The presented article tells about an amazing, but little-known battle in our time, which took place in the distant era of the Crusades in the Middle East. Oddly enough, little is said about this battle by the descendants of both sides of the conflict: for Muslims, this is a shameful page from the life of their hero Saladin, and for Western Europeans, with their tendency to hypercriticism, denial of the success of the weapons of their ancestors, especially those associated with religion, it is also today is an "uncomfortable topic". Perhaps some facts will seem to many destroying stereotypes, but however, everything stated is based on accurate data from medieval chronicles. A significant part of the material is being published for the first time in Russian.
In the course of the development of the plot of a fairly well-known film about the 12th century crusaders "Kingdom of Heaven", it is said about a certain victory of the young king of Jerusalem Baldwin IV (1161-1185) over the Egyptian Sultan Saladin (1137-1193), the consequences of which the Muslim ruler remembered all his life … We are talking about the real battle of Monjisar, which took place on November 25, 1177, in which a small army of "Jerusalemites" (as the inhabitants of the main crusader state in the Middle East were then called) miraculously defeated several times a large army of the strongest Muslim ruler of Asia Minor in that era …
Prehistory of the battle
The youth king Baldwin IV (Baudouin, Baudouin le Lepreux) ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem on July 15, 1174, when, at the age of only 38, his father, King Amaury (Amalric), unexpectedly died of dysentery (or poison). The young prince received an excellent upbringing: the best knights of the kingdom taught him the martial art, and as the main teacher he had William, Archbishop of Tire, who was not only a clergyman and a very educated person, but also an outstanding manager, an excellent writer and a skillful politician, being in fact prime minister of the kingdom.
King of Jerusalem at the head of his army in the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" (as Baldwin IV - Edward Norton)
But even as a child, Prince Baldwin contracted leprosy, this terrible and generally incurable disease even today, and the subjects almost immediately after his coronation began to look for him for a successor who would receive the throne of Jerusalem by marrying his sister Sibylla. This caused a fierce political struggle for influence among various groups. But the worst thing was that the internal disorders in the main of the crusader states in Utremer (Overseas, from the French., known to Europeans by his throne name as Saladin (Salahuddin).
Saladin against the background of his army in the film "Kingdom of Heaven" (in the role of the Sultan - Hassan Massoud)
In the early 1170s, this ruler, who came from a Kurdish clan of military mercenaries and became the sultan of Egypt by the will of fate, after consolidating his power in the Nile Valley, capturing a number of areas in Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula, began a war in Syria. As a result, on November 27, 1174, Saladin entered Damascus with a detachment of his troops, proclaiming this day "the day of the triumph of Sunni Islam" and "the day of the union of two jewels" - that is,the annexation of Damascus to Cairo (remember this day, we will return to this date), and soon captured Homs and Hama. However, his plans to conquer Aleppo (Aleppo) - an ancient city, around which heavy battles are still going on, the last major center of resistance to his power in Syria, in 1175-1176. have not been implemented since in the fight against him, the emir of Aleppo relied on the help of such seemingly different forces as the crusaders of the overseas and the Muslim Ismaili sect of "hashishins" (assassins) of Lebanon.
Based on the current situation, Salah al-Din al-Melik al-Nazir ("The most pious in the faith of Islam, conquering all the ruler" - that was such a magnificent name was his throne) temporarily postponed the plan for the further conquest of Syria and Iraq and decided to destroy the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as the main and largest of the possessions of Western European Christians in the Middle East.
Campaign start
Having managed to secretly concentrate troops in Northern Egypt, Saladin waited for the moment when part of the Jerusalem armed forces was involved in the expedition in Syria, and in the fall of 1177 he struck an unexpected blow. At the head of a large army (at least 26,000 soldiers), he set out for Jerusalem (according to the information of Michael the Syrian, the patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church at that time, a traveler and an outstanding chronicler, the total number of soldiers prepared for the campaign reached 33,000). According to Wilhelm of Tire, who apparently relied on the testimony of prisoners, it consisted of 18,000 professional infantry, mostly from Sudanese black mercenaries (as we know, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea even today are sources of Islamism and instability), and 8,000 professional cavalry. In addition, the forces prepared for the invasion included the Egyptian militia and detachments of light-horse Bedouins. Most likely, these data are quite objective, for example, the last figure correlates very well with the number of the corps of "gulyams", known from Muslim sources, who were on Saladin's allowance - in 1181 there were 8,529 of them.
An example of the weapons of some warriors from Saladin's army is a dismounted and mounted ghoul and a foot archer
It must be said that the concentration of forces by the Muslims and the sudden start of the war turned out to be absolutely unexpected for Christians. They did not even have time to collect all the forces of the kingdom, some of which were in Syria, not to mention getting help from the rulers of Armenia, Byzantium or from Europe. Gathering his small army, which consisted of approximately 2-3,000 infantry and at least 300-375 knight vassals of the King of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV set out to meet the enemy.
The strategic intelligence of the crusaders then clearly failed - their agents did not notice or could not report to Jerusalem about the concentration of Saladin's army in northeastern Egypt. In addition to the triggered surprise factor, there was a strong underestimation of the enemy - apparently, the Jerusalemites decided that they were dealing with a large raiding party or a small army going to Ascalon to capture it, while it turned out to be the vanguard of a large Islamist army, whose purpose was to capture the capital and destroy it. Kingdom of Jerusalem as such.
The plan of the Crusaders was to stop the invasion of the enemy "detachment" in the border area in the area of the ancient city of Askalon (modern Ashkelon in southern Israel). In general, it should be said that the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the XII century was geographically very similar to the modern state of Israel, while the possessions of Saladin then included Egypt, North Arabia, most of Syria and part of Northern Iraq, and, accordingly, the mobilization resources of Muslims were several times greater. which always complicated the situation for the Crusaders.
In accordance with this plan, a detachment of light Christian cavalry "Turkopoli" ("Turkopley", the vanguard. By the way, the "Turcopols" were a very interesting branch of troops, which the crusaders of the Zamorye introduced under the influence of local conditions: they were horse archers on fast horses in light armor, which performed functions that were, for example, the Cossacks in Russia - border defense, front-line reconnaissance and other light cavalry traveling service. Turkopolis were recruited from local Orthodox Christians, or from Muslims who converted to Orthodoxy or Catholicism; Perhaps they could include Muslims who, for whatever reason, migrated to the territory of the Christian states of the Middle East, and who were allowed to continue to profess their religion, subject to military service (just like, for example, in the modern Israeli army, Israeli Muslim Arabs).
Cavalry of the Kingdom of Jerusalem: Knight Templar, Mounted Sergeant and Mounted Archer of the Turcopole Corps
A small contingent of Templars from the border fortress of Gaza moved to support the detachment of the Turcopols, but was also forced to retreat back to the fortress, where it was blocked by a detachment of Islamists. However, the main thing that the border units did was that they were able, if not to delay the invasion, then at least to inform the main forces of the crusaders about the approach of a huge army of Muslims. The troops under the command of King Baldwin IV, realizing that they had no chance in a field battle, were able to avoid destruction and go to Ascalon, where they were also blocked, while the main army of Saladin continued to move to Jerusalem. Ramla was captured and burned; the ancient port of Arsuf and the city of Lod (Lydda), the birthplace of St. George the Victorious, who is considered the patron saint of Christian warriors. Worst of all, even the garrison of Jerusalem was severely weakened: the "rearbann" with a force of several thousand infantry from the Jerusalem militia, which came out a little later than the king's forces and was far behind in the road, was surrounded and destroyed by superior Saracen troops. It seemed that the Kingdom of Jerusalem was on the brink of destruction.
Preparing the parties for battle
Saladin also believed that his plan was being implemented quite successfully: the strike forces of the crusaders were lured into the field and partly exterminated or blocked in the fortresses, and his army slowly (due to the large convoy in which the siege machines were carried), but surely went to the cherished goals - the city of "Al-Quds" (as the Arabs call Jerusalem). But Rex Hierosolomitanus Baldwin IV decided that it was necessary at all costs to try to save his capital, and with an unexpected attack, knocking down the blocking forces, set out from Ascalon after the main army of Muslims.
Warriors-crusaders of that era, based on the theoretical concepts of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, some other Christian writers, as well as from previous experience of battles, believed that they could crush even a small detachment of a much larger army, but under a number of conditions (which, one might say, have not lost their relevance today) … Firstly, if their troops have a sufficient number of highly mobile (then equestrian) warriors armed with the most modern and high-quality weapons; secondly, in the presence of professional military training of these soldiers, including their ability to operate in unfamiliar terrain, for example, in a desert; thirdly, it was necessary that these soldiers had the highest motivation in the deep Christian faith, observe the purity of thoughts and be ready to accept death in battle as the highest reward for heroism. As we will see later, the soldiers of the army of Baldwin IV had all this.
Saladin at this time believed that his opponent was no longer able to challenge him in a field battle and allowed his troops to behave as if they had already won the final victory. His army was divided into detachments and small parties, which scattered across the southern and central parts of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, plundering, plundering and capturing the inhabitants. Seeing no real threat from the garrisons of the fortresses and preparing the blockade of Jerusalem, the Sultan apparently deliberately dismissed some of the troops for the spoils. After all, everything that was captured or burned in enemy territory made the enemy economically weaker, and at the same time served as evidence of the alleged inability of Christian rulers to defend their land.
Moreover, Islamic fundamentalist theologians in his entourage (by the way, just like the preachers of modern radical Islam) declared that the capture and destruction of the settlements of local residents, among whom even under the rule of the crusaders, the majority were Muslims, is, as it were, a deserved punishment. for them, because instead of conducting "ghazavat" against Christians, they allowed the "infidels" to rule over themselves, entering into an alliance with them, and thus became "traitors to the interests of Islam" - "munafiks". Although in fact everything was much simpler - the Kingdom of Jerusalem differed, in addition to the accepted freedom of religion, also by reasonably balanced governance and well-developed legislation (and from an exact Quranic, not a propaganda point of view, it was Saladin himself who was a munafik, which he proved, among other things and his behavior in the battle of Tell al-Safit, for which he was reproached and ridiculed by other "jihadists").
Here is what the Muslim writer and traveler Ibn Jubair writes about the states of the crusaders, who made the Hajj through North Africa to Arabia in that era: “Our path passed through endless fields and settlements, the Muslim inhabitants of which feel great on the lands of the Franks … The Franks do not demand anything else, apart from a small tax on fruits. Houses belong to the Muslims themselves, as well as all the good that is in them.
… All the cities of the Syrian coast, which are in the hands of the Franks, are subject to their Christian laws, and most of the land holdings - villages and small towns - belong to Muslims, and they are subject to Sharia law.
Many of these Muslims have a spiritual turmoil in their hearts when they see the situation of their fellow believers living in the lands of Islamic rulers, for in terms of well-being and respect for their rights, their situation is the exact opposite. The biggest shame for Muslims is that they have to endure injustice from their fellow rulers, while the enemies of their faith rule them with justice …"
Reading these lines, one can only be surprised that "everything is returning to normal." For example, these words of a medieval traveler may well be applied to a comparative description of the situation of modern Israeli Arabs and their brethren in the Palestinian Authority or in Syria.
So, thanks to the observance of the rights of all citizens and the implementation of the correct tax policy that ensured the economic prosperity of the country, even Muslims in the Crusader states lived "under the yoke of Christians" much more comfortably than under the rule of their own co-religionists in neighboring Syria or Egypt. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was, as it were, a model showing not only the advantages of Christian rule, but also an example of the prosperous coexistence of three world religions within one state. And that was one of a number of reasons why Saladin needed to destroy him.
