Siege of Antioch

Siege of Antioch
Part of the First Crusade

The siege of Antioch, from a 15th-century miniature painting
Date20 October 1097 – 28 June 1098
Location
Antioch (present-day Antakya, Turkey)
36°12′08″N 36°09′41″E / 36.20222°N 36.16139°E / 36.20222; 36.16139
Result Crusader victory
Territorial
changes
Belligerents
Crusaders
Byzantine Empire

Seljuk Empire

Commanders and leaders

Bohemond of Taranto
Raymond IV of Toulouse
Adhemar of Le Puy
Godfrey of Bouillon
Robert II of Normandy
Edgar Ætheling
Robert II of Flanders

Girard I of Roussillon
Stephen of Blois
Hugh of Vermandois
Eustace III of Boulogne
Baldwin II of Hainaut
Tancred of Hauteville
Rainald III of Toul
Gaston IV of Béarn
Anselm of Ribemont
Tatikios
Yaghi-Siyan 
Duqaq
Toghtekin
Janah ad-Dawla
Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan
Shams ad-Daulah
Kerbogha
Arslantash of Sinjar
Qaradja of Harran
Watthab ibn-Mahmud
Balduk of Samosata
Soqman ibn Ortoq
Ahmad ibn-Marwan Surrendered
Strength

Crusaders:
~40,000 total at the start of the siege (includes non-combatants)
~20,000 during the second siege against Kerbogha[2]

Byzantines:
2,000 light infantry and naval support
Antiochene garrison:
~5,000[3][4]
Duqaq's relief force: ~10,000[5]
Radwan's relief force: ~12,000[6][7]
Kerbogha's relief force: ~35,000–40,000[8][9]
Casualties and losses

Heavy

  • Thousands died of starvation, disease or in battle
  • Nearly all the horses

Heavy

  • Entire garrison slain
  • Every relief force destroyed and routed
Many civilians, including Armenian and Melkite Christians and Muslims[10]

The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Seljuk Empire, lasted from 20 October 1097[11] to 3 June 1098. The second siege, of the crusader-held city by a Seljuk relieving army, lasted three weeks in June 1098, leading to the Battle of Antioch in which the crusaders defeated the relieving army led by Kerbogha. The crusaders then established the Principality of Antioch, ruled by Bohemond of Taranto.[12]

Antioch (modern Antakya) lay in a strategic location on the crusaders' route to Judea through the Syrian Coastal mountain range. Supplies, reinforcements and retreat could all be controlled by the city. Anticipating that it would be attacked, the Seljuk governor of the city, Yağısıyan, began stockpiling food and sending requests for help. The Byzantine walls surrounding the city presented a formidable obstacle to its capture, but the leaders of the crusade felt compelled to besiege Antioch anyway.

The crusaders arrived outside the city on 21 October and began the siege. The garrison sortied unsuccessfully on 29 December. After stripping the surrounding area of food, the crusaders were forced to look farther afield for supplies, opening themselves to ambush. On 31 December, a force of 20,000 crusaders encountered a relief army led by Duqaq, ruler of Damascus, heading to Antioch and defeated them. As the siege went on, supplies dwindled and in early 1098 one in seven of the crusaders was dying from starvation, and people began deserting.

A second relief force, this time under the command of Duqaq's brother Ridwan, emir of Aleppo, advanced towards Antioch, arriving on 9 February. Like the army of Duqaq before, it was defeated. Antioch was captured on 3 June, although the citadel remained in the hands of the Turkish defenders. Kerbogha, atabeg of Mosul, began the second siege, against the crusaders who had occupied Antioch, which lasted from 7 to 28 June 1098. The second siege ended when the crusaders exited the city to engage Kerbogha's army in battle on 28 June and succeeded in defeating them. On seeing the Turkish army routed, the defenders remaining in the citadel surrendered.

  1. ^ France 1996, p. 261
  2. ^ Asbridge 2004, p. 233
  3. ^ Asbridge 2004, p. 160
  4. ^ France 1996, p. 224
  5. ^ Asbridge 2004, p. 171
  6. ^ Asbridge 2004, p. 181
  7. ^ France 1996, p. 246
  8. ^ Asbridge 2004, p. 204
  9. ^ Rubenstein 2011, p. 206
  10. ^ Giorgi, Andrea U. De; Eger, A. Asa (2021). Antioch: A History. Routledge. p. 360. ISBN 978-1-317-54041-0. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  11. ^ Matthews, Rupert. "Siege of Antioch". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  12. ^ France, John (2006)."Sieges of Antioch (1097–1098)". In The Crusades – An Encyclopedia. pp. 79–81.