How Palestine was Liberated: A new sun rises
[This post was originally published on my substack.]
Nur ad-Din Zengi was nearly thirty when his father was killed. His father’s domain, encompassing Mosul, Homs, and Aleppo, was divided between him and his brothers, Saif ad-Din Ghazi and Qutb ad-Din Mawdud, with Nur ad-Din inheriting Aleppo, Saif ad-Din inheriting Mosul, and Qutb ad-Din inheriting Homs.
A new dawn in Aleppo
Nur ad-Din was with his father’s camp when he died. To quell any potential ambitions of other emirs, he took his father’s ring, a symbol of authority and legitimacy, rode to Aleppo, and seized control. And, in a relatively uncommon scenario for this tumultuous time, his brother did not try to contest his sovereignty over Aleppo, nor did he contest his brothers’ sovereignty over Mosul and Homs.
It was not long before Nur ad-Din’s attention would be turned to the conflict with the Franj.
Edessa, again
Joscelin, the Count of Edessa, dreamt of retaking Edessa after it was liberated by Imad ad-Din Zengi shortly before his death. And his death seemed to be a golden opportunity for the Count.
He sent agents to stir up resentment among its population, a significant portion of whom were Armenians, toward their new ruler.
“He sent to the people of Edessa, most of whom were Armenians, and he incited them to disobedience and hand over the city [to him]. And he promised them that he would arrive. He marched toward Edessa with his army and he took it. The fortress, with its Muslim forces, resisted him, so he fought them. The news reached Nur ad-Din Mahmoud Zengi while he was in Aleppo, so he marched in earnest with his army. And, when he approached, Joscelin left and fled.”
~ Ibn al-Athir
The following year, Nur ad-Din marched on other Crusader strongholds in the area, seizing Artah, Kafar Latha, and Basarfut.
The Second Crusade arrives
In 543 Hijri, the collective army of the Second Crusade, including King Conrad III of Germany, King Louis VII of France, and Baldwin III of Jerusalem, besieged the Muslim stronghold of Damascus. It was just 10 years ago that its de facto ruler, Muin ad-Din, had sought support from the Crusaders against Nur ad-Din’s father.
By this time, Nur ad-Din had entered into an alliance with Muin ad-Din and alleviated any fears he might have so that his attention on the Crusader states would remain uninterrupted by petty squabbles with Muslim rulers.
Muin ad-Din sent a plea for support to Saif ad-Din of Mosul. Saif ad-Din marched alongside his brother, Nur ad-Din.
When they arrived at Homs, Saif ad-Din wrote to Muin ad-Din:
I have arrived, and with me are all who carry arms in my lands. I wish my presence at Damascus would be to meet the Franj. If I am defeated, I and my army enter and seek safety in it. And if I win, then the city is yours and I will not contest it with you.
Saif ad-Din also sent messages of threats and warnings to the Crusader leaders. And, according to the chronicler Ibn al-Athir, Muin ad-Din also sent them messages:
To the Franj of the West he wrote: The king of the East has arrived. If you leave, or else I will surrender the city to him and then you will regret it.
To the Franj of Greater Syria he wrote: With what mind do you support those against us? And you know that, if they gain Damascus, they will also take the coastal cities in your hands? As for myself, if I find weakness in protecting the city, I will turn it over to Saif ad-Din. And you know if he takes it, you will have know standing against him in Syria.
So they agreed to abandon the King of the Germans.
With insufficient forces to maintain the siege and the approaching threat of the Aleppo and Mosul forces, the crusade camp dispersed, with Muslim horse archers harassing them along the route back.
The offensive gains momentum
After repelling the Second Crusade, Nur ad-Din went on the offensive, capturing a number of Crusader castles.
In the same year, 543 Hijri, a Crusader force attempted to raid the environs of Aleppo. Nur ad-Din marched out to meet them. The battle ended in a defeat for the Franj.
A failed attempt at unification
Saif ad-Din Ghazi, Nur ad-Din’s brother and the Emir of Mosul, died the following year. Qutb ad-Din traveled to Mosul and took control. Nur ad-Din sought to unify those lands with Aleppo, and, so, he marched on Tel Afar and Sinjar, yet his reluctant generals compelled him to make peace with his brother and turn his focus again toward the Franj.
The Antioch campaign
Nur ad-Din marched on toward the Principality of Antioch. After taking the castle of Harim, he marched on to Inab, where he met Prince Raymond and his forces. The Antiochene forces were defeated and Raymond was killed.
The Joscelin-Nur ad-Din rivalry
In 546 Hijri, Nur ad-Din sought to crush Joscelin, the Count of Edessa, once and for all. He marched on toward Tel Bashir and Aintab, but his forces were crushed by Joscelin’s men. Among those captured was his squire, along with one of Nur ad-Din’s own weapons.
“He [Joscelin] sent him to King Masoud bin Kalaj Arslan [of the Sultanate of Rum], the ruler of Konya . . . and told him: This is your son-in-law’s weapon, and after it something greater than it will come to you.”
~ Ibn al-Athir
Nur ad-Din sought revenge for this slight. He gathered a group of Turkomen generals and offered them rewards for Joscelin’s capture, dead or alive. One group succeeded in capturing him, yet he promised them greater wealth than Nur ad-Din had promised them.
“So some of them went to Abu Bakr bin Al-Daya, Nur ad-Din’s deputy in Aleppo, and informed him of the situation. So he sent an encampment with them, and they captured those Turkomen and Jocelin, and they took him prisoner and brought him to him. His capture was one of the greatest conquests, because he was a powerful devil, harsh on Muslims, and hard-hearted, and all of Christendom was affected.”
~ Ibn al-Athir
With Joscelin’s threat now squashed, Nur ad-Din captured the strongholds that were under Joscelin’s control.
Nur ad-Din continued to consolidate his control over some of the remaining areas of the County of Edessa the following year. The Crusader states sent a force to defeat Nur ad-Din, but after a long battle, they, too, were defeated. The Franj lost hope in expanding eastward or regaining lost territory in Greater Syria. They would soon turn their attention to Egypt. And Nur ad-Din would soon find a golden opportunity to expand his domain.
