Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 1.djvu/166

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100 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS arrival, at first refused this, as unbecoming the rank and character which he bore; but, finding that the act would appease the jealousies which had already broken out between the Greeks and Franks, and put a check on the schemes of those leaders in the crusading ranks whom Alexius especially dreaded, he at last consented. The other chieftains made a like submission ; and this sacrifice of pride, by heal- ing internal discords, served for a season to promote the success of the Crusade. After a sojourn of some time at Constantinople, the Crusaders, now formed into one army, crossed the Bosphorus, and entered Bithynia. Here the sight of the carnage which the Turks had inflicted on the weak and disorderly body that Peter had led forth, stimulated the zeal and indignation of the Christian host Its passage through the Turkish kingdom of Roum was not unresisted. David, then Sultan, a valiant prince, had already prepared an army, and fortified his cap- ital of Nice, a position of great natural strength. The Crusaders advanced in excellent order, and, after twice routing the Turk- ish army of defence, commenced the siege. Godfrey is said to have distin- guished himself by a feat of skill on one occasion during this assault. A gigan- tic Turk, who was the hero of the Moslem army, had greatly harassed the Christians by his wondrous success in the use of the javelin. Having spent his shafts one day, he ascended a tower, and showered masses of rock on the besieg- ers, whom he at the same time abused and defied to combat. The Christian archers played upon his person, without bringing him down ; until Godfrey grasped a crossbow, and at one shot pierced the giant's heart. The siege lasted ceven weeks ; and was prosecuted with such vigor and ingenuity by the Crusaders that the Turks were on the point of yielding, when Alexius, who had sent a body of Greeks with the army, craftily procured to himself the glory of conquest by instructing his general to intrigue with the enemy secretly, and persuade them to yield to his power, on condition of protection. The Greek general so worked upon the fears and hopes of the garrison, that his advice was accepted ; and, to the surprise and anger of the Franks, the emperor's flag one day appeared on the towers of Nice, and the city surrendered. This act of perfidy reopened the jeal- ousy between the Eastern and Western Christians, which Godfrey had labored to extinguish ; and from this time may be dated the rise of those internal divis- ions which eventually proved so fatal to the Crusaders. Leaving Nice, the Crusaders advanced in two divisions, both without guides, and through a hostile and desert country. The Turks, in great numbers, fol- lowed in their rear. Godfrey and the Count of Toulouse headed one division ; Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum, and Robert, Duke of Normandy (son of William the Conqueror), the other. The latter body had separated from the for- mer at some distance, and was traversing the plains near Dorylseum, in Phrygia, when a sudden attack was made upon it by a powerful army of Turks. The Christians were taken by surprise, while exhausted with heat and fatigue, and in an unfavorable situation. In spite of the heroic valor of Bohemond, Robert, and other knights, the battle was turning against them, when Godfrey's division, to which a message had been despatched, came up. He shouted aloud the Cru-