PREFACE

Catholic faith. And that, moved by a holy affection, they might so courageously unite themselves that they go to pay homage to the ashes original: "Cēdres" (cendres). Literally "ashes," here referring to the remains or the sacred memory of deceased heroes. of the valiant Godfrey, Baldwin, and Eustace These are the leaders of the First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon, his brother Baldwin I of Jerusalem, and their brother Eustace III, Count of Boulogne. in Palestine: to honor their trophies, imitate their labors, follow their virtues, and finally obtain similar or even more distinguished victories. It would be against such enemies that we would desire to employ our vigorous arms, our artifices artifices: a technical term for military inventions, particularly incendiary devices or "fireworks" used in siege warfare, to create various machines, resist their blows, break all their designs, and employ everything that time, study, reports, communication, the reading of authors, and what experience has shown us to be most remarkable, to invalidate their forces and make them feel that the finest effects have always been made more vigorous when invention has been joined to force; and that often an ingenious invention surpasses force itself.

Now, to return to the matter which this digression had made us leave: We have considered that a great quantity of noble soldiers have not studied the liberal arts, and do not have such knowledge of arithmetic, geometry, and mathematics as they would desire; and that often a magnanimous heart grows cold for lack of invention In this period, "invention" refers to the creative ability to devise mechanical solutions or technical stratagems.: even that such a man might well have the strength and courage to carry a petard petard: a small, bell-shaped explosive device used to blow open gates or walls, set up a scaling ladder original: "eſcalade." The act of scaling defensive walls using ladders., construct a machine, and produce fine effects, but can do nothing for lack of invention. This is what has occasioned us not to [leave] anything