October 1097.
Two years had passed since Pope Urban II preached a crusade to help the Byzantine Empire in
its war against the Seljuk Turks.
Now the First Crusade had reached the great city of Antioch.
It was the last major Turkish stronghold standing between the Crusade and its goal, the holy
city of Jerusalem.
But Antioch was virtually impregnable – with its citadel atop a 1000 foot mountain - and
too large to encircle.
The giant Crusader army could only camp outside its walls, and pray for a miracle.
But that winter, they ran out of food.
Horses, men and camp followers began to starve.
A trickle of supplies continued to arrive by sea, mostly from the Byzantine-controlled
island of Cyprus.
And they defeated an attempt by Radwan of Aleppo to break the siege at the Battle of
Lake Antioch.
But the Crusaders' situation seemed hopeless.
Morale fell, as deaths and desertions rose steadily.
In March a Crusader fleet arrived with much-needed reinforcements and supplies.
Finally, one night, Bohemond of Taranto and 60 of his men scaled a tower on the southern
wall, whose commander had been bribed.
As dawn broke, Bohemond's men opened the city gates, and the Crusader army poured in.
They massacred soldiers and civilians alike, while desperate Muslim survivors fled to the
citadel, which continued to resist all attacks.
Antioch had fallen.
But now a giant Turkish army was assembled under the command of Kür Bugha, governor
of Mosul.
First he attacked Baldwin in Edessa, but abandoned his siege after three weeks, and marched on
Antioch.
The Crusader army was exhausted, starving, and now trapped.
They could expect no help from the Byzantines – Emperor Alexius, busy securing his own
territory in Anatolia, had received false reports that the Crusade had already been
destroyed.
Fearing a Turkish counter-attack, he withdrew to Constantinople.
Then, inside Antioch, a relic was miraculously discovered, supposedly the 'Holy Lance', thrust
into Christ's side at his crucifixion – and the Crusaders' faith in their holy mission
was renewed.
Although heavily outnumbered, the Crusaders decided to meet the Muslim army outside the
city walls.
With the zeal of religious fanatics, seeing visions of saints and angels, they charged
the Muslim army... which turned, and fled.
Kür Bugha, accusing his commanders of treachery – possibly correctly - set fire to his camp
and withdrew.
The Muslim defenders in the citadel, witnessing this stunning victory, quickly surrendered.
In summer 1098, Fatimid forces from Egypt captured Jerusalem from the Artukid Turks.
Al Afdal, Grand Vizier (or chief minister) of Egypt, saw the Seljuk Turks as his greatest
enemy, and even tried to make an alliance with the Crusaders against them.
But the Crusaders were not interested.
Instead, they spent five months around Antioch, foraging supplies and arguing among themselves.
Stephen of Blois and Hugh of Vermandois had already given up and returned home.
Now Bohemond of Taranto claimed the former Byzantine city of Antioch for himself, breaking
his oath to Emperor Alexius to return such territories to him.
Bohemond argued that the Emperor had broken the oath first, by failing to help the Crusaders
during the siege.
Divisions deepened after Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy died from illness – he'd been the
Crusade's spiritual leader, and a unifying presence on their council.
Meanwhile, Crusaders carried out a brutal massacre of civilians at Ma'arat al Nu'man.
Pressure from the mass of ordinary Crusaders forced their leaders to put aside their differences,
and march south towards Jerusalem - except for Bohemond, who remained in Antioch, where
he declared himself prince.
As the Crusaders entered Fatimid territory, many local rulers offered up money and supplies
to avoid violence.
Other villages had been abandoned.
As the Crusaders neared Jerusalem, they found wells poisoned, trees cut down, and animals
driven away.
Anything that could help the Crusaders had been destroyed.
On 7th June 1099, the Crusaders got their first sight of Jerusalem – many fell to
their knees, and wept with joy.
But they faced a serious challenge.
They were now reduced to about 12,000 fighting men, not enough to encircle the city, and
they were running out of food and water.
Jerusalem would have to be taken by storm.
The barren landscape meant the Crusaders had no timber to build siege engines.
And on 13th June, their first assault with a single scaling ladder was easily repulsed.
Four days later, six Genoese galleys arrived at Jaffa, where they were soon blockaded by
the powerful Fatimid fleet.
So the sailors took apart their ships, and carried the timber to the siege at Jerusalem.
The Crusaders foraged more wood from the surrounding land – enough to build two siege towers:
These mobile wooden structures would be wheeled up to the outer wall, and allow the Crusaders
to directly assault the enemy battlements.
One tower was stationed with Raymond of Toulouse's forces in the southwest, the other was with
Godfrey of Bouillon's troops to the north.
On 8th July, seeking God's aid in the impending assault, the entire Crusade walked in procession
around the city, finishing with a religious service on the Mount of Olives.
On the night before the attack, Godfrey suddenly moved his siege tower to a less well-defended
section of the city walls.
The final assault began on 15 July 1099.
In the north, Godfrey of Bouillon's troops managed to fight their way across from their
tower onto the city walls, establishing a bridgehead.
Soon they were inside the city, and - overcome with religious euphoria and pure bloodlust
- they went on the rampage, butchering soldiers and civilians, Jews and Muslims, women and
children.
It was an orgy of shocking, prolonged slaughter – barbaric, but not unique for the age.
The First Crusade had secured its goal in the face of overwhelming odds.
And just four weeks later, at the Battle of Ascalon, the Crusaders smashed a Fatimid relief
army, sent to recapture Jerusalem.
Most Crusaders, their vows fulfilled, soon returned home to Europe.
Only around 300 knights remained to defend Jerusalem, under Godfrey of Bouillon, now
named Defender of the Holy Sepulchre.
The man who'd set these great events in motion, Pope Urban II, did not live to hear the news
that Jerusalem had been taken – he died just two weeks after the city's fall.
The new Crusader states that emerged – the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli,
the Principality of Antioch, the County of Edessa – lived on precariously, surrounded
by enemies.
And the Muslim world would not remain so catastrophically divided for long.
Soon it would unleash its own holy war against the Crusader states, turning the Holy Land
into a battleground for almost two centuries.
In response, more crusades would be launched from Europe – but none would ever match
the bloody, spectacular success of the First Crusade.
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