part consumed, and the substance of each man almost brought to nothing,
the French began to importune the duke of Burgundy for the pay which
was owing to them, alleging that if they were not paid, they could not
serve any longer in the camp. The duke, not being able to meet their
pressing demands, thought it best to ask King Richard to supply him with
a large sum of money. For, on a former occasion, as before said, the king, at
the dukeÕs request, lent the French an immense sum of money at Acre,
which was to be repaid out of the ransom money from the captives; but this
had turned out to be nothing, as the captives had paid no other ransom
than their heads; wherefore King Richard refused his application. It was
owing to this, and other causes of disagreement, that the duke left Ascalon;
and for all his inability to pay them, the French set out hastily with him
towards Acre.
Chapter X. Ñ How the Pisans at Acre, who favoured King Guy, fought with the
Genoese, who sided with the marquis and the French, and how they threw the duke
of Burgundy from his horse, and compelled him and the marquis to flee to Tyre;
and how they sent for King Richard, who made peace between them.
On their arrival at Acre, the French found the Pisans and Genoese
engaged in a fierce conflict with each other. For the Pisans, from mere
generosity, and a sense of the justice of his cause, were favourers of King
Itinerary
209
Guy, while the Genoese were on the side of the marquis, Ñ chiefly on
account of the oath of fidelity by which he was bound to the king of France.
Hence arose discords which ended in bloodshed, and mutual attacks, as in
a civil war, at Acre; and the whole city was in a state of confusion. On
approaching the city the French heard a great uproar, and the noise of the
people, exhorting each other to fight; upon which they, and the duke of
Burgundy, in full armour, hastened to give succour to the Genoese, who
were elated to an insolent pitch by their arrival. For all that, the Pisans,
irritated when they saw them coming, went forth boldly to meet them; for
their appearance was that of men disposed to fight. Falling upon the duke
of Burgundy, who seemed to be their leader, they surrounded him, and
having pierced his horse with a lance, threw him to the ground; they then
retreated to the city, and closed and bolted the gates, as a precaution
against any unforeseen accidents which might happen. For they had heard
that the Genoese had sent to the marquis to ask him to come as quickly as
possible, and seize the city of Acre, which they promised to deliver over to
him. The Pisans, therefore, took every precaution against this faction, for
their own safety and that of the city. The marquis, without a momentÕs
delay, came to Acre in his galleys, with a large number of armed men, in
the hope of seizing on the city unawares; and on their arrival, the Pisans
attacked them manfully with petrari¾ and mangonels; and confiding in
their own valour, and the justice of their cause, they resisted their
adversaries for three days, and fought bravely with them, until they sent a
message to King Richard to inform him of the state of affairs, and bid him
come with all speed. The king was then at C¾sarea, on his way to the
conference with the marquis, when the messengers arrived, and set forth
the whole matter, and asked of him on the part of the Pisans, to come
quickly and preserve the city: they then returned to Acre under favour of
the darkness of the night. The marquis, on hearing that King Richard was
close at hand, returned hastily to Tyre, as if conscious that the kingÕs
coming betokened ill to himself. For all his haste, the duke of Burgundy
and the French reached Tyre first. But King Richard, on learning the
confused state of things on his arrival at Acre, took upon himself to arrange
everything on the day after Ash Wednesday, as if he were the only man left
|