In What Ways Was The Siege Of Antioch The Turning Point Of The First Crusade?

Antioch was a disaster for the Muslims and a triumph for the Crusaders. They had defeated a Muslim force that was far greater than theirs proving their military prestige. It saw the end of Muslim actively trying to attack the Crusaders and their dominance militarily. The Crusaders were now the most powerful force in the holy land and finally had the military might to strike at Jerusalem. Antioch also meant that the Crusader army was more streamlined with weaker followers such as the women and non-fighters gone. This left a smaller but more manoeuvrable and almost equal in force army that had less to feed and shelter. Antioch was important because it made the Crusade a fuller military operation with only the fighting knights and foot soldiers left. Antioch was an important turning point for the Crusaders militarily because it saw them gain military prestige whilst also it whittled their army down to an elite fight force rather than a rabble.

Antioch also highlighted and worsened Muslim disunity. The Crusaders victory is mainly credited to Kerbogha being abandoned by his fellow Muslims in the battle. Capturing Antioch made this worse because it showed that Muslim ambition had separated them compared to the Crusaders who had still stayed together despite pressure on them. Antioch took the Crusaders to the brink but they managed to stay united whereas the Muslims were beginning to divide under the pressure and were weakened by their defeat whereas the Crusaders were stronger for their victory.

One factor that made Antioch such an important moment was that it was the first land they captured in the holy land other than Edessa that they kept for themselves. This lay the foundations for what would become the crusader states who would hold significant control over the area. This also meant that they had broken their alliance with Alexius. The crusade had finally become independent of Greek influence and control and the land was claimed for the Latins. However this wasn’t Urban’s intentions who had anticipated that the Latins and Greeks would unite fighting together against a common enemy. This meant the crusade had finally become an exercise in purely Frankish pursuits and ambition and moved the crusade even further away from spiritual fulfilment to carving out an empire in the holy land.

In conclusion Antioch was a major turning point in the First Crusade for a number of factors, however the most important is that it finally showed that the Crusaders were a strong force that was capable of capturing a city as large as Antioch, the obvious next objective for the crusaders was Jerusalem. Antioch was a true test for the Crusaders and whether they could take a Muslim stronghold that was so well fortified; its capture proved they were ready and able to capture what they had been striving for since the beginning, Jerusalem.