People/Latin Crusaders and Crusader states

c. 1054–1111 · Leader of the First Crusade and Prince of Antioch

Bohemond I

Other names · Bohemond I of Antioch · Bohemund of Taranto

First Crusade leader who took Antioch in 1098 and founded a Norman principality there.

Bohemond I
Verified biography·Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER

Life and historical role

01

Life and political setting

Bohemond was a son of the Norman commander Robert Guiscard and had already gained experience in Balkan warfare against Byzantium before the crusade. He led the south-Italian Norman contingent east and swore an oath to Alexios at Constantinople, but his ambitions at Antioch soon brought him into conflict with the emperor.

02

Role in the Crusades

During the siege of Antioch Bohemond exploited contact with Firuz inside the city and secured recognition of his claim to rule it. Danishmendid forces captured him near Melitene in 1100; he remained a prisoner until his release for a large ransom in 1103. The Treaty of Devol in 1108 defined him as a Byzantine subordinate, although its terms were not effectively imposed in Antioch.

Method note

Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.

CONTEXTUAL READING

Related cases

1096 (late)–May 1097 · Constantinople

Princes' armies assemble at Constantinople

From autumn 1096 to spring 1097 the crusading princes' armies reached Constantinople by different routes. Alexios I took oaths from the leaders that they would return former Byzantine territory; over Antioch in particular, this oath became a lasting dispute.

Open record →1 July 1097 · Eskişehir region

Battle of Dorylaeum

After Nicaea the crusader army advanced in two columns. On 1 July 1097 the vanguard was attacked near Dorylaion (Eskişehir) by Kilij Arslan I and his allies. The second column's arrival in the afternoon forced the Turkish forces to withdraw and opened the road through Anatolia.

Open record →20 October 1097 – 28 June 1098 · Antioch

Siege of Antioch

The crusader army besieged Antioch from October 1097. After a winter of severe famine, the city was taken on 3 June 1098 through a tower opened from within; the crusaders were then besieged by Kerbogha's relief army, which they defeated in battle on 28 June.

Open record →July 1098 · Antioch

Foundation of the Principality of Antioch

After Antioch was taken, Bohemond refused to return the city to Byzantium and established his own rule. His dispute with Raymond of Saint-Gilles was settled in his favour in early 1099, and the Principality of Antioch took shape as a separate crusader state.

Open record →1100 – 1103 · Melitene – Niksar

Captivity of Bohemond I

Bohemond I, prince of Antioch, was ambushed and captured by the Danishmend Gümüştegin in August 1100 while going to the aid of Melitene. Held at Niksar for nearly three years, he was released in spring 1103 for a high ransom.

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