1.
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
2.
Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
3.
Zengid dynasty
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The Zengid or Zangid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Oghuz Turk origin, which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia on behalf of the Seljuk Empire. The dynasty was founded by Imad ad-Din Zengi, who became the Seljuk Atabeg of Mosul in 1127 and he quickly became the chief Turkish potentate in Northern Syria and Iraq, taking Aleppo from the squabbling Artuqids in 1128 and capturing the County of Edessa from the Crusaders in 1144. This latter feat made Zengi a hero in the Muslim world, Nur ad-Din proved to be as competent as his father. In 1149 he defeated Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch, at the battle of Inab, in 1154 he capped off these successes by his capture of Damascus from the Burid dynasty that ruled it. Now ruling from Damascus, Nur ad-Dins success continued, another Prince of Antioch, Raynald of Châtillon was captured, and the territories of the Principality of Antioch were greatly reduced. In the 1160s, Nur ad-Dins attention was mostly held by a competition with the King of Jerusalem, Amalric of Jerusalem, Nur ad-Din was preparing to invade Egypt to bring Saladin under control when he unexpectedly died in 1174. His son and successor As-Salih Ismail al-Malik was only a child, and was forced to flee to Aleppo, which he ruled until 1181, when he was murdered and replaced by his relation, Saladin conquered Aleppo two years later, ending Zengid rule in Syria. Zengid princes continued to rule in Northern Iraq well into the 13th century, ruling Mosul until 1234, their rule did not come finally to an end until 1250
4.
Aleppo
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Aleppo is a city in Syria, serving as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100, Aleppo was the largest Syrian city before the Syrian Civil War, however, now Aleppo is likely the second-largest city in Syria after the capital Damascus. Aleppo is an ancient city, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and it was also one of the largest cities in the Levant before the advent of the Syrian Civil War. The citys significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, when the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo ceded its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, in the 1940s, it lost its main access to the sea, Antakya and İskenderun, also to Turkey. Finally, the isolation of Syria in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation and this decline may have helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage. It won the title of the Islamic Capital of Culture 2006, during the Battle of Aleppo the city suffered massive destruction, and has been the worst-hit city in the Syrian Civil War. In December 2016, the Syrian government achieved full control of Aleppo following a successful offensive, modern-day English-speakers commonly refer to the city as Aleppo. It was known in antiquity as Khalpe, Khalibon, and to the Greeks, during the Crusades, and again during the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon of 1923–1946, the name Alep was used. Aleppo represents the Italianised version of this, the original ancient name, Halab, has survived as the current Arabic name of the city. Some have proposed that halab means iron or copper in Amorite languages, the modern-day Arabic nickname of the city, ash-Shahbaa, which means the white-colored, also allegedly derives from the famous white marble of Aleppo. From the 11th century it was common usage to apply the term Aram-Zobah to the area of Aleppo. Aleppo has scarcely been touched by archaeologists, since the city occupies its ancient site. The site has been occupied from around 5000 BC, as shown by excavations in Tallet Alsauda, Aleppo appears in historical records as an important city much earlier than Damascus. The first record of Aleppo comes from the third millennium BC, some historians, such as Wayne Horowitz, identify Aleppo with the capital of an independent kingdom closely related to Ebla, known as Armi, although this identification is contested. The main temple of the storm god Hadad was located on the hill in the center of the city. In the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Empire period, Aleppos name appears in its form as Ḥalab for the first time
5.
Damascus
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Damascus is the capital and likely the largest city of Syria, following the decline in population of Aleppo due to the ongoing battle for the city. It is commonly known in Syria as ash-Sham and nicknamed as the City of Jasmine, in addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious centre of the Levant. The city has an population of 1,711,000 as of 2009. Located in south-western Syria, Damascus is the centre of a metropolitan area of 2.6 million people. The Barada River flows through Damascus, first settled in the second millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad, Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the government and all of the government ministries. The name of Damascus first appeared in the geographical list of Thutmose III as T-m-ś-q in the 15th century BC, the etymology of the ancient name T-m-ś-q is uncertain, but it is suspected to be pre-Semitic. It is attested as Dimašqa in Akkadian, T-ms-ḳw in Egyptian, Dammaśq in Old Aramaic, the Akkadian spelling is found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BC. Later Aramaic spellings of the name include a intrusive resh, perhaps influenced by the root dr. Thus, the English and Latin name of the city is Damascus which was imported from originated from the Qumranic Darmeśeq, and Darmsûq in Syriac, meaning a well-watered land. In Arabic, the city is called Dimašqu š-Šāmi, although this is shortened to either Dimašq or aš-Šām by the citizens of Damascus, of Syria and other Arab neighbours. Aš-Šām is an Arabic term for Levant and for Syria, the latter, the Anti-Lebanon mountains mark the border between Syria and Lebanon. The range has peaks of over 10,000 ft. and blocks precipitation from the Mediterranean sea, however, in ancient times this was mitigated by the Barada River, which originates from mountain streams fed by melting snow. Damascus is surrounded by the Ghouta, irrigated farmland where many vegetables, cereals, maps of Roman Syria indicate that the Barada river emptied into a lake of some size east of Damascus. Today it is called Bahira Atayba, the hesitant lake, because in years of severe drought it does not even exist, the modern city has an area of 105 km2, out of which 77 km2 is urban, while Jabal Qasioun occupies the rest. The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the city walls, to the south-east, north and north-east it is surrounded by suburban areas whose history stretches back to the Middle Ages, Midan in the south-west, Sarouja and Imara in the north and north-west. These neighbourhoods originally arose on roads leading out of the city and these new neighbourhoods were initially settled by Kurdish soldiery and Muslim refugees from the European regions of the Ottoman Empire which had fallen under Christian rule
6.
Mosul
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Mosul is a major city in northern Iraq. Since October 2016 it has been the site of an operation led by the Iraqi Government, under Haider al-Abadi, in an effort to dislodge. The city has been under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant since June 2014, and no westerner has entered the city until the latest initiative. The Battle of Mosul, an offensive to retake the city begun in October 2016, is the largest deployment of Iraqi forces since the 2003 invasion by U. S. Located some 400 km north of Baghdad, Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank. The metropolitan area has grown to encompass substantial areas on both the Left Bank and the Right Bank, as the two banks are described by the locals compared to the direction of Tigris. Mosuls population grew rapidly around the turn of the millennium and by 2004 was estimated to be 1,846,500, an estimated half million people fled Mosul in the second half of 2014 when the IS fought with government forces for control of the city. On November 17,2014, ISIS attacked the city of Mosul, ultimately killing seven civilians, while some residents returned, more fled in 2015 as fighting and violence increased, and US bombings pounded the city. Historically, important products of the area include Mosul marble and oil, the city of Mosul is home to the University of Mosul and its renowned Medical College, which together was one of the largest educational and research centers in Iraq and the Middle East. The University has since been closed, the Islamic States leadership in Mosul has kept the Medical College open but it is reported to be barely functional. The name of the city is first mentioned by Xenophon in his expeditionary logs in Achaemenid Assyria of 401 BC, there, he notes a small Assyrian town of Mépsila on the Tigris somewhere about where modern Mosul is today. Be that as it may, the name Mepsila is doubtless the root for the modern name, in its current Arabic form and spelling, the term Mosul, or rather Mawsil, stands for the linking point – or loosely, the Junction City, in Arabic. Mosul should not be confused with the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh and this area is known today as the town of Nebi Yunus and is now populated largely by Kurds. It is the only neighborhood in Mosul. The site contains the tomb of the Biblical Jonah, as he lived and died in the capital of ancient Assyria. Today, this area has been absorbed into the Mosul metropolitan area. The indigenous Assyrians still refer to the city of Mosul as Nineveh. The ancient Nineveh was succeeded by Mepsila after the fall of Assyria between 612-599 BC at the hands of a coalition of Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Scythians, Cimmerians and Sagartians, the Assyrians largely abandoned the city, building new smaller settlements such as Mepsila nearby
7.
County of Tripoli
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The County of Tripoli was the last of the Crusader states. It was founded in the Levant in the region of Tripoli, northern Lebanon and parts of western Syria which supported an indigenous population of Christians, Druze. When the Crusaders, captured the region in 1109, Bertrand of Toulouse became the first Count of Tripoli as a vassal of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem. From that time, rule of the county was decided not strictly by inheritance but by such as military force, favour. In 1289 the County of Tripoli fell to Sultan Qalawun of the Muslim Mamluks of Cairo, the county was absorbed into Mamluk Egypt. Raymond IV of Toulouse was one of the wealthiest and most powerful of the Prince Crusaders, even so, after the First Crusade, he had failed to secure any land holdings in the Near East. Meanwhile, the County of Edessa, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Tripoli was an important strategic goal as it linked the French in the south with the Normans in the north. It was a fertile and well populated area, in 1102, Raymond IV occupied Tortosa and in 1103, he prepared, together with veterans of the 1101 crusade, to take Tripoli. On a natural ridge, which he named Mons Peregrinus,3 kilometres from Tripoli, Raymond IV began the construction of a large castle, despite this new fortress and seasoned troops, Raymond IVs siege of Tripoli failed to secure the port. He died on 25 February 1105, Bertrand of Toulouse, who was supported by Baldwin I of Jerusalem, arrived in the Near East with a substantial army and a large Genoese fleet. In order to resolve the issue, Baldwin I created a partition treaty. It specified that William was to hold northern Tripoli and pay homage to Tancred while Bertrand was to hold south Tripoli as a vassal of Baldwin, under a united Christian onslaught, Tripoli fell on 12 July 1109, completing the Kingdom of Jerusalem. When William died of an arrow through the heart, Bertrand became the first Count of Tripoli, the extent of the County of Tripoli was determined in part by pre-existing Byzantine borders and in part by victory in battle, tempered by the demands of neighbouring crusader states. At its height, the county controlled the coastline from Maraclea in the north to Beirut in the south, inland, the countys control extended to the Krac des Chevaliers fortress. The rich inland agricultural land of the Homs Gap was known as La Bocquée, the county was divided into lordships, areas based roughly around its coastal ports. The Count of Tripoli himself held the port of Tripoli and its surrounds and he also controlled the hostile region of Montferrand, now modern-day Barin, Syria, lying to the east. Approximately one quarter of the land seized around Tripoli was given to the Genoese as payment for military aid, the Genoese admiral Guglielmo Embriaco was awarded the city of Jubail. Despite his contribution to its establishment, Baldwin I did not directly control the County of Tripoli, nevertheless, the County of Tripoli owed fealty and homage to him, and he, in return, provided support to the county in times of trouble
8.
Principality of Antioch
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The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem and it had roughly 20,000 inhabitants in the 12th century, most of whom were Armenians and Greek Orthodox Christians, with a few Muslims outside the city itself. Few of the inhabitants apart from the Crusaders were Roman Catholic even though the city was turned into a Latin Patriarchate in 1100. While Baldwin of Boulogne and Tancred headed east from Asia Minor to set up the County of Edessa, Bohemond of Taranto commanded the siege which commenced in October 1097. With over four hundred towers, the defenses were formidable. Bohemond convinced a guard in one of the towers, an Armenian and former Christian named Firouz, only four days later, a Muslim army from Mosul, led by Kerbogha, arrived to besiege the Crusaders themselves. Alexius I Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor, was on his way to assist the Crusaders, the Crusaders withstood the siege, with help from a mystic named Peter Bartholomew. Peter claimed he had visited by St. Andrew, who told him that the Holy Lance. The cathedral of St. Peter was excavated, and the Lance was discovered by Peter himself, although Peter most likely planted it there himself, it helped raise the spirits of the Crusaders. There was a dispute over who should control the city. Bohemond and the Italian Normans eventually won, and Bohemond named himself prince, meanwhile, an unknown epidemic spread throughout the Crusader camp, Adhemar of Le Puy was one of the victims. Following Bohemonds capture in battle with the Danishmends in 1100, his nephew Tancred became regent, Tancred expanded the borders of the Principality, seizing the cities of Tarsus and Latakia from the Byzantine Empire. However those newly captured cities along with other territory were lost after the Battle of Harran when Baldwin II of Edessa was captured, Bohemond was released in 1103 and went to Italy to raise more troops in 1104, during which time Tancred remained regent of Antioch. Bohemond used the troops he raised to attack the Byzantines in 1107, Bohemond was defeated at Dyrrhachium in 1108 and was forced by Alexius I to sign the Treaty of Devol, making Antioch a vassal state of the Byzantine Empire upon Bohemonds death. Bohemond had promised to any land that was seized from the Muslims when the Crusaders passed through Constantinople in 1097. Bohemond also fought at Aleppo with Baldwin and Joscelin of the County of Edessa, Bohemond left Tancred as regent once more and returned to Italy, where he died in 1111. Alexius wanted Tancred to return the Principality in its entirety to Byzantium, but Tancred was supported by the County of Tripoli, Tancred, in fact, had been the only Crusade leader who did not swear to return conquered land to Alexius. Tancred died in 1112 and was succeeded by Bohemond II, under the regency of Tancreds nephew Roger of Salerno, on June 27,1119, Roger was killed at the Ager Sanguinis, and Antioch became a vassal state of Jerusalem with King Baldwin II as regent until 1126
9.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
10.
Armenia
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Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. The Republic of Armenia constitutes only one-tenth of historical Armenia, Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. Urartu was established in 860 BC and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia, in the 1st century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became the first Christian nation. The official date of adoption of Christianity is 301 AD. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century, under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the fell in 1045. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, during World War I, Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, in 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Armenia recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the worlds oldest national church, as the countrys primary religious establishment. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia supports the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which was proclaimed in 1991, the native Armenian name for the country is Հայք. The name in the Middle Ages was extended to Հայաստան, by addition of the Persian suffix -stan, the further origin of the name is uncertain. It is also postulated that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi. The exonym Armenia is attested in the Old Persian Behistun Inscription as Armina, the ancient Greek terms Ἀρμενία and Ἀρμένιοι are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus. Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and he relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. According to the histories of both Moses of Chorene and Michael Chamchian, Armenia derives from the name of Aram, a descendant of Hayk
11.
Nur ad-Din (died 1174)
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Nūr ad-Dīn Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿImād ad-Dīn Zengī, often shortened to his laqab Nur ad-Din, was a member of the Turkish Zengid dynasty which ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. He reigned from 1146 to 1174, Nur ad-Din was the second son of Imad ad-Din Zengi, the Turkish atabeg of Aleppo and Mosul, who was a devoted enemy of the crusader presence in Syria. The border between the two new kingdoms was formed by the Nahr al-Khabur River, in 1146, Nur ad-Din massacred the entire Christian population of the city and destroyed its fortifications in punishment for assisting Joscelin in this attempt. According to Thomas Asbridge, the women and children of Edessa were enslaved and he secured his hold on Antioch after crushing Raymond of Poitiers at the Battle of Inab in 1149, even presenting to the caliph, Raymonds severed head and arms. Nur ad-Din sought to make alliances with his Muslim neighbours in northern Iraq, in 1147 he signed a bilateral treaty with Muin ad-Din Unur, governor of Damascus, as part of this agreement, he also married Muin ad-Dins daughter Ismat ad-Din Khatun. To reassure Muin ad-Din, Nur ad-Din curtailed his stay in Damascus and turned instead towards the Principality of Antioch, where he was able to seize Artah, Kafar Latha, Basarfut, and Balat. In 1148, the Second Crusade arrived in Syria, led by Louis VII of France, Nur ad-Dins victories and the crusaders losses in Asia Minor however had made the recovery of Edessa – their original goal – practically impossible. Muin ad-Din reluctantly called for help from Nur ad-Din, but the siege collapsed after only four days. Nur ad-Din took advantage of the failure of the crusade to prepare another attack against Antioch, in 1149, he launched an offensive against the territories dominated by the castle of Harim, situated on the eastern bank of the Orontes, after which he besieged the castle of Inab. The Prince of Antioch, Raymond of Poitiers, quickly came to the aid of the besieged citadel, the Muslim army destroyed the crusader army at the Battle of Inab, during which Raymond was killed. Raymonds head was sent to Nur ad-Din, who sent it along to the caliph in Baghdad, Nur ad-Din marched all the way to the coast and expressed his dominance of Syria by symbolically bathing in the Mediterranean. In 1150, he defeated Joscelin II for a time, after allying with the Seljuk Sultan of Rüm. Joscelin was blinded and died in his prison in Aleppo in 1159, in the Battle of Aintab, Nur ad-Din tried but failed to prevent King Baldwin III of Jerusalems evacuation of the Latin Christian residents of Turbessel. In 1152 Nur ad-Din briefly captured Tortosa after the assassination of Raymond II of Tripoli and it was Nur ad-Dins dream to unite the various Muslim forces between the Euphrates and the Nile to make a common front against the crusaders. In 1149 Saif ad-Din Ghazi died, and a brother, Qutb ad-Din Mawdud. Qutb ad-Din recognized Nur ad-Din as overlord of Mosul, so that the cities of Mosul. Damascus was all that remained as an obstacle to the unification of Syria, after the failure of the Second Crusade, Muin ad-Din had renewed his treaty with the crusaders, and after his death in 1149 his successor Mujir ad-Din followed the same policy. In 1150 and 1151 Nur ad-Din besieged the city, but retreated each time with no success, when Ascalon was captured by the crusaders in 1153, Mujir ad-Din forbade Nur ad-Din from travelling across his territory
12.
Raymond III, Count of Tripoli
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Raymond III of Tripoli was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva. Raymond was a great-great-grandson of Raymond IV of Toulouse and he succeeded his father Raymond II, who had been killed by the Hashshashin, in 1152, when he was young. His mother, princess Hodierna of Jerusalem, daughter of King Baldwin II and he was also known as Raymond the Younger to distinguish him from his father. In 1160, Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos was seeking a wife from the Crusader states, the two candidates presented to him were Raymonds sister Melisende, and Princess Maria of Antioch. At first, Melisende was chosen, and Raymond collected an enormous dowry, however, Manuels ambassadors heard the rumours that Melisende might have been fathered by someone other than Raymond II, and the marriage was called off, Manuel married Maria instead. Raymond, feeling slighted for both himself and his sister, responded by converting the galleys into men-of-war to plunder the Byzantine island of Cyprus, Melisende later entered a convent, where she died fairly young. In 1164 Raymond and Bohemund III of Antioch marched out to relieve Harim, the crusader army was defeated in the ensuing battle on August 12, Raymond, Bohemund, Joscelin III of Edessa, Hugh VIII of Lusignan, and others were taken captive and imprisoned in Aleppo. Raymond remained in prison until 1173, when he was ransomed for 80,000 pieces of gold, during his captivity, King Amalric I of Jerusalem ruled as regent of the county, and dutifully returned it to Raymond once he was released. In 1174 Amalric died and was succeeded by his son Baldwin IV, Miles of Plancy, seneschal of the kingdom, claimed the regency. But Raymond soon arrived and, as first cousin and closest male relative of King Amalric, in this he was supported by the major barons of the kingdom, including Humphrey II of Toron, Balian of Ibelin, and Reginald of Sidon. Soon Miles was assassinated in Acre and Raymond was invested as bailli, as regent, he appointed William of Tyre chancellor of Jerusalem in 1174 and archbishop of Tyre in 1175. He retired as bailli when Baldwin IV came of age in 1176, Raymonds own position amid these tensions was difficult and controversial. As the kings nearest relative in the line, he had a strong claim to the throne himself. However, although his wife had had children by her first husband, he had no children of his own to succeed him. Instead, he acted as a power-broker, working closely with the Ibelins, the king, meanwhile, relied considerably on his mother and her brother, Joscelin III of Edessa, who had no claims of their own to advance. In 1179, Baldwin began planning to marry Sibylla to Hugh III of Burgundy, to counter this, the king hastily arranged her marriage to Guy of Lusignan, younger brother of Amalric, the constable of the kingdom. A foreign match was essential to bring the possibility of military aid to the kingdom. With the new French king Philip II a minor, Guys status as a vassal of the King, Raymond returned home without entering the kingdom
13.
Prisoner of war
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A prisoner of war is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the prisoner of war dates to 1660. The first Roman gladiators were prisoners of war and were named according to their ethnic roots such as Samnite, Thracian, typically, little distinction was made between enemy combatants and enemy civilians, although women and children were more likely to be spared. Sometimes, the purpose of a battle, if not a war, was to capture women, a known as raptio. Typically women had no rights, and were legally as chattel. For this he was eventually canonized, during Childerics siege and blockade of Paris in 464, the nun Geneviève pleaded with the Frankish king for the welfare of prisoners of war and met with a favourable response. Later, Clovis I liberated captives after Genevieve urged him to do so, many French prisoners of war were killed during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In the later Middle Ages, a number of religious wars aimed to not only defeat, in Christian Europe, the extermination of heretics was considered desirable. Examples include the 13th century Albigensian Crusade and the Northern Crusades, likewise, the inhabitants of conquered cities were frequently massacred during the Crusades against the Muslims in the 11th and 12th centuries. Noblemen could hope to be ransomed, their families would have to send to their captors large sums of wealth commensurate with the status of the captive. In feudal Japan there was no custom of ransoming prisoners of war, in Termez, on the Oxus, all the people, both men and women, were driven out onto the plain, and divided in accordance with their usual custom, then they were all slain. The Aztecs were constantly at war with neighbouring tribes and groups, for the re-consecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, between 10,000 and 80,400 persons were sacrificed. During the early Muslim conquests, Muslims routinely captured large number of prisoners, aside from those who converted, most were ransomed or enslaved. Christians who were captured during the Crusades, were either killed or sold into slavery if they could not pay a ransom. The freeing of prisoners was highly recommended as a charitable act, there also evolved the right of parole, French for discourse, in which a captured officer surrendered his sword and gave his word as a gentleman in exchange for privileges. If he swore not to escape, he could gain better accommodations, if he swore to cease hostilities against the nation who held him captive, he could be repatriated or exchanged but could not serve against his former captors in a military capacity. Early historical narratives of captured colonial Europeans, including perspectives of literate women captured by the peoples of North America. The writings of Mary Rowlandson, captured in the fighting of King Philips War, are an example
14.
Bohemond III of Antioch
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Bohemond III of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the Child or the Stammerer, was Prince of Antioch from 1163 to 1201. He was the son of Constance of Antioch and her first husband, Raymond of Poitiers. Bohemond ascended to the throne after the Antiochene noblemen dethroned his mother with the assistance of Thoros II and he fell into captivity in the Battle of Artah in 1164, but the victorious Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo released him to avoid coming into conflict with the Byzantine Empire. Bohemond went to Constantinople to pay homage to Manuel I Komnenos, the Latin Patriarch of Antioch, Aimery of Limoges, placed Antioch under interdict. Bohemond restored Aimery only after the Greek patriarch died during an earthquake in 1170, Bohemond remained a close ally of the Byzantine Empire. He fought against Mleh, Lord of Armenian Cilicia, assisting in the restoration of Byzantine rule in the Cilician plain. He also made alliances with the Muslim rulers of Aleppo and Damascus against Saladin, since Bohemond repudiated his second wife and married an Antiochene lady, Patriarch Aimery excommunicated him in 1180. Bohemond forced the Armenian rulers of Cilicia to accept his suzerainty in the late 1180s and he also secured the County of Tripoli for his second son, Bohemond, in 1187. However, Saladin occupied almost the whole Principality of Antioch in the summer of 1188, to preserve the peace with Saladin, Bohemond did not provide military assistance to the crusaders during the Third Crusade. Leo of Cilicias expansionist policy in the 1190s gave rise to a conflict between Antioch and Cilicia. Bohemond was captured in 1194 by Leo, who tried to seize Antioch, Bohemond was released only after he acknowledged Leos independence. New conflicts emerged after Bohemonds eldest son, Raymond, died in 1197, the elderly Bohemond seems to have supported his son during his last years. The War of the Antiochene Succession began with Bohemonds death and lasted until 1219, Bohemond was the elder son of Constance, Princess of Antioch, and her first husband, Raymond of Poitiers. Prince Raymond died fighting against Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo, neither Baldwin III of Jerusalem nor the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos could persuade the widowed Constance to take a new husband. Finally, she chose Raynald of Châtillon, a French knight who had settled in Syria. Raynald ruled the principality as Constances husband from 1153 until he was captured by Majd al-Din, governor of Aleppo, however, Constance appealed to Manuel Komnenos, who confirmed her position as the sole ruler of Antioch. Constance wanted to power even after Bohemond reached the age of majority. However, the Antiochene noblemen rebelled against her with the assistance of Thoros II, Lord of Armenian Cilicia, Bohemond was installed as prince after his mother was dethroned
15.
Hugh VIII of Lusignan
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Hugh VIII the Old of Lusignan or Hugh III of La Marche was the eldest son of Hugh VII and of Sarrasine or Saracena de Lezay. He became Seigneur de Lusignan, Couhé, and Château-Larcher and Count of La Marche on his fathers death in 1151, born in Poitou, 1106–1110 or some time after 1125, he died in the Holy Land in 1165 or 1171. In 1163 or 1164 he went on pilgrimage and on crusade to the Holy Land and participated in the Battle of Harim, according to the Chronicle of Ernoul, when told that Guy had become king of Jerusalem Geoffrey said, Hell be God next. Married firstly before 1200 Eustache de Chabot, Dame de Vouvent et Dame de Mervent, and secondly c.1226 Margaret de Mauléon,1247 Hugues III de Parthenay Peter de Lusignan, witnessed a charter in Antioch in 1174, but is otherwise not documented. He died probably as a Priest, amalric de Lusignan, born about 1145, died 1205. He succeeded his younger brother Guy as ruler of Cyprus, later he was crowned King of Cyprus, the first of the Lusignan dynasty and he was regent and afterwards King of Jerusalem. After the loss of Jerusalem he became Lord of Cyprus, william de Lusignan or de Valence, born after 1163, betrothed to Beatrix de Courtenay, daughter of Joscelin III of Edessa, in 1186. The marriage does not seem to have taken place, sidney Painter, The houses of Lusignan and Châtellerault, 1150-1250 in Speculum vol. Sidney Painter, The Lords of Lusignan in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in Speculum vol
16.
Joscelin III, Count of Edessa
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Joscelin III of Edessa was the titular Count of Edessa. He was the son of Joscelin II and his wife Beatrice and he inherited the title of Count of Edessa from his father, Joscelin II, although Edessa had been captured in 1144 and its remnants conquered or sold years before he took the title. Joscelin lived in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and managed to gather enough land around Acre to set up the Seigneurie of Joscelin. His sister, Agnes of Courtenay, had been the first wife of King Amalric I before he succeeded to the throne, in 1164 Joscelin was taken captive by Nur ad-Din Zengi at the Battle of Harim. He remained a prisoner until 1176 when Agnes paid his ransom of 50,000 dinars and his nephew Baldwin then made him seneschal of Jerusalem. He faced some rivalry from the kings paternal kindred, led by Raymond III, in 1180 Joscelin went as an ambassador to the Byzantine Empire. After the betrothal of Princess Isabella I of Jerusalem to Humphrey IV of Toron that year, Baldwin IV granted part of them, Chastel Neuf, to Joscelin, and awarded Agnes an income from the usufruct, or produce, of Toron. Agnes died in late 1184, a few months before her son, in 1185, Joscelin became guardian of his young great-nephew, Baldwin V, while Raymond III was regent. Raymond feared that, if he were the childs personal guardian, he would be blamed if he died in his care, Joscelin, as the kings maternal grandmothers brother, had no claim, but rather had strong family interests in keeping him alive. Additional support came with the arrival of Baldwins paternal grandfather, William V of Montferrat, however, Baldwin seems to have been sickly, and died at Acre in 1186. Joscelin and William escorted his coffin to Jerusalem, meanwhile, Raymond went to Nablus to attempt a coup with Balian of Ibelin to install Isabella as queen. This failed, and Sibylla was crowned, also crowning her second husband, in 1186, Guy and Sibylla granted Chastel Neuf and Toron, with other territory, to Joscelin. He, in turn, gave them as the dowry of his daughter, Beatrice. Her younger sister, Agnes, was to one of Guy’s nephews. At the Battle of Hattin in 1187, Joscelin commanded the rearguard with Balian of Ibelin, both escaped the disastrous defeat and fled to Tyre. All his estates were captured by Saladin, Joscelin joined in the siege of Acre in the Third Crusade. He last witnessed a charter on 25 October 1190, after Sibyllas death, there is a strong likelihood that he died during the siege. A month later, Isabella, who was now claiming the crown from Guy, restored Humphrey of Torons claim to Chastel Neuf, if Joscelin was still alive, he made no recorded objection
17.
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
18.
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
19.
Battle of Inab
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The Battle of Inab, also called Battle of Ard al-Hâtim or Fons Muratus, was fought on 29 June 1149, during the Second Crusade. The Zengid army of Atabeg Nur ad-Din Zangi destroyed the army of Prince Raymond of Antioch. The Principality of Antioch was subsequently pillaged and reduced in size as its border was pushed west. After the death of Nur ad-Dins father Zengi in 1146, Raymond of Antioch invaded the province of Aleppo. After establishing his own authority in Aleppo and successfully defending Edessa in 1147, Nur ad-Din invaded Antioch in late 1148, Raymond beat him off and captured his baggage train. When he returned a few months later to attack Yaghra, Raymond, at the head of a small force, in June 1149, Nur ad-Din invaded Antioch and besieged the fortress of Inab, with aid from Unur of Damascus and a force of Turcomans. Nur ad-Din had about 6,000 troops, mostly cavalry, Raymond and his Christian neighbor, Count Joscelin II of Edessa, had been enemies since Raymond had refused to send a relief army to Edessa in 1146. Joscelin even made a treaty of alliance with Nur ad-Din against Raymond, for their part, Raymond II of Tripoli and the regent, Melisende of Jerusalem refused to aid the Prince of Antioch. Feeling confident because he had twice defeated Nur ad-Din previously, Prince Raymond struck out on his own with an army of 400 knights and 1,000 foot soldiers, Prince Raymond allied himself with Ali ibn-Wafa, leader of the Hashshashin and an enemy of Nur ad-Din. Before he had collected all his forces, Raymond and his ally mounted a relief expedition. Amazed at the weakness of Prince Raymonds army, the atabeg at first suspected that it was only an advance guard, upon the approach of the combined force, Nur ad-Din raised the siege of Inab and withdrew. Rather than staying close to the stronghold, Raymond and ibn-Wafa camped with their forces in open country, after Nur ad-Dins scouts noted that the allies camped in an exposed location and did not receive reinforcements, the atabeg swiftly surrounded the enemy camp during the night. On June 29, Nur ad-Din attacked and destroyed the army of Antioch, presented with an opportunity to escape, the Prince of Antioch refused to abandon his soldiers. Raymond was a man of stature and fought back, cutting down all who came near him. Nevertheless, both Raymond and ibn-Wafa were killed, along with Reynald of Marash, a few Franks escaped the disaster. Much of the territory of Antioch was now open to Nur ad-Din, Nur ad-Din rode out to the coast and bathed in the sea as a symbol of his conquest. The contemporary historian William of Tyre blamed the Antiochenes defeat on Raymonds rashness, one modern historian says the Crusader defeat at Inab was as disastrous at that of the Ager Sanguinis a generation earlier. Yet another remarks that it was not part of a watershed moment, after his victory, Nur ad-Din went on to capture the fortresses of Artah, Harim and ‘Imm, which defended the approach to Antioch itself
20.
Crusader invasions of Egypt
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The Crusader invasion of Egypt was a series of campaigns undertaken by the Kingdom of Jerusalem to strengthen its position in the Levant by taking advantage of the weakness of Fatimid Egypt. The war began as part of a crisis in the Fatimid Caliphate, which began to crumble under the pressure of Syria. While one side called for help from Nur ad-Din Zangi, the called for Crusader assistance. As the war progressed however it became a war of conquest, a number of Syrian campaigns into Egypt were stopped short of total victory by the aggressive campaigning of Amalric I of Jerusalem. Even so, the Crusaders generally speaking did not have things go their way, a combined Byzantine-Crusader siege of Damietta failed in 1169, the same year that Salah ad-Din, also known as Saladin in the West, took power in Egypt as vizier. Later crusades tried to support the Kingdom of Jerusalem by targeting the danger that was Egypt, the Second Crusade aimed to reverse the gains of Zengi, ironically with an assault on Damascus, Zengis most powerful rival. The siege failed and forced the Kingdom to turn south for better fortunes, the Fatimid Caliphate in the 12th century was riddled with internal squabbles. In the 1160s, Power lay not in the hands of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Āḍid, the situation in Egypt made it ripe for conquest, either by Crusaders or by the forces of Zengis successor, Nur ad-Din Zangi. The Crusader capture of Ascalon in 1154 meant that now the Kingdom was at war in two fronts, but Egypt now had a supply base close at hand. In 1163, Shawar, the ousted Vizier of Egypt called Zengi for support in reinstating him to his position as the de facto ruler of Egypt. Nur ad-Din agreed to support his cause - an alliance between Syria and Egypt would ensure the demise of the Crusaders, little did Nur ad-Din realize that, while his plan would succeed, it would not be he who would enjoy such unity. On May 1164 Shawar became vizier of Egypt and he was however a mere figurehead to Nur ad-Din who had installed his general Shirkuh as ruler of Egypt. Shawar became unsatisfied with this and called upon the enemy of the Sunni Muslims, Amalric I, Amalric I had his own designs on Egypt. Therefore, when Shawar invited him into Egypt, he could not turn down such an offer, at Bilbeis, Amalric together with Shawar his Shiite ally, besieged Shirkuh. Amalric immediately raced north to rescue his vassal, even so, Shirkuh evacuated Egypt too so it was a victory for Shawar who retained Egypt. Shawars rule in Egypt did not last long before Shirkuh returned in 1166 to take back Egypt, Shawar played his Crusader card again and this time Amalric believed an open battle would be able to settle the scores. Unlike Shirkuh, Amalric had naval supremacy in the Mediterranean and took a quick route to Egypt. At Cairo, the combined Fatimid-Crusader army contemplated the move while Shirkuh
21.
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
22.
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
23.
Siege of Xerigordos
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The Siege of Xerigordon pitted 6,000 Germans of the Peoples Crusade under Reinald against the Turks commanded by Elchanes, general of Kilij Arslan I, the Seljuk Sultan of Rûm. The crusader raiding party captured the Turkish fort of Xerigordon, about four days march from Nicaea, Elchanes arrived three days later and besieged the crusaders. The defenders had no water supply, and after eight days of siege, some of the crusaders converted to Islam, while others who refused were killed. The army of the Peoples Crusade landed in Asia Minor on August 6,1096, the young Sultan, Kilij Arslan I, was in the middle of a military campaign to the east, fighting the Danishmend emirate. While waiting for the crusader army, the disorganized People’s Crusade army began to attack the villages surrounding Nicaea. The Norman raiding party returned unhindered many times with their booty, Reinald led 6,000 Germans, including 200 knights, on similar raids. Reinald was unsatisfied with the pillaging results near Nicaea and went farther to Xerigordon, on September 18,1096, Reinald easily defeated the Xerigordon garrison. Kilij Arslan ordered his general, Elchanes, to deal with the raiding parties with his troops. Elchanes arrived three days after Reinald occupied Xerigordon, on September 21 and besieged the crusaders tightly, the speed of the Turkish mounted troops surprised the Germans, they had not expected to be besieged and were unprepared and without adequate supplies. Some accounts mentioned that Turks sent two spies to the Crusaders camp at Civetot to make them think that Xerigordon was still safe, and even that Nicaea had been conquered by Reinald. Other accounts mentioned that Crusader leaders on the field were forced by their troops to advance, for eight days, the Crusaders resisted thirst and a rain of arrows and smoke from the Turks. After, the leader of the Germans offered to surrender and to fight for the Turks, the fort surrendered on September 29,1096. Some of the Crusaders who converted to Islam became slaves, while others who refused to abandon their faith were killed, there are various accounts on Reinalds fate. Kilij Arslan I became more confident and sent his army to ambush the People’s Crusade army at the Battle of Civetot en route to Nicaea
24.
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
25.
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
26.
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
27.
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
28.
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
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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
