Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brief History Of The Religious And Military Order Of The Knights Templars Of St. John Of Jerusalem.
neral ardour was excited in all who were present to pitton _ the Cross ; and it was fixed that the adventurers should assemble at Messina or Bi-undusium June i , A . D . 1217 . When the time appointed came , several Princes who had engaged themselves failed , some on one excuse , and some on another . The onhy one who adhered strictly and
punctually to his promise was the King of Hungary , who arriving at ^ Acre in 1218 , became in that place a Member of the Order of the Hospitallers . On hearing of this addition to the Christian force , Coradine , Sultan of Damascus , raised an army , and hastened to lay siege to St . John de Acre . The Christians , headed by the King of Hungary and the Grand Masters of the three Military Orders ,
advanced to meet him . Coradine , afraid to hazard an engagement with men so fresh and eager for action , returned hastily to his own dominions , The Patriarch of Jerusalem strove by entreaties , and even the terrors of excommunication , to bind the King of Hungary to a continuance in the Holy Land , but all in vain ; for after about three months stay he embarked at Acre , and left the defence of the
country to the Military Orders . They were not left long , however , without succour ; for the same year a supply of Germans , Frieslanders , and Dutch , under William I . Count of Holland , arrived at Acre . It was now resolved , on the strength of this reinforcement , to carry on au offensive \ yar against the Infidels ; accordingly the Christians laid siege to Dsamiata , a city of Egypt . While they were before this place , they received large supplies of soldiers from different parts of
Europe , particularly from England . The Sultan of Egypt was joined by his brother the Sultan of Syria , and their utmost exertions were tried in vain to compel the Christians to abandon the siege . It was the united perseverance , continued activity , and resistless valour of the Knig hts of the three Orders alone , that repelled all the attempts of the Infidels , and brought Darniata under the dominion of the Cross . That cityafter a most
gal-, lant defence , was taken by storm ; and melancholy , indeed , was the prospect which the victors were presented with on entering its desolated walls . Fourscore thousand persons perished in its defence ; the survivors were g hastly from the horrible effects of famine ; and the triumph of the conquerors was abated by the consideration that the fall of the place was more owing to the decay of nature than
to their valour . The Christians might have purchased more solid advantages , by relinquishing the flattering prospect of the reduction of Egypt : for the Sultan , to save Damiata , offered to restore the true Cross , taken at the battle of Tiberias ; to give them the city of Jerusalem , with means for putting it in a'sufficient state of defence , and man } ' other places . But , flushed with success , and allured by
the treasures of Egypt , the ecclesiastics brought the leaders of the Crusade to resolve on the conquest of that country . The Sultan , driven to desperate necessity , opened the sluices of the Nile and deluged the country , by which means the Christian army was hemmed within a very small space , and was soon after visited by the horrors of sickness and famine , This obliged them to come to terms ; they
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brief History Of The Religious And Military Order Of The Knights Templars Of St. John Of Jerusalem.
neral ardour was excited in all who were present to pitton _ the Cross ; and it was fixed that the adventurers should assemble at Messina or Bi-undusium June i , A . D . 1217 . When the time appointed came , several Princes who had engaged themselves failed , some on one excuse , and some on another . The onhy one who adhered strictly and
punctually to his promise was the King of Hungary , who arriving at ^ Acre in 1218 , became in that place a Member of the Order of the Hospitallers . On hearing of this addition to the Christian force , Coradine , Sultan of Damascus , raised an army , and hastened to lay siege to St . John de Acre . The Christians , headed by the King of Hungary and the Grand Masters of the three Military Orders ,
advanced to meet him . Coradine , afraid to hazard an engagement with men so fresh and eager for action , returned hastily to his own dominions , The Patriarch of Jerusalem strove by entreaties , and even the terrors of excommunication , to bind the King of Hungary to a continuance in the Holy Land , but all in vain ; for after about three months stay he embarked at Acre , and left the defence of the
country to the Military Orders . They were not left long , however , without succour ; for the same year a supply of Germans , Frieslanders , and Dutch , under William I . Count of Holland , arrived at Acre . It was now resolved , on the strength of this reinforcement , to carry on au offensive \ yar against the Infidels ; accordingly the Christians laid siege to Dsamiata , a city of Egypt . While they were before this place , they received large supplies of soldiers from different parts of
Europe , particularly from England . The Sultan of Egypt was joined by his brother the Sultan of Syria , and their utmost exertions were tried in vain to compel the Christians to abandon the siege . It was the united perseverance , continued activity , and resistless valour of the Knig hts of the three Orders alone , that repelled all the attempts of the Infidels , and brought Darniata under the dominion of the Cross . That cityafter a most
gal-, lant defence , was taken by storm ; and melancholy , indeed , was the prospect which the victors were presented with on entering its desolated walls . Fourscore thousand persons perished in its defence ; the survivors were g hastly from the horrible effects of famine ; and the triumph of the conquerors was abated by the consideration that the fall of the place was more owing to the decay of nature than
to their valour . The Christians might have purchased more solid advantages , by relinquishing the flattering prospect of the reduction of Egypt : for the Sultan , to save Damiata , offered to restore the true Cross , taken at the battle of Tiberias ; to give them the city of Jerusalem , with means for putting it in a'sufficient state of defence , and man } ' other places . But , flushed with success , and allured by
the treasures of Egypt , the ecclesiastics brought the leaders of the Crusade to resolve on the conquest of that country . The Sultan , driven to desperate necessity , opened the sluices of the Nile and deluged the country , by which means the Christian army was hemmed within a very small space , and was soon after visited by the horrors of sickness and famine , This obliged them to come to terms ; they