By early 1098, the suffering inside the crusader camp had reached its climax. Hundreds, if not thousands, of pilgrims, knights and foot soldiers had perished from illness and malnourishment. To add to their misery, Yaghi Siyan began to torture and kill Antioch’s Christian population. The Greek patriarch was dangled from the battlements by his ankles and beaten with rods. Many Greeks, Syrians and Armenians were slaughtered. Their heads were then chopped off and catapulted over the walls into the crusader camp while the crusaders looked on in horror and grief.
Naturally, they began to believe that God had abandoned them and their war for His Holy Land. When questioned why, the Bishop of Le Puy offered them only one answer: the Holy War had become tainted with sin. “The Bishop prescribed a fast of three days and urged prayers and alms, together with a procession, upon the people; moreover he commanded the priests to devote themselves to masses and prayers, the clerics to psalms,” Raymond wrote. Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy also blamed the women for leading the men to commit acts of sin. So they were cast out of the camp.
In the meantime, the princes learnt that a large, relief army under the command of Ridwan of Aleppo was encamped at Harenc, less than twenty-five miles away from Antioch. In response to this threat, Bohemond led a reasonably large force to the Iron Bridge and lured the Turks into an ambush. They roundly defeated the Turkish army thanks to their tight discipline and prowess, a victory that earned Boehmond an even greater reputation amongst his fellow crusaders.
In early March, their situation improved even more. Shortly after Ridwan was defeated, an English fleet arrived at St. Symeon, bearing food and military supplies, much to the crusaders’ greatest relief. They were now able to rest, eat and strengthen their hold on Antioch. They built a fort — Christened La Mahomerie (The Blessed Mary) — opposite the Bridge Gate, across the Orontes River.
Fort La Mahomerie was intended to block Turkish forays from travelling to and from St. Symeon, but it needed to be garrisoned. Raymond of Toulouse took on that responsibility: he paid a great deal of money out of his treasury in order to garrison Fort La Mahomerie, but his actions were not entirely altruistic. Raymond wanted to be recognized as the commander of the crusade, but he had two formidable rivals: Bohemond and Tancred.
Four weeks after Fort La Mahomerie was built and garrisoned, Tancred established a force at a fortified monastery opposite the St. George Gate. However, starvation and desertion had cut the Christian army down a size, leaving them unable to complete a full blockade of Antioch.
The crusaders were left with only one workable strategy: treachery. It also became a game played amongst the princes: the first man to trick a Turk into opening a main gate would be recognized as the commander of the crusade. Behomond challenged his fellow Lords to this game, not because of his high reputation, but because he was determined to have Antioch for himself and he was highly confident that he would obtain this principality.
Sources Used:
Asbridge, Thomas. The Crusades: The Authoritative History of The War For The Holy Land. Ecco; New York, 2011.
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.
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