870 C R O 
year 1249 , who took the town of Damietta; but a fick- 
nefs happening in the Chriftian army, the king endea¬ 
voured a retreat; in wliich being purfued by the infi¬ 
dels, molt of his army were milerably butchered, and 
himfelf and the nobility taken prifoners. Then a truce 
was agreed upon for ten years, and the king and lords 
were fet at liberty. 
The eighth croifade, in 1270, was headed by the fame 
prince, who made himfelf mailer of the port and c a file 
of Carthage in Africa; but dying in a fliort time, he left 
his army in a very ill condition. Soon alter, the king of 
Sicily coming up with a good fleet, and joining Philip 
tire Bold, fon and fuc'celfor of Louis king ol Tunis, alter 
feveral engagements with the Chriltians, in wliich. he was 
always worfted, defired peace, which was granted upon 
conditions advantageous to the Chriltians; after which 
both princes embarked for their own kingdoms. Prince 
Edward of England, who arrived at Tunis at the time 
of this treaty, failed towards Ptolemais, where he landed 
with a final! body of three hundred Englilh and French, 
and hindered Bendocdar from laying liege to Ptolemais; 
but being obliged to quit the Holy Land to take poliel- 
fton of the crown of England, this croifade ended with¬ 
out contributing any thing to the recovery of the Holy 
Land. In 1291, the town of Acre, or Ptolemais, was 
taken and plundered by the foldan ot Egypt, and the 
Chriltians driven out of Syria. There has been no 
croifade fince that time, though feveral popes have at¬ 
tempted to jjir up the Chriftian princes to fuch an under¬ 
taking; particularly Nicholas IV. in 1292, and Clement V. 
in 1311. 
Though the croifades were effects of the molt abfurd 
fuperltiiion, they feem to have tended greatly to pro¬ 
mote the good of Europe. Multitudes indeed were de¬ 
stroyed : M. Voltaire computes the people who periflied 
in the different expeditions at upwards of two millions. 
Many there were, however, who returned ; and thefe 
having converfed habitually with people of fplendour 
and magnificence, began to entertain a talte for refined 
and polilhed manners. Thus the barbarifm in which 
Europe had been long immerfed, began to wear oft'foon 
after this time. The princes alfo who remained at home, 
found means to avail themfelves of the bent of the people. 
By the abfence of fuch numbers of reftlefs and martial 
adventurers, peace was eftablilhed in their dominions. 
They alfo took the opportunity of annexing to their 
crown many confiderable fiefs, either by purehale, or by 
the extindlion of the heirs; and thus the mifehiefs which 
more or lefs attend feudal governments, were conlide- 
rabty diminilhed. With regard to the bad fuccefs of 
thefe expeditions, it was almoft impoffible that any other 
thing could happen to them. The emperors of Conftan- 
tinople, inftead of aflifting, did all in their power to dif- 
concert their fchemes. But the worlt enemies the croi- 
faders had, were their own internal feuds and dilfentions. 
They neither could agree while marching together in 
armies with a view to conqueft, nor could they unite 
their conquefts under one government after they had 
made them. They fet up three fmall ftates, one at Jeru- 
falem, another at Antioch, and another at Edefia. Thefe 
ftates, inftead of aflifting, made war upon each other, 
and on the Greek emperors ; and thus exhaulting their 
joint forces, they became an eafy prey to the common 
enemy. The horrid cruelties they committed were fuch 
as mlift have infpired the Turks with the moft invincible 
hatred again ft them, and made them refill with the greater 
obftinacy. When Jerufalem was taken, not only the nu¬ 
merous garrifon were put to the fword, but the inhabi¬ 
tants were maflacred without mercy, and without dif- 
tinflion. No age nor fex was fpared, not even fucking 
children. According to Voltaire, fome Chriltians, who 
had been fullered by the Turks to live in that city, led 
She conquerors into the moft private caves where women 
had concealed themfelves with their children, and not 
C R O 
one of them efcaped. What eminently fhows the enthu- 
fiafm by which thefe conquerors were animated, is their 
behaviour after this terrible llaughter. They marched 
over heaps of dead bodies towards the holy fepulchre ;■ 
and, while their hands were yet polluted with the blood 
of fo many innocent perfons, fung anthems to the com¬ 
mon Saviour of mankind ! 
CROI'SES, or Croizes, f Pilgrims who travelled 
to the Holy I,and, or fuch as had been there ; fo called 
from a badge tliey wore in imitation of a crofs. The 
knights of St. John of Jerufalem, created for the de¬ 
fence and protection of pilgrims, were particularly called 
croijh. 
CROI'SIC (Le), a fea-port of France, in the depart¬ 
ment of the Lower Loire, about three leagues from the 
mouth of the Loire, furrounded with fait marfnes. The 
inhabitants carry on a confiderable coafting trade : feven 
leagues weft of Nantes. 
CROI'SIERS, f. A religious order founded in honour 
of the invention or dilcovery of the crofs by the emprefs 
Helena. They are difperled in feveral parts of Europe*, 
and follow the rule of St. Auguftine. They had in Eng-- 
land the name of crouched friars. 
CROISIL'LE, a town of Savoy, in the duchy of Ge¬ 
neva : eleven miles north-north-weft of Annecy. 
CROISILTES, a town of France, in the department 
of the Straits of Calais, and chief place of a canton, in the 
diftriCl of Bapaume ; three leagues north of Bapaume. 
CROI'US, or 0E CROt, (John), a learned French pro- 
teftant minifter, in the feventeenth century, born at Ufeze, 
and officiated as minifter fucceffively in the church at 
Beziers, and that of his native place. He died in 1659.. 
He was the author of feveral books of controverfy, in the 
French language ; but the works which do him moft 
honour are written in Latin, and afford fufticient evi¬ 
dence of his intimate acquaintance with the languages, 
with critical arid Jewifh learning, with ecclefiaftical an¬ 
tiquity, and with philology and general literature. They 
are, 1. Specimen Conjecivrarum & Obfervationum in qutedam 
Origenis, Irenai, & Tertulliani, Loca, 1S32; and, 2. Obferva- 
tiones facra & Hforicte in Novum Tef amentum, 1644. In the 
celebrated difputes among the French proteftants, occa- 
fioned by AmyrauPs Treatife on Grace and Predeftinn- 
tion, he at firft joined the Particularifts, or high Cal- 
viniris; but afterwards embraced the fentiments of the 
Univerfalifts, which do not differ eflentially from Pele— 
gianifm or Armenianifm. 
CROIX (La), a mountain of Piedmont, in the diftriCt 
of the Four Valleys ; thirteen miles weft of Pignerol. 
CROIX (La), a town of France, in the department of 
the Eure and Loire : two leagues fouth-eaft of Louviers. 
CROIX St. LEUFROY (La), a town of France, ir» 
the department of the Eure, and chief place of a can¬ 
ton, in the diftricl of Louvieres: fix miles north-eaft of 
Evreux. 
CROIX sur MEUSE (La), a town of France, in the 
department of the Meufe, and chief place of a canton, 
in the diftriCl of St. Mihiel: four leagues louth-fouth- 
eaft of Verdun. 
CROIX-DU-MAINE (Francis Crude de la), a writer 
often quoted by French bibliographers, born in the pro¬ 
vince of Maine, in 1532. He was educated at the uni- 
verfity of Paris, and at an early age difplayed a great 
paffion for collecting of books. In 1584 he publifhed hia 
Bibliotkeque FrartfoiJ'e, which is a general catalogue of all 
French writers who have written in their own language. 
As the earlieft of the kind, and the fruit of confiderable 
refearch, it is valuable, though imperfect and incorrect. 
He promifed alfo a Bibliotkeque Latine of French authors, 
and an account of libraries and cabinets in France ; but it 
does not appear that he made any progrefs in executing 
them. He publifhed, however, the plan of a complete 
library, addrefted to Henry III. of France in 1.583. He 
had the misfortune of being affaffinated at Tours, in 1592. 
