Battle of Antioch (1098)
The Battle of Antioch (1098) was a military engagement fought between the Frankish forces of the First Crusade and a Muslim coalition led by Kerbogha, atabeg of Mosul. Kerbogha's goal was to reclaim Antioch from the Crusaders and affirm his position as a regional power.
Date 28 June 1098
Location
Antioch (present-day Antakya, Turkey)
Result Crusader Victory
Belligerents
Crusaders
Seljuk Empire
Emirate of Mosul
Emirate of Damascus
Emirate of Homs
Various other Muslim Emirates[1]
Commanders and leaders
Bohemond of Taranto
Raymond IV of Toulouse
Adhemar of Le Puy
Godfrey of Bouillon
Robert II of Normandy
Robert II of Flanders
Hugh of Vermandois
Eustace III of Boulogne
Baldwin II of Hainaut
Tancred of Hauteville
Rainald III of Toul
Gaston IV of Béarn
Anselm of Ribemont
Kerbogha
Duqaq
Toghtekin
Janah ad-Dawla
Arslan-Tasch of Sindjar
Qaradja of Harran
Watthab ibn-Mahmud
Balduk of Samosata
Soqman ibn Ortoq
Ahmad ibn-Marwan Surrendered
Strength
~20,000
~35,000-40,000[2][3]
Casualties and losses
unknown
Heavy
The conflict begins
As the starving and outnumbered Crusaders emerged from the gates of the city and divided into six regiments, Kerbogha's commander, Watthab ibn Mahmud, urged him to immediately strike their advancing line.[4] However, Kerbogha was concerned a preemptive strike might only destroy the Crusader's front line and may also significantly weaken his own forces disproportionately. However, as the Franks continued to advance against the Turks, Kerbogha began to grasp the severity of the situation (he previously underestimated the size of the Crusading army), and attempted to establish an embassy between him and the Crusaders in order to broker a truce.[5] However, it was too late for him, and the leaders of the Crusade ignored his emissary
Battle manoeuvres
Kerbogha, now backed against a corner by the advancing Franks, opted to adopt a more traditional Turkish battle tactic. He would attempt to back his army up slightly in order to drag the Franks into unsteady land, while continuously pelting the line with horse archers, meanwhile making attempts to outflank the Franks. However, Bohemond of Taranto was ready for this, and he created a seventh division of Crusaders led by Rainald III of Toul to hold off the attack. Soon, many Emirs began to desert Kerbogha. Many of the Crusaders were also encouraged by the presumed visions of St. George, St. Mercurius, and Saint Demetrius among their ranks.[5] Finally, Duqaq, ruler of Damascus, deserted, spreading panic among the ranks of the Turks. Sökmen and the emir of Homs, Janah ad-Dawla, were the last loyal to Kerbogha, but they too soon deserted after realizing the battle was lost. The whole Turkish army was now in complete disarray, all fleeing in different directions; the Crusaders chased them as far as the Iron Bridge, slaying many of them. Kerbogha would go on to return to Mosul, defeated and stripped of his prestige
References
France 1996, p. 261
Asbridge 2004, p. 204
Rubenstein 2011, p. 206
Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith; Jonathan Riley-Smith (1 April 2003). The First Crusade and Idea of Crusading. Continuum. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-8264-6726-3.
Runciman, Steven (1951–52). A History of the Crusades I: The First Crusade. Penguin Classics. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-0-141-98550-3.
Bibliography
Asbridge, Thomas (2004). The First Crusade: A New History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195189056.
France, John (1996). Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521589871.
Runciman, Steven (1951). A History of the Crusades, Volume I: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge: Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-141-98550-3.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1986). The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading. University of Pennsylvania. ISBN 9780485112917.
Rubenstein, Jay (2011). Armies of Heaven: The First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse. New York: Basic Books.
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