Villehardouin, Marshal of Romania, who was destined to survive this day and write its story, led the vanguard. The main body, with whom was Baldwin, was commanded by the Count of Blois; the rear was brought up by old Dandolo. The slender ranks of the little army were continually being recruited by the accession of the fugitive remains of the garrisons. On the way to Adrianople they met the light cavalry of the Comans. Orders were given not to pursue these light horsemen, who fought after the manner of the Parthians. In a solid phalanx the Western knights were able to face any odds, but scattered and dispersed, they would fall beneath the weight of numbers.
The order insisted on by Dandolo, who knew this kind of enemy, was broken by no others than the emperor himself and the Count of Blois. The Comans, as usual, fled at the first charge of the heavily-armed knights, who spurred after them, regardless of the order, and led by the emperor. When they had ridden a mile or so, when their horses were breathed, then the Comans closed in on the little band of knights, and the unequal contest began of a hundred and forty against fourteen thousand. Some few struggled out of the melée and found their way back to the rest of the army. Most fell upon the field. Among these was the Count of Blois. A few were taken prisoners, among whom was the emperor.
No one ever knew his fate. The wildest stories were told of this unfortunate prince. His hands and feet, it was said, were cut off, and he was exposed, mutilated, to the wild animals; he was beheaded; he enacted the part of
