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Aqsunqur Al-Bursuqī
Qasīm al-Dawla Sayf al-Dīn Abū Saʿīd Āqsunqur al-Bursuqī (), also known as Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, Aqsonqor il-Bursuqi, Aksunkur al-Bursuki, Aksungur or al-Borsoki, was the Seljuk Turkoman atabeg of Mosul from 1113–1114 and again from 1124–1126. Accession He was a Turkoman ''mamluk'' of the Bursuqid dynasty founded by Bursuq. A Turkish officer in the Seljuk army, al-Bursuqi was appointed as the representative of Mawdud, the atabeg of Mosul, to the court of the Seljuk sultan Muhammad I Tapar. An unidentified Assassin murdered Mawdud at a mosque in Damascus on 2 October 1113, and shortly thereafter the sultan appointed al-Bursuqi as Mawdud's successor at Mosul. The sultan also ordered his emirs to continue ''jihad'' (or holy war) against the Crusaders. Al-Bursuqi launched a devastating raid against the County of Edessa in April and May 1115. As the Artuqid ruler of Mardin, Ilghazi, had declined to participate in the campaign, al-Bursuqi invaded his territory, but Ilgh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seljuks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk Beg, was a descendant of a royal Khazar chief Tuqaq who served as advisor to the King of the Khazars. in West Asia and Central Asia. The Seljuks established the Seljuk Empire (1037–1194), the Sultanate of Kermân (1041–1186) and the Sultanate of Rum (1074–1308), which stretched from Iran to Anatolia and were the prime targets of the First Crusade. Early history The Seljuks originated from the Kinik branch of the Oghuz Turks, who in the 8th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world; north of the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea in their Oghuz Yabgu State in the Kazakh Steppe of Turkestan. During the 10th century, Oghuz had come into close contact with Muslim cities. When Seljuk, the leader of the Selj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghiyath Ad-Din Mas'ud
Ghiyath al-Dunya wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fath Mas'ud bin Muhammad ( 1107 – 10 October 1152) was the Seljuq Sultan of Iraq and western Persia in 1133–1152. Reign Ghiyath ad-Din Masud was the son of sultan Muhammad I Tapar and his wife Nistandar Jahan also known as Sarjahan Khatun. At the age of twelve (1120–1121), he rebelled unsuccessfully against his elder brother, Mahmud II, who however forgave him. At Mahmud's death in 1131, the power was contended between Mahmud's son, Dawud, Masud, whose powerbase was in Iraq , Seljuq-Shah (in Fars and Khuzistan) and Toghrul II. In 1133 Masud was able to obtain recognition as sultan from the emirs of Baghdad, and to receive the investiture by caliph al-Mustarshid. Toghrul, who controlling the eastern provinces of the western Seljuq, launched a military campaign but was defeated by Masud in May 1133. Toghrul died in 1134. Also in 1133 Mas'ud supported Zengi, besieged by al-Mustarshid's troops in Mosul. In 1135 caliph al-Mustarshid contested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joscelin II, Count Of Edessa
Joscelin II (died 1159) was the fourth and last ruling count of Edessa. He was son of his predecessor, Joscelin I, and Beatrice, daughter of Constantine I of Armenia. Biography Youth In 1122, Joscelin I was captured by Belek Ghazi. The next year, he was joined in captivity by Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Joscelin I was rescued in 1123 by Armenian soldiers, and he worked with Baldwin's wife Morphia to secure the king's release. The young Joscelin II and Baldwin's daughter Ioveta were ransomed for Baldwin's release in 1124. Joscelin II and Ioveta were released in 1125 in exchange for 80,000 dinars, spoils from Baldwin's victory over al-Bursuqi at the battle of Azaz. In 1131, his father Joscelin I was wounded in battle with the Danishmends, and Edessa passed to Joscelin II. Joscelin II refused to march the small Edessan army out to meet the Danishmends, so Joscelin I, in his last act, forced the Danishmends to retreat, dying soon after. Count of Edessa Joscelin II ruled the wea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ioveta Of Bethany
Ioveta ( 1120 – 6 September 1178) was a Latin princess from the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Her name appears in various other forms, including Joveta, Yveta, Yvette, Ivetta, and Juditta. She headed the Convent of Saint Lazarus in Bethany, the richest abbey in the kingdom, from the late 1130s or early 1140s until her death. Ioveta was the youngest of the four daughters of King Baldwin II and Queen Morphia. After Baldwin's capture and release from Muslim captivity in 1124, the four-year-old princess was handed over by her family as a hostage in his place until he paid his ransom the following year. In the late 1120s she was sent to live at the Convent of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, and became a nun there in 1134. Her sister Queen Melisende had a new abbey constructed in Bethany so that Ioveta could be an abbess. As abbess, Ioveta dealt with other religious communities both within and outside the kingdom. She retained close links to her family, and was the guardian of her gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding territories from Muslim rule. Beginning with the First Crusade, which culminated in the Siege of Jerusalem (1099), capture of Jerusalem in 1099, these expeditions spanned centuries and became a central aspect of European political, religious, and military history. In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid,Helen J. Nicholson, ''The Crusades'', (Greenwood Publishing, 2004), 6. Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, AlexiosI Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Azaz (1125)
The Battle of Azaz was a major battle fought between king Baldwin II's crusader forces and the Muslims, led by Aq-Sunqur al-Bursuqi, the Seljuq atabeg of Mosul on 11 June 1125. Being one of the bloodiest confrontations before the Second Crusade, the battle resulted in a decisive victory for the Crusaders, causing disturbances of power in the Levant and weakened Seljuk domination in the area. Contemporary chronicler Matthew of Edessa even states that the remnants of al-Bursuqi's army were chased all the way to Aleppo. The battle effectively lifted the siege of the town of Azaz and prevented it from falling to Turkoman hands. (One authority says the battle was fought on June 13.) Background Joscelin I of Edessa had captured Azaz in northern Syria from the atabeg of Aleppo in 1118. The next year the Crusaders under Roger of Salerno were severely defeated at the Battle of Ager Sanguinis, and King Baldwin II of Jerusalem was captured while patrolling in Edessa in 1123. Prelude ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toghtekin
Zahir al-Din Toghtekin or Tughtekin (Modern ; Arabicised epithet: ''Zahir ad-Din Tughtikin''; died February 12, 1128), also spelled Tughtegin, was a Turkoman military leader, who was ''emir'' of Damascus from 1104 to 1128. He was the founder of the Burid dynasty of Damascus. Biography Toghtekin was a junior officer to Tutush I, Seljuq emir of Damascus and Syria. After the former's death in 1095, civil war erupted, and Toghtekin supported Tutush's son Duqaq as emir of the city against Ridwan, the emir of Aleppo. In the chaotic years which ensued Toghtekin was sent to reconquer the town of Jebleh, which had rebelled against the ''qadi'' of Tripoli, but he was unable to accomplish his task. On October 21, 1097, a Crusader army began the siege of Antioch. The local emir, Yaghi-Siyan, though nominally under Ridwan's suzerainty, appealed to Duqaq to send an armed force to their rescue. Duqaq sent Toghtekin, but on December 31, 1097, he was defeated by Bohemund of Taranto a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahmud II (Seljuq Sultan)
Mughith al-Dunya wa'l-Din Mahmud bin Muhammad (b. 1104 – 11 September 1131) known as Mahmud II was the Seljuk sultan of Iraq from 1118–1131 following the death of his father Muhammad I Tapar. At the time Mahmud was fourteen, and ruled over Iraq and Persia. Biography During Mahmud's early reign, his vassal king Garshasp II, who was a favorite of his father Muhammad I, fell into disgrace. Slander about him spread to the court that made him lose confidence, and made Mahmud send a military force to Yazd where Garshasp was arrested and jailed in Jibal, while Yazd was granted to the royal cupbearer. Garshasp, however, escaped and returned to Yazd, where he requested protection from Mahmud's rival Ahmad Sanjar (Garshasp's wife was the sister of Ahmad). Garshasp urged Ahmad to invade the domains of Mahmud in Central Persia, and gave him information on how to march to Central Persia, and the ways to combat Mahmud. Ahmad accepted and advanced with an army to the west in 1119, where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibn Al-Khashshab (died 1125)
Abu'l-Faḍl (Abu'l-Hasan) ibn al-Khashshab (; died 1125) was the ''qadi'' and ''rais'' of Aleppo during the rule of the Seljuk emir Ridwan. His family, the Banu'l-Khashshab, were wealthy wood-merchants in the city. Upon the arrival of the First Crusade, Ibn al-Khashshab was one of the first to preach ''jihad'' against the Crusaders, a concept which became more popular throughout the 12th century. His preaching was popular among the masses, but Ridwan, along with his Assassin advisors, were not willing to wage battle against the newly formed Crusader states. Aleppo was continually threatened by the Crusaders and eventually Ridwan was humiliated by Tancred of Antioch, forced to place crosses on the minarets of some of the mosques in the city including the Great Mosque of Aleppo. Ibn al-Khashshab had sought help from the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, al-Mustazhir, but each time his requests were ignored; finally, in 1111, he travelled to Baghdad to seek help from the caliph in person. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Aleppo (1124)
The siege of Aleppo by Baldwin II of Jerusalem and his allies lasted from 6 October 1124 to 25 January 1125. It ended in a Crusader withdrawal following the arrival of a relief force led by Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi. Background Located in the Syrian steppes, Aleppo was an important center of the Muslim world in the 11th century. When travelling from Baghdad to Antioch in the 1060s, Ibn Butlan crossed prosperous villages near Aleppo. Earthquakes regularly hit northern Syria in the 11th century. Two earthquakes were especially serious, causing much damage in August and November 1114. A Seljuk prince, Ridwan, ruled Aleppo when the crusaders reached northern Syria in 1097. His conflicts with his brother, Duqaq, the ruler of Damascus, enabled the crusaders to lay siege to Antioch. Ridwan and Duqaq led separate relieving armies to the town, but the crusaders defeated both. The first crusader ruler of Jerusalem Godfrey of Bouillon was planning the conquest of Aleppo already in 1100, acc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joscelin I Of Edessa
Joscelin I (died 1131) was a Frankish nobleman of the House of Courtenay who ruled as the lord of Turbessel, prince of Galilee (1112–1119) and count of Edessa (1118–1131). The County of Edessa reached its zenith during his rule. Captured twice, Joscelin continued to expand his county, even participating in the Battle of Azaz in 1125. Gravely injured during the collapse of a sapper mine, Joscelin marched his army to relieve the besieged fortress of Kaysun, and died soon after. Early career Joscelin was the son of Joscelin I of Courtenay and Elizabeth, daughter of Guy I of Montlhéry. He arrived in the Holy Land during the Crusade of 1101, and entered first into the service of his cousin Count Baldwin II of Edessa (in the army of Godfrey of Bouillon), who invested him with the lordship of Turbessel. Later Joscelin served in the army of Stephen of Blois. In 1104, he was captured at the Battle of Harran. After passing into the hands of Ilghazi, ruler of Mardin, Josce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baldwin II Of Jerusalem
Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the First Crusade. He succeeded Baldwin of Boulogne as the second count of Edessa when he left the county for Jerusalem following his brother's death. He was captured at the Battle of Harran in 1104. He was held first by Sökmen of Mardin, then by Jikirmish of Mosul, and finally by Jawali Saqawa. During his captivity, Tancred, the ruler of the Principality of Antioch, and Tancred's cousin, Richard of Salerno, governed Edessa as Baldwin's regents. Baldwin was ransomed by his cousin, Joscelin of Courtenay, lord of Turbessel, in the summer of 1108. Tancred attempted to retain Edessa, but Bernard of Valence, the Latin patriarch of Antioch, persuaded him to restore the county to Baldwin. Baldwin allied with Jawali, but Tancred and his al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
