William of Tyre: HISTORIA RERUM IN PARTIBUS TRANSMARINIS GESTARUM

Proposueramus sinistrorum taedio casuum, qui frequentius solito, imo qui pene continue regno accidunt, a modo calamis otium indicere, et sepulta mandare silentio quae posteris publicanda susceperamus. Nemo enim est, qui non invitus languorem patriae, et suorum defectus in lucem proferat, cum quasi inter homines conveniat, et tanquam naturale reputetur, unumquemque totis niti viribus patriam laudibus attollere, et titulis non invidere suorum. Verum praeconiorum nobis omnis subducitur materia, et solum apta fletibus et lacrymas extorquens nobis se offert lugentis patriae calamitas, et miseria multiformis. Qui enim hactenus in superioribus libris, virorum fortium qui in nostro Oriente, maximeque Hierosolymis, per annos octoginta et amplius principatum tenuerunt, egregia facta, qualiquali stylo descripsimus, deficimus in nobisipsis detestatione praesentium, obstupescentes materiam, quae se oculis et auribus ingerit, quae nec Codri carmine, nec cujuslibet Maevii digna est relatu.

We had proposed, from a weariness at sinister mishaps, which more frequently than usual—indeed, almost continually—befall the kingdom, for the time being to proclaim idleness for our pens, and to consign to silence, buried, those things which we had undertaken to make public for posterity. For there is no one who would not unwillingly bring into the light the languor of his fatherland and the failures of his own people, since it is as though it were agreed among men, and is reckoned as if natural, that each man with all his strength strive to exalt his country with praises, and not to begrudge titles to his own. But all matter for panegyrics is withdrawn from us, and only the calamity of a mourning fatherland, and multiform misery—fit for weepings and extorting tears—offers itself to us; while we, who until now in the preceding books, with whatever style, have described the distinguished deeds of brave men who in our East, and most of all in Jerusalem, held the principate for eighty years and more, fail within ourselves through detestation of present things, standing astonished at the subject which thrusts itself upon our eyes and ears—one which is worthy neither of Codrus’s song nor of the relation of any Mavius.

Nihil enim in nostrorum principum actibus occurrit, quod memoriae thesauris, vir prudens credat esse mandandum; nihil quod aut lectori recreationem conferat, aut scriptori proficiat ad honorem. Periit enim apud nos, juxta quod propheta conqueritur: A prudente consilium, sermo a sacerdote, visio a propheta (Jer. XVIII, 18); factusque est apud nos, sicut populus, ita et sacerdos (Osee IV, 9); ita ut nobis aptari possit illud propheticum, Omne caput languidum, et omne cor moerens; a planta pedis usque ad verticem, non est in nobis sanitas (Isa.

For nothing occurs in the acts of our princes which a prudent man would believe ought to be consigned to the treasuries of memory; nothing which either would confer recreation upon the reader, or would profit the writer unto honor. For it has perished among us, according as the prophet laments: counsel from the prudent, word from the priest, vision from the prophet (Jer. 18, 18); and it has come to pass among us, as the people, so also the priest (Hos. 4, 9); so that that prophetic word can be fitted to us, Every head languid, and every heart mourning; from the sole of the foot unto the crown, there is no health in us (Isa.

I, 6). Jam enim ad ea tempora, quibus nec nostra vitia, nec eorum remedia pati possumus, perventum est; unde nostris id merentibus peccatis, facti sunt hostes in capite; et qui de inimicis triumphantes, palmam frequentius solebamus referre cum gloria, nunc in omni pene conflictu, divina destituti gratia, deteriorem calculum reportamus. Ideoque silendum erat, consultiusque videbatur nostris defectibus, noctem inducere, quam solem inferre pudendis. Sed quibus cordi est, ut in eo quod semel coepimus, nos continuemus proposito, quique orant instantius, ut regni Heirosolymorum status omnis tam prosper quam adversus, posteritati, nostra significetur opera, stimulos addunt, proponentes historiographorum disertissimos, Titum Livium videlicet, Romanorum non solum prospera, sed etiam adversa mandasse litteris; Josephum quoque, non solum quae a Judaeis egregie gesta sunt, verum et quae eis sunt ignominiose illata, longis tractatibus publicasse.

I, 6). Now indeed it has come to those times in which we can endure neither our vices nor their remedies; whence, our sins deserving it, the enemies have been made head over us; and we who, triumphing over foes, were more often accustomed to carry back the palm with glory, now in almost every conflict, destitute of divine grace, bring back the worse tally. Therefore it had to be kept silence, and it seemed more advisable to draw night over our defects than to bring the sun upon our shames. But those to whom it is at heart that in that which we once began we should continue the purpose, and who pray more insistently that the entire condition of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, both prosperous and adverse, be signified to posterity by our work, add spurs, proposing that the most eloquent of historiographers, namely Titus Livius, consigned to letters not only the prosperities of the Romans but also their adversities; and that Josephus likewise published in long tractates not only the things done excellently by the Jews, but also the things ignominiously inflicted upon them.

Abundant et aliis exemplis, qui ad hoc nos nitantur impellere; eoque facilius persuadent, quod plane liquet rerum gestarum scriptoribus, utramque sortem pari esse ratione propositam, ut sicut gestorum feliciter narratione posteros ad quamdam animositatem erigunt; sic infortuniorum subjectorum exemplo, eosdem reddant in similibus cautiores. Annalium enim conscriptores non qualia optant ipsi, sed qualia ministrant tempora, mandari solent litteris, ex officio. Rerum autem et bellorum maxime, varius solet esse eventus, et non uniformis; in quo non prosperitas continua, nec casus oppositus sine lucidis intervallis. Vincimur ergo; et quae subsequentia ministrabunt tempora, sicut coepimus (utinam fausta feliciaque!), auctore Domino, vita comite, scripto mandare curabimus diligenter, a secundo proposito revocati.

They also abound in other examples, which strive to impel us to this; and they persuade the more easily, because it is plainly clear to writers of deeds that each lot is set forth on equal terms, so that just as by the narration of deeds done happily they raise posterity to a certain animosity (spiritedness); so by the example of misfortunes undergone they render those same persons more cautious in like cases. For compilers of annals, by their office, are accustomed to consign to letters not such things as they themselves desire, but such things as the times minister. Moreover, the outcome of affairs—and of wars most of all—is wont to be various and not uniform; in which there is neither continuous prosperity, nor the opposite mishap without lucid intervals. We are defeated, then; and the things which the subsequent times will minister, just as we have begun (would that they be favorable and felicitous!), with the Lord as author, life as companion, we shall carefully commit to writing, recalled to our second purpose.

CAPUT PRIMUM. Inter regem et comitem Joppensem nutrita diu simultas, erumpit in lites exsecrabiles; reconciliationis nulla apparet spes. Tripolitanus regni administrationem et tutelam regiam obtinet.

CHAPTER ONE. Between the king and the count of Joppa a long‑nurtured feud bursts forth into execrable quarrels; no hope of reconciliation appears. The Tripolitan obtains the administration of the kingdom and the royal guardianship.

Interea inter regem et comitem Joppensem odiorum fomes, magis magisque per dies singulos ex causis occultis augebatur, eoque usque contractus rancor proruperat, quod rex jam manifeste causas videbatur colligere velle, quibus sororem suam ab eo soluto matrimonio separaret; unde juxta hoc propositum, patriarcham publice convenit, diem sibi praefigi postulans, quasi matrimonium accusaturus, qua in ejus praesentia solemniter celebraretur divortium. Comes vero super iis omnibus instructus, ab expeditione rediens, a reliquo exercitu segregatus, compendioso itinere Ascalonam profectus est, uxorem praemonens, quae tunc Hierosolymis morabatur; quod ante regis introitum, maturius ab eadem urbe discedens, Ascalonam proficiscatur; verebatur enim ne si rex ejus copiam habere posset, eam ad virum non permitteret redire ulterius. Mittitur ergo a rege nuntius qui comitem evocet, et vocationis causam aperiat; ille vero renitens, absentiae causas allegat, praetendens aegritudinem.

Meanwhile, the tinder of hatreds between the king and the Count of Joppa was being increased more and more day by day from hidden causes, and the rancor, thus contracted, had burst forth to such a point that the king now clearly seemed to be wishing to gather grounds by which he might separate his sister from him with the marriage dissolved; whereupon, according to this design, he publicly approached the patriarch, asking that a day be appointed for him, as if about to accuse the marriage, on which, in his presence, the divorce might be solemnly celebrated. But the count, having been informed about all these things, returning from the expedition, and separated from the rest of the army, set out to Ascalon by a short route, forewarning his wife, who was then staying at Jerusalem, that, departing sooner from that city before the king’s entry, she should make for Ascalon; for he feared that, if the king could have access to her, he would not permit her to return further to her husband. Therefore a messenger is sent by the king to summon the count and to disclose the cause of the summons; but he, resisting, alleges reasons for absence, pretending illness.

Cumque saepius evocatus venire differret, adjecit rex in propria persona illuc ire, et comitem viva voce solemniter in jus vocare. Quo perveniens, cum quorumdam ex principibus suis comitatu, civitatis portas serratas reperit, quas manu tangens, et tertio eas sibi aperiri praecipiens, cum neminem inveniret qui ejus obediret verbo, cum debita indignatione reversus est, spectante id universae civitatis populo, qui in turribus et muris, audito regis adventu se locaverant, rei exitum praestolantes. Rex vero inde Joppen recto tendens itinere, antequam ad urbem perveniret, quamplures ex loci ejus civibus obvios habuit, ex utraque classe majores; quibus urbem aperientibus, rex sine difficultate ingressus est; ibique ordinato procuratore, qui loci curam gereret, Accon pervenit.

And when, though repeatedly summoned, he kept deferring to come, the king added that in his own person he would go there and solemnly cite the count viva voce into court. Upon arriving there, with the comitatus of certain of his princes, he found the city’s gates bolted; touching them with his hand, and for the third time commanding that they be opened to him, when he found no one who would obey his word, he returned with due indignation, the whole populace of the city looking on, who, upon the towers and walls, having heard of the king’s advent, had placed themselves, awaiting the outcome of the affair. The king then, from there making straight for Joppa, before he reached the city, met a good many of its citizens, the elders from both classes; and they, opening the city, let the king enter without difficulty; and there, with a procurator appointed to have the care of the place, he reached Acre.

Iudicitur ergo apud eamdem urbem curia generalis, ad quam cum die statuta regni principes convenissent, coepit patriarcha, utrumque magistrum, Templi videlicet et Hospitalis, in eo verbo habens consortes, dominum regem convenire, et etiam flexo genu, pro comite intercedere, ut rancore deposito, eum in suam gratiam restitueret; cumque statim exauditi non fuissent, recesserunt cum indignatione simul, non solum a curia, verum etiam a civitate. Fuerat autem in praesentia principum qui convenerant, verbum propositum de mittendis nuntiis ad reges et reliquos principes ultramontanos, qui eos ad Christianitatis et regni auxilium invitarent. De quo cum prior habendus esset tractatus, patriarcha, ut praediximus, incidens, verbum praeferens principale, in sermonem priorem descenderat; itaque cum motu intemperato, ut praemisimus, ab urbe discesserant Acconensi.

A general curia is therefore adjudged at that same city, to which, when on the appointed day the princes of the realm had convened, the patriarch began—having both masters, namely of the Temple and of the Hospital, as consorts with him in that matter—to address the lord king, and even, with knee bent, to intercede on behalf of the count, that, rancor laid aside, he would restore him to his favor; and when they were not at once heard, they withdrew together in indignation, not only from the curia but even from the city. Moreover, in the presence of the princes who had assembled, a proposal had been put forth about sending envoys to the kings and the other ultramontane princes, to invite them to the aid of Christendom and of the kingdom. And although this ought to have been the matter to be handled first, the patriarch, as we have said, cutting in, preferring the principal matter, had descended into the prior discourse; and so, with intemperate movement, as we have premised, they departed from the city of Acre.

Comes vero Joppensis cognito, quod ad ejus pacem rex animum suum nollet inclinare, adjecit pejora prioribus; et assumens eam quam secum habebat militiam, versus castrum, cui nomen Darum, suos direxit; et in castra quorumdam Arabum, qui in partibus illis gratia pascuorum, tentoria locaverant sua, a rege habentes securitatem, et sub ejus fiducia commorantes securi, repentinus irruit, et imparatos reperiens, praedam inde et manubias agens, reversus est Ascalonam; quo cognito, rex, iterum revocatis principibus, Tripolitano comiti regni curam et generalem administrationem committit, in ejus prudentia simul et magnanimitate spem habens. In quo facto, populi universi et principum, ex parte plurima videbatur satisfecisse desideriis: unica enim et singularis videbatur omnibus salutis via, si praedicto comiti regiorum cura committeretur negotiorum.

But the Count of Joppa, learning that the king would not incline his mind to his peace, added worse things to the earlier; and taking the soldiery which he had with him, he directed his men toward the castle named Darum; and he suddenly rushed upon the camp of certain Arabs who, in those parts for the sake of pastures, had pitched their tents, having security from the king and, under his assurance, abiding securely; and finding them unprepared, carrying off prey and spoils from there, he returned to Ascalon. Which being known, the king, the princes being again recalled, entrusts to the Count of Tripoli the care of the kingdom and the general administration, having hope in his prudence and magnanimity together. By which act, he seemed to have satisfied, for the most part, the desires of all the people and of the princes: for the only and singular way of safety seemed to all to be, if the care of the royal affairs were entrusted to the aforesaid count.