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Medieval Sourcebook:
William of Tyre:
Latin Disarray - Politics in the Latin Kingdom, 1150-1185
1. The Capture of Ascalon [August 22, 1153]
[adapted from Brundage] The Second Crusade had done nothing
to halt the advance of Islam against the Latin states, and in
the years immediately following the fiasco at Damascus the Moslem
advance continued apace. The County of Edessa was no longer tenable
by the Latins. The Countess Beatrice in 1158 finally recognized
the futility of trying to maintain a hold upon the county and
accepted the offer of the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel Conmenus,
to buy up her rights there. The Principality of Antioch was also
in trouble, for its prince, Raymond, had been killed in an ambush
in 1149 and King Baldwin III of Jerusalem had taken charge of
the Principality as regent for Raymond's widow, Constance . The
boundaries of the Principality were, moreover, now painfully constricted,
due to the military successes of Nur ad-Din in the upper and middle
Orontes Valley. A further blow to the Latin states came in 1152,
with the murder by a group of assassins of Count Raymond II of
Tripoli. Baldwin of Jerusalem, accordingly, became regent of Raymond's
state, too. After defeating an attempt by his mother, the dowager
Queen Melisende, to partition the Latin Kingdom itself,4 Baldwin
took the offensive against his Moslem enemies by launching a large-scale
attack upon Ascalon.
William of Tyre provided perhaps the best account of the period.
Ascalon is one of the five cities of the Philistines. It is situated
on the seashore and is shaped like a semicircle whose chord or
diameter lies along the shore, while its circumference or arc
lies on the land facing east.
The whole city lies in a kind of basin which is tilted down toward
the sea. It is girded round with artificial mounds on which are
walls, studded with towers. It is solidly fashioned and its stones
are held together by cement which is as hard as stone. The walls
are of a proper thickness and as high as is proportionally fitting.
Even the outer fortifications which circle around the city are
constructed with the same solidity and are diligently fortified.
There are no springs within the circuit of the walls nor are there
any nearby, but wells both outside and within the city supply
an abundance of delicious drinking water. As a further precaution
the citizens have built within the city several cisterns to collect
rain water.
There are four gates in the circuit of the walls. These are most
carefully fortified with high, solid towers. The first gate, which
opens to the east, is called the Great Gate and is commonly known
as the Jerusalem Gate, since it faces toward the Holy City. It
is flanked by two very high towers which dominate the city and
are its strength and protection. In front of this gate there are
three or four lesser gates in the barbican by which one may come
to the Great Gate through some winding passages.
The second gate faces westward and is called the Sea Gate because
the citizens can pass through it to the sea. The third faces the
south, toward the city of Gaza ... from which it takes its name.
The fourth faces north and is called the Jaffa Gate, after the
neighboring city which is located on the same coast.
Ascalon derives no advantage from being situated on the seacoast,
for it offers no port or safe harbor for ships. It has a mere
sandy beach and the violent winds make the sea around the city
exceedingly choppy so that, unless the sea be calm, those who
come there are very suspicious of it. The soil around the city
is covered with sand and is unfit for cultivation, although it
is suited for vines and fruit-bearing trees. There are, however,
a few little valleys to the north of the city which, when fertilized
and irrigated with well water, furnish some vegetables and fruits
to the citizens.
The city has a large population and it is commonly said that even
the smallest of its inhabitants, including the children, receive
salaries from the Egyptian Caliph's treasury. The aforesaid lord
and his princes take the very greatest care of Ascalon, for it
is their opinion that if it were lost and were to come under our
control there would be nothing to prevent our princes from invading
Egypt freely and without difficulty and from occupying the Kingdom....
For fifty years and more after the Lord had delivered the other
areas of the promised land to the Christian people Ascalon still
resisted all of our attempts until at last they attempted the
difficult and virtually impossible task of besieging it. For,
in addition to its walls and barbicans, its towers and ramparts,
the city was supplied with arms and provisions beyond all expectation
and it had an experienced population accustomed to the use of
arms. There were so many of them that from the beginning of the
siege to its end the numbers of the besieged were double those
of the besiegers.
The lord King and also the lord Patriarch, our predecessor the
lord Peter, Archbishop of Tyre, and the other magnates of the
realm, both princes and ecclesiastical prelates, together with
citizens from each of the towns pitched their tents separately
and besieged Ascalon by land. The lord Gerard of Sidon, one of
the leading barons of the kingdom, commanded the fleet of fifteen
beaked ships which were ready to sail, so that they could blockade
the city by sea and both prevent those who wished to enter from
getting in and also stop those who wished to leave from getting
out.
Our men-first the knights, and then the infantry-made attacks
on the town almost every day. The townsmen met them boldly and
resisted them vigorously, fighting for their wives and children
and, what was most important, for their freedom. Sometimes they
came out ahead in these engagements, sometimes we did, as usually
happens in this kind of affair, but our men more often got the
better of the fight.
It is said that there was such security in the camps and such
an abundance of all kinds of supplies that the people lived in
their tents and pavilions just as they were accustomed to live
in their houses in the walled cities.
The townsmen took particular care of the city at night and took
the watches in turn. Even their magnates took turns keeping watch
and marched around the walls through many sleepless nights. Along
the circuit of the walls and towers there were glass lamps in
the battlements. The lamps were made with glass windows to protect
the flame which was fed with oil. Those who made the circuit of
the walls used these lamps to provide themselves with a light
as bright as day.
Our men in the camps were also given the watches at various times.
In addition, the task of keeping guard never ceased, for we feared
that the townsmen might make nocturnal attacks upon the camps
or that the Egyptians who were hurrying to aid Ascalon might harm
the army in a sudden and unforeseen attack. This fear was lessened,
however, by the presence of scouts in many areas around Gaza who
could warn our men swiftly of the enemy's arrival.
Thus the siege continued in the same fashion for two months. About
Easter time the usual passage arrived, which brought in a crowd
of pilgrims. A council was held and men were sent from the army
to forbid the sailors and pilgrims, on royal authority, to return.
They promised them pay and invited them all to participate in
the siege and in the work which was so acceptable to God. They
also brought ships, both large and small. Thus it happened that
quickly, within a few days, because of a good wind, all the ships
which had come over on the passage appeared before the city and
a tremendous host of pilgrims, both knights and sergeants, joined
our expedition. The army increased in size daily. In the camps,
therefore, there was joy and the hope of winning a victory. Among
the enemy, however, sorrow and worry grew greater and although
they were frequently harassed, they lost confidence in their men
and rarely emerged to fight. They sent couriers frequently to
the Egyptian Caliph and begged him to send them reinforcements
in time, for they intimated that otherwise they would soon give
up. Through those of his princes who were charged with this work,
the Caliph speedly had a fleet prepared and an army mustered.
Large ships were loaded with weapons, provisions, and machines.
The Caliph appointed commanders and supplied money, called for
speed and censured delay.
Our men, meanwhile, had bought ships at a great price. When the
masts had been removed, workmen were summoned to construct with
all haste a very tall wooden tower. The tower was carefully protected
against fire inside and out with wickerwork and hides, so that
the men who were to attack the city in it might be kept safe.
From the remaining wood from the ships, they built portable sheds,
which they set in place for breaking down the walls. From this
material, too, they constructed swine" to level the fortifications.
When all these matters had been properly arranged and when it
had been decided which sector of the wall could most easily be
attacked by our wooden tower, the ramparts of the chosen area
were leveled by the aforementioned machines and the tower was
brought up to the wall with much shouting. From the top of the
tower the whole city could be seen and a hand to-hand fight was
carried on with the men in the nearby towers, The citizens struggled
and pressed us fiercely, shooting with their bows and balistas
both from the walls and from the ramparts, but their labor was
in vain, for they could not harm the men who were hidden in the
tower and who were moving the machine. A group of the townsmen
gathered on the section of the wall just opposite the tower. The
bolder men of this group were ordered to try our strength by waging
a continuous and long drawn out battle with the men in the tower.
In addition, there were skirmishes and serious struggles at various
other places along the wall, so that scarcely a day passed without
some mortalities, not to mention the wounded, of whom there were
great crowds on both sides…
After our men had persisted in the siege for five months on end,
it became apparent that the enemy's strength was failing slightly
and that our chances of taking the city had improved. Suddenly,
however, an Egyptian fleet, sped on by favoring winds, appeared
on the scene. When the people of Ascalon saw this they raised
their hands skyward and lifted up their voices in a great shout,
saying that we would now have to retreat or else we would shortly
be overwhelmed….
The enemy fleet approached the city boldly, bringing the townsmen
the consolation they had hoped for. There were said to be seventy
galleys in the fleet, as well as other ships loaded to the gunwales
with men, weapons, and provisions. The fleet was huge and it bad
all been sent by the aforesaid Egyptian prince for the
relief of the city. The townsmen revived and with help in sight
they began anew to do battle with our forces, and they sought
combat more frequently and more boldly with our men. Although
the townspeople were rather cautious, as a result of their earlier
experience with us, the new arrivals were fresh and greedy for
glory and so desired to display their strength and boldness. Since
they labored without caution, they suffered casualties frequently
until they also had had a taste of our firmness and learned to
attack more sparingly and to resist the force of our attacks more
modestly....
Meanwhile the men in our expedition pursued the campaign they
had begun and continued their constant attacks on the besieged
city and on what is called the Great Gate. They renewed their
assaults, which constituted a grave menace to the townsmen. Volleys
of projectiles sapped the towers and walls and, within the city,
the huge rocks weakened the foundations of the houses and also
caused much bloodshed. The men who were in the tower and who were
in charge of it harassed with their bows and arrows not only the
citizens who were putting up resistance in the towers and on the
walls, but also those who tried to move about through the city
on urgent business. The citizens easily concluded that whatever
they had to suffer from other quarters, even though it be difficult,
was tolerable when compared to what they suffered from these attacks.
The townsmen, therefore, took counsel together and their most
experienced men advised that, whatever the danger might be and
whatever the risk, they must place some dry wood and other suitable
kindling which would increase the heat between the tower and the
wall so that, when they stealthily set it afire, the tower would
be incinerated. Otherwise there seemed to be no hope that they
would be saved nor any faith that they could continue their resistance,
so oppressed and mightily afflicted were they. Certain strong
men, outstanding for their strength and spirit, were aroused by
their admonitions. These men prepared to save the citizenry rather
than themselves and they exposed themselves to the danger. They
gathered wood at that part of the wall which was closest to the
tower and pitched it out into the space between the tower and
the wall. When they had piled up a very large stack of wood, one
which seemed to be large enough to burn up the tower, they poured
over it pitcb, oil, and other liquids which would feed flames
and increase the beat of a fire. Then they set it ablaze. It was
obvious that the Divine Mercy was with us, for, as the fire blazed
up, strong winds immediately arose in the east and, with violent
gusts, blew the whole force of the fire against the walls. The
force of the wind directed the flames and the fire against the
wall throughout the night and reduced it to ashes. In the morning,
just about daybreak, the whole foundation of the wall between
two of the towers gave way so that the sound of the crash aroused
the whole army. All of the men in the army, excited by the sound
of the wall's destruction, picked up their weapons and rushed
to the place where God's will had been made manifest. They were
ready to enter the city, but Bernard de Tremelay, the Master of
the Knights Templars, and his brethren got there before many of
the others and took over the breach in the walls. They allowed
no one save their own men to enter. It was said that he barred
others from entering so that his men, as the first to enter, would
get the greater part of the spoils and the choicer booty, for
up to the present time[i.e. the last quarter of the twelfth century]
the custom among us-a custom which has the force of law-was that
when cities were taken by storm, whatever a man seized for himself
was possessed by him and his heirs in perpetuity. Everyone could
have entered without distinction and taken the city, and there
would have been sufficient loot for the victors, but when an evil
stems from an evil root and wicked intentions it rarely produces
a good result, for "Property gained in devious ways produces
no good result. " Overcome by greed, then, they would not
have any partners in the spoils and it was only just that they
alone were exposed to mortal danger. About forty of them entered
the city, but the others who were following them were not able
to get in. The townspeople were seeking to preserve their own
lives and were prepared without qualms, to go to any lengths to
do so. Thus, when they saw the Templars they drew their swords
and butchered them.
The townsmen reformed their lines and, like men reborn, they again
picked up their weapons which they bad previously dropped like
vanquished men. Now they all rushed together to the place where
the wall had been breached. They filled in the gap in the wall
by piling up beams of great size and huge quantities of timber,
of which they had a large supply from their ships. They closed
up the entrance to the city and speedily made that area impenetrable.
After buttressing the towers which stood on either side of the
area which bad been burned out and which they had deserted when
it became impossible to withstand the force of the flames, the
townsmen again took up the battle. Once more they assembled their
men and, just as if they had met with no reverses, they challenged
our men to battle. Our men in the tower, however, were aware that
its substructure had been weakened and that the lower parts of
its solid framework bad been damaged and they therefore fought
with less vigor, since they could not depend upon the tower's
strength. The enemy shamed us by dangling the bodies of our dead
from ropes thrown over the battlements of the walls. They expressed
the joy which bad arisen in their minds by jeering at our men
with words and gestures.... Our men, on the other hand, were confused
in mind and spirit. They were thrown into sadness and bitterness
of heart, they despaired of victory and became halfhearted.
The lord King, meanwhile, assembled the princes . . . [but discovered
that] there were differences of opinion among them and they gave
varying estimates of the situation. . . . [Finally, after much
bickering, agreement was reached and] all of our men took up their
weapons. The horns sounded. The sound of the trumpets and the
voices of the heralds roused the whole force to battle. They yearned
to redress the injuries visited upon our dead; they gathered before
the city with unusual eagerness and most heatedly challenged the
enemy to battle. Our formations looked as if they had never suffered
harm or lost men. They rushed upon the enemy as if they were determined
to be wiped out and they attacked with such great vigor that the
enemy companies were astounded. The increased force of our men
was unbeatable. Their perseverance could not be overcome. The
enemy attempted to resist and to overcome the onslaught, but they
could not withstand the force of our attack or beat down our swords.
That day's battle was fought by most unequal forces, but both
our cavalry and infantry forces triumphed everywhere over the
enemy and won the victor's palm on every front. There was a very
great slaughter of the foe and our reverses three days earlier
were more than paid back. There was not a family in the city which
did not suffer some domestic sorrow and which was not troubled
by worry over its members. The city was covered with distress
and earlier perils seemed light when compared with the present
dangers. . . .
It happened that, by public demand, certain of the leading citizens
were sent as intermediaries to the king to ask for a truce for
a time so that when we had exchanged the bodies of their dead
in return for the corpses of our own dead, each side might hold
suitable funeral rites and pay its highest honors to the dead
according to their respective customs. The conditions which were
proposed pleased our men and, when they had received the bodies
of our dead, they buried them with solemn funeral rites.
After the people of Ascalon had witnessed the slaughter of their
men and had felt the heavy hand which the Lord had laid upon them,
their sorrow and anxiety of spirit was renewed and their spirits
were flooded with a vast grief. So that there would be nothing
lacking to complete their sadness, it happened on that same day
that, as forty of their strong men were carrying a beam of immense
size to the place where it was needed, a huge rock was catapulted
from our throwing machine and landed by chance on the beam. The
men who were bearing the weight of the beam sank to the ground
beneath it and were crushed.
The city fathers who were still alive, bowed down by the weight
of their misfortunes, assembled the people, who gathered amid
weeping and lamentation. All were there, including mothers who
held their nursing babes at the breast and old men breathing their
last gasp. With the common consent of all, some prudent and eloquent
men addressed the whole population in this fashion: "Men
of Ascalon, you who live within these gates! You know - none better
- what perils and difficulties we have experienced with these
cruel and determined Christians during the past four years. .
. . The city fathers have, therefore, decided that, if you approve,
we shall try to escape at this time from our sufferings. We shall
send envoys in the name of the whole people to the powerful King
who is besieging us and we shall try to secure definite peace
terms to enable us to leave freely with our wives and children,
servants and handmaids, and all our household goods in return
for the surrender to the King - we say it with groans - of our
city, so that we may put an end to such misfortunes."
The speech found favor in the eyes of all and all together they
let out a great shout that matters should be thus arranged. Prudent
and discreet men of venerable age were elected by all the people
to carry the proposals they had decided upon to the King and his
princes. The envoys passed through the gate, after arranging for
a truce and a safe conduct, and they approached the lord King.
After all the princes had assembled, as the envoys asked, they
stated their proposal and explained systematically its details.
The King ordered the envoys to leave for a while and took counsel
with the princes. He diligently sought each man's opinion. The
princes wept for joy and lifted up their eyes and hands to the
sky, giving abundant thanks to the Creator because he had deigned
to grant such abundant treasure to unworthy men. They recalled
the envoys and made their common answer: the conditions would
be accepted if the whole city were evacuated within the next three
days. The envoys agreed, but demanded that oaths be sworn to them
to make the agreement more firm. An oath was solemnly sworn....
After the envoys had first given the hostages who the King named,
the envoys joyfully returned to their people. They took back with
them certain of our knights who, as a sign of victory, placed
the King's banner upon the city's tallest towers. Our army waited
with great anticipation. When the royal banner was spotted on
the highest towers the people broke into shouts of exaltation....
Although the people of Ascalon, according to the conditions of
the treaty, had three full days, they were so terrified by the
presence of our men that within two days they had packed their
baggage and bad left the city with their wives and children, servants
and handmaids, and with all their housebold goods loaded for the
journey. The lord King gave them guides, according to the provisions
of the treaty, as far as al-Arish, an ancient city in the desert.
There they sent them away in peace.
The lord King and the lord Patriarch, together with the princes
of the Kingdom, the prelates of the church, and all of the clergy
and people, with the Lord's cross leading the way, entered the
city singing hymns and spiritual songs. . . . The aforesaid city
was taken in the year of the Lord's incarnation 1154.
Source:
William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum,
XVII, 22-25, 27-30, Patrologia Latina 201, 696-708, translated
by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History,
(Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 126-136
Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval
Sourcebook that copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover
he gave permission for use of his translations.
2. Egypt in the Twelfth Century
[Adapted from Brundage] The acquisition of Ascalon brought
the monarchs of Jerusalem into more direct contact than hitherto
with Egypt. The following decade, during the last years of Baldwin
III's life, was too hectic within the Kingdom for any further
ex pansion to be possible. Baldwin III was preoccupied with dynastic
quarrels among the members of the royal family and with the pretensions
of the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel, to suzerainty over Antioch.
Baldwin's death, early in 1162, and the accession of his brother
Amalric, signaled a revival of Frankish interest in Egypt and
the beginning of a competition for power there between the Latin
king and his Moslem competitor, Nur-ad-Din. Egypt, fertile and
prosperous, was a prize worth striving for. Archbishop William
of Tyre, a close friend of King Amalric, describes it thus:
The whole territory of Egypt, from its furthermost frontiers,
which are said to border on Ethiopia, lies between two sandy deserts
which are doomed to perpetual sterility. Egypt would neither know
nor produce fruitful harvests of any kind if it were not fertilized
at certain times by the overflowing bounty of the Nile. The river,
however, makes the adjoining areas fit for crops only if the lay
of the land is suitable, for, where it finds a level surface near
it, the river spreads out more freely and where it has spread
out, it renders a wider stretch of land fertile. From Cairo downstream
to the sea, the river finds a wide plain where it has free range.
Here the fertile areas are thus spread out very freely and quite
broadly. This both enriches the kingdom and also enlarges it.
From the fortress called Phaeusa, which neighbors Syria, to Alexandria,
the last city of the King dom, which borders on the Lybian sands,
the blessings of cultivation and fertility spread out for a hundred
miles and more. From above Cairo down to Chus, the most distant
of Egypt's cities, which is said to border on the Ethiopian
Kingdom, the country is narrowly confined between sand dunes,
so that the river's inundations rarely extend for seven
or eight miles and frequently spread out for only four
or five miles, sometimes on both sides of the stream and sometimes
only on one side. The river thus expands or contracts the extent
of the Kingdom, for the places which are not irrigated by the
river are doomed, as we have said, to the burning sun and to perpetual
sterility. This upper territory is called Seith in their
language. We have not yet been able to discover the meaning of
this name, except that it is said that in very early times there
was a very ancient city called Sais in upper Egypt. Our Plato
makes mention of it in the Timaeus through the mouth of
his disciple Critias, when he introduces Solon, a man of pre-eminent
authority. We have decided to give his words in order to lend
greater weight to the evidence, lest any authority be lacking:
"There is," he says, "a region of Egypt called
the Delta. At the bead of this region, the Nile's stream is divided.
Nearby there was a great city named Sais, which was ruled by an
ancient custom called the Satyrian Law. The Emperor Amasis was
from this city.". . .
There is also another region which belongs to Egypt. This region
lies one day's journey from Cairo through an uninhabitable country.
This region also benefits by being visited by some branches of
the river and accordingly it has an especially good and fertile
soil and rejoices in a wealth of fields and vineyards. The Egyptians
call this area Phium [Fayum] in their language. According
to an old tradition this area was originally quite useless: it
had never known the plow and had lain uncultivated and uncared
for from the beginning of the world, like the other parts of the
desert in which it is situated. Joseph, that most prudent procurator
of Egypt and that splendid provider of good things, saw that this
region was lower than the surrounding areas and that if some mounds
which lay between the habitable land and this desert were cut
through, this area could readily get the benefits of the river.
He threw up some dykes and leveled off the intervening land and
then conducted the Nile's overflow into the channels which had
been prepared. Thus that land achieved a fertility unknown there
throughout the ages.
Although we do not know its ancient name, we believe that in early
times it was called the Thebiad. The legion of the Holy Thebians,
which was crowned with martyrdom under the Emperors Diocletian
and Maximian and whose leading martyr, we read, was Mauritius,
came from there. Another argument may be added: the best opium
ever discovered originated there and it is called "Theban"
by physicians.
The land of Goshen, which we read that Joseph gave to his brothers,
is in that section of Egypt which borders on Syria, as the diligent
reader may easily discover by reading the book of Genesis."
The Thebiad, however, is on the opposite side of Egypt, beyond
the river's banks, in the region which faces Lybia. It is not
a small area: it is said to include within its boundaries 366
towns and villages.
Source:
William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum,
XIX, 23, Patrologia Latina 201, 770-71, translated by James
Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee,
WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 136-38
Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval
Sourcebook that copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover
he gave permission for use of his translations.
3. Revolution in Egypt
[Adapted from Brundage] Amalric of Jerusalem had set his eye
upon Egypt and in September 1163 he led an expedition there. The
campaign was badly timed, however, for the Nile was in flood and
the Egyptians were able to channel the flood waters so as to force
the Latins to give up the siege of Pelusium which they had begun
.
Nur ad-Din, too, was well aware of the advantages which control
of Egypt would bring to the Latin states. The Moslem leader determined
to secure Egypt for himself before any Latin campaigns there could
succeed. In the spring of 1164, therefore, he sent his trusted
general, Shirkuh, who was accompanied by his twenty-year-old nephew,
Saladin, to intervene in Egypt. Shirkuh's invasion was successful
and by late May 1164 Shirkuh was entrenched in Egypt. The Egyptian
vizier, Shawar, was as anxious to retain his independence of Nur-ad-Din
as be was to keep out of the clutches of the farangi. Accordingly,
the vizier now invited King Amalric to come to his aid against
Shirkuh. Amalric quickly accepted the invitation, joined forces
with Shawar, and besieged Shirkuh's army at Bilbeis. After a three-month
siege an agreement was reached whereby both of the invaders were
to withdraw and Amalric was to be reimbursed by Shawar for his
trouble. The Latin King, accordingly, with drew from Egypt once
again, the more quickly because his own Kingdom bad during his
absence been attacked by Nur-ad-Din."
Egypt was not thus easily delivered from her enemies. Early
in 1167 Nur ad-Din once again sent Shirkuh and his forces into
Egypt, while Amalric came to the assistance of Shawar, the vizier.
After heavy fighting and a striking defeat of the Latin forces
near Minya, the earlier course of events repeated itself. On this
occasion, however, Amalric's reward included a promise by the
vizier to pay the Latin King an annual tribute of 100,000 gold
pieces.
The vizier's promise to pay tribute and the collection of the
agreed sum, however, were two different matters. In 1168, Amalric
once more invaded Egypt, this time to collect the money due to
him from Shawar. Now the vizier appealed to Shirkuh for help against
the Latins, an appeal to which Shirkuh readily responded. The
intervention of Shirkuh produced the desired withdrawal of the
Latin troops early in 1169." But Shirkuh had no intention
of withdrawing his men this time. In January 1169 there was a
palace revolution.
Shirkuh saw that now was the opportune time to fulfill his vows,
for, with the king gone, there would be no one to block his wishes.
He ordered what he had previously planned to be carried out.
He placed his camp before Cairo and, as if his entry were to be
peaceful, he remained there patiently for a few days. Like a prudent
man, he breathed no harsh words and manifested no hatred. He concealed
his designs with the shrewdness of which be was a master. The
Sultan Shawar came out to him daily in the camps, accompanied
by a very large retinue and with much pomp, and after his dutiful
visit, with an affectionate greeting and the giving of gifts,
the Sultan returned to the city. The complete safety of the successive
visits and returns seemed to promise well and the fact that one
time after another he was honorably received built up the Sultan's
confidence. He felt secure and trusted far too much in the good
faith of the Turks, which gave the murderer his chance. Secretly
Shirkuh gave orders to his men that on the following day when
be went out at dawn as if to walk by the water, they should do
away with the Sultan when he came on his customary visit. Shawar,
at the usual time, went to the camp to make his customary visit
and pay his usual respects. The ministers of death ran up to him
and carried out the execution which had been ordered: they threw
him to the ground, stabbed him with their swords, and cut off
his head. When Shawar's sons saw what was happening, they mounted
their horses and fled to Cairo. Terrified, they went down on their
knees to beg the Caliph for their lives. The Caliph is said to
have replied that they might hope for their lives on condition
that they make no secret agreements with the Turks. They violated
this agreement at once, however, by sending representatives secretly
to arrange a truce with Shirkuh. When the Caliph heard of this,
be ordered them both to be slain by the sword.
Thus, while the King was absent, Shawar was removed from the scene
and Shirkuh carried out his designs. He occupied the Kingdom and
went to the Caliph to pay his respects. He was received with many
honors and granted the dignity and office of sultan. Thus he acquired
power by the sword and seized all of Egypt for himself. . . .
But the joy of his succession did not last long. He had scarcely
held the reins for a year when he was removed from human affairs.
Shirkuh was succeeded by Saladin, the son of his brother, Najm-ad-Din.
Saladin was a man of keen intelligence. He was vigorous in war
and unusually generous. The first sign of the character of his
rule came when he visited his lord, the Caliph, to Pay him the
customary homage. It is said that when he entered he knocked the
Caliph to the ground with a stick that he held in his hand and
killed him. [note: William's account of the Caliph's
death is not supported by other sources and it would appear that
the Caliph Adid died a natural death on September 13, 1171, bringing
the Fatimid caliphate to an end in Egypt.] He then put all
of the Caliph's children to the sword, so that he might be subject
to no superior but might rule as both caliph and sultan. He was
afraid, since the Turks were hated by the people, that sometime
when he went to visit the Caliph, the Caliph might order his throat
to be slit. He therefore anticipated the Caliph's design and inflicted
upon the unsuspecting Caliph the death which, it was said, the
latter intended for him.
When the Caliph was dead, Saladin took possession of the royal
wealth, the treasury, and all the assets of the Caliph's house.
With his excessive generosity, Saladin gave everything away to
his soldiers, so that within a few days all the closets had been
emptied and he was forced to borrow money. He thus placed himself
heavily in debt to others.
Source:
William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum,
XX, 5-10, Patrologia Latina 201, 788-9, translated by James
Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee,
WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 139-40
Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval
Sourcebook that copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover
he gave permission for use of his translations.
4. Baldwin IV Becomes King
of Jerusalem
[Adapted from Brundage] The union of Egypt under Saladin with
Nur ad-Din's empire presented an obvious and immediate peril to
the Latin states of the East. Attempts to convince the magnates
of Western Europe of the urgency of the threat were unsuccessful
and, although an attempt was also made to bind the Latin states
closer to Byzantium, the final outcome of these negotiations is
unknown. The power of Saladin as ruler of Egypt produced tensions,
too, within Nur ad-Din's empire. Relations between Saladin and
his nominal overlord worsened steadily during the first five years
after Saladin's rise to power in Egypt. It seemed, almost, as
if Saladin and Nur-ad-Din would be at one another's throats, thus
saving the Latin states from the peril of imminent attack. Before
an open break between the two Moslem leaders occurred, however,
Nur-ad-Din died in 1174. This event changed the whole situation.
Furthermore it seemed as if the empire which Nur ad-Din had created
would soon disintegrate into a number of warring, bickering, rival
states, Before King Amalric could intervene to take advantage
of this situation, however, he died, leaving his son, Baldwin
IV, to inherit the Latin Kingdom.
The sixth of the Latin kings of Jerusalem was the lord Baldwin
IV, son of the lord King Amalric of illustrious memory and of
the Countess Agnes, daughter of the younger Count Jocelin of Edessa.
. . . While Baldwin was still a boy, about nine years old, and
while I was still Archdeacon of Tyre, King Amalric put him in
my care, after asking me many times and with a promise of his
favor, to teach him and to instruct him in-the liberal arts. [William
probably became Baldwin's tutor in 1170] While he was in my hands,
I took constant care of him, as is fitting with a king's son,
and I both carefully instructed him in literary studies and also
watched over the formation of his character.
It so happened that once when he was playing with some other noble
boys who were with him, they began pinching one another with their
fingernails on the hands and arms, as playful boys will do. The
others evinced their pain with yells, but, although his playmates
did not spare him, Baldwin bore the pain altogether too patiently,
as if be did not feel it. When this had happened several times,
it was reported to me. At first I thought that this happened because
of his endurance, not because of insensitivity. Then I called
him and began to ask what was happening. At last I discovered
that about half of his right hand and arm were numb, so that he
did not feel pinches or even bites there. I began to have doubts,
as I recalled the words of the wise man: "It is certain that
an insensate member is far from healthy and that be who does not
feel sick is in danger." [Hippocrates]
I reported all this to his father. Physicians were consulted and
prescribed repeated formentations, anointings, and even poisonous
drugs to improve his condition, but in vain. For, as we later
understood more fully as time passed, and as we made more comprehensive
observations, this was the beginning of an incurable disease.
I cannot keep my eyes dry while speaking of it. For as he began
to reach the age of puberty it became apparent that he was suffering
from that most terrible disease, leprosy. Each day he grew more
ill. The extremities and the face were most affected, so that
the hearts of his faithful men were touched by compassion when
they looked at him.
Baldwin was adept at literary studies. Daily he grew more promising
and developed a more loving disposition. He was handsome for his
age and he was quick to learn to ride and handle horses-more so
than his ancestors. He had a tenacious memory and loved to talk.
He was economical, but he well remembered both favors and injuries.
He resembled his father, not only in his face, but in his whole
appearance. He was also like his father in his walk and in the
timbre of his voice. He bad a quick mind, but his speech was slow.
He was, like his father, an avid listener to history and he was
very willing to follow good advice.
Baldwin was scarcely thirteen years old when his father died.
He had an elder sister named Sibylla, born of the same mother.
She was raised in the convent of St. Lazarus at Bethany by Lady
Ivetta, the abbess of the convent, who was her father's maternal
aunt.
When Baldwin's father died, all the princes of the Kingdom, both
ecclesiastical and secular, assembled. All were in agreement as
to what they wanted and Baldwin was anointed and crowned solemnly
and in the usual fashion in the Church of the Lord's Sepulcher
on the fifteenth of July, four days after his father's death,
by the Lord Amalric of good memory, the Patriarch of Jerusalem,
in the presence of the archbishops, bishops, and other prelates
of the church.
Source:
William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum,
XXI, 1-2, Patrologia Latina 201, 813-15, translated by
James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee,
WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 141-43
Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval
Sourcebook that copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover
he gave permission for use of his translations.
5. The Estrangement Between Raymond of Tripoli
and Baldwin IV
[Adapted from Brundage] The accession of the young leper king
to the Latin throne came at a time when Saladin was making his
successful bid to take over the lands formerly controlled by Nur
ad-Din. As Saladin tightened his hold upon a large, powerful Moslem
empire, the Latin states showed signs of an increasingly serious
internal cleavage.
Differences between two kinds of Western knights and settlers
in the East had frequently been noted by contemporary observers.
"Everyone who is a fresh emigrant from the Frankish lands,"
wrote a shrewd Syrian memoirist, "is ruder in character than
those who have become acclimatized and have held long association
with the Moslems ." [Usamh inb, Mundikh, trans Hitti, p.
163] This distinction between the Latins who had long been settled
in the East and their newly arrived compatriots permeated the
internal policies, the foreign policy, and the whole atmosphere
of the Latin states. These two divergent groups-called, for convenience,
the natives and the newcomers-were at odds with one another on
a host of important issues. The newcomer faction wanted land,
titles, and positions within the Kingdom for themselves. They
felt thwarted by the vested interests of the other party, whose
forefathers had come to the East with the armies of the First
Crusade or shortly thereafter and who had acquired a hold upon
the most desirable posts and lands of the Latin states. The newcomers,
too, frequently professed alarm at the degree to which the members
of the other faction bad adopted the native dress, customs, food,
and languages of the East-to say nothing of the scandalous (so
they seemed to new arrivals) dealings between the barons of the
Holy Land and the infidel Moslem rulers who were their neighbors.
Dissension between the native and newcomer factions was heightened
during the reign of Baldwin IV. As the young King was both a leper
and a minor, he must of necessity rule with the aid of a regent.
Furthermore, the powers of the regent must necessarily become
more important as the king's disease ran its inevitable course,
as Baldwin became progressively feebler, increasingly disabled
by the effects of his affliction. In this situation the newcomer
element saw a chance to advance its cause. Let one of their number
be named to the regency and the power of the native barons might
be crippled, perhaps broken completely.
During the opening years of the reign of Baldwin IV, however,
the regency was claimed by Count Raymond III of Tripoli, Baldwin's
closest male relative. Raymond was distinctly unacceptable to
the newcomers. To achieve their purposes, some means must be found
to dislodge him.
When Baldwin came officially of age in 1177, Raymond's influence
and that of the party he represented waned perceptibly, for Baldwin
IV was at first determined to rule in his own right. Then in 1180
Baldwin's widowed young sister, Sibylla, at the urging of her
mother, married Guy de Lusignan, a younger son of a prominent
French noble family. Guy was himself new to the East and be rapidly
became the accepted spokesman of the newcomer group in the politics
of the Holy Land . Members of the prominent newcomer families
flocked to the court of the Latin Kingdom and persuaded the King
in 1180 to break openly with Raymond of Tripoli.
Now while the Kingdom, as we have said, was enjoying a certain
tranquillity during the temporary peace which had been agreed
upon between Saladin and the King, there were some Sons of Belial
and foster sons of iniquity who had restless spirits. These men
caused disturbances in the Kingdom and plotted internal strife.
The Count of Tripoli had, for two years in a row, been kept in
Tripoli by various kinds of business and, delayed by this, he
had been unable to visit the Kingdom. It happened, however, that
because he was anxious about the city of Tiberias, which his wife
had inherited, he now planned to return to the Kingdom. When he
had arranged everything for the journey and had come as far as
Jubail, the aforesaid troublemakers got around the King's simplicity
with an evil suggestion: they persuaded him that the count wished
to enter the Kingdom for a sinister purpose - to arrange secretly
to overthrow the King. The too credulous King listened to their
persuasive words and sent a royal envoy to the count and, without
warning, flatly forbade him to enter the Kingdom.
When this happened, the Count, who had done nothing to deserve
such a reproof, was confused and filled with just indignation.
Unwillingly, he abandoned his plans and returned to Tripoli after
making many useless expenditures.
The aforesaid troublemakers intended that while the Count, who
was a vigilant man and circumspect in all things, was absent,
they would be able to deal with the royal business as they pleased
and they hoped to turn the King's infirmities to their own profit.
Among them was the King's mother-a woman hateful to God, a thoroughly
grasping woman-and also her brother, the King's seneschal, and
a few of their followers: impious men who shamelessly forced the
King to make this move.
When what had happened was later made known to the princes, the
more sensible ones were upset and were alarmed at heart, for they
feared that the Kingdom might later regret the loss of the patronage
of such a prince and that, according to the Lord's word, "being
divided against itself, it might not stand. " They were fearful
especially because the King, whose illness daily grew worse, was
becoming weaker and was less and less fit to handle the affairs
of the Kingdom. Indeed he was scarcely able to stand up and he
might collapse altogether.
The great men of the Kingdom saw the danger which was certain
to follow from the aforesaid incident. They set to work to try
to recall the Count and to appease his indignation. At
length, after many meetings and various proposals, the King unwillingly
allowed them to bring the Count into the Kingdom. That illustrious
man prudently overlooked the injuries which had been done to him
and peace was renewed between him and the King.
Source:
William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum,
XXII, 9, Patrologia Latina 201, 856-57, translated by James
Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee,
WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 144-45
Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval
Sourcebook that copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover
he gave permission for use of his translations.
6. Guy Lusignan Becomes Regent
[Adapted from Brundage] Internal quarrels within the Latin
states made it imperative for the Latin settlements in the East
to remain at peace with their Moslem neighbors. At the same time
the anarchy of the internal politics of the Latin states and the
lack of an effective organization for the implementation of policy
within the states made it most unlikely that peace could be long
preserved. The newcomer group for the most part favored war with
the Moslems. War against the infidel was necessary to achieve
the goals of the group. The terms of a treaty concluded in 1180
between Saladin and the Latins guaranteed free commercial communication
between Christian and Moslem territory. The passage of caravans
of Moslem merchants through Latin held country was a constant
invitation to lawless and irresponsible men, whom the government
of the Latin states could not easily check. Rich caravans owned
by infidel merchants passed constantly before the eyes of such
men in the Latin states and they well knew that the King and the
barons of the realm were unlikely to take serious reprisals against
a man who yielded to temptation and plundered a caravan. Although
such an action might bring with it the threat of war, still war
itself would bring opportunity as well as peril to those clever
enough to seize the main chance.
In the summer of 1181, Reginald of Chatillon, a handsome, reckless
member of the newcomer group, gave in to the lure of easy gain
and attacked a caravan en route from Damascus to Mecca. Saladin
complained to the Latin authorities of the violation of the treaty.
The prostrate Latin King could do nothing to secure redress. After
jailing fifteen hundred pilgrims at Damietta as hostages, Saladin
took to war.19 Saladin and his Egyptian forces eluded the army
of the Latin Kingdom by crossing the Sinai Desert to Damascus.
From there the Moslems invaded the Latin states in July 1182.
The campaign, however, was inconclusive. Both sides claimed victory
and retired to prepare for further combat. By 1182 Baldwin IV
bad fallen so grievously ill that to continue his personal direction
of affairs was impossible. A regency once more was necessary.
While the army was waiting in this state of suspense at the spring
of Saffuriyah the King was at Nazareth suffering from a high
fever. His leprosy, which he had had from the beginningof his
reign and, indeed, from early adolescence, had grown worse
than usual. He bad lost his sight and his extremities were covered with ulcerations so that he was unable to use either
his hands or his feet. Although some persons suggested to him
that he resign and provide a decent and tranquil life for himself
from his royal possessions, nevertheless up to this time he had
refused to Jay aside the royal dignity and the administration.
Although his body was feeble and impotent, his mind was still
strong and vigorous. In order to hide his illness and to carry
on the royal duties he had labored beyond his strength.
He was laid low, as I have said, by the fever and now be despaired
of his life. Now he summoned his princes to him and in the presence
of his mother and the lord patriarch he made Guy de Lusignan,
the Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, who was his sister's husband .
. . regent of the Kingdom. He reserved the royal title for himself
and kept only the city of Jerusalem and an annual income of ten
thousand gold pieces. He transferred to Guy the free and general
administration of the rest of the Kingdom and commanded his faithful
men and all of his princes at large to become Guy's vassals and
to swear fealty to him. This was done. It is said that, at the
King's command, Guy first swore that while the King lived he would
not transfer to another any of the castles possessed at present
by the King and that he would alienate nothing from the treasury.
It is believed that this was carefully and very diligently enjoined
on him and that he was obliged to take a solemn oath to observe
these stipulations faithfully in the presence of all the princes.
This was done because Guy had promised nearly every one of the
great princes no small part of the Kingdom in order to gain their
support and their votes for the position he sought. It is also
said that he bad taken a similar oath to the princes that he would
fulfill his promises. I cannot positively affirm this because
I do not have definite evidence. Frequent rumors to this effect,
however, were current among the people.
There were some, indeed, who were not much pleased by this change.
Some of these people were inclined to oppose it because of their
personal affairs and out of secret reasons. Others opposed it
on the grounds of public policy and because they were anxious
and disturbed over the state of the Kingdom. The latter group
asserted publicly that the aforesaid Count was not equal to the
burden of administration and that be was not qualified to conduct
the affairs of the Kingdom. There were others, however, who were
hopeful that his ascendancy would improve their own lot. These
asserted that it was well done. There were murmurs and many dissenting
voices among the people and, as it is proverbially said, "many
men have many minds."
The Count, however, did not rejoice very long in the post which
he had long desired and which had now been conferred upon him,
as will appear later. At first, indeed, he gloried in it rather
rashly.
I have said that the Count took this burden upon himself rashly,
for this reason: that he did not carefully appraise his own strength
in comparison to the obligation that he assumed. His strength
and his prudence were not equal to the intolerable burden which
he placed upon his shoulders He was not familiar enough with the
gospel saying in which it is suggested that the man who wishes
to build a tower should first sit down and count the cost to see
if he has sufficient strength to complete it, lest lie fail and
hear it said, "Here is a man who began to build and could
not finish his building."'
Source:
William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum,
XXII, 25, Patrologia Latina 201, 879-80, translated by
James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee,
WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 146-48
Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval
Sourcebook that copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover
he gave permission for use of his translations.
7. Raymond II of Tripoli
Replaces Guy de Lusignan as Regent
[Adapted from Brundage] Under Guy's regency, the internal structure
of the Latin states deteriorated still further. This deterioration
was hastened and accentuated by further attacks upon the Kingdom
by Saladin in 1183. Under the pressure of the Moslem attacks and
the evident incompetence of Guy de Lusignan, the King and the
regent quarreled. The government again tottered on the brink of
the abyss and Raymond III was called in to replace Guy as regent.
Meanwhile the hatred which bad arisen between the King and the
Count of Jaffa [Guy de Kusigna, the husband of Baldwin IV's sister,
Sibylla] was increased for secret reasons and grew stronger every
day. The enmity which up to now [late 1183 or early 1184] had
been suppressed burst out and the King was openly trying to collect
reasons to procure a separation of his sister from her husband
and to break up their marriage. He publicly approached the Patriarch
for this purpose and asked that, since he was going to impugn
the marriage, the Patriarch set a day on which the annulment might
be solemnly proclaimed in his presence.
The Count was informed of these matters as he returned from campaign.
Re left the rest of the army and journied by the shortest route
to Ascalon. Meanwhile he sent a warning to his wife, who was then
staying in Jerusalem, that she should leave the city immediately
and journey to Ascalon before the King's return. The Count feared
that if the King got her in his power he would not allow her to
return again to her husband.
The King therefore sent an emissary to the Count to summon him
and to disclose to him the reasons for the summons. The Count,
however, refused the summons, gave reasons for his noncompliance,
and pretended that he was sick. When he bad been summoned many
times and had failed to appear, the King himself determined to
go to Ascalon to call the Count to justice by word of mouth. When
the King arrived there in company with some of his princes be
found that the gates of the city were barred against him. He knocked
on them with his hand three times and ordered that they be opened.
When he discovered that no one would obey his command, lie returned,
properly indignant. All the people of the city were looking on,
for when they beard of the King's arrival they had stationed themselves
on the walls and towers to see how the affair would end.
The King proceeded from Ascalon directly to Jaffa. A great many
of the leading citizens of both classes [i.e. nobility and bourgeoisie]
came out to meet him before be arrived at the city. They opened
the town to him and the King entered without my difficulty. There
he named a provost to take charge of the place and went on to
Acre. In that city he decided to "I a general council. When
the princes of the Kingdom assembled there on the appointed day
the Patriarch and both masters-that is, of the Templars and the
Hospitallers - having agreed on the matter, approached the King
and on bended knee began to intercede for the Count. They asked
that the disagreement be laid aside and that the King restore
him to favor. When they were not attended to at once, they retired
in a dudgeon, not only from the court, but even from the city.
A proposal was made in the presence of the assembled princes that
emissaries be sent to the ultramontaine kings and other princes
to invite them to come to the aid of the Kingdom and of Christianity.
This should have been dealt with first but, as we have said, the
Patriarch got the first word and made his speech first. Then,
as we have said before, he lost his temper and left Acre.
The count of Jaffa, when he learned that the King was not inclined
to make peace, acted worse than before. He took the forces which
he bad with him and set out for a fortress named Daron. He made
a surprise attack on the camp of some Arabs who had put up their
tents in that area in order to pasture their flocks. The Arabs
had done so with the King's permission and they were staying there
on his promise of security. The Count's attack took them unawares
and he drove off their flocks and slaves. After this he returned
to Ascalon.
When the King heard of this he once again summoned the princes
and delegated the care and general administration of the Kingdom
to the Count of Tripoli, since be had faith in his prudence and
generosity. When this was done it seemed to satisfy the wishes
of all the people and princes. It seemed to everyone that the
only way to safety was to place the affairs of the Kingdom in
the hands of the Count of Tripoli.
[Brundage adds]
Baldwin IV was fast failing and in March 1185 the twenty-four
year old monarch died. In accordance with the leper King's wishes,
the barons of the Latin Kingdom passed the crown to his nephew,
Baldwin V, an eight-year-old child. Raymond of Tripoli remained
in power as regent and quickly sought to negotiate a truce with
Saladin. The latter, immersed in his own quarrels within Egypt,
assented to the proposal.
Momentary equilibrium had been reached. The situation was quickly
unbalanced, however, by further developments within the Latin
states. In August 1186 Baldwin V died at Acre. While the regent,
Raymond, was absent, Baldwin IV's sister, Sibylla, the wife of
Guy de Lusignan, was proclaimed queen and, in short order, she
crowned her husband as king. This left the newcomer party in control
of the Kingdom and caused an irreparable rift within the Latin
ranks.
Raymond of Tripoli refused to recognize the new monarchs and
he was joined in his opposition by Bohemund III, the Prince of
Antioch, and a minority of the other long-standing members of
the Latin nobility. At this most unpropitious moment, the irresponsible
Reginald of Chatillon chose once again to break the truce between
the Latins and Saladin. As he had done five years earlier, be
now attacked another Moslem caravan on the road to Cairo. Saladin
demanded redress; Reginald refused; Guy, the Latin King, could
or would do nothing; and Saladin prepared again to attack.
Source:
William of Tyre, Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum,
XXIII, 1, Patrologia Latina 201, 890-92, translated by
James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee,
WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 148-50
Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval
Sourcebook that copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover
he gave permission for use of his translations.
This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book.
The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted
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No permission is granted for commercial use.
Paul Halsall December 1997
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
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