Anoop Verma's Diary: Itihasa & Darshana: The Last Crusade of Bohemond I of Antioch

Thursday, 17 June 2021

The Last Crusade of Bohemond I of Antioch

When Bohemond arrived in Europe in late 1104, he received a hero’s welcome wherever he went. The story of his exploits in the First Crusade had turned him into a living legend. Tales of his bravery in fighting the heathens during the battles of Antioch and Jerusalem (though he never fought in Jerusalem) had made him more popular than any other leader of the First Crusade. In his letters to the Pope and European monarchs, he introduced himself as the “Prince of Antioch.” In his meetings, he distributed the relics which he had brought from the Holy Land.

Bohemond was in Europe on a mission. He was planning a new crusade, whose goal would be to secure Jerusalem but along the way the crusaders would also conquer the Byzantine Empire. When he reached Italy, he was received by Pope Urban’s successor, Pope Paschal II. It seems that he managed to convince the pope. At the Council of Poitiers in 1106, Paschal II launched a new crusade. He granted Bohemond the banner of St Peter to carry into the battle and a legate to help him gain support for his cause.

Since Bohemond was unmarried, eligible heiresses were being lined up for him. He decided to marry the most powerful woman of his time: Constance, daughter of the French king, Philip I. Meanwhile, he was recruiting men for his new crusade. His marital connection with the royal house of France, helped him gather a large number of men.

Bohemond toured Europe, promising his followers more spectacular victories in the Levant than those that the First Crusade had achieved at Nicaea, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Fighters from all over Europe flocked to be a part of his holy war. Only England refused to pay heed to his call. King Henry I refused to allow Bohemond to cross the English Channel. It is not clear why Henry I did not want to have Bohemond in England—perhaps it had something to do with Bohemond’s connections with the French royal house.

With an army of 34000 men, Bohemond set out from Europe in October 1107. Despite the high expectations, the crusade against the Byzantine Empire went badly. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos knew about Norman tactics. When Bohemond’s troops arrived in Epirus, in south-western Balkans, Alexios refused to get drawn into a pitched battle. With the help of his Venetian allies, he cut off the supply lines of Bohemond’s army and then allowed the siege to drag on. Bohemond’s camp was ravaged by disease and shortage of food.

By 1108, the condition in Bohemond’s camp was desperate and he was forced to sue for peace. In her book of history, the Alexiad, Anna Komnene, the daughter of Emperor Alexios, gives details of the humiliating peace agreement that Bohemond was forced to sign in Diabolis (modern Albania). The agreement made Bohemond the liegeman of the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Humiliated by the defeat, Bohemond never returned to Antioch. He died in Italy in 1111.

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Nirad C. Chaudhuri

“In the south the temples have survived, and in the north they have not. Over seven centuries from the eleventh to the end of the seventeenth all the great cities of northern India dating from Hindu times were sacked by the Muslim invaders and conquerors of India. All the temples there and in all other centres of Hinduism were systematically destroyed. None were left standing at Ujjain, Ajmere, Delhi, Mathura, Brindaban, Kanauj, Prayag, or Benares—which were the centres of the political, cultural, and religious life of the Hindus. In most of these places mosques were built on the sites of the temples, and in some with pillars taken from them. This religious vandalism also worked its fury on the Buddhist centres. Moreover, it was not simply that the great temples in the cities were destroyed; so were the village temples. For most of the period of Muslim rule, there was a ban on building new temples and rebuilding the old in the regions the Muslims controlled.” ~ Nirad C. Chaudhuri

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"There is no such thing as a right to be stupid; there is no such thing as a right to be illiterate; there is no such thing as a right to be incompetent.” ~ Eric Voegelin

"Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim." ~ George Santayana

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“Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.” ~ James Joyce