Battle of Harran The Battle of Harran took place on May 7 , 1104 between the Crusader states of the Principality of Antioch and the County of Edessa , and the Seljuk Turks . It was the first major battle against the newfound Crusader states in the aftermath of the First Crusade marking a key turning point against Frankish expansion . The battle had a disastrous effect on the Principality of Antioch as the Turks regained territory earlier lost . Background . In 1104 Baldwin II of Edessa had attacked and besieged the city of Harran . For his further support Baldwin sought help from Bohemond I of Antioch and Tancred , Prince of Galilee . Bohemond and Tancred marched north from Antioch to Edessa to join with Baldwin and Joscelin of Courtenay , accompanied by Bernard of Valence the Patriarch of Antioch , Daimbert of Pisa the Patriarch of Jerusalem , and Benedict the Archbishop of Edessa . The Seljuks , under Jikirmish , governor of Mosul , and Sokman , the Artuqid lord of Mardin , gathered in the area of the Khabur , perhaps at Ra ' s al - ' ain ( Hellenistic Rhesaina ) . In May 1104 they attacked Edessa , perhaps to distract the crusaders from Harran , perhaps to take the city while the crusaders were elsewhere engaged . The battle . According to Ibn al - Qalanisi , Tancred and Bohemund arrived at Edessa during the siege , but according to " Chronicle of 1234 " they arrived first at the gates of Harran . In any case , the Seljuks rode away from the crusaders , feigning a retreat and the crusaders followed . The Seljuks feigned retreat in the preliminary skirmishes while the Crusaders continued their pursuit south . The contemporary chronicler Matthew of Edessa reports a pursuit of two days while Ralph of Caen reports three days . According to Ibn al - Athir , the main battle was fought twelve kilometres from Harran . Most historians accept the accounts of Albert of Aachen and Fulcher of Chartres , who located the battle on the plain ( " planitie " ) opposite the city of ar - Raqqah , Ar - Raqqah being about two days away from Harran . Baldwin and Joscelin commanded the Edessan left wing while Bohemond and Tancred commanded the Antiochene right . Ralph of Caen says that the crusaders were caught unawares when the Seljuks turned to fight , so much so that Baldwin and Bohemond fought without armor . During the battle itself , Baldwin ' s troops were completely routed , with Baldwin and Joscelin captured by the Turks . The Antiochene troops along with Bohemond were able to escape to Edessa . However , Jikirmish had only taken a small amount of booty , so he purloined Baldwin from Sokman ' s camp . Although a ransom was paid , Joscelin and Baldwin were not released until sometime before 1108 , and 1108 respectively . Significance . The battle was one of the first decisive Crusader defeats with severe consequences to the Principality of Antioch . The Byzantine Empire took advantage of the defeat to impose their claims on Antioch , and recaptured Latakia and parts of Cilicia . Many of the towns ruled by Antioch revolted and were re - occupied by Muslim forces from Aleppo . Armenia n territories also revolted in favour of the Byzantines or Armenia . Furthermore , these events caused Bohemund to return to Italy to recruit more troops , leaving Tancred as regent of Antioch . William of Tyre wrote that there was no battle more disastrous than this . Although Antioch recovered by the next year , the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus imposed the Treaty of Devol on Bohemond , which would have made Antioch a vassal of the empire had Tancred agreed to it . Antioch was again crushed at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis in 1119 ; Edessa never really recovered and survived until 1144 only because of divisions among the Muslims .