an unhappy accident, he lost his life in the river CENT. XII. Salephs, which runs through Seleucia. The manner of his death is not known with certainty; the loss however of such an able chief dejected the spirits of his troops, so that considerable numbers of them returned into Europe. Those who remained continued the war under the command of Frederic, son of the deceased emperor; but the greatest part of them perished miserably by a pestilential disorder, which raged with extraordinary violence in the camp, and swept off vast numbers every day. The new general died of this terrible disease, A. D. 1191; those who escaped its fury were dispersed, and few returned to their own country '.

XII. The example of Frederic Barbarossa was Its issue. followed, in the year 1190, by Philip Augustus king of France, and the lion-hearted Richard, king of England. These two monarchs set out from their respective dominions with a considerable number of ships of war and transports"; arrived in Palestine in the year 1191, each at the head of a separate army; and were pretty successful in their first encounters with the infidels. After the reduction of the strong city of Acre or Ptolemais, which had been defended by the Moslems with the most obstinate valour, the French monarch returned into Europe, in the month of July, 1191, leaving, however, a considerable part

Maimbourg, in his Histoire des Croisades, and Marigny in his Ilist. du xii. Siecle, say, that Frederic perished in the Cydnus, a river of Cilicia. But they are easily to be reconciled with our author, since, according to the descriptions given of the Saleph by several learned geographers, and among others by Roger the Annalist, it appears that the Saleph and the Cydnus were the same river under different names.

See an ample and satisfactory account of this unhappy campaign in the Life of Frederic I. written in German by Henry count Bunau, p. 278, 293, 309.

حمد

The learned authors of the Modern Universal History affirm that Philip arrived in Palestine, with a supply of men, money, &c. on board of six ships, whereas Renaudot mentions 100 sail as employed in this expedition. The fleet of Richard consisted of 150 large ships, beside galleys, &c.

CENT. XII. of the army which he had conducted into Palestine. After his departure the king of England pushed the war with the greatest vigor, gave daily marks of his heroic intrepidity and military skill, and not only defeated Saladin in several engagements, but also made himself master of Jaffa" and Cæsarea. Deserted, however, by the French and Italians, and influenced by other motives and considerations of the greatest weight, he concluded, A. D. 1192, with Saladin, a truce of three years, three months, and as many days, and evacuated Palestine with his whole army *. Such was the issue of the third expedition against the infidels, which nearly exhausted England, France, and Germany, both of men and money, without bringing any solid advantage, or giving even a favorable turn, to the affairs of the Christians in the Holy Land.

Institution

tary orders

XIII. These bloody wars between the Christians of the mili- and the Mohammedans gave rise to three famous of knight- military orders, whose office it was to destroy the hood. robbers that infested the public roads, to harass the Moslems by perpetual inroads and warlike achieve ments, to assist the poor and sick pilgrims, whom the devotion of the times conducted to the holy sepulchre, and to perform other services that tended to the general good". The first order was that of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who derived their name, and particularly that of Hospitalers, from an hospital in that city, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, in which certain pious and charitable brethren were constantly employed in relieving and refreshing with necessary supplies the indigent and diseased pilgrims, who were daily arriving at Jerusalem. When this

w More commonly known by the name of Joppa.

* Daniel, Histoire de France, tome iii. p. 426.-Rapin Thoyras, Histoire d'Angleterre, tome ii. Regne de Richard Cœurde-Lion.-Marigny, Histoire des Arabes, tome iv. p. 285.

y The writers, who have given the history of these three orders, are enumerated by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, Bibliograph. Antiquar. p. 465; but his enumeration is not complete.

city became the metropolis of a new kingdom, the CENT. XII. revenues of the hospital were so highly augmented by the liberality of several princes, and the pious donations of such opulent persons as frequented the holy places, that they far surpassed the wants of those whom they were designed to cherish and relieve. Hence it was that Raymond du Puy, who was the ruler of this charitable house, offered to the king of Jerusalem to make war upon the Mohammedans at his own expence, seconded by his brethren, who served under him in this famous hospital. Baldwin II. to whom this proposal was made, readily accepted it, and the enterprise was solemnly approved and confirmed by the authority of the Roman pontiff. Thus was the world surprised with the strange transformation of a devout fraternity, who had lived remote from the noise and tumult of arms, in the performance of works of charity and mercy, into a valiant and hardy band of warriors. The whole order was upon this occasion divided into three classes: the first contained the knights, or soldiers of illustrious birth, who were to unsheath their swords in the Christian cause; in the second were comprehended the priests, who were to officiate in the churches that belonged to the order; and in the third were the serving brethren, or the soldiers of low condition. This celebrated order gave, upon many occasions, eminent proofs of resolution and valour, and acquired immense opulence by heroic exploits. When Palestine was irrecoverably lost, the knights passed into the isle of Cyprus; they afterwards made themselves masters of the isle of Rhodes, where they maintained themselves for a long time; but, being finally driven thence by the Turks, they received from the emperor Charles V. a grant of the island of Malta'.

The best and the most recent history of this order is that which was composed by Vertot at the request of the knights of Malta; it was first published at Paris, and afterwards at Am

CENT. XII.

XIV. Another order, which was entirely of a military nature, was that of the knights templars, so The knights templars. called from a palace, adjoining to the temple of Jerusalem, which was appropriated to their use for a certain time by Baldwin II. The foundations of this order were laid at Jerusalem, in the year 1118, by Hugues des Payens, Geoffrey of St. Aldemar, or of St. Amour, as some will have it, and seven other persons, whose names are unknown; but it was not before the year 1228 that it acquired a proper degree of stability, by being solemnly confirmed in the council of Troyes, and subjected to a rule of discipline drawn up by St. Bernard a. These warlike templars were to defend and support the cause of Christianity by force of arms, to have inspection over the public roads, and to protect the pilgrims, who came to visit Jerusalem, against the insults and barbarity of the Moslems. The order flourished for some time, and acquired, by the valor of its knights, immense riches, and an eminent degree of military renown; but, as their prosperity increased, their vices were multiplied, and their arrogance, luxury, and inhuman cruelty, rose at last to such a monstrous height, that their privileges were revoked, and their order suppressed with the most terrible circumstances of infamy and severity, by a decree of the pope and of the council of Vienne in Dauphiné, as we shall see in the history of the fourteenth century ".

The Teuto

XV. The third order resembled the first in this nic order. respect, that, though it was a military institution, the care of the poor and relief of the sick were not excluded from the services it prescribed. Its mem

sterdam, in five volumes 8vo. in the year 1732. See also Helyot's Hist. des Ordres, tome iii. p. 72.

a See Mabillon, Annal. Benedict. tom. vi. p. 159.

b See Matthew Paris, Histor. Major. p. 56, for an account of the commencement of this order. See also Putean, Histoire de l'Ordre Militaire des Templiers, which was republished with considerable additions, at Brussels, in 4to. in the year 1751 and Nic. Gurtleri Historia Templariorum Militum, Amstelodam. 1691, in 8vo.

bers were distinguished by the title of Teutonic
Knights of St. Mary of Jerusalem; and as to its rise,
we cannot, with any degree of certainty, trace it
farther back than the year 1190, during the siege of
Acre, or Ptolemais, though there are historians adven-
turous enough to seek its origin (which they place at
Jerusalem) in a more remote period. During the
long and tedious siege of Acre, several pious and
charitable merchants of Bremen and Lubeck, moved
with compassion at the sight of the miseries which
the besiegers suffered in the midst of their success,
devoted themselves entirely to the service of the sick
and wounded soldiers, and erected a kind of hospital,
or tent, where they gave constant attendance to all
such unhappy objects as had recourse to their charity.
This pious undertaking was so agreeable to the
German princes, who were present at this terrible
siege, that they thought proper to form a fraternity
of German knights to bring it to perfection. Their
resolution was highly approved by pope Celestine III.
who confirmed the new order by a bull issued on the
twenty-third of February, A. D. 1192. This order
was entirely appropriated to the Germans; and even
of them none were admitted as members of it, but
such as were of an illustrious birth. The support of
Christianity, the defence of the Holy Land, and the
relief of the poor and needy, were the important
duties and services to which the Teutonic knights
devoted themselves by a solemn vow. Austerity and
frugality were the first characteristics of this rising
order, and the equestrian garment, bread, and water,
were the only rewards which the knights derived
from their generous labors.
But as, according to
the fate of human things, prosperity generates cor-
ruption, so it happened that this austerity was of a
short duration, and diminished in proportion as the
revenues and possessions of the order were augmented.
The Teutonic knights, after their retreat from Pales-
tine, made themselves masters of Prussia, Livonia,

This garment was a white mantle with a black cross.

CENT. XIÌ.