body was thrown off a parapet and what remained of it was dragged through the streets for all to see. Prince Thoros was dead, and there was now only Prince Baldwin of Edessa.
By capturing Edessa with eighty knights Baldwin had the satisfaction of knowing that he had penetrated more deeply into Asia than any Westerner since the time of Alexander the Great. Edessa lay on an important trade route and had acquired wealth and treasure far beyond the expectation of the knights who so casually made their way to this provincial city. After the death of Thoros, Baldwin found the treasury intact. He became rich beyond his utmost dreams. His citadel was ornamented with Corinthian columns fifty feet high, and at the foot of Citadel Rock were pools once sacred to the ancient goddesses of Mesopotamia. In this exotic place, inhabited by Armenians, Turks, Jews, and merchants from Central Asia,Baldwin established a Crusader princedom which would serve as the eastern bulwark of the Crusaders for half a century.
Meanwhile the main Crusader army under Bohemond, Godfrey, and the Count of Toulouse continued its march through Asia Minor, having more difficulty with the terrain than with the Turks. The Turks indeed refused battle. Bohemond heard of a powerful Turkish army, went in search of it, and failed to find it. Perhaps it never existed; it is more likely that it simply fled at the approach of the Crusaders, who were gathering momentum and speed for the inevitable attack on Antioch. At Coxon, where the people opened the gates and entertained the Christian army for three days, they heard rumors that the Turkish garrison had been withdrawn from Antioch and the way was thus clear to Jerusalem. The Count of Toulouse held a council of war, and it was decided to send five hundred knights ahead in order to verify the rumor, which proved to be untrue. Antioch was being heavily fortified. The Christians inside the city were being persecuted and the largest church had been desecrated, being used as stables for the reigning emir.
The worst part of the journey lay ahead, for after Coxon the Crusaders had to cross the Anti-Taurus Mountains. It was October, the rains had begun, carts and wagons filled with supplies had to be carried over great heights, horses fell over precipices, and one beast of burden would drag another down with it. The author of the
Gesta Francorum
speaks of the
diabolica montana
, the devilish mountains. They had bad maps, no protection from the weather, and knew nothing about climbing mountains. They lost more men and animals in the mountains than they lost in any battle with the Turks. Dispirited, with half their baggage trains lost, they came at last to the plains near the seacoast. They would have been even more dispirited if they had known that Yaghi-Siyan, the military governor of Antioch, had sent urgent messages to Aleppo, Damascus, Mosul, Baghdad, and as far as Persia, for reinforcements. His aim was to make Antioch impregnable by transforming the city into an armored fortress.
On October 20, four months after the battle of Nicaea, the Crusaders saw the high, biscuit-colored walls of Antioch in the distance. They were awestruck by the power and splendor of the city that stood in their way, defended by walls built by a Byzantine emperor and by a ruthless and well-organized Turkish army. They could not reach the Holy Sepulchre until Antioch was surrendered to them.
The Siege
of Antioch
ANTIOCH was a city like no other in the Near East. It was once the largest in Asia; under the Romans it was the third largest of the empire; and in the time of the Crusades it was the richest and the most powerful city on the Palestinian coast. The seaport of St. Symeon, twelve miles away, was usually filled with ships, for Antioch was a vast trading center with merchants who came from North Africa, Egypt, Byzantium, from Central Asia and all the emirates in the hinterland. The city clustered at the foot of a mountain called Mount Silpius,
By capturing Edessa with eighty knights Baldwin had the satisfaction of knowing that he had penetrated more deeply into Asia than any Westerner since the time of Alexander the Great. Edessa lay on an important trade route and had acquired wealth and treasure far beyond the expectation of the knights who so casually made their way to this provincial city. After the death of Thoros, Baldwin found the treasury intact. He became rich beyond his utmost dreams. His citadel was ornamented with Corinthian columns fifty feet high, and at the foot of Citadel Rock were pools once sacred to the ancient goddesses of Mesopotamia. In this exotic place, inhabited by Armenians, Turks, Jews, and merchants from Central Asia,Baldwin established a Crusader princedom which would serve as the eastern bulwark of the Crusaders for half a century.
Meanwhile the main Crusader army under Bohemond, Godfrey, and the Count of Toulouse continued its march through Asia Minor, having more difficulty with the terrain than with the Turks. The Turks indeed refused battle. Bohemond heard of a powerful Turkish army, went in search of it, and failed to find it. Perhaps it never existed; it is more likely that it simply fled at the approach of the Crusaders, who were gathering momentum and speed for the inevitable attack on Antioch. At Coxon, where the people opened the gates and entertained the Christian army for three days, they heard rumors that the Turkish garrison had been withdrawn from Antioch and the way was thus clear to Jerusalem. The Count of Toulouse held a council of war, and it was decided to send five hundred knights ahead in order to verify the rumor, which proved to be untrue. Antioch was being heavily fortified. The Christians inside the city were being persecuted and the largest church had been desecrated, being used as stables for the reigning emir.
The worst part of the journey lay ahead, for after Coxon the Crusaders had to cross the Anti-Taurus Mountains. It was October, the rains had begun, carts and wagons filled with supplies had to be carried over great heights, horses fell over precipices, and one beast of burden would drag another down with it. The author of the
Gesta Francorum
speaks of the
diabolica montana
, the devilish mountains. They had bad maps, no protection from the weather, and knew nothing about climbing mountains. They lost more men and animals in the mountains than they lost in any battle with the Turks. Dispirited, with half their baggage trains lost, they came at last to the plains near the seacoast. They would have been even more dispirited if they had known that Yaghi-Siyan, the military governor of Antioch, had sent urgent messages to Aleppo, Damascus, Mosul, Baghdad, and as far as Persia, for reinforcements. His aim was to make Antioch impregnable by transforming the city into an armored fortress.
On October 20, four months after the battle of Nicaea, the Crusaders saw the high, biscuit-colored walls of Antioch in the distance. They were awestruck by the power and splendor of the city that stood in their way, defended by walls built by a Byzantine emperor and by a ruthless and well-organized Turkish army. They could not reach the Holy Sepulchre until Antioch was surrendered to them.
The Siege
of Antioch
ANTIOCH was a city like no other in the Near East. It was once the largest in Asia; under the Romans it was the third largest of the empire; and in the time of the Crusades it was the richest and the most powerful city on the Palestinian coast. The seaport of St. Symeon, twelve miles away, was usually filled with ships, for Antioch was a vast trading center with merchants who came from North Africa, Egypt, Byzantium, from Central Asia and all the emirates in the hinterland. The city clustered at the foot of a mountain called Mount Silpius,
Similar Books
