Note 263 — Chapter IV

The Crusaders carried away splendid booty from the towns they took and ransacked. As it was the great gathering-place of all Eastern and Western nations, Jerusalem was a mart for rich merchandise from Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Phœnicia, till the times of the Latin kings. Antioch, as well as Jerusalem, yielded the richest plunder. Matthew Paris (a contemporary historian), speaking of what was taken at Antioch, 1098, says, “At the division of costly vessels, crosses, weavings, and silken stuffs, every beggar in the crusading army was enriched.” Alexandria, as early as the middle of the sixth century, A.D., had been the depôt for the silken stuffs of Libya and Morocco. Here is a wide area opened to us for suggestions as to the origin and traditions of patterns in silk textile art. See Bock’s “Liturgische Gewänder,” vol. i. pp. 29, 30.