Battle of the Dog River

Battle of the Dog River
	Part of Crusades
	; Battle of Dog River
Date	October 1100
Location	Nahr al-Kalb river in Lebanon.
Result	Crusader Victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Jerusalem	Seljuk Turks of Damascus
Commanders and leaders
Baldwin of Edessa	Duqaq of Damascus
Strength
200 Knights and 500 infantry	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy

Last updated December 25, 2024

The Battle of the Dog River was fought in 1100 between Crusader forces and the Seljuk Turks near the Nahr al-Kalb river in what is now modern day Lebanon. The Crusaders were led by Baldwin of Boulogne, who had been the Count of Edessa while the Turks were led by Duqaq of Damascus. The Crusaders were victorious and Baldwin was able to travel to Jerusalem unopposed in order to be crowned as the next King of Jerusalem.^[2]^[3]

Background

After the death of Godfrey of Bouillon, the barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem invited his brother Baldwin, Count of Edessa, to assume the lordship of the Kingdom, Baldwin made preparations for the dangerous journey in order to assume the kingship. To finance his journey to Jerusalem, he seized gold and silver from his subjects. He appointed his relative, Baldwin of Le Bourcq, his successor in the county, Le Bourcq swore fealty to him.^[4] About 200 knights and 500 foot-soldiers accompanied Baldwin when he left Edessa on the 2nd October 1100.^[2]^[4]

Battle

The battle was fought between the forces of Baldwin of Edessa and Turks sent by Duqaq of Damascus, who had planned to cut the latter's forces off and trap them in the narrow passage on the public road which was next to the sea. Baldwin had been warned beforehand by the qadi of Tripoli and was thus able to rout the Damascene force, successfully staging a heavy cavalry charge after a feigned retreat had lured the Turks off the high ground.^[5]

Aftermath

After the victory Baldwin was able to travel safely towards Jerusalem, as the Turks who had blockaded the road had been either scattered or were killed or captured during the battle. Once Baldwin had arrived he was ceremoniously accompanied by the people of the city to the Holy Sepulchre. Baldwin was then crowned as the next King of Jerusalem. This ceremony would take place in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Christmas Day.^[6]

Related Research Articles

Year 1104 (MCIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Crusade</span> 1147–1149 Christian holy war

The Second Crusade (1147–1150) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade (1096–1099) by the future King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldwin I of Jerusalem</span> King of Jerusalem from 1100 to 1118

Baldwin I was the first count of Edessa from 1098 to 1100 and king of Jerusalem from 1100 to his death in 1118. He was the youngest son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida of Lorraine and married a Norman noblewoman, Godehilde of Tosny. He received the County of Verdun in 1096, but he soon joined the crusader army of his brother Godfrey of Bouillon and became one of the most successful commanders of the First Crusade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godfrey of Bouillon</span> Crusader and first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Godfrey of Bouillon was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as prince (princeps) under the title Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri, or Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldwin II of Jerusalem</span> King of Jerusalem from 1118 to 1131

Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg, was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the First Crusade. He succeeded Baldwin of Boulogne as the second count of Edessa when he left the county for Jerusalem following his brother's death. He was captured at the Battle of Harran in 1104. He was held first by Sökmen of Mardin, then by Jikirmish of Mosul, and finally by Jawali Saqawa. During his captivity, Tancred, the Crusader ruler of the Principality of Antioch, and Tancred's cousin, Richard of Salerno, governed Edessa as Baldwin's regents.

The County of Edessa was a 12th-century Crusader state in Upper Mesopotamia. Its seat was the city of Edessa.

The Principality of Antioch was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the christian’s medieval Kingdom of Jerusalem. It extended around the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean, bordering the County of Tripoli to the south, Edessa to the east, and the Byzantine Empire or the Kingdom of Armenia to the northwest, depending on the date.

The County of Tripoli (1102–1289) was one of the Crusader states. It was founded in the Levant in the modern-day region of Tripoli, northern Lebanon and parts of western Syria. When the Frankish Crusaders, mostly southern French forces – captured the region in 1109, Bertrand of Toulouse became the first count of Tripoli as a vassal of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem. From that time on, the rule of the county was decided not strictly by inheritance but by factors such as military force, favour and negotiation. In 1289, the County of Tripoli fell to the Muslim Mamluks of Cairo under Sultan Qalawun, and the county was absorbed into Mamluk Sultanate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Harran</span> Battle in 1104

The Battle of Harran took place on 7 May 1104 between the Crusader states of the Principality of Antioch and the County of Edessa, and the Seljuk Turks. It was the first major battle against the newfound Crusader states in the aftermath of the First Crusade, marking a key turning point against Frankish expansion. The battle had a disastrous effect on the Principality of Antioch as the Turks regained territory earlier lost.

Abu Nasr Shams al-Muluk Duqaq was the Seljuq ruler of Damascus from 1095 to 1104.

Ridwan was a Seljuk emir of Aleppo from 1095 until his death.

Morphia of Melitene was the queen consort of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1118 until her death. She was an Armenian by ethnicity and an adherent of the Greek Orthodox faith. Her father, Gabriel, was a warlord in northern Syria. He wished to marry her off to one of the crusade leaders who were carving out states in the Levant, and eventually chose Count Baldwin II of Edessa. They married around 1100 and had four daughters: Melisende, Alice, Hodierna, and Ioveta. In 1118, Baldwin was elected king of Jerusalem; the next year, Morphia became the first woman to be crowned queen of Jerusalem. She did not participate in the government but took initiative to liberate her husband after he was captured in 1123. She died a few years later. According to historian Bernard Hamilton, her religious practices left a lasting mark on the status of Orthodox Christians in the crusader kingdom.

Najm al-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq was the Turkoman Artukid ruler of Mardin from 1107 to 1122. He was born into the Oghuz tribe of Döğer.

The siege of Tripoli lasted from 1102 until 12 July 1109. It took place on the site of the present day Lebanese city of Tripoli, in the aftermath of the First Crusade. It led to the establishment of the fourth crusader state, the County of Tripoli.

Gabriel of Melitene was an Armenian general who ruled the city of Melitene. Gabriel started his career as an officer of the Byzantine general Philaretos Brachamios, who installed him in Melitene. After the general's death, Gabriel broke away from the Byzantine Empire. He sought to ally himself with the leaders of the crusades and had his daughter, Morphia, marry Baldwin II of Edessa. He was killed after Melitene was conquered by the Seljuk Turks.

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

Zahir al-Din Toghtekin or Tughtekin, also spelled Tughtegin, was a Turkoman military leader, who was emir of Damascus from 1104 to 1128. He was the founder of the Burid dynasty of Damascus.

Taj al-Muluk Buri was an Turkoman atabeg of Damascus from 1128 to 1132. He was initially an officer in the army of Duqaq, the Seljuk ruler of Damascus, together with his father Toghtekin. When the latter took power after Duqaq's death, Buri acted as regent and later became atabeg himself. Damascus's Burid dynasty was named for him.

The Venetian Crusade of 1122–1124 was an expedition to the Holy Land launched by the Republic of Venice that succeeded in capturing Tyre. It was an important victory at the start of a period when the Kingdom of Jerusalem would expand to its greatest extent under Baldwin II of Jerusalem. The Venetians gained valuable trading concessions in Tyre. Through raids on Byzantine territory both on the way to the Holy Land and on the return journey, the Venetians forced the Byzantines to confirm, as well as extend, their trading privileges with the empire.

The siege of Aleppo by Baldwin II of Jerusalem and his allies lasted from 6 October 1124 to 25 January 1125. It ended in a Crusader withdrawal following the arrival of a relief force led by Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi.

References

↑ Fulcher of Chartres, p.138-142
1 2 Barber, Malcolm. The crusader states. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-300-11312-9.
↑ Maalouf, Amin (2012). The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. Saqi Essentials. New York: Saqi. ISBN 978-0-86356-023-1.
1 2 Tyerman, Christopher (2008). God's war: a new history of the Crusades (1. Harvard Univ. Press paperback ed.). Cambridge, Mass: The Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02387-1.
↑ Fulcherius; Fulcherius (2011). Fink, Harold S. (ed.). A history of the expedition to Jerusalem, 1095 - 1127 (Repr. ed.). New York, NY: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-09423-7.
↑ Murray, Alan V. (2000). The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: a dynastic history 1099 - 1125. Occasional publications of the Oxford Unit for Prosopographical Research. Oxford: Unit for Prosopographical Research. ISBN 978-1-900934-03-9.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Fulcher of Chartres, p.138-142

[:1-2] 1 2 Barber, Malcolm. The crusader states. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-300-11312-9.

[3] Maalouf, Amin (2012). The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. Saqi Essentials. New York: Saqi. ISBN 978-0-86356-023-1.

[:0-4] 1 2 Tyerman, Christopher (2008). God's war: a new history of the Crusades (1. Harvard Univ. Press paperback ed.). Cambridge, Mass: The Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02387-1.

[5] Fulcherius; Fulcherius (2011). Fink, Harold S. (ed.). A history of the expedition to Jerusalem, 1095 - 1127 (Repr. ed.). New York, NY: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-09423-7.

[6] Murray, Alan V. (2000). The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: a dynastic history 1099 - 1125. Occasional publications of the Oxford Unit for Prosopographical Research. Oxford: Unit for Prosopographical Research. ISBN 978-1-900934-03-9.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]