The
Byzantines agreed to this and on June 18, Nicaea was under Byzantine
control. The leaders of the crusade disagreed and wanted to slaughter
the Turks because they were enemies of Christ.(2) On June 30, 1097,
the crusaders were ambushed at the city of Dorylaeum by Seljuk Turks
led by Kilij Arslam the Seljuk Sultan. The fight continued until July
1. The crusaders won a big victory and nearly wiped out the Turkish
force. This victory opened up the way to Anatolia.
The crusaders attacked Anitoch in northern Syria on October
21, 1097. "This was the main obstacle on the road to Jerusalem."(3)
In a long and gruesome battle, the city finally fell on June 2, 1098. The crusaders were quickly attacked by a new Turkish army from Al
Mawsil. They arrived too late to revive Anitoch's Turkish defenders
and they were forced to retreat on June 28. The starting date for the march to Jerusalem was set for
November 1, 1098 but was delayed by an epidemic as well as fighting to
the south of Anitoch. On January 13, 1099 the commander-in-chief,
Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, led the crusaders' march to Jerusalem.
They avoided attacks on cities to conserve forces. In May 1099 they
reached the northern border of Palestine. On June 7 they camped on
the summit of a hill where they could see Jerusalem. Many soldiers
had tears of joy on that day. The hill was named Montjoie. Jerusalem was well fortified and only vulnerable from the
north and the southwest. On June 13 they tried to storm Jerusalem but
were driven back because of insufficient supplies. Extreme heat and a
water shortage lowered morale. A priest called Peter Desiderius told
them that if they fasted and held a procession around the walls of
Jerusalem with sufficient piety, the city would be theirs within nine
days. The crusaders did this and, when they completed building
three mini castles, they assaulted Jerusalem on July 13. "There was a
frenzy of killing as everyone was hacked down."(4) The governor and
his staff were the only Muslims to escape alive. The Jewish library
containing 8 Torah rolls and 330 manuscripts survived. After the First Crusade, four Levant states were established:
Jerusalem, Tripoli, Anitoch, and Edessa. The success of this
crusade was largely due to the isolation and weakness of the Muslim
powers.(5)
The Muslim reunification started in the Middle East under Imad
ad-Din Zangi, the ruler of Al Mawsil and Halab.