The Military Campaign: Nicaea to Jerusalem

Nicaea (June 1097)

The crusaders' first major objective was Nicaea, the Seljuk capital in Anatolia. Working alongside Byzantine forces, they besieged the city. Crucially, Byzantine naval power on the lake allowed supplies to reach the city, prompting the garrison to surrender to Byzantium (not the crusaders, which infuriated some). The city was recovered for Byzantium.

Dorylaeum (July 1097)

As the crusaders marched east, the Seljuk sultan Kilij Arslan ambushed Bohemond's contingent with a large cavalry force. The Turkish horse archers nearly overwhelmed the crusaders before the main army arrived. The crusaders eventually routed the Turks at the Battle of Dorylaeum, opening the road through Anatolia.

The Siege of Antioch (October 1097 – June 1098)

The siege of Antioch lasted eight months and nearly ended the crusade. The city was massive, well-fortified, and commanded by Yaghi-Siyan, an experienced Turkish governor. The crusaders suffered dreadfully from:

• Starvation — supply lines stretched thin across hostile Anatolia
• Disease — thousands died from illness in the besieging army
• A relief army under Duqaq of Damascus threatening from outside

The city was finally captured through treachery — an Armenian officer named Firouz secretly opened a gate to Bohemond's men in June 1098. But almost immediately a huge Muslim army under Kerbogha of Mosul arrived and trapped the crusaders inside Antioch. They were now the besieged, not the besiegers.

In this desperate moment, a priest named Peter Bartholomew claimed a vision revealing the location of the Holy Lance — the spear that had pierced Christ's side at the Crucifixion. The spear was "found" buried in a church. Its discovery electrified the crusaders with religious fervour. They marched out to battle and defeated Kerbogha's larger army on 28 June 1098.

Historians debate whether the Holy Lance was genuine or planted. What matters is that it worked: the crusaders fought with extraordinary motivation because they believed God was with them.

The Fall of Jerusalem (15 July 1099)

After securing Antioch, the crusaders pushed south towards Jerusalem. By June 1099 they stood before the city. The garrison was small; the Egyptian Fatimid caliphate, which had seized Jerusalem from the Turks only weeks earlier, could not relieve it in time.

After a six-week siege, crusaders breached the walls on 15 July 1099. What followed was a brutal massacre: Muslim and Jewish inhabitants of the city were killed. Contemporary accounts describe streets running with blood. Modern historians estimate thousands died. The crusaders celebrated by praying at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Godfrey of Bouillon was chosen as ruler — he refused the title of "king", instead accepting the title "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre" to show humility before God.