His words satisfied everyone. They agreed that his advice was sound and that what he proposed should be effected. Firouz, then, having escaped the trial, knew he could hesitate no longer. He notified Bohemond that they must act. Tomorrow, he said by way of messengers, you will sound the trumpets and ride out of sight, pretending that you go to pillage the land. But at night you must return quickly, silently. I will be at the tower I command and will direct you.
Bohemond now told a servant, Malacorna, to advise the cavalry and have them prepare.
Anon, a herald proclaimed that all should obey orders. So the Franks rode noisily out of sight. Before day they quietly returned. And by the Tower of Two Sisters was a ladder fixed to projections from the wall. Bohemond directed his boldest knights to ascend. If it please God, said he, we shall hold Antioch in our grasp. Thus in a short time sixty knights stood atop the wall.
Firouz, however, began to tremble because they were so few. Micro Francos echome, he said in his native tongue and asked where was the most fierce knight Bohemond. Why did Bohemond stand on the ground?
At this a Longobard descended the ladder and ran to ask why Bohemond did not join the others. Bohemond is said to have felt ashamed because he ought to have gone first. Very nimbly he climbed up and more knights followed. They ran around killing everyone they met. The ladder broke under the weight of so many armored knights but there was a postern gate nearby and certain Franks exploring in the darkness came upon it and broke through and entered the city. Thus at dawn the people awoke to see Bohemond’s red banner on a hill. By the account of one who participated that is how Antioch was taken.
Yet another relates how seven hundred knights were chosen to climb the wall. The plan was kept secret, a herald rode through camp announcing that they were going to face Kerbogha. Then at the appointed time Bohemond sent his interpreter who returned saying Firouz urged them to hurry because watchmen with lighted torches had just gone by, and Firouz lowered a rope that the Franks attached to a ladder made from strips of hide. When this ladder had been secured Bohemond climbed a few steps, after him Godfrey de Bouillon. Next, Robert the Fleming. They were saved from discovery by the howl of wind rushing through mountain gorges, by the tumult of the swollen river, by the noise of rain dashing madly against the wall. Whatever the fact, these Franks triumphed who set their hope in God Almighty who knows not how to be conquered.
According to William of Tyre, Firouz had a brother who despised the army of Christ, so Firouz did not confide in him. About the ninth hour when the Franks rode out of camp these two stood side by side on the ramparts watching. Firouz, anxious to know his brother’s thoughts, said he could not but pity such misguided people who would meet a bitter end. Behold how confidently they ride forth, said he. Little do they know what snares have been laid. Little do they know what tomorrow will bring.
Would that already they had fallen beneath Turkish swords, his brother replied. From the day they marched into view we have had no rest.
At these words the spirit of Firouz shrank. And lest the will of God be thwarted he began to plot his brother’s death.
According to William the rope was made of hemp, secured atop the wall, fixed below with iron hooks. Midnight was past when the interpreter crept forward. Firouz spoke through an opening in the wall. Go quickly to your lord. Tell him to come without delay. Firouz then hurried into the turret where his brother lay asleep and stabbed him. Bohemond, upon seeing the corpse, embraced Firouz who had slain his own brother, who demonstrated that he loved Christianity above all else.
When those who had gained the wall saw the light of an approaching torch they hid behind a buttress and as the Turk came in reach they murdered him before he was able to cry out. Next they hurried down the staircase and opened a portal to admit their comrades. Raymond, waiting for a signal, brought up his legions so almost at once Frankish knights crowded the streets. Thus, Antioch awoke to shouts and screams of terror. Many Franks outside the wall thought Kerbogha’s army had arrived, but others said those were not the shrieks of exultant Turks. As the sky lightened it was possible to make out Frankish banners on the southern hill. Antioch, capital and glory of Syria, had fallen.
Eagerly the pilgrims searched for gold and jewels and broke through alabaster screens to get at Turkish women. They ran through apartments looking for silk, velvet, coins, treasure of any sort. In mosques where enemies of God congregate, where the false writing of Islam is worshipped, where prophets of the Antichrist hold forth, they gathered and burned deceitful works. They slit the bellies of iniquitous Saracen priests, drew out the entrails and led them by their own entrails around heaps of burning parchment. In this way the exuberance of wickedness was checked. And how could acolytes of the Lord feel other than they did? They saw with dismay what Saracens had done. Eyes gouged from images of the saints, noses plastered with shit.
Armenians, Syrians, and other true believers in the city wept for joy. They picked up weapons and guided the Frankish host through unfamiliar streets, pointing out the homes of wealthy Turks, and helped to slay the guards. They who had so long borne the yoke of servitude now saw fit to exact revenge, bathing
