ther all that had passed,
she shook her head, but said that she could not oppose his wishes to go
with the earl when the time should come, and that it was only right he
should follow in the footsteps of the good knight his father.

"I have heard much of these Crusades," he said; "canst tell me
about them?"

"In truth I know not much, my son; but Father Francis, I doubt not, can
tell you all the particulars anent the affair."

The next time that Father Francis, who was the special adviser of Dame
Editha, rode over from the convent on his ambling nag, Cuthbert eagerly
asked him if he would tell him what he knew of the Crusades.

"Hitherto, my son," he said, "the Crusades have, it must be owned,
brought many woes upon Europe. From the early times great swarms
of pilgrims were accustomed to go from all parts of Europe to the
holy shrines.

"When the followers of the evil prophet took possession of the land, they
laid grievous burdens upon the pilgrims, heavily they fined them,
persecuted them in every way, and treated them as if indeed they were but
the scum of the earth under their feet.

"So terrible were the tales that reached Europe that men came to think
that it would be a good deed truly, to wrest the sepulchre of the Lord
from the hands of these heathens. Pope Urban was the first to give
authority and strength to the movement, and at a vast meeting at
Claremont of 30,000 clergy and 4000 barons, it was decided that war must
be made against the infidel. From all parts of France men flocked to
hear Pope Urban preach there; and when he had finished his oration, the
vast multitude, carried away by enthusiasm, swore to win the holy
sepulchre or to die.

"Mighty was the throng that gathered for the First Crusade. Monks threw
aside their gowns and took to the sword and cuirass; even women and
children joined in the throng. What, my son, could be expected from a
great army so formed? Without leaders, without discipline, without
tactics, without means of getting food, they soon became a scourge of the
country through which they passed.

"Passing through Hungary, where they greatly ravaged the fields, they
came to Bulgaria. Here the people, struck with astonishment and dismay at
this great horde of hungry people who arrived among them like locusts,
fell upon them with the sword, and great numbers fell. The first band
that passed into that country perished miserably, and of all that huge
assembly, it may be said that,