§ 50. FIRST CRUSADE AND CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM. 237
During the siege of Antioch, which had fallen to the Seljuks, 1084, the ranks were decimated by famine, pestilence, and desertion, among the deserters being Stephen of Chartres and his followers. Peter the Hermit and William of Carpentarius were among those who attempted flight, but were caught in the act of fleeing and severely reprimanded by Bohemund.1 Immediately after the first recapture of the city, through the treachery of Phirouz, an Armenian, the Crusaders were themselves besieged by an army of two hun dred thousand under Kerboga of Mosul. Their languishing energies were revived by the miraculous discovery of the holy lance, which pierced the Saviour's side. This famous instrument was hidden under the altar of St. Peter's church. The hiding place was revealed in a dream to Peter Barthelemy, the chaplain of Raymund of Toulouse.2 The sacred weapon was carried in front of the ranks by Raymund of Agiles, one of the historians of the Crusade, and it aroused great enthusiasm. Kerboga withdrew and the city fell into the Crusaders' hands, June 28, 1098. 3 Bohemund appropri ated it to himself as his prize. Baldwin, after the fall of Nicsea, had done the same with Edessa, which became the easternmost citadel of the Crusaders. Others followed the examples of these leaders and went on independent expeditions of conquest. Of those who died at Antioch was Adhemar.
1 The contemporary authorities represent the reprimand as given to Car pentarius. As Hagenmeyer suggests, Peter was included and Carpentarius' name alone mentioned because he was of royal blood.
2 Among those who helped to dig for the weapon was Raymund of Agiles. Its authenticity was a matter of dispute, Adhemar being one of those who doubted. Barthelemy went through the ordeal of fire to prove the truth of his statements, but died in consequence of the injuries he suffered.
3 According to Robert the Monk, IV., Rec., III. 824, a heavenly sign was granted on the eve of the final attack, a flame burning in the western sky, ignis de ccelo veniens ab occidente. One of the interesting remains of the crusadal period are two letters written by Stephen, count of Chartres, to his wife Adele, the one before Nicaea and the other during the siege of An tioch. They are given in Hagenmeyer, Epistulce, pp. 138, 149."
238 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
The culmination of the First Crusade was the fall of Jerusalem, July 15, 1099. It was not till the spring fol lowing the capture of Antioch, that the leaders were able to compose their quarrels and the main army was able again to begin the march. The route was along the coast to Cccsarea and thence southeastward to Ramleh. Jerusalem was reached early in June. The army was then reduced to twenty thousand fighting men.1 In one of his frescos in the museum at Berlin, representing the six chief epochs in human history, Kaulbach has depicted with great effect the moment when the Crusaders first caught sight of the Holy City from the western hills. For the religious imagination it was among the most picturesque moments in history as it was indeed one of the most solemn in the history of the Middle Ages. The later narratives may well have the es sence of truth in them, which represent the warriors falling upon their knees and kissing the sacred earth. Laying aside their armor, in bare feet and amid tears, penitential prayers, and chants, they approached the sacred precincts.2
A desperate but futile assault was made on the fifth day. Boiling pitch and oil were used, with showers of stones and other missiles, to keep the Crusaders at bay. The siege then took the usual course in such cases. Ladders, scaling towers, and other engines of war were constructed, but the wood had to be procured at a distance, from Shechem. The trees around Jerusalem, cut down by Titus twelve centuries before, had never been replaced. The city was invested on three sides by Raymund of Toulouse, Godfrey, Tancred, Robert of Normandy, and other chiefs. The suffering due
1 The figures are differently given. See Sybel, 412, and Rohricht, Gesch. des ersten Kreuzzuges, 183. William of Tyre gives the number as twenty-one thousand, and the army defending Jerusalem as forty thousand.
2 Raymund of Agiles reports that the Crusaders forgot the exhortation of Peter Barthelemy to make the last part of the journey barefoot. " They remembered their weariness no more, and hastening their steps reached the walls amidst tears and praises."