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richard of holy trinity

Itinerary
266
that so large an army and so many thousands of the Turks had been
defeated by so small an army, and that Joppa had been recovered from
them by force of arms. In this manner they murmured to one another at
what had taken place, and trembled with confusion.
Chapter XVII. Ñ How the Christians acted in the matter of the swine which the
Turks had killed.
Now the execrable Turks, who were surprised in Joppa, had made an
immense slaughter of those who were too weak to resist, and in particular
had killed a large number of swine, in fact, all they could find; for it is
against the law of Mahomet to eat them; wherefore they naturally
abominate swine as unclean, because swine are said to have devoured
Mahomet. The Turks, therefore, in contempt of the Christians, had
collected into one mass the bodies of the swine, together with the bodies of
the Christians, whom they had slain. But the corpses of the Christians were
now buried in peace, whilst those of the Turks were in their turn cast out to
rot with those of the swine.
Chapter XVIII Ñ Of the rebuilding of the walls of Joppa.
On the next day, being Sunday, the king diligently set to work to
repair the walls of Joppa, and continued his exertions on Monday and
Tuesday, that some protection at least might be furnished by them such as
it was, though the repairs were made without either lime or cement Ñ but
this could not be avoided, for an immense army of Turks was close at
hand.
Chapter XIX. Ñ How certain men called Menelones and Cordivi boasted that
they would surprise the king, asleep or otherwise, unawares.
Meanwhile a certain depraved set of men among the Saracens, called
Menelones of Aleppo and Cordivi, an active race, met together to consult
what should be done in the existing state of things. They spoke of the


Itinerary
267
scandal which lay against them, that so small an army, without horses, had
driven them out of Joppa, and they reproached themselves with cowardice
and shameful laziness, and arrogantly made a compact among themselves
that they would seize King Richard in his tent, and bring him before
Saladin, from whom they would receive a most munificent reward.
Chapter XX. Ñ How Count Henry arrived at Joppa from C¾sarea, and of the
number of his soldiers.
In the mean time Count Henry came in a galley with his followers
from C¾sarea, where the rest of our army was detained, on account of the
ambuscades of the Turks, who lay in wait at all the roads, bridges, and
wells, so that the king could not, on this emergency, bring with him out of
all his army more than fifty-five knights, with a strong body of infantry,
arbalesters, and retainers; besides, about two thousand Genoese and Pisans
and others; whilst of horses he had no more than fifteen, whether good or
bad.
Chapter XXI. Ñ How the aforesaid Menelones and Cordivi would have surprised
the king in his tent, as they had boasted, if a certain Genoese had not perceived
them, and awakened the king.
Meanwhile the Menelones and Cordivi aforesaid prepared
themselves in the middle of the night to surprise the king, and sallied forth
armed, by the light of the moon, conversing with one another about the
object which they had in hand. O hateful race of unbelievers! they are
anxiously bent upon seizing ChristÕs steadfast soldier, while he is asleep:
they rush on in numbers to seize him, unarmed and apprehensive of no
danger. They were now not far from his tent, and were preparing to lay
hands on him, when, lo! the God of mercy, who never neglects those who
trust in Him, and acts in a wonderful manner even towards those who
know him not, sent the spirit of discord among the aforesaid Cordivi and
Menelones. The Cordivi said, ÒYou shall go in on foot, to take the king and
his followers, whilst we will remain on horseback to prevent their escaping
into the castle.Ó But the Menelones replied, ÒNay, it is your place to go in



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