Universal

Then the Turks made a sudden descent upon the camp and carried off everything and afterwards pursued and overtook the infantry and annihilated them completely, except for a few whom they captured and carried back to Chorosan as specimens. Such were the exploits of the Turks against the Normans; and Isangeles and Tzitas with the few surviving knights reached the capital. The Emperor received them, and gave them plenty of money, and after they were rested asked them whither they wanted to go; and they chose Jerusalem. Accordingly he lavished more presents upon them and sent them by sea, leaving everything to their discretion.

Immediately wrote to the Duke of Cyprus

But Isangeles on leaving the capital desired to return to his own army and therefore went back to Tripolis, which he longed to subdue. Afterwards he fell a victim to a mortal disease and, when breathing his last, sent for his nephew Gelielmus and bequeathed to him as a species of inheritance all the towns he had conquered and appointed him leader and master of all his troops. When the news of his death was brought to the Emperor, he immediately wrote to the Duke of Cyprus, and ordered him to send Nicetas Chalintzes with plenty of money to Gelielmus in order to propitiate him and influence him to swear on oath that he would maintain unbroken fidelity to the Emperor just as his deceased uncle Isangeles had preserved his to the end.

IX Soon the Emperor learnt of the seizure of Laodicea by Tancred, and therefore sent a letter to Bohemund which ran as follows: “You know the oaths and promises which not only you but all the Counts took to the Roman Empire. Now you were the first to break them, by retaining possession of Antioch, and then taking more fortresses and even Laodicea itself.

Therefore withdraw from Antioch and all the other cities and do what is just and right, and do not provoke more wars and troubles for yourself.” Now Bohemund after reading the Emperor’s letter could not reply by a falsehood, as he usually did, for the facts openly declared the truth, so outwardly he assented to it, but put the blame for all the wrong he had done upon the Emperor and wrote to him thus, “It is not I, but you, who are the cause of all this.

For you promised you would follow us with a large army, but you never thought of making good your promise by deeds. When we reached Antioch we fought for three months under great difficulty both against the enemy and against famine, which was more severe than had ever been experienced before, with the result that most of us ate of the very foods which are forbidden by law. We endured for a long time and while we were in this danger even Taticius, your Majesty’s most loyal servant, whom you had appointed to help us, went away and left us to our danger.

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The Emperor knew that this plan was quite inexpedient and as he did not wish such a large crowd to perish (for they were fifty thousand horse and a hundred thousand foot) he tried the next best thing,’ as the saying is, when he found they would not listen to him. He sent for Isangeles and Tzitas and asked them to accompany the Normans, to advise them to their advantage and to restrain them as far as possible in their mad enterprises. After crossing the straits of Cibotus they hastened on to Armenia and on reaching Ancyra took it by assault ; next they went over the Halys and reached a small town.

Normans in an inhuman and merciless fashion

This was inhabited by Romans and consequently the citizens feared nothing; the priests clad in their sacred vestments, and carrying the gospel and crosses went out to meet their fellow-Christians. But the Normans in an inhuman and merciless fashion slaughtered not only the priests but the rest of the Christians also, and then quite heedlessly continued their journey, moving in the direction of Amaseia. But the Turks, long practised in war, seized all the villages and food supplies, and burnt them, and when they caught up with the Normans they attacked them at once.

It was on Monday the Turks got the better of them. The Latins fixed their camp on the spot where they were, and deposited their baggage, and the next day both armies met in battle again. The Turks next encamped in a circle round the Latins, and did not allow them to move out either for foraging or even to lead the beasts of burden or horses to water. The Franks now saw destruction staring them in the face, and with utter disregard of their lives, armed themselves strongly the following day (this was Wednesday) and engaged the enemy in battle.

The Turks had them in their power, and therefore no longer fought with spears or arrows, but drew their swords and made the battle a hand-to-hand fight and soon routed the Normans, who retreated to their camp, and sought a counsellor. But the excellent Emperor to whom they would not listen when he gave them sensible advice, was not at hand, so they appealed to Isangeles and Tzitas for advice, and at the same time enquired whether there was any place under the Emperor’s jurisdiction near by to which they could repair. They actually left their baggage, tents and all the infantry where they were, and rode off as speedily as they could on their horses to the seacoast of the Armenian theme and Paurae.

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The Emperor entrusted the Duke of Cyprus with the erection of such a fort and ordered him to dispatch the fleet quickly with all the requisites and also the masons to build this fort on the spot Isangeles signified to them. This was done while Isangeles. was encamped outside Tripolis and never ceased straining every nerve to take it. On the other hand, when Bohemund was informed of Tzintziluces’ entry into Laodicea, the enmity which he had so long fostered against the Emperor, burst out openly, and he sent his nephew Tancred with a considerable army to besiege Laodicea.

A rumour of this had hardly come to Isangeles’ hearing before, without the slightest delay, he rushed to Laodicea and opened negotiations with Tancred, and by various arguments tried to persuade him to desist from besieging the town. But when after a long colloquy he found he could not move him, and only seemed to be c singing to a deaf man,’ he departed and went back again to Tripolis.

And the other did not relax the siege in the slightest; consequently when Tzintziluces saw Tancred’s determination, and he and his were being reduced to straits. he asked for help from there (or from Cyprus). But the authorities in Cyprus were dilatory, and, as he was now very hard beset both by the siege and the pressure of famine, he elected to surrender the town.

Tripolis for Isangeles

VIII During the course of these events Godfrey died and, as it was necessary to elect another King to take his place, the Latins in Jerusalem at once sent to Tripolis for Isangeles, intending to make him King of Jerusalem. But he kept on postponing his departure for Jerusalem. Consequently when the Latins in Jerusalem heard he had gone to the metropolis and was lingering there, they sent for Balduinus, who was then at Edessa, and appointed him King of Jerusalem. The Emperor received Isangeles with great pleasure and when he heard that Balduinus had accepted the sovereignty of Jerusalem, he kept him with him.

At this time a Norman army arrived whose leaders were two brothers called Flanders. The Emperor repeatedly advised them to travel by the same road as the armies that had gone on before, and to reach Jerusalem by the coast and thus join the rest of the Latin army. But he found that they would not listen as they did not wish to join the Franks, but wanted to ti avel by another route more to the east and march stright to Chorosan in the hope of taking it.

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But Godfrey after being again elected king of Jerusalem sent his brother Balduinus to Edessa. Then the Emperor ordered Isangeles to hand over Laodicea to Andronicus Tzintziluces and the forts of Maraceus and Balaneus to the soldiers of Eumathius, at that time Duke of Cyprus; and go on further and do his best to get possession of the other forts by fighting. And this he did in obedience to the Emperor’s letter. After having handed over the forts to the men mentioned above he went to Antaradus, and made himself master of it without fighting.

Atapacas of Damascus

Directly this came to the ears of Atapacas of Damascus he gathered a large supply of troops and marched to meet him. As Isangeles had not sufficient forces to face such a number, he conceived a plan which was more clever than courageous. For he said boldly to the inhabitants, ” As this fortress is very large, I will hide myself in some comer; and when Atapacas arrives, you must not tell him the truth, but assure him that I fled because I was frightened.”

So when Atapacas arrived and asked about Isangeles, he believed the story that he had run away, and being weary from his journey pitched his camp close to the walls. As the inhabitants showed him every kindness, the Turks felt safe and, not suspecting any hostile action, they turned their horses loose into the plain. One day at noon when the sun cast its rays vertically, Isangeles, strongly armed, and his men with him (these were about four hundred) suddenly threw open the gates and dashed right into the middle of their camp. Those of the Turks who were accustomed to fighting bravely did not spare their lives but stood up to him, and submitted to a battle; the rest tried to secure their own safety by flight. Owing to the width of the plain and its not being broken by any marsh or hill or ravine, the Latins were able to overpower them all.

Thus all fell victims to the sword, only a few were captured. After overcoming the Turks by this stratagem, he marched to Tripolis. Immediately on arrival he went up and seized the summit of the hill (which is a branch of Lebanon) opposite Tripolis, in order to have his fortified camp there and also to divert the water which flowed down the slopes of this hill to Tripolis. He then wrote a report to the Emperor of what he had accomplished, and begged him to have a well-fortified stronghold built there before more troops arrived from Chorosan and overwhelmed him.

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VII The tidings of the Franks’ expedition was brought to Amerinmes, Prince of Babylon, and he heard how they had taken Jerusalem and also occupied Antioch, and several other towns in its vicinity, so he collected a great multitude of Armenians, Arabs, Saracens and Hagarenes and dispatched them to oppose the Franks. Godfrey announced this to the Franks who accordingly prepared to meet them, and marched down to Jaffa and there awaited their coming; from there they went to Ramel [*= Rama] where the great martyr George suffered, met the army of Amerinmes advancing towards them and at once joined battle with them. And the Franks soon overcame them.

Many of the Latins fell

But on the following day when the vanguard of the enemy caught them up from behind, the Latins were beaten and ran for their lives to Ramel. Count Balduinus alone was absent from the battle as he had fled, not from cowardice, but to take measures for his own safety and to prepare an army to fight the Babylonians. The Babylonians followed them and encompassed the town of Ramel and took it after a short siege. Many of the Latins fell there, but the greater number were sent as prisoners to Babylon. After that the whole Babylonian army turned round and hurried to besiege Jaffa. For such is the barbarian custom.

Meanwhile Balduinus, whom I mentioned above, visited all the small towns which the Franks had taken, and by collecting from them a considerable number of foot and horsesoldiers, he organized a decent army and marched with it against the Babylonians and defeated them completely. When the Emperor heard of the Latins’ discomfiture at Ramel he was very grieved at the Counts being taken prisoners as he had known them in the bloom of physical strength and of such nobility of descent as the heroes of old, and could not bear to think of their being prisoners in a foreign country.

So he sent for a man called Bardales, gave him a large sum of money for their redemption and sent him to Babylon with letters about the Counts for Amerinmes. After reading the Emperor’s letter, Amerimnes willingly set all the Counts except Godfrey free without any ransom. For Godfrey had already been released for a ransom by his own brother Balduinus. When the Counts reached the Capital the Emperor received them honourably, gave them much money and after they were sufficiently rested, sent them home full of gratitude.

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And then they entrusted that holy and venerable Nail to Isangeles to carry in battle as he was the holiest of them all. The following day, they sallied out upon the Turks from a secret door. On this occasion the man called Flanders begged the others to grant him just one request, namely, to allow him with three friends only to ride out first against the Turks. This request was granted him, and, when the armies stood drawn up in squadrons on either side and were preparing for the shock of battle, he dismounted and after prostrating himself on the ground three times he prayed to God and invoked His help.

Then they all shouted. “God with us!” and at full gallop he rode straight at Curpagan himself who was standing on a hillock. Speedily they struck with their spears the Turks they encountered, and threw them to the ground. The Turks were so terrified by this, that, even before the battle had commenced, they turned to flight as God was evidently aiding the Christians. Most of the Turks in their flight were in their distraction caught in the eddies of the river and drowned, so that those who came after used the bodies of the drowned in place of a bridge.

Antioch in thirty days

After pursuing the fugitives for a considerable distance they returned to the Turkish lines where they found the barbarian baggage and all the booty they carried with them, this latter they wanted to remove at once, but it was so much that they scarcely managed to convey it all to Antioch in thirty days. They stayed on the spot for a little time to rest after the hardships of the war, and at the same time they took thought for Antioch and looked for a man to guard it. This man was Bohemund who had asked for this position even before the city was captured. So they conceded him full powers over Antioch and themselves set out on the road to Jerusalem.

And on their way they took several of the maritime fortresses, but those, which were very strong and would have necessitated a lengthy siege, they passed by for the present as they were anxious to reach Jerusalem. They encircled its walls and made frequent attacks on them and besieged the town and within one lunar month they took it and killed many of the Saracenic and Jewish inhabitants. When they had brought all into subjection and no one resisted them, they invested Godfrey with supreme authority by unanimous consent, and called him ‘king.’

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He himself, with the whole crowd of baxbarian prisoners and of the Christians who had joined him, returned to the capital. When the arch-satrap Ishmael heard of the Emperor’s doings, namely, that he had left Constantinople and effected great slaughter, laid many small towns he passed through in ruins, collected a large quantity of spoil and captives, and was now returning to the capital and had left him nothing to do, Ishmael was at a loss for he despaired of capturing his prey.

Consequently he turned in another direction and resolved to besiege Palpert which had been taken shortly before by the illustrious Theodore Gabras, and on reaching the river flowing past the town, he encamped his whole army there. When informed of this, Gabras thought of attacking him at night. But the result of Gabras’ enterprise and his origin and character shall be reserved for a fitting moment in my history; for the present we must keep to our subject.

Conquered at Helenopolis

Now the Latins being terribly pressed by famine and the blockade, went to Peter, the man who had been conquered at Helenopolis, their Bishop, as has been already explained, and asked him for counsel. He said to them, “You promised to keep yourselves pure until you reached Jerusalem, and this promise, I think, you have broken, and for this reason God has not been helping you now, as He did formerly. Therefore you must now turn to the Lord and bewail your sins in sackcloth and ashes, and shew your repentance by many tears and vigils spent in prayer.

I myself too will spend my time in propitiating the Deity towards you.” They obeyed the bishop’s instructions. And after a few days the bishop inspired by a divine voice assembled the chief Counts and urged them to dig on the right side of the altar, and there they would find the Holy Nail’ They did as he bade and as they did not find it, they returned all discouraged and announced that they had failed in their quest. He accordingly prayed still more earnestly and bade them conduct their search for the object more carefully. They again did his bidding and when they had found what they sought, carried it headlong to Peter, overcome with joy and awe.

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And thus the Emperor’s expedition, which he undertook for the sake of the Franks, and with the desire of wiping out the Turks who were fighting furiously with them, and above all their leader Curpagan – this expedition was stopped both by the report which the Franks had brought and by the news of Ishmael’s advance against him. For he calculated what would probably happen in the future, namely, that it was an impossibility to save a city which had only just been taken by the Franks and while still in a state of disorder was immediately besieged from outside by the Hagarenes; and the Franks in despair of all help, were planning to leave only empty walls to the enemy and to save their own lives by flight.

For the nation of the Franks in general is self-willed and independent and never employs military discipline or science, but when it is a question of war and fighting, anger barks in their hearts and they are not to be restrained; and this applies not only to the soldiers but to the leaders themselves for they dash into the middle of the enemies’ ranks with irresistible force, especially if their opponents yield a little. But if the enemy with strategic skill often sets ambuscades for them and pursues them methodically, then all this courage evaporates.

The assistance of Antioch

In short, the ranks cannot be resisted in their first attack, but afterwards they are exceedingly easy to master both because of the weight of their arms and from their passionate and irrational character. For these reasons, as his forces were insufficient against such numbers, and he could not change the Franks’ decision, nor by better advice convert them to their advantage, he considered he had better not proceed any further, lest by hastening to the assistance of Antioch he might cause the destruction of Constantinople.

He was afraid, too, in case the countless Turkish tribes overtook him, that the inhabitants of the regions of Philomelium would fall victims to the barbarians’ swords, so he arranged to have the approach of the Hagarenes announced throughout the country. The announcement was immediately made and the order given that each man and woman should leave their homes before the Turks arrived, and thus save their persons and as much property as each could carry.

They all elected at once to accompany the Emperor, not only the men but the women too…. This was the arrangement the Emperor made about the prisoners. Next he detached a part of the army, broke it up further into several sections and dispatched them against the Hagarenes, with orders that, if they met any Turks making advance movements, they were to engage them and fight fiercely, and thus retard their attack on the Emperor.

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But this was not so. For leaving Petzeas as Duke of Ephesus, he himself took the whole army and at once started after them according to the Emperor’s behest, not in disorderly confusion, but in good order and in the manner that it befits an experienced general to march on the foe. Now the Turks, as already said, travelled to Polybotum by way of the Maeander and the towns along its banks. But the Duke did not follow in their steps, but journeying by the shorter road, took Sardis and Philadelphia off-hand and entrusted these to the guardianship of Michael Cecaumenos.

When he reached Laodicea, all the inhabitants immediately came out to him, consequently he treated them kindly as they had joined him of their own accord, and allowed them to stay safely in their homes without even appointing a governor. From there he passed through Coma and reached Lampe and in this town he left Camytzes Eustathius governor. On arriving at Polybotum he fell in with a large crowd of Turks and falling upon them at once whilst they were depositing their baggage, he conquered them completely after a short encounter, and killed many, the amount of booty he took was in proportion to their numbers.

Gehelmus Grantemanes

VI Before Ducas had returned, whilst he was still fighting with the Turks, the Emperor prepared to go to the assistance of the Franks in Antioch, and reached Philomelium with all his forces after killing many barbarians on the way and destroying several towns hitherto held by them. Here he was found by men from Antioch, Gehelmus Grantemanes, Stephen, Count of France and Peter, son of Aliphas; these had been let down by ropes from the walls of Antioch, made their way through Tarsus and reported to him the terrible straits into which the Franks were driven and upon oath they told him of their utter fall.

This news made the Emperor still more anxious to hasten to their assistance although everybody sought to restrain him from this enterprise. And then a report was spread abroad everywhere that an incredible host of barbarians was on its way to overtake him. (For the Sultan of Chorosan, hearing of the Emperor’s departure to go to the assistance of the Franks, had collected innumerable men from Chorosan and the further provinces, equipped them all thoroughly and putting them under the command of his own son, Ishmael by name, had sent them forth with instructions to overtake the Emperor quickly before he reached Antioch.)

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After having driven them out thus peaceably he invested Caspax with absolute authority over Smyrna. The following incident occurred by chance. As Caspax was coming away from John Ducas, a Smyrniote came up to him, accusing a Saracen of having stolen five hundred gold staters from him. Caspax ordered them to be brought up for trial, but the Syrian who was being hauled along thought he was being led to execution and in despair of his own safety drew his knife and plunged it into Caspax’ bowels; and turned round and also wounded Caspax’ brother in the thigh.

Extremely grieved at Caspax’

Hereupon a terrible commotion arose, the Saracen escaped, and all the men of the fleet, and the crews as well, rushed into the city pell-mell and killed everybody mercilessly. It was a pitiful sight, ten thousand killed in a moment of time. John Ducas was extremely grieved at Caspax’ death and for some time took the whole adrninistration of the fortress upon himself. In this capacity he went round and inspected the walls and ascertained the opinions of the inhabitants from men who knew; and as he felt that a brave man was needed, he appointed Hyaleas, whom he thought best of all, Duke of Smyrna.

This man was a devotee of the War-God. Ducas left the whole navy to protect Smyrna, and then marched with his troops to the town of Ephesus which was held by the satraps, Tangripermes and Maraces. When these barbarians saw him advancing towards them, they got under arms, and arranged their troops in order of battle on the plains outside the city. And the Duke without any delay and with his army skilfully disposed attacked them.

The battle that then began lasted the greater part of the day; both sides fought well and the issue of the battle hung in the balance till at last the Turks turned their backs and were utterly routed. On this occasion many were killed and still larger numbers were captured, not only of the common soldiers, but of the satraps themselves, so that the total of the captives amounted to two thousand. When informed of this the Emperor ordered them to be dispersed among the islands. The Turks who escaped, crossed the river Maeander and went to Polybotum and were contemptuous of Ducas, thinking him of no account whatever.

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