The crusaders resumed their march to Jerusalem in April 1099, fifteen months since they had reached the walls of Antioch. In that time, important changes had occurred in the Muslim world.
The Fatimids of Egypt had two things in common with the Byzantines: they despised the Turks and they planned to use the Latins to their advantage in their effort to recover lands lost to the Turks. Shah-an-Shah Al-Afdal, the ruler of Egypt at that time, was delighted to hear that Kerbogha had been defeated and the Turkish coalition, crushed. He had the Latins to thank for that, yet Al-Afdal could not ignore the fact that they were his new enemies. At Antioch, his embassy was unable to negotiate any kind of truce because, as Al-Afdal found out soon after his embassy returned to Cairo, the Latins were intending to march on Jerusalem.
Determined to capture the holy city, Al-Afdal assembled an army and invaded Palestine, seizing Jerusalem in August 1098. He allowed the Turkish garrison there to retire unharmed to Damascus.
By the fall of that year, the Egyptians occupied all of Palestine as far north as the Dog River which bordered Beruit. In that time, the Egyptions repaired Jerusalem’s fortifications — the walls had been severely battered during the siege, which had lasted for forty days — and garrisoned the city.
When the crusader princes learnt that Jerusalem had fallen to the Egyptians, they sent an embassy to Cairo to seek terms of settlement with Al-Afdal. They asked the Egyptian ruler to hand over Jerusalem to them, promising that, in return, they would cede partitions of conquered territory to the Egyptians. Al-Afdal refused their offer on grounds that Jerusalem was his. More importantly to him, Jerusalem was the cornerstone of Islam: it was the place where Mohammed had ascended into heaven. Al-Afdal did, however, offer the crusaders free access to the city and to all of their holy places with the promise that no Christian pilgrim would be harmed in the city or while travelling to and from Palestine. The princes turned down this offer, a move that ended their amicable relationship with the Fatimids and alienated them from all support.
Sometime after the Latin embassy left Cairo, Al-Afdal sent a letter to the Emperor Alexius — whom he was on good terms with — inquiring if the crusaders were acting in his service. Alexius wrote back, assuring Al-Afdal that the crusaders were no longer in his service, thus relieving himself of his responsibility for them. Bohemond’s actions at Antioch had taught Alexius that the Latins were not to be trusted, so he no longer felt compelled to help them.
The crusaders were now on their own, confronted with a new, formidable enemy: the Fatimids. So, how did they make it to Jerusalem without being annihilated?
The fractured Muslim world explains why the First Crusade was not crushed. The Arab Dynasties in northern Syria were equally glad to see the Turkish coalition collapse. They too were prepared to use the Crusade to their advantage. They were also terrified of the Latins. For those reasons, Muslim authorities entered negotiations with the crusaders. They provided the crusaders with guides; opened their markets and allowed the crusaders to take food from their orchards on condition they pass through their lands peacefully. The crusaders, for the most part, kept their promise.
Around that time — in February 1099 — the crusaders seized Tortosa, a town located on the coast. This victory greatly strengthened the Crusade because it opened up communications with Europe via Antioch and Cyprus. Pilgrims and warriors alike were heartened by this victory. To them, it proved that Christ was on their side, fighting with them. Yet, they were well aware of the fact that, at any time, Al-Afdal would arrive with an army and oust them from the Holy Land. For that reason and because they were anxious to fulfill their vows, the crusaders hurried through Arab territories. They travelled down to Arsuf, then turned inland and marched on Ramleh, a town inhabited entirely by Muslims. Ramleh didn’t have a large or even strong garrison, and it wasn’t heavily fortified. So, when the people saw the crusaders advancing on them, they all fled the town. Their going ensured a swift, bloodless victory for the crusaders.
The crusaders garrisoned the town and appointed Robert of Rouen — a Norman priest — as governor. Meanwhile, the princes debated their next course of action. Some men argued that the army should first attack Egypt, their real enemy, and crush the threat Al-Afdal posed to their holy mission. Their proposal, though, was roundly rejected, so the army resumed their march to Jerusalem on 7 June.
They marched along an ancient road that ran through the Judaean hills. As they traveled through the village of Emmaus, the princes were greeted by envoys from Bethlehem — the birthplace of Jesus Christ and the only village in Palestine that was entirely Christian. These men begged the princes to deliver them from Muslim rule. In response to their pleas, Tancred and Baldwin of Le Bourg set out for Bethlehem accompanied by a small contingent of knights.
While Tancred, Baldwin and their men restored Bethlehem to Christian rule, the rest of the army marched on until they saw Jerusalem’s great walls and towers in the distance. “All the people burst into floods of happy tears, because they were so close to the holy place of that longed-for city, for which they had suffered so many hardships, so many dangers, so many kinds of death and famine,” wrote Albert of Aechen.
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.
Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades: The First Crusade. Vol.1. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1951.
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