volume one

HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES.
461
battle of Tiberias. He replied with haughty firmness, and
received the palm of martyrdom. Andre de Brienne \Yas
cast from his horse whilst' endeavouring to rally the Crusaders
He in vain implored assistance of his compamons,
whom fear rendered deaf to pity, and Erard de Brienne,
whilst precipitating his flight, trampled under his horse s
feet his brother, expiring on the field of battle.
The Latin historians attribute the defeat of the Crusaders
to an unexpected accident,* which threw the combatants into
disorder.t
An Arabian horse, which had been taken from
the enemy, escaping in the heat of the battle, was pursued by
some soMiers, and it was believed they were flying belore
the Saracens. All at once a rumour prevailed that the
Christian army was conquered and dispersed, and this
news redoubled the tumult, and gave birth to general
terror. T^Tiole battaUons, seized with a panic, abandoned
their triumphant banners, and sought safety m a precipitate
flight.
X -u ^1,
We only report this singular circumstance to show ttie
spirit of the contemporary chronicles. The fate of the battle
micrht be much better explained by saying that the Christian
soldiers abandoned the fight for the sake of plunder ; and
that the greater part of the leaders, less skilful than brave,
neither knew how to prevent or repair the reverses to which
an undisciplined armv must be exposed.
In the plain of Ptolemais, trod by two hundred thousand
warriors, on the morrow was only to be seen, to employ an
Oriental image, birds of prey and wolves attracted by the
scent of carnage and death. The Christians did not dare
to leave their intrenehments, and victory itself could not
reassure Saladin, who had seen his whole army put to flight.
The most frightful disorder prevailed m the camp oi the
Saracens ; the slaves had pillaged it at the commencement
of the battle, and had fled, carrying away the booty that
escaped the hands of the Crusaders. Both the emu^s and
* This accident of a loose horse is related by the anonymous author of
the History of Jerusalem {Historia Hierosolymitana).
t The Arabian historians say that a horse escaped from a vessel, and
was pursued ; he threw himself among the Mussulmans, who presented
him to Saladin, which was considered an evil presage.— See Chehabeddim,
the historian of Saladin.