The Crusade of the Feudal Lords

All four Peoples Crusade “pilgrimages,” of which only two reached Constantinople, had turned out to be nothing more than looting expeditions, earning them a bad reputation among the populations of central Europe and the Romanian Empire.

The expeditions which followed next with four major forces, known to historians as the First Crusade, were much more of a military venture. Organized and led by senior lords of Catholic Western Europe, the Crusade consisted mainly of well-armed troops and mounted knights accompanied by Church clergy, with the Bishop of Puy as well as the soldiers’ wives and children. Their passage to Constantinople was also marred by pillage and pitched battles with the local Christian population. While some leaders, especially Bohemond, kept their men in check, others such as Raimond IV (Count of Toulouse) did little to discipline his Provenςale army. Known for looting and raping, his men came in repeated conflict with imperial Romanian forces and the local Slavs as they made their way down the Dalmatian coast.¹³ The third force under Hugh ofVerman- dois, the youngest son of King Henry I of France and Princess Anne of Rus, was taken under imperial escort to Constantinople, after his fleet was scattered by a storm off the Adriatic coast. Another army led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lotharingia, made its way overland to Belgrade and on to Constantinople; and the fourth force under Robert Duke of Normandy set out in September 1096 accompanied by Count Stephen of Blois and his cousin Count Robert of Flanders.

With the experience of the first People s Crusade behind him, EmperorAlexios I began to place the advancing Crusaders under close surveillance.¹⁴ Orders were issued to provide the “Latins” with provisions and to send troops to safeguard the local population. The Crusader forces were not allowed to link up as they arrived in the outskirts of Constantinople and were requested to camp outside of the walls along the upper end of the Golden Horn.

According to Fulcher of Chartres, the chaplain to Baldwin of Boulogne whose force arrived at Constantinople of May 14, 1097, they rested for fourteen days in their tents where they could buy the daily supplies which were brought to them by Alexios’ order. Also, small groups of five or six men were allowed into the city every hour to marvel at the splendor of Constantinople—the first European tourists on record! As a new force approached the city the previous arrivals were ferried across the Bosphorus (“The Arm of St. George”), by force of arms if necessary, together with wives, children and camp followers. Although sufficient imperial forces were retained to keep each Crusader force in check, EmperorAlexios and his advisors were finding themselves in a novel situation, and a growing apprehension began to set in. Theyhad allowed a large foreign army to camp within sight of the capital without guarantees or knowledge of the real intentions of the “Latins.” No doubt the Crusaders had ulterior motives of which Alexios I had gotten wind as claimed later by his daughter Anna.

They (the Crusaders) were all of one mind and in order to fulfill their dream of taking Constantinople they all adopted a common policy... to all appearances they were on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in reality they planned to de-throne Alexios and seize the capital. Unfortunately for them he was aware of their perfidy, from long experience.¹⁵

To impose some measure of control, Alexios decided that the Crusade leaders were to swear an oath of feudal obligation, following western European practice.

When we had sufficiently refreshed our fatigued selves, then our leaders, after counsel, agreed upon a contract under oath with the Emperor upon his demand. Already Lord Bohemond and Duke Godfrey, who had preceded us, had taken it.... It was necessary for all to confirm friendship with the Emperor, without whose counsel and aid we could not have completed our journey.¹⁶

Not all leaders agreed to swear, but with time all would do so, especially as following the oath meant they were rewarded with silk, coinage and horses.

There was little trust between the Eastern and the Western Christians, and the gulf between them was growing daily. The medieval French and German knights could not have been more different from the Graeco-Romans. The Greeks considered the illiterate “Franks” as boastful boors and were highly amused at the large number of women in their camps. The westerners, in turn, considered the Greeks a people effeminate in dress and manners, who ate smelly foods and were devious in intent. For the time being, however, both sides depended on each other. Alexios was hoping to regain the lost territories, while many of the Crusade leaders were secretly planning to establish their own kingdoms in Asia Minor and the Middle East, in spite of the oaths they had sworn.

By the end of May 1097, all Crusaders had crossed to Asia Minor and begun to move in the direction of Nicaea which was in enemy hands. With the arrival of the fourth force of the First Crusade under the Duke of Normandy the total expeditionary force now numbered more than 50,000 men, which, if required, could be reinforced by imperial troops and the Greek fire naval squadrons. According to Fulcher of Chartres: “Then the many armies there (Nicaea) were united into one, which those who were skilled in reckoning estimated... one hundred thousand full-armed with corselets and helmets, not counting the unarmed that is, the clerics, monks, women, and little children.”¹⁷

Fulcher, who accompanied the Crusaders’ expedition on their long march to Antioch, lists the presence of about twenty ethnicities in the combined Crusader army.¹⁸ The Muslims on the other hand were divided, with the Seljuk Turks busy fighting their sworn enemies in Syria the Shi’ite Caliphs of Egypt. Their occupation of Armenia was also unsettled since the Christian population could rise at any time. The Christian forces, however, were far from agreement or a common purpose, and mistrust persisted. Arriving at Nicaea the joint imperial and Crusader army laid siege to the city, and when a Turkish force failed to relieve the fortress the garrison surrendered after a five-week siege, on Alexios’ pledge that all lives would be spared.

The imperial flag was raised over the city, and although the Crusaders were compensated for the lost booty by payments from Alexios’ own treasury much suspicion grew when the Emperor offered captive Turks employment in the imperial army.

After a week’s rest, which followed the surrender of Nicaea, the Crusaders set out on their way to the next main destination—the strategic fortress and prosperous metropolis of Antioch. The great citywas not the Crusade leaders’ only objective since other worthy prizes lay on the way. One in particular almost cost the Crusaders their entire expedition. After laying several unsuccessful ambushes, the Turks under Kilij Arslan decided to confront the Christians at Darylaeum after being informed that a large part of the Crusaders had split away from the main force. Having heard that the Armenians had risen in revolt against the Turks, Raimond of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon and Hugh ofVermandois decided to divert their men to relieve the city of Comona. Now the remaining Christian army found its way blocked by the enemy and falling into battle formation the Crusaders began to advance on the Turkish ranks, which consisted entirely of cavalry. Fulcher of Chartres has provided a description of the main highlights of the battle, which at first went badly for the Crusaders.

At that time, Duke Godfrey and Count Raimond and the Great Hugh (of Vernandois) were not with us. For two days, I know not for what reason, they, with a large number of our people, had withdrawn from us at a forked crossroad. On account of this, irreparable harm befell us, because our men were slain and because the Turks were not killed nor repulsed. Since they received our messengers late, they brought aid to us late. The Turks, with clashing of weapons and shrieking, fiercely let loose a shower of arrows. Stunned and almost dead and with many injured, we straightway turned our backs in flight. Nor is this to be wondered at since such fighting was unknown to any of us.

The battle raged back and forth for some six hours, with the Turks gaining the upper hand and beginning to break into the Crusaders’ camps. The three leaders who had left for Comona now began to arrive with the advance guard, expelling the Turks from the Christian camps. The main force followed and “little by little, after we were spurred on and strengthened by union with some of our allies, divine grace was miraculously present. Suddenly, we saw the backs of the Turks as they turned in flight.”¹⁹

Unopposed by further enemy action—“the Turks fleeing before us in troops, sought hiding places for themselves all over Romania”—the Christian army continued its long march. Emperor Alexios on the other hand decided to return to Constantinople to ensure the security of the capital, assigning a small token force under General Tatikios to remain with the Western Crusaders. His job was to maintain imperial presence, assume symbolic command of any city that should fall to the Crusaders, and (at least theoretically) ensure the provisioning of the pilgrim army. The Crusaders continued to reveal their true intensions; the establishment of personal Roman Catholic kingdoms on what was Orthodox Romanian soil, in violation of the oaths which they had sworn to Emperor Alexios. When Co- mona was relieved of the siege by the Danishment Turks, it was left in command of a Provenςal knight not to be held in the Emperor’s name. Bohemond, Godfrey and Baldwin also separated their forces to conduct private conquests, and it took the entire Crusader army and camp followers three months to cover the 500-mile distance between Nicaea and Antioch.

The siege ofAntioch began in October 1097 and lasted for eight months. The Crusaders pitched their tents within a mile of the virtually impregnable walls of the city, on the Orontes River not far from the sea, and could be supplied by boat. The only way to take the citywas with time, to force surrender by starvation, but this was a double-edged sword.

Accompanied by women and children, the “great Christian multitude” had pillaged the surrounding countryside, and hunger set in amongst the besiegers as well. Forced to search for supplies at a great distance—some forty or fifty miles from the city—many fell victim to Turkish ambushes while others simply kept on going and did not bother to come back. The Count of Blois took his men from the siege and the imperial General Tatikios also disengaged his force, token though it was. No doubt he was aware of the strength of the defenses and had strong doubts whether they could be breached.²⁰ To prevent the enemy from sortieing the Crusaders had surrounded Antioch with wooden castles, but they also found themselves surrounded by enemies and hostile Christian Armenians who had turned on the Crusaders due to the pillaging and food expropriations.

After eight long months of siege, fortune smiled on the Crusaders. During the long months Bohemond had established communications with a Turkish (probably Armenian) commander called Pirus (Firouz) who was in charge of a small defense tower known as the Two Sisters. Lured by rich rewards (and his life spared) Pirus sent his son to Bohemond, agreeing to let the Crusaders into the citadel. At a pre-assigned place and time before dawn, Bohemond s men proceeded to the walls, where a ladder had been attached. Sixty men scaled the walls, but when the ladder broke a concealed gate was found through which the waiting Crusaders poured into the city. Guibert of Nogent has left the following description of the fall of Antioch:

Neither the victors (Crusaders) nor the vanquished showed any moderation or self-control... wailing and Shriekingfilled the city; while throngs pressed through the narrow streets, the brutal, bloody shouts of the victors, eager to kill, resounded... within the city... no one was spared because of sex; young children were killed, and, since the weak with age were not spared, there can be no doubt about the ferocity with which those who were young enough to be fit for battle were killed.²¹

Antioch had a substantial Orthodox Christian population that was also massacred together with the Muslims.

A Muslim force managed to lock itself inside the inner citadel that towered on a high cliff inside the city and was virtually impregnable. The fighting continued but now the besiegers themselves became besieged when a large Moslem force under the Atabeg Karbogha arrived a few days later, trapping the Crusaders inside the city walls. To make matters worse, Emperor Alexios, who had begun to head east in June to the Crusaders’ aid, was met by Count Blois, who swore that the besiegers were in a hopeless situation and on the verge of surrender. Also news had reached Alexios of Karboghas relieving force, and seeing little point in continuing he decided to turn back.

Locked within Antiochs outer fortifications, the Crusaders found themselves in a desperate situation as supplies began to run low, and it was decided to break the siege by attacking Karboghas army which had surrounded the city. On June 28, 1098, after three days of fasting, mass, and religious processions, the Crusaders moved outside of the city walls in sixlines of battle accompanied by bishops, priests, clerics, and monks chanting prayers for Gods support. The detailed development of the battle as recorded by Guibert of Nogent is not clear, but it seems the Moslems were attacked in their own camp by a numerically superior Crusader force, and began to retreat towards the mountains. In an attempt to Outmaneuver and surround the Christians the Turks split their main force in two, one luring the enemy to attack while the other advanced along the sea in an outflanking movement. The ruse had some success for a Crusader force that split off the main body and, led by Clairambout of Vandeuil, was annihilated, with only a few knights and foot soldiers making it back to their own lines.

Meanwhile, to face the Turks at the edge of the sea, a seventh group was formed out of the two armies led by Duke Godfrey and the Count of Normandy, and a certain Count Renaud was placed in charge. That day the battle was bitter, and many of our men were slaughtered by the arrows of the enemy. The cavalry of the enemy extended from the river Pharphar to the mountains, length of two miles. Squadrons of pagans attacked both sides, and struck with arrows and Javelins the group of Franks whom our men had placed in the vanguard as the strongest and most likely to resist the Turkish attacks. In charge of them was magnificent Hugh, regal in mind, no less brave than his ancestors, who proudly called out to his men, “Endure, and wait courageously for the second and third discharge of missiles, because they will then flee more quickly than speech.”²²

The enemy was driven back, setting fire to the tall grass and leaving their camp behind. Fulcher of Chartres noted with some approval that “when their women were found in the tents, the Franks did nothing evil to them except pierce their bellies with their lances.”²³

The Crusader leaders continued to carve out kingdoms for themselves, as they had done before and during the siege of Antioch. While the siege was at its height, Baldwin of Boulogne had taken his men to Edessa supposedly at the request of the Christian Armenians, and driving out the Turks, established himself as the ruler of the city and its surrounding territory. His example was followed by the other Crusade leaders, sometimes at each other s expense. When Raymond of Toulouse stationed his men in several towers of Antioch in the name OfEmperorAlexios I he was expelled by Bohemond s men, who claimed the city for him and for the Roman Catholic Church. The objective of the Crusade was made clear when the enemy was declared to be not only the Moslem and Hebrew populations but also the Greek Orthodox Christians.

After a rest of six months, a re-equipped Crusader army some 12,000 strong began to head south towards Jerusalem, occupying towns and cities along the way. They arrived before Jerusalem on 7 June 1099, and refusing the Caliphs offer of a peaceful settlement began to mount a siege when their own terms of total surrender were refused. The city was defended by a small Muslim force and a week later fell to the Crusaders, when a part of the defensive walls were brought down by battering rams. An indiscriminate slaughter of Moslems, Christians and Jews followed. According to contemporary observers, mothers were stabbed and their babies flung over the city walls, with some 70,000 inhabitants put to death. TheJews were herded into a synagogue and burned alive. The sack of Jerusalem was praised by an eyewitness, the priest Raymond of Ag- iles:

... wonderful things were to be seen. Numbers of Saracens were beheaded... Otherswereshotwitharrowsorforcedtoiump from the towers; others were tortured for several days and then burned in flames. In the streets were seen piles of heads and hands and feet. One rode everywhere amid the corpses of men and horses.²⁴

The Crusaders would soon suffer their first serious defeat. A powerful Muslim army was sent to the Middle East by the Fatimid caliph al-Amir of Egypt and was met by the Crusaders at Ramleh. After a brief victory the Crusaders were defeated the following day and, besieged in Ramleh, were soon forced to surrender. The Muslims in turn were defeated by Baldwins army and forced to withdraw from the Middle East. Unlike the Crusaders the Muslims proved to be of a more humane and chivalrous nature. According to Emperor Alexios^, daughter Anna Comnena, all Crusader counts (except Baldwin) had been taken prisoner at Ramleh, and when her father offered to provide the ransom the Crusader leaders were released by the Caliph to his charge without payment.²⁵

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Source: Basilevsky Alexander. Early Ukraine: A Military and Social History to the Mid-19th Century. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers,2016. — 397 p.. 2016

The Crusade of the Feudal Lords

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