Siege of Antioch
Siege of Antiocha; late medieval miniature from 1490
| date |
October 21st 1097 until 2. June 1098 (Christian) June 7. to 28. June 1098 (Muslim) |
|---|---|
| place | Antioch , Syria |
| output | Victory of the Crusaders |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Godfrey of Bouillon |
City |
| Troop strength | |
| unknown | unknown |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The siege of Antioch was part of the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098 . The first (Christian) siege lasted from 21st October 1097 until 2. June 1098 , the second (Muslim) siege from 7. June to 28. June 1098 .
background
Antioch had been taken from the Byzantine Empire in 1085 by the Seljuks . The Byzantine fortifications were from the time of Justinian , but had recently been renewed and strengthened. The city wall consisted of 400 towers, which made it possible for archers to reach any point outside the walls with their arrows. Antioch bordered a mountain range, which protected it from attacks on the sides where there was no city wall and made a complete siege of the city impossible. The Seljuks had taken control of the city through betrayal and therefore left the walls intact. Yaghi-Siyan had been the governor of the Seljuks since 1088 , a man who was well aware of the crusaders' march through Anatolia, and who - unsuccessfully - had asked for help from neighboring Muslim states. In preparation for the arrival of the Crusade, he imprisoned the Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch , John Oxites , and banished the Greek Orthodox , Armenian Apostolic, and Syrian Orthodox Christians from the city.
The city was not only of strategic importance for the crusaders, because the supporters of the early Christian community around the St. Peter's Grotto were the first to call themselves Christians .
Arrival of the crusaders
The crusaders reached the Orontes river outside Antioch on October 20, 1097. The four leaders of the crusade at that time, Godfrey of Bouillon , Bohemond of Taranto , Raymond IV of Toulouse and Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy , initially disagreed about how to proceed . Raimund wanted a direct attack; Bohemond, however, was able to convince Adhemar and Gottfried of a siege of the city. Raimund reluctantly accepted, and the crusaders partially circled the city on October 21. Although the city walls would have withstood direct attack, Yaghi-Siyan was relieved and encouraged that the crusaders did not attempt direct attack; he did not have enough people to adequately defend the city. Bohemond camped on the northeast corner of the city, at the Sankt-Pauls-Tor , Raimund further to the west at the Hundetor and Gottfried at the Herzogstor even further to the west, where a boat bridge had been built over the Orontes to Talenki. To the south was the Two Sisters Gate and to the northwest the Sankt-Georgs-Tor , which was not blocked by the crusaders, so that those trapped could be supplied with supplies. On the south and west side of the city was the hill area of Mons Silpius with the citadel and the "Iron Gate".
First siege
In mid-November, Bohemond's nephew Tankred arrived with other troops, a fleet from Genoa had sailed with supplies to the Saint Symeons port . The siege dragged on, Gottfried fell ill in December, and the food was coming to an end with the approaching winter. At the end of the month, Bohemond and Robert von Flanders went south with 20,000 men to get food, which Yaghi-Siyan used on December 29 to break out at Saint George's Gate and attack Raimund's camp across the river in Talenki. Raimund managed to push him back, but failed to get into the city. Bohemond and Robert were attacked at the time by an army under Duqaq of Damascus that had marched north to come to the aid of Antioch. Although the crusaders were victorious here, they had to retreat to Antioch with the little food they had gathered. The month ended badly for both sides: an earthquake on December 30th and unusually cold and rainy weather in the following weeks troubled the crusaders, but also caused Duqaq to withdraw and make no further attempt at relief .
hunger
In the absence of food, hunger spread in the Christian camp, people and horses died, every seventh man died and only 700 horses survived. Others ate the horses, although some knights preferred starvation. The Christian prince of Lesser Armenia , Constantine , and the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem , Simeon, who had exiled in Cyprus , sent food that was insufficient to alleviate hunger. Some knights and soldiers deserted in January 1098, including Peter the Hermit , but he was soon picked up and brought back to Tankred's camp with battered prestige. Several contemporary Frankish chroniclers report cases of cannibalism, both in winter 1097/98 and especially in winter 1098/99 during the conquest of the city of Maarat an-Numan .
English reinforcements
On March 4, an Anglo-Saxon fleet under Edgar Ætheling from Constantinople , where he was living in exile , arrived in Saint Simeon . They brought building materials for siege engines , which were almost lost on March 6th, when Raimund and Bohemond (neither trusting the other enough to let him have the material) were attacked by a detachment of Yaghi-Siyan's garrison on the road to Antioch. With Gottfried's help, the enemy was beaten and the material saved. Although Edgar had received the ships and materials from Emperor Alexios, the Crusaders did not see this as direct Byzantine aid. They began building the siege engines and a facility that was occupied by Tankred in order to block the Saint George Gate , which was still bringing food deliveries into the city. Effects were now showing in the well-defended city. Antioch was cordoned off, and with the onset of spring the Crusaders' nutritional situation improved.
Fatimid message
In April, a Fatimid delegation from Egypt arrived at the Crusaders' camp hoping to make peace with the Christians, who ended up being the enemies of their own enemies, the Seljuks. Peter the Hermit, who spoke fluent Arabic , was sent to the negotiations, but they did not lead to any result. The Fatimids assumed that the Crusaders were merely mercenaries of the Byzantines and were prepared to cede Syria to them if they spared Fatimid Palestine - a status that had existed between Egypt and Byzantium before the Turkish invasion, but which the Crusaders do not accept because this would have meant renouncing Jerusalem . The Fatimids were treated hospitably and were showered with gifts that had been taken from the Turks who had been defeated in March. No agreement was reached.
Conquest of Antioch
The siege continued. At the end of May, a Muslim army from Mosul under the command of Kerbogaz approached Antioch. This army was much larger than the two previous attempts to lift the siege of the city. Kerboga had allied itself with Ridwan and Duqaq, troops from Persia were there as well as from the Ortoqids from Mesopotamia . The total strength of the Muslim army was 200,000 men, while on the side of the crusaders there were only 20,000 persons (including non-combatants). The crusaders had time to prepare for their arrival, as Kerboga first made a three-week detour via Edessa , which he could not take from Baldwin of Boulogne , who had recently received it.
The crusaders knew that if they were to survive, they would have to conquer the city before Kerboga's arrival. Bohemond had made contact with one of the Armenians through his spies in the city. After some influence, Firuz, who commanded three towers, agreed to hand them over to Bohemond and his troops. Firuz was supposed to lower a leather ladder from the Two Sisters Tower , which was near St. George's Gate , so that Bohemond and sixty of his soldiers could climb the wall. Then he went to the Princely Council and again demanded that whoever entered the city first should also receive it. Raimund grew angry and argued that the city should be surrendered to Alexios as agreed before their departure from Constantinople in 1097, but Gottfried, Tankred, Robert and the other leaders faced a desperate situation and agreed to his request.
Nevertheless, on June 2, Stephan von Blois and a few other French crusaders left the army. Later that day, Firuz instructed Bohemund to fake a march off, as if he wanted to go towards Kerboga, and then return that night and climb the walls with ladders. It so happened, and after climbing the walls, the nearby gate was opened, allowing the Crusaders to pour into the city. The Christians who remained in the city opened the remaining gates and took part in the bloodbath, killing as many of the Turkish garrison they hated as they could. The Crusaders also killed some Christians, including Firuz's brother. Yaghi-Siyan fled, but in the morning realized his cowardice and seriously injured himself with suicidal intent. He was found alive by an Armenian woodcutter who cut off his head and brought it to the city for the crusaders.
Second siege
At the end of June 3, the Crusaders controlled most of the city with the exception of the citadel, which remained in the hands of Yaghi-Siyan's son Shams ad-Daulah. John Oxites was reinstated as patriarch by Adhemar de Monteil , the apostolic legate . Adhemar wanted good relations with the Byzantines, especially since Bohemond openly claimed the city for himself.
There wasn't much food to be found in town, and Kerboga's army was advancing. He reached Antioch just two days later, on June 5th, tried in vain an assault on June 7th, and on June 9th had built his own siege ring.
Between the conquest of the city and Kerboga's arrival, other crusaders had deserted, they now joined Stephan von Blois, who was in Tarsus . Stephan had seen Kerboga's army in the field camp near Antioch and had lost all hope, the deserters confirmed his fears. On the way back to Constantinople, Stephan and the other deserters met Alexios, who had set out to support the Crusaders but did not know that the city had been conquered and was now being besieged again. Stephan convinced him that the other crusaders were as good as dead, and Alexios, in turn, knew from his connections that another Seljuq army was nearby. He chose to turn back rather than risk battle.
Discovery of the Holy Lance
In Antioch meanwhile, on June 10th, a simple monk named Peter Bartholomew claimed to have had visions from the Apostle Andrew , who had told him that the Holy Lance was within the city. The starving crusaders were prone to visions and hallucinations, another monk named Stephan of Valence reported on apparitions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary . On June 14th, a meteor was seen falling in the opposing camp, which was interpreted as a good omen. Although Adhemar was skeptical that he had seen a remnant of the Holy Lance in Constantinople, Raimund believed Peter's statements. Raymond von Toulouse, Raymond von Aguilers , Wilhelm von Orange and others began digging in St. Peter's Cathedral on June 15 . When they emerged from the pit without finding, Peter climbed in, reached down to the floor and pulled out a spearhead. Taking this discovery as a divine sign that they would survive, Raimund prepared more for the decisive battle than for submission. Peter related another vision in which St. Andrew asked the army to fast for five days (although they were all already starving), after which they would be victorious.
Bohemond didn't trust the Holy Lance either, but there is no question that its discovery raised the morale of the troop. It is possible that Peter simply reported what Bohemond wanted to hear, as he knew from spies in Kerboga's camp that there too the various factions had quarreled and might not fight as a unit in a battle. On June 27th, Peter the Hermit was sent by Bohemond to negotiate at Kerboga, a futile undertaking, the battle with the Turks was inevitable. Bohemond set up six divisions: one he commanded himself, the other five were led by Hugo von Vermandois and Robert of Flanders, Gottfried, Robert of Normandy , Adhemar, and Tankred and Gaston IV of Béarn . Raimund, who had become ill, stayed behind and with 200 men watched over the citadel, which was still held, now by Ahmed ibn Merwan, a follower of Kerbogas.
Battle of Antioch
On Monday, June 28, 1098, the crusaders marched out of the city gate, Raimund von Aguilers carried the Holy Lance before them. Kerboga hesitated against the pleas of his generals, hoping to attack them all at once instead of one division at a time, but underestimated their number. He pretended to retreat to lure the crusaders to better terrain while his archers kept covering them with arrows. A division was sent against the left wing of the Crusaders, which was not covered by the river, but Bohemond quickly formed a seventh division and repulsed it. The Turks inflicted great losses on the Crusaders, including Adhemar's standard bearer, Vice Count Herachus . Kerboga set fire to the grass between the lines, but couldn't stop the enemy. The battle was short. When the crusaders reached Kerbogas front, Duqaq deserted and most of the Turks panicked. Soon the whole Turkish army was on the run.
effect
When Kerboga fled, the citadel surrendered, but only to Bohemond personally - which seems to have been arranged in advance without Raimund's knowledge. As expected, Bohemond now claimed the city for himself, although Adhemar and Raimund contradicted this. Hugo of Vermandois and Baldwin II of Hainaut were sent to Constantinople, with Baldwin disappearing in an ambush on the way. Alexios wasn't interested in sending an expedition out so late in the summer to claim the city. Back in Antioch, Bohemond argued that Alexios had left the crusade, and that the oaths he had taken were invalid. Bohemond and Raimund occupied Yaghi-Siyan's palace, but Bohemond controlled most of the city and his standard waved on the citadel. It is a common belief that the Franks from northern France, the Provençals from southern France and the Normans from southern Italy considered themselves nations of their own and that each of them wanted to elevate their status; this may explain part of the argument, but personal ambition is a better approach to understanding internal struggles.
An epidemic soon broke out, possibly typhoid , which Adhemar succumbed to on August 1st. In September, the leaders of the crusade wrote to Pope Urban II to personally take control of Antioch, which he refused. The rest of the year was spent taking control of the city's surroundings, although the Crusaders now had fewer horses than before and the Muslim farmers refused to give them food. The common knights and soldiers became restless, hunger aroused, and they feared that they would not have to move on to Jerusalem without their warring leaders. In November Raimund gave in for the common goal and to calm the mutinous and starving troops. At the beginning of 1099 the march was resumed and Bohemond was left as the first prince of Antioch . In the spring the siege of Jerusalem began under the leadership of Raymond.
The siege of Antioch quickly became legendary. In the 12th century it was the subject of the Chanson d'Antioche , a chanson de geste .
literature
- Peter Thorau: The Crusades . Munich 2004.
- Ralph-Johannes Lily: Byzantium and the Crusades . Stuttgart 2004.
- Ralph-Johannes Lily: Byzantium and the Crusader States . Munich 1981.
- Jörg Dendl: pilgrimage in arms . Munich 1999.
- Norman Housley: The Crusaders . Stuttgart 2004.
- Robert Payne: The Crusades . Düsseldorf 2001.
- Hans E. Mayer: The Crusades . Oxford 1972.
- Edward Peters (Ed.): The First Crusade: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials , University of Pennsylvania, 1971.
- Steven Runciman : The History of the Crusades. Volume I, Cambridge 1951.
- Kenneth Setton (Ed.): History of the Crusades . Madison 1969-1989 ( online ).
- Jonathan Riley-Smith : The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading . Pennsylvania, 1986.
- Rosalind Hill: The Deeds of the Franks and the other Pilgrims to Jerusalem. Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum . London u. a. 1962.
Web links
- Collected reports on the siege and conquest of Antioch
- The Gesta Francorum (see Chapters 10–15)
- The Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Jerusalem by Raimund von Aguilers (see chapters 4–9)
- The Alexiad (see Chapter 11)
- Peter Tudebode's report in De Re Militari