For money and a title – Betrayal at Antioch

Hi, this is Our Bloody History, where we chew through a thousand historical names and present the most interesting characters.

Today's juicy story:

How one man's betrayal led to the fall of the mighty fortress of Antioch this week, 924 years ago, on 3 June 1098. 

Let's get innit.

No you haven't. Not this angle.

Our story this week is set within the complex backdrop of the First Crusade (1096-1099), the colossal Christian quest to capture the city of Jerusalem. Considered by the Scottish historian David Hume as "the most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or nation," the First Crusade has forever gripped the fascination of mankind since the Middle Ages. Because it's just so bloody crazy. The scope of the so called war of the Cross is breathtaking, and has inspired an endless body of epics, romances, myths, legends, and more recently Hollywood blockbusters.

(Spoiler: I've got no romances for you, sorry. Just a fascinating look at how individual agendas shape the world, literally.)

Lying on the slopes of the Orontes Valley, at the foot of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range (modern day southern Turkey), is a mammoth fortress that would tell Helm's Deep to sit down and shut up. Antioch covers more than 3.5 square miles (9 km²) and "...is so protected with walls, towers and breastworks that it may dread neither the attack of machine nor the assault of man even if all mankind gathered to besiege it." (Raymond of Aguilers).

In October 1097, the armies of the Cross, numbering between 50,000–100,000 (not quite all mankind but still heaps) rock up to Antioch's doorstep. The fortress is currently in the hands of the Seljuk Turks and stands between the crusaders and the Holy Land. The Christian host sets up camp outside the northern wall and kicks off "one of the great sieges of the age."

The siege draws on for nine months.

And it's rough.

Actually, rough is an understatement.

As winter draws on, one in five crusaders are dying from starvation and the number of deserters grows by the day.

Despite their prayers and fasting, things continue to suck for the crusaders. Little progress is made on capturing the city and word has it that a large Muslim relief army led by Kerbogha, Atabeg of Mosul, is on its way. If they don't take Antioch soon, they'll be crushed against its walls instead.

But as they say, where there's a will (or a scheming, plotting mind), there's a way.

This is Bohemond of Taranto, one of the commanders of the five main Christian armies.

Bohemond really really wants to rule Antioch himself. But he and the other leaders have sworn an oath to return any Byzantine lands back to Alexios, the Byzantine Emperor, who, by the way, is bankrolling much of this crusade with food and supplies.

But Bohemond has a plan and a trump card – a man named Firuz.

Firuz is an Armenian armourer, a convert to Islam, and, more importantly, the guard who controls the Tower of the Two Sisters, from the inside.

We don't really know how these two men meet – shouting up and down walls or through secret messengers – but in a very short period of time they strike a deal. In exchange for money and a title, Firuz offers to let Bohemond and his men into the city. Easy as that.

With this card up his sleeve, Bohemond proposes a cheeky deal to the other commanders:

They tell him to piss off. If not given to the emperor as promised, Antioch is to be shared equally by all and not given to a single man, even if that person was to miraculously bring down the stone beast. But the news soon arrives that the Muslim army is near. Times up, over, blaow. The leaders hold a council and grudgingly agree that if Bohemond can deliver the city then he can have it. He, Bohemond, and no one else. Booyah!

Firuz then tells Bohemond to march south, feigning an expedition to plunder, but to return across the western mountains by the cover of night. The crusaders march all day and night, and in the dark dawn of 3 June, our day in history this week, Bohemond and his men arrive at the foot of Firuz's towers.

A ladder is already waiting for them.

Up they go.

Quickly and silently, the crusaders spread from tower to tower, killing everyone, even Firuz's brother. Whoops.

The ladder suddenly breaks and the men below begin to despair. But a small gate is soon opened and the waiting mass pours into the city.

And just like that, Antioch finally falls.

The crusaders can't tell the difference between who's who and thousands of Muslims and Christians are slaughtered in the morning chaos.

Kerbogha and his Muslim army arrive two days later, sparking another siege. Again, the crusaders have no option – fight or starve. On 28 June, the crusaders leave the city to face Kerbogha, and win. In the aftermath, Bohemond claims the city for his own. Naturally, everyone squabbles. But finally, in 1099, the crusaders continue onwards to Jerusalem leaving Bohemond behind as the first Prince of Antioch.

Bohemond did it! That son of a schemer. But not without help from his compadre Firuz.

The motivations in this story fascinate me.

Why does Firuz betray Antioch? Is it really just for money and a title? One account says that Firuz was hesitant about the deal until he finds out his wife is "compromised with one of his Turkish colleagues.” Dang. So maybe passionate revenge?

No one knows. The chroniclers themselves are unclear on his motivations. We only know that he makes a very high-stakes decision that leads to the death of many of Antioch's inhabitants, including his very own brother.

On the other hand, it's pretty clear what's driving Bohemond. But it doesn't end well for him. His ambitions lead him to reach further and further until he leads an army against Alexios, the Byzantine Emperor himself. Bohemond is humiliated and forced to submit as a vassal. He never returns to Antioch and dies six months later a broken man.

Was it worth it for our two connivers?

Both Bohemond and Firuz play a selfish game, driven by their own agendas. But is today really any different? We're surrounded by games of power and ego in all areas of life.

The fall of Antioch is an ancient reminder to ask ourselves: what are we trying to achieve and why? How far are we willing to go and at what cost?

Maybe it's helpful to reflect on some anti-goals – the things we want to deliberately avoid while in pursuit of our ambitions. For example, not ending up in jail, or becoming estranged from our kids, or being embarrassed by our actions. Sometimes the best strategy is to clearly articulate what you don't want in life, because sometimes we forget along the way and find ourselves surprised when we end up there anyway.

So set your anti-goals today and don't end up like Bohemond.

3 quick facts:

• Early in the siege there is an earthquake followed by a reddening sky. The crusaders take this as a sign of God's displeasure at their riotous living, and the already starving men are urged to fast for three days.

• The arrival of Kerbogha leaves the crusaders no time to clear the dead and records state that "the streets on every side were full of corpses, so that no one could endure to be there because of the stench, nor could anyone walk along the narrow paths of the city except over the corpses of the dead." Naturally, this leads to a serious outbreak of disease.

• On 15 June, acting on the visions of various holy men, the desperate crusaders begin digging in the cathedral of Saint Peter and find a spearpoint, which they claim is the legendary Holy Lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross. This massively boots morale and they carry it in front of them when they defeat Kerbogha.

Other conflicts that happened this week:

• 30 May 1434: Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great are defeated and almost annihilated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars.

• 31 May 1223: Battle of the Kalka River between the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan and East Slavic warriors.

• 1 June 1813: The United States Navy gains its motto as the mortally wounded commander of the frigate USS Chesapeake, Capt. James Lawrence, cries out, "Don't give up the ship!"

• 2 June 455: The Vandals enter Rome and plunder the city for two weeks – the origin of the verb "to vandalise."

• 3 June 1781: Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by the British

• 4 June 1615: Osaka Castle in Japan falls to the Tokugawa clan and the Toyotomi clan perishes.

• 5 June 1798: The attempt to spread United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated at the Battle of New Ross.

A historical quote about historical things:

That's all for now. See ya!

DisclaimerYou are reading my abstractions based on the abstractions of others. History is not always an accurate map of what really happened. The map is not the territory. Reality can be very different. We are like blind people groping an elephant, describing what we feel. It always pays to do your own research and ask questions.