The Deeds of God through the Franks

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Ready to retreat, the emperor, fearing that, with the Frankish
bulwark broken, the Turks might now more freely move against him,
gave orders to his troops, "Go," he said, "and promulgate an imperial
edict throughout this region. Lay waste the Bulgar's land, so that,
when the Turks attack to depopulate our lands, they will find no
useful supplies." Willingly or not, the Christians who had been
eager to rejoin us were compelled to return with the emperor. The
knights hastened to carry out the tyrant's orders, while the
conscripted foot-soldiers followed the army. In their attempt to
follow the swift cavalry, they fell into inextricable problems
because of their weakness. Therefore, wearied by the effort, they
continually dropped away, falling in their tracks, worn out by
exhaustion. When the tyrant returned to the city of Constantinople,
the troops returned, by way of Greece, to the lands from which they
had come. Let this book end here.

BOOK SIX

When we read in the authentic histories of the holy Fathers about the
wars waged under God's direction, and when we see that such things
were accomplished by inconsequential people of such little faith (we
do not place in this class the blessed Joshua, David, Samuel, but we
are speaking of the despicable vanity of the Jewish people, with the
exception of those whose radiance is now celebrated by the church of
God), then we might think, if reason did not intervene, that such
wretched men, serving God for their bellies only, were more pleasing
to God than those whose whole spirit was devoted to him. For them,
whose only virtue perhaps was that they were not idolaters,
everything went well; they were frequently victorious, and had an
abundance of everything. But for these Christians, victories came
about only with great difficulty, at great cost; they had little
wealth, and they lived in continual and great need, leading the lives
not of knights but of piously impoverished monks. All of this is
explained, however, by the grace of reason, when we recall that "God
torments with whips every child whom he loves,"[180] and to those
whom he deprives of the things of this world out of the rigor of his
teaching, he gives spiritual gifts, out of the affection of his sweet
love.

Therefore, after Peter had told what the blessed Andrew had revealed
in a dream to him about the Lord's lance, the Christian people were
filled with joy, and, in anticipation of the marvelous event, emerged
out of the depths of despair. Lead by this man,[181] everyone rushed
to the designated place, and a hole was dug beside the altar of the
Lord in the church of the blessed Peter. After thirteen men had dug
up the earth from dawn to dusk, Peter himself found the Lance. What
they saw before them corresponded in every way with the dream-vision
which had been reported to them; they all began to rejoice, and their
boldness against the enemy matched their joy. They bore off the
lance with great exultation, and from that day forth they confidently
went about planning to wage war. Then the leaders of the Christian
army met in council, considered together what action was needed, and
decided that the wisest thing to do before fighting was to meet first
with the Turks, to urge them not to occupy Christian territory, not
to drive the servants of Christ out of their lands, and not to kill
them, but instead to remain within their own territories, content
with their own lands. Peter the Hermit, who had helped to initiate
the undertaking, was summoned, together with a man named Herluin, an
interpreter proficient in both languages, and they were both sent to
the pagan prince, with instructions about what to say. When they
reached the tent of the pagan, and stood in the terrible presence of
the diabolical man, they delivered a speech like this: "You should
understand that our leaders are shocked to find that you have
profanely and wickedly undertaken to usurp a land firmly and freely
possessed since ancient times by Christians. Since you have
undoubtedly learned by our relentless victories against you that
Christ's power has not declined, and you have found that your forces
have little power against Christ, our leaders think that you, having
been beaten so many times, will in no way dare to resume the madness
of war against God. Therefore we unanimously judge that, in your
wisdom, you have come here for no other reason than to learn the
teaching of our faith from the Christian bishops who have come with
us. For we are absolutely certain that you will hardly be able to
ensure your safety if you try to wage war against the Catholic belief.
Therefore, aware of your ignorance, we ask that you desist from
this presumption, for we know that God gave the blessed apostle Peter
authority over the city, and he who was its first bishop intends to
restore the worship of God, which he was the first to bring here,
using us, sinners that we are, as his instruments. Our princes, in
their extreme generosity, will permit you to carry off everything
which you have brought here, nor, if you retreat peacefully, will any
of us do you any harm whatever."

But Kherboga was deeply stung by the words of Peter, and when the
arrogant Turks who accompanied him raged when they heard these things,
he said: "We shall demonstrate that we have every right to the land
which you say has belonged to your Christianity since ancient times,
particularly since we took it, by means of our remarkable strength,
from a nation scarcely better than women. Moreover, we think that
you are mad to come from the ends of the earth, threatening with all
your might to drive us from our homes, when you have insufficient
supplies, too few arms, and too few men. Not only do we refuse to
accept the name of Christians, but we spit upon it in disgust. To
respond briefly to the message you have brought: return, you who form
this delegation, to your leaders swiftly and tell them that if they
are willing to become like us and renounce the Christ upon whom you
seem to rely, we shall give them not only this land, but land of
greater wealth and size. After granting them castles and cities, we
shall allow none of them to remain foot-soldiers, but shall make them
all knights; and, when we have shared the same ceremonial rites, each
side will rejoice in mutual and close friendship. But if they shall
decide not to accept this proposal, they will undoubtedly die
horribly, or endure the exile of eternal imprisonment, as slaves to
us and to our descendants." He spoke, and the delegation quickly
returned and told the leaders of the Christian army everything that
had taken place.

The army was still in dire straits, suffering, on the one hand, from
extreme hunger, and, on the other hand, tormented by fear of the
pagans who surrounded them. Finally, placing their faith in divine
assistance, they observed a three-day fast, instituted by the
splendid bishop of Puy. In every church they poured forth suppliant
litanies, purifying themselves by sincere confession of sins; when
the bishop had granted them absolution, they faithfully took
communion of the body and blood of the Lord. Each gave alms
according to his ability, and all prayed that divine offerings might
be made for them. Finally, having derived some comfort from these
activities, they prepared to fight, drawing up six lines of battle
inside the city.

The first line of battle, which would bear the brunt of the Turkish
attack, was led by Hugh, who truly was, as his cognomen indicated,
great; he and his men were supported by the entire contingent of
Franks, led by the count of Flanders. I have heard about this royal
man that, before the battle began, his quartermaster paid a
remarkable amount of money for a camel's foot, since he was unable to
find anything better for him to eat at that point. The unusual
quality of this food had so weakened this man of God that he was
scarcely able to remain on his horse, and when someone suggested that
he not go into battle, but remain with those besieging the citadel,
he quickly replied, "No! I certainly shall go; I only hope that I
find a blessed death there with those who are to die today!"

The noble duke Godfrey and his men formed the second line. Count
Robert of Normandy and his men made up the third line, and the fourth
was led by the splendid bishop of Puy, carrying with him the recently
found Lance of the Savior. This line was composed of the bishop's
men and those of Raymond, count of Saint-Gilles, who remained within
the city, blockading the citadel, so that the inhabitants might not
escape. Tancred and his men made up the fifth line, and Bohemund
with his army made up the sixth.

Bishops, priests, clerics, monks, dressed in their ecclesiastical
garb, marched forward, holding their crosses before them, eager to
aid the soldiers with their tearful prayers, themselves awaiting the
gift of martyrdom, if they should happen to be cut down. Others
looked out from the ramparts of the walls, to watch the outcome of
the battle, holding the sign of the Lord's cross in their hands,
faithfully making the sign of the cross over the army as it marched
forth. In the order I have given, they marched out the gate in front
of the temple which our people call the Mahometry, walking so slowly
that even a weak old woman would not have asked for a slower pace.
God Almighty, with what heartfelt groans were you invoked; while
their frail, frightened bodies were being overcome by long hunger,
how rapidly did the grief of their wretched hearts reach your ears, O
most high one! With what anguish were their minds still lingering in
their racked bodies! When weakness was compelling them to despair of
victory, God alone remained steadfast in the minds of all in their
suffering for You. Their hearts were shattered by long anguish;
desiccated by famine, their eyes were too dry to weep; since the
exterior man was almost without material substance, spiritual desires
struggled violently. Good God, what could you have denied to such
devotion when you saw them, or rather made them burn in such agony?
When I consider how they maintained a military fierceness on their
faces, while their inmost hearts were preparing to undergo martyrdom,
I seriously think that no army ever equalled their constancy. Indeed
I truly should have said that they raised a shout to heaven; but then
I say that they, who performed not with physical strength but with
unusual daring of soul, made the sacred trumpets sound.

Meanwhile Kherboga saw them leaving the city, moving slowly; he
laughed at the small size of the group, and said, "Let them leave,
the better that they may, when they have fled from battle, be shut
out of the city." But when the entire army had passed through the
gates, and Kherbog noticed that the Frankish forces were mighty in
order and in number, then, at last, he trembled. As he made
preparations to flee, he immediately ordered the master of his palace
to let it be known throughout the army, as soon as he saw flames
coming from the nearest tents, that the French troops had won the
victory. Meanwhile Kherboga began to retreat, little by little,
heading for the mountains, while our men were pursuing him
relentlessly. Then the Turks, uselessly clever, split their forces
into two parts, one of which moved along the shore of the sea, while
the other waited in place for the Franks to reach them, thinking that
in this manner they might surround our men. When our men perceived
this, they turned audaciously towards the Turkish troops, separating
themselves from their fellows; because of this excessive boldness,
they were the only group of our army that suffered a loss, with only
a few knights and scarcely any foot-soldiers escaping alive. The
instigator of this foray, together with some others, was Clairambaut
of Vandeuil, who, although reputable in his own lands, did nothing
useful in the East. Meanwhile, to face the Turks at the edge of the
sea, a seventh group was formed out of the two armies led by duke
Godfrey and the count of Normandy, and a certain count Renaud was
placed in charge. That day the battle was very bitter, and many of
our men were slaughtered by the arrows of the enemy. The cavalry of
the enemy extended from the river Pharphar to the mountains, length
of two miles. Squadrons of pagans attacked from both sides, and
struck with arrows and javelins the group of Franks whom our men had
placed in the vanguard as the strongest and most likely to resist the
Turkish attacks. In charge of them was magnificent Hugh, regal in
mind, no less brave than his ancestors, who proudly called out to his
men, "Endure, and wait courageously for the second and third
discharge of missiles, because they will then flee more quickly than
speech."

And lo, innumerable forces began to come down from the mountains, and
their horses and standards shone brightly; our men, however, were
stunned even more now, fearing that these men were bringing
reinforcements for the Turks, until they discovered that this was aid,
now visible, sent by Christ. After the battle, they thought that
these glorious leaders were, in particular, the martyrs George,
Mercurius, and Demetrius. These things were seen by many of our men,
and when they told what they had seen to others, their words were
taken in good faith as true.[182] And if celestial help appeared
long ago to the Maccabees fighting for circumcision and the meat of
swine, how much more did those who poured out their blood for Christ,
purifying the churches and propagating the faith, deserve such help.
Therefore, when the first line of the enemy at the shore were driven
back by our men, unable to bear our attack, they set fire to the
grass, thereby giving the agreed-upon signal to retreat to those who
were guarding the tents during the battle. In response to the signal,
they snatched anything of any value, and fled. But the Franks, when
they saw where the pagans greater forces were, raced to their tents.
Duke Godfrey, the count of Normandy, and Hugh the Great joined forces
to attack those who were riding along the shore. These three,
together with their men, with the image of the son of God crucified
for their sake before their eyes, eagerly plunged into the thick of
the melee. When our men saw this, they too drove forward vigorously.
The enemy, screaming like madmen, rushed to meet them. For it was
their custom when they entered battle to make constant, terrible
noise with the metal shafts they used as spears, as well as with
cymbals and with their own horrifying voices, so that horses and men
could scarcely check their terror of such sound. But their efforts
were entirely in vain; our men immediately overcame the enemy; once
the battle had been joined, they subdued the enemy in the first
attack, encouraging those who had for a long time been considering
flight to carry out their plan. And even so, our men pursued them
through the middle of their encampment. They were not carried away
by the desire for the booty lying about, but instead preferred to
feed only on the blood of the enemies of Christ, pursuing them to the
bridge over the Pharphar, and to the fortress of Tancred. The
glorious spoils covered the ground of the enemy encampment; the tents,
though filled with gold, silver, and many kinds of equipment, stood
there abandoned; herds of sheep, cows, goats, horses, mules, asses
were spread about everywhere; there also was a great supply of wheat,
wine, and grain. But, when the Syrian and Armenian colonists, who
were scattered throughout the region, learned that the Franks had won
an unexpected victory, they rushed into the mountains to face the
fleeing Turks, killing those whom they found. Our own men, joyfully
shouting praises to Christ for his help, entered the city with the
honor of a heavenly victory. The Turk in charge of the citadel,
however, seeing the leader of his own army fleeing with our men in
hot pursuit, became frightened. Judging that he could no longer
defend the citadel, he immediately asked for the standard of one of
our leaders. The count of Saint-Gilles, who was close to the spot
where the request was made, quickly ordered that his own standard be
offered to the man who made the request, who promptly affixed it to
the tower. But the Lombards, striving to obtain the favor of their
leader Bohemund (for they relied upon hjis favor), cried out to the
man in charge of the citadel, "This is not Bohemund's standard." He
asked to whom did it belong, and when he was told that it belonged to
the count of Saint Gilles, he took it down and gave it back to the
count. Having asked for and received Bohemund's standard, he also
accepted the promise that those who were with him might, if any
wished to accept our religion, remain with Bohemund. Those who did
not, might freely leave. With this agreement, the citadel was
surrendered to Bohemund, who then chose men to guard it. After a few
days, the man who surrendered the citadel received baptism, together
with the other pagans who decided to take communion in the name of
Christ. Those who chose to remain pagan were free to do so, and they
were brought by Bohemund himself to Saracen territory.

On August 28, on the eve of their passion, Peter and Paul waged this
battle, out of compassion for their wretched city, unable to tolerate
the expulsion of the new citizens, who had driven out the pagans who
had contaminated the holy temple of God. And it was right that they
took pity on the city which they had both instructed by their
preaching. In the churches stables for horses had been set up, and
in part of the great basilica of saint Peter they had erected house
of their Mahomet. While the defeated enemy was retreating in
different directions, the mountains and the vallies, the fields and
the forests, the roads and pathless places overflowed with the dead
and the dying, and with innumerable wounded men. The objects of
God's sudden compassion, however, were relieved of the pain of daily
hunger; where an egg might have cost two sous, one might now come
away with a whole cow for less than twelve cents. To sum up briefly,
where hunger had raged like a disease, there was now so much meat and
other food that great abundance seemed everywhere to pour in a sudden
eruption from the earth, and God seemed to have opened the cataracts
of heaven.[183] There were so many tents that, after all of our
people had plundered one, they were so wealthy and sated with the
weight of their booty, that almost no one wanted to take any more.
If a poor man took something that he wanted, no wealthier man tried
to take it from him by force, but each permitted the other to take
what he wanted without fight.

Then our leaders, duke Godfrey, the count of Saint-Gilles, Bohemund,
the count of Normandy and Robert of Flanders, and all the others,
consulted with each other, and sent Hugh the Great and Baldwin, the
count of Mons, together with some others of great repute, to the
emperor, so that he might receive Antioch from them, according to
their agreement. They departed, but afterwards were slow to return
to those who had sent them. For, in a certain place, the Turks
attacked them; those who had horses nearby escaped; those who were
not close enough to their horses were carried away as captives, or
were slain by the sword. We are not at all certain yet about the
unfortunate fate that befell the count of Mons. According to some
people, this provided Hugh the Great with a reason to delay his
return; although capable in other matters, he showed himself less
concerned in obtaining those things which are thought to be fitting
for such a great man. A man highly fastidious about honor, he was
afraid of being less well off among men to whom he was superior or in
no way way inferior, but who were either more tenacious or more eager
to acquire things. However, no one should complain about the return
of a man who later died with the deserved repute of a martyr and fine
soldier.

Finally, a short time later, they began again to consider how to get
to Jerusalem, a task for which they had suffered so much, and how the
people who so greatly wanted to arrive might be governed until they
got there. The leaders took into consideration the fact that there
would be very little water during the heat of summer, and therefore
decided that the journey would be put off until the calends of
November. Meanwhile, after everyone had agreed to this plan, the
nobles of the army visited the various cities and towns they had
captured, and sent heralds among the conquered people, to tell them
that if anyone of them were in need, he could join them and receive
remuneration for his services. Among them was a knight,
exceptionally skilled with weapons, among the leading followers of
the count of Saint-Gilles, named Raymond Pelet, to whom many knights
and foot-soldiers had affiliated themselves. His generosity and
energy had attracted many men, and he set out with a large army into
Saracen territory, and the first place they reached was fortress
called Talamina. The inhabitants, since they were Syrians,
immediately surrendered to him. After staying in this town eight
days, he heard that not far away there was town filled with a large
group of Saracens. He quickly launched an assault to enter the town;
God led the penetration, and the town was captured. Those
inhabitants who agreed to become Christian were spared; those who
refused were killed. Having finished this business, they gave thanks
to God and returned to Talamina. On the third day they again went
out, this time to attack a village called Marrah, a fine city, well
fortified, where people of many different nations had assembled.
Close to the previously mentioned fortress, it attracted the refuse
of Saracens and Turks from nearby towns and cities, especially from
Aleph. A force of pagans ready to fight approached our men, who
judged themselves able to fight in the usual manner, but who were
quickly deceived by the pagan's trickery. The enemy, advancing in
great numbers, did great harm to our men. All that day each side in
turn advanced and retreated. Our men suffered from the intense heat,
and, their insides parched with unusual thirst, weary and unable to
find relief, they decided to pitch their tents near the city. When
the inhabitants understood that our men were faltering somewhat (it
was the Syrians who first began to talk of flight more seriously),
they became more aggressive in response to their enemies' fears, and
no longer were afraid to attack. Struck down in this attack, many of
our men piously delivered their souls to God; they died on the fifth
of July. The remaining Franks returned to Talamina, remaining there
with their leader Raymond for several days. Those who had remained
at Antioch enjoyed peace and prosperity.

For reasons hidden from us, God confounded their rest with a cloud.
He who had led them, and piously nourished both their internal and
external needs, a man admired by God and by the world, Adhemar,
bishop of Puy, fell ill; the Omnipotent in his generous compassion
permitted him to wipe away the sweat of his pious labor in a
sabbatical of eternal rest. He died on the holy day of
Saint-Peter-in-Chains,[184] and he had earned absolution by him to
whom the keys to the Kingdom and the powers of absolution belonged,
and it was fitting that Peter greet him at the gates of the celestial
realm. A great sadness and bitter grief arose throughout the entire
army of Christ; when each person, of whatever rank, sex, and age,
recalled how many benefits he had received from this most
compassionate of men, and understood that the bishop was past help,
he grieved inconsolably. At his funeral the princes themselves let
out heartfelt groans fit for the death of the entire army. Before he
was even buried, such offerings of money were made at the litter on
which his corpse was carried by the people over whom he had ruled
like a father, that I think no one had ever made such offerings in
such a short time at the altars of any nations. These offerings were
immediately distributed to the poor, for the benefit of his soul.
While he was alive, he showed great care for the souls of the poor,
always teaching the rich to love the needy, to help them in their
need, insisting that they were the guardians of the poor. He said:
"He will be judged mercilessly who has shown no mercy. If you do not
show compassion for your inferiors, who are also by nature your
brothers, and if you do not share with them equally those things that
were created by God for you and them, which are now unfairly seized
from them by you, you will undoubtedly shut the gate of divine mercy
for yourselves. Give them, I say, out of gratitude for these things,
some of your goods, certain that even as they cannot survive in this
world without you, so you cannot live eternally without them." Of
these and similar matters the remarkable man often reminded them.

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