1.
Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)
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The Battle of Dorylaeum took place during the First Crusade on July 1,1097, between the crusaders and the Seljuk Turks, near the city of Dorylaeum in Anatolia. The crusaders had left Nicaea on June 26, with a deep distrust of the Byzantines, on June 29, they learnt that the Turks were planning an ambush near Dorylaeum. Contemporary figures place this number between 25, 000-30,000, more recent estimates are between 6,000 and 8,000 men, fulcher of Chartres gives the exaggerated number of 360,000. In addition to numbers of noncombatants, Bohemonds force probably numbered about 10,000. Military figures of the time often imply perhaps several men-at-arms per knight, on the evening of June 30, after a three-day march, Bohemonds army made camp in a meadow on the north bank of the river Thymbres, near the ruined town of Dorylaeum. On July 1, Bohemonds force was surrounded outside Dorylaeum by Kilij Arslan, Godfrey and Raymond had separated from the vanguard at Leuce, and the Turkish army attacked at dawn, taking Bohemonds army entirely by surprise, shooting arrows into the camp. Bohemonds knights had quickly mounted but their sporadic counterattacks were unable to deter the Turks, while this formed a battle line and sheltered the more vulnerable men-at-arms and noncombatants, it also gave the Turks free rein to maneuver on the battlefield. The Turkish mounted archers attacked in their usual style - charging in, shooting their arrows, the archers did little damage to the heavily armoured knights, but they inflicted heavy casualties on the horses and unarmoured foot soldiers. Bohemond had sent messengers to the other Crusader army and now struggled to hold on until help arrived, just after midday, Godfrey arrived with a force of 50 knights, fighting through the Turkish lines to reinforce Bohemond. Through the day small groups of reinforcements arrived, some killed by the Turks, as the Crusader losses mounted, the Turks became more aggressive and the Crusader army found itself forced from the marshy banks of the river into the shallows. Adhemars force fell on the Turkish camp, and attacked the Turks from the rear, the crusaders did indeed become rich, at least for a short time, after capturing Kilij Arslans treasury. The Turks fled and Arslan turned to other concerns in his eastern territory and they also took the male Greek children from the region extending from Dorylaeum to Iconium, some of whom were sent as slaves to Persia. On the other hand, the crusaders were allowed to march virtually unopposed through Anatolia on their way to Antioch and it took almost three months to cross Anatolia in the heat of the summer, and in October they began the siege of Antioch. John Doukas re-established Byzantine rule in Chios, Rhodes, Smyrna, Ephesus, Sardis and this success is ascribed by Alexios daughter Anna to his policy and diplomacy, but by the Latin historians of the crusade to his treachery and falseness
Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)
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The Battle of Dorylaeum
2.
Second Crusade
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The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe as a Catholic holy war against Islam. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi, the county had been founded during the First Crusade by King Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall, the armies of the two kings marched separately across Europe. After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia, both armies were defeated by the Seljuk Turks. Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies reached Jerusalem, the crusade in the east was a failure for the crusaders and a great victory for the Muslims. It would ultimately have a key influence on the fall of Jerusalem, the only Christian success of the Second Crusade came to a combined force of 13,000 Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English, Scottish, and German crusaders in 1147. Travelling from England, by ship, to the Holy Land, after the First Crusade and the minor Crusade of 1101 there were three crusader states established in the east, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch and the County of Edessa. A fourth, the County of Tripoli, was established in 1109, Count Baldwin II and future count Joscelin of Courtenay were taken captive after their defeat at the Battle of Harran in 1104. Baldwin and Joscelin were both captured a second time in 1122, and although Edessa recovered somewhat after the Battle of Azaz in 1125, Joscelin was killed in battle in 1131. His successor Joscelin II was forced into an alliance with the Byzantine Empire, Joscelin had also quarreled with the Count of Tripoli and the Prince of Antioch, leaving Edessa with no powerful allies. Meanwhile, the Seljuq Zengi, Atabeg of Mosul, had added to his rule in 1128 Aleppo, both Zengi and King Baldwin II turned their attention towards Damascus, Baldwin was defeated outside the great city in 1129. Damascus, ruled by the Burid Dynasty, later allied with King Fulk when Zengi besieged the city in 1139 and 1140, in late 1144, Joscelin II allied with the Ortoqids and marched out of Edessa with almost his entire army to support the Ortoqid army against Aleppo. Zengi, already seeking to take advantage of Fulks death in 1143, hurried north to besiege Edessa, manasses of Hierges, Philip of Milly and others were sent from Jerusalem to assist, but arrived too late. Joscelin II continued to rule the remnants of the county from Turbessel, Zengi himself was praised throughout Islam as defender of the faith and al-Malik al-Mansur, the victorious king. He did not pursue an attack on the territory of Edessa, or the Principality of Antioch. Events in Mosul compelled him to home, and he once again set his sights on Damascus. However, he was assassinated by a slave in 1146 and was succeeded in Aleppo by his son Nur ad-Din, the news of the fall of Edessa was brought back to Europe first by pilgrims early in 1145, and then by embassies from Antioch, Jerusalem and Armenia. Bishop Hugh of Jabala reported the news to Pope Eugene III, Hugh also told the Pope of an eastern Christian king, who, it was hoped, would bring relief to the crusader states, this is the first documented mention of Prester John
Second Crusade
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Edessa, seen here on the right of this map (c. 1140), was recaptured by the Turks. This was the primary cause of the Second Crusade.
Second Crusade
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St Bernard in stained glass. From the Upper Rhine, ca. 1450.
Second Crusade
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The Siege of Lisbon by D. Afonso Henriques by Joaquim Rodrigues Braga (1840)
Second Crusade
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Map of the Second Crusade in the Levant
3.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire at its maximal extent, in the 13th century
Holy Roman Empire
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Imperial Banner
Holy Roman Empire
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An illustration from
Schedelsche Weltchronik depicting the structure of the Reich: The Holy Roman Emperor is sitting; on his left are three ecclesiastics; on his right are four secular electors.
Holy Roman Empire
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Double-headed eagle with coats of arms of individual states, symbol of the Holy Roman Empire (painting from 1510)
4.
Conrad III of Germany
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Conrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Duke Frederick I of Swabia and Agnes, the origin of the House of Hohenstaufen in the Duchy of Swabia has not been conclusively established. Conrads father took advantage of the conflict between King Henry IV of Germany and the Swabian duke Rudolf of Rheinfelden during the Investiture Controversy and he died in 1105, leaving two sons, Conrad and his elder brother Frederick II, who inherited the Swabian ducal title. Their mother entered into a marriage with Babenberg margrave Leopold III of Austria. In 1105 Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor since 1084, was overthrown by his son Henry V, Emperor since 1111, Henry V preparing for his second campaign to Italy upon the death of Margravine Matilda of Tuscany, in 1116 appointed Conrad a Duke of Franconia. Conrad was marked out to act as regent for Germany, together with his elder brother, at the death of Henry V in 1125, Conrad unsuccessfully supported Frederick II for the kingship of Germany. Frederick was placed under a ban and Conrad was deprived of Franconia, with the support of the imperial cities, Swabia, and the Duchy of Austria, Conrad was elected anti-king at Nuremberg in December 1127. Conrad quickly crossed the Alps to be crowned King of Italy by Anselm V, Archbishop of Milan. Over the next two years, he failed to achieve anything in Italy, however, and returned to Germany in 1130, after Nuremberg and Speyer, two strong cities in his support, fell to Lothair in 1129. Conrad continued in Lothairs opposition, but he and Frederick were forced to acknowledge Lothair as emperor in 1135, after this they were pardoned and could take again possession of their lands. After Lothairs death, Conrad was elected king at Coblenz on 7 March 1138, Conrad was crowned at Aachen six days later and was acknowledged in Bamberg by several princes of southern Germany. Henry, however, retained the loyalty of his subjects, the civil war that broke out is considered the first act of the struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines, which later extended southwards to Italy. After Henrys death, the war was continued by his son Henry the Lion, supported by the Saxons, Conrad, after a long siege, defeated the latter at Weinsberg in December 1140, and in May 1142 a peace agreement was reached in Frankfurt. In the same year, Conrad entered Bohemia to reinstate his brother-in-law Vladislav II as prince, the attempt to do the same with another brother-in-law, the Polish prince Ladislaus the Exile, failed. Bavaria, Saxony, and the regions of Germany were in revolt. In 1146, Conrad heard Bernard of Clairvaux preach the Second Crusade at Speyer, before leaving, he had the nobles elect and crown his son Henry Berengar king. The succession secured in the event of his death, Conrad set out and his army of 20,000 men went overland, via Hungary, causing disruptions in the Byzantine territories through which they passed. They arrived at Constantinople by September 1147, ahead of the French army, rather than taking the coastal road around Anatolia through Christian-held territory, by which he sent most of his noncombatants, Conrad took his army across Anatolia
Conrad III of Germany
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King Conrad III (Cunradus rex) in a 13th-century miniature from the
Chronica sancti Pantaleonis
Conrad III of Germany
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Conrad III and his armies in Hungary. Image from the
Chronicon Pictum
5.
Mesud I
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Mesud I, Masud I or Masud I (Modern Turkish, I. Rükneddin Mesud or Rukn al-Dīn Masūd was the sultan of the Seljuks of Rum from 1116 until his death in 1156. Following the defeat and death of his father Kilij Arslan I by Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan of Aleppo at the battle of Khabur river in 1107, with the help of the Danishmends, Masud captured Konya and defeated Malikshah in 1116, later blinding and eventually murdering him. Masud would later turn on the Danishmends and conquer their lands, in 1130, he started construction of the Alâeddin Mosque in Konya, which was later completed in 1221. Masud, towards the end of his reign, fought against the armies of the Second Crusade, there were actually two armies, one led German emperor Conrad III and the other led by the French king Louis VII. Masud defeated both of them, the first army in Dorylaeum near modern Eskişehir in 1147 and the army in Laodicea near modern Denizli in 1148. When he died, Masud was succeeded by his son Kilij Arslan II, one of Masuds daughters married John Tzelepes Komnenos, a member of the royal house of Byzantium who had converted to Islam
Mesud I
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The
Alaeddin Mosque in Konya was built during the reign of Masud I. The building served as the “Mosque of the Throne” for the Seljuq Sultans of Rum and contains the dynastic mausoleum.
6.
Battle of Constantinople (1147)
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The Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos was deeply concerned by the presence of a large and unruly army in the immediate vicinity of his capital and of the unfriendly attitude of its leaders. A similarly sized French crusader army was also approaching Constantinople, following earlier armed clashes with the crusaders, and perceived insults from Conrad, Manuel arrayed some of his forces outside the walls of Constantinople. A part of the German army then attacked and was heavily defeated, following this defeat the crusaders agreed to be quickly ferried across the Bosporus to Asia Minor. Though limited in its importance, the battle is significant in being a rare instance where Byzantine tactical dispositions are described in detail in the primary sources of the period. The Second Crusade was instigated by Pope Eugenius III in response to the fall of the County of Edessa to the forces of the Muslim leader Zengi, the county had been founded during the First Crusade. This crusade was the first to be led by kings, namely Conrad III of Germany, the armies of the two kings marched separately across Europe. After crossing into Byzantine territory in the Balkans, both made their way towards the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. The crusader armies intended to take the overland route across Asia Minor to reach the Holy Land. A Byzantine force under the experienced general Prosouch, who was of Turkish origin, a minor clash between the Byzantine force and the crusaders occurred near Adrianople, with the Byzantines repulsing an attack by Conrads nephew, the future emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The crusaders also suffered a disaster, when part of their encampment was swept away by a flash flood with considerable loss of life. Manuel wished to induce the crusaders to cross to Asia Minor by the Hellespont, however, they ignored the advice of Manuels ambassador and pushed towards Constantinople, arriving on 10 September. Manuel had extensively repaired and strengthened the walls of his capital as a safeguard against any crusader aggression, the Germans encamped around the suburban palace of Philopation, but so pillaged it that it became quickly uninhabitable. They then moved to another palace, Pikridion. The crusader force, which may have been suffering from a lack of food, made depredations on, and acts of violence against, Manuel was determined to get the Germans across the Bosporus as quickly as possible and mobilised part of his military forces to induce them to move. The Byzantine force was placed under the command of two generals, Prosouch and Basil Tzikandyles and they were instructed to make a stand confronting the Germans, and by their presence provoke an attack. The Byzantine army was smaller than that of the crusaders but, as the contemporary Byzantine historian John Kinnamos states, Prosouch and Tzikandyles had earlier been sent to observe the German army at a place called Longoi. They had reported to the emperor Manuel that, although the Germans were individually impressive and well armoured, their cavalry was not swift, the array of the Byzantine army, unusually, is described in some detail by Kinnamos. To the fore, far forward, were four units of the most unwarlike, common part of the army, behind these were drawn up the heaviest and most well-armoured cavalry, the kataphraktoi, the elite of the army
Battle of Constantinople (1147)
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Arrival of the Second Crusade before Constantinople, portrayed in
Jean Fouquet 's painting from around 1455–1460, Arrivée des croisés à Constantinople
Battle of Constantinople (1147)
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Emperor Manuel I
Battle of Constantinople (1147)
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King
Conrad III in a 13th-century miniature
7.
Siege of Damascus (1148)
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The Siege of Damascus took place between 24 July and 29 July 1148, during the Second Crusade. It ended in a decisive defeat and led to the disintegration of the crusade. Both faced disastrous marches across Anatolia in the months that followed, the original focus of the crusade was Edessa, but in Jerusalem, the preferred target of King Baldwin III and the Knights Templar was Damascus. At the Council of Acre, magnates from France, Germany, the crusaders decided to attack Damascus from the west, where orchards would provide them with a constant food supply. Having arrived outside the walls of the city, they put it to siege. On 27 July, the decided to move to the plain on the eastern side of the city. Nur ad-Din Zangi arrived with Muslim reinforcements and cut off the route to their previous position. The local crusader lords refused to carry on with the siege, the entire crusader army retreated back to Jerusalem by 28 July. Conrads force included Bolesław IV the Curly and Vladislaus II of Bohemia, as well as Frederick of Swabia, the crusade had been called after the fall of the County of Edessa on 24 December 1144. The crusaders marched across Europe and arrived at Constantinople in September and October 1147, both faced disastrous marches across Anatolia in the months that followed, and most of their armies were destroyed. Louis abandoned his troops and travelled by ship to the Principality of Antioch, Raymond expected him to offer military assistance against the Seljuk Turks threatening the principality, but Louis refused and went to Jerusalem to fulfil his crusader vow. Conrad, stricken by illness, had returned to Constantinople. The original focus of the crusade was Edessa, but in Jerusalem, the target of King Baldwin III. The Council of Acre was called with the Haute Cour of Jerusalem at Acre on 24 June, Louis, Thierry of Alsace, and various other ecclesiastical and secular lords represented the French. Notably, no one from Antioch, Tripoli, or the former County of Edessa attended, both Louis and Conrad were persuaded to attack Damascus. Some of the native to Jerusalem pointed out that it would be unwise to attack Damascus, as the Burid dynasty. Conrad, Louis, and Baldwin insisted, Damascus was a city for Christianity. Like Jerusalem and Antioch, it would be a prize in the eyes of European Christians
Siege of Damascus (1148)
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Crusaders intended for Edessa, seen here on the right of this map (c.1140), were diverted by King Baldwin III of Jerusalem to Damascus.
Siege of Damascus (1148)
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Siege of Damascus, second crusade
Siege of Damascus (1148)
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Crusader King Conrad III in a 13th-century miniature
Siege of Damascus (1148)
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Bernard of Clairvaux was also humiliated by the failure.
8.
Siege of Lisbon
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The Siege of Lisbon, from July 1 to October 25,1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Portuguese control and expelled its Moorish overlords. It is seen as a battle of the wider Reconquista. The Fall of Edessa in 1144 led to a call for a new crusade by Pope Eugene III in 1145 and 1146, in the spring of 1147, the Pope authorized the crusade in the Iberian peninsula. He also authorized Alfonso VII of León and Castile to equate his campaigns against the Moors with the rest of the Second Crusade, in May 1147, a contingent of crusaders left from Dartmouth in England. They had intended to directly to the Holy Land, but weather forced the ships to stop on the Portuguese coast. There they were convinced to meet with King Afonso I of Portugal, the crusaders agreed to help the King attack Lisbon, with a solemn agreement that offered to the crusaders the pillage of the citys goods and the ransom money for expected prisoners. The siege began on July 1, after four months, the Moorish rulers agreed to surrender on October 24, primarily because of hunger within the city. Most of the crusaders settled in the captured city, but some of the crusaders set sail. Lisbon eventually became the city of the Kingdom of Portugal. The traditional start of the Reconquista is identified with the defeat of the Muslims in the Battle of Covadonga in 722. After the First Crusade in 1095-1099, Pope Paschal II urged Iberian crusaders to remain at home, the Fall of Edessa in 1144 led to a call for a new crusade by Pope Eugene III in 1145 and 1146. In the spring of 1147, the Pope also authorized a crusade in the Iberian peninsula, Pope Eugene encouraged Marseilles, Pisa, Genoa, and other Mediterranean cities to fight in Iberia. He also authorized Alfonso VII of León and Castile to equate his campaigns against the Moors with the rest of the Second Crusade. No prince or king was in charge of the expedition, and its participants seem to have largely made up of townsmen. Leadership was provided by Hervey de Glanvill, Constable of Suffolk, important decisions were made collectively by the commanders. According to Odo of Deuil there were 164 ships bound for the Holy Land, bad weather forced the ships to stop on the Portuguese coast, at the northern city of Porto on June 16,1147. There they were convinced by the bishop, Pedro II Pitões, the king, who had reached the Tagus River and conquered Santarém on 15 March, had also been negotiating with the pope for the recognition of his title of King. He was notified of the arrival of a first party and hastened to meet them, the undisciplined multi-national group agreed to help him there, with a solemn agreement that offered to the crusaders the pillage of the citys goods and the ransom money for expected prisoners
Siege of Lisbon
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The Conquest of Lisbon painting by
Alfredo Roque Gameiro (1917)
Siege of Lisbon
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Afonso I of Portugal in a non-contemporary portrait
Siege of Lisbon
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The Siege of Lisbon by D. Afonso Henriques by Joaquim Rodrigues Braga (1840): a Romantic view
9.
Crusades
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The First Crusade arose after a call to arms in a 1095 sermon by Pope Urban II. Urban urged military support for the Byzantine Empire and its Emperor, Alexios I, the response to Urbans preaching by people of many different classes across Western Europe established the precedent for later Crusades. Volunteers became Crusaders by taking a vow and receiving plenary indulgences from the church. Some were hoping for apotheosis at Jerusalem, or forgiveness from God for all their sins, others participated to satisfy feudal obligations, gain glory and honour, or find opportunities for economic and political gain. Many modern Historians have polarised opinions of the Crusaders behaviour under Papal sanction, to some it was incongruous with the stated aims and implied moral authority of the papacy and the Crusades, to the extent that on occasions that the Pope excommunicated Crusaders. Crusaders often pillaged as they travelled, while their leaders retained control of captured territory rather than returning it to the Byzantines. During the Peoples Crusade thousands of Jews were murdered in what is now called the Rhineland massacres, Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade rendering the reunification of Christendom impossible. These tales consequently galvanised medieval romance, philosophy and literature, but the Crusades also reinforced the connection between Western Christendom, feudalism, and militarism. Crusade is not a term, instead the terms iter for journey or peregrinatio for pilgrimage were used. Not until the word crucesignatus for one who was signed with the cross was adopted at the close of the century was specific terminology developed. The Middle English equivalents were derived from old French, croiserie in the 13th–15th centuries, croisade appeared in English c1575, and continued to be the leading form till c1760. By convention historians adopt the term for the Christian holy wars from 1095, the Crusades in the Holy Land are traditionally counted as nine distinct campaigns, numbered from the First Crusade of 1095–99 to the Ninth Crusade of 1271/2. Usage of the term Crusade may differ depending on the author, pluralists use the term Crusade of any campaign explicitly sanctioned by the reigning Pope. This reflects the view of the Roman Catholic Church that every military campaign given Papal sanction is equally valid as a Crusade, regardless of its cause, justification, generalists see Crusades as any and all holy wars connected with the Latin Church and fought in defence of their faith. Popularists limit the Crusades to only those that were characterised by popular groundswells of religious fervour – that is, only the First Crusade, Medieval Muslim historiographers such as Ali ibn al-Athir refer to the Crusades as the Frankish Wars. The term used in modern Arabic, ḥamalāt ṣalībiyya حملات صليبية, campaigns of the cross, is a loan translation of the term Crusade as used in Western historiography. The Islamic prophet Muhammad founded Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, the resulting unified polity in the seventh and eighth centuries led to a rapid expansion of Arab power. This influence stretched from the northwest Indian subcontinent, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, southern Italy, tolerance, trade, and political relationships between the Arabs and the Christian states of Europe waxed and waned
Crusades
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Madrid Skylitzes illuminated manuscript depicting Byzantine Greeks punishing ninth-century
Cretan Saracens
Crusades
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Map of the
Eastern Mediterranean in 1135, showing crusader-held and neighbouring territories
Crusades
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Fifteenth-century illustrated French translation of
Boccaccio 's
De Casibus Virorum Illustrium, showing
Seljuk emperor
Alp Arslan ritually humiliating
Romanos IV in 1071 after Manzikert; Alp Arslan allowed Romanos to return to
Constantinople, where he was killed by the Byzantines.
Crusades
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Illumination from the Livre des Passages d'Outre-mer (c. 1490) of Urban II at the Council of Clermont (from the
Bibliothèque Nationale)
10.
Levant
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The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean. The term Levant entered English in the late 15th century from French and it derives from the Italian Levante, meaning rising, implying the rising of the sun in the east. As such, it is equivalent to the Arabic term Mashriq. Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine, in 1581, England set up the Levant Company to monopolize commerce with the Ottoman Empire. The name Levant States was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and this is probably the reason why the term Levant has come to be used synonymously with Syria-Palestine. Some scholars misunderstood the term thinking that it derives from the name of Lebanon, today the term is typically used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. It does not include Anatolia, the Caucasus Mountains, or any part of the Arabian Peninsula proper, the Sinai Peninsula is sometimes included. The Levant has been described as the crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and northeast Africa, the populations of the Levant share not only the geographic position, but cuisine, some customs, and a very long history. They are often referred to as Levantines, the term Levant, which appeared in English in 1497, originally meant the East in general or Mediterranean lands east of Italy. It is borrowed from the French levant rising, referring to the rising of the sun in the east, the phrase is ultimately from the Latin word levare, meaning lift, raise. Similar etymologies are found in Greek Ἀνατολή, in Germanic Morgenland, in Italian, in Hungarian Kelet, in Spanish and Catalan Levante and Llevant, most notably, Orient and its Latin source oriens meaning east, is literally rising, deriving from Latin orior rise. The notion of the Levant has undergone a process of historical evolution in usage, meaning. While the term Levantine originally referred to the European residents of the eastern Mediterranean region, it came to refer to regional native. The English Levant Company was founded in 1581 to trade with the Ottoman Empire, at this time, the Far East was known as the Upper Levant. In early 19th-century travel writing, the term sometimes incorporated certain Mediterranean provinces of the Ottoman empire, in 19th-century archaeology, it referred to overlapping cultures in this region during and after prehistoric times, intending to reference the place instead of any one culture. The French mandate of Syria and Lebanon was called the Levant states, today, Levant is the term typically used by archaeologists and historians with reference to the history of the region. Scholars have adopted the term Levant to identify the region due to it being a wider, yet relevant, archaeologists seeking a neutral orientation that is neither biblical nor national have used terms such as Levantine archaeology and archaeology of the Southern Levant. Two academic journals were launched, Journal of Levantine Studies, published by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and The Levantine Review
Levant
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The
Levantine Sea, the eastern portion of the
Mediterranean.
Levant
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Countries of the Levant in the broad, historic meaning (equivalent to the
eastern Mediterranean)
Levant
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French medal commemorating the
war in
Cilicia, which was initially part of the
French mandate.
Levant
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Satellite view of part of the Levant including
Cyprus,
Israel,
Jordan,
Lebanon,
Palestine, and southern
Syria.
11.
First Crusade
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The First Crusade was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to capture the Holy Land, called by Pope Urban II in 1095. An additional goal became the principal objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. During the crusades, nobility, knights, peasants and serfs from many regions of Western Europe travelled over land and by sea, first to Constantinople and then on towards Jerusalem. The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem, launched an assault on the city and they also established the crusader states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa. The First Crusade was followed by the Second to the Ninth Crusades and it was also the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The majority view is that it had elements of both in its nature, the origin of the Crusades in general, and particularly that of the First Crusade, is widely debated among historians. The confusion is due to the numerous armies in the first crusade. The similar ideologies held the armies to similar goals, but the connections were rarely strong, the Umayyad Caliphate had conquered Syria, Egypt, and North Africa from the predominantly Christian Byzantine Empire, and Hispania from the Visigothic Kingdom. In North Africa, the Umayyad empire eventually collapsed and a number of smaller Muslim kingdoms emerged, such as the Aghlabids, who attacked Italy in the 9th century. Pisa, Genoa, and the Principality of Catalonia began to battle various Muslim kingdoms for control of the Mediterranean Basin, exemplified by the Mahdia campaign and battles at Majorca and Sardinia. Essentially, between the years 1096 and 1101 the Byzantine Greeks experienced the crusade as it arrived at Constantinople in three separate waves, in the early summer of 1096, the first large unruly group arrived on the outskirts of Constantinople. This wave was reported to be undisciplined and ill-equipped as an army and this first group is often called the Peasants’ or People’s Crusade. It was led by Peter the Hermit and Walter Sans Avoir and had no knowledge of or respect for the wishes of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. The second wave was not under the command of the Emperor and was made up of a number of armies with their own commanders. Together, this group and the first wave numbered an estimated 60,000, the second wave was led by Hugh I, Count of Vermandois, the brother of King Philip I of France. Also among the wave were Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse. It was this wave of crusaders which later passed through Asia Minor, captured Antioch in 1098 and finally took Jerusalem 15 July 1099. ”The third wave, composed of contingents from Lombardy, France. At the western edge of Europe and of Islamic expansion, the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula was well underway by the 11th century and it was intermittently ideological, as evidenced by the Codex Vigilanus compiled in 881
First Crusade
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The Capture of Jerusalem marked the First Crusade's success
First Crusade
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Pope Urban II at the
Council of Clermont. Illumination from the Livre des Passages d'Outre-mer, of c 1490 (
Bibliothèque Nationale)
First Crusade
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A map of the routes of the major leaders of the crusade, in
French
First Crusade
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An illustration showing the defeat of the
People's Crusade
12.
Siege of Nicaea
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The Siege of Nicaea took place from May 14 to June 19,1097, during the First Crusade. Nicaea, located on the shore of Lake İznik, had been captured from the Byzantine Empire by the Seljuk Turks in 1081. In 1096, the Peoples Crusade, the first stage of the First Crusade, had plundered the surrounding the city. As a result, Sultan Kilij Arslan I initially felt that the wave of crusaders were not a threat. He left his family and his treasury behind in Nicaea and went east to fight the Danishmends for control of the Melitene, the crusaders began to leave Constantinople at the end of April 1097. They arrived on May 6, severely short on food, but Bohemond arranged for food to be brought by land and they put the city to siege beginning on May 14, assigning their forces to different sections of the walls, which were well-defended with 200 towers. Bohemond camped on the side of the city, Godfrey on the south. On May 16, the Turkish defenders sallied out to attack the crusaders, the Turks sent messages to Kilij Arslan begging him to return, and when he realized the strength of the crusaders he quickly turned back. An advance party was defeated by troops under Raymond and Robert of Flanders on May 20, and on May 21, losses were heavy on both sides but in the end the Sultan retreated, despite the pleas of the Nicaean Turks. The rest of the crusaders arrived throughout the rest of May, with Robert Curthose, meanwhile Raymond and Adhemar built a large siege engine, which was rolled up to the Gonatas Tower in order to engage the defenders on the walls while miners mined the tower from below. The tower was damaged but no progress was made. Byzantine emperor Alexios I chose not to accompany the crusaders, but marched out behind them and made his camp at nearby Pelecanum. From there, he sent boats, rolled over the land, to help the crusaders blockade Lake Ascanius, the boats arrived on June 17, under the command of Manuel Boutoumites. The general Tatikios was also sent, with 2,000 foot soldiers, Alexios had instructed Boutoumites to secretly negotiate the surrender of the city without the crusaders knowledge. This was done, and on June 19 the Turks surrendered to Boutoumites, when the crusaders discovered what Alexios had done, they were quite angry, as they had hoped to plunder the city for money and supplies. Boutoumites, however, was named dux of Nicaea and forbade the crusaders from entering in groups larger than 10 men at a time, Boutoumites also expelled the Turkish generals, whom he considered just as untrustworthy. Kilij Arslans family went to Constantinople and were released without ransom. Alexios gave the money, horses, and other gifts
Siege of Nicaea
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13th-century miniature (BNF Fr. 779)
13.
Siege of Antioch
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The Siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098. The first siege, by the crusaders against the Muslim-held city, Antioch lay in a strategic location on the crusaders route to Palestine. Supplies, reinforcements and retreat could all be controlled by the city, anticipating that it would be attacked, the Muslim governor of the city, Yaghi-Siyan, began stockpilling food and sending requests for help. The Byzantine walls surrounding the city presented an obstacle to its capture. The crusaders arrived outside the city on 21 October and began the siege, the garrison sortied unsuccessfully on 29 December. After stripping the area of food, the crusaders were forced to look farther afield for supplies, opening themselves to ambush. On the 31 December, a force of 20,000 crusaders encountered an army led by Duqaq of Damascus heading to Antioch. As the siege went on, supplies dwindled and in early 1098 one in seven of the crusaders was dying from starvation, a second relief force, this time under the command of Ridwan of Aleppo, advanced towards Antioch, arriving on 9 February. Like the army of Duqaq before, it was defeated, Antioch was captured on 3 June, although the citadel remained in the hands of the Muslim defenders. Kerbogha began the siege, against the crusaders who had occupied Antioch. The second siege ended when the crusaders exited the city to engage Kerboghas army in battle, on seeing the Muslim army routed, the defenders remaining in the citadel surrendered. There are a number of sources relating to the Siege of Antioch. There are four accounts, those of Fulcher of Chartres, Peter Tudebode, and Raymond of Aguilers. Nine letters survive relating to or from the army, five of them were written while the siege was underway and another in September. While there are many sources the number of people on crusade is unclear because they fluctuated regularly, lying on the slopes of the Orontes Valley, in 1097 Antioch covered more than 3.5 square miles and was encircled by walls studded by 400 towers. The river ran along the northern wall before entering Antioch from the northwest. Mount Silpius, crested by a citadel, was the Antiochs highest point, there were six gates through which the city could be entered, three along the northern wall, and one on each of the south, east, and west sides. The valley slopes made approaching from the south, east, or west difficult, the citys defences dated from the reign of the Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century
Siege of Antioch
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The Siege of Antioch, from a 15th-century miniature painting
Siege of Antioch
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A 13th-century depiction of
John the Oxite 's imprisonment from
William of Tyre 's Histoire d'Outremer, in the care of the
British Museum
Siege of Antioch
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A 14th-century depiction of
Robert II, Count of Flanders from a manuscript in the care of the
National Library of the Netherlands
Siege of Antioch
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A 13th-century depiction of Bohemond and Tancred from a manuscript in the care of the Bibliothèque nationale de France
14.
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
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The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15,1099, during the First Crusade. The climax of the First Crusade, the siege saw the Crusaders seize Jerusalem from the Fatimid Caliphate. After the successful siege of Antioch in June 1098, the Crusaders remained in the area for the rest of the year, the papal legate Adhemar of Le Puy had died, and Bohemond of Taranto had claimed Antioch for himself. Baldwin of Boulogne remained in Edessa, captured earlier in 1098, there was dissent among the princes over what to do next, Raymond of Toulouse, frustrated, left Antioch to capture the fortress at Maarrat al-Numan in the Siege of Maarat. By the end of the year the minor knights and infantry were threatening to march to Jerusalem without them. Eventually, on January 13,1099 Raymond began the south, down the coast of the Mediterranean, followed by Robert of Normandy and Bohemonds nephew Tancred. On their way the Crusaders besieged Arqa but failed to capture it, therefore, he expelled all of Jerusalems Christian inhabitants. Further march towards Jerusalem met no resistance, on 7 June, the crusaders reached Jerusalem, which had been recaptured from the Seljuqs by the Fatimids only the year before. Many Crusaders wept upon seeing the city they had journeyed so long to reach. As with Antioch the crusaders put the city to a siege, in which the crusaders themselves probably suffered more than the citizens of the city, due to the lack of food and water around Jerusalem. The city was well-prepared for the siege, and the Fatimid governor Iftikhar ad-Daula had expelled most of the Christians, of the estimated 5,000 knights who took part in the Princes Crusade, only about 1,500 remained, along with another 12,000 healthy foot-soldiers. Early in the siege, some low-class knights claimed to have been visited by Adhemar, the papal regate for the crusade and they claimed that this was a Battle of Jericho situation, and that he instructed them to march around the city walls barefoot. They did so for a few days, singing holy chants, after which, Peter the Hermit held religious sermons in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the Mount of Olives, sending the crusading knights lost into religious zeal. It was at time that they were ready for a siege. A direct assault on the walls on June 13 was a failure, without water or food, both men and animals were quickly dying of thirst and starvation and the crusaders knew time was not on their side. Coincidentally, soon after the first assault, two Genoese galleys sailed into the port at Jaffa, the crusaders also began to gather wood from Samaria in order to build siege engines. They were still short on food and water, and by the end of June there was news that a Fatimid army was marching north from Egypt, the prime need of the crusaders was for ladders and siege towers to scale the walls of Jerusalem. The Egyptian Fatimid garrison had cleared the area of trees
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
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Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders (19th-century artist impression)
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
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Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
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Siege and Capture of Jerusalem, 1099 (13th century miniature)
15.
Battle of Ascalon
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The Battle of Ascalon took place on August 12,1099 shortly after the capture of Jerusalem, and is often considered the last action of the First Crusade. The crusader army led by Godfrey of Bouillon defeated and drove off the numerically-superior Fatimid army, Jerusalem was captured from the Fatimids on July 15,1099, after a long siege, and immediately the crusaders learned that a Fatimid army was on its way to besiege them. Godfrey of Bouillon was named Defender of the Holy Sepulchre on July 22, Fatimid ambassadors arrived to order the crusaders to leave Jerusalem, but they were ignored. When the Egyptian presence was confirmed, they marched out as well the next day, near Ramla, they met Tancred and Godfreys brother Eustace, who had left to capture Nablus earlier in the month. At the head of the army, Arnulf carried the relic of the Cross, the Fatimids were led by vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah, who commanded perhaps as many as 50,000 troops. His army consisted of Seljuk Turks, Arabs, Persians, Armenians, Kurds and he was intending to besiege the crusaders in Jerusalem, although he had brought no siege machinery with him, he did however have a fleet, also assembling in the port of Ascalon. The precise number of crusaders is unknown, but the number given by Raymond of Aguilers is 1,200 knights and 9,000 infantry, the highest estimate is 20,000 men but this is surely impossible at this stage of the crusade. On August 11 the crusaders found oxen, sheep, camels, according to captives taken by Tancred in a skirmish near Ramla, the animals were there to encourage the crusaders to disperse and pillage the land, making it easier for the Fatimids to attack. However, al-Afdal did not yet know the crusaders were in the area and was not expecting them. In any case, these animals marched with them the next morning exaggerating the appearance of their army, on the morning of the 12th, crusader scouts reported the location of the Fatimid camp and the army marched towards it. According to most accounts, the Fatimids were caught unprepared and the battle was short, the two main lines of battle fought each other with arrows until they were close enough to fight hand-to-hand with spears and other hand weapons. The Ethiopians attacked the centre of the line, and the Fatimid vanguard was able to outflank the crusaders and surround their rearguard. Despite his numerical superiority, al-Afdals army was hardly as strong or dangerous as the Seljuk armies that the crusaders had encountered previously, the battle seems to have been over before the Fatimid heavy cavalry was prepared to join it. Al-Afdal left behind his camp and its treasures, which were captured by Robert, crusader losses are unknown, but the Egyptians lost about 10–12,000 men. The crusaders spent the night in the camp, preparing for another attack. They took as much plunder as they could, including the Standard and al-Afdals personal tent and they returned to Jerusalem on August 13, and after much celebration Godfrey and Raymond both claimed Ascalon. When the garrison learned of the dispute they refused to surrender, after the battle, almost all of the remaining crusaders returned to their homes in Europe, their vows of pilgrimage having been fulfilled. There were perhaps only a few hundred left in Jerusalem by the end of the year
Battle of Ascalon
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Battle of Ascalon
16.
Crusade of 1101
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The Crusade of 1101 was a minor crusade of three separate movements, organized in 1100 and 1101 in the successful aftermath of the First Crusade. It is also called the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted due to the number of participants who joined this crusade after having turned back from the First Crusade. Calls for reinforcements from the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem, and Pope Paschal II, successor to Pope Urban II and he especially urged those who had taken the crusade vow but had never departed, and those who had turned back while on the march. As in the first crusade, the pilgrims and soldiers did not leave as a part of one large army, in September 1100, a large group of Lombards left from Milan. These were mostly untrained peasants, led by Anselm IV, Archbishop of Milan, when they reached the territory of the Byzantine Empire, they pillaged it recklessly, and Byzantine emperor Alexios I escorted them to a camp outside Constantinople. This did not satisfy them, and they made their way inside the city where they pillaged the Blachernae palace, the Lombards were quickly ferried across the Bosporus and made their camp at Nicomedia, to wait for reinforcements. Joining them at Nicomedia was Raymond IV of Toulouse, one of the leaders of the First Crusade who was now in the service of the emperor. He was appointed leader, and a Byzantine force of Pecheneg mercenaries was sent out with them under the command of General Tzitas. This group marched out at the end of May, towards Dorylaeum, following the route taken by Raymond, after capturing Ancyra on June 23,1101, and returning it to Alexios, the crusaders turned north. They briefly besieged the heavily garrisoned city of Gangra, and then continued north to attempt to capture the Turkish-controlled city of Kastamonu, however, they came under attack from the Seljuq Turks who harassed them for weeks, and a foraging party was destroyed in July. However, the Seljuqs, under Kilij Arslan I, realizing that disunity was the cause of their inability to stop the First Crusade, had now allied with both the Danishmends and Ridwan of Aleppo, in early August the crusaders met this combined Muslim army at Mersivan. The crusaders organized into five divisions, the Burgundians, Raymond and the Byzantines, the Germans, the French, the Turks nearly destroyed the crusaders’ army near the mountains of Paphlagonia at Mersivan. The land was well-suited to the Turks—dry and inhospitable for their enemy, it was open, the battle took place over several days. On the first day, the Turks cut off the crusading armies’ advances, the next day, Duke Conrad led his Germans in a raid that failed miserably. Not only did fail to open the Turkish lines, they were unable to return to the main crusader army and had to take refuge in a nearby stronghold. This meant that they were cut off supplies, aid. The third day was quiet, with little or no serious fighting taking place, but on the fourth day. The crusaders inflicted heavy losses on the Turks, but the attack was a failure by the end of the day, Kilij Arslan was joined by Ridwan of Aleppo and other powerful Danishmend princes
Crusade of 1101
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Lombard-Tuscan man-at-arms from c. 1100, Vita Mathildis.
Crusade of 1101
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A map of western
Anatolia, showing the routes taken by Christian armies
Crusade of 1101
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Anselm IV
17.
Battle of Ramla (1105)
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The third Battle of Ramla took place on 27 August 1105 between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Fatimids of Egypt. The town of Ramla lay on the road from Jerusalem to Ascalon, from Ascalon the Fatimid vizier, Al-Afdal Shahanshah, launched almost annual attacks into the newly founded Crusader kingdom from 1099 to 1107. Of the three battles the Crusaders fought at Ramla early in the century, the third was the most bloody. Egyptian armies of the period relied on masses of Sudanese bowmen supported by Arab, whereas the Crusaders developed a healthy respect for the harass and surround tactics of the Turkish horse archers, they tended to discount the effectiveness of the Egyptian armies. While overconfidence led to a Crusader disaster at the battle of Ramla. The Franks never, until the reign of Saladin, feared the Egyptian as they did the armies from Muslim Syria and Mesopotamia, as at Ramla in 1101, in 1105 the Crusaders had both cavalry and infantry under the leadership of Baldwin I. At the third battle, however, the Egyptians were reinforced by a Seljuk Turkish force from Damascus, including mounted archery, after they withstood the initial Frankish cavalry charge the battle raged for most of the day. He vanquished the Turks when they were becoming a threat to his rear. Despite the victory the Egyptians continued to make raids into the Kingdom of Jeruselum with some reaching the walls of Jerusalem itself before being pushed back. The next major engagement between Fatimids and Crusaders was the Battle of Yibneh in 1123, Dupuy, R. E. and T. N. Dupuy, eds. New York, Harper & Row,1977, new York, Barnes & Noble Books,1995
Battle of Ramla (1105)
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Battles of Ramla
18.
Siege of Sidon
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The Siege of Sidon was an event in the aftermath of the First Crusade. The coastal city of Sidon was captured by the forces of Baldwin I of Jerusalem and Sigurd I of Norway, with assistance from the Ordelafo Faliero, in the summer of 1110 a Norwegian fleet of 60 ships arrived in the Levant under the command of King Sigurd. Arriving in Acre he was received by Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem, together they made a journey to the river Jordan, after which Baldwin asked for help in capturing Muslim-held ports on the coast. Baldwins army besieged the city by land, while the Norwegian came by sea, a naval force was needed to prevent assistance from the Fatimid fleet at Tyre. Repelling it was only made possible with the fortunate arrival of a Venetian fleet. The city fell after 47 days, the Icelandic skald Einarr Skúlason gives the following account. By order of Baldwin and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Ghibbelin of Arles, the Lordship of Sidon was created and given to Eustace Grenier, later a constable of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Siege of Sidon
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King Sigurd and King Baldwin ride from Jerusalem to the river Jordan by
Gerhard Munthe.
19.
Battle of Ager Sanguinis
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Antioch and the other Crusader States were constantly at war with the Muslim states of Northern Syria and the Jazeerah, principally Aleppo and Mosul. When Ridwan of Aleppo died in 1113, there was a period of peace, in 1115, Roger defeated a Seljuk Turkish invasion force led by Bursuq bin Bursuq at the Battle of Sarmin. In 1117 Aleppo came under the rule of the Artuqid atabeg Ilghazi, in 1118 Roger captured Azaz, which left Aleppo open to attack from the Crusaders, in response, Ilghazi invaded the Principality in 1119. Roger marched out from Artah with Bernard of Valence, the Latin Patriarch of Antioch, Bernard suggested they remain there, as Artah was a well-defended fortress only a short distance away from Antioch, and Ilghazi would not be able to pass if they were stationed there. The Patriarch also advised Roger to call for help from Baldwin, now king of Jerusalem, and Pons, Roger camped in the pass of Sarmada, while Ilghazi besieged the fort of al-Atharib. A force under Robert of Vieux-Pont set out to break the siege, Ilghazi was also waiting for reinforcements from Toghtekin, the Burid emir of Damascus, but he too was tired of waiting. Using little-used paths, his army quickly surrounded Rogers camp during the night of June 27, the prince had recklessly chosen a campsite in a wooded valley with steep sides and few avenues of escape. Rogers army of 700 knights and 3,000 foot soldiers, including turcopoles and these drew up in a V-shaped line with the tip farthest from the Muslim battle array. From left to right, the divisions were commanded by Robert of St. Lo, Prince Roger, Guy de Frenelle, Geoffrey the Monk, meanwhile, Roger told off a sixth division under Renaud Mansoer to protect the Antiochene rear. As the Muslim army waited, the qadi Abu al-Fadl ibn al-Khashshab, wearing his lawyers turban but brandishing a lance, rode out in front of the troopers. That morning, June 28, the battle was begun by a duel between the Antiochene infantry, posted in front of the knights, and the Turkish bowmen. The crusader army was at first successful when the divisions of Peter. Guy de Frenelles center division had some success also, but the battle was decided on the left flank. Robert of St. Lo and the Turcopoles were driven back into Rogers division, a north wind blew dust in the faces of the Antioch knights and footmen, confusing them further. Soon, Artuqid flanking forces enveloped the crusaders, during the fighting, Roger was killed by a sword in the face at the foot of the great jewelled cross which had served as his standard. The rest of the army was killed or captured, only two knights survived, Renaud Mansoer, took refuge in the fort of Sarmada to wait for King Baldwin, but was later taken captive by Ilghazi. Among the other prisoners was likely Walter the Chancellor, who wrote an account of the battle. The massacre led to the name of the battle, ager sanguinis, the battle proved that the Muslims could defeat a Crusader army without the help of the Seljuks
Battle of Ager Sanguinis
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Battle of Ager-Sanguinis, 1337 miniature
20.
Venetian Crusade
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The Venetian Crusade of 1122–24 was an expedition to the Holy Land launched by the Republic of Venice that succeeded in capturing Tyre. It was an important victory at the start of a period when the Kingdom of Jerusalem would expand to its greatest extent under King Baldwin II, the Venetians gained valuable trading concessions in Tyre. Baldwin de Burg was a nephew of Baldwin I of Jerusalem, in 1118 his uncle died and he became King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. In the Battle of Ager Sanguinis, fought near Sarmada on 28 June 1119, the Franks suffered a defeat by the forces of Ilghazi. Later that year Baldwin regained some territory, but the Franks were seriously weakened, Baldwin asked for help from Pope Callixtus II. The pope forwarded the request to Venice, the terms of the crusade were agreed through negotiations between the envoys of Baldwin II and the doge of Venice. The church also extended its protection to the families and property of the crusaders, in 1122 the Doge of Venice, Domenico Michiel, launched the seaborne crusade. The Venetian fleet of more than 120 ships carrying over 15,000 men left the Venetian Lagoon on 8 August 1122 and this seems to have been the first crusade in which the knights brought their horses with them. They invested Corfu, then a possession of the Byzantine Empire, in 1123 Baldwin II was captured by Balak of Mardin, emir of Aleppo, and imprisoned in Kharput. Eustace Graverius became regent of Jerusalem, the Venetians abandoned the siege of Corfu when they heard this news, and reached the Palestinian coast in May 1123. The Venetian fleet arrived at Acre at the end of May and was informed about a Fatimid fleet, of around a hundred sail, sailing towards Ascalon. in order to assist the Emir Balak at his siege. Thus the Venetian fleet sailed south in order to meet it, with the intend to divert the fleet off Ascalon. The Egyptians fell into the trap assuming an easy victory they were now caught between two Venetian squadrons and outnumbered. Some 4,000 Saracens were killed including the Fatimid admiral and 9 vessels captured with the Venetians adding to their triumph the capture of 10 merchant vessels on rout back to Acre, both Fulcher of Chartres and William of Tyre recorded the event. On this the ships followed in haste and fell almost all the other enemy ships around. But the shores, they say, were so covered with the corpses that were ejected from the sea, that the air was tainted. At lengths the fight continued man against man, and most heatedly one side was trying to advance while the side tried to resist. Finally, however, the Venetians were with Gods help victorious On 15 February 1124 the Venetians, the seaport of Tyre, now in Lebanon, was part of the territory of Toghtekin, the Atabeg of Damascus
Venetian Crusade
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Outremer around 1100
Venetian Crusade
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The siege of Tyre by the Crusaders and the Venetian fleet
21.
Siege of Shaizar
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The Siege of Shaizar took place from April 28 to May 21,1138. The allied forces of the Byzantine Empire, Principality of Antioch and County of Edessa besieged Shaizar in Syria, the siege resulted in the Emir of Shaizar paying an indemnity and becoming the vassal of the Byzantine emperor. The campaign underlined the limited nature of Byzantine suzerainty over the northern Crusader states and these rights dated back to the Treaty of Devol of 1108, though Byzantium had not been in a position to enforce them. The necessary preparation for a descent on Antioch was the recovery of Byzantine control over Cilicia, control of Cilicia opened the route to the Principality of Antioch for the Byzantines. Faced with the approach of the formidable Byzantine army Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, John demanded the unconditional surrender of Antioch and, after asking the permission of Fulk, King of Jerusalem, Raymond of Antioch agreed to surrender the city to John. Then, Raymond would rule the new conquests and Antioch would revert to imperial rule. In March, the army crossed from Cilicia to Antioch. They crossed into enemy territory and occupied Balat, on April 3 they arrived before Bizaa which held out for five days. It had been hoped that Aleppo could be surprised, however, the most powerful Muslim leader in Syria, Zengi, was besieging nearby Hama and he had enough warning of the emperors operations to quickly reinforce Aleppo. On April 20, the Christian army launched an attack on the city, the emperor then moved the army southward taking the fortresses of Athereb, Maarat al-Numan, and Kafartab by assault, with the ultimate goal of capturing the city of Shaizar. The Crusader princes were suspicious of other and of John. With the lukewarm interest his allies had in the prosecution of the siege, the emperors reproaches could only goad the two princes into perfunctory and fitful action. Latin and Muslim sources describe Johns energy and personal courage in prosecuting the siege, conspicuous in his golden helmet, John was active in encouraging his troops, supervising the siege engines and consoling the wounded. The walls of Shaizar were battered by the trebuchets of the impressive Byzantine siege train, the emirs nephew, the poet, writer and diplomat Usama ibn Munqidh, recorded the devastation wreaked by the Byzantine artillery which could smash a whole house with a single missile. The city was taken, but the citadel, protected by its cliffs, tardily, Zengi had assembled a relief army and it moved towards Shaizar. The relief army was smaller than the Christian army but John was reluctant to leave his siege engines in order to out to meet it. John, disgusted by the behaviour of his allies, reluctantly accepted the offer, on May 21, the siege was raised. Zengis troops skirmished with the retreating Christians, but did not dare actively to impede the armys march, returning to Antioch, John made a ceremonial entry into the city
Siege of Shaizar
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John II Komnenos negotiating with the Emir of Shaizar, 13th-century French manuscript
Siege of Shaizar
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John II directs the siege of Shaizar while his allies sit inactive in their camp, French manuscript 1338.
Siege of Shaizar
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Anatolia and the Levant circa 1140.
22.
Siege of Edessa
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The Siege of Edessa took place from November 28 to December 24,1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the crusader County of Edessa to Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. The County of Edessa was the first of the states to be established during. Count Baldwin II and future count Joscelin of Courtenay were taken captive after their defeat at the Battle of Harran in 1104. Joscelin was captured a second time in 1122, and although Edessa recovered somewhat after the Battle of Azaz in 1125, Joscelin was killed in battle in 1131. His successor Joscelin II was forced into an alliance with the Byzantine Empire, Joscelin had also quarreled with Raymond II of Tripoli and Raymond of Antioch, leaving Edessa with no powerful allies. In 1144, Joscelin was able to make an alliance with Kara Arslan, Joscelin marched out of Edessa with almost his entire army to support Kara Aslan against Aleppo. Zengi, already seeking to take advantage of Fulks death in 1143, hurried north to besiege Edessa, the city had been warned of his arrival and was prepared for a siege, but there was little they could do while Joscelin and the army were elsewhere. The defense of the city was led by the Latin Archbishop Hugh, the Armenian Bishop John, John and Basil ensured that none of the native Christians would desert to Zengi. When Joscelin heard of the siege he took the army to Turbessel, in Jerusalem, Queen Melisende responded to Joscelins appeal by sending an army led by Manasses of Hierges, Philip of Milly, and Elinand of Bures. Raymond of Antioch ignored the call for help, as his army was occupied against the Byzantine Empire in Cilicia. Zengi surrounded the city, realizing that there was no army defending it. He built siege engines and began to mine the walls, while his forces were joined by Kurdish, the inhabitants of Edessa resisted as much as they could, but had no experience in siege warfare, the city’s numerous towers remained unmanned. They also had no knowledge of counter-mining, and part of the wall near the Gate of the Hours collapsed on December 24, Zengis troops rushed into the city, killing all those who were unable to flee to the Citadel of Maniaces. Thousands more were suffocated or trampled to death in the panic, Zengi ordered his men to stop the massacre, although all the Latin prisoners that he had taken were executed, the native Christians were allowed to live freely. The citadel was handed over on December 26, in January 1145 Zengi captured Saruj and besieged Birejik, but the army of Jerusalem had finally arrived and joined with Joscelin. Zengi also heard of trouble in Mosul, and rushed back to take control, there, he was praised throughout Islam as defender of the faith and al-Malik al-Mansur, the victorious king. He did not pursue an attack on the territory of Edessa, or the Principality of Antioch. Zengi was assassinated by a slave in 1146 while besieging Qalat Jabar, Joscelin attempted to take back Edessa following Zengis murder, and recaptured all but the citadel in October 1146
Siege of Edessa
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Map of the Second Crusade
Holy Roman Empire
Sultanate of Rum
