Our purpose here is to give you news of what we have just done, to inform you of the utter catastrophe that has
befallen
you.
Arab-Historians-of-the-Crusades
They, after objections, and messengers coming and going between them and the King, finally obeyed, and handed the city over to the Muslims.
The Sultan's standards entered the city on Friday 3 safar 648/May 1250, and were raised on the walls, proclaiming once again the rule of Isla?
m.
The King of France was set free and went, with the remains of his army, over to the western shore.
The next day, Saturday, he went aboard and set sail for Acre.
He stayed some time in Palestine and then returned home.
So God purified Egypt of them, and this victory was many times greater than the first,1 because of the large number of the enemy killed and captured; so many that the prisons of Cairo were full of Franks.
The joyful news spread to all the other countries, and public manifestations of joy and happiness were seen.
After the King of France left, the army marched straight to Cairo and entered the city. There, for many days on end, rolls of drums announced the glad tidings of the Muslim victory over the Franks and the recovery of the province of Damietta, pearl of Isla? m and frontier of Egypt. This was the second time that the infidels had taken it and lost it again and had fled in defeat and disarray.
See above, in the section on Saladin's 'zeal in the Holy War'. At the time of the Fifth Crusade.
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178 Arab Historians of the Crusades
PROLOGUE AND EPILOGUE TO ST. LOUIS' CRUSADE
(MAQRIZI, 334-5, 356-8)
(Disembarking in Egypt) the King of France sent a letter to the Sultan (al-Malik as-Salih). After the (introductory) heretical phrases2 he continued:
You will be aware that I am the head of the Christian community, as I acknowledge that you are the head of the Mohammedan community. You know also that the (Muslim) population of Andalusia pays tribute to us and gives us gifts, and we drive them before us like a herd of cattle, killing the men, widowing the women, capturing their daughters and infants, emptying their houses. 3 I have given you sufficient demonstration (of our strength), and the best advice I can offer. Even if you were to promise me anything on oath and to appear before the priests and monks and carry a candle before me as an act of obedience to the Cross, it would not deter me from attacking you and fighting you on the land that is dearest to you. If this country falls into my hands, it will be mine as a gift. If you keep it by victory over me, you may do as you will with me. I have told you about the armies obedient to me, filling the mountains and the plains, numerous as the stones of the earth and poised against you like the sword of Destiny. I put you on your guard against them.
When this letter arrived and was read to the Sultan his eyes filled with tears and he exclaimed: 'We belong to God, and to Him we return! ' Then he had a reply composed by the Qadi Baha? ' ad-Din Zuha? ir, head of Chancellery. After an introductory formula with the name of God and benedictions on God's apostle Muhammad, his family and companions, the letter went on:
Your letter has reached us in which you threaten us with the size of your armies and the number of your warriors. Now we are a war-like race; never is one of our champions cut down without being replaced; never has an enemy attacked us without being destroyed. Fool! If your eyes had seen the points of our swords and the enormity of our devastations, the forts and shores that we have taken (from you) and the lands that we have sacked in the past and the present, you would gnaw your fingers in repentance! The outcome of the events you are precipitating is inevitable: the day will dawn to our advantage and end in your destruction. Then you will curse yourself: 'and the wicked shall know the fate that awaits them'. 1 When you read my letter, let your response comply with the Sura of the Bees: 'You shall see God's command brought about; do not hurry it. "2 (Remember) too the Sura of Sad: 'You shall know what this signifies after some time! '3 We have recourse to God's word, for he declares most truthfully: 'How many times has a small band defeated a large army, with God's support! For God is with the patient,'4 and to the words of the wise,
I. e. after the Christian eulogies.
This reference to Andalusia seems to Reinaud irrelevant to the document. He thinks that Maqrizi must have inserted it, taking it out of some other context in the history of the reconquest. But one might also imagine that King Louis naturally recalled, to frighten his enemy, St. Fernando's recent triumphs against the Muslims in Spain; the fall of Seville (November 1248) occurred a few months before the Crusade landed.
Qur'a? n XXVI, 228.
Qur'a? n XVI, 1.
Qur'a? n XXXVIII, 88.
Qur'a? n II, 250.
2 3
1 2 3 4
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 179
according to whom: 'The man of might is brought down in the end'; so your might will finally be brought down, and will bring catastrophe upon you. Greetings.
(After the victory at al-Mansura the Sultan Turansha? h) wrote to the ami? r Jama? l ad-Din ibn Yaghmu? r, his commander in Damascus, a letter in his own hand which said:
Praise is due to God, who has lifted our sorrow from us! Victory comes from God alone. On that day the faithful will rejoice in the help of God. Speak of the grace received from your Lord! If you wish to count God's graces, you will not be able to number them. 1
We inform His Excellency Jama? l ad-Din and all Isla? m of the victory bestowed by God over the enemies of the Faith. Their threat grew and grew, their evil was already established in the land, and the believers despaired of the fate of their country, their wives and their children. 'But do not despair of God's aid. '2 On Monday, the first day of this blessed year, God poured out his blessing on Isla? m's behalf. We opened our treasures, scattered wealth, distributed arms and summoned the desert Arabs, the volunteers and a multitude whose number God alone knows, from every deep valley and distant place. On the Tuesday night the enemy abandoned their tents, their possessions and their baggage and fled to Damietta, pursued all night by our swords, beyond shame, crying out in anguish. When Wednesday morning dawned we had killed 30,000, apart from those who cast themselves into the waves. As for the prisoners, it is impossible to count them. The Franks took refuge in al-Munya and begged for their lives, and this was granted them. We made them our prisoners, treated them honourably, and recovered Damietta with God's help and assistance, His majesty and highness. . . . and so on at length.
With the letter the Sultan sent the King of France's mantle, and the ami? r Jama? l ad-Din ibn Yaghmu? r put it on. It was of scarlet red, trimmed with ermine. Shaikh Najm ad-Din ibn Isra'i? l said of it:
The mantle of the Frenchman, sent in homage to the Prince of Ami? rs was white as paper, but our swords have stained it the colour of blood. and also:
Lord of all the Kings of this time, You have seen fulfilled the divine promises of victory.
May our Lord always triumph over his enemies, and clothe his servants in a king's booty!
SAINT LOUIS IN TUNISIA (MAQRIZI, 364-5)
It happened that this Frenchman, after escaping from the hands of the Muslims, decided to attack Tunisia in the land of Africa,1 profiting by the plague and famine that were rife there, and he sent to summon the Christian kings to arms. He also sent to the Pope, the vicar of the Messiah according to them, who wrote calling on the Christian kings to join the campaign with King Louis, giving them a free hand with the Church's wealth of which they could take
All the foregoing are Qur'anic phrases: XXXV, 31; III, 121; XXX, 3; XC III, 11; VI, 18. Qur'a? n XII, 87.
Properly Ifri? qiya, the Roman province of Africa, i. e. Tunisia.
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180 Arab Historians of the Crusades
what they wanted. The kings who came were the Kings of England, Scotland, Toulouse, Barcelona (who was called 'King of Aragon') and a whole host of other Christian princes. The (Hafsid) Sultan Abu Abdulla? h Muhammad al-Mustansir bi-lla? h, son of the ami? r Abu Zakariyya Yahya, son of Shaikh Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Wahid, son of Shaikh Abu Hafs, King of Tunisia,2 prepared to resist the attack and sent his ambassadors to sue for peace, offering 8,000 dinar. They took the money but did not make peace, and attacked Tunisia on 28 dhu l-qa'da 668/21 July 1270, disembarking at Carthage with 6,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry. They remained there for six months. 3 The Muslims kept up the fight until mid-muharram 669/the end of August, with violent battles in which many of both sides died. The Muslims were almost defeated when God liberated them. One morning4 the King of France was found dead. Succeeding events led to the signing of the peace treaty and the departure of the Christians. It is interesting to note that a Tunisian, one Ahmad ibn Isma'i? l az-Zayya? n, composed the following lines:
O Frenchman, this land is Egypt's sister; prepare for your certain fate! Here Ibn Luqma? n's house will be a tomb, and the eunuchs (to guard you) will be Munkar and Naki? r. 1
This seems like a prophecy for the French King, for he did die. This King of France was an intelligent man, cunning and deceitful.
2 3 4 1
King of Tunis 1249-77.
Incomprehensible in view of the dates of this conflict.
25 August.
Alluding to Louis' prison and his guardian in Egypt. Munkar and Naki? r are the Muslim angels who interrogate the spirits of the newly dead.
Part Four
THE MAMLU? KS
AND THE LIQUIDATION OF
THE CRUSADERS
CHAPTER ONE
Between 1265 and 1291 three Mamlu? k Sultans, Baibars (1260-77), Qalawu? n (1279-90) and al-Ashraf (1290-93), destroyed what was left of the Crusaders' achievements. The main source for all three, although incomplete and for the most part still unedited, is the contemporary Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir. For the conquests of Baibars we have his biography written by Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir as well as the later chronicles of Ibn al-Fura? t, al-Maqrizi and al-'Aini. The passages given here, among them the famous victory letter to Bohemond IV after the fall of Antioch, come from these sources.
BAIBARS AGAINST TRIPOLI AND ANTIOCH. HIS LETTER TO BOHEMOND VI
(IBN 'ABD AZ-ZAHIR, FO. 105v-111v)
This fortress (Syrian Tripoli) belonged to the Muslims in times past; the last of them to hold it were the Banu 'Amma? r. One of the Frankish kings besieged it for many years and built a castle in front of it for as long as the siege lasted. 1 The Banu 'Amma? r, reduced to dire straits, left one of their tribe in the city and went to find help and succour. But he was an apostate; he climbed the city wall and invited the Franks to enter and take possession of the city. In this way they conquered the fortress. 2 The last of the Franks to hold it was Prince Bohemond (VI), son of Bohemond. When al-Malik az-Zahir (Baibars), whose biography this is, came to the throne he began to hear rumours of acts of manifest tyranny committed by Bohemond, and of his frequent acts of hostility and aggression toward those who entered his domain; he even went so far as to lay hands on some ambassadors from Georgia whose ship had been wrecked, imprisoning them and seizing the letters to the Sultan that they carried. He sent both men and letters to Hulagu, King of the Mongols, bringing ruin upon them and those who sent them. He did the same to other princes. Zeal for Isla? m and religious fervour forced the Sultan to attack Tripoli. He ordered the preparations to be made in secret, and finally set off across mountains and valleys to launch the Muslim army against the enemy. The troops surrounded the enemy city with a circle of fire and iron, capturing, pillaging and storming. The Sultan seized most of the region and then, following the best counsel, retired.
Concerning his incursion into Tripoli we have described how the Sultan made a hard fight of it, and by his subterfuges left everyone uncertain of what his aims had been when he withdrew, for he had ordered a certain number of tents to be pitched so that their entrances faced in different directions, so as to confuse those who thought (to divine his plans). Next he attacked Antioch, which was part of the domains of the Prince of Tripoli. The Muslims
1 The Mount Pilgrim built by Raymond of Saint-Gilles in 1103. 2 In fact taken by storm in 1109.
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 183
advanced, killing and capturing and pillaging the land. The Sultan himself led the march on Antioch, and laid siege to it on 1 ramada? n 666/12 May 1268. His major-domo (ustada? r) the ami? r Shams ad-Din Aqsunqur al-Farqani came to blows during the advance with a squadron of cavalry from Antioch. He exterminated them in battle and captured the Constable who commanded the city. Muslim troops swarmed toward Antioch from all directions; the word was given for the assault, the walls were broken down and the city was taken with much bloodshed. The Muslims then besieged the citadel and took it after guaranteeing the lives of the beleaguered men, and so it came safely into Muslim hands.
The Sultan ordered a letter to be written to the Prince announcing the fall on the city and the loss that he had suffered through its acquisition by the Sultan. The letter was composed by the author of this history1--God have mercy upon him! --as the greatest expert in the epistolary style who ever lived, the master of the most telling and felicitous expressions, experienced in the finesse demanded by chancellery affairs, with the subtlest power of divining his Sovereign's intentions and aims! The Franks give the title of Prince only to the ruler of Antioch, and so the author refers to Bohemond as a Count only, since Antioch was no longer his. 2 This is an opportunity to describe an episode passed on to me by the author himself: the Sultan, he said, sent me with the ami? r Ata? -beg Faris ad-Din as ambassador to Tripoli when the truce was under negotiation. 3 Now the Sultan al-Malik az-Zahir himself entered the city with his two ambassadors, disguised as an equerry (silahda? r), to explore the town and find out the points at which it could be stormed. When we came into the Prince's presence to discuss the terms of the truce and reached an agreement the Sultan stood looking down at the Ata-beg and listening. He4 began to write: 'Terms of the truce between our Lord the Sultan and the Count. . . ' without putting in 'Prince'. The Lord of Tripoli glanced at the writing, disapproved, and said: 'Who is this Count? ' 'You,' I said. 'No,' he replied, 'I am the Prince! ' 'The Prince is the Sultan al-Malik az-Zahir; the title of 'Prince' refers to the ruler of Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandretta, all of which now belong to our Lord the Sultan. ' He cast a glance at his warriors standing there, and the door of the chamber was barred. Then the Sultan kicked the Ata? -beg, who said: 'O Muhyi ad-Din, you are right, but our Lord the Sultan has graciously conceded to this man the title of Prince, as he has allowed him. to remain in his kingdom. ' 'If that is so,' I said to the Ata? -beg, 'then that is all right'; and I wrote 'Prince' in place of 'Count'. 'When we had left,' continued the author, 'and our Lord the Sultan reached his own camp, His Majesty began to tell the story to the ami? rs at court, laughing and saying as he turned to me; "He certainly chose a good moment! To the devil with the Prince and the Count! "' This is the end of the story, so we will return to the text of the letter, which was as follows:
The reference here is to Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir, whose nephew compiled his uncle's work.
During the reign of Bohemond IV (1177-1233) the principate of Antioch and the county of Tripoli were united under the dynasty of Antioch.
1271, three years after the fall of Antioch.
Muhyi ad-Din ibn 'Abd az-Zahir, author and narrator.
1 2
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184 Arab Historians of the Crusades
Count Such-and-Such,1 head of the Christian community, reduced to the title of Count-- God inspire him with wisdom and make good his aim and good counsel his treasure--knows already how we attacked Tripoli and devastated the very centre of his domains; he saw the ruins and the slaughter that we left behind at our departure; the churches themselves were razed from the face of the earth, every house met with disaster, the dead were piled up on the seashore like islands of corpses, the men were murdered, the children enslaved, the free women reduced to captivity, the trees cut down leaving only enough to be used, God willing, for catapults and walls,2 goods pillaged, together with women, children and herds, so that the poor are enriched, the single man has gained a family, the servant has servants and the infantryman a horse.
All this happened before your eyes, while you stood like a man overcome by a mortal disaster, and when you regained your voice you cried in fear: 'This calamity is my fault! 'You know too that we left you, but only to return, that we have deferred your total destruction, but only for a certain number of days; you are aware that we have left your country without an animal remaining in it, for we have driven them all before us, nor a girl, for all are in our power, nor a column, for our crowbars have tumbled them all, nor a field under cultivation, for we have reaped them all, nor a single possession, for we have taken them. The caves at the tops of these high mountains, these valleys cutting across frontiers and touching the imagination; these can give no defence. You know how we left you to appear unexpectedly before your city of Antioch while you were still hardly daring to believe that we had withdrawn: (this time) if we depart we shall surely return to where our feet rested before!
Our purpose here is to give you news of what we have just done, to inform you of the utter catastrophe that has befallen you. On Wednesday, 24 sha'ba? n we left you at Tripoli and on the first of the holy month of ramada? n we besieged Antioch. While we were taking up our position in front of the city your troops rode out to measure themselves against us in combat. They were defeated; they came to one another's aid but failed to win the day, and their Constable became our prisoner. He asked to be allowed to negotiate with your men and went to the city, to return with a band of your monks and principal satellites, who negotiated with us. But we saw that they were inspired with your own spirit, wickedly intent on murderous designs, at loggerheads in a good cause but united in a bad one. When we saw that their fate was irremediably sealed and that their destiny from God was death we dismissed them, saying; 'We shall lay siege to you at once, and this is the first and last warning that we shall give you. ' Thus they returned, behaving like you, in the belief that you would be coming to their aid with your cavalry and infantry: but in time the Marshal was done away with,1 fear seized the monks, the Castellan bowed his head to disaster and
So in Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir's compilation, but other sources give a more sonorous heading ('the noble and exalted Count, the valiant lion, pride of Christendom, leader of the Crusaders, whose title, with the fall of Antioch, has changed from "Prince" to "Count",' etc. ). In spite of their pompous and polemical tone these epithets were apparently too much for the compiler, who allowed them to drop. In Professor Gabrieli's translation the often corrupt text of Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir is emended from that of an-Nuwairi (Quatreme`re: Sultans Mamlouks, I, II, pp. 190-91).
Referring to the threatened return of the Muslim army to Tripoli.
The following passage contains many untranslatable puns of the type already noted in the passages from 'Ima? d ad-Dinal-Isfahani.
1
2 1
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 185
death overwhelmed them from every side. We took the city by storm in the fourth hour of Saturday, the fourth day of the holy month of ramada? n (18 May), bringing despair to all those whom you had chosen to garrison and defend it. Not one of them but had certain wealth, and now there is not one of us but owns one of them and his money. You would have seen your knights prostrate beneath the horses' hooves, your houses stormed by pillagers and ransacked by looters, your wealth weighed by the quintal, your women sold four at a time and bought for a dinar of your own money! You would have seen the crosses in your churches smashed, the pages of the false Testaments scattered, the Patriarchs' tombs overturned. You would have seen your Muslim enemy trampling on the place where you celebrate the mass, cutting the throats of monks, priests and deacons upon the altars, bringing sudden death to the Patriarchs and slavery to the royal princes. You would have seen fire running through your palaces, your dead burned in this world before going down to the fires of the next, your palace lying unrecognizable, the Church of St. Paul and that of the Qusya? n2 pulled down and destroyed; then you would have said: 'Would that I were dust, and that no letter had ever brought me such tidings! ' Your soul would have left your body for sadness; you would have quenched its fires with the water of your tears. If you had seen your dwellings stripped of your wealth, your chariots seized at Suwaidiyya1 with your ships, your galleys become (as your enemy's property) detesters of you, you would then be convinced that the God who gave you Antioch has taken it away again, the Lord who bestowed that fortress on you has snatched it away, uprooting it from the face of the earth. You know now that we, by God's grace, have taken back from you the fortresses of Isla? m that you seized, Derku? sh and Shaqi? f Kafar Dubbi? n, as well as all your possessions in the province of Antioch; that we have brought your troops down from the citadels and have seized them by the hair and scattered them far and wide; that there is no one who could be called a rebel this side of the river; that if it could it would not call itself by that name any longer2 and weeps for penitence. Its tears at first ran clear, but now the blood spilt into it has dyed them red.
This letter we send brings you the good news that God granted you safety and long life by causing you not to live in Antioch at this time and allowing you to live elsewhere, for otherwise you would be dead, or a prisoner, or wounded, or knocked about. To be alive is something upon which all but the dead must congratulate themselves. Who knows if God saved your life so that you could make amends for your former disobedience and disrespect to Him! Since no survivor has come forward to tell you what happened, we have informed you of it, and since no one is in a position to give you the good news that you have saved your life at the loss of everything else, we bring you the tidings in a personal message to you, to give you accurate information about what really happened. After reading this letter you will have no reason to say that any of our news is false, just as after reading this dispatch you will need to ask no one to give you the details.
When this letter reached Bohemond he flew into a great rage. This was the only news he received of the fall of Antioch.
The Cathedral of Saint Peter, centre of the religious and municipal life of Christian Antioch. The port of Antioch, at the mouth of the Orontes.
The Orontes is called by the Arabs al-'Asi, 'the rebel', because of its course from south to north.
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186 Arab Historians of the Crusades
NEGOTIATIONS WITH HUGH III, KING OF
CYPRUS AND JERUSALEM (IBN AL-FURA? T, VI, 146r-147r)
After the fall of Shaqi? f the Franks in Acre wanted a king capable of defending their interests. There was a child-king in Cyprus,3 with a regent who was commander of the army and whose name was Hugh, son of Henry. He was less than thirty years old, a cousin of the Prince of Tripoli and the son of the (former) King of Cyprus' sister,1 the aunt of the boy-king. The child died, and the kingdom fell to the young man, who was related through his wife to the lords of Arsu? f2 and through his mother to his cousin. 3 The latter had a greater right to the throne because his mother was the elder sister and the Frankish custom is for the son of the elder sister to take precedence, but he was abroad, at Sis,4 so the younger man seized Cyprus. The Franks then invited him to come to Acre, for the kingdom of Acre was linked to that of Cyprus. He came, and the people of Acre swore obedience to him. A letter arrived (at Baibars' court) from the Prince of Tyre announcing the King's arrival and saying that he was a man of discretion who, as soon as he arrived, had realized that Frankish opinion was in favour of doing everything possible to secure good relations with their neighbour the Sultan, and had said that he had no reason for hostility toward him. The Prince of Tyre concluded by asking the Sultan to make peace with him.
When the Sultan returned to Damascus from the Antioch campaign, as we have said, the King's ambassadors appeared, with a detachment of about one hundred Frankish cavalry, bringing gifts of goldsmiths' work, wild animals and other objects. A circumscribed agreement was reached between al-Malik az-Zahir (Baibars) and this King affecting the city and province of Acre, which comprises thirty-one villages. It was agreed that Kaifa and three villages should remain in Frankish hands and that the rest of its district should be divided in two; the province of Carmel was to be divided; 'Athli? th with three villages was to go (to the Franks? ) and the rest was to be divided; al-Qura? in with ten villages was to go (to the Franks? ) and the rest to the Sultan; of the province of Sidon the lowlands were to go to the Franks and the mountains to the Muslims, and there was to be peace in the kingdom of Cyprus. Such were the territorial provisions of the treaty, which was to last for ten years, unaffected by foreign invasion or the arrival of any king from overseas. Finally (the Sultan) persuaded him to release the hostages taken from various cities.
The Qadi Muhyi ad-Din ibn 'Abd az-Zahir, author of the Life of Baibars, recalls: 'I went as an ambassador with the ami? r Kama? l ad-Din ibn Shith to get the King to sign the truce. The Sultan sent with us a gift of twenty prisoners from Antioch, priests and monks. We entered Acre on 24 shawwa? l (666/ 7 July 1268) and were very well received. The Sultan had told us not to humiliate ourselves either in posture or in speech. When we entered we
Hugh II, who died in 1267 at the age of 14.
Isabella, younger sister of Henry I.
Hugh III married Isabella of Ibelin.
Hugh of Brienne, son of Maria, the elder sister of Henry I. In Cilicia or Lesser Armenia.
3 1 2 3 4
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 187
saw the King with his generals seated on a bench, and so we refused to sit down until a bench was set for us in front of him. His vizier put out his hand for the document but we would put it into the hand of no one but the King himself. He took it, and paused to make observations on certain points: one was that he wanted a separate treaty for Cyprus and that the peace should last as long as there was no foreign invasion and no king from abroad appeared, also that the Isma'ilites should not be included in the truce. He also asked for dispensations in the matter of hostages as well as other details. The Sultan's ambassadors returned without the King's signature to the treaty and the matter stood in abeyance. Every time that this King of Acre opened his mouth he said: "I am afraid of King Charles, the King of France's brother, and for fear of him I cannot conclude a peace treaty. "1 God knows best. '
(IBN 'ABD AZ-ZAHIR, FO. 177v-118v)
At the time of the truce, Acre had no king and was ruled from Cyprus by one of the Franks. When he assumed control of Acre he wrote in a tone of humble supplication to the Sultan asking for his friendship and inviting him to sign a truce on the terms already agreed. He also sent precious gifts of great value. The Sultan was not displeased by such an offering, and accepted his friendship and sent him gifts in exchange. The King asked that the truce should be in his name and expressed his obedience and submission to it. The Sultan acceded to his request, signed the truce and sent Muhyi ad-Din, author of the Life, and Kama? l ad-Din ibn Shith to the Frankish King with the truce to be signed. Muhyi ad-Din1 told me: 'When this King granted us an audience we found him sitting on a lofty throne and he declared that he would sit up on high and we lower down. The honour of Isla? m did not permit us to accept this, so we were raised to his level, and began our discussions with him. He began to cavil and wander from the point, to which I objected. He looked angrily at me and said to the interpreter: "Tell him to observe whom we have standing behind him. " I looked, and saw that he had his army drawn up in full battle array. "Say to him," said the King to the interpreter, "that he should look at this multitude. " I looked, and bowed my head. He said again: "Say to him: What do you think of what you have seen? " "May I speak with impunity? " "Yes. " "Then tell the King," I said, 'that in our Flag Store, which is a prison in the Sultan's realms, in Cairo, there are more Frankish prisoners than all these. ' The King was furious and made the sign of the Cross as he said: "By God, I will not spend any longer today listening to an embassy from such a people! " So we went away. Later, however, he received us again and we got him to sign the truce, which lasted as long as the Sultan al-Malik al-Mansu? r Qalawu? n lived. '1
Charles of Anjou was already beginning to assert his rights to the nominal crown of Jerusalem (which meant, in effect, the Kingdom of Acre) acquired from Maria of Antioch and officially proclaimed in 1277.
The compiler is speaking.
Thus a treaty was signed with Hugh III in 1268, contrary to what would appear from Ibn al-Fura? t's account, quoted by Ibn 'Abd-az-Zahir himself. But the reference to the truce's lasting until the time of Qalawu? n more probably refers to the truce of Caesarea (May 1279) between Baibars and Acre, later renewed by Qalawu? n (see below).
1
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188 Arab Historians of the Crusades
THE DESTRUCTION OF HISN AL-AKRA? D2
(IBN AL-FURA? T, FO. 189r-190v)
In ancient times this fortress was called Hisn as-Safh (Fortress of the Mountainside). Concerning the name given to it later by the Kurds Mu? ntakhab ad-Din Yahya ibn Abi Tayy an-Najja? r al-Ha? labi3 says in his history that the ami? r Shibl ad-Daula Nasr ibn Mirda? s, ruler of Hims, sent a Kurdish garrison force there in 422/1031, and that the fort took its name from them. In the time of the Ata-beg Tughtiki? n of Damascus a truce was signed by him and the Franks, one of its conditions being that the forts of Masyaf and Hisn al-Akra? d were included in it and that their inhabitants paid an annual tax to the Franks. This situation continued for some time. Then, says Ibn 'Asakir,4 (Raymond of) Saint-Gilles--God curse him! --began to beleaguer Tripoli and at the same time subjected the fort and others in its neighbourhood to continual attacks. In 496/1103 he besieged and almost subdued it. He was on the point of taking it when Jana? h ad-Daula the ruler of Hims was murdered. Raymond wanted Hims, so he abandoned Hisn al-Akra? d. At his death his son Bertrand5 continued his father's policy of harrying the fort and devastating its surrounding countryside, which kept its inhabitants in a state of terror. Then he went off to besiege Beiru? t and Tancred, Prince of Antioch, took over most of the region and was by some means kept at bay by the Syrians. He too besieged this fort, and reduced its inhabitants to such straits that the ruler surrendered it, hoping that Tancred would allow him to stay there as a reward for having given him a warmer welcome than he had to Saint-Gilles. Tancred, however, cleared the city of its inhabitants, whom he took away with him, and established there a garrison of Franks, or so Ibn 'Asakir says. According to another version Tancred, Prince of Antioch left that city, besieged Hisn al-Akra? d and received the citizens' surrender at the end of 503/1110, and it remained in Frankish hands until the events that we are about to relate, God willing. Ibn Munqidh in his Kita? b al-Bulda? n1 says that the champion of the Faith. al-Malik al-'Adil Nur ad-Din Mahmud ruler of Damascus--God bless him! --had contacts with one of the Turcoman infantrymen in the service of the Franks who ruled Hisn al-Akra? d, with whom he arranged that when Nur ad-Din attacked the fort the man and a group of his companions would support him, raise his banner on the walls and shout his name. This Turcoman had several sons and a brother, all of whom enjoyed the confidence of the Franks in the fort. The signal agreed between him and Nur ad-Din was that he should stand on top of one of the ramparts. But, it is said, Nur ad-Din informed no one of the plan, and so when the troops were advancing and saw the man standing there they shot at him and killed him; on his death his supporters were all taken and the plot came to nothing.
In Arabic 'fortress of the Kurds', in French 'Krak des Chevaliers', the great fortress of the Hospitallers north-east of Tripoli.
Lost Shi'ite historian of the twelfth century, quoted on several occasions by Ibn al-Fura? t. Twelfth-century historian of Damascus.
See above.
Lost work by Usama ibn Munqidh, famous author of the Autobiography. All these references reveal Ibn al-Fura? t as a habitual compiier.
2
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Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 189
Hisn al-Akra? d was not among the cities taken by Saladin but remained in Frankish hands until al-Malik az-Zahir Rukn ad-Din Baibars led the 669/1271 expedition against Tripoli of which we have already spoken. He besieged Hisn al-Akra? d on 9 rajab/21 February: on 20 rajab/4 March the suburbs were taken and al-Malik al-Mansu? r, ruler of Hama? t,1 arrived with his army. The Sultan went to meet him, descended from his horse when al-Mansu? r did and advanced beneath his banners without bodyguards or equerries as a gesture of courtesy to the Lord of Hama? t. At his command a tent was brought and pitched for him. The ami? r of Sahyu? n, Saif ad-Din, and Najm ad-Din the Grand Master of the Isma'ilites also arrived.
At the end of rajab work was completed on a large number of catapults. On 7 sha'ba? n/22 March the bastions were taken by storm and an emplacement was built from which the Sultan could draw a bow at the enemy. Then Baibars began to distribute gifts of money and robes of honour.
On 16 sha'ba? n/31 March a breach was made in one of the towers of the fortress, our soldiers went up to attack, got up into the fort and took possession of it, while the Franks withdrew to the keep. A whole group of Franks and Christians was then set free by the Sultan as a pious offering in the name of al-Malik as-Sa'i? d. 2 The catapults were then moved into the fortress and directed on the keep. At this point the Sultan wrote certain letters as if they had been written by the Frankish general in Tripoli, ordering them to surrender. They begged that their lives should be spared, which was granted on condition that they returned to their homelands. On Tuesday 24 sha'ba? n/ 7 April the Franks left the fort and were sent home, and the Sultan took possession of it.
He wrote a letter to the Grand Master of the Hospital, the ruler of Hisn al-Akra? d, to give him the news of the victory. These were his words: 'This letter is addressed to fre`re Hugues3--God make him one of those who do not oppose destiny or rebel against Him who has reserved victory and triumph for His army, and do not believe that any caution is sufficient to save men from what God has decreed, or that they can protect themselves from it within the shelter of buildings or walls of stone--to inform him of the conquest, by God's grace, of Hisn al-Akra? d, which you fortified and built out and furbished--you would have done better to destroy it--and whose defence you entrusted to your Brethren. They have failed you; by making them live there you destroyed them, for they have lost both the fort and you. These troops of mine are incapable of besieging any fort and leaving it able to resist them, or of serving an unfortunate Sa'i? d' ('happy, felix')1.
The Sultan named the ami? r Sarim ad-Din al-Ka? firi as his commander in Hisn al-Akra?
After the King of France left, the army marched straight to Cairo and entered the city. There, for many days on end, rolls of drums announced the glad tidings of the Muslim victory over the Franks and the recovery of the province of Damietta, pearl of Isla? m and frontier of Egypt. This was the second time that the infidels had taken it and lost it again and had fled in defeat and disarray.
See above, in the section on Saladin's 'zeal in the Holy War'. At the time of the Fifth Crusade.
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PROLOGUE AND EPILOGUE TO ST. LOUIS' CRUSADE
(MAQRIZI, 334-5, 356-8)
(Disembarking in Egypt) the King of France sent a letter to the Sultan (al-Malik as-Salih). After the (introductory) heretical phrases2 he continued:
You will be aware that I am the head of the Christian community, as I acknowledge that you are the head of the Mohammedan community. You know also that the (Muslim) population of Andalusia pays tribute to us and gives us gifts, and we drive them before us like a herd of cattle, killing the men, widowing the women, capturing their daughters and infants, emptying their houses. 3 I have given you sufficient demonstration (of our strength), and the best advice I can offer. Even if you were to promise me anything on oath and to appear before the priests and monks and carry a candle before me as an act of obedience to the Cross, it would not deter me from attacking you and fighting you on the land that is dearest to you. If this country falls into my hands, it will be mine as a gift. If you keep it by victory over me, you may do as you will with me. I have told you about the armies obedient to me, filling the mountains and the plains, numerous as the stones of the earth and poised against you like the sword of Destiny. I put you on your guard against them.
When this letter arrived and was read to the Sultan his eyes filled with tears and he exclaimed: 'We belong to God, and to Him we return! ' Then he had a reply composed by the Qadi Baha? ' ad-Din Zuha? ir, head of Chancellery. After an introductory formula with the name of God and benedictions on God's apostle Muhammad, his family and companions, the letter went on:
Your letter has reached us in which you threaten us with the size of your armies and the number of your warriors. Now we are a war-like race; never is one of our champions cut down without being replaced; never has an enemy attacked us without being destroyed. Fool! If your eyes had seen the points of our swords and the enormity of our devastations, the forts and shores that we have taken (from you) and the lands that we have sacked in the past and the present, you would gnaw your fingers in repentance! The outcome of the events you are precipitating is inevitable: the day will dawn to our advantage and end in your destruction. Then you will curse yourself: 'and the wicked shall know the fate that awaits them'. 1 When you read my letter, let your response comply with the Sura of the Bees: 'You shall see God's command brought about; do not hurry it. "2 (Remember) too the Sura of Sad: 'You shall know what this signifies after some time! '3 We have recourse to God's word, for he declares most truthfully: 'How many times has a small band defeated a large army, with God's support! For God is with the patient,'4 and to the words of the wise,
I. e. after the Christian eulogies.
This reference to Andalusia seems to Reinaud irrelevant to the document. He thinks that Maqrizi must have inserted it, taking it out of some other context in the history of the reconquest. But one might also imagine that King Louis naturally recalled, to frighten his enemy, St. Fernando's recent triumphs against the Muslims in Spain; the fall of Seville (November 1248) occurred a few months before the Crusade landed.
Qur'a? n XXVI, 228.
Qur'a? n XVI, 1.
Qur'a? n XXXVIII, 88.
Qur'a? n II, 250.
2 3
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Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 179
according to whom: 'The man of might is brought down in the end'; so your might will finally be brought down, and will bring catastrophe upon you. Greetings.
(After the victory at al-Mansura the Sultan Turansha? h) wrote to the ami? r Jama? l ad-Din ibn Yaghmu? r, his commander in Damascus, a letter in his own hand which said:
Praise is due to God, who has lifted our sorrow from us! Victory comes from God alone. On that day the faithful will rejoice in the help of God. Speak of the grace received from your Lord! If you wish to count God's graces, you will not be able to number them. 1
We inform His Excellency Jama? l ad-Din and all Isla? m of the victory bestowed by God over the enemies of the Faith. Their threat grew and grew, their evil was already established in the land, and the believers despaired of the fate of their country, their wives and their children. 'But do not despair of God's aid. '2 On Monday, the first day of this blessed year, God poured out his blessing on Isla? m's behalf. We opened our treasures, scattered wealth, distributed arms and summoned the desert Arabs, the volunteers and a multitude whose number God alone knows, from every deep valley and distant place. On the Tuesday night the enemy abandoned their tents, their possessions and their baggage and fled to Damietta, pursued all night by our swords, beyond shame, crying out in anguish. When Wednesday morning dawned we had killed 30,000, apart from those who cast themselves into the waves. As for the prisoners, it is impossible to count them. The Franks took refuge in al-Munya and begged for their lives, and this was granted them. We made them our prisoners, treated them honourably, and recovered Damietta with God's help and assistance, His majesty and highness. . . . and so on at length.
With the letter the Sultan sent the King of France's mantle, and the ami? r Jama? l ad-Din ibn Yaghmu? r put it on. It was of scarlet red, trimmed with ermine. Shaikh Najm ad-Din ibn Isra'i? l said of it:
The mantle of the Frenchman, sent in homage to the Prince of Ami? rs was white as paper, but our swords have stained it the colour of blood. and also:
Lord of all the Kings of this time, You have seen fulfilled the divine promises of victory.
May our Lord always triumph over his enemies, and clothe his servants in a king's booty!
SAINT LOUIS IN TUNISIA (MAQRIZI, 364-5)
It happened that this Frenchman, after escaping from the hands of the Muslims, decided to attack Tunisia in the land of Africa,1 profiting by the plague and famine that were rife there, and he sent to summon the Christian kings to arms. He also sent to the Pope, the vicar of the Messiah according to them, who wrote calling on the Christian kings to join the campaign with King Louis, giving them a free hand with the Church's wealth of which they could take
All the foregoing are Qur'anic phrases: XXXV, 31; III, 121; XXX, 3; XC III, 11; VI, 18. Qur'a? n XII, 87.
Properly Ifri? qiya, the Roman province of Africa, i. e. Tunisia.
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180 Arab Historians of the Crusades
what they wanted. The kings who came were the Kings of England, Scotland, Toulouse, Barcelona (who was called 'King of Aragon') and a whole host of other Christian princes. The (Hafsid) Sultan Abu Abdulla? h Muhammad al-Mustansir bi-lla? h, son of the ami? r Abu Zakariyya Yahya, son of Shaikh Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Wahid, son of Shaikh Abu Hafs, King of Tunisia,2 prepared to resist the attack and sent his ambassadors to sue for peace, offering 8,000 dinar. They took the money but did not make peace, and attacked Tunisia on 28 dhu l-qa'da 668/21 July 1270, disembarking at Carthage with 6,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry. They remained there for six months. 3 The Muslims kept up the fight until mid-muharram 669/the end of August, with violent battles in which many of both sides died. The Muslims were almost defeated when God liberated them. One morning4 the King of France was found dead. Succeeding events led to the signing of the peace treaty and the departure of the Christians. It is interesting to note that a Tunisian, one Ahmad ibn Isma'i? l az-Zayya? n, composed the following lines:
O Frenchman, this land is Egypt's sister; prepare for your certain fate! Here Ibn Luqma? n's house will be a tomb, and the eunuchs (to guard you) will be Munkar and Naki? r. 1
This seems like a prophecy for the French King, for he did die. This King of France was an intelligent man, cunning and deceitful.
2 3 4 1
King of Tunis 1249-77.
Incomprehensible in view of the dates of this conflict.
25 August.
Alluding to Louis' prison and his guardian in Egypt. Munkar and Naki? r are the Muslim angels who interrogate the spirits of the newly dead.
Part Four
THE MAMLU? KS
AND THE LIQUIDATION OF
THE CRUSADERS
CHAPTER ONE
Between 1265 and 1291 three Mamlu? k Sultans, Baibars (1260-77), Qalawu? n (1279-90) and al-Ashraf (1290-93), destroyed what was left of the Crusaders' achievements. The main source for all three, although incomplete and for the most part still unedited, is the contemporary Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir. For the conquests of Baibars we have his biography written by Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir as well as the later chronicles of Ibn al-Fura? t, al-Maqrizi and al-'Aini. The passages given here, among them the famous victory letter to Bohemond IV after the fall of Antioch, come from these sources.
BAIBARS AGAINST TRIPOLI AND ANTIOCH. HIS LETTER TO BOHEMOND VI
(IBN 'ABD AZ-ZAHIR, FO. 105v-111v)
This fortress (Syrian Tripoli) belonged to the Muslims in times past; the last of them to hold it were the Banu 'Amma? r. One of the Frankish kings besieged it for many years and built a castle in front of it for as long as the siege lasted. 1 The Banu 'Amma? r, reduced to dire straits, left one of their tribe in the city and went to find help and succour. But he was an apostate; he climbed the city wall and invited the Franks to enter and take possession of the city. In this way they conquered the fortress. 2 The last of the Franks to hold it was Prince Bohemond (VI), son of Bohemond. When al-Malik az-Zahir (Baibars), whose biography this is, came to the throne he began to hear rumours of acts of manifest tyranny committed by Bohemond, and of his frequent acts of hostility and aggression toward those who entered his domain; he even went so far as to lay hands on some ambassadors from Georgia whose ship had been wrecked, imprisoning them and seizing the letters to the Sultan that they carried. He sent both men and letters to Hulagu, King of the Mongols, bringing ruin upon them and those who sent them. He did the same to other princes. Zeal for Isla? m and religious fervour forced the Sultan to attack Tripoli. He ordered the preparations to be made in secret, and finally set off across mountains and valleys to launch the Muslim army against the enemy. The troops surrounded the enemy city with a circle of fire and iron, capturing, pillaging and storming. The Sultan seized most of the region and then, following the best counsel, retired.
Concerning his incursion into Tripoli we have described how the Sultan made a hard fight of it, and by his subterfuges left everyone uncertain of what his aims had been when he withdrew, for he had ordered a certain number of tents to be pitched so that their entrances faced in different directions, so as to confuse those who thought (to divine his plans). Next he attacked Antioch, which was part of the domains of the Prince of Tripoli. The Muslims
1 The Mount Pilgrim built by Raymond of Saint-Gilles in 1103. 2 In fact taken by storm in 1109.
Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 183
advanced, killing and capturing and pillaging the land. The Sultan himself led the march on Antioch, and laid siege to it on 1 ramada? n 666/12 May 1268. His major-domo (ustada? r) the ami? r Shams ad-Din Aqsunqur al-Farqani came to blows during the advance with a squadron of cavalry from Antioch. He exterminated them in battle and captured the Constable who commanded the city. Muslim troops swarmed toward Antioch from all directions; the word was given for the assault, the walls were broken down and the city was taken with much bloodshed. The Muslims then besieged the citadel and took it after guaranteeing the lives of the beleaguered men, and so it came safely into Muslim hands.
The Sultan ordered a letter to be written to the Prince announcing the fall on the city and the loss that he had suffered through its acquisition by the Sultan. The letter was composed by the author of this history1--God have mercy upon him! --as the greatest expert in the epistolary style who ever lived, the master of the most telling and felicitous expressions, experienced in the finesse demanded by chancellery affairs, with the subtlest power of divining his Sovereign's intentions and aims! The Franks give the title of Prince only to the ruler of Antioch, and so the author refers to Bohemond as a Count only, since Antioch was no longer his. 2 This is an opportunity to describe an episode passed on to me by the author himself: the Sultan, he said, sent me with the ami? r Ata? -beg Faris ad-Din as ambassador to Tripoli when the truce was under negotiation. 3 Now the Sultan al-Malik az-Zahir himself entered the city with his two ambassadors, disguised as an equerry (silahda? r), to explore the town and find out the points at which it could be stormed. When we came into the Prince's presence to discuss the terms of the truce and reached an agreement the Sultan stood looking down at the Ata-beg and listening. He4 began to write: 'Terms of the truce between our Lord the Sultan and the Count. . . ' without putting in 'Prince'. The Lord of Tripoli glanced at the writing, disapproved, and said: 'Who is this Count? ' 'You,' I said. 'No,' he replied, 'I am the Prince! ' 'The Prince is the Sultan al-Malik az-Zahir; the title of 'Prince' refers to the ruler of Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandretta, all of which now belong to our Lord the Sultan. ' He cast a glance at his warriors standing there, and the door of the chamber was barred. Then the Sultan kicked the Ata? -beg, who said: 'O Muhyi ad-Din, you are right, but our Lord the Sultan has graciously conceded to this man the title of Prince, as he has allowed him. to remain in his kingdom. ' 'If that is so,' I said to the Ata? -beg, 'then that is all right'; and I wrote 'Prince' in place of 'Count'. 'When we had left,' continued the author, 'and our Lord the Sultan reached his own camp, His Majesty began to tell the story to the ami? rs at court, laughing and saying as he turned to me; "He certainly chose a good moment! To the devil with the Prince and the Count! "' This is the end of the story, so we will return to the text of the letter, which was as follows:
The reference here is to Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir, whose nephew compiled his uncle's work.
During the reign of Bohemond IV (1177-1233) the principate of Antioch and the county of Tripoli were united under the dynasty of Antioch.
1271, three years after the fall of Antioch.
Muhyi ad-Din ibn 'Abd az-Zahir, author and narrator.
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184 Arab Historians of the Crusades
Count Such-and-Such,1 head of the Christian community, reduced to the title of Count-- God inspire him with wisdom and make good his aim and good counsel his treasure--knows already how we attacked Tripoli and devastated the very centre of his domains; he saw the ruins and the slaughter that we left behind at our departure; the churches themselves were razed from the face of the earth, every house met with disaster, the dead were piled up on the seashore like islands of corpses, the men were murdered, the children enslaved, the free women reduced to captivity, the trees cut down leaving only enough to be used, God willing, for catapults and walls,2 goods pillaged, together with women, children and herds, so that the poor are enriched, the single man has gained a family, the servant has servants and the infantryman a horse.
All this happened before your eyes, while you stood like a man overcome by a mortal disaster, and when you regained your voice you cried in fear: 'This calamity is my fault! 'You know too that we left you, but only to return, that we have deferred your total destruction, but only for a certain number of days; you are aware that we have left your country without an animal remaining in it, for we have driven them all before us, nor a girl, for all are in our power, nor a column, for our crowbars have tumbled them all, nor a field under cultivation, for we have reaped them all, nor a single possession, for we have taken them. The caves at the tops of these high mountains, these valleys cutting across frontiers and touching the imagination; these can give no defence. You know how we left you to appear unexpectedly before your city of Antioch while you were still hardly daring to believe that we had withdrawn: (this time) if we depart we shall surely return to where our feet rested before!
Our purpose here is to give you news of what we have just done, to inform you of the utter catastrophe that has befallen you. On Wednesday, 24 sha'ba? n we left you at Tripoli and on the first of the holy month of ramada? n we besieged Antioch. While we were taking up our position in front of the city your troops rode out to measure themselves against us in combat. They were defeated; they came to one another's aid but failed to win the day, and their Constable became our prisoner. He asked to be allowed to negotiate with your men and went to the city, to return with a band of your monks and principal satellites, who negotiated with us. But we saw that they were inspired with your own spirit, wickedly intent on murderous designs, at loggerheads in a good cause but united in a bad one. When we saw that their fate was irremediably sealed and that their destiny from God was death we dismissed them, saying; 'We shall lay siege to you at once, and this is the first and last warning that we shall give you. ' Thus they returned, behaving like you, in the belief that you would be coming to their aid with your cavalry and infantry: but in time the Marshal was done away with,1 fear seized the monks, the Castellan bowed his head to disaster and
So in Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir's compilation, but other sources give a more sonorous heading ('the noble and exalted Count, the valiant lion, pride of Christendom, leader of the Crusaders, whose title, with the fall of Antioch, has changed from "Prince" to "Count",' etc. ). In spite of their pompous and polemical tone these epithets were apparently too much for the compiler, who allowed them to drop. In Professor Gabrieli's translation the often corrupt text of Ibn 'Abd az-Zahir is emended from that of an-Nuwairi (Quatreme`re: Sultans Mamlouks, I, II, pp. 190-91).
Referring to the threatened return of the Muslim army to Tripoli.
The following passage contains many untranslatable puns of the type already noted in the passages from 'Ima? d ad-Dinal-Isfahani.
1
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Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 185
death overwhelmed them from every side. We took the city by storm in the fourth hour of Saturday, the fourth day of the holy month of ramada? n (18 May), bringing despair to all those whom you had chosen to garrison and defend it. Not one of them but had certain wealth, and now there is not one of us but owns one of them and his money. You would have seen your knights prostrate beneath the horses' hooves, your houses stormed by pillagers and ransacked by looters, your wealth weighed by the quintal, your women sold four at a time and bought for a dinar of your own money! You would have seen the crosses in your churches smashed, the pages of the false Testaments scattered, the Patriarchs' tombs overturned. You would have seen your Muslim enemy trampling on the place where you celebrate the mass, cutting the throats of monks, priests and deacons upon the altars, bringing sudden death to the Patriarchs and slavery to the royal princes. You would have seen fire running through your palaces, your dead burned in this world before going down to the fires of the next, your palace lying unrecognizable, the Church of St. Paul and that of the Qusya? n2 pulled down and destroyed; then you would have said: 'Would that I were dust, and that no letter had ever brought me such tidings! ' Your soul would have left your body for sadness; you would have quenched its fires with the water of your tears. If you had seen your dwellings stripped of your wealth, your chariots seized at Suwaidiyya1 with your ships, your galleys become (as your enemy's property) detesters of you, you would then be convinced that the God who gave you Antioch has taken it away again, the Lord who bestowed that fortress on you has snatched it away, uprooting it from the face of the earth. You know now that we, by God's grace, have taken back from you the fortresses of Isla? m that you seized, Derku? sh and Shaqi? f Kafar Dubbi? n, as well as all your possessions in the province of Antioch; that we have brought your troops down from the citadels and have seized them by the hair and scattered them far and wide; that there is no one who could be called a rebel this side of the river; that if it could it would not call itself by that name any longer2 and weeps for penitence. Its tears at first ran clear, but now the blood spilt into it has dyed them red.
This letter we send brings you the good news that God granted you safety and long life by causing you not to live in Antioch at this time and allowing you to live elsewhere, for otherwise you would be dead, or a prisoner, or wounded, or knocked about. To be alive is something upon which all but the dead must congratulate themselves. Who knows if God saved your life so that you could make amends for your former disobedience and disrespect to Him! Since no survivor has come forward to tell you what happened, we have informed you of it, and since no one is in a position to give you the good news that you have saved your life at the loss of everything else, we bring you the tidings in a personal message to you, to give you accurate information about what really happened. After reading this letter you will have no reason to say that any of our news is false, just as after reading this dispatch you will need to ask no one to give you the details.
When this letter reached Bohemond he flew into a great rage. This was the only news he received of the fall of Antioch.
The Cathedral of Saint Peter, centre of the religious and municipal life of Christian Antioch. The port of Antioch, at the mouth of the Orontes.
The Orontes is called by the Arabs al-'Asi, 'the rebel', because of its course from south to north.
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NEGOTIATIONS WITH HUGH III, KING OF
CYPRUS AND JERUSALEM (IBN AL-FURA? T, VI, 146r-147r)
After the fall of Shaqi? f the Franks in Acre wanted a king capable of defending their interests. There was a child-king in Cyprus,3 with a regent who was commander of the army and whose name was Hugh, son of Henry. He was less than thirty years old, a cousin of the Prince of Tripoli and the son of the (former) King of Cyprus' sister,1 the aunt of the boy-king. The child died, and the kingdom fell to the young man, who was related through his wife to the lords of Arsu? f2 and through his mother to his cousin. 3 The latter had a greater right to the throne because his mother was the elder sister and the Frankish custom is for the son of the elder sister to take precedence, but he was abroad, at Sis,4 so the younger man seized Cyprus. The Franks then invited him to come to Acre, for the kingdom of Acre was linked to that of Cyprus. He came, and the people of Acre swore obedience to him. A letter arrived (at Baibars' court) from the Prince of Tyre announcing the King's arrival and saying that he was a man of discretion who, as soon as he arrived, had realized that Frankish opinion was in favour of doing everything possible to secure good relations with their neighbour the Sultan, and had said that he had no reason for hostility toward him. The Prince of Tyre concluded by asking the Sultan to make peace with him.
When the Sultan returned to Damascus from the Antioch campaign, as we have said, the King's ambassadors appeared, with a detachment of about one hundred Frankish cavalry, bringing gifts of goldsmiths' work, wild animals and other objects. A circumscribed agreement was reached between al-Malik az-Zahir (Baibars) and this King affecting the city and province of Acre, which comprises thirty-one villages. It was agreed that Kaifa and three villages should remain in Frankish hands and that the rest of its district should be divided in two; the province of Carmel was to be divided; 'Athli? th with three villages was to go (to the Franks? ) and the rest was to be divided; al-Qura? in with ten villages was to go (to the Franks? ) and the rest to the Sultan; of the province of Sidon the lowlands were to go to the Franks and the mountains to the Muslims, and there was to be peace in the kingdom of Cyprus. Such were the territorial provisions of the treaty, which was to last for ten years, unaffected by foreign invasion or the arrival of any king from overseas. Finally (the Sultan) persuaded him to release the hostages taken from various cities.
The Qadi Muhyi ad-Din ibn 'Abd az-Zahir, author of the Life of Baibars, recalls: 'I went as an ambassador with the ami? r Kama? l ad-Din ibn Shith to get the King to sign the truce. The Sultan sent with us a gift of twenty prisoners from Antioch, priests and monks. We entered Acre on 24 shawwa? l (666/ 7 July 1268) and were very well received. The Sultan had told us not to humiliate ourselves either in posture or in speech. When we entered we
Hugh II, who died in 1267 at the age of 14.
Isabella, younger sister of Henry I.
Hugh III married Isabella of Ibelin.
Hugh of Brienne, son of Maria, the elder sister of Henry I. In Cilicia or Lesser Armenia.
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Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 187
saw the King with his generals seated on a bench, and so we refused to sit down until a bench was set for us in front of him. His vizier put out his hand for the document but we would put it into the hand of no one but the King himself. He took it, and paused to make observations on certain points: one was that he wanted a separate treaty for Cyprus and that the peace should last as long as there was no foreign invasion and no king from abroad appeared, also that the Isma'ilites should not be included in the truce. He also asked for dispensations in the matter of hostages as well as other details. The Sultan's ambassadors returned without the King's signature to the treaty and the matter stood in abeyance. Every time that this King of Acre opened his mouth he said: "I am afraid of King Charles, the King of France's brother, and for fear of him I cannot conclude a peace treaty. "1 God knows best. '
(IBN 'ABD AZ-ZAHIR, FO. 177v-118v)
At the time of the truce, Acre had no king and was ruled from Cyprus by one of the Franks. When he assumed control of Acre he wrote in a tone of humble supplication to the Sultan asking for his friendship and inviting him to sign a truce on the terms already agreed. He also sent precious gifts of great value. The Sultan was not displeased by such an offering, and accepted his friendship and sent him gifts in exchange. The King asked that the truce should be in his name and expressed his obedience and submission to it. The Sultan acceded to his request, signed the truce and sent Muhyi ad-Din, author of the Life, and Kama? l ad-Din ibn Shith to the Frankish King with the truce to be signed. Muhyi ad-Din1 told me: 'When this King granted us an audience we found him sitting on a lofty throne and he declared that he would sit up on high and we lower down. The honour of Isla? m did not permit us to accept this, so we were raised to his level, and began our discussions with him. He began to cavil and wander from the point, to which I objected. He looked angrily at me and said to the interpreter: "Tell him to observe whom we have standing behind him. " I looked, and saw that he had his army drawn up in full battle array. "Say to him," said the King to the interpreter, "that he should look at this multitude. " I looked, and bowed my head. He said again: "Say to him: What do you think of what you have seen? " "May I speak with impunity? " "Yes. " "Then tell the King," I said, 'that in our Flag Store, which is a prison in the Sultan's realms, in Cairo, there are more Frankish prisoners than all these. ' The King was furious and made the sign of the Cross as he said: "By God, I will not spend any longer today listening to an embassy from such a people! " So we went away. Later, however, he received us again and we got him to sign the truce, which lasted as long as the Sultan al-Malik al-Mansu? r Qalawu? n lived. '1
Charles of Anjou was already beginning to assert his rights to the nominal crown of Jerusalem (which meant, in effect, the Kingdom of Acre) acquired from Maria of Antioch and officially proclaimed in 1277.
The compiler is speaking.
Thus a treaty was signed with Hugh III in 1268, contrary to what would appear from Ibn al-Fura? t's account, quoted by Ibn 'Abd-az-Zahir himself. But the reference to the truce's lasting until the time of Qalawu? n more probably refers to the truce of Caesarea (May 1279) between Baibars and Acre, later renewed by Qalawu? n (see below).
1
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188 Arab Historians of the Crusades
THE DESTRUCTION OF HISN AL-AKRA? D2
(IBN AL-FURA? T, FO. 189r-190v)
In ancient times this fortress was called Hisn as-Safh (Fortress of the Mountainside). Concerning the name given to it later by the Kurds Mu? ntakhab ad-Din Yahya ibn Abi Tayy an-Najja? r al-Ha? labi3 says in his history that the ami? r Shibl ad-Daula Nasr ibn Mirda? s, ruler of Hims, sent a Kurdish garrison force there in 422/1031, and that the fort took its name from them. In the time of the Ata-beg Tughtiki? n of Damascus a truce was signed by him and the Franks, one of its conditions being that the forts of Masyaf and Hisn al-Akra? d were included in it and that their inhabitants paid an annual tax to the Franks. This situation continued for some time. Then, says Ibn 'Asakir,4 (Raymond of) Saint-Gilles--God curse him! --began to beleaguer Tripoli and at the same time subjected the fort and others in its neighbourhood to continual attacks. In 496/1103 he besieged and almost subdued it. He was on the point of taking it when Jana? h ad-Daula the ruler of Hims was murdered. Raymond wanted Hims, so he abandoned Hisn al-Akra? d. At his death his son Bertrand5 continued his father's policy of harrying the fort and devastating its surrounding countryside, which kept its inhabitants in a state of terror. Then he went off to besiege Beiru? t and Tancred, Prince of Antioch, took over most of the region and was by some means kept at bay by the Syrians. He too besieged this fort, and reduced its inhabitants to such straits that the ruler surrendered it, hoping that Tancred would allow him to stay there as a reward for having given him a warmer welcome than he had to Saint-Gilles. Tancred, however, cleared the city of its inhabitants, whom he took away with him, and established there a garrison of Franks, or so Ibn 'Asakir says. According to another version Tancred, Prince of Antioch left that city, besieged Hisn al-Akra? d and received the citizens' surrender at the end of 503/1110, and it remained in Frankish hands until the events that we are about to relate, God willing. Ibn Munqidh in his Kita? b al-Bulda? n1 says that the champion of the Faith. al-Malik al-'Adil Nur ad-Din Mahmud ruler of Damascus--God bless him! --had contacts with one of the Turcoman infantrymen in the service of the Franks who ruled Hisn al-Akra? d, with whom he arranged that when Nur ad-Din attacked the fort the man and a group of his companions would support him, raise his banner on the walls and shout his name. This Turcoman had several sons and a brother, all of whom enjoyed the confidence of the Franks in the fort. The signal agreed between him and Nur ad-Din was that he should stand on top of one of the ramparts. But, it is said, Nur ad-Din informed no one of the plan, and so when the troops were advancing and saw the man standing there they shot at him and killed him; on his death his supporters were all taken and the plot came to nothing.
In Arabic 'fortress of the Kurds', in French 'Krak des Chevaliers', the great fortress of the Hospitallers north-east of Tripoli.
Lost Shi'ite historian of the twelfth century, quoted on several occasions by Ibn al-Fura? t. Twelfth-century historian of Damascus.
See above.
Lost work by Usama ibn Munqidh, famous author of the Autobiography. All these references reveal Ibn al-Fura? t as a habitual compiier.
2
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Part Four: The Mamlu? ks and the Liquidation of the Crusaders 189
Hisn al-Akra? d was not among the cities taken by Saladin but remained in Frankish hands until al-Malik az-Zahir Rukn ad-Din Baibars led the 669/1271 expedition against Tripoli of which we have already spoken. He besieged Hisn al-Akra? d on 9 rajab/21 February: on 20 rajab/4 March the suburbs were taken and al-Malik al-Mansu? r, ruler of Hama? t,1 arrived with his army. The Sultan went to meet him, descended from his horse when al-Mansu? r did and advanced beneath his banners without bodyguards or equerries as a gesture of courtesy to the Lord of Hama? t. At his command a tent was brought and pitched for him. The ami? r of Sahyu? n, Saif ad-Din, and Najm ad-Din the Grand Master of the Isma'ilites also arrived.
At the end of rajab work was completed on a large number of catapults. On 7 sha'ba? n/22 March the bastions were taken by storm and an emplacement was built from which the Sultan could draw a bow at the enemy. Then Baibars began to distribute gifts of money and robes of honour.
On 16 sha'ba? n/31 March a breach was made in one of the towers of the fortress, our soldiers went up to attack, got up into the fort and took possession of it, while the Franks withdrew to the keep. A whole group of Franks and Christians was then set free by the Sultan as a pious offering in the name of al-Malik as-Sa'i? d. 2 The catapults were then moved into the fortress and directed on the keep. At this point the Sultan wrote certain letters as if they had been written by the Frankish general in Tripoli, ordering them to surrender. They begged that their lives should be spared, which was granted on condition that they returned to their homelands. On Tuesday 24 sha'ba? n/ 7 April the Franks left the fort and were sent home, and the Sultan took possession of it.
He wrote a letter to the Grand Master of the Hospital, the ruler of Hisn al-Akra? d, to give him the news of the victory. These were his words: 'This letter is addressed to fre`re Hugues3--God make him one of those who do not oppose destiny or rebel against Him who has reserved victory and triumph for His army, and do not believe that any caution is sufficient to save men from what God has decreed, or that they can protect themselves from it within the shelter of buildings or walls of stone--to inform him of the conquest, by God's grace, of Hisn al-Akra? d, which you fortified and built out and furbished--you would have done better to destroy it--and whose defence you entrusted to your Brethren. They have failed you; by making them live there you destroyed them, for they have lost both the fort and you. These troops of mine are incapable of besieging any fort and leaving it able to resist them, or of serving an unfortunate Sa'i? d' ('happy, felix')1.
The Sultan named the ami? r Sarim ad-Din al-Ka? firi as his commander in Hisn al-Akra?
