History of the Crusades.

the Crusades. episodes.

Episode 15, the First Crusade Roman numeral 11.

Hello again.

Last week we saw the Crusaders delayed at Antioch

while they struggled to resolve the question of who would govern the city and who would lead the crusade after the death of Bishop Adama.

At the end of last week's episode we saw Raymond of Toulouse decide to capture the nearby town of Marat-Arnouman as part of a strategic move to secure territory to the south of Antioch, with a view to secure territory to the south of Antioch, with a view to restricting

supplies into the city and loosening Bohemon's hold on the town. By all reports prior to the arrival of the Crusaders,

Marat An Numan was a nice place to live. Situated on gently sloping plains. Around three days

March from Antioch, the city had no natural defences.

It rectified this problem by being heavily fortified.

Similarly to Antioch, the entire town was surrounded by a high wall which itself was then surrounded by a dry moat.

The inhabitants of Marat and Numan were nominally ruled by King Riduan of Lepo and kept themselves

busy growing figs, olives and grapes. They enjoyed modest prosperity and the town's fortifications

ensured that they were largely untroubled by the instability of local politics.

And a famous poet once lived there.

A blind poet who was an influential figure in early Arab literature.

And then came the Crusaders.

On the 27th of November, Raymond of Toulouse and Robert of Flanders, along with a large contingent of southern

French troops, arrived at Marat.

Having followed events at nearby Antioch and the fall of the city to the Latin Christians,

some residents of Marat had already decided to leave the town, taking their families to the more secure cities of Aleppo,

...