The Crusader States

by Malcolm Barber

  Rumours were now rife among the Latins, for nobody knew what Saladin would do next. However, the signs were ominous. When Baldwin granted Bohemond 300 knights for the defence of Antioch, Saladin made a truce with him before departing for Damascus, which suggested that he was preparing a major attack on the kingdom of Jerusalem. In the kingdom itself, there was now an urgent need to appoint a new bailli as Baldwin had become extremely ill. In contrast to previous occasions, February's assembly had been convened and conducted by the leaders of the kingdom and not the king, and in October Guy of Lusignan was placed in charge. He was, however, obliged to swear an oath that he would not attempt to gain the crown in Baldwin's lifetime, a condition that suggests that the king did not entirely trust him, and may reflect the division of opinion over his appointment recorded by William of Tyre. His experiences with Raymond of Tripoli and Bohemond of Antioch may have made the king wary, but William of Tyre had also picked up rumours that Guy had been attempting to buy support among the baronage and Baldwin must have been warned about this.93

  Fears of Saladin's next move were entirely justified, for on 29 September he crossed the Jordan south of the Sea of Galilee and invaded the plain of Baisan. Ibn Shaddad says that he planned a pitched battle, an assertion supported by other Muslim sources.94 The Christians were not unprepared, for the new tax had enabled them to raise a formidable and well-equipped force: William of Tyre says that they had 1,300 cavalry and more than 15,000 foot.95 They encamped at the Springs of Saffuriya where there were adequate supplies of fresh water, although Muslim raiding parties made it difficult to keep so many men properly supplied with food. William says that this was the greatest army assembled in living memory, which means that it was larger than those taken to Egypt by Amalric. With the notable exception of Bohemond of Antioch, all the major leaders were present, including Raymond of Tripoli, the Ibelin brothers, Reynald of Sidon, Walter of Caesarea and Joscelin of Courtenay. They were reinforced by Henry, duke of Louvain, and Ralph of Mauleon from Aquitaine, a man with a formidable military reputation; both men were at that time on expeditions to the Holy Land. In addition, there were seamen from the ships of the Italian maritime cities who had not yet embarked on the autumn passage.

  In the course of the next nine days, there was bitter fighting and many men were lost on both sides, but the battle clearly expected by both William of Tyre and the Muslim chroniclers did not take place, since Guy of Lusignan either chose not to engage the enemy, or was prevented from doing so by influential elements within the army. The Christians did not remain static, leaving Saffuriya to challenge Saladin at the Springs of Tubania, about 16 miles to the south-east. However, when Saladin suddenly moved away towards Baisan, the fighting broke down into a series of smaller engagements. Turkish detachments did considerable damage to Le Petit Gerin and Forbelet, and caused panic in Nazareth, where most of the remaining inhabitants were noncombatants. One group even climbed Mount Tabor, but was unable to break into the cloister of the Greek monastery of St Elias, which was fortified with walls and a tower. Eventually, on the ninth day, Saladin gave up and retreated towards Damascus. Even then the Christians were uneasy, returning to Saffuriya until they were certain he was not coming back.96

  When it was all over there were immediate repercussions on the Christian side. According to William of Tyre, the king thought that Guy of Lusignan had ‘lacked both vigour and sense’ and, having taken ‘sounder advice’, dismissed him as bailli and took back power directly to himself, even though Guy had held the position for less than a month.97 This suggests that, although Saladin had been obliged to retreat, Baldwin thought that Guy had lost a rare opportunity to inflict a defeat that would have undermined his power and weakened his prestige in the Muslim world, making it much more difficult for him to mount the same kind of challenge again. These were no ordinary border skirmishes: the Christians had taken the True Cross with them and for over a week two very large armies, both assembled with great expense and effort, had been separated by no more than 6 miles.98 William of Tyre was, of course, an archbishop and so did not accompany the army, but he received his information from those who had been present, and he came to the conclusion that Saladin had been reckless and had left himself open to potential disaster.99 In the light of his attitude to Guy of Lusignan in the aftermath, the king must have thought the same.

  William records something of the debate that followed. Some argued that Saladin had been so entrenched that it would have been impossible to attack him, but others thought that this was merely an excuse to avoid battle, since if they had succeeded Guy would have taken all the credit. In short, whatever Guy himself had wanted to do (and this cannot be known for certain), any move towards battle had been sabotaged by his enemies in the army, motivated not by tactical considerations, but by personal rivalry and hatred.100 These same people then persuaded the king that the failure to attack Saladin lay entirely with the bailli. William, who makes no secret of his low opinion of Guy of Lusignan, nevertheless chooses to sit on the fence rather than seize the opportunity to blame him for what was thought by other contemporaries to have been a dismal failure.

  In the short term, Guy's enemies certainly succeeded, for the king now decided to make Sibylla's five-year-old son, Baldwin, co-ruler, and on 20 November 1183, he was crowned in the church of the Holy Sepulchre.101 William of Tyre claims that the advice the king received was unanimous, naming Bohemond III, Raymond of Tripoli, Reynald of Sidon, Baldwin of Ramla and his brother, Balian. William says that Agnes of Courtenay actually suggested this and was especially keen to see him crowned, which shows that she was more interested in retaining power through her influence over the Crown than she was in defending Guy of Lusignan, since the coronation blocked any ambition Guy had to become king himself. It now appears that efforts were made to isolate Guy completely. In contrast to all the other barons present, he was not asked to do homage to the boy-king, while at the same time Baldwin IV had decided that his marriage to Sibylla must be ended, demanding from the patriarch that a day be set for the annulment. Both William of Tyre and Ernoul emphasise Baldwin's animosity towards Guy, which was reinforced by Guy's refusal to accede to the king's request to exchange Jerusalem for Tyre. William characterises this as gross ingratitude on Guy's part, although Tyre was, of course, more commercially valuable than Jerusalem. In these circumstances it looks as if Baldwin and many of the leading barons intended to drive Guy out of the kingdom.102

  Guy of Lusignan may have been saved by Saladin. News had reached Jerusalem that, little more than a month after his campaign in Galilee, Saladin had launched another attack, this time in Transjordan. Saladin had brought a large force to besiege Kerak in Moab, situated about 12 miles to the east of the southern end of the Dead Sea, and had called on his brother, al-Adil, to bring more men from Egypt. Reynald of Châtillon had become lord of Kerak and Montréal following his marriage to Stephanie of Milly in 1177, and was not present at the coronation of Baldwin V because he had hurried to Kerak on hearing the news of Saladin's approach.103 There is no doubt that the king realised that this was a major threat and, as soon as he was able, he organised a relief army, which set out under the protection of the True Cross.

  Kerak was a powerful castle against which Saladin had failed before. It had been strengthened by previous lords from the time of Pagan the Butler in 1142 and by the 1180s its excellent natural defences had been heavily augmented by a series of building campaigns. It was built in a large wedge shape extending south along a ridge created by the meeting of two wadis. At the wider end of the wedge on the north side was a town and the whole complex was protected by a deep fosse which had been dug right across the ridge. Between the castle and the town there was another, similar ditch, while the southern end of the castle contained a cistern that served as a moat in the event of attack from the neighbouring high ground. The sides of the ridge, reinforced with masonry, sloped steeply down to the wadis, making access impossible from the east or the west (see plate 14).104

 
Kerak was not a random choice, for it occupied a position overlooking the main route between Cairo and Damascus and therefore was of vital strategic importance. However, Saladin had not mounted the attack for this reason alone, for he held a grudge against Reynald of Châtillon, a grudge that he pursued right up to the time of Reynald's capture in July 1187 after the battle of Hattin, when he personally executed him. It was Reynald, Saladin claimed, who had first broken the truce in 1182, when he attacked a caravan from Egypt that had halted near the castle of Montréal, believing that its safety was guaranteed by the terms of the truce.105 Saladin was right to identify Reynald as a dangerous enemy. He had shown great energy since his release in 1176, and it is now generally recognised that he was committed to the war against Islam in a way that had not been evident during his time as prince of Antioch. Despite his sixteen years in prison, he had emerged with sufficient physical strength to begin campaigning at once.106

  More seriously, in February 1183, Reynald had outraged Saladin by carrying his attack into the Red Sea. He had built a number of ships, constructed in pieces so that they could be carried overland, and launched these on the gulf of Aqaba. They were divided into two squadrons, one of which besieged Aqaba, a fortress described by al-Fadil as ‘at the head of the sea’, while the other ranged along the coast of the Hidjaz. Much damage was done to Aydhab, on the western side of the Red Sea, where merchants were captured and goods seized. ‘Imad al-Din claims that Medina was in danger, while al-Fadil, inflating his rhetoric for the benefit of the caliph at Baghdad, said the inhabitants of Mecca were terrified, believing that the Last Judgment had come. Saladin must certainly have feared the potential damage to vital Red Sea trading links should the Franks manage to penetrate the region on a regular basis. In Cairo, al-Adil ordered his fleet commander, the formidable Husam al-Din Lu'lu, to eliminate them, and after he had captured and killed those at Aqaba, he pursued the others along the coast, forcing them to abandon their ships before finally trapping them in a ravine. The survivors were taken back to Cairo on Saladin's orders, since, according to ‘Imad al-Din, the sultan was determined that no one should remain alive who had any knowledge that might be useful to any future Frankish attempt to invade the area.107

  Saladin had therefore assembled a powerful army to besiege Kerak, later reinforced by al-Adil with troops brought from Egypt. Ibn al-Athir says that he had seven trebuchets ‘which continued to hurl stones night and day’. Reynald chose to defend the town, a decision that William of Tyre criticises as showing a lack of foresight, since the Muslims seized the town and all its contents, which were then used to help sustain them during the siege. The castle quickly became crowded with noncombatants, including both the inhabitants of the town and Syrians from the surrounding area. Added to these were guests and entertainers who had come for the wedding of Humphrey of Toron and Isabella, betrothed in 1180.108 In these circumstances Baldwin could hardly afford to spend more time dealing with Guy of Lusignan. He assembled a relief army and, taking the True Cross, set out for Kerak. However, when they reached the Dead Sea he was unable to continue and handed over command to Raymond of Tripoli. By this time Saladin had learned of the approaching army and, on 3 or 4 December, after a siege of a month, decided to retreat.109

  Guy of Lusignan had accompanied the relief army to Kerak, but as soon as he could he set out for Ascalon, sending a message for Sibylla to join him. ‘For he feared,’ says William of Tyre, ‘that if Baldwin should have her in his power he would not permit her to return to her husband.’ Summoned by the king, he declined to appear, claiming illness, and when Baldwin actually went to Ascalon he was refused entry. However, Baldwin gained access to Jaffa without difficulty and installed his own governor, evidently the first step in depriving Guy of his lordship on the basis that he was a recalcitrant vassal. He then went directly to Acre, where he called a general council, apparently planned before Saladin's siege of Kerak, since the main business was consideration of a plan to send a new mission to the West. In fact, the council became the scene of a dramatic quarrel, since Eraclius and the masters of the Hospital and Temple, who had been designated the chief envoys, tried to intercede for Guy before any discussion of the mission could take place and, when they were not given priority, withdrew in anger.110

  Guy, however, seems to have been determined to defy the king and, at some time after early October 1184, launched an attack on some Bedouin encamped near the royal fief of Darum on the southern borders of the kingdom. As the Bedouin had paid for royal protection, they had believed themselves to be safe. Guy's attack, not very different from his behaviour as an unruly vassal of Henry II in Poitou, looks as if it was intended as retaliation for the confiscation of Jaffa. Baldwin's response was to hand over government to Raymond of Tripoli, a decision that William of Tyre says was supported by the whole populace and what he calls ‘the greatest part of the barons’.111 To the archbishop, it was evident that the only hope of survival was to place Raymond in charge.112

  William certainly considered ending the work at this point, perhaps because he had decided that he no longer wished to record what he saw as the ruin of his country, but he says that he was persuaded to continue, and he therefore embarked on the first chapter of a new book. Even so, he was very depressed. After his failure to become patriarch, William's fortunes had begun to decline, at least in part because his former patron, Raymond of Tripoli, no longer had any influence in the kingdom, making the archbishop ‘a marked man’ in the eyes of the camarilla surrounding Agnes of Courtenay. His role as chancellor had been increasingly marginalised and, in the spring or summer of 1184, he appears to have left the post, possibly because he had been excommunicated by the patriarch.113 Ernoul claims that this took place on Maundy Thursday, which in 1184 fell on 29 March, and that afterwards he was poisoned by a corrupt doctor.114 Neither the year of William's death nor the exact circumstances in which it happened are known for certain, but it has been shown that he died on 29 September, very probably in 1186.115 What is clear is that without the archbishop's narrative it is much more difficult to follow the course of events in the crusader states, especially as Ernoul is an unreliable guide, while the complicated manuscript tradition of the Old French continuations of William of Tyre adds further to the confusion.116

  Ernoul is particularly anxious to tell the story of the internal struggles in the kingdom, a story that, in combination with the appeals made by the patriarch, gives the impression that the West had abandoned the crusader states. In fact, crusaders and pilgrims continued to visit, among them the famous William Marshal. William had attended the deathbed of King Henry, Henry II's eldest son, in June 1183, and, as the king writhed in contrition for his frivolous life, he had promised that he would fulfil Henry's crusading vow and that he would carry his cloak, marked with the Cross, to Jerusalem. William probably reached the Holy Land during the spring of 1184, and stayed about two years, for he was back in France in 1186. Almost nothing is known of his activities there, which are accorded only a few lines by his biographer, but it seems likely that a man of his temperament would have been involved in fighting the infidel at some stage. Certainly the experience had a profound effect upon him, for he promised to enter the Order of the Temple at the time of his death and, in 1219, was indeed buried in the Temple church in London.117

  Nor does Ernoul choose to mention the departure of the high-level mission to the West. The embassy set out in the summer of 1184, led by Patriarch Eraclius and the masters of the military orders, Roger des Moulins of the Hospital and Arnau of Torroja of the Temple. Evidently the quarrel at the council had been patched up, perhaps because the king took no further action against Guy of Lusignan. Both masters were experienced men, elected to stabilise their orders after recent problems. Roger des Moulins had been master since 1177 and had served in the East since at least 1175. Arnau of Torroja had been master of Spain and Provence, where he had administered the province with considerable success for twenty-five years, and he had probably been chosen as master in
the East in 1180 for the financial and diplomatic skills which he had displayed during this period.118

  The embassy landed at Brindisi and in September it met Pope Lucius III and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa at Verona, where they were attempting to resolve their differences following the Peace of Constance of June 1183. While the envoys were there they received a letter from King Baldwin informing them that, in July and August, Saladin had again launched an unsuccessful attack on Kerak, and had penetrated central Galilee, where Nablus, Sebaste and various properties of the military orders had suffered losses and destruction. These campaigns included an unsuccessful attack upon the major Hospitaller castle of Belvoir.119 According to Ralph of Diceto, canon at St Paul's in London, and a well-informed contemporary with contacts both in Henry's court and in France and Italy, it was agreed that a new offer of remission of sins should be made to those who would go to the aid of the Holy Land, although in fact the pope, who had been driven out of Rome, was in no position to take immediate action.120 He did, however, write to Henry II, asking him to offer help when the embassy reached England.121

  Arnau of Torroja died at Verona at the end of September, which was a serious loss given his diplomatic background, but the others pressed on to Paris and, in early January 1185, met Philip II. Philip was never a very keen crusader, even though he took part in the recapture of Acre in 1191, and the envoys had to be content with a council held in Paris in which it was agreed that the French clergy should, through preaching and sermons, rouse the population to set out for Jerusalem. They could not persuade him to undertake any direct responsibilities towards the Holy Land, however, even though they offered him the keys of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre.122 Probably they were not too surprised at this, since their greatest hope lay in England. Fulk of Anjou was grandfather to both Henry II and Baldwin IV, and Henry could be expected to take a direct interest in the state of the East. Ever since 1172, when he had been absolved of the murder of Thomas Becket, Henry had been accumulating large sums of money in Jerusalem, apparently intended for use when he eventually travelled to the East. In his will of 1182, he had bequeathed 5,000 marks of silver each to the Templars and Hospitallers for the service of the Holy Land, plus another 5,000 marks for general defence to be held by the two masters.123 On 29 January 1185, in an emotional meeting at Reading, Eraclius preached before him, presenting the king with the banner of the kingdom and the keys to the Tower of David and the Holy Sepulchre.