Battle of Ager Sanguinis

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Battle of Ager Sanguinis
Part of the Crusades
Date June 28, 1119
Location Near Sarmada
Result Ortoqid victory
Combatants
Principality of Antioch Ortoqids of Aleppo
Commanders
Roger of Salerno† Ilghazi
Strength
About 3700 Unknown
Casualties
About 3500 Unknown

The Battle of Ager Sanguinis, also known as the Battle of the Field of Blood, the Battle of Sarmada, or the Battle of Balat, took place between the Crusader Principality of Antioch and the Ortoqid ruler of Aleppo in 1119.

Antioch and the other Crusader States were constantly at war with the Muslim states of Northern Syria and the Jazeerah, principally Aleppo and Mosul. When Ridwan of Aleppo died in 1113, there was a period of peace, at least for a few years. However, Roger of Salerno, who was ruling Antioch as regent for Bohemond II, did not take advantage of Ridwan's death; likewise, Baldwin II, count of Edessa, and Pons, count of Tripoli, looked after their own interests and did not ally with Roger against Aleppo.

In 1117 Aleppo came under the rule of the Ortoqid atabeg Ilghazi. In 1118 Roger captured Azaz, which left Aleppo open to attack from the Crusaders; in response, Ilghazi invaded the Principality in 1119. Roger marched out from Artah with Bernard of Valence, the Latin Patriarch of Antioch. Bernard suggested they remain there, as Artah was a well-defended fortress only a short distance away from Antioch, and Ilghazi would not be able to pass if they were stationed there. The Patriarch also advised Roger to call for help from Baldwin, now king of Jerusalem, and Pons, but Roger felt he could not wait for them to arrive.

Roger camped in the pass of Sarmada, while Ilghazi besieged the fort of al-Atharib. A small force under Robert of Vieux-Pont set out to break the siege, and Ilghazi feigned a retreat, a typical Turkish tactic that worked once again – Robert's men were drawn out from the fort and ambushed.

[edit] The battle and its aftermath

Ilghazi was also waiting for reinforcements from Toghtekin, the Burid emir of Damascus, but he too was tired or waiting, and he surrounded Roger's camp during the night of June 27. Roger's army of about 3700 troops (700 knights and 3000 foot soldiers, including turcopoles) formed into three divisions, led by Roger, Geoffrey the Monk, and Guy Fresnel. As the Muslim army waited, the qadi Abu al-Fadl ibn al-Khashshab, wearing his lawyer's turban but brandishing a lance, rode out in front of the troopers. At first they were incredulous at being harangued by a scholar but at the end of his passionate evocation of the duties and merits of the jihad warrior, according to Kamal ad-Din, the contemporary historian of Aleppo, these hardened professionals wept with emotion and rode into battle. That morning, June 28, the crusader army was at first successful, but the Turks soon took the upper hand. Robert of St. Lo and the Turcopoles were driven back into Roger's line, which was forced to scatter. During the fighting, Roger was killed by a sword in the face at the foot of the great jewelled cross which had served as his standard. The rest of the army was completely destroyed; only two knights survived. One of them, Raynald Mazoir, took refuge in the fort of Sarmada to wait for King Baldwin, but was later taken captive by Ilghazi. Among the other prisoners was likely Walter the Chancellor, who later wrote an account of the battle. The massacre led to the name of the battle, ager sanguinis, Latin for "the field of blood."

The battle proved that the Muslims could defeat a Crusader army without the help of the Seljuks. However, Ilghazi did not advance to Antioch, where Patriarch Bernard was organizing whatever defense he could. Ilghazi was pushed back by Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Pons on August 14, and Baldwin took over the regency of Antioch. The defeat at the Field of Blood left Antioch severely weakened, and subject to repeated attacks by the Muslims in the following decade. As a result the Principality eventually came under the influence of the Byzantine Empire.

The Crusaders regained some of their influence in Syria at the Battle of Azaz six years later in 1125.

The description ager sanguinis is possibly a Biblical reference to the field purchased by Judas with the money he had been given to betray Christ. The Acts of the Apostles records that Judas killed himself in the field, and it was thus known as acheldemach in Aramaic, and ager sanguinis in the Vulgate.

[edit] Sources

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