Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/341
Context
Marino Sanudo the Elder of Torcello, from a wealthy and powerful Venetian
family, was a statesman and geographer who spent much of his career from the late 13th
century until his death in 1338 living and travelling abroad, particularly in the
Peloponnese and Aegean islands, Cyprus and Cilicia, Constantinople, the Levant, and Egypt,
but also in western and northern Europe. A learned and eloquent advocate for a new crusade
to the Holy Land, he wrote the voluminous Secrets for Those Faithful to the
Cross (Secreta fidelium Crucis), a strategic manual full of
economic, military, and geographic detail as well as maps, and presented different versions
of it to popes Clement V (in 1307) and John XXII (in 1321). This passage from Marino
Sanudo’s account of the Holy Land records events early in the Fifth Crusade, in particular
the costly departure of Andrew II from Tripoli back to Hungary in January of 1218 and the
subsequent capture of Caesarea and refortification of Athlit.
Text
Post haec exercitus
Domini quadrifariam dividitur. Reges enim Ungariae et Cypri Tripolim profecti sunt. Ibique
rex Ungariae tempore immoratus cum magno damno Terrae Promissionis abscessi, peregrinos,
dextarios, iumenta, et arma cum galeis secum trahens, licet a patriarcha prius monitus et
tandem cum sua sequela excommunicationis vinculo innodatus. Alia pars timidorum et
effeminatorum remansit Ptolomaydae. Rex vero Ierusalem et dux Austriae cum Hospitalariis
Sancti Iohannis et praedictis prelatis ac quibusdam aliis celeriter et utiliter castrum
Caesareae firmaverunt. Templarii vero auxiliantibus peregrinis et
Hospitali de domo Theotonicorum castrum quod prius dicibatur Filii Dei reaedificaverunt
Peregrinorum vocant. Ibi in fossionibus ignota moneta inventa est, peregrinorum labores et
sumptus allevians.
1
Textual Note
Ed. Bongars 1611Corrigenda Note
Minor corr. (punctuation, spelling)Translation
After this the army of
the Lord was split into four parts. The Kings of Hungary and Cyprus [Andrew II and Hugh I]
proceeded to Tripoli. There the King of Hungary after a short delay departed with great
damage to the Promised Land, taking in the galleys with him pilgrims, war horses, draft
animals, and weapons, even though he was previously warned by the Patriarch [Raoul of
Merencourt] and then, as a result of his subsequent actions, shackled by the chain of
excommunication. Another part (of the army) made up of timid and effeminate men remained at
Ptolemaÿs. The King of Jerusalem and the Duke of Austria [John I and Leopold VI] along with
the Hospitallers of Saint John, the aforementioned prelates, and others quickly and
advantageously secured the fortress of Caesarea. The Templars with
the help of the pilgrims and the Hospital of the House of the Germans rebuilt the castle
which formerly was called the Castle of the Son of God and they called it the Castle of the
Pilgrims. There in the ditches money was found unexpectedly, lightening the hard work and
expenses of the pilgrims.
2
Translation Note
Adapted from Lock 2011Works Cited
- 1 Marino Sanudo, Gesta Dei per Francos Sive Orientalium Expeditionum et Regni Francorum Hierosolimitani Historia 2: Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis Super Terrae Sanctae Recuperatione et Conservatione, ed. Jacques Bongars (Hanover: Wechelian, 1611), bk: 3.11.6, p: 207.
- 2 Marino Sanudo, Marino Sanudo Torsello, The Book of the Secrets of the Faithful of the Cross: Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis, trans. Peter Lock, Crusade Texts in Translation 21 (London: Routledge, 2011), p: 328.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/341.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/341.About this Entry
Entry Title: Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Marino Sanudo the Elder, Secrets for Those Faithful to the Cross 3.11.6”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife