CHAP, IV.] 



FEUDAL CAVALRY. 



129 



iman 

 and 

 the 



je to 



llems 

 and 

 the 



Isuch 

 ipon 



IS of 



[rray 

 his 

 ride, 

 slem 



horsemen dashed fiercely and frequently forward against 

 the battalions of the Franks, who resisted manfully, and 

 many fell dead on either side until the going down of 

 the sun. Night parted the two armies, but in the grey of 

 the morning the Moslems returned to the battle. Their 

 cavaliers had soon hewn their way into the centre of the 

 Christian host. But many of the Moslems were fearful for 

 the safety of the spoil which they had stored in their tents, 

 and a false cry arose in their ranks, that some of the 

 enemy were plundering the camp, whereupon several 

 squadrons of the Moslem horsemen rode ofi" to protect 

 their tents. But it seemed as if they fled, and all the 

 host was troubled. And while Abderrahman strove to 

 cheek their tumult and to lead them back to battle, the 

 warriors of the Franks came around him, and he was 

 pierced through with many spears, so that he died. 

 Then all the host fled before the enemy and many died 

 in their flight. This deadly defeat of the Moslems, and 

 the loss of the great leader and good cavalier Abderrah- 

 man, took place in the hundred and fifteenth year." ' 



These extracts do not give a clear idea of the tactics 

 of the opposing forces, but one can gather from them 

 that the Saracens relied upon their cimeters, and con- 

 sequently fought at close quarters, while the Franks used 

 lances as well ; for Abderrahman seems to have been 

 killed by spear-thrusts. The Arabs say the battle lasted 

 two days, the Christian chroniclers say six or seven days. 

 This leads to the inference that the fighting must have 

 consisted of desultory skirmishes of horsemen carried on 

 all over the plain with varying success. With such un- 

 wieldy and undisciplined hordes it is very improbable 

 that a pitched battle could be fought on an open plain, 

 without one party or the other winning a decisive victory 

 in one day. The death of Abderrahman, following the 

 confusion caused by the report, true or false, of an attack 

 upon the camp, was quite sufficient to turn the scale of 

 victory in fsivour of the Franks, and the loss of the 

 vanquished in the pursuit would make the result very 

 decided. 



' Creivfy, DeoiHivr Battles : Tours. 



