Fair and Brave Maidens, Part Two

Previously on The Liberation of Jerusalem: The armies of Christendom have been gathered at Tortosa (Tarsus in ancient Syria) to conquer and liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims. God appoints Godfrey of Bouillon as their leader; under his guidance they shall conquer Jerusalem. King Aladdin of Jerusalem has hatched a plot to kill all Christians in the city by blaming them for stealing a statue of the Virgin Mary and placing in in his mosque. The beautiful and pious virgin Sophronia confesses (falsely) to the sacrilegious act, so she is led to the execution place when…

Olindo, the man desperately in love with Sophronia, hurtles himself through the crowd and shouts: “Not she, my  lord, stole it, but I.” He begs to take Sophronia’s place in the fire and die instead of her. King Aladdin, “incensed with rage and shame,” (for he knows very well they are both innocent, as he committed the sacrilege himself following the advice of evil sorcerer Ismen) orders that they both die.  The crowd, “heathens” and “faithful” alike, are shedding tears for the hapless youths about to be consumed by fire.

Sophronia and Olindo are about to be executed, when warrior-maiden Clorinda intervenes. By Sebastien Leclerc (1637-17140© The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2014

But this is not the end:

While peril thus engulfs, them, see! A knight

(for such he seemed) appears, noble in guise,

towering in shape, so armed and strangely dight [=clothed, equipped]

that clearly from a distant land he hies.

Atop his crest, a tigress burnished bright

attracts the eyes of all, famous device,

device known as Clorinda’s badge of war.

This is no knight, but the fair and brave warrior-maiden Clorinda or Persia, who “all womanly / observances and skill she has desprized / since her unripest years.” Think of Clorinda as a combination of brave and honourable Brienne of Tarth, proud and fierce Arya Stark, and beautiful, wise, and clement Danaerys Targaryen. Clorinda is one of the very few women in this epic, and she is the best of them all. In Canto One, it has been mentioned that one of the Christian leaders, Tancred, is madly in love with her.

Clorinda is moved by the plight of the two young innocents; by just one good look at them she knows they can’t be guilty. It was surely the work of supernatural forces, she says. (She has also heard the stories about necromancer Ismen’s role in the affair). She offers her services to King Aladdin in exchange for their lives. The king is glad to oblige: Clorinda’s fame is great, and he makes her the commander of his whole garrison.

Now that your sword is joined to mine, I stand

consoled for troubles and afraid of none.

If a vast army joined me now, my hope

of victory would have no surer scope. (Canto Two, st.47)

Need we say more? Sophronia and Olindo are freed, and now finally Sophronia relents and accepts to marry Olindo, after all. A happy ending for this episode, but the troubles and tribulation of the population have only just begun.

 

Fair and Brave Maidens, Part One

In Canto Two, the old, wicked king of Jerusalem, Aladdin* wants to find a way to destroy the Christian population of the city, so that they don’t cooperate with the invaders and bring him down. An evil sorcerer and necromancer by the name of Ismen advises him to steal a sacred statue of the Virgin Mary from a Christian church and place it in his mosque, then accuse Christians for the sacrilege. The evil plan is duly carried out, and the following morning all the Christians in Jerusalem are trembling with fear, expecting certain death.
But a fair and saintly virgin, Sophronia, comes forth and confesses to the crime, seeking to become a martyr for the Christian faith. Sophronia wants to give up her life to God, although there is a man, Olindo, who is madly in love with her and has asked her to marry him several times, but in vain.
King Aladdin is filled with desire for the beautiful maiden and is amazed by her courage; he is also furious because her act has thwarted his plans, and so he condemns Sophronia to death at the stake.  But as she is about to be led to the public execution place, something unexpected happens … (to be continued)

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* Aladdin is an invented name, obviously much more attractive for a western audience – and more easily pronounceable – than Iftikhar ad-Daula, who was the historical ruler of Jerusalem at the time of the First Crusade.

‘A Turkish Mosque lighted after the Mahometan manner where Aladine the Emperor is seated on a Throne surrounded by his Divan 1759.’ Jane Elizabeth Collins. This information is © The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, 2014