Battle of Ager Sanguinis - The Battle

The Battle

Ilghazi was also waiting for reinforcements from Toghtekin, the Burid emir of Damascus, but he too was tired of waiting. Using little-used paths, his army quickly surrounded Roger's camp during the night of June 27. The prince had recklessly chosen a campsite in a wooded valley with steep sides and few avenues of escape. Roger's army of 700 knights and 3,000 foot soldiers, including turcopoles, hastily formed into five divisions. These drew up in a V-shaped line with the tip farthest from the Muslim battle array. From left to right, the divisions were commanded by Robert of St. Lo, Prince Roger, Guy de Frenelle, Geoffrey the Monk and Peter. Meanwhile, Roger told off a sixth division under Renaud Mansoer to protect the Antiochene rear.

As the Muslim army waited, the qadi Abu al-Fadl ibn al-Khashshab, wearing his lawyer's turban but brandishing a lance, rode out in front of the troopers. At first they were incredulous at being harangued by a scholar but at the end of his passionate evocation of the duties and merits of the jihad warrior, according to Kamal ad-Din, the contemporary historian of Aleppo, these hardened professionals wept with emotion and rode into battle.

That morning, June 28, the battle was begun by an archery duel between the Antiochene infantry, posted in front of the knights, and the Turkish bowmen. The crusader army was at first successful when the right-hand divisions of Peter and Geoffrey the Monk attacked and defeated the Turks opposed to them. Guy de Frenelle's center division had some success also, but the battle was soon decided on the left flank. Robert of St. Lo and the Turcopoles were driven back into Roger's division, disrupting it. A north wind blew dust in the faces of the Antioch knights and footmen, confusing them further. Soon, Turkish flanking forces enveloped the crusaders.

During the fighting, Roger was killed by a sword in the face at the foot of the great jewelled cross which had served as his standard. The rest of the army was killed or captured; only two knights survived. Renaud Mansoer, took refuge in the fort of Sarmada to wait for King Baldwin, but was later taken captive by Ilghazi. Among the other prisoners was likely Walter the Chancellor, who later wrote an account of the battle. The massacre led to the name of the battle, ager sanguinis, Latin for "the field of blood."