Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 3.djvu/262

 246 POLITICAL HERESY.— THE STATE. With the fall of Acre, in 1291, the Christians were driven definitely from the shores of Syria, causing intense grief and in- dignation throughout Europe. In that disastrous siege, brought on by the perfidy of a band of crusaders who refused to observe an existing truce, the Hospital won more glory than the Temple, although the Grand Master, Guillaume de Beaujeu, had been chosen to command the defence, and fell bravely fighting for the cross. After the surrender and massacre, his successor, the monk Gaudini, sailed for Cyprus with ten knights, the sole survivors of five hun- dred who had held out to the last. Again, not without reason, the cry went up that the disaster Avas the result of the quarrels be- tween the Military Orders, and Nicholas IV. promptly sent letters to the kings and prelates of Christendom asking their opinions on the project of uniting them, in view of the projected crusade which was to sail on St. John's day, 1293, under Edward I. of England. At least one affirmative answer was received from the provincial council of Salzburg, but ere it reached Rome Nicholas was dead. A long interregnum, followed by the election of the hermit Pier Morrone, put an end to the project for the time, but it was again God in Palestine. He even asserts that there are not a few heretics among them. — Raynald. aim. 1238, No. 31-2. A sirvente by a Templar, evidently written soon after the fall of Acre, alludes bitterly to the sacrifice made of the Holy Land in favor of the ambition and cupidity of the Holy See — " Lo papa fa de perdon gran largueza Contr' Alamans ab Aries e Frances ; E sai mest nos mostram gran cobeeza, Quar nostras crotz van per crotz de tornes ; E qui vol camjar Romania Per la guerra de Lombardia? Nostres legatz, don yeu vos die per ver Qu'els vendon Dieu el perdon per aver." — Meyer, Eecueil cfanciens Teztes, p. 96. It is also to be borne in mind that indulgences were vulgarized in many other ways. When St. Francis announced to Honorius III. that Christ had sent him to obtain plenary pardons for those who should visit the Church of S. Maria di Porziuncola, the cardinals at once objected that this would nullify the indulgences for the Holy Land, and Honorius thereupon limited the Portiuncula indulgence to the twenty-four hours commencing with the vespers of August 1. — Amoni s Legenda S. Francisci, Append, c. xxxiii.