Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/554

 470 Outlines of Etirvpean History Section 8i. The Second and Later Crusades Fifty years after the preaching of the First Crusade, the fall of Edessa (1144), an important outpost of the Christians in the East, led to a second great expedition. This was forwarded by no less a person than St. Bernard, who went about using his unrivaled eloquence to induce volunteers to take the cross. Fig. 173. Krak-des-Chevaliers, restored This is an example of the strong castles that the crusaders built in Syria. It was completed in the form here represented about the year 1200 and lies halfway between Antioch and Damascus.' It will be noticed that there was a fortress within a fortress. The castle is now in ruins (see headpiece of this chapter) In a fierce hymn of battle he cried to the Knights Templars : " The Christian who slays the unbeliever in the Holy War is sure of his reward, the more sure if he himself be slain. The Christian glories in the death of the infidel, because Christ is glorified." The king of France readily consented to take the cross, but the Emperor, Conrad III, appears to have yielded only after St. Bernard had preached before him and given a vivid picture of the terrors of the Judgment Day.