CHAPTER XXX.

EFFORTS OF THE GERMANS TO OBTAIN CYPRUS.

So much attention has lately been called to the concluding chapters of Herr von Löher’s most interesting work, that we feel compelled to present them, in an English form, even at the risk of incurring blame in some quarters, for unnecessary repetition. Throughout the whole of his travels in the island, our author, shocked at the scenes of neglect and mismanagement presented to his eyes, was constantly indulging in reflections on what a different fate might await its inhabitants could they be annexed to the mighty empire of his fatherland. Indulging in this strain of thought, he presents us with a lengthy account of what was done there by his countrymen in former days.

In a short and rapid sketch of these pages, we will endeavour to give only such details, as may be new and interesting to our readers, and suppressing as far as possible all such matter as has already appeared in the body of the work. Long after the Crusaders had been expelled from the Holy Land, says Löher, they still retained the fortresses of Jaffa, Akkon, Tyre, Sidon, Beyrut, Cæsarea, Antioch, Tripoli, and other strongholds, the governors of which ruled over, and gave commands to, a multitude of knights and people there resident. The Christian forces, then dispersed over all Syria, should have united under the imperial leadership, and opposed their serried ranks to the forces of the Crescent. This was manifestly the plan of the second Frederick, Emperor of Germany, whose idea was, to put the Christian forces under the command of Hermann von Salza, the renowned Preceptor of the German order. This was he, who, in a conference at Ferentino, at which the Pope, the Emperor, and King John of Jerusalem were present, proposed that Frederick should marry Isabella, the daughter of the last-mentioned sovereign, and thus ally her inheritance, the kingdom of Jerusalem, with his possessions, whilst her father should merely have the honour of being nominally a king. The proposal was received joyfully by all parties. The imperial marriage took place in the year 1225, at Brindisi, where the bride’s father surrendered the sceptre of Jerusalem into the hands of his new son-in-law—not, however, without compulsion. Frederick forthwith received the homage of all present, and sent a herald with three hundred knights to the Holy Land, to ratify and complete the homage paid to the emperor—who, if he intended to bring the crusade to a successful end, must necessarily be the legitimate lord of the soil.

The Cyprians, however, thought that Frederick, after a time, would be in a position to assume the feudal sovereignty of their island, for the kingdom had in former times been an appanage of the Emperor Heinrich the Sixth, his grandfather. The late King Hugo the First had been for ten years engaged in the crusade, and when he died, his only son, the heir to the throne, was but nine months old.

The Emperor Frederick the Second at length discovered, how powerless he was to remodel the affairs of the East. The knights and merchants had ordered matters according to their own pleasure. The barons with their feudal retainers occupied their castles in perfect independence; the king was only their leader, and the feudal parliament the court in which they decided everything according to their pleasure. With these uncontrolled nobles we must rank three orders of knights, forming as many well-established and wealthy brotherhoods, in which the military and monkish characteristics were united. These ecclesiastical warriors were armed in complete steel, and claimed princely prerogatives. In the towns were guilds and corporations, combinations of merchants and men of business, who watched over their own interests, and resisted the innovations of the arrogant nobility. Among all these petty powers, who were incessantly quarrelling among themselves, Frederick found it a difficult task to introduce harmony, and harder still to bring them to acquiesce in his authority.

Frederick had already proclaimed in Ferentino, that the conquest of the Holy Land should no longer be carried on in the name of the knights, but of the king only, thus intimating, that the whole of it should belong to himself. In Cyprus, matters were arranged upon a very different basis; here the supreme authority was shared among the barons, and the power of the king jealously circumscribed.

So long as the authority of the emperor was maintained in Cyprus, he held the key of all the opposite coasts of Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt, and consequently, to possess the sovereign power in this island, was from first to last the great object of Oriental policy. In 1218 the last King of Cyprus died, having on his death-bed appointed his wife, Alice, regent. The knights, unwilling to submit to the authority of a woman, compelled her to share her rule in the island with Philip of Ibelin as co-regent. Meanwhile feuds sprang up on all sides, and every occurrence seemed to increase the discord. The Franks in the East had been vitiated by Byzantine manners, and fought each other with the bitterest hatred, quite unmindful of their original mission, which was to deliver the Holy Land from the heathen. Quarrels soon arose between the Latin and Greek Churches, and Cyprus became the arena where bloody combats took place.

Frederick now entered the capital of Cyprus, and there all the princes and barons interceded for Ibelin, who declared that he and all his followers were ready to submit to the emperor, and atone for their delinquencies. The emperor did not seek revenge, but simple justice; and was extremely desirous of securing the support of Cyprus, and the wealth obtainable from that source, and thus the affair was soon arranged; the barons, under the emperor’s command, acquiesced, and a general amnesty was proclaimed upon the following terms:

The emperor was to be the sole guardian of the young king until he completed his twenty-fifth year. The government of Cyprus and its revenues should be placed in the hands of the emperor, and all the fortified places in the kingdom delivered up to him. All the Cyprian knights who had not sworn fealty to the emperor should immediately take the oath of allegiance. Ibelin, in behalf of the ruler of Beyrut, recognised the emperor as King of Jerusalem, and did homage to him under that title, and agreed that all claims, relative to the castle of Beyrut, should be settled by the court of Jerusalem, and an account of all revenues due, since the death of King Hugo, should be laid before the court of Cyprus. The hostages demanded by the emperor were set at liberty. Ibelin and all the Cyprian barons, with their followers, were to accompany Frederick to the Holy Land, and serve him there till the end of the crusade.

All these conditions were punctually carried out, the oath of allegiance administered, and the castles, as well as the revenue, given up. The emperor had achieved a complete victory. Cyprus remained for several years under his command, and its king was formally declared a prince of the German empire. The emperor next appointed revenue officers and treasurers, in all the castles and bailiwicks of the island, and made arrangements that the money thus raised should be sent after him into Syria. To these offices, as well as in garrisoning the castles, the emperor appointed his own knights by preference, and these gladly accepted such desirable appointments.

After all these things were arranged, the emperor came to Famagusta, and the next day, the 2nd of September, seven weeks after his landing in Cyprus, embarked, taking the young king with him, and accompanied by all the chivalry of the island. Their landing was effected at Beyrut, Sidon, Sarepta, and Tyre, as Frederick was desirous of becoming more intimately acquainted with the coast of Syria; he probably likewise intended that the armies of the Crusaders, employed upon the fortifications of Sidon and of Cæsarea, should enter Akkon while he remained upon the coast. In the last-mentioned city, the most populous and the most important in the Holy Land, the emperor was received with great ceremony. The Crusaders, more especially those from Germany, were jubilant; the clergy sang hymns of praise; the Templars and the Knights of St. John did homage to their sovereign, by kneeling before him and kissing his knees, according to the custom of the times. Nevertheless Frederick was well aware that, to use the words of an old writer, he was in a land where neither God nor man had ever yet found truth or loyalty.

The truth of this he soon found out. The Cyprians formed by far the greater part of the host of Eastern warriors, led by the high marshal Felingher, but the number of these was not more than two thousand. Rome had already taken her precautions. A Papal bull was issued denouncing Frederick, and he was placed under an interdict. Messages both from the Pope and the Patriarch warned the knights not to obey the emperor’s commands, and it was promulgated amongst the soldiery, that Frederick was under the curse of God, and of the Church, and that all his acts were of no effect. Multitudes of the Crusaders, despairing of the success of their undertaking, deserted. The Knights of the Temple and of St. John fell away from the emperor’s standard, and the rest of the warriors of the Cross refused to be led to battle. The Cyprian barons began to discuss the question whether the oath they had taken to Frederick, was not overridden by the feudal allegiance they owed to their king.

The Germans who had come over with the emperor under the command of their leader, Hermann von Salza, kept their plighted faith, and were the only supporters of the imperial authority: these, however, taking them all together, knights and squires, soldiers from Germany, Sicily, and Lombardy, hardly amounted to twelve thousand men. With so feeble an army—with the Eastern knights partly at open enmity, partly vacillating, with the clergy altogether inimical—it was quite impossible for Frederick to think of giving battle to the unbelievers. He established himself in a camp near Akkon, and while he strengthened the defences of Joppa, gave all his attention to the establishment of a secret understanding with the Sultan. Overtures to this effect had in truth been already made by him from Italy, and during his stay in Cyprus had been still further advanced.

Immediately on his arrival in the Holy Land it became clear what were the necessities of his position, and what there might be a possibility of his obtaining. The possession of the holy places; a free pass for pilgrims in Syria and Palestine, who must necessarily be under Christian jurisdiction; peace secured by the strength of the fortress and the solemn oath of the Mussulmans; all these were secured. Jerusalem, which, for nearly half a century had been in their hands, was, with the surrounding country, again placed in the power of the Christians, who held, moreover, Bethlehem and the intervening land. Joppa and a strip of country between that town and Jerusalem; Nazareth and the road from thence to Akkon; the fertile plain of Sidon; and in its neighbourhood the castle Turon, commanding the entire coast; all these castles and towns were permitted to be again fortified, and on the other side the Sultan promised that he would raise no new fortifications. All Christian prisoners, some of whom had been a long while in the hands of the Mussulmans, were to be set free. This peace was to last during ten years. All these arrangements were to be confirmed by the solemn oaths of both the contracting parties.

When the terms of this peace became known in Joppa, great joy was manifested by the Christians who accompanied the emperor to Jerusalem, where, on the day of his arrival (March 18, 1229), he offered up thanks in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. After this, approaching the high altar, he placed the crown of Jerusalem upon his head, and then returned to his place. No priest was allowed to take part in the rejoicings, which included festivities of every description. Their general, Hermann von Salza, read before all the soldiers and common people a manifesto by the emperor, explaining why he had not been able to come before, and telling them that the Pope had been compelled to publish his bann by pressure of circumstances, and that everything should now be arranged to secure peace among the heads of Christendom. Next day the Patriarch of Jerusalem assailed him with the Papal interdict. Frederick, in order to give no pretence for suppressing public worship, returned to Joppa, and from thence to Akkon.

Here the emperor remained for about five weeks, doing everything which his position allowed to make peace with the adherents of the Pope, at the head of whom stood the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The patriarch, however, found him, to use his own expression, “unhealthy from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot,” and seemed rather exasperated than otherwise at all the good that Frederick had achieved in so short a time. The proud Templars and Knights of St. John, were furious because the chief control lay no longer with them, but with the Germans. Even the ecclesiastics were principally from France, very few of them from Italy. Probably at no period of the world’s history has a body of men existed so steeped in pride, so full of haughtiness, luxury, and immorality, as the Templars. Well might they think that in his heart the emperor had the intention of expelling them from the Holy Land. The governors of the towns had instructions to watch them strictly, and from his first arrival in Syria, the emperor had endeavoured to give the ascendancy to his German followers, while he scarcely concealed his design of making the huge possessions of the Templars and Knights of Jerusalem subservient to the worship of Christ, instead of ministering to their insatiable debaucheries.

No wonder, therefore, that the burning hatred of the Templars was aroused. Were it now possible to trace out all their conspiracies against the life of Frederick, we should indeed have to deal with a tangled web, while the enmity of the Pope still further increased the dangers that surrounded him. The whole land was filled with the Papal troops, whose business was to plunder and to destroy, so that all the energies of the emperor were put in requisition to govern and defend the unhappy country. Balian of Sidon, a man universally respected, a nephew of Idelin and Walter d’Allemand, who deeply reverenced the Church, were appointed chief governors, and all fortified places received efficient garrisons and abundant supplies of provisions.

Above everything else, Frederick had in his mind the kingdom of Cyprus. That rich island must now furnish him with money to pay his officials in the Holy Land, and to supply his army with provisions and warlike stores. The kingdom of Jerusalem was no longer in a condition to pay the heavy costs; it now indeed consisted only of a few straggling towns, and a narrow strip of the sea-coast of Syria. Cyprus had already been made to pay considerable sums, which had been forwarded to the emperor, and in addition to these, the Archbishop of Nikosia found himself compelled to contribute largely; and now, before taking their departure for Akkon, came Amalrich von Balas, Hugo von Giblet, Gavain von Chenichy, and Wilhelm von Rivet, all belonging to the highest nobility in Cyprus, who had all of them conspired against Ibelin, and so represented him to the emperor, that he was deprived of his lordship. Undoubtedly they had all been sent for by the emperor himself, who thought that the best way to insure the safety of the island, was to put it into the hands of his most trusty friends, under the auspices of the young king. These five noblemen were instructed to form a regency, which should continue for three years, during which time they were to protect and govern the country, and to send over year by year ten thousand marks to be paid directly into the hands of Balian and Werner in Syria.

And now, after these arrangements, the emperor thought himself secure, and hoped that at least for a few years he should be able, not only to hold Cyprus, but also to defend his little kingdom of Jerusalem. At the end of that time he trusted that the people would have become accustomed to his government, or that at least he should be able to return with a greater force and more freedom of action.

That Frederick did accomplish a great and good work in the Holy Land there can be no doubt. It is impossible to read the letters or records handed down from those times without remarking that amidst the whirl of events where ambition, hatred, avarice, and national jealousy reigned on all sides, obscuring and crippling all efforts to do good, the honest endeavours of Frederick to ameliorate the condition of the country, were not altogether unsuccessful.

On the 1st of May, after a stay of not more than eight months in the Holy Land, the emperor took ship at Akkon, accompanied by the young King of Cyprus and the Marquis of Montserrat. As the boat which put him on board left the land, Ibelin shouted after him a parting adieu, on which the emperor called out to the assembled multitude, that his mind was quite at ease, inasmuch as he knew that he left them in good hands.

The imperial fleet crossed over to Limasol, and here Frederick celebrated the marriage of his ward, the young king, with Alice, daughter of the Marquis of Montserrat. He then put in order the affairs of the island, arranging that the regency should regularly transmit to the governors of Jerusalem or Akkon money wherewith to supply the garrisons and officials in the Holy Land.

The emperor attached great importance to the possession of the Cyprian castles and fortresses. Already in the preceding year he had made every preparation for their defence, by putting each of them under the command of some distinguished officer, and had brought with him from Akkon whatever could be spared in the way of munitions of war for their safe keeping. As he was about to leave the island for the second time, he stipulated that the regents should have no power over the castles until the transmission of the money to the Holy Land had been regularly completed.

The seaboard of Cyprus at that time had no fortresses, with the exception of the capital city Nikosia; even on the south-western coast, where a mountainous district occupies nearly one-half of the island, there was no castle of importance, the hills moreover must at that time have been covered with wild-growing forests. The life and wealth of the island consisted in the rich maritime slopes and fertile plains, which extended along the shore from Famagusta and Larnaka, as far as the mountainous tract, which extends all along the northern side of the island.

Behind the chain of mountains are narrow slips of fertile soil, producing abundance of excellent fruit, in the midst of which is the principal haven Keryneia. From this town deep dells and rocky gorges run up into the mountains, leading to the fortresses St. Hilarion, Buffavento, and Cantara. These three castles are built upon the smaller chain of mountains, which, rugged and steep, rear themselves in innumerable peaks and crags to a considerable altitude.

Before the time of Frederick the Second, Buffavento is scarcely mentioned, but it then became one of the principal defences of the island, indeed it seems to have been quite impregnable, so long as food and water could be procured on the summit of the mountain upon which it stood. Victuals were, however, much more easily obtainable on the heights of St. Hilarion, a much larger place, situated a little further westward. Even Kantara, lying to the north-east, could boast of more than one wall.

The town of Keryneia, however, where the haven was situated, was most strongly fortified, inasmuch as it was well adapted to the reception of food and military stores arriving from the coasts of Syria, Asia Minor, or even Italy, which could be immediately forwarded to the fortresses above mentioned.

Had the eagle eye of Frederick at once seen how Cyprus could best be defended by a limited body of troops, he could not have been better prepared for the events which subsequently happened. A war soon broke out which, during several years, continued to rage throughout the island, the history of which gives a most variegated picture of the doings of the knights beyond the sea, _chevalerie d’outre-mer_, as they were called by the Eastern warriors.

Homeric combats upon a fair field, trials by battle, the beleaguering and defence of castles, codes laying down the nicest points of honour, or of right, biting satires and new war songs, followed each other, as incessantly as did the victories or the defeats of the combatants. That all the knights displayed wonderful bravery is undeniable. As the head of the imperial forces, we may mention the knightly Marshal Felingher, Balas, called by Navarra in his history, “the Fox,” and Hugo de Giblet, who, on account of his grimaces, was nicknamed “the Ape.” Ibelin seems to have made himself more conspicuous than the rest. His brave sons and their friend, the merry poet, Philip of Navarre, as also the wild “fighting cock” Anselm de Brie, afforded materials for innumerable anecdotes.

All this time Cyprus suffered severely, owing to the discord which existed between two parties of nobles, whose enmity at length involved Syria and Palestine, where the Templars and Knights of St. John, together with what was left of the priesthood, raged with unmeasured hatred against the emperor, whose witty jests, aimed at the silly practices of the monks, had given great offence, more especially when, after the example of the Templars, they displayed their insatiable avarice. The dissensions among the Cyprian nobles were, indeed, the cause why all the arrangements made by the wisdom and care of Frederick, in treating with the Mussulmans, fell to the ground.

Still, for a time, the treaty which had cost so much trouble continued in force, notwithstanding that one of the two governors in the Holy Land, in whom the Emperor had reposed so much trust, Walter d’Allemand, joined the party of his mortal enemies, and himself became a Templar. Frederick, meanwhile, had scarcely set foot in Italy, than he fell like a thunderstorm upon the Papal soldiers, and fairly swept them from his territories. He then began to diminish somewhat the possessions of the Templars, who had multiplied in Italy with a rapidity almost incredible. In truth, wherever a chapter of the order was established, the country around was immediately put under contribution, and so many farms, mills, castles, and woods were taken possession of, either by way of purchase or exchange, or seized upon as donations, that their power increased wonderfully. From the Templars, more especially, a cry soon rose that Frederick intended to make the kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus portions of his empire, so that they would both belong exclusively to the Germans, a cry which was incessantly repeated by the Jerusalem patriarch. It was also said that, seeing that the kingdom of Jerusalem would be inherited by Frederick’s little son, Conrad, his proper guardian would be the nearest relative of the last wearer of that crown, they, therefore, wished to put him under the care of the Queen Alice, and in this way prolong the duration of the regency.

It now became evident that the rule of the emperor in the Holy Land would not be of long duration, and his enemies next resolved to endeavour to wrest from him the kingdom of Cyprus. Still, the regency of five retained supreme command in that island, and acted altogether in accordance with the emperor’s instructions. The young king wrote to his imperial guardian to say how delighted he was at the advantages obtained over his enemies, but that he was grieved to find that the emperor did not write to him more frequently concerning his views and projects, and still more so, that he could not explain matters to him _in propriâ persona_.

The Ibelins, in the meanwhile, were in want of some pretext for raising an insurrection in Cyprus. About the spring of 1230, there was a call for an extraordinary tax of about three thousand marks, which the emperor had directed to be sent to the Holy Land. The knights, who were of Ibelin’s party, declared against this, assigning as a reason that, not having been assented to by the feudal court, the imposition of a new tax was unlawful. As their stewards refused payment, their goods were seized, and the amount taken from them in corn and cattle.

And now Philip of Navarre appeared upon the island, and secretly endeavoured to raise adherents. At first his answers to the inquiries of the authorities seemed satisfactory, but as they became more and more evasive, the regency thought fit to compel him to show his true colours. All the barons were invited to attend the feudal court, and there, in the presence of the young king, were asked whether they were friends to the emperor, the king, and the regents, or whether they were to be regarded as enemies.

A New Testament was brought, and Philip of Navarre was invited to swear true allegiance upon the holy book. He wished to speak privately to each of his questioners, but this was refused. He then declared that his fealty was due to the queen-mother, and to the lord Ibelin. At this Hugo von Giblet exclaimed in a rage, “If I had my way you should be hanged, or I would have your tongue torn out,” and immediately ordered the arrest of the offender. On this Philip hastened to where the king was sitting, and, bending the knee, said, that his safety had been guaranteed by the regents, as he would prove with his sword, and immediately taking off his glove, cast it on the ground.

Several knights endeavoured to pick up the glove; but Philip cried out that he would only measure swords with the regents, as they only were his equals in rank: fetters were however, soon brought into the hall, where the contumacious noble was imprisoned until the approach of darkness. The rest all took the required oath, and it was understood that all who refused to do so would forfeit their rich domains.

In the night, while Philip’s conduct was the theme of every one’s conversation, he made his escape from the court-house, and presented himself in the cloisters of the Knights of St. John, who immediately afforded him shelter and protection. Here he assembled around his person about a hundred and fifty men, collected provisions and warlike stores, which were stored up in the strong tower of the castle, and resolved to defend himself against his pursuers. Meanwhile he sent a private message to Ibelin, informing him of all his proceedings, which he described in verse.

The regents dared not to attack the monastery of St. John, which enjoyed all the privileges of a religious house, while Ibelin at once landed with a strong force in Gatria, and marched in all haste to Nikosia. The few troops, which were hurriedly sent to oppose him, were easily dispersed, and in a very short time he presented himself before the capital. For the sake of saving his honour, he had written a letter to the young king, saying how it pained both him and his followers, to have left their allegiance in the Holy Land, but that they were unable to do otherwise, in order to defend their own possessions; should he blame them for their conduct, they relied upon their rights as established by feudal law. The regents were utterly surprised; they at once collected such forces as they could muster, and marched out through the city gates. In vain did they seek for priestly interference for the purpose of establishing peace between the conflicting parties. On the 23rd of June a furious battle took place. The regents wore golden tiaras on their helmets. One of them, Gavain von Chenichy, slew Ibelin’s father-in-law, the old constable; Walter von Cæsarea, Gerhardt von Montagu, and other friends of Ibelin, likewise lost their lives. The regents, however, were particularly anxious to get hold of Ibelin himself, and fifteen knights galloped forward in search of him. This, it would appear, caused considerable disorder amongst the imperial troops; and when Philip of Navarre, with a strong body of men, made his appearance upon the battle-field just at this critical moment, the troops of the regents were completely defeated. Ibelin in the meanwhile had sought refuge in a farm-house, where he was powerless to defend himself, but from which, after the battle, he was set at liberty by his son Balian and Anselm de Brie.

And now appeared the foresight of the emperor in fortifying the castles upon the mountains, in which the vanquished troops found a safe asylum. On the very evening of the battle, Balas, Bethsan, and Giblet, bringing with them the young king and their best troops, repaired to St. Hilarion. Rivet, with his followers, sought protection in Buffavento, and Chenichy, by dint of spurring, succeeded in reaching the still more distant castle of Kantara. From these three castles it was easy to reach the sea-coast at Keryneia. Ibelin, however, hastened to prevent their escape. While he himself surrounded Keryneia, Balian took a position before St. Hilarion, Philip of Navarre before Buffavento, and Anselm de Brie before Kantara.

Anselm had devised a new kind of battering ram with which he broke down the outer wall, and as he personally hated Chenichy, laid in ambush watching for him day and night, until at length, taking an opportunity when the regent was seen on the battlements, took deadly aim at him and shot him with an arrow. Rivet, who knew Buffavento to be impregnable, came there from Kantara, and when he saw the fortalice was in good condition and well manned, went over into Asia Minor to bring over more troops, and was there killed.

The three other regents occupied the extensive and strong fastnesses of St. Hilarion; here they not only repelled every attack, but every now and then made sallies, broke through the palisades of the besiegers, and obtained fresh supplies.

Upon one occasion Philip of Navarre was struck down and fell as though dead. On seeing this a man upon the wall exclaimed, “the verse-maker is dead, now we shall have no more of his bad songs.” Philip, however, recovered during the night, and the next day, taking up a tolerably safe position, he favoured the garrison with a new ballad.

The defenders of Keryneia became at length tired out; for a length of time they had received no pay and had suffered much from want of provisions. A day was fixed, and if by that time no help appeared, they agreed to surrender, more especially as they saw that the castles were closely invested and their occupants had no chance of escape.

Ibelin was now enabled to bring up more troops to the siege of St. Hilarion. That fortress, however, was now no longer in a condition to brave him as it had done before; the place was closely invested on all sides, and the garrison in dire want of provisions, for by this time the insurgents had taken possession of the whole island; even the young king Heinrich suffered severely; he frequently made his appearance upon the battlements and shouted to the besiegers who had brought him to such straits.

Ibelin next resolved to send Philip of Navarre, who had shown great ability in conducting negotiations, into Italy, hoping to obtain help, either from the Pope or from the King of France.

At this juncture Ibelin proposed to Balian and his associates to surrender the young king and the fortress into his power, promising that if they did so, they should be well treated and should retain in all honour whatever property they possessed. The garrison, which had long suffered the greatest privations, and saw nothing before them but a lingering death from famine, at last consented, and Ibelin attained his object. Balas, Bethsan, and Giblet made over to him the youthful Heinrich, and took a solemn oath that they would not again bear arms against the insurgents.