Editing Battle of Adrianople (1205) (section)

== Battle ==
The battle was fought for two days, one week after the Orthodox Easter celebration.

===First day, 13 April 1205===

On 13 April Kaloyan sent the Cuman cavalry to scout and to make a "test attack" against the knights. The Cumans landed a surprise attack on Emperor Baldwin I, then pretended to flee from the knights' skillful counter-attack. A long chase ensued, luring the knights out of their camps. At its conclusion the Cumans turned sharply around and began firing arrows at the stampeding enemy, killing many people and war horses. Realizing their own foolishness, the knights decided to stand their ground and wait for the attack of the Bulgarians. Baldwin made the decision to wait for all of the remaining knights and soldiers to gather and prepare for a proper battle, which would take place after the upcoming Easter celebrations.

During the preparation for the ambush, the Bulgarians dug ''[[Trou de loup|trous de loup]]'' or "wolf pits", in order to create obstacles for the movement and battle formation of the heavy cavalry knights. Kaloyan placed the infantry first in the ambush with the heavy cavalry in reserve, ready to intervene if the foot soldiers began to give in to the Latins. The light Cuman cavalry was given the order to lead the knights to the trap.

The same night Baldwin called a meeting with all of the present barons and leaders of the Fourth Crusade. They decided that, in the case of a new attack by the Cumans, the army must not follow, instead making a battle line formation in front of the camp.

===Second day, 14 April 1205===

On Thursday, 14 April 1205, during the celebration of Catholic Easter, the Cuman light cavalry made a sweeping attack on the camp of the knights with arrows, loud yells and ringing of steel. Outraged by this sacrilege, the knights armed, mounted, and got into battle formation. Count Louis I of Blois disregarded the plan made the night before and led his unit after the Cumans, and the other soldiers, already blinded by anger, followed his lead. The Cuman cavalry outpaced the Latins, and was obliged several times to stop and wait for the enemy to catch up, after which they had a mock fight and fled again. This lasted until they reached the ambush, located in a ravine among hills.

On the far side of the wolf pits the Cumans turned around, apparently offering a serious fight. The knights charged in with their characteristic formation, but were checked when many horses and riders fell into the pits. In the ensuing turmoil the Bulgarian infantry emerged from ambush and completely surrounded the knights. Baldwin soon arrived with the rest of the 200 knights, but was unable to break through the encirclement and free Count Louis. Seeing this, Kaloyan attacked and surrounded Baldwin with his heavy cavalry, isolating the Latins in two small groups. Bulgarian soldiers used ropes and hooked polearms to unhorse the knights, who were then finished off with swords, hammers and axes. Despite their broken formation and inability to coordinate, the surrounded Latins put up a hard fight which lasted until late in the evening. At its conclusion the main part of the Latin army had been annihilated and Baldwin I captured. He was taken to [[Veliko Tarnovo]] and imprisoned at the top of a tower in the [[Tsarevets (fortress)|Tsarevets]] fortress.