How important was the discovery of the Holy Lance in the Crusader success in Antioch?

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How important was the discovery of the Holy Lance in the Crusader’ success in Antioch?

During the 11th Century religion permeated all aspects of life and it was arguably the major factor in both recruitment in preparation for the first crusade, and motivating the crusaders whilst they travelled and fought. As a consequence of this religious imperative, religious relics were of massive importance to people at the time as they provided tangible evidence for their faith; the possibility of discovering these artefacts in the Holy Land was of great interest to many of the crusaders as the majority of them were crusading for their faith, and the discovery of a relic would vindicate their belief. This fervent enthusiasm for the discovery of religious artefacts was the catalyst for the impact of the discovery of the Holy Lance during the siege of Antioch, an event which raised morale considerably after the onset of famine and the desertion of Peter the Hermit and Stephen of Blois. However, although it was an important factor in the outcome of the battle of Antioch on June 28th 1098, it was by no means the sole factor in the Crusaders’ success at Antioch.

Firstly, the Holy Lance was discovered after the Crusaders had infiltrated the city walls and secured the city, besides the citadel; the discovery of the Holy Lance had no impact on this problem and had it not been for the factors that allowed the Crusaders to conquer the city walls the siege would ultimately have failed and ended in the complete collapse of the First Crusade. The crusaders were vastly ill-prepared for a siege in the barren Turkish terrain surrounding Antioch as the same logistical naivety which had resulted in famine and desertion meant the crusaders had no resources with which to construct siege engines to destroy the mighty walls of Antioch. One of the major reasons for the Crusaders’ success at Antioch was the timely relief sent by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius, in the form of resources brought to them by the fleet of Edgar Atheling; had these resources not arrived it is highly possible that the siege would ultimately have failed as it enabled the Crusaders to construct a fort and secure their supply lines, aiding the battle against starvation. The stabilisation of the Crusaders’ situation was of great importance to their success as it enabled them to focus on penetrating the city walls; in hindsight, this factor was even more important than it seems on first inspection as two months after the relief arrived, a large army commanded by Kerbogha approached the city and it was essential they took the city before it arrived.

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The breakthrough which enabled the crusaders to finally take the city was due to the nous and intelligence displayed by Bohemond in establishing communications with Firouz, a high-ranking Armenian captain who bore a grudge with the governor of Antioch- Yaghi-Siyan. If Bohemond had not convinced Firouz to let Fulk of Chartres and sixty knights into the city, it would have been nigh on impossible for the Crusaders to physically break through the city’s defences in the short time it took for Kerbogha’s army to arrive and they would almost certainly have been annihilated- this point is further supported by the ...

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