the mass of population, but an army on the move for thousands of miles was a mobile reservoir of infection from which the locals had no immunity, and vice versa. More people died on crusade from diarrhoea than cold steel, and wastage from disease on campaign was a factor taken into account by every successful military leader from Nebuchadnezzar to Napoleon.
Nor were humans the only ones at risk. Daily checking of the horses’ hooves and legs for injury by stone, thorn or a loose nail was routine. Yet several thousand horses kept together for months, however healthy they were at the outset, provided ideal conditions for epidemics. In one campaign Charlemagne lost to disease nine-tenths of the thousands of horses on which his army depended for mobility and combat. 18 In addition to the diseases to which they were prone at home, there were others, fly-borne, tick-borne and contagious, to which they would be exposed while crossing Europe and in the East – even a form of equine venereal disease, dangerous for mares and almost always fatal for stallions. 19 None of the many thousand horses that survived to reach the Holy Land ever returned to Europe.
Logistical considerations were not the only reasons for Conrad III’s early departure. Whether he had indeed been outmanoeuvred by Bernard and tricked into volunteering, or whether he had had his own agenda all along is unclear, but the main reason for his relatively speedy departure was a firm determination to arrive first in Byzantium and make his own terms with its emperor, the equally wily Manuel Comnenus, before pressing on to the Holy Land.
Conrad rightly suspected the barons and ruler of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem of blatant self-interest and wanted to see for himself what the situation was before the arrival of innocent and emotional Louis could cloud the issues. At this stage there was no agreement on the specific aim of the crusade, let alone how the French and Germans might operate under joint command. With Jerusalem in Christian hands and not immediately menaced, to secure the Latin Kingdom long term required a far-reaching campaign directed by a leader more gifted in strategy than Louis, who trusted God to govern his actions and surrounded himself with clerical advisers like Odo. Conrad III might have proved himself such a leader of men, but disaster en route would deprive him of four-fifths of his army before he could show his mettle.
Its progress limited to the speed of an ox-cart, Louis’ contingent wound its way eastward across central Europe, making twelve or fifteen miles on a good day with regular rests for man and beast. For the wagons of the supply train, the roads were horrendous, having been laid by the Romans and plundered for building materials during eight centuries or more.
On the First Crusade, Godefroi de Bouillon had sent ahead of the main column a regiment of pioneers whose duty was to widen roads through forested areas and strengthen bridges where fords were lacking. Even so, the First Crusade had taken eighty-nine days to reach Constantinople, of which only fifty-nine were spent on the march. If half of the rest days were Sundays, the others were necessary to reorganise and regroup a column so long that the rear-guard passed three days after the leaders.
By now what had seemed in advance to the ladies an exciting taste of freedom had turned into discomfort and sickness for many. The few luxuries they had enjoyed at home were unavailable and increasingly they took to dressing as men, as being more convenient for long days in the saddle. For feminine hygiene there was little privacy.
Even to call the contingent an army is misleading, for it lacked any integrated command structure, was fraught with rivalry and composed for the major part of peasants without any formal military training.Louis left his squabbling barons to take turns in leading the way, with himself bringing up the rear. Beginning each day with Mass celebrated by Odo, he saw
Nor were humans the only ones at risk. Daily checking of the horses’ hooves and legs for injury by stone, thorn or a loose nail was routine. Yet several thousand horses kept together for months, however healthy they were at the outset, provided ideal conditions for epidemics. In one campaign Charlemagne lost to disease nine-tenths of the thousands of horses on which his army depended for mobility and combat. 18 In addition to the diseases to which they were prone at home, there were others, fly-borne, tick-borne and contagious, to which they would be exposed while crossing Europe and in the East – even a form of equine venereal disease, dangerous for mares and almost always fatal for stallions. 19 None of the many thousand horses that survived to reach the Holy Land ever returned to Europe.
Logistical considerations were not the only reasons for Conrad III’s early departure. Whether he had indeed been outmanoeuvred by Bernard and tricked into volunteering, or whether he had had his own agenda all along is unclear, but the main reason for his relatively speedy departure was a firm determination to arrive first in Byzantium and make his own terms with its emperor, the equally wily Manuel Comnenus, before pressing on to the Holy Land.
Conrad rightly suspected the barons and ruler of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem of blatant self-interest and wanted to see for himself what the situation was before the arrival of innocent and emotional Louis could cloud the issues. At this stage there was no agreement on the specific aim of the crusade, let alone how the French and Germans might operate under joint command. With Jerusalem in Christian hands and not immediately menaced, to secure the Latin Kingdom long term required a far-reaching campaign directed by a leader more gifted in strategy than Louis, who trusted God to govern his actions and surrounded himself with clerical advisers like Odo. Conrad III might have proved himself such a leader of men, but disaster en route would deprive him of four-fifths of his army before he could show his mettle.
Its progress limited to the speed of an ox-cart, Louis’ contingent wound its way eastward across central Europe, making twelve or fifteen miles on a good day with regular rests for man and beast. For the wagons of the supply train, the roads were horrendous, having been laid by the Romans and plundered for building materials during eight centuries or more.
On the First Crusade, Godefroi de Bouillon had sent ahead of the main column a regiment of pioneers whose duty was to widen roads through forested areas and strengthen bridges where fords were lacking. Even so, the First Crusade had taken eighty-nine days to reach Constantinople, of which only fifty-nine were spent on the march. If half of the rest days were Sundays, the others were necessary to reorganise and regroup a column so long that the rear-guard passed three days after the leaders.
By now what had seemed in advance to the ladies an exciting taste of freedom had turned into discomfort and sickness for many. The few luxuries they had enjoyed at home were unavailable and increasingly they took to dressing as men, as being more convenient for long days in the saddle. For feminine hygiene there was little privacy.
Even to call the contingent an army is misleading, for it lacked any integrated command structure, was fraught with rivalry and composed for the major part of peasants without any formal military training.Louis left his squabbling barons to take turns in leading the way, with himself bringing up the rear. Beginning each day with Mass celebrated by Odo, he saw
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