A History of the Crusades-Vol 1 (30 page)

Adhemar was not impressed. He considered Peter
Bartholomew to be a disreputable and unreliable character. Possibly he resented
the criticism of his own zeal as a preacher. Possibly he remembered having seen
at Constantinople a Holy Lance whose claim of authenticity was longer
established. As an experienced churchman he distrusted the visions of the
ignorant. But Raymond, whose piety was simpler and more enthusiastic, was ready
to be convinced. He arranged to attend at a solemn search for the Lance in five
days’ time. In the meantime he confided Peter Bartholomew to the care of his
chaplain.

Visions breed rapidly. That evening all the
princes were gathered in the upper city, by the wall guarding the citadel, when
a priest from Valence called Stephen demanded to see them. He told them that on
the previous evening, believing that the Turks had taken the city, he had gone
with a group of clerics to the Church of Our Lady to hold a service of
intercession. At the end of it the others had fallen asleep; but as he lay
wakeful there, he beheld before him a figure of marvellous beauty, who asked
him who were these men and who seemed glad to learn that they were good
Christians and not heretics. The visitor then asked Stephen if he recognized
him. Stephen began to say No, but noticed a cruciform halo surrounding his
head, as in the picture of Christ. The visitor admitted that he was Christ and
next asked who was in command of the army. Stephen replied that there was no
one commander but that the chief authority was given to a bishop. Christ then
told Stephen to inform the bishop that his people had done evil with their
lusts and fornication, but if they returned to a Christian way of life he would
send them protection in five days’ time. A lady with a brilliant countenance
then appeared, saying to Christ that these were the people for whom she had so
often interceded; and Saint Peter also joined them. Stephen tried to waken one
of his comrades to bear witness to the vision; but before he succeeded the
figures were gone.

Adhemar was prepared to accept this vision as
genuine. Stephen was a reputable cleric and moreover swore on the Gospel that
he had told the truth. Seeing that the princes were impressed with the story,
Adhemar at once induced them to swear by the Holy Sacrament that none of them
would henceforward leave Antioch without the consent of all the others.
Bohemond swore the first, then Raymond, then Robert of Normandy, Godfrey and
Robert of Flanders, followed by the lesser princes. The news of the oath raised
the spirits of the army. Moreover Stephen’s mention of a sign of divine favour
due to come after five days gave support to Peter Bartholomew’s claim.
Expectation ran high in the camp.

The Discovery of
the Lance

On 14 June a meteor was seen which seemed to
fall on to the Turkish camp. Next morning Peter Bartholomew was conducted to St
Peter’s Cathedral by a party of twelve, which included Count Raymond, the
Bishop of Orange and the historian, Raymond of Aguilers. All day long workmen
dug into the floor and found nothing. The Count went away in disappointment. At
last Peter himself, clad only in a shirt, leapt into the trench. Bidding all
present to pray, he triumphantly produced a piece of iron. Raymond of Aguilers
declared that he himself embraced it while it was still embedded in the ground.
The story of its discovery soon spread round the army and was received with
excitement and with joy.

It is useless to attempt now to judge what
really happened. The cathedral had recently been cleaned on its reconsecration.
Peter Bartholomew may have worked on the job after his return to Antioch, the
date of which he never revealed, and would thus have had the chance of burying
a piece of iron below the floor. Or he may have had the diviner’s gift that can
tell the presence of metal. It is remarkable that even in that age when
miracles were universally considered to be possible, Adhemar clearly kept to
the view that Peter was a charlatan; and, as the sequel was to show, this
distrust was shared by many others. But it was not yet voiced. The finding of
the relic had so heartened the Christians, even including the Greeks and
Armenians, that no one wished to spoil its effect. Peter Bartholomew himself,
however, somewhat shook his supporters two days later, when he announced
another visit from Saint Andrew. Jealous, perhaps, of Stephen’s direct
conversation with Christ, he was pleased to hear from the saint that the silent
companion in his visions was indeed Christ. Saint Andrew then gave him careful
instructions of the services to be held in celebration of the discovery and on
its anniversaries. The Bishop of Orange, made suspicious by all the liturgical
detail, asked Peter if he could read. In reply Peter thought it wiser to
declare that he was illiterate. This was shown to be a lie; but his friends
were soon reassured; for thence-forward he was no longer able to read. Saint
Andrew soon reappeared, to announce a forthcoming battle with the Turks that
should not be long delayed, as the Crusaders were menaced with starvation. The
saint recommended five fast-days, as a penance for the people’s sins; then the
army should attack the Turks, and it would be given the victory. There was to
be no pillaging of the enemy’s tents.

Bohemond, now in supreme command as Count
Raymond was ill, had already decided that the only course was to launch a full
assault on Kerbogha’s camp; and it was possible that Saint Andrew had been
inspired from earthly sources in his latest advice. While the Crusaders’ morale
was improving, Kerbogha was finding increasing difficulty in keeping together
his coalition. Ridwan of Aleppo still held aloof from the expedition; but
Kerbogha now felt the need for his help. He began to negotiate with him, and
thus offended Duqaq of Damascus. Duqaq was nervous about Egyptian aggression in
Palestine and was anxious to return to the south. The Emir of Homs had a family
feud with the Emir of Menbij and would not co-operate with him. There was
friction between the Turks and the Arabs in Kerbogha’s own forces. Kerbogha
himself attempted to maintain order by the use of autocratic authority which
all the Emirs, who knew him to be a mere
atabeg
, resented. As the month
went on there were more and more desertions from his camp. Large numbers of
Turks and Arabs alike returned to their homes.

Peter the Hermit’s
Embassy

Kerbogha’s difficulties were undoubtedly known
to the Crusading leaders, who made an attempt to persuade him to abandon the
siege. On 27 June they sent an embassy composed of Peter the Hermit and a Frank
called Herluin, who spoke both Arabic and Persian, to his camp. The choice of
Peter indicates that he had recovered from the disrepute caused by his
attempted flight five months before. It was probably because they feared that
the envoys’ immunity would not be respected that none of the leaders could be
allowed to go on the mission; and Peter was chosen as the best-known
non-combatant with the army. His acceptance of the task showed courage and did
much to restore his prestige. We do not know what terms Peter was empowered to
offer; for the speeches put into his and Kerbogha’s mouth by later chroniclers
are clearly fictional. Possibly, as some of the chroniclers say, it was
suggested that a series of single combats might decide the issue. Kerbogha,
despite his growing weakness, still demanded unconditional surrender; and the
embassy returned empty-handed. But in the course of it Herluin may have
acquired some useful information about the state of affairs in the Turkish
camp.

After the failure of the embassy there could be
no alternative to battle. Early on Monday morning, 28 June, Bohemond drew up
the Crusading troops for action. They were divided into six armies. The first
was composed of the French and Flemish, led by Hugh of Vermandois and Robert of
Flanders; the second of the Lotharingians, led by Godfrey; the third of the
Normans of Normandy, under Duke Robert; the fourth of the Toulousans and the
Provencals, under the Bishop of Le Puy, as Raymond was seriously ill; and the
fifth and sixth of the Normans of Italy, under Bohemond and Tancred. To keep
watch on the citadel, two hundred men were left in the city, for Raymond to
command from his sickbed. While some of the priests and chaplains of the army
held a service of intercession on the walls, others marched with the troops. To
the historian Raymond of Aguilers was given the honour of carrying the Holy
Lance into the battle. Each prince could be distinguished by his banner; but
the panoply of the knights was a little tarnished. Many had lost their horses
and had to go on foot or ride inferior beasts of burden. But, strengthened by
the recent signs of divine favour, the soldiers’ courage was high as they
marched out, one after the other, across the fortified bridge.

The Victory over
Kerbogha

As they emerged out of the gate, Kerbogha’s
Arab commander, Watthab ibn Mahmud, urged him to attack at once. But Kerbogha
feared that to strike too soon would only destroy the Crusaders’ advance-guard,
whereas if he waited he might dispose of their whole forces in one stroke. In
view of the temper of his troops he could not afford that the weary siege
should go on. But when he saw the full array of the Franks he hesitated and
sent a herald to announce, too late, that he would now discuss terms for a
truce. Ignoring his messenger, the Franks advanced; and Kerbogha adopted the
usual Turkish technique of retiring and luring them on into rougher ground,
where suddenly his archers poured arrows into their ranks. Meanwhile he sent a
detachment round to out-flank them on the left, where they were unprotected by
the river. But Bohemond was ready for this, and composed a seventh army, under
Rainald of Toul, to hold this attack. On the main front the fighting was hard;
among the slain was Adhemar’s own standard bearer. But the Turkish archers
could not stop the Crusaders’ advance; and the Turkish line began to waver. The
Christians pressed on, encouraged by a vision on the hill-side of a company of
knights on white horses, waving white banners, whose leaders they recognized as
Saint George, Saint Mercury and Saint Demetrius. More practical aid was given
them by the decision of many of Kerbogha’s Emirs to desert his cause. They
feared that victory would make him too powerful and they would be the first to
pay for it. With Duqaq of Damascus at their head they began to leave the field;
and their going spread panic. Kerbogha set fire to the dry grass in front of
his line, in a vain attempt to delay the Franks while he restored order. Soqman
the Ortoqid and the Emir of Homs were the last to remain faithful to him. When
they too fled he saw that the game was up and abandoned the battle. The whole
Turkish army broke up in panic. The Crusaders, following Saint Andrew’s advice
not to delay to sack the enemy camp, followed the fugitives as far as the Iron
Bridge, slaying vast numbers of them. Others who tried to seek shelter in the
castle of Tancred were rounded up and perished. Many of the survivors of the
battle were massacred in their flight by the Syrians and Armenians of the
countryside. Kerbogha himself reached Mosul with a remnant of his forces; but
his power and prestige were lost for ever.

Ahmed ibn Merwan, the commander of the citadel,
had watched the battle from his mountain-top. When he saw that it was lost, he sent
a herald to the city to announce his surrender. The herald was taken to Raymond’s
tent; and Raymond dispatched one of his own banners to be raised over the
citadel-tower. But when Ahmed learnt that the banner was not Bohemond’s, he
refused to display it; for he had, it seems, already made a secret arrangement
with Bohemond to be carried out in event of a Christian victory. He did not
open his gates till Bohemond himself appeared, when the garrison was allowed to
march out unharmed. Some of them, including Ahmed himself, became converts to
Christianity and joined Bohemond’s army.

The Crusaders’ victory was unexpected but
complete. It decided that Antioch should remain in the possession of the
Christians. But it did not decide to which of the Christians its possession
would pass. The oath that all the princes except Raymond had sworn to the
Emperor clearly demanded that the city should be handed over to him. But
Bohemond had already shown his intention to retain it; and his colleagues, with
the exception of Raymond, were ready to consent, as it was he who had planned
the capture of the city and he to whom the citadel had surrendered. They were a
little uncomfortable at flouting their oaths. But the Emperor was far away. He
had not come to their aid. Even his representative had left them; and they had
taken the city and defeated Kerbogha without his help. It seemed to them
impracticable to keep a garrison there till Alexius should deign to appear
himself or send a lieutenant; and it seemed impolitic to waste time and to risk
the enmity and perhaps the desertion of their most eminent soldier in defending
the rights of an absentee. Godfrey of Lorraine clearly thought it foolish to
stand in the way of Bohemond’s ambitions. Raymond, however, was always bitterly
jealous of Bohemond. And it would be unfair to regard his jealousy as his only
motive in supporting the claims of Alexius. He had made friends with Alexius
before he left Constantinople; and he was shrewd enough to see that by failing
to restore Antioch to the Empire the Crusaders would forfeit the Emperor’s
goodwill, which was necessary for them if their communications were to be
adequately maintained and if the inevitable Moslem counter-action was to be
kept in check. The Crusade would no longer be an effort of united Christendom.
Adhemar of Le Puy shared Raymond’s point of view. He was determined to
co-operate with the eastern Christians, as his master, Pope Urban, undoubtedly
wished, and he saw the danger of offending Byzantium.