Citizens howled for the death of Nasr but he escaped and fled along the Damascus road where Frankish troops caught him. Now, as wicked people do when caught, he repented his villainous life and wished to be reborn. Therefore, clanking with chains, he was instructed in the true faith of Jesus Christ and learned to write Roman letters. Nevertheless, when Cairo offered sixty thousand gold pieces for him the Franks accepted. Away went Nasr, stripped of dignity, locked in a cage on the hump of a camel. And no more did he get to Cairo than citizens tore him apart and chewed his flesh. What little remained they hung outside the Zawila Gate. Has the Prince of Demons conceived a more odious tribe?
Or as happened once in Aleppo when a mad prince ascended the throne. Alp Arslan, son of Ridwan, sixteen years of age and stuttering so much they called him the Mute. No more did he come to rule than he chopped off the heads of his brothers, various officers, counselors, servants, any he disliked. He led certain nobles to the citadel, to a trench in the cellar. How would you like it, he asked, how would you like it if right here I cut off your heads? Narrowly they escaped the sword, feigning amusement, assuring the mad king that he might do as he wished since they were loyal subjects. Thereafter all avoided him save the royal eunuch Loulou, which is to say Pearls. These infidels bestow sweet names upon eunuchs. Murjan, which means Coral. Fayruz, which is Turquoise. Kafur, meaning Camphor. Mithqal, which is Sequin. However that may be, Loulou considered the past and the future and one night strangled Alp Arslan. But what was his reward for killing the tyrant? As he wandered through the fields beyond Aleppo on a pleasant afternoon the men of his escort drew their bows. After the hare! they cried. After the hare! But this hare was Loulou and he struck the ground with his last breath, showing more bristles than some hedgehog. How could it profit such malignant spirits to gain the world, which straightway they must lose?
Now with Ascalon secure, Christian banners flying from turrets, King Baldwin in our year of enlightenment 1157 found himself persecuted by creditors. Turcoman shepherds pastured their flocks near Paneas and the king looked greedily upon these animals and gave orders to slay the shepherds. He gathered sheep and donkeys as well as many splendid horses. However, this brought Nur al-Din raging down out of the north to fall upon the king’s army near the Sea of Galilee and destroy it. King Baldwin himself escaped to Safed, but infidels delight in telling how Nur al-Din rode through Damascus displaying severed heads and Frankish captives. Christian knights on red camels rode through the streets, standards unfurled as though victorious but in truth were captive, the banners stained by Christian blood. Prisoners of high estate rode in seeming triumph through the city, behind them naked sergeants roped together, four, five, six, eight. Arab chronicles relate that Muslims danced, hooted, shouted insults, gesticulated, convinced that Allah punished these Franks. Archbishop William, disturbed by the king’s imperious act, wrote that our Lord visited upon him what he had visited upon peaceful shepherds.
Certain it is that the King of Kings waxed furious with Frank and Saracen alike, furious at the conduct of His children. Throughout Syria the ground trembled. Watchtowers above the walls of Aleppo shook and fell apart. Beyrouth. Tripoli. Homs. Tyre. Buildings crumpled, thousands died. Citizens of Harran peered into a crevice and saw the ruins of some ancient city. A teacher in Hama left the school to relieve himself and got back to find every student dead. Munqidhites at Shaizar assembled for a royal circumcision when the earth cracked and the citadel fell inward. Of this dynasty no more than two survived, one a princess of Shaizar. The other was Ushama ibn Munquidh, author and diplomat, who chanced to be traveling. With great bitterness he wrote that death did not advance step by step, nor catch his people one by one, but in a wink their homes became their tombs. Blessed Saint Augustine teaches how God does not idly strike mountains, which are innocent, nor without purpose cause the ground to shake. God does so to signify His terrible wrath at sinners. Thus it behooves us, who are from birth choked by sin, to purge our souls of impurities and rivalries.
Now in those days Emperor Manuel was the wealthiest, most generous sovereign on earth. Whoever asked of him got one hundred silver marks. If counselors reproached him for such benefaction he would answer frankly. There are but two with the right to give, our Lord and I.
King Baldwin, seeing how it was, resolved to ally himself with the mighty house of Comnenus. He thought to ask for the hand of a Byzantine princess. Therefore he despatched two envoys who came back rejoicing. Manuel Comnenus had selected one of his nieces, Theodora, aged thirteen. The child was alleged to be tall and elegant, her skin compared to burnished gold. Presently she was delivered to Jerusalem roped with pearls, accompanied by an escort befitting the majestic house of Comnenus, bringing innumerable gems, fabulous carpets, spices, unguents. And no more did King Baldwin set eyes upon the child than he forsook other women, of whom there had been more than enough. So they were married.
In this way, Emperor Manuel became uncle to the king of Jerusalem through marriage.
Down from Constantinople to the land of Syria he rode in our year of grace 1159. Baldwin with his greatest lords hurried north to Antioch, whence he sent ambassadors to convey salutations in a most courteous fashion and to inquire if he should present himself. Being informed that he should do so, he set forth at once. He was met by two nobles of the highest rank, nephews of
