Campaigns in the Holy Land, Described in the Letters of Crusaders

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

From Readings in European History by James Robinson, 1906.

The Campaigns in the Holy Land as described in the letters of the Crusaders

The letters written from the Holy Land by those who actually participated in the crusades constitute our most reliable source of information.

Stephen, count of Blois, to his wife, Adele (March 29, 1098); before Antioch

Count Stephen to Adele, his sweetest and most amiable wife, to his dear children and to all his vassals of all ranks—his greeting and blessing:

You may be very sure, dearest, that the messenger whom I sent to you left me before Antioch safe and unharmed and, through God's grace, in the greatest prosperity. And already at that time, together with all the chosen army of Christ, endowed with great valor by him, we had been continuously advancing for twenty-three weeks toward the home of our Lord Jesus. You may know for certain, my beloved, that of gold, silver, and many other kinds of riches, I now have twice as much as you, my love, supposed me to have when I left you. For all our princes, with the common consent of the whole army, though against my own wishes, have made me, up to the present time, the leader, chief, and director of their whole expedition.

You have assuredly heard that after the capture of the city of Nicaea we fought a great battle with the perfidious Turks and, by God's aid, conquered them. Next we conquered for the Lord all Romania and afterwards Cappadocia. And we learned that there was a certain Turkish prince, Assam, dwelling in Cappadocia; thither we directed our course. All his castles we conquered by force and compelled him to flee to a certain very strong castle situated on a high rock.

We also gave the land of that Assam to one of our chiefs, and in order that he might conquer the above-mentioned Assam, we left there with him many soldiers of Christ. Thence, continually following the wicked Turks, we drove them through the midst of Armenia, as far as the great river Euphrates. Having left all their baggage and beasts of burden on the bank, they fled across the river into Arabia.

The bolder of the Turkish soldiers, indeed, entering Syria, hastened by forced marches night and day, in order to be able to occupy the royal city of Antioch before our approach. The whole army of God, learning this, gave due praise and thanks to the omnipotent Lord.

Hastening with great joy to the aforesaid chief city of Antioch, we besieged it and had many conflicts there with the Turks. Seven times we fought with the citizens of Antioch and with the innumerable troops coming to their aid; we rushed to meet them and we fought with the fiercest courage under the leadership of Christ; and in all these seven battles, by the aid of the Lord God, we conquered, and most assuredly killed an innumerable host of them. In those battles, indeed, and in very many attacks made upon the city, many of our brethren and followers were killed, and their souls were borne to the joys of paradise.

We found Antioch a very great town, fortified with incredible strength and almost impregnable. In addition, more than five thousand bold Turkish soldiers had entered the city, not counting the Saracens, Publicans, Arabs, Turco-politans, Syrians, Armenians, and other different races, of whom an infinite multitude had gathered together there. In fighting against these enemies of God and of our own we have, by God's permission, endured many sufferings and innumerable evils up to the present time.

Many also have already exhausted all their resources in this very holy passion. Very many of our Franks, indeed, would have met a temporal death from starvation, if the clemency of God, and our money, had not succored them. Moreover before the above-mentioned city of Antioch we suffered for our Lord Christ, throughout the whole winter, from excessive cold and enormous torrents of rain. What some say about the impossibility of bearing the heat of the sun throughout Syria is untrue, for the winter there is very similar to our winter in the west.

When Caspian [Bagi Seian], the emir (i.e. prince and lord) of Antioch, perceived that he was hard pressed by us, he sent his son, Sensadolo by name, to the prince who holds Jerusalem, and to the prince of Calep Rodoam, and to Docap, prince of Damascus. He also sent into Arabia to Bolianuth, and into Carathania to Hamelnuth. These five emirs, with twelve thousand picked Turkish horsemen, suddenly came to aid the inhabitants of Antioch.

We, ignorant of all this, had sent many of our soldiers away to the other cities and fortresses; for there are one hundred and sixty-five cities and fortresses throughout Syria which are in our power. But a little before they reached the city we attacked them, at three leagues distance, with seven hundred soldiers, on a certain plain, near the "Iron Bridge."

God fought for us, his faithful servants, against them; for on that day, fighting in the strength that God gives, we conquered them and killed an innumerable multitude God continually fighting for us and we also carried back to the army more than two hundred of their heads, in order that the people might rejoice on that account. The emperor of Babylon also sent Saracen messengers to our army with letters, and through these he established peace and concord with us.

I am glad to tell you, dearest, what happened to us during Lent. The city of Antioch is about five leagues distant from the sea. Our princes had commanded a fortress to be built; Before one of the city gates which was between our camp and the sea; for the Turks, issuing daily from this gate, killed some of our men on their way to the sea. For this reason they sent the excellent Bohemond and Raymond, count of St. Gilles, down to the sea, with only sixty horsemen, in order that they might bring mariners to aid in this work. When, however, they were returning to us with those mariners, the Turks collected an army, fell suddenly upon our two leaders, and forced them to a perilous flight. In that unexpected flight we lost more than five hundred of our foot soldiers—to the glory of God. Of our horsemen, However, we lost only two, for certain.

On that same day, ignorant of our brethren's misfortunes, we went out joyfully to meet them. When, however, we approached the above-mentioned gate of the city, a mass of horsemen and foot soldiers from Antioch, elated by the victory which they had won, rushed upon us in the same manner. Seeing these, our leaders sent to the camp of the Christians to order all to be ready to follow us into battle. In the meantime our men gathered together, and the two leaders, namely Bohemond and Raymond, with the remainder of their army, came up and narrated the great misfortune which they had suffered.

Our men, full of fury at these most evil tidings, prepared to die for Christ, and, deeply grieved for their brethren, rushed upon the sacrilegious Turks. They, enemies of God and of us, hastily fled before us and attempted to enter their city. But by God's grace the affair turned out very, differently; for, when they attempted to cross a bridge built over the great river Moscholum, we followed them as closely as possible, killed many before they reached the bridge, forced many into the river, all of whom were killed, and we also slew many upon the bridge and very many at the narrow entrance to the gate. I am telling you the truth, my beloved, and you may rely upon it, that in this battle we killed thirty emirs (that is, princes) and three hundred other Turkish nobles, not counting the remaining Turks and pagans. Indeed, the number of Turks and Saracens killed is reckoned at twelve hundred and thirty, while of our own troops we did not lose a single man.

On the following day (Easter), while my chaplain, Alexander, was writing this letter in great haste, a party of our men, lying in wait for the Turks, fought a successful engagement with them and killed sixty horsemen, whose heads they brought to the army.

I can write to you only a few, dearest, of the many things which we have done. Although I am not able to tell you all that is in my mind, I trust that all is going well with you, and urge you to watch carefully over your possessions and to treat as you ought your children and your vassals. You will certainly see me just as soon as I can possibly return to you. Farewell.

Godfrey of Bouillon and his companions write to the pope concerning the progress of the Crusade.

To Lord Paschal, Pope of the Roman Church, and to all the Bishops, and to the whole Christian people, Greeting from the Archbishop of Pisa, Duke Godfrey, now, by the grace of God, Defender of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Raymond, Count of St. Gilles, and the whole army of God, which is in the land of Israel:

Multiply your supplications and prayers in the sight of God with joy and thanksgiving, since God has manifested his mercy in fulfilling by our hands what he had promised in ancient times; for after the capture of Nicaea the whole army, made up of more than three hundred thousand soldiers, departed thence. And, although this army was so great that it could in a single day have covered all Romania and drunk up all the rivers and eaten up all the growing things, yet the Lord conducted them amid so great abundance that a ram was sold for a penny and an ox for twelve pence or less. Moreover, although the princes and kings of the Saracens rose up against us, yet, by God's will, they were easily conquered and overcome.

Because, however, some were puffed up by these successes, God opposed to us Antioch, impregnable to human strength. And there he detained us for nine months and so humbled us in the siege that there were scarcely a hundred good horses left in our whole army. God then opened to us the abundance of his blessing and mercy, and led us into the city, and delivered the Turks and all of their possessions into our power.

Inasmuch as we thought that these had been acquired by of the holy our own strength, and did not worthily magnify God who had done this, we were beset by so great a multitude of Turks that no one dared to venture forth at any point from the city. Moreover hunger so weakened us that some could scarcely refrain from eating human flesh. It would be tedious to narrate all the miseries which we suffered in that city. But God looked down upon his people, whom he had so long chastised, and mercifully consoled them. Therefore, he at first revealed to us, as a recompense for our tribulation and as a pledge of victory, his lance, which had lain hidden since the days of the apostles. Next, he so fortified the hearts of the men that they who from sickness or hunger had been unable to walk, now were indued with strength to seize their weapons and manfully to fight against the enemy.

After we had triumphed over the enemy, as our army was wasting away at Antioch from sickness and weariness and was especially hindered by the dissensions among the leaders, we proceeded into Syria, stormed Barra and Marra, cities of the Saracens, and captured the fortresses in that country. And while we were delaying there, there was so great a famine in the army that the Christian people now ate the putrid bodies of the Saracens. Finally, by the divine admonition, we entered into the interior of Hispania, and the most bountiful, merciful, and victorious hand of the omnipotent Father was with us; for the cities and fortresses of the country through which we were proceeding sent ambassadors to us with many gifts and offered to aid us and to surrender their walled places.

But because our army was not large and it was the unanimous wish to hasten on to Jerusalem, we accepted their pledges and made them tributaries. One of the cities forsooth, which was on the seacoast, had more men than there were in our whole army. And when those at Antioch and Laodicea and Archas heard how the hand of the Lord was with us, many from the army who had remained in those cities followed us to Tyre. Therefore, with the Lord's companionship and aid, we proceeded thus as far as Jerusalem.

And after the army had suffered greatly in the siege, especially on account of the lack of water, a council was held, and the bishops and princes ordered that all should march around the walls of the city with feet bare, in order that he who entered it humbly in our behalf might be moved by our humility to open it to us and to exercise judgment upon his enemies.

God was appeased by this humility, and on the eighth day after the humiliation he delivered the city and his enemies to us. It was the very day, indeed, on which the primitive Church was driven thence and on which the festival of the Dispersion of the Apostles is celebrated. And if you desire to know what was done with the enemy who were found there, know that in Solomon's Porch and in his temple our men rode in the blood of the Saracens up to the knees of their horses.

Then when we were considering who ought to hold the city, and some, moved by love for their country and kinsmen, wished to return home, it was announced to us that the king of Babylon had come to Ascalon with an innumerable multitude of soldiers. His purpose was, as he said, to lead the Franks who were in Jerusalem into captivity, and to take Antioch by storm. But God had determined otherwise in regard to us.

Therefore, when we learned that the army of the Babylonians was at Ascalon, we went down to meet them, leaving our baggage and the sick, with a garrison, in Jerusalem. When our army was in sight of the enemy, we invoked upon our knees the aid of the Lord, that he who in our other adversities had strengthened the Christian faith, might in the present battle break the strength of the Saracens and of the devil, and extend the kingdom of the Church of Christ from sea to sea, over the whole world. There was no delay; God was present when we cried for his aid, and indued us with so great boldness that one who saw us rush upon the enemy would have taken us for a herd of deer, hastening to quench their thirst in running water.

It was indeed wonderful, since there were in our army not more than five thousand horsemen and fifteen thousand foot soldiers, and there were probably in the enemy's army one hundred thousand horsemen and four hundred thousand foot soldiers. Then God appeared most marvelous to his servants. For before we engaged in fighting, by our very onset alone, he turned this multitude in flight and scattered all their weapons, so that if they wished afterward to attack us they did not have the arms in which they trusted.

There can be no question as to the greatness of the spoils, since the treasures of the king of Babylon were captured. More than one hundred thousand Moors perished there by the sword. Moreover their panic was so great that about two thousand were suffocated at the gate of the city. Those who perished in the sea were innumerable. Many were entangled in the thickets. The whole world was certainly fighting for us, and if many of our men had not been detained in plundering the camp, few of the great multitude of the enemy would have been able to escape from the battle.

And although it may be tedious, the following must not be omitted. On the day preceding the battle the army captured many thousands of camels, oxen, and sheep. By the command of the princes these were divided among the people. When we advanced to battle, wonderful to relate, the camels formed in many squadrons, and the sheep and oxen did the same. Moreover these animals accompanied us, halting when we halted, advancing when we advanced, and charging when we charged. The clouds sheltered us from the heat of the sun and cooled us.

Accordingly, after celebrating the victory, the army returned to Jerusalem. Duke Godfrey remained there; the count of St. Gilles, Robert, count of Normandy, and Robert, count of Flanders, returned to Laodicea. There they found the fleet belonging to the Pisans and to Bohemond. After the archbishop of Pisa had established peace between Bohemond and our leaders, Raymond prepared to return to Jerusalem for the sake of God and his brethren.

Therefore, we call upon you of the Catholic Church of Christ and of the whole Latin Church to exult in the admirable bravery and devotion of your brethren, in the glorious and desirable retribution of the omnipotent God, and in the devoutly hoped-for remission of all our sins through the grace of God. And we pray that he may make you namely, all bishops, clergy, and monks who are leading devout lives, and all the laity to sit down at the right hand of God, who liveth and reigneth, God for ever and ever.

And we ask and beseech you, in the name of our Lord Jesus, who has ever been with us and aided us and freed us from all our tribulations, to be mindful of your brethren who return to you, by doing them kindnesses and by paying their debts, in order that God may recompense you and absolve you from all your sins and grant you a share in all the blessings which either we or they have deserved in the sight of the Lord. Amen.

Robinson, James Harvey. Readings in European History: A Collection of Extracts from the Sources, Vol 1. Ginn and Co., 1906.

James Robinson

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