Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/375

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 353 be in a declining state ; and they respectively suifered the evils of distant and domestic warfere : Plantagenet was impatient to punish a perfidious rival who had invaded Normandy in his absence ; and the indefatigable sultan was subdued by the cries of the people, who was the victim, and of the soldiers, who were the instruments, of his martial zeal. The first demands of the king of England were the restitution of Jerusalem, Palestine, and the true cross ; and he firmly declared, that himself and his brother-pilgrims would end their lives in the pious labour, rather than return to Europe Avith ignominy and remorse. But the con- science of Saladin refused, without some weighty compensation, to restore the idols, or promote the idolatry, of the Christians : he asserted, with equal firmness, his religious and civil claim to the sovereignty of Palestine ; descanted on the importance and sanctity of Jerusalem ; and rejected all terms of the establish- ment, or partition, of the Latins. The marriage which Richard proposed, of his sister with the sultan's brother, was defeated [Joan] by the difference of faith ; the princess abhorred the embraces of a Turk ; and Adel, or Saphadin, would not easily renounce a plurality of wives. A personal interview was declined by Saladin, who alleged their mutual ignorance of each other's language ; •'^ and the negotiation was managed with much art and delay by their interpreters and envoys. The final agree- ment was equally disapproved by the zealots of both parties, by the Roman pontiff, and the caliph of Bagdad. It was stipulated that Jerusalem and the holy sepulchre should be open, without tribute or vexation, to the pilgrimage of the Latin Christians ; that after the demohtion of Ascalon, they should inclusively possess the sea coast from Jaffa to Tyre ; that the count of Tripoli and the prince of Antioch should be comprised in the truce ; and that, during three years and three months, all hostilities should cease. The principal chiefs of the two armies swore to the observance of tlie treaty ; but the monarchs were 247-429). [This work is still sometimes referred to under the name of Geoffrey Vinsauf, though Bishop Stubbs (who has edited it for the Rolls Series under the title Itinerariuni Regis Ricardi, 1864) has demonstrated that it is not his work. It was written by an eye-witness of the capture of Jerusalem, and published between 1200 and 1220 (Stubbs, op. cif. Introduction, p. Ixx.) ; and Bishop Stubbs advocates the authorship of a certain Richard, canon of the Holy Trinity in Aldgate (cp. App. i).] Roger Hoveden [ed. Stubbs, 4 vols., 1868-71] and Matthew Paris [ed. Luard, 7 vols., 1872-83] afford likewise many valuable materials; and the former describes with accuracy the discipline and navigation of the English fleet. [Add Ralph of Coggeshall, Rolls Series; cp. Appendix i.] 89a [Not the reason assigned. .Saladin alleged unwillingness to fight with a king after a friendly interview.] VOL. VI. 23