218: The Crusade of 1101, Part 1

As crusaders disseminated around Europe, having not only survived, but to have returned home as Christian heroes, the frenzy whipped up in the tailspin of their stories of great deeds and miraculous appearances, fiery speeches, and eyewitness details of the Holy Sepulchre itself.

It was all almost too overwhelming for people.

We hear about Robert Curdhose and Robert II of Flanders, but we can't forget about the men serving those great leaders.

Regular folk were welcomed home to great fanfare in many cases, and their stories lived on for generations in their families and localities.

Western Christendom was drowning in pride in their sons who managed to make it home safely.

But Western Christendom was also experiencing something else.

It wanted more.

However, not every man to return home was welcomed as a hero.

Thomas Aspridge, in his book The First Crusade, writes, "...there were, of course, thousands of men and women who turned aside from the path of the crusade, prompted to desert by fear, starvation, illness, and exhaustion.

As they crept back into Europe, their failures to fulfill their vows earned them the scorn and disdain of Latin society." But they were powerful men who also left before Jerusalem, too.

I'm referring specifically, of course, to the most notable one, Stephen of Blois, the wealthy and influential count from north-central France, bordering Normandy, Maine, and the royal territories around Paris.

It was in this man's intimate letters to his wife, Adela, that we have still today some quality, high-quality, first-hand accounts of the First Crusade.

Well... up to a certain point anyway.

If you remember from the previous season of the podcast, Count Stephen led a rather formative force into Constantinople and was welcomed by Emperor Alexius I Comnenos as an honored guest, and they really hit it off, building a strong relationship between them.

As the siege of Nicaea turned into the Battle of Nicaea, Stephen was late to the party.

But he was too busy whining and dining up in Constantinople, of course.

But he was an eyewitness to the ending of it.

He then traveled with the main army south through Anatolia, though he wouldn't dare be at the vanguard with the likes of Beaumont and Stephen's brother-in-law, just an interesting little connection there, his brother-in-law, Robert Curdhose, who stuck their necks out time and time again.

Still, Stephen was a valued member of the top echelon inner circle of First Crusade leaders, having his voice heard in every council and maneuvering his forces around wherever they were needed.

He gets a lot of flack at the end of the day, partially deserved, but up until Antioch, Stephen was nearly as integral to the success of the whole campaign as the others were in many ways.

In fact, it's worth mentioning that in October 1097, as the siege of Antioch was just beginning, Count Stephen was voted by the crusading leaders to be a fair and impartial leader overseeing and mediating all councils.

This is a testament to Stephen's respected standing among some of the greatest men of the age.

Then came Antioch, as you know.

After months of raids and starvation and desertion, the city refused to fall to the crusaders, and the fact that the siege was even still happening was a testament, in large part, to Stephen's diplomacy and mediation between such personalities like Bohemond and Count Raymond IV of Toulouse.

Powerful, powerful personalities, those Surviving the winter of 1097-1098 by the skin of their teeth, the Crusader army was hanging on by a thread, heading into the spring of 1098.