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Authors: Steven Runciman
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state might have been
endangered had not Duqaq of Damascus died towards the end of June 1104
whereupon Ridwan’s attention was taken up by the struggle for the succession
between Duqaq’s two sons, Buri and Iltash.
Bohemond’s failure to meet Ridwan’s attack was
due to his preoccupation with Byzantine affairs. The Emperor Alexius was now on
good terms with the Frankish states farther to the south. Raymond of Toulouse
was still his close friend; and he had won the good-will of King Baldwin by
himself paying for the ransom of many distinguished Franks who were held
captive in Egypt. His generosity had been wisely calculated. It was in striking
contrast to Bohemond and Tancred’s behaviour over Baldwin of Edessa; and it
reminded the Franks that he had influence and prestige that the Fatimids
respected. When therefore he took action against Antioch, its prince received
no help from his colleagues. Alexius had already fortified Corycos and Seleucia
on the Cilician coast, to prevent Antiochene aggression into western Cilicia.
In the summer of 1104 a Byzantine army, under the general Monastras, reoccupied
without difficulty the east Cilician cities, Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra; while
a naval squadron under the Emperor’s admiral, Cantacuzenus, which had come to
Cyprian waters in pursuit of a Genoese raiding fleet, took advantage of
Bohemond’s situation to sail on to Lattakieh, where his men captured the
harbour and the lower city. Bohemond hastened with the Frankish troops that he
could muster to reinforce the garrison in the citadel and to replace its
commander, whom he distrusted. But, lacking sea-power, he did not try to expel
the Byzantines from their position.
1104: Bohemond
leaves for the West
By the autumn Bohemond felt desperate. In
September he held a council of his vassals at Antioch, to which he summoned
Tancred. There he told them frankly of the dangers that surrounded the
principality. The only solution was, he said, to secure reinforcements from
Europe. He would go himself to France and use his personal prestige to recruit
the needed men. Tancred dutifully offered to take on this task; but his uncle
replied that he did not command sufficient authority in the West. He must
remain behind as Regent of Antioch. Arrangements were soon made for Bohemond’s
departure. Late in the autumn he set sail from Saint Symeon, taking with him
all the gold and silver, jewels and precious stuffs that were available, and
copies of the Gesta Francorum , the anonymous history of the First
Crusade told from the Norman point of view. In these copies Bohemond inserted a
passage suggesting that the Emperor had promised him the lordship of Antioch.
Tancred then took over the government of
Antioch, at the same time taking an oath that he would restore Edessa to
Baldwin immediately on his release from captivity. Meanwhile, as Tancred could
not rule Edessa satisfactorily from Antioch, he appointed his cousin and
brother-in-law, Richard of Salerno, as his deputy across the Euphrates.
Bohemond reached his own lands in Apulia early
in the new year. He remained there till the following September, seeing to his
personal affairs, which needed his supervision after his nine years’ absence,
and organizing parties of Normans to join their fellows in the East. Then he
went to Rome, where he saw Pope Paschal. To him Bohemond emphasized that the
great enemy of the Latins in the East was the Emperor Alexius. Paschal had
already been prejudiced against Alexius by Bishop Manasses and fell in readily
with his views. When Bohemond went on into France he was accompanied by the papal
legate, Bruno, who was instructed to preach a Holy War against Byzantium. It
was a turning-point in the history of the Crusades. The Norman policy, which
aimed to break the power of the eastern Empire, became the official Crusading
policy. The interests of Christendom as a whole were to be sacrificed to the
interests of Frankish adventurers. The Pope was later to
endangered had not Duqaq of Damascus died towards the end of June 1104
whereupon Ridwan’s attention was taken up by the struggle for the succession
between Duqaq’s two sons, Buri and Iltash.
Bohemond’s failure to meet Ridwan’s attack was
due to his preoccupation with Byzantine affairs. The Emperor Alexius was now on
good terms with the Frankish states farther to the south. Raymond of Toulouse
was still his close friend; and he had won the good-will of King Baldwin by
himself paying for the ransom of many distinguished Franks who were held
captive in Egypt. His generosity had been wisely calculated. It was in striking
contrast to Bohemond and Tancred’s behaviour over Baldwin of Edessa; and it
reminded the Franks that he had influence and prestige that the Fatimids
respected. When therefore he took action against Antioch, its prince received
no help from his colleagues. Alexius had already fortified Corycos and Seleucia
on the Cilician coast, to prevent Antiochene aggression into western Cilicia.
In the summer of 1104 a Byzantine army, under the general Monastras, reoccupied
without difficulty the east Cilician cities, Tarsus, Adana and Mamistra; while
a naval squadron under the Emperor’s admiral, Cantacuzenus, which had come to
Cyprian waters in pursuit of a Genoese raiding fleet, took advantage of
Bohemond’s situation to sail on to Lattakieh, where his men captured the
harbour and the lower city. Bohemond hastened with the Frankish troops that he
could muster to reinforce the garrison in the citadel and to replace its
commander, whom he distrusted. But, lacking sea-power, he did not try to expel
the Byzantines from their position.
1104: Bohemond
leaves for the West
By the autumn Bohemond felt desperate. In
September he held a council of his vassals at Antioch, to which he summoned
Tancred. There he told them frankly of the dangers that surrounded the
principality. The only solution was, he said, to secure reinforcements from
Europe. He would go himself to France and use his personal prestige to recruit
the needed men. Tancred dutifully offered to take on this task; but his uncle
replied that he did not command sufficient authority in the West. He must
remain behind as Regent of Antioch. Arrangements were soon made for Bohemond’s
departure. Late in the autumn he set sail from Saint Symeon, taking with him
all the gold and silver, jewels and precious stuffs that were available, and
copies of the Gesta Francorum , the anonymous history of the First
Crusade told from the Norman point of view. In these copies Bohemond inserted a
passage suggesting that the Emperor had promised him the lordship of Antioch.
Tancred then took over the government of
Antioch, at the same time taking an oath that he would restore Edessa to
Baldwin immediately on his release from captivity. Meanwhile, as Tancred could
not rule Edessa satisfactorily from Antioch, he appointed his cousin and
brother-in-law, Richard of Salerno, as his deputy across the Euphrates.
Bohemond reached his own lands in Apulia early
in the new year. He remained there till the following September, seeing to his
personal affairs, which needed his supervision after his nine years’ absence,
and organizing parties of Normans to join their fellows in the East. Then he
went to Rome, where he saw Pope Paschal. To him Bohemond emphasized that the
great enemy of the Latins in the East was the Emperor Alexius. Paschal had
already been prejudiced against Alexius by Bishop Manasses and fell in readily
with his views. When Bohemond went on into France he was accompanied by the papal
legate, Bruno, who was instructed to preach a Holy War against Byzantium. It
was a turning-point in the history of the Crusades. The Norman policy, which
aimed to break the power of the eastern Empire, became the official Crusading
policy. The interests of Christendom as a whole were to be sacrificed to the
interests of Frankish adventurers. The Pope was later to
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