Study the sieges of Antioch and Jerusalem during the first crusade and Acre during the Third Crusade. Describe the logistical hardships of mounting a siege in foreign territory. Compare the means and ends of each campaign. How did the Crusaders act toward Jews and Muslims.
Just as the developing warfare of the West, sieges were more common during the Crusades than were actual battles, and in the broader scope, the outcomes of these sieges were of more importance in the East, where territory was won and controlled step by step, city and castle, one at a time. From the onset, it was obvious to the Crusaders that they must establish a base of operations within the perimeter of the Islamic stranglehold, and the natural selection was the city once great Roman city of Antioch. It was the siege of Antioch on which the entire first expedition's success depended on, and it was with such desperation that the Christian armies besieged the city in 1097.
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English: Medieval miniature painting of the Siege ...
The Four Leaders of the First Crusade (1095)The actual attempt of besieging was a military nightmare to begin with; the country surrounding the city was a mixture of plains, marsh, highlands, and river tributaries. The Muslims, under the leadership of Yaghi-Sian, increased the difficulties with sorties and arrows volleys, and essentially ended the crusader attempts of scaling the walls via belfries, and forced them to rely upon the blockade. It was during the blockade operations that the hardships already experienced by the crusaders became almost unbearable (and to those that deserted, it was unbearable). At Antioch, just three months after the blockade began, prices skyrocketed to a level that the less noble soldier was forced to live on reduced rations or go without food and risk starvation; however, after the fifth month, a small relief finally arrived by way of Genoese ships delivering...