Thomas Scott Asbridge (born 1969) is a historian at Queen Mary University of London, [1] a position he has held since 1999. [2] He is the author of The First Crusade: A New History (2004), a book which describes the background, events, and consequences of the First Crusade, as well as of The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land (2010), a volume providing a view on the crusading movement, portraying the ideas of justified violence and jihad.
Asbridge graduated from Cardiff University with a BA in Ancient and Medieval History, before earning his PhD at the Royal Holloway, University of London. [3] Asbridge's first major work was a revised version of his doctoral thesis, entitled The Creation of the Principality of Antioch, 1098-1130. [4] Asbridge also wrote and presented a three-part BBC Two series on The Crusades, and was the historical consultant for Kingdom of Heaven (2005).
Asbridge has, more recently, expanded his retinue with books on Medieval England and France, the first major release being The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power behind Five English Thrones in 2015, [5] based on the life of William Marshal, a knight within Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry the Young King, and Richard I's retinue. Asbridge presented a BBC documentary on Marshal in 2014. [6] He wrote a book for the Penguin Books monarch series on Richard I which came out in 2018.
Year 1182 (MCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, also called William the Marshal, was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings: Henry II and his son and de jure co-ruler Young King Henry, Richard I, John, and finally John's son Henry III.
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 middle ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule. While Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for hundreds of years, by the 11th century the Seljuk takeover of the region threatened local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest initiative for the First Crusade began in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military support from the Council of Piacenza in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, during which Pope Urban II supported the Byzantine request for military assistance and also urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Bohemond II was Prince of Taranto from 1111 to 1128 and Prince of Antioch from 1111/1119 to 1130. He was the son of Bohemond I, who in 1108 was forced to submit to the authority of the Byzantine Empire in the Treaty of Devol. Three years later, the infant Bohemond inherited the Principality of Taranto under the guardianship of his mother, Constance of France. The Principality of Antioch was administered by his father's nephew, Tancred, until 1111. Tancred's cousin, Roger of Salerno, managed the principality from 1111 to 1119. After Roger died in the Battle of the Field of Blood, Baldwin II of Jerusalem took over the administration of Antioch. However, he did acknowledge Bohemond's right to personally rule the principality upon reaching the age of majority.
The Principality of Antioch was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the 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.
Bertrand of Toulouse was count of Toulouse, and was the first count of Tripoli to rule in Tripoli itself.
The Treaty of Devol was an agreement made in 1108 between Bohemond I of Antioch and Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, in the wake of the First Crusade. It is named after the Byzantine fortress of Devol. Although the treaty was not immediately enforced, it was intended to make the Principality of Antioch a vassal state of the Byzantine Empire.
The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Seljuk Empire, lasted from 20 October 1097 to 3 June 1098. The second siege, of the crusader-held city by a Seljuk relieving army, lasted three weeks in June 1098, leading to the Battle of Antioch in which the crusaders defeated the relieving army led by Kerbogha. The crusaders then established the Principality of Antioch, ruled by Bohemond of Taranto.
St Symeon or Port St Symeon was the medieval port for the Frankish Principality of Antioch, located on the mouth of the Orontes River. It may be named after Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger, who dwelt on a mountain only six miles from St Symeon, or the original Saint Simeon Stylites, who was buried in Antioch.
Zardana is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate. The village lies in a relatively flat plain. Nearby localities include Taftanaz to the southeast, al-Fu'ah and Binnish to the south, Maarrat Misrin and Kafriya to the southwest, Kafr Yahmul to the west, Hizano to the northwest, Ibbin to the north, Kafr Nouran to the northeast and Maaret Elnaasan to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Zardana had a population of 5,767 in the 2004 census.
Latmin is a Syrian village located in the Kafr Zita Subdistrict of the Mahardah District in Hama Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Latmin had a population of 1,113 in the 2004 census.
Artah was a medieval town and castle located 25 miles east-northeast of Antioch, to the east of the Iron Bridge on the Roman road from Antioch to Aleppo.
Cecilia of Le Bourcq was a Cilician fiefholder as lady of Tarsus. She was the daughter of Count Hugh I of Rethel and Melisende, daughter of Guy I of Montlhéry. Cecilia's brother was Baldwin II of Jerusalem.
Geoffrey the Monk was the count of Marash in the Principality of Antioch from around 1114 to 1124.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Apamea was an ecclesiastical province of the Catholic Church in the Principality of Antioch from around 1110 to 1149.
William of Zardana, also known as William of Saone, was a powerful baron who held Balatanos, Saone and Zardana in the Principality of Antioch. After his father, Robert the Leper, was executed by the atabeg of Toghtekin in 1119, William inherited Balatanos and Saone. Zardana, that his father had lost before his death, was restored to William by Baldwin II of Jerusalem in 1121. He supported Baldwin II's daughter, Alice, against her brother-in-law, Fulk of Jerusalem, in 1132, but Fulk defeated her allies. William died fighting either against Fulk's troops or against a Muslim army.
Robert fitz-Fulk the Leper, also known as Robert Fulcoy, Robert the Leprous, or Robert of Saone, was a powerful baron in the Principality of Antioch.
Rainald I Masoir, also known as Renaud I Masoir, was constable of the Principality of Antioch from around 1126, and also baillif of the principality from 1132. Although he was a prominent military commander and held important offices, most details of his life are unknown. He received his first estates in the southern regions of Antioch in the 1110s. He made the strong fortress of Margat the center of his domains. He regularly witnessed the Antiochene rulers' diplomas from the 1120s. He was most probably still the actual ruler of the principality when he died.
Maniqa is a castle located in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, dated back to the Roman era, it was also known as "Malikas" or "Malghanes" during the Crusader rule.
The Battle of al-Atharib occurred in 1130 when Imad al-Din Zengi laid siege to al-Atharib in spring and defeated an army led against him to relieve the town commanded by King Baldwin.