the First Crusade

The Crusader

Raymond was deeply religious, and wished to die in the Holy Land, and so when the call was raised for the First Crusade, he was one of the first to take the cross. The oldest and the richest of the crusaders, Raymond left Toulouse at the end of October 1096, with a large company that included his wife Elvira, his infant son (who would die on the journey) and Adhemar, bishop of Le Puy, the papal legate. He ignored requests by his niece, Philippa (the rightful heiress to Toulouse) to grant the rule of Toulouse to her in his stead; instead, he left Bertrand, his eldest son, to govern. He marched to Dyrrhachium, and then east to Constantinople along the same route used by Bohemond of Taranto. At the end of April, 1097, he was the only crusade leader not to swear an oath of fealty to Byzantine emperor Alexius I. Instead, Raymond swore an oath of friendship, and offered his support against Bohemond, mutual enemy of both Raymond and Alexius.

He was present at the siege of Nicaea and the Battle of Dorylaeum in 1097, but his first major role came in October of 1097 at the siege of Antioch. The crusaders heard a rumour that Antioch had been deserted by the Seljuk Turks, so Raymond sent his army ahead to occupy it, offending Bohemond of Taranto who wanted the city for himself. The city was, however, still occupied, and was taken by the crusaders only after a difficult siege in June of 1098. Raymond took the palatium Cassiani (the palace of the emir, Yaghi-Siyan) and the tower over the Bridge Gate. He was ill during the second siege of Antioch by Kerbogha which culminated in the discovery of the Holy Lance by a monk named Peter Bartholomew.

The "miracle" raised the morale of the crusaders, and to their surprise they were able to rout Kerbogha outside Antioch. The Lance itself became a valuable relic among Raymond's followers, despite Adhemar of Le Puy's skepticism and Bohemond's disbelief and occasional mockery. Raymond also refused to relinquish his control of the city to Bohemond, reminding Bohemond that he was obligated to return to Antioch and the court of Emperor Alexius, as he had sworn to do. A struggle then arose between Raymond's supporters and the supporters of Bohemond, partly over the genuineness of the Lance, but mostly over the possession of Antioch.