long march across Anatolia. Food and water were in desperately short supply and eye-witnesses wrote of barbarism and even cannibalism amongst both the humbler soldiers and those who had once been knights, but who, having lost both their horses and the means to replace them, had forfeited their social status and their money. Raymond of Agiles, the chaplain to Raymond of St Gilles, blamed the loose living in the army for the danger that the expedition seemed to be in and he vividly described the penitential processions and fastings which were ordered by the clergy. In this highly charged emotional atmosphere, came the amazing news of the discovery, on 15 June, of what was believed to be the Holy Lance which had pierced the Saviour's side on the cross. Visions and dreams had led two men, Peter Bartholomew and Stephen of Valence, to the place where the lance had been hidden and similar spiritual experiences began to spread through the army. When the Muslim armies surrounding them were finally defeated at the end of June, many reported seeing saints on white chargers leading the attack. Christ Himself appeared in visions to chide them for their delay in continuing the march to Jerusalem. The exhausted crusaders seemed to have drawn new resolution from such reports and certainly amongst the humbler soldiers there was increasing impatience to continue the march. Matters were delayed, however, by a violent disagreement between Raymond of St Gilles and Bohemond of Taranto about which of them should be granted control over Antioch. In the event, Bohemond gained possession. He did not hand the city over to the representatives of the Byzantine emperor and his reason for doing this was partly that, mistakenly informed that the crusader army was about to be annihilated outside Antioch, the Emperor Alexius had withdrawn his forces and was preparing to return to Constantinople. Bohemond maintained that any alliance was thus rendered null and void; the Byzantines, on realizing that he had no intention of giving up his prize, marked out the Latins in general and Bohemond in particular as potential enemies who could not be trusted to keep their word. This 'treachery' was to sour Latin-Byzantine relations for the immediate future.
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