Antioch, Siege of

Antioch, lying on the slopes of the Orontes valley, in 1097 covers more than three-and-a-half square miles (none square kilometers) and is encircled by walls studded by four hundred towers.

The river runs along the city's northern wall before entering Antioch from the northwest and exiting east through the northern half of the city.

Mount Silpius, crested by a citadel, is Antioch's highest point and rises some one thousand feet (three hundred meters) above the valley floor.

There are six gates through which the city can be entered: three along the northern wall, and one on each of the south, east, and west sides.

The valley slopes make approaching from the south, east, or west difficult, so the most practical access route for a large number of people is from the north across flatter ground.

The city's defenses date from the reign of the Emperor Justinian I in the sixth century.

Though Antioch has changed hands twice between then and the arrival of the crusaders in 1097, each time it had been the result of betrayal rather than inadequacy of the defenses.

After the Empire reconquered Antioch in 969, a program of fortification building had been undertaken in the surrounding area to secure the gains.

As part of this, a citadel high enough to be separate from the city below had been built on Mount Silpius.

At its fall to Seljuq Turks in 1085, Antioch had been the last imperial fortification in Syria.

Yaghi-Siyan, made governor of Antioch in 1087, holds the position when the crusaders arrive in 1097.

Yaghi-Siyan is aware of the approaching crusader army as it marches through Anatolia in 1097; the city stands between the crusaders and Palestine.

Though under Muslim control, the majority of Antioch's inhabitants are Christians.

Yaghi-Siyan had previously been tolerant of the Christian populace, however that changes as the crusaders approach.

To prepare for their arrival, he imprisons the Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, John the Oxite, turns St. Paul's Cathedral into a stable and expels many leading Christians from the city.

Yaghi-Siyan now sends out appeals for help: his request is turned down by Ridwan of Aleppo because of personal animosity; however, Yaghi-Siyan is more successful in his approaches to other nobles in the region and Duqaq of Damascus, Toghtekin, Kerbogha, the sultans of Baghdad and Persia, and the emir of Homs all agree to send reinforcements.

Meanwhile, back in Antioch, Yaghi-Siyan has begun stockpiling supplies in anticipation of a siege.

Guynemer of Boulogne had assembled a fleet of Danes, Frisians, and Flemings and set out from northern Europe for the eastern Mediterranean in spring 1097.

Sailing up to Tarsus, he finds Baldwin of Boulogne besieging the place, held by Tancred of Hauteville, a fellow Christian but rival of Baldwin's for dominance in Cilicia.

Excited to find a native of his own home town, he readily gives assistance to Baldwin, and after the town is taken, he is given command of the garrison.

Tancred and Baldwin's armies skirmish briefly at Mamistra, but the two never come to open warfare and Tancred marches on towards Antioch.

Baldwin marries Arda, the daughter of a minor Armenian noble named Thoros of Marash, and acts as an ambassador between the crusaders and Armenians.

(Her name is unrecorded in contemporary sources, but since the seventeenth century she has been traditionally called Arda.)

Thoros promises sixty thousand bezants as a dowry.

This is a politically convenient marriage, as Baldwin will soon become the first Count of Edessa, a crusader state carved out of Armenian territory in Mesopotamia.

Baldwin after rejoining the main army at Marash, receives an invitation from an Armenian named Bagrat, and moves eastwards towards the Euphrates, where he occupies Turbessel.

The crusaders had indeed become rich, at least for a short time, after capturing Kilij Arslan's treasury.

The Turks had fled and Arslan had turned to other concerns in his eastern territory.

The Turks had also taken the male Greek children from the region extending from Doryleum to Iconium, sending some of them as slaves to Persia.

On the other hand, the crusaders have been allowed to march virtually unopposed through Anatolia on their way to Antioch.

It has taken almost three months to cross Anatolia in the heat of the summer.

Knowing they have to capture Antioch, the crusaders consider how best to go about the task.

Attrition suffered during the army's long journey across Anatolia means the leaders consider leaving an assault until reinforcements arrive in spring.

Tatikios, the imperial advisor to the crusade, suggests adopting similar tactics to those used by the imperial forces themselves when they moved to capture Antioch in 968.

They had installed themselves at Baghras some twelve miles (nineteen kilometers) away and from there conducted a blockade of the city by cutting of its lines of communication.

Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, is alone in advocating assaulting the city.

In the end, the crusaders chose to advance on Antioch and establish a siege close to the city.

On October 20, 1097, they reach a fortified crossing, known as Iron Bridge, on the Orontes River twelve miles (nineteen kilometers) outside Antioch.

Robert II, Count of Flanders and Adhemar of Le Puy lead the charge across the bridge, opening the way for the advancing army.

Bohemond of Taranto takes a vanguard along the river's south bank and head towards Antioch on October 21 and the crusaders establish themselves outside the city's north wall.

The crusaders divide into several groups.

Bohemond camps outside Saint Paul's Gate near the northernmost corner of the city walls and immediately to the west are Hugh I, Count of Vermandois; Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy; Robert II, Count of Flanders; and Stephen II, Count of Blois.

Adhemar of Le Puy and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, take up positions outside the Dog Gate either side of where the Orontes penetrates Antioch's defenses.

Godfrey of Bouillon is stationed west of the Duke's Gate in the northwest of the city walls.

The bridge across the Orontes outside Antioch's west walls remains under Yaghi-Siyan's control at this point.

The besiegers, in camping so close to the city, is that it leaves it vulnerable to sorties from the garrison and even missiles.

For the first fortnight of the siege, the crusaders had been able to forage in the surrounding area as the defenders chose not to leave the safety of the city walls.

However, in November, Yaghi-Siyan learns that the crusaders feel the city will not fall to an assault so is able to turn his attentions from the defensive to harrying the besiegers.

He mobilizes his cavalry and begins harassing the besiegers.

With the immediate area stripped clean, the crusaders' foraging parties have to search further afield for supplies leaving them more vulnerable and on several occasions are attacked by the garrisons of nearby fortifications.

Yaghi-Siyan's men also use the Dog Bridge, outside the Dog Gate, to harass the crusaders.

Adhemar of Le Puy and Raymond IV's men, who are camped closest to the bridge, attempt to destroy it using picks and hammers but make little impact on the strong structure while under missile fire from Antioch's defenders.

Another attempt is made to render the bridge unusable, this time with a mobile shelter to protect the crusaders, but the garrison sorties and successfully drives them away.

Soon after, three siege engines are built opposite the Dog Gate.

In the end, the crusaders erect a blockade on the bridge to obstruct potential sorties.

The port of St. Symeon on the Mediterranean coast, nine miles (fourteen kilometers) west of Antioch, allows the crusaders to bring reinforcements.

Raymond of Aguilers mentions that the English landed at the port before the crusade reached Antioch, but did not record whether a battle for control of St Symeon took place.

Reinforcements in the form of thirteen Genoese ships reach St. Symeon on November 17, and though the route from Antioch to St. Symeon runs close to the city walls, meaning the garrison can impede travel, joins up with the rest of the crusaders.

According to the Genoese chronicler Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone, the Genoese suffered heavy casualties en route from St. Symeon to Antioch.

Bohemond's troops build a counterfort outside Saint Paul's Gate in Antioch's northeast wall to protect themselves against missiles from Antioch's defenders.

Known as Malregard, the fort is built on a hill and probably consists of earthen ramparts.

The construction has been dated to around the time the Genoese arrived.

The crusaders are further bolstered by the arrival of Tancred, who sets up camp to the west of his uncle, Bohemond.

Godfrey falls ill as the crusaders' food supply reaches critical levels in December.

On December 28, Bohemond and Robert of Flanders take about twenty thousand men and go foraging for food and plunder upstream of the Orontes.

Yaghi-Siyan, knowing the crusaders' force has been divided, waits until the night of December 29 before making a sortie.

He attacks Count Raymond's encampment across the river, and though caught by surprise, Count Raymond is able to recover and turn Yaghi-Siyan's men back.

He almost succeeds in reversing the attack entirely, forcing a way across the bridge and establishing a foothold on the other side and holding open the city gates.

As the crusaders threaten to take the city, a horse loses its rider and, in the ensuing confusion in the dark, the crusaders panic and withdraw across the bridge with the Turks in pursuit.

The stalemate is restored, and both sides have suffered losses.

While Count Raymond is repulsing a sally from Antioch's garrison, an army under the leadership of Duqaq of Damascus is en route to relieve Antioch.

Bohemond and Raymond of Flanders are unaware that their foraging party is heading towards Duqaq's men.

On December 30, news reaches Duqaq while his army is at Shaizar that the crusaders are nearby.

On the morning of December 31, Duqaq marches towards Bohemond and Raymond's army and the two meet at the village of Albara.

Robert is the first to encounter Duqaq's men as he is marching ahead of Bohemond.

Bohemond joins the battle and with Robert fights back Duqaq's army and inflicts heavy casualties.

Though they repulse Duqaq's army, which retreats to Hama, the crusaders have suffered too many casualties to keep foraging and return to Antioch.

As a result of the fight, the crusaders had lost the flock they had gathered for food, so return with less food than they need.

The month ends inauspiciously for both sides: there is an earthquake on December 30.

The opening weeks of 1098 weeks see such unseasonably bad rain and cold weather that Duqaq has to return home without further engaging the crusaders.

The crusaders fear that the rain and earthquake are signs they have lost God's favor, and to atone for their sins, such as pillaging, Adhemar of Le Puy orders that a three-day fast should be observed.

In any case, supplies are running dangerously low, and soon after, one in seven men is dying of starvation.

Although local Christians bring food to the crusaders they charge extortionate prices.

The famine also affects the horses, and soon only seven hundred remain.

The extent to which the crusader army is affected is difficult to gauge, but according to Matthew of Edessa one in five crusaders die from starvation during the siege and the poorer members are probably worse off.

The famine damages morale and some knights and soldiers begin to desert in January 1098, including Peter the Hermit and William the Carpenter.

On hearing of the desertion of such prominent figures, Bohemond dispatches a force to bring them back.

Peter is pardoned while William is berated and made to swear he will remain with the crusade.