The first crusade began in. First Crusade

Yagi-Siyan
Kerboga
Dukak
Ridwan
Danishmend Ghazi
Iftikhar ad-Daula
Al-Afdal

On November 26, 1095, a council was held in the French city of Clermont, at which, in front of the nobility and clergy, Pope Urban II made a passionate speech, calling on those gathered to go to the East and liberate Jerusalem from Muslim rule. This call fell on fertile ground, since the ideas of the Crusade were already popular among the people of Western European states, and the campaign could be organized at any time. The pope's speech only outlined the aspirations of a large group of Western European Catholics.

Byzantium

The Byzantine Empire had many enemies on its borders. So, in 1090-1091 it was threatened by the Pechenegs, but their onslaught was repulsed with the help of the Polovtsians and Slavs. At the same time, the Turkish pirate Chaka, dominating the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Bosphorus, harassed the coast near Constantinople with his raids. Considering that by this time most of Anatolia had been captured by the Seljuk Turks, and the Byzantine army suffered a serious defeat from them in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert, then the Byzantine Empire was in a state of crisis, and there was a threat of its complete destruction. The peak of the crisis came in the winter of 1090/1091, when the pressure of the Pechenegs on the one hand and the related Seljuks on the other threatened to cut off Constantinople from the outside world.

In this situation, Emperor Alexei Comnenus conducted diplomatic correspondence with the rulers of Western European countries (the most famous correspondence with Robert of Flanders), calling on them for help and showing the plight of the empire. There have also been a number of steps to bring the Orthodox and Catholic churches closer together. These circumstances aroused interest in the West. However, by the start of the Crusade, Byzantium had already overcome a deep political and military crisis and had enjoyed a period of relative stability since about 1092. The Pecheneg horde was defeated, the Seljuks did not conduct active campaigns against the Byzantines, and on the contrary, the emperor often resorted to the help of mercenary detachments consisting of Turks and Pechenegs to pacify his enemies. But in Europe they believed that the situation of the empire was disastrous, counting on the humiliating position of the emperor. This calculation turned out to be incorrect, which subsequently led to many contradictions in Byzantine-Western European relations.

Muslim world

Most of Anatolia on the eve of the Crusade was in the hands of the nomadic tribes of the Seljuk Turks and the Seljuk Sultan Rum, who adhered to the Sunni movement in Islam. Some tribes in many cases did not recognize even the nominal authority of the Sultan over themselves, or enjoyed broad autonomy. By the end of the 11th century, the Seljuks pushed Byzantium within its borders, occupying almost all of Anatolia after defeating the Byzantines in the decisive battle of Manzikert in 1071. However, the Turks were more concerned with solving internal problems than with the war with Christians. The constantly renewed conflict with the Shiites and the civil war that broke out over the rights of succession to the Sultan's title attracted much more attention from the Seljuk rulers.

On the territory of Syria and Lebanon, Muslim semi-autonomous city-states pursued a policy relatively independent of the empires, guided primarily by their regional rather than general Muslim interests.

Egypt and most of Palestine were controlled by the Shiites of the Fatimid dynasty. A significant part of their empire was lost after the arrival of the Seljuks, and therefore Alexei Komnenos advised the crusaders to enter into an alliance with the Fatimids against a common enemy. In 1076, under Caliph al-Mustali, the Seljuks captured Jerusalem, but in 1098, when the Crusaders had already moved to the East, the Fatimids recaptured the city. The Fatimids hoped to see in the Crusaders a force that would influence the course of politics in the Middle East against the interests of the Seljuks, the eternal enemy of the Shiites, and from the very beginning of the campaign they played a subtle diplomatic game.

In general, Muslim countries suffered a period of deep political vacuum after the death of almost all the leading leaders around the same time. In 1092, the Seljuk wazir Nizam al-Mulk and Sultan Malik Shah died, then in 1094 the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadi and the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir. Both in the east and in Egypt, a fierce struggle for power began. The civil war among the Seljuks led to the complete decentralization of Syria and the formation of small, warring city-states there. The Fatimid Empire also had internal problems. .

Christians of the East

Siege of Nicaea

In 1097, detachments of crusaders, having defeated the army of the Turkish Sultan, began the siege of Nicaea. The Byzantine emperor, Alexius I Komnenos, suspected that the crusaders, having taken the city, would not give it to him (according to the vassal oath of the crusaders (1097), the crusaders were supposed to give the captured cities and territories to him, Alexius). And, after it became clear that Nicaea would fall sooner or later, Emperor Alexius sent envoys to the city demanding that it surrender to him. The townspeople were forced to agree, and on June 19, when the crusaders prepared to storm the city, they were distressed to discover that they had been greatly “helped” by the Byzantine army. After this, the crusaders moved further along the Anatolian plateau to the main goal of the campaign - Jerusalem.

Siege of Antioch

In the autumn, the Crusader army reached Antioch, which stood halfway between Constantinople and Jerusalem, and besieged the city on October 21, 1097.

The battle continued all day, but the city held out. As night fell, both sides remained awake - the Muslims feared that another attack would follow, and the Christians feared that the besieged would somehow manage to set fire to the siege engines. On the morning of July 15, when the ditch was filled in, the crusaders were finally able to freely bring the towers closer to the fortress walls and set fire to the bags protecting them. This became a turning point in the attack - the crusaders threw wooden bridges over the walls and rushed into the city. The knight Letold was the first to break through, followed by Godfrey of Bouillon and Tancred of Tarentum. Raymond of Toulouse, whose army was storming the city from the other side, learned about the breakthrough and also rushed to Jerusalem through the southern gate. Seeing that the city had fallen, the emir of the Tower of David garrison surrendered and opened the Jaffa Gate.

Consequences

States founded by the Crusaders after the First Crusade:

Crusader states in the East in 1140

At the end of the 1st Crusade, four Christian states were founded in the Levant.

County of Edessa- the first state founded by the crusaders in the East. It was founded in 1098 by Baldwin I of Boulogne. It existed until 1146. Its capital was the city of Edessa.

Principality of Antioch- was founded by Bohemond I of Tarentum in 1098 after the capture of Antioch. The principality existed until 1268.

Kingdom of Jerusalem, lasted until the fall of Acre in 1291. The kingdom was subordinate to several vassal lordships, including the four largest:

• Principality of Galilee
• County of Jaffa and Askalon
• Transjordan- Seigneury of Krak, Montreal and Saint-Abraham
• Señoria of Sidon

County of Tripoli- the last of the states founded during the First Crusade. It was founded in 1105 by the Count of Toulouse, Raymond IV. The county existed until 1289.

Notes

Crusades

1st Crusade

Peasants' Crusade

German Crusade

Norwegian Crusade

Rearguard Crusade

2nd Crusade

3rd Crusade

4th Crusade

Albigensian Crusade

Children's Crusade

5th Crusade

6th Crusade

7th Crusade

The Shepherd Crusades

8th Crusade

Northern Crusades

During the 11th century. Christian society was transformed. The Church rose from decline; the pope, freed from the influence of the emperor, was recognized as the head of the entire Christian world; monasteries remodeled on the model of Cluny, ascetics who led the life of ancient hermits contributed to the restoration of piety and respect for the church in Europe. Christian warriors, knights, organized themselves: they learned the same tactics and could now act together. Until now they have fought mostly with each other; The pope instilled in them the idea of ​​uniting against the enemies of Christianity. The Crusades were the result of an alliance between chivalry and the papacy.

This is what God wants. First Crusade

Meanwhile, the Fatimid caliph of Cairo, taking advantage of the predicament of the Seljuks, took Jerusalem from them (1098); he invited the participants of the first crusade to come to worship St. places, but not otherwise than in small groups and without weapons. At first the Crusaders tried to form an alliance with the Fatimids against the Seljuks; but they did not want to leave St. The coffin is in the hands of Muslims. They walked along the coast, avoiding the cities, and then turned towards Jerusalem. There were 25 thousand of them left.

Approaching the city, they scattered and, climbing in groups to the heights from which the walls were visible, according to the custom of that time, they prostrated themselves on the ground, thanking God for leading them to St. city. But Jerusalem was surrounded by strong walls; the crusaders could not take them by storm; a proper siege had to begin.

Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099. Miniature from the 14th or 15th centuries.

In the barren area that surrounds Jerusalem, these fighters of the first crusade found neither food nor wood to build machines; The Kedron stream dried up, the tanks were filled up; in the unbearable heat, it was impossible to find anything to quench thirst except puddles of fetid water. The Genoese galleys that landed at Jaffa supplied them with food supplies and weapons. The Crusaders cut down trees several miles from the city and built two wooden towers and stairs. Before launching the attack, barefoot and armed, they made a religious procession around the city (as the legate Adhemar, who appeared in a dream to a Provençal priest, commanded them). The assault lasted a day and a half. Finally, the soldiers of the first crusade managed to throw several beams from one tower, which formed a bridge between the tower and the wall. The first to cross it were two Flemish knights, then Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother; Soon after this, the Normans from the other side entered the city, knocking a hole in the wall. The crusaders killed everyone they found in the city. In the Mosque of Omar, where the Muslims hid, “the blood reached the knees of the knight sitting on a horse.” They paused the massacre for a moment to go barefoot to venerate the Holy Sepulcher, and then began to kill and plunder again (July 15, 1099).

Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

After the main goal of the first crusade was achieved, it was necessary to think about who should be given power over Jerusalem. The clergy wanted the patriarch to be at the head of the administration, the knights demanded that power over the city be given to one of them. In the end they chose Godfrey of Bouillon, who received the title defender of the Holy Sepulcher.

Soon after this, an army of 20 thousand people, sent from Egypt, approached Jerusalem from Ascalon. This haste saved the Christians. The crusaders had not yet managed to leave the city; Godfrey led them against the Muslims, who were put to flight (August 12). But he did not take Ascalon for fear that Raymond would keep him with him.

Battle of Ascalon. From an engraving by Gustave Doré

It was subsequently said that Gottfried was unanimously elected king of jerusalem, but that he rejected this election of the crusaders, not wanting to wear a golden crown where the King of kings wore a crown of thorns. This saying belongs to the Count of Toulouse or Baldwin.

The history of mankind is, unfortunately, not always a world of discoveries and achievements, but often a chain of countless wars. These include those committed from the 11th to the 13th centuries. This article will help you understand the reasons and reasons, as well as trace the chronology. It is accompanied by a table compiled on the topic “Crusades”, containing the most important dates, names and events.

Definition of the concepts of “crusade” and “crusader”

The Crusade was an armed offensive by a Christian army against the Muslim East, which lasted a total of more than 200 years (1096-1270) and was expressed in no less than eight organized marches of troops from Western European countries. In a later period, this was the name for any military campaign with the goal of converting to Christianity and expanding the influence of the medieval Catholic Church.

A crusader is a participant in such a campaign. On his right shoulder he had a patch in the form of The same image was applied to the helmet and flags.

Reasons, reasons, goals of hikes

Military demonstrations were organized. The formal reason was the fight against Muslims in order to liberate the Holy Sepulcher, located in the Holy Land (Palestine). In the modern sense, this territory includes states such as Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Gaza Strip, Jordan and a number of others.

No one doubted its success. At that time it was believed that anyone who became a crusader would receive forgiveness of all sins. Therefore, joining these ranks was popular both among knights and among city residents and peasants. The latter, in exchange for participation in the crusade, received liberation from serfdom. In addition, for European kings, the crusade was an opportunity to get rid of powerful feudal lords, whose power grew as their holdings increased. Wealthy merchants and townspeople saw economic opportunity in military conquest. And the highest clergy themselves, led by the popes, considered the crusades as a way to strengthen the power of the church.

The beginning and end of the Crusader era

The 1st Crusade began on August 15, 1096, when an unorganized crowd of 50,000 peasants and urban poor went on a campaign without supplies or preparation. They were mainly engaged in looting (because they considered themselves warriors of God, to whom everything in this world belonged) and attacked Jews (who were considered the descendants of the murderers of Christ). But within a year, this army was destroyed by the Hungarians they met along the way, and then by the Turks. Following the crowd of poor people, well-trained knights went on a crusade. By 1099 they had reached Jerusalem, capturing the city and killing a large number of inhabitants. These events and the formation of a territory called the Kingdom of Jerusalem ended the active period of the first campaign. Further conquests (until 1101) were aimed at strengthening the conquered borders.

The last crusade (eighth) began on June 18, 1270 with the landing of the army of the French ruler Louis IX in Tunisia. However, this performance ended unsuccessfully: even before the battles began, the king died of a pestilence, which forced the crusaders to return home. During this period, the influence of Christianity in Palestine was minimal, and Muslims, on the contrary, strengthened their position. As a result, they captured the city of Acre, which marked the end of the era of the Crusades.

1st-4th Crusades (table)

5th-8th Crusades (table)

Results

The table clearly demonstrates how successful the numerous crusades were. There is no clear opinion among historians about how these events affected the lives of Western European peoples.

Some experts believe that the Crusades opened the way to the East, establishing new economic and cultural ties. Others note that this could have been done even more successfully through peaceful means. Moreover, the last crusade ended in outright defeat.

One way or another, significant changes took place in Western Europe itself: the strengthening of the influence of the popes, as well as the power of kings; the impoverishment of the nobles and the rise of urban communities; the emergence of a class of free farmers from former serfs who gained freedom thanks to participation in the crusades.

A large church council was held in Clermont (Southern France), at which Pope Urban II announced the beginning of the Crusade and made a great speech to numerous listeners gathered on the Clermont plain outside the city. “The land that you inhabit,” said the pope, addressing the audience, “...has become cramped with your large numbers. It is not abundant in wealth and barely provides bread to those who work it. From here it happens that you bite each other and fight with each other... Now your hatred can stop, enmity will fall silent and civil strife will fall asleep. Take the path to the holy tomb, wrest that land from the wicked people and subjugate it to yourself.” “Whoever is sad here,” continued dad, “and poor, will be rich there.” Having seduced those present with the prospects of rich mining in the East, Urban II immediately found a warm response from them. The listeners, electrified by tempting promises, shouted: “This is God’s will!” - and rushed to sew red crosses on their clothes. News of the decision to go East quickly spread across Western Europe. Participants in the movement were called crusaders. The church promised all crusaders a number of benefits: deferment of debt payments, protection of families and property, forgiveness of sins, etc.

1095-1096 LEADERS OF THE FIRST CRUSADE.

Among those who led the campaign, first of all, it should be noted the French bishop Adhémar du Puy - a brave and prudent warrior-priest, appointed papal legate and often acted as a mediator in disputes between intractable military leaders; the Norman prince of Southern Italy and Sicily Bohemond of Tarentum (son of Robert Guiscard); Count Raymond of Toulouse; Duke of Lorraine Godfrey of Bouillon; his brother Baldwin; Duke Hugh of Vermandois (brother of the French king); Duke Robert of Normandy; Count Etienne de Blois and Count Robert II of Flanders.

March 1096 The Crusaders set out on the road

Jewish pogroms in Europe accompany the departure of the first crusaders.

April-October 1096 CRUSADE OF THE POOR.

A crowd of unarmed pilgrims led by the preacher Peter the Hermit and an impoverished knightWalter Golyak headed overland to the Holy Land. Many died of hunger; the rest were almost completely killed by the Turks back in Anatolia.

The crusade of the feudal lords was preceded by a campaign of the poor, which both in the composition of the participants and in its goals differed from the military-colonization movement of the feudal lords. Therefore, this campaign must be considered as something independent and separate.

Peasants sought to find in the East deliverance from the oppression of feudal masters and new lands for settlement. They dreamed of shelter from the endless feudal strife that was ruining their economy, and to escape from famine and epidemics, which, given the low level of technology and severe feudal exploitation, were commonplace in the Middle Ages. Under these conditions, the preachers of the Crusade received a lively response to their preaching from the broadest peasant masses. Following the church's call for a Crusade, peasants began to abandon their lords in large numbers.

In the spring of 1096 unorganized detachments of the poor peasants set off. Having shod the oxen, as they do with horses, the peasants harnessed them to carts and, having placed their simple property there, together with children, old people and women, they moved towards Constantinople. They walked unarmed, having neither supplies nor money, engaging in robbery and begging on the road. Naturally, the population of the countries through which these “crusaders” moved mercilessly exterminated them.

As the chronicler puts it, countless masses of peasants, like the stars in the sky or the sand of the sea, came mainly from Northern and Central France and from Western Germany up the Rhine and further down the Danube. The peasants had no idea how far Jerusalem was. When they saw every large city or castle, they asked if this was Jerusalem, to which they were striving.

October 1096 DEFEAT OF THE "PEASANT" CRUSADE.

The greatly depleted peasant detachments reached Constantinople and were hastily transported to Asia Minor by the Byzantine emperor, who was not expecting such help from the West. There, in the very first battle, the detachments of peasants were completely defeated by the Seljuk army. Peter of Amiens abandoned the peasant troops to the mercy of fate and fled to Constantinople. The vast majority of the peasants were destroyed, and the rest were enslaved. The attempt of the peasants to escape from their feudal masters and find land and freedom in the East thus ended tragically. Only small remnants of peasant detachments subsequently united with detachments of knights and took part in the battles of Antioch.

1096-1097 Gathering of forces in Constantinople.

Various troops moved to the agreed meeting place - Constantinople - in four main streams. Godfrey and Baldwin with their troops and other German armies followed the Danube valley through Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria, and then through the Balkans; Along the way there were skirmishes with local forces. This army reached Constantinople first and camped under the city walls for the entire winter. Bishop Adhemar, Count Raymond and others marched from Southern France through Northern Italy on a grueling march along the deserted Dalmatian coast, past Durazzo (the modern city of Durres in Albania) and further east to Constantinople. Hugo, both Roberts and Etienne with troops from England and Northern France crossed the Alps and headed south across Italy. Leaving his companions to winter in southern Italy, Hugo sailed to Constantinople, was shipwrecked, but was rescued by the Byzantines and sent to the capital, where he actually became a hostage of Emperor Alexius I Comnenos. The following spring, both Robert and Etienne crossed the Adriatic, landed at Durazzo and headed east to Constantinople. The Norman army of Bohemond and Tancred followed the same route from Sicily.

1096-1097 FRICTION BETWEEN BYZANTIUM AND THE CRUSADS.

Alexei I hoped that, at best, several thousand mercenaries would respond to his call for help - this would make it possible to replenish the thinned ranks of the Byzantine army. But the basileus did not expect (and certainly was not interested in this) that an independent, riotous army would gather under the walls of his capital, far exceeding the number of 50 thousand people. Due to long-standing religious and political differences between Byzantium and Western Europe, Alexius I did not trust the crusaders - especially in view of the presence of Bohemond, with whom the basileus had recently fought and who had proven himself to be an extremely dangerous opponent. In addition, Alexei I, who only needed to recapture the lost possessions of Asia Minor from the Turks, was not too interested in the main goal of the crusaders - the capture of Jerusalem. The Crusaders, in turn, trusted the Byzantines with their cunning diplomacy no more. They did not feel the slightest desire to act as pawns and win the empire from the Turks for Alexei I. Mutual suspicions seriously influenced the result of this and subsequent Crusades. In the very first winter, when the crusaders were camped near Constantinople, due to general suspicion, minor skirmishes constantly occurred with the Byzantine guard.

Spring 1097 AGREEMENT BETWEEN ALEXI I COMNENOS AND THE CRUSADERS.

Godfrey of Bouillon takes the oath to Alexius Komnenos and the crusader army passes through Anatolia.

Combining firmness with diplomacy, Alexei I managed to avoid serious conflicts. In exchange for a promise of help, he received oaths of allegiance and assurances from the commanders of the campaign that they would help him recapture Nicaea (the modern city of Iznik in Turkey) and any other former Byzantine possessions from the Turks. Alexius then ferried them across the Bosphorus, carefully avoiding any brief concentration of large contingents of crusaders within the walls of his capital. In addition, he provided them with provisions and escort of the Byzantine troops all the way to Jerusalem (the latter also had a second goal: to ensure that the crusaders did not ravage the Byzantine lands along the way).

Together with Alexios I Komnenos and his main forces, the crusaders besieged Nicaea. The position of the besieged was noticeably facilitated by the availability of water in Lake Askanievo, which also prevented the closing of the blockade ring. However, the crusaders, with great difficulty, dragged the boats from the sea to the lake and were thus able to completely surround the city. Combining a skillful siege with skillful diplomacy, Alexius I agreed with the Nicaeans that the city would be surrendered to him, after which the combined forces of the Byzantines and Crusaders successfully stormed the outer fortifications. The crusaders were offended that the basileus refused to give them the city to plunder. Then, in two parallel columns, they continued their advance to the southeast. There was no unity of command; all decisions were made at the military council, and Bishop Adhémar du Puy acted as a mediator and conciliator.

The left column, led by Bohemond, was unexpectedly attacked by a Turkish cavalry army under the personal command of Kilij-Arslan, the Sultan of the Konian Seljuks.
Using the traditional tactics of horse archers, the Turks (their number, according to some sources, exceeded 50 thousand people) inflicted heavy damage on the column of the crusaders, who not only found themselves in a clear minority, but also could not engage in close combat with the elusive, mobile enemy. Bohemond's column was ready to break the formation when the heavy cavalry of the second column, led by Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse, crashed into the left flank of the Turks from the rear. Kilij Arslan failed to provide cover from the south. The Turkish army was squeezed and lost about 3 thousand people killed; the rest began to stampede. The total losses of the crusaders amounted to approximately 4 thousand people. (Other sources bring the number of Kilij Arslan’s troops to 250 thousand people, and the losses of the Turks are considered to reach 30 thousand people. There are also statements that Sultan Suleiman commanded the Turks at Dorilee.)

July-November 1097 ADVANCE ON SYRIA.

The crusaders continued their offensive and captured Iconium (the modern city of Konya in Turkey), the capital of Kilij Arslan. (Meanwhile, under their cover and taking advantage of the weakening of the Turks, Alexius with his Byzantine army occupied the western provinces of Anatolia.) Another battle followed - at Heraclea (the modern city of Eregli in the Turkish vilayet of Konya); then the crusaders crossed the Taurus Mountains and headed towards Antioch. During this offensive, a detachment under the command of Tancred and Baldwin took on a difficult battle near Tarsus. After which Baldwin branched off from the main column, crossed the Euphrates and captured Edessa (otherwise Bambika, or Hierapolis; the modern city of Membidj in Syria), which became the center of an independent county.

October 21, 1097 - June 3, 1098 SIEGE OF ANTIOCH (the modern city of Antakya in Turkey) by the CRUSADERS.

Emir Bagasian skillfully and energetically organized the defense of the city. Shortly after the siege began, the Turks made a successful foray, which resulted in heavy casualties among the disorganized Crusaders, and subsequently often resorted to similar tactics. Turkish armies came from Syria to help the besieged twice, but both times they were repulsed in the battles of Kharenka (December 31, 1097; February 9, 1098). For some time, famine raged among the crusaders because they did not take care of the supply of provisions, and supplies quickly melted away. The besiegers were saved by the extremely timely arrival of small English and Pisan flotillas, which captured Laodicea (the modern city of Latakia in Syria) and Saint-Simeon (the modern city of Samandag in Turkey) and delivered provisions. During the seven months of the siege, relations between the commanders of the crusader troops became tense to the limit, especially between Bohemond and Raymond of Toulouse. In the end - mainly thanks to Bohemond and the betrayal of one of the Turkish officers - Antioch was captured (June 3), with the exception of the citadel. A little more, and it could have been too late: on the way, two days away, was at least seventy-five thousand strong army of the Mosul emir Kirboghi. Etienne de Blois, feeling that the situation was becoming hopeless, fled. The bloody massacre continued in the city for several days, and four days later the Muslim army of Kirboga arrived at the walls of Antioch and, in turn, besieged the city.

The crusaders were blocked and cut off from their ports. Baghasian still held the citadel. The Crusaders were again on the verge of starvation; the urban population was caught between two fires. Alexius I, who was crossing the Taurus Mountains with his army in order to occupy Antioch, according to the agreement concluded with the crusaders, met Etienne Blois, and the latter assured the basileus that the crusaders were doomed. Accordingly, the Byzantine army retreated to Anatolia. The despair that reigned in the city suddenly dissipated with the discovery of the Holy Spear (the one that pierced the side of Jesus during the crucifixion). Few historians or theologians believe that the spear was exactly that (in fact, even among the crusaders themselves, many doubted it even then), but it had a truly miraculous effect. Confident of victory, the crusaders launched a massive attack.

The starving crusaders managed to recruit only 15 thousand combat-ready soldiers (of which less than a thousand were cavalry). Under the command of Bohemond, in front of the amazed Muslims, they crossed the Orontes. Then, repelling the attacks of the Turks, the crusaders counterattacked. Sandwiched between the river and nearby mountains, the Muslims were unable to maneuver and could not withstand the selfless attacks of the crusaders. Having suffered heavy losses, the Turks fled.

July-August 1098 PLAGUE IN ANTIOCH.

One of the victims of the epidemic was Bishop Adhémar du Puy. After his death, relations between the commanders of the campaign became even more tense, especially between Bohemond (who was determined to maintain control of Antioch) and Raymond of Toulouse (who insisted that the crusaders were obliged to return the city to Byzantium, according to the oath given to Alexius).

January-June 1099 ATTACK ON JERUSALEM.

After much debate, all the crusaders, except Bohemond and his Normans, agreed to march on Jerusalem. (Bohemond remained in Antioch, where he founded an independent principality.) The crusaders, whose number now reached 12 thousand people, slowly walked along the sea coast to Jaffa (the Pisan fleet supplied provisions), and then turned away from the coast and moved towards Jerusalem.

The city was defended by a strong Fatimid army, which far outnumbered the besiegers. By this time, almost all the crusaders recognized Godfrey of Bouillon as commander; Raymond of Toulouse and Tancred helped him. There were not enough crusader troops to completely blockade the city, and there was no hope that the besieged could be starved to death. Despite the severe shortage of water, the crusaders began to decisively prepare for the assault: building a high wooden siege tower and a ram. Showered from the city fortifications by a shower of arrows, they rolled the tower to the wall, threw a wooden bridge, and Gottfried led the troops to attack (part of the army climbed the walls using assault ladders). Apparently, this was the only operation in the entire two-year campaign that was coordinated from beginning to end. Having made their way into the city, the crusaders mercilessly slaughtered the entire garrison and population, both Arab and Jewish (according to the chronicles, up to 70 thousand people died in the massacre that began after the assault). Godfrey, who renounced his royal title, was elected Guardian of Jerusalem.

Having learned that the fifty-thousand-strong army of Emir al-Afdal was moving from Egypt to liberate Jerusalem, Godfrey led the 10 thousand remaining crusaders to meet it. Unlike the Turks, whose army consisted mainly of horse archers, the Fatimids relied on a combination of fanaticism with striking power; This combination served faithfully even at the dawn of Islam. The Fatimid army was powerless against the heavily armed and armored crusaders. Godfrey smashed them to smithereens, with the culmination of the battle being a crushing cavalry charge.

The First Crusade involved two main events. It lasted for four years, from 1096 to 1099 inclusive. The first wave was the advance of commoners into Palestine, followed by the invasion of more experienced knights.
As a result of the first crusade, the so-called soldiers of Christ founded states and built castles in Palestine. The lands where people of the Christian faith settled began to be called the Latin East. The military expansion began with the conflict that arose between Byzantium and Turkey. Turkish warriors had been besieging Byzantine lands for quite some time. Feeling a lack of military strength, the Byzantine emperor turns to Pope Urban II, who decides to help, but solely for personal interests. The Roman figure planned to write his name in history and unite the Christian Church, which had been divided since 1054. Guided by the fact that a trip to the Holy Land is necessary and this is “the will of God,” he begins to call on Christians to liberate the Holy Sepulcher. The campaigning is quite successful, as evidenced by the voluntary burning of cross symbols on the bodies of the first crusaders and the creation of clothing patches in the form of the main symbol of Christianity.
However, there was no clear, centralized command of this campaign, and the Pope did not go with the crusaders to lead them from the battlefield. The people who went to the East were guided solely by their own goals and interests. For many, the hike was an opportunity to get away from home and go on a journey. Others needed money to feed their families. Still others simply wanted to avoid punishment for their actions or escape from their masters, who were owed large sums of money.