Baldwin I of Jerusalem the Armenian Abu'l-Garib the commander of Bijerik, an important fort controlling the road between Edessa and Turbessel. The main crusader army captured Jerusalem on 15July 1099. A week later, Godfrey of Bouillon was elected ruler of the city, but he was never crowned king. Baldwin decided to complete his pilgrimage and left Edessa for Jerusalem in November. At Buluniyas, he joined the pilgrims who had departed from Antioch with Bohemond I and the papal legate, Daimbert of Pisa. Attacks by Muslim troops, fatigue and diseases caused heavy casualties during the journey, but most of the pilgrims reached Jerusalem on 21December.
Baldwin I of Jerusalem the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, in the Battle of Dorylaeum on 1July 1097, Baldwin and the Norman Tancred broke away from the main body of the army. They marched as far as Heraclea where they again joined their fellows around 15 August. The long march across Asia Minor in the heat of summer exhausted the crusaders and most knights' horses died. To secure a supply of food and forage, Baldwin and Tancred were sent to the fertile plains of Cilicia. They could count on the local Armenians' support, especially as Baldwin had already been befriended by an Armenian nobleman, Bagrat.