Florine, Princess of Burgundy: a tale of the first Crusaders

Preface

AND NOTES NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. LONDON: BUKNS, OATES, AND COMPANY, Portman Street and Paternoster Row. 1873- LONDON: FOBSON AUD SONS, FRUITERS, PANCRAS ROAD, X.W. &o tht Pemorg OF A DEARLY-LOVED CHILD, PAULINA JOSEPHINE PAYNE, BORN IN DUBLIN OCTOBER Z, 1 828, DIED IN LONDON DECEMBER 12, 1855. gjLwpriestsf in paw. * Simple words, but each letter Full of hope and yet of heart-break.'

PREFACE.

TO THE THIRD EDITION. ' Maggior alquanto e lo squadron Britano : Guglielmo il regge, al re minor figluolo : Sono gl' Inglesi sagittari, ed hanno Gente con lor ch' e piu vicina al polo. Questi dall' alte selve irsuti manda La divisa dal mondo ultima Irlanda.' Tasso, La Gen/salemme Liberata, i. lxiv. ' More numerous was the British squadron shown, By William led, the monarch's youngest son. The English in the bow and shaft are skill'd: With them a northern nation seeks the field, Whom Ireland, from our world divided far, From savage woods and mountains, sends to war. Hoole's Translation, book i. v. 367-343. The main historical incidents dwelt upon in the follow ing tale are the siege and capture of Antioch by the first Crusaders. The mightier and more important event — the conquest of Jerusalem, immortalised by the poem of Tasso — has hitherto so much engrossed the thoughts of mankind, that little more than a cursory notice has been given to the cir cumstances by which it had been preceded.

Tasso disposes of the most important of these in two lines : ' E Nicea per assalto, e la potente Antiochia con arte avea gia presa.' ' By fierce assault, already Nice they held, And made, by stratagem, proud Antioch yield. VI

PREFACE.

. In the guise of 'a romance' the author sought to attract attention to the achievements of the Crusaders before the walls of Antioch ; and never, until now7, has he exposed how much of real history, founded upon the best authorities, is to be found in Florine. The popularity of this work as 'a romance'* is an in ducement to show how much it contains of actual facts, testified by writers who either actually saw what they de scribe, or who derived their information from eye-w7itnesses. Hence the numerous references to be found in the notes to the old chroniclers of the Crusades. It will be seen by these that the author's research has not been confined to that invaluable compilation, the Gesta Dei per Francos. The siege of Antioch bv the first Crusaders has an additional attraction for all whose friends, relatives, or countrymen were participators in the siege of Sebastopol in 1854.

In some particulars there is a strong similarity, almost a coincidence, between them; but then, how differ ent the objects for which they were undertaken ! The old ' Crusaders' sought to elevate the Cross, and modern ' politicians' to uphold the Crescent. How little feeling of true Christianity animated the latter has long since been demonstrated by the Piedmontese ally of the Turk in 1854, * The author ventures to refer to ' the popularity' of Florine as ' a romance.' Amongst other reasons for doing so, he cannot refrain from mentioning these facts, viz. that it has been translated twice into French by two different persons — first in the Gazette de Frunee in 1855, and se condly in 1858, when, without any previous consultation with the author, it was, -with. Adelaide and Bertha, published by M. Putois Crette of Paris, as a portion of Trois Etudes site hi Papauti an Moyen Age.

And then, at the very time of writing this Preface, the author has received a letter from New Orleans stating that Florine was appearing as 'a serial tale' in a Catholic newspaper, The Morning Star, although a special edition of the book for the United States of America had been published by Mr. Murphy of Baltimore.

PREFACE.

. VII by his spoliation of the Papacy, and the Catholic princi palities of Naples, Parma, and Modena. English and Irish warriors participated in the First Crusade, as English and Irish soldiers displayed their val our at a later time in the Crimea, and never more conspi cuously than in the ' death-ride' of Balaclava. The chival rous courage of both nations continues unabated ; but the Catholic spirit that animated them and others appears to have evaporated, or else no Christian sovereign would now be receiving an ambassador from such a faithless and foul usurper as Victor Emmanuel. How different was the epoch of the First Crusade from the present times in all that fills this life with beauty, and the future with an assured hope of eternal happiness, will be seen in the pages that follow. It may, however, be asked by some severe critics, 'Is it justifiable to combine together positive facts with pure fic tion?' If the purpose were to deceive the reader, certainly not; but when the object aimed at is simply to afford harmless recreation, I cannot but think the author should be deemed free from censure; and this especially at a time when the universal recreation of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, is the perusal of light literature ; and when, if those who can write books at the same time amusing and innocent refrain from doing so, they leave open the market to others, who will be sure to supply it with works that are either anti-Catholic, or infidel, or insidiously or grossly immoral.

It is for those who are the cuslodes morum to look to what are the main materials of the ' light literature' now universally supplied ; to remember that it occupies some portion of each day of all who have learned to read ; and

PREFACE.

. that the time so occupied is either harmlessly or wickedly employed, as the book or periodical that is perused is sug gestive of good or of evil. It is then as much the bounden duty of those who exercise spiritual or temporal authority over their fellow-creatures to discourage a bad, as to countenance and foster an innocent, a purifying, and a whole some literature. Attaching the deepest importance to the influence exercised by light literature upon society in general, and the young in particular, the author composed Florine and other works of the same kind, endeavouring, so far as his poor abilities would enable him, to afford his aid to those wdio sought, in the reading of an amusing book, to occupy their mind with what might not only please but instruct, and certainly could not corrupt.

In such works as Florine, Adelaide, and Bertha, he has laboured to do more than this, i.e. to enshrine a bona-fide description of bygone men and manners in what was apparently nothing more than a pure work of imagination. In doing so, he quotes as his justification these words of Tasso : ' Forgive me, if with truth I fiction join, And grace the verse with other charms than thine ; Thou know'st the world with eager transport throng Where sweet Parnassus breathes the tuneful song ; That truth can oft, in pleasing strains convey'd, Allure the fancy, and the mind persuade. Thus the sick infant's taste disguised to meet, We tinge the vessel's brim with juices sweet ; The bitter draught his willing lip receives ; He drinks deceived, and so deceived he lives.' (i. ii.) Weston Cottage, Newtownbarry, Co. Wexford. FLORINE: % foalc 0s ffrc Jftrst Crusaucrs.

Chapter I. The Crusaders' Outpost

Consternation and grief pervaded the ranks of the Crusaders as they stood in battle-array before the city of Antioch, and looked with longing, but still despairing eyes, upon its high walls and hundreds of square-built towers. Hitherto they had readily faced peril, encountered difficulties, and exposed themselves to danger. Confident in the faith that animated them, they had marched onward to the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of infidels. Nicæa had been captured by them, and then dauntless bravery in the Gorgonian valley of Bithynia had won for them a passage into Syria ; but nowwinter had come upon them in presence of the apparently impregnable Antioch. They saw that city, in which the followers of our Lord had first assumed the glorious name of Christians, held by a valiant and numerous army of infidels; and when they elevated their eyes to the high hill which rises in the centre of the city, and on which then stood, in all its pristine beauty, the magnificent temple erected by Constantine in honour of the prince of the Apostles, they perceived that upon its topmost pinnacles were placed the decapitated heads of some of their own companions in arms.

They gazed, and shuddered as they gazed, on the barbarous trophies of the cruelty of the foe towards such Cru saders as had unhappily been made captives in war. B FLORINE. It was not, however, the cruelty of the enemy to their brother soldiers ; it was not the high walls, nor the flanking river Orontes, nor the number of their opponents, nor the manifold dangers of besieging a place so strongly fortified, that shook the nerve or abated the courage of the Crusaders. The enemy that they feared was not before, but in the midst of them ; it was famine — famine in its most frightful form. When the Turks, for the purpose of terrifying them, had decapitated the Christian prisoners, and exposed their re mains upon the temple of Antioch, the Crusaders, to mani fest their contempt for the infidels, had cut off the heads of their own prisoners, and charging their balistas with them, had sent them flying, as if they were offensive weapons, into the faces of the defenders of the town.

They sought to pro voke the Turks to an attack. They longed for battle, in order that, if they were to die, they might fall with swords in their hands, and not perish as they then were, slowly and miserably, from the want of food. Day after day strong parties were dispatched from the Christian camp to scour the country around in search of food : but such attempts had been anticipated by the Turks, who had provisions either conveyed into Antioch, or so con cealed in the earth, that it was impossible to discover where they had been hidden. Despair and consternation were, therefore, amongst the Christians ; for, as it is said by an ancient chronicler, who was at the time in the camp before Antioch, ' so high was the price of food that an ass-load of corn cost seven pounds in gold, and the price of a dozen of eggs was twelve pence !'* It was the winter season, and as all chances of a speedy encounter with the infidels had vanished, despair descended into the very midst of the Christian encampment.

It was at this period of time that there might be seen collected on the banks of the Orontes a group of soldiers, who had been posted in that position for the purpose of giving the earliest * Eobert. Monach. Mist. lib. iv. p. 236. Eeuber. Veter. Script. Ger man. (Hanover, 1619). information to their commanders of any hostile movement being attempted on the part of the besieged. The com mander over this body of men was a Burgundian, named Guy of Mascon — a man whose snow-white hair and shaggy white eyebrows, and thin visage, all corrugated with wrin kles, gave him the appearance of having reached his seven tieth year, but in whose large brilliant dark eyes and active movements there was discernible all the fire of youth com bined with all the muscular power of middle age. Nature seemed to have fitted Guy of Mascon for the position which he at that moment occupied ; for his dazzling eye seemed never to tire in examining every nook and corner of the landscape through which he passed, and the ceaseless move ment of his head and body appeared to render it impossible that even a bird could fly through the air, or a wild animal speed across the plain, unmarked by him.

At such a moment his skeleton-like figure, encased in tight-fitting scale armour, was a personification of the famine that pervaded the camp ; and as he stood upon the fallen trunk of a tree, peering over his fellows, and scrutinising the very chinks in the walls before him, he looked the image of hunger, seeking in vain for food to satisfy its cravings. From the walls Guy of Mascon turned his eyes to the land around, and seemed to run it over with the same speed with which a massive cloud casts its shade upon a sunshiny and windy day over each portion of a wide-spread field. There was naught to arrest his gaze but the prostrate figure of a poor pilgrim, who lay with his face to the earth, and his arms outstretched as if in fervent prayer. From the land he next looked upon the river, and as his glance dwelt upon its rippling waters, there was nothing to indicate to his companions that he had seen aught to attract his especial notice, except that on his thin lips there fluttered for an in stant a death-like smile, and that then he turned round, so as that bis back should appear to be directly opposite to the city, whilst the downward course of the river lay at his left hand.

If any purpose lay concealed in this movement, it was that those who watched from the ramparts the Chris- FLORINE. tian camp might be led to suppose that they on the outer most post were unconscious of there being any necessity for keeping a strict watch ; and, as if to impress his own followers with the same idea, Guy addressed them by saying : ' Soldiers ! you may, like myself, sit down and rest yourselves. I see naught in Antioch, or on the land be neath it, that requires particular watchfulness on our part. Sit down — sit down. Not there, however, young Philip of Brefney ; I do not wish thee to sit between me and the river. I like to keep my eye fixed upon the stream ; at this moment it interests me much. I see, Philip, thou hast, I suppose in the hope of meeting with a wild bird or beast, brought shooting gear with thee.

Lend me, Philip, thy bow, and the best, thinnest, and surest of thy arrows ; I have heard the Irish arrows much lauded, and, perhaps, may try, before we are relieved, if they equal those for mak ing which our native town is famed. Ah ! here is an arrow such as I wished for, thin enough to shoot a sparrow, and not mangle it. Right, right, the point is as sharp as a bodkin. Let us talk, my men. Talk, I say — I wish you to amuse yourselves.' ' Amuse ourselves, forsooth !' replied a soldier; ' how can starving men find pleasure in anything but food ? Look back upon the camp, good Guy, and see of what it is com posed. Of poor wretches who are wasted with want, of the despairing, of the dying, and of the dead. Anarchy and confusion pervade ora ranks. Hundreds of the common sol diers have died of starvation ; and, more deplorable still — for they are recreants who have done so — hundreds have fled as deserters from the camp.' ' What sayest thou, Hubert of York ?' exclaimed Guy of Mascon, who showed by his question a manifest desire to engage his soldiers in some topic, so that they should not only appear to others, but be in fact interested, and if possible, altogether absorbed in its discussion. ' What sayest thou '?

That men, who have placed the cross, the emblem of their salvation, upon their breasts, should have fled from Antioch ; should have become runaways, in the presence of that holy church in which, it is believed, still lies concealed the lance that pierced our Saviour's side; should have feared death, when they saw7 before them the church sanctified with the relics of St. Ignatius the martyr ! What ! have cross marked Christians fled from the fight when the prize was to win that church in which St. Peter first placed his chair, and was the first Apostle, and in which so many Councils of our Holy Church have been held, and in which pious pre lates have gathered together whenever a new patriarch was to be elected? 0, it is impossible; it may not — it cannot be!' ' Alack ! say not that it is impossible,' rejoined Hubert of York ; ' for it is but too true that hundreds of the multitude of fighting men who gathered beneath the standard of the Cross have fled — not from it, but from hunger ; yea, and the same baseness and the same cowardice have been auda ciously exhibited even by those who by rank and position were bound to give shining examples of courage and of virtue to their inferiors.' ' Take care, take care, honest Hubert, that thy zeal doth not induce thee unwittingly to bear false witness against thy neighbour,' remarked Guy. ' Canst mention any one of the leaders in the camp who has so misconducted himself?

As a general charge against our chiefs, thy accusation, I must say, is incredible.' ' I can name not merely one, but two — ay, three,' answered Hugh, excited by the observations of Guy. ' I say that amongst these runaways from Antioch are Peter the Hermit himself, William Carpenter the Viscount of Melun, and Tengus the Rich of Romania.'* A shout of execration burst from the soldiers when Peter the Hermit was so irreverently spoken of by Hugh, and it was with difficulty that the names of the others were heard to be pronounced by him. In the midst of this momentary clamour Philip of Brefney started to his feet, and grasping a firm hold of the heavy battle-axe that lay by his side, he said, whilst his fair face and delicate cheeks became suffused * Robert. Monach. Hist. lib. iv. pp. 236, 237.

FLORINE. with blood for an instant, and then the scarlet tinge with which they seemed to burn was followed by the pallor and the icy chill of death : ' Hugh of York, I defy thee to prove thy words ! I say thy accusation against the venerable Peter is a monstrous, a rank, a wilful — ; but no, no, thou bearest the Cross. I knelt by thy side in Clermont, when the good Pope Urban bestowed upon the volunteers for the Holy Land his bene diction. I have since seen thee in the battle-field; and when Robert, the son of King William, stood with the golden standard of Normandy in the midst of a hundred raging Sa racens, and called upon the Christians to sustain him in the conflict, thou wast — for then too I was by thy side — amongst the first to follow his rallying cry, and to beat back the foe, and to change an almost certain defeat into a glorious vic tory.* A brave man may be deceived, he may be induced to believe a calumny; but he never willingly will propagate one, much less deliberately invent a false accusation against another.

Pardon me, Hubert, if I have said aught to offend thee ; but repeat not, I pray thee, ever again what thou hast now so rashly spoken of Peter the Hermit.' ' I repeat only what I am sure is true,' bluntly answered Hugh, and not seeming to have either heard the half-uttered insult or the readily-spoken excuse of Philip. ' True, true ! ' cried Philip, again excited with sudden passion. ' Dost mean to say that Peter the Hermit fled from the camp because he could not bear the pangs of hunger?' ' I mean that, and nothing else,' was the dogged re sponse of Hugh. ' 0, monstrous, monstrous calumny!' screamed Philip of Brefney, now maddened with rage. ' Knowest thou not, Hugh, that what gathered together on the march to Pales tine the immense masses of men under the guidance of Peter the Hermit was not his exciting eloquence but his great sanctity? that that sanctity was manifested in many ways, but in none more than in his almost miraculous abstinence ? that, unlike the majority of mankind, he was never known * Robert.

Monach. Hist. lib. iii. p. 229. to taste of meat nor to eat bread, and that he only sus tained life by a sip of wine or a scanty morsel of herbs ?* and yet now it is said of the very man who seemed to take a delight in the mortification of his appetite, that he has given a bad example to others, and from a dread of feeling the pangs of hunger has abandoned those whom he had himself led into the dreadful position in which we now stand. 0, it is a cruel and a monstrous calumny upon a most virtuous man!' ' I am the ventilator of no calumnies.

I am a Chris tian and a soldier, and I only repeat what I am sure is the truth,' was the determined response of Hugh. ' What ! ' cried Philip of Brefney, again seizing hold of his battle-axe, ' wflt thou then repeat the accusation against the holy Peter the Hermit ?' ' I will,' said Hugh, grasping a heavy mace, on the end of which was slung, by an iron chain, a heavy iron ball covered with spikes ; ' I will maintain it, here or elsewhere, with open mouth and with clenched hand.' ' Better prove it by a statement of solid facts than main tain it with a dull heavy-headed mace,' coolly remarked Guy of Mascon, who up to this moment had kept the sidelong glance of his glittering eyes steadily fixed on the downward current of the Orontes, whilst his whole attention appeared to be given either to the speakers, or to the trying the strength of the bow and the straightness of the arrow, which he dandled from hand to hand, as if they were playthings that he was fiddling with, and did not require for imme diate use* ' Thy suggestion is in accordance with reason and jus tice,' said Hugh. ' I state, I say, what I know, when I affirm that Peter the Hermit, and Wilham Carpenter Viscount of Melun, both fled from the camp at the same time together, and during the night.

I have not heard what reason or what excuse Peter the Hermit offered for acting in so un worthy a manner ; but this I do know, that William Carpen ter candidly declared, that though he feared no five foemen * Robert. Monach. Hist. lib. i. p. 220. FLORINE. in the battle-field, he fled from the pangs of hunger. William Carpenter, you are, my comrades, all aware, is that champion so wondrously strong that no one man would venture to encounter him in single combat, for no hauberk, helmet, or shield has ever yet been made that could withstand the single thrust of his gigantic spear; and yet he, even he, fled like a craven on the first assaults of hunger. The com panion of his flight w-as Peter the Hermit ; both were pursued by the dauntless hero, Tancred, and both were brought back as prisoners and delivered up to the custody of Bohe mond, Prince of Tarentum.

I saw them myself in that dis creditable position. As to William Carpenter, he would assuredly have been doomed to die an ignominious death but that he has royal blood in his veins, is the relation of Hugh the Great of France, and also because he had, in every conflict with infidels hitherto, conducted himself with the bravery of a fearless soldier. For these reasons, it is notorious, his crime was pardoned, on condition of taking an oath that he would never again fly from the camp. He took the oath, and basely has he perjured himself; for sooner than endure hunger, he has again fled from amongst us.'* ' But Peter the Hermit has remained,' observed Phfiip. ' Ay, Peter the Hermit has remained,' gruffly repeated Hugh. ' Then how knowest thou,' asked Philip, ' that he fled from the fear of hunger, since hundreds are daily perishing, and we have not, so severe is the loss occasioned by death, one thousand horses in the entire camp able to bear the weight of a man in armour ?'f ' I do but know what I say,' answered Hugh, in a sub dued tone of voice. ' I believe it is the will of God that we should be punished for our sins in many ways.

He may have taken away our steeds in order to show that our confidence must not be placed in the bravery of our knights, but in His protection. He may have afflicted us with a plague of famine, as He has afflicted our enemies with a plague of many wars, in order that all may fear His vengeance. He may have * Robert. Monach. Hist. lib. iv. pp. 236, 237. f Illid- I1- 237. visited us thus with scarcity, in order to humiliate us, and lest w7e should be puffed up with the pride of so many victories ; and as to Peter the Hermit, perchance his flight from the camp may have been a punishment upon him for being vain of the renown he had won by his abstinence. But I have mentioned a third leading man who has fled from us, Tengus the Rich, of Romania.' ' 0 ! speak not of the vile wretch,' said Philip. ' Do not compare a craven Greek like him with Peter the Hermit.

Tengus, it is notorious, obtained leave to quit us, upon the solemn promise that his sole object was to procure, in Ro mania, an abundant supply of food for his brother warriors. He left his tents and many articles of value here as a pledge of his return ; but we now know he deliberately and per fidiously abandoned us ; that, having evaded by perjury the perils of war, he has resolved never again to expose himself to them.* Alas, alas ! never was there a famine equal to that which now desolates the besieging army of the Chris tians before Antioch.' A murmuring sigh of assent was emitted from the pallid lips of the brave men who sat despondingly on the ground by the side of Philip of Brefney. The sigh w7as followed by a silence of a few minutes, as if the soldiers were brooding over their misfortunes.

This silence, it was feared by Guy of Mascon, would be broken by the men starting up and seeking to still their grief by appearing to discharge duties that were seemingly unnecessary, whereas his purpose was to retain those under his com mand in the same listless attitudes which they had for some time preserved. To attain this object, he therefore determined to become the chief spokesman of the party himself. ' Thou sayest, Philip, ' said Guy of Mascon, ' that never was there a famine like to that which we now endure. In that thou errest. There was one far more dire, which oc curred years before thou wast born, and which is engraven upon my memory with such terrible incidents, that all dangers to which I have since been exposed appear undeserving of * Robert. Monach. Hist. lib. iv. p. 237.

FLORINE. note. The story I have to tell thee is a long one; but whilst I tell it, stretch thyself down on the ground, and spread out thine arms and legs, so that none may see, but those who now sit around thee ; thy friend Hugh divesting thee of thy heavy haubergeon and iron greaves ; as, before my story is concluded, I may require thee to hasten back with all speed to the valiant Godfrey of Bouillon. The Irish are light of heel and quick of hand to announce a battle or to win a victory. I compliment thy nation in fixing on thee, Philip of Brefney, to do my bidding on the present occasion. ' Now, soldiers, attend to me, and naught else ; gaze not idly about you whilst I tell you my story respecting a man-eater in Burgundy !'

Chapter II. The Man-eater Of

"MASCON. ' Do not suppose,' said the veteran Guy of Mascon to the youthful soldiers who sat on the ground before him, and who watched with equal interest and respect every word spoken by him, ' do not suppose that in inviting you to listen to the narration of some incidents in my early life I have any in tention, when addressing myself to the ears of hungry men, to descant upon the horrors of a famine, to dwell upon its awful details, or to expatiate upon the pangs and the miseries of its victims. Suffice it to say, that it is now somewhat more than sixty years since a great dearth fell upon the earth. For three successive seasons there was an almost utter failure of every growing crop in France, in Greece, in Italy, in the East, and in England. The sun appeared to have withdrawn his vivifying heat from the earth.

During the autumnal months the sky was obscured by clouds, and rain poured down almost incessantly upon the ground ; the seed rotted in the soil, the cattle perished in the morasses, and weeds covered the plashy fields ; men lived on the worst garbage they could discover, and w7hen every other species of food failed, it was notorious that some miserable wretches actually lived upon the bodies of the dead. Nay, it was rumoured, and that rumour found belief, that persons tra velling through the land had, during that awful time, been set upon by Burgundians, attacked, and murdered, and their bodies devoured by those who had slain them. It was even positively affirmed that human flesh had been offered for sale in the common marketplace of the town of Tournus, that it had been frequently bought there ; but that on one occasion this vile cheat, so practised on the unsuspecting, had been discovered, and the seller of human bodies torn to pieces by the mob, and his remains burned. ' How great must have been the sufferings of the popu lation at that period, when such stories became prevalent !