ng every kind of power in his person, he might the better
ensure the public tranquillity. All the military and turbulent
spirits flocked about the person of the king, and were impatient to
distinguish themselves against the infidels in Asia; whither his
inclinations, his engagements, led him, and whither he was impelled by
messages from the King of France, ready to embark in this enterprise.

The Emperor Frederic, a prince of great spirit and conduct, had
already taken the road to Palestine, at the head of one hundred and
fifty thousand men, collected from Germany and all the northern
states. Having surmounted every obstacle thrown in his way by the
artifices of the Greeks and the power of the infidels, he had
penetrated to the borders of Syria; when, bathing in the cold river
Cydnus during the greatest heat of the summer season, he was seized
with a mortal distemper, which put an end to his life and his rash
enterprise [g]. His army, under the command of his son, Conrade,
reached Palestine; but was so diminished by fatigue, famine, maladies,
and the sword, that it scarcely amounted to eight thousand men; and
was unable to make any progress against the great power, valour, and
conduct of Saladin. These reiterated calamities attending the
crusades had taught the Kings of France and England the necessity of
trying another road to the Holy Land; and they determined to conduct
their armies thither by sea, to carry provisions along with them, and,
by means of their naval power, to maintain an open communication with
their own states, and with the western parts of Europe. The place of
rendezvous was appointed in the plains of Vezelay, on the borders of
Burgundy [h]: [MN 1190. 29th June.] Philip and Richard, on their
arrival there, found their combined army amount to one hundred
thousand men [i]; a mighty force, animated with glory and religion,
conducted by two warlike monarchs, provided with every thing which
their several dominions could supply, and not to be overcome but by
their own misconduct, or by the unsurmountable obstacles of nature.
[FN [g] Bened. Abb. p. 556. [h] Hoveden, p. 660. [i] Vinisauf, p.
305.]

[MN King sets out on the crusade.]
The French prince and the English here reiterated their promises of
cordial friendship, pledged their faith not to invade each other's
dominions during the crusade, mutually exchanged the oaths of all
their barons and prelates to the same effect, and subjected themselves