Chapter Xii.

with a holy wrath , left Palestine and repaired to Some , where he had an interview with the Pope . Armed with authority from the pontiff , he travelled through Europe preaching and inciting the people to take part in the sacred war . His zeal was only

equalled by his success , for wherever he preached hundreds rushed to assume the cross . Pope Gregory died within two months after receiving the tiara . He was succeeded by Clement the III ., who vigorously pushed the preparations

for the Crusade . The tei-ror which the victories of Saladin had struck to the hearts of the people mada the council of bishops and princes resolve to levy the famous tax , which , as Gibbons aptly says , "the noblest monument of a conqueror ' s fame , and ofthe terror which he inspired , is the Saladin

tenth . " All who did not take part in the war were required to pay the tax , and the only exceptions made were the Orders of Chartreux , Citeaux , and Fontevrault , and the Hospital for Lepers . Gilbert de Ogleston , a Templar , who had been

appointed by the King of England to collect the Saladin tenths , with his associates in office , was guilty of malappropriation . On account of his belonging to so holy an Order , the king could not punish him , but he was seized by the command of

the Grand Prior of England , and taken to the Temple in London . He was there loaded with chains , put into the penitential cell , and subjected to the most rigorous punishment of which the laws of the Order permitted . The Templars suffered no crime to pass unpunished .

Now was there sharpening of swords aud buckling on of armour , selling of lands to raise money for the Crusades , changing of jewels to equip armies . Frederick Barbarossa stirred up the warlike Germans ; Philip Augustus of France

gathered together a vast host ; while the Lion Heart of England , alike the glory and the shame ofthe Crusade , resorted to the-most despicable and thievish tricks to raise funds to equip his army . The vices of Richard are lost in the blaze

of his military achievements , for his actions are like those of the heroes of the Jongleurs , while his villainy would disgrace the most abandoned of mortals . A bad son , a worse king ; bull-dog in ferocity , a lion in the field ; disheartening his

friends and quarrelling with his allies ; his pride only equalled b y his valour , make up the catalogue of his imperfections which caused the ruin of the Third Crusade . He sold the castles of Berwick and Roxburgh to the Scots for ten thousand merks

sterling , the earldom of Durham to Hugh de Puteaco , and the Priory of Coventry , with all its lands , to Hugh , Bishop of Chester . He likewiseextorted large sums from the Jews , and pretending to have lost his signet , by proclamation ordered

that all those who expected to enjoy his former grants should come and compound with him for a confirmation under his new seal , which added considerably to his treasury . The Emperor Frederick marched from Ratisbon in 1189 , and cut his way

through Greece , upon the sovereign of that country treacherously attempting to detain him . Frederick was accompanied by a large body of Templars , who aided him considerably in his march . These Templars were especial favourites

of the emperor , and he reposed the utmost confidence in them . His march through Asia Minor was one succession of victories ; but having imprudently bathed in the Orontes when heated , hedied , in the seventieth year of his age . The Duke

of Suabia , Frederick's son , however , ably conducted the march , although he lost great numbers by the attacks of the Saracens and the difficulties

encountered on the road . The Templars , upon the death of his father , became his body-guard . Finally , however , he formed a junction with the Syrian Christians and proved of great assistance to them . The Germans were the first of the

Crusaders who arrived in the Holy Land . When the winter rains had subsided , Saladin summoned his victorious army once more to the field . The tide of conquest did not now run so full in the course of the Musselmen . The

extraordinary valour of the Templars and the enthu . siasm of the Christians , counterbalanced the vast hordes of the enemy . Saladin resolved to reduce the fortresses of the Templars , and at all hazards

to drive them from the land ; for he was assured that so long as the Order possessed a castle in Palestine his conquest of the Holy Land would be insecure . The hatred which he bore them , verged on madness , for they gave him no rest , but

kept assailing his armies and cutting off his supplies . The presence of Gerard de Eidefort . among them once more inspirited the brethren , Those on garrison duty knew that the Master ' s , eye was upon them , and they resolved either to

conquer or to die . Death was certain if they fell alive into the hands of Saladin , so they fought , with a recklessness of life and a certainty of Heaven , which made the Knights of that day the first soldiers of any age . It is to this religious