[1202 June]
[Geoffrey [of Donjon], master of the Knights Hospitallers, reports to King S[ancho VII] of Navarra on an earthquake which struck the
Holy Land on the 20th of May and on other misfortunes.]
To the most excellent Lord, and most outstanding benefactor, Sancho, by grace of God the glorious king of Navarre: from Brother Geoffrey,
humble master of the house of the Jerusalem Hospital, with all his brethren, greetings and the fellowship of devoted prayer. As Your
Majesty's ears are no strangers to the sorrows and miseries of the kingdom of the Promised Land, we are reluctantly obliged to relate
to Your Highness the lamentable afflictions, which have recently occurred in that place.
While everything was silent, and night was running her course, on the 20th day of May, which is named after the moon [i.e. Monday],
at the hour when sleep caresses tired eyes, a little before first light, the wrath of God engulfed us, and
there was a great earthquake.
Of the cities and fortresses of the East, as well pagan as Christian, some were overthrown, some destroyed, and others, on account of the
damage caused by the shocks, were threatened with ruin. The city of Acre, a most convenient port, suffered an unspeakably dreadful and
death-dealing blow: some of the towers, the ornate royal palace and walls were ruined, and there was death among rich and poor.
O lamentable occurrence! Tyre, a city of strength and a refuge of Christians, which always freed the oppressed from the hands of
evil-doers, suffered so great an overthrow of its walls, towers, churches and houses that no man living now could expect to see it
restored in his lifetime. What should we write about the death of the men of that city, when death took them without number in the
ruins of their homes? This sorrow, this death, lamentable before [all] other things, and this unfortunate event adds shudders [of terror]
to our fear. The most splendid city of Tripolis, although suffering considerable harm to its walls and houses, and death to its citizens,
underwent less of an upheaval [than Tyre]. The towers, walls, houses and fortifications of Arches [`Arqa] were razed; their people were killed,
and the localities are deserted: one would think that they had never been inhabited. Our fortresses of Krak [Hisn al-'Akrad] and Margat
[Marqab] suffered considerable damage, but in spite of the heavy shaking they received from the divine wrath, could still hold out against
enemy attacks. Antioch and parts of Armenia were shaken by this earthquake, but did not suffer damage to the same lamentable extent.
The pagan cities and peoples bewailed the fact that they had received incurable wounds from this unforeseen fate. Especially when our
hearts were afflicted with so many sorrows, food was extremely expensive, and a plague fatal to animals added further misery to all the
remaining Christians.
We also felt obliged to bring to Your Gracious Lordship's ears that while the harvest was green, showing that an abundance of crops was
coming to us once more, a cloud overshadowed the sprouting ears [of wheat] on the Feast of St Gregory, so that when the crops were harvested
they were found to be very blighted: we have a surfeit of paupers and our land is afflicted with an influx of beggars. Therefore, Lord of Virtues,
most excellent King, may the Land of the Lord's Nativity, sunk in sorrow and misery, and almost annihilated by calamities, be revived by your
generosity, and by your counsel be comforted in her desolation.' (Geoffrey of Donjon, in Mayer 1972, 306-308).
