The two kings by turns accused each other of breach of faith and perfidy, and the French and English took part in the hatred of their monarchs. Among these divisions, Philip pressed Richard to espouse the princess Alice, who had been promised to him in marriage; but the face of circumstances had changed, and the king of England refused with contempt a sister of the king of France, whom he had himself earnestly sought, and for whom he had made war against his own father.
Eleanor of Guienne, who had only ceased to be queen of the French to become their implacable enemy, had for a long time endeavoured to dissuade Richard from this marriage. In order to complete her work, and create an eternal division between the two kings, she brought with her into Sicily, Berengaria, the daughter of Don Sancho of Navarre, with the view of marrying her to the king of England. The report of her arrival augmented the suspicions of Philip, and was a fresh source of complaints on his part. War was upon the point of breaking out, but some wise and pious men succeeded in soothing these angry spirits; the two kings formed a new alliance bound by new oaths, and discord was for a moment quelled. But a friendship which required to be sworn to so often, and a peace which every day demanded a fresh treaty, were very little to be relied on.
Richard, who had just been making war upon Christians, all at once became a prey to repentance and penitence; he assembled the bishops that had accompanied him in a chapel, presented himself before them in his shirt, confessed his sins, and listened to their reproofs with the docility of the humblest of the faithful. Some time after this whimsical ceremony, his mind[333] being naturally inclined to superstition, he took a fancy to hear Abbot Joachim, who lived in retirement in the mountains of Calabria, and passed for a prophet.
In a voyage to Jerusalem, this solitary had, it was said, received from Jesus Christ the faculty of explaining the Apocalypse, and to read in it, as in a faithful history, all that was to take place on earth. On the invitation of the king of England, he quitted his retreat, and repaired to Messina, preceded by the fame of his visions and miracles. The austerity of his morals, the singularity of his behaviour, with the mystical obscurity of his discourses, at once procured him the confidence and veneration of the Crusaders. He was questioned upon the issue of the war they were about to make in Palestine; and he predicted that Jerusalem would be delivered seven years after its conquest by Saladin. “Why, then,” said Richard, “are we come so soon?” “Your arrival,” replied Joachim, “is very necessary; God will give you the victory over his enemies, and will render your name celebrated above all the princes of the earth.”
This speech, which did not at all flatter the passions or impatience of the Crusaders, could only minister to the self-love of Richard. Philip was very little affected by a prediction which was afterwards also falsified by the event; and was only the more anxious to encounter Saladin, the redoubtable conqueror, in whom Joachim saw one of the seven heads of the Apocalypse. As soon as spring rendered the sea navigable, Philip embarked for Palestine. He was received there as an angel of the Lord, and his presence reanimated the valour and hopes of the Christians, who had during two years unsuccessfully besieged Ptolemaïs. The French fixed their quarters within bow-shot of the enemy, and, as soon as they had pitched their tents, proceeded to the assault. They might have rendered themselves masters of the city; but Philip, inspired by a chivalric spirit, rather than by a wise policy, was desirous that Richard should be present at this first conquest. This generous consideration proved fatal to the enterprises of the Christians, and gave time to the Saracens to receive reinforcements.
Saladin had passed the winter on the mountain of Karouba, and fatigue, frequent combats, want, and disease had greatly reduced his army. He himself likewise was weakened by a complaint which the physicians could not cure, and which, on many occasions, prevented him from accompanying his warriors to the field of battle. When he heard of the arrival of the two powerful Christian monarchs, he once more, by his ambassadors, called upon the Mussulman nations for assistance. In all the mosques prayers were put up for the triumph of his arms and the deliverance of Islamism; and in every Mussulman city the Imauns exhorted the true believers to hasten to the war.
“Numberless legions of Christians,” said they, “are come from countries situated beyond Constantinople, to bear away from us conquests that gave such joy to the Koran, and to dispute with us a land upon which the companions of Omar planted the standard of the Prophet. Spare neither your lives nor your treasures to oppose them. Your marches against the infidels, your perils, your wounds, all, even to the passage of the torrent, is written in the book of God. Thirst, hunger, fatigue, death itself will become for you treasures in heaven, and will open to you the gardens and delicious bowers of Paradise. In whatever place you may be, death must overtake you; neither your mansions nor your lofty towers can defend you against his darts. Some among you have said, Let us not go to seek for battles during the heats of summer, or the rigours of winter; but hell will be more terrible than the rigours of winter or the heats of summer. Go, then, and bravely fight your enemies in a war undertaken for religion. Victory or Paradise awaits you; fear God more than the infidels; it is Saladin who calls you to his banners; and Saladin is the friend of the Prophet, as the Prophet is the friend of God. If you do not obey, your families will be driven from Syria, and God will plant in your places other nations better than you. Jerusalem, the sister of Medina and Mecca, will fall again into the power of idolaters, who give a son, a companion, an equal to the Most High, and wish to extinguish the knowledge of God. Arm yourselves then with the buckler of victory; disperse the children of fire, the sons of hell, whom the sea has vomited upon your shores, and remember these words of the Koran: ‘He who shall abandon his dwelling to defend the holy religion, shall meet with abundance and a great number of companions.’”
Animated by such discourses, the Mussulmans flew to arms, and from all parts flocked to the camp of Saladin, whom they looked upon as the arm of victory, and the beloved son of the Prophet.
Whilst this was going on Richard was retarded in his march by interests quite foreign to the crusade. At the moment that his rival was waiting for him to take a city from the Saracens, and was willing to share even glory with him, he made himself master of a kingdom, and kept it for himself.
On leaving the port of Messina, the English fleet was dispersed by a violent tempest; three vessels were wrecked upon the coast of Cyprus, and the unfortunate crews, who escaped, were ill-treated by the inhabitants and cast into prison. A ship, on board of which were Berengaria of Navarre, and Jane, queen of Sicily, upon presenting itself before Limisso, was forbidden to enter the port. A short time after, Richard arrived with his fleet, which he had succeeded in getting together again, and himself met with an insolent refusal. Isaac, of the family of Comnenus, who, during the troubles of Constantinople, had got possession of the isle of Cyprus, and governed it with the ostentatious title of emperor, dared to threaten the king of England.