Godfrey felt sure he would be victorious, but he also wanted to obtain the blessing of a rabbi. It was a curious desire, but in those days such things were not considered at all strange, and so Godfrey de Bouillon sent for the learned Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, better known by his world-famed name of Rashi.
Rashi, one of the wisest sages of the Jews, came to Godfrey, and the two men stood facing each other.
"Thou hast heard of my undertaking to capture Jerusalem," said Godfrey, haughtily. "I demand thy blessing on my venture."
"Blessings are not in the gift of man; they are bestowed by Heaven--on worthy objects," answered Rashi.
"Trifle not with words," retorted the warrior, "or they may cost thee dear. A holy man can invoke a blessing."
But Rashi was not afraid. He was becoming an old man then, but he was as brave as the swaggering soldier, and he faced Godfrey unflinchingly.
"I can make no claim on the God of Israel on behalf of one who has sworn to destroy all the descendants of His chosen people," he said.
"So, ho!" exclaimed Godfrey, "you defy me."
But he stopped his angry words abruptly. He had no wish to quarrel with any holy man, for that might make him nervous. And nervousness, then, was misunderstood as superstition. Besides, the rabbi might curse him.
"If you will not bless," he said, "perhaps you will deign to raise the veil of the future for me. You wise men of the Jews are seers and can foretell events--so they say. A hundred thousand chariots filled with soldiers brave, determined and strong, are at my command. Tell me, shall I succeed, or fail?"
"Thou wilt do both." Rashi replied.
"What mean you?" demanded Godfrey, angrily.
"This. Jerusalem will fall to thee. So it is ordained, and thou wilt become its king."
"Ha, ha! So you deem it wisest to pronounce a blessing after all," interrupted Godfrey. "I am content."
"I have not spoken all," said the rabbi, gravely. "Three days wilt thou rule and no more."
Godfrey turned pale.
"Shall I return?" he asked, slowly.
"Not with thy multitude of chariots. Thy vast army will have dwindled to three horses and three men when thou reachest this city."
"Enough," cried Godfrey. "If you think to affright me with these ominous words, you fail in your intent. And hearken, Rabbi of the Jews, your words shall be remembered. Should they prove incorrect in the minutest detail--if I am King of Jerusalem for four days, or return with four horsemen--you shall pay the penalty of a false prophet and shall be consigned to the flames. Do you understand? You shall be put to death."
"I understand well," returned Rashi, quite unmoved, "it is a sentence which you and your kind love to pronounce with or without the sanction of those whom you call your holy men. It is not I who fear, Godfrey de Bouillon. I seek not to peer into the future to assure my own safety."
Godfrey, after many battles, laid siege to the Holy City, captured it. Eight days afterward, his soldiers raised him on their shields and proclaimed him king. Godfrey was delighted, but two days later he decided that he could not live in Jerusalem always, and called together his captains and said it would be more befitting that he should be styled Duke of Jerusalem and Guardian of the Holy City than its sovereign.
That night, however, he suddenly remembered the prediction of Rashi. "For three days I have been King of Jerusalem," he muttered. "The rabbi of the Jews spoke truth."
The reverses affected the buoyancy of his troops, disease decimated their ranks, and desertions further depleted their numbers. Slowly but surely his mighty army dwindled away to a mere handful of dissatisfied men and decrepit horses.
At length he reached the city of Worms where Rashi dwelt. With him were four men, mounted on horses.
"It is well," he said, with as much cheerfulness as he could muster, as he surveyed the remnants of his once proud army. "The rabbi has failed."
Godfrey bade his men fall into line behind him and he proudly rode through the gate of the city. As he did so, he heard a cry of alarm. He turned hastily and saw a huge stone falling from the city's gate. It dropped on the soldier riding just behind him, killing both man and horse.
"You have spoken truth; would that I had taken heed of your words," he said to the rabbi. "I am a broken man. You will assuredly achieve great fame in Israel."