EDWARD IN THE EAST (1270-1272).
A. Source.—Continuation of Matthew Paris (attributed to William Rishanger), vol. iii., pp. 375 et seqq. (Bohn's Libraries.)
A.D. 1270.—In the month of May in this year, the King's son Edward set out on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, taking with him his wife Eleanor, and accompanied by his brother-in-law Edmund, by four Earls, the same number of Barons, and many other nobles.... Edward then arrived in France with his fleet, but, learning that the King of France had started for the Holy Land, he followed him by sea, and after a voyage of ten days, arrived safely at Tunis, and landed with all his companions and followers. There he was met by the King of France and his nobles, who received him joyfully, and admitted him to the kiss of peace. In the month of August the sickness which raged about the sea-coast did great havoc in the army of the Christians. At Tunis, amongst the chiefs of the army, in the first place, there died John, Count of Nevers, the son of the French King, and the Cardinal Albano, legate of the Apostolic See. Soon afterwards, on the day after the Feast of S. Bartholomew the Apostle, St. Louis, the most Christian King of the French, passed from a temporal kingdom to an eternal one.... He was succeeded in his kingdom by his son Philip. At the time when the army was in a state of desolation, in consequence of the King's death, Charles, King of Sicily, arrived, who had been sent for by the King before his death. Although the Saracens were evidently much more numerous than the Christians, they never dared to attack the Christians in the open field, but caused them much annoyance and inconvenience by their stratagems. Amongst their devices, one was as follows. The country being sandy, and very dusty in the dry seasons, the Saracens placed several thousands of their people on an eminence in the neighbourhood of the Christians, and when the wind was blowing in the direction of the latter, they stirred up the sand and dust, which caused great annoyance to the Christians. But at length rain, coming on, laid the dust, and the Christians got ready their different engines of war, and made preparations for attacking Tunis by land and sea. The Saracens, on seeing this, entered into a treaty with them, and agreed to set at liberty all the Christians who were captives in that country. They also allowed the faith of Christ to be preached freely by the Preacher and Minorite brethren, and by all others soever, in all the monasteries founded in honour of Christ in the cities of that kingdom; also that all who chose to be baptized should be at liberty to be so. The expenses of the two Kings then having been paid, and the King of Tunis having acknowledged himself tributary to the King of Sicily, a truce for several years was arranged, and the King of Sicily prepared to re-embark with his army. But the Divine vengeance followed him, and, as he was endeavouring to return, the sea engulfed almost his whole army, the treasure he had taken from Tunis, and all his movable property.... When Edward heard of the terrible vengeance which the Lord had inflicted on Charles, King of Sicily, the brother of Louis, the late King of France, and when he considered that this disaster had happened not without a cause, he struck his breast and cried, swearing by God's blood, his usual oath: "Although all my companions in arms and countrymen should desert me, yet I, with Fowin, my palfrey-keeper" (for such was his name) "will enter Ptolemais or Acre, and will keep my compact and my oath, though my soul shall be separated from my body in so doing." All the English who were with him, and heard this declaration, promised that they would go with him. He then at once set sail for Acre, and, on his arrival there, found that the city was to be surrendered to the Saracens in four days from that time. By his arrival the Soldan of Babylon was disappointed in his expectations; and although he had begun to besiege the city, he returned to his own country with his army.
A.D. 1271.—In this year, whilst the King's eldest son Edward was staying at Acre, a certain Emir of Joppa (a rank which corresponds to that of an Earl amongst us), and a Saracen by birth, was seized with an affection for him, on account of his fame for valour, and frequently sent letters and messages of commendation to him by a certain Hassatut, or Assassin, named Anzazim. This man had been educated from his boyhood in subterranean places, where he had been taught to make a sudden attack on any Prince of the adversaries of his sect, and had been given to understand that, even if he should be slain in his attempt, he would, for such an action, receive new life amidst the joys of Paradise. On one occasion of his coming to Edward, as he had been often accustomed to do, with letters, he pretended that he wanted to reveal some secrets to him. Everyone then having been excluded from the room, the assassin, whilst Edward was leaning against the window and directing his attention outside, suddenly drew a poisoned knife and wounded him twice in the arm, and a third time under the armpit. Edward at once hurled the assassin to the earth with his foot, and, wrenching the knife from his hands, slew the villain with it. In wresting away his knife, however, he wounded himself severely in the hand, and as the poison entered and spread in the wounds, they were only cured with great difficulty, and by the application of many and various remedies. Some say that Edward, on finding himself suddenly wounded, having nothing to defend himself with, seized the tripod which supported his table and brained the ruffian. He then summoned his attendants, and after explaining the particulars of his mishap, he ordered the body of the wretch to be hung on the walls of the city, by the side of a live dog, that the sight of this spectacle might strike fear into others.
B. Source.—Matthew of Westminster, vol. ii., p. 455. (Bohn's Libraries.)
A.D. 1272.—This year, when Edward had been a long time waiting in Acre for aid from the Christians and the Tartars, because he had formed the design of overwhelming the Saracens with a mighty force, seeing that he was deceived by both parties, because the Christians had returned to their own land, and because the Tartars, who are also called Moallians, were perishing under domestic tyranny, he dismissed all his mercenary forces at Acre, and, crossing the sea, landed in the kingdom of Sicily, where he was met with honour by King Charles, who conducted him to Civita Vecchia, where the Roman Court was residing, and where Edward related to Pope Gregory, who was now become his lord, from having lately been his friend, all the perils of the Holy Land.