Armies of Bohemond of Taranto


The Armies of Bohemond of Taranto include a major component of the First Crusade under the leader Bohemond I of Antioch formed in 1097. He is regarded as the real leader of the First Crusade. He formed a second army in 1107 to defend Antioch but instead used it to attack the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, resulting in the Treaty of Devol, codifying Bohemond’s defeat. Runciman estimates that the first army included 500 cavalry and 3500 infantrymen and other estimates that the second army was at 34,000 personnel strength are likely greatly exaggerated.
The known members of the army, mostly French, included the ones listed below, as reported in histories of the First Crusade. Unless otherwise noted, references are to the on-line database of Riley-Smith, et al, and the hyperlinks therein provide details including original sources. The names below are also referenced in the Riley-Smith tome, Appendix I: Preliminary List of Crusaders. Those references are not shown unless they appear elsewhere in the text of the book. Articles that are hyperlinked to a more detailed article in this encyclopædia rely on the latter for references. Participants are from the First Crusade unless otherwise noted.

Bohemond’s Household and Close Family

Bohemond likely travelled with a large contingent of servants, vassals and family members. The known ones include:
As with all crusader armies, a large number of clergy travelled with the combatants. This included:
A single known historian travelled with Bohemond:
The following combatants under Bohemond in the First Crusade include:
The houses of Montlhéry and Le Puiset contributed many knights to the Crusades, including:
The known combatants in Bohemond’s army of 1107 include the following: