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Itinerary
181
believed, the potterÕs wheel produces a paltry vessel instead of the grand
design which he had conceived.
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 For while they were treating of this point,
and had come to the same decision about charging the enemy, two knights,
who were impatient of delay, put every thing in confusion. It had been
resolved by common consent that the sounding of six trumpets in three
different parts of the army should be a signal for a charge, viz., two in
front, two in the rear, and two in the middle, to distinguish the sounds
from those of the Saracens, and to mark the distance of each. If these orders
had been attended to, the Turks would have been utterly discomfited; but
from the too great haste of the aforesaid knights, the success of the affair
was marred. They rushed at full gallop upon the Turks, and each of them
prostrated his man by piercing him with his lance. One of them was the
marshal of the Hospitallers, the other was Baldwin de Carreo, a good and
brave man, and the companion of King Richard, who had brought him in
his retinue. When the other Christians observed these two rushing
forward, and heard them calling, with a clear voice, on St. George for aid,
they charged the Turks in a body with all their strength; then the
Hospitallers, who had been distressed all day by their close array,
following the two soldiers, charged the enemy in troops, so that the van of
the army became the rear from their position in the attack, and the
Hospitallers, who had been the last, were the first to charge. The count of
Champagne also burst forward with his chosen company, and James
dÕAvennes with his kinsmen, and also Robert count of Dreux, the bishop of
Beauvais, and his brother, as well as the earl of Leicester, who made a
fierce charge on the left towards the sea. Why need we name each? Those
who were in the first line of the rear made a united and furious charge;
after them the men of Poictou, the Bretons, and the men of Anjou, rushed
swiftly onward, and then came the rest of the army in a body: each troop
shewed its valour, and boldly closed with the Turks, transfixing them with
their lances, and casting them to the ground. The sky grew black with the
dust which was raised in the confusion of that encounter. The Turks, who
18The author here quotes Horace Ñ Òcurrente rot‰ cur urceus exit.Ó

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Itinerary
182
had purposely dismounted from their horses in order to take better aim at
our men with their darts and arrows, were slain on all sides in that charge,
for on being prostrated by the horse-soldiers they were beheaded by the
foot-men. King Richard, on seeing his army in motion and in encounter
with the Turks, flew rapidly on his horse at full speed through the
Hospitallers who had led the charge, and to whom he was bringing
assistance with all his retinue,and broke into the Turkish infantry, who
were astonished at his blows and those of his men, and gave way to the
right and to the left. Then might be seen numbers prostrated on the
ground, horses without their riders in crowds, the wounded lamenting
with groans their hard fate, and others drawing their last breath, weltering
in their gore, and many lay headless, whilst their lifeless forms were
trodden under foot both by friend and foe. Oh how different are the
speculations of those who meditate amidst the columns of the cloister from
the fearful exercise of war! There the king, the fierce, the extraordinary
king, cut down the Turks in every direction, and none could escape the
force of his arm, for wherever he turned, brandishing his sword, he carved
a wide path for himself: and as he advanced and gave repeated strokes
with his sword, cutting them down like a reaper with his sickle, the rest,
warned by the sight of the dying, gave him more ample space, for the
corpses of the dead Turks which lay on the face of the earth extended over
half a mile. In fine, the Turks were cut down, the saddles emptied of their
riders, and the dust which was raised by the conflict of the combatants,
proved very hurtful to our men, for on becoming fatigued from slaying so
many, when they were retiring to take fresh air,they could not recognize
each other on account of the thick dust, and struck their blows
indiscriminately to the right and to the left; so that, unable to distinguish
friend from foe, they took their own men for enemies, and cut them down
without mercy. Thus the Christians pressed hard upon the Turks, the latter
gave way before them: but for a long time the battle was doubtful; they still
exchanged blows, and either party strove for the victory: on both sides
were seen some retreating, covered with wounds, while others fell slain to
the ground. Oh, how many banners and standards of various forms,and
pennons and many-coloured ensigns, might then be seen torn and fallen to

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