Battle of La Forbie
Encyclopedia
The Battle of La Forbie, also known as the Battle of Harbiyah, was fought October 17, 1244 – October 18, 1244 between the allied armies (drawn from the Kingdom of Jerusalem
, the crusading orders, the breakaway Ayyubids of Damascus
, Homs
and Kerak
) and the Egypt
ian army of the Ayyubid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub
, reinforced with Khwarezmian
mercenaries.
by the Khwarezmians in August had excited great alarm among both the Christian and the Muslim states. al-Mansur
, the Emir of Homs
and an-Nasir Dawud
, ruling Kerak, joined the Templars
, the Hospitallers
, the Teutonic Knights
, the Order of Saint Lazarus
and the remaining forces of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to take the field against the Egyptian Sultanate.
The two armies met near La Forbie, a small village northeast of Gaza
. On the allied side, Al-Mansur was present in person, commanding about 2,000 cavalry and a detachment of troops from Damascus
. The overall Christian command was given to Walter IV of Brienne
, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon
, although the Constable of Jerusalem
and Philip of Montfort
were also present. The Christian army consisted of about 1,000 cavalry and 6,000 foot. The Transjordanian forces were under the command of Sunqur al-Zahiri and al-Waziri, and consisted of about 2,000 mounted Bedouin. The Egyptian army was commanded by a Mamluk officer named Baibars ( generally considered to be Al-zahir Baibars
who became Sultan of Egypt in 1260, although certain studies suggest that it wasn't), which was slightly inferior in strength to its opponents.
Al-Mansur advised the allies to fortify their camp and take the defensive, waiting for the undisciplined Khwarezmians to disperse and leave the Egyptians at a considerable disadvantage. However, Walter, to whom the overall command had been given, was unwilling to refuse battle when he had the advantage of numbers, a rarity for the Christians of Outremer
. The allied dispositions were as follows: Christians on the right wing, near the coast, the Emir of Homs and the Damascenes in the center, the Bedouin on the left.
Threatened by the Egyptians in front and the Khwarezmians on their flank, the Crusaders charged the Mamluks facing them and were initially successful, pushing them back and causing Baibars some concern. Their assault gradually lost momentum as the Khwarezmid tribesmen attacked the rear and the flanks of the Christian forces, which were defended by a disorganized infantry. The well-armed knights fought on doggedly and it took several hours for their resistance to collapse.
Over 5,000 of them were killed, and 800 prisoners taken, including Walter of Brienne
, William of Chastelneuf, Master of the Hospital, and the Constable of Tripoli. Of the troops of the knightly orders, only 33 Templars, 27 Hospitallers, and 3 Teutonic Knights survived; Philip of Montfort and the Patriarch of Jerusalem also escaped to Ascalon
. However, Armand de Périgord
, the Master of the Temple, the Marshal of the Temple, the archbishop of Tyre, the bishop of Lydda
and Ramla
(St. George), and John and William, sons of Bohemond, Lord of Botron, were all killed.
, and would never be able to undertake offensive operations again. It brought no lasting success to the Ayyubids; the Khwarezmians were defeated outside of Homs by Al-Mansur in 1246 after falling out with the Egyptians. Baibars ( not the known Al-Zahir Baibars who became a sultan ) joined the Khwarezmians and was later arrested by as-Salih Ayyub and died in prison. While Hattin holds great symbolic importance as having led to the fall of Jerusalem, it was La Forbie that truly marked the collapse of Christian power in Outremer.
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
, the crusading orders, the breakaway Ayyubids of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, Homs
Homs
Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...
and Kerak
Kerak
Kerak Castle is a large crusader castle located in Kerak in Jordan. It is one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant.Construction of the castle began in the 1140s, under Pagan, the butler of Fulk of Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or "Karak in Moab", as it is frequently...
) and the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian army of the Ayyubid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub
As-Salih Ayyub
Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub , also known as al-Malik al-Salih was the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249.-Biography:...
, reinforced with Khwarezmian
Khwarezmian
The name Khwarezmian may refer to:* Khwarezm, a series of states in what is now known as Greater Iran...
mercenaries.
Prelude
The capture of JerusalemSiege of Jerusalem (1244)
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor led the Sixth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1228, and claimed the kingship of Jerusalem by right of his wife, Queen Yolande of Jerusalem, who had inherited the title of 'Queen of Jerusalem' from her mother, Maria of Montferrat, the wife of John of Brienne.The size of...
by the Khwarezmians in August had excited great alarm among both the Christian and the Muslim states. al-Mansur
Al-Mansur Ibrahim
Nasir ad-Din al-Malik al-Mansur Ibrahim bin Asad ad-Din Shirkuh better known as al-Mansur Ibrahim was the emir of the Homs principality from 1240 to 1246 under the Ayyubid dynasty. He held Hims with relative independence, but initially he was under the command of as-Salih Ismail of Damascus...
, the Emir of Homs
Homs
Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...
and an-Nasir Dawud
An-Nasir Dawud
An-Nasir Dawud was briefly Ayyubid sultan of Damascus and later Emir of Kerak.An-Nasir Dawud was the son of Al-Mu'azzam, the Ayyubid Sultan of Damascus from 1218 to 1227. On his father's death, An-Nasir succeeded, but soon faced opposition from his uncle, Al-Kamil of Egypt, who made war on him,...
, ruling Kerak, joined the Templars
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, the Hospitallers
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
, the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
, the Order of Saint Lazarus
Order of Saint Lazarus
This article concerns the order of knighthood named after Saint Lazarus. For other uses of the name Lazarus, see Lazarus .The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem is an order of chivalry which originated in a leper hospital founded by the Knights Hospitaller in 1098 by the...
and the remaining forces of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to take the field against the Egyptian Sultanate.
The two armies met near La Forbie, a small village northeast of Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
. On the allied side, Al-Mansur was present in person, commanding about 2,000 cavalry and a detachment of troops from Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. The overall Christian command was given to Walter IV of Brienne
Walter IV of Brienne
Walter IV the Great of Brienne was Count of Brienne 1205–1244. He was the son of Walter III of Brienne and Elvira of Lecce. Around the time of his birth, his father lost his bid for the Sicilian throne and died in prison...
, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon
County of Jaffa and Ascalon
The double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries comprising the major crusader state, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin.-History:...
, although the Constable of Jerusalem
Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
There were six major officers of the kingdom of Jerusalem: the constable, the marshal, the seneschal, the chamberlain , the butler and the chancellor...
and Philip of Montfort
Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre
Philip of Montfort, was Lord of La Ferté-Alais and Castres-en-Albigeois 1228–1270, Lord of Tyre 1246–1270, and Lord of Toron aft. 1240–1270...
were also present. The Christian army consisted of about 1,000 cavalry and 6,000 foot. The Transjordanian forces were under the command of Sunqur al-Zahiri and al-Waziri, and consisted of about 2,000 mounted Bedouin. The Egyptian army was commanded by a Mamluk officer named Baibars ( generally considered to be Al-zahir Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
who became Sultan of Egypt in 1260, although certain studies suggest that it wasn't), which was slightly inferior in strength to its opponents.
Al-Mansur advised the allies to fortify their camp and take the defensive, waiting for the undisciplined Khwarezmians to disperse and leave the Egyptians at a considerable disadvantage. However, Walter, to whom the overall command had been given, was unwilling to refuse battle when he had the advantage of numbers, a rarity for the Christians of Outremer
Outremer
Outremer, French for "overseas", was a general name given to the Crusader states established after the First Crusade: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and especially the Kingdom of Jerusalem...
. The allied dispositions were as follows: Christians on the right wing, near the coast, the Emir of Homs and the Damascenes in the center, the Bedouin on the left.
Battle
Battle was joined on the morning October 17, with the Christian knights repeatedly charging the Egyptians and fighting up and down the line. The Egyptian army held its ground. On the morning of October 18, Baibars renewed the fight and threw the Khwarezmians against the Damascene troops in the center of the allied line. The center was shattered by their furious attack, and they turned on the allied left and cut the Bedouin to pieces. The Emir's cavalry held fiercely, but they were nearly annihilated, and Al-Mansur finally rode from the field with 280 survivors, all that remained of his troops.Threatened by the Egyptians in front and the Khwarezmians on their flank, the Crusaders charged the Mamluks facing them and were initially successful, pushing them back and causing Baibars some concern. Their assault gradually lost momentum as the Khwarezmid tribesmen attacked the rear and the flanks of the Christian forces, which were defended by a disorganized infantry. The well-armed knights fought on doggedly and it took several hours for their resistance to collapse.
Over 5,000 of them were killed, and 800 prisoners taken, including Walter of Brienne
Walter IV of Brienne
Walter IV the Great of Brienne was Count of Brienne 1205–1244. He was the son of Walter III of Brienne and Elvira of Lecce. Around the time of his birth, his father lost his bid for the Sicilian throne and died in prison...
, William of Chastelneuf, Master of the Hospital, and the Constable of Tripoli. Of the troops of the knightly orders, only 33 Templars, 27 Hospitallers, and 3 Teutonic Knights survived; Philip of Montfort and the Patriarch of Jerusalem also escaped to Ascalon
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
. However, Armand de Périgord
Armand de Périgord
Armand de Périgord was a descendant of the Counts of Périgord and a Grand Master of the Knights Templar....
, the Master of the Temple, the Marshal of the Temple, the archbishop of Tyre, the bishop of Lydda
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
and Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
(St. George), and John and William, sons of Bohemond, Lord of Botron, were all killed.
Aftermath
The Kingdom of Jerusalem suffered worst in the aftermath of La Forbie. It had not been able to put so large an army into the field since the Battle of HattinBattle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on Saturday, July 4, 1187, between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of the Ayyubid dynasty....
, and would never be able to undertake offensive operations again. It brought no lasting success to the Ayyubids; the Khwarezmians were defeated outside of Homs by Al-Mansur in 1246 after falling out with the Egyptians. Baibars ( not the known Al-Zahir Baibars who became a sultan ) joined the Khwarezmians and was later arrested by as-Salih Ayyub and died in prison. While Hattin holds great symbolic importance as having led to the fall of Jerusalem, it was La Forbie that truly marked the collapse of Christian power in Outremer.
In fiction
- The events of the Battle of La Forbie serve as a backdrop for the novella, "The Sowers of the ThunderThe Sowers of the ThunderThe Sowers of the Thunder is a short story by Robert E. Howard that takes place in Outremer, in the time of General Baibars and deals with the General's friendly/adversarial relationship with Cahal Ruadh O'Donnell, an Irish Crusader with a troubled past cut in the Howardian mold.As is common for...
", by Robert E. HowardRobert E. HowardRobert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
.