dearest
+too--were the two sworn comrades, Roland and Oliver.
+
+King Karl had not yet opened the council when there rode into the
+orchard twelve messengers from King Marsilius, each mounted upon a
+snow-white mule, each bearing an olive-branch of peace. A gallant
+company they seemed--fair and honest--as they alighted from their beasts
+and knelt at the feet of the Christian emperor.
+
+Great was the astonishment among the Franks to behold what seemed to
+them a miraculous answer to their prayers for peace; and they listened,
+spell-bound, as the leader of the heathens bowed to the earth and
+said:--
+
+"O king, may thy God of glory save thee! Our lord, Marsilius, doth send
+greeting to thee. Much hath he mused on thy Christian law, and now he
+hath determined to embrace it as his own. If it please thee to depart
+from the land of Spain, where too long thou hast tarried, King Marsilius
+will hasten after thee, and in thine own city of Aix, at Michaelmas,
+will receive Christian baptism and swear fealty to thy royal self
+forever. Our lord doth further say that, an so it please thee to hearken
+unto him, he will lay much of his wealth at thy feet. Bears and lions
+and dogs of chase will he send to thee; seven hundred camels that bend
+the knee, and a thousand hawks also. Four hundred mules laden with gold
+and silver such as fifty wains could scarce bear away shall be thine, so
+it please thee to depart, O king!"
+
+The Frankish lords stood silent.
+
+King Charlemagne, never hasty of speech, bent his hoary head in thought
+for many minutes. When he raised it again, a lofty look was on his face.
+
+"Thou hast spoken well," he said, "but King Marsilius was ever a deadly
+foe to us. How may we know that his fair promises will not lack of
+fulfilment?"
+
+"Hostages wilt thou, my lord?" cried the heathen. "Ten or twenty or more
+will I give thee,--mine own son the first. King Marsilius will come to
+redeem them, for he would fain be laved in the fountain of thy Christ."
+
+"Yea, he may yet be saved!" cried the pious emperor. Then he caused good
+cheer to be made for the Saracen emissaries. Twelve servitors were
+detailed to attend their bidding, and they remained in the Christian
+camp till morning.
+
+Now when the dawn came, Charlemagne arose and attended mass, as was his
+wont. Then he betook himself to the orchard, and again summoned his
+barons around him. He had pondered much during the hours of darkness,
+and was now determined to act as his lords advised.
+
+A goodly company they gathered about him--Archbishop Turpin, the warlike
+churchman, Duke Ogier bold, and Richard the Old were close about the
+throne. Gerien and Gerier, brothers-in-arms, were there, and Roland and
+his faithful Oliver, and many other knights, including, alas! Count
+Ganelon.
+
+Then Karl spoke to his barons concerning the offer of the Saracen king.
+He reviewed the rich promises of Marsilius, and reminded the Christian
+company of the heathen king's desire to be baptized, adding, however,
+
+"I know not what may lie in his heart." When he had ceased speaking,
+there arose a warning cry from the Franks--
+
+"Beware! Beware!"
+
+Scarcely was the word repeated when Count Roland came forward and faced
+his uncle.
+
+"Believe not this Marsilius!" he cried. "For full seven years we have
+warred in Spain, and he hath been ever a traitor. Hast thou forgot the
+time when he sent unto thee fifteen of his heathen bearing olive boughs
+of peace and speaking flattering words, as now? Hast thou forgot that
+when thou didst hearken unto his words and send two of thy chiefest
+knights to treat with him, he did cause their heads to be stricken off?
+War! I say. End as you began. Besiege him in Saragossa!"
+
+Roland ceased, and the Franks were silent; but every eye was bent on him
+as he stood in his youthful pride before the emperor. Right well beloved
+was he among his people, for many a brave city had gone down before him.
+There was not his peer for courage and spirit in all the Frankish hosts,
+except, perhaps, the gentle Oliver. The emperor bent his head and mused.
+Suddenly Count Ganelon sprang to his feet.
+
+"Be not misled by me or others!" he cried, addressing the emperor. "Look
+to thine own interest, my lord. King Marsilius assures thee of his
+faith. He will be thy vassal, and receive thy Christian law even as
+ourselves. Who counsels thee against this treaty cares not what death we
+die. Good does not come from counsel of pride, my lord; list to wisdom,
+and let madmen be."
+
+Then the white-haired and reverend Duke of Naimes arose; there was than
+he no better vassal in all France.
+
+"My King," he said in deepest reverence, "well hath Count Ganelon made
+reply. King Marsilius is broken and beaten in battle. Thou hast captured
+his castles and shattered his walls; thou hast burned his cities and
+slain his soldiers; it were a sin to molest him further. Receive the
+hostages he offers, and send him in return one of thy Christian knights
+to arrange terms of peace with him. It is time this war were closed."
+
+"The duke hath spoken well!" the Franks exclaimed. The emperor paused,
+then said, at length,
+
+"Who, then, amongst you were best to take this mission?"
+
+"I," said the duke, quickly. "I pray thee yield me thy royal grace."
+
+"Nay," answered King Karl; "thou art my wisest counsellor. By my beard I
+swear thou shalt not depart from my side."
+
+"I," cried Count Roland, "will go right gladly."
+
+"Not so," said Oliver; "thou art too fiery to play such perilous part. I
+shall go myself, if the king so will."
+
+"Silence, I command ye both!" said the king. "Neither of you shall
+perform this errand." Then he commanded his knights to make a choice
+from among their number for the perilous journey.
+
+Again Roland spoke:
+
+"Be it, then, my step-sire, Ganelon. In vain will ye seek for a meeter
+man."
+
+Instantly the Franks echoed Roland's choice, crying,
+
+"So it please the king, it is right and just!"
+
+Ganelon heard, and his rage against Roland was fierce indeed. He flung
+his mantle from him, and faced the younger knight in a mighty wrath.
+
+"Thou madman!" he cried. "What meaneth this rage against me? I am thy
+step-sire, and thou doomest me to danger like this! So God my safe
+return bestow, I promise to work thee ill as long as thou hast the
+breath of life." Then Roland answered him haughtily--
+
+"Am I known to reck of the threats of men? But this is work for the
+sagest. So it please the king, I will go in thy stead."
+
+At this, Count Ganelon's anger was deep and bitter indeed; and he
+spurned the insulting offer of his step-son to go in his stead, after
+which he turned to King Karl, saying,
+
+"O righteous emperor! I stand ready to execute thy high command."
+
+Then the emperor bade him go to King Marsilius with the terms of peace,
+which were that he, the Moslem, was to hold half of Spain in vassalage
+to Charlemagne; that the other half of the conquered territory was to be
+ruled by the emperor's well-beloved Roland; and that Marsilius was to
+journey to France at Michaelmas and receive Christian baptism.
+
+Bitter indeed it was to Count Ganelon that his enemy should thus profit
+by the perilous service to which he himself had been thus condemned, but
+he was too proud to retreat in the face of danger.
+
+Now, when all was arranged, the emperor handed Ganelon a missive to
+Marsilius; he gave the count his right-hand glove also, in token of the
+high authority with which he vested him.
+
+As the count bent low to receive his commission, the emperor's glove
+dropped to the ground, and the startled Franks whispered to one another:
+
+"God! What is this? Evil will come of this quest." But it was treated as
+an accident, and Ganelon passed on his journey.
+
+And on that journey he held deep and evil converse with the heathen
+concerning Roland and his overweening pride.
+
+Now when the Saracen emissaries were returned to Saragossa, they stood
+before Marsilius, crying, "Mahomet save thee!" and presented Ganelon,
+who bore King Karl's answer.
+
+When the Christian was summoned to speak, he gave his emperor's answer
+boldly. Marsilius listened in silence to the terms of treaty till
+Ganelon reached the part where Charlemagne declared that if his terms
+were rejected, he would besiege Saragossa, and bear Marsilius captive to
+France, there to die a "villainous death of shame." At this Marsilius
+was sorely enraged, and, forgetting how serious were his straits, sprang
+from his throne, and would have dealt death to the Christian had not his
+wise nobles interposed and persuaded him to temper his wrath with
+judgment.
+
+When Marsilius was pacified, Ganelon was again asked for the terms of
+the treaty, and he again gave them as they had been intrusted to him.
+Much the heathen questioned him concerning King Karl, and he answered
+without fear, always praising his emperor; but when Marsilius desired of
+him the secret of Charlemagne's aggressive and warlike policy,--for the
+emperor was past the age when men are given over to ambition,--Ganelon
+assured him that Roland was the evil genius of the emperor, always
+urging him to greater deeds of violence, always inciting him to greater
+heights of power.
+
+The wily heathen put the question several times, in as many forms, but
+Ganelon's answer was always the same,--Roland ruled the emperor, and as
+long as Roland lived, so long would Charlemagne slay and oppress. And he
+ended significantly,--
+
+"Whoso shall bring death to Roland shall wring from Karl his greatest
+strength; he shall see the marvelous hosts of Franks melt away and leave
+this mighty land at peace."
+
+Then villainous heathen and treacherous Christian devised there a plan
+by which the gallant Roland was to suffer death, and the Frankish power
+in Spain was to be forever destroyed. It was Ganelon's evil brain that
+conceived the plot; it was the heathen, Marsilius, who was to execute
+it.
+
+By his own terms of treaty, Charlemagne agreed to withdraw his Franks
+from Spain; and to do this, it would be necessary for him to lead them
+through a deep and narrow defile in the Pyrenees Mountains. Ganelon knew
+full well that the emperor would intrust the rear-guard of his army in
+the retreat to none but his valiant Roland, for there would be great
+danger of the treacherous Moslems' falling upon the rear and dealing
+slaughter among the retiring hosts. This fact Ganelon pointed out to the
+Saracen king, and he undertook to have Roland placed in the rear-guard
+of the Franks. He suggested that the Moslem hosts be massed together in
+overwhelming numbers, ready to make a sudden descent upon the rear-guard
+when Karl should be too far in front to save them.
+
+Marsilius agreed eagerly, and in his joy at the thought of revenge, he
+fell upon Ganelon's neck and kissed him. Then he bade his attendants
+bring royal gifts, which he bestowed upon the traitor; after which they
+both took a solemn oath to compass the fall of Roland,--Ganelon swearing
+by the cross on his sword-hilt, and Marsilius by the Koran, the sacred
+book of the Mohammedans.
+
+The joyful Moslems closed around Ganelon, and he pledged them Roland's
+death with many kisses, receiving from them costly gifts and great
+riches. Then Marsilius made ready the riches he had promised to
+Charlemagne, and sent them and twenty hostages, with Ganelon, to the
+emperor.
+
+So Count Ganelon came back to his emperor with treason in his heart and
+a lie on his lips, and "Charles the Great" believed him.
+
+Then all was astir in the Frankish camps; a thousand bugles sounded
+retreat, and a hundred thousand faces were turned toward France and
+home. There was eager joy in the Christian ranks that day, and the
+mighty Karl sighed with relief,--
+
+"My wars are done."
+
+But the ambitious and fiery Roland was ill-satisfied, and Count Ganelon
+carried in his breast fiendish hatred and jealousy.
+
+From the nature of the country, and the plan of the march homeward, it
+was plain to all that the rear of the army was the position most exposed
+to danger; so it was of great concern to Charlemagne who should be left
+to guard it. As was his custom in matters of great import, the emperor
+took counsel with his knights as to who should be left to command the
+rear-guard, and before any one else could speak, Count Ganelon
+answered,--
+
+"My liege, on my step-son let thy royal choice fall. Knight like him
+thou hast none beside."
+
+Roland heard, and he knew full well the deep hatred that prompted the
+count's reply, but he made answer in full knightly fashion,--
+
+"Sir step-sire, I thank thee that thou hast named me for this trust, and
+I do assure thee that if King Karl lose aught in this retreat, our
+swords shall tell the reason."
+
+So it was settled as Ganelon and the Saracen king had schemed,--Roland,
+the first of Charlemagne's peers and the darling of the emperor's heart,
+was left to guard the rear of the retiring hosts; and the heathen,
+silently, and by thousands and tens of thousands, were massing
+together,--watchful, alert.
+
+Count Roland hastened to make him ready. He donned a suit of peerless
+armor, and hung his flower-emblazoned shield about his neck. Girt at his
+side was his matchless "Durindana,"--the blade that had been given to
+Charlemagne by an angel, who told the emperor that it must be the sword
+of a valorous captain. Thus arrayed and armed, with the gold fringe of
+his white pennon floating over his shoulders, Roland rode out on his
+fiery "Veillantif"; and his men, as with one voice, exclaimed,--
+
+"We will follow thee!"
+
+The ones who followed him were the flower of the Frankish army,--twenty
+thousand picked men. First chosen of all was Oliver, and among the
+others was the valorous Archbishop Turpin.
+
+Then right cautiously the van-guard began the homeward march. Beyond the
+Pyrenees lay their well-beloved France; and they pressed on toward her
+vine-clad provinces, but with anxious thoughts of the rear-guard,
+leagues behind, between them and the Moslem hosts. The way to home and
+loved ones lay through the Vale of Roncesvalles. This vale was a long
+and narrow defile in the mountains, through which the army was obliged
+to march in a scattered and dismembered way; and so it was that Karl and
+the van had already gained France, while the beloved Roland and his
+chosen followers were just entering the pass of Roncesvalles.
+
+Now Charlemagne knew full well where the danger lay, and he was
+grievously concerned for his sister's son. Moreover, on the night
+before, he had dreamed a dream, in which he beheld a vision, symbolizing
+the treachery of Ganelon. But it was not a time to hearken to the
+misgivings of his heart, and the emperor pressed on, solacing himself
+with the thought that his best and bravest were behind with the
+rear-guard.
+
+From far over the marches of Spain the heathen hosts were gathering.
+Swiftly, surely, their serried ranks were closing in on the Christian
+band. Mountain, plain, and valley glittered red with their burnished
+arms, as on their light Arab steeds they swept like the wind of the
+desert on Roland's track. And as the rear-guard of the Christian army
+rode into the deep defile of Roncesvalles, the Saracen bugles rang out a
+challenge from the far distance.
+
+Now Oliver, though brave as any of King Karl's peers, was wise enough to
+recognize danger and to fear it. The sound of the war-trumpet brought
+him at once to Roland's side, and he said,--
+
+"Sir Comrade, there is battle at hand with the heathen!"
+
+But Roland lacked wisdom, and exclaimed with his usual pride,--
+
+"God grant it may be so! Let us be strong for mighty blows, lest songs
+of scorn be sung against us. No craven part shalt thou see me fill this
+day."
+
+Oliver was not so anxious for an encounter with the enemy, and he
+hastily climbed to a high point to get some idea of their numbers. Far
+over the plain his eye could reach, and he was bewildered and dismayed
+by the sight before him. Greater far than he had reckoned were the
+Paynim hosts, and many times more ominous was their battle-array. One
+long look at their serried, glittering masses, and he hastened down to
+Roland.
+
+"My comrade," urged he, "I have seen the enemy, and never on earth did
+such host appear. I pray thee, sound thy horn, that Karl may hear and
+return to our succor." But Roland answered:
+
+"Such deed were madness! Lost in France would be my glory. My good sword
+shall seal the felons' fate."
+
+"Nay, Roland, sound on thine ivory horn, that Karl may bend his legions
+back and lend us aid," exclaimed his wise companion. In vain he pleaded.
+
+Nearer and nearer the Moslems swept, and Oliver exclaimed in reproach,--
+
+"See, comrade, see how close are they, and help, alas, how far! The
+rear-guard will make their last brave stand this day!"
+
+But Roland was drunk with the joy of battle and cried,--
+
+"My friend, my brother, my Oliver, the emperor hath left us here his
+bravest. Full twenty-thousand men he gave to us, and among them no
+coward heart. I shall so strike with this matchless blade that he who
+wears it when I lie dead shall say, ''Twas the sword of a valorous
+captain.'"
+
+The time was all too short--the Moslems were almost upon them.
+Archbishop Turpin, seeing their straits, spurred his horse to a jutting
+crag, and addressed the men. There was silence among the Franks as the
+voice of the beloved churchman rang through the hollow pass:
+
+"Barons, we are here for our emperor's sake; strike we for him, though
+death be our portion." He stretched out his arms above them, and the
+Franks alighted and knelt on the ground, crying, "_Mea culpa!_" Then he
+assoiled them and blessed them, giving them for penance, to smite their
+best.
+
+The next instant the storm of battle broke, and Paynim and Christian
+closed in the death-struggle, each hoping, believing, to find in the
+blood of the other his passport into Paradise; each with the name of God
+on his lips.
+
+Well might the emperor bow his white head in woful fear, though the blue
+skies of his native France were smiling above him. Death stalked
+triumphant at Roncesvalles, and Frank and Saracen yielded him tribute
+till the pass was covered with the dying and the dead.
+
+If only King Karl could have seen his knights that day, the glory of
+the sight would have blotted out its tragedy. Roland was proud, but
+there was none braver than he; and he flung himself upon the enemies of
+his king, his country, and his God with a fierce courage that none might
+withstand. Wherever his splendid form was seen, his followers greeted
+him with loud acclaim, and he cheered them on with their emperor's
+battle-cry,--"Montjoie, Saint Denis!"
+
+No less courageous was his dear comrade. But no fierce joy impelled
+Oliver to the great deeds that he performed. He saw his duty, and met it
+like a true knight.
+
+Nor were the ten others of the emperor's peers less zealous in his
+cause. Each gave his all for Charlemagne; and if that all was less than
+the mighty Roland gave, it was not the fault of the knight who pledged
+it.
+
+Conspicuous in the fight was the great archbishop,--here blessing and
+assoiling according to his holy office; there rushing to the charge like
+the warrior that nature had made him, crying,--
+
+"Strike, barons! Remember your chivalry!"
+
+But not to the Franks alone belong all the glory and all the praise. The
+Moslem hosts that opposed them were "worthy of their steel,"--equally
+zealous in their own cause, equally certain of the approval of God.
+
+Wilder and fiercer grew the strife, and Paynim and Christian mingled
+together in dire confusion. At length the Moslem ranks wavered for an
+instant, gave back a little, and then broke in panic. And a pitiful
+remnant of the mighty host of King Marsilius fled from the field,
+leaving slain in the pass the great body of that once proud army. But
+even this remnant did not escape, for they were followed by the
+Christians; and only one, wounded and bleeding, escaped to tell King
+Marsilius the story of his woful loss.
+
+Nearly an hundred thousand Moslems lay dead in the pass of Roncesvalles.
+But they had sold their lives full dearly. Beneath, above, and beside
+them were piled the flower of the Frankish army--Christian and Paynim,
+asleep on one mother's breast, unheedful alike of triumph and defeat.
+
+In spite of the fact that theirs had been the places of greatest danger
+all through the battle, Roland and Oliver and the good archbishop had
+escaped unhurt; and they and their comrades betook them to the sad duty
+of searching the bloody field for their best-beloved dead. Long they had
+wandered thus among the dead and dying, when a mighty blast of trumpets
+smote on their ears.
+
+"O God, our Father, what straits are ours!" they cried, as looking up
+they beheld in the distance another Saracen host, greater by far than
+the one they had crushed, bearing down upon them.
+
+Now happened a thing most wondrous to tell. In far-away France an awful
+darkness came down upon the land; a great whirlwind swept the face of
+the country; the rain fell, the earth rocked, and the thunder rolled
+along the sky. For a long time the darkness was unbroken, save when the
+lightning cleft the storm-clouds and gave to the scene a yet wilder
+fear. On all there came a mighty dread, and they deemed the end of the
+world at hand. They knew not that it was an augury of the fateful
+tragedy at the gates of Spain.
+
+The lone heights about Roncesvalles had looked upon the Christian in his
+pride and triumph; now were they destined to behold another sight.
+
+Like that awful storm-cloud, the heathen came down upon the Christian
+few, the thunder of hoof-beats waked the echoes of Roncesvalles, and the
+hard earth reeled with the shock of arms.
+
+The rear-guard made their last brave stand that day. Lance to lance and
+sword to sword, they held their own while there was yet life in them,
+and they achieved all but the impossible. Twice did the heathen swarms
+break and fly before the fierce onslaughts of the Christians, but twice,
+reinforced, they rushed to the attack again. Knight after knight went
+down before them,--Engelier, Duke Sampson, Anseis, Gerien, and Gerier!
+Where might the emperor find their like again?
+
+At length only sixty of the Franks were left, pressed together by the
+Moslem thousands. Every man in that "marvelous little companie" knew
+that death that day would be his portion; but each was stanch and true,
+and was resolved to sell his life "full hardily."
+
+As the once haughty Roland gazed on his slaughtered men and on the
+pitiful few who rallied around him in his last stand against the Moslem
+power, his heart smote him grievously for the ruin he had wrought, and
+he cried to his companion,--
+
+"Would to God he had been with us--our emperor and friend! Speak,
+Oliver, and lend thy counsel. How may we yet send tidings to Karl?" But
+Oliver, in spite of his usual gentleness, was bitter against his
+friend, and he said mockingly,--
+
+"'Such deed were madness; lost in France would be thy glory!'"
+
+But Roland's anguish and humility were great, and he insisted,--
+
+"I will sound upon my horn that Karl may hear."
+
+"Nay," cried Oliver. "Wouldst thou _call for aid_?"
+
+The broken-hearted Roland protested, but Oliver continued bitterly,--
+
+"See how our Franks lie slain of thy madness, nevermore to render
+service to our emperor. Thou too shalt die, and forever shall France be
+dishonored!"
+
+Thus, in face of death, did these two quarrel--they who had been dearer
+than all else to each other. The good archbishop heard their strife, and
+rebuked them sadly, saying,--
+
+"Sir Roland, and thou, Sir Oliver, I pray ye, in the name of God,
+contend not. To wind the horn shall not avail to save us now. Yet were
+it meet to sound it, too; for Karl will return to avenge our fall, and
+bear our bodies back to gentle France to sleep in hallowed earth."
+
+Then Roland sounded a mighty blast upon his horn,--so mighty that a
+vein in his temple burst with the effort, and the bright blood flowed
+from his lips. But the powerful strain, echoing and re-echoing along the
+hollow pass of Roncesvalles, came faintly to the ear of Karl, and told
+its tale of tragedy.
+
+"It is Roland's horn," cried the white-haired emperor. "He had not blown
+it save in dire distress." Then, though the traitor, Ganelon, did all in
+his power to dissuade him, Charlemagne turned back along the mountain
+path toward Spain.
+
+And even in that hour, though weakened by loss of blood, and heart-sick
+at the fate he had brought upon his comrades, Roland rushed to the fight
+once more,--fleeter, fiercer, and more terrible.
+
+"Oh, Oliver, brother," he cried in his anguish, "I die of shame and
+grief if I escape unhurt!"
+
+Deeper yet he pressed into the fight, and showered blows as only Roland
+could, driving the foe before him. But, alas! the heathen hosts were
+thick as the sands of their native deserts, and thousands upon thousands
+came to reinforce their wavering ranks. Then Roland cried,--
+
+"Our hour of fate is come!" and even as he spoke, a villainous heathen
+bore down upon Sir Oliver and thrust him through with his lance.
+
+"Sir Roland, Sir Comrade," the dying Oliver cried--for his anger against
+his friend had burned out--"ride near me still; our parting is at hand."
+
+"O God, my gentle Oliver!" cried the anguished Roland, "is this the end
+of all thy valor? Ah, hapless France, bereft of thy bravest! Who shall
+measure thy loss!" His grief was greater than he could bear, and he
+swooned upon his charger's neck.
+
+Now Sir Oliver's eyes were dimmed with bleeding, so that he knew not
+friend from foe; and soon, in the surge of battle, he mistook his
+swooning comrade for a Moslem, and dealt a fierce blow on Roland's
+golden crest. The stroke did naught but rouse his unconscious friend,
+for the arm of the dying Oliver had lost its wonted power.
+
+"My comrade," said Roland, softly, "didst thou strike me knowingly? I am
+Roland, who loves thee so dearly."
+
+And Oliver answered,--
+
+"Have I struck thee, brother? Forgive it me. I hear thee, but I see thee
+not." Then Roland pressed closer to him, saying,--
+
+"I am not hurt, my Oliver."
+
+Then Oliver alighted from his horse, and couching upon the red earth,
+cried aloud his _Mea Culpa_. Then passed his gentle spirit to Paradise;
+and Roland cried in his anguish,--
+
+"Since thou art dead, to live is pain!"
+
+But life and pain were Roland's for yet a little space, and he had need
+to bear him to the end a cavalier. Rousing himself from his grief, he
+beheld about him a mere handful of the sixty he had counted last, each
+fighting "as if knight there were none beside"; so, grasping Durindana,
+he pressed into the strife. The next instant he beheld the good
+archbishop flung to the ground from a dying charger. But Turpin was on
+his feet almost instantly; and though he bore four lance-wounds in his
+body, he raised his sword on high and ran to the side of Roland,
+crying,--
+
+"I am not defeated! A brave soldier yields with life alone!" Then
+wreaked he such vengeance upon the heathen hordes that some say God
+wrought a miracle in his behalf.
+
+If miracle of God there was, it was not granted to save the Christian
+few from destruction. In the last struggle, the valiant Turpin, wounded
+and afoot, and the matchless Roland faced the Moslem hosts alone.
+
+Fled was Count Roland's pride and vanity. With certain death before him,
+his one thought was to summon Karl to vengeance, and to die like a
+cavalier. The pain in his brow, from the bursting of the vein, was
+growing more and more intense; not long, he knew, could his fainting
+spirit bide. Once again he raised his ivory horn to his lips, and
+sounded a call to the hosts of Charlemagne.
+
+It was but a feeble strain, but on the north wind an answer came.
+Suddenly, along the pass, rang a peal of sixty thousand clarions, and
+the mountains caught up the strain and shouted it back again.
+
+"King Karl! King Karl!" the echoes seemed to call to each other.
+
+"Let us flee and save us!" cried the heathen. "These are the trumpets of
+France! Karl, the mighty emperor, is upon us!"
+
+Never was heathen but trembled at that name. Aghast for one moment the
+hosts of the Moslem stood, then, like hunted things, they broke and fled
+from the field.
+
+As the infidels gave way in dire panic, Count Roland called to the
+archbishop,--
+
+"Let us give the heathen back their onset!" and he spurred his
+Veillantif after their flying numbers.
+
+"Who spares to strike is base," answered the valiant churchman; and
+wounded though he was, he joined in the pursuit.
+
+"Leave not this Roland alive!" cried one of the fleeing infidels; and he
+turned and flung his javelin at the Christian knight. A hundred Moslems
+at once followed his lead. Weapon after weapon was hurled upon the
+dauntless Roland; but though his armor was all broken, and his raiment
+frayed, his flesh remained unscathed. Veillantif, his noble charger,
+however, was slain under him, and fell to the ground, pierced by thirty
+wounds.
+
+The heathen vanished; and Roland, unable to keep up on foot, was left
+alone on the field. His first thought was to succor the good archbishop,
+who had been grievously wounded in the fight, so he turned back and
+searched till he found the faithful Turpin.
+
+"The field is thine, and God's the glory," was Turpin's greeting to him;
+and even as he spoke, his head drooped upon his breast, and his pious
+spirit passed away. So died the great Archbishop Turpin,--a champion
+ever of the Christian faith with word and weapon.
+
+Noble and generous always, Roland had thought of his comrade first. Now,
+left alone, his thoughts turned upon himself, and he knew from the pain
+in his brow that his end was at hand. Karl and his legions were still
+some leagues away; he might not hope to meet his emperor again, but he
+desired much that Charlemagne should know that his Roland had died
+unconquered.
+
+So he grasped his Durindana and his ivory horn, and recrossed the
+marches of Spain--as far as he had followed the fleeing heathen. There,
+on a mound, between two great trees, he laid him down to die. Yet was
+his spirit troubled, for he knew that if he died thus, his good sword
+might fall into unworthy and unknightly hands.
+
+"Ah, my ill-starred blade!" he cried; "no longer may I be thy guardian.
+Yet never shalt thou know master who shall turn his face from mortal
+enemy."
+
+So saying, he struggled to his feet, and essayed to shatter his blade
+upon a great rock. Many blows he smote with it, yet it broke not. Then
+Roland was sorely grieved. Once more he summoned his failing strength,
+and showered such mighty strokes upon the stone that the blade, unbroken
+still, was bent "past word to tell."
+
+Then, for death was upon him, Roland laid him down in the shade of a
+pine. His sword and his horn he placed beneath his head, that Karl might
+know he had not surrendered. When this was done, he raised his right
+glove to heaven as a sign of repentance, and cried aloud,--
+
+"O God, I do repent me of my sins, both great and small, from my natal
+hour to this day. Father, receive my soul!"
+
+Saint Gabriel leaned from heaven, so the legend says, and took the
+raised glove from his hand.
+
+And Karl, his emperor, came, and found him with his head upon his
+unsurrendered sword, and his face toward Spain.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The vengeance that Charlemagne wreaked upon the traitor, Ganelon, and
+upon the Moslems in Spain was unspeakably terrible.
+
+It is touching to know, however, that Roland's lady-love--Oliver's
+gentle sister Alda--refused to be comforted when she heard of her
+lover's death. She died of a broken heart at the feet of Charlemagne,
+even as the emperor begged her to accept his own son in marriage, and
+thus become, in time, empress of all the Franks.
+
+
+
+
+THE CID
+
+
+    As warlike sons, with mighty deeds,
+    Exalt the power of Rome;
+    And Arthur deathless glory adds
+    Unto his island home;
+    As France will ever nobler seem
+    Because of Charlemagne--
+    So dost thou, ever-conquering Cid,
+    Immortalize thy Spain!
+
+    _Paraphrase of Latin epitaph_,
+    D. W. K.
+
+
+
+
+THE CID RODRIGO DIAZ DE BIVAR
+
+(1035-1099 A. D.)
+
+
+In the eleventh century there lived in Castile a Spanish noble of high
+degree, called Diego Laynez. His family estates of Bivar lay near the
+city of Burgos, and in his castle there, Don Diego, when not in
+attendance upon the king, dwelt in the state befitting his rank and
+wealth. A stern and proud man was Don Diego, and justly renowned for his
+great valor in battle.
+
+This knight had long desired an heir to his ancient name, and was happy
+beyond measure when his wish was gratified by the coming of a little
+son. The child was named Rodrigo, and soon grew to be a wonderfully
+strong and fearless youth. Doubtless Diego hoped that his son would
+become a valiant warrior, for fighting was then the chief business of
+life, and peaceful occupations were held in little esteem. In those
+days, a man was obliged to fight to defend life and property, and a
+brave knight, with only the help of his good sword, could win fame and
+fortune. But even the fond parents of Rodrigo could never have dreamed
+of the glory that awaited their son, who was to become the greatest
+warrior in all Spain, the delight and admiration and envy of every true
+Spanish knight.
+
+It was a stormy age,--that in which the little Rodrigo lived. For three
+hundred years there had been almost constant warfare in Spain. Sometimes
+the Christians battled against the Moors, sometimes Christians against
+Christians, and Moors against Moors; but always there was conflict and
+struggle. And well was the son of Diego Laynez fitted for that rough
+age, as you shall see.
+
+While still very young, Rodrigo showed a most independent spirit. Once
+he asked his godfather, the priest Don Pedro, to give him a colt, and
+the kind old man took him to the paddock and told him to choose one as
+the colts were driven slowly by. After all the finest had passed, a very
+ugly and mangy colt came ambling along, and Rodrigo called out,--
+
+"This is the one for me!" His godfather, angry at a choice that seemed
+so foolish, exclaimed,--
+
+"Booby, [Babieca] thou hast chosen ill!" but the boy, not at all
+abashed, laughed as he replied confidently,--
+
+"This will be a good horse, and Booby shall be his name."
+
+Time proved the boy to have shown excellent judgment, and Babieca became
+almost as famous as his master.
+
+Not only self-reliance, but a fierce and warlike temper, was shown in
+the first youthful exploit of Rodrigo. His father Diego, when too old to
+bear arms, was grossly insulted by an enemy, the Count of Gormaz. Diego
+wept and raged at the insult put upon him and his inability to resent
+it. Moved deeply by his father's grief, Rodrigo determined to avenge the
+insult to the honor of his family.
+
+Donning the discarded armor of Diego, the youth next took down from the
+wall an ancient sword. This treasured weapon had once belonged to a
+celebrated warrior, Mudarra, and with it that knight had avenged the
+death of his seven brothers. Buckling on the good blade, Rodrigo said,--
+
+"O valiant sword! bethink thee that mine is Mudarra's arm! Thou hast now
+as great a wrong as his to right. Thou lackest thy great master's hand;
+yet never shalt thou see me turn my back on a foe. Thou shalt find me
+true as thy tempered steel, for thy second master, like thy first, was
+not born to yield. Should the foe overmaster me, not long will I endure
+the shame, but plunge thee straightway in my breast!"
+
+Then Rodrigo sallied forth secretly from Bivar, and seeking the haughty
+count, challenged him to battle. Gormaz laughed him to scorn.
+
+"Fight thee? Thou art mad, thou silly boy. Get thee hence, or thy skin
+shall suffer for thine insolence."
+
+"Thou art no true knight," cried Rodrigo, "but a craven who dost insult
+old men! If thou fight me not, all Castile shall hear of thy shameful
+deed!" Many more deadly insults he added, until the enraged count
+consented to fight him, expecting an easy victory over the youth. But
+Rodrigo was strong as a man, and his deadly hate of the count added
+vigor to his arm. Though soon wounded and bleeding, he yet parried with
+skill the blows aimed at his heart, and finally, with one desperate
+effort, drove the sword of Mudarra through and through the body of
+Gormaz. The head of his fallen enemy Rodrigo carried home in triumph to
+the proud Diego. Thus did the youthful Ruy Diaz de Bivar avenge the
+wrongs of his father.
+
+Soon after this combat with Gormaz, Rodrigo, while riding with some
+companions, unexpectedly met a band of Moors. These men were returning
+to Aragon from a thieving expedition into Castile, driving their
+captives and stolen cattle before them. Rodrigo and his friends fell
+upon this band with great fury and soon defeated the infidels; but the
+prisoners taken were generously set free by their youthful captor.
+Later, when Rodrigo went to the Saracen court of Saragossa, these Moors,
+in return for his kindness, gave him the title of Sidy, or Said,--an
+Arabic word, meaning lord, or my lord. In Spanish this became Cid; and
+as the Cid, Rodrigo is best known, though he has still another title,
+won in the following manner. In those days any knight who had suffered
+wrong at the hands of another, could, with the king's consent, challenge
+his enemy. Then, in the presence of the king and court, the two knights
+would fight on horseback until one was killed or acknowledged himself
+vanquished. The victor was deemed to have right on his side, and
+judgment was given accordingly. Sometimes either party to the quarrel
+was allowed to choose a substitute to fight for him. It was also the
+custom when hostile armies met, for the boldest warrior to challenge one
+of the enemy to come out and fight in single combat. Often, wars were
+decided by such a contest between two or more knights chosen from each
+army. By his wonderful success in many combats of this kind, Rodrigo won
+the title of Campeador, or Champion, and came to be called the Cid
+Campeador.
+
+On his way to engage in one of these contests as a champion of the King
+of Castile, Rodrigo met with a marvelous adventure. He and his knights
+came upon a leper fallen into a ditch by the wayside, and calling upon
+the passers-by for help. Now, none would heed his call for fear of the
+terrible disease, with which the poor wayfarer was afflicted. But
+Rodrigo dismounted, pulled the leper out of the ditch, and placing him
+on Babieca, brought him to the inn where they were to lodge. Not another
+knight would come near the outcast, so Rodrigo, out of pure kindness,
+ate from the same dish with him, and afterwards had a bed prepared, in
+which they two slept together.
+
+In the middle of the night, a cold blast seemed to strike through
+Rodrigo, and he waked and put out his hand to touch his bedfellow; but
+the leper was gone. The Cid called aloud; none answered. While Rodrigo
+was considering this strange thing, a man in white, shining garments
+appeared, and asked softly,--
+
+"Sleepest thou, Rodrigo?"
+
+"Nay, I am awake; but who art thou who bearest about thee so bright a
+light and so sweet a smell?"
+
+"I am Saint Lazarus," answered the vision, "and would have thee know
+that I am that leper to whom thou didst show such kindness for the love
+of God. And for that deed, God bestows on thee this great boon,--that
+when the blast thou didst feel but now shall come upon thee, thou mayest
+undertake that on which thy heart is fixed, whether it be fighting or
+other matters, and it shall go well with thee. For never shalt thou be
+conquered, but ever victorious; for God grants thee His blessing. So
+rest thee well and do ever the right." And so Rodrigo prayed until
+morning, and then went on his way rejoicing.
+
+Meanwhile the day came, on which the combat was to be fought between the
+Cid and a knight of Aragon, to decide whether the city of Calahorra
+should belong to the King of Castile or the King of Aragon. The two
+kings, with a splendid company of nobles, had taken places to watch the
+combat, the lists were all prepared, and the heralds stood ready to give
+the signal; but the Cid did not appear. Very uneasy was King Fernando at
+the absence of his champion. A cousin of the tardy knight offered to
+take his place, and was about to mount and enter the lists, when the Cid
+came spurring up in hot haste. Leaping from his tired horse, he sprang
+upon the steed that stood ready, and, wasting no time in words, lowered
+his lance and charged fiercely on his waiting adversary. The two met
+with a shock that shivered the lances. Both knights were badly wounded,
+but they drew their swords and prepared to fight on. The knight of
+Aragon now thought to frighten the Cid, and exclaimed boastfully,--
+
+"Right sorely shalt thou rue that thou hast come into this place with
+me, for never shalt thou return alive to Castile!"
+
+But Rodrigo was not at all troubled by the threat.
+
+[Illustration: The Knighting of the Cid]
+
+"Don Martin Gonzales," he replied coolly, "thou art a good knight, but
+such words befit not this place. We must fight with our hands, and not
+with empty words." And grasping his sword, he suddenly brought it down
+on the helmet of his foe with such tremendous force that it wellnigh
+drove the head of Gonzales down to the neck of his steed. The knight of
+Aragon, however, was a stout fighter, and rallying from the shock, he
+dealt a blow that cut through the edge of the Cid's shield. So firmly
+fixed was the sword that, when drawn back, it brought the shield with
+it. Enraged at this loss, the Cid cut his adversary fiercely across the
+face; but Gonzales, though bleeding copiously, still fought on bravely.
+Only after a long, fierce fight did the Champion unhorse and slay this
+valiant knight. Then the umpires announced that the Cid had conquered,
+and so won the good city of Calahorra for his king.
+
+After this Rodrigo did such valiant service to King Fernando at the
+siege of Coimbra, a city of Portugal, that he was there formally dubbed
+a knight. The ceremony took place in the principal mosque of the
+captured city. In order to do the hero signal honor, the king kissed
+him, the queen girt on his sword, and the Princess Urraca buckled on his
+golden spurs.
+
+In many battles against the Moors the Cid fought valiantly with King
+Fernando, whose ambition it was to win back all Spain from the
+infidels.
+
+When Fernando died, he unwisely left his territory to be divided among
+his five children. This led to much jealousy, and Sancho, the eldest
+son, was greatly aggrieved, because he thought the entire kingdom should
+have been his. So it was not long after Fernando's death before war
+broke out between Sancho, King of Castile, and his brothers.
+
+Sancho soon defeated the youngest brother, Garcia, and seized his
+Kingdom of Galicia. This conquest was due mainly to the wonderful valor
+of Rodrigo, who now "waxed great and became a mighty man of war, and
+Campeador at the court of King Don Sancho."
+
+Sancho now demanded that Alfonso give up the Kingdom of Leon. The
+brothers finally agreed that a battle should be fought between their
+respective armies, the crown of Leon to belong to the king whose army
+should be victorious. When this combat took place, Alfonso conquered
+Sancho, and drove the Castilian army from the field. Supposing the
+matter settled, the triumphant Alfonso did not pursue the fugitives, but
+returned to his camp rejoicing.
+
+King Sancho, fleeing from the field, saw with joy the green banner of
+the Cid in the distance. When the two met, Rodrigo persuaded the king
+to renew the fight at dawn, assuring him that he could then take the
+enemy by surprise.
+
+"The Galicians and Leonese," said the cunning Cid, "are given to much
+talking, and at this moment they are with the King Don Alfonso their
+lord, boasting of what they have done, for they love big words. If it be
+God's will, their joy of to-day shall be turned to grief, and if it
+please Him, sir, you shall regain honor." Now it befell as the Cid had
+hoped. In the early morning, while the troops of Alfonso were stupid
+from their night of feasting and drinking, the Cid attacked and routed
+them completely. During the battle, King Sancho was captured, and was
+being carried off by thirteen knights, when the Cid rushed to his help
+with no weapon but a broken lance. He offered to exchange Alfonso,
+captured by his men, for Sancho, and upon refusal, the Champion cried
+wrathfully, "Give me but one of your lances, and I alone, against the
+thirteen of you, will quit my lord of you!"
+
+The Leonese knights laughed him to scorn, and in sport threw him a
+lance. Thereupon he fell upon them suddenly, slew eleven, put the others
+to flight, and rode back in triumph with his rescued king.
+
+Elated by this victory, King Sancho now determined that his sister
+Urraca should yield him her strong city of Zamora; but thinking to gain
+it without force, he asked the Cid to go as his messenger and urge her
+to peaceably surrender the city. This he did because he knew his sister
+had long loved the Cid. The Cid, who held the princess dear for her
+friendship to him, though he loved her not, replied to the king's
+request,--
+
+"Sir, it is not for me to carry such a message, seeing that I was reared
+with Dona Urraca, in the same house of Arias Gonzalo, and would not
+willingly do her a wrong."
+
+However, when the king pointed out that the Cid might thus prevent a
+bloody conflict, he consented to undertake the unpleasant mission. With
+fifteen knights he passed into the city, and was gladly received by
+Urraca at the entrance of the palace. Together they went into the
+splendid hall of audience, and the princess right graciously bade the
+Cid be seated with her. Then she asked,--
+
+"I pray thee, Don Rodrigo, tell me wherefore is this great army encamped
+outside my walls? Is my brother Sancho going to make war upon Moors or
+Christians, and of what state?"
+
+"Dona Urraca," replied the Cid, gravely, "thou knowest that as a herald
+I am come hither, and whether my message please thee or not, yet ought
+I to suffer no insult nor wrong."
+
+"Yea," answered Urraca, quickly; "and _thou_ knowest well, Don Rodrigo,
+that I wish thee no harm, so speak out boldly. Perhaps my loving brother
+only needs some aid of mine to go against the Moors. Gladly will I lend
+him fifteen lances fully equipped, even though it be for ten years."
+
+Now the Cid flushed red at the mocking tones of the princess and spoke
+with difficulty, though still calmly,--
+
+"I am but a messenger, princess. The king, thy brother, bids me speak
+thus: he needs this city Zamora for a defence against his enemies. Nor
+should so great a stronghold be in the hands of a woman. He will give
+thee for it money or lands or another city. But if thou dost refuse, he
+will, without delay, take Zamora from thee by force of arms." Then tears
+of indignation and rage came into the eyes of the princess.
+
+"I call on God," she cried, "and all these noble knights here present to
+bear witness that Sancho again seeks to make naught our father's will!
+He hath taken away their inheritance from Garcia and Alfonso, and now he
+would rob me of the city my father gave me. Well hath Sancho merited our
+father's curse upon the son who should disobey his will! Let him beware
+lest he die by violence, or by treachery like his own!" The counsellors
+of the princess, troubled at this rash speech, besought her to be calm,
+and at last persuaded her to call together the townsmen and hold council
+with them.
+
+When assembled, all the chief men of Zamora loyally promised to aid the
+princess in defending the city, and swore not to forsake her until
+death. Then the proud Urraca, turning to the Cid, cried impetuously,--
+
+"Does it not shame thee, O Cid, that all these are willing to die for
+me, while thou who wast my playfellow in youth hast come hither to take
+away mine inheritance?" The Cid answered not, but his face turned yet
+more ruddy, and he raised not his eyes from the floor.
+
+"Truly a noble thing for the great Cid Ruy Diaz,--to make war against a
+woman!" went on the angry princess; then with a burst of noble
+frankness, "And well thou knowest that the woman once loved thee,
+Rodrigo! Ay, thou mayest boast that the Princess Urraca once gave thee
+her heart; but the Cid whom Urraca loved drew not his sword against a
+woman. Begone, Don Rodrigo de Bivar; I would not look longer upon thy
+face! Tell thy robber king that never will I yield to a false traitor
+the city my father gave me! Sooner will I die with these true men than
+give up Zamora!"
+
+Silent and ashamed, the Cid withdrew. Fain would the knight have served
+the fair princess, the friend of his youth, but fealty to his king
+forbade.
+
+When King Sancho received Urraca's defiance, he flew into a terrific
+rage, and accused the Cid of having counselled the resistance of the
+princess because of love for her. Not a word of explanation would he
+hear, but straightway banished the Cid from the kingdom. Rodrigo was
+highly enraged at the injustice of the king whom he had served so
+faithfully, even to the sacrifice of Urraca's cherished friendship. But
+in silence, though pale and defiant, he heard his sentence. Then
+crying,--
+
+"Never, ungrateful king, shalt thou find a vassal like Rodrigo, and
+humbly, Don Sancho, shalt thou beg him to return!" the Champion strode
+from the kingly presence and rode away from Castile. So true was the
+Cid's proud boast, that only a short time elapsed before King Sancho,
+realizing the value of the banished warrior, entreated him to return to
+Castile. The insulted Champion, after receiving an humble apology from
+the king and the position of governor of the royal household, consented
+to return.
+
+Now, in spite of his friendship for Urraca, the Cid continued the siege
+of Zamora with great vigor and zeal, for loyalty to his king compelled
+hostility to the princess, and the memory of her bitter scorn rankled in
+his heart.
+
+But long the city held out, though the people were suffering greatly
+with famine and disease. At last a pretended traitor, Bellido Dolfos,
+offered to deliver the city into the hands of Sancho. While riding along
+with the king, under pretence of pointing out the gate whereby the
+troops might enter Zamora, this lying wretch stabbed the unsuspecting
+Sancho through and through with his own royal golden spear, given by the
+king to the knave to carry. Bellido then fled fast to the city. On the
+way he was seen by the Cid, who called to the flying horseman to stop,
+though knowing nothing of his crime. The villain only rode the faster,
+hotly pursued by Rodrigo, who now suspected something wrong. Just as the
+Cid was about to overtake the fugitive, he darted through the gate of
+Zamora and escaped. Rodrigo, riding back, discovered the dead body of
+his king, and was sorely grieved that he had not captured the murderer.
+
+By the death of King Sancho, his brother Alfonso, driven into exile
+after his defeat, and then living among the Moors at Saragossa, fell
+heir to the throne. But many great nobles of the kingdom believed that
+Alfonso and Urraca had planned the murder of Sancho, and so they were
+unwilling to acknowledge a murderer as their king.
+
+When these nobles were called upon to do homage to Alfonso, the Cid--for
+none other dared to be so bold--said to the king,--
+
+"Sir, all here do suspect that you did contrive the murder of your
+brother, King Don Sancho. Therefore, I declare to you that until you
+clear yourself by oath, never will I or these nobles kiss your hand or
+receive you as lord."
+
+The king flushed with anger, but he replied meekly,--
+
+"I swear to God and Saint Mary that I did not kill Sancho or counsel his
+death, though he had stolen my kingdom. Advise me, therefore, how I may
+clear myself of this matter."
+
+Then the nobles decided that the king and twelve of his knights who had
+been with him in exile at Toledo should in public swear solemnly to his
+innocence. So on the day appointed, the king appeared before the high
+altar of the church at Burgos; and the Cid, in presence of the nobles of
+the kingdom, placed the book of the Gospels on the altar and said,--
+
+"King Don Alfonso, you are come hither to swear that you had no part in
+the death of the King Don Sancho; and if you swear falsely, may God slay
+you by the hand of your own vassal, even as Don Sancho was slain."
+
+"Amen!" said Alfonso, though he turned very pale. Again the Cid spoke,--
+
+"King Don Alfonso, you are here to swear that neither did you order the
+King Don Sancho to be slain; and if you swear falsely, may a traitor
+slay you even as the traitor Bellido slew Don Sancho."
+
+Again Alfonso replied, "Amen!" but he grew yet paler with rage and shame
+at this second oath required of him. When the twelve knights had taken a
+similar oath, the nobles were satisfied of Alfonso's innocence; and all
+swore fealty to him as king. But when the Cid took the oath of loyalty
+and stooped to kiss the hand of Alfonso, the humiliated and resentful
+king drew away his hand, and would not permit the act of homage.
+
+Small wonder that after being forced to undergo this mortification, the
+king "hated the Cid, in spite of his valor." Yet either from fear or
+through policy, Alfonso treated Rodrigo with great honor. On one
+occasion, the Champion came to court, and was invited by King Alfonso to
+sit with him. When Rodrigo modestly refused the proffered honor, the
+king said,--
+
+"Since you will not sit with me, sit on your ivory seat, for you won it
+like a good man. From this day I order that none save king or prelate
+sit with you; for you have conquered so many high-born men and so many
+kings that for this reason there is none worthy to sit with you, or none
+who is your peer. Sit, therefore, like a king and lord on your ivory
+seat."
+
+The honor in which Rodrigo was held is shown by the fact that he married
+a cousin of the king, Ximena,--daughter of the Count of Oviedo, a
+powerful noble. Doubtless it was his love for the beautiful Ximena that
+rendered the Cid so indifferent to the affection of Princess Urraca.
+Most dearly and tenderly he loved Ximena, and after his marriage to her,
+gave up warfare for many years, and lived in peace and tranquil
+happiness near Burgos. During this quiet period, the Cid fought only a
+few single combats as champion of the king. By these he gained even
+greater glory, for, as promised by good Saint Lazarus, he was never
+overcome, but ever victorious. Because of this good fortune, the old
+ballads sing of Rodrigo as, "He who was born in happy hour."
+
+But the king loved not the Cid, and finally, accusing him falsely of
+treachery, banished the Champion from the kingdom. The Cid, who was poor
+at this time, devised a trick to get money for the journey. He made
+ready two great chests covered with crimson leather and studded with
+gilt nails, and filled them with sand. Then, sending for two Jews,
+money-lenders, he offered to pawn the chests, saying they were full of
+refined gold taken from the Moors; but that he feared to dispose of them
+openly, because Alfonso, who had accused him of having taken
+tribute-money belonging to the crown, would certainly seize the
+treasure. He made the condition that the chests be not opened for a
+year, but if not redeemed at the end of that time, should become the
+property of the Jews. They fell into the trap, and giving the Cid six
+hundred marks, carried off the chests, rejoicing at the great treasure
+that would surely become theirs, for they believed that the owner would
+be in exile many years. When, at the end of the twelve months, they
+discovered the fraud that had been practised upon them, great was their
+wrath.
+
+But on the return of the Cid from exile, he repaid the Jews in full. An
+old chest preserved in the cathedral of Burgos is said to be one of
+these coffers of the Cid.
+
+Twice was Rodrigo recalled from exile by the king, who needed him sadly
+in the fierce war for the possession of Spain, that had now broken out
+afresh between the Christians and Mohammedans.
+
+Finally the Cid, when banished once more, renounced his allegiance to
+Alfonso, and made war upon his former lord, carrying fire and sword into
+Castile. Thus the Champion became a free lance, making war for gain upon
+whom he pleased, and serving any prince, Christian or Mohammedan, who
+made it worth his while. This conduct cannot be admired, but we must not
+judge the Cid as we would a hero of our own times. In his day the
+standard of conduct was very different, and even the best men frequently
+committed deeds that shock us unspeakably. It was an age of violence and
+fraud. To make war upon your neighbor, with or without good cause, was
+thought to be worthy of all praise, especially if you conquered him.
+Might made right; and as the Cid was always victorious, he received
+little or no blame for acts that we should consider cruel or
+treacherous, but won great admiration and renown by his courage,
+boldness, and marvelous skill in warfare.
+
+The poets of that day delight in relating the various exploits of the
+Cid. In a celebrated battle with Count Berenger, Rodrigo captured a vast
+store of treasure, and many swords made in olden days. Among these was
+the wonderful blade, Colada, worth a thousand marks in silver. With this
+weapon, he afterwards slew many score of enemies in battle.
+
+But the crowning glory of the Cid's adventurous life was the capture of
+Valencia. This splendid city, on the east coast of Spain, was besieged
+by him for many months. At length, the city fell into such straits that,
+in the words of the old chronicler, "the inhabitants counted themselves
+as dead men, and walked through the streets as though they were drunken.
+They understood not the words of one another, and lost all of their
+memory, even as a man who falls into the waves of the sea. Then came the
+Christians up to the walls, and called aloud in words of thunder, making
+mockery of them, and threatening them, and saying: 'False traitors and
+renegades, give up your city to the Cid, Ruy Diaz, for ye cannot save
+it!' And the Moors remained silent, so great was their grief and
+despair."
+
+A famous poem, the "Dirge of Valencia," composed by one of its Arab
+inhabitants during the siege, gives us a picture of the wretched state
+of the once beautiful city.
+
+    "Valencia! Valencia! many troubles are come upon thee,
+      and in such peril art thou set that, if thou escape, the
+      wonder will be great among all that behold thee.
+
+    "Thy lofty towers and beautiful, which gleamed from afar
+      and comforted the hearts of the people, are falling piece
+      by piece.
+
+    "Thy white bulwarks which shewed so fair in the distance
+      have lost the beauty whereby they shone so brightly in
+      the beams of the sun.
+
+    "Thy famous and delightful gardens that are round about
+      thee, the ravening wolf has torn up their roots and
+      they give no fruits."[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: From "The Cid Campeador," by H. Butler Clarke, by
+permission of G. P. Putnam's Sons.]
+
+At last the unhappy city surrendered to the Cid, and he became its sole
+ruler and a personage of still greater power and renown. In Valencia,
+for some years, the conqueror lived in the royal magnificence of an
+Oriental prince.
+
+When the Moors under King Yusef came from Morocco, fifty thousand
+strong, to retake the city, the Cid was not at all alarmed. As soon as
+the Moors had encamped before Valencia, the Cid led his wife and
+daughter up into the tower of the Alcazar. They raised their eyes, and
+saw the thousands of tents pitched on the plain.
+
+"Heaven save thee, Cid, what is this?" they cried.
+
+"Good wife, fear nothing. Riches are these to increase our store,--right
+marvelous and grand. As soon as thou art come, they wish to make us a
+present. Wife, sit thou in the Alcazar, and be not afraid when thou
+seest me in the fight."
+
+The next day the drums sounded, and the Cid's heart was glad. He drew up
+the Christians, and they sped forth to do battle with the infidels.
+"They drove them from the garden in royal style; straight up to the camp
+was the pursuit continued. Glad is my Cid for all they have done."
+
+"Hearken to me, my knights," he said. "A good day is to-day, but
+to-morrow shall be better." In the morning the battle was renewed. With
+only four thousand men, the Cid routed Yusef with fifty thousand. So
+many of the Moors did Rodrigo slay that they could not be counted. Three
+strokes the Cid gave King Yusef, who only escaped by the swiftness of
+his horse. His wonderful sword, Tizona, fell into the hands of the Cid.
+Gold and silver and precious stuff in great quantities was captured.
+
+"Joyful is my Cid and all his vassals, that God had shown such favor to
+them that they had conquered in the field."
+
+In yet another battle against the Moors the Cid was victorious. Bucar,
+the brother of Yusef, attacked Valencia, but was soon put to flight by
+the Champion. Rodrigo pursued the flying king, brandishing his sword and
+shouting,--
+
+"Turn thee, Bucar, thou who camest over seas to behold the Cid with the
+long beard! We must meet and cut out a friendship!"
+
+"God confound such friendship!" cried the frightened king, as he fled
+still faster. But Rodrigo, determined to be friendly in his way, flung
+his sword after Bucar. It struck between the shoulders of the fleeing
+king. But Bucar's horse was the swifter, and he escaped by riding into
+the sea and taking boat.
+
+Now the Cid was left for some time in possession of Valencia and became
+an independent prince,--in fact, if not in name. The neighboring kings
+were glad to make friendly alliance with the great warrior who had never
+yet met with a defeat.
+
+Some time after the victory over Bucar, the Cid laid siege to Murviedro.
+This town was the ancient Saguntum, once besieged by Hannibal. It was a
+strongly fortified place, and there seemed little chance of Rodrigo's
+taking it. But after the siege had lasted some time, the citizens saw
+plainly that they could not hold their city against the great conqueror.
+So they begged him to grant them a truce in order that they might send
+to the neighboring princes for help. The proud warrior, disdaining any
+number of enemies, readily consented to the truce.
+
+Now when the messengers from Murviedro reached the courts of the
+neighboring princes, and implored their help, not one would lend aid to
+the distressed city. Alfonso of Castile replied to their petition,--
+
+"Certes, I will not succor you. I would liefer Rodrigo have your town
+than a Saracen king."
+
+And Al Mustain, the Moorish King of Saragossa, gave the envoys this
+discouraging answer,--
+
+"Go and take such comfort as ye may, and fight bravely, for Rodrigo is
+invincible, and therefore I am afraid to do battle with him."
+
+When the sorely disappointed envoys returned to Murviedro, great was the
+distress of its inhabitants. But in order to gain time, they pretended
+that the messengers had not returned, and therefore besought Rodrigo to
+extend the time of the truce. The Cid knew well that their statement was
+false, and that the envoys were even then in Murviedro, but he
+replied,--
+
+"In order to show you that I fear none of your kings, I grant you a
+further truce of twelve days for them to come to your aid. If then they
+come not, and you do not surrender, I will slay all of you that I
+capture."
+
+But at the end of the twelve days the Cid granted yet another delay.
+When that time had expired, and the city was forced to surrender, the
+Cid did not carry out his threat, but mercifully granted the inhabitants
+their lives, and permitted them to take their wives and children and go
+where they would. But some who presumed on his generosity to send all
+their wealth out of the city, against the Cid's express command, the
+conqueror sold into slavery.
+
+This conquest of Murviedro was the last great exploit of the Champion.
+For the day was approaching when the conqueror must yield himself to the
+conqueror of all. The Cid fell ill, and while in this state, heard that
+Bucar was again coming with a great force against Valencia. One night
+soon after, so runs the old legend, there swept through the palace of
+the dying Champion a great wave of light and a marvelous sweet perfume.
+And there appeared to the Cid a tall and stately old man, with long
+snowy hair, holding keys in his hand; and thus he spoke,--
+
+"Sleepest thou, Rodrigo?"
+
+"What man art thou?" the Cid asked his strange visitor boldly.
+
+"I am Saint Peter, prince of the apostles," he said; "and I am come to
+tell thee that when thirty days be past, thou must quit this world and
+go to the life that hath no end. But God will so favor thee that after
+thy death thou shalt conquer and rout King Bucar. This does Christ grant
+thee for love of me and for the honor thou didst ever pay me in my
+church at Cardenas." And after he had spoken, Saint Peter straightway
+departed. Then the Cid rejoiced greatly, and the next day he called his
+chief men, and said to them,--
+
+"My friends and kinsmen, be sure that I am now come upon the end of my
+life, and thirty days hence shall see my end. I have seen visions of my
+father and son, and each time they say: 'Long hast thou tarried here;
+let us begone to the eternal life.'
+
+"And last night Saint Peter came to me and told me that in thirty days I
+shall pass away; but before I leave you, I will show you how you shall
+conquer King Bucar, as Saint Peter did promise me."
+
+Then the Cid betook himself to the church of Saint Peter. There all the
+people assembled, and he bade them farewell, weeping sore. After
+confessing his sins and receiving absolution, he went back to the
+Alcazar and cast himself upon the bed, and never again did he rise up.
+Seven days before the end of the thirty he bade them bring him a gold
+cup, and in it he mixed with rose-water a little balsam and myrrh, sent
+him by the Sultan of Persia, and drank the mixture.
+
+This he did each day, as was the custom of Moorish princes; and so his
+body and face became fresh and healthy-looking, though he grew weaker
+every hour. At last he called his wife, Ximena, Bishop Hieronymo, and
+his three most trusty friends, and said,--
+
+"As soon as I be dead, ye shall wash my body many times with rose-water
+and balsam. And thou, Ximena, take heed that thou and the women cry not
+aloud nor wail for me so that the Moors get knowledge of my death. And
+when Bucar is come, bid all the folk of Valencia go forth on the wall
+and sound trumpets, and show great glee. Also bid the people get
+together their goods in secret, that the Moors know it not, for ye may
+not tarry here after my death, but must needs go back to Castile. Thou,
+Gil Diaz, deck my body with care, and saddle Babieca, and bind me on him
+so that I fall not, and place in my hand my sword, Tizona; and thou, Don
+Hieronymo, shalt ride by my side; and thou, Bermudez, bear my banner as
+thou wast wont to do; and thou, Don Fanez, shalt draw up the host as
+thou hast ever done. Then go ye forth and battle with Bucar, for be
+assured and doubt not that ye shall win the battle."
+
+Having said these words, the dying hero received the sacrament, and then
+prayed, weeping:
+
+"Lord Jesus Christ, I pray Thee of thy grace that Thou wilt pardon my
+sins, and that my soul be placed in the light that hath no end."
+
+And so saying, "the Cid gave to God his soul."
+
+Then the faithful friends and loving wife did even as he had commanded
+them. The body had been embalmed by the myrrh and balsam, and thus
+remained fresh-looking as in life. So they clothed the dead warrior in
+all his armor of war, with coat of arms and shield, and placed in his
+hand the precious sword, Tizona. His arms were raised aloft, and tied up
+so cunningly that he held the sword straight and even. When bound
+strongly upon his good horse, Babieca, any man not knowing the truth
+would have sworn the knight to be alive.
+
+At last all things were in readiness. And at midnight a strange
+procession rode through the silent, deserted streets of the city. First
+went forth Pero Bermudez, bearing aloft the great green banner of the
+Champion, that had never yet failed to strike terror into the hearts of
+his foes. Then all silently, in battle-array, the warriors of the Cid
+passed through the gates of Valencia; and with them, as of old, rode
+their dead leader, Ruy Diaz de Bivar. A hundred chosen knights pressed
+close about the Champion; and before him, with breaking heart, but
+tearless and quiet as her lord had commanded, rode the high-hearted
+Ximena. So went forth to his last conflict the ever-victorious Cid, the
+great conqueror of banners.
+
+At daylight the little army fell upon the sleeping camp of King Bucar,
+and slew many Moors before they could mount or arm. And it seemed to
+King Bucar and the other kings that there joined the host of the
+Christians full seventy thousand knights, all white as snow. Ahead of
+all rode a tall knight on a white horse. In his left hand he held a
+white banner, and in his right a sword of fire; and he slew many Moors
+as they fled. So terrified were King Bucar and his men that they drew
+not rein until they reached the sea; and more than twenty thousand were
+drowned. Bucar and those who escaped to the ships hoisted sails and sped
+away, nor did they dare look back.
+
+Then the Christians rode back in triumph to the presence of the dead
+Champion, and laden with the treasure of the Moorish camp, marched in
+peace to Castile.
+
+All along the way the people came forth in multitudes to see the great
+Champion on his last journey; and much they marveled at his lifelike
+appearance, and greatly they mourned for him. But the Cid's own men, as
+he had bidden them, made no open show of grief. And so, with banners
+flying, with gleam of spear and sound of trumpet, the strange funeral
+train passed through the land, until it came at last to the church of
+San Pedro de Cardenas. There they placed the Cid on a horse of wood,
+before the high altar. After many masses had been sung for the repose of
+his soul, a tabernacle was built on the right of the altar, and in it
+was placed the ivory throne on which the Cid was wont to sit. There,
+clothed in royal purple, with right hand clasping his mantle and the
+left grasping Tizona sheathed, sat the Champion like a king and lord for
+ten long years. And each day until her death, Ximena knelt for hours,
+morning and evening, at the feet of her lord, and wept and mourned and
+would not be comforted.
+
+At last, seated thus on his ivory throne, the Cid was entombed in a
+vault before the high altar. His hand could never be unclasped from his
+sword, and thus, says the legend, it remains to this day. Well might the
+people believe that even in death the great warrior would not loose his
+hold on his cherished sword Tizona; for with it he had done such
+marvelous deeds that even his enemies looked on him as "a miracle of the
+miracles of God," and bestowed on him the proud title of "The Conqueror
+of Banners."
+
+
+
+
+THE CID'S WEDDING
+
+
+    Within his hall of Burgos, the king prepares a feast,
+    He makes his preparation for many a noble guest.
+    It is a joyful city, it is a happy day;
+    'Tis the Campeador's wedding, and who will bide away?
+
+    Layn Calvo, the Lord Bishop, he first comes forth the gate,
+    Behind him Ruy Diaz in all his bridal state.
+    The crowd makes way before them as up the street they go;
+    For the multitude of people, their steps must need be slow.
+
+    The King had given order that they should rear an arch,
+    From house to house all over, in the way where they must march:
+    They have hung it all with lances, and shields, and glittering helms,
+    Brought by the Campeador from out the Moorish realms.
+
+    They have scattered olive branches and rushes on the street,
+    And the ladies fling down garlands at the Campeador's feet;
+    With tapestry and broidery their balconies between,
+    To do his bridal honor, their walls the burghers screen.
+
+    They lead the bulls before them all covered o'er with trappings;
+    The little boys pursue them with hootings and with clappings;
+    The fool, with cap and bladder, upon his ass goes prancing
+    'Midst troops of captive maidens with bells and cymbals dancing.
+
+    With antics and with fooleries, with shouting and with laughter,
+    They fill the streets of Burgos--and the Devil he comes after;
+    For the King has hired the horned fiend for sixteen maravedis,
+    And there he goes, with hoofs for toes, to terrify the ladies.
+
+    Then comes the bride Ximena--the King he holds her hand;
+    And the Queen; and, all in fur and pall, the nobles of the land.
+    All down the street the ears of wheat are round Ximena flying,
+    But the King lifts off her bosom sweet whatever there was lying.
+
+    Quoth Suero, when he saw it (his thought you understand),
+    "'Tis a fine thing to be a King, but Heaven make me a _hand_!"
+    The King was very merry, when he was told of this,
+    And swore the bride, ere eventide, must give the boy a kiss.
+
+    The King went always talking, but she held down her head,
+    And seldom gave an answer to anything he said;
+    It was better to be silent, among such crowds of folk,
+    Than utter words so meaningless as she did when she spoke.
+
+    _Ballad translated by J. G. Lockhart
+    from "Poems of Places."_
+
+
+
+
+GODFREY AND THE FIRST CRUSADE
+
+
+    I sing the pious arms and Chief, who freed
+    The Sepulchre of Christ from thrall profane:
+    Much did he toil in thought, and much in deed;
+    Much in the glorious enterprise sustain;
+    And Hell in vain opposed him; and in vain
+    Afric and Asia to the rescue poured
+    Their mingled tribes; Heaven recompensed his pain,
+    And from all fruitless sallies of the sword,
+    True to the Red-cross flag, his wandering friends restored.
+
+    _Tasso._
+
+
+
+
+GODFREY AND THE FIRST CRUSADE
+
+(1060-1100 A. D.)
+
+
+It was a bright autumn day of the year 1095 A. D., and since early
+morning the inhabitants of the little French village of Clermont had
+been astir, and feasting their eyes on the unusual spectacle of
+strangers from all France, Germany, and Italy. It was the day appointed
+by the Pope for a council to consider the state of the Christians in
+Palestine; and loyal sons and daughters of the Church had gathered from
+far and near. Outside the limits of the town for miles around, their
+white tents and many-colored banners gleamed in the sunshine, for the
+village could not accommodate the throngs of visitors.
+
+Now the tents and houses were deserted, as all had crowded into the town
+to witness the proceedings of the Council. No building could contain the
+thousands of people, so the Pope had decided to hold the meeting in the
+great public square of Clermont. Here the vast crowds had assembled. As
+far as the eye could reach, down every street leading into the square,
+extended a closely packed multitude. They stood silent, almost
+motionless, their faces turned toward the platform in the center of the
+wide square.
+
+People of all classes, ages, and conditions were there: nobles, clad in
+rich dress or glittering armor; priests in dark robes; peasants in
+coarse frieze; ladies of rank, merchants, beggars,--all stood side by
+side, forgetful of everything worldly, listening eagerly to the words of
+the man who looked down on them from the high stand in their midst.
+
+This man was small and mean in his appearance. His bony figure was
+covered by a woolen tunic and a coarse serge gown that reached to the
+bare feet. From the neck drooped a monk's hood. His thin, haggard face,
+burned brown by long exposure to the hot sun and winds of the East,
+would have been ugly but for the deep, dark, flashing eyes, lit up with
+wild enthusiasm and fiery earnestness. The monk held erect with the left
+arm a great wooden cross that overtopped his head. Gesticulating
+fiercely as he addressed the absorbed multitude, his slight frame
+quivered with the violence of his emotions, and tears rolled down the
+sunken cheeks. In a voice often broken by sobs he cried:--
+
+"Men of Clermont, people of France, Christians of all nations, come
+hither at the call of our Holy Father, the Pope! I tell you not of
+things learned by hearsay; I myself have beheld all these horrors in the
+Holy Land of Palestine. Through the ancient streets of Jerusalem the
+accursed infidels stalk in the evil pride of conquest. They insult and
+oppress, they torture and murder the followers of Christ. They rob and
+maltreat the pious pilgrims from all lands who toil through desert and
+over mountain to worship at the tomb of their Lord. Scarcely will these
+heathen suffer the adoration of Christ in the blessed city of His cross
+and passion. Nay, not content with persecuting our brethren, the vile
+crew of Mohammed, accursed of God, attack the very majesty of the most
+high God. They cast down and burn the churches of Christ; they tear His
+ministers from the very altar and drag them to a shameful death; they
+profane the holy places; they mock and spit upon the symbol of His holy
+religion,--this blessed cross, the sign of our redemption.
+
+"O people of Christ, God hath already stretched forth His hand to the
+destruction of the wicked. To me, the most humble of His servants,--to
+Peter the Hermit, despised of men,--hath He revealed His purpose. For
+while I lay prone upon the rock before the Holy Sepulchre, calling upon
+God for mercy, the voice of the Lord Christ came to mine ears,--
+
+"'Peter, arise! Hasten to proclaim the tribulations of my people. It is
+time that my servants should receive help, that the holy places should
+be delivered!'
+
+"When I heard this, I hastened in fearful and joyful obedience to tell
+to Christian nations the sore straits of Christ's land and followers.
+Here stands God's priest to call the people of God to this holy
+work,--Christ himself calls you to the rescue of the Holy Land. Arm
+yourselves and hasten to Palestine! There shall ye cast out the heathen!
+There shall ye restore Jerusalem and the Holy City to the keeping of
+God's people!"
+
+As Peter sank down exhausted with emotion, the Pope, Urban II., in all
+the splendor of his pontifical robes, arose from his throne in the midst
+of the prelates of the Church, and came forward. It was he who had
+called this solemn council of priests and nobles to consider the state
+of the Holy Land and to devise means for its rescue. Now, with dignity
+and eloquence, Urban added the sanction of the Church to Peter's wild
+appeal, saying:--
+
+"I will not seek to dry the tears which images so painful must draw from
+you. Let us weep, my brethren; but evil be to us if in our sterile pity
+we longer leave the heritage of the Lord in the hands of the impious.
+For I called ye hither, not to weep over the afflictions of the Holy
+Land, but to gird on your swords and go forth to its deliverance.
+
+"Christian warriors, rejoice! for to-day ye have found a true cause for
+battle. Go forth and fight the barbarians. Go and fight for the delivery
+of Jerusalem,--that royal city which the Redeemer of the human race has
+hallowed by His passion, has purchased by His blood, has distinguished
+by His burial. She now demands of you her deliverance. Men of France,
+men from beyond the mountains, nations chosen and beloved of God, right
+valiant knights, recall the virtues and greatness of Charlemagne and
+your other kings. It is from you, above all, that Jerusalem awaits the
+help she invokes, for to you, above all, has God given glory in arms.
+Take ye, therefore, the road to Jerusalem for the remission of your
+sins,--for all sins shall be forgiven to the warrior of Christ,--and
+depart assured of the deathless glory that awaits ye in the kingdom of
+heaven!"
+
+As the Pope ceased speaking, the people cried aloud in wild
+enthusiasm,--
+
+"The cross! the cross! Give us the cross!"
+
+Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, was first to receive the holy symbol. Then all
+the multitude, pressing eagerly forward, received from Pope or priest a
+red cross of silk or cloth. Fastened on shoulder or breast, it
+henceforth stamped the wearer as one sworn to fight for the delivery of
+the Holy Land,--a Crusader.
+
+In the throng surrounding the platform on which stood the Pope, Peter
+the Hermit, and many princes of the Church, was a certain young knight.
+His dress betokened high station. He bore himself modestly, with easy
+grace; and yet a peculiarly stern dignity of mien, and the air of one
+used to command, bespoke the military leader. He gave close heed
+throughout to the speech of the poor monk and that of the proud Head of
+the Church. As Peter spoke of the persecuted Christians and the wretched
+state of the Holy Land, the calm and steadfast eyes of the young man
+kindled with rage or glistened with sorrow. When the Pope mentioned the
+renowned Charlemagne, the knight's smooth, pale cheek flushed with
+pride, for the blood of that great emperor flowed warm in his veins.
+When the pardon of all sins was promised by Christ's vicar to the
+soldier of the cross, the listener started. To his mind came the
+recollection of past exploits,--deeds glorious in the eyes of the world,
+but which left a sting in that tender conscience. And the troubled
+knight mused:--
+
+"The cause of my emperor was just when he warred against Rodolphe of
+Rhenfield; and the many slain in that quarrel trouble me not. I was glad
+when my lance pierced the breast of the upstart who dared to claim the
+throne of Germany and the crown of Henry. Alas! if but the emperor had
+not warred against the Holy Father! If I had not drawn my sword against
+Holy Church! When Henry stormed the battlements of Rome, my young blood
+was hot with the joy of battle. I thought not of sin, but of glory, in
+that wild charge, and I was first to plant our banner on the city wall.
+Henry himself gave me thanks and saluted me as Duke of Antwerp and
+Lorraine. But, alas! God rebuked me soon for my pride in that warfare
+against His Holy Church by sending me a most grievous sickness. Then I
+swore to atone for my impiety by an humble pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
+But _now_, God be thanked! Godfrey de Bouillon goes not with scrip and
+staff to Jerusalem, there to weep over the captivity of Zion--with sword
+and spear will he march to the Holy Land and wrest the Sepulchre of the
+Lord from the hands of the infidels!"
+
+Thus determining, the knight, with a look of high resolve, strode
+forward to the feet of the Pope. Urban received him joyously.
+
+"Now God be praised!" he said fervently, "that the valiant Godfrey de
+Bouillon turns his erstwhile hostile arms to the cause of Holy Church.
+His young renown shall be increased a thousandfold, for God will give
+yet greater victories to his banner."
+
+Then after fastening the cross upon the shoulder of the kneeling knight,
+Urban bestowed upon him a sword with these words,--
+
+"Son Godfrey, receive this sword consecrated by God's high priest to the
+service of Christ. Draw it not save against the enemies of His holy
+religion; but strike and spare not the infidel. So shalt thou advance
+the glory of God, cleanse thy soul from every sin, and purchase
+Paradise!"
+
+Godfrey's pious heart throbbed within him at these great promises. He
+heeded not the crowd about him, nor the congratulations of his friends
+upon this signal honor, but betook himself to solitude, there to pray,
+and to plan the execution of this high enterprise.
+
+Erelong the Pope held council with Godfrey and other great princes who
+had taken the cross, and it was decided that the Crusaders should not
+start on their expedition until the following August, for it was then
+November and much was to be done. The armies were to march in several
+divisions, each by a different route, but all were to meet at
+Constantinople. Having arranged these matters, the princes and lords
+bade one another farewell and proceeded to their several domains, each
+to collect and prepare an army for the coming Crusade.
+
+But Peter the Hermit, impatient of delay, set out at once for Palestine
+at the head of a vast, undisciplined multitude, ill-clad, lacking arms
+and provisions, unprepared in every way for the perilous undertaking,
+but confident that God would supply all their needs, guide them, and
+deliver the Holy City into their hands.
+
+When Duke Godfrey reached his duchy of Lorraine, he found that the wave
+of enthusiasm started at Clermont had already dashed over his people.
+There was no need to urge them on to the holy work. Each and every one
+was eager to don the cross and set out to the rescue of Palestine. Men
+gave their gold, their land; women sold their jewels, their costly
+raiment, to provide means for the equipment of God's soldiers. The Duke
+of Lorraine himself pledged his province of Bouillon to the Bishop of
+Liège for money to fit out the thousands who flocked to his banner from
+Bouillon and Lorraine, from both sides of the Rhine, from northern
+France and western Germany.
+
+Knowing both Frank and Teuton,--able to greet each in his native
+tongue,--Godfrey was well fitted by birth and education to lead the vast
+army that now gathered on the banks of the Meuse and Moselle. Indeed,
+all the qualities of a great general and of "a very gentle, perfect
+knight" were Godfrey's. From his father, Eustace, Count of Boulogne, a
+notable warrior, he inherited valor and wisdom, and learned early "to be
+among the first to strike the foe." His mother, Ida de Bouillon, a most
+learned and pious lady, taught him to fear God, to be gentle, courteous,
+just, and merciful. "Even in youth," says the old chronicler, "a rival,
+on seeing him, was forced to exclaim, 'For zeal in battle, behold his
+father; for serving God, behold his mother!'"
+
+Such was the character of Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, "in
+whom the luster of nobility was enhanced by the splendor of the most
+exalted virtues." Nor was his appearance less to be admired. He was of
+tall, powerful frame and most dignified bearing. He was "beautiful in
+countenance," and the glance of his dark gray eyes, though usually
+gentle and kind, could command respect and obedience from the most
+lawless.
+
+Godfrey was indeed an imposing figure when he rode forth that autumn day
+of September, 1096, at the head of his army of Crusaders. He wore the
+usual dress and armor of a knight. On his head was a silver casque,
+surmounted by a black plume. A hauberk, or coat of mail, composed of
+steel rings, protected his body. He carried on the left arm a round
+buckler, which bore simply the red cross of the Crusader,--the same
+symbol as that worn on his breast. A sword and lance, borne by his
+squire, completed the knight's equipment of arms.
+
+With the duke were his brothers, Baldwin and Eustace, his kinsman,
+Baldwin du Bourg, and his squire, Sigier. Before the leader, rode the
+standard-bearers with the banner of Lorraine and the great standard of
+the Crusade, emblazoned with a blood-red cross.
+
+Ten thousand knights on horseback followed, attired like Godfrey, but
+with gayer ornaments and colors. Their shields, from which floated
+scarfs of red, green, or white, were ornamented with painted leopards,
+lions, birds, towers, or other fanciful devices. From each lance a
+pennant drooped.
+
+After the knights, marched eighty thousand foot-soldiers, carrying long
+oval shields and armed with lances, swords, cross-bows, or heavy clubs.
+Behind these soldiers, trudged thousands of women and children.
+
+On every breast shone the red cross and from every lip rang the
+Crusader's battle-cry, "God wills it!" So the army of Godfrey de
+Bouillon marched forth from Lorraine to the rescue of the Holy Land.
+
+After traveling many long days through Germany, the Crusaders reached
+the country of the Hungarians, a rude though Christian people. There the
+army was stopped on the border by armed forces. Godfrey, attended by
+only a few followers, sought the presence of the king. Carloman received
+him with simple but courteous hospitality.
+
+"I have come," said the Duke, "to ask that the soldiers of my army,
+bound to the rescue of the Holy Land, be allowed to pass through thy
+country in peace and safety."
+
+"Truly," said Carloman, "I would fain grant thy request, but it is not
+long since a great multitude, also Crusaders, were suffered to
+pass,--they robbed and murdered my people. Then came hundreds of
+thousands who fell upon us--in revenge, they said, for the death of
+their brethren, many of whom, in truth, had been justly slain by my
+ill-treated subjects. How can I dare to let loose thy soldiers upon my
+land?"
+
+"Nay," said the just Godfrey, "I come not for war, or to avenge those
+unhappy pilgrims,--God pardon them! They were but ignorant and misguided
+peasants; for their leader, the monk, Peter, though a man of God, is
+often too fierce in his zeal. I pledge thee my faith as a Christian that
+thy land and thy people shall not suffer if thou let my army march
+through Hungary."
+
+Now Godfrey's speech and look were so noble and sincere that the king
+put faith in his word, but as was the custom, demanded hostages,--the
+duke's brother among the number. Baldwin demurred, saying aside to
+Godfrey,--
+
+"How do I know that thou canst hinder thy soldiers from plunder? And if
+thou do not, my life is forfeit. Thou knowest that I risk it with joy
+on the battlefield, but I care not to die a shameful death in this
+barbarous land."
+
+"And will it be a shameful death to die thus in aiding the march of the
+deliverers to Jerusalem?" asked Godfrey, reproachfully. "Nay, say no
+more; I myself will be hostage," and he turned toward the king. But
+Baldwin, at this generous offer, was sorry and ashamed, and he said,--
+
+"Not so, Godfrey, thou shalt not risk thy life; it is more precious than
+mine. I will stay."
+
+Thus it was arranged, and so potent was the influence of the beloved
+leader that his men marched through Hungary harming neither land nor
+people. At the border, Baldwin and the other hostages were returned, and
+the king and his people, giving Godfrey abundant supplies, parted from
+them in good-will and friendship.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Now when Godfrey neared Constantinople, he learned that Hugh, Duke of
+Vermandois, brother to the King of France, and leader of an army of
+Crusaders from that country, was held prisoner by the Greek emperor,
+Alexius. The Duke of Lorraine sent at once to Alexius, demanding the
+release of the French prince. Alexius immediately set free the captive
+duke, whom in truth he had treated with much courtesy, and also
+promised aid to Godfrey, and allowed his army to encamp near
+Constantinople. Shortly after, however, the emperor made a move
+indicating treachery. Godfrey at once sounded the trumpets and prepared
+to assault the city; but when Alexius quickly sought peace, the placable
+duke accepted his explanations and assurances of friendship. Then
+Alexius entertained Godfrey with unheard-of splendor, and soon thought
+so highly of the knight as to adopt him as a son, according to Eastern
+custom.
+
+Here the Duke of Lorraine was joined by other armies, one commanded by
+Raymond, Count of Toulouse,--a tried warrior who had fought in youth
+under the banner of the Cid; the other led by brave and crafty Bohemond,
+Prince of Tarentum. In the host of Crusaders from France, Germany,
+Italy, Spain, England, and even far-off Ireland, were many renowned
+princes, prelates, and nobles: Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, the Pope's
+legate; Robert, Duke of Normandy, the heroic and reckless son of William
+the Conqueror; Count Robert of Paris, wild and ferocious; the gallant
+Count of Flanders; Stephen of Blois, Count of Chartres; and the pure and
+perfect knight, Tancred.
+
+All these leaders Alexius flattered and cajoled with soft words and
+magnificent gifts, promising them help and support on condition that
+the cities in Asia Minor formerly belonging to his empire, if captured
+by the Crusaders, be returned to him. But Alexius was a weak and
+deceitful prince, caring naught for anything save his own interest, as
+the Crusaders soon discovered. So it was without regret, in spite of his
+sumptuous entertainment of them, that Godfrey and the other leaders took
+leave of the Greek emperor and crossed the Bosphorus. This took some
+time, for the immense armies numbered one hundred thousand knights on
+horseback, clad in armor, five hundred thousand foot-soldiers, and
+numerous priests, women, and little children. They outnumbered "the
+sands of the sea, the leaves of the forest, the stars of heaven," writes
+the daughter of Alexius.
+
+This vast host soon encamped before the large city of Nicæa, its strong
+walls and hundreds of towers swarming with Turks. Here, Godfrey's men
+found, wandering in the desert, Peter the Hermit and a few wretched men
+who had escaped when their companions were slaughtered by the Turks.
+These few were the remnant of the hundred thousand pilgrims--men, women,
+and children--whom the wild monk had undertaken to lead to Palestine
+soon after the Council of Clermont. So numerous were the bones of these
+slain Crusaders, near Nicæa, that the soldiers of Godfrey used them in
+building the walls and divisions of his great camp before that city.
+
+Scarcely had this camp been completed when the Sultan of Nicæa,
+Kilidge-Arslan, the "Sword of the Lion," swept down from the mountain on
+the Christian army. "Then the two armies joined, mingled, and attacked
+each other with equal fury. Everywhere glittered casques and shields;
+lances rung against cuirasses; the air resounded with piercing cries;
+the terrified horses recoiled at the din of arms and the hissing of
+arrows; the earth trembled under the tread of the combatants; and the
+plain was for a vast space bristling with javelins."
+
+Godfrey was here, there, everywhere, in the fiercest of the fight,
+slaying the infidels on all sides. His high contempt of danger and death
+inspired his men to fight with equal ardor. At last the Turks were
+driven back, but they returned next day to the attack, nor did they
+retreat until the Crusaders had slain four thousand of them. The heads
+of these Turks were cut off and thrown over the walls of Nicæa, there to
+inform the garrison of the Crusaders' victory and to frighten them into
+surrender.
+
+But the Turks held out long, in spite of the many brave assaults made by
+the besiegers. In these attacks the Crusaders used many strange machines
+of war,--great rams of wood to batter down the walls; ballistas for
+casting stones, beams, and arrows; and catapults for throwing fire and
+huge stones into the city.
+
+The Turks had similar machines and also great iron hands with which they
+reached down from the walls, seized the Crusaders, and drew them up into
+the city. Then, killing these luckless captives and stripping the
+bodies, the infidels would hurl them back by machines into the camp of
+the Christians. These cruelties and the vengeance of the Crusaders made
+the warfare very horrible.
+
+Wonderful deeds were performed on both sides. A huge giant among the
+Turks made himself admired and dreaded by his great skill and
+extraordinary strength. With every cast of his javelin he slew an enemy,
+and he destroyed scores of the besiegers by hurling down upon them great
+masses of rock. One day he stood on the city wall and, single-handed,
+held at bay a great number of Christians. While fighting, he shouted
+defiance to the whole army of Crusaders, ridiculing them and grossly
+insulting their religion. Hundreds of arrows flew at him, but still he
+remained unhurt. Then Godfrey, who had been in another part of the
+field, came rushing up to discover the cause of the tumult. The infidel,
+poising an arrow, exclaimed,--
+
+"Dog of a Christian, thou too shalt die! Let us see if thy crucified God
+can save thee!"
+
+Enraged at this insolence and blasphemy, Godfrey seized a cross-bow and
+took aim quickly. Through the heart of the scoffing giant went the
+arrow, and down into the ditch tumbled the dreaded infidel. Cries of
+distress from the Turks and shouts of joy from the Christians greeted
+this deed of the valiant Godfrey.
+
+After seven weeks of almost continuous fighting, the Crusaders were on
+the point of taking Nicæa, when to their astonishment they saw the
+standard of Alexius raised on the city wall. The cunning Greek emperor,
+learning that the city was about to surrender, had sent an envoy and
+persuaded the Turks to deliver Nicæa to him. So the indignant Crusaders
+received no reward for their hardships and valor. Swearing vengeance on
+the emperor at some later day, they took up the march to Jerusalem.
+
+Over mountains, beside deep precipices, through swift torrents, they
+toiled, suffering agonies from heat, hunger, fatigue, and thirst. On
+the plain of Dorylæum, in Phrygia, part of the army under Bohemond,
+Prince of Tarentum, was attacked by Kilidge-Arslan with two hundred
+thousand Turks, and was on the verge of defeat when Godfrey, at the head
+of a small body of knights, rushed to the rescue and put the Turks to
+headlong flight. The conquerors found the camp of the enemy near by, and
+took possession of large stores of provisions, tents, horses, camels,
+and treasures of all kinds. Rejoicing, the leaders divided the spoils,
+and after a short rest took up the march once more.
+
+Soon the Crusaders suffered terribly, for only a land made waste met
+their eyes,--smoking villages and crops swept away.
+
+The "Sword of the Lion" had gone before and cut down and destroyed
+everything in their path. The vengeful Turk had even poisoned the wells,
+and in this desert country of Phrygia the pilgrims died by thousands.
+
+The tender heart of Godfrey was wrung by the pitiable distress of his
+people. All that was possible of help and comfort he gave them, but he
+could not quench their thirst.
+
+Almost in despair he sat in his tent one day, grieving bitterly, for the
+moans of the suffering came to his ears.
+
+[Illustration: "'Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath found
+water!' cried Sigier!"]
+
+"O Christ, save Thy people," he prayed devoutly. Suddenly the hound of
+his faithful squire, Sigier, bounded into the tent and threw himself
+upon his master, who stood in sad silence near Godfrey.
+
+"Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath found water!" cried Sigier;
+and, in truth, the paws of the dog were covered with wet sand.
+
+Already, ere the two could step outside, they heard the wild shouts and
+tumult of the people, racing madly in the tracks of the dogs. It was in
+vain that Godfrey and the other leaders strove to check that multitude.
+Dashing to the brink of the river so opportunely found by the dogs of
+the camp, thousands threw themselves bodily into the water, many
+drinking so greedily that they perished. Yet the timely discovery saved
+the army from total destruction.
+
+At last the almost exhausted host reached Antiochetta,--a city in a
+fertile plain, where the Christians were kindly received. Here they
+rested and regained the strength lost during their long and perilous
+journey. Many of the surrounding cities sent supplies to Godfrey and the
+other princes, and swore obedience to them.
+
+In the midst of these pleasant happenings the army narrowly escaped a
+terrible loss. Godfrey and a few companions went hunting one day, taking
+their falcons and dogs. While the duke was riding in advance of his
+comrades, he heard savage growls, then piteous cries of distress, "Help,
+help, for the love of God!"
+
+Galloping in the direction of the sounds, Godfrey soon came upon a
+pilgrim engaged in a struggle with a huge bear. The poor man was about
+to be killed. Drawing his sword, Godfrey spurred his horse fiercely on
+the bear; but the steed, frightened by the sight of the strange beast
+and its angry growls, reared back, and threw its rider to the ground. In
+a moment, however, Godfrey was on his feet, and as the bear turned upon
+him, met the attack with a mighty blow. Now a fearful struggle took
+place; but finally, with a fierce thrust of his sword, Godfrey killed
+the beast, just as Sigier and others, summoned by the pilgrim, came
+hurrying up.
+
+"Alas, my lord, you are wounded!" cried Sigier; and indeed so badly was
+the knight hurt that he fainted away and was thought to be dead. The
+soldiers were grieved beyond measure, and the camp resounded with
+lamentations; great was the joy when it was found that Godfrey would
+recover. For weeks, however, he had to be carried on a litter,--saved
+by a miracle, said the people.
+
+Now came the march over Mount Taurus, which was almost as difficult and
+dangerous as that through the desert. Over one steep mountain, which the
+Crusaders called "The Mountain of the Devil," there was only a narrow
+footpath, up which the soldiers could scarcely scramble in single file.
+Many horses lost their footing and fell over the precipice. Numbers of
+the Crusaders became so weary that they threw away their arms; and many
+were left to perish by the wayside, though Godfrey strove to have the
+weak and exhausted carried forward by the strong.
+
+But still struggling on bravely, the Christian host at last found
+themselves before the rich and splendid city of Antioch. It was strongly
+fortified with high walls and more than four hundred towers. Many of the
+leaders thought that it would be prudent to wait to besiege the place
+until spring, when new Crusaders were to arrive, and when the army would
+not be exposed to famine and to the rains and tempests of the winter
+season now approaching. But Godfrey spoke eloquently against this delay.
+
+"Why," said he, "should we wait for others to come and share the
+glories of this army without having shared its labors and dangers? It is
+an insult to the army of Jesus Christ to think that they cannot endure
+cold and rain and famine. Are we like those birds of passage which fly
+away and conceal themselves on the approach of the bad season? Moreover,
+abundance awaits us in the city of Antioch, which will soon open its
+gates to us."
+
+Moved by these brave words, the princes decided to begin the siege at
+once. But the city held out; and when the winter came, the army suffered
+most fearfully. A pestilence broke out, and thousands died of disease,
+in addition to those who perished of hunger or were killed in daily
+battles with the Turks.
+
+The Crusaders had not time or space to bury their dead. Many deserted
+the army. Peter the Hermit could not bear the hardships, and reproaches
+of the suffering, and fled from the camp. He was pursued and brought
+back by Tancred; and the soldiers, who had been as much astonished by
+Peter's desertion as if "the stars had fallen from heaven," made him
+swear on the Bible not to abandon them again.
+
+Godfrey and the good Bishop of Puy strove earnestly to put heart into
+the soldiers.
+
+"God will soon deliver us," said the duke. "He has sent these
+afflictions upon us because we took merit to ourselves for the victory
+of Dorylæum and gave not all the glory to Him." But in vain his hopeful
+words; the army gave way to despair.
+
+Long days of misery, each more wretched than the last, dragged slowly
+by, when suddenly the courage of the Crusaders was revived by a great
+victory. A body of the troops who had gone to the seaport of St. Simeon
+to buy provisions was unexpectedly attacked by a body of Turks and
+compelled to retreat. Godfrey, hearing of the battle, sallied forth and
+defeated the enemy, but was attacked by a large force sent out from
+Antioch. Then Turks and Crusaders battled desperately beneath the very
+walls of Antioch and in sight of the people on its ramparts. The fight
+was man to man, without order or plan. The Christian leaders all
+performed wonderful deeds. Godfrey seemed to possess more than mortal
+strength and valor. No enemy could stand against his attack; and before
+the terrible stroke of his great sword, lances, helmets, and armor flew
+to pieces.
+
+A bold Saracen offered battle to Godfrey, and with the first blow dashed
+to pieces the shield of the Christian knight. Enraged, Godfrey rose up
+in his stirrups, and with all his force delivered such a mighty blow on
+the shoulder of the Turk as to divide his body into two parts. One fell
+to the ground, while the other part remained upright in the saddle. The
+frightened horse rushed back into the city, where the horrible sight
+added to the terror of the inhabitants.
+
+So great was the number of Turks slain in this battle, that the people
+of Antioch were greatly cast down, while the Crusaders renewed their
+assaults with fresh vigor and spirit. Daily conflicts were fought, in
+which many women took part. Even the children formed companies, and
+challenged the Turkish boys to combat. These battles of the children
+were watched with fierce interest by the Saracens on the city walls and
+the Crusaders in their camp, each party cheering on its small champions.
+At last the city became so reduced that it would doubtless soon have
+surrendered had not the Crusaders imprudently consented to a truce.
+
+While this truce was in force the soldiers gave themselves up to
+rioting, and the Christian princes disputed among themselves, for there
+was a spirit of rivalry among them, and some were haughty and
+quarrelsome.
+
+Bohemond received by mistake a magnificent tent sent by an Armenian
+prince to the Duke of Lorraine. The Prince of Tarentum was very
+avaricious and pretended that the gift was intended for him. Now the
+Duke of Lorraine, though gentle and generous, and never haughty in his
+bearing toward the other princes, was not at all meek, nor inclined to
+suffer any trespass upon his rights or dignity. He at once demanded his
+property of Bohemond in peremptory terms, and when refused, would have
+seized it by force of arms, had not the prince, seeing that all sided
+with Godfrey, reluctantly delivered the tent to him, its rightful owner.
+
+While these disputes were going on, the people of Antioch had received
+fresh supplies of provisions and arms, and now, refusing to surrender,
+again resumed the conflict. Bohemond, however, had found a traitor
+within the walls. This man, Phirous, had formerly been a Christian, but
+had become a Mohammedan. He told Bohemond that Jesus Christ had appeared
+to him and commanded him to betray the city into the hands of the
+Christians. The leaders of the Crusade were not willing to win the city
+by treachery, and for some time rejected the offer of Bohemond to lead
+them into it by the aid of Phirous. But at last, in June, 1098, the
+rumor that a vast army of Turks was approaching, led the princes to
+consent to the stratagem.
+
+On the night appointed by Phirous to admit the Crusaders, rain poured in
+torrents, peals of thunder shook the air, lightning flashed
+continuously, and the entire western sky was strangely illuminated. But
+the Crusaders were undaunted by the storm. They even deemed it an omen
+of success when a fiery comet flamed across the heavens. Silently,
+stealthily, the appointed soldiers crept up close to the wall; but when
+they found the frail rope-ladder, let down by Phirous, dangling against
+the wall, a strange fright seized upon them. Not one made a move toward
+it; all hesitated to dare the ascent. But Bohemond, as daring as he was
+crafty and ambitious, soon shamed his men by setting foot on the ladder.
+All followed and scrambled up to the tower where Phirous awaited them.
+He yielded it to them, and then pointed out a gate that could easily be
+forced. Into the city poured the Crusaders; and the people of Antioch,
+waking in terror, were slaughtered or made prisoners. The city was soon
+in the hands of the Crusaders, though the citadel, a strong tower on a
+steep hill in the center of the town, could not be taken.
+
+But scarcely had the victors ceased to rejoice over their conquest, when
+they found themselves besieged in turn by an immense army under the
+command of Kerbogha, Sultan of Mossoul, a celebrated Turkish warrior.
+Then the Christians, with an enemy in their city and surrounded by
+countless enemies without, endured the most dreadful hardships. Food
+became so scarce that even the horses were eaten. Godfrey generously
+shared his means with his soldiers, and was finally compelled to kill
+his favorite war-horse for food. So wretched were the Christians that
+many threw themselves over the battlements. Others deserted to the
+enemy, letting themselves down at night by cords from the city walls.
+These latter traitors were cursed most bitterly by their indignant
+comrades for such base cowardice and were called in derision
+"Rope-dancers." But truly it was only the stoutest hearts and strongest
+bodies that could stand the misery to which the Crusaders were now
+reduced. In spite of the brave efforts of Godfrey and some of the other
+princes, most of the wretched people gave up all hope. They hid
+themselves in their houses to await the end, and the silence of death
+settled down upon the stricken city.
+
+It is said that several of the leaders proposed to secure their own
+safety by fleeing in the night from the beleaguered city, and were only
+prevented from taking this step by the appeals of Adhemar and Godfrey,
+who represented to them in strongest terms the everlasting disgrace that
+such a step would bring upon them. Kerbogha had scornfully refused any
+terms of surrender except "Death or captivity for all," and it seemed
+that such must be the fate of the Crusaders, when the aspect of affairs
+was suddenly changed by a miracle.
+
+A priest, Bartholomew by name, announced that Saint Andrew had appeared
+to him three times, saying,--
+
+"Go to the church of my brother Peter in Antioch. Dig up the earth near
+the altar, and there you will find the head of the lance that pierced
+the side of our Redeemer. This sacred sign borne at the head of the army
+shall deliver the Christians and pierce the heart of the infidels."
+
+All the army believed in this vision, and after three solemn days of
+fasting and praying, Bartholomew, in the presence of twelve priests and
+knights, directed the workmen where to dig beneath the altar of the
+church. All day the digging went on, while the great crowd outside
+waited in silent impatience. At midnight, Bartholomew threw himself into
+the hole, and soon reappeared, bearing a spear-head in his hand. The joy
+of all was frantic, for they firmly believed that this holy relic would
+insure them a victory. Famine and fear were forgotten! All demanded to
+be led at once against the enemy.
+
+The next day the gates of Antioch were thrown open, and the army marched
+forth in solemn and imposing procession. At the head walked the priests,
+bearing aloft the holy lance, and chanting, "Let the Lord arise and let
+His enemies be scattered." The army followed in twelve divisions, each
+led by one of the princes in such state as he could muster. Godfrey had
+given away his all and rode a horse borrowed from the rich Raymond. Many
+of the soldiers were without weapons and were so weak from want of food
+that they could scarcely walk; yet their faith gave them courage, and
+they surveyed the vast army of the Saracens with calm confidence in
+victory,--for was not God himself with them? Not a sound was heard in
+the ranks.
+
+The Saracens, seeing this strange procession, at first supposed that the
+Christians had come out to surrender; but soon perceiving their error,
+they let fly a shower of arrows. A strong wind blew back these infidel
+darts and seemed to the Crusaders yet another sign of heavenly favor;
+and they awaited with renewed confidence the attack of the Turks. It
+soon came. The bodyguard of Kerbogha, three thousand strong, both man
+and horse clad in complete steel armor, hurled themselves against the
+Christian ranks, beating down the soldiers with ponderous clubs armed
+with steel points. Behind these warriors followed the immense host of
+Saracens. The battle raged for some time without decided advantage on
+either side, but the Sultan of Nice at last ordered burning flax to be
+thrown among the bushes and grass of the plain. At once the blaze and
+smoke surrounded the Christians. Stifled and confused, they fell back,
+and the sultan was about to drive them from the field, when suddenly a
+body of soldiers was seen descending the mountain-side, led by three
+knights in glittering white armor.
+
+"Behold," cried the Bishop of Puy, "the holy saints, George, Demetrius,
+and Theodore, come to fight for us!"
+
+To the Christians this sight gave irresistible valor. With a mighty
+shout, "God wills it!" the army hurled itself as one man against the
+Saracens. Nothing could withstand that inspired charge. The Turks fell
+back, broke their ranks, and fled in terror, leaving a hundred thousand
+dead.
+
+Their camp was found rich in treasures of all kinds. The gorgeous tent
+of Kerbogha, arranged in streets, like a city, lavishly decorated with
+gold and jewels, and large enough to shelter two thousand men, was
+captured by Bohemond. This vast pavilion was sent to Italy, where it was
+an object of even greater wonder and admiration to the Italians than it
+had been to the Crusaders. The leaders now found themselves rich, and
+for some time remained in peace at Antioch, enjoying the relief from
+want and warfare.
+
+But again a pestilence broke out, and carried off thousands. Among these
+victims was the good and beloved Adhemar, Bishop of Puy. The soldiers
+believed that God was angry because of the inaction and delay of the
+princes that were sworn to deliver the sepulchre of Christ. Then news
+came that Jerusalem had been taken from the Turks by the Khalif of
+Egypt, and the Christians were struck with deep remorse that the Holy
+City had been again captured, and not by the followers of Christ.
+Ashamed of their delay and forgetfulness of their sacred mission, the
+Crusaders resumed their march to the Holy City, eight months after the
+capture of Antioch.
+
+But the army lacked some of its former leaders. Count Stephen, of
+Chartres, and the Count of Vermandois, weary of hardships, had returned
+to France,--there to face the bitter scorn of all Europe. Bohemond
+remained in Antioch as ruler of the city his cunning had won. Baldwin,
+who had established himself as prince of the rich city, Edessa, thought
+no more about Jerusalem. This conduct of Baldwin grieved his brother
+deeply, and it was with a saddened heart that the pious Godfrey now led
+his army toward Jerusalem.
+
+Marching along the coast, the Crusaders soon neared Ptolemais. The emir
+of that city sent them supplies, and promised to surrender it to them as
+soon as they should conquer Jerusalem. The princes had not intended to
+attack Ptolemais and were delighted at this unexpected promise. But the
+falseness of the Mohammedan was soon revealed to them in a strange way.
+For soon after, while the army was encamped near Cæsarea, the Bishop of
+Apt, sitting before his tent one day, saw a large falcon in pursuit of a
+dove. Fluttering swiftly downward, the tiny bird escaped the claws of
+its pursuer and fell at the feet of the bishop. The kind priest picked
+it up carefully, and was tenderly smoothing its ruffled plumage when he
+saw a letter tied under its wing. Setting the trembling bird free, the
+bishop hastened to the tent where the princes were holding council.
+Godfrey broke the seal, and with an exclamation of surprise read the
+letter aloud.
+
+It was from the Emir of Ptolemais to the Emir of Cæsarea, and ran
+thus:--
+
+     "The cursed race of Christians have just passed through my
+     territory, and will soon reach thine. Let the chiefs of all the
+     Mussulman cities be warned of their approach and let them take
+     measures to crush our enemies."
+
+The princes were much astonished on hearing this, and Godfrey
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Surely we cannot doubt that God is with us, since He sends the birds of
+the air to reveal to us the secrets of our enemies!"
+
+So said all the soldiers when the letter was read to them, and they
+pursued their journey with new enthusiasm and stronger hope.
+
+On a night not long after, the Crusaders were watching with awe an
+eclipse of the moon. Suddenly the momentary darkness passed away, and
+the lurid light of a _blood-red_ moon shone down. But their terror at
+this strange sight was changed to joy when "those familiar with the
+signs of the stars" said,--
+
+"This doth portend the fall of the infidels and the triumph of Christ's
+army!"
+
+The following day, at sunrise, the Crusaders climbed to the summit of
+the hills of Emmaus, when--
+
+"Lo! Jerusalem appears in sight. Lo! every hand points out Jerusalem.
+Lo! a thousand voices are heard as one in salutation of Jerusalem!"
+
+After the first moment of pure gladness, a feeling of deep awe and great
+sorrow came over the Crusaders as they gazed at the city where Christ
+had suffered and died for their redemption. Following the example of
+their loved Godfrey, the Christians laid aside with tears and sighs
+their gay scarfs and glittering ornaments of knighthood; barefoot, in
+token of humility and reverence, they traveled the road once trodden by
+the feet of their Lord. And as they marched, they sang the words of
+Isaiah:--
+
+"Jerusalem, lift up thine eyes and behold the liberator who comes to
+break thy chains!"
+
+At last the pilgrims were encamped before the city of their pious hopes
+and dreams. But only a small remnant of the once magnificent army was
+left,--a weak body of perhaps forty thousand, lacking provisions and all
+machinery of war.
+
+A few days after encamping, the Crusaders made a fierce assault on
+Jerusalem, but having no engines of attack and no scaling ladders, they
+were beaten back.
+
+Realizing that the city could never be taken without these machines,
+Godfrey set the army at work to construct them. But it was with the
+greatest difficulty that wood, iron, and stone for making towers,
+ladders, and catapults could be procured. Soon the soldiers suffered the
+agonies of thirst, for most of the springs had been choked up or
+poisoned by the enemy. A less determined army would have given up the
+siege in despair. But though a few weak ones, unable to stand the
+hardships, deserted, nothing could daunt the courage or lessen the zeal
+of the greater part of the army.
+
+When at last some reinforcements and supplies arrived, all the army,
+women and children as well as men, set to work again with the greatest
+spirit to build engines of war and to prepare for the assault. Godfrey,
+Raymond, and Tancred constructed three movable towers, each higher than
+the city wall. Godfrey's had three platforms, and on the topmost one a
+drawbridge to be let down upon the wall.
+
+After four weeks of hard labor, Godfrey decided that the attack could
+be made. Three days the army fasted and prayed. Then all the Crusaders,
+in full armor, led by the priests praying and chanting, marched around
+Jerusalem, viewing with awe the holy places of the Lord's pilgrimage. On
+the mount whence Christ ascended to heaven, the priests absolved and
+blessed the multitude.
+
+Meanwhile the Egyptians and Turks on the city walls mocked at these
+ceremonies. The infidels raised crosses and spat upon them, insulting in
+every way the symbol of Christ in the sight of His followers. Peter the
+Hermit, on seeing this sacrilege, cried aloud to the Crusaders,--
+
+"I swear to you by your faith that to-morrow these proud blasphemers of
+Christ shall be frozen with fear! Their mosques shall become temples of
+the Lord, and Jerusalem shall hear only the praises of the true God!" At
+these words the whole army shouted with joy and triumph.
+
+That night the wise Godfrey, with great labor and difficulty, removed
+his immense engines of war to another position, where the Saracens had
+not made such great preparations for the defence of the walls.
+
+Then Godfrey and the other leaders planned the attack. Raymond was to
+assault the southern wall; Godfrey himself the northern; and between
+them the two Roberts and Tancred were to be stationed.
+
+At daybreak, the Count of Toulouse came to Godfrey's tent. After
+greeting Godfrey, Raymond exclaimed in surprise,--
+
+"How is this, my Lord? Where is thy strong breastplate and the rest of
+thy steel armor? Why hast thou put on this weak suit? Don thy vantbrace
+and helmet, and thy steel casque, and mask thy face. Do not risk thy
+life thus rashly."
+
+But Godfrey replied calmly,--
+
+"When Pope Urban girt this blade on me at Clermont, and bade me perform
+the duties of a true knight of Christ in this divine Crusade, I made a
+secret vow that on this day I would not fight as a prince and leader,
+but would assume the arms and armor of a common soldier. I shall station
+my men and see to all things as a general should; then, in this light
+armor of a foot-soldier, I shall strive to plant the banner of the cross
+on the ramparts of Jerusalem. God will protect my life."
+
+When Raymond heard this resolution, he protested no more, but hastened
+away and told the other princes, who all quickly decided to follow
+Godfrey's example of brave humility.
+
+Soon everything was in readiness, and from all quarters of the camp the
+drums and trumpets sounded.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With a mighty shout, the army rushes to the assault. The engines of war
+are all put in motion at the same moment. Bands of men, under cover of
+their upraised shields, drag the rams close to the wall. With these
+battering-rams they hammer at the wall, while stones and arrows hurtle
+down on their steel roof. Other companies rush intrepidly forward with
+long scaling-ladders, and strive to hook them to the top of the wall.
+The Saracens, with equal energy and courage, labor to cast them down. If
+perchance a ladder be fixed, men swarm up, undaunted by the weapons
+hurled at them. Scores, struck dead or wounded, loosen their hold and
+fall to the ground; but as many more clamber over their dead bodies and
+spring to their places. If a knight but reach the top of the ladder, he
+is cut down by the scimitars of the Egyptians.
+
+Huge stones, showers of sharp flints, and heavy beams cast from
+mangonels and catapults, fly through the air in every direction,
+crushing Saracens or Christians. The great towers, alive with soldiers,
+roll forward nearer and nearer to the city wall, though its defenders
+fight desperately to stay the advance of the dreaded machines,--casting
+blazing arrows and balls of fire against the towers, aiming countless
+weapons at the Christians upon them. Women and children mingle in the
+fray, bringing missiles for the machines, or food and water for the
+soldiers. They lay hold on the towers and help to drag them forward.
+
+On the tallest tower, high above all, stands Godfrey, fighting
+furiously, and urging his men to yet more heroic efforts. Above all
+tumult--shouts of defiance and cries of triumph, shrieks of mortal
+anguish, din and clatter of arms, and hissing of arrows--rings out his
+battle-cry: "Christ and the Holy Sepulchre! God wills it!"
+
+Now Christians raise a shout of joy as they gain the wall; now infidels
+howl in derision as the besiegers are driven back. Through the smoke and
+flame and flying weapons the horrified Crusaders behold two hideous
+witches on the highest rampart. Their hair and garments stream in the
+wind. With horrid curses and impious cries, they call upon the demons of
+earth and air to smite the Crusaders. But their sorcery does not avail
+to save themselves from death; pierced by countless Christian arrows,
+they fall headlong from the battlements. With wilder zeal the exultant
+Crusaders battle, and with greater fury the enraged infidels.
+
+Hours pass. The tower of Raymond is set on fire, and the long flames
+shoot up to heaven and brighten the darkening sky. Night falls, and
+Jerusalem is still in the hands of the unbelievers. Exhausted and
+bleeding, the Christians draw back from the walls; but it is not of
+their suffering and losses they think. One long wail goes up from those
+bursting hearts:--
+
+"Alas! God has not yet thought us worthy to enter His Holy City!"
+
+But those stout hearts are not long cast down. At daybreak the
+Christians once more hurl themselves against the battered walls of
+Jerusalem--with tenfold fiercer determination than before. Infidels and
+Christians know that one or the other will this day be swept from the
+face of the earth. The Christian leaders fight as even these knights of
+the cross have never fought before. The veteran Raymond is on foot in
+the midst of his men. He urges them against the wall where stands the
+Emir of Jerusalem, and bids them aim their darts at the Egyptian prince,
+whose splendid armor flashes golden in the sunlight. But though the
+arrows fall thick about him, Iftikhar stands haughtily erect, and
+continues to direct the efforts of his men.
+
+Tancred and the two Roberts exhaust their arrows and at last stand
+motionless on the tower, awaiting with fierce impatience the moment,
+fast approaching, when they can pierce with lance or cut down with sword
+the Saracens on the city wall, now almost within reach.
+
+But the conflict centers about the great tower of Godfrey. If only that
+tower reach the wall! On the summit shines a great cross of gold, and
+beneath its arms stands Godfrey, his brother Eustace, his cousin,
+Baldwin du Bourg, Sigier, and other knights. The sight of the sacred
+symbol of Christ throws the followers of Mohammed into a frenzy of
+impious rage. They hurl showers of blazing arrows, stones, and balls of
+fire against its defenders. Godfrey remains unhurt, but the faithful
+Sigier falls beside him. Slowly but surely the tower creeps nearer the
+wall. The Saracens redouble their efforts. They throw down between the
+wall and the tower, pots of burning oil, blazing wood, and Greek fire.
+They fortify the wall with mattresses of lighted straw until it seems
+one sheet of flame. The tower approaches this barricade of fire, but
+the smoke and flame stifle the Crusaders. They falter and fall back.
+
+The Crusaders on all sides begin to waver, and the infidels shout for
+joy. But at this moment a knight in glittering white armor appears on
+the Mount of Olives, and waves his fiery shield toward the Holy City.
+Godfrey, first to behold the strange warrior, shouts exultantly,--
+
+"Saint George! Saint George to our aid!"
+
+At the same moment a strong wind suddenly blows the flame away from
+Godfrey's tower and back upon the infidels, who stagger and retreat from
+the fiery blast. Now is the Christians' opportunity. One mighty effort,
+and the tower is within reach of the wall. The bridge of the tower falls
+with a crash, and the Christian knights spring upon it. A brief, fierce
+struggle,--and then, with a glad shout, "God wills it!" Godfrey de
+Bouillon stands triumphant on the walls of Jerusalem!
+
+It is Friday,--the day and the very hour of the death of his Lord.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The city was won. Animated by Godfrey's triumph, beholding him plant the
+banner of the cross on the wall of Jerusalem, Raymond and Tancred
+redoubled their efforts. Soon from all points of attack the victorious
+Crusaders poured into the city. Maddened by battle and the remembrance
+of the cruel persecutions their brethren had suffered, the Crusaders
+massacred all in their way.
+
+Very rarely, in those fierce days, was mercy shown to a defeated foe;
+and the Crusaders, fully persuaded that the slaughter of infidels is
+pleasing to the Lord, shouted, while hewing down the Saracens, "God
+wills it!"
+
+But the merciful Godfrey did not take part in this bloody work. With
+three companions he stole away from the army; and clothing himself in a
+pure white robe, barefoot, and without arms, he sought the Church of the
+Holy Sepulchre. There he worshiped at the tomb of Christ, and gave
+thanks that it had been rescued from the infidels. When the other
+Crusaders heard of this pious act, all followed Godfrey's example, and
+offered up prayers at the Holy Sepulchre. But their piety did not soften
+their hearts. For a week they hunted down and killed the Mohammedans and
+the Jews of the city.
+
+At last, when weary of slaughter, the Crusaders turned their attention
+to matters concerning the safety and welfare of the city they had so
+hardly won. It was decided to elect a king who should remain in the
+Holy Land, and protect the city against the attacks of the infidels.
+After long consideration, prayer, and inquiry into the private character
+of the various princes, Godfrey de Bouillon was chosen as possessing in
+the highest degree the requisite qualities of virtue, piety, wisdom, and
+valor. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, before the assembled
+Crusaders, Godfrey took an oath to rule justly and to defend with his
+life the Holy City. But so great was his piety and humility that he
+refused to be crowned, saying,--
+
+"Never will I wear a crown of gold in the place where the Saviour of the
+world wore a crown of thorns!" Nor would he be called king, but took the
+title of "Baron and Defender of the Holy Sepulchre." Yet in history he
+is called the first King of Jerusalem, and never was there a more kingly
+man, one more fitted to wear a crown.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Scarcely had Godfrey taken the vow to defend Jerusalem when he was
+called upon to fulfill it. Tidings came that an immense army of
+Egyptians and Turks was advancing upon the city. Realizing that
+Jerusalem could not hold out if besieged, Godfrey wisely and boldly
+marched out to meet the enemy, though both Raymond and Robert of
+Normandy refused to go with him, affecting not to believe in the
+reported approach of the infidels. But after Godfrey's departure these
+princes yielded to the prayers of the people, and joined him at Ascalon.
+
+There, countless thousands of the infidels were completely crushed by
+Godfrey. He captured the sword and great standard of Afdhal, the
+Egyptian leader, and hung them up as trophies in the Church of the
+Sepulchre.
+
+Godfrey soon conquered many parts of the surrounding country. During his
+siege of Asur, a conquered city that had rebelled against him, Godfrey
+inspired a touching act of heroism. He was advancing to attack the city
+walls when a knight, Gerard of Avesnes, who had been left there as a
+hostage by Godfrey, was bound by the Turks to a long pole and fastened
+to the wall in such a manner that he must be killed by the weapons of
+Godfrey's men should the assault be made. When Godfrey drew near, the
+poor knight cried aloud with tears,--
+
+"Godfrey, for the love of Christ, pity thy wretched friend. Alas! do not
+cause me to die in this shameful way,--like a miserable felon, bound
+and helpless! I do not fear death, but would fain die like a true
+knight, sword in hand, on the battlefield!"
+
+But Godfrey, though moved to the heart by the sad plight and piteous
+appeals of Gerard, did not falter or fail in his hard duty. With tears
+in his eyes, he besought the unfortunate knight to resign himself
+bravely to the fate of a martyr.
+
+"It is not in my power to save thee," said he. "The city must be taken.
+If my own brother were in thy place I could not deliver him from death.
+Die, then, illustrious and brave knight, for the safety of thy brethren
+and the glory of thy Lord Jesus Christ!"
+
+Inspired by these noble words, Gerard found the faith to meet death with
+a splendid courage. He begged that his armor be offered up at the Holy
+Sepulchre, and that prayers be said there for the repose of his soul.
+Then bidding his friends farewell, he urged on their attack, and died
+without a murmur under a shower of darts from their hands.
+
+Many chiefs of the Turks visited Godfrey during this siege, and were
+surprised to find the great prince living as simply as the poorest
+soldier, without luxuries of any kind, his bed a pallet of straw. But he
+gained the respect and admiration of these barbarians by showing them
+his great strength and skill in arms. The fame of his valor traveled
+over the land, and many emirs came of their own accord to swear fealty
+to the ruler of Jerusalem.
+
+The wisdom of Godfrey was as great as his bravery. He called a council
+of the wise men of the kingdom, and with their help drew up good and
+just laws for the government of the people. Not long after these laws
+were drawn up and deposited in the Church of the Resurrection, Godfrey
+was called to the help of his friend Tancred, ruler of Galilee, who had
+been attacked by the Saracens. Godfrey quickly defeated this army, and
+was on his way back to Jerusalem when he was met by the Emir of Cæsarea,
+who made him a present of some fruit. Godfrey ate only one cedar-apple,
+but was at once taken very sick, and his friends believed that he had
+been poisoned by the emir. Though suffering greatly, the stricken hero
+hastened on to his beloved city.
+
+On the anniversary of the taking of Jerusalem, in that Holy City so dear
+to his heart, the greatest of the Crusaders calmly passed away, and "The
+Lord received him into Paradise."
+
+Near the sacred tomb of his divine captain, the body of this true and
+loyal soldier of Christ was laid to rest. Never had he wavered in his
+devotion to the cause of his Lord. Hardships of desert and mountain,
+suffering by pestilence and famine, agonies of thirst, labors and perils
+of the battlefield,--all had failed to daunt this soldier of the Cross.
+What matter if his ideals of duty and religion seem fantastic to our
+modern minds? He gave his life for them; and so long as men admire the
+brave deeds of a fearless heart, so long as they reverence a pure and
+selfless purpose, so long will they honor the name and fame of The Great
+Crusader.
+
+
+
+
+THE TROUBADOUR
+
+
+    Gaily the Troubadour touched his guitar,
+    As he was hastening home from the war,
+    Singing, "From Palestine hither I come,--
+    Ladye-love, ladye-love, welcome me home!"
+
+    She for her Troubadour hopelessly wept,
+    Sadly she thought on him whilst others slept,
+    Sighing, "In search of thee, would I might roam,
+    Troubadour, Troubadour, come to thy home!"
+
+    Hark! 'twas the Troubadour breathing her name,
+    As under the battlement softly he came,
+    Singing, "From Palestine hither I come,
+    Ladye-love, ladye-love, welcome me home!"
+
+    _Old Song._
+
+
+
+
+THE CARRIER DOVE
+
+
+    Fly away to my native land, sweet dove,
+    Fly away to my native land,
+    And bear these lines to my ladye-love,
+    That I've traced with a feeble hand.
+    She marvels much at my long delay,
+    A rumor of death she hath heard,
+    Or she thinks, perhaps, that I falsely stray--
+    Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!
+
+    I shall miss thy visit at dawn, sweet dove,
+    I shall miss thy coming at eve,
+    But bring me a line from my ladye-love,
+    And then I shall cease to grieve.
+    No friend to my lattice a solace brings,
+    Except when your voice is heard,
+    As you beat the bars with your snowy wings,
+    Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!
+
+    Oh! fly to her bower and say the chain
+    Of the tyrant is over me now,
+    That I never shall mount my steed again,
+    With helmet upon my brow.
+    I can bear in a dungeon to waste away youth,
+    I can fall by the conqueror's sword,
+    But I cannot endure she should doubt my truth,
+    Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!
+
+    _Old Song._
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTIVE KNIGHT
+
+
+    'Twas a trumpet's pealing sound!
+    And the Knight looked down from the Paynim's tower;
+    As a Christian host, in its pride and power,
+    Thro' the pass beneath him wound.
+    "Cease awhile, clarion! clarion, wild and shrill!
+    Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!
+
+    "I knew 'twas a trumpet's note!
+    And I see my brethren's lances gleam,
+    And their pennons wave by the mountain stream,
+    And their plumes to the glad wind float.
+    Cease awhile, clarion! clarion, wild and shrill!
+    Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!
+
+    "I am here with my heavy chain!
+    And I look on a torrent sweeping by.
+    And an eagle rushing to the sky,
+    And a host to its battle plain.
+    Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill!
+    Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!
+
+    "Must I pine in my fetters here?
+    With the wild waves' foam, and the free bird's flight,
+    And the tall spears glancing on my sight,
+    And the trumpet in my ear?
+    Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill!
+    Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!
+
+    "They are gone! they have all passed by!
+    They in whose wars I have borne my part,
+    They that I loved with a brother's heart,
+    They have left me here to die!
+    Sound again, clarion! clarion, pour thy blast!
+    Sound, for the captive's dream of hope is past!"
+
+    FELICIA HEMANS.
+
+
+
+
+RICHARD COEUR-DE-LION
+
+
+    Honor enough his merit brings,
+      He needs no alien praise
+    In whose train, Glory, like a king's,
+      Follows through all his days.
+
+    _Itinerarium Regis Ricardi._
+
+
+
+
+RICHARD COEUR-DE-LION
+
+(1157-1199 A. D.)
+
+
+There was once a prince of England who was married when only five years
+old. This youthful bridegroom was Richard, the son of Henry II. and
+Eleanor of Aquitaine; and his bride was a maiden of three, Alice,
+daughter of Louis VII. of France. The ceremony was a curious one, for of
+course such babies could not really take the marriage vows. But the
+parents of the small couple made the required vows in the name of their
+children, and solemnly promised that the little prince and princess
+should marry as soon as they were old enough. Though the children were
+too young to understand the meaning of the ceremony, it was considered
+as binding upon them as if they had been a man and a woman.
+
+It seems strange for such babies to be married, but it was the custom in
+those days for kings to arrange marriages for the royal children in
+order to increase their own power and dominions, or for other reasons
+connected with the welfare of the country. Thus Henry II., by this
+marriage, obtained possession of lands in France, and the City of
+Gisors, given by Louis as a dower to Alice. The little girl and her
+lands were placed in the hands of Henry to be guarded for Richard until
+the boy should be old enough to claim his bride.
+
+Doubtless the tiny bride of three and her little groom played together
+happily after their marriage, with little thought of the imposing
+ceremony; for it meant nothing to them then, though destined to have sad
+consequences for both in later years. But not for long were the married
+children together. Alice was taken to England, while Richard spent most
+of his early life in France. He was destined to be duke of his mother's
+French province of Aquitaine; and it was thought best that he should be
+educated in the country of which he would be ruler.
+
+Richard was a sturdy, bold, and adventurous lad. He engaged in all the
+boyish sports of the day, and later in those chivalric pastimes that
+formed part of the training of a noble youth. He was taught every
+accomplishment deemed necessary for a knight,--to ride like a centaur,
+to cast a lance, to wield the sword, and to swing the battle-axe. He
+even learned to bend the great cross-bow, the weapon of the English
+peasant, and could send an arrow straight to the mark. These exercises
+were severe training for the young prince, but they developed the
+prodigious strength and skill in arms that later made him the greatest
+warrior of his age.
+
+In addition to these knightly accomplishments, Richard learned to read
+and write,--not such common acquirements in those days as now. From his
+brilliantly educated mother the prince inherited a taste for literature,
+poetry, and music. It was an age of poetry, and poets were held in much
+honor, influencing men to great deeds by their stirring songs. Richard
+took great delight in the songs of the troubadours of Aquitaine and
+Anjou. Several of these poets, especially Blondel de Nesle, were his
+warm friends, and taught him the arts of verse-making and music, in
+which Richard acquired admirable skill.
+
+In the rich land of Aquitaine, with its gay, pleasure-loving people,
+Richard was surrounded by luxury and splendor, but, alas! not by an
+atmosphere of peace or love. His mother was a frivolous woman, and his
+father, Henry, a violent-tempered, despotic, and wicked man. The two
+did not love each other, and when together quarreled continually in the
+most violent manner. So Richard and his brothers--Henry, Geoffrey, and
+John--passed their youth in an atmosphere of strife; and all that was
+violent and contentious in their natural dispositions was fostered by
+their home life and the bad example of their parents.
+
+The princes quarreled among themselves, and as they grew older,
+naturally took part in the bitter disputes continually taking place
+between Henry and Eleanor. As Geoffrey once said, it was their
+inheritance _not_ to love one another. The princes were all proud,
+headstrong, and selfwilled, and hence little disposed to obey their
+imperious father; and Henry, though in some ways weakly indulgent to his
+sons, was most autocratic in disposition. As his sons became young men,
+he gave them certain provinces in France to rule. But he would allow
+them no real power, and the proud young princes were determined not to
+submit to their father's authority, but to be rulers in fact as well as
+in name. So they rebelled against Henry time and again, and fierce wars
+took place between the father and his sons.
+
+Their mother, Eleanor, encouraged the princes in their attitude of
+rebellion against Henry, for he had long treated her with great
+indignity. He neglected his wife for other fair ladies, and at last put
+her in prison, where she remained nearly sixteen years. This severe
+treatment of Eleanor served to enrage her sons and to alienate them
+still more from Henry; for they loved their mother dearly in spite of
+all her faults. So the strife continued in the royal family until two
+sons, Henry and Geoffrey, died while at enmity with their father. Then a
+reconciliation took place between the other members of the family; but
+it lasted only a short time.
+
+Richard, who was then of age, wished to claim and really marry his
+child-bride, Alice; but Henry made excuse after excuse for not giving up
+Alice to his son, though he maintained that Richard was legally bound to
+her and could not marry any other woman.
+
+It is said that the wicked old man had himself fallen in love with
+Alice, and intended to obtain a divorce from Eleanor and marry the young
+princess. Whether this be true or not, it is certain that Richard's
+demands to be given his bride, or else to be declared free to marry whom
+he pleased, were treated with contempt by the old king. Meanwhile the
+gallant and handsome young prince had met at the court of Navarre the
+Princess Berengaria, daughter of King Sancho, and had been much charmed
+by her beauty and grace; but the entanglement with Alice prevented a
+serious love affair.
+
+At last Richard became weary of his absurd position,--supposed to be
+married and yet without a wife.
+
+He appealed to the brother of Alice, Philip of France, who readily
+consented to aid him. The two demanded of Henry that he give up Alice to
+Richard, and also acknowledge him as heir to the English throne, for
+they feared that Henry purposed to leave that kingdom to John. During an
+interview between Henry and Richard, at which Philip was present,
+Richard demanded that his father recognize him, the elder son, as the
+future King of England. Henry made an evasive reply, whereupon,
+referring to the rumor that _John_ would be heir to the English crown,
+Richard exclaimed passionately,--
+
+"Then I am compelled to believe that which I before had believed
+impossible!" and ungirding his sword and handing it to Philip, he knelt
+to him and said,--
+
+"To you, Sire, I commit the protection of my rights, and to you I now do
+homage for all my father's dominions in France!"
+
+Philip accepted his homage, and gave to Richard all the cities taken
+from Henry. Naturally, that king was enraged when his son thus haughtily
+renounced allegiance to him, and war soon followed. Henry was defeated
+several times, and many of his barons left him to join the cause of
+Richard. Finally, the king was forced to make peace with his rebellious
+son on very hard conditions; and this mortified his kingly pride so
+sorely that he fell ill of grief and rage. During this sickness, he
+could think of nothing save his own defeat, and raved constantly,
+"Shame, shame on a conquered king!" When he learned that his
+best-beloved son, John, had been a party to Richard's rebellion, the
+blow was too severe for the old king's broken strength. He died of
+grief, cursing his rebellious sons with his last breath.
+
+No sooner had the fierce but affectionate Richard heard of his father's
+death at Chinon than he was overcome with sorrow and remorse. He came to
+take leave of the king's body, but as he drew near the bier, blood
+gushed from the eyes and mouth of the dead man. Richard was
+horror-stricken, and rushed away, exclaiming,--
+
+"I have murdered him; his blood accuses me!"
+
+The repentant son caused the corpse to be buried with due ceremony at
+Fontevraud, the ancient burial-place of the Norman kings, and he showed
+many signs of penitence for his unfilial conduct.
+
+As soon as the unhappy old king had been laid away, Richard's thoughts
+turned to his mother, Eleanor, who had been for many years a state
+prisoner in Winchester Castle. Sending at once to England, he ordered
+that the queen be released, and appointed regent of the kingdom. Indeed,
+Richard was always a tender and dutiful son to his mother, who calls
+him, "My brave, my generous, my high-minded, my all-worthy son,
+Richard." If he were not a good son to his father also, it is some
+excuse that Henry was a most unpleasant, tyrannical man, whose treatment
+of his wife and children was not such as to beget love and dutiful
+conduct.
+
+After tarrying some months in France, attending to matters in his
+provinces of Anjou, Poitou, Normandy, and Aquitaine, Richard crossed
+over to England. There he was received most joyfully by his new
+subjects.
+
+In Westminster Abbey, on Sept. 3, 1189, his coronation took place with
+great splendor. It is the first coronation ceremony of an English king
+fully described by eye-witnesses.
+
+The Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops, richly robed, and
+carrying the cross, holy water, and censers, led the stately procession
+that escorted the king from his palace to the Abbey. After these
+dignitaries of the Church, came four barons in court dress, bearing each
+a golden candlestick; then four earls, carrying the king's cup, the
+golden spurs, the scepter of state, and the royal rod of majesty--a mace
+adorned with a golden dove. Four great earls walked next, brandishing
+aloft their glittering swords; and behind these noblemen marched six
+more, as bearers of the royal robes and regalia. William, Earl of Essex,
+proudly carried the gold and jeweled crown immediately before Richard
+himself, who walked beneath a magnificent canopy of state, upheld by
+richly clad nobles.
+
+Before the brilliant assemblage of lords Richard took the solemn oath to
+be a just and righteous ruler. Then after the archbishop had anointed
+him with holy oil, shoes of golden tissue were put on the king's feet,
+the golden spurs were buckled on, and he was clad in the vestments of
+royalty and led to the high altar. There he promised to be faithful to
+his kingly oath, and was crowned with the royal diadem and given the
+scepter and rod of office.
+
+So Richard Plantagenet became King of England. No one beholding the
+proud bearing of the new monarch would have supposed that his family
+emblem, the lowly broom-plant (_Planta genista_), from which came the
+name Plantagenet, had been adopted by an ancestor of Richard's in token
+of humility. For, in very truth, the Plantagenets were an arrogant race,
+and Richard was the proudest of his line.
+
+As he strode down the aisle of Westminster in all the glittering and
+jeweled splendor of his coronation robes, Richard's appearance was truly
+royal. He looked every inch a king. The people gazed with delight on his
+tall, powerful frame, graceful and strong as that of Mars himself; on
+his proudly poised head, whose red-gold curls waved beneath the jeweled
+crown; on the fair, haughty face with its square, determined jaw,
+aquiline nose, full, proud lips, and fierce, restless blue eyes.
+Heartily the multitude admired Richard's manly beauty, his lordly air;
+and with a right good-will they shouted joyously: "Long live the king!
+Long live our Richard Lionheart!"
+
+Before his accession to the throne, Richard had determined to go as a
+Crusader to the rescue of the Holy Land. From his mother, who had
+herself taken part in the Second Crusade, he had heard many stories of
+the East,--that land of wonders and marvelous adventures. Richard was by
+nature a rover, a warrior, a knight-errant. So it seemed to him a most
+delightful prospect to travel, to see strange lands and peoples, to
+fight in a holy war; and thus to indulge his own love of adventure and
+of battle while advancing the glory of God. Nay, to do him justice,
+Richard was religious too, in the strange fierce fashion of those
+days,--days when one could be pious without being good; when the warrior
+prayed and fought with equal zeal, deeming both acts of equal merit in
+the sight of heaven; when the Christian believed the slaughter of
+infidels well-pleasing to God; when the knight of the Cross was
+confident that Christ pardoned all sins to the warrior who did battle
+for His Holy Sepulchre. So Richard, though far from pious or exemplary
+in his daily life, was moved by a genuine and fervent desire to deliver
+Jerusalem from the infidels, into whose hands it had fallen again after
+its conquest by Godfrey de Bouillon.
+
+When all the tedious and costly preparations necessary for the Crusade
+had been completed, Richard sent his fleet around by the Strait of
+Gibraltar. He himself crossed over to France with the troops, intending
+to march through that country to meet his ships at Marseilles, and there
+to embark for Palestine.
+
+At Vézelai, Richard met Philip of France, who had agreed to join him in
+the Crusade. The two kings and their great armies marched together for
+some distance, but finally separated, and proceeded southward by
+different routes,--the French to Genoa, the English to Marseilles.
+
+When Richard reached that seaport, he was much disappointed to find that
+the fleet had not arrived. Leaving the main body of troops there to
+await the arrival of the vessels, he procured a ship, and proceeded on
+his way by sea, sailing along the coast of France and Italy. He stopped
+at many cities, and sometimes traveled on land with only a few
+attendants, like a simple knight-errant.
+
+When he reached the Gulf of Salernum, Richard was joined by his fleet,
+and sailed toward Messina, a coast town of Sicily, where he was to meet
+Philip. On approaching the city, Richard ordered every trumpet to be
+sounded. The people, rushing to the walls, beheld with surprise the
+great fleet of England, manned by thousands of steel-clad warriors, and
+flying the red cross of Saint George, the lion-emblazoned banner of
+Richard, and hundreds of gay baronial flags. The arrival is thus
+described:--
+
+        "O Holy Mary, no man ever saw
+      Such galleys, such dromonds, such transports before;
+        Rowing on, rowing on, across the deep sea,
+      Rowing on, rowing on to fair Sicily!
+
+    "What pennons and banners from the top of the spears
+    To the fair winds are streaming all graceful and proud;
+    What a great host of warriors, whose breasts know no fears
+    Pace the decks, whilst the oarsmen are chanting aloud--
+    Row on, lads, row on, lads, across the deep sea;
+    Crowd the sail and row on, lads, to fair Sicily!
+
+    "Hark, hark to the voice of the trumpets so clear
+    As they enter the harbor and make for the pier;
+    See what bright gilded beaks, what finely wrought bows,
+    And what thousands of shields hang out on the prows.
+    Oh! such a staunch fleet never sailed on the sea
+    As this armament anchored off fair Sicily.
+
+    "And now from his trim galley, named Cut-the-Sea
+    The proud Richard lands midst uproarious glee;
+    Clad in bright scale-linked mail with axe in his hand,
+    He, the chief of his hero band, paces the strand,
+    Whilst the people and warriors in wild ecstasy,
+    Shout hurrah for King Richard and fair Sicily!"
+
+Such was the brilliant spectacle of Coeur-de-Lion's arrival in Sicily.
+When Richard had landed and camped near Messina, he sent envoys at once
+to Tancred, the King of Sicily, who had usurped the throne and
+imprisoned Richard's sister Joan, widow of the former king. These envoys
+were bidden to demand of Tancred the instant release of Joan, the
+payment of her dowry, and the delivery of a rich legacy which Richard
+asserted had been left by her husband to Henry II. This bequest included
+a gold table twelve feet long, twenty-four gold cups and saucers, a
+large silk tent, and a hundred fine galleys. On receiving King Richard's
+peremptory message, Tancred at once sent Joan to her royal brother with
+a large sum of money, but denied any knowledge of the rich legacy that
+Richard claimed.
+
+Now the French king had previously arrived in Sicily, and the forces of
+both kings were encamped about Messina. There was much jealousy between
+the two monarchs. Philip was envious of Richard's greater fame as a
+warrior, and Richard resented the fact that as Duke of Normandy he was a
+vassal of the French king. This feeling of ill-will extended to the
+soldiers of the two armies, hostile from birth, and gave rise to much
+quarreling and continual brawls. The French contrived to arouse in the
+people of Sicily a suspicious dread of the King of England. So when
+these natives saw Richard building and fortifying strongholds, they
+concluded that he intended to take possession of their island. Then
+fierce disputes arose between them and the English soldiers.
+
+At length, the trouble ended in an open fight; and Richard promptly
+attacked the city of Messina. Though the French sided with the natives,
+who were fifty thousand strong, "King Richard got possession of Messina
+quicker than any priest could chant matins. Aye, and many more of the
+citizens would have perished had not the King in his compassion ordered
+their lives to be spared."
+
+After the capture of the city, King Tancred agreed to give Richard forty
+thousand ounces of gold in lieu of all claims against him in behalf of
+Joan. Richard accepted this offer, and peace was restored. One-third of
+the money he gave to Philip, and the two kings made a new compact of
+friendship, solemnly swearing to be faithful to each other in all things
+during this Crusade.
+
+A period of peace followed, during which the kings and nobles amused
+themselves in various ways while awaiting a favorable season for their
+voyage to Palestine.
+
+One day while riding, Richard and Philip met a peasant bringing a load
+of tough canes to town. The two kings and all their knights took each a
+reed, and using it as a lance, began to tilt against one another.
+Richard and a French knight, William des Barres, charged each other. The
+reeds were shattered, and the headpiece of Richard was broken. Enraged
+at this mishap, the king dashed furiously on William, but his own saddle
+was upset, and he fell to the ground "quicker than he liked."
+
+Hastily mounting a fresh horse, Richard again attacked Des Barres, but
+could not unhorse the knight, who stuck fast to his saddle. Then the
+Earl of Leicester attempted to aid Richard, but the king cried, "Let be,
+Robert; hold off and leave us alone!" But when, after many vain efforts,
+he had failed to overthrow the stout French warrior, Richard flew into a
+terrific rage, and cried, "Get thee hence, and appear no more before me,
+for I shall be thine enemy hereafter!" Whereupon William des Barres
+withdrew in much distress of mind, and asked the intercession of the
+King of France. Not until Philip, all the bishops, and the chiefs of the
+army had repeatedly besought Richard for grace, would the mortified king
+consent to the peaceable return of the knight. So unwise is it to
+successfully combat a king!
+
+Soon after this episode fresh trouble arose between Richard and Philip.
+The King of France was brother to Alice, the betrothed bride of Richard.
+When he heard that Queen Eleanor was on her way to Sicily, bringing
+Berengaria, daughter of the King of Navarre, as a bride for the English
+king, Philip was enraged. He insisted that Richard was legally bound to
+Alice and could not marry any one else. Richard, who had been much
+charmed with Berengaria some years before while visiting her father's
+court at Pampeluna, now flatly refused to marry Alice. He accused her of
+most wicked conduct, such as rendered her unworthy to be his wife.
+Probably these charges were well founded, for Philip finally agreed, on
+certain conditions, to release Richard from the engagement with Alice.
+The French princess, then held prisoner in England by Eleanor, was to be
+returned to France, and Philip was to receive a large sum of money. An
+ecclesiastical court was then held, and it adjudged that Richard was no
+longer bound to Alice, but was free to marry as he pleased.
+
+These matters settled, Philip set sail for Palestine on the very day
+that Eleanor arrived with Berengaria. The two royal ladies received a
+joyful welcome from the king, who went to meet them in his gayly
+decorated galley, _Trenc-le-Mer_.
+
+He found Berengaria even lovelier than the young girl he had admired so
+long ago in Navarre. His heart yielded at once to the charms of the
+dark-eyed Spanish beauty, and the princess could not help loving such a
+handsome, brave, and eloquent prince; for Richard was no less ready with
+his tongue than with his sword, and won hearts as easily as battles. He
+had long before won the devotion and friendship of Berengaria's brother
+Sancho, a renowned warrior and poet; and this friendship doubtless
+commended him to Berengaria. At any rate, the betrothed pair were soon a
+pair of lovers and as happy as humbler sweethearts.
+
+As it was then the solemn season of Lent, they resolved to postpone the
+wedding until after Easter. Richard, however, in token of his joy, gave
+a sumptuous betrothal feast, at which he instituted a new order of
+knights, vowed to deeds of valor in the Holy Land. Queen Eleanor, after
+remaining a few days with her dearly loved daughter and son, gave
+Berengaria into the care of Queen Joan, and herself returned to England.
+
+Richard then made final preparations for the voyage. Before leaving, he
+gave Tancred, to whom he had become reconciled, "that best of swords,
+which the Britons call Caliburne (Excalibur), formerly the sword of
+Arthur, once the noble King of England."
+
+At length the great fleet of busses, dromonds, and galleys set sail for
+Palestine. Berengaria and Joan sailed first in a large ship under the
+care of Stephen de Turnham, and Richard embarked last on _Trenc-le-Mer_.
+Erelong a storm arose, and the fleet was dispersed. Berengaria was very
+much alarmed for her lover's safety.
+
+    "She sighed not for her own,
+    But King Richard's safety;
+    And kept crying, 'Oh! look out,
+    For sore is my fright,
+    Whilst the King and his galleys
+    Are all out of sight!'"
+
+Two ships escorting the vessel of the princess and Joan were wrecked on
+the coast of Cyprus. Isaac, the emperor of that island, plundered the
+ships and imprisoned the survivors. He also refused to allow the vessel
+of the royal ladies to take shelter in the harbor of Limasol (now
+Limoussa).
+
+Meanwhile, Richard's galley had taken shelter at Rhodes. As soon as the
+king learned of the straits in which the princesses were, he came to
+their aid with many war galleys. When he found them outside of the
+harbor, exposed to the violence of wind and sea, he was greatly
+enraged. But restraining his anger fairly well for so passionate a man,
+he sent messengers thrice to Isaac, "humbly begging him for the love of
+God and reverence for the life-giving cross" to free the captive
+Crusaders, and to restore their goods. The emperor, evidently not
+knowing with whom he had to deal, returned a haughty refusal.
+
+Then Richard, very wroth, called his men to arms, and said: "Follow me,
+and we will take vengeance for the wrongs which this villainous emperor
+has done to God and to us in thus unjustly keeping our pilgrims in
+chains!" Without delay the forces rowed to the shore, where Isaac had
+drawn up his army to oppose them.
+
+The English archers landed first, and their arrows fell upon the enemy
+"as a shower upon the grass." The doughty King Richard and his knights
+then rushed in, and quickly drove the Greeks before them like a flock of
+sheep. After Isaac's affrighted army had taken refuge in the mountains,
+he tried to make peace, but could come to no agreement with Richard, and
+fled from Limasol. The English king then stormed the town and took
+possession. Here he first used his famous battle-axe, for the old rhymer
+tells us:--
+
+
+      "The valiant King Richard, as I understand,
+      Before he departed from old England,
+      Made an axe to slaughter that infidel band,
+      The Saracen dogs in the Holy Land.
+      The head in sooth was wondrously wrought,
+      Of steel twenty pounds, the best to be bought.
+      And when that he landed in Cyprus land,
+      He first took this terrible axe in hand;
+    And he hewed and he hewed with such direful slaughter,
+    That the blood flowed around him like pools of water."
+
+With such a valiant leader, it is small wonder that the English were
+soon masters of the whole island of Cyprus. Isaac, after making a treaty
+with Richard and immediately breaking it, was captured by the English
+king, who bound him with silver fetters, kept him in prison, and gave
+his beautiful daughter to Berengaria as an attendant.
+
+Ere this, Richard and Berengaria had been married with pomp and ceremony
+at Limasol, and crowned king and queen of Cyprus. The bride was simply
+attired in a white lawn dress, but wore a splendid girdle of jewels; and
+her flowing black tresses were adorned with a double crown. Richard wore
+a rose-colored tunic of satin, belted with jewels. A mantle of silk
+tissue, brocaded in silver crescents, fell from his shoulders, and on
+his head was a scarlet brocaded cap. By his side hung a Damascus blade
+in a silver-scaled sheath. Before the king was led his beautiful
+Cyprian steed, Favelle, gorgeously caparisoned, and bitted with gold,
+the saddle adorned with two little golden lions.
+
+Not long after this grand ceremony, word came to Richard that Acre, a
+city of Palestine long besieged by the Crusaders already in the Holy
+Land, was about to surrender. Exclaiming, "Heaven grant that it be not
+taken before I arrive!" Richard immediately set sail for that port.
+
+When near Beyrout, the English fell in with a large Saracen ship, and
+after a desperate but vain attempt to board the vessel, pierced its
+sides with the iron beaks of their galleys. The ship sank, and its crew
+were slain or drowned. Among the floating bodies that covered the sea,
+were seen many deadly serpents, which the infidels "had destined to work
+havoc among the Christians" besieging Acre.
+
+Cheered by this victory, Richard and his men rejoiced still more when
+the walls and citadels and the great "accursed tower" of Acre came in
+sight. For long months this famous city, its walls lapped by the blue
+Mediterranean, had been girt round by a vast host of Crusaders,--"men of
+every Christian nation under heaven." Their camp was like an immense
+city, with streets and walls, and strong fortifications, especially on
+the landward side; for beyond this vast Christian camp, crowned by the
+high tower from which floated the great white banner of the Crusaders,
+lay a countless body of Turkish troops, swarming over the adjacent
+plains and mountain-sides. Thus the besieging Christians were themselves
+besieged.
+
+The tents of the infidels were gay with colored devices and the yellow
+ensigns of Islam. As Richard neared the shore, these hated emblems of
+Mohammed and the famous black standard of Saladin, Sultan of the
+Saracens, were plainly visible to him, and stirred him to deep wrath.
+His anger burned the hotter when he recalled the stories told of the
+terrible havoc wrought by these infidels on the Christian hosts
+besieging the city. Night and day these fierce warriors of Saladin
+swooped down on the Christian camp. Scores of bloody battles had taken
+place. Almost beyond belief was the suffering that had been patiently
+endured by the soldiers of the Cross. Battles, hunger, and disease had
+thinned their ranks and sorely tried their souls. No wonder they hailed
+with joy the arrival of that famous warrior, Richard Coeur-de-Lion,
+for they believed that he would soon lead them to victory.
+
+So amidst the din of drum and trumpet and clarion, and the deafening
+shouts of exultant thousands, King Richard set foot upon the Holy Land.
+And the red glare of huge bonfires and numberless torches carried the
+alarming tidings to Saladin and his army.
+
+The King of France and the many princes met Richard, and welcomed him in
+a manner befitting his rank and his renown as the "most skilful warrior
+among Christian men." The camp was that night a scene of rejoicing and
+merriment. "Richard Coeur-de-Lion has come; Acre will soon be ours!"
+was the universal cry.
+
+But, alas! the hopes built on the arrival of Coeur-de-Lion were not
+speedily realized. Richard fell ill of a fever, and could not lead the
+assault. Then Philip also became sick; so that the two kings could not
+lead their armies against the city at the same time. The feeling of
+jealousy between them also prevented united action. When one king
+undertook an assault, the other sulked in his tent. All the princes and
+leaders were at this time disputing about the rival claims of Guy de
+Lusignan and Conrade, Marquis of Montferrat, to the throne of the
+Kingdom of Jerusalem. Philip favored the Marquis of Montferrat, but
+Richard supported Guy de Lusignan. These disputes were made more bitter
+by the haughty bearing of the King of England, who wished to rule in
+camp and council, and treated with scant courtesy the princes who
+presumed to oppose him. So discord reigned among the leaders, and
+prevented the united action that might soon have reduced the city.
+
+Nevertheless, the fighting went vigorously on. Battle after battle was
+fought on the plain between the forces of Saladin and the Crusaders;
+assault after assault was made by the Christians on the beleaguered
+city.
+
+Even during his illness, Richard had directed the making of
+stone-casters, slings, rams, and wooden towers for assaulting the walls
+of the besieged city. As soon as he was well enough, the king caused
+himself to be carried near the city wall and placed under the shelter of
+a kind of wooden hurdle. Seated there, he directed the movements of his
+men, who were endeavoring to undermine and carry by storm a tower of the
+fortifications.
+
+As his soldiers rushed to the assault, Richard shouted that he would
+give three goldpieces to every man who should detach a stone from the
+tower wall. So the hope of reward, as well as the love of glory, led to
+deeds of reckless daring. While some soldiers dug underground, trying to
+sap the tower foundations, others plied the stone-casters and hurled
+immense stones into the city,--at one time killing twenty Turks with a
+single huge missile. Other bands of Christians strove to tear down or
+scale the walls; while the Turks, equally valiant, strained every nerve
+to hurl them back. The Christians "climbed the half-ruined battlements
+as wild goats climb precipitous rocks, while the Saracens threw
+themselves on the besiegers like stones unloosed from the top of a
+mountain." Huge stones and Greek fire rained down on the Crusaders.
+
+Meanwhile King Richard, weak though he was, plied his great cross-bow
+vigorously and slew many Turks. One of the infidels was disporting
+himself on the wall, clad in the well-known armor of Alberic Clement,--a
+renowned and beloved Christian warrior, slain several days before by the
+Turks, after he had fought his way into the city itself. Richard sent a
+shaft through the very heart of this braggart Turk.
+
+Now, when the tower had been almost battered down, other warriors from
+the Christian camp gathered to the assault; but the watchers on the
+city wall raised a cry of alarm, and all the Turkish warriors flew to
+arms. Then followed a fierce hand-to-hand conflict. In spite of most
+heroic efforts, the Crusaders were finally driven back. "Never," says
+the Christian chronicler, "has there been such a people for prowess in
+battle as these Turks."
+
+Though wroth at this repulse, Richard continued to make frequent attacks
+of the same sort, and kept his stone-casters and other engines of war
+busy night and day until the defences of the city were much weakened.
+The inhabitants, disheartened also by famine and other hardships,
+finally sent envoys to Saladin, requesting permission to surrender the
+city. After much parley about conditions, the city capitulated, and the
+two Christian kings took possession. Soon the red-cross standard of the
+Crusade, the oriflamme of Saint Denis, and the banner of Saint George
+crowned the walls of Acre. The standard of Austria was also raised by
+the Archduke Leopold; but not long did it wave. The haughty
+Coeur-de-Lion flew into a rage on seeing the ensign of a mere duke
+flying beside the banners of kings. With his own royal hands he tore
+down the offending flag, and contemptuously ground it beneath his royal
+heel. Nor did the outraged archduke dare to resent the insult, though he
+cherished the memory of it in his heart, and well avenged himself at a
+later day.
+
+The kings of France and England divided the city between them. Philip
+lodged himself in the splendid palace of the Templars,--a military order
+of Christian knights; and Richard established his court in the royal
+palace, with the two queens, Berengaria and Joan, and their ladies. Here
+for some time the kings lived in luxury and splendor, while all the
+Crusaders took their ease and rested from warfare.
+
+But again quarrels arose over the kingship of Jerusalem. Finally it was
+agreed among the princes that Guy de Lusignan should be recognized as
+king, and the Marquis of Montferrat as his successor to the throne.
+After this agreement, Philip fell sick, and actually suspected Richard
+of having poisoned him. Weary of battle, exhausted by sickness, and
+mortified by the knowledge that Richard's fame as a warrior far
+surpassed his own, Philip resolved to return to France. As bound by
+treaty, he requested the consent of the English king to his departure.
+
+"Eternal shame on him and all France if for any cause he leave the holy
+work unfinished!" cried Richard, when the messenger of Philip had
+spoken. But finally he was persuaded to give a reluctant consent in
+these words,--
+
+"Well, let him go if his health require it, or if he cannot live without
+seeing Paris."
+
+So the King of France, abandoning the Crusade, gladly set sail for his
+own country; but he left a large force under the Duke of Burgundy to aid
+Richard in the conquest of Jerusalem.
+
+Now, Saladin had failed to carry out the terms of the surrender of Acre.
+At the time agreed upon, he had not delivered to Richard the stipulated
+sum of money, the Christian captives, or the true cross, which was in
+his possession. So the English king and the Duke of Burgundy led all
+their Saracen prisoners outside the walls of Acre and put them to death.
+
+After this massacre and a fierce battle with the outraged warriors of
+Saladin, who in vain attempted to prevent the execution of their kinsmen
+and friends before their very eyes, Richard and his army set out by way
+of the coast for the city of Ascalon, the fleet accompanying them.
+Saladin, frenzied with rage at the massacre before Acre, though he
+himself was partly to blame, followed Richard, with vengeance in his
+heart. At every favorable opportunity, the sultan attacked the
+Christians and slew all who fell into his hands.
+
+Never was there a more dreadful or fatal march. Countless arrows rained
+down on the soldiers from the Turks on the mountain heights. The
+scorching sun of Syria blazed upon their weary bodies by day, and deadly
+tarantulas poisoned them by night. Ever and anon the Turks, mounted on
+horses swifter than swallows, swooped down on the struggling ranks of
+Christians and wrought bloody havoc among them, escaping vengeance by
+the speed of their steeds. Thus tormented and harassed, it is little
+wonder that when encamped at night, the distressed Crusaders should all
+join with tears and groans and heart-felt fervor in the thrice-repeated
+evening cry of the heralds: "Help us, O Holy Sepulchre!" Sorely did they
+need divine help.
+
+King Richard did all that valor and kindness could prompt for the
+protection and aid of his people. He led the van and was ever in the
+front of every fight, heedless of danger. In one of these battles he was
+painfully wounded. In another combat that French knight, William des
+Barres, who had incurred the king's displeasure at Messina,
+distinguished himself so greatly by his valor that he was fully restored
+to the favor and friendship of Richard. The king caused the pilgrims
+who fell from exhaustion or wounds to be carried to the ships and thus
+saved from death at the hands of Saladin.
+
+When the exhausted Crusaders reached the plain of Arsur, Saladin, with a
+vast host of Saracens, hemmed in and attacked the Christian army. Never
+was there a more terrible battle. All day it raged, so furiously that
+the old chronicler confesses that "in the stress and bitter peril of
+that day, there was not one who did not wish himself safe at home with
+his pilgrimage finished." At one time the Hospitallers who were
+defending the rear, and who had been forbidden by Richard to charge the
+enemy, were so harassed by the Turks that they sent and besought the
+king's permission to attack the Saracens. But he forbade the move,
+commanding them to close their lines and wait in patience. Finally these
+tormented knights, stuck full of arrows, beaten with mallets, pierced by
+lances, crushed by maces, became frenzied with rage and shame at their
+inaction. They cried aloud, "Alas! we shall be convicted of cowardly
+sloth and disgraced forevermore!" Then, suddenly, exasperated beyond
+endurance, they faced about, and with a loud shout, "Holy Sepulchre aid
+us!" charged furiously into the midst of the infidels. Hundreds they
+slew, but their disobedient act threw the entire army into confusion.
+
+Coeur-de-Lion, seeing this, put spurs to Favelle and galloped into the
+ranks of the Hospitallers. Then he bore down upon the Turks, "thundering
+against them, and mightily astonishing them by the blows that he dealt."
+Right and left they fell. Pressing on furiously and alone, Richard cut a
+wide path for himself through the Turkish ranks, brandishing his sword
+and mowing them down like grass before the sickle. For half a mile the
+ground was strewn with the bodies of those who dared to oppose the
+irresistible warrior. At last the terrified Turks fled in every
+direction before the attack of Richard. In vain Saladin strove to rally
+the Saracens. In vain his brazen kettle-drums and trumpets called to the
+flying infidels. The battle was lost, and the defeated sultan sadly
+retreated before the exultant Christians.
+
+After this famous victory, Richard marched to Jaffa, where the army
+encamped in a fair olive orchard, and there abode some time in peace and
+plenty. Richard sailed to Acre, where he stirred up slothful pilgrims
+and entreated them to join his army at Jaffa for the march to Jerusalem.
+On his return, he brought with him Queen Berengaria and Joan. While
+waiting for recruits to the army, Richard occupied his time in
+excursions around Jaffa, and met with many romantic adventures.
+
+One day he rode out with his falcons and a few knights to hunt, and also
+to spy on the Turks. When tired out by the chase, he lay down in the
+shade and fell asleep. Some Turks, hearing that he was thus off guard,
+rode swiftly up, hoping to take the dreaded king prisoner. Richard and
+his knights, roused by the noise of the hoof-beats, had barely time to
+mount their horses when the Turks were upon them. Coeur-de-Lion and
+his comrades met the attack fiercely; and the Turks, making a pretence
+of flight, drew the little band into an ambush, where it was surrounded
+by a great number of the infidels. Richard, in spite of his prowess,
+would certainly have been taken prisoner, had not one of his comrades,
+William de Préaux, called out, "I am the king; save my life!" The
+Saracens, knowing no better, quickly seized the generous knight and
+galloped off, thinking they had captured King Richard. The king, thus
+saved, returned to his camp, where he found the army in great distress
+over his reported capture.
+
+Every effort was made to rescue William de Préaux, but in vain, and
+there was universal sorrow for the knight who had purchased the safety
+of the king by the sacrifice of his own freedom and the risk of his own
+life. "O fealty worthy of all renown! O rare devotion! that a man should
+willingly subject himself to danger to save another!" exclaims the
+chronicler. Surely there must have been much that was fine and lovable
+in the character of a king who called forth such rare devotion in a
+follower,--one who was not a vassal of his own.
+
+As soon as possible, the grateful Richard ransomed his friend by
+exchanging ten noble Turkish captives for the brave French knight.
+
+The king's friends now tried to persuade him to be more prudent and not
+to expose himself so rashly to danger. But Coeur-de-Lion delighted in
+danger, rejoiced to be first in onset and last in retreat. He loved to
+make the most perilous sallies against the Turks with but a few of his
+followers, and whether "by reason of his valor or the divine aid," he
+usually succeeded in capturing or slaying the infidels.
+
+Meanwhile Richard was in communication with Saladin, trying to persuade
+the sultan to deliver Jerusalem to the Christians. Saladin steadfastly
+refused to surrender the city, but the two kings became friendly, and
+frequently sent each other rich gifts. Though they had a sincere
+admiration for each other, strange to relate, these warring kings never
+met. Though often opposed in battle, a meeting did not take place on any
+field; perhaps because Saladin, though personally brave, did not
+consider it the province of a king to fight in person, as did Richard.
+This Saracen sultan was a wise, just, and humane ruler,--a most
+admirable character, and much loved throughout his vast empire, an
+empire stretching from the Nile to the Tigris.
+
+His brother Saphadin (Saf-ad-Din), a famous warrior, came often to visit
+Richard, who became very fond of him. The English king proposed to
+Saladin that Saphadin should marry Queen Joan, and the two be made
+sovereigns of Jerusalem. But this projected union of heathen and
+Christian was detestable to both nations, and the plan served only to
+bring reproach on Richard, who was much blamed for his friendly dealings
+with the unbelievers. All negotiations with Saladin came to nothing, and
+Richard finally marched on toward Jerusalem, which had meanwhile been
+strongly fortified by the sultan. When the army had reached Bêit-Nuba,
+about twelve miles from the Holy City, a council of the chief men
+decided that it would be neither prudent to besiege Jerusalem at that
+time nor possible to take it. The army was smitten with grief at this
+decision, and it was a sad host that marched back to Ascalon.
+
+This city had been destroyed by Saladin, and the English king thought it
+necessary to rebuild the town as a base of supplies for his army when
+the siege of Jerusalem should be undertaken. Richard and his nobles
+worked with their own hands at rebuilding the walls. But many of the
+French, unwilling to labor thus in menial fashion, left the army and
+went off to Acre. Leopold, Archduke of Austria, refused to join in the
+labor, and when reproached by Richard, replied sulkily, "I am not the
+son of a mason." Richard, justly incensed, abused him in no gentle
+terms, and even went so far as to strike the titled shirker. Whereupon
+the archduke straightway left the camp and hied him back to his own
+country.
+
+Other bitter disputes broke out among the chiefs, and actual fighting
+took place between the troops of different countries. Conrade of
+Montferrat and Richard fell out again, and the marquis left the camp and
+entered into a secret treaty with Saladin, who agreed to aid him in his
+schemes of conquest.
+
+Now, Richard, hearing that his brother John was conspiring against him,
+thought at first that he must return to England. It was necessary to
+have a leader in Richard's stead, and the council of chiefs elected
+Conrade to be chief of the armies, and also declared him King of
+Jerusalem. Richard consented to this choice, though he had no love for
+Conrade. But shortly afterwards, ere the coronation could take place,
+the marquis was murdered in the streets of Tyre. It is most probable
+that he fell a victim to the hatred of "The Old Man of the Mountains."
+This mysterious and dreaded personage was Sinan, the chief of a strange
+and fanatical sect of robbers and murderers, called the Ismaelians. He
+had many castles and strongholds in the mountains of Syria, and his very
+name struck terror to the hearts of its inhabitants. For this Sinan held
+despotic rule over his followers, and at his slightest word they were
+ready to kill themselves or any one else. He was accustomed to send
+these deluded disciples of his to assassinate any person who displeased
+him, promising paradise to the murderers in reward for their deed.
+
+This Sinan sent two of the assassins to murder Conrade, who had seized
+goods from one of his followers. But some of the friends of the marquis
+accused Richard of the infamous deed,--as if the bold King of England
+would have stooped to rid himself of an enemy in that cowardly way. The
+suspicion, though without any foundation, strengthened the enmity that
+many of the chiefs felt for the English king, because of his
+haughtiness.
+
+When at last Richard had led them within a few leagues of Jerusalem the
+second time, disputes arose about the advisability of then attacking the
+Holy City. Many of the princes did not wish Richard to have the glory of
+the conquest. Finally, the council of twenty knights, to which the
+matter was referred, decided that the siege should not be attempted at
+that time. So the order was given to retreat. It was sadly obeyed by the
+soldiers, who groaned and wept at giving up their cherished hopes of
+visiting the Holy Sepulchre.
+
+One of these pilgrims, while the army was near Jerusalem, reached the
+summit of a hill, and called to Richard in much excitement, "Sire, sire,
+come hither and I will show you Jerusalem!" But the king, casting his
+coat-of-arms before his eyes, wept as he cried out, "Fair Lord God, I
+pray Thee not to let me see Thy Holy City, if so be that I may not
+deliver it out of the hands of Thine enemies."
+
+As sadly grieved as their king at thus leaving the Holy City in infidel
+hands, the army marched despondently back to Jaffa, and thence to Acre,
+the French and English mutually accusing each other of having been the
+cause of the failure to take Jerusalem. The Duke of Burgundy vented his
+spite by composing a scurrilous song about Richard, which was sung in
+the French camp. The King of England, much annoyed, revenged himself in
+a similar manner by writing a few stinging lines, in which he answered
+these "_trumped-up scandals_ with a few plain truths" about the duke and
+his other enemies. The singing of these princely satires did not add to
+the harmony of the camp.
+
+When Richard reached Acre, he began to make preparations to return to
+England, for John was again conspiring to seize the throne. As the king
+was about to embark, envoys came in great haste, and besought him to
+come to the relief of Jaffa. They related that the town had been taken
+by Saladin, and that only the citadel yet held out. The king cut short
+the entreaties of the messenger by exclaiming, "God yet lives, and with
+His guidance I will set out to do what I can."
+
+The French refused to go with him, but some noble knights started to the
+rescue by land, while the king and a few chosen comrades set out by
+sea. When the galleys reached Jaffa, the Turks, by thousands, swarmed to
+the shore, ready to destroy all who should attempt to land. The king's
+friends said to him, "It will be vain to attempt a landing in the face
+of so many enemies." But when a fugitive priest, leaping from the wall,
+swam to the galley and told Richard that some of his fellow-Christians
+were still alive and holding the citadel, Coeur-de-Lion exclaimed,--
+
+"Then, even though it please God, in whose service I come hither, that
+we should die here with our brethren, let him perish who will not go
+forward with me." So saying, the king, with a shout of "Saint George!
+Saint George!" leaped from his red galley into the water, with shield
+hung round his neck and huge battle-axe in hand. Unheeding the countless
+darts of the enemy, he gained the beach, followed by a few faithful
+knights. There the redoubtable Richard actually put to flight the
+thousands of Turks, dashed into the town, rescued the citadel, and drove
+every infidel out of the gates of Jaffa.
+
+The story seems incredible, but it is true.
+
+Next day the generous Saladin, hearing that Richard had no horse,
+exclaimed, "It is a disgrace that so great a king should lack a steed!"
+So he sent one of his men with a charger to Richard. The king accepted
+the gift and bade one of his men mount the beautiful Arabian.
+Immediately the spirited steed took the bit between its teeth and
+galloped back to the Saracen camp. "Right shamefaced was Saladin when
+the horse returned," for he knew that some would suspect him of trying
+to entrap Richard. He sent another horse to the king, and many apologies
+for the bad behavior of the first. Richard, incapable of treachery
+himself, had no suspicion of Saladin's good faith. He thanked the
+messenger, and to show his confidence in the sultan, at once mounted and
+rode the horse.
+
+A few days afterwards, a large body of Turks unexpectedly attacked
+Richard, who was encamped outside the walls of Jaffa with only fifteen
+knights and a few thousand foot-soldiers. It was early morning, and a
+soldier flew to Richard's tent, crying, "O king, we are dead men!"
+
+"Silence," ordered the suddenly aroused king, "or I will kill you!"
+Richard and his knights, throwing on their armor, mounted their horses
+amid a shower of arrows from the Saracens. Hurriedly the king posted his
+men to receive the attack. While doing this, he exhorted them to courage
+with many brave words.
+
+"Hold out stubbornly," he cried. "It is the duty of brave men to
+triumph bravely or to die gloriously! Death threatens, but if it come,
+let us receive martyrdom with a thankful mind. But before we die we will
+take vengeance, and yield God thanks for granting us the martyr's death!
+This is the true reward of our toils,--the end at once of life and
+battles!"
+
+Then this heroic Richard, grasping his lance, rode _alone_ across the
+whole front of the enemies' lines, defying them to combat; and not one
+dared to do battle with him single-handed. But they set his armor as
+thick with javelins as "a hedgehog with bristles," and his horse was
+soon covered with innumerable arrows sticking to its harness. The Turks,
+charging the little band of Christians, fought with desperate bravery.
+They made many attempts to slay Richard, ever pressing on by scores
+toward his lion-emblazoned banner. But the "incredible valor" and
+strength of the king not only preserved his own life, but won the
+battle. After hours of conflict, Richard put the Turks to flight.
+
+Now, these Saracens had boasted to Saladin that they would bring him the
+captured King of England. After the battle, when they had fled before
+Richard, the sultan mockingly inquired of these warriors,--
+
+"Where are those who are bringing me Melek (King) Richard as my
+prisoner? Who was first to seize him? Where is he, I say, and why is he
+not brought before me?"
+
+The shamefaced Turks were silent at this mockery, until one plucked up
+the courage to reply thus:--
+
+"Know, O king, for a surety, that this Melek of whom you speak is not
+like other men. Truly, we tried hard to capture him, but all in vain,
+for no one can bear the brunt of his sword unharmed; his onset is
+terrible, and it is death to encounter him. His deeds are more than
+human."
+
+Though unharmed in this battle, as in so many others, the heroic Richard
+was soon after laid low by an attack of fever. He grew steadily worse,
+and despairing of recovery in the unwholesome air of Jaffa, determined
+to leave the city. But the other chiefs refused to try to hold the town
+if he should depart. So Richard, not able to fight, was compelled to
+make a truce of three years with Saladin. The conditions were that
+Ascalon should be abandoned, and Jaffa remain in the possession of the
+Christians, who were also to be allowed free access to Jerusalem and the
+Holy Sepulchre without payment, and without hindrance from the
+infidels.
+
+When this treaty had been concluded, and Richard had recovered, he held
+a magnificent tournament at Acre, in celebration of peace. This festival
+was attended by many Turks, as well as by Christian knights.
+
+His preparations having been completed, Richard set sail from Acre in
+October, 1192, having sent the queens ahead in another vessel. As the
+shore of Palestine faded from his sight, Richard prayed: "O Holy Land,
+to God I commend thee. May He of his mercy only grant me such space of
+life that by His good-will I may yet bring thee aid. For it is my hope
+and intention to bring thee aid at some future day!"
+
+Long did the memory of the king thus bidding farewell to the Holy Land
+linger in the memory of its people. A hundred years afterwards, the
+Saracen mother frightened her child into silence by the words, "Hush,
+King Richard is coming!" And if a horse started aside, the rider would
+cry, "What! is the King of England in front of thee?"
+
+Perils of battle and sickness had been escaped, but greater dangers were
+in store for the returning Crusader. After being tempest-tossed for
+weeks, the vessel of Richard was wrecked on the Adriatic coast. Knowing
+that the Archduke of Austria had good reason to hate him, Richard tried
+to make his way through that country in the disguise of a Templar.
+
+After many adventures, he stopped at an inn near Vienna, and sent his
+only attendant, a young boy, to the market to buy provisions. The youth,
+in paying, displayed so much money and bore himself so haughtily that he
+was arrested. But on telling the magistrate that he was the servant of a
+rich merchant, who would not arrive in the city until three days later,
+the boy was set free. Returning secretly to the king's retreat, the
+youth told of his misadventure, and begged the king to flee. But the
+rash Richard, weary and exhausted, decided to risk remaining a few days
+longer.
+
+The lad, while visiting the market again, was imprudent enough to carry
+under his belt the fine embroidered gloves of his master. Knowing these
+gloves could not belong to a merchant, the suspicious magistrates seized
+the boy again, and after torturing him, threatened to cut out his tongue
+unless he revealed his master's name. On learning the truth from the
+frightened lad, they informed the archduke, who sent soldiers to
+surround the inn. When the troopers questioned the landlord, he said:--
+
+"There is no one here except a poor Templar, who is now in the kitchen
+turning the spit for the cook." Going into the kitchen, the soldiers saw
+the Templar sitting before the fire, industriously turning a fowl on the
+spit. But one of the soldiers who had been in the Holy Land knew
+Richard, and he shouted, "That is the king; seize him!" Richard sprang
+up, and using the spit for a weapon, defended himself valiantly; but he
+was overcome by numbers, and carried prisoner to the castle of
+Tyernstern. There for months he was kept a close prisoner, loaded with
+chains. The archduke then gave him up to the German emperor, who
+imprisoned him at Trifels.
+
+For a long time no one except his jailers knew where the King of England
+was. Berengaria, who had seen a jeweled belt of Richard's on sale at
+Rome, knew that some misfortune had happened to him, and she and his
+mother, Eleanor, were wild with anxiety.
+
+[Illustration: "There for months he was kept a close prisoner, loaded
+with chains"]
+
+Finally, Blondel de Nesle, the minstrel friend, who had been with
+Richard on the Crusade, journeyed through Germany, looking for his lost
+king. One day, beneath the walls of a castle where he had heard that a
+prisoner of rank was held captive, Blondel halted and sang a verse of
+a song that he and Richard had composed together:--
+
+    "Your beauty, ladye faire,
+    None views without delight,
+    But still so cold an air
+    No passion can excite;
+    Yet this I patient see,
+    While _all_ are shunned like me."
+
+Instantly the king's well-known voice took up the strain and sang the
+next stanza:--
+
+    "No nymph my heart can wound
+    If favor she divide
+    And smile on all around,
+    Unwilling to decide;
+    I'd rather hatred bear,
+    Than love with others share!"
+
+Then the overjoyed Blondel hastened back to England, and told the queen
+and people of Richard's sad plight and his place of imprisonment.
+
+Berengaria and Eleanor immediately besought the emperor to release
+Richard, and also implored the intercession of the Pope and the
+sovereigns of Europe. The emperor was at last compelled to bring Richard
+before the council of the empire. To these princes and lords he accused
+the king of many crimes, among them the murder of Conrade. Richard
+defended himself with so much force and eloquence that these groundless
+charges were dropped; but the emperor still refused to liberate his
+prisoner, except upon payment of a ransom of one hundred and fifty
+thousand marks,--nearly a million dollars.
+
+The people of England, who loved their heroic king, gladly raised this
+large sum; and in 1194, Eleanor journeyed to Germany, paid the ransom,
+and had the happiness of seeing her son set at liberty. She accompanied
+her beloved Richard to England, where he was received most joyfully.
+After being crowned again in Westminster, the king made a royal progress
+through the kingdom. Those nobles who had joined in the rebellion of
+John were called to account; but on profession of repentance, all were
+generously pardoned. Richard then set out for Normandy to subdue John,
+who had fled to that country on receiving King Philip's warning message
+after Richard's release, "Look to yourself; the Devil is unchained."
+
+But the craven John dared not battle against Coeur-de-Lion. He came to
+meet Richard, and, falling at his feet, implored pardon. The king,
+stretching out his hand to the penitent, said,--
+
+"Arise, John, I forgive thee; and may I forget thy misdeeds as quickly
+as thou wilt my pardon."
+
+Now, Richard fell in with evil companions in Anjou and lived a very
+dissipated life. But at length some good priests moved him to
+repentance, and he forsook his evil ways and joined his good Queen
+Berengaria, whom he had not seen since his release, though she was at
+Poictiers. Berengaria readily forgave his neglect, and, if we may
+believe a friendly chronicler, Richard was ever afterwards faithful and
+kind to her.
+
+The ill-will that had always existed between Richard and the King of
+France now led to constant petty wars between them. To secure his Norman
+province, Richard built on its border a splendid fortress, which he
+called his Château Gaillard,--"Saucy Castle." Amazed and enraged at the
+wonderful strength of this stronghold, perched on a rocky mount five
+hundred feet high, the French king exclaimed,--
+
+"I would take it if its walls were of iron!"
+
+Richard, with all of his old insolence, retorted, "And I would hold it,
+were its walls of butter!"
+
+But the final struggle that both kings were planning never took place.
+
+Richard, who was in much need of money for his army, heard that a
+vassal of his had found a hidden treasure of great value, including
+twelve gold knights seated around a golden table. This Vidomar, Lord of
+Chaluz, when Richard demanded that, according to law, he share the
+treasure with his lord the king, replied that nothing had been found
+except a pot of ancient coins. The king did not believe this story, and
+set siege to the castle of Chaluz, determined to obtain the golden
+knights. There Richard was struck down by an arrow from the bow of
+Bertrand de Gourdan, a nobleman of Poictiers. The wound proved to be a
+mortal one. The king, when assured that he was dying, sent for Bertrand,
+for the castle had meanwhile been taken and the knight captured.
+
+"Wretch," said the dying king, "what have I done to thee that thou
+shouldst attempt my life?"
+
+"Thou hast had my father and two brothers put to death, and hast
+threatened to slay me," replied the undaunted youth. The prostrate king,
+looking at him in silence a moment, said,--
+
+"I forgive thee." Then turning to his captain, Richard added, "Let his
+chains be removed, set him free, and give him a hundred shillings."
+
+This act of noble forgiveness was the last deed of the erring but
+great-hearted king.
+
+The death so often defied on the battlefield, Richard met calmly, with
+the courage that had never failed him in life,--that splendid courage
+which won for him the heroic title of Lionheart.
+
+
+
+
+RICHARD'S LAMENT
+
+
+    No captive knight, whom chains confine,
+    Can tell his fate and not repine;
+    Yet with a song he cheers the gloom
+    That hangs around his living tomb.
+    Shame to his friends!--the king remains
+    Two years unransomed and in chains.
+
+    Now let them know, my brave barons,
+    My English, Normans, and Gascons,
+    Not one liege-man so poor have I,
+    That I would not his freedom buy.
+    I'll not reproach their noble line,
+    Though chains and dungeon still are mine.
+
+    The dead,--nor friends nor kin have they!
+    Nor friends nor kin my ransom pay!
+    My wrongs afflict me--yet far more
+    For faithless friends my heart is sore.
+    Oh, what a blot upon their name,
+    If I should perish thus in shame!
+
+    Nor is it strange I suffer pain
+    When sacred oaths are thus made vain,
+    And when the king with bloody hands
+    Spreads war and pillage through my lands.
+    One only solace now remains--
+    I soon shall burst these servile chains.
+
+    Ye troubadours and friends of mine,
+    Brave Chail and noble Pensauvine,
+    Go tell my rivals, in your song,
+    This heart hath never done them wrong.
+    He infamy--not glory--gains,
+    Who strikes a monarch in his chains!
+
+    _Written by Richard I. while prisoner in Germany._
+
+    (_From_ SPOFFORD'S _Library of Historic
+    Character and Famous Events_.)
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST CRUSADER
+
+
+    Slowly The Last Crusader eyed
+    The towers, the mount, the stream, the plain,
+    And thought of those whose blood had dyed
+    The earth with crimson streams in vain!
+
+    He thought of that sublime array,
+    The hosts, that over land and deep
+    The hermit marshall'd on their way,
+    To see those towers, and halt to weep!
+
+    Resign'd the loved, familiar lands,
+    O'er burning wastes the cross to bear,
+    And rescue from the Paynim's hands
+    No empire save a sepulchre!
+
+    And vain the hope, and vain the loss,
+    And vain the famine and the strife;
+    In vain the faith that bore the cross,
+    The valour prodigal of life.
+
+    And vain was Richard's lion-soul,
+    And guileless Godfrey's patient mind--
+    Like waves on shore, they reach'd the goal,
+    To die, and leave no trace behind!
+
+    "O God!" The Last Crusader cried,
+    "And art Thou careless of Thine own?
+    For us Thy Son in Salem died,
+    And Salem is the scoffer's throne!
+
+    "And shall we leave, from age to age,
+    To godless hands the holy tomb?
+    Against Thy saints the heathen rage--
+    Launch forth Thy lightnings, and consume!"
+
+    Swift as he spoke, before his sight
+    A form flashed, white-robed, from above;
+    All Heaven was in those looks of light,
+    But Heaven, whose native air is love.
+
+    "Alas!" the solemn vision said,
+    "_Thy_ God is of the shield and spear--
+    To bless the quick and raise the dead,
+    The Saviour-God descended here!
+
+    "Ah! know'st thou not the very name
+    Of Salem bids thy carnage cease--
+    A symbol in itself to claim
+    God's people to a house of peace!
+
+    "Ask not the Father to reward
+    The hearts that seek, through blood, the Son;
+    O warrior! never by the sword
+    The Saviour's Holy Land is won."
+
+    EDWARD BULWER LYTTON
+
+
+    Deep is the bliss of the belted knight,
+    When he kisses at dawn the silken glove,
+    And goes, in his glittering armour dight,
+    To shiver a lance for his ladye-love!
+
+    Lightly he couches the beaming spear;
+    His mistress sits with her maidens by,
+    Watching the speed of his swift career
+    With a whispered prayer, and a murmured sigh.
+
+    WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CHEVALIER BAYARD
+
+   "_The Adopted Son of Dame Courtesy_"
+   _and_
+   "_Le Chevalier sans Peur et sans Reproche._"
+
+
+"Bayard was perhaps the only hero of the middle ages who deserved the
+unmingled praise and admiration bestowed upon him. Simple, modest, a
+sterling friend and tender lover, pious, humane, and magnanimous, he
+held together in rare symmetrical union the whole circle of the
+virtues."
+
+
+
+THE CHEVALIER BAYARD
+
+PIERRE BAYARD DE TERRAIL (1476-1523 A. D.)
+
+
+In the reign of Louis XI. there was born in southern France a little
+dark-eyed boy who was destined to be known in all subsequent ages and in
+all climes as "the knight without fear and without reproach." Pierre
+Bayard de Terrail was his real name, but in song and story and history
+we know him as "The Chevalier Bayard."
+
+Bayard was of gentle birth, and had the good fortune to be descended
+from a long line of valiant gentlemen who ever held king and country
+dearer than self, and honor a thing to die for. He also had a good and
+pious mother. If to his knightly forefathers he owed his fearlessness,
+it is an everlasting monument to his mother's influence that he lived
+without reproach.
+
+He first saw the light in the beautiful Château Bayard, in Dauphiny.
+Here he spent his boyhood much as other little boys of his time spent
+theirs, and soon developed into a sturdy youth.
+
+When Bayard attained his fourteenth year, his father, then nearing
+death, called his children around him, and asked each what profession he
+wished to choose. The eldest boy spoke first, and said that he preferred
+to remain on his father's estates, leading the life of a quiet country
+gentleman. But the young Pierre was more ambitious. When it came his
+turn to speak, he told his father that there was nothing he so much
+desired as to become a soldier and a knight, and to win glory and honor
+to the name already made illustrious by his noble ancestors.
+
+His father was much pleased with Pierre's choice, and answered,--
+
+"My son, thou art already very like thy noble grandfather, and I am
+rejoiced that thou shouldst choose to follow in his footsteps. I shall
+try immediately to place thee as page in the house of some prince, where
+thou canst be in training for knighthood."
+
+The father lost no time in fulfilling his promise. The very next day he
+sent for his brother-in-law, the Bishop of Grenoble, to ask his advice
+about Pierre.
+
+The good bishop came, attended by many noble knights, and a great
+banquet was prepared in his honor.
+
+Now, in days of chivalry, a boy's dress and manners were considered of
+no slight importance. Indeed, most of his early training was especially
+designed to give him ease and grace in the company of great ladies and
+gentlemen. As may be easily imagined, the little Pierre's education had
+not been neglected. He did not fail to array himself in a manner
+befitting the occasion; and at the banquet he served his father's guests
+with so much modesty and grace that he drew forth praise from all the
+company.
+
+The gratified father then told them of Pierre's ambition to become a
+knight, and asked their advice about his education.
+
+Each gave his friendly counsel, and then the Bishop of Grenoble said,--
+
+"Brother, the good Duke of Savoy, who hath ever been friendly to our
+house, will be at Chambéry to-morrow; and if it please thee, I will ride
+thither with my nephew and present him as page to his Grace. I will also
+take pleasure in equipping the lad properly, so be at no expense."
+
+Amid the applause of the company, Aymond Terrail presented his son to
+the good bishop, and said with tears in his eyes,--
+
+"I give him into thy hands, and pray God that wherever thou place him,
+he may do thee honor."
+
+The bishop, true to his promise, provided his nephew with an outfit, and
+gave him a well-caparisoned horse. Then they made ready to go to
+Chambéry to meet the Duke of Savoy.
+
+It was with no little interest that the bishop and his friends watched
+the young page mount his new steed, for it was a mettlesome one, and
+used only to a man's weight. When Pierre bounded into the saddle, the
+horse reared and plunged; but the boy kept his seat, and soon, with the
+aid of bit and spur, had the animal under complete control. The guests
+praised him greatly, and his father asked him if he felt no fear.
+
+"I hope," answered the young Pierre, "by God's help, to manage my horse
+among the enemies of the prince I am going to serve."
+
+Then he bade farewell to father and mother and to home and childhood,
+and went forth to enter upon a chivalric career.
+
+Arrived at Chambéry, the bishop and his company were graciously received
+by the Duke of Savoy. The duke maintained a brilliant court, and was
+always the faithful ally of France. He invited the uncle and nephew to
+dine with him, and again Pierre's graceful manners commended him to the
+notice of his elders. The duke was gracious enough to notice him
+especially, and asked who the boy was.
+
+"Sir," said the bishop, "it is my nephew, Pierre de Terrail, whom I have
+brought to present to thee if thou shouldst like to have his services."
+
+"I accept him at once," answered the duke. "I should indeed be hard to
+please if I declined such a gift."
+
+So it was that Pierre became attached to the household of Savoy. He
+remained in the duke's service for some time, and easily surpassed his
+fellow pages in all the knightly exercises in which they were being
+trained. Yet with all his prowess he was so modest and so manly that he
+excited no envy among his companions, and the duke and duchess came to
+love him as if he were their own son.
+
+Pierre's chivalric traits won to him the hearts of his fellows and his
+patrons; but it was perhaps his personal beauty and his charm of manner
+that went furthest toward winning him yet another love--a love that he
+valued more than all others. There was in the train of the good duchess
+a little maid of honor, whose heart soon went out to the handsome youth.
+At service in the same palace, the two saw much of each other, and soon
+Pierre had no eyes for any maid but this one.
+
+The little coquette did not fail to make Pierre quite miserable by
+repelling his attentions for a time, when she saw that she had won him;
+but at length, one day, while not in waiting on her mistress, she was
+captured by the little page, and made to listen to the story of his
+love.
+
+"I am going to make myself a great knight some day," he declared with
+the pride and faith of youth, "and then I am coming back for thee, and
+we shall be married."
+
+"Alas," cried the damsel, now quite as earnest as he, "thou art of an
+illustrious house, and canst marry some great lady who can advance thee
+in the world. I am but a poor maid, and if I accept thy love, I destroy
+thy hopes."
+
+"What care I for that?" cried the impatient lover. "The question is,
+dost thou _love_ me."
+
+"Yes," she whispered.
+
+"Then I shall not give thee up," he declared, "and I shall tell the
+duchess all about it."
+
+The maid was more worldly wise than he, however, and insisted that for
+the time they should be only friends. Shortly after this a change took
+place in Pierre's affairs,--a change which was to separate him for years
+from the maid he loved.
+
+The young page had been with the house of Savoy only six months when it
+pleased the duke to pay a visit to King Charles VIII. of France. The
+king had moved his court to Lyons--a beautiful city in southeastern
+France--and was holding high revel there. When Charles heard of the
+approach of his friend and ally, the Duke of Savoy, he sent the Count of
+Ligny with a number of attendants to meet him. These met the duke at a
+place about two leagues from Lyons, and welcomed him heartily in the
+name of the King of France.
+
+Now Pierre was in close attendance on his master, and the Count of Ligny
+at once noticed him and remarked to the duke on his good horsemanship.
+
+The duke, much pleased, explained who the boy was, and then called out
+to him,--
+
+"Spur, Bayard, spur!"
+
+Without waiting for explanations, Bayard obeyed his master, returning
+from his run with his horse completely under control. Afterwards,
+Pierre's fine horsemanship won for him the nickname "Piquet"--a spur.
+
+The count was surprised and charmed, and told the duke that the King of
+France would be glad to have the boy in his service.
+
+Through the influence of Ligny, the youth was brought to the notice of
+King Charles; and the king was so charmed with his manners and his
+horsemanship that he at once persuaded the Duke of Savoy to permit the
+boy to be transferred to the royal service.
+
+The good duke granted the king's request, for he knew it would be a
+great advancement for the lad; and Pierre was placed under the Count of
+Ligny for training.
+
+Though Pierre loved the Duke of Savoy, he was very glad of this change
+in his own fortunes; for he had all the romantic devotion to king and
+country that chivalry was wont to implant in the hearts of men, and he
+was first, last, and always a true Frenchman.
+
+The next several years of Pierre's life were spent in service as page to
+Ligny; after which the count made him a man-at-arms in his own company
+and a gentleman of his household. This meant that the page, Pierre, had
+become a knight, and was thenceforth to be known as "the Chevalier
+Bayard."
+
+Bayard's first exploit as a knight was to challenge and meet in
+tournament the invincible Lord of Vaudray. The young chevalier was then
+only seventeen years of age, and was weak and delicate in appearance,
+while his opponent was reckoned one of the most powerful knights of the
+time.
+
+When the combatants entered the lists, it was easy to be seen that the
+yellow-haired, black-eyed knight of seventeen was the one on whom every
+lady's glance was bent. Men watched him too, but not on account of his
+good looks; they had laughed at him scornfully when he presumed to
+strike in challenge the shield of the celebrated Vaudray, and they now
+looked to see him ignobly defeated.
+
+To the astonishment of all, however, Bayard won the day. The men said
+that he was too bold for one so young; but "the ladies praised him
+enthusiastically," and the king exclaimed to Ligny,--
+
+"By my faith, cousin, he hath given us to-day a foretaste of what he
+will be as a man!"
+
+The next several years of the young knight's life were spent in training
+for the stern services of war. He failed in nothing that he conceived it
+his duty to perform, and he neglected nothing that he felt would tend
+to his own development, for he bore always in his heart the admonition
+of the king he so reverenced: "Piquet, my friend, may God develop in
+thee that fearless manhood which thy noble youth so graciously
+promises."
+
+At this time Italy was not under one government, but was separated into
+six great divisions--the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the
+Kingdom of Piedmont, the Republics of Venice and Florence, and the Papal
+States. There were also several petty states which were always more or
+less dependent on some one of the greater powers. Unfortunately for
+themselves, there was little sympathy or unity among the Italian States;
+and the nations around were constantly stirring up strife between them,
+or invading the peninsula for the sake of conquest. So it was that for a
+long time Italy was the field on which the contests of Europe were
+waged.
+
+It was during this period--when the French, the Spanish, the Germans,
+and the Italian States were variously pitted against one another, and
+variously allied--that Bayard made his name forever an emblem of
+chivalry. In those days "king" stood for "country" in the mind of the
+loyal knight; and in following his king on whatever fantastic campaign,
+Bayard believed that he was only performing his sacred duty to his
+beloved France.
+
+He served successively under three sovereigns--Charles VIII., Louis
+XII., and Francis I.,--and distinguished himself in Italy, Spain, and
+France, holding his own against Italian, Spaniard, German, and Briton
+alike.
+
+"I hope one day to be worthy the name of soldier," was the chevalier's
+modest, yet truly exalted, ambition; and he proved unquestionably his
+right to the title in his very first campaign. Bayard's first service
+was with Charles VIII., when that king invaded Italy and conquered the
+Kingdom of Naples.
+
+The young chevalier, though then only eighteen years of age, and slender
+and boyish in appearance, soon became the admiration of even old and
+experienced warriors. Wherever there was hottest fighting--wherever
+there was greatest danger--there was this black-eyed, fair-haired youth.
+And there was hardly an engagement with the enemy which was not
+signalized by some brilliant feat of the young knight's.
+
+After conquering the Kingdom of Naples and leaving there the larger part
+of the French army to maintain his sovereignty, King Charles returned
+to France at the head of only a small force. But his exodus from Italy
+was not so easy as his invasion into that country had been. The Pope,
+the Doge of Venice, the Duke of Milan, and other Italian princes, had
+formed a league against the ambitious Charles, and had gathered a large
+army in northern Italy to cut off his return to France.
+
+As King Charles advanced to within a few miles of Fornovo, the allies
+unexpectedly descended on him with a force six times as great as his
+own, and a bloody battle ensued. The plan of the allies was to destroy
+the French army and take King Charles prisoner. So anxious were they to
+make the king their captive that they offered a prize of a hundred
+thousand ducats to the man who would bring him, dead or alive, to their
+camp.
+
+But the annihilation of the French army and the capture of King Charles
+were not such light tasks as the allies had expected. The little band
+met their all but overwhelming onset with a stubborn resistance that was
+wonderful to behold. By charge and counter-charge the field was
+contested, and victory still hung in the balance when suddenly out of
+the French ranks rode a fair-haired boy knight, calling on his company
+to follow him. Instantly his men caught the infection of his wild
+daring, and in the face of almost certain death they swept to the charge
+with the dashing Bayard.
+
+"A greyhound for attack, and a wild boar in defence," Bayard fell upon
+the enemies of his king with such splendid courage that none whom he met
+could withstand his prowess.
+
+Two horses were killed under him, but he mounted a third, and, dashing
+alone into the thickest of the fight, captured an ensign from fifty
+men-at-arms.
+
+Thanks to the valor of such knights as Bayard, the French gained a
+signal victory, laying low in the dust full as many men as King Charles
+had led to Fornovo.
+
+After several more encounters with the allies, in which Bayard won added
+laurels, the king led his much-diminished army back to France.
+
+Shortly after this campaign Charles VIII. died, and was succeeded on the
+throne by Louis XII.
+
+The new king busied himself with the internal affairs of state; and
+Bayard, whose business was that of a soldier merely, was for awhile left
+free to do as he chose. He accordingly occupied the time in visiting
+friends in Savoy. The good Duke of Savoy was now dead; but the duchess
+received the chevalier at her court with her oldtime friendliness.
+
+Here for a second time Bayard met the love of his boyhood. But alas for
+him! she had become the wife of the Lord of Fluxas.
+
+When the two met, the lady received Bayard with every sign of
+friendship. She praised him greatly for the noble part he had borne in
+the king's service--for all France had heard of the chevalier's great
+deeds in Italy--and then they talked over their youthful love-affair.
+
+In the course of his stay, the Lady Fluxas asked Bayard to give a
+tournament, for she very much wished to see him engage in some of the
+knightly exercises in which he had become distinguished.
+
+The chevalier was delighted to comply with her request, and promised
+that the tournament should be arranged to take place in a very short
+while; then, kissing the hand of his fair sponsor, he asked for one of
+her sleeves. When the lady gave him the favor he treasured it carefully,
+intending that it should be the victor's prize in the coming joust.
+
+The tournament was held in good time, some fifteen gallant gentlemen
+taking part and acquitting themselves much to the satisfaction of the
+lady for whose amusement the entertainment had been devised.
+
+When the trial at arms was ended, the duchess bade the Lord of Fluxas
+invite the combatants and the judges and a number of ladies to sup with
+her. According to her wishes, the judges reserved their decision until
+the guests were gathered about the table that evening.
+
+As every one expected, the prize was awarded to Bayard. The chevalier
+blushed and declined to take it, saying further that the lady who had
+provided the sleeve should be the one to bestow it.
+
+As the giver of the tournament, Bayard was, in a sense, the host of
+those who accepted the challenge; and it was very like his extreme
+courteousness to decline to carry off the prize from them, however much
+he may have wished in his heart to possess this particular lady's favor.
+
+Lady Fluxas, thus called upon to make the decision, paused a moment,
+then said she would keep the sleeve herself "for the sake of the
+victor." She then gave a beautiful ruby pendant to the Lord of
+Mondragon, who, next to Bayard, had been the most successful in the
+combat.
+
+However much the chevalier's heart may have inclined him to linger near
+the home of the lady he still loved, his stern sense of duty soon
+summoned him away. News had come to King Louis that the people of Milan,
+who owed fealty to the French king, had revolted, and made Ludovic
+Sforza their duke.
+
+On hearing this, the king at once despatched the Count of Ligny with a
+large force to besiege the disloyal city. Bayard, as a member of Ligny's
+company, went of course with his commander.
+
+The French had been encamped before Milan for some time, when one day
+Bayard learned from a spy that three hundred horse of the Milanese were
+at the little town of Binasco; and, always on the lookout for a skirmish
+with the enemy, he persuaded about fifty of his companions to join him
+in a descent upon that town. They set off early the next morning, but
+the Milanese learned of the intended surprise, and were ready for them.
+
+With the cry, "France! France!" the chevalier and his companions flung
+themselves upon the whole three hundred; but the Milanese were no
+cowards, and for one hour they withstood even the firebrand impetuosity
+of Bayard himself. They were not many who could stand so long before
+Bayard. At length the knight, impatient at this stubborn resistance,
+cried out to his fellows--
+
+"What, my comrades! shall we let these few keep us fighting all day?
+Courage! Let us multiply our strokes and give wings to their feet!"
+
+At the sound of his deep voice the French rushed to the attack again,
+and with such enthusiasm that the enemy wavered--fell back--then fled,
+pell-mell, toward Milan. The victors followed in hot pursuit, with the
+peerless knight far in the lead.
+
+The fugitives reached Milan scarcely ahead of their pursuers, and
+thundered in through the gate. One of the leaders of the French, seeing
+the danger into which he and his companions were rushing, cried out just
+in time,--
+
+"Turn, men-at-arms, turn!"
+
+The order was obeyed by all except Bayard, who had ears for nothing but
+his own battle-cry, and eyes only for the enemy. Right into the heart
+of the city, nay, up to the very steps of the duke's palace, he chased
+the flying Milanese; then he suddenly found himself surrounded by an
+angry populace, who, when they saw the white crosses of France upon him,
+cried,--
+
+"Seize him! Seize him!"
+
+He was soon disarmed and taken prisoner by the commander he had just
+pursued from Binasco. When Cazache--for such was the Milanese captain's
+name--got his enemy thus in his power, he did not, as might be supposed,
+wreak any petty vengeance on the head of the chevalier. He treated
+Bayard as a soldier and a gentleman, and by so doing evinced a
+chivalrous spirit close akin to the chevalier's own.
+
+Ludovic, Duke of Milan, hearing the uproar before the palace, asked the
+cause thereof, and was soon told that the Milanese at Binasco had been
+defeated, and that a young chevalier had pursued Cazache and his company
+to the very palace door.
+
+"By my sword, but I'd like to see this daring Frenchman!" roared the
+duke. "Captain, fetch the prisoner hither."
+
+Cazache obeyed in fear and trembling for his captive. The captain--a
+generous-hearted fellow--had conceived a deep admiration for Bayard, and
+he feared for the chevalier's head; for Duke Ludovic was of a most
+uncertain temperament.
+
+When, however, he ushered the knight before the duke, Cazache realized
+that his fears were groundless. Instead of flying into a fury, as he
+too often did, Ludovic surveyed the handsome figure of the captive and
+said, not unkindly,
+
+"My brave young gentleman, come hither and tell me what brought thee to
+Milan."
+
+Bayard was used to surprises, and answered frankly--
+
+"I came in the footsteps of some of thy men for a little adventure. I
+did not know that I was alone, for I thought my comrades were close
+behind me. They are wiser in the ways of war than I, or they too would
+have been captured. In the mean time, I thank God that I have fallen
+into such good hands; and I do assure thee that if anything could make
+captivity pleasant to me, it would be such treatment as I have received
+from this good captain."
+
+The duke smiled kindly, and then asked him the number in the French
+army.
+
+"Sir," replied the knight, truthfully, "there are not more than fourteen
+or fifteen hundred men-at-arms, and from sixteen to eighteen thousand
+foot-soldiers; but they are all picked men, and are resolved to win back
+the Duchy of Milan to the king, their master. As for thee, sir, let me
+warn thee that thou wilt be safer in Germany than in this city."
+
+Instead of being incensed by Bayard's frankness, Ludovic answered him in
+the same friendly strain, and assured him that there was nothing he so
+much desired as an encounter between his own and the king's troops.
+Bayard replied that such an event would be a great pleasure to himself
+also, provided he were not in prison.
+
+"Do not let that trouble thee," replied the duke, "for I intend to set
+thee free. If there is anything else thou desirest of me, thou hast only
+to ask it."
+
+This unexpected kindness on the part of Ludovic took the knight
+completely by surprise. Up to that time he had stood before his enemy
+proud and erect; but when Ludovic announced his generous intention
+toward him, the young knight sank on his knee to thank him.
+
+"Sir," said he, "the greatest favor thou canst grant me is to restore my
+arms and my horse, and allow me a guide to the French garrison." He
+paused a moment and then added earnestly, "Believe me, sir, I shall
+always be ready to serve thee, if I can do so in honor to my king and to
+my country." And after again thanking the duke for his generosity, the
+young knight rode away with the promised guide.
+
+When Bayard arrived at the French camp, the Count of Ligny was
+astonished and overjoyed to see him, for all had heard of Bayard's
+solitary descent on Milan and his consequent capture.
+
+"What, Piquet!" exclaimed the count, "thou out of prison! How didst thou
+pay thy ransom? I was about to send a herald to pay it, and bring thee
+back."
+
+"Sir," replied the knight, "I thank thee most sincerely, but Ludovic
+Sforza hath spared thee the trouble, and in doing so, he hath proved
+himself a rival in courtesy and generosity even to thyself--he hath made
+me a present of my freedom, and provided me with a guide hither."
+
+Milan afterwards fell into the hands of the king, but Bayard was not
+able to return the great kindness Ludovic had shown to him.
+
+After conquering Milan, King Louis turned his attention to the Kingdom
+of Naples, which had, during the last days of Charles VIII., thrown off
+the yoke of France and raised a Spanish prince to the throne.
+
+Bayard counted it great good fortune to be allowed to go on the
+expedition sent by the king into Naples; and there he performed such
+wonderful feats of arms that the Spanish allies of the Neapolitans
+declared him to be a devil instead of a man. It was, indeed, through no
+fault of Bayard's that the French ultimately lost Naples.
+
+The fame of Bayard's exploits spread. The Pope, a bitter enemy to the
+King of France, sent for the chevalier, and tried to persuade him to
+renounce the service of King Louis for that of the States of the Church.
+In order to make his proposition exceedingly tempting, the Pontiff
+offered to load the knight with riches and honors, and make him
+Captain-General of the Church. To all this Bayard gave the simple,
+earnest answer,--
+
+"I have but one master in heaven,--God,--and one upon earth,--the King
+of France."
+
+Once, while the good Duke of Nemours commanded the French army in Italy,
+he and several of his officers had occasion to spend a few days in the
+little town of Carpi. While there, they were hospitably entertained by
+the Count of Carpi, who provided many amusements for them. For their
+diversion, the count one day caused an astrologer--a little withered
+black man--to appear at court, and read the future for the distinguished
+guests.
+
+The astrologer came, and astonished all by the accuracy with which he
+related past events in their lives. Then he told them that on the next
+Good Friday or Easter Day the French and Spanish armies would come
+together in a battle which would be one of the bloodiest ever fought. He
+said that the victory would remain with the French, but that it would be
+bought with the best blood of France. And he said to Bayard, privately,
+
+"Your prince"--meaning the Duke of Nemours--"seems very dear to you; be
+near him on the day of battle. I see that he is threatened with a sad
+fate."
+
+Bayard had little faith in the seer's powers, and laughed when it came
+his turn to question the mystic; however, it was amusement for the
+company.
+
+"My master," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "shall I ever be a man
+of consequence? And shall I become rich?"
+
+The astrologer looked at him sharply and answered,
+
+"Thou wilt be richer in noble qualities than ever French gentleman was
+before thee, but thou wilt have few of fortune's goods. Thou wilt serve
+yet another king of France, who will love and esteem thee much; but the
+envy of those about him will prevent his bestowing on thee the wealth
+and honors thou wilt so richly deserve."
+
+"But," asked Bayard, "shall I escape from this bloody battle thou hast
+predicted?"
+
+"Yes," answered the seer; "but twelve years hence thou wilt die in
+battle of an arquebuse-shot,--in no other way, for thy soldiers do so
+adore thee that they would die to the last man to save thee."
+
+It chanced that in the fortunes of war the French once captured and held
+for a long time the beautiful Italian town of Brescia. This city was in
+time recaptured by the Venetians, to whom it had first belonged, and
+again possessed by the French,--albeit, at the cost of many valuable
+lives.
+
+At this retaking of Brescia by the French, Bayard again distinguished
+himself. The first skirmish before the town was won by the chevalier,
+who was so eager to attack that he went into battle in his
+night-clothes.
+
+When the time came for a general assault, the question arose as to whom
+should put himself in front, at the mercy of the enemy's arquebuses.
+
+"I will," responded Bayard to the Duke of Nemours's question; "and I
+promise thee that the company I command will do good service to the
+king, our master."
+
+This was no idle boast, for Bayard's company was composed of picked
+men, the greater number of whom had been commanders themselves, but who
+preferred the honor of serving under the noted chevalier to leading
+companies of their own.
+
+So it was arranged that the chevalier and his company should open battle
+by storming the first fort that protected Brescia. A better selection
+could not have been made, for the very name of Bayard had become a
+terror to the enemies of France.
+
+When the Venetian commander saw who was leading the assault, he cried
+out to encourage his men,--
+
+"Hold fast, comrades! If this _Bayard_ but be defeated, all the rest
+will be easy."
+
+But Bayard was not defeated. The splendid charge of his company was met
+with a blinding storm of shot from the Venetian guns, but not a man gave
+back. Right up to the cannon they charged, shouting in the face of the
+fire--"France! France!"--but the cry was changed to "_Bayard_!
+_Bayard!_" as the chevalier leaped the ramparts, crying,
+
+"Follow me!"
+
+And they did follow.
+
+Only for an instant Bayard's tall form was seen in the thick of his
+enemies, his black eyes blazing with the fire of battle. The next moment
+he fell, face downward, in the struggling mass, with a Venetian pike
+thrust through his thigh.
+
+When word was carried to the Duke of Nemours that Bayard had fallen, he
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Let us go, my friends and comrades, and avenge the death of the most
+accomplished knight that ever lived." And they swept forward with the
+brave duke, completing the victory that Bayard had so well begun. The
+Venetian loss in this battle exceeded twenty thousand, while the French
+loss was less than fifty men.
+
+When the French occupied the town, they gave themselves over to all
+kinds of excesses, perpetrating atrocious cruelties on defenceless women
+and children, and pillaging convents and churches for their riches.
+
+The soldiers in those days were, in the main, rough and brutal men; but
+there were always among them many knightly gentlemen, who never failed
+to use their utmost power to protect the defenceless. Such a gentleman
+was Bayard, and he was never known to allow cruelties where it was in
+his power to prevent them. But--alas for the wretched city--the knight
+without reproach was now helpless!
+
+Having been mortally wounded, as all supposed, the chevalier was carried
+by two of his men to a large mansion within the town, that he might
+receive needed attention.
+
+The Brescian citizen who owned the house had fled upon the entry of the
+French, leaving his wife and two beautiful daughters alone and
+unprotected.
+
+Now when Bayard's men brought their wounded captain to the house, the
+lady herself opened the gate, and assisted the men in making the knight
+comfortable. Bayard's first order to the two soldiers was that they
+station themselves at the gate, and, on pain of death, admit no one save
+his own men.
+
+"I am sure," he said, "that when they know I am lodged here, they will
+not force a passage."
+
+When he had despatched his soldiers, the lady fell upon her knees at
+Bayard's feet and said--
+
+"Noble lord, this house and all that it contains is thine by the laws of
+war; but I beseech thee, by the Holy Mother, to preserve the safety of
+myself and my daughters."
+
+"Madam," answered the almost fainting chevalier, "I may not recover from
+the wound I have received, but as long as I live neither thou nor thy
+daughters shall sustain more injury than myself. I assure thee that no
+one shall enter the house contrary to thy wish; and for myself, I
+promise thee all respect and friendship. But fetch me help, I pray thee,
+and that quickly!"
+
+The lady was much relieved by the knight's assuring words, and went
+herself, attended by one of his soldiers, and fetched a surgeon to him.
+When the Duke of Nemours learned where Bayard had been carried, and that
+he still lived, he sent his own surgeon to attend him.
+
+As soon as Bayard was sufficiently recovered to give the orders, he
+caused the husband of his hostess to be sought out and conducted back in
+safety to his home and family.
+
+For six weeks the knight lay ill, and during that time he was the
+recipient of many kindnesses from the members of the household. The
+ladies were especially attentive, and spent many hours by his bedside,
+ministering to his needs or amusing him. These days of convalescence
+were pleasant indeed to the great-hearted man who had known so little of
+the comforts of home and the tender ministrations of women. But he grew
+impatient of his captivity when he heard that there was probability of
+a fight between the French and a large army of Spanish then in northern
+Italy.
+
+"Meseems that I am well," he said to his surgeon; "and I assure thee
+that biding here will harm me more than mend me, for I do most
+grievously fret."
+
+The surgeon knew him too well to doubt his word, so he taught Bayard's
+valet how to dress the wound, which was now almost healed, and the
+knight made ready to rejoin his company.
+
+Now when the lady and her husband heard of Bayard's approaching
+departure they were much concerned lest the knight should demand at
+least ten thousand ducats as a ransom for their property. The two
+discussed their dilemma earnestly, and decided that the lady should go
+to Bayard with twenty-five hundred ducats and beg him to be satisfied
+with this sum. Accordingly, she took the gold and sought the knight's
+presence.
+
+"My lord," she said, "myself and family shall always thank God that it
+pleased Him, in the midst of the horrors of war, to lead such a noble
+knight to our house for our protection. We shall ever remember that it
+is to thee we owe our all. Since thou camest among us, we have received
+naught but kindness at thy hands. We are thy prisoners; the house, with
+its contents, is thine by right of conquest, but thou hast ever been so
+graciously generous that I have come to beseech thee to have pity on us
+and be content with this little gift that I have the honor to offer
+thee."
+
+She opened her coffer and showed its contents to Bayard, who smiled as
+he asked,--
+
+"How much is it, madam?"
+
+The lady, not knowing how little he valued riches and fearing he thought
+the gift too small, said hastily--
+
+"My lord, there are only twenty-five hundred ducats; but we will strive
+to make up the sum that thou desirest, if thou wilt mention it."
+
+"Thou didst not understand me, lady," replied the knight. "Thou hast
+already paid me many times over, in kindnesses such as money cannot
+purchase. Keep thy gold; and remember that I am forever thy debtor, thy
+champion, and thy friend."
+
+The lady, much pleased and astonished at this unexpected reply, begged
+him again to accept her gift.
+
+"I shall be, indeed, a most unhappy woman," she declared, "if thou
+refuse it."
+
+Bayard was too gallant to withstand a woman's pleadings, so he said--
+
+"Since thou desirest it so much, lady, I yield." Then he requested her
+to send her daughters in.
+
+The lady went to call the two damsels; and while she was gone, Bayard
+divided the money into three lots,--two of one thousand ducats each and
+one of five hundred.
+
+In a little while the young girls came, and threw themselves on their
+knees before the knight; but he at once made them rise and be seated
+near him. Then they too strove to express their gratitude to him, and
+promised to pray to God for him so long as they should live.
+
+Bayard was much affected, and thanked them in turn for their kindly
+ministrations. Then he said to them gently--
+
+"Dear demoiselles, you know that fighting men are not ordinarily laden
+with jewels and pretty things to present to ladies, but I have here a
+sum of money which your lady mother hath just compelled me to accept. I
+give thee each a thousand ducats to form part of thy marriage portion."
+
+The damsels would fain have declined his generous offer, but he would
+not hear nay; and he said to their mother, who had once more entered--
+
+"Madam, these five hundred ducats I leave to thee to distribute amongst
+the convents that have suffered most from the pillage. And I must now
+make ready to depart."
+
+Again they fell on their knees, this time pressing his hands and weeping
+as if their hearts would break; and the mother exclaimed through her
+tears--
+
+"Too generous knight, God alone can reward thee!"
+
+Then, amid tears and farewells, he departed.
+
+On leaving these good ladies, the knight took his way to the French
+camp, where he was received with as much joy as if he were a
+reinforcement of ten thousand men.
+
+Now at that time the French were masters of the Duchy of Milan, in
+northern Italy, and the presence of the Spanish army in that part of the
+country was adjudged by Louis to be a constant menace to his interests
+there. The king was in France, but his nephew, the Duke of Nemours,
+commanded the French army in Italy.
+
+Scarcely had Bayard arrived in camp, when Nemours determined to give
+battle to the Spanish. All was soon astir in the French camps, in
+preparation; and Bayard and the duke were in high spirits.
+
+Nemours admired the chevalier extravagantly. He was too truly great to
+be envious of Bayard's fame, and nothing delighted him more than to hear
+the knight's praises.
+
+"My Lord Bayard," he said, shortly after the chevalier's arrival, "I am
+told that the Spanish fear thee more than they fear any other man on
+earth, and that they are constantly asking if thou art in camp. I wish
+thou wouldst go out and show thyself to them."
+
+"By thy leave," answered the knight, laughing, "I will pay them a little
+visit to-morrow."
+
+On the next morning, which was Good Friday, Bayard paid the "little
+visit" he promised. He had a way of calling on his enemies very scantily
+attended, and this time he took with him a mere handful of men.
+
+The two armies were encamped within a few miles of each other before the
+city of Ravenna, which the Spaniards had undertaken to defend against
+King Louis's forces.
+
+It is needless to say that the Spanish were not expecting Bayard's
+visit. They were in readiness, however, for another skirmishing party of
+French had descended upon them only an hour before. It seems that these
+earlier visitors were being badly worsted when the fearless knight
+appeared on the scene. In an instant the tide of victory turned. Bayard
+rallied the flying French and reversed the pursuit, chasing the
+Spaniards back to their garrison. Nor did he stop at that. Mindful of
+the visit he had promised to make the enemy, he dashed into the midst of
+their camp, knocked down tents and pavilions, laid men flat to right and
+to left, and made good his escape before the Spanish had time to realize
+what was happening to them.
+
+When the laughing chevalier got back from his adventure, the Duke of
+Nemours exclaimed in admiration--
+
+"Thou art the man, Lord Bayard, for skirmishes. No one knows so well as
+thou dost either how to begin or how to end them. Thou art our master in
+the art of war."
+
+Two days later, on Easter Sunday, the French and Spanish met in the
+terrible battle of Ravenna,--one of the most cruel and bloody
+engagements in all history. The field remained to the French,--sixteen
+thousand out of an army of twenty thousand Spanish being slain or
+captured; but the victory was too dearly bought, for the "best blood of
+France" was the price paid for it.
+
+Probably the knight Bayard forgot the gloomy predictions of the
+astrologer of Carpi. He did not keep near the duke that day, but went
+dashing about wherever his venturesome spirit led, performing almost
+incredible feats of arms. But, alas! he came back from his last
+brilliant charge to find the gallant Nemours dead on the field. The
+noble duke had been fairly cut to pieces by the many strokes received in
+his last brave stand against the enemy.
+
+In the year 1513, Henry VIII., King of England, and Maximilian I. of
+Germany, invaded northern France and captured several towns. In the
+beginning of this campaign occurred what is known as the "Battle of
+Spurs;" and this engagement is of special interest on account of
+Bayard's part in it.
+
+The English were investing the town of Terouana, in which there was
+almost a famine.
+
+A French force under the Lord of Chabannes had been sent to the relief
+of the city, but it was found to be much too small to hurl against the
+outnumbering allies in open battle. Still was it imperative to revictual
+the suffering town, so Chabannes decided on a difficult stratagem.
+
+A body of cavalry--under Bayard and others--was to feign an attack on
+the besieging English, and then retreat rapidly, to draw the enemy in
+pursuit, in order that other troops might take advantage of the
+confusion, and provision the invested town.
+
+This plan was put in execution; but the English and their German allies
+played their unconscious part in their adversaries' program so well that
+they not only pursued the decoy cavalry, but fell upon other companies
+of French, throwing them into utter confusion.
+
+As may be imagined, the seemingly ignoble flight of his cavalry was
+galling to a spirit like Bayard's. To "the knight without fear" it was
+almost impossible to refrain from fighting when an enemy was within
+striking distance; and now, as had often been the case, his warlike
+instinct got the better of his sense of obedience.
+
+He was under orders not to fight, but to retreat at full speed when the
+enemy should give chase. The latter command he obeyed; the former might
+as well have been given to the storm. He would fly with his company
+awhile,--till his fiery spirit could no longer be curbed,--then he would
+wheel about and charge the pursuing English with such impetuous courage
+that numbers would be compelled to fall back for an instant before his
+matchless prowess.
+
+At length the chevalier and his company reached a bridge which spanned a
+swift torrent. He could not resist the temptation of making a stand
+against the enemy, though he had a mere handful of men about him, so he
+whirled his horse about and faced the foe. It mattered little how great
+were the odds against him, for the spirit of battle possessed him. He
+gave one glance at the remnant that rallied to him, then said to a
+messenger quickly,--
+
+"Go tell my Lord of Chabannes that I will hold this bridge and whip them
+if he will but send me reinforcements."
+
+The reinforcements did not come; but Bayard and his little company held
+the bridge with sword and lance till they saw a large division of German
+troops fording the stream in their rear. Seeing that they were thus
+surrounded, and by overwhelming numbers, Bayard said to his men
+cheerily--
+
+"Let us give ourselves up, comrades; further resistance were but a
+bootless sacrifice." Not the least noteworthy of Bayard's many fine
+qualities were his rare good sense and his cheerfulness under
+misfortune. If he won, he enjoyed his victory; if he lost, he accepted
+defeat like a philosopher.
+
+His men now followed his advice, each surrendering to the nearest enemy.
+
+Now it chanced, in the confusion, that Bayard saw an exhausted German
+throw himself down under a near-by tree and unbuckle his sword. In an
+instant the chevalier sprang to him, snatched up the sword, and
+presented its point to the officer's throat.
+
+"Surrender or die!" he demanded of the astonished man-at-arms.
+
+Not caring to give up his life, the officer surrendered himself captive
+to the chevalier, saying,
+
+"As I am without weapon, I render myself to thee. But tell me, pray, to
+whom I have surrendered."
+
+"To Captain Bayard," replied the chevalier, enjoying the joke, "and I am
+in turn thy prisoner, by the result of this battle."
+
+So saying, Bayard unbuckled his own sword and handed it to the fellow
+with mock gravity.
+
+The officer was mystified; but Bayard soon made him see the philosophy,
+if not the fun, of the situation, and the two marched off together to
+the English camp--each captive to the other--each bearing the other's
+surrendered sword.
+
+Here the chevalier remained for some days as prisoner to the man he had
+captured. But he soon tired of this restraint, and one morning said to
+his captor with suspicious gravity--
+
+"My worthy friend, I am beginning to tire of doing nothing. Thou wilt
+oblige me much if thou wilt have me escorted to the camp of my king."
+
+The other was astounded.
+
+"What? eh?" he exclaimed. "But thou sayest nothing of thy ransom!"
+
+"Nor thou of thine," answered the knight, with a grave face. "Art thou
+not my prisoner and bound to obey me? I have thy word of surrender, and
+thou shalt keep it. If not, I shall challenge thee."
+
+His captor hardly knew how to take this sally, or what answer to make to
+it. However, he did know that the last thing in the world he desired was
+a duel with the invincible Bayard, so he said--
+
+"Sir Captain, let us report our case to higher authority. I will abide
+by whatever decision is made."
+
+So, according to agreement, the case was reported to the King of England
+and the Emperor Maximilian, who were in camp together. Bayard, who had
+a witty mind and a ready tongue, laid the matter before their Majesties
+very drolly; and the judgment rendered by them goes to show that even
+great princes can appreciate humorous situations. They agreed that as
+Bayard and his captor-captive were prisoner each to the other, they were
+"quits;" and that Bayard should have the liberty of returning to his
+commander without ransom. King Henry, however, stipulated that the
+knight should remain _en parole_ in Flanders for six weeks. Bayard
+cheerfully consented to the terms, and being "le chevalier sans
+reproche," kept his promise to the letter.
+
+After this interview, the King of England secretly offered to take
+Bayard into his own service, promising to load the knight with riches
+and honors if he would desert the cause of France and cast his fortunes
+with the English.
+
+Bayard answered the King of England as he had before answered the Pope
+of Rome,--
+
+"I have but one master in heaven--God, and one upon earth--the King of
+France."
+
+On the first of January, 1514, Louis XII. died. He was succeeded by
+Francis I., who was then only twenty years of age.
+
+Francis, like his predecessors, was haunted by the idea of his Italian
+rights, but was never able to maintain them for any great length of
+time. One of his first acts of sovereignty was to raise a large army and
+invade Italy to recover the Duchy of Milan, which had again been wrested
+from France.
+
+Bayard was with the king on this expedition. Indeed, he preceded Francis
+into Italy, and by a brilliant stratagem took prisoner Lord Prospero
+Colonna, Lieutenant-General of the Pope. Prospero it was who had boasted
+that sooner or later he would take Bayard like a bird in a trap.
+
+Soon afterwards, King Francis crossed the mountains with a great army,
+and marched upon Milan, at that time defended by a large body of Swiss.
+The two armies met in a hard-fought battle, and the French were
+victorious, driving the Swiss entirely out of the duchy.
+
+In this battle, as in many others, Bayard's splendid courage won the
+day. No other knight could equal him in arms, and none other could so
+rouse the spirit of the French soldiers; but his greatest service to
+France that day was the lesson in chivalry he taught her boyish king.
+
+Fired by the noble example of the chevalier, young Francis bore himself
+in battle like a king indeed, and made old soldiers wonder at his
+fortitude and courage.
+
+When the battle was over, the gallant young king was the first to
+ascribe the honor of the victory to Bayard, and the nobles and captains
+agreed with him heartily.
+
+Anxious to show conspicuous honor to the knight, King Francis then
+astonished the assembled company--and none more than the chevalier
+himself--by a most strange request.
+
+"Bayard, my friend," he exclaimed in loving familiarity, "I wish to be
+knighted by thy hand this day; for thou hast fought on foot and on
+horseback, in many battles against many nations, and better than all
+others. Thou art indeed the most worthy knight of all."
+
+Never before had monarch honored a subject with such a request.
+
+The modest chevalier sought to decline this embarrassingly great
+distinction, saying that such honor belonged only to princes of the
+blood, but the enthusiastic Francis would not take refusal.
+
+"Nay," he exclaimed, "quote me neither laws nor canons, chevalier; but
+do my will and command, if thou wouldst still be numbered amongst my
+loyal servants and subjects."
+
+"Since my king commands, I can but obey," answered the knight, simply.
+
+Then the King of mighty France knelt at the feet of the unassuming
+chevalier,--a picture to the world forever of how that manhood which is
+without fear and without reproach is above the majesty of kings.
+
+"Sire," said the chevalier--his great heart too full for many
+words--"may this be as efficacious as if done by Roland or Oliver,
+Godfrey or Baldwin, his brother. God grant that in battle thou mayest
+never flee!"
+
+He laid the flat of his sword on the king's strong shoulder; and when he
+removed the blade, he kissed it reverently, saying--
+
+"Glorious sword, that to-day hath knighted the greatest of kings, I will
+henceforth employ thee only against the enemies of Christ's name. And
+thou shalt be kept as a sacred relic and honored above all others."[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: Unfortunately, this blade has been lost; but there is still
+preserved another sword of Bayard's. It bears the two legends "Soli Deo
+Gloria" and "Vincere aut Mors."]
+
+Bayard's next service to King Francis was the defeating of an invading
+army of Germans,--forty thousand strong.
+
+In recognition of this and other great services, the king did all that
+his jealous nobles could not prevent to show honor to the valiant
+chevalier. He made Bayard a knight of the king's own order, and gave him
+command of a hundred picked men-at-arms,--a privilege which belonged
+only to princes of the blood.
+
+The people of France went wild with enthusiasm over their hero, giving
+gorgeous _fêtes_ in his honor wherever he went; and the French
+parliament actually sent a deputation of its members to congratulate him
+upon the services he had rendered the king and the whole people.
+
+Yet these were but empty honors compared to what the noble chevalier
+deserved. As the astrologer had predicted, Bayard never received the
+riches and great appointments he so conspicuously merited.
+
+His last undertaking was another expedition into the troublesome Duchy
+of Milan. During this campaign the Lord of Bonivet, Admiral of France,
+was in command of the French, and Bayard and many other gallant captains
+were under him.
+
+The task before them was to subdue Milan, which had, with the aid of
+Charles V., Emperor of Germany and King of Spain, again thrown off its
+allegiance to France.
+
+The French encamped before Milan in the little town of Biagras; but it
+soon developed that they were no match for the powerful army of allied
+Milanese, Germans, Spaniards, and Venetians. Moreover, their forces were
+being daily depleted by sickness and desertion. Added to these
+misfortunes were bad faith and bad generalship on the part of the
+commander, Bonivet.
+
+Matters in the French camp went from bad to worse, while on the other
+hand the ranks of the emperor were being continually reinforced.
+
+An attack from the powerful and well-equipped enemy was now daily
+expected, so the admiral determined that there was nothing to do but
+retire from his position at Biagras. In the retreat, however, he took
+the post of danger with Bayard in the rear-guard, between the retiring
+French and their allied foes.
+
+As Bonivet had feared, the French had no sooner moved out of Biagras
+than the hitherto passive enemy woke to action and gave pursuit.
+
+It had been rumored in the emperor's army that the wonderful Bayard was
+in the rear-guard of the French, and this report held the pursuers at a
+respectful distance for some time.
+
+On the morning of the second day, however, the allies determined to
+force an engagement; and, supported by heavy artillery, made a furious
+charge upon the retiring French.
+
+If the allied foes had expected to rout the retreating forces, they must
+have been sadly disappointed, for the French instantly faced about and
+met their onset with stubborn valor. The odds were overwhelmingly
+against the sons of France; but Bayard was among them, and where he was,
+was always desperate courage.
+
+In the very first of the engagement the Lord of Bonivet was wounded and
+had to be carried from the field, thus leaving Bayard in command. As he
+was being borne away, Bonivet said to the chevalier--
+
+"I pray and conjure thee, for the honor and glory of France, to defend
+the artillery and flags to-day. Thou alone canst save them!"
+
+Bayard had had too much experience not to see that it was then
+impossible to retrieve what the admiral had lost, but he answered
+simply--
+
+"Too late! But my life is my country's, and while I live, the flags and
+the artillery shall not fall into the enemy's hands." That promise was
+not broken.
+
+Calm and collected in that supreme hour, the peerless knight put forth
+his all for his beloved France. All that unexampled generalship and
+courage and fidelity could accomplish in the face of overwhelming odds,
+he performed that day.
+
+Not content with merely repelling the attacks of the enemy, he charged
+their advancing columns again and again, and with such fierce onslaughts
+that each time they were compelled to give back. He had promised for the
+honor and glory of his country to defend the flags and the artillery
+that day; and while he lived not a flag was lowered nor a gun lost. But
+alas for France that day!
+
+Just as the fighting was hottest, and when it seemed that the
+outnumbered French _must_ break, Bayard once more dashed forward against
+the foe, as if by sheer force of courage, to wrest victory from
+inexorable Fate. For one mad, glorious moment he and his company swept
+irresistibly against the victors; the next, he was struck by a stone
+from an arquebuse and mortally wounded.
+
+With the cry "Jesus!" he reeled in his saddle. He would have fallen to
+the ground had not some of his men rushed forward and helped him to
+dismount. In their anxiety for him, his soldiers would fain have borne
+him off the field; but Bayard, though dying, was Bayard still, and he
+said to them--
+
+"It is all over; but I do not wish in my last hour to turn my back to
+the foe for the first time in my life. Place me beneath yonder tree with
+my face toward the enemy."
+
+Still did they beg that they might be allowed to bear him beyond danger
+of capture--for the French had broken before the enemy when Bayard fell.
+But the knight feebly answered them--
+
+"Let me devote the short space that remains to me to thinking of my
+sins. I pray you all to leave me for fear that you should be taken. My
+Lord d'Alegre, commend me to the king, my master, and say to him that my
+only regret in dying is my inability to render him further service."
+
+As he ceased speaking, a body of Spaniards, under the Marquis of
+Pescara, arrived where he lay. The gallant Pescara knelt beside his
+wounded enemy, and with tears in his eyes exclaimed--
+
+"Would to God, Lord Bayard, that I might have taken thee prisoner
+unhurt! Thou shalt know how much I have always esteemed thy prowess and
+thy virtues; for since I have held arms, I have never known thy equal!"
+
+[Illustration: "As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer among
+the Spanish who did not come to speak kindly to him"]
+
+The marquis then caused his own tent to be brought and placed for the
+use of the wounded knight. Then he himself helped to lay Bayard in
+bed. He smoothed the dying man's pillow, and kissed the hands that had
+fought so valiantly against him. Pescara then placed a guard around the
+tent and went himself and fetched a priest to console the dying
+chevalier.
+
+As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer among the Spanish who
+did not come to speak kindly to him. Among the distinguished men who
+visited his bedside was the Constable of Bourbon, who shortly before had
+deserted the cause of France for a position in the emperor's army. When
+the constable beheld the expiring knight, he exclaimed--
+
+"Ah, Captain Bayard, how it troubles me to see thee thus! I have always
+loved and honored thee for thy great valor and wisdom. How I pity thee!"
+
+Bayard looked at him steadily and replied--
+
+"My lord, I thank thee, but thy pity is wasted. I die like an honest
+man, serving my king. Thou art the man to be pitied, for bearing arms
+against thy prince, thy country, and thy oath."
+
+A little while longer he talked to them; then, feeling his strength
+fleeting rapidly, he clasped his hands and prayed aloud--
+
+"My God! my Father! forget my sins; listen only to Thine infinite
+mercy----Let Thy justice be softened by the merits of the blood of
+Jesus Christ--"
+
+Death laid a gentle hand upon his lips; and the man who had dealt with
+his fellow-man without reproach went fearless to his God.
+
+
+
+
+SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
+
+
+    Sidney, thou star of beaming chivalry,
+    That rose and set 'mid valor's peerless day:
+    Rich ornament of knighthood's Milky-way;
+    How much our youth of England owe to thee!
+
+    EDWARD MOXON
+
+
+
+
+SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
+
+(1554-1586 A. D.)
+
+
+When Mary Tudor was Queen of England, and after she had become the wife
+of Philip II. of Spain, there was born at "Penshurst Place," in the
+valley of the Medway, the immortal Philip Sidney.
+
+His mother's family were the powerful house of Dudley, and were among
+the noblest in the land. The Sidneys were of high birth too,--not so
+exalted as the Dudleys in point of lineage, but of impregnable honor and
+integrity.
+
+The little Philip's youth was spent under what would seem to have been
+very happy circumstances. While he was yet only four years of age, Queen
+Elizabeth came to the throne, and recalled the Sidneys from the social
+and political exile to which her sister Mary had condemned them.
+
+Philip's father, Sir Henry Sidney, was made Lord Deputy of Ireland, and
+his mother became lady-in-waiting to the queen. Then, too, they owned
+the beautiful and historic home, Penshurst Place, and had powerful
+friends at court.
+
+But there was another side to the picture. The Sidneys were not rich;
+and holding the high position they did, they were obliged to live in a
+way they could ill afford. This was bad enough; but, worse still,
+Philip's affectionate parents were forced to spend many years of their
+married life apart from each other and from their children. The mother
+was, for the most part, at Whitehall or at Hampton Court with the queen,
+and the father in turbulent, rebellious Ireland; while the children
+were, perforce, left at home in the care of servants.
+
+Though his loving father and mother were rarely at Penshurst, the little
+Philip lived very happily there with his brothers and sisters.
+
+He soon found other companions too,--companions who fired his young
+blood and filled his boyish heart with dreams that were forever to haunt
+him. Under the great trees at Penshurst he lay on the grass, by the
+hour, and pored over stories of bygone days of chivalry. As he lay thus
+and read, the present would fade from him, and the past with all its
+glamour and its romance would steal up about him and claim him for its
+own. The great trees that clashed their boughs together in the wind
+became warriors struggling with each other; the blast of a hunting-horn
+from the forest near by was Roland's call at Roncesvalles, while the
+echoes that repeated the strain again and again were the answering
+clarions of Charlemagne. Little delicate Philip Sidney no longer lay on
+the grass in sunny England; in coat-of-mail and golden spurs he followed
+the heroes of old,--now with the lion-hearted king at Arsur; now with
+triumphant Godfrey on the walls of Jerusalem!
+
+But Philip could not always read and dream; in a short time came the
+reality of school-days and boyish struggles. But though he was called
+away from the chivalric companionship of the knights of old, the
+impression made upon his mind by their courage and fortitude and
+devotion to duty ever after ran, like a thread of gold, through the warp
+and woof of his character.
+
+During the brief reign of Edward VI., Sir Henry Sidney had been
+nicknamed "the only odd man and paragon of the court." The same stanch
+virtues that made him "odd" in Edward's time rendered him a man apart at
+the fawning, flattering, self-seeking court of Queen Elizabeth.
+
+"Good Queen Bess," as she has been miscalled, cared little for blunt
+honesty. She was a vain and selfish woman, fond of flattery and
+capricious in the extreme. She liked the soft speeches and fulsome
+compliments of such men as the Earl of Leicester far better than she
+liked the simple sincerity of the honest Sir Henry. Then, too, the queen
+was avaricious. The condition of Ireland was of less moment to her than
+the condition of her exchequer; and she was continually at odds with Sir
+Henry because he spent more money than she thought necessary on the
+unfortunate people whom she had sent him to rule.
+
+But though the queen had little love for Philip Sidney's father, she was
+all too partial to his brilliant uncle. The most conspicuous figure at
+Elizabeth's court for many years was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
+Leicester was own brother to Lady Sidney, but he had few of that lady's
+noble qualities. He was a courtier of the most ignoble type, being a man
+who ever sought his own advancement by flattery and cajolery--always
+ready to "crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, that thrift might
+follow fawning." For many years Leicester was the avowed lover of the
+virgin queen, and there was some talk of a secret marriage having been
+contracted between them, though there was probably no truth in the
+rumor.
+
+This much is certain, however--the queen favored Leicester in every
+possible way, showering honor after honor upon him, and giving him great
+riches.
+
+When young Philip Sidney was not yet seventeen years of age, a dread
+plague broke out in England and, reaching Oxford University, where he
+was studying, necessitated the closing of that institution. Philip's
+education was thus cut short before he had obtained his college degree,
+but not before he had become one of the most scholarly men of the day.
+
+Shortly after the closing of the university, he was summoned to court to
+be in attendance on her majesty, and to take a place among the gay
+company with which she was surrounded. This was considered a marked
+advancement for him, and, at once, all thought that the queen would
+specially honor him on account of his being nephew to the prime
+favorite, Leicester.
+
+The queen did favor Sidney--in her own capricious, selfish way--and he
+shortly became the youngest darling of the court. He was only seventeen
+when he took his place among Elizabeth's courtiers, but he was well
+grown, and was exceedingly talented and handsome.
+
+The power to win stanch and loving friends was inborn in him, and when
+he left the quiet halls of Oxford for the frivolous court of Queen
+Elizabeth, there was more than one heart that was anxious for him. The
+Irish Sea lay between him and his sober, upright father; while the
+voluptuous and insincere Earl of Leicester was to be his patron, and all
+the hollow, glittering, pleasure-loving men and women of the court were
+to be his daily companions. No wonder his friends watched the young
+courtier's career with anxiety! But time soon showed how truly the young
+Philip was stanch old Sir Henry's son. As was natural, Sidney loved the
+brilliant Leicester, and failed to see his uncle's vices as plainly as
+he might have seen another man's, but he did not make those vices his
+own. It was natural, too, that he should feel a youthful enjoyment in
+the gayety and glitter about him, but he somehow kept himself unstained
+by what lay beneath.
+
+There were two influences at work in the youth which, together, saved
+him from the follies about him: first, and greater, the nobleness of
+character which was his by heredity; and, second, the high ideals formed
+in his boyhood.
+
+Sidney had dreamed of a truth unsullied, of a manhood devoted to high
+and noble deeds, of a faith that was stronger than death. He waked to
+find himself, in satin and gold lace, dawdling about a vain and
+licentious court.
+
+Fortunately for the ambitious youth, a change now took place in his
+affairs which enabled him to see something of the world, and to pursue
+his studies further. Before he had been a year at court, he was sent to
+Paris in the train of the Earl of Lincoln, whose mission it was to
+arrange a marriage between the English queen and the Duke d'Alençon,
+brother to King Charles IX. of France.
+
+A clause from Sidney's passport, issued in the queen's name, shows for
+what purpose her young courtier was sent abroad: "Her truly and
+well-beloved Philip Sidney, Esquire, licensed to go out of England into
+parts beyond the seas, with three servants, four horses, and all other
+requisites, and to remain the space of two years immediately following
+his departure out of the realm, for his attaining the knowledge of
+foreign languages."
+
+For reasons of Church and State, Lincoln's mission to France failed, and
+Sidney was left free to spend the time of his voluntary exile at his
+own discretion. He wisely chose to remain abroad, and spent nearly three
+years traveling in France, Germany, and Italy. But these three years
+were not given up to sight-seeing and social enjoyment. Sidney devoted
+his time to studying literature, science, music, foreign languages, and
+the politics of the day.
+
+For two great reasons this last subject was of most vital interest to
+him: it was the time of a great religious upheaval throughout Europe,
+and also the time of the ambitious aggressions of Spain under Philip II.
+
+Sidney, an ardent adherent of the Church of England, conceived the idea
+of championing his beloved faith, even as the knights of old had
+championed theirs. Then, too, his whole heart was with his native
+country in her rapid rise to a place of power among the nations of
+earth, and he recognized Spain as an ever-present menace to her
+advancement.
+
+His sympathies were especially aroused for the condition of the harassed
+Netherlands, to the complete subjugation of which Spain was then bending
+her strongest efforts. Then it was that Sidney's chivalric spirit took
+fire with hope,--the hope that his beloved England would rise and
+deliver the oppressed, and that he, her son, would be allowed to be her
+humble instrument in the great and glorious work.
+
+All that was seething in his fertile brain he wrote from time to time to
+England; and he kept her statesmen informed of the state of foreign
+politics in a time when newspapers and telegraph lines had not been
+dreamed of. All unconsciously, he was making a name for himself in
+England; and when he returned, at the age of twenty-one, he found that
+he had established for himself a reputation as politician, statesman,
+and man of letters.
+
+While abroad, Sidney had been associated with "many men of many minds."
+He had learned to think and feel deeply on deep subjects, and had formed
+definite ideals as to a man's proper part in life. He came back to his
+native land with his young heart filled with hopes that were never to be
+realized--at least, not in the way that he had conceived. It is true
+that he was one of a brilliant circle of men who made the England of
+Elizabeth's time great by the very greatness that was theirs; but the
+England of Elizabeth's time was not the England of Sidney's hopes, and a
+courtiership under the virgin queen was the vanity of vanities to his
+heroic spirit. From that time on, life was a struggle to him--a
+struggle to live nobly amid a court given over to pleasure; a struggle
+to revive the spirit of chivalry among men who were already forgetting
+the very name.
+
+Shortly after Sidney's return from abroad, and while he was in high
+favor at court, it pleased the queen to make a "royal progress" through
+a portion of her realm. These "progresses" were journeys through certain
+parts of the kingdom, broken by visits to favored nobles at their
+magnificent castles or halls. On these tours, the queen was always
+brilliantly attended by ladies and gentlemen of her court; and the
+subjects whom she pleased to visit devised for her the most gorgeous and
+sumptuous entertainment.
+
+Sidney had the good or bad fortune to be in attendance on her Majesty
+during this progress, for it was then that he first met and admired
+little Penelope Devereux. It was while her Majesty and train were
+stopping to visit the Earl of Essex at Chartley Castle that the meeting
+between the two young people took place. Lady Penelope, daughter of the
+Earl of Essex, was then only twelve years of age, but she was a maiden
+well grown for her years, and extremely beautiful; so it is not to be
+wondered at that Sidney--so old in worldly wisdom, but so young in
+years--should have been fascinated by the little maid's grace and
+beauty. The two frolicked and danced together at Chartley, and though
+there were no vows of love exchanged between them then, that visit was
+the beginning of a friendship which was to ripen into the passion of
+Sidney's life. It was also the beginning of another friendship, and one
+which proved far happier for Sidney. The Earl of Essex conceived a deep
+love and admiration for him, and invited him often to Chartley, making
+him--young though he was--his bosom friend.
+
+Afterwards, when Essex incurred the deep displeasure of Queen Elizabeth,
+Sidney was one of the few courtiers who dared to show him open
+friendship,--thus tacitly condemning the action of the queen, who, in
+truth, was at fault.
+
+During his visits to Chartley Castle, Sidney became more and more in
+love with the little Penelope; but when he declared his passion, she
+held him off, like the coquette that she was, while she took pains to
+spin the web of her fascination more hopelessly about him.
+
+The earl, her father, was always in favor of a marriage between the two;
+and at his death, which took place in Penelope's fourteenth year, he
+said of Sidney:--
+
+"Oh, that good gentleman! have me commended unto him. And tell him I
+send him nothing, but I wish him well,--so well that if God do move
+their hearts, I wish that he might match with my daughter. I call him
+son--he is so wise, virtuous, and godly. If he go on in the course he
+hath begun, he will be as famous and worthy a gentleman as ever England
+bred."
+
+Two years after Essex's death, his widow was secretly married to
+Sidney's uncle, the Earl of Leicester. This made a sad change in Philip
+Sidney's fortunes. As long as Leicester was unmarried and childless,
+Philip Sidney, as his natural heir, was a man of great prospects and a
+very desirable match; but Leicester, married, with the probability of
+children to inherit his titles and wealth, left Sidney only a poor
+commoner.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Philip Sidney and Penelope Devereux]
+
+With Sidney's prospects ruined by her own marriage, Penelope's mother
+decided that her daughter should make a more ambitious match, and
+betrothed her to the powerful and cruel Lord Rich. Too late, the little
+maid realized the value of the love with which she had been playing.
+When she could no longer look forward to a match with the noble young
+Sidney, she waked to the knowledge that her whole heart was bound up
+in him; and she protested, even at the altar, against the marriage into
+which her mother was forcing her. "Being in the power of her friends,"
+as the Earl of Devonshire afterwards wrote concerning her, "she was by
+them married against her will unto one against whom she did protest at
+the very solemnity and ever after."
+
+His love for Penelope was the supreme passion of Sidney's life. His was
+a heart too true to change. And as Orpheus gave to his harp his love for
+the lost Eurydice and charmed all nature into silence, so Philip Sidney,
+bereft of the woman he loved, poured out his soul in poems that still
+touch every loving heart.
+
+From politician and courtier, Sidney rose to be one of the most
+distinguished poets of his day. He wrote many poems which are still
+considered of high order, but his "Astrophel and Stella," which contains
+the story of his love for the Lady Penelope, is his most popular work.
+
+Though possessed of all the grace and elegance of an Elizabethan
+courtier, as well as of a gentle and artistic temperament, Philip Sidney
+was no weakling. Under the costly trappings of his court finery beat a
+heart as bold and passionate as King Richard's own.
+
+Throughout all his varied experiences, public and private, he did not
+once relinquish his double hope of aiding the Netherlands and crippling
+the overshadowing power of Spain. Still did he implore help for the
+oppressed. Long did he carry in his heart a picture of the queen--whom
+he adored in spite of her unworthiness--as the zealous and devoted
+champion of a great cause. But Elizabeth was no zealot, nor could she be
+made one. When Sidney at length realized that the queen could not be
+induced to move in the cause of the Netherlands, he made up his mind to
+go as a volunteer to the assistance of William, Prince of Orange, ruler
+of that country.
+
+The idea had to be abandoned, however, for a while; for Sir Henry
+Sidney--still too honest to please the queen--was again having stormy
+times with her Majesty, and appealed to his son to assist him in
+bringing her to a right view of his Irish policy. Sidney espoused his
+father's cause with his characteristic boldness. Shortly after his
+arrival at court he was met face to face by the Earl of Ormond,--a
+bitter enemy to his father, and the man who had traduced Sir Henry to
+the queen. Ormond approached Sidney with a suave and condescending
+greeting, but the young courtier only stared at him coldly for a
+minute, then turned his back squarely on him. As Ormond was one of the
+peers of the realm, and Philip Sidney but a plain commoner, this was a
+most daring act. But this was not the limit of his daring. Incensed at
+the injustice done his father, Sidney indited a most memorable letter to
+the queen, which was at once a masterly defence of Sir Henry and a
+trenchant attack on the queen's favorite, Ormond. Strange to say, Queen
+Elizabeth seemed to be influenced by Sidney's plain and fearless
+statements, for she sometime thereafter treated his father with more
+consideration.
+
+But a greater trouble than that in connection with his father's business
+now stirred the passionate Sidney to the depths. The Duke d'Alençon, who
+had become the Duke of Anjou, renewed his proposition of marriage to the
+English queen. Sidney despised the private character of the duke, and he
+had, besides, come to object to the proposed alliance for deep and
+patriotic reasons; so he opposed the projected union with all the
+fearless strength that was his.
+
+As by far the greater number of Elizabeth's advisers approved of the
+match, and the queen herself inclined to it, Sidney's position soon
+made him unpopular with both queen and court. Another thing happened
+about this time that rendered his relations at court exceedingly
+strained. The Earl of Leicester's secret marriage with the widowed
+Countess of Essex, a twelvemonth before, now came out in a storm of
+gossip, and threw the jealous queen into a rage. Leicester was dismissed
+from court; and Philip Sidney, as his nephew, though not actually exiled
+from the queen's presence, received treatment at her hands that was far
+more galling to his proud spirit than would have been dismissal.
+
+Nothing could have been more humiliating to Sidney's highstrung and
+sensitive temperament than to be kept dangling about a court where the
+queen turned but cold glances upon him, and where her nobles were
+permitted to slight him, after the usual manner of courtiers who "kick
+whom royalty kicks, and hug whom royalty hugs."
+
+Philip Sidney was a most unusual courtier. He had more than once held
+out a manly hand to one who had come under her Majesty's disfavor, but
+whom he regarded as stanch and deserving; and he had not failed to
+condemn where she smiled, if he felt that condemnation was deserved.
+
+With his great patron dismissed from royal favor, and London full of gay
+French and English courtiers who looked upon him as an enemy, Philip
+Sidney stood almost alone. Yet was he in no whit daunted, nor did he
+yield one hair's breadth of the high ground he had taken. His was that
+finer courage that can dare the whole world for a principle and stand
+alone upon the right.
+
+As may be imagined, this independence of spirit was most distasteful to
+the vain and fickle queen; but Sidney's grace and talents and personal
+beauty rendered him a courtier with whom she was unwilling to dispense.
+The queen had favored him for these lesser gifts, but the great heart of
+the English people loved him for the chivalric spirit _she_ valued not,
+and for the indomitable manliness that would not truckle--not even to
+the queen.
+
+During this period of her Majesty's displeasure toward him, Sidney was
+often stung to the quick by petty slights from his fellow-courtiers, but
+on one occasion the offender went too far. The brutal but powerful Earl
+of Oxford--head of the party who favored the proposed marriage--had long
+been a rival of Sidney's in the queen's favor, and there was no love
+lost between them.
+
+One day at Whitehall, as Philip Sidney and some of his friends were
+engaged in a game of tennis, the Earl of Oxford entered the court,
+uninvited, and demanded a part in the game. The presence of a number of
+French courtiers as lookers-on and listeners led him to assume a tone
+that was even more arrogant and offensive than was usual with him.
+
+At first, Sidney took no notice of the intrusion; but the studied
+rudeness becoming unbearable, he at length reproved the offender firmly.
+At this, Oxford fell into a rage, and ended by ordering the players out
+of the tennis-court. Sidney met the earl's haughty gaze with one of
+proud defiance, and answered,--
+
+"If your Lordship had been pleased to express the wish in courteous
+terms, you would have been met with courtesy, and perchance might have
+led out those who will not now be driven out with any scourge of fury."
+
+"Puppy!" exclaimed the infuriated earl.
+
+A coarse laugh went up from the spectators, and they immediately began
+to crowd the tennis-court to see the end of the quarrel. This pleased
+Oxford much, for he was seeking to make a fine show before them.
+
+Sidney realized that he was surrounded by enemies; but the fact only
+put him on his mettle, and he demanded, calmly,
+
+"My Lord of Oxford, what is that which you called me?"
+
+"A _puppy_," repeated the earl, and his followers laughed again.
+
+"That is a _lie_!" answered Sidney, in tones that rang out clear and
+sharp.
+
+A bolt from the skies could not have taken his listeners more aback. The
+spectators looked to see Oxford attack or challenge the slender young
+courtier who had flung the lie in his teeth; and Sidney himself waited
+in a fierce quiet for the answer which he, and all present, felt Oxford
+was bound to make.
+
+The answer did not come. Oxford contented himself with quarreling in a
+loud voice; but those whom he was trying to impress were not deceived by
+his bluster, and all present knew that he had proved himself a coward.
+
+When Sidney saw that his opponent was not going to challenge him, he
+made up his mind to throw down the gauntlet himself, for he was too
+indignant to let the matter drop without a personal encounter.
+
+"My Lord of Oxford," he said coolly, "this is a business that can be
+settled better in a more private place." With that, he turned and
+walked out of the court.
+
+This, of course, was a challenge; and all the next day Sidney looked for
+the message of acceptance which Oxford was bound, by the code of honor,
+to send him. At length it became apparent that Oxford was trying to
+avoid the duel. This, Sidney had no idea of allowing him to do; so he
+sent a messenger to the earl, asking whether he should hear from him or
+not, and adding--
+
+"His Lordship's French companions can teach him, if he does not know,
+what course he ought to take in this affair."
+
+Thus goaded, Oxford sent an acceptance; but before the duel could take
+place, the lords of the Privy Council forbade it, and besought the queen
+to effect a reconciliation between the two.
+
+The queen's way of reconciling them was to send for Sidney and scold him
+roundly. She pointed out to him the difference between peers and
+commoners and the respect that inferiors owed to superiors, then she
+commanded him to apologize to the earl.
+
+"That, your Majesty," he answered, steadily, "I _cannot_ do. No peer
+has, by his rank, privilege to do wrong; and though the Earl of Oxford
+be a great lord by virtue of his birth and your Majesty's favors, he is
+no lord over Philip Sidney."
+
+In spite of queen and court and Privy Council, Philip Sidney would not
+retreat an inch from this position; and Oxford was compelled to take
+refuge in her Majesty's order, to avoid fighting with the fiery young
+courtier. Shortly afterwards, the earl sent a messenger--supposed to be
+Sir Walter Raleigh--with the proposition to Sidney that their
+disagreement cease. Thus was the coward peer compelled to humble himself
+to the proud commoner.
+
+Negotiations for the queen's marriage to Anjou progressed favorably for
+a while, to the deep distress of Sidney. Actuated by his great distrust
+of Anjou and his equally great dislike to any sort of alliance with
+France, he at length addressed a letter to the queen, setting forth
+without reserve his objections to her marriage. He warned her Majesty,
+in the most unmistakable terms, of the worthlessness and viciousness of
+her suitor, and ended with a passionate appeal to her not to enter into
+an alliance which would so surely cripple the advancement of the English
+Church. But Sidney's letter was not one of reproof and entreaty only.
+All through its pages could be seen the romantic devotion of subject to
+sovereign, and the chivalric respect of a man for the woman whom he
+imagined to be possessed of all feminine virtues.
+
+The "most excellent lady" to whom the letter was indited answered it by
+flying into a rage and dismissing the writer from court.
+
+This was scarcely punishment to Sidney. He hated the vanities of court
+life with his whole heart, and when he was thus dismissed, he was as one
+from whom heavy shackles had been struck. He spent the time of his exile
+with his beloved sister, the Countess of Pembroke, and while at her
+home, wrote some of his best poems.
+
+The queen forgave Sidney, all too soon for him, for he had to be
+persuaded, nay, almost forced back into her silken fetters. The Earl of
+Leicester was already reinstated in her Majesty's good-will when Sidney
+came back, with reluctant grace, to be again an ornament of her court.
+
+But he was not an ornament merely. He was soon elected to Parliament,
+and through his fearless and untiring zeal did much toward making
+England great.
+
+Sidney was now becoming more and more prominent as a literary man, and
+was closely associated with Raleigh, Lyly, Hooker, Christopher Marlowe,
+Sir Francis Bacon, and Edmund Spenser. He was also one of the first to
+patronize a rising young actor and playwright by the name of Will
+Shakespeare.
+
+In 1583 Philip Sidney was knighted, and became "_Sir_ Philip Sidney,
+knight, of Penshurst." This was, however, but a poor acknowledgment of
+his virtues, his high attainments, and his services to the State. He was
+appointed by the queen to several minor offices, but he was never given
+what he merited at her hands--so much for being better and greater than
+those who have the power to reward.
+
+For some years Sidney's friends had been pressing him to marry, for they
+felt that it would be an irrevocable loss to England for such a man to
+die without sons to perpetuate his talents and sterling qualities. But
+Sidney for a long time turned a deaf ear to their persuasions. He had
+loved one woman passionately, and she had become the wife of another
+man. Since that time he had paid devoted attention to none, though he
+always held the gentler sex in deepest respect.
+
+Considering his natural attractions, and the exalted place he had won
+for himself among both the writers and the statesmen of the day, it is
+not to be wondered at that he was much sought after. One chronicle
+tells us that "many noble ladies ventured as far as modesty would permit
+to signify their affections for him."
+
+Sidney himself thought it his _duty_ to marry, and in the fall of 1583
+took to wife the daughter of his old friend, Sir Francis Walsingham. The
+queen objected bitterly, being selfish enough to want her courtier's
+whole attention; but she finally relented. She afterwards stood
+godmother to Sidney's only child--a daughter--who was named for herself.
+
+Sidney's married life was a very happy one. Frances Walsingham made him
+a good wife, and he was very tenderly attached to her.
+
+Always jealous for his native country, Sidney now became much aroused by
+the continued success of Spain in the New World. The then recent
+discoveries in America, and the consequent advancement of the power of
+Philip II., were a menace to the political prestige of England. Sidney
+had been quick to perceive this, and had been stirred to a keen interest
+in English colonization in the New World. He rightly believed that the
+surest means of retarding the growth of the power of Spain was to plant
+in the New World colonies of English-speaking people. Disappointed in
+his desire to join in the warfare in the Netherlands against King
+Philip, he conceived a great scheme for crippling that monarch's power
+in America and on the high seas, and he threw himself into the project
+with his whole heart.
+
+It is interesting to know that in his colonization schemes Sidney was
+intimately associated with such men as Martin Frobisher, Sir Humphrey
+Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake.
+
+His connection with Sir Francis Drake came near involving him in serious
+trouble, but ultimately ended by procuring him the commission he had so
+long desired. Tired of a life of inactivity, anxious to foil the Spanish
+in the New World, and sick to death of the busy idleness of the court,
+Sidney at length determined to go with Drake to a new world and a new
+career. Accordingly, he made ready, and actually went as far as
+Plymouth, where he was to take ship, when he was overtaken by a
+messenger bearing "grace in one hand and thunder in the other," and the
+queen's command that he return to court.
+
+The _grace_ was that he was to have his long-desired commission in the
+Netherlands, if he would but return. Her Majesty had evidently learned
+that she would have to compromise with her spirited subject.
+
+Sidney did return, and received the commission promised. The queen
+signed a patent making him governor of Flushing and Rammekins in the
+Netherlands. Leicester she made commander-in-chief of the forces she had
+at last agreed to send to the aid of the oppressed Dutch.
+
+Sidney was not one-and-thirty years of age when he received his
+appointment. He went into the project with all the fire of his youth and
+chivalry. At last he was free from court fetters; at last he could play
+a man's part in life. All the dreams of his boyhood now waked again. No
+mimic warfare of joust and tournament for him now! With naked sword he
+was to face the enemies of a weak and oppressed people.
+
+When Sidney landed at Flushing, he had yet to learn that war demands
+more courage than is needed in merely facing the foe--the courage to
+endure delays, hardships, injustice, and all the cruel accompaniments of
+a campaign. He learned his lesson well and shortly, for when he was
+weighed in the balance, he was not found wanting in a single quality
+that belongs to the hero.
+
+Flushing, which had been assigned to English control, was at the mouth
+of the Scheldt River, and on the opposite bank stood the Castle of
+Rammekins. These were important points, as they commanded the entrance
+from the sea. The people of the town hailed Sidney as a deliverer and
+protector, for they were worn with the long struggle against the
+Spanish, and were wellnigh disheartened. The defences of the place were
+in wretched condition, and the town itself in a most unhealthy state, so
+Sir Philip set to work at once to put the place in a more sanitary
+condition and to strengthen its fortifications.
+
+Shortly after Sidney had begun to get ready for real war, his uncle, the
+Earl of Leicester, arrived in the Netherlands with the main body of the
+troops sent by her Majesty, and made a spectacular tour through several
+leading cities. He took up his position at the Hague, where he
+immediately began to live in almost royal state, spending the funds sent
+from England, wasting the resources of the people he had ostensibly come
+to help, and making no move against the Spanish, who were daily gaining
+ground.
+
+If Sidney had hoped that, in changing her mind about assisting the
+Netherlands, Queen Elizabeth had changed some of her personal
+characteristics too, he was very quickly undeceived. The supply of men
+and money sent by her Majesty was entirely inadequate to existing
+necessities; and having shipped her small quota of troops, the queen
+apparently washed her hands of them.
+
+With his superior officer, Leicester, wasting time and the resources of
+the troops, in dissipation, and the queen careless of their straits,
+Sidney was reduced almost to despair. Yet if he had come to hope little,
+he worked as if the whole responsibility of the cause rested on his
+shoulders. He not only put the places of his own command in as good
+condition as was possible, but he went from one city to another,
+assisting and advising. He made journey after journey to the Hague to
+rouse Leicester to a more active policy, and at one time went even into
+Germany to implore help for the wretched country. All this time he was
+writing to Leicester, to the queen, to her advisers, the most passionate
+letters. He set forth the condition of affairs in language that stripped
+truth of all dissembling, and implored her Majesty and her officers to
+let him do the work for which he had been sent. Like the king of the
+forest in the narrow confines of a cage, Sidney's fierce soul raged
+against the orders that kept his sword idle while the Spanish were
+wasting the land. There is not a more pathetically tragic figure in
+history than that of the heroic Sidney in the power of the unworthy
+Queen of England and of the doubly unworthy Earl of Leicester.
+
+More than a year was wasted by the luxurious earl, Sidney the while
+chafing at his idleness, and the Spanish gaining post after post. Time
+and again, Sidney pleaded with Leicester to give him adequate troops and
+leave to act, but the troops were not given; and when, on his own
+responsibility, Sidney undertook to besiege Steenbergen, he was
+forbidden to prosecute the plan.
+
+It was not until he had spent nearly two years of hard work and
+discouragement in the Netherlands that Sir Philip was at last allowed to
+proceed against the enemy in active warfare.
+
+A most unwilling permission being wrung from Leicester, Sidney joined
+forces with Lord Willoughby and Count Maurice and proceeded against the
+town of Axel, which was then in the hands of the Spaniards.
+
+A moonless night was chosen for the expedition, and the advance was made
+stealthily and swiftly. While the attacking forces approached the
+sleeping town, Sir Philip spoke so earnestly to the men that one who was
+with him afterwards said, "he did so link our minds that we did desire
+rather to die in that service than to live in the contrary."
+
+Axel was surrounded by a wall and a moat, and was regarded as
+impregnable to all save overwhelming forces; but Sidney depended more on
+the spirit of his men than on mere numbers, and he pressed hardily
+forward. When the moat was reached, he plunged boldly in, and was soon
+followed by some fifty others. A few moments more, and they had gained
+the opposite bank and were scaling, as best they could, the wall of
+Axel. A little while of breathless suspense, and then their dark forms
+were outlined against the sky on the top of the wall, only to disappear
+quickly on the other side. Presently there were cries of surprise and
+terror and sounds of sharp fighting, then the drawbridge was lowered and
+the great gate opened to admit the crush of men who rushed to the
+assistance of Sir Philip and his valiant little band.
+
+The scene inside told its own story. Sir Philip had surprised and slain
+the guard and opened the gate to his men. Instantly the startled city
+flew to arms, but it was too late. Over half the twelve hundred men who
+garrisoned the town were put to the sword, a great quantity of riches
+was captured, and a large amount of property destroyed. Besides this,
+four neighboring citadels were attacked and forced to surrender. Sir
+Philip then garrisoned the town with English soldiers, and cut the
+dikes, flooding a vast tract of country to hamper the movements of the
+Spanish.
+
+When it was all over, Leicester wrote proudly to the queen, "My nephew,
+Sidney, is to be thanked for the bravest deed yet done by the English in
+the Low Countries."
+
+But stanch old Sir Henry died a few weeks before his "darling Philip"
+thus won his first laurels in war, and Lady Sidney passed away shortly
+after the news of her boy's heroism reached her.
+
+One would think that the knowledge of that heroism would have touched
+the fickle queen to do, at least, simple justice to the young officer
+who had stormed Axel; but unfortunately it did not. Not only could
+Sidney not persuade her Majesty to give him the necessary troops and
+money for better defences, but he could not move her to pay the wretched
+soldiers their hire. The wages of his men were already months in
+arrears, and the soldiers were daily threatening mutiny. So the time
+dragged on, and nothing of importance was accomplished for several more
+weary months.
+
+Leicester had had as little patience with his nephew as the queen
+herself, "bearing a hand over him as a forward young man;" but after
+Sidney proved his sword at Axel, his uncle treated him with more
+respect, and was at last brought to take counsel of him.
+
+A few months after Sidney's capture of Axel, Leicester reviewed her
+Majesty's troops at Arnhem; and it was then that Sir Philip at last
+persuaded him to strike a decisive blow at the Spanish. Having actually
+obtained his uncle's permission to fight, Sidney lost no time in
+unsheathing his sword. Five days after the review at Arnhem, he and his
+brother Robert and the young Earl of Essex, with a small force, stormed
+and carried the fortress of Doesburg, each one of the three fighting
+brilliantly.
+
+The Earl of Essex was son to Sir Philip's old friend, and brother to
+Penelope Devereux, and was that Essex whom Elizabeth caused to be
+beheaded some years after.
+
+As another result of Sidney's importunities, Leicester laid siege to
+Zutphen, which was a very important post, and the strongest city in
+Gelderland. A week was spent in throwing up intrenchments about the city
+and making ready for an attack. Sidney, together with the Count of
+Nassau and Sir John Norris, was put in command of a body of cavalry and
+directed to hold Gilbert Hill,--a rise of ground less than a mile from
+the east gate of Zutphen.
+
+When the English were nearly ready to attack, news was brought to
+Leicester that large quantities of provisions were being transported to
+the besieged city by the Spanish, and that an attempt would be made to
+smuggle them in.
+
+On receipt of the news, Leicester ordered Sir John Norris and Sir
+William Stanley to take five hundred men and cut off the convoys as they
+approached.
+
+Sir Philip was not included in the commission, but he was so eager to
+act that he joined Norris and Stanley of his own accord. He was fully
+armed as he rode up to the troops, but meeting one of his friends
+without leg-armour, he rashly cast off his own cuisses, that he might
+run equal risk.
+
+The Spanish convoys were expected to arrive in the night, but a gray,
+foggy morning dawned before the tramp of their horses' feet was heard.
+Nearer and nearer it came to the waiting five hundred,--when suddenly
+the fog lifted and the little band of English found themselves face to
+face with a splendidly equipped Spanish force of over five times their
+own number. They had not dreamed that the wagon-train would be so
+accompanied.
+
+The sun rose clear--fatally clear for that gallant little band of
+Britons. The guns of the city were trained on them; they were in easy
+shot of the Spanish in front and the Spanish behind--surprised, tricked,
+surrounded. And there was no mist to puzzle the enemy's terrible aim!
+But English chivalry stood the test that day, and English swords rang
+true.
+
+Young Essex, a boy of twenty, made the first dash, crying to his men as
+he went,
+
+"For the honor of England, good fellows, follow me!" They followed him,
+and for a while, at least, beat back the enemy with their curtle-axes.
+Lord Willoughby, and many another gallant cavalier, carved his way to
+fame that day.
+
+But Sidney was the hero of Zutphen--Sidney "of the delicate form and
+golden hair." One might almost fancy him the matchless Bayard come
+again, or the very incarnate spirit of battle, so splendidly did his
+genius and courage rise in the storm of carnage. None might hope to
+equal him or match his many deeds that day. Once, seeing Willoughby
+surrounded and far over among the enemy, Sidney, with a few followers,
+fought through to him and accomplished his rescue. Twice he charged the
+Spanish, pressing them back and hacking them down in his path.
+
+At the crisis of the second charge, his horse was shot under him; but he
+quickly mounted another. Then in one last glorious dash, he cut his way
+straight through the Spanish masses, and he did not stop while there was
+a foe to be beaten out of his path. But when he had blazed his solitary
+way entirely through the ranks of the enemy, and was faced with empty
+trenches beyond, he turned his horse to press back again. As he wheeled
+back, a musket-ball struck him in the thigh and gave him a mortal wound.
+The horse he was riding was not trained to battle, and, taking fright at
+the din about him, became utterly unmanageable to Sidney's weakening
+grasp. The terror-stricken animal struggled out of the press and dashed,
+with his almost fainting rider, back to Leicester's distant camp.
+
+As some of the soldiers rushed to him to help him down, Sidney was
+seized with the terrible thirst of the wounded, and begged for a drink
+of water. He was about to press the flagon to his parched lips when he
+saw the eyes of a wounded foot-soldier turned agonizingly toward it.
+Without tasting it, he at once handed it to the dying man, with the
+words,--
+
+"Thy necessity is greater than mine."
+
+But Sidney's necessity was great--so great that the skill of man could
+not avail to save him; and after a long, agonizing illness, he expired
+at Arnhem in the arms of his heart-broken wife.
+
+So lived and died Sir Philip Sidney, the last and most perfect flower of
+knighthood,--failing in his efforts to revive the old passing chivalry,
+but, all unconsciously, achieving more than his cherished ideal in
+teaching men how to live and die nobly in the changed order of things.
+
+
+
+
+SIDNEY IN TOURNAMENT
+
+
+    Call back the gorgeous past!
+    The lists are set, the trumpets sound,
+    Bright eyes, sweet judges, throned around;
+    And stately on the glittering ground
+    The old chivalric life!
+    "Forward!" The signal word is given;
+    Beneath the shock the greensward shakes;
+    The lusty cheer, the gleaming spear,
+    The snow-plume's falling flakes,
+    The fiery joy of strife!
+    Thus, when, from out a changeful heaven
+    O'er waves in eddying tumult driven
+    A stormy smile is cast,
+    Alike the gladsome anger takes
+    The sunshine and the blast!
+    Who is the victor of the day?
+    Thou of the delicate form, and golden hair,
+    And manhood glorious in its midst of May;
+    Thou who upon thy shield of argent bearest
+    The bold device, "The loftiest is the fairest!"
+    As bending low thy stainless crest,
+    "The vestal throned by the west"
+    Accords the old Provençal crown
+    Which blends her own with thy renown;
+    Arcadian Sidney, nursling of the muse,
+    Flower of fair chivalry, whose bloom was fed
+    With daintiest Castaly's most silver dews,
+    Alas! how soon thy amaranth leaves were shed;
+    Born, what the Ausonian minstrel _dream'd to be_,
+    Time's knightly epic pass'd from earth with thee!
+
+    EDWARD BULWER LYTTON
+
+
+    "_The knight's bones are dust,_
+    _And his good sword rust;_
+    _His soul is with the saints, I trust._"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of With Spurs of Gold, by 
+Frances Nimmo Greene and Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH SPURS OF GOLD ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25651-8.txt or 25651-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/6/5/25651/
+
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+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of With Spurs of Gold, by Frances Nimmo Greene and Dolly Williams Kirk.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of With Spurs of Gold, by 
+Frances Nimmo Greene and Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: With Spurs of Gold
+       Heroes of Chivalry and their Deeds
+
+Author: Frances Nimmo Greene
+        Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+Release Date: May 30, 2008 [EBook #25651]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH SPURS OF GOLD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 401px;">
+<img src="images/cover01.jpg" width="401" height="600" alt="cover" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a>
+<img src="images/img.gs01.jpg" width="400" height="600" alt="" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;Ah, my ill-starred blade!&#39; he cried; &#39;no longer may I
+be thy guardian!&#39;&quot;<i>Frontispiece</i></span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<h1>With Spurs of Gold</h1>
+
+<h2><i>Heroes of Chivalry and Their Deeds</i></h2>
+
+<h4>By</h4>
+
+<h2>Frances Nimmo Greene</h2>
+
+<h4>and</h4>
+
+<h2>Dolly Williams Kirk</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Boston<br />
+Little, Brown, and Company<br />
+1928<br />
+<br />
+<i>Copyright, 1905,</i><br />
+<span class="smcap">By Little, Brown, and Company</span><br />
+<br /><i>All rights reserved</i><br />
+
+<span class="smcap">Printed in the United States of America<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+
+<p>These brief historical sketches were written primarily for young people,
+though it is hoped that some older readers may find pleasure in renewing
+their acquaintance with heroes of chivalry whose names are familiar
+still, but whose deeds are recalled to mind but vaguely.</p>
+
+<p>It is the purpose of the book to enliven the study of history by giving
+the romantic details omitted in text-books, and to enable the readers to
+form a more vivid and lifelike conception of the great men with whom it
+deals and the turbulent and picturesque times in which they lived.</p>
+
+<p>The endeavor of the authors has been to narrate events and portray
+character accurately and impartially, but in the sympathetic spirit that
+recognizes the wide difference between modern standards of conduct and
+the ideals of the Middle Ages,&mdash;the spirit that strives to depict
+vividly and adequately the fine, strong virtues and great deeds that won
+for these knights the unbounded admiration of their own age, rather than
+to dwell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> upon those traits and acts that are justly condemned by the
+finer moral sense of the twentieth century. Emphasis is laid upon the
+noble in character and deed rather than the ignoble, on the great rather
+than the little.</p>
+
+<p>In the preparation of the book many histories, chronicles, and legends
+have been consulted, and it is hoped that a fair degree of accuracy has
+been attained where the narrative belongs to the domain of history. The
+stories of Roland and the Cid, of course, are largely legendary, and
+there is evidently a considerable admixture of fiction in the
+contemporary accounts of Godfrey and Richard. The authors have
+endeavored to follow recognized historical authority closely when
+practicable; but historians differ so widely among themselves that it is
+often impossible to determine which version of events is most reliable.
+No important fact has been stated without good historical authority, but
+one or two minor incidents of Godfrey's life and crusade were taken from
+Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered." In the treatment of a few unimportant
+events, some imaginative details and circumstances strictly in harmony
+with the meagre historical record of facts have been added to give color
+and interest to the narrative. Also in several instances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> where the
+subject-matter of a conversation or speech is purely legendary, or is
+given by historians in the third person, it has been put in the first
+person in order to render the story livelier and more vivid. No other
+liberties have been taken with facts as related by historians of
+learning and repute.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+<div class='centered'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" width="65%" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS">
+<tr><td align="left" rowspan="17"><img src="images/spine01.jpg" width="86" height="500" alt="" title="" /></td><td align='left'>&nbsp;</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Page</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Introductory</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_xi'><b>xi</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"This is the Rule for the Gallant Knight"</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_1'><b>1</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Steed! A Steed!</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_3'><b>3</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Roland and Oliver</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_7'><b>7</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Cid Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_51'><b>51</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Cid's Wedding</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_84'><b>84</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Godfrey and the First Crusade</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_89'><b>89</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Troubadour</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_139'><b>139</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Carrier Dove</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_140'><b>140</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Captive Knight</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_141'><b>141</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Richard C&oelig;ur-de-Lion</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_145'><b>145</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Richard's Lament</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_196'><b>196</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Last Crusader</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_198'><b>198</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Chevalier Bayard</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_203'><b>203</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Sir Philip Sidney</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_255'><b>255</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Sidney in Tournament</span></td><td align='right'><a href='#SIDNEY_IN_TOURNAMENT'><b>291</b></a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class='centered'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="ILLUSTRATIONS">
+<tr><td align='left'>"'Ah, my ill-starred blade!' he cried; 'no longer may I be thy guardian!'"</td><td align='right'><a href='#frontis'><b><i>Frontispiece</i></b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The Knighting of the Cid</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_59'><b>59</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"'Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath found water!' cried Sigier"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_109'><b>109</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"There for months he was kept a close prisoner, loaded with chains"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_190'><b>190</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer among the Spanish who did not come to speak kindly to him"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_251'><b>251</b></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Sir Philip Sidney and Penelope Devereux</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_266'><b>266</b></a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTORY" id="INTRODUCTORY"></a>INTRODUCTORY</h2>
+
+
+<h3>THE MOORS IN SPAIN</h3>
+
+<p>In the seventh century an Arab by the name of Mohammed, or Mahomet,
+established a new religion in the East. This religion was called Islam,
+meaning The Faith, and its followers were known as Mohammedans,
+Mussulmans, or Moslems. The principal article of their belief is
+expressed in the formula, "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is
+his prophet."</p>
+
+<p>The new faith spread rapidly, and Mohammed soon became the ruler of all
+the people who received him as a prophet. His successors, called
+Caliphs, or Khalifs, conquered Palestine, Syria, Persia, and northern
+Africa. The inhabitants of the countries thus added to the Mohammedan
+empire usually adopted the faith of their conquerors, and undertook to
+carry it into other lands.</p>
+
+<p>In 711 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>, a body of these Mohammedans, under the leadership of
+Tarik, crossed the strait<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> between Africa and Spain and landed at the
+place since known as Gibraltar (Jebel-el-Tarik, or The Rock of Tarik).
+The invaders were met near Xeres by the Christians, under the command of
+Roderick, King of the Visigoths, and the fierce battle of Jerez de La
+Frontera, or Guadalete, took place. At the end of three days' fighting,
+Roderick was slain, and the Christians were completely routed. Victory
+after victory for Tarik followed, and in three short years all Spain,
+except the extreme northern part, was in the hands of the invaders.</p>
+
+<p>These victorious followers of Mohammed, though people of various
+nationalities, were all designated by the Spaniards <i>Moors</i>, from the
+name of a tribe that came from Morocco, or <i>Saracens</i>, from an Arabic
+word meaning eastern. Often they were called simply <i>infidels</i>, meaning
+unbelievers.</p>
+
+<p>The Moors were not only skilled warriors, but a people of much
+intelligence, and made far more rapid advances in civilization than the
+Spaniards. They fostered education, and founded schools and libraries.
+They possessed a considerable knowledge of astronomy, algebra,
+chemistry, and natural history, and attained great excellence in the
+arts of music, poetry, and architecture. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span> built splendid cities,
+adorned with magnificent mosques and palaces. The wonderful mosque of
+Cordova and the beautiful Alhambra at Granada remain to this day as
+monuments of the Moorish skill in architecture.</p>
+
+<p>Nor were the Moors cruel or tyrannical rulers. It was not often that a
+Moorish emir or king ill-treated or persecuted his Christian subjects.
+As a rule, the Christians were allowed more privileges and greater
+freedom than was usually accorded to a conquered people in those days.
+But the Spaniards were proud and intensely religious, and they bitterly
+resented their state of subjection to a foreign and "infidel" people.
+Again and again they attempted to overthrow the power of the Moors and
+to drive them from Spain. For more than seven hundred years, war was
+waged at intervals between the conquerors and the conquered. There could
+be no permanent peace between Mohammedans and Christians, for each
+people despised the religion of the other, and each was determined to
+rule in Spain.</p>
+
+<p>Gradually, Moorish Spain, at first under the rule of one emir, became
+separated into a number of small kingdoms, which were often hostile to
+each other. This state of disunion among the Mohammedans materially
+aided the efforts of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span> Christians to regain control of Spain. Little
+by little the Spaniards reconquered their native land. In 1492 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>,
+Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon,
+conquered Granada; and with the fall of Granada ended the long rule of
+the Moors in Spain.</p>
+
+
+<h3>THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE</h3>
+
+<p>In the fifth century that part of Europe then called Gaul was invaded in
+succession by three Germanic races. The Visigoths first conquered and
+took possession of the southern part of the country. They were followed
+by the Burgundians, who settled in the eastern portion. Then came the
+terrible Franks, who were not content with seizing the northern
+territory, but immediately began a war of conquest against the other two
+tribes. The long conflict that followed ended at length in the triumph
+of the Franks. These fierce Franks then established themselves firmly as
+the ruling race, and in course of time Gaul came to be known as the land
+of the Franks, or France.</p>
+
+<p>The kingdom thus established by the Franks under their dreaded chief,
+Clovis, flourished for a time; but eventually the kings of his line
+be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span>came so weak in character and so wicked in conduct as to be unfit to
+rule, and the country fell into a state of wretched disorder. At last
+these Merovingian princes became so utterly incapable that the kingly
+authority fell into the hands of certain state officials called "Mayors
+of the Palace."</p>
+
+<p>In the eighth century one of these mayors&mdash;a bold and energetic warrior,
+by the name of Charles, or Karl&mdash;became in reality the ruler of France,
+though a weak Merovingian prince still bore the empty title of king.</p>
+
+<p>At that time the Mohammedans who had conquered Spain some years before
+were seized with the ambition to conquer all Europe and add it to the
+empire of Islam. Under the leadership of Abderrahman, Moorish governor
+of Spain, these Saracens crossed the Pyrenees and invaded France. The
+Christians of all races, roused by the greatness of the threatened
+danger, ceased warring among themselves and rallied as one people to the
+defence of their country and their religion. A large army under the
+command of Charles, or Karl, ruler of the Franks, met the invaders near
+Tours. There, in 732 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>, was fought the famous battle of Tours, or
+Poictiers, in which Charles and his Christian warriors ut<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span>terly routed
+the formidable Mohammedan army. By this great victory, the threatened
+advance of the Moslem power was checked, and Europe was saved to the
+Christian faith. The victorious general, Charles, because of this great
+blow dealt to the <i>Infidels</i>, received the surname of Martel, or the
+Hammer.</p>
+
+<p>But the fame of Karl Martel, though great and well-deserved, is far
+surpassed by the renown of his grandson, Charlemagne, or Charles the
+Great. The kingship of France, Charlemagne inherited from his father,
+Pepin, who, more ambitious than Karl Martel, dethroned the Merovingian
+puppet king and made himself king in name as well as in fact.
+Charlemagne, during his reign of forty-five years, added vast
+territories to his Frankish kingdom by successful wars waged against
+surrounding tribes of heathen Saxons, against the Moors in northern
+Spain, the inhabitants of Bavaria, the Avars beyond that country, and
+the people of Lombardy, in what is now Italy.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 800 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>, on Christmas Day, the great Frankish king was
+crowned emperor by the Pope at Rome. He was hailed as a successor to the
+Roman C&aelig;sars, the people shouting,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Long life and victory to Charles Augustus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span> crowned by God, the great,
+pious, and pacific Emperor of the Romans!"</p>
+
+<p>Charlemagne, in truth, well deserved the title of emperor, for at that
+time his sway extended over France, northern Spain, northern Italy, the
+greater part of Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland,&mdash;almost half of
+Europe. But Charlemagne was more than a successful warrior, a conqueror
+of nations. He was a man of powerful intellect, whose keen insight,
+sound judgment, and iron will enabled him to rule wisely and well the
+various races of his vast empire. Charlemagne was an earnest student and
+a man of extensive learning for those days, familiar with Latin and
+Greek, proficient in logic, rhetoric, music, astronomy, and theology.
+Delighting in study himself, the emperor recognized the vital importance
+of general education. By founding schools and compelling attendance upon
+them, by himself setting an example of devotion to study, thus
+encouraging others to intellectual pursuits, by inviting to his court
+famous scholars from neighboring countries,&mdash;in every way possible,
+Charlemagne endeavored to impress upon his people the value of mental
+culture and the importance of education.</p>
+
+<p>His court became the resort of learned men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</a></span> and renowned knights from
+all lands, and the fame of Charlemagne spread far and wide. Poets
+celebrated his achievements as a warrior, his virtues as a man, his
+wisdom as a ruler. Nor was their praise unmerited. By the most wonderful
+military genius, this chieftain of a wild Frankish tribe carried out his
+ambitious project of establishing a great Christian empire. That he only
+partially succeeded in his more noble purpose of civilizing the
+barbarous tribes he ruled, was due solely to the magnitude of the task.
+The zealous and splendid effort he made, the measure of success he
+attained, in battling against the darkness and ignorance of his time,
+entitle Charlemagne to a place among the truly great men of the world.
+His greatness has stamped his name on the time, and the "Age of
+Charlemagne" stands out in happy contrast to the darkness of preceding
+and subsequent times.</p>
+
+
+<h3>THE CRUSADES</h3>
+
+<p>It was the custom in the earliest ages of Christianity for its followers
+to make pilgrimages to Palestine. All pious Christians desired to visit
+the land where Christ had lived and died for their redemption, and they
+believed firmly that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[Pg xix]</a></span> blessing of God awaited those pilgrims who
+made long and perilous journeys to worship at the tomb of their Lord.
+These pilgrimages became much more numerous in the fourth century, when
+the Roman emperor, Constantine, was converted to Christianity and put a
+stop to the persecution of the Christians. This emperor and his mother,
+Saint Helena, restored Jerusalem, and there erected magnificent churches
+for the worship of Christ. Then, from all parts of the Christian world,
+thousands of pilgrims journeyed to the Holy City in peace and safety.</p>
+
+<p>But Jerusalem was not destined to remain in the hands of the Christians.
+After having been taken by the Persians and retaken by the Christians,
+the city yielded in the seventh century to the Mohammedans, under the
+Caliph Omar, a successor of Mohammed. From that time on, Christians
+living in Palestine and pilgrims from other countries were oppressed and
+persecuted, and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem became both difficult and
+dangerous. During the reign of Charlemagne, respect for the fame and
+power of that great Christian emperor induced the celebrated Caliph
+Haroun-al-Raschid to treat the Christians with mildness, and to allow
+them to worship in peace at Jerusalem; but under the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">[Pg xx]</a></span> succeeding
+Mohammedan rulers of Palestine, the Christians were subjected to every
+manner of insult and outrage. Those courageous pilgrims who dared all
+the perils of a journey to Jerusalem and returned home in safety, spread
+abroad throughout Europe the sad story of their own trials, the
+sufferings of their fellow-Christians in Palestine, and the desecration
+of holy places.</p>
+
+<p>These stories excited deep indignation and pious horror in all hearers,
+for it was an age of intense religious faith and enthusiasm; and the
+feeling arose in the hearts of Christian people that it was an
+imperative religious duty to rescue the Holy Land and the Sepulchre of
+their Lord from the Infidels. This feeling grew and spread and
+strengthened into a religious conviction throughout Christendom. So when
+Peter the Hermit, a monk returned from Palestine, traveled through
+Europe, and preached eloquently the sacred duty of delivering the Holy
+Land, he found everywhere enthusiastic hearers.</p>
+
+<p>The people burned with zeal to undertake the pious task; and when Pope
+Urban, at the Council of Clermont, in 1095 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>, gave the sanction of
+the Church to the enterprise, all Europe rushed to arms. Those who vowed
+to do battle for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xxi" id="Page_xxi">[Pg xxi]</a></span> holy cause bore the sign of the cross, and hence
+the expedition to Palestine was called a "crusade," from the Latin word
+<i>crux</i>, meaning cross.</p>
+
+<p>The history of this First Crusade is given in the sketch of Godfrey de
+Bouillon, and that of the Third Crusade in connection with the story of
+Richard C&oelig;ur-de-Lion. These two were the most famous crusades,
+although others were undertaken at different periods. The last crusade
+took place in the thirteenth century, under the leadership of Louis IX.
+of France&mdash;Saint Louis&mdash;and was unsuccessful. After that time, the
+Christians made no further attempt to rescue the Holy Land, and it is
+still in the hands of the Mohammedans.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><br /><br />With Spurs of Gold<br /><br /></h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="THIS_IS_THE_RULE_FOR_THE_GALLANT_KNIGHT" id="THIS_IS_THE_RULE_FOR_THE_GALLANT_KNIGHT"></a>"THIS IS THE RULE FOR THE GALLANT KNIGHT"</h3>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Amend your lives, ye who would fain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The order of the knights attain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Devoutly watch, devoutly pray;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From pride and sin, oh turn away!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shun all that's base; the Church defend;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be the widow's and the orphan's friend;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be good and leal; take naught by might;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be bold and guard the people's right;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This is the rule for the gallant knight.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Be meek of heart; work day by day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Tread, ever tread, the knightly way;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Make lawful war; long travel dare;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Tourney and joust for ladye fair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To everlasting honour cling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That none the barbs of blame may fling;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be never slack in work or fight;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be ever least in self's own sight;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This is the rule for the gallant knight.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Love the liege lord; with might and main<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His rights above all else maintain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be open-handed, just and true;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The paths of upright men pursue;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No deaf ear to their precepts turn;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The prowess of the valiant learn;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That ye may do things great and bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As did Great Alexander hight;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This is the rule for the gallant knight.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">Eustache Deschamps<br /></span></span>
+<span class="i4">(<i>Fourteenth century</i>).<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<h3>A STEED! A STEED!</h3>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A steed! a steed! of matchless speed!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A sword of metal keene!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Al else to noble hearts is drosse&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Al else on earth is meane.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The neighing of the war-horse proude,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The rowling of the drum,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The clangour of the trumpet loude&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Be soundes from heaven that come.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, oh! the thundering presse of knightes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When as their war-cryes swelle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">May tole from heaven an angel bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And rouse a fiend from hell.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then mounte! Then mounte! brave gallants all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And don your helms amain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Deathe's couriers, Fame and Honour, call<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Up to the field againe;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No shrewish tear shall fill our eye<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When the sword hilt's in our hand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Heart-whole we'll parte and no whit sighe<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For the fayrest of the land.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Let piping swaine and craven wight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thus weepe and puling aye;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our business is like to men to fighte<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And like to Heroes, die!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">Motherwell's</span> <i>Ancient Minstrelsy</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4">(<i>Author unknown</i>).<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><br /><br /><a name="ROLAND_AND_OLIVER" id="ROLAND_AND_OLIVER"></a>ROLAND AND OLIVER</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
+<h3>THE TRAGEDY OF RONCESVALLES</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">"Roland is daring and Oliver wise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both of marvelous high emprise;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On their chargers mounted and girt in mail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To the death in battle they will not quail."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span><br /><br /></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ROLAND AND OLIVER</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Montjoie! Whoever heard that cry<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Would hold remembrance of chivalry."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>In days of old there lived a powerful Christian emperor by the name of
+Charlemagne. His kingdom extended over the greater part of the territory
+which now constitutes the countries of France, Germany, and Italy; and
+the "Franks," as his people were called, followed him with a loving
+loyalty that has been celebrated in song and story for twelve hundred
+years. Around Charlemagne were gathered not a few knights whose names
+will forever be remembered with that of their emperor, and whose deeds
+will live as long as the chivalric instinct thrills the breast of man.</p>
+
+<p>Now this great emperor, though loving and generous toward his subjects,
+could yet brook no shadow of opposition; and when he discovered that his
+beloved sister Bertha had, without his consent, wedded the knight,
+Milon, he at once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> banished the disobedient pair from the land of
+France.</p>
+
+<p>Fleeing before the awful displeasure of Charlemagne, Milon and his wife
+wandered about in foreign parts as mendicants, and at length took refuge
+in a cave near a small town in Italy. Here, under these adverse
+circumstances, a little son was born to them&mdash;one destined to be the
+hero of two countries, the "Roland" of "the French Iliad" and the
+"Orlando" of Italian song and story.</p>
+
+<p>While Roland was yet a little lad, his father departed for unknown lands
+to seek fame and fortune, leaving the boy and his mother to eke out a
+scanty existence as best they might.</p>
+
+<p>As Roland grew in years and in youthful graces, he became a favorite
+with the peasant boys of the village, and, in spite of his ragged
+clothes and his humble abode, was soon made their leader. But there was
+one lad in Sutri who had no love for the stalwart young mendicant.
+Oliver, son of the governor of the town, and consequently a youth of
+high station, conceived quite a dislike for him, and a feud existed
+between the two until it was ended by Roland in a most singular way.</p>
+
+<p>Meeting the son of the governor on neutral<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> ground one day, the fiery
+young cave-dweller proposed that they settle their quarrel with their
+fists. Oliver, being in no whit a coward, quickly consented. The contest
+which ensued was a long and stubborn one, for the two lads were very
+nearly equally matched in strength and endurance and courage. Finally,
+however, the half-clad, disowned nephew of Charlemagne stood triumphant.
+The quarrel was indeed settled; for Oliver, being a lad of mettle, and
+loving and admiring valor wherever he found it, arose from his honorable
+defeat the sworn friend and admirer of his doughty conqueror.</p>
+
+<p>And the friendship of Oliver meant much to the poor lad who had defeated
+him. It often meant food when he was hungry, and clothes when he was
+cold, and always insured him support in all the boyish contests in their
+native village. But, better than all these, it meant to Roland the
+loyal, lifelong devotion of a comrade who became as part of his own
+soul.</p>
+
+<p>While Roland was yet only a stripling, the great emperor, Charlemagne,
+passed through the town of Sutri, and while there dined in public on the
+village green. Now the young Roland had not yet come to the age when he
+could provide for his mother and himself. The times were hard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> with
+them&mdash;especially hard on this great feast-day of the emperor, for they
+were hungry, and knew not where to turn for food.</p>
+
+<p>Now it chanced that Roland, fierce with the fierceness of the
+half-starved, came suddenly upon some of the emperor's attendants just
+as they were bearing trays of rich viands to place before their master.
+The sight of food and the thought of his mother's sufferings instantly
+swept all things else from the lad's mind. Rushing upon the attendants,
+he wrested the viands from them, and made off to his mother's cave
+before they could realize what had happened.</p>
+
+<p>When the emperor was informed of the incident, his brows knitted in deep
+thought, for he had dreamed a dream on the night before, which troubled
+him sorely. He had seen the fierce, half-famished lad in his vision, and
+had been warned to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>After a moment's thought, Charlemagne dispatched three of his knights to
+find the boy and bring him to the royal presence. The three who were so
+commissioned had little trouble in finding the lad, but they came near
+having a serious conflict with him when they attempted to enter,
+uninvited, the cave he felt to be his castle. His mother, however,
+restrained the impetuous youth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> with her pleadings, and the messengers
+of Charlemagne entered.</p>
+
+<p>When Bertha learned that the knights had come from the emperor, she
+disclosed to them her own identity and the identity of the lad they had
+come to seize. This was Roland's first knowledge of his great lineage,
+and he heard and beheld as in a dream, as the knights knelt before his
+mother and promised to obtain for her the emperor's pardon.</p>
+
+<p>Dazed, dreaming still, the gaunt, sinewy lad took his way to
+Charlemagne, in company with the knights who had been sent to fetch him.
+But in the presence of his emperor,&mdash;his kinsman,&mdash;the dream feeling
+passed, and Roland rose to the occasion with the pride and independence
+of his race.</p>
+
+<p>When the white-haired, careworn emperor looked upon his sister's son,
+his heart went out to him with a great yearning; for the lad was tall
+and strong, the lad was proud and unconquered. And Charles the Great
+opened his empty arms and took the boy to his heart, nevermore to be
+exiled from it.</p>
+
+<p>Roland and his mother returned to France with the emperor to be, from
+that time on, part of the royal household, and to enjoy riches and
+honor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But the great happiness that was Roland's was not without its heartache.
+He and his beloved Oliver were completely separated by this change, and
+drifted further away from each other with the drift of years.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Roland was grown to manhood, Charlemagne made him captain of
+his "peers,"&mdash;the twelve knights who, for their bravery and their
+trustworthiness, were chosen to be next to the emperor himself in
+authority.</p>
+
+<p>Among all the twelve, young Roland was the most daring, the most
+impetuous. His splendid qualities won for him the hearts of the many;
+but the few were jealous of him, and charged that he exercised undue
+influence over the emperor and incited the white-haired Charlemagne to
+deeds of daring and violence that were none of his own conceiving. Chief
+among Roland's accusers was the envious Count Ganelon. Ganelon had
+become step-sire to the young peer by wedding the widowed Bertha, but
+the nearness of the tie between him and Roland only seemed to make him
+yet more bent on injuring the emperor's favorite.</p>
+
+<p>However much of truth there was in the charges of Roland's enemies, this
+is certain,&mdash;he did become the very darling of the emperor's heart, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+he did perform such deeds of daring and prowess as made even the
+knightly peerage of Charlemagne behold with wonder and amazement.</p>
+
+<p>The first act of personal daring by which he distinguished himself was
+his engaging and slaying the giant Ferragus. This achievement won for
+Roland the hearts of the people, and led them to watch his crescent
+glory with national pride.</p>
+
+<p>Now in these days a terrible heathen enemy threatened the Christian
+faith and civilization of Europe. Years before, several Mohammedan races
+from Asia&mdash;dark, relentless, resistless&mdash;had swept over northern Africa,
+and, crossing Gibraltar, overrun the fair land of Spain. North, east,
+and west they spread, conquering the Christians and preaching their
+heathen doctrines with fire and sword. So the beautiful and once
+Christian Spain came to be ruled for many years by the invaders, who
+founded cities, built palaces, and raised Moslem kings to her thrones.
+Nor were the Mohammedans content here. They repeatedly attempted to
+cross the Pyrenees Mountains and overrun the rest of Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Now it chanced that just as a Moorish invasion seemed most imminent,
+Charlemagne had serious trouble within his own kingdom. Guerin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> de
+Montglave, Lord of Vienne and vassal to Charlemagne, revolted against
+the emperor.</p>
+
+<p>With his usual determination, King Karl dispatched a large army against
+Guerin, and would have waged bloody war against him had not the peers
+interposed and counselled otherwise. They represented to the emperor the
+seriousness of beginning civil war when the Moors were daily threatening
+invasion from the south, and finally succeeded in getting his consent to
+a settlement of the quarrel with Guerin by single combat.</p>
+
+<p>Guerin signifying his willingness to this plan, arrangements were soon
+made for the combat. As all expected, Roland was chosen to maintain the
+justice of the emperor's cause; and as both Roland's friends and enemies
+wished a happy settlement of the quarrel with Guerin, the selection was
+heartily approved.</p>
+
+<p>Guerin de Montglave chose his youngest grandson to do battle for Vienne;
+and many a smile was exchanged between Franks when they heard that this
+young knight accepted with delight the honor that his grandsire
+conferred upon him.</p>
+
+<p>The combat was to be held upon a small island in the Rhone, and the
+warriors of the two camps were accordingly grouped on opposite sides of
+the river, as spectators.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When Roland and his antagonist faced each other at opposite ends of the
+field, each armed from top to toe, each with his face concealed by his
+visor, they were so nearly of the same size and bearing that they might
+easily have been mistaken, the one for the other, but for the colors
+that fluttered from their lances. Yet there was almost sorrow in the
+ranks of Charlemagne's army for the young stranger knight so soon to be
+laid in the dust,&mdash;for who could hope to match with Roland?</p>
+
+<p>Their sympathy was all too soon changed to astonishment, for in hardly a
+moment after the sound of the trumpet in signal for the onset, the
+champions clashed together in the center of the lists with apparently
+equal force. Both lances were shivered; both horses reeled from the
+shock; both riders kept their seats; both banks of the Rhone echoed and
+re-echoed with cheering.</p>
+
+<p>The combatants dismounted and drew their swords. For two hours and more
+they fought&mdash;stroke for stroke and thrust for thrust. The spectators
+stood breathless with amazement. Neither champion showed sign of
+weakening; neither gained advantage. Suddenly, with one mighty stroke,
+Roland buried his blade in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> shield of his antagonist so deep that he
+could not withdraw it, and at almost the same instant the stranger
+knight struck so fiercely upon Roland's breastplate that his sword
+snapped off at the hilt.</p>
+
+<p>Having thus disarmed themselves, the two antagonists rushed together,
+each attempting to fling the other to earth. Long and full stoutly they
+struggled; and when at last it became apparent to the now silent,
+fearful spectators that neither would be likely to gain advantage, the
+combatants each suddenly snatched at the other's helmet to tear it away.
+Both succeeded. The straining spectators then beheld a most amazing
+sight. The two antagonists fell apart for an instant and looked into
+each others' uncovered faces, then rushed into each others' outstretched
+arms. This time there was no striving; they were apparently embracing
+each other in an ecstasy of delight.</p>
+
+<p>And such was indeed the case, for the stranger knight was <i>Oliver</i>. For
+nearly three hours had he and Roland striven against each other as
+strangers and enemies. Now they were face to face and heart to heart
+after the cruel striving&mdash;after years of separation. What wonder, then,
+that cause and country were forgotten!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And in spite of cause and country and king and kinsman, the two boyhood
+comrades could not be induced to oppose each other further. Happily for
+all concerned, the trouble between Charlemagne and Guerin was settled in
+a few days in peaceful conference.</p>
+
+<p>Roland and Oliver, having thus found each other, refused to be separated
+again; and the good emperor honored the redoubtable Oliver by making him
+one of his peers.</p>
+
+<p>No longer was Roland undisputedly first in valor at the court of
+Charlemagne. Oliver had so grown in prowess since his first encounter
+with Roland that he was now the peer of his friend in every point.
+Indeed, so exactly equal were the achievements of these two that from
+their story has come the well-known expression "a Roland for an Oliver,"
+meaning, matching a deed with a deed as great. There was this difference
+between them, however: whereas Roland was fearless to recklessness and
+proud and presumptuous to his own destruction, Oliver was wise,
+discreet, and modest. Yet this very difference seemed to bind them more
+closely to each other. But there was a yet stronger and closer tie
+between them in Alda, the beautiful sister of Oliver.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After their grandfather, Guerin, had repented of his revolt and again
+become submissive to the emperor, Alda came with her brother to the
+court of Charlemagne. Of all the ladies in the land she was the most
+beautiful, and the gentleness which distinguished her brother was hers
+in a marked degree. Many a mighty knight strove to win her favor; but
+though she was kind to all, her smiles were reserved for her brother's
+comrade, and erelong she became his promised wife.</p>
+
+<p>Great was Oliver's delight to find that the friend who had been a
+brother to him was to be his brother in yet another sense. King Karl,
+too, consented joyously to the troth, for he loved the gentle Alda even
+as he loved her courageous brother.</p>
+
+<p>But no time was there then for marriage feasts and rejoicings. The
+heathen were clamoring at the gates of Christendom, and it became the
+duty of every knight of the true religion to bid a hasty farewell to his
+lady and buckle on his sword.</p>
+
+<p>All France rushed to arms, and not a moment too soon. Marsilius, Saracen
+King of Spain, was preparing to cross the Pyrenees!</p>
+
+<p>Long and bitter was the war which ensued, but Charlemagne saved France
+to the Franks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> and to the true faith. But King Karl and his men were not
+content with merely saving France from the infidels. At one time the
+Frankish hosts crossed the Pyrenees and conquered nearly all of northern
+Spain. For seven long years King Karl and his Franks warred in the
+peninsula. Keep and castle went down before the Christians; city after
+city capitulated to them; the land was theirs from mountain to sea,
+except the single town of Saragossa, in which the Moslem king,
+Marsilius, together with a powerful army, had taken refuge.</p>
+
+<p>The beautiful Saracen city of Cordres was the last to fall before the
+arms of Charlemagne. Long and stoutly did the besieged stronghold hold
+out against the conqueror, but at last its gates were carried and its
+towers and walls battered to earth.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Not a heathen did there remain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But confessed him Christian, or else was slain."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In celebration of the taking of Cordres, Charlemagne shortly afterwards
+held court with great pomp and splendor in a beautiful orchard in the
+heart of the conquered city.</p>
+
+<p>It was the custom of the emperor to take counsel of his peers and
+knights in all matters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> of import, and he now desired to discuss with
+them how best to bring to a happy close this long and bitter war,&mdash;for
+Marsilius was still in possession of Saragossa. With the fall of Cordres
+the end seemed near at hand; and Charlemagne rejoiced, for he had grown
+old and weary of strife, and he longed to return to his own again. No
+less relieved at heart, his warriors gathered about him that day, eager
+to plan some means of ending their cruel exile.</p>
+
+<p>The sky was fair, as with the promise of yet fairer things; and the
+olive-trees of Cordres spread out their branches above and about the
+Christian hosts as if in token of the peace they so earnestly craved.</p>
+
+<p>Seated upon a throne of beaten gold was the Emperor of ample France.
+Proud, and mighty of frame was he, but the curls that rested on his
+shoulders and the beard that flowed over his bosom were white as the
+snow-caps of the Sierra Nevadas. Small wonder the Moslems believed that
+two hundred winters had piled their snows upon his head!</p>
+
+<p>The flower of Frankish chivalry pressed about him&mdash;fifteen thousand
+doughty knights of France. Gorgeous carpets were spread upon the
+greensward, upon which the cavaliers sat at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> games or practised fencing
+with light arms. But nearest to the great Charlemagne&mdash;and dearest
+too&mdash;were the two sworn comrades, Roland and Oliver.</p>
+
+<p>King Karl had not yet opened the council when there rode into the
+orchard twelve messengers from King Marsilius, each mounted upon a
+snow-white mule, each bearing an olive-branch of peace. A gallant
+company they seemed&mdash;fair and honest&mdash;as they alighted from their beasts
+and knelt at the feet of the Christian emperor.</p>
+
+<p>Great was the astonishment among the Franks to behold what seemed to
+them a miraculous answer to their prayers for peace; and they listened,
+spell-bound, as the leader of the heathens bowed to the earth and
+said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"O king, may thy God of glory save thee! Our lord, Marsilius, doth send
+greeting to thee. Much hath he mused on thy Christian law, and now he
+hath determined to embrace it as his own. If it please thee to depart
+from the land of Spain, where too long thou hast tarried, King Marsilius
+will hasten after thee, and in thine own city of Aix, at Michaelmas,
+will receive Christian baptism and swear fealty to thy royal self
+forever. Our lord doth further say that, an so it please thee to hearken
+unto him, he will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> lay much of his wealth at thy feet. Bears and lions
+and dogs of chase will he send to thee; seven hundred camels that bend
+the knee, and a thousand hawks also. Four hundred mules laden with gold
+and silver such as fifty wains could scarce bear away shall be thine, so
+it please thee to depart, O king!"</p>
+
+<p>The Frankish lords stood silent.</p>
+
+<p>King Charlemagne, never hasty of speech, bent his hoary head in thought
+for many minutes. When he raised it again, a lofty look was on his face.</p>
+
+<p>"Thou hast spoken well," he said, "but King Marsilius was ever a deadly
+foe to us. How may we know that his fair promises will not lack of
+fulfilment?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hostages wilt thou, my lord?" cried the heathen. "Ten or twenty or more
+will I give thee,&mdash;mine own son the first. King Marsilius will come to
+redeem them, for he would fain be laved in the fountain of thy Christ."</p>
+
+<p>"Yea, he may yet be saved!" cried the pious emperor. Then he caused good
+cheer to be made for the Saracen emissaries. Twelve servitors were
+detailed to attend their bidding, and they remained in the Christian
+camp till morning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now when the dawn came, Charlemagne arose and attended mass, as was his
+wont. Then he betook himself to the orchard, and again summoned his
+barons around him. He had pondered much during the hours of darkness,
+and was now determined to act as his lords advised.</p>
+
+<p>A goodly company they gathered about him&mdash;Archbishop Turpin, the warlike
+churchman, Duke Ogier bold, and Richard the Old were close about the
+throne. Gerien and Gerier, brothers-in-arms, were there, and Roland and
+his faithful Oliver, and many other knights, including, alas! Count
+Ganelon.</p>
+
+<p>Then Karl spoke to his barons concerning the offer of the Saracen king.
+He reviewed the rich promises of Marsilius, and reminded the Christian
+company of the heathen king's desire to be baptized, adding, however,</p>
+
+<p>"I know not what may lie in his heart." When he had ceased speaking,
+there arose a warning cry from the Franks&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Beware! Beware!"</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely was the word repeated when Count Roland came forward and faced
+his uncle.</p>
+
+<p>"Believe not this Marsilius!" he cried. "For full seven years we have
+warred in Spain, and he hath been ever a traitor. Hast thou forgot the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
+time when he sent unto thee fifteen of his heathen bearing olive boughs
+of peace and speaking flattering words, as now? Hast thou forgot that
+when thou didst hearken unto his words and send two of thy chiefest
+knights to treat with him, he did cause their heads to be stricken off?
+War! I say. End as you began. Besiege him in Saragossa!"</p>
+
+<p>Roland ceased, and the Franks were silent; but every eye was bent on him
+as he stood in his youthful pride before the emperor. Right well beloved
+was he among his people, for many a brave city had gone down before him.
+There was not his peer for courage and spirit in all the Frankish hosts,
+except, perhaps, the gentle Oliver. The emperor bent his head and mused.
+Suddenly Count Ganelon sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Be not misled by me or others!" he cried, addressing the emperor. "Look
+to thine own interest, my lord. King Marsilius assures thee of his
+faith. He will be thy vassal, and receive thy Christian law even as
+ourselves. Who counsels thee against this treaty cares not what death we
+die. Good does not come from counsel of pride, my lord; list to wisdom,
+and let madmen be."</p>
+
+<p>Then the white-haired and reverend Duke of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> Naimes arose; there was than
+he no better vassal in all France.</p>
+
+<p>"My King," he said in deepest reverence, "well hath Count Ganelon made
+reply. King Marsilius is broken and beaten in battle. Thou hast captured
+his castles and shattered his walls; thou hast burned his cities and
+slain his soldiers; it were a sin to molest him further. Receive the
+hostages he offers, and send him in return one of thy Christian knights
+to arrange terms of peace with him. It is time this war were closed."</p>
+
+<p>"The duke hath spoken well!" the Franks exclaimed. The emperor paused,
+then said, at length,</p>
+
+<p>"Who, then, amongst you were best to take this mission?"</p>
+
+<p>"I," said the duke, quickly. "I pray thee yield me thy royal grace."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," answered King Karl; "thou art my wisest counsellor. By my beard I
+swear thou shalt not depart from my side."</p>
+
+<p>"I," cried Count Roland, "will go right gladly."</p>
+
+<p>"Not so," said Oliver; "thou art too fiery to play such perilous part. I
+shall go myself, if the king so will."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Silence, I command ye both!" said the king. "Neither of you shall
+perform this errand." Then he commanded his knights to make a choice
+from among their number for the perilous journey.</p>
+
+<p>Again Roland spoke:</p>
+
+<p>"Be it, then, my step-sire, Ganelon. In vain will ye seek for a meeter
+man."</p>
+
+<p>Instantly the Franks echoed Roland's choice, crying,</p>
+
+<p>"So it please the king, it is right and just!"</p>
+
+<p>Ganelon heard, and his rage against Roland was fierce indeed. He flung
+his mantle from him, and faced the younger knight in a mighty wrath.</p>
+
+<p>"Thou madman!" he cried. "What meaneth this rage against me? I am thy
+step-sire, and thou doomest me to danger like this! So God my safe
+return bestow, I promise to work thee ill as long as thou hast the
+breath of life." Then Roland answered him haughtily&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Am I known to reck of the threats of men? But this is work for the
+sagest. So it please the king, I will go in thy stead."</p>
+
+<p>At this, Count Ganelon's anger was deep and bitter indeed; and he
+spurned the insulting offer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> of his step-son to go in his stead, after
+which he turned to King Karl, saying,</p>
+
+<p>"O righteous emperor! I stand ready to execute thy high command."</p>
+
+<p>Then the emperor bade him go to King Marsilius with the terms of peace,
+which were that he, the Moslem, was to hold half of Spain in vassalage
+to Charlemagne; that the other half of the conquered territory was to be
+ruled by the emperor's well-beloved Roland; and that Marsilius was to
+journey to France at Michaelmas and receive Christian baptism.</p>
+
+<p>Bitter indeed it was to Count Ganelon that his enemy should thus profit
+by the perilous service to which he himself had been thus condemned, but
+he was too proud to retreat in the face of danger.</p>
+
+<p>Now, when all was arranged, the emperor handed Ganelon a missive to
+Marsilius; he gave the count his right-hand glove also, in token of the
+high authority with which he vested him.</p>
+
+<p>As the count bent low to receive his commission, the emperor's glove
+dropped to the ground, and the startled Franks whispered to one another:</p>
+
+<p>"God! What is this? Evil will come of this quest." But it was treated as
+an accident, and Ganelon passed on his journey.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And on that journey he held deep and evil converse with the heathen
+concerning Roland and his overweening pride.</p>
+
+<p>Now when the Saracen emissaries were returned to Saragossa, they stood
+before Marsilius, crying, "Mahomet save thee!" and presented Ganelon,
+who bore King Karl's answer.</p>
+
+<p>When the Christian was summoned to speak, he gave his emperor's answer
+boldly. Marsilius listened in silence to the terms of treaty till
+Ganelon reached the part where Charlemagne declared that if his terms
+were rejected, he would besiege Saragossa, and bear Marsilius captive to
+France, there to die a "villainous death of shame." At this Marsilius
+was sorely enraged, and, forgetting how serious were his straits, sprang
+from his throne, and would have dealt death to the Christian had not his
+wise nobles interposed and persuaded him to temper his wrath with
+judgment.</p>
+
+<p>When Marsilius was pacified, Ganelon was again asked for the terms of
+the treaty, and he again gave them as they had been intrusted to him.
+Much the heathen questioned him concerning King Karl, and he answered
+without fear, always praising his emperor; but when Marsilius desired of
+him the secret of Charle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>magne's aggressive and warlike policy,&mdash;for the
+emperor was past the age when men are given over to ambition,&mdash;Ganelon
+assured him that Roland was the evil genius of the emperor, always
+urging him to greater deeds of violence, always inciting him to greater
+heights of power.</p>
+
+<p>The wily heathen put the question several times, in as many forms, but
+Ganelon's answer was always the same,&mdash;Roland ruled the emperor, and as
+long as Roland lived, so long would Charlemagne slay and oppress. And he
+ended significantly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Whoso shall bring death to Roland shall wring from Karl his greatest
+strength; he shall see the marvelous hosts of Franks melt away and leave
+this mighty land at peace."</p>
+
+<p>Then villainous heathen and treacherous Christian devised there a plan
+by which the gallant Roland was to suffer death, and the Frankish power
+in Spain was to be forever destroyed. It was Ganelon's evil brain that
+conceived the plot; it was the heathen, Marsilius, who was to execute
+it.</p>
+
+<p>By his own terms of treaty, Charlemagne agreed to withdraw his Franks
+from Spain; and to do this, it would be necessary for him to lead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> them
+through a deep and narrow defile in the Pyrenees Mountains. Ganelon knew
+full well that the emperor would intrust the rear-guard of his army in
+the retreat to none but his valiant Roland, for there would be great
+danger of the treacherous Moslems' falling upon the rear and dealing
+slaughter among the retiring hosts. This fact Ganelon pointed out to the
+Saracen king, and he undertook to have Roland placed in the rear-guard
+of the Franks. He suggested that the Moslem hosts be massed together in
+overwhelming numbers, ready to make a sudden descent upon the rear-guard
+when Karl should be too far in front to save them.</p>
+
+<p>Marsilius agreed eagerly, and in his joy at the thought of revenge, he
+fell upon Ganelon's neck and kissed him. Then he bade his attendants
+bring royal gifts, which he bestowed upon the traitor; after which they
+both took a solemn oath to compass the fall of Roland,&mdash;Ganelon swearing
+by the cross on his sword-hilt, and Marsilius by the Koran, the sacred
+book of the Mohammedans.</p>
+
+<p>The joyful Moslems closed around Ganelon, and he pledged them Roland's
+death with many kisses, receiving from them costly gifts and great
+riches. Then Marsilius made ready the riches he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> had promised to
+Charlemagne, and sent them and twenty hostages, with Ganelon, to the
+emperor.</p>
+
+<p>So Count Ganelon came back to his emperor with treason in his heart and
+a lie on his lips, and "Charles the Great" believed him.</p>
+
+<p>Then all was astir in the Frankish camps; a thousand bugles sounded
+retreat, and a hundred thousand faces were turned toward France and
+home. There was eager joy in the Christian ranks that day, and the
+mighty Karl sighed with relief,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My wars are done."</p>
+
+<p>But the ambitious and fiery Roland was ill-satisfied, and Count Ganelon
+carried in his breast fiendish hatred and jealousy.</p>
+
+<p>From the nature of the country, and the plan of the march homeward, it
+was plain to all that the rear of the army was the position most exposed
+to danger; so it was of great concern to Charlemagne who should be left
+to guard it. As was his custom in matters of great import, the emperor
+took counsel with his knights as to who should be left to command the
+rear-guard, and before any one else could speak, Count Ganelon
+answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My liege, on my step-son let thy royal choice fall. Knight like him
+thou hast none beside."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Roland heard, and he knew full well the deep hatred that prompted the
+count's reply, but he made answer in full knightly fashion,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir step-sire, I thank thee that thou hast named me for this trust, and
+I do assure thee that if King Karl lose aught in this retreat, our
+swords shall tell the reason."</p>
+
+<p>So it was settled as Ganelon and the Saracen king had schemed,&mdash;Roland,
+the first of Charlemagne's peers and the darling of the emperor's heart,
+was left to guard the rear of the retiring hosts; and the heathen,
+silently, and by thousands and tens of thousands, were massing
+together,&mdash;watchful, alert.</p>
+
+<p>Count Roland hastened to make him ready. He donned a suit of peerless
+armor, and hung his flower-emblazoned shield about his neck. Girt at his
+side was his matchless "Durindana,"&mdash;the blade that had been given to
+Charlemagne by an angel, who told the emperor that it must be the sword
+of a valorous captain. Thus arrayed and armed, with the gold fringe of
+his white pennon floating over his shoulders, Roland rode out on his
+fiery "Veillantif"; and his men, as with one voice, exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"We will follow thee!"</p>
+
+<p>The ones who followed him were the flower<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> of the Frankish army,&mdash;twenty
+thousand picked men. First chosen of all was Oliver, and among the
+others was the valorous Archbishop Turpin.</p>
+
+<p>Then right cautiously the van-guard began the homeward march. Beyond the
+Pyrenees lay their well-beloved France; and they pressed on toward her
+vine-clad provinces, but with anxious thoughts of the rear-guard,
+leagues behind, between them and the Moslem hosts. The way to home and
+loved ones lay through the Vale of Roncesvalles. This vale was a long
+and narrow defile in the mountains, through which the army was obliged
+to march in a scattered and dismembered way; and so it was that Karl and
+the van had already gained France, while the beloved Roland and his
+chosen followers were just entering the pass of Roncesvalles.</p>
+
+<p>Now Charlemagne knew full well where the danger lay, and he was
+grievously concerned for his sister's son. Moreover, on the night
+before, he had dreamed a dream, in which he beheld a vision, symbolizing
+the treachery of Ganelon. But it was not a time to hearken to the
+misgivings of his heart, and the emperor pressed on, solacing himself
+with the thought that his best and bravest were behind with the
+rear-guard.</p>
+
+<p>From far over the marches of Spain the heathen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> hosts were gathering.
+Swiftly, surely, their serried ranks were closing in on the Christian
+band. Mountain, plain, and valley glittered red with their burnished
+arms, as on their light Arab steeds they swept like the wind of the
+desert on Roland's track. And as the rear-guard of the Christian army
+rode into the deep defile of Roncesvalles, the Saracen bugles rang out a
+challenge from the far distance.</p>
+
+<p>Now Oliver, though brave as any of King Karl's peers, was wise enough to
+recognize danger and to fear it. The sound of the war-trumpet brought
+him at once to Roland's side, and he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Comrade, there is battle at hand with the heathen!"</p>
+
+<p>But Roland lacked wisdom, and exclaimed with his usual pride,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"God grant it may be so! Let us be strong for mighty blows, lest songs
+of scorn be sung against us. No craven part shalt thou see me fill this
+day."</p>
+
+<p>Oliver was not so anxious for an encounter with the enemy, and he
+hastily climbed to a high point to get some idea of their numbers. Far
+over the plain his eye could reach, and he was bewildered and dismayed
+by the sight before him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> Greater far than he had reckoned were the
+Paynim hosts, and many times more ominous was their battle-array. One
+long look at their serried, glittering masses, and he hastened down to
+Roland.</p>
+
+<p>"My comrade," urged he, "I have seen the enemy, and never on earth did
+such host appear. I pray thee, sound thy horn, that Karl may hear and
+return to our succor." But Roland answered:</p>
+
+<p>"Such deed were madness! Lost in France would be my glory. My good sword
+shall seal the felons' fate."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, Roland, sound on thine ivory horn, that Karl may bend his legions
+back and lend us aid," exclaimed his wise companion. In vain he pleaded.</p>
+
+<p>Nearer and nearer the Moslems swept, and Oliver exclaimed in reproach,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"See, comrade, see how close are they, and help, alas, how far! The
+rear-guard will make their last brave stand this day!"</p>
+
+<p>But Roland was drunk with the joy of battle and cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My friend, my brother, my Oliver, the emperor hath left us here his
+bravest. Full twenty-thousand men he gave to us, and among them no
+coward heart. I shall so strike with this matchless blade that he who
+wears it when I lie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> dead shall say, ''Twas the sword of a valorous
+captain.'"</p>
+
+<p>The time was all too short&mdash;the Moslems were almost upon them.
+Archbishop Turpin, seeing their straits, spurred his horse to a jutting
+crag, and addressed the men. There was silence among the Franks as the
+voice of the beloved churchman rang through the hollow pass:</p>
+
+<p>"Barons, we are here for our emperor's sake; strike we for him, though
+death be our portion." He stretched out his arms above them, and the
+Franks alighted and knelt on the ground, crying, "<i>Mea culpa!</i>" Then he
+assoiled them and blessed them, giving them for penance, to smite their
+best.</p>
+
+<p>The next instant the storm of battle broke, and Paynim and Christian
+closed in the death-struggle, each hoping, believing, to find in the
+blood of the other his passport into Paradise; each with the name of God
+on his lips.</p>
+
+<p>Well might the emperor bow his white head in woful fear, though the blue
+skies of his native France were smiling above him. Death stalked
+triumphant at Roncesvalles, and Frank and Saracen yielded him tribute
+till the pass was covered with the dying and the dead.</p>
+
+<p>If only King Karl could have seen his knights<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> that day, the glory of
+the sight would have blotted out its tragedy. Roland was proud, but
+there was none braver than he; and he flung himself upon the enemies of
+his king, his country, and his God with a fierce courage that none might
+withstand. Wherever his splendid form was seen, his followers greeted
+him with loud acclaim, and he cheered them on with their emperor's
+battle-cry,&mdash;"Montjoie, Saint Denis!"</p>
+
+<p>No less courageous was his dear comrade. But no fierce joy impelled
+Oliver to the great deeds that he performed. He saw his duty, and met it
+like a true knight.</p>
+
+<p>Nor were the ten others of the emperor's peers less zealous in his
+cause. Each gave his all for Charlemagne; and if that all was less than
+the mighty Roland gave, it was not the fault of the knight who pledged
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Conspicuous in the fight was the great archbishop,&mdash;here blessing and
+assoiling according to his holy office; there rushing to the charge like
+the warrior that nature had made him, crying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Strike, barons! Remember your chivalry!"</p>
+
+<p>But not to the Franks alone belong all the glory and all the praise. The
+Moslem hosts that opposed them were "worthy of their steel,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>&mdash;equally
+zealous in their own cause, equally certain of the approval of God.</p>
+
+<p>Wilder and fiercer grew the strife, and Paynim and Christian mingled
+together in dire confusion. At length the Moslem ranks wavered for an
+instant, gave back a little, and then broke in panic. And a pitiful
+remnant of the mighty host of King Marsilius fled from the field,
+leaving slain in the pass the great body of that once proud army. But
+even this remnant did not escape, for they were followed by the
+Christians; and only one, wounded and bleeding, escaped to tell King
+Marsilius the story of his woful loss.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly an hundred thousand Moslems lay dead in the pass of Roncesvalles.
+But they had sold their lives full dearly. Beneath, above, and beside
+them were piled the flower of the Frankish army&mdash;Christian and Paynim,
+asleep on one mother's breast, unheedful alike of triumph and defeat.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the fact that theirs had been the places of greatest danger
+all through the battle, Roland and Oliver and the good archbishop had
+escaped unhurt; and they and their comrades betook them to the sad duty
+of searching the bloody field for their best-beloved dead. Long they had
+wandered thus among the dead and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> dying, when a mighty blast of trumpets
+smote on their ears.</p>
+
+<p>"O God, our Father, what straits are ours!" they cried, as looking up
+they beheld in the distance another Saracen host, greater by far than
+the one they had crushed, bearing down upon them.</p>
+
+<p>Now happened a thing most wondrous to tell. In far-away France an awful
+darkness came down upon the land; a great whirlwind swept the face of
+the country; the rain fell, the earth rocked, and the thunder rolled
+along the sky. For a long time the darkness was unbroken, save when the
+lightning cleft the storm-clouds and gave to the scene a yet wilder
+fear. On all there came a mighty dread, and they deemed the end of the
+world at hand. They knew not that it was an augury of the fateful
+tragedy at the gates of Spain.</p>
+
+<p>The lone heights about Roncesvalles had looked upon the Christian in his
+pride and triumph; now were they destined to behold another sight.</p>
+
+<p>Like that awful storm-cloud, the heathen came down upon the Christian
+few, the thunder of hoof-beats waked the echoes of Roncesvalles, and the
+hard earth reeled with the shock of arms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The rear-guard made their last brave stand that day. Lance to lance and
+sword to sword, they held their own while there was yet life in them,
+and they achieved all but the impossible. Twice did the heathen swarms
+break and fly before the fierce onslaughts of the Christians, but twice,
+reinforced, they rushed to the attack again. Knight after knight went
+down before them,&mdash;Engelier, Duke Sampson, Anseis, Gerien, and Gerier!
+Where might the emperor find their like again?</p>
+
+<p>At length only sixty of the Franks were left, pressed together by the
+Moslem thousands. Every man in that "marvelous little companie" knew
+that death that day would be his portion; but each was stanch and true,
+and was resolved to sell his life "full hardily."</p>
+
+<p>As the once haughty Roland gazed on his slaughtered men and on the
+pitiful few who rallied around him in his last stand against the Moslem
+power, his heart smote him grievously for the ruin he had wrought, and
+he cried to his companion,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Would to God he had been with us&mdash;our emperor and friend! Speak,
+Oliver, and lend thy counsel. How may we yet send tidings to Karl?" But
+Oliver, in spite of his usual gentle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>ness, was bitter against his
+friend, and he said mockingly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'Such deed were madness; lost in France would be thy glory!'"</p>
+
+<p>But Roland's anguish and humility were great, and he insisted,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I will sound upon my horn that Karl may hear."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," cried Oliver. "Wouldst thou <i>call for aid</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>The broken-hearted Roland protested, but Oliver continued bitterly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"See how our Franks lie slain of thy madness, nevermore to render
+service to our emperor. Thou too shalt die, and forever shall France be
+dishonored!"</p>
+
+<p>Thus, in face of death, did these two quarrel&mdash;they who had been dearer
+than all else to each other. The good archbishop heard their strife, and
+rebuked them sadly, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Roland, and thou, Sir Oliver, I pray ye, in the name of God,
+contend not. To wind the horn shall not avail to save us now. Yet were
+it meet to sound it, too; for Karl will return to avenge our fall, and
+bear our bodies back to gentle France to sleep in hallowed earth."</p>
+
+<p>Then Roland sounded a mighty blast upon his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> horn,&mdash;so mighty that a
+vein in his temple burst with the effort, and the bright blood flowed
+from his lips. But the powerful strain, echoing and re-echoing along the
+hollow pass of Roncesvalles, came faintly to the ear of Karl, and told
+its tale of tragedy.</p>
+
+<p>"It is Roland's horn," cried the white-haired emperor. "He had not blown
+it save in dire distress." Then, though the traitor, Ganelon, did all in
+his power to dissuade him, Charlemagne turned back along the mountain
+path toward Spain.</p>
+
+<p>And even in that hour, though weakened by loss of blood, and heart-sick
+at the fate he had brought upon his comrades, Roland rushed to the fight
+once more,&mdash;fleeter, fiercer, and more terrible.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Oliver, brother," he cried in his anguish, "I die of shame and
+grief if I escape unhurt!"</p>
+
+<p>Deeper yet he pressed into the fight, and showered blows as only Roland
+could, driving the foe before him. But, alas! the heathen hosts were
+thick as the sands of their native deserts, and thousands upon thousands
+came to reinforce their wavering ranks. Then Roland cried,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Our hour of fate is come!" and even as he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> spoke, a villainous heathen
+bore down upon Sir Oliver and thrust him through with his lance.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Roland, Sir Comrade," the dying Oliver cried&mdash;for his anger against
+his friend had burned out&mdash;"ride near me still; our parting is at hand."</p>
+
+<p>"O God, my gentle Oliver!" cried the anguished Roland, "is this the end
+of all thy valor? Ah, hapless France, bereft of thy bravest! Who shall
+measure thy loss!" His grief was greater than he could bear, and he
+swooned upon his charger's neck.</p>
+
+<p>Now Sir Oliver's eyes were dimmed with bleeding, so that he knew not
+friend from foe; and soon, in the surge of battle, he mistook his
+swooning comrade for a Moslem, and dealt a fierce blow on Roland's
+golden crest. The stroke did naught but rouse his unconscious friend,
+for the arm of the dying Oliver had lost its wonted power.</p>
+
+<p>"My comrade," said Roland, softly, "didst thou strike me knowingly? I am
+Roland, who loves thee so dearly."</p>
+
+<p>And Oliver answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Have I struck thee, brother? Forgive it me. I hear thee, but I see thee
+not." Then Roland pressed closer to him, saying,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I am not hurt, my Oliver."</p>
+
+<p>Then Oliver alighted from his horse, and couching upon the red earth,
+cried aloud his <i>Mea Culpa</i>. Then passed his gentle spirit to Paradise;
+and Roland cried in his anguish,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Since thou art dead, to live is pain!"</p>
+
+<p>But life and pain were Roland's for yet a little space, and he had need
+to bear him to the end a cavalier. Rousing himself from his grief, he
+beheld about him a mere handful of the sixty he had counted last, each
+fighting "as if knight there were none beside"; so, grasping Durindana,
+he pressed into the strife. The next instant he beheld the good
+archbishop flung to the ground from a dying charger. But Turpin was on
+his feet almost instantly; and though he bore four lance-wounds in his
+body, he raised his sword on high and ran to the side of Roland,
+crying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I am not defeated! A brave soldier yields with life alone!" Then
+wreaked he such vengeance upon the heathen hordes that some say God
+wrought a miracle in his behalf.</p>
+
+<p>If miracle of God there was, it was not granted to save the Christian
+few from destruction. In the last struggle, the valiant Turpin, wounded
+and afoot, and the matchless Roland faced the Moslem hosts alone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fled was Count Roland's pride and vanity. With certain death before him,
+his one thought was to summon Karl to vengeance, and to die like a
+cavalier. The pain in his brow, from the bursting of the vein, was
+growing more and more intense; not long, he knew, could his fainting
+spirit bide. Once again he raised his ivory horn to his lips, and
+sounded a call to the hosts of Charlemagne.</p>
+
+<p>It was but a feeble strain, but on the north wind an answer came.
+Suddenly, along the pass, rang a peal of sixty thousand clarions, and
+the mountains caught up the strain and shouted it back again.</p>
+
+<p>"King Karl! King Karl!" the echoes seemed to call to each other.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us flee and save us!" cried the heathen. "These are the trumpets of
+France! Karl, the mighty emperor, is upon us!"</p>
+
+<p>Never was heathen but trembled at that name. Aghast for one moment the
+hosts of the Moslem stood, then, like hunted things, they broke and fled
+from the field.</p>
+
+<p>As the infidels gave way in dire panic, Count Roland called to the
+archbishop,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Let us give the heathen back their onset!" and he spurred his
+Veillantif after their flying numbers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Who spares to strike is base," answered the valiant churchman; and
+wounded though he was, he joined in the pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>"Leave not this Roland alive!" cried one of the fleeing infidels; and he
+turned and flung his javelin at the Christian knight. A hundred Moslems
+at once followed his lead. Weapon after weapon was hurled upon the
+dauntless Roland; but though his armor was all broken, and his raiment
+frayed, his flesh remained unscathed. Veillantif, his noble charger,
+however, was slain under him, and fell to the ground, pierced by thirty
+wounds.</p>
+
+<p>The heathen vanished; and Roland, unable to keep up on foot, was left
+alone on the field. His first thought was to succor the good archbishop,
+who had been grievously wounded in the fight, so he turned back and
+searched till he found the faithful Turpin.</p>
+
+<p>"The field is thine, and God's the glory," was Turpin's greeting to him;
+and even as he spoke, his head drooped upon his breast, and his pious
+spirit passed away. So died the great Archbishop Turpin,&mdash;a champion
+ever of the Christian faith with word and weapon.</p>
+
+<p>Noble and generous always, Roland had thought of his comrade first. Now,
+left alone,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> his thoughts turned upon himself, and he knew from the pain
+in his brow that his end was at hand. Karl and his legions were still
+some leagues away; he might not hope to meet his emperor again, but he
+desired much that Charlemagne should know that his Roland had died
+unconquered.</p>
+
+<p>So he grasped his Durindana and his ivory horn, and recrossed the
+marches of Spain&mdash;as far as he had followed the fleeing heathen. There,
+on a mound, between two great trees, he laid him down to die. Yet was
+his spirit troubled, for he knew that if he died thus, his good sword
+might fall into unworthy and unknightly hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, my ill-starred blade!" he cried; "no longer may I be thy guardian.
+Yet never shalt thou know master who shall turn his face from mortal
+enemy."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he struggled to his feet, and essayed to shatter his blade
+upon a great rock. Many blows he smote with it, yet it broke not. Then
+Roland was sorely grieved. Once more he summoned his failing strength,
+and showered such mighty strokes upon the stone that the blade, unbroken
+still, was bent "past word to tell."</p>
+
+<p>Then, for death was upon him, Roland laid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> him down in the shade of a
+pine. His sword and his horn he placed beneath his head, that Karl might
+know he had not surrendered. When this was done, he raised his right
+glove to heaven as a sign of repentance, and cried aloud,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"O God, I do repent me of my sins, both great and small, from my natal
+hour to this day. Father, receive my soul!"</p>
+
+<p>Saint Gabriel leaned from heaven, so the legend says, and took the
+raised glove from his hand.</p>
+
+<p>And Karl, his emperor, came, and found him with his head upon his
+unsurrendered sword, and his face toward Spain.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The vengeance that Charlemagne wreaked upon the traitor, Ganelon, and
+upon the Moslems in Spain was unspeakably terrible.</p>
+
+<p>It is touching to know, however, that Roland's lady-love&mdash;Oliver's
+gentle sister Alda&mdash;refused to be comforted when she heard of her
+lover's death. She died of a broken heart at the feet of Charlemagne,
+even as the emperor begged her to accept his own son in marriage, and
+thus become, in time, empress of all the Franks.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><br /><br /><a name="THE_CID" id="THE_CID"></a>THE CID</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">As warlike sons, with mighty deeds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Exalt the power of Rome;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Arthur deathless glory adds<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unto his island home;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As France will ever nobler seem<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Because of Charlemagne&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So dost thou, ever-conquering Cid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Immortalize thy Spain!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Paraphrase of Latin epitaph</i>,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">D. W. K.<br /><br /><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_CID_RODRIGO_DIAZ_DE_BIVAR" id="THE_CID_RODRIGO_DIAZ_DE_BIVAR"></a>THE CID RODRIGO DIAZ DE BIVAR</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+<h3>(1035-1099 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>)</h3>
+
+
+<p>In the eleventh century there lived in Castile a Spanish noble of high
+degree, called Diego Laynez. His family estates of Bivar lay near the
+city of Burgos, and in his castle there, Don Diego, when not in
+attendance upon the king, dwelt in the state befitting his rank and
+wealth. A stern and proud man was Don Diego, and justly renowned for his
+great valor in battle.</p>
+
+<p>This knight had long desired an heir to his ancient name, and was happy
+beyond measure when his wish was gratified by the coming of a little
+son. The child was named Rodrigo, and soon grew to be a wonderfully
+strong and fearless youth. Doubtless Diego hoped that his son would
+become a valiant warrior, for fighting was then the chief business of
+life, and peaceful occupations were held in little esteem. In those
+days, a man was obliged to fight to defend life and property,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> and a
+brave knight, with only the help of his good sword, could win fame and
+fortune. But even the fond parents of Rodrigo could never have dreamed
+of the glory that awaited their son, who was to become the greatest
+warrior in all Spain, the delight and admiration and envy of every true
+Spanish knight.</p>
+
+<p>It was a stormy age,&mdash;that in which the little Rodrigo lived. For three
+hundred years there had been almost constant warfare in Spain. Sometimes
+the Christians battled against the Moors, sometimes Christians against
+Christians, and Moors against Moors; but always there was conflict and
+struggle. And well was the son of Diego Laynez fitted for that rough
+age, as you shall see.</p>
+
+<p>While still very young, Rodrigo showed a most independent spirit. Once
+he asked his godfather, the priest Don Pedro, to give him a colt, and
+the kind old man took him to the paddock and told him to choose one as
+the colts were driven slowly by. After all the finest had passed, a very
+ugly and mangy colt came ambling along, and Rodrigo called out,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This is the one for me!" His godfather, angry at a choice that seemed
+so foolish, exclaimed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Booby, [Babieca] thou hast chosen ill!" but the boy, not at all
+abashed, laughed as he replied confidently,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This will be a good horse, and Booby shall be his name."</p>
+
+<p>Time proved the boy to have shown excellent judgment, and Babieca became
+almost as famous as his master.</p>
+
+<p>Not only self-reliance, but a fierce and warlike temper, was shown in
+the first youthful exploit of Rodrigo. His father Diego, when too old to
+bear arms, was grossly insulted by an enemy, the Count of Gormaz. Diego
+wept and raged at the insult put upon him and his inability to resent
+it. Moved deeply by his father's grief, Rodrigo determined to avenge the
+insult to the honor of his family.</p>
+
+<p>Donning the discarded armor of Diego, the youth next took down from the
+wall an ancient sword. This treasured weapon had once belonged to a
+celebrated warrior, Mudarra, and with it that knight had avenged the
+death of his seven brothers. Buckling on the good blade, Rodrigo said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"O valiant sword! bethink thee that mine is Mudarra's arm! Thou hast now
+as great a wrong as his to right. Thou lackest thy great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> master's hand;
+yet never shalt thou see me turn my back on a foe. Thou shalt find me
+true as thy tempered steel, for thy second master, like thy first, was
+not born to yield. Should the foe overmaster me, not long will I endure
+the shame, but plunge thee straightway in my breast!"</p>
+
+<p>Then Rodrigo sallied forth secretly from Bivar, and seeking the haughty
+count, challenged him to battle. Gormaz laughed him to scorn.</p>
+
+<p>"Fight thee? Thou art mad, thou silly boy. Get thee hence, or thy skin
+shall suffer for thine insolence."</p>
+
+<p>"Thou art no true knight," cried Rodrigo, "but a craven who dost insult
+old men! If thou fight me not, all Castile shall hear of thy shameful
+deed!" Many more deadly insults he added, until the enraged count
+consented to fight him, expecting an easy victory over the youth. But
+Rodrigo was strong as a man, and his deadly hate of the count added
+vigor to his arm. Though soon wounded and bleeding, he yet parried with
+skill the blows aimed at his heart, and finally, with one desperate
+effort, drove the sword of Mudarra through and through the body of
+Gormaz. The head of his fallen enemy Rodrigo carried home in triumph to
+the proud Diego. Thus did the youthful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> Ruy Diaz de Bivar avenge the
+wrongs of his father.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this combat with Gormaz, Rodrigo, while riding with some
+companions, unexpectedly met a band of Moors. These men were returning
+to Aragon from a thieving expedition into Castile, driving their
+captives and stolen cattle before them. Rodrigo and his friends fell
+upon this band with great fury and soon defeated the infidels; but the
+prisoners taken were generously set free by their youthful captor.
+Later, when Rodrigo went to the Saracen court of Saragossa, these Moors,
+in return for his kindness, gave him the title of Sidy, or Said,&mdash;an
+Arabic word, meaning lord, or my lord. In Spanish this became Cid; and
+as the Cid, Rodrigo is best known, though he has still another title,
+won in the following manner. In those days any knight who had suffered
+wrong at the hands of another, could, with the king's consent, challenge
+his enemy. Then, in the presence of the king and court, the two knights
+would fight on horseback until one was killed or acknowledged himself
+vanquished. The victor was deemed to have right on his side, and
+judgment was given accordingly. Sometimes either party to the quarrel
+was allowed to choose a substitute to fight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> for him. It was also the
+custom when hostile armies met, for the boldest warrior to challenge one
+of the enemy to come out and fight in single combat. Often, wars were
+decided by such a contest between two or more knights chosen from each
+army. By his wonderful success in many combats of this kind, Rodrigo won
+the title of Campeador, or Champion, and came to be called the Cid
+Campeador.</p>
+
+<p>On his way to engage in one of these contests as a champion of the King
+of Castile, Rodrigo met with a marvelous adventure. He and his knights
+came upon a leper fallen into a ditch by the wayside, and calling upon
+the passers-by for help. Now, none would heed his call for fear of the
+terrible disease, with which the poor wayfarer was afflicted. But
+Rodrigo dismounted, pulled the leper out of the ditch, and placing him
+on Babieca, brought him to the inn where they were to lodge. Not another
+knight would come near the outcast, so Rodrigo, out of pure kindness,
+ate from the same dish with him, and afterwards had a bed prepared, in
+which they two slept together.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the night, a cold blast seemed to strike through
+Rodrigo, and he waked and put out his hand to touch his bedfellow; but
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> leper was gone. The Cid called aloud; none answered. While Rodrigo
+was considering this strange thing, a man in white, shining garments
+appeared, and asked softly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sleepest thou, Rodrigo?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, I am awake; but who art thou who bearest about thee so bright a
+light and so sweet a smell?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am Saint Lazarus," answered the vision, "and would have thee know
+that I am that leper to whom thou didst show such kindness for the love
+of God. And for that deed, God bestows on thee this great boon,&mdash;that
+when the blast thou didst feel but now shall come upon thee, thou mayest
+undertake that on which thy heart is fixed, whether it be fighting or
+other matters, and it shall go well with thee. For never shalt thou be
+conquered, but ever victorious; for God grants thee His blessing. So
+rest thee well and do ever the right." And so Rodrigo prayed until
+morning, and then went on his way rejoicing.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the day came, on which the combat was to be fought between the
+Cid and a knight of Aragon, to decide whether the city of Calahorra
+should belong to the King of Castile or the King of Aragon. The two
+kings, with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> splendid company of nobles, had taken places to watch the
+combat, the lists were all prepared, and the heralds stood ready to give
+the signal; but the Cid did not appear. Very uneasy was King Fernando at
+the absence of his champion. A cousin of the tardy knight offered to
+take his place, and was about to mount and enter the lists, when the Cid
+came spurring up in hot haste. Leaping from his tired horse, he sprang
+upon the steed that stood ready, and, wasting no time in words, lowered
+his lance and charged fiercely on his waiting adversary. The two met
+with a shock that shivered the lances. Both knights were badly wounded,
+but they drew their swords and prepared to fight on. The knight of
+Aragon now thought to frighten the Cid, and exclaimed boastfully,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Right sorely shalt thou rue that thou hast come into this place with
+me, for never shalt thou return alive to Castile!"</p>
+
+<p>But Rodrigo was not at all troubled by the threat.</p>
+
+
+<p>"Don Martin Gonzales," he replied coolly, "thou art a good knight, but
+such words befit not this place. We must fight with our hands, and not
+with empty words." And grasping his sword, he suddenly brought it down
+on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> helmet of his foe with such tremendous force that it wellnigh
+drove the head of Gonzales down to the neck of his steed. The knight of
+Aragon, however, was a stout fighter, and rallying from the shock, he
+dealt a blow that cut through the edge of the Cid's shield. So firmly
+fixed was the sword that, when drawn back, it brought the shield with
+it. Enraged at this loss, the Cid cut his adversary fiercely across the
+face; but Gonzales, though bleeding copiously, still fought on bravely.
+Only after a long, fierce fight did the Champion unhorse and slay this
+valiant knight. Then the umpires announced that the Cid had conquered,
+and so won the good city of Calahorra for his king.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 403px;">
+<img src="images/img.gs02.jpg" width="403" height="600" alt="The Knighting of the Cid" title="" />
+<span class="caption">The Knighting of the Cid</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>After this Rodrigo did such valiant service to King Fernando at the
+siege of Coimbra, a city of Portugal, that he was there formally dubbed
+a knight. The ceremony took place in the principal mosque of the
+captured city. In order to do the hero signal honor, the king kissed
+him, the queen girt on his sword, and the Princess Urraca buckled on his
+golden spurs.</p>
+
+<p>In many battles against the Moors the Cid fought valiantly with King
+Fernando, whose ambition it was to win back all Spain from the
+infidels.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When Fernando died, he unwisely left his territory to be divided among
+his five children. This led to much jealousy, and Sancho, the eldest
+son, was greatly aggrieved, because he thought the entire kingdom should
+have been his. So it was not long after Fernando's death before war
+broke out between Sancho, King of Castile, and his brothers.</p>
+
+<p>Sancho soon defeated the youngest brother, Garcia, and seized his
+Kingdom of Galicia. This conquest was due mainly to the wonderful valor
+of Rodrigo, who now "waxed great and became a mighty man of war, and
+Campeador at the court of King Don Sancho."</p>
+
+<p>Sancho now demanded that Alfonso give up the Kingdom of Leon. The
+brothers finally agreed that a battle should be fought between their
+respective armies, the crown of Leon to belong to the king whose army
+should be victorious. When this combat took place, Alfonso conquered
+Sancho, and drove the Castilian army from the field. Supposing the
+matter settled, the triumphant Alfonso did not pursue the fugitives, but
+returned to his camp rejoicing.</p>
+
+<p>King Sancho, fleeing from the field, saw with joy the green banner of
+the Cid in the distance. When the two met, Rodrigo persuaded the king<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+to renew the fight at dawn, assuring him that he could then take the
+enemy by surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"The Galicians and Leonese," said the cunning Cid, "are given to much
+talking, and at this moment they are with the King Don Alfonso their
+lord, boasting of what they have done, for they love big words. If it be
+God's will, their joy of to-day shall be turned to grief, and if it
+please Him, sir, you shall regain honor." Now it befell as the Cid had
+hoped. In the early morning, while the troops of Alfonso were stupid
+from their night of feasting and drinking, the Cid attacked and routed
+them completely. During the battle, King Sancho was captured, and was
+being carried off by thirteen knights, when the Cid rushed to his help
+with no weapon but a broken lance. He offered to exchange Alfonso,
+captured by his men, for Sancho, and upon refusal, the Champion cried
+wrathfully, "Give me but one of your lances, and I alone, against the
+thirteen of you, will quit my lord of you!"</p>
+
+<p>The Leonese knights laughed him to scorn, and in sport threw him a
+lance. Thereupon he fell upon them suddenly, slew eleven, put the others
+to flight, and rode back in triumph with his rescued king.</p>
+
+<p>Elated by this victory, King Sancho now de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>termined that his sister
+Urraca should yield him her strong city of Zamora; but thinking to gain
+it without force, he asked the Cid to go as his messenger and urge her
+to peaceably surrender the city. This he did because he knew his sister
+had long loved the Cid. The Cid, who held the princess dear for her
+friendship to him, though he loved her not, replied to the king's
+request,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, it is not for me to carry such a message, seeing that I was reared
+with Dona Urraca, in the same house of Arias Gonzalo, and would not
+willingly do her a wrong."</p>
+
+<p>However, when the king pointed out that the Cid might thus prevent a
+bloody conflict, he consented to undertake the unpleasant mission. With
+fifteen knights he passed into the city, and was gladly received by
+Urraca at the entrance of the palace. Together they went into the
+splendid hall of audience, and the princess right graciously bade the
+Cid be seated with her. Then she asked,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I pray thee, Don Rodrigo, tell me wherefore is this great army encamped
+outside my walls? Is my brother Sancho going to make war upon Moors or
+Christians, and of what state?"</p>
+
+<p>"Dona Urraca," replied the Cid, gravely, "thou knowest that as a herald
+I am come hither, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> whether my message please thee or not, yet ought
+I to suffer no insult nor wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"Yea," answered Urraca, quickly; "and <i>thou</i> knowest well, Don Rodrigo,
+that I wish thee no harm, so speak out boldly. Perhaps my loving brother
+only needs some aid of mine to go against the Moors. Gladly will I lend
+him fifteen lances fully equipped, even though it be for ten years."</p>
+
+<p>Now the Cid flushed red at the mocking tones of the princess and spoke
+with difficulty, though still calmly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I am but a messenger, princess. The king, thy brother, bids me speak
+thus: he needs this city Zamora for a defence against his enemies. Nor
+should so great a stronghold be in the hands of a woman. He will give
+thee for it money or lands or another city. But if thou dost refuse, he
+will, without delay, take Zamora from thee by force of arms." Then tears
+of indignation and rage came into the eyes of the princess.</p>
+
+<p>"I call on God," she cried, "and all these noble knights here present to
+bear witness that Sancho again seeks to make naught our father's will!
+He hath taken away their inheritance from Garcia and Alfonso, and now he
+would rob me of the city my father gave me. Well hath Sancho merited our
+father's curse upon the son<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> who should disobey his will! Let him beware
+lest he die by violence, or by treachery like his own!" The counsellors
+of the princess, troubled at this rash speech, besought her to be calm,
+and at last persuaded her to call together the townsmen and hold council
+with them.</p>
+
+<p>When assembled, all the chief men of Zamora loyally promised to aid the
+princess in defending the city, and swore not to forsake her until
+death. Then the proud Urraca, turning to the Cid, cried impetuously,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Does it not shame thee, O Cid, that all these are willing to die for
+me, while thou who wast my playfellow in youth hast come hither to take
+away mine inheritance?" The Cid answered not, but his face turned yet
+more ruddy, and he raised not his eyes from the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"Truly a noble thing for the great Cid Ruy Diaz,&mdash;to make war against a
+woman!" went on the angry princess; then with a burst of noble
+frankness, "And well thou knowest that the woman once loved thee,
+Rodrigo! Ay, thou mayest boast that the Princess Urraca once gave thee
+her heart; but the Cid whom Urraca loved drew not his sword against a
+woman. Begone, Don Rodrigo de Bivar; I would not look longer upon thy
+face! Tell thy robber king<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> that never will I yield to a false traitor
+the city my father gave me! Sooner will I die with these true men than
+give up Zamora!"</p>
+
+<p>Silent and ashamed, the Cid withdrew. Fain would the knight have served
+the fair princess, the friend of his youth, but fealty to his king
+forbade.</p>
+
+<p>When King Sancho received Urraca's defiance, he flew into a terrific
+rage, and accused the Cid of having counselled the resistance of the
+princess because of love for her. Not a word of explanation would he
+hear, but straightway banished the Cid from the kingdom. Rodrigo was
+highly enraged at the injustice of the king whom he had served so
+faithfully, even to the sacrifice of Urraca's cherished friendship. But
+in silence, though pale and defiant, he heard his sentence. Then
+crying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Never, ungrateful king, shalt thou find a vassal like Rodrigo, and
+humbly, Don Sancho, shalt thou beg him to return!" the Champion strode
+from the kingly presence and rode away from Castile. So true was the
+Cid's proud boast, that only a short time elapsed before King Sancho,
+realizing the value of the banished warrior, entreated him to return to
+Castile. The insulted Champion, after receiving an humble apology<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> from
+the king and the position of governor of the royal household, consented
+to return.</p>
+
+<p>Now, in spite of his friendship for Urraca, the Cid continued the siege
+of Zamora with great vigor and zeal, for loyalty to his king compelled
+hostility to the princess, and the memory of her bitter scorn rankled in
+his heart.</p>
+
+<p>But long the city held out, though the people were suffering greatly
+with famine and disease. At last a pretended traitor, Bellido Dolfos,
+offered to deliver the city into the hands of Sancho. While riding along
+with the king, under pretence of pointing out the gate whereby the
+troops might enter Zamora, this lying wretch stabbed the unsuspecting
+Sancho through and through with his own royal golden spear, given by the
+king to the knave to carry. Bellido then fled fast to the city. On the
+way he was seen by the Cid, who called to the flying horseman to stop,
+though knowing nothing of his crime. The villain only rode the faster,
+hotly pursued by Rodrigo, who now suspected something wrong. Just as the
+Cid was about to overtake the fugitive, he darted through the gate of
+Zamora and escaped. Rodrigo, riding back, discovered the dead body of
+his king, and was sorely grieved that he had not captured the murderer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>By the death of King Sancho, his brother Alfonso, driven into exile
+after his defeat, and then living among the Moors at Saragossa, fell
+heir to the throne. But many great nobles of the kingdom believed that
+Alfonso and Urraca had planned the murder of Sancho, and so they were
+unwilling to acknowledge a murderer as their king.</p>
+
+<p>When these nobles were called upon to do homage to Alfonso, the Cid&mdash;for
+none other dared to be so bold&mdash;said to the king,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, all here do suspect that you did contrive the murder of your
+brother, King Don Sancho. Therefore, I declare to you that until you
+clear yourself by oath, never will I or these nobles kiss your hand or
+receive you as lord."</p>
+
+<p>The king flushed with anger, but he replied meekly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I swear to God and Saint Mary that I did not kill Sancho or counsel his
+death, though he had stolen my kingdom. Advise me, therefore, how I may
+clear myself of this matter."</p>
+
+<p>Then the nobles decided that the king and twelve of his knights who had
+been with him in exile at Toledo should in public swear solemnly to his
+innocence. So on the day ap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>pointed, the king appeared before the high
+altar of the church at Burgos; and the Cid, in presence of the nobles of
+the kingdom, placed the book of the Gospels on the altar and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"King Don Alfonso, you are come hither to swear that you had no part in
+the death of the King Don Sancho; and if you swear falsely, may God slay
+you by the hand of your own vassal, even as Don Sancho was slain."</p>
+
+<p>"Amen!" said Alfonso, though he turned very pale. Again the Cid spoke,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"King Don Alfonso, you are here to swear that neither did you order the
+King Don Sancho to be slain; and if you swear falsely, may a traitor
+slay you even as the traitor Bellido slew Don Sancho."</p>
+
+<p>Again Alfonso replied, "Amen!" but he grew yet paler with rage and shame
+at this second oath required of him. When the twelve knights had taken a
+similar oath, the nobles were satisfied of Alfonso's innocence; and all
+swore fealty to him as king. But when the Cid took the oath of loyalty
+and stooped to kiss the hand of Alfonso, the humiliated and resentful
+king drew away his hand, and would not permit the act of homage.</p>
+
+<p>Small wonder that after being forced to un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>dergo this mortification, the
+king "hated the Cid, in spite of his valor." Yet either from fear or
+through policy, Alfonso treated Rodrigo with great honor. On one
+occasion, the Champion came to court, and was invited by King Alfonso to
+sit with him. When Rodrigo modestly refused the proffered honor, the
+king said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Since you will not sit with me, sit on your ivory seat, for you won it
+like a good man. From this day I order that none save king or prelate
+sit with you; for you have conquered so many high-born men and so many
+kings that for this reason there is none worthy to sit with you, or none
+who is your peer. Sit, therefore, like a king and lord on your ivory
+seat."</p>
+
+<p>The honor in which Rodrigo was held is shown by the fact that he married
+a cousin of the king, Ximena,&mdash;daughter of the Count of Oviedo, a
+powerful noble. Doubtless it was his love for the beautiful Ximena that
+rendered the Cid so indifferent to the affection of Princess Urraca.
+Most dearly and tenderly he loved Ximena, and after his marriage to her,
+gave up warfare for many years, and lived in peace and tranquil
+happiness near Burgos. During this quiet period, the Cid fought only a
+few single combats as champion of the king. By these he gained even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+greater glory, for, as promised by good Saint Lazarus, he was never
+overcome, but ever victorious. Because of this good fortune, the old
+ballads sing of Rodrigo as, "He who was born in happy hour."</p>
+
+<p>But the king loved not the Cid, and finally, accusing him falsely of
+treachery, banished the Champion from the kingdom. The Cid, who was poor
+at this time, devised a trick to get money for the journey. He made
+ready two great chests covered with crimson leather and studded with
+gilt nails, and filled them with sand. Then, sending for two Jews,
+money-lenders, he offered to pawn the chests, saying they were full of
+refined gold taken from the Moors; but that he feared to dispose of them
+openly, because Alfonso, who had accused him of having taken
+tribute-money belonging to the crown, would certainly seize the
+treasure. He made the condition that the chests be not opened for a
+year, but if not redeemed at the end of that time, should become the
+property of the Jews. They fell into the trap, and giving the Cid six
+hundred marks, carried off the chests, rejoicing at the great treasure
+that would surely become theirs, for they believed that the owner would
+be in exile many years. When, at the end of the twelve months, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+discovered the fraud that had been practised upon them, great was their
+wrath.</p>
+
+<p>But on the return of the Cid from exile, he repaid the Jews in full. An
+old chest preserved in the cathedral of Burgos is said to be one of
+these coffers of the Cid.</p>
+
+<p>Twice was Rodrigo recalled from exile by the king, who needed him sadly
+in the fierce war for the possession of Spain, that had now broken out
+afresh between the Christians and Mohammedans.</p>
+
+<p>Finally the Cid, when banished once more, renounced his allegiance to
+Alfonso, and made war upon his former lord, carrying fire and sword into
+Castile. Thus the Champion became a free lance, making war for gain upon
+whom he pleased, and serving any prince, Christian or Mohammedan, who
+made it worth his while. This conduct cannot be admired, but we must not
+judge the Cid as we would a hero of our own times. In his day the
+standard of conduct was very different, and even the best men frequently
+committed deeds that shock us unspeakably. It was an age of violence and
+fraud. To make war upon your neighbor, with or without good cause, was
+thought to be worthy of all praise, especially if you conquered him.
+Might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> made right; and as the Cid was always victorious, he received
+little or no blame for acts that we should consider cruel or
+treacherous, but won great admiration and renown by his courage,
+boldness, and marvelous skill in warfare.</p>
+
+<p>The poets of that day delight in relating the various exploits of the
+Cid. In a celebrated battle with Count Berenger, Rodrigo captured a vast
+store of treasure, and many swords made in olden days. Among these was
+the wonderful blade, Colada, worth a thousand marks in silver. With this
+weapon, he afterwards slew many score of enemies in battle.</p>
+
+<p>But the crowning glory of the Cid's adventurous life was the capture of
+Valencia. This splendid city, on the east coast of Spain, was besieged
+by him for many months. At length, the city fell into such straits that,
+in the words of the old chronicler, "the inhabitants counted themselves
+as dead men, and walked through the streets as though they were drunken.
+They understood not the words of one another, and lost all of their
+memory, even as a man who falls into the waves of the sea. Then came the
+Christians up to the walls, and called aloud in words of thunder, making
+mockery of them, and threatening them, and saying: 'False traitors and
+rene<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>gades, give up your city to the Cid, Ruy Diaz, for ye cannot save
+it!' And the Moors remained silent, so great was their grief and
+despair."</p>
+
+<p>A famous poem, the "Dirge of Valencia," composed by one of its Arab
+inhabitants during the siege, gives us a picture of the wretched state
+of the once beautiful city.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Valencia! Valencia! many troubles are come upon thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">and in such peril art thou set that, if thou escape, the<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">wonder will be great among all that behold thee.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Thy lofty towers and beautiful, which gleamed from afar<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">and comforted the hearts of the people, are falling piece<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">by piece.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Thy white bulwarks which shewed so fair in the distance<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">have lost the beauty whereby they shone so brightly in<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">the beams of the sun.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Thy famous and delightful gardens that are round about<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">thee, the ravening wolf has torn up their roots and<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">they give no fruits."<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>At last the unhappy city surrendered to the Cid, and he became its sole
+ruler and a personage of still greater power and renown. In Valencia,
+for some years, the conqueror lived in the royal magnificence of an
+Oriental prince.</p>
+
+<p>When the Moors under King Yusef came from Morocco, fifty thousand
+strong, to retake the city, the Cid was not at all alarmed. As soon as
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> Moors had encamped before Valencia, the Cid led his wife and
+daughter up into the tower of the Alcazar. They raised their eyes, and
+saw the thousands of tents pitched on the plain.</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven save thee, Cid, what is this?" they cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Good wife, fear nothing. Riches are these to increase our store,&mdash;right
+marvelous and grand. As soon as thou art come, they wish to make us a
+present. Wife, sit thou in the Alcazar, and be not afraid when thou
+seest me in the fight."</p>
+
+<p>The next day the drums sounded, and the Cid's heart was glad. He drew up
+the Christians, and they sped forth to do battle with the infidels.
+"They drove them from the garden in royal style; straight up to the camp
+was the pursuit continued. Glad is my Cid for all they have done."</p>
+
+<p>"Hearken to me, my knights," he said. "A good day is to-day, but
+to-morrow shall be better." In the morning the battle was renewed. With
+only four thousand men, the Cid routed Yusef with fifty thousand. So
+many of the Moors did Rodrigo slay that they could not be counted. Three
+strokes the Cid gave King Yusef, who only escaped by the swiftness of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+his horse. His wonderful sword, Tizona, fell into the hands of the Cid.
+Gold and silver and precious stuff in great quantities was captured.</p>
+
+<p>"Joyful is my Cid and all his vassals, that God had shown such favor to
+them that they had conquered in the field."</p>
+
+<p>In yet another battle against the Moors the Cid was victorious. Bucar,
+the brother of Yusef, attacked Valencia, but was soon put to flight by
+the Champion. Rodrigo pursued the flying king, brandishing his sword and
+shouting,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Turn thee, Bucar, thou who camest over seas to behold the Cid with the
+long beard! We must meet and cut out a friendship!"</p>
+
+<p>"God confound such friendship!" cried the frightened king, as he fled
+still faster. But Rodrigo, determined to be friendly in his way, flung
+his sword after Bucar. It struck between the shoulders of the fleeing
+king. But Bucar's horse was the swifter, and he escaped by riding into
+the sea and taking boat.</p>
+
+<p>Now the Cid was left for some time in possession of Valencia and became
+an independent prince,&mdash;in fact, if not in name. The neighboring kings
+were glad to make friendly alliance with the great warrior who had never
+yet met with a defeat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Some time after the victory over Bucar, the Cid laid siege to Murviedro.
+This town was the ancient Saguntum, once besieged by Hannibal. It was a
+strongly fortified place, and there seemed little chance of Rodrigo's
+taking it. But after the siege had lasted some time, the citizens saw
+plainly that they could not hold their city against the great conqueror.
+So they begged him to grant them a truce in order that they might send
+to the neighboring princes for help. The proud warrior, disdaining any
+number of enemies, readily consented to the truce.</p>
+
+<p>Now when the messengers from Murviedro reached the courts of the
+neighboring princes, and implored their help, not one would lend aid to
+the distressed city. Alfonso of Castile replied to their petition,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Certes, I will not succor you. I would liefer Rodrigo have your town
+than a Saracen king."</p>
+
+<p>And Al Mustain, the Moorish King of Saragossa, gave the envoys this
+discouraging answer,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Go and take such comfort as ye may, and fight bravely, for Rodrigo is
+invincible, and therefore I am afraid to do battle with him."</p>
+
+<p>When the sorely disappointed envoys returned to Murviedro, great was the
+distress of its in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>habitants. But in order to gain time, they pretended
+that the messengers had not returned, and therefore besought Rodrigo to
+extend the time of the truce. The Cid knew well that their statement was
+false, and that the envoys were even then in Murviedro, but he
+replied,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In order to show you that I fear none of your kings, I grant you a
+further truce of twelve days for them to come to your aid. If then they
+come not, and you do not surrender, I will slay all of you that I
+capture."</p>
+
+<p>But at the end of the twelve days the Cid granted yet another delay.
+When that time had expired, and the city was forced to surrender, the
+Cid did not carry out his threat, but mercifully granted the inhabitants
+their lives, and permitted them to take their wives and children and go
+where they would. But some who presumed on his generosity to send all
+their wealth out of the city, against the Cid's express command, the
+conqueror sold into slavery.</p>
+
+<p>This conquest of Murviedro was the last great exploit of the Champion.
+For the day was approaching when the conqueror must yield himself to the
+conqueror of all. The Cid fell ill, and while in this state, heard that
+Bucar was again coming with a great force against Valencia. One<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> night
+soon after, so runs the old legend, there swept through the palace of
+the dying Champion a great wave of light and a marvelous sweet perfume.
+And there appeared to the Cid a tall and stately old man, with long
+snowy hair, holding keys in his hand; and thus he spoke,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sleepest thou, Rodrigo?"</p>
+
+<p>"What man art thou?" the Cid asked his strange visitor boldly.</p>
+
+<p>"I am Saint Peter, prince of the apostles," he said; "and I am come to
+tell thee that when thirty days be past, thou must quit this world and
+go to the life that hath no end. But God will so favor thee that after
+thy death thou shalt conquer and rout King Bucar. This does Christ grant
+thee for love of me and for the honor thou didst ever pay me in my
+church at Cardenas." And after he had spoken, Saint Peter straightway
+departed. Then the Cid rejoiced greatly, and the next day he called his
+chief men, and said to them,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My friends and kinsmen, be sure that I am now come upon the end of my
+life, and thirty days hence shall see my end. I have seen visions of my
+father and son, and each time they say: 'Long hast thou tarried here;
+let us begone to the eternal life.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And last night Saint Peter came to me and told me that in thirty days I
+shall pass away; but before I leave you, I will show you how you shall
+conquer King Bucar, as Saint Peter did promise me."</p>
+
+<p>Then the Cid betook himself to the church of Saint Peter. There all the
+people assembled, and he bade them farewell, weeping sore. After
+confessing his sins and receiving absolution, he went back to the
+Alcazar and cast himself upon the bed, and never again did he rise up.
+Seven days before the end of the thirty he bade them bring him a gold
+cup, and in it he mixed with rose-water a little balsam and myrrh, sent
+him by the Sultan of Persia, and drank the mixture.</p>
+
+<p>This he did each day, as was the custom of Moorish princes; and so his
+body and face became fresh and healthy-looking, though he grew weaker
+every hour. At last he called his wife, Ximena, Bishop Hieronymo, and
+his three most trusty friends, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as I be dead, ye shall wash my body many times with rose-water
+and balsam. And thou, Ximena, take heed that thou and the women cry not
+aloud nor wail for me so that the Moors get knowledge of my death. And
+when Bucar is come, bid all the folk of Valencia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> go forth on the wall
+and sound trumpets, and show great glee. Also bid the people get
+together their goods in secret, that the Moors know it not, for ye may
+not tarry here after my death, but must needs go back to Castile. Thou,
+Gil Diaz, deck my body with care, and saddle Babieca, and bind me on him
+so that I fall not, and place in my hand my sword, Tizona; and thou, Don
+Hieronymo, shalt ride by my side; and thou, Bermudez, bear my banner as
+thou wast wont to do; and thou, Don Fanez, shalt draw up the host as
+thou hast ever done. Then go ye forth and battle with Bucar, for be
+assured and doubt not that ye shall win the battle."</p>
+
+<p>Having said these words, the dying hero received the sacrament, and then
+prayed, weeping:</p>
+
+<p>"Lord Jesus Christ, I pray Thee of thy grace that Thou wilt pardon my
+sins, and that my soul be placed in the light that hath no end."</p>
+
+<p>And so saying, "the Cid gave to God his soul."</p>
+
+<p>Then the faithful friends and loving wife did even as he had commanded
+them. The body had been embalmed by the myrrh and balsam, and thus
+remained fresh-looking as in life. So they clothed the dead warrior in
+all his armor of war, with coat of arms and shield, and placed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> in his
+hand the precious sword, Tizona. His arms were raised aloft, and tied up
+so cunningly that he held the sword straight and even. When bound
+strongly upon his good horse, Babieca, any man not knowing the truth
+would have sworn the knight to be alive.</p>
+
+<p>At last all things were in readiness. And at midnight a strange
+procession rode through the silent, deserted streets of the city. First
+went forth Pero Bermudez, bearing aloft the great green banner of the
+Champion, that had never yet failed to strike terror into the hearts of
+his foes. Then all silently, in battle-array, the warriors of the Cid
+passed through the gates of Valencia; and with them, as of old, rode
+their dead leader, Ruy Diaz de Bivar. A hundred chosen knights pressed
+close about the Champion; and before him, with breaking heart, but
+tearless and quiet as her lord had commanded, rode the high-hearted
+Ximena. So went forth to his last conflict the ever-victorious Cid, the
+great conqueror of banners.</p>
+
+<p>At daylight the little army fell upon the sleeping camp of King Bucar,
+and slew many Moors before they could mount or arm. And it seemed to
+King Bucar and the other kings that there joined the host of the
+Christians full seventy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> thousand knights, all white as snow. Ahead of
+all rode a tall knight on a white horse. In his left hand he held a
+white banner, and in his right a sword of fire; and he slew many Moors
+as they fled. So terrified were King Bucar and his men that they drew
+not rein until they reached the sea; and more than twenty thousand were
+drowned. Bucar and those who escaped to the ships hoisted sails and sped
+away, nor did they dare look back.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Christians rode back in triumph to the presence of the dead
+Champion, and laden with the treasure of the Moorish camp, marched in
+peace to Castile.</p>
+
+<p>All along the way the people came forth in multitudes to see the great
+Champion on his last journey; and much they marveled at his lifelike
+appearance, and greatly they mourned for him. But the Cid's own men, as
+he had bidden them, made no open show of grief. And so, with banners
+flying, with gleam of spear and sound of trumpet, the strange funeral
+train passed through the land, until it came at last to the church of
+San Pedro de Cardenas. There they placed the Cid on a horse of wood,
+before the high altar. After many masses had been sung for the repose of
+his soul, a tabernacle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> was built on the right of the altar, and in it
+was placed the ivory throne on which the Cid was wont to sit. There,
+clothed in royal purple, with right hand clasping his mantle and the
+left grasping Tizona sheathed, sat the Champion like a king and lord for
+ten long years. And each day until her death, Ximena knelt for hours,
+morning and evening, at the feet of her lord, and wept and mourned and
+would not be comforted.</p>
+
+<p>At last, seated thus on his ivory throne, the Cid was entombed in a
+vault before the high altar. His hand could never be unclasped from his
+sword, and thus, says the legend, it remains to this day. Well might the
+people believe that even in death the great warrior would not loose his
+hold on his cherished sword Tizona; for with it he had done such
+marvelous deeds that even his enemies looked on him as "a miracle of the
+miracles of God," and bestowed on him the proud title of "The Conqueror
+of Banners."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_CIDS_WEDDING" id="THE_CIDS_WEDDING"></a>THE CID'S WEDDING</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Within his hall of Burgos, the king prepares a feast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He makes his preparation for many a noble guest.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It is a joyful city, it is a happy day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis the Campeador's wedding, and who will bide away?<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Layn Calvo, the Lord Bishop, he first comes forth the gate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Behind him Ruy Diaz in all his bridal state.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The crowd makes way before them as up the street they go;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For the multitude of people, their steps must need be slow.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The King had given order that they should rear an arch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From house to house all over, in the way where they must march:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They have hung it all with lances, and shields, and glittering helms,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brought by the Campeador from out the Moorish realms.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">They have scattered olive branches and rushes on the street,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the ladies fling down garlands at the Campeador's feet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With tapestry and broidery their balconies between,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To do his bridal honor, their walls the burghers screen.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">They lead the bulls before them all covered o'er with trappings;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The little boys pursue them with hootings and with clappings;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fool, with cap and bladder, upon his ass goes prancing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Midst troops of captive maidens with bells and cymbals dancing.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">With antics and with fooleries, with shouting and with laughter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They fill the streets of Burgos&mdash;and the Devil he comes after;</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a><br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For the King has hired the horned fiend for sixteen maravedis,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there he goes, with hoofs for toes, to terrify the ladies.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then comes the bride Ximena&mdash;the King he holds her hand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the Queen; and, all in fur and pall, the nobles of the land.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All down the street the ears of wheat are round Ximena flying,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But the King lifts off her bosom sweet whatever there was lying.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Quoth Suero, when he saw it (his thought you understand),<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"'Tis a fine thing to be a King, but Heaven make me a <i>hand</i>!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The King was very merry, when he was told of this,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And swore the bride, ere eventide, must give the boy a kiss.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The King went always talking, but she held down her head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And seldom gave an answer to anything he said;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It was better to be silent, among such crowds of folk,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Than utter words so meaningless as she did when she spoke.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Ballad translated by J. G. Lockhart</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>from "Poems of Places."</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><br /><br /><a name="GODFREY_AND_THE_FIRST_CRUSADE" id="GODFREY_AND_THE_FIRST_CRUSADE"></a>GODFREY AND THE FIRST CRUSADE</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I sing the pious arms and Chief, who freed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Sepulchre of Christ from thrall profane:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Much did he toil in thought, and much in deed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Much in the glorious enterprise sustain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Hell in vain opposed him; and in vain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Afric and Asia to the rescue poured<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their mingled tribes; Heaven recompensed his pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And from all fruitless sallies of the sword,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">True to the Red-cross flag, his wandering friends restored.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Tasso.</i><br /><br /><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>GODFREY AND THE FIRST CRUSADE</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+<h3>(1060-1100 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>)</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was a bright autumn day of the year 1095 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>, and since early
+morning the inhabitants of the little French village of Clermont had
+been astir, and feasting their eyes on the unusual spectacle of
+strangers from all France, Germany, and Italy. It was the day appointed
+by the Pope for a council to consider the state of the Christians in
+Palestine; and loyal sons and daughters of the Church had gathered from
+far and near. Outside the limits of the town for miles around, their
+white tents and many-colored banners gleamed in the sunshine, for the
+village could not accommodate the throngs of visitors.</p>
+
+<p>Now the tents and houses were deserted, as all had crowded into the town
+to witness the proceedings of the Council. No building could contain the
+thousands of people, so the Pope had decided to hold the meeting in the
+great public<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> square of Clermont. Here the vast crowds had assembled. As
+far as the eye could reach, down every street leading into the square,
+extended a closely packed multitude. They stood silent, almost
+motionless, their faces turned toward the platform in the center of the
+wide square.</p>
+
+<p>People of all classes, ages, and conditions were there: nobles, clad in
+rich dress or glittering armor; priests in dark robes; peasants in
+coarse frieze; ladies of rank, merchants, beggars,&mdash;all stood side by
+side, forgetful of everything worldly, listening eagerly to the words of
+the man who looked down on them from the high stand in their midst.</p>
+
+<p>This man was small and mean in his appearance. His bony figure was
+covered by a woolen tunic and a coarse serge gown that reached to the
+bare feet. From the neck drooped a monk's hood. His thin, haggard face,
+burned brown by long exposure to the hot sun and winds of the East,
+would have been ugly but for the deep, dark, flashing eyes, lit up with
+wild enthusiasm and fiery earnestness. The monk held erect with the left
+arm a great wooden cross that overtopped his head. Gesticulating
+fiercely as he addressed the absorbed multitude, his slight frame
+quivered with the violence of his emotions, and tears rolled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> down the
+sunken cheeks. In a voice often broken by sobs he cried:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Men of Clermont, people of France, Christians of all nations, come
+hither at the call of our Holy Father, the Pope! I tell you not of
+things learned by hearsay; I myself have beheld all these horrors in the
+Holy Land of Palestine. Through the ancient streets of Jerusalem the
+accursed infidels stalk in the evil pride of conquest. They insult and
+oppress, they torture and murder the followers of Christ. They rob and
+maltreat the pious pilgrims from all lands who toil through desert and
+over mountain to worship at the tomb of their Lord. Scarcely will these
+heathen suffer the adoration of Christ in the blessed city of His cross
+and passion. Nay, not content with persecuting our brethren, the vile
+crew of Mohammed, accursed of God, attack the very majesty of the most
+high God. They cast down and burn the churches of Christ; they tear His
+ministers from the very altar and drag them to a shameful death; they
+profane the holy places; they mock and spit upon the symbol of His holy
+religion,&mdash;this blessed cross, the sign of our redemption.</p>
+
+<p>"O people of Christ, God hath already stretched forth His hand to the
+destruction of the wicked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> To me, the most humble of His servants,&mdash;to
+Peter the Hermit, despised of men,&mdash;hath He revealed His purpose. For
+while I lay prone upon the rock before the Holy Sepulchre, calling upon
+God for mercy, the voice of the Lord Christ came to mine ears,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"'Peter, arise! Hasten to proclaim the tribulations of my people. It is
+time that my servants should receive help, that the holy places should
+be delivered!'</p>
+
+<p>"When I heard this, I hastened in fearful and joyful obedience to tell
+to Christian nations the sore straits of Christ's land and followers.
+Here stands God's priest to call the people of God to this holy
+work,&mdash;Christ himself calls you to the rescue of the Holy Land. Arm
+yourselves and hasten to Palestine! There shall ye cast out the heathen!
+There shall ye restore Jerusalem and the Holy City to the keeping of
+God's people!"</p>
+
+<p>As Peter sank down exhausted with emotion, the Pope, Urban II., in all
+the splendor of his pontifical robes, arose from his throne in the midst
+of the prelates of the Church, and came forward. It was he who had
+called this solemn council of priests and nobles to consider the state
+of the Holy Land and to devise means for its rescue. Now, with dignity
+and eloquence, Urban<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> added the sanction of the Church to Peter's wild
+appeal, saying:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I will not seek to dry the tears which images so painful must draw from
+you. Let us weep, my brethren; but evil be to us if in our sterile pity
+we longer leave the heritage of the Lord in the hands of the impious.
+For I called ye hither, not to weep over the afflictions of the Holy
+Land, but to gird on your swords and go forth to its deliverance.</p>
+
+<p>"Christian warriors, rejoice! for to-day ye have found a true cause for
+battle. Go forth and fight the barbarians. Go and fight for the delivery
+of Jerusalem,&mdash;that royal city which the Redeemer of the human race has
+hallowed by His passion, has purchased by His blood, has distinguished
+by His burial. She now demands of you her deliverance. Men of France,
+men from beyond the mountains, nations chosen and beloved of God, right
+valiant knights, recall the virtues and greatness of Charlemagne and
+your other kings. It is from you, above all, that Jerusalem awaits the
+help she invokes, for to you, above all, has God given glory in arms.
+Take ye, therefore, the road to Jerusalem for the remission of your
+sins,&mdash;for all sins shall be forgiven to the warrior of Christ,&mdash;and
+depart<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> assured of the deathless glory that awaits ye in the kingdom of
+heaven!"</p>
+
+<p>As the Pope ceased speaking, the people cried aloud in wild
+enthusiasm,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The cross! the cross! Give us the cross!"</p>
+
+<p>Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, was first to receive the holy symbol. Then all
+the multitude, pressing eagerly forward, received from Pope or priest a
+red cross of silk or cloth. Fastened on shoulder or breast, it
+henceforth stamped the wearer as one sworn to fight for the delivery of
+the Holy Land,&mdash;a Crusader.</p>
+
+<p>In the throng surrounding the platform on which stood the Pope, Peter
+the Hermit, and many princes of the Church, was a certain young knight.
+His dress betokened high station. He bore himself modestly, with easy
+grace; and yet a peculiarly stern dignity of mien, and the air of one
+used to command, bespoke the military leader. He gave close heed
+throughout to the speech of the poor monk and that of the proud Head of
+the Church. As Peter spoke of the persecuted Christians and the wretched
+state of the Holy Land, the calm and steadfast eyes of the young man
+kindled with rage or glistened with sorrow. When the Pope mentioned the
+renowned Charlemagne, the knight's smooth, pale cheek flushed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> with
+pride, for the blood of that great emperor flowed warm in his veins.
+When the pardon of all sins was promised by Christ's vicar to the
+soldier of the cross, the listener started. To his mind came the
+recollection of past exploits,&mdash;deeds glorious in the eyes of the world,
+but which left a sting in that tender conscience. And the troubled
+knight mused:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The cause of my emperor was just when he warred against Rodolphe of
+Rhenfield; and the many slain in that quarrel trouble me not. I was glad
+when my lance pierced the breast of the upstart who dared to claim the
+throne of Germany and the crown of Henry. Alas! if but the emperor had
+not warred against the Holy Father! If I had not drawn my sword against
+Holy Church! When Henry stormed the battlements of Rome, my young blood
+was hot with the joy of battle. I thought not of sin, but of glory, in
+that wild charge, and I was first to plant our banner on the city wall.
+Henry himself gave me thanks and saluted me as Duke of Antwerp and
+Lorraine. But, alas! God rebuked me soon for my pride in that warfare
+against His Holy Church by sending me a most grievous sickness. Then I
+swore to atone for my impiety by an humble pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
+But <i>now</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> God be thanked! Godfrey de Bouillon goes not with scrip and
+staff to Jerusalem, there to weep over the captivity of Zion&mdash;with sword
+and spear will he march to the Holy Land and wrest the Sepulchre of the
+Lord from the hands of the infidels!"</p>
+
+<p>Thus determining, the knight, with a look of high resolve, strode
+forward to the feet of the Pope. Urban received him joyously.</p>
+
+<p>"Now God be praised!" he said fervently, "that the valiant Godfrey de
+Bouillon turns his erstwhile hostile arms to the cause of Holy Church.
+His young renown shall be increased a thousandfold, for God will give
+yet greater victories to his banner."</p>
+
+<p>Then after fastening the cross upon the shoulder of the kneeling knight,
+Urban bestowed upon him a sword with these words,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Son Godfrey, receive this sword consecrated by God's high priest to the
+service of Christ. Draw it not save against the enemies of His holy
+religion; but strike and spare not the infidel. So shalt thou advance
+the glory of God, cleanse thy soul from every sin, and purchase
+Paradise!"</p>
+
+<p>Godfrey's pious heart throbbed within him at these great promises. He
+heeded not the crowd about him, nor the congratulations of his friends<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+upon this signal honor, but betook himself to solitude, there to pray,
+and to plan the execution of this high enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>Erelong the Pope held council with Godfrey and other great princes who
+had taken the cross, and it was decided that the Crusaders should not
+start on their expedition until the following August, for it was then
+November and much was to be done. The armies were to march in several
+divisions, each by a different route, but all were to meet at
+Constantinople. Having arranged these matters, the princes and lords
+bade one another farewell and proceeded to their several domains, each
+to collect and prepare an army for the coming Crusade.</p>
+
+<p>But Peter the Hermit, impatient of delay, set out at once for Palestine
+at the head of a vast, undisciplined multitude, ill-clad, lacking arms
+and provisions, unprepared in every way for the perilous undertaking,
+but confident that God would supply all their needs, guide them, and
+deliver the Holy City into their hands.</p>
+
+<p>When Duke Godfrey reached his duchy of Lorraine, he found that the wave
+of enthusiasm started at Clermont had already dashed over his people.
+There was no need to urge them on to the holy work. Each and every one
+was eager<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> to don the cross and set out to the rescue of Palestine. Men
+gave their gold, their land; women sold their jewels, their costly
+raiment, to provide means for the equipment of God's soldiers. The Duke
+of Lorraine himself pledged his province of Bouillon to the Bishop of
+Li&egrave;ge for money to fit out the thousands who flocked to his banner from
+Bouillon and Lorraine, from both sides of the Rhine, from northern
+France and western Germany.</p>
+
+<p>Knowing both Frank and Teuton,&mdash;able to greet each in his native
+tongue,&mdash;Godfrey was well fitted by birth and education to lead the vast
+army that now gathered on the banks of the Meuse and Moselle. Indeed,
+all the qualities of a great general and of "a very gentle, perfect
+knight" were Godfrey's. From his father, Eustace, Count of Boulogne, a
+notable warrior, he inherited valor and wisdom, and learned early "to be
+among the first to strike the foe." His mother, Ida de Bouillon, a most
+learned and pious lady, taught him to fear God, to be gentle, courteous,
+just, and merciful. "Even in youth," says the old chronicler, "a rival,
+on seeing him, was forced to exclaim, 'For zeal in battle, behold his
+father; for serving God, behold his mother!'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Such was the character of Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, "in
+whom the luster of nobility was enhanced by the splendor of the most
+exalted virtues." Nor was his appearance less to be admired. He was of
+tall, powerful frame and most dignified bearing. He was "beautiful in
+countenance," and the glance of his dark gray eyes, though usually
+gentle and kind, could command respect and obedience from the most
+lawless.</p>
+
+<p>Godfrey was indeed an imposing figure when he rode forth that autumn day
+of September, 1096, at the head of his army of Crusaders. He wore the
+usual dress and armor of a knight. On his head was a silver casque,
+surmounted by a black plume. A hauberk, or coat of mail, composed of
+steel rings, protected his body. He carried on the left arm a round
+buckler, which bore simply the red cross of the Crusader,&mdash;the same
+symbol as that worn on his breast. A sword and lance, borne by his
+squire, completed the knight's equipment of arms.</p>
+
+<p>With the duke were his brothers, Baldwin and Eustace, his kinsman,
+Baldwin du Bourg, and his squire, Sigier. Before the leader, rode the
+standard-bearers with the banner of Lorraine and the great standard of
+the Crusade, emblazoned with a blood-red cross.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Ten thousand knights on horseback followed, attired like Godfrey, but
+with gayer ornaments and colors. Their shields, from which floated
+scarfs of red, green, or white, were ornamented with painted leopards,
+lions, birds, towers, or other fanciful devices. From each lance a
+pennant drooped.</p>
+
+<p>After the knights, marched eighty thousand foot-soldiers, carrying long
+oval shields and armed with lances, swords, cross-bows, or heavy clubs.
+Behind these soldiers, trudged thousands of women and children.</p>
+
+<p>On every breast shone the red cross and from every lip rang the
+Crusader's battle-cry, "God wills it!" So the army of Godfrey de
+Bouillon marched forth from Lorraine to the rescue of the Holy Land.</p>
+
+<p>After traveling many long days through Germany, the Crusaders reached
+the country of the Hungarians, a rude though Christian people. There the
+army was stopped on the border by armed forces. Godfrey, attended by
+only a few followers, sought the presence of the king. Carloman received
+him with simple but courteous hospitality.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come," said the Duke, "to ask that the soldiers of my army,
+bound to the rescue of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> the Holy Land, be allowed to pass through thy
+country in peace and safety."</p>
+
+<p>"Truly," said Carloman, "I would fain grant thy request, but it is not
+long since a great multitude, also Crusaders, were suffered to
+pass,&mdash;they robbed and murdered my people. Then came hundreds of
+thousands who fell upon us&mdash;in revenge, they said, for the death of
+their brethren, many of whom, in truth, had been justly slain by my
+ill-treated subjects. How can I dare to let loose thy soldiers upon my
+land?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," said the just Godfrey, "I come not for war, or to avenge those
+unhappy pilgrims,&mdash;God pardon them! They were but ignorant and misguided
+peasants; for their leader, the monk, Peter, though a man of God, is
+often too fierce in his zeal. I pledge thee my faith as a Christian that
+thy land and thy people shall not suffer if thou let my army march
+through Hungary."</p>
+
+<p>Now Godfrey's speech and look were so noble and sincere that the king
+put faith in his word, but as was the custom, demanded hostages,&mdash;the
+duke's brother among the number. Baldwin demurred, saying aside to
+Godfrey,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"How do I know that thou canst hinder thy soldiers from plunder? And if
+thou do not, my life is forfeit. Thou knowest that I risk it with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> joy
+on the battlefield, but I care not to die a shameful death in this
+barbarous land."</p>
+
+<p>"And will it be a shameful death to die thus in aiding the march of the
+deliverers to Jerusalem?" asked Godfrey, reproachfully. "Nay, say no
+more; I myself will be hostage," and he turned toward the king. But
+Baldwin, at this generous offer, was sorry and ashamed, and he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Not so, Godfrey, thou shalt not risk thy life; it is more precious than
+mine. I will stay."</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was arranged, and so potent was the influence of the beloved
+leader that his men marched through Hungary harming neither land nor
+people. At the border, Baldwin and the other hostages were returned, and
+the king and his people, giving Godfrey abundant supplies, parted from
+them in good-will and friendship.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Now when Godfrey neared Constantinople, he learned that Hugh, Duke of
+Vermandois, brother to the King of France, and leader of an army of
+Crusaders from that country, was held prisoner by the Greek emperor,
+Alexius. The Duke of Lorraine sent at once to Alexius, demanding the
+release of the French prince. Alexius immediately set free the captive
+duke, whom in truth he had treated with much courtesy, and also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+promised aid to Godfrey, and allowed his army to encamp near
+Constantinople. Shortly after, however, the emperor made a move
+indicating treachery. Godfrey at once sounded the trumpets and prepared
+to assault the city; but when Alexius quickly sought peace, the placable
+duke accepted his explanations and assurances of friendship. Then
+Alexius entertained Godfrey with unheard-of splendor, and soon thought
+so highly of the knight as to adopt him as a son, according to Eastern
+custom.</p>
+
+<p>Here the Duke of Lorraine was joined by other armies, one commanded by
+Raymond, Count of Toulouse,&mdash;a tried warrior who had fought in youth
+under the banner of the Cid; the other led by brave and crafty Bohemond,
+Prince of Tarentum. In the host of Crusaders from France, Germany,
+Italy, Spain, England, and even far-off Ireland, were many renowned
+princes, prelates, and nobles: Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, the Pope's
+legate; Robert, Duke of Normandy, the heroic and reckless son of William
+the Conqueror; Count Robert of Paris, wild and ferocious; the gallant
+Count of Flanders; Stephen of Blois, Count of Chartres; and the pure and
+perfect knight, Tancred.</p>
+
+<p>All these leaders Alexius flattered and cajoled with soft words and
+magnificent gifts, promising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> them help and support on condition that
+the cities in Asia Minor formerly belonging to his empire, if captured
+by the Crusaders, be returned to him. But Alexius was a weak and
+deceitful prince, caring naught for anything save his own interest, as
+the Crusaders soon discovered. So it was without regret, in spite of his
+sumptuous entertainment of them, that Godfrey and the other leaders took
+leave of the Greek emperor and crossed the Bosphorus. This took some
+time, for the immense armies numbered one hundred thousand knights on
+horseback, clad in armor, five hundred thousand foot-soldiers, and
+numerous priests, women, and little children. They outnumbered "the
+sands of the sea, the leaves of the forest, the stars of heaven," writes
+the daughter of Alexius.</p>
+
+<p>This vast host soon encamped before the large city of Nic&aelig;a, its strong
+walls and hundreds of towers swarming with Turks. Here, Godfrey's men
+found, wandering in the desert, Peter the Hermit and a few wretched men
+who had escaped when their companions were slaughtered by the Turks.
+These few were the remnant of the hundred thousand pilgrims&mdash;men, women,
+and children&mdash;whom the wild monk had undertaken to lead to Palestine
+soon after the Council<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> of Clermont. So numerous were the bones of these
+slain Crusaders, near Nic&aelig;a, that the soldiers of Godfrey used them in
+building the walls and divisions of his great camp before that city.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had this camp been completed when the Sultan of Nic&aelig;a,
+Kilidge-Arslan, the "Sword of the Lion," swept down from the mountain on
+the Christian army. "Then the two armies joined, mingled, and attacked
+each other with equal fury. Everywhere glittered casques and shields;
+lances rung against cuirasses; the air resounded with piercing cries;
+the terrified horses recoiled at the din of arms and the hissing of
+arrows; the earth trembled under the tread of the combatants; and the
+plain was for a vast space bristling with javelins."</p>
+
+<p>Godfrey was here, there, everywhere, in the fiercest of the fight,
+slaying the infidels on all sides. His high contempt of danger and death
+inspired his men to fight with equal ardor. At last the Turks were
+driven back, but they returned next day to the attack, nor did they
+retreat until the Crusaders had slain four thousand of them. The heads
+of these Turks were cut off and thrown over the walls of Nic&aelig;a, there to
+inform the garrison of the Crusaders' victory and to frighten them into
+surrender.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But the Turks held out long, in spite of the many brave assaults made by
+the besiegers. In these attacks the Crusaders used many strange machines
+of war,&mdash;great rams of wood to batter down the walls; ballistas for
+casting stones, beams, and arrows; and catapults for throwing fire and
+huge stones into the city.</p>
+
+<p>The Turks had similar machines and also great iron hands with which they
+reached down from the walls, seized the Crusaders, and drew them up into
+the city. Then, killing these luckless captives and stripping the
+bodies, the infidels would hurl them back by machines into the camp of
+the Christians. These cruelties and the vengeance of the Crusaders made
+the warfare very horrible.</p>
+
+<p>Wonderful deeds were performed on both sides. A huge giant among the
+Turks made himself admired and dreaded by his great skill and
+extraordinary strength. With every cast of his javelin he slew an enemy,
+and he destroyed scores of the besiegers by hurling down upon them great
+masses of rock. One day he stood on the city wall and, single-handed,
+held at bay a great number of Christians. While fighting, he shouted
+defiance to the whole army of Crusaders, ridiculing them and grossly
+insulting their religion. Hundreds of arrows flew at him, but still he
+remained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> unhurt. Then Godfrey, who had been in another part of the
+field, came rushing up to discover the cause of the tumult. The infidel,
+poising an arrow, exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Dog of a Christian, thou too shalt die! Let us see if thy crucified God
+can save thee!"</p>
+
+<p>Enraged at this insolence and blasphemy, Godfrey seized a cross-bow and
+took aim quickly. Through the heart of the scoffing giant went the
+arrow, and down into the ditch tumbled the dreaded infidel. Cries of
+distress from the Turks and shouts of joy from the Christians greeted
+this deed of the valiant Godfrey.</p>
+
+<p>After seven weeks of almost continuous fighting, the Crusaders were on
+the point of taking Nic&aelig;a, when to their astonishment they saw the
+standard of Alexius raised on the city wall. The cunning Greek emperor,
+learning that the city was about to surrender, had sent an envoy and
+persuaded the Turks to deliver Nic&aelig;a to him. So the indignant Crusaders
+received no reward for their hardships and valor. Swearing vengeance on
+the emperor at some later day, they took up the march to Jerusalem.</p>
+
+<p>Over mountains, beside deep precipices, through swift torrents, they
+toiled, suffering agonies from heat, hunger, fatigue, and thirst.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> On
+the plain of Doryl&aelig;um, in Phrygia, part of the army under Bohemond,
+Prince of Tarentum, was attacked by Kilidge-Arslan with two hundred
+thousand Turks, and was on the verge of defeat when Godfrey, at the head
+of a small body of knights, rushed to the rescue and put the Turks to
+headlong flight. The conquerors found the camp of the enemy near by, and
+took possession of large stores of provisions, tents, horses, camels,
+and treasures of all kinds. Rejoicing, the leaders divided the spoils,
+and after a short rest took up the march once more.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the Crusaders suffered terribly, for only a land made waste met
+their eyes,&mdash;smoking villages and crops swept away.</p>
+
+<p>The "Sword of the Lion" had gone before and cut down and destroyed
+everything in their path. The vengeful Turk had even poisoned the wells,
+and in this desert country of Phrygia the pilgrims died by thousands.</p>
+
+<p>The tender heart of Godfrey was wrung by the pitiable distress of his
+people. All that was possible of help and comfort he gave them, but he
+could not quench their thirst.</p>
+
+<p>Almost in despair he sat in his tent one day, grieving bitterly, for the
+moans of the suffering came to his ears.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 425px;">
+<img src="images/img.gs03.jpg" width="425" height="600" alt="" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath found
+water!&#39; cried Sigier!&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"O Christ, save Thy people," he prayed devoutly. Suddenly the hound of
+his faithful squire, Sigier, bounded into the tent and threw himself
+upon his master, who stood in sad silence near Godfrey.</p>
+
+<p>"Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath found water!" cried Sigier;
+and, in truth, the paws of the dog were covered with wet sand.</p>
+
+<p>Already, ere the two could step outside, they heard the wild shouts and
+tumult of the people, racing madly in the tracks of the dogs. It was in
+vain that Godfrey and the other leaders strove to check that multitude.
+Dashing to the brink of the river so opportunely found by the dogs of
+the camp, thousands threw themselves bodily into the water, many
+drinking so greedily that they perished. Yet the timely discovery saved
+the army from total destruction.</p>
+
+<p>At last the almost exhausted host reached Antiochetta,&mdash;a city in a
+fertile plain, where the Christians were kindly received. Here they
+rested and regained the strength lost during their long and perilous
+journey. Many of the surrounding cities sent supplies to Godfrey and the
+other princes, and swore obedience to them.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of these pleasant happenings the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> army narrowly escaped a
+terrible loss. Godfrey and a few companions went hunting one day, taking
+their falcons and dogs. While the duke was riding in advance of his
+comrades, he heard savage growls, then piteous cries of distress, "Help,
+help, for the love of God!"</p>
+
+<p>Galloping in the direction of the sounds, Godfrey soon came upon a
+pilgrim engaged in a struggle with a huge bear. The poor man was about
+to be killed. Drawing his sword, Godfrey spurred his horse fiercely on
+the bear; but the steed, frightened by the sight of the strange beast
+and its angry growls, reared back, and threw its rider to the ground. In
+a moment, however, Godfrey was on his feet, and as the bear turned upon
+him, met the attack with a mighty blow. Now a fearful struggle took
+place; but finally, with a fierce thrust of his sword, Godfrey killed
+the beast, just as Sigier and others, summoned by the pilgrim, came
+hurrying up.</p>
+
+<p>"Alas, my lord, you are wounded!" cried Sigier; and indeed so badly was
+the knight hurt that he fainted away and was thought to be dead. The
+soldiers were grieved beyond measure, and the camp resounded with
+lamentations; great was the joy when it was found that Godfrey would
+recover. For weeks, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> he had to be carried on a litter,&mdash;saved
+by a miracle, said the people.</p>
+
+<p>Now came the march over Mount Taurus, which was almost as difficult and
+dangerous as that through the desert. Over one steep mountain, which the
+Crusaders called "The Mountain of the Devil," there was only a narrow
+footpath, up which the soldiers could scarcely scramble in single file.
+Many horses lost their footing and fell over the precipice. Numbers of
+the Crusaders became so weary that they threw away their arms; and many
+were left to perish by the wayside, though Godfrey strove to have the
+weak and exhausted carried forward by the strong.</p>
+
+<p>But still struggling on bravely, the Christian host at last found
+themselves before the rich and splendid city of Antioch. It was strongly
+fortified with high walls and more than four hundred towers. Many of the
+leaders thought that it would be prudent to wait to besiege the place
+until spring, when new Crusaders were to arrive, and when the army would
+not be exposed to famine and to the rains and tempests of the winter
+season now approaching. But Godfrey spoke eloquently against this delay.</p>
+
+<p>"Why," said he, "should we wait for others<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> to come and share the
+glories of this army without having shared its labors and dangers? It is
+an insult to the army of Jesus Christ to think that they cannot endure
+cold and rain and famine. Are we like those birds of passage which fly
+away and conceal themselves on the approach of the bad season? Moreover,
+abundance awaits us in the city of Antioch, which will soon open its
+gates to us."</p>
+
+<p>Moved by these brave words, the princes decided to begin the siege at
+once. But the city held out; and when the winter came, the army suffered
+most fearfully. A pestilence broke out, and thousands died of disease,
+in addition to those who perished of hunger or were killed in daily
+battles with the Turks.</p>
+
+<p>The Crusaders had not time or space to bury their dead. Many deserted
+the army. Peter the Hermit could not bear the hardships, and reproaches
+of the suffering, and fled from the camp. He was pursued and brought
+back by Tancred; and the soldiers, who had been as much astonished by
+Peter's desertion as if "the stars had fallen from heaven," made him
+swear on the Bible not to abandon them again.</p>
+
+<p>Godfrey and the good Bishop of Puy strove earnestly to put heart into
+the soldiers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"God will soon deliver us," said the duke. "He has sent these
+afflictions upon us because we took merit to ourselves for the victory
+of Doryl&aelig;um and gave not all the glory to Him." But in vain his hopeful
+words; the army gave way to despair.</p>
+
+<p>Long days of misery, each more wretched than the last, dragged slowly
+by, when suddenly the courage of the Crusaders was revived by a great
+victory. A body of the troops who had gone to the seaport of St. Simeon
+to buy provisions was unexpectedly attacked by a body of Turks and
+compelled to retreat. Godfrey, hearing of the battle, sallied forth and
+defeated the enemy, but was attacked by a large force sent out from
+Antioch. Then Turks and Crusaders battled desperately beneath the very
+walls of Antioch and in sight of the people on its ramparts. The fight
+was man to man, without order or plan. The Christian leaders all
+performed wonderful deeds. Godfrey seemed to possess more than mortal
+strength and valor. No enemy could stand against his attack; and before
+the terrible stroke of his great sword, lances, helmets, and armor flew
+to pieces.</p>
+
+<p>A bold Saracen offered battle to Godfrey, and with the first blow dashed
+to pieces the shield of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> the Christian knight. Enraged, Godfrey rose up
+in his stirrups, and with all his force delivered such a mighty blow on
+the shoulder of the Turk as to divide his body into two parts. One fell
+to the ground, while the other part remained upright in the saddle. The
+frightened horse rushed back into the city, where the horrible sight
+added to the terror of the inhabitants.</p>
+
+<p>So great was the number of Turks slain in this battle, that the people
+of Antioch were greatly cast down, while the Crusaders renewed their
+assaults with fresh vigor and spirit. Daily conflicts were fought, in
+which many women took part. Even the children formed companies, and
+challenged the Turkish boys to combat. These battles of the children
+were watched with fierce interest by the Saracens on the city walls and
+the Crusaders in their camp, each party cheering on its small champions.
+At last the city became so reduced that it would doubtless soon have
+surrendered had not the Crusaders imprudently consented to a truce.</p>
+
+<p>While this truce was in force the soldiers gave themselves up to
+rioting, and the Christian princes disputed among themselves, for there
+was a spirit of rivalry among them, and some were haughty and
+quarrelsome.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Bohemond received by mistake a magnificent tent sent by an Armenian
+prince to the Duke of Lorraine. The Prince of Tarentum was very
+avaricious and pretended that the gift was intended for him. Now the
+Duke of Lorraine, though gentle and generous, and never haughty in his
+bearing toward the other princes, was not at all meek, nor inclined to
+suffer any trespass upon his rights or dignity. He at once demanded his
+property of Bohemond in peremptory terms, and when refused, would have
+seized it by force of arms, had not the prince, seeing that all sided
+with Godfrey, reluctantly delivered the tent to him, its rightful owner.</p>
+
+<p>While these disputes were going on, the people of Antioch had received
+fresh supplies of provisions and arms, and now, refusing to surrender,
+again resumed the conflict. Bohemond, however, had found a traitor
+within the walls. This man, Phirous, had formerly been a Christian, but
+had become a Mohammedan. He told Bohemond that Jesus Christ had appeared
+to him and commanded him to betray the city into the hands of the
+Christians. The leaders of the Crusade were not willing to win the city
+by treachery, and for some time rejected the offer of Bohemond to lead
+them into it by the aid of Phirous. But at last,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> in June, 1098, the
+rumor that a vast army of Turks was approaching, led the princes to
+consent to the stratagem.</p>
+
+<p>On the night appointed by Phirous to admit the Crusaders, rain poured in
+torrents, peals of thunder shook the air, lightning flashed
+continuously, and the entire western sky was strangely illuminated. But
+the Crusaders were undaunted by the storm. They even deemed it an omen
+of success when a fiery comet flamed across the heavens. Silently,
+stealthily, the appointed soldiers crept up close to the wall; but when
+they found the frail rope-ladder, let down by Phirous, dangling against
+the wall, a strange fright seized upon them. Not one made a move toward
+it; all hesitated to dare the ascent. But Bohemond, as daring as he was
+crafty and ambitious, soon shamed his men by setting foot on the ladder.
+All followed and scrambled up to the tower where Phirous awaited them.
+He yielded it to them, and then pointed out a gate that could easily be
+forced. Into the city poured the Crusaders; and the people of Antioch,
+waking in terror, were slaughtered or made prisoners. The city was soon
+in the hands of the Crusaders, though the citadel, a strong tower on a
+steep hill in the center of the town, could not be taken.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But scarcely had the victors ceased to rejoice over their conquest, when
+they found themselves besieged in turn by an immense army under the
+command of Kerbogha, Sultan of Mossoul, a celebrated Turkish warrior.
+Then the Christians, with an enemy in their city and surrounded by
+countless enemies without, endured the most dreadful hardships. Food
+became so scarce that even the horses were eaten. Godfrey generously
+shared his means with his soldiers, and was finally compelled to kill
+his favorite war-horse for food. So wretched were the Christians that
+many threw themselves over the battlements. Others deserted to the
+enemy, letting themselves down at night by cords from the city walls.
+These latter traitors were cursed most bitterly by their indignant
+comrades for such base cowardice and were called in derision
+"Rope-dancers." But truly it was only the stoutest hearts and strongest
+bodies that could stand the misery to which the Crusaders were now
+reduced. In spite of the brave efforts of Godfrey and some of the other
+princes, most of the wretched people gave up all hope. They hid
+themselves in their houses to await the end, and the silence of death
+settled down upon the stricken city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is said that several of the leaders proposed to secure their own
+safety by fleeing in the night from the beleaguered city, and were only
+prevented from taking this step by the appeals of Adhemar and Godfrey,
+who represented to them in strongest terms the everlasting disgrace that
+such a step would bring upon them. Kerbogha had scornfully refused any
+terms of surrender except "Death or captivity for all," and it seemed
+that such must be the fate of the Crusaders, when the aspect of affairs
+was suddenly changed by a miracle.</p>
+
+<p>A priest, Bartholomew by name, announced that Saint Andrew had appeared
+to him three times, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Go to the church of my brother Peter in Antioch. Dig up the earth near
+the altar, and there you will find the head of the lance that pierced
+the side of our Redeemer. This sacred sign borne at the head of the army
+shall deliver the Christians and pierce the heart of the infidels."</p>
+
+<p>All the army believed in this vision, and after three solemn days of
+fasting and praying, Bartholomew, in the presence of twelve priests and
+knights, directed the workmen where to dig beneath the altar of the
+church. All day the digging went on, while the great crowd outside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+waited in silent impatience. At midnight, Bartholomew threw himself into
+the hole, and soon reappeared, bearing a spear-head in his hand. The joy
+of all was frantic, for they firmly believed that this holy relic would
+insure them a victory. Famine and fear were forgotten! All demanded to
+be led at once against the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The next day the gates of Antioch were thrown open, and the army marched
+forth in solemn and imposing procession. At the head walked the priests,
+bearing aloft the holy lance, and chanting, "Let the Lord arise and let
+His enemies be scattered." The army followed in twelve divisions, each
+led by one of the princes in such state as he could muster. Godfrey had
+given away his all and rode a horse borrowed from the rich Raymond. Many
+of the soldiers were without weapons and were so weak from want of food
+that they could scarcely walk; yet their faith gave them courage, and
+they surveyed the vast army of the Saracens with calm confidence in
+victory,&mdash;for was not God himself with them? Not a sound was heard in
+the ranks.</p>
+
+<p>The Saracens, seeing this strange procession, at first supposed that the
+Christians had come out to surrender; but soon perceiving their error,
+they let fly a shower of arrows. A strong wind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> blew back these infidel
+darts and seemed to the Crusaders yet another sign of heavenly favor;
+and they awaited with renewed confidence the attack of the Turks. It
+soon came. The bodyguard of Kerbogha, three thousand strong, both man
+and horse clad in complete steel armor, hurled themselves against the
+Christian ranks, beating down the soldiers with ponderous clubs armed
+with steel points. Behind these warriors followed the immense host of
+Saracens. The battle raged for some time without decided advantage on
+either side, but the Sultan of Nice at last ordered burning flax to be
+thrown among the bushes and grass of the plain. At once the blaze and
+smoke surrounded the Christians. Stifled and confused, they fell back,
+and the sultan was about to drive them from the field, when suddenly a
+body of soldiers was seen descending the mountain-side, led by three
+knights in glittering white armor.</p>
+
+<p>"Behold," cried the Bishop of Puy, "the holy saints, George, Demetrius,
+and Theodore, come to fight for us!"</p>
+
+<p>To the Christians this sight gave irresistible valor. With a mighty
+shout, "God wills it!" the army hurled itself as one man against the
+Saracens. Nothing could withstand that inspired charge.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> The Turks fell
+back, broke their ranks, and fled in terror, leaving a hundred thousand
+dead.</p>
+
+<p>Their camp was found rich in treasures of all kinds. The gorgeous tent
+of Kerbogha, arranged in streets, like a city, lavishly decorated with
+gold and jewels, and large enough to shelter two thousand men, was
+captured by Bohemond. This vast pavilion was sent to Italy, where it was
+an object of even greater wonder and admiration to the Italians than it
+had been to the Crusaders. The leaders now found themselves rich, and
+for some time remained in peace at Antioch, enjoying the relief from
+want and warfare.</p>
+
+<p>But again a pestilence broke out, and carried off thousands. Among these
+victims was the good and beloved Adhemar, Bishop of Puy. The soldiers
+believed that God was angry because of the inaction and delay of the
+princes that were sworn to deliver the sepulchre of Christ. Then news
+came that Jerusalem had been taken from the Turks by the Khalif of
+Egypt, and the Christians were struck with deep remorse that the Holy
+City had been again captured, and not by the followers of Christ.
+Ashamed of their delay and forgetfulness of their sacred mission, the
+Crusaders resumed their march to the Holy City, eight months after the
+capture of Antioch.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But the army lacked some of its former leaders. Count Stephen, of
+Chartres, and the Count of Vermandois, weary of hardships, had returned
+to France,&mdash;there to face the bitter scorn of all Europe. Bohemond
+remained in Antioch as ruler of the city his cunning had won. Baldwin,
+who had established himself as prince of the rich city, Edessa, thought
+no more about Jerusalem. This conduct of Baldwin grieved his brother
+deeply, and it was with a saddened heart that the pious Godfrey now led
+his army toward Jerusalem.</p>
+
+<p>Marching along the coast, the Crusaders soon neared Ptolemais. The emir
+of that city sent them supplies, and promised to surrender it to them as
+soon as they should conquer Jerusalem. The princes had not intended to
+attack Ptolemais and were delighted at this unexpected promise. But the
+falseness of the Mohammedan was soon revealed to them in a strange way.
+For soon after, while the army was encamped near C&aelig;sarea, the Bishop of
+Apt, sitting before his tent one day, saw a large falcon in pursuit of a
+dove. Fluttering swiftly downward, the tiny bird escaped the claws of
+its pursuer and fell at the feet of the bishop. The kind priest picked
+it up carefully, and was tenderly smoothing its ruffled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> plumage when he
+saw a letter tied under its wing. Setting the trembling bird free, the
+bishop hastened to the tent where the princes were holding council.
+Godfrey broke the seal, and with an exclamation of surprise read the
+letter aloud.</p>
+
+<p>It was from the Emir of Ptolemais to the Emir of C&aelig;sarea, and ran
+thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The cursed race of Christians have just passed through my
+territory, and will soon reach thine. Let the chiefs of all the
+Mussulman cities be warned of their approach and let them take
+measures to crush our enemies."</p></div>
+
+<p>The princes were much astonished on hearing this, and Godfrey
+exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Surely we cannot doubt that God is with us, since He sends the birds of
+the air to reveal to us the secrets of our enemies!"</p>
+
+<p>So said all the soldiers when the letter was read to them, and they
+pursued their journey with new enthusiasm and stronger hope.</p>
+
+<p>On a night not long after, the Crusaders were watching with awe an
+eclipse of the moon. Suddenly the momentary darkness passed away, and
+the lurid light of a <i>blood-red</i> moon shone down. But their terror at
+this strange sight was changed to joy when "those familiar with the
+signs of the stars" said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This doth portend the fall of the infidels and the triumph of Christ's
+army!"</p>
+
+<p>The following day, at sunrise, the Crusaders climbed to the summit of
+the hills of Emmaus, when&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Lo! Jerusalem appears in sight. Lo! every hand points out Jerusalem.
+Lo! a thousand voices are heard as one in salutation of Jerusalem!"</p>
+
+<p>After the first moment of pure gladness, a feeling of deep awe and great
+sorrow came over the Crusaders as they gazed at the city where Christ
+had suffered and died for their redemption. Following the example of
+their loved Godfrey, the Christians laid aside with tears and sighs
+their gay scarfs and glittering ornaments of knighthood; barefoot, in
+token of humility and reverence, they traveled the road once trodden by
+the feet of their Lord. And as they marched, they sang the words of
+Isaiah:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Jerusalem, lift up thine eyes and behold the liberator who comes to
+break thy chains!"</p>
+
+<p>At last the pilgrims were encamped before the city of their pious hopes
+and dreams. But only a small remnant of the once magnificent army was
+left,&mdash;a weak body of perhaps forty thousand, lacking provisions and all
+machinery of war.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A few days after encamping, the Crusaders made a fierce assault on
+Jerusalem, but having no engines of attack and no scaling ladders, they
+were beaten back.</p>
+
+<p>Realizing that the city could never be taken without these machines,
+Godfrey set the army at work to construct them. But it was with the
+greatest difficulty that wood, iron, and stone for making towers,
+ladders, and catapults could be procured. Soon the soldiers suffered the
+agonies of thirst, for most of the springs had been choked up or
+poisoned by the enemy. A less determined army would have given up the
+siege in despair. But though a few weak ones, unable to stand the
+hardships, deserted, nothing could daunt the courage or lessen the zeal
+of the greater part of the army.</p>
+
+<p>When at last some reinforcements and supplies arrived, all the army,
+women and children as well as men, set to work again with the greatest
+spirit to build engines of war and to prepare for the assault. Godfrey,
+Raymond, and Tancred constructed three movable towers, each higher than
+the city wall. Godfrey's had three platforms, and on the topmost one a
+drawbridge to be let down upon the wall.</p>
+
+<p>After four weeks of hard labor, Godfrey de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>cided that the attack could
+be made. Three days the army fasted and prayed. Then all the Crusaders,
+in full armor, led by the priests praying and chanting, marched around
+Jerusalem, viewing with awe the holy places of the Lord's pilgrimage. On
+the mount whence Christ ascended to heaven, the priests absolved and
+blessed the multitude.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the Egyptians and Turks on the city walls mocked at these
+ceremonies. The infidels raised crosses and spat upon them, insulting in
+every way the symbol of Christ in the sight of His followers. Peter the
+Hermit, on seeing this sacrilege, cried aloud to the Crusaders,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I swear to you by your faith that to-morrow these proud blasphemers of
+Christ shall be frozen with fear! Their mosques shall become temples of
+the Lord, and Jerusalem shall hear only the praises of the true God!" At
+these words the whole army shouted with joy and triumph.</p>
+
+<p>That night the wise Godfrey, with great labor and difficulty, removed
+his immense engines of war to another position, where the Saracens had
+not made such great preparations for the defence of the walls.</p>
+
+<p>Then Godfrey and the other leaders planned the attack. Raymond was to
+assault the southern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> wall; Godfrey himself the northern; and between
+them the two Roberts and Tancred were to be stationed.</p>
+
+<p>At daybreak, the Count of Toulouse came to Godfrey's tent. After
+greeting Godfrey, Raymond exclaimed in surprise,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"How is this, my Lord? Where is thy strong breastplate and the rest of
+thy steel armor? Why hast thou put on this weak suit? Don thy vantbrace
+and helmet, and thy steel casque, and mask thy face. Do not risk thy
+life thus rashly."</p>
+
+<p>But Godfrey replied calmly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"When Pope Urban girt this blade on me at Clermont, and bade me perform
+the duties of a true knight of Christ in this divine Crusade, I made a
+secret vow that on this day I would not fight as a prince and leader,
+but would assume the arms and armor of a common soldier. I shall station
+my men and see to all things as a general should; then, in this light
+armor of a foot-soldier, I shall strive to plant the banner of the cross
+on the ramparts of Jerusalem. God will protect my life."</p>
+
+<p>When Raymond heard this resolution, he protested no more, but hastened
+away and told the other princes, who all quickly decided to follow
+Godfrey's example of brave humility.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Soon everything was in readiness, and from all quarters of the camp the
+drums and trumpets sounded.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>With a mighty shout, the army rushes to the assault. The engines of war
+are all put in motion at the same moment. Bands of men, under cover of
+their upraised shields, drag the rams close to the wall. With these
+battering-rams they hammer at the wall, while stones and arrows hurtle
+down on their steel roof. Other companies rush intrepidly forward with
+long scaling-ladders, and strive to hook them to the top of the wall.
+The Saracens, with equal energy and courage, labor to cast them down. If
+perchance a ladder be fixed, men swarm up, undaunted by the weapons
+hurled at them. Scores, struck dead or wounded, loosen their hold and
+fall to the ground; but as many more clamber over their dead bodies and
+spring to their places. If a knight but reach the top of the ladder, he
+is cut down by the scimitars of the Egyptians.</p>
+
+<p>Huge stones, showers of sharp flints, and heavy beams cast from
+mangonels and catapults, fly through the air in every direction,
+crushing Saracens or Christians. The great towers, alive with soldiers,
+roll forward nearer and nearer to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> the city wall, though its defenders
+fight desperately to stay the advance of the dreaded machines,&mdash;casting
+blazing arrows and balls of fire against the towers, aiming countless
+weapons at the Christians upon them. Women and children mingle in the
+fray, bringing missiles for the machines, or food and water for the
+soldiers. They lay hold on the towers and help to drag them forward.</p>
+
+<p>On the tallest tower, high above all, stands Godfrey, fighting
+furiously, and urging his men to yet more heroic efforts. Above all
+tumult&mdash;shouts of defiance and cries of triumph, shrieks of mortal
+anguish, din and clatter of arms, and hissing of arrows&mdash;rings out his
+battle-cry: "Christ and the Holy Sepulchre! God wills it!"</p>
+
+<p>Now Christians raise a shout of joy as they gain the wall; now infidels
+howl in derision as the besiegers are driven back. Through the smoke and
+flame and flying weapons the horrified Crusaders behold two hideous
+witches on the highest rampart. Their hair and garments stream in the
+wind. With horrid curses and impious cries, they call upon the demons of
+earth and air to smite the Crusaders. But their sorcery does not avail
+to save themselves from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> death; pierced by countless Christian arrows,
+they fall headlong from the battlements. With wilder zeal the exultant
+Crusaders battle, and with greater fury the enraged infidels.</p>
+
+<p>Hours pass. The tower of Raymond is set on fire, and the long flames
+shoot up to heaven and brighten the darkening sky. Night falls, and
+Jerusalem is still in the hands of the unbelievers. Exhausted and
+bleeding, the Christians draw back from the walls; but it is not of
+their suffering and losses they think. One long wail goes up from those
+bursting hearts:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! God has not yet thought us worthy to enter His Holy City!"</p>
+
+<p>But those stout hearts are not long cast down. At daybreak the
+Christians once more hurl themselves against the battered walls of
+Jerusalem&mdash;with tenfold fiercer determination than before. Infidels and
+Christians know that one or the other will this day be swept from the
+face of the earth. The Christian leaders fight as even these knights of
+the cross have never fought before. The veteran Raymond is on foot in
+the midst of his men. He urges them against the wall where stands the
+Emir of Jerusalem, and bids them aim their darts at the Egyptian prince,
+whose splendid armor flashes golden in the sun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>light. But though the
+arrows fall thick about him, Iftikhar stands haughtily erect, and
+continues to direct the efforts of his men.</p>
+
+<p>Tancred and the two Roberts exhaust their arrows and at last stand
+motionless on the tower, awaiting with fierce impatience the moment,
+fast approaching, when they can pierce with lance or cut down with sword
+the Saracens on the city wall, now almost within reach.</p>
+
+<p>But the conflict centers about the great tower of Godfrey. If only that
+tower reach the wall! On the summit shines a great cross of gold, and
+beneath its arms stands Godfrey, his brother Eustace, his cousin,
+Baldwin du Bourg, Sigier, and other knights. The sight of the sacred
+symbol of Christ throws the followers of Mohammed into a frenzy of
+impious rage. They hurl showers of blazing arrows, stones, and balls of
+fire against its defenders. Godfrey remains unhurt, but the faithful
+Sigier falls beside him. Slowly but surely the tower creeps nearer the
+wall. The Saracens redouble their efforts. They throw down between the
+wall and the tower, pots of burning oil, blazing wood, and Greek fire.
+They fortify the wall with mattresses of lighted straw until it seems
+one sheet of flame. The tower approaches this barricade of fire, but
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> smoke and flame stifle the Crusaders. They falter and fall back.</p>
+
+<p>The Crusaders on all sides begin to waver, and the infidels shout for
+joy. But at this moment a knight in glittering white armor appears on
+the Mount of Olives, and waves his fiery shield toward the Holy City.
+Godfrey, first to behold the strange warrior, shouts exultantly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Saint George! Saint George to our aid!"</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment a strong wind suddenly blows the flame away from
+Godfrey's tower and back upon the infidels, who stagger and retreat from
+the fiery blast. Now is the Christians' opportunity. One mighty effort,
+and the tower is within reach of the wall. The bridge of the tower falls
+with a crash, and the Christian knights spring upon it. A brief, fierce
+struggle,&mdash;and then, with a glad shout, "God wills it!" Godfrey de
+Bouillon stands triumphant on the walls of Jerusalem!</p>
+
+<p>It is Friday,&mdash;the day and the very hour of the death of his Lord.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The city was won. Animated by Godfrey's triumph, beholding him plant the
+banner of the cross on the wall of Jerusalem, Raymond and Tancred
+redoubled their efforts. Soon from all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> points of attack the victorious
+Crusaders poured into the city. Maddened by battle and the remembrance
+of the cruel persecutions their brethren had suffered, the Crusaders
+massacred all in their way.</p>
+
+<p>Very rarely, in those fierce days, was mercy shown to a defeated foe;
+and the Crusaders, fully persuaded that the slaughter of infidels is
+pleasing to the Lord, shouted, while hewing down the Saracens, "God
+wills it!"</p>
+
+<p>But the merciful Godfrey did not take part in this bloody work. With
+three companions he stole away from the army; and clothing himself in a
+pure white robe, barefoot, and without arms, he sought the Church of the
+Holy Sepulchre. There he worshiped at the tomb of Christ, and gave
+thanks that it had been rescued from the infidels. When the other
+Crusaders heard of this pious act, all followed Godfrey's example, and
+offered up prayers at the Holy Sepulchre. But their piety did not soften
+their hearts. For a week they hunted down and killed the Mohammedans and
+the Jews of the city.</p>
+
+<p>At last, when weary of slaughter, the Crusaders turned their attention
+to matters concerning the safety and welfare of the city they had so
+hardly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> won. It was decided to elect a king who should remain in the
+Holy Land, and protect the city against the attacks of the infidels.
+After long consideration, prayer, and inquiry into the private character
+of the various princes, Godfrey de Bouillon was chosen as possessing in
+the highest degree the requisite qualities of virtue, piety, wisdom, and
+valor. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, before the assembled
+Crusaders, Godfrey took an oath to rule justly and to defend with his
+life the Holy City. But so great was his piety and humility that he
+refused to be crowned, saying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Never will I wear a crown of gold in the place where the Saviour of the
+world wore a crown of thorns!" Nor would he be called king, but took the
+title of "Baron and Defender of the Holy Sepulchre." Yet in history he
+is called the first King of Jerusalem, and never was there a more kingly
+man, one more fitted to wear a crown.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Scarcely had Godfrey taken the vow to defend Jerusalem when he was
+called upon to fulfill it. Tidings came that an immense army of
+Egyptians and Turks was advancing upon the city. Realizing that
+Jerusalem could not hold out if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> besieged, Godfrey wisely and boldly
+marched out to meet the enemy, though both Raymond and Robert of
+Normandy refused to go with him, affecting not to believe in the
+reported approach of the infidels. But after Godfrey's departure these
+princes yielded to the prayers of the people, and joined him at Ascalon.</p>
+
+<p>There, countless thousands of the infidels were completely crushed by
+Godfrey. He captured the sword and great standard of Afdhal, the
+Egyptian leader, and hung them up as trophies in the Church of the
+Sepulchre.</p>
+
+<p>Godfrey soon conquered many parts of the surrounding country. During his
+siege of Asur, a conquered city that had rebelled against him, Godfrey
+inspired a touching act of heroism. He was advancing to attack the city
+walls when a knight, Gerard of Avesnes, who had been left there as a
+hostage by Godfrey, was bound by the Turks to a long pole and fastened
+to the wall in such a manner that he must be killed by the weapons of
+Godfrey's men should the assault be made. When Godfrey drew near, the
+poor knight cried aloud with tears,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Godfrey, for the love of Christ, pity thy wretched friend. Alas! do not
+cause me to die in this shameful way,&mdash;like a miserable felon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> bound
+and helpless! I do not fear death, but would fain die like a true
+knight, sword in hand, on the battlefield!"</p>
+
+<p>But Godfrey, though moved to the heart by the sad plight and piteous
+appeals of Gerard, did not falter or fail in his hard duty. With tears
+in his eyes, he besought the unfortunate knight to resign himself
+bravely to the fate of a martyr.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not in my power to save thee," said he. "The city must be taken.
+If my own brother were in thy place I could not deliver him from death.
+Die, then, illustrious and brave knight, for the safety of thy brethren
+and the glory of thy Lord Jesus Christ!"</p>
+
+<p>Inspired by these noble words, Gerard found the faith to meet death with
+a splendid courage. He begged that his armor be offered up at the Holy
+Sepulchre, and that prayers be said there for the repose of his soul.
+Then bidding his friends farewell, he urged on their attack, and died
+without a murmur under a shower of darts from their hands.</p>
+
+<p>Many chiefs of the Turks visited Godfrey during this siege, and were
+surprised to find the great prince living as simply as the poorest
+soldier, without luxuries of any kind, his bed a pallet of straw. But he
+gained the respect and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> admiration of these barbarians by showing them
+his great strength and skill in arms. The fame of his valor traveled
+over the land, and many emirs came of their own accord to swear fealty
+to the ruler of Jerusalem.</p>
+
+<p>The wisdom of Godfrey was as great as his bravery. He called a council
+of the wise men of the kingdom, and with their help drew up good and
+just laws for the government of the people. Not long after these laws
+were drawn up and deposited in the Church of the Resurrection, Godfrey
+was called to the help of his friend Tancred, ruler of Galilee, who had
+been attacked by the Saracens. Godfrey quickly defeated this army, and
+was on his way back to Jerusalem when he was met by the Emir of C&aelig;sarea,
+who made him a present of some fruit. Godfrey ate only one cedar-apple,
+but was at once taken very sick, and his friends believed that he had
+been poisoned by the emir. Though suffering greatly, the stricken hero
+hastened on to his beloved city.</p>
+
+<p>On the anniversary of the taking of Jerusalem, in that Holy City so dear
+to his heart, the greatest of the Crusaders calmly passed away, and "The
+Lord received him into Paradise."</p>
+
+<p>Near the sacred tomb of his divine captain, the body of this true and
+loyal soldier of Christ was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> laid to rest. Never had he wavered in his
+devotion to the cause of his Lord. Hardships of desert and mountain,
+suffering by pestilence and famine, agonies of thirst, labors and perils
+of the battlefield,&mdash;all had failed to daunt this soldier of the Cross.
+What matter if his ideals of duty and religion seem fantastic to our
+modern minds? He gave his life for them; and so long as men admire the
+brave deeds of a fearless heart, so long as they reverence a pure and
+selfless purpose, so long will they honor the name and fame of The Great
+Crusader.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_TROUBADOUR" id="THE_TROUBADOUR"></a>THE TROUBADOUR</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Gaily the Troubadour touched his guitar,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As he was hastening home from the war,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Singing, "From Palestine hither I come,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ladye-love, ladye-love, welcome me home!"<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She for her Troubadour hopelessly wept,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sadly she thought on him whilst others slept,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sighing, "In search of thee, would I might roam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Troubadour, Troubadour, come to thy home!"<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Hark! 'twas the Troubadour breathing her name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As under the battlement softly he came,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Singing, "From Palestine hither I come,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ladye-love, ladye-love, welcome me home!"<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Old Song.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_CARRIER_DOVE" id="THE_CARRIER_DOVE"></a>THE CARRIER DOVE</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Fly away to my native land, sweet dove,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fly away to my native land,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And bear these lines to my ladye-love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That I've traced with a feeble hand.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She marvels much at my long delay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A rumor of death she hath heard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or she thinks, perhaps, that I falsely stray&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I shall miss thy visit at dawn, sweet dove,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I shall miss thy coming at eve,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But bring me a line from my ladye-love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then I shall cease to grieve.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No friend to my lattice a solace brings,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Except when your voice is heard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As you beat the bars with your snowy wings,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oh! fly to her bower and say the chain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of the tyrant is over me now,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That I never shall mount my steed again,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With helmet upon my brow.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I can bear in a dungeon to waste away youth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I can fall by the conqueror's sword,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But I cannot endure she should doubt my truth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Old Song.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_CAPTIVE_KNIGHT" id="THE_CAPTIVE_KNIGHT"></a>THE CAPTIVE KNIGHT</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Twas a trumpet's pealing sound!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the Knight looked down from the Paynim's tower;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As a Christian host, in its pride and power,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thro' the pass beneath him wound.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Cease awhile, clarion! clarion, wild and shrill!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"I knew 'twas a trumpet's note!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I see my brethren's lances gleam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And their pennons wave by the mountain stream,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And their plumes to the glad wind float.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cease awhile, clarion! clarion, wild and shrill!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"I am here with my heavy chain!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I look on a torrent sweeping by.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And an eagle rushing to the sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And a host to its battle plain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Must I pine in my fetters here?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With the wild waves' foam, and the free bird's flight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the tall spears glancing on my sight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the trumpet in my ear?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"They are gone! they have all passed by!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They in whose wars I have borne my part,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They that I loved with a brother's heart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They have left me here to die!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sound again, clarion! clarion, pour thy blast!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sound, for the captive's dream of hope is past!"<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">Felicia Hemans.<br /></span></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="RICHARD_COEUR-DE-LION" id="RICHARD_COEUR-DE-LION"></a>RICHARD C&OElig;UR-DE-LION</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p>
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Honor enough his merit brings,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He needs no alien praise<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In whose train, Glory, like a king's,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Follows through all his days.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Itinerarium Regis Ricardi.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>RICHARD C&OElig;UR-DE-LION</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p>
+<h3>(1157-1199 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>)</h3>
+
+
+<p>There was once a prince of England who was married when only five years
+old. This youthful bridegroom was Richard, the son of Henry II. and
+Eleanor of Aquitaine; and his bride was a maiden of three, Alice,
+daughter of Louis VII. of France. The ceremony was a curious one, for of
+course such babies could not really take the marriage vows. But the
+parents of the small couple made the required vows in the name of their
+children, and solemnly promised that the little prince and princess
+should marry as soon as they were old enough. Though the children were
+too young to understand the meaning of the ceremony, it was considered
+as binding upon them as if they had been a man and a woman.</p>
+
+<p>It seems strange for such babies to be married, but it was the custom in
+those days for kings to arrange marriages for the royal children in
+order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> to increase their own power and dominions, or for other reasons
+connected with the welfare of the country. Thus Henry II., by this
+marriage, obtained possession of lands in France, and the City of
+Gisors, given by Louis as a dower to Alice. The little girl and her
+lands were placed in the hands of Henry to be guarded for Richard until
+the boy should be old enough to claim his bride.</p>
+
+<p>Doubtless the tiny bride of three and her little groom played together
+happily after their marriage, with little thought of the imposing
+ceremony; for it meant nothing to them then, though destined to have sad
+consequences for both in later years. But not for long were the married
+children together. Alice was taken to England, while Richard spent most
+of his early life in France. He was destined to be duke of his mother's
+French province of Aquitaine; and it was thought best that he should be
+educated in the country of which he would be ruler.</p>
+
+<p>Richard was a sturdy, bold, and adventurous lad. He engaged in all the
+boyish sports of the day, and later in those chivalric pastimes that
+formed part of the training of a noble youth. He was taught every
+accomplishment deemed necessary for a knight,&mdash;to ride like a centaur,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+to cast a lance, to wield the sword, and to swing the battle-axe. He
+even learned to bend the great cross-bow, the weapon of the English
+peasant, and could send an arrow straight to the mark. These exercises
+were severe training for the young prince, but they developed the
+prodigious strength and skill in arms that later made him the greatest
+warrior of his age.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to these knightly accomplishments, Richard learned to read
+and write,&mdash;not such common acquirements in those days as now. From his
+brilliantly educated mother the prince inherited a taste for literature,
+poetry, and music. It was an age of poetry, and poets were held in much
+honor, influencing men to great deeds by their stirring songs. Richard
+took great delight in the songs of the troubadours of Aquitaine and
+Anjou. Several of these poets, especially Blondel de Nesle, were his
+warm friends, and taught him the arts of verse-making and music, in
+which Richard acquired admirable skill.</p>
+
+<p>In the rich land of Aquitaine, with its gay, pleasure-loving people,
+Richard was surrounded by luxury and splendor, but, alas! not by an
+atmosphere of peace or love. His mother was a frivolous woman, and his
+father, Henry, a violent-tempered, despotic, and wicked man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> The two
+did not love each other, and when together quarreled continually in the
+most violent manner. So Richard and his brothers&mdash;Henry, Geoffrey, and
+John&mdash;passed their youth in an atmosphere of strife; and all that was
+violent and contentious in their natural dispositions was fostered by
+their home life and the bad example of their parents.</p>
+
+<p>The princes quarreled among themselves, and as they grew older,
+naturally took part in the bitter disputes continually taking place
+between Henry and Eleanor. As Geoffrey once said, it was their
+inheritance <i>not</i> to love one another. The princes were all proud,
+headstrong, and selfwilled, and hence little disposed to obey their
+imperious father; and Henry, though in some ways weakly indulgent to his
+sons, was most autocratic in disposition. As his sons became young men,
+he gave them certain provinces in France to rule. But he would allow
+them no real power, and the proud young princes were determined not to
+submit to their father's authority, but to be rulers in fact as well as
+in name. So they rebelled against Henry time and again, and fierce wars
+took place between the father and his sons.</p>
+
+<p>Their mother, Eleanor, encouraged the princes in their attitude of
+rebellion against Henry, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> he had long treated her with great
+indignity. He neglected his wife for other fair ladies, and at last put
+her in prison, where she remained nearly sixteen years. This severe
+treatment of Eleanor served to enrage her sons and to alienate them
+still more from Henry; for they loved their mother dearly in spite of
+all her faults. So the strife continued in the royal family until two
+sons, Henry and Geoffrey, died while at enmity with their father. Then a
+reconciliation took place between the other members of the family; but
+it lasted only a short time.</p>
+
+<p>Richard, who was then of age, wished to claim and really marry his
+child-bride, Alice; but Henry made excuse after excuse for not giving up
+Alice to his son, though he maintained that Richard was legally bound to
+her and could not marry any other woman.</p>
+
+<p>It is said that the wicked old man had himself fallen in love with
+Alice, and intended to obtain a divorce from Eleanor and marry the young
+princess. Whether this be true or not, it is certain that Richard's
+demands to be given his bride, or else to be declared free to marry whom
+he pleased, were treated with contempt by the old king. Meanwhile the
+gallant and handsome young prince had met at the court of Navarre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> the
+Princess Berengaria, daughter of King Sancho, and had been much charmed
+by her beauty and grace; but the entanglement with Alice prevented a
+serious love affair.</p>
+
+<p>At last Richard became weary of his absurd position,&mdash;supposed to be
+married and yet without a wife.</p>
+
+<p>He appealed to the brother of Alice, Philip of France, who readily
+consented to aid him. The two demanded of Henry that he give up Alice to
+Richard, and also acknowledge him as heir to the English throne, for
+they feared that Henry purposed to leave that kingdom to John. During an
+interview between Henry and Richard, at which Philip was present,
+Richard demanded that his father recognize him, the elder son, as the
+future King of England. Henry made an evasive reply, whereupon,
+referring to the rumor that <i>John</i> would be heir to the English crown,
+Richard exclaimed passionately,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Then I am compelled to believe that which I before had believed
+impossible!" and ungirding his sword and handing it to Philip, he knelt
+to him and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"To you, Sire, I commit the protection of my rights, and to you I now do
+homage for all my father's dominions in France!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Philip accepted his homage, and gave to Richard all the cities taken
+from Henry. Naturally, that king was enraged when his son thus haughtily
+renounced allegiance to him, and war soon followed. Henry was defeated
+several times, and many of his barons left him to join the cause of
+Richard. Finally, the king was forced to make peace with his rebellious
+son on very hard conditions; and this mortified his kingly pride so
+sorely that he fell ill of grief and rage. During this sickness, he
+could think of nothing save his own defeat, and raved constantly,
+"Shame, shame on a conquered king!" When he learned that his
+best-beloved son, John, had been a party to Richard's rebellion, the
+blow was too severe for the old king's broken strength. He died of
+grief, cursing his rebellious sons with his last breath.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had the fierce but affectionate Richard heard of his father's
+death at Chinon than he was overcome with sorrow and remorse. He came to
+take leave of the king's body, but as he drew near the bier, blood
+gushed from the eyes and mouth of the dead man. Richard was
+horror-stricken, and rushed away, exclaiming,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have murdered him; his blood accuses me!"</p>
+
+<p>The repentant son caused the corpse to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> buried with due ceremony at
+Fontevraud, the ancient burial-place of the Norman kings, and he showed
+many signs of penitence for his unfilial conduct.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the unhappy old king had been laid away, Richard's thoughts
+turned to his mother, Eleanor, who had been for many years a state
+prisoner in Winchester Castle. Sending at once to England, he ordered
+that the queen be released, and appointed regent of the kingdom. Indeed,
+Richard was always a tender and dutiful son to his mother, who calls
+him, "My brave, my generous, my high-minded, my all-worthy son,
+Richard." If he were not a good son to his father also, it is some
+excuse that Henry was a most unpleasant, tyrannical man, whose treatment
+of his wife and children was not such as to beget love and dutiful
+conduct.</p>
+
+<p>After tarrying some months in France, attending to matters in his
+provinces of Anjou, Poitou, Normandy, and Aquitaine, Richard crossed
+over to England. There he was received most joyfully by his new
+subjects.</p>
+
+<p>In Westminster Abbey, on Sept. 3, 1189, his coronation took place with
+great splendor. It is the first coronation ceremony of an English king
+fully described by eye-witnesses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops, richly robed, and
+carrying the cross, holy water, and censers, led the stately procession
+that escorted the king from his palace to the Abbey. After these
+dignitaries of the Church, came four barons in court dress, bearing each
+a golden candlestick; then four earls, carrying the king's cup, the
+golden spurs, the scepter of state, and the royal rod of majesty&mdash;a mace
+adorned with a golden dove. Four great earls walked next, brandishing
+aloft their glittering swords; and behind these noblemen marched six
+more, as bearers of the royal robes and regalia. William, Earl of Essex,
+proudly carried the gold and jeweled crown immediately before Richard
+himself, who walked beneath a magnificent canopy of state, upheld by
+richly clad nobles.</p>
+
+<p>Before the brilliant assemblage of lords Richard took the solemn oath to
+be a just and righteous ruler. Then after the archbishop had anointed
+him with holy oil, shoes of golden tissue were put on the king's feet,
+the golden spurs were buckled on, and he was clad in the vestments of
+royalty and led to the high altar. There he promised to be faithful to
+his kingly oath, and was crowned with the royal diadem and given the
+scepter and rod of office.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So Richard Plantagenet became King of England. No one beholding the
+proud bearing of the new monarch would have supposed that his family
+emblem, the lowly broom-plant (<i>Planta genista</i>), from which came the
+name Plantagenet, had been adopted by an ancestor of Richard's in token
+of humility. For, in very truth, the Plantagenets were an arrogant race,
+and Richard was the proudest of his line.</p>
+
+<p>As he strode down the aisle of Westminster in all the glittering and
+jeweled splendor of his coronation robes, Richard's appearance was truly
+royal. He looked every inch a king. The people gazed with delight on his
+tall, powerful frame, graceful and strong as that of Mars himself; on
+his proudly poised head, whose red-gold curls waved beneath the jeweled
+crown; on the fair, haughty face with its square, determined jaw,
+aquiline nose, full, proud lips, and fierce, restless blue eyes.
+Heartily the multitude admired Richard's manly beauty, his lordly air;
+and with a right good-will they shouted joyously: "Long live the king!
+Long live our Richard Lionheart!"</p>
+
+<p>Before his accession to the throne, Richard had determined to go as a
+Crusader to the rescue of the Holy Land. From his mother,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> who had
+herself taken part in the Second Crusade, he had heard many stories of
+the East,&mdash;that land of wonders and marvelous adventures. Richard was by
+nature a rover, a warrior, a knight-errant. So it seemed to him a most
+delightful prospect to travel, to see strange lands and peoples, to
+fight in a holy war; and thus to indulge his own love of adventure and
+of battle while advancing the glory of God. Nay, to do him justice,
+Richard was religious too, in the strange fierce fashion of those
+days,&mdash;days when one could be pious without being good; when the warrior
+prayed and fought with equal zeal, deeming both acts of equal merit in
+the sight of heaven; when the Christian believed the slaughter of
+infidels well-pleasing to God; when the knight of the Cross was
+confident that Christ pardoned all sins to the warrior who did battle
+for His Holy Sepulchre. So Richard, though far from pious or exemplary
+in his daily life, was moved by a genuine and fervent desire to deliver
+Jerusalem from the infidels, into whose hands it had fallen again after
+its conquest by Godfrey de Bouillon.</p>
+
+<p>When all the tedious and costly preparations necessary for the Crusade
+had been completed, Richard sent his fleet around by the Strait of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
+Gibraltar. He himself crossed over to France with the troops, intending
+to march through that country to meet his ships at Marseilles, and there
+to embark for Palestine.</p>
+
+<p>At V&eacute;zelai, Richard met Philip of France, who had agreed to join him in
+the Crusade. The two kings and their great armies marched together for
+some distance, but finally separated, and proceeded southward by
+different routes,&mdash;the French to Genoa, the English to Marseilles.</p>
+
+<p>When Richard reached that seaport, he was much disappointed to find that
+the fleet had not arrived. Leaving the main body of troops there to
+await the arrival of the vessels, he procured a ship, and proceeded on
+his way by sea, sailing along the coast of France and Italy. He stopped
+at many cities, and sometimes traveled on land with only a few
+attendants, like a simple knight-errant.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the Gulf of Salernum, Richard was joined by his fleet,
+and sailed toward Messina, a coast town of Sicily, where he was to meet
+Philip. On approaching the city, Richard ordered every trumpet to be
+sounded. The people, rushing to the walls, beheld with surprise the
+great fleet of England, manned by thousands of steel-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>clad warriors, and
+flying the red cross of Saint George, the lion-emblazoned banner of
+Richard, and hundreds of gay baronial flags. The arrival is thus
+described:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"O Holy Mary, no man ever saw<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Such galleys, such dromonds, such transports before;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Rowing on, rowing on, across the deep sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Rowing on, rowing on to fair Sicily!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"What pennons and banners from the top of the spears<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To the fair winds are streaming all graceful and proud;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What a great host of warriors, whose breasts know no fears<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pace the decks, whilst the oarsmen are chanting aloud&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Row on, lads, row on, lads, across the deep sea;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Crowd the sail and row on, lads, to fair Sicily!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Hark, hark to the voice of the trumpets so clear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As they enter the harbor and make for the pier;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">See what bright gilded beaks, what finely wrought bows,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And what thousands of shields hang out on the prows.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh! such a staunch fleet never sailed on the sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As this armament anchored off fair Sicily.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And now from his trim galley, named Cut-the-Sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The proud Richard lands midst uproarious glee;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Clad in bright scale-linked mail with axe in his hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He, the chief of his hero band, paces the strand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whilst the people and warriors in wild ecstasy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shout hurrah for King Richard and fair Sicily!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Such was the brilliant spectacle of C&oelig;ur-de-Lion's arrival in Sicily.
+When Richard had landed and camped near Messina, he sent envoys at once
+to Tancred, the King of Sicily, who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> usurped the throne and
+imprisoned Richard's sister Joan, widow of the former king. These envoys
+were bidden to demand of Tancred the instant release of Joan, the
+payment of her dowry, and the delivery of a rich legacy which Richard
+asserted had been left by her husband to Henry II. This bequest included
+a gold table twelve feet long, twenty-four gold cups and saucers, a
+large silk tent, and a hundred fine galleys. On receiving King Richard's
+peremptory message, Tancred at once sent Joan to her royal brother with
+a large sum of money, but denied any knowledge of the rich legacy that
+Richard claimed.</p>
+
+<p>Now the French king had previously arrived in Sicily, and the forces of
+both kings were encamped about Messina. There was much jealousy between
+the two monarchs. Philip was envious of Richard's greater fame as a
+warrior, and Richard resented the fact that as Duke of Normandy he was a
+vassal of the French king. This feeling of ill-will extended to the
+soldiers of the two armies, hostile from birth, and gave rise to much
+quarreling and continual brawls. The French contrived to arouse in the
+people of Sicily a suspicious dread of the King of England. So when
+these natives saw Richard building and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> fortifying strongholds, they
+concluded that he intended to take possession of their island. Then
+fierce disputes arose between them and the English soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>At length, the trouble ended in an open fight; and Richard promptly
+attacked the city of Messina. Though the French sided with the natives,
+who were fifty thousand strong, "King Richard got possession of Messina
+quicker than any priest could chant matins. Aye, and many more of the
+citizens would have perished had not the King in his compassion ordered
+their lives to be spared."</p>
+
+<p>After the capture of the city, King Tancred agreed to give Richard forty
+thousand ounces of gold in lieu of all claims against him in behalf of
+Joan. Richard accepted this offer, and peace was restored. One-third of
+the money he gave to Philip, and the two kings made a new compact of
+friendship, solemnly swearing to be faithful to each other in all things
+during this Crusade.</p>
+
+<p>A period of peace followed, during which the kings and nobles amused
+themselves in various ways while awaiting a favorable season for their
+voyage to Palestine.</p>
+
+<p>One day while riding, Richard and Philip met a peasant bringing a load
+of tough canes to town. The two kings and all their knights took each a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>
+reed, and using it as a lance, began to tilt against one another.
+Richard and a French knight, William des Barres, charged each other. The
+reeds were shattered, and the headpiece of Richard was broken. Enraged
+at this mishap, the king dashed furiously on William, but his own saddle
+was upset, and he fell to the ground "quicker than he liked."</p>
+
+<p>Hastily mounting a fresh horse, Richard again attacked Des Barres, but
+could not unhorse the knight, who stuck fast to his saddle. Then the
+Earl of Leicester attempted to aid Richard, but the king cried, "Let be,
+Robert; hold off and leave us alone!" But when, after many vain efforts,
+he had failed to overthrow the stout French warrior, Richard flew into a
+terrific rage, and cried, "Get thee hence, and appear no more before me,
+for I shall be thine enemy hereafter!" Whereupon William des Barres
+withdrew in much distress of mind, and asked the intercession of the
+King of France. Not until Philip, all the bishops, and the chiefs of the
+army had repeatedly besought Richard for grace, would the mortified king
+consent to the peaceable return of the knight. So unwise is it to
+successfully combat a king!</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this episode fresh trouble arose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> between Richard and Philip.
+The King of France was brother to Alice, the betrothed bride of Richard.
+When he heard that Queen Eleanor was on her way to Sicily, bringing
+Berengaria, daughter of the King of Navarre, as a bride for the English
+king, Philip was enraged. He insisted that Richard was legally bound to
+Alice and could not marry any one else. Richard, who had been much
+charmed with Berengaria some years before while visiting her father's
+court at Pampeluna, now flatly refused to marry Alice. He accused her of
+most wicked conduct, such as rendered her unworthy to be his wife.
+Probably these charges were well founded, for Philip finally agreed, on
+certain conditions, to release Richard from the engagement with Alice.
+The French princess, then held prisoner in England by Eleanor, was to be
+returned to France, and Philip was to receive a large sum of money. An
+ecclesiastical court was then held, and it adjudged that Richard was no
+longer bound to Alice, but was free to marry as he pleased.</p>
+
+<p>These matters settled, Philip set sail for Palestine on the very day
+that Eleanor arrived with Berengaria. The two royal ladies received a
+joyful welcome from the king, who went to meet them in his gayly
+decorated galley, <i>Trenc-le-Mer</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He found Berengaria even lovelier than the young girl he had admired so
+long ago in Navarre. His heart yielded at once to the charms of the
+dark-eyed Spanish beauty, and the princess could not help loving such a
+handsome, brave, and eloquent prince; for Richard was no less ready with
+his tongue than with his sword, and won hearts as easily as battles. He
+had long before won the devotion and friendship of Berengaria's brother
+Sancho, a renowned warrior and poet; and this friendship doubtless
+commended him to Berengaria. At any rate, the betrothed pair were soon a
+pair of lovers and as happy as humbler sweethearts.</p>
+
+<p>As it was then the solemn season of Lent, they resolved to postpone the
+wedding until after Easter. Richard, however, in token of his joy, gave
+a sumptuous betrothal feast, at which he instituted a new order of
+knights, vowed to deeds of valor in the Holy Land. Queen Eleanor, after
+remaining a few days with her dearly loved daughter and son, gave
+Berengaria into the care of Queen Joan, and herself returned to England.</p>
+
+<p>Richard then made final preparations for the voyage. Before leaving, he
+gave Tancred, to whom he had become reconciled, "that best of swords,
+which the Britons call Caliburne (Ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>calibur), formerly the sword of
+Arthur, once the noble King of England."</p>
+
+<p>At length the great fleet of busses, dromonds, and galleys set sail for
+Palestine. Berengaria and Joan sailed first in a large ship under the
+care of Stephen de Turnham, and Richard embarked last on <i>Trenc-le-Mer</i>.
+Erelong a storm arose, and the fleet was dispersed. Berengaria was very
+much alarmed for her lover's safety.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"She sighed not for her own,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But King Richard's safety;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And kept crying, 'Oh! look out,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For sore is my fright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whilst the King and his galleys<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Are all out of sight!'"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Two ships escorting the vessel of the princess and Joan were wrecked on
+the coast of Cyprus. Isaac, the emperor of that island, plundered the
+ships and imprisoned the survivors. He also refused to allow the vessel
+of the royal ladies to take shelter in the harbor of Limasol (now
+Limoussa).</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, Richard's galley had taken shelter at Rhodes. As soon as the
+king learned of the straits in which the princesses were, he came to
+their aid with many war galleys. When he found them outside of the
+harbor, exposed to the violence of wind and sea, he was greatly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>
+enraged. But restraining his anger fairly well for so passionate a man,
+he sent messengers thrice to Isaac, "humbly begging him for the love of
+God and reverence for the life-giving cross" to free the captive
+Crusaders, and to restore their goods. The emperor, evidently not
+knowing with whom he had to deal, returned a haughty refusal.</p>
+
+<p>Then Richard, very wroth, called his men to arms, and said: "Follow me,
+and we will take vengeance for the wrongs which this villainous emperor
+has done to God and to us in thus unjustly keeping our pilgrims in
+chains!" Without delay the forces rowed to the shore, where Isaac had
+drawn up his army to oppose them.</p>
+
+<p>The English archers landed first, and their arrows fell upon the enemy
+"as a shower upon the grass." The doughty King Richard and his knights
+then rushed in, and quickly drove the Greeks before them like a flock of
+sheep. After Isaac's affrighted army had taken refuge in the mountains,
+he tried to make peace, but could come to no agreement with Richard, and
+fled from Limasol. The English king then stormed the town and took
+possession. Here he first used his famous battle-axe, for the old rhymer
+tells us:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">"The valiant King Richard, as I understand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Before he departed from old England,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Made an axe to slaughter that infidel band,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The Saracen dogs in the Holy Land.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The head in sooth was wondrously wrought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of steel twenty pounds, the best to be bought.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And when that he landed in Cyprus land,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He first took this terrible axe in hand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And he hewed and he hewed with such direful slaughter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That the blood flowed around him like pools of water."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>With such a valiant leader, it is small wonder that the English were
+soon masters of the whole island of Cyprus. Isaac, after making a treaty
+with Richard and immediately breaking it, was captured by the English
+king, who bound him with silver fetters, kept him in prison, and gave
+his beautiful daughter to Berengaria as an attendant.</p>
+
+<p>Ere this, Richard and Berengaria had been married with pomp and ceremony
+at Limasol, and crowned king and queen of Cyprus. The bride was simply
+attired in a white lawn dress, but wore a splendid girdle of jewels; and
+her flowing black tresses were adorned with a double crown. Richard wore
+a rose-colored tunic of satin, belted with jewels. A mantle of silk
+tissue, brocaded in silver crescents, fell from his shoulders, and on
+his head was a scarlet brocaded cap. By his side hung a Damascus blade
+in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> silver-scaled sheath. Before the king was led his beautiful
+Cyprian steed, Favelle, gorgeously caparisoned, and bitted with gold,
+the saddle adorned with two little golden lions.</p>
+
+<p>Not long after this grand ceremony, word came to Richard that Acre, a
+city of Palestine long besieged by the Crusaders already in the Holy
+Land, was about to surrender. Exclaiming, "Heaven grant that it be not
+taken before I arrive!" Richard immediately set sail for that port.</p>
+
+<p>When near Beyrout, the English fell in with a large Saracen ship, and
+after a desperate but vain attempt to board the vessel, pierced its
+sides with the iron beaks of their galleys. The ship sank, and its crew
+were slain or drowned. Among the floating bodies that covered the sea,
+were seen many deadly serpents, which the infidels "had destined to work
+havoc among the Christians" besieging Acre.</p>
+
+<p>Cheered by this victory, Richard and his men rejoiced still more when
+the walls and citadels and the great "accursed tower" of Acre came in
+sight. For long months this famous city, its walls lapped by the blue
+Mediterranean, had been girt round by a vast host of Crusaders,&mdash;"men of
+every Christian nation under heaven." Their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> camp was like an immense
+city, with streets and walls, and strong fortifications, especially on
+the landward side; for beyond this vast Christian camp, crowned by the
+high tower from which floated the great white banner of the Crusaders,
+lay a countless body of Turkish troops, swarming over the adjacent
+plains and mountain-sides. Thus the besieging Christians were themselves
+besieged.</p>
+
+<p>The tents of the infidels were gay with colored devices and the yellow
+ensigns of Islam. As Richard neared the shore, these hated emblems of
+Mohammed and the famous black standard of Saladin, Sultan of the
+Saracens, were plainly visible to him, and stirred him to deep wrath.
+His anger burned the hotter when he recalled the stories told of the
+terrible havoc wrought by these infidels on the Christian hosts
+besieging the city. Night and day these fierce warriors of Saladin
+swooped down on the Christian camp. Scores of bloody battles had taken
+place. Almost beyond belief was the suffering that had been patiently
+endured by the soldiers of the Cross. Battles, hunger, and disease had
+thinned their ranks and sorely tried their souls. No wonder they hailed
+with joy the arrival of that famous warrior, Richard C&oelig;ur-de-Lion,
+for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> they believed that he would soon lead them to victory.</p>
+
+<p>So amidst the din of drum and trumpet and clarion, and the deafening
+shouts of exultant thousands, King Richard set foot upon the Holy Land.
+And the red glare of huge bonfires and numberless torches carried the
+alarming tidings to Saladin and his army.</p>
+
+<p>The King of France and the many princes met Richard, and welcomed him in
+a manner befitting his rank and his renown as the "most skilful warrior
+among Christian men." The camp was that night a scene of rejoicing and
+merriment. "Richard C&oelig;ur-de-Lion has come; Acre will soon be ours!"
+was the universal cry.</p>
+
+<p>But, alas! the hopes built on the arrival of C&oelig;ur-de-Lion were not
+speedily realized. Richard fell ill of a fever, and could not lead the
+assault. Then Philip also became sick; so that the two kings could not
+lead their armies against the city at the same time. The feeling of
+jealousy between them also prevented united action. When one king
+undertook an assault, the other sulked in his tent. All the princes and
+leaders were at this time disputing about the rival claims of Guy de
+Lusignan and Conrade, Marquis of Montferrat, to the throne of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> the
+Kingdom of Jerusalem. Philip favored the Marquis of Montferrat, but
+Richard supported Guy de Lusignan. These disputes were made more bitter
+by the haughty bearing of the King of England, who wished to rule in
+camp and council, and treated with scant courtesy the princes who
+presumed to oppose him. So discord reigned among the leaders, and
+prevented the united action that might soon have reduced the city.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, the fighting went vigorously on. Battle after battle was
+fought on the plain between the forces of Saladin and the Crusaders;
+assault after assault was made by the Christians on the beleaguered
+city.</p>
+
+<p>Even during his illness, Richard had directed the making of
+stone-casters, slings, rams, and wooden towers for assaulting the walls
+of the besieged city. As soon as he was well enough, the king caused
+himself to be carried near the city wall and placed under the shelter of
+a kind of wooden hurdle. Seated there, he directed the movements of his
+men, who were endeavoring to undermine and carry by storm a tower of the
+fortifications.</p>
+
+<p>As his soldiers rushed to the assault, Richard shouted that he would
+give three goldpieces to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> every man who should detach a stone from the
+tower wall. So the hope of reward, as well as the love of glory, led to
+deeds of reckless daring. While some soldiers dug underground, trying to
+sap the tower foundations, others plied the stone-casters and hurled
+immense stones into the city,&mdash;at one time killing twenty Turks with a
+single huge missile. Other bands of Christians strove to tear down or
+scale the walls; while the Turks, equally valiant, strained every nerve
+to hurl them back. The Christians "climbed the half-ruined battlements
+as wild goats climb precipitous rocks, while the Saracens threw
+themselves on the besiegers like stones unloosed from the top of a
+mountain." Huge stones and Greek fire rained down on the Crusaders.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile King Richard, weak though he was, plied his great cross-bow
+vigorously and slew many Turks. One of the infidels was disporting
+himself on the wall, clad in the well-known armor of Alberic Clement,&mdash;a
+renowned and beloved Christian warrior, slain several days before by the
+Turks, after he had fought his way into the city itself. Richard sent a
+shaft through the very heart of this braggart Turk.</p>
+
+<p>Now, when the tower had been almost battered down, other warriors from
+the Christian camp<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> gathered to the assault; but the watchers on the
+city wall raised a cry of alarm, and all the Turkish warriors flew to
+arms. Then followed a fierce hand-to-hand conflict. In spite of most
+heroic efforts, the Crusaders were finally driven back. "Never," says
+the Christian chronicler, "has there been such a people for prowess in
+battle as these Turks."</p>
+
+<p>Though wroth at this repulse, Richard continued to make frequent attacks
+of the same sort, and kept his stone-casters and other engines of war
+busy night and day until the defences of the city were much weakened.
+The inhabitants, disheartened also by famine and other hardships,
+finally sent envoys to Saladin, requesting permission to surrender the
+city. After much parley about conditions, the city capitulated, and the
+two Christian kings took possession. Soon the red-cross standard of the
+Crusade, the oriflamme of Saint Denis, and the banner of Saint George
+crowned the walls of Acre. The standard of Austria was also raised by
+the Archduke Leopold; but not long did it wave. The haughty
+C&oelig;ur-de-Lion flew into a rage on seeing the ensign of a mere duke
+flying beside the banners of kings. With his own royal hands he tore
+down the offending flag, and contemptuously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> ground it beneath his royal
+heel. Nor did the outraged archduke dare to resent the insult, though he
+cherished the memory of it in his heart, and well avenged himself at a
+later day.</p>
+
+<p>The kings of France and England divided the city between them. Philip
+lodged himself in the splendid palace of the Templars,&mdash;a military order
+of Christian knights; and Richard established his court in the royal
+palace, with the two queens, Berengaria and Joan, and their ladies. Here
+for some time the kings lived in luxury and splendor, while all the
+Crusaders took their ease and rested from warfare.</p>
+
+<p>But again quarrels arose over the kingship of Jerusalem. Finally it was
+agreed among the princes that Guy de Lusignan should be recognized as
+king, and the Marquis of Montferrat as his successor to the throne.
+After this agreement, Philip fell sick, and actually suspected Richard
+of having poisoned him. Weary of battle, exhausted by sickness, and
+mortified by the knowledge that Richard's fame as a warrior far
+surpassed his own, Philip resolved to return to France. As bound by
+treaty, he requested the consent of the English king to his departure.</p>
+
+<p>"Eternal shame on him and all France if for any cause he leave the holy
+work unfinished!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> cried Richard, when the messenger of Philip had
+spoken. But finally he was persuaded to give a reluctant consent in
+these words,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let him go if his health require it, or if he cannot live without
+seeing Paris."</p>
+
+<p>So the King of France, abandoning the Crusade, gladly set sail for his
+own country; but he left a large force under the Duke of Burgundy to aid
+Richard in the conquest of Jerusalem.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Saladin had failed to carry out the terms of the surrender of Acre.
+At the time agreed upon, he had not delivered to Richard the stipulated
+sum of money, the Christian captives, or the true cross, which was in
+his possession. So the English king and the Duke of Burgundy led all
+their Saracen prisoners outside the walls of Acre and put them to death.</p>
+
+<p>After this massacre and a fierce battle with the outraged warriors of
+Saladin, who in vain attempted to prevent the execution of their kinsmen
+and friends before their very eyes, Richard and his army set out by way
+of the coast for the city of Ascalon, the fleet accompanying them.
+Saladin, frenzied with rage at the massacre before Acre, though he
+himself was partly to blame, followed Richard, with vengeance in his
+heart. At every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> favorable opportunity, the sultan attacked the
+Christians and slew all who fell into his hands.</p>
+
+<p>Never was there a more dreadful or fatal march. Countless arrows rained
+down on the soldiers from the Turks on the mountain heights. The
+scorching sun of Syria blazed upon their weary bodies by day, and deadly
+tarantulas poisoned them by night. Ever and anon the Turks, mounted on
+horses swifter than swallows, swooped down on the struggling ranks of
+Christians and wrought bloody havoc among them, escaping vengeance by
+the speed of their steeds. Thus tormented and harassed, it is little
+wonder that when encamped at night, the distressed Crusaders should all
+join with tears and groans and heart-felt fervor in the thrice-repeated
+evening cry of the heralds: "Help us, O Holy Sepulchre!" Sorely did they
+need divine help.</p>
+
+<p>King Richard did all that valor and kindness could prompt for the
+protection and aid of his people. He led the van and was ever in the
+front of every fight, heedless of danger. In one of these battles he was
+painfully wounded. In another combat that French knight, William des
+Barres, who had incurred the king's displeasure at Messina,
+distinguished himself so greatly by his valor that he was fully restored
+to the favor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> and friendship of Richard. The king caused the pilgrims
+who fell from exhaustion or wounds to be carried to the ships and thus
+saved from death at the hands of Saladin.</p>
+
+<p>When the exhausted Crusaders reached the plain of Arsur, Saladin, with a
+vast host of Saracens, hemmed in and attacked the Christian army. Never
+was there a more terrible battle. All day it raged, so furiously that
+the old chronicler confesses that "in the stress and bitter peril of
+that day, there was not one who did not wish himself safe at home with
+his pilgrimage finished." At one time the Hospitallers who were
+defending the rear, and who had been forbidden by Richard to charge the
+enemy, were so harassed by the Turks that they sent and besought the
+king's permission to attack the Saracens. But he forbade the move,
+commanding them to close their lines and wait in patience. Finally these
+tormented knights, stuck full of arrows, beaten with mallets, pierced by
+lances, crushed by maces, became frenzied with rage and shame at their
+inaction. They cried aloud, "Alas! we shall be convicted of cowardly
+sloth and disgraced forevermore!" Then, suddenly, exasperated beyond
+endurance, they faced about, and with a loud shout, "Holy Sepulchre aid
+us!" charged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> furiously into the midst of the infidels. Hundreds they
+slew, but their disobedient act threw the entire army into confusion.</p>
+
+<p>C&oelig;ur-de-Lion, seeing this, put spurs to Favelle and galloped into the
+ranks of the Hospitallers. Then he bore down upon the Turks, "thundering
+against them, and mightily astonishing them by the blows that he dealt."
+Right and left they fell. Pressing on furiously and alone, Richard cut a
+wide path for himself through the Turkish ranks, brandishing his sword
+and mowing them down like grass before the sickle. For half a mile the
+ground was strewn with the bodies of those who dared to oppose the
+irresistible warrior. At last the terrified Turks fled in every
+direction before the attack of Richard. In vain Saladin strove to rally
+the Saracens. In vain his brazen kettle-drums and trumpets called to the
+flying infidels. The battle was lost, and the defeated sultan sadly
+retreated before the exultant Christians.</p>
+
+<p>After this famous victory, Richard marched to Jaffa, where the army
+encamped in a fair olive orchard, and there abode some time in peace and
+plenty. Richard sailed to Acre, where he stirred up slothful pilgrims
+and entreated them to join his army at Jaffa for the march to Jerusalem.
+On his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> return, he brought with him Queen Berengaria and Joan. While
+waiting for recruits to the army, Richard occupied his time in
+excursions around Jaffa, and met with many romantic adventures.</p>
+
+<p>One day he rode out with his falcons and a few knights to hunt, and also
+to spy on the Turks. When tired out by the chase, he lay down in the
+shade and fell asleep. Some Turks, hearing that he was thus off guard,
+rode swiftly up, hoping to take the dreaded king prisoner. Richard and
+his knights, roused by the noise of the hoof-beats, had barely time to
+mount their horses when the Turks were upon them. C&oelig;ur-de-Lion and
+his comrades met the attack fiercely; and the Turks, making a pretence
+of flight, drew the little band into an ambush, where it was surrounded
+by a great number of the infidels. Richard, in spite of his prowess,
+would certainly have been taken prisoner, had not one of his comrades,
+William de Pr&eacute;aux, called out, "I am the king; save my life!" The
+Saracens, knowing no better, quickly seized the generous knight and
+galloped off, thinking they had captured King Richard. The king, thus
+saved, returned to his camp, where he found the army in great distress
+over his reported capture.</p>
+
+<p>Every effort was made to rescue William de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> Pr&eacute;aux, but in vain, and
+there was universal sorrow for the knight who had purchased the safety
+of the king by the sacrifice of his own freedom and the risk of his own
+life. "O fealty worthy of all renown! O rare devotion! that a man should
+willingly subject himself to danger to save another!" exclaims the
+chronicler. Surely there must have been much that was fine and lovable
+in the character of a king who called forth such rare devotion in a
+follower,&mdash;one who was not a vassal of his own.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as possible, the grateful Richard ransomed his friend by
+exchanging ten noble Turkish captives for the brave French knight.</p>
+
+<p>The king's friends now tried to persuade him to be more prudent and not
+to expose himself so rashly to danger. But C&oelig;ur-de-Lion delighted in
+danger, rejoiced to be first in onset and last in retreat. He loved to
+make the most perilous sallies against the Turks with but a few of his
+followers, and whether "by reason of his valor or the divine aid," he
+usually succeeded in capturing or slaying the infidels.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Richard was in communication with Saladin, trying to persuade
+the sultan to deliver Jerusalem to the Christians. Saladin steadfastly
+refused to surrender the city, but the two kings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> became friendly, and
+frequently sent each other rich gifts. Though they had a sincere
+admiration for each other, strange to relate, these warring kings never
+met. Though often opposed in battle, a meeting did not take place on any
+field; perhaps because Saladin, though personally brave, did not
+consider it the province of a king to fight in person, as did Richard.
+This Saracen sultan was a wise, just, and humane ruler,&mdash;a most
+admirable character, and much loved throughout his vast empire, an
+empire stretching from the Nile to the Tigris.</p>
+
+<p>His brother Saphadin (Saf-ad-Din), a famous warrior, came often to visit
+Richard, who became very fond of him. The English king proposed to
+Saladin that Saphadin should marry Queen Joan, and the two be made
+sovereigns of Jerusalem. But this projected union of heathen and
+Christian was detestable to both nations, and the plan served only to
+bring reproach on Richard, who was much blamed for his friendly dealings
+with the unbelievers. All negotiations with Saladin came to nothing, and
+Richard finally marched on toward Jerusalem, which had meanwhile been
+strongly fortified by the sultan. When the army had reached B&ecirc;it-Nuba,
+about twelve miles from the Holy City, a council of the chief men
+decided that it would be neither prudent to besiege Jeru<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>salem at that
+time nor possible to take it. The army was smitten with grief at this
+decision, and it was a sad host that marched back to Ascalon.</p>
+
+<p>This city had been destroyed by Saladin, and the English king thought it
+necessary to rebuild the town as a base of supplies for his army when
+the siege of Jerusalem should be undertaken. Richard and his nobles
+worked with their own hands at rebuilding the walls. But many of the
+French, unwilling to labor thus in menial fashion, left the army and
+went off to Acre. Leopold, Archduke of Austria, refused to join in the
+labor, and when reproached by Richard, replied sulkily, "I am not the
+son of a mason." Richard, justly incensed, abused him in no gentle
+terms, and even went so far as to strike the titled shirker. Whereupon
+the archduke straightway left the camp and hied him back to his own
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Other bitter disputes broke out among the chiefs, and actual fighting
+took place between the troops of different countries. Conrade of
+Montferrat and Richard fell out again, and the marquis left the camp and
+entered into a secret treaty with Saladin, who agreed to aid him in his
+schemes of conquest.</p>
+
+<p>Now, Richard, hearing that his brother John<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> was conspiring against him,
+thought at first that he must return to England. It was necessary to
+have a leader in Richard's stead, and the council of chiefs elected
+Conrade to be chief of the armies, and also declared him King of
+Jerusalem. Richard consented to this choice, though he had no love for
+Conrade. But shortly afterwards, ere the coronation could take place,
+the marquis was murdered in the streets of Tyre. It is most probable
+that he fell a victim to the hatred of "The Old Man of the Mountains."
+This mysterious and dreaded personage was Sinan, the chief of a strange
+and fanatical sect of robbers and murderers, called the Ismaelians. He
+had many castles and strongholds in the mountains of Syria, and his very
+name struck terror to the hearts of its inhabitants. For this Sinan held
+despotic rule over his followers, and at his slightest word they were
+ready to kill themselves or any one else. He was accustomed to send
+these deluded disciples of his to assassinate any person who displeased
+him, promising paradise to the murderers in reward for their deed.</p>
+
+<p>This Sinan sent two of the assassins to murder Conrade, who had seized
+goods from one of his followers. But some of the friends of the marquis
+accused Richard of the infamous deed,&mdash;as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> if the bold King of England
+would have stooped to rid himself of an enemy in that cowardly way. The
+suspicion, though without any foundation, strengthened the enmity that
+many of the chiefs felt for the English king, because of his
+haughtiness.</p>
+
+<p>When at last Richard had led them within a few leagues of Jerusalem the
+second time, disputes arose about the advisability of then attacking the
+Holy City. Many of the princes did not wish Richard to have the glory of
+the conquest. Finally, the council of twenty knights, to which the
+matter was referred, decided that the siege should not be attempted at
+that time. So the order was given to retreat. It was sadly obeyed by the
+soldiers, who groaned and wept at giving up their cherished hopes of
+visiting the Holy Sepulchre.</p>
+
+<p>One of these pilgrims, while the army was near Jerusalem, reached the
+summit of a hill, and called to Richard in much excitement, "Sire, sire,
+come hither and I will show you Jerusalem!" But the king, casting his
+coat-of-arms before his eyes, wept as he cried out, "Fair Lord God, I
+pray Thee not to let me see Thy Holy City, if so be that I may not
+deliver it out of the hands of Thine enemies."</p>
+
+<p>As sadly grieved as their king at thus leaving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> the Holy City in infidel
+hands, the army marched despondently back to Jaffa, and thence to Acre,
+the French and English mutually accusing each other of having been the
+cause of the failure to take Jerusalem. The Duke of Burgundy vented his
+spite by composing a scurrilous song about Richard, which was sung in
+the French camp. The King of England, much annoyed, revenged himself in
+a similar manner by writing a few stinging lines, in which he answered
+these "<i>trumped-up scandals</i> with a few plain truths" about the duke and
+his other enemies. The singing of these princely satires did not add to
+the harmony of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>When Richard reached Acre, he began to make preparations to return to
+England, for John was again conspiring to seize the throne. As the king
+was about to embark, envoys came in great haste, and besought him to
+come to the relief of Jaffa. They related that the town had been taken
+by Saladin, and that only the citadel yet held out. The king cut short
+the entreaties of the messenger by exclaiming, "God yet lives, and with
+His guidance I will set out to do what I can."</p>
+
+<p>The French refused to go with him, but some noble knights started to the
+rescue by land, while the king and a few chosen comrades set out by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+sea. When the galleys reached Jaffa, the Turks, by thousands, swarmed to
+the shore, ready to destroy all who should attempt to land. The king's
+friends said to him, "It will be vain to attempt a landing in the face
+of so many enemies." But when a fugitive priest, leaping from the wall,
+swam to the galley and told Richard that some of his fellow-Christians
+were still alive and holding the citadel, C&oelig;ur-de-Lion exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Then, even though it please God, in whose service I come hither, that
+we should die here with our brethren, let him perish who will not go
+forward with me." So saying, the king, with a shout of "Saint George!
+Saint George!" leaped from his red galley into the water, with shield
+hung round his neck and huge battle-axe in hand. Unheeding the countless
+darts of the enemy, he gained the beach, followed by a few faithful
+knights. There the redoubtable Richard actually put to flight the
+thousands of Turks, dashed into the town, rescued the citadel, and drove
+every infidel out of the gates of Jaffa.</p>
+
+<p>The story seems incredible, but it is true.</p>
+
+<p>Next day the generous Saladin, hearing that Richard had no horse,
+exclaimed, "It is a disgrace that so great a king should lack a steed!"
+So he sent one of his men with a charger to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> Richard. The king accepted
+the gift and bade one of his men mount the beautiful Arabian.
+Immediately the spirited steed took the bit between its teeth and
+galloped back to the Saracen camp. "Right shamefaced was Saladin when
+the horse returned," for he knew that some would suspect him of trying
+to entrap Richard. He sent another horse to the king, and many apologies
+for the bad behavior of the first. Richard, incapable of treachery
+himself, had no suspicion of Saladin's good faith. He thanked the
+messenger, and to show his confidence in the sultan, at once mounted and
+rode the horse.</p>
+
+<p>A few days afterwards, a large body of Turks unexpectedly attacked
+Richard, who was encamped outside the walls of Jaffa with only fifteen
+knights and a few thousand foot-soldiers. It was early morning, and a
+soldier flew to Richard's tent, crying, "O king, we are dead men!"</p>
+
+<p>"Silence," ordered the suddenly aroused king, "or I will kill you!"
+Richard and his knights, throwing on their armor, mounted their horses
+amid a shower of arrows from the Saracens. Hurriedly the king posted his
+men to receive the attack. While doing this, he exhorted them to courage
+with many brave words.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold out stubbornly," he cried. "It is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> duty of brave men to
+triumph bravely or to die gloriously! Death threatens, but if it come,
+let us receive martyrdom with a thankful mind. But before we die we will
+take vengeance, and yield God thanks for granting us the martyr's death!
+This is the true reward of our toils,&mdash;the end at once of life and
+battles!"</p>
+
+<p>Then this heroic Richard, grasping his lance, rode <i>alone</i> across the
+whole front of the enemies' lines, defying them to combat; and not one
+dared to do battle with him single-handed. But they set his armor as
+thick with javelins as "a hedgehog with bristles," and his horse was
+soon covered with innumerable arrows sticking to its harness. The Turks,
+charging the little band of Christians, fought with desperate bravery.
+They made many attempts to slay Richard, ever pressing on by scores
+toward his lion-emblazoned banner. But the "incredible valor" and
+strength of the king not only preserved his own life, but won the
+battle. After hours of conflict, Richard put the Turks to flight.</p>
+
+<p>Now, these Saracens had boasted to Saladin that they would bring him the
+captured King of England. After the battle, when they had fled before
+Richard, the sultan mockingly inquired of these warriors,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Where are those who are bringing me Melek (King) Richard as my
+prisoner? Who was first to seize him? Where is he, I say, and why is he
+not brought before me?"</p>
+
+<p>The shamefaced Turks were silent at this mockery, until one plucked up
+the courage to reply thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Know, O king, for a surety, that this Melek of whom you speak is not
+like other men. Truly, we tried hard to capture him, but all in vain,
+for no one can bear the brunt of his sword unharmed; his onset is
+terrible, and it is death to encounter him. His deeds are more than
+human."</p>
+
+<p>Though unharmed in this battle, as in so many others, the heroic Richard
+was soon after laid low by an attack of fever. He grew steadily worse,
+and despairing of recovery in the unwholesome air of Jaffa, determined
+to leave the city. But the other chiefs refused to try to hold the town
+if he should depart. So Richard, not able to fight, was compelled to
+make a truce of three years with Saladin. The conditions were that
+Ascalon should be abandoned, and Jaffa remain in the possession of the
+Christians, who were also to be allowed free access to Jerusalem and the
+Holy Sepulchre without payment, and without hindrance from the
+infidels.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When this treaty had been concluded, and Richard had recovered, he held
+a magnificent tournament at Acre, in celebration of peace. This festival
+was attended by many Turks, as well as by Christian knights.</p>
+
+<p>His preparations having been completed, Richard set sail from Acre in
+October, 1192, having sent the queens ahead in another vessel. As the
+shore of Palestine faded from his sight, Richard prayed: "O Holy Land,
+to God I commend thee. May He of his mercy only grant me such space of
+life that by His good-will I may yet bring thee aid. For it is my hope
+and intention to bring thee aid at some future day!"</p>
+
+<p>Long did the memory of the king thus bidding farewell to the Holy Land
+linger in the memory of its people. A hundred years afterwards, the
+Saracen mother frightened her child into silence by the words, "Hush,
+King Richard is coming!" And if a horse started aside, the rider would
+cry, "What! is the King of England in front of thee?"</p>
+
+<p>Perils of battle and sickness had been escaped, but greater dangers were
+in store for the returning Crusader. After being tempest-tossed for
+weeks, the vessel of Richard was wrecked on the Adriatic coast. Knowing
+that the Archduke<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> of Austria had good reason to hate him, Richard tried
+to make his way through that country in the disguise of a Templar.</p>
+
+<p>After many adventures, he stopped at an inn near Vienna, and sent his
+only attendant, a young boy, to the market to buy provisions. The youth,
+in paying, displayed so much money and bore himself so haughtily that he
+was arrested. But on telling the magistrate that he was the servant of a
+rich merchant, who would not arrive in the city until three days later,
+the boy was set free. Returning secretly to the king's retreat, the
+youth told of his misadventure, and begged the king to flee. But the
+rash Richard, weary and exhausted, decided to risk remaining a few days
+longer.</p>
+
+<p>The lad, while visiting the market again, was imprudent enough to carry
+under his belt the fine embroidered gloves of his master. Knowing these
+gloves could not belong to a merchant, the suspicious magistrates seized
+the boy again, and after torturing him, threatened to cut out his tongue
+unless he revealed his master's name. On learning the truth from the
+frightened lad, they informed the archduke, who sent soldiers to
+surround the inn. When the troopers questioned the landlord, he said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 395px;">
+<img src="images/img.gs04.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;There for months he was kept a close prisoner, loaded
+with chains&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"There is no one here except a poor Templar, who is now in the kitchen
+turning the spit for the cook." Going into the kitchen, the soldiers saw
+the Templar sitting before the fire, industriously turning a fowl on the
+spit. But one of the soldiers who had been in the Holy Land knew
+Richard, and he shouted, "That is the king; seize him!" Richard sprang
+up, and using the spit for a weapon, defended himself valiantly; but he
+was overcome by numbers, and carried prisoner to the castle of
+Tyernstern. There for months he was kept a close prisoner, loaded with
+chains. The archduke then gave him up to the German emperor, who
+imprisoned him at Trifels.</p>
+
+<p>For a long time no one except his jailers knew where the King of England
+was. Berengaria, who had seen a jeweled belt of Richard's on sale at
+Rome, knew that some misfortune had happened to him, and she and his
+mother, Eleanor, were wild with anxiety.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>Finally, Blondel de Nesle, the minstrel friend, who had been with
+Richard on the Crusade, journeyed through Germany, looking for his lost
+king. One day, beneath the walls of a castle where he had heard that a
+prisoner of rank was held captive, Blondel halted and sang a verse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> of
+a song that he and Richard had composed together:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Your beauty, ladye faire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">None views without delight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But still so cold an air<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No passion can excite;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet this I patient see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While <i>all</i> are shunned like me."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Instantly the king's well-known voice took up the strain and sang the
+next stanza:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"No nymph my heart can wound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If favor she divide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And smile on all around,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unwilling to decide;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'd rather hatred bear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Than love with others share!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Then the overjoyed Blondel hastened back to England, and told the queen
+and people of Richard's sad plight and his place of imprisonment.</p>
+
+<p>Berengaria and Eleanor immediately besought the emperor to release
+Richard, and also implored the intercession of the Pope and the
+sovereigns of Europe. The emperor was at last compelled to bring Richard
+before the council of the empire. To these princes and lords he accused
+the king of many crimes, among them the murder of Conrade. Richard
+defended himself with so much force and eloquence that these groundless
+charges<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> were dropped; but the emperor still refused to liberate his
+prisoner, except upon payment of a ransom of one hundred and fifty
+thousand marks,&mdash;nearly a million dollars.</p>
+
+<p>The people of England, who loved their heroic king, gladly raised this
+large sum; and in 1194, Eleanor journeyed to Germany, paid the ransom,
+and had the happiness of seeing her son set at liberty. She accompanied
+her beloved Richard to England, where he was received most joyfully.
+After being crowned again in Westminster, the king made a royal progress
+through the kingdom. Those nobles who had joined in the rebellion of
+John were called to account; but on profession of repentance, all were
+generously pardoned. Richard then set out for Normandy to subdue John,
+who had fled to that country on receiving King Philip's warning message
+after Richard's release, "Look to yourself; the Devil is unchained."</p>
+
+<p>But the craven John dared not battle against C&oelig;ur-de-Lion. He came to
+meet Richard, and, falling at his feet, implored pardon. The king,
+stretching out his hand to the penitent, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Arise, John, I forgive thee; and may I forget thy misdeeds as quickly
+as thou wilt my pardon."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now, Richard fell in with evil companions in Anjou and lived a very
+dissipated life. But at length some good priests moved him to
+repentance, and he forsook his evil ways and joined his good Queen
+Berengaria, whom he had not seen since his release, though she was at
+Poictiers. Berengaria readily forgave his neglect, and, if we may
+believe a friendly chronicler, Richard was ever afterwards faithful and
+kind to her.</p>
+
+<p>The ill-will that had always existed between Richard and the King of
+France now led to constant petty wars between them. To secure his Norman
+province, Richard built on its border a splendid fortress, which he
+called his Ch&acirc;teau Gaillard,&mdash;"Saucy Castle." Amazed and enraged at the
+wonderful strength of this stronghold, perched on a rocky mount five
+hundred feet high, the French king exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I would take it if its walls were of iron!"</p>
+
+<p>Richard, with all of his old insolence, retorted, "And I would hold it,
+were its walls of butter!"</p>
+
+<p>But the final struggle that both kings were planning never took place.</p>
+
+<p>Richard, who was in much need of money for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> his army, heard that a
+vassal of his had found a hidden treasure of great value, including
+twelve gold knights seated around a golden table. This Vidomar, Lord of
+Chaluz, when Richard demanded that, according to law, he share the
+treasure with his lord the king, replied that nothing had been found
+except a pot of ancient coins. The king did not believe this story, and
+set siege to the castle of Chaluz, determined to obtain the golden
+knights. There Richard was struck down by an arrow from the bow of
+Bertrand de Gourdan, a nobleman of Poictiers. The wound proved to be a
+mortal one. The king, when assured that he was dying, sent for Bertrand,
+for the castle had meanwhile been taken and the knight captured.</p>
+
+<p>"Wretch," said the dying king, "what have I done to thee that thou
+shouldst attempt my life?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thou hast had my father and two brothers put to death, and hast
+threatened to slay me," replied the undaunted youth. The prostrate king,
+looking at him in silence a moment, said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I forgive thee." Then turning to his captain, Richard added, "Let his
+chains be removed, set him free, and give him a hundred shillings."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This act of noble forgiveness was the last deed of the erring but
+great-hearted king.</p>
+
+<p>The death so often defied on the battlefield, Richard met calmly, with
+the courage that had never failed him in life,&mdash;that splendid courage
+which won for him the heroic title of Lionheart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="RICHARDS_LAMENT" id="RICHARDS_LAMENT"></a>RICHARD'S LAMENT</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">No captive knight, whom chains confine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Can tell his fate and not repine;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet with a song he cheers the gloom<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That hangs around his living tomb.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shame to his friends!&mdash;the king remains<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Two years unransomed and in chains.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Now let them know, my brave barons,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My English, Normans, and Gascons,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not one liege-man so poor have I,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That I would not his freedom buy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'll not reproach their noble line,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though chains and dungeon still are mine.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The dead,&mdash;nor friends nor kin have they!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor friends nor kin my ransom pay!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My wrongs afflict me&mdash;yet far more<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For faithless friends my heart is sore.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh, what a blot upon their name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If I should perish thus in shame!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Nor is it strange I suffer pain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When sacred oaths are thus made vain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And when the king with bloody hands<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Spreads war and pillage through my lands.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One only solace now remains&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I soon shall burst these servile chains.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ye troubadours and friends of mine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brave Chail and noble Pensauvine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Go tell my rivals, in your song,</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a><br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This heart hath never done them wrong.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He infamy&mdash;not glory&mdash;gains,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who strikes a monarch in his chains!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Written by Richard I. while prisoner in Germany.</i><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">(<i>From</i> <span class="smcap">Spofford's</span> <i>Library of Historic</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Character and Famous Events</i>.)<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="THE_LAST_CRUSADER" id="THE_LAST_CRUSADER"></a>THE LAST CRUSADER</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Slowly The Last Crusader eyed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The towers, the mount, the stream, the plain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thought of those whose blood had dyed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The earth with crimson streams in vain!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">He thought of that sublime array,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The hosts, that over land and deep<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The hermit marshall'd on their way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To see those towers, and halt to weep!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Resign'd the loved, familiar lands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O'er burning wastes the cross to bear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And rescue from the Paynim's hands<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No empire save a sepulchre!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And vain the hope, and vain the loss,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And vain the famine and the strife;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In vain the faith that bore the cross,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The valour prodigal of life.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And vain was Richard's lion-soul,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And guileless Godfrey's patient mind&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like waves on shore, they reach'd the goal,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To die, and leave no trace behind!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"O God!" The Last Crusader cried,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"And art Thou careless of Thine own?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For us Thy Son in Salem died,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Salem is the scoffer's throne!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And shall we leave, from age to age,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To godless hands the holy tomb?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Against Thy saints the heathen rage&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Launch forth Thy lightnings, and consume!"</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Swift as he spoke, before his sight<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A form flashed, white-robed, from above;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All Heaven was in those looks of light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But Heaven, whose native air is love.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Alas!" the solemn vision said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"<i>Thy</i> God is of the shield and spear&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To bless the quick and raise the dead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Saviour-God descended here!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Ah! know'st thou not the very name<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Salem bids thy carnage cease&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A symbol in itself to claim<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">God's people to a house of peace!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Ask not the Father to reward<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The hearts that seek, through blood, the Son;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O warrior! never by the sword<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Saviour's Holy Land is won."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">Edward Bulwer Lytton<br /></span></span>
+</div></div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Deep is the bliss of the belted knight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When he kisses at dawn the silken glove,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And goes, in his glittering armour dight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To shiver a lance for his ladye-love!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Lightly he couches the beaming spear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His mistress sits with her maidens by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Watching the speed of his swift career<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With a whispered prayer, and a murmured sigh.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">Winthrop Mackworth Praed<br /></span></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><br /><br /><a name="THE_CHEVALIER_BAYARD" id="THE_CHEVALIER_BAYARD"></a>THE CHEVALIER BAYARD</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"<i>The Adopted Son of Dame Courtesy</i>"<br /></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;"><i>and</i><br /></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"<i>Le Chevalier sans Peur et sans Reproche.</i>"<br /></span>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>"Bayard was perhaps the only hero of the middle ages who deserved the
+unmingled praise and admiration bestowed upon him. Simple, modest, a
+sterling friend and tender lover, pious, humane, and magnanimous, he
+held together in rare symmetrical union the whole circle of the
+virtues."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span><br /><br /></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>THE CHEVALIER BAYARD</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p>
+<h3>PIERRE BAYARD DE TERRAIL (1476-1523 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>)</h3>
+
+
+<p>In the reign of Louis XI. there was born in southern France a little
+dark-eyed boy who was destined to be known in all subsequent ages and in
+all climes as "the knight without fear and without reproach." Pierre
+Bayard de Terrail was his real name, but in song and story and history
+we know him as "The Chevalier Bayard."</p>
+
+<p>Bayard was of gentle birth, and had the good fortune to be descended
+from a long line of valiant gentlemen who ever held king and country
+dearer than self, and honor a thing to die for. He also had a good and
+pious mother. If to his knightly forefathers he owed his fearlessness,
+it is an everlasting monument to his mother's influence that he lived
+without reproach.</p>
+
+<p>He first saw the light in the beautiful Ch&acirc;teau Bayard, in Dauphiny.
+Here he spent his boy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>hood much as other little boys of his time spent
+theirs, and soon developed into a sturdy youth.</p>
+
+<p>When Bayard attained his fourteenth year, his father, then nearing
+death, called his children around him, and asked each what profession he
+wished to choose. The eldest boy spoke first, and said that he preferred
+to remain on his father's estates, leading the life of a quiet country
+gentleman. But the young Pierre was more ambitious. When it came his
+turn to speak, he told his father that there was nothing he so much
+desired as to become a soldier and a knight, and to win glory and honor
+to the name already made illustrious by his noble ancestors.</p>
+
+<p>His father was much pleased with Pierre's choice, and answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My son, thou art already very like thy noble grandfather, and I am
+rejoiced that thou shouldst choose to follow in his footsteps. I shall
+try immediately to place thee as page in the house of some prince, where
+thou canst be in training for knighthood."</p>
+
+<p>The father lost no time in fulfilling his promise. The very next day he
+sent for his brother-in-law, the Bishop of Grenoble, to ask his advice
+about Pierre.</p>
+
+<p>The good bishop came, attended by many noble<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> knights, and a great
+banquet was prepared in his honor.</p>
+
+<p>Now, in days of chivalry, a boy's dress and manners were considered of
+no slight importance. Indeed, most of his early training was especially
+designed to give him ease and grace in the company of great ladies and
+gentlemen. As may be easily imagined, the little Pierre's education had
+not been neglected. He did not fail to array himself in a manner
+befitting the occasion; and at the banquet he served his father's guests
+with so much modesty and grace that he drew forth praise from all the
+company.</p>
+
+<p>The gratified father then told them of Pierre's ambition to become a
+knight, and asked their advice about his education.</p>
+
+<p>Each gave his friendly counsel, and then the Bishop of Grenoble said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Brother, the good Duke of Savoy, who hath ever been friendly to our
+house, will be at Chamb&eacute;ry to-morrow; and if it please thee, I will ride
+thither with my nephew and present him as page to his Grace. I will also
+take pleasure in equipping the lad properly, so be at no expense."</p>
+
+<p>Amid the applause of the company, Aymond Terrail presented his son to
+the good bishop, and said with tears in his eyes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I give him into thy hands, and pray God that wherever thou place him,
+he may do thee honor."</p>
+
+<p>The bishop, true to his promise, provided his nephew with an outfit, and
+gave him a well-caparisoned horse. Then they made ready to go to
+Chamb&eacute;ry to meet the Duke of Savoy.</p>
+
+<p>It was with no little interest that the bishop and his friends watched
+the young page mount his new steed, for it was a mettlesome one, and
+used only to a man's weight. When Pierre bounded into the saddle, the
+horse reared and plunged; but the boy kept his seat, and soon, with the
+aid of bit and spur, had the animal under complete control. The guests
+praised him greatly, and his father asked him if he felt no fear.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope," answered the young Pierre, "by God's help, to manage my horse
+among the enemies of the prince I am going to serve."</p>
+
+<p>Then he bade farewell to father and mother and to home and childhood,
+and went forth to enter upon a chivalric career.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at Chamb&eacute;ry, the bishop and his company were graciously received
+by the Duke of Savoy. The duke maintained a brilliant court, and was
+always the faithful ally of France. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> invited the uncle and nephew to
+dine with him, and again Pierre's graceful manners commended him to the
+notice of his elders. The duke was gracious enough to notice him
+especially, and asked who the boy was.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," said the bishop, "it is my nephew, Pierre de Terrail, whom I have
+brought to present to thee if thou shouldst like to have his services."</p>
+
+<p>"I accept him at once," answered the duke. "I should indeed be hard to
+please if I declined such a gift."</p>
+
+<p>So it was that Pierre became attached to the household of Savoy. He
+remained in the duke's service for some time, and easily surpassed his
+fellow pages in all the knightly exercises in which they were being
+trained. Yet with all his prowess he was so modest and so manly that he
+excited no envy among his companions, and the duke and duchess came to
+love him as if he were their own son.</p>
+
+<p>Pierre's chivalric traits won to him the hearts of his fellows and his
+patrons; but it was perhaps his personal beauty and his charm of manner
+that went furthest toward winning him yet another love&mdash;a love that he
+valued more than all others. There was in the train of the good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> duchess
+a little maid of honor, whose heart soon went out to the handsome youth.
+At service in the same palace, the two saw much of each other, and soon
+Pierre had no eyes for any maid but this one.</p>
+
+<p>The little coquette did not fail to make Pierre quite miserable by
+repelling his attentions for a time, when she saw that she had won him;
+but at length, one day, while not in waiting on her mistress, she was
+captured by the little page, and made to listen to the story of his
+love.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to make myself a great knight some day," he declared with
+the pride and faith of youth, "and then I am coming back for thee, and
+we shall be married."</p>
+
+<p>"Alas," cried the damsel, now quite as earnest as he, "thou art of an
+illustrious house, and canst marry some great lady who can advance thee
+in the world. I am but a poor maid, and if I accept thy love, I destroy
+thy hopes."</p>
+
+<p>"What care I for that?" cried the impatient lover. "The question is,
+dost thou <i>love</i> me."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall not give thee up," he declared, "and I shall tell the
+duchess all about it."</p>
+
+<p>The maid was more worldly wise than he,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> however, and insisted that for
+the time they should be only friends. Shortly after this a change took
+place in Pierre's affairs,&mdash;a change which was to separate him for years
+from the maid he loved.</p>
+
+<p>The young page had been with the house of Savoy only six months when it
+pleased the duke to pay a visit to King Charles VIII. of France. The
+king had moved his court to Lyons&mdash;a beautiful city in southeastern
+France&mdash;and was holding high revel there. When Charles heard of the
+approach of his friend and ally, the Duke of Savoy, he sent the Count of
+Ligny with a number of attendants to meet him. These met the duke at a
+place about two leagues from Lyons, and welcomed him heartily in the
+name of the King of France.</p>
+
+<p>Now Pierre was in close attendance on his master, and the Count of Ligny
+at once noticed him and remarked to the duke on his good horsemanship.</p>
+
+<p>The duke, much pleased, explained who the boy was, and then called out
+to him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Spur, Bayard, spur!"</p>
+
+<p>Without waiting for explanations, Bayard obeyed his master, returning
+from his run with his horse completely under control. Afterwards,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+Pierre's fine horsemanship won for him the nickname "Piquet"&mdash;a spur.</p>
+
+<p>The count was surprised and charmed, and told the duke that the King of
+France would be glad to have the boy in his service.</p>
+
+<p>Through the influence of Ligny, the youth was brought to the notice of
+King Charles; and the king was so charmed with his manners and his
+horsemanship that he at once persuaded the Duke of Savoy to permit the
+boy to be transferred to the royal service.</p>
+
+<p>The good duke granted the king's request, for he knew it would be a
+great advancement for the lad; and Pierre was placed under the Count of
+Ligny for training.</p>
+
+<p>Though Pierre loved the Duke of Savoy, he was very glad of this change
+in his own fortunes; for he had all the romantic devotion to king and
+country that chivalry was wont to implant in the hearts of men, and he
+was first, last, and always a true Frenchman.</p>
+
+<p>The next several years of Pierre's life were spent in service as page to
+Ligny; after which the count made him a man-at-arms in his own company
+and a gentleman of his household. This meant that the page, Pierre, had
+become a knight, and was thenceforth to be known as "the Chevalier
+Bayard."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Bayard's first exploit as a knight was to challenge and meet in
+tournament the invincible Lord of Vaudray. The young chevalier was then
+only seventeen years of age, and was weak and delicate in appearance,
+while his opponent was reckoned one of the most powerful knights of the
+time.</p>
+
+<p>When the combatants entered the lists, it was easy to be seen that the
+yellow-haired, black-eyed knight of seventeen was the one on whom every
+lady's glance was bent. Men watched him too, but not on account of his
+good looks; they had laughed at him scornfully when he presumed to
+strike in challenge the shield of the celebrated Vaudray, and they now
+looked to see him ignobly defeated.</p>
+
+<p>To the astonishment of all, however, Bayard won the day. The men said
+that he was too bold for one so young; but "the ladies praised him
+enthusiastically," and the king exclaimed to Ligny,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"By my faith, cousin, he hath given us to-day a foretaste of what he
+will be as a man!"</p>
+
+<p>The next several years of the young knight's life were spent in training
+for the stern services of war. He failed in nothing that he conceived it
+his duty to perform, and he neglected nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> that he felt would tend
+to his own development, for he bore always in his heart the admonition
+of the king he so reverenced: "Piquet, my friend, may God develop in
+thee that fearless manhood which thy noble youth so graciously
+promises."</p>
+
+<p>At this time Italy was not under one government, but was separated into
+six great divisions&mdash;the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the
+Kingdom of Piedmont, the Republics of Venice and Florence, and the Papal
+States. There were also several petty states which were always more or
+less dependent on some one of the greater powers. Unfortunately for
+themselves, there was little sympathy or unity among the Italian States;
+and the nations around were constantly stirring up strife between them,
+or invading the peninsula for the sake of conquest. So it was that for a
+long time Italy was the field on which the contests of Europe were
+waged.</p>
+
+<p>It was during this period&mdash;when the French, the Spanish, the Germans,
+and the Italian States were variously pitted against one another, and
+variously allied&mdash;that Bayard made his name forever an emblem of
+chivalry. In those days "king" stood for "country" in the mind of the
+loyal knight; and in following his king on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> whatever fantastic campaign,
+Bayard believed that he was only performing his sacred duty to his
+beloved France.</p>
+
+<p>He served successively under three sovereigns&mdash;Charles VIII., Louis
+XII., and Francis I.,&mdash;and distinguished himself in Italy, Spain, and
+France, holding his own against Italian, Spaniard, German, and Briton
+alike.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope one day to be worthy the name of soldier," was the chevalier's
+modest, yet truly exalted, ambition; and he proved unquestionably his
+right to the title in his very first campaign. Bayard's first service
+was with Charles VIII., when that king invaded Italy and conquered the
+Kingdom of Naples.</p>
+
+<p>The young chevalier, though then only eighteen years of age, and slender
+and boyish in appearance, soon became the admiration of even old and
+experienced warriors. Wherever there was hottest fighting&mdash;wherever
+there was greatest danger&mdash;there was this black-eyed, fair-haired youth.
+And there was hardly an engagement with the enemy which was not
+signalized by some brilliant feat of the young knight's.</p>
+
+<p>After conquering the Kingdom of Naples and leaving there the larger part
+of the French army<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> to maintain his sovereignty, King Charles returned
+to France at the head of only a small force. But his exodus from Italy
+was not so easy as his invasion into that country had been. The Pope,
+the Doge of Venice, the Duke of Milan, and other Italian princes, had
+formed a league against the ambitious Charles, and had gathered a large
+army in northern Italy to cut off his return to France.</p>
+
+<p>As King Charles advanced to within a few miles of Fornovo, the allies
+unexpectedly descended on him with a force six times as great as his
+own, and a bloody battle ensued. The plan of the allies was to destroy
+the French army and take King Charles prisoner. So anxious were they to
+make the king their captive that they offered a prize of a hundred
+thousand ducats to the man who would bring him, dead or alive, to their
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>But the annihilation of the French army and the capture of King Charles
+were not such light tasks as the allies had expected. The little band
+met their all but overwhelming onset with a stubborn resistance that was
+wonderful to behold. By charge and counter-charge the field was
+contested, and victory still hung in the balance when suddenly out of
+the French ranks rode a fair-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>haired boy knight, calling on his company
+to follow him. Instantly his men caught the infection of his wild
+daring, and in the face of almost certain death they swept to the charge
+with the dashing Bayard.</p>
+
+<p>"A greyhound for attack, and a wild boar in defence," Bayard fell upon
+the enemies of his king with such splendid courage that none whom he met
+could withstand his prowess.</p>
+
+<p>Two horses were killed under him, but he mounted a third, and, dashing
+alone into the thickest of the fight, captured an ensign from fifty
+men-at-arms.</p>
+
+<p>Thanks to the valor of such knights as Bayard, the French gained a
+signal victory, laying low in the dust full as many men as King Charles
+had led to Fornovo.</p>
+
+<p>After several more encounters with the allies, in which Bayard won added
+laurels, the king led his much-diminished army back to France.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after this campaign Charles VIII. died, and was succeeded on the
+throne by Louis XII.</p>
+
+<p>The new king busied himself with the internal affairs of state; and
+Bayard, whose business was that of a soldier merely, was for awhile left
+free to do as he chose. He accordingly occupied the time in visiting
+friends in Savoy. The good Duke<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> of Savoy was now dead; but the duchess
+received the chevalier at her court with her oldtime friendliness.</p>
+
+<p>Here for a second time Bayard met the love of his boyhood. But alas for
+him! she had become the wife of the Lord of Fluxas.</p>
+
+<p>When the two met, the lady received Bayard with every sign of
+friendship. She praised him greatly for the noble part he had borne in
+the king's service&mdash;for all France had heard of the chevalier's great
+deeds in Italy&mdash;and then they talked over their youthful love-affair.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of his stay, the Lady Fluxas asked Bayard to give a
+tournament, for she very much wished to see him engage in some of the
+knightly exercises in which he had become distinguished.</p>
+
+<p>The chevalier was delighted to comply with her request, and promised
+that the tournament should be arranged to take place in a very short
+while; then, kissing the hand of his fair sponsor, he asked for one of
+her sleeves. When the lady gave him the favor he treasured it carefully,
+intending that it should be the victor's prize in the coming joust.</p>
+
+<p>The tournament was held in good time, some fifteen gallant gentlemen
+taking part and acquit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>ting themselves much to the satisfaction of the
+lady for whose amusement the entertainment had been devised.</p>
+
+<p>When the trial at arms was ended, the duchess bade the Lord of Fluxas
+invite the combatants and the judges and a number of ladies to sup with
+her. According to her wishes, the judges reserved their decision until
+the guests were gathered about the table that evening.</p>
+
+<p>As every one expected, the prize was awarded to Bayard. The chevalier
+blushed and declined to take it, saying further that the lady who had
+provided the sleeve should be the one to bestow it.</p>
+
+<p>As the giver of the tournament, Bayard was, in a sense, the host of
+those who accepted the challenge; and it was very like his extreme
+courteousness to decline to carry off the prize from them, however much
+he may have wished in his heart to possess this particular lady's favor.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Fluxas, thus called upon to make the decision, paused a moment,
+then said she would keep the sleeve herself "for the sake of the
+victor." She then gave a beautiful ruby pendant to the Lord of
+Mondragon, who, next to Bayard, had been the most successful in the
+combat.</p>
+
+<p>However much the chevalier's heart may have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> inclined him to linger near
+the home of the lady he still loved, his stern sense of duty soon
+summoned him away. News had come to King Louis that the people of Milan,
+who owed fealty to the French king, had revolted, and made Ludovic
+Sforza their duke.</p>
+
+<p>On hearing this, the king at once despatched the Count of Ligny with a
+large force to besiege the disloyal city. Bayard, as a member of Ligny's
+company, went of course with his commander.</p>
+
+<p>The French had been encamped before Milan for some time, when one day
+Bayard learned from a spy that three hundred horse of the Milanese were
+at the little town of Binasco; and, always on the lookout for a skirmish
+with the enemy, he persuaded about fifty of his companions to join him
+in a descent upon that town. They set off early the next morning, but
+the Milanese learned of the intended surprise, and were ready for them.</p>
+
+<p>With the cry, "France! France!" the chevalier and his companions flung
+themselves upon the whole three hundred; but the Milanese were no
+cowards, and for one hour they withstood even the firebrand impetuosity
+of Bayard himself. They were not many who could stand so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> long before
+Bayard. At length the knight, impatient at this stubborn resistance,
+cried out to his fellows&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"What, my comrades! shall we let these few keep us fighting all day?
+Courage! Let us multiply our strokes and give wings to their feet!"</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of his deep voice the French rushed to the attack again,
+and with such enthusiasm that the enemy wavered&mdash;fell back&mdash;then fled,
+pell-mell, toward Milan. The victors followed in hot pursuit, with the
+peerless knight far in the lead.</p>
+
+<p>The fugitives reached Milan scarcely ahead of their pursuers, and
+thundered in through the gate. One of the leaders of the French, seeing
+the danger into which he and his companions were rushing, cried out just
+in time,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Turn, men-at-arms, turn!"</p>
+
+<p>The order was obeyed by all except Bayard, who had ears for nothing but
+his own battle-cry, and eyes only for the enemy. Right into the heart
+of the city, nay, up to the very steps of the duke's palace, he chased
+the flying Milanese; then he suddenly found himself surrounded by an
+angry populace, who, when they saw the white crosses of France upon him,
+cried,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Seize him! Seize him!"</p>
+
+<p>He was soon disarmed and taken prisoner by the commander he had just
+pursued from Binasco. When Cazache&mdash;for such was the Milanese captain's
+name&mdash;got his enemy thus in his power, he did not, as might be supposed,
+wreak any petty vengeance on the head of the chevalier. He treated
+Bayard as a soldier and a gentleman, and by so doing evinced a
+chivalrous spirit close akin to the chevalier's own.</p>
+
+<p>Ludovic, Duke of Milan, hearing the uproar before the palace, asked the
+cause thereof, and was soon told that the Milanese at Binasco had been
+defeated, and that a young chevalier had pursued Cazache and his company
+to the very palace door.</p>
+
+<p>"By my sword, but I'd like to see this daring Frenchman!" roared the
+duke. "Captain, fetch the prisoner hither."</p>
+
+<p>Cazache obeyed in fear and trembling for his captive. The captain&mdash;a
+generous-hearted fellow&mdash;had conceived a deep admiration for Bayard, and
+he feared for the chevalier's head; for Duke Ludovic was of a most
+uncertain temperament.</p>
+
+<p>When, however, he ushered the knight before the duke, Cazache realized
+that his fears were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> groundless. Instead of flying into a fury, as he
+too often did, Ludovic surveyed the handsome figure of the captive and
+said, not unkindly,</p>
+
+<p>"My brave young gentleman, come hither and tell me what brought thee to
+Milan."</p>
+
+<p>Bayard was used to surprises, and answered frankly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I came in the footsteps of some of thy men for a little adventure. I
+did not know that I was alone, for I thought my comrades were close
+behind me. They are wiser in the ways of war than I, or they too would
+have been captured. In the mean time, I thank God that I have fallen
+into such good hands; and I do assure thee that if anything could make
+captivity pleasant to me, it would be such treatment as I have received
+from this good captain."</p>
+
+<p>The duke smiled kindly, and then asked him the number in the French
+army.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," replied the knight, truthfully, "there are not more than fourteen
+or fifteen hundred men-at-arms, and from sixteen to eighteen thousand
+foot-soldiers; but they are all picked men, and are resolved to win back
+the Duchy of Milan to the king, their master. As for thee, sir, let me
+warn thee that thou wilt be safer in Germany than in this city."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Instead of being incensed by Bayard's frankness, Ludovic answered him in
+the same friendly strain, and assured him that there was nothing he so
+much desired as an encounter between his own and the king's troops.
+Bayard replied that such an event would be a great pleasure to himself
+also, provided he were not in prison.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not let that trouble thee," replied the duke, "for I intend to set
+thee free. If there is anything else thou desirest of me, thou hast only
+to ask it."</p>
+
+<p>This unexpected kindness on the part of Ludovic took the knight
+completely by surprise. Up to that time he had stood before his enemy
+proud and erect; but when Ludovic announced his generous intention
+toward him, the young knight sank on his knee to thank him.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," said he, "the greatest favor thou canst grant me is to restore my
+arms and my horse, and allow me a guide to the French garrison." He
+paused a moment and then added earnestly, "Believe me, sir, I shall
+always be ready to serve thee, if I can do so in honor to my king and to
+my country." And after again thanking the duke for his generosity, the
+young knight rode away with the promised guide.</p>
+
+<p>When Bayard arrived at the French camp, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> Count of Ligny was
+astonished and overjoyed to see him, for all had heard of Bayard's
+solitary descent on Milan and his consequent capture.</p>
+
+<p>"What, Piquet!" exclaimed the count, "thou out of prison! How didst thou
+pay thy ransom? I was about to send a herald to pay it, and bring thee
+back."</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," replied the knight, "I thank thee most sincerely, but Ludovic
+Sforza hath spared thee the trouble, and in doing so, he hath proved
+himself a rival in courtesy and generosity even to thyself&mdash;he hath made
+me a present of my freedom, and provided me with a guide hither."</p>
+
+<p>Milan afterwards fell into the hands of the king, but Bayard was not
+able to return the great kindness Ludovic had shown to him.</p>
+
+<p>After conquering Milan, King Louis turned his attention to the Kingdom
+of Naples, which had, during the last days of Charles VIII., thrown off
+the yoke of France and raised a Spanish prince to the throne.</p>
+
+<p>Bayard counted it great good fortune to be allowed to go on the
+expedition sent by the king into Naples; and there he performed such
+wonderful feats of arms that the Spanish allies of the Neapolitans
+declared him to be a devil instead of a man. It was, indeed, through no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+fault of Bayard's that the French ultimately lost Naples.</p>
+
+<p>The fame of Bayard's exploits spread. The Pope, a bitter enemy to the
+King of France, sent for the chevalier, and tried to persuade him to
+renounce the service of King Louis for that of the States of the Church.
+In order to make his proposition exceedingly tempting, the Pontiff
+offered to load the knight with riches and honors, and make him
+Captain-General of the Church. To all this Bayard gave the simple,
+earnest answer,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have but one master in heaven,&mdash;God,&mdash;and one upon earth,&mdash;the King
+of France."</p>
+
+<p>Once, while the good Duke of Nemours commanded the French army in Italy,
+he and several of his officers had occasion to spend a few days in the
+little town of Carpi. While there, they were hospitably entertained by
+the Count of Carpi, who provided many amusements for them. For their
+diversion, the count one day caused an astrologer&mdash;a little withered
+black man&mdash;to appear at court, and read the future for the distinguished
+guests.</p>
+
+<p>The astrologer came, and astonished all by the accuracy with which he
+related past events in their lives. Then he told them that on the next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>
+Good Friday or Easter Day the French and Spanish armies would come
+together in a battle which would be one of the bloodiest ever fought. He
+said that the victory would remain with the French, but that it would be
+bought with the best blood of France. And he said to Bayard, privately,</p>
+
+<p>"Your prince"&mdash;meaning the Duke of Nemours&mdash;"seems very dear to you; be
+near him on the day of battle. I see that he is threatened with a sad
+fate."</p>
+
+<p>Bayard had little faith in the seer's powers, and laughed when it came
+his turn to question the mystic; however, it was amusement for the
+company.</p>
+
+<p>"My master," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "shall I ever be a man
+of consequence? And shall I become rich?"</p>
+
+<p>The astrologer looked at him sharply and answered,</p>
+
+<p>"Thou wilt be richer in noble qualities than ever French gentleman was
+before thee, but thou wilt have few of fortune's goods. Thou wilt serve
+yet another king of France, who will love and esteem thee much; but the
+envy of those about him will prevent his bestowing on thee the wealth
+and honors thou wilt so richly deserve."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But," asked Bayard, "shall I escape from this bloody battle thou hast
+predicted?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered the seer; "but twelve years hence thou wilt die in
+battle of an arquebuse-shot,&mdash;in no other way, for thy soldiers do so
+adore thee that they would die to the last man to save thee."</p>
+
+<p>It chanced that in the fortunes of war the French once captured and held
+for a long time the beautiful Italian town of Brescia. This city was in
+time recaptured by the Venetians, to whom it had first belonged, and
+again possessed by the French,&mdash;albeit, at the cost of many valuable
+lives.</p>
+
+<p>At this retaking of Brescia by the French, Bayard again distinguished
+himself. The first skirmish before the town was won by the chevalier,
+who was so eager to attack that he went into battle in his
+night-clothes.</p>
+
+<p>When the time came for a general assault, the question arose as to whom
+should put himself in front, at the mercy of the enemy's arquebuses.</p>
+
+<p>"I will," responded Bayard to the Duke of Nemours's question; "and I
+promise thee that the company I command will do good service to the
+king, our master."</p>
+
+<p>This was no idle boast, for Bayard's company<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> was composed of picked
+men, the greater number of whom had been commanders themselves, but who
+preferred the honor of serving under the noted chevalier to leading
+companies of their own.</p>
+
+<p>So it was arranged that the chevalier and his company should open battle
+by storming the first fort that protected Brescia. A better selection
+could not have been made, for the very name of Bayard had become a
+terror to the enemies of France.</p>
+
+<p>When the Venetian commander saw who was leading the assault, he cried
+out to encourage his men,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Hold fast, comrades! If this <i>Bayard</i> but be defeated, all the rest
+will be easy."</p>
+
+<p>But Bayard was not defeated. The splendid charge of his company was met
+with a blinding storm of shot from the Venetian guns, but not a man gave
+back. Right up to the cannon they charged, shouting in the face of the
+fire&mdash;"France! France!"&mdash;but the cry was changed to "<i>Bayard</i>!
+<i>Bayard!</i>" as the chevalier leaped the ramparts, crying,</p>
+
+<p>"Follow me!"</p>
+
+<p>And they did follow.</p>
+
+<p>Only for an instant Bayard's tall form was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> seen in the thick of his
+enemies, his black eyes blazing with the fire of battle. The next moment
+he fell, face downward, in the struggling mass, with a Venetian pike
+thrust through his thigh.</p>
+
+<p>When word was carried to the Duke of Nemours that Bayard had fallen, he
+exclaimed,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Let us go, my friends and comrades, and avenge the death of the most
+accomplished knight that ever lived." And they swept forward with the
+brave duke, completing the victory that Bayard had so well begun. The
+Venetian loss in this battle exceeded twenty thousand, while the French
+loss was less than fifty men.</p>
+
+<p>When the French occupied the town, they gave themselves over to all
+kinds of excesses, perpetrating atrocious cruelties on defenceless women
+and children, and pillaging convents and churches for their riches.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers in those days were, in the main, rough and brutal men; but
+there were always among them many knightly gentlemen, who never failed
+to use their utmost power to protect the defenceless. Such a gentleman
+was Bayard, and he was never known to allow cruelties where it was in
+his power to prevent them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> But&mdash;alas for the wretched city&mdash;the knight
+without reproach was now helpless!</p>
+
+<p>Having been mortally wounded, as all supposed, the chevalier was carried
+by two of his men to a large mansion within the town, that he might
+receive needed attention.</p>
+
+<p>The Brescian citizen who owned the house had fled upon the entry of the
+French, leaving his wife and two beautiful daughters alone and
+unprotected.</p>
+
+<p>Now when Bayard's men brought their wounded captain to the house, the
+lady herself opened the gate, and assisted the men in making the knight
+comfortable. Bayard's first order to the two soldiers was that they
+station themselves at the gate, and, on pain of death, admit no one save
+his own men.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure," he said, "that when they know I am lodged here, they will
+not force a passage."</p>
+
+<p>When he had despatched his soldiers, the lady fell upon her knees at
+Bayard's feet and said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Noble lord, this house and all that it contains is thine by the laws of
+war; but I beseech thee, by the Holy Mother, to preserve the safety of
+myself and my daughters."</p>
+
+<p>"Madam," answered the almost fainting chevalier, "I may not recover from
+the wound I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> received, but as long as I live neither thou nor thy
+daughters shall sustain more injury than myself. I assure thee that no
+one shall enter the house contrary to thy wish; and for myself, I
+promise thee all respect and friendship. But fetch me help, I pray thee,
+and that quickly!"</p>
+
+<p>The lady was much relieved by the knight's assuring words, and went
+herself, attended by one of his soldiers, and fetched a surgeon to him.
+When the Duke of Nemours learned where Bayard had been carried, and that
+he still lived, he sent his own surgeon to attend him.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Bayard was sufficiently recovered to give the orders, he
+caused the husband of his hostess to be sought out and conducted back in
+safety to his home and family.</p>
+
+<p>For six weeks the knight lay ill, and during that time he was the
+recipient of many kindnesses from the members of the household. The
+ladies were especially attentive, and spent many hours by his bedside,
+ministering to his needs or amusing him. These days of convalescence
+were pleasant indeed to the great-hearted man who had known so little of
+the comforts of home and the tender ministrations of women. But he grew
+impatient of his captivity when he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> heard that there was probability of
+a fight between the French and a large army of Spanish then in northern
+Italy.</p>
+
+<p>"Meseems that I am well," he said to his surgeon; "and I assure thee
+that biding here will harm me more than mend me, for I do most
+grievously fret."</p>
+
+<p>The surgeon knew him too well to doubt his word, so he taught Bayard's
+valet how to dress the wound, which was now almost healed, and the
+knight made ready to rejoin his company.</p>
+
+<p>Now when the lady and her husband heard of Bayard's approaching
+departure they were much concerned lest the knight should demand at
+least ten thousand ducats as a ransom for their property. The two
+discussed their dilemma earnestly, and decided that the lady should go
+to Bayard with twenty-five hundred ducats and beg him to be satisfied
+with this sum. Accordingly, she took the gold and sought the knight's
+presence.</p>
+
+<p>"My lord," she said, "myself and family shall always thank God that it
+pleased Him, in the midst of the horrors of war, to lead such a noble
+knight to our house for our protection. We shall ever remember that it
+is to thee we owe our all. Since thou camest among us, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> have received
+naught but kindness at thy hands. We are thy prisoners; the house, with
+its contents, is thine by right of conquest, but thou hast ever been so
+graciously generous that I have come to beseech thee to have pity on us
+and be content with this little gift that I have the honor to offer
+thee."</p>
+
+<p>She opened her coffer and showed its contents to Bayard, who smiled as
+he asked,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"How much is it, madam?"</p>
+
+<p>The lady, not knowing how little he valued riches and fearing he thought
+the gift too small, said hastily&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My lord, there are only twenty-five hundred ducats; but we will strive
+to make up the sum that thou desirest, if thou wilt mention it."</p>
+
+<p>"Thou didst not understand me, lady," replied the knight. "Thou hast
+already paid me many times over, in kindnesses such as money cannot
+purchase. Keep thy gold; and remember that I am forever thy debtor, thy
+champion, and thy friend."</p>
+
+<p>The lady, much pleased and astonished at this unexpected reply, begged
+him again to accept her gift.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be, indeed, a most unhappy woman," she declared, "if thou
+refuse it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Bayard was too gallant to withstand a woman's pleadings, so he said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Since thou desirest it so much, lady, I yield." Then he requested her
+to send her daughters in.</p>
+
+<p>The lady went to call the two damsels; and while she was gone, Bayard
+divided the money into three lots,&mdash;two of one thousand ducats each and
+one of five hundred.</p>
+
+<p>In a little while the young girls came, and threw themselves on their
+knees before the knight; but he at once made them rise and be seated
+near him. Then they too strove to express their gratitude to him, and
+promised to pray to God for him so long as they should live.</p>
+
+<p>Bayard was much affected, and thanked them in turn for their kindly
+ministrations. Then he said to them gently&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Dear demoiselles, you know that fighting men are not ordinarily laden
+with jewels and pretty things to present to ladies, but I have here a
+sum of money which your lady mother hath just compelled me to accept. I
+give thee each a thousand ducats to form part of thy marriage portion."</p>
+
+<p>The damsels would fain have declined his generous offer, but he would
+not hear nay; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> he said to their mother, who had once more entered&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Madam, these five hundred ducats I leave to thee to distribute amongst
+the convents that have suffered most from the pillage. And I must now
+make ready to depart."</p>
+
+<p>Again they fell on their knees, this time pressing his hands and weeping
+as if their hearts would break; and the mother exclaimed through her
+tears&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Too generous knight, God alone can reward thee!"</p>
+
+<p>Then, amid tears and farewells, he departed.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving these good ladies, the knight took his way to the French
+camp, where he was received with as much joy as if he were a
+reinforcement of ten thousand men.</p>
+
+<p>Now at that time the French were masters of the Duchy of Milan, in
+northern Italy, and the presence of the Spanish army in that part of the
+country was adjudged by Louis to be a constant menace to his interests
+there. The king was in France, but his nephew, the Duke of Nemours,
+commanded the French army in Italy.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had Bayard arrived in camp, when Nemours determined to give
+battle to the Spanish. All was soon astir in the French camps, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>
+preparation; and Bayard and the duke were in high spirits.</p>
+
+<p>Nemours admired the chevalier extravagantly. He was too truly great to
+be envious of Bayard's fame, and nothing delighted him more than to hear
+the knight's praises.</p>
+
+<p>"My Lord Bayard," he said, shortly after the chevalier's arrival, "I am
+told that the Spanish fear thee more than they fear any other man on
+earth, and that they are constantly asking if thou art in camp. I wish
+thou wouldst go out and show thyself to them."</p>
+
+<p>"By thy leave," answered the knight, laughing, "I will pay them a little
+visit to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning, which was Good Friday, Bayard paid the "little
+visit" he promised. He had a way of calling on his enemies very scantily
+attended, and this time he took with him a mere handful of men.</p>
+
+<p>The two armies were encamped within a few miles of each other before the
+city of Ravenna, which the Spaniards had undertaken to defend against
+King Louis's forces.</p>
+
+<p>It is needless to say that the Spanish were not expecting Bayard's
+visit. They were in readiness, however, for another skirmishing party of
+French had descended upon them only an hour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> before. It seems that these
+earlier visitors were being badly worsted when the fearless knight
+appeared on the scene. In an instant the tide of victory turned. Bayard
+rallied the flying French and reversed the pursuit, chasing the
+Spaniards back to their garrison. Nor did he stop at that. Mindful of
+the visit he had promised to make the enemy, he dashed into the midst of
+their camp, knocked down tents and pavilions, laid men flat to right and
+to left, and made good his escape before the Spanish had time to realize
+what was happening to them.</p>
+
+<p>When the laughing chevalier got back from his adventure, the Duke of
+Nemours exclaimed in admiration&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thou art the man, Lord Bayard, for skirmishes. No one knows so well as
+thou dost either how to begin or how to end them. Thou art our master in
+the art of war."</p>
+
+<p>Two days later, on Easter Sunday, the French and Spanish met in the
+terrible battle of Ravenna,&mdash;one of the most cruel and bloody
+engagements in all history. The field remained to the French,&mdash;sixteen
+thousand out of an army of twenty thousand Spanish being slain or
+captured; but the victory was too dearly bought, for the "best blood of
+France" was the price paid for it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Probably the knight Bayard forgot the gloomy predictions of the
+astrologer of Carpi. He did not keep near the duke that day, but went
+dashing about wherever his venturesome spirit led, performing almost
+incredible feats of arms. But, alas! he came back from his last
+brilliant charge to find the gallant Nemours dead on the field. The
+noble duke had been fairly cut to pieces by the many strokes received in
+his last brave stand against the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1513, Henry VIII., King of England, and Maximilian I. of
+Germany, invaded northern France and captured several towns. In the
+beginning of this campaign occurred what is known as the "Battle of
+Spurs;" and this engagement is of special interest on account of
+Bayard's part in it.</p>
+
+<p>The English were investing the town of Terouana, in which there was
+almost a famine.</p>
+
+<p>A French force under the Lord of Chabannes had been sent to the relief
+of the city, but it was found to be much too small to hurl against the
+outnumbering allies in open battle. Still was it imperative to revictual
+the suffering town, so Chabannes decided on a difficult stratagem.</p>
+
+<p>A body of cavalry&mdash;under Bayard and others&mdash;was to feign an attack on
+the besieging Eng<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>lish, and then retreat rapidly, to draw the enemy in
+pursuit, in order that other troops might take advantage of the
+confusion, and provision the invested town.</p>
+
+<p>This plan was put in execution; but the English and their German allies
+played their unconscious part in their adversaries' program so well that
+they not only pursued the decoy cavalry, but fell upon other companies
+of French, throwing them into utter confusion.</p>
+
+<p>As may be imagined, the seemingly ignoble flight of his cavalry was
+galling to a spirit like Bayard's. To "the knight without fear" it was
+almost impossible to refrain from fighting when an enemy was within
+striking distance; and now, as had often been the case, his warlike
+instinct got the better of his sense of obedience.</p>
+
+<p>He was under orders not to fight, but to retreat at full speed when the
+enemy should give chase. The latter command he obeyed; the former might
+as well have been given to the storm. He would fly with his company
+awhile,&mdash;till his fiery spirit could no longer be curbed,&mdash;then he would
+wheel about and charge the pursuing English with such impetuous courage
+that numbers would be compelled to fall back for an instant before his
+matchless prowess.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At length the chevalier and his company reached a bridge which spanned a
+swift torrent. He could not resist the temptation of making a stand
+against the enemy, though he had a mere handful of men about him, so he
+whirled his horse about and faced the foe. It mattered little how great
+were the odds against him, for the spirit of battle possessed him. He
+gave one glance at the remnant that rallied to him, then said to a
+messenger quickly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Go tell my Lord of Chabannes that I will hold this bridge and whip them
+if he will but send me reinforcements."</p>
+
+<p>The reinforcements did not come; but Bayard and his little company held
+the bridge with sword and lance till they saw a large division of German
+troops fording the stream in their rear. Seeing that they were thus
+surrounded, and by overwhelming numbers, Bayard said to his men
+cheerily&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Let us give ourselves up, comrades; further resistance were but a
+bootless sacrifice." Not the least noteworthy of Bayard's many fine
+qualities were his rare good sense and his cheerfulness under
+misfortune. If he won, he enjoyed his victory; if he lost, he accepted
+defeat like a philosopher.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>His men now followed his advice, each surrendering to the nearest enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Now it chanced, in the confusion, that Bayard saw an exhausted German
+throw himself down under a near-by tree and unbuckle his sword. In an
+instant the chevalier sprang to him, snatched up the sword, and
+presented its point to the officer's throat.</p>
+
+<p>"Surrender or die!" he demanded of the astonished man-at-arms.</p>
+
+<p>Not caring to give up his life, the officer surrendered himself captive
+to the chevalier, saying,</p>
+
+<p>"As I am without weapon, I render myself to thee. But tell me, pray, to
+whom I have surrendered."</p>
+
+<p>"To Captain Bayard," replied the chevalier, enjoying the joke, "and I am
+in turn thy prisoner, by the result of this battle."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, Bayard unbuckled his own sword and handed it to the fellow
+with mock gravity.</p>
+
+<p>The officer was mystified; but Bayard soon made him see the philosophy,
+if not the fun, of the situation, and the two marched off together to
+the English camp&mdash;each captive to the other&mdash;each bearing the other's
+surrendered sword.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Here the chevalier remained for some days as prisoner to the man he had
+captured. But he soon tired of this restraint, and one morning said to
+his captor with suspicious gravity&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My worthy friend, I am beginning to tire of doing nothing. Thou wilt
+oblige me much if thou wilt have me escorted to the camp of my king."</p>
+
+<p>The other was astounded.</p>
+
+<p>"What? eh?" he exclaimed. "But thou sayest nothing of thy ransom!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nor thou of thine," answered the knight, with a grave face. "Art thou
+not my prisoner and bound to obey me? I have thy word of surrender, and
+thou shalt keep it. If not, I shall challenge thee."</p>
+
+<p>His captor hardly knew how to take this sally, or what answer to make to
+it. However, he did know that the last thing in the world he desired was
+a duel with the invincible Bayard, so he said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Captain, let us report our case to higher authority. I will abide
+by whatever decision is made."</p>
+
+<p>So, according to agreement, the case was reported to the King of England
+and the Emperor Maximilian, who were in camp together. Bayard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> who had
+a witty mind and a ready tongue, laid the matter before their Majesties
+very drolly; and the judgment rendered by them goes to show that even
+great princes can appreciate humorous situations. They agreed that as
+Bayard and his captor-captive were prisoner each to the other, they were
+"quits;" and that Bayard should have the liberty of returning to his
+commander without ransom. King Henry, however, stipulated that the
+knight should remain <i>en parole</i> in Flanders for six weeks. Bayard
+cheerfully consented to the terms, and being "le chevalier sans
+reproche," kept his promise to the letter.</p>
+
+<p>After this interview, the King of England secretly offered to take
+Bayard into his own service, promising to load the knight with riches
+and honors if he would desert the cause of France and cast his fortunes
+with the English.</p>
+
+<p>Bayard answered the King of England as he had before answered the Pope
+of Rome,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have but one master in heaven&mdash;God, and one upon earth&mdash;the King of
+France."</p>
+
+<p>On the first of January, 1514, Louis XII. died. He was succeeded by
+Francis I., who was then only twenty years of age.</p>
+
+<p>Francis, like his predecessors, was haunted by the idea of his Italian
+rights, but was never able<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> to maintain them for any great length of
+time. One of his first acts of sovereignty was to raise a large army and
+invade Italy to recover the Duchy of Milan, which had again been wrested
+from France.</p>
+
+<p>Bayard was with the king on this expedition. Indeed, he preceded Francis
+into Italy, and by a brilliant stratagem took prisoner Lord Prospero
+Colonna, Lieutenant-General of the Pope. Prospero it was who had boasted
+that sooner or later he would take Bayard like a bird in a trap.</p>
+
+<p>Soon afterwards, King Francis crossed the mountains with a great army,
+and marched upon Milan, at that time defended by a large body of Swiss.
+The two armies met in a hard-fought battle, and the French were
+victorious, driving the Swiss entirely out of the duchy.</p>
+
+<p>In this battle, as in many others, Bayard's splendid courage won the
+day. No other knight could equal him in arms, and none other could so
+rouse the spirit of the French soldiers; but his greatest service to
+France that day was the lesson in chivalry he taught her boyish king.</p>
+
+<p>Fired by the noble example of the chevalier, young Francis bore himself
+in battle like a king indeed, and made old soldiers wonder at his
+fortitude and courage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When the battle was over, the gallant young king was the first to
+ascribe the honor of the victory to Bayard, and the nobles and captains
+agreed with him heartily.</p>
+
+<p>Anxious to show conspicuous honor to the knight, King Francis then
+astonished the assembled company&mdash;and none more than the chevalier
+himself&mdash;by a most strange request.</p>
+
+<p>"Bayard, my friend," he exclaimed in loving familiarity, "I wish to be
+knighted by thy hand this day; for thou hast fought on foot and on
+horseback, in many battles against many nations, and better than all
+others. Thou art indeed the most worthy knight of all."</p>
+
+<p>Never before had monarch honored a subject with such a request.</p>
+
+<p>The modest chevalier sought to decline this embarrassingly great
+distinction, saying that such honor belonged only to princes of the
+blood, but the enthusiastic Francis would not take refusal.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," he exclaimed, "quote me neither laws nor canons, chevalier; but
+do my will and command, if thou wouldst still be numbered amongst my
+loyal servants and subjects."</p>
+
+<p>"Since my king commands, I can but obey," answered the knight, simply.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then the King of mighty France knelt at the feet of the unassuming
+chevalier,&mdash;a picture to the world forever of how that manhood which is
+without fear and without reproach is above the majesty of kings.</p>
+
+<p>"Sire," said the chevalier&mdash;his great heart too full for many
+words&mdash;"may this be as efficacious as if done by Roland or Oliver,
+Godfrey or Baldwin, his brother. God grant that in battle thou mayest
+never flee!"</p>
+
+<p>He laid the flat of his sword on the king's strong shoulder; and when he
+removed the blade, he kissed it reverently, saying&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Glorious sword, that to-day hath knighted the greatest of kings, I will
+henceforth employ thee only against the enemies of Christ's name. And
+thou shalt be kept as a sacred relic and honored above all others."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>Bayard's next service to King Francis was the defeating of an invading
+army of Germans,&mdash;forty thousand strong.</p>
+
+<p>In recognition of this and other great services, the king did all that
+his jealous nobles could not prevent to show honor to the valiant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>
+chevalier. He made Bayard a knight of the king's own order, and gave him
+command of a hundred picked men-at-arms,&mdash;a privilege which belonged
+only to princes of the blood.</p>
+
+<p>The people of France went wild with enthusiasm over their hero, giving
+gorgeous <i>f&ecirc;tes</i> in his honor wherever he went; and the French
+parliament actually sent a deputation of its members to congratulate him
+upon the services he had rendered the king and the whole people.</p>
+
+<p>Yet these were but empty honors compared to what the noble chevalier
+deserved. As the astrologer had predicted, Bayard never received the
+riches and great appointments he so conspicuously merited.</p>
+
+<p>His last undertaking was another expedition into the troublesome Duchy
+of Milan. During this campaign the Lord of Bonivet, Admiral of France,
+was in command of the French, and Bayard and many other gallant captains
+were under him.</p>
+
+<p>The task before them was to subdue Milan, which had, with the aid of
+Charles V., Emperor of Germany and King of Spain, again thrown off its
+allegiance to France.</p>
+
+<p>The French encamped before Milan in the little town of Biagras; but it
+soon developed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> that they were no match for the powerful army of allied
+Milanese, Germans, Spaniards, and Venetians. Moreover, their forces were
+being daily depleted by sickness and desertion. Added to these
+misfortunes were bad faith and bad generalship on the part of the
+commander, Bonivet.</p>
+
+<p>Matters in the French camp went from bad to worse, while on the other
+hand the ranks of the emperor were being continually reinforced.</p>
+
+<p>An attack from the powerful and well-equipped enemy was now daily
+expected, so the admiral determined that there was nothing to do but
+retire from his position at Biagras. In the retreat, however, he took
+the post of danger with Bayard in the rear-guard, between the retiring
+French and their allied foes.</p>
+
+<p>As Bonivet had feared, the French had no sooner moved out of Biagras
+than the hitherto passive enemy woke to action and gave pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>It had been rumored in the emperor's army that the wonderful Bayard was
+in the rear-guard of the French, and this report held the pursuers at a
+respectful distance for some time.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the second day, however, the allies determined to
+force an engagement;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> and, supported by heavy artillery, made a furious
+charge upon the retiring French.</p>
+
+<p>If the allied foes had expected to rout the retreating forces, they must
+have been sadly disappointed, for the French instantly faced about and
+met their onset with stubborn valor. The odds were overwhelmingly
+against the sons of France; but Bayard was among them, and where he was,
+was always desperate courage.</p>
+
+<p>In the very first of the engagement the Lord of Bonivet was wounded and
+had to be carried from the field, thus leaving Bayard in command. As he
+was being borne away, Bonivet said to the chevalier&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I pray and conjure thee, for the honor and glory of France, to defend
+the artillery and flags to-day. Thou alone canst save them!"</p>
+
+<p>Bayard had had too much experience not to see that it was then
+impossible to retrieve what the admiral had lost, but he answered
+simply&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Too late! But my life is my country's, and while I live, the flags and
+the artillery shall not fall into the enemy's hands." That promise was
+not broken.</p>
+
+<p>Calm and collected in that supreme hour, the peerless knight put forth
+his all for his beloved France. All that unexampled generalship and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
+courage and fidelity could accomplish in the face of overwhelming odds,
+he performed that day.</p>
+
+<p>Not content with merely repelling the attacks of the enemy, he charged
+their advancing columns again and again, and with such fierce onslaughts
+that each time they were compelled to give back. He had promised for the
+honor and glory of his country to defend the flags and the artillery
+that day; and while he lived not a flag was lowered nor a gun lost. But
+alas for France that day!</p>
+
+<p>Just as the fighting was hottest, and when it seemed that the
+outnumbered French <i>must</i> break, Bayard once more dashed forward against
+the foe, as if by sheer force of courage, to wrest victory from
+inexorable Fate. For one mad, glorious moment he and his company swept
+irresistibly against the victors; the next, he was struck by a stone
+from an arquebuse and mortally wounded.</p>
+
+<p>With the cry "Jesus!" he reeled in his saddle. He would have fallen to
+the ground had not some of his men rushed forward and helped him to
+dismount. In their anxiety for him, his soldiers would fain have borne
+him off the field; but Bayard, though dying, was Bayard still, and he
+said to them&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It is all over; but I do not wish in my last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> hour to turn my back to
+the foe for the first time in my life. Place me beneath yonder tree with
+my face toward the enemy."</p>
+
+<p>Still did they beg that they might be allowed to bear him beyond danger
+of capture&mdash;for the French had broken before the enemy when Bayard fell.
+But the knight feebly answered them&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Let me devote the short space that remains to me to thinking of my
+sins. I pray you all to leave me for fear that you should be taken. My
+Lord d'Alegre, commend me to the king, my master, and say to him that my
+only regret in dying is my inability to render him further service."</p>
+
+<p>As he ceased speaking, a body of Spaniards, under the Marquis of
+Pescara, arrived where he lay. The gallant Pescara knelt beside his
+wounded enemy, and with tears in his eyes exclaimed&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Would to God, Lord Bayard, that I might have taken thee prisoner
+unhurt! Thou shalt know how much I have always esteemed thy prowess and
+thy virtues; for since I have held arms, I have never known thy equal!"</p>
+
+
+<p>The marquis then caused his own tent to be brought and placed for the
+use of the wounded knight. Then he himself helped to lay Bayard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> in
+bed. He smoothed the dying man's pillow, and kissed the hands that had
+fought so valiantly against him. Pescara then placed a guard around the
+tent and went himself and fetched a priest to console the dying
+chevalier.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 405px;">
+<img src="images/img.gs05.jpg" width="405" height="600" alt="" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer among
+the Spanish who did not come to speak kindly to him&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer among the Spanish who
+did not come to speak kindly to him. Among the distinguished men who
+visited his bedside was the Constable of Bourbon, who shortly before had
+deserted the cause of France for a position in the emperor's army. When
+the constable beheld the expiring knight, he exclaimed&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Captain Bayard, how it troubles me to see thee thus! I have always
+loved and honored thee for thy great valor and wisdom. How I pity thee!"</p>
+
+<p>Bayard looked at him steadily and replied&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My lord, I thank thee, but thy pity is wasted. I die like an honest
+man, serving my king. Thou art the man to be pitied, for bearing arms
+against thy prince, thy country, and thy oath."</p>
+
+<p>A little while longer he talked to them; then, feeling his strength
+fleeting rapidly, he clasped his hands and prayed aloud&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My God! my Father! forget my sins; listen only to Thine infinite
+mercy&mdash;&mdash;Let Thy jus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>tice be softened by the merits of the blood of
+Jesus Christ&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Death laid a gentle hand upon his lips; and the man who had dealt with
+his fellow-man without reproach went fearless to his God.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><br /><br /><a name="SIR_PHILIP_SIDNEY" id="SIR_PHILIP_SIDNEY"></a>SIR PHILIP SIDNEY</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sidney, thou star of beaming chivalry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That rose and set 'mid valor's peerless day:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rich ornament of knighthood's Milky-way;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How much our youth of England owe to thee!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">Edward Moxon<br /><br /><br /></span></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>SIR PHILIP SIDNEY</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p>
+<h3>(1554-1586 <span class="smcap">A. D.</span>)</h3>
+
+
+<p>When Mary Tudor was Queen of England, and after she had become the wife
+of Philip II. of Spain, there was born at "Penshurst Place," in the
+valley of the Medway, the immortal Philip Sidney.</p>
+
+<p>His mother's family were the powerful house of Dudley, and were among
+the noblest in the land. The Sidneys were of high birth too,&mdash;not so
+exalted as the Dudleys in point of lineage, but of impregnable honor and
+integrity.</p>
+
+<p>The little Philip's youth was spent under what would seem to have been
+very happy circumstances. While he was yet only four years of age, Queen
+Elizabeth came to the throne, and recalled the Sidneys from the social
+and political exile to which her sister Mary had condemned them.</p>
+
+<p>Philip's father, Sir Henry Sidney, was made Lord Deputy of Ireland, and
+his mother became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> lady-in-waiting to the queen. Then, too, they owned
+the beautiful and historic home, Penshurst Place, and had powerful
+friends at court.</p>
+
+<p>But there was another side to the picture. The Sidneys were not rich;
+and holding the high position they did, they were obliged to live in a
+way they could ill afford. This was bad enough; but, worse still,
+Philip's affectionate parents were forced to spend many years of their
+married life apart from each other and from their children. The mother
+was, for the most part, at Whitehall or at Hampton Court with the queen,
+and the father in turbulent, rebellious Ireland; while the children
+were, perforce, left at home in the care of servants.</p>
+
+<p>Though his loving father and mother were rarely at Penshurst, the little
+Philip lived very happily there with his brothers and sisters.</p>
+
+<p>He soon found other companions too,&mdash;companions who fired his young
+blood and filled his boyish heart with dreams that were forever to haunt
+him. Under the great trees at Penshurst he lay on the grass, by the
+hour, and pored over stories of bygone days of chivalry. As he lay thus
+and read, the present would fade from him, and the past with all its
+glamour and its romance would steal up about him and claim him for its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>
+own. The great trees that clashed their boughs together in the wind
+became warriors struggling with each other; the blast of a hunting-horn
+from the forest near by was Roland's call at Roncesvalles, while the
+echoes that repeated the strain again and again were the answering
+clarions of Charlemagne. Little delicate Philip Sidney no longer lay on
+the grass in sunny England; in coat-of-mail and golden spurs he followed
+the heroes of old,&mdash;now with the lion-hearted king at Arsur; now with
+triumphant Godfrey on the walls of Jerusalem!</p>
+
+<p>But Philip could not always read and dream; in a short time came the
+reality of school-days and boyish struggles. But though he was called
+away from the chivalric companionship of the knights of old, the
+impression made upon his mind by their courage and fortitude and
+devotion to duty ever after ran, like a thread of gold, through the warp
+and woof of his character.</p>
+
+<p>During the brief reign of Edward VI., Sir Henry Sidney had been
+nicknamed "the only odd man and paragon of the court." The same stanch
+virtues that made him "odd" in Edward's time rendered him a man apart at
+the fawning, flattering, self-seeking court of Queen Elizabeth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Good Queen Bess," as she has been miscalled, cared little for blunt
+honesty. She was a vain and selfish woman, fond of flattery and
+capricious in the extreme. She liked the soft speeches and fulsome
+compliments of such men as the Earl of Leicester far better than she
+liked the simple sincerity of the honest Sir Henry. Then, too, the queen
+was avaricious. The condition of Ireland was of less moment to her than
+the condition of her exchequer; and she was continually at odds with Sir
+Henry because he spent more money than she thought necessary on the
+unfortunate people whom she had sent him to rule.</p>
+
+<p>But though the queen had little love for Philip Sidney's father, she was
+all too partial to his brilliant uncle. The most conspicuous figure at
+Elizabeth's court for many years was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
+Leicester was own brother to Lady Sidney, but he had few of that lady's
+noble qualities. He was a courtier of the most ignoble type, being a man
+who ever sought his own advancement by flattery and cajolery&mdash;always
+ready to "crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, that thrift might
+follow fawning." For many years Leicester was the avowed lover of the
+virgin queen, and there was some talk of a secret marriage having been
+contracted between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> them, though there was probably no truth in the
+rumor.</p>
+
+<p>This much is certain, however&mdash;the queen favored Leicester in every
+possible way, showering honor after honor upon him, and giving him great
+riches.</p>
+
+<p>When young Philip Sidney was not yet seventeen years of age, a dread
+plague broke out in England and, reaching Oxford University, where he
+was studying, necessitated the closing of that institution. Philip's
+education was thus cut short before he had obtained his college degree,
+but not before he had become one of the most scholarly men of the day.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the closing of the university, he was summoned to court to
+be in attendance on her majesty, and to take a place among the gay
+company with which she was surrounded. This was considered a marked
+advancement for him, and, at once, all thought that the queen would
+specially honor him on account of his being nephew to the prime
+favorite, Leicester.</p>
+
+<p>The queen did favor Sidney&mdash;in her own capricious, selfish way&mdash;and he
+shortly became the youngest darling of the court. He was only seventeen
+when he took his place among Eliza<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>beth's courtiers, but he was well
+grown, and was exceedingly talented and handsome.</p>
+
+<p>The power to win stanch and loving friends was inborn in him, and when
+he left the quiet halls of Oxford for the frivolous court of Queen
+Elizabeth, there was more than one heart that was anxious for him. The
+Irish Sea lay between him and his sober, upright father; while the
+voluptuous and insincere Earl of Leicester was to be his patron, and all
+the hollow, glittering, pleasure-loving men and women of the court were
+to be his daily companions. No wonder his friends watched the young
+courtier's career with anxiety! But time soon showed how truly the young
+Philip was stanch old Sir Henry's son. As was natural, Sidney loved the
+brilliant Leicester, and failed to see his uncle's vices as plainly as
+he might have seen another man's, but he did not make those vices his
+own. It was natural, too, that he should feel a youthful enjoyment in
+the gayety and glitter about him, but he somehow kept himself unstained
+by what lay beneath.</p>
+
+<p>There were two influences at work in the youth which, together, saved
+him from the follies about him: first, and greater, the nobleness of
+character which was his by heredity; and, second, the high ideals formed
+in his boyhood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sidney had dreamed of a truth unsullied, of a manhood devoted to high
+and noble deeds, of a faith that was stronger than death. He waked to
+find himself, in satin and gold lace, dawdling about a vain and
+licentious court.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately for the ambitious youth, a change now took place in his
+affairs which enabled him to see something of the world, and to pursue
+his studies further. Before he had been a year at court, he was sent to
+Paris in the train of the Earl of Lincoln, whose mission it was to
+arrange a marriage between the English queen and the Duke d'Alen&ccedil;on,
+brother to King Charles IX. of France.</p>
+
+<p>A clause from Sidney's passport, issued in the queen's name, shows for
+what purpose her young courtier was sent abroad: "Her truly and
+well-beloved Philip Sidney, Esquire, licensed to go out of England into
+parts beyond the seas, with three servants, four horses, and all other
+requisites, and to remain the space of two years immediately following
+his departure out of the realm, for his attaining the knowledge of
+foreign languages."</p>
+
+<p>For reasons of Church and State, Lincoln's mission to France failed, and
+Sidney was left free to spend the time of his voluntary exile at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> his
+own discretion. He wisely chose to remain abroad, and spent nearly three
+years traveling in France, Germany, and Italy. But these three years
+were not given up to sight-seeing and social enjoyment. Sidney devoted
+his time to studying literature, science, music, foreign languages, and
+the politics of the day.</p>
+
+<p>For two great reasons this last subject was of most vital interest to
+him: it was the time of a great religious upheaval throughout Europe,
+and also the time of the ambitious aggressions of Spain under Philip II.</p>
+
+<p>Sidney, an ardent adherent of the Church of England, conceived the idea
+of championing his beloved faith, even as the knights of old had
+championed theirs. Then, too, his whole heart was with his native
+country in her rapid rise to a place of power among the nations of
+earth, and he recognized Spain as an ever-present menace to her
+advancement.</p>
+
+<p>His sympathies were especially aroused for the condition of the harassed
+Netherlands, to the complete subjugation of which Spain was then bending
+her strongest efforts. Then it was that Sidney's chivalric spirit took
+fire with hope,&mdash;the hope that his beloved England would rise and
+deliver the oppressed, and that he, her son,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> would be allowed to be her
+humble instrument in the great and glorious work.</p>
+
+<p>All that was seething in his fertile brain he wrote from time to time to
+England; and he kept her statesmen informed of the state of foreign
+politics in a time when newspapers and telegraph lines had not been
+dreamed of. All unconsciously, he was making a name for himself in
+England; and when he returned, at the age of twenty-one, he found that
+he had established for himself a reputation as politician, statesman,
+and man of letters.</p>
+
+<p>While abroad, Sidney had been associated with "many men of many minds."
+He had learned to think and feel deeply on deep subjects, and had formed
+definite ideals as to a man's proper part in life. He came back to his
+native land with his young heart filled with hopes that were never to be
+realized&mdash;at least, not in the way that he had conceived. It is true
+that he was one of a brilliant circle of men who made the England of
+Elizabeth's time great by the very greatness that was theirs; but the
+England of Elizabeth's time was not the England of Sidney's hopes, and a
+courtiership under the virgin queen was the vanity of vanities to his
+heroic spirit. From that time on, life was a struggle to him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>&mdash;a
+struggle to live nobly amid a court given over to pleasure; a struggle
+to revive the spirit of chivalry among men who were already forgetting
+the very name.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after Sidney's return from abroad, and while he was in high
+favor at court, it pleased the queen to make a "royal progress" through
+a portion of her realm. These "progresses" were journeys through certain
+parts of the kingdom, broken by visits to favored nobles at their
+magnificent castles or halls. On these tours, the queen was always
+brilliantly attended by ladies and gentlemen of her court; and the
+subjects whom she pleased to visit devised for her the most gorgeous and
+sumptuous entertainment.</p>
+
+<p>Sidney had the good or bad fortune to be in attendance on her Majesty
+during this progress, for it was then that he first met and admired
+little Penelope Devereux. It was while her Majesty and train were
+stopping to visit the Earl of Essex at Chartley Castle that the meeting
+between the two young people took place. Lady Penelope, daughter of the
+Earl of Essex, was then only twelve years of age, but she was a maiden
+well grown for her years, and extremely beautiful; so it is not to be
+wondered at that Sidney&mdash;so old in worldly wisdom, but so young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> in
+years&mdash;should have been fascinated by the little maid's grace and
+beauty. The two frolicked and danced together at Chartley, and though
+there were no vows of love exchanged between them then, that visit was
+the beginning of a friendship which was to ripen into the passion of
+Sidney's life. It was also the beginning of another friendship, and one
+which proved far happier for Sidney. The Earl of Essex conceived a deep
+love and admiration for him, and invited him often to Chartley, making
+him&mdash;young though he was&mdash;his bosom friend.</p>
+
+<p>Afterwards, when Essex incurred the deep displeasure of Queen Elizabeth,
+Sidney was one of the few courtiers who dared to show him open
+friendship,&mdash;thus tacitly condemning the action of the queen, who, in
+truth, was at fault.</p>
+
+<p>During his visits to Chartley Castle, Sidney became more and more in
+love with the little Penelope; but when he declared his passion, she
+held him off, like the coquette that she was, while she took pains to
+spin the web of her fascination more hopelessly about him.</p>
+
+<p>The earl, her father, was always in favor of a marriage between the two;
+and at his death, which took place in Penelope's fourteenth year, he
+said of Sidney:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 434px;">
+<img src="images/img.gs06.jpg" width="434" height="600" alt="Sir Philip Sidney and Penelope Devereux" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Sir Philip Sidney and Penelope Devereux</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Oh, that good gentleman! have me commended unto him. And tell him I
+send him nothing, but I wish him well,&mdash;so well that if God do move
+their hearts, I wish that he might match with my daughter. I call him
+son&mdash;he is so wise, virtuous, and godly. If he go on in the course he
+hath begun, he will be as famous and worthy a gentleman as ever England
+bred."</p>
+
+<p>Two years after Essex's death, his widow was secretly married to
+Sidney's uncle, the Earl of Leicester. This made a sad change in Philip
+Sidney's fortunes. As long as Leicester was unmarried and childless,
+Philip Sidney, as his natural heir, was a man of great prospects and a
+very desirable match; but Leicester, married, with the probability of
+children to inherit his titles and wealth, left Sidney only a poor
+commoner.</p>
+
+
+<p>With Sidney's prospects ruined by her own marriage, Penelope's mother
+decided that her daughter should make a more ambitious match, and
+betrothed her to the powerful and cruel Lord Rich. Too late, the little
+maid realized the value of the love with which she had been playing.
+When she could no longer look forward to a match with the noble young
+Sidney, she waked to the knowledge that her whole heart<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> was bound up
+in him; and she protested, even at the altar, against the marriage into
+which her mother was forcing her. "Being in the power of her friends,"
+as the Earl of Devonshire afterwards wrote concerning her, "she was by
+them married against her will unto one against whom she did protest at
+the very solemnity and ever after."</p>
+
+<p>His love for Penelope was the supreme passion of Sidney's life. His was
+a heart too true to change. And as Orpheus gave to his harp his love for
+the lost Eurydice and charmed all nature into silence, so Philip Sidney,
+bereft of the woman he loved, poured out his soul in poems that still
+touch every loving heart.</p>
+
+<p>From politician and courtier, Sidney rose to be one of the most
+distinguished poets of his day. He wrote many poems which are still
+considered of high order, but his "Astrophel and Stella," which contains
+the story of his love for the Lady Penelope, is his most popular work.</p>
+
+<p>Though possessed of all the grace and elegance of an Elizabethan
+courtier, as well as of a gentle and artistic temperament, Philip Sidney
+was no weakling. Under the costly trappings of his court finery beat a
+heart as bold and passionate as King Richard's own.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Throughout all his varied experiences, public and private, he did not
+once relinquish his double hope of aiding the Netherlands and crippling
+the overshadowing power of Spain. Still did he implore help for the
+oppressed. Long did he carry in his heart a picture of the queen&mdash;whom
+he adored in spite of her unworthiness&mdash;as the zealous and devoted
+champion of a great cause. But Elizabeth was no zealot, nor could she be
+made one. When Sidney at length realized that the queen could not be
+induced to move in the cause of the Netherlands, he made up his mind to
+go as a volunteer to the assistance of William, Prince of Orange, ruler
+of that country.</p>
+
+<p>The idea had to be abandoned, however, for a while; for Sir Henry
+Sidney&mdash;still too honest to please the queen&mdash;was again having stormy
+times with her Majesty, and appealed to his son to assist him in
+bringing her to a right view of his Irish policy. Sidney espoused his
+father's cause with his characteristic boldness. Shortly after his
+arrival at court he was met face to face by the Earl of Ormond,&mdash;a
+bitter enemy to his father, and the man who had traduced Sir Henry to
+the queen. Ormond approached Sidney with a suave and condescending
+greeting, but the young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> courtier only stared at him coldly for a
+minute, then turned his back squarely on him. As Ormond was one of the
+peers of the realm, and Philip Sidney but a plain commoner, this was a
+most daring act. But this was not the limit of his daring. Incensed at
+the injustice done his father, Sidney indited a most memorable letter to
+the queen, which was at once a masterly defence of Sir Henry and a
+trenchant attack on the queen's favorite, Ormond. Strange to say, Queen
+Elizabeth seemed to be influenced by Sidney's plain and fearless
+statements, for she sometime thereafter treated his father with more
+consideration.</p>
+
+<p>But a greater trouble than that in connection with his father's business
+now stirred the passionate Sidney to the depths. The Duke d'Alen&ccedil;on, who
+had become the Duke of Anjou, renewed his proposition of marriage to the
+English queen. Sidney despised the private character of the duke, and he
+had, besides, come to object to the proposed alliance for deep and
+patriotic reasons; so he opposed the projected union with all the
+fearless strength that was his.</p>
+
+<p>As by far the greater number of Elizabeth's advisers approved of the
+match, and the queen herself inclined to it, Sidney's position soon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>
+made him unpopular with both queen and court. Another thing happened
+about this time that rendered his relations at court exceedingly
+strained. The Earl of Leicester's secret marriage with the widowed
+Countess of Essex, a twelvemonth before, now came out in a storm of
+gossip, and threw the jealous queen into a rage. Leicester was dismissed
+from court; and Philip Sidney, as his nephew, though not actually exiled
+from the queen's presence, received treatment at her hands that was far
+more galling to his proud spirit than would have been dismissal.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could have been more humiliating to Sidney's highstrung and
+sensitive temperament than to be kept dangling about a court where the
+queen turned but cold glances upon him, and where her nobles were
+permitted to slight him, after the usual manner of courtiers who "kick
+whom royalty kicks, and hug whom royalty hugs."</p>
+
+<p>Philip Sidney was a most unusual courtier. He had more than once held
+out a manly hand to one who had come under her Majesty's disfavor, but
+whom he regarded as stanch and deserving; and he had not failed to
+condemn where she smiled, if he felt that condemnation was deserved.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With his great patron dismissed from royal favor, and London full of gay
+French and English courtiers who looked upon him as an enemy, Philip
+Sidney stood almost alone. Yet was he in no whit daunted, nor did he
+yield one hair's breadth of the high ground he had taken. His was that
+finer courage that can dare the whole world for a principle and stand
+alone upon the right.</p>
+
+<p>As may be imagined, this independence of spirit was most distasteful to
+the vain and fickle queen; but Sidney's grace and talents and personal
+beauty rendered him a courtier with whom she was unwilling to dispense.
+The queen had favored him for these lesser gifts, but the great heart of
+the English people loved him for the chivalric spirit <i>she</i> valued not,
+and for the indomitable manliness that would not truckle&mdash;not even to
+the queen.</p>
+
+<p>During this period of her Majesty's displeasure toward him, Sidney was
+often stung to the quick by petty slights from his fellow-courtiers, but
+on one occasion the offender went too far. The brutal but powerful Earl
+of Oxford&mdash;head of the party who favored the proposed marriage&mdash;had long
+been a rival of Sidney's in the queen's favor, and there was no love
+lost between them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>One day at Whitehall, as Philip Sidney and some of his friends were
+engaged in a game of tennis, the Earl of Oxford entered the court,
+uninvited, and demanded a part in the game. The presence of a number of
+French courtiers as lookers-on and listeners led him to assume a tone
+that was even more arrogant and offensive than was usual with him.</p>
+
+<p>At first, Sidney took no notice of the intrusion; but the studied
+rudeness becoming unbearable, he at length reproved the offender firmly.
+At this, Oxford fell into a rage, and ended by ordering the players out
+of the tennis-court. Sidney met the earl's haughty gaze with one of
+proud defiance, and answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"If your Lordship had been pleased to express the wish in courteous
+terms, you would have been met with courtesy, and perchance might have
+led out those who will not now be driven out with any scourge of fury."</p>
+
+<p>"Puppy!" exclaimed the infuriated earl.</p>
+
+<p>A coarse laugh went up from the spectators, and they immediately began
+to crowd the tennis-court to see the end of the quarrel. This pleased
+Oxford much, for he was seeking to make a fine show before them.</p>
+
+<p>Sidney realized that he was surrounded by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> enemies; but the fact only
+put him on his mettle, and he demanded, calmly,</p>
+
+<p>"My Lord of Oxford, what is that which you called me?"</p>
+
+<p>"A <i>puppy</i>," repeated the earl, and his followers laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a <i>lie</i>!" answered Sidney, in tones that rang out clear and
+sharp.</p>
+
+<p>A bolt from the skies could not have taken his listeners more aback. The
+spectators looked to see Oxford attack or challenge the slender young
+courtier who had flung the lie in his teeth; and Sidney himself waited
+in a fierce quiet for the answer which he, and all present, felt Oxford
+was bound to make.</p>
+
+<p>The answer did not come. Oxford contented himself with quarreling in a
+loud voice; but those whom he was trying to impress were not deceived by
+his bluster, and all present knew that he had proved himself a coward.</p>
+
+<p>When Sidney saw that his opponent was not going to challenge him, he
+made up his mind to throw down the gauntlet himself, for he was too
+indignant to let the matter drop without a personal encounter.</p>
+
+<p>"My Lord of Oxford," he said coolly, "this is a business that can be
+settled better in a more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> private place." With that, he turned and
+walked out of the court.</p>
+
+<p>This, of course, was a challenge; and all the next day Sidney looked for
+the message of acceptance which Oxford was bound, by the code of honor,
+to send him. At length it became apparent that Oxford was trying to
+avoid the duel. This, Sidney had no idea of allowing him to do; so he
+sent a messenger to the earl, asking whether he should hear from him or
+not, and adding&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"His Lordship's French companions can teach him, if he does not know,
+what course he ought to take in this affair."</p>
+
+<p>Thus goaded, Oxford sent an acceptance; but before the duel could take
+place, the lords of the Privy Council forbade it, and besought the queen
+to effect a reconciliation between the two.</p>
+
+<p>The queen's way of reconciling them was to send for Sidney and scold him
+roundly. She pointed out to him the difference between peers and
+commoners and the respect that inferiors owed to superiors, then she
+commanded him to apologize to the earl.</p>
+
+<p>"That, your Majesty," he answered, steadily, "I <i>cannot</i> do. No peer
+has, by his rank, privilege to do wrong; and though the Earl of Oxford
+be a great lord by virtue of his birth and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> your Majesty's favors, he is
+no lord over Philip Sidney."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of queen and court and Privy Council, Philip Sidney would not
+retreat an inch from this position; and Oxford was compelled to take
+refuge in her Majesty's order, to avoid fighting with the fiery young
+courtier. Shortly afterwards, the earl sent a messenger&mdash;supposed to be
+Sir Walter Raleigh&mdash;with the proposition to Sidney that their
+disagreement cease. Thus was the coward peer compelled to humble himself
+to the proud commoner.</p>
+
+<p>Negotiations for the queen's marriage to Anjou progressed favorably for
+a while, to the deep distress of Sidney. Actuated by his great distrust
+of Anjou and his equally great dislike to any sort of alliance with
+France, he at length addressed a letter to the queen, setting forth
+without reserve his objections to her marriage. He warned her Majesty,
+in the most unmistakable terms, of the worthlessness and viciousness of
+her suitor, and ended with a passionate appeal to her not to enter into
+an alliance which would so surely cripple the advancement of the English
+Church. But Sidney's letter was not one of reproof and entreaty only.
+All through its pages could be seen the romantic devotion of subject to
+sover<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>eign, and the chivalric respect of a man for the woman whom he
+imagined to be possessed of all feminine virtues.</p>
+
+<p>The "most excellent lady" to whom the letter was indited answered it by
+flying into a rage and dismissing the writer from court.</p>
+
+<p>This was scarcely punishment to Sidney. He hated the vanities of court
+life with his whole heart, and when he was thus dismissed, he was as one
+from whom heavy shackles had been struck. He spent the time of his exile
+with his beloved sister, the Countess of Pembroke, and while at her
+home, wrote some of his best poems.</p>
+
+<p>The queen forgave Sidney, all too soon for him, for he had to be
+persuaded, nay, almost forced back into her silken fetters. The Earl of
+Leicester was already reinstated in her Majesty's good-will when Sidney
+came back, with reluctant grace, to be again an ornament of her court.</p>
+
+<p>But he was not an ornament merely. He was soon elected to Parliament,
+and through his fearless and untiring zeal did much toward making
+England great.</p>
+
+<p>Sidney was now becoming more and more prominent as a literary man, and
+was closely associated with Raleigh, Lyly, Hooker, Christopher Marlowe,
+Sir Francis Bacon, and Edmund<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> Spenser. He was also one of the first to
+patronize a rising young actor and playwright by the name of Will
+Shakespeare.</p>
+
+<p>In 1583 Philip Sidney was knighted, and became "<i>Sir</i> Philip Sidney,
+knight, of Penshurst." This was, however, but a poor acknowledgment of
+his virtues, his high attainments, and his services to the State. He was
+appointed by the queen to several minor offices, but he was never given
+what he merited at her hands&mdash;so much for being better and greater than
+those who have the power to reward.</p>
+
+<p>For some years Sidney's friends had been pressing him to marry, for they
+felt that it would be an irrevocable loss to England for such a man to
+die without sons to perpetuate his talents and sterling qualities. But
+Sidney for a long time turned a deaf ear to their persuasions. He had
+loved one woman passionately, and she had become the wife of another
+man. Since that time he had paid devoted attention to none, though he
+always held the gentler sex in deepest respect.</p>
+
+<p>Considering his natural attractions, and the exalted place he had won
+for himself among both the writers and the statesmen of the day, it is
+not to be wondered at that he was much sought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> after. One chronicle
+tells us that "many noble ladies ventured as far as modesty would permit
+to signify their affections for him."</p>
+
+<p>Sidney himself thought it his <i>duty</i> to marry, and in the fall of 1583
+took to wife the daughter of his old friend, Sir Francis Walsingham. The
+queen objected bitterly, being selfish enough to want her courtier's
+whole attention; but she finally relented. She afterwards stood
+godmother to Sidney's only child&mdash;a daughter&mdash;who was named for herself.</p>
+
+<p>Sidney's married life was a very happy one. Frances Walsingham made him
+a good wife, and he was very tenderly attached to her.</p>
+
+<p>Always jealous for his native country, Sidney now became much aroused by
+the continued success of Spain in the New World. The then recent
+discoveries in America, and the consequent advancement of the power of
+Philip II., were a menace to the political prestige of England. Sidney
+had been quick to perceive this, and had been stirred to a keen interest
+in English colonization in the New World. He rightly believed that the
+surest means of retarding the growth of the power of Spain was to plant
+in the New World colonies of English-speaking people. Disappointed in
+his desire to join in the warfare in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> the Netherlands against King
+Philip, he conceived a great scheme for crippling that monarch's power
+in America and on the high seas, and he threw himself into the project
+with his whole heart.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting to know that in his colonization schemes Sidney was
+intimately associated with such men as Martin Frobisher, Sir Humphrey
+Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake.</p>
+
+<p>His connection with Sir Francis Drake came near involving him in serious
+trouble, but ultimately ended by procuring him the commission he had so
+long desired. Tired of a life of inactivity, anxious to foil the Spanish
+in the New World, and sick to death of the busy idleness of the court,
+Sidney at length determined to go with Drake to a new world and a new
+career. Accordingly, he made ready, and actually went as far as
+Plymouth, where he was to take ship, when he was overtaken by a
+messenger bearing "grace in one hand and thunder in the other," and the
+queen's command that he return to court.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>grace</i> was that he was to have his long-desired commission in the
+Netherlands, if he would but return. Her Majesty had evidently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> learned
+that she would have to compromise with her spirited subject.</p>
+
+<p>Sidney did return, and received the commission promised. The queen
+signed a patent making him governor of Flushing and Rammekins in the
+Netherlands. Leicester she made commander-in-chief of the forces she had
+at last agreed to send to the aid of the oppressed Dutch.</p>
+
+<p>Sidney was not one-and-thirty years of age when he received his
+appointment. He went into the project with all the fire of his youth and
+chivalry. At last he was free from court fetters; at last he could play
+a man's part in life. All the dreams of his boyhood now waked again. No
+mimic warfare of joust and tournament for him now! With naked sword he
+was to face the enemies of a weak and oppressed people.</p>
+
+<p>When Sidney landed at Flushing, he had yet to learn that war demands
+more courage than is needed in merely facing the foe&mdash;the courage to
+endure delays, hardships, injustice, and all the cruel accompaniments of
+a campaign. He learned his lesson well and shortly, for when he was
+weighed in the balance, he was not found wanting in a single quality
+that belongs to the hero.</p>
+
+<p>Flushing, which had been assigned to English<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> control, was at the mouth
+of the Scheldt River, and on the opposite bank stood the Castle of
+Rammekins. These were important points, as they commanded the entrance
+from the sea. The people of the town hailed Sidney as a deliverer and
+protector, for they were worn with the long struggle against the
+Spanish, and were wellnigh disheartened. The defences of the place were
+in wretched condition, and the town itself in a most unhealthy state, so
+Sir Philip set to work at once to put the place in a more sanitary
+condition and to strengthen its fortifications.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after Sidney had begun to get ready for real war, his uncle, the
+Earl of Leicester, arrived in the Netherlands with the main body of the
+troops sent by her Majesty, and made a spectacular tour through several
+leading cities. He took up his position at the Hague, where he
+immediately began to live in almost royal state, spending the funds sent
+from England, wasting the resources of the people he had ostensibly come
+to help, and making no move against the Spanish, who were daily gaining
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>If Sidney had hoped that, in changing her mind about assisting the
+Netherlands, Queen Elizabeth had changed some of her personal
+characteristics too, he was very quickly unde<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>ceived. The supply of men
+and money sent by her Majesty was entirely inadequate to existing
+necessities; and having shipped her small quota of troops, the queen
+apparently washed her hands of them.</p>
+
+<p>With his superior officer, Leicester, wasting time and the resources of
+the troops, in dissipation, and the queen careless of their straits,
+Sidney was reduced almost to despair. Yet if he had come to hope little,
+he worked as if the whole responsibility of the cause rested on his
+shoulders. He not only put the places of his own command in as good
+condition as was possible, but he went from one city to another,
+assisting and advising. He made journey after journey to the Hague to
+rouse Leicester to a more active policy, and at one time went even into
+Germany to implore help for the wretched country. All this time he was
+writing to Leicester, to the queen, to her advisers, the most passionate
+letters. He set forth the condition of affairs in language that stripped
+truth of all dissembling, and implored her Majesty and her officers to
+let him do the work for which he had been sent. Like the king of the
+forest in the narrow confines of a cage, Sidney's fierce soul raged
+against the orders that kept his sword idle while the Spanish were
+wasting the land.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> There is not a more pathetically tragic figure in
+history than that of the heroic Sidney in the power of the unworthy
+Queen of England and of the doubly unworthy Earl of Leicester.</p>
+
+<p>More than a year was wasted by the luxurious earl, Sidney the while
+chafing at his idleness, and the Spanish gaining post after post. Time
+and again, Sidney pleaded with Leicester to give him adequate troops and
+leave to act, but the troops were not given; and when, on his own
+responsibility, Sidney undertook to besiege Steenbergen, he was
+forbidden to prosecute the plan.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until he had spent nearly two years of hard work and
+discouragement in the Netherlands that Sir Philip was at last allowed to
+proceed against the enemy in active warfare.</p>
+
+<p>A most unwilling permission being wrung from Leicester, Sidney joined
+forces with Lord Willoughby and Count Maurice and proceeded against the
+town of Axel, which was then in the hands of the Spaniards.</p>
+
+<p>A moonless night was chosen for the expedition, and the advance was made
+stealthily and swiftly. While the attacking forces approached the
+sleeping town, Sir Philip spoke so earnestly to the men that one who was
+with him afterwards said, "he did so link our minds that we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> did desire
+rather to die in that service than to live in the contrary."</p>
+
+<p>Axel was surrounded by a wall and a moat, and was regarded as
+impregnable to all save overwhelming forces; but Sidney depended more on
+the spirit of his men than on mere numbers, and he pressed hardily
+forward. When the moat was reached, he plunged boldly in, and was soon
+followed by some fifty others. A few moments more, and they had gained
+the opposite bank and were scaling, as best they could, the wall of
+Axel. A little while of breathless suspense, and then their dark forms
+were outlined against the sky on the top of the wall, only to disappear
+quickly on the other side. Presently there were cries of surprise and
+terror and sounds of sharp fighting, then the drawbridge was lowered and
+the great gate opened to admit the crush of men who rushed to the
+assistance of Sir Philip and his valiant little band.</p>
+
+<p>The scene inside told its own story. Sir Philip had surprised and slain
+the guard and opened the gate to his men. Instantly the startled city
+flew to arms, but it was too late. Over half the twelve hundred men who
+garrisoned the town were put to the sword, a great quantity of riches
+was captured, and a large amount of property<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> destroyed. Besides this,
+four neighboring citadels were attacked and forced to surrender. Sir
+Philip then garrisoned the town with English soldiers, and cut the
+dikes, flooding a vast tract of country to hamper the movements of the
+Spanish.</p>
+
+<p>When it was all over, Leicester wrote proudly to the queen, "My nephew,
+Sidney, is to be thanked for the bravest deed yet done by the English in
+the Low Countries."</p>
+
+<p>But stanch old Sir Henry died a few weeks before his "darling Philip"
+thus won his first laurels in war, and Lady Sidney passed away shortly
+after the news of her boy's heroism reached her.</p>
+
+<p>One would think that the knowledge of that heroism would have touched
+the fickle queen to do, at least, simple justice to the young officer
+who had stormed Axel; but unfortunately it did not. Not only could
+Sidney not persuade her Majesty to give him the necessary troops and
+money for better defences, but he could not move her to pay the wretched
+soldiers their hire. The wages of his men were already months in
+arrears, and the soldiers were daily threatening mutiny. So the time
+dragged on, and nothing of importance was accomplished for several more
+weary months.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Leicester had had as little patience with his nephew as the queen
+herself, "bearing a hand over him as a forward young man;" but after
+Sidney proved his sword at Axel, his uncle treated him with more
+respect, and was at last brought to take counsel of him.</p>
+
+<p>A few months after Sidney's capture of Axel, Leicester reviewed her
+Majesty's troops at Arnhem; and it was then that Sir Philip at last
+persuaded him to strike a decisive blow at the Spanish. Having actually
+obtained his uncle's permission to fight, Sidney lost no time in
+unsheathing his sword. Five days after the review at Arnhem, he and his
+brother Robert and the young Earl of Essex, with a small force, stormed
+and carried the fortress of Doesburg, each one of the three fighting
+brilliantly.</p>
+
+<p>The Earl of Essex was son to Sir Philip's old friend, and brother to
+Penelope Devereux, and was that Essex whom Elizabeth caused to be
+beheaded some years after.</p>
+
+<p>As another result of Sidney's importunities, Leicester laid siege to
+Zutphen, which was a very important post, and the strongest city in
+Gelderland. A week was spent in throwing up intrenchments about the city
+and making ready for an attack. Sidney, together with the Count of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>
+Nassau and Sir John Norris, was put in command of a body of cavalry and
+directed to hold Gilbert Hill,&mdash;a rise of ground less than a mile from
+the east gate of Zutphen.</p>
+
+<p>When the English were nearly ready to attack, news was brought to
+Leicester that large quantities of provisions were being transported to
+the besieged city by the Spanish, and that an attempt would be made to
+smuggle them in.</p>
+
+<p>On receipt of the news, Leicester ordered Sir John Norris and Sir
+William Stanley to take five hundred men and cut off the convoys as they
+approached.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Philip was not included in the commission, but he was so eager to
+act that he joined Norris and Stanley of his own accord. He was fully
+armed as he rode up to the troops, but meeting one of his friends
+without leg-armour, he rashly cast off his own cuisses, that he might
+run equal risk.</p>
+
+<p>The Spanish convoys were expected to arrive in the night, but a gray,
+foggy morning dawned before the tramp of their horses' feet was heard.
+Nearer and nearer it came to the waiting five hundred,&mdash;when suddenly
+the fog lifted and the little band of English found themselves face to
+face with a splendidly equipped Spanish force of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> over five times their
+own number. They had not dreamed that the wagon-train would be so
+accompanied.</p>
+
+<p>The sun rose clear&mdash;fatally clear for that gallant little band of
+Britons. The guns of the city were trained on them; they were in easy
+shot of the Spanish in front and the Spanish behind&mdash;surprised, tricked,
+surrounded. And there was no mist to puzzle the enemy's terrible aim!
+But English chivalry stood the test that day, and English swords rang
+true.</p>
+
+<p>Young Essex, a boy of twenty, made the first dash, crying to his men as
+he went,</p>
+
+<p>"For the honor of England, good fellows, follow me!" They followed him,
+and for a while, at least, beat back the enemy with their curtle-axes.
+Lord Willoughby, and many another gallant cavalier, carved his way to
+fame that day.</p>
+
+<p>But Sidney was the hero of Zutphen&mdash;Sidney "of the delicate form and
+golden hair." One might almost fancy him the matchless Bayard come
+again, or the very incarnate spirit of battle, so splendidly did his
+genius and courage rise in the storm of carnage. None might hope to
+equal him or match his many deeds that day. Once, seeing Willoughby
+surrounded and far over among the enemy, Sidney, with a few followers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>
+fought through to him and accomplished his rescue. Twice he charged the
+Spanish, pressing them back and hacking them down in his path.</p>
+
+<p>At the crisis of the second charge, his horse was shot under him; but he
+quickly mounted another. Then in one last glorious dash, he cut his way
+straight through the Spanish masses, and he did not stop while there was
+a foe to be beaten out of his path. But when he had blazed his solitary
+way entirely through the ranks of the enemy, and was faced with empty
+trenches beyond, he turned his horse to press back again. As he wheeled
+back, a musket-ball struck him in the thigh and gave him a mortal wound.
+The horse he was riding was not trained to battle, and, taking fright at
+the din about him, became utterly unmanageable to Sidney's weakening
+grasp. The terror-stricken animal struggled out of the press and dashed,
+with his almost fainting rider, back to Leicester's distant camp.</p>
+
+<p>As some of the soldiers rushed to him to help him down, Sidney was
+seized with the terrible thirst of the wounded, and begged for a drink
+of water. He was about to press the flagon to his parched lips when he
+saw the eyes of a wounded foot-soldier turned agonizingly toward it.
+With<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>out tasting it, he at once handed it to the dying man, with the
+words,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thy necessity is greater than mine."</p>
+
+<p>But Sidney's necessity was great&mdash;so great that the skill of man could
+not avail to save him; and after a long, agonizing illness, he expired
+at Arnhem in the arms of his heart-broken wife.</p>
+
+<p>So lived and died Sir Philip Sidney, the last and most perfect flower of
+knighthood,&mdash;failing in his efforts to revive the old passing chivalry,
+but, all unconsciously, achieving more than his cherished ideal in
+teaching men how to live and die nobly in the changed order of things.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="SIDNEY_IN_TOURNAMENT" id="SIDNEY_IN_TOURNAMENT"></a>SIDNEY IN TOURNAMENT</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Call back the gorgeous past!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The lists are set, the trumpets sound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bright eyes, sweet judges, throned around;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And stately on the glittering ground<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The old chivalric life!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Forward!" The signal word is given;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beneath the shock the greensward shakes;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The lusty cheer, the gleaming spear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The snow-plume's falling flakes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fiery joy of strife!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thus, when, from out a changeful heaven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O'er waves in eddying tumult driven<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A stormy smile is cast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Alike the gladsome anger takes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sunshine and the blast!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who is the victor of the day?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou of the delicate form, and golden hair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And manhood glorious in its midst of May;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou who upon thy shield of argent bearest<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bold device, "The loftiest is the fairest!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As bending low thy stainless crest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"The vestal throned by the west"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Accords the old Proven&ccedil;al crown<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which blends her own with thy renown;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Arcadian Sidney, nursling of the muse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Flower of fair chivalry, whose bloom was fed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With daintiest Castaly's most silver dews,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Alas! how soon thy amaranth leaves were shed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Born, what the Ausonian minstrel <i>dream'd to be</i>,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Time's knightly epic pass'd from earth with thee!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><span class="smcap">Edward Bulwer Lytton<br /></span></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"<i>The knight's bones are dust,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>And his good sword rust;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>His soul is with the saints, I trust.</i>"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> From "The Cid Campeador," by H. Butler Clarke, by
+permission of G. P. Putnam's Sons.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Unfortunately, this blade has been lost; but there is still
+preserved another sword of Bayard's. It bears the two legends "Soli Deo
+Gloria" and "Vincere aut Mors."</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of With Spurs of Gold, by 
+Frances Nimmo Greene and Dolly Williams Kirk
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of With Spurs of Gold, by
+Frances Nimmo Greene and Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: With Spurs of Gold
+       Heroes of Chivalry and their Deeds
+
+Author: Frances Nimmo Greene
+        Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+Release Date: May 30, 2008 [EBook #25651]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH SPURS OF GOLD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "'Ah, my ill-starred blade!' he cried; 'no longer may I
+be thy guardian!'" _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+
+  With Spurs of Gold
+
+  _Heroes of Chivalry and Their Deeds_
+
+  By
+
+  Frances Nimmo Greene
+
+  and
+
+  Dolly Williams Kirk
+
+     Boston
+     Little, Brown, and Company
+     1928
+
+     _Copyright, 1905,_
+     BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+
+  _All rights reserved_
+
+  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+These brief historical sketches were written primarily for young people,
+though it is hoped that some older readers may find pleasure in renewing
+their acquaintance with heroes of chivalry whose names are familiar
+still, but whose deeds are recalled to mind but vaguely.
+
+It is the purpose of the book to enliven the study of history by giving
+the romantic details omitted in text-books, and to enable the readers to
+form a more vivid and lifelike conception of the great men with whom it
+deals and the turbulent and picturesque times in which they lived.
+
+The endeavor of the authors has been to narrate events and portray
+character accurately and impartially, but in the sympathetic spirit that
+recognizes the wide difference between modern standards of conduct and
+the ideals of the Middle Ages,--the spirit that strives to depict
+vividly and adequately the fine, strong virtues and great deeds that won
+for these knights the unbounded admiration of their own age, rather than
+to dwell upon those traits and acts that are justly condemned by the
+finer moral sense of the twentieth century. Emphasis is laid upon the
+noble in character and deed rather than the ignoble, on the great rather
+than the little.
+
+In the preparation of the book many histories, chronicles, and legends
+have been consulted, and it is hoped that a fair degree of accuracy has
+been attained where the narrative belongs to the domain of history. The
+stories of Roland and the Cid, of course, are largely legendary, and
+there is evidently a considerable admixture of fiction in the
+contemporary accounts of Godfrey and Richard. The authors have
+endeavored to follow recognized historical authority closely when
+practicable; but historians differ so widely among themselves that it is
+often impossible to determine which version of events is most reliable.
+No important fact has been stated without good historical authority, but
+one or two minor incidents of Godfrey's life and crusade were taken from
+Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered." In the treatment of a few unimportant
+events, some imaginative details and circumstances strictly in harmony
+with the meagre historical record of facts have been added to give color
+and interest to the narrative. Also in several instances where the
+subject-matter of a conversation or speech is purely legendary, or is
+given by historians in the third person, it has been put in the first
+person in order to render the story livelier and more vivid. No other
+liberties have been taken with facts as related by historians of
+learning and repute.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+   INTRODUCTORY                                                       xi
+
+   "THIS IS THE RULE FOR THE GALLANT KNIGHT"                           1
+
+   A STEED! A STEED!                                                   3
+
+   ROLAND AND OLIVER                                                   7
+
+   THE CID RODRIGO DIAZ DE BIVAR                                      51
+
+   THE CID'S WEDDING                                                  84
+
+   GODFREY AND THE FIRST CRUSADE                                      89
+
+   THE TROUBADOUR                                                    139
+
+   THE CARRIER DOVE                                                  140
+
+   THE CAPTIVE KNIGHT                                                141
+
+   RICHARD COEUR-DE-LION                                           145
+
+   RICHARD'S LAMENT                                                  196
+
+   THE LAST CRUSADER                                                 198
+
+   THE CHEVALIER BAYARD                                              203
+
+   SIR PHILIP SIDNEY                                                 255
+
+   SIDNEY IN TOURNAMENT                                              291
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+   "'Ah, my ill-starred blade!' he cried; 'no longer
+       may I be thy guardian!'"                            _Frontispiece_
+
+   The Knighting of the Cid                                   _Page_ 59
+
+   "'Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath
+       found water!' cried Sigier"                               "  109
+
+   "There for months he was kept a close prisoner,
+       loaded with chains"                                       "  190
+
+   "As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer
+       among the Spanish who did not come to
+       speak kindly to him"                                      "  251
+
+  Sir Philip Sidney and Penelope Devereux                        "  266
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+
+THE MOORS IN SPAIN
+
+In the seventh century an Arab by the name of Mohammed, or Mahomet,
+established a new religion in the East. This religion was called Islam,
+meaning The Faith, and its followers were known as Mohammedans,
+Mussulmans, or Moslems. The principal article of their belief is
+expressed in the formula, "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is
+his prophet."
+
+The new faith spread rapidly, and Mohammed soon became the ruler of all
+the people who received him as a prophet. His successors, called
+Caliphs, or Khalifs, conquered Palestine, Syria, Persia, and northern
+Africa. The inhabitants of the countries thus added to the Mohammedan
+empire usually adopted the faith of their conquerors, and undertook to
+carry it into other lands.
+
+In 711 A. D., a body of these Mohammedans, under the leadership of
+Tarik, crossed the strait between Africa and Spain and landed at the
+place since known as Gibraltar (Jebel-el-Tarik, or The Rock of Tarik).
+The invaders were met near Xeres by the Christians, under the command of
+Roderick, King of the Visigoths, and the fierce battle of Jerez de La
+Frontera, or Guadalete, took place. At the end of three days' fighting,
+Roderick was slain, and the Christians were completely routed. Victory
+after victory for Tarik followed, and in three short years all Spain,
+except the extreme northern part, was in the hands of the invaders.
+
+These victorious followers of Mohammed, though people of various
+nationalities, were all designated by the Spaniards _Moors_, from the
+name of a tribe that came from Morocco, or _Saracens_, from an Arabic
+word meaning eastern. Often they were called simply _infidels_, meaning
+unbelievers.
+
+The Moors were not only skilled warriors, but a people of much
+intelligence, and made far more rapid advances in civilization than the
+Spaniards. They fostered education, and founded schools and libraries.
+They possessed a considerable knowledge of astronomy, algebra,
+chemistry, and natural history, and attained great excellence in the
+arts of music, poetry, and architecture. They built splendid cities,
+adorned with magnificent mosques and palaces. The wonderful mosque of
+Cordova and the beautiful Alhambra at Granada remain to this day as
+monuments of the Moorish skill in architecture.
+
+Nor were the Moors cruel or tyrannical rulers. It was not often that a
+Moorish emir or king ill-treated or persecuted his Christian subjects.
+As a rule, the Christians were allowed more privileges and greater
+freedom than was usually accorded to a conquered people in those days.
+But the Spaniards were proud and intensely religious, and they bitterly
+resented their state of subjection to a foreign and "infidel" people.
+Again and again they attempted to overthrow the power of the Moors and
+to drive them from Spain. For more than seven hundred years, war was
+waged at intervals between the conquerors and the conquered. There could
+be no permanent peace between Mohammedans and Christians, for each
+people despised the religion of the other, and each was determined to
+rule in Spain.
+
+Gradually, Moorish Spain, at first under the rule of one emir, became
+separated into a number of small kingdoms, which were often hostile to
+each other. This state of disunion among the Mohammedans materially
+aided the efforts of the Christians to regain control of Spain. Little
+by little the Spaniards reconquered their native land. In 1492 A. D.,
+Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon,
+conquered Granada; and with the fall of Granada ended the long rule of
+the Moors in Spain.
+
+
+THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE
+
+In the fifth century that part of Europe then called Gaul was invaded in
+succession by three Germanic races. The Visigoths first conquered and
+took possession of the southern part of the country. They were followed
+by the Burgundians, who settled in the eastern portion. Then came the
+terrible Franks, who were not content with seizing the northern
+territory, but immediately began a war of conquest against the other two
+tribes. The long conflict that followed ended at length in the triumph
+of the Franks. These fierce Franks then established themselves firmly as
+the ruling race, and in course of time Gaul came to be known as the land
+of the Franks, or France.
+
+The kingdom thus established by the Franks under their dreaded chief,
+Clovis, flourished for a time; but eventually the kings of his line
+became so weak in character and so wicked in conduct as to be unfit to
+rule, and the country fell into a state of wretched disorder. At last
+these Merovingian princes became so utterly incapable that the kingly
+authority fell into the hands of certain state officials called "Mayors
+of the Palace."
+
+In the eighth century one of these mayors--a bold and energetic warrior,
+by the name of Charles, or Karl--became in reality the ruler of France,
+though a weak Merovingian prince still bore the empty title of king.
+
+At that time the Mohammedans who had conquered Spain some years before
+were seized with the ambition to conquer all Europe and add it to the
+empire of Islam. Under the leadership of Abderrahman, Moorish governor
+of Spain, these Saracens crossed the Pyrenees and invaded France. The
+Christians of all races, roused by the greatness of the threatened
+danger, ceased warring among themselves and rallied as one people to the
+defence of their country and their religion. A large army under the
+command of Charles, or Karl, ruler of the Franks, met the invaders near
+Tours. There, in 732 A. D., was fought the famous battle of Tours, or
+Poictiers, in which Charles and his Christian warriors utterly routed
+the formidable Mohammedan army. By this great victory, the threatened
+advance of the Moslem power was checked, and Europe was saved to the
+Christian faith. The victorious general, Charles, because of this great
+blow dealt to the _Infidels_, received the surname of Martel, or the
+Hammer.
+
+But the fame of Karl Martel, though great and well-deserved, is far
+surpassed by the renown of his grandson, Charlemagne, or Charles the
+Great. The kingship of France, Charlemagne inherited from his father,
+Pepin, who, more ambitious than Karl Martel, dethroned the Merovingian
+puppet king and made himself king in name as well as in fact.
+Charlemagne, during his reign of forty-five years, added vast
+territories to his Frankish kingdom by successful wars waged against
+surrounding tribes of heathen Saxons, against the Moors in northern
+Spain, the inhabitants of Bavaria, the Avars beyond that country, and
+the people of Lombardy, in what is now Italy.
+
+In the year 800 A. D., on Christmas Day, the great Frankish king was
+crowned emperor by the Pope at Rome. He was hailed as a successor to the
+Roman Caesars, the people shouting,--
+
+"Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, crowned by God, the great,
+pious, and pacific Emperor of the Romans!"
+
+Charlemagne, in truth, well deserved the title of emperor, for at that
+time his sway extended over France, northern Spain, northern Italy, the
+greater part of Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland,--almost half of
+Europe. But Charlemagne was more than a successful warrior, a conqueror
+of nations. He was a man of powerful intellect, whose keen insight,
+sound judgment, and iron will enabled him to rule wisely and well the
+various races of his vast empire. Charlemagne was an earnest student and
+a man of extensive learning for those days, familiar with Latin and
+Greek, proficient in logic, rhetoric, music, astronomy, and theology.
+Delighting in study himself, the emperor recognized the vital importance
+of general education. By founding schools and compelling attendance upon
+them, by himself setting an example of devotion to study, thus
+encouraging others to intellectual pursuits, by inviting to his court
+famous scholars from neighboring countries,--in every way possible,
+Charlemagne endeavored to impress upon his people the value of mental
+culture and the importance of education.
+
+His court became the resort of learned men and renowned knights from
+all lands, and the fame of Charlemagne spread far and wide. Poets
+celebrated his achievements as a warrior, his virtues as a man, his
+wisdom as a ruler. Nor was their praise unmerited. By the most wonderful
+military genius, this chieftain of a wild Frankish tribe carried out his
+ambitious project of establishing a great Christian empire. That he only
+partially succeeded in his more noble purpose of civilizing the
+barbarous tribes he ruled, was due solely to the magnitude of the task.
+The zealous and splendid effort he made, the measure of success he
+attained, in battling against the darkness and ignorance of his time,
+entitle Charlemagne to a place among the truly great men of the world.
+His greatness has stamped his name on the time, and the "Age of
+Charlemagne" stands out in happy contrast to the darkness of preceding
+and subsequent times.
+
+
+THE CRUSADES
+
+It was the custom in the earliest ages of Christianity for its followers
+to make pilgrimages to Palestine. All pious Christians desired to visit
+the land where Christ had lived and died for their redemption, and they
+believed firmly that the blessing of God awaited those pilgrims who
+made long and perilous journeys to worship at the tomb of their Lord.
+These pilgrimages became much more numerous in the fourth century, when
+the Roman emperor, Constantine, was converted to Christianity and put a
+stop to the persecution of the Christians. This emperor and his mother,
+Saint Helena, restored Jerusalem, and there erected magnificent churches
+for the worship of Christ. Then, from all parts of the Christian world,
+thousands of pilgrims journeyed to the Holy City in peace and safety.
+
+But Jerusalem was not destined to remain in the hands of the Christians.
+After having been taken by the Persians and retaken by the Christians,
+the city yielded in the seventh century to the Mohammedans, under the
+Caliph Omar, a successor of Mohammed. From that time on, Christians
+living in Palestine and pilgrims from other countries were oppressed and
+persecuted, and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem became both difficult and
+dangerous. During the reign of Charlemagne, respect for the fame and
+power of that great Christian emperor induced the celebrated Caliph
+Haroun-al-Raschid to treat the Christians with mildness, and to allow
+them to worship in peace at Jerusalem; but under the succeeding
+Mohammedan rulers of Palestine, the Christians were subjected to every
+manner of insult and outrage. Those courageous pilgrims who dared all
+the perils of a journey to Jerusalem and returned home in safety, spread
+abroad throughout Europe the sad story of their own trials, the
+sufferings of their fellow-Christians in Palestine, and the desecration
+of holy places.
+
+These stories excited deep indignation and pious horror in all hearers,
+for it was an age of intense religious faith and enthusiasm; and the
+feeling arose in the hearts of Christian people that it was an
+imperative religious duty to rescue the Holy Land and the Sepulchre of
+their Lord from the Infidels. This feeling grew and spread and
+strengthened into a religious conviction throughout Christendom. So when
+Peter the Hermit, a monk returned from Palestine, traveled through
+Europe, and preached eloquently the sacred duty of delivering the Holy
+Land, he found everywhere enthusiastic hearers.
+
+The people burned with zeal to undertake the pious task; and when Pope
+Urban, at the Council of Clermont, in 1095 A. D., gave the sanction of
+the Church to the enterprise, all Europe rushed to arms. Those who vowed
+to do battle for the holy cause bore the sign of the cross, and hence
+the expedition to Palestine was called a "crusade," from the Latin word
+_crux_, meaning cross.
+
+The history of this First Crusade is given in the sketch of Godfrey de
+Bouillon, and that of the Third Crusade in connection with the story of
+Richard Coeur-de-Lion. These two were the most famous crusades,
+although others were undertaken at different periods. The last crusade
+took place in the thirteenth century, under the leadership of Louis IX.
+of France--Saint Louis--and was unsuccessful. After that time, the
+Christians made no further attempt to rescue the Holy Land, and it is
+still in the hands of the Mohammedans.
+
+
+
+
+With Spurs of Gold
+
+
+
+
+"THIS IS THE RULE FOR THE GALLANT KNIGHT"
+
+
+    Amend your lives, ye who would fain
+    The order of the knights attain;
+    Devoutly watch, devoutly pray;
+    From pride and sin, oh turn away!
+    Shun all that's base; the Church defend;
+    Be the widow's and the orphan's friend;
+    Be good and leal; take naught by might;
+    Be bold and guard the people's right;--
+        This is the rule for the gallant knight.
+
+    Be meek of heart; work day by day;
+    Tread, ever tread, the knightly way;
+    Make lawful war; long travel dare;
+    Tourney and joust for ladye fair;
+    To everlasting honour cling,
+    That none the barbs of blame may fling;
+    Be never slack in work or fight;
+    Be ever least in self's own sight;--
+        This is the rule for the gallant knight.
+
+    Love the liege lord; with might and main
+    His rights above all else maintain;
+    Be open-handed, just and true;
+    The paths of upright men pursue;
+    No deaf ear to their precepts turn;
+    The prowess of the valiant learn;
+    That ye may do things great and bright,
+    As did Great Alexander hight;--
+        This is the rule for the gallant knight.
+
+    EUSTACHE DESCHAMPS
+    (_Fourteenth century_).
+
+
+
+A STEED! A STEED!
+
+
+    A steed! a steed! of matchless speed!
+      A sword of metal keene!
+    Al else to noble hearts is drosse--
+      Al else on earth is meane.
+    The neighing of the war-horse proude,
+      The rowling of the drum,
+    The clangour of the trumpet loude--
+      Be soundes from heaven that come.
+    And, oh! the thundering presse of knightes,
+      When as their war-cryes swelle,
+    May tole from heaven an angel bright,
+      And rouse a fiend from hell.
+
+    Then mounte! Then mounte! brave gallants all,
+      And don your helms amain;
+    Deathe's couriers, Fame and Honour, call
+      Up to the field againe;
+    No shrewish tear shall fill our eye
+      When the sword hilt's in our hand;
+    Heart-whole we'll parte and no whit sighe
+      For the fayrest of the land.
+    Let piping swaine and craven wight,
+      Thus weepe and puling aye;
+    Our business is like to men to fighte
+      And like to Heroes, die!
+
+    MOTHERWELL'S _Ancient Minstrelsy_
+    (_Author unknown_).
+
+
+
+
+ROLAND AND OLIVER
+
+
+THE TRAGEDY OF RONCESVALLES
+
+     "Roland is daring and Oliver wise,
+    Both of marvelous high emprise;
+    On their chargers mounted and girt in mail,
+    To the death in battle they will not quail."
+
+
+
+
+ROLAND AND OLIVER
+
+    "Montjoie! Whoever heard that cry
+     Would hold remembrance of chivalry."
+
+
+In days of old there lived a powerful Christian emperor by the name of
+Charlemagne. His kingdom extended over the greater part of the territory
+which now constitutes the countries of France, Germany, and Italy; and
+the "Franks," as his people were called, followed him with a loving
+loyalty that has been celebrated in song and story for twelve hundred
+years. Around Charlemagne were gathered not a few knights whose names
+will forever be remembered with that of their emperor, and whose deeds
+will live as long as the chivalric instinct thrills the breast of man.
+
+Now this great emperor, though loving and generous toward his subjects,
+could yet brook no shadow of opposition; and when he discovered that his
+beloved sister Bertha had, without his consent, wedded the knight,
+Milon, he at once banished the disobedient pair from the land of
+France.
+
+Fleeing before the awful displeasure of Charlemagne, Milon and his wife
+wandered about in foreign parts as mendicants, and at length took refuge
+in a cave near a small town in Italy. Here, under these adverse
+circumstances, a little son was born to them--one destined to be the
+hero of two countries, the "Roland" of "the French Iliad" and the
+"Orlando" of Italian song and story.
+
+While Roland was yet a little lad, his father departed for unknown lands
+to seek fame and fortune, leaving the boy and his mother to eke out a
+scanty existence as best they might.
+
+As Roland grew in years and in youthful graces, he became a favorite
+with the peasant boys of the village, and, in spite of his ragged
+clothes and his humble abode, was soon made their leader. But there was
+one lad in Sutri who had no love for the stalwart young mendicant.
+Oliver, son of the governor of the town, and consequently a youth of
+high station, conceived quite a dislike for him, and a feud existed
+between the two until it was ended by Roland in a most singular way.
+
+Meeting the son of the governor on neutral ground one day, the fiery
+young cave-dweller proposed that they settle their quarrel with their
+fists. Oliver, being in no whit a coward, quickly consented. The contest
+which ensued was a long and stubborn one, for the two lads were very
+nearly equally matched in strength and endurance and courage. Finally,
+however, the half-clad, disowned nephew of Charlemagne stood triumphant.
+The quarrel was indeed settled; for Oliver, being a lad of mettle, and
+loving and admiring valor wherever he found it, arose from his honorable
+defeat the sworn friend and admirer of his doughty conqueror.
+
+And the friendship of Oliver meant much to the poor lad who had defeated
+him. It often meant food when he was hungry, and clothes when he was
+cold, and always insured him support in all the boyish contests in their
+native village. But, better than all these, it meant to Roland the
+loyal, lifelong devotion of a comrade who became as part of his own
+soul.
+
+While Roland was yet only a stripling, the great emperor, Charlemagne,
+passed through the town of Sutri, and while there dined in public on the
+village green. Now the young Roland had not yet come to the age when he
+could provide for his mother and himself. The times were hard with
+them--especially hard on this great feast-day of the emperor, for they
+were hungry, and knew not where to turn for food.
+
+Now it chanced that Roland, fierce with the fierceness of the
+half-starved, came suddenly upon some of the emperor's attendants just
+as they were bearing trays of rich viands to place before their master.
+The sight of food and the thought of his mother's sufferings instantly
+swept all things else from the lad's mind. Rushing upon the attendants,
+he wrested the viands from them, and made off to his mother's cave
+before they could realize what had happened.
+
+When the emperor was informed of the incident, his brows knitted in deep
+thought, for he had dreamed a dream on the night before, which troubled
+him sorely. He had seen the fierce, half-famished lad in his vision, and
+had been warned to follow him.
+
+After a moment's thought, Charlemagne dispatched three of his knights to
+find the boy and bring him to the royal presence. The three who were so
+commissioned had little trouble in finding the lad, but they came near
+having a serious conflict with him when they attempted to enter,
+uninvited, the cave he felt to be his castle. His mother, however,
+restrained the impetuous youth with her pleadings, and the messengers
+of Charlemagne entered.
+
+When Bertha learned that the knights had come from the emperor, she
+disclosed to them her own identity and the identity of the lad they had
+come to seize. This was Roland's first knowledge of his great lineage,
+and he heard and beheld as in a dream, as the knights knelt before his
+mother and promised to obtain for her the emperor's pardon.
+
+Dazed, dreaming still, the gaunt, sinewy lad took his way to
+Charlemagne, in company with the knights who had been sent to fetch him.
+But in the presence of his emperor,--his kinsman,--the dream feeling
+passed, and Roland rose to the occasion with the pride and independence
+of his race.
+
+When the white-haired, careworn emperor looked upon his sister's son,
+his heart went out to him with a great yearning; for the lad was tall
+and strong, the lad was proud and unconquered. And Charles the Great
+opened his empty arms and took the boy to his heart, nevermore to be
+exiled from it.
+
+Roland and his mother returned to France with the emperor to be, from
+that time on, part of the royal household, and to enjoy riches and
+honor.
+
+But the great happiness that was Roland's was not without its heartache.
+He and his beloved Oliver were completely separated by this change, and
+drifted further away from each other with the drift of years.
+
+As soon as Roland was grown to manhood, Charlemagne made him captain of
+his "peers,"--the twelve knights who, for their bravery and their
+trustworthiness, were chosen to be next to the emperor himself in
+authority.
+
+Among all the twelve, young Roland was the most daring, the most
+impetuous. His splendid qualities won for him the hearts of the many;
+but the few were jealous of him, and charged that he exercised undue
+influence over the emperor and incited the white-haired Charlemagne to
+deeds of daring and violence that were none of his own conceiving. Chief
+among Roland's accusers was the envious Count Ganelon. Ganelon had
+become step-sire to the young peer by wedding the widowed Bertha, but
+the nearness of the tie between him and Roland only seemed to make him
+yet more bent on injuring the emperor's favorite.
+
+However much of truth there was in the charges of Roland's enemies, this
+is certain,--he did become the very darling of the emperor's heart, and
+he did perform such deeds of daring and prowess as made even the
+knightly peerage of Charlemagne behold with wonder and amazement.
+
+The first act of personal daring by which he distinguished himself was
+his engaging and slaying the giant Ferragus. This achievement won for
+Roland the hearts of the people, and led them to watch his crescent
+glory with national pride.
+
+Now in these days a terrible heathen enemy threatened the Christian
+faith and civilization of Europe. Years before, several Mohammedan races
+from Asia--dark, relentless, resistless--had swept over northern Africa,
+and, crossing Gibraltar, overrun the fair land of Spain. North, east,
+and west they spread, conquering the Christians and preaching their
+heathen doctrines with fire and sword. So the beautiful and once
+Christian Spain came to be ruled for many years by the invaders, who
+founded cities, built palaces, and raised Moslem kings to her thrones.
+Nor were the Mohammedans content here. They repeatedly attempted to
+cross the Pyrenees Mountains and overrun the rest of Europe.
+
+Now it chanced that just as a Moorish invasion seemed most imminent,
+Charlemagne had serious trouble within his own kingdom. Guerin de
+Montglave, Lord of Vienne and vassal to Charlemagne, revolted against
+the emperor.
+
+With his usual determination, King Karl dispatched a large army against
+Guerin, and would have waged bloody war against him had not the peers
+interposed and counselled otherwise. They represented to the emperor the
+seriousness of beginning civil war when the Moors were daily threatening
+invasion from the south, and finally succeeded in getting his consent to
+a settlement of the quarrel with Guerin by single combat.
+
+Guerin signifying his willingness to this plan, arrangements were soon
+made for the combat. As all expected, Roland was chosen to maintain the
+justice of the emperor's cause; and as both Roland's friends and enemies
+wished a happy settlement of the quarrel with Guerin, the selection was
+heartily approved.
+
+Guerin de Montglave chose his youngest grandson to do battle for Vienne;
+and many a smile was exchanged between Franks when they heard that this
+young knight accepted with delight the honor that his grandsire
+conferred upon him.
+
+The combat was to be held upon a small island in the Rhone, and the
+warriors of the two camps were accordingly grouped on opposite sides of
+the river, as spectators.
+
+When Roland and his antagonist faced each other at opposite ends of the
+field, each armed from top to toe, each with his face concealed by his
+visor, they were so nearly of the same size and bearing that they might
+easily have been mistaken, the one for the other, but for the colors
+that fluttered from their lances. Yet there was almost sorrow in the
+ranks of Charlemagne's army for the young stranger knight so soon to be
+laid in the dust,--for who could hope to match with Roland?
+
+Their sympathy was all too soon changed to astonishment, for in hardly a
+moment after the sound of the trumpet in signal for the onset, the
+champions clashed together in the center of the lists with apparently
+equal force. Both lances were shivered; both horses reeled from the
+shock; both riders kept their seats; both banks of the Rhone echoed and
+re-echoed with cheering.
+
+The combatants dismounted and drew their swords. For two hours and more
+they fought--stroke for stroke and thrust for thrust. The spectators
+stood breathless with amazement. Neither champion showed sign of
+weakening; neither gained advantage. Suddenly, with one mighty stroke,
+Roland buried his blade in the shield of his antagonist so deep that he
+could not withdraw it, and at almost the same instant the stranger
+knight struck so fiercely upon Roland's breastplate that his sword
+snapped off at the hilt.
+
+Having thus disarmed themselves, the two antagonists rushed together,
+each attempting to fling the other to earth. Long and full stoutly they
+struggled; and when at last it became apparent to the now silent,
+fearful spectators that neither would be likely to gain advantage, the
+combatants each suddenly snatched at the other's helmet to tear it away.
+Both succeeded. The straining spectators then beheld a most amazing
+sight. The two antagonists fell apart for an instant and looked into
+each others' uncovered faces, then rushed into each others' outstretched
+arms. This time there was no striving; they were apparently embracing
+each other in an ecstasy of delight.
+
+And such was indeed the case, for the stranger knight was _Oliver_. For
+nearly three hours had he and Roland striven against each other as
+strangers and enemies. Now they were face to face and heart to heart
+after the cruel striving--after years of separation. What wonder, then,
+that cause and country were forgotten!
+
+And in spite of cause and country and king and kinsman, the two boyhood
+comrades could not be induced to oppose each other further. Happily for
+all concerned, the trouble between Charlemagne and Guerin was settled in
+a few days in peaceful conference.
+
+Roland and Oliver, having thus found each other, refused to be separated
+again; and the good emperor honored the redoubtable Oliver by making him
+one of his peers.
+
+No longer was Roland undisputedly first in valor at the court of
+Charlemagne. Oliver had so grown in prowess since his first encounter
+with Roland that he was now the peer of his friend in every point.
+Indeed, so exactly equal were the achievements of these two that from
+their story has come the well-known expression "a Roland for an Oliver,"
+meaning, matching a deed with a deed as great. There was this difference
+between them, however: whereas Roland was fearless to recklessness and
+proud and presumptuous to his own destruction, Oliver was wise,
+discreet, and modest. Yet this very difference seemed to bind them more
+closely to each other. But there was a yet stronger and closer tie
+between them in Alda, the beautiful sister of Oliver.
+
+After their grandfather, Guerin, had repented of his revolt and again
+become submissive to the emperor, Alda came with her brother to the
+court of Charlemagne. Of all the ladies in the land she was the most
+beautiful, and the gentleness which distinguished her brother was hers
+in a marked degree. Many a mighty knight strove to win her favor; but
+though she was kind to all, her smiles were reserved for her brother's
+comrade, and erelong she became his promised wife.
+
+Great was Oliver's delight to find that the friend who had been a
+brother to him was to be his brother in yet another sense. King Karl,
+too, consented joyously to the troth, for he loved the gentle Alda even
+as he loved her courageous brother.
+
+But no time was there then for marriage feasts and rejoicings. The
+heathen were clamoring at the gates of Christendom, and it became the
+duty of every knight of the true religion to bid a hasty farewell to his
+lady and buckle on his sword.
+
+All France rushed to arms, and not a moment too soon. Marsilius, Saracen
+King of Spain, was preparing to cross the Pyrenees!
+
+Long and bitter was the war which ensued, but Charlemagne saved France
+to the Franks and to the true faith. But King Karl and his men were not
+content with merely saving France from the infidels. At one time the
+Frankish hosts crossed the Pyrenees and conquered nearly all of northern
+Spain. For seven long years King Karl and his Franks warred in the
+peninsula. Keep and castle went down before the Christians; city after
+city capitulated to them; the land was theirs from mountain to sea,
+except the single town of Saragossa, in which the Moslem king,
+Marsilius, together with a powerful army, had taken refuge.
+
+The beautiful Saracen city of Cordres was the last to fall before the
+arms of Charlemagne. Long and stoutly did the besieged stronghold hold
+out against the conqueror, but at last its gates were carried and its
+towers and walls battered to earth.
+
+    "Not a heathen did there remain,
+    But confessed him Christian, or else was slain."
+
+In celebration of the taking of Cordres, Charlemagne shortly afterwards
+held court with great pomp and splendor in a beautiful orchard in the
+heart of the conquered city.
+
+It was the custom of the emperor to take counsel of his peers and
+knights in all matters of import, and he now desired to discuss with
+them how best to bring to a happy close this long and bitter war,--for
+Marsilius was still in possession of Saragossa. With the fall of Cordres
+the end seemed near at hand; and Charlemagne rejoiced, for he had grown
+old and weary of strife, and he longed to return to his own again. No
+less relieved at heart, his warriors gathered about him that day, eager
+to plan some means of ending their cruel exile.
+
+The sky was fair, as with the promise of yet fairer things; and the
+olive-trees of Cordres spread out their branches above and about the
+Christian hosts as if in token of the peace they so earnestly craved.
+
+Seated upon a throne of beaten gold was the Emperor of ample France.
+Proud, and mighty of frame was he, but the curls that rested on his
+shoulders and the beard that flowed over his bosom were white as the
+snow-caps of the Sierra Nevadas. Small wonder the Moslems believed that
+two hundred winters had piled their snows upon his head!
+
+The flower of Frankish chivalry pressed about him--fifteen thousand
+doughty knights of France. Gorgeous carpets were spread upon the
+greensward, upon which the cavaliers sat at games or practised fencing
+with light arms. But nearest to the great Charlemagne--and dearest
+too--were the two sworn comrades, Roland and Oliver.
+
+King Karl had not yet opened the council when there rode into the
+orchard twelve messengers from King Marsilius, each mounted upon a
+snow-white mule, each bearing an olive-branch of peace. A gallant
+company they seemed--fair and honest--as they alighted from their beasts
+and knelt at the feet of the Christian emperor.
+
+Great was the astonishment among the Franks to behold what seemed to
+them a miraculous answer to their prayers for peace; and they listened,
+spell-bound, as the leader of the heathens bowed to the earth and
+said:--
+
+"O king, may thy God of glory save thee! Our lord, Marsilius, doth send
+greeting to thee. Much hath he mused on thy Christian law, and now he
+hath determined to embrace it as his own. If it please thee to depart
+from the land of Spain, where too long thou hast tarried, King Marsilius
+will hasten after thee, and in thine own city of Aix, at Michaelmas,
+will receive Christian baptism and swear fealty to thy royal self
+forever. Our lord doth further say that, an so it please thee to hearken
+unto him, he will lay much of his wealth at thy feet. Bears and lions
+and dogs of chase will he send to thee; seven hundred camels that bend
+the knee, and a thousand hawks also. Four hundred mules laden with gold
+and silver such as fifty wains could scarce bear away shall be thine, so
+it please thee to depart, O king!"
+
+The Frankish lords stood silent.
+
+King Charlemagne, never hasty of speech, bent his hoary head in thought
+for many minutes. When he raised it again, a lofty look was on his face.
+
+"Thou hast spoken well," he said, "but King Marsilius was ever a deadly
+foe to us. How may we know that his fair promises will not lack of
+fulfilment?"
+
+"Hostages wilt thou, my lord?" cried the heathen. "Ten or twenty or more
+will I give thee,--mine own son the first. King Marsilius will come to
+redeem them, for he would fain be laved in the fountain of thy Christ."
+
+"Yea, he may yet be saved!" cried the pious emperor. Then he caused good
+cheer to be made for the Saracen emissaries. Twelve servitors were
+detailed to attend their bidding, and they remained in the Christian
+camp till morning.
+
+Now when the dawn came, Charlemagne arose and attended mass, as was his
+wont. Then he betook himself to the orchard, and again summoned his
+barons around him. He had pondered much during the hours of darkness,
+and was now determined to act as his lords advised.
+
+A goodly company they gathered about him--Archbishop Turpin, the warlike
+churchman, Duke Ogier bold, and Richard the Old were close about the
+throne. Gerien and Gerier, brothers-in-arms, were there, and Roland and
+his faithful Oliver, and many other knights, including, alas! Count
+Ganelon.
+
+Then Karl spoke to his barons concerning the offer of the Saracen king.
+He reviewed the rich promises of Marsilius, and reminded the Christian
+company of the heathen king's desire to be baptized, adding, however,
+
+"I know not what may lie in his heart." When he had ceased speaking,
+there arose a warning cry from the Franks--
+
+"Beware! Beware!"
+
+Scarcely was the word repeated when Count Roland came forward and faced
+his uncle.
+
+"Believe not this Marsilius!" he cried. "For full seven years we have
+warred in Spain, and he hath been ever a traitor. Hast thou forgot the
+time when he sent unto thee fifteen of his heathen bearing olive boughs
+of peace and speaking flattering words, as now? Hast thou forgot that
+when thou didst hearken unto his words and send two of thy chiefest
+knights to treat with him, he did cause their heads to be stricken off?
+War! I say. End as you began. Besiege him in Saragossa!"
+
+Roland ceased, and the Franks were silent; but every eye was bent on him
+as he stood in his youthful pride before the emperor. Right well beloved
+was he among his people, for many a brave city had gone down before him.
+There was not his peer for courage and spirit in all the Frankish hosts,
+except, perhaps, the gentle Oliver. The emperor bent his head and mused.
+Suddenly Count Ganelon sprang to his feet.
+
+"Be not misled by me or others!" he cried, addressing the emperor. "Look
+to thine own interest, my lord. King Marsilius assures thee of his
+faith. He will be thy vassal, and receive thy Christian law even as
+ourselves. Who counsels thee against this treaty cares not what death we
+die. Good does not come from counsel of pride, my lord; list to wisdom,
+and let madmen be."
+
+Then the white-haired and reverend Duke of Naimes arose; there was than
+he no better vassal in all France.
+
+"My King," he said in deepest reverence, "well hath Count Ganelon made
+reply. King Marsilius is broken and beaten in battle. Thou hast captured
+his castles and shattered his walls; thou hast burned his cities and
+slain his soldiers; it were a sin to molest him further. Receive the
+hostages he offers, and send him in return one of thy Christian knights
+to arrange terms of peace with him. It is time this war were closed."
+
+"The duke hath spoken well!" the Franks exclaimed. The emperor paused,
+then said, at length,
+
+"Who, then, amongst you were best to take this mission?"
+
+"I," said the duke, quickly. "I pray thee yield me thy royal grace."
+
+"Nay," answered King Karl; "thou art my wisest counsellor. By my beard I
+swear thou shalt not depart from my side."
+
+"I," cried Count Roland, "will go right gladly."
+
+"Not so," said Oliver; "thou art too fiery to play such perilous part. I
+shall go myself, if the king so will."
+
+"Silence, I command ye both!" said the king. "Neither of you shall
+perform this errand." Then he commanded his knights to make a choice
+from among their number for the perilous journey.
+
+Again Roland spoke:
+
+"Be it, then, my step-sire, Ganelon. In vain will ye seek for a meeter
+man."
+
+Instantly the Franks echoed Roland's choice, crying,
+
+"So it please the king, it is right and just!"
+
+Ganelon heard, and his rage against Roland was fierce indeed. He flung
+his mantle from him, and faced the younger knight in a mighty wrath.
+
+"Thou madman!" he cried. "What meaneth this rage against me? I am thy
+step-sire, and thou doomest me to danger like this! So God my safe
+return bestow, I promise to work thee ill as long as thou hast the
+breath of life." Then Roland answered him haughtily--
+
+"Am I known to reck of the threats of men? But this is work for the
+sagest. So it please the king, I will go in thy stead."
+
+At this, Count Ganelon's anger was deep and bitter indeed; and he
+spurned the insulting offer of his step-son to go in his stead, after
+which he turned to King Karl, saying,
+
+"O righteous emperor! I stand ready to execute thy high command."
+
+Then the emperor bade him go to King Marsilius with the terms of peace,
+which were that he, the Moslem, was to hold half of Spain in vassalage
+to Charlemagne; that the other half of the conquered territory was to be
+ruled by the emperor's well-beloved Roland; and that Marsilius was to
+journey to France at Michaelmas and receive Christian baptism.
+
+Bitter indeed it was to Count Ganelon that his enemy should thus profit
+by the perilous service to which he himself had been thus condemned, but
+he was too proud to retreat in the face of danger.
+
+Now, when all was arranged, the emperor handed Ganelon a missive to
+Marsilius; he gave the count his right-hand glove also, in token of the
+high authority with which he vested him.
+
+As the count bent low to receive his commission, the emperor's glove
+dropped to the ground, and the startled Franks whispered to one another:
+
+"God! What is this? Evil will come of this quest." But it was treated as
+an accident, and Ganelon passed on his journey.
+
+And on that journey he held deep and evil converse with the heathen
+concerning Roland and his overweening pride.
+
+Now when the Saracen emissaries were returned to Saragossa, they stood
+before Marsilius, crying, "Mahomet save thee!" and presented Ganelon,
+who bore King Karl's answer.
+
+When the Christian was summoned to speak, he gave his emperor's answer
+boldly. Marsilius listened in silence to the terms of treaty till
+Ganelon reached the part where Charlemagne declared that if his terms
+were rejected, he would besiege Saragossa, and bear Marsilius captive to
+France, there to die a "villainous death of shame." At this Marsilius
+was sorely enraged, and, forgetting how serious were his straits, sprang
+from his throne, and would have dealt death to the Christian had not his
+wise nobles interposed and persuaded him to temper his wrath with
+judgment.
+
+When Marsilius was pacified, Ganelon was again asked for the terms of
+the treaty, and he again gave them as they had been intrusted to him.
+Much the heathen questioned him concerning King Karl, and he answered
+without fear, always praising his emperor; but when Marsilius desired of
+him the secret of Charlemagne's aggressive and warlike policy,--for the
+emperor was past the age when men are given over to ambition,--Ganelon
+assured him that Roland was the evil genius of the emperor, always
+urging him to greater deeds of violence, always inciting him to greater
+heights of power.
+
+The wily heathen put the question several times, in as many forms, but
+Ganelon's answer was always the same,--Roland ruled the emperor, and as
+long as Roland lived, so long would Charlemagne slay and oppress. And he
+ended significantly,--
+
+"Whoso shall bring death to Roland shall wring from Karl his greatest
+strength; he shall see the marvelous hosts of Franks melt away and leave
+this mighty land at peace."
+
+Then villainous heathen and treacherous Christian devised there a plan
+by which the gallant Roland was to suffer death, and the Frankish power
+in Spain was to be forever destroyed. It was Ganelon's evil brain that
+conceived the plot; it was the heathen, Marsilius, who was to execute
+it.
+
+By his own terms of treaty, Charlemagne agreed to withdraw his Franks
+from Spain; and to do this, it would be necessary for him to lead them
+through a deep and narrow defile in the Pyrenees Mountains. Ganelon knew
+full well that the emperor would intrust the rear-guard of his army in
+the retreat to none but his valiant Roland, for there would be great
+danger of the treacherous Moslems' falling upon the rear and dealing
+slaughter among the retiring hosts. This fact Ganelon pointed out to the
+Saracen king, and he undertook to have Roland placed in the rear-guard
+of the Franks. He suggested that the Moslem hosts be massed together in
+overwhelming numbers, ready to make a sudden descent upon the rear-guard
+when Karl should be too far in front to save them.
+
+Marsilius agreed eagerly, and in his joy at the thought of revenge, he
+fell upon Ganelon's neck and kissed him. Then he bade his attendants
+bring royal gifts, which he bestowed upon the traitor; after which they
+both took a solemn oath to compass the fall of Roland,--Ganelon swearing
+by the cross on his sword-hilt, and Marsilius by the Koran, the sacred
+book of the Mohammedans.
+
+The joyful Moslems closed around Ganelon, and he pledged them Roland's
+death with many kisses, receiving from them costly gifts and great
+riches. Then Marsilius made ready the riches he had promised to
+Charlemagne, and sent them and twenty hostages, with Ganelon, to the
+emperor.
+
+So Count Ganelon came back to his emperor with treason in his heart and
+a lie on his lips, and "Charles the Great" believed him.
+
+Then all was astir in the Frankish camps; a thousand bugles sounded
+retreat, and a hundred thousand faces were turned toward France and
+home. There was eager joy in the Christian ranks that day, and the
+mighty Karl sighed with relief,--
+
+"My wars are done."
+
+But the ambitious and fiery Roland was ill-satisfied, and Count Ganelon
+carried in his breast fiendish hatred and jealousy.
+
+From the nature of the country, and the plan of the march homeward, it
+was plain to all that the rear of the army was the position most exposed
+to danger; so it was of great concern to Charlemagne who should be left
+to guard it. As was his custom in matters of great import, the emperor
+took counsel with his knights as to who should be left to command the
+rear-guard, and before any one else could speak, Count Ganelon
+answered,--
+
+"My liege, on my step-son let thy royal choice fall. Knight like him
+thou hast none beside."
+
+Roland heard, and he knew full well the deep hatred that prompted the
+count's reply, but he made answer in full knightly fashion,--
+
+"Sir step-sire, I thank thee that thou hast named me for this trust, and
+I do assure thee that if King Karl lose aught in this retreat, our
+swords shall tell the reason."
+
+So it was settled as Ganelon and the Saracen king had schemed,--Roland,
+the first of Charlemagne's peers and the darling of the emperor's heart,
+was left to guard the rear of the retiring hosts; and the heathen,
+silently, and by thousands and tens of thousands, were massing
+together,--watchful, alert.
+
+Count Roland hastened to make him ready. He donned a suit of peerless
+armor, and hung his flower-emblazoned shield about his neck. Girt at his
+side was his matchless "Durindana,"--the blade that had been given to
+Charlemagne by an angel, who told the emperor that it must be the sword
+of a valorous captain. Thus arrayed and armed, with the gold fringe of
+his white pennon floating over his shoulders, Roland rode out on his
+fiery "Veillantif"; and his men, as with one voice, exclaimed,--
+
+"We will follow thee!"
+
+The ones who followed him were the flower of the Frankish army,--twenty
+thousand picked men. First chosen of all was Oliver, and among the
+others was the valorous Archbishop Turpin.
+
+Then right cautiously the van-guard began the homeward march. Beyond the
+Pyrenees lay their well-beloved France; and they pressed on toward her
+vine-clad provinces, but with anxious thoughts of the rear-guard,
+leagues behind, between them and the Moslem hosts. The way to home and
+loved ones lay through the Vale of Roncesvalles. This vale was a long
+and narrow defile in the mountains, through which the army was obliged
+to march in a scattered and dismembered way; and so it was that Karl and
+the van had already gained France, while the beloved Roland and his
+chosen followers were just entering the pass of Roncesvalles.
+
+Now Charlemagne knew full well where the danger lay, and he was
+grievously concerned for his sister's son. Moreover, on the night
+before, he had dreamed a dream, in which he beheld a vision, symbolizing
+the treachery of Ganelon. But it was not a time to hearken to the
+misgivings of his heart, and the emperor pressed on, solacing himself
+with the thought that his best and bravest were behind with the
+rear-guard.
+
+From far over the marches of Spain the heathen hosts were gathering.
+Swiftly, surely, their serried ranks were closing in on the Christian
+band. Mountain, plain, and valley glittered red with their burnished
+arms, as on their light Arab steeds they swept like the wind of the
+desert on Roland's track. And as the rear-guard of the Christian army
+rode into the deep defile of Roncesvalles, the Saracen bugles rang out a
+challenge from the far distance.
+
+Now Oliver, though brave as any of King Karl's peers, was wise enough to
+recognize danger and to fear it. The sound of the war-trumpet brought
+him at once to Roland's side, and he said,--
+
+"Sir Comrade, there is battle at hand with the heathen!"
+
+But Roland lacked wisdom, and exclaimed with his usual pride,--
+
+"God grant it may be so! Let us be strong for mighty blows, lest songs
+of scorn be sung against us. No craven part shalt thou see me fill this
+day."
+
+Oliver was not so anxious for an encounter with the enemy, and he
+hastily climbed to a high point to get some idea of their numbers. Far
+over the plain his eye could reach, and he was bewildered and dismayed
+by the sight before him. Greater far than he had reckoned were the
+Paynim hosts, and many times more ominous was their battle-array. One
+long look at their serried, glittering masses, and he hastened down to
+Roland.
+
+"My comrade," urged he, "I have seen the enemy, and never on earth did
+such host appear. I pray thee, sound thy horn, that Karl may hear and
+return to our succor." But Roland answered:
+
+"Such deed were madness! Lost in France would be my glory. My good sword
+shall seal the felons' fate."
+
+"Nay, Roland, sound on thine ivory horn, that Karl may bend his legions
+back and lend us aid," exclaimed his wise companion. In vain he pleaded.
+
+Nearer and nearer the Moslems swept, and Oliver exclaimed in reproach,--
+
+"See, comrade, see how close are they, and help, alas, how far! The
+rear-guard will make their last brave stand this day!"
+
+But Roland was drunk with the joy of battle and cried,--
+
+"My friend, my brother, my Oliver, the emperor hath left us here his
+bravest. Full twenty-thousand men he gave to us, and among them no
+coward heart. I shall so strike with this matchless blade that he who
+wears it when I lie dead shall say, ''Twas the sword of a valorous
+captain.'"
+
+The time was all too short--the Moslems were almost upon them.
+Archbishop Turpin, seeing their straits, spurred his horse to a jutting
+crag, and addressed the men. There was silence among the Franks as the
+voice of the beloved churchman rang through the hollow pass:
+
+"Barons, we are here for our emperor's sake; strike we for him, though
+death be our portion." He stretched out his arms above them, and the
+Franks alighted and knelt on the ground, crying, "_Mea culpa!_" Then he
+assoiled them and blessed them, giving them for penance, to smite their
+best.
+
+The next instant the storm of battle broke, and Paynim and Christian
+closed in the death-struggle, each hoping, believing, to find in the
+blood of the other his passport into Paradise; each with the name of God
+on his lips.
+
+Well might the emperor bow his white head in woful fear, though the blue
+skies of his native France were smiling above him. Death stalked
+triumphant at Roncesvalles, and Frank and Saracen yielded him tribute
+till the pass was covered with the dying and the dead.
+
+If only King Karl could have seen his knights that day, the glory of
+the sight would have blotted out its tragedy. Roland was proud, but
+there was none braver than he; and he flung himself upon the enemies of
+his king, his country, and his God with a fierce courage that none might
+withstand. Wherever his splendid form was seen, his followers greeted
+him with loud acclaim, and he cheered them on with their emperor's
+battle-cry,--"Montjoie, Saint Denis!"
+
+No less courageous was his dear comrade. But no fierce joy impelled
+Oliver to the great deeds that he performed. He saw his duty, and met it
+like a true knight.
+
+Nor were the ten others of the emperor's peers less zealous in his
+cause. Each gave his all for Charlemagne; and if that all was less than
+the mighty Roland gave, it was not the fault of the knight who pledged
+it.
+
+Conspicuous in the fight was the great archbishop,--here blessing and
+assoiling according to his holy office; there rushing to the charge like
+the warrior that nature had made him, crying,--
+
+"Strike, barons! Remember your chivalry!"
+
+But not to the Franks alone belong all the glory and all the praise. The
+Moslem hosts that opposed them were "worthy of their steel,"--equally
+zealous in their own cause, equally certain of the approval of God.
+
+Wilder and fiercer grew the strife, and Paynim and Christian mingled
+together in dire confusion. At length the Moslem ranks wavered for an
+instant, gave back a little, and then broke in panic. And a pitiful
+remnant of the mighty host of King Marsilius fled from the field,
+leaving slain in the pass the great body of that once proud army. But
+even this remnant did not escape, for they were followed by the
+Christians; and only one, wounded and bleeding, escaped to tell King
+Marsilius the story of his woful loss.
+
+Nearly an hundred thousand Moslems lay dead in the pass of Roncesvalles.
+But they had sold their lives full dearly. Beneath, above, and beside
+them were piled the flower of the Frankish army--Christian and Paynim,
+asleep on one mother's breast, unheedful alike of triumph and defeat.
+
+In spite of the fact that theirs had been the places of greatest danger
+all through the battle, Roland and Oliver and the good archbishop had
+escaped unhurt; and they and their comrades betook them to the sad duty
+of searching the bloody field for their best-beloved dead. Long they had
+wandered thus among the dead and dying, when a mighty blast of trumpets
+smote on their ears.
+
+"O God, our Father, what straits are ours!" they cried, as looking up
+they beheld in the distance another Saracen host, greater by far than
+the one they had crushed, bearing down upon them.
+
+Now happened a thing most wondrous to tell. In far-away France an awful
+darkness came down upon the land; a great whirlwind swept the face of
+the country; the rain fell, the earth rocked, and the thunder rolled
+along the sky. For a long time the darkness was unbroken, save when the
+lightning cleft the storm-clouds and gave to the scene a yet wilder
+fear. On all there came a mighty dread, and they deemed the end of the
+world at hand. They knew not that it was an augury of the fateful
+tragedy at the gates of Spain.
+
+The lone heights about Roncesvalles had looked upon the Christian in his
+pride and triumph; now were they destined to behold another sight.
+
+Like that awful storm-cloud, the heathen came down upon the Christian
+few, the thunder of hoof-beats waked the echoes of Roncesvalles, and the
+hard earth reeled with the shock of arms.
+
+The rear-guard made their last brave stand that day. Lance to lance and
+sword to sword, they held their own while there was yet life in them,
+and they achieved all but the impossible. Twice did the heathen swarms
+break and fly before the fierce onslaughts of the Christians, but twice,
+reinforced, they rushed to the attack again. Knight after knight went
+down before them,--Engelier, Duke Sampson, Anseis, Gerien, and Gerier!
+Where might the emperor find their like again?
+
+At length only sixty of the Franks were left, pressed together by the
+Moslem thousands. Every man in that "marvelous little companie" knew
+that death that day would be his portion; but each was stanch and true,
+and was resolved to sell his life "full hardily."
+
+As the once haughty Roland gazed on his slaughtered men and on the
+pitiful few who rallied around him in his last stand against the Moslem
+power, his heart smote him grievously for the ruin he had wrought, and
+he cried to his companion,--
+
+"Would to God he had been with us--our emperor and friend! Speak,
+Oliver, and lend thy counsel. How may we yet send tidings to Karl?" But
+Oliver, in spite of his usual gentleness, was bitter against his
+friend, and he said mockingly,--
+
+"'Such deed were madness; lost in France would be thy glory!'"
+
+But Roland's anguish and humility were great, and he insisted,--
+
+"I will sound upon my horn that Karl may hear."
+
+"Nay," cried Oliver. "Wouldst thou _call for aid_?"
+
+The broken-hearted Roland protested, but Oliver continued bitterly,--
+
+"See how our Franks lie slain of thy madness, nevermore to render
+service to our emperor. Thou too shalt die, and forever shall France be
+dishonored!"
+
+Thus, in face of death, did these two quarrel--they who had been dearer
+than all else to each other. The good archbishop heard their strife, and
+rebuked them sadly, saying,--
+
+"Sir Roland, and thou, Sir Oliver, I pray ye, in the name of God,
+contend not. To wind the horn shall not avail to save us now. Yet were
+it meet to sound it, too; for Karl will return to avenge our fall, and
+bear our bodies back to gentle France to sleep in hallowed earth."
+
+Then Roland sounded a mighty blast upon his horn,--so mighty that a
+vein in his temple burst with the effort, and the bright blood flowed
+from his lips. But the powerful strain, echoing and re-echoing along the
+hollow pass of Roncesvalles, came faintly to the ear of Karl, and told
+its tale of tragedy.
+
+"It is Roland's horn," cried the white-haired emperor. "He had not blown
+it save in dire distress." Then, though the traitor, Ganelon, did all in
+his power to dissuade him, Charlemagne turned back along the mountain
+path toward Spain.
+
+And even in that hour, though weakened by loss of blood, and heart-sick
+at the fate he had brought upon his comrades, Roland rushed to the fight
+once more,--fleeter, fiercer, and more terrible.
+
+"Oh, Oliver, brother," he cried in his anguish, "I die of shame and
+grief if I escape unhurt!"
+
+Deeper yet he pressed into the fight, and showered blows as only Roland
+could, driving the foe before him. But, alas! the heathen hosts were
+thick as the sands of their native deserts, and thousands upon thousands
+came to reinforce their wavering ranks. Then Roland cried,--
+
+"Our hour of fate is come!" and even as he spoke, a villainous heathen
+bore down upon Sir Oliver and thrust him through with his lance.
+
+"Sir Roland, Sir Comrade," the dying Oliver cried--for his anger against
+his friend had burned out--"ride near me still; our parting is at hand."
+
+"O God, my gentle Oliver!" cried the anguished Roland, "is this the end
+of all thy valor? Ah, hapless France, bereft of thy bravest! Who shall
+measure thy loss!" His grief was greater than he could bear, and he
+swooned upon his charger's neck.
+
+Now Sir Oliver's eyes were dimmed with bleeding, so that he knew not
+friend from foe; and soon, in the surge of battle, he mistook his
+swooning comrade for a Moslem, and dealt a fierce blow on Roland's
+golden crest. The stroke did naught but rouse his unconscious friend,
+for the arm of the dying Oliver had lost its wonted power.
+
+"My comrade," said Roland, softly, "didst thou strike me knowingly? I am
+Roland, who loves thee so dearly."
+
+And Oliver answered,--
+
+"Have I struck thee, brother? Forgive it me. I hear thee, but I see thee
+not." Then Roland pressed closer to him, saying,--
+
+"I am not hurt, my Oliver."
+
+Then Oliver alighted from his horse, and couching upon the red earth,
+cried aloud his _Mea Culpa_. Then passed his gentle spirit to Paradise;
+and Roland cried in his anguish,--
+
+"Since thou art dead, to live is pain!"
+
+But life and pain were Roland's for yet a little space, and he had need
+to bear him to the end a cavalier. Rousing himself from his grief, he
+beheld about him a mere handful of the sixty he had counted last, each
+fighting "as if knight there were none beside"; so, grasping Durindana,
+he pressed into the strife. The next instant he beheld the good
+archbishop flung to the ground from a dying charger. But Turpin was on
+his feet almost instantly; and though he bore four lance-wounds in his
+body, he raised his sword on high and ran to the side of Roland,
+crying,--
+
+"I am not defeated! A brave soldier yields with life alone!" Then
+wreaked he such vengeance upon the heathen hordes that some say God
+wrought a miracle in his behalf.
+
+If miracle of God there was, it was not granted to save the Christian
+few from destruction. In the last struggle, the valiant Turpin, wounded
+and afoot, and the matchless Roland faced the Moslem hosts alone.
+
+Fled was Count Roland's pride and vanity. With certain death before him,
+his one thought was to summon Karl to vengeance, and to die like a
+cavalier. The pain in his brow, from the bursting of the vein, was
+growing more and more intense; not long, he knew, could his fainting
+spirit bide. Once again he raised his ivory horn to his lips, and
+sounded a call to the hosts of Charlemagne.
+
+It was but a feeble strain, but on the north wind an answer came.
+Suddenly, along the pass, rang a peal of sixty thousand clarions, and
+the mountains caught up the strain and shouted it back again.
+
+"King Karl! King Karl!" the echoes seemed to call to each other.
+
+"Let us flee and save us!" cried the heathen. "These are the trumpets of
+France! Karl, the mighty emperor, is upon us!"
+
+Never was heathen but trembled at that name. Aghast for one moment the
+hosts of the Moslem stood, then, like hunted things, they broke and fled
+from the field.
+
+As the infidels gave way in dire panic, Count Roland called to the
+archbishop,--
+
+"Let us give the heathen back their onset!" and he spurred his
+Veillantif after their flying numbers.
+
+"Who spares to strike is base," answered the valiant churchman; and
+wounded though he was, he joined in the pursuit.
+
+"Leave not this Roland alive!" cried one of the fleeing infidels; and he
+turned and flung his javelin at the Christian knight. A hundred Moslems
+at once followed his lead. Weapon after weapon was hurled upon the
+dauntless Roland; but though his armor was all broken, and his raiment
+frayed, his flesh remained unscathed. Veillantif, his noble charger,
+however, was slain under him, and fell to the ground, pierced by thirty
+wounds.
+
+The heathen vanished; and Roland, unable to keep up on foot, was left
+alone on the field. His first thought was to succor the good archbishop,
+who had been grievously wounded in the fight, so he turned back and
+searched till he found the faithful Turpin.
+
+"The field is thine, and God's the glory," was Turpin's greeting to him;
+and even as he spoke, his head drooped upon his breast, and his pious
+spirit passed away. So died the great Archbishop Turpin,--a champion
+ever of the Christian faith with word and weapon.
+
+Noble and generous always, Roland had thought of his comrade first. Now,
+left alone, his thoughts turned upon himself, and he knew from the pain
+in his brow that his end was at hand. Karl and his legions were still
+some leagues away; he might not hope to meet his emperor again, but he
+desired much that Charlemagne should know that his Roland had died
+unconquered.
+
+So he grasped his Durindana and his ivory horn, and recrossed the
+marches of Spain--as far as he had followed the fleeing heathen. There,
+on a mound, between two great trees, he laid him down to die. Yet was
+his spirit troubled, for he knew that if he died thus, his good sword
+might fall into unworthy and unknightly hands.
+
+"Ah, my ill-starred blade!" he cried; "no longer may I be thy guardian.
+Yet never shalt thou know master who shall turn his face from mortal
+enemy."
+
+So saying, he struggled to his feet, and essayed to shatter his blade
+upon a great rock. Many blows he smote with it, yet it broke not. Then
+Roland was sorely grieved. Once more he summoned his failing strength,
+and showered such mighty strokes upon the stone that the blade, unbroken
+still, was bent "past word to tell."
+
+Then, for death was upon him, Roland laid him down in the shade of a
+pine. His sword and his horn he placed beneath his head, that Karl might
+know he had not surrendered. When this was done, he raised his right
+glove to heaven as a sign of repentance, and cried aloud,--
+
+"O God, I do repent me of my sins, both great and small, from my natal
+hour to this day. Father, receive my soul!"
+
+Saint Gabriel leaned from heaven, so the legend says, and took the
+raised glove from his hand.
+
+And Karl, his emperor, came, and found him with his head upon his
+unsurrendered sword, and his face toward Spain.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The vengeance that Charlemagne wreaked upon the traitor, Ganelon, and
+upon the Moslems in Spain was unspeakably terrible.
+
+It is touching to know, however, that Roland's lady-love--Oliver's
+gentle sister Alda--refused to be comforted when she heard of her
+lover's death. She died of a broken heart at the feet of Charlemagne,
+even as the emperor begged her to accept his own son in marriage, and
+thus become, in time, empress of all the Franks.
+
+
+
+
+THE CID
+
+
+    As warlike sons, with mighty deeds,
+    Exalt the power of Rome;
+    And Arthur deathless glory adds
+    Unto his island home;
+    As France will ever nobler seem
+    Because of Charlemagne--
+    So dost thou, ever-conquering Cid,
+    Immortalize thy Spain!
+
+    _Paraphrase of Latin epitaph_,
+    D. W. K.
+
+
+
+
+THE CID RODRIGO DIAZ DE BIVAR
+
+(1035-1099 A. D.)
+
+
+In the eleventh century there lived in Castile a Spanish noble of high
+degree, called Diego Laynez. His family estates of Bivar lay near the
+city of Burgos, and in his castle there, Don Diego, when not in
+attendance upon the king, dwelt in the state befitting his rank and
+wealth. A stern and proud man was Don Diego, and justly renowned for his
+great valor in battle.
+
+This knight had long desired an heir to his ancient name, and was happy
+beyond measure when his wish was gratified by the coming of a little
+son. The child was named Rodrigo, and soon grew to be a wonderfully
+strong and fearless youth. Doubtless Diego hoped that his son would
+become a valiant warrior, for fighting was then the chief business of
+life, and peaceful occupations were held in little esteem. In those
+days, a man was obliged to fight to defend life and property, and a
+brave knight, with only the help of his good sword, could win fame and
+fortune. But even the fond parents of Rodrigo could never have dreamed
+of the glory that awaited their son, who was to become the greatest
+warrior in all Spain, the delight and admiration and envy of every true
+Spanish knight.
+
+It was a stormy age,--that in which the little Rodrigo lived. For three
+hundred years there had been almost constant warfare in Spain. Sometimes
+the Christians battled against the Moors, sometimes Christians against
+Christians, and Moors against Moors; but always there was conflict and
+struggle. And well was the son of Diego Laynez fitted for that rough
+age, as you shall see.
+
+While still very young, Rodrigo showed a most independent spirit. Once
+he asked his godfather, the priest Don Pedro, to give him a colt, and
+the kind old man took him to the paddock and told him to choose one as
+the colts were driven slowly by. After all the finest had passed, a very
+ugly and mangy colt came ambling along, and Rodrigo called out,--
+
+"This is the one for me!" His godfather, angry at a choice that seemed
+so foolish, exclaimed,--
+
+"Booby, [Babieca] thou hast chosen ill!" but the boy, not at all
+abashed, laughed as he replied confidently,--
+
+"This will be a good horse, and Booby shall be his name."
+
+Time proved the boy to have shown excellent judgment, and Babieca became
+almost as famous as his master.
+
+Not only self-reliance, but a fierce and warlike temper, was shown in
+the first youthful exploit of Rodrigo. His father Diego, when too old to
+bear arms, was grossly insulted by an enemy, the Count of Gormaz. Diego
+wept and raged at the insult put upon him and his inability to resent
+it. Moved deeply by his father's grief, Rodrigo determined to avenge the
+insult to the honor of his family.
+
+Donning the discarded armor of Diego, the youth next took down from the
+wall an ancient sword. This treasured weapon had once belonged to a
+celebrated warrior, Mudarra, and with it that knight had avenged the
+death of his seven brothers. Buckling on the good blade, Rodrigo said,--
+
+"O valiant sword! bethink thee that mine is Mudarra's arm! Thou hast now
+as great a wrong as his to right. Thou lackest thy great master's hand;
+yet never shalt thou see me turn my back on a foe. Thou shalt find me
+true as thy tempered steel, for thy second master, like thy first, was
+not born to yield. Should the foe overmaster me, not long will I endure
+the shame, but plunge thee straightway in my breast!"
+
+Then Rodrigo sallied forth secretly from Bivar, and seeking the haughty
+count, challenged him to battle. Gormaz laughed him to scorn.
+
+"Fight thee? Thou art mad, thou silly boy. Get thee hence, or thy skin
+shall suffer for thine insolence."
+
+"Thou art no true knight," cried Rodrigo, "but a craven who dost insult
+old men! If thou fight me not, all Castile shall hear of thy shameful
+deed!" Many more deadly insults he added, until the enraged count
+consented to fight him, expecting an easy victory over the youth. But
+Rodrigo was strong as a man, and his deadly hate of the count added
+vigor to his arm. Though soon wounded and bleeding, he yet parried with
+skill the blows aimed at his heart, and finally, with one desperate
+effort, drove the sword of Mudarra through and through the body of
+Gormaz. The head of his fallen enemy Rodrigo carried home in triumph to
+the proud Diego. Thus did the youthful Ruy Diaz de Bivar avenge the
+wrongs of his father.
+
+Soon after this combat with Gormaz, Rodrigo, while riding with some
+companions, unexpectedly met a band of Moors. These men were returning
+to Aragon from a thieving expedition into Castile, driving their
+captives and stolen cattle before them. Rodrigo and his friends fell
+upon this band with great fury and soon defeated the infidels; but the
+prisoners taken were generously set free by their youthful captor.
+Later, when Rodrigo went to the Saracen court of Saragossa, these Moors,
+in return for his kindness, gave him the title of Sidy, or Said,--an
+Arabic word, meaning lord, or my lord. In Spanish this became Cid; and
+as the Cid, Rodrigo is best known, though he has still another title,
+won in the following manner. In those days any knight who had suffered
+wrong at the hands of another, could, with the king's consent, challenge
+his enemy. Then, in the presence of the king and court, the two knights
+would fight on horseback until one was killed or acknowledged himself
+vanquished. The victor was deemed to have right on his side, and
+judgment was given accordingly. Sometimes either party to the quarrel
+was allowed to choose a substitute to fight for him. It was also the
+custom when hostile armies met, for the boldest warrior to challenge one
+of the enemy to come out and fight in single combat. Often, wars were
+decided by such a contest between two or more knights chosen from each
+army. By his wonderful success in many combats of this kind, Rodrigo won
+the title of Campeador, or Champion, and came to be called the Cid
+Campeador.
+
+On his way to engage in one of these contests as a champion of the King
+of Castile, Rodrigo met with a marvelous adventure. He and his knights
+came upon a leper fallen into a ditch by the wayside, and calling upon
+the passers-by for help. Now, none would heed his call for fear of the
+terrible disease, with which the poor wayfarer was afflicted. But
+Rodrigo dismounted, pulled the leper out of the ditch, and placing him
+on Babieca, brought him to the inn where they were to lodge. Not another
+knight would come near the outcast, so Rodrigo, out of pure kindness,
+ate from the same dish with him, and afterwards had a bed prepared, in
+which they two slept together.
+
+In the middle of the night, a cold blast seemed to strike through
+Rodrigo, and he waked and put out his hand to touch his bedfellow; but
+the leper was gone. The Cid called aloud; none answered. While Rodrigo
+was considering this strange thing, a man in white, shining garments
+appeared, and asked softly,--
+
+"Sleepest thou, Rodrigo?"
+
+"Nay, I am awake; but who art thou who bearest about thee so bright a
+light and so sweet a smell?"
+
+"I am Saint Lazarus," answered the vision, "and would have thee know
+that I am that leper to whom thou didst show such kindness for the love
+of God. And for that deed, God bestows on thee this great boon,--that
+when the blast thou didst feel but now shall come upon thee, thou mayest
+undertake that on which thy heart is fixed, whether it be fighting or
+other matters, and it shall go well with thee. For never shalt thou be
+conquered, but ever victorious; for God grants thee His blessing. So
+rest thee well and do ever the right." And so Rodrigo prayed until
+morning, and then went on his way rejoicing.
+
+Meanwhile the day came, on which the combat was to be fought between the
+Cid and a knight of Aragon, to decide whether the city of Calahorra
+should belong to the King of Castile or the King of Aragon. The two
+kings, with a splendid company of nobles, had taken places to watch the
+combat, the lists were all prepared, and the heralds stood ready to give
+the signal; but the Cid did not appear. Very uneasy was King Fernando at
+the absence of his champion. A cousin of the tardy knight offered to
+take his place, and was about to mount and enter the lists, when the Cid
+came spurring up in hot haste. Leaping from his tired horse, he sprang
+upon the steed that stood ready, and, wasting no time in words, lowered
+his lance and charged fiercely on his waiting adversary. The two met
+with a shock that shivered the lances. Both knights were badly wounded,
+but they drew their swords and prepared to fight on. The knight of
+Aragon now thought to frighten the Cid, and exclaimed boastfully,--
+
+"Right sorely shalt thou rue that thou hast come into this place with
+me, for never shalt thou return alive to Castile!"
+
+But Rodrigo was not at all troubled by the threat.
+
+[Illustration: The Knighting of the Cid]
+
+"Don Martin Gonzales," he replied coolly, "thou art a good knight, but
+such words befit not this place. We must fight with our hands, and not
+with empty words." And grasping his sword, he suddenly brought it down
+on the helmet of his foe with such tremendous force that it wellnigh
+drove the head of Gonzales down to the neck of his steed. The knight of
+Aragon, however, was a stout fighter, and rallying from the shock, he
+dealt a blow that cut through the edge of the Cid's shield. So firmly
+fixed was the sword that, when drawn back, it brought the shield with
+it. Enraged at this loss, the Cid cut his adversary fiercely across the
+face; but Gonzales, though bleeding copiously, still fought on bravely.
+Only after a long, fierce fight did the Champion unhorse and slay this
+valiant knight. Then the umpires announced that the Cid had conquered,
+and so won the good city of Calahorra for his king.
+
+After this Rodrigo did such valiant service to King Fernando at the
+siege of Coimbra, a city of Portugal, that he was there formally dubbed
+a knight. The ceremony took place in the principal mosque of the
+captured city. In order to do the hero signal honor, the king kissed
+him, the queen girt on his sword, and the Princess Urraca buckled on his
+golden spurs.
+
+In many battles against the Moors the Cid fought valiantly with King
+Fernando, whose ambition it was to win back all Spain from the
+infidels.
+
+When Fernando died, he unwisely left his territory to be divided among
+his five children. This led to much jealousy, and Sancho, the eldest
+son, was greatly aggrieved, because he thought the entire kingdom should
+have been his. So it was not long after Fernando's death before war
+broke out between Sancho, King of Castile, and his brothers.
+
+Sancho soon defeated the youngest brother, Garcia, and seized his
+Kingdom of Galicia. This conquest was due mainly to the wonderful valor
+of Rodrigo, who now "waxed great and became a mighty man of war, and
+Campeador at the court of King Don Sancho."
+
+Sancho now demanded that Alfonso give up the Kingdom of Leon. The
+brothers finally agreed that a battle should be fought between their
+respective armies, the crown of Leon to belong to the king whose army
+should be victorious. When this combat took place, Alfonso conquered
+Sancho, and drove the Castilian army from the field. Supposing the
+matter settled, the triumphant Alfonso did not pursue the fugitives, but
+returned to his camp rejoicing.
+
+King Sancho, fleeing from the field, saw with joy the green banner of
+the Cid in the distance. When the two met, Rodrigo persuaded the king
+to renew the fight at dawn, assuring him that he could then take the
+enemy by surprise.
+
+"The Galicians and Leonese," said the cunning Cid, "are given to much
+talking, and at this moment they are with the King Don Alfonso their
+lord, boasting of what they have done, for they love big words. If it be
+God's will, their joy of to-day shall be turned to grief, and if it
+please Him, sir, you shall regain honor." Now it befell as the Cid had
+hoped. In the early morning, while the troops of Alfonso were stupid
+from their night of feasting and drinking, the Cid attacked and routed
+them completely. During the battle, King Sancho was captured, and was
+being carried off by thirteen knights, when the Cid rushed to his help
+with no weapon but a broken lance. He offered to exchange Alfonso,
+captured by his men, for Sancho, and upon refusal, the Champion cried
+wrathfully, "Give me but one of your lances, and I alone, against the
+thirteen of you, will quit my lord of you!"
+
+The Leonese knights laughed him to scorn, and in sport threw him a
+lance. Thereupon he fell upon them suddenly, slew eleven, put the others
+to flight, and rode back in triumph with his rescued king.
+
+Elated by this victory, King Sancho now determined that his sister
+Urraca should yield him her strong city of Zamora; but thinking to gain
+it without force, he asked the Cid to go as his messenger and urge her
+to peaceably surrender the city. This he did because he knew his sister
+had long loved the Cid. The Cid, who held the princess dear for her
+friendship to him, though he loved her not, replied to the king's
+request,--
+
+"Sir, it is not for me to carry such a message, seeing that I was reared
+with Dona Urraca, in the same house of Arias Gonzalo, and would not
+willingly do her a wrong."
+
+However, when the king pointed out that the Cid might thus prevent a
+bloody conflict, he consented to undertake the unpleasant mission. With
+fifteen knights he passed into the city, and was gladly received by
+Urraca at the entrance of the palace. Together they went into the
+splendid hall of audience, and the princess right graciously bade the
+Cid be seated with her. Then she asked,--
+
+"I pray thee, Don Rodrigo, tell me wherefore is this great army encamped
+outside my walls? Is my brother Sancho going to make war upon Moors or
+Christians, and of what state?"
+
+"Dona Urraca," replied the Cid, gravely, "thou knowest that as a herald
+I am come hither, and whether my message please thee or not, yet ought
+I to suffer no insult nor wrong."
+
+"Yea," answered Urraca, quickly; "and _thou_ knowest well, Don Rodrigo,
+that I wish thee no harm, so speak out boldly. Perhaps my loving brother
+only needs some aid of mine to go against the Moors. Gladly will I lend
+him fifteen lances fully equipped, even though it be for ten years."
+
+Now the Cid flushed red at the mocking tones of the princess and spoke
+with difficulty, though still calmly,--
+
+"I am but a messenger, princess. The king, thy brother, bids me speak
+thus: he needs this city Zamora for a defence against his enemies. Nor
+should so great a stronghold be in the hands of a woman. He will give
+thee for it money or lands or another city. But if thou dost refuse, he
+will, without delay, take Zamora from thee by force of arms." Then tears
+of indignation and rage came into the eyes of the princess.
+
+"I call on God," she cried, "and all these noble knights here present to
+bear witness that Sancho again seeks to make naught our father's will!
+He hath taken away their inheritance from Garcia and Alfonso, and now he
+would rob me of the city my father gave me. Well hath Sancho merited our
+father's curse upon the son who should disobey his will! Let him beware
+lest he die by violence, or by treachery like his own!" The counsellors
+of the princess, troubled at this rash speech, besought her to be calm,
+and at last persuaded her to call together the townsmen and hold council
+with them.
+
+When assembled, all the chief men of Zamora loyally promised to aid the
+princess in defending the city, and swore not to forsake her until
+death. Then the proud Urraca, turning to the Cid, cried impetuously,--
+
+"Does it not shame thee, O Cid, that all these are willing to die for
+me, while thou who wast my playfellow in youth hast come hither to take
+away mine inheritance?" The Cid answered not, but his face turned yet
+more ruddy, and he raised not his eyes from the floor.
+
+"Truly a noble thing for the great Cid Ruy Diaz,--to make war against a
+woman!" went on the angry princess; then with a burst of noble
+frankness, "And well thou knowest that the woman once loved thee,
+Rodrigo! Ay, thou mayest boast that the Princess Urraca once gave thee
+her heart; but the Cid whom Urraca loved drew not his sword against a
+woman. Begone, Don Rodrigo de Bivar; I would not look longer upon thy
+face! Tell thy robber king that never will I yield to a false traitor
+the city my father gave me! Sooner will I die with these true men than
+give up Zamora!"
+
+Silent and ashamed, the Cid withdrew. Fain would the knight have served
+the fair princess, the friend of his youth, but fealty to his king
+forbade.
+
+When King Sancho received Urraca's defiance, he flew into a terrific
+rage, and accused the Cid of having counselled the resistance of the
+princess because of love for her. Not a word of explanation would he
+hear, but straightway banished the Cid from the kingdom. Rodrigo was
+highly enraged at the injustice of the king whom he had served so
+faithfully, even to the sacrifice of Urraca's cherished friendship. But
+in silence, though pale and defiant, he heard his sentence. Then
+crying,--
+
+"Never, ungrateful king, shalt thou find a vassal like Rodrigo, and
+humbly, Don Sancho, shalt thou beg him to return!" the Champion strode
+from the kingly presence and rode away from Castile. So true was the
+Cid's proud boast, that only a short time elapsed before King Sancho,
+realizing the value of the banished warrior, entreated him to return to
+Castile. The insulted Champion, after receiving an humble apology from
+the king and the position of governor of the royal household, consented
+to return.
+
+Now, in spite of his friendship for Urraca, the Cid continued the siege
+of Zamora with great vigor and zeal, for loyalty to his king compelled
+hostility to the princess, and the memory of her bitter scorn rankled in
+his heart.
+
+But long the city held out, though the people were suffering greatly
+with famine and disease. At last a pretended traitor, Bellido Dolfos,
+offered to deliver the city into the hands of Sancho. While riding along
+with the king, under pretence of pointing out the gate whereby the
+troops might enter Zamora, this lying wretch stabbed the unsuspecting
+Sancho through and through with his own royal golden spear, given by the
+king to the knave to carry. Bellido then fled fast to the city. On the
+way he was seen by the Cid, who called to the flying horseman to stop,
+though knowing nothing of his crime. The villain only rode the faster,
+hotly pursued by Rodrigo, who now suspected something wrong. Just as the
+Cid was about to overtake the fugitive, he darted through the gate of
+Zamora and escaped. Rodrigo, riding back, discovered the dead body of
+his king, and was sorely grieved that he had not captured the murderer.
+
+By the death of King Sancho, his brother Alfonso, driven into exile
+after his defeat, and then living among the Moors at Saragossa, fell
+heir to the throne. But many great nobles of the kingdom believed that
+Alfonso and Urraca had planned the murder of Sancho, and so they were
+unwilling to acknowledge a murderer as their king.
+
+When these nobles were called upon to do homage to Alfonso, the Cid--for
+none other dared to be so bold--said to the king,--
+
+"Sir, all here do suspect that you did contrive the murder of your
+brother, King Don Sancho. Therefore, I declare to you that until you
+clear yourself by oath, never will I or these nobles kiss your hand or
+receive you as lord."
+
+The king flushed with anger, but he replied meekly,--
+
+"I swear to God and Saint Mary that I did not kill Sancho or counsel his
+death, though he had stolen my kingdom. Advise me, therefore, how I may
+clear myself of this matter."
+
+Then the nobles decided that the king and twelve of his knights who had
+been with him in exile at Toledo should in public swear solemnly to his
+innocence. So on the day appointed, the king appeared before the high
+altar of the church at Burgos; and the Cid, in presence of the nobles of
+the kingdom, placed the book of the Gospels on the altar and said,--
+
+"King Don Alfonso, you are come hither to swear that you had no part in
+the death of the King Don Sancho; and if you swear falsely, may God slay
+you by the hand of your own vassal, even as Don Sancho was slain."
+
+"Amen!" said Alfonso, though he turned very pale. Again the Cid spoke,--
+
+"King Don Alfonso, you are here to swear that neither did you order the
+King Don Sancho to be slain; and if you swear falsely, may a traitor
+slay you even as the traitor Bellido slew Don Sancho."
+
+Again Alfonso replied, "Amen!" but he grew yet paler with rage and shame
+at this second oath required of him. When the twelve knights had taken a
+similar oath, the nobles were satisfied of Alfonso's innocence; and all
+swore fealty to him as king. But when the Cid took the oath of loyalty
+and stooped to kiss the hand of Alfonso, the humiliated and resentful
+king drew away his hand, and would not permit the act of homage.
+
+Small wonder that after being forced to undergo this mortification, the
+king "hated the Cid, in spite of his valor." Yet either from fear or
+through policy, Alfonso treated Rodrigo with great honor. On one
+occasion, the Champion came to court, and was invited by King Alfonso to
+sit with him. When Rodrigo modestly refused the proffered honor, the
+king said,--
+
+"Since you will not sit with me, sit on your ivory seat, for you won it
+like a good man. From this day I order that none save king or prelate
+sit with you; for you have conquered so many high-born men and so many
+kings that for this reason there is none worthy to sit with you, or none
+who is your peer. Sit, therefore, like a king and lord on your ivory
+seat."
+
+The honor in which Rodrigo was held is shown by the fact that he married
+a cousin of the king, Ximena,--daughter of the Count of Oviedo, a
+powerful noble. Doubtless it was his love for the beautiful Ximena that
+rendered the Cid so indifferent to the affection of Princess Urraca.
+Most dearly and tenderly he loved Ximena, and after his marriage to her,
+gave up warfare for many years, and lived in peace and tranquil
+happiness near Burgos. During this quiet period, the Cid fought only a
+few single combats as champion of the king. By these he gained even
+greater glory, for, as promised by good Saint Lazarus, he was never
+overcome, but ever victorious. Because of this good fortune, the old
+ballads sing of Rodrigo as, "He who was born in happy hour."
+
+But the king loved not the Cid, and finally, accusing him falsely of
+treachery, banished the Champion from the kingdom. The Cid, who was poor
+at this time, devised a trick to get money for the journey. He made
+ready two great chests covered with crimson leather and studded with
+gilt nails, and filled them with sand. Then, sending for two Jews,
+money-lenders, he offered to pawn the chests, saying they were full of
+refined gold taken from the Moors; but that he feared to dispose of them
+openly, because Alfonso, who had accused him of having taken
+tribute-money belonging to the crown, would certainly seize the
+treasure. He made the condition that the chests be not opened for a
+year, but if not redeemed at the end of that time, should become the
+property of the Jews. They fell into the trap, and giving the Cid six
+hundred marks, carried off the chests, rejoicing at the great treasure
+that would surely become theirs, for they believed that the owner would
+be in exile many years. When, at the end of the twelve months, they
+discovered the fraud that had been practised upon them, great was their
+wrath.
+
+But on the return of the Cid from exile, he repaid the Jews in full. An
+old chest preserved in the cathedral of Burgos is said to be one of
+these coffers of the Cid.
+
+Twice was Rodrigo recalled from exile by the king, who needed him sadly
+in the fierce war for the possession of Spain, that had now broken out
+afresh between the Christians and Mohammedans.
+
+Finally the Cid, when banished once more, renounced his allegiance to
+Alfonso, and made war upon his former lord, carrying fire and sword into
+Castile. Thus the Champion became a free lance, making war for gain upon
+whom he pleased, and serving any prince, Christian or Mohammedan, who
+made it worth his while. This conduct cannot be admired, but we must not
+judge the Cid as we would a hero of our own times. In his day the
+standard of conduct was very different, and even the best men frequently
+committed deeds that shock us unspeakably. It was an age of violence and
+fraud. To make war upon your neighbor, with or without good cause, was
+thought to be worthy of all praise, especially if you conquered him.
+Might made right; and as the Cid was always victorious, he received
+little or no blame for acts that we should consider cruel or
+treacherous, but won great admiration and renown by his courage,
+boldness, and marvelous skill in warfare.
+
+The poets of that day delight in relating the various exploits of the
+Cid. In a celebrated battle with Count Berenger, Rodrigo captured a vast
+store of treasure, and many swords made in olden days. Among these was
+the wonderful blade, Colada, worth a thousand marks in silver. With this
+weapon, he afterwards slew many score of enemies in battle.
+
+But the crowning glory of the Cid's adventurous life was the capture of
+Valencia. This splendid city, on the east coast of Spain, was besieged
+by him for many months. At length, the city fell into such straits that,
+in the words of the old chronicler, "the inhabitants counted themselves
+as dead men, and walked through the streets as though they were drunken.
+They understood not the words of one another, and lost all of their
+memory, even as a man who falls into the waves of the sea. Then came the
+Christians up to the walls, and called aloud in words of thunder, making
+mockery of them, and threatening them, and saying: 'False traitors and
+renegades, give up your city to the Cid, Ruy Diaz, for ye cannot save
+it!' And the Moors remained silent, so great was their grief and
+despair."
+
+A famous poem, the "Dirge of Valencia," composed by one of its Arab
+inhabitants during the siege, gives us a picture of the wretched state
+of the once beautiful city.
+
+    "Valencia! Valencia! many troubles are come upon thee,
+      and in such peril art thou set that, if thou escape, the
+      wonder will be great among all that behold thee.
+
+    "Thy lofty towers and beautiful, which gleamed from afar
+      and comforted the hearts of the people, are falling piece
+      by piece.
+
+    "Thy white bulwarks which shewed so fair in the distance
+      have lost the beauty whereby they shone so brightly in
+      the beams of the sun.
+
+    "Thy famous and delightful gardens that are round about
+      thee, the ravening wolf has torn up their roots and
+      they give no fruits."[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: From "The Cid Campeador," by H. Butler Clarke, by
+permission of G. P. Putnam's Sons.]
+
+At last the unhappy city surrendered to the Cid, and he became its sole
+ruler and a personage of still greater power and renown. In Valencia,
+for some years, the conqueror lived in the royal magnificence of an
+Oriental prince.
+
+When the Moors under King Yusef came from Morocco, fifty thousand
+strong, to retake the city, the Cid was not at all alarmed. As soon as
+the Moors had encamped before Valencia, the Cid led his wife and
+daughter up into the tower of the Alcazar. They raised their eyes, and
+saw the thousands of tents pitched on the plain.
+
+"Heaven save thee, Cid, what is this?" they cried.
+
+"Good wife, fear nothing. Riches are these to increase our store,--right
+marvelous and grand. As soon as thou art come, they wish to make us a
+present. Wife, sit thou in the Alcazar, and be not afraid when thou
+seest me in the fight."
+
+The next day the drums sounded, and the Cid's heart was glad. He drew up
+the Christians, and they sped forth to do battle with the infidels.
+"They drove them from the garden in royal style; straight up to the camp
+was the pursuit continued. Glad is my Cid for all they have done."
+
+"Hearken to me, my knights," he said. "A good day is to-day, but
+to-morrow shall be better." In the morning the battle was renewed. With
+only four thousand men, the Cid routed Yusef with fifty thousand. So
+many of the Moors did Rodrigo slay that they could not be counted. Three
+strokes the Cid gave King Yusef, who only escaped by the swiftness of
+his horse. His wonderful sword, Tizona, fell into the hands of the Cid.
+Gold and silver and precious stuff in great quantities was captured.
+
+"Joyful is my Cid and all his vassals, that God had shown such favor to
+them that they had conquered in the field."
+
+In yet another battle against the Moors the Cid was victorious. Bucar,
+the brother of Yusef, attacked Valencia, but was soon put to flight by
+the Champion. Rodrigo pursued the flying king, brandishing his sword and
+shouting,--
+
+"Turn thee, Bucar, thou who camest over seas to behold the Cid with the
+long beard! We must meet and cut out a friendship!"
+
+"God confound such friendship!" cried the frightened king, as he fled
+still faster. But Rodrigo, determined to be friendly in his way, flung
+his sword after Bucar. It struck between the shoulders of the fleeing
+king. But Bucar's horse was the swifter, and he escaped by riding into
+the sea and taking boat.
+
+Now the Cid was left for some time in possession of Valencia and became
+an independent prince,--in fact, if not in name. The neighboring kings
+were glad to make friendly alliance with the great warrior who had never
+yet met with a defeat.
+
+Some time after the victory over Bucar, the Cid laid siege to Murviedro.
+This town was the ancient Saguntum, once besieged by Hannibal. It was a
+strongly fortified place, and there seemed little chance of Rodrigo's
+taking it. But after the siege had lasted some time, the citizens saw
+plainly that they could not hold their city against the great conqueror.
+So they begged him to grant them a truce in order that they might send
+to the neighboring princes for help. The proud warrior, disdaining any
+number of enemies, readily consented to the truce.
+
+Now when the messengers from Murviedro reached the courts of the
+neighboring princes, and implored their help, not one would lend aid to
+the distressed city. Alfonso of Castile replied to their petition,--
+
+"Certes, I will not succor you. I would liefer Rodrigo have your town
+than a Saracen king."
+
+And Al Mustain, the Moorish King of Saragossa, gave the envoys this
+discouraging answer,--
+
+"Go and take such comfort as ye may, and fight bravely, for Rodrigo is
+invincible, and therefore I am afraid to do battle with him."
+
+When the sorely disappointed envoys returned to Murviedro, great was the
+distress of its inhabitants. But in order to gain time, they pretended
+that the messengers had not returned, and therefore besought Rodrigo to
+extend the time of the truce. The Cid knew well that their statement was
+false, and that the envoys were even then in Murviedro, but he
+replied,--
+
+"In order to show you that I fear none of your kings, I grant you a
+further truce of twelve days for them to come to your aid. If then they
+come not, and you do not surrender, I will slay all of you that I
+capture."
+
+But at the end of the twelve days the Cid granted yet another delay.
+When that time had expired, and the city was forced to surrender, the
+Cid did not carry out his threat, but mercifully granted the inhabitants
+their lives, and permitted them to take their wives and children and go
+where they would. But some who presumed on his generosity to send all
+their wealth out of the city, against the Cid's express command, the
+conqueror sold into slavery.
+
+This conquest of Murviedro was the last great exploit of the Champion.
+For the day was approaching when the conqueror must yield himself to the
+conqueror of all. The Cid fell ill, and while in this state, heard that
+Bucar was again coming with a great force against Valencia. One night
+soon after, so runs the old legend, there swept through the palace of
+the dying Champion a great wave of light and a marvelous sweet perfume.
+And there appeared to the Cid a tall and stately old man, with long
+snowy hair, holding keys in his hand; and thus he spoke,--
+
+"Sleepest thou, Rodrigo?"
+
+"What man art thou?" the Cid asked his strange visitor boldly.
+
+"I am Saint Peter, prince of the apostles," he said; "and I am come to
+tell thee that when thirty days be past, thou must quit this world and
+go to the life that hath no end. But God will so favor thee that after
+thy death thou shalt conquer and rout King Bucar. This does Christ grant
+thee for love of me and for the honor thou didst ever pay me in my
+church at Cardenas." And after he had spoken, Saint Peter straightway
+departed. Then the Cid rejoiced greatly, and the next day he called his
+chief men, and said to them,--
+
+"My friends and kinsmen, be sure that I am now come upon the end of my
+life, and thirty days hence shall see my end. I have seen visions of my
+father and son, and each time they say: 'Long hast thou tarried here;
+let us begone to the eternal life.'
+
+"And last night Saint Peter came to me and told me that in thirty days I
+shall pass away; but before I leave you, I will show you how you shall
+conquer King Bucar, as Saint Peter did promise me."
+
+Then the Cid betook himself to the church of Saint Peter. There all the
+people assembled, and he bade them farewell, weeping sore. After
+confessing his sins and receiving absolution, he went back to the
+Alcazar and cast himself upon the bed, and never again did he rise up.
+Seven days before the end of the thirty he bade them bring him a gold
+cup, and in it he mixed with rose-water a little balsam and myrrh, sent
+him by the Sultan of Persia, and drank the mixture.
+
+This he did each day, as was the custom of Moorish princes; and so his
+body and face became fresh and healthy-looking, though he grew weaker
+every hour. At last he called his wife, Ximena, Bishop Hieronymo, and
+his three most trusty friends, and said,--
+
+"As soon as I be dead, ye shall wash my body many times with rose-water
+and balsam. And thou, Ximena, take heed that thou and the women cry not
+aloud nor wail for me so that the Moors get knowledge of my death. And
+when Bucar is come, bid all the folk of Valencia go forth on the wall
+and sound trumpets, and show great glee. Also bid the people get
+together their goods in secret, that the Moors know it not, for ye may
+not tarry here after my death, but must needs go back to Castile. Thou,
+Gil Diaz, deck my body with care, and saddle Babieca, and bind me on him
+so that I fall not, and place in my hand my sword, Tizona; and thou, Don
+Hieronymo, shalt ride by my side; and thou, Bermudez, bear my banner as
+thou wast wont to do; and thou, Don Fanez, shalt draw up the host as
+thou hast ever done. Then go ye forth and battle with Bucar, for be
+assured and doubt not that ye shall win the battle."
+
+Having said these words, the dying hero received the sacrament, and then
+prayed, weeping:
+
+"Lord Jesus Christ, I pray Thee of thy grace that Thou wilt pardon my
+sins, and that my soul be placed in the light that hath no end."
+
+And so saying, "the Cid gave to God his soul."
+
+Then the faithful friends and loving wife did even as he had commanded
+them. The body had been embalmed by the myrrh and balsam, and thus
+remained fresh-looking as in life. So they clothed the dead warrior in
+all his armor of war, with coat of arms and shield, and placed in his
+hand the precious sword, Tizona. His arms were raised aloft, and tied up
+so cunningly that he held the sword straight and even. When bound
+strongly upon his good horse, Babieca, any man not knowing the truth
+would have sworn the knight to be alive.
+
+At last all things were in readiness. And at midnight a strange
+procession rode through the silent, deserted streets of the city. First
+went forth Pero Bermudez, bearing aloft the great green banner of the
+Champion, that had never yet failed to strike terror into the hearts of
+his foes. Then all silently, in battle-array, the warriors of the Cid
+passed through the gates of Valencia; and with them, as of old, rode
+their dead leader, Ruy Diaz de Bivar. A hundred chosen knights pressed
+close about the Champion; and before him, with breaking heart, but
+tearless and quiet as her lord had commanded, rode the high-hearted
+Ximena. So went forth to his last conflict the ever-victorious Cid, the
+great conqueror of banners.
+
+At daylight the little army fell upon the sleeping camp of King Bucar,
+and slew many Moors before they could mount or arm. And it seemed to
+King Bucar and the other kings that there joined the host of the
+Christians full seventy thousand knights, all white as snow. Ahead of
+all rode a tall knight on a white horse. In his left hand he held a
+white banner, and in his right a sword of fire; and he slew many Moors
+as they fled. So terrified were King Bucar and his men that they drew
+not rein until they reached the sea; and more than twenty thousand were
+drowned. Bucar and those who escaped to the ships hoisted sails and sped
+away, nor did they dare look back.
+
+Then the Christians rode back in triumph to the presence of the dead
+Champion, and laden with the treasure of the Moorish camp, marched in
+peace to Castile.
+
+All along the way the people came forth in multitudes to see the great
+Champion on his last journey; and much they marveled at his lifelike
+appearance, and greatly they mourned for him. But the Cid's own men, as
+he had bidden them, made no open show of grief. And so, with banners
+flying, with gleam of spear and sound of trumpet, the strange funeral
+train passed through the land, until it came at last to the church of
+San Pedro de Cardenas. There they placed the Cid on a horse of wood,
+before the high altar. After many masses had been sung for the repose of
+his soul, a tabernacle was built on the right of the altar, and in it
+was placed the ivory throne on which the Cid was wont to sit. There,
+clothed in royal purple, with right hand clasping his mantle and the
+left grasping Tizona sheathed, sat the Champion like a king and lord for
+ten long years. And each day until her death, Ximena knelt for hours,
+morning and evening, at the feet of her lord, and wept and mourned and
+would not be comforted.
+
+At last, seated thus on his ivory throne, the Cid was entombed in a
+vault before the high altar. His hand could never be unclasped from his
+sword, and thus, says the legend, it remains to this day. Well might the
+people believe that even in death the great warrior would not loose his
+hold on his cherished sword Tizona; for with it he had done such
+marvelous deeds that even his enemies looked on him as "a miracle of the
+miracles of God," and bestowed on him the proud title of "The Conqueror
+of Banners."
+
+
+
+
+THE CID'S WEDDING
+
+
+    Within his hall of Burgos, the king prepares a feast,
+    He makes his preparation for many a noble guest.
+    It is a joyful city, it is a happy day;
+    'Tis the Campeador's wedding, and who will bide away?
+
+    Layn Calvo, the Lord Bishop, he first comes forth the gate,
+    Behind him Ruy Diaz in all his bridal state.
+    The crowd makes way before them as up the street they go;
+    For the multitude of people, their steps must need be slow.
+
+    The King had given order that they should rear an arch,
+    From house to house all over, in the way where they must march:
+    They have hung it all with lances, and shields, and glittering helms,
+    Brought by the Campeador from out the Moorish realms.
+
+    They have scattered olive branches and rushes on the street,
+    And the ladies fling down garlands at the Campeador's feet;
+    With tapestry and broidery their balconies between,
+    To do his bridal honor, their walls the burghers screen.
+
+    They lead the bulls before them all covered o'er with trappings;
+    The little boys pursue them with hootings and with clappings;
+    The fool, with cap and bladder, upon his ass goes prancing
+    'Midst troops of captive maidens with bells and cymbals dancing.
+
+    With antics and with fooleries, with shouting and with laughter,
+    They fill the streets of Burgos--and the Devil he comes after;
+    For the King has hired the horned fiend for sixteen maravedis,
+    And there he goes, with hoofs for toes, to terrify the ladies.
+
+    Then comes the bride Ximena--the King he holds her hand;
+    And the Queen; and, all in fur and pall, the nobles of the land.
+    All down the street the ears of wheat are round Ximena flying,
+    But the King lifts off her bosom sweet whatever there was lying.
+
+    Quoth Suero, when he saw it (his thought you understand),
+    "'Tis a fine thing to be a King, but Heaven make me a _hand_!"
+    The King was very merry, when he was told of this,
+    And swore the bride, ere eventide, must give the boy a kiss.
+
+    The King went always talking, but she held down her head,
+    And seldom gave an answer to anything he said;
+    It was better to be silent, among such crowds of folk,
+    Than utter words so meaningless as she did when she spoke.
+
+    _Ballad translated by J. G. Lockhart
+    from "Poems of Places."_
+
+
+
+
+GODFREY AND THE FIRST CRUSADE
+
+
+    I sing the pious arms and Chief, who freed
+    The Sepulchre of Christ from thrall profane:
+    Much did he toil in thought, and much in deed;
+    Much in the glorious enterprise sustain;
+    And Hell in vain opposed him; and in vain
+    Afric and Asia to the rescue poured
+    Their mingled tribes; Heaven recompensed his pain,
+    And from all fruitless sallies of the sword,
+    True to the Red-cross flag, his wandering friends restored.
+
+    _Tasso._
+
+
+
+
+GODFREY AND THE FIRST CRUSADE
+
+(1060-1100 A. D.)
+
+
+It was a bright autumn day of the year 1095 A. D., and since early
+morning the inhabitants of the little French village of Clermont had
+been astir, and feasting their eyes on the unusual spectacle of
+strangers from all France, Germany, and Italy. It was the day appointed
+by the Pope for a council to consider the state of the Christians in
+Palestine; and loyal sons and daughters of the Church had gathered from
+far and near. Outside the limits of the town for miles around, their
+white tents and many-colored banners gleamed in the sunshine, for the
+village could not accommodate the throngs of visitors.
+
+Now the tents and houses were deserted, as all had crowded into the town
+to witness the proceedings of the Council. No building could contain the
+thousands of people, so the Pope had decided to hold the meeting in the
+great public square of Clermont. Here the vast crowds had assembled. As
+far as the eye could reach, down every street leading into the square,
+extended a closely packed multitude. They stood silent, almost
+motionless, their faces turned toward the platform in the center of the
+wide square.
+
+People of all classes, ages, and conditions were there: nobles, clad in
+rich dress or glittering armor; priests in dark robes; peasants in
+coarse frieze; ladies of rank, merchants, beggars,--all stood side by
+side, forgetful of everything worldly, listening eagerly to the words of
+the man who looked down on them from the high stand in their midst.
+
+This man was small and mean in his appearance. His bony figure was
+covered by a woolen tunic and a coarse serge gown that reached to the
+bare feet. From the neck drooped a monk's hood. His thin, haggard face,
+burned brown by long exposure to the hot sun and winds of the East,
+would have been ugly but for the deep, dark, flashing eyes, lit up with
+wild enthusiasm and fiery earnestness. The monk held erect with the left
+arm a great wooden cross that overtopped his head. Gesticulating
+fiercely as he addressed the absorbed multitude, his slight frame
+quivered with the violence of his emotions, and tears rolled down the
+sunken cheeks. In a voice often broken by sobs he cried:--
+
+"Men of Clermont, people of France, Christians of all nations, come
+hither at the call of our Holy Father, the Pope! I tell you not of
+things learned by hearsay; I myself have beheld all these horrors in the
+Holy Land of Palestine. Through the ancient streets of Jerusalem the
+accursed infidels stalk in the evil pride of conquest. They insult and
+oppress, they torture and murder the followers of Christ. They rob and
+maltreat the pious pilgrims from all lands who toil through desert and
+over mountain to worship at the tomb of their Lord. Scarcely will these
+heathen suffer the adoration of Christ in the blessed city of His cross
+and passion. Nay, not content with persecuting our brethren, the vile
+crew of Mohammed, accursed of God, attack the very majesty of the most
+high God. They cast down and burn the churches of Christ; they tear His
+ministers from the very altar and drag them to a shameful death; they
+profane the holy places; they mock and spit upon the symbol of His holy
+religion,--this blessed cross, the sign of our redemption.
+
+"O people of Christ, God hath already stretched forth His hand to the
+destruction of the wicked. To me, the most humble of His servants,--to
+Peter the Hermit, despised of men,--hath He revealed His purpose. For
+while I lay prone upon the rock before the Holy Sepulchre, calling upon
+God for mercy, the voice of the Lord Christ came to mine ears,--
+
+"'Peter, arise! Hasten to proclaim the tribulations of my people. It is
+time that my servants should receive help, that the holy places should
+be delivered!'
+
+"When I heard this, I hastened in fearful and joyful obedience to tell
+to Christian nations the sore straits of Christ's land and followers.
+Here stands God's priest to call the people of God to this holy
+work,--Christ himself calls you to the rescue of the Holy Land. Arm
+yourselves and hasten to Palestine! There shall ye cast out the heathen!
+There shall ye restore Jerusalem and the Holy City to the keeping of
+God's people!"
+
+As Peter sank down exhausted with emotion, the Pope, Urban II., in all
+the splendor of his pontifical robes, arose from his throne in the midst
+of the prelates of the Church, and came forward. It was he who had
+called this solemn council of priests and nobles to consider the state
+of the Holy Land and to devise means for its rescue. Now, with dignity
+and eloquence, Urban added the sanction of the Church to Peter's wild
+appeal, saying:--
+
+"I will not seek to dry the tears which images so painful must draw from
+you. Let us weep, my brethren; but evil be to us if in our sterile pity
+we longer leave the heritage of the Lord in the hands of the impious.
+For I called ye hither, not to weep over the afflictions of the Holy
+Land, but to gird on your swords and go forth to its deliverance.
+
+"Christian warriors, rejoice! for to-day ye have found a true cause for
+battle. Go forth and fight the barbarians. Go and fight for the delivery
+of Jerusalem,--that royal city which the Redeemer of the human race has
+hallowed by His passion, has purchased by His blood, has distinguished
+by His burial. She now demands of you her deliverance. Men of France,
+men from beyond the mountains, nations chosen and beloved of God, right
+valiant knights, recall the virtues and greatness of Charlemagne and
+your other kings. It is from you, above all, that Jerusalem awaits the
+help she invokes, for to you, above all, has God given glory in arms.
+Take ye, therefore, the road to Jerusalem for the remission of your
+sins,--for all sins shall be forgiven to the warrior of Christ,--and
+depart assured of the deathless glory that awaits ye in the kingdom of
+heaven!"
+
+As the Pope ceased speaking, the people cried aloud in wild
+enthusiasm,--
+
+"The cross! the cross! Give us the cross!"
+
+Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, was first to receive the holy symbol. Then all
+the multitude, pressing eagerly forward, received from Pope or priest a
+red cross of silk or cloth. Fastened on shoulder or breast, it
+henceforth stamped the wearer as one sworn to fight for the delivery of
+the Holy Land,--a Crusader.
+
+In the throng surrounding the platform on which stood the Pope, Peter
+the Hermit, and many princes of the Church, was a certain young knight.
+His dress betokened high station. He bore himself modestly, with easy
+grace; and yet a peculiarly stern dignity of mien, and the air of one
+used to command, bespoke the military leader. He gave close heed
+throughout to the speech of the poor monk and that of the proud Head of
+the Church. As Peter spoke of the persecuted Christians and the wretched
+state of the Holy Land, the calm and steadfast eyes of the young man
+kindled with rage or glistened with sorrow. When the Pope mentioned the
+renowned Charlemagne, the knight's smooth, pale cheek flushed with
+pride, for the blood of that great emperor flowed warm in his veins.
+When the pardon of all sins was promised by Christ's vicar to the
+soldier of the cross, the listener started. To his mind came the
+recollection of past exploits,--deeds glorious in the eyes of the world,
+but which left a sting in that tender conscience. And the troubled
+knight mused:--
+
+"The cause of my emperor was just when he warred against Rodolphe of
+Rhenfield; and the many slain in that quarrel trouble me not. I was glad
+when my lance pierced the breast of the upstart who dared to claim the
+throne of Germany and the crown of Henry. Alas! if but the emperor had
+not warred against the Holy Father! If I had not drawn my sword against
+Holy Church! When Henry stormed the battlements of Rome, my young blood
+was hot with the joy of battle. I thought not of sin, but of glory, in
+that wild charge, and I was first to plant our banner on the city wall.
+Henry himself gave me thanks and saluted me as Duke of Antwerp and
+Lorraine. But, alas! God rebuked me soon for my pride in that warfare
+against His Holy Church by sending me a most grievous sickness. Then I
+swore to atone for my impiety by an humble pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
+But _now_, God be thanked! Godfrey de Bouillon goes not with scrip and
+staff to Jerusalem, there to weep over the captivity of Zion--with sword
+and spear will he march to the Holy Land and wrest the Sepulchre of the
+Lord from the hands of the infidels!"
+
+Thus determining, the knight, with a look of high resolve, strode
+forward to the feet of the Pope. Urban received him joyously.
+
+"Now God be praised!" he said fervently, "that the valiant Godfrey de
+Bouillon turns his erstwhile hostile arms to the cause of Holy Church.
+His young renown shall be increased a thousandfold, for God will give
+yet greater victories to his banner."
+
+Then after fastening the cross upon the shoulder of the kneeling knight,
+Urban bestowed upon him a sword with these words,--
+
+"Son Godfrey, receive this sword consecrated by God's high priest to the
+service of Christ. Draw it not save against the enemies of His holy
+religion; but strike and spare not the infidel. So shalt thou advance
+the glory of God, cleanse thy soul from every sin, and purchase
+Paradise!"
+
+Godfrey's pious heart throbbed within him at these great promises. He
+heeded not the crowd about him, nor the congratulations of his friends
+upon this signal honor, but betook himself to solitude, there to pray,
+and to plan the execution of this high enterprise.
+
+Erelong the Pope held council with Godfrey and other great princes who
+had taken the cross, and it was decided that the Crusaders should not
+start on their expedition until the following August, for it was then
+November and much was to be done. The armies were to march in several
+divisions, each by a different route, but all were to meet at
+Constantinople. Having arranged these matters, the princes and lords
+bade one another farewell and proceeded to their several domains, each
+to collect and prepare an army for the coming Crusade.
+
+But Peter the Hermit, impatient of delay, set out at once for Palestine
+at the head of a vast, undisciplined multitude, ill-clad, lacking arms
+and provisions, unprepared in every way for the perilous undertaking,
+but confident that God would supply all their needs, guide them, and
+deliver the Holy City into their hands.
+
+When Duke Godfrey reached his duchy of Lorraine, he found that the wave
+of enthusiasm started at Clermont had already dashed over his people.
+There was no need to urge them on to the holy work. Each and every one
+was eager to don the cross and set out to the rescue of Palestine. Men
+gave their gold, their land; women sold their jewels, their costly
+raiment, to provide means for the equipment of God's soldiers. The Duke
+of Lorraine himself pledged his province of Bouillon to the Bishop of
+Liege for money to fit out the thousands who flocked to his banner from
+Bouillon and Lorraine, from both sides of the Rhine, from northern
+France and western Germany.
+
+Knowing both Frank and Teuton,--able to greet each in his native
+tongue,--Godfrey was well fitted by birth and education to lead the vast
+army that now gathered on the banks of the Meuse and Moselle. Indeed,
+all the qualities of a great general and of "a very gentle, perfect
+knight" were Godfrey's. From his father, Eustace, Count of Boulogne, a
+notable warrior, he inherited valor and wisdom, and learned early "to be
+among the first to strike the foe." His mother, Ida de Bouillon, a most
+learned and pious lady, taught him to fear God, to be gentle, courteous,
+just, and merciful. "Even in youth," says the old chronicler, "a rival,
+on seeing him, was forced to exclaim, 'For zeal in battle, behold his
+father; for serving God, behold his mother!'"
+
+Such was the character of Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, "in
+whom the luster of nobility was enhanced by the splendor of the most
+exalted virtues." Nor was his appearance less to be admired. He was of
+tall, powerful frame and most dignified bearing. He was "beautiful in
+countenance," and the glance of his dark gray eyes, though usually
+gentle and kind, could command respect and obedience from the most
+lawless.
+
+Godfrey was indeed an imposing figure when he rode forth that autumn day
+of September, 1096, at the head of his army of Crusaders. He wore the
+usual dress and armor of a knight. On his head was a silver casque,
+surmounted by a black plume. A hauberk, or coat of mail, composed of
+steel rings, protected his body. He carried on the left arm a round
+buckler, which bore simply the red cross of the Crusader,--the same
+symbol as that worn on his breast. A sword and lance, borne by his
+squire, completed the knight's equipment of arms.
+
+With the duke were his brothers, Baldwin and Eustace, his kinsman,
+Baldwin du Bourg, and his squire, Sigier. Before the leader, rode the
+standard-bearers with the banner of Lorraine and the great standard of
+the Crusade, emblazoned with a blood-red cross.
+
+Ten thousand knights on horseback followed, attired like Godfrey, but
+with gayer ornaments and colors. Their shields, from which floated
+scarfs of red, green, or white, were ornamented with painted leopards,
+lions, birds, towers, or other fanciful devices. From each lance a
+pennant drooped.
+
+After the knights, marched eighty thousand foot-soldiers, carrying long
+oval shields and armed with lances, swords, cross-bows, or heavy clubs.
+Behind these soldiers, trudged thousands of women and children.
+
+On every breast shone the red cross and from every lip rang the
+Crusader's battle-cry, "God wills it!" So the army of Godfrey de
+Bouillon marched forth from Lorraine to the rescue of the Holy Land.
+
+After traveling many long days through Germany, the Crusaders reached
+the country of the Hungarians, a rude though Christian people. There the
+army was stopped on the border by armed forces. Godfrey, attended by
+only a few followers, sought the presence of the king. Carloman received
+him with simple but courteous hospitality.
+
+"I have come," said the Duke, "to ask that the soldiers of my army,
+bound to the rescue of the Holy Land, be allowed to pass through thy
+country in peace and safety."
+
+"Truly," said Carloman, "I would fain grant thy request, but it is not
+long since a great multitude, also Crusaders, were suffered to
+pass,--they robbed and murdered my people. Then came hundreds of
+thousands who fell upon us--in revenge, they said, for the death of
+their brethren, many of whom, in truth, had been justly slain by my
+ill-treated subjects. How can I dare to let loose thy soldiers upon my
+land?"
+
+"Nay," said the just Godfrey, "I come not for war, or to avenge those
+unhappy pilgrims,--God pardon them! They were but ignorant and misguided
+peasants; for their leader, the monk, Peter, though a man of God, is
+often too fierce in his zeal. I pledge thee my faith as a Christian that
+thy land and thy people shall not suffer if thou let my army march
+through Hungary."
+
+Now Godfrey's speech and look were so noble and sincere that the king
+put faith in his word, but as was the custom, demanded hostages,--the
+duke's brother among the number. Baldwin demurred, saying aside to
+Godfrey,--
+
+"How do I know that thou canst hinder thy soldiers from plunder? And if
+thou do not, my life is forfeit. Thou knowest that I risk it with joy
+on the battlefield, but I care not to die a shameful death in this
+barbarous land."
+
+"And will it be a shameful death to die thus in aiding the march of the
+deliverers to Jerusalem?" asked Godfrey, reproachfully. "Nay, say no
+more; I myself will be hostage," and he turned toward the king. But
+Baldwin, at this generous offer, was sorry and ashamed, and he said,--
+
+"Not so, Godfrey, thou shalt not risk thy life; it is more precious than
+mine. I will stay."
+
+Thus it was arranged, and so potent was the influence of the beloved
+leader that his men marched through Hungary harming neither land nor
+people. At the border, Baldwin and the other hostages were returned, and
+the king and his people, giving Godfrey abundant supplies, parted from
+them in good-will and friendship.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Now when Godfrey neared Constantinople, he learned that Hugh, Duke of
+Vermandois, brother to the King of France, and leader of an army of
+Crusaders from that country, was held prisoner by the Greek emperor,
+Alexius. The Duke of Lorraine sent at once to Alexius, demanding the
+release of the French prince. Alexius immediately set free the captive
+duke, whom in truth he had treated with much courtesy, and also
+promised aid to Godfrey, and allowed his army to encamp near
+Constantinople. Shortly after, however, the emperor made a move
+indicating treachery. Godfrey at once sounded the trumpets and prepared
+to assault the city; but when Alexius quickly sought peace, the placable
+duke accepted his explanations and assurances of friendship. Then
+Alexius entertained Godfrey with unheard-of splendor, and soon thought
+so highly of the knight as to adopt him as a son, according to Eastern
+custom.
+
+Here the Duke of Lorraine was joined by other armies, one commanded by
+Raymond, Count of Toulouse,--a tried warrior who had fought in youth
+under the banner of the Cid; the other led by brave and crafty Bohemond,
+Prince of Tarentum. In the host of Crusaders from France, Germany,
+Italy, Spain, England, and even far-off Ireland, were many renowned
+princes, prelates, and nobles: Adhemar, Bishop of Puy, the Pope's
+legate; Robert, Duke of Normandy, the heroic and reckless son of William
+the Conqueror; Count Robert of Paris, wild and ferocious; the gallant
+Count of Flanders; Stephen of Blois, Count of Chartres; and the pure and
+perfect knight, Tancred.
+
+All these leaders Alexius flattered and cajoled with soft words and
+magnificent gifts, promising them help and support on condition that
+the cities in Asia Minor formerly belonging to his empire, if captured
+by the Crusaders, be returned to him. But Alexius was a weak and
+deceitful prince, caring naught for anything save his own interest, as
+the Crusaders soon discovered. So it was without regret, in spite of his
+sumptuous entertainment of them, that Godfrey and the other leaders took
+leave of the Greek emperor and crossed the Bosphorus. This took some
+time, for the immense armies numbered one hundred thousand knights on
+horseback, clad in armor, five hundred thousand foot-soldiers, and
+numerous priests, women, and little children. They outnumbered "the
+sands of the sea, the leaves of the forest, the stars of heaven," writes
+the daughter of Alexius.
+
+This vast host soon encamped before the large city of Nicaea, its strong
+walls and hundreds of towers swarming with Turks. Here, Godfrey's men
+found, wandering in the desert, Peter the Hermit and a few wretched men
+who had escaped when their companions were slaughtered by the Turks.
+These few were the remnant of the hundred thousand pilgrims--men, women,
+and children--whom the wild monk had undertaken to lead to Palestine
+soon after the Council of Clermont. So numerous were the bones of these
+slain Crusaders, near Nicaea, that the soldiers of Godfrey used them in
+building the walls and divisions of his great camp before that city.
+
+Scarcely had this camp been completed when the Sultan of Nicaea,
+Kilidge-Arslan, the "Sword of the Lion," swept down from the mountain on
+the Christian army. "Then the two armies joined, mingled, and attacked
+each other with equal fury. Everywhere glittered casques and shields;
+lances rung against cuirasses; the air resounded with piercing cries;
+the terrified horses recoiled at the din of arms and the hissing of
+arrows; the earth trembled under the tread of the combatants; and the
+plain was for a vast space bristling with javelins."
+
+Godfrey was here, there, everywhere, in the fiercest of the fight,
+slaying the infidels on all sides. His high contempt of danger and death
+inspired his men to fight with equal ardor. At last the Turks were
+driven back, but they returned next day to the attack, nor did they
+retreat until the Crusaders had slain four thousand of them. The heads
+of these Turks were cut off and thrown over the walls of Nicaea, there to
+inform the garrison of the Crusaders' victory and to frighten them into
+surrender.
+
+But the Turks held out long, in spite of the many brave assaults made by
+the besiegers. In these attacks the Crusaders used many strange machines
+of war,--great rams of wood to batter down the walls; ballistas for
+casting stones, beams, and arrows; and catapults for throwing fire and
+huge stones into the city.
+
+The Turks had similar machines and also great iron hands with which they
+reached down from the walls, seized the Crusaders, and drew them up into
+the city. Then, killing these luckless captives and stripping the
+bodies, the infidels would hurl them back by machines into the camp of
+the Christians. These cruelties and the vengeance of the Crusaders made
+the warfare very horrible.
+
+Wonderful deeds were performed on both sides. A huge giant among the
+Turks made himself admired and dreaded by his great skill and
+extraordinary strength. With every cast of his javelin he slew an enemy,
+and he destroyed scores of the besiegers by hurling down upon them great
+masses of rock. One day he stood on the city wall and, single-handed,
+held at bay a great number of Christians. While fighting, he shouted
+defiance to the whole army of Crusaders, ridiculing them and grossly
+insulting their religion. Hundreds of arrows flew at him, but still he
+remained unhurt. Then Godfrey, who had been in another part of the
+field, came rushing up to discover the cause of the tumult. The infidel,
+poising an arrow, exclaimed,--
+
+"Dog of a Christian, thou too shalt die! Let us see if thy crucified God
+can save thee!"
+
+Enraged at this insolence and blasphemy, Godfrey seized a cross-bow and
+took aim quickly. Through the heart of the scoffing giant went the
+arrow, and down into the ditch tumbled the dreaded infidel. Cries of
+distress from the Turks and shouts of joy from the Christians greeted
+this deed of the valiant Godfrey.
+
+After seven weeks of almost continuous fighting, the Crusaders were on
+the point of taking Nicaea, when to their astonishment they saw the
+standard of Alexius raised on the city wall. The cunning Greek emperor,
+learning that the city was about to surrender, had sent an envoy and
+persuaded the Turks to deliver Nicaea to him. So the indignant Crusaders
+received no reward for their hardships and valor. Swearing vengeance on
+the emperor at some later day, they took up the march to Jerusalem.
+
+Over mountains, beside deep precipices, through swift torrents, they
+toiled, suffering agonies from heat, hunger, fatigue, and thirst. On
+the plain of Dorylaeum, in Phrygia, part of the army under Bohemond,
+Prince of Tarentum, was attacked by Kilidge-Arslan with two hundred
+thousand Turks, and was on the verge of defeat when Godfrey, at the head
+of a small body of knights, rushed to the rescue and put the Turks to
+headlong flight. The conquerors found the camp of the enemy near by, and
+took possession of large stores of provisions, tents, horses, camels,
+and treasures of all kinds. Rejoicing, the leaders divided the spoils,
+and after a short rest took up the march once more.
+
+Soon the Crusaders suffered terribly, for only a land made waste met
+their eyes,--smoking villages and crops swept away.
+
+The "Sword of the Lion" had gone before and cut down and destroyed
+everything in their path. The vengeful Turk had even poisoned the wells,
+and in this desert country of Phrygia the pilgrims died by thousands.
+
+The tender heart of Godfrey was wrung by the pitiable distress of his
+people. All that was possible of help and comfort he gave them, but he
+could not quench their thirst.
+
+Almost in despair he sat in his tent one day, grieving bitterly, for the
+moans of the suffering came to his ears.
+
+[Illustration: "'Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath found
+water!' cried Sigier!"]
+
+"O Christ, save Thy people," he prayed devoutly. Suddenly the hound of
+his faithful squire, Sigier, bounded into the tent and threw himself
+upon his master, who stood in sad silence near Godfrey.
+
+"Look, my lord, my dear lord! the hound hath found water!" cried Sigier;
+and, in truth, the paws of the dog were covered with wet sand.
+
+Already, ere the two could step outside, they heard the wild shouts and
+tumult of the people, racing madly in the tracks of the dogs. It was in
+vain that Godfrey and the other leaders strove to check that multitude.
+Dashing to the brink of the river so opportunely found by the dogs of
+the camp, thousands threw themselves bodily into the water, many
+drinking so greedily that they perished. Yet the timely discovery saved
+the army from total destruction.
+
+At last the almost exhausted host reached Antiochetta,--a city in a
+fertile plain, where the Christians were kindly received. Here they
+rested and regained the strength lost during their long and perilous
+journey. Many of the surrounding cities sent supplies to Godfrey and the
+other princes, and swore obedience to them.
+
+In the midst of these pleasant happenings the army narrowly escaped a
+terrible loss. Godfrey and a few companions went hunting one day, taking
+their falcons and dogs. While the duke was riding in advance of his
+comrades, he heard savage growls, then piteous cries of distress, "Help,
+help, for the love of God!"
+
+Galloping in the direction of the sounds, Godfrey soon came upon a
+pilgrim engaged in a struggle with a huge bear. The poor man was about
+to be killed. Drawing his sword, Godfrey spurred his horse fiercely on
+the bear; but the steed, frightened by the sight of the strange beast
+and its angry growls, reared back, and threw its rider to the ground. In
+a moment, however, Godfrey was on his feet, and as the bear turned upon
+him, met the attack with a mighty blow. Now a fearful struggle took
+place; but finally, with a fierce thrust of his sword, Godfrey killed
+the beast, just as Sigier and others, summoned by the pilgrim, came
+hurrying up.
+
+"Alas, my lord, you are wounded!" cried Sigier; and indeed so badly was
+the knight hurt that he fainted away and was thought to be dead. The
+soldiers were grieved beyond measure, and the camp resounded with
+lamentations; great was the joy when it was found that Godfrey would
+recover. For weeks, however, he had to be carried on a litter,--saved
+by a miracle, said the people.
+
+Now came the march over Mount Taurus, which was almost as difficult and
+dangerous as that through the desert. Over one steep mountain, which the
+Crusaders called "The Mountain of the Devil," there was only a narrow
+footpath, up which the soldiers could scarcely scramble in single file.
+Many horses lost their footing and fell over the precipice. Numbers of
+the Crusaders became so weary that they threw away their arms; and many
+were left to perish by the wayside, though Godfrey strove to have the
+weak and exhausted carried forward by the strong.
+
+But still struggling on bravely, the Christian host at last found
+themselves before the rich and splendid city of Antioch. It was strongly
+fortified with high walls and more than four hundred towers. Many of the
+leaders thought that it would be prudent to wait to besiege the place
+until spring, when new Crusaders were to arrive, and when the army would
+not be exposed to famine and to the rains and tempests of the winter
+season now approaching. But Godfrey spoke eloquently against this delay.
+
+"Why," said he, "should we wait for others to come and share the
+glories of this army without having shared its labors and dangers? It is
+an insult to the army of Jesus Christ to think that they cannot endure
+cold and rain and famine. Are we like those birds of passage which fly
+away and conceal themselves on the approach of the bad season? Moreover,
+abundance awaits us in the city of Antioch, which will soon open its
+gates to us."
+
+Moved by these brave words, the princes decided to begin the siege at
+once. But the city held out; and when the winter came, the army suffered
+most fearfully. A pestilence broke out, and thousands died of disease,
+in addition to those who perished of hunger or were killed in daily
+battles with the Turks.
+
+The Crusaders had not time or space to bury their dead. Many deserted
+the army. Peter the Hermit could not bear the hardships, and reproaches
+of the suffering, and fled from the camp. He was pursued and brought
+back by Tancred; and the soldiers, who had been as much astonished by
+Peter's desertion as if "the stars had fallen from heaven," made him
+swear on the Bible not to abandon them again.
+
+Godfrey and the good Bishop of Puy strove earnestly to put heart into
+the soldiers.
+
+"God will soon deliver us," said the duke. "He has sent these
+afflictions upon us because we took merit to ourselves for the victory
+of Dorylaeum and gave not all the glory to Him." But in vain his hopeful
+words; the army gave way to despair.
+
+Long days of misery, each more wretched than the last, dragged slowly
+by, when suddenly the courage of the Crusaders was revived by a great
+victory. A body of the troops who had gone to the seaport of St. Simeon
+to buy provisions was unexpectedly attacked by a body of Turks and
+compelled to retreat. Godfrey, hearing of the battle, sallied forth and
+defeated the enemy, but was attacked by a large force sent out from
+Antioch. Then Turks and Crusaders battled desperately beneath the very
+walls of Antioch and in sight of the people on its ramparts. The fight
+was man to man, without order or plan. The Christian leaders all
+performed wonderful deeds. Godfrey seemed to possess more than mortal
+strength and valor. No enemy could stand against his attack; and before
+the terrible stroke of his great sword, lances, helmets, and armor flew
+to pieces.
+
+A bold Saracen offered battle to Godfrey, and with the first blow dashed
+to pieces the shield of the Christian knight. Enraged, Godfrey rose up
+in his stirrups, and with all his force delivered such a mighty blow on
+the shoulder of the Turk as to divide his body into two parts. One fell
+to the ground, while the other part remained upright in the saddle. The
+frightened horse rushed back into the city, where the horrible sight
+added to the terror of the inhabitants.
+
+So great was the number of Turks slain in this battle, that the people
+of Antioch were greatly cast down, while the Crusaders renewed their
+assaults with fresh vigor and spirit. Daily conflicts were fought, in
+which many women took part. Even the children formed companies, and
+challenged the Turkish boys to combat. These battles of the children
+were watched with fierce interest by the Saracens on the city walls and
+the Crusaders in their camp, each party cheering on its small champions.
+At last the city became so reduced that it would doubtless soon have
+surrendered had not the Crusaders imprudently consented to a truce.
+
+While this truce was in force the soldiers gave themselves up to
+rioting, and the Christian princes disputed among themselves, for there
+was a spirit of rivalry among them, and some were haughty and
+quarrelsome.
+
+Bohemond received by mistake a magnificent tent sent by an Armenian
+prince to the Duke of Lorraine. The Prince of Tarentum was very
+avaricious and pretended that the gift was intended for him. Now the
+Duke of Lorraine, though gentle and generous, and never haughty in his
+bearing toward the other princes, was not at all meek, nor inclined to
+suffer any trespass upon his rights or dignity. He at once demanded his
+property of Bohemond in peremptory terms, and when refused, would have
+seized it by force of arms, had not the prince, seeing that all sided
+with Godfrey, reluctantly delivered the tent to him, its rightful owner.
+
+While these disputes were going on, the people of Antioch had received
+fresh supplies of provisions and arms, and now, refusing to surrender,
+again resumed the conflict. Bohemond, however, had found a traitor
+within the walls. This man, Phirous, had formerly been a Christian, but
+had become a Mohammedan. He told Bohemond that Jesus Christ had appeared
+to him and commanded him to betray the city into the hands of the
+Christians. The leaders of the Crusade were not willing to win the city
+by treachery, and for some time rejected the offer of Bohemond to lead
+them into it by the aid of Phirous. But at last, in June, 1098, the
+rumor that a vast army of Turks was approaching, led the princes to
+consent to the stratagem.
+
+On the night appointed by Phirous to admit the Crusaders, rain poured in
+torrents, peals of thunder shook the air, lightning flashed
+continuously, and the entire western sky was strangely illuminated. But
+the Crusaders were undaunted by the storm. They even deemed it an omen
+of success when a fiery comet flamed across the heavens. Silently,
+stealthily, the appointed soldiers crept up close to the wall; but when
+they found the frail rope-ladder, let down by Phirous, dangling against
+the wall, a strange fright seized upon them. Not one made a move toward
+it; all hesitated to dare the ascent. But Bohemond, as daring as he was
+crafty and ambitious, soon shamed his men by setting foot on the ladder.
+All followed and scrambled up to the tower where Phirous awaited them.
+He yielded it to them, and then pointed out a gate that could easily be
+forced. Into the city poured the Crusaders; and the people of Antioch,
+waking in terror, were slaughtered or made prisoners. The city was soon
+in the hands of the Crusaders, though the citadel, a strong tower on a
+steep hill in the center of the town, could not be taken.
+
+But scarcely had the victors ceased to rejoice over their conquest, when
+they found themselves besieged in turn by an immense army under the
+command of Kerbogha, Sultan of Mossoul, a celebrated Turkish warrior.
+Then the Christians, with an enemy in their city and surrounded by
+countless enemies without, endured the most dreadful hardships. Food
+became so scarce that even the horses were eaten. Godfrey generously
+shared his means with his soldiers, and was finally compelled to kill
+his favorite war-horse for food. So wretched were the Christians that
+many threw themselves over the battlements. Others deserted to the
+enemy, letting themselves down at night by cords from the city walls.
+These latter traitors were cursed most bitterly by their indignant
+comrades for such base cowardice and were called in derision
+"Rope-dancers." But truly it was only the stoutest hearts and strongest
+bodies that could stand the misery to which the Crusaders were now
+reduced. In spite of the brave efforts of Godfrey and some of the other
+princes, most of the wretched people gave up all hope. They hid
+themselves in their houses to await the end, and the silence of death
+settled down upon the stricken city.
+
+It is said that several of the leaders proposed to secure their own
+safety by fleeing in the night from the beleaguered city, and were only
+prevented from taking this step by the appeals of Adhemar and Godfrey,
+who represented to them in strongest terms the everlasting disgrace that
+such a step would bring upon them. Kerbogha had scornfully refused any
+terms of surrender except "Death or captivity for all," and it seemed
+that such must be the fate of the Crusaders, when the aspect of affairs
+was suddenly changed by a miracle.
+
+A priest, Bartholomew by name, announced that Saint Andrew had appeared
+to him three times, saying,--
+
+"Go to the church of my brother Peter in Antioch. Dig up the earth near
+the altar, and there you will find the head of the lance that pierced
+the side of our Redeemer. This sacred sign borne at the head of the army
+shall deliver the Christians and pierce the heart of the infidels."
+
+All the army believed in this vision, and after three solemn days of
+fasting and praying, Bartholomew, in the presence of twelve priests and
+knights, directed the workmen where to dig beneath the altar of the
+church. All day the digging went on, while the great crowd outside
+waited in silent impatience. At midnight, Bartholomew threw himself into
+the hole, and soon reappeared, bearing a spear-head in his hand. The joy
+of all was frantic, for they firmly believed that this holy relic would
+insure them a victory. Famine and fear were forgotten! All demanded to
+be led at once against the enemy.
+
+The next day the gates of Antioch were thrown open, and the army marched
+forth in solemn and imposing procession. At the head walked the priests,
+bearing aloft the holy lance, and chanting, "Let the Lord arise and let
+His enemies be scattered." The army followed in twelve divisions, each
+led by one of the princes in such state as he could muster. Godfrey had
+given away his all and rode a horse borrowed from the rich Raymond. Many
+of the soldiers were without weapons and were so weak from want of food
+that they could scarcely walk; yet their faith gave them courage, and
+they surveyed the vast army of the Saracens with calm confidence in
+victory,--for was not God himself with them? Not a sound was heard in
+the ranks.
+
+The Saracens, seeing this strange procession, at first supposed that the
+Christians had come out to surrender; but soon perceiving their error,
+they let fly a shower of arrows. A strong wind blew back these infidel
+darts and seemed to the Crusaders yet another sign of heavenly favor;
+and they awaited with renewed confidence the attack of the Turks. It
+soon came. The bodyguard of Kerbogha, three thousand strong, both man
+and horse clad in complete steel armor, hurled themselves against the
+Christian ranks, beating down the soldiers with ponderous clubs armed
+with steel points. Behind these warriors followed the immense host of
+Saracens. The battle raged for some time without decided advantage on
+either side, but the Sultan of Nice at last ordered burning flax to be
+thrown among the bushes and grass of the plain. At once the blaze and
+smoke surrounded the Christians. Stifled and confused, they fell back,
+and the sultan was about to drive them from the field, when suddenly a
+body of soldiers was seen descending the mountain-side, led by three
+knights in glittering white armor.
+
+"Behold," cried the Bishop of Puy, "the holy saints, George, Demetrius,
+and Theodore, come to fight for us!"
+
+To the Christians this sight gave irresistible valor. With a mighty
+shout, "God wills it!" the army hurled itself as one man against the
+Saracens. Nothing could withstand that inspired charge. The Turks fell
+back, broke their ranks, and fled in terror, leaving a hundred thousand
+dead.
+
+Their camp was found rich in treasures of all kinds. The gorgeous tent
+of Kerbogha, arranged in streets, like a city, lavishly decorated with
+gold and jewels, and large enough to shelter two thousand men, was
+captured by Bohemond. This vast pavilion was sent to Italy, where it was
+an object of even greater wonder and admiration to the Italians than it
+had been to the Crusaders. The leaders now found themselves rich, and
+for some time remained in peace at Antioch, enjoying the relief from
+want and warfare.
+
+But again a pestilence broke out, and carried off thousands. Among these
+victims was the good and beloved Adhemar, Bishop of Puy. The soldiers
+believed that God was angry because of the inaction and delay of the
+princes that were sworn to deliver the sepulchre of Christ. Then news
+came that Jerusalem had been taken from the Turks by the Khalif of
+Egypt, and the Christians were struck with deep remorse that the Holy
+City had been again captured, and not by the followers of Christ.
+Ashamed of their delay and forgetfulness of their sacred mission, the
+Crusaders resumed their march to the Holy City, eight months after the
+capture of Antioch.
+
+But the army lacked some of its former leaders. Count Stephen, of
+Chartres, and the Count of Vermandois, weary of hardships, had returned
+to France,--there to face the bitter scorn of all Europe. Bohemond
+remained in Antioch as ruler of the city his cunning had won. Baldwin,
+who had established himself as prince of the rich city, Edessa, thought
+no more about Jerusalem. This conduct of Baldwin grieved his brother
+deeply, and it was with a saddened heart that the pious Godfrey now led
+his army toward Jerusalem.
+
+Marching along the coast, the Crusaders soon neared Ptolemais. The emir
+of that city sent them supplies, and promised to surrender it to them as
+soon as they should conquer Jerusalem. The princes had not intended to
+attack Ptolemais and were delighted at this unexpected promise. But the
+falseness of the Mohammedan was soon revealed to them in a strange way.
+For soon after, while the army was encamped near Caesarea, the Bishop of
+Apt, sitting before his tent one day, saw a large falcon in pursuit of a
+dove. Fluttering swiftly downward, the tiny bird escaped the claws of
+its pursuer and fell at the feet of the bishop. The kind priest picked
+it up carefully, and was tenderly smoothing its ruffled plumage when he
+saw a letter tied under its wing. Setting the trembling bird free, the
+bishop hastened to the tent where the princes were holding council.
+Godfrey broke the seal, and with an exclamation of surprise read the
+letter aloud.
+
+It was from the Emir of Ptolemais to the Emir of Caesarea, and ran
+thus:--
+
+     "The cursed race of Christians have just passed through my
+     territory, and will soon reach thine. Let the chiefs of all the
+     Mussulman cities be warned of their approach and let them take
+     measures to crush our enemies."
+
+The princes were much astonished on hearing this, and Godfrey
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Surely we cannot doubt that God is with us, since He sends the birds of
+the air to reveal to us the secrets of our enemies!"
+
+So said all the soldiers when the letter was read to them, and they
+pursued their journey with new enthusiasm and stronger hope.
+
+On a night not long after, the Crusaders were watching with awe an
+eclipse of the moon. Suddenly the momentary darkness passed away, and
+the lurid light of a _blood-red_ moon shone down. But their terror at
+this strange sight was changed to joy when "those familiar with the
+signs of the stars" said,--
+
+"This doth portend the fall of the infidels and the triumph of Christ's
+army!"
+
+The following day, at sunrise, the Crusaders climbed to the summit of
+the hills of Emmaus, when--
+
+"Lo! Jerusalem appears in sight. Lo! every hand points out Jerusalem.
+Lo! a thousand voices are heard as one in salutation of Jerusalem!"
+
+After the first moment of pure gladness, a feeling of deep awe and great
+sorrow came over the Crusaders as they gazed at the city where Christ
+had suffered and died for their redemption. Following the example of
+their loved Godfrey, the Christians laid aside with tears and sighs
+their gay scarfs and glittering ornaments of knighthood; barefoot, in
+token of humility and reverence, they traveled the road once trodden by
+the feet of their Lord. And as they marched, they sang the words of
+Isaiah:--
+
+"Jerusalem, lift up thine eyes and behold the liberator who comes to
+break thy chains!"
+
+At last the pilgrims were encamped before the city of their pious hopes
+and dreams. But only a small remnant of the once magnificent army was
+left,--a weak body of perhaps forty thousand, lacking provisions and all
+machinery of war.
+
+A few days after encamping, the Crusaders made a fierce assault on
+Jerusalem, but having no engines of attack and no scaling ladders, they
+were beaten back.
+
+Realizing that the city could never be taken without these machines,
+Godfrey set the army at work to construct them. But it was with the
+greatest difficulty that wood, iron, and stone for making towers,
+ladders, and catapults could be procured. Soon the soldiers suffered the
+agonies of thirst, for most of the springs had been choked up or
+poisoned by the enemy. A less determined army would have given up the
+siege in despair. But though a few weak ones, unable to stand the
+hardships, deserted, nothing could daunt the courage or lessen the zeal
+of the greater part of the army.
+
+When at last some reinforcements and supplies arrived, all the army,
+women and children as well as men, set to work again with the greatest
+spirit to build engines of war and to prepare for the assault. Godfrey,
+Raymond, and Tancred constructed three movable towers, each higher than
+the city wall. Godfrey's had three platforms, and on the topmost one a
+drawbridge to be let down upon the wall.
+
+After four weeks of hard labor, Godfrey decided that the attack could
+be made. Three days the army fasted and prayed. Then all the Crusaders,
+in full armor, led by the priests praying and chanting, marched around
+Jerusalem, viewing with awe the holy places of the Lord's pilgrimage. On
+the mount whence Christ ascended to heaven, the priests absolved and
+blessed the multitude.
+
+Meanwhile the Egyptians and Turks on the city walls mocked at these
+ceremonies. The infidels raised crosses and spat upon them, insulting in
+every way the symbol of Christ in the sight of His followers. Peter the
+Hermit, on seeing this sacrilege, cried aloud to the Crusaders,--
+
+"I swear to you by your faith that to-morrow these proud blasphemers of
+Christ shall be frozen with fear! Their mosques shall become temples of
+the Lord, and Jerusalem shall hear only the praises of the true God!" At
+these words the whole army shouted with joy and triumph.
+
+That night the wise Godfrey, with great labor and difficulty, removed
+his immense engines of war to another position, where the Saracens had
+not made such great preparations for the defence of the walls.
+
+Then Godfrey and the other leaders planned the attack. Raymond was to
+assault the southern wall; Godfrey himself the northern; and between
+them the two Roberts and Tancred were to be stationed.
+
+At daybreak, the Count of Toulouse came to Godfrey's tent. After
+greeting Godfrey, Raymond exclaimed in surprise,--
+
+"How is this, my Lord? Where is thy strong breastplate and the rest of
+thy steel armor? Why hast thou put on this weak suit? Don thy vantbrace
+and helmet, and thy steel casque, and mask thy face. Do not risk thy
+life thus rashly."
+
+But Godfrey replied calmly,--
+
+"When Pope Urban girt this blade on me at Clermont, and bade me perform
+the duties of a true knight of Christ in this divine Crusade, I made a
+secret vow that on this day I would not fight as a prince and leader,
+but would assume the arms and armor of a common soldier. I shall station
+my men and see to all things as a general should; then, in this light
+armor of a foot-soldier, I shall strive to plant the banner of the cross
+on the ramparts of Jerusalem. God will protect my life."
+
+When Raymond heard this resolution, he protested no more, but hastened
+away and told the other princes, who all quickly decided to follow
+Godfrey's example of brave humility.
+
+Soon everything was in readiness, and from all quarters of the camp the
+drums and trumpets sounded.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With a mighty shout, the army rushes to the assault. The engines of war
+are all put in motion at the same moment. Bands of men, under cover of
+their upraised shields, drag the rams close to the wall. With these
+battering-rams they hammer at the wall, while stones and arrows hurtle
+down on their steel roof. Other companies rush intrepidly forward with
+long scaling-ladders, and strive to hook them to the top of the wall.
+The Saracens, with equal energy and courage, labor to cast them down. If
+perchance a ladder be fixed, men swarm up, undaunted by the weapons
+hurled at them. Scores, struck dead or wounded, loosen their hold and
+fall to the ground; but as many more clamber over their dead bodies and
+spring to their places. If a knight but reach the top of the ladder, he
+is cut down by the scimitars of the Egyptians.
+
+Huge stones, showers of sharp flints, and heavy beams cast from
+mangonels and catapults, fly through the air in every direction,
+crushing Saracens or Christians. The great towers, alive with soldiers,
+roll forward nearer and nearer to the city wall, though its defenders
+fight desperately to stay the advance of the dreaded machines,--casting
+blazing arrows and balls of fire against the towers, aiming countless
+weapons at the Christians upon them. Women and children mingle in the
+fray, bringing missiles for the machines, or food and water for the
+soldiers. They lay hold on the towers and help to drag them forward.
+
+On the tallest tower, high above all, stands Godfrey, fighting
+furiously, and urging his men to yet more heroic efforts. Above all
+tumult--shouts of defiance and cries of triumph, shrieks of mortal
+anguish, din and clatter of arms, and hissing of arrows--rings out his
+battle-cry: "Christ and the Holy Sepulchre! God wills it!"
+
+Now Christians raise a shout of joy as they gain the wall; now infidels
+howl in derision as the besiegers are driven back. Through the smoke and
+flame and flying weapons the horrified Crusaders behold two hideous
+witches on the highest rampart. Their hair and garments stream in the
+wind. With horrid curses and impious cries, they call upon the demons of
+earth and air to smite the Crusaders. But their sorcery does not avail
+to save themselves from death; pierced by countless Christian arrows,
+they fall headlong from the battlements. With wilder zeal the exultant
+Crusaders battle, and with greater fury the enraged infidels.
+
+Hours pass. The tower of Raymond is set on fire, and the long flames
+shoot up to heaven and brighten the darkening sky. Night falls, and
+Jerusalem is still in the hands of the unbelievers. Exhausted and
+bleeding, the Christians draw back from the walls; but it is not of
+their suffering and losses they think. One long wail goes up from those
+bursting hearts:--
+
+"Alas! God has not yet thought us worthy to enter His Holy City!"
+
+But those stout hearts are not long cast down. At daybreak the
+Christians once more hurl themselves against the battered walls of
+Jerusalem--with tenfold fiercer determination than before. Infidels and
+Christians know that one or the other will this day be swept from the
+face of the earth. The Christian leaders fight as even these knights of
+the cross have never fought before. The veteran Raymond is on foot in
+the midst of his men. He urges them against the wall where stands the
+Emir of Jerusalem, and bids them aim their darts at the Egyptian prince,
+whose splendid armor flashes golden in the sunlight. But though the
+arrows fall thick about him, Iftikhar stands haughtily erect, and
+continues to direct the efforts of his men.
+
+Tancred and the two Roberts exhaust their arrows and at last stand
+motionless on the tower, awaiting with fierce impatience the moment,
+fast approaching, when they can pierce with lance or cut down with sword
+the Saracens on the city wall, now almost within reach.
+
+But the conflict centers about the great tower of Godfrey. If only that
+tower reach the wall! On the summit shines a great cross of gold, and
+beneath its arms stands Godfrey, his brother Eustace, his cousin,
+Baldwin du Bourg, Sigier, and other knights. The sight of the sacred
+symbol of Christ throws the followers of Mohammed into a frenzy of
+impious rage. They hurl showers of blazing arrows, stones, and balls of
+fire against its defenders. Godfrey remains unhurt, but the faithful
+Sigier falls beside him. Slowly but surely the tower creeps nearer the
+wall. The Saracens redouble their efforts. They throw down between the
+wall and the tower, pots of burning oil, blazing wood, and Greek fire.
+They fortify the wall with mattresses of lighted straw until it seems
+one sheet of flame. The tower approaches this barricade of fire, but
+the smoke and flame stifle the Crusaders. They falter and fall back.
+
+The Crusaders on all sides begin to waver, and the infidels shout for
+joy. But at this moment a knight in glittering white armor appears on
+the Mount of Olives, and waves his fiery shield toward the Holy City.
+Godfrey, first to behold the strange warrior, shouts exultantly,--
+
+"Saint George! Saint George to our aid!"
+
+At the same moment a strong wind suddenly blows the flame away from
+Godfrey's tower and back upon the infidels, who stagger and retreat from
+the fiery blast. Now is the Christians' opportunity. One mighty effort,
+and the tower is within reach of the wall. The bridge of the tower falls
+with a crash, and the Christian knights spring upon it. A brief, fierce
+struggle,--and then, with a glad shout, "God wills it!" Godfrey de
+Bouillon stands triumphant on the walls of Jerusalem!
+
+It is Friday,--the day and the very hour of the death of his Lord.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The city was won. Animated by Godfrey's triumph, beholding him plant the
+banner of the cross on the wall of Jerusalem, Raymond and Tancred
+redoubled their efforts. Soon from all points of attack the victorious
+Crusaders poured into the city. Maddened by battle and the remembrance
+of the cruel persecutions their brethren had suffered, the Crusaders
+massacred all in their way.
+
+Very rarely, in those fierce days, was mercy shown to a defeated foe;
+and the Crusaders, fully persuaded that the slaughter of infidels is
+pleasing to the Lord, shouted, while hewing down the Saracens, "God
+wills it!"
+
+But the merciful Godfrey did not take part in this bloody work. With
+three companions he stole away from the army; and clothing himself in a
+pure white robe, barefoot, and without arms, he sought the Church of the
+Holy Sepulchre. There he worshiped at the tomb of Christ, and gave
+thanks that it had been rescued from the infidels. When the other
+Crusaders heard of this pious act, all followed Godfrey's example, and
+offered up prayers at the Holy Sepulchre. But their piety did not soften
+their hearts. For a week they hunted down and killed the Mohammedans and
+the Jews of the city.
+
+At last, when weary of slaughter, the Crusaders turned their attention
+to matters concerning the safety and welfare of the city they had so
+hardly won. It was decided to elect a king who should remain in the
+Holy Land, and protect the city against the attacks of the infidels.
+After long consideration, prayer, and inquiry into the private character
+of the various princes, Godfrey de Bouillon was chosen as possessing in
+the highest degree the requisite qualities of virtue, piety, wisdom, and
+valor. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, before the assembled
+Crusaders, Godfrey took an oath to rule justly and to defend with his
+life the Holy City. But so great was his piety and humility that he
+refused to be crowned, saying,--
+
+"Never will I wear a crown of gold in the place where the Saviour of the
+world wore a crown of thorns!" Nor would he be called king, but took the
+title of "Baron and Defender of the Holy Sepulchre." Yet in history he
+is called the first King of Jerusalem, and never was there a more kingly
+man, one more fitted to wear a crown.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Scarcely had Godfrey taken the vow to defend Jerusalem when he was
+called upon to fulfill it. Tidings came that an immense army of
+Egyptians and Turks was advancing upon the city. Realizing that
+Jerusalem could not hold out if besieged, Godfrey wisely and boldly
+marched out to meet the enemy, though both Raymond and Robert of
+Normandy refused to go with him, affecting not to believe in the
+reported approach of the infidels. But after Godfrey's departure these
+princes yielded to the prayers of the people, and joined him at Ascalon.
+
+There, countless thousands of the infidels were completely crushed by
+Godfrey. He captured the sword and great standard of Afdhal, the
+Egyptian leader, and hung them up as trophies in the Church of the
+Sepulchre.
+
+Godfrey soon conquered many parts of the surrounding country. During his
+siege of Asur, a conquered city that had rebelled against him, Godfrey
+inspired a touching act of heroism. He was advancing to attack the city
+walls when a knight, Gerard of Avesnes, who had been left there as a
+hostage by Godfrey, was bound by the Turks to a long pole and fastened
+to the wall in such a manner that he must be killed by the weapons of
+Godfrey's men should the assault be made. When Godfrey drew near, the
+poor knight cried aloud with tears,--
+
+"Godfrey, for the love of Christ, pity thy wretched friend. Alas! do not
+cause me to die in this shameful way,--like a miserable felon, bound
+and helpless! I do not fear death, but would fain die like a true
+knight, sword in hand, on the battlefield!"
+
+But Godfrey, though moved to the heart by the sad plight and piteous
+appeals of Gerard, did not falter or fail in his hard duty. With tears
+in his eyes, he besought the unfortunate knight to resign himself
+bravely to the fate of a martyr.
+
+"It is not in my power to save thee," said he. "The city must be taken.
+If my own brother were in thy place I could not deliver him from death.
+Die, then, illustrious and brave knight, for the safety of thy brethren
+and the glory of thy Lord Jesus Christ!"
+
+Inspired by these noble words, Gerard found the faith to meet death with
+a splendid courage. He begged that his armor be offered up at the Holy
+Sepulchre, and that prayers be said there for the repose of his soul.
+Then bidding his friends farewell, he urged on their attack, and died
+without a murmur under a shower of darts from their hands.
+
+Many chiefs of the Turks visited Godfrey during this siege, and were
+surprised to find the great prince living as simply as the poorest
+soldier, without luxuries of any kind, his bed a pallet of straw. But he
+gained the respect and admiration of these barbarians by showing them
+his great strength and skill in arms. The fame of his valor traveled
+over the land, and many emirs came of their own accord to swear fealty
+to the ruler of Jerusalem.
+
+The wisdom of Godfrey was as great as his bravery. He called a council
+of the wise men of the kingdom, and with their help drew up good and
+just laws for the government of the people. Not long after these laws
+were drawn up and deposited in the Church of the Resurrection, Godfrey
+was called to the help of his friend Tancred, ruler of Galilee, who had
+been attacked by the Saracens. Godfrey quickly defeated this army, and
+was on his way back to Jerusalem when he was met by the Emir of Caesarea,
+who made him a present of some fruit. Godfrey ate only one cedar-apple,
+but was at once taken very sick, and his friends believed that he had
+been poisoned by the emir. Though suffering greatly, the stricken hero
+hastened on to his beloved city.
+
+On the anniversary of the taking of Jerusalem, in that Holy City so dear
+to his heart, the greatest of the Crusaders calmly passed away, and "The
+Lord received him into Paradise."
+
+Near the sacred tomb of his divine captain, the body of this true and
+loyal soldier of Christ was laid to rest. Never had he wavered in his
+devotion to the cause of his Lord. Hardships of desert and mountain,
+suffering by pestilence and famine, agonies of thirst, labors and perils
+of the battlefield,--all had failed to daunt this soldier of the Cross.
+What matter if his ideals of duty and religion seem fantastic to our
+modern minds? He gave his life for them; and so long as men admire the
+brave deeds of a fearless heart, so long as they reverence a pure and
+selfless purpose, so long will they honor the name and fame of The Great
+Crusader.
+
+
+
+
+THE TROUBADOUR
+
+
+    Gaily the Troubadour touched his guitar,
+    As he was hastening home from the war,
+    Singing, "From Palestine hither I come,--
+    Ladye-love, ladye-love, welcome me home!"
+
+    She for her Troubadour hopelessly wept,
+    Sadly she thought on him whilst others slept,
+    Sighing, "In search of thee, would I might roam,
+    Troubadour, Troubadour, come to thy home!"
+
+    Hark! 'twas the Troubadour breathing her name,
+    As under the battlement softly he came,
+    Singing, "From Palestine hither I come,
+    Ladye-love, ladye-love, welcome me home!"
+
+    _Old Song._
+
+
+
+
+THE CARRIER DOVE
+
+
+    Fly away to my native land, sweet dove,
+    Fly away to my native land,
+    And bear these lines to my ladye-love,
+    That I've traced with a feeble hand.
+    She marvels much at my long delay,
+    A rumor of death she hath heard,
+    Or she thinks, perhaps, that I falsely stray--
+    Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!
+
+    I shall miss thy visit at dawn, sweet dove,
+    I shall miss thy coming at eve,
+    But bring me a line from my ladye-love,
+    And then I shall cease to grieve.
+    No friend to my lattice a solace brings,
+    Except when your voice is heard,
+    As you beat the bars with your snowy wings,
+    Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!
+
+    Oh! fly to her bower and say the chain
+    Of the tyrant is over me now,
+    That I never shall mount my steed again,
+    With helmet upon my brow.
+    I can bear in a dungeon to waste away youth,
+    I can fall by the conqueror's sword,
+    But I cannot endure she should doubt my truth,
+    Then fly to her bower, sweet bird!
+
+    _Old Song._
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTIVE KNIGHT
+
+
+    'Twas a trumpet's pealing sound!
+    And the Knight looked down from the Paynim's tower;
+    As a Christian host, in its pride and power,
+    Thro' the pass beneath him wound.
+    "Cease awhile, clarion! clarion, wild and shrill!
+    Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!
+
+    "I knew 'twas a trumpet's note!
+    And I see my brethren's lances gleam,
+    And their pennons wave by the mountain stream,
+    And their plumes to the glad wind float.
+    Cease awhile, clarion! clarion, wild and shrill!
+    Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!
+
+    "I am here with my heavy chain!
+    And I look on a torrent sweeping by.
+    And an eagle rushing to the sky,
+    And a host to its battle plain.
+    Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill!
+    Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!
+
+    "Must I pine in my fetters here?
+    With the wild waves' foam, and the free bird's flight,
+    And the tall spears glancing on my sight,
+    And the trumpet in my ear?
+    Cease awhile, clarion! clarion wild and shrill!
+    Cease, let them hear the captive's voice! be still, be still!
+
+    "They are gone! they have all passed by!
+    They in whose wars I have borne my part,
+    They that I loved with a brother's heart,
+    They have left me here to die!
+    Sound again, clarion! clarion, pour thy blast!
+    Sound, for the captive's dream of hope is past!"
+
+    FELICIA HEMANS.
+
+
+
+
+RICHARD COEUR-DE-LION
+
+
+    Honor enough his merit brings,
+      He needs no alien praise
+    In whose train, Glory, like a king's,
+      Follows through all his days.
+
+    _Itinerarium Regis Ricardi._
+
+
+
+
+RICHARD COEUR-DE-LION
+
+(1157-1199 A. D.)
+
+
+There was once a prince of England who was married when only five years
+old. This youthful bridegroom was Richard, the son of Henry II. and
+Eleanor of Aquitaine; and his bride was a maiden of three, Alice,
+daughter of Louis VII. of France. The ceremony was a curious one, for of
+course such babies could not really take the marriage vows. But the
+parents of the small couple made the required vows in the name of their
+children, and solemnly promised that the little prince and princess
+should marry as soon as they were old enough. Though the children were
+too young to understand the meaning of the ceremony, it was considered
+as binding upon them as if they had been a man and a woman.
+
+It seems strange for such babies to be married, but it was the custom in
+those days for kings to arrange marriages for the royal children in
+order to increase their own power and dominions, or for other reasons
+connected with the welfare of the country. Thus Henry II., by this
+marriage, obtained possession of lands in France, and the City of
+Gisors, given by Louis as a dower to Alice. The little girl and her
+lands were placed in the hands of Henry to be guarded for Richard until
+the boy should be old enough to claim his bride.
+
+Doubtless the tiny bride of three and her little groom played together
+happily after their marriage, with little thought of the imposing
+ceremony; for it meant nothing to them then, though destined to have sad
+consequences for both in later years. But not for long were the married
+children together. Alice was taken to England, while Richard spent most
+of his early life in France. He was destined to be duke of his mother's
+French province of Aquitaine; and it was thought best that he should be
+educated in the country of which he would be ruler.
+
+Richard was a sturdy, bold, and adventurous lad. He engaged in all the
+boyish sports of the day, and later in those chivalric pastimes that
+formed part of the training of a noble youth. He was taught every
+accomplishment deemed necessary for a knight,--to ride like a centaur,
+to cast a lance, to wield the sword, and to swing the battle-axe. He
+even learned to bend the great cross-bow, the weapon of the English
+peasant, and could send an arrow straight to the mark. These exercises
+were severe training for the young prince, but they developed the
+prodigious strength and skill in arms that later made him the greatest
+warrior of his age.
+
+In addition to these knightly accomplishments, Richard learned to read
+and write,--not such common acquirements in those days as now. From his
+brilliantly educated mother the prince inherited a taste for literature,
+poetry, and music. It was an age of poetry, and poets were held in much
+honor, influencing men to great deeds by their stirring songs. Richard
+took great delight in the songs of the troubadours of Aquitaine and
+Anjou. Several of these poets, especially Blondel de Nesle, were his
+warm friends, and taught him the arts of verse-making and music, in
+which Richard acquired admirable skill.
+
+In the rich land of Aquitaine, with its gay, pleasure-loving people,
+Richard was surrounded by luxury and splendor, but, alas! not by an
+atmosphere of peace or love. His mother was a frivolous woman, and his
+father, Henry, a violent-tempered, despotic, and wicked man. The two
+did not love each other, and when together quarreled continually in the
+most violent manner. So Richard and his brothers--Henry, Geoffrey, and
+John--passed their youth in an atmosphere of strife; and all that was
+violent and contentious in their natural dispositions was fostered by
+their home life and the bad example of their parents.
+
+The princes quarreled among themselves, and as they grew older,
+naturally took part in the bitter disputes continually taking place
+between Henry and Eleanor. As Geoffrey once said, it was their
+inheritance _not_ to love one another. The princes were all proud,
+headstrong, and selfwilled, and hence little disposed to obey their
+imperious father; and Henry, though in some ways weakly indulgent to his
+sons, was most autocratic in disposition. As his sons became young men,
+he gave them certain provinces in France to rule. But he would allow
+them no real power, and the proud young princes were determined not to
+submit to their father's authority, but to be rulers in fact as well as
+in name. So they rebelled against Henry time and again, and fierce wars
+took place between the father and his sons.
+
+Their mother, Eleanor, encouraged the princes in their attitude of
+rebellion against Henry, for he had long treated her with great
+indignity. He neglected his wife for other fair ladies, and at last put
+her in prison, where she remained nearly sixteen years. This severe
+treatment of Eleanor served to enrage her sons and to alienate them
+still more from Henry; for they loved their mother dearly in spite of
+all her faults. So the strife continued in the royal family until two
+sons, Henry and Geoffrey, died while at enmity with their father. Then a
+reconciliation took place between the other members of the family; but
+it lasted only a short time.
+
+Richard, who was then of age, wished to claim and really marry his
+child-bride, Alice; but Henry made excuse after excuse for not giving up
+Alice to his son, though he maintained that Richard was legally bound to
+her and could not marry any other woman.
+
+It is said that the wicked old man had himself fallen in love with
+Alice, and intended to obtain a divorce from Eleanor and marry the young
+princess. Whether this be true or not, it is certain that Richard's
+demands to be given his bride, or else to be declared free to marry whom
+he pleased, were treated with contempt by the old king. Meanwhile the
+gallant and handsome young prince had met at the court of Navarre the
+Princess Berengaria, daughter of King Sancho, and had been much charmed
+by her beauty and grace; but the entanglement with Alice prevented a
+serious love affair.
+
+At last Richard became weary of his absurd position,--supposed to be
+married and yet without a wife.
+
+He appealed to the brother of Alice, Philip of France, who readily
+consented to aid him. The two demanded of Henry that he give up Alice to
+Richard, and also acknowledge him as heir to the English throne, for
+they feared that Henry purposed to leave that kingdom to John. During an
+interview between Henry and Richard, at which Philip was present,
+Richard demanded that his father recognize him, the elder son, as the
+future King of England. Henry made an evasive reply, whereupon,
+referring to the rumor that _John_ would be heir to the English crown,
+Richard exclaimed passionately,--
+
+"Then I am compelled to believe that which I before had believed
+impossible!" and ungirding his sword and handing it to Philip, he knelt
+to him and said,--
+
+"To you, Sire, I commit the protection of my rights, and to you I now do
+homage for all my father's dominions in France!"
+
+Philip accepted his homage, and gave to Richard all the cities taken
+from Henry. Naturally, that king was enraged when his son thus haughtily
+renounced allegiance to him, and war soon followed. Henry was defeated
+several times, and many of his barons left him to join the cause of
+Richard. Finally, the king was forced to make peace with his rebellious
+son on very hard conditions; and this mortified his kingly pride so
+sorely that he fell ill of grief and rage. During this sickness, he
+could think of nothing save his own defeat, and raved constantly,
+"Shame, shame on a conquered king!" When he learned that his
+best-beloved son, John, had been a party to Richard's rebellion, the
+blow was too severe for the old king's broken strength. He died of
+grief, cursing his rebellious sons with his last breath.
+
+No sooner had the fierce but affectionate Richard heard of his father's
+death at Chinon than he was overcome with sorrow and remorse. He came to
+take leave of the king's body, but as he drew near the bier, blood
+gushed from the eyes and mouth of the dead man. Richard was
+horror-stricken, and rushed away, exclaiming,--
+
+"I have murdered him; his blood accuses me!"
+
+The repentant son caused the corpse to be buried with due ceremony at
+Fontevraud, the ancient burial-place of the Norman kings, and he showed
+many signs of penitence for his unfilial conduct.
+
+As soon as the unhappy old king had been laid away, Richard's thoughts
+turned to his mother, Eleanor, who had been for many years a state
+prisoner in Winchester Castle. Sending at once to England, he ordered
+that the queen be released, and appointed regent of the kingdom. Indeed,
+Richard was always a tender and dutiful son to his mother, who calls
+him, "My brave, my generous, my high-minded, my all-worthy son,
+Richard." If he were not a good son to his father also, it is some
+excuse that Henry was a most unpleasant, tyrannical man, whose treatment
+of his wife and children was not such as to beget love and dutiful
+conduct.
+
+After tarrying some months in France, attending to matters in his
+provinces of Anjou, Poitou, Normandy, and Aquitaine, Richard crossed
+over to England. There he was received most joyfully by his new
+subjects.
+
+In Westminster Abbey, on Sept. 3, 1189, his coronation took place with
+great splendor. It is the first coronation ceremony of an English king
+fully described by eye-witnesses.
+
+The Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops, richly robed, and
+carrying the cross, holy water, and censers, led the stately procession
+that escorted the king from his palace to the Abbey. After these
+dignitaries of the Church, came four barons in court dress, bearing each
+a golden candlestick; then four earls, carrying the king's cup, the
+golden spurs, the scepter of state, and the royal rod of majesty--a mace
+adorned with a golden dove. Four great earls walked next, brandishing
+aloft their glittering swords; and behind these noblemen marched six
+more, as bearers of the royal robes and regalia. William, Earl of Essex,
+proudly carried the gold and jeweled crown immediately before Richard
+himself, who walked beneath a magnificent canopy of state, upheld by
+richly clad nobles.
+
+Before the brilliant assemblage of lords Richard took the solemn oath to
+be a just and righteous ruler. Then after the archbishop had anointed
+him with holy oil, shoes of golden tissue were put on the king's feet,
+the golden spurs were buckled on, and he was clad in the vestments of
+royalty and led to the high altar. There he promised to be faithful to
+his kingly oath, and was crowned with the royal diadem and given the
+scepter and rod of office.
+
+So Richard Plantagenet became King of England. No one beholding the
+proud bearing of the new monarch would have supposed that his family
+emblem, the lowly broom-plant (_Planta genista_), from which came the
+name Plantagenet, had been adopted by an ancestor of Richard's in token
+of humility. For, in very truth, the Plantagenets were an arrogant race,
+and Richard was the proudest of his line.
+
+As he strode down the aisle of Westminster in all the glittering and
+jeweled splendor of his coronation robes, Richard's appearance was truly
+royal. He looked every inch a king. The people gazed with delight on his
+tall, powerful frame, graceful and strong as that of Mars himself; on
+his proudly poised head, whose red-gold curls waved beneath the jeweled
+crown; on the fair, haughty face with its square, determined jaw,
+aquiline nose, full, proud lips, and fierce, restless blue eyes.
+Heartily the multitude admired Richard's manly beauty, his lordly air;
+and with a right good-will they shouted joyously: "Long live the king!
+Long live our Richard Lionheart!"
+
+Before his accession to the throne, Richard had determined to go as a
+Crusader to the rescue of the Holy Land. From his mother, who had
+herself taken part in the Second Crusade, he had heard many stories of
+the East,--that land of wonders and marvelous adventures. Richard was by
+nature a rover, a warrior, a knight-errant. So it seemed to him a most
+delightful prospect to travel, to see strange lands and peoples, to
+fight in a holy war; and thus to indulge his own love of adventure and
+of battle while advancing the glory of God. Nay, to do him justice,
+Richard was religious too, in the strange fierce fashion of those
+days,--days when one could be pious without being good; when the warrior
+prayed and fought with equal zeal, deeming both acts of equal merit in
+the sight of heaven; when the Christian believed the slaughter of
+infidels well-pleasing to God; when the knight of the Cross was
+confident that Christ pardoned all sins to the warrior who did battle
+for His Holy Sepulchre. So Richard, though far from pious or exemplary
+in his daily life, was moved by a genuine and fervent desire to deliver
+Jerusalem from the infidels, into whose hands it had fallen again after
+its conquest by Godfrey de Bouillon.
+
+When all the tedious and costly preparations necessary for the Crusade
+had been completed, Richard sent his fleet around by the Strait of
+Gibraltar. He himself crossed over to France with the troops, intending
+to march through that country to meet his ships at Marseilles, and there
+to embark for Palestine.
+
+At Vezelai, Richard met Philip of France, who had agreed to join him in
+the Crusade. The two kings and their great armies marched together for
+some distance, but finally separated, and proceeded southward by
+different routes,--the French to Genoa, the English to Marseilles.
+
+When Richard reached that seaport, he was much disappointed to find that
+the fleet had not arrived. Leaving the main body of troops there to
+await the arrival of the vessels, he procured a ship, and proceeded on
+his way by sea, sailing along the coast of France and Italy. He stopped
+at many cities, and sometimes traveled on land with only a few
+attendants, like a simple knight-errant.
+
+When he reached the Gulf of Salernum, Richard was joined by his fleet,
+and sailed toward Messina, a coast town of Sicily, where he was to meet
+Philip. On approaching the city, Richard ordered every trumpet to be
+sounded. The people, rushing to the walls, beheld with surprise the
+great fleet of England, manned by thousands of steel-clad warriors, and
+flying the red cross of Saint George, the lion-emblazoned banner of
+Richard, and hundreds of gay baronial flags. The arrival is thus
+described:--
+
+        "O Holy Mary, no man ever saw
+      Such galleys, such dromonds, such transports before;
+        Rowing on, rowing on, across the deep sea,
+      Rowing on, rowing on to fair Sicily!
+
+    "What pennons and banners from the top of the spears
+    To the fair winds are streaming all graceful and proud;
+    What a great host of warriors, whose breasts know no fears
+    Pace the decks, whilst the oarsmen are chanting aloud--
+    Row on, lads, row on, lads, across the deep sea;
+    Crowd the sail and row on, lads, to fair Sicily!
+
+    "Hark, hark to the voice of the trumpets so clear
+    As they enter the harbor and make for the pier;
+    See what bright gilded beaks, what finely wrought bows,
+    And what thousands of shields hang out on the prows.
+    Oh! such a staunch fleet never sailed on the sea
+    As this armament anchored off fair Sicily.
+
+    "And now from his trim galley, named Cut-the-Sea
+    The proud Richard lands midst uproarious glee;
+    Clad in bright scale-linked mail with axe in his hand,
+    He, the chief of his hero band, paces the strand,
+    Whilst the people and warriors in wild ecstasy,
+    Shout hurrah for King Richard and fair Sicily!"
+
+Such was the brilliant spectacle of Coeur-de-Lion's arrival in Sicily.
+When Richard had landed and camped near Messina, he sent envoys at once
+to Tancred, the King of Sicily, who had usurped the throne and
+imprisoned Richard's sister Joan, widow of the former king. These envoys
+were bidden to demand of Tancred the instant release of Joan, the
+payment of her dowry, and the delivery of a rich legacy which Richard
+asserted had been left by her husband to Henry II. This bequest included
+a gold table twelve feet long, twenty-four gold cups and saucers, a
+large silk tent, and a hundred fine galleys. On receiving King Richard's
+peremptory message, Tancred at once sent Joan to her royal brother with
+a large sum of money, but denied any knowledge of the rich legacy that
+Richard claimed.
+
+Now the French king had previously arrived in Sicily, and the forces of
+both kings were encamped about Messina. There was much jealousy between
+the two monarchs. Philip was envious of Richard's greater fame as a
+warrior, and Richard resented the fact that as Duke of Normandy he was a
+vassal of the French king. This feeling of ill-will extended to the
+soldiers of the two armies, hostile from birth, and gave rise to much
+quarreling and continual brawls. The French contrived to arouse in the
+people of Sicily a suspicious dread of the King of England. So when
+these natives saw Richard building and fortifying strongholds, they
+concluded that he intended to take possession of their island. Then
+fierce disputes arose between them and the English soldiers.
+
+At length, the trouble ended in an open fight; and Richard promptly
+attacked the city of Messina. Though the French sided with the natives,
+who were fifty thousand strong, "King Richard got possession of Messina
+quicker than any priest could chant matins. Aye, and many more of the
+citizens would have perished had not the King in his compassion ordered
+their lives to be spared."
+
+After the capture of the city, King Tancred agreed to give Richard forty
+thousand ounces of gold in lieu of all claims against him in behalf of
+Joan. Richard accepted this offer, and peace was restored. One-third of
+the money he gave to Philip, and the two kings made a new compact of
+friendship, solemnly swearing to be faithful to each other in all things
+during this Crusade.
+
+A period of peace followed, during which the kings and nobles amused
+themselves in various ways while awaiting a favorable season for their
+voyage to Palestine.
+
+One day while riding, Richard and Philip met a peasant bringing a load
+of tough canes to town. The two kings and all their knights took each a
+reed, and using it as a lance, began to tilt against one another.
+Richard and a French knight, William des Barres, charged each other. The
+reeds were shattered, and the headpiece of Richard was broken. Enraged
+at this mishap, the king dashed furiously on William, but his own saddle
+was upset, and he fell to the ground "quicker than he liked."
+
+Hastily mounting a fresh horse, Richard again attacked Des Barres, but
+could not unhorse the knight, who stuck fast to his saddle. Then the
+Earl of Leicester attempted to aid Richard, but the king cried, "Let be,
+Robert; hold off and leave us alone!" But when, after many vain efforts,
+he had failed to overthrow the stout French warrior, Richard flew into a
+terrific rage, and cried, "Get thee hence, and appear no more before me,
+for I shall be thine enemy hereafter!" Whereupon William des Barres
+withdrew in much distress of mind, and asked the intercession of the
+King of France. Not until Philip, all the bishops, and the chiefs of the
+army had repeatedly besought Richard for grace, would the mortified king
+consent to the peaceable return of the knight. So unwise is it to
+successfully combat a king!
+
+Soon after this episode fresh trouble arose between Richard and Philip.
+The King of France was brother to Alice, the betrothed bride of Richard.
+When he heard that Queen Eleanor was on her way to Sicily, bringing
+Berengaria, daughter of the King of Navarre, as a bride for the English
+king, Philip was enraged. He insisted that Richard was legally bound to
+Alice and could not marry any one else. Richard, who had been much
+charmed with Berengaria some years before while visiting her father's
+court at Pampeluna, now flatly refused to marry Alice. He accused her of
+most wicked conduct, such as rendered her unworthy to be his wife.
+Probably these charges were well founded, for Philip finally agreed, on
+certain conditions, to release Richard from the engagement with Alice.
+The French princess, then held prisoner in England by Eleanor, was to be
+returned to France, and Philip was to receive a large sum of money. An
+ecclesiastical court was then held, and it adjudged that Richard was no
+longer bound to Alice, but was free to marry as he pleased.
+
+These matters settled, Philip set sail for Palestine on the very day
+that Eleanor arrived with Berengaria. The two royal ladies received a
+joyful welcome from the king, who went to meet them in his gayly
+decorated galley, _Trenc-le-Mer_.
+
+He found Berengaria even lovelier than the young girl he had admired so
+long ago in Navarre. His heart yielded at once to the charms of the
+dark-eyed Spanish beauty, and the princess could not help loving such a
+handsome, brave, and eloquent prince; for Richard was no less ready with
+his tongue than with his sword, and won hearts as easily as battles. He
+had long before won the devotion and friendship of Berengaria's brother
+Sancho, a renowned warrior and poet; and this friendship doubtless
+commended him to Berengaria. At any rate, the betrothed pair were soon a
+pair of lovers and as happy as humbler sweethearts.
+
+As it was then the solemn season of Lent, they resolved to postpone the
+wedding until after Easter. Richard, however, in token of his joy, gave
+a sumptuous betrothal feast, at which he instituted a new order of
+knights, vowed to deeds of valor in the Holy Land. Queen Eleanor, after
+remaining a few days with her dearly loved daughter and son, gave
+Berengaria into the care of Queen Joan, and herself returned to England.
+
+Richard then made final preparations for the voyage. Before leaving, he
+gave Tancred, to whom he had become reconciled, "that best of swords,
+which the Britons call Caliburne (Excalibur), formerly the sword of
+Arthur, once the noble King of England."
+
+At length the great fleet of busses, dromonds, and galleys set sail for
+Palestine. Berengaria and Joan sailed first in a large ship under the
+care of Stephen de Turnham, and Richard embarked last on _Trenc-le-Mer_.
+Erelong a storm arose, and the fleet was dispersed. Berengaria was very
+much alarmed for her lover's safety.
+
+    "She sighed not for her own,
+    But King Richard's safety;
+    And kept crying, 'Oh! look out,
+    For sore is my fright,
+    Whilst the King and his galleys
+    Are all out of sight!'"
+
+Two ships escorting the vessel of the princess and Joan were wrecked on
+the coast of Cyprus. Isaac, the emperor of that island, plundered the
+ships and imprisoned the survivors. He also refused to allow the vessel
+of the royal ladies to take shelter in the harbor of Limasol (now
+Limoussa).
+
+Meanwhile, Richard's galley had taken shelter at Rhodes. As soon as the
+king learned of the straits in which the princesses were, he came to
+their aid with many war galleys. When he found them outside of the
+harbor, exposed to the violence of wind and sea, he was greatly
+enraged. But restraining his anger fairly well for so passionate a man,
+he sent messengers thrice to Isaac, "humbly begging him for the love of
+God and reverence for the life-giving cross" to free the captive
+Crusaders, and to restore their goods. The emperor, evidently not
+knowing with whom he had to deal, returned a haughty refusal.
+
+Then Richard, very wroth, called his men to arms, and said: "Follow me,
+and we will take vengeance for the wrongs which this villainous emperor
+has done to God and to us in thus unjustly keeping our pilgrims in
+chains!" Without delay the forces rowed to the shore, where Isaac had
+drawn up his army to oppose them.
+
+The English archers landed first, and their arrows fell upon the enemy
+"as a shower upon the grass." The doughty King Richard and his knights
+then rushed in, and quickly drove the Greeks before them like a flock of
+sheep. After Isaac's affrighted army had taken refuge in the mountains,
+he tried to make peace, but could come to no agreement with Richard, and
+fled from Limasol. The English king then stormed the town and took
+possession. Here he first used his famous battle-axe, for the old rhymer
+tells us:--
+
+
+      "The valiant King Richard, as I understand,
+      Before he departed from old England,
+      Made an axe to slaughter that infidel band,
+      The Saracen dogs in the Holy Land.
+      The head in sooth was wondrously wrought,
+      Of steel twenty pounds, the best to be bought.
+      And when that he landed in Cyprus land,
+      He first took this terrible axe in hand;
+    And he hewed and he hewed with such direful slaughter,
+    That the blood flowed around him like pools of water."
+
+With such a valiant leader, it is small wonder that the English were
+soon masters of the whole island of Cyprus. Isaac, after making a treaty
+with Richard and immediately breaking it, was captured by the English
+king, who bound him with silver fetters, kept him in prison, and gave
+his beautiful daughter to Berengaria as an attendant.
+
+Ere this, Richard and Berengaria had been married with pomp and ceremony
+at Limasol, and crowned king and queen of Cyprus. The bride was simply
+attired in a white lawn dress, but wore a splendid girdle of jewels; and
+her flowing black tresses were adorned with a double crown. Richard wore
+a rose-colored tunic of satin, belted with jewels. A mantle of silk
+tissue, brocaded in silver crescents, fell from his shoulders, and on
+his head was a scarlet brocaded cap. By his side hung a Damascus blade
+in a silver-scaled sheath. Before the king was led his beautiful
+Cyprian steed, Favelle, gorgeously caparisoned, and bitted with gold,
+the saddle adorned with two little golden lions.
+
+Not long after this grand ceremony, word came to Richard that Acre, a
+city of Palestine long besieged by the Crusaders already in the Holy
+Land, was about to surrender. Exclaiming, "Heaven grant that it be not
+taken before I arrive!" Richard immediately set sail for that port.
+
+When near Beyrout, the English fell in with a large Saracen ship, and
+after a desperate but vain attempt to board the vessel, pierced its
+sides with the iron beaks of their galleys. The ship sank, and its crew
+were slain or drowned. Among the floating bodies that covered the sea,
+were seen many deadly serpents, which the infidels "had destined to work
+havoc among the Christians" besieging Acre.
+
+Cheered by this victory, Richard and his men rejoiced still more when
+the walls and citadels and the great "accursed tower" of Acre came in
+sight. For long months this famous city, its walls lapped by the blue
+Mediterranean, had been girt round by a vast host of Crusaders,--"men of
+every Christian nation under heaven." Their camp was like an immense
+city, with streets and walls, and strong fortifications, especially on
+the landward side; for beyond this vast Christian camp, crowned by the
+high tower from which floated the great white banner of the Crusaders,
+lay a countless body of Turkish troops, swarming over the adjacent
+plains and mountain-sides. Thus the besieging Christians were themselves
+besieged.
+
+The tents of the infidels were gay with colored devices and the yellow
+ensigns of Islam. As Richard neared the shore, these hated emblems of
+Mohammed and the famous black standard of Saladin, Sultan of the
+Saracens, were plainly visible to him, and stirred him to deep wrath.
+His anger burned the hotter when he recalled the stories told of the
+terrible havoc wrought by these infidels on the Christian hosts
+besieging the city. Night and day these fierce warriors of Saladin
+swooped down on the Christian camp. Scores of bloody battles had taken
+place. Almost beyond belief was the suffering that had been patiently
+endured by the soldiers of the Cross. Battles, hunger, and disease had
+thinned their ranks and sorely tried their souls. No wonder they hailed
+with joy the arrival of that famous warrior, Richard Coeur-de-Lion,
+for they believed that he would soon lead them to victory.
+
+So amidst the din of drum and trumpet and clarion, and the deafening
+shouts of exultant thousands, King Richard set foot upon the Holy Land.
+And the red glare of huge bonfires and numberless torches carried the
+alarming tidings to Saladin and his army.
+
+The King of France and the many princes met Richard, and welcomed him in
+a manner befitting his rank and his renown as the "most skilful warrior
+among Christian men." The camp was that night a scene of rejoicing and
+merriment. "Richard Coeur-de-Lion has come; Acre will soon be ours!"
+was the universal cry.
+
+But, alas! the hopes built on the arrival of Coeur-de-Lion were not
+speedily realized. Richard fell ill of a fever, and could not lead the
+assault. Then Philip also became sick; so that the two kings could not
+lead their armies against the city at the same time. The feeling of
+jealousy between them also prevented united action. When one king
+undertook an assault, the other sulked in his tent. All the princes and
+leaders were at this time disputing about the rival claims of Guy de
+Lusignan and Conrade, Marquis of Montferrat, to the throne of the
+Kingdom of Jerusalem. Philip favored the Marquis of Montferrat, but
+Richard supported Guy de Lusignan. These disputes were made more bitter
+by the haughty bearing of the King of England, who wished to rule in
+camp and council, and treated with scant courtesy the princes who
+presumed to oppose him. So discord reigned among the leaders, and
+prevented the united action that might soon have reduced the city.
+
+Nevertheless, the fighting went vigorously on. Battle after battle was
+fought on the plain between the forces of Saladin and the Crusaders;
+assault after assault was made by the Christians on the beleaguered
+city.
+
+Even during his illness, Richard had directed the making of
+stone-casters, slings, rams, and wooden towers for assaulting the walls
+of the besieged city. As soon as he was well enough, the king caused
+himself to be carried near the city wall and placed under the shelter of
+a kind of wooden hurdle. Seated there, he directed the movements of his
+men, who were endeavoring to undermine and carry by storm a tower of the
+fortifications.
+
+As his soldiers rushed to the assault, Richard shouted that he would
+give three goldpieces to every man who should detach a stone from the
+tower wall. So the hope of reward, as well as the love of glory, led to
+deeds of reckless daring. While some soldiers dug underground, trying to
+sap the tower foundations, others plied the stone-casters and hurled
+immense stones into the city,--at one time killing twenty Turks with a
+single huge missile. Other bands of Christians strove to tear down or
+scale the walls; while the Turks, equally valiant, strained every nerve
+to hurl them back. The Christians "climbed the half-ruined battlements
+as wild goats climb precipitous rocks, while the Saracens threw
+themselves on the besiegers like stones unloosed from the top of a
+mountain." Huge stones and Greek fire rained down on the Crusaders.
+
+Meanwhile King Richard, weak though he was, plied his great cross-bow
+vigorously and slew many Turks. One of the infidels was disporting
+himself on the wall, clad in the well-known armor of Alberic Clement,--a
+renowned and beloved Christian warrior, slain several days before by the
+Turks, after he had fought his way into the city itself. Richard sent a
+shaft through the very heart of this braggart Turk.
+
+Now, when the tower had been almost battered down, other warriors from
+the Christian camp gathered to the assault; but the watchers on the
+city wall raised a cry of alarm, and all the Turkish warriors flew to
+arms. Then followed a fierce hand-to-hand conflict. In spite of most
+heroic efforts, the Crusaders were finally driven back. "Never," says
+the Christian chronicler, "has there been such a people for prowess in
+battle as these Turks."
+
+Though wroth at this repulse, Richard continued to make frequent attacks
+of the same sort, and kept his stone-casters and other engines of war
+busy night and day until the defences of the city were much weakened.
+The inhabitants, disheartened also by famine and other hardships,
+finally sent envoys to Saladin, requesting permission to surrender the
+city. After much parley about conditions, the city capitulated, and the
+two Christian kings took possession. Soon the red-cross standard of the
+Crusade, the oriflamme of Saint Denis, and the banner of Saint George
+crowned the walls of Acre. The standard of Austria was also raised by
+the Archduke Leopold; but not long did it wave. The haughty
+Coeur-de-Lion flew into a rage on seeing the ensign of a mere duke
+flying beside the banners of kings. With his own royal hands he tore
+down the offending flag, and contemptuously ground it beneath his royal
+heel. Nor did the outraged archduke dare to resent the insult, though he
+cherished the memory of it in his heart, and well avenged himself at a
+later day.
+
+The kings of France and England divided the city between them. Philip
+lodged himself in the splendid palace of the Templars,--a military order
+of Christian knights; and Richard established his court in the royal
+palace, with the two queens, Berengaria and Joan, and their ladies. Here
+for some time the kings lived in luxury and splendor, while all the
+Crusaders took their ease and rested from warfare.
+
+But again quarrels arose over the kingship of Jerusalem. Finally it was
+agreed among the princes that Guy de Lusignan should be recognized as
+king, and the Marquis of Montferrat as his successor to the throne.
+After this agreement, Philip fell sick, and actually suspected Richard
+of having poisoned him. Weary of battle, exhausted by sickness, and
+mortified by the knowledge that Richard's fame as a warrior far
+surpassed his own, Philip resolved to return to France. As bound by
+treaty, he requested the consent of the English king to his departure.
+
+"Eternal shame on him and all France if for any cause he leave the holy
+work unfinished!" cried Richard, when the messenger of Philip had
+spoken. But finally he was persuaded to give a reluctant consent in
+these words,--
+
+"Well, let him go if his health require it, or if he cannot live without
+seeing Paris."
+
+So the King of France, abandoning the Crusade, gladly set sail for his
+own country; but he left a large force under the Duke of Burgundy to aid
+Richard in the conquest of Jerusalem.
+
+Now, Saladin had failed to carry out the terms of the surrender of Acre.
+At the time agreed upon, he had not delivered to Richard the stipulated
+sum of money, the Christian captives, or the true cross, which was in
+his possession. So the English king and the Duke of Burgundy led all
+their Saracen prisoners outside the walls of Acre and put them to death.
+
+After this massacre and a fierce battle with the outraged warriors of
+Saladin, who in vain attempted to prevent the execution of their kinsmen
+and friends before their very eyes, Richard and his army set out by way
+of the coast for the city of Ascalon, the fleet accompanying them.
+Saladin, frenzied with rage at the massacre before Acre, though he
+himself was partly to blame, followed Richard, with vengeance in his
+heart. At every favorable opportunity, the sultan attacked the
+Christians and slew all who fell into his hands.
+
+Never was there a more dreadful or fatal march. Countless arrows rained
+down on the soldiers from the Turks on the mountain heights. The
+scorching sun of Syria blazed upon their weary bodies by day, and deadly
+tarantulas poisoned them by night. Ever and anon the Turks, mounted on
+horses swifter than swallows, swooped down on the struggling ranks of
+Christians and wrought bloody havoc among them, escaping vengeance by
+the speed of their steeds. Thus tormented and harassed, it is little
+wonder that when encamped at night, the distressed Crusaders should all
+join with tears and groans and heart-felt fervor in the thrice-repeated
+evening cry of the heralds: "Help us, O Holy Sepulchre!" Sorely did they
+need divine help.
+
+King Richard did all that valor and kindness could prompt for the
+protection and aid of his people. He led the van and was ever in the
+front of every fight, heedless of danger. In one of these battles he was
+painfully wounded. In another combat that French knight, William des
+Barres, who had incurred the king's displeasure at Messina,
+distinguished himself so greatly by his valor that he was fully restored
+to the favor and friendship of Richard. The king caused the pilgrims
+who fell from exhaustion or wounds to be carried to the ships and thus
+saved from death at the hands of Saladin.
+
+When the exhausted Crusaders reached the plain of Arsur, Saladin, with a
+vast host of Saracens, hemmed in and attacked the Christian army. Never
+was there a more terrible battle. All day it raged, so furiously that
+the old chronicler confesses that "in the stress and bitter peril of
+that day, there was not one who did not wish himself safe at home with
+his pilgrimage finished." At one time the Hospitallers who were
+defending the rear, and who had been forbidden by Richard to charge the
+enemy, were so harassed by the Turks that they sent and besought the
+king's permission to attack the Saracens. But he forbade the move,
+commanding them to close their lines and wait in patience. Finally these
+tormented knights, stuck full of arrows, beaten with mallets, pierced by
+lances, crushed by maces, became frenzied with rage and shame at their
+inaction. They cried aloud, "Alas! we shall be convicted of cowardly
+sloth and disgraced forevermore!" Then, suddenly, exasperated beyond
+endurance, they faced about, and with a loud shout, "Holy Sepulchre aid
+us!" charged furiously into the midst of the infidels. Hundreds they
+slew, but their disobedient act threw the entire army into confusion.
+
+Coeur-de-Lion, seeing this, put spurs to Favelle and galloped into the
+ranks of the Hospitallers. Then he bore down upon the Turks, "thundering
+against them, and mightily astonishing them by the blows that he dealt."
+Right and left they fell. Pressing on furiously and alone, Richard cut a
+wide path for himself through the Turkish ranks, brandishing his sword
+and mowing them down like grass before the sickle. For half a mile the
+ground was strewn with the bodies of those who dared to oppose the
+irresistible warrior. At last the terrified Turks fled in every
+direction before the attack of Richard. In vain Saladin strove to rally
+the Saracens. In vain his brazen kettle-drums and trumpets called to the
+flying infidels. The battle was lost, and the defeated sultan sadly
+retreated before the exultant Christians.
+
+After this famous victory, Richard marched to Jaffa, where the army
+encamped in a fair olive orchard, and there abode some time in peace and
+plenty. Richard sailed to Acre, where he stirred up slothful pilgrims
+and entreated them to join his army at Jaffa for the march to Jerusalem.
+On his return, he brought with him Queen Berengaria and Joan. While
+waiting for recruits to the army, Richard occupied his time in
+excursions around Jaffa, and met with many romantic adventures.
+
+One day he rode out with his falcons and a few knights to hunt, and also
+to spy on the Turks. When tired out by the chase, he lay down in the
+shade and fell asleep. Some Turks, hearing that he was thus off guard,
+rode swiftly up, hoping to take the dreaded king prisoner. Richard and
+his knights, roused by the noise of the hoof-beats, had barely time to
+mount their horses when the Turks were upon them. Coeur-de-Lion and
+his comrades met the attack fiercely; and the Turks, making a pretence
+of flight, drew the little band into an ambush, where it was surrounded
+by a great number of the infidels. Richard, in spite of his prowess,
+would certainly have been taken prisoner, had not one of his comrades,
+William de Preaux, called out, "I am the king; save my life!" The
+Saracens, knowing no better, quickly seized the generous knight and
+galloped off, thinking they had captured King Richard. The king, thus
+saved, returned to his camp, where he found the army in great distress
+over his reported capture.
+
+Every effort was made to rescue William de Preaux, but in vain, and
+there was universal sorrow for the knight who had purchased the safety
+of the king by the sacrifice of his own freedom and the risk of his own
+life. "O fealty worthy of all renown! O rare devotion! that a man should
+willingly subject himself to danger to save another!" exclaims the
+chronicler. Surely there must have been much that was fine and lovable
+in the character of a king who called forth such rare devotion in a
+follower,--one who was not a vassal of his own.
+
+As soon as possible, the grateful Richard ransomed his friend by
+exchanging ten noble Turkish captives for the brave French knight.
+
+The king's friends now tried to persuade him to be more prudent and not
+to expose himself so rashly to danger. But Coeur-de-Lion delighted in
+danger, rejoiced to be first in onset and last in retreat. He loved to
+make the most perilous sallies against the Turks with but a few of his
+followers, and whether "by reason of his valor or the divine aid," he
+usually succeeded in capturing or slaying the infidels.
+
+Meanwhile Richard was in communication with Saladin, trying to persuade
+the sultan to deliver Jerusalem to the Christians. Saladin steadfastly
+refused to surrender the city, but the two kings became friendly, and
+frequently sent each other rich gifts. Though they had a sincere
+admiration for each other, strange to relate, these warring kings never
+met. Though often opposed in battle, a meeting did not take place on any
+field; perhaps because Saladin, though personally brave, did not
+consider it the province of a king to fight in person, as did Richard.
+This Saracen sultan was a wise, just, and humane ruler,--a most
+admirable character, and much loved throughout his vast empire, an
+empire stretching from the Nile to the Tigris.
+
+His brother Saphadin (Saf-ad-Din), a famous warrior, came often to visit
+Richard, who became very fond of him. The English king proposed to
+Saladin that Saphadin should marry Queen Joan, and the two be made
+sovereigns of Jerusalem. But this projected union of heathen and
+Christian was detestable to both nations, and the plan served only to
+bring reproach on Richard, who was much blamed for his friendly dealings
+with the unbelievers. All negotiations with Saladin came to nothing, and
+Richard finally marched on toward Jerusalem, which had meanwhile been
+strongly fortified by the sultan. When the army had reached Beit-Nuba,
+about twelve miles from the Holy City, a council of the chief men
+decided that it would be neither prudent to besiege Jerusalem at that
+time nor possible to take it. The army was smitten with grief at this
+decision, and it was a sad host that marched back to Ascalon.
+
+This city had been destroyed by Saladin, and the English king thought it
+necessary to rebuild the town as a base of supplies for his army when
+the siege of Jerusalem should be undertaken. Richard and his nobles
+worked with their own hands at rebuilding the walls. But many of the
+French, unwilling to labor thus in menial fashion, left the army and
+went off to Acre. Leopold, Archduke of Austria, refused to join in the
+labor, and when reproached by Richard, replied sulkily, "I am not the
+son of a mason." Richard, justly incensed, abused him in no gentle
+terms, and even went so far as to strike the titled shirker. Whereupon
+the archduke straightway left the camp and hied him back to his own
+country.
+
+Other bitter disputes broke out among the chiefs, and actual fighting
+took place between the troops of different countries. Conrade of
+Montferrat and Richard fell out again, and the marquis left the camp and
+entered into a secret treaty with Saladin, who agreed to aid him in his
+schemes of conquest.
+
+Now, Richard, hearing that his brother John was conspiring against him,
+thought at first that he must return to England. It was necessary to
+have a leader in Richard's stead, and the council of chiefs elected
+Conrade to be chief of the armies, and also declared him King of
+Jerusalem. Richard consented to this choice, though he had no love for
+Conrade. But shortly afterwards, ere the coronation could take place,
+the marquis was murdered in the streets of Tyre. It is most probable
+that he fell a victim to the hatred of "The Old Man of the Mountains."
+This mysterious and dreaded personage was Sinan, the chief of a strange
+and fanatical sect of robbers and murderers, called the Ismaelians. He
+had many castles and strongholds in the mountains of Syria, and his very
+name struck terror to the hearts of its inhabitants. For this Sinan held
+despotic rule over his followers, and at his slightest word they were
+ready to kill themselves or any one else. He was accustomed to send
+these deluded disciples of his to assassinate any person who displeased
+him, promising paradise to the murderers in reward for their deed.
+
+This Sinan sent two of the assassins to murder Conrade, who had seized
+goods from one of his followers. But some of the friends of the marquis
+accused Richard of the infamous deed,--as if the bold King of England
+would have stooped to rid himself of an enemy in that cowardly way. The
+suspicion, though without any foundation, strengthened the enmity that
+many of the chiefs felt for the English king, because of his
+haughtiness.
+
+When at last Richard had led them within a few leagues of Jerusalem the
+second time, disputes arose about the advisability of then attacking the
+Holy City. Many of the princes did not wish Richard to have the glory of
+the conquest. Finally, the council of twenty knights, to which the
+matter was referred, decided that the siege should not be attempted at
+that time. So the order was given to retreat. It was sadly obeyed by the
+soldiers, who groaned and wept at giving up their cherished hopes of
+visiting the Holy Sepulchre.
+
+One of these pilgrims, while the army was near Jerusalem, reached the
+summit of a hill, and called to Richard in much excitement, "Sire, sire,
+come hither and I will show you Jerusalem!" But the king, casting his
+coat-of-arms before his eyes, wept as he cried out, "Fair Lord God, I
+pray Thee not to let me see Thy Holy City, if so be that I may not
+deliver it out of the hands of Thine enemies."
+
+As sadly grieved as their king at thus leaving the Holy City in infidel
+hands, the army marched despondently back to Jaffa, and thence to Acre,
+the French and English mutually accusing each other of having been the
+cause of the failure to take Jerusalem. The Duke of Burgundy vented his
+spite by composing a scurrilous song about Richard, which was sung in
+the French camp. The King of England, much annoyed, revenged himself in
+a similar manner by writing a few stinging lines, in which he answered
+these "_trumped-up scandals_ with a few plain truths" about the duke and
+his other enemies. The singing of these princely satires did not add to
+the harmony of the camp.
+
+When Richard reached Acre, he began to make preparations to return to
+England, for John was again conspiring to seize the throne. As the king
+was about to embark, envoys came in great haste, and besought him to
+come to the relief of Jaffa. They related that the town had been taken
+by Saladin, and that only the citadel yet held out. The king cut short
+the entreaties of the messenger by exclaiming, "God yet lives, and with
+His guidance I will set out to do what I can."
+
+The French refused to go with him, but some noble knights started to the
+rescue by land, while the king and a few chosen comrades set out by
+sea. When the galleys reached Jaffa, the Turks, by thousands, swarmed to
+the shore, ready to destroy all who should attempt to land. The king's
+friends said to him, "It will be vain to attempt a landing in the face
+of so many enemies." But when a fugitive priest, leaping from the wall,
+swam to the galley and told Richard that some of his fellow-Christians
+were still alive and holding the citadel, Coeur-de-Lion exclaimed,--
+
+"Then, even though it please God, in whose service I come hither, that
+we should die here with our brethren, let him perish who will not go
+forward with me." So saying, the king, with a shout of "Saint George!
+Saint George!" leaped from his red galley into the water, with shield
+hung round his neck and huge battle-axe in hand. Unheeding the countless
+darts of the enemy, he gained the beach, followed by a few faithful
+knights. There the redoubtable Richard actually put to flight the
+thousands of Turks, dashed into the town, rescued the citadel, and drove
+every infidel out of the gates of Jaffa.
+
+The story seems incredible, but it is true.
+
+Next day the generous Saladin, hearing that Richard had no horse,
+exclaimed, "It is a disgrace that so great a king should lack a steed!"
+So he sent one of his men with a charger to Richard. The king accepted
+the gift and bade one of his men mount the beautiful Arabian.
+Immediately the spirited steed took the bit between its teeth and
+galloped back to the Saracen camp. "Right shamefaced was Saladin when
+the horse returned," for he knew that some would suspect him of trying
+to entrap Richard. He sent another horse to the king, and many apologies
+for the bad behavior of the first. Richard, incapable of treachery
+himself, had no suspicion of Saladin's good faith. He thanked the
+messenger, and to show his confidence in the sultan, at once mounted and
+rode the horse.
+
+A few days afterwards, a large body of Turks unexpectedly attacked
+Richard, who was encamped outside the walls of Jaffa with only fifteen
+knights and a few thousand foot-soldiers. It was early morning, and a
+soldier flew to Richard's tent, crying, "O king, we are dead men!"
+
+"Silence," ordered the suddenly aroused king, "or I will kill you!"
+Richard and his knights, throwing on their armor, mounted their horses
+amid a shower of arrows from the Saracens. Hurriedly the king posted his
+men to receive the attack. While doing this, he exhorted them to courage
+with many brave words.
+
+"Hold out stubbornly," he cried. "It is the duty of brave men to
+triumph bravely or to die gloriously! Death threatens, but if it come,
+let us receive martyrdom with a thankful mind. But before we die we will
+take vengeance, and yield God thanks for granting us the martyr's death!
+This is the true reward of our toils,--the end at once of life and
+battles!"
+
+Then this heroic Richard, grasping his lance, rode _alone_ across the
+whole front of the enemies' lines, defying them to combat; and not one
+dared to do battle with him single-handed. But they set his armor as
+thick with javelins as "a hedgehog with bristles," and his horse was
+soon covered with innumerable arrows sticking to its harness. The Turks,
+charging the little band of Christians, fought with desperate bravery.
+They made many attempts to slay Richard, ever pressing on by scores
+toward his lion-emblazoned banner. But the "incredible valor" and
+strength of the king not only preserved his own life, but won the
+battle. After hours of conflict, Richard put the Turks to flight.
+
+Now, these Saracens had boasted to Saladin that they would bring him the
+captured King of England. After the battle, when they had fled before
+Richard, the sultan mockingly inquired of these warriors,--
+
+"Where are those who are bringing me Melek (King) Richard as my
+prisoner? Who was first to seize him? Where is he, I say, and why is he
+not brought before me?"
+
+The shamefaced Turks were silent at this mockery, until one plucked up
+the courage to reply thus:--
+
+"Know, O king, for a surety, that this Melek of whom you speak is not
+like other men. Truly, we tried hard to capture him, but all in vain,
+for no one can bear the brunt of his sword unharmed; his onset is
+terrible, and it is death to encounter him. His deeds are more than
+human."
+
+Though unharmed in this battle, as in so many others, the heroic Richard
+was soon after laid low by an attack of fever. He grew steadily worse,
+and despairing of recovery in the unwholesome air of Jaffa, determined
+to leave the city. But the other chiefs refused to try to hold the town
+if he should depart. So Richard, not able to fight, was compelled to
+make a truce of three years with Saladin. The conditions were that
+Ascalon should be abandoned, and Jaffa remain in the possession of the
+Christians, who were also to be allowed free access to Jerusalem and the
+Holy Sepulchre without payment, and without hindrance from the
+infidels.
+
+When this treaty had been concluded, and Richard had recovered, he held
+a magnificent tournament at Acre, in celebration of peace. This festival
+was attended by many Turks, as well as by Christian knights.
+
+His preparations having been completed, Richard set sail from Acre in
+October, 1192, having sent the queens ahead in another vessel. As the
+shore of Palestine faded from his sight, Richard prayed: "O Holy Land,
+to God I commend thee. May He of his mercy only grant me such space of
+life that by His good-will I may yet bring thee aid. For it is my hope
+and intention to bring thee aid at some future day!"
+
+Long did the memory of the king thus bidding farewell to the Holy Land
+linger in the memory of its people. A hundred years afterwards, the
+Saracen mother frightened her child into silence by the words, "Hush,
+King Richard is coming!" And if a horse started aside, the rider would
+cry, "What! is the King of England in front of thee?"
+
+Perils of battle and sickness had been escaped, but greater dangers were
+in store for the returning Crusader. After being tempest-tossed for
+weeks, the vessel of Richard was wrecked on the Adriatic coast. Knowing
+that the Archduke of Austria had good reason to hate him, Richard tried
+to make his way through that country in the disguise of a Templar.
+
+After many adventures, he stopped at an inn near Vienna, and sent his
+only attendant, a young boy, to the market to buy provisions. The youth,
+in paying, displayed so much money and bore himself so haughtily that he
+was arrested. But on telling the magistrate that he was the servant of a
+rich merchant, who would not arrive in the city until three days later,
+the boy was set free. Returning secretly to the king's retreat, the
+youth told of his misadventure, and begged the king to flee. But the
+rash Richard, weary and exhausted, decided to risk remaining a few days
+longer.
+
+The lad, while visiting the market again, was imprudent enough to carry
+under his belt the fine embroidered gloves of his master. Knowing these
+gloves could not belong to a merchant, the suspicious magistrates seized
+the boy again, and after torturing him, threatened to cut out his tongue
+unless he revealed his master's name. On learning the truth from the
+frightened lad, they informed the archduke, who sent soldiers to
+surround the inn. When the troopers questioned the landlord, he said:--
+
+"There is no one here except a poor Templar, who is now in the kitchen
+turning the spit for the cook." Going into the kitchen, the soldiers saw
+the Templar sitting before the fire, industriously turning a fowl on the
+spit. But one of the soldiers who had been in the Holy Land knew
+Richard, and he shouted, "That is the king; seize him!" Richard sprang
+up, and using the spit for a weapon, defended himself valiantly; but he
+was overcome by numbers, and carried prisoner to the castle of
+Tyernstern. There for months he was kept a close prisoner, loaded with
+chains. The archduke then gave him up to the German emperor, who
+imprisoned him at Trifels.
+
+For a long time no one except his jailers knew where the King of England
+was. Berengaria, who had seen a jeweled belt of Richard's on sale at
+Rome, knew that some misfortune had happened to him, and she and his
+mother, Eleanor, were wild with anxiety.
+
+[Illustration: "There for months he was kept a close prisoner, loaded
+with chains"]
+
+Finally, Blondel de Nesle, the minstrel friend, who had been with
+Richard on the Crusade, journeyed through Germany, looking for his lost
+king. One day, beneath the walls of a castle where he had heard that a
+prisoner of rank was held captive, Blondel halted and sang a verse of
+a song that he and Richard had composed together:--
+
+    "Your beauty, ladye faire,
+    None views without delight,
+    But still so cold an air
+    No passion can excite;
+    Yet this I patient see,
+    While _all_ are shunned like me."
+
+Instantly the king's well-known voice took up the strain and sang the
+next stanza:--
+
+    "No nymph my heart can wound
+    If favor she divide
+    And smile on all around,
+    Unwilling to decide;
+    I'd rather hatred bear,
+    Than love with others share!"
+
+Then the overjoyed Blondel hastened back to England, and told the queen
+and people of Richard's sad plight and his place of imprisonment.
+
+Berengaria and Eleanor immediately besought the emperor to release
+Richard, and also implored the intercession of the Pope and the
+sovereigns of Europe. The emperor was at last compelled to bring Richard
+before the council of the empire. To these princes and lords he accused
+the king of many crimes, among them the murder of Conrade. Richard
+defended himself with so much force and eloquence that these groundless
+charges were dropped; but the emperor still refused to liberate his
+prisoner, except upon payment of a ransom of one hundred and fifty
+thousand marks,--nearly a million dollars.
+
+The people of England, who loved their heroic king, gladly raised this
+large sum; and in 1194, Eleanor journeyed to Germany, paid the ransom,
+and had the happiness of seeing her son set at liberty. She accompanied
+her beloved Richard to England, where he was received most joyfully.
+After being crowned again in Westminster, the king made a royal progress
+through the kingdom. Those nobles who had joined in the rebellion of
+John were called to account; but on profession of repentance, all were
+generously pardoned. Richard then set out for Normandy to subdue John,
+who had fled to that country on receiving King Philip's warning message
+after Richard's release, "Look to yourself; the Devil is unchained."
+
+But the craven John dared not battle against Coeur-de-Lion. He came to
+meet Richard, and, falling at his feet, implored pardon. The king,
+stretching out his hand to the penitent, said,--
+
+"Arise, John, I forgive thee; and may I forget thy misdeeds as quickly
+as thou wilt my pardon."
+
+Now, Richard fell in with evil companions in Anjou and lived a very
+dissipated life. But at length some good priests moved him to
+repentance, and he forsook his evil ways and joined his good Queen
+Berengaria, whom he had not seen since his release, though she was at
+Poictiers. Berengaria readily forgave his neglect, and, if we may
+believe a friendly chronicler, Richard was ever afterwards faithful and
+kind to her.
+
+The ill-will that had always existed between Richard and the King of
+France now led to constant petty wars between them. To secure his Norman
+province, Richard built on its border a splendid fortress, which he
+called his Chateau Gaillard,--"Saucy Castle." Amazed and enraged at the
+wonderful strength of this stronghold, perched on a rocky mount five
+hundred feet high, the French king exclaimed,--
+
+"I would take it if its walls were of iron!"
+
+Richard, with all of his old insolence, retorted, "And I would hold it,
+were its walls of butter!"
+
+But the final struggle that both kings were planning never took place.
+
+Richard, who was in much need of money for his army, heard that a
+vassal of his had found a hidden treasure of great value, including
+twelve gold knights seated around a golden table. This Vidomar, Lord of
+Chaluz, when Richard demanded that, according to law, he share the
+treasure with his lord the king, replied that nothing had been found
+except a pot of ancient coins. The king did not believe this story, and
+set siege to the castle of Chaluz, determined to obtain the golden
+knights. There Richard was struck down by an arrow from the bow of
+Bertrand de Gourdan, a nobleman of Poictiers. The wound proved to be a
+mortal one. The king, when assured that he was dying, sent for Bertrand,
+for the castle had meanwhile been taken and the knight captured.
+
+"Wretch," said the dying king, "what have I done to thee that thou
+shouldst attempt my life?"
+
+"Thou hast had my father and two brothers put to death, and hast
+threatened to slay me," replied the undaunted youth. The prostrate king,
+looking at him in silence a moment, said,--
+
+"I forgive thee." Then turning to his captain, Richard added, "Let his
+chains be removed, set him free, and give him a hundred shillings."
+
+This act of noble forgiveness was the last deed of the erring but
+great-hearted king.
+
+The death so often defied on the battlefield, Richard met calmly, with
+the courage that had never failed him in life,--that splendid courage
+which won for him the heroic title of Lionheart.
+
+
+
+
+RICHARD'S LAMENT
+
+
+    No captive knight, whom chains confine,
+    Can tell his fate and not repine;
+    Yet with a song he cheers the gloom
+    That hangs around his living tomb.
+    Shame to his friends!--the king remains
+    Two years unransomed and in chains.
+
+    Now let them know, my brave barons,
+    My English, Normans, and Gascons,
+    Not one liege-man so poor have I,
+    That I would not his freedom buy.
+    I'll not reproach their noble line,
+    Though chains and dungeon still are mine.
+
+    The dead,--nor friends nor kin have they!
+    Nor friends nor kin my ransom pay!
+    My wrongs afflict me--yet far more
+    For faithless friends my heart is sore.
+    Oh, what a blot upon their name,
+    If I should perish thus in shame!
+
+    Nor is it strange I suffer pain
+    When sacred oaths are thus made vain,
+    And when the king with bloody hands
+    Spreads war and pillage through my lands.
+    One only solace now remains--
+    I soon shall burst these servile chains.
+
+    Ye troubadours and friends of mine,
+    Brave Chail and noble Pensauvine,
+    Go tell my rivals, in your song,
+    This heart hath never done them wrong.
+    He infamy--not glory--gains,
+    Who strikes a monarch in his chains!
+
+    _Written by Richard I. while prisoner in Germany._
+
+    (_From_ SPOFFORD'S _Library of Historic
+    Character and Famous Events_.)
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST CRUSADER
+
+
+    Slowly The Last Crusader eyed
+    The towers, the mount, the stream, the plain,
+    And thought of those whose blood had dyed
+    The earth with crimson streams in vain!
+
+    He thought of that sublime array,
+    The hosts, that over land and deep
+    The hermit marshall'd on their way,
+    To see those towers, and halt to weep!
+
+    Resign'd the loved, familiar lands,
+    O'er burning wastes the cross to bear,
+    And rescue from the Paynim's hands
+    No empire save a sepulchre!
+
+    And vain the hope, and vain the loss,
+    And vain the famine and the strife;
+    In vain the faith that bore the cross,
+    The valour prodigal of life.
+
+    And vain was Richard's lion-soul,
+    And guileless Godfrey's patient mind--
+    Like waves on shore, they reach'd the goal,
+    To die, and leave no trace behind!
+
+    "O God!" The Last Crusader cried,
+    "And art Thou careless of Thine own?
+    For us Thy Son in Salem died,
+    And Salem is the scoffer's throne!
+
+    "And shall we leave, from age to age,
+    To godless hands the holy tomb?
+    Against Thy saints the heathen rage--
+    Launch forth Thy lightnings, and consume!"
+
+    Swift as he spoke, before his sight
+    A form flashed, white-robed, from above;
+    All Heaven was in those looks of light,
+    But Heaven, whose native air is love.
+
+    "Alas!" the solemn vision said,
+    "_Thy_ God is of the shield and spear--
+    To bless the quick and raise the dead,
+    The Saviour-God descended here!
+
+    "Ah! know'st thou not the very name
+    Of Salem bids thy carnage cease--
+    A symbol in itself to claim
+    God's people to a house of peace!
+
+    "Ask not the Father to reward
+    The hearts that seek, through blood, the Son;
+    O warrior! never by the sword
+    The Saviour's Holy Land is won."
+
+    EDWARD BULWER LYTTON
+
+
+    Deep is the bliss of the belted knight,
+    When he kisses at dawn the silken glove,
+    And goes, in his glittering armour dight,
+    To shiver a lance for his ladye-love!
+
+    Lightly he couches the beaming spear;
+    His mistress sits with her maidens by,
+    Watching the speed of his swift career
+    With a whispered prayer, and a murmured sigh.
+
+    WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED
+
+
+
+
+
+THE CHEVALIER BAYARD
+
+   "_The Adopted Son of Dame Courtesy_"
+   _and_
+   "_Le Chevalier sans Peur et sans Reproche._"
+
+
+"Bayard was perhaps the only hero of the middle ages who deserved the
+unmingled praise and admiration bestowed upon him. Simple, modest, a
+sterling friend and tender lover, pious, humane, and magnanimous, he
+held together in rare symmetrical union the whole circle of the
+virtues."
+
+
+
+THE CHEVALIER BAYARD
+
+PIERRE BAYARD DE TERRAIL (1476-1523 A. D.)
+
+
+In the reign of Louis XI. there was born in southern France a little
+dark-eyed boy who was destined to be known in all subsequent ages and in
+all climes as "the knight without fear and without reproach." Pierre
+Bayard de Terrail was his real name, but in song and story and history
+we know him as "The Chevalier Bayard."
+
+Bayard was of gentle birth, and had the good fortune to be descended
+from a long line of valiant gentlemen who ever held king and country
+dearer than self, and honor a thing to die for. He also had a good and
+pious mother. If to his knightly forefathers he owed his fearlessness,
+it is an everlasting monument to his mother's influence that he lived
+without reproach.
+
+He first saw the light in the beautiful Chateau Bayard, in Dauphiny.
+Here he spent his boyhood much as other little boys of his time spent
+theirs, and soon developed into a sturdy youth.
+
+When Bayard attained his fourteenth year, his father, then nearing
+death, called his children around him, and asked each what profession he
+wished to choose. The eldest boy spoke first, and said that he preferred
+to remain on his father's estates, leading the life of a quiet country
+gentleman. But the young Pierre was more ambitious. When it came his
+turn to speak, he told his father that there was nothing he so much
+desired as to become a soldier and a knight, and to win glory and honor
+to the name already made illustrious by his noble ancestors.
+
+His father was much pleased with Pierre's choice, and answered,--
+
+"My son, thou art already very like thy noble grandfather, and I am
+rejoiced that thou shouldst choose to follow in his footsteps. I shall
+try immediately to place thee as page in the house of some prince, where
+thou canst be in training for knighthood."
+
+The father lost no time in fulfilling his promise. The very next day he
+sent for his brother-in-law, the Bishop of Grenoble, to ask his advice
+about Pierre.
+
+The good bishop came, attended by many noble knights, and a great
+banquet was prepared in his honor.
+
+Now, in days of chivalry, a boy's dress and manners were considered of
+no slight importance. Indeed, most of his early training was especially
+designed to give him ease and grace in the company of great ladies and
+gentlemen. As may be easily imagined, the little Pierre's education had
+not been neglected. He did not fail to array himself in a manner
+befitting the occasion; and at the banquet he served his father's guests
+with so much modesty and grace that he drew forth praise from all the
+company.
+
+The gratified father then told them of Pierre's ambition to become a
+knight, and asked their advice about his education.
+
+Each gave his friendly counsel, and then the Bishop of Grenoble said,--
+
+"Brother, the good Duke of Savoy, who hath ever been friendly to our
+house, will be at Chambery to-morrow; and if it please thee, I will ride
+thither with my nephew and present him as page to his Grace. I will also
+take pleasure in equipping the lad properly, so be at no expense."
+
+Amid the applause of the company, Aymond Terrail presented his son to
+the good bishop, and said with tears in his eyes,--
+
+"I give him into thy hands, and pray God that wherever thou place him,
+he may do thee honor."
+
+The bishop, true to his promise, provided his nephew with an outfit, and
+gave him a well-caparisoned horse. Then they made ready to go to
+Chambery to meet the Duke of Savoy.
+
+It was with no little interest that the bishop and his friends watched
+the young page mount his new steed, for it was a mettlesome one, and
+used only to a man's weight. When Pierre bounded into the saddle, the
+horse reared and plunged; but the boy kept his seat, and soon, with the
+aid of bit and spur, had the animal under complete control. The guests
+praised him greatly, and his father asked him if he felt no fear.
+
+"I hope," answered the young Pierre, "by God's help, to manage my horse
+among the enemies of the prince I am going to serve."
+
+Then he bade farewell to father and mother and to home and childhood,
+and went forth to enter upon a chivalric career.
+
+Arrived at Chambery, the bishop and his company were graciously received
+by the Duke of Savoy. The duke maintained a brilliant court, and was
+always the faithful ally of France. He invited the uncle and nephew to
+dine with him, and again Pierre's graceful manners commended him to the
+notice of his elders. The duke was gracious enough to notice him
+especially, and asked who the boy was.
+
+"Sir," said the bishop, "it is my nephew, Pierre de Terrail, whom I have
+brought to present to thee if thou shouldst like to have his services."
+
+"I accept him at once," answered the duke. "I should indeed be hard to
+please if I declined such a gift."
+
+So it was that Pierre became attached to the household of Savoy. He
+remained in the duke's service for some time, and easily surpassed his
+fellow pages in all the knightly exercises in which they were being
+trained. Yet with all his prowess he was so modest and so manly that he
+excited no envy among his companions, and the duke and duchess came to
+love him as if he were their own son.
+
+Pierre's chivalric traits won to him the hearts of his fellows and his
+patrons; but it was perhaps his personal beauty and his charm of manner
+that went furthest toward winning him yet another love--a love that he
+valued more than all others. There was in the train of the good duchess
+a little maid of honor, whose heart soon went out to the handsome youth.
+At service in the same palace, the two saw much of each other, and soon
+Pierre had no eyes for any maid but this one.
+
+The little coquette did not fail to make Pierre quite miserable by
+repelling his attentions for a time, when she saw that she had won him;
+but at length, one day, while not in waiting on her mistress, she was
+captured by the little page, and made to listen to the story of his
+love.
+
+"I am going to make myself a great knight some day," he declared with
+the pride and faith of youth, "and then I am coming back for thee, and
+we shall be married."
+
+"Alas," cried the damsel, now quite as earnest as he, "thou art of an
+illustrious house, and canst marry some great lady who can advance thee
+in the world. I am but a poor maid, and if I accept thy love, I destroy
+thy hopes."
+
+"What care I for that?" cried the impatient lover. "The question is,
+dost thou _love_ me."
+
+"Yes," she whispered.
+
+"Then I shall not give thee up," he declared, "and I shall tell the
+duchess all about it."
+
+The maid was more worldly wise than he, however, and insisted that for
+the time they should be only friends. Shortly after this a change took
+place in Pierre's affairs,--a change which was to separate him for years
+from the maid he loved.
+
+The young page had been with the house of Savoy only six months when it
+pleased the duke to pay a visit to King Charles VIII. of France. The
+king had moved his court to Lyons--a beautiful city in southeastern
+France--and was holding high revel there. When Charles heard of the
+approach of his friend and ally, the Duke of Savoy, he sent the Count of
+Ligny with a number of attendants to meet him. These met the duke at a
+place about two leagues from Lyons, and welcomed him heartily in the
+name of the King of France.
+
+Now Pierre was in close attendance on his master, and the Count of Ligny
+at once noticed him and remarked to the duke on his good horsemanship.
+
+The duke, much pleased, explained who the boy was, and then called out
+to him,--
+
+"Spur, Bayard, spur!"
+
+Without waiting for explanations, Bayard obeyed his master, returning
+from his run with his horse completely under control. Afterwards,
+Pierre's fine horsemanship won for him the nickname "Piquet"--a spur.
+
+The count was surprised and charmed, and told the duke that the King of
+France would be glad to have the boy in his service.
+
+Through the influence of Ligny, the youth was brought to the notice of
+King Charles; and the king was so charmed with his manners and his
+horsemanship that he at once persuaded the Duke of Savoy to permit the
+boy to be transferred to the royal service.
+
+The good duke granted the king's request, for he knew it would be a
+great advancement for the lad; and Pierre was placed under the Count of
+Ligny for training.
+
+Though Pierre loved the Duke of Savoy, he was very glad of this change
+in his own fortunes; for he had all the romantic devotion to king and
+country that chivalry was wont to implant in the hearts of men, and he
+was first, last, and always a true Frenchman.
+
+The next several years of Pierre's life were spent in service as page to
+Ligny; after which the count made him a man-at-arms in his own company
+and a gentleman of his household. This meant that the page, Pierre, had
+become a knight, and was thenceforth to be known as "the Chevalier
+Bayard."
+
+Bayard's first exploit as a knight was to challenge and meet in
+tournament the invincible Lord of Vaudray. The young chevalier was then
+only seventeen years of age, and was weak and delicate in appearance,
+while his opponent was reckoned one of the most powerful knights of the
+time.
+
+When the combatants entered the lists, it was easy to be seen that the
+yellow-haired, black-eyed knight of seventeen was the one on whom every
+lady's glance was bent. Men watched him too, but not on account of his
+good looks; they had laughed at him scornfully when he presumed to
+strike in challenge the shield of the celebrated Vaudray, and they now
+looked to see him ignobly defeated.
+
+To the astonishment of all, however, Bayard won the day. The men said
+that he was too bold for one so young; but "the ladies praised him
+enthusiastically," and the king exclaimed to Ligny,--
+
+"By my faith, cousin, he hath given us to-day a foretaste of what he
+will be as a man!"
+
+The next several years of the young knight's life were spent in training
+for the stern services of war. He failed in nothing that he conceived it
+his duty to perform, and he neglected nothing that he felt would tend
+to his own development, for he bore always in his heart the admonition
+of the king he so reverenced: "Piquet, my friend, may God develop in
+thee that fearless manhood which thy noble youth so graciously
+promises."
+
+At this time Italy was not under one government, but was separated into
+six great divisions--the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the
+Kingdom of Piedmont, the Republics of Venice and Florence, and the Papal
+States. There were also several petty states which were always more or
+less dependent on some one of the greater powers. Unfortunately for
+themselves, there was little sympathy or unity among the Italian States;
+and the nations around were constantly stirring up strife between them,
+or invading the peninsula for the sake of conquest. So it was that for a
+long time Italy was the field on which the contests of Europe were
+waged.
+
+It was during this period--when the French, the Spanish, the Germans,
+and the Italian States were variously pitted against one another, and
+variously allied--that Bayard made his name forever an emblem of
+chivalry. In those days "king" stood for "country" in the mind of the
+loyal knight; and in following his king on whatever fantastic campaign,
+Bayard believed that he was only performing his sacred duty to his
+beloved France.
+
+He served successively under three sovereigns--Charles VIII., Louis
+XII., and Francis I.,--and distinguished himself in Italy, Spain, and
+France, holding his own against Italian, Spaniard, German, and Briton
+alike.
+
+"I hope one day to be worthy the name of soldier," was the chevalier's
+modest, yet truly exalted, ambition; and he proved unquestionably his
+right to the title in his very first campaign. Bayard's first service
+was with Charles VIII., when that king invaded Italy and conquered the
+Kingdom of Naples.
+
+The young chevalier, though then only eighteen years of age, and slender
+and boyish in appearance, soon became the admiration of even old and
+experienced warriors. Wherever there was hottest fighting--wherever
+there was greatest danger--there was this black-eyed, fair-haired youth.
+And there was hardly an engagement with the enemy which was not
+signalized by some brilliant feat of the young knight's.
+
+After conquering the Kingdom of Naples and leaving there the larger part
+of the French army to maintain his sovereignty, King Charles returned
+to France at the head of only a small force. But his exodus from Italy
+was not so easy as his invasion into that country had been. The Pope,
+the Doge of Venice, the Duke of Milan, and other Italian princes, had
+formed a league against the ambitious Charles, and had gathered a large
+army in northern Italy to cut off his return to France.
+
+As King Charles advanced to within a few miles of Fornovo, the allies
+unexpectedly descended on him with a force six times as great as his
+own, and a bloody battle ensued. The plan of the allies was to destroy
+the French army and take King Charles prisoner. So anxious were they to
+make the king their captive that they offered a prize of a hundred
+thousand ducats to the man who would bring him, dead or alive, to their
+camp.
+
+But the annihilation of the French army and the capture of King Charles
+were not such light tasks as the allies had expected. The little band
+met their all but overwhelming onset with a stubborn resistance that was
+wonderful to behold. By charge and counter-charge the field was
+contested, and victory still hung in the balance when suddenly out of
+the French ranks rode a fair-haired boy knight, calling on his company
+to follow him. Instantly his men caught the infection of his wild
+daring, and in the face of almost certain death they swept to the charge
+with the dashing Bayard.
+
+"A greyhound for attack, and a wild boar in defence," Bayard fell upon
+the enemies of his king with such splendid courage that none whom he met
+could withstand his prowess.
+
+Two horses were killed under him, but he mounted a third, and, dashing
+alone into the thickest of the fight, captured an ensign from fifty
+men-at-arms.
+
+Thanks to the valor of such knights as Bayard, the French gained a
+signal victory, laying low in the dust full as many men as King Charles
+had led to Fornovo.
+
+After several more encounters with the allies, in which Bayard won added
+laurels, the king led his much-diminished army back to France.
+
+Shortly after this campaign Charles VIII. died, and was succeeded on the
+throne by Louis XII.
+
+The new king busied himself with the internal affairs of state; and
+Bayard, whose business was that of a soldier merely, was for awhile left
+free to do as he chose. He accordingly occupied the time in visiting
+friends in Savoy. The good Duke of Savoy was now dead; but the duchess
+received the chevalier at her court with her oldtime friendliness.
+
+Here for a second time Bayard met the love of his boyhood. But alas for
+him! she had become the wife of the Lord of Fluxas.
+
+When the two met, the lady received Bayard with every sign of
+friendship. She praised him greatly for the noble part he had borne in
+the king's service--for all France had heard of the chevalier's great
+deeds in Italy--and then they talked over their youthful love-affair.
+
+In the course of his stay, the Lady Fluxas asked Bayard to give a
+tournament, for she very much wished to see him engage in some of the
+knightly exercises in which he had become distinguished.
+
+The chevalier was delighted to comply with her request, and promised
+that the tournament should be arranged to take place in a very short
+while; then, kissing the hand of his fair sponsor, he asked for one of
+her sleeves. When the lady gave him the favor he treasured it carefully,
+intending that it should be the victor's prize in the coming joust.
+
+The tournament was held in good time, some fifteen gallant gentlemen
+taking part and acquitting themselves much to the satisfaction of the
+lady for whose amusement the entertainment had been devised.
+
+When the trial at arms was ended, the duchess bade the Lord of Fluxas
+invite the combatants and the judges and a number of ladies to sup with
+her. According to her wishes, the judges reserved their decision until
+the guests were gathered about the table that evening.
+
+As every one expected, the prize was awarded to Bayard. The chevalier
+blushed and declined to take it, saying further that the lady who had
+provided the sleeve should be the one to bestow it.
+
+As the giver of the tournament, Bayard was, in a sense, the host of
+those who accepted the challenge; and it was very like his extreme
+courteousness to decline to carry off the prize from them, however much
+he may have wished in his heart to possess this particular lady's favor.
+
+Lady Fluxas, thus called upon to make the decision, paused a moment,
+then said she would keep the sleeve herself "for the sake of the
+victor." She then gave a beautiful ruby pendant to the Lord of
+Mondragon, who, next to Bayard, had been the most successful in the
+combat.
+
+However much the chevalier's heart may have inclined him to linger near
+the home of the lady he still loved, his stern sense of duty soon
+summoned him away. News had come to King Louis that the people of Milan,
+who owed fealty to the French king, had revolted, and made Ludovic
+Sforza their duke.
+
+On hearing this, the king at once despatched the Count of Ligny with a
+large force to besiege the disloyal city. Bayard, as a member of Ligny's
+company, went of course with his commander.
+
+The French had been encamped before Milan for some time, when one day
+Bayard learned from a spy that three hundred horse of the Milanese were
+at the little town of Binasco; and, always on the lookout for a skirmish
+with the enemy, he persuaded about fifty of his companions to join him
+in a descent upon that town. They set off early the next morning, but
+the Milanese learned of the intended surprise, and were ready for them.
+
+With the cry, "France! France!" the chevalier and his companions flung
+themselves upon the whole three hundred; but the Milanese were no
+cowards, and for one hour they withstood even the firebrand impetuosity
+of Bayard himself. They were not many who could stand so long before
+Bayard. At length the knight, impatient at this stubborn resistance,
+cried out to his fellows--
+
+"What, my comrades! shall we let these few keep us fighting all day?
+Courage! Let us multiply our strokes and give wings to their feet!"
+
+At the sound of his deep voice the French rushed to the attack again,
+and with such enthusiasm that the enemy wavered--fell back--then fled,
+pell-mell, toward Milan. The victors followed in hot pursuit, with the
+peerless knight far in the lead.
+
+The fugitives reached Milan scarcely ahead of their pursuers, and
+thundered in through the gate. One of the leaders of the French, seeing
+the danger into which he and his companions were rushing, cried out just
+in time,--
+
+"Turn, men-at-arms, turn!"
+
+The order was obeyed by all except Bayard, who had ears for nothing but
+his own battle-cry, and eyes only for the enemy. Right into the heart
+of the city, nay, up to the very steps of the duke's palace, he chased
+the flying Milanese; then he suddenly found himself surrounded by an
+angry populace, who, when they saw the white crosses of France upon him,
+cried,--
+
+"Seize him! Seize him!"
+
+He was soon disarmed and taken prisoner by the commander he had just
+pursued from Binasco. When Cazache--for such was the Milanese captain's
+name--got his enemy thus in his power, he did not, as might be supposed,
+wreak any petty vengeance on the head of the chevalier. He treated
+Bayard as a soldier and a gentleman, and by so doing evinced a
+chivalrous spirit close akin to the chevalier's own.
+
+Ludovic, Duke of Milan, hearing the uproar before the palace, asked the
+cause thereof, and was soon told that the Milanese at Binasco had been
+defeated, and that a young chevalier had pursued Cazache and his company
+to the very palace door.
+
+"By my sword, but I'd like to see this daring Frenchman!" roared the
+duke. "Captain, fetch the prisoner hither."
+
+Cazache obeyed in fear and trembling for his captive. The captain--a
+generous-hearted fellow--had conceived a deep admiration for Bayard, and
+he feared for the chevalier's head; for Duke Ludovic was of a most
+uncertain temperament.
+
+When, however, he ushered the knight before the duke, Cazache realized
+that his fears were groundless. Instead of flying into a fury, as he
+too often did, Ludovic surveyed the handsome figure of the captive and
+said, not unkindly,
+
+"My brave young gentleman, come hither and tell me what brought thee to
+Milan."
+
+Bayard was used to surprises, and answered frankly--
+
+"I came in the footsteps of some of thy men for a little adventure. I
+did not know that I was alone, for I thought my comrades were close
+behind me. They are wiser in the ways of war than I, or they too would
+have been captured. In the mean time, I thank God that I have fallen
+into such good hands; and I do assure thee that if anything could make
+captivity pleasant to me, it would be such treatment as I have received
+from this good captain."
+
+The duke smiled kindly, and then asked him the number in the French
+army.
+
+"Sir," replied the knight, truthfully, "there are not more than fourteen
+or fifteen hundred men-at-arms, and from sixteen to eighteen thousand
+foot-soldiers; but they are all picked men, and are resolved to win back
+the Duchy of Milan to the king, their master. As for thee, sir, let me
+warn thee that thou wilt be safer in Germany than in this city."
+
+Instead of being incensed by Bayard's frankness, Ludovic answered him in
+the same friendly strain, and assured him that there was nothing he so
+much desired as an encounter between his own and the king's troops.
+Bayard replied that such an event would be a great pleasure to himself
+also, provided he were not in prison.
+
+"Do not let that trouble thee," replied the duke, "for I intend to set
+thee free. If there is anything else thou desirest of me, thou hast only
+to ask it."
+
+This unexpected kindness on the part of Ludovic took the knight
+completely by surprise. Up to that time he had stood before his enemy
+proud and erect; but when Ludovic announced his generous intention
+toward him, the young knight sank on his knee to thank him.
+
+"Sir," said he, "the greatest favor thou canst grant me is to restore my
+arms and my horse, and allow me a guide to the French garrison." He
+paused a moment and then added earnestly, "Believe me, sir, I shall
+always be ready to serve thee, if I can do so in honor to my king and to
+my country." And after again thanking the duke for his generosity, the
+young knight rode away with the promised guide.
+
+When Bayard arrived at the French camp, the Count of Ligny was
+astonished and overjoyed to see him, for all had heard of Bayard's
+solitary descent on Milan and his consequent capture.
+
+"What, Piquet!" exclaimed the count, "thou out of prison! How didst thou
+pay thy ransom? I was about to send a herald to pay it, and bring thee
+back."
+
+"Sir," replied the knight, "I thank thee most sincerely, but Ludovic
+Sforza hath spared thee the trouble, and in doing so, he hath proved
+himself a rival in courtesy and generosity even to thyself--he hath made
+me a present of my freedom, and provided me with a guide hither."
+
+Milan afterwards fell into the hands of the king, but Bayard was not
+able to return the great kindness Ludovic had shown to him.
+
+After conquering Milan, King Louis turned his attention to the Kingdom
+of Naples, which had, during the last days of Charles VIII., thrown off
+the yoke of France and raised a Spanish prince to the throne.
+
+Bayard counted it great good fortune to be allowed to go on the
+expedition sent by the king into Naples; and there he performed such
+wonderful feats of arms that the Spanish allies of the Neapolitans
+declared him to be a devil instead of a man. It was, indeed, through no
+fault of Bayard's that the French ultimately lost Naples.
+
+The fame of Bayard's exploits spread. The Pope, a bitter enemy to the
+King of France, sent for the chevalier, and tried to persuade him to
+renounce the service of King Louis for that of the States of the Church.
+In order to make his proposition exceedingly tempting, the Pontiff
+offered to load the knight with riches and honors, and make him
+Captain-General of the Church. To all this Bayard gave the simple,
+earnest answer,--
+
+"I have but one master in heaven,--God,--and one upon earth,--the King
+of France."
+
+Once, while the good Duke of Nemours commanded the French army in Italy,
+he and several of his officers had occasion to spend a few days in the
+little town of Carpi. While there, they were hospitably entertained by
+the Count of Carpi, who provided many amusements for them. For their
+diversion, the count one day caused an astrologer--a little withered
+black man--to appear at court, and read the future for the distinguished
+guests.
+
+The astrologer came, and astonished all by the accuracy with which he
+related past events in their lives. Then he told them that on the next
+Good Friday or Easter Day the French and Spanish armies would come
+together in a battle which would be one of the bloodiest ever fought. He
+said that the victory would remain with the French, but that it would be
+bought with the best blood of France. And he said to Bayard, privately,
+
+"Your prince"--meaning the Duke of Nemours--"seems very dear to you; be
+near him on the day of battle. I see that he is threatened with a sad
+fate."
+
+Bayard had little faith in the seer's powers, and laughed when it came
+his turn to question the mystic; however, it was amusement for the
+company.
+
+"My master," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "shall I ever be a man
+of consequence? And shall I become rich?"
+
+The astrologer looked at him sharply and answered,
+
+"Thou wilt be richer in noble qualities than ever French gentleman was
+before thee, but thou wilt have few of fortune's goods. Thou wilt serve
+yet another king of France, who will love and esteem thee much; but the
+envy of those about him will prevent his bestowing on thee the wealth
+and honors thou wilt so richly deserve."
+
+"But," asked Bayard, "shall I escape from this bloody battle thou hast
+predicted?"
+
+"Yes," answered the seer; "but twelve years hence thou wilt die in
+battle of an arquebuse-shot,--in no other way, for thy soldiers do so
+adore thee that they would die to the last man to save thee."
+
+It chanced that in the fortunes of war the French once captured and held
+for a long time the beautiful Italian town of Brescia. This city was in
+time recaptured by the Venetians, to whom it had first belonged, and
+again possessed by the French,--albeit, at the cost of many valuable
+lives.
+
+At this retaking of Brescia by the French, Bayard again distinguished
+himself. The first skirmish before the town was won by the chevalier,
+who was so eager to attack that he went into battle in his
+night-clothes.
+
+When the time came for a general assault, the question arose as to whom
+should put himself in front, at the mercy of the enemy's arquebuses.
+
+"I will," responded Bayard to the Duke of Nemours's question; "and I
+promise thee that the company I command will do good service to the
+king, our master."
+
+This was no idle boast, for Bayard's company was composed of picked
+men, the greater number of whom had been commanders themselves, but who
+preferred the honor of serving under the noted chevalier to leading
+companies of their own.
+
+So it was arranged that the chevalier and his company should open battle
+by storming the first fort that protected Brescia. A better selection
+could not have been made, for the very name of Bayard had become a
+terror to the enemies of France.
+
+When the Venetian commander saw who was leading the assault, he cried
+out to encourage his men,--
+
+"Hold fast, comrades! If this _Bayard_ but be defeated, all the rest
+will be easy."
+
+But Bayard was not defeated. The splendid charge of his company was met
+with a blinding storm of shot from the Venetian guns, but not a man gave
+back. Right up to the cannon they charged, shouting in the face of the
+fire--"France! France!"--but the cry was changed to "_Bayard_!
+_Bayard!_" as the chevalier leaped the ramparts, crying,
+
+"Follow me!"
+
+And they did follow.
+
+Only for an instant Bayard's tall form was seen in the thick of his
+enemies, his black eyes blazing with the fire of battle. The next moment
+he fell, face downward, in the struggling mass, with a Venetian pike
+thrust through his thigh.
+
+When word was carried to the Duke of Nemours that Bayard had fallen, he
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Let us go, my friends and comrades, and avenge the death of the most
+accomplished knight that ever lived." And they swept forward with the
+brave duke, completing the victory that Bayard had so well begun. The
+Venetian loss in this battle exceeded twenty thousand, while the French
+loss was less than fifty men.
+
+When the French occupied the town, they gave themselves over to all
+kinds of excesses, perpetrating atrocious cruelties on defenceless women
+and children, and pillaging convents and churches for their riches.
+
+The soldiers in those days were, in the main, rough and brutal men; but
+there were always among them many knightly gentlemen, who never failed
+to use their utmost power to protect the defenceless. Such a gentleman
+was Bayard, and he was never known to allow cruelties where it was in
+his power to prevent them. But--alas for the wretched city--the knight
+without reproach was now helpless!
+
+Having been mortally wounded, as all supposed, the chevalier was carried
+by two of his men to a large mansion within the town, that he might
+receive needed attention.
+
+The Brescian citizen who owned the house had fled upon the entry of the
+French, leaving his wife and two beautiful daughters alone and
+unprotected.
+
+Now when Bayard's men brought their wounded captain to the house, the
+lady herself opened the gate, and assisted the men in making the knight
+comfortable. Bayard's first order to the two soldiers was that they
+station themselves at the gate, and, on pain of death, admit no one save
+his own men.
+
+"I am sure," he said, "that when they know I am lodged here, they will
+not force a passage."
+
+When he had despatched his soldiers, the lady fell upon her knees at
+Bayard's feet and said--
+
+"Noble lord, this house and all that it contains is thine by the laws of
+war; but I beseech thee, by the Holy Mother, to preserve the safety of
+myself and my daughters."
+
+"Madam," answered the almost fainting chevalier, "I may not recover from
+the wound I have received, but as long as I live neither thou nor thy
+daughters shall sustain more injury than myself. I assure thee that no
+one shall enter the house contrary to thy wish; and for myself, I
+promise thee all respect and friendship. But fetch me help, I pray thee,
+and that quickly!"
+
+The lady was much relieved by the knight's assuring words, and went
+herself, attended by one of his soldiers, and fetched a surgeon to him.
+When the Duke of Nemours learned where Bayard had been carried, and that
+he still lived, he sent his own surgeon to attend him.
+
+As soon as Bayard was sufficiently recovered to give the orders, he
+caused the husband of his hostess to be sought out and conducted back in
+safety to his home and family.
+
+For six weeks the knight lay ill, and during that time he was the
+recipient of many kindnesses from the members of the household. The
+ladies were especially attentive, and spent many hours by his bedside,
+ministering to his needs or amusing him. These days of convalescence
+were pleasant indeed to the great-hearted man who had known so little of
+the comforts of home and the tender ministrations of women. But he grew
+impatient of his captivity when he heard that there was probability of
+a fight between the French and a large army of Spanish then in northern
+Italy.
+
+"Meseems that I am well," he said to his surgeon; "and I assure thee
+that biding here will harm me more than mend me, for I do most
+grievously fret."
+
+The surgeon knew him too well to doubt his word, so he taught Bayard's
+valet how to dress the wound, which was now almost healed, and the
+knight made ready to rejoin his company.
+
+Now when the lady and her husband heard of Bayard's approaching
+departure they were much concerned lest the knight should demand at
+least ten thousand ducats as a ransom for their property. The two
+discussed their dilemma earnestly, and decided that the lady should go
+to Bayard with twenty-five hundred ducats and beg him to be satisfied
+with this sum. Accordingly, she took the gold and sought the knight's
+presence.
+
+"My lord," she said, "myself and family shall always thank God that it
+pleased Him, in the midst of the horrors of war, to lead such a noble
+knight to our house for our protection. We shall ever remember that it
+is to thee we owe our all. Since thou camest among us, we have received
+naught but kindness at thy hands. We are thy prisoners; the house, with
+its contents, is thine by right of conquest, but thou hast ever been so
+graciously generous that I have come to beseech thee to have pity on us
+and be content with this little gift that I have the honor to offer
+thee."
+
+She opened her coffer and showed its contents to Bayard, who smiled as
+he asked,--
+
+"How much is it, madam?"
+
+The lady, not knowing how little he valued riches and fearing he thought
+the gift too small, said hastily--
+
+"My lord, there are only twenty-five hundred ducats; but we will strive
+to make up the sum that thou desirest, if thou wilt mention it."
+
+"Thou didst not understand me, lady," replied the knight. "Thou hast
+already paid me many times over, in kindnesses such as money cannot
+purchase. Keep thy gold; and remember that I am forever thy debtor, thy
+champion, and thy friend."
+
+The lady, much pleased and astonished at this unexpected reply, begged
+him again to accept her gift.
+
+"I shall be, indeed, a most unhappy woman," she declared, "if thou
+refuse it."
+
+Bayard was too gallant to withstand a woman's pleadings, so he said--
+
+"Since thou desirest it so much, lady, I yield." Then he requested her
+to send her daughters in.
+
+The lady went to call the two damsels; and while she was gone, Bayard
+divided the money into three lots,--two of one thousand ducats each and
+one of five hundred.
+
+In a little while the young girls came, and threw themselves on their
+knees before the knight; but he at once made them rise and be seated
+near him. Then they too strove to express their gratitude to him, and
+promised to pray to God for him so long as they should live.
+
+Bayard was much affected, and thanked them in turn for their kindly
+ministrations. Then he said to them gently--
+
+"Dear demoiselles, you know that fighting men are not ordinarily laden
+with jewels and pretty things to present to ladies, but I have here a
+sum of money which your lady mother hath just compelled me to accept. I
+give thee each a thousand ducats to form part of thy marriage portion."
+
+The damsels would fain have declined his generous offer, but he would
+not hear nay; and he said to their mother, who had once more entered--
+
+"Madam, these five hundred ducats I leave to thee to distribute amongst
+the convents that have suffered most from the pillage. And I must now
+make ready to depart."
+
+Again they fell on their knees, this time pressing his hands and weeping
+as if their hearts would break; and the mother exclaimed through her
+tears--
+
+"Too generous knight, God alone can reward thee!"
+
+Then, amid tears and farewells, he departed.
+
+On leaving these good ladies, the knight took his way to the French
+camp, where he was received with as much joy as if he were a
+reinforcement of ten thousand men.
+
+Now at that time the French were masters of the Duchy of Milan, in
+northern Italy, and the presence of the Spanish army in that part of the
+country was adjudged by Louis to be a constant menace to his interests
+there. The king was in France, but his nephew, the Duke of Nemours,
+commanded the French army in Italy.
+
+Scarcely had Bayard arrived in camp, when Nemours determined to give
+battle to the Spanish. All was soon astir in the French camps, in
+preparation; and Bayard and the duke were in high spirits.
+
+Nemours admired the chevalier extravagantly. He was too truly great to
+be envious of Bayard's fame, and nothing delighted him more than to hear
+the knight's praises.
+
+"My Lord Bayard," he said, shortly after the chevalier's arrival, "I am
+told that the Spanish fear thee more than they fear any other man on
+earth, and that they are constantly asking if thou art in camp. I wish
+thou wouldst go out and show thyself to them."
+
+"By thy leave," answered the knight, laughing, "I will pay them a little
+visit to-morrow."
+
+On the next morning, which was Good Friday, Bayard paid the "little
+visit" he promised. He had a way of calling on his enemies very scantily
+attended, and this time he took with him a mere handful of men.
+
+The two armies were encamped within a few miles of each other before the
+city of Ravenna, which the Spaniards had undertaken to defend against
+King Louis's forces.
+
+It is needless to say that the Spanish were not expecting Bayard's
+visit. They were in readiness, however, for another skirmishing party of
+French had descended upon them only an hour before. It seems that these
+earlier visitors were being badly worsted when the fearless knight
+appeared on the scene. In an instant the tide of victory turned. Bayard
+rallied the flying French and reversed the pursuit, chasing the
+Spaniards back to their garrison. Nor did he stop at that. Mindful of
+the visit he had promised to make the enemy, he dashed into the midst of
+their camp, knocked down tents and pavilions, laid men flat to right and
+to left, and made good his escape before the Spanish had time to realize
+what was happening to them.
+
+When the laughing chevalier got back from his adventure, the Duke of
+Nemours exclaimed in admiration--
+
+"Thou art the man, Lord Bayard, for skirmishes. No one knows so well as
+thou dost either how to begin or how to end them. Thou art our master in
+the art of war."
+
+Two days later, on Easter Sunday, the French and Spanish met in the
+terrible battle of Ravenna,--one of the most cruel and bloody
+engagements in all history. The field remained to the French,--sixteen
+thousand out of an army of twenty thousand Spanish being slain or
+captured; but the victory was too dearly bought, for the "best blood of
+France" was the price paid for it.
+
+Probably the knight Bayard forgot the gloomy predictions of the
+astrologer of Carpi. He did not keep near the duke that day, but went
+dashing about wherever his venturesome spirit led, performing almost
+incredible feats of arms. But, alas! he came back from his last
+brilliant charge to find the gallant Nemours dead on the field. The
+noble duke had been fairly cut to pieces by the many strokes received in
+his last brave stand against the enemy.
+
+In the year 1513, Henry VIII., King of England, and Maximilian I. of
+Germany, invaded northern France and captured several towns. In the
+beginning of this campaign occurred what is known as the "Battle of
+Spurs;" and this engagement is of special interest on account of
+Bayard's part in it.
+
+The English were investing the town of Terouana, in which there was
+almost a famine.
+
+A French force under the Lord of Chabannes had been sent to the relief
+of the city, but it was found to be much too small to hurl against the
+outnumbering allies in open battle. Still was it imperative to revictual
+the suffering town, so Chabannes decided on a difficult stratagem.
+
+A body of cavalry--under Bayard and others--was to feign an attack on
+the besieging English, and then retreat rapidly, to draw the enemy in
+pursuit, in order that other troops might take advantage of the
+confusion, and provision the invested town.
+
+This plan was put in execution; but the English and their German allies
+played their unconscious part in their adversaries' program so well that
+they not only pursued the decoy cavalry, but fell upon other companies
+of French, throwing them into utter confusion.
+
+As may be imagined, the seemingly ignoble flight of his cavalry was
+galling to a spirit like Bayard's. To "the knight without fear" it was
+almost impossible to refrain from fighting when an enemy was within
+striking distance; and now, as had often been the case, his warlike
+instinct got the better of his sense of obedience.
+
+He was under orders not to fight, but to retreat at full speed when the
+enemy should give chase. The latter command he obeyed; the former might
+as well have been given to the storm. He would fly with his company
+awhile,--till his fiery spirit could no longer be curbed,--then he would
+wheel about and charge the pursuing English with such impetuous courage
+that numbers would be compelled to fall back for an instant before his
+matchless prowess.
+
+At length the chevalier and his company reached a bridge which spanned a
+swift torrent. He could not resist the temptation of making a stand
+against the enemy, though he had a mere handful of men about him, so he
+whirled his horse about and faced the foe. It mattered little how great
+were the odds against him, for the spirit of battle possessed him. He
+gave one glance at the remnant that rallied to him, then said to a
+messenger quickly,--
+
+"Go tell my Lord of Chabannes that I will hold this bridge and whip them
+if he will but send me reinforcements."
+
+The reinforcements did not come; but Bayard and his little company held
+the bridge with sword and lance till they saw a large division of German
+troops fording the stream in their rear. Seeing that they were thus
+surrounded, and by overwhelming numbers, Bayard said to his men
+cheerily--
+
+"Let us give ourselves up, comrades; further resistance were but a
+bootless sacrifice." Not the least noteworthy of Bayard's many fine
+qualities were his rare good sense and his cheerfulness under
+misfortune. If he won, he enjoyed his victory; if he lost, he accepted
+defeat like a philosopher.
+
+His men now followed his advice, each surrendering to the nearest enemy.
+
+Now it chanced, in the confusion, that Bayard saw an exhausted German
+throw himself down under a near-by tree and unbuckle his sword. In an
+instant the chevalier sprang to him, snatched up the sword, and
+presented its point to the officer's throat.
+
+"Surrender or die!" he demanded of the astonished man-at-arms.
+
+Not caring to give up his life, the officer surrendered himself captive
+to the chevalier, saying,
+
+"As I am without weapon, I render myself to thee. But tell me, pray, to
+whom I have surrendered."
+
+"To Captain Bayard," replied the chevalier, enjoying the joke, "and I am
+in turn thy prisoner, by the result of this battle."
+
+So saying, Bayard unbuckled his own sword and handed it to the fellow
+with mock gravity.
+
+The officer was mystified; but Bayard soon made him see the philosophy,
+if not the fun, of the situation, and the two marched off together to
+the English camp--each captive to the other--each bearing the other's
+surrendered sword.
+
+Here the chevalier remained for some days as prisoner to the man he had
+captured. But he soon tired of this restraint, and one morning said to
+his captor with suspicious gravity--
+
+"My worthy friend, I am beginning to tire of doing nothing. Thou wilt
+oblige me much if thou wilt have me escorted to the camp of my king."
+
+The other was astounded.
+
+"What? eh?" he exclaimed. "But thou sayest nothing of thy ransom!"
+
+"Nor thou of thine," answered the knight, with a grave face. "Art thou
+not my prisoner and bound to obey me? I have thy word of surrender, and
+thou shalt keep it. If not, I shall challenge thee."
+
+His captor hardly knew how to take this sally, or what answer to make to
+it. However, he did know that the last thing in the world he desired was
+a duel with the invincible Bayard, so he said--
+
+"Sir Captain, let us report our case to higher authority. I will abide
+by whatever decision is made."
+
+So, according to agreement, the case was reported to the King of England
+and the Emperor Maximilian, who were in camp together. Bayard, who had
+a witty mind and a ready tongue, laid the matter before their Majesties
+very drolly; and the judgment rendered by them goes to show that even
+great princes can appreciate humorous situations. They agreed that as
+Bayard and his captor-captive were prisoner each to the other, they were
+"quits;" and that Bayard should have the liberty of returning to his
+commander without ransom. King Henry, however, stipulated that the
+knight should remain _en parole_ in Flanders for six weeks. Bayard
+cheerfully consented to the terms, and being "le chevalier sans
+reproche," kept his promise to the letter.
+
+After this interview, the King of England secretly offered to take
+Bayard into his own service, promising to load the knight with riches
+and honors if he would desert the cause of France and cast his fortunes
+with the English.
+
+Bayard answered the King of England as he had before answered the Pope
+of Rome,--
+
+"I have but one master in heaven--God, and one upon earth--the King of
+France."
+
+On the first of January, 1514, Louis XII. died. He was succeeded by
+Francis I., who was then only twenty years of age.
+
+Francis, like his predecessors, was haunted by the idea of his Italian
+rights, but was never able to maintain them for any great length of
+time. One of his first acts of sovereignty was to raise a large army and
+invade Italy to recover the Duchy of Milan, which had again been wrested
+from France.
+
+Bayard was with the king on this expedition. Indeed, he preceded Francis
+into Italy, and by a brilliant stratagem took prisoner Lord Prospero
+Colonna, Lieutenant-General of the Pope. Prospero it was who had boasted
+that sooner or later he would take Bayard like a bird in a trap.
+
+Soon afterwards, King Francis crossed the mountains with a great army,
+and marched upon Milan, at that time defended by a large body of Swiss.
+The two armies met in a hard-fought battle, and the French were
+victorious, driving the Swiss entirely out of the duchy.
+
+In this battle, as in many others, Bayard's splendid courage won the
+day. No other knight could equal him in arms, and none other could so
+rouse the spirit of the French soldiers; but his greatest service to
+France that day was the lesson in chivalry he taught her boyish king.
+
+Fired by the noble example of the chevalier, young Francis bore himself
+in battle like a king indeed, and made old soldiers wonder at his
+fortitude and courage.
+
+When the battle was over, the gallant young king was the first to
+ascribe the honor of the victory to Bayard, and the nobles and captains
+agreed with him heartily.
+
+Anxious to show conspicuous honor to the knight, King Francis then
+astonished the assembled company--and none more than the chevalier
+himself--by a most strange request.
+
+"Bayard, my friend," he exclaimed in loving familiarity, "I wish to be
+knighted by thy hand this day; for thou hast fought on foot and on
+horseback, in many battles against many nations, and better than all
+others. Thou art indeed the most worthy knight of all."
+
+Never before had monarch honored a subject with such a request.
+
+The modest chevalier sought to decline this embarrassingly great
+distinction, saying that such honor belonged only to princes of the
+blood, but the enthusiastic Francis would not take refusal.
+
+"Nay," he exclaimed, "quote me neither laws nor canons, chevalier; but
+do my will and command, if thou wouldst still be numbered amongst my
+loyal servants and subjects."
+
+"Since my king commands, I can but obey," answered the knight, simply.
+
+Then the King of mighty France knelt at the feet of the unassuming
+chevalier,--a picture to the world forever of how that manhood which is
+without fear and without reproach is above the majesty of kings.
+
+"Sire," said the chevalier--his great heart too full for many
+words--"may this be as efficacious as if done by Roland or Oliver,
+Godfrey or Baldwin, his brother. God grant that in battle thou mayest
+never flee!"
+
+He laid the flat of his sword on the king's strong shoulder; and when he
+removed the blade, he kissed it reverently, saying--
+
+"Glorious sword, that to-day hath knighted the greatest of kings, I will
+henceforth employ thee only against the enemies of Christ's name. And
+thou shalt be kept as a sacred relic and honored above all others."[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: Unfortunately, this blade has been lost; but there is still
+preserved another sword of Bayard's. It bears the two legends "Soli Deo
+Gloria" and "Vincere aut Mors."]
+
+Bayard's next service to King Francis was the defeating of an invading
+army of Germans,--forty thousand strong.
+
+In recognition of this and other great services, the king did all that
+his jealous nobles could not prevent to show honor to the valiant
+chevalier. He made Bayard a knight of the king's own order, and gave him
+command of a hundred picked men-at-arms,--a privilege which belonged
+only to princes of the blood.
+
+The people of France went wild with enthusiasm over their hero, giving
+gorgeous _fetes_ in his honor wherever he went; and the French
+parliament actually sent a deputation of its members to congratulate him
+upon the services he had rendered the king and the whole people.
+
+Yet these were but empty honors compared to what the noble chevalier
+deserved. As the astrologer had predicted, Bayard never received the
+riches and great appointments he so conspicuously merited.
+
+His last undertaking was another expedition into the troublesome Duchy
+of Milan. During this campaign the Lord of Bonivet, Admiral of France,
+was in command of the French, and Bayard and many other gallant captains
+were under him.
+
+The task before them was to subdue Milan, which had, with the aid of
+Charles V., Emperor of Germany and King of Spain, again thrown off its
+allegiance to France.
+
+The French encamped before Milan in the little town of Biagras; but it
+soon developed that they were no match for the powerful army of allied
+Milanese, Germans, Spaniards, and Venetians. Moreover, their forces were
+being daily depleted by sickness and desertion. Added to these
+misfortunes were bad faith and bad generalship on the part of the
+commander, Bonivet.
+
+Matters in the French camp went from bad to worse, while on the other
+hand the ranks of the emperor were being continually reinforced.
+
+An attack from the powerful and well-equipped enemy was now daily
+expected, so the admiral determined that there was nothing to do but
+retire from his position at Biagras. In the retreat, however, he took
+the post of danger with Bayard in the rear-guard, between the retiring
+French and their allied foes.
+
+As Bonivet had feared, the French had no sooner moved out of Biagras
+than the hitherto passive enemy woke to action and gave pursuit.
+
+It had been rumored in the emperor's army that the wonderful Bayard was
+in the rear-guard of the French, and this report held the pursuers at a
+respectful distance for some time.
+
+On the morning of the second day, however, the allies determined to
+force an engagement; and, supported by heavy artillery, made a furious
+charge upon the retiring French.
+
+If the allied foes had expected to rout the retreating forces, they must
+have been sadly disappointed, for the French instantly faced about and
+met their onset with stubborn valor. The odds were overwhelmingly
+against the sons of France; but Bayard was among them, and where he was,
+was always desperate courage.
+
+In the very first of the engagement the Lord of Bonivet was wounded and
+had to be carried from the field, thus leaving Bayard in command. As he
+was being borne away, Bonivet said to the chevalier--
+
+"I pray and conjure thee, for the honor and glory of France, to defend
+the artillery and flags to-day. Thou alone canst save them!"
+
+Bayard had had too much experience not to see that it was then
+impossible to retrieve what the admiral had lost, but he answered
+simply--
+
+"Too late! But my life is my country's, and while I live, the flags and
+the artillery shall not fall into the enemy's hands." That promise was
+not broken.
+
+Calm and collected in that supreme hour, the peerless knight put forth
+his all for his beloved France. All that unexampled generalship and
+courage and fidelity could accomplish in the face of overwhelming odds,
+he performed that day.
+
+Not content with merely repelling the attacks of the enemy, he charged
+their advancing columns again and again, and with such fierce onslaughts
+that each time they were compelled to give back. He had promised for the
+honor and glory of his country to defend the flags and the artillery
+that day; and while he lived not a flag was lowered nor a gun lost. But
+alas for France that day!
+
+Just as the fighting was hottest, and when it seemed that the
+outnumbered French _must_ break, Bayard once more dashed forward against
+the foe, as if by sheer force of courage, to wrest victory from
+inexorable Fate. For one mad, glorious moment he and his company swept
+irresistibly against the victors; the next, he was struck by a stone
+from an arquebuse and mortally wounded.
+
+With the cry "Jesus!" he reeled in his saddle. He would have fallen to
+the ground had not some of his men rushed forward and helped him to
+dismount. In their anxiety for him, his soldiers would fain have borne
+him off the field; but Bayard, though dying, was Bayard still, and he
+said to them--
+
+"It is all over; but I do not wish in my last hour to turn my back to
+the foe for the first time in my life. Place me beneath yonder tree with
+my face toward the enemy."
+
+Still did they beg that they might be allowed to bear him beyond danger
+of capture--for the French had broken before the enemy when Bayard fell.
+But the knight feebly answered them--
+
+"Let me devote the short space that remains to me to thinking of my
+sins. I pray you all to leave me for fear that you should be taken. My
+Lord d'Alegre, commend me to the king, my master, and say to him that my
+only regret in dying is my inability to render him further service."
+
+As he ceased speaking, a body of Spaniards, under the Marquis of
+Pescara, arrived where he lay. The gallant Pescara knelt beside his
+wounded enemy, and with tears in his eyes exclaimed--
+
+"Would to God, Lord Bayard, that I might have taken thee prisoner
+unhurt! Thou shalt know how much I have always esteemed thy prowess and
+thy virtues; for since I have held arms, I have never known thy equal!"
+
+[Illustration: "As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer among
+the Spanish who did not come to speak kindly to him"]
+
+The marquis then caused his own tent to be brought and placed for the
+use of the wounded knight. Then he himself helped to lay Bayard in
+bed. He smoothed the dying man's pillow, and kissed the hands that had
+fought so valiantly against him. Pescara then placed a guard around the
+tent and went himself and fetched a priest to console the dying
+chevalier.
+
+As Bayard lay thus, there was hardly an officer among the Spanish who
+did not come to speak kindly to him. Among the distinguished men who
+visited his bedside was the Constable of Bourbon, who shortly before had
+deserted the cause of France for a position in the emperor's army. When
+the constable beheld the expiring knight, he exclaimed--
+
+"Ah, Captain Bayard, how it troubles me to see thee thus! I have always
+loved and honored thee for thy great valor and wisdom. How I pity thee!"
+
+Bayard looked at him steadily and replied--
+
+"My lord, I thank thee, but thy pity is wasted. I die like an honest
+man, serving my king. Thou art the man to be pitied, for bearing arms
+against thy prince, thy country, and thy oath."
+
+A little while longer he talked to them; then, feeling his strength
+fleeting rapidly, he clasped his hands and prayed aloud--
+
+"My God! my Father! forget my sins; listen only to Thine infinite
+mercy----Let Thy justice be softened by the merits of the blood of
+Jesus Christ--"
+
+Death laid a gentle hand upon his lips; and the man who had dealt with
+his fellow-man without reproach went fearless to his God.
+
+
+
+
+SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
+
+
+    Sidney, thou star of beaming chivalry,
+    That rose and set 'mid valor's peerless day:
+    Rich ornament of knighthood's Milky-way;
+    How much our youth of England owe to thee!
+
+    EDWARD MOXON
+
+
+
+
+SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
+
+(1554-1586 A. D.)
+
+
+When Mary Tudor was Queen of England, and after she had become the wife
+of Philip II. of Spain, there was born at "Penshurst Place," in the
+valley of the Medway, the immortal Philip Sidney.
+
+His mother's family were the powerful house of Dudley, and were among
+the noblest in the land. The Sidneys were of high birth too,--not so
+exalted as the Dudleys in point of lineage, but of impregnable honor and
+integrity.
+
+The little Philip's youth was spent under what would seem to have been
+very happy circumstances. While he was yet only four years of age, Queen
+Elizabeth came to the throne, and recalled the Sidneys from the social
+and political exile to which her sister Mary had condemned them.
+
+Philip's father, Sir Henry Sidney, was made Lord Deputy of Ireland, and
+his mother became lady-in-waiting to the queen. Then, too, they owned
+the beautiful and historic home, Penshurst Place, and had powerful
+friends at court.
+
+But there was another side to the picture. The Sidneys were not rich;
+and holding the high position they did, they were obliged to live in a
+way they could ill afford. This was bad enough; but, worse still,
+Philip's affectionate parents were forced to spend many years of their
+married life apart from each other and from their children. The mother
+was, for the most part, at Whitehall or at Hampton Court with the queen,
+and the father in turbulent, rebellious Ireland; while the children
+were, perforce, left at home in the care of servants.
+
+Though his loving father and mother were rarely at Penshurst, the little
+Philip lived very happily there with his brothers and sisters.
+
+He soon found other companions too,--companions who fired his young
+blood and filled his boyish heart with dreams that were forever to haunt
+him. Under the great trees at Penshurst he lay on the grass, by the
+hour, and pored over stories of bygone days of chivalry. As he lay thus
+and read, the present would fade from him, and the past with all its
+glamour and its romance would steal up about him and claim him for its
+own. The great trees that clashed their boughs together in the wind
+became warriors struggling with each other; the blast of a hunting-horn
+from the forest near by was Roland's call at Roncesvalles, while the
+echoes that repeated the strain again and again were the answering
+clarions of Charlemagne. Little delicate Philip Sidney no longer lay on
+the grass in sunny England; in coat-of-mail and golden spurs he followed
+the heroes of old,--now with the lion-hearted king at Arsur; now with
+triumphant Godfrey on the walls of Jerusalem!
+
+But Philip could not always read and dream; in a short time came the
+reality of school-days and boyish struggles. But though he was called
+away from the chivalric companionship of the knights of old, the
+impression made upon his mind by their courage and fortitude and
+devotion to duty ever after ran, like a thread of gold, through the warp
+and woof of his character.
+
+During the brief reign of Edward VI., Sir Henry Sidney had been
+nicknamed "the only odd man and paragon of the court." The same stanch
+virtues that made him "odd" in Edward's time rendered him a man apart at
+the fawning, flattering, self-seeking court of Queen Elizabeth.
+
+"Good Queen Bess," as she has been miscalled, cared little for blunt
+honesty. She was a vain and selfish woman, fond of flattery and
+capricious in the extreme. She liked the soft speeches and fulsome
+compliments of such men as the Earl of Leicester far better than she
+liked the simple sincerity of the honest Sir Henry. Then, too, the queen
+was avaricious. The condition of Ireland was of less moment to her than
+the condition of her exchequer; and she was continually at odds with Sir
+Henry because he spent more money than she thought necessary on the
+unfortunate people whom she had sent him to rule.
+
+But though the queen had little love for Philip Sidney's father, she was
+all too partial to his brilliant uncle. The most conspicuous figure at
+Elizabeth's court for many years was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
+Leicester was own brother to Lady Sidney, but he had few of that lady's
+noble qualities. He was a courtier of the most ignoble type, being a man
+who ever sought his own advancement by flattery and cajolery--always
+ready to "crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, that thrift might
+follow fawning." For many years Leicester was the avowed lover of the
+virgin queen, and there was some talk of a secret marriage having been
+contracted between them, though there was probably no truth in the
+rumor.
+
+This much is certain, however--the queen favored Leicester in every
+possible way, showering honor after honor upon him, and giving him great
+riches.
+
+When young Philip Sidney was not yet seventeen years of age, a dread
+plague broke out in England and, reaching Oxford University, where he
+was studying, necessitated the closing of that institution. Philip's
+education was thus cut short before he had obtained his college degree,
+but not before he had become one of the most scholarly men of the day.
+
+Shortly after the closing of the university, he was summoned to court to
+be in attendance on her majesty, and to take a place among the gay
+company with which she was surrounded. This was considered a marked
+advancement for him, and, at once, all thought that the queen would
+specially honor him on account of his being nephew to the prime
+favorite, Leicester.
+
+The queen did favor Sidney--in her own capricious, selfish way--and he
+shortly became the youngest darling of the court. He was only seventeen
+when he took his place among Elizabeth's courtiers, but he was well
+grown, and was exceedingly talented and handsome.
+
+The power to win stanch and loving friends was inborn in him, and when
+he left the quiet halls of Oxford for the frivolous court of Queen
+Elizabeth, there was more than one heart that was anxious for him. The
+Irish Sea lay between him and his sober, upright father; while the
+voluptuous and insincere Earl of Leicester was to be his patron, and all
+the hollow, glittering, pleasure-loving men and women of the court were
+to be his daily companions. No wonder his friends watched the young
+courtier's career with anxiety! But time soon showed how truly the young
+Philip was stanch old Sir Henry's son. As was natural, Sidney loved the
+brilliant Leicester, and failed to see his uncle's vices as plainly as
+he might have seen another man's, but he did not make those vices his
+own. It was natural, too, that he should feel a youthful enjoyment in
+the gayety and glitter about him, but he somehow kept himself unstained
+by what lay beneath.
+
+There were two influences at work in the youth which, together, saved
+him from the follies about him: first, and greater, the nobleness of
+character which was his by heredity; and, second, the high ideals formed
+in his boyhood.
+
+Sidney had dreamed of a truth unsullied, of a manhood devoted to high
+and noble deeds, of a faith that was stronger than death. He waked to
+find himself, in satin and gold lace, dawdling about a vain and
+licentious court.
+
+Fortunately for the ambitious youth, a change now took place in his
+affairs which enabled him to see something of the world, and to pursue
+his studies further. Before he had been a year at court, he was sent to
+Paris in the train of the Earl of Lincoln, whose mission it was to
+arrange a marriage between the English queen and the Duke d'Alencon,
+brother to King Charles IX. of France.
+
+A clause from Sidney's passport, issued in the queen's name, shows for
+what purpose her young courtier was sent abroad: "Her truly and
+well-beloved Philip Sidney, Esquire, licensed to go out of England into
+parts beyond the seas, with three servants, four horses, and all other
+requisites, and to remain the space of two years immediately following
+his departure out of the realm, for his attaining the knowledge of
+foreign languages."
+
+For reasons of Church and State, Lincoln's mission to France failed, and
+Sidney was left free to spend the time of his voluntary exile at his
+own discretion. He wisely chose to remain abroad, and spent nearly three
+years traveling in France, Germany, and Italy. But these three years
+were not given up to sight-seeing and social enjoyment. Sidney devoted
+his time to studying literature, science, music, foreign languages, and
+the politics of the day.
+
+For two great reasons this last subject was of most vital interest to
+him: it was the time of a great religious upheaval throughout Europe,
+and also the time of the ambitious aggressions of Spain under Philip II.
+
+Sidney, an ardent adherent of the Church of England, conceived the idea
+of championing his beloved faith, even as the knights of old had
+championed theirs. Then, too, his whole heart was with his native
+country in her rapid rise to a place of power among the nations of
+earth, and he recognized Spain as an ever-present menace to her
+advancement.
+
+His sympathies were especially aroused for the condition of the harassed
+Netherlands, to the complete subjugation of which Spain was then bending
+her strongest efforts. Then it was that Sidney's chivalric spirit took
+fire with hope,--the hope that his beloved England would rise and
+deliver the oppressed, and that he, her son, would be allowed to be her
+humble instrument in the great and glorious work.
+
+All that was seething in his fertile brain he wrote from time to time to
+England; and he kept her statesmen informed of the state of foreign
+politics in a time when newspapers and telegraph lines had not been
+dreamed of. All unconsciously, he was making a name for himself in
+England; and when he returned, at the age of twenty-one, he found that
+he had established for himself a reputation as politician, statesman,
+and man of letters.
+
+While abroad, Sidney had been associated with "many men of many minds."
+He had learned to think and feel deeply on deep subjects, and had formed
+definite ideals as to a man's proper part in life. He came back to his
+native land with his young heart filled with hopes that were never to be
+realized--at least, not in the way that he had conceived. It is true
+that he was one of a brilliant circle of men who made the England of
+Elizabeth's time great by the very greatness that was theirs; but the
+England of Elizabeth's time was not the England of Sidney's hopes, and a
+courtiership under the virgin queen was the vanity of vanities to his
+heroic spirit. From that time on, life was a struggle to him--a
+struggle to live nobly amid a court given over to pleasure; a struggle
+to revive the spirit of chivalry among men who were already forgetting
+the very name.
+
+Shortly after Sidney's return from abroad, and while he was in high
+favor at court, it pleased the queen to make a "royal progress" through
+a portion of her realm. These "progresses" were journeys through certain
+parts of the kingdom, broken by visits to favored nobles at their
+magnificent castles or halls. On these tours, the queen was always
+brilliantly attended by ladies and gentlemen of her court; and the
+subjects whom she pleased to visit devised for her the most gorgeous and
+sumptuous entertainment.
+
+Sidney had the good or bad fortune to be in attendance on her Majesty
+during this progress, for it was then that he first met and admired
+little Penelope Devereux. It was while her Majesty and train were
+stopping to visit the Earl of Essex at Chartley Castle that the meeting
+between the two young people took place. Lady Penelope, daughter of the
+Earl of Essex, was then only twelve years of age, but she was a maiden
+well grown for her years, and extremely beautiful; so it is not to be
+wondered at that Sidney--so old in worldly wisdom, but so young in
+years--should have been fascinated by the little maid's grace and
+beauty. The two frolicked and danced together at Chartley, and though
+there were no vows of love exchanged between them then, that visit was
+the beginning of a friendship which was to ripen into the passion of
+Sidney's life. It was also the beginning of another friendship, and one
+which proved far happier for Sidney. The Earl of Essex conceived a deep
+love and admiration for him, and invited him often to Chartley, making
+him--young though he was--his bosom friend.
+
+Afterwards, when Essex incurred the deep displeasure of Queen Elizabeth,
+Sidney was one of the few courtiers who dared to show him open
+friendship,--thus tacitly condemning the action of the queen, who, in
+truth, was at fault.
+
+During his visits to Chartley Castle, Sidney became more and more in
+love with the little Penelope; but when he declared his passion, she
+held him off, like the coquette that she was, while she took pains to
+spin the web of her fascination more hopelessly about him.
+
+The earl, her father, was always in favor of a marriage between the two;
+and at his death, which took place in Penelope's fourteenth year, he
+said of Sidney:--
+
+"Oh, that good gentleman! have me commended unto him. And tell him I
+send him nothing, but I wish him well,--so well that if God do move
+their hearts, I wish that he might match with my daughter. I call him
+son--he is so wise, virtuous, and godly. If he go on in the course he
+hath begun, he will be as famous and worthy a gentleman as ever England
+bred."
+
+Two years after Essex's death, his widow was secretly married to
+Sidney's uncle, the Earl of Leicester. This made a sad change in Philip
+Sidney's fortunes. As long as Leicester was unmarried and childless,
+Philip Sidney, as his natural heir, was a man of great prospects and a
+very desirable match; but Leicester, married, with the probability of
+children to inherit his titles and wealth, left Sidney only a poor
+commoner.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Philip Sidney and Penelope Devereux]
+
+With Sidney's prospects ruined by her own marriage, Penelope's mother
+decided that her daughter should make a more ambitious match, and
+betrothed her to the powerful and cruel Lord Rich. Too late, the little
+maid realized the value of the love with which she had been playing.
+When she could no longer look forward to a match with the noble young
+Sidney, she waked to the knowledge that her whole heart was bound up
+in him; and she protested, even at the altar, against the marriage into
+which her mother was forcing her. "Being in the power of her friends,"
+as the Earl of Devonshire afterwards wrote concerning her, "she was by
+them married against her will unto one against whom she did protest at
+the very solemnity and ever after."
+
+His love for Penelope was the supreme passion of Sidney's life. His was
+a heart too true to change. And as Orpheus gave to his harp his love for
+the lost Eurydice and charmed all nature into silence, so Philip Sidney,
+bereft of the woman he loved, poured out his soul in poems that still
+touch every loving heart.
+
+From politician and courtier, Sidney rose to be one of the most
+distinguished poets of his day. He wrote many poems which are still
+considered of high order, but his "Astrophel and Stella," which contains
+the story of his love for the Lady Penelope, is his most popular work.
+
+Though possessed of all the grace and elegance of an Elizabethan
+courtier, as well as of a gentle and artistic temperament, Philip Sidney
+was no weakling. Under the costly trappings of his court finery beat a
+heart as bold and passionate as King Richard's own.
+
+Throughout all his varied experiences, public and private, he did not
+once relinquish his double hope of aiding the Netherlands and crippling
+the overshadowing power of Spain. Still did he implore help for the
+oppressed. Long did he carry in his heart a picture of the queen--whom
+he adored in spite of her unworthiness--as the zealous and devoted
+champion of a great cause. But Elizabeth was no zealot, nor could she be
+made one. When Sidney at length realized that the queen could not be
+induced to move in the cause of the Netherlands, he made up his mind to
+go as a volunteer to the assistance of William, Prince of Orange, ruler
+of that country.
+
+The idea had to be abandoned, however, for a while; for Sir Henry
+Sidney--still too honest to please the queen--was again having stormy
+times with her Majesty, and appealed to his son to assist him in
+bringing her to a right view of his Irish policy. Sidney espoused his
+father's cause with his characteristic boldness. Shortly after his
+arrival at court he was met face to face by the Earl of Ormond,--a
+bitter enemy to his father, and the man who had traduced Sir Henry to
+the queen. Ormond approached Sidney with a suave and condescending
+greeting, but the young courtier only stared at him coldly for a
+minute, then turned his back squarely on him. As Ormond was one of the
+peers of the realm, and Philip Sidney but a plain commoner, this was a
+most daring act. But this was not the limit of his daring. Incensed at
+the injustice done his father, Sidney indited a most memorable letter to
+the queen, which was at once a masterly defence of Sir Henry and a
+trenchant attack on the queen's favorite, Ormond. Strange to say, Queen
+Elizabeth seemed to be influenced by Sidney's plain and fearless
+statements, for she sometime thereafter treated his father with more
+consideration.
+
+But a greater trouble than that in connection with his father's business
+now stirred the passionate Sidney to the depths. The Duke d'Alencon, who
+had become the Duke of Anjou, renewed his proposition of marriage to the
+English queen. Sidney despised the private character of the duke, and he
+had, besides, come to object to the proposed alliance for deep and
+patriotic reasons; so he opposed the projected union with all the
+fearless strength that was his.
+
+As by far the greater number of Elizabeth's advisers approved of the
+match, and the queen herself inclined to it, Sidney's position soon
+made him unpopular with both queen and court. Another thing happened
+about this time that rendered his relations at court exceedingly
+strained. The Earl of Leicester's secret marriage with the widowed
+Countess of Essex, a twelvemonth before, now came out in a storm of
+gossip, and threw the jealous queen into a rage. Leicester was dismissed
+from court; and Philip Sidney, as his nephew, though not actually exiled
+from the queen's presence, received treatment at her hands that was far
+more galling to his proud spirit than would have been dismissal.
+
+Nothing could have been more humiliating to Sidney's highstrung and
+sensitive temperament than to be kept dangling about a court where the
+queen turned but cold glances upon him, and where her nobles were
+permitted to slight him, after the usual manner of courtiers who "kick
+whom royalty kicks, and hug whom royalty hugs."
+
+Philip Sidney was a most unusual courtier. He had more than once held
+out a manly hand to one who had come under her Majesty's disfavor, but
+whom he regarded as stanch and deserving; and he had not failed to
+condemn where she smiled, if he felt that condemnation was deserved.
+
+With his great patron dismissed from royal favor, and London full of gay
+French and English courtiers who looked upon him as an enemy, Philip
+Sidney stood almost alone. Yet was he in no whit daunted, nor did he
+yield one hair's breadth of the high ground he had taken. His was that
+finer courage that can dare the whole world for a principle and stand
+alone upon the right.
+
+As may be imagined, this independence of spirit was most distasteful to
+the vain and fickle queen; but Sidney's grace and talents and personal
+beauty rendered him a courtier with whom she was unwilling to dispense.
+The queen had favored him for these lesser gifts, but the great heart of
+the English people loved him for the chivalric spirit _she_ valued not,
+and for the indomitable manliness that would not truckle--not even to
+the queen.
+
+During this period of her Majesty's displeasure toward him, Sidney was
+often stung to the quick by petty slights from his fellow-courtiers, but
+on one occasion the offender went too far. The brutal but powerful Earl
+of Oxford--head of the party who favored the proposed marriage--had long
+been a rival of Sidney's in the queen's favor, and there was no love
+lost between them.
+
+One day at Whitehall, as Philip Sidney and some of his friends were
+engaged in a game of tennis, the Earl of Oxford entered the court,
+uninvited, and demanded a part in the game. The presence of a number of
+French courtiers as lookers-on and listeners led him to assume a tone
+that was even more arrogant and offensive than was usual with him.
+
+At first, Sidney took no notice of the intrusion; but the studied
+rudeness becoming unbearable, he at length reproved the offender firmly.
+At this, Oxford fell into a rage, and ended by ordering the players out
+of the tennis-court. Sidney met the earl's haughty gaze with one of
+proud defiance, and answered,--
+
+"If your Lordship had been pleased to express the wish in courteous
+terms, you would have been met with courtesy, and perchance might have
+led out those who will not now be driven out with any scourge of fury."
+
+"Puppy!" exclaimed the infuriated earl.
+
+A coarse laugh went up from the spectators, and they immediately began
+to crowd the tennis-court to see the end of the quarrel. This pleased
+Oxford much, for he was seeking to make a fine show before them.
+
+Sidney realized that he was surrounded by enemies; but the fact only
+put him on his mettle, and he demanded, calmly,
+
+"My Lord of Oxford, what is that which you called me?"
+
+"A _puppy_," repeated the earl, and his followers laughed again.
+
+"That is a _lie_!" answered Sidney, in tones that rang out clear and
+sharp.
+
+A bolt from the skies could not have taken his listeners more aback. The
+spectators looked to see Oxford attack or challenge the slender young
+courtier who had flung the lie in his teeth; and Sidney himself waited
+in a fierce quiet for the answer which he, and all present, felt Oxford
+was bound to make.
+
+The answer did not come. Oxford contented himself with quarreling in a
+loud voice; but those whom he was trying to impress were not deceived by
+his bluster, and all present knew that he had proved himself a coward.
+
+When Sidney saw that his opponent was not going to challenge him, he
+made up his mind to throw down the gauntlet himself, for he was too
+indignant to let the matter drop without a personal encounter.
+
+"My Lord of Oxford," he said coolly, "this is a business that can be
+settled better in a more private place." With that, he turned and
+walked out of the court.
+
+This, of course, was a challenge; and all the next day Sidney looked for
+the message of acceptance which Oxford was bound, by the code of honor,
+to send him. At length it became apparent that Oxford was trying to
+avoid the duel. This, Sidney had no idea of allowing him to do; so he
+sent a messenger to the earl, asking whether he should hear from him or
+not, and adding--
+
+"His Lordship's French companions can teach him, if he does not know,
+what course he ought to take in this affair."
+
+Thus goaded, Oxford sent an acceptance; but before the duel could take
+place, the lords of the Privy Council forbade it, and besought the queen
+to effect a reconciliation between the two.
+
+The queen's way of reconciling them was to send for Sidney and scold him
+roundly. She pointed out to him the difference between peers and
+commoners and the respect that inferiors owed to superiors, then she
+commanded him to apologize to the earl.
+
+"That, your Majesty," he answered, steadily, "I _cannot_ do. No peer
+has, by his rank, privilege to do wrong; and though the Earl of Oxford
+be a great lord by virtue of his birth and your Majesty's favors, he is
+no lord over Philip Sidney."
+
+In spite of queen and court and Privy Council, Philip Sidney would not
+retreat an inch from this position; and Oxford was compelled to take
+refuge in her Majesty's order, to avoid fighting with the fiery young
+courtier. Shortly afterwards, the earl sent a messenger--supposed to be
+Sir Walter Raleigh--with the proposition to Sidney that their
+disagreement cease. Thus was the coward peer compelled to humble himself
+to the proud commoner.
+
+Negotiations for the queen's marriage to Anjou progressed favorably for
+a while, to the deep distress of Sidney. Actuated by his great distrust
+of Anjou and his equally great dislike to any sort of alliance with
+France, he at length addressed a letter to the queen, setting forth
+without reserve his objections to her marriage. He warned her Majesty,
+in the most unmistakable terms, of the worthlessness and viciousness of
+her suitor, and ended with a passionate appeal to her not to enter into
+an alliance which would so surely cripple the advancement of the English
+Church. But Sidney's letter was not one of reproof and entreaty only.
+All through its pages could be seen the romantic devotion of subject to
+sovereign, and the chivalric respect of a man for the woman whom he
+imagined to be possessed of all feminine virtues.
+
+The "most excellent lady" to whom the letter was indited answered it by
+flying into a rage and dismissing the writer from court.
+
+This was scarcely punishment to Sidney. He hated the vanities of court
+life with his whole heart, and when he was thus dismissed, he was as one
+from whom heavy shackles had been struck. He spent the time of his exile
+with his beloved sister, the Countess of Pembroke, and while at her
+home, wrote some of his best poems.
+
+The queen forgave Sidney, all too soon for him, for he had to be
+persuaded, nay, almost forced back into her silken fetters. The Earl of
+Leicester was already reinstated in her Majesty's good-will when Sidney
+came back, with reluctant grace, to be again an ornament of her court.
+
+But he was not an ornament merely. He was soon elected to Parliament,
+and through his fearless and untiring zeal did much toward making
+England great.
+
+Sidney was now becoming more and more prominent as a literary man, and
+was closely associated with Raleigh, Lyly, Hooker, Christopher Marlowe,
+Sir Francis Bacon, and Edmund Spenser. He was also one of the first to
+patronize a rising young actor and playwright by the name of Will
+Shakespeare.
+
+In 1583 Philip Sidney was knighted, and became "_Sir_ Philip Sidney,
+knight, of Penshurst." This was, however, but a poor acknowledgment of
+his virtues, his high attainments, and his services to the State. He was
+appointed by the queen to several minor offices, but he was never given
+what he merited at her hands--so much for being better and greater than
+those who have the power to reward.
+
+For some years Sidney's friends had been pressing him to marry, for they
+felt that it would be an irrevocable loss to England for such a man to
+die without sons to perpetuate his talents and sterling qualities. But
+Sidney for a long time turned a deaf ear to their persuasions. He had
+loved one woman passionately, and she had become the wife of another
+man. Since that time he had paid devoted attention to none, though he
+always held the gentler sex in deepest respect.
+
+Considering his natural attractions, and the exalted place he had won
+for himself among both the writers and the statesmen of the day, it is
+not to be wondered at that he was much sought after. One chronicle
+tells us that "many noble ladies ventured as far as modesty would permit
+to signify their affections for him."
+
+Sidney himself thought it his _duty_ to marry, and in the fall of 1583
+took to wife the daughter of his old friend, Sir Francis Walsingham. The
+queen objected bitterly, being selfish enough to want her courtier's
+whole attention; but she finally relented. She afterwards stood
+godmother to Sidney's only child--a daughter--who was named for herself.
+
+Sidney's married life was a very happy one. Frances Walsingham made him
+a good wife, and he was very tenderly attached to her.
+
+Always jealous for his native country, Sidney now became much aroused by
+the continued success of Spain in the New World. The then recent
+discoveries in America, and the consequent advancement of the power of
+Philip II., were a menace to the political prestige of England. Sidney
+had been quick to perceive this, and had been stirred to a keen interest
+in English colonization in the New World. He rightly believed that the
+surest means of retarding the growth of the power of Spain was to plant
+in the New World colonies of English-speaking people. Disappointed in
+his desire to join in the warfare in the Netherlands against King
+Philip, he conceived a great scheme for crippling that monarch's power
+in America and on the high seas, and he threw himself into the project
+with his whole heart.
+
+It is interesting to know that in his colonization schemes Sidney was
+intimately associated with such men as Martin Frobisher, Sir Humphrey
+Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake.
+
+His connection with Sir Francis Drake came near involving him in serious
+trouble, but ultimately ended by procuring him the commission he had so
+long desired. Tired of a life of inactivity, anxious to foil the Spanish
+in the New World, and sick to death of the busy idleness of the court,
+Sidney at length determined to go with Drake to a new world and a new
+career. Accordingly, he made ready, and actually went as far as
+Plymouth, where he was to take ship, when he was overtaken by a
+messenger bearing "grace in one hand and thunder in the other," and the
+queen's command that he return to court.
+
+The _grace_ was that he was to have his long-desired commission in the
+Netherlands, if he would but return. Her Majesty had evidently learned
+that she would have to compromise with her spirited subject.
+
+Sidney did return, and received the commission promised. The queen
+signed a patent making him governor of Flushing and Rammekins in the
+Netherlands. Leicester she made commander-in-chief of the forces she had
+at last agreed to send to the aid of the oppressed Dutch.
+
+Sidney was not one-and-thirty years of age when he received his
+appointment. He went into the project with all the fire of his youth and
+chivalry. At last he was free from court fetters; at last he could play
+a man's part in life. All the dreams of his boyhood now waked again. No
+mimic warfare of joust and tournament for him now! With naked sword he
+was to face the enemies of a weak and oppressed people.
+
+When Sidney landed at Flushing, he had yet to learn that war demands
+more courage than is needed in merely facing the foe--the courage to
+endure delays, hardships, injustice, and all the cruel accompaniments of
+a campaign. He learned his lesson well and shortly, for when he was
+weighed in the balance, he was not found wanting in a single quality
+that belongs to the hero.
+
+Flushing, which had been assigned to English control, was at the mouth
+of the Scheldt River, and on the opposite bank stood the Castle of
+Rammekins. These were important points, as they commanded the entrance
+from the sea. The people of the town hailed Sidney as a deliverer and
+protector, for they were worn with the long struggle against the
+Spanish, and were wellnigh disheartened. The defences of the place were
+in wretched condition, and the town itself in a most unhealthy state, so
+Sir Philip set to work at once to put the place in a more sanitary
+condition and to strengthen its fortifications.
+
+Shortly after Sidney had begun to get ready for real war, his uncle, the
+Earl of Leicester, arrived in the Netherlands with the main body of the
+troops sent by her Majesty, and made a spectacular tour through several
+leading cities. He took up his position at the Hague, where he
+immediately began to live in almost royal state, spending the funds sent
+from England, wasting the resources of the people he had ostensibly come
+to help, and making no move against the Spanish, who were daily gaining
+ground.
+
+If Sidney had hoped that, in changing her mind about assisting the
+Netherlands, Queen Elizabeth had changed some of her personal
+characteristics too, he was very quickly undeceived. The supply of men
+and money sent by her Majesty was entirely inadequate to existing
+necessities; and having shipped her small quota of troops, the queen
+apparently washed her hands of them.
+
+With his superior officer, Leicester, wasting time and the resources of
+the troops, in dissipation, and the queen careless of their straits,
+Sidney was reduced almost to despair. Yet if he had come to hope little,
+he worked as if the whole responsibility of the cause rested on his
+shoulders. He not only put the places of his own command in as good
+condition as was possible, but he went from one city to another,
+assisting and advising. He made journey after journey to the Hague to
+rouse Leicester to a more active policy, and at one time went even into
+Germany to implore help for the wretched country. All this time he was
+writing to Leicester, to the queen, to her advisers, the most passionate
+letters. He set forth the condition of affairs in language that stripped
+truth of all dissembling, and implored her Majesty and her officers to
+let him do the work for which he had been sent. Like the king of the
+forest in the narrow confines of a cage, Sidney's fierce soul raged
+against the orders that kept his sword idle while the Spanish were
+wasting the land. There is not a more pathetically tragic figure in
+history than that of the heroic Sidney in the power of the unworthy
+Queen of England and of the doubly unworthy Earl of Leicester.
+
+More than a year was wasted by the luxurious earl, Sidney the while
+chafing at his idleness, and the Spanish gaining post after post. Time
+and again, Sidney pleaded with Leicester to give him adequate troops and
+leave to act, but the troops were not given; and when, on his own
+responsibility, Sidney undertook to besiege Steenbergen, he was
+forbidden to prosecute the plan.
+
+It was not until he had spent nearly two years of hard work and
+discouragement in the Netherlands that Sir Philip was at last allowed to
+proceed against the enemy in active warfare.
+
+A most unwilling permission being wrung from Leicester, Sidney joined
+forces with Lord Willoughby and Count Maurice and proceeded against the
+town of Axel, which was then in the hands of the Spaniards.
+
+A moonless night was chosen for the expedition, and the advance was made
+stealthily and swiftly. While the attacking forces approached the
+sleeping town, Sir Philip spoke so earnestly to the men that one who was
+with him afterwards said, "he did so link our minds that we did desire
+rather to die in that service than to live in the contrary."
+
+Axel was surrounded by a wall and a moat, and was regarded as
+impregnable to all save overwhelming forces; but Sidney depended more on
+the spirit of his men than on mere numbers, and he pressed hardily
+forward. When the moat was reached, he plunged boldly in, and was soon
+followed by some fifty others. A few moments more, and they had gained
+the opposite bank and were scaling, as best they could, the wall of
+Axel. A little while of breathless suspense, and then their dark forms
+were outlined against the sky on the top of the wall, only to disappear
+quickly on the other side. Presently there were cries of surprise and
+terror and sounds of sharp fighting, then the drawbridge was lowered and
+the great gate opened to admit the crush of men who rushed to the
+assistance of Sir Philip and his valiant little band.
+
+The scene inside told its own story. Sir Philip had surprised and slain
+the guard and opened the gate to his men. Instantly the startled city
+flew to arms, but it was too late. Over half the twelve hundred men who
+garrisoned the town were put to the sword, a great quantity of riches
+was captured, and a large amount of property destroyed. Besides this,
+four neighboring citadels were attacked and forced to surrender. Sir
+Philip then garrisoned the town with English soldiers, and cut the
+dikes, flooding a vast tract of country to hamper the movements of the
+Spanish.
+
+When it was all over, Leicester wrote proudly to the queen, "My nephew,
+Sidney, is to be thanked for the bravest deed yet done by the English in
+the Low Countries."
+
+But stanch old Sir Henry died a few weeks before his "darling Philip"
+thus won his first laurels in war, and Lady Sidney passed away shortly
+after the news of her boy's heroism reached her.
+
+One would think that the knowledge of that heroism would have touched
+the fickle queen to do, at least, simple justice to the young officer
+who had stormed Axel; but unfortunately it did not. Not only could
+Sidney not persuade her Majesty to give him the necessary troops and
+money for better defences, but he could not move her to pay the wretched
+soldiers their hire. The wages of his men were already months in
+arrears, and the soldiers were daily threatening mutiny. So the time
+dragged on, and nothing of importance was accomplished for several more
+weary months.
+
+Leicester had had as little patience with his nephew as the queen
+herself, "bearing a hand over him as a forward young man;" but after
+Sidney proved his sword at Axel, his uncle treated him with more
+respect, and was at last brought to take counsel of him.
+
+A few months after Sidney's capture of Axel, Leicester reviewed her
+Majesty's troops at Arnhem; and it was then that Sir Philip at last
+persuaded him to strike a decisive blow at the Spanish. Having actually
+obtained his uncle's permission to fight, Sidney lost no time in
+unsheathing his sword. Five days after the review at Arnhem, he and his
+brother Robert and the young Earl of Essex, with a small force, stormed
+and carried the fortress of Doesburg, each one of the three fighting
+brilliantly.
+
+The Earl of Essex was son to Sir Philip's old friend, and brother to
+Penelope Devereux, and was that Essex whom Elizabeth caused to be
+beheaded some years after.
+
+As another result of Sidney's importunities, Leicester laid siege to
+Zutphen, which was a very important post, and the strongest city in
+Gelderland. A week was spent in throwing up intrenchments about the city
+and making ready for an attack. Sidney, together with the Count of
+Nassau and Sir John Norris, was put in command of a body of cavalry and
+directed to hold Gilbert Hill,--a rise of ground less than a mile from
+the east gate of Zutphen.
+
+When the English were nearly ready to attack, news was brought to
+Leicester that large quantities of provisions were being transported to
+the besieged city by the Spanish, and that an attempt would be made to
+smuggle them in.
+
+On receipt of the news, Leicester ordered Sir John Norris and Sir
+William Stanley to take five hundred men and cut off the convoys as they
+approached.
+
+Sir Philip was not included in the commission, but he was so eager to
+act that he joined Norris and Stanley of his own accord. He was fully
+armed as he rode up to the troops, but meeting one of his friends
+without leg-armour, he rashly cast off his own cuisses, that he might
+run equal risk.
+
+The Spanish convoys were expected to arrive in the night, but a gray,
+foggy morning dawned before the tramp of their horses' feet was heard.
+Nearer and nearer it came to the waiting five hundred,--when suddenly
+the fog lifted and the little band of English found themselves face to
+face with a splendidly equipped Spanish force of over five times their
+own number. They had not dreamed that the wagon-train would be so
+accompanied.
+
+The sun rose clear--fatally clear for that gallant little band of
+Britons. The guns of the city were trained on them; they were in easy
+shot of the Spanish in front and the Spanish behind--surprised, tricked,
+surrounded. And there was no mist to puzzle the enemy's terrible aim!
+But English chivalry stood the test that day, and English swords rang
+true.
+
+Young Essex, a boy of twenty, made the first dash, crying to his men as
+he went,
+
+"For the honor of England, good fellows, follow me!" They followed him,
+and for a while, at least, beat back the enemy with their curtle-axes.
+Lord Willoughby, and many another gallant cavalier, carved his way to
+fame that day.
+
+But Sidney was the hero of Zutphen--Sidney "of the delicate form and
+golden hair." One might almost fancy him the matchless Bayard come
+again, or the very incarnate spirit of battle, so splendidly did his
+genius and courage rise in the storm of carnage. None might hope to
+equal him or match his many deeds that day. Once, seeing Willoughby
+surrounded and far over among the enemy, Sidney, with a few followers,
+fought through to him and accomplished his rescue. Twice he charged the
+Spanish, pressing them back and hacking them down in his path.
+
+At the crisis of the second charge, his horse was shot under him; but he
+quickly mounted another. Then in one last glorious dash, he cut his way
+straight through the Spanish masses, and he did not stop while there was
+a foe to be beaten out of his path. But when he had blazed his solitary
+way entirely through the ranks of the enemy, and was faced with empty
+trenches beyond, he turned his horse to press back again. As he wheeled
+back, a musket-ball struck him in the thigh and gave him a mortal wound.
+The horse he was riding was not trained to battle, and, taking fright at
+the din about him, became utterly unmanageable to Sidney's weakening
+grasp. The terror-stricken animal struggled out of the press and dashed,
+with his almost fainting rider, back to Leicester's distant camp.
+
+As some of the soldiers rushed to him to help him down, Sidney was
+seized with the terrible thirst of the wounded, and begged for a drink
+of water. He was about to press the flagon to his parched lips when he
+saw the eyes of a wounded foot-soldier turned agonizingly toward it.
+Without tasting it, he at once handed it to the dying man, with the
+words,--
+
+"Thy necessity is greater than mine."
+
+But Sidney's necessity was great--so great that the skill of man could
+not avail to save him; and after a long, agonizing illness, he expired
+at Arnhem in the arms of his heart-broken wife.
+
+So lived and died Sir Philip Sidney, the last and most perfect flower of
+knighthood,--failing in his efforts to revive the old passing chivalry,
+but, all unconsciously, achieving more than his cherished ideal in
+teaching men how to live and die nobly in the changed order of things.
+
+
+
+
+SIDNEY IN TOURNAMENT
+
+
+    Call back the gorgeous past!
+    The lists are set, the trumpets sound,
+    Bright eyes, sweet judges, throned around;
+    And stately on the glittering ground
+    The old chivalric life!
+    "Forward!" The signal word is given;
+    Beneath the shock the greensward shakes;
+    The lusty cheer, the gleaming spear,
+    The snow-plume's falling flakes,
+    The fiery joy of strife!
+    Thus, when, from out a changeful heaven
+    O'er waves in eddying tumult driven
+    A stormy smile is cast,
+    Alike the gladsome anger takes
+    The sunshine and the blast!
+    Who is the victor of the day?
+    Thou of the delicate form, and golden hair,
+    And manhood glorious in its midst of May;
+    Thou who upon thy shield of argent bearest
+    The bold device, "The loftiest is the fairest!"
+    As bending low thy stainless crest,
+    "The vestal throned by the west"
+    Accords the old Provencal crown
+    Which blends her own with thy renown;
+    Arcadian Sidney, nursling of the muse,
+    Flower of fair chivalry, whose bloom was fed
+    With daintiest Castaly's most silver dews,
+    Alas! how soon thy amaranth leaves were shed;
+    Born, what the Ausonian minstrel _dream'd to be_,
+    Time's knightly epic pass'd from earth with thee!
+
+    EDWARD BULWER LYTTON
+
+
+    "_The knight's bones are dust,_
+    _And his good sword rust;_
+    _His soul is with the saints, I trust._"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of With Spurs of Gold, by
+Frances Nimmo Greene and Dolly Williams Kirk
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
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+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #25651 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25651)