Revision Topic Sheet 18: The Rise of Zengi Flashcards
PTE is lame lol
Why were the majority of Muslim coalitions created?
Economic necessity, such as the capture of the port of Acre in 1124.
What was the Muslim concept of jihad?
A holy war to spread Islam, similar to a Crusade.
How was jihad preached by early Muslim leaders?
After the conquest of Jerusalem, most Muslim agreed that jihad had to be focused on recapturing Jerusalem as part of a struggle between Christianity and Islam. Later Muslim leaders such as Mawd and Il Ghazi began to preach jihad as a rallying point for the Muslims to join arms against the Crusaders in a similar fashion to the Pope calling a holy war.
How was there disunity amongst the Christians 1130-1144?
- The Latin East had a pre-existing rivalry with the Byzantine Empire dating back to the Crusade.
- Hugh le Puiset, the count of Jaffa, was accused of having an affair with Queen Melisende which made King Fulk jealous and led to him attempting to remove Hugh from his fief. This then led to Hugh mounting a resistance with other nobles until he lost his crusader support after allying himself with Egypt.
- After the reign of Bohemond II King Fulk had nominated Raymond of Poitiers as the new prince and he attempted to take control of Antioch from Bohemond’s widow Alice by marrying her daughter Constance and removing her threat to his rule by tricking her as he told her to go have a party before the wedding and he married her daughter while she was away.
Who was Emperor John Comnenus?
A leader who attempted to restore Byzantine authority over North Syria and Antioch in the 1130’s as promised by the Treaty of Devol in 1108.
What happened to Emperor John Comnenus?
Raymond of Poitiers submitted to him and granted him the cities of Aleppo, Shaizar and Homs while surrendering Antioch. Although, Raymond of Poitiers and Joscelin II of Edessa refused to support him at the siege of Shaizar in 1138 which led to John mounting another expedition to exert his authority in 1142 which ended when he died in 1143.
Who was Zengi?
The first Muslim leader to successfully develop the idea of jihad after becoming the ataberg of Mosul in 1127.
How effective was Zengi as a leader?
- Zengi created the first coalition able to stand against the crusaders after using the idea of jihad to create a union with Damascus.
- He forced Bori, the ruler of Damascus to attack the crusaders in 1130 while he captured the Damascene city of Hamah.
- Only sultan Mahmud was able to stop Zengi from further conquests in Damascus.
- He was invited to take over Damascus to support his son after Bori’s death.
- Emir Muwin al-Din Onor made a formal alliance with Jerusalem when Zengi besieged Damascus again in 1139.
- He recaptured Edessa in 1144.
Why did Zengi re-capture Edessa?
He had superior military skill compared to Joscelin II, but historians such as J Prawer and H Mayer have suggested that Edessa was having economic difficulties which made it easier to capture, such as how it was weakened by constant Muslim raids and how their army wasn’t well-funded and was mostly made up of poorly-trained Armenian and Syrian soldiers. J Richard added to this by emphasising the geographical isolation of Edessa in comparison to the rest of the Crusader States.
How did Zengi die?
Zengi failed to live up to the expectations of his image after the capture of Edessa, as he had quite a poor lifestyle. He died in 1146 when he threatened a Frankish slave when he was drunk as the slave feared for his life.
