Letters From the East by Bate Keith. Barber Malcolm

Author:Bate, Keith.,Barber, Malcolm.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2016-03-08T16:00:00+00:00

56. Gerbert of Boyx to Amadeus, Archbishop of Besançon (c.1213)

Amadeus of Dramelay, Archbishop of Besançon (1198 or 1208–1219) [Latin]

Regesta Regni Hierosolymitani, (ed.) R. Röhricht (Innsbruck, 1893), no. 868, pp. 233–4.

To the venerable father in Christ and the estimable lord Amadeus, by the grace of God, Archbishop of Besançon, the humble knight Gerbert of Boyx, Amen.

As we know that you rejoice in our well-being, know that my wife and I are still safe and sound. I have decided to give you a few bits of information concerning the Promised Land and its adjoining regions, some if not all of which seem fairly remarkable. To start with know that a state of truce exists between the kingdom of Jerusalem and the Saracens, as does a lengthy one between the principality of Antioch and the sultan of Babylon,1 even though the latter has constantly attacked the former. The same is true of the king of Armenia.2

Hear, too, other news worthy of your consideration and amazement. We have been able to confirm for certain through messengers the truth of the news we had heard, that with divine help some Christians from Hiberia called Georgians, together with countless captive soldiers, heavily armed, rebelled suddenly against the pagan infidels and have already conquered 300 castles and nine great cities. The stronger ones they have manned while the weaker ones have been burnt down. One of these nine cities, situated below the Euphrates, was the noblest great pagan city of them all. The Christians captured the ruler of this city, the son of the sultan of Babylon, and cut off his head even though he promised to give them a huge quantity of gold coins as a ransom. What other details shall I give you? Just as I described them previously they came to Jerusalem to win back the Holy Land, subjugating all the territory of the pagans. Their noble king was only sixteen years old, but he was the equal of Alexander in strength and prowess if not in religion.3 This young boy is carrying with him the bones of his mother Thamar, a most powerful queen who had made a vow during her lifetime to go to Jerusalem.4 She had asked her son to carry her bones to the Lord’s sepulchre if she died before carrying out her vow. He agreed to fulfil her vow and promised to bury her in the Holy City whether the pagans agreed or not.

I inform you further, lord, what we learned immediately after the news I have just given you, something that is at one and the same time amazing and pitiful, a source of fear for everybody. In the last week of August reliable messengers gave us information we could hardly believe possible: an earthquake of previously unheard of intensity had occurred the day before the Vigil of John the Baptist in the land of Isauria,1 which borders that of the sultan of Iconium. It was so big that many towns and castles collapsed, while two cities and

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