HOW A PENITENTIAL CRUSADER WENT ALONG.
William, Count of Poitiers, before setting out on his crusade to the Holy Land, took his leave thus: “I wish to compose a chant, and the subject shall be that which causes my sorrow. I go into exile beyond sea, and leave my beloved Poitiers and Limousin. I go beyond sea to the place where pilgrims implore their pardon. Adieu, brilliant tournaments! adieu, grandeur and magnificence, and all that is dear to my heart! Nothing can stop me. I go to the plains where God promised remission of sins. Pardon me, all you my companions, if I have ever offended you. I implore your pardon. I offer my repentance to Jesus the Master of heaven; to Him I address my prayer. Too long have I been abandoned to worldly distractions; but the voice of the Lord has been heard. We must appear before His tribunal. I sink under the weight of my iniquities.”
HOW THE CRUSADERS GOT RID OF SPIES (A.D.1097).
In 1097, while the Crusaders were besieging Antioch, they were alarmed by the knowledge that there were spies in the camp out of every unbelieving nation in the East, who found it easy toremain undiscovered by calling themselves merchants from Greece, Syria, or Armenia, who brought provisions for sale to the army. These spies witnessed the famine and pestilence which prevailed in the camp, and the pilgrims justly feared that this intelligence would spread to their destruction. The princes were at a loss what to do; but Beaumont, who was a shrewd man, about twilight, when his comrades were all engaged throughout the camp in preparing their supper, commanded several Turkish prisoners to be put to death and their flesh to be roasted over a large fire to be prepared for table. He further instructed the servants, if asked what they were about, to reply that general orders had been given that in future all Turks who should be brought in prisoners by the scouts should be served up for food both to the princes and the people. All the army soon heard of this remarkable news, and the Turkish spies in the camp believed that it was done in earnest. Fearing, therefore, lest the same thing should happen to themselves, they left the camp and returned to their own country, where they told their employers that the men in the Crusaders’ army exceeded the ferocity of beasts; and not content with plundering castles and cities, they must needs fill their bellies with the flesh and blood of their victims. This report spread throughout the most distant countries, and by this means the grievance of spies was put a stop to.
CRUSADERS DISCOVERING THE HOLY LANCE (A.D.1098).
When the Crusaders were besieged by the Turks in Antioch in 1098, and suffering from famine and despair, and many men failing in courage and escaping by night from the walls, thence called rope-dancers, a sudden gleam of confidence came to their relief. A priest of Marseilles, named Peter Bartholomey, though known to be of cunning and loose manners, suddenly knocked at the door of the council chamber to disclose an apparition of St. Andrew, who thrice appeared to him in his sleep, and called on him under heavy threats to reveal the commands of Heaven. The saint had thus addressed Peter: “At Antioch, in the church of my brother St. Peter near the high altar, is concealed the steel head of the lance that pierced the side of our Redeemer. In three days that instrument of eternal and now of temporal salvation will be manifested to His disciples. Search and ye shall find; bear it aloft in battle, and that mystic weapon shall penetrate the souls of the miscreants.” The Pope’s legate, the Bishop of Puy, listened with coldness, but Count Raymond eagerly welcomed this revelation. The attempt was made, and after prayer andfasting the priest of Marseilles introduced twelve trusty spectators, and barred the doors to keep out the excited multitude. The ground was broken and dug to a depth of twelve feet and nothing found; but in the evening, when the guards were drowsy, Peter, in his shirt and without shoes, boldly descended into the pit in the dark with the head of a Saracen lance, and this he pretended with devout rapture to discover by its gleam as the genuine relic. The chiefs affected to recognise the discovery and to inspire enthusiasm. The gates were thrown open, while a procession of monks and priests chanted the psalm “Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered.” The holy lance was entrusted to a faithful leader; three knights in white garments also suddenly appeared to help the Crusaders, whose spirits were roused to the highest pitch.
THE HOLY LANCE PUTS THE INFIDELS TO ROUT (A.D.1098).
When the holy lance was discovered and the Crusaders were in the highest enthusiasm and marched out of Antioch, the Sultan Corbogha was so struck by their impassioned, stern, and indomitable aspect, that he had misgivings, and even made proposals which were haughtily rejected. The battle was long, stubborn, and at points indecisive, but at last the pious and warlike enthusiasm of the Crusaders prevailed over the savage bravery of the Turks. The Sultan soon fled away towards the Euphrates with a weak escort. Tancred pursued till nightfall the retiring hosts. The Christian chroniclers say that 100,000 infidels were slain, while only 4,000 Crusaders were left on the field of battle. The camp of the Turks was given over to pillage, and 15,000 camels and many horses were secured. The camp of the Sultan Corbogha was a rich prize and an object of admiration. It was laid out in streets, flanked by towers, as if it were a fortified town; gold and precious stones glittered in every part of it. It was capable of accommodating 2,000 persons. Beaumont sent it to Italy, where it was long preserved. After that battle, says Albert of Aix, every Crusader found himself richer than he had been when starting from Europe. Nevertheless the effect on the Crusaders was disastrous. Some abandoned themselves to the licence of victory, others to the sweets of repose. Some longed to go home; others to push for further conquests. After long debates and rivalries the majority decided to wait till the heat of summer was over before attempting to capture Jerusalem. It was eight months before the bulk of the Crusaders began to move on.
THE CRUSADERS TESTING A DOUBTFUL POINT.
In 1099 the Crusaders were at Marra, when a dissension existed between Beaumont and the Count of Toulouse, and murmurs arose among the armies as to the delays thereby caused. The Count, in order to satisfy the people, passed on to a city called Archis, and pitched their camp near the sea coast. The Christians besieged the city a long time, but without success. Here the question was again mooted concerning the lance with which our Lord’s side had been pierced. Some said that it had really been appointed by Divine inspiration for the consolation of the army; whilst others maliciously contended that it was a stratagem of the Count of Toulouse, and was no discovery at all, but invented solely for gain. A large fire was therefore kindled of a size sufficient to terrify the bystanders; and when all the people were assembled together one day, the priest Peter, to whom the discovery of the lance had been made, underwent a perilous ordeal, for when he had offered up a prayer he took the lance with him and passed unhurt through the midst of the fire. But as he died a few days afterwards, the ordeal did not give entire satisfaction to the opposite party.
THE CRUSADERS’ FIRST SIGHT OF JERUSALEM (A.D.1099).
When the Crusaders, in the spring of 1099, marched from Antioch towards Jerusalem, and reached some spot sacred to history, the natural greed and jealousy among the chiefs were too apparent. A warrior-chief would rush to plant his flag first on a town or house and claim to be its possessor. Others, more earnest, marched barefooted beneath the banner of the cross, and deplored among themselves the covetous and quarrelsome temper of their leaders. On reaching Emmaus, a deputation of Christians came from Bethlehem to bespeak help, and Tancred, in the middle of the night, with a small band of a hundred horsemen, went and planted his own flag on the top of the church at Bethlehem, at the very hour at which the birth of Christ had been announced to the shepherds of Judæa. Next day, on June 10th, 1099, at dawn, the army of Crusaders from the heights of Emmaus had their first gaze at the Holy City. Tasso, in “Jerusalem Delivered,” thus gives voice to the scene: “Lo! Jerusalem appears in sight! Lo! every hand points to Jerusalem. A thousand voices are heard as one in salutation of Jerusalem. After the great sweet joy which filled all hearts at this first glimpse came a deep feeling of contrition, mingled with awful and reverential affectionEach scarcely dared to raise the eye towards the city which had been the chosen abode of Christ, where He died, was buried, and rose again. In accents of humility, with low-spoken words, with stifled sobs, with sighs and tears, the pent-up yearnings of a people in joy, and yet in sorrow, sent shivering through the air a murmur like that which is heard in leafy forests what time the wind blows through the leaves, or like the dull sound made by the sea which breaks upon the rocks, or hisses as it foams over the beach.” It was thought at the time there were 20,000 armed inhabitants and 40,000 men in garrison of fanatical Mussulmans. About 40,000 Crusaders were outside of both sexes, of whom 12,000 were foot soldiers and 1,200 knights.
CRUSADERS PREPARING TO ASSAULT JERUSALEM (A.D.1099).
While the crusading army were preparing their scaling towers and engines for hurling stones, one day Tancred had gone alone to pray on the Mount of Olives and to gaze upon the Holy City, when five Mussulmans sallied forth to attack him. He killed three and the other two took to flight. There was at one point of the city ramparts a ravine, which had to be filled up to make an approach, and the Count of Toulouse issued a proclamation that he would give adenierto every one who would go and throw three stones into it. In three days the ravine was filled up. After four weeks’ labour a day was fixed for delivering the assault; but as several of the chiefs had serious quarrels, it was resolved that before the grand attack they should all be reconciled at a general supplication with solemn ceremonies for Divine aid. After a strict fast, all the Crusaders went forth armed from their quarters, and, preceded by their priests barefooted and chanting psalms, they moved in slow procession round Jerusalem, halting at all places hallowed by some fact in sacred history, listening to the discourses of their priests, and raising eyes full of wrath at hearing the scoffs addressed to them by the Saracens, and at seeing the insults heaped upon certain crosses they had set up, and upon all the symbols of the Christian faith. “Ye see,” cried Peter the Hermit, “ye hear the threats and blasphemies of these enemies of God. Now this I swear to you by your faith, by the arms ye carry, to-day these infidels are full of pride and insolence, but to-morrow they shall be frozen with fear. Those mosques which tower over Christian ruins shall serve for temples to the true God, and Jerusalem shall hear no longer aught but the praises of God.” The Christians raised a great shout in answer to their apostle, andrepeated the words of Isaiah: “They shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun.”
THE CRUSADERS CAPTURING JERUSALEM (A.D.1099).
On July 14th, 1099, a third assault had been made against the city of Jerusalem; the machines of the Crusaders threw millstones against the walls, while the citizens threw pots of lighted tow, which would easily break, so as to destroy the machines. The enemy during the assault brought up two witches to enchant the machines and render them useless, but while they were enchanting a large stone struck both of them dead, and then a great shout arose among the besiegers. Duke Godfrey’s men threw fire on the bags of straw and cushions of the wall, then threw a bridge to one end of the tower, by which he and his men entered, and then opened the gate of St. Paul, at three o’clock on Friday, the hour when Christ had yielded up the ghost. The Turks were then put to death in such numbers that no one could walk the streets without treading on dead bodies. When Tancred learned that many Turks had fled for refuge within the courts of the Temple, his men rushed inside and slew great numbers, and it was said carried off much gold and silver. Meanwhile, horse and foot were pouring into the city, and every inhabitant met with was slain, so that the streets flowed with blood. Ten thousand Turks were said to have been slain within the precincts of the Temple alone. The Crusaders, dispersing through the streets, and searching every secret place they could find, drew out master and mistress with their children and all their family from the secret chambers, and either put them to the sword or threw them headlong and broke their necks. He who first got possession of a house or palace claimed it as his own permanent property; for it had been agreed amongst the princes that, when the city was taken, each should keep what he could get. And thus, whoever first took possession of a house fixed a banner, shield, or some kind of weapon at the door as a sign to others that the house was already occupied.
THE CRUSADERS’ FIRST VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES (A.D.1099).
When Jerusalem was captured in 1099, and the spoils had been collected by the pilgrims, they began, with sighs and tears, with naked feet, and with every sign of humility and devotion, to visit each of the holy places which the Lord had hallowed by His presence, and in particular the Church of the Resurrectionand of our Lord’s Passion. It was most pleasant to behold with what devotion the faithful of both sexes, whilst their minds were exhilarated with spiritual enjoyment, approached, shedding tears, to the holy places, and gave thanks to God for having brought their pious labours and long service to the desired consummation. All thence derived hopes that it would be the earnest of a future resurrection, and these present benefits gave them a firm expectation of those which were to come, that the earthly Jerusalem which they now trod would be to them the way to the heavenly Jerusalem. The bishops too and priests, having purified the churches of the city, and especially the precincts of the Temple, consecrated to God the holy places, and celebrating Mass before the people, gave thanks for the blessings which they had received. Many men of the greatest credit affirmed that they saw their dead companions going round with the princes to visit the holy places. The venerable Peter the Hermit, by whose zeal the undertaking was commenced, was now recognised and affectionately saluted by all. When all the places had been visited, the princes returned to their houses and hostels, to enjoy the gold, silver, jewels, costly garments, corn, wine, and oil, besides plenty of water, from the want of which they had suffered so much during the siege. There was an abundance of everything that could be desired, and the market was maintained at low prices.
ST. BERNARD ROUSING A SECOND CRUSADE (A.D.1174).
As Louis VII., in his quarrel with the Pope, had once invaded Count Theobald’s dominions, and burnt alive thirteen hundred Christians, his conscience led him to restore the balance by slaughtering as many infidels, and hence he pressed the Pope to direct a second crusade. The Pope took the matter up, but was glad to devolve the burden of agitating among the nations on Bernard. This pleased Louis equally well, and at their joint solicitation meetings were arranged to be harangued by the inspired monk of Clairvaux. Pale and attenuated to a degree almost supernatural, even the glance of Bernard’s eyes filled his contemporaries with wonder and awe. That he was kept alive at all appeared to them to be a standing miracle. But when the light from that thin calm face fell upon them, when those firm lips gave out words of love, devotion, and self-sacrifice, they were carried away with their feelings. A stage had been erected on the top of a hill, where a vast crowd, headed by the King and his knights, was collected. The mere sight and sound of Bernard’s voice stirred up a sea of faces, and brought out a unanimousshout demanding “Crosses! crosses!” Bernard began to scatter broadcast among the people a supply of crosses, as the pledge of their wild enthusiasm. He also kept up the enthusiasm by visiting the towns of North-western Germany, and he enrolled his thousands of enthusiasts. He said at last he had scarcely left one man to seven women. All the chroniclers of the day describe a succession of miracles as attending Bernard wherever he went. Soon all the chivalry of Europe were ready to advance to the Holy Land, conquering and to conquer.
A FRENCH QUEEN AS A CRUSADER (A.D.1147).
When Eleanor of Aquitaine was Queen of Louis VII. of France, being beautiful, a fine musician and songstress, and expert in the songs and recitations of the troubadours, she was so carried away by the eloquence of the monk Bernard when preaching for the crusade that she vowed to join her husband and go to the Holy Land. Her youth, beauty, and gaiety made the King do anything. She made her court ladies array themselves like Amazons, and act as her bodyguard. They joined in the exercises eagerly as in any frolic, and sent their distaffs as presents to the knights and nobles who had not courage to go from home. The freaks of these ladies led to many mishaps and disasters in the field; and instead of obeying orders, the Queen and her Amazons insisted on encamping in a lovely, romantic valley, which deranged all the wisest plans, and led to the loss of seven thousand of the flower of French chivalry. She then began to flirt with her uncle, a handsome old beau, whom she met for the first time at Antioch, and her vagaries caused disgust to Louis, who left her in a huff. When she entered Jerusalem, the burning object of every Crusader’s dreams, she was in such a fit of temper that she saw nothing interesting, and then began a lasting quarrel between her and the King. While Louis was besieging Damascus she had to be kept in personal restraint at Jerusalem, and even started another flirtation with a handsome young Saracen. After great disasters and vexations, the King and Queen left Constantinople, and reached France in 1148. She never ceased to mock the King for his dowdy habits during the next four years while they lived together. In 1150 the young Prince Henry of England, aged seventeen, first saw the Queen, and she was fascinated by him, and took measures to marry him after securing a divorce from Louis. The celerity of her marriage to Henry in 1152, after obtaining her divorce, astonished all Europe, she being thirty-two and Henry twenty.
ST. BERNARD AFTER THE EVENT OF HIS CRUSADE.
The influence of St. Bernard in rousing the Second Crusade was due to the reputation he had acquired above all his rivals and contemporaries, who knew that he had refused all ecclesiastical dignities, and yet was the oracle of Europe, and the founder of one hundred and sixty convents. He was warned, however, by the example of Peter the Hermit, and declined any military command. After the calamitous event of his great undertaking, the Abbot of Clairvaux was loudly accused as a false prophet, the author of the public and private mourning; his enemies exulted, his friends blushed, and his apology was slow and unsatisfactory. He justified his obedience to the Pope, expatiated on the mysterious ways of Providence, imputed the misfortunes of the pilgrims to their own sins, and modestly insinuated that his own part of the mission had been approved by signs and wonders.
A PILGRIM PRINCE BRINGING RELICS FROM THE HOLY LAND (A.D.1172).
Henry, Duke of Saxony, married Matilda, then a girl of twelve, eldest daughter of Henry II. of England, in 1168, and four years after the Duke resolved to visit the Holy Land, not as a fighting Crusader, but only as a pilgrim, so that his feet might stand and his knees bend where once the feet of the Saviour had stood. He took costly presents, and while approaching Jerusalem the clergy came forth to welcome him, chanting hymns and songs of joy. He made magnificent offerings at the Holy Sepulchre, and left money to keep three lamps perpetually burning before the holy shrine. Henry visited all the sacred places, was fêted by King Baldwin, and then by the Turkish Sultan. The Sultan, after presenting Henry with a gorgeous cloak, ordered eighteen hundred war-steeds to be brought out that the guest might choose the best, and it was then decorated with silver bits and jewelled saddles. He was also offered a lion and two leopards, as well as six camels loaded with gifts. The Emperor at Constantinople was equally liberal, and gave manuscripts of the Holy Gospels and many relics of saints and martyrs. When Henry reached his home in Brunswick and displayed his treasures before his duchess and their subjects, he found in his collection the following gems: a tooth of St. John the Baptist; a great toe of St. Mark; the arms of St. Innocent and St. Theodore; a scrap of the dresses of the Virgin Mary, of St. Stephen the protomartyr, St. Laurence, and Mary Magdalene; some of the woodof the cross; a few splinters from the crown of thorns; a piece of the column to which our Lord was bound when scourged; a part of the table used at the Last Supper; and many other rarities. The wood of the cross was enshrined in a large silver crucifix decorated with fifty-one pearls, thirty-nine corals, and ninety-six other jewels. These spoils were distributed among the different churches in Brunswick and the monastery of Hildesheim, and received with immense satisfaction and pride.
THE POPE WRITING UP ANOTHER CRUSADE (A.D.1187).
In 1187 Pope Gregory VIII. sent a letter to the faithful, reciting that “whereas we doubt not that the disasters of the land of Jerusalem which have lately happened through the irruption of the Saracens have been caused by the sins of the whole people of Christendom, therefore we have enacted that all persons shall for the next five years on every sixth day of the week fast on Lenten fare, and wherever Mass is performed it shall be chanted at the ninth hour, also on the fourth day of the week; and on Saturday all persons without distinction who are in good health shall abstain from eating flesh. We and our brethren do also forbid to ourselves and to our households the use of flesh on the second day of the week as well, unless it shall so happen that illness, or some great calamity, or other evident cause shall seem to prevent the same, trusting that by so doing God will pardon us and leave His blessing behind Him.” The princes of the earth, on receiving these mandates and exhortations of the Supreme Pontiff, exerted themselves with all their might for the liberation of the land of Jerusalem, and accordingly the Emperor, the archbishops, bishops, dukes, earls, and barons of the empire assumed the sign of the cross.
THE EMPEROR’S HYPOCRITICAL CRUSADERSHIP (A.D.1189).
Frederick I. (Barbarossa), Emperor of Germany, was said to have joined Henry II. of England and Philip of France in a crusade from mere worldly ambition rather than any sincere devotion. An Arabian chronicler, Ibn Gouzi, thus describes his visit to Jerusalem before leaving the East: “The Emperor was ruddy and bald. His sight was weak. If he had been a slave, he would not have been worth two hundred drachmas. His discourse showed that he did not believe his Christian religion. When he spoke of it, it was to sneer at it. Having cast his eyes on the inscription in letters of gold which Saladin has placedabove the venerated chapel, which said, ‘Saladin purged the Holy City from those who worshipped many gods,’ he had it explained to him; and then asking why the windows had gratings, he was told it was to keep out the birds. He answered, ‘Yes, you have driven away the sparrows, but instead of them you have let in hogs,’ meaning the Christians. When the Emir, enforcing the Sultan’s order to avoid what might displease Frederick, rebuked the Mussulmans for uttering on the minarets the passages in the Koran against the Christians, Frederick, hearing of it, told him, ‘You have done wrong. Why for my sake omit your duty, your law, or your religion? By heaven, if you come with me to my states——’” At this point the chronicler’s account was mutilated, and the rest is unknown.
FULK OF NEUILLY, THE PREACHER OF THE THIRD CRUSADE (A.D.1195).
As Peter the Hermit was the soul of the First Crusade and St. Bernard of the Second, so Fulk of Neuilly, who died 1202, was the missionary of the Third Crusade in 1195. He had been wild in youth, but settled down and attended the lectures of Peter the Chaunter in Paris, and took copious notes of the brilliant passages. He then poured forth Peter’s eloquence in his own next Sunday’s sermon, and began to be considered eloquent and stirring. One day his hearers were so overwhelmed with enthusiasm that they tore their clothes, threw away their shoes, and cast themselves at his feet, demanding rods and scourges to inflict instant penance on themselves. Usurers came and threw their gains at his feet. The Pope, Innocent III., heard of Fulk’s enthusiasm and highly approved it, and suggested to him a mission to stir up the people. He did so, and went the round of France, distributing crosses, blessing wells, and working miracles. He shaved and wore a sackcloth shirt and rode on a palfrey. He received vast subsidies. But notwithstanding his zeal and success, a profound mistrust settled on mankind that these holy alms were devoted by the Pope and him to other uses. He died of fever in 1202, supposed to have been brought on by grief at these malappropriations. Other preachers, especially the Abbot Martin, had also kept up the missionary enthusiasm, and at last a crusade of Cery began in 1200, the fruit of this stirring of the people.
DEATH OF RICHARD I., A CRUSADER (A.D.1199).
While Richard I., who had returned from Palestine in 1194, was in 1199 besieging the castle of Chalus in Limousin and wasreconnoitring it on all sides, one Bertram de Gurdun aimed an arrow from the castle, striking the King in the arm and inflicting an incurable wound. A physician attempted to extract the iron head from the wound, but took out only the wood at first, and in butcher fashion had to probe again for the rest. The King, feeling that he could not survive, disposed of his wealth, and then ordered the arbalister to be called to his presence. The King asked what harm he had done that the bowman should kill him. The latter at once made answer that the King had slain his father and two brothers with his own hand, and also had intended to kill the speaker, but that he, the latter, was quite ready and willing to endure the greatest torments, being well content that one who had inflicted so many evils on the world should do so no more. The King pardoned the soldier and ordered him to be discharged; but the King’s servants, notwithstanding, privily flayed him alive and then hanged him.
FRENCH AND VENETIANS PILLAGING CONSTANTINOPLE.
When the French and Venetians in 1204 besieged and pillaged Constantinople, the Emperor’s wife and child had to take refuge in the house of a merchant. The patriarch escaped, riding on an ass without attendants. The conquerors entered the Cathedral of St. Sophia, tore down the veil, the altar, and all its ornaments. They made a prostitute mount on the patriarch’s throne and sing and dance in the holy place, to ridicule the hymns and processions of the worshippers. The tombs were stripped of everything saleable. There were many Pagan statues which peculiarly provoked the contempt and zeal of the invaders. The statues of the victorious charioteers, the sphinx, river-horse, and crocodile, of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, of the eagle and serpent, and other designs of Pagan heroes and goddesses, were cast down and disfigured and then burnt. The most enlightened of the invaders searched for and seized the relics of the saints; and it is said that the Abbot Martin transferred a rich cargo to his monastery of Paris. The supply of heads and bones, crosses and images, served the wants of the churches of Europe, and proved most lucrative plunder. The libraries also shared the general fate.
THE POPE TURNS ON CRUSADERS AGAINST THE HERETICS (A.D.1208).
The southern part of France had long been noted for the variety of heresies caused amongst its mixed population. In 1145St. Bernard went forth to preach against the heretics of Toulouse, where there were churches without flocks, flocks without priests, and Christians without Christ, where men were dying in their sins without being reconciled by penance or admitted to the Holy Communion, and their souls sent pell-mell before the awful tribunal of God. But even St. Bernard could make little impression on the ungodly population, who drowned his voice and caused him to shake the dust from his feet and to curse the town of Vertfeuil. He died in 1153, and for fifty years later the heretics of Southern France, generally called the Albigenses, vexed the orthodox souls of Popes and Church Councils. At last, about 1208, a fiery and zealous Crusader, on returning from Palestine, was enlisted by Pope Innocent III., and aided by two Spanish monks to extirpate, since they could not hope to convert, these troublesome heretics whom the Pope described as worse than the Saracens. A rally was made of all the fanatical offscourings in the world to help in this heretic hunt, and for fifteen years all the towns and strong castles of the South were taken, lost, pillaged, sacked, and massacred with unbridled ferocity. The brutal Simon de Montfort, after the massacre of chiefs, confiscated the lands and appropriated these to himself. It was a relief to Christians when that unscrupulous bandit, after besieging Toulouse for nine months, was killed by a shower of stones discharged from the walls in 1218.
CRUSADERS FEROCIOUS AGAINST HERETICS (A.D.1209).
The Crusaders, in 1209, though zealous for their religion, scarcely showed a glimmering of its influence in the conduct of their warlike operations against the Albigenses. They spread desolation wherever they went, destroying vineyards and crops, burning villages and farmhouses, slaughtering unarmed peasants, women, and children. When La Minerve, near Narbonne, after an obstinate defence, yielded and the besieged were offered their freedom if they recanted their heresy, one of the Crusaders shouted out, “We came to extirpate heretics, not to show them favour.” This voice from the crowd sharpened their fury, and one hundred and forty of both sexes were burnt to death. At a castle called Brau, De Montfort cut off the noses and tore out the eyes of one hundred of the defenders, leaving to one of them one eye only, that he might lead out the rest. At Lavaur, Almeric and eighty nobles were ordered to be hanged; but because one of the gibbets fell down in using it, they were all butchered with the sword. The sister of Almeric, being deemed an obstinate heretic, was throwninto a well and a pile of stones upon her. A chaplain of the Crusaders at one place reported that four hundred captives were burned with immense joy. One lady at Toulouse, lying on her deathbed, being charged as a heretic, was carried out in her bed and burnt amid the merriment of the orthodox. Yet Simon de Montfort, who had been chosen general of these brutal legions, after despatching so many dissenters of the period, on returning to Northern France was hailed as champion of the faith, and the clergy and people met him in procession, shouting, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” At the siege of Beziers, it is mentioned, where Catholics and heretics both joined in defending their town, Arnold of Citeaux incited the Crusaders to slaughter not only men but women and children indiscriminately, brutally adding, “Kill them all; the Lord knoweth them that are His.” The series of campaigns against the Albigenses was said to give the Pope the idea of establishing the Inquisition as a more effectual way of putting down all heretics.
HOW THE ORTHODOX VIEWED THE ALBIGENSES (A.D.1214).
In 1214 the depravity of the heretics called Albigenses, who dwelt in Gascony, Arumnia, and Alby, gained such power in the parts about Toulouse and in Aragon that they not only practised their impieties in secret, but preached their erroneous doctrine openly. The Albigenses were so called, says Roger of Wendover, from the city of Alba, where that doctrine was said to have taken its rise. At length their perversity set the anger of God so completely at defiance that they published the books of their doctrines amongst the lower order before the very eyes of the bishops and priests, and disgraced the chalices and sacred vessels in disrespect of the body and blood of Christ. Pope Innocent was greatly grieved, and enjoined the chiefs and other Christian people that whoever undertook the business of overthrowing the heretics should, like those who visited the Lord’s sepulchre, be protected from all hostile attacks both in property and person. The Crusaders met in large assembly, and then marched to lay siege to the city of Beziers. The heretics there, on seeing their assailants, scornfully threw out the book of the Gospel, blaspheming the name of the Lord. The soldiers of the faith, incensed by such blasphemy, in less than three hours’ time scaled the walls, and sacked and burnt the city, and a great slaughter of the infidels took place as the punishment of God, but very few of the Catholics were slain. After a few days, when the report of this miracle was spread abroad, the followers of this hereticaldepravity fled to the mountains, and abandoned their castles, which were stocked with all kinds of food and stores.
THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE (A.D.1212).
While the fever for crusading against heretics was kept alive in 1212, a singular development occurred among the little children, who copied what they saw. A shepherd boy named Stephen, at the village of Cloies, near Vendome, arose, who professed to have been commanded by the Saviour in a vision to go and preach the cross. This tale at once was accepted, and he gathered children about him, who went through the towns and villages chanting, “O Lord, help us to recover Thy true and holy cross.” The numbers increased as they went along, so that when they reached Paris they were computed at fifteen hundred, and at Marseilles at thirty thousand, marching under banners, crosses, and censers. Parents in vain tried to keep their children from joining in the enthusiasm, and it is related that those who resorted to locks and bars were confounded on seeing these give way and allow the little captives to go free. Stephen, like his betters, was credited with miraculous power, and the threads of his dress were treasured as precious relics. He was carried along on a triumphal car, and had a miniature bodyguard. At last some buccaneering shippers, on pretence of giving them a free passage to Egypt and Africa, kidnapped and sold them as slaves. While this juvenile army was parading through France, a like movement was set on foot by a boy, Nicolas, in Germany, but his following was less successful, and soon became scattered. The sagacious Pope Innocent, in alluding to these childish outbreaks, was pleased to observe that the children put to shame the apathy of their elders.
MORE PREACHING OF THE CRUSADE (A.D.1236).
In 1236, says Matthew Paris, on a warrant from the Pope, a solemn preaching was made both in England and France by the brethren of the orders of Preachers and Minorites and other famous clerks, theologians, and religious men, granting to those who would assume the cross a full remission of the sins of which they truly repented and made confession. These preachers wandered about amongst cities, castles, and villages, promising to those who assumed the cross much relief in temporal matters—namely, that interest on debts should not accumulate against them with the Jews, and the protection of his Holiness the Pope should be granted for all their incomes and property given inpledge to procure necessaries for their journey; and thus they incited an immense number of people to make a vow of pilgrimage. The Pope afterwards sent also Master Thomas, a Templar, his familiar, into England with his warrant to absolve those Crusaders whom he chose and thought expedient from their vow of pilgrimage, on receiving money from them which he considered that he could expend advantageously for the interests of the Holy Land. When the Crusaders saw this, they wondered at the insatiable greediness of the Roman Court, and conceived great indignation in their minds, because the Romans endeavoured thus impudently to drain their purses by so many devices. For the preachers also promised the same indulgence to all, whether they assumed the cross or not, if they contributed their property and means for the assistance of the Holy Land. The Pope thus accumulated an endless sum of money to defend the Church. But peace was soon after made and the project abandoned; nevertheless, the money was never restored, and thus the devotion of many became daily weakened.
ESCAPING THE CRUSADE BY PAYING MONEY (A.D.1241).
Matthew Paris says: “In 1241, in order that the wretched country of England might be robbed and despoiled of its wealth by a thousand devices, the Preacher and Minorite brethren, supported by a warrant from the Pope in their preaching, granted full remission of sins to all who should assume the cross for the liberation of the Holy Land. And immediately, or at least two or three days after they had prevailed on many to assume the cross, they absolved them from their vow, on condition that they would contribute a large amount of money for the assistance of the Holy Land, each as far as his means would permit. And in order to render the English more ready and willing to accede to their demands, they declared that the money was to be sent to Earl Richard; and, moreover, they showed a letter of his for better security. They also granted the same indulgence to old men and invalids, women, imbeciles, and children who took the cross or purposed taking it, receiving money, however, from them beforehand for this indulgence, and showed letters testimonial from Earl Richard concerning this matter which had been obtained from the Roman Court. By this method of draining the purses of the English an immense sum of money was obtained, owing to the favour in which Earl Richard was held; but we would here ask who was to be a faithful guardian and dispenser of this money; for we do not know.”
ELOQUENT ENTHUSIASM OF THE MASTER OF HUNGARY (A.D.1251).
In 1251 a religious frenzy arose in Flanders and France under the name of the Pastoureux or Shepherds. It began among the lowest classes, who attributed the imprisonment of their king, St. Louis, by the Mussulmans to the neglect and avarice of the clergy. A champion arose, called the Master of Hungary, an aged man with a long beard and a pale emaciated face, who spoke three or four languages, boasted that he had no authority from the Pope, but he clasped in his hand a roll which he said contained instructions from the Blessed Virgin herself. He said she had appeared to him encircled by hosts of angels, and had given him this commission to summon the poor shepherds to the deliverance of their godly King. This awful personage excited the most intense interest. He was an apostate monk, who in his youth had imbibed atheism and magic from unholy sources. He it was who in his youth led a crusade of children who had plunged, following his steps, by thousands into the sea. His eloquence and mystic look attracted wondering crowds. The shepherds and peasants left their flocks, their ploughs, and their fields, and, regardless of hunger and want, roamed after their leader, till they swelled to thirty thousand, and then to one hundred thousand men. They moved in battle-array, brandishing clubs, pikes, axes, and weapons picked up at random. Provosts and mayors were panic-stricken at the swarm of banners of the cross and standards of the Virgin and angels. The Master scornfully spoke of the clergy and usurped the offices of the Church, distributing crosses and dispensing absolution. He taunted the monks and friars with hypocrisy, gluttony, and pride. It was rumoured that the mob was miraculously fed. He entered a church and declaimed eloquently on the vices of the enemy. At last riots arose, and his head was cloven by a battle-axe, and the leaders were killed like mad dogs till the multitude disappeared.
DEATHBED OF ST. LOUIS OF FRANCE, CRUSADER (A.D.1270).
For seven years after his return from the East in 1254, St. Louis, King of France, could not rest in his mind till he had again entered on a new crusade to reconquer Jerusalem and deliver the Holy Sepulchre. But he kept his own counsel and awaited the progress of events. In 1261 he told his parliament that there should be fasts and prayers for the Christians of the East. In 1267, on convoking his parliament in Paris, having first had theprecious relics deposited in the Holy Chapel set before the eyes of the assembly, he opened the session by ardently exhorting those present to avenge the insult which had so long been offered to the Saviour in the Holy Land, and to recover the Christian heritage possessed for our sins by the infidels. And next year, in 1268, he took an oath to start in May 1270, and to take his three sons, aged twenty-two, eighteen, and seventeen. He urged Joinville, his biographer, to take the cross and join him; but Joinville flatly refused, thinking the King would do far more good by remaining at home. The King was in weak health, and the plan of the expedition was long unsettled, and at the last moment he decided first to go to Tunis, as he had a notion that he might convert the King, Mohammed Mostanser, who had long been talking of becoming a Christian. But on reaching Tunis on July 17th, 1270, it was found that the French must first fight the Mussulman prince, and the army was ill provisioned and unready. On August 3rd the King was attacked with epidemic fever and kept his bed in tent. He called his son and daughter and gave them the best advice; and after giving an interview to a messenger from the Emperor sent to bespeak his good offices, the saintly King ceased to think of the affairs of this world. He kept repeating prayers for mercy on his own people, and that they might return safely to their own land. He now and then raised himself on his bed, muttering the words, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem. We will go up to Jerusalem.” He retained possession of his faculties to the last, insisted on receiving out of bed extreme unction, and on lying down upon a coarse sackcloth covered with cinders with the cross before him. On Monday, August 25th, 1270, at 3 p.m., he died, uttering these last words: “Father, after the example of the Divine Master, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”
CRUSADERS ENTERTAINED ON THEIR WAY HOME.
When Earl Richard, brother of King Henry III., returned in 1241 from the Holy Land on his way to visit the Emperor, Frederick II., and the Empress, the sister of Richard, he was received with the greatest joy and honour in the various cities, the citizens and their ladies coming to meet him with music and singing, bearing branches of trees and flowers, dressed in holiday garments and ornaments. On reaching the Emperor, Richard was treated with blood-letting, baths, and divers medicinal fomentations to restore his strength after the dangers of the sea. At the end of some days, by the Emperor’s orders, various kinds of games and musical instruments, which were procured for the Empress’samusement, were exhibited before him, and afforded great pleasure. Amongst other astonishing novelties there was one which particularly excited his admiration and praise. Two Saracen girls of handsome form mounted upon four round balls placed on the floor—namely, one of the two on two balls, and the other on the other two. They walked backwards and forwards, clapping their hands, moving at pleasure on these revolving globes, gesticulating with their arms, singing various tunes and twisting their bodies according to the tune, beating cymbals or castanets together with their hands, and putting themselves into various amusing postures, affording, with the other jugglers, an admirable spectacle to the lookers-on. After staying with the Emperor about two months, Earl Richard took his departure, loaded with costly presents.
A DYING KING BEQUEATHS HIS HEART AS A CRUSADER.
When Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, was on his deathbed in 1329, Froissart tells how he made this dying request to his friend Sir James Douglas: “‘Sir James, my dear friend, none knows better than you how great labour and suffering I have undergone in my day for the maintenance of the rights of my kingdom, and when I was hardest beset made a vow which it now grieves me deeply that I have not accomplished. I vowed to God, that, if I should live to see an end of my wars, and be enabled to govern this realm in peace, I would carry on war against the enemies of my Lord and Saviour to the best of my power. Never has my heart ceased to bend to that point; but our Lord has not consented thereto, for I have had my hands full in my days, and now at the last I am seized with this grievous sickness, so that, as you all see, I have nothing to do but to die. And since my body cannot go thither and accomplish that which I have so much at heart, I have resolved to send my heart there in place of my body, to fulfil my vow. I entreat thee, therefore, my dear and tried friend, that for the love you bear to me you will undertake this voyage and acquit my soul of its debt to my Saviour.’ On the knight promising faithfully to obey his command, ‘Praise be to God,’ said the King. ‘I shall die in peace, since I am assured that the best and most valiant knight of my kingdom has promised to achieve for me that which I myself could never accomplish.’” When King Robert Bruce died, his heart was taken out from his body and embalmed, and the Douglas caused a case of silver to be made, into which he put the heart and wore it round his neck by a string of silk and gold. He set out to the Holy Land, attended by a gallant train of Scottish chiefs; buton touching at Spain he found the Saracen King or Sultan of Grenada, called Osmyn, then invading the realms of Alphonso, the orthodox Spanish King of Castile. The latter King received the Douglas with great honour, and persuaded him to assist in driving back these Saracens. Douglas consented; and during a battle, seeing a comrade surrounded by the Moors, he took from his neck the heart, flung it into the thick of the enemy, and rushing to the spot where it fell, was himself slain. The body of the good Lord James was found lying above the silver case, as if to defend it had been his last effort. His companions then resolved not to proceed to the Holy Land, but to return with the sacred heart to Scotland, and it was buried below the high altar in Melrose Abbey.
THE HOSPITALLERS AND KNIGHTS TEMPLARS (A.D.1118-1313).
A monastery for the benefit of Latin pilgrims had been founded at Jerusalem about 1050 by some wealthy merchants, and a hospital of St. John the Baptist was attached to help sick pilgrims and protect them against robbers. The Hospitallers soon separated from the monastery when the Crusaders arrived, and their dress was fixed as black with a white cross. Kings and nobles came to the assistance of this charity with gifts and endowments, and Raymond du Puy, on becoming master of the hospital in 1118, drew up rules which enjoined a regular system of begging alms for the poor, and each member when travelling was to carry a light with him, which was to be kept burning all night. The order of Knights Templars began about 1118 from similar motives, the object being to protect against the robbers the highways used by pilgrims. At first the Knights Templars were very poor, and the seal of their order showed two knights riding on one horse, a symbol which some explain as indicating poverty, and others as indicating brotherly kindness. Hugh de Payens and other French knights were the first members, and soon attracted attention, especially as St. Bernard, a nephew of one of the knights, warmly commended the institution and drew up rules for them. Each knight was restricted to keep three horses only, not to hawk nor hunt, not to receive presents nor use gaudy trappings in their equipments. They were charged always “to strike the lion,” which was understood to mean the infidels. They were forbidden to lock their trunks, to walk alone, or to kiss their mothers or sisters. Their habit was said to be white with a red cross on the breast. The order began modestly, but soon included three hundred knights of noble families, and theseattracted wealth, and this in time gave occasion for pride, insolence, and defiance of ecclesiastical discipline. The Knights Templars by degrees became a half-monastic and half-military order, attracting all the spirited youths of Europe. St. Bernard called them a perpetual sacred militia, the bodyguard of the Kings of Jerusalem, and a standing army on the outposts of civilisation. Lands, castles, riches, were given to them. The Popes patronised them. For two hundred years they kept up their credit, and fought with consummate valour, discipline, activity, and zeal for the cause of Christianity. They then excited the enmity of Philip the Fair, who coveted their wealth, and as an excuse for attacking them said he had heard of the secret vices and depravity of the order, and accused and arrested all that were in France in 1307. They were subjected by him to fearful torture to make them confess, and many confessed anything and everything, being thereby able to escape further tortures. De Molay, the Grand Master, confessed, retracted, then confessed, and again retracted. Edward II. caused those Templars settled in England to be arrested also. In 1310 fifty-four of the French Templars who denied the charges were burnt in Paris. De Molay, after being six years in prison, was burnt in 1313, protesting his innocence and that of the order. Philip the Fair was present part of the time. Philip’s avarice and desire to confiscate their property were thought to be the moving cause of this atrocious tyranny, as he had borrowed money from them to pay the dowry of his sister, the Queen of England. The ashes of the victims were carefully collected and treasured as relics. It was afterwards currently believed that Molay at the stake summoned the Pope and the King (Philip), as the authors of his death, to appear before the judgment seat of Christ within forty days and a year respectively, and that each of them died within the time assigned. Philip, at the age of forty-six in 1314, met with an accident while hunting in the forest of Fontainebleau, from which he never recovered, leaving a name detested for every kind of despotism and oppression; and his chief minister, Marigny, was hanged soon after. Pope Clement V. had acted with a mean and cowardly acquiescence in the King’s acts, and died in the same year.
CRUSADERS’ FAITH IN PROVIDENCE.
De Joinville, in his Memoir of St. Louis IX. of France, says that when they were returning in 1254 from the Sixth Crusade, this accident happened on board the ship of the Lord d’Argonnes,one of the most powerful lords of Provence: “Lord d’Argonnes was annoyed one morning in bed by the rays of the sun darting on his eyes through a hole in the vessel, and calling one of his esquires, ordered him to stop the hole. The esquire, finding he could not stop it inside, attempted to do it on the outside, but his foot slipping he fell into the sea. The ship kept on her way, and there was not the smallest boat alongside to succour him. We who were in the King’s ship saw him; but as we were half a league off, we thought it was some piece of furniture that had fallen into the sea, for the esquire did not attempt to save himself nor to move. When we came nearer, one of the King’s boats took him up and brought him on board our vessel, when he related his accident. We asked him why he did not attempt to save himself by swimming, nor call out to the other ships for help. He said he had no occasion to do so, for as he fell into the sea he exclaimed, ‘Our Lady of Valbert!’ and that she supported him by his shoulders until the King’s galley came to him. In honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to perpetuate this miracle, I had it painted in my chapel of Joinville, and also in the windows of the church of Blecourt.”
COLUMBUS VOWING ANOTHER CRUSADE (A.D.1493).
Columbus was in spirit a crusader rather than a maritime discoverer. The moment that the terms were fairly settled, he opened his project to Queen Isabella (herself a proselytising Catholic), and suggested that the vast wealth of Kubla Khan which he expected would accrue from his discovery should be devoted to the pious purpose ‘of rescuing the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem from the power of the infidels.’ When he came home in triumph, he made a vow to furnish within seven years an army, consisting of five thousand horse and fifty thousand foot, for the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre, and a similar force within the five following years. How tenaciously he held to his purpose we may gather from the fact that, when he was brought home in chains to Spain and was in the deepest sorrow and distress, he prepared an elaborate appeal to the sovereigns to undertake the fulfilment of the vow which his poverty and weakness forbade him to redeem; he wrote at the same time to the Pope, affirming that his enterprise had been undertaken with the intent of dedicating the gains to the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre; and that the evidence might be complete, he reaffirmed it solemnly in death by his last testament, and committed it as the dearest object of his heart, the most sacred purpose of his life, for fulfilment to hisheirs. When Columbus after his first voyage told his story to Ferdinand and Isabella, they fell on their knees, giving thanks to God with many tears, and then the choristers of the Royal Chapel closed the grand ceremonial by singing theTe Deum. He was created a Don, with reversion to his sons and brothers, rode by the King’s side, and “All hail!” was said to him on State occasions. He brought with him nine Indians, as specimens of the wide field for future proselytes, and these natives were baptised. One of them, after being baptised, died, and the authorities of the time, as Herrera relates, were pleased then to declare that he was the first coloured person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Twelve missionaries, under charge of a Benedictine monk, were sent out to take charge of the souls of the other Indians, and bring them to a knowledge of the Holy Catholic faith. And Admiral Columbus was specially charged besides to make them presents, and to deal lovingly with them. Columbus was all his life aware of some prophecy that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt by the hand of a Christian, and he looked forward to be that Christian; and he used to say that he would try and discover the exact kingdom of Prester John, who was known to be in want of missionaries to help him.
NUMBERS OF CRUSADERS.
The First Crusade, which was led by Peter the Hermit, by Walter the Penniless, by a German priest, and by some nondescript leaders, consisted of a mob of a quarter of a million of people, and other contingents swelled the number to 880,000. When they succeeded in capturing Jerusalem, they massacred ten thousand inhabitants, including women and children. Then Godfrey, throwing aside his armour, clothed with a linen mantle, and with bare head and naked feet, went to the Church of the Sepulchre. The First Crusade captured Nice, then Antioch after a severe siege, and then Jerusalem; and then a king was elected and remained. The Second Crusade, stirred up by St. Bernard in 1144, consisted of some 1,200,000 men, including Louis VII. of France, and was a total failure. The Third Crusade, in 1189, including Richard I. of England, was also numerous, and consumed twenty-three months in besieging Acre, but it ended in small progress. The Fourth Crusade, in 1203, stopped short at and attacked Constantinople. The Fifth Crusade, in 1228, resulted in a treaty by which Palestine was left to the Crusaders. The Sixth Crusade, in 1244, including Louis IX. of France (St. Louis), was utterly defeated, and Jerusalem pillaged by the Turks. TheSeventh Crusade, again including St. Louis and Edward (afterwards Edward I. of England), in 1270, ended in abortive efforts to keep possession of the Holy Land, which was at last abandoned to the Saracens.
THE MODERN GREEK CHURCH AND ITS PILGRIMAGES.
Ricaut, in his account of the modern Greek Church two centuries ago, says: “The Greeks were extremely fond of visiting their churches and chapels, especially such as were on precipices and places very difficult of access; and indeed the greatest part of their devotion consisted in such voluntary fatigues. On their first arrival at the church or chapel, they crossed themselves over and over, and made a thousand genuflexions and profound bows. They kissed the image which was erected there, and treated it with three or four grains of the choicest frankincense, and recommended themselves to the Blessed Virgin or the saint whom the image represented. But in case the saint did not incline his ear and hearken to their vows, they soon made him sensible of their resentment. Here, as in other places, these pilgrimages and peculiar foundations of chapels were looked upon as meritorious, and became the effects of mere superstition.”
SOME GREAT CHURCHES AND CATHEDRALS.
EARLY BASILICA CHURCH ARCHITECTURE.
The basilicas of Pagan Rome were long rectangular buildings, divided along their whole length sometimes by two, not seldom by four, lines of columns, and serving as halls or courts of justice. The Christians of the fourth and fifth centuries often obtained from favouring emperors leave to turn these basilicas into churches. It was thought that this gave a pattern to early churches. The roof was gradually raised proportionately and the arms thrown out wider to accommodate an increased congregation, thereby assuming a cruciform outline. St. Peter’s at Rome, before Michael Angelo’s design, was a basilica, also St. Paul’s without the walls, and the church of Maria Maggiore: these and the church of St. Apollinaris at Ravenna were the grandest of this class of churches. Justinian, the Emperor, reared many basilicas, and his masterpiece was St. Sophia’s church at Constantinople, which was imitated in the church of St. Vitalis at Ravenna. The period is uncertain when the central dome or cupola came to be added. In the eleventh century a new era of church-building began, called the Romanesque, and lasted about two centuries in Italy and Norman England. Then came the Gothic, though the Goths had nothing to do with the invention: the pointed arch is the characteristic, and it was first noticed in Sicily, and then spread rapidly in Germany, Northern France, and England. In Italy the Renaissance was equally making its way, with its rich marbles, mosaics, and gold and silver decorations.
EARLY CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE.
Lord Lindsay, in his “Christian Art,” says that the buildings required for the religious ceremonies of the Church in the fourthcentury were of three descriptions: (1) baptisteries for the performance of the initiatory rite of Christianity; (2) churches for the united worship of the initiated and the celebration of the mystery of the Lord’s Supper; (3) sepulchral chapels for the commemorative prayers offered up for the welfare of the departed who sleep in Christ. For the first of these, the public baths; for the second, the basilicas or courts of justice; for the third, the subterranean cells of the Catacombs, presented ready models. The basilicas were models of everything that could be desired. Their plan was an oblong area, divided by pillars into a nave and two aisles, the nave being sometimes open to the sky, sometimes roofed in, the aisles always so protected, the whole bounded by a transverse aisle or transept, raised by several steps and terminating at the extremity opposite the door of the building in a semicircular niche or tribune where the judge sat. Nothing could be easier than to accommodate an edifice like this to the demands of Christian worship. Two basilicas, the Laterana and Vaticana at Rome, were actually converted by Constantine into churches. The basilica retained its form unchanged for ages.
THE COPTIC CHURCH.
The name of Coptic Church is given to the Church among the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, so called from Coptos, a city in Upper Egypt. This Church traces its origin to St. Mark, and had Origen, St. Antony, St. Athanasius, St. Cyril, and others as its early champions. The Coptic Church was almost identified with other Churches up to the council of Chalcedon in 451, from which date it was viewed as an unorthodox Church. One Timothy the Cat was the leader of the heretics, and he got this name from visiting the cells of the monks by night, and proclaiming himself an angel from heaven, and charging them to forsake the people whom he viewed as heretics, but whom we would call orthodox. The Timotheans murdered the arch-priest of the opposite party. Two rival sets of patriarchs headed these factions. The Copt who enters his church takes off his shoes, walks up to the curtain, kisses the hem, and prostrates himself before the sanctuary. Standing during the service is usual; hence all are supplied with crutches of a height to enable the worshippers to lean upon them. There are no organs, but musical accompaniments are made by cymbals, triangles, and small brass bells struck with a little rod. There are no images permitted, but paintings adorn the walls on every side, the principal of which is one of Christ blessing His Church.
SPIRES AND TOWERS OF CATHEDRALS AND CHURCHES.
The spire has for centuries been a frequent ornament of churches in all countries, though in England there were few spires in the earliest churches. The highest spires have been as follows: Old St. Paul’s, 527 feet; Cologne, 510 feet; Strasburg, 500 feet; Vienna, 441 feet; St. Peter’s dome, 434 feet; Amiens, 422 feet; Antwerp, 406 feet; Salisbury, 404 feet; Florence, 387 feet; Freiburg, 385 feet; Milan, 355 feet; Chartres, 353 feet; Segovia, 330 feet; St. Michael’s, Coventry, 320 feet; Norwich, 309 feet; Louth, 294 feet; Chichester, 271 feet; Glasgow, 225 feet; St. Patrick’s, Dublin, 223 feet. The towers of churches were also rare until the eleventh century. Owing to a faulty foundation or subsidence, some towers lean considerably out of the perpendicular, as St. Marian at Este, Pisa, and Bologna, Vienna, Delft, Saragossa, Weston (Lincolnshire), The Temple (Bristol), Wynunbury (Cheshire), and Surfleet. Galileo took advantage of the leaning tower at Pisa to make experiments on falling bodies. The following is the height of the highest towers: Bruges, 442 feet; Mechlin, 348 feet; Utrecht, 321 feet; Tournay, 320 feet; Ludlow, 294 feet; Grantham, 274 feet; Boston, 268 feet; Lincoln, 262 feet; Canterbury, 229 feet; Gloucester and Westminster, 225 feet; Durham, 216 feet; York, 198 feet.
INTERNAL DIMENSIONS OF CATHEDRALS.
The length, width at transept, and height in feet of the largest cathedrals are said to be: St. Peter’s, Rome, 613, 450, 152; Old St. Paul’s, 590, 300, 102; Modern St. Paul’s, 460, 240, 88; Canterbury, 514, 130, 80; Winchester, 545, 209, 78; St. Albans, 543, 175, 66; Westminster, 505, 190, 103; Ely, 517, 185, 72; York, 486, 222, 101; Durham, 473, 170, 70; Lincoln, 468, 220, 82; Salisbury, 450, 206, 84; Florence, 458, 334, 153; Saltzburg, 466; Cologne, 445, 250, 161; Milan, 443, 287, 153; Granada, 425, 249; Amiens, 442, 194, 140; Paris, 432, 186; Chartres, 418, 200, 114; Rouen, 415, 176, 89; Valladolid, 414, 204; Seville, 398, 291, 132; Ratisbon, 384, 128, 118; Constantinople, 360; Palermo, 346, 138, 74; Drontheim, 334, 166; Upsala, 330, 140, 105; Vienna, 337, 115, 92; St. Patrick’s, Dublin, 300, 157, 58; Glasgow, 282; Venice, 205, 164.
THE GOTHIC CATHEDRALS.
The birthplace of true Gothic architecture was north of the Alps—it would seem on the Rhine. The northern climate mayhave had something to do with its rise and development. Its high roof would cast off more easily the heavy snows; the numerous windows would welcome the flooding light; and to restore the solemnity and subdue the glare painted glass was resorted to. The Gothic cathedral, says Milman, was the consummation, the completion, of mediæval, of hierarchical, Christianity. The church might seem to expand and lay itself out in long and narrow avenues with the most gracefully converging perspective, in order that the worshipper might contemplate with deeper awe the more remote central ceremonial. The enormous height more than compensated for the contracted breadth. Nothing could be more finely arranged for the impressive services; and the processional services became more frequent, more imposing. The music, instead of being beaten down by low, broad arches, or lost within the heavier aisles, soared freely to the lofty roof, pervaded the whole building, was infinitely multiplied as it died and rose again to the fretted roof. Even the incense, curling more freely up to the immeasurable height, might give the notion of clouds of adoration finding their way to heaven. The Gothic cathedral remains an imperishable monument of hierarchical wealth, power, devotion. It has been described as a vast book in stone—a book which taught by symbolic language, partly plain and obvious to the simplest man, partly shrouded in not less attractive mystery. Even its height, its vastness, might appear to suggest the inconceivable, the incomprehensible, the infinite, the incalculable grandeur and majesty of the Divine works. The mind felt humble under its shadow, as before an awful presence.
THE ALTAR IN CHURCHES.
Christian churches had an altar, which, to distinguish it from the old altars of the Jewish and Pagan temples, on which sacrifices of blood were offered, was only a table, shaped in memory of the Last Supper. Altars of stone began to be used in the fourth century, and were directed by several councils to be used, as these were symbolical of Christ, the Rock. About the thirteenth century, the altar began to be shaped like a tomb. At first there was only one altar allowed in one church, to signify the unity of the Church; but at later dates more than one were introduced for convenience. The altar at first stood in the centre of the church, but in later times stood at the east end of the building. In the tenth century the cross began to be put on the altar, but neither cross nor candles were put permanently there till thefourteenth century. The great distinction in England after the Reformation was the substitution of a plain movable wooden table for the celebration of the Communion instead of the fixed altar.
INCENSE AND HOLY WATER IN CHURCHES.
Incense was a mode of symbolising the prayers offered to God. Some trace its origin to the fifth, and others no higher than the eighth or ninth, century. In the Catacombs it may have been useful to dispel damp and noisome smells. It was a very frequent accompaniment of Divine service in all Christian churches before the Reformation. Holy water was suggested as a mode of exorcising devils, and Pope Alexander I. directed it to be used in churches, and it was mixed with salt. A stone basin, called a holy-water stock, was kept at the entrance of churches, with a brush for scattering it.
ST. PETER’S AT ROME.
The great attraction of Christendom for centuries was the church of St. Peter’s at Rome, built on the site of the original church in which it was said the Apostle Peter officiated. In 306 Constantine founded a basilica on the same spot. In 1450, the structure being ruinous, Pope Nicholas V. commenced the present extensive building, but it was long before it advanced. When Michael Angelo completed the design for a Papal tomb, it gave a stimulus to this undertaking, and Julius II. engaged Bramante to complete a design, and that was proceeded with. After two or three successors had been engaged, one of them being Raphael, Michael Angelo was appointed to complete the works, and he acted as chief designer till 1563, when he died at the age of eighty-nine. The main design was not completed till 1590. The number of architects has thus marred the unity of the building, and each having added or altered something, alterations still went on till 1780, so that nearly three and a half centuries passed in maturing it. It covers about six acres, and is about 100 feet longer than St. Paul’s, London. The interior is of magnificent and harmonious proportions. The height of the nave is 152 feet, and 88 feet wide; the side aisles are 34 feet wide. The diameter of the interior of the cupola is 139 feet. The exterior height to the top of the cross is 448 feet. The nave is richly decorated with gilding and stucco ornaments, and colossal statues fill the lower niches. The dome is supported by four massive piers, each with two recesses. Above the lowerrecesses are four balconies, in which are preserved the relics of saints. One is thesudariumor handkerchief of Veronica, containing a likeness of the Saviour. There is also a portion of the true cross discovered by St. Helena. The head of St. Andrew is also here. The cupola above the dome is divided into sixteen compartments, ornamented with gilded stuccoes and mosaics. The design, altitude, and decorations of the cupola are described as glorious, and the mind dilates with wonder and rapture as the details are examined. The Baldacchino or grand canopy over the high altar is under the centre of the dome, and is 95 feet high, supported by four spiral columns. The high altar is immediately over the relics of St. Peter. This altar is only used on grand occasions, and the Pope alone can celebrate Mass there, or a cardinal specially authorised by a Papal brief. On the right side of the nave is a bronze statue of St. Peter on a marble chair, and with the foot extended. On entering the basilica devotees kiss the toe of this foot, and press their foreheads against it. The figure is rude and of uncertain origin. The tribune, which is behind and east of the high altar, is decorated with the designs of Michael Angelo, and contains the chair of St. Peter, in which he is said to have once officiated, and which is kept in a closet high in the wall safely locked with three keys, and exhibited only on rare occasions. In one chapel the Pieta of Michael Angelo, a marble group, and a masterpiece of his, is placed. In another chapel there is a column in white marble, said to have been brought from the Temple at Jerusalem, and the one against which the Saviour leaned when He disputed with the doctors. The illumination of St. Peter’s on Easter Sunday, when all the details are lit up with lamps, is like a blaze of fireworks. When lit up, there are 6,800 lamps burning.