Failure of the Third Crusade

Though the failure of the Third Crusade may at first seem strange, its causes are perhaps not difficult to understand. The defection of Philip, the quarrel for the crown, the national rivalries that had gone far to wreck the two previous Crusades, all precluded vigorous action. Had Richard been able to advance on Ascalon some weeks earlier, as he doubtless intended to have done, the whole coast south of Acre would probably have fallen into his hands without a blow; so disheartened were the Saracens at the fall of this city. Probably a second tactical mistake was also made in not pushing on for Ascalon at every hazard after the battle of Arsuf. Such at all events seems to have been the opinion of so capable a general as Conrad of Montferrat who, according to Ibn Alathir, reproached the king keenly for this neglect : at the very rumour of its projected destruction, he urged, Richard ought to have hurried up and saved a town which the Sultan could not defend, and which, if once destroyed, Richard must well have known he would have to rebuild. * By Christ's truth,' concluded Conrad,  had I been near thee, Ascalon would be in our hands this day and that without the loss of a single tower.'

Again there seems to be little doubt that had Richard marched Boldly on Jerusalem in the early part of June, 1192 it would have fallen. But it is more doubtful whether he would have been able to retain it. The great crowd of warriors, having fulfilled their vows and worshiped at our Lord's tomb, would have hurried home, taking no thought for the defenceless land. Nor could the Holy City have itself held out long after their departure. The feudal polity which, five years before, had proved too weak to defend the state could not have been reorganized in a few weeks or months. It was a sound instinct which taught the Crusaders that the true way to the reconquest of Palestine was across the Delta of the Nile. Their ancestors had acquired the Holy Land and held it at a time when Damascus and Cairo were at variance ; directly the valleys of the Orontes and the Nile acknowledged one lord the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem fell. Whether any Crusading force could have been mustered strong enough not only to conquer but to garrison Egypt while its fellows pushed on against Jerusalem is uncertain ; but so long as the wealth, the fertility and the fleet of the Lower Nile were at the disposal of the Sultan of Damascus, Aleppo and the further East, no Christian power could hope for the permanent possession of Jerusalem.

A Character of King Richard I of England

The Lord of the ages had given him (Richard) such generosity of soul and endued him with such virtues that he seemed rather to belong to earlier times than these. . His was the valor of Hector, the magnanimity of Achilles ; he was no whit inferior to Alexander,! or less than Roland in manhood. Of a truth he easily surpassed the more praiseworthy characters of our time in many ways. His right hand, like that of a second Titus, scattered riches, and — a thing that is, as a rule, but very rarely found in so famous a knight — the tongue of a Nestor and the prudence of a Ulysses (as they well might) rightly rendered him better than other men in all kinds of business, whether eloquence or action was required. His military science did not slacken his inclination * Richard I (1189-1199). was born Sept. 8, 1157, at Oxford. About August, 1187 , he was made duke of Aquitaine. He took the cross in Nov. 1187, and died Tuesday, April 6, 1199.

The allusions here are to various chansons de geste which seem to have been favorite reading with this writer. The twelfth century derived its knowledge of the Trojan war from the spurious prose writings of Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygrius. Both works profess to have been written by contemporaries of the events they describe, but were really composed, or translated into Latin, after the Christian era. Benoit de St. Maur's Roman de Troie in octosyllabic French verse dates from about 1180. The Chanson de Roland belongs to the latter half of the eleventh century. The Geste d' } Alexandre, which is said to have given its name to the French Alexandrian metre, was woven together out of earlier octosyllabic or decasyllabic poems by Alexander de Bernay or de Paris before the year 1191.

The for vigorous action ; nor did his readiness for action ever throw a doubt upon his military prudence. If any one chances to think him open to the charge of rashness, the answer is simple : for, in this respect, a mind that does not know how to acknowledge itself beaten, a mind impatient of injury, urged on by its inborn high-spirit to claim its lawful rights, may well claim excuse. Success made him all the better suited for accomplishing exploits, since fortune helps the brave. And though fortune wreaks her spleen on whomsoever she pleases, yet was not he to be drowned for all his adverse waves.

He was lofty in stature, of a shapely build, with hair half-way between red and yellow. His limbs were straight and flexible, his arms somewhat long and, for this very reason, better fitted than those of most folk to draw or wield the sword. Moreover he had long legs, matching the character of his whole frame. His features showed the ruler, while his manners and his bearing added not a little to his general presence. Not only could he claim the loftiest position and praise in virtue of his noble birth, but also by reason of his virtues. But why should I extol so great a man with labored praise ?

He far surpassed other men in the courtesy of his manners and the vastness of his strength; memorable was he for his warlike deeds and power, while his splendid achievements would throw a shade over the greatest praise we could give them. Surely he might have been reckoned happy (I speak as a man) had not rivals envied his glorious deeds — rivals whose sole cause of hatred was his princely disposition ; for of a truth there is no surer way of annoying the envious than by observing virtue.


References:
Itinerarium Regis Ricardi, ii., c. 45.

Archer (T. A.), The Crusade of Richard I, London, 1889.

Franciscus Pippinus

Franciscus Pippinus, a native of Bologna, was probably born in the latter half of the thirteenth century. He was a Dominican friar. History and geography are very largely indebted to his labors. He translated the Italian version of Marco Polo into Latin ; wrote an account of his travels in the Holy Land (whither he was sent about 1320) ; translated William of Tyre, Ernoul and Bernard the treasurer into Latin ; and compiled a history of times nearer his own age, from 1176 to 1313 A.D.

Bibliography:

Johann (A. F.), Bibliotheca Latina mediae et infimae aetatis, Baracchi, Bd. 1 (1858).

Archer (T. A.), The Crusade of Richard I, London, 1889.

Caesarius of Heisterbach

Caesarius of Heisterbach (near Bonn) was born about 11S0, and was brought up at the monastery whence he draws his name. He also studied in Paris, and returned to Heisterbach about 1210. He was a Cistercian by profession. His best known work, " Dialogi de Miraculis," is divided into twelve books, each of which is devoted to anecdotes illustrative of certain religious topics” conversion, contrition, confession,.. These dialogues have often preserved interesting details of manners and customs though, as their title would imply, they are full of the miraculous. Caesar appears to have died about 1240 A.D.

Bibliography:

Archer (T. A.), The Crusade of Richard I, London, 1889.

PONCELET, Note sur les Libri VIII miraculorum in Analecta Bollandiana, Brussels, 1902.

Matthew Paris

Matthew Paris, the greatest of English chroniclers, became a monk of St. Albans, 21 Jan. 1217, and seems to have died about May 1259. As stated above his Chronica Majora is a continuation of Roger of Wendover. It reaches to the year 1258. The record of his life belongs to another period. For the Third Crusade he has followed Roger ; but the story of the duke of Austria's banner is an addition of his own ; though the same tale in a slightly varied form is to be found in Richard of Devizes.

Bibliography:

Archer (T. A.), The Crusade of Richard I, London, 1889.

Matthew Paris, Roger of Wendover's Flowers of History, 2 vols, London, 1849.

Lee (S.),  "Paris, Matthew" in Dictionary of National Biography. 43. London, 1895.

Vincent of Beauvais (1190-1264)

Vincent of Beauvais (c. 1190-c. 1264) was a Dominican, and probably belonged to the house of the order whence he draws his name. He was appointed reader or librarian to Louis IX., and had some share at all events in the education of one or more of Louis' children. His great work the Speculum Majus is an attempt to combine the whole learning of the thirteenth century into one. It was probably intended to be divided into four parts Speculum Naturale (Natural History. Science, &c), Speculum Doctrinale (a practical treatise on the various arts, &c), Speculum Historiale (a history of the world from its creation to the author's own days, c. 1250), and Speculum Morale (a treatise on Divinity). Only the three first treatises are however due to Vincent. The fourth, as now extant, is from the pen of a late contemporary.

Bibliography:

Potamian (B.), "Vincent of Beauvais". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1913.

Thorndike (L.), "A History of Magic and Experimental Science. During the First Thirteen Centuries of our Era",  (1929) vol 2.