The crusader knights clash with Muslim troops during the First Crusade’s second siege of Antioch, from a French manuscript of ca. 1200. The regional struggle for religious dominance had affected the fortunes of Antioch for centuries. As far back as 638 the Syrian city, which was where the new faith of Christianity was given its name, was captured from the Byzantines by the Arabs. In 969 the Byzantines recaptured the city by treachery after a long blockade. In 1097 the Byzantine general on the crusade urged a similar blockade, but the crusaders preferred to invest the city. However; they were unable to assault its strong fortifications and in the end it was betrayed to them by a discontented officer commanding three of its towers.

The council of the army of the First Crusade at Antioch in November 1098 had ended in what one participant called a “discordant peace” between Raymond of Toulouse and Bohemond, whereby each continued to hold sections of Antioch. Raymond then led some of the army south and attacked the Syrian city of Marra on 28th November. He was joined by Bohemond, but Godfrey of Bouillon and Robert of Flanders did not join in, so it is likely that this was a stop-gap activity pending a settlement over Antioch. Marra resisted strongly but fell on 11th December, and the bloodshed that followed was particularly brutal. Crusaders dismembered captives in the belief that they had swallowed money, and any citizens not killed were sold into slavery.

Delay in Marra resulted in the army starving-in their desperation some crusaders even dug up enemy corpses and ate them. The failure of supplies led some to abandon the crusade for cities such as Edessa. Raymond put an end to the food shortage by leading a raid into enemy territory which provided ample food.

Bohemond tried but failed to trade his section of Marra for Raymond’s share of Antioch, causing further quarrels. In January 1099 Raymond called another council near Marra and offered money to those who would accept his leadership as far as Jerusalem. As a consequence, Bohemond refused to continue to Jerusalem and on 7th January ejected Raymond’s men from Antioch.

On 13th January elements of the now split crusader army left Marra under Raymond’s command. Robert of Normandy and Bohemond’s nephew Tancred joined Raymond, while Godfrey and Robert of Flanders, apparently hostile to Raymond, remained near Antioch. Sometimes dealing with the enemy proved more profitable than fighting them. Between the crusaders and Jerusalem lay many cities whose rulers had no wish to see a large enemy army ravaging their territory and were ready to pay to ensure a peaceful passage by such an army. This both enriched the crusaders and enabled them to pass on quickly to their goal. Thus the rulers of Shaizar and Homs paid tribute to the crusaders as they marched through Syria.

At the Homs Gap the crusaders decided not to take the inland route south via Damascus, but to make for the coast where friendly fleets could support them. As they neared the principality of Tripoli they faced a dilemma. Tripoli was nominally subject to the Fatimids, with whom the crusaders had made an alliance against the Seljuks. It was hoped that the Fatimids might hand over Jerusalem and the crusaders were awaiting the return of envoys they had sent to Egypt the previous spring. In order to occupy his men in the meantime, Raymond persuaded the army to attack the city of Arqa, which belonged to Tripoli, and he launched other raids against Tripolitan territory. He thus hoped to occupy and feed the troops, and to extort tribute from Tripoli, while retraining from outright hostilities.

Godfrey and Robert of Flanders had remained at Antioch, but, under intense pressure from their followers, who wanted to complete their journey, the pair departed at the end of February. However, they could not bear to join Raymond against Arqa and instead besieged Jabala. Only when mistaken news came of an enemy threat to Raymond’s army did they march south, but even then the two forces remained aloof from one another. Earlier disputes now continued: Raymond wanted to seize Arqa and perhaps await help from the emperor Alexius, but Godfrey and his friends would have none of it. The army for its part was growing restless and anxious to move on to Jerusalem.

The deadlock was ended in May 1099, when an Egyptian embassy arrived. The Fatimids refused to concede Jerusalem. The crusaders reacted by immediately heading south into Fatimid territory, taking the Egyptians by surprise. They had no army in Palestine and had destroyed Jaffa, the port of Jerusalem, because they had no troops to defend it. In these circumstances the cities of the coast, such as Beirut, Acre, and Caesarea, paid tribute to the crusaders. Aware that the Egyptians would ultimately respond to their attack, the crusaders marched rapidly south and arrived outside Jerusalem on 7th June 1099.