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Bohemond I of
Antioch
Bohemond I (also spelled Bohemund or Boamund;
c. 1058 – 3 March 1111), Prince of Taranto and Prince
of Antioch, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade.
The First Crusade had no outright military leader, but
instead was ruled by a committee of nobles, of which
Bohemond was one of the most important. The
Norman monarchy he founded in Antioch would prove
to outlast both those of England and Sicily.
1 Early life
Bohemond was born in San Marco Argentano,
Calabria, as the eldest son of the Norman nobleman
Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, and his
first wife Alberada of Buonalbergo. He was christened
“Mark” at his baptism, but was nicknamed Bohemond
(after the legendary giant Buamundus gigas), by his
father due to his size as an infant.
According to the Breve Chronicon Northmannicum,
Bohemond was in 1079 in command of a unit of his
father’s army.
2 Byzantine wars
Bohemond served under his father in the great attack
on the Byzantine Empire (1080–1085) and
commanded the Normans during Guiscard’s absence
(1082–1084), penetrating into Thessaly as far as
Larissa, but being eventually repulsed by Alexius I
Comnenus. This early hostility to Alexius had a great
influence in determining the course and policy of the
Empire from the time of Bohemond (whom his father
had destined for the throne of Constantinople) to that
of Roger II of Sicily.
It seems that Guiscard left his son with orders to
continue the advance into the Byzantine west and
perhaps as far as possible, even to Constantinople.
Accordingly, in Spring 1082, Bohemond left Kastoria
and besieged Ioannina. In the region around Ioannina
were settled Vlach foederati of the empire and
Bohemond made peace with them, probably garnering
their military support, for he left behind many fortified
places still in the hands of the Greeks. Alexius met
Bohemond in battle in the environs of Ioannina, which
the Normans had been ravaging. Both generals altered
their strategies in light of prior engagements, but
Bohemond was victorious and again near Arta a short
while later. These defeats deeply hurt Byzantine
prestige in the region and even Ochrid, seat of the
Bulgarian archbishopric, submitted to the Normans.
Bohemond stayed at Ochrid, though he could not take
the citadel, and from there began organising the
defence of his conquests. Alexius responded to
Bohemond’s ascendance by sowing dissension among
his top officers. Bohemond then advanced on Larissa,
where he intended to winter. The siege lasted six
months until Alexius forced the Normans to retreat in
the spring. Bohemond returned to Kastoria and was
there besieged until the city fell in October or
November 1083. In 1084, Guiscard and his other sons,
Roger Borsa and Guy, arrived with a new army in
Greece. In winter, Bohemond was ill and returned to
Italy.
3 Apulian succession crisis
When Robert Guiscard died on 17 July 1085,
Bohemond inherited his father’s Adriatic possessions,
which were soon lost to the Byzantines, while his
younger half-brother Roger inherited Apulia and the
Italian possessions. Happily for him, Bohemond was
in Salerno at the time of the Guiscard’s death while
Roger was still in Greece. Roger and his mother
Sichelgaita quickly returned to the peninsula.
According to Orderic Vitalis, Bohemond fled to Capua
in fear that Sichelgaita, who was rumoured to have
poisoned Guiscard, would poison him. A better
suggestion is that he wished to ally himself with Prince
Jordan I of Capua in light of the alliance between
Roger and his uncle, Count Roger I of Sicily, who had
secured his nephew’s recognition as duke in
September. Bohemond, with Capuan support, rebelled
against his brother and took Oria, Otranto, and
Taranto. The brothers, however, made peace in March
1086 and acted as effective co-rulers. In late Summer
1087, Bohemond renewed the war with the support of
some of his brother’s vassals. He surprised and
defeated Roger at Fragneto (Province of Benevento)
and retook Taranto.
The war was finally resolved by the mediation of Pope
Urban II and the award of Taranto and other
possessions to Bohemond.[5] Though Bohemond
received a small principality (an allodial possession)
for himself in the heel of southern Italy, as
compensation from Sichelgaita after renouncing his
rights to the Duchy, he sought a greater status for
himself. The chronicler Romoald of Salerno said of
Bohemond that “he was always seeking the
impossible.”
4 First Crusade
In 1097, Bohemond, along with his uncle Roger I of
Sicily the great count of Sicily, was attacking Amalfi,
which had revolted against Duke Roger, when bands
of crusaders began to pass, on their way through Italy
to Constantinople. The zeal of the crusader came upon
Bohemond; it is possible, however, that he saw in the
First Crusade nothing more than a chance to carve for
himself an eastern principality. Geoffrey Malaterra
bluntly states that Bohemond took the Cross with the
intention of plundering and conquering Greek lands.
He gathered a Norman army, perhaps one of the finest
in the crusading host, at the head of which he crossed
the Adriatic Sea, and penetrated to Constantinople
along the route he had tried to follow in 1082–1084.
He was careful to observe a “correct” attitude towards
Alexius, and when he arrived at Constantinople in
April 1097 he did homage to the emperor. He may have
negotiated with Alexius about a principality at
Antioch; if he did so, he had little encouragement.
From Constantinople to Antioch, Bohemond was the
real leader of the First Crusade; and it says much for
his leadership that the First Crusade succeeded in
crossing Asia Minor, which the Crusade of 1101, the
Second Crusade in 1147, and the Third Crusade in
1189 failed to accomplish.
The Emperor’s daughter, Anna Comnena, leaves a
good portrait of him in her Alexiad; she met him for
the first time when she was fourteen, and was quite
fascinated by him. She left no similar portrait of any
other Crusader prince. Of Bohemond, she wrote:
Now [Bohemond] was such as, to put it briefly,
had never before been seen in the land of the
Romans [that is, Greeks], be he either of the
barbarians or of the Greeks (for he was a marvel
for the eyes to behold, and his reputation was
terrifying). Let me describe the barbarian’s
appearance more particularly – he was so tall in
stature that he overtopped the tallest by nearly one
cubit, narrow in the waist and loins, with broad
shoulders and a deep chest and powerful arms.
And in the whole build of the body he was neither
too slender nor over-weighted with flesh, but
perfectly proportioned and, one might say, built
in conformity with the canon of Polycleitus... His
skin all over his body was very white, and in his
face the white was tempered with red. His hair
was yellowish, but did not hang down to his waist
like that of the other barbarians; for the man was
not inordinately vain of his hair, but had it cut
short to the ears. Whether his beard was reddish,
or any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had
passed over it very closely and left a surface
smoother than chalk... His blue eyes indicated
both a high spirit and dignity; and his nose and
nostrils breathed in the air freely; his chest
corresponded to his nostrils and by his
nostrils...the breadth of his chest. For by his
nostrils nature had given free passage for the high
spirit which bubbled up from his heart. A certain
charm hung about this man but was partly marred
by a general air of the horrible... He was so made
in mind and body that both courage and passion
reared their crests within him and both inclined to
war. His wit was manifold and crafty and able to
find a way of escape in every emergency. In
conversation he was well informed, and the
answers he gave were quite irrefutable. This man
who was of such a size and such a character was
inferior to the Emperor alone in fortune and
eloquence and in other gifts of nature.
A politique, Bohemond was resolved to engineer the
enthusiasm of the crusaders to his own ends; and when
his nephew Tancred left the main army at Heraclea
Cybistra, and attempted to establish a footing in
Cilicia, the movement may have been already intended
as a preparation for Bohemond’s eastern principality.
Bohemond was the first to get into position before
Antioch (October 1097), and he took a great part in the
siege of the city, beating off the Muslim attempts at
relief from the east, and connecting the besiegers on
the west with the port of St Simeon and the Genoese
ships which lay there.
Bohemond and his Norman troops scale the walls of Antioch,
in an engraving by Gustave Doré.
The capture of Antioch was due to his connection with
Firouz, one of the commanders in the city; but he
would not bring matters to an issue until the possession
of the city was assured him (May 1098), under the
terror of the approach of Kerbogha with a great army
of relief, and with a reservation in favour of Alexius, if
Alexius should fulfil his promise to aid the crusaders.
But Bohemond was not secure in the possession of
Antioch, even after its surrender and the defeat of
Kerbogha; he had to make good his claims against
Raymond of Toulouse, who championed the rights of
Alexius. He obtained full possession in January 1099,
and stayed in the neighbourhood of Antioch to secure
his position, while the other crusaders moved
southward to the capture of Jerusalem.
He came to Jerusalem at Christmas 1099, and had
Dagobert of Pisa elected as Patriarch, perhaps in order
to check the growth of a strong Lotharingian power in
the city. It might seem that Bohemond was destined to
found a great principality in Antioch, which would
dwarf Jerusalem; he had a fine territory, a good
strategic position and a strong army. But he had to face
two great forces—the Byzantine Empire, which
claimed the whole of his territories and was supported
in its claim by Raymond of Toulouse, and the strong compelled him to pay tribute. Meanwhile, Raymond
Muslim principalities in the north-east of Syria. had established himself in Tripoli with the aid of
Against these two forces he failed.
Alexius, and was able to check the expansion of
Antioch to the south, and so early in 1104, Baldwin and
Bohemond passed Aleppo to move eastward and attack
Harran.
But in heading an attack on Harran he was severely
defeated at Balak, near Rakka on the Euphrates (see
Battle of Harran). The defeat was decisive; it made
impossible the great eastern principality which
Bohemond had contemplated. It was followed by a
Greek attack on Cilicia; and despairing of his own
resources, in late 1104 Bohemond returned to Europe
for reinforcements in order to defend his position. It is
a matter of historical debate how far his “crusade” to
be directed against the Byzantine empire was to gain
the backing and indulgences of pope Paschal II. Either
way he enthralled audiences across France with gifts
of relics from the Holy Land and tales of heroism while
Capture of Antioch by Bohemond of Tarente in June 1098.
fighting the infidel, gathering a large army in the
process. Henry I of England famously prevented him
5 Wars between Antioch and the from landing on English shores, so great was his pull
expected to be on the English nobility. His newfound
Byzantine Empire
status won him the hand of Constance, the daughter of
the French king, Philip I. Of this marriage wrote Abbot
The town of Malatia, which guarded one of the Cilician
Suger:
Gates through the Taurus Mountains in the period after
Bohemond came to France to seek by any means he
the First Crusade, had been by 1100 captured by an
could the hand of the Lord Louis’ sister Constance, a
Armenian soldier of fortune. Reports were received
young lady of excellent breeding, elegant appearance
that the Malik Ghazi Danishmend (Danishmend Emir),
and beautiful face. So great was the reputation for
Ghazi Gümüştekin of Sivas, was preparing an
valour of the French kingdom and of the Lord Louis
expedition to capture Malatia, and the Armenians
that even the Saracens were terrified by the prospect
sought help from Bohemond.
of that marriage. She was not engaged since she had
Afraid to weaken his forces at Antioch, but not wishing
broken off her agreement to wed Hugh, count of
to avoid the chance to extend his domain northwards,
Troyes, and wished to avoid another unsuitable
Bohemond in August 1100, marched north with only
match. The prince of Antioch was experienced and
300 knights and a small force of foot soldiers. Failing
rich both in gifts and promises; he fully deserved the
to send scouting parties they were ambushed by the
marriage, which was celebrated with great pomp by
Turks, and completely encircled at the Battle of
the bishop of Chartres in the presence of the king, the
Melitene. Bohemond managed to send one soldier to
Lord Louis, and many archbishops, bishops and
seek help from Baldwin of Edessa, but was captured
noblemen of the realm.
and laden with chains, was confined in prison in NeoDazzled by his success, Bohemond resolved to use his
Caesarea (modern Niksar). He languished in prison
army of 34,000 men, not to defend Antioch against the
until 1103.
Greeks, but to attack Alexius. He did so; but Alexius,
Hearing of Bohemond’s capture, Alexius I, incensed
aided by the Venetians, proved too strong, and
that Bohemond had broken his sacred oath made in
Bohemond had to submit to a humiliating peace (the
Constantinople and kept Antioch for himself, offered
Treaty of Devol, 1108), by which he became the vassal
to redeem the Norman commander and ransom
of Alexius, consented to receive his pay, with the title
Bohemond for 260,000 dinars, if Ghazi Gumushtakin
of sebastos, and promised to cede disputed territories
would hand the prisoner over to Byzantium. When
and to admit a Greek patriarch into Antioch.
Kilij Arslan I, the Seljuk overlord of the Emir, heard of
Henceforth Bohemond was a broken man. He died six
the proposed payment, he demanded half, or
months later without returning to the East, and was
threatened to attack. Bohemond proposed instead a
buried at Canosa in Apulia, in 1111.
ransom of 130,000 dinars paid just to the Emir. The
bargain was concluded and Ghazi and Bohemond
Bohemond I in literature and
exchanged oaths of friendship. Ransomed in 1103 by 6
Baldwin of Edessa, he returned in triumph to Antioch media
in August 1103.
His nephew Tancred, who for three years and taken his The anonymous Gesta Francorum is written by one of
uncle’s place, had during that time attacked the Bohemond’s followers; and The Alexiad of Anna
Byzantines and added Tarsus, Adana and Massissa in Comnena is a primary authority for the whole of his
Cilicia, but was now deprived of his lordship by life. A 1924 biography exists by Yewdale. See also the
Bohemond’s return. Buoyed by Bohemond’s return, Gesta Tancredi by Ralph of Caen, which is a panegyric
the northern Franks over the summer of 1103 attacked of Bohemond’s second-in-command Tancred. His
Ridwan of Aleppo in order to gain supplies and
career is discussed by B von Kügler, Bohemund und
Tancred (1862); while L von Heinemann, Geschichte
der Normannen in Sicilien und Unteritalien (1894),
and R. Röhricht, Geschichte des ersten Kreuzzuges
(1901), and Geschichte das Königreichs Jerusalem
(1898), may also be consulted for his history. The only
major biography that exists in English is “Tancred : a
study of his career and work in their relation to the First
Crusade and the establishment of the Latin states in
Syria and Palestine” by Robert Lawrence Nicholson.
Details of his pre-crusade career can found in Geoffrey
Malaterra’s Deeds of Count Roger Count Bohemund
by Alfred Duggan (1964) is an historical novel
concerning the life of Bohemund and its events up to
the fall of Jerusalem to the crusaders. Bohemond also
appears in the historical novel Silver Leopard by F.
Van Wyck Mason (1955), the short story “The Track
of Bohemond” in the collection The Road of Azrael by
Robert E. Howard (1979), and in the fantastical novel
Pilgermann by Russell Hoban (1983).
Mausoleum of Bohemond in Canosa di Puglia.