A History of the Crusades-Vol 2 (30 page)

1145
^:
Zengi’s Policy in Edessa

Zengi treated the conquered city kindly once
the Franks were removed. He appointed as governor Kutchuk Ali of Arbil; but the
native Christians, Armenians, Jacobites and even Greeks, were allowed a certain
measure of autonomy. Though the Latin churches were destroyed, theirs were
untouched, and they were encouraged to bring their co-religionists in to
re-people the city. In particular the Syrian bishop Basil enjoyed the favour of
the conquerors, because of his proud reply, when they questioned if he was
trustworthy, that his loyalty to the Franks showed how capable he was of
loyalty. The Armenians, amongst whom the dynasty of Courtenay had always been
popular, took less willingly to the new regime.

From Edessa Zengi moved on to Saruj, the second
great Frankish fortress east of the Euphrates, which fell to him in January. He
then advance to Birejik, the town that commanded the chief ford across the
river. But the Frankish garrison put up a stiff resistance. Joscelin was near
at hand; and the Queen’s army was approaching. At that moment Zengi had rumours
of trouble in Mosul. He raised the siege of Birejik and hurried eastward. He
was still in name merely the atabeg of Mosul for the young Seldjuk prince Alp
Arslan, son of Mas’ud. He returned to Mosul to find that Alp Arslan, in an
attempt to assert his authority, had murdered the atabeg’s lieutenant Shaqar.
It was an ill-chosen moment, for Zengi, as the conqueror of a Christian
capital, was at the height of his prestige in the Moslem world. Alp Arslan was
dethroned and his advisers were put to death; while the Caliph sent Zengi an
embassy laden with gifts, to confer on him the honour of King and conqueror.

The news of the fall of Edessa reverberated
throughout the world. To the Moslems it brought new hope. A Christian state
that had intruded into their midst had been destroyed, and the Franks
restricted to the lands by the Mediterranean. The roads from Mosul to Aleppo
now were cleared of the enemy, and there was no longer a Christian wedge driven
between the Turks of Iran and the Turks of Anatolia. Zengi had well earned his
royal title. To the Franks it brought despondency and alarm; and to the
Christians of western Europe it came as a terrible shock. For the first time
they realized that things were not well in the East. A movement was set on foot
to preach a new Crusade.

Indeed, a Crusade was needed; for the Frankish
princes of the East, despite their peril, still could not bring themselves to
co-operate. Joscelin attempted to rebuild his principality in the lands that he
held west of the Euphrates, with Turbessel as his capital.
But,
though it was clear that Zengi would soon attack him, he could not forgive
Raymond for having refused him help. He openly broke with him and rejected his
suzerainty. Raymond was equally averse to a reconciliation. But he was alive to
the danger of isolation. In 1145, after defeating a Turcoman raid, he decided
to travel to Constantinople, to ask for help from the Emperor. When he arrived,
Manuel would not receive him. It was only after he had knelt in humble
contrition at the tomb of the Emperor John that he was allowed an audience.
Manuel then treated him graciously, loading him with gifts and promising him a
money subsidy. But he would not promise him immediate military aid, for the
Byzantines had a Turkish war on their hands. There was talk of an expedition in
the future; and the visit, humiliating though it was to Raymond’s pride and
unpopular amongst his barons, had one useful result. It was not unremarked by
Zengi; who therefore decided to postpone a further attack on the northern
Franks and to turn his attention once more to Damascus.

1146: Murder of
Zengi

In May 1146 Zengi moved to Aleppo to prepare
for his Syrian expedition. As he passed through Edessa he learnt of an attempt
by the Armenians there to shake off his rule and restore Joscelin. Kutchuk Ah
easily crushed it; and Zengi ordered the ringleaders to be executed and a part
of the Armenian population to be banished. Its place was taken by three hundred
Jewish families, introduced by Zengi because the Jews were notoriously ready to
support the Moslems against the Christians. In the summer Zengi led his army
southward to Qalat Jabar, on the direct route from the Euphrates to Damascus,
where a petty Arab prince refused to recognize him as overlord. While he was
besieging the town, on the night of 14 September 1146, he quarrelled with a eunuch
of Frankish origin whom he caught drinking wine from his own glass. The eunuch,
furious at the rebuke, waited till he slept, then murdered him.

Zengi’s sudden disappearance was welcome news
to all his enemies, who hoped that the dynastic disputes that usually followed
the death of Moslem princes would disrupt his realm. While his corpse lay
unburied and deserted, the eldest of his sons, Saif ed-Din Ghazi, accompanied
by the vizier Jamal ed-Din of Isfahan, hurried to Mosul to take over the
government there, and the second, Nur ed-Din, seizing the ring of office from
the corpse’s finger, went to be proclaimed at Aleppo by the Kurd Shirkuh, whose
brother Ayub had saved Zengi’s life when the Caliph defeated him in 1132. The
division of the realm was the signal for its foes to invade. In the south Unur’s
troops from Damascus reoccupied Baalbek and reduced the governor of Homs and
Yaghi-Siyani, governor of Hama, to vassalage. In the east the Seldjuk Alp
Arslan made another bid for power, but in vain, while the Ortoqids of Diarbekir
recovered towns that they had lost. In the centre Raymond of Antioch led a raid
up to the very walls of Aleppo, while Joscelin planned to reoccupy Edessa. His
agents made contact with the Armenians in the city and won over the Jacobites.
Joscelin then set out himself with a small army, which was joined by Baldwin of
Marash and Kaisun. Raymond once more refused his help, this time with good
reason, for the expedition was ill-planned. Joscelin had hoped to surprise
Edessa; but the Moslems were warned. When he arrived before its walls, on 27
October, he was able, thanks to native help, to break his way into the city
itself, but the garrison of the citadel was ready for him. His troops were too
few to enable him to storm its fortifications. He lingered in the city
uncertain what to do. Meanwhile messengers had reached Nur ed-Din at Aleppo.
His army was now counter-attacking Raymond in Antiochene territory; but he at
once summoned it back and demanded help from the neighbouring Moslem governors.
On 2 November he appeared before Edessa. Joscelin was caught between him and
the citadel. He saw that his only chance lay in an immediate evacuation. During
the night he managed to slip out with his men and with large numbers of the
native Christians, and made his way towards the Euphrates. Nur ed-Din followed
on his heels. Next day a battle was fought. The Franks held their ground well
till Joscelin rashly ordered a counter-attack. It was driven back; and the
Frankish army broke up in panic. Baldwin of Marash was killed on the field.
Joscelin, wounded in the neck, escaped with his bodyguard and took refuge in
Samosata, where he was joined by the Jacobite bishop Basil. The Armenian bishop
John was captured and taken to Aleppo. The native Christians, deserted by the
Franks, were massacred to a man, and their wives and children enslaved. At
Edessa itself the whole Christian population was driven into exile. The great
city, which claimed to be the oldest Christian commonwealth in the world, was
left empty and desolate, and has never recovered to this day.

1147
^:
The Franks break with Unur

The episode showed Zengi’s enemies that they
had gained little by his death. Moreover his sons, though they had small
affection for each other, were wise enough not to quarrel. Saif ed-Din Ghazi,
whose hands were fully occupied with the Ortoqids, took the initiative in
arranging an interview with his brother, at which the division of the
inheritance was peaceably confirmed. Saif ed-Din took the lands in Iraq and Nur
ed-Din those in Syria. About the same time Nur ed-Din’s position was
strengthened by an unexpected act of folly committed by the Franks in
Jerusalem. Early in 1147 one of Unur’s lieutenants, Altuntash, governor of
Bosra and Salkhad in the Hauran, an Armenian converted to Islam, declared his
independence of Damascus and came to Jerusalem for support. He offered to hand
Bosra and Salkhad to the Franks if they would set him up in a lordship in the
Hauran. Queen Melisende very correctly summoned her Council to discuss the
suggestion. It was an important decision to make, for to support Altuntash
would mean the rupture of the alliance with Damascus. But it was a tempting
offer. The population in the Hauran was largely Christian, Melkite, of the
Orthodox rite. With this Christian help it should be easy to colonize the
Hauran; and its control would put Damascus at the mercy of the Franks. The
barons hesitated. They ordered the army to be assembled at Tiberias; but they
sent an embassy to Unur to say that they proposed to reinstate Altuntash. Unur
was angry, but for fear of Nur ed-Din he wished to avoid a rupture. He answered
reminding the Queen that, according to her feudal law, a ruler could not
support the rebellious vassal of a friendly power against his master; but he
offered to repay her for any expenses that her proposed expedition had
involved. The Queen then sent a knight called Bernard Vacher to Damascus to say
that unfortunately she was committed to the support of Altuntash whom her army
would convey back to Bosra, but she undertook in no way to cause damage to
Damascene territory. Bernard soon returned, convinced by Unur that the proposal
was unwise and wrong. He brought the young king Baldwin round to his views;
and, when the matter was discussed again before the Council it was decided to
abandon the expedition. But by now the soldiers’ enthusiasm had been aroused.
Demagogues in the army, furious at the cancellation of a profitable raid
against the infidel, denounced Bernard as a traitor and insisted on war. The
King and the barons were frightened and gave way.

1147: The
Emergence of Nur ed-Din

In May 1147 the Frankish army, with the King at
its head, crossed the Jordan and marched into the Jaulan. But it was not the
triumphal progress that the soldiers had anticipated. Unur had had full
warning. His light Turcoman troops combined with the Arabs of the district to
harass them as they toiled up the Yarmuk valley towards Deraa. Unur himself had
already sent an embassy to Aleppo to ask for help from Nur ed-Din. It was an
appeal that Nur ed-Din was delighted to receive. An alliance was made. Nur
ed-Din received Unur’s daughter’s hand in marriage and promised to come at once
to his rescue; he was to be given back Hama but was to respect Damascene
independence. At the end of May the Franks reached Deraa, just over halfway
between the frontier and Bosra. Meanwhile, Unur had hurried to Salkhad, which
lay farther to the east. Altuntash’s garrison there asked for a truce; and Unur
moved on westward to join with Nur ed-Din, who had come down at full speed from
Aleppo. Together they marched on Bosra, which was surrendered to them by
Altuntash’s wife. News of the surrender reached the Franks on the evening when,
weary and short of water, they arrived within sight of Bosra. They were in no
state to attack the Moslems. There was nothing to be done but retreat. The
return journey was more arduous than the advance. Food ran short; many of the
wells had been destroyed. The enemy hung on their rear and killed the
stragglers. The boy King showed great heroism, refusing a suggestion that he
should leave the main army and hurry on to safety with a picked bodyguard.
Thanks to his example, discipline remained high. The barons at last decided to
make their peace with Unur, and dispatched an Arabic-speaking messenger,
probably Bernard Vacher, to beg for a truce; but the messenger was killed on
his way. However, when the army reached ar-Rahub, on the edge of the Jebel
Ajlun, a messenger came from Unur, to offer to
revictual the Franks.
With Nur ed-Din at hand, he had no wish for the Frankish army to be completely
wiped out. The King haughtily rejected the offer; but it was remarked that a
mysterious stranger on a white horse with a scarlet banner appeared to lead the
army safely to Gadara. After a last skirmish there it crossed the Jordan back
into Palestine. The expedition had been costly and pointless. It showed the
Franks to be good fighters but foolish in their politics and their strategy.

One man alone had profited from it, Nur ed-Din.
Unur had indeed recovered the Hauran. When Altuntash came to Damascus hoping to
be pardoned, he was blinded and imprisoned, and his friends were disgraced. But
Unur was desperately conscious of Nur ed-Din’s strength. He was alarmed for the
future and longed to restore his Frankish alliance. Nur ed-Din, however, abode
by his treaty with Unur. He returned northward to continue the task of
stripping the principality of Antioch of all its lands east of the Orontes. By
the end of 1147 Artah, Kafarlata, Basarfut and Balat were in his hands.

Nur ed-Din thus emerged as the principal enemy
of the Christians. He was now aged twenty-nine; but he was wise for his years.
Even his opponents admired his sense of justice, his charity and his sincere
piety. He was perhaps a less brilliant soldier than his father Zengi, but he
was less cruel and less perfidious and a far better judge of men. His ministers
and generals were able and loyal. His material sources were less than his
father’s; for Zengi had been able to call on the riches of Upper Iraq, which
now had passed to Saif ed-Din. But Saif ed-Din had therefore inherited Zengi’s
difficulties with the Ortoqids and with the Caliph and the Seldjuk sultanate,
leaving Nur ed-Din free to give his full attention to the West. Moreover, the
sons of Zengi remained true to their family pact. Saif ed-Din would send help
if need be to Nur ed-Din, without any desire to annex his share of the family
lands. A third brother, Nasr ed-Din, was established as Nur ed-Din’s vassal at
Harran, while the youngest of the family, Qutb ed-Din, was growing up at his
eldest brother’s court at Mosul. Secure from danger from his fellow-Moslems by
his family connections and his alliance with Unur, Nur ed-Din was well fitted
to lead the counter-attack of Islam. If the Christians in the East were to
survive, it was against him that they must concentrate their efforts.