Today In Catholic Military History: Battle Of Arsuf!
“The sky was darkened with dust and with travellers were sweltering, especially because of the hot weather. As was said, a very fierce race of people threatened them from behind, proud and insolent, rendered unyielding by demonic instigation. Nevertheless that most doughty Christian people remained secure in the certain freedom of their faith and kept on advancing gradually. The enemy menaced them incessantly, cadgelling them from behind, however, the blows bounced off their protective armour.
Their lack of success made the Turks groan and mutter resentfully that their attacks were a waste of time. Then they raged with even worse barbarity, saying that our people were made of iron and could not be harmed. At last more than 20,000 Turks made a sudden massive charge, wielding clubs and swords in hand to hand combat. They redoubled their blows on the Hospitallers, crushing and striking them and piling on the pressure in various ways. Almost overcome by their barbarity, one of them named Brother Garnier de Nabius {master of the Hospital} cried out in a loud voice: “St. George, unique among knights, surely you aren’t going to leave us to be defeated? Christianity is perishing because she is not fighting back against this unspeakable race!”
At this the master of the Hospital {Brother Garnier de Nabius} went to the king. ‘Lord king,’ he said, ‘we are being violently attacked. We will be stained with eternal dishonour as if we did not dare to fight back. Each of us is losing his mount at no cost to the enemy. What more must we bear?’
‘Good master,’ the king replied, ‘you must sustain their attack, no one can be every where.’ As the master returned to his troops, the Turks bore down on them again, hewing at them from behind. There was not a prince or count who did not blush scarlet with shame. They said to each other, ‘Why don’t we give rein to our horses and charge them? Alas! Alas! We shall deserve to be criticized forever for being idle cowards. Did anyone ever before have anything like this happen to them?
Never before have unbelievers inflicted such shame and dishonour on such a great army. Unless we quickly defend ourselves and change them, we will have eternal disgrace, in fact, the longer we delay before acting the greater it will be.’
O how blind is human fate! How it wavers about on slippery joints! How it spins on uncertain wheels, unrolling the course of human lives with such indeterminate results! If they had kept rank as they proceeded, as they had all decided beforehand, a countless crowd of Turks would have perished. However, it is believed that because of the exactions of of their sins when the potter’s wheel sped, although a great wine jar was intended a small jug was produced [Horace, de Arte Poetica, v. 21]. For although our people discussed among themselves and came to a unanimous decision about how they were going to make their attack on the enemy, everything was thrown into confusion by two knights who could not bear to wait.
It was arranged by common consent that six trumpets should be blown in three different places in the army when they were going to engage the Turks, i.e. two trumpets at the front of the army, two at the rear and two in the middle of the army. This was so that the Christians’ signal could be distinguished from the Saracens’; and to mark the difference between them both during the engagement. If this had been observed, all those Turks would have been intercepted and routed, but because the a foresaid knights were in too much of a hurry the general agreement was not observed, which marred the success of the common enterprise.
They burst out of the line first; with horses at full gallop they charged at the Turks. Each of them pierced a Turk with his lance and laid him flat on the ground! One of these knights was the marshal of the Hospital. The other was named Baldwin de Carron, an excellent knight, confident as a lion. He was a comrade of King Richard, who had brought him from his land in his retinue. The rest of the Christians heard these two calling with loud voices for St. George’s aid as they charged boldly on the Turks in the name of Christ the Saviour, they spun their horses round and followed those two, charging as one into the relentlessly attacking enemy.
Despite being under great pressure, the Hospitallers and their detachments had kept ranks all that day as they rode, but now they immediately urged their horses to a gallop and charged manfully into the enemy. Likewise, each troop turned their horses around and charged the enemy, still keeping to their original order so that those who had been in the vanguard while they marched because the rearguard in the attack. So the Hospitallers, who had been placed at the rear of the army, became the first to attack.
The count of Champagne also sallied forth with his elite force; as did James of Avenses with his relatives, and Count Robert of Dreux and his brother the bishop of Beauvais. The earl of Leicester made a furious charge from the left flank towards the seashore. Why name everyone? All those who had originally been assigned to the rear line made a violent advance together. After these aforementioned, the Poitevins rushed forward very swiftly with the Bretons and Angevins, and all the others did the same with their troops. Brave and doughly as they were, every one of them with their lances and throwing them from their horses. The air grew black with dust stirred up in the confusion of their mutual encounter. The Turks who had deliberately dismounted from their horses to fire darts and arrows more easily at our people all lost their heads at once in that military engagement; the knights knocked them down and our foot soldiers beheaded them.
When King Richard saw that the army had been thrown into confusion and was engaging with the Turks, he put spur to horse and galloped swiftly back with his retinue to bring assistance to the Hospitallers, who had been the first to attack. He did not slow his charge until he had passed right through the Hospitallers’ ranks, hurling himself swift as a thunderbolt from the right flank into the daunting crowd of Turkish Infantry. Stunned by the strength of the blows he and his force inflicted on them, they fell back to the right and the left. You would have seen so many heaps of those who had suddenly been thrown to the ground and horses without riders! Some groaning and bewailing their harsh fate while others , wallowing in their own blood, breathed their last. A very great number were but headless corpses trodden underfoot by friend and foe regardless.”
As we remember the great victory of King Richard I and the Crusaders against the Turkish Army, we must join up now in defense of our Christian Brethren facing the same enemy today! Join Ordo Militaris Catholicus Today!
+DEUS VULT+
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