OF THE EOMAX EMPIRE 265 great design had gone forth among the nations ; the clergy-, on their return, had preached in every^ diocese the merit and gloiy of the deliverance of the Holy Land ; and, when the pope ascended a lofty scaffold in the market-place of Clermont, his eloquence was addressed to a well-prepared and impatient audience. His topics were obvious, his exhortation was vehe- ment, his success inevitable. The orator was inten-upted by the shout of thousands, who with one voice, and in their rustic idiom, exclaimed aloud, " God wills it, God wills it ! " ^^ " It is indeed the will of God," replied the pope ; " and let this memorable word, the inspii'ation surely of the Holy Spirit, be for ever adopted as your cry of battle, to animate the devotion and courage of the champions of Christ. His cross is the symbol of your salvation ; wear it, a red, a bloody cross, as an external mark on your breasts or shoulders, as a pledge of your sacred and irrevocable engagement." The proposal was joyfully ac- cepted ; great numbers both of the clergy and laity impressed on their garments the sign of the cross,i^ and solicited the pope to march at their head. This dangerous honour was declined by the more prudent successor of Gregory, who alleged the schism of the church, and the duties of his pastoral office, recommend- ing to the faithful, who were disqualified by sex or profession, by age or infirmity, to aid, with their prayers and alms, the personal service of their robust brethren. The name and powers of his legate he devolved on Adhemar, bishop of Puy, the first who had received the cross at his hands. The foremost of the temporal chiefs was Raymond, count of Toulouse, whose ambas- sadors in the council excused the absence, and pledged the honour, of their master. After the confession and absolution of their sins, tlie champions of the cross were dismissed with a superfluous admonition to invite their countrymen and friends ; 18 Deus vult, Deus vult / was the pure acclamation of the clergy who understood Latin (Robert. Mon. 1. i. p. 32). By the illiterate laity, who spoke the Pro- vincial or Limousin idiom , it was corrupted to Deus !o volt, or Diex el volt. See Chron. Casinense, 1. iv. c. 11. p. 497, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Ital. torn. iv. , and Ducange (Dissertat. xi. p. 207 sur Joinville, and Gloss. Lat. torn. ii. p. 690), w^ho, in his preface, produces a very difficult specimen of the dialect of RovergTie, A.D. iioo, very near, both in time and place, to the council of Clermont (p. 15, 16). [See Sybel, Geschichte des ersten Kreuzzuges, p. 185 sqq.^ 19 Most commonly on their shoulders, in gold, or silk, or cloth, sewed on their garments. In the first crusade, all were red ; in the third, the French alone pre- served that colour, while green crosses were adopted by the Flemings, and white by the English (Ducange, torn. ii. p. 651). Yet in England the red ever appears the favourite, and, as it were, the national, colour of our military ensigns and unj- . forms.
