The occupation of our first capital and the revenge of the conqueror I. Crusade War

Pope II. Urbanus took the decision of the Crusades at the Council of Clermont on 18-28 November 1095. The priest Fulcherius Carnotensis writes that it was deemed appropriate to embark on the expedition on August 15, 1096. The army gathered as a result of the propaganda made by the preacher monk Pierre l'Ermite (d. 1113) and his assistant priests, without waiting for the main army to move in August, set off from Cologne on 20 May and reached Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia, Edirne on 1 August 1096 reached Istanbul. The emperor's daughter, Anna Comnena, exaggeratedly reports that they arrived on 30 July 1096 "with 80,000 men and 100,000 horsemen". Emperor Alexios Komnenos wanted to keep this crowded army in Istanbul until the regular army arrived, but when he saw their outburst, he moved them all to the Anatolian Side on 6 August. They set out for Iznik. They set up headquarters in Kibotos, near Yalova.

They came as far as Iznik, looted the villages here, and started the massacre without saying family and children. Anna Komnena reports that they skewered the babies and fried them over the fire. Fulcerius said, “During this siege, our men suffered terribly with insanity caused by severe hunger, and cut pieces of meat from the thighs of dead Muslims lying around. They even savagely swallowed the meat that was cooked and eaten and not fried enough.” The statements of the Orthodox Anna and the Catholic Fulcherius are very bitter. The brutality experienced here will continue in Antakya, Ma'arratu's Nûman and Jerusalem.

Hearing the arrival of the Crusaders, Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Kilicarslan I prepared for war by asking Anatolian Beys such as Turkmens and Danishmends for help and imposing new taxes. When Kılıçarslan I learned that Xerigordos was captured by the Crusaders, he sent a commander and besieged the Xerigordos Castle on September 29. When the only water supply of the castle was cut off, a severe thirst began among the Crusaders. In the Gesta, it is rumored that horses and donkeys cut their veins and drink their blood and even waste water. The Crusaders, who could not stand the thirst after an eight-day siege, surrendered on 6 October. Wanting to avenge Xerigordos, the Crusaders left the women, children and patients in Kibotos and set out for Iznik on the morning of October 21st. Few of the 20,000 soldiers who were ambushed by the Turks in the Drakon valley were able to escape. The rest took refuge in the headquarters in Kibotos. They returned to Istanbul with the ships sent by the emperor. Thus, the People's Crusade came to an end.

The Arrival of the Crusaders' Main Armies

The regular large army, which set out against the Turks, whom Pope Urbanus saw as "the enemy of God", started the campaign by killing the Jews in Mainz as "the first murderers of Jesus" and looting their goods. On the basis of this hatred of Jews is the fact that usury caused great persecution. Fearing Count Emicho in the city of Mainz, a group of 700 Jews took shelter in Ruthard, the bishop of the city. Count Emicho began a terrible massacre by raiding the bishop's house. It is narrated that in the massacre, which Albertus describes by saying "how terrible it is to transport," the uncircumcised people preferred to die with their own hands rather than being killed by their swords, killing each other, and even the mothers slit the throats of their suckling children.

Image: Crusaders' Massacre of Jews in Mainz

From the autumn of 1096, large and regular armies began to come to Istanbul. After swearing allegiance to the emperor and that they would hand over the places they had taken from the Turks to the emperor, they went to Anatolia. Another important reason why these commanders had to take an oath of allegiance to the Emperor is Fulcher's statement: "Friendship with the Emperor was essential for all, because without his advice and assistance we would not have been able to complete our journey". The amount of armies for the First Crusade is stated in very different amounts in each source, and Işın Demirkent has reached the conclusion of 33.000-50,000 cavalry based on the analysis of the figures given by all ancient and modern historians.

The Crusaders Siege Our Capital

When Turkey Seljuk Sultan I. Kılıcarslan destroyed Pierre l'Hermitte's army easily, he ignored the Crusaders who followed and marched on Malatya in the Spring of 1097 to capture Malatya, which was owned by the Armenian Gabriel, which was of great importance for the Anatolian unity. The Sultan had left his wife, children and treasures in Iznik. When the Crusaders came to Iznik, a message was sent from the castle to the Sultan. There is no reference other than Mateos from Urfa that Kılıçarslan was born in Antakya in 1085. Considering that he had left an eleven-year-old child when he died in 1107, he would have to have married in 1095. This young monarch's inexperience and great intelligence weakness will cost dearly.

During the siege, the Crusaders had built rams to shake down the walls, huts (scrofa) used for digging sewers and shelters for sewers, wooden towers and catapults (petraria, tormentum), two-storey assault towers covered with leather inside and outside. When the news of the siege reached Kılıçarslan, he understood the gravity of the situation and lifted the Siege of Malatya and came to İznik. There was also a Turkish emergency army under the command of Danishmend Gazi. But more than a month had passed since the siege, and the attempt of the weary Kılıçarslan and his army to break through the siege against the entrenched Crusaders failed. The Crusaders were throwing the heads of the martyrs of Kılıçarslan's soldiers to the castle with catapults to demoralize the Seljuks.

Image: Catapult Shots

When the Sultan felt that the siege would not be worthwhile, he had to retreat. After making the decision to withdraw on May 21, he sent a message to Kale and instructed, "From now on, do what you think is right for yourself." Despite the withdrawal of Kılıçarslan, the garrison in the castle continued to resist. There was a very tight siege from the land, but the connection of the walls with the outside continued by the lake. From here they could procure food, weapons and all their needs. Crusader leaders sought help from the emperor to break this connection. The emperor had small and light boats prepared to carry a hundred soldiers and sent them to Gemlik. From here, boats were loaded onto cars and lowered into the lake at sunrise. When the garrison in the castle could no longer resist, believing that it would be wiser to surrender to the Eastern Roman Emperor rather than surrender to the Crusaders, they agreed with the Emperor through the mediation of the Turkish-born Roman Commander Tatikios. The troops of Emperor Alexios, consisting of Pechenegs, entered the city from the lake side and took the city with Kılıçaslan's wife, children and treasures on behalf of the Emperor on 18 June 1097. When the crusaders saw the Eastern Roman flags hoisted on the castle walls in the morning, they were very angry. But the Emperor pleased them by giving them a share of the spoils. He allowed the crusaders to tour the city in groups of ten. Kılıçarslan's wife and children were also hosted in a manner befitting the rulers and taken to Istanbul. The Emperor sent Kılıçarslan's wife with the army to take back İzmir, which was under the rule of Çaka Bey's son. Thus, the Bey of Izmir surrendered the city without any resistance.

Thus, Iznik, the capital of the Anatolian Seljuk State, passed into the hands of the Eastern Romans. The Turks will take Iznik back only after about 234 years, on March 2, 1331, Sultan Orhan Gazi will be granted.

When Mehmet the Conqueror besieged Istanbul in 1453, he would conquer the capital of Eastern Rome by executing the ships from the land and landing them in the Golden Horn, with the same tactic as Emperor Alesios did in Iznik.

Consequences of the First Crusade

Continuing on their way after Iznik, the Crusader army heavily defeated the Seljuk army near Dorylaion, near Eskişehir, and captured Antakya. They established Crusader Counties in Antakya, Urfa, Tripoli and Jerusalem.

Although I.Kılıçarslan fought heroically, he could not be successful against the Crusader Army; Melikşah's growth in custody, inexperience, great intelligence weakness, and most importantly, his inability to receive the support of other Anatolian Beys besides the support of Danishmend. However, he will make up for all these shortcomings in a short time and will completely destroy the three separate crusader armies that will come in 1101 with an epic struggle.

Cities Taken During the I. Crusade and Their Re-entering Turkish Domination 

Cities Occupied During the First World War and Their Re-entering Turkish Domination

References:

Carnotensis, Fulcherius. Fulcher of Chartres, A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem 1095-1127.  Urfalı Mateos, Urfalı Mateos Vekayi-Nâmesi (952-1136) ve Papaz Grigor’un Zeyli (1136-1162), (Ankara: TTK Basımevi, 2000)

Anna Komnena, Alexiad Anadolu’da ve Balkan Yarımadası’nda İmparator Alexios Komnenos Dönemi’nin Tarihi Malazgirt Sonrası, Çeviren BilgeUmar, (İstanbul: İnkılap Kitabevi, 1996).

Carnotensis, Fulcherius. Fulcher of Chartres, A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem 1095-1127.  Urfalı Mateos, Urfalı Mateos Vekayi-Nâmesi (952-1136) ve Papaz Grigor’un Zeyli (1136-1162), (Ankara: TTK Basımevi, 2000)

Anna Komnena, Alexiad Anadolu’da ve Balkan Yarımadası’nda İmparator Alexios Komnenos Dönemi’nin Tarihi Malazgirt Sonrası, Çeviren BilgeUmar, (İstanbul: İnkılap Kitabevi, 1996).