In the Battle of Shaizar in 1111, a Crusader army commanded by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem and a Seljuk army led by Mawdud ibn Altuntash of

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

fought to a tactical draw, but a withdrawal of Crusader forces.

Background

Beginning in 1110 and lasting until 1115, the Seljuk Sultan Muhammad I in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

launched annual invasions of the Crusader states. The first year's attack on

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

was repelled. Prodded by the pleas of some citizens of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and spurred by the Byzantines, the Sultan ordered a major offensive against the Frankish possessions in northern Syria for the year 1111. The Sultan appointed Mawdud ibn Altuntash, governor of Mosul, to command the army. The composite force included contingents from Diyarbakir and

Ahlat Ahlat (; ) is a town in Turkey's Bitlis Province in Eastern Anatolia Region. It is the seat of Ahlat District.Sökmen al-Kutbi, from Hamadan led by Bursuq ibn Bursuq, and from

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

under Ahmadil and other emirs.

Edessa to Aleppo

At the approach of the large Muslim army, the small Frankish forces of the

County of Edessa The County of Edessa (Latin: ''Comitatus Edessanus'') was a 12th-century Crusader state in Upper Mesopotamia. Its seat was the city of Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey). In the late Byzantine period, Edessa became the centre of intellec ...

withdrew within the walls of their two major towns. Although the Seljuks moved with impunity through the lands of the Latin state, they were unable to make an impression on first

and later Turbessel (Tell Bashir). Soon the thwarted Seljuk host moved to Aleppo. At that city, the forces of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

led by

Toghtekin Zahir al-Din Toghtekin or Tughtekin (Modern ; Arabicised epithet: ''Zahir ad-Din Tughtikin''; died February 12, 1128), also spelled Tughtegin, was a Turkoman military leader, who was ''emir'' of Damascus from 1104 to 1128. He was the founder ...

joined Mawdud's army. Even though the majority of Aleppo's citizens were well disposed to the Seljuk army, the ruler of the city,

Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan Ridwan ( – 10 December 1113) was a Seljuk emir of Aleppo from 1095 until his death. Ridwan was born to the Seljuk prince Tutush, who had established a principality in Syria after his brother, Sultan Malik-Shah I granted him the reg ...

refused to open the city's gates. Radwan regarded the Sultan's army as a threat to his authority. Both Bursuq and Sökmen al-Kutbi, were ill and quarreled with each other. When Sukman's health failed, he withdrew from the army with his followers, but died before he got home. Bursuq also quit the army and took his contingent home. Anxious to receive Sukman's territories, Ahmadil left the army to press his claims with the Sultan.

Aleppo to Shaizar

By this time Tancred had called up his Antiochene army and based it at the castle of Rugia near Jisr ash-Shughur, a bridge over the

Orontes River The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Nahr al-ʿĀṣī, or simply Asi (, ; ) is a long river in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Hatay Province, Turk ...

about 50 kilometers south of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

. Receiving a plea for help from the independent Munqidh rulers of

Shaizar Shaizar or Shayzar (; in modern Arabic Saijar; Hellenistic name: Larissa in Syria, Λάρισσα εν Συρία in Greek language, Greek) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. Near ...

, Mawdud's army moved 120 kilometers south-southwest from Aleppo to camp outside that town. At Tancred's call for assistance, King Baldwin I brought both his own army from the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

and Count Bertrand's forces from the County of Tripoli. They were joined at Rugia by a contingent from Edessa under Count Baldwin. After uniting their forces, the Crusaders advanced first to the Christian-held town of Afamiya, then toward the Muslim host outside Shaizar.

Battle

Mawdud's army "employed their normal harassing tactics, which were directed to the objects of cutting off supplies from the Franks, and of preventing their watering their horses in the Orontes."Smail, p 142 The Christian host refused to be provoked into battle, but instead moved in a closed up array. When the Turkish horse archers pressed them too closely, they fought to push them back. Rather than a battle, the action was a constant running skirmish in which the Seljuks failed to stop the advance of Baldwin's army. The Franks camped near Shaizar but within two weeks they were forced to fall back on Afamiya because the Turks cut off their supplies. During the withdrawal, they were harassed again, but did not allow themselves to be drawn into a pitched battle. At this, Mawdud's warriors, discouraged by their lack of success and plunder, dispersed for home. The future poet and diplomat Usamah ibn Munqidh, then 16 years old, was a participant in the battle, and later reminisced about it in his '' Kitab al-I'tibar''.

Results

This drawn battle, really a running skirmish, allowed King Baldwin I and Tancred to successfully defend the Principality of Antioch. No Crusader towns or castles fell to the Seljuk Turks during the campaign. The next major action in northern Syria was the Battle of Sarmin in 1115.

Footnotes

References

* Smail, R. C. ''Crusading Warfare 1097-1193.'' New York: Barnes & Noble Books, (1956) 1995. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaizar, Battle Of Battles involving the Seljuk Empire Conflicts in 1111 1111 in Asia 12th century in the Seljuk Empire

1110s in the Kingdom of Jerusalem Battles involving the County of Edessa