ABSTRACT
The Christians such as Conrad, moreover, who were reporting the siege at close hand, were more likely to explain the failure of the expedition by placing glosses on actual happenings than by fabricating events which others could easily call into question. William of Tyre, who appears to have made the most determined efforts to discover the reasons for the failure of the siege, could only report that he had received dissonas relationes and he was forced to conclude: qui autem fuerint tarn detestabilis ministri sceleris, varia multorum nihilominus fuit opinio, sed mihi pro certo compertum 7ion est. Conrad would no doubt welcome rumours of treachery in order to free himself from any blame for the failure of the siege and it would serve his purpose to exaggerate the degree of success achieved on the western side of the city.
