Siege of Jerusalem First Crusade

crusaders arrival @ jerusalem revealed arid countryside, lacking in water or food supplies. here there no prospect of relief, feared imminent attack local fatimid rulers. there no hope of trying blockade city had @ antioch; crusaders had insufficient troops, supplies, , time. rather, resolved take city assault. might have been left little choice, time crusader army reached jerusalem, has been estimated 12,000 men including 1,500 cavalry remained. these contingents, composed of men differing origins , varying allegiances, approaching low ebb in camaraderie; e.g., while godfrey , tancred made camp north of city, raymond made south. in addition, provençal contingent did not take part in initial assault on 13 june. first assault perhaps more speculative determined, , after scaling outer wall crusaders repulsed inner one.

after failure of initial assault, meeting between various leaders organized in agreed upon more concerted attack required in future. on 17 june, party of genoese mariners under guglielmo embriaco arrived @ jaffa, , provided crusaders skilled engineers, , perhaps more critically, supplies of timber (stripped ships) build siege engines. crusaders morale raised when priest, peter desiderius, claimed have had divine vision, of bishop adhemar, instructing them fast , march in barefoot procession around city walls, after city fall, following biblical story of joshua @ siege of jericho. after three-day fast, on 8 july crusaders performed procession had been instructed desiderius, ending on mount of olives peter hermit preached them, , shortly afterward various bickering factions arrived @ public rapprochement. news arrived shortly after fatimid relief army had set off egypt, giving crusaders strong incentive make assault on city.

the final assault on jerusalem began on 13 july; raymond s troops attacked south gate while other contingents attacked northern wall. provençals @ southern gate made little headway, contingents @ northern wall fared better, slow steady attrition of defence. on 15 july, final push launched @ both ends of city, , inner rampart of northern wall captured. in ensuing panic, defenders abandoned walls of city @ both ends, allowing crusaders enter.

massacre

the siege of jerusalem depicted in medieval manuscript

the massacre followed capture of jerusalem has attained particular notoriety, juxtaposition of extreme violence , anguished faith . eyewitness accounts crusaders leave little doubt there great slaughter in aftermath of siege. nevertheless, historians propose scale of massacre has been exaggerated in later medieval sources.

after successful assault on northern wall, defenders fled temple mount, pursued tancred , men. arriving before defenders secure area, tancred s men assaulted precinct, butchering many of defenders, remainder taking refuge in al-aqsa mosque. tancred called halt slaughter, offering in mosque protection. when defenders on southern wall heard of fall of northern wall, fled citadel, allowing raymond , provençals enter city. iftikhar al-dawla, commander of garrison, struck deal raymond, surrendering citadel in return being granted safe passage ascalon.

the slaughter continued rest of day; muslims indiscriminately killed, , jews had taken refuge in synagogue died when burnt down crusaders. following day, tancred s prisoners in mosque slaughtered. nevertheless, clear muslims , jews of city survived massacre, either escaping or being taken prisoner ransomed. eastern christian population of city had been expelled before siege governor, , escaped massacre.