Rainald with clasped hands knelt in prayer to the east humbly he asked God that He come to his aid and transport with dignity his soul to the bosom of Abraham. Rainald replied to the emir: “Give me time for consideration ” and the emir gladly agreed. Yaghi Siyan was obliged to make this proposition of apostasy to his prisoner as a prelude to executing him. If you do so we shall give to you all that you desire such as gold, horses, mules, and many other worldly goods which you wish, as well as wives and inheritances and we shall enrich you with great lands.” The emir answered: “Deny your God, whom you worship and believe, and accept Mohammed and our other gods. Rainald replied: “How can I live honorably with you without sinning?” The emir, Yaghi Siyan, immediately ordered him to descend from the wall and spoke to him through an interpreter: “Rainald, do you wish to enjoy life honorably with us?” The interpreter replied: “Nothing good concerning you was said.” You have slain all the leaders and the bravest men of Antioch namely, twelve emirs and fifteen thousand noblemen, and no one remains to give battle with you or to defend the city.” But be certain in the faith of Christ and the Holy Sepulchre that God is with you and shall be forever. To the shock of the garrison, Porchet went all clash-of-civilizations on this routine diplomacy.įrom the heights of the wall Rainald addressed the leaders: “My lords, it matters not if I die, and I pray you, my brothers, that you pay no ransom for me. They then told him that he should inquire from the Christian pilgrims how much they would pay for his ransom before he lost his head.Īccording to Encounter Between Enemies: Captivity and Ransom in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem - a source which ought to know, if any would - marching a guy out to appeal to his comrades was little to the Antiochians but the time-honored practice of ransoming captured VIPs, “the usual diplomatic method of starting a peaceful encounter with the enemy, in the between-fighting interlude.” It’s not like this sort of hostage-hocking was unknown to Europeans even hundreds of years later, France cratered its economy by ransoming its captured king from the English. The Turks led to the top of an Antiochian wall a noble knight, Rainald Porchet, whom they had imprisoned in a foul dungeon. On April 3, 1098, by the account of the priest Peter Tudebode, an eyewitness to the event,
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |