A History of the Crusades-Vol 1 (40 page)

Bohemond Taken
Prisoner

Before he left Antioch to answer the appeal,
Bohemond took an action which marked once for all his breach with the Greeks
and which in its consequences caused the first irreparable schism between the
Greek and Latin Churches. John IV, who had been reinstalled as Patriarch of
Antioch by Adhemar, had hitherto continued in his office. But he was a Greek;
and Bohemond suspected him of Byzantine sympathies and of encouraging the
Orthodox of his Patriarchate to hope for deliverance by the Emperor. Bohemond
now expelled him from the city, and appointed in his place a Latin, Bernard of
Valence, who had been a chaplain of Adhemar’s and whom Bohemond had recently
made Bishop of Artah, taking him to Jerusalem for his consecration. Later
Latins, such as William of Tyre, anxious to establish the legality of the Latin
line of Patriarchs of Antioch, declared that John had already resigned his see;
but in fact John only resigned after he reached Constantinople, to make way for
a Greek successor. He settled in a monastery at Oxia, where he wrote a treatise
denouncing Latin usages, in which he spoke bitterly of Latin oppression; and
his rights were taken over by the Patriarch elected by his exiled clergy. Thus
two rival lines of Patriarchs, Greek and Latin, were instituted; and neither
would yield to the other. In Antioch, thanks to Bohemond, the schism between
the Churches was now made definite; and the Emperor added to his ambition to
restore Antioch to his Empire the determination to replace the rightful line on
the Patriarchal throne.

Having thus eliminated the main possible source
of treason in Antioch, Bohemond set out for Melitene. Not liking to leave his
capital insufficiently garrisoned, he only took with him his cousin, Richard of
Salerno, and three hundred knights, with a complement of infantry. The Armenian
bishops of Antioch and Marash accompanied him; and some of his knights may have
been Armenian. Confident that with even so small a force he could conquer the
Turks, he marched carelessly up into the hills that separated Melitene from the
valley of the Aksu. There the Danishmend Emir was waiting in ambush, and
suddenly fell on him. The Franks were taken by surprise and surrounded. After a
short and bitter contest their army was annihilated. The Armenian bishops were
slain; and along with Richard of Salerno, Bohemond, so long the terror of the
infidel, was dragged off into an ignominious captivity.

It was Baldwin that saved northern Syria for
Christendom. When he saw that he was captured, Bohemond cut off a mesh of his
yellow hair and entrusted it to a soldier who managed to slip through the
encircling Turks and hurried to Edessa. There, showing the hair to prove his
authenticity, he gave Baldwin Bohemond’s message. Bohemond begged to be rescued
before the Turks would have time to carry him away into the depths of Anatolia.
But Baldwin was more concerned with the safety of the Frankish states than with
the person of his old friend and rival. He set out at once with a small force
that contained only one hundred and forty knights; but his scouting was
excellent; and rumour preceded him greatly increasing the size of his army.
Malik Ghazi Gumushtekin had on the morrow of his victory marched up to the
walls of Melitene to display to the garrison the heads of his Frankish and
Armenian victims. But when he heard of Baldwin’s approach he thought it best to
retire with his booty and his captives into his own territory. Baldwin followed
him into the mountains; but he feared to advance far into the country where he
could easily be ambushed, nor did he trust the local inhabitants. After three
days he returned to Melitene. Bohemond and Richard of Salerno travelled on laden
with chains to a long imprisonment in the bleak castle of Niksar (Neocaesarea)
away in the mountains of Pontus.

Gabriel of Melitene welcomed Baldwin as his
deliverer and hastened to place himself beneath his suzerainty. In return
Baldwin left him fifty knights to see to the defence of the town. Thanks to
them Gabriel was able to repel a Danishmend attack a few months later, when
news had reached the Turks that Baldwin had left the north.

Baldwins Journey
to Jerusalem

It was only on his return to Edessa after this
campaign, about the end of August, that Baldwin received the envoys from
Jerusalem who had come to tell him of his brother’s death. He spent the month
of September in making arrangements for his journey and for the government of
Edessa. His cousin Baldwin of Le Bourg was at Antioch, where he seems to have
acted as Bohemond’s deputy and perhaps as a liaison between the two great
leaders. He was summoned to Edessa, where Baldwin invested him with the county,
under his suzerainty. On 2 October, Baldwin started out with his household and
a bodyguard of two hundred knights and seven hundred infantrymen for Jerusalem,
grieving a little, so his chaplain Fulcher tells us, for the death of his
brother, but rejoicing more at his inheritance.

Daimbert’s hopes that Bohemond might stop him
were in vain. Bohemond was lost in captivity; and the Franks of Antioch were
delighted to welcome the man whose intervention had saved them from the
consequences of the disaster. From Antioch, where he remained for three days, he
sent his wife and her ladies to travel by sea to Jaffa; for he feared to meet
with trouble on his journey. At Lattakieh, where he was well received by the
authorities and spent two nights, many other soldiers came to join him. But
their enthusiasm was short-lived; for it was soon learnt that the Turks of
Damascus were determined to destroy him as he marched down the coast. By the
time that he reached Jabala his force had dwindled to a hundred and sixty
knights and five hundred infantrymen. Forced marches brought him safely to
Tripoli. The new Emir of Tripoli, Fakhr al-Mulk, was on the worst possible
terms with Duqaq of Damascus, who was trying to encroach on to the Lebanese
littoral. He therefore took pleasure in supplying Baldwin not only with all the
foodstuffs that he needed but also with information about Duqaq’s movements and
plans.

As the coast road from Tripoli approaches
Beirut, at the passage of the Nahr el-Kelb, the Dog River, it runs along a
narrow ledge between the mountains and the sea. The pass was famed from the
days of antiquity; and every conqueror that forced it, from Pharaoh Rameses
onwards, celebrated his victory by an inscription on the face of the cliff.
Here the Damascenes were waiting for Baldwin. Warned by the Emir of Tripoli, he
advanced very cautiously, to find himself faced by Duqaq’s whole army, together
with the army of the Emir of Homs, while an Arab squadron from Beirut lay off
the shore, ready to cut his retreat. His attempt to cross the river against
such superior forces was a failure; and he was grateful when night fell and
enabled him to retire. The Emir of Homs urged the Damascenes to attack him in
the darkness; but Duqaq’s generals preferred to wait for the dawn, when the
Moslem fleet could work with them. Through the night they contented themselves
with pouring arrows into the Frankish lines. ‘How I wished I was back at home
at Chartres or Orleans’, wrote Fulcher when he described the battle, ‘and
others felt the same.’ But Baldwin was not discouraged. Early next morning he
feigned a further retreat; but he took care to place all his best-armed men in
the rear. The Damascenes followed on in eager pursuit; but where the road
narrows again, beyond Juniye, some five miles to the north, Baldwin suddenly
turned and flung the full weight of his armour against his pursuers. They were
taken by surprise and fell back upon the troops crowding behind them. Soon all
was confusion on the narrow road; and Baldwin pressed home his attacks. The
Arab ships were not able to come in close to the shore to help their allies,
amongst whom panic now spread. By nightfall the whole Moslem army had fled into
the mountains or behind the walls of Beirut. Baldwin encamped for the night at
Juniye; and next morning, laden with booty, his army crossed the Dog River
without opposition.

King Baldwin

Thenceforward his journey was uninterrupted by
the Moslems. He passed safely by Beirut and Sidon; and at Tyre the Egyptian
governor willingly sent him supplies. On the last day of October he reached the
Christian port of Haifa. Haifa belonged to Tancred; but Tancred was in
Jerusalem where he was aiding Daimbert in a vain attempt to gain possession of
the Tower of David from the Lorrainers before Baldwin should arrive. In his
absence the Franks of Haifa offered to open their gates to Baldwin; but he was
suspicious and preferred to camp outside the walls. When his troops had rested
there for several days, he continued down the coast to Jaffa. On the news of
his approach Tancred hastened to Jaffa to try to hold the town against him; but
its citizens drove him out. Baldwin entered Jaffa amid the enthusiasm of the
populace; but he did not delay there. On 9 November he marched up into the
hills and entered Jerusalem.

As he drew near to the city the inhabitants
came out to welcome him with tremendous manifestations of joy. Not only all the
Franks but Greeks, Syrians and Armenians were in the throng which met him
outside the walls and conveyed him in honour to the Holy Sepulchre. His enemies
were scattered. Daimbert retired from the Patriarchal palace to a monastery on
Mount Sion, where he spent his time in prayer and pious exercises. Tancred
moved northward to his lands in Galilee. The anarchy which had lasted in
Palestine since Godfrey’s death was ended. On St Martin’s Day, Sunday, 11
November, with general approval and rejoicing, Baldwin assumed the title of
King of Jerusalem.

Baldwin was too wise to be vindictive. Daimbert’s
enemies, such as the ex-Patriarch Arnulf, had hoped to see his immediate
disgrace. But Baldwin took no action against him. He left him in the full
possession of his rights while he went off himself on a campaign against the
Arabs; and Daimbert came to realize that he would do well to accept his defeat
and make the best of it. When Baldwin returned to Jerusalem in mid-December,
Daimbert was ready to make peace with him. His hopes of establishing an active
theocracy were ended; but he might still retain his nominal suzerainty and
still wield a great influence on the kingdom. Baldwin, who had not lost sight
of Daimbert’s command of Pisan assistance, gladly forgave him and confirmed him
in his see. Tancred was more truculent. Baldwin summoned him to Jerusalem to
answer for his disobedience to Godfrey’s known wishes over the disposal of
Haifa. Twice Tancred disobeyed the summons, before he agreed at last to meet
Baldwin on the banks of the little river Auja, between Jaffa and Arsuf. But
when the time came he would not appear but asked for an interview at Haifa
instead. An easier solution was found. The Franks of Antioch were leaderless
since Bohemond’s captivity and Baldwin of Le Bourg’s departure to govern
Edessa. They suggested that Tancred should come to them as regent in his uncle’s
place. To Tancred the suggestion offered a fresh and wider field, where Baldwin
would not overshadow him; while Baldwin was happy to be rid with so little
trouble of a vassal whom he distrusted and disliked. The interview at Haifa
took place early in March 1101, in an atmosphere of cordiality. Tancred handed
back his fief of Galilee to Baldwin and departed with his good wishes to
Antioch.

Already on Christmas Day, 1100, in the Church
of the Nativity at Bethlehem, Baldwin had paid homage to the Patriarch Daimbert
and had been crowned by him as King.

Thus, more than four years after the princes of
western Europe had left their homes for the Crusade, the kingdom of Jerusalem
was founded. Of all the great leaders it was Baldwin, the penniless younger son
of the Count of Boulogne, that had triumphed. One by one his rivals had been eliminated.
Many of them had returned to the West, Robert of Normandy, Robert of Flanders,
Hugh of Vermandois and Stephen of Blois. His own brother Eustace of Boulogne,
who might have hoped for Godfrey’s heritage, had preferred his lands by the
English Channel. Of his chief competitors in the East, Bohemond lay helpless in
his Turkish prison, and Raymond, landless still, was away in Constantinople as
the client of the Emperor. But Baldwin had bided his time and had snatched at
his opportunities. Of them all he had proved himself the ablest, the most
patient and the most far-sighted. He had won his reward; and the future was to
show that he deserved it. His coronation was a glorious one and a hopeful
ending to the story of the First Crusade.

APPENDIX II

THE NUMERICAL
STRENGTH OF THE CRUSADERS

Every medieval historian, whatever his race,
invariably indulges in wild and picturesque exaggeration whenever he has to
estimate numbers that cannot easily be counted. It is therefore impossible for
us to-day to establish the actual size of the Crusading armies. When Fulcher of
Chartres and Albert of Aix tell us that the fighting men of the First Crusade
numbered 600,000, while Ekkehard gives 300,000 and Raymond of Aguilers a modest
100,000, or when Anna Comnena declares that Godfrey of Lorraine brought with
him 10,000 knights and 70,000 infantrymen, it is clear that the figures are
only meant to denote a very large number indeed. But when they are dealing with
smaller numbers the chroniclers need not be entirely distrusted, though they
like to give a round figure that can only be approximate. From their evidence
we can make certain deductions.

The proportion of non-combatants in the armies
cannot be estimated. It was certainly high. A large number of knights brought
their ladies with them. Raymond of Toulouse was accompanied by his wife, and
Baldwin of Boulogne by his wife and children. Bohemond had at least one sister
with him. We know the names of several ladies that took part in Robert of
Normandy’s expedition; and occasionally other ladies appear in the story. All
these ladies brought attendants; and there was certainly a large number of
humbler women, respectable and the reverse, with the army. We continually hear
of male non-combatants, such as Peter Bartholomew and his employer. The clergy
with the army was numerous. But it is probable that most of the male
non-combatants would be pressed into service in times of danger. The proportion
of permanent non-combatants, women, old men and children, cannot have been more
than a quarter of the whole force.