Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-31
Some Things You Want to Know
The Holy Land--A Crusaders Castle.

Peter the Hermit and the Pope Urban
II fired the heart Of Christian Europe with
the desire to rescue the holy sepulchrs
from the possession Of the lnndei AIoham-
medans. 80 that Christian pilgrims TO that
holy shrine might not be subjected to in
d~igniies and extortions. The result Of
their preaching was the Crusades. All mod
err history and civilization in the occident
have their beginning In this most marvel
Gus movement.
Never has there been such a peculiar
compound OF psychological virtue and
physical vice as was exhibited by the Cru
saders. They were spurred to action by
religious zeal. and for the sake Of Christ
they left their homes and their families
70 engage in most dangerous travel and
most perilous fighting. Those who took
the cross literally gave up everything to
follow their Master. But never did pre-
tended emulator OF the life u Christ 50
completely outrage and disgrace their pro-
fessions as did these same Crusaders.
They left In their wake. in Christian as
well as in pagan lands. a train OF ruined
cities. devastated fields. outraged women
and murdered children. The climax OF the
first great movement was reached one day
in June Of the year 1923. when the vic
torious Europeans under the leadership OF
the knights Of Jerusalem Delivered
burst through the walls OF the Holy City.
Once inside. forgetting every teaching OF
the lowly Jesus, they gave themselves over
to murder and rapine. Every man, woman
and child IN the city who did not proclaim
belief in Christianity was slaughtered. And
then the knights rode with their horses
knee deep In human blood to the Church
OF the Holy Sepulchre, wherein they spent
the entire night on their knees in prayer,
praising God that at last the tomb Of the
Lord was safe in Christian hands.
After eighty-nine years the Christians
again lost Jerusalem to the knightly sala-
din. but they still held a portion OF ths
Holy Land. and more than once regained
and rs-lost Jerusalem. 1t was at Easter
tide in the year L99 that the knights
Templar entered Jerusalem for the last
time under the wing of a mighty Chinese
prince who then reigned over Persia. But
the fires lighted by Peter the Hermit and
Urban II had died. and Europe would not
come to their assistance. They celebrated
Easter at the Holy Sepulchre and aban-
doned Jerusalem to the Mohammedans.
who have held it ever since.
From June. 1893, to May, 1923, was 200
years. the measure Of the day OF the Cru
saders in Palestine. But the last expedi-
ton vas more a hinese-Persia victory
than a Christian invasion. The actual pos
session OF strUnghoids in the Holy Land
by the Crusaders lasted 1872 years. and the
Christian kingdom Of Jerusalem. still ex.
isting in the fictitious dne OF more than
one European prince, came to an actual end
in 1871.
II is difficult for us moderns to realize
that the Crusaders occupied and governed
in whole OF in part, the Holy Land for SC
long a time as two centuries. If one viii
contrast America in 1903 with America ir
1868 he viii have some notion of what two
centuries means in history. But even tn,
I~iveliest imagination. given food by Gibbon
Michaud, Hallam and Guizot, and giver
{ drink by Tasso and Sir Walter Scott. can.
not feel the spirit of the Crusades and
( know the temper Of the golden age Of 70.
I nance unless he shall journey across tn,
Plain Of Sharon to the rocky promGntory
at the foot of Mount Carmel, where stand.
the ruins Of the Castle Athlit-the Cru
saders "Casttellum Peregrinorum.'
= For this was the scene Of the las
stand Of the forces Of the Christian kim
OF Jerusalem; the asst bit of the holy sol
OF Faiestlhe over which waved the banne
= Of the cross; the last place where the nobi
, Knights Templar observed IN the land O
5 the Lord, the rites devised for them b,
Saint Bernard Of Clairvaux. The wanini
I influence OF the Christian kingdom unde
l the decadent dynasty Of Guy de Lusignal
/ had been somewhat revived by Saint Loui
, and that Prince Edward OF England. win
afterward reigned in London as Edward
Elf IRE aufrif nF the C-,,-,4.- - -
1 broken and after the death Of Louis an
the return of Edward TO England. tn
I Christians Of Palestine he'd onIy the sea
q coast city OF Acre. and a few miles O
neighboring territory about the foot O
Mount Carmel.
? This had been, 100 years before. tn
i scene Of the mighty exploits OF the tw
I great kings. Philip Augustus of Franc
{ and Richard Plantagenet Of England. De
spite their quarrels with each other thes
two knightiy kings had reduced the strona