The First Crusade Podcast - Episode 5: The Fall of Antioch and the Battle with Kerbogha, 1098

Real Crusades History #245. And don't forget the Real Crusades History website!

Our notes for this podcast: The Fall of Antioch: June 2nd, fake foraging expedition fools Turks of Antioch. June 3rd, Bohemond’s rouse. Crusaders sack Antioch. Yaghi-Siyan is killed trying to escape, head brought to Bohemond. Remannt of Turkish garrison occupies citadel. Bohemond takes up position just opposite citadel. Raymond of Toulouse occupies the palace. Meanwhile, Kerbogha’s army approaches. He was occupied for three weeks attacking Edessa, held by Baldwin of Boulogne. June 5th, Kerbogha’s troops begin to surround Antioch. Food is scarce in the city. Starvation again a threat as Kerbogha fully blockades the city. Meanwhile, in Anatolia, Alexios is on the way with his army when he meets Stephen of Blois at Philomelion. Stephen says the Crusaders are lost. Alexios turns around an abandons Antioch. Crusaders desperate in Antioch. Peter Bartholomew, a poor Provencal approaches Raymond of Toulouse with tails of visions from Saint Andrew. Peter says Saint Andrew told him the holy lance would be found buried in the Cathedral of Saint Peter. This relic would help them gian victory over Kerbogha. June 15, Raymond orders the site beneath the altar in Saint Peter’s excavated. Peter himself is among those digging. Peter jumps out of the hole holding what he says is the holy lance. Word of the supposed relics spreads throughout the city, boosting morale. Bishop Adhemar remains skeptical. Kerbogha’s army is large, but plagued by factionalism. Late June, Count Raymond falls ill. Bohemond formulates a plan to break out an attack Kerbogha. The army has only 200 horses now. Most of the army must fight on foot. Monday, June 28 the battle begins. Bohemond chose the Bridge Gate for the sallying point, placing the Latins on the western bank of the Orontes, preventing the Turkish troops on the eastern bank from quickly engaging them. First to emerge from the city was a division of archers under Hugh of Vermandois, which hammered the Turks with arrows, driving back the first line of Mohammedan troops and opening a space for the remainder of the Crusader army to deploy. Bohemond had divided the remainder of the army into five distinct divisions to provide cohesion in the midst of battle. Once the Bridge Gate had been cleared, the northern French under Robert of Flanders and Robert of Normandy emerged in column behind Hugh’s archers, and then maneuvered to his left. Next Godfrey of Bouillon marched out with his Lotharingians and Germans, followed by Bishop Adhemar leading the southern French. Each division fanned out leftwards in a semi-circle, with Bohemond commanding the largest and final contingent, allowing him to bring aid to any portion of the army that came under heavy attack. Once he realized that the Crusaders were sallying forth from the Bridge Gate, Kerbogha had two options: immediately attack with his main force, or wait and meet them in battle on grounds of his own choosing. Kerbogha chose the latter, probably because he did not judge the ragged Crusader army to be much of a threat. Had he launched an immediate attack, he could have inflicted heavy losses, but he also would have ended the battle before the Christians were fully deployed; no doubt the bulk of their numbers would have retreated, and many might not have even deployed at all. Instead, Kerbogha chose to allow the Franks to bring the whole of their army out of Antioch, thus giving him the opportunity to crush them completely. But this doesn’t mean the Crusaders were able to march unmolested out of Antioch. While Kerbogha’s main force held back, the Crusaders, as they struggled to get into position before the Bridge Gate, were attacked fiercely by the advance Turkish troops. There was a vicious counterattack from the Turks who had been guarding the Bridge Gate, followed almost instantly by an assault from the Turks sweeping down from positions before the Gate of Saint Paul and the Gate of the Duke. Most pressing of all, Turks positioned before the Gate of Saint George quickly began crossing the river and coming up behind the Crusaders for an attack. The Christians were surrounded. Reinhard of Toul was dispatched with a contingent of French and Lotharingians, and they met the southeastern attack with such ferocity that the enemy broke in panic. Meanwhile, the main body of the Franks held formation against the onslaught of Turkish arrows.