Edessa
The Adventure of Count Joscelin
In November 1122 Count Joscelin was out riding with a handful of men when he stumbled upon a Muslim army. It was raining, his horse slipped and fell, and he was captured by Turcomen. He was delivered to a local lord, Balak, who imprisoned him at Kharpurt.
This was bad enough, but in April of 1123, King Baldwin was also captured. He had come north to try to do something about Joscelin's captivity, was out hunting and was surprised. Now both men were imprisoned in Kharpurt (near the Euphrates). This was their second captivity together!
This minor lord Balak had gained tremendous prestige by capturing two great Christian lords, but he was too engrossed in local Muslim politics to press his advantage. He was trying to become undisputed lord of Aleppo. This may explain why he wasn't paying too much attention to Kharpurt.
For Joscelin in August 1123 had escaped.
He had many friends among the Armenians (Kharpurt was in Armenian territory) and they now conspired to free him. Fifty of them had entered the fortress in small groups, pretending to be merchants or other locals with a grievance to present to the governor. They were all secretly bearing weapons. Once inside, they overpowered the garrison and freed Baldwin and Joscelin. It was agreed that the latter should go for help while the former should try to hold the fortress.
The Count traveled by night and hid by day. When he reached the Euphrates River, he and his two Armenian companions swam across. Well, actually, Joscelin couldn't swim. So they blew up two wineskins to serve as water wings, and his two companions pushed the Count across the river. In the dark.
Still traveling in secret, he finally reached Turbessel, where his wife and his court were located. He went to Antioch, but that city had little left after the Field of Blood, so he rode on to Jerusalem. There he raised an army and, with the True Cross to aid them, the Christian forces marched as quickly as possible north again.
This is the sort of story that made its way back to Europe. This is one, and there were many such. It's little to be wondered that Crusader songs and Crusader legends became deeply embedded in the culture of the West.