140 THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book iv.

mands, writes to the grand master, informing himthat the Greeks, and their patriarch at Jerusalem,having, by means of the Turks, possessed them-selves of the keys both of the prcesepio at Beth-lehem, and of the Holy Sepulchre taken violentlyfrom the Franciscans, though belonging of old tothe Latin Church; and therefore he requests ofhim to indicate the surest expedient to get backthe keys, and holy places, and advise with theother Christian princes, regarding the same . 1 Towhich the grand master, that this is his council’sanswer, in which he also joins; u a war of allChristendom would be perfectly just, but onlyavailable in a way that those at Rome do notperhaps mean; for a crusade as of yore would betoo long, and hardly practicable at present; thegreat omnipotent God of armies being able ofcourse if He pleased, but not man. But thus itwould be easy, and of instant result. It is mostallowable to wage war against the really culpable,Greeks and Turks. So the Christian potentatesshould send out a few ships, and give leave to allindividuals to do the like, and seize on the personand property of those two people; the rather, thatit is certain nearly all the merchandise sold asGreek, is in reality Turkish, but marked with a1 Cod. Dipl. Geros., ii., Xum. cccv.