Editing Battle of Benevento (section)

== Battle ==
The battle began in the morning when Manfred sent his Saracens forward. Charles' infantry and crossbowmen advanced to meet them but were driven back by the foot-archers and light cavalry. The Saracens, however, having left themselves exposed in the open were charged by Provençal sergeants of Charles' first line and swiftly overwhelmed.<ref name="Oman 558"/> It is not known whether they acted rashly or if they were ordered to do so by Manfred but the German knights and men-at-arms who formed his first battle crossed the bridge and moved up to attack the Provençal cavalry. The Germans had at first the upper hand. They enjoyed a slight numerical advantage, were heavier men on heavier horses and their armor was quite impenetrable to the strokes of their opponents.<ref name="Oman 559">{{Cite book|last=Oman|first=Charles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ue5hyJlCGzcC&q=charles+oman+battle+of+muret&pg=PT553|title=A History of the Art of War: The Middle Ages from the Fourth to the Fourteenth Century|year=2012|publisher=Tales End Press|isbn=978-1-62358-003-2|pages=559|language=en}}</ref> They slowly but effectively pushed the Provençals before them and Charles felt compelled to commit his second battle to aid the first. Accordingly, the French knights charged and with them his 400 Italians as well. Outnumbered, the Germans still held out gallantly; they seemed invulnerable to the French swords as their armor kept repelling all blows. But the enemy had soon discovered the weak point of their equipment.<ref name="Oman 559"/> According to the chronicle of [[Andrew of Hungary (historian)|Andrew of Hungary]], some sharp-eyed French knight noted that the new plate armor, which was still in its infancy, did not protect their armpits when the arm was lifted to strike.<ref name="Oman 559"/><ref>{{citation |title=Property, Warfare, and the Renaissance of the Twelfth Century |author=John France |year=2003 |journal=The Haskins Society Journal |volume=11 |pages=73–84}}.</ref> Closing in and wedging themselves between the somewhat shaken ranks of the German heavy cavalry, the shorter and more acutely pointed blades of the French horsemen were much more effective in close quarters than the German longswords. In a few minutes, a considerable number of Germans were mortally wounded. Overwhelmed and broken, the whole corps was practically annihilated.<ref name="Oman 559"/>

The tide had now evidently turned against Manfred. The long time spent crossing the narrow bridge meant a very wide space arose between his first corps, which had prematurely charged, and his second, which he had deployed to assist them. By the time Manfred's second battle arrived to aid the Germans, they had been cut to pieces and they themselves were now in a precarious situation as Charles had already ordered his third battle to charge them. While some did so from the front, others swept round their flanks and beset them from the rear. Shaken in spirit by the sight of what the French had done to the Germans, they made a very poor resistance; seeing themselves about to be surrounded, they broke and attempted to flee but most were slain.<ref name="Oman 560" /> Realizing defeat was imminent, most of the nobles in Manfred's third corps deserted, leaving the king to his fate. Manfred was now left with a choice himself: death or instant flight. His undaunted spirit led him to take the first alternative. After exchanging the royal [[surcoat]] with his friend Tebaldo Annibaldi to whom he had also given his royal armor prior to the battle as not to attract too much notice in the [[mêlée]], Manfred closed up with the few faithful of his followers left and rode straight into the midst of the enemy. He found the death that he sought.<ref name="Oman 560" /> The battle saw the French give little quarter; only a few prisoners were taken, the most notable being Giordano Lancia and his cousin, Count Bartolommeo. The river was at the back of the fugitives and only the bridge was safe; those who tried to swim the flooded Calore in their heavy mail were mostly drowned.

Only 600 of Manfred's 3,600 heavy cavalrymen managed to escape death or capture.<ref name="Oman 560" /> Also, the Saracens had fought as mercenaries for Holy Roman Emperors since [[Frederick II Hohenstaufen]] planted a colony of some 35,000 Saracens near [[Lucera]]. For many decades, this colony had provided the German emperors with 5,000 archers per year. The unit was wiped out at Benevento.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nolan|first=Cathal|title=The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000–1650|url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/2703428-the-age-of-wars-of-religion-1000-1650-volume-1-an-encyclopedia-of-glo|access-date=2020-07-31|website=www.goodreads.com|page=759}}</ref>