The Siege Begins
The siege of Jerusalem began once the army settled in their positions. That was on June 7th, 1099 the day they arrived. Thomas Asbridge suggested that the Franks possessed only one scaling ladder, but there was absolutely no way they would have been able to besiege the city with only one ladder. The Egyptian garrison would have effortlessly crushed their efforts and the First Crusade would have come to an abrupt end.
The Franks must have had with them at least a few mangonels because they were somehow able to put up a strong resistance against the Egyptian garrison. Regardless, that did not improve their situation. A few mangonels and one or two scaling ladders were not going to ensure victory. The only things that were going to save the Franks were their faith and their native Christian allies.
Meanwhile, Iftikhar kept watch on the road to the west, the one that led up to the Jaffa Gate. He was confident in the city's battlements, the food provisions it offered, and in his garrison. But he hoped Al-Afdal would arrive soon with a relief force because Iftikhar did not know how long he was able to hold out against the Franks.
As the days went by, the Franks began to face serious problems. Their food and water supplies grew short. There was no freshwater nearby because all of the wells had been poisoned. The only source of fresh water nearby was in the pool of Siloam, but that was located directly below the south wall. The Franks did not venture near there because of the Muslim archers who guarded that wall. However, thanks to native Christian intelligence, the Franks learnt of streams that ran through the Judean landscape further away from the city. That source of water was their only saving grace.
"During the siege, we suffered so badly from thirst that we sewed up the skins of oxen and buffaloes, and we used to carry water in them for the distance of six miles," wrote Fulcher of Chartres.
The Franks were greatly relieved to know there was water somewhere, but they could not escape Iftikhar's watchful eye. When Iftikhar learnt what they were up to, he sent a small force after them. "The Saracens used to lie in wait for our men by every spring and pool where they killed them and cut them to pieces," Fulcher wrote. Without doubt, several if not hundreds of pilgrims and soldiers died at the hands of Muslim warriors while fulfilling their most basic need: drinking water. The Franks at that point knew their expedition was on the brink of destruction. If they didn't take Jerusalem soon, they would all be annihilated.
On June 12th, the princes made a pilgrimage to the Mount of Olives with the intention of purifying their souls, but also with hopes that one person or vision would promise them a swift victory. There, they were greeted by an old hermit -- possibly one of the native Christian inhabitants who had been forced to leave Jerusalem. He implored them to attack Jerusalem at once. According to Raymond of Aguilers, a chronicler of the First Crusade, the hermit said this:
"The Lord will give you Jerusalem if you will storm it tomorrow until the ninth hour."
The Christians replied; "We do not have any siege machinery."
Then the hermit said; "God is so omnipotent that if he wishes, you could scale the wall with one ladder. He is with those who work for the truth."
On the hermit's advice, the Franks attacked the north wall the next morning with much fervor. But since they had only a few scaling ladders and since they had set their ladders too far apart from each other, the Franks were beaten back. Disappointed and disheartened, they retreated. In that moment, the princes realized that faith alone wasn't going to ensure them victory, so on June 15th, they held a council meeting. In that meeting they agreed to hold off on another assault until the army was better supplied with scaling ladders, siege towers and mangonels.
They made their decision at the right time because, two days later, six ships from Europe made entrance into the harbor at Jaffa*. Two of those ships were Genoese, commanded by the Embriaco brothers. The other four ships were possibly from England. All ships carried soldiers, craftsmen and plenty of supplies needed to build the siege towers, scaling ladders and mangonels.
When the Franks learnt of this maritime relief force, they sent a small force under the command of Raymond Pilet to greet them.
Al-Afdal must have found out about the western relief force because, no sooner had the six ships entered port, an Egyptian fleet appeared at Jaffa and blockaded the port. However, the crew, craftsmen and soldiers hastily abandoned their ships and marched to Jerusalem with Raymond Pilet and his force, carrying all the supplies they had brought with them.
The Franks now had all the supplies they needed, but they didn't have the wood needed to build the siege machinery. Thanks again to native Christian intelligence, they didn't have to wander aimlessly through the Judean countryside, searching for trees. The native Christians knew exactly where all the woodlands were and so they led the Franks to those areas.
The Franks spent the next three weeks working furiously, chopping down trees, hauling them back to camp and then building the siege machinery. Elderly men, women and children even shared in the work: They sewed ox-hide and camel hide and nailed it to the 'exposed parts of the woodwork as protection against the Greek fire used by the Saracens' (Runciman, 285).
Godfrey of Bouillon oversaw the construction of an immense siege tower. It was built beside the north wall, directly across from the Quadrangular Tower. Strategically, the design of this siege tower was brilliant: it could be dismantled into small compartments that could be moved on wheels and erected quickly.
Meanwhile, on the south end of Jerusalem, at Mount Zion, Count Raymond had his men fill in the ditch with stones and oversaw the construction of his own siege engines.
The Franks tried to build their siege engines out of the Egyptians' site, but they could not escape Iftikhar's watchful eye. As they built their siege engines, Iftikhar saw to it that the city's fortifications were strengthened and oversaw the construction of his own mangonels. He looked upon the Franks' vigor and preparation with some trepidation. Yet, he wasn't going to let them take his city. He was prepared to fight them to the bitter end. At the same time, Iftikhar wished his overlord, Al-Afdal would arrive soon with his relief army.
Make no mistake; the three-week period of construction on both sides did not pass without violence. Muslim warriors hung wooden crosses on the walls, spat and urinated on them in plain view of the Franks.
Horrified and infuriated, the Franks took their revenge in the most brutal manner. As they had done before, they decapitated all Egyptian spies they caught in their camp and catapulted their heads over the city's walls. On one occasion, they stuck an Egyptian captive in a catapult alive and attempted to fling him over the city wall, but since the catapult was weighed too heavily by his body, he wasn't flung far. "He soon fell onto the sharp stones near the walls, broke his neck, his nerves and bones, and is reported to have died instantly," wrote one chronicler (quoted in Asbridge, 96).
*Jaffa is the nearest Mediterranean port to Jerusalem.
Sources Used
Asbridge, Thomas. The Crusades: The Authoritative History of The War For The Holy Land. New York; Ecco, 2011
Krey, August C. The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesss and Participants. Princeton; Princeton University Press, 1921
Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades: The First Crusade. Vol.1. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1951