The Great Sieges of History

by William Robson

The whole army was in mourning; the commonest soldiers moved about in tears; the prayers of all were offered up for the preservation of so good a king. After giving most pious and salutary advice to his son Philip, both as a man and a king, and after taking an affectionate leave of his family, this good, religious, and exemplary man, but most mistaken monarch, expired at three o’clock in the evening of the 25th of August, 1270.

On the very day of the death of Louis IX., his brother, the duke of Anjou, landed with his army near Carthage. The trumpets and instruments of war resounded on the beach, but a solemn silence prevailed in the camp, and no one went to meet the Sicilians, whom they had looked for with so much impatience. Sad presentiments took possession of Charles; he preceded his army, flew to the tent of his brother, and found his body stretched upon its bed of ashes. Charles prostrated himself at his feet, which he bathed with his tears, calling upon him sometimes as his brother, sometimes as his lord. He remained in this attitude a long while, without heeding any of the persons who surrounded him, constantly addressing Louis as if he were living, and reproaching himself in accents of despair for not having heard, for not having imbibed the last words of the most affectionate of brothers, of the best of kings.

The death of Louis restored the confidence of the Saracens; they took the mourning they observed in the camp for discouragement, and flattered themselves with an approaching triumph over their enemies. But their hopes were of very short existence. During the sickness of Philip, now king, Charles of Anjou took the command of the army, and renewed the war with spirit. The soldiers he had brought with him were eager for battle, the diseases became less violent, and the Crusaders, so long confined to their camp, revived at the idea of the perils of war. Several battles were fought round the Lake of Gouletta, which it was necessary for them to possess before they could invest Tunis. The Moors, who only a few days before had threatened the Christians with extermination or slavery, could not stand for a moment the shock of the Christian chivalry; not unfrequently the arbalisters were sufficient to disperse innumerable multitudes. Horrible howlings, the noise of drums and other loud instruments, announced their approach; clouds of dust, pouring down from the neighbouring heights, announced their retreat and concealed their flight. In two rencontres, however, they were caught, and left a great number of dead on the field. Another time their camp was seized and plundered. The sovereign of Tunis could not depend upon his army for the defence of his states, and he himself gave no example of bravery or conduct to his soldiers. He remained constantly in subterranean grottos, to escape at once from the burning rays of the sun and the perils of the fight. Pressed by his fears, he saw no safety but in peace, and resolved to purchase it, if at the expense of all his treasures. His ambassadors came to the camp several times, charged with proposals, and were directed particularly to endeavour to seduce the king of Sicily. The Tunisian monarch was cunning and fortunate in this idea; venality was the weak side of Charles, and the other Crusaders were not immaculate in that respect. After much debating in the Christian council, a truce for ten years was signed, on the 31st of October, between the leaders of the crusade and the king of Tunis. All prisoners were to be restored on both sides, and all the Christians previously in chains were to be set at liberty. The sovereign of Tunis engaged not to require of the Franks any of the duties imposed in his kingdom upon foreign commerce. The treaty granted all Christians the faculty of residing in the states of Tunis, with permission to build churches, and even preach their faith. The Mussulman prince was to pay an annual tribute of forty thousand golden crowns to the king of Sicily, and two hundred and ten thousand ounces of gold for the expenses of the war to the leaders of the Christian army.

This was all in favour of the king of Sicily, and loud murmurs soon arose in the army. But what must have been the feelings of a real hero when he came amongst them? By an agreement with Louis, Edward of England was to take part in this expedition, and arrived in the camp only a few days after the signing of the truce, with the Crusaders of England and Scotland. The French and Sicilians were prodigal in their demonstrations of welcome and respect, and received him with great honours; but when he learnt they had made such a disgraceful peace, he retired to his tent, and refused to be present at any of the councils of the Christian leaders.

The Crusaders became impatient to leave this arid and unhealthy soil, and the army embarked for Sicily. But as if this expedition was doomed to be unfortunate, a violent tempest overtook the fleet when about to enter the port of Trapani. Eighteen large ships and four thousand Crusaders were submerged, and perished in the waves. Most of the leaders lost their arms, their horses, and their equipments. But as the crowning misfortune, and as if to point out the will of Heaven in the case, the whole of the money paid by the king of Tunis went to the bottom.

Of all this vaunted expedition, Edward of England was the only leader who kept his word and followed up his purpose. He went to Palestine in the spring, and, as every reader of history knows, distinguished himself there greatly. Edward I., when prince, may be said to have been the last Crusader of royal rank who appeared in Palestine. Here let me remark an inadvertency I was about to commit; I wrote Edward, prince of Wales, whereas his son, Edward of Caernarvon, was the first eldest son of our kings who bore that title. This is a common error with us. Shakspeare calls Louis, the father of Louis IX., dauphin when prince, whereas that title did not belong to the sons of French monarchs till more than a hundred years after Louis’ invasion of England.

FOURTH SIEGE, A.D. 1535.

Muley-Hassan, king of Tunis, driven from his states by Barbarossa, the terror of the Mediterranean, came to implore the aid of Charles V. That prince, touched by the prayers of the Barbary monarch, swore to replace him on his throne. He assembled a fleet of three hundred ships, on board of which were twenty-five thousand foot and two thousand horse, set sail from Cagliari, and arrived at Porto-Farina, formerly Utica. As that port was not very secure, the fleet again weighed anchor, and brought to within cannon-shot of the Gouletta. The whole Christian army landed without the least opposition on the part of the Mussulmans. The generals pitched their tents between Carthage and the Water Tower, and surrounded it with wide deep lines, fortified with redoubts. This was the exact spot on which Louis IX. had formerly placed his camp. The trenches were opened, and three batteries were raised against the fortress. Whilst the place was being cannonaded by land, the galleys advanced by turns and delivered their broadsides; the grand caique of Malta and a Portuguese galleon destroyed a part of the fortifications and dismounted the batteries of the town. The place being open in several places, it was determined to carry it by the sword. The Christians mounted to the assault, forced the breaches, gained the bulwarks and the top of the tower, and took possession of them. Chasse-Diable, and Sinan the Jew, leaders of the defenders of the Gouletta, being unable to resist the imperial conquerors, retired into Tunis, where their arrival spread terror and despair. The emperor entered this fortress, followed by Muley-Hassan, to whom he said, “This is the door by which you will re-enter your states.”

Barbarossa was terrified at the successes of Charles V. With the Gouletta he lost eighty-seven galleys, and more than three hundred pieces of bronze ordnance, inclosed in that citadel. He held a council with the Turks, and pointed out to them the dangers to which they were exposed. They had two enemies equally to fear,—the inhabitants and the Arabs, who detested their domination; the twenty-five thousand Christian slaves in Tunis must necessarily be expected to revolt, and open the gates to the Spaniards. With regard to these slaves, he declared he was resolved to put them all to death. Sinan the Jew represented to Barbarossa that he would render himself odious to all nations; that he would lose the ransom of the most considerable of the slaves, and that he must not have recourse to such a cruel measure till the last extremity. Barbarossa consented to suspend the horrible project he had formed; but he had the slaves loaded with fresh chains, shut them up in the castle, and placed under them a number of barrels of gunpowder. He passed the rest of the night in an agony of fear and hope, and in expectation of the day which was to decide his fate. He left Tunis the next morning, at the head of eighty thousand men, and encamped in a plain a full league from the city. The two armies were soon in face of each other. The Arabs at first attacked the Christians with great spirit; but scarcely had they sustained the first discharge of the artillery, than they broke their ranks, and drew with them the Moors, and even the Turks. Barbarossa did his utmost to rally them, but they were deaf to his voice, and only took counsel of the terror with which they were seized. Barbarossa, trembling with rage, sounded a retreat, rallied the fugitives, and passed the night under arms beneath the walls of the city. Whilst he was deliberating if he should go again and offer battle to the Christians, or shut himself up in Tunis, some Turks came to inform him that the slaves had broken their chains, and had made themselves masters of the castle. Barbarossa hastened thither, and was met by musket-shots and a shower of stones. Transported with fury, he cried out that all was lost, as the slaves were masters of the castle and of his treasures. He immediately left Tunis at the head of a body of Turks, and contrived to place himself in safety.

The emperor was ignorant of this revolution; on approaching Tunis, he was informed of it by some Moors. In an instant the imperialists dispersed themselves throughout the city, massacred all who came in their way, carried off all the women and children that were reserved for slavery, and abandoned themselves to all the excesses which accompany cruelty, avarice, and lubricity. The booty was so considerable, that there was not a single soldier who did not make his fortune. It is said that more than two hundred thousand persons perished in the sack of this unfortunate city; some expired under the sword of the conqueror; others, thinking to avoid death by flight, met with it in the burning sands of the deserts, where they died consumed by heat and thirst.