The First Crusade by Thomas Asbridge;

Author:Thomas Asbridge; [Asbridge, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781849837699
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

At last, the remaining men reached the wall top and the most dangerous moment of the entire assault. Speed and silence were essential, for had the general alarm been raised the entire attack might have been thwarted. Amazingly, the crusaders managed to kill the patrolling watchmen and the sleeping guards of the nearest three towers ‘without an outcry’ being made, although in their haste they did mistakenly hack to death Firuz’s own brother. Back on the ground Bohemond’s remaining troops became impatient. The author of the Gesta Francorum, who was in among this group, vividly recalled that ‘there was a [postern] gate not far from us to the left, but it was shut and some of us did not know where it was, for it was still dark. Yet by fumbling with our hands and poking about we found it, and all made a rush at it, so that we broke it down and entered.’31

Up to this point the attack had been based on stealth and silence. Now, suddenly, that changed. With the breach made, Bohemond sounded bugles so that by prearranged signal Godfrey and Robert would know to begin their attack on the citadel. All at once, Bohemond’s men began shouting and screaming to terrify the Antiochenes, calling out their rallying cry, ‘God’s will! God’s will!’ again and again. Every eyewitness account remarks on the abrupt and overwhelming outburst of noise. One remarked that ‘at this moment the shrieks of countless people arose, making an amazing noise throughout the city’. Another reported: ‘The crusaders killed all whom they met, and at daybreak they cried out in such terrifying screams that the whole city was thrown into confusion and women and children wept.’32

In those crucial first minutes the combination of surprise, the confusion of darkness and fear of the crusaders’ unrestrained brutality paralysed the defenders. As soon as he was within the city, Bohemond ordered his banner, blood red in colour, to be raised from the walls near the top of Mount Silpius. His intention was clear – to stake an unquestionable claim to the city – but, according to one eyewitness, his act had a more immediate impact: ‘Now as dawn broke our standards flew atop the southern hill of Antioch. Panicked by the sight of our troops on the overhanging hill, some of the Antiochenes rushed through the gates while others leaped from the walls. The Lord threw them into such chaos that not a single one stood and fought.’33

At the same time, some of the native Christians still living within the city decided to turn on the Muslim garrison and began opening the city’s remaining gates. This chaotic reaction to Bohemond’s assault sealed Antioch’s fate. Had Yaghi Siyan moved quickly to staunch the breach in the south-eastern quarter and maintain a tight guard over the city’s other gates, he might have averted disaster. As it was, with the way open, the remaining crusaders began pouring into the city. What followed was a chaotic and bloody massacre, fuelled by eight months of suffering, starvation and stored aggression.

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