Manuscript: Faustina B. IX

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summo pontifici, Robertus eadem gratia sancte Ierosolimis ecclesie patriarcha apostolice sedis
legatus, Regina Cipri, ⁊ baiulla regni Ierosolimitani, Tirenensis archiepiscopo,1 R’ Acconensis, G’ Sidonensis,
R’ Lidenensis episcopi, frater Hermaunus Petragoricensis, magister milicie templi, frater Willelmus magister domus
Hospitalis Sancti Iohannis, ⁊ preceptor domus Sancte Marie Teutonicorum Odo de Monte Beligardo
dominus Tyberiadensis, ⁊ constabularius regni Ierosolimitani, Philippus de Monte Forti, dominus Teronensis, pedum
oscula beatorum cum subiectione perhenni. Super statu miserabili terre sancte ⁊ eius afflictionibus que nouiter
acciderunt de subito ⁊ inopinato Corosminorum aduentu quod uobis per nostrum patriarcham fuerat fuerit
intimatum, a memoria sanctitatis uestre non credimus excidisse. Cum autem ad presens maior sit necessitas nun
ciandi eo quod culpis nostris exigentibus multiplicauerit in Terra Sancta Dominus his temporibus flagella uestris
auribus pater sanctissime qui in specula Domini estis constituti super alios preminentes ecclesiarum sol
licitudinem cotidiana instancia sustinentes in cuius humeris archa Domini sustentatur ecclesie Ierosolimitane
suspiria ⁊ excidium populi Christiani ⁊ periculum Terre Sancte communiter intimare cogimur. Uestram itaque sancti
tatem nolumus ignorare quod supradicti Corosmini quorum crudelitas bestialem feritatem excedit,
partem magnam Ierosolimitane prouincie uidelicet a Nirone militum quod viiito miliariis
distat ab Ierosolimis usque ad partes Ascalone ⁊ Gazaie in aduentu sui primordii occuparunt
⁊ detinent occupatam. Ad quorum aduentum timor ⁊ tremor inopinabiliter in mentibus Christiani populi
superuenit, eo quod in ipsos omni crudelitatis genere deseuiant eorum sanguinem sicientes, qui ▬▬▬▬▬▬
cum a terris natalibus per Tartarorum potentiam sint expulsi non habentes alibi mansionem,
in predicta terra ad soldani Babilonie imperium accesserunt qui eis terram quam inhabitant Christiani dicitur
contulisse. Nec uenerunt tantum ut terram destruant ⁊ recedant, sed eam cum uxoribus ⁊ familiis
quasi propriam inhabitant, credentes sibi mansiones ⁊ domicilia perpetuo uendicare nisi uirtus al
tissimi ipsis obstiterit, ⁊ sedes apostolica manum contra illos porrexerit adiutritem. Soldanus enim
predictus caput sacrilegii eos protegit ⁊ defendit, ⁊ in stipendiis ⁊ exenniis magnificis seruit
eis, credens per eos sibi regnum Damascenum ⁊ populam Christianum subiugare, quamuis soldanus
idem Babiloniam non exeat, nec illi terram Babilonie sint intrare permissi, quia de predictis dubitatem
propter potenciam ⁊ infidelitatem ipsorum. Licet Licet autem Corosminorum afflictio
sufficere posset potuisset, que mentes omnium affecerat ultra modum dolor alius
superuenit Tartarorum aduentu quorum exercitus inestimabilis totam orientalem plagam
terruit ⁊ concussit. Transeuntes enim aquas frigidas usque ad pontem ferreum prope Antio
chiam peruenerunt, quasi locuste in turba innumerabili uniuersa uastantes. Verum de diuina
processit clemencia quod soldani Damasci ⁊ Halapie ⁊ Camelle non sine multa effusione
pecunie usque ad certum tempus fedus inire cum illis ⁊ sic ad partes remotiores unde
uenerant sunt reuersi. In quorum recessu nostra utrumque ⁊ populi Christiani anxietas conquieuit
Nos tamen circa Corosminorum instantem gladium tota sollicitudine cogitantes ad eorum ex
pulsionem non cessauimus nec cessamus, totis conatibus laborare. Illustres regem Cipri ⁊ principem
Antiochie ad Terre Sancte subsidium hortantes attente sed a rege predicto nullum potuimus
habere succursum. Idem uero princeps Tartarorum regressum metuens se multipliciter excu
sauit. Cumque in Terra Sancta non sint milites aut pedites peregrini nisi paucissimi quibus
omnibus computatis uix possit ad centenarium numerum computari, milites etiam2 terre sint3
 

Notes

1 JRD: Read archiepiscopus.
2 JRD: Written over an erasure.
3 JRD: Sint here probably a mistake for sunt, which begins the next folio.
Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Roman See: Robert, by the same grace patriarch of the holy church of Jerusalem and legate of the Apostolic See; the Queen of Cyprus and regent of the kingdom of Jerusalem; the Archbishop of Tyre; the bishops, R[alph] of Acre, G. of Sidon, R[alph] of Lydda; Brother Armand de Périgord, master of the Knights Templar; Brother William, master of the Hospital House of St John; and the Praeceptor of the House of St Mary of the Teutons; Odo de Montbéliard, lord of Tiberias and constable of the kingdom of Jerusalem; and Philip de Montfort, lord of Toron, kiss your blessed feet with everlasting obedience. We do not suppose that what has been communicated to you by our patriarch concerning the wretched condition of the Holy Land and its sufferings, which have recently come about after the sudden and unexpected arrival of the Khwarezmians, has escaped your Holiness’s memory. Since, however, it is more necessary to report to your ears, O most Holy Father, being set in the watch-tower of the Lord,1 pre-eminent over the others, supporting by daily constancy the care of the churches,2 and on whose shoulders the ark of the Lord is borne. Because, as our faults demand,3 the Lord in these times has multiplied scourges on the Holy Land, we are together obliged to make known the sighs of the church at Jerusalem, and the cutting down of the Christian people, and the peril of the Holy Land. And so, we do not wish your Holiness to be ignorant that the above-mentioned Khwarezmians, whose cruelty goes beyond animal savagery, at their first arrival occupied most of the province of Jerusalem, namely, from Latrun, which is 8 miles away from Jerusalem, and to the areas of Ashkelon and Gaza. At their arrival, an unexpected fear and trembling came upon the minds of the Christian people because they savaged them with every kind of cruelty, thirsting for their blood. Having been driven from their native lands by the power of the Tartars and with no other place to go, they entered the aforesaid land ruled by the Sultan of Babylon [Cairo]. It is said that he bestowed on them the land in which Christians used to dwell. The Khwarezmians did not come merely to devastate the land and then depart, but they settled in it with their wives and households as if it were their own, believing that they could claim the dwellings and homes for themselves forever unless the power of the Most High opposed them, and the Apostolic See stretched forth its helping hand against them. For the aforementioned Sultan protects and defends the leaders of sacrilege. He serves them with generous salaries and allowances, believing that through them he can subjugate the kingdom of Damascus and the Christian people. Although the same Sultan does not leave Babylon [Cairo], and they are not allowed to enter the land of Babylon [Cairo], because of doubt concerning the aforementioned situation because of their power and infidelity. Although the affliction caused by the Khwarezmians could have sufficed, which had assailed the minds of all, another immense grief followed with the arrival of the Tartars, whose immeasurable army terrified and devastated the entire eastern region. Crossing cold waters to reach the iron bridge near Antioch, they came like locusts in an innumerable swarm, laying waste to everything. But by divine mercy, the Sultans of Damascus, Aleppo, and Homs, not without a considerable expenditure of money, entered into a temporary pact with them and thus returned to the distant regions from where they had come. With their departure, the anxieties of both our own people and the Christian population subsided. Yet, considering the imminent threat of the Khwarezmians with the utmost concern, we have not ceased, nor do we cease, to labour with all our efforts for their expulsion. We earnestly encouraged the illustrious King of Cyprus and the Prince of Antioch to provide aid to the Holy Land, but from the aforementioned king, we were unable to obtain any assistance. The same prince of the Tartars, fearing their return, offered numerous excuses. Since there are very few knights or pilgrim foot-soldiers in the Holy Land, to the point where, even when they are all counted, they can hardly be numbered in the hundreds, knights of the land

Notes

1 JRD: Cf. Isa. 21.8.
2 JRD: Cf. 2 Cor. 11.28, instantia mea cotidiana sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum.
3 JRD: The idea of peccatis exigentibus and exigentibus culpis was a standard explanation for Christian failure in the crusades. See, for example, Rebecca Rist, Papacy and Crusading in Europe 1198–1245 (London and New York, 2009), pp. 35, 89 and 190–3.