Crusade Texts in Translation is a book series of English translations of texts about the Crusades published initially by Ashgate in Farnham, Surrey and Burlington, Vermont, and currently by Routledge. Publication began in May 1996. [1] The editors of the series, all from the United Kingdom, are Malcolm Barber, University of Reading; Peter Edbury, Cardiff University; Bernard Hamilton, University of Nottingham; Norman Housley, University of Leicester; and Peter Jackson, University of Keele. [2]
It contains a large corpus of texts concerning the history of the Crusades and the Crusader states. Many of the texts have not been translated into English before.
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former Prior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, who was Archbishop of Tyre from 1127 to 1135. He grew up in Jerusalem at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been established in 1099 after the First Crusade, and he spent twenty years studying the liberal arts and canon law in the universities of Europe.
Albert of Aix(-la-Chapelle) or Albert of Aachen; Latin: Albericus Aquensis; fl. c. 1100) was a historian of the First Crusade and the early Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was born during the later part of the 11th century, and afterwards became canon (priest) and custos (guardian) of the church of Aachen.
The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of that name.
In the Battle of Azaz forces of the Crusader States commanded by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem defeated Aq-Sunqur al-Bursuqi's army of Seljuk Turks on 11 June 1125 and raised the siege of the town.
Majd ad-Dīn Usāma ibn Murshid ibn ʿAlī ibn Munqidh al-Kināni al-Kalbī or Ibn Munqidh was a medieval Arab Muslim poet, author, faris (knight), and diplomat from the Banu Munqidh dynasty of Shaizar in northern Syria. His life coincided with the rise of several medieval Muslim dynasties, the arrival of the First Crusade, and the establishment of the crusader states.
Bohemond III of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the Child or the Stammerer, was Prince of Antioch from 1163 to 1201. He was the elder son of Constance of Antioch and her first husband, Raymond of Poitiers. Bohemond ascended to the throne after the Antiochene noblemen dethroned his mother with the assistance of the lord of Armenian Cilicia, Thoros II. He fell into captivity in the Battle of Harim in 1164, but the victorious Nur ad-Din, atabeg of Aleppo released him to avoid coming into conflict with the Byzantine Empire. Bohemond went to Constantinople to pay homage to Manuel I Komnenos, who persuaded him to install a Greek Orthodox patriarch in Antioch. The Latin patriarch of Antioch, Aimery of Limoges, placed Antioch under interdict. Bohemond restored Aimery only after the Greek patriarch died during an earthquake in 1170.
The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Ayyubids on 25 November 1177 at Montgisard, in the Levant between Ramla and Yibna. The 16-year-old Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, seriously afflicted by leprosy, led an outnumbered Christian force against Saladin's troops in what became one of the most notable engagements of the Crusades. The Muslim army was quickly routed and pursued for twelve miles. Saladin fled back to Cairo, reaching the city on 8 December, with only a tenth of his army. Muslim historians considered Saladin's defeat to be so severe that it was only redeemed by his victory ten years later at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, although Saladin defeated Baldwin in the Battle of Marj Ayyun in 1179, only to be defeated by Baldwin again at the Battle of Belvoir Castle in 1182.
The Battle of Cresson was a small battle between Frankish and Ayyubid forces on 1 May 1187 at the "Spring of the Cresson." While the exact location of the spring is unknown, it is located in the environs of Nazareth. The conflict was a prelude to decisive defeat of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin two months later.
The Chanson d'Antioche is a chanson de geste in 9000 lines of Alexandrin in stanzas called laisses, now known in a version composed about 1180 for a courtly French audience and embedded in a quasi-historical cycle of epic poems inspired by the events of 1097–99, the climax of the First Crusade: the conquest of Antioch and of Jerusalem and the origins of the Crusader states. The Chanson was later reworked and incorporated in an extended Crusade cycle, of the 14th century, which was far more fabulous and embroidered, more distinctly romance than epic.
The Complete History, is a classic Islamic history book written by Ali ibn al-Athir. Composed in ca. 1231AD/628AH, it is one of the most important Islamic historical works. Ibn al-Athir was a contemporary and member of the retinue of Saladin, the Kurdish general who captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders and massively reduced European holdings in the Levant, leaving the Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli much reduced and only a few cities on the coast to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Rāfiʿ ibn Tamīm was a 12th-century Kurdish jurist, scholar and historian notable for writing a biography of Saladin whom he knew well.
The historiography of the Crusades is the study of history-writing and the written history, especially as an academic discipline, regarding the military expeditions initially undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, or 13th centuries to the Holy Land. This scope was later this extended to include other campaigns initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Roman Catholic Church. The subject has involved competing and evolving interpretations since the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 until the present day. The religious idealism, use of martial force and pragmatic compromises made by those involved in crusading were controversial, both at the time and subsequently. Crusading was integral to Western European culture, with the ideas that shaped behaviour in the Late Middle Ages retaining currency beyond the 15th century in attitude rather than action.
Abu Aziz Qatada ibn Idris al-Hasani al-Alawi al-Yanbu'i al-Makki was the Sharif of Mecca, reigning from 1201 to 1220/1221. He also founded the Banu Qatadah dynasty and established a tradition of sharifs descended from him to rule Mecca which lasted until the office was abolished in 1925. Regarding his sectarian denomination, Qatadah ibn Idris was a Shi'ite.
Al-Malik al-Aziz Sayf al-Islam Tughtakin Ahmad ibn Ayyub was the second Ayyubid emir (prince) of Yemen and Arabia between 1182 and 1197.
Tell Sultan is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located southeast of Idlib and 37 kilometers southwest of Aleppo. Nearby localities include Abu al-Thuhur to the southeast, Tell Mardikh to the southwest, Saraqib to the west and Tell Touqan to the northwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Tell Sultan had a population of 2,389 in the 2004 census.
Gökböri, or Muzaffar ad-Din Gökböri, was a leading emir and general of Sultan Saladin, and ruler of Erbil. He served both the Zengid and Ayyubid rulers of Syria and Egypt. He played a pivotal role in Saladin's conquest of Northern Syria and the Jazira and later held major commands in a number of battles against the Crusader states and the forces of the Third Crusade. He was known as Manafaradin, a corruption of his principal praise name, to the Franks of the Crusader states.
Alp Arslan ibn Mahmud was ruler of Mosul from 1127-1146. As son of Mahmud II, he was appointed governor of Mosul in 1127 with Zengi as his atabeg. While governor in name only, Alp aspired to replace Ghiyath ad-Din Mas’ud as sultan upon his death. In 1145, Alp conspired to kill Zengi’s deputy Naşīr al-Dīn Jaqar and take control of Mosul. His co-conspirator was likely Farrukh-Shāh ibn Mahmūd, who provided assurances that the army would support Alp. Naşīr was killed by Alp, Farrukh or their followers, and his head thrown for effect towards Zengi’s forces. Qadi Taj al-Din Yahya ibn Shahrazuri encouraged Alp to take control of the citadel at Mosul, escorting him there, where he and his followers were arrested by Zengi loyalists. Zengi dispatched his commander Zain-ad-Din ‘Ali Küchük to control the situation. The conspirators were executed and Alp was kept close to Zengi until his death in 1146. Alp Arslan was then replaced by Zengi’s son Saif ad-Din Ghazi I who had him imprisoned.
Helen J. Nicholson FRHistS FLSW is Professor of Medieval History and former Head of the History Department at Cardiff University. She is a world-leading expert on the military religious orders and the Crusades, including the history of the Templars.
Bahram al-Da'i or Bahram of Astarabad was a 12th-century Persian Nizari Ismaili who was the Chief Da'i and leader of the Assassins in Syria from after 1113 through 1128. Although his attempt to establish a Nizari base in Damascus was unsuccessful, he had an important role in organizing Nizari presence in Northern and Southern Syria.
Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Muqaddam was the 1st Emir of Baalbek under Ayyubid Dynasty, Although he was not from Ayyubid origin. He was a military commander first in the service of Nur ad-Din, the Zengid ruler of Syria and Iraq, later of Saladin, the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt, Syria and Iraq.