SURVIVAL

Montgisard Suite

This is the story of Baldwin IV, the leprous king of Jerusalem
during the Crusades in the 12th century.
Born in 1161, he became King at the age of 13 and died in 1185 ,aged 24. In that time there was no cure for leprosy.
The album highlight is his great victory at the battle of Montgisard
(Tel al-Safija) in The Holy Land (1177) with a small army of 500 Crusader Knights against an enemy(Saladin) with an army 50 times greater in numbers.

The Knights Templar were the elite fighting force of their day. However, not all of them were warriors. The mission of most of the members was one of support -- to acquire resources which could be used to fund and equip the small percentage of members who were fighting on the front lines. Because of this infrastructure, the warriors were well-trained and very well-armed. Even their horses were trained to fight in combat, kicking or biting the enemies.
One of the key battles in which this was demonstrated was in 1177, at the [[Battle of Montgisard]]. The famous Muslim military leader [[Saladin]] was attempting to push toward Jerusalem from the south, with a force of 26,000 soldiers. He had pinned the forces of Jerusalem's King [[Baldwin IV of Jerusalem|Baldwin IV]], about 500 knights and their supporters, near the coast, at [[Ascalon]]. Eighty Templar knights and their own entourage attempted to reinforce. They met Saladin's troops at [[Gaza]], but were considered too small a force to be worth fighting, so Saladin turned his back on them and headed with his army towards Jerusalem.
Once Saladin and his army had moved on, the Templars were able to join King Baldwin's forces, and together they proceeded north along the coast. Saladin had made a key mistake at that point -- instead of keeping his forces together, he permitted his army to temporarily spread out and pillage various villages on their way to Jerusalem. The Templars took advantage of this low state of readiness to launch a surprise ambush directly against Saladin and his bodyguard, at Montgisard near Ramla. Saladin's army was spread too thin to adequately defend themselves, and he and his forces were forced to fight a losing battle as they retreated back to the south, ending up with only a tenth of their original number. The battle was not the final one with Saladin, but it bought a year of peace for the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the victory became a heroic legend.

Montgisard

Historian Stephen Howarth describes the battle:

There were twenty-six thousand Saracen horsemen, only a few hundred Christians; but the Saracen were routed. Most were killed; Saladin himself only escaped because he rode a racing camel. The young king with his hands bandaged, rode in the forefront of the Christian charge ? with St. George beside him, people said, and the True Cross shining as brightly as the sun. Whether or not that was so, it was an almost incredible victory, an echo of the days of the First Crusade. But it was also the last time such a great Moslem army was beaten by such a small force.

Credits:

The song Montgisard was composed, arranged and played entirely by Jack Langevelt, with the exception of the guitar parts. They were played by David Dexter.

KEYBOARDS:
Hammond XB2, Roland JV 1010, Roland U 110,
Korg iX 3000, Korg X5DR,
Yamaha DX 11, Yamaha SR 15,
Emu Proteus
BASS and DRUMS:
Roland and Korg bass&drums



Jack Langevelt