94 MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION 



they plunged, produced results as fatal as the 

 privations they had suffered. 



Antioch was finally captured, but plagues broke 

 out and cut off many of the captors. When they 

 resumed their march, but fifty thousand of the 

 force of six hundred thousand were left. Nothing 

 could exceed their enthusiasm when Jerusalem 

 appeared before their gaze. They stretched out 

 their hands, fell upon their knees, and raised 

 loud shouts, * ' Jerusalem, Jerusalem, God wills 

 it !" 



A long struggle for its possession ensued ere 

 they could enter; but they finally triumphed, and 

 the streets ran with Moslem blood. Godfrey of 

 Bouillon was made the ruler of the city, and it 

 was again added to the domains of Christendom. 

 But the force left to hold the city was all too small 

 to resist the assaults of the Saracens. Other cru- 

 sades followed. There were eight in all, extending 

 from a. d. 1095 to a. d. 1270, nearly two hundred 

 years. Sometimes there would be a long interval, 

 then the fires would break out again. They 

 never became so enormous, however, as the first. 

 The crusading spirit died out after the disastrous 

 expedition of Louis IX. of France, a.d. 1270, when 

 the infidel was left in unmolested possession of 

 Palestine. It is estimated that over two millions 

 of lives were sacrificed in the crusades, and the 

 treasure expended is beyond calculation. Some 



