Firouz was a wealthy Armenian

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

and armor maker who held a high post in Yaghi-Siyan's Seljuk Turkish government during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

. Notably, he also served as a spy for Bohemond during the

Siege of Antioch The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Seljuk Empire, ...

. Bohemond had offered Firouz riches and safety guarantees in return for his assistance. Firouz was disgruntled with his position in Yaghi-Siyan's government, because he had been recently fined and his wife seduced by a senior Turkish officer. On June 3, 1098, Firouz, unsatisfied with his commanding officer, hung a rope ladder for Bohemond's men who subsequently climbed up into the city and opened its gates. Allowing the crusaders into the city, the local Armenians joined in the massacring of the Turks.The Armenian kingdom in Cilicia during the Crusade, pg. 103, by Jacob G. Ghazarian The city subsequently became the center of the

Principality of Antioch The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It exte ...

References

Muslims of the First Crusade Converts to Islam Ethnic Armenian Muslims Armenian former Christians 11th-century Christians {{Armenia-reli-bio-stub

See also

References