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The Crusades 321 Alexis was on his guard against accepting this challenge. " If you then waited without being able to show your bravery," he said to him, " you now have a chance to fight ; and if I may give you a word of advice, it will be not to put yourself either at the head nor rear of the army but in the middle. The experience which I have had of the way in which the Turks make war has convinced me that that is the best place." 1 III. THE CAMPAIGNS IN THE HOLY LAND AS DESCRIBED IN THE LETTERS OF THE CRUSADERS The letters written from the Holy Land by those who actually participated in the crusades constitute our most reliable spurce of information. 2 Count Stephen to Adele, his sweetest and most amiable wife, 126- Ste- to his dear children* and to all his vassals of all ranks phen, count 7 . . . , , 7 . of Blois, to hts greeting and blessing : his wif e> You may be very sure, dearest, that the messenger whom Adele I sent to you left me before Antioch safe and unharmed i^? before and, through God's grace, in the greatest prosperity. And Antioch. already at that time, together with all the chosen army of Christ, endowed with great valor by him, we had been con- tinuously 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 kinds of riches, I now have twice as much as you, my love, supposed me to have when I left you. For all our princes, with the common con- sent of the whole army, though against my own wishes, have 1 Anna remarks later in her history with satisfaction that the inso- lent knight was killed. An eminent scholar believes that he was prob- ably no less a person than Count Robert of Paris. This is but one instance among many which served to arouse hostility between the emperor and the crusaders. 2 For other letters by the crusaders and a useful list of those which have been translated into English, see Munro, Letters of the Crusaders written from the Holy Land, in Translations and Reprints, Vol. I, No. 4.