Soldier of Crusade (25 page)

That stopped any eye contact, for Bohemund had hit a very sore spot indeed – if they had not complained openly every one of them had railed at his lack of support in private.

‘Alexius is clever, My Lords, he let us think he would take the field in person and aid us on our Crusade but he did not. Instead he has used us to free his borderlands and his men have stood aside when we have been in danger, as at Dorylaeum. We have crushed Turk
after Turk and who will benefit from their being diminished if not the Byzantine Empire?’

‘We do.’

‘And so, Your Grace, does he. I say we must hold Antioch ourselves and deny it to him, not for mere gain but for our own security and the sake of the Crusade.’

‘And who,’ Duke Robert enquired, ‘will hold it?’

‘We must hold it in common,’ Adémar cried, before he realised he might be agreeing with Bohemund. ‘Until Alexius makes his presence felt.’

‘By the laws of conquest,’ Bohemund said quietly, ‘the man who holds it is the one whose banner flies above the walls when Antioch falls.’

There was a moment then when avarice came to the surface; Antioch was a rich fief, a great centre of trade and whoever was suzerain would not want for wealth. Then each mind, Bohemund was certain, turned to the notion that such a possession might fall to another and that, as a consideration, was less welcome.

‘Pope Urban would not approve of even the thought.’

‘Bishop Adémar, Pope Urban is not here, and I say if you wish to take and hold Jerusalem for our faith, you will not do so unless you hold Antioch as well. I have said my piece, but know this: my family has fought Byzantium for over sixty years and I will make a claim I do not think can be gainsaid. We de Hautevilles know them better than anyone in the council and to repose any faith in the notion that they, or Alexius Comnenus, will do anything other than that which protects their own interests, is folly.’

‘Why do I think you have hankered after Antioch all along?’ asked Tancred, when his uncle related to him the gist of the meeting.

‘No, not Antioch, but it has been a long time since I felt that anything would come from going on to Jerusalem.’ That raised a youthful eyebrow. ‘Remember I told you by the River Vardar of all the things that were unknown. Then we had no notion of what to truly expect from Alexius or Byzantium, no idea of how or if this Crusade would progress. I tell you, if Alexius was here I would not even raise my voice regarding Antioch, it would be his by right, but he is not and we have not seen hide or hair of his main army, even at Nicaea.’

‘He saw you as a threat.’

‘Tancred, he saw us all as a threat. If he did not he would have come to Nicaea himself instead of Tacitus. No Roman emperor can afford to repose trust in any man and Alexius so mistrusted us our back was all he wanted to see.’

‘Which angers you?’

‘No, he acts as he sees in the interests of his empire. I am seeking to persuade the Council of Princes to act on behalf of the Crusade.’

Tancred grinned. ‘But you would like that we Apulians should take possession of Antioch?’

‘The man who held it for Byzantium was titled “Prince”.’ Bohemund laughed out loud, which had been rare these last months. ‘Would that not be one in the eye for a Great Count and a mere Duke of Apulia?’

‘Can we make that happen?’

Bohemund shook his head. ‘Only God can make that happen.’

If Bohemund’s views had struck obstacles with most of the leaders, Hugh of Vermandois was animated by the thought of his banner flying over Antioch, so when a message was sent to him offering to
surrender the city, delivered by an Armenian smuggler, he eagerly pursued it and wanted to do so personally. This was a notion Walo of Chaumont, who had been sent to contain his follies, spent much time talking him out of and he only persuaded the Count to desist by offering to meet these Muslim rebels himself.

Every gate into the city had a postern and there were others at various places in the walls, small doors which only one man could pass through at a time and therefore very easy to defend or block up if threatened. In a time of peace these facilitated movement to and from the city, now they were used for smuggling and if the entry points were supposed to be guarded by men of the Crusade, inevitably
milities
, then a coin slipped into their hand, or food when they had been starving, was not to be sneezed at. If anyone had told Bohemund he would have just laughed; no place he had besieged had ever been sealed off completely and there were always folk within the walls willing to pay for luxuries or just good food, sometimes when the poor were eating weeds.

Walo took with him several knights and they were armed, slipping through the postern one by one on a dark and moonless night, with Vermandois straining to catch sight of them. He did see the door close behind them, but he heard the creak. The thick oak cut off the sounds that followed, that of his brother’s Constable, the man the King of France entrusted to command his armies by his side, having his throat cut, the same fate visited upon those with him.

This was not a loss that could be hidden and Vermandois was obliged, when the heads of those men slaughtered behind the gate were thrown over the walls, to explain what had happened and without his main supporter to advise him he made a poor fist of it. It appeared a chance to gain the city by betrayal; it would have been
foolish not to pursue such a possibility and he would do so again if chance offered it. The loss was heartbreaking but how many knights had given their lives in this endeavour? Walo had given his and would be esteemed for it and yes, the Armenian messenger, the smuggler, had not reappeared.

‘Why do your think the message was sent to Vermandois?’ Tancred asked.

‘Yaghi Siyan wanted to warn us off dealing with traitors, on pain of our own death. What better way to despatch such a communication but through the hands of a fool?’

‘He knows that Vermandois is a fool?’

‘Why not? Everyone else does.’

T
he makeshift fort opposite the St George’s Gate, on the site of a long-abandoned shell of a monastery, was more a sieve than a true barrier; while it put a check on the Turks issuing in numbers to raid the lines of communication without warning it could not, and was not designed to blockade that entirely. Nothing demonstrated its vulnerability more than the need to keep it supplied and the efforts of the defenders of Antioch to impede that: every time food and water were brought to the bastion, it took a strong escort and a fight to deliver it.

It was effective at impeding anything of magnitude seeking to enter the city, as were the constant patrols out in the countryside seeking to cut off any supply being brought to the city by the Turks. Despite that, some got through, especially through the still-open Iron Gate, but the Apulians were the last line of obstruction at St George’s and often an effective one. Not long after taking up the position Tancred and his
knights captured a sizeable caravan carrying in large quantities things much desired by the Crusaders and even more so by those still inside: food, oil and wine.

When it came to small traders, exclusively Armenian, the gate was as open as it had ever been and once the screw was turned on the others points of access the amount of goods flowing past Tancred’s position, while not a flood, was certainly significant to the ability of Yaghi Siyan to maintain the siege, if not in terms of fighting power, certainly as a means of stifling discontent within the Armenian majority.

Keen to have information about conditions inside Antioch and the state of mind of the besieged population, Tancred had taken to facilitating some of the smuggling, initially without side, but in time making things easy for those who passed him valuable information, while prohibiting those who refused to let him know what they had observed, so that he could advise his uncle in his dealings with the Council of Princes. What would happen to Antioch once it had fallen, now it was out in the open, had become a bone of some contention. That still, however, took second place to what lay before them, the actual act of capture, and for that the mood inside the walls was of obvious interest.

‘My nephew reports a sense of increasing despair,’ Bohemund informed them. ‘Very little from Turkish caravans is now getting through and what the smugglers can supply will only serve to keep happy those who can pay the high prices they demand, and even they must guard against their purchases being stolen by the garrison. It is true, when we arrived they hoped we would pass on to Jerusalem—’

‘Others have informed us of this,’ Raymond interrupted; he
had become increasingly uncomfortable with the Count of Taranto holding the floor, which, given his greater knowledge of Antiochene morale he had been inclined to do. ‘And that is history.’

‘History with a point, My Lords,’ Bohemund insisted, in essence ignoring the Count of Toulouse, which did not go unnoticed. ‘For that first dented their optimism and we know that through the winter, when they saw us starving outside the walls, they expected each dawn to see us gone.’

‘So now they know we are here to stay, which no one amongst us, I hope, doubted would be the case.’

In saying that, Godfrey de Bouillon meant it; if his faith had sustained him there was not another magnate in the pavilion, Bohemund included, who had not at some time contemplated that very outcome, either by individual action or a collective loss of will.

‘The main food stocks on which the Turks rely, like the grain stores, are dwindling, what can be brought in without we appropriate it is reduced and so Yaghi and his Turks must impose ever more severe measures on distribution, which turns the populace against him, especially the poor who depend on Turkish largesse. They see the Turks feeding their horses while their dole is cut.’

‘Not enough to overthrow him,’ Duke Robert said.

‘How could they?’ Adémar responded. ‘He still has as many as three thousand men under arms even after his losses. If anyone raises complaint I would suggest they are quickly executed.’

Bohemund then informed them of how many times that had occurred and told of the rumours of just how many Armenians had fallen to Yaghi Siyan’s summary justice, for he was fierce when it came to sniffing out betrayal and swift to act. The aim of the Turkish leader was to hold out in the hope that an army would come to his
relief and he would see the citizenry starve rather than surrender, so the Crusade, even if it frustrated them, had to be patient.

Raymond was not to be sidelined. ‘I still maintain an assault on the walls will produce results.’

‘It will.’ Bohemund insisted, for he was aware, as were his peers, only he was in position to execute such a thing at the St Paul’s Gate. ‘It will result in many dead Apulians.’

‘We must do something.’

For a man with such a reputation there was much irony in the reply. ‘Yes, My Lord, we must wait.’

Which was a point he repeated to Tancred when he received a request that he visit his bastion.

‘Raymond will not accept that there is no advantage in an assault if the Turks are still in good spirits and he is addressing men who are not known for their restraint.’

‘Which would include you and I, Uncle.’

That got a smile and a nod. ‘I nearly brought up my father, but that rankles even more than when I speak from my own experience. He knew never to throw men uselessly at a well-manned fortress. If we try and do not succeed that will affect our morale more than the Turks’.’

‘And they are a long way from eating their horses.’

‘True, so why have you asked me to come?’

‘I may have a way to get inside the walls.’

About to mention the fate of Walo of Chaumont, Bohemund checked himself; his nephew was no fool, he would know better than to suggest anything that smacked of the same risk of a slit throat, and by a look alone he invited Tancred to continue.

‘As you know, I have cosseted certain of the Armenian smugglers and if they have told me much I have hinted that they might achieve much more. I now know one of the towers on the walls is held by a force of Armenian converts, the others are manned by Turks.’

‘Which one?’

‘Halfway up Mount Silpius at a point were the incline is so steep we would never be able to try an assault.’

‘Why give that post to an Armenian?’

The question Bohemund posed then was rhetorical, for it was not a vital part of the defence. Tancred agreed, but his uncle added that such a thing was not necessarily to the good.

‘Converts are often the most stalwart when it comes to their faith.’

‘True, but they have a limit when it comes to perceived slights and the fellow in command, who goes by the name of Firuz, I am told feels badly used by Yaghi Siyan. My informant tells me that the governor has stripped him of his property to ensure he stays loyal and it has had the opposite effect.’

‘This your informant told you, which has to mean that such grievances have been spoken about, man to man.’

‘The smuggler tries to supply Firuz and his men rather than the Turks, whom he loathes.’

‘
Says
he loathes,’ Bohemund cautioned. ‘So can we be sure that the story is true?’

‘No.’

Silent for a while, Bohemund sat deep in thought before speaking gain. ‘Then let us discount this disaffection and work on the premise that this Firuz seeks to gain from our taking possession of Antioch.’

The response to that was jaundiced. ‘Which without a Trojan horse is a long way off.’

‘Meet with your smuggler, let him take to Firuz an offer of great power and wealth under a Christian prince, to gain which, he will have to convert back to his original faith.’

‘Just that?’

‘Yes, for if he baulks at reversion, Tancred, he is trying to lure us to our death.’

‘Will you tell the council of what is possible?’

‘It is too soon to say anything; let it lie and see what your smuggler brings us.’

Taking contraband into and out of Antioch was not a daily affair; those doing the supplying had to travel far to find the goods they wished to sell within the walls, for most of what was grown locally was consumed by the Crusaders. Added to that, Tancred’s informant was no fool, certainly not stupid enough to be transparent with Firuz. Hints had to be dropped and less than entirely open responses needed to be carefully assessed, before inching to more intimacy. The Armenians would be fools to repose trust in each other too soon if they wished to keep their heads.

Slowly, over weeks, with Bohemund staying in the background – he had to be able to disown what he was doing in secret – the terms by which Firuz and his men would surrender their tower were fleshed out. That they would revert to Christianity was the first hurdle crossed and it was an important one, for the mass of the population would not, once freed from the Turkish yoke, take kindly to an Islamist in high office.

Now bribes could be offered – immediate riches in gold and silver and valuable offices promised, which no Christian prince yet held. Bohemund and Tancred alone, so as not to cause alarm, inspected the
tower that Firuz held, an isolated one in terms of defensive numbers, commanding a stretch of wall as Tancred had said, almost impossible to assault due to the steepness of the slope. Finally a night had to be selected and the means planned as to how the Normans were going to get up that wall as well as get into position without being seen by the Turks in the adjacent towers, all this passed to and fro by that one single messenger on whom the whole enterprise depended.

With what he saw as a workable arrangement to proceed, it was time to ensure that if he did succeed, he should be the beneficiary – that the law of conquest he had sought to gain before was agreed, and in that he ran into a wall as stout as those of Antioch. His fellow Princes would not deviate from the notion of shared possession, while Tancred remained the only person he could be open with about his frustrations.

‘There is a furtive tone when the subject is raised. Godfrey de Bouillon apart, I cannot help but think that others are on the same path as we and for the same purpose.’

‘Then why not agree to what you propose?’

‘Believe me, if they are scheming the time will come when, close to fruition and sure they will be the one that gains and that they have allies in place to support them, the right of conquest will be accepted.’

‘Raymond?’

‘Is, I grant you, the most likely, but Vermandois will be conniving, even if he has already had his fingers scorched. Our Robert of Normandy could buy back his duchy from his brother with half the revenues of Antioch, so he too will be conspiring.’

‘Such a loss does not mean an end to opportunity, there is still Jerusalem, which is ten times a richer capture than Antioch and will be a fief to covet in Christian hands.’

That had to be acknowledged; Jerusalem produced massive revenues from pilgrims in bad times and Muslim hands; once back under the way of the true faith it would return wealth in untold quantities.

‘If I have plunder to gain there I have little else, certainly not power.’

There for the first time, as far as his nephew was concerned, Bohemund had been open about his desire for domains, not just gold and silver.

‘You cannot be sure of that.’

‘Tancred, Jerusalem is no different to Antioch. Once captured how is it to be held?’

‘By Crusaders.’

‘In joint control, like Antioch?’ There was no option for Tancred but to nod. ‘It will not do. Where has such a thing as joint ownership of a fief led to anything but jealousies and dissension? All that kept my Uncle Roger and my father from conflict was the separation of the Straits of Messina. Whichever city you speak of it must be under the control of a single authority. Do not be fooled by the forced agreement we have enjoyed so far – that has been fed by necessity and some success. Once in Jerusalem, with the Crusade complete, that will not hold and the only solution is to hand the Holy City over to one of our number.’

‘Which will not be you.’

Bohemund smiled. ‘No, there is only one man who would justify selection, one of the council who would be content to stay and hold Palestine.’

‘Godfrey de Bouillon?’

‘I think that the case. Raymond is rich already and would not
want to abandon his Provençal domains. Robert wants his Duchy of Normandy back, and the capture of Jerusalem will so raise him in wealth and standing, not even his brother William Rufus would be able to hold out against a successful Crusader with the Pope on his side and he would be bound by oath to leave Robert be.’

‘Vermandois?’ Tancred joked, which got a snort of derision.

‘No, Godfrey sold nearly all he possessed to come on Crusade and he is a good man as well as true. If we do end up in the Holy City, I will expend every sinew to make sure that he is given whatever title is agreed upon and holds Jerusalem as his own fief.’

‘If you can carry the principle, no one will dare vote for anyone but him.’

‘I look forward to seeing Raymond of Toulouse’s face when Adémar, a man he thinks his pet bishop, does just that.’

News had come from some of their eastern Armenian allies of another Muslim army being raised to come to the relief of Antioch and it was soon established that it was not being gathered – it was complete and ready to march in numbers that beggared the imagination; this had happened before and been proved to be much exaggerated, a point made by the Duke of Normandy, but it was decided to send out scouts to verify what the council were being told. The information that came back was worse than confirmation. Whatever threats they had faced up till now this was the greatest; the Turkish host was said to be beyond calculation and under the command of a formidable and experienced general called Kerbogha, and the conclusion drawn by Adémar was sobering.

‘Up till now we have faced the forces of two brothers who hate each other and so they have only ever been able to bring to the field a part of the available Muslim strength. This host is different: it has
been ordered to assemble by the Sultan of Baghdad and is led, I am told, by the Atabeg of Mosul.’