In the Summer of 1063, the Norman army of Roger de Hauteville and the Sicilian Muslim alliance, under the command of Ibn al Hawas, faced each other around the mountain top town of Cerami. For the previous three years, the Norman invaders had been gradually taking an ever tighter grip on the eastern provinces of Sicily and control of Cerami, just a short ride from their stronghold of Troina, was the key to their conquest of the entire island. As the Summer sun scorched the land, both sides desperately scoured the area for sources of water to slake their thirst and their scouts encountered each other on a daily basis. Two such parties, the Normans led by Tancred de Monceaux and the Saracen Zirids by Tahir al Jasur, arrived simultaneously at a deserted farm, eager to secure the well, which stood close by the ruins of an ancient Syracusan settlement... to the victor would go a fresh and limitless water supply, to the vanquished only thirst and vexation awaited!
The abandoned farm, with its south facing enclosed farm house, lemon grove and the all important well, situated just outside the enclosure, was to be scene of a most savage conflict.
de Monceaux, with his squire, Arnalt Pomeroy, and their force of spearmen and crossbows approached the farmstead from the east...
Geoffrey the Archer, an outlaw, caught red handed, illegally hunting on Tancred's estates in Normandy and forcibly brought, as part of the Lord's retinue, to Sicily, as punishment for his despicable crimes, was sent to find cover, from which, he could launch an ambush against the Saracens.
To the west of the farmstead, the Saracens made a stealthy approach; Kabeer al Jasur, younger brother of Tahir and Ihaab Amini, with his deadly composite bow, pushed forward to take cover amongst the ancient ruins.
The Norman spearman, Roulaund Renard, renowned for his speed and agility, soon took up cover at the corner of the farmhouse.
Unfortunately for de Monceaux, Geoffrey the Archer couldn't resist bursting from cover to unleash an arrow at the approaching Kabeer and he found himself being targeted by Ihaab Amini... fortunately, the Saracen archer was not having the best of days and failed to hit his target. Tahir and his spearmen made good use of the cover provided by the lemon grove to approach their objective and the well was soon within their reach.
The hot-headed young Norman crossbowman, Nicolas Chameau, advanced from the cover of the beer barrels and loosed a shot at Saleem al Haq, at the far end of the enclosure. The shot failed to wound the archer but his faith temporarily abandoned him and he fled to the cover of a large wagon.
Saleem was quickly able to recover his composure and, in no time at all, he was unleashing an arrow from his powerful composite bow, back in the direction of the crossbowman. His accurate shooting caused the first casualty of the encounter... and the young Norman crossbowman found himself taken down by the Saracen's lethal arrow.
This phase of the encounter proved to be disastrous for the Normans, with one of their crossbowmen already taken down, the expert bowman, Munjid al Nazar, drew a deadly bead on the second, Marin Verrier... In spite of the cover of the stone enclosure, the Saracen's arrow took Verrier down, leaving the Normans with no crossbows and only Geoffrey the Archer with the ability to strike from a distance! Seeing their chances of securing the well disappearing under the accurate fire power of the composite bows, Turstin Herisson dashed from the cover of the barrels, determined to get to grips with the enemy spearmen. In a blaze of unstoppable violence, he took down Ashraf Hameed... only to be instantly brought down himself by the flashing blade of the Saracen commander!
With three of their number already out of action, the heavily armoured spearman, Henri Leverret, made the fatal error of giving Munjid al Nazar the slightest opportunity of unleashing one of his dangerous arrows... and, in the flash of an arrow, another Norman was lying wounded in the Sicilian dust.
In a final desperate throw of the dice, Roulaund Renard and the squire, Arnalt Pomeroy, hurled themselves against the line of Saracen spears and although Roulaund was able to bring down Shaheen al Akbari... and the squire manged to hold his own against Kabeer al Jasur, Tancred, belatedly, realised that the day was lost and it was time to declare the better part of valour.
The engagement at the farm was nothing short of a disaster for the Normans but they had learned important lessons, not least to be wary of the Saracen composite bow. Tancred would retire and lick his wounds but, with the indomitable spirit of his people, he would soon be back to take revenge upon those responsible for the losses amongst his company.
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