CHAPTER IV

TIRANT JOINS THE EXPEDITION OF THE KING OF FRANCE AGAINST THE INFIDELS

Some of the facts concerning this expedition are: the King of France set sail from Aiguesmortes; his son, Philip, who was in charge of the fleet of the King of Sicily, took part in this enterprise; at Tripoli in Syria, Tirant, fully armed, leaped from his vessel into the water and was the first to set his foot on the hostile shore; the stock of provisions was replenished on the island of Cyprus; and towards the close of this military enterprise, Tunis was taken.

The following historical facts indicate that the story of the expedition was based on the Crusades of Louis IX. Saint Louis set out on his Crusades from Aiguesmortes; he had a son named Philip who accompanied him on the second Crusade; in Cyprus, an abundance of provisions had been stored in advance for the use of the first Crusade; when the king arrived at Damietta, he leaped into the water and was among the first to step on Saracen soil; and Tunis was captured at the time of the second Crusade and was obliged to pay tribute to the King of Sicily, although this last event happened after the death of the French king.

Perhaps the most striking of these coincidences is the one in which these heroic figures leap into the water. Joinville, in his _Histoire de Saint Loys_, describes this incident in the following words:

Quant le bon roy Saint Loys sceut, que l’enseigne saint Denis fut arrivée à terre, il sortit de son vessel, qui ja estoit près de la rive, et n’eut pas loisir que le vesseau, où il estoit, fust à terre: ains se gette ... en la mer, et fut en eauë jusques aux espaulles.[75]

[75] _Histoire de Saint Loys, par Jehan Sire de Joinville_, _Collection Complète des mémoires par M. Petitot_, Paris, 1819; Tome II, p. 218.

A variant of this passage reads: “sailli en la mer tout armé, l’escu au col, le glaive au poing, et fu des premiers à terre.”[76] When the details of this incident had become somewhat dim in memory, the following picture remains:

[76] _Ibid._, Tome II, p. 409.

Louis trouva le rivage bordé des troupes du Soudan, qui prétendoient s’opposer au débarquement de son armée; mais ce Prince emporté par son zèle et par son courage, se jetta le premier l’épée à la main dans l’eau, et suivi de la Noblesse chargea les Infidèles et les tourna en fuite.[77]

[77] Abbé de Vertot, _op. cit._, Livre III, p. 387.

This strikingly courageous act of Saint Louis, Martorell naturally attributed to his hero, Tirant.