Description of scurvy on the Seventh Crusade by Jean de Joinville (1249)

KING OF FRANCE. 77 CHAPTER VII. FTER the two battles above described the army began to experience great misery ;for at the end of nine days the dead bodies ofour people who had fallen rose to the surface of the water (and it was said that this happened because their gall-bladders had putrefied), and they floated to the bridge that joined the two camps, and could not pass through because the bridge rested upon the water. There was such anumber of them that the whole surface of the river was covered with dead bodies from one bank to the other, and for the distance of a stone’s-throw up the stream. The king engaged ahundred of the camp-followers, who were occupied for eight days. The dead bodies of the Saracens, who were circumcised, they threw over to the other side of the bridge, and let them float down the current ;but the Christians they buried in deep trenches, one with another. Isaw there the Count of Artois’ chamberlains and many others looking for their friends among the dead, but Inever heard that any one was identified. We had no fish in the camp to eat during Lent except the karmout (a kind of eel), which preyed upon the dead bodies, for they are agluttonous fish. And in con- 78 SAINT LOUIS, sequence of this misfortune, and of the unhealthiness of the country, where never adrop of rain falls, we were attacked with the army sickness, which was such that our legs shrivelled up and became covered with black spots, and spots of the colour of earth, like an old boot ; and in such of us as fell sick the gums became putrid with sores, and no man recovered of that sickness, but all had to die. It was asure sign of death when the nose began to bleed :there was nothing left then but to die. About afortnight afterwards the Turks, in order to starve us out (at which many of our people were astonished), took several of their galleys which were above our camp, dragged them overland to agood league below our camp, and placed them in the river by which supplies came from Damietta. These galleys brought famine upon us, for no one now ventured to come to us from Damietta to bring us provisions by ascending the stream. We knew nothing of all this until asmall vessel of the count of Flanders, which fought its way past them, brought us the news, by which time the sultan’s galleys had captured eighty of our galleys that were coming from Damietta, and killed all who were on board. There thence arose such ascarcity in the camp that when Easter had arrived an ox was worth 80 livres, a sheep 30 livres, apig 30 livres, an egg 12 deniers, and a 60-gallon measure of wine 10 livres. When the king and the barons saw that, they agreed that the king should withdraw his army from before Babylon, and join the camp of the Duke of Burgundy, which was on the river that goes to Damietta. To effect ajunction of his troops with greater safety, the king threw up an outwork before the bridge between the two camps, so that it could be entered on horseback KING OF FRANCE. 79 from two sides. As soon as the outwork was completed the king’s army was put in array, and the Turks made a fierce assault upon the camp. For all that, neither the camp nor any of the people moved until all the baggage had been carried across then :the king crossed, and with him his division, and after that all the other barons, excepting Monseigneur de Chatillon, who covered the retreat. And at the very moment of entering the outwork, Monseigneur Erard de Valery rescued Monseigneur John, his brother, whom the Turks were carrying off aprisoner. When the main body of the army had crossed over, those who remained in the outwork were in great danger ;for the outwork was not high, so that the Turks on horseback fired at them point-blank, while the Saracens on foot flung clods of earth into their faces. They would all have been cut off had not the Count of Anjou, who was afterwards King of Sicily, gone to their rescue and brought them off safe and sound. The honour of that day fell to Monseigneur Geoffrey de Mussamboure, from out of all who were in the outwork. On the eve of Shrove-Tuesday Iwitnessed awonderful thing, which Ishould like to recount to you, for on that day was interred Monseigneur Hugh de Landricourt, who was in my company bearing abanner. While he was lying on his bier in my chapel, six of my knights were leaning against some sacks of barley :and because they were talking aloud in my chapel and disturbing the priest with their noise, Iwent up to them and told them to be silent, and said that it was unbecoming in knights and gentlemen to talk while mass was being chanted. But they only laughed, and answered jestingly that they would find another husband for his widow. Then Irebuked them, and said that such 8o SAINT LOUIS, words were neither wise nor witty, and that they had very soon forgotten their comrade. And God took such vengeance for this, that on the morrow, at the great battle of Shrove-Tuesday, they were all killed or mortally wounded ;and it happened that all their six wives married asecond time. In consequence of the wounds Ihad received on Shrove-Tuesday, the army sickness attacked me in the mouth and legs, besides adouble tertian fever and so severe acold in the head that the mucus ran from my nostrils, and on account of these sicknesses, I took to my bed until mid-Lent. My priest therefore chanted the mass in my tent in front of my bed, and he, too, had the same illness. Whence it came to pass that while in the act of consecrating the elements, he turned faint. Seeing that he was like to fall, I, who had put on my tunic, sprang out of bed barefooted, and held him in my arms, and told him to complete the consecration leisurely and properly, for that Iwould not let go of him until he had finished. He soon recovered himself, completed the consecration, and finished chanting the mass to the end ;but he never chanted it again. After these things the counsellors of the king and of the sultan appointed aday for aconference. The following conditions were agreed to :—That Damietta should be restored to the sultan, who should give up to the king the kingdom of Jerusalem ;and the sultan was to take charge of the sick who were at Damietta, and the salted meat (for they never touch pork), and the king’s engines, until such time as he should send for them all. Then they asked the king’s counsellors what security they would give that Damietta should be restored. The king’s counsellors proposed that they should detain one of the king’s brothers, either the KING OF FRANCE. 81 Count of Anjou or tlie Count of Poitiers, until the restoration of Damietta. The Saracens replied that they would make no treaty unless the king’s own person was left with them in pledge ;whereupon Monseigneur Geoffrey de Sargines, the good knight, declared that he would rather that the Saracens should take or kill them to aman, than that he should ever hear himself reproached with having left the king in pledge. The sickness became much more severe throughout the camp, and the proud flesh in our men’s mouths grew to such excess that the barber-surgeons were obliged to cut it off, to give them achance of chewing their food or swallowing anything. It was piteous to hear through the camp the shrieks of the people who were being operated upon for proud flesh, for they shrieked like women in childbirth. When the king perceived that he could remain there no longer without himself and his people all perishing, he gave orders and instructions for setting out on Tuesday evening, at nightfall, after the octave of Easter, with the intention of returning to Damietta. The king commanded Jocelyn de Cornaut, his brothers, and the other engineers, to sever the ropes which fastened the bridges between us and the Saracens ;but they did not. We embarked on the Tuesday in the afternoon, after dinner, Iand the two knights who remained to me of all my company. When the hour of nightfall arrived I bade the mariners raise the anchor and let us float down with the stream ;but they said they dared not, because the sultan’s galleys which were between us and Damietta would put us to death. The mariners had kindled large fires to gather the sick to their galleys, and the latter had drawn down to the bank of the river. While Iwas entreating the ship’s people to start, the 82 SAINT LOUIS, Saracens broke into the camp, and Isaw by the light of the fires that they were slaughtering the sick by the river-side. While my mariners were raising the anchor, those whose duty it was to bring off the sick cut the ropes of their anchors and galleys, and came down upon our small vessels, pressing us so close together that they narrowly missed sending us to the bottom. When we had got clear of this danger, and were dropping down the river, the king, who was suffering much from the army sickness and from dysentery, could have saved himself on board the galleys had he pleased, but he answered that, please God, he would not quit his people. In the evening he fainted several times. They cried out to us who were on the river to wait for the king, and when we refused to wait they fired upon us with bolts, wherefore we were obliged to wait until they should give us permission to set sail. Iwill now tell you how the king was made prisoner, as he himself related it to me. He said that he had left his own division, and, together with Monseigneur Geoffrey de Sargines, had joined the corps of Monseigneur Walter de Chatillon, which formed the rear-guard. And the king said that he was mounted on alittle hack, with ahousing of silk, and that behind him of all his knights and sergeants there remained only Monseigneur Geoffrey de Sargines, who conducted the king to the village in which he was taken ;and the kinjj told me that Monseigneur Geoffrey de Sargines defended him against the Saracens just as agood valet drives away the flies from his master’s cup ;for each time the Saracens drew near he clapped his spear—which he earned between himself and the saddle-bow—under his arm, and charged them and drove them away from the king. And in this manner he brought him on to the village, and they car- KING OF FRANCE. 83 ried the king into ahouse, and laid him all but dead in the lap of awoman of the burgher class from Paris, and they thought he would not hold out till the evening. Thither came Monseigneur Philip de Montfort, and said to the king that he saw the emir with whom he had negotiated for atruce, and that, if he pleased, he would go to him and conclude the truce upon the terms demanded by the Saracens. The king prayed him to go, for that he much wished it. He went to the Saracen, who took off his turban from his head and the ring from his finger, as apledge that he would keep faith. In the meanwhile agreat misfortune befell our people, for a traitor sergeant, named Marcel, began to call out to them :“Sir knights, yield yourselves, for such is the king’s pleasure, and do not cause the king to be put to death.” All believed that such was the king’s command, and surrendered their swords to the Saracens. The emir observed that the Saracens were leading our people away captive. Then he said to Monseigneur Philip that it was not fitting that he should accord a truce to our people, for he saw that they were prisoners. Thus it happened to Monseigneur Philip that all our people were prisoners excepting himself, because he was an envoy. Now, there is abad custom in -the country of the Paynim, which is, that when the king sends messengers to the sultan, or the sultan to the king, and either the king or the sultan dies before the messengers return, those messengers become prisoners or slaves to whichever side they belong, whether Christians or Saracens. While this misfortune overtook our people who were on land, the same thing happened to us who were on the water ;for the wind blew from Damietta, and counteracted the current, and the knights whom the king had placed in his light vessels to defend the sick fled 84 SAINT LOUIS, away. Our sailors, too, left the main stream and got into acreek, so that we were obliged to turn back again towards the Saracens. As we were going along by water, we came, just before the dawn broke, to the passage where were lying the sultan’s galleys that had prevented supplies from coming to us from Damietta. Agreat tumult arose, for they fired against ourselves and against our people who were riding along the bank of the river such aquantity of darts dipped in Greek fire that it seemed as if the stars were falling from the skies. When our sailors had extricated us from the arm of the river into which we had strayed, we came upon the king’s light boats which the king had assigned for the protection of our sick fleeing in all haste to Damietta. Then awind arose coming from Damietta, which blew so strong as to neutralize the current. On both sides of the river there was agreat number of small boats belonging to our people which were unable to make downward way, and had been stopped and captured by the Saracens. And they put the people to death and threw their bodies into the water, and pulled out the chests and baggage from the vessels they had taken. The Saracens who were upon the bank on horseback kept on discharging darts at us because we would not go to them. My people had fastened upon me atourney hauberk, which Ihad put on lest some of the darts which fell into our vessel might wound me. At that moment my people who were in the forepart of the vessel called out to me :“Sir, sir, your sailors, because the Saracens are threatening them, mean to take you ashore.” Iraised myself up by my arms, weak as Iwas, and drew my sword upon them, and declared that I would slay them if they took me ashore. They replied KING OF FRANCE. 85 that Imight choose which Iwould have done, either they would take me ashore, or they would anchor in the middle of the river until the wind went down. I told them that Iwould rather they anchored in the middle of the river than be taken ashore, where Isaw we should be slain, so they let go the anchor. It was not long before we saw four of the sultan’s galleys approach, with athousand men on board. Then Icalled my knights and my people, and asked what they desired we should do, whether surrender ourselves to the Sultan's galleys, or to the people who were on the bank. We all agreed that we should prefer surrendering ourselves to the sultan’s galleys, because they would keep us all together, to surrendering ourselves to those who were on the land, because they would separate us, and sell us to the Bedaween. Then one of my clerks, who was a native of Doullens, said :“Sir, Ido not hold to this council.” Iasked him to what he would hold, and he said :“Iam of opinion that we should let ourselves be killed, so shall we all go to Paradise.” But we did not agree with him. When Isaw that we must be taken, Ithrew acasket, with my jewels and relics, into the river. Then one of my sailors said to me :“Sir, if you do not let me say that you are the king’s cousin, they will put us all to death, and you with us.” Itold him that Iwas quite willing that he should say what he pleased. When the people in the first galley, who were coming to run us down amidships, heard that, they cast out their anchors close to our vessel. Then God sent aSaracen, who was of the emperor’s land, who swain to our vessel, and, throwing his arms round me, said :“Sir, you are lost if you do not act with resolution, for you must leap VI CONTENTS. Chapter V. Page The'Nile. Paradise and its produce. Construction of acauseway across the Rexi. Camp attacked on Christmas-day. Rattle between the two rivers. Saracens discharge Greek fire. Destruction of the King’s defence-works. Passage of the Rexi. Battle oi Shrove Tuesday. Death of the Count of Artois. De Joinville wounded. St. Louis’ heroism. De Joinville’s defence of the bridge. Defeat of the Saracens Chapter VI. Manners and customs of the Bedaweens. Night attack upon the camp. Avaliant priest. General attack upon the camp. St. Louis rescues his brother. Incidents of the battle. Repulse of the Saracens. The Halca. Conspiracy of the Emirs .... Chapter VII. Sufferings of the Crusaders. The army sickness. Supplies intercepted by the Saracens. The army recrosses the river. Impiety punished. De Joinville. falls sick. Negotiations with the Saracens. Commencement of the retreat. St. Louis taken prisoner. Violation of the truce. De Joinville encounters an adverse wind. Surrender to the Sultan’s galleys. Passes himself off as the king’s cousin. Courtesy of the Saracen knights. Interview with the Sultan’s Admiral. Slaughter of the sick. De Joinville rejoins his comrades in captivity Chapter VIII. Prisoners tempted to renounce Christianity. Threatened with death. St. Louis threatened with torture. Ransom of the prisoners agreed upon. The Sultan’s encampment. Assassination of the Sultan. Prisoners in great peril. New treaty with the Emirs. Oath taken by the Emirs. Profane oath refused by the King. Illtreatment of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Damietta restored to the Saracens Chapter IX. Massacre of the prisoners discussed by the Emirs. Their release. Some of the principal Crusaders return to France. Payment of the ransom. Money taken from the Templars. St. Louis’ scrupulous good faith. Release of the Count of Poitiers. Exploits of Valter de Chatillon. Martyrdom of the Bishop of Soissons. The renegade. Sufferings of the Queen at Damietta. Birth of aPrince. St. Louis at sea. Dice thrown overboard. Arrival at Acre . CONTENTS. vii Chapter X. Page De Joinville’s tribulations at Acre. His grievous illness. Munificence of the Count of Poitiers. The King’s return to France deliberated in Council. Majority in favour of his immediate return. Opposed by De Joinville. His private interview with the King. St. Louis resolves to remain in the Holy Land. The King’s brothers return to France. Envoys from the Emperor Frederick If. The strange woman of Damascus. The King’s armourer and the old Saracen. Efficacy of alms. Envoys from the Old Man of the Mountain. Dismissed with defiance. Return with rare presents. Religious belief of the Assassins. Genealogy of St. Peter’s soul. Release of prisoners by the Egyptian Emirs. Interment of the bones of the Count of Brienne. St. Louis resolves to fortify Caesarea. Manners and customs of the Tartars. Election of aKing. Defeat of Prester John. Vision and conversion of a Tartar Prince. Haughty message of the Khan of Tartary to St. Louis Chapter XI. Knights arrive from Norway. Lion hunting. The Comans. Interment of aComan chief. De Joinville’s manner of living in the Holy Land. Punishment of the wanton knight. Insolence of the Templars chastised. AKing’s sergeant makes reparation for personal violence. St Louis upholds his royal prerogatives. St. Louis fortifies Jaffa. The Prince of Antioch. Minstrel pilgrims from Armenia 142 Chapter XII. Prowess of Count Walter of Brienne. Made prisoner by the Emperor of Persia. Sultan of Emessa annihilates the Persian army. Martyrdom of Count Walter. The Master of St. Lazarus defeated by the Saracens. Skirmish near Jaffa. Gallantry of John le Grand. Sack of Sidon. St. Louis declines to go to Jerusalem as apilgrim. King Richard of England. Difference between preu homme and prud’homme. Enormous outlay on the fortifications of Jaffa 153 Chapter XIII. March to Sayette, or Sidon. Pilgrims from Upper Armenia. Brawl between two knights. Expedition against Belinas, or Cissarea Philippi. De Joinville in peril. Gallant rescue by Oliver de Termes. St. Louis inters the putrid corpses of the Chris- Till CONTENTS. Page tians slaughtered at Sayette. Pleasantries of the Count of Eu. Capture of Bagdad by the Tartars. De Joinville suspects aclerk of being an assassin. Envoys from Trebizond. Arrival of the Queen at Sayette Chapter XIV. The poor knight and his four sons. De Joinville’s pilgrimage to Tripoli. The Queen’s mistake. Astrange stone. St. Louis resolves to return to France. The Legate’s emotion. De Joinville escorts the Queen to Sur. St. Louis embarks at Acre for France. The King’s ship strikes upon asandbank off Cyprus. St. Louis refuses to quit the ship. Fearful storm. The Queen and De Joinville make vows to St. Nicholas. The King moralizes on God’s warnings. Hermitage in Island of Lampedusa. Punishment of gluttony. Fire in the Queen’s cabin. Amiracle at sea. St. Louis disembarks with reluctance at Flyeres. De Joinville’s advice to the King. Hugh, the Franciscan friar. St. Louis trounces acareless squire. Advice given to him by his grandfather. De Joinville takes leave of the King. Rejoins him at Soissons. Marriage of Isabella of France to Thibaud II. King of Navarre Chapter XV. St. Louis’ character and mode of life. Simplicity of his manners. Rejects an unjust petition of his Prelates. Rebukes certain , Bishops for their covetousness and disloyalty. De Joinville and the Abbot of St. Urban’s. St. Louis’ love of peace. His severity to blasphemers. His charity towards the poor. His alms and munificence. Reform of the Provostshipof Paris. Stephen Boileau. St. Louis’ compassion for the poor and afflicted. Religious foundations. Takes the Cross asecond time.. His last words to his son Philip. His pious death. Canonisation of St. Louis. Appears to De Joinville in adream. Altar consecrated to St. Louis in the Chapel at Joinville. Conclusion 4