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the river Selesius, and his son, the duke of Suabia, takes the command of the army.
The victorious army now enters the Armenian territories all rejoice at
having quitted a hostile kingdom, and at their arrival in the country of the
faithful. But, alas! a more fatal land awaits them, which is to extinguish the
light and joy of all. Let man take thought and investigate, if he may, the
counsels of the Lord, whose judgments are unfathomable. Things will
occur sometimes to cause him astonishment, sometimes confusion, yet so
that in every circumstance man may recognize the author of all things. On
the borders of Armenia there was a place, surrounded on one side by steep
mountains, on the other side by the river Selesius. Whilst the sumpter-
horses and baggage were passing this river, the victorious emperor halted.
He was indeed an illustrious man, of stature moderately tall, with red hair
and beard; his head was partly turning grey, his eyelids were prominent

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Itinerary
37
and his eyes sparkling; his cheeks short and wide; his breast and shoulders
broad: in all other respects his form was manly. There was in him, as is
read of Socrates, something distinguished and awful; for his look denoted
the firmness of his mind, being always immoveably the same, neither
clouded by grief, nor contracted by anger, nor relaxed by joy. He so much
reverenced the native language of Germany, that although he was not
ignorant of other languages, yet he always conversed with ambassadors
from foreign countries by means of an interpreter. This great man, having
halted some time, in consequence of the sumpter-horses crossing the river,
became at last impatient of the delay; and wishing to accelerate the march,
he prepares to cross the nearest part of the stream, so as to get in front of
the sumpter-horses and be at liberty to proceed. O sea! O earth! O heaven!
the ruler of the Roman empire, ever august, in whom the glory of ancient
Rome again flourished, its honour again lived, and its power was
augmented, was overwhelmed in the waters and perished! and though
those who were near him hastened to his assistance, yet his aged spark of
life was extinguished by a sudden though not premature death. If love of
swimming, as several have asserted, be said to have caused his death, yet
the gravity of the man argues the contrary; nor does it merit belief that, a
bad swimmer, he would have committed to the deceitful waters the safety
of so many. The conscience is witness that death is less painful than the
cause of death, but this is our consolation as it is written: the just, by
whatever death he shall be surprised, will be refreshed. If the mountains of
Gilboa, where the brave ones of Israel were slain, deserved to be deprived
of the dew and rain, what imprecations may we not deservedly utter upon
this fatal river, which overthrew a main pillar of all Christendom? There
were some who said that the place had been marked by a fatality from
ancient times, and that the nearest rock had long borne upon it these words
inscribed, ÒHere the greatest of men shall perish.Ó The lamentable report of
his death was spread around and filled all with dismay. If we search all the
annals of antiquity, the traditions of history, and the fictions of romance,
concerning the sorrows of mothers, the sighs of brides, or the distresses of
men in general, the present grief will be found to be without example,
never before known in any age, and surpassing all tears and lamentations.

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Itinerary
38
There were many of the emperorÕs domestics present, with some of his
kinsmen and his son; but it was impossible to distinguish them amid the
general lamentation, with which all and each lamented the loss of their
father and their lord. This, however, was a consolation to all, and they all
returned thanks for it to Divine Providence, that he had not died within the
territories of the infidels.
When his funeral-rites were performed, they left the fatal spot as
soon as possible, bearing with them the body of the emperor adorned with
royal magnificence, that it might be carried to Antioch. There the flesh,
being boiled from the bones, reposes in the church of the Apostolic see, and
the bones were conveyed by sea to Tyre, thence to be transported to
Jerusalem. It was fit indeed and wonderfully contrived by GodÕs
providence, that one who had contended gloriously for Christ, should
repose in the two principal churches of the Christian religion, for both of
which he had been a champion, Ñ part of him in the one, and part in the
other, Ñ the one that which our LordÕs burial rendered the most
distinguished, the other that which was honoured by being the see of the
chief of the apostles. The Christians arriving at Antioch, after many and
long fastings, gave way too plentifully to their appetites, and died of
sudden repletion: and so, after they had resisted both famine and the
swords of their enemies, repose was fatal to them, and a pernicious
abundance cut them off. In this shameful manner, then, the greater part of
that great army perished, and most of the survivors returned to their own
countries: a small body of them, ashamed to return, served under the
emperorÕs son, to whom the prince of Antioch surrendered his city with all
its defences. For on the plea of greater protection, he offered of his own
accord to commit his city to the duke, that this brave man might defend his
territories against the frequent assaults of the enemies.
Chapter XXV. Ñ Acre is besieged. King Guy is freed from his oath.
In the mean time ChristÕs soldiers, who had been conveyed by sea to
the succour of the Holy Land, were laying siege to Acre. That the order of
the siege may be better understood, we will relate it from the beginning.

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