Syria in Crusader Times: Conflict and Co-Existence

Description

Presenting numerous interconnected insights into life in Greater Syria in the twelfth century, this book covers a wide range of themes relating to Crusader-Muslim relations. Some chapters deal with various literary sources, including little-known Crusader chronicles, a jihad treatise, a lost Muslim history of the Franks, biographies, letters and poems. Other chapters look at material culture, from coins to urban development, internal relations between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims and between Crusader and Oriental Christians, and the role of the Turkmen. New insights into the career of Saladin are revealed, for example through the work of a little-known propagandist at his court, and Saladin’s use of gift-giving for political purposes, as well as neglected aspects of the rule of his family dynasty, the Ayyubids, which succeeded him. Special attention is paid to the Christians residing in the Middle East, from Italians to Melkites and Armenians. Title page Copyright Contents Illustrations Contributors Preface Acknowledgements PART I Sources 1 Hamdan al-Atharibi’s History of the Franks Revisited, Again 2 Legitimate Authority in the Kitab al-Jihad of ‘Ali b. Tahir al-Sulami 3 Politics, Religion and the Occult in the Works of Kamal al-Din Ibn Talha, a Vizier, ‘Alim and Author in Thirteenth-century Syria Plates 1 PART 2 Christians 4 Adapting to Muslim Rule: the Syrian Orthodox Community in Twelfth-century Northern Syria and the Jazira 5 The Afterlife of Edessa: Remembering Frankish Rule, 1144 and After PART 3 Convivencia 6 Diplomatic Relations and Coinage among the Turcomans, the Ayyubids and the Crusaders: Pragmatism and Change of Identity 7 Symbolic Conflict and Cooperation in the Neglected Chronicle of a Syrian Prince 8 A Critique of the Scholarly Outlook of the Crusades: the Case for Tolerance and Coexistence PART 4 War and Peace 9 The Portrayal of Violence in Walter the Chancellor’s Bella Antiochena 10 Infernalising the Enemy: Images of Hell in Muslim Descriptions of the Franks during the Crusading Period PART 5 Cities 11 Sunnites et Chiites à Alep sous le règne d’al-Salih Isma‘il (569-77/1174-81): entre conflits et réconciliations 12 The War of Towers: Venice and Genoa at War in Crusader Syria, 1256-8 13 Gaza in the Frankish and Ayyubid Periods: the Run-up to 1260 ce Plates 2 PART 6 Saladin’s Men 14 Picture-poems for Saladin: ‘Abd al-Mun‘im al-Jilyani’s Mudabbajat Untitled 15 Ayyubid Realpolitik and Political-Military Vicissitudes versus Counter-crusading Ideology in the Memoirist–Chronicler 16 Assessing the Evidence for a Turning Point in Ayyubid-Frankish Relations in a Letter by al-Qadi al-Fadil PART 7 Key Personalities 17 Saladin, Generosity and Gift-giving 18 Hülegü: the New Constantine? Glossary Bibliography Index of Names Index of Places