Aries (Lucien)
Where and how the battle of Baziège was contested in 1219 is examined afresh taking into account of significant topographical changes wrought on the landscape between 1710 and 1750 to correct the course of the Hers River. At the time of the battle, the Hers was a very winding river which followed a wide meander, of several hundred meters to the gates of Baziège; the town was built on the right bank (or external edge of the meander). The battle took place within the teardrop shaped stretch of land contained within the course of the meander, on the left bank of the river. The crusaders had positioned their camp as close to the town as possible in order to monitor the enemy. From the opening phase of the Occitan attack, the Crusaders were surrounded and trapped in the meander of the river by a light cavalry of mounted archers and scouts. Exposed, weakened and without possibility of a quick retreat across the marshy plain, they could not withstand either the heavy cavalry charge of the Count of Foix and Raymond the young count of Toulouse, nor the flood of infantry of the Occitan army. This unprecedented defeat of the Crusaders, among them Hugh De Lacy, can be explained by the size of the Occitan forces, within the broader context of the siege of Marmande, and by the rallying of major Occitan forces in Toulouse. However, the tactics of encircling and trapping the Crusaders within the bend of the river prevented the northerners from deploying their heavy cavalry and contributed significantly to victory.
