urthering the setup, the knight had
a straight two-sided sword as his main weapon. He also had a spiked ball
called a Turkish mace. Should he become stripped of these two weapons, he
still had recourse to a long dagger worn on the belt, a small pocket knife,
and yet another small knife.
o then, the tactics that worked just
fine in Europe went like this: the knights took hold of yet another instrument
of war, namely the lance, and charged at the enemy with the lance pointed
at the vulnerable foot soldiers. Sometimes he also swung the lance like a
somewhat oversized baseball bat. If the lance was lost, the long sword was
then wielded with hacking movements. All this worked against stationary targets.
ut the theater of war was different
in the East. The Seljuq Turks' main attraction was the mounted archer who
could wreak havoc with his agility. To fight these quick riders, the Templars'
famed discipline came in handy. The Turks tried four modes of operation:
they did not go close to the Franks but remained distant, ready to retreat
if the Franks attacked; they sometimes feigned retreat to lure in knights
eager for instant glory; they attacked the Franks on the rear or the flanks,
which was a wholly new experience to the unlucky Europeans; and they forced
the Christians to fight on the march, preventing them from mustering and
preparing for attack.
he Templars and the Hospitallers were
the first forces able to maintain formation in the field. The Templars' Rule
stated that to break rank was worthy of losing one's
habit. Consequently, they were often placed in the rear guard. Having
men in ranks also meant having men under command and able to respond to enemy
action, and the introduction of discipline improved the field record of the
Franks significantly. Another main thing that helped Templars and Hospitallers
to gain fame was unswerving courage in battle, often especially when fighting
a losing one. The brave knights were held in high
esteem even by their enemies, a fact recorded in many Muslim sources of the
period.