19. The Weasel’s Son Went From Byzantine Enemy, to Vassal, to Enemy, and Back to Vassal Again
Bohemond held Antioch for the Byzantine emperor, on the condition that the latter come to the Crusaders’ aid against an expected Muslim counterattack. The Byzantines sent reinforcements, but halfway to Antioch, they received false reports that the city had already been recaptured by the Muslims. So they turned back. That forced the Crusaders to withstand a Muslim siege on their own. They survived, and Bohemond reasoned that he was relieved of his oath to the Byzantines since they had failed to fulfill their part of the deal. So he kept Antioch for himself, while the remaining Crusaders continued on to capture Jerusalem.
Styling himself Bohemond I, Prince of Antioch, he had to defend his principality against his Muslim neighbors as well as the Byzantines. In 1100, he was captured by the Turks in an ambush, but was released in 1103 and returned to Antioch. In 1107, he launched a Crusade against… the Byzantines. He landed in the Balkans, but things did not go well. He was eventually forced to accept terms that allowed him to continue as ruler of Antioch, but as a vassal of the Byzantines. It was a humiliating climb down for the adventurous Bohemond, who then faded from history. Little is known about him from then until his death in 1119.
