Sieges have provided some of the greatest moments in history moments of tactical genius, victory grasped from the claws of defeat, surviving against all the odds etc. These are ten of the greatest and most impressive to have taken place.
10. Antioch (1097-1098)
Alexios I Komnenos, the Byzantine emperor, called for assistance from Christian Europe. The Seljuqs had reached Nicaea and were not far from Constantinople. In 1095, Pope Urban II, perhaps hoping to end the Great Schism, supported the ideas and returned to his homeland of France to propose an expedition. In August 1096 four main Crusader armies set off from Europe. With 30-35,000 troops, the armies gathered at Constantinople, before crossing the Bosphorus. After victories at Nicaea and Dorylaeum, Antioch was the next port of call. The city had been seized from the Byzantines in 1085, and, from then until the siege was completed, Yaghi-Siyan was its governor. Despite being under Seljuk control, Yaghi-Siyan was aware that a majority of the citizens were Christian. Realising that the Crusaders would be coming to city on their way to Palestine, he asked for reinforcements and began stockpiling supplies. The turning point in the siege was when the Crusaders made contact with Firouz, a Christian soldier who had command of the Gate of Two Sisters. On June 2, eight months after the siege began, the gate was opened and Crusaders poured into the city, massacring the Seljuk inhabitants and killing Yaghi-Siyan. Despite this, Shams, his son, held out in the citadel. A large Turkish force led by Kerbogha of Mosul arrived, but, after the Crusader knights charged and scattered the enemy cavalry, the army quickly disintegrated. Shams surrendered and Antioch was taken.