Emperor Frederick Barbarossa's declaration of war on Saladin, c.1189

Frederic, by the grace of God emperor of the Romans, ever august, the magnificent triumpher over the enemies of the empire, and the fortunate governor of the whole monarchy, to the illustrious Saladin, formerly governor of the Saracens. May he take warning from Pharaoh, and touch not Jerusalem!

The letters which your devotion sent to us a long time ago, on weighty and important matters, and which would have benefited you if reliance could have been placed on your words, we received, as became the magnificence of our majesty, and deemed it meet to communicate by letter with your greatness. But now that you have profaned the Holy Land, over which we, by the authority of the Eternal King, bear rule, as guardian of Judea, Samaria, and Palestine, solicitude for our imperial office admonishes us to proceed with due rigour against such presumptuous and criminal audacity.

Wherefore, unless, before all things, you restore the land which you have seized, and give due satisfaction, to be adjudged according to the holy constitutions, for such nefarious excesses, that we way not appear to wage unlawful war against you, we give you, from the first of November, a period of twelve months, after which you shall experience the fortune of war, in the field of Zoan, by the virtue of the vivifying cross, and in the name of the true Joseph.

For we can scarcely believe that you are ignorant of that which all antiquity and the writings of the ancients testify. Do you pretend not to know that both the Æthiopias, Mauritania, Persia, Scythia, Parthia, where our general Marcus Crassus met with a premature death, Judea, Samaria, Maritima, Arabia, and Chaldæa, also Egypt, where, shame to say! a Roman citizen, Antony, a man endowed with signal virtues, passing the bounds of temperance, and acting otherwise than as became a soldier sent from so great a state, submitted to the unchaste love of Cleopatra — do you pretend not to know that Armenia, and other innumerable countries, have been subject to our sway?

This is well known to those kings in whose blood the Roman sword has been so often steeped; and you, God willing, shall learn by experience the might of our victorious eagles, and be made acquainted with our troops of many nations — the anger of Germany — the untamed head of the Rhine — the youth from the banks of the Danube, who know not how to flee — the towering Bavarian — the cunning Suabian — the cautious Franconian — Saxony, that sports with the sword — Thuringia — Westphalia — the active Brabantine — the Lorrainer unused to peace — the fiery Burgundian — the nimble mountaineer of the Alps — the Frison with his javelin and thong — the Bohemian ever ready to brave death — Bolonia fiercer than her own fierce beasts — Austria — Byria — Ruwennia — Istria — Rocumphia — Illyria — Lombardy — Tuscany — the march of Ancona — the resolute Venetian and the Pisan sailor — and lastly, also, you shall assuredly be taught how our own right hand, which you suppose to be enfeebled by old age, can still wield the sword upon that day of reverence and gladness which has been appointed for the triumph of Christ’s cause.