Joseph François Michaud - The History of the Crusades (Vol.1-3)

Among all these calamities, the camp of the Crusaders was filled with Syrian spies, who daily bore into the city accounts of the plans, the distress, and the despair of the besiegers. Bohemond, in order to deliver the army, employed a means of a nature to disgust even barbarians. My pen refuses to trace such pictures, and I leave William of Tyre, or rather his old translator, to speak. “Bohemond,” says he, “commanded that several Turks, whom he held in close confinement, should be brought before him. These he caused instantly to be executed by the hands of the officers of justice, and then ordering a great fire to be lighted, he had them spitted and roasted, as flesh prepared for the supper of himself and his troops; at the same time commanding, that if any one made inquiries about what was going on, that they should be answered in this fashion: ‘ The princes and rulers of the camp have this day decreed in council, that all Turks or spies that shall henceforward be found in their camp, shall be, in this manner, forced to make meat with their own bodies, as well for the princes as the whole army .’”

The servants of Bohemond executed exactly the orders and instructions which he had given them. The strangers who were in the camp soon flocked to the quarters of the prince of Tarentum, and when they saw what was going on, adds our ancient author, were marvellously terrified , fearing to share the fate of the victims. They made haste to quit the camp of the Christians, and everywhere on their road spread an account of that which they had seen. Their story flew from mouth to mouth, even to the most distant countries: the inhabitants of Antioch, and all the Mussulmans of the Syrian cities, were seized with terror, and no more ventured to approach the camp of the Crusaders. “By these means,” says the historian we have above quoted, “it ensued from the cunning and conduct of the seigneur Bohemond, that the pest of spies was banished from the camp, and the enterprises of the Christians were not divulged to the enemy.”

The bishop of Puy, at the same time, employed a stratagem much more innocent and conformable with the spirit of his ministry and his profession. He caused the lands in the neighbourhood of Antioch to be ploughed and sowed, in order to protect the Christian army from the attacks of famine, and, at the same time to lead the Saracens to believe that nothing could exhaust the perseverance of the besiegers.

In the meanwhile the winter was stealing away; the contagious diseases committed fewer ravages; and the princes and the monasteries of Armenia sent provisions to the Christians. [105]The famine began to be less felt. The amelioration in the condition of the pilgrims was attributed to their penitence and their conversion; and they returned thanks to Heaven for having made them better and more worthy of its protection and mercy.

It was at this period that ambassadors from the caliph of Egypt arrived in the camp of the Crusaders. In the presence of the infidels the Christian soldiers endeavoured to conceal the traces and remembrances of the lengthened miseries they had undergone. They clothed themselves in their most precious vestments, and displayed their most brilliant arms. Knights and barons contended for the glory of strength and skill in tournaments. Nothing was seen but dancing and festivity, amidst which abundance and joy appeared to reign. The Egyptian ambassadors were received in a magnificent tent, in which were assembled all the principal leaders of the army. They did not disguise, in their address, the extreme aversion that their master had always entertained for an alliance with the Christians; but the victories which the Crusaders had gained over the Turks, those eternal enemies of the race of Ali, had led him to believe that God himself had sent them into Asia, as the instruments of his vengeance and justice. The Egyptian caliph was disposed to ally himself with the victorious Christians, and was preparing to enter Palestine and Syria. As he had learnt that the wishes of the Crusaders were confined to an ardent desire to behold Jerusalem, he promised to restore the Christian churches, to protect their worship, and open the gates of the Holy City to all the pilgrims, upon condition that they would repair thither without arms, and would remain there no longer than one month. If the Crusaders submitted to these conditions, the caliph promised to become their most generous supporter; if they declined the blessing of his friendship, the nations of Egypt and Ethiopia, with all those that inhabit Asia and Africa, from the Straits of Gades to the gates of Bagdad, would arise at the voice of the legitimate vicar of the prophet, and would show the warriors of the West the power of their arms.

This discourse excited violent murmurs in the assembly of the Christians; one of the chiefs arose to answer it, and addressing himself to the deputies of the caliph: “The religion that we follow,” said he to them, “has inspired us with the design of re-establishing its empire in the places in which it was born; and we stand in no need of the concurrence of the powers of the earth to accomplish our vows. We do not come into Asia to receive laws or benefits from Mussulmans, nor have we forgotten, besides, the outrages committed by Egyptians upon the pilgrims of the West; we still remember that Christians, under the reign of the caliph Hakem, were delivered over to executioners, and that their churches, particularly that of the Holy Sepulchre, were razed to the ground. Yes, without doubt, we have the intention of visiting Jerusalem, but we have also taken an oath to deliver it from the yoke of the infidels. God, who has honoured it by his sufferings, wills that he shall be there served by his people. The Christians resolve to be both its guardians and its masters. Go and tell him who sent you to make choice of peace or war; tell him that the Christians encamped before Antioch fear neither the nations of Egypt, nor those of Asia, nor those of Bagdad, and that they only ally themselves with powers which respect the laws of justice and the standards of Jesus Christ.”

The orator who spoke thus expressed the opinion and sentiments of the assembly; nevertheless, they did not entirely reject the alliance with the Egyptians. Deputies were chosen from the Christian army to accompany the ambassadors of Cairo on their return, and to bear to the caliph the definitive propositions of peace of the Crusaders.

Scarcely had the deputies left the camp of the Christians, when the latter obtained a fresh victory over the Turks. The sultans of Aleppo and Damascus, with the emirs of Cæesarea, Emessa, and Hieropolis, had raised an army of twenty thousand horse to succour Antioch; and this army was already on its march towards the city, when it was surprised and cut to pieces by the prince of Tarentum and the count de St. Gilles, who had gone out to meet it. The Turks lost in this battle two thousand men and one thousand horses; and the city of Harem, in which they in vain sought an asylum after their defeat, fell into the hands of the Christians. At the moment the ambassadors from Egypt were about to embark at the port of St. Simeon, the heads and spoils of two hundred Mussulmans were brought to them upon four camels. The conquerors cast two hundred other heads into the city of Antioch, whose garrison was still in expectation of succour; and they stuck a great number upon pikes round the walls. They exhibited thus these horrible trophies, to avenge themselves of the insults the Saracens had, on their ramparts, heaped upon an image of the Virgin which had fallen into their hands.

But the Crusaders were soon to signalize themselves in a much more perilous and murderous battle. A fleet of Genoese and Pisans had entered the port of St. Simeon, and the news of their arrival causing the greatest joy in the army, a great number of soldiers left the camp and hastened towards the port, some to learn news from Europe, and others to buy the provisions of which they stood so much in need. As they were returning loaded with provisions, and for the greater part unarmed, they were unexpectedly attacked and dispersed by a body of four thousand Turks, who laid wait for them on their passage. In vain the prince of Tarentum, the count de St. Gilles, and Bishop Adhemar, flew to their aid with their troops; the Christians could not resist the shock of the infidels, and retreated in disorder.