After the successful Siege of Antioch in June 1098, the Crusaders needed some rest They stayed in the area till the end of the year. With so many men in and around the city it became difficult to find enough, food, supplies and clothing. Their raids on the surrounding countryside did not help the situation. By December 12 a part of the army reached Ma‘arra, many of them were suffering from starvation and malnutrition. They managed to breach the city's walls and massacred about 8,000 inhabitants. The hungry troops did not find enough food in the city and started boiling pagan adults in cooking pots. They impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled. The massacre Ma‘arra of had a strong impact on the local inhabitants of Southwest Asia. The crusaders already had a reputation for cruelty and barbarism towards Muslims, Jews and even local Christians. To make matters worse the plague broke out, killing many.
On January 13, 1099, the armies began marching south to Jerusalem, barefoot and dressed as a pilgrim. On their way Southworth there was almost no resistance. The Local leaders preferred to make peace with them and to offer them food and supplies instead of losing their lives. On 13 May the Crusaders arrived in Tripoli. The Emir did the same. He provided the crusader army with horses and vowed to convert to Christianity if the Crusaders defeated the Fatimids. On May 19 the Crusaders passed Beirut followed by Tyre on May 23. At the end of May, after two years of marching and fighting the Christian army arrived finally in the Holy Land
From the 53.0000 Christians who started in Europe only 12.000 survived inclusive 1500 Knights. The others already had given their lives through disease, starvation or in combat. After Acre and Jaffa, they marched inland to Ramla, which had been abandoned by their scared inhabitants. Before continuing to Jerusalem, they first installed a bishop at Ramla. Godfrey split his army and sent a part of it, led by Tranced and Gaston to Bethlehem. On June 6 they were able to take Bethlehem and placed their banner over the Church of the Nativity. The same
day Godfrey and the rest of his army marched direction Jerusalem. They camped in a valley ca. 8 km north from Jerusalem. The next morning, as dawn broke thousands of weary men climbed a steep hill, the highest in the area ( 908 meter above sea level), and gazed, like many pilgrims before them, wearily towards the southeast. What they saw in the distance brought them rapidly to their knees. Tears streaming down their faces, they thanked God for listening to their prayers and allowing them to gaze upon their hearts’ desire: “Jerusalem”.
This was for them and many pilgrims the first time that they got a virgin glimpse of the Holy City which they hadn’t yet seen before.( The Crusaders and pilgrims would not have been able to see the iconic-view of the “Old City” with the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Both are hidden in a hollow, behind a hilly landscape. They would have viewed the approaches to the city, and possibly some of the buildings on the suburban outskirts around the town.) They named the place Mons Gaudi, "Mount of Joy. A few hours later the vanguard reached outside the fortifications of Jerusalem where the camped.
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