Note 198 — BOOK IV. (continued 2)

It is commonly believed that this battle of Ascalon served Tasso as a model for the great battle which terminates the Jerusalem Delivered. It is easy to see that the poet had also in view the battle of Antioch, which was fought at the gates of the city, of which the Christians were the masters. Raymond could not be present, because he held the citadel of Antioch in check, still in the power of the enemy. These circumstances, and several others, are found equally in the battle of the Jerusalem Delivered and in the historians who have described the battle of Antioch.