Medieval Sourcebook: "Feudal" Oaths of Fidelity

There is increasing uneasiness among scholars about the concept of feudalism as a term to describe non-monetized relationships between the land-holding aristocracy. Still various aspects of lordship and vassalage are documented. Here is are two typical oaths of fidelity..

I: An Anglo Saxon Form of Commendation [from Schmidt: Gesetze der Angelsachsen, p. 404]

Thus shall one take the oath of fidelity:

By the Lord before whom this sanctuary is holy, I will to N. be true and faithful, and love all which he loves and shun all which he shuns, according to the laws of God and the order of the world. Nor will I ever with will or action, through word or deed, do anything which is unpleasing to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve it, and that he will perform everything as it was in our agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his will.

II: Acceptance of an Antrusian, 7th Century [from Roziere: Collection de Formules, No. VIII, Vol I, p. 8]

It is right that those who offer to us unbroken fidelity should be protected by our aid. And since such and such a faithful one of ours, by the favor of God, coming here in our palace with his arms, has seen fit to swear trust and fidelity to us in our hand, therefore we decree and command by the present precept that for the future such and such above mentioned be counted with the number of antrustions. And if anyone perchance should presume to kill him, let him know that he will be judged guilty of his wergild of 600 shillings.

from E. P. Cheyney, trans, University of Pennsylvania. Dept. of History: Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European history, published for the Dept. of History of the University of Pennsylvania., Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press [1898]. Vol IV, No: 3, 3-5

Medieval Sourcebook: Description of Manor House at Chingford, Essex, 1265

An account of the manor house made for the chapter of St. Paul's Cathedral in London at a time when it was granted to Robert Le Moyne in 1265.

He received also a sufficient and handsome hall well ceiled with oak. On the western side is a worthy bed, on the ground, a stone chimney, a wardrobe and a certain other small chamber; at the eastern end is a pantry and a buttery. Between the hall and the chapel is a side-room. There is a decent chapel covered with tiles, a portable altar and a small cross. In the hall are four tables on trestles. There are likewise a good kitchen wel covered with tiles, with a furnace and ovens, one large, the other small, for cakes, two tables, and alongside the kitchen a small house for baking. Also a new granary covered with oak shingles, and a building in which the dairy is contained, though it is divided. Likewise a chamber suitable for clergyman and an inner chamber. Also a henhouse. These are within the inner gate.

Likewise outside of that gate are an old house for the servants, a good stable, long and divided, and to the east of the principal building, beyond the smaller stable, a solar for the use of the servants. Also a building in which is contained a bed; also two barns, one for wheat and one for oats. These buildings are enclosed with a moat, a wall, and a hedge. Also beyond the middle gate is a good barn, and a stable of cows and another for oxen, these old and ruinous. Also beyond the outer gate is a pigsty.

from J.H. Robinson, trans, University of Pennsylvania. Dept. of History: Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European history, published for the Dept. of History of the University of Pennsylvania., Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press [1897]. Vol III: 5, 31

Medieval Sourcebook: Charlemagne: Capitulary for the Jews, 814

1. Let no Jew presume to take in pledge or for any debt any of the goods of the Church in gold, silver, or other form, from any Christian. But if he presume to do so, which God forbid, let all his goods be seized and let his right hand be cut off.

2. Let no Jew presume to take any Christian in pledge for any Jew or Christian, nor let him do anything worse; but if he presume to do so, let him make reparation according to his law, and at the same time he shall lose both pledge and debt.

3. Let no Jew presume to have a money-changer's table in his house, nor shall he presume to sell wine, grain, or other commodities there. But if it be discovered that he has done so all his goods shall be taken away from him, and he shall be imprisoned until he is brought into our presence.

4. Concerning the oath of the Jews against the Christians. Place sorrel twice around his body from head to feet; he ought to stand when he takes his oath, and he should have in his right hand the five books of Moses according to his law, and if he cannot have them in Hebrew he shall have them in Latin. "May the God who gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai help me, and may the leprosy of Naamon the Syrian come upon me as it came upon him, and may the earth swallow me as it swallowed Dathan and Abiron, I have not committed evil against you in this cause."

Despite the opposition of the Church, the Jews, under the protection of western monarchs, still possessed Christian serfs in the thirteenth century.

Letter of the Pope to King Philip Augustus of France:

Moreover, although it has been decreed by the Lateran Council that Jews should not be allowed to have Christian slaves in their houses, either under pretext of nursing their children, or as servants, or for any other reason whatsoever, but that those who presume to live with them should be excommunicated, yet they do not hesitate to have Christian servants and nurses, upon whom they sometimes practice abominations such as it rather becomes you to punish than us to point out.

Jewish History Sourcebook: The Expulsion from Spain, 1492 CE

In the spring of 1492, shortly after the Moors were driven out of Granada, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain expelled all the Jews from their lands and thus, by a stroke of the pen, put an end to the largest and most distinguished Jewish settlement in Europe. The expulsion of this intelligent, cultured, and industrious class was prompted only in part by the greed of the king and the intensified nationalism of the people who had just brought the crusade against the Muslim Moors to a glorious close. The real motive was the religious zeal of the Church, the Queen, and the masses. The official reason given for driving out the Jews was that they

encouraged the Marranos to persist in their Jewishness and thus would not allow them to become good Christians.

The following account gives a detailed and accurate picture of the expulsion and its immediate consequences for Spanish Jewry. It was written in Hebrew by an Italian Jew in April or May, 1495.

And in the year 5252 [1492], in the days of King Ferdinand, the Lord visited the remnant of his people a second time [the first Spanish visitation was in 1391], and exiled them. After the King had captured the city of Granada from the Moors, and it had surrendered to him on the 7th [2d] of January of the year just mentioned, he ordered the expulsion of all the Jews in all parts of his kingdom-in the kingdoms of Castile, Catalonia, Aragon, Galicia, Majorca, Minorca, the Basque provinces, the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, and the kingdom of Valencia. Even before that the Queen had expelled them from the kingdom of Andalusia [1483]

The King gave them three months' time in which to leave. It ,vas announced in public in every city on the first of May, which happened to be the 19th day of the Omer, and the term ended on the day before the 9th of Ab. [The forty-nine days between the second of Passover and Shabuot are called Omer days. The actual decree of expulsion was signed March 31 and announced the first of May, the 19th day of the Omer. The Jews were to leave during in May, June, and July and be out of the country by August I, the 8th of Ab.]

About their number there is no agreement, but, after many inquiries, I found that the most generally accepted estimate is 50,000 families, or, as others say, 53,000- [This would be about 250,000 persons. Other estimates run from 100,000 to 800,000.] They had houses, fields, vineyards, and cattle, and most of them were artisans. At that time there existed many [Talmudic] academies in Spain, and at the head of the greatest of them were Rabbi Isaac Aboab in Guadalajara [probably the greatest Spanish rabbi of his day], Rabbi Isaac Veçudó in Leon, and Rabbi Jacob Habib in Salamanca [later author of a famous collection of the non-legal parts of the Talmud, the En Yaakob]. In the last named city there was a great expert in mathematics, and whenever there was any doubt on mathematical questions in the Christian academy of that city they referred them to him. His name was Abraham Zacuto. [This famous astronomer encouraged the expedition of Vasco da Gama.] . . .

In the course of the three months' respite granted them they endeavoured to effect an arrangement permitting them to stay on in the country, and they felt confident of success. Their representatives were the rabbi, Don Abraham Seneor, the leader of the Spanish congregations, who was attended by a retinue on thirty mules, and Rabbi Meïr Melamed, who was secretary to the King, and Don Isaac Abravanel [1437-1508], who had fled to Castile from the King of Portugal, and then occupied an equally prominent position at the Spanish royal court. He, too, was later expelled, went to Naples, and was highly esteemed by the King of Naples. The aforementioned great rabbi, Rabbi Isaac of Leon, used to call this Don Abraham Seneor: "Soné Or" ["Hater of Light," a Hebrew pun on Seneor], because he was a heretic, and the end proved that he was right, as he was converted to Christianity at the age of eighty, he and all his family, and Rabbi Meïr Melamed with him . [Seneor and his son-in-law, Meïr, were converted June 15, 1492; Ferdinand and Isabella were among the sponsors.] Don Abraham had arranged the nuptials between the King and the Queen. The Queen was the heiress to the throne, and the King one of the Spanish nobility. On account of this, Don Abraham was appointed leader of the Jews, but not with their consent.

The agreement permitting them to remain in the country on the payment of a large sum of money was almost completed when it was frustrated by the interference of a prior who was called the Prior of Santa Cruz. [Legend relates that Torquemada, Prior of the convent of

Santa Cruz, thundered, with crucifix aloft, to the King and Queen: "Judas Iscariot sold his master for thirty pieces of silver. Your Highness would sell him anew for thirty thousand. Here he is, take him, and barter him away."] Then the Queen gave an answer to the representatives of the Jews, similar to the saying of King Solomon [ProverbS 2 1: 1]: "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water. God turneth it withersoever He will." She said furthermore: "Do you believe that this comes upon you from us? The Lord hath put this thing into the heart of the king." [Isabella says it is God's will that the Jews be expelled.]

Then they saw that there was evil determined against them by the King, and they gave up the hope of remaining. But the time had become short, and they had to hasten their exodus from Spain. They sold their houses, their landed estates, and their cattle for very small prices, to save themselves. The King did not allow them to carry silver and gold out of his country, so that they were compelled to exchange their silver and gold for merchandise of cloths and skins and other things- [Ever since 1480 Jews and Gentiles were forbidden to export precious metal, the source of a nation's wealth.]

One hundred and twenty thousand of them went to Portugal, according to a compact which a prominent man, Don Vidal bar Benveniste del Cavalleria, had made with the King of Portugal, and they paid one ducat for every soul, and the fourth part of all the merchandise they had carried thither; and he allowed them to stay in his country six months. This King acted much worse toward them than the King of Spain, and after the six months had elapsed he made slaves of all those that remained in his country, and banished seven hundred children to a remote island to settle it, and all of them died. Some say that there were double as many. Upon them the Scriptural word was fulfilled [Deuteronomy 28:32]: "Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, etc" [all Spanish Jews, who were still in Portugal in 1493, were enslaved by King John (1481-1495). The children were sent to the isle of St. Thomas, off the coast of Africa.] He also ordered the congregation of Lisbon, his capital, not to raise their voice in their prayers, that the Lord might not hear their complaining about the violence that was done unto them.

Many of the exiled Spaniards went to Mohammedan countries, to Fez, Tlemçen, and the Berber provinces, under the King of Tunis. [These North African lands are across the Mediterranean from Spain.] On account of their large numbers the Moors did not allow them into their cities, and many of them died in the fields from hunger, thirst, and lack of everything. The lions and bears, which are numerous in this country, killed some of them while they lay starving outside of the cities. A Jew in the kingdom of Tlemçen, named Abraham, the viceroy who ruled the kingdom, made part of them come to this kingdom, and he spent a large amount of money to help them. The Jews of Northern Africa were very charitable toward them. A part of those who went to Northern Africa, as they found no rest and no place that would receive them, returned to Spain, and became converts, and through them the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled [Lamentations 1:13]: "He hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back." For, originally, they had all fled for the sake of the unity of God; only a very few had become converts throughout all the boundaries of Spain; they did not spare their fortunes; yea, parents escaped without having regard to their children.

When the edict of expulsion became known in the other countries, vessels came from Genoa to the Spanish harbors to carry away the Jews. The crews of these vessels, too, acted maliciously and meanly toward the Jews, robbed them, and delivered some of them to the famous pirate of that time who was called the Corsair of Genoa. To those who escaped and arrived at Genoa the people of the city showed themselves merciless, and oppressed and robbed them, and the cruelty of their wicked hearts went so far that they took the infants from the mothers' breasts.

Many ships with Jews, especially from Sicily, went to the city of Naples on the coast. The King of this country was friendly to the Jews, received them all, and was merciful towards them, and he helped them with money. The Jews that were at Naples supplied them with food as much as they could, and sent around to the other parts of Italy to collect money to sustain them. The Marranos in this city lent them money on pledges without interest; even the. Dominican Brotherhood acted mercifully toward them. [The Dominican monks were normally bitterly opposed to Jews.] On account of their very large number, all this was not enough. Some of them died by famine, others sold their children to Christians to sustain their life. Finally, a plague broke out among them, spread to Naples, and very many of them died, so that the living wearied of burying the dead.

Part of the exiled Spaniards went over sea to Turkey. Some of them were thrown into the sea and drowned, but those who arrived, there the King of Turkey received kindly, as they were artisans. He lent them money and settled many of them on an island, and gave them fields and estates. [The Turks needed smiths and makers of munitions for the war against Christian Europe.]

A few of the exiles were dispersed in the countries of Italy, in the city of Ferrara, in the [papal] countries of Romagna, the March, and Patrimonium, and in Rome. . . .

He who said unto His world, Enough, may He also say Enough unto our sufferings, and may He look down upon our impotence. May He turn again, and have compassion upon us, and hasten out salvation. Thus may it be Thy will!

Medieval Sourcebook:Dagobert, King of the Franks: Grant of a Fair at St. Denis, 629

The Fair of St. Denis is reputed to be one of the oldest fairs in Western Europe. According to this document, which some suspect to be a forgery, it was established under the patronage of the monks of St. Denis by King Dagobert.

Dagobert, King of the Franks, knight, to Leudo, Wulfion, Raucon, my counts, and to all my servants, bailiffs, judges, and other ministers of state, greeting.

In your solicitude and prudence be it known to you that we have decreed and established in honor of our glorious lord and patron, Denis, a fair for gathering together once annually at the mass which falls on the ninth of October, all the merchants dwelling in our kingdom and those coming from beyond the seas. This gathering will be on the road which goes to the city of Paris in the place called St. Martin's Hill. And you, our officials for this market, and all the citizens of our kingdom, shall know of this market, and especially those who come from beyond the sea to the port of Rouen and to the port of Vic to buy wine, honey, and madder. For two years no toll shall be levied. Afterwards, for each measure of honey they shall pay two solidi to the brothers of St. Denis; similarly for each measure of madder they shall pay two solidi. The Saxons and their servants and the citizens of Rouen and pagans from other

lands shall pay as toll on their ships twelve denarii for each measure, and they shall pay wheel tax and passage forever, according to ancient custom. Also we have ordained that the fair shall last for four weeks, and the merchants of Lombardy, Spain, Provence, and other countries shall be able to go there. And we wish and firmly command that no merchant dare to transact business in the neighborhood of Paris except in the fair we have established in honor of St. Denis. If any one should do so let him pay a fine to us and to the house of St. Denis. We straightly order and expressly command you and all our servants and ministers and all your successors, present and future, that the house of St. Denis never suffer hindrance on account of its fair, on our part or on yours; and it or its servants shall forever have, by this our indulgence and authority, within the city of Paris and at the markets in the country, and shall be able to exact at the fair from all merchandise, tolls, customs, portage, pontage, mooring tolls, wheel taxes, road tolls, tolls on travelers, laudaticum, charges on beasts of burden, gifts, each and all of them, whatever they are, from our exchequer and from the public fisc. And in order that this order of ours may be more strictly observed both now and in the future in that place, we have ordered this charter to be sealed

below with our seal and we have signed it with our hand. I, Dagobert, the King, have signed this. Dado obtained it. Given at Compiegne on the thirty-first of July in the second year of the reign of

King Dagobert, fortunately in the name of God, Amen.

Medieval Sourcebook: Council of Agde: Concerning Slaves of the Church, 506

Manumitted slaves were given as freedmen reasonable liberty and holdings sufficient for their sustenance. Freedom, once granted, was irrevocable, though excessive privileges were not allowed. Moreover, those freed in the church had a guarantee of its protection and the right of appeal to the bishop.

7. Concerning slaves of the Church, if any bishop shall reasonably have bestowed liberty freely upon well-deserving cases, it is pleasing that the liberty conferred should be cared for by his successors, with whatever the manumitter conferred on them in granting liberty; yet nevertheless we order him to give them the sum of twenty solidi and to set bounds to their lands, little vineyards, or house. Whatever was given above this the Church will revoke after the death of the manumitter. But little things, or things less useful to the Church, to pilgrims, or to the clergy, we permit to remain for their use, saving the right of the Church.

29. The Church shall take care of freedmen legitimately freed by their masters if necessity demands it; but if any one presume to plunder them or to oppress them before the hearing of their case, he shall be prevented by the Church.

Medieval Sourcebook: Jacques de Vitry: Life of the Students at Paris

[University of Pennsylvania T and R Introduction] The testimony is unanimous as to the evil life of a large proportion of the students. It was inevitable that young men-in many cases, mere boys living under practically no restraint and not subject to the full penalties of the law, should have been boisterous and obstreperous. Many of the so-called students resorted to the universities simply for enjoyment and with no idea of study. Conflicts between the' different nations were every day occurrences. Town and gown rows were frequent. But the citizens as a whole seem to have been favorably disposed toward the students.

In the Chartularium of Paris there are many proofs of the evil lives led a part of students, (see Vol. 1, Nos. 60, 197, 425, etc.). But Jacques de Vitry is preferred here because of his account of the jealousies among the different nations. The first part of his description is very characteristic, but cannot be quoted.

Almost all the students at Paris, foreigners and natives, did absolutely nothing except learn or hear- something new. Some studied merely to acquire knowledge, which is curiosity; others to quire fame, which is vanity; others still for the sake of gain, which is cupidity and the vice of simony. Very few studied for their own edification , or that of others. They wrangled and disputed not merely about the various sects or about some discussions; but the differences between the countries also caused dissensions, hatreds and virulent animosities among them and they impudently uttered all kinds of affronts and insults against one another.

They affirmed that the English were drunkards and had tails; the sons of France proud, effeminate and carefully adorned like women. They said that the Germans were furious and obscene at their feasts; the Normans, vain and boastful; the Poitevins, traitors and always adventurers. The Burgundians they considered vulgar and stupid. The Bretons were reputed to be fickle and changeable, and were often reproached for the death of Arthur. The Lombards were called avaricious, vicious and cowardly; the Romans, seditious, turbulent and slanderous; the Sicilians, tyrannical and cruel; the inhabitants of Brabant, men of blood,

incendiaries, brigands and ravishers; the Flemish, fickle, prodigal, gluttonous, yielding as butter, and slothful. After such insults from words they often came to blows.

I will not speak of those logicians before whose eves flitted constantly "the lice of Egypt," that -is to say, all the sophistical subtleties, so that no one could comprehend their eloquent discourses in which, as says Isaiah, "there is no wisdom." As to the doctors of theology, " seated, in Moses' seat," they were swollen with learning, but their charity was not edifying. Teaching and not practicing, they have "become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal," or like a canal of stone, always dry, which ought to carry water to "the bed of spices." They not only hated one another, but by their flatteries they enticed away the students of others; each one seeking his own glory, but caring not a whit about the welfare of souls.

Having listened intently to these words of the Apostle, " If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work," they kept multiplying the prebends, and seeking after the offices; and yet they sought the work decidedly less than the preeminence, and they desired above all to have " the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogue, and greetings in the market." Although the Apostle James said, " My brethren, be not many masters," they on the contrary were in such haste to become masters that most of them were not able to have any students except by entreaties and payments.. Now it is safer to listen than to teach, and a humble listener is better than an ignorant and presumptuous doctor. In short, the Lord had resereved for Himself among them all only a few honorable and timorous men who had not stood "in the way of sinners," nor had sat down with the others in the euvenomed seat.

from Jacobus de Vitriaco: Hist. occid. Bk.II, Ch.VII. Latin., trans in University of Pennsylvania. Dept. of History: Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European history, published for the Dept. of History of the University of Pennsylvania., Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press [1897?-1907?].Vol II:3, , pp. 19-20

Medieval Sourcebook: Gregory VII: Call for a "Crusade", 1074

[Thatcher] Gregory VII barely missed the honor of having begun the crusading movement. His plan is clear from the following letter. The situation in 1095 was not materially different from that in 1074, and it is probable that Urban II, when he called for a crusade, had nothing more in mind than Gregory VII had when he wrote this letter. Gregory was unable to carry out his plans because he became involved in the struggle with Henry IV.

Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all who are willing to defend the Christian faith, greeting and apostolic benediction.

We hereby inform you that the bearer of this letter, on his recent return from across the sea [from Palestine], came to Rome to visit us. He repeated what we had heard from many others, that a pagan race had overcome the Christians and with horrible cruelty had devastated everything almost to the walls of Constantinople, and were now governing the conquered lands with tyrannical violence, and that they had slain many thousands of Christians as if they were but sheep. If we love God and wish to be recognized as Christians, we should be filled with grief at the misfortune of this great empire [the Greek] and the murder of so many Christians. But simply to grieve is not our whole duty. The example of our Redeemer and the bond of fraternal love demand that we should lay down our lives to liberate them. "Because he has laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren," [1 John 3:16]. Know, therefore, that we are trusting in the mercy of God and in the power of his might and that we are striving in all possible ways and making preparations to render aid to the Christian empire [the Greek] as quickly as possible. Therefore we beseech you by the faith in which you are united through Christ in the adoption of the sons of God, and by the authority of St. Peter, prince of apostles, we admonish you that you be moved to proper compassion by the wounds and blood of your brethren and the danger of the aforesaid empire and that, for the sake of Christ, you undertake the difficult task of bearing aid to your brethren [the Greeks]. Send messengers to us at once inform us of what God may inspire you to do in this matter.

In Migne, Patrologia Latina, 148:329 trans. Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds., A Source Book for Medieval History, (New York: Scribners, 1905), 512-13

Medieval Sourcebook: Crusader Letters

1. Anselm of Ribemont to Manasses II, Archbishop of Reims 2. Stephen, Count of Blois and Chartres, To his Wife Adele 3. The Patriarch of Jerusalem to the Church in the West 4. Anselm of Ribemont to Manasses II, Archbishop of Reims 5. The People of Lucca on Crusade. To all Faithful Christians 6. Godfrey, Raymond and Daimbert to the Pope

1. Anselm of Ribemont to Manasses II, Archbishop of Reims

(Antioch, about February 10, 1098. During siege of Antioch)

TO his reverend lord M., by God's grace archbishop of Reims, A. of Ribemont, his vassal and humble servant - greeting.

Inasmuch as you are our lord and as the kingdom of France is especially dependent upon your care, we tell to you, our father, the events which have happened to us and the condition of the army of the Lord. Yet, in the first place, although we are not ignorant that the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord, we advise and beseech you in the name of our Lord Jesus to consider what you are and what the duty of a priest and bishop is. Provide therefore for our land, so that the lords may keep peace among themselves, the vassals may in safety work on their property, and the ministers of Christ may serve the Lord, leading quiet and tranquil lives. I also pray you and the canons of the holy mother church of Reims, my fathers and lords, to be mindful of us, not only of me and of those who are now sweating in the service of God, but also of the members of the army of the Lord who have fallen in arms or died in peace.

But passing over these things, let us return to what we promised. Accordingly after the army had reached Nicomedia, which is situated at the entrance to the land of the Turks, we all, lords and vassals, cleansed by confession, fortified ourselves by partaking of the body and blood of our Lord, and proceeding thence beset Nicaea on the second day before the Nones of May. After we bad for some days besieged the city with many machines and various engines of war, the craft of the Turks, as often before, deceived us greatly. For on the very day on which they bad promised that they would surrender, Soliman and all the Turks, collected from neighboring and distant regions, suddenly fell upon us and attempted to capture our camp. However the count of St. Gilles, with the remaining Franks, made an attack upon them and killed an innumerable multitude. All the others fled in confusion. Our men, moreover, returning in victory and bearing many heads fixed upon pikes and spears, furnished a joyful spectacle for the people of God. This was on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of June.

Beset moreover and routed in attacks by night and day, they surrendered unwillingly on the thirteenth day before the Kalends Of July. Then the Christians entering the walls with their crosses and imperial standards, reconciled the city to God, and both within the city and outside the gates cried out in Greek and Latin, "Glory to Thee, O God." Having accomplished

this, the princes of the army met the emperor who had come to offer them his thanks, and having received from him gifts of inestimable value, some withdrew, with kindly feelings, others with different emotions.

We moved our camp from Nicaea on the fourth day before the Kalends of July and proceeded on our journey for three days. On the fourth day the Turks, having collected their forces from all sides, again attacked the smaller portion of our army, killed many of our men and drove all the remainder back to their camps. Bohemond, count of the Romans, [Should be "Normans"] count Stephen, and the count of Flanders commanded this section. When these were thus terrified by fear, the standards of the larger army suddenly appeared. Hugh the Great and the duke of Lorraine were riding at the head, the count of St. Gilles and the venerable bishop of Puy followed. For they had beard of the battle and were hastening to our aid. The number of the Turks was estimated at 260,000. All of our army attacked them, killed many and routed the rest. On that day I returned from the emperor, to whom the princes bad sent me on public business.

After that day our princes remained together and were not separated from one another. Therefore, in traversing the countries of Romania and Armenia we found no obstacle, except that after passing Iconium, we, who formed the advance guard, saw a few Turks. After routing these, on the twelfth day before the Kalends of November, we laid siege to Antioch, and now we captured the neighboring places, the cities of Tarsus and Laodicea and many others, by force. On a certain day, moreover, before we besieged the city, at the "Iron Bridge" we routed the Turks, who bad set out to devastate the surrounding country, and we rescued many Christians. Moreover, we led back the horses and camels with very great booty.

While we were besieging the city, the Turks from the nearest redoubt daily killed those entering and leaving the army. The princes of our army seeing this, killed 400 of the Turks who were lying in wait, drove others into a certain river and led back some as captives. You may be assured that we are now besieging Antioch with all diligence, and hope soon to capture it. The city is supplied to an incredible extent with grain, wine, oil and all kinds of food.

I ask, moreover, that you and all whom this letter reaches Pray for us and for our departed brethren. Those who have fallen in battle are: at Nicaea, Baldwin of Ghent, Baldwin Chalderuns, who was the first to make an attack upon the Turks and who fell in battle on the Kalends of July, Robert of Paris, Lisiard of Flanders, Hilduin of Mansgarbio [Mazingarbe], Ansellus of Caium [Anseau of Caien], Manasses of Claromonte [Clerr"t], Lauclunensis.

Those who died from sickness: at Nicaea, Guy of Vitreio, Odo of Vernolio [Verneuil (?)], Hugh of Reims; at the fortress of Sparnum, the venerable abbot Roger, my chaplain; at Antioch, Alard of Spiniaeco, Hugh of Calniaco.

Again and again I beseech you, readers of this letter, to pray for us, and you, my lord archbishop, to order this to be done by your bishops. And know for certain that we have captured for the Lord 200 cities and fortresses. May our mother, the western church, rejoice that she has begotten such men, who are aspiring for her so glorious a name and who are so wonderfully aiding the eastern church. And in order that you may believe this, know that you have sent to me a tapestry by Raymond "de Castello""

Farewell.

Source:

Dana C. Munro, "Letters of the Crusaders", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:4, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1896), 2-5

2. Stephen, Count of Blois and Chartres, To his Wife Adele

(Antioch, March 29 )

Count Stephen to Adele, his sweetest and most amiable wife, to his dear children, and to all his vassals of all ranks - his greeting and blessing,

You may be very sure, dearest, that the messenger whom I sent to give you pleasure, left me before Antioch safe and unharmed and through God's grace in the greatest prosperity. And already at that time, together with all the chosen army of Christ, endowed with great valor by Him, we had been continuously advancing for twenty-three weeks toward the home of our Lord Jesus. You may know for certain, my beloved, that of gold, silver and many other kind of riches I now have twice as much as your love had assigned to me when I left you. For all our princes, with the common consent of the whole army, against my own wishes, have made me up to the present time the leader, chief and director of their whole expedition.

You have certainly heard that after the capture of the city of Nicaea we fought a great battle with the perfidious Turks and by God's aid conquered them. Next we conquered for the Lord all Romania and afterwards Cappadocia. And we learned that there was a certain Turkish prince Assam, dwelling in Cappadocia; thither we directed our course. All his castles we conquered by force and compelled him to flee to a certain very strong castle situated on a high rock. We also gave the land of that Assam to one of our chiefs and in order that he might conquer the above-mentioned Assam, we left there with him many soldiers of Christ. Thence, continually following the wicked Turks, we drove them through the midst of Armenia, as far as the great river Euphrates. Having left all their baggage and beasts of burden on the bank, they fled across the river into Arabia.

The bolder of the Turkish soldiers, indeed, entering Syria, hastened by forced marches night and day, in order to be able to enter the royal city of Antioch before our approach. The whole army of God learning this gave due praise and thanks to the omnipotent Lord. Hastening with great joy to the aforesaid chief city of Antioch, we besieged it and very often had many conflicts there with the Turks; and seven times with the citizens of Antioch and with the innumerable troops coming to its aid, whom we rushed to meet, we fought with the fiercest courage, under the leadership of Christ. And in all these seven battles, by the aid of the Lord God, we conquered and most assuredly killed an innumerable host of them. In those battles, indeed, and in very many attacks made upon the city, many of our brethren and followers were killed and their souls were borne to the joys of paradise.

We found the city of Antioch very extensive, fortified with incredible strength and almost impregnable. In addition, more than 5,000 bold Turkish soldiers had entered the city, not counting the Saracens, Publicans, Arabs, Turcopolitans, Syrians, Armenians and other different races of whom an infinite multitude had gathered together there. In fighting against these enemies of God and of our own we have, by God's grace, endured many sufferings and innumerable evils up to the present time. Many also have already exhausted all their resources in this very holy passion. Very many of our Franks, indeed, would have met a temporal death from starvation, if the clemency of God and our money had not succoured them. Before the abovementioned city of Antioch indeed, throughout the whole winter we suffered for our Lord Christ from excessive cold and enormous torrents of rain. What some say about the impossibility of bearing the beat of the sun throughout Syria is untrue, for the winter there is very similar to our winter in the West.

When truly Caspian [Bagi Seian], the emir of Antioch - that is, prince and lord - perceived that he was hard pressed by us, he sent his son Sensodolo [Chems Eddaulab] by name, to the prince who holds Jerusalem, and to the prince of Calep, Rodoarn [Rodoanus], and to Docap [Deccacus Ibn Toutousch], prince of Damascus. He also sent into Arabia to Bolianuth and to Carathania to Hamelnuth. These five emirs with 12,000 picked Turkish horsemen suddenly came to aid the inhabitants of Antioch. We, indeed, ignorant of all this, had sent many of our soldiers away to the cities and fortresses. For there are one hundred and sixty-five cities and fortresses throughout Syria which are in our power. But a little before they reached the city, we attacked them at three leagues' distance with 700 soldiers, on a certain plain near the "Iron Bridge." God, however, fought for us, His faithful, against them. For on that day, fighting in the strength that God gives, we conquered them and killed an innumerable multitude - God continually fighting for us - and we also carried back to the army more than two hundred of their heads, in order that the people might rejoice on that account. The emperor of Babylon also sent Saracen messengers to our army with letters, and through these he established peace and concord with us.

I love to tell you, dearest, what happened to us during Lent. Our princes had caused a fortress to be built which was between our camp and the sea. For the Turks daily issuing from this gate, killed some of our men on their way to the sea. The city of Antioch is about five leagues' distance from the sea. For this reason they sent the excellent Bohemond and Raymond, count of St. Gilles, to the sea with only sixty horsemen, in order that they might bring mariners to aid in this work. When, however, they were returning to us with those mariners, the Turks collected an army, fell suddenly upon our two leaders and forced them to a perilous flight. In that unexpected flight we lost more than 500 of our foot soldiersto the glory of God. Of our horsemen, however, we lost only two, for certain.

Source:

Dana C. Munro, "Letters of the Crusaders", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:4, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1896), 5-8

3. The Patriarch of Jerusalem to the Church in the West

(Antioch, January 1098)

The Patriarch of Jerusalem and the bishops, Greek as well as Latin, and the whole army of God and the Church to the Church of the West; fellowship in celestial Jerusalem, and a portion of the reward of their labor.

Since we are not unaware that you delight in the increase of the Church, and we believe that you are concerned to hear matters adverse as well as prosperous, we hereby notify you of the success of our undertaking. Therefore, be it known to your delight that God has triumphed in forty important cities and in two hundred fortresses of His Church in Romania, as well as in Syria, and that we still have one hundred thousand men in armor, besides the common throng, though many were lost in the first battles. But what is this? What is one man in a thousand? Where we have a count, the enemy have forty kings; where we have a company, the enemy have a legion; where we have a knight, they have a duke; where we have a foot soldier, they have a count; where we have a camp, they have a kingdom. However, confiding not in numbers, nor in bravery, nor in any presumption, but protected by justice and the shield of Christ, and with St. George, Theodore, Demetrius, and Basil, soldiers of Christ, truly supporting us, we have pierced, and in security are piercing, the ranks of the enemy. On five general battlefields, God conquering, we have conquered.

But what more? In behalf of God and ourselves, I, apostolic Patriarch, the bishops and the whole order of the Lord, urgently pray, and our spiritual Mother Church calls out: "Come, my most beloved sons, come to me, retake the crown from the bands of the sons of idolatry, who rise against me - the crown from the beginning of the world predestined for you." Come, therefore, we pray, to fight in the army of the Lord at the same place in which the Lord fought, in which Christ suffered for us, leaving to you an example that you should follow his footsteps. Did not God, innocent, die for us? Let us therefore also die, if it be our lot, not for Him, but for ourselves, that by dying on earth we may live for God. Yet it is (now) not necessary that we should die,' nor fight much, for we have (already) sustained the more serious trials, but the task of holding the fortresses and cities has been heavily reducing our army. Come, therefore, hasten to be repaid with the twofold reward - namely, the land of the living and the land flowing with milk and honey and abounding in all good things. Behold, men, by the shedding of our blood the way is open everywhere. Bring nothing with you except only what may be of use to us. Let only the men come; let the women, as yet, be left. From the home in which there are two, let one, the one more ready for battle come. But those, especially, who have made the vow (let them come). Unless they come and discharge their vow, I apostolic Patriarch, the bishops, and the whole order of the orthodox, do excommunicate them and remove them utterly from the communion of the Church. And do you likewise, that they may not have burial among Christians, unless they are staying for suitable reasons. Come, and receive the twofold glory! This, therefore, also write.

Source:

August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 142-44

4. Anselm of Ribemont to Manasses II, Archbishop of Reims

(Antioch, July 1098)

In the name of the Lord!

To his lord and father, Manasses, by grace of God venerable Archbishop of Reims, Anselm of Ribemont, his loyal vass; and humble servant; greeting.

Let your Eminence, reverend father and lord, know that, even though absent and not present, we are daily asking aid . our hearts from you- not only from you, but, also, from all the sons of the Holy Mother Church of Reims, in whom we have the greatest faith. Likewise, inasmuch as you are our lord, and the counsel of the whole kingdom of France is especially dependent upon you, we are keeping you, father, informed of whatever happy and adverse events have happened to us. Let the others, moreover, be informed through you, that you may share equally in our sufferings, and rejoice with us in our success.

We have informed you how we fared in the siege and capture of Nicaea, in our departure thence and our journey through all Romania and Armenia. It now remains for us to tell you a little about the siege of Antioch, the many kinds of danger we there tasted, and the innumerable battles which we fought against the King of Aleppo, the King of Damascus, and against the adulterous King of Jerusalem.

Antioch has been besieged by the army of the Lord since the thirteenth day before the Kalends of November with exceeding valor and courage beyond words. What unheard of battles you might have perceived there at a certain gateway to the west! How marvelous it would seem to you, were you present, to see them daily rushing forth through six gates -

both they and ourselves fighting for safety and life! At that time our princes, seeking to enclose the city more and more closely, first besieged the eastern gate, and Bohemund, having built a fort there, stationed a part of his army in it. However, since our princes then felt somewhat elated, God, who chasteneth every son whom he loveth, so chastened us that hardly seven hundred horses could be found in our army; and thus, not because we lacked proven and valiant men, but from lack of horses, or food, or through excessive cold, almost all were dying. The Turks, moreover, supplied with horses and all necessities in abundance, were wont daily to ride around our camp, a certain stream which lay between serving as a wall. There Was likewise a castle of the Turks almost eight miles away; and these Turks were daily killing many of our men, who were going back and forth from our army. Our princes went out against them and with God's help put them to flight and killed many of them. Therefore the ruler of Antioch, seeing himself afflicted, called the King of Damascus to his aid. By God's providence, this King met Bohemund and the Count of Flanders, who bad gone to find food with a part of our army, and, God's help prevailing, he was defeated and routed by them. The ruler of Antioch, still concerned about his safety, sent to the King of Aleppo and aroused him with promises of very great wealth, to the end that be should come with all his forces. Upon his arrival, our princes went forth from camp, and that day, God being their helper, with seven hundred knights and a few foot soldiers they defeated twelve thousand Turks with their King, put them to flight, and killed many of them. Our men regained not a few horses from that battle, and returned rejoicing with victory. Growing stronger and stronger, therefore, from that day our men took counsel with renewed courage as to bow they might besiege the western gate which cut off access to the sea, wood, and fodder. By common agreement, therefore, Bohemund and the Count of St. Gilles went to the coast to fetch those who were staying there. Meanwhile , those who had remained to look after the possessions, seeking to acquire a name for themselves, went out incautiously one day after breakfast, near that western gate from which they were ingloriously repulsed and put to flight. On the third day after this, Bohemund and the Count of St. Gilles, on their way back, sent word to the princes of the army to meet them, (intending) together to besiege the gate. However, since the latter delayed for a short time, Bohemund and the Count of St. Gilles were beaten and put to flight. Therefore all our men, grieving and bewailing their disgrace, as well, for a thousand of our men fell that day, formed their lines and defeated and put to flight the Turks, who offered great resistance. On this day, moreover, almost fourteen hundred of the enemy perished both by weapons and in the river, which was swollen with winter rains.

And so, when this had been accomplished, our men began to build the fortress, which they strengthened, also, with a double moat and a very strong wall, as well as with two towers. In it they placed the Count of St. Gilles with machine men and bowmen. Oh, with what great labor we established the fortress! One part of our army served the eastern front, another looked after the camp, while all the rest worked on this fortress. Of the latter, the machine men and bowmen kept watch on the gate; the rest, including the princes themselves, did not stop in the work of carrying stones, and building the wall. Why recount the trials of many kinds, which, even if passed over in silence, are sufficiently evident in themselves - hunger, intemperate weather, and the desertion of fainthearted soldiers? The more bitter they were, the more ready our men were in enduring them. Yet, indeed, we think that we should by no means pass in silence the fact that on a certain day the Turks pretended that they would surrender the city and carried the deception so far as to receive some of our men among them, and several of their men came out to us. While this was going on in this manner, they, like the faithless people that they were, set a trap for us in which Walo, the Constable, and others of them as well as of us were destroyed. A few days after this, moreover, it was announced to us that Corbara, chief of the army of the king of the Persians, had sworn to our death, and had almoreover, it was announced to us that Corbana, chief of the army God, however, who does not desert those who place their trust in Him, did not abandon His people, but on the Nones of June compassionately gave to us the city of Antioch, which three

of its citizens betrayed. We, however, devastated the city, and on that same day killed all the pagans in it, except some who were holding out in the castle of the city.

Source:

August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 157-60

5. The People of Lucca on Crusade. To all Faithful Christians

(Antioch, October 1098)

To the primates, archbishops, bishops, and other rectors, and to all the faithful of the lands of Christ anywhere; the clergy and people of Lucca (send) greeting full of peace and gladness in the Lord.

To the praise and glory of the Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, we are truly and faithfully making known to all (the news) which we received truly and faithfully from participants in the affairs tbemselves - at what time, with what great triumph, the most mighty right band of Christ gave complete victory over the pagans to our brethren, His champions, after trial and perils. A certain citizen of ours, Bruno by name, known and very dear to all of us, in the year preceding this, went with the ships of the Angles even to Antioch itself. There, as a partner in work and danger, sharer of triumph and joy, be fought along with the fighters, starved with the starving and conquered, also, with the conquering; and when the complete victory had already been achieved, and he had rejoiced three weeks there with all, be returned to us, after a happy voyage. Placing him in our midst, we received from him the pure and simple truth of the matter - lo! in his own account, as follows:

"When we who were voyaging by sea bad come to Antioch, the army, which bad gathered together from everywhere by land, bad already surrounded the city in siege, though not very well. On the following day, our princes proceeded to the sea, for the sake of visiting us. They urged us to get together an abundant supply of wood for the construction of war engines, which we did at great expense. On the third day, moreover, before the Nones of March, that is the first Friday, our princes decided to erect a fortress at the western gate of the city. This fortress, a very short ballista-shot away (from the city), is now called by the name of the Blessed Mary. There, on that same day, in an attack of the Turks, in which they killed 2,055 of our men, we killed 800 of the enemy. From the third day, moreover, when the fortress had been erected, until the third day before the Nones of June, our men endured many hardships, and, weakened by hunger and the sword, they toiled there at great cost. However, on this day the city was captured in the following manner: Four brothers, noble men of Antioch, on the second day of June promise to surrender the city to Bohemund, Robert Curtose, and Robert, Count of Flanders. These, however, with the common assent of all our princes, at nightfall conduct the whole army to the wall of the city, without the knowledge of the Turks. And in the morning, when the citizens of Antioclio open the gates to receive the three named princes alone, according to promise, all of our men suddenly rush in together. There is the greatest clamor: our men obtain all the fortified places, except the very high citadel; the Turksthese they kill, those they hurl to destruction over the precipice."

Source:

August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 161-67

6. Godfrey, Raymond and Daimbert to the Pope

(Laodicea, Spetember 1099)

To Lord Paschal, pope of the Roman church, to all the bishops and to the whole Christian people, from the archbishop of Pisa, duke Godfrey, now, by the grace of God, defender of of the Holy Se ulchre, Raymond, count of St. Gilles, and the whole army of God, which is in the land of Israel, greeting.

Multiply your supplications and prayers in the sight of God with joy and thanksgiving, since God has manifested His mercy in fulfilling by our bands what He bad promised in ancient times. For after the capture of Nicaea, the whole army, made up of more than three hundred thousand soldiers, departed thence. And, although this army was so great that it could have in a single day covered all Romania and drunk up all the rivers and eaten up all the growing things, yet the Lord conducted them amid so great abundance that a ram was sold for a penny and an ox for twelve pennies or less. Moreover, although the princes and kings of the Saracens rose up against us, yet, by God's will, they were easily conquered and overcome. Because, indeed, some were, puffed up by these successes, God opposed to us Antioch, impregnable to human strength. And there He detained us for nine months and so humbled us in the siege that there were scarcely a hundred good horses in our whole army. God opened to us the abundance of His blessing and mercy and led us into the city, and delivered the Turks and all of their possessions into our power.

Inasmuch as we thought that these had been acquired by our own strength and did not worthily magnify God who bad done this, we were beset by so great a multitude of Turks that no one dared to venture forth at any point from the city. Moreover, hunger so weakened us that some could scarcely refrain from eating human flesh. It would be tedious to narrate all the miseries which we suffered in that city. But God looked down upon His people whom He had so long chastised and mercifully consoled them. Therefore, He at first revealed to us, as a recompense for our tribulation and as a pledge of victory, His lance which had laid hidden since the days of the apostles. Next, He so fortified the hearts of the men, that they who from sickness or hunger had been unable to walk, now were enbued with strength to seize their weapons and manfully to fight against the enemy.

After we had triumphed over the enemy, as our army was wasting away at Antioch from sickness and weariness and was especially hindered by the dissensions among the leaders, we proceeded into Syria, stormed Barra and Marra, cities of the Saracens, and captured the fortresses in that country. And while we were delaying there, there was so great a famine in the army that the Christian people now ate the putrid bodies of the Saracens. Finally, by the divine admonition, we entered into the interior of Hispania, and the most bountiful, merciful and victorious hand of the omnipotent Father was with us. For the cities and fortresses of the country through which we were proceeding sent ambassadors to us with many gifts and offered to aid us and to surrender their walled places. But because our army was not large and it was the unanimous wish to hasten to Jerusalem, we accepted their pledges and made them tributaries. One of the cities forsooth, which was on the seacoast, bad more men than there were in our whole army. And when those at Antioch and Laodicea and Archas heard bow the hand of the Lord was with us, many from the army who had remained in those cities followed us to Tyre. Therefore, with the Lord's companionship and aid, we proceeded thus as far as Jerusalem.

And after the army had suffered greatly in the siege, especially on account of the lack of water, a council was held and the bishops and princes ordered that all with bare feet should march around the walls of the city, in order that He who entered it humbly in our behalf might be moved by our humility to open it to us and to exercise judgment upon His enemies.

God was appeased by this humility and on the eighth day after the humiliation He delivered the city and His enemies to us. It was the day indeed on which the primitive church was driven thence, and on which the festival of the dispersion of the apostles is celebrated. And if you desire to know what was done with the enemy who were found there, know that in Solomon's Porch and in his temple our men rode in the blood of the Saracens up to the knees of their horses.

Then, when we were considering who ought to hold the city, and some moved by love for their country and kinsmen wished to return home, it was announced to us that the king of Babylon bad come to Ascalon with an innumerable multitude of soldiers. His purpose was, as be said, to lead the Franks, who were in Jerusalem, into captivity, and to take Antioch by storm. But God had determined otherwise in regard to us.

Therefore, when we learned that the army of the Babylonians was at Ascalon, we went down to meet them, leaving our baggage and the sick in Jerusalem with a garrison. When our army was in sight of the enemy, upon our knees we invoked the aid of the Lord, that He who in our other adversities had strengthened the Christian faith, might in the present battle break the strength of the Saracens and of the devil and extend the kingdom of the church of Christ from sea to sea, over the whole world. There was no delay; God was present when we cried for His aid, and furnished us with so great boldness, that one who saw us rush upon the enemy would have taken us for a herd of deer hastening to quench their thirst in running water. It was wonderful, indeed, since there were in our army not more than 5,000 horsemen: j and 15,000 foot soldiers, and there were probably in the enemy's army 100,000 horsemen and 400,000 foot soldiers. Then God appeared wonderful to His servants. For before we engaged in fighting, by our very onset alone, He turned this multitude in flight and scattered all their weapons, so that if they wished afterwards to attack us, they did not have the weapons in which they trusted. There can be no question how great the spoils were, since the treasures of the king of Babylon were captured. More than 100,000 Moors perished there by the sword. Moreover, their panic was so great that about 2,000 were suffocated at the gate of the city. Those who perished in the sea were innumerable. Many were entangled in the thickets. The whole world was certainly fighting for us, and if many of ours had not been detained in plundering the camp, few of the great multitude of the enemy would have been able to escape from the battle. And although it may be tedious, the following must not be omitted: On the day preceding the battle the army captured many thousands of camels, oxen and sheep. By the command of the princes these were divided among the people. When we advanced to battle, wonderful to relate, the camels formed in many squadrons and the sheep and oxen did the same. Moreover, these animals accompanied us, halting when we halted, advancing when we advanced, and charging when we charged. The clouds protected us from the beat of the sun and cooled us.

Accordingly, after celebrating the victory, the army returned to Jerusalem. Duke Godfrey remained there; the count of St. Gilles, Robert, count of Normandy, and Robert, count of Flanders, returned to Laodicea. There they found the fleet belonging to the Pisans and to Bohemond. After the archbishop of Pisa had established peace between Bohemond and our leaders, Raymond prepared to return to Jerusalem for the sake of God and his brethren.

Therefore, we call upon you of the catholic church of Christ and of the whole Latin church to exult in the so admirable bravery and devotion of your brethren, in the so glorious and very desirable retribution of the omnipotent God, and in the so devoutedly hoped - for remission of all our sins through the grace of God. And we pray that He may make you - namely, all bishops, clerks and monks who are leading devout lives, and all the laity - to sit down at the right hand of God, who liveth and reigneth God for ever and ever. And we ask and beseech you in the name of our Lord Jesus, who has ever been with us and aided us and freed us from all our tribulations, to be mindful of your brethren who return to you, by doing them

kindnesses and by paying their debts, in order that God may recompense you and absolve you from all your sins and grant you a share in all the blessings which either we or they have deserved in the sight of the Lord. Amen.

Medieval Sourcebook:William of Tyre:The Foundation of the Order of Knights Templar

In this same year,[1118] certain noble men of knightly rank, religious men, devoted to God and fearing him, bound themselves to Christ's service in the hands of the Lord Patriarch. They promised to live in perpetuity as regular canons, without possessions, under vows of chastity and obedience. Their foremost leaders were the venerable Hugh of Payens and Geoffrey of St. Omer. Since they had no church nor any fixed abode, the king, gave them for a time a dwelling place in the south wing of the palace, near the Lord's Temple. The canons of the Lord's Temple gave them, under certain conditions, a square near the palace which the canons possessed. This the knights used as a drill field. The Lord King and his noblemen and also the Lord Patriarch and the prelates of the church gave them benefices from their domains, some for a limited time and some in perpetuity. These were to provide the knights with food and clothing. Their primary duty, one which was enjoined upon them by the Lord Patriarch and the other bishops for the remission of sins, was that of protecting the roads and routes against the attacks of robbers and brigands. This they did especially in order to safeguard pilgrims.

For nine years after their founding, the knights wore secular clothing. They used such garments as the people, for their soul's salvation, gave them. In their ninth year there was held in France, at Troyes, a council at which the Lord Archbishops of Reims and Sens and their suffragans were present, as well as the Bishop of Albano, who was the legate of the apostolic see, and the Abbots of Citeaux, Clairvaux, Pontigny, with many others. This council, by command of the Lord Pope Honorius and the Lord Stephen, Patriarch of Jerusalem, established a rule for the knights and assigned them a white habit.

Although the knights now had been established for nine years, there were still only nine of them. From this time onward their numbers began to grow and their possessions began to multiply. Later, in Pope Eugene's time, it is said that both the knights and their humbler servants, called sergeants, began to affix crosses made of red cloth to their mantles, so as to distinguish themselves from others. They have now grown so great that there are in this Order today [William was writing c. 1170-74] about 300 knights who wear white mantles, in addition to the brothers, who are almost countless. They are said to have immense possessions both here and overseas, so that there is now not a province in the Christian world which has not bestowed upon the aforesaid brothers a portion of its goods. It is said today that their wealth is equal to the treasures of kings. Because they have a headquarters in the royal palace next to the Temple of the Lord, as we have said before, they are called the Brothers of the Militia of the Temple. Although they maintained their establishment honorably for a long time and fulfilled their vocation with sufficient prudence, later, because of the neglect of humility (which is known as the guardian of all virtues and which, since it sits in the lowest place, cannot fall), they with drew from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, by whom their Order was founded and from whom they received their first benefices and to whom they denied the obedience which their predecessors rendered. They have also taken away tithes and first fruits from God's churches, have disturbed their possessions, and have made themselves exceedingly troublesome.

Medieval Sourcebook: Annales Herbipolenses, s.a. 1147:A Hostile View of the Crusade

[From Brundage] The fiasco at Damascus gave rise to great bitterness, as William of Tyre noted, both among the Crusaders themselves, who suspected that treachery was involved, and also in the West. After the withdrawal from Damascus, the grand alliance was

irrevocably shattered. Conrad of Germany at once set out for home by way of Constantinople. King Louis of France lingered longer in Palestine, but finally left the Holy Land in the summer of 1149 without having attempted any further military action. The attitude of the West toward the Crusade and toward those who bad played a prominent part in it was hostile and suspicious. The anonymous annalist of Würzburg reflects the current Western attitude in his account of the Crusade:

God allowed the Western church, on account of its sins, to be cast down. There arose, indeed, certain pseudo prophets, sons of Belial, and witnesses of anti-Christ, who seduced the Christians with empty words. They constrained all sorts of men, by vain preaching, to set out against the Saracens in order to liberate Jerusalem. The preaching of these men was so enormously influential that the inhabitants of nearly every region, by common vows, offered themselves freely for common destruction. Not only the ordinary people, but kings, dukes, marquises, and other powerful men of this world as well, believed that they thus showed their allegiance to God. The bishops, archbishops, abbots, and other ministers and prelates of the church joined in this error, throwing themselves headlong into it to the great peril of bodies and souls.... The intentions of the various men were different. Some, indeed, lusted after novelties and went in order to learn about new lands. Others there were who were driven by poverty, who were in hard straits at home; these men went to fight, not only against the enemies of Christ's cross, but even against the friends of the Christian name, wherever opportunity appeared, in order to relieve their poverty. There were others who were oppressed by debts to other men or who sought to escape the service due to their lords, or who were even awaiting the punishment merited by their shameful deeds. Such men simulated a zeal for God and hastened chiefly in order to escape from such troubles and anxieties. A few could, with difficulty, be found who had not bowed their knees to Baal, who were directed by a holy and wholesome purpose, and who were kindled by love of the divine majesty to fight earnestly and even to shed their blood for the holy of holies.

Medieval Sourcebook: Magna Carta 1215

This is another document that needs little introduction. While Johnclaimed the royal prerogatives of his ancestors, his spiritual and temporallords sought an efficient administration of the laws to prevent the anarchy ofStephen's reign from happening again.

John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandyand Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls,barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all hisbailiffs and liege subjects, greeting. Know that, having regard to God and forthe salvation of our soul, and those of all our ancestors and heirs, and untothe honor of God and the advancement of holy church, and for the reform of ourrealm, by advice of our venerable fathers, Stephen archbishopof Canterbury,primate of

all England and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishopof Dublin, William of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath andGlastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry,Benedict of Rochester, bishops; of master Pandulf, subdeacon and member of thehousehold of our lord the Pope, of brother Aymeric (master of the Knights ofthe Temple in England), and of the illustrious men William Marshall earl ofPembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warenne, William earl ofArundel, Alan of Galloway (constable of Scotland), Waren Fitz Gerald, PeterFits Herbert, Hubert de Burgh (seneschal of Poitou), Hugh de Neville, MatthewFitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip d'Aubigny, Robert ofRoppesley, John Marshall, John Fitz Hugh, and others, our liegemen.

1. In the first place we have granted to God, and by this our present charterconfirmed for us and our heirs for ever that the English church shall be free,and shall have her rights entire, and her liberties inviolate; and we will thatit be thus observed; which is apparent from this that the freedom of elections,which is reckoned most important and very essential to the English church, we,of our pure and unconstrained will, did grant, and did by our charter confirmand did obtain the ratification of the same from our lord, Pope Innocent III.,before the quarrel arose between us and our barons: and this we will observe,and our will is that it be observed in good faith by our heirs for ever. Wehave also granted to all freemen of our kingdom, for us and our heirs for ever,all the underwritten liberties, to be had and held by them and their heirs, ofus and our heirs for ever.

2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of us in chief by militaryservice shall have died, and at the time of his death his heir shall be of fullage and owe "relief" he shall have his inheritance on payment of the ancientrelief, namely the heir or heirs of an earl, 100 pounds for a whole earl'sbarony; the heir or heirs of a baron, 100 pounds for a whole barony; the heiror heirs of a knight, 100 shillings at most for a whole knight's fee; andwhoever owes less let him give less, according to the ancient custom offiefs.

3. If, however, the heir of any of the aforesaid has been under age and inwardship, let him have his inheritance without relief and without fine when hecomes of age.

4. The guardian of the land of an heir who is thus under age, shall take fromthe land of the heir nothing but reasonably produce, reasonable customs, andreasonable services, and that without destruction or waste of men or goods; andif we have committed the wardship of the lands of any such minor to thesheriff, or to any other who is responsible to us for its issues, and he hasmade destruction or waste of what he holds in wardship, we will take of himamends, and the land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of thatfee, who shall be responsible for the issues to us or to him to whom we shallassign them; and if we have given or sold the wardship of any such land to anyone and he has therein made destruction or waste, he shall lose that wardship,and it shall be transferred to two lawful and discreet men of that fief, whoshall be responsible to us in like manner as aforesaid.

5. The guardian, moreover, so long as he has the wardship of the land, shallkeep up the houses, parks, fishponds, stanks, mills, and other thingspertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and he shallrestore to the heir, when he has come to full age, all his land, stocked withploughs and "waynage," according as the season of husbandry shall require, andthe issues of the land can reasonably bear.

6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, yet so that before themarriage takes place the nearest in blood to that heir shall have notice.

7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith and withoutdifficulty have her marriage portion and inheritance; nor shall she giveanything for her dower, or for her

marriage portion, or for the inheritancewhich her husband and she held on the day of the death of that husband; and shemay remain in the house of her husband for fourty days after his death, withinwhich time her dower shall be assigned to her.

8. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she prefers to livewithout a husband; provided always that she gives security not to marry withoutour consent, if she holds of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom sheholds, if she holds of another.

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any debt, solong as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to repay the debt; nor shallthe sureties of the debtor be distrained so long as the principal debtor isable to satisfy the debt; and if the principal debtor shall fail to pay thedebt, having nothing wherewith to pay it, then the sureties shall answer forthe debt; and let them have the lands and rents of the debtor, if they desirethem, until they are indemnified for the debt which they have paid for him,unless the principal debtor can show proof that he is discharged thereof asagainst the said sureties.

10. If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die beforethat loan can be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while the heir isunder age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into our hands, wewill not take anything except the principal sum contained in the bond.

11. And if any one die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower andpay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased are left underage, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping with the holding of thedeceased; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, reserving, however,service due to feudal lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts dueto others than Jews.

12. No scutage nor aid shall be imposed on our kingdom, unless by commoncounsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for making our eldestson a knight, and for once marrying our eldest daughter; and for these thereshall not be levied more than a reasonable aid. In like manner it shall bedone concerning aids from the city of London.

13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and freecustoms, as well by land as by water; furthermore, we decree and grant that allother cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their liberties andfree customs.

14. And for obtaining the common counsel of the kingdom anent the assessing ofan aid (except in the three cases aforesaid) or of a scutage, we will cause tobe summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons,severally by our letters; and we will moreover cause to be summoned generally,through our sheriffs and bailiffs, all others who hold of us in chief, for afixed date, namely, after the expiry of at least forty days, and at a fixedplace; and in all letters of such summons we will specify the reason of thesummons. And when the summons has thus been made, the business shall proceedon the day appointed, according to the counsel of such as are present, althoughnot all who were summoned have come.

15. We will not for the future grant to any one license to take an aid fromhis own free tenants, except to ransom his body, to make his eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and on each of these occasionsthere shall be levied only a reasonable aid.

16. No one shall be distrained for performance of greater service for aknight's fee, or for any other free tenement, than is due therefrom.

17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held in some fixedplace.

18. Inquests of novel disseisin, of mort d'ancester,and of darrein presentment, shall not be held elsewhere than intheir own county courts and that in manner following,--We, or, if we should beout of the realm, our chief justiciar, will send two justiciars through everycounty four times a year, who shall, along with four knights of the countychosen by the county, hold the said assize in the county court, on the day andin the place of meeting of that court.

19. And if any of the said assizes cannot be taken on the day of the countycourt, let there remain of the knights and freeholders, who were present at thecounty court on that day, as many as may be required for the efficient makingof judgments, according as the business be more or less.

20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a slight offense, except in accordancewith the degree of the offense; and for a grave offense he shall be amerced inaccordance with the gravity of the offense, yet saving always his"contenement;" and a merchant in the same way, saving his "merchandise;" and avillein shall be amerced in the same way, saving his "wainage"--if they havefallen into our mercy: and none of the aforesaid amercements shall be impsedexcept by the oath of honest men of the neighborhood.

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced except through their peers, and onlyin accordance with the degree of the offense.

22. A clerk shall not be amerced in respect of his lay holding except afterthe manner of the others aforesaid; further, he shall not be amerced inaccordance with the extent of his ecclesiastical benefice.

23. No village or individual shall be compelled to make bridges atriver-banks, except those who from of old were legally bound to do so.

24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or others of our bailiffs, shall holdpleas of our Crown.

25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trithings (except our demesnemanors) shall remain at old rents, and without any additional payment.

26. If any one holding of us a lay fief shall die, and our sheriff or bailiffshall exhibit our letters patent of summons for a debt which the deceased owedto us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to attach and cataloguechattels of the deceased, found upon the lay fief, to the value of that debt,at the sight of law-worthy men, provided always that nothing whatever be thenceremoved until the debt which is evident shall be fully paid to us; and theresidue shall be left to the executors to fulfil the will of the deceased; andif there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to thedeceased, saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares.

27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be distributed bythe hands of his nearest kinsfolk and friends, under supervision of the church,saving to every one the debts which the deceased owed to him.

28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take corn or other provisionsfrom any one without immediately tendering money therefor, unless he can havepostponement thereof by permission of the seller.

29. No constable shall compel any knight to give money in lieu ofcastle-guard, when he is willing to perform it in his own person, or (if hecannot do it from any reasonable cause) then by another responsible man. Further, if we have led or sent him upon military service, he shall be relievedfrom guard in proportion to the time during which he has been on servicebecause of us.

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or other person, shall take the horses orcarts of any freeman for transport duty, against the will of the saidfreeman.

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any otherwork of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the owner of thatwood.

32. We will not retain beyond one year and one day, the lands of those whohave been convicted of felony, and the lands shall thereafter be handed over tothe lords of the fiefs.

33. All kiddles for the future shall be removed altogether from Thames andMedway, and throughout all England, except upon the seashore.

34. The writ which is called praecipe shall not for the future beissued to any one, regarding any tenement whereby a freeman may lose hiscourt.

35. Let there be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm; and onemeasure of ale; and one measure of corn, to wit, "the London quarter;" and onewidth of cloth (whether dyed, or russet, or "halberget"), to wit, two ellswithin the selvages; of weights also let it be as of measures.

36. Nothing in future shall be given or taken for a writ of inquisition oflife or limbs, but freely it shall be granted, and never denied.37. If any one holds of us by fee-farm, by socage, or by burgage, and holdsalso land of another lord by knight's service, we will not (by reason of thatfee-farm, socage, or burgage) have the wardship of the heir, or of such land ofhis as is of the fief of that other; nor shall we have wardship of thatfee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless such fee-farm owes knight's service. Wewill not by reason of any small serjeanty which any one may hold of us by theservice of rendering to us knives, arrows, or the like, have wardship of hisheir of of the land which he holds of another lord by knight's service.

38. No bailiff for the future shall, upon his own unsupported complaint, putany one to his "law," without credible witnesses brought for this purpose.

39. No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in anyway destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawfuljudgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right orjustice.

41. All merchants shall have safe and secure exit from England, and entry toEngland, with the right to tarry there and to move about as well by land as bywater, for buying and selling by the ancient and right customs, quit from allevil tolls, except (in time of war) such merchants as are of the land at warwith us. And if such are found in our land at the beginning of teh war, theyshall be deltained, without injury to their bodies or goods, until informationbe received by us, or by our chief justiciar, how the merchants of our landfound in the land at war with us are treated; and if our men are safe there,the others shall be safe in our land.

42. It shall be lawful in future for any one (excepting always thoseimprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the kingdom, and nativesof any country at war with us, and merchants, who shall be treated as is aboveprovided) to leave our kingdom and to return, safe and secure by land andwater, except for a short period in time of war, on grounds of publicpolicy--reserving always the allegiance due to us.

43. If any one holding of some escheat (such as the honor of Wallingford,Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats which are in our handsand are baronies) shall die, his heir shall give no other relief, and performno other service to us than he would have done to the baron, if that barony hadbeen in the baron's hand; and we shall hold it in the same manner in which thebaron held it.

44. Men who dwell without the forest need not henceforth come before ourjusticiars of the forest upon a general summons, except those who areimpleaded, or who have become sureties for any person or persons attached forforest offenses.

45. We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs only suchas know the law of the realm and mean to observe it well.

46. All barons who have founded abbeys, concerning which they hold chartersfrom the kings of England, or of which they have long-continued possession,shall have the wardship of them, when vacant, as they ought to have.

47. All forests that have been made such in our time shall forthwith bedisafforested; and a similar course shall be followed with regard toriver-banks that have been placed "in defense" by us in our time.

48. All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters andwarreners, sheriffs and their officers, river-banks and their wardens, shallimmediately be inquired into in each county by twelve sworn knights of the samecounty chosen by the honest men of the same county, and shall, within fortydays of the said inquest, be utterly abolished, so as never to be restored,provided always that we previously have intimation thereof, or our justiciar,if we should not be in England.

49. We will immediately restore all hostages and charters delivered to us byEnglishmen, as sureties of the peace or of faithful service.

50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks, the relations of GerardAthee (so that in future they shall have no bailiwick in England); namely,Engelard of Cigogne, Peter, Guy, and Andrew of Chanceaux, Guy of Cigogne,Geofrrey of Martigny with his brothers, Philip Mark with his brothers and hisnephew Geoffrey, and the whole brood of the same.

51. As soon as peace is restored, we will banish from the kingdom allforeign-born knights, cross-bowmen, serjeants, and mercenary soldiers, who havecome with horses and arms to the kingdom's hurt.

52. If any one has been dispossessed or removed by us, without the legaljudgment of his peers, from his lands, castles, franchises, or from his right,we will immediately restore them to him; and if a dispute arise over this, thenlet it be decided by the five-and-twenty barons of whom mention is made belowin the clause for securing the peace. Moreover, for all those possessions,from which any one has, without the lawful judgment of his peers, beendisseised or removed, by our father, King Henry, or by our brother, KingRichard, and which we retain in our hand (or which are possessed by others, towhom we are bound to

warrant them) we shall have respite until the usual termof crusaders; excepting those things about which a plea has been raised, or aninquest made by our order, before our taking of the cross; but as soon as wereturn from our expedition (or if perchance we desist from the expedition) wewill immediately grant full justice therein.

53. We shall have, moreover, the same respite and in the same manner inrendering justice concerning the disafforestation or retention of those forestswhich Henry our father and Richard our brother afforested, and concerningwardship of lands which are of the fief of another (namely, such wardships aswe have hitherto had by reason of a fief which any one held of us by knight'sservice), and concerning abbeys founded on other fiefs than our own, in whichthe lord of the fief claims to have right; and when we have returned, or if wedesist from our expedition, we will immediately grant full justice to all whocomplain of such things.

54. No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman, for thedeath of any other than her husband.

55. All fines made with us unjustly and against the law of the land, and allamercements imposed unjustly and against the law of the land, shall be entirelyremitted, or else it shall be done concerning them according to the decision ofteh five-and-twenty barons of whom mention is made below in the clause forsecuring the peace, or according to the judgment of the majority of the same,along with the aforesaid Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can bepresent, and such others as he may wish to bring with him for this purpose, andif he cannot be present the business shall nevertheless proceed without him,provided always that if any one or more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty baronsare in a similar suit, they shall be removed as far as concerns this particularjudgment, others being substituted in their places after having been selectedby the rest of the same five-and-twenty for this purpose only, and after havingbeen sworn.

56. If we have disseised or removed Welshmen from lands or liberties, or otherthings, without the legal judgment of their peers in England or in Wales, theyshall be immediately restored to them; and if a dispute arise over this, thenlet it be decided in the marches by the judgment of their peers; for tenementsin England according to the law of England, for tenements in Wales according tothe law of Wales, and for tenements in the marches according to the law of themarches. Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours.

57. Further, for all those possessions from which any Welshman has, withoutthe lawful judgment of his peers, been disseised or removed by King Henry ourfather or King Richard our brother, and which we retain in our hand (or whichare possessed by others, to whom we are bound to warrant them) we shall haverespite until the usual term of crusaders; excepting those things about which aplea has been raised or an inquest made by our order before we took the cross;but as soon as we return (or if perchance we desist from our expedition), wewill immediately grant full justice in accordance with the laws of the Welshand in relation to the foresaid regions.

58. We will immediately give up the son of Llywelyn and all the hostages ofWales, and the charters delivered to us as security for the peace.

59. We will do toward Alexander, King of Scots, concerning the return of hissisters and his hostages, and concerning his franchises, and his right, in thesame manner as we shall do toward our other barons of England, unless it oughtto be otherwise according to the charters which we hold from William hisfather, formerly King of Scots; and this shall be according to the judgment ofhis peers in our court.

60. Moreover, all these aforesaid customs and liberties, the observance ofwhich we have granted in our kingdom as far as pertains to us toward our men,shall be observed by all of our kingdom, as well clergy as laymen, as far aspertains to them toward their men.

61. Since, moreover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and for thebetter allaying of the quarrel that has arisen between us and our barons, wehave granted all these concessions, desirous that they should enjoy them incomplete and firm endurance for ever, we give and grant to them theunderwritten security, namely, that the barons choose five-and-twenty barons ofthe kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall be bound with all their might, toobserve and hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties we havegranted and confirmed to them by this our present Charter, so that if we, orour justiciar, or our bailiffs or any one of our officers, shall in anything beat fault toward any one, or shall have broken any one of the articles of thepeace or of this security, and the offense be notified to four barons of theforesaid five-and-twenty, the said four barons shall repair to us (or ourjusticiar, if we are out of the realm) and, laying the transgression before us,petition to have that transgression redressed without delay. And if we shallnot have corrected the transgression (or, in the event of our being out of therealm, if our justiciar shall not have corrected it) within forty days,reckoning from the time it has been intimated to us (or to our justiciar, if weshould be out of the realm), the four barons aforesaid shall refer that matterto the rest of the five-and-twenty barons, and those five-and-twenty baronsshall, together with the community of the whole land, distrain and distress usin all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, andin any other way they can, until redress has been obtained as they deem fit,saving harmless our own person, and the persons of our queen and children; andwhen redress has been obtained, they shall resume their old relations towardus. And let whoever in the country desires it, swear to obey the orders of thesaid five-and-twenty barons for the execution of all the aforesaid matters, andalong with them, to molest us to the utmost of his power; and we publicly andfreely grant leave to every one who wishes to swear, and we shall never forbidany one to swear. All those, moreover, in the land who of themselves and oftheir own accord are unwilling to swear to the twenty-five to help them inconstraining and molesting us, we shall by our command compel the same to swearto the effect aforesaid. And if any one of the five-and-twenty barons shallhave died or departed from the land, or be incapacitated in any other mannerwhich would prevent the foresaid provisions being carried out, those of thesaid twenty-five barons who are left shall choose another in his placeaccording to their own judgment, and he shall be sworn in the same way as theothers. Further, in all matters, the execution of which is intrusted to thesetwenty-five barons, if perchance these twenty-five are present, that which themajority of those present ordain or command shall be held as fixed andestablished, exactly as if the whole twenty-five had concurred in this; and thesaid twenty-five shall swear that they will faithfully observe all that isaforesaid, and cause it to be observed with all their might. And we shallprocure nothing from any one, directly or indirectly, whereby any part of theseconcessions and liberties might be revoked or diminished; and if any such thinghas been procured, let it be void and null, and we shall never use itpersonally or by another.

62. And all the ill-will, hatreds, and bitterness that have arisen between usand our men, clergy and lay, from the date of the quarrel, we have completelyremitted and pardoned every one. Moreover, all trespasses occasioned by thesaid quarrel, from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till therestoration of peace, we have fully remitted to all, both clergy and laymen,and completely forgiven, as far as pertains to us. And, on this head, we havecaused to be made for them letters testimonial patent of the lord Stephen,archbishop of Canterbury, of the lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, of thebishops aforesaid, and of Master Pandulf as touching this security and theconcessions aforesaid.

63. Wherefore it is our will, and we firmly enjoin, that the English Church befree, and that the men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaidliberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably, freely and quietly,fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs, of us

and our heirs, in allrespects and in all places for ever, as is aforesaid. An oath, moreover, hasbeen taken, as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all theseconditions aforesaid shall be kept in good faith and without evil intent. Given under our hand--the above-named and many others being witnesses--in themeadow which is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenthday of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.

note

translated in Albert Beebe White and Wallce Notestein, eds., Source Problems in English History (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915).

Medieval Sourcebook: Bernard Gui: Inquisitorial Technique (c.1307-1323)

Bernard Gui: was Inquisitor in Toulousel 1307-1323. The medieval inquisition had been created during the reign of Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241). Its main technique was to extract confessions. Bernard describes the techniques used in interrogations.

When a heretic is first brought up for examination, he assumes a confident air, as though secure in his innocence. I ask him why he has been brought before me. He replies, smiling and courteous, "Sir, I would be glad to learn the cause from you."

I You are accused as a heretic, and that you believe and teach otherwise than Holy Church believes.

A. (Raising his eyes to heaven, with an air of the greatest faith) Lord, thou knowest that I am innocent of this, and that I never held any faith other than that of true Christianity.

I You call your faith Christian, for you consider ours as false and heretical. But I ask whether you have ever believed as true another faith than that which the Roman Church holds to be true?

A. I believe the true faith which the Roman Church believes, and which you openly preach to us.

I Perhaps you have some of your sect at Rome whom you call the Roman Church. I, when I preach, say many things, some of which are common to us both, as that God liveth, and you believe some of what I preach. Nevertheless you may be a heretic in not believing other matters which are to be believed.

A. I believe all things that a Christian should believe.

I I know your tricks. What the members of your sect believe you hold to be that which a Christian should believe. But we waste time in this fencing. Say simply, Do you believe in one God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost?

A. I believe.

L Do you believe in Christ born of the Virgin, suffered, risen, and ascended to heaven?

A. (Briskly) I believe.

I Do you believe the bread and wine in the mass performed by the priests to be changed into the body and blood of Christ by divine virtue?

A. Ought I not to believe this?

I I don't ask if you ought to believe, but if you do believe.

A. I believe whatever you and other good doctors order me to believe.

I Those good doctors are the masters of your sect; if I accord with them you believe with me; if not, not.

A I willingly believe with you if you teach what is good to me.

I. You consider it good to you if I teach what your other masters teach. Say, then, do you believe the body of our Lord,lesus Christ to be in the altar?

A. (Promptly) I believe that a body is there, and that all bodies are of our Lord.

I I ask whether the body there is of the Lord who was born of the Virgin, hung on the cross, arose from the dead, ascended, etc.

A. And you, sir, do you not believe it?

L I believe it wholly.

A. I believe likewise.

L You believe that I believe it, which is not what I ask, but whether you believe it.

A. If you wish to interpret all that I say otherwise than simply and plainly, then I don't know what to say. I am a simple and ignorant man. Pray don't catch me in my words.

I. If you are simple, answer simply, without evasions.

A. Willingly.

I Will you then swear that you have never learned anything contrary to the faith which we hold to be true?

A. (Growing pale) If I ought to swear, I will willingly swear.

I I don't ask whether you ought, but whether you will swear.

A. If you order me to swear, I will swear.

I I don't force you to swear, because as you believe oaths to be unlawful, you will transfer the sin to me who forced you; but if you will swear, I will hear it.

A. Why should I swear if you do not order me to?

I So that you may remove the suspicion of being a heretic.

A. Sir, I do not know how unless you teach me.

. I. If I had to swear, I would raise my hand and spread my fingers and say, "So help me God, I have never learned heresy or believed what is contrary to the true faith."

Then trembling as if he cannot repeat the form, he will stumble along as though speaking for himself or for another, so that there is not an absolute form of oath and yet he may be thought to have sworn. If the words are there, they are so turned around that he does not swear and yet appears to have sworn. Or he converts the oath into a form of prayer, as "God help me that I am not a heretic or the like"; and when asked whether he had sworn, he will say: "Did you not hear me swear?" [And when further hard pressed he will appeal, saying] "Sir, if I have done amiss in aught, I will willingly bear the penance, only help me to avoid the infamy of which I am accused though malice and without fault of mine." But a vigorous inquisitor must not allow himself to be worked upon in this way, but proceed firmly till he make these people confess their error, or at least publicly abjure heresy, so that if they are subsequently found to have sworn falsely, he can without further hearing, abandon them to the secular arm".

from H. C. Lea, trans., A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, (New York, Harper & Brothers, 1887), Vol. 1, pp. 411-414.

The Black Death, 1348Coming out of the East, the Black Death reached the shores of Italy in the spring of 1348 unleashing a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history. By the time the epidemic played itself out three years later, anywhere between 25% and 50% of Europe's population had fallen victim to the pestilence.

The plague presented itself in three interrelated forms. The bubonic variant (the most common) derives its name from the swellings or buboes that appeared on a victim's neck, armpits or groin. These tumors could range in size from that of an egg to that of an apple. Although some survived the painful ordeal, the manifestation of these lesions usually signaled the victim had a life expectancy of up to a week. Infected fleas that attached themselves to rats and then to humans spread this bubonic type of the plague. A second variation - pneumatic plague - attacked the respiratory system and was spread by merely breathing the exhaled air of a victim. It was much more virulent than its bubonic cousin - life expectancy was measured in one or two days. Finally, the septicemic version of the disease attacked the blood system.

Having no defense and no understanding of the cause of the pestilence, the men, women and children caught in its onslaught were bewildered, panicked, and finally devastated.

The Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio lived through the plague as it ravaged the city of Florence in 1348. The experience inspired him to write The Decameron, a story of seven men and three women who escape the disease by fleeing to a villa outside the city. In his introduction to the fictional portion of his book, Boccaccio gives a graphic description of the effects of the epidemic on his city.

The Signs of Impending Death

"The symptoms were not the same as in the East, where a gush of blood from the nose was the plain sign of inevitable death; but it began both in men and women with certain swellings in the groin or under the armpit. They grew to the size of a small apple or an egg, more or less, and were vulgarly called tumours. In a short space of time these tumours spread from the two parts named all over the body. Soon after this the symptoms changed and black or purple spots appeared on the arms or thighs or any other part of the body, sometimes a few large ones, sometimes many little ones. These spots were a certain sign of death, just as the original tumour had been and still remained.

No doctor's advice, no medicine could overcome or alleviate this disease, An enormous number of ignorant men and women set up as doctors in addition to those who were trained. Either the disease was such that no treatment was possible or the doctors were so ignorant that they did not know what caused it, and consequently could not administer the proper remedy. In any case very few recovered; most people died within about three days of the appearance of the tumours described above, most of them without any fever or other symptoms.

The violence of this disease was such that the sick communicated it to the healthy who came near them, just as a fire catches anything dry or oily near it. And it even went further. To speak to or go near the sick brought infection and a common death to the living; and moreover, to touch the clothes or anything else the sick had touched or worn gave the disease to the person touching. "

Varying Reactions to Disaster

".Such fear and fanciful notions took possession of the living that almost all of them adopted the same cruel policy, which was entirely to avoid the sick and everything belonging to them. By so doing, each one thought he would secure his own safety.

Some thought that moderate living and the avoidance of all superfluity would preserve them from the epidemic. They formed small communities, living entirely separate from everybody else. They shut themselves up in houses where there were no sick, eating the finest food and drinking the best wine very temperately, avoiding all excess, allowing no news or discussion of death and sickness, and passing the time in music and suchlike pleasures. Others thought just the opposite. They thought the sure cure for the plague was to drink and be merry, to go about singing and amusing themselves, satisfying every appetite they could, laughing and jesting at what happened. They put their words into practice, spent day and night going from tavern to tavern, drinking immoderately, or went into other people's houses, doing only those things which pleased them. This they could easily do because everyone felt doomed and had abandoned his property, so that most houses became common property and any stranger who went in made use of them as if he had owned them. And with all this bestial behaviour, they avoided the sick as much as possible.

In this suffering and misery of our city, the authority of human and divine laws almost disappeared, for, like other men, the ministers and the executors of the laws were all dead or sick or shut up with their families, so that no duties were carried out. Every man was therefore able to do as he pleased.

Many others adopted a course of life midway between the two just described. They did not restrict their victuals so much as the former, nor allow themselves to be drunken and dissolute like the latter, but satisfied their appetites moderately. They did not shut themselves up, but went about, carrying flowers or scented herbs or perfumes in their hands, in the belief that it was an excellent thing to comfort the brain with such odours; for the whole air was infected with the smell of dead bodies, of sick persons and medicines.

Others again held a still more cruel opinion, which they thought would keep them safe. They said that the only medicine against the plague-stricken was to go right away from them. Men and women, convinced of this and caring about nothing but themselves, abandoned their own city, their own houses, their dwellings, their relatives, their property, and went abroad or at least to the country round Florence, as if God's wrath in punishing men's wickedness with this plague would not follow them but strike only those who remained within the walls of the city, or as if they thought nobody in the city would remain alive and that its last hour had come."

The Breakdown of Social Order

"One citizen avoided another, hardly any neighbour troubled about others, relatives never or hardly ever visited each other. Moreover, such terror was struck into the hearts of men and women by this calamity, that brother abandoned brother, and the uncle his nephew, and the sister her brother, and very often the wife her husband. What is even worse and nearly incredible is that fathers and mothers refused to see and tend their children, as if they had not been theirs.

Thus, a multitude of sick men and women were left without any care, except from the charity of friends (but these were few), or the greed, of servants, though not many of these could be had even for high wages, Moreover, most of them were coarse-minded men and women, who did little more than bring the sick what they asked for or watch over them when they were dying. And very often these servants lost their lives and their earnings. Since the sick were thus abandoned by neighbours, relatives and friends, while servants were scarce, a habit sprang up which had never been heard of before. Beautiful and noble women, when they fell sick, did not scruple to take a young or old man-servant, whoever he might be, and with no sort of shame, expose every part of their bodies to these men as if they had been women, for they were compelled by the necessity of their sickness to do so. This, perhaps, was a cause of looser morals in those women who survived."

Mass Burials

"The plight of the lower and most of the middle classes was even more pitiful to behold. Most of them remained in their houses, either through poverty or in hopes of safety, and fell sick by thousands. Since they received no care and attention, almost all of them died. Many ended their lives in the streets both at night and during the day; and many others who died in their houses were only known to be dead because the neighbours smelled their decaying bodies. Dead bodies filled every corner. Most of them were treated in the same manner by the survivors, who were more concerned to get rid of their rotting bodies than moved by charity towards the dead. With the aid of porters, if they could get them, they carried the bodies out of the houses and laid them at the door; where every morning quantities of the dead might be seen. They then were laid on biers or, as these were often lacking, on tables.

Such was the multitude of corpses brought to the churches every day and almost every hour that there was not enough consecrated ground to give them burial, especially since they wanted to bury each person in the family grave, according to the old custom. Although the cemeteries were full they were forced to dig huge trenches, where they buried the bodies by hundreds. Here they stowed them away like bales in the hold of a ship and covered them with a little earth, until the whole trench was full."