A History of the Crusades-Vol 2 (43 page)

1150: Intrigue
in Egypt

In May 1151 Nur ed-Din again appeared before
Damascus, and again the Franks came to the rescue. After camping for a month
close to the city Nur ed-Din retreated to the neighbourhood of Baalbek, which
was governed by his lieutenant, Shirkuh’s brother Ayub. Meanwhile the Franks
under King Baldwin moved up to Damascus. Many of them were allowed to visit the
bazaars within the walls, while Mujir ed-Din paid a cordial visit to the King
in the Christian camp. But the allies were not strong enough to go in pursuit
of Nur ed-Din. Instead, they marched on Bosra, whose emir, Sarkhak, had
accepted help from Nur ed-Din in a revolt against Damascus. The expedition was
unsuccessful; but soon afterwards Sarkhak, with the usual volatility of the
minor Moslem princes, made friends with the Franks; and Mujir ed-Din was
obliged to call in Nur ed-Din’s help to reduce him to obedience. When Nur
ed-Din went north again, Mujir ed-Din followed him on a visit to Aleppo, where
a treaty of friendship was signed. But the Damascenes still refused to renounce
their alliance with the Franks. In December 1151 a band of Turcomans tried to
raid Banyas, probably at Ayub’s orders. The garrison countered by a raid on the
territory of Baalbek, which Ayub drove off. Mujir ed-Din carefully disclaimed
any connection with the warfare. He was more embarrassed when suddenly, in the
autumn of 1152, the Ortoqid prince Timurtash of Mardin appeared with a Turcoman
army that he had taken by forced marches round the edge of the desert and asked
for help for a surprise attack on Jerusalem. He had probably heard of the
quarrels between Baldwin and Melisende and thought that a bold stroke might succeed.
Mujir ed-Din compromised by allowing him to purchase supplies but sought to
dissuade him from going farther. Timurtash then dashed across the Jordan, and,
while the Frankish nobility was attending a council at Nablus, doubtless to
arrange for Melisende’s dower, pitched his camp on the Mount of Olives. But the
garrison of Jerusalem made a sudden sortie on the Turcomans, who, finding that
their surprise had failed, retreated to the Jordan. There, on the river bank,
the army of the Kingdom fell on them and won a complete victory.

During the next months the attention of
Christians and Moslems alike was turned to Egypt. The Fatimid Caliphate seemed
near to complete disruption. Since the murder of the vizier al-Afdal there had
been no competent ruler in Egypt. The Caliph al-Amir had reigned on till
October 1129 when he, too, was murdered; but the government had been conducted
by a series of worthless viziers. Al-Amir’s successor, his cousin al-Hafiz,
showed more character and tried to free himself from the shackles of the
vizierate by appointing his own son Hasan to the post. But Hasan was disloyal
and was put to death at his father’s orders in 1135. The next vizier, the
Armenian-born Vahram, filled the administration with his compatriots, only to
provoke a reaction in 1137, when for days the streets of Cairo ran with
Christian blood. Nor was al-Hafiz luckier with his later viziers, though he
clung precariously to his throne till his death in 1149. The reign of his son,
al-Zafir, began with open civil war between his two leading generals. Amir ibn
Sallah won and became vizier, only to be murdered himself three years
afterwards. This unending story of intrigue and blood raised the hopes of Egypt’s
enemies. In 1150 King Baldwin began to repair the fortifications of Gaza.
Ascalon was still a Fatimid fortress, and its garrison still made frequent
raids into Christian territory. Gaza was to be the base for operations against
Ascalon. The vizier Ibn Sallah was alarmed. Amongst the refugees at the Fatimid
court was the Munqidhite prince Usama, who had previously been in Zengi’s
service. He was sent to Nur ed-Din, who was now encamped before Damascus, to
ask him to make a diversion into Galilee; the Egyptian fleet would meanwhile
raid the Frankish seaports. The mission was unsuccessful; Nur ed-Din had other
preoccupations. Usama on his way back stopped at Ascalon for two years to
conduct operations against the local Franks; then he returned to Egypt in time
to witness the intrigues that followed the murder of Ibn Sallah by the son of
his stepson Abbas, with the connivance of the Caliph.

1153: The
Capture of Ascalon

This drama, following soon on his own triumph
over his mother, decided King Baldwin to attack Ascalon. He made careful
preparations; and on 25 January 1153 the whole army of the Kingdom, with all
the siege engines that the King could amass, appeared before its walls. With
the King were the Grand Masters of the Hospital and the Temple, with the pick
of their men, the great lay lords of the realm, the Patriarch, the Archbishops
of Tyre, Caesarea and Nazareth, and the Bishops of Bethlehem and Acre. The
relic of the True Cross accompanied the Patriarch. Ascalon was a tremendous
fortress, spreading from the sea in a great semicircle, with its fortifications
in excellent repair; and the Egyptian government had always kept it well
stocked with armaments and provisions. For some months the Frankish army,
though it could completely blockade the city, could make no impression on its
walls. The pilgrim-ships that arrived about Easter-time added reinforcements to
its ranks. But they were countered by the arrival of an Egyptian fleet in June.
The Fatimids did not venture to attempt to relieve Ascalon by land, but they
sent a squadron of seventy ships laden with men and arms and supplies of all
sorts. Gerard of Sidon, who commanded the twenty galleys that were all that the
Christians could muster, dared not attack them, and the Egyptian ships sailed
triumphantly into the harbour. The defenders were heartened; but the ships sailed
away again after they had been unloaded; and the siege dragged on. Most
formidable of the Frankish siege-machines was a great wooden tower that
overtopped the walls, from which stones and flaming faggots could be shot right
into the city streets. One night, in late July, some of the garrison crept out
and set fire to it. But a wind arose, and the flaming mass was blown against
the wall. The intense heat caused the masonry to disintegrate, and by morning a
breach was made. The Templars, who manned that sector, determined that they
alone should have the credit of the victory. While some of their men stood by
to prevent any other Christian approaching, forty of their knights penetrated
into the city. The garrison at first thought that all was lost, but then,
seeing how few the Templars were, rounded on them and slew them. The breach was
hastily repaired, and the Templar corpses were hung out over the city walls.

While a truce was held to enable each side to
bury its dead, the King held a Council in his tent, before the relic of the
Holy Cross. The lay nobles, discouraged by the reverse, wished to abandon the
siege; but the Patriarch and the Grand Master of the Hospitallers, Raymond of
Le Puy, persuaded the King to continue with it; and their eloquence moved the
barons. The attack was renewed more vigorously than before.

On 19 August, after a fierce bombardment of the
city, the garrison decided to surrender, on condition that the citizens should
be allowed to depart in safety with their movable belongings. Baldwin accepted
the terms and abode by them loyally. As a great stream of Moslems poured out of
the city, by road and sea, to retire to Egypt, the Franks entered in state and
took over the citadel, with its vast store of treasure and of arms. The
lordship of Ascalon was given to the King’s brother, Amalric, Count of Jaffa.
The great mosque became the Cathedral of St Paul, and the Patriarch consecrated
as bishop one of his canons, Absalom. Later, the Bishop of Bethlehem, Gerard,
secured a ruling from Rome that the see depended on his own.

The capture of Ascalon was the last great
triumph of the Kings of Jerusalem, and it raised their prestige to a formidable
height. To have won at last the city known as the Bride of Syria was a
resounding achievement; but in fact it brought no great substantial gain.
Though the fortress had been the base for petty raids into Frankish lands,
Egypt no longer seriously threatened the Christians; but now, with Ascalon in
their hands, the Franks were lured on to dangerous adventures by the Nile. It
was perhaps for that reason that Nur ed-Din, with his far-sighted policy, had
not attempted to interfere in the campaign, except for a projected expedition
against Banyas which he planned with Mujir of Damascus, but which came to
nothing owing to mutual quarrels. He could not regret that Egypt was weakened,
nor that Frankish attention should be diverted to the south. Mujir of Damascus
was more easily impressed. He hastened to assure Baldwin of his devoted
friendship, and he agreed to pay him a yearly tribute. While Frankish lords
journeyed and raided as they pleased over Damascene territory, Frankish
ambassadors came to the city to collect the money for their King.

1154: Nur ed-Din
takes Damascus

To Mujir and his counsellors, mindful of their
own safety, a Frankish protectorate was preferable to their fate should Nur
ed-Din become their master. But to the ordinary citizen of Damascus the
insolence of the Christians was unbearable. The Burid dynasty was proving
itself traitor to the Faith. Ayub, Emir of Baalbek, took advantage of this
sentiment. His agents penetrated the city, spreading resentment against Mujir.
There happened at this time to be a food-shortage in Damascus; so Nur ed-Din
held up the convoys that were bringing corn from the north, and Ayub’s agents
spread the rumour that this was Mujir’s fault for refusing to co-operate with
his fellow-Moslems. Next, Nur ed-Din persuaded Mujir that many of the Damascene
notables were plotting against him; and Mujir in panic took action against them.
When Mujir had thus lost the favour of both the rich and the poor, Ayub’s
brother Shirkuh arrived as Nur ed-Din’s ambassador before Damascus, but he came
truculently, with an armed force unusual for a friendly mission. Mujir would
not admit him to the city nor would he go out to meet him. Nur ed-Din took this
as an insult to his ambassador and advanced with a large army to Damascus.
Mujir’s desperate appeal to the Franks was sent out too late. Nur ed-Din
encamped before the walls on 18 April 1154. Exactly a week later, after a brief
skirmish outside the eastern wall, a Jewess admitted some of his soldiers into
the Jewish quarter, and at once the populace opened the eastern gate to the
bulk of his army. Mujir fled to the citadel, but capitulated after only a few
hours. He was offered his life and the emirate of Homs. A few weeks later he
was suspected of plotting with old friends in Damascus and was ejected from
Homs. He refused the offer of the town of Balis on the Euphrates, and retired
to Baghdad.

Meanwhile the citizens of Damascus received Nur
ed-Din with every sign of joy. He forbade his troops to pillage, and he at once
filled the markets with foodstuffs and removed the tax on fruit and vegetables.
When Nur ed-Din returned to Aleppo, he left Ayub in charge of Damascus. Baalbek
was given to a local noble, Dhahak, who later revolted against Nur ed-Din and
had to be suppressed.

Nur ed-Din’s capture of Damascus heavily
outbalanced Baldwin’s capture of Ascalon. His territory now stretched down the
whole eastern frontier of the Frankish states, from Edessa to Oultrejourdain.
Only a few petty emirates in Moslem Syria retained their independence, such as
Shaizar. Though Frankish possessions were larger in area and richer in
resources, Nur ed-Din’s had the advantage of union under one master who was far
less trammelled by arrogant vassals than the rulers of the Franks. His star was
in the ascendant. But he was too cautious to follow up his triumph too quickly.
He seems to have reaffirmed the alliance between Damascus and Jerusalem and to
have renewed the truce for another two years in 1156, when he made a payment of
8000 ducats in continuance of the tribute paid by Mujir ed-Din. His forbearance
was chiefly due to his rivalry with the Anatolian Seldjuks, from whom he wished
to take their share of the former County of Edessa.

The Sultan Mas’ud died in 1155; and his sons,
Kilij Arslan II and Shahinshah, at once quarrelled over the inheritance. The
former won the support of the Danishmend princes, Dhu’l Nun of Caesarea and Dhu’l
Qarnain of Melitene; the latter that of the eldest Danishmend, Yaghi Siyan of
Sivas. Yaghi Siyan asked Nur ed-Din for help; and Nur ed-Din readily responded
by attacking and annexing the Seldjuk share of the Edessan towns, Aintab, Dukuk
and probably also Samosata. Kilij Arslan defeated his brother; but, though he
tried to build up an alliance with the Armenians and Franks against Nur ed-Din,
he was obliged to accept the loss of his Euphratesian province.

1156:
Earthquakes in Syria

Secure in the north, Nur ed-Din turned south
again. In February 1157 Baldwin broke his truce with Nur ed-Din. Relying on the
truce, large numbers of Turcomans had brought their flocks of sheep and their
horses to graze on the rich pastures near the frontier at Banyas. King Baldwin,
heavily in debt owing to a taste for luxury, could not resist the temptation to
attack the unsuspecting shepherds and make off with their animals. This
shameless breach of his engagements brought him the most valuable booty that
Palestine had seen for many decades, but it roused Nur ed-Din to vengeance.
While he paused at Baalbek, to reduce its rebellious emir, his general Shirkuh
defeated some Latin raiders from the Buqaia; and his brother Nasr ed-Din routed
a company of the Hospitallers near Banyas. In May Nur ed-Din himself set out
from Damascus to besiege Banyas. Shirkuh defeated a small relieving force, and
joined his master before the walls. The lower town was soon taken, but the
citadel, two miles away up a steep mountain, held out under the Constable,
Humphrey of Toron. Humphrey was on the point of surrendering when news came of
the King’s approach. Nur ed-Din set fire to the lower town and retired, letting
Baldwin enter Banyas and repair its walls. As the Franks returned south down
the Jordan, Nur ed-Din fell on them just north of the Sea of Galilee and won a
great victory. The King barely escaped to Safed; and the Moslems were able to
return to the siege of Banyas. But after a few days, on news from the north of
a projected attack by Kilij Arslan, Nur ed-Din abandoned the attempt and
hurried back to Aleppo.