Today in history, June 28, 1098, witnessed a Crusader victory over the forces of Islam that, for those present, could only be interpreted as a miracle. As discussed here, on June 3, 1098, the Crusaders managed to liberate the ancient Christian city of Antioch -- where the very word “Christian” was first coined (Acts 11:26) -- from Islamic abuse. Before they could celebrate, however, or even recuperate, Kerbogha, the Turkish lord (or atabeg) of Mosul, arrived with a “countless and innumerable throng” of forty thousand fighters, consisting of Turks, Arabs, Egyptians, Africans, and Persians. “It is quite obvious that these people are completely mad,” the atabeg observed of the hopelessly outnumbered Crusaders: “They are a presumptuous race… Doubtless they have every confidence in their courage. But by Muhammad, it was a bad day for them when they entered Syrian territory.”
He quickly blockaded Antioch; and they who only yesterday were the besiegers became the besieged. Worse, by the time the Crusaders took Antioch, most of its stores had been depleted by the Turks during their lengthy besiegement, forcing the feral Franks to eat leather shoes and drink horse blood.........To Read More.....
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