ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses two issues relating, one directly, the other indirectly, to the size of the crusading army which campaigned in Asia for two years from the summer of 1097. In estimating the size of the army at Nicaea in June 1097 it seems to have been fairly common practice to decide what were the numbers at the end of the crusade, to add a notional figure for those who had deserted or were garrisoning Syria, and to multiply the result by a factor that allowed for casualties. The chapter suggests an explanation for a contradiction in the material; and aims to question present views on casualty rates, at least as far as they concerned nobles and knights. France seems to the author to give a reasonable estimate of between 300 and 500 knights left behind in Syria and Edessa, although it may be too large, given the numbers who had hurried down to join the crusade in Palestine.
