Microsoft Word richard of holy trinity inp

Itinerary
33
advanced judiciously arranged, to the delight of the beholder, neither
crowded together, nor yet dispersedly, but in bodies; and though there
were many officers over each body, yet there was but one commander-in-
chief. This is the best for a camp, an important circumstance in war: for as
an army perishes without a leader, where no one is pre-eminent above the
rest, so it is generally inefficient, where there are many leaders who
contend for pre-eminence. Happy empire! happy Germany! the parent of
so many nations, so many brave warriors of Christ, a source of pride to
herself, and destruction to her enemies!
Chapter XXIII. Ñ Of the discomforts which the Christians endured through the
sultan, and how they reached Iconium.
Our army, having entered the territories of the Turks, experienced no
hostility during several days: the sultan wished by his forbearance to allure
them into the heart of his dominions, until want of food and the asperities
of the road should give him more ready means of annoying them. That
nefarious traitor had seized the rugged mountain-tops, the thickets of the
woods, and the impassable rivers; and whilst he professed to observe the
treaty which he had made, he opposed arrow and stones to our passage.
This was the market and the safe-conduct which he had promised us; such
is the faith that must be placed in the unbelievers; they always esteem
valour and treachery as equally praiseworthy towards an enemy.
Moreover, they avoid, above all things, coming to close quarters and
fighting hand to hand; but they shower their arrows from a distance; and
with them it is no less glory to flee, than to put their enemy to flight. They
attack both extremities of the army, at one time the rear, at another time the
van; that, if by any chance they can separate them, they may attack either
the one or the other by itself. Night brought with it neither sleep nor rest;
for a terrific clamour disturbed the army on every side. A shower of
javelins pierced through their tents, numbers of them were slain asleep,
and the enemy hung on them so incessantly, that for six weeks, they ate
their meals under arms, and slept under arms, without taking off their
coats of mail. At the same time they were assailed by such violent hunger

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Itinerary
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and thirst, that when they lost their horses by the chances of war, it was to
them a consolation and source of delight, to feed on horse-flesh and drink
the blood: in this manner, by the ingenuity which necessity teaches, they
found out an additional use for the animals on which they rode.
There was a place between high rocks which was rendered so
difficult to pass by reason of the steep ascent and the narrowness of the
paths, that when the first division of the army, led by the emperorÕs son,
had passed through, the Turks suddenly rushed from their ambush on the
last division, and in their confidence of victory, attacked them with lance
and sword. The alarming news was carried to the duke, who returned with
headlong haste upon his march, eagerly retracing all the difficulties which
he had a little before rejoiced at having surmounted. His rage heeded not
danger; his cavalry were made to gallop where they could not even walk.
In this manner, whilst he was anxiously and incautiously seeking for his
father on every side, and incessantly shouting his fatherÕs name, his helmet
was struck off by a stone, and his teeth knocked out, yet he still remained
immoveable and unshaken. Happy the son, who, to save his father, was so
prodigal of his own life, and exposed himself to so many dangers! As a
consolation for the wound which he then received, he retains a lasting
mark of it; for whenever he opens his mouth, the bare gum testifies the
glory of his victory. At last, after many severe attacks, the army arrives at
Iconium, where that wicked traitor had shut himself within the walls of the
city: our soldiers pitched their tents at no great distance, uncertain what
new disaster the morrow might bring with it. It was now about the end of
Whitsuntide, and that same night so violent and sudden a storm burst
upon them, that its fury was felt even within the camp. In the morning,
when the clouds were dispersed, the sky became clear, and behold! the
Turkish army appear around on every side with trumpets, drums, and
horrid clang, ready to attack. They had never before been seen in such
multitudes, nor could they have been conceived to have been so numerous.
If any one should read that there were three hundred thousand or more of
them, it was only an estimate of the amount, for it was impossible to
number them. All this multitude had been roused to arms by the sultanÕs
son Melkin, who wished to anticipate his father-in-law SaladinÕs victory,

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