Crazy to think that massive expeditions to places so far away could be carried out in the Middle Ages, when medicine and technology were very rudimentary.
And organization! Most Crusaders, even the poor ones, would have brought along only money (or other valuables) to pay their way through, rather than having organized supply lines or even a set itinerary of depots who would be… expecting them. The poor state of roads and geographical knowledge also meant that, very often, smaller detachments would get lost.
The Byzantines would eventually set up some such logistics waypoints in their own territory simply to minimize the damage the Crusaders caused when passing through, but goddamn. That’s a low level of planning right there.
Crazy to think that massive expeditions to places so far away could be carried out in the Middle Ages, when medicine and technology were very rudimentary.
And organization! Most Crusaders, even the poor ones, would have brought along only money (or other valuables) to pay their way through, rather than having organized supply lines or even a set itinerary of depots who would be… expecting them. The poor state of roads and geographical knowledge also meant that, very often, smaller detachments would get lost.
The Byzantines would eventually set up some such logistics waypoints in their own territory simply to minimize the damage the Crusaders caused when passing through, but goddamn. That’s a low level of planning right there.