Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 366, April, 1846Various
History
Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 366, April, 1846
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
"This mode of combating turned entirely to the advantage of the
Turks. The whole dispositions made by the Christians before the
battle became useless. Every chief, almost every cavalier, fought
for himself; he took counsel from his own ardour, and it alone. The
Christians combated almost singly on a ground with which they were
unacquainted; in that terrible strife, death became the only reward
of undisciplined valour. Robert of Paris the same who had sat on
the imperial throne beside Alexis, was mortally wounded, after
having seen forty of his bravest companions fall by his side.
William, brother of Tancred, fell pierced by arrows. Tancred
himself, whose lance was broken, and who had no other weapon but
his sword, owed his life to Bohemond, who came up to the rescue,
and extricated him from the hands of the Infidels.
"While victory was still uncertain between force and address,
agility and valour, fresh troops of the Saracens descended from the
mountains, and mingled in overwhelming proportion in the conflict.
The Sultan of Nice took advantage of the moment when the cavalry of
the Crusaders withstood with difficulty the attack of the Turks,
and directed his forces against their camp. He assembled the elite
of his troops, crossed the river, and overcame with ease all the
obstacles which opposed his progress. In an instant the camp of the
Christians was invaded and filled with a multitude of barbarians.
The Turks massacred without distinction all who presented
themselves to their blows; except the women whom youth and beauty
rendered fit for their seraglios. If we may credit Albert d'Aix,
the wives and daughters of the knights preferred in that extremity
slavery to death; for they were seen in the midst of the tumult to
adorn themselves with their most elegant dresses, and, arrayed in
this manner, sought by the display of their charms to soften the
hearts of their merciless enemies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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