Louis VII's army marched to Attaleia under Templar discipline

Summary:
After men and material were lost in the battle, Louis VII led the army forward more cautiously, trying generously to help those who had lost their property amid increasing enemy attacks. As the army advanced, there came to be a severe shortage of provisions; they also had no guides, so that the army advanced haphazardly into Pamphylia, over steep mountains and deep valleys. Fortunately there was little or no contact with the enemy. Louis admired the example set by Everard of Barres and the Templars in piety and skill in protecting the persons and possessions of their men, and so decided to use Templar discipline and commanders on the march. A certain Giselbert was appointed commander for the French army under Templar control, with several colleagues, each of whom was assigned 50 knights; rules were set to impose collective discipline, rather than allowing individual reaction, as before. They applied especially to noblemen who lost their horses and were now on foot. In this way, by a kind of pact of mutual aid, his army descended the dangerous mountain and crossed two muddy rivers, dragging the weak horses behind them. Orders were given for a concerted attack on the Turks between the rivers, and Louis won one victory, and four more before Attaleia. The dying horses at least secured a supply of meat 
Dates:
1148, January 
Everard of Barres (Everard 102)
  • His piety and skill in protecting the persons and possessions of his men provided a splendid example, which Louis 101 wished to generalise to the whole army; he therefore made the whole army swear to follow simple Templar discipline, appointing Giselbert 101 as commander with colleagues (:) Odo of Deuil 124
Giselbert, Templar commander for the French army (Giselbert 101)
  • He was appointed commander for the French army under Templar control, with several colleagues, each of whom was assigned 50 knights; rules were set to impose collective discipline, rather than allowing individual reaction, as before; they applied especially to noblemen who lost their horses and were now on foot (:) Odo of Deuil 124
Louis VII, king of France (Louis 101)
  • After men and material were lost in the battle, he led the army forward more cautiously, trying generously to help those who had lost their property amid increasing enemy attacks; he admired the example set by Everard 102 and the Templars, and so decided to use Templar discipline and commanders (:) Odo of Deuil 122-124
  • In this way, by a pact of mutual aid, his army descended the dangerous mountain and crossed two muddy rivers, dragging weak horses behind them; orders were given for a concerted attack on Turks between the rivers, and he won a victory, and four more before Attaleia; dying horses at least secured a supply of meat (:) Odo of Deuil 124-126
  • As the army went on towards Attaleia, there came to be a severe shortage of provisions; they also had no guides, so that the army advanced haphazardly into Pamphylia, over steep mountains and deep valleys; fortunately there was little or no contact with the enemy before they arrived (:) William of Tyre bk. 16, 26.28-36