Battle of Gaza (1239)
The defeat of the Crusaders at Gaza, depicted in the Chronica majora of Matthew Paris , 13th century.
| date | November 13, 1239 |
|---|---|
| place | at Gaza |
| output | Defeat of the Crusaders |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Ayyubids (Sultanate of Cairo) |
|
| Commander | |
|
unknown |
|
| Troop strength | |
| 300 to 400 men | unknown |
| losses | |
|
high |
unknown |
In the Battle of Gaza on November 13, 1239, part of the army of the barons' crusade, led by Theobald IV of Champagne, was defeated by the Egyptian Ayyubids .
prehistory
After the peace treaty concluded by Emperor Frederick II with the Muslims in 1229 expired in July 1239 , a French crusader army under Count Theobald IV of Champagne, who was also King of Navarre, arrived in Acre in September 1239 , where he received from the contingents the local barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the three orders of knights ( Templars , Johanniter , Teutonic Knights ) was reinforced.
On November 2, the crusader army moved from Akkon to Ashkelon with about 4,000 men , where they wanted to rebuild the fortress to secure the southern flank of the empire against the Egyptians. Later it was planned to besiege Damascus . On the way, scouts for Baron Peter von Dreux reported that a large convoy of herd animals was within range of the crusaders on the way to Damascus. Instead of telling the other crusaders about it, Peter left the crusaders' camp in the evening with about 200 knights or mounted men from his contingent and ambushed the convoy the next morning. After a bitter struggle, he defeated the Damascus escort of the convoy and returned with the captured herd to the main army, where they were very welcome as fresh provisions.
After the crusaders had passed Jaffa on November 12th, news reached them that the Sultan of Cairo had sent an army to Gaza to protect the Egyptian border against the crusaders. Some barons, among them Amalrich VII von Montfort and Heinrich II von Bar , decided, out of envy of Peter's fame from his attack, to hurry ahead of the main army, to attack the enemy and to join the main army again in Ascalon . Among them were Duke Hugo IV of Burgundy , Vice Count Richard II of Beaumont , the local barons Walter of Jaffa , Balian of Sidon , John of Arsuf , the constable of Jerusalem Odo of Montbéliard and many lower nobles, around 400 to 600 in total Man.
The leader of the crusade, Theobald von Champagne, as well as Peter von Dreux and the grand masters of the three knightly orders expressly protested against this plan. The army should better march as a whole to Ashkelon and from there confront the enemy, if this seemed feasible. But the adventurous barons did not listen to their leader, even Theobald's warning that they should remember their crusader oath did not help. Not only did the rebels disregard Theobald as the leader of the crusade, but they included vassals of Theobald.
Expedition to Gaza
This part of the army rode through the night, passed Ascalon and reached a river that at that time formed the border between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Ayyubid Sultanate of Cairo. Walter von Jaffa suggested retreating to Askalon and resting there, the horses were also tired. But the other barons insisted on advancing towards Gaza. The river crossing was secured militarily by Walter von Jaffa. No sooner had the crusaders crossed the river than they rested, spread their wet clothes and dined. For this rest, they had chosen a very bad place: a flat terrain surrounded by dunes. In gross negligence, they failed to provide military security for their rest in enemy territory. Not even Walter von Jaffa, who had still professionally secured the river crossing, sent patrols or at least guards on the surrounding dunes.
The Egyptian military leader proceeded more carefully. Soon his scouts had spotted the crusaders and Egyptian crossbowmen and slingers occupied the surrounding dunes. The men of Walter of Jaffa were the first to discover the Ayyubid troops. He called the crusaders to arms and their leaders to the council of war. Walter of Jaffa and Hugo of Burgundy spoke out in favor of fleeing to Ascalon. Amalrich von Montfort and Heinrich von Bar were against it - because they feared that the foot soldiers would fall victim to the enemy while fleeing. So Walter and Hugo fled to Askalon (probably also Balian von Sidon, Johann von Arsuf and Odo von Montbéliard). R. Wolff suspects that the local barons had only joined this expedition to curb their recklessness and ruthlessness and withdrew when this turned out to be impossible.
The battle
So the remaining crusaders faced the Egyptians for battle. Amalrich ordered the crossbowmen to shoot the enemies from the dunes. They were quite successful at this until they ran out of crossbow bolts . Then Amalrich noticed a deep, narrow passage between two dunes that could offer his troops cover from enemy fire. The knights rushed forward and dispersed the infantry there. In the meantime the Egyptian cavalry had arrived. Instead of making the mistake of storming the heavily armored knights in the narrow passage, they tried the tried and true trick of mock attack and feigned retreat . The knights fell into the trap, rode after the apparently fleeing people in a disorderly manner, and instead left the passage, which was immediately closed behind them by the Egyptian infantry.
That decided the battle. The Muslim cavalry turned and surrounded the knights. Many were killed, including Count Heinrich von Bar. Amalrich von Montfort, Richard von Beaumont, about 80 other nobles and many other soldiers were taken prisoner.
consequences
When the main army of the Crusaders arrived in Ashkelon, they met Walter and Hugo, who reported on the desperate situation of Amalrich and Heinrich. Thereupon the main army, the Teutonic Knights in the vanguard, advanced towards Gaza. Soon they met scattered refugees, then their Muslim persecutors. The Egyptian army was not strong enough to take on the entire crusader army and hastily retreated to Gaza while the crusaders occupied the corpse-strewn battlefield. Theobald von Champagne intended to pursue the enemy army, but refrained from doing so when the Grand Masters of the Templars and Johanniter suggested to him that the Muslims would kill their prisoners in the event of an attack. So the crusaders went back to Askalon.
The battle of Gaza and the previous skirmish under Peter von Dreux were to remain the only battles of this crusade. In August 1240, the crusaders came to an understanding with Sultan al-Salih Ayyub of Cairo, who was in the civil war with his uncle, Sultan al-Salih Ismail of Damascus. By early 1241, the crusaders captured in battle were finally released.
literature
- RL Wolff / HW Hazard: A History of the Crusades, volume II, The later Crusades. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison 1969. pp. 475-477