THE SCENE: If you were going to follow a medieval king into battle, you could do a lot worse than Louis the Fat, as the dramatic passage below demonstrates.
THE TEXT: With his usual greatness of spirit the king dismounted, went armed and on foot amid his armed warriors, and made them dismount with him. Ordering that the horses be taken away, he encouraged his knights to be bold, urged them to stand their ground, and shouted for them to do battle bravely. Seeing him coming so fearlessly, his foes were alarmed and became afraid to leave the outer zone of the castle. In a cowardly but cautious manner they chose to draw up their lines of battle behind the old moat of the ruined castle and await him there. Their plan was to confront the king’s host when it struggled to climb up out of the ditch. His well-ordered battle lines would then be thrown into disorder, and being disordered would begin to waiver, and this is largely what happened.
Thrown into confusion by the disarray of their battle lines, they could neither find their horses nor decide what to do. The king mounted someone else’s horse and returned to combat in a spirited fashion. He shouted and called his men back, urging the boldest by name not to flee. With sword unsheathed the king rushed amid the enemy ranks to help those whom he could and chose those who were fleeing. And something which little befitted the royal majesty, this veteran warrior fought hand-to-hand, fulfilling the office of a simple knight, not that of a king.
Just when his mount became tired and he alone could not prevent the host from giving way, his squire suddenly appeared close at hand, leading up the king’s own warhorse. He swiftly mounted and, holding his standard in front of him, led a few companions in another attack against his foes. With wonderful valor he rescued many of his men who had been captured and with a very powerful charge cut off some of the enemy. To prevent further harm to his host, he hurled back his foes and made them flee as if they had been dashing against the Pillars of Hercules or had been fended off by the great Ocean.
– The Deeds of Louis the Fat, Suger, 12th Century AD
