On his
departure
he wrote to the provinces of Syria to muster troops for the attack on Tripoli.
Arab-Historians-of-the-Crusades
I will observe the truce from first to last, I will keep it and abide by all the conditions laid out in it, basing my actions on its precepts for the duration of the time set out in it.
I will not raise difficulties over it or any of the conditions it contains, nor will I seek legal advice in order to break it,1 for as long as the authorities of Acre, Sidon and 'Athli?
th, to wit the bailli of the Commune of Acre, the Grand Master of the Temple and he of the Hospital and the representative of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Hospital, in person or those who succeed them in the Regency of Acre or the Mastership of the Orders in the above-mentioned kingdom, shall keep their oath that they swore to me, to my son al-Malik as-Salih and to my other sons, to keep the truce here formulated, applying the conditions laid down in it for as long as it is valid and obeying its precepts.
If I should break this oath, my penance shall be to make the Pilgrimage to the House of God at Mecca thirty times, barefoot and bareheaded, and to fast the whole time, apart from the days on which fasting is forbidden.
The other clauses of the oath. having been recited, it concludes: and Alla? h is the guarantor of that which we are saying here.
FORMULA OF THE FRANKISH OATH (IBN AL-FURA? T, VII, 182r-183r)
By God by God by God, in the name of God of God of God, the witness being God God God, by the Messiah the Messiah the Messiah, by the Cross the Cross the Cross, by the three persons of one substance, designated the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and forming a single God; by the blessed Divinity2 dwelling in the august Humanity, by the pure Testament and all that it contains, by the four Gospels transmitted by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, by their prayers and benedictions; by the twelve Apostles and the seventy- two Disciples and the three hundred and eighteen (Fathers of Niceae) gathered into the Church; by the voice that descended from Heaven over the river Jordan and which drove back its waves; by God who revealed the Good Tidings to Jesus son of Mary, Spirit and Word of God; by the Madonna, Holy Mary mother of the Light; by John the Baptist; by Saint Martha and Saint Mary; by the Lenten fast; by my Faith and the God whom I adore; and by the Christian dogmas in which I believe, and which have been impressed upon me by the Father and Priest who baptized me. From this moment and this hour I consecrate my whole intention and my deepest resolve to upholding, with regard to the Sultan al-Mansu? r, his son al-Malik as-Salih and their sons, all the articles of the blessed truce by which peace is concluded and reigns in the Kingdom of Acre, Sidon and 'Athli? th and their dependent
An old method, not only Muslim, of escaping from a sworn undertaking.
1
2 Text has 'the Cross'; an obvious error; the emendation is Quatreme`re's.
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 199
territories as included in this truce and specified therein. The duration of the truce shall be ten years, ten months, ten days and ten hours, beginning on Friday 3 hazira? n of the year 1594 of the era of Alexander son of Philip the Greek. I will observe all the stipulations set out in the treaty, one by one, and bind myself to keep faith in every clause included in the above-mentioned truce for as long as it applies. By God God God, by the Messiah and the Cross and my Faith, I will cause no harm or injury to any of the states belonging to the Sultan and his son, nor to any of the persons who live therein, nor to any of them who may visit any of the countries to which the truce applies, in respect of their persons or their possessions. By God, by my Faith, and by Him whom I adore, I will follow the path of the sincere confederate, committed to avoiding any act of violence or hostility toward persons or property, in loyally upholding the treaty and the truce, in sincere friendship, in defence of the Muslim people and of those who come and go from the Sultan's states. I bind myself to keep faith in all the stipulations of this truce for as long as it is valid, as long as al-Malik al-Mansu? r keeps the oath that he swore to this same truce. I shall not break my oath or any part of it, nor shall I make any exceptions to it or to any part of it with the aim of violating it. If I should contravene or break it, I shall be an outcast from my religion and my Faith and the God whom I adore, and a rebel against the Church; my penance shall be to perform thirty pilgrimages to Jerusalem the noble, bareheaded and barefoot; I shall be obliged to release a thousand Muslim prisoners from the Frankish prisons and shall be cut off from the Divinity handed down in Humanity. This is my oath, sworn by me, So and So. My intention in all this is the same as that of the Sultan al-Malik al-Mansu? r and of his son al-Malik as-Salih, and as his who takes the oath before them on my account, swearing on the noble Testament. This is my only intention. God and the Messiah are witnesses to our statement here.
THE FALL OF AL-MARQAB (TASHRI? F, FO. 1491-1601)
This is a great and mighty castle, which had long been a challenge to our Lord the Sultan al-Malik al-Mansu? r--God grant him victory. He studied every means of securing it for Isla? m and supported every plan or method for conquering it and over-coming it. Up to this time he had refused to authorize an attack by any of the (Muslim) rulers, none of whom was capable of getting anywhere near the place, much less besieging it. Al-Malik az-Zahir (Baibars) had led several offensives against it but God had not decreed or agreed to its conquest; He had not assigned it to him as his lot or hastened (its fall? ): on one occasion he marched toward it from Hama? t, but snow and rain fell and combined with the difficult terrain to make it impossible to reach the objective. Another time he tried to attack it from a different base, but was unable to bring up enough artillery. In fact God had reserved it for our Lord the Sultan (Qalawu? n), that it might be his glorious conquest and that he might crown his splendid life with it. The Hospitallers who held it were daily becoming more insolent, dangerous and murderous, to such a degree that the people of the neighbouring forts were confined to them as if imprisoned or even entombed. The Franks believed that it was unassailable by any combination of force and cunning, and that no one was clever enough to get the better of it. So they went on with their haughty ways, broke their oaths,
200 Arab Historians of the Crusades
and in the incident at al-Qulai'a? t1 committed every possible crime and perfidy, rapine and robbery. But our Lord the Sultan al-Mansu? r lay in wait for them like a man-eating lion, and went about it without attracting the attention of the castle, illumined by the heavenly guide every time that they lit a fire of war. He brought siege-engines from Damascus without anyone knowing where they had been sent to or were destined for; armies were mobilized from the various countries in uncountable number, with their stores, equipment and commanders. Some said that the expedition was bound for Greeks' Fortress,1 and others held other opinions. The Sultan had sent for a great arsenal from Egypt, with great bundles of arrows and other arms, and issues of arrows were made to the ami? rs and troops to carry with them. and use when given the word; iron implements and flame-throwing tubes were procured, such as exist only in the royal magazines and arsenals. All these were assembled before the army moved off on its march. A number of experts on the art of siege and the techniques of blockade were also enlisted. The catapults of the neighbouring forts were requisitioned and mobilized without any fuss that might attract the attention of the fort. Catapults and fighting gear were carried on men's shoulders. Eventually, our Lord the Sultan left his camp at 'Uyu? n al-Qasab and by forced marches arrived to besiege al-Marqab on Wednesday 10 safar (684/ 17 April 1285).
Immediately the catapults were brought up, carried on men's shoulders, and the fort was surrounded by a murderous circle of weapons, which began their attack under the gaze of the greatest of Sultans. Catapults of the 'Frankish' and 'qarabugha' types were brought up; they had three of the great 'Frankish' type, three 'qarabughas' and four 'devils' surrounding the fort on all sides. These began a formidable, murderous assault with stones, while excavations were started on each side to undermine the walls. The 'Frankish' catapults broke up those of the enemy, and the Muslims were able to bring theirs up close under the walls. But the Franks repaired their catapults, aimed them at the Muslims and smashed some of theirs, killing some of the Muslims who operated them. It is incontestable that the fortunes of war ebb and flow and that not everyone can save his skin. When the Sultan's tunnel under the wall was finished the wood was put into it and set on fire on Wednesday 17 rabi? ' I/ 25 May; the fire reached mid-tunnel under the tower at the angle of the bastion and the Muslims moved in to attack the walls themselves, but after violent fighting the attacking force proved insufficiently powerful to scale the wall. At sunset the tower fell, which in the opinion of our army increased the difficulty of gaining a foothold in the fortress. Thus the night passed in great confusion, for the use of catapults was made impossible by what had happened, and everything that could be done with mines had been done. Now God alone could exterminate the enemy. On the following Friday God did indeed send down His blessing and His grace and sent us the help of the angels closest to Him as well as all the hosts of heaven, who came down to bring victory to Isla? m. God made the Franks think that the tunnels under the entire wall were all equally far advanced, that they had reached the moats, then the towers, and from there were undermining the walls themselves. In fact the tunnels, travelling in conduits under the moats, had reached as far as the towers, but the Franks were unaware of this. When they did discover it they lost their
The latin Coliat, near 'Araq, the object of an attack by the Hospitallers just before the date of the treaty.
Qal'at ar-Rum, on the upper Euphrates.
1
1
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 201
courage and presence of mind and gave themselves up for lost. They thought that they were trapped, and asked that their lives should be spared in exchange for their surrender, and that they should be treated with generous indulgence. Having chosen death rather than life, they now preferred life to death and were convinced that if they did not now take thought for their lives they would certainly lose them.
They begged our Lord the Sultan to show mercy and pardon them. In the circumstances it was most important for the Sultan to be sure of taking this great castle without a prolonged siege, for he judged that if he delayed the best moment would pass, and that it was better to seize the immediate advantage. For even if the Franks in the fort were saved from the fire of death in battle they would not in the end escape death in some form. So he agreed to grant them pardon and amnesty, and they, in the faith that our Sultan's word was worth more than any oaths, sent their leaders to the tent of victory and asked only for their lives and nothing more. They agreed to take away with them no property or arms belonging to the fortress and only those who happened to have possessions of their own received permission to take them away with them. The ami? rs interceded for them; they kissed the ground before our Lord the Sultan and begged that their request should be heard. The Sultan therefore made the following concessions: for their leaders' journey twenty-five horses and mules with the equipment necessary for them, and the sum estimated as the value of the owners' property, 2,000 Tyrian dinar. Safe-conducts were issued for them and they returned to the citadel accompanied by the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din al-Muqri al-Hajib, who witnessed the oaths of the Castellan and all the knights. They surrendered the fort in its entirety at the eighth hour of Friday 18 rabi? ' I/ 25 May. The Sultan's victorious standard rose over the battlements and a universal chorus of blessing was raised to our Lord the Sultan al-Mansu? r, in whose time it was granted to us to see this victory, for so long unattainable at no matter what cost, and for which the Muslims had for so long struggled in vain.
The Muslims went up (to take possession of the fort) and from the heights of the citadel the call to prayer resounded with praise and thanks to God for having cast down the adorers of the Messiah and freed our land of them. Messages announcing the good news were written to all the provinces and couriers were sent to bear them in all directions. Our Lord the Sultan (himself) went up to the castle on the Saturday. The chief ami? rs met in his presence and a council was held under his presidency to decide whether or not to destroy the fort. Opinions differed, but the Sultan's inspired judgment was to preserve it for his own protection and safety, and to repair and restore it. He determined to keep it for the destruction of the infidels and the support of the neighbouring castles; he therefore stationed, 1,000 aq jiyya(? ) infantry there, catapulters and fighting men, and 400 craftsmen, a group of ami? rs 'with bands', and Bahrite, Salihite and Mansurite mamlu? ks;1 550 men in all. Then he had transferred to the castle the catapults that until now had been attacking it. Now their job was to attack the enemy from its ramparts. The same applied to the equipment, timbers, arrows, combustible materials, naphtha and all the other siege equipment belonging to His Highness. He made the command of the fort a feudal position giving the holder control of
Ami? rs 'with bands' were those with their own military orchestras (tablkhane) to perform in their honour. The Bahrite mamlu? ks were, as has been noted, those based on the Nile (Bahr), and the Salihites and Mansurites were those instituted in the names of al-Malik as-Salih and al-Malik al-Mansu? r, i. e. Qalawu? n.
1
202 Arab Historians of the Crusades
the Kafarta? b area, the city of Antioch, Laodicaea and its port and the area already dependent on al-Marqab itself, as well as what had already been his fief before the conquest. The total income of this territory once it had been put in order was a million dirham. The cost of repairing it and paying the garrison's wages was spread out over the country2 until the fort was back in working order and the local population returned. When he had seen to all this the Sultan--God grant him victory! --departed to the plains and the city of Bulunya? s.
THE FALL OF MARAQIYYA (TASHRI? F, FO. 172r-178v)
When our Lord the Sultan--God grant him victory! --had dealt with Marqab and gone down to the plains, as we have said, he turned his attention to the castle of Maraqiyya and studied ways of taking it. He perceived that it was like a wedge inserted between the other forts and that he could enjoy neither peace nor security while it flourished. Its ruler was called Bartholomew, and was one of the leading Franks. When Hisn al-Akra? d was taken (by the Muslims) he could no longer make a living in that part of the world, so he went over to the Mongols for protection, support and assistance, and enjoyed their patronage for several years. When al-Malik az-Zahir died he profited by the occasion to return to his land and began to fortify Maraqiyya. His resources were not great enough however, and fearing that it would be taken from him he built and fortified a large castle in front of the city with the help of the ruler of Tripoli and other Franks, the Hospitallers of Marqab and others. This fort lay between Tortosa and Marqab and faced Maraqiyya from a position in the sea, two bow-shots or more from the shore. It was almost square in shape; each side was twenty- five and a half cubits long, with walls seven cubits thick. It had seven storeys and was built on ships loaded with stones and sunk in the sea. Under each corner were sunk nine- hundred(? ) shiploads of stones; the blocks were held together by two continuous iron bands covered with an iron network. Within the citadel was a great cistern over which a vault was built, and above that some wooden beams supporting battering-rams and covered with fine gravel, a layer of sacking and hempen ropes fixed in such a way that if the fort were attacked by catapult from terra firma it would be able to smile at such a bombardment, for the stones would roll off the protective roof into the water. It had a garrison of a hundred. Behind it and attached to it was a small second fort defended by three mounted catapults. The place was in effect unassailable by siege or blockade. The (Muslim) commanders of Hisn al-Akra? d, watching the fort being built and unable to prevent it, because the materials and tools came by sea, were forced to build another nearby in the village of Mai'a? r, with a garrison of about fifty, but this had no effect whatsoever.
When our Lord the Sultan saw this fort, so strong and impregnable, when he realized that the castle built to oppose it had been more of a disadvantage than a benefit to its builders, that it was impossible to besiege a fort set in the midst of the sea, that the Muslims had no fleet strong enough to cut the supply-lines and prevent traffic reaching the fort, that it was
I think this means, over the whole vast economic and administrative unit so formed, as it seems
2
unlikely that the cost of the repairs would be borne by the actual region in need of rehabilitation.
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 203
likely to be a long fight but at the same time that it was urgent--of the most absolute and particular importance--and that wit and not force was the agent necessary to its conquest; when he had taken account of all this he sent the following message to the Prince of Tripoli: 'My troops are free (from any other commitment) and their sole objective is you. You are the real builder of the fort, for it would not have been constructed without your aid, so the responsibility for it falls upon you. Either you demolish it or we shall take so much of your territory in revenge that the Lord of Maraqiyya will be of no help to you. You will repent then, when repentance is no longer of any use; the cover will be lifted and the gift taken back. '
When the Prince1 read this terrible judgment he was convinced that his lands, his castles and his whole state would be laid waste as the message promised, that the ruler of the land with his great armies was already at the gates of his city, encamped upon his land, and that the only alternatives were to lose his kingdom or to demolish the fort. He therefore took the course of surrendering the castle and demolishing it. He paid off its commander with all the money and land available, which was accepted after a certain amount of resistance. The commander's son was secretly smuggled into the Sultan's camp with a plan to hold the fort and hand it over to him. Still in secret he made for Acre by post-horse, but was arrested there by the officials. The news reached his father, who hurried from Tripoli to Acre, got hold of the boy and killed him with his own hand before the people of Acre; that was the end of the plot. In the end, however, when the Prince intervened as mediator, the commander agreed to bow his head and hand over the fort to the Muslims. The Prince sent a certain number of Franks to help with the demolition, by which means the word of God was fulfilled: 'They cast down their dwellings with their own hands, and with the hands of the believers. '1 The ruler of Tripoli sent one of his high officials to supervise the demolition as the leader of a band of Franks sent for this purpose, and also to put an end to excuses about having to find demolition tools, chains and so on. The ami? r Badr ad-Din Bakta? sh an-Najmi, a jamda? r ami? r, was also sent with a hundred engineers2 for the demolition. The sipahsala? r ami? r Rukn ad-Din Taqsu? al-Mansuri was stationed before Ja? bala with a body of troops, and the Sultan ordered him to take his men to the top of the fort to assist with the demolition. Stone by stone it came down, so zealously demolished that no trace of it remained, but the labour needed for the task made the spades groan, hardened the stones and exhausted the men for as long as the work took. Thus God was pleased to remove the traces of the fortress and to destroy its foundations, freeing the faithful from the threat of it and dissipating its menace, while in its place, in the hearts of Unbelievers, was only grief.
THE FALL OF TRIPOLI (ABU L-FIDA? ', 162)
The Sultan al-Malik al-Mansu? r Qalawu? n's campaign began in muharram of this year (688/ February 1289) when he led his Egyptian troops into Syria. With his combined Egyptian
The contested title is here restored to him, as the former ruler of Antioch.
Qur'a? n LIX, 2.
In Arabic hajjari? n, 'stonecutters' and also 'stone throwers', those who look after the ballistas, and so half-way between artillery and engineers.
1 1 2
204 Arab Historians of the Crusades
and Syrian armies he besieged the Syrian city of Tripoli on the first Friday of the month of rabi? ' 1/25 March. Most of the city is surrounded by sea; the only approach by land is from the west along a narrow bridge of land. The Sultan beleaguered the city with a large number of catapults, big and small. He enforced a stringent blockade and after a violent struggle took the city by storm on Tuesday 4 rabi? ' II 688/27 April. The Muslim troops forced their way in and the citizens fled to the harbour. A few got to safety on ships, but most of the men were killed and the children taken captive. The Muslims took quantities of booty from the place. When the killing and looting were over, the city, on the Sultan's orders, was demolished and razed to the ground.
In the sea, a short distance from Tripoli, is a small island with a church on it called the Church of Saint Thomas. It is separated from the city by the harbour. When Tripoli was taken a great many Franks fled with their women to the island and the church. The Muslim troops flung themselves into the sea and swam with their horses to the island, where they killed all the men and took the women, children and possessions. After the looting I went by boat to this island, and found it heaped with putrefying corpses; it was impossible to land there because of the stench.
When the Sultan finished taking and demolishing Tripoli he returned to Egypt. Tripoli had been in Frankish hands for 185 years and some months. 1
(MAQRIZI, 746-8)
On Thursday 10 muharram/4 February 1289 the Sultan camped outside Cairo, and on the 15th he departed, leaving his son al-Malik al-Ashraf Khali? l as commander in the Citadel,2 and the ami? r Baidar as his son's general and vizier.
On his departure he wrote to the provinces of Syria to muster troops for the attack on Tripoli. He made for Damascus, entered it on 13 safar/ 7 March and on the 20th set out for Tripoli and laid siege to it. Four galleys came from the King of Cyprus to assist the town. The Sultan kept up continuous fire from his siege-engines and pressed his attack on the walls until at the seventh hour of Tuesday 4 rabi? ' II,1 after a siege of thirty-four days, he took the city by storm. He had used nineteen catapults and employed 1,500 artillerymen and bombardiers. The citizens tried to escape to an island that faced the city but the Muslims, cavalry and infantry together, threw themselves into the sea, captured and killed the fugitives and seized their goods. The swordsmen and palfreymen took many who had got on to boats but whom the waves2 had cast on to the beach. There were many prisoners; so many of them that 1,200 of them had to be kept in the Sultan's arsenal. Among the Muslims who fell were the ami? r 'Izz ad-Din Ma'n and the ami? r Rukn ad-Din Mankuras al-Farqani, with fifty-five of the Sultan's guard. On the Sultan's orders Tripoli was demolished. The thickness of the walls was such that three horsemen could ride their horses side by side along it. The population was extremely wealthy, and 4,000 weaver's looms were found.
According to the Muslim lunar calendar (502-688), or 180 solar years (1109-1289). The Citadel on the hill of al-Muqattam, the Sultan's home in Cairo.
The MS. has 'first', which can be emended from the context and from Abu l-Fida? '.
The MS. has 'the Franks', correctly emended by Quatreme`re.
1
1 2
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 205
The Sultan confirmed the ruler of Juba? il (Byblos) in his position, in return for the tribute paid by him; he took Beiru? t3 and Ja? bala and the surrounding forts and returned to Damascus half-way through jumada I/June 1289. The army camped as usual at Hisn al-Akra? d, under the command of its general the ami? r Saif ad-Din Balba? n at-Tabakhi, and the vanguard went down from Hisn al-Akra? d to Tripoli, which now came under at-Tabakhi's control. With him were 150 soldiers, ten ami? rs 'with bands' and fifteen ami? rs 'of ten', who received fiefs. The Sultan later built a new city near the river; a great and beautiful city which now bears the name of Tripoli.
3
Beiru? t really fell two years later, after Acre (see below).
CHAPTER THREE
In 1291 al-Ashraf, Qalawu? n's son, completed his father's work (Qalawu? n died while preparations for the campaign against Acre were in progress) and the work of all his predecessors in the struggle against the Christian invader. The bloody conquest of Acre after a strenuous resistance is described here by Abu l-Fida? ', who took part in it as one of the Sultan's vassals. His account is consistent with that of the 'Templar of Tyre', the best known Western source for the episode that marked the end of Christian rule in the Holy Land. The treacherous slaughter of the heroic defenders after the surrender is shown by a later Egyptian chronicler, Abu l-Mahasin, to reflect a similar massacre of Muslim prisoners under treaty committed a hundred years before by Richard Coeur de Lion, also at Acre. This harsh application of the old law closes the last act of the drama of the Crusaders.
THE FALL OF ACRE (ABU L-FIDA? ', 163-5)
In 690/1291 the Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf marched on Acre with his Egyptian troops and sent word to the Syrian army to join up with him and to bring the siege-engines. The ruler of Hama? t, al-Malik al-Muzaffar, set out with his uncle al-Malik al-Afdal1 and the whole of Hama? t's army for Hisn al-Akra? d, where we collected a huge catapult called 'the Victorious'; a hundred wagons were needed to transport it. (It was dismantled and the pieces) distributed through the army. The part consigned to me was only one wagon-load, since at the time I was an 'ami? r of ten'. 2 It was the end of the winter when we marched off with the wagons; rain and snowstorms struck us between Hisn al-Akra? d and Damascus, causing great hardship, for the wagons were heavy and the oxen weak and dying of cold. Because of the wagons it took us a month to march from Hisn al-Akra? d to Acre, usually an eight-day ride. The Sultan ordered all the other fortresses to send catapults and siege- engines to Acre, and in this way a great number of large and small artillery concentrated under its walls, more than had ever before been assembled in one place.
The Muslim troops mustered at Acre in the first days of jumada I 690/beginning of May 1291, and the battle raged furiously. The Franks did not close most of the gates; in fact they left them wide open and fought in front of them in their defence. The Hama? t army was in its usual position on the extreme right wing. This meant that we were on the seashore, with the sea on our right when we faced Acre. We were attacked by troops landing from boats protected by wood-faced frames covered with buffalo-hides, from which they shot at us with bows and ballistas. Thus we found ourselves fighting on two fronts, the city and the
The author's cousin and father respectively. Abu l-Fida? ' was to become in his turn ruler of Hama? t. One of the lowest ranks in the feudal hierarchy.
1 2
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sea. A ship came up with a catapult mounted on it that battered us and our tents from the sea. We were severely hindered by it, but one night when a fierce wind blew up the ship was buffeted on the waves and the catapult broke up and was not rebuilt.
One night during the siege the Franks made a sortie, put the outposts to flight and reached the tents, where they became tangled up in the guy-ropes. One knight fell into the latrine-trench of one of the ami? r's detachments and was killed. Our troops turned out in overwhelming numbers and the Franks turned tail and fled back to the city, leaving a number of dead accounted for by the Hama? t army. The next morning al-Malik al-Muzaffar, Lord of Hama? t, had a number of Frankish heads attached to the necks of horses we had captured and presented them to the Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf.
The blockade was continually reinforced, until God granted to the attackers victory over the city on Friday 10 jumada II/ 17 June 1291. As the Muslims stormed the city some of the citizens took to the sea in boats. Within the city was a number of well-fortified towers, and some Franks shut themselves inside them and defended them. The Muslims killed vast numbers of people and gathered immense booty. The Sultan forced all those in the towers to surrender, and they submitted to the last man, and to the last man were decapitated outside the city walls. 1 At the Sultan's command the city was razed to the ground.
An amazing coincidence occurred; the Franks seized Acre from Saladin at midday on 17 jumada II 587, and captured and then killed all the Muslims therein; and God in His prescience destined that this year it should be reconquered at the hand of another Saladin, the Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf. 2
After the conquest of Acre God put despair into the hearts of the other Franks left in Palestine; they abandoned Sidon and Beiru? t, which (the ami? r) ash-Shuja'i took over at the end of rajab/end of July. The population of Tyre also abandoned the city and the Sultan sent troops to occupy it. He received the surrender of 'Athli? th on the first of sha'ba? n/30 July, and that of Tortosa on 5 sha'ba? n of the same year. So this Sultan had the good fortune, granted to none other, to conquer without effort and without striking a blow these great, well-fortified cities, all of which were at his command demolished.
With these conquests the whole of Palestine was now in Muslim hands, a result that no one would have dared to hope for or to desire. Thus the whole of Syria and the coastal zones were purified of the Franks, who had once been on the point of conquering Egypt and subduing Damascus and other cities. Praise be to God!
(ABU L-MAHASIN, FO. 24v-25r)
At the beginning of 690 al-Malik al-Ashraf began preparations for his departure for Syria. He called up his troops, assembled siege-engines and employed craftsmen to put them all in order. Then on 3 rabi? ' 1/6 March 1291 he left Egypt, and began his siege of Acre, on 4 rabi? ' II, which corresponds to 5 April. A vast army concentrated at Acre, of which more soldiers were volunteers than were regular troops or members of the Sultan's private army. There were also fifteen great 'Frankish' catapults, capable of throwing a load weighing
Abu l-Fida? ' says nothing about the guarantee of safety given by the Sultan and later violated by this massacre. But see below for Abu l-Mahasin's account.
He also bore, like his illustrious predecessor, the title Salah ad-Din.
1
2
208 Arab Historians of the Crusades
a Damascene quintal or more, and other, lighter machines as well as a good number of 'devils' and the like. Some tunnels were dug for mines. The King of Cyprus himself came to help the people of Acre, who on the night of his arrival lit great fires, greater than were ever seen before, as a sign of their joy. But he stayed only three days before returning home, for he realized their desperate position and the disaster looming over them.
The city was besieged and vigorously attacked until the defenders' morale began to crumble and weakness destroyed their unity. There was fighting every day and a certain number of Muslims fell as martyrs for the Faith. At dawn on Friday 17 jumada II1 the Sultan and his troops, mounted on their horses, moved in to attack before sunrise. They beat their drums, creating a terrible, terrifying noise, and the army massed under the walls. The Franks fled and the city was taken by storm. Not three hours of the day had passed before the Muslims entered Acre and made themselves masters of it, while the Franks cast themselves into the sea, trampled on by the Muslim troops who killed and captured them. Only a few escaped. The Muslims took all the booty they could find, goods, treasure and arms, and the population was killed or taken prisoner. Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Hospitallers made a last stand in four lofty towers in the middle of the city, where they were besieged. On Saturday 19th of the month,1 two days after the fall of the city, regular troops and others attacked the house and tower where the Templars were. The Templars begged for their lives, which the Sultan granted them. He sent them a standard which they accepted and raised over the tower. The door was opened and a horde of regulars and others swarmed in. When they came face to face with the defenders some of the soldiers began to pillage and to lay hands on the women and children who were with them, whereupon the Franks shut the door and attacked them, killing a number of Muslims. They hauled down the standard and stiffened their resistance. The siege continued. On the same day the Teutonic Hospitallers asked for an amnesty and this was granted to them and their women by the Sultan, by the hand of the ami? r Zain ad-Din Kitbugha? al-Mansuri. The battle against the Templars' tower continued until Sunday 20 jumada II2 when they and the defenders of the other two towers sued for their lives. The Sultan granted them permission to go where they liked, but when they came out he killed more than 2,000 of them, took an equal number prisoners and sent the women and children as slaves to the gate of the Sultan's pavilion. One reason for the Sultan's wrath against them, apart from their other crimes, was that when the ami? r Kitbugha? al-Mansuri had gone up (to receive their surrender) they had seized and killed him. They had also hamstrung their horses and destroyed everything they could, which increased the Sultan's wrath against them. The army and volunteers made a vast haul of prisoners and booty.
When the remaining Franks realized what had happened to their companions they decided to keep up their resistance to the end. They rejected the assurances offered them and fought desperately, and when they captured five Muslims threw them down from the top of the tower. One alone escaped; the other four died. On Tuesday 18th of the same
The dates given in the text in the following pages are Professor Gabrieli's emendation of the text from which he was obliged to work (see his note on Abu l-Mahasin in the section on the authors). The Cairo edition offers the emendations given in the notes.
Actually the 18th.
Sunday 19th (preserving the Jumada I of the MS. and noting that the two MSS. have 29th).
1
1 2
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 209
month of jumada1 the last of the towers to keep up a resistance was taken. The defenders abandoned it in return for their lives, for the tower had been mined from all sides. When the Franks had come out and most of the contents had been removed the tower collapsed on a group of sightseers and on the looters within, killing them all. After that the Sultan set the women and children apart and decapitated all the men, of whom there was a great number.
It is marvellous to observe that Almighty God permitted the Muslims to conquer Acre on the same day and at the same hour as that on which the Franks had taken it: they gained control of Acre in 587/1191 after the famous siege on Friday 17 Jumada II2 at the third hour of the day, promised to spare the lives of the Muslims and then treacherously killed them. God permitted the Muslims to reconquer them this time at the third hour of 17 jumada II,3 the Sultan gave his word to the Franks and then had them slaughtered as the Franks had done to the Muslims. Thus Almighty God was revenged on their descendants.
When the Sultan had taken Acre he sent a body of troops under the ami? r 'Alam ad-Din Sanjar as-Sawabi al-Jashnighi? r4 in the direction of Tyre to patrol the roads, collect information and blockade the city. While they were doing this the ships fleeing from Acre arrived and tried to enter the harbour at Tyre. The ami? r prevented them, and the people of Tyre asked for an amnesty and were granted security for themselves and their possessions. So they surrendered the city, which is among the best situated and fortified. It was not taken by the Sultan Saladin as one of his conquests in Palestine; when he took a town and granted the inhabitants their lives he sent them to Tyre, because of the strength of its fortifications. But now God filled the hearts of its inhabitants with despair and they surrendered it without a battle or siege of any sort, whereas al-Malik al-Ashraf had in fact had no intention of attacking it. When he received the surrender he sent men to organize its demolition, to pull down the walls and buildings, and he gained from this a good quantity of marble and salvage. With Tyre so easily taken al-Malik al-Ashraf confirmed his intention to proceed with the conquest of all the remaining (Frankish territories). 1
1 2
3 4 1
Actually, Tuesday 28.
Text has 17 Jumada I, which destroys the coincidence in day and hour of the Frankish and Muslim conquests of Acre.
According to whether Jumada I or II is right, Acre fell in May or June 1291.
'Taster' or 'steward'; a title in the court hierarchy.
I. e. Beiru? t, Sidon, 'Athli? th and Tortosa, all of which surrendered or were abandoned without a fight in the summer of the same year (see Abu l-Fida? '). The small island of Ruwa? d facing Tortosa remained in the Templars' hands until 1303.
INDEX
Abaq, Ami? r of Damascus, 45, 60
'Abbasid Caliphs of Baghda? d, xii
'Abd ar-Rahma? n al-Halhuli, killed at Damascus (1148), 57
'Abd as-Sala? m al-Ma? ghribi, 179
Abu Abdulla? h Muhammad al-Mustansir bi-lla? h, Hafsid Sultan, 303
Abu 'Ali ibn Rawaha al-Ha? mawi, killed in siege of Acre, 188, 193
Abu Fira? s, Shaikh of Ma? inaqa, xxxi
Abu Hafs, King of Tunisia, 303
Abu Ja'far, ima? m of al-Kallusa, at Saladin's death-bed, 250-1
Abu l-Fada'il of Hama? t, xxxii
Abu l-Fadl ibn al-Khashsha? b, 37
Abu l-Fida? , xx, xxxv-xxxvi, 323, 341-2, 344-6
Abu l-Mahasin, xxxvi, 344, 347-50
Abu l-MuzafFar al-Abiwardi, poems on discord among the Muslims, 11-12 Abu l-Qasim ibn 'Asakir, historian of Damascus, 62
Abu Muhammed 'Abd al-Wahid, 303
Abu Sa'd al-Ha? rawi, 11
Abu Shama, xv, xx, xxx-xxxi, xxxiv, 208, 214-15:
Book of the 'Two Gardens, xxx, 87 Abu Zakariyya Yahya, 303
Acre:
fighting for, 10, 13, 16;
captured by the Franks (1103-4), 17;
fighting near the city (1187), 117-18;
Franks begin to besiege it (1189), 183-5;
battles before the city, 185-9, 192-6;
Saladin withdraws and Franks renew siege, 190-1;
Egyptian army and fleet arrive, 191;
assault by the Franks and burning of siege-towers (1190), 198-200; incidents during siege, 200-7;
Frankish women, 204-7;
arrival of French and English kings, 212-14;
last attack on city, 215-19;
negotiations and surrender, 218-22, 346, 349;
Franks take possession, 222-3;
massacre of Muslim prisoners, 223-5;
Emperor Frederick at Acre (1228), 267-9;
negotiations between Baibars and Hugh III (1268), 312-16;
treaty with Qalawu? n (1283), 326-33;
besieged and captured by al-Ashraf (1291), 344-50;
slaughter of the inhabitants, 346, 348, 349
Ahmad ibn Isma'i? l az-Zayya? n, prophesies King Louis' death, 303-4 'Ain Jalu?
The other clauses of the oath. having been recited, it concludes: and Alla? h is the guarantor of that which we are saying here.
FORMULA OF THE FRANKISH OATH (IBN AL-FURA? T, VII, 182r-183r)
By God by God by God, in the name of God of God of God, the witness being God God God, by the Messiah the Messiah the Messiah, by the Cross the Cross the Cross, by the three persons of one substance, designated the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and forming a single God; by the blessed Divinity2 dwelling in the august Humanity, by the pure Testament and all that it contains, by the four Gospels transmitted by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, by their prayers and benedictions; by the twelve Apostles and the seventy- two Disciples and the three hundred and eighteen (Fathers of Niceae) gathered into the Church; by the voice that descended from Heaven over the river Jordan and which drove back its waves; by God who revealed the Good Tidings to Jesus son of Mary, Spirit and Word of God; by the Madonna, Holy Mary mother of the Light; by John the Baptist; by Saint Martha and Saint Mary; by the Lenten fast; by my Faith and the God whom I adore; and by the Christian dogmas in which I believe, and which have been impressed upon me by the Father and Priest who baptized me. From this moment and this hour I consecrate my whole intention and my deepest resolve to upholding, with regard to the Sultan al-Mansu? r, his son al-Malik as-Salih and their sons, all the articles of the blessed truce by which peace is concluded and reigns in the Kingdom of Acre, Sidon and 'Athli? th and their dependent
An old method, not only Muslim, of escaping from a sworn undertaking.
1
2 Text has 'the Cross'; an obvious error; the emendation is Quatreme`re's.
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 199
territories as included in this truce and specified therein. The duration of the truce shall be ten years, ten months, ten days and ten hours, beginning on Friday 3 hazira? n of the year 1594 of the era of Alexander son of Philip the Greek. I will observe all the stipulations set out in the treaty, one by one, and bind myself to keep faith in every clause included in the above-mentioned truce for as long as it applies. By God God God, by the Messiah and the Cross and my Faith, I will cause no harm or injury to any of the states belonging to the Sultan and his son, nor to any of the persons who live therein, nor to any of them who may visit any of the countries to which the truce applies, in respect of their persons or their possessions. By God, by my Faith, and by Him whom I adore, I will follow the path of the sincere confederate, committed to avoiding any act of violence or hostility toward persons or property, in loyally upholding the treaty and the truce, in sincere friendship, in defence of the Muslim people and of those who come and go from the Sultan's states. I bind myself to keep faith in all the stipulations of this truce for as long as it is valid, as long as al-Malik al-Mansu? r keeps the oath that he swore to this same truce. I shall not break my oath or any part of it, nor shall I make any exceptions to it or to any part of it with the aim of violating it. If I should contravene or break it, I shall be an outcast from my religion and my Faith and the God whom I adore, and a rebel against the Church; my penance shall be to perform thirty pilgrimages to Jerusalem the noble, bareheaded and barefoot; I shall be obliged to release a thousand Muslim prisoners from the Frankish prisons and shall be cut off from the Divinity handed down in Humanity. This is my oath, sworn by me, So and So. My intention in all this is the same as that of the Sultan al-Malik al-Mansu? r and of his son al-Malik as-Salih, and as his who takes the oath before them on my account, swearing on the noble Testament. This is my only intention. God and the Messiah are witnesses to our statement here.
THE FALL OF AL-MARQAB (TASHRI? F, FO. 1491-1601)
This is a great and mighty castle, which had long been a challenge to our Lord the Sultan al-Malik al-Mansu? r--God grant him victory. He studied every means of securing it for Isla? m and supported every plan or method for conquering it and over-coming it. Up to this time he had refused to authorize an attack by any of the (Muslim) rulers, none of whom was capable of getting anywhere near the place, much less besieging it. Al-Malik az-Zahir (Baibars) had led several offensives against it but God had not decreed or agreed to its conquest; He had not assigned it to him as his lot or hastened (its fall? ): on one occasion he marched toward it from Hama? t, but snow and rain fell and combined with the difficult terrain to make it impossible to reach the objective. Another time he tried to attack it from a different base, but was unable to bring up enough artillery. In fact God had reserved it for our Lord the Sultan (Qalawu? n), that it might be his glorious conquest and that he might crown his splendid life with it. The Hospitallers who held it were daily becoming more insolent, dangerous and murderous, to such a degree that the people of the neighbouring forts were confined to them as if imprisoned or even entombed. The Franks believed that it was unassailable by any combination of force and cunning, and that no one was clever enough to get the better of it. So they went on with their haughty ways, broke their oaths,
200 Arab Historians of the Crusades
and in the incident at al-Qulai'a? t1 committed every possible crime and perfidy, rapine and robbery. But our Lord the Sultan al-Mansu? r lay in wait for them like a man-eating lion, and went about it without attracting the attention of the castle, illumined by the heavenly guide every time that they lit a fire of war. He brought siege-engines from Damascus without anyone knowing where they had been sent to or were destined for; armies were mobilized from the various countries in uncountable number, with their stores, equipment and commanders. Some said that the expedition was bound for Greeks' Fortress,1 and others held other opinions. The Sultan had sent for a great arsenal from Egypt, with great bundles of arrows and other arms, and issues of arrows were made to the ami? rs and troops to carry with them. and use when given the word; iron implements and flame-throwing tubes were procured, such as exist only in the royal magazines and arsenals. All these were assembled before the army moved off on its march. A number of experts on the art of siege and the techniques of blockade were also enlisted. The catapults of the neighbouring forts were requisitioned and mobilized without any fuss that might attract the attention of the fort. Catapults and fighting gear were carried on men's shoulders. Eventually, our Lord the Sultan left his camp at 'Uyu? n al-Qasab and by forced marches arrived to besiege al-Marqab on Wednesday 10 safar (684/ 17 April 1285).
Immediately the catapults were brought up, carried on men's shoulders, and the fort was surrounded by a murderous circle of weapons, which began their attack under the gaze of the greatest of Sultans. Catapults of the 'Frankish' and 'qarabugha' types were brought up; they had three of the great 'Frankish' type, three 'qarabughas' and four 'devils' surrounding the fort on all sides. These began a formidable, murderous assault with stones, while excavations were started on each side to undermine the walls. The 'Frankish' catapults broke up those of the enemy, and the Muslims were able to bring theirs up close under the walls. But the Franks repaired their catapults, aimed them at the Muslims and smashed some of theirs, killing some of the Muslims who operated them. It is incontestable that the fortunes of war ebb and flow and that not everyone can save his skin. When the Sultan's tunnel under the wall was finished the wood was put into it and set on fire on Wednesday 17 rabi? ' I/ 25 May; the fire reached mid-tunnel under the tower at the angle of the bastion and the Muslims moved in to attack the walls themselves, but after violent fighting the attacking force proved insufficiently powerful to scale the wall. At sunset the tower fell, which in the opinion of our army increased the difficulty of gaining a foothold in the fortress. Thus the night passed in great confusion, for the use of catapults was made impossible by what had happened, and everything that could be done with mines had been done. Now God alone could exterminate the enemy. On the following Friday God did indeed send down His blessing and His grace and sent us the help of the angels closest to Him as well as all the hosts of heaven, who came down to bring victory to Isla? m. God made the Franks think that the tunnels under the entire wall were all equally far advanced, that they had reached the moats, then the towers, and from there were undermining the walls themselves. In fact the tunnels, travelling in conduits under the moats, had reached as far as the towers, but the Franks were unaware of this. When they did discover it they lost their
The latin Coliat, near 'Araq, the object of an attack by the Hospitallers just before the date of the treaty.
Qal'at ar-Rum, on the upper Euphrates.
1
1
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 201
courage and presence of mind and gave themselves up for lost. They thought that they were trapped, and asked that their lives should be spared in exchange for their surrender, and that they should be treated with generous indulgence. Having chosen death rather than life, they now preferred life to death and were convinced that if they did not now take thought for their lives they would certainly lose them.
They begged our Lord the Sultan to show mercy and pardon them. In the circumstances it was most important for the Sultan to be sure of taking this great castle without a prolonged siege, for he judged that if he delayed the best moment would pass, and that it was better to seize the immediate advantage. For even if the Franks in the fort were saved from the fire of death in battle they would not in the end escape death in some form. So he agreed to grant them pardon and amnesty, and they, in the faith that our Sultan's word was worth more than any oaths, sent their leaders to the tent of victory and asked only for their lives and nothing more. They agreed to take away with them no property or arms belonging to the fortress and only those who happened to have possessions of their own received permission to take them away with them. The ami? rs interceded for them; they kissed the ground before our Lord the Sultan and begged that their request should be heard. The Sultan therefore made the following concessions: for their leaders' journey twenty-five horses and mules with the equipment necessary for them, and the sum estimated as the value of the owners' property, 2,000 Tyrian dinar. Safe-conducts were issued for them and they returned to the citadel accompanied by the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din al-Muqri al-Hajib, who witnessed the oaths of the Castellan and all the knights. They surrendered the fort in its entirety at the eighth hour of Friday 18 rabi? ' I/ 25 May. The Sultan's victorious standard rose over the battlements and a universal chorus of blessing was raised to our Lord the Sultan al-Mansu? r, in whose time it was granted to us to see this victory, for so long unattainable at no matter what cost, and for which the Muslims had for so long struggled in vain.
The Muslims went up (to take possession of the fort) and from the heights of the citadel the call to prayer resounded with praise and thanks to God for having cast down the adorers of the Messiah and freed our land of them. Messages announcing the good news were written to all the provinces and couriers were sent to bear them in all directions. Our Lord the Sultan (himself) went up to the castle on the Saturday. The chief ami? rs met in his presence and a council was held under his presidency to decide whether or not to destroy the fort. Opinions differed, but the Sultan's inspired judgment was to preserve it for his own protection and safety, and to repair and restore it. He determined to keep it for the destruction of the infidels and the support of the neighbouring castles; he therefore stationed, 1,000 aq jiyya(? ) infantry there, catapulters and fighting men, and 400 craftsmen, a group of ami? rs 'with bands', and Bahrite, Salihite and Mansurite mamlu? ks;1 550 men in all. Then he had transferred to the castle the catapults that until now had been attacking it. Now their job was to attack the enemy from its ramparts. The same applied to the equipment, timbers, arrows, combustible materials, naphtha and all the other siege equipment belonging to His Highness. He made the command of the fort a feudal position giving the holder control of
Ami? rs 'with bands' were those with their own military orchestras (tablkhane) to perform in their honour. The Bahrite mamlu? ks were, as has been noted, those based on the Nile (Bahr), and the Salihites and Mansurites were those instituted in the names of al-Malik as-Salih and al-Malik al-Mansu? r, i. e. Qalawu? n.
1
202 Arab Historians of the Crusades
the Kafarta? b area, the city of Antioch, Laodicaea and its port and the area already dependent on al-Marqab itself, as well as what had already been his fief before the conquest. The total income of this territory once it had been put in order was a million dirham. The cost of repairing it and paying the garrison's wages was spread out over the country2 until the fort was back in working order and the local population returned. When he had seen to all this the Sultan--God grant him victory! --departed to the plains and the city of Bulunya? s.
THE FALL OF MARAQIYYA (TASHRI? F, FO. 172r-178v)
When our Lord the Sultan--God grant him victory! --had dealt with Marqab and gone down to the plains, as we have said, he turned his attention to the castle of Maraqiyya and studied ways of taking it. He perceived that it was like a wedge inserted between the other forts and that he could enjoy neither peace nor security while it flourished. Its ruler was called Bartholomew, and was one of the leading Franks. When Hisn al-Akra? d was taken (by the Muslims) he could no longer make a living in that part of the world, so he went over to the Mongols for protection, support and assistance, and enjoyed their patronage for several years. When al-Malik az-Zahir died he profited by the occasion to return to his land and began to fortify Maraqiyya. His resources were not great enough however, and fearing that it would be taken from him he built and fortified a large castle in front of the city with the help of the ruler of Tripoli and other Franks, the Hospitallers of Marqab and others. This fort lay between Tortosa and Marqab and faced Maraqiyya from a position in the sea, two bow-shots or more from the shore. It was almost square in shape; each side was twenty- five and a half cubits long, with walls seven cubits thick. It had seven storeys and was built on ships loaded with stones and sunk in the sea. Under each corner were sunk nine- hundred(? ) shiploads of stones; the blocks were held together by two continuous iron bands covered with an iron network. Within the citadel was a great cistern over which a vault was built, and above that some wooden beams supporting battering-rams and covered with fine gravel, a layer of sacking and hempen ropes fixed in such a way that if the fort were attacked by catapult from terra firma it would be able to smile at such a bombardment, for the stones would roll off the protective roof into the water. It had a garrison of a hundred. Behind it and attached to it was a small second fort defended by three mounted catapults. The place was in effect unassailable by siege or blockade. The (Muslim) commanders of Hisn al-Akra? d, watching the fort being built and unable to prevent it, because the materials and tools came by sea, were forced to build another nearby in the village of Mai'a? r, with a garrison of about fifty, but this had no effect whatsoever.
When our Lord the Sultan saw this fort, so strong and impregnable, when he realized that the castle built to oppose it had been more of a disadvantage than a benefit to its builders, that it was impossible to besiege a fort set in the midst of the sea, that the Muslims had no fleet strong enough to cut the supply-lines and prevent traffic reaching the fort, that it was
I think this means, over the whole vast economic and administrative unit so formed, as it seems
2
unlikely that the cost of the repairs would be borne by the actual region in need of rehabilitation.
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 203
likely to be a long fight but at the same time that it was urgent--of the most absolute and particular importance--and that wit and not force was the agent necessary to its conquest; when he had taken account of all this he sent the following message to the Prince of Tripoli: 'My troops are free (from any other commitment) and their sole objective is you. You are the real builder of the fort, for it would not have been constructed without your aid, so the responsibility for it falls upon you. Either you demolish it or we shall take so much of your territory in revenge that the Lord of Maraqiyya will be of no help to you. You will repent then, when repentance is no longer of any use; the cover will be lifted and the gift taken back. '
When the Prince1 read this terrible judgment he was convinced that his lands, his castles and his whole state would be laid waste as the message promised, that the ruler of the land with his great armies was already at the gates of his city, encamped upon his land, and that the only alternatives were to lose his kingdom or to demolish the fort. He therefore took the course of surrendering the castle and demolishing it. He paid off its commander with all the money and land available, which was accepted after a certain amount of resistance. The commander's son was secretly smuggled into the Sultan's camp with a plan to hold the fort and hand it over to him. Still in secret he made for Acre by post-horse, but was arrested there by the officials. The news reached his father, who hurried from Tripoli to Acre, got hold of the boy and killed him with his own hand before the people of Acre; that was the end of the plot. In the end, however, when the Prince intervened as mediator, the commander agreed to bow his head and hand over the fort to the Muslims. The Prince sent a certain number of Franks to help with the demolition, by which means the word of God was fulfilled: 'They cast down their dwellings with their own hands, and with the hands of the believers. '1 The ruler of Tripoli sent one of his high officials to supervise the demolition as the leader of a band of Franks sent for this purpose, and also to put an end to excuses about having to find demolition tools, chains and so on. The ami? r Badr ad-Din Bakta? sh an-Najmi, a jamda? r ami? r, was also sent with a hundred engineers2 for the demolition. The sipahsala? r ami? r Rukn ad-Din Taqsu? al-Mansuri was stationed before Ja? bala with a body of troops, and the Sultan ordered him to take his men to the top of the fort to assist with the demolition. Stone by stone it came down, so zealously demolished that no trace of it remained, but the labour needed for the task made the spades groan, hardened the stones and exhausted the men for as long as the work took. Thus God was pleased to remove the traces of the fortress and to destroy its foundations, freeing the faithful from the threat of it and dissipating its menace, while in its place, in the hearts of Unbelievers, was only grief.
THE FALL OF TRIPOLI (ABU L-FIDA? ', 162)
The Sultan al-Malik al-Mansu? r Qalawu? n's campaign began in muharram of this year (688/ February 1289) when he led his Egyptian troops into Syria. With his combined Egyptian
The contested title is here restored to him, as the former ruler of Antioch.
Qur'a? n LIX, 2.
In Arabic hajjari? n, 'stonecutters' and also 'stone throwers', those who look after the ballistas, and so half-way between artillery and engineers.
1 1 2
204 Arab Historians of the Crusades
and Syrian armies he besieged the Syrian city of Tripoli on the first Friday of the month of rabi? ' 1/25 March. Most of the city is surrounded by sea; the only approach by land is from the west along a narrow bridge of land. The Sultan beleaguered the city with a large number of catapults, big and small. He enforced a stringent blockade and after a violent struggle took the city by storm on Tuesday 4 rabi? ' II 688/27 April. The Muslim troops forced their way in and the citizens fled to the harbour. A few got to safety on ships, but most of the men were killed and the children taken captive. The Muslims took quantities of booty from the place. When the killing and looting were over, the city, on the Sultan's orders, was demolished and razed to the ground.
In the sea, a short distance from Tripoli, is a small island with a church on it called the Church of Saint Thomas. It is separated from the city by the harbour. When Tripoli was taken a great many Franks fled with their women to the island and the church. The Muslim troops flung themselves into the sea and swam with their horses to the island, where they killed all the men and took the women, children and possessions. After the looting I went by boat to this island, and found it heaped with putrefying corpses; it was impossible to land there because of the stench.
When the Sultan finished taking and demolishing Tripoli he returned to Egypt. Tripoli had been in Frankish hands for 185 years and some months. 1
(MAQRIZI, 746-8)
On Thursday 10 muharram/4 February 1289 the Sultan camped outside Cairo, and on the 15th he departed, leaving his son al-Malik al-Ashraf Khali? l as commander in the Citadel,2 and the ami? r Baidar as his son's general and vizier.
On his departure he wrote to the provinces of Syria to muster troops for the attack on Tripoli. He made for Damascus, entered it on 13 safar/ 7 March and on the 20th set out for Tripoli and laid siege to it. Four galleys came from the King of Cyprus to assist the town. The Sultan kept up continuous fire from his siege-engines and pressed his attack on the walls until at the seventh hour of Tuesday 4 rabi? ' II,1 after a siege of thirty-four days, he took the city by storm. He had used nineteen catapults and employed 1,500 artillerymen and bombardiers. The citizens tried to escape to an island that faced the city but the Muslims, cavalry and infantry together, threw themselves into the sea, captured and killed the fugitives and seized their goods. The swordsmen and palfreymen took many who had got on to boats but whom the waves2 had cast on to the beach. There were many prisoners; so many of them that 1,200 of them had to be kept in the Sultan's arsenal. Among the Muslims who fell were the ami? r 'Izz ad-Din Ma'n and the ami? r Rukn ad-Din Mankuras al-Farqani, with fifty-five of the Sultan's guard. On the Sultan's orders Tripoli was demolished. The thickness of the walls was such that three horsemen could ride their horses side by side along it. The population was extremely wealthy, and 4,000 weaver's looms were found.
According to the Muslim lunar calendar (502-688), or 180 solar years (1109-1289). The Citadel on the hill of al-Muqattam, the Sultan's home in Cairo.
The MS. has 'first', which can be emended from the context and from Abu l-Fida? '.
The MS. has 'the Franks', correctly emended by Quatreme`re.
1
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The Sultan confirmed the ruler of Juba? il (Byblos) in his position, in return for the tribute paid by him; he took Beiru? t3 and Ja? bala and the surrounding forts and returned to Damascus half-way through jumada I/June 1289. The army camped as usual at Hisn al-Akra? d, under the command of its general the ami? r Saif ad-Din Balba? n at-Tabakhi, and the vanguard went down from Hisn al-Akra? d to Tripoli, which now came under at-Tabakhi's control. With him were 150 soldiers, ten ami? rs 'with bands' and fifteen ami? rs 'of ten', who received fiefs. The Sultan later built a new city near the river; a great and beautiful city which now bears the name of Tripoli.
3
Beiru? t really fell two years later, after Acre (see below).
CHAPTER THREE
In 1291 al-Ashraf, Qalawu? n's son, completed his father's work (Qalawu? n died while preparations for the campaign against Acre were in progress) and the work of all his predecessors in the struggle against the Christian invader. The bloody conquest of Acre after a strenuous resistance is described here by Abu l-Fida? ', who took part in it as one of the Sultan's vassals. His account is consistent with that of the 'Templar of Tyre', the best known Western source for the episode that marked the end of Christian rule in the Holy Land. The treacherous slaughter of the heroic defenders after the surrender is shown by a later Egyptian chronicler, Abu l-Mahasin, to reflect a similar massacre of Muslim prisoners under treaty committed a hundred years before by Richard Coeur de Lion, also at Acre. This harsh application of the old law closes the last act of the drama of the Crusaders.
THE FALL OF ACRE (ABU L-FIDA? ', 163-5)
In 690/1291 the Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf marched on Acre with his Egyptian troops and sent word to the Syrian army to join up with him and to bring the siege-engines. The ruler of Hama? t, al-Malik al-Muzaffar, set out with his uncle al-Malik al-Afdal1 and the whole of Hama? t's army for Hisn al-Akra? d, where we collected a huge catapult called 'the Victorious'; a hundred wagons were needed to transport it. (It was dismantled and the pieces) distributed through the army. The part consigned to me was only one wagon-load, since at the time I was an 'ami? r of ten'. 2 It was the end of the winter when we marched off with the wagons; rain and snowstorms struck us between Hisn al-Akra? d and Damascus, causing great hardship, for the wagons were heavy and the oxen weak and dying of cold. Because of the wagons it took us a month to march from Hisn al-Akra? d to Acre, usually an eight-day ride. The Sultan ordered all the other fortresses to send catapults and siege- engines to Acre, and in this way a great number of large and small artillery concentrated under its walls, more than had ever before been assembled in one place.
The Muslim troops mustered at Acre in the first days of jumada I 690/beginning of May 1291, and the battle raged furiously. The Franks did not close most of the gates; in fact they left them wide open and fought in front of them in their defence. The Hama? t army was in its usual position on the extreme right wing. This meant that we were on the seashore, with the sea on our right when we faced Acre. We were attacked by troops landing from boats protected by wood-faced frames covered with buffalo-hides, from which they shot at us with bows and ballistas. Thus we found ourselves fighting on two fronts, the city and the
The author's cousin and father respectively. Abu l-Fida? ' was to become in his turn ruler of Hama? t. One of the lowest ranks in the feudal hierarchy.
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sea. A ship came up with a catapult mounted on it that battered us and our tents from the sea. We were severely hindered by it, but one night when a fierce wind blew up the ship was buffeted on the waves and the catapult broke up and was not rebuilt.
One night during the siege the Franks made a sortie, put the outposts to flight and reached the tents, where they became tangled up in the guy-ropes. One knight fell into the latrine-trench of one of the ami? r's detachments and was killed. Our troops turned out in overwhelming numbers and the Franks turned tail and fled back to the city, leaving a number of dead accounted for by the Hama? t army. The next morning al-Malik al-Muzaffar, Lord of Hama? t, had a number of Frankish heads attached to the necks of horses we had captured and presented them to the Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf.
The blockade was continually reinforced, until God granted to the attackers victory over the city on Friday 10 jumada II/ 17 June 1291. As the Muslims stormed the city some of the citizens took to the sea in boats. Within the city was a number of well-fortified towers, and some Franks shut themselves inside them and defended them. The Muslims killed vast numbers of people and gathered immense booty. The Sultan forced all those in the towers to surrender, and they submitted to the last man, and to the last man were decapitated outside the city walls. 1 At the Sultan's command the city was razed to the ground.
An amazing coincidence occurred; the Franks seized Acre from Saladin at midday on 17 jumada II 587, and captured and then killed all the Muslims therein; and God in His prescience destined that this year it should be reconquered at the hand of another Saladin, the Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf. 2
After the conquest of Acre God put despair into the hearts of the other Franks left in Palestine; they abandoned Sidon and Beiru? t, which (the ami? r) ash-Shuja'i took over at the end of rajab/end of July. The population of Tyre also abandoned the city and the Sultan sent troops to occupy it. He received the surrender of 'Athli? th on the first of sha'ba? n/30 July, and that of Tortosa on 5 sha'ba? n of the same year. So this Sultan had the good fortune, granted to none other, to conquer without effort and without striking a blow these great, well-fortified cities, all of which were at his command demolished.
With these conquests the whole of Palestine was now in Muslim hands, a result that no one would have dared to hope for or to desire. Thus the whole of Syria and the coastal zones were purified of the Franks, who had once been on the point of conquering Egypt and subduing Damascus and other cities. Praise be to God!
(ABU L-MAHASIN, FO. 24v-25r)
At the beginning of 690 al-Malik al-Ashraf began preparations for his departure for Syria. He called up his troops, assembled siege-engines and employed craftsmen to put them all in order. Then on 3 rabi? ' 1/6 March 1291 he left Egypt, and began his siege of Acre, on 4 rabi? ' II, which corresponds to 5 April. A vast army concentrated at Acre, of which more soldiers were volunteers than were regular troops or members of the Sultan's private army. There were also fifteen great 'Frankish' catapults, capable of throwing a load weighing
Abu l-Fida? ' says nothing about the guarantee of safety given by the Sultan and later violated by this massacre. But see below for Abu l-Mahasin's account.
He also bore, like his illustrious predecessor, the title Salah ad-Din.
1
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208 Arab Historians of the Crusades
a Damascene quintal or more, and other, lighter machines as well as a good number of 'devils' and the like. Some tunnels were dug for mines. The King of Cyprus himself came to help the people of Acre, who on the night of his arrival lit great fires, greater than were ever seen before, as a sign of their joy. But he stayed only three days before returning home, for he realized their desperate position and the disaster looming over them.
The city was besieged and vigorously attacked until the defenders' morale began to crumble and weakness destroyed their unity. There was fighting every day and a certain number of Muslims fell as martyrs for the Faith. At dawn on Friday 17 jumada II1 the Sultan and his troops, mounted on their horses, moved in to attack before sunrise. They beat their drums, creating a terrible, terrifying noise, and the army massed under the walls. The Franks fled and the city was taken by storm. Not three hours of the day had passed before the Muslims entered Acre and made themselves masters of it, while the Franks cast themselves into the sea, trampled on by the Muslim troops who killed and captured them. Only a few escaped. The Muslims took all the booty they could find, goods, treasure and arms, and the population was killed or taken prisoner. Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Hospitallers made a last stand in four lofty towers in the middle of the city, where they were besieged. On Saturday 19th of the month,1 two days after the fall of the city, regular troops and others attacked the house and tower where the Templars were. The Templars begged for their lives, which the Sultan granted them. He sent them a standard which they accepted and raised over the tower. The door was opened and a horde of regulars and others swarmed in. When they came face to face with the defenders some of the soldiers began to pillage and to lay hands on the women and children who were with them, whereupon the Franks shut the door and attacked them, killing a number of Muslims. They hauled down the standard and stiffened their resistance. The siege continued. On the same day the Teutonic Hospitallers asked for an amnesty and this was granted to them and their women by the Sultan, by the hand of the ami? r Zain ad-Din Kitbugha? al-Mansuri. The battle against the Templars' tower continued until Sunday 20 jumada II2 when they and the defenders of the other two towers sued for their lives. The Sultan granted them permission to go where they liked, but when they came out he killed more than 2,000 of them, took an equal number prisoners and sent the women and children as slaves to the gate of the Sultan's pavilion. One reason for the Sultan's wrath against them, apart from their other crimes, was that when the ami? r Kitbugha? al-Mansuri had gone up (to receive their surrender) they had seized and killed him. They had also hamstrung their horses and destroyed everything they could, which increased the Sultan's wrath against them. The army and volunteers made a vast haul of prisoners and booty.
When the remaining Franks realized what had happened to their companions they decided to keep up their resistance to the end. They rejected the assurances offered them and fought desperately, and when they captured five Muslims threw them down from the top of the tower. One alone escaped; the other four died. On Tuesday 18th of the same
The dates given in the text in the following pages are Professor Gabrieli's emendation of the text from which he was obliged to work (see his note on Abu l-Mahasin in the section on the authors). The Cairo edition offers the emendations given in the notes.
Actually the 18th.
Sunday 19th (preserving the Jumada I of the MS. and noting that the two MSS. have 29th).
1
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month of jumada1 the last of the towers to keep up a resistance was taken. The defenders abandoned it in return for their lives, for the tower had been mined from all sides. When the Franks had come out and most of the contents had been removed the tower collapsed on a group of sightseers and on the looters within, killing them all. After that the Sultan set the women and children apart and decapitated all the men, of whom there was a great number.
It is marvellous to observe that Almighty God permitted the Muslims to conquer Acre on the same day and at the same hour as that on which the Franks had taken it: they gained control of Acre in 587/1191 after the famous siege on Friday 17 Jumada II2 at the third hour of the day, promised to spare the lives of the Muslims and then treacherously killed them. God permitted the Muslims to reconquer them this time at the third hour of 17 jumada II,3 the Sultan gave his word to the Franks and then had them slaughtered as the Franks had done to the Muslims. Thus Almighty God was revenged on their descendants.
When the Sultan had taken Acre he sent a body of troops under the ami? r 'Alam ad-Din Sanjar as-Sawabi al-Jashnighi? r4 in the direction of Tyre to patrol the roads, collect information and blockade the city. While they were doing this the ships fleeing from Acre arrived and tried to enter the harbour at Tyre. The ami? r prevented them, and the people of Tyre asked for an amnesty and were granted security for themselves and their possessions. So they surrendered the city, which is among the best situated and fortified. It was not taken by the Sultan Saladin as one of his conquests in Palestine; when he took a town and granted the inhabitants their lives he sent them to Tyre, because of the strength of its fortifications. But now God filled the hearts of its inhabitants with despair and they surrendered it without a battle or siege of any sort, whereas al-Malik al-Ashraf had in fact had no intention of attacking it. When he received the surrender he sent men to organize its demolition, to pull down the walls and buildings, and he gained from this a good quantity of marble and salvage. With Tyre so easily taken al-Malik al-Ashraf confirmed his intention to proceed with the conquest of all the remaining (Frankish territories). 1
1 2
3 4 1
Actually, Tuesday 28.
Text has 17 Jumada I, which destroys the coincidence in day and hour of the Frankish and Muslim conquests of Acre.
According to whether Jumada I or II is right, Acre fell in May or June 1291.
'Taster' or 'steward'; a title in the court hierarchy.
I. e. Beiru? t, Sidon, 'Athli? th and Tortosa, all of which surrendered or were abandoned without a fight in the summer of the same year (see Abu l-Fida? '). The small island of Ruwa? d facing Tortosa remained in the Templars' hands until 1303.
INDEX
Abaq, Ami? r of Damascus, 45, 60
'Abbasid Caliphs of Baghda? d, xii
'Abd ar-Rahma? n al-Halhuli, killed at Damascus (1148), 57
'Abd as-Sala? m al-Ma? ghribi, 179
Abu Abdulla? h Muhammad al-Mustansir bi-lla? h, Hafsid Sultan, 303
Abu 'Ali ibn Rawaha al-Ha? mawi, killed in siege of Acre, 188, 193
Abu Fira? s, Shaikh of Ma? inaqa, xxxi
Abu Hafs, King of Tunisia, 303
Abu Ja'far, ima? m of al-Kallusa, at Saladin's death-bed, 250-1
Abu l-Fada'il of Hama? t, xxxii
Abu l-Fadl ibn al-Khashsha? b, 37
Abu l-Fida? , xx, xxxv-xxxvi, 323, 341-2, 344-6
Abu l-Mahasin, xxxvi, 344, 347-50
Abu l-MuzafFar al-Abiwardi, poems on discord among the Muslims, 11-12 Abu l-Qasim ibn 'Asakir, historian of Damascus, 62
Abu Muhammed 'Abd al-Wahid, 303
Abu Sa'd al-Ha? rawi, 11
Abu Shama, xv, xx, xxx-xxxi, xxxiv, 208, 214-15:
Book of the 'Two Gardens, xxx, 87 Abu Zakariyya Yahya, 303
Acre:
fighting for, 10, 13, 16;
captured by the Franks (1103-4), 17;
fighting near the city (1187), 117-18;
Franks begin to besiege it (1189), 183-5;
battles before the city, 185-9, 192-6;
Saladin withdraws and Franks renew siege, 190-1;
Egyptian army and fleet arrive, 191;
assault by the Franks and burning of siege-towers (1190), 198-200; incidents during siege, 200-7;
Frankish women, 204-7;
arrival of French and English kings, 212-14;
last attack on city, 215-19;
negotiations and surrender, 218-22, 346, 349;
Franks take possession, 222-3;
massacre of Muslim prisoners, 223-5;
Emperor Frederick at Acre (1228), 267-9;
negotiations between Baibars and Hugh III (1268), 312-16;
treaty with Qalawu? n (1283), 326-33;
besieged and captured by al-Ashraf (1291), 344-50;
slaughter of the inhabitants, 346, 348, 349
Ahmad ibn Isma'i? l az-Zayya? n, prophesies King Louis' death, 303-4 'Ain Jalu?
