The First Crusade 1096-99: Conquest of the Holy Land (Osprey Campaign)

In 1095 the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I appealed to the Christian states of western Europe for help against the Turks who had swept across the Empire after the disastrous Byzantine defeat at Manzikert in 1071. This book is about the First Crusade (1096-1099) that followed, and saw several armies of 'armed pilgrims' march across Europe to the Holy Land. They were unleashed on a divided and fragmented Islamic world and won a series of apparently miraculous victories, capturing the Holy City of Jerusalem itself. The success of the First Crusade was never to be repeated, however, and triggered two centuries of bitter warfare, the repercussions of which are still felt today. Military History - Medieval COVER 1 CONTENTS 7 ORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN 9 CHRONOLOGY 14 OPPOSING COMMANDERS 16 Crusader leaders 16 Byzantine leaders 18 Muslim leaders 19 OPPOSING FORCES 22 The Crusaders 22 The Byzantines 24 The Armenians 25 The Turks 25 The Fatimids 27 OPPOSING PLANS 29 The Crusader plan 29 Byzantine plans 30 Saljuq plans 31 Fatimid plans 32 THE CAMPAIGN 33 The ambush at Dorylaeum 37 The Crusade divides 43 The siege of Antioch 51 The march on Jerusalem 63 The siege of Jerusalem 74 The battle of Ascalon 84 THE AFTERMATH 90 THE BATTLEFIELDS TODAY 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY 96 INDEX 97 COVER 100 ISBN-10:,1841765155,ISBN-13:,978-1841765150 ISBN-10: 1841765155,ISBN-13: 978-1841765150

In 1095 the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I appealed to the Christian states of western Europe for help against the Turks who had swept across the Empire after the disastrous Byzantine defeat at Manzikert in 1071. This book is about the First Crusade that followed, and saw several armies of ‘armed pilgrims’ march across Europe to the Holy Land. They were unleashed on a divided and fragmented Islamic world and won a series of apparently miraculous victories, capturing the Holy City of Jerusalem itself. The success of the First Crusade was never to be repeated, however, and triggered two centuries of bitter warfare, the repercussions of which are still felt today.

To many people the crusades were the First Crusade. This work states that the first "armed pilgrimage" to the Holy Land was the only Crusade that really succeeded. It resulted in the establishment of four Crusader States in the Middle East and its repercussions can still be felt today. Om det første korstog 1096-1099, foranlediget af den byzantinske kejser Alexios I (1081-1118) i hans kamp mod seldshuggerne. En talrig korsfarerhær marcherede gennem Europa til Palæstina og befriede Jerusalem, der var stærkt befæstet med en ægyptisk troppestyrke In 1094 the Byzantine Emperor, Alexios I, came to the conclusion that Byzantium's own military and diplomatic efforts to regain lost territory in Anatolia were inadequate.