Visions and Divine Omens at the Siege of Antioch:
Faith, Folly and Cynicism on the First Crusade
Written by Adam Staten
In the latter decades of the 11th century the Byzantine Empire was riven by civil war and political intrigue and under constant assault from outside forces. Chief among the assailants were the Seljuk Turks who were a dynamic and rising power within the region.
By 1095 the empire was at real risk of total destruction. It had already lost much of its territory and the Turks had established their capital at Nicaea, just 100km from the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. The Turks also held the Holy Lands, including Jerusalem, and this made pilgrimage in the area incredibly dangerous for Christians from Europe.
Alexios, emperor of Byzantium, appealed for help to the Pope in Rome. In response, Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade.
The cause proved wildly popular. People from all over Europe vowed to undertake the arduous mission and liberate Jerusalem. Emperor Alexios had probably expected to receive a small force of mercenaries but, in 1096, tens of thousands of people arrived in Constantinople. These were not just soldiers, but peasant pilgrims, clerics, and camp followers, many of whom brought their wives and children along with them.
Pope Urban II at Clermont, 14th century (Public Domain)
The participants of the crusade had numerous reasons to undertake such a dangerous task. Some sought adventure, some sought plunder, some, such as the Norman warlord Bohemond of Taranto, had designs on creating new kingdoms of their own. But, without doubt, many took part due a genuine feeling of religious duty and spiritual calling.
Religious fervour was widespread throughout the crusading armies. The spiritual, even penitential, feel of the mission was enhanced by the intense suffering of the crusaders who believed their own trials reflected those of Christ.
This was a deeply superstitious age and people believed whole heartedly in Godly signs and divine visitations. Perhaps nothing demonstrates this more than the events that took place during the siege of Antioch.
By the Summer of 1097 the crusaders had succeeded in capturing the Turkish capital of Nicaea. Between them and their ultimate goal of Jerusalem stood the formidable fortress city of Antioch. They had to capture the city because, if they didn’t, they would leave a strong and dangerous garrison at their back. But taking Antioch was no easy task. The walls of the city were two metres thick and twenty metres high, studded all along by guard towers. On the south side of the city, these walls also ran up and over the craggy mass of Mount Silpius.
The siege was a long and miserable affair. The winter of 1097/98 was brutal and the rain poured ceaselessly. There was little food, no fodder for the animals, and hardly any wood for fires with which to cook or keep warm. People starved and people deserted the army. In contrast, the citizens of Antioch were safe, secure and well fed. The crusaders were unable to seal the mountain passes to the south of the city so the people of Antioch could pass in and out of the city with relative ease. They were even able to graze their flocks on the slopes of the mountain.
Morale was low and people were predisposed to see God’s displeasure all around. On 30th December there was an earthquake which, for many of the Europeans, must have been an extraordinary and terrifying event. That very night, the Northern Lights were seen in the sky and many people saw these two mysterious natural phenomena as clear signs of God’s wrath.
The situation became critical when news arrived in the camp that another Muslim army was marching to relieve the city, led by Kerbogha of Mosul. Within weeks they would be caught between the city walls and a massive Muslim force.
It was at this point that Bohemond of Taranto somehow made contact with a man named Firouz in the city. Firouz commanded a section of the walls and he agreed to betray the city to the Christians. Therefore, on the night of 2nd June, Firouz let down a rope to a party of knights who entered the city and let the rest of the army in through the gates.
Although they now held the city, the situation was hardly much better for Kerbogha arrived soon afterwards and immediately laid his siege – the besiegers had now become the besieged.
At this moment, an obscure preacher named Peter Bartholomew approached Raymond of Toulouse, another of the senior leaders of the crusade. He told Raymond that Saint Andrew had come to him in a number of visions. The saint had first appeared to him as he had been praying in terror at the time of the earthquake. Saint Andrew, who was always accompanied by a beautiful but silent youth, had told Peter that the Holy Lance – the lance that had pierced Christ’s side on the cross – was buried in Antioch. If they found the lance and carried it into battle, then they could not be defeated.
Raymond of Toulouse was a pious man and he believed Peter. Others were more sceptical. Perhaps the most sceptical was Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy. Adhemar was the pope’s representative on the crusade and the spiritual leader of the army. His scepticism may have been born out of the fact that Peter Bartholomew had a bad reputation as a dissolute man and so seemed an odd choice of spokesman for a saint. Adhemar was probably also aware that another object that was supposedly the Holy Lance was, at that moment, sitting in the imperial treasury in Constantinople.
Peter Bartholomew was not the only visionary in Antioch at the time. Another priest named Stephen, a man of good standing who was trusted by Adhemar, then also came to the leaders of the crusade declaring that Christ had visited him along with Saint Peter. Christ told Stephen that the army of the crusade must purify itself and return to a good Christian way of life, then he would send them protection.
How much the leaders of the crusade believed that these visions were genuine is hard to say. It is quite possible that they were completely credulous as visions were accepted as a common part of spiritual life at this time. However, they no doubt also recognised that these glad tidings could only be of benefit to an army whose morale was so low.
On 14th June a meteor was seen to fall in the Turkish camp. In the context of the recent visions, this was seen as a good omen. The very next day, Peter Bartholomew led a work party, which included Raymond of Toulouse, to the cathedral of Saint Peter that stood in the centre of the city. They lifted the floor and dug all day. Just as it seemed they would be disappointed, Peter himself jumped into the trench and miraculously produced a piece of metal which he declared to be the Holy Lance.
Not to be outdone by Stephen, Peter was then visited by Saint Andrew again who, happily, was able to confirm that the beautiful but silent companion who was with him on his visitations was Jesus Christ. Saint Andrew now declared that the crusaders must fast for five days and then attack the Turks.
Fortunately, the advice of the saint coincided with the conclusion that some of the army’s leaders had already reached – that their only option was a daring attack out of the city.
A cult quickly grew up around the lance, championed by Raymond of Toulouse. The army did as the saint bid and on 28th of June the army was drawn up into six divisions, one led by Bishop Adhemar himself, and they attacked the Turks. The lance was carried into battle by Raymond’s chaplain. Some who fought would testify that Saint George, Saint Mercurius and Saint Demetrius all rode into battle alongside them.
The crusaders won a stunning and unexpected victory. This may have been due to the power of the lance, or it may have been due to the infighting and factionalism within Kerbogha’s army that was already causing it to fragment.
Faith in the lance was now strong, and Raymond’s reputation was burnished by his association with it. One would assume that the leaders of the army would have seized on this momentum to make the short march to Jerusalem. But they did not. Instead, they squabbled over possession of the city.
Adhemar carrying one of the instances of the Holy Lance during the first crusade at Antioch British Library Manuscript (Public Domain)
The leaders had sworn to Emperor Alexios that they would return any captured territory to the empire, but relations with Alexios were now frayed as he had failed to come to their aid throughout their time at Antioch. Bohemond controlled most of the city already and he was quite happy to stay there and create his own personal fiefdom. Raymond was outraged by this and refused to leave the city unless Bohemond also left.
A fever (probably typhus) swept through the city and Adhemar was one of its victims. This was a blow to the whole mission because Adhemar had been an emollient influence on the leaders. Without him, their divisions became more entrenched.
Peter Bartholomew, who had always resented Adhemar’s scepticism of the lance, then claimed to have had a vision of the bishop. He said Adhemar had spent several days in hell for his lack of faith in the relic but had been saved by the prayers of Bohemond. In the vision, Adhemar said that everybody must leave the city to Bohemond and march onto Jerusalem.
This put Raymond in a difficult position. He was still the champion of the lance, but the discoverer of the lance was now saying things he didn’t want to hear. He therefore declared that he still believed in the lance but no longer believed that Peter’s visions were genuine which was a difficult position to justify. The contents of this vision also caused problems for Peter. Adhemar was highly respected and, by drawing attention to the fact that Adhemar did not believe the lance to be genuine, Peter simply fuelled the scepticism that was already growing towards it.
Finally, Raymond agreed to move on. In doing so he was simply accepting the reality of the situation – that Bohemond was already the de facto governor of the city – and it was also an opportunity for him to exert more control over the rest of the mission and restore his reputation which was now suffering due to his association with the lance. However, they did not move onto Jerusalem as expected. Instead, they besieged the town of Arqa. This siege did not go well and soon the army agitated to give it up and move onto their real objective. Raymond refused. Peter Bartholomew then had another vision. This time Saint Andrew said they must assault Arqa just as Raymond wanted.
It appears people had now had enough. Once again, Peter’s vision seemed simply to support a powerful man’s will. Peter, and by implication, the Holy Lance were now openly derided. In his fury at this, Peter demanded to be subjected to an ordeal by fire.
On Good Friday 1099 a passageway was created between two walls of burning logs. Peter passed into the flames, holding the lance, and emerged at the other end, terribly burned. He died after an agonising twelve days.
This act suggests that Peter was not as cynical as he often appears. It seems he had genuine faith in the relic. Why his visions so frequently supported the will of one leader or another, we will never know. Perhaps he was a simple man who was being manipulated by more powerful men.
The lance was now thoroughly discredited. Raymond was humiliated. He finally relented and lifted the siege of Arqa so that the crusade could move on to Jerusalem. And so, the Holy Lance of Antioch and the visions of Peter Bartholomew were instrumental in both the survival of the crusade in Antioch and in instigating the final stage of the holy mission; the siege of Jerusalem.