University of Virginia Library

II.6. CHAPTER VI

TELLS HOW THEY CAME TO EGYPT, OF THE LANDING, AND OF THE FIGHT ON THE BEACH; AND HOW THE TURKS ABANDONED DAMIETTA.

Now that March had set in, by the King's orders, he and the barons and the other pilgrims ordered their ships to be reloaded with wines and victuals, that they might start whenever the King should give the word. So when all was duly in order, the King and Queen went aboard their ship, ["La Monnaie,"] on the Friday before Pentecost; and the King bade his barons follow him in their ships, straight for Egypt. On the Saturday the King set sail, and all the other vessels likewise; which was a very fine sight to behold; for the whole sea, so far as the eye could reach, seemed to be covered with canvas from the sails of the ships, which were reckoned at eighteen hundred vessels, both large and small.

The King put in at a spit of land which is called the Point of Limasol, and all the rest of the fleet

lay round. On the day of Pentecost, the King went ashore, and after we had heard mass there arose a terrible strong wind, blowing from off Egypt; and it blew so hard, that of two thousand and eight hundred knights whom the King led into Egypt there were only seven hundred left him that were not scattered from the King's company and carried to Acre and other foreign places; whence they only rejoined the King long after.

By the next day the wind had dropped; and the King and we, who by God's will had kept with him, set sail forthwith, and fell in with the Prince of the Morea and the Duke of Burgundy, who had been sojourning in the Morea.

On the Thursday after Pentecost the King arrived off Damietta, and there found all the forces of the Sultan on the sea shore, very fine men to look at; for the Sultan's arms are of gold, and they glittered as they caught the sun. The noise that they made with their kettledrums and their Arabian horns was dreadful to hear.

The King summoned his barons to council, to advise what he should do. Many advised him to wait until his followers should get back, seeing

that he had not one third left; but he would not listen to them. The reason he gave was, that it would put heart into his enemies, and also, that there is no harbour, in the sea at Damietta, where he might await his followers, but that any strong wind might take and carry them on to other shores, as had happened to the rest at Pentecost.

It was agreed, that the King should land on the Friday before Trinity, and go and attack the Saracens, if he would not remain on the defensive.

The King ordered my Lord John of Beaumont to provide a galley for Lord Erard of Brienne and myself, to land us and our knights, because the big ships could not come close in along shore. But it pleased God, that when I got back to my ship, I found a small ship that my Lady of Beyrut had given me, (who was first cousin to the Count of Montbeliart and to ourselves) in which eight of my horses were. When the Friday came I and Lord Erard together went ready armed to the King to demand the galley; to which Lord John of Beaumont made answer that we should not have one.

When our men saw there was no getting a galley, they let themselves drop from the big ship into the

dinghy, helter-skelter each man for himself. The sailors, seeing the dinghy sinking lower and lower in the water, took refuge in the big ship, leaving my knights in the dinghy. I asked the master: how many there were more than her load; and then I asked, whether he could undertake to bring our men ashore, provided I unloaded so many at a time? He replied "Yes"; and I so arranged the loads, that he took them ashore in three trips in the ship in which my horses were.

Whilst I was disembarking his men, a knight belonging to Lord Erard of Brienne, named Plonquet, attempted to get down from the big ship into the dinghy, but the dinghy sheering off, he fell into the sea and was drowned.

On returning to my ship, I put into my small boat a squire whom I knighted, named Lord Hugh of Vaucouleurs, together with two very valiant bachelors, one of whom was named Lord Villain of Versey, and the other Lord William of Danmartin. These two had a fierce feud together, and no one was able to make peace between them, for in the Morea they had seized one another by the hair. But I made them forgo their ill-will, and kiss each

other, for I swore to them by all that was holy that we should not land while they were still at enmity.

Then we started to go ashore, and came up with the dinghy astern of the King's big ship; and his men began to shout to me, since I was getting ahead of them, to land alongside of the Banner of Saint Denis, which was going in front of the King in another vessel. But I paid no heed to them, but caused us to be landed opposite a big battalion of Turks, where there were about six thousand men on horseback.

So soon as they saw us touch they came spurring toward us. When we saw them coming, we stuck the points of our shields in the sand, and the staves of our lances in the sand with the points towards them; and when they saw that they could come no further without being run through the belly, they faced about and fled away.

My Lord Baldwin of Rheims, one of the paladins who had landed, sent his squire to bid me wait for him; and I returned word that I would gladly do so, for that a man such as he, was well worth waiting for at a pinch; which he remembered in my favour all his life. With him there joined us

a thousand knights; and I assure you, that when I landed I had no squire nor knight nor varlet whom I had brought with me out of my own country, and yet God did not fail to aid me.

The Count of Jaffa came ashore upon our left, who was cousin-german to the Count of Montbeliart, and of the lineage of Joinville. He it was who made the most noble show at landing; for his galley came up all painted above and below water with his escutcheons, the arms of which are "or with a cross gules patee." He had about three hundred oarsmen in his galley, and each oarsman bore a target with his arms, and to each target was attached a streamer with his arms embossed in gold. And their galley seemed to be flying, as they sped along, urged forwards by the oars of the sailors; and it was like thunder falling from the skies, to hear the noise of the streamers, and the din of the kettledrums and drums and Arabian horns that were in his galley. So soon as the galley was beached as high up as they could bring her, he and his knights leaped out, finely armed and accoutred, and came and formed up alongside us.

I was forgetting to say, that when the Count

I of Jaffa had landed, he caused his tents to be pitched; and so soon as the Saracens saw them pitched, they all collected together in front of us, and returned, spurring on as though to charge us; but when they saw that we gave no sign of flight, they promptly retired again.

On our right, full a good cross-bow's range away, came up the galley which carried the Banner of Saint Denis; and there was a Saracen who, so soon as they landed, dashed into the midst of them, either because he could not hold his horse, or imagining that the rest would follow him; but he was cut all to pieces.

When the King heard say that the Banner of Saint Denis was ashore he came hurrying across his vessel at a great pace, and despite the Legate who was with him, he would not be stayed, but sprang into the sea, up to his armpits in water, and waded, with his shield round his neck, and his helmet on his head, and his spear in his hand, to join his followers on the beach. When he got to land and discerned the Saracens, he asked: What people those were? and they told him:

They were Saracens; and he tucked his spear

under his arm, put his shield In front of him, and would have rushed upon them, if his paladins who were about him would have allowed it.

The Saracens thrice sent word to the Sultan by carrier-pigeons that the King had landed, without getting any answer, for the Sultan was in his sickness; so they concluded that the Sultan must be dead, and abandoned Damietta. The King sent on a knight as scout to learn the truth; this knight came back to the King, I and said that he had been inside the Sultan's I houses, and that it was quite true. Thereupon the King sent for the Legate and all the prelates of the army, and they solemnly sang the " Te Deum."

Then the King and we all got on horseback, and went and camped by Damietta.

The Turks made a blunder in leaving Damietta, without cutting the bridge of boats, which would have put us to great inconvenience. They did us much harm, however, when they went away, by setting fire to the bazaar, where all the merchandise and raw goods were; the result of which was much the same as though some one to-day should set fire which God forbid! to the Little Bridge at Paris.

Let us say then, that Almighty God showed us great favour in defending us from death and danger at our landing; we landing on foot, and attacking mounted foes.

NOTE TO CHAPTER VI [1]

King Louis had considerable difficulty in procuring vessels to carry his forces from Cyprus to Egypt. The three shipbuilding communities who supplied transport for crusades the Genoese, Pisans, and Venetians had each quarrelled with somebody. A quarrel had been "stirred up by the devil " between the Viscount of Beaumont and his Genoese crew, which so upset the Viscourt, that he was scarcely prevented from breaking up the camp and betaking himself with his friends and followers to Acre. The Genoese and Pisans were squabbling with each other, and demanded exorbitant prices for ship hire; and the Venetians had quarrelled with the King of Cyprus' bailiff. King Louis was obliged to send twice over to Acre, and the second time such important persons as the Patriarch, the Constable, and the Bishop of Soissons, in order to pacify these quarrels and procure ships. For landing and river transport he had lighters built in Cyprus itself.

Moreover, some of the stores amassed in Cyprus ran short, and Louis was obliged to apply to the Venetians for provisions; and gratefully received a consignment which the Emperor Frederick sent him.

Of the landing at Damietta there is a very interesting

and well-written account from a certain Guy (a knight in the household of the Viscount of Melun) to a student brother in Paris; part of which much abbreviated runs as follows:

" The Saracens heard from their spies that we intended to attack Alexandria. They therefore drew off their men from Cairo and Damietta, and waited for us at Alexandria, thinking to fall upon us when we arrived weary, and put us to the sword. Now one morning the wind and waves went down, and our scattered vessels drew together. We sent a pilot up into the rigging to discover our whereabouts. After careful study he exclaimed, 'God help us! We are off Damietta!' The look-out on the other ships confirmed this. We all collected together, and the King standing up m the midst powerfully exhorted us. 'Friends and followers,' said he, 'we are unconquerable if we are undivided. The divine will has brought us hither; let us land, be the enemy's forces what it may. It is not I that am King of France, not I that am Holy Church: it is you yourselves, united, that are Church and King.... In us Christ shall triumph, giving glory, honour, and blessing not to us, but to His own Holy Name.'

" Meanwhile those that dwelt in the town and along the shore could see our fleet approaching, fifteen hundred ships. They wondered and were astounded, and sent four of their best galleys, as scouts, to inquire who we were and what we wanted; who when they approached and saw our flags, hesitated, and slackened speed, and made as if to go back. . . . We shot fiery darts at them, and stones from the mangonels, and flasks of quick-lime which broke and blinded them. Three of the galleys sank at once; the fourth got off. We saved some of the crews from drowning,

and put them to well-devised tortures, to extract the truth; and learnt, that we were expected at Alexandria and that Damietta was empty. Those that escaped (carried the tidings to those on shore) . . . and the whole host of them dashed towards us furious, ready and burning to fight on land or water....

" After the fight some of the slaves and captive Christians in Damietta burst their chains, and came running forth to meet us with shouting and rejoicings, crying, ' Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! "

As soon as the Crusaders were assured of the town, the basilica which already in the ebb and flow of the Crusades had undergone several similar transmutations was repurified and rededicated to the Virgin; and the King and army, entering in procession barefoot, heard Mass, and took possession of the place. The Queen and other ladies were quartered in the Sultan's palace and other principal houses; but the King with the Legate and the bulk of the army camped in the fields outside the town, in the same island of the Delta on which they had landed, which is called Maalot, and is separated by a branch of the river from Damietta. This arrangement led to some inconvenience; for the army suffered greatly from heat and flies and the fleas that came out of the sand, and was continually harassed by the pilferings and nightly murders committed by the Bedouin Arabs of the neighbourhood, who even dug up buried corpses, in order to get the Sultan's reward of six besants for every Christian's head.

The Prince of the Morea mentioned in this chapter was William of Villehardouin, great-nephew to that Geoffrey who chronicled the fourth Crusade.