Siege of Shaizar
Siege of Shaizar | |||||||
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Part of the Crusades | |||||||
John II Komnenos negotiating with the Emir of Shaizar, 13th-century French manuscript | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Byzantine Empire Principality of Antioch County of Edessa Knights Templar |
Zengids | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Joscelin II of Edessa |
Aleppo | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
The siege of Shaizar took place from April 28 to May 21, 1138. The allied forces of the
Background
Freed from immediate external threats in the
Control of Cilicia opened the route to the
Campaign
In February, all merchants and travellers from Aleppo and other Muslim towns were arrested to prevent them from reporting on the developing military preparations. In March, the imperial army, accompanied by a substantial siege train, crossed from Cilicia to Antioch and the contingents from Antioch and Edessa, plus a company of
Siege
The Crusader princes were suspicious of each other and of John, and none wanted the others to gain from participating in the campaign. Raymond also wanted to hold on to Antioch, which was a Christian city; the attraction of lordship over a city like Shaizar or Aleppo, with a largely Muslim population and more exposed to Zengid attack, must have been slight. With the lukewarm interest his allies had in the prosecution of the siege, the Emperor was soon left with little active help from them.[12]
Following some initial skirmishes, John II organised his
Although John fought hard for the Christian cause during the campaign in Syria, his allies Raymond of Poitiers and Joscelin of Edessa remained in their camp playing dice and feasting instead of helping to press the siege. Due to their example, the morale of their troops was undermined. The Emperor's reproaches could only goad the two princes into perfunctory and fitful action. Latin and Muslim sources describe John's energy and personal courage in prosecuting the siege. Conspicuous in his golden helmet, John was active in encouraging his troops, supervising the siege engines and consoling the wounded. The walls of Shaizar were battered by the trebuchets of the impressive Byzantine siege train. The Emir's nephew, the poet, writer and diplomat Usama ibn Munqidh, recorded the devastation wreaked by the Byzantine artillery, which could smash a whole house with a single missile.[15][16][17]
The city was taken, but the
Aftermath
Zengi's troops skirmished with the retreating Christians, but did not dare to actively impede the army's march. Returning to Antioch, John made a ceremonial entry into the city. However, Raymond and Joscelin conspired to delay the promised handover of Antioch's citadel to the Emperor, and stirred up popular unrest in the city directed at John and the local Greek community. Having heard of a raid by the Anatolian
The events of the campaign underlined that the suzerainty the Byzantine emperor claimed over the Crusader states, for all the prestige it offered, had limited practical advantages. The Latins enjoyed the security that a distant imperial connection gave them when they were threatened by the Muslim powers of Syria. However, when Byzantine military might was directly manifested in the region, their own self-interest and continued political independence was of greater importance to them than any possible advantage that might be gained for the Christian cause in the Levant by co-operation with the Emperor.[24][25][26]
According to Niketas Choniates's early 13th-century history, John II returned to Syria in 1142 intending to forcibly take Antioch and impose direct Byzantine rule, expecting the local Syrian and Armenian Christian population to defect in support of this campaign.[27] His death in spring of 1143, the result of a hunting accident, intervened before he could achieve this goal. His son and successor, Manuel I (r. 1143–1180), took his father's army back to Constantinople to secure his authority, and the opportunity for the Byzantines to conquer Antioch outright was lost. In the opinion of Michael Angold, the sudden death of John was most opportune for the Latin princes, as they would have had great difficulty in continuing to resist him.[28][29][30]
See also
- Komnenian Byzantine army
References
Citations
- ^ Birkenmeier 2002, pp. 90–91
- ^ Angold, pp.154-156
- ^ Kinnamos 1976, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Harris 2014, pp. 88
- ^ Bucossi and Suarez, p. 74
- ^ Runciman 1952, pp. 213–214.
- ^ Harris 2014, pp. 88–89
- ^ Kinnamos (1976), p. 24
- ^ Runciman 1952, p. 215.
- ^ Harris 2014, pp. 89–90
- ^ Angold, p. 156
- ^ Runciman 1952, p. 216.
- ^ Choniates & Magoulias 1984, p. 17.
- ^ Birkenmeier 2002, pp. 93
- ^ Runciman 1952, p. 216.
- ^ Harris 2014, pp. 89
- ^ Bucossi and Suarez, p. 87
- ^ Runciman 1952, pp. 215–217.
- ^ Kinnamos 1976, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Choniates & Magoulias 1984, p. 18.
- ^ Harris 2014, pp. 90
- ^ Bucossi and Suarez, pp. 89-90
- ^ Runciman 1952, pp. 217–218
- ^ Choniates & Magoulias 1984, p. 18
- ^ Runciman 1952, pp. 216–218; Angold 1984, p. 156.
- ^ Harris 2014, pp. 90
- ^ Choniates & Magoulias 1984, p. 22
- ^ Kinnamos 1976, pp. 27–28, 30–31; Choniates & Magoulias 1984, pp. 24–26; Angold 1984, pp. 157–158.
- ^ Harris 2014, pp. 91
- ^ Runciman 1952, pp. 224
Sources
Primary
- ISBN 978-0-81-431764-8.
- ISBN 978-0-23-104080-8 – via Internet Archive.
Secondary
- Angold, Michael (1984). The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204: A Political History. London, United Kingdom: Longman. ISBN 0-582-49061-8
- Birkenmeier, John W. (2002). The Development of the Komnenian Army: 1081–1180. Leiden: ISBN 90-04-11710-5.
- Bucosssi, A. and Suarez, A.R. (eds.) (2016) John II Komnenos, Emperor of Byzantium: In the Shadow of Father and Son, Routledge, London and New York ISBN 978-1-4724-6024-0
- Harris, Jonathan (2014). Byzantium and the Crusades (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1780938318.
- Runciman, Steven (1952). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press – via Internet Archive.
Further reading
- ISBN 9780140455137.
- ISBN 978-0-48-642519-1.