The First Crusade - Full Documentary

[Music] in March of 1095 pope urban ii held Council in Piacenza Lombardi here ambassadors from the Byzantine Emperor Alexia scum Menace appealed to the Pope for Western military aid the newly is Lama sized Seljuk Turks had seized control of most of Anatolia and were on the doorstep of Constantinople it's hard to discern precisely what Alexius hoped to gain from this appeal to the Pope Alexia's daughter Anna come Nina in her chronicle the Alexei ad says nothing about her father requesting aid from the West and instead treats the First Crusade as a spontaneous movement initiated by Westerners however Anna wrote in the mid 12th century and she may have purposely tried to distance her father from the actions of the Latins it's possible that the delegation at Piacenza was there more on routine as part of the emperor's ongoing efforts to recruit latin warriors into his service but it's also possible that Alexius meant to take advantage of Western military resources in a large and serious push against the Seljuks the Council of Piacenza is popularly viewed as the moment when Pope Urban decided to launch the first crusade however Jonathan Riley Smith points out that the idea of a military expedition sent to aid Byzantium had likely been developing in the Pope's mind for years a highly learnand broad-minded individual Pope Urban recognized the historical ties binding Rome and Constantinople and throughout his papacy strove to bring the two closer together one of his first acts s Pope was to lift the Latin Church his excommunication on Alexius at the council of Melfi in 1089 he established friendly correspondence with both the Byzantine Emperor and the patriarch of Constantinople relations between the Latin and Greek churches warmed Piacenza also was not the first time the Byzantine Emperor had appealed to Latin Christendom for marshal support only a few years earlier Alexius had asked the Pope to send troops to fight the Pechenegs in the Balkans as mentioned earlier Alexia's himself was no stranger to working with Latin Christians in 1086 Alexius had met with Robert the first Count of Flanders who was coming back from pilgrimage to Jerusalem Alexia's had shown Robert much hospitality and the two even embarked together on a campaign against the Seljuks Constantinople had a sizable population of Western Europeans with the Emperor's own bodyguard the varangians made up of elite Scandinavian warriors Pope Urban recognized how a serious response to this appeal was the natural next step and the papacy strive to asserted spiritual authority in the wake of the investiture controversy following Pope Gregory the seventh expulsion from Rome in 1084 as a result of his conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor the papacy had been in a weakened state now at Piacenza urban vividly exorcised papal power sitting in judgment on the state of the church and the morals of the clergy and debating the sins of emperors and kings specifically the conduct of Henry the fourth of Germany and the adultery a Philip the first of France answering a call to aid the Greeks against Islam would be yet another confident demonstration of papal strength after the council of Piacenza in march 1095 pope urban ii began planning the expedition that would be known to history as the first crusade he made an elaborate tour of france the first pope to do so in half a century which was to culminate in the Council of Clermont in November to be attended by 13 Archbishop's 82 bishops and a large number of Abbott's and other clergymen these church leaders would hail from the anglo-norman realms in the north to northern Austria in the east to Italy in the south the Pope's tour covered the bulk of southern central Western and southeastern France Provence languid off the Rhone Valley Burgundy d'Ivoire Nia Lima song Anjou men slain Potter and boorda less each stop featured mass assemblies and preaching all designed to convey the gravity of the event urban avoided areas under the direct control of the King of France who was to be excommunicated at Clermont for adultery everywhere the Pope went there was great excitement over its presence there is strong evidence to indicate that prior to the Council of Clermont the Pope met with Raymond the fourth account of Toulouse one of the wealthiest Lords in all of Europe Raymond had campaigned in the Iberian Peninsula alongside Alphonse - the 6th of león and Castile who had granted Raymond his daughter Elvira in marriage deeply pious and keenly aware of the Islamic challenge to Christendom Ramon was a natural ally to the Pope in his plans for a military campaign against the Muslim East my mom himself likely knew the details of Urban's plan before Claire mole and probably also committed to involve himself in the cause during his private talks with the Pope the Pope also met with an important Bishop of Raymond's domains Adam R of the plea who was to be designated spiritual head of the crusade additionally the Pope consulted the Bishop of Cowell the Archbishop of Lyon and the abbot of Clooney as well as the Cardinals and Italian clergyman traveling with him the one of whom was Dame Burt Archbishop of Pisa destined to be elected patriarch of Jerusalem in 1099 clergymen were asked to encourage the local Knights and nobility to travel to Claire mole for the council in November for example the Bishop of moans invited Baldwin County vinyl there is even a long-running legend that the first Crusader vows were made in October at a meeting in Burgundy in examining Pope Urban splaining and travels throughout 1095 leading up to the Council of thermal it's clear that the Pope had a meticulous plan in mind that had been in development for much of his papacy in some ways the idea was forming long before Urban's election as Pope the Pope's had been concerned about the disintegration of Christendom eastern frontier for some time in 1074 news of westward turkish incursions had caused Pope Gregory the seventh to propose leading personally an army of some 50,000 Christians to liberate their brothers in the East Urban's goal was far more ambitious to mobilize the resources of christenings military class under the command of important Lords like Oreimo on the 4th of Toulouse with the intent of bringing support to the Byzantines and liberating Jerusalem some of Europe's major noblemen and clergymen were already aware of Urban's plan pope urban ii tour of france in 1095 culminated with the Council of Clermont which began on November 18th most of the high-ranking attendees were churchmen Abbott's and bishops the council dealt with an array of ecclesiastical issues a church organization cemani celibacy lay investiture as well as the excommunication of King Philip the 1st of France for refusing to maintain his relationship with his queen and openly keeping a mistress in her place finally it was announced that on Tuesday November 27th the Pope would address the public to make a great announcement a crowd gathered in response so large that it could not be hosted within the Cathedral a platform was raised on the field before the city gate here urban made his speech five main versions of the Pope's speech survived to this day while they are not identical and they agree for the most part on the ideas expressed by the Pope in essence he called on the Knights of Europe to engage in a war of liberation Eastern Christians were abused and humiliated under Islamic rule and it was the Christian duty of their Western brethren to help them regardless of the costs involved Constantinople was emphasized as the rallying point for the Western forces with the idea that the crusade would join forces with the Emperor Alexius and aid him in repulsing the Turks and winning back his territory but Alexius was not the only Lord Urban encouraged the Knights to help Christ himself was to be given aid by this expedition the Pope highlighted Jerusalem and the Holy Land as the inheritance of Christ on earth and urged Western Christians to win back territory that lawfully belonged to him in this way urban born of the Knightly class himself spoke to the European nobility in terms that were deeply meaningful to them as soldiers of Christ it was their duty to fight for his lands just as a vassal must fight to defend the lands of his feudal lord Jerusalem had long been a site of veneration and pilgrimage for Western Christians in a society that prized relics as objects imbued with power by their contact with holy persons the Holy Sepulchre the site of Christ's death and resurrection was the ultimate relic for medieval Latins contact with the Holy Sepulchre provided a means of powerful connectedness to Christ the most sacred site on earth the Pope proclaimed must not remain in the hands of infidels it must be procured by Christians so that it could receive due honor Pope Urban must have been a remarkable speaker his words moved the masses gathered at Claremont and soon the air was filled with men shouting Deus vult God wills it Adam Mara the Bishop of Lihue came forward and became the first man to receive the cross that is take the pledge to go on crusade and many others followed his example one of the most important I witness accounts of the First Crusade is the guest of francorum written anonymously by a follower of Bowman of Toronto possibly a knight as it does not appear to be composed from a clerical perspective the author of the Gesta was not present at the Council of Clermont but he opens his Chronicle with an account of the Pope's speech which he must have compiled from the oral accounts of other Crusaders who had heard the Pope's words this version of urban speech is quite interesting because it gives us an idea of how the Pope's call to crusade was perceived by a fairly ordinary participant the guest sir records the Pope's words as follows whoever wishes to save his soul should not hesitate humbly to take up the way of the Lord and if he lacks sufficient money divine mercy will give him enough brethren we ought to endure much suffering for the name of Christ misery poverty nakedness persecution want illness hunger thirst and other ills of this kind just as the Lord saith to his disciples he must suffer much in my name and be not ashamed to confess me before the faces of men verily I will give you mouth and wisdom and finally great is your reward in heaven the guest of version emphasizes the sacrificial aspect of the crusade the idea that it was a great trial undertaken out of devotion to Christ and a desire to gain heaven this flies in the face of the incorrect idea held by some moderns that most Crusaders were motivated out of material greed and not out of spirituality in fact the deep spiritual motivations behind the first crusade are evident everywhere in the primary sources we possess if the Gesta was indeed written by an ordinary soldier or Knight it is a fascinating glimpse into the religious convictions of such a person another important eye witness chronicler of the First Crusade is full care of shard a priest who served as chaplain to Baldwin of Bologna and lived out his days in the early Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem full care who also offers an account of Pope Urban speech emphasizes the crusade as an act of love performed by Westerners to aid Eastern Christians suffering under Islamic rule for your brethren who live in the East are in urgent need of your help and you must hasten to give them the aid which has often been promised them for as most of you have heard the Turks and the Arabs have attacked them and have conquered the territory of Romania that's the Byzantine Empire as far west as the shore of the Mediterranean and health's Pont which is called the arm of st. George they have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians and have overcome them in seven battles they have killed and captured many and have destroyed the churches and devastated the Empire if you permit them to continue the faithful of God will be much more wide attacked by them on this account I or rather the Lord beseech you as Christ heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank foot soldiers and Knights poor and rich to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends I say this to those who are present it is meant also for those who are absent moreover Christ commands it full cares account also includes the plenary indulgence promised by the Pope to the Crusaders all who died by the way whether by land or by sea or in battle against the pagans shall have immediate remission of sins pope urban ii crusade was carefully organized and he expected participants to adhere to his plans potential crusaders were to get approval from their local clergy and they were to join one of the armies led by a great lord such as rime on the 4th of toulouse or godfrey boo-yan who had received the cross from Urban's preachers but not everyone obeyed the Pope's commands some bands of renegade crusaders mostly made up of the desperately poor struck out on their own wild lawless excursions one particularly notorious example of this is a group that sprung up in germany under the leadership of amico of Linnaean a minor noble who appears to have been spurred on by apocalyptic visions amico and his people moved rather haphazardly across the rhineland valley according to Albert of Aachen they followed a she-goat and a goose whom they believed were filled with the holy spirit they quickly turned violent targeting local Jewish communities Jews were frequently under the protection of local aristocracy and or clergy many Jews in Germany had grown wealthy through money lending and this may have incited the ire of amico and his followers all through the cities of Speier of arms mines clear in Cologne the renegade crusade butchered Jews the local Christian clergy tried to protect them the Bishop of spire managed to save the lives of many Jews Archbishop row 3rd of Mainz hid Jews in his palace but amigo and his followers stormed the bishops residents to get to their victims Emmy goes horde next drifted into Hungary where they attacked the local villages Hungarian Knights made quick work of the plunderers and most of em eCos hangers-on were killed Emiko himself staggered back to germany and because antics rebelled entirely against pope urban and his principles of the crusade the church universally condemned the massacres and we have numerous examples of crusade chroniclers expressing disgust at amigos doings Albert of Aachen who documented Godfrey bullion's exploits in the First Crusade said that M eCos ban was quote inspired by a spirit of cruelty called them an intolerable company and referred to their deeds as detestable the monk Eckerd of hora called amico a man of ill repute and tyrannical William of Tyre the famous Bishop historian of the Kingdom of Jerusalem wrote so it happened that when in the fear of God they should have proceeded on the journey which they had undertaken and in obedience to divine commands should have advanced with strict discipline on the pilgrimage which they were making for Christ's sake they turned aside to mad excesses William also referred to the doings of this anti crusade as evil and crimes these riotous actions were not a part of the First Crusade as preached and organized by pope urban ii some individuals today either mistakenly or out of a desire to discredit the crusade movements try to link the two but a genuine examination of the historical evidence shows that this is incorrect amigos behavior in fact represents the sort of lawless random violence which Pope Urban so strongly condemned in the spring and summer of 1096 armies from northern France southern France Italy and the Holy Roman Empire were busy preparing to depart for the East in response to Pope Urban's appeal but some of Europe's poor rejected the idea following a great Lord or submitting to the Pope's terms and schedule Thomas Madden summarizes it well to many the extensive preparations of the church and the nobility for the crusade seemed not only superfluous but almost faithless if Christ soldiers marched to the Holy Land would he not scatter the infidel Turks as he had the Philistines long ago one man in particular advocated this view Peter the Hermit a ragged holy man who rode from town to town on a donkey mesmerizing crowds with his fiery preaching contrary to popular belief Peter the Hermit was most likely not asked to preach the crusade by Pope Urban Thomas ass bridge states that Peter was quote most likely not endorsed by the papacy Peters preaching seemed to have something divine about it though key birth of notion a chronicler of the First Crusade would not report this as true and attributed this reputation to the common people who loved novelties although Peter attracted large throngs of peasants into his company a Jonathan Reilly Smith points out that we should not believe that these forces consisted only of peasants there were some Knights among them some of whom ended up eventually joining the military elite of the Crusader States but nevertheless Thomas ass bridge says that the people's crusade was a quote largely uncontrollable ramshackle horde by the time he left France in April of 1096 and headed to Cologne a considerable train of disciples trailed Peter and in Germany as well he attracted even more while the real Crusades still prepared Peters horde drifted eastward poorly provisioned and short on cash they quickly turned hungry thefts riots and pillaging was common as they crossed into the Byzantine Empire the Byzantine Emperor Alexia scum Menace was shocked when he heard reports of this mob descending upon his lands at once he arranged for them to be supplied with provisions to put an end to their thieving when Peter arrived in Constantinople he met another Westerner who had traveled east with a motley following walter sentsov waar a minor but experienced knight like Peters group Walter's throngs which included only eight Knights had plundered on their way coming to blows with the forces of King Coleman of Hungary both were interviewed by Alexius who was according to Thomas Madden impressed by Peters abilities as an orator Alexius convinced Peter and Walter that they should await the arrival of the papal II sanctioned Crusader forces but the peasant armies were not convinced despite the protests of Peter and Walter the people's army crossed the Bosporus on August 6th entering Turkish territory the People's Army was without a solid plan Peter returned to Constantinople to try and gain additional aid from Alexius meanwhile in Asia Minor kill er s'long the sultan of room dispatched forces to intercept the peasants army and they were massacred and mass walter went down in the slaughter back in Constantinople Peter received a word of what had happened and settled in to await the arrival of the true Crusader armies the people's crusade is a bizarre and tragic incident like the rhineland massacre of count amico it cannot be considered a part of the First Crusade proper since it was conducted outside of the papal sanctioned expedition in his speech at Clermont Pope Urban had emphasized that the poor and inexperienced should not be participating in his crusade in essence that people's crusade was everything Pope Urban had sought to avoid the main armies of the First Crusade mobilised between December 1095 and August of 1096 adhering to the schedule laid out by pope urban ii the Pope's directives called for the Crusaders to make their way toward the Byzantine capital of Constantinople where they would unite under the leadership of Emperor Alexia scum Menace who would then guide them in a campaign of reconquest against the Muslim rulers of the Levant first to depart in August was the brother of King Philip the first of friends Hugh the first count of Armand Wamba leading a small army provided both by himself and by his brother the King sailing from Italy Hugh's fleet founded on the Dalmatian coast and the count had to be rescued by Byzantine officials who brought him to Constantinople to meet Emperor Alexios toward the end of August departed Godfrey of bouillon Duke of lower Lorraine in later centuries Godfrey would become the central figure in the mythology of the First Crusade idealized as the perfect Christian Knight however prior to taking the cross he had been an enemy of the papacy a vassal to Holy Roman Emperor Henry the fourth see video 2 in my extra credits debunked series he'd even participated in the siege of Rome which drove out Pope Gregory the seventh in 1080 for the fact that Godfrey answered the call to the cross demonstrates the power Pope Urban's message but also alludes to the complexity of late 11th century politics was Godfrey's opposition to the Pope at any time any deeper than loyalty to his own Lord William of Tyre tells us that Godfrey was tall powerful and bill with a beard and hair of blond in a charter struck before his departure Godfrey's mother said he was quote preparing to fight for God in Jerusalem Godfrey was joined on the crusade by his older brother Eustace the third count of Bologna and their youngest brother Baldwin dark-haired and taller than his brothers Baldwin had originally been destined for the church but his love of the nightly lifestyle prompted him to change careers before ordination however he'd received the literary education common to clerics at that time and all his life had an intellectual bent to his personality Jonathan Riley Smith says he was an intelligent calculating and ruthless man he was not pleasant but his strength of personality and quickness of mind were to be of great value to the Crusaders without any lands or wealth of his own Baldwin took service as one of Godfrey's high ranking Knights but he had his heart set on winning a lordship of his own with a considerable army of Walloon and low Corinthian Knights behind him godfrey marched through Germany his men passed in perfect peace and order through Hungary where King coloman was understandably nervous after the antics and the people's crusade by December Godfrey came within sight of Constantinople and laid down camp outside the city near the head of the Golden Horn Bowman of Toronto was the most experienced military commander of the First Crusade his martial skills had been honed in the Norman wars against the Byzantines to secure control of southern Italy a hugely tall powerfully-built man Bowman is described by Anakim Neneh as perfectly proportioned with a hard savage quality to his whole aspect and that even his laugh sounded like a threat in 1097 Bowman was in the process of besieging amalfi which had rebelled against his uncle count roger the first of sicily when he encountered crusaders on their way to the east bowman whose family was closely allied to pope urban ii was so impressed by these men that he had once took the cross himself gathering around him a small but powerful force of Norman warriors and set out for Constantinople meanwhile Godfrey of bouillon was camped outside of the Byzantine capital with his men although Pope Urban had insisted that the Crusaders would find an emperor Alexius communis a trustworthy Ally eager to join them in the fight against the Turk godfrey knew that hue of armand wah was being held as a virtual prisoner inside of constantinople and was hesitant to put himself in the emperor's power by entering the royal palace but Alexius refused to allow Godfried across the Bosporus until he'd come before him to swear loyalty there were a few tense moments and even some violence between the Crusaders and Alexia's troops but Alexia's finally agreed to provide hostages to the Crusaders while Godfrey entered the palace Godfrey's chronicler Albert of Aachen says that Alexius declared Godfrey an adopted son Godfrey swore loyalty to the Emperor and the Emperor promised to provide aid to the Crusaders by January 20th of 1097 Godfrey's army crossed the Bosporus and Bowman showed up at Constantinople in April Anakim nana tells us that Alexius was deeply anxious about Bowman's presence since in the past the Italian Normans had invaded byzantine lands but Boehm and conducting himself with perfect courtly decorum presented himself as utterly loyal to Alexius gladly swearing fealty to him and oath which Alexius did not believe the norman intended to keep the emperor was convinced that bowman meant to use the crusade as some kind of opportunity to conquer byzantine lands about the same time that Boehm n''d appeared at constantinople robert ii to count of flanders a man of considerable military prowess and piety arrived with his army a charter of count Roberts states that he was going to Jerusalem on the authority of the Apostolic See to liberate the Church of God which had been trampled underfoot by savage peoples for a long time his Flemish Warriors would prove to be a valuable asset in the course of the crusade next to arrived in Constantinople and was Raymond the fourth count of Toulouse with his large splendidly equipped southern French army as well as the papal leggett Bishop ademir of lop we see episode 2 in this series for Raymond's taking of the cross Raymond met with Alexius in April according to Anna come Nana the Emperor had a affection for Raymond and was impressed by the count superior intellect his untarnished reputation the purity of his life anna says that Alexius and Raymond engaged in long discussion with one another and that the Emperor unreservedly opened the doors of his soul to the count already enormous ly wealthy and Thomas Madden says that Raymond had decided to finish his life in the service of God having personally discussed the crusade with Pope Urban Raymond was keen to see Alexius commit himself as fully to the cause as the Western Prince's Raymond's chronicler the priest Raymond a glare says that when Alexius asked Raymond had taken oath of loyalty to him Raymond responded that he would gladly do so if Alexius would also take the cross and lead his army to the liberation of the Holy Land Alexius insisted that he wanted very much to do so but that he could not leave Constantinople at this time Pope Urban's entire project had been predicated on the idea that Eastern and Western Christianity would be gloriously united in brotherly bonds against the infidel Saracens anakim nemesis her father would have loved to join in the war against the Turks but that he feared the Latins would betray him to compensate Alexius promised to supply the Crusaders with provisions troops and guides Raymond unwilling to bend on this issue would not swear an oath of loyalty to Alexius but instead took an oath simply to respect Alexis's territories the emperor was satisfied with this and permitted raiment across the Bosporus and joined Godfrey and Boland for the advance on Nicaea it's noteworthy that despite the fact that Raymond had so challenged the Emperor morally he still regarded him more favorably than any of the other Latin princes the final Latin army to arrive in Constantinople was that of the northern French led by William the Conqueror's eldest son Robert Curtis Duke of Normandy and his brother-in-law Stephen the second count of blue ah Kurt Howse and Stephen were warmly received by Alexius and were much impressed by his wealth and general prosody they eagerly swore loyalty to him then continued on their way to complete the Crusader army besieging Nicaea on May 6th 1097 the armies of the First Crusade reached Nicaea an ancient city on the northwestern edge of Asia Minor situated on the eastern shore of the Afghan ian lake it is only a short journey from Constantinople opposite the Bosporus and is the gateway to Anatolia from the West currently Nicaea was in the hands of the seljuq turks acting as the capital of the Sultanate of room the reduction of Nicaea would open the way for the Crusaders long journey to the Holy Sepulchre and allow the Byzantines to establish a base in Asia Minor from which further reconquest could be made in the region the gesta francorum written by one of Bowman's men says that on the day of the Ascension of the Lord we began to attack the city on all sides and to construct machines of wood and wooden towers with which we might be able to destroy the towers on the walls kill er salon the sultan of room was campaigning on his eastern frontier when he heard reports of the Crusader army besieging his capital assembling his forces he marched on Nicaea on May 21st arsalan moved up from the south and immediately launched an attack meant to break the siege the army of Raymond of Toulouse bore the brunt of the assault but the Crusaders handled the situation well maintaining their blockade of the city while also dispatching troops to engage the Turks a decisive cavalry charge led by Godfrey and Boehm and smashed the Turkish forces sending Keeley arsalan into full retreat so the Celts won a glorious victory wrote Emperor Alexia's daughter Princess Anna using her favorite term for Westerners Celts the Gesta says our men hurled the heads of the killed far into the city that the Turks might be more terrified thereat abandoned by Kili arsalan the Turks of nice sent messengers to Alexius offering to surrender the Emperor sent his agents into Nicaea to negotiate the transfer of the city to Byzantine power on June 18th Alexius excluded the Crusaders from this process but afterwards according to full care of shark the Emperor ordered gifts to be presented to our leaders gifts of gold and silver and raiment and to the foot soldiers he distributed copper coins historian Thomas ass bridge says that the siege of Nicaea was a largely collaborative venture in which Latins and Greeks cooperated effectively and the Crusaders willingly fought for the Byzantine Empire Nicaea restored to Christian rule the way was open for the Crusaders to make the long march east across Asia Minor to act as advisors to the franks Alexius assigned a small Byzantine contingent led by Titus an experienced half Arab half Greek general who had lost his nose in an earlier battle and wore a gold prosthetic in its place although this was not the large-scale support the Franks had wanted from Alexius they were undeterred and by June 29th were on the move having captured Nicaea the Crusaders began the long march eastward across the vast sun-scorched territory of Anatolia it was summer in Asia Minor and the heat was brutal and unrelenting were still Sultan Kili arsalan had ravaged the territory burning crops into spoiling water sources in hopes of halting the Crusaders advance to reduce supply problems the Latin princes divided their armies with the first body led by Bowman and Robert Curtis and the second marching a day behind a doramin of Toulouse and Godfrey of bouillon during the March a Bowman's spies informed him that kilee arsalan lay ahead with his army preparing an ambush on the evening of June 30th as his forces approached the ruined Byzantine town of Dori Liam Bowman ordered the infantry to pitch a defensive camp at a stream and organized his cavalry for battle on the morning of July 1st Keeley arsalan struck but Bowman was ready swarms of Turkish horsemen descended upon the Christian camp Bowman and Robert Curtis made several charges but the light Swift Turkish cavalry eluded them wheeling away when attacked then sweeping back in to harass the Crusaders with arrows things quickly went bad for the Christians they were losing men and horses and even the unarmed pilgrims hunkered down in the camp were being killed a lesser commander might have panicked but Bowman reacted instantly and effectively he immediately changed tactics ordering his knights to dismount and stand with the infantry in a tight shield wall encircling the camp allowing them to protect the horses supplies and pilgrims inside this worked suddenly the Turks had to move in nearer to harass the Crusaders who held their ground and began to kill Turks venturing too close for several hours the Crusader Knights and foot soldiers stood side by side in this cramped formation unbreakable before the increasingly desperate Turkish assaults the heat was intense the air choked with dust women in the camp trudged back and forth from the stream carrying buckets of water to the men on the lines this deadlock was broken with the arrival of the second Crusader army caught unawares kilee arsalan had no time to react Godfrey and Rehman led their Cavalry's in a charge that smashed right over the Turks what remained of kill er Salons army retreated leaving behind a scattering of Turkish corpses trampled by the hooves of heavy Frankish horses the Crusaders had triumphed utterly the Battle of doreal a.m. demonstrated Bowman's incredible capabilities as a general for one he had known that the Turkish attack was coming and chose a well-watered site for camp finally at a desperate moment he had organized the troops in such a way that allowed them to hold until reinforcements arrived the Turks left behind the whole of their camp filled with gold and silks horses and weapons which the Crusaders immediately seized kilee arsalan having given up all thoughts of fighting a ban his city of Iconium and retreated deep into the interior of Anatolia hoping now just to avoid the Christians as they moved across Asia Minor my new book why does the heathen rage a novel of the Crusades set during the reign of King Baldwin ii of Jerusalem is now available on Amazon click on the link on the screen to purchase your copy or follow the link in the about box of this video [Music] after they subdued the seljuk sultanate room the armies of the First Crusade spent four months journeying across the rest of Anatolia they dispatched two small reconnaissance forces ahead of them one under Godfrey Leone's younger brother Baldwin of Bologna and another under Bowman's nephew tank Reid Baldwin and tankard established contacts and Cilicia with local Armenians this helped to secure a safe route through the mountainous territory on the northern approach to Syria Baldwin of Bologna rejoined the main army in Mirage in October 1097 he found his wife God for a seriously ill she died before the months end whether or not Baldwin grieved he was composed enough to approach his brother Godfrey about a new project Baldwin had learned from his Armenian contacts that there were Christian cities in Mesopotamia eager for a strong Lord to protect them from the Turks Godfrey agreed with his brother's plan to establish a Frankish state in Mesopotamia which would provide a reliable source of supplies for the Crusaders during their coming campaign in Syria with Godfrey's blessing and Baldwin departed the main army with a small battalion of knights since he'd given up his youthful studies for the priesthood Baldwin had served as his brothers knight but he had larger ambitions and now seemed poised to achieve them on entering Mesopotamia he quickly captured the Turkish held towns of Robin done and turbocell Baldwin's success attracted the notice of Thoreau's Armenian Lord of Edessa who feared a coup from his subjects since he could not protect the city from raids by his Turkish neighbor balj rack of Samos Otto Thoros offered Baldwin an alliance and Baldwin gladly accepted in February 1098 Baldwin crossed the Euphrates and entered Edessa two cheering crowds of Armenians by now Baldwin was reputed as a slayer of Turks and the locals were eager for a champion so enthusiastically was Baldwin welcomed that Thoreau's decided to make him his adopted son in a strange ritual Baldwin and Thoreau stripped to the waist and embraced one another publicly with a long shirt placed over them both to seal their new status as father and son Baldwin next set out with his men to neutralize the threat of balj rack of Samos Otto he established a castle near to Samos Atta which could check any Turkish raids on his return to Edessa and Baldwin discovered that several Armenian noblemen were plotting to kill Thoreau's and elevate Baldwin as sole ruler Baldwin appears to have been unwilling to prevent this plot from going through and was very likely at least passively complicit in it Thoris was seized by a mob of Edessa pnes who stabbed him to death in the streets Baldwin of Bologna now alone ruled a powerful state centered around Odessa he had risen to power through martial prowess and ruthless political intrigue but he would prove to be the strong leader the ax Dessen's desired making their city formidable again and neutralizing the threat of neighboring Turks soon he captured Samos Otto and his new state the county of Odessa would straddle the Euphrates for half a century Baldwin established a close bond with the Armenians marrying an Armenian woman and employing Armenians as knights governors and advisors in the late summer of 1097 the Crusaders entered northern Syria making their way toward the ancient city of Antioch secured by massive curtain walls set with four hundred towers Antioch was considered impregnable Antioch was mostly populated by Christians Armenians Greeks and Syrians the Arab chronicler even a la fere says that yagi seein the city's Turkish governor worried when he heard of the approaching Frankish army that antiox Christians would side with their co-religionists so he sent the Christian men outside of the city walls to dig a moat they labored on until the evening but when they wished to enter the city yagi Ceyhan prevented them and said you can leave me Antioch until I see how things will be with us in the Franks it was October 1097 when the vanguard of the Crusader army arrived before Antioch the anonymous author of the gesta francorum who was a follower of Boehm and writes that we established a strict blockade on three gates of the city for we could not be siege it from the other side because a mountain high and very steep stood in our way indeed the Crusaders concentrated their efforts on the northwestern quarter of the city which gave them access to the iron bridge and the river and bowmen placed his army before the st. Paul gate the northern French under Robert Curtis Robert of Flanders Hugh of Vermont du'a and Stephen a blue cover the section of wall just anti-clockwise of Bauman's Raymond of Toulouse and the southern French blockaded the dog gate while Godfrey bullion's Lotharingia n--'s and Germans covered the gate of the Duke Teta seus and the Byzantines camped some distance away from the walls presumably to act in support of the Franks you can see from this diagram how much of Antioch could not be blockaded including the wall running up into the forest and mount Silvius to the east and the portion of the wall that hugged the river on the southern end in the opening months of the siege the Crusaders sparred with the Turks on the walls full care of shark says that the Crusaders found a number of boats in the aforesaid River these they took and fashioned into a pontoon bridge over which they cross to carry out their plans this bridge of boats was strategically crucial since it allowed the Crusaders to quickly access the plane southwest of Antioch which the Turks initially used as a staging ground for armed sorties from the city the Frankish leaders also dispatched squadrons into the surrounding countryside to take control of the nearby castles such as hareem for the purpose of denying yagi cien control of antiox territory by mid-november winter cold was setting in and the Crusaders had to send foraging expeditions farther and farther from the city in search of food now grain and all food began to be excessively deer before the birthday of the Lord says the gesta francorum cold and hungry the Crusaders celebrated Christmas in their rain-soaked camp seeking sustenance in their faith and in the thought that beyond Antioch lay the object of their longing in the holy city of Jerusalem three days after Christmas Boehm and himself along with count Robert of Flanders led a small force of knights in to antiox hinterland in search of provisions during their journey the foragers were surprised by a Turkish army sent from Damascus to relieve Antioch the Turks instantly fell upon the Crusaders but Bowman and the Count of Flanders quickly organized their men into a solid defensive formation while the Count of Flanders led a direct attack on the Turkish cavalry Boam and moved his Normans into a flanking position that prevented the Turks from surrounding counties Knights in the confusion of battle the Turks retreated although Bowman lost a sizable amount of men in this engagement he did manage to prevent the Turkish force from bringing aid to Antioch unfortunately Bowman and his foragers managed to secure only modest provisions as the year came to a close the Crusaders had made little progress in the siege of Antioch and remained huddled outside the massive city walls with little hope of ever breaking through them the first months of 1098 were cold and miserable in the Crusader camp before the walls of Antioch food was scarce illness common and little progress had been made in reducing the enormous ancient city on the Arantes desertions from the Army's rank-and-file became a problem even Peter the Hermit and William the carpenter the former leaders of the people's crusade snuck away and tried to flee in the night but they were caught by Bowman's nephew tankard who dragged them back to his uncle's tent to face the wrath of a giant Norman almost evil of all whom the earth indoors why did you so violently flee was it perchance for the reason and you wish to betray these knights and the hosts of Christ Peter and William begged Bowman to be merciful and ultimately he did pardon them but a far more serious desertion occurred by the end of January when the Byzantine general Titus departed with the Greek contingent Tateishi as' insisted that he only meant to retrieve supplies after which he would return to Antioch a few Crusaders believed him in February a Turkish army led by rid one of Aleppo moved toward Antioch via the iron bridge Bowman led a contingent against them and threw a brilliantly timed cavalry charge defeated them this victory boosted Crusader morale and with the arrival of spring warmth an English fleet appeared off the coast of Saint Simeon carrying much-needed provisions and supplies also lavish gifts of horses and weapons arrived from Edessa now a Latin State under Godfrey's brother Baldwin throughout the siege Bowman who spoke fluent Greek had made it a point to personally patrol the walls of Antioch he often conversed with guards on the towers and by April he had established contact with one firuze and Armenian convert to Islam according to the Muslim chronicler even Alcala nici firuze nurtured a grudge against yagi sein the turkish governor of antioch because of some ill-usage and confiscations which he had suffered at his hands Bowman cultivated his relationship with firuze exploiting the Armenians anger toward yagi Sein promising him rich rewards eventually firuze agreed to betray his tower to the Crusaders and he and beaumond began to secretly arranged to plan meanwhile reports begin to reach the Christian camp of an enormous Turkish army led by one care boca the ateb egg of mosul advancing now to relieve antioch news of care book has approached spread dread among the Crusader forces after languishing all winter outside Antioch were they to be smashed against the walls by caribou cos army full care of Chartres counts how one of the Christian Army's primary Latin leaders was so disturbed that he withdrew from the siege then Stephen count of blue wah left the siege and went home to France by sea we all grieve Don this account because he was a very noble man although Stephen was among the wealthiest of the Crusades leaders he had little talent for military matters his flight from Antioch would in time proved to be an unbearable disgrace on his name as pressure mounted in the Latin camp Bowman prepared to set his trap ever driven by personal ambition he kept his alliance with firuze secret and sought to arrange things so that Antioch would be his and his alone Bowman came to all the leaders bearing joyful words to them and this wise men most illustrious Knights see how all of us whether of greater or lesser degree are an exceeding poverty and misery and how utterly ignorant we are from what side we will fare better therefore if it seems good and honorable to you let one of us put himself ahead of the rest and if he can't acquire or contrive the capture of the city by any planner scheme by himself or through the help of others let us with one voice grant him the city as a gift the grim old count Raymond of to lose immediately objected to this insisting that Antioch belonged to alexia scheme menace and no other Bowman in characteristic loud bravado reminded the council that alexia Stroup's had abandoned them and there was no sign that the emperor intended to help them further in any way by now the other leaders had come to trust Bowman and with good reason although the least wealthy of the princes the Normans talents had carried the day when all had seemed lost and thus he had essentially become the leading figure and Council of Lords and by now everyone understood that Bowman's personal ambition could always be trusted Raymond despite being the richest of the leaders was outvoted the other Lords agreed to Bowman's plan Bowman dramatically announced that very shortly Antioch would be Christian again and with that depart of the council it's safe to assume that probably all the Lord's even Raymond believed him having secured the loyalty of the Armenian Guard firuze on one of Antioch Stowers Bowman organized the whole of the Christian army in a ruse to fool the Turkish garrison and gain control of the city on the afternoon of June 2nd a large detachment of Crusader infantry and cavalry marched away from Antioch in plain view of the garrison the Mohammedan troops on the walls were meant to believe that the Crusaders were sending off a substantial foraging expedition and thus they should not expect any major offensives anytime soon however under cover of darkness on the night of June 3rd the Crusaders snuck back toward the city and took up positions in hiding just beyond the walls awaiting Bowman's signal Byzantine Princess Anna cam nen explains how Boehm and by sneaking up to the wall below frizzes tower sprung his trap bowmen immediately went off to the tower the armenian according to his agreement opened the gates Bowman climbed it once with his followers to the top of the tower as fast as he could within minutes a moment and his troops had complete control of peruses tower this allowed Bowman to dispatch squadrons throughout the city to kill more patrolling guards and open the main city gates on signal of a trumpet blast from one of Bowman's nights on firoozeh z' tower Godfrey of bouillon and Robert of Flanders rushed into the city with their troops there followed a brutal sack in which Crusaders and native Greek and Armenian Christians spread throughout the city killing Turks capturing booty and seizing control of the city's strategic positions for the Greeks and Armenians this was a moment of vengeance in which they vented years of restrained anger and Antioch sakya pine Turks Thomas ass bridge explains that in those crucial first few minutes the combination of surprised the confusion of darkness and fear of the Crusaders unrestrained brutality paralyzed the defenders yagi seeing himself in a panic fled the city via the iron gate but was thrown from his horse and left for dead by his companions there lying bleeding on the ground the Turkish Emir was discovered by some Armenians decapitating the city's fallen governor the Armenians took the head to Boehm and who promptly rewarded them Bowman had already raised up his blood red banner over the city's walls and raymon of Toulouse occupied the city's lavish Greek palace by the morning of June 4th it was over the Crusaders had controlled the city with each of the major leaders holding various portions of the walls only the Citadel on the top of the mountain remained in Mohammedan hands and barricaded by the last survivors of the garrison in a desperate last attempt to escape death Bowman however had taken up a position with his troops just outside the Citadel and was intent on resting it from the last Turkish defenders thus ended the siege of Antioch after eight grueling months the Crusaders had captured the most important city in Syria and they had done it entirely without the help of the Byzantines who indeed had withdrawn from the siege instead it was Bowman's abilities which had delivered Antioch into Christian hands in the next episode we'll find out what happens when the besiegers become the besieged for the arrival of care Baca and his sprawling Turkish army will mean the Crusaders will be trapped within antiox walls Baldwin and Bologna is capture of Edessa proved helpful to the Crusaders in another way as well on his way to Antioch the Turkish atta beg of missoula care pakka stops for three days to beseech Odessa delaying his progress when he failed at this task the Turk continued on intent on destroy the Crusader army can't outside of Antioch but as we learned in our last episode the Crusaders had already captured the city and by the time care polkas forces began to arrive before antiox walls on June 5th the Crusaders had already firmly established themselves within the city only the Citadel on mount Silvius remained in Turkish hands and this carpet got bolstered by installing it with a garrison of his own the army care but God commanded was awesome to behold so large that in fact it could fully blockade the city Antioch had just been through a month's long siege and so food was scarce within her powerful walls penned in by caribou cos troops the Crusaders once again faced the very real prospect of starvation meanwhile far away in Anatolia another sizable army was on its way to Antioch this one Byzantine and headed by Emperor Alexius communis who had finally elected to bring aid to his beleaguered Latin allies however at fill a million the Emperor encountered one Stephan count of blue ah who had fled Antioch just before its fall Stephan eager to justify his premature departure from the siege assured Alexius that the whole Christian army had already been destroyed and thus the cause of the crusade completely lost Alexia's was perhaps a little too eager to trust Stevens word and quickly elected to abandon his mission together the Byzantine Emperor and the count of blue awe picked up and headed back to the safety of Constantinople meanwhile from the walls of Antioch the Crusaders under the de facto leadership of Bowland were gazing down at the enormous army of Caracalla in folding them like the coils of a serpent it seemed incredible that after their astounding capture of the powerfully fortified city christ's warriors would perish all the same within their prize naturally everyone in the army was looking toward Bowman for a solution the man who time and time again had carried the day the Norman giant was weighing his options care Faline and already formulating a plan to defeat the mighty care but gah meanwhile the desperation of the situation caused many Crusaders to pray for a miracle one southern French priest called Peter Bartholomew approached count Raymond of Toulouse with tales of a vision from Saint Andrew the Saint Peter insisted had assured him that buried somewhere beneath Antioch significant Cathedral of Saint Peter was the Lance that had been used at Calvary to pierce the side of Christ if the Crusaders found this relic and carried it into battle against keropok Oh God according to Peter Bartholomew would grant them victory although many were skeptical of Peters story others were convinced by it among them the pious old count Raymond who on June 15th ordered an excavation beneath the altar of st. Peter's Cathedral Peter himself was among those digging in the dirt and at one point Peter cried out and scrambled out of the hole holding an old iron shard and shouting that he discovered the precious relic news of Peters discovery exploded throughout the city a few skeptics remained such as Bishop Adam or of Lapua but for the average rank-and-file soldier this could be nothing but a sign from God considering the gravity of the situation it was exactly what the Crusaders needed morale was boosted and the weary hungry Christian soldiers were convinced now that they would indeed triumph over karabük as hordes whatever Peter Bartholomew pulled out of that hole in st. Peter's that day there can be no doubt that the spiritual impact on the Christian soldiers was profoundly positive it came at the right time as well for the leaders of the army had decided on a very daring and dangerous strategy a full-on battle with care puka care bogus' troops were numerous and his position strong but within the Turkish forces there were internal divisions between jealous Aamir's says historian Thomas Madden citing the potential fractious nosov care bogus' vast coalition army nevertheless the Turkish Adso Beggs seemed poised to capture Antioch and destroyed the Christian forces inside by late June count Raymond of Toulouse was ill thus it fell to bow man alone to lead the upcoming counter-attack against Kalpakkam in choosing to confront care Bukka head-on the Crusaders faced several enormous challenges for one caribou cos army greatly outnumbered them also the Turks had plenty of horses while the Crusaders by now had no more than 200 horses of military quality remaining the majority of their troops would have to fight on foot but bowmen also understood that the Crusaders who had survived up to this point had been hardened into a battle-tested efficient fighting force the trials of war had bound them with the brotherhood of soldiers who have long fought shoulder to shoulder Bowman's battle plan was astounding rights historian Thomas ass bridge its execution exceptional bowmen chose the Bridgegate for the selling point placing the Latins on the western bank of the Arantes preventing the Turkish troops on the eastern bank from quickly engaging them first to emerge from the city was a division of archers under hugh of vermont du'a which hammered the Turks with arrows driving back the first line of Mohammedan troops and opening a space for the remainder of the Crusader army to deploy bowmen had divided the remainder of the army into five distinct divisions to provide cohesion in the midst of battle once the bridge gate had been cleared the northern French under Robert of Flanders and Robert of Normandy emerged in column behind Hugh's archers and then maneuvered to his left next Godfrey of bouillon marched out with his Lotharingia n--'s and Germans followed by Bishop Adam are leading the southern French each division fanned out leftwards in a semicircle with Bowman's commanding the largest and final contingent allowing him to bring aid to any portion of the army that came under heavy attack Thomas aspirin calls this disposition of the troops the finest expression of Bowman's military genius but despite this well ordered deployment had careful cow reacted differently the crusaders might have been crushed as they came out of Antioch once he realized that the Crusaders were selling forth from the Bridgegate care Baca had two options immediately attack with his main force or weight and meet them in battle on grounds of his own choosing care but God chose the latter probably because he did not judge the ragged Crusader army to be much of a threat had he launched an immediate attack he could have inflicted heavy losses but he also would have ended the battle before the Christians were fully deployed no doubt the bulk of their numbers would have retreated and many might not have even deployed at all instead kirpa God chose to allow the franks to bring the whole of their army out of Antioch thus giving him the opportunity to crush them completely in one grand stroke this would allow him to avoid a long siege but this doesn't mean the Crusaders were able to march unmolested out of Antioch while care about God's main force held back the Crusaders as they struggled to get into position before the Bridgegate were attacked fiercely by the advanced Turkish troops there was a vicious counter-attack from the Turks who had been guarding the bridge gate followed almost instantly by an assault from the Turks sweeping down from the positions before the gate of st. Paul and the gate of the Duke most pressing of all Turks positioned before the gate of st. George quickly began crossing the river and coming up behind the Crusaders for an attack the Christians were surrounded militarily this was a near impossible situation to survive a small infantry based army while attempting to deploy out of a narrow gate was being heavily attacked from all sides by enemy cavalry at this crucial moment the Crusaders by now tested in countless battles against the Turks rose to the challenge the knight Reinhard of tulle was dispatched with a contingent of French and Lotharingia nests and they met the southeastern attack with such ferocity that the enemy broke in panic meanwhile the main body of the Franks held formation against the onslaught of Turkish arrows just as they'd done at doreal a.m. unbroken by the Turkish onslaught and United as a solid impenetrable body of infantry the Crusaders now marched forward fighting with precision and ferocity before this powerful counter-attack the Turkish advance guard utterly broke turning tail and fleeing care puka realizing what was going on began a rushed panicked advance and ran right into his own retreating troops this caused more Turkish units to break off and retreat meanwhile the Crusader infantry continued their advance shattering the Turkish formations with brutal efficiency it wasn't long before the entire Turkish coalition was in full flight with care Bukka himself barely escaping with his life it was over a tiny army of weary hungry Christian soldiers had utterly shattered an enormous well-equipped Turkish army within hours the Turkish troops inside the Citadel surrendered to boland and now the whole of Antioch truly was securely in Christian hands it was an astounding victory probably the most important of the First Crusade now the way lay open for the march on the ultimate prize Jerusalem following their defeat of carvaka the Crusaders controlled a wealthy stretch of territory from Edessa to Antioch and the important port city of Saint Simeon but since the army was according to full care of sharp wearied by many days of arduous labor the Council of leaders decided not to march on Jerusalem until November 1st for the remainder of 1098 the franks settled into Antioch consecrating churches and dispatching parties of knights to subdue nearby fortresses Bowman who occupied the Citadel essentially acted as Antioch sprints in accordance with the council's decision during the siege there had been one stipulation to that agreement ever that Bowman could only rule Antioch so long as Emperor Alexius did not come to claim her Alexius had failed to bring aid to the Crusaders during their desperate standoff with care becau despite his daughter and his claim that the emperor was much concerned to bring help personally to the Celts after Bowman's brilliant defeat of the enormous Turkish army all the Army's leaders were quite content for him to have the city all that is except for count Raymond Raymond continued to insist that Alexius had not been given sufficient opportunity to claim Antioch he convinced the council that one final attempt should be made to offer the city to the Byzantines the Army's leaders selected hue of Vermont WA to lead an embassy to Constantinople to request that the Emperor come and claim Antioch meanwhile Bowman would continue to act as antioxidants in August the army suffered a devastating loss bishop adam are the spiritual father of the crusade revered by all fell ill and died ralph of gung a follower of tankards describes Adam R as a man of great merit and a man worthy of honor in any place Adam R was so respected by both Bowman and Raymond that he was often the only voice in the army that could mediate between the two as the months wore on and the leaders began planning the march on Jerusalem Bowman and Raymond's disagreements continued there was still no word from Alexius and Bowman was busily establishing his new state the Principality of Antioch it became clear that the norman prince had no intention of joining in the march on Jerusalem Raymond insisted that Bowman keep his vow to participate in Jerusalem's capture Raymond even promised to accept Bowman's rule in Antioch if the norman would swear to aid in a campaign for jerusalem a moment agreed to this november 1st came and went and the army remained stalled in Antioch with Boehm and still unwilling to march on the holy city regardless of his earlier promise Raymond for his part was hesitant to withdraw for Antioch and thereby guarantee Bowman total control of the city by now the common soldiers eager to fulfill their vows to go to Jerusalem were quite impatient with their leaders delays everyone understood that Bowman would never move his forces out of Antioch and so the ordinary soldiers began to press Raymond to lead them to Christ City who else but he could guide them to Jerusalem by the time of his departure for the East Raymond was an old man he was one of the wealthiest lords in Europe and only piety explains why such a man would forsake all that for the perils of crusade now pressed by the common pilgrims of the Christian army the aged count at last relented in his long struggle with Bowman on January 13th 1099 count Raymond of Toulouse barefoot unarmed and carrying a pilgrim staff departed Antioch at the head of the army adopting the guise of an ordinary pilgrim as a statement about the true purpose of the crusade following him as the whole of the Christian host singing Psalms rejoicing that at last they journeyed to Jerusalem only Bowman and his army remained behind in Antioch though a norman contingent under Bowman's nephew tankard did accompany Raymond with Raymond of Toulouse in the lead the Christian army travelled south through Syria along the way they encountered Saracen fortresses which sent out tribute payments and provisions in exchange for being left unmolested by the now-famous destroyers of care welcomed many of these small Muhammad and statelets were in rebellion against the Emir of Damascus and other Turkish princes and thus were keen to remain neutral additionally Palestine was now in the hands of the Fatimids a Shiite Egyptian based Empire so the Seljuks in Damascus had no interest in hindering the Frankish advance sworn enemies of the Sunni Seljuk Turks the Fatima's had kept track of the Crusaders progress and it even sent embassies to them offering to collaborate against the Turks so long as the Franks agreed not to attack Jerusalem the Fatima's did not yet grasped that the Christian army would settle for nothing less than control of the holy city on May 19th 1099 the Crusaders entered Fatima territory they marched along the coast passing the ports of Beirut Sidon Tyre in Accra all willing to offer supplies in trade for peace the Crusaders obliged and by June 3rd they reached the inland road just north of Jaffa which led to the holy city news arrived that a Fadiman army was now mobilizing in Egypt the Christians were undeterred they veered inland confident that if they maintained faith God would provide victory by June 6 the Crusaders reached Bethlehem an entirely Christian city which welcomed the army as liberators the following day the Franks climbed the famous hill of Mont join the point on the road at which Jerusalem becomes visible the Latin sources emphasized the elation of the pilgrims at this first sighting of the holy city tankard riding ahead with a scouting party was one of the first atop Mount Joy and Ralph of Khan describes his reaction getting his first glimpse of Jerusalem from a distance tankard greeted her placed his knees on the ground his heart on heaven the chronicler Raymond of oogulah describes how the Franks organized the siege Duke Godfrey and the Count of Flanders and the Duke of Normandy besieged the city from the north side from the Church of st. Stephen located in the center of the city southward to the angular tower next to the Tower of David count Raymond and his army however settled down on the west and besieged Jerusalem from the camp of the Duke to the foot of Mount Zion the Crusaders didn't have the numbers for a full encirclement and the city was strongly fortified amid rocky harsh terrain the Fadiman governor Iftekhar had expelled all of Jerusalem's Christian habitants since the story of antiox betrayal was also well known local cisterns had been poisoned or spoiled and water was scarce Jerusalem's Christians joined the crusade in their camp confirming the rumors that an Egyptian army was on the way to relieve the holy city running out of time the franks decided on a bold all-out assault on the city On June 13th the Christian troops stormed Jerusalem's walls but they were quickly beaten back by the Fatima defenders Thomas Madden says that the Crusaders lacked sufficient scaling ladders and siege machinery to threaten seriously Jerusalem's towering walls the city of Jerusalem is located in a mountainous region which is devoid of trees Road full care of sharp meaning the Crusader army had no timber for the building of siege engines however shortly after the failure of the first assault on the city a fleet of Genoese and English ships loaded with building materials arrived at Jaffa having responded to her pleas for aid sent back to the West seeing in this God's blessing the Latins set to constructing catapults ladders and towers it was hard labor in the Palestinian Sun but they worked briskly for as the chronicler even out colonies II wrote news reached them that a LOF down the Fadiman of his ear was on his way from Egypt with a mighty army to engage in the jihad against them by early July the Crusaders had completed their machinery and were ready for a proper assault on the city but first the leaders announced that they would invoke God's aid on July 8th the army barefoot and bearing relics processed around the walls of Jerusalem singing prayers the fatimids watching from Jerusalem's ramparts shouted jeers of the Christians and urinated on crosses and icons stolen from the city's churches the Crusaders finally stopped at the Mount of Olives the site of Christ's ascension to heaven here they offered final prayers that God would grant them victory at dawn on July 14th trumpets blasted through the crusader camp announcing the commencement of the assault the Muhammadans inside the city immediately rushed to the walls for the defense but as they gaze down over the efforts they realized that the Westerners had staged an ingenious ruse for weeks godfrey bullion's contingent had built siege equipment before Jerusalem's powerful quadrangular tower the Saracens have responded by working just as hard to bolster the fortifications of that already strong section but now the Fatima's found that overnight Godfrey's men had dismantled all their machinery moved at one kilometer to a point just east of st. Stephen's Gate and reassembled the siege engines there this was an incredible feat of physical endurance for a single night the Saracens were stunned and terrified for the portion of the wall now swarming with Crusader siege equipment was the weakest point in Jerusalem's defenses fighting raged all of July 14th with Count Raymond's army managing to bring their siege tower close to the city although fierce resistance from the Fatima's prevented Raymond's men from actually capturing the wall however on the morning of July 15th Godfrey's tower was successfully brought up against the city Godfrey's Nights loot off of turn a and his brother angle Burt were the first to enter Jerusalem followed quickly by Godfrey and more of his men it was a crucial moment with Godfrey fighting alongside his Knights in a desperate battle to secure the wall they captured the gate of the column which Godfrey ordered opened allowing the whole of the Crusader army to rush into the city Fadiman resistance collapsed as the Christians spread throughout Jerusalem Thomas Madden writes that by the standards of the time adhered to by both Christians and Muslims the Crusaders would have been justified in putting the entire population of Jerusalem to the sword despite later highly exaggerated reports however that is not what happened it's true that many of the inhabitants both Muslims and Jews were killed in the initial frame yet many were also allowed to purchase their freedom or were simply expelled from the city tankard and the Normans drove deep into the city's heart where they plundered the Temple Mount Iftikhar and the high-ranking Fatima officers refuge in the Tower of David which they surrendered to count Raymond who protected their lives and later provided them with safe passage back to Egypt the Crusaders had done it pope Urban's dream had come true a Latin Army had reclaimed Jerusalem for christen dome the chronicler Raymond of ovulate writes now that the city was taken it was well worth all our previous Labor's and hardships to see the devotion of the pilgrims of the holy sepulchre how they rejoiced and exalted and sang a new song to the Lord it was the crowning moment for the Crusaders to kneel in prayer before the tomb of Christ but although they'd captured Jerusalem the Christian host still had to deal with a large ship ssin army on its way to reverse their victory the Crusaders acted quickly to secure the newly conquered Jerusalem on July 22nd 1099 Godfrey of bouillon was elected defender of the holy sepulcher ruler of the nascent Kingdom of Jerusalem it's popularly believed that count Raymond the forth of Toulouse was unhappy with Godfrey's election but historians John and Laurita Hill conclude that Raymond very likely concurred in Godfrey's appointment as defender of Jerusalem soon word arrived from tank ridden who was scouting the southern coast that indeed a fat of an army at Ascalon was preparing to march on Jerusalem Godfrey's response was to rally the Christian forces to the offensive while the Latin and Greek clergy gathered together in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to pray for victory Godfrey along with the forces of Robert of Flanders marched south rendezvous at Ramla with the armies of Raymond of Toulouse and Robert of Normandy as well as tancrède who'd captured Nablus earlier that month the newly elected patriarch Arnold carried the relic of the true cross at the head of the Christian host a LOF down the Egyptian vizier had assembled a massive army made up of troops from all over the Fatima Caliphate he camped out in the plain of Alma's dal just outside of Ascalon with the plan of next marching on Jerusalem to drive out the Franks he was aware that the Crusaders were already on the move Godfrey and Raymond divided their forces into nine divisions then rapidly advanced on the Fatima position on August 12th the Fatima's were caught unawares when the Crusaders attacked unlike the Turks the Fatima's did not employ large numbers of mounted archers and their Lance wielding Arab and Berber cavalry which moved closely with their infantry provided a solid target for the devastating Frankish cavalry charge historian RC Smail says that the charge alone secured a Latin victory and the best sources agree that the duration of the battle was brief a LOF dollz troops scattered and as full care of chartres rights in the sweeping attack the Saracens perished on all sides the entire Egyptian camp filled with horses and provisions was captured by the Christians it is popularly believed that in the aftermath of their defeat the Fatima's at Ascalon offered to surrender the city to the Crusaders but a quarrel erupted between Raymond and Godfrey over who would possess it the Fatima's hearing of this quarrel broke off negotiations and Ascalon was lost to the Crusaders the source of this tale comes from ralph of gum in alberta vulcan neither of whom were present at the battle and both of whom were biased against count Raymond our best Saracen source even alkalyn ici offers a very different account the Franks besieged Ascalon until at length the townsmen agreed to pay them 20,000 dinars as protection money and to deliver the sum to them forthwith they therefore set about collecting this amount from the inhabitants of the town but it befell that a quarrel broke out between the Frankish leaders and they retired without having received any of the money even alchemy see unimpacted by the various regional loyalties of the Latin Quantic lers is probably our best source for this incident he says nothing about a specific quarrel between Godfrey and Raymond just that some sort of disagreement resulted in a failure to collect tribute from Ascalon but not a missed opportunity to actually possess the city itself an offer of total surrender Ascalon at this stage seems questionable as the city was well fortified the disagreement may have been as John and Loretta he'll point out that most Crusaders considered their vows fulfilled and were not interested in aiding the leaders in a full-on siege of the city the Crusader victory at Ascalon meant that Jerusalem was secured as a Christian possession with the holy city secured Godfrey of bouillon ruled a tiny Latin outpost surrounded by hostile Mohammedan neighbors over the next two decades the Kingdom of Jerusalem would expand dramatically through relentless conquest of the surrounding territories for now Godfrey and only 300 Knights committed themselves to the defense of Jerusalem while the bulk of the army returned home to Europe a similar process began in the north in the newly founded Principality of Antioch and County of Edessa in December of 1099 the rulers of these two states Prince beaumond and count Baldwin traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas with Godfrey and to worship at the Holy Sepulchre meanwhile Robert of Flanders Robert of Normandy and Raymond the forth of Toulouse returned to Constantinople or Emperor Alexius the first come Menace received them as heroes and hosted lavish feasts in their honor while the two Roberts returned to Europe Raymond the fourth ultimately returned to us from air to lay the groundwork for the fourth Crusader state the county of Tripoli which would exist between the Principality of Antioch and the Kingdom of Jerusalem news of Jerusalem's liberation spread across Europe throughout the Latin world people celebrated the restoration of the holy sepulchre returning Crusaders were welcomed as heroes their stories immortalized in songs in the coming decades pilgrims from every corner of Europe would make the long journey to the now Christian ruled Jerusalem where they could worship safely at the Holy Sepulchre the triumph of the First Crusade solidified in the minds of Europeans this new concept of the crusade a war waged with the blessing of the church not for selfish petty reasons but in the cause of christendom to expand and defend the domain of Christ for the Christians of the medieval West only God's blessing explained the victory in the East and therefore the concept of crusading must be pleasing to him for generations to come many Europeans would flock to the crusade in the Holy Land to fight for the holy sepulcher the success of the First Crusade also prompted the Pope's to sanctify the wars in Spain against the Moors so that soldiers who fought the Muhammadans in Iberia now enjoyed the crusade indulgences granted by the church indeed Crusades would continue to be called well into the ages of the wars against the Ottomans and the long endurance of this institution owes to this first great triumph the capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade [Music] can be restored [Music] so [Music]

Channel: Real Crusades History

Views: 865,222

Rating: 4.6607618 out of 5

Keywords: first crusade, first crusade documentary, first crusade part 1, first crusade movie, first crusade song, crusades, first crusade history, crusades history, crusades documentary, crusade episode, godfrey of bouillon, godfrey of bouillon documentary, bohemond, bohemond of taranto, siege of antioch, siege of jerusalem, bohemond first crusade, seljuk turks, seljuk turks documentary, seljuk turks history

Id: 1AbAgtQG1tI

Length: 85min 3sec (5103 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 26 2018