Why,_Despite_All_the_Odds_Against_It,_Did_the_First_Crusade_Succeed_

There were six main factors that made the First Crusade a success. These were Muslim division, religious fervour, Byzantine help, good leadership, military skills and luck. Above all the First Crusade succeeded because of these factors and the way they played a huge part in the Crusade. The first main factor that helped towards the First Crusade being a success was Muslim division. When the Crusaders first came to attack Nicaea, the Sultan Kilij Arslan was away fighting fellow Muslims, the Danishmends. Throughout the Holy Land the Muslim race was fighting each other for land and power. The two races of the Muslims were enemies, the Seljuks and the Fatimids. They did not see the problem of the Crusades and so continued to fight among themselves, and against the Crusaders. I think that Muslim division was very important to the First Crusade succeeding as if the Muslims had joined together and fought against the Crusaders, they probably wouldn’t have gotten past Nicaea and would definitely have been outnumbered. This is shown by looking at maps of the time of 1096-1099 and seeing how much land the Muslims had. In Meyer page 46 it says how when the Crusaders attacked Nicaea, ‘The Sultan himself was away in the east fighting the Danishmends.’ Kilij Arslan probably knew about the Crusaders coming but didn’t think much of it and continued fighting the Danishmends, rather than going back to help against the Crusaders. When he finally did realise he needed to go, it was too late and was defeated. When the Crusaders besieged Antioch and finally entered, they were soon besieged themselves by Kerbogha, another Muslim leader. After the finding of the Holy Lance, the Crusaders were more willing to go out to battle, and as they marched towards the Muslims, the Turks deserted Kerbogha and the Fatimids, thinking if Kerbogha won, he would be too powerful for them. Also Kerbogha couldn’t organise the factions of the army, and so they lost to the Crusaders. Across the length of the First Crusade, had the Muslims joined together and trusted each other, they would have heavily outnumbered the Crusaders and surely defeated them. This is why I think the factor of Muslim division was the most important. The second important factor was Religious fervour. It was mainly because of their religion that the Crusaders went in the first place, and it also helped them fight on. It was mainly because of their religion that the Crusaders went in the first place, and it also helped them fight on when they thought there was no hope of winning. A good example of this was when at Antioch, the soldiers were running out of food because of the long siege, eating leaves off the trees and some were ready to surrender. Then legend says that a poor priest had seen a vision telling him that the Holy Lance that had pierced Christ’s side was buried underneath Antioch cathedral. They soon started to dig for it and found it. When they found it, it is said that they danced with joy. This then made them go forth and win the battle against Kerbogha and the other Muslims. The Muslims weren’t organised which is also mentioned in Muslim division. This win then allowed them to carry on the march to Jerusalem. Also, when things weren’t going well for the Crusaders, their religion and what they were doing their Crusade for, drove them on to do what they’d set out to do, to take back Jerusalem for the Christians. Sometimes when the Crusaders were desperate, they looked to their religion and that’s what kept them going. This is all mentioned in Meyer in different parts. This is the second most important factor I think because without it the whole Crusade was for nothing. It was why they went in the first place mainly and it is what made them keep going to the end. Help from Byzantine comes third on my list, although I don’t think it’s any less important than the other two I’ve mentioned. When the Byzantine Emperor Alexius had asked for help from the Christians in the West, he was rather surprised by the amount that had come. He was rather suspicious of the Crusaders after what happened with the Peasant’s crusade. He made them swear an oath to him to return any former Byzantine land to him if they retook it, and he would give them food and supplies. The first thing that helped the Crusaders in succeeding was that they were allowed to go to and through Constantinople and Alexius’s land. Without this, it would have taken much longer to get there, and almost impossible. When the Crusaders started their march to Jerusalem, they first had to go through Nicaea. The Byzantines had helped them get across to the Holy Land, and Alexius also sent a number of soldiers to fight with the Crusaders. At Nicaea there was a lengthy siege, when kilij Arslan returned, he was defeated and forced to retreat. He told the garrison to surrender if their situation became so bad that they couldn’t hold it, to surrender to the Crusaders. Alexius secretly accepted the surrender, and in the morning the Crusaders saw Byzantine standards flying from the walls. This caused further tension between the Crusaders and the Byzantines, but the Byzantines had definitely helped a lot since the beginning, and the Crusaders oath meant that they would allow Alexius to have his land back. Alexius and the Byzantines helped the Crusaders a lot with food and supplies, right until they retreated when the Crusaders were in need of help. A Byzantine soldier called Stephen of Blois, decided to leave for home on the 2nd June. In Meyer page 51 it says how he thought that the city was soon to surrender and so his job was done of giving supplies. On the way back he met Alexius and he and a number of deserters told him that Antioch was soon to fall and the Crusades were doomed. This changed Alexius’s mind and he and his soldiers who were to come down didn’t. This to Bohemund sounded like they weren’t holding there side of the oath, and so he took control of Antioch when the Crusaders took it after defeating the Turks. Apart from the desertion at the end, the Byzantines still helped the Crusaders a lot. Without the Byzantine help, the Crusaders couldn’t have gotten there or survived without the food and supplies. Help from Byzantine played another huge part in the success of the first Crusade. The Crusaders wouldn’t have won many of their battles if it wasn’t for good leadership. The Peasant’s Crusade definitely had more people than went on the First Crusade, but they weren’t under good leadership and so didn’t get very far. The three main leaders for the First Crusade were Bohemund, Godfrey and Raymond. Bohemund was known as the true leader of the Crusaders right up until Antioch. Geoffrey Malaterra said that the only reason he went however was to conquer Greek islands and get glory for him. Much of his success was from crossing Asia Minor, which couldn’t be accomplished in the Second and Third Crusade. Bohemund was a strong and powerful leader, who always liked the fighting part of the Crusades. Godfrey of Bouillon and Raymond of Toulouse were also great leaders. Without these leaders working together to help each other out, the First Crusade would have not gone to plan. At the battle of Dorylaeum, Bohemund was attacked and sent a messenger to ask Raymond and Godfrey for help. When they came and took the Muslims by surprise, the Crusaders easily won. Without the leaders controlling there soldiers on and off the battle field, there would have been chaos. The Peasant’s Crusade again shows how important good leaders are, as without them even the biggest armies could be defeated without the right leaders. This is why I think that good leadership was another good factor for why the First Crusade was a success. The next factor is military skills as this helped the Crusades to succeed. The Crusaders had the advantage of having much better armour and weapons, but the Turks had a good hit and run tactic. The Crusaders would have been armed with long swords, spears, lances and maces. Also they would have been wearing chain mail and the richer Crusaders wearing half or full plate of armour. The Crusaders main attack was on horse with their lances. The fast and powerful charge would have overwhelmed the Muslims and with a direct hit, wiped out large parts of their army. They also had their swords and other weapons for close combat fighting. The charge would have also been supported by archers on the flanks. The Muslims favoured a hit and run tactic. They liked to ride in, attack with their bows, and run away. They also tried to make the Crusader army break off into parts, surround them and then finish them off. This favoured the Muslims as they didn’t wear much armour because of the heat and so they were quicker and could fight for longer. Overall though the Crusaders had the better military skills as there armour would have protected them mainly from the Muslims arrows and the Crusaders charge would have destroyed the Muslims. Also tactics like surprising the Muslims helped them as they weren’t under as good leadership. Without the Crusaders heavy armour, the Turks would have easily killed the Crusaders as their hit and run tactic would of wiped out the Crusaders. By having all the heavy armour on, the Muslims arrows would have done little more than annoy the Crusaders, unless they could break them off into the smaller groups and surround them. The good leadership of the Crusaders however kept this from happening most of the time as the Crusaders charge would have been direct with no stopping. The flanks would have protected the sides so the full force of the army would have been upon the Turks. This would have been terrifying and was a very good military tactic. This factor really helped the Crusaders in succeeding in the First Crusade. Luck is the last factor for my list. Luck always helped the Crusaders out a bit in some places. For example when The Crusaders were besieging Antioch and they couldn’t get in, it was lucky that one of the guards made a deal with Bohemund. Also it was lucky when for some part Baldwin’s wife died. It wasn’t lucky for him, but it drove Baldwin to go and capture Edessa, as he had nothing else to go back home for. Edessa then for the rest of the first Crusade played a big part as a barricade against the Turks who had to go through Edessa, and also a major city for supplies that came down to the Crusaders. This then also was lucky as this made Bohemund think that if Baldwin had a city, then he wanted Antioch, which drove him on to capture Antioch. Another piece of luck was when the Crusaders came to attack Nicaea. Kilij Arslan would have heard of the Crusaders coming, but thought nothing of it, thinking it would be like the Peasant’s Crusade again. Kilij was away though fighting the Danishmneds, fellow Muslims, instead of defending his city. This was quite lucky for the Crusaders and they took their advantage. Overall luck played a small part where the other factors were much more important. In my conclusion I think that Muslim Division was the most important factor, because without the Muslims being led and controlled like the Crusaders were, then they surely would have defeated the Crusaders at the start by outnumbering them. Religious fervour and Byzantine help were the next main factors that helped in the success of the first Crusade. Without these I don’t think that they could have won. Good leadership and military skills also played a huge part, as the Muslims weren’t armoured very well, and the Muslims couldn’t do much damage against the Crusaders in their armour. Together I think that all of these reasons are why, despite all the odds, the First Crusade was a success.