n, and this caused great alarm (in the Muslim camp), for now the
Frankish
King was very close to the Muslim army.
Arab-Historians-of-the-Crusades
Near the town where he lived was a city called Lucera, whose inhabitants were all Muslims from the island of Sicily; they hold public prayer there on a Friday and make open profession of the Muslim Faith.
This has been so since the time of the Emperor Manfred's father Frederick.
He had undertaken the building of a scientific institute there3 for the study of all the branches of speculative science; most of his officials and courtiers were Muslims, and in his camp the call to prayer, and even the canonic prayers themselves, were openly heard.
When I returned home, news came that the Pope--the Prince of Rome the Great--together with the brother of the King of France mentioned earlier,1 was gathering an army to attack him. Rome was five day's journey from the town where I had stayed. The Pope had already excommunicated Manfred for his Muslim leanings and for having dishonoured Christian religious law. His brother and his father the Emperor had also been excommunicated by the Pope of Rome for the same thing. They say that the Pope of Rome is for them the vicar of the Messiah, and his representative, with authority to decide what is permitted and what is forbidden, to cut off and to separate. It is he who crowns their Kings and sets them on the throne, and everything in their law needs his approval. He is a priest,2 and when he dies he is succeeded by the man who is endowed as he was with this sacerdotal quality.
See below for St. Louis' Crusade in Egypt.
No one looking at one of Idrisi's maps would be surprised at this Muslim notion that Italy and Spain are contiguous.
Valuable information, not known before, about the cultural life of the Muslim community in Lucera. The founder of this dar al-'ilm was apparently Manfred, but the sentence could, strictly, apply to either father or son.
Charles of Anjou, brother of King Louis IX.
The Arabic has 'monk, friar'.
1 2
3
1 2
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 165
While I was in their land I was told a strange story according to which the title of Emperor, before the time of Frederick, was held by his father, who died when his son was a boy in early adolescence. Several of the Frankish kings aspired to be Emperor and each hoped that the Pope of Rome would bestow the title on him. Frederick, who was a German--the Germans are one of the Frankish nations--was a man of astute cunning, He met each of the aspirants privately and said to him: 'I do not want this title; I am not worthy of it. When we see the Pope, tell him that you leave the choice to Frederick and that you will stand by his decision, he being the son of the dead Emperor. I will choose you alone of them all, and my intention is to support you and be your ally. ' Frederick confided this to each of them, and each one believed him and trusted his sincerity. They all met in the city of Rome the Great, Frederick among them. Frederick had ordered a large band of his German nobles to mount their horses and wait near to the great church in Rome where the council was meeting. When the kings assembled the Pope said: 'What do you think about this office; which of you is the most worthy of it? ' and he placed the royal crown in front of them. Each replied: 'I leave the decision to Frederick. What he decides I will accept and recommend in my turn, since he is the Emperor's son and the most appropriate person to give the council advice on the matter. 'Then Frederick stood up and said: 'I am the Emperor's son and the most worthy of his title and his throne, and all have chosen and accepted me. ' Then the Pope, who chose only according to the will of the assembly, put the crown on his head. They all stood bemused while Frederick, the crown on his head, left hurriedly and mounted his horse with the whole company of Germans whom he had ordered to be near the church door. With them he galloped as fast as they could go back to his own land. Later he committed acts that incur excommunication among them, and was excommunicated.
I was told that at Acre the Emperor said to the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din ibn ash-Shaikh of blessed memory: 'Explain to me what your Caliph is. ' Fakhr ad-Din said: 'He is the descendant of our Prophet, whom God bless and save,1 who has received the title of Caliph from his father, and his father from his father, so that the Caliphate has remained in the Prophet's house and has not moved outside its members. ' 'How fine that is! ' he said. 'But these stupid men'--meaning the Franks--'take a man from the sewer,2 without any bond of blood or relationship with the Messiah, ignorant and incapable of making himself understood, and they make him their Caliph, the representative of the Messiah among them, a man who could not possibly be worthy of such an office. Whereas your Caliph, a descendant of the Prophet, is clearly more worthy than any other man of the dignity invested in him! '1
The Pope and the King of France's brother attacked Manfred, the Emperor's son, and in a pitched battle destroyed his army and took him captive. The Pope ordered that he should be killed, and it was done. The King of France's brother2 reigned over the lands that had belonged to the Emperor's son and held possession of them. This occurred, I think, in 663/1265.
The definition applies to the members of the dynasty of the 'Abbasids, who were descended from Muhammad's uncle, 'Abba? s.
Literally: 'dung-heap'.
It is clear from this and other passages that an awareness of certain parallels between the Caliphate and the Papacy was widespread at the time in spite of the profound religious and constitutional differences between the two institutions.
1
2 1
Text had 'his brother', obviously a lapsus for 'brother of the King of France': Charles of Anjou,
2
as stated elsewhere by Abu l-Fida? ' after Ibn Wasil.
166 Arab Historians of the Crusades
TWO ARABIC LETTERS WRITTEN BY FREDERICK
(TA'RI? KH MANSURI, 34-7)
In the year 627/1229 an ambassador to al-Kamil came to Harra? n3 from the Emperor with a letter to Fakhr ad-Din, the son of the Shaikh ash-Shuyu? kh,4 which ran as follows: Heading and dedication:
The august Caesar, the Roman Emperor Frederick, son of the Emperor Henry, son of the Emperor Frederick, by God's grace victorious, powerful in His might, exalted in His glory, King of Germany and Lombardy, Tuscany and Italy, Longobardy and Calabria and Sicily, and of the Syrian Kingdom of Jerusalem, support of the Roman Pontifex,5 champion of the Christian faith.
In the name of God, the merciful, the forgiving
We departed, and left behind us our heart, which stayed (with you) detached from our body, our race and our tribe.
And it swore that its love for you would never change, eternally, and escaped, fleeing from its obedience to me. 1
If we set ourselves to describe the great desire we feel and the sorrowful sensations of solitude and nostalgia we endure for the high excellency of Fakhr ad-Din--may God lengthen his days and extend his years, and make his feet firm in power, and keep the affection He has for him and do him honour, and give his desires fulfilment, and direct his actions and his words and heap him with abundant graces, and renew his safety night and morning--we should exceed by far the limit of an exordium and err from the path of reason. For we have been smitten, after a time of tranquility and ease, with a bitter anguish, and after pleasure and peace with the torment of separation; all comfort seems to have fled, the cord of strong-mindedness is cut, the hope of meeting again turned to despair, the fabric of patience slashed. At our parting2
IfIhadbeengiventhechoicebetweenlifeanddeathIshouldhavesaid:'Itisdeaththatcallsme. '
Death. is tired of us, he has taken others in our place; he has chosen to leave us and seems to have forgotten our love.
We are consoled by the words of Abu t-Tayyib:3
When you part from those who could have prevented that parting, it is they who are really going away.
Now, to talk about ourselves, and in the knowledge that Your Highness likes to hear good news of us and our affairs and to learn of our noble deeds, we inform you: that as we
Harra? n, in Mesopotamia, was also a part of the Ayyubid domains.
Al-Kamil's plenipotentiary and the Emperor's guide in the Holy Land (see above).
One of the ironies of protocol.
For the whole of this first section of the letter verse and rhymed prose alternate, expressing in the far-fetched images that characterize Arabic rhetoric grief at the departure and absence of a friend. The text is often far from clear.
Amari makes the following lines prose, but the mutilated text seems to reveal glimpses of poetry, particularly in the first line.
Al-Mutanabbi, the great romantic poet of the tenth century.
3 4 5 1
2 3
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 167
explained (to you) in Sidon, the Pope has treacherously and deceitfully taken one of our fortresses, called Montecassino, handed over to him by its accursed Abbot. He had promised to do even more harm(? ), but could not, for our faithful subjects expected our return. He was forced therefore to spread false news of our death, and made the Cardinals swear to it and to say that our return was impossible. They sought to deceive the populace by these tricks and by saying that after us no-one could administer our estates and look after them for our son so well as the Pope. So, on these men's oaths who should be High Priests of the Faith and successors of the Apostles, a rabble of louts and criminals was led by the nose. When we arrived at the gates of well-defended Brindisi we found that King John and the Lombards had made hostile raids into our domains,1 and doubted even the news of our arrival because of what the Cardinals had sworn to them. We sent letters and messengers announcing our safe return, and our enemies now began to feel perturbed, troubled and alarmed, and turned tail in disorder and retreated for a distance of two days' march, while our subjects became submissive again. Then the Lombards, who made up the greater part of their army, could not endure to be found rebellious and breaking faith with their Lord, and all turned back. As for King John and his companions, shame and fear seized them and they crowded together in a narrow pass from which they feared to move or come out, for the new loyalty of the whole countryside towards us made it impossible for them. Meanwhile we had collected a large army of Germans who were with us in Syria and of those who left the Holy Land before us but whom the wind had cast upon our shores, and of other loyal men and officials of our state; with these we have marched off by long stages towards our enemy's territories.
Finally we inform Your Highness of our desire for frequent letters from you revealing your happy state, your interests and your needs, and of the salutations that we would have transmitted to the commanders of (your army) and to all your pages, mamlu? ks and courtiers. On your health be God's blessing and mercy. Written at Barletta 23 August of the second indiction2 (1229).
This is the text of the second letter, which is headed in the same way as the first, and contains the following news:
We have assembled a great army and are in haste to fight those who await us and have not fled (like the others) before us. Now what we anticipated has come about: they had besieged one of our forts3 using catapults, mobile siege-engines and instruments of war, but when they heard of our advance, in spite of the great distance separating us they immediately burnt all their weapons and fled before us, while we advanced rapidly to catch up with them and to disperse and destroy them. The Pope chose to claim those whom we found there, and has sent them back, afraid for their lives(? ) and repenting of their plot. What other news we have we shall write to Your Highness, God willing.
We have copied these letters here to show clearly the nature of the Kings who surrounded the King-Emperor, and the extent of his power. In fact no one in Christendom from the time of Alexander until today has ruled a kingdom the equal of his, particularly when one considers his power, his behaviour to their Caliph, the Pope, and his audacity in attacking him and driving him out.
The 'Clavisignati' (Schlu? sselsoldaten), the Papal army under the command of ex-King John of Brienne, who in Frederick's absence had invaded and devastated his kingdom.
A fiscal period of fifteen years.
Probably Caiazzo, besieged in September 1229.
1
2 3
CHAPTER THREE
The final offensive of the Crusades was Louis IX's Egyptian expedition, which came back to make another attempt to take the places vainly besieged thirty years before by Pelagius and John of Brienne. The most important Arabic historians for this period are Ibn Wasil and Maqrizi: the first a contemporary and sometimes an eye-witness of the events he records, the second rather later, but here as elsewhere the compiler of earlier material. He follows Ibn Wasil's account quite closely but enriches it with various details taken from different sources, or from a common, unknown source. We rely here on Ibn Wasil's version for the dramatic events of the Crusade, and take from Maqrizi only certain documents and Muslim comments on the arrival of the French King, and as a final word, an outline of the Tunisian expedition of twenty years later, on which Louis lost his life.
Saint Louis' Crusade
THE FRANKS ARRIVE IN EGYPT AND OCCUPY DAMIETTA (IBN WASIL, FO. 356r-357r)
At the second hour of Thursday 20 safar 647/5 June 1249 the great Frankish fleet, including all the ships from the Syrian coast, arrived and dropped anchor at the mouth of the Nile, facing the Muslims. The King of France's tent was pitched (it was red in colour). The enemy was attacked by some detachments of Muslim troops, and among them was a man who fell a martyr for the Faith that day, the ami? r Najm ad-Din ibn Shaikh al-Isla? m. We have already mentioned the fact that he and his brother Shiha? b ad-Din accompanied al-Malik as-Salih to al-Karak on the orders of al-Malik an-Nasir Dawu? d. Another Egyptian ami? r to fall among the brave was a certain al-Waziri. In the evening the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf ibn Shaikh ash-Shuyu? kh1 marched out at the head of the Egyptian troops and cut the bridge crossing to the eastern shore where Damietta stood so that the western shore was now entirely in Frankish hands. Then the next morning the army, led (to defy discipline) by al-Malik as-Salih's serious illness, and with no encouragement or incitement, marched out toward Ashmu? n Tanna? h. Even Fakhr ad-Din made off in that direction, and so the eastern shore too was without Muslim troops to defend it.
The people of Damietta feared for their own lives if they were besieged. There was of course a garrison of brave Kinanites in the city, but God struck terror into their hearts and
He who twenty years earlier had conducted the negotiations with Frederick, and had now been
1
put in charge of Egyptian defence by the sick Ayyubid Sultan al-Malik as-Salih.
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 169
they left Damietta, together with the population, and marched all night. They abandoned the city without a living soul in it, man, woman or child. They all left under cover of night, accompanied by the troops, and fled toward Ashmu? n Tanna? h. The behaviour of the people, of Fakhr ad-Din and of the troops was shameful: if Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf had prevented their flight and stood firm Damietta would have been able to defend itself, for when the Franks attacked it the first time, in the reign of al-Malik al-Kamil, it was even worse provisioned and armed, yet the enemy failed to take it for a whole year. It was in fact besieged in 615/1218 and taken in 616/1219, and the enemy had no success until the population was decimated by plague and famine. If the Kinanites and the people of Damietta had shut the gate and entrenched themselves within them, after the army had gone to Ashmu? n Tanna? h, the Franks could not have overcome them. The army would have been behind them and could have defended them. They had provisions, munitions and arms in great quantity, and could have defended the city for at least two years. But when God ordains something there is no way of avoiding it. The people of Damietta however are not to blame if when they saw the troops in flight and heard of the Sultan's illness they were afraid to face a long siege and to die of hunger, as happened the last time.
On the morning of Sunday 23 safar the Franks appeared before Damietta and found it deserted, with the gates wide open. They occupied it without striking a blow and seized all the munitions, arms, provisions, food and equipment that they found there. It was a disaster without precedent. The author of this history says: on the Sunday morning a messenger brought the news to the ami? r Husa? m ad-Din Muhammad ibn Abi 'Ali al-Hadhbani, with whom I was staying. There was great grief and amazement, and despair fell upon the whole of Egypt, the more so because the Sultan was ill, too weak to move, and without the strength to control his army, which was trying to impose its will on him instead. As well as all this, when the people of Damietta and the Kinanites reached the Sultan he was extremely angry with the Kinanites and ordered that they should all be hanged, which was done. He was also distressed by the behaviour of Fakhr ad-Din and his troops, but circumstances compelled him to muster them again and pass over what they had done.
AL-MALIK AS-SALIH WITHDRAWS AND ENCAMPS AT MANSURA (IBN WASIL, FO. 357r-v)
After these events the Sultan al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b set out with his army on the direct route for Mansura, where he encamped. It was here that his father al-Malik al-Kamil had encamped during the first attack on Damietta. The town stood on the eastern bank of the Nile, facing Jarji? r, with the canal of Ashmu? n Tanna? h dividing it from the peninsula on which Damietta is situated. 1 We have already stated that al-Malik as-Salih had the camp set up here and a wall built between it and the Nile. His father al-Malik al-Kamil had a great palace here on the Nile, and al-Malik as-Salih halted there and had his tent pitched beside it. The Sultan took up position at Mansura on Tuesday 25 safar; the army began to make such buildings as still stood inhabitable and set up markets. The wall
'Peninsula' refers to the long strip of land between the Nile and Lake Manzala at the end of which
1
stands Damietta.
170 Arab Historians of the Crusades
facing the Nile was rebuilt and faced with a curtain wall, galleys and fire-ships brought up, loaded with ammunition and troops and anchored under the wall, and uncountable numbers of irregular infantry and volunteers for the Faith flocked to Mansura. A number of Bedouin Arabs also came and began to make raids and attacks on the Franks. They, for their part, fortified the walls of Damietta and filled the city with soldiers.
On Monday 28 rabi? ' 1/13 July forty-six Frankish prisoners, among them two knights, came to Cairo, captured by the Bedouin and their followers. On Saturday 5 rabi? ' II thirty- nine others, taken by the Arabs and the men from Khwarizm, arrived and then twenty- two others, taken unexpectedly, entered the city on 7 rabi' II. Finally, on Wednesday 15 rabi? ' II, thirty-five more arrived, among them three knights. On Friday 24 rabi' II news came that al-Malik as-Salih's troops in Damascus had attacked Sidon and accepted the Frankish surrender. After this fresh groups of Frankish prisoners arrived every moment; for instance, fifty came in on Friday 18 jumada 1/30 August. Meanwhile al-Malik as-Salih was weakening, his strength wasting away. The doctors, who were at his pillow day and night, now despaired of his life. His strength of mind and will remained as powerful as ever, but two grave diseases combined to overcome him: an ulcer in the groin and phthisis.
THE FRANKS ADVANCE AND TAKE UP POSITION FACING THE MUSLIMS
(IBN WASIL, FO. 364r-365r)
When the Franks heard of al-Malik as-Salih's death (15 sha'ba? n 647/24 November 1249) they left Damietta in full force, while their fleet moved upstream parallel with them and anchored at Farisku? r before proceeding another stage up the river. This was Thursday 24 sha'ba? n 647. On Friday a letter reached Cairo from the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din warning the people and urging them to join the Holy War. It was signed with a stamp (siji? lt) similar to that of al-Malik as-Salih,1 to persuade the people that the letter came from him. It began: 'Come out, heavily or lightly armed, and fight for God's cause with your money and your life. It will be better for you, if you could only understand this! '2 It was an eloquent letter, composed I think by Baha? ' ad-Din Zuha? ir,3 full of fine exhortations to come and fight the infidel. It said that the Franks were moving in full force against Egypt and the Muslim territories, thirsting for conquest, and that it was the duty of all Muslims to rush to arms and drive them out. This letter was read out to the people from the pulpit of the Great Mosque in Cairo. The people wept bitterly and grew frenzied, and from Cairo and all Egypt a great crowd set out (for the Holy War). The death of al-Malik as-Salih caused great grief, and meanwhile the Franks holding Damietta realized that if the Muslim army encamped at Mansura could be induced to withdraw even a short distance, the whole of Egypt would be theirs at once.
Whose death he was trying to conceal until his son al-Malik al-Mu'azzam arrived and was safely enthroned. The royal stamp ('alama) was the autograph signature of the sovereign on State documents.
Qur'a? n IX, 41
Well-known poet, secretary to the Ayyubids.
1
2 3
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 171
On Tuesday 1 ramada? n/8 December 1249 a fierce skirmish took place between the Franks and the Muslims, in which we lost one of the court officials, the ami? r al-'Ala'i, as well as other soldiers. The Franks made their camp at Sharimsha? h. On Monday 7 ramada? n they camped at Baramu?
n, and this caused great alarm (in the Muslim camp), for now the Frankish King was very close to the Muslim army. On Sunday 13 ramada? n the enemy reached the end of the Damietta peninsula and so found itself face to face with the Muslim forces. The bulk of the army was in Mansura, on the eastern bank, but a part, with the sons of al-Malik an-Nasir Dawu? d, al-Malik al-Mu'azzam's1 son, that is al-Malik al-Amjad, al-Malik az-Zahir, al-Malik al-Mu'azzam and al-Malik al-Awhad with their elder brothers, occupied the western bank. There were twelve of al-Malik an-Nasir's sons, of varying ages, in Cairo for the occasion. Also on the same side of the river were al-Malik an-Nasir's brother al-Malik al-Qahir, and also al-Malik al-Mughi? th. When they reached the end of the Damietta peninsula in full force and came face to face with the Muslims, the Franks began to dig themselves a wall protected by screens, and set up catapults to attack the Muslims, whose galleys were across the river from Mansura. This led to a battle for the control of the land and the sea.
A SURPRISE ATTACK ON THE MUSLIMS AT MANSURA. THE DEATH OF THE AMIR FAKHR AD-DIN YUSUF. THE SUBSEQUENT MUSLIM VICTORY
(IBN WASIL, 365v-366v)
We have already described how the Franks came face to face with the Muslims and how fighting broke out between the two sides, separated by the Ashmu? n, a branch of the Nile. The Ashmu? n is a small canal with a few narrow fords. A Muslim showed the Franks where one of the fords could be safely crossed, and on the morning of Tuesday 5 dhu l-qa'da/io February 1250 the Franks mounted their horses and moved down to the ford. The Muslims suddenly found that the Franks were in their camp. The ami? r Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf ibn Shaikh ash-Shuyu? kh was washing himself in his bath when he heard the cry go up that the Franks had taken the Muslims by surprise. Frenziedly he leapt into the saddle, without weapons or any means of defending himself, and a band of Franks1 fell on him and killed him--God have mercy upon him! He was a worthy ami? r, learned and cultivated, generous and wise, high-minded and magnanimous, without peer among his brothers or any other men. He had been very successful in his career and had risen to a high position, next in rank to al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b. His ambition reached to the throne itself,2 but God ended his life as a martyr for the Faith.
This al-Mu'azzam, whom we have already met as the brother of al-Kamil and the father of an-Nasir Dawu? d of Damascus and later of al-Karak, should not be confused with al-Mu'azzam Turansha? h, son of as-Salih, who had now succeeded his father and was to be the last Ayyubid in Egypt. These Ayyubid names are often confusingly duplicated.
A band of Templars, according to Maqrizi's more detailed account.
He was in fact regent of Egypt between as-Salih's death and al-Mu'azzam's coronation, on his arrival from Mesopotamia.
1
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172 Arab Historians of the Crusades
The Frankish King penetrated Mansura and reached the Sultan's palace. The Franks spread through the narrow streets of the town, while the civil and military population scattered in all directions. Isla? m was about to suffer a mortal blow, and the Franks were now sure of their victory. It was lucky for the Muslims that the Franks dispersed through the streets. At the moment of supreme danger, the Turkish battalion of the mamlu? ks of al-Malik as-Salih, Bahrites and Jamdarites,3 lions in war and mighty in battle, rode like one man upon the enemy in a charge that broke them and drove them back. The Franks were massacred one and all with sword and club. The Bahrites slaughtered them and drove them back through the streets of al-Mansura, and the Franks lost 1,500 of their finest cavalry there. Meanwhile their infantry had reached the bridge of al-Mansu? r over the Ashmu? n canal and were preparing to cross. If the defence there had been weak the Frankish infantry could have crossed in force to the Muslim side and terrible damage would have been caused, for in these numbers they could have defended their cavalry. (But it did not happen) and had it not been for the restricted field of battle, for we were fighting in alleys and narrow streets, the Muslims would have exterminated the Franks to a man. Instead of this some survivors succeeded in escaping and fled to Jadila, where they reassembled while the darkness of night separated the two sides.
The Franks built a wall at Jadila and dug a trench to defend themselves. Some stayed on the eastern side, and held the roads along the peninsula leading to Damietta, protected by trench and wall. This battle was the source of victory and the key to the final success. Messages announcing it reached Cairo and were brought to Husa? m ad-Din Muhammad ibn Abi 'Ali1 on the afternoon of the day of battle. They said that while messenger-pigeons were being sent off the enemy had attacked Mansura and a violent battle had followed. That was all, and we and the Muslims were in complete confusion, everyone already imagining disaster for Isla? m. At sunset Muslim fugitives from the battle arrived, and the Bab an-Nasr2 stayed open all night, the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. Military and civilians, secretaries and officials entered the city in flight from Mansura, knowing nothing of the situation after the Franks had entered the town. Among them was Taj ad-Din, known as Ibn bint al-A'azz, director of the Diwa? n as-suhba, and he reported to Husa? m ad-Din. We remained in suspense until the sun rose on Wednesday and the joyful news of victory reached us. The city prepared for a feast and the glad tidings were announced by a roll of drums. The victory over the Franks caused great joy and exultation. This was the first battle in which the Turkish lions defeated the infidel dogs. The good news reached al-Malik al-Mu'azzam while he was on his way, and made him march even faster toward Egypt.
THE MUSLIM FLEET ATTACKS AND CRIPPLES THE FRANKISH FLEET (IBN WASIL, FO. 368r-v)
While the Franks stabilized their positions, reinforcements were reaching them from further up the Nile, from Damietta. The Muslims took some ships on camel-back up to the
The Bahrites, from whom came the first Mamlu? k dynasty, were so called because they were quartered at Cairo on the Nile (bahr). The Jamdarites ('gentlemen of the wardrobe') were another mamlu? k regiment.
Governor and then vizier of Cairo and Ibn Wasil's employer.
A gate into Cairo, still in existence.
3
1 2
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 173
Bahr al-Mahalla,1 and there launched them and embarked troops. There was water at that time from the flooding of the Nile, stagnant, but communicating with the Nile itself. When the Frankish vessels coming upstream from Damietta passed close to the Bahr al-Mahalla the Muslims, who were lying in wait, fell on them and gave battle. The Muslim squadron from al-Mansura came downstream to join the fight and they surrounded the Franks and captured them and their ships. Fifty-two Frankish men-of-war were taken, with about a thousand men on board and all the provisions they were carrying. The prisoners were taken on camels to the Muslim camp. For the Franks the defeat broke their supply-line and seriously weak-ened their position. They found themselves very short of provisions and blockaded without the means either of staying put or of leaving their position. The Muslims had the upper hand, and now nourished plans to attack.
On 1 dhu l-hijja/7 March 1250 the Franks took seven Muslim fire-ships on the Bahr al-Mahalla, but the Muslims escaped with their gear. On the second, al-Malik al-Mu'azzam ordered the ami? r Husa? m ad-Din to enter Cairo and take up residence in the vizier's palace and to perform all the usual functions of the Sultan's viceroy. The Qadi Jama? l ad-Din ibn Wasil, the author, says: The Sultan gave robes of honour to me and also to a group of lawyers who presented themselves to do him homage. Al-Malik al-Mu'azzam's liberality extended in this way to anyone who presented himself at his gate. So I entered Cairo with the ami? r Husa? m ad-Din. On Monday 9 dhu l-hijja, the day of 'Arafa,1 Muslim galleys attacked the Frankish supply-ships. The encounter took place near the Mosque of Victory and the Muslims took thirty-two vessels from the Franks, of which seven were galleys. This weakened the Franks even more, and supplies in the camp were even scarcer. Then the Franks opened negotiations for a truce with the Muslims. Their ambassadors arrived and went into consultation with the ami? r Zain ad-Din, a jamda? r ami? r, and the Grand Qadi Badr ad-Din. The Franks wanted to exchange Damietta for Jerusalem and a part of the Syrian coast, but this was not acceptable. On Friday 26 dhu l-hijja the Franks burnt all their encampments, sparing only the ships, and decided to take refuge in Damietta. At the end of the year (647) they were still in the same position, facing the Muslims.
TOTAL ROUT OF THE FRANKS, AND THE CAPTURE OF THE KING OF FRANCE
(IBN WASIL, FO. 369r-370r)
On the night before Wednesday 3 muharram 648/7 April 1250, the resplendent night that disclosed a great victory and a stupendous triumph, the Franks marched out with all their forces towards Damietta, which they counted on to defend them, and their ships began to move downstream in convoy. When the Muslims heard the news they set out after them, crossed to the Frankish bank of the river and were soon at their heels. As Wednesday dawned the Muslims had surrounded the Franks and were slaughtering them, dealing out death and captivity. Not one escaped. It is said that the dead numbered 30,000. In the battle
A backwater of the Nile, mentioned in operations in the Fifth Crusade. A solemn festival during the Muslim Pilgrimage.
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174 Arab Historians of the Crusades
the Bahrite mamlu? ks of al-Malik as-Salih distinguished themselves by their courage and audacity: they caused the Franks terrible losses and played the major part in the victory. They fought furiously: it was they who flung themselves into the pursuit of the enemy: they were Islam's Templars. 1 The accursed King of France and the great Frankish princes retreated to the hill of Munya, where they surrendered and begged for their lives. They were given assurances by the eunuch Jama? l ad-Din Muhsin as-Sa? lihi, on the strength of which they surrendered. They were all taken to Mansura, where chains were put on the feet of the King of France and his companions. They were imprisoned in the house where the secretary Fakhr ad-Din ibn Luqma? n was living, and the eunuch Sabi? h al-Mu'a? zzami, a servant of al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Turansha? h, son of al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b, was set to guard them; he had come with his master from Hisn Kaifa? and had been promoted and shown great honour.
Referring to this episode, the imprisonment of the King of France in Fakhr ad-Din ibn Luqma? n's house, and the appointment of the eunuch Sabi? h to look after him, Jama? l ad-Din ibn Yahya ibn Matru? h wrote:
Speak to the Frenchman, if you visit him, a true word from a good counsellor:
'God requite you for what has happened, the slaughter of the Messiah's adorers!
You came to the East boasting of conquest, believing our martial drum-roll to be a mere
breath of wind.
And your stupidity has brought you to a place where your eyes can no longer see in the
broad plain any way of escape.
And of all your company, whom you commanded so well that you led them into the
tomb's embrace,
Of fifty thousand not one can be seen that is not dead, or wounded and a prisoner.
God help you to other similar adventures: who knows that in the end Jesus will not
breathe freely (of your impious worship1)!
If your Pope is content with this, how often is a statesman guilty of deceit! '
And say to them, if they ever think of returning to take their revenge, or for any other
reason:
'The house of Ibn Luqma? n is always ready here, and the chain and the eunuch Sabi? h
are still here. '
After this al-Malik al-Mu'azzam and the victorious army advanced to Damietta and
camped at Farisku? r in the province of Damietta. The Sultan's tent was erected, and beside it a wooden tower which from time to time al-Malik al-Mu'azzam would climb to while away the time, putting off the capture of Damietta. If he had surrounded and entered it quickly and forced the King of France to surrender all his possesions, he would have taken it very quickly. But the evil conduct to which he abandoned himself deterred him, and indeed his fate was already sealed.
Their enemy's highest praise for the Order's military valour.
For the Muslims Jesus Christ is a prophet, the miracle-working servant of God. The Christian cult must therefore appear sacrilegious to Christ himself, according to this view.
1 1
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 175 THE ASSASSINATION OF AL-MALIK
AL-MU'AZZAM TURANSHA? H (IBN WASIL, FO. 371r-v)
When the soldiers, especially the Bahrite mamlu? ks belonging to his father, lost their loyalty to him,2 as we have described, a group of them decided to kill him. On the morning of Monday 30 muliarram 648/2 May 1250 al-Malik al-Mu'azzam gave an audience in his tent. He sat on his couch while all the others ate, and he ate with them, as usual. After the meal the ami? rs dispersed to their houses and he got up and went toward his little tent. Then Rukn ad-Din Baibars came forward. He was one of al-Malik as-Salih's Jamdarriyya, known as al-Bunduqdari, and was later to become ruler of Egypt under the name al-Malik az-Zahir and to defeat the Mongols at 'Ain Jalu? t with the aid of al-Malik al-Muzaffar Qutu? z; and once on the throne, to reconquer most of the Frankish domains, for example Safad, ash-Shaqi? f, Antioch and the Isma'ilite territories, and to defeat the Mongols on several occasions. 1 This man struck al-Malik al-Mu'azzam with a sword and wounded him in the shoulder and threw the sword away. Al-Malik al-Mu'azzam turned around in his audience chamber, and his courtiers and servants flocked round him, as well as some of his father's mamlu? ks, asking what had happened. 'One of the Bahrites has wounded me. ' Ruqn ad-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari was there and said: 'It must have been an Isma'ilite,'2 but the Sultan replied: 'No, it was a Bahrite alone who did this to me'. Then the Bahrites were afraid, and dreaded what he might do. The Sultan climbed into his tower and sent for a surgeon to attend his hand. Meanwhile his father's mamlu? ks assembled, stricken with horror to hear the attempt (on the Sultan's life) was blamed on them. To this was added their resentment that he had set them aside, so they surrounded the tower. The Sultan opened the windows and called to the people for help, but no one responded, and none of the Egyptian ami? rs would come to his aid, for he had lost their loyalty completely. Fire was brought to burn down the tower, so he came down (and left it). Al-Bunduqdari, who had already wounded him, fell upon him, and he fled to the river bank where some of his fire-ships were, hoping to reach them in time to get on board and defend himself. But Faris ad-Din Aqtay caught up with him and killed him with a blow from his sword--God have mercy on him! He was still young, not yet thirty, I think, but I have been unable to discover the date of his birth. He ruled over Egypt for two months.
In favour of other elements whom they had brought with them from Mesopotamia, for example the eunuch Sabi? h mentioned above.
So magniloquent an introduction to Baibars is understandable coming from someone like Ibn Wasil, who was dependent on him for his livelihood. What he says is plain historical fact, but it fails to lighten the impression created by the murky scene that follows (told with even more macabre detail in other sources), the beginning of the future Sultan of Egypt's career.
A heretical sect specializing in political assassinations; see Part Two.
2
1
2
176 Arab Historians of the Crusades
THE DECISION TO PUT THE PRINCESS SHAJAR AD-DURR, THE MOTHER OF KHALI? L, ON THE THRONE, WITH 'IZZ AD-DIN THE TURCOMAN AS MILITARY COMMANDER
(IBN WASIL, FO. 372r-v)
When al-Malik al-Mu'azzam was killed the ami? rs and Bahrites assembled near the Sultan's palace and agreed that the functions of Sultan and ruler (of Egypt) should be assumed by Shajar ad-Durr, mother of Khali? l and wife of al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b. 1 The Sultan's decrees were to be issued at her command and in her name, and marked with her royal stamp. They had already made this offer to Husa? m ad-Din Muhammad ibn Abi 'Ali,2 saying: 'You were al-Malik as-Salih's most trusted statesman and so are the most worthy of this responsibility. ' But he declined and suggested that the more suitable man was the eunuch Shiha? b ad-Din Rashid al-Kabi? r. It was offered to him, but he too refused. So they agreed on the name of 'Izz ad-Din Aibek at-Turkumani as-Sa? lihi, and all took the oath of loyalty to him. He came to Cairo, went up to the citadel and announced the news to al-Khali? l's mother, the wife of al-Malik as-Salih. From that time she became titular head of the whole state; a royal stamp was issued in her name with the formula 'mother of Khali?
When I returned home, news came that the Pope--the Prince of Rome the Great--together with the brother of the King of France mentioned earlier,1 was gathering an army to attack him. Rome was five day's journey from the town where I had stayed. The Pope had already excommunicated Manfred for his Muslim leanings and for having dishonoured Christian religious law. His brother and his father the Emperor had also been excommunicated by the Pope of Rome for the same thing. They say that the Pope of Rome is for them the vicar of the Messiah, and his representative, with authority to decide what is permitted and what is forbidden, to cut off and to separate. It is he who crowns their Kings and sets them on the throne, and everything in their law needs his approval. He is a priest,2 and when he dies he is succeeded by the man who is endowed as he was with this sacerdotal quality.
See below for St. Louis' Crusade in Egypt.
No one looking at one of Idrisi's maps would be surprised at this Muslim notion that Italy and Spain are contiguous.
Valuable information, not known before, about the cultural life of the Muslim community in Lucera. The founder of this dar al-'ilm was apparently Manfred, but the sentence could, strictly, apply to either father or son.
Charles of Anjou, brother of King Louis IX.
The Arabic has 'monk, friar'.
1 2
3
1 2
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 165
While I was in their land I was told a strange story according to which the title of Emperor, before the time of Frederick, was held by his father, who died when his son was a boy in early adolescence. Several of the Frankish kings aspired to be Emperor and each hoped that the Pope of Rome would bestow the title on him. Frederick, who was a German--the Germans are one of the Frankish nations--was a man of astute cunning, He met each of the aspirants privately and said to him: 'I do not want this title; I am not worthy of it. When we see the Pope, tell him that you leave the choice to Frederick and that you will stand by his decision, he being the son of the dead Emperor. I will choose you alone of them all, and my intention is to support you and be your ally. ' Frederick confided this to each of them, and each one believed him and trusted his sincerity. They all met in the city of Rome the Great, Frederick among them. Frederick had ordered a large band of his German nobles to mount their horses and wait near to the great church in Rome where the council was meeting. When the kings assembled the Pope said: 'What do you think about this office; which of you is the most worthy of it? ' and he placed the royal crown in front of them. Each replied: 'I leave the decision to Frederick. What he decides I will accept and recommend in my turn, since he is the Emperor's son and the most appropriate person to give the council advice on the matter. 'Then Frederick stood up and said: 'I am the Emperor's son and the most worthy of his title and his throne, and all have chosen and accepted me. ' Then the Pope, who chose only according to the will of the assembly, put the crown on his head. They all stood bemused while Frederick, the crown on his head, left hurriedly and mounted his horse with the whole company of Germans whom he had ordered to be near the church door. With them he galloped as fast as they could go back to his own land. Later he committed acts that incur excommunication among them, and was excommunicated.
I was told that at Acre the Emperor said to the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din ibn ash-Shaikh of blessed memory: 'Explain to me what your Caliph is. ' Fakhr ad-Din said: 'He is the descendant of our Prophet, whom God bless and save,1 who has received the title of Caliph from his father, and his father from his father, so that the Caliphate has remained in the Prophet's house and has not moved outside its members. ' 'How fine that is! ' he said. 'But these stupid men'--meaning the Franks--'take a man from the sewer,2 without any bond of blood or relationship with the Messiah, ignorant and incapable of making himself understood, and they make him their Caliph, the representative of the Messiah among them, a man who could not possibly be worthy of such an office. Whereas your Caliph, a descendant of the Prophet, is clearly more worthy than any other man of the dignity invested in him! '1
The Pope and the King of France's brother attacked Manfred, the Emperor's son, and in a pitched battle destroyed his army and took him captive. The Pope ordered that he should be killed, and it was done. The King of France's brother2 reigned over the lands that had belonged to the Emperor's son and held possession of them. This occurred, I think, in 663/1265.
The definition applies to the members of the dynasty of the 'Abbasids, who were descended from Muhammad's uncle, 'Abba? s.
Literally: 'dung-heap'.
It is clear from this and other passages that an awareness of certain parallels between the Caliphate and the Papacy was widespread at the time in spite of the profound religious and constitutional differences between the two institutions.
1
2 1
Text had 'his brother', obviously a lapsus for 'brother of the King of France': Charles of Anjou,
2
as stated elsewhere by Abu l-Fida? ' after Ibn Wasil.
166 Arab Historians of the Crusades
TWO ARABIC LETTERS WRITTEN BY FREDERICK
(TA'RI? KH MANSURI, 34-7)
In the year 627/1229 an ambassador to al-Kamil came to Harra? n3 from the Emperor with a letter to Fakhr ad-Din, the son of the Shaikh ash-Shuyu? kh,4 which ran as follows: Heading and dedication:
The august Caesar, the Roman Emperor Frederick, son of the Emperor Henry, son of the Emperor Frederick, by God's grace victorious, powerful in His might, exalted in His glory, King of Germany and Lombardy, Tuscany and Italy, Longobardy and Calabria and Sicily, and of the Syrian Kingdom of Jerusalem, support of the Roman Pontifex,5 champion of the Christian faith.
In the name of God, the merciful, the forgiving
We departed, and left behind us our heart, which stayed (with you) detached from our body, our race and our tribe.
And it swore that its love for you would never change, eternally, and escaped, fleeing from its obedience to me. 1
If we set ourselves to describe the great desire we feel and the sorrowful sensations of solitude and nostalgia we endure for the high excellency of Fakhr ad-Din--may God lengthen his days and extend his years, and make his feet firm in power, and keep the affection He has for him and do him honour, and give his desires fulfilment, and direct his actions and his words and heap him with abundant graces, and renew his safety night and morning--we should exceed by far the limit of an exordium and err from the path of reason. For we have been smitten, after a time of tranquility and ease, with a bitter anguish, and after pleasure and peace with the torment of separation; all comfort seems to have fled, the cord of strong-mindedness is cut, the hope of meeting again turned to despair, the fabric of patience slashed. At our parting2
IfIhadbeengiventhechoicebetweenlifeanddeathIshouldhavesaid:'Itisdeaththatcallsme. '
Death. is tired of us, he has taken others in our place; he has chosen to leave us and seems to have forgotten our love.
We are consoled by the words of Abu t-Tayyib:3
When you part from those who could have prevented that parting, it is they who are really going away.
Now, to talk about ourselves, and in the knowledge that Your Highness likes to hear good news of us and our affairs and to learn of our noble deeds, we inform you: that as we
Harra? n, in Mesopotamia, was also a part of the Ayyubid domains.
Al-Kamil's plenipotentiary and the Emperor's guide in the Holy Land (see above).
One of the ironies of protocol.
For the whole of this first section of the letter verse and rhymed prose alternate, expressing in the far-fetched images that characterize Arabic rhetoric grief at the departure and absence of a friend. The text is often far from clear.
Amari makes the following lines prose, but the mutilated text seems to reveal glimpses of poetry, particularly in the first line.
Al-Mutanabbi, the great romantic poet of the tenth century.
3 4 5 1
2 3
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 167
explained (to you) in Sidon, the Pope has treacherously and deceitfully taken one of our fortresses, called Montecassino, handed over to him by its accursed Abbot. He had promised to do even more harm(? ), but could not, for our faithful subjects expected our return. He was forced therefore to spread false news of our death, and made the Cardinals swear to it and to say that our return was impossible. They sought to deceive the populace by these tricks and by saying that after us no-one could administer our estates and look after them for our son so well as the Pope. So, on these men's oaths who should be High Priests of the Faith and successors of the Apostles, a rabble of louts and criminals was led by the nose. When we arrived at the gates of well-defended Brindisi we found that King John and the Lombards had made hostile raids into our domains,1 and doubted even the news of our arrival because of what the Cardinals had sworn to them. We sent letters and messengers announcing our safe return, and our enemies now began to feel perturbed, troubled and alarmed, and turned tail in disorder and retreated for a distance of two days' march, while our subjects became submissive again. Then the Lombards, who made up the greater part of their army, could not endure to be found rebellious and breaking faith with their Lord, and all turned back. As for King John and his companions, shame and fear seized them and they crowded together in a narrow pass from which they feared to move or come out, for the new loyalty of the whole countryside towards us made it impossible for them. Meanwhile we had collected a large army of Germans who were with us in Syria and of those who left the Holy Land before us but whom the wind had cast upon our shores, and of other loyal men and officials of our state; with these we have marched off by long stages towards our enemy's territories.
Finally we inform Your Highness of our desire for frequent letters from you revealing your happy state, your interests and your needs, and of the salutations that we would have transmitted to the commanders of (your army) and to all your pages, mamlu? ks and courtiers. On your health be God's blessing and mercy. Written at Barletta 23 August of the second indiction2 (1229).
This is the text of the second letter, which is headed in the same way as the first, and contains the following news:
We have assembled a great army and are in haste to fight those who await us and have not fled (like the others) before us. Now what we anticipated has come about: they had besieged one of our forts3 using catapults, mobile siege-engines and instruments of war, but when they heard of our advance, in spite of the great distance separating us they immediately burnt all their weapons and fled before us, while we advanced rapidly to catch up with them and to disperse and destroy them. The Pope chose to claim those whom we found there, and has sent them back, afraid for their lives(? ) and repenting of their plot. What other news we have we shall write to Your Highness, God willing.
We have copied these letters here to show clearly the nature of the Kings who surrounded the King-Emperor, and the extent of his power. In fact no one in Christendom from the time of Alexander until today has ruled a kingdom the equal of his, particularly when one considers his power, his behaviour to their Caliph, the Pope, and his audacity in attacking him and driving him out.
The 'Clavisignati' (Schlu? sselsoldaten), the Papal army under the command of ex-King John of Brienne, who in Frederick's absence had invaded and devastated his kingdom.
A fiscal period of fifteen years.
Probably Caiazzo, besieged in September 1229.
1
2 3
CHAPTER THREE
The final offensive of the Crusades was Louis IX's Egyptian expedition, which came back to make another attempt to take the places vainly besieged thirty years before by Pelagius and John of Brienne. The most important Arabic historians for this period are Ibn Wasil and Maqrizi: the first a contemporary and sometimes an eye-witness of the events he records, the second rather later, but here as elsewhere the compiler of earlier material. He follows Ibn Wasil's account quite closely but enriches it with various details taken from different sources, or from a common, unknown source. We rely here on Ibn Wasil's version for the dramatic events of the Crusade, and take from Maqrizi only certain documents and Muslim comments on the arrival of the French King, and as a final word, an outline of the Tunisian expedition of twenty years later, on which Louis lost his life.
Saint Louis' Crusade
THE FRANKS ARRIVE IN EGYPT AND OCCUPY DAMIETTA (IBN WASIL, FO. 356r-357r)
At the second hour of Thursday 20 safar 647/5 June 1249 the great Frankish fleet, including all the ships from the Syrian coast, arrived and dropped anchor at the mouth of the Nile, facing the Muslims. The King of France's tent was pitched (it was red in colour). The enemy was attacked by some detachments of Muslim troops, and among them was a man who fell a martyr for the Faith that day, the ami? r Najm ad-Din ibn Shaikh al-Isla? m. We have already mentioned the fact that he and his brother Shiha? b ad-Din accompanied al-Malik as-Salih to al-Karak on the orders of al-Malik an-Nasir Dawu? d. Another Egyptian ami? r to fall among the brave was a certain al-Waziri. In the evening the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf ibn Shaikh ash-Shuyu? kh1 marched out at the head of the Egyptian troops and cut the bridge crossing to the eastern shore where Damietta stood so that the western shore was now entirely in Frankish hands. Then the next morning the army, led (to defy discipline) by al-Malik as-Salih's serious illness, and with no encouragement or incitement, marched out toward Ashmu? n Tanna? h. Even Fakhr ad-Din made off in that direction, and so the eastern shore too was without Muslim troops to defend it.
The people of Damietta feared for their own lives if they were besieged. There was of course a garrison of brave Kinanites in the city, but God struck terror into their hearts and
He who twenty years earlier had conducted the negotiations with Frederick, and had now been
1
put in charge of Egyptian defence by the sick Ayyubid Sultan al-Malik as-Salih.
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 169
they left Damietta, together with the population, and marched all night. They abandoned the city without a living soul in it, man, woman or child. They all left under cover of night, accompanied by the troops, and fled toward Ashmu? n Tanna? h. The behaviour of the people, of Fakhr ad-Din and of the troops was shameful: if Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf had prevented their flight and stood firm Damietta would have been able to defend itself, for when the Franks attacked it the first time, in the reign of al-Malik al-Kamil, it was even worse provisioned and armed, yet the enemy failed to take it for a whole year. It was in fact besieged in 615/1218 and taken in 616/1219, and the enemy had no success until the population was decimated by plague and famine. If the Kinanites and the people of Damietta had shut the gate and entrenched themselves within them, after the army had gone to Ashmu? n Tanna? h, the Franks could not have overcome them. The army would have been behind them and could have defended them. They had provisions, munitions and arms in great quantity, and could have defended the city for at least two years. But when God ordains something there is no way of avoiding it. The people of Damietta however are not to blame if when they saw the troops in flight and heard of the Sultan's illness they were afraid to face a long siege and to die of hunger, as happened the last time.
On the morning of Sunday 23 safar the Franks appeared before Damietta and found it deserted, with the gates wide open. They occupied it without striking a blow and seized all the munitions, arms, provisions, food and equipment that they found there. It was a disaster without precedent. The author of this history says: on the Sunday morning a messenger brought the news to the ami? r Husa? m ad-Din Muhammad ibn Abi 'Ali al-Hadhbani, with whom I was staying. There was great grief and amazement, and despair fell upon the whole of Egypt, the more so because the Sultan was ill, too weak to move, and without the strength to control his army, which was trying to impose its will on him instead. As well as all this, when the people of Damietta and the Kinanites reached the Sultan he was extremely angry with the Kinanites and ordered that they should all be hanged, which was done. He was also distressed by the behaviour of Fakhr ad-Din and his troops, but circumstances compelled him to muster them again and pass over what they had done.
AL-MALIK AS-SALIH WITHDRAWS AND ENCAMPS AT MANSURA (IBN WASIL, FO. 357r-v)
After these events the Sultan al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b set out with his army on the direct route for Mansura, where he encamped. It was here that his father al-Malik al-Kamil had encamped during the first attack on Damietta. The town stood on the eastern bank of the Nile, facing Jarji? r, with the canal of Ashmu? n Tanna? h dividing it from the peninsula on which Damietta is situated. 1 We have already stated that al-Malik as-Salih had the camp set up here and a wall built between it and the Nile. His father al-Malik al-Kamil had a great palace here on the Nile, and al-Malik as-Salih halted there and had his tent pitched beside it. The Sultan took up position at Mansura on Tuesday 25 safar; the army began to make such buildings as still stood inhabitable and set up markets. The wall
'Peninsula' refers to the long strip of land between the Nile and Lake Manzala at the end of which
1
stands Damietta.
170 Arab Historians of the Crusades
facing the Nile was rebuilt and faced with a curtain wall, galleys and fire-ships brought up, loaded with ammunition and troops and anchored under the wall, and uncountable numbers of irregular infantry and volunteers for the Faith flocked to Mansura. A number of Bedouin Arabs also came and began to make raids and attacks on the Franks. They, for their part, fortified the walls of Damietta and filled the city with soldiers.
On Monday 28 rabi? ' 1/13 July forty-six Frankish prisoners, among them two knights, came to Cairo, captured by the Bedouin and their followers. On Saturday 5 rabi? ' II thirty- nine others, taken by the Arabs and the men from Khwarizm, arrived and then twenty- two others, taken unexpectedly, entered the city on 7 rabi' II. Finally, on Wednesday 15 rabi? ' II, thirty-five more arrived, among them three knights. On Friday 24 rabi' II news came that al-Malik as-Salih's troops in Damascus had attacked Sidon and accepted the Frankish surrender. After this fresh groups of Frankish prisoners arrived every moment; for instance, fifty came in on Friday 18 jumada 1/30 August. Meanwhile al-Malik as-Salih was weakening, his strength wasting away. The doctors, who were at his pillow day and night, now despaired of his life. His strength of mind and will remained as powerful as ever, but two grave diseases combined to overcome him: an ulcer in the groin and phthisis.
THE FRANKS ADVANCE AND TAKE UP POSITION FACING THE MUSLIMS
(IBN WASIL, FO. 364r-365r)
When the Franks heard of al-Malik as-Salih's death (15 sha'ba? n 647/24 November 1249) they left Damietta in full force, while their fleet moved upstream parallel with them and anchored at Farisku? r before proceeding another stage up the river. This was Thursday 24 sha'ba? n 647. On Friday a letter reached Cairo from the ami? r Fakhr ad-Din warning the people and urging them to join the Holy War. It was signed with a stamp (siji? lt) similar to that of al-Malik as-Salih,1 to persuade the people that the letter came from him. It began: 'Come out, heavily or lightly armed, and fight for God's cause with your money and your life. It will be better for you, if you could only understand this! '2 It was an eloquent letter, composed I think by Baha? ' ad-Din Zuha? ir,3 full of fine exhortations to come and fight the infidel. It said that the Franks were moving in full force against Egypt and the Muslim territories, thirsting for conquest, and that it was the duty of all Muslims to rush to arms and drive them out. This letter was read out to the people from the pulpit of the Great Mosque in Cairo. The people wept bitterly and grew frenzied, and from Cairo and all Egypt a great crowd set out (for the Holy War). The death of al-Malik as-Salih caused great grief, and meanwhile the Franks holding Damietta realized that if the Muslim army encamped at Mansura could be induced to withdraw even a short distance, the whole of Egypt would be theirs at once.
Whose death he was trying to conceal until his son al-Malik al-Mu'azzam arrived and was safely enthroned. The royal stamp ('alama) was the autograph signature of the sovereign on State documents.
Qur'a? n IX, 41
Well-known poet, secretary to the Ayyubids.
1
2 3
Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 171
On Tuesday 1 ramada? n/8 December 1249 a fierce skirmish took place between the Franks and the Muslims, in which we lost one of the court officials, the ami? r al-'Ala'i, as well as other soldiers. The Franks made their camp at Sharimsha? h. On Monday 7 ramada? n they camped at Baramu?
n, and this caused great alarm (in the Muslim camp), for now the Frankish King was very close to the Muslim army. On Sunday 13 ramada? n the enemy reached the end of the Damietta peninsula and so found itself face to face with the Muslim forces. The bulk of the army was in Mansura, on the eastern bank, but a part, with the sons of al-Malik an-Nasir Dawu? d, al-Malik al-Mu'azzam's1 son, that is al-Malik al-Amjad, al-Malik az-Zahir, al-Malik al-Mu'azzam and al-Malik al-Awhad with their elder brothers, occupied the western bank. There were twelve of al-Malik an-Nasir's sons, of varying ages, in Cairo for the occasion. Also on the same side of the river were al-Malik an-Nasir's brother al-Malik al-Qahir, and also al-Malik al-Mughi? th. When they reached the end of the Damietta peninsula in full force and came face to face with the Muslims, the Franks began to dig themselves a wall protected by screens, and set up catapults to attack the Muslims, whose galleys were across the river from Mansura. This led to a battle for the control of the land and the sea.
A SURPRISE ATTACK ON THE MUSLIMS AT MANSURA. THE DEATH OF THE AMIR FAKHR AD-DIN YUSUF. THE SUBSEQUENT MUSLIM VICTORY
(IBN WASIL, 365v-366v)
We have already described how the Franks came face to face with the Muslims and how fighting broke out between the two sides, separated by the Ashmu? n, a branch of the Nile. The Ashmu? n is a small canal with a few narrow fords. A Muslim showed the Franks where one of the fords could be safely crossed, and on the morning of Tuesday 5 dhu l-qa'da/io February 1250 the Franks mounted their horses and moved down to the ford. The Muslims suddenly found that the Franks were in their camp. The ami? r Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf ibn Shaikh ash-Shuyu? kh was washing himself in his bath when he heard the cry go up that the Franks had taken the Muslims by surprise. Frenziedly he leapt into the saddle, without weapons or any means of defending himself, and a band of Franks1 fell on him and killed him--God have mercy upon him! He was a worthy ami? r, learned and cultivated, generous and wise, high-minded and magnanimous, without peer among his brothers or any other men. He had been very successful in his career and had risen to a high position, next in rank to al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b. His ambition reached to the throne itself,2 but God ended his life as a martyr for the Faith.
This al-Mu'azzam, whom we have already met as the brother of al-Kamil and the father of an-Nasir Dawu? d of Damascus and later of al-Karak, should not be confused with al-Mu'azzam Turansha? h, son of as-Salih, who had now succeeded his father and was to be the last Ayyubid in Egypt. These Ayyubid names are often confusingly duplicated.
A band of Templars, according to Maqrizi's more detailed account.
He was in fact regent of Egypt between as-Salih's death and al-Mu'azzam's coronation, on his arrival from Mesopotamia.
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The Frankish King penetrated Mansura and reached the Sultan's palace. The Franks spread through the narrow streets of the town, while the civil and military population scattered in all directions. Isla? m was about to suffer a mortal blow, and the Franks were now sure of their victory. It was lucky for the Muslims that the Franks dispersed through the streets. At the moment of supreme danger, the Turkish battalion of the mamlu? ks of al-Malik as-Salih, Bahrites and Jamdarites,3 lions in war and mighty in battle, rode like one man upon the enemy in a charge that broke them and drove them back. The Franks were massacred one and all with sword and club. The Bahrites slaughtered them and drove them back through the streets of al-Mansura, and the Franks lost 1,500 of their finest cavalry there. Meanwhile their infantry had reached the bridge of al-Mansu? r over the Ashmu? n canal and were preparing to cross. If the defence there had been weak the Frankish infantry could have crossed in force to the Muslim side and terrible damage would have been caused, for in these numbers they could have defended their cavalry. (But it did not happen) and had it not been for the restricted field of battle, for we were fighting in alleys and narrow streets, the Muslims would have exterminated the Franks to a man. Instead of this some survivors succeeded in escaping and fled to Jadila, where they reassembled while the darkness of night separated the two sides.
The Franks built a wall at Jadila and dug a trench to defend themselves. Some stayed on the eastern side, and held the roads along the peninsula leading to Damietta, protected by trench and wall. This battle was the source of victory and the key to the final success. Messages announcing it reached Cairo and were brought to Husa? m ad-Din Muhammad ibn Abi 'Ali1 on the afternoon of the day of battle. They said that while messenger-pigeons were being sent off the enemy had attacked Mansura and a violent battle had followed. That was all, and we and the Muslims were in complete confusion, everyone already imagining disaster for Isla? m. At sunset Muslim fugitives from the battle arrived, and the Bab an-Nasr2 stayed open all night, the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. Military and civilians, secretaries and officials entered the city in flight from Mansura, knowing nothing of the situation after the Franks had entered the town. Among them was Taj ad-Din, known as Ibn bint al-A'azz, director of the Diwa? n as-suhba, and he reported to Husa? m ad-Din. We remained in suspense until the sun rose on Wednesday and the joyful news of victory reached us. The city prepared for a feast and the glad tidings were announced by a roll of drums. The victory over the Franks caused great joy and exultation. This was the first battle in which the Turkish lions defeated the infidel dogs. The good news reached al-Malik al-Mu'azzam while he was on his way, and made him march even faster toward Egypt.
THE MUSLIM FLEET ATTACKS AND CRIPPLES THE FRANKISH FLEET (IBN WASIL, FO. 368r-v)
While the Franks stabilized their positions, reinforcements were reaching them from further up the Nile, from Damietta. The Muslims took some ships on camel-back up to the
The Bahrites, from whom came the first Mamlu? k dynasty, were so called because they were quartered at Cairo on the Nile (bahr). The Jamdarites ('gentlemen of the wardrobe') were another mamlu? k regiment.
Governor and then vizier of Cairo and Ibn Wasil's employer.
A gate into Cairo, still in existence.
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Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 173
Bahr al-Mahalla,1 and there launched them and embarked troops. There was water at that time from the flooding of the Nile, stagnant, but communicating with the Nile itself. When the Frankish vessels coming upstream from Damietta passed close to the Bahr al-Mahalla the Muslims, who were lying in wait, fell on them and gave battle. The Muslim squadron from al-Mansura came downstream to join the fight and they surrounded the Franks and captured them and their ships. Fifty-two Frankish men-of-war were taken, with about a thousand men on board and all the provisions they were carrying. The prisoners were taken on camels to the Muslim camp. For the Franks the defeat broke their supply-line and seriously weak-ened their position. They found themselves very short of provisions and blockaded without the means either of staying put or of leaving their position. The Muslims had the upper hand, and now nourished plans to attack.
On 1 dhu l-hijja/7 March 1250 the Franks took seven Muslim fire-ships on the Bahr al-Mahalla, but the Muslims escaped with their gear. On the second, al-Malik al-Mu'azzam ordered the ami? r Husa? m ad-Din to enter Cairo and take up residence in the vizier's palace and to perform all the usual functions of the Sultan's viceroy. The Qadi Jama? l ad-Din ibn Wasil, the author, says: The Sultan gave robes of honour to me and also to a group of lawyers who presented themselves to do him homage. Al-Malik al-Mu'azzam's liberality extended in this way to anyone who presented himself at his gate. So I entered Cairo with the ami? r Husa? m ad-Din. On Monday 9 dhu l-hijja, the day of 'Arafa,1 Muslim galleys attacked the Frankish supply-ships. The encounter took place near the Mosque of Victory and the Muslims took thirty-two vessels from the Franks, of which seven were galleys. This weakened the Franks even more, and supplies in the camp were even scarcer. Then the Franks opened negotiations for a truce with the Muslims. Their ambassadors arrived and went into consultation with the ami? r Zain ad-Din, a jamda? r ami? r, and the Grand Qadi Badr ad-Din. The Franks wanted to exchange Damietta for Jerusalem and a part of the Syrian coast, but this was not acceptable. On Friday 26 dhu l-hijja the Franks burnt all their encampments, sparing only the ships, and decided to take refuge in Damietta. At the end of the year (647) they were still in the same position, facing the Muslims.
TOTAL ROUT OF THE FRANKS, AND THE CAPTURE OF THE KING OF FRANCE
(IBN WASIL, FO. 369r-370r)
On the night before Wednesday 3 muharram 648/7 April 1250, the resplendent night that disclosed a great victory and a stupendous triumph, the Franks marched out with all their forces towards Damietta, which they counted on to defend them, and their ships began to move downstream in convoy. When the Muslims heard the news they set out after them, crossed to the Frankish bank of the river and were soon at their heels. As Wednesday dawned the Muslims had surrounded the Franks and were slaughtering them, dealing out death and captivity. Not one escaped. It is said that the dead numbered 30,000. In the battle
A backwater of the Nile, mentioned in operations in the Fifth Crusade. A solemn festival during the Muslim Pilgrimage.
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the Bahrite mamlu? ks of al-Malik as-Salih distinguished themselves by their courage and audacity: they caused the Franks terrible losses and played the major part in the victory. They fought furiously: it was they who flung themselves into the pursuit of the enemy: they were Islam's Templars. 1 The accursed King of France and the great Frankish princes retreated to the hill of Munya, where they surrendered and begged for their lives. They were given assurances by the eunuch Jama? l ad-Din Muhsin as-Sa? lihi, on the strength of which they surrendered. They were all taken to Mansura, where chains were put on the feet of the King of France and his companions. They were imprisoned in the house where the secretary Fakhr ad-Din ibn Luqma? n was living, and the eunuch Sabi? h al-Mu'a? zzami, a servant of al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Turansha? h, son of al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b, was set to guard them; he had come with his master from Hisn Kaifa? and had been promoted and shown great honour.
Referring to this episode, the imprisonment of the King of France in Fakhr ad-Din ibn Luqma? n's house, and the appointment of the eunuch Sabi? h to look after him, Jama? l ad-Din ibn Yahya ibn Matru? h wrote:
Speak to the Frenchman, if you visit him, a true word from a good counsellor:
'God requite you for what has happened, the slaughter of the Messiah's adorers!
You came to the East boasting of conquest, believing our martial drum-roll to be a mere
breath of wind.
And your stupidity has brought you to a place where your eyes can no longer see in the
broad plain any way of escape.
And of all your company, whom you commanded so well that you led them into the
tomb's embrace,
Of fifty thousand not one can be seen that is not dead, or wounded and a prisoner.
God help you to other similar adventures: who knows that in the end Jesus will not
breathe freely (of your impious worship1)!
If your Pope is content with this, how often is a statesman guilty of deceit! '
And say to them, if they ever think of returning to take their revenge, or for any other
reason:
'The house of Ibn Luqma? n is always ready here, and the chain and the eunuch Sabi? h
are still here. '
After this al-Malik al-Mu'azzam and the victorious army advanced to Damietta and
camped at Farisku? r in the province of Damietta. The Sultan's tent was erected, and beside it a wooden tower which from time to time al-Malik al-Mu'azzam would climb to while away the time, putting off the capture of Damietta. If he had surrounded and entered it quickly and forced the King of France to surrender all his possesions, he would have taken it very quickly. But the evil conduct to which he abandoned himself deterred him, and indeed his fate was already sealed.
Their enemy's highest praise for the Order's military valour.
For the Muslims Jesus Christ is a prophet, the miracle-working servant of God. The Christian cult must therefore appear sacrilegious to Christ himself, according to this view.
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Part Three: The Ayyubids and the Invasion of Egypt 175 THE ASSASSINATION OF AL-MALIK
AL-MU'AZZAM TURANSHA? H (IBN WASIL, FO. 371r-v)
When the soldiers, especially the Bahrite mamlu? ks belonging to his father, lost their loyalty to him,2 as we have described, a group of them decided to kill him. On the morning of Monday 30 muliarram 648/2 May 1250 al-Malik al-Mu'azzam gave an audience in his tent. He sat on his couch while all the others ate, and he ate with them, as usual. After the meal the ami? rs dispersed to their houses and he got up and went toward his little tent. Then Rukn ad-Din Baibars came forward. He was one of al-Malik as-Salih's Jamdarriyya, known as al-Bunduqdari, and was later to become ruler of Egypt under the name al-Malik az-Zahir and to defeat the Mongols at 'Ain Jalu? t with the aid of al-Malik al-Muzaffar Qutu? z; and once on the throne, to reconquer most of the Frankish domains, for example Safad, ash-Shaqi? f, Antioch and the Isma'ilite territories, and to defeat the Mongols on several occasions. 1 This man struck al-Malik al-Mu'azzam with a sword and wounded him in the shoulder and threw the sword away. Al-Malik al-Mu'azzam turned around in his audience chamber, and his courtiers and servants flocked round him, as well as some of his father's mamlu? ks, asking what had happened. 'One of the Bahrites has wounded me. ' Ruqn ad-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari was there and said: 'It must have been an Isma'ilite,'2 but the Sultan replied: 'No, it was a Bahrite alone who did this to me'. Then the Bahrites were afraid, and dreaded what he might do. The Sultan climbed into his tower and sent for a surgeon to attend his hand. Meanwhile his father's mamlu? ks assembled, stricken with horror to hear the attempt (on the Sultan's life) was blamed on them. To this was added their resentment that he had set them aside, so they surrounded the tower. The Sultan opened the windows and called to the people for help, but no one responded, and none of the Egyptian ami? rs would come to his aid, for he had lost their loyalty completely. Fire was brought to burn down the tower, so he came down (and left it). Al-Bunduqdari, who had already wounded him, fell upon him, and he fled to the river bank where some of his fire-ships were, hoping to reach them in time to get on board and defend himself. But Faris ad-Din Aqtay caught up with him and killed him with a blow from his sword--God have mercy on him! He was still young, not yet thirty, I think, but I have been unable to discover the date of his birth. He ruled over Egypt for two months.
In favour of other elements whom they had brought with them from Mesopotamia, for example the eunuch Sabi? h mentioned above.
So magniloquent an introduction to Baibars is understandable coming from someone like Ibn Wasil, who was dependent on him for his livelihood. What he says is plain historical fact, but it fails to lighten the impression created by the murky scene that follows (told with even more macabre detail in other sources), the beginning of the future Sultan of Egypt's career.
A heretical sect specializing in political assassinations; see Part Two.
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THE DECISION TO PUT THE PRINCESS SHAJAR AD-DURR, THE MOTHER OF KHALI? L, ON THE THRONE, WITH 'IZZ AD-DIN THE TURCOMAN AS MILITARY COMMANDER
(IBN WASIL, FO. 372r-v)
When al-Malik al-Mu'azzam was killed the ami? rs and Bahrites assembled near the Sultan's palace and agreed that the functions of Sultan and ruler (of Egypt) should be assumed by Shajar ad-Durr, mother of Khali? l and wife of al-Malik as-Salih Najm ad-Din Ayyu? b. 1 The Sultan's decrees were to be issued at her command and in her name, and marked with her royal stamp. They had already made this offer to Husa? m ad-Din Muhammad ibn Abi 'Ali,2 saying: 'You were al-Malik as-Salih's most trusted statesman and so are the most worthy of this responsibility. ' But he declined and suggested that the more suitable man was the eunuch Shiha? b ad-Din Rashid al-Kabi? r. It was offered to him, but he too refused. So they agreed on the name of 'Izz ad-Din Aibek at-Turkumani as-Sa? lihi, and all took the oath of loyalty to him. He came to Cairo, went up to the citadel and announced the news to al-Khali? l's mother, the wife of al-Malik as-Salih. From that time she became titular head of the whole state; a royal stamp was issued in her name with the formula 'mother of Khali?
