A History of the Crusades-Vol 2 (16 page)

In his fury Baldwin of Le Bourg led back a
contingent across the river, to take vengeance upon Mawdud. But his men were hopelessly
outnumbered and would have been annihilated had not King Baldwin hastened up,
together with a rather unwilling Tancred, to rescue him.

King Baldwin returned to the south; and Tancred
turned to punish Ridwan whose attack on his territory he considered as
treachery. He took by assault the castle of Naqira, just over the frontier,
then marched on Athareb, only some twenty miles from Aleppo. Ridwan obtained no
help from his fellow-Moslems. He attempted to buy off Tancred, whose terms were
too high; and the negotiations were dropped when Ridwan’s own treasurer fled
with part of his master’s treasure to Tancred’s camp. At last, when Tancred’s
engines had pounded the walls of Athareb to pieces, the town surrendered in
December 1110. Ridwan purchased peace at the price of the loss of Athareb and
Zerdana, a little to the south, the sum of twenty thousand dinars, and ten of
his best Arab horses. Next, Tancred moved on against Shaizar and Hama. The
Munqidhite emir of Shaizar bought a few months’ respite at the cost of four
thousand dinars and another horse; but when the truce was ended, in the spring
of 1111, Tancred advanced again and built on a neighbouring hill a strong
castle at Ibn Mashar, from which he could watch every movement to and from the
city. Soon afterwards he occupied the fort of Bisikra’il, on the road from
Shaizar to Lattakieh. The emir of Homs paid two thousand dinars and was left in
peace.

The Spread of
the Assassins

Tancred’s successes were helped by two factors.
First, the Byzantines were not ready to counter-attack. The death of Kilij
Arslan in 1107 had left the situation in Anatolia fluid. His eldest son, Malik
Shah, had been captured in the battle of the Khabar and was now in the power of
the Sultan Mohammed. His widow seized Melitene and the eastern provinces for
her youngest son, Toghrul. Another son, Mas’ud, was living at the Danishmend
court; while a fourth, Arab, seems to have held Konya. The Sultan Mohammed,
fearing that either Mas’ud or Toghrul would take over the whole inheritance,
added to the confusion by releasing Malik Shah, who established himself in
Konya and ungratefully assumed the title of Sultan. The breakdown of the central
Seldjuk government in Anatolia was not entirely beneficial to the Byzantines,
as it led the Seldjuks to make numerous irresponsible raids into Byzantine
territory; but it enabled the Emperor Alexius to occupy various fortresses on
the frontier. He was not, however, willing to risk a campaign in Cilicia or
Syria. His enforced inaction benefited not only Tancred but also the Armenian
Kogh Vasil; who, probably with imperial approval, succeeded in strengthening
his principality in the Anti-Taurus and in warding off Turkish attacks. The
Roupenian princes in the Taurus, more exposed to Seldjuk aggression and
prevented by Tancred’s troops from expansion into Cilicia, were unable to
increase their power; and Kogh Vasil was thus without a rival in the Armenian
world.

More helpful to Tancred, and more disastrous
for any Moslem counter-Crusade, was the appearance of a new and disruptive sect
in the Islamic world. During the last decades of the eleventh century the
Persian Hasan as-Sabah founded and organized the religious body known later as
the Hashishiyun or the Assassins. Hasan had been converted to the Ismaili
doctrine, of which the Fatimid Caliphs were the patrons, and had become an
adept in the
batanya,
its esoteric lore. Wherein exactly his teaching
improved on the mystical and allegorical theology of the Ismaili is obscure.
His outstanding achievement was more practical. It was to build up an Order,
united in strict obedience to himself as Grand Master, which he used for
political purposes, directed against the Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad, whose
legitimacy he challenged, and more especially against their Seldjuk masters,
whose power enabled the Caliphate to endure. His chief political weapon was one
for which his followers were to provide the name, assassination. Murder in the
interest of religious belief had often been practised by heterodox sects in
Islam, but in Hasan’s hands it reached a high efficiency; for the unquestioned
devotion of his disciples and their readiness to travel far and to risk their
own lives at his orders enabled him to strike at any adversary throughout the
Moslem world. In 1090 Hasan set up his headquarters in Khorassan, in the
impregnable citadel of Alamut, the Eagle’s Nest. In 1092 the first of his
assassinations took place, that of the great vizier Nizam al-Mulk, whose
ability had been the main prop of the Seldjuk dynasty in Iran. Later legend
enhanced the horror of the deed by declaring that Nizam and Hasan, together
with the poet Omar Khayyam, had been pupils together of the learned Muwaffaq of
Nishapur, and each had sworn to aid the others throughout life. The Seldjuk
Sultans were well aware of the danger that the Assassins created; but all their
attempts to reduce Alamut were unavailing. Soon after the turn of the century
lodges of the Assassins were set up in Syria. Ridwan of Aleppo, permanently on
bad terms with his Seldjuk cousins, and perhaps genuinely impressed by Assassin
doctrines, gave them his patronage. A Persian goldsmith, Abu Tahir, who had
great influence over Ridwan, was their chief. To the Assassins, the Christians
were no more odious than the Sunni Moslems; and Ridwan’s readiness to
co-operate with Tancred may have been largely due to his sympathy with their
doctrine. Their first achievement in Syria was the murder of the emir of Homs,
Janah ad-Daulah, in 1103. Three years later they slew the emir of Apamea,
Khalaf ibn Mula’ib; but it was only the Franks of Antioch who profited by his
death. Though as yet the Assassins only revealed their policy by isolated
murders, they were an element in Islamic politics that even the Christians
would have to respect.

1111: New Moslem
Coalition

In 1111 Mawdud of Mosul once again prepared to
lead an army against the Franks, at the demand of his master the Sultan. Early
that year a deputation from the citizens of Aleppo, angered by the heterodoxy
of their ruler and his subservience to Tancred, arrived at the Caliph’s court
at Baghdad to urge a holy war to free them from the Frankish menace. When they
were put off with empty promises they stirred up the people of Baghdad to riot
before the mosque of the palace. At the same time the Caliph received an
embassy from the Emperor at Constantinople. There was nothing unusual in this;
Constantinople and Baghdad had a common interest in their hostility to the
Seldjuk dynasty of Rum; but it seems that Alexius instructed his envoys to
discuss with the Moslem authorities the possibility of joint action against
Tancred. These negotiations enabled the rioters to denounce the Caliph as being
a worse Moslem than the Christian Emperor. Al-Mustazhir was alarmed by all this
enthusiasm, especially as the disorders had prevented him from receiving his
wife in proper state when she returned from a visit to her father, the Sultan
Mohammed, at Ispahan. He sent to his father-in-law; who at once instructed
Mawdud to form a new coalition, whose nominal leader was to be his own young
son Mas’ud. Mawdud enlisted the help of Soqman of Mayyafaraqin, of Ilghazi’s
son Ayaz, of the Kurdish princes Ahmed-Il of Maragha and Abu’l Haija of Arbil,
and of some Persian lords headed by Bursuq ibn Bursuq of Hamadan. In July the
allies were ready and marched swiftly across the Jezireh to besiege Joscelin’s
fortress of Turbessel. On the news the emir Sultan of Shaizar sent to beg them
to hurry to his rescue; and Ridwan thought it politic to tell them to hasten as
he could not hold out long against Tancred. Mawdud was impressed by Ridwan’s
change of heart; and on the suggestion of Ahmed-Il, with whom Joscelin had
established secret relations, he raised the siege of Turbessel and led the army
off to Aleppo. But Ridwan’s message had not been sincere. On the approach of
the Moslem allies, he closed the gates against them and took the precaution of
imprisoning many of the leading citizens as hostages to prevent riots. Mawdud
was thwarted; so, after ravaging the country round Aleppo, he moved south to
Shaizar. There he was joined by Toghtekin of Damascus, who came to seek his
help for the reconquest of Tripoli.

Tancred, who had been encamped before Shaizar,
retired to Apamea and sent to King Baldwin for help. The King responded and
summoned all the chivalry of the Frankish East to join him. With him came the
Patriarch Gibelin and the chief vassals of the kingdom, Eustace Gamier of Sidon
and Walter of Hebron. Bertrand of Tripoli joined him on his way. From the north
came Baldwin of Edessa with his two great vassals, Joscelin of Turbessel and
Pagan of Saruj. Tancred brought his vassals from the perimeter of the
Antiochene principality, Guy, surnamed the Goat, from Tarsus and Mamistra,
Richard of Marash, Guy, surnamed the Beech, of Harenc, Robert of Suadieh, Pons
of Tel-Mannas, Martin of Lattakieh, Bonaplus of Sarmeda, Roger of Hab and
Enguerrand of Apamea. Kogh Vasil and the Roupenians sent an Armenian detachment;
and even Oshin of Lampron provided a few men, whose role was probably to spy on
behalf of the Emperor. The north was denuded of troops, to the advantage of
Toghrul Arslan of Melitene, who at once captured Albistan and the neighbourhood
from its small Frankish garrison and carried out a raid into Cilicia.

1111: Mawdud’s
Failure

Before the Frankish concentration, which
numbered some sixteen thousand men, Mawdud cautiously retired behind the walls
of Shaizar and refused to be drawn out to fight a pitched battle. Things were
not going well in his army. Toghtekin would not provide help unless Mawdud
undertook to campaign farther south, a move that was strategically far too
risky. The Kurd Bursuq was ill and wished to return to his home. Soqman suddenly
died; and his troops retired north with his corpse. Ahmed-Il promptly deserted,
to try to snatch some of the inheritance. Ayaz the Ortoqid remained; but his
father, Ilghazi, attacked the cortege carrying Soqman’s bier, hoping, in vain,
to secure his treasure. With his forces daily diminishing, Mawdud could not
take the offensive; and he was unwilling to winter so far from his base. In the
autumn he retreated back to Mosul.

His failure showed that the Moslems were in no
condition to counter-attack the Franks so long as the Franks were united; and
King Baldwin had achieved the task of forcing union upon them. For the moment
the Frankish establishments were saved. Mawdud carried out a profitable but
inconclusive raid into Edessene territory next summer; while Toghtekin patched
up an alliance with Ridwan, somewhat generously, for Ridwan had tried to
persuade his Assassin friends to murder him. But for the moment the Moslem
menace was lessened. Inevitably the Christians began to quarrel once more.
First, the Franks decided to attack Kogh Vasil, of whose growing power both
Baldwin of Edessa and Tancred were jealous. Tancred invaded his lands and
captured Raban and was preparing to besiege Kaisun before peace was made.
Next,
Baldwin of Edessa suddenly turned against his cousin Joscelin. When Mawdud had
attacked Edessa in the summer of 1112 Joscelin discovered an Armenian plot to
hand the city over to the Moslems and had saved Baldwin by warning him and
joining him in prompt action against the traitors. But during the following
winter Baldwin heard rumours that Joscelin talked of supplanting him. The fief
of Turbessel was rich, whereas the land of Edessa had suffered terribly from
raids and forced emigration. The Armenians liked Joscelin, whereas they now
hated Baldwin. There was nothing in Joscelin’s own conduct to account for
Baldwin’s suspicions, which were, perhaps, based on jealousy. At the end of the
year Joscelin was summoned to Edessa; Baldwin said that he was ill and must
discuss the succession. On his arrival, all unsuspecting, he was accused of
having failed to supply Edessa with sufficient food from his territory and was
thrown into prison. It was only when he promised to give up his fief that he
was released. He retired southward, about the new year, to Jerusalem, where
King Baldwin enfeoffed him with the principality of Galilee.

1112: Death of
Tancred

The year 1112 saw many other changes in
northern Syria. Kogh Vasil died on 12 October. His widow hastily sent presents
to Tancred, including her own diadem for the Princess Cecilia, to secure his
help for the succession of her adopted son, Vasil Dgha; but Tancred himself
coveted the inheritance. Among the Franks, Richard of the Principate had died
some time in the spring and Bertrand of Tripoli in January or February.
Bertrand’s young son and successor, Pons, did not share his father’s liking for
the Byzantines nor his hatred for Tancred; and his council probably thought
that Tancred’s good-will was necessary if the youthful count was to hold his
position. There was a reconciliation between the Courts of Tripoli and Antioch,
which added to Tancred’s influence. With Joscelin in disgrace, the Count of
Tripoli his friend, and the great prince of the Armenians dead, Tancred’s
supremacy seemed sure. He was planning an expedition to conquer Kogh Vasil’s
land when suddenly he fell ill. There were inevitable whispers of poison; but
the illness was probably typhoid. When it was certain that he would not recover
he named his nephew Roger of Salerno, son of Richard of the Principate, as his
heir, but he forced Roger to swear to hand over his power to Bohemond’s young
son, should the boy come to the East. At the same time he requested Pons to
marry his girl-widow, Cecilia of France. He died on 12 December 1112, aged only
thirty-six.