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These Times History Took a Turn for the Batty

Khalid Elhassan November 3, 2019 34 min

England’s Edward, the Black Prince, paying his respects to John the Blind after the Battle of Crecy. Imgur

29. John the Blind Rides Into the Eternal Darkness

John the Blind’s command was understood to be honorific, what with him being blind and all. However, the excitement, sounds, and scent of the battle apparently awakened the old war dog in him. Despite his blindness, John ordered his knights to tie their horses to his and ride into battle, so he could deliver at least one stroke of his sword against the English, and thus satisfy his honor by taking an actual part in the fight.

His knights did as commanded, and tied to their horses, the blind king rode into battle. It ended badly: John the Blind, being blind, was unable to judge how far he had gone, and plunged too deep into the English ranks. He ended up getting cut off and enveloped by the enemy, and in the ensuing melee, the blind king and all of his entourage were slaughtered.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.