A History of the Crusades-Vol 2 Read Online Free PDF

advised that they should
march northward to Kastamuni and from there to some Byzantine city on the Black
Sea coast. Such a course would save the army from certain destruction; and no
doubt Raymond thought that the Emperor would forgive him his disobedience if he
returned having recaptured for the Empire two great fortresses, Ankara and
Kastamuni, the latter the Castra Comnenon that had been the home of the
imperial dynasty.
     
    1101: The Battle
of Mersivan
    The journey to Kastamuni was slow and painful.
Water was short, and the Turks had destroyed the crops. The Turks themselves
moved quickly along parallel tracks, harassing the Crusaders sometimes in the
van and sometimes in the rear. They had not gone far before the advance-guard,
composed of seven hundred Lombards, was suddenly attacked. The Lombard knights
fled in panic, leaving the infantry to be massacred. It was with difficulty
that Stephen of Burgundy was able to rally the van and drive off the enemy.
During the next days Raymond, in command of the rear, was engaged in continual
combat with the Turks. Soon the army was obliged to move in a compact mass,
from which it was impossible to send out foraging parties or scouts. By the
time that it reached the neighbourhood of Kastamuni it was clear to the leaders
that the only chance of safety lay in breaking through as directly as possible
to the coast. But once again the Lombards refused to listen to reason. Perhaps
they blamed Raymond’s choice of the road to Kastamuni for their present
troubles; perhaps they thought that when they passed out of Seldjuk territory
into Danishmend territory everything would be easier. In their obstinate folly
they insisted on turning once more to the east. The princes had to accept this
decision; for their small contingents could hardly hope to survive if they left
the main army. The Crusade moved on across the river Halys, into the land of
the Danishmend emir. After wantonly sacking a Christian village on the way they
reached the town of Mersivan, halfway between the river and Amasea. There the
Constable Conrad was lured into an ambush and lost several hundred of his
German troops. It was clear now that the Danishmends and their allies were
massing for a serious attack; and Raymond drew up the Christian army ready for
battle.
    When the battle began the Turks employed their
favourite tactics. Their archers swooped down and discharged their arrows, then
swiftly retreated again, and others would appear from a different direction.
The Crusaders were never given the chance of a hand-to-hand combat, in which
their greater physical strength and better arms would have been of advantage.
Before long the Lombards’ nerves gave out. With their leader the Count of
Biandrate at their head, they fled in panic, leaving their women and their
priests behind them. Soon the Petcheneg mercenaries followed, seeing no reason
to await certain death. Raymond, who was fighting with them, found himself
deserted. He managed to retreat with his bodyguard to a small rocky hill, where
he held out till Stephen of Blois and Stephen of Burgundy could rescue him.
Throughout the afternoon the French knights and Conrad the German fought
bravely, falling back upon the camp; but by nightfall Raymond had had enough.
Under cover of the darkness he fled with his Provencal bodyguard and his
Byzantine escort towards the coast. When they learnt that he had fled, his
colleagues gave up the fight. Before morning dawned the remnants of the army
were in full flight, leaving the camp and the non-combatants in the hands of
the Turks.
    The Turks paused to butcher the men and old
women in the camp, then followed in full cry after the fugitives. Only the
knights on horseback were able to escape. The infantry was overtaken and
slaughtered almost to a man. The Lombards, whose obstinacy had caused the
disaster, were annihilated except for their leaders. The losses were estimated
at four-fifths of the whole army. A vast amount of treasure and