Die Eroberung Jerusalems im Jahr 1099 - Der erste Kreuzzug

The first light of the sun on July 13,

1099

revealed a bloody scene. Jerusalem, a holy city for Jews, Muslims and Christians, had been under siege by a crusader for more than a month. At first the Fatimist defenders had been confident, but now there were two enormous siege towers. in front of its walls and a huge battering ram was hitting the defenses and a seemingly endless rain of arrows fell on the city of the world just behind the siege engines there were 12,000 crusaders waiting impatiently to conquer the holy city the final storm over Jerusalem was imminent This video does not contain a commercial, but rather we use the Rendering of gameplay footage from the Knights of Honored 2 game servers.

Many thanks to THQ Nordic for sponsoring the video in this discreet way. In 1095, Pope Urban II called for a crusade, his The urgent call for holy war was, according to legend, with the famous battle cry the Crusades Deos lovoult God wants him to answer, which later became the shorter version Deus Holt soon moved a sheep under the leadership of the charismatic preacher Peter the Hermit and war swept into Asia Minor, after this so-called popular crusade crossed the Bosphorus, it was near Nicaea. Defeated and scattered, but only a little later, six great armies from France, Normandy, Flanders, France, Lorraine and southern Italy advanced towards Constantinople from wherever they wanted.

They marched quickly across the green grasslands of the Balkans and to the right of their meeting point it soon became a good time to attack the diesels because they were distracted by internal disputes and paid little attention to what was going on. It was happening outside their empire: there was a good chance that the European knights, united for once, would catch them on the wrong foot, according to historian Christopher Timon. According to sources, the European armies that arrived in Constantinople between November 106 and June 1097 are collectively called Franks, although these armies could not agree on a leader.

The approximately 50 to 70,000 men who conquered the Bosphorus at that time crossed the Micaea, marched through Asia Minor, and were defeated at the Battle of Doryleum after the war. The battle marched further into Syria at this point tensions increased between the crusader leaders and one of them Baldwin of Bologna and his men abandoned the lead while Balddouin advanced towards Armenia and Dessert entered, the rest of the crusaders turned south and They besieged Antioch. After conquering the city and defending it against a huge relief from Mosul, they remained in Syria until 10 January 99, fighting for loot and plundering the country during this time.

Overzealous preachers and reports of miracles reinforced men's sense of being. divine instruments, so that when they finally marched south toward Jerusalem, they were filled with pious determination. The crusaders approached Jerusalem from the northwest across the Java Strait on June 7. Camp set up in front of the holy city According to the historian Thomas Aspbridge. It had between 12 and 13,000 men, of which between 1,200 and 1,300 were knights. However, any strategist who did not trust 100% in divine help would have hesitated to attack Jerusalem. The city was widely famous as a fortress and the Fatimiten had done so. Its walls were well maintained, the eastern and southern sides were almost inaccessible due to two steep valleys.

Only from the north and southwest, where the defenses were strongest, could the city be accessed. The defenses themselves were dominated by the castle and the nearby citadel. The javator and, above it, long stretches of outer wall and a moat complement the enormous main wall. Furthermore, the Fatimid governor Ifdk Attaula had prepared the city well, he had a large garrison of Arab and Sudanese troops and the city's cisterns were full. Supplies of animals and grain from the surrounding area had been brought to the city, and a prudent leader had also strengthened the defenses and sent Christians and candles out of the city to prevent a repeat of the Antioch catastrophe. where a traitor had allowed the crusaders into the city, the expulsion also had the advantage that fewer people had to be fed, while the only food available made it difficult for the attackers to supply themselves.

To this end, the Fatimids had also done everything possible. Wells in the area were unusable. In general, Jerusalem was well prepared and Adam was more sure than the people of him when the first Knights saw him, he also knew that he did not have to hold out forever because a satirist from Egypt was already there. On the way, the situation of the crusaders was completely different. They were basically lacking everything from combat to supplies to weapons almost from the beginning. His supply troops had to travel long distances to obtain food and water from clean sources. of the garrison, in particular 400 power cables that had the explicit mission of making life difficult for him.

The situation of the crusaders was alarming and they had to abandon the city. Due to the terrain, the northern wall was ideal to attempt an attack. The princes took their positions as soon as possible, because the situation threatened to collapse from the beginning due to low supplies. The princes decided to go to the Mount of Olives on June 12. An old hermit supposedly told them that God would help them. They would take the city if they attacked the next morning. This story is a literary embellishment and it was probably not the hermit's prophecy but above all the difficult situation that caused the crusaders to attack immediately as First Crusade expert John France explains.

As there were too few of them to surround the city, his troops could cover, at best, about a kilometer of the wall, that is, not even the entire northern side, so a quick and decisive attack was, at best, Despite everything, the best opportunity for the crusaders. At dawn, orders suddenly sounded. The drums broke the silence and a roaring mass of crusaders burst onto the walls east of the castle with the whirring of hundreds of arrows waiting for them, launching all manner of dangerous missiles at them to protect themselves. They immediately gathered their shields and formed a turtle formation.

Their attack was so far-reaching that they overran the ditch, the outer low wall in the name of the storm, and supposedly even reached the main forest, but despite several hours of fighting and heavy losses, they succeeded. They could not overcome the wall and finally had to retreat. The Crusader leaders had learned their lesson at a war council on June 15, agreeing to proceed with more caution and for their next attempt to build more siege equipment, especially catapults. During this phase of the siege, only a few cannons fired at the wall, but it proved difficult to find wood in the area because the hills around Jerusalem were not covered with forests. and the few nearby places had already been cleared by the Fatimieten with white foresight.

However, two days later, a messenger brought good news: Christian ships had arrived at the nearby port of Java because the Muslims had left with food, water and land. Ropes, nails and carpenters were urgently needed. A squadron was immediately sent to collect the ships' supplies and crew. But both the incoming ships and the preparations on land did not go unnoticed. The escort was ambushed by the Fatimids and the largest open field. The siege battle ensued. The crusaders were divided into two or three groups and were almost overwhelmed by their superiority. They managed to repel the attackers at the last moment.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian fleet had established a naval blockade around Japar and the. The European ships, except for one that escaped, became trapped in the harbor when the sailors realized they had to take the ships' cargo of all the usable wood ashore and then set them on fire. According to John France, upon the ship's arrival. Ships were crucial for the supply of material, especially wood and skilled labour, but he also shows how isolated and vulnerable the Crusaders really were to Jerusalem, but also to the situation. There was still not enough material for the ship's parts, additional wood had to be extracted with great effort.

She was dragged along a long distance to Jerusalem. Only when two of the leaders of the crusaders, Robert II and Tancred, entered the forests of Samaria, about 100 kilometers north of Jerusalem, did they finally manage to obtain enough boards and bundles containing numerous locals. They were enslaved and therefore forced to work. Now construction of the war machine could finally begin. Conditions in the Crusader camp deteriorated rapidly. The need for such a large army that would work hard in the heat. The Mediterranean sun was enormous and the crusaders soon had to go to the Jordan to get enough water, soon the first beasts of burden died of thirst, the men became lethargic and their leaders began to argue again.

This time it was about the future of. Jerusalem because many knights want a king for Palestine while others and the highest clergy declared that no one could call himself king in the city where Christ was crowned when news finally arrived in early July that the relief was fast approaching and would arrive. In less than a month in Jerusalem, the crusaders' morale reached its lowest point. Of course, this news had the opposite effect on the defenders: they were still well supplied and now knew that help was already near, but they remained on guard and when they saw that the crusaders were building two siege towers, they immediately began to build defenses with beams and padding to reinforce and bring ammunition and lines closer to the threatened sections, the work progressed well and he was soon satisfied with the preparations because the crusaders were close to despair.

On the morning of July 16, a meeting decided that they would fast together and hold a solemn procession. This story strongly recalls the taking of the biblical city of Jericho, which is probably not a coincidence but a deliberate allusion to the sources. Two days later, the defenders watched mockingly as the entire army ran barefoot and the city before retreating. They gathered on the Mount of Olives for a sermon, the Fatimids laughed at it, but this ritual raised the morale of the troops. a big push and, if sources are to be believed, finally united the feuding leaders. No matter what happened at that time, the princes finally united and the desperate soldiers never mobilized their last forces, they all helped with the preparation of the attack and the attack. construction of the siege towers with, reportedly, even children and grandmothers helping, so that the siege engine was soon completed despite adverse conditions on the night of 9/10 July.

Somewhere in the northern camp, Crusader workers were silently constructing the siege tower of Godfrey of Boujo's camp near the fort. She was moved to a flat spot about 150 meters east of the red door that had previously been deliberately avoided. To deceive the Fatimietes when the sun rose the next day, the defenders were surprised. They found that the tower was no longer in the place where they had reinforced the defenses. His careful preparations had been in vain. Paula immediately ordered all available forces to help reinforce this point and ordered all men to fight on the walls and correct the fatal.

By mistake, a few weeks earlier, in an extensive war council, the crusaders had agreed to attack from two sides and use a siege tower at each of the main points of attack in front of these enormous machines in order to advance in the trench. The north tower had to be excavated, rebuilt and the outer wall broken. It was hard and dangerous work. Thanks to the success of the deception, the resistance in the north was left quite disorganized. The area was set for a good day and was now being bombed. Catapults, cogs and a powerful battering ram were prepared to attack the outer wall.

On July 13 the actual assault began as the Crusaders moved the ram into position, the Fatimids attempting to establish it. They set them on fire, their archers continually shot arrows at the attackers and hooked the rails with the same coin. After almost two days of brutal back and forth, the battering ram finally broke through, but now the attackers faced a completely different problem: the siege. The engine being useless against the main wall blocked the way to the siege tower and it was impossible to get them out in time, so the knights decided to finally do what the defenders had been trying in vain all along and set fire to the room. of Bock, ironically the roles were reversed and the defenders were now trying to put out the fire.

When the ram burned, on July 15, the siege tower. was finally used during The archers on the upper platform of the tower attempted to force the opponents on the wall to go to discovery, theHuge 15 meter high structure was pushed and dragged forward inch by inch, the defenders tried everything to bring down the tower. , they placed 5 catapults, threw stones at it and tried to set it on fire. To do this they used, among other things, what the sources call Greek fire, the famous incendiary weapon of the Middle Ages, although incendiary. Weapons were generally rarely used in sieges, it seems possible that hand grenades were used here.

According to Kelly de Vries, an expert in medieval military technology, such weapons were used by Muslim armies at the time. In the end, all attempts to do so. Destruction of the tower was not possible, but it was still operational. The crusaders eventually pushed her towards the wall, meanwhile, things on the south side where Raymond IV of Toulouse and his men did not fight as well due to the terrain of the battle area. It was even narrower and the defenders were well prepared, they were personally commanded by the governor and they put up such fierce resistance that it took the attackers three days to fill the trench and the tower was only able to advance on the afternoon of the 14th.

It was all a fight. brutal in which the crusaders were attacked with incendiary weapons, as well as new catapults and countless smaller projectiles with difficulty and with great losses. They were able to keep up the pressure and by midday on July 15 they were seriously considering withdrawing. Reim's men had suffered enormous losses, his own camp was in flames and his siege tower was so damaged that only promising and encouraging news had to be withdrawn. The friend from the north allowed them to continue. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly what. This happened on the southern front, but there too the Crusaders prevailed at some point, while Reimund's men were still fighting with their defense well prepared.

In the end, the Northmen made a breakthrough despite the sources. They do not agree on how the attackers reached the wall, the truth is that on July 15 a handful of knights managed to enter the battlement, Gottfried, who had governed the tower from the upper floor, and followed them. The Fatimids immediately rushed to drive them back, but the knights went out to meet them until their comrades could advance. Once they conquered part of the wall, the combatants placed more ladders underneath and climbed faster and faster as Gottfried's men fought against them. Along the way and to open the Damascus Gate to the rest of the army, Tancred and his men advanced through the streets and made their way towards the temple.

Meanwhile, the defenders had difficulty maintaining order and were pushed further and further. towards the southwest corner and dadaula, who had meanwhile retreated to the citadel at Java Gate, had to see their defense collapse when they realized late in the afternoon that the situation was desperate and Raymond began negotiating in exchange for safe conduct. Reimund accepted the offer, occupied the citadel, and escorted the governor out of the city. By the afternoon of July 15, the Crusaders had taken control of all of Jerusalem from a military point of view. It was over, but now the massacre began. Ikara and his bodyguard were lucky to get out of the holy city alive in time, because a little later the crusaders looted, raped, and murdered in the streets;

The usual brutality of such plunder was in this case compounded by the hatred and anger of the men who had been there since they had endured an incredible toll since their departure from their homeland. When the killing ended, the streets were full of corpses and covered in blood. This massacre was such. a dark and tragic chapter that even Western observers could not help but describe with apocalyptic vocabulary despite how gruesome it was. In the end, the conquest of the Holy City brought Christianity to Erfurt and for generations there was no event that could even come close to keeping up with the first crusade in terms of its impact and symbolic meaning.

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