On The Establishment And Development Of The Principality Of Antioch(1098-1131)

The Principality of Antioch was one of the four Latin countries founded by the First Crusade War.In 1098,Bohemond,one of the leaders of the Crusades,succeeded in capturing the northern Syrian city of Antioch and establishing a principality.In the early 12 th century,under several rulers,the principality grew in strength,becoming the Crusader force to be reckoned with in the Latin East,and setting the stage for its development for nearly 200 years.This paper takes the creation and development of Antioch as the main line and the ruling policies of different leaders as the content to explore the development process of Antioch,one of the Frankish countries,in the early 12 th century.After the battle of Antioch,Bohemond took the initiative to control the city.With his continuous efforts,Bohemond founded the Principality of Antioch.Facing the situation of encircling the enemy on all sides,Bohemond first formulated the initial strategy of national development,that is,to conquer the outside world to expand the principality territory and establish four military buffer zones for Antioch.At the same time,he also fought against the Byzantine Empire and launched a "legal struggle" And finally made the principality independent.However,the failure of the battle of Haran made Bohemond lose to the East,return to Italy,and put the Duchy into a huge crisis to survive in the cracks.After the regency of Tancred,through the military conquest,the prestige of Latin people in the East was restored,and the Principality of Antioch got rid of the crisis.Tancred has the ambition to inherit and develop Bohemond’s strategy.On the other hand,it expanded and consolidated the territory of the principality through diplomatic strategy and military conquest,basically established the four side buffer zone of the principality,once deterred the Muslim forces around and challenged the authority of Byzantine Empire.Under the rule of Tancred,Antioch became a Crusader force dominating northern Syria.After Roger took over,he carried out a conservative policy to basically stabilize the internal and external environment of Antioch,and then began to confront the Muslim forces.Because of the strong strength of the surrounding Muslims,Roger was defeated in the bloody battle,Antioch faced a series of territorial crises,which led to the decline of the Principality’s strength.When the Crusaders faced the threat of external forces,King Baldwin II of Jerusalem was ordered to lead the army to fight in the face of danger,which not only made Antioch safe,but also stabilized the situation of the Crusaders in northern Syria.Although the territory was not fully recovered,it basically stabilized the Principality of Antioch and laid the foundation for the future development.