Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/33

 composed, so that the besiegers when they arrived found nothing but an arid waste encircling the town.

In spite of their numerical inferiority and the obstacles thrown in their way, the Crusaders at once proceeded to carry on the siege of the town. On the fifth day a general assault was attempted, but owing to the want of proper military engines the effort proved futile, and the assailants were driven with great loss from the walls. To remedy this defect, Godfrey de Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse had two large wooden towers built to assist the attacking party in surmounting them. A second assault was delivered on the 19th July. This proved entirely successful. Godfrey, by means of his towers, penetrated within the walls, and then opening the gates of the city gave admission to the whole army.

A scene of bloodshed and cruelty now took place which casts an indelible stain upon what would otherwise have ranked as a most glorious achievement. Not content with the slaughter of those who were found with arms in their hands, the women and children indiscriminately fell victims to the ferocity of the conquerors. It is computed that no less than ten thousand persons were massacred within the limits of the Mosque of Omar alone. The carnage on this spot was so fearful that the dead bodies were floated by the stream of blood into the court, and the Christian knights rode through the place with blood up to their horses' knees. On the following day an occurrence still more disgraceful took place. Three hundred men, to whom Tancred had pledged his knightly word in token of protection, were murdered in cold blood, it having been decided by the assembled leaders that no quarter should on any pretence be given to the Saracens.

At length the slaughter ceased, and satiated with bloodshed the commanders of the army, followed by the soldiery, bareheaded and with naked feet, proceeded to the Holy Sepulchre, there to offer up their prayers and to return thanks for the successful issue of their sacred undertaking. Incongruous as this act may appear so shortly after the scenes just enacted, it was in strict accordance with the spirit of the age, when the piety of the Christian was closely allied to the intolerance of the fanatic. Their religious duties accomplished, they then