Leo of Tripoli ( el, Λέων ὸ Τριπολίτης), known in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
as Rashīq al-Wardāmī (), and
Ghulām Zurāfa (), was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
renegade and fleet commander for the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
in the early tenth century. He is most notable for his
sack of
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
, the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
's second city, in 904.
Life
Nothing is known of Leo's early life except that he was born in or near
Attaleia, the capital of the maritime
Cibyrrhaeot Theme
The Cibyrrhaeot Theme, more properly the Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots ( gr, θέμα Κιβυρραιωτῶν, thema Kibyrrhaiōtōn), was a Byzantine theme encompassing the southern coast of Asia Minor from the early 8th to the late 12th centuries ...
, and was captured in an Arab raid and brought to
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
. In captivity, he converted to Islam, and entered the service of his captors as a seaman and commander. In Arabic sources he is called Lāwī Abū'l-Ḥārith and given the sobriquet
ghulām Zurāfa, "servant/page of Zurafa", probably reflecting the name of his first Muslim master. He is also referred to as Rashīq al-Wardāmī.
Alexander Vasiliev interpreted the element ''Wardāmī'' in his second Arabic name to mean that Leo was a
Mardaite
The Mardaites () or al-Jarajima ( syr, ܡܪ̈ܕܝܐ; ar, ٱلْجَرَاجِمَة / ALA-LC: ''al-Jarājimah''), inhabited the highland regions of the Nur Mountains.
The Mardaites were early Christians following either Miaphysitism or Monothelit ...
.
The details of Leo's early career in the Muslim fleets are unknown, but he seems to have risen quickly: the historian
Mas'udi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
, who met him in person, regarded him as one of the best navigators of his time. In the Arabic sources, he appears with the generic titles of commander (''
qā’id'') or admiral (''amīr al-baḥr''), as well as governor (''ṣāḥib'') of Tripoli, and deputy governor (''
nā’ib'') of
Tarsus. Both of the latter cities were major Muslim naval centres in the late 9th century, and due to their proximity to the Byzantine Empire functioned as staging areas for the Muslim naval raids.
In early 904, along with another Greek renegade,
Damian of Tarsus Damian of Tarsus (Greek: Δαμιανός ό Ταρσεύς, ; died 924), surnamed Ghulam Yazman (" slave/page of Yazman"), was a Byzantine Greek convert to Islam, governor of Tarsus in 896–897 and one of the main leaders of naval raids against t ...
, Leo participated in the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
campaign that wrested
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
from the
Tulunids
The Tulunids (), were a Mamluk dynasty of Turkic origin who were the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt, as well as much of Syria, since the Ptolemaic dynasty. They were independent from 868, when they broke away from the central authori ...
and restored it to Abbasid control. Leo and Damian would frequently co-operate in the next decade in their attacks on the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. In the summer of 904, Leo was at the head of a major Abbasid naval expedition of 54 vessels from the Syrian and Egyptian fleets, whose initial target reportedly was
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
itself. The Arab fleet penetrated the
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
and sacked
Abydos, as the
Byzantine navy
The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its Imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than ...
under the
''droungarios'' Eustathios Argyros was reluctant to confront them. Emperor
Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well r ...
replaced Argyros with the more energetic
Himerios, but Leo of Tripoli forestalled the Byzantines, turning back west and heading for the Empire's second city,
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
, which he
sacked after a three-day siege on 31 July 904. The sack of the city brought the Muslim fleet enormous booty and many captives who were taken to be sold as slaves, including the eyewitness
John Kaminiates
John Kaminiates ( el, Ιωάννης Καμινιάτης, fl. tenth century) was a Greek resident of Thessalonica when the city, then one of the largest in the Byzantine Empire, was besieged and sacked by a Saracen force led by Leo of Tripoli in ...
, who wrote the main account of the city's siege and fall. Arab sources, confusing Thessalonica with Attaleia, erroneously report that Leo sacked the latter city.
It is unknown if Leo was the head of the Arab fleet defeated by Himerios on St. Thomas' Day (6 October, probably in 906), but along with Damian of Tarsus he was in command of the Arab fleet that scored a major victory over Himerios in April 912 off
Chios
Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...
, while he was returning from a fruitless attempt to reconquer the
Emirate of Crete
The Emirate of Crete ( ar, إقريطش, Iqrīṭish or , ''Iqrīṭiya''; gr, Κρήτη, Krētē) was an Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empir ...
. Finally, in 921/2, the imperial navy under the ''
patrikios
The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...
'' and ''droungarios''
John Rhadenos defeated Leo's fleet off
Lemnos
Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...
. Most of the Arab fleet was destroyed and Leo himself barely escaped. He disappears from the sources after this event.
See also
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo Of Tripoli
Greek pirates
Greek Muslims
Converts to Islam from Christianity
Medieval Thessalonica
People of the Arab–Byzantine wars
Byzantine prisoners of war
9th-century births
10th-century deaths
Governors of the Abbasid Caliphate
10th-century Byzantine people
Admirals of the Abbasid Caliphate
Medieval Aegean Sea
Medieval pirates