Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 17, 2025
The Pope received them with much affection, and gave them letters to the Emperor of China; he added two preaching friars, Nicholas of Vicenza and William of Tripoli, to their party, and gave them his blessing on their departure. They went back to Laïas, but had scarcely arrived before they were made prisoners by the soldiers of the Mameluke Sultan Bibars, who was then ravaging Armenia.
Fear vanished from every face; and the Saracens gratefully extolled the courage of the Mamelukes, and of their chief, Bibars Bendocdar. At the same time, an arrival of great importance took place at Mansourah. While the battle was raging on the plain, Touran Chah, the new sultan, reached the city, and was received with acclamations by the populace.
From the roofs and windows of the houses around, the Saracens hurled stones, and poured heated sand and boiling water. Before them were the Mamelukes, headed by Bibars Bendocdar, fiery with fanaticism, and panting for blood. It was a terrible situation even for brave men; and the very bravest there felt a thrill of awe and terror. 'All is lost! said Salisbury, in a whisper.
And now, noon having come, with horns and kettle-drums sounding an onset, Bibars Bendocdar advanced on the Crusaders, and attacked the Count of Anjou, who was at the head of the camp on the side towards the Nile. At first, the French cavalry calmly abided the assault; but they soon found themselves exposed to a kind of attack which they had not anticipated.
'Fool! exclaimed Bibars Bendocdar, impatiently; 'know you not your danger? Know you not that we can instantly order your head to be struck off? 'Doubtless, replied Guy. 'And, in that case, I die the death of a martyr, and go straight to paradise. 'Infidel! cried Bibars, loudly; 'you know not of what you speak. You will have to account for your faith to the angels Munkir and Nakir.
'Well, then, reign in his stead, replied the bystanders. The Mameluke chief was Bibars Bendocdar; and, having been proclaimed as successor to the man he had murdered, he ascended the throne, and, as sultan of Egypt and Syria, began to govern with despotic power.
Bibars, after reducing Jaffa and the castle of Beaufort, marched his fierce soldiers against the capital of Syria, and soon added it to the number of his conquests. Forty thousand believers is Christ were on this occasion put to the sword, and not fewer than one hundred thousand were led into captivity.
Bibars, or Bendocdar Elbondukdari, one of the Mameluke emirs, who had become Sultan of Egypt during the confusion that followed the death of Touran Chah, was so great a warrior that he was surnamed the Pillar of the Mussulman Religion and the Father of Victories titles which he was resolved to merit by exterminating the Franks.
In fact, his demeanour was such that the Saracen chiefs exchanged glances of surprise. 'Who are you? asked Fakreddin. 'My name is Muschamp, and I am a subject of the King of England. 'And what brought you to Egypt? 'I came to fight for the Holy Sepulchre. 'And, asked Bibars Bendocdar, sternly, 'know you not that passage in the Koran which says that they who make war unjustly shall perish?
'Munkir and Nakir! exclaimed Guy, with an air of perplexity; 'beshrew me if I ever before heard of their names. 'You will know them soon enough, if you act not more discreetly, said Bibars; 'for they are the two angels who interrogate the dead the moment they are in the grave, saying, "Who is thy lord?" and, "Who is thy prophet?"
Word Of The Day
Others Looking