248 THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book i.

being dead, and his son totally incapable to be hissubstitute. Edessa was one of the great fiefs of thekingdom of Jerusalem, and had been so ever sincethe time of Godfrey de Bouillon ; but now Zenguitook it with hideous slaughter. No need of a con-tinual repetition. The Christian army there at thistime means Hospitallers. The juvenile monarch’snext act was a war unjust in its motive, and un-fortunate in its result. An emir, who commandedat Bosra, to the south-east of Damascus in theHaouran (which has now above two hundred unin-habited towns and villages, which testify to itsnumerous population once), proposed giving themup his post—an offer that the Christians greedilyaccepted, although the prince and emirs at Da-mascus, astonished at the rumour, entreated themnot to commence hostilities, but remain faithful totheir treaty of truce, whereas an unjust war couldnever prosper. In vain; and when the Christianarmy reached Bosra, it had a fresh Damascangarrison, the treasonable officer’s own wife havingbetrayed him. Frightful retreat; heats, andpoisoned waters, and famine; and most of the gallantHospitallers left their bones to whiten that desert,after the wild beasts had devoured their flesh; allthe inhabitants having fled into caverns, and car-ried off every scrap of food for man or horse. There