First Crusade: Siege of Jerusalem

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The final assault was launched on the night of July 13. According to Raymond of Aguilers, a reliable source, the effective strength of the army was now 12,000 fighting men, including the workmen, the sailors and other nonprofessionals, and 1,200 to 1,300 knights. He did not try to assess the number of old men, women and children. Raymond of Toulouse, in position along the southern wall, struggled to fill in the moat and maneuver one siege tower against the wall, but the defenders kept him at bay. Heralds announced that any man who brought three large stones to hurl into the ditch would receive one denarius. Thus was the job completed.

Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Normandy and Tancred chose to attack the northern wall just east of Herod’s Gate. Their huge battering ram pounded a hole in the outer wall, and the rubble was used to fill in the moat. In mail and helmets, with an overhead ceiling constructed of shields, the attackers stormed the walls through a hail of arrows and stones. The straw reinforcing the walls was set afire with flaming arrows.

As the huge siege tower inched ever closer to the wall, the Egyptians responded with catapult loads of Greek fire. The sulfur-and-pitch-based compound (the exact composition of which was a closely guarded secret and still a mystery today) was the napalm of the Middle Ages. Flaming pottery full of Greek fire shattered upon impact to splatter clinging flames over everything and everyone nearby. Rags soaked in the substance were wrapped around wooden bolts, imbedded with nails so they would adhere to whatever they hit, and hurled against the huge towers. Again and again the towers were set on fire, and each time the flames were extinguished with water and vinegar or by beating out the fire.

Bales of hay, soaked in oil and wax so they would burn long after they reached the ground, were hurled over the walls, especially around the two towers. Buildings were burning, there were pools of fire outside the walls and smoke permeated the air. Two Muslim women were observed casting a spell over the nearest catapult, but a stone from the hexed machine killed them and, according to the Crusaders’ account, broke the spell.

The Crusaders fought all night and day of the 14th without establishing a foothold. By evening, Raymond had succeeded in wheeling his tower against the wall. The defense was fierce, with the governor in personal charge of this area. Raymond could not secure a foothold, and the tower was eventually burned to the ground on July 15. Few who were inside escaped.

Crusaders’ accounts grudgingly praised the accuracy of the Muslim catapults, which destroyed many of their machines. The Crusaders’ ram became stuck and blocked the path of the northern tower. But the next morning Godfrey’s tower, with its three fighting levels surmounted by a large gilded figure of Christ, was against the north wall, close to Herod’s Gate. Godfrey and his brother, Eustace of Boulogne, commanded from the top story. The defenders lassoed the tower and tried to topple it, but knights cut the ropes with their swords.

Later that same morning, the Crusaders began to feel exhausted from the continuous fighting, and they met to debate whether the battle should be ended. Before a decision was reached, a knight atop the Mount of Olives signaled for the Count of Toulouse to advance. Godfrey of Bouillon ordered his men to renew their fire attack against the bales of hay and cotton shielding the walls. The wind changed; huge clouds of smoke choked and blinded the defenders, causing some to flee.

Immense timbers had been attached to the walls to keep the towers from closing with them. The Crusaders seized one of these and nailed it to the tower, then swung the bridge into place. The Franj now had a way into the city. Two Flemish knights, Litold and Gilbert of Tournai, led the pick of the Lotharingian contingent across. Godfrey himself soon followed. With him were his brother, Eustace, the Count of Flanders and Robert of Normandy. It was about noon on Friday, July 15, and many were acutely aware that they were entering Jerusalem at the hour of Christ’s death.

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Tags: Ancient-Medieval, Historical Conflicts

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