Microsoft Word richard of holy trinity inp

Itinerary
58
Very many of them, therefore, returned to their own land in great dread of
coming in contact with the Christians, who had resisted so great a
multitude so boldly.
Chapter XXXIX. Ñ Further of the famine among the citizens and of the succours
by the galleys.
Meanwhile, hunger afflicts the townsmen sorely, but the south wind
brings them supplies of corn from the sultan in Egypt. The vessels were
five and twenty in number; of the three largest of these, two were run
aground, while attempting to push through between the Tower of Flies and
the adjacent rock; the third got into port unhurt; for our galleys had turned
them from their intended course; but one of ours, in its hasty pursuit of the
enemy, struck on a rock and was dashed to pieces.
Chapter XL. Ñ Of the misfortunes of our men, arising from a battle begun
without the counsel of their chiefs.
As time wore on, and our army had enjoyed a long repose, the
common soldiers, desirous of a change, began to tax the chiefs with sloth;
and all excited with one wish, each encourages his fellow to battle. Their
indignation is excited by the proximity of the heathen camp; the greedy are
encouraged by the prospect of spoil, and the honour of victory inflames the
warlike. They therefore enter into a tumultuous plot, and with eager heat,
prepare unanimously for battle, without asking the consent of their chiefs.
The latter endeavour, as far as possible, to check the rash daring of the
people, and the patriarch forbids them under pain of anathema from
provoking the enemy, and incurring the dangers of a battle, without
consulting their chiefs; but neither the dissuasions of these, nor the threats
of the others, availed; for fury overcame counsel, violence reason, and
order yielded to multitudes; whichever way the vulgar are impelled, they
think rashness a virtue, and that to be the best which is the object of their
wishes; and not weighing the issue of things, they reject him who chideth,
and despise him who ruleth. Therefore, on St. JamesÕs-day, a mournful and

---

Itinerary
59
unpropitious one, the ill-fated crowd of common soldiers burst forth; they
go forth in arms, it is true, but they oppose themselves without precaution
against the coming danger; a fine body of young men, indeed,
distinguished for bravery, and that would yield to no victor, had it had a
head, or used counsel in its darings, or been as fond of battle as it was of
booty. Bat the army had no leader; every one was his own soldier and
guide; they scarcely paid attention to or followed their proper standards;
many ran before them, and thought more of the booty than the battle in
which they were to perish. The Mahometans, when they saw the crowd
coming forth, whether from fear or design, gave way a little, and as they
did not gather up their baggage, they left their tents behind, rich with
various things. But under the declivity of an adjacent mount they collected
their lost courage, and stopped, while they sent spies to discover the object
at which our men aimed, and why they had come forth. Tecadin, the
sultanÕs grandson, at that time had pitched his tent opposite the camp of
Himbert; he was a man of active spirit and bold in arms, but of exceeding
wickedness and implacable cruelty, and he hated above all things the name
of Christian. Hither the aforesaid multitude hastened; hither the lust for
plunder urges every one, and they, who were eager after the spoil,
explored not the ambuscades that lay around. Many glutted their appetite
with the abundance of food they met with, and having relinquished their
arms, lay down in over security, as if they had been invited to a feast. The
Turks, having learnt what was going on, soon poured in on all sides, and
shouting with a terrible noise, as is their wont, gained an easy victory over
a scattered and stupefied foe. No one dreamt of fighting, every one thought
of flight; but being on foot, laden with arms, and exhausted with thirst and
heat, they could not escape when pursued by an active and mounted
enemy. In all directions they were routed, and thrown into confusion; no
quarter was given, nor a captive taken; fury could not satisfy its appetite,
and anger recalls the sword, which the weariness of the striker had for a
moment laid aside. Wherever fear urged any one, he was sure to meet with
death; an inevitable fate threatened one and all. The foe and slaughter
presented themselves on all sides; numbers were wounded, and four
thousand are reckoned to have been slain. Though they heard the tumult,

---