Letters of the Crusaders of the Second Crusade

These letters, the Second Crusade, were written as official bulletins, in order to set before the German people the disastrous events of the crusade in the light most favorable to the German participants. See especially Kugler: Studien zur Geschichte des zweiten Kreuzznges.

- letter from Conrad III to Wibald, Abbot of Corvey in 1148.

- Another letter from Conrad III to Wibald, Abbot of Corvey in 1148.

Letters of the Second Crusade: Another letter from Conrad III to Wibald, Abbot of Corvey in 1148

Conrad, by the grace of God, august king of the Romans, to venerable Wibald, abbot of Corvey, — his most kind greeting.

Because we know that you especially desire to hear from us and to learn the state of our prosperity, we think it fitting first to tell you of this. By God's mercy we are in good health and we have embarked in our ships to return on the festival of the blessed Virgin in September, after having accomplished in these lands all that God willed and the people of the country permitted.

Let us now speak of our troops. When following the advice of the common council we had gone to Damascus and after a great deal of trouble had pitched our camps before the gate of the city, it was certainly near being taken. But certain ones, whom we least suspected, treason-ably asserted that the city was impregnable on that side and hastily led us to another position where no water could be supplied for the troops and where access was impossible to any one. And thus all, equally indignant and grieved, returned, leaving the undertaking uncompleted. Nevertheless, they all promised unanimously that they would make an expedition against Ascalon, and they set the place and time. Having arrived there according to agreement, we found scarcely any one. In vain we waited eight days for the troops. Deceived a second time, we turned to our own affairs.

In brief therefore, God willing, we shall return to you. We render to you the gratitude which you deserve for your care of our son and for the very great fidelity which you have shown to us. And with the full intention of worthily rewarding your services, we ask you to continue the same.

Letters of the Second Crusade: letter from Conrad III to Wibald, Abbot of Corvey in 1148

Conrad, by the grace of God, king of the Romans, to venerable Wibald, abbot of Corvey and Stavelot — his most kind greeting.

Because we have very frequently realized your faithfulness, proven in many trials, to us and to our kingdom, we do not doubt that you will rejoice greatly, if you hear of the state of our prosperity. We, therefore, announce to your faithfulness that when we had reached Nicaea with our army entire and strong, wishing to complete our journey quickly, we hastened to set out for Iconium under the guidance of men who knew the road. We carried with us as many necessities as possible. And behold, when ten days of the journey were accomplished and the same amount remained to be traversed, food for the whole host had almost given out, but especially for the horses. At the same time the Turks did not cease to attack and slaughter the crowd of foot-soldiers who were unable to follow the army. We pitied the fate of our suffering people, perishing by famine and by the arrows of the enemy; and, by the advice of our princes and barons, we led the army back from that desert land to the sea, in order that it might regain its strength. We preferred to preserve the army for greater achievements rather than to win so bloody a victory over archers.

When, indeed, we had reached the sea and had pitched our tents and did not expect quiet amid so great a storm, to our delight the king of France came to our tents, wholly unexpectedly. He grieved, indeed, that our army was exhausted by hunger and toil, but he took great delight in our company. Moreover, he himself and all his princes offered their services faithfully and devoutly to us and furnished for our use their money especially, and whatever else they had. They joined themselves, therefore, to our forces and princes. Some of the latter had remained with us, and others, either sick or lacking money, had not been able to follow and had accordingly withdrawn from the army.

We proceeded without any difficulty as far as St. John's, where his tomb with the manna springing from it is seen, in order that we might there celebrate the Nativity of our I/)rd. Having rested there some days to recover our health, inasmuch as sickness had seized on us and many of our men, we wanted to proceed; but weakened by our illness we were wholly unable to do so. The king, therefore, departed with his army, after having waited for us as long as possible; but a long sickness detained us.

When our brother, the emperor of Greece, heard of this, he was greatly grieved, and with our daughter, the most beloved empress, his wife, he hastened to come to us. And, liberally giving to us and our princes his money and the necessities for our journey, he led us back, as it were, by force, to his palace at Constantinople, in order that we might be the more speedily cured by his physicians. There he showed to us as much honor as, to our knowledge, was ever shown to any one of our predecessors. Thence we hastened to set out for Jerusalem on Quadragesima Sunday, in order to collect there a new army and to proceed to Rohas.

Moreover, that God may deign to make our journey prosperous, we ask that you and your brethren will pray for us and will order all Christians to do the same. And we entrust our son to your fidelity.

Letters of the Crusaders of the First Crusade:

Many letters relative to the crusades have been preserved. Undoubtedly, the most valuable are those which were written by eye-witnesses of the events recorded, and which have come down to us in epistolary form. "These are in general the most precious documents for the history of the crusades. For in their day they played the part of the dispatches and military bulletins of our day, and they transmit to us faithfully the impression which the events themselves made upon those who had taken part in them". Of these a few have been selected for translation here. All but two were written by persons high in rank, and all furnish information which cannot be obtained, with equal accuracy, elsewhere. The selection of letters has been controlled to some extent by the fact that adequate translations of some of the most important already exist in English.

"Anselme of Ribemont, count of Ostrevant and Valenciennes, is one of the most brilliant figures in the first crusade; and his glorious death before Archis (early in April, 1099), was recorded by all the eye-witnesses of the expedition.' ' From Guibert's history (Bk. VI, 23), he was known to have written two letters to the archbishop of Reims, but only the second was known to be in existence. In 1877, count Riant found the first— the one here translated— in the " Bibliotheque Mazarine, n in Paris.

Stephen, count of Blois and Chartres, was one of the richest and ablest among the princes who took part in the first crusade. According to legend he was the possessor of three hundred and sixty-five castles; in the second letter we find him in temporary command of the whole Christian army. He wrote at least three letters to his wife (see Riant, Lettres No. LXXIV, LXXXVII, C), of which this is the third. " Sybel rightly considers this letter as one of the most important documents for the history of the first crusade."

The third letter was probably the most widely read of all those written about the first crusade. It has been regarded with great suspicion, but is now recognized as genuine. Several versions have been preserved. Another translation can be found in Michaud's History of the Crusades.

Full discussions of the above letters are given in Riant; Inventaire critique des Lettres historigues des Croisades, and Sybel: Geschichte des ersten Kreuzzuges. The facts related in the letters are most fully treated of in the latter book. Kugler gives an excellent brief summary in his Geschichte der Kreuzzuge.

1- Letters of the First Crusade: Anselme of Ribemont to Manasses II in February 10, 1098.

2- Letters of the First Crusade: Stephen, Count of Blois to his wife, Adele, 1098.

3- Letters of the First Crusade: From Daimbert, Godfrey and Raymond to the Pope Urban II in 1099.