Deeds of the Franks, Book 10, Chapter 33

After all this had been done, Raymond, Count of St. Giles, left Antioch with his men in the month of November and he went to a city, which was called Rugia, and through another which is called Albaria(Al-Bara). Four days before the end of November(28), he went to the city of Marra(Al-Numan), in which there was a great multitude of Saracens, Turks, Arabs, and other pagans congregated together. And the next day, the Count attacked them. A short time later, Bohemond with his own army followed the counts and joined up with him on the Sunday. On the second day, they invaded the town with such great force and so harshly and manfully, that ladders stood upright at the walls. But there was such a great strength of pagans that, on that day, they were not able to harm or even annoy them. The leaders, seeing that they were able to achieve nothing and were laboring in vain; it made Raymond Count of St. Giles build a certain wooden fort, strong and high. This fort was very clever and built on four wheels, on top of which could stand many knights and Everard the Hunter blew and strong blast on the military tuba. Below him were armed knights, who had lead the fort all the way next to the wall of the city, beside a certain tower. The pagan peoples seeing this, immediately built instruments which were throwing great rocks over the fort, thus so that they could almost kill our knights. They were also launching greek fire over the fort, reckoning thus to burn and ruin it. But the All-Powerful God was unwilling that the fort would burn in this manner. It was towering over all the walls of the city. Then our knights, who were in the upper balcony, namely William de Montpellier and many others, were throwing immense stones onto those who were standing on the walls of the city, and thus were striking them hard on their shields, so that both the shield and the enemy fell downwards into the city dead. While they were doing this, others were holding glorious banners on their spears and, with lances and iron hooks, they were reckoning to drag the Turks towards themselves and thus they were battling until nightfall. Behind the fort were standing priests and clerics wearing their sacred vestments, praying and beseeching God that he would defend his own people, exalt Christianity and get rid of paganism.

In other parts, our knights were struggling daily with them, setting up ladders against the wall of the city, but the strength of the pagans was so great that they were not able to make any headway. Then Gulferius de Daturre first climbed the ladder on the wall but immediately the ladder had been broken by the numbers of other climbing the ladder. However, he himself climbed up with some others onto the wall. Those, who had climbed, were clearing a space around themselves at the wall. The others also found another ladder, and hurriedly set it up against the wall and up it climbed many knights and foot soldiers. On the spot, they climbed onto the wall. The Saracens so robustly attacked those on the wall and on the ground with arrows and barbs as well as their lances, so that many of our men backed away from the wall trembling with fear. Those very valiant men who remained on the wall so long endured the attacks from the Turks, so long that others who were under the fort, could dig under the wall of the city. The Saracens, seeing that our men had dug under the wall, immediately took flight trembling with fear into the city. This deed had been done on the day of the Sabbath at the hour of the evening as the sun was setting, the 11th day of December.(the dates are kind of troubling. It should be December but Anon writes intrante Decembri)

Then Bohemond arranged to speak through an interpreter to the Saracen leaders, so that they with their wives and children and other properties could place themselves in one palace which is above the gate, and he himself would defend them from the sentence of death. All our men broke into the city and they found something good in the homes and small pits, each of these was holding an individual. Moreover as had been done on that day, anyone they were finding anywhere, they were killing whether male or female. No corner of the city was empty of the bodies of Saracens and one was scarcely able to go through the streets of the city unless by stepping on the bodies of Saracens. Then Bohemond seized those who he had ordered to go into the palace, and he took from them all that they had, namely gold, silver and other valuables, some he ordered to be killed, others he ordered to be lead for sale at Antioch.

The Franks were delayed in that city for one month and four days, in which the bishop of Orange fell dead. There were, among our men, those who could find nothing to do, there was such a long delay, stretched out so much by famine since they were unable to go outside to find booty, that they were tearing open bodies of the dead, because they were finding besants concealed in their stomachs; others cut their bodies up into pieces in vain and were cooking them to eat them.

Raoul of Caen, wrote in his Gesta Tancredi (Deeds of Tancred) of the extreme shame that some of the Franks were tormented by such a fierce hunger that they grilled and voraciously ate the dead Saracens and even their dogs. (chapter 97) It is likely that the delay caused by Raymond and Bohemond's quarrel over Antioch in a land that had been depleted of food by an almost 2 year war pushed the poorer pilgrims to desperate measures.