Siege by crusaders

On 20 October 1097, the crusaders captured a fortified bridge over the Orontes River and seized supplies heading towards Antioch. The next day they reached the city itself. This began a siege which lasted until 3 June 1098.

A city protected by walls and landscape

Antioch was exceptionally difficult to attack. High walls enclosed a sprawling city, while the Orontes River and marshes protected one side and mountainous terrain protected others. Its citadel stood roughly 300 metres above the lower city. Attackers therefore faced not just walls, but difficult approaches and defenders positioned high above them.

The city was too large, and the surrounding ground too difficult, for the crusaders to encircle it completely. This was crucial: a siege could only starve the defenders effectively if the attackers stopped supplies entering. Initially, some routes remained open, allowing Antioch’s defenders to obtain food and launch attacks.

The governor, Yaghi-Siyan, had several thousand armed men and a reliable water supply inside the city. He appealed for outside help, including from Damascus and Mosul. His strategy was to hold the fortifications until relief armies arrived.

Establishing the siege

The crusaders’ army consisted of separate contingents under leaders including Bohemund of Taranto, Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse. These established positions outside different gates rather than forming one continuous ring around Antioch.

Raymond favoured an immediate assault. Other leaders preferred to rest their exhausted men and wait for reinforcements, hoping that the Byzantine emperor, Alexios I, would provide siege engines. The strength of Antioch’s defences made a direct attack dangerous, but waiting also gave Yaghi-Siyan time to seek help.

After an initially quiet period, the defenders began making sorties: sudden attacks out of the city against the crusader camps. The besiegers had to protect themselves while also keeping watch on the gates.

Winter hunger and dangerous searches for food

The siege became a struggle to feed the crusader army. A fleet of thirteen Genoese ships brought men, weapons and supplies, but this did not solve the continuing shortage of food. As the surrounding countryside was stripped of supplies, crusaders had to forage further away, where they were vulnerable to attack.

In late December, Bohemund and Robert of Flanders led a large expedition to find food. They encountered and defeated a Muslim relief force from Damascus, but returned without the supplies the army desperately needed. Meanwhile, defenders from Antioch attacked the troops left guarding the camps.

Weeks of rain and severe shortages followed. Food became extremely expensive, and poorer crusaders could not afford enough to eat. Men died of hunger, horses became scarce, and desertion weakened the army. Even Peter the Hermit attempted to leave, although Tancred caught him and brought him back.

These problems reinforced one another. Hunger weakened the troops; foraging exposed them to attacks; and deaths and desertions left fewer men to maintain the siege. The crusaders were trying to starve out Antioch while facing starvation themselves.

Fighting relief armies and tightening the blockade

A further relief force came from Aleppo. Bohemund led the crusader knights against it and drove it back. Yaghi-Siyan used their absence to attack the infantry remaining outside Antioch, but the returning knights helped force the defenders back into the city. The crusaders thus faced two threats: attacks from within Antioch and armies approaching from outside.

During March 1098, supplies arriving by sea helped improve their position. On 6 March, a ship commanded by Edgar Atheling brought siege equipment and building materials from the Byzantine emperor. Fighting was needed to secure these supplies after a sortie intercepted the crusaders collecting them.

By 19 March, the crusaders had built additional fortifications to restrict access through a fortified bridge and a previously unblocked major gate. This made it harder for the defenders to bring in food or attack the camps. Crusaders could forage more safely and trade with local merchants who could no longer supply the city so easily.

Time began to run out

In May, news arrived that Kerbogha of Mosul was approaching with a large relief army. If it reached Antioch while the crusaders were still outside, they risked being trapped between Kerbogha’s troops and the city’s defenders.

Kerbogha delayed his advance by spending three weeks unsuccessfully besieging crusader-held Edessa. This gave the crusaders additional time, but the danger remained urgent. After months of endurance, fighting and efforts to tighten the blockade, they still needed a way through Antioch’s walls. The city finally fell on 3 June 1098, ending the siege by the crusaders.