Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part 1 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 Thirteenthcentury Syria
- 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
- Part 6 Saladin’s Men
- 14 Picture-poems for Saladin: ‘Abd al-Mun‘im al-Jilyani’s Mudabbajat
- 15 Ayyubid Realpolitik and Political–Military Vicissitudes versus Counter-crusading Ideology in the Memoirist–Chronicler al-Katib al-Isfahani
- 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
- Index of Terms/Concepts
5 - The Afterlife of Edessa: Remembering Frankish Rule, 1144 and After
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 October 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part 1 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 Thirteenthcentury Syria
- 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
- Part 6 Saladin’s Men
- 14 Picture-poems for Saladin: ‘Abd al-Mun‘im al-Jilyani’s Mudabbajat
- 15 Ayyubid Realpolitik and Political–Military Vicissitudes versus Counter-crusading Ideology in the Memoirist–Chronicler al-Katib al-Isfahani
- 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
- Index of Terms/Concepts
Summary
The Frankish County of Edessa had a brief life; established in 1098 when Baldwin of Boulogne was acclaimed the ruler by a rebellious faction of the population, it had vanished by 1150, when its remaining lands passed to the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus. The brevity of the county's existence, however, is belied by its long afterlife among Eastern Christian communities.
Religious Practices, Cultural Values and Historical Perspectives
The Frankish principalities have long been portrayed as alien to Syria, and scholars are now beginning to see them as an integrated part of a complex Levantine world. Little attention has been paid, however, to what their heritage was after their political power was extinguished. When this topic is considered, the conclusion has generally been negative. The condemnation of Steven Runciman, while dated, still resounds in scholarship: ‘When they were ejected, they left the local Christians to bear the wrath of the Moslem conquerors.’ While in many senses this dire portrait may be true, scholars fail to acknowledge the myriad ways in which the Franks and their influence have lingered.
Of all the communities of Syria, the Frankish encounter with Armenians was the most influential on both communities. Two events loom large in Armenian historical memory concerning the Frankish County of Edessa: the conquest of Edessa by Zengi in 1144 and its subsequent recapture by his son Nur al-Din in 1146, and the transfer of the castle of Hromklay to the Armenian kat‘olikos Grigor III around 1150. These two events have marked the beginning and the end of the collapse of the county in historical narrative: the city of Edessa was the first great loss that signalled (in hindsight at least) the doom facing the remaining lands, and the castle of Hromklay was one of the last remaining strongholds of the county in 1150. Each event was prominent in Armenian historical narratives at different moments; the conquest of Edessa was seared into the memory of the Armenian generation that lived through the events in the twelfth century, but by the thirteenth century, its importance faded.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Syria in Crusader TimesConflict and Co-Existence, pp. 86 - 102Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2020