The First Crusade

Question 1

Who was the author of the Gesta Francorum?

Answer 1

A knight in Bohemond’s army

Question 2

Who was Raymond of Aguilers?

Answer 2

The chaplain of Raymond of Toulous

Question 3

When did Raymond of Aguilers complete his work?

Answer 3

Probably by 1102 but certainly by 1105

Question 4

Who did Raymond of Aguilers compose his work for?

Answer 4

The Bishop of Viviers

Question 5

What does Raymond of Aguilers work provide more information on than other sources?

Answer 5

1) Miracles

2) The poor crusaders

Question 6

When was the Gesta completed by?

Answer 6

1101

Question 7

What does Albert of Aachen’s account of the first crusade consist of?

Answer 7

Anecdotes from pilgrims and returning crusaders as he did not personally go on crusade

Question 8

When did Albert of Aachen write his account?

Answer 8

1) Started 1100-1119

2) Finished 1120s-1140s

Question 9

What does Albert of Aachen emphasise?

Answer 9

The bravery of the men of Lorraine and Godfrey of Bouillon

Question 10

Who is Fulcher of Chartres?

Answer 10

1) Initially chaplain to Stephen of Blois

2) Become’s Baldwin’s chaplain in October 1097

Question 11

When did Fulcher of Chartres complete his work?

Answer 11

1) First version 1100-1106

2) Second version 1127

Question 12

What does Fulcher of Chartres account convey?

Answer 12

A very positive sense of Franco-Syrian relations

Question 13

Rhobert of Rheims account of the First Crusade

Answer 13

1) Relied upon the Gesta for his information as he was not present on the First Crusade
2) Emphasised the divine initiative behind the crusade

Question 14

William of Tyre’s account of the first crusade?

Answer 14

Writes with knowledge of the First Crusade’s success

Question 15

Info on William of Tyre

Answer 15

1) c.1130-1185
2) Archbishop of Tyre
3) Born in Palestine and studied at Paris and Bologna

Question 16

flaws with Anna Komnene’s account of the First Crusade

Answer 16

1) only 13 at the time
2) writes her account almost 50 years later
3) uncritical approach to her father

Question 17

when did Anna Komnene write the Alexiad?

Answer 17

1143-1153/4 (her death)

Question 18

Ibn Munqidh’s account of the First Crusade

Answer 18

1) v. young at time (b. 1095)
2) book of amusement not memoir
3) much cited on Franco-Muslim relations

Question 19

Ibn al-Athir’s account of the First Crusade

Answer 19

1) Written significantly after wards (b.1160, d.1233)
2) Relies on al-Qalanisi for account
3) Sympathetic to the Zengids

Question 20

Ibn al-Qalanisi’s account

Answer 20

1) Recounts both the First and Second Crusade
2) Damascene perspective
3) First Muslim account

Question 21

When did the ‘People’s Army’ set off on Crusade?

Answer 21

Spring 1096

Question 22

What did Alexios do when the ‘People’s Army’ arrived at Constantinople?

Answer 22

1) Got rid of the them as quickly as possible, sending them over the Bospherous
2) They were immediately set upon by Turks, leading to mass casualties

Question 23

Why was the People’s Army explicitly not what Urban wanted?

Answer 23

1) Wanted a professional princely army
2) It was not in Pope’s interest for people to leave their farmstead’s (less people to tend to the land leading to lower productivity and tithes to church)

Question 24

When did the nobles set off on the First Crusade?

Answer 24

Late spring/summer 1096

Question 25

What percentage of all Crusaders were knights?

Answer 25

10%

Question 26

Which princely leaders exemplify the Northern group?

Answer 26

Baldwin and Godfrey

Question 27

Which princely leaders exemplify the Southern group?

Answer 27

Raymond and Adgemar

Question 28

Why is it interesting that Alexios asks the Crusaders to swear oaths to him?

Answer 28

Oaths are not a Greek modus operandi meaning he is following a Frankish custom

Question 29

Who was more likely to swear an oath to Alexios?

Answer 29

1) Those from poorer backgrounds (e.g. Baldwin)

2) Raymond initially refuses to swear oath

Question 30

How does Raymond of Aguilers view Alexios’ treatment of the Franks after the fall of Nicaea?

Answer 30

1) Condemns his failure to reward the Franks with previously promised riches (‘traitror’)
2) Raymond of Toulouse refuses to swear oath hence viewed Alexios’ actions as illegitimate and was likely was less rewarded and

Question 31

How does Fulcher of Chartres view Alexios’ treatment of the Franks after the fall of Nicaea?

Answer 31

1) Sees him as having fulfilled his promise to reward the Franks (‘gifts of gold and silver’)
2) Stephen swears oath so sees Alexios’ handling of treasure as a legitimate function of lordship and probably received a higher reward

Question 32

What are Frankish tactics in battle?

Answer 32

Largely static, involving a steady push until one side is defeated

Question 33

What are Turkish tactics in battle?

Answer 33

1) Fight entirely on horseback
2) Wheel around the enemy and fire arrows at them
3) Completely prepared to retreat

Question 34

When is the Battle of Dorylaeum?

Answer 34

1 July 1097

Question 35

When is the first time that Franks witness Turkish tactics?

Answer 35

the Battle of Dorylaeum

Question 36

How many of the Crusaders die on the Journey through Anatolia?

Answer 36

3/4

Question 37

Why did Baldwin set off for Edessa?

Answer 37

1) Lost hope that journey to Jerusalem would work out in light of wholesale suffering in Anatolian plane
2) Changing idea of Crusade as goes on
3) Change in circumstances at home brought about by death of wife

Question 38

What did the death of his wife mean for Baldwin

Answer 38

Her wealth went back to her own line leaving him very poor

Question 39

What does Baldwin become in 1098?

Answer 39

Count of Edessa

Question 40

When did the siege of Antioch take place?

Answer 40

October 1097 - June 1098

Question 41

Farming in Anioch

Answer 41

1) c.10,000 acres of arable land within Antioch’s walls

2) Grew more food within walls that outside

Question 42

How long did the siege of Antioch last?

Answer 42

8 months

Question 43

How long were the Franks trapped within Antioch by Kerbogha?

Answer 43

26 days (according to the Gesta)

Question 44

What were the Franks forced to do whilst trapped in Antioch?

Answer 44

Gesta says they…

1) boiled and ate fig leaves
2) stewed the dried skins of horses and camels

Question 45

Who deserted during the Siege of Antioch?

Answer 45

Stephen of Blois

Question 46

What did Stephen do on his retreat?

Answer 46

Met Alexios and convinced him not to come to the aid of the Franks as they were beyond saving

Question 47

When was the Holy Lance discovered?

Answer 47

14 June 1098

Question 48

Who discovered the Holy Lance?

Answer 48

Peter the Hermit

Question 49

Who said what about the discovery of the Holy Lance?

Answer 49

Anselm of Ribemont: ‘gave new life to all our men’

Question 50

What does the discovery of the Holy Lance illustrate?

Answer 50

The north-south divide within the army (non-Southern portion of the army was highly sceptical and questioned the basis of this relic)

Question 51

What is Peter Bartholomew forced to do to prove the authenticity of the Holy Lance?

Answer 51

Walk over hot coals (later dies from his burns)

Question 52

What reason do the crusading leaders give for having been able to break out of Antioch against all odds’

Answer 52

In letter to Urban cite their greater comprehension of Muslim fighting tactics (‘our many battles against them had taught us to recognise their ruses and trickery’

Question 53

When did the siege of Jerusalem take place?

Answer 53

7-16 June 1099

Question 54

How many crusaders were left by the time they reached Jerusalem?

Answer 54

1) 1,300 knights

2) 12,500 foot soldiers

Question 55

William of Tyre’s account of the siege of Jerusalem

Answer 55

1) ‘everywhere lay fragments of human bodies’

2) ‘victors…dripping with blood from head to foot’

Question 56

Estimates of the scale of slaughter at the siege of Jerusalem

Answer 56

1) Ibn al-Arabi 3,000
2) William of Tyre 10,000
3) Ibn al-Athir 75,000

Question 57

What was the basic division in the Islamic world at the time of the First Crusade?

Answer 57

1) Sunni orthodox controlled Asia Minor and Syria (led by the caliph of Baghdad)
2) Shi’ite ruled Egypt (led by the Fatimid dynasty and had caliph based in Cairo)

Question 58

What is the significance of 1094?

Answer 58

Ibn Tagahribirdi: ‘This year is called the year of the death of caliphs and commanders’

Question 59

Describe Sunni power balance at time of First Crusade?

Answer 59

After death of Sunni leader Seljuk Sultan Malikshah in 1092, there was a power vacuum by 1097-1099

Question 60

What account relates the expenses Bohemond undertook to go on the First Crusade?

Answer 60

Gesta Francorum states he…

1) Had his most expensive cloak cut up and made into crosses
2) Financed the crossing of all his men as well as numerous nobles (e.g. Tancred and Herman of Cannes)

Question 61

Which sources provide evidence for Alexius’ aggression towards the Crusaders on their march towards Constantinople?

Answer 61

1) Gesta Francorum (Byzantine army attacked the Count of Russignolo and his men, forcing Bohemond to take up arms against them)
2) Albert of Aachen (Godfrey of Bouillon was forced to send a part of his army to hold back the Byzantine forces whilst the rest crossed the river Drave)
3) Raymond of Aguilers (Byzantines attacked Raymond’s army whilst they were encamped at Durazzo - Gesta and Raymond of Aguilers report that Raymond contemplated revenge on the imperial army whilst encamped outside Constantinople)

Question 62

What do the sources say about the princely leaders’ reaction to being asked to take oaths of fealty to the emperor?

Answer 62

Raymond of Aguilers and the Gesta state that…

1) Raymond initially refused to take the oath, only later swearing an oath of friendship under duress from the other princely leaders
2) Raymond refused to pay homage to the emperor even at the peril of his life
3) Bohemond stated that he would side with the emperor against Raymond if he refused to take oath
4) Bohemond, Godfrey, Count Robert of Flanders = some of the leaders who took the oath

Question 63

What does Stephen of Blois say about the Emperor?

Answer 63

In a letter to his wife Adela in June 1097 writes that…

1) he is the one Alexius trusts and favours the most
2) Alexius is exceedingly generous in rewarding the princes (to such an extent that William the Conqueror’s gifts seem practically nothing in comparison)

Question 64

When was the siege of Nicaea?

Answer 64

14 May - 19 June 1097

Question 65

What different accounts are given of the siege of Nicaea?

Answer 65

1) Gesta and Stephen of Blois argue that the Franks were the key players (building their own siege engines and undermining the walls)
2) Fulcher of Chartres even credits the Franks with launching the boats onto the lake
3) Anna Komnene places the emphasis on Alexius (He designed the siege engines and sent over boats when he saw that the Frankish attack would fail)
4) Turks see Alexius as the ultimate authority (in all accounts it is he to whom the Turks offer their surrender)

Question 66

How does Stephen of Blois view Alexius’ treatment of the Franks after the fall of Nicaea?

Answer 66

1) No resentment between the two parties (Franks ‘ran to him’ and he greeted them with ‘very great affection’)
2) Alexius is generous in distributing the spoils

Question 67

Which sources give an account of the Battle of Dorylaeum on 1 July 1097?

Answer 67

1) Gesta Francorum
2) Fulcher of Chartres
3) Both attest to the strength of the Turks and the miraculously Frankish victory
4) Both recount how quickly the disparate sections of the army came together when faced with an external threat (e.g. Count Raymond and Duke Godfrey arrived to aid Bohemond)

Question 68

How many Arabs were at the Battle of Dorylaeum?

Answer 68

360,000 according to the Gesta and Fulchre

Question 69

Which sources give accounts of the siege of Antioch?

Answer 69

1) Raymond of Aguilers
2) Gesta Francorum
3) Letter from Stephen of Blois to Adela in March 1098

Question 70

What do the sources say about the hardships of the siege of Antioch?

Answer 70

1) Raymond and the Gesta attest that due to extreme shortages prices became exorbitant
2) Raymond and Gesta relate the damaging effects on the horses (e.g. Raymond: ‘wasting away from starvation’)
3) Stephen testifies to the poor conditions: hunger and excessive cold
4) Ibn al-Athir recognises that the Franks were ‘weak and short of food’ when Kerbogha arrived

Question 71

What sources reflects the desperation and dire state of the Crusaders at Antioch?

Answer 71

Letter from the patriarch Symeon, the bishops and the crusading army to the Christians of the west in January 1098

1) Calls for Christians from the west, explicitly men not women, to come and support the crusading army as the army has been ‘heavily’ reduced
2) Patriarch even threatens to excommunicate those who have made the vow and not come

Question 72

Desertions at Antioch

Answer 72

1) Raymond: Bohemond threatened to depart as his men and horses were dying from hunger
2) Peter fled c.20 January 1098 but was brought back
3) Tatikios fled under the pretence of gathering supplies from Gaul
3) Gesta recounts that many of the rank and file fled to Cyprus, Francia or into the mountains
4) Stephen of Blois deserted on 2 June and persuaded the Byzantine arming (c.20 June) to turn back as well as he believed the Crusaders would by now have been killed by the Turks

Question 73

Evidence of the awful conditions faced by the Crusaders once they were trapped in Antioch by Kerbogha

Answer 73

The Gesta Francorum and Ibn al-Athir state that the Franks were forced to…

1) eat the flesh of horses if wealthy
2) boil and eat fig leaves and thistles if poor
3) stew the dried skins of horses and camels

Question 74

What does the Gesta say happened when the Holy Lance was discovered?

Answer 74

There was ‘boundless rejoicing’

Question 75

What reason does Ibn al-Athir give for Kerbogha’s unsuccessful siege of Antioch?

Answer 75

Blames Kerbogha entirely for its failure because…

1) Kerbogha refuses to allow his army to pick off the Franks as they left the city one by one, meaning that they were overwhelmed when they faced them as a collective
2) He treated the Muslim force so badly that they plotted in secret to dessert him during the battle

Question 76

What source reflects the Crusaders’ need for continued papal blessing?

Answer 76

Letter from the crusading leaders to Urban II in September 1098

1) The instant that the Pope’s agent dies (Adhemar at Antioch) the Crusaders feel the need to refer back to the Pope for the first time since they departed on Crusade
2) Implores Urban to ‘come as father’ and head the Crusade, using the crusaders as ‘your obedient sons in carrying out all things properly’

Question 77

What reason do the Crusading leaders in a letter to Urban II in September 1098 give for Kerbogha’s unsuccessful siege of Antioch?

Answer 77

The Franks, having encountered the Turks previously, in battle were now ‘trained against their wiles and trickery’

Question 78

What source shows the resentment of the common people towards the princely leaders?

Answer 78

1) Raymond of Aguilers recounts the bickering of the leaders over who should take possession of Antioch (Some advocated Bohemond take possession but Raymond stated they had sworn an oath to restore land to Byzantium)
2) Raymond reocunts how the people condemned this ‘princely fiasco’ and declare: ‘Let those who covet the Emperor’s gold or the Antiochian revenues possess them: but for us who have left out homes for Christ let us renew out march with Him as leader’//’May the coveters of Antioch die wickedly even as its inhabitants did recently’

Question 79

Who was the king of Babylon?

Answer 79

The Egyptian leader - Shi’ite

Question 80

When did Peter Bartholemew die and why?

Answer 80

20 April 1099 from burns inflicted during the ‘trial by fire’ to prove the validity of the Holy Lance

Question 81

What is revealed about Raymond’s interest in controlling Jerusalem by a certain source?

Answer 81

1) Raymond of Aguilers states that when Godfrey, having been elected ruler, demanded the Tower of David from Raymond, Raymond refused to cooperate
2) Showed that he was prepared to relinquish the idea of Kingship but not the physically reality of power (Tower of David was the most fortified part of the Holy City)

Question 82

What demonstrates how the ambitions of leaders and troops began to diverge in the aftermath of the siege of Jerusalem?

Answer 82

1) Raymond of Aguilers
2) Troops don’t want to stay as they have fulfilled what the Pope demanded of them whilst Raymond wanted to establish his won leadership out there
3) ‘Almost all of Raymond’s entourage’ hence supported Godfrey in his desire to gain control of the Tower of David since they ‘thought that the Count would return to Languedoc as soon as he lost the Tower of David’
4) Bishop who surrendered the tower to Godfrey before Raymond agreed ‘talked about the use of force against him and secretly blamed Raymond’s men’

Question 83

What reason does Guibert of Nogent give for the overwhelming response to the Crusades?

Answer 83

1) Religious devotion (‘set out for the sake of their faith’)
2) ‘What has driven out knights thither is not ambition for fame, for money, for extending the boundaries of their lands’
3) Provided a new way for Knights to channel their abilities into a religious capacity (‘they are not forced to abandon secular affairs completely by choosing the monastic life or any religious profession, as used to be the custom, but can attain in some measure God’s grace while pursuing their own careers’)