taile had bene, MarginaliaThe heades and handes of the Christians cut of.there they beheld their felowes and brethren pitifully lying with their heades and hādes cut of. For the Saracēs for the reward before promised by the Soldan or Sultā, to them that could bryng the head and hand of any Christian, had so mangled the Christians, leauyng their bodies to the wild beastes. Thus as they were sorowyng and lamentyng the rufull case of their Christen felowes, sodēly appeareth the commyng of the Sultan, with a multitude of innumerable thousāds. MarginaliaThe battayle betwene the french king & the Soldan.Agaynst whom the French men eftsoones prepare them selues to encounter, and so the battaile beyng strocken vp, the armyes begā to ioyne. MarginaliaThe French army ouerthrowne.But alacke for pitie, what could the French men here do, their nūber first so maymed, their hartes woūded already with feare & sorow, their bodies consumed with penurie and famine, theyr horses for feeblenes not able to serue them? MarginaliaThe pitifull slaughter of þ^e Frenchmen.In conclusiō the French mē were ouerthrowen, slaine, & disparcled, and seyng there was no flying happy was he that first could yeld him selfe. MarginaliaThe French king with hys two brethren taken captiue by the Soldan.In which miserable cōflict the king with his ij. brethren, & a few þ^t claue vnto him, were takē captiues, to the cōfusion of all Christē realmes, & presented to þ^e Soldan. All the residue were put to þ^e sword, or els stode to the mercy of the Saracens whether to be slayne, or to remaine in wofull captiuitie.

And this was the end of þ^e sorowfull battaile, wherin almost al þ^e nobilitie of Fraūce was slaine, neither was there one mā welnere in al that multitude which escaped free, but either was slayne, or taken prisoner. Furthermore they that were slayne, or left halfe aliue, had euery one hys head and hand cut of, vppon the Soldans proclamation aboue mentioned.

The Sultan or Soldan, after the taking of þ^e French king, fraudulently subornyng an army of Saracens, to the number of the French army, with the armes and ensignes of thē that were slaine, made toward Damiata, where the Duke of Burgundy, with the French Queene, and Odo the Popes Legate, and other Byshopes and their garrisons were remayning, supposing vnder the shew of French men to be let in, but the captaynes mistrusting their hasty comming, and misdoubting their visages not like to the French men, shutte the gates against them, and so returned they frustrate of their intent.

The purpose of the Soldan was, if he might haue gottē Damiata, to send the French king hyer vp in the Easte countreyes to Calipha the chiefe Pope of Damascus, to encrease the titles of Mahomet, and to be a spectacle or gasing stocke to all those quarters of the world. The maner of which Calipha was neuer to let any christē prisoner come out, whosoeuer came once in his handes. But forsomuch as the Soldan missed hys purpose, he thought, by aduise of counsell, to vse the kinges life for hys owne aduauntage in recouering the citie of Damiata, as in the end it came to passe. MarginaliaDamiata resigned to the Saracens.For although the king at the first was greatly vnwilling, and had rather dye then surrender Damiata agayne to the Saracens: yet the conclusion so fell out, that the king was put to his ransome, and the Citie of Damiata was also resigned, which Citie beyng twise wonne, & twise lost by the Christians, the Soldan or Saladine afterward caused vtterly to be rased downe to the ground. MarginaliaThe summe of the kynges ransom.The ransome of the king, vpō conditiō that the Soldan should see him safely conducted to Achon (which I take to be Cæsaria) came to 60000. markes. MarginaliaThe number of the French men slayne.The number of French mē, & others which miscaried in that warre by water and by land came to 80000. persons. Hæc ex Mat. Parisi. fol. 237. 238.

And thus haue ye the brief narration of this lamentable peregrinatiō of Lewes the Frēch kyng. In which when the French men beyng once or twise well offered by the Soldan, to haue all the kyngdome of Ierusalem, and much more in free possession, they not contented with that which was reasonable and sufficient, forgredines to haue all, lost all, hauing at length no more then their naked bodyes could couer, lying dead vppon the ground: and all through the orginall cause of the Pope and Odo his Legate. By whose sinister meanes and pestilent pride, not onely the liues of so many Christians were then lost, but also to the sayd Pope is to be imputed all the losse of other Cities & Christiā regions borderyng in the same quarters: for asmuch as by the occasion hereof, the hartes of the Saracens on the one side were so encouraged, and the courage of the Christians on the other side so much discomfited, that in short space after, both the dominion of Antioch and of Achon, with all other possessiōs belongyng to the Christians, were lost, to the great diminishyng of Christes Church.

MarginaliaThe two Soldans at variance about the French king.Duryng the tyme of this good kyng lying at Achon or Cæsaria, almightie God sent such discorde betwene the Soldan of Halapia, and the Soldan of Babylon, for lettyng the kyng so escape, that the sayd Soldan or Saladine of Babylon, to wynne the kyng vnto his side, entred league with him (whom both his brethren, and all his nobles almost at home had forsaken) and remitted his ransom, and also restored vnto him such prisoners, as were in the sayd battaile found to be alyue. Thus the Lord worketh, where man commonly forsaketh. Ex Paris. fol. 261.

MarginaliaWhat mischiefe had come to Christendome and by what meanes.An other cause moreouer, why the ruine of thys french army may worthely be imputed to the Pope, is this: for that when Lewes the French kyng perceiuing what a necessary frend and helper Friderik the Emperour might be to him in these his affayres against the Saracens, and therefore was an earnest suter for him to the Pope to haue him released, yet neyther he, nor the king of England by any meanes coulde obtayne it. MarginaliaHow Friderike the Emperour might haue serued in good steade against the Saracens but þ^e Pope would not suffer him.And although the Emperour himselfe offred to Pope Innocent with all humble submission to make satisfaction in the Councell of Lyons, promising also to expugne all the dominions of the Saracens, and neuer to returne into Europe agayne, and there to recouer, whatsoeuer the Christians had lost, so that the Pope would onely graunt hys sonne Henry to bee Emperour after him: MarginaliaThe tyrany & deuelish mischiefe of the Pope against the Emperour.yet the proude Pope would not be mollified, but would needes proceede agaynst hym with both swordes, that is, first with the spirituall sword to accurse him, & thē with the temporall to depose him from his Emperiall throne. Through the occasion whereof, not onely the french kinges power went to wracke, but also such a fire of mischiefe was kindled against all Christendome, as yet to this day can not be quenched. For after this ouerthrow of the French kyng and his army, the Christians of Antioch and of other Christian regions thereaboutes, beyng vtterly discouraged, gaue ouer their holdes and Cities. Wherby the Saracens, and after them the Turkes got such an hand ouer Christendome, as to this day we all haue great cause to rue and lament. Besides this, where diuers Christians were crossed to go ouer and helpe the French kyng, the Pope for money dispensed with them to tary still at home.

But as I sayd, the greatest cause was, that the Emperour, which could haue done most, was deposed by the Popes tyranny, wherby all those Churches in Asia were left desolate. As touchyng the which Emperour Friderike, because we haue entred here mention of him, and for that his story is straunge, his Actes wonderous, and his conflictes tragicall, which he susteined agaynst iiij. or v. Popes one after an other, I thought not out of story in a whole narratiō to set forth the same, for the reader to consider, what is to be iudged of this Cathedral Sea of Rome, which hath wrought such abominable mischief in the world, as in the sequele of the story folowyng faithfully translated out of Latin into Englishe is to be sene.