But now, the lord Edward, his heart full of the desolation of the Island of Ely, decided that he must use guile as well as force to reduce by warlike means its treacherous occupants. (For, against such dastardly robbers as these, to employ cunning must not be considered a sin, but rather a virtue, since in dealing with enemies of the State victory is a consideration paramount to good faith.) Therefore, striving with noble zeal to put a stop, in the interest of the whole realm, to the fierce attacks of this great host, Edward cunningly entered into a secret compact with the lord Nicholas de Segrave, the warden to whom had been entrusted the guardianship of the defences or fortifications by which assailants were easily kept back from the approach to the island, his aim being to prevent any check from that direction to the plans which he had conceived and was endeavouring to carry into effect; and when this bargain had been firmly and faithfully sealed, he entered the monastery of Ramsey, near to the marshes, with a large band of men, and brought the people of the district over to his side by promises and bribes, enjoining them not to fear the danger of death should they be compelled by fate or ill-fortune (which might Heaven forbid!) to die with him; then the country people, who had come, by frequent examination, to know the most secret places of that wide extent of marsh land, sailing or walking over it constantly as they did, fashioned hidden paths through places formerly impassable, making bridges by means of bundles of reeds wrought together; and the bounty of Nature supplied the defects of their skill. By this means a body both of foot-soldiers and horsemen crossed almost as on dry land. Two hot summers in succession added to the success of this artifice, by causing places, formerly so swampy as to offer no sure foothold, to be quite dried up by the heat, so that it truly might be said, "Here is the finger of God." Thus the soldiers were enabled, by traversing the paths pointed out to them by the country people, whose fears vanished under the leadership of so famous a general, and by the connivance of the lord aforesaid, who held to his compact, to cross the fortifications and defences without resistance, and, without the knowledge of the islanders, to halt on solid ground within the bounds of the island, separated from their enemies only by a small stream; this, too, they were able to cross without any difficulty by filling it up with bundles of reeds, of which they had a plentiful supply, to the terror and stupefaction of the other inhabitants, who now observed them. Astounded by the sudden, unexpected arrival of so many strangers, the islanders were slow to make defence or resistance; but lest they should seem to be entirely inactive, they sent forward to the river a number of crossbowmen and archers, who, by clearing a passage with their arrows, or even by a slow retreat, might grant the nobles time to gird on their armour, assume their weapons, and bear down on these unexpected adversaries; but the plan failed, for the lord Edward, fearing that his bold device might come to nought through weakness in defence, ordered his crossbowmen and archers to engage the enemy's archers from the other side of the stream; and when his army, having almost completed its passageway, was courageously commencing to attack the enemy, whom he saw near at hand ready to fight, the lord Edward publicly proclaimed that if anyone attacked any of his men or by any act of rebellion hindered him in carrying out his enterprise, such an one would suffer death by hanging or execution, should success—and of that there was no doubt—crown his efforts. On this, the fierce courage of the islanders weakened and gave way, and all, struck by sudden fear, laying aside their haughty fierceness, with bowed heads meekly surrendered, and—though they had refused to hear of it previously—submitted themselves to the ever-gracious clemency of the Prince.
Then Edward, granting them a simulated pardon, which, indeed, not to pass over it in silence, they had deserved, allowed a truce of barely two days in which, sacrilegiously gathering together their spoil, they should vacate the surrendered city and island. They departed, all alike in confusion and disgrace, to the no small joy of the provincials, who were now restored to their possessions and rejoiced in their ancient liberty. But the victorious army, in triumphal procession, with trumpets sounding joyfully, entered the city, while all the citizens, together with the few remaining monks, gave thanks to the King of Kings, who, pitying the distress of the city and province, had destroyed that evil horde of wicked men, and, striking from their necks the insupportable yoke of slavery, had restored their liberty under the protection of their future Prince.
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.
PARLIAMENT ARRANGES FOR THE INTERREGNUM (1272).
Source.—Annals of Winchester, p. 113. (Annales Monastici, vol. ii.—Rolls Series.)