Baldwin Betrays Thoros
*Notice: Download a Kindle copy of Day of Revenge on Amazon for FREE. March 23rd – 27th. As heir to and co-regent of Edessa, Baldwin’s first task was to repel the Turks, a task he set out to...
View ArticleAt the Walls of Antioch
In the fall of 1097, the crusading army marched on to the city of Antioch, a Muslim-held city located near the Syrian border (in southeastern Turkey). The crusaders could have easily negotiated a truce...
View ArticleAntioch: Mighty Fortress
Antioch, the crusaders discovered, was a mighty fortress; much stronger than that of Nicaea. The landscape surrounding the city enhanced its defenses. Antioch is strategically located between the...
View ArticleYaghi Siyan and the Franks
Yaghi Siyan, the aging commander of Antioch’s garrison, watched with trepidation as this large, organized Frankish army prepared to attack his city. He regularly sent out spies to visit the crusader...
View ArticleSuffering Inside the Crusader Camp
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...
View ArticleTreachery
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...
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Photos of Castles in Syria by Hazel Singer
Hazel Singer, a virtual acquaintance I connected with on Susan Abernethy’s renowned Medieval History Lovers Facebook page, was kind enough to share photos she had taken of Castles while in Syria. She...
View ArticleThe Crusade in Jeopardy
By the spring of 1098, the crusaders had managed to cut off Yaghi Siyan’s connection to the outside world even though they had only maintained a partial blockade of the city. Turkish aggression against...
View ArticleBohemond Claimed Antioch
Bohemond was in contact with a tower commander. Evidence of this watchman is unknown, buried in the passage of time. Historian Thomas Asbridge suggests that the man who Bohemond befriended was an...
View ArticleThe Second Siege of Antioch
The second siege of Antioch brought the Crusade to its knees. Antioch’s defenses had been severely undermined because the citadel on Mount Silpius was still held by the Muslims. The crusaders...
View ArticleDiscovery of the Holy Lance
The crusaders, under Bohemond’s command, engaged Kerbogha in hand-to-hand combat outside the city’s eastern wall. “The battle was waged with such force from morning to evening that nothing like it was...
View ArticleBohemond, Commander-in-Chief
The discovery of the Holy Lance boosted morale in the crusader camp, but even so, they were in no shape to confront Kerbogha’s numerically superior forces. Antioch’s defenses were strong, but the...
View ArticleKerbogha Defeated
Early on Monday 28 June, Bohemond divided the army into six contingents: the French and Flemish commanded by Hugh of Vermandois and Robert of Flanders; the Lotharingians led by Godfrey; the Normans of...
View ArticleWho Would Govern Antioch?
Most soldiers and pilgrims wanted to leave Antioch and continue the march south to Jerusalem because they wished to fulfill their vows and to see the very site — Calvary Hill — where Christ was...
View ArticleAuthenticity of the Holy Lance: Raymond’s Tool for Authority
In early July, an epidemic — probably Typhoid — broke out in Antioch. One of the first people to succumb was Bishop Adhemar; his health had been failing him for some time. He died on 1 August. His...
View ArticleCount Raymond: Leader of the Crusade?
Starting in late September, Count Raymond led a series of campaigns into the Summaq Plateau region southwest of Antioch. He desired to obtain a lordship for himself because he needed to fulfill his...
View ArticleHoly Lance Discredited, Raymond’s Reputation, Ruined
In the following months, Raymond made two serious blunders that would undermine his leadership and damage his reputation. In February 1099, Raymond laid siege to the small Lebanese fort of Arqa while...
View ArticleTafurs: Fact or Myth?
Most of the peasants and laymen who made the long journey were massacred shortly after they crossed the Bosphorus in 1096. Those who did survive – including Peter the Hermit – and traveled with the...
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Map of Palestine During The Time of The Crusades
This is a map of Palestine during the years of the Crusades; what it became after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in July 1099. The post Map of Palestine During The Time of The Crusades appeared first...
View ArticleThe March to Jerusalem
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...
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