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Fulk and Melisende's reign and fall of Edessa 1129- 1144e (FINANCIAL,…
Fulk and Melisende's reign and fall of Edessa 1129- 1144e
Political
NO MALE HEIR PROBLEMS - BALDWIN II solved the problem of having no male heir- as he married his eldest daughter Melisende to Fulk who was a westerner who brought manpower and land. They got married in 1129 and had baldwin iii
FACTIONALISM
Melisandre and Fulk ruled jointly- which caused problems of factionalism because fulk ignored melisende and only appointed westerners to key positions in his kingdom in 1131- caused civil war - eastern nobles vs westerners and fulk
In 1134 - Hugh of Jaffa supported Melisende against Fulk and even allied with the Fatimids against Fulk and defeated him- fulk then accused hugh of Jaffa for plotting to murder fulk in 1136and he was convicted of treason and exiled for 3 years. then hugh of Jaffa was nearly murdered and eastern nobles blamed fulk for ordering someone to kill him
CIVIL WAR IN ANTIOCH- After Bohemond II's death in 1130- his wife Alice and daughter Constance ruled alone in Antioch- this caused eastern nobles to rebel against alice - Alice allied with Joselin ii of Edessa and pons of triploi - battle between fulk and pons 1131- fulk won
FULK SOLVED THIS PROBLEM- he married Constance to Raymond of Poitiers in 1136 - created poltical stability and ended civil war. also Raymond of poitiers was a rich westerner who brough in manpower and financial gain
FACTIONALISM AT THE FALL OF EDESSA 1144- Joscelin of Edessa vs Raymond of poitiers- perhaps because joesclein and john were allies and Raymond married Constance behind john's back
MUSLIMS
ZENGI AS A JIHADI LEADER
most accepted zengi as a jihadi leader . - after death of tughtegin 1128- there was a power vaccum in Syria- opened up attack from franks- zengi stepped In. he was able to unite mousl and Aleppo after bursuq assassination between 1127-1128.
in 1130- zengi allied with Damascus to extend power- shows unity between muslims.
he besieged a Frankish fortress in 1137 and defeated them. 1137
July. Zengi besieges Fulk in the castle of Montferrand (at present-day Baarin in Syria). Raymond leaves a relieving army to Montferrand, but Fulk surrenders it to Zengi before Raymond's arrival.[178]
Took Edessa in 1144- some argue that he had always wanted to push franks out of the east
in 1138 allied with Muslim leaders when Byzantines were a threat
threat the franks in antioch posed to aleppo and so launched an attack on the town of al- atharib (launch pads for frankish raids on aleppo).
ZENGI NOT A JIHADI LEADER
His sole focus was on Damascus ; he tried to besiege it in 1130 after leader was murdered
If zengi was a jihad leader, he would be trying to unite with his muslim leaders- but in 1137 damascus allied with franks in fear of zengi attacking them
In 1139 his concentrations still were on damascus where he tried to besiege it again as the heiress of damascus’s eldest son was murdered- but he failed.
Edessa came up as an opportunity as joscelin was away+raymond+jocelin fallen out.- was an 'opportunistic attack'- not necessarily a jihadi one. or fell because of Edessa's geographical isolation ect
He was also very aggressive towards other muslim leaders- he wanted control over Artuids- a real jihad would want to unite muslims.
in 1136- distracted by civil war between caliph and sultan in north
DIPLOMATIC
ALLIANCE WITH THE BYZANTINES
NO ALLIANCE WITH THE BYZANTINES
After the civil war in Antioch- fulk married Constance and Raymond without John Comenous's permission- angered him as it broke the Treaty of Devol made in 1108- where regent of Antioch elected only by the emperor-
1137- due to john's anger at marriage between Raymond and Constance- so went to invade Antioch in 1137- battered the walls with siege engines. John took Tarsus and Mamistra and expelled the Latin bishops, replacing them with Greeks
1138- although john and Raymond went on a joint expedition against the Muslims which shows unity- whilst john was energetic, Raymond wasn't and was gambling with joscelin- didnt want to win shazier because he didnt want to hand over Antioch- so it failed- but it is also argued that john left because he needed to aid zengis attack on edessa
1138- pope innocent ii issued order against john 'who separates himself from the unity of the church' and called on latins serving on johns army to desert as john tried to take Antioch from Raymond - but this was apparently ignored by eastern franks
1142- 1143- JOHN'S 2ND EXPEDITION INTO SYRIA- some argue that john wanted surrounding areas of Antioch for his son manuel, whilst others argue that he wanted a marriage alliance with Antioch and surrounding land and for his control as leader of Christian world to be respected. john wanted to go on pilgrimage to jeruslaem but fulk feared that john would bring massive army- so begged john to limit army- so john didnt end up going at all
In 1124- John sent embassy to rome, organising debate in 1136 to try and heal the schism with west- so shows wants alliance with the franks
some western chronicles were still positive towards the Byzantines- shows not everyone was against them
in 1137- whilst john in Antioch -Raymond and him came to negotiations saying that Raymond would get Aleppo, shaizer, hama and homs when captured from muslims- so then Raymond would have to hand Antioch back to john- so shows byzantines and franks actually trying to be on good terms
1137 - Fulk allied with Damascus vs Zengi and gained fortress of banyas and monthyly tribute of 20000 gold pieces
MILITARY
LAND
Armenians took 3 cities in Cicilia when there was a civil war in Antioch - tarsus, adana and marmistra
LOSS OF EDESSA 1144
ZENGI's OPPURTUNISTIC ATTACK - Joscelin= away. joscelin and Raymond having factionalism- due to Raymond marrying Constance without john's permission- joescelin= johns ally
EDESSA= geographically isolated - The city’s exposed situation makes it open to a muslim counter attack- acted as buffer zone in north and had to soak up constant raids from its muslim neighbours.
Even future Joscelin even tries to reject inheritance of edssa- shows how weak it is.
EDESSA= LACK OF MANPOWER- attle of harran in 1104- meant loss of manpower. No port meant no trade or income or tax- no manpower. No knights due to armenian population taking up all the room- so no manpower and no tax at gates. Also there was no religious zeal attracting manpower there.
Dependent on the support of Antioch- Edessa= prize because it controlled the route to Antioch. antioch - more powerful- has a patriarch edessa doesn't and antioch claims overlordship over edessa.
Fulk secured the fort of Banyas 1137 North lake of Tiberias, securing North frontier
CASTLE BUILDING
1136-42- built a ring of castles to neurtralise Ascalon's attacks (Blanche garde, Ibelin)
1137- Kerak strengthened Southern border and eneabled efficient taxing of hajj pilgrims and muslim trade caravans
FINANCIAL
when Baldwin II married daughter melisende to fulk-in 1129? brought in money, manpower and land as he was a westerner
after the civil war in Antioch- when fulk married constance to Raymond in Antioch, Raymond of poitiers= rich westerner- so brought in finance, manpower and land
strengthening of kerak in 1137 allowed taxing of trade route
20000 gold pieces from Damascus in 1137
MUSLIM DISUNITY