When we read in the authentic histories of the holy Fathers about the
wars waged under God's direction, and when we see that such things
were accomplished by inconsequential people of such little faith (we
do not place in this class the blessed Joshua, David, Samuel, but we
are speaking of the despicable vanity of the Jewish people, with the
exception of those whose radiance is now celebrated by the church of
God), then we might think, if reason did not intervene, that such
wretched men, serving God for their bellies only, were more pleasing
to God than those whose whole spirit was devoted to him. For them,
whose only virtue perhaps was that they were not idolaters,
everything went well; they were frequently victorious, and had an
abundance of everything. But for these Christians, victories came
about only with great difficulty, at great cost; they had little
wealth, and they lived in continual and great need, leading the lives
not of knights but of piously impoverished monks. All of this is
explained, however, by the grace of reason, when we recall that "God
torments with whips every child whom he loves,"[180] and to those
whom he deprives of the things of this world out of the rigor of his
teaching, he gives spiritual gifts, out of the affection of his sweet
love.
Therefore, after Peter had told what the blessed Andrew had revealed
in a dream to him about the Lord's lance, the Christian people were
filled with joy, and, in anticipation of the marvelous event, emerged
out of the depths of despair. Lead by this man,[181] everyone rushed
to the designated place, and a hole was dug beside the altar of the
Lord in the church of the blessed Peter. After thirteen men had dug
up the earth from dawn to dusk, Peter himself found the Lance. What
they saw before them corresponded in every way with the dream-vision
which had been reported to them; they all began to rejoice, and their
boldness against the enemy matched their joy. They bore off the
lance with great exultation, and from that day forth they confidently
went about planning to wage war. Then the leaders of the Christian
army met in council, considered together what action was needed, and
decided that the wisest thing to do before fighting was to meet first
with the Turks, to urge them not to occupy Christian territory, not
to drive the servants of Christ out of their lands, and not to kill
them, but instead to remain within their own territories, content
with their own lands. Peter the Hermit, who had helped to initiate
the undertaking, was summoned, together with a man named Herluin, an
interpreter proficient in both languages, and they were both sent to
the pagan prince, with instructions about what to say. When they
reached the tent of the pagan, and stood in the terrible presence of
the diabolical man, they delivered a speech like this: "You should
understand that our leaders are shocked to find that you have
profanely and wickedly undertaken to usurp a land firmly and freely
possessed since ancient times by Christians. Since you have
undoubtedly learned by our relentless victories against you that
Christ's power has not declined, and you have found that your forces
have little power against Christ, our leaders think that you, having
been beaten so many times, will in no way dare to resume the madness
of war against God. Therefore we unanimously judge that, in your
wisdom, you have come here for no other reason than to learn the
teaching of our faith from the Christian bishops who have come with
us. For we are absolutely certain that you will hardly be able to
ensure your safety if you try to wage war against the Catholic belief.
Therefore, aware of your ignorance, we ask that you desist from
this presumption, for we know that God gave the blessed apostle Peter
authority over the city, and he who was its first bishop intends to
restore the worship of God, which he was the first to bring here,
using us, sinners that we are, as his instruments. Our princes, in
their extreme generosity, will permit you to carry off everything
which you have brought here, nor, if you retreat peacefully, will any
of us do you any harm whatever."
But Kherboga was deeply stung by the words of Peter, and when the
arrogant Turks who accompanied him raged when they heard these things,
he said: "We shall demonstrate that we have every right to the land
which you say has belonged to your Christianity since ancient times,
particularly since we took it, by means of our remarkable strength,
from a nation scarcely better than women. Moreover, we think that
you are mad to come from the ends of the earth, threatening with all
your might to drive us from our homes, when you have insufficient
supplies, too few arms, and too few men. Not only do we refuse to
accept the name of Christians, but we spit upon it in disgust. To
respond briefly to the message you have brought: return, you who form
this delegation, to your leaders swiftly and tell them that if they
are willing to become like us and renounce the Christ upon whom you
seem to rely, we shall give them not only this land, but land of
greater wealth and size. After granting them castles and cities, we
shall allow none of them to remain foot-soldiers, but shall make them
all knights; and, when we have shared the same ceremonial rites, each
side will rejoice in mutual and close friendship. But if they shall
decide not to accept this proposal, they will undoubtedly die
horribly, or endure the exile of eternal imprisonment, as slaves to
us and to our descendants." He spoke, and the delegation quickly
returned and told the leaders of the Christian army everything that
had taken place.
The army was still in dire straits, suffering, on the one hand, from
extreme hunger, and, on the other hand, tormented by fear of the
pagans who surrounded them. Finally, placing their faith in divine
assistance, they observed a three-day fast, instituted by the
splendid bishop of Puy. In every church they poured forth suppliant
litanies, purifying themselves by sincere confession of sins; when
the bishop had granted them absolution, they faithfully took
communion of the body and blood of the Lord. Each gave alms
according to his ability, and all prayed that divine offerings might
be made for them. Finally, having derived some comfort from these
activities, they prepared to fight, drawing up six lines of battle
inside the city.
The first line of battle, which would bear the brunt of the Turkish
attack, was led by Hugh, who truly was, as his cognomen indicated,
great; he and his men were supported by the entire contingent of
Franks, led by the count of Flanders. I have heard about this royal
man that, before the battle began, his quartermaster paid a
remarkable amount of money for a camel's foot, since he was unable to
find anything better for him to eat at that point. The unusual
quality of this food had so weakened this man of God that he was
scarcely able to remain on his horse, and when someone suggested that
he not go into battle, but remain with those besieging the citadel,
he quickly replied, "No! I certainly shall go; I only hope that I
find a blessed death there with those who are to die today!"
The noble duke Godfrey and his men formed the second line. Count
Robert of Normandy and his men made up the third line, and the fourth
was led by the splendid bishop of Puy, carrying with him the recently
found Lance of the Savior. This line was composed of the bishop's
men and those of Raymond, count of Saint-Gilles, who remained within
the city, blockading the citadel, so that the inhabitants might not
escape. Tancred and his men made up the fifth line, and Bohemund
with his army made up the sixth.
Bishops, priests, clerics, monks, dressed in their ecclesiastical
garb, marched forward, holding their crosses before them, eager to
aid the soldiers with their tearful prayers, themselves awaiting the
gift of martyrdom, if they should happen to be cut down. Others
looked out from the ramparts of the walls, to watch the outcome of
the battle, holding the sign of the Lord's cross in their hands,
faithfully making the sign of the cross over the army as it marched
forth. In the order I have given, they marched out the gate in front
of the temple which our people call the Mahometry, walking so slowly
that even a weak old woman would not have asked for a slower pace.
God Almighty, with what heartfelt groans were you invoked; while
their frail, frightened bodies were being overcome by long hunger,
how rapidly did the grief of their wretched hearts reach your ears, O
most high one! With what anguish were their minds still lingering in
their racked bodies! When weakness was compelling them to despair of
victory, God alone remained steadfast in the minds of all in their
suffering for You. Their hearts were shattered by long anguish;
desiccated by famine, their eyes were too dry to weep; since the
exterior man was almost without material substance, spiritual desires
struggled violently. Good God, what could you have denied to such
devotion when you saw them, or rather made them burn in such agony?
When I consider how they maintained a military fierceness on their
faces, while their inmost hearts were preparing to undergo martyrdom,
I seriously think that no army ever equalled their constancy. Indeed
I truly should have said that they raised a shout to heaven; but then
I say that they, who performed not with physical strength but with
unusual daring of soul, made the sacred trumpets sound.
Meanwhile Kherboga saw them leaving the city, moving slowly; he
laughed at the small size of the group, and said, "Let them leave,
the better that they may, when they have fled from battle, be shut
out of the city." But when the entire army had passed through the
gates, and Kherbog noticed that the Frankish forces were mighty in
order and in number, then, at last, he trembled. As he made
preparations to flee, he immediately ordered the master of his palace
to let it be known throughout the army, as soon as he saw flames
coming from the nearest tents, that the French troops had won the
victory. Meanwhile Kherboga began to retreat, little by little,
heading for the mountains, while our men were pursuing him
relentlessly. Then the Turks, uselessly clever, split their forces
into two parts, one of which moved along the shore of the sea, while
the other waited in place for the Franks to reach them, thinking that
in this manner they might surround our men. When our men perceived
this, they turned audaciously towards the Turkish troops, separating
themselves from their fellows; because of this excessive boldness,
they were the only group of our army that suffered a loss, with only
a few knights and scarcely any foot-soldiers escaping alive. The
instigator of this foray, together with some others, was Clairambaut
of Vandeuil, who, although reputable in his own lands, did nothing
useful in the East. Meanwhile, to face the Turks at the edge of the
sea, a seventh group was formed out of the two armies led by duke
Godfrey and the count of Normandy, and a certain count Renaud was
placed in charge. That day the battle was very bitter, and many of
our men were slaughtered by the arrows of the enemy. The cavalry of
the enemy extended from the river Pharphar to the mountains, length
of two miles. Squadrons of pagans attacked from both sides, and
struck with arrows and javelins the group of Franks whom our men had
placed in the vanguard as the strongest and most likely to resist the
Turkish attacks. In charge of them was magnificent Hugh, regal in
mind, no less brave than his ancestors, who proudly called out to his
men, "Endure, and wait courageously for the second and third
discharge of missiles, because they will then flee more quickly than
speech."
And lo, innumerable forces began to come down from the mountains, and
their horses and standards shone brightly; our men, however, were
stunned even more now, fearing that these men were bringing
reinforcements for the Turks, until they discovered that this was aid,
now visible, sent by Christ. After the battle, they thought that
these glorious leaders were, in particular, the martyrs George,
Mercurius, and Demetrius. These things were seen by many of our men,
and when they told what they had seen to others, their words were
taken in good faith as true.[182] And if celestial help appeared
long ago to the Maccabees fighting for circumcision and the meat of
swine, how much more did those who poured out their blood for Christ,
purifying the churches and propagating the faith, deserve such help.
Therefore, when the first line of the enemy at the shore were driven
back by our men, unable to bear our attack, they set fire to the
grass, thereby giving the agreed-upon signal to retreat to those who
were guarding the tents during the battle. In response to the signal,
they snatched anything of any value, and fled. But the Franks, when
they saw where the pagans greater forces were, raced to their tents.
Duke Godfrey, the count of Normandy, and Hugh the Great joined forces
to attack those who were riding along the shore. These three,
together with their men, with the image of the son of God crucified
for their sake before their eyes, eagerly plunged into the thick of
the melee. When our men saw this, they too drove forward vigorously.
The enemy, screaming like madmen, rushed to meet them. For it was
their custom when they entered battle to make constant, terrible
noise with the metal shafts they used as spears, as well as with
cymbals and with their own horrifying voices, so that horses and men
could scarcely check their terror of such sound. But their efforts
were entirely in vain; our men immediately overcame the enemy; once
the battle had been joined, they subdued the enemy in the first
attack, encouraging those who had for a long time been considering
flight to carry out their plan. And even so, our men pursued them
through the middle of their encampment. They were not carried away
by the desire for the booty lying about, but instead preferred to
feed only on the blood of the enemies of Christ, pursuing them to the
bridge over the Pharphar, and to the fortress of Tancred. The
glorious spoils covered the ground of the enemy encampment; the tents,
though filled with gold, silver, and many kinds of equipment, stood
there abandoned; herds of sheep, cows, goats, horses, mules, asses
were spread about everywhere; there also was a great supply of wheat,
wine, and grain. But, when the Syrian and Armenian colonists, who
were scattered throughout the region, learned that the Franks had won
an unexpected victory, they rushed into the mountains to face the
fleeing Turks, killing those whom they found. Our own men, joyfully
shouting praises to Christ for his help, entered the city with the
honor of a heavenly victory. The Turk in charge of the citadel,
however, seeing the leader of his own army fleeing with our men in
hot pursuit, became frightened. Judging that he could no longer
defend the citadel, he immediately asked for the standard of one of
our leaders. The count of Saint-Gilles, who was close to the spot
where the request was made, quickly ordered that his own standard be
offered to the man who made the request, who promptly affixed it to
the tower. But the Lombards, striving to obtain the favor of their
leader Bohemund (for they relied upon hjis favor), cried out to the
man in charge of the citadel, "This is not Bohemund's standard." He
asked to whom did it belong, and when he was told that it belonged to
the count of Saint Gilles, he took it down and gave it back to the
count. Having asked for and received Bohemund's standard, he also
accepted the promise that those who were with him might, if any
wished to accept our religion, remain with Bohemund. Those who did
not, might freely leave. With this agreement, the citadel was
surrendered to Bohemund, who then chose men to guard it. After a few
days, the man who surrendered the citadel received baptism, together
with the other pagans who decided to take communion in the name of
Christ. Those who chose to remain pagan were free to do so, and they
were brought by Bohemund himself to Saracen territory.
On August 28, on the eve of their passion, Peter and Paul waged this
battle, out of compassion for their wretched city, unable to tolerate
the expulsion of the new citizens, who had driven out the pagans who
had contaminated the holy temple of God. And it was right that they
took pity on the city which they had both instructed by their
preaching. In the churches stables for horses had been set up, and
in part of the great basilica of saint Peter they had erected house
of their Mahomet. While the defeated enemy was retreating in
different directions, the mountains and the vallies, the fields and
the forests, the roads and pathless places overflowed with the dead
and the dying, and with innumerable wounded men. The objects of
God's sudden compassion, however, were relieved of the pain of daily
hunger; where an egg might have cost two sous, one might now come
away with a whole cow for less than twelve cents. To sum up briefly,
where hunger had raged like a disease, there was now so much meat and
other food that great abundance seemed everywhere to pour in a sudden
eruption from the earth, and God seemed to have opened the cataracts
of heaven.[183] There were so many tents that, after all of our
people had plundered one, they were so wealthy and sated with the
weight of their booty, that almost no one wanted to take any more.
If a poor man took something that he wanted, no wealthier man tried
to take it from him by force, but each permitted the other to take
what he wanted without fight.
Then our leaders, duke Godfrey, the count of Saint-Gilles, Bohemund,
the count of Normandy and Robert of Flanders, and all the others,
consulted with each other, and sent Hugh the Great and Baldwin, the
count of Mons, together with some others of great repute, to the
emperor, so that he might receive Antioch from them, according to
their agreement. They departed, but afterwards were slow to return
to those who had sent them. For, in a certain place, the Turks
attacked them; those who had horses nearby escaped; those who were
not close enough to their horses were carried away as captives, or
were slain by the sword. We are not at all certain yet about the
unfortunate fate that befell the count of Mons. According to some
people, this provided Hugh the Great with a reason to delay his
return; although capable in other matters, he showed himself less
concerned in obtaining those things which are thought to be fitting
for such a great man. A man highly fastidious about honor, he was
afraid of being less well off among men to whom he was superior or in
no way way inferior, but who were either more tenacious or more eager
to acquire things. However, no one should complain about the return
of a man who later died with the deserved repute of a martyr and fine
soldier.
Finally, a short time later, they began again to consider how to get
to Jerusalem, a task for which they had suffered so much, and how the
people who so greatly wanted to arrive might be governed until they
got there. The leaders took into consideration the fact that there
would be very little water during the heat of summer, and therefore
decided that the journey would be put off until the calends of
November. Meanwhile, after everyone had agreed to this plan, the
nobles of the army visited the various cities and towns they had
captured, and sent heralds among the conquered people, to tell them
that if anyone of them were in need, he could join them and receive
remuneration for his services. Among them was a knight,
exceptionally skilled with weapons, among the leading followers of
the count of Saint-Gilles, named Raymond Pelet, to whom many knights
and foot-soldiers had affiliated themselves. His generosity and
energy had attracted many men, and he set out with a large army into
Saracen territory, and the first place they reached was fortress
called Talamina. The inhabitants, since they were Syrians,
immediately surrendered to him. After staying in this town eight
days, he heard that not far away there was town filled with a large
group of Saracens. He quickly launched an assault to enter the town;
God led the penetration, and the town was captured. Those
inhabitants who agreed to become Christian were spared; those who
refused were killed. Having finished this business, they gave thanks
to God and returned to Talamina. On the third day they again went
out, this time to attack a village called Marrah, a fine city, well
fortified, where people of many different nations had assembled.
Close to the previously mentioned fortress, it attracted the refuse
of Saracens and Turks from nearby towns and cities, especially from
Aleph. A force of pagans ready to fight approached our men, who
judged themselves able to fight in the usual manner, but who were
quickly deceived by the pagan's trickery. The enemy, advancing in
great numbers, did great harm to our men. All that day each side in
turn advanced and retreated. Our men suffered from the intense heat,
and, their insides parched with unusual thirst, weary and unable to
find relief, they decided to pitch their tents near the city. When
the inhabitants understood that our men were faltering somewhat (it
was the Syrians who first began to talk of flight more seriously),
they became more aggressive in response to their enemies' fears, and
no longer were afraid to attack. Struck down in this attack, many of
our men piously delivered their souls to God; they died on the fifth
of July. The remaining Franks returned to Talamina, remaining there
with their leader Raymond for several days. Those who had remained
at Antioch enjoyed peace and prosperity.
For reasons hidden from us, God confounded their rest with a cloud.
He who had led them, and piously nourished both their internal and
external needs, a man admired by God and by the world, Adhemar,
bishop of Puy, fell ill; the Omnipotent in his generous compassion
permitted him to wipe away the sweat of his pious labor in a
sabbatical of eternal rest. He died on the holy day of
Saint-Peter-in-Chains,[184] and he had earned absolution by him to
whom the keys to the Kingdom and the powers of absolution belonged,
and it was fitting that Peter greet him at the gates of the celestial
realm. A great sadness and bitter grief arose throughout the entire
army of Christ; when each person, of whatever rank, sex, and age,
recalled how many benefits he had received from this most
compassionate of men, and understood that the bishop was past help,
he grieved inconsolably. At his funeral the princes themselves let
out heartfelt groans fit for the death of the entire army. Before he
was even buried, such offerings of money were made at the litter on
which his corpse was carried by the people over whom he had ruled
like a father, that I think no one had ever made such offerings in
such a short time at the altars of any nations. These offerings were
immediately distributed to the poor, for the benefit of his soul.
While he was alive, he showed great care for the souls of the poor,
always teaching the rich to love the needy, to help them in their
need, insisting that they were the guardians of the poor. He said:
"He will be judged mercilessly who has shown no mercy. If you do not
show compassion for your inferiors, who are also by nature your
brothers, and if you do not share with them equally those things that
were created by God for you and them, which are now unfairly seized
from them by you, you will undoubtedly shut the gate of divine mercy
for yourselves. Give them, I say, out of gratitude for these things,
some of your goods, certain that even as they cannot survive in this
world without you, so you cannot live eternally without them." Of
these and similar matters the remarkable man often reminded them.
Then Raymond, count of Saint Gilles, enter the territory of the
Saracens, and led his army to a city called Albara, which he attacked
and quickly captured, putting to death all the Saracen men and women
he found there. Once in control of the city, he filled it with
Christian colonists, and, on the advice of wise men, ordered that a
bishop be ordained for the city, who would gradually teach the
natives Christian doctrine, and who would carry out in their temples,
once they had been purified, the services of devotion, and the
mysteries of rebirth. They chose a man of an appropriate age, who
was known for his learning, and they brought him to Antioch to be
ordained. After he had been ordained a bishop, he did not neglect to
carry out the journey to Jerusalem, but he assigned the task of
guarding the city to someone who volunteered for the task, and set
out with the others, brave man, with little income, he who remained
behind set out to protect the citadel with the few people he could
afford to hire. Because there were very few Saracens in the city,
those pagans who remained submitted to his authority, and in exchange
for their lives gave him part of their earned income.
Antioch was now flourishing with prosperity, and the holiday of All
Saints was approaching, at the end of which the expedition was
scheduled to begin again. Mindful of this, the leaders assembled at
Antioch, and began to consult with each other about how they might
best expedite the journey for which they had come. Before the army
of the Lord made a move, Bohemund brought up the matter of turning
the city over to him, according to the agreement which had been made.
But the count of Saint Gilles refused to assent, since he respected
the oath he had given to the emperor. The bishops, who acted as
intermediaries between them, met frequently in the church of the
blessed Peter. Bohemund said that after the city had been betrayed
by Pyrrus, parts of the city had been granted to him generously by
the leaders themselves. The count of Saint Gilles replied that he
had given an oath to restore the city to the ruler of Constantinople,
unless their agreement was broken by the emperor, and that all this
was done on the advice of Bohemund. Meanwhile, the bishops, who were
trying to bring the disagreement to an end, summoned duke Godfrey,
the counts of Flanders and Normandy, and other leaders, listened to
what each had to say, and then met separately to sift the arguments
and to come to a correct decision. However, after having heard the
arguments, they remained undecided, and when they returned to the
assembled leaders, afraid to alienate such men, they postponed making
a decision. When the count saw that this was done deliberately, he
said: "To prevent the present disagreement from generating discord
among those faithful to Christ, and thereby delaying the day on which
the tomb of the Savior will be set free, and to prevent us from being
tainted with the charge of greed, I agree to the decision of my peers,
the princes now present, as long as it does not contradict what you
know, brothers and leaders, I unwillingly promised to the prince of
Constantinople." Bohemund immediately agreed to the count's proposal,
and they put aside their quarrel, placed their right hands in the
hands of the bishops as a sign of good faith, and swore solemnly that
the army of God in no way would be disturbed by their disagreements.
After consulting with the others, Bohemund then fortified his
fortress with men and food from the mountains. The count of Saint
Gilles also consulted with his men, and fortified at great expense
the palace of Cassian, which the pagans called the Emir, as well as
the tower which guarded the gate of the bridge which led to the port
of Saint Simon.
The city of Antioch is incomparably beautiful, second to none in the
majesty of its buildings; it is pleasantly situated, with an
unequalled climate, and with fertile vines and rich fields. To the
east it is surrounded by four high mountains; to the west its walls
are washed by a river renowned in the Bible,[185] the Pharphar, whose
waves are dense with fish. At the top of one of the mountains
remarkable, impregnable fortification stands; below it stands the
city itself, filled with past glory and fiercely proud of the noble
monuments of its ancient splendor, with 360 churches within its
confines. The pontiff of the city, by right of apostolic succession
honored with the title of patriarch, was in charge of 153 bishops.
The city was surrounded by a double wall, one of which was of normal
height, the other, however, remarkably broad and high, built out of
massive stones, surrounded by four hundred and fifty towers. They
say that it was rebuilt from that ancient Antioch in testimony of
whose power many monuments have survived, and that such lofty
citadels and such a variety of buildings were erected by the efforts
of 50 subject kings and their subjects.[186] This is false, since
Pompeius Trogus correctly said that it was founded by king Seleucus,
who named it after his father, and it was built up by him and by the
kings who succeeded him, even as he founded Laodicea, named after his
mother, and Seleucia, which he named after himself. All sorts of
siege engines were of no avail against this city, and had Pyrrus not
betrayed it to the besiegers, or rather had God not aided those whom
he wished, French bravery would have endured famine and other
suffering in vain. Our men had besieged the city for eight months
and one day. Then they were themselves besieged for three weeks by
an uncountable horde of pagans; after they finally defeated them, the
Christians remained there five months and eight days, until the
people were urged by their leaders again to take up the journey to
Jerusalem.
But because it seems to me that I shall not have another chance to
report what happened to the Pyrrus whom I mentioned earlier, I should
do it now. Having received the sacraments, he accepted Christianity,
taking, as his baptismal name, Bohemund. He helped us out at the
siege of Jerusalem, and, when it was captured, returned to Antioch.
There he sent out a messenger to announce that any Christian in the
city or in the vicinity of the city might come with him to a far-off
land, where he had considerable land, and he offered to make everyone
rich. He inspired a large group of people with this hope, and he is
said to have led this deceived group off to what he called his own
land. When he had reached his own encampments, he betrayed some of
the knights who had accompanied him by killing them, and he exiled
others. Had word of the betrayal not reached the others, who were
lodged outside of the encampment because of their great numbers, and
who therefore managed to hide or to escape wretchedly, the freedom of
all of them would have perished by the sword or in slavery. There
Pyrrus deserted Christianity and returned to the filth of his old
lechery and paganism. Nor was this unfitting, for the name Pyrrus in
Greek is Rufus[187] in Latin, and the mark of treachery is branded on
red-haired people; he is shown by no means to have been deprived of
his lineage.
Towards the end of November, Count Raymond of Saint-Gilles moved his
army out of Antioch; after passing the cities of Rugia and Albara, on
the fourth day, which was the last day of November, he reached the
city of Marrah.[188] A large group of Saracens, Turks, and Arabs had
come together in that city, and the count prepared to attack with all
his forces on the day after he arrived. Bohemund and his army
quickly followed the count, and set up his camp next to him on a
Sunday. The next day they attacked the walls so vigorously that
their ladders clung to the walls, and they stepped on the walls
themselves as they went up. The inhabitants resisted with such
energy that nothing could be gained by our men that day. Then the
count of Saint-Gilles, seeing that his men were toiling in vain,
ordered that a very tall, strong wooden fort be built, placed on four
wheels, with room at at the top for a large group of soldiers. This
armed group then moved the war-machine with great force against the
walls of the city, near one of the towers. In response, the
inhabitants quickly built a ballistic machine, with which they tried
to bombard our fort with huge stones, threatening to destroy both our
machine and men. They also hurled Greek fire at the machine, trying
to set the scaffolding afire, but God thwarted their plan. The
machine stood high over the city wall, and, in the midst of the clash,
the sound of trumpets ringing stirred the combatants. Meanwhile,
some of our soldiers who were in the upper part of the machine,
including William of Montpellier and some others, were hurling huge
stones against those who were defending the walls. As a result, many
shields were pierced, and the shields and their owners, both now
useless, fell from the wall. Others, with iron hooks at the tips of
their spears, tried to hook the Saracen defenders on the walls, to
pull them off. The battle went back and forth, and was hardly over
by evening. In the rear, priests, clerics, and monks, dressed in
sacred attire, each according to his rank, earnestly prayed that God
intervene by reducing the strength of the pagans, and by increasing
the strength of those who fought for the true faith. On the other
side of the siege machine, other knights were climbing ladders that
had been set in place, while the wildly energetic pagans tried to
push them off the walls. A certain Goufier, impatient with their
resistance, was the first to climb the wall, together with a very
small group of men. The inhabitants fiercely attacked these brave
men, with spears and arrows, and some of them became frightened at
this resistance, and jumped from the wall. Those who remained stood
up to the enemies' missiles, spurning flight, returning blow for blow,
while those who remained below continued to mine the wall. Soon the
inhabitants saw that they were doomed by the mining of the wall, and,
intent only on the safety of flight, climbed back down into the city.
This happened on a Sunday, while the sun was already setting in the
West, when December had reached its eleventh day. Bohemund quickly
sent an interpreter to the Saracen leaders, offering to conduct them,
together with their own knights, children, and wives, and with all
the goods and supplies they could gather, to a palace near the gate
of the city, promising to protect their lives, and to defend their
people and possessions. Having taken the city in this manner, they
took possession of everything they found in the caves and in the
homes. When night had ended and daylight began to appear, a crowd of
our people raced through the city, killing every pagan they found.
No gate of the city, no matter how small, was without a pile of dead
Saracens, and the narrow streets were impassable, because pagan
bodies obstructed the public ways. Bohemund himself attacked those
whom he had commanded to shut themselves up in the palace mentioned
before, and took what they had from them. Some he killed, others he
ordered brought to Antioch and sold. The Franks remained there for a
whole month and four days, and the people suffered from great hunger.
Some of our men, entirely without resources, finding nothing in
nearby areas to satisfy their needs, desecrated the bellies of dead
Saracens, daring to probe their internal organs, because they had
heard that pagans in serious danger would try to preserve their gold
and silver by eating them. Others, they say, cut pieces of flesh
from the corpses, cooked them and ate them, but this was done rarely
and in secret, so that no one could be sure whether they actually did
this.
Meanwhile, Bohemund had not forgotten the quarrel that had taken
place between him and the count of Saint-Gilles, but returned angrily
to Antioch when the count refused to yield to him. The count quickly
sent men to Duke Godfrey, to the count of Flanders, to the count of
Normandy, and to Bohemund, summoning them to a conference in Rugia (a
city I mentioned above). They hurried to the meeting to arrange for
an agreement, so that the journey to Jerusalem might be delayed no
longer. Angry and proud, Bohemund resisted reconciliation unless the
count agreed to what Bohemund wanted, granting him the part of
Antioch over which he had control. The count, however, was adamant,
insisting that he had given his word to the emperor. Therefore,
divided against each other by bitterness of mind, the man from
Saint-Gilles, Bohemund, and the duke returned to Antioch. The count
of Saint-Gilles, however, placed his knights in charge of the palace
and castle that looked down upon the gate at the bridge, and went off
to Marrah, which he had recently captured. However, the count was
not entirely unreasonable; considering that everyone would suffer
because of his obstinacy, which would delay the liberation of the
Tomb of the Lord, the noble man went barefooted out of Marrah on the
thirteenth of January, and reached Capharda,[189] where he stayed
three days. There he was joined by the count of Normandy, who gave
up his resistance.
The king of Caesarea had often sent ambassadors to the count of
Saint-Gilles, to persuade him to enter into a pact with him,
promising that he would offer aid to the Christians everywhere in his
kingdom, permitting them to purchase food, clothing, horses, and
whatever else they needed. Pleased with this offer, our men chose to
set up their tents near the city, where the Pharphar river flowed
near the city walls. But the king of the city, not overjoyed at the
prospect of such an army so close to him, took the move badly, and
forbade them to purchase supplies unless they quickly moved further
away. The next day he sent two of his people together with our own
men, to show them a passage of shallows across the river, and to lead
them to where they might capture some booty. Our men were led to a
valley below the encampment, where they found many animals, and they
took about five thousand of them; they also found abundant wheat and
other supplies, so that God's cavalry was ready again for action.
The fort was also surrendered to the count, giving him a considerable
amount of gold as well as horses. They also promised that they would
not harm our men. After remaining there five days, our men left, and
reached another fort which was held by Arabs. When they had set up
their tents, the leader of the town came out and made an agreement
with the count. After hastily packing their tents, the Christians
moved on to a beautiful, prosperous town called Kephalia,[190]
situated in a valley. When the inhabitants heard that the Franks
were coming, they fled from the city, leaving homes filled with food,
and gardens overflowing with produce; all that was in their minds was
to save their lives. Our men left this city after three days; they
climbed tall, jaggedly rocky mountains, then descended into a valley
no less fertile than the valley in which Kephali was situated, where
they stayed for fifteen days, rejoicing in the abundance, and resting.
The Franks then found out that there was a nearby fort, to which
many pagans had come. Our men quickly laid siege to it, and were
about to win the town, when the inhabitants offered a plentiful
supply of cattle to them, together with some flattering words,
tricking them into delaying the siege for a while. The next morning,
our men moved their tents closer to the city, preparing to undertake
the siege. When the pagans perceived what was happening, they fled
quickly, leaving the town deserted. The Christian army entered, and
found plentiful supplies of grain, wine, wheat, oil, and other useful
items. They celebrated the holiday of the Purification of the
Blessed Mary there, and received the delegates sent by the king of
the city of Camela, who promised to give the count horses, gold and
silver, and to do no harm to the Christians, but to show them
appropriate respect. The king of Tripoli[191] asked the count if he
wished to enter into an agreement with him, in exchange for ten
horses, four mules, and a large amount of gold. The count said that
he would not consider a peaceful settlement with him, unless the king
became Christian. Then they left the fertile valley, which I
mentioned above, and reached a place well fortified by nature, high
on a rock, called Archas, on the thirteenth of February, on the
second day of the week. They set up their tents near the fortress,
which was filled with an innumerable multitude of pagans, Turks,
Saracens, and Arabs, whose numbers increased the original strength of
the locations. At this point, fourteen knights from the Christian
army fighting at Tripoli, which was near to this fortress, happened
to come along, for no other reason, I think, than to find food. The
fourteen of them came upon nearly sixty Turks, who were accompanied
by others, leading more than fifteen hundred men and animals whom
they had captured. Those who were carrying out the Lord's promise
that two would make ten thousand flee before them, and one would make
a thousand flee, called to their pious minds the sign of the cross
and, with the aid of God, attacked them with unbelievable bravery,
killing six men and capturing as many horses. From the retinue of
the count of Saint-Gilles, Raymond, to whom we have given the
additional name of Pelet, who deserves to be mentioned often in this
little book, man remarkable for sternness as well as for eagerness in
battle, together with another man whose surname I do not know, who
performed the duties of a vicount,[192] sought out the city of
Tortosa. At their first attack, which they launched with great
ferocity, they terrified the inhabitants. Like a swarm of flies, a
remarkably large crowd of pagans flocked to the fort. The following
night, our men set up their tents at one end of the city, and lit
many beacon fires, giving the impression that the entire Frankish
army was there. Desperately afraid, the pagans judged that they
could not protect their lives with their shields, and decided that
the only way to escape death was to flee on foot. During the night
they slipped away silently, leaving the city filled with wealthy
treasure, and empty of inhabitants. Thus they piously fulfilled
Scripture, which says that, "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath
he will give for his life."[193] This city, situated on the sea, has
a fine port in one of its suburbs. The next day our men prepared to
attack the city in full strength, but when they assembled to fight,
they found that the city was empty. After entering, they remained
there only until they set off to besiege the city of Archas, which I
mentioned above. However, there was another city nearby, which was
called Maraclea. He who was in charge of it, whom they called the
emir, immediately prepared to enter into an agreement, and soon
accepted our men and their banners in the city.
Meanwhile duke Godfrey, Bohemund and the count of Flanders had
reached Laodicia.[194] But Bohemund, impatient at being separated
from his beloved Antioch, left his companions and returned to her.
With equal desire, the others set out to besiege a city called Gibel.
[195] Rumor reached count Raymond of Saint-Gilles that a huge force
of pagans had assembled to wage war against him. He quickly called
all the leaders of his army together, and asked them what should be
done. The group replied that there was nothing to be done in these
circumstances, except to call for help from their companions on the
Lord's journey. He accepted and quickly carried out this plan. When
the leaders, that is duke Godfrey and Robert of Flanders, found out
that their companions were in trouble, they made an agreement with
the ruler of the city of Gibel, who gave them magnificent gifts of
horses and gold, and they gave up the siege of the city, and went off
to bring help to the count. Their expectation of waging war was
disappointed, however, and they all decided to go back to the siege
of the fort at Archas. They gave themselves to the project
energetically, and a short time later undertook an expedition against
the inhabitants of Tripoli, whom they found ready for battle, with an
army of Turks, Saracens, and Arabs lined up in front of the walls of
the city. Our men attacked them vigorously and compelled them to
take refuge in flight. The result was not merely a carnage of the
nobles of the city, but wholesale slaughter, to the point that the
waves of the river that ran through the city were died red with their
blood, and the sewers were stained with this foulness. From that
point on a day of no commerce[196] arose in the minds of the pagans,
and the hearts of those who survived were so riddled with fear that
none of them, for any reason whatsover, dared to go beyond the walls
of the city. On the next day, our men went beyond the valley of Sem,
an area which had been reached by those mentioned above on the third
day after the capture of Kephalia. They found that it was rich in
supplies, and stayed there fifteen days. They happily returned with
what they had found there: cows, asses, sheep, with many other kinds
of animals, including three thousand camels. They continued to lay
siege to the fort of Archas for three months less one day, and
celebrated Easter there on April 10. While they were engaged in the
siege, the fleet which usually brought them provisions reached a
nearby port, bringing a large amount of grain, wine, meat, cheese,
barley, and oil, which provided the Lord's army with abundant
supplies. Although they had to suffer no privation in this place, it
seems to me foolish to have undertaken for such a long time such a
useless task for such a trivial result.
After the death of the noble bishop of Puy, who had managed, by a
combination of love for his flock and discipline, to bind them
together in harmony and unity, arguments and rude, arrogant behavior
began to arise among the leaders; in particular, the middle and lower
ranks began to behave badly, so that one might have thought that the
Old Testament statement, "There was no longer a king in Israel, but
each man did what seemed right in his own eyes,"[197] was being
fulfilled. The bishops and others who remained, after the death of
that glorious man who had been assigned the office of father and
leader, did not have the same concern for them, particularly because
they knew that that had not been granted the same powers that had
been given to the bishop of Puy. Therefore, since they had no single
ruler, and every man thought himself the equal of every other man,
justice diminished among them, and the will of the mob often
prevailed. Therefore it happened that, after the discovery of the
Lance, which the late bishop had accepted devoutly, a shameful and
faithless rumor began to circulate; some said that the discovery had
been staged, and that he had exhibited not the Lord's Lance, but
merely lance. Many people from the lower ranks began to grumble, and,
by relentlessly lying, they corrupted those who had believed truly
and had venerated the lance. They demanded proof of the discovery;
they asked that the discoverer be tested by divine judgment. The man
was compelled to pledge his word to those who were in doubt; he was
compelled to offer what they forced from him, merely to deal with
their lack of faith. Two pyres were constructed, in accordance with
his orders, scarcely a cubit apart; many of the people, avid for
novelty, heaped up a mass of kindling material, and when they had
crowded together on both sides of the fire, only a narrow path
remained between the flames. He then delivered a pitiful prayer, as
was fitting, to merciful God, who is the Truth, without whose
permission he knew he could do nothing about the situation, and
walked briskly across the dark path of the flames, and then returned
by the same path. A large crowd of western soldiers, in their
war-gear, was present at this spectacle, awaiting, with different
expectations, the outcome of this unusually daring undertaking. When
he had returned, as I said, a huge crowd welcomed him as he came
forth from the flames, and when they saw that he had escaped from the
fire safe and sound, they snatched at his body and at his clothes, as
though they were relics, and in the tumult of tearing and pushing,
they killed him. Having barely escaped from the flames with his life,
frightened by the danger from which he would not have escaped
without God's help, trapped by people clutching at him from all sides,
exhausted by the terror he had undergone, he could hardly have
avoided being suffocated. When the man died, the common people,
unreliable and fickle in their judgement, were disturbed by an even
worse form of confusion, arguing about the outcome of the trial by
fire. Some said that he had come out of the flames burned, others
that he had escaped unharmed, and they reproached those who had
killed him for no reason. However, whatever popular opinion may have
been, we know that the glorious bishop embraced the sacred Lance with
veneration, to the point that, in accordance with his directions, the
body of the bishop was buried in the place where the Lance was found.
So much for this matter.
While our men were unsuccessfully engaged in the lengthy siege of the
citadel of Archas, set atop a high mountain, and the army had pitched
their tents in a distant valley, Anselm of Ribemont, a rich and
powerful lord, exceedingly generous and remarkably capable at leading
an army, saw how difficult the siege had become, and, without delay,
advised our men to use machines for launching stones. They had
already begun to undermine a lofty tower, digging a long tunnel which
they shored up with planks and posts; they dug and scraped steadily
every day with great energy, and women and the wives of the nobles,
even on holidays, in flowing robes or tunics, carried off the
material that had been dug up. When those inside the citadel
discovered what our men were trying to do, they put up great
resistance to those carrying out the digging, doing them great harm.
When he saw that undermining the tower could not be accomplished,
Anselm undertook the task of urging our men to use the ballistic
machines. When the machines were set in place, and had fired many
stones at the tower, the besieged put in place similar machine at the
same spot. After it had been set in place, the machine hurled
massive rocks down, doing great damage to the entire Frankish army;
Anselm himself was the first, or among the first, to be struck down.
He, who had always behaved faithfully and steadfastly as a member of
the Lord's army, had shown other signs of his wisdom and strong faith;
one particular example, which is most pleasing to men of letters, is
brilliantly evident in the set of two letters he composed to Manassas,
the archbishop of Rheims, a man of pious memory, who died about two
years ago,[198] in which Anselm related everything which our men did
at the siege of Nicea, how they traveled through Romania and Armenia,
how they attacked, captured, and defended what they had captured at
Antioch, and how at the same time they had fought against the king of
Aleppo, against the king of Damascus, and against the king of
Jerusalem, whom he called the adulterer. As testimony of his devoted
love towards the noble martyr, on the day of the anniversary of the
passion of the blessed Quintinus,[199] he held a celebration,
surrounded by a crowd of clergy whom he had assembled to honor the
saint, and he offered a fine ceremony for the celebrants. On the
same day Anselm himself, together with many others, underwent joyous
martyrdom, earning the kingdom of heaven as their reward for a holy
death.