The Siege of Jerusalem: Crusade and Conquest in 1099

by Conor Kostick

  First to arrive, less than a month aft er the battle of Civitot, was Hugh the Great, brother of Philip of France. Th

  e presence of this group of knights pre-

  sented no diffi

  culties to Alexius, as Hugh’s following, already small, had been

  further reduced by shipwrecks on the journey across the Adriatic. With due respect for his lineage, Hugh eff ectively became a prisoner at Constantinople, where he was obliged to take an oath of fealty to the emperor. Detained with him were a number of the rowdy knights of the army of Emicho who had terrifi ed the Jewish communities of the Rhineland. Drogo of Nesle, Clarembald of Vendeuil and several companions had presented themselves at the border of the Byzantine Empire having survived the violent dispersal of Emicho’s army by Coloman of Hungary. While most of Emicho’s forces had either been slain or had abandoned the idea of the crusade, for these knights the adventure was only just beginning. Moreover, their period of forcible detention at Constantinople proved useful; Drogo and Clarembald now attached themselves to their royal companion and off ered to make him king of Jerusalem if he would look aft er their interests. It was far too early to raise the extremely divisive question of who should rule Jerusalem, if, by some miracle, the crusaders captured the city, but Hugh was extremely proud of his lineage and no doubt enjoyed the daydream of being king of the Holy City. 16

  A more tense situation between a crusading army and the Byzantine emperor arose with the arrival, just before Christmas 1096, of the next Latin force, that of Duke Godfrey and the Lotharingians. Godfrey had been told that Hugh and

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  T H E S I E G E O F J E R U S A L E M

  several German lords were prisoners of the Greeks; the tale came in the exaggerated form of depicting these princes as being bound in chains. Th e Duke

  therefore gave his army license to pillage the Greek lands through which they were passing. Immediately, Alexius dispatched two Franks to appease Godfrey.

  Soon the Lotharingians were camped outside the walls of the Byzantine capital, while Hugh, along with Drogo, Clarembald and another illustrious knight, William ‘the carpenter’ of Melun, so-called because he prevailed in battle by hewing down men like an artisan, were all allowed to join their fellow crusaders, which they did with great enthusiasm.

  Good relations between Alexius and Godfrey were still some way off and in their manoeuvres as to how they should meet and on what terms, the crusaders came to blows with mercenaries employed by the emperor, blows that at times were fairly serious engagements, with hundreds involved and many deaths on both sides. Just as Godfrey was showing a willingness to adopt the perspective of the emperor and it was being arranged to swap hostages in advance of a meeting, a messenger from Bohemond arrived in the Lotharingian camp. Th e

  Norman army was on the way and its prince promised that if Godfrey withdrew to spend the winter safely in Adrianople or Philippopolis, Bohemond would arrive by March and between them they could unseat the emperor. It was an interesting proposal, which Godfrey put to his intimates the following day. His reply to Bohemond, however, was unambiguous; he had not left his homeland or family for the sake of profi t or the destruction of Christians. Th e Lotharingians were intent on marching to Jerusalem.

  Bohemond’s legation had the eff ect of making up Godfrey’s mind with regard to Alexius, who in turn, when he learned of the contact between the Normans and the Lotharingians, was more conciliatory to the latter. Alexius’s treasured son, John, was given over to Godfrey as a hostage. Th

  is gave Godfrey the confi -

  dence to gather his most prominent followers and, on 20 January 1097, enter the palace of the emperor. Alexius put on his most impressive display, sitting in a powerful throne, dressed splendidly and surrounded by precious items.

  Th

  e Lotharingians were invited to kiss the emperor, symbolic gesture of peace.

  But it was also a gesture of submission, for the emperor remained seated. First Godfrey, then the other German nobles, in order of seniority, bent the knee to Alexius. Praising Godfrey as a powerful knight and prince, Alexius declared him to be an adopted son, and showered all present with enormously valuable gift s. Th

  e crusaders placed their hands in those of the emperor, this was the act of homage, a public gesture that they had become his man.17

  With plentiful supplies being sent to the Lotharingian army, which had now taken ship across the Bosphorus, soon all was harmony between the crusaders

  I N T H E B E G I N N I N G

  17

  and the Byzantines. From Alexius’s point of view, this was just as well, for the negotiations had dragged on for weeks and no sooner had they fi nished than Bohemond’s army arrived in Byzantine territory, having sailed safely across the Adriatic. Th

  e Normans were marching at great speed along the road from

  Durrazo. And only a few days behind Bohemond were Count Raymond of Toulouse and Bishop Adhémar of Le Puy, whose Provençal army had taken the land route through Albania. Aft er celebrating Easter, 1 April 1097, Bohemond left his army in camp at Hadrumetum to ride ahead to Constantinople with only ten companions, as if he hadn’t ever schemed to destroy Alexius and apparently without the slightest concern for his safety. Around 10 April 1097, Bohemond met with Alexius in the presence of Godfrey and his younger brother Baldwin.

  Needing very little persuasion, Bohemond accepted the emperor’s terms and to all appearances acted as a loyal vassal of Alexius, although it was noticeable that the Norman leader ate no food but that cooked by his own people. 18

  Not all the crusading nobles were so amenable to taking the oath to the emperor. One French knight had become furious at the sight of his lords having to stand while the emperor remained seated. When the opportunity arose, this knight went over to the emperor’s throne and made himself comfortable in it.

  Did he recall the famous story of how Rollo, the leader of a Viking troop who became ruler of Normandy, met with King Charles the Simple? Th

  e bishops

  present insisted that Rollo kiss the king’s foot. One of Rollo’s comrades therefore went over to the monarch and raised the royal foot to his mouth, toppling the king onto his back. Th

  is scandal provided much amusement to the Viking

  army.19 But by 1096 the whole legal system of homage, fealty and vassalage was far more rigorous than in the days of Rollo and his companions. Not only were the Greeks appalled by a barbarian seating himself in the imperial throne, but so too were the French and Lotharingian nobility. It was Baldwin who persuaded the knight that since they were now vassals of Alexius, they had to follow his customs and including that of standing while the emperor was seated. 20

  While Bohemond had gone on ahead to Constantinople, Tancred had been left in charge of the Norman army. Th

  e young knight had already experienced

  his fi rst taste of battle on the crusade, when, on 18 February 1097, Turcopoles, the light cavalry mercenaries of the Byzantines, had attacked the rearguard of the Norman army once the majority of troops were across the Vardar river.

  Tancred had rallied a body of knights and swum back across the river. His arrival at the fi ghting scattered the Turcopoles and netted the Normans many prisoners, who revealed that the emperor’s orders were to harass the arriving armies and keep them from plundering Greek lands. Bohemond let the prisoners go free before his departure for Constantinople. His nephew, however, had

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  T H E S I E G E O F J E R U S A L E M

  no intention of following a conciliatory policy towards Alexius. When nearly at Constantinople, together with his cousin Richard of the Principate, count of Salerno, Tancred disguised himself as a foot soldier and crossed the Bosphorus in secret. In this way, unlike the other prominent crusaders, he avoided having to take an oath of fealty to the emperor.

  Another prominent crusading leader who had great diffi

  culty with the idea

  of taking Alexius as his lord
was Count Raymond of Toulouse. Th

  e Provençal

  army had made a rough journey winter journey through the forested moun-tainsides of Albania, where the locals had murdered their elderly, poor and sick stragglers for what little they carried. Coming to Durazzo and the fi rst major Byzantine city on their route, the southern French army had been delighted, thinking that the worst of the journey was over. But they too had to contend with raids on their camps by Byzantine mercenaries. By the time the army had reached Constantinople, Raymond was seething. His rage was such that he contemplated assaulting the city, but all the other Latin princes insisted that it would be the height of folly for Christian to fi ght Christian and Bohemond went further, stating that he would take arms on the side of Alexius should it come to that. Th

  is was a rather dramatic profession of his newfound loyalty to

  the emperor and was likely to have raised a few sceptical eyebrows in the imperial court.21

  When it came to taking an oath of fealty to Alexius, Raymond baulked. In part this was because in the politically fragmented south of France he was much more familiar with oaths of security, taken between equals, than oaths of fealty, taken between vassals and lords. In part, also, it did not seem right to Raymond that Alexius should be the leader of the crusade. Aft er all, the Greek clergy had many practices that the Latin Church disapproved of. And it was Raymond who had fi rst off ered his services to the pope. If there were any overall leader of the expedition, it should be he. No matter how great the wealth on off er, no matter the entreaties, the furthest Raymond would go was to swear an oath of security with Alexius. Th

  e emperor was furious with Raymond and gave him

  little by way of gift s. But hindsight was to show that although the Provençal count was the most intransigent, he was also the most faithful to his promises.

  Th

  e fi rst contingents of the crusader army appeared before Nicea on 6 May 1097. Gradually, the other Christian armies converged on Qilij Arslān’s capital, until the united army fi lled the land in all directions with tents and banners.

  Th

  e crusading force was about 60,000 strong with some 7,000 fully armoured knights. From the perspective of those who had sewn a cross upon their tunic and set out for the Holy Land, this was evidence of the divine hand at work.

  It was inspiring, so many people, with so many diff erent languages, yet all united

  I N T H E B E G I N N I N G

  19

  with a common purpose. In those heady days, everyone felt as one. Should someone lose his or her belongings, a mule for example, the owner would be sought and the property returned. Miraculously, all could make themselves understood, despite their diff erent tongues. Th

  e clergy, of course, were in their

  element in this regard, with Latin the universal language of the army.22

  One grim sight that had contributed to this sense of solidarity between all the Christians was the enormous scattering of bones at Civitot and the nearby paths. Many were in tears as they marched towards Nicea past the morbid remains of Peter’s army. Th

  ose who had survived the catastrophe of the previ-

  ous October told the tale of how Walter had been provoked into battle with the Turkish sultan and how he had died facing his enemies. Peter the Hermit was treated with respect by the leaders of the united army and still had some reverence from the poor. But much of his aura of saintliness had gone, stripped by a course of events that made his popular expedition seem reckless rather than divinely inspired.

  From the perspective of those holding Nicea for Qilij Arslān, the situation was extremely frightening. Th

  e newly arrived Christian soldiers were nothing

  like those so easily defeated the previous October. Th

  ey were far better equipped,

  far better organized, and as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach. Admittedly, there was still the lake, which meant a means of obtaining supplies for the garrison. But with the extraordinary manpower available to the besiegers, it was only a matter of time before tunnels undermined the walls or the increasing number of siege engines threatened to pound them down. Once he understood the gravity of the situation Qilij Arslān responded as swift ly as when he had fi rst faced the Christians, bringing his askar back west across his lands and sending fast riders ahead. Two messengers attempting to get into the city were intercepted by the besiegers, one was killed, the other brought before Duke Godfrey and Bohemond. Th

  e spy revealed that Qilij Arslān intended to attack

  the following day, at the third hour, and that his message was intended to prepare the garrison of the city to attempt a sortie during this battle. Bargaining for his life, the Turkish messenger asked to be baptized and said that the proof of his words would be the arrival of the sultan by the stated hour. Should that fail to happen, then the messenger would willingly put his head under the axe. 23

  Th

  e crusading princes hurriedly prepared their troops and sent urgent messages back to Count Raymond, who had crossed the Bosphorus but was still a day behind. Th

  e Provençal army pressed on through the night, arriving as the

  sun cleared the horizon, prepared for battle behind their colourful standards.

  Th

  ey had hardly established their camp when, at the third hour indeed, Qilij Arslān attacked. Th

  ousands of Turkish riders pouring over the horizon and

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  T H E S I E G E O F J E R U S A L E M

  galloping down the valley of Nicea towards the city was almost a beautiful sight: their splendid banners and golden shields vivid against the newly risen sun. But the arrows that fl ew from the massed cavalry wrought cruel damage on the most recently arrived crusaders, for it was the troops of Count Raymond and Bishop Adhémar of Le Puy who had to bear the brunt of the charge.

  It helped the Christian army that they had been forewarned of the attack.

  A division of responsibilities was clearly understood, and while those so designated held the lines facing the city, the remainder hurried to where the battle was thickest. Th

  e Normans came up fast, with Tancred rueing the fact that the

  Provençal knights and not his own had obtained the fi rst opportunity to kill their Muslim enemies and thus earn the fame granted by song makers and history writers. Th

  e Lotharingians were equally swift , Baldwin, Godfrey’s younger

  brother, at their head. Soon the arriving Christian knights were galloping through the melee, infl icting deadly wounds with their lances. If Qilij Arslān had expected to encounter the same poorly armed and equipped Christian troops that he had slaughtered in the autumn, he was now bitterly disabused.

  Optimism turned to dismay. No fool though, once the momentum of his attack had faltered, he understood it was better to save the army than risk losing both his striking arm and his capital.

  Th

  e retreat was sounded and the bulk of the Turkish army extricated itself from battle. Th

  e cost of defeat was high enough though. Th

  e victorious Chris-

  tians decapitated the slain. A thousand heads were taken by cart to Civitot, to be shipped from there to the Byzantine emperor as proof of the victory. Th e

  remainder, and there were still sizeable stacks of heads, were put on catapults and launched into Nicea. In a grim manner the attackers were demonstrating to the besieged that their lord had been defeated and they should expect no relief.24

  In the aft ermath of this clear-cut victory, morale was extremely high in the united Christian army. Th

  e spy, whose words had proven accurate, was a popu-

  lar fi gure in the tents of the most senior Christian princes. Popular, that is, until he had relaxed his guards suffi

  ciently to make a break for the walls of Nicea in

  the early light of morning. Th

  ere he had a frightening moment. Th

  ose
on the

  walls of the city were at fi rst slow to respond to his frantic shouts, while from the Christian camp his captors raised a cry against the attempted escape. Just in time, a rope was found that allowed the spy to be hauled up into the city, while a hail of javelins kept the pursuit at bay. Th

  at day repeated cheers and taunts

  were directed at the besiegers as the Nicean garrison took heart from the fi rst event of the siege that had favoured them. Th

  ere were to be others, for despite

  their numbers and their recent victory, the Christian army had no way through the solid walls of the city.25

  I N T H E B E G I N N I N G

  21

  Two Lotharingian noblemen, still wealthy at this point of the journey although destined to become utterly ruined before the year was out, funded a ‘fox’ at their own expense. Count Hartmann of Dillingen and Henry of Esch commissioned a defensive structure that could hold 20 men, with the idea that it should be taken up to the walls of the city, where its triangular-shaped roof would defl ect the heavy missiles that would undoubtedly be thrown at it, while those inside dug away at the stone. As the armoured men approached the city, however, uneven ground meant that the fox became caught. All straining together to push it on, the key beams were dislodged from their bindings and the entire structure collapsed, instantly crushing those inside without a rock having been fl ung against them. Hartmann and Henry buried their brave followers with all due reverence and lamentation, but with a certain relief that they had chosen not to accompany the attack in person. 26

  Th

  e Provençal army had been more eff ective under the direction of Count Raymond and the Bishop of Le Puy. Th

  e followers of the bearded legate looked

  upon Adhémar not only as a religious fi gure, but also a general in his own right.

  Th