First Crusade - Page 11 of 21

Dorylaeum

The crusaders faced as decision about routes after their victory at Nicaea. The Greeks wanted them to proceed down the Aegeancoast, where they could be supplied by sea. The Franks, however,chose to travel the inland route. This was riskier, for it played to the strengths of the Turks, but it had the advantage that there would be no long sieges. The coastline was filled with well-defended cities and progress was sure to be slow. The Greeks wanted this route because it meant winning back valuable resources. When the Franks chose the inland route, the emperor refused to risk his army in what he regarded as a foolish venture. So the crusaders went on without Byzantine assistance.

The interior of Turkey is arid and open, the perfect sort of place for the highly mobile Turks. But they were still disorganized and the crusader army advanced some distance before Kilij Arslan was able to meet them.

The two armies met in July 1097 near the town of Dorylaeum in Anatolia. The crusader army was rather strung out along the line of march, with Bohemond and his Normans in the van. He encountered the main Turkish army near the end of the day. Bohemond's small force was immediately surrounded, but the Turks waited for dawn to attack.

They attacked thinking they had surrounded the entire crusader force, and they were confident of victory. After all, they remembered how easily they had defeated the previous Frankish army (Peter the Hermit's rabble). But these Franks (the Arabs and Turks alike persisted in calling all Europeans Franks, regardless of their nationality) these Franks turned out to be another matter altogether.

The Normans fought on foot. Fully armored, despite the July sun, they were protected from the light arrows of the Turks, who used their usual tactic of swooping in upon the enemy, discharging a volley of arrows, then riding away again.

Reinforcements begin arriving around noon. The first to arrive was Godfrey of Bouillon, in the comapany of about fifty knights.Godfrey took one look at the situation and charged. He broke through the Turkish lines and arrived at Bohemond's side.

Now they were both surrounded. As the afternoon wore on, other contingents arrived and followed the same tactic. While each group became alike surrounded, each group also added to the strength of the defenders and inflicted heavier and heavier casualties upon the Turks. Fighting became fierce.

One of the last to arrive was the good bishop of Le Puy, Adhemar. He sized up the situation and decided on a different course. He took his men around the battlefield and proceeded to loot theTurkish camp. When the Turks saw their camp going up in flames, it unnerved them and they at last broke and fled.

This was all the proof any of the crusaders needed that their armed pilgrimage was indeed ordained by God. They had met a superior enemy and had triumphed. Nothing could stop them.

Dorylaeum instilled a new respect on both sides for their enemies. The crusaders discovered that the Turks were honorablewarriors and thought it a pity that they were not Christian. TheTurks, for their part, revised their estimate of the fighting ability of the Franks and generally tried to avoid further battle.

History of Western Civilization

Dr. E. L. SkipKnox
Boise State University
Last Revised 17 August 1995