Scenes from Jerusalem during
the Crusades
Scene I:
The council of Clairmont (or Clermont) - today Clermont-Ferrand - was held in the Auvergne in 1095. Pope Urban II had summoned him to deal with the problems of ecclesiastical discipline, following the Council of Plaisance, which was held six months earlier, but one of the notable facts of this council is Urban II's call to the nobility of Christendom, asking him to fight against the Turks who, according to him, threaten the Byzantine Empire and deliver Holy Places occupied by Muslims. Pope Urban II, of French origin, was enthusiastic about launching a "declaration of war" against Muslims (1).
After discussing the misfortunes and sufferings of Eastern Christians, the Pope implored Christians in the West to stop their fratricidal wars and unite to fight pagan Muslims and deliver their brothers in the East, which is a more just cause. At the same time Christians will be able to atone for their sins once they arrive in Jerusalem. This call from Clermont, which is considered a true false media operation against Muslims, is considered the direct cause of the first crusade.
The commitment and the enthusiastic response from the public heated by spectators manipulators in a theater play, each of which had its role to play to mobilize ignorant crowds. Thus there were hymns, calls to war and choruses repeating the words "God wills ... He wills the Lord" (2). ... So began the Crusades ...
The council of Clairmont (or Clermont) - today Clermont-Ferrand - was held in the Auvergne in 1095. Pope Urban II had summoned him to deal with the problems of ecclesiastical discipline, following the Council of Plaisance, which was held six months earlier, but one of the notable facts of this council is Urban II's call to the nobility of Christendom, asking him to fight against the Turks who, according to him, threaten the Byzantine Empire and deliver Holy Places occupied by Muslims. Pope Urban II, of French origin, was enthusiastic about launching a "declaration of war" against Muslims (1).
After discussing the misfortunes and sufferings of Eastern Christians, the Pope implored Christians in the West to stop their fratricidal wars and unite to fight pagan Muslims and deliver their brothers in the East, which is a more just cause. At the same time Christians will be able to atone for their sins once they arrive in Jerusalem. This call from Clermont, which is considered a true false media operation against Muslims, is considered the direct cause of the first crusade.
The commitment and the enthusiastic response from the public heated by spectators manipulators in a theater play, each of which had its role to play to mobilize ignorant crowds. Thus there were hymns, calls to war and choruses repeating the words "God wills ... He wills the Lord" (2). ... So began the Crusades ...
Day of the massacre
Scene II :
In
a day of torrid heat this month of July 1099 the city of Jerusalem fell into
the hands of the Crusaders after a five-week siege. The
capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders gave rise to a terrible massacre of the
holy city which was delivered and its inhabitants to three days of looting,
robbery, rape, murder. The
bodies of the dead, burned and maimed remained exposed in the streets and
public places for several days.
In this atmosphere of sadness and desolation, the city remained enclosed in a huge smoke and a thick field of dust and charred or decaying body odors. The meeting of Jerusalem with the Crusaders was the symbol of horror. In horror, the Crusaders were ecstatic in the Church of the Resurrection gathering prayers and words of thanks to the Lord. The echoes of "Thank you Lord" that came out of the old Church (3) to rush into the city gave a sinister and apocalyptic aspect of the European Christian presence on Arab-Muslim lands.
Scene III :
In this atmosphere of sadness and desolation, the city remained enclosed in a huge smoke and a thick field of dust and charred or decaying body odors. The meeting of Jerusalem with the Crusaders was the symbol of horror. In horror, the Crusaders were ecstatic in the Church of the Resurrection gathering prayers and words of thanks to the Lord. The echoes of "Thank you Lord" that came out of the old Church (3) to rush into the city gave a sinister and apocalyptic aspect of the European Christian presence on Arab-Muslim lands.
Scene III :
One
day in October 1187 (27 Rajab in 538 AH), Salah eddine liberated Jerusalem who
remained hostage of the Crusader Franks a little over eighty years.
The resumption of Jerusalem bears witness to the humanism of the Muslims as opposed to the brutal scenes during the barbarian invasion of the Franks. Finally the Friday prayer was restored in Jerusalem after a long forbidden period (4).
The resumption of Jerusalem bears witness to the humanism of the Muslims as opposed to the brutal scenes during the barbarian invasion of the Franks. Finally the Friday prayer was restored in Jerusalem after a long forbidden period (4).
Thus
began the end of the presence of the Crusaders on Arab lands ...
These
three scenes marked the history of Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades; However,
the final scene, that of liberation by Saladin is the one to which I devote
myself in this study. We
remember that the epic of liberation, which was led by Saladin began after
bloody moments that saw Jerusalem fall under the rule of the crusader barbarian
horde in the early 11th century. Jerusalem
is a perverted symbol in "crusade symbol", "the kingdom of
Jerusalem". "Saladin"
was and remains a symbol, the symbol of resistance against foreign domination,
the symbol of Islamic Jihad against aggression. Salah Eddine dedicated his life
to the liberation of Jerusalem, as we will see in this study.
Causes of victory and defeat
It would be wrong to consider the victory of the Crusaders against the Muslims during the first crusade as the expression of a real superiority of the military forces of the Crusaders. On the strictly military level they were numerically, logistically, technically and scientifically inferior to Muslims but the fighting was to their advantage. The Crusades were made possible by the political weakness of the Muslim world and the intestinal torn between the principalities which favored the political and territorial fragmentation already advanced of the Muslim empire. This political fragmentation had social and cultural consequences, including the legacy of the bitterness and mistrust of the Arab people towards the leaders in the Arab region. Those leaders blinded by selfishness and lack of political consideration, anesthetized by inertia and lack of vigor, deprived of the strategic vision of the interests of the Muslim nation could not exercise power or lead their people to fight.
In
the Arab region and the time of the Crusades, the main political and
institutional forces in the region (the Sunni Abbassid Caliphate of Baghdad and
the Fatimid Shiite Caliphate of Cairo) disputed the power and the existence
while participating in the manifestation of the weakness. political and social
and military vulnerability in the Arab world. In
this bellicose bipolarity coexisted in the region of the Muslim East a mosaic
of dwarf principalities who participated in the fragmentation of the whole and
the dispersion of energies. Everything
was a factor of division: confessional doctrines, ethnic or tribal
affiliations, material interests ...
From
a sociological and historical point of view, it is the political fragmentation
of Muslims that is the cause of the Crusaders' less numerous victory, lower
level of civilization and military tactics than Muslims and Arabs.
From
the religious and spiritual point of view, this victory of the Crusaders was
neither the result of the intervention of the Lord nor of the Christian saints
nor the spirit of faith of the Crusaders, as the historians of the Crusades
claim, who themselves are the ideologues of the Catholic Church and the
admirers of the Crusades. The
victory without the real military or spiritual force of the Crusaders coincided
with the political atomization combined with the moral and spiritual weakness
of the true Muslims because of the defeat and the loss of Arabs and Muslims to
their aggressor.
The unexpected success of the Crusaders and their creation of the "Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem" and three Emirates on Arab lands in Palestine and Syria provoked an enormous psychological trauma on Arab populations who felt betrayed and humiliated. The Arab populations had at first considered the Crusaders, at the beginning of the Crusades, as vulgar mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine Empire who would eventually leave one day. But the capture of Jerusalem and the colonialist operations that took place from 1099 onwards made them understand that the Crusaders came to their country to remain as conquerors. Facing them a new political, military and religious economic reality, painfully imposed on them as a fait accompli (5).
The unexpected success of the Crusaders and their creation of the "Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem" and three Emirates on Arab lands in Palestine and Syria provoked an enormous psychological trauma on Arab populations who felt betrayed and humiliated. The Arab populations had at first considered the Crusaders, at the beginning of the Crusades, as vulgar mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine Empire who would eventually leave one day. But the capture of Jerusalem and the colonialist operations that took place from 1099 onwards made them understand that the Crusaders came to their country to remain as conquerors. Facing them a new political, military and religious economic reality, painfully imposed on them as a fait accompli (5).
It
was in the historical logic that the reaction of the Muslims against the
colonialism of the Crusaders is seen soon enough, as soon as he becomes aware
of it. So
in the North the Seljuk Turks, the North began to carry out violent attacks on
the Crusaders. The
Turkish resistance captured the governor of Antioch, the prince of Boimond, the
count Baudouin and Jocelyne while inflicting several heavy defeats on the
crossed armies.
In
the south, the Egyptians launched attacks from their base in Ashkelon,
Palestine, and inflicted heavy defeats in the years 1101, 1102, 1105, but they
did not continue the resistance effort after these attacks. dates due to
internal problems, (6), in the year 548 AH / 1153 the Crusaders manage to seize
the fortress of Ashkelon, last stronghold of the Egyptian resistance in
fortresses in Palestine against the Crusades.
The weakness of the Fatimid state
The
Crusades coincide with the decadence of the Fatimid state that had reached a
state of vulnerability, which had already attracted the neighboring Muslim
principalities to covet its heritage. He
was already perceived as the "sick man" asleep on the banks of the
Nile, whose only remnant of his former glory were memories and a shadow that no
one fears or respects.
Thus began the competition between Mahmoud Nour al-Din (who succeeded his father, Imad Eddin Zinqui who had succeeded in liberating Alraha in 1144) and Amaury I of Jerusalem first crusader king of Jerusalem (1163 - 1174) (7), named by the Arab historical sources "the winner" since he was able to establish his protectorate over Cairo and Egypt depriving Nour al-Din of assistance from the Arabs of the South. Indeed, the Latin states of the East confronted with a powerful and unified Muslim Syria are going under the direction of Amaury to find support from Fatimid Egypt, fallen in the last stages of decadence and plagued by power struggles. Dirgham was Amaury's key man.
Thus began the competition between Mahmoud Nour al-Din (who succeeded his father, Imad Eddin Zinqui who had succeeded in liberating Alraha in 1144) and Amaury I of Jerusalem first crusader king of Jerusalem (1163 - 1174) (7), named by the Arab historical sources "the winner" since he was able to establish his protectorate over Cairo and Egypt depriving Nour al-Din of assistance from the Arabs of the South. Indeed, the Latin states of the East confronted with a powerful and unified Muslim Syria are going under the direction of Amaury to find support from Fatimid Egypt, fallen in the last stages of decadence and plagued by power struggles. Dirgham was Amaury's key man.
Egypt's
struggle for control of the Crusaders' crusade crystallized in the position and
personality of the prime minister (al wazir) who holds the real levers of real
control in Cairo (8). In
parallel with the armed clashes, there was a struggle for control of power in
Egypt between the Crusaders and Syria. Prime
Minister Shawir installed by Nur al-Din Mahmoud and Dirgham the key man of
Amaury engaged in a real fight to death which experienced spectacular and
incessant reversals until the deaths of the two men. After
six episodes of power struggles changing from one camp to another, Shirkuh
finally won and forced allegiance to Syria in Egypt. Amaury
attacked and won several victories over Shirkuk, but Nur ad-Din also invaded
the Latin states as a diversion to protect his lieutenant, took the strongholds
of Arim and Paneas and captured Bohemond III of Antioch in Harrim on August 11,
1164. Only the Byzantine intervention prevents the Muslims from taking Antioch. Shirkuh
was named by the Arab population as the "Lion", the Grand Emir of
Armies, but he died a few weeks after his military and political successes on
the day of the year 22 Zhukada II 564 AH / 1169.
From
that moment on, the Fatimid Sultan al Aâded remained faithful to the pact with
Syria and determined in the fight against the Crusaders. In
the place of Shirkuh, he appointed a young man named Salah al-Din, as prime
minister, without regard to the opposition of the princes, dignitaries and
courtiers of the regime. Salah
al-Din was the bright star in the Arab skies and Arab politics.
Release strategy
This
study is not intended to present the biography of Saladin, but to show his
policy and military strategy in the desire to free Jerusalem from the Crusaders
(Al franj: the Franks). Saladin
began the consolidation of his political power and his prerogatives as prime
minister in Egypt, with his eyes open on the anti-Crusader front in Cairo, on
the one hand, and on the evolution of Nur al-Din Mahmoud, in Damascus, whose
sovereignty and political legitimacy he recognized on the Arab world while
waiting for the contribution that each could make to the other for the great
Arab cause: to liberate Jerusalem.
Inside
Saladin was facing a thorny problem: the army. The
army had two major problems that made Egypt unstable and vulnerable. On
the one hand, it has for too long been the practice of conspiracy and cons
conspiracy in the intestine struggles of the palace. On
the other hand, she was not loyal to the Fatimid Sultan, she could betray him,
dethrone him, or side with his enemies by conspiracy culture or lack of
national consciousness.
The
opportunity for the destruction of the Fatimid army that Salah al-Din was looking
for presented itself. In
the palace of the Fatimid Sultan a eunuch circulated a petition inspired by the
Crusaders in which he claims to be "the essence and the legitimacy of
power over the palace". The
investigation led by Salah Eddine proved the collaboration with the enemy and
the involvement of some military leaders in a plot to overthrow him. Salah
Eddine executed the conspiracy plotters with the Crusaders to invade Egypt and
eliminate Salah Eddine. In
the wake of Salah Eddine's relatives have mastered the body of the infantry
formed by Sudanese soldiers in the army Fatimid army. It
was a terrible massacre that lasted two days entirely in the cleansing of the
army (11).
This
incident gave Salah Eddine popular legitimacy and greater political and military
power to the detriment not only of the dignitaries but to the detriment of the
Sultan himself. Salah
Eddine had total control over internal affairs when he was named
"Baha'eddin Qracoc Asadi Supervisor of the Kingdom's Governance"
instead of the former "Khalif Confidence-laden" title. He
set about rebuilding the foundations of the new army, which replaced the
traditional Fatimid army by right and de facto. His
relationship with Nour Eddine in Syria has remained at a standstill between
doubt and certainty.
The
attention of Salah Eddine was aware of the risks posed by the presence of the
Crusaders in the Arab region, in the process of joint military alliance led by
the crusaders of the king "Amuri first" with the leaders of the
Byzantine emperor "Comninos Manuel "(1143 - 1180). His
attention was sharpened in the year 565 AH / 1169 when the attack of the navy
of the French Byzantine coalition against Damiette, which was the main Egyptian
port on the Mediterranean Sea, was launched.
In
the month of Safar of the year 565 AH / 1169, the Franco-Byzantine coalition
besieged, Damietta with a military fleet of two hundred ships. The
siege was lifted after fifty days without giving any positive results for the
Crusaders. The
city's resistance was not only heroic and violent but revealed the underlying
hostility between the Byzantines and the Franks. By
raising the siege the Franks scuttled their equipment ships and let the
Byzantine fleet suffer heavy losses in men and ships before they retreated to
return to their (12).
The debacle of the Franco-Byzantine coalition has increased the prestige and power of Salah Eddine. This victorious defensive battle marked a good start for a series of political and military actions by Salah Eddine to form a comprehensive and assiduous strategy for the liberation of Jerusalem ...
The debacle of the Franco-Byzantine coalition has increased the prestige and power of Salah Eddine. This victorious defensive battle marked a good start for a series of political and military actions by Salah Eddine to form a comprehensive and assiduous strategy for the liberation of Jerusalem ...
The
following year, 566 AH / 1170 Salah Eddine launches his first and real
offensive against the Crusaders. He
releases and recovers Gaza. He
attacks and causes damage in the enemy ranks in Ashkelon. In
early spring of the same year he attacked the Crusaders in the Red Sea at the
Port of present-day Aqaba. It
must be known that he transported his fleet in spare parts and on camels to
raise them before the high tide and thus prohibit the Crusader fleet access to
the Red Sea (13).
Thus,
Salah Eddine took control of the maritime trade of precious products from the
Indian Ocean and ensured military security in the Red Sea.
Salah Eddine's strategy to liberate Jerusalem began to take shape in its political, military and economic aspects. All his actions were concerted, progressive and globally oriented.
Salah Eddine's strategy to liberate Jerusalem began to take shape in its political, military and economic aspects. All his actions were concerted, progressive and globally oriented.
The political influence of
Salah Eddine
In Cairo, Salah Eddine began by strengthening his political influence and then used his political power to take the necessary steps to take control of the army, purify and modernize. All these political and military measures led him to destroy the feudal economic system of the Fatimid regime castes in Egypt. Geographically, he replaced the warlords and feudal lords of Fatimid Egypt with the princes who came with him from Syria to the nerve centers of the state.
However, Salah Eddine did not hasten to end or announce the end of the Fatimid regime. He waited patiently for the most favorable time. this moment has arrived, the first Friday of the month of Muharram of the year 567 AH / 1171, the day of the agony of the last Fatimid Caliph. He ordered that the Friday prayer and sermon no longer mention the name of the Fatimid Caliph, who was then sick and bedridden, but the name of the Caliph `Abbasid. It meant the fall of the Fatimid dynasty and the advent of a new era. The seizure of power was symbolic. The Fatimid Caliph died eleven days later (14).
Thus,
the national arena is completely free in front of Salah Eddine. The
tense relationship and the latent conflict with Nour Eddine Mahmoud emerge on
the surface. But
his priority was the politics of plots and unrest fomented by the king of the
Crusaders, Amaury he had to deal with caution because the Muslim world was not
yet strong enough and unified to lead a war front against the Crusaders. Amaury
with age and illness remained attracted by the mirage of Egypt, but this time,
he preferred not to follow the path of war, but that of the division of the
Arabs, the management of crises between Muslims. Master
in intrigues he plotted with the "Sultanate of Yemen" and the remains
of forces loyal to the Fatimids in Egypt to weaken Salah Eddine in Cairo. All
the intrigues of the Crusaders have failed to begin the patient and victorious
strategy of Salah Eddine.
Salah
Eddine, victorious against the Yemeni plotters who were crucified with their
leader, became an obsession for Amoury, who was petrified by the defeats of his
allies, his plotters and the fleet he financed and equipped to support Yemen's
plot. the diversion at Alexandria against Saladin (15).The popularity and power of Salah Eddine was growing.
The death of Nur al-Din Mahmud, 11 Chaoual, the year 569 AH / 15 May 1174 was the answer of fate as a solution to the problem of the critical relationship between the two men. Fate was still manifested in the death of the King of the Crusaders Amoury. SSalah Eddine had just been rid of a formidable political opponent and a more disturbing military enemy.
Salah Eddine was by the choice of fate facing the heir "Amoury" a boy of ten years of age and has leprosy, Baudouin, and on the other side, facing the heir of Nour Eddine Mahmoud a another child, Ismail, unable to govern. There could not be a more favorable opportunity to lead Salah Eddine on the road to achieving his goal: Jerusalem.
The deterioration of political differences within the Crusader entity could not be alleviated or eliminated by the use of an alliance within the Muslim world, strong and able to breathe new life into the Crusaders against Salah Eddine. The factors of division are still present but at this precise moment of the Crusades there was no Arab or Muslim contemporary of the Crusades capable by its military force or by its political and popular representativity to be a credible ally against Salah Eddine. Europe, divided and exhausted, could no longer continue to send the necessary aid to the Crusaders.
The death of Nur al-Din Mahmud, 11 Chaoual, the year 569 AH / 15 May 1174 was the answer of fate as a solution to the problem of the critical relationship between the two men. Fate was still manifested in the death of the King of the Crusaders Amoury. SSalah Eddine had just been rid of a formidable political opponent and a more disturbing military enemy.
Salah Eddine was by the choice of fate facing the heir "Amoury" a boy of ten years of age and has leprosy, Baudouin, and on the other side, facing the heir of Nour Eddine Mahmoud a another child, Ismail, unable to govern. There could not be a more favorable opportunity to lead Salah Eddine on the road to achieving his goal: Jerusalem.
The deterioration of political differences within the Crusader entity could not be alleviated or eliminated by the use of an alliance within the Muslim world, strong and able to breathe new life into the Crusaders against Salah Eddine. The factors of division are still present but at this precise moment of the Crusades there was no Arab or Muslim contemporary of the Crusades capable by its military force or by its political and popular representativity to be a credible ally against Salah Eddine. Europe, divided and exhausted, could no longer continue to send the necessary aid to the Crusaders.
Under
these conditions, only Salah Eddine had to prove that he is the man of this
stage, and take advantage of the favorable wind to conduct a large-scale Jihad
against the Crusaders both as a goal of liberation from Jerusalem and as way of
rebuilding the unity and power of the dislocated and weakened Muslim state.
While the princes who have seized Muslim countries are still plunged into litigation around petty interests and lousy preoccupations while fighting each other over who could win the favor of being the guardian of little Prince Ismail Saleh bin Nur al-Din Mahmoud (16), Salah Eddine did not return to their game. He acted with remarkable intelligence; In the year 570 AH / 1174, came to Hama (which has been joined to his state for a short time) to welcome emissaries of the Abbasid caliph accompanied by an honorific delegation carrying black flags (the emblem of the Abbasid dynasty ), presenting him with the letter signed by the Caliph, naming him Sultan of Egypt, Sultan of Syria as well as other sultanates (17).
While the princes who have seized Muslim countries are still plunged into litigation around petty interests and lousy preoccupations while fighting each other over who could win the favor of being the guardian of little Prince Ismail Saleh bin Nur al-Din Mahmoud (16), Salah Eddine did not return to their game. He acted with remarkable intelligence; In the year 570 AH / 1174, came to Hama (which has been joined to his state for a short time) to welcome emissaries of the Abbasid caliph accompanied by an honorific delegation carrying black flags (the emblem of the Abbasid dynasty ), presenting him with the letter signed by the Caliph, naming him Sultan of Egypt, Sultan of Syria as well as other sultanates (17).
Liberation and reconstruction
His
political ability and maneuvering intelligence placed him in fact and right as
a legitimate sovereign while the plotters were considered violators of the law. The
liberation of Jerusalem went through political unity and unity of military
command and for this Salah Eddine focused his strategy to achieve the first
part of his project: the unification of the Arab world by recovering under his
political and military command Damascus , Homs and Hama. This
project realized he hastened to go to Aleppo which asks the help of
"Raymond III," the governor of Tripoli. He
barred the way for the Crusader troops, returning them after having ventilated
them to the four corners of the earth through Jihad (18). And
the following year 571 AH / 1176, Salah al-Din returned to impose an embargo on
Aleppo, without result.
In
the Crusader camp nothing seems to stop the continued deterioration of moral
conditions and political differences. There
was no hope that the internal problems of the Crusaders could be solved by the
tutelage of Raymond III Count of Tripoli on the throne occupied by a sick king. The
tutelage of the sick king or the enthronement of a new king found neither
consensus nor compromise within the Crusaders. To
these problems of rule was added the problem of the colonists crossed in Arab
lands which no longer found echo or priority concern in Europe confronted with
other internal problems.
Aid
to the Coalis could not come from the Byzantines because The Byzantine Emperor
Manuel Comninos finds himself in a position of weakness before the empire
"Seljuk Turks. He
is unable to negotiate or maneuver against the Sultan Seljuk Arslan II, who inflicted
a catastrophic defeat at the battle of Myriocephalon in 1176, after breaking
the defensive lines of the Byzantine army, the army built by the family
Imperial "Comninos" over several generations (19).
Salah
Eddine has built an efficient and competent intelligence service. He
knew the level of moral, political and military crisis of the Coalition. On
the intelligence of his agents he launched an attack on the Crusaders in the
Sahel region in the Palestinian territories at least Jamadi's first year 573 AH
/ 1177, and was the only time that Salah Eddine sinned overconfidence in and by
a loosening of the army whose troops were allowed to be less within the rules
established by Salah Eddine. The
result was not long in coming: his army suffered the worst and most serious
defeat in its history. But
overall, this defeat is not decisive for changing the balance of military
forces and the balance of political powers in the region that were becoming
more and more in its favor (20).
Salah
Eddine, spent the following years in the army conducting minor skirmishes in
battles against the Crusaders and against the competing Alzenkyine princes in
the Arab East, both in Syria and in Iraq. He
opened two fronts at the same time but his strategy has not changed: he had two
axes of combat: one on the consolidation of the Arab front and the other on the
preparation for the decisive war against the Franks. These
two axes are inseparable, they work together for the liberation of Jerusalem.
In the year 578 AH / 1182, Salah Eddine at the head of his army came out of Egypt going to Syria, Egypt could no longer be threatened by the Crusaders. The following years were crucial in preparing for the fight against the Crusaders. Salah Eddine spent his time organizing the resistance against the occupiers, fighting battles against his posts and fighting the inner cause to unify the rank of Muslims under a single banner away from the greed of princes and opportunists.
In the year 578 AH / 1182, Salah Eddine at the head of his army came out of Egypt going to Syria, Egypt could no longer be threatened by the Crusaders. The following years were crucial in preparing for the fight against the Crusaders. Salah Eddine spent his time organizing the resistance against the occupiers, fighting battles against his posts and fighting the inner cause to unify the rank of Muslims under a single banner away from the greed of princes and opportunists.
In
the crusaders' camp, the conditions are getting worse and worse, the plague is
raging, political divergences are increasing, the inability of Christendom to
find a solution to the Middle Eastern stagnation and the disappearance of the
ally Crusader the Byzantine King Manuel Comninos died in September 1180. The
Byzantine Empire lost its strength and influence in the Middle East (21).
psychological warfare
Salah
Eddine was able to take advantage of the circumstances to be guided towards her
strategic goal. Against
the Crusaders he used this astonishing mixture of diplomacy, propaganda,
psychological warfare and military confrontation by turning the balance of
power in his favor. This
is the same strategy he will use against his Arab rivals the Alzenkyine princes.
It concludes with the Crusaders a truce in the year 1180. But the weakness of King Baldouin IV because of his illness and because of the lust and warmongering of Prince Kerak Reynald de Chatillon who did not understand the mutual benefit of the truce would push events to their ultimate climax (22). The year 578 AH / 1182, was the year of the decisive confrontation in the history of Islam in the face of the Crusades.
It concludes with the Crusaders a truce in the year 1180. But the weakness of King Baldouin IV because of his illness and because of the lust and warmongering of Prince Kerak Reynald de Chatillon who did not understand the mutual benefit of the truce would push events to their ultimate climax (22). The year 578 AH / 1182, was the year of the decisive confrontation in the history of Islam in the face of the Crusades.
At
this precise moment in history, the state of Salah Eddine includes almost all
of Syria, Egypt and Iraq, except for the provinces of Aleppo and Mosul. For
Salah Eddine to include these two sultanates in the unified state was a
priority before delivering the decisive battle not to lend flank to coalitions
as in the past. However,
his attempts to seize Aleppo by force did not succeed (23).
At
the same time, Chatillon's Reynald launched an attack on the port city Ayila in
the fall of that same year, then he burned several ships of Muslim operators in
the Red Sea, and sent many cross troops that were beginning to approaching the
holy city Medina. The
Egyptian military fleet put an end to the Crusaders' expedition and freed the
Muslim soldiers and their families enslaved by the crossed troops who had
landed on the land of Hijaz. Prince
Hassam Eddine loulou (the pearl of Islam) who commanded the Egyptian fleet,
executed two crusaders on the liberated port and the rest of the prisoners were
executed on their return to Cairo (24).
This
break of the truce by Chatillon and the anger of the Muslim masses at the
attempt of expedition against the holy places and the victory won by the
Egyptian fleet gave Salah Eddine al Ayoubi more conviction to unite the ranks
of the Muslims and restore the Territorial and political unit of the Muslim
nation. The
double danger of the Crusaders and the division of the Muslims has been
accentuated even if he never left the mind of Saladin while he was a simple
soldier in the Shirkuh infantry in Egypt (25).
In the opinion of Professor David Jackson, Sultan Salah Eddine demonstrated great intelligence in terms of analysis and political practice, ingenuity in the management of State affairs, and in refined art of preparing political ground and diplomatic measures before taking any military action (26).
In any event, the year 579 AH / 1184 the eforts of Salah Eddine were sanctioned by the allegiance of the province of Aleppo in the framework of the Convention on Peace. The political reinforcement of Sultan Salah Eddine is such that the historian Stephen Ransiman declares that during the two preceding centuries, the history of the region has never seen an Arab state as strong and unified as that of Saladin (27) .
In the opinion of Professor David Jackson, Sultan Salah Eddine demonstrated great intelligence in terms of analysis and political practice, ingenuity in the management of State affairs, and in refined art of preparing political ground and diplomatic measures before taking any military action (26).
In any event, the year 579 AH / 1184 the eforts of Salah Eddine were sanctioned by the allegiance of the province of Aleppo in the framework of the Convention on Peace. The political reinforcement of Sultan Salah Eddine is such that the historian Stephen Ransiman declares that during the two preceding centuries, the history of the region has never seen an Arab state as strong and unified as that of Saladin (27) .
This
year he deployed troops from Damascus to the impregnable fortress of Karak fief
Chatillon the hater. He
besieges the fort without being able to seize it (28). It
is thought that Salah Eddine wanted by this outing to provoke just a few
skirmishes to show his military might for political and propaganda purposes in
the context of the psychological warfare he had long ago decided in his
campaign to destabilize the Crusaders in the waiting for the opportunity to
lead the decisive battle to liberate Jerusalem.
In Salah Eddine's strategy it is not possible to wage a total war against the Crusaders as long as the emirate of Mosul continued to pose a threat to him. He was convinced that the unity of the political and military forces in the Arab region is necessary, it is the essential condition to guarantee victory in case of total war against the Crusaders. He also knew from his long experience of fighting and managing the affairs of the region that the Crusader forces were weakening and that they had to be harassed relentlessly to speed up their weakening and give his troops more military experience. before H-hour. His intelligence was to remain lucid and build the victory in a decisive way and in order not to lose the final goal, the liberation of Jerusalem, and the intermediate objectives, to increase the vulnerability of the Crusaders. on the one hand and to achieve Arab political unity, military on the other hand, before the final confrontation.
In Salah Eddine's strategy it is not possible to wage a total war against the Crusaders as long as the emirate of Mosul continued to pose a threat to him. He was convinced that the unity of the political and military forces in the Arab region is necessary, it is the essential condition to guarantee victory in case of total war against the Crusaders. He also knew from his long experience of fighting and managing the affairs of the region that the Crusader forces were weakening and that they had to be harassed relentlessly to speed up their weakening and give his troops more military experience. before H-hour. His intelligence was to remain lucid and build the victory in a decisive way and in order not to lose the final goal, the liberation of Jerusalem, and the intermediate objectives, to increase the vulnerability of the Crusaders. on the one hand and to achieve Arab political unity, military on the other hand, before the final confrontation.
the headquarters of Kerak
Salah
Eddine, knowing the warlike and disrespectful character of the Chatillon
treaties and conventions, and the importance of the Kerak fortress in the military,
economic and commercial apparatus concentrated his efforts on the harassment of
Kerak. He
thus ensured the safety of the road convoys between Egypt and Syria and cracked
the defense of his enemy by usury.
In the year 579 AH / 1183, Sultan Salah Eddin received reinforcements from Egypt from the siege to the assault of Kerak submitting it under a barrage of catapults and arrows. The Muslim armies retreated inside the fortress and the prince of Chatillon and his army went out to meet the troops of Salah Eddine. Chatillon has saved his life only in flight leaving some of his troops to their fate.
In the year 579 AH / 1183, Sultan Salah Eddin received reinforcements from Egypt from the siege to the assault of Kerak submitting it under a barrage of catapults and arrows. The Muslim armies retreated inside the fortress and the prince of Chatillon and his army went out to meet the troops of Salah Eddine. Chatillon has saved his life only in flight leaving some of his troops to their fate.
The
final assault was delayed because of the celebration of the marriage of two
princes. The
mother of the princess asked Salah Eddine not to spoil their parties and sent
her food and cakes. He
agreed with the mother's request and kept a promise not to bomb the tower where
the ceremony was taking place, once again showing his chivalrous spirit and
humanity. He
therefore maintained the siege he was forced to raise to meet the
reinforcements of the Crusaders coming from Palestine. He
routed the armies crossed in Nablus and Jenin, already freeing part of the
Palestinian territories (29) ... He then returned to Damascus. If
we have decided to talk about this military aspect despite the absence of
significant victories, it is in order to clarify Salah Eddine's interest in
tactical and strategic issues that could affect the achievement of his supreme objectives. In
these objectives the Karak Fortress is a serious threat that must be contained
and at the same time it is necessary to secure the transport of commercial
convoys and military forces between Egypt and Syria.
The
combination of the political, the military and the economic in a clear
strategic vision and an initiative always ahead of the enemy brings fruit and
gives Salah Eddine more political force: Baldouin IV "the king crossed of
Jerusalem, in 1185, forced the Crusaders to sign a peace treaty with Saladin
for a four-year term. This
time was enough for Salah Eddine to complete the unification wave of the Arabs. He
therefore had the time and freedom of military action and political maneuver
against the emirate of Mosul. The
governor of Mosul responded, under the relentless pressure of Salah Eddine, to
sign a treaty recognizing the extension of power of Sultan Salah Eddine over
the province of Mosul.
The
military interpretation of this treaty resulted in the increase of Salah
Eddine's military strength of six thousand cavalry of the emirate of Mosul. For
the time it was a substantial military force (30).At the strategic level the relationship of forces has
resolutely changed in favor of the Muslims who finally came to realize social
cohesion and political and military unity. Salah
Eddine had just realized part of his dream and concretized a main objective:
the realization of political and military unity.
Then came the year 581 AH / 1185 the culmination of the strategic genius of Salah Eddine who used artfully and effectively the combination of military force, political maneuvering, psychological warfare, and good planning of all his plans and his moves against the enemy.
Then came the year 581 AH / 1185 the culmination of the strategic genius of Salah Eddine who used artfully and effectively the combination of military force, political maneuvering, psychological warfare, and good planning of all his plans and his moves against the enemy.
It
is useful to highlight some important facts. He
was the Sultan who rebuilt the Egyptian fleet making her a feared military navy
in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. He
led diplomatic action isolating the Crusaders and preventing them from building
alliances with both Arabs and Europeans. Thus
he persuaded the Italian cities to profit economically by making a direct
transfer of their shopping centers to Egyptian soil guaranteeing them peace and
security. He
opened a diplomatic bridge with the Byzantine Empire that allowed the signing
of an agreement with the Byzantine emperor "Ondronicos" freeing him
from the intentions of Western Europe whose culture of the Crusades cast doubt,
the mistrust and suspicion about any relationship with the Arab and Muslim
world (31).
The signs of war
The
year 582 AH / 1186 announces the signs of the war and the signs of the defeat
of the Crusaders: the Crusaders split up divided into two groups after the
death of their King Baudouin IV ", and his successor," Baudouin V
"a child under guardianship who will die in the summer of the same year.
Intelligent
and capable of maneuvering, Izabela the daughter of King Amauri I managed to
overcome the rivalries within the Crusaders to impose his husband Guy de
Lusignan king of the Crusaders' kingdom of Jerusalem. The
first camp of the Crusaders revolved around the queen, Isabelle, of her
husband, who was a model in the genre of combining the beauty of physical
traits and the ugliness of moral behavior and hawks for whom war and violence
are the only methods to deal with Muslims. The
second camp of the Crusaders was a number of princes including Raymond III Earl
of Tripoli, who were of the opinion that it is better to seek appeasement with
the Muslims, as long as the conditions do not allow decisive fights in their
favor (32).
This
is roughly the political panorama in the Arab region in the run-up to the
liberation of Jerusalem and part of a long and fierce struggle between the two
sides of the conflict. It
is in this political and military configuration that Renaud de Chatillon enters
again on stage to question the peace treaty between Salah Eddine and the
Crusaders in conditions unfavorable to the allies of which some of the troops
suffered from diseases, hunger and of nostalgia. Acting
in concert with the hawks Renaud de Chatillon left the fortress of Kerak to
attack, in violation of the signed agreements, some Muslim commercial convoys,
assassinating some and captivating the others. He
gave Salah Eddine the opportunity to reopen military hostilities against the
Crusaders.
In
the opinion of the German historian Hans Meyer "Salahaddin" could not
be silent on the threats of Chatillon on the security of the trade route
between Egypt and the East and the Red Sea shipping and shipping. Indian Ocean
(33). In
my opinion, this attack was expected by Salah Eddine and it gave him the excuse
to dissolve his pact and launch a decisive war against the Crusaders now that
he has unified the Arab world and completed the preparation of the strategic
plans of the war.
The
Crusaders were embarrassed by the alarming news announcing the military
preparations of the Muslims to attack them. They
were in such a state of disarray that they almost went beyond political
cleavage to civil war (34). Finally
the general feeling of impending dangling put an end to the differences and
united the Allies in a united bloc to face the Muslims with vigor and
determination. Near
the city of Nazareth in Palestine the Franques manage to raise the largest army
in the history of the Crusades. They
mobilized about eighteen thousand soldiers of infantry and cavalry, of which
one thousand two hundred equipped with heavy armament and four thousand
knights, and this with its number and equipment is for the time something
colossal .
the way of liberation of Jerusalem
The
strength of the Frankish army could not hide the psychological state of its
soldiers gathered through all the colonies under their rule: panic and lack of
preparation.
The Sultan's forces, Nasser Salah Eddine al Ayoubi, consisted of three army corps, a Syrian corps of which he himself was the commander-in-chief, the Egyptian forces corps and the Iraqi forces corps.The Egyptian and Iraqi army corps were divided into brigades each under the command of princes from Egypt and Iraq and under the command of Salah Eddine's own brothers and sons.
The Sultan's forces, Nasser Salah Eddine al Ayoubi, consisted of three army corps, a Syrian corps of which he himself was the commander-in-chief, the Egyptian forces corps and the Iraqi forces corps.The Egyptian and Iraqi army corps were divided into brigades each under the command of princes from Egypt and Iraq and under the command of Salah Eddine's own brothers and sons.
We
must admit that there are no statistics to estimate the number and equipment of
the Muslim forces. In
my opinion the number should be almost the same as that of the Crusaders. The
difference was in combat motivation, combat strategy, and weapons and equipment.
In
the month of October 1187 (27 Rajab in 538 AH), Salah Eddine frees Jerusalem.
موضوع انجليزي عن الماء للصف الثامن فقرة برزنتيشن بحث موضوع ملخص جاهز باللغة الانجليزية انشاء موضوع انجليزي عن ابدا قصير كيفية كتابة موضوع تعبير باللغة الانجليزية توجيهي قواعد كتابة تعبير بالانجليزي طريقة سهلة لكتابة تعبير بالانجليزي
موضوع تعبير انجليزي يصلح لكل المواضيع كتابة تعبير بالانجليزي عن نفسك وصف تعبير انجليزي
يصلح لكل المواضيع موضوع انشاء شامل لكل المواضيع موضوع يصلح لجميع المواضيع موضوع
تعبير انجليزي جاهز برجراف ينفع لاى موضوع
موضوع انجليزي عن الماء قصير وسهل فوائد بالانجليزي عبارات بالانجليزي طويل اهمية مترجم ثالث ثانوي اول ثاني
ثانوي متوسط خمس سبع ثمان تسع اربع جمل كلمات كلام مقال علمي مقدمة بحث انجليزي حلول
اسباب حل مشكلة طويل شعر وصف قدوتي في الحياه انشودة نشيد كلام جميل حالات واتساب 2018 كلام
قصة عن صلاح الدين الايوبي بالانجليزي
معلومات عن صلاح الدين الايوبي للصف الخامس الابتدائي
معلومات عن صلاح الدين الايوبي مولده ووفاته ابرز
صفاته واهم انجازاته
اعمال صلاح الدين الايوبي بالانجليزي
salah aldeen al ayoubi
موضوع قصير عن صلاح الدين الايوبي
قلعة صلاح الدين بالانجليزي
معلومات بسيطة عن صلاح الدين الايوبي للاطفال
تعبير عن صلاح الدين الايوبي
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