The First siege of Arsuf, originally Apollonia, took place in 1099, just after the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

. It was carried out by

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (; ; ; ; 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as pri ...

after the city failed to pay a previously agreed tribute. The attempt to capture the city failed for want of ships.

Background

Arsuf was an ancient city in

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

dating from the late

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, situated on a cliff above the Mediterranean Sea, about 21 miles south of

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

, now in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The city fell to the Muslims in 640 and was fortified to protect against attacks by the Byzantine armies. Godfrey reached an agreement with the citizens of Arsuf after it was known that he intended to stay in Jerusalem and reconciled with Raymond of Toulouse. The treaty stated that Arsuf would pay tribute to Godfrey and included an exchange of hostages that included Godfrey's knight, Gerard of Avesnes. However the Muslim hostages escaped, giving Arsuf no reason to pay their tribute. Godfrey subsequently besieged the city in October.

Siege

An account by

Albert of Aachen Albert of Aix(-la-Chapelle) or Albert of Aachen; ; ''fl.'' c. 1100) was a historian of the First Crusade and the early Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was born during the later part of the 11th century, and afterwards became canon (priest) and ''custos'' ...

stated that Godfrey spent six weeks building '' mangenae'' or stone throwers, which were used to support two siege towers. The number of Godfrey's men, however, was severely reduced after most of the crusaders returned home via Laodicea. In the end the two assaults made on Arsuf were defeated when the garrison set the siege towers on fire. Godfrey was left with no options and ended the siege. During the siege, while the Crusaders pounded the walls with catapults, the

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

had Gerard hung from the mast of an old ship that had been lying in the city. They raised Gerard up to be in view of the attacking Crusaders. Gerard begged Godfrey to take pity on him. Godrey responded that while Gerard was the bravest of knights, but he could not call off the attack. Godfrey said that it was better for Gerard to be the sole casualty than to Arsuf to remain a danger to Christian pilgrims. Gerard then asked that his property be donated to the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Some ...

, of which Godfrey was Defender, instead of the king. The Crusaders continued their attack. Gerard was wounded multiple times, though he managed to survive and make it back to Jerusalem. The city rulers offered to surrender to

Raymond of Saint-Gilles Raymond of Saint-Gilles ( 1041 – 28 February 1105), also called Raymond IV of Toulouse or Raymond I of Tripoli, was the count of Toulouse, duke of Narbonne, and margrave of Provence from 1094, and one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 10 ...

, but Godfrey refused. Raymond even encouraged the garrison at Arsuf to hold out against Godfrey, touting his perceived weakness. Within Godfrey's army, Franco I of

Maasmechelen Maasmechelen (; ) is a municipality located on the Meuse in the Belgian province of Limburg. It comprises the former municipalities of Mechelen-aan-de-Maas, Vucht, Leut, Meeswijk, Uikhoven, Eisden, Opgrimbie, Boorsem, and Kotem. As a result ...

, a relative of Godfrey, is known to have died in the battle.

Second siege of Arsuf

Baldwin I started the second siege and finally took the city on 29 April 1101, after a siege by land and sea with no Latin casualties. The Muslim populace surrendered after three days. Baldwin allowed the inhabitants to withdraw to

Ascalon Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limi ...

, granting them safe conduct, bearing any goods they could carry, and his troops rebuilt the city.''The Crusades'' by

Thomas Asbridge Thomas Scott Asbridge (born 1969) is a historian at Queen Mary University of London, a position he has held since 1999. He is the author of ''The First Crusade: A New History'' (2004), a book which describes the background, events, and consequence ...

, Pg. 123

Change of hands 1187, 1191

In 1187, Arsuf was captured by the Muslims, but fell again to the Crusaders on 7 September 1191 after the

Battle of Arsuf The Battle of Arsuf took place on 7 September 1191, as part of the Third Crusade. It saw a multi-national force of Crusaders, led by Richard I of England, defeat a significantly larger army of the Ayyubid Sultanate, led by Saladin. Followi ...

, fought between the forces of

Richard the Lionheart Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

and

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

Citations

Bibliography

* Riley-Smith, Jonathan, ''The First Crusaders, 1095-1131'', Cambridge University Press, London, 1997 * * {{Israel-hist-stub Arsuf Arsuf 1090s in the Kingdom of Jerusalem 11th century in the Fatimid Caliphate Arsuf Arsuf Palestine under the Fatimid Caliphate