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jects of your desires, and have, at the first attack, with the hand of violence seized upon those places; and, whether you will or no, we hold possession of the spots in which you pretend that your superstition took its rise. Already, have we weakened and broken asunder the lances of the Gauls, baffled the efforts of the English, crushed the strength" of the Germans, and now for the second time subdued the haughty Spaniards; and though you thought to arouse all your might against us, hardly in any of your attempts did you succeed. Where then is your God? Let him arise now and help you, and let him be the protector of yourselves and of himself. The Germans indeed, who presumed that they should gain over us unheard-of triumphs, with ardent spirits crossed the seas to our land: and after they had taken the single fortified place of Baruth, when no one was defending it, unless the assistance of flight had come to the aid of them and the rest of your potentates, they would have wofully experienced upon themselves our might, and their descendants would have for ever bewailed the slaughter we had made of them. And as for your kings and princes, whom we formerly drove out of the lands of the East, in order that they may conceal their terror by putting on a show of daring, after returning to their skulking places, we will not say kingdoms, they prefer to attack each other, rather than once more experience our strength and our might. What then remains except that, those being cut off by the avenging sword, whom, running away, you dismissed for your own purposes and to restore peace to your territories, we should make an attack upon your territories, for the purpose of destroying your name and your memory?' How then, brethren and sons, are we to rebut the insults of these insulters, in what terms shall we be able to answer them? When are we to see them on their side in pursuit of the truth, judging by what has lately reached our hearing upon certain information? For we have received letters from parts beyond seas, to the effect that when the Germans had reached Acre with their fleet, they seized the castle of Baruth, there being no one to defend it; while the Saracens, making an assault upon Joppa on the other side gained possession of it by storm, and having slain many thousand

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10" Nostram" appears to be a misprint for " vestram."

u "Vires" is probably the right reading and not "viros." 12 This passage appears to be in a corrupt state.

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Christians therein levelled it with the ground. As for the Germans, on hearing rumours of the death of the Emperor, not waiting for the usual time of making the passage, they embarked on board their ships for the purpose of returning home. On this, the Saracens, who had collected a numerous army, raged with such violence against the territories of the Christians, that it was not possible for the Christians without great danger to go out of their cities, nor yet to remain in them without dread; and too truly their sword has its horrors without, its anxious fears within. Take, therefore, my sons, the spirit of fortitude, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation, putting your trust not in numbers or in your strength, but rather trusting in the power of God, to whom it is not difficult to save whether with many or with few, and rush to the succour of Him by whom you exist, and live, and have your being.14 For in your behalves it was that 'He made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;'15 and yet, while He is poor, you abound, while He is put to flight, you are at rest, and do not, while He is in want and exile, come to His aid. Who, then, in a case of such great emergency, shall refuse to pay obedience to Jesus Christ? When he comes to stand before His tribunal to be judged, what answer will he be able to make to Him in defence of himself? If God has submitted to death for man, is man to hesitate to submit to death for God? For the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Shall, then, the servant deny to his lord temporal riches, when his lord bestows upon the servant riches that are eternal; 'which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive? Therefore it is that a man should lay up treasures in heaven, where thieves do not break through nor steal, nor moth nor rust corrupt.'18 Let each and all, then, prepare themselves, that in the month of March next ensuing, each city by itself, and, in like manner, each of the earls and barons may, according to their respective means, send forth a number of warriors to the defence of the land of the nativity of our Lord, to be supported at ascertained sums, and there to 13 Alluding to Eph. vi. 16, 17. 14 Alluding to Acts xvii. 28. 15 Phil. ii. 7, 9. 16 Rom. viii, 18.

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מי

171 Cor. ii. 9. 18 St. Matt, vi. 20.

remain for two years at least. For, although daily anxieties in behalf of all the churches are pressing upon us, still, this in especial do we conceive as one of our anxieties, our desire to apply every energy to the rescue of the lands of the East; lest if succour should chance to be delayed, the bruch1 may devour theresidue of the locust, and the last state become worse than the first. But, that we may not seem to lay grievous and insupportable burdens on the shoulders of other men, and to be unwilling with our finger to move the same, saying so much, and doing little or nothing at all, and, inasmuch as he who both does and teaches is to be called great in the kingdom of heaven, after the example of Him who began to do and to teach, to the end that we, who, unworthy as we are to act as His vicars upon earth, may set a good example to others, we have determined, both in person and in deed, to aid the Holy Land; and have appointed our dearly beloved son, Stephen, cardinal priest and titular of Saint Praxedes, and Peter, cardinal deacon and titular of Saint Mary in Viâ latâ, legates of the Apostolic See, men fearers of God, famous for their knowledge and their probity, powerful both in word and deed, and whom, among our other brethren, we do in especial love and esteem, after having, with our own hand, placed upon them the sign of the cross, humbly and devoutly to precede the army of the Lord, and not to be supported by offerings given through charity, but at our own cost, and at that of our brethren; by whom also we have determined upon sending other availble aid to the said land. Wherefore, in the meantime, we have sent the said Peter, cardinal deacon and titular of Saint Mary in Viâ latâ,20 unto the presence of our most dearly beloved sons in Christ, the most illustrious kings, Philip, king of the Franks, and Richard, king of the English, for the purpose of effecting a reconciliation between them, or at least obtaining a truce for five years, and exhorting the people to obedience to Him crucified: and whom, as legate to the Apostolic See, we will and command to be honored by all, and obedience to be humbly shewn to his mandates and enactments. But the aforesaid Stephen, cardinal priest and titular of Saint Praxedes, we are about to send to Venice, to obtain succour for the Holy Land. Moreover, by the common advice of our brethren, we have resolved, and do strictly

19 This seems to have been an ancient proverb. The "bruchus " was a kind of small locust; it seems to have no name in the English language. 20 He is also called cardinal of Capua.

enjoin and command you, our brethren the archbishops and bishops, and our dearly beloved sons, the abbats, and other prelates of churches, forthwith to levy a certain number of soldiers, or, in place of such certain number, a fixed amount of money, in the month of March next ensuing, due consideration being had of the means of each, for the purpose of attacking the barbarous tribes of the pagans, and preserving the inheritance of the Lord, which with His own blood He has obtained. But if any person, (a thing that we cannot believe,) shall dare to oppose an ordinance so pious and so necessary, we have determined that he shall be punished as a transgressor of the sacred canons, and do order that he shall be suspended from his duties until such time as he shall have made due satisfaction for the same. Wherefore, trusting in the mercy of God, and in the authority of the blessed Apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and in that power of binding and unloosing which, unworthy as we are, God has bestowed upon us, we do, in the case of those who, in their own persons and at their own expense, shall undergo the labours of this expedition, grant them plenary pardon for those sins for which they have done penance with voice and heart, and do promise them the blessing of everlasting salvation as the reward of the just. And, to those who shall not have gone thither in their own persons, but only, at their own expense, shall have, according to their means and rank, sent fit and proper men, to stay there for two years at least, and to those likewise, who, although at the expense of others, shall, in their own persons, have undergone the labours of the pilgrimage which they have undertaken, we do also grant plenary pardon for their sins. We do also will that all persons shall be partakers in this remission, who shall give suitable aid to the said land at their own cost, according to the amount of the aid they shall so give, and especially in proportion to the feelings of devotedness they shall manifest. And, in order that all persons may prepare more expeditiously and more securely for going to the aid of the land of the nativity of our Lord, we do take their property from the time that they shall have assumed the cross, under the care of Saint Peter and of ourselves; and the same is likewise to be under the protection of the archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church of God; it being our order that until their death or return is to a certainty ascertained, the same shall remain safe and untouched.

And if any person shall presume to contravene this ordinance, he is to be forced by ecclesiastical censure to the observance thereof. Therefore, let no person entirely withhold himself from this work, inasmuch as the same has not been commenced by ourselves, but by the Apostles themselves, who made collection among the nations, that they might succour the brethren who were labouring in Jerusalem. And further,

we do wish you not to despair of the Divine mercy, however much the Lord may be offended at our sins, who, by your hand may effect, (if, as you ought to do, you set out upon your pilgrimage with all humility of heart and of body,) that which he did not grant to your forefathers. For, probably, our forefathers would have conspired together, and would have said, 'our own high hand, and not the Lord hath done all this;' and to themselves, and not to the Lord they would have ascribed the glory of the victory. We do also trust, that He will not in His wrath withhold His mercies, who, when He is angered, does not forget to show mercy, admonishing and exhorting us, saying, 'Turn unto me, and I will turn unto you.' We do also believe, that if you walk in the law of the Lord, not following in the footsteps of those, who, going after vanity, have become vain, who gave themselves up to junkettings and to drunken revellings, and did those things in the parts beyond sea, which, in the land of their own nativity, they would not dare to do without having to endure great infamy and considerable disgrace, but, placing your hopes of victory in Him alone, who does not forsake those who put their trust in Him, and abstain not only from what is unlawful, but also from many things that are lawful, He, who overthrew the chariot and the hosts of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, will render weak the bow of the strong, and will sweep away from before your faces the enemies of the Cross of Christ as though the very dirt of the streets; not, indeed, giving to us or to you the glory, but to His own name, who is glorious in His Saints, wondrous in His majesty, a worker of marvels, and, after tears and weeping, the giver of joy and gladness. Moreover, if any of those who shall go on the pilgrimage, shall at the time be bound by oath to pay interest, we do, brother archbishops and bishops, command their creditors21 in your, several dioceses to be compelled by you, by force of ecclesiastical compulsion, all obstacle by appeal removed, entirely to absolve them from their said 21" Credimus " is a mistake for "creditores."

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