Battle of Mount Cadmus
Battle of Mount Cadmus | |||||||
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Part of the Second Crusade | |||||||
From a copy of the Passages d'outremer (c. 1490) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of France | Sultanate of Rum | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Louis VII | Mesud I | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
heavy casualties, William de Warren Everard of Breteuil Manassas of Bulles Gautier of Montjay Reynauld of Tours Itiers of Meingnac[1] | Unknown |
The Battle of Mount Cadmus took place near
Background
The ill-disciplined Crusaders, especially in the German Crusade, had caused a number of incidents with the passage of the crusading army through the Balkans. The Byzantine emperor,
The French and Germans decided to take separate routes. Conrad's army was defeated at the Battle of Dorylaeum 25 October 1147.
The remnants of the army of Conrad were able to join the army of the king of France. The armies followed the path left by the first Crusaders advance to
Battle
The vanguard, led by Geoffrey de Rancon, was recklessly placed too far ahead of the army. King Louis, with the main column, ignored that fact, and proceeded onward. The French soldiers walked with confidence, convinced that their comrades occupied the heights in front of them. However, the Seljuks had the advantage when the French ranks broke and rushed upon them swords in hand. The French retreated to a narrow gorge, bordered on one side with precipices and crags on the other. Horses, men, and baggage were forced into the abyss. King Louis VII was able to escape the fray, leaned against a tree and stood alone against multiple attackers.[3] At night, the king took advantage of the darkness to join the vanguard of his army, which had been believed dead.[4] After the battle, the army of the king of France, which had suffered heavy losses, barely reached Attaleia on 20 January.
Notes
- ^ Phillips, Jonathan, The Second Crusade: Extending the frontiers of Christendom, (Yale University Press, 2007), 201.
- ^ Nicolle, David and Christa Hook, The Second Crusade 1148: Disaster Outside Damascus, (Osprey Publishing, 2009), 62.
- ^ Phillips, p. 201.
- ISBN 0-521-34771-8.