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Itinerary
167
they will fly away: so when the king put them to flight, they fled without
stopping; when he was disposed to return, they threatened from the rear,
sometimes not with impunity, and sometimes to the injury of our men.
Chapter IX. Ñ How our army, being abandoned to pleasures, could scarcely be
forced to quit the city and cross the river of Acre, while the Turks infested them on
all sides.
King Richard was resting in his tents, waiting for the army to come
out of the city, but they came out slowly and peevishly, as if they did it
against their will; and the numbers of the army did not increase, but the
city was crowded with an immense multitude. The whole army, including
those who were yet in the city, was computed at 300,000 men. The people
were too much given up to sloth and luxury, for the city was filled with
pleasures, viz. Ñ the choicest wines and fairest damsels, and the men
became dissolute by indulging in them; so that the city was defiled by the
luxury of the sons of folly and the gluttony of its inhabitants, who made
wiser faces blush at their shamelessness; and, in order to blot out this
contamination, it was ordained by the council that no woman should quit
the city or go with the army, except the washerwomen, on foot, who would
not be a burthen to them, nor an occasion for sin. Therefore, on the
morning of the aforementioned day, the soldiers armed themselves, and
were arranged in becoming order. The king was in the rear of the army to
check the Turks, who threatened annoyance; but the duty was a slight one.
From the time that impious race saw our army in motion, they poured
down from the mountains in scattered bands, like rushing waters, and
dispersed themselves in numbers of twenty or thirty, to find out the best
opportunity of harassing us. For they were exceedingly grieved at the
deaths of their parents and kinsmen, whose slaughtered bodies they saw
strewn about as aforesaid: and they therefore pressed upon our army
continuously, and harassed it as much as they could. But, with the
assistance of the Divine Grace, the Turks succeeded not as they wished; for
our army passed over the river of Acre unhurt, and again pitched their
tents on the other side the stream until on Friday, being the vigil of St.

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Itinerary
168
Bartholomew, they were all assembled together; and on the following
Monday, two years had elapsed since the Christians first laid siege to Acre.
Chapter X. Ñ How our army, departing from the city in battle array, boldly
repulsed the Turks, who attacked them in force: the standard is here described.
On the morrow, therefore, of St. Bartholomew, being Sunday, the
army was drawn up, early in the morning, to advance along the sea-coast,
in the name of the Lord. Oh! what fine soldiers they were! You might there
see a chosen company of virtuous and brave youth, whose equals it would
have been difficult to meet with, bright armour and pennons, with their
glittering emblazonry; banners of various forms; lances, with gleaming
points; shining helmets, and coats of mail: an army well regulated in the
camp, and terrible to the foe! King Richard commanded the van, and kept
the foremost guard. The Normans defended the standard, which we do not
consider it irrelevant here to describe. It was formed of a long beam, like
the mast of a ship; made of most solid ceiled work, on four wheels; put
together with joints, bound with iron, and to all appearance no sword or
axe could cut, or fire injure it. A chosen body of soldiers were generally
appointed to guard it, especially in a combat on the plains, lest, by any
hostile attack, it should be broken or thrown down; for if it fell by any
accident, the army would be dispersed and put into confusion. For they are
dismayed when it does not appear, and think that their general must be
overcome by faint-heartedness when they do not see his standard flying;
for no people have strength to resist the enemy if their chief is in alarm
from the fall of his standard; but whilst it remains erect they have a certain
refuge. Near it the weak are strengthened; the wounded soldiers, even
those of rank and celebrity, who fall in the battle, are carried to it, and it is
called ÒStandard,Ó from its standing a most compact signal to the army. It
is very properly drawn on wheels, for it is advanced when the enemy
yields, and drawn back if they press on, according to the state of the battle.
It was surrounded by the Normans and English.
The duke of Burgundy and the French brought up the rear, and by
their tardy movements and long delay incurred severe loss. The army

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