Deus Lo Volt!

by Evan S. Connell

  You would frighten us, said Reynauld de Chatillon. You would frighten us because you prefer their company to ours. For myself, I say the fire is not dismayed by the amount of wood to burn.

  I am one of you, Count Raymond answered. I will fight at your side, but Saladin will take us.

  Gérard de Ridfort, Grand Master of the Temple, spoke angrily. I smell a wolf, said he. For a long time Gérard de Ridfort had nourished himself on hatred of Count Raymond. When he arrived in the Holy Land he at first took service with Raymond, who promised him some heiress for a wife as God so determined. Presently the lord of Botron expired, leaving all to his daughter Lucia, and Gérard put forth his claim. But here came a merchant from Pisa, by name Plivano, who admired the shape of Lucia and offered Count Raymond her weight in gold and made her step on a balance, heaping gold on the opposite scale until her value was calculated at ten thousand bezants. As this seemed good to Count Raymond, he granted her to Plivano. So then Gérard de Ridfort left his service to become a Templar but did not forgive the insult. Now at this extremity, encircled by a Muslim host, Gérard crept into the royal tent near midnight to admonish King Guy.

  Count Raymond has made a pact with our enemies, said he.

  The king, rotted by misgiving, did not know what to do since he would believe whoever spoke to him last. And when a call to arms sounded in the depth of night the Frankish barons asked one another the purpose. Wondering, dumbfounded, looking at each other in surprise, they hurried to the royal tent. King Guy would not explain why he sounded the call, saying only that they must obey.

  At dawn the Frankish host marched away from Saphori, hearts fixed upon Tiberias. The bishop of Acre, escorted by priests and monks, held upright the Holy Cross sheathed in gold encrusted with jewels so that all might draw comfort and strength from the presence of our Lord. Since the day King Baldwin first carried the cross to victory at Ramlah it had accompanied the knighthood of Christ.

  Anon, they overtook some hag riding a donkey and when they asked where she was going she would not answer. When they threatened her she admitted to being the slave of a Syrian in Nazareth and was going to ask Saladin for a reward, considering the service she had rendered. They tortured her to learn what service this was. Then she admitted to being a sorceress who had cast a spell on the host, having for two nights encircled the army and cast her spells by the devil. Had they not marched away she would have bound them so close that Saladin would take every one. A fire was kindled of thorns and couch grass, the hag thrown in. She hopped out. They tossed her into the flame again. Nimbly she hopped out. Then a sergeant with a Danish axe struck her such a blow on the skull as to cleave her almost in half. A third time she was tossed in the fire. It is related that when Saladin heard of this he felt dismayed because he would have ransomed her.

  And learning how the army moved upon Tiberias he rejoiced, for the day would be hot. He was heard to say that Allah delivered these Christians into his hands and scarcely controlled his glee, knowing they would not find water. Therefore he waited in comfort along the pleasant shore of Lake Tiberias.

  By midafternoon the Franks had climbed to a rock-strewn plateau between two summits that are called the Horns of Hattin. They could see the ground fall steeply away toward the village and the lake and a luxuriant plain with fruit orchards. Word arrived from Templars behind the army that they were troubled by Muslim cavalry and could ride no further. Certain lords urged King Guy to press ahead to reach the lake, but he would not. He gave orders to halt. When Count Raymond learned of this he rode back from the vanguard crying aloud that the battle was over.

  Ah, Lord God! he cried. We are betrayed unto death! The kingdom of Jerusalem is finished!

  King Guy then asked Count Raymond what they should do. To which Count Raymond answered that had his advice been taken they would not be where they found themselves. As it is now too late, he said, I have no better advice than for the king to pitch his tent on the summit of this hill. With God’s help the enemy may think we cannot be dislodged.

  Yet there could be no worse place to camp or fight, exposed like fowl, the earth studded with volcanic rock that made it difficult for men and horses to move. So all night these Franks peered toward the lake by starlight and saw death in every shadow.

  During the night they were surrounded. Saladin ordered his mameluks to collect brushwood and stubble and make a palisade. At dawn he set this afire to blind and choke the Christians and punish them with heat. Soon enough the Franks heard Saracen bows creak, arrows pierced the smoke. Camel caravans brought jars of water from Lake Tiberias and God’s servants watched this water emptied on the ground. What did Saladin do but give them the wine of remorse to drink. These errant knights were plagued by havoc of their own making.

  Until high tierce the Jerusalem army waited, encircled by a pagan horde so dense that not a cat could escape. Five or six knights followed by sergeants rode down to consult Saladin. These were Laodicius from Tiberias, Ralph Buceus, Baldwin of Fortuna, and I do not know the others. Why, they asked, did Saladin choose not to fight? The Franks are all but dead, said they. And by certain accounts these knights renounced our Lord to save themselves. As for the sergeants whose mouths hung open, tongues protruding, miserably they bared their necks. King Guy observing this ordered Count Raymond to attack.

  Therefore, calling upon Jesus and Our Lady, Count Raymond did as the king commanded. And the experienced Saracens feigned retreat, opening a path, only to close swiftly around him. Many of his knights, burdened with axes and maces, bodies swollen inside coats of mail, gave up hope and surrendered. Ten or twelve fought through the Saracen ranks, among them Reynald of Sidon, Balian d’Ibelin, and Count Raymond himself. It is said they charged so impetuously that nothing could withstand them. Or it may be they deserted the field, trampled their comrades, fled in panic to Tripoli. The truth is not known.

  King Guy retreated to the summit where his men began digging trenches, which caused Saladin’s son to exclaim that the Franks were destroyed. Chronicles relate that Saladin plucked his beard and frowned. Be quiet, he said, they are not defeated until the king’s banner falls. But even as he spoke these words the Jerusalem banner fell. He dismounted, prostrated himself and wept for joy, praising Allah while his soldiers tore apart King Guy’s red silk tent. Later in gratitude for this victory he constructed a mosque on the summit.

  From that great army of Jerusalem less than two hundred got out. Count Raymond died some months after the battle, wracked by fearful dreams. Frank and Muslim alike regarded him as the true master of Christian Syria, scorning King Guy, and thought him destined for the crown of Jerusalem. He ascended to Paradise thinking infidels and Christians might equably share the land. He had learnt Arabic, studied the pagan faith. His skin was dark and his nose like that of a vulture. Excepting his great size he could pass for a Syrian emir. They say his body showed evidence of circumcision, undeniable proof that he rejected our Lord. If so, what impels honorable men to recant? How does apostasy creep into creation?

  As to misbelievers, they fought with the strength of pilgrims. Mangouras, who some thought related to Saladin, charged by himself against the army of God. Franks promptly cut him down and displayed his head. Turks argue that Mangouras through intemperate courage succeeded to the abode of the merciful, which is fallacious and wrong. They are evil who hold evil opinions and will become godly only as they perceive the truth. We who have been led toward the light do not fear to give up earthly things since we are instructed by Jesus Christ and the examples of numerous saints.

  This battle took place in the providential year 1187 on the fourth day of July, which was the feast of Saint Martin Calidus. How bitter that on this very summit our Lord preached his most famous sermon of peace.

  Imad al-Din served as secretary to Saladin as well as to Nur al-Din and compiled a narrative of those days which delights at butchery. He went among the Christian dead noting Trinitarians cut in two, bowels drained, the stench more intoxicating than perfume, bel
lies slashed, skin flayed, limbs scattered, genitals sundered, ribs splintered, faces pressed to earth, spirits flown, no longer animate with desire, stones among stones. And how should this Turk respond to Christian death but quote from the villainous book they worship. It is said, too, that pagan alchemists crept around the field plucking out the eyeballs of knights or sergeants since they believe the eyes of young men hold nutritious elixir. And such people believe our Lord suffered crucifixion in appearance only, claiming that God so loved the son of Mary that He would not countenance torture, and any who assert that He emerged from a woman’s private parts must be mad, having neither faith nor intellect. Yet we firmly accept these points and articles that are witnessed and taught us by saints of both Testaments, from the mouth of our Lord. Let us not forget the debt we owe to a spring so bounteous.

  On the slope of Mount Hattin they captured that vivified wood of our salvation upon which the Redeemer hung, bled, and gave up the ghost, down which His lifeblood flowed, the emblem that devils fear and angels adore. With the Cross fell those two valiant bishops of Acre and Saint George, one slain, the other seized. Impious hands now would soil the sacred Cross. How terrible, therefore, must have been God’s wrath, how numerous the iniquities of His children, that He should account them less worthy than Saracens to embrace it. I, Jean, do not know where the pagans bore this hallowed emblem. Some say they buried it in Damascus at the entrance to their mosque. Thus, all who crossed the threshold should trample it.

  Among those seized with the Frankish king were his brothers Geoffrey and Amalric, Gérard de Ridfort, Reynauld de Chatillon, and the aged marquis William de Montferrat. Muslims boast there were so many captives that one could scarce believe any were slain, yet so many lay on the slope that one could scarce believe any were captured. Imad al-Din relates that when Franks saw the True Cross was taken they quit fighting, for to venerate the Cross was their obligation, to which their mouths sang hymns of worship, before which they touched their heads to the earth and talked of nothing else if it was displayed. But when it was lost they sank into despair. Turks claimed they could not find ropes enough. They claim that fifty naked Franks submitted to a single rope like domestic animals to be led away unprotesting. How many once proud men were seized?

  They allege that Saladin now encamped on the plain of Tiberias like the moon in splendor or a lion on the desert. Throughout the army it was cried that captive nobles should be brought to his pavilion. Yet he would receive only two. King Guy de Lusignan. Reynauld de Chatillon. Arab chronicles say this pusillanimous king of Jerusalem seemed about to faint, head dangling, unable to speak, intoxicated with terror. I have heard he claimed descent from the water fairy Mélusine, for such does the house of Lusignan believe. Whatever the truth, Saladin addressed him gently, trying to assuage his fright, and offered him a goblet of rose water cooled with snow from Mount Hebron. So the king, having eased his thirst, handed the goblet to Reynauld whom Saladin hated beyond any man on earth, who took his sister. Reynauld drank. Then to the interpreter Saladin addressed these words.

  Tell the king that he, not I, has given the man a drink.

  He spoke in this manner because infidels have a custom that prohibits taking the life of a captive who has eaten or drunk at the table of his captor and Saladin had vowed to Allah that with his own hands he would kill Brins Arnat. Now he fell upon Reynauld with a scimitar and slashed off an arm which plopped in the dust. Then as King Guy watched in horror the stump of Reynauld was dragged away. Others have it that Saladin lopped off Reynauld’s head and the corpse tumbled at King Guy’s feet while Saladin tried to comfort him, saying that kings do not kill one another. Or it could be that Reynauld disdained the goblet, saying arrogantly that as it pleased God he never would eat or drink anything of a misbeliever. At this Saladin called him a pig, drove a sword through his body and dipped his fingers in the blood to prove he had consummated the vow to Allah. However it came about, Reynauld’s head embellished the point of a lance and was dragged behind a camel through Damascus.

  As to knights of the Temple and Hospital, numbering almost three hundred, Saladin ordered them held apart. Some now belonged to Muslim warriors but he purchased them all, giving fifty gold pieces for each. When they were his property he assembled them outside the walls of Tiberias and spoke.

  You see that I have taken the Holy Cross and have taken your king. I have killed or captured most of the high lords. I have retaken lands that in earlier days Christians took from us. I have pitied you because you are brave knights who may live to profit greatly. Here is what I will do if you accede to my wish. I will provide you with wives, with fiefs, with gold. I will give you lands that I have conquered. So much will I do for you.

  They asked what they must do in return. He said they must supplant their faith in Jesus Christ with the faith of Mahomet. To this the knights responded that they would not ever forsake Jesus, saying that as He suffered for them on the Cross, so would they suffer death for Him, knowing the faith of Mahomet to be false.

  When these words had been interpreted for Saladin he gave orders to behead the knights.

  Imad al-Din records how there were present numerous ascetics, Sufis, austere men versed at law, savants, all requesting permission to slay a Frank. Those granted the honor rolled back their sleeves and approached with sword in hand, anxious to demonstrate their skill. Some cut or slashed proficiently and were congratulated. Others who sought clumsily to behead a knight heard themselves jeered. Some were excused by reason of blunt swords. Saladin watched indulgently, smiling, for to his mind the butchery pleased Allah. By causing Christian heads to fall he thought he earned great merit. He thought to glorify pagan misbelief by assaulting the Trinity. So was it prophesied. A time shall come when those that kill you may think they render God a service.

  How eagerly these knights flocked to the executioner, joyously offering their necks to the blade. What ardor and faith they exhibited. Among them a Templar called Nicholas who so inspired others to martyrdom that, by virtue of their wish to be first, he could hardly obtain the stroke he wanted. And for three nights afterward celestial glory shone on these unburied corpses. All know how the serpent to protect its head presents its body to the assailant, which throws much light upon our Lord’s command that we should be wise as serpents. For the sake of the head, which is Christ, we should freely offer the body to those who persecute us, lest by vaunting this mortal scrap of flesh we deny our God.

  Caracois was a very ancient Turk who had seen Godfrey de Bouillon during the conquest. Now observing these Templars beheaded, he addressed Saladin. Do you think, Sire, what you have done will put an end to bloodshed? You should know that Templars are born with their beards and their deaths will be avenged by Christians who demand recompense.

  Saladin indulged just one, Gérard de Ridfort, Grand Master of the Temple, whom he sent shackled to Damascus. It has been said that Gérard bought his life by spitting on the Cross, which is not so. As Grand Master he was useful because of various castles held by Templars. He would in time purchase his liberty by ordering the fortress at Gaza to surrender.

  Muhammed al-Kadersi relates how carts piled high with Christian heads rolled through Damascus, so numerous they might have been watermelons. A glorious and beneficent year, writes Imad al-Din, a blessed age anticipated by previous ages. How many knights and common sergeants marched off to servitude is beyond computation. At auction some fetched a paltry three dinars. One Frank was sold for a pair of shoes. And to delight the citizens an image of our Lord was carried about the streets upside down that they might think the glory of Saladin suffused the earth by drowning Christ’s army in waves of blood. Yet there is a chain of necessity over which Almighty God presides, which banishes evil from His commonwealth.

  Ibn al-Athir speaks of a Frankish woman captive in Aleppo who one day accompanied her master to visit a friend. When the door opened there stood another captive Frankish woman. They embraced and began to weep and flung themselves on the ground to talk b
ecause they were sisters. Al-Athir himself owned a young Frankish girl with an infant son who had been seized at Joppa. One day the child fell out of her arms and the mother wept. Al-Athir sought to comfort her by showing that her baby was not hurt. It is not for him, she said. My six brothers are dead and I do not know the fate of my sisters and my husband. Thus, grief and fear blazed across Syria for a multitude of Frankish sins.

  Saladin returned to attack Tiberias. Before long he took the citadel. Toward Countess Eschiva it must be said he displayed chivalry that would honor a Christian prince, granting safe passage to Tripoli with her ladies and household goods. Five days later the proud city of Acre surrendered. The castle of Toron. Nablus. Sidon. Jebail. Beyrouth. Christianity oversea was falling.

  His Holiness Urban chanced to be at Ferrara when he got the news.

  By permission of God, Heraclius, miserable patriarch of the Church of the Holy Resurrection, sends greetings to the most holy father and lord, Urban, supreme pontiff. Our lamentation and sorrow we can but inadequately convey, Reverend Father. It is our misfortune to behold the calamitous subjugation of our people, to be present when all that we hold sacred is scattered to the dogs. The fury of the Lord has come against us and His fury drains our spirit. He has permitted the Cross, meant for our salvation, to be captured by Turks. His mercy has He withheld from the bishops of Lydda and Acre, one of whom is taken prisoner, the other slain. Our king and the Christian army has He abandoned, given up to Turks. Some have fallen beneath the sword, some led into vile captivity, a few have escaped. The cities and castles taken by these enemies of God include Tiberias, Sebastea, Nazareth, Lydda, Caesarea, Mirabel, Toron, Bethlehem, Nablus, and others. Alas, their inhabitants have fallen nearly all to the sword. Alas, the Lord has discarded His legacy. His anger surpasses His mercy and the magnitude of our grief knows no limit. The holy city of Jerusalem now lies imperiled, for Saracens have won the battle. Alas, Reverend Father, we despair of defending ourselves. We have no refuge apart from God. Therefore, unless compassion be stirred throughout the west, bringing aid speedily to the Holy Land, we in our grievous extremity will not prevail. The holy city of Jerusalem must fall. Saladin is near. Daily we anticipate his coming. He has subdued every bishopric and archbishopric of our patriarchate, excepting Tyre and Petra. He sweeps the earth. Therefore, in the name of God, Holy Father, do we entreat your counsel and your protection.