What does "Hæc igitur illico non ingratanter Christianis patuit" mean?

Question

I came across this phrase in Historia Hierosolymitana by Baldricus Dolensis (c. 1050–1130): What does these two sentences mean? I would appreciate any help.

Hæc igitur illico non ingratanter Christianis patuit.

and:

Quippe ibi nullus, etiam inermis, esse poterat exoccupatus. Unica eis erat, nec sine formidine, cura de suis conducendis corporibus.

Here is more context in case it helps:

Venerunt quoque ad Cæsaream Cappadociæ quae ad solum usque diruta erat; ruinae tamen utcunque subsistentes, quanta fuerit illa Caesarea testabantur. Inde digressi, pedem direxerunt ad aliam civitatem pulchram et uberæ glebæ opimam, Plastenciam/Plastentiam, quam Turci paulo ante tribus obsederant ebdomadibus. Quæ, quoniam erat inexpugnabilis, a Turcis nullatenus potuit expugnari. Hæc igitur illico non ingratanter Christianis patuit. Hanc quodam Petrus de Alphia, petitam ab optimatibus, indifficulter obtinuit, ad tuendam et expugnandam terram, Sancti Sepulchri et Christianitatis. Auditum est in illa expeditione quod Turci qui civitatem obsederant haud longe præirent exercitum,si qua possent eis nocituri. Boamundus autem, negotiorum militarium vir industrius, de suis quos voluit accitis militibus, eos curiose insecutus est, si forte sicubi posset illos invenire et lædere. Nihil tamen profecit, quoniam eos invenire non potuit. Ventum est deinceps ad Coxon, nobilem et copiosam civitatem, quam alumni loci illius cum fratribus suis Christianis libenter reddiderunt. Ibi tribus diebus fatigatus pausavit exercitus.” “Iter etenim aggressi, gradiebantur rependo per montana nimis aspera et scopulosa, per quæ nec eorum phalanges poterant, sicut heri et nudiustertius, seriatim procedere, nec eorum clitellariis dabatur saltem repere posse, sed miserrime hi et illi prægravabantur et præcipitabantur. Neque siquidem illis in angusto positis, aliud erat aliunde diverticulum. Collidebantur ergo et conquassabantur laborantes et deficientes per viam inviam. Qui præ nimia tristitia, strictim complosis manibus et stridentes dentibus ingemiscebant. Labebantur equi in immane præcipitium, et trames artissimus pepererat/præparabat omnibus dehiscens offendiculum. Multi vel equis, vel clitellariis, cum rebus superpositis, illic amissis, pauperati sunt. Alii pro vili preciolo venditabant, vel ancilia, vel loricas,vel galeas; alii procul a se iactitabant.

Quippe ibi nullus, etiam inermis, esse poterat exoccupatus. Unica eis erat, nec sine formidine, cura de suis conducendis corporibus. Postquam illas calamitosas vix evaserunt angustias, ad quamdam diverterunt civitatem,quæ vocatur Marasim. Convenæ autem civitatis illius copiosum illis detulerunt mercatum. Ibi autem aliquantisper demorati, donec quantumlibet recrearentur, dominum sustinebant.

Difficult words:

• ingratanter: I did not find anything
• conducendis: conduco, conducere, conduxi, conductus: be of advantage/profitable/expedient; be proper/fitting/concerned with; tend to; draw/bring together, collect, assemble; unite/join; cause to curdle/coagulate;

Answer 1

The context is definitely helpful for figuring these out.

Hæc igitur illico non ingratanter Christianis patuit.

Baldric was just speaking about "they" (crusaders, presumably) came first to Caesarea in Cappadocia (Caesarea Cappadociae), which was laid in ruins, and then continued to Plastencia, which was unsuccessfully besieged by the Turks for three weeks and then left behind. Thus, when the crusaders arrived:

It therefore immediately and joyfully opened up [its gates] to the Christians.

Some possible sources of confusion:

• Haec refers to the city itself, which is feminine.
• Non ingratanter does not have an entry in L&S. ingratanter does not appear in classical literature, but it appears in several medieval works. Gratanter has some silver age attestations in the Historiae Augustae. It's meaning is pretty clear, though: grator (as in congratulate) means "to manifest joy", so gratanter would mean "joyfully." Non ingratanter is an example of litotes: "not without joy" = "with joy."
• Patuit literally means to "be open," and it is used with the dative (christianis) to indicate what it is open to. In the context of a city, this probably refers to the gates, as I indicated in the translation.

Next passage:

Quippe ibi nullus, etiam inermis, esse poterat exoccupatus. Unica eis erat, nec sine formidine, cura de suis conducendis corporibus.

Here, Baldric was just explaining how the army was casting aside or selling away for nothing everything that was hindering it in its march through a difficult mountain pass, including shields, helmets, and other armor. Why?

For in that place, no one, even unarmed, could be without occupation. They only fearfully had one goal, which was to lead on their own bodies.

Tough spots:

• exoccupatus does not appear in classical literature, but it has an entry in L&S as "unoccupied." It grows more common in later Latin.
• eis...cura: cura est mihi de X means "I am concerned/worried about X," and is a fairly common construction.
• nec sine: another litotes: read as with or, in my translation, fearfully.
• conducendis comes from conduco and in this case means "bringing/leading along": I suspect that this sense is medieval, and it conforms to the evolution of the word meaning, e.g. modern French conduire.