[35] This letter, which has been translated into Latin, may be found in the collection of Martenne. We will give an extract from it in our Appendix.
[36] We read in the life of Bibars and in the chronicle of Ibn-Ferat, that the sultan of Cairo was much dissatisfied with the conduct of the king of Tunis. The peace which the latter made, left the Crusaders at liberty to carry their arms into Egypt. Bibars would have wished the Christian army to have been detained on the coast of Africa. He threatened to dethrone his ally, and told the ambassadors of the king of Tunis, that such a prince as he was not worthy to reign over Mussulmans.
[37] For the events that followed the death of St. Louis, see Duchesne, and le Spicilège, vol. i.
[38] We hope our readers, while they peruse the latter part of this otherwise good paragraph, will not forget that we are only translators.—Trans.
[39] Among the numerous panegyrics of Louis IX. there are few that have stood the test of time. Voltaire has drawn a fine portrait of the good king. M. Dampmartin, in his work upon the kings of France, has spoken of this great prince with ability and truth.
[40] Words of the Bull of Canonization.
[41] The Arabian chroniclers have preserved several of these treaties: we find in the extracts from Oriental manuscripts, a treaty between the sultan of Cairo and the little city of Tortosa. When reading the titles and the dependencies of the masters and the inhabitants of Tortosa, we may fancy we read the lease of a bailiwick or a farm, made before a notary.
[42] In Ibn-Ferat we may read the letter which the sultan of Cairo wrote on the subject of the princess of Berouth, who had left her little principality without the consent of the sultan. (See the extracts from Arabic manuscripts.)
[43] This account is much longer in Ibn-Ferat; whilst endeavouring to preserve the tone and the Oriental colouring of it, we have felt it necessary to abridge it. The chronicle of Ibn-Ferat, which is a collection of many other chronicles, contains several different versions; this appears to us the most probable, and, at the same time, the one best calculated to show what were the resources of the nations of Asia against the excesses of despotism.
[44] Many historians think that Charles’s preparations were intended to be directed against Constantinople. Without contradicting this opinion, we may believe that the king of Sicily thought likewise of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Charles was always very secret in his political projects; and very frequently the dissimulation of princes causes as much embarrassment to historians as it could have done ill to the countries exposed to its attempts.