179-675: The Rashaya Citadel or Citadel of Independence is a national monument, in Lebanon . It was built as a palace by the Shihab family in the 18th century, was used by the French Mandate , and is now stationed by the Lebanese Armed Forces . It is a tourist site that can be visited while under the army's surveillance. The castle includes vaulted rooms and overlooks the historic mountain town. The town of Rashaya overlooks
358-686: A British contingent) were deployed in Beirut after the Israeli siege of the city , to supervise the evacuation of the PLO. The civil war re-emerged in September 1982 after the assassination of Lebanese President Bachir Gemayel , an Israeli ally, and subsequent fighting. During this time a number of sectarian massacres occurred, such as in Sabra and Shatila , and in several refugee camps . The multinational force
537-659: A borderland of the Muslim world , Syria was an important theatre of jihad , though enthusiasm for pursuing it had faded by the end of the 11th century. In contrast, the Catholic ideology of religious war quickly developed, culminating in the idea of crusades for lands claimed for Christianity. Most crusades came from what had been the Carolingian Empire around 800. The empire had disintegrated, and two loosely unified successor states had taken its place:
716-670: A defeat to the French at the Battle of Maysalun , the kingdom was dissolved. Around the same time, at the San Remo Conference , tasked with deciding the fate of former Ottoman territories, it was determined that Syria and Lebanon would fall under French rule; Shortly afterward, the formal division of territories took place in the Treaty of Sèvres , signed a few months later. On 1 September 1920, Greater Lebanon , or Grand Liban ,
895-679: A formula for the de-confessionalization of the Lebanese political system. The civil war ended at the end of 1990 after 16 years; it had caused massive loss of human life and property and devastated the country's economy. It is estimated that 150,000 people were killed and another 200,000 wounded. Nearly a million civilians were displaced by the war, and some never returned. Parts of Lebanon were left in ruins. The Taif Agreement has still not been implemented in full and Lebanon's political system continues to be divided along sectarian lines. Conflict between Israel and Lebanese militants continued, leading to
1074-484: A ground invasion of southern Lebanon , resulting in the 2006 Lebanon War . The conflict was officially ended by the UNSC Resolution 1701 on 14 August 2006, which ordered a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, and the disarmament of Hezbollah. Some 1,191 Lebanese and 160 Israelis were killed in the conflict. Beirut's southern suburb was heavily damaged by Israeli airstrikes. In 2007,
1253-543: A group of pious knights about a monastic order for deeply religious warriors was likely first discussed at the council of Nablus. Church leaders quickly espoused the idea of armed monks, and within a decade, two military orders , the Knights Templar and Hospitaller , were formed. As the Fatimid Caliphate no longer posed a major threat to Jerusalem, but Antioch and Edessa were vulnerable to invasion,
1432-507: A large degree of autonomy despite the succession of rulers over Lebanon and Syria. The relative isolation of the Lebanese mountains meant the mountains served as a refuge in the times of religious and political crises in the Levant . As such, the mountains displayed religious diversity and the existence of several well-established sects and religions, notably, Maronites , Druze , Shiite Muslims , Ismailis , Alawites and Jacobites . After
1611-471: A large force, committing all of his kingdom's available resources. The leadership divided on tactics. Raynald urged an offensive, while Raymond proposed defensive caution, although Saladin was besieging his castle at Tiberias. Guy decided to deal with the siege. The march towards Tiberias was arduous, and Saladin's troops overwhelmed the exhausted Frankish army at the Horns of Hattin on 4 July 1187. Hattin
1790-518: A marriage alliance with the Byzantines. Baldwin married Manuel's niece, Theodora , and received a significant dowry. With his consent, Manuel forced Raynald into accepting Byzantine overlordship. The childless Baldwin III died in 1163. His younger brother Amalric had to repudiate his wife Agnes of Courtenay on grounds of consanguinity before his coronation, but the right of their two children, Baldwin IV and Sibylla , to inherit
1969-700: A military campaign against the Turks who had attacked Byzantine territories in Anatolia. Turkic migration permeated the Middle East from the 9th century. Muslim border raiders captured unconverted Turkic nomads in the Central Asian borderlands and sold them to Islamic leaders who used them as slave soldiers. These were known as ghilman or mamluk and were emancipated when converted to Islam. Mamluks were valued primarily because
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#17327806769162148-550: A month after Baldwin's arrival, a Christian mob killed Thoros and acclaimed Baldwin as doux , the Byzantine title Thoros had used. Baldwin's position was personal rather than institutional, and the Armenian governance of the city remained in place. Baldwin's nascent County of Edessa consisted of pockets separated from his other holdings of Turbessel, Rawandan and Samosata by the territory of Turkic and Armenian warlords and
2327-563: A national unity government was established, granting a veto to the opposition. The agreement was a victory for opposition forces, as the government caved in to all their main demands. In early January 2011, the national unity government collapsed due to growing tensions stemming from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon , which was expected to indict Hezbollah members for the Hariri assassination. The parliament elected Najib Mikati ,
2506-563: A reduced area under closer Ottoman supervision until the late 17th century. On the death of the last Maan emir , various members of the Shihab clan ruled Mount Lebanon until 1830. While the history of Druze-Christian relations in Lebanon has generally been marked by harmony and peaceful coexistence, there were occasional periods of tension, notably during the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war , during which around 10,000 Christians were killed by
2685-462: A regional center for finance and trade. In May 1948, Lebanon supported neighboring Arab countries in a war against Israel . While some irregular forces crossed the border and carried out minor skirmishes against Israel, it was without the support of the Lebanese government, and Lebanese troops did not officially invade. Lebanon agreed to support the forces with covering artillery fire, armored cars, volunteers and logistical support. On 5–6 June 1948,
2864-443: A relative of Uthman, serving as the governor. Mu'awiya sent forces to the coastal region of Lebanon, prompting conversions to Islam among the coastal population. However, the mountainous areas retained their Christian or other cultural practices. Despite Islam and Arabic becoming officially dominant, the population's conversion from Christianity and Syriac language was gradual. The Maronite community, in particular, managed to maintain
3043-612: A series of assassinations that resulted in the death of many prominent Lebanese figures. The assassination triggered the Cedar Revolution , a series of demonstrations which demanded the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the establishment of an international commission to investigate the assassination. Under pressure from the West, Syria began withdrawing, and by 26 April 2005 all Syrian soldiers had returned to Syria. UNSC Resolution 1595 called for an investigation into
3222-518: A series of violent events and clashes including the Qana massacre . In May 2000, Israeli forces fully withdrew from Lebanon. Since then, 25 May is regarded by the Lebanese as the Liberation Day . The internal political situation in Lebanon significantly changed in the early 2000s. After the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the death of former president Hafez al-Assad in 2000,
3401-699: A severe famine. During the war, approximately 100,000 people in Beirut and Mount Lebanon died due to starvation. Amidst the height of the First World War , the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916, a secret pact between Britain and France, delineated Lebanon and its surrounding areas as regions open to potential French influence or control. After the Allies emerged victorious in the war, the Ottoman Empire ultimately collapsed, losing control over
3580-687: A split in the Ismā'īlist branch of Shia Islam. The Persian missionary Hassan-i Sabbah led a breakaway group, creating the Nizari branch of Isma'ilism. This was known as the New Preaching in Syria and the Order of Assassins in western historiography. The Order used targeted murder to compensate for their lack of military power. The Seljuk invasions, the subsequent eclipse of the Byzantines and Fatimids, and
3759-527: A temporary embargo on the export of U.S. aircraft to Israel. In August 1981, defense minister Ariel Sharon began to draw up plans to attack PLO military infrastructure in West Beirut, where PLO headquarters and command bunkers were located. In 1982, PLO attacks from Lebanon on Israel led to an Israeli invasion , aiming to support Lebanese forces in driving out the PLO. A multinational force of American, French and Italian contingents (joined in 1983 by
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#17327806769163938-483: A truce with Saladin. Gümüshtekin released Raynald of Châtillon and Baldwin's maternal uncle, Joscelin III of Courtenay , for a large ransom. They hastened to Jerusalem, and Raynald seized Oultrejourdain by marrying Stephanie of Milly . As Baldwin, a leper, was not expected to father children, his sister's marriage was to be arranged before his inevitable premature death from the disease. His regent, Raymond, chose William of Montferrat for Sybilla's husband. William
4117-697: Is the country's capital and largest city. Human habitation in Lebanon dates to 5000 BC. From 3200 to 539 BC, it was part of Phoenicia , a maritime empire that stretched the Mediterranean Basin . In 64 BC, the region became part of the Roman Empire , and later the Byzantine Empire . After the 7th century, it came under the rule of different caliphates , including the Rashidun , Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate . The 11th century saw
4296-441: The atabeg kept power after his ward reached the age of majority or died. The Seljuks adopted and strengthened the traditional iqta' system of the administration of state revenues. This system secured the payment of military commanders through granting them the right to collect the land tax in a well-defined territory, but it exposed the taxpayers to an absent lord's greed and to his officials' arbitrary actions. Although
4475-467: The 2020 Beirut explosion , precipitated the collapse of Lebanon's currency and fomented political instability, widespread resource shortages, and high unemployment and poverty . The World Bank has defined Lebanon's economic crisis as one of the world's worst since the 19th century. Despite the country's small size, Lebanese culture is renowned both in the Arab world and globally, powered primarily by
4654-617: The Bible , King Hiram of Tyre collaborated closely with Solomon , supplying cedar logs for Solomon's Temple and sending skilled workers. The Phoenicians are credited with the invention of the oldest verified alphabet , which subsequently inspired the Greek alphabet and the Latin one thereafter. In the 9th century BC, Phoenician colonies , including Carthage in present-day Tunisia and Cádiz in present-day Spain , flourished throughout
4833-773: The County of Edessa (1098–1144), the Principality of Antioch (1098–1268), the County of Tripoli (1102–1289), and the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1291). The three northern states covered an area in what is now southeastern Turkey , northwestern Syria , and northern Lebanon ; and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the southernmost and most prominent state, covered an area in what is now Israel , Palestine , southern Lebanon, and western Jordan . The description "Crusader states" can be misleading, as from 1130 onwards, very few people among
5012-730: The Fatimid vizier , Al-Afdal Shahanshah at Ascalon . When Daimbert of Pisa , the papal legate, arrived in the Levant with 120 Pisan ships, Godfrey gained much-needed naval support by backing him for the Patriarchate of Jerusalem , as well as granting him parts of Jerusalem and the Pisans a section of the port of Jaffa . Daimbert revived the idea of creating an ecclesiastic principality and extracted oaths of fealty from Godfrey and Bohemond. When Godfrey died in 1100, his retainers occupied
5191-574: The Franks were Crusaders. Medieval and modern writers use the term "Outremer" as a synonym, derived from the French word for overseas . By 1098, the Crusaders' armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem was passing through the Syria region . Edessa, under the rule of Greek Orthodoxy , was subject to a coup d'état in which the leadership was taken over by Baldwin of Boulogne , and Bohemond of Taranto remained as
5370-662: The Greek patriarch of Antioch . Bohemond never returned. He died, leaving an underage son Bohemond II . Tancred continued as regent of Antioch and ignored the treaty. Richard's son, Roger of Salerno , succeeded as regent on Tancred's death in 1112. The fall of Tripoli prompted Sultan Muhammad Tapar to appoint the atabeg of Mosul, Mawdud , to wage jihad against the Franks. Between 1110 and 1113, Mawdud mounted four campaigns in Mesopotamia and Syria, but rivalry among his heterogeneous armies' commanders forced him to abandon
5549-497: The Holy Roman Empire , which encompassed Germany , part of northern Italy , and the neighbouring lands; and France. Germany was divided into duchies , such as Lower Lorraine and Saxony , and their dukes did not always obey the emperors. Northern Italy was even less united, divided into numerous de facto independent states, and the authority of the emperor was barely felt. Carolingian's western successor state, France,
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5728-636: The Iberian Peninsula to fight the Moors of Al-Andalus ; and Italian fleets launched pillaging raids against the north African ports. This shift of power especially benefited merchants from the Italian city-states of Amalfi , Genoa , Pisa , and Venice . They replaced the Muslim and Jewish middlemen in the lucrative trans-Mediterranean commerce, and their fleets became the dominant naval forces in
5907-686: The Jordan River . The northern states covered what is now part of Syria, south-eastern Turkey, and Lebanon. These areas were historically called Syria (known to the Arabs as al-Sham ) and Upper Mesopotamia . Edessa extended east beyond the Euphrates . In the Middle Ages the Crusader states were also called Syria or Syrie . From around 1115, the ruler of Jerusalem was styled 'king of
6086-523: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the County of Tripoli as Roman Catholic Christian states along the coast. These crusader states made a lasting impact on the region, though their control was limited, and the region returned to full Muslim control after two centuries following the conquest by the Mamluks. Among the most lasting effects of the Crusades in this region was the contact between the Franks (i.e.,
6265-916: The Lebanese diaspora . Lebanon is a founding member of the United Nations and of the Arab League , and is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement , the Organization of Islamic Cooperation , the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , and the Group of 77 . The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn ( 𐤋𐤁𐤍 ) meaning "white", apparently from its snow-capped peaks. Occurrences of
6444-728: The Levant from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism , the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade by the European Christians, which was proclaimed by the Latin Church in 1095 in order to reclaim the Holy Land after it was lost to the 7th-century Arab Muslim conquest . Situated on the Eastern Mediterranean , the four states were, in order from north to south:
6623-472: The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon , administered by France , which established Greater Lebanon . By 1943, Lebanon had gained independence from Free France and established a distinct form of confessionalist government , with the state's major religious groups being apportioned specific political powers . The new Lebanese state was relatively stable after independence, but this was ultimately shattered by
6802-524: The Nahr al-Bared refugee camp became the center of the 2007 Lebanon conflict between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam . At least 169 soldiers, 287 insurgents and 47 civilians were killed in the battle. Funds for the reconstruction of the area have been slow to materialize. Between 2006 and 2008, a series of protests led by groups opposed to the pro-Western Prime Minister Fouad Siniora demanded
6981-581: The People of the Book , like Christians and Jews. The dhimmi were second-class citizens, obliged to pay a special poll tax , the jizya , but they could practise their religion and maintain their own law courts. Theological, liturgical, and cultural differences had given rise to the development of competing Christian denominations in the Levant before the 7th-century Muslim conquest . The Greek Orthodox natives, or Melkites , remained in full communion with
7160-643: The Republic of Lebanon , is a country in the Levant region of West Asia , bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west; Cyprus lies a short distance from the country's coastline. It is at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula . Lebanon has a population of more than five million and an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi). Beirut
7339-418: The Roman Empire during the early spread of the faith. During the late 4th and early 5th century, a hermit named Maron established a monastic tradition focused on the importance of monotheism and asceticism near the Mediterranean mountain range known as Mount Lebanon . The monks who followed Maron spread his teachings among Lebanese in the region. These Christians became known as Maronites and moved into
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7518-419: The Roman Empire had previously held, would be handed to Alexios' Byzantine representatives. Only Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse refused this oath, instead promising non-aggression towards Alexios. The Byzantine Tatikios guided the crusade on the arduous three-month march to besiege Antioch , during which the Franks made alliances with local Armenians. Before reaching Antioch, Baldwin and his men left
7697-399: The Taim Valley , a strategic position for fortress construction, and the present fort occupies an area where there are remains from more ancient fortifications including: Canaanite , Greco-Roman, Arab, Crusader and Ottoman rulers. The Shehab family refurbished the so-called Feather Tower on the site. In November and December 1925, the Great Druze Revolt rocked the area as 3,000 Druze under
7876-482: The Tanzimat reform. After 1861 there existed an autonomous Mount Lebanon with a Christian mutasarrıf , which had been created as a homeland for the Maronites under European diplomatic pressure following the 1860 massacres. The Maronite Catholics and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early eighteenth century, through the ruling and social system known as the " Maronite-Druze dualism " in Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate. The Baalbek and Beqaa Valley and Jabal Amel
8055-408: The Third Crusade . The study of the Crusader states in their own right, as opposed to being a sub-topic of the Crusades , began in 19th-century France as an analogy to the French colonial experience in the Levant, though this was rejected by 20th-century historians. Their consensus was that the Frankish population, as the Western Europeans were known at the time, lived as a minority society that
8234-457: The Tower of David to secure his inheritance for his brother Baldwin. Daimbert and Tancred sought Bohemond's help against the Lotharingians, but the Danishmends captured Bohemond under Gazi Gümüshtigin while securing Antioch's northern marches. Before departing for Jerusalem, Baldwin ceded Edessa to his cousin, Baldwin of Bourcq . His arrival thwarted Daimbert, who crowned Baldwin as Jerusalem's first Latin king on Christmas Day 1100. By performing
8413-468: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), charged with attempting to establish peace. Israeli forces withdrew later in 1978, but retained control of the southern region by managing a 19-kilometre-wide (12 mi) security zone along the border. These positions were held by the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a Christian militia under the leadership of Major Saad Haddad backed by Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister, Likud 's Menachem Begin , compared
8592-443: The Vichy High commissioner for Syria and Lebanon, played a major role in the independence of the nation. The Vichy authorities in 1941 allowed Germany to move aircraft and supplies through Syria to Iraq where they were used against British forces. The United Kingdom, fearing that Nazi Germany would gain full control of Lebanon and Syria by pressure on the weak Vichy government, sent its army into Syria and Lebanon . After
8771-428: The siege of Tyre in 332 BCE . In 64 BC, the Roman general Pompey had the region of Syria annexed into the Roman Republic . The area was then split into two Imperial Provinces under the Roman Empire , Coele-Syria and Phoenice , the latter which the land of present-day Lebanon was a part of. The region that is now Lebanon, as with the rest of Syria and much of Anatolia , became a major center of Christianity in
8950-409: The Arab Banu Munqidh seized Shaizar , and Tutush's sons Duqaq and Ridwan succeeded in Damascus and Aleppo respectively, but their atabegs , Janah ad-Dawla and Toghtekin were in control. Ridwan's retainer Sokman ben Artuq held Jerusalem; Ridwan's father-in-law, Yağısıyan , ruled Antioch; and a warlord representing Byzantine interests, called Thoros , seized Edessa. During this period
9129-448: The Byzantine alliance. This dispute resulted in the march stalling in north Syria. The crusaders were becoming aware of the chaotic state of Muslim politics through frequent diplomatic relations with the Muslim powers. Raymond indulged in a small expedition. He bypassed Shaizar and laid siege to Arqa to enforce the payment of a tribute. In Raymond's absence, Bohemond expelled Raymond's last troops from Antioch and consolidated his rule in
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#17327806769169308-423: The Byzantine imperial church, and their religious leaders often came from the Byzantine capital, Constantinople . In the 5th century, the Nestorians , and the Monophysite Jacobites , Armenians , and Copts , broke with the Byzantine state church. The Maronites ' separate church organisation emerged under Muslim rule. During the late 10th and early 11th centuries, the Byzantine Empire had been on
9487-408: The Byzantines and Franks jointly besieged Aleppo and Shaizar but could not take the towns. Zengi soon seized Homs from the Damascenes, but a Damascene–Jerusalemite coalition prevented his southward expansion. Joscelin made an alliance with the Artuqid Kara Arslan , who was Zengi's principal Muslim rival in Upper Mesopotamia. While Joscelin was staying west of the Euphrates at Turbessel, Zengi invaded
9666-450: The Byzantines from campaigning in the Levant. In theory, Saladin was Nur ad-Din's lieutenant, but mutual distrust hindered their cooperation against the crusader states. As Saladin remitted suspiciously small revenue payments to him, Nur ad-Din began gathering troops for an attack on Egypt, but he died in May 1174. He left an 11-year-old son, As-Salih Ismail al-Malik . Within two months, Amalric died. His son and successor, Baldwin IV,
9845-435: The Byzantines, Arabs, and Turks squeezed populations of Armenians . The Seljuks contested control of southern Palestine with Egypt, where Shia rulers ruled a majority Sunni populace through powerful viziers who were mainly Turkic or Armenian, rather than Egyptian or Arab. The Seljuks and the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt hated each other, as the Seljuk saw themselves as defenders of the Sunni Abbasid Caliphate and Fatimid Egypt
10024-477: The Children director estimated that 200,000–300,000 children were need of assistance and were living almost entirely on bread, which was subsidized by the government. Those who could relied on foreign assistance. Hezbollah was receiving about $ 3–5 million a month from Iran . In September 1988, the Parliament failed to elect a successor to President Gemayel as a result of differences between the Christians, Muslims, and Syrians. The Arab League Summit of May 1989 led to
10203-566: The Cilician Armenian prince, Ruben III . Saladin granted a truce to Bohemond and made preparations for an invasion of Jerusalem where Guy took command of the defence. When Saladin invaded Galilee, the Franks responded with what William of Tyre described in his contemporaneous chronicle as their largest army in living memory but avoided fighting a battle. After days of fierce skirmishing, Saladin withdrew towards Damascus. Baldwin dismissed Guy from his position as bailli , apparently because Guy had proved unable to overcome factionalism in
10382-498: The Cilician plain. In 1133, the Antiochene nobility asked Fulk to propose a husband for Constance, and he selected Raymond of Poitiers , a younger son of William IX of Aquitaine . Raymond finally arrived in Antioch three years later and married Constance. He reconquered parts of Cilicia from the Armenians. In 1137, Pons was killed battling the Damascenes, and Zengi invaded Tripoli. Fulk intervened, but Zengi's troops captured Pons' successor Raymond II , and besieged Fulk in
10561-447: The Crusades . The terms Crusader states and Outremer ( French : outre-mer , lit. 'overseas') describe the four feudal states established after the First Crusade in the Levant in around 1100: (from north to south) the County of Edessa , the Principality of Antioch , the County of Tripoli , and the Kingdom of Jerusalem . The term Outremer is of medieval origin, whilst modern historians use Crusader states, and
10740-402: The Druze. Shortly afterwards, the Emirate of Mount Lebanon , which lasted about 400 years, was replaced by the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , as a result of a European-Ottoman treaty called the Règlement Organique . The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (1861–1918, Arabic : متصرفية جبل لبنان ; Turkish : Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı ) was one of the Ottoman Empire 's subdivisions following
10919-473: The Ecumenical Patriarch against the Papacy, but the East–West Schism was not yet inevitable, and the Catholic and Orthodox Churches remained in full communion . The Gregorian Reform enhanced the popes' influence on secular matters. To achieve political goals, popes excommunicated their opponents, placed entire realms under interdict and promised spiritual rewards to those who took up arms for their cause. In 1074 Pope Gregory VII even considered leading
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#173278067691611098-403: The Euphrates. As the crusaders marched towards Antioch, Syrian Muslims asked Sultan Barkiyaruq for help, but he was engaged in a power struggle with his brother Muhammad Tapar . At Antioch, Bohemond persuaded the other leaders the city should be his if he could capture it, and Alexios did not come to claim it. Alexios withdrew, rather than join the siege, after Stephen, Count of Blois (who
11277-483: The Frankish lands east of the river in late 1144. Before the end of the year, he captured the region, including the city of Edessa. Losing Edessa strategically threatened Antioch and limited opportunities for a Jerusalemite expansion in the south. In September 1146, Zengi was assassinated, possibly on orders from Damascus. His empire was divided between his two sons, with the younger Nur ad-Din succeeding him in Aleppo. A power vacuum in Edessa allowed Joscelin to return to
11456-714: The Franks offered the regency and the Egyptian invasion's command to Baldwin's crusader cousin Philip I, Count of Flanders . He wanted to be free to return to Flanders and rejected both offers. The plan for the invasion was abandoned, and the Byzantine fleet sailed for Constantinople. Baldwin negotiated a marriage between Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy , and Sibylla, but the succession crisis in France prevented him from sailing. Tension between Baldwin's maternal and paternal relatives grew. When Raymond and Bohemond, both related to him on his father's side, came to Jerusalem unexpectedly before Easter in 1180, Baldwin panicked, fearing they had arrived to depose him and elevate Sibylla to
11635-599: The French mandate for both was legally terminated on that date and full independence attained. The last French troops withdrew in December 1946. Lebanon's unwritten National Pact of 1943 required that its president be Maronite Christian, its speaker of the parliament to be a Shia Muslim , its prime minister be Sunni Muslim , and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the Deputy Prime Minister be Greek Orthodox . Lebanon's history since independence has been marked by alternating periods of political stability and turmoil interspersed with prosperity built on Beirut 's position as
11814-427: The French mandate may be said to have been terminated without any formal action on the part of the League of Nations or its successor the United Nations . The mandate was ended by the declaration of the mandatory power, and of the new states themselves, of their independence, followed by a process of piecemeal unconditional recognition by other powers, culminating in formal admission to the United Nations. Article 78 of
11993-423: The French nobleman Raynald of Châtillon as her second husband. From 1149, all Fatimid caliphs were children, and military commanders were competing for power. Ascalon, the Fatimids' last Palestinian bridgehead, hindered Frankish raids against Egypt, but Baldwin captured the town in 1153. The Damascenes feared further Frankish expansion, and Nur ad-Din seized the city with ease a year later. He continued to remit
12172-421: The French) and the Maronites. Unlike most other Christian communities in the Eastern Mediterranean , who swore allegiance to Constantinople or other local patriarchs, the Maronites proclaimed allegiance to the Pope in Rome. As such the Franks saw them as Roman Catholic brethren. These initial contacts led to centuries of support for the Maronites from France and Italy, even after the fall of the Crusader states in
12351-444: The Haifa – Tel-Aviv road, shooting at passing vehicles in what became known as the Coastal Road massacre . They killed 37 and wounded 76 Israelis before being killed in a firefight with Israeli forces. Israel invaded Lebanon four days later in Operation Litani . The Israeli Army occupied most of the area south of the Litani River . The UN Security Council passed Resolution 425 calling for immediate Israeli withdrawal and creating
12530-480: The Holy Land, although in the decades following the destruction of the large Crusade of 1101 in Anatolia, only smaller groups of armed pilgrims departed for Outremer. The Fatimids' feud with the Seljuks hindered Muslim actions for more than a decade. Outnumbered by their enemies, the Franks remained in a vulnerable position, but they could forge temporary alliances with their Armenian, Arab, and Turkic neighbours. Each crusader state had its own strategic purpose during
12709-412: The Holy Land. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built to commemorate Christ's crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem. The Church of the Nativity was thought to enclose his birthplace in Bethlehem . The Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque commemorated Muhammad's night journey. Although the most sacred places of devotion were in Palestine, there were also shrines in neighbouring Syria. As
12888-569: The Islamic conquest, Mediterranean trade declined for three centuries due to conflicts with the Byzantines. The ports of Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, and Tripoli struggled to recover, sustaining small populations under Umayyad and Abbasid rule. Christians and Jews were often obligated to pay the jizya , or poll tax levied on non-Muslims. During the 980s, the Fatimid Caliphate took control of the Levant, including Mount Lebanon, resulting in
13067-498: The Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been severely weakened by the Ayyubid Sultanate after the siege of Jerusalem in 1244 . The Crusader presence in the Levant collapsed shortly thereafter, when the Mamluks captured Acre in 1291 , ending the Kingdom of Jerusalem nearly 200 years after it was founded. With all four of the states defeated and annexed, the survivors fled to the Kingdom of Cyprus , which had been established by
13246-512: The Latins in Jerusalem'. Historian Hans Eberhard Mayer believes this reflected that only Latins held complete political and legal rights in the kingdom, and that the major division in the society was not between the nobility and the common people but between the Franks and the indigenous peoples. Despite sometimes receiving homage from, and acting as regent for, the rulers of the other states;
13425-689: The Lebanese army – led by the then Minister of National Defense , Emir Majid Arslan – captured Al-Malkiyya . This was Lebanon's only success in the war. 100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon because of the war. Israel did not permit their return after the cease-fire. As of 2017, between 174,000 and 450,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon with about half in refugee camps (although these are often decades old and resemble neighborhoods). Often Palestinians are legally barred from owning property or performing certain occupations. According to Human Rights Watch , Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live in "appalling social and economic conditions." In 1958, during
13604-564: The Levant profoundly. Frankish rulers replaced local warlords in the cities, but large-scale colonisation did not follow, and the new conquerors did not change the traditional organisation of settlements and property in the countryside. The Muslim leaders were massacred or forced into exile, and the natives, accustomed to the rule of well-organised warbands, offered little resistance to their new lords. Western Christianity's canon law recognised that peace treaties and armistices between Christians and Muslims were valid. The Frankish knights regarded
13783-515: The Maronites and other Lebanese factions. In 1975, following increasing sectarian tensions, largely boosted by Palestinian militant relocation into South Lebanon, a full-scale civil war broke out in Lebanon. The Lebanese Civil War pitted a coalition of Christian groups against the joint forces of the PLO , left-wing Druze and Muslim militias. In June 1976, Lebanese President Élias Sarkis asked for
13962-470: The Mediterranean coast to Jerusalem. On 15 July 1099, crusaders took the city after a siege lasting barely longer than a month. Thousands of Muslims and Jews were killed, and the survivors sold into slavery. Proposals to govern the city as an ecclesiastical state were rejected. Raymond refused the royal title, claiming only Christ could wear a crown in Jerusalem. This may have been to dissuade
14141-606: The Mediterranean. Subsequently, foreign powers, starting with the Neo-Assyrian Empire , imposed tribute and attacked non-compliant cities. The Neo-Babylonian Empire took control in the 6th century BC. In 539 BC, The cities of Phoenicia were then incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great . The Phoenician city-states were later incorporated into the empire of Alexander the Great following
14320-981: The Muslim Caliphs and the people became more fully absorbed by the Arab culture. Following the fall of Roman Anatolia to the Muslim Turks, the Byzantines put out a call to the Pope in Rome for assistance in the 11th century. The result was a series of wars known as the Crusades launched by the Franks from Western Europe to reclaim the former Byzantine Christian territories in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially Syria and Palestine (the Levant ). The First Crusade succeeded in temporarily establishing
14499-649: The Muslims were on the offensive , and commercial contacts primarily enriched the Islamic world . Europe was rural and underdeveloped, offering little more than raw materials and slaves in return for spices, cloth, and other luxuries from the Middle East . Climate change during the Medieval Warm Period affected the Middle East and western Europe differently. In the east, it caused droughts, while in
14678-652: The Romans in 70AD. The New Testament presented Palestine as the venue of the acts of Jesus and his Apostles . Islamic tradition described the region's principal city, Jerusalem, as the site of the Isra' and Mi'raj , Muhammad's miraculous night travel and ascension to Heaven. Places associated with holy people developed into shrines visited by pilgrims coming from faraway lands, often as an act of penance . The surge in Christian pilgrimage also inspired many Jews to return to
14857-566: The Seljuk state worked when family ties and personal loyalty overlapped the leaders' personal ambitions, the lavish iqta' grants combined with rivalries between maliks , atabegs , and military commanders could lead to disintegration in critical moments. The region's ethnic and religious diversity led to alienation among the ruled populations. In Syria, the Seljuk Sunnis ruled indigenous Shias . In Cilicia and northern Syria,
15036-612: The Seljuk threat. What the Emperor probably had in mind was a relatively modest force, and Urban far exceeded his expectations by calling for the First Crusade at the later Council of Clermont . He developed a doctrine of bellum sacrum (Christian holy war) and, based mainly on Old Testament passages in which God leads the Hebrews to victory in war, reconciled this with Church teachings. Urban's call for an armed pilgrimage for
15215-591: The Seljuks of Rum, Saladin concluded a two-year truce with Baldwin and, after launching a short but devastating campaign along the coast of Tripoli, with Raymond. For the first time in the history of Frankish–Muslim relations, the Franks could not set conditions for the peace. Between 1180 and 1183, Saladin asserted his suzerainty over the Artuqids, concluded a peace treaty with the Rum Seljuks, seized Aleppo from
15394-458: The Shia cause in the Lebanese civil war, ending Western presence in Lebanon, and establishing a Shiite Khomeinist Islamic state . In the late 1980s, as Amine Gemayel ’s second term as president drew to an end, the Lebanese pound collapsed. At the end of 1987 US$ 1 was worth £L500. This meant the legal minimum wage was worth just $ 17 a month. Most goods in shops were priced in dollars. A Save
15573-577: The Sultanate of Rum to reopen the Anatolian pilgrimage route towards the Holy Land. His defeat at Myriokephalon weakened the Byzantines' hold on Cilicia. Upholding the balance of power in Syria was apparently Raymond's main concern during his regency. When Saladin besieged Aleppo in 1174, Raymond led a relief army to the city; next year, when a united Zengid army invaded Saladin's realm, he signed
15752-557: The Syrian Army to intervene on the side of the Christians and help restore peace. In October 1976 the Arab League agreed to establish a predominantly Syrian Arab Deterrent Force , which was charged with restoring calm. PLO attacks from Lebanon into Israel in 1977 and 1978 escalated tensions between the countries. On 11 March 1978, 11 Fatah fighters landed on a beach in northern Israel and hijacked two buses full of passengers on
15931-503: The Syrian military presence faced criticism and resistance from the Lebanese population. On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated in a car bomb explosion. Leaders of the March 14 Alliance accused Syria of the attack, while Syria and the March 8 Alliance claimed that Israel was behind the assassination. The Hariri assassination marked the beginning of
16110-560: The Turkic mounted warlords as their peers with familiar moral values, and this familiarity facilitated their negotiations with the Muslim leaders. The conquest of a city was often accompanied by a treaty with the neighbouring Muslim rulers who were customarily forced to pay a tribute for the peace. The crusader states had a special position in Western Christianity's consciousness: many Catholic aristocrats were ready to fight for
16289-713: The UN Charter ended the status of tutelage for any member state: "The trusteeship system shall not apply to territories which have become Members of the United Nations, relationship among which shall be based on respect for the principle of sovereign equality." So when the UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, after ratification of the United Nations Charter by the five permanent members , as both Syria and Lebanon were founding member states,
16468-467: The West for campaigning. Thierry, Baldwin, Raynald and Raymond III of Tripoli attacked Shaizar. Baldwin offered the city to Thierry, who refused Raynald's demands he become his vassal, and the siege was abandoned. After Nur ad-Din seized Shaizar in 1157, the Nizari remained the last independent Muslim power in Syria. As prospects for a new crusade from the West were poor, the Franks of Jerusalem sought
16647-610: The Zengids and re-established the Egyptian navy. Meanwhile, after the truce expired in 1182, Saladin demonstrated the strategic advantage he had by holding both Cairo and Damascus. While he faced Baldwin in Oultrejordain, his troops from Syria pillaged Galilee. The Franks adopted a defensive tactic and strengthened their fortresses. In February 1183, a Jerusalemite assembly levied an extraordinary tax for defence funding. Raynald
16826-505: The ailing Baldwin V's guardianship. As there was no consensus on what should happen if the boy king died, it would be for the pope, the Holy Roman Emperor, the kings of France and England to decide whether his mother Sibylla or her half-sister Isabella had stronger claim to the throne. Bohemond was staying at Acre around this time, allegedly because Baldwin IV wanted to secure Bohemond's support for his decisions on
17005-665: The area. Soon after the war, Patriarch Elias Peter Hoayek , representing the Maronite Christians, successfully campaigned for an expanded territory at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference , also including areas with significant Muslim and Druze populations in addition to the Christian-dominated Mount Lebanon. In 1920, King Faisal I proclaimed the Arab Kingdom of Syria 's independence and asserted control over Lebanon. However, following
17184-483: The army. In November 1183, Baldwin made Guy's five-year-old stepson, also called Baldwin , co-ruler, and had him crowned king while attempting to annul the marriage of Guy and Sibylla. Guy and Sibylla fled to Ascalon, and his supporters vainly intervened on their behalf at a general council. An embassy to Europe was met with offers of money but not of military support. Already dying, Baldwin IV appointed Raymond bailli for 10 years, but charged Joscelin with
17363-581: The assassination. The United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission published preliminary findings on 20 October 2005 in the Mehlis report , which cited indications that the assassination was organized by Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services. On 12 July 2006, Hezbollah launched a series of rocket attacks and raids into Israeli territory, where they killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others. Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon, and
17542-528: The barons but Baldwin of Ibelin and Raymond swore fealty to the royal couple. Baldwin went into exile, and Raymond forged an alliance with Saladin. Raynald seized another caravan, which violated the truce and prompted Saladin to assemble his forces for the jihād. Raymond allowed Muslim troops to pass through Galilee to raid around Acre. His shock at the Frankish defeat in the resulting Battle of Cresson brought him to reconciliation with Guy. Guy now gathered
17721-421: The barons to Nablus to a general council. In his absence, Sybilla's supporters, led by Joscelin and Raynald, took full control of Jerusalem, Acre and Beirut. Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem crowned her queen and appointed Guy her co-ruler. The barons assembling at Nablus offered the crown to Isabella's husband Humphrey IV of Toron , but he submitted to Sybilla to avoid a civil war. After his desertion, all
17900-466: The border castle of Montferrand . Fulk surrendered the castle and paid Zengi 50,000 dinars for his and Raymond's freedom. Emperor Alexios' son and successor, John II Komnenos , reasserted Byzantine claims to Cilicia and Antioch. His military campaign compelled Raymond of Poitiers to give homage and agree that he would surrender Antioch by way of compensation if the Byzantines ever captured Aleppo, Homs , and Shaizar for him. The following year
18079-804: The candidate for the Hezbollah-led March 8 Alliance , Prime Minister of Lebanon, making him responsible for forming a new government. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah later accused Israel of assassinating Hariri. A report leaked by the Al-Akhbar newspaper in November 2010 stated that Hezbollah had drafted plans for a violent takeover of the country in case the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued an indictment against its members. Crusader states The Crusader states , or Outremer , were four Catholic polities that existed in
18258-613: The ceremony, the Patriarch abandoned his claim to rule the Holy Land. Tancred remained defiant to Baldwin until an Antiochene delegation offered him the regency in March 1101. He ceded his Principality of Galilee to the king, but reserved the right to reclaim it as a fief if he returned from Antioch within fifteen months. For the next two years, Tancred ruled Antioch. He conquered Byzantine Cilicia and parts of Syria. The Fatimid Caliphate attacked Jerusalem in 1101 , 1102 and 1105 , on
18437-468: The chronicles used Latini , or Latins . These medieval ethnonyms reflect that the settlers could be differentiated from the indigenous population by language and faith. The Franks were mainly French-speaking Roman Catholics, while the natives were mostly Arabic- or Greek-speaking Muslims, Christians of other denominations, and Jews. The Kingdom of Jerusalem extended over historical Palestine and at its greatest extent included some territory east of
18616-504: The city leaders sought external protection. They allied with the adventurous Artuqid princes, Ilghazi and Balak , who inflicted crucial defeats on the Franks between 1119 and 1124, but could rarely prevent Frankish counter-invasions. In 1118 Baldwin of Bourcq succeeded Baldwin I as King of Jerusalem, naming Joscelin his successor in Edessa. After Roger was killed at Ager Sanguinis ('Field of Blood'), Baldwin II assumed
18795-513: The city, but he was unable to take the citadel. When Nur ad-Din arrived, the Franks were trapped, Joscelin fled and the subsequent sack left the city deserted. The fall of Edessa shocked Western opinion, prompting the largest military response since the First Crusade. The new crusade consisted of two great armies led overland by Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany , arriving in Acre in 1148. The arduous march had greatly reduced
18974-616: The command of Zayd Beg surrounded the fort and its French legionnaires under Captain Granger until French reinforcements arrived. Under the French Mandate, on 11 November 1943, the arrest and imprisonment of Lebanese national leaders in the citadel was ordered by Commissioner Jean Helleu, delegate general of the Free French authorities, and carried out by Free French troops. The prisoners included ( Bechara El Khoury (later
19153-457: The connection between the two processes is unclear. As feudal lordships could be established by the acquiring land, western aristocrats willingly launched offensive military campaigns, even against faraway territories. Catholic Europe's expansion in the Mediterranean began in the second half of the 11th century. Norman warlords conquered southern Italy from the Byzantines and ousted the Muslim rulers from Sicily; French aristocrats hastened to
19332-542: The conquest, but tens of thousands of Franks were enslaved. Those who could negotiate a free passage or were ransomed swarmed to Tyre, Tripoli, or Antioch. Conrad of Montferrat commanded the defences of Tyre . He was William's brother and arrived only days after Hattin. The childless Raymond died, and Bohemond's younger son, also called Bohemond , assumed power in Tripoli. After news of the Franks' devastating defeat at Hattin reached Italy, Pope Gregory VIII called for
19511-479: The creation of a national unity government, over which the mostly Shia opposition groups would have veto power. When Émile Lahoud 's presidential term ended in October 2007, the opposition refused to vote for a successor unless a power-sharing deal was reached, leaving Lebanon without a president. On 9 May 2008, Hezbollah and Amal forces, sparked by a government declaration that Hezbollah's communications network
19690-525: The defence of the northern crusader states took much of Baldwin II's time. His absence, its impact on government, and his placement of relatives and their vassals in positions of power created opposition in Jerusalem. Baldwin's sixteen-month captivity led to a failed deposition attempt by some of the nobility, with the Flemish count , Charles the Good , considered as a possible replacement. Charles declined
19869-448: The developing Principality of Antioch. Under pressure from the poorer Franks, Godfrey and Robert II, Count of Flanders reluctantly joined the eventually unsuccessful siege of Arqa. Alexios asked the crusade to delay the march to Jerusalem, so the Byzantines could assist. Raymond's support for this strategy increased division among the crusade leaders and damaged his reputation among ordinary crusaders. The crusaders marched along
20048-545: The disintegration of the Seljuk Empire revived the old Levantine system of city-states. The region had always been highly urbanised, and the local societies were organised into networks of interdependent settlements, each centred around a city or a major town. These networks developed into autonomous lordships under the rule of a Turkic, Arab or Armenian warlord or town magistrate in the late 11th century. The local quadis took control of Tyre and Tripoli ,
20227-775: The establishment of Crusader states , which fell to the Ayyubids and the Mamluks , and eventually the Ottomans . Under Ottoman ruler Abdulmejid I , the first Lebanese proto-state, the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate , was established in the 19th century as a home for Maronite Christians , in the Tanzimat period. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following World War I , Lebanon came under
20406-498: The feudal armies commanded by western nobles. By dazzling them with wealth and charming them with flattery, Alexios extracted oaths of fealty from most of the Crusader commanders. As his vassals, Godfrey of Bouillon , nominally duke of Lower Lorraine ; the Italo-Norman Bohemond of Taranto ; Bohemond's nephew Tancred of Hauteville ; and Godfrey's brother Baldwin of Bologne all swore that any territory gained which
20585-498: The fighting ended in Lebanon, General Charles de Gaulle visited the area. Under political pressure from both inside and outside Lebanon, de Gaulle recognized the independence of Lebanon. On 26 November 1941, General Georges Catroux announced that Lebanon would become independent under the authority of the Free French government. Elections were held in 1943 and on 8 November 1943 the new Lebanese government unilaterally abolished
20764-795: The first post-independence president of Lebanon ), Riad El-Solh (later the prime minister ), Salim Takla , Camille Chamoun , Adel Osseiran and Abdelhamid Karameh . This led to national and international pressure for their release and France soon relented. On November 22, 1943, the prisoners were released. That day was declared the Lebanese Independence Day . Lebanon 33°50′N 35°50′E / 33.833°N 35.833°E / 33.833; 35.833 Lebanon ( / ˈ l ɛ b ə n ɒ n , - n ə n / LEB -ə-non, -nən ; Arabic : لُبْنَان , romanized : Lubnān , local pronunciation: [lɪbˈneːn] ), officially
20943-675: The first years of its existence. Jerusalem needed undisturbed access to the Mediterranean; Antioch wanted to seize Cilicia and the territory along the upper course of the Orontes River ; and Edessa aspired to control the Upper Euphrates valley. The most powerful Syrian Muslim ruler, Toghtekin of Damascus , took a practical approach to dealing with the Franks. His treaties establishing Damascene–Jerusalemite condominiums (shared rule) in debated territories created precedents for other Muslim leaders. In August 1099, Godfrey defeated
21122-538: The formation of a Saudi–Moroccan–Algerian committee to solve the crisis. On 16 September 1989 the committee issued a peace plan which was accepted by all. A ceasefire was established, the ports and airports were re-opened and refugees began to return. In the same month, the Lebanese Parliament agreed to the Taif Agreement , which included an outline timetable for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and
21301-401: The grantor, or lord. A vassal owed fealty to the lord and was expected to provide military aid and advice to him. Violence was endemic, and a new class of mounted warriors, the knights , emerged. Many built castles, and their feuds brought much suffering to the unarmed population. The development of the knightly class coincided with the subjection of the formerly free peasantry into serfdom, but
21480-745: The grounds that the cease-fire was only relevant to Lebanon. In April 1980 the killing of two UNIFIL soldiers and the injuring of a third by the South Lebanon Army, near At Tiri , in the buffer zone led to the At Tiri incident . On 17 July 1981, Israeli aircraft bombed multi-story apartment buildings in Beirut that contained offices of PLO associated groups. The Lebanese delegate to the United Nations Security Council claimed that 300 civilians had been killed and 800 wounded. The bombing led to worldwide condemnation, and
21659-585: The king held no formalised overlord status, and those states remained legally outside the kingdom. Jews, Christians, and Muslims respected Palestine, known as the Holy Land , as an exceptionally sacred place. They all associated the region with the lives of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible . All of the holy sites in Judaism were found there, including the remains of the Second Temple, destroyed by
21838-417: The kingdom was confirmed. The Fatimid Caliphate had rival viziers, Shawar and Dirgham , both eager to seek external support. This gave Amalric and Nur ad-Din the opportunity to intervene. Amalric launched five invasions of Egypt between 1163 and 1169, on the last occasion cooperating with a Byzantine fleet, but he could not establish a bridgehead. Nur ad-Din appointed his Kurdish general Shirkuh to direct
22017-477: The kingdom. In 1134, he repressed a revolt by Hugh II of Jaffa , a relative of Melisende, but was still compelled to accept the shared inheritance. He also thwarted frequent attempts by his sister-in-law Alice to assume the regency in Antioch, including alliances with Pons of Tripoli and Joscelin II of Edessa . Taking advantage of Antioch's weakened position, Leo , a Cilician Armenian ruler, seized
22196-492: The last months of President Camille Chamoun 's term, an insurrection broke out, instigated by Lebanese Muslims who wanted to make Lebanon a member of the United Arab Republic . Chamoun requested assistance, and 5,000 United States Marines were briefly dispatched to Beirut on 15 July. After the crisis, a new government was formed, led by the popular former general Fouad Chehab . Until the early 1970s, Lebanon
22375-573: The last occasion in alliance with Toghtekin. Baldwin I repulsed these attacks and with Genoese, Venetian, and Norwegian fleets conquered all the towns on the Palestinian coast except Tyre and Ascalon . Raymond laid the foundations of the fourth crusader state, the County of Tripoli. He captured Tartus and Gibelet and besieged Tripoli. His cousin William ;II Jordan continued
22554-549: The liberation of the Eastern Christians and the recovery of the Holy Land aroused unprecedented enthusiasm in Catholic Europe. Within a year, tens of thousands of people, both commoners and aristocrats, departed for the military campaign. Individual crusaders' motivations to join the crusade varied, but some of them probably left Europe to make a new permanent home in the Levant. Alexios cautiously welcomed
22733-508: The link of their prospects to a single master generated extreme loyalty. In the context of Middle Eastern politics this made them more trustworthy than relatives. Eventually, some mamluk descendants climbed the Muslim hierarchy to become king makers or even dynastic founders. In the mid-11th century, a minor clan of Oghuz Turks named Seljuks , after the warlord Saljūq from Transoxiana , had expanded through Khurasan , Iran , and on to Baghdad. There, Saljūq's grandson Tughril
22912-403: The main army and headed to the Euphrates river, engaging in local politics and seizing the fortifications of Turbessel and Rawandan , where the Armenian populace welcomed him. Thoros, then ruler of this territory, could barely control or defend Edessa, so he tried to hire the Franks as mercenaries. Later, he went further and adopted Baldwin as his son in a power-share arrangement. In March 1098,
23091-427: The mandate. The French reacted by imprisoning the new government. Lebanese nationalists declared a provisional government, and the British diplomatically intervened on their behalf. In the face of intense British pressure and protests by Lebanese nationalists, the French reluctantly released the government officials on 22 November 1943, and accepted the independence of Lebanon. Following the end of World War II in Europe
23270-489: The military operations in Egypt. Weeks before Shirkuh died in 1169, the Fatimid caliph Al-Adid made him vizier. His nephew Saladin , who ended the Shi'ite caliphate when Al-Adid died in September 1171, succeeded Shirkuh. In March 1171, Amalric undertook a visit to Manuel in Constantinople to get Byzantine military support for yet another attack on Egypt. To this end, he swore fealty to the Emperor before his return to Jerusalem, but conflicts with Venice and Sicily prevented
23449-420: The more popular Godfrey from assuming the throne, but Godfrey adopted the title Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri ('Defender of the Holy Sepulchre') when he was proclaimed the first Frankish ruler of Jerusalem. In Western Europe an advocatus was a layman responsible for the protection and administration of church estates. The foundation of these three crusader states did not change the political situation in
23628-532: The mountain range) that was introduced with the Ottoman reforms of 1861 as the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate ( Arabic : متصرفية جبل لبنان ; Turkish : Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı ), continued in the name of Greater Lebanon ( Arabic : دولة لبنان الكبير Dawlat Lubnān al-Kabīr ; French : État du Grand Liban ) in 1920, and eventually in the name of the sovereign Republic of Lebanon ( Arabic : الجمهورية اللبنانية al-Jumhūrīyah al-Lubnānīyah ) upon its independence in 1943. The Natufian culture
23807-485: The mountains to avoid religious persecution by Roman authorities. During the frequent Roman–Persian Wars that lasted for many centuries, the Sasanian Empire occupied what is now Lebanon from 619 till 629. During the 7th century, Muslims conquered Syria from the Byzantines, incorporating the region, including modern-day Lebanon, under the Islamic Caliphate . In the era of Uthman 's caliphate (644–656), Islam gained significant influence in Damascus, led by Mu'awiya ,
23986-416: The name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla , and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh . The name is recorded in Egypt as rmnn ( Ancient Egyptian : 𓂋𓏠𓈖𓈖𓈉 ; it had no letter corresponding to l ). The name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible as לְבָנוֹן Ləḇānon . Lebanon as the name of an administrative unit (as opposed to
24165-542: The next decades. Raymond of Poitiers joined forces with the Nizari and Joscelin with the Rum Seljuks against Aleppo. Nur ad-Din invaded Antioch and Raymond was defeated and killed at Inab in 1149. The next year Joscelin was captured and tortured and later died. Beatrice of Saone , his wife, sold the remains of the County of Edessa to the Byzantines with Baldwin's consent. Already 21 and eager to rule alone, Baldwin forced Melisende's retirement in 1152. In Antioch, Constance resisted pressure to remarry until 1153 when she chose
24344-490: The offensive on each occasion. As Edessa was Mosul's chief rival, Mawdud directed two campaigns against the city. They caused havoc, and the county's eastern region could never recover. The Syrian Muslim rulers saw the Sultan's intervention as a threat to their autonomy and collaborated with the Franks. After an assassin, likely a Nizari, murdered Mawdud, Muhammad Tapar dispatched two armies to Syria, but both campaigns failed. As Aleppo remained vulnerable to Frankish attacks,
24523-724: The offensive, recapturing Antioch in 969, after three centuries of Arab rule, and invading Syria. Turkic brigands and their Byzantine, also often ethnically Turkic, counterparts called akritai indulged in cross-border raiding. In 1071, while securing his northern borders during a break in his campaigns against the Fatimid Caliphate, Sultan Alp Arslan defeated Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes at Manzikert . Romanos' capture and Byzantine factionalism that followed broke Byzantine border control. This enabled large numbers of Turkic warbands and nomadic herders to enter Anatolia . Alp Arslan's cousin Suleiman ibn Qutulmish seized Cilicia and entered Antioch in 1084. Two years later, he
24702-515: The offer. Baldwin had four daughters. In 1126, Bohemond reached the age of majority and married the second-oldest, Alice , in Antioch. Aleppo had plunged into anarchy, but Bohemond II could not exploit this because of a conflict with Joscelin. The new atabeg of Mosul Imad al-Din Zengi seized Aleppo in 1128. The two major Muslim centres' union was especially dangerous for the neighbouring Edessa, but it also worried Damascus's new ruler, Taj al-Muluk Buri . Baldwin's eldest daughter Melisende
24881-424: The old Islamic conflict between Sunni and Shia made the Muslim peoples more likely to wage war on each other than on Christians. The Byzantines augmented their armies with mercenaries from the Turks and Europe. This compensated for a shortfall caused by lost territory, especially in Anatolia. In 1095 at the Council of Piacenza , Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested support from Pope Urban II against
25060-546: The outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). Lebanon was also subjugated by two military occupations: Syria from 1976 to 2005 and Israel from 1985 to 2000 . Lebanon has been the scene of several conflicts with Israel , of which the ongoing war marks the fourth Israeli invasion of it since 1978. Lebanon is a developing country , ranked 112th on the Human Development Index . It has been classified as an upper-middle-income state . The Lebanese liquidity crisis , coupled with nationwide corruption and disasters such as
25239-524: The paramount emir of the Druze in the Shouf region. Eventually, he was appointed Sanjak-bey , overseeing various Ottoman sub-provinces and tax collection. Expanding his influence extensively, he even constructed a fort in Palmyra . However, this expansion raised concerns for Ottoman Sultan Murad IV, leading to a punitive expedition in 1633. Fakhr al-Din II was captured, imprisoned for two years, and subsequently executed in April 1635, along with one of his sons. Surviving members of his family continued to govern
25418-496: The plight of the Christian minority in southern Lebanon (then about 5% of the population in SLA territory) to that of European Jews during World War II. The PLO routinely attacked Israel during the period of the cease-fire, with over 270 documented attacks. People in Galilee regularly had to leave their homes during these shellings. Documents captured in PLO headquarters after the invasion showed they had come from Lebanon. PLO leader Yasser Arafat refused to condemn these attacks on
25597-417: The popes as no more than one of the five highest ranking church leaders, titled patriarchs , and rejected the idea of papal supremacy . This opposition, together with differences in theology and liturgy, caused acrimonious disputes which escalated when a papal legate excommunicated the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 1054. The patriarchs of Alexandria , Antioch , and Jerusalem sided with
25776-444: The regency of Antioch for the absent Bohemond II. Public opinion attributed a series of disasters affecting the Outremer—defeats by enemy forces and plagues of locusts—as punishments for the Franks' sins. To improve moral standards, the Jerusalemite ecclesiastic and secular leaders assembled a council at Nablus and issued decrees against adultery, sodomy, bigamy, and sexual relations between Catholics and Muslims. A proposal by
25955-536: The regency of Edessa. The Byzantines took the opportunity to reconquer Cilicia. They took the port but not the citadel of Laodikeia . Bohemond returned to Italy to recruit allies and gather supplies. Tancred assumed leadership in Antioch, and his cousin Richard of Salerno did the same in Edessa. In 1107, Bohemond crossed the Adriatic Sea and failed in besieging Dyrrachion in the Balkan Peninsula . The resulting Treaty of Devol forced Bohemond to restore Laodikeia and Cilicia to Alexios, become his vassal and reinstate
26134-427: The region. On the eve of the Crusades, after a thousand years of reputedly uninterrupted succession of popes, the Papacy was Catholic Europe's oldest institution. The popes were seen as the Apostle Saint Peter 's successors, and their prestige was high. In the west, the Gregorian Reform reduced lay influence on church life and strengthened papal authority over the clergy. Eastern Christians continued to consider
26313-399: The region. In 1516, Lebanon became part of the Ottoman Empire , with governance administered indirectly through local emirs . Lebanon's area was organized into provinces: Northern and Southern Mount Lebanon, Tripoli, Baalbek and Beqaa Valley, and Jabal Amil . In 1590, Druze tribal leader Fakhr al-Din II succeeded Korkmaz in southern Mount Lebanon and quickly asserted his authority as
26492-458: The rejuvenation of Mediterranean trade along the Lebanese coast through renewed connections with Byzantium and Italy. This resurgence saw Tripoli and Tyre flourishing well into the 11th century, focusing on exports such as textiles, sugar, and glassware. During the 11th century, the Druze religion emerged from a branch of Shia Islam . The new religion gained followers in the southern portion of Mount Lebanon. The southern portion of Mount Lebanon
26671-434: The richest heiress of the kingdom, and gaining Galilee. Nur ad-Din's empire quickly disintegrated. His eunuch confidant Gümüshtekin took As-Salih from Damascus to Aleppo. Gümüshtekin's rival, Ibn al-Muqaddam , seized Damascus but soon surrendered it to Saladin. By 1176, Saladin reunited much of Muslim Syria through warring against Gümüshtekin and As-Salih's relatives, the Zengids . That same year, Emperor Manuel invaded
26850-432: The roads impassable. In 1130 Bohemond II was killed raiding in Cilicia, leaving Alice with their infant daughter, Constance . Baldwin II denied Alice control, instead resuming the regency until his death in 1131. On his deathbed Baldwin named Fulk, Melisende, and their infant son Baldwin III joint heirs. Fulk intended to revoke the arrangement, but his favouritism toward his compatriots roused strong discontent in
27029-493: The ruling prince in the captured city of Antioch . The siege of Jerusalem in 1099 resulted in a decisive Crusader victory over the Fatimid Caliphate , after which territorial consolidation followed, including the taking of Tripoli . In 1144, Edessa fell to the Zengid Turks , but the other three realms endured until the final years of the 13th century, when they fell to the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt . The Mamluks captured Antioch in 1268 and Tripoli in 1289 , leaving only
27208-403: The shore of the Mediterranean Sea over 7,000 years ago. Lebanon was part of northern Canaan , and consequently became the homeland of Canaanite descendants, the Phoenicians , a seafaring people based in the coastal strip of the northern Levant who spread across the Mediterranean in the first millennium BC. The most prominent Phoenician cities were Byblos , Sidon and Tyre . According to
27387-565: The siege after Raymond's death in 1105. It was completed in 1109 when Raymond's son Bertrand arrived. Baldwin brokered a deal, sharing the territory between them, until William Jordan's death united the county. Bertrand acknowledged Baldwin's suzerainty, although William Jordan had been Tancred's vassal. When Bohemond was released for a ransom in 1103, he compensated Tancred with lands and gifts. Baldwin of Bourcq and his cousin and vassal, Joscelin of Courtenay , were captured while attacking Ridwan of Aleppo at Harran with Bohemond. Tancred assumed
27566-408: The succession. Back in Antioch, Bohemond kidnapped Ruben of Cilicia and forced him into becoming his vassal. Saladin signed a four-year truce with Jerusalem and attacked Mosul. He could not capture the city but extracted an oath of fealty from Mosul's Zengid ruler, Izz al-Din Mas'ud , in March 1186. A few months later, Baldwin V died, and a power struggle began in Jerusalem. Raymond summoned
27745-401: The term Franks for the European incomers. However, relatively few of the incoming Europeans took a crusader oath. The Latin chronicles of the First Crusade, written in the early 11th century, called the Western Christians who came from Europe Franci irrespective of their ethnicity. Byzantine Greek sources use Φράγκοι Frangi and Arabic الإفرنجي al-Ifranji . Alternatively,
27924-415: The throne under their control. To thwart their coup, he sanctioned her marriage to Guy of Lusignan , a young aristocrat from Poitou . Guy's brother Aimery held the office of constable of Jerusalem , and their family had close links to the House of Plantagenet . Baldwin's mother and her clique marginalised Raymond, Bohemond and the influential Ibelin family . To prepare for a military campaign against
28103-491: The tribute that Damascus' former rulers had offered to the Jerusalemite kings. Baldwin extracted tribute from the Egyptians as well. Raynald lacked financial resources. He tortured the Latin Patriarch of Antioch , Aimery of Limoges , to appropriate his wealth and attacked the Byzantine's Cilician Armenians. When Emperor Manuel I Komnenos delayed the payment he had been promised, Raynald pillaged Byzantine Cyprus . Thierry, Count of Flanders , brought military strength from
28282-412: The two rulers' forces. At a leadership conference, including the widowed Melisende and her son Baldwin III, they agreed to attack Damascus rather than attempt to recover distant Edessa. The attack on Damascus ended in a humiliating defeat and retreat. Scapegoating followed the unexpected failure, with many westerners blaming the Franks. Fewer crusaders came from Europe to fight for the Holy Land in
28461-414: The west, it improved conditions for agriculture. Higher agricultural yields led to population growth and the expansion of commerce, and to the development of prosperous new military and mercantile elites. In Catholic Europe, state and society were organised along feudal lines. Landed estates were customarily granted in fief —that is, in return for services that the grantee, or vassal , was to perform for
28640-437: Was 13 and a leper . The accession of underage rulers led to disunity both in Jerusalem and in Muslim Syria. In Jerusalem, the seneschal Miles of Plancy took control, but unknown assailants murdered him on the streets of Acre. With the baronage's consent, Amalric's cousin, Raymond III of Tripoli, assumed the regency for Baldwin IV as bailli . He became the most powerful baron by marrying Eschiva of Bures ,
28819-451: Was a massive defeat for the Franks. Nearly all the major Frankish leaders were taken prisoner, but only Raynald and the armed monks of the military orders were executed. Raymond was among the few Frankish leaders who escaped captivity. He fell seriously ill after reaching Tripoli. Within months after Hattin, Saladin conquered almost the entire kingdom. The city of Jerusalem surrendered on 2 October 1187. There were no massacres following
28998-406: Was decentralised, polyglot, and multi-national. A junior Seljuk ruling a province as an appanage was titled malik , Arabic for king. Mamluk military commanders acting as tutors and guardians for young Seljuk princes held the position of atabeg ('father-commander'). If his ward held a province in appanage, the atabeg ruled it as regent for the underage malik . On occasion,
29177-474: Was deserting) told him defeat was imminent. In June 1098, Bohemond persuaded a renegade Armenian tower commander to let the crusaders into the city. They slaughtered the Muslim inhabitants and, by mistake, some local Christians. The crusade leaders decided to return Antioch to Alexios as they had sworn to at Constantinople, but when they learnt of Alexios' withdrawal, Bohemond claimed the city for himself. The other leaders agreed, apart from Raymond, who supported
29356-466: Was dubbed "the Switzerland of the Middle East" for its unique status as both a snow-capped holiday destination and secure banking hub for Gulf Arabs . Beirut was also nicknamed "the Paris of the Middle East." With the 1970 defeat of the PLO in Jordan, many Palestinian militants relocated to Lebanon, increasing their armed campaign against Israel. The relocation of Palestinian bases also led to increasing sectarian tensions between Palestinians versus
29535-422: Was granted the title sultan —'power' in Arabic —by the Abbasid Caliph . The caliphs kept their legitimacy and prestige, but the sultans held political power. Seljuk success was achieved by extreme violence. It brought disruptive nomadism to the sedentary society of the Levant, and set a pattern followed by other nomadic Turkic clans such as the Danishmendids and the Artuqids . The Great Seljuk Empire
29714-405: Was his heir. He married her to Fulk of Anjou , who had widespread western connections useful to the kingdom. After Fulk's arrival, Baldwin raised a large force for an attack on Damascus. This force included the leaders of the other crusader states, and a significant Angevin contingent provided by Fulk. The campaign was abandoned when the Franks' foraging parties were destroyed, and bad weather made
29893-478: Was illegal, seized western Beirut , the most important Sunni center in Lebanon, leading to an intrastate military conflict . The Lebanese government denounced the violence as a coup attempt. At least 62 people died in the resulting clashes between pro-government and opposition militias. On 21 May 2008, the signing of the Doha Agreement ended the fighting. As part of the accord, which ended 18 months of political paralysis, Michel Suleiman became president and
30072-450: Was killed in a conflict with the Great Seljuk Empire. Between 1092 and 1094, Nizam al-Mulk, the Sultan Malik-Shah , the Fatimid Caliph, Al-Mustansir Billah and the vizier Badr al-Jamali all died. Malik-Shah's brother Tutush and the atabegs of Aleppo and Edessa were killed in the succession conflict, and Suleiman's son Kilij Arslan I revived his father's Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia. The Egyptian succession resulted in
30251-405: Was largely urban and isolated from the indigenous Levantine peoples , having separate legal and religious systems. The ancient Jewish communities that had survived and remained in the holy cities of Jerusalem, Tiberias , Hebron , and Safed since the Jewish–Roman wars and the destruction of the Second Temple were heavily persecuted in a pattern of rampant Christian antisemitism accompanying
30430-405: Was later ratified in July 1922. The Lebanese Republic was officially proclaimed on 1 September 1926, with the adoption of a constitution inspired by the French constitution on 23 May of the same year. While a Lebanese government was established, the country continued to be under French control. Lebanon gained a measure of independence while France was occupied by Germany. General Henri Dentz ,
30609-426: Was not united either; the French kings only controlled a small central region directly. Counts and dukes ruled other regions, and some of them were remarkably wealthy and powerful—in particular, the dukes of Aquitaine and Normandy , and the counts of Anjou , Champagne , Flanders , and Toulouse . Western Christians and Muslims interacted mainly through warring or commerce. During the 8th and 9th centuries,
30788-407: Was officially established under French control as a League of Nations Mandate , following the terms outlined in the proposed Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon . Greater Lebanon united the regions of Mount Lebanon, North Lebanon, South Lebanon, and the Bekaa, with Beirut as its designated capital. These specified boundaries later evolved into the present-day configuration of Lebanon. This arrangement
30967-448: Was ruled by Druze feudal families till the early 14th century. The Maronite population increased gradually in Northern Mount Lebanon and the Druze have remained in Southern Mount Lebanon until the modern era. Keserwan , Jabal Amel and the Beqaa Valley was ruled by Shia feudal families under the Mamluks and the Ottoman Empire. Major cities on the coast, Sidon , Tyre , Acre , Tripoli , Beirut , and others, were directly administered by
31146-486: Was ruled intermittently by various Shia feudal families, especially the Al Ali Alsagheer in Jabal Amel that remained in power until 1865 when Ottomans took direct ruling of the region. Youssef Bey Karam , a Lebanese nationalist played an influential role in Lebanon's independence during this era. Lebanon experienced profound devastation in the First World War when the Ottoman army assumed direct control, disrupting supplies and confiscating animals, ultimately leading to
31325-429: Was the chief Shi'ite power in Islam. The root of this was beyond cultural and racial conflict but originated in the splits within Islam following Muhammad's death. Sunnis supported a caliphal succession that began with one of his associates, Abu Bakr , while Shi'ites supported an alternative succession from his cousin and son-in-law, Ali . Islamic law granted the status of dhimmi , or protected peoples, to
31504-405: Was the cousin of both Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Louis VII of France. In 1176, Baldwin reached the age of 15 and majority, ending Raymond's regency. He revisited plans for an invasion of Egypt and renewed his father's pact with the Byzantines. Manuel dispatched a fleet of 70 galleys plus support ships to Outremer. As William had died, and Baldwin's health was deteriorating,
31683-443: Was the first to become sedentary at around 12000 BC. Evidence of early settlement in Lebanon was found in Byblos , considered among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The evidence dates back to earlier than 5000 BC. Archaeologists discovered remnants of prehistoric huts with crushed limestone floors, primitive weapons, and burial jars left by the Neolithic and Chalcolithic fishing communities who lived on
31862-414: Was the sole Frankish ruler to pursue an offensive policy. He attacked an Egyptian caravan and built a fleet for a naval raid into the Red Sea . Byzantine influence declined after Manuel died in 1180. Bohemond repulsed his Byzantine wife Theodora and married Sybil, an Antiochene noblewoman with a bad reputation. Patriarch Aimery excommunicated him and the Antiochene nobles who opposed the marriage fled to
32041-591: Was withdrawn in the spring of 1984, following a devastating bombing attack during the previous year. During the early 1980s, Hezbollah , a Shiite Islamist militant group and political party, came into existence through the efforts of Shiite clerics who were financially supported and trained by Iran . Arising in the aftermath of the 1982 war and drawing inspiration from the Islamic Revolution in Iran , Hezbollah actively engaged in combat against Israel as well as suicide attacks , car bombings and assassinations. Their objectives encompassed eliminating Israel, fighting for
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