The Boy Crusaders: A Story of the Days of Louis IX.

In vain were all attempts to drag him from his steed; before his mighty battle-axe the Saracens seemed to fall as corn before the reaper.— p. 169 . THE BOY CRUSADERS: A Story of the Days of Louis IX. BY J. G. EDGAR, AUTHOR OF 'THE BOY PRINCES,' ETC. ————— Eight Full Page Illustrations. ————— Edinburgh: GALL & INGLIS, 6 GEORGE STREET. PREFACE. AMONG the many adventurous enterprises which rendered the age of feudalism and chain-armour memorable in history, none were more remarkable or important than the 'armed pilgrimages' popularly known as the Crusades; and, among the expeditions which the warriors of mediæval Europe undertook with the view of rescuing the Holy Sepulchre from the Saracens, hardly one is so interesting as that which had Louis IX. for its chief and Joinville for its chronicler. In this volume I have related the adventures of two striplings, who, after serving their apprenticeship to chivalry in a feudal castle in the north of England, assumed the cross, embarked for the East, took part in the crusade headed by the saint-King of France, and participated in the glory and disaster which attended the Christian army, after landing at Damietta—including the carnage of Mansourah, and the massacre of Minieh. In writing the 'Boy Crusaders' for juvenile readers, my object has been—while endeavouring to give those, for whose perusal the work is intended, as faithful a picture as possible of the events which Joinville has recorded—to convey, at the same time, as clear an idea as my limits would permit, of the career and character of the renowned French monarch who, in peril and perplexity, in captivity and chains, so eminently signalised his valour and his piety. J. G. E. CONTENTS. I. A Feudal Castle 9 II. The Brothers-in-Arms 14 III. The Heirs of the Especs 21 IV. St. Louis 28 V. Taking the Cross 36 VI. Embarking for the East 41 VII. The Armed Pilgrims at Cyprus 45 VIII. Eastward 49 IX. An Adventure 55 X. On the Ladder of Life 60 XI. The Voyage 68 XII. At Damietta 74 XIII. Incursions 82 XIV. A Renegade 88 XV. Capture of a Caravan 96 XVI. A Council of War 103 XVII. Face to Face 109 XVIII. Delay and Danger 113 XIX. The Captive 119 XX. Passing the Achmoun 124 XXI. The Carnage of Mansourah 128 XXII. The Battle 136 XXIII. How Joinville kept the Bridge…