52 THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OE [book I.

is on the 23rd of April—the difference of a day inthe almanacs may fairly be attributed to passingfrom the old to the new style. Whatever be theopinions of Muratori, he, by the very act of rescuingit from the dust and publishing it, makes the chro-nicle so far his own—and of excellent authority—agreeing: with five Arabic MSS. in the Ferrara Mu-nicipal Library. Tiraboschi tells us Ricobalduswrote about 1297.

“ Saladin and his brother Safadin were on a hil-lock directing the Moslems, who had repulsed theEnglish, when from the right wing up hastensKing Richard on Fauvell, and springing from thesaddle, puts himself at the head of the archers, andstooping down to one of their companions who hadjust been slain, loosens the small tape with whichthe Kentish use to tie their sheaves of arrows intheir quivers, and winding it round his own leg,just below the knee, bids all the chief knights (whowere indeed his associates, and of all Christiancountries) do the like, and fight that day in honourof St. George, for it was St. George’s Feast, whosemass he had heard that morning, and received thehost at it; and truly, though those gentlemenalways fought well, they never performed suchheroic actions as on that day. The consequencewas, that Saladin seeing Richard a-foot pitied him—