Page "Treaty of Devol" Paragraph 6

By 1100, there were several Crusader states, including the Principality of Antioch, founded by Bohemond in 1098.

It was argued that Antioch should be returned to the Byzantines, despite Alexios's supposed betrayals, but Bohemond claimed it for himself.

Alexios, of course, disagreed ; Antioch had an important port, was a trade hub with Asia and a stronghold of the Eastern Orthodox Church, with an important Greek Patriarch.

It had only been captured from the empire a few decades previously, unlike Jerusalem, which was much farther away and had not been in Byzantine hands for centuries.

Alexios therefore did not recognize the legitimacy of the Principality, believing it should be returned to the Empire according to the oaths Bohemond had sworn in 1097.

He therefore set about trying to evict Bohemond from Antioch.