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155-834: The Zengid Atabegate became famous in the Islamic world for its successes against the Crusaders , and for being the Atabegate from which Saladin originated. Following the demise of the Seljuk dynasty in 1194, the Zengids persisted for several decades as one of the "Seljuk successor-states" until 1250. In 1127, following the murder of Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi , atabeg of Mosul , the Seljuk Empire decided to name Zengi , son of Aq Sunqur al-Hajib , Seljuk Governor of Aleppo , as

310-649: A Crusader charge on occasion. Against regular armies, Turcoman harassment techniques were extensively used. The Zengids in particular played a major military role against Crusaders, led by such major military figures as Imad al-Din Zengi or Nur al-Din Zengi . Nur al-Din's army mainly consisted in Turcoman horse archers and Kurd spear-armed horsemen, in addition to professional ghulams , and Bedouin auxiliary cavalry, as well as large infantry elements. They were also skilled in siege warfare. Numbers were not very large,

465-468: A Genoese fleet captured Beirut . In the same month, Muhammad I Tapar , sultan of the Seljuk Empire, sent an army to recover Syria, but a Frankish defensive force arrived at Edessa, ending the short siege of the city. On 4 December, Baldwin captured Sidon , aided by a flotilla of Norwegian pilgrims led by Sigurd the Crusader . Next year, Tancred's extortion from Antioch's Muslim neighbours provoked

620-540: A Turkish ambush at the Battle of Civetot . Conflict with Urban II meant that King Philip I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Henry   IV declined to participate. Aristocrats from France, western Germany, the Low Countries , Languedoc and Italy led independent contingents in loose, fluid arrangements based on bonds of lordship, family, ethnicity and language. The elder statesman Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse

775-570: A base. Faced by a superior Crusader–Egyptian force attempting to besiege the city, Shirkuh split his army. He and the bulk of his force withdrew from Alexandria, while Saladin was left with the task of guarding the city. In 1168, the Zengid army was called for a third time in Egypt, as the Crusaders were besieging Cairo . The Crusaders lifted the siege and left. In 1169, Shirkuh lured the vizier into an ambush and killed him after which he seized Egypt in

930-413: A brief siege by his brother Tughtakin ibn Ayyub . He installed himself in the castle and received the homage and salutations of the inhabitants. Leaving his brother Tughtakin ibn Ayyub as Governor of Damascus, Saladin proceeded to reduce other cities that had belonged to Nur ad-Din, but were now practically independent. His army conquered Hama with relative ease, but avoided attacking Homs because of

1085-468: A common pictorial tradition that existed since circa 1180 CE in the region, which was highly influenced by Byzantine art . The manuscript Kitâb al-Diryâq ( Arabic : كتاب الدرياق , romanized :  Kitāb al-diryāq , "The Book of Theriac "), or Book of anditodes of pseudo-Galen , is a medieval manuscript allegedly based on the writings of Galen ("pseudo-Galen"). It describes the use of Theriac , an ancient medicinal compound initially used as

1240-630: A cure for the bites of poisonous snakes. Two editions are extant, adorned with beautiful miniatures revealing of the social context at the time of their publication. The earliest manuscript was published in 1198–1199 CE in Mosul or the Jazira region , and is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (MS. Arabe 2964). The Kitab al-Aghani was created in 1218–1219 in Mosul at the time of

1395-502: A decline in Mosul's metalworking industry. There is a relative lack of known metalwork from the Jazira in the late 1200s; meanwhile, an abundance of metalwork from Mamluk Syria and Egypt is attested from this same period. This doesn't necessarily mean that production in Mosul ended, though, and some extant objects from this period may have been made in Mosul. The area including Syria, Jazira and Iraq saw an "explosion of figural art" from

1550-469: A depiction of figures on the obverse while the reverse includes a pyramid-shaped pedestal and a staff with a circular head resting at the top. These two early coin types both bear significant resemblance to Byzantine coins of the same period and were all but copied whole cloth from Byzantine designs, the only alterations being the removal of the horizontal bar of the Byzantine cross for religious reasons and

1705-621: A few years. In 1152, Raymond II of Tripoli became the first Frankish victim of the Assassins . Later that year, Nūr-ad-Din captured and burned Tortosa , briefly occupying the town before it was taken by the Knights Templar as a military headquarters. Gold dinar The gold dinar ( Arabic : ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهب ) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH  77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan . The weight of

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1860-526: A focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century. In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont . He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios   I Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there

2015-573: A four line central inscription taken from the Surah 112 of the Quran; "Qul hu Allahu Ahad, Allahu-Samad, Lam yalid wa lam yulad wa lam yakul-lahu kufu-an ahad"'. The marginal legend states: "Muhammad is the Messenger of God, he was sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over every other religion, averse though the idolaters may be" (Quran 9:33). The gold coins were first struck to

2170-743: A hero in the Muslim world, but he was assassinated by a slave two years later, in 1146. On Zengi's death, his territories were divided, with Mosul and his lands in Iraq going to his eldest son Saif ad-Din Ghazi I , and Aleppo and Edessa falling to his second son, Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo . Nur ad-Din proved to be as competent as his father. In 1146 he defeated the Crusaders at the Siege of Edessa . In 1149, he defeated Raymond of Poitiers , Prince of Antioch , at

2325-505: A hunting accident. On Christmas Day 1143, their son Baldwin III of Jerusalem was crowned co-ruler with his mother. That same year, having prepared his army for a renewed attack on Antioch, John II Komnenos cut himself with a poisoned arrow while hunting wild boar. He died on 8 April 1143 and was succeeded as emperor by his son Manuel I Komnenos . Following John's death, the Byzantine army withdrew, leaving Zengi unopposed. Fulk's death later in

2480-835: A larger force, led by the Seljuk Ridwan of Aleppo . He was then able to secure Antioch's borders and push back his Greek and Muslim enemies. Under Paschal's sponsorship, Bohemond launched a version of a crusade in 1107 against the Byzantines, crossing the Adriatic and besieging Durrës . The siege failed; Alexius hit his supply lines, forcing his surrender. The terms laid out in the Treaty of Devol were never enacted because Bohemond remained in Apulia and died in 1111, leaving Tancred as notional regent for his son Bohemond II . In 1007,

2635-461: A matter of debate among contemporary historians. At the time of the First Crusade , iter , "journey", and peregrinatio , "pilgrimage" were used for the campaign. Crusader terminology remained largely indistinguishable from that of Christian pilgrimage during the 12th   century. A specific term for a crusader in the form of crucesignatus —"one signed by the cross"—emerged in

2790-631: A military commander in the service of the Zengid dynasty, took part in a series of campaigns in Fatimid Egypt, on the pretext to help the Fatimid vizier Shawar regain his throne from his rival Dirgham , and in opposition to the Crusader invasions of Egypt . In 1164, Latin Patriarch of Antioch Aimery of Limoges sent a letter to King Louis VII of France , in which he described the events in

2945-559: A power struggle. This gave the Crusaders a crucial opportunity to consolidate without any pan-Islamic counter-attack. Urban II died on 29 July 1099, fourteen days after the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, but before news of the event had reached Rome. He was succeeded by Pope Paschal II who continued the policies of his predecessors in regard to the Holy Land. Godfrey died in 1100. Dagobert of Pisa , Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Tancred looked to Bohemond to come south, but he

3100-578: A propaganda war against him, claiming he had "forgotten his own condition [servant of Nur ad-Din]" and showed no gratitude for his old master by besieging his son, rising "in rebellion against his Lord". Soon, Saladin entered Homs and captured its citadel in March 1175, after stubborn resistance from its defenders. Saladin's successes alarmed Saif ad-Din , Zengid ruler of Mosul. As head of the Zengids , he regarded Syria and Mesopotamia as his family estate and

3255-461: A ransom for his and Raymond's freedom. John II Komnenos , emperor since 1118, reasserted Byzantine claims to Cilicia and Antioch , compelling Raymond of Poitiers to give homage. In April 1138, the Byzantines and Franks jointly besieged Aleppo and, with no success, began the Siege of Shaizar , abandoning it a month later. On 13 November 1143, while the royal couple were in Acre, Fulk was killed in

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3410-483: A series exists which may have been issued during the Caliphates of Uthman or Ali . These are crude copies of Byzantine 12- nummus pieces of Heraclius from Alexandria . By the year 695 CE (AH 75) Abd al-Malik had decided on changes to the coinage. A scattering of patterned pieces in silver exist from this date, based on Sassanian prototypes but with distinctive Arabic reverses. This experiment, which maintained

3565-421: A shorter reverse legend and no annulets or inner circles. This type was used without appreciable change for the whole of Umayyad period, the coins being struck to a new and carefully controlled standard of 4.25 grams. This weight was reputed to be based on the average of the current Byzantine solidi , was called a Mithqal , a term used earlier for 1 ⁄ 72 of a ratl. Evidence of the importance attached to

3720-542: A single circular inscription. Outside this are three line circles with, at first, five annulets surrounding them. The side normally taken as the obverse has as its central legend the Kalima or shahada: "There is no god except God alone, there is no partner with Him." Around it is the mint and date formula reading "In the Name of God: this Dirham was struck in [mint name e.g. Damascus] the year [e.g. 698, AH 79]". The reverse has

3875-647: A small number of mercenaries he could direct. Alexios had restored the Empire's finances and authority but still faced numerous foreign enemies. Later that year at the Council of Clermont , Urban raised the issue again and preached a crusade. Almost immediately, the French priest Peter the Hermit gathered thousands of mostly poor in the People's Crusade . Traveling through Germany, German bands massacred Jewish communities in

4030-487: A truce, but a mutual alliance with Aleppo, in which Gumushtigin and as-Salih were allowed to continue their hold on the city, and in return, they recognized Saladin as the sovereign over all of the dominions he conquered. The Artuqid emirs of Mardin and Keyfa , the Muslim allies of Aleppo, also recognised Saladin as the King of Syria. When the treaty was concluded, the younger sister of as-Salih came to Saladin and requested

4185-527: A unique coin of (AH 79) 698 struck with no mint name (as was the standard procedure for the gold dinars produced in Damascus). These new coins which bore the name of 'dirham', established the style of the Arab-Sassanian predecessors at 25 to 28 mm in diameter. Their design is composed of Arabic inscriptions surrounded by circles and annulets. On each side there is a three- or four-line legend with

4340-631: Is by far the most common nisbah ; only two others are attested: al-Is'irdi (referring to someone from Siirt ) and al-Baghdadi. There are, however, some scientific instruments inlaid with silver that were made in Syria during this period, with the earliest being 1222/3 (619 AH). Instability after the death of Badr al-Din Lu'lu' in 1259, and especially the Mongol siege and capture of Mosul in July 1262, probably caused

4495-437: Is of an unknown date, but D.S. Rice estimated that it was made around 1200. Production of inlaid brasswork in Mosul may have already begun before the turn of the century. The body of Mosul metalwork significantly expands in the 1220s - several signed and dated items are known from this decade, which according to Julian Raby "probably reflects the craft's growing status and production." In the two decades from roughly 1220 to 1240,

4650-466: Is the eye of Syria and the citadel is its pupil". For Saladin, the capture of the city marked the end of over eight years of waiting since he told Farrukh-Shah that "we have only to do the milking and Aleppo will be ours". Saladin conquered Aleppo in 1183, ending Zengid rule in Syria. Saladin launched his last offensive against Mosul in late 1185, hoping for an easy victory over the presumably demoralized Zengid Emir of Mosul Mas'ud , but failed due to

4805-653: The Reconquista and Northern Crusades are also sometimes associated with this Crusade. The aftermath of the Crusade saw the Muslim world united around Saladin , leading to the fall of Jerusalem . Eugene III , recently elected pope, issued the bull Quantum praedecessores in December 1145 calling for a new crusade, one that would be more organized and centrally controlled than the First. The armies would be led by

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4960-562: The Baghdad -based Abbasid Caliphate which adhered to Sunni Islam, rather than traditional Fatimid Shia practice. In the early summer of 1174, Nur ad-Din was mustering an army, sending summons to Mosul, Diyar Bakr , and the Jazira in an apparent preparation of an attack against Saladin's Egypt. The Ayyubids held a council upon the revelation of these preparations to discuss the possible threat and Saladin collected his own troops outside Cairo. On 15 May 1174, Nur ad-Din died after falling ill

5115-506: The Battle of the Meander . Louis was not as lucky at the Battle of Mount Cadmus on 6 January 1148 when the army of Mesud inflicted heavy losses on the Crusaders. Shortly thereafter, they sailed for Antioch, almost totally destroyed by battle and sickness. The Crusader army arrived at Antioch on 19 March 1148 with the intent on moving to retake Edessa, but Baldwin III of Jerusalem and the Knights Templar had other ideas. The Council of Acre

5270-697: The County of Edessa ; the Principality of Antioch ; the Kingdom of Jerusalem ; and the County of Tripoli . A European presence remained in the region in some form until the fall of Acre in 1291. After this, no further large military campaigns were organised. Other church-sanctioned campaigns include crusades against Christians not obeying papal rulings and heretics , those against the Ottoman Empire , and ones for political reasons. The struggle against

5425-666: The Crusade of Varna . Popular crusades , including the Children's Crusade of 1212, were generated by the masses and were unsanctioned by the Church. The term "crusade" first referred to military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th   centuries to the Holy Land . The conflicts to which the term is applied have been extended to include other campaigns initiated, supported and sometimes directed by

5580-495: The Fatimids who were Shi'ite . The Seljuks were nomadic, Turkic speaking and occasionally shamanistic, very different from their sedentary, Arabic speaking subjects. This difference and the governance of territory based on political preference, and competition between independent princes rather than geography, weakened existing power structures. In 1071, Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes attempted confrontation to suppress

5735-468: The Genoese to Jaffa tilted the balance. Two large siege engines were constructed and the one commanded by Godfrey breached the walls on 15 July. For two days the crusaders massacred the inhabitants and pillaged the city. Historians now believe the accounts of the numbers killed have been exaggerated, but this narrative of massacre did much to cement the crusaders' reputation for barbarism. Godfrey secured

5890-913: The Moors in the Iberian Peninsula–the Reconquista – ended in 1492 with the Fall of Granada . From 1147, the Northern Crusades were fought against pagan tribes in Northern Europe. Crusades against Christians began with the Albigensian Crusade in the 13th century and continued through the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century. Crusades against the Ottomans began in the late 14th century and include

6045-520: The Nile , just west of Giza . The Crusader force enjoyed early success against Shirkuh's troops, but the terrain was too steep and sandy for their horses, and commander Hugh of Caesarea was captured while attacking Saladin's unit. The battle ended in a Zengid victory, one of the "most remarkable victories in recorded history", according to Ibn al-Athir . Saladin and Shirkuh moved towards Alexandria where they were welcomed, given money and arms, and provided

6200-527: The Peace and Truce of God movements restricted conflict between Christians from the 10th   century; the influence is apparent in Urban II's speeches. Other historians assert that the effectiveness was limited and it had died out by the time of the crusades. Pope Alexander II developed a system of recruitment via oaths for military resourcing that his successor Pope Gregory VII extended across Europe. In

6355-563: The Rhineland massacres during wide-ranging anti-Jewish activities. Jews were perceived to be as much an enemy as Muslims. They were held responsible for the Crucifixion , and were more immediately visible. People wondered why they should travel thousands of miles to fight non-believers when there were many closer to home. Quickly after leaving Byzantine-controlled territory on their journey to Nicaea , these crusaders were annihilated in

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6510-582: The Seljuks' sporadic raiding , leading to his defeat at the battle of Manzikert . Historians once considered this a pivotal event but now Manzikert is regarded as only one further step in the expansion of the Great Seljuk Empire . The evolution of a Christian theology of war developed from the link of Roman citizenship to Christianity, according to which citizens were required to fight the empire's enemies. This doctrine of holy war dated from

6665-552: The battle of Inab , and the next year conquered the remnants of the County of Edessa west of the Euphrates . In 1154, he capped off these successes by his capture of Damascus from the Turkic Burid dynasty that ruled it. Now ruling from Damascus, Nur ad-Din's success continued. Another Prince of Antioch, Raynald of Châtillon was captured, and the territories of the Principality of Antioch were greatly reduced. After

6820-402: The upper Nile – began to circulate in areas outside of the Byzantine empire. These corresponded in weight to only 20 carats (4.0 g) rather than the 24 carats of a recently minted solidus, but matched with the weight of the worn solidi that were circulating in those areas at the time. The two coins circulated together in these areas for a time. The first dated coins that can be assigned to

6975-561: The 11th   century, Christian conflict with Muslims on the southern peripheries of Christendom was sponsored by the Church, including the siege of Barbastro and the Norman conquest of Sicily . In 1074, Gregory   VII planned a display of military power to reinforce the principle of papal sovereignty. His vision of a holy war supporting Byzantium against the Seljuks was the first crusade prototype, but lacked support. The First Crusade

7130-614: The 12th to 13th centuries, particularly in the areas of decorative art and illustrated manuscripts. This occurred despite religious condemnations against the depiction of living creatures, on the grounds that "it implies a likeness to the creative activity of God". The origins of this new pictorial tradition are uncertain, but Arabic illustrated manuscripts such as the Maqamat al-Hariri shared many characteristics with Christian Syriac illustrated manuscripts, such as Syriac Gospels (British Library, Add. 7170) . This synthesis seems to point to

7285-431: The 4th-century theologian Saint Augustine . He maintained that aggressive war was sinful, but acknowledged a " just war " could be rationalised if it was proclaimed by a legitimate authority, was defensive or for the recovery of lands, and without an excessive degree of violence. Violent acts were commonly used for dispute resolution in Western Europe, and the papacy attempted to mitigate this. Historians have thought that

7440-839: The Army Badr al-Din Lu'lu' as protector of his sons and promoted him to atabeg upon his death in 1211. The son and two grandsons of Arslan Shah continued to rule as children in Northern Iraq as Emirs of Mosul and Sinjar until 1234, when Badr al-Din Lu'lu' formally took over, possibly after assassinating the last Zengid Emir of Mosul Nasir ad-Din Mahmud . He ruled in his own name from 1234 until his death in 1259, accepting Mongol suzerainty after 1243. Northern Iraq ( al-Jazira region), continued to be under Zengid rule until 1250, with its last Emir Mahmud al-Malik al-Zahir (1241–1250, son of Mu'izz al-Din Mahmud ). In 1250, al-Jazira fell under

7595-411: The Ayyubid offensive. They reached a truce, according to which al-Adid could retain the lands he conquered in Sinjar (thereafter ruled by the "Ayyubids of Mayyafariqin & Jabal Sinjar ", the sons of al-Adid al-Ashraf and Al-Awhad Ayyub ), and Arslan Shah would recognize Ayyubid suzerainty on his coinage. As Arslan Shah's health was declining, and his sons were still young, he chose his Commander of

7750-426: The Ayyubids had established a peace with Nur ad-Din. In 1207, the Ayyubids under Al-Awhad Ayyub , starting from their base in Mayyafariqin , captured Akhlat in Anatolia , putting an end to the Ahlatshahs . Al-Adil I again attempted to annex the Zengid states in 1209, and besieged Sinjar . The Zengid ruler of Mosul Nur al-Din Arslan Shah I allied with Muzzafar al-Din Kukburi , ruler of Erbil , and resisted

7905-593: The Ayyubids. The Zengid prisoners of war , however, were given gifts and freed. All of the booty from the Ayyubid victory was accorded to the army, Saladin not keeping anything himself. Saladin continued towards Aleppo, which still closed its gates to him, halting before the city. On the way, his army took Buza'a and then captured Manbij . From there, they headed west to besiege the fortress of A'zaz on 15 May. A'zaz capitulated on 21 June 1176, and Saladin then hurried his forces to Aleppo to punish Gumushtigin. His assaults were again resisted, but he managed to secure not only

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8060-476: The Christian Latin Church in the medieval period . The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1291 that had the objective of reconquering Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule after the region had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate centuries earlier. Beginning with the First Crusade , which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 , dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing

8215-534: The Crusader States: "[Shirkuh] having gotten possession of Damascus, the latter entered Egypt with a great force of Turks, in order to conquer the country." In 1163, the vizier to the Fatimid caliph al-Adid , Shawar , had been driven out of Egypt by his rival Dirgham , a member of the powerful Banu Ruzzaik tribe. He asked for military backing from Nur ad-Din, who complied and, in 1164, sent Shirkuh to aid Shawar in his expedition against Dirgham. Shirkuh's nephew Saladin , at age 26, went along with them. After Shawar

8370-412: The Crusader states in the Levant By the end of the 11th   century, the period of Islamic Arab territorial expansion had been over for centuries. The Holy Land's remoteness from focus of Islamic power struggles enabled relative peace and prosperity in Syria and Palestine. Muslim-Western European contact was only more than minimal in the conflict in the Iberian Peninsula . The Byzantine Empire and

8525-401: The Crusaders retreated before the arrival of a relief army led by Nūr-ad-Din. Morale fell, hostility to the Byzantines grew and distrust developed between the newly arrived Crusaders and those that had made the region their home after the earlier crusades. The French and German forces felt betrayed by the other, lingering for a generation due to the defeat, to the ruin of the Christian kingdoms in

8680-431: The Crusaders, end the heresy of the Assassins , and stop the wrong-doing of the Muslims. He also promised that if Mosul was given to him, it would lead to the capture of Jerusalem, Constantinople , Georgia , and the lands of the Almohads in the Maghreb , "until the word of God is supreme and the Abbasid caliphate has wiped the world clean, turning the churches into mosques". Saladin stressed that all this would happen by

8835-402: The Fatimids had recaptured Jerusalem. The Franks offered to partition conquered territory in return for the city. Refusal of the offer made it imperative that the crusade reach Jerusalem before the Fatimids made it defensible. The first attack on the city, launched on 7 June 1099, failed, and the siege of Jerusalem became a stalemate, before the arrival of craftsmen and supplies transported by

8990-434: The Frankish army was defeated by the Seljuk rulers of Mosul and Mardin at the battle of Harran . Baldwin II and his cousin, Joscelin of Courtenay , were captured. Bohemond and Tancred retreated to Edessa where Tancred assumed command. Bohemond returned to Italy, taking with him much of Antioch's wealth and manpower. Tancred revitalised the beleaguered principality with victory at the battle of Artah on 20 April 1105 over

9145-455: The Frankish position by defeating an Egyptian force at the Battle of Ascalon on 12 August. Most of the crusaders considered their pilgrimage complete and returned to Europe. When it came to the future governance of the city it was Godfrey who took leadership and the title of Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri , Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. The presence of troops from Lorraine ended the possibility that Jerusalem would be an ecclesiastical domain and

9300-439: The Franks. The dismal failures of this Crusade then set the stage for the fall of Jerusalem, leading to the Third Crusade. In the first major encounter after the Second Crusade, Nūr-ad-Din's forces then destroyed the Crusader army at the Battle of Inab on 29 June 1149. Raymond of Poitiers , as prince of Antioch, came to the aid of the besieged city. Raymond was killed and his head was presented to Nūr-ad-Din, who forwarded it to

9455-437: The Holy Land while the pagan Wends were a more immediate problem. The resulting Wendish Crusade of 1147 was partially successful but failed to convert the pagans to Christianity. The disastrous performance of this campaign in the Holy Land damaged the standing of the papacy, soured relations between the Christians of the kingdom and the West for many years, and encouraged the Muslims of Syria to even greater efforts to defeat

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9610-428: The Holy Land. In the spring of 1147, Eugene III authorised the expansion of his mission into the Iberian Peninsula, equating these campaigns against the Moors with the rest of the Second Crusade. The successful Siege of Lisbon , from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was followed by the six-month siege of Tortosa , ending on 30 December 1148 with a defeat for the Moors. In the north, some Germans were reluctant to fight in

9765-415: The Islamic world were long standing centres of wealth, culture and military power. The Arab-Islamic world tended to view Western Europe as a backwater that presented little organised threat. By 1025, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II had extended territorial recovery to its furthest extent. The frontiers stretched east to Iran. Bulgaria and much of southern Italy were under control, and piracy was suppressed in

9920-407: The Latin Church with varying objectives, mostly religious, sometimes political. These differed from previous Christian religious wars in that they were considered a penitential exercise, and so earned participants remittance from penalties for all confessed sins. What constituted a crusade has been understood in diverse ways, particularly regarding the early Crusades, and the precise definition remains

10075-444: The Mediterranean Sea. The empire's relationships with its Islamic neighbours were no more quarrelsome than its relationships with the Slavs or the Western Christians. The Normans in Italy; to the north Pechenegs , Serbs and Cumans ; and Seljuk Turks in the east all competed with the Empire and the emperors recruited mercenaries—even on occasions from their enemies—to meet this challenge. The political situation in Western Asia

10230-416: The Middle East. The Seljuk hold on the city was weak and returning pilgrims reported difficulties and the oppression of Christians. Byzantine desire for military aid converged with increasing willingness of the western nobility to accept papal military direction. In 1095, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military aid from Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza . He was probably expecting

10385-446: The Mosul brass industry saw "rapid innovations in technique, decoration, and composition". Artisans were inspired by miniature paintings produced in the Mosul area. Mosul seems to have become predominant among Muslim centers of metalwork in the early 13th century. Evidence is partial and indirect - relatively few objects which directly state where they were made exist, and in the rest of cases it depends on nisbah s. However, al-Mawsili

10540-500: The Muslim world mistook the crusaders for the latest in a long line of Byzantine mercenaries, not religiously motivated warriors intent on conquest and settlement. The Muslim world was divided between the Sunnis of Syria and Iraq and the Shi'ite Fatimids of Egypt. The Turks had found unity unachievable since the death of Sultan Malik-Shah in 1092, with rival rulers in Damascus and Aleppo . In addition, in Baghdad, Seljuk sultan Barkiyaruq and Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir were engaged in

10695-414: The Muslims are copies of silver Dirhams of the Sassanian ruler Yazdegerd III , struck during the Caliphate of Uthman . These coins differ from the original ones in that an Arabic inscription is found in the obverse margins, normally reading "in the Name of Allah". The subsequent series was issued using types based on drachmas of Khosrow II , whose coins probably represented a significant proportion of

10850-603: The Orontes, leaving Hama, the sun was eclipsed. He viewed this as an omen, but he continued his march north. He reached the Sultan's Mound , roughly 25 km (16 mi) from Aleppo, where his forces encountered Saif ad-Din's army. A hand-to-hand fight ensued and the Zengids managed to plough Saladin's left-wing, driving it before him when Saladin himself charged at the head of the Zengid guard. The Zengid forces panicked and most of Saif ad-Din's officers ended up being killed or captured—Saif ad-Din narrowly escaped. The Zengid army's camp, horses, baggage, tents, and stores were seized by

11005-430: The Sassanian weight standard of 3.5–4.0 grams was not proceeded with, and in AH 79 (698 CE) a completely new type of silver coin was struck at 14 mints to a new nominal weight of 2.97 grams. Unlike the contemporary gold coinage, this figure does not seem to have been achieved in practice. The average weight of sixty undamaged specimens of AH 79–84 (698–704 CE) is only 2.71 grams, a figure very close to that for

11160-539: The Seljuk army in 1115 against an alliance of the Franks, Toghtekin, his son-in-law Ilghazi and the Muslims of Aleppo. Bursuq feigned retreat and the coalition disbanded. Only the forces of Roger and Baldwin of Edessa remained, but, heavily outnumbered, they were victorious on 14 September at the first battle of Tell Danith . In April 1118, Baldwin I died of illness while raiding in Egypt. His cousin, Baldwin of Edessa,

11315-452: The Zengid atabegate of Badr al-Din Lu'lu' (40 years old at the time), and has several frontispieces richly illustrated with court scenes. Crusaders In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by

11470-434: The Zengids. Nur ad-Din also took control of Anatolian lands up to Sivas. His state extended from Tripoli to Hamadan and from Yemen to Sivas . Shirkuh's nephew Saladin was appointed vizier by the last Fatimid caliph al-Adid and Governor of Egypt, in 1169. Al-Adid died in 1171, and Saladin took advantage of this power vacuum, effectively taking control of the country. Upon seizing power, he switched Egypt's allegiance to

11625-478: The arrival of Saladin himself on 17 May before a siege could take place. According to Imad ad-Din, after Tell Khalid, Saladin took a detour northwards to Aintab , but he gained possession of it when his army turned towards it, allowing him to quickly move backward another c. 100 km towards Aleppo. On 21 May, he camped outside the city, positioning himself east of the Citadel of Aleppo , while his forces encircled

11780-452: The assistance of the crusaders after the deserting Stephen of Blois told them the cause was lost. Alexius retreated from Philomelium , where he received Stephen's report, to Constantinople. The Greeks were never truly forgiven for this perceived betrayal and Stephen was branded a coward. Losing numbers through desertion and starvation in the besieged city, the crusaders attempted to negotiate surrender but were rejected. Bohemond recognised that

11935-682: The caliph al-Muqtafi in Baghdad. In 1150, Nūr-ad-Din defeated Joscelin II of Edessa for a final time, resulting in Joscelin being publicly blinded, dying in prison in Aleppo in 1159. Later that year, at the Battle of Aintab , he tried but failed to prevent Baldwin III's evacuation of the residents of Turbessel . The unconquered portions of the County of Edessa would nevertheless fall to the Zengids within

12090-571: The caliph claiming that while he conquered Egypt and Yemen under the flag of the Abbasids, the Zengids of Mosul openly supported the Seljuks (rivals of the caliphate) and only came to the Caliph when in need. He also accused Izz ad-Din's forces of disrupting the Muslim "Holy War" against the Crusaders , stating "they are not content not to fight, but they prevent those who can". Saladin defended his own conduct claiming that he had come to Syria to fight

12245-647: The citadel. After a brief counter-siege, Nūr-ad-Din took the city. The men were massacred, with the women and children enslaved, and the walls razed. The fall of Edessa caused great consternation in Jerusalem and Western Europe, tempering the enthusiastic success of the First Crusade. Calls for a new crusade – the Second Crusade  – were immediate, and was the first to be led by European kings. Concurrent campaigns as part of

12400-529: The city's unexpectedly stiff resistance and a serious illness which caused Saladin to withdraw to Harran . Upon Abbasid encouragement, Saladin and Mas'ud negotiated a treaty in March 1186 that left the Zengids in control of Mosul, but under the obligation to supply the Ayyubids with military support when requested. In 1204, Saladin's brother and successor, the Ayyubid ruler Al-Adil I , dispatched an army under

12555-616: The city, killing all those who were unable to flee. All the Frankish prisoners were executed, but the native Christians were allowed to live. The Crusaders were dealt their first major defeat. Zengi was assassinated by a slave on 14 September 1146 and was succeeded in the Zengid dynasty by his son Nūr-ad-Din . The Franks recaptured the city during the Second Siege of Edessa of 1146 by stealth but could not take or even properly besiege

12710-604: The city; Saladin managed to protect the governor and his officers only by sending them to Mosul. After establishing a garrison at Sinjar, he awaited a coalition assembled by Izz ad-Din consisting of his forces, those from Aleppo, Mardin, and Armenia . Saladin and his army met the coalition at Harran in February 1183, but on hearing of his approach, the latter sent messengers to Saladin asking for peace. Each force returned to their cities and al-Fadil wrote: "They [Izz ad-Din's coalition] advanced like men, like women they vanished." From

12865-439: The claims of Raymond. Godfrey was left with a mere 300 knights and 2,000 infantry. Tancred also remained with the ambition to gain a princedom of his own. The Islamic world seems to have barely registered the crusade; certainly, there is limited written evidence before 1130. This may be in part due to a reluctance to relate Muslim failure, but it is more likely to be the result of cultural misunderstanding. Al-Afdal Shahanshah and

13020-441: The close control of the new Dinars is provided by the existence of glass weights, mainly from Egypt. They usually show the governor's name, sometimes the date but all marked with coin denomination. Early gold dinars imitated Byzantine and Sasanian coins of the time, but as time progressed, they began to take on a more uniquely Islamic style. Two early examples, minted in approximately 692 and 694 C.E., have similar designs. Both have

13175-510: The coalition, marching eastward to Ras al-Ein unhindered. By late April, after three days of "actual fighting", according to Saladin, the Ayyubids had captured Amid . He handed the city to Nur ad-Din Muhammad together with its stores, which consisted of 80,000 candles, a tower full of arrowheads, and 1,040,000 books. In return for a diploma—granting him the city, Nur ad-Din swore allegiance to Saladin, promising to follow him in every expedition in

13330-633: The coins of Heraclius and his son (but with abbreviated shahada in Latin), the reverse "cross on steps" losing in most cases its cross piece. Dinars, halves and thirds were struck, all to the new weight standard. Later coins are dated by indiction , from Indiction II (703, AH 84–85) changing to the Hijra date in Roman numerals in 713 (AH 94) with Arabic phrases appearing in the field from 716 (AH 97). In 684 (AH 100), North Africa came into line with

13485-690: The combined forces captured the cities of Jazira, one after the other. First, Edessa fell, followed by Saruj , then Raqqa , Qirqesiya and Nusaybin . Raqqa was an important crossing point and held by Qutb ad-Din Inal, who had lost Manbij to Saladin in 1176. Upon seeing the large size of Saladin's army, he made little effort to resist and surrendered on the condition that he would retain his property. From Raqqa, Saladin moved to conquer al-Fudain, al-Husain, Maksim, Durain, 'Araban, and Khabur—all of which swore allegiance to him. Saladin proceeded to take Nusaybin which offered no resistance. A medium-sized town, Nusaybin

13640-460: The contemporary standard of 4.4 grams and with one or more Arabic Standing figures on the obverse and an Arabic legend on the reverse. Dated coins exist from 680 (AH 74) and are named as 'Dinars'. These experimental issues were replaced in 683 (AH 77), except in North Africa and Spain, by completely epigraphical designs very similar to the designs adopted for the silver pieces but with

13795-403: The conversion of figures on the front to wearing Islamic-style dress. In the year 692 C.E., the shahada or profession of faith was added onto the obverse and in 694 C.E. it was added to the reverse. In the year 696-7 C.E., images were almost completely removed from coins and were replaced by coins exclusively decorated with inscriptions. The issues in gold from North Africa began as copies of

13950-453: The crusade without a spiritual leader. Raymond failed to capture Arqa and in May led the remaining army south along the coast. Bohemond retained Antioch and remained, despite his pledge to return it to the Byzantines. Local rulers offered little resistance, opting for peace in return for provisions. The Frankish envoys returned accompanied by Fatimid representatives. This brought the information that

14105-485: The crusaders proved to the Muslim world that the crusaders were not invincible, as they appeared to be during the First Crusade. Within months of the defeat, the Franks and Fatimid Egypt began fighting in three battles at Ramla, and one at Jaffa : Baldwin of Edessa , later king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II, and Patriarch Bernard of Valence ransomed Bohemond for 100,000 gold pieces. Baldwin and Bohemond then jointly campaigned to secure Edessa's southern front. On 7 May 1104,

14260-496: The currency in circulation. In parallel with the later Khosrau-type Arab-Sassanian coins, first issued under the Well-Guided Caliphs of Islam, a more extensive series was struck with Khosrau's name replaced by that of the local Arab governor or, in two cases, that of the Caliph. Historical evidence makes it clear that most of these coins bear Hijra dates . The earliest Muslim copper coins are anonymous and undated but

14415-649: The defeats of the Seljuk Empire in Khorasan and the death of the Seljuk ruler Ahmad Sanjar in 1157, the Zengids remained nominally under Seljuk suzerainty, but in practice became essentially independent. In the 1160s, Nur ad-Din's attention was mostly held by a competition with the King of Jerusalem , Amalric of Jerusalem , for control of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt. From 1163 to 1169, Shirkuh ,

14570-529: The desert with 700 picked horsemen, passing through al-Kerak then reaching Bosra . According to his own account, he was joined by "emirs, soldiers, and Bedouins—the emotions of their hearts to be seen on their faces." On 23 November, he arrived in Damascus amid general acclamation and rested at his father's old home there, until the gates of the Citadel of Damascus , whose commander Raihan initially refused to surrender, were opened to Saladin four days later, after

14725-571: The dinar is 1 mithqal (4.25 grams or 0.137 troy ounces). The word dinar comes from the Latin word denarius , which was a silver coin. The name "dinar" is also used for Sasanid , Kushan , and Kidarite gold coins, though it is not known what the contemporary name was. The first dinars were issued by the Umayyad Caliphate . Under the dynasties that followed the use of the dinar spread from Islamic Spain to Central Asia. Although there

14880-565: The domination of An-Nasir Yusuf , the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo, marking the end of Zengid rule. The next period would be marked by the arrival of the Mongols: in 1262 Mosul was sacked by the Mongols of Hulagu , following a siege of almost a year, which put an end to the short rule of the sons of Badr al-Din Lu'lu'. The military of the Zengids, like that of the other Atabegates , continued

15035-468: The early 1200s that Mosul had the demand for large-scale production of them. Mosul was then a wealthy, prosperous capital city, first for the Zengids and then for Badr al-Din Lu'lu'. The origins of Mosul's inlaid brasswork industry are uncertain. The city had an iron industry in the late 10th century, when al-Muqaddasi recorded that it exported iron and iron goods like buckets, knives and chains. However, no surviving metal objects from Mosul are known before

15190-561: The early 12th century. This led to the French term croisade —the way of the cross. By the mid 13th   century the cross became the major descriptor of the crusades with crux transmarina —"the cross overseas"—used for crusades in the eastern Mediterranean, and crux cismarina —"the cross this side of the sea"—for those in Europe. The use of croiserie , "crusade" in Middle English can be dated to c.  1300 , but

15345-479: The early 13th century. Inlaid metalworking in the Islamic world was first developed in Khurasan in the 12th century by silversmiths facing a shortage of silver. By the mid-12th century, Herat in particular had gained a reputation for its high-quality inlaid metalwork. The practice of inlaying "required relatively few tools" and the technique spread westward, perhaps by Khurasani artisans moving to other cities. By

15500-521: The eastern issues although the mint is named as Ifriqiya . The legends are shorter and the reverse has a new central inscription: "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate". This was used also on the coins from al-Andalus , and on the half and third Dinars, most of which show no mint but may well have been struck in al-Andalus. The modern gold dinar is not an official currency, but

15655-483: The emir of the city and a captain of Nur ad-Din's veterans assumed guardianship over him. The emir Gumushtigin prepared to unseat all his rivals in Syria and the Jazira, beginning with Damascus. In this emergency, the emir of Damascus appealed to Saif ad-Din of Mosul (a cousin of Gumushtigin) for assistance against Aleppo, but he refused, forcing the Syrians to request the aid of Saladin, who complied. Saladin rode across

15810-590: The emperor's hand convinced the Germans to move quickly to Asia Minor. Without waiting for the French contingent, Conrad III engaged the Seljuks of Rûm under sultan Mesud I , son and successor of Kilij Arslan , the nemesis of the First Crusade. Mesud and his forces almost totally destroyed Conrad's contingent at the Second Battle of Dorylaeum on 25 October 1147. The French contingent departed in June 1147. In

15965-566: The emperor. Alexios persuaded many of the princes to pledge allegiance to him and that their first objective should be Nicaea, the capital of the Sultanate of Rum . Sultan Kilij Arslan left the city to resolve a territorial dispute, enabling its capture after the siege of Nicaea and a Byzantine naval assault in the high point of Latin and Greek co-operation. The first experience of Turkish tactics, using lightly armoured mounted archers, occurred when an advanced party led by Bohemond and Robert

16120-572: The feet of Bernard in order to take the cross. Conrad and his nephew Frederick Barbarossa also received the cross from the hand of Bernard. Conrad III and the German contingent planned to leave for the Holy Land at Easter, but did not depart until May 1147. When the German army began to cross Byzantine territory, emperor Manuel I had his troops posted to ensure against trouble. A brief Battle of Constantinople in September ensued, and their defeat at

16275-459: The field to oppose him, he captured several important Syrian towns. He defeated Fulk at the battle of Ba'rin of 1137, seizing Ba'rin Castle . In 1137, Zengi invaded Tripoli , killing the count Pons of Tripoli . Fulk intervened, but Zengi's troops captured Pons' successor Raymond II of Tripoli , and besieged Fulk in the border castle of Montferrand . Fulk surrendered the castle and paid Zengi

16430-641: The hands of a rival, but he feared that attacking a land that formerly belonged to his master —forbidden in the Islamic principles in which he believed— could portray him as hypocritical, thus making him unsuitable for leading the war against the Crusaders. As-Salih took refuge in Aleppo in August 1174, which he ruled until 1181, when he died of illness and was replaced by his cousin Imad al-Din Zengi II . Gumushtigin ,

16585-430: The heavily fortified city. After several minor skirmishes and a stalemate in the siege that was initiated by the caliph, Saladin intended to find a way to withdraw without damage to his reputation while still keeping up some military pressure. He decided to attack Sinjar , which was held by Izz ad-Din's brother Sharaf ad-Din. It fell after a 15-day siege on 30 December. Saladin's soldiers broke their discipline, plundering

16740-431: The inconclusive battle of Shaizar between the Franks and an Abbasid army led by the governor of Mosul, Mawdud . Tancred died in 1112 and power passed to his nephew Roger of Salerno . In May 1113, Mawdud invaded Galilee with Toghtekin , atabeg of Damascus . On 28 June this force surprised Baldwin, chasing the Franks from the field at the battle of al-Sannabra . Mawdud was killed by Assassins . Bursuq ibn Bursuq led

16895-498: The issue of taking over a large city and justifying the action. The Zengids of Mosul appealed to an-Nasir , the Abbasid caliph at Baghdad whose vizier favored them. An-Nasir sent Badr al-Badr (a high-ranking religious figure) to mediate between the two sides. Saladin arrived at the city on 10 November 1182. Izz ad-Din would not accept his terms because he considered them disingenuous and extensive, and Saladin immediately laid siege to

17050-567: The leadership of Mosul. On 4 December, the crown prince of the Zengids, as-Salih , died in Aleppo. Prior to his death, he had his chief officers swear an oath of loyalty to Izz ad-Din, as he was the only Zengid ruler strong enough to oppose Saladin. Izz ad-Din was welcomed in Aleppo, but possessing it and Mosul put too great of a strain on his abilities. He thus, handed Aleppo to his brother Imad ad-Din Zangi , in exchange for Sinjar . Saladin offered no opposition to these transactions in order to respect

17205-543: The leadership of his own son al-Ashraf of Harran , accompanied by his brother Al-Awhad Ayyub , to relieve the Zengid emir of Sinjar , Qutb al-Din , from an assault by his cousin Nur ad-Din Arslan Shah I of Mosul , the chief Zengid emir . In April 1204 the Ayyubid coalition swiftly defeated Nur ad-Din's forces at Nusaybin , chasing them back to Mosul where they attacked several of the surrounding villages. By September

17360-479: The meantime, Roger II of Sicily , an enemy of Conrad's, had invaded Byzantine territory. Manuel I needed all his army to counter this force, and, unlike the armies of the First Crusade, the Germans and French entered Asia with no Byzantine assistance. The French met the remnants of Conrad's army in northern Turkey, and Conrad joined Louis's force. They fended off a Seljuk attack at the Battle of Ephesus on 24 December 1147. A few days later, they were again victorious at

17515-431: The modern English "crusade" dates to the early 1700s. The Crusader states of Syria and Palestine were known as the " Outremer " from the French outre-mer , or "the land beyond the sea". Period post-First Crusade Second Crusade Period post-Second Crusade Third Crusade Period post-Third Crusade Fourth Crusade Fifth Crusade Sixth Crusade and aftermath Seventh Crusade End of

17670-420: The most epigraphic inscriptions. However, the only reference to this industry in contemporary sources is the account of Ibn Sa'id , an Andalusian geographer who traveled through the region around 1250. He wrote that "there are many crafts in the city, especially inlaid brass vessels which are exported (and presented) to rulers". These were expensive items that only the wealthiest could afford, and it wasn't until

17825-473: The name of his master Nur ad-Din, becoming the new Fatimid vizier and amir al-juyush with the approval of Caliph al-Adid , and therefore bringing Egypt under formal Zengid dominion. Shirkuh died the same year and was replaced by his nephew Saladin as vizier . During the reign of Nur al-Din (1146–1174), Tripoli , Yemen and the Hejaz were added to the state of the Zengids. The Artuqids became vassals of

17980-545: The new Seljuk atabeg of Mosul . Before this nomination, Zengi had been a successful Seljuk general in Iraq , where he had become shihna , or Governor for the whole region. Zengi quickly became the chief Turkic potentate in Northern Syria and Iraq, taking Aleppo from the squabbling Artuqids in 1128 and capturing the County of Edessa from the Crusaders after the siege of Edessa in 1144. This latter feat made Zengi

18135-400: The only option was open combat and launched a counterattack. Despite superior numbers, Kerbogha's army—which was divided into factions and surprised by the Crusaders' commitment—retreated and abandoned the siege. Raymond besieged Arqa in February 1099 and sent an embassy to al-Afdal Shahanshah , the vizier of Fatimid Egypt , seeking a treaty. The Pope's representative Adhemar died, leaving

18290-502: The people of Tell Bashir ransomed Joscelin and he negotiated Baldwin's release from Jawali Saqawa , atabeg of Mosul, in return for money, hostages and military support. Tancred and Baldwin, supported by their respective Muslim allies, entered violent conflict over the return of Edessa leaving 2,000 Franks dead before Bernard of Valence, patriarch of both Antioch and Edessa, adjudicated in Baldwin's favour. On 13 May 1110, Baldwin II and

18445-500: The point of view of Saladin, in terms of territory, the war against Mosul was going well, but he still failed to achieve his objectives and his army was shrinking; Taqi ad-Din took his men back to Hama, while Nasir ad-Din Muhammad and his forces had left. This encouraged Izz ad-Din and his allies to take the offensive. The previous coalition regrouped at Harzam some 140 km from Harran. In early April, without waiting for Nasir ad-Din, Saladin and Taqi ad-Din commenced their advance against

18600-400: The previous week and his power was handed to his eleven-year-old son as-Salih Ismail al-Malik . His death left Saladin with political independence and in a letter to as-Salih, he promised to "act as a sword" against his enemies and referred to the death of his father as an "earthquake shock". In the wake of Nur ad-Din's death, Saladin was tempted to annex Syria before it could possibly fall into

18755-691: The provinces of Damascus, Homs, and Hama, as well as a number of towns outside Aleppo such as Ma'arat al-Numan . After his victory against the Zengids, Saladin proclaimed himself king and suppressed the name of as-Salih in Friday prayers and Islamic coinage. From then on, he ordered prayers in all the mosques of Syria and Egypt as the sovereign king and he issued at the Cairo mint gold coins bearing his official title — al-Malik an-Nasir Yusuf Ayyub, ala ghaya "the King Strong to Aid, Joseph son of Job; exalted be

18910-399: The religious leadership of the city. Although he was short of money, Saladin also allowed the departing Zangi to take all the stores of the citadel that he could travel with and to sell the remainder—which Saladin purchased himself. In spite of his earlier hesitation to go through with the exchange, he had no doubts about his success, stating that Aleppo was "the key to the lands" and "this city

19065-476: The resources to fully invest the city; the residents lacked the means to repel the invaders. Then Bohemond persuaded a guard in the city to open a gate. The crusaders entered, massacring the Muslim inhabitants and many Christians amongst the Greek Orthodox, Syrian and Armenian communities. A force to recapture the city was raised by Kerbogha , the effective ruler of Mosul . The Byzantines did not march to

19220-513: The return of the Fortress of A'zaz; he complied and escorted her back to the gates of Aleppo with numerous presents. The Zengis ruler As-Salih Ismail al-Malik continued to rule Aleppo as a vassal of Saladin until 1181, when he died of illness and was replaced by his cousin Imad al-Din Zengi II . The Zengid ruler Sayf al-Din Ghazi II died in June 1181 and his brother Izz ad-Din inherited

19375-413: The ruler's askar troops numbering from 1,000 to 3,000, to which were added auxiliary troops numbering from 10,000 to 15,000. The Zengid model was also used by Saladin and his successors. In the 13th century, Mosul had a flourishing industry making luxury brass items that were ornately inlaid with silver. Many of these items survive today; in fact, of all medieval Islamic artifacts, Mosul brasswork has

19530-418: The same time, the advent of Imad ad-Din Zengi saw the Crusaders threatened by a Muslim ruler who would introduce jihad to the conflict, joining the powerful Syrian emirates in a combined effort against the Franks. He became atabeg of Mosul in September 1127 and used this to expand his control to Aleppo in June 1128. In 1135, Zengi moved against Antioch and, when the Crusaders failed to put an army into

19685-610: The secular and ecclesiastical leaders of the Outremer gathered at the Council of Nablus . The council laid a foundation of a law code for the kingdom of Jerusalem that replaced common law. The council also heard the first direct appeals for support made to the Papacy and Republic of Venice . They responded with the Venetian Crusade , sending a large fleet that supported the capture of Tyre in 1124. In April 1123, Baldwin II

19840-462: The standard." The Abbasid caliph in Baghdad graciously welcomed Saladin's assumption of power and declared him "Sultan of Egypt and Syria". The Battle of Hama did not end the contest for power between the Ayyubids and the Zengids, with the final confrontation occurring in the spring of 1176. Saladin had gathered massive reinforcements from Egypt while Saif ad-Din was levying troops among the minor states of Diyarbakir and al-Jazira. When Saladin crossed

19995-420: The strength of its citadel. Saladin moved north towards Aleppo, besieging it on 30 December after Gumushtigin refused to abdicate his throne. As-Salih, fearing capture by Saladin, came out of his palace and appealed to the inhabitants not to surrender him and the city to the invading force. One of Saladin's chroniclers claimed "the people came under his spell". Meanwhile, Saladin's rivals in Syria and Jazira waged

20150-542: The strongest kings of Europe and a route that would be pre-planned. The pope called on Bernard of Clairvaux to preach the Second Crusade, granting the same indulgences which had accorded to the First Crusaders. Among those answering the call were two European kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany . Louis, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine , and many princes and lords prostrated themselves at

20305-557: The suburb of Banaqusa to the northeast and Bab Janan to the west. He stationed his men dangerously close to the city, hoping for an early success. Zangi did not offer long resistance. He was unpopular with his subjects and wished to return to his Sinjar , the city he governed previously. An exchange was negotiated where Zangi would hand over Aleppo to Saladin in return for the restoration of his control of Sinjar , Nusaybin , and Raqqa . Zangi would hold these territories as Saladin's vassals in terms of military service. On 12 June, Aleppo

20460-497: The town of Banias during the Crusade of 1129 . Defeat at Damascus and Marj al-Saffar ended the campaign and Frankish influence on Damascus for years. The Levantine Franks sought alliances with the Latin West through the marriage of heiresses to wealthy martial aristocrats. Constance of Antioch was married to Raymond of Poitiers , son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine . Baldwin II's eldest daughter Melisende of Jerusalem

20615-520: The traditions of the Seljuk Empire . Professional Askar and Ghulam troops were combined with mercenaries and auxiliary Turcoman & Kurdish tribal elements. The best description of these troops appears in the mid-13th century Warqa wa Gulshah , where numerous weapons are depicted, such as javelins, spears, swords, bows, maces and lassos. The protective equipment can be quite heavy, including helmets and hauberk . Bows and arrows were used extensively, and dense volleys could pierce armour or even stop

20770-513: The treaty he previously made with the Zengids. Following the Zengid defeat at Hama, and the continuing lack any unifying figure in the mould of Nur ad-Din, Kukbary ( Muzaffar ad-Din Gökböri ), the Zengid ruler of Harran , realised that Zengid power was on the wane in Syria and the Jazira and he made the momentous decision to defect to Saladin in 1182. He invited Saladin to occupy the Jazira region, making up northern Mesopotamia. Saladin complied and

20925-446: The truce between him and the Zengids officially ended in September 1182. Prior to his march to Jazira, tensions had grown between the Zengid rulers of the region, primarily concerning their unwillingness to pay deference to Mosul. Before he crossed the Euphrates , Saladin besieged Aleppo for three days, signaling that the truce was over. Once Saladin reached Bira, near the river, he was joined by Kukbary and Nur ad-Din of Hisn Kayfa and

21080-432: The turn of the 13th century, the silver-inlaid-brass technique had reached Mosul. A pair of engraved brass flabella found in Egypt and possibly made in Mosul are dated by a Syriac inscription to the year 1202, which would make them the earliest known Mosul brasses with a definite date (although they are not inlaid with anything). One extant item may be even older: an inlaid ewer by the master craftsman Ibrahim ibn Mawaliya

21235-445: The war against the Crusaders, and repairing the damage done to the city. The fall of Amid, in addition to territory, convinced Il-Ghazi of Mardin to enter the service of Saladin, weakening Izz ad-Din's coalition. Saladin attempted to gain the Caliph an-Nasir's support against Izz ad-Din by sending him a letter requesting a document that would give him legal justification for taking over Mosul and its territories. Saladin aimed to persuade

21390-420: The will of God, and instead of asking for financial or military support from the Caliph, he would capture and give the Caliph the territories of Tikrit , Daquq , Khuzestan , Kish Island , and Oman . Saladin turned his attention from Mosul to Aleppo, sending his brother Taj al-Muluk Buri to capture Tell Khalid , 130 km northeast of Aleppo. A siege was set, but the governor of Tell Khalid surrendered upon

21545-413: The year left Joscelin II of Edessa with no powerful allies to help defend Edessa. Zengi came north to begin the first siege of Edessa , arriving on 28 November 1144. The city had been warned of his arrival and was prepared for a siege, but there was little they could do. Zengi realised there was no defending force and surrounded the city. The walls collapsed on 24 December 1144. Zengi's troops rushed into

21700-458: Was a dictum that the Byzantine solidus was not to be used outside of the Byzantine empire , some of these coins became involved in distant trade; those then did not get re-minted by the imperial mints, and quickly became worn. Towards the end of the 7th century CE, Arabic copies of solidi – dinars issued by the caliph Abd al-Malik (685–705 CE), who had access to supplies of gold from

21855-530: Was ambushed and captured by Belek Ghazi while campaigning north of Edessa, along with Joscelin I, Count of Edessa . He was released in August 1024 in return for 80,000 gold pieces and the city of Azaz . In 1129, the Council of Troyes approved the rule of the Knights Templar for Hugues de Payens . He returned to the East with a major force including Fulk V of Anjou . This allowed the Franks to capture

22010-547: Was ambushed at the battle of Dorylaeum . The Normans resisted for hours before the arrival of the main army caused a Turkish withdrawal. The army marched for three months to the former Byzantine city Antioch , that had been in Muslim control since 1084. Starvation, thirst and disease reduced numbers, combined with Baldwin's decision to leave with 100 knights and their followers to carve out his own territory in Edessa . The siege of Antioch lasted eight months. The crusaders lacked

22165-418: Was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a variety of motivations. These included religious salvation, satisfying feudal obligations, opportunities for renown, and economic or political advantage. Later expeditions were conducted by generally more organised armies, sometimes led by a king. All were granted papal indulgences . Initial successes established four Crusader states :

22320-517: Was an unexpected event for contemporary chroniclers, but historical analysis demonstrates it had its roots in earlier developments with both clerics and laity recognising Jerusalem's role in Christianity as worthy of penitential pilgrimage . In 1071, Jerusalem was captured by the Turkish warlord Atsiz , who seized most of Syria and Palestine as part of the expansion of the Seljuks throughout

22475-569: Was angered when Saladin attempted to usurp his dynasty's holdings. Saif ad-Din mustered a large army and dispatched it to Aleppo, whose defenders anxiously had awaited them. The combined forces of Mosul and Aleppo marched against Saladin in Hama. Heavily outnumbered, Saladin initially attempted to make terms with the Zengids by abandoning all conquests north of the Damascus province , but they refused, insisting he return to Egypt. Seeing that confrontation

22630-537: Was captured by the Danishmends . The Lorrainers foiled the attempt to seize power and enabled Godfrey's brother, Baldwin I , to take the crown. Paschal II promoted the large-scale Crusade of 1101 in support of the remaining Franks. This new crusade was a similar size to the First Crusade and joined in Byzantium by Raymond of Saint-Gilles . Command was fragmented and the force split in three: The defeat of

22785-671: Was changed by later waves of Turkic migration , in particular the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the 10th   century. Previously a minor ruling clan from Transoxania , they had recently converted to Islam and migrated into Iran. In two decades following their arrival they conquered Iran, Iraq and the Near East. The Seljuks and their followers were from the Sunni tradition. This brought them into conflict in Palestine and Syria with

22940-598: Was foremost, rivaled by the relatively poor but martial Italo-Norman Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred . Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin also joined with forces from Lorraine , Lotharingia , and Germany . These five princes were pivotal to the campaign, which was augmented by a northern French army led by Robert Curthose , Count Stephen II of Blois , and Count Robert II of Flanders . The total number may have reached as many as 100,000 people including non-combatants. They traveled eastward by land to Constantinople where they were cautiously welcomed by

23095-509: Was formally placed in Ayyubid hands. The people of Aleppo had not known about these negotiations and were taken by surprise when Saladin's standard was hoisted over the citadel. Two emir s, including an old friend of Saladin, Izz ad-Din Jurduk, welcomed and pledged their service to him. Saladin replaced the Hanafi courts with Shafi'i administration, despite a promise that he would not interfere in

23250-501: Was held on 24 June 1148, changing the objective of the Second Crusade to Damascus, a former ally of the kingdom that had shifted its allegiance to that of the Zengids. The Crusaders fought the Battle of Bosra with the Damascenes in the summer of 1147, with no clear winner. Bad luck and poor tactics of the Crusaders led to the disastrous five-day siege of Damascus from 24 to 28 July 1148. The barons of Jerusalem withdrew support and

23405-497: Was married to Fulk of Anjou in 1129. When Baldwin II died on 21 August 1131, Fulk and Melisende were consecrated joint rulers of Jerusalem. Despite conflict caused by the new king appointing his own supporters and the Jerusalemite nobles attempting to curb his rule, the couple were reconciled and Melisende exercised significant influence. When Fulk died in 1143, she became joint ruler with their son, Baldwin III of Jerusalem . At

23560-442: Was not of great importance, but it was located in a strategic position between Mardin and Mosul and within easy reach of Diyarbakir . Meanwhile, in Aleppo, the emir of the city Zangi raided Saladin's cities to the north and east, such as Balis, Manbij, Saruj, Buza'a, al-Karzain. He also destroyed his own citadel at A'zaz to prevent it from being used by the Ayyubids if they were to conquer it. As Saladin approached Mosul, he faced

23715-469: Was successfully reinstated as vizier, he demanded that Shirkuh withdraw his army from Egypt for a sum of 30,000 gold dinars , but Shirkuh refused, insisting it was Nur ad-Din's will that he remain. In 1167, the Zengids engaged in a new campaign in Egypt. They sacked Bilbais , and the Crusader-Egyptian force and Shirkuh's army were to engage in the Battle of al-Babein on the desert border of

23870-451: Was unanimously elected his successor. In June 1119, Ilghazi, now emir of Aleppo , attacked Antioch with more than 10,000 men. Roger of Salerno 's army of 700 knights, 3,000 foot soldiers and a corps of Turcopoles was defeated at the battle of Ager Sanguinis , or "field of blood". Roger was among the many killed. Baldwin II's counter-attack forced the offensive's end, after an inconclusive second battle of Tell Danith . In January 1120

24025-578: Was unavoidable, Saladin prepared for battle, taking up a superior position at the Horns of Hama , hills by the gorge of the Orontes River . On 13 April 1175, the Zengid troops marched to attack his forces, but soon found themselves surrounded by Saladin's Ayyubid veterans, who crushed them. The battle ended in a decisive victory for Saladin, who pursued the Zengid fugitives to the gates of Aleppo, forcing as-Salih's advisers to recognize Saladin's control of

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