the war, he could only do it by occupying an
altogether secondary and subordinate position, and to this he thought
it was wholly inconsistent with his rights and dignities as an
independent sovereign to descend; so he began to revolve secretly in
his mind how he could honorably withdraw from the expedition and
return home.

While things were in this state, a great quarrel, which had for a long
time been gradually growing up in the camp of the Crusaders, but had
been restrained and kept, in some degree, subdued by the excitement of
the siege, broke out in great violence. The question was who should
claim the title of King of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was at this time in
the hands of the Saracens, so that the title was, for the time being
at least, a mere empty name. Still, there was a very fierce contention
to decide who should possess it. It seems that it had originally
descended to a certain lady named Sibylla. It had come down to her as
the descendant and heir of a very celebrated crusader named Godfrey of
Bouillon, who was the first king of Jerusalem. He became King of
Jerusalem by having headed the army of Crusaders that first conquered
it from the Saracens. This was about a hundred years before the time
of the taking of Acre. The knights and generals of his army elected
him King of Jerusalem a short time after he had taken it, and the
title descended from him to Sibylla.

Sibylla was married to a famous knight named Guy of Lusignan, and he
claimed the title of King of Jerusalem in right of his wife. This
claim was acknowledged by the rest of the Crusaders so long as Sibylla
lived, but at length she died, and then many persons maintained that
the crown descended to her sister Isabella. Isabella was married to a
knight named Humphrey of Huron, who had not strength or resolution
enough to assert his claims. Indeed, he had the reputation of being a
weak and timid man. Accordingly, another knight, named Conrad of
Montferrat, conceived the idea of taking his place. He contrived to
seize and bear away the Lady Isabella, and afterward to procure a
divorce for her from her husband, and then, finally, he married her
himself. He now claimed to be King of Jerusalem in right of Isabella,
while Guy of Lusignan maintained that his right to the crown still
continued. This was a nice question to be settled by such a rude horde
of fighting men as these Crusaders were, and some took one side of it
and some the other, according as their