During this time a certain knight unwisely visited a brothel where he was arrested. According to custom he might be led through camp by the whore, bound with a rope and wearing only his shirt, or he might surrender horse and arms to the king. This knight would not submit to public disgrace, hence he was dismissed from the army. I then approached King Louis to ask if I might have the knight’s horse for an impoverished gentleman. He said I was asking a lot because the animal was worth a good eighty livres. It appeared to me that he was annoyed so I complained that he had broken our agreement. He laughed and said he was not annoyed. All the same I did not get the horse.
Round about this time one of his sergeants who was called Le Goulu began trifling with one of my knights and gave him a push. Straightway I went to the king for satisfaction, but he did not think it important and advised me to forget the matter. I said I would not. Sergeants could not be allowed to jostle knights here or there as they pleased, said I, and if his majesty denied me justice I would no longer remain in his service. What moved the king to yield, I do not know, but the sergeant appeared at my quarters barefoot, wearing only a shirt. He knelt in front of the knight and said he had come to make amends. He offered the pommel of his sword, saying his hand should be cut off at the wrist. It seemed to me that justice had been done so I asked my knight to forgive the insult, which he did.
Seldom would King Louis be swayed by importunity. Brother Hugues de Jouy on behalf of the Temple went to Damascus and came back with an agreement whereby a tract of land should be divided, one half to the sultan, one half to the Temple. Brother Hugues brought a document proving it was so and was accompanied by an emir to represent the sultan. The king was much surprised. He informed the Grand Master that a treaty ought not to have been negotiated without his approval. Reparation was due, said the king. He ordered three flaps of his pavilion lifted so all might watch the punishment. He directed the Grand Master to walk barefoot through the camp attended by his knights, all barefoot. Thus humiliated they approached his majesty. He commanded the Templar and the Saracen deputy to seat themselves, after which he addressed the Templar in a harsh voice.
Master, said he, you will inform the sultan’s envoy that you regret having made this truce. Further, you will release the sultan from all he has promised and you will give back the document.
The Grand Master complied, admitting he had done wrong to enter upon the agreement and regretted his temerity.
Now rise up, the king said, you with all your knights. And when they were on their feet he bade them kneel and repent. The Grand Master knelt, holding out the hem of his cloak, thereby offering to King Louis everything the Temple possessed. Next, his majesty expelled Brother Hugues from the kingdom. And not the queen herself, nor anyone, could prevent this.
Soon thereafter came his majesty’s envoys from Egypt with a treaty drawn up committing us to help the emirs against the sultan of Damascus. In exchange, the emirs would deliver to us the Holy City. It had been agreed that we should march to Joppa while they would put ashore at Gaza twenty leagues distant.
To Joppa we went and set up camp in fields around the castle, which rises handsomely to overlook the sea. At once we undertook new fortifications and the king himself carried a hod filled with earth. The sultan of Damascus, when he learned how matters stood, despatched four thousand Turks to Gaza to prevent the Egyptians from joining us. As a result, the emirs did not keep their end of the bargain. Still, they did send us Christian heads that had been suspended from the walls of Cairo. His majesty buried these heads in consecrated ground. And they delivered captive children, albeit with reluctance. These children, too young to distinguish truth from falsehood, had been persuaded to embrace the iniquitous teaching of Islam. The emirs also gave his majesty an elephant, which he shipped to France.
How often are we led astray through error and foolish misjudgment. A Turkish noble thought to reap corn not three leagues from our camp. We went after him. The instant he saw us he flew away but a young squire pursued him, knocked down two of his knights, and thrust a lance into his body with such violence that the shaft broke.
The Master of Saint Lazarus, showing no better sense than this Turk, made up his mind to capture some animals in a valley near Ramlah. Off he went and did not inform the king. Turks fell upon him so briskly that of all his men just four returned alive. He himself came thundering into camp lifting such alarum as might be heard in Constantinople. I therefore armed myself and urged his majesty to let me go after the Saracens. He consented, but told me to order up knights from the Temple and Hospital. When we got to the valley we found the king’s crossbowmen ahead of us. A Saracen and one of the king’s men had rushed at each other with lances and both went down. Another of the king’s men decided to steal their horses and was leading them off when the stopple of an old cistern splintered beneath their weight and down plummeted three horses and a thieving sergeant, all four to the bottom. I had a look. There
