First Crusade: Siege of Jerusalem

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Additional water had to be brought in from more than six miles away, and the garrison regularly sent out raiding parties to ambush the water convoys. Many Europeans died in these surprise attacks. Water became so scarce that a denarius (the silver coin of ancient Rome that is the penny of the New Testament) would not buy enough to quench a man’s thirst. Eventually, anyone who brought in a supply of even foul water could name any price he wanted.

Food was also short, and the hot desert sun was unbearable for people accustomed to a cooler climate, especially to those wearing heavy armor. Even in Europe, some half of all battle casualties among knights were from heat prostration; in the blazing desert of the Middle East this figure must have been much higher.

On June 12, the leaders of the army made a pilgrimage to the Mount of Olives, where they met an aged hermit who urged them to assault the city on the 13th. The princes protested; they lacked the proper machines to launch an attack of such magnitude. God, said the hermit, would give them the victory if they had enough faith.

The attack was launched the next day. According to European historians, the Crusaders had very few ladders. The Arabs say that there were none, but that seems unlikely, since part of the Crusaders’ supplies consisted of the dismantled equipment used to assault other cities on their way through the Holy Land. The defenders were astonished at the fanaticism of the Crusaders and the way they threw themselves at the 40-to-50-foot-high walls. The outer defenses on the north were overrun, but nothing else was accomplished. After several hours, when the Christians had not achieved the victory promised by God, they retired. Everyone was disorganized and dispirited at that point, and if the city’s army had counterattacked, the First Crusade almost certainly would have ended in failure then and there. Raymond of Aguilers, who never lost faith in miracles or hermits, said that the attack would have succeeded had the princes not stopped it too soon because of fear and laziness, but others now realized that further attacks would have to wait until better preparations had been made.

Morale fell to its nadir, and many wanted to end the Crusade and return home. There was much feuding over Tancred’s joining his army with Godfrey of Bouillon rather than with Raymond of Toulouse, to whom he had previously sworn allegiance. There was more feuding over who would get what when Jerusalem was taken, although few still believed that the city could be taken at all.

A priest, Peter Desiderius, then came forth to describe a vision that he had seen. The spirit of the late bishop Adhémar of Le Puy had appeared and given him a blueprint for victory. Those instructions included having the Crusaders turn their backs on sin, fast and make a barefoot procession around the 2 1/2-mile-long wall.

They set out on July 8, a Friday, with close to 15,000 barefoot and bedraggled pilgrims, hungry from lack of provisions and now fasting by choice, staggering in a great line to the sounds of trumpets and the chanting of priests. Priests held aloft altars and relics, including the supposed holy lance that had saved the Crusade at Antioch and the arm bone of St. George, stolen from a Byzantine monastery. All the while, a Crusader noted that the Muslims on the walls jeered and desecrated many crosses with blows and vulgar acts. After the march, there were encouraging talks by several clerics, including Peter the Hermit, who ironically had led tens of thousands to their deaths in the Crusade of the Poor People in 1096.

More practical help had already arrived in the form of six ships that anchored at Jaffa, which had been abandoned by the Arabs. Two were Genoese galleys; the other four ships were almost certainly English. In their holds were food and armaments, including rope and hardware needed to build siege engines. At the news of their arrival, Count Geldemar Carpenel, a member of Godfrey of Bouillon’s staff, set out with 50 knights and 50 infantrymen to ensure that the supplies were delivered safely. Almost immediately the wisdom of sending so small a force was questioned, and Raymond Piletus was dispatched with 50 knights to reinforce them. Still later, William of Ramleh, from the army of the Count of Toulouse, rode forth.

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Tags: Ancient-Medieval, Historical Conflicts

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