211: Holy City, Unholy Slaughter

In the third week of June, Robert of Flanders and Robert Curdhose both returned with the first of what would be a fairly steady stream of camel trains loaded with distant lumber.

Meanwhile, Raymond of Toulouse put one of the recent arrivals from Genoa, a man named William Embriaco, to head up his siege works program.

Known to some as a drunkard, others as a master craftsman, earning him the moniker of Hammerhead, Embriaco was also somewhat of a hero to the Genoese after 1099, not only as a liberator of Jerusalem, but also as one of the founders of the Republic of Genoa.

Embriaco and his few hundred Genoese sailors and crossbowmen and craftsmen, well, they found themselves in Raymond's camp because of a defection of sorts.

See, Raymond's longtime siege man, a man named Gaston of Bayarn, was hired by Godfrey of Bouillon.

It seems that, says Thomas Aspridge, Raymond's high-handed behavior had evidently begun to alienate even his closest allies.

End quote.

Crusader loyalties weren't just shifting, though.

Right when all the leaders should have been banding together for one last push to achieve their ultimate goal, they once again fell into quarreling.

And Bohemond wasn't even within 300 miles to instigate any of it.

Before the walls were even breached, Raymond, the two Roberts, Tancred, and Godfrey all began arguing over which one of them would be the ruler of Jerusalem once they'd taken it.

And one question took center stage.

Who should rule once the city was taken? That's it.

The question lingered.

Well, a better word for it would be festered, actually, as the task at hand, the task of actually taking the city, was put first, as it should have been.

but it was a huge question to ask.

Pope Urban II never said what they should do with Jerusalem once they recaptured it.

Urban only said that they should take it.

But then what? Would one of the liberators assume control of the city? Would power return to Constantinople? Should the people of Jerusalem be given the power of self-governance? Should Jerusalem have itself a king? Should Jerusalem revert back to Eastern Orthodox as it was when it was under Roman control previously? Or should it be run by the Latins? Even the Pope himself? So the measure of success in the First Crusade extended far beyond merely kicking the Muslims out of the city.

But again, the first step was to actually take the city.

So, for the next three weeks, into the first week of July, everyone became laser-focused on building the necessary siege engines.

When I say everyone, I mean everyone, as it's said that the younger princes, those Godfrey, Curdhose, Robert of Flanders, and Tancred specifically, well, they all stepped in and helped with even the most menial of labor.

This is not meant to dunk on Raymond of Toulouse, who was still a warrior in his own right, willing to give himself fully into a battle if necessary.

But he was, if you remember, over 50 years old, and not exactly up to as much manual labor as those younger guys.

Though understandable, it was yet another difference the men saw in their leaders.