In the Battle of Yibneh (Yibna) in 1123, a Crusader force led by

Eustace Grenier Eustace I Granier, also known as Eustace Grenier or Eustace Garnier, called in Latin ''Eustachius Granarius'' in the charters (born around 1070 and died on 15 June 1123), was a Flemish crusader who took part in the First Crusade. He became lord ...

crushed a

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...

army from Egypt sent by Vizier Al-Ma'mun between Ascalon and Jaffa.

Background

After the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

captured

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

from the Fatimids, vizier

al-Afdal Shahanshah Al-Afdal Shahanshah ( ar, الأفضل شاهنشاه, al-Afḍal Shāhanshāh; la, Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a ...

mounted a series of invasions "almost annually" from 1099 to 1107 against the newly established

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establish ...

. Egyptian armies fought three major battles at Ramla in 1101, 1102 and 1105, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. After this, the vizier contented himself to launching frequent raids on Frankish territory from his coastal fortress of Ascalon. In 1121, al-Afdal was assassinated. Meanwhile, Jerusalem was weakened by the capture of King Baldwin II by the

Artuqid The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; , pl. ; ; ) was a Turkoman dynasty originated from tribe that ruled in eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria and Northern Iraq in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. The Art ...

s in northern Syria; the kingdom was at this time governed by the regent

Battle

In 1123, the new vizier organized a major invasion of Crusader lands. The Fatimids planned to capture the coastal city of Jaffa. In this era, the Egyptian armies usually deployed with Sudanese archers on foot, supported by dense formations of Arab and Berber light cavalry. Unfortunately for the Fatimids, this relatively immobile array provided the Frankish heavy cavalry with an ideal target. At

Yibna Yibna ( ar, يبنى; ''Jabneh'' or ''Jabneel'' in Biblical times; ''Jamnia'' in Roman times; '' Ibelin'' to the Crusaders), or Tel Yavne is an archaeological site and depopulated Palestinian town. The ruins are located immediately southeast of ...

, near the later site of the castle of Ibelin (built 1141), the Fatimid invasion force encountered the crusader army of knights and men-at-arms on horseback and spearmen and bowmen on foot. The fighting lasted only a short time as the Egyptian host was unable to withstand the shock of the Crusader cavalry charges. As

Fulcher of Chartres Fulcher of Chartres (c. 1059 in or near Chartres – after 1128) was a priest who participated in the First Crusade. He served Baldwin I of Jerusalem for many years and wrote a Latin chronicle of the Crusade. Life Fulcher was born c. 1059. His app ...

says,

this battle did not last long because when our foes saw our armed men (meaning the mounted knights and men-at-arms) advance in excellent order against them their horsemen immediately took flight as if completely bewitched, going into a panic instead of using good sense. Their foot-soldiers were massacred.Fulcher of Chartres, ''A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, 1095-1127'' (trans. Francis Rita Ryan, ed. Harold S. Fink, 1969), bk. III, ch. XVIII.4, pg. 242.

The defeat was decisive. Except for continued raids from Ascalon until the

Siege of Ascalon The siege of Ascalon took place in 1153, resulting in the capture of that Egyptian fortress by the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Background Ascalon was Fatimid Egypt's greatest and most important frontier fortress. The Battle of Ascalon was fought out ...

in 1153, the Fatimids ceased to be a threat to the Crusader states until the rise of

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

in 1169. The next major action in the Crusader states would be the Battle of Azaz in 1125.

Background

Battle

References

Further reading