The prospects of a swift defeat was far out of reach. By December, the crusaders had nearly exhausted their food supplies. They had stripped the surrounding countryside bare of its produce. For that reason, prices skyrocketed. Food was brought into the port at St. Symeon from Syria, the Island of Rhodes and Cyprus. Because these ships came from distant lands, the merchants charged the Franks an exorbitant amount of money and there wasn’t even enough food to feed the entire army. The Armenians also showed the crusaders no mercy: they demanded a profit on all food sold.
The crusaders encountered a new enemy: starvation. According to the Gesta Account, “Many of our men died because they did not have the means where with to buy at such a dear price.”
As autumn wore on, the suffering inside the crusader camp intensified. The unrelenting rains drenched and chilled them; rusted their weapons and rotted their bow-strings and armor. Come mid December, the princes decided they had to find food somewhere before malnutrition and disease decimated the entire army. They met to discuss their course of action and came up with only one solution: forage for food in the countryside. The princes had previously objected to leaving Antioch because of the Turkish threat. But at that point, they had no other solution for which to solve their dilemma. Bohemond volunteered to lead the expedition along with Robert of Flanders.
On 28 December, they set out with a large force, comprising of foot soldiers and mounted knights, to the district of Aleppo. They scoured the Aleppo countryside, seizing what little food they managed to find. Then, on 31 December, Bohemond and Robert encountered a large Turkish force — one made up of contingents from Jerusalem, Damascus and Aleppo — that was coming to aid Yaghi Siyan. The Turks divided their army in an attempt to surround the crusaders, but Bohemond and Robert’s combined forces defeated them, sending them fleeing in many directions.
Following that swift defeat, Bohemond and Robert continued their search for food, but after having found none, they returned to Antioch. Bohemond, though, did not give up: he searched the hilly landscape west of Antioch high and low. He discovered, much to his greatest dismay, that the wondering pilgrims had pillaged that land extensively. Furious, Bohemond berated them for their selfishness. He then returned to camp empty-handed, but was hailed victorious for trying.
As brave and heroic as Bohemond was, he could not alleviate the suffering of his fellow Christians. None of the princes could for that matter. By early 1098, all of their food had run out. It seemed like the crusaders were fighting a losing battle. Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse were ill and the army was hemorrhaging soldiers: several men abandoned the siege and joined forces with Baldwin in Armenia or returned home. Robert of Normandy retreated to the fort of Laodicea (Latakya): Tatikios, commander of the Byzantine contingent, headed north with his entire force to aid his Byzantine brethren in their campaign for the reconquest of Anatolia. The crusaders anticipated he would return with soldiers, food and military supplies. In fact, Tatikios had promised them that the Emperor Alexius would arrive in due time with all of these provisions.
Not every man managed to desert though. Peter the Hermt and William of Melun were pursued by Tancred and escorted back to camp. William was forced to stand inside Bohemond’s tent all night long, then, in the morning, was harshly upbraided by the Norman prince. Since everyone looked upon Peter as the great champion of crusading zeal and as a man of God, he was let off with a mere reprimand.
To be continued on Thursday, May 2nd.
Sources Used:
Hindley, Geoffrey. A Brief History of The Crusades. Constable & Robinson, Ltd; London, 2003.
Krey, August C. The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesss and Participants. Princeton; Princeton University Press, 1921.
Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades: The First Crusade. Vol.1. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1951.
Yewdale, Ralph B. Bohemond I, Prince of Antioch. Princeton University Press; Princeton, 1917.
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