must will all that the king willed, if they would live; or would keep their lands; or would hold their possessions; or would be maintained in their rights. Alas! that any man should so exalt himself, and carry himself in his pride over all! May Almighty God show mercy to his soul, and grant him the forgiveness of his sins! We have written concerning him these things, both good and bad, that virtuous men might follow after the good, and wholly avoid the evil, and might go in the way that leadeth to the kingdom of heaven.

17. THE FIRST CRUSADE (1095).

Four persons who attended the Council of Clermont have reported the speech of Urban II., and their several versions disagree. Each would be impressed by different features of the Pope's style or substance, and each would embellish what he remembered. Robert the Monk is the most graphic of the four, and though according to him the appeal was directed in a special way to the French, the Crusades were a European movement in which England's share counts for much. No other episode recalls so vividly and on so grand a scale the catholic bond which united the states of mediæval Europe.

SOURCE.-Historia Hierosolymitana. Robert the Monk (fl. 1099). Bongarsius Gesta Dei per Francos. Hanoviae, 1611. Vol. i., p. 31. Trans. D. C. Munro. Philadelphia, 1897. (Univ. of Pennsylvania. Translations and Reprints. Vol. i., No. 2.)

Oh, race of Franks, race from across the mountains, race beloved and chosen by God-as is clear from many of your works-set apart from all other nations by the situation of your country, as well as by your catholic faith and the honour which you render to the holy church. To you our discourse is addressed and for you our exhortations are intended. We wish you to know what a grievous cause has led us to your country, and that it is the imminent peril threatening you and all the faithful, which has brought us hither.

From the confines of Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople a horrible tale has gone forth and very frequently has been brought to our ears. Namely, that a race from the kingdom of the Persians, an accursed race, a race wholly alienated from God, a generation forsooth which has not directed its

heart and has not entrusted its spirit to God, has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated them by pillage and fire. They have led away a part of the captives into their own country, and a part they have destroyed by cruel tortures. They have either destroyed the churches of God or appropriated them for the rites of their own religion. They destroy the altars, after having defiled them with their uncleanness.

On whom therefore is the labour of avenging these wrongs and of recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you? You, upon whom above all other nations God has conferred remarkable glory in arms, great courage, bodily activity, and strength to humble the heads of those who resist you. Let the deeds of your ancestors encourage you and incite your minds to manly achievements, the glory and greatness of King Charlemagne, and of his son Louis, and of your other monarchs, who have destroyed the kingdoms of the Turks and have extended the sway of the holy church over the lands of the pagans. Let the Holy Sepulchre of our Lord and Saviour, which is possessed by the unclean nations, especially incite you, and the holy places which are now treated with ignominy and irreverently polluted with the filth of the unclean. Oh, most valiant soldiers and descendants of invincible ancestors, be not degenerate, but recall the valour of your progenitors.

But if you are hindered by love of children, parents or wife, remember what the Lord says in the Gospel, “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me". "Every

one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake shall receive an hundred-fold and shall inherit everlasting life." Let none of your possessions retain you, no solicitude for your family affairs. For this land which you inhabit, shut in on all sides by the seas and surrounded by the mountain peaks, is too narrow for your large population; nor does it abound in wealth; and it furnishes scarcely food enough for its cultivators. Hence it is that you murder and devour one another, that you wage war, and that very many among you perish in intestine strife.

Let therefore hatred depart from among you, let your quarrels end, let wars cease, and let all dissensions and controversies slumber. Enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulchre; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves. That land which as the Scripture says "floweth with milk and honey," was given by God into the power of the children of

1

Israel. Jerusalem is the centre of the earth; the land is fruitful above all others, like another paradise of delights. This the Redeemer of mankind has made illustrious by His advent, has beautified by His residence, has consecrated by His passion, has redeemed by His death, has glorified by His burial.

This royal city, however, situated at the centre of the earth, is now held captive by the enemies of Christ, and is subjected by those who do not know God, to the worship of the heathens. She seeks therefore and desires to be liberated, and does not cease to implore you to come to her aid. From you especially she asks succour, because, as we have already said, God has conferred upon you above all other nations great glory in arms. Accordingly undertake this journey for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the imperishable glory of the kingdom of heaven.

When Pope Urban had said these and very many similar things in his urbane discourse, he so influenced to one purpose the desires of all who were present, that all cried out, "It is the will of God! It is the will of God!" When the venerable Roman Pontiff heard that, with eyes uplifted to heaven he gave thanks to God, and, with his hand commanding silence, said :—

Most beloved brethren, to-day is manifest in you what the Lord says in the Gospel, " Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them". For unless God had been present in your spirits, all of you would not have uttered the same cry. For, although the cry issued from numerous mouths, yet the origin of the cry was one. Therefore I say to you that God, who implanted this in your breasts, has drawn it forth from you. Let that then be your war-cry in combats, because it is given to you by God. When an armed attack is made upon the enemy, let this one cry be raised by all the soldiers of God: It is the will of God! It is the will of God!

And we do not command or advise that the old or feeble, or those incapable of bearing arms, undertake this journey. Nor ought women to set out at all, without their husbands or brothers or legal guardians. For such are more of a hindrance than aid, more of a burden than advantage. Let the rich aid the needy; and according to their wealth, let them take with them experienced soldiers. The priests and clerks of each order are not to go without the consent of their bishop; for this journey would profit them nothing if they went without

1 So considered throughout the Middle Ages.

permission. Also, it is not fitting that laymen should enter upon the pilgrimage without the blessing of their priests.

Whoever, therefore, shall determine upon this holy pilgrimage and shall make his vow to God to that effect and shall offer himself to Him for sacrifice, as a living victim, holy and acceptable to God, shall wear the sign of the cross of the Lord on his forehead or on his breast. When, truly, in fulfilment of his vow he wishes to enter upon his journey, let him place the cross on his back between his shoulders. Such, indeed, by this two-fold action will fulfil the precept of the Lord, as He commands in the Gospel, "He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me".

18. A SUDDEN CAMPAIGN OF WILLIAM RUFUS (1099).

William of Malmesbury was probably the son of a Norman father and an English mother. Ordericus Vitalis came of purely Norman parentage, but was born in western England nine years after the conquest. Notwithstanding the lot which transferred him to a Norman monastery, St. Evroul, he never ceased to consider himself an Englishman, and English affairs fill a large space in his Ecclesiastical History. Indeed Ordericus is our most copious authority for the relations of kingdom and duchy during the Norman period. His faults are lack of system, credulity, and parade of learning. His virtues are a quick sympathy with mankind in every phase of experience, and a habit of setting down minute details. Having ties on both sides of the Channel, he was well fitted to write without bias. This adventure of William Rufus comes from his pages, and is intended to illustrate the close political connection of the two countries under Norman sway.

SOURCE.-Historia Ecclesiastica. Ordericus Vitalis (1075 ?-1143). Trans. T. Forester. London, 1854. Vol. iii., p. 240.

1

Meanwhile Robert de Belesme increased the defences of Ballon, and dispatched his courier Amalgise to the king in England. The messenger having crossed the sea hastened to Clarendon, but met the king riding in the New Forest with his

1 Earl of Shrewsbury, and the most fiery of Norman barons.

attendants, and to his eager inquiries after the news, replied: "Mans has been treacherously taken by surprise; but my lord holds Ballon, and the king's garrisons guard faithfully all the fortresses entrusted to them, but they urgently demand your royal succour against the hostile forces which surround and threaten them".

As soon as the king had heard the message he exclaimed: "Let us cross the sea to support our friends". The same instant, without consulting any one, he wheeled his horse round, and giving him the spur rode full speed to the coast. Finding there by chance an old worn-out vessel, he embarked in it without any royal pomp, like one of the people, and gave orders for immediately putting to sea. He waited neither for a favourable wind, nor attendants, nor anything else becoming his royal dignity, but, a stranger to fear, committed himself to fortune and the waves, and the next morning, under God's guidance, arrived safe at the port of Touques. Several persons, of various degrees, were standing about the harbour, as is the custom in summer, and seeing a vessel coming in under sail from England were in eager expectation to hear if she brought any news. Their first inquiry regarded the king, and he was there to give a true account of himself. He laughed heartily as he gave replies they little expected to their questions, and his answers, which filled them at first with wonder, soon caused universal joy. He then mounted a mare belonging to a priest, and surrounded by a great concourse of the clergy and country folk, who attended him on foot with loud acclamations, he rode to Bonneville. His presence struck with consternation those who were in arms against him on the frontiers of Normandy. After sending out his orders he quickly raised a powerful army, and proceeded by hasty marches to ravage the hostile province. The enemy's troops commanded by Elias, as soon as it was known that the king had passed the straits, dispersed without loss of time, leaving the city they had occupied in a condition. much worse than they found it. Hildebert, the bishop,1 who went to meet the king in Normandy as a suppliant, was received by him graciously as an old friend, for neither by his counsels nor active interference had he taken any part in the late troubles.

The king full of wrath, having intelligence of the enemy's retreat, pursued him closely, without deigning to pass even a single night at Mans. Passing on, he saw the city in flames,

1 Bishop of Le Mans, 1097-1125,