It is a sunny day on 14th August 1119 near the village of Hab in eastern Syria. It has been
just 17 days since the Crusader Principality of Antioch was delivered a heavy blow by the Atabeg
Ilghazi at the battle of Ager Sanguinis. The newly crowned King of Jerusalem, Baldwin II Le Bourg,
attempts to aid the city of Antioch by directly confronting the Artuqid’s ambitions. Together
with his vassals assembled from all Latin States army, he follows east in an attempt to recover
Antioch’s holdings and restore the balance of power in northern parts of Outremer. Then,
all of a sudden, the king sees clouds of dust converging toward the marching Christian host.
As the Seljuk arrows hit Syrian sand on the road to Zardana, the Crusaders realized that
the Artuqid foe had just arrived to meet them in battle. The future of Antioch and, thus,
the entirety of Latin Northern Syria was at stake. The battle of Hab was about to begin.
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Aftermath of Ager Sanguinis The events that took place at the
Field of Blood sent shockwaves across the entirety of Syria. As soon as Renald of Mazoir arrived in
Antioch announcing the Latin defeat, the citizens of that city were stricken by panic. Only the
local patriarch, Bernard of Valence, and Roger’s widow, Cecile, managed to ease the tensions.
Temporarily taking charge of the city, Bernard ordered the people of Antioch to mount their
heavily fortified walls and gather supplies for any possible attack. Nevertheless, with the Roger
of Salerno and his army gone, the city of Antioch was practically defenceless against the might of
Ilghazi. The victorious Artuqid had sent several raiding parties, including some which had reached
as far as St. Symeon’s harbour and even managed to reach and sack the outskirts of Antioch itself.
The de facto ruler of Antioch, Bohemond II, was still too immature to rule,
so Antioch's fate lay in the hands of Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem. Together with Pons of Tripoli
and Joscelin of Courtenay, Le Bourg had already assembled a powerful host under the relic of
Jerusalem’s Holy Cross. Previously, they attempted to reinforce Roger’s army. However, upon hearing
of Antioch’s defeat at Latakia, the undeterred Baldwin II rushed his force further north to aid
the city as quickly as possible. This forced march had paid off for Le Bourg. When the Jerusalem and
Tripolitan armies had entered the Principality, they encountered not the bulk of Ilghazi’s army
but only a few small Turcoman raiding parties, which they managed to easily repel from the city’s
outskirts. On the first days of August 1119, just a week after the battle of Ager Sanguinis,
King Baldwin le Bourg, Pons and Joscelin entered Antioch. Relieved by Baldwin’s arrival,
the entire city welcomed the King of Jerusalem as a hero. Baldwin II took command of the city
with the Patriarch’s permission and called for every remaining knight in the Principality to
prepare for an inevitable showdown with the Artuqid warlord. He also guaranteed
safety for Antiochene citizens by sending several squadrons out to drive off any additional waves
of Turcoman raiders back beyond the Orontes river. With the matters near Antioch secured,
Baldwin le Bourg could finally focus all his efforts on dealing with the threat of Ilghazi.
Ilghazi’s invasion Meanwhile, in Aleppo, Ilghazi had
celebrated his victory over Roger by massacring all remaining Antiochene knights in his captivity.
Despite winning a decisive engagement, the Artuqid leader realized that he needed to possess more men
to overwhelm Antioch itself. Thus, he decided to seize bordering Latin towns and castles east
of the Orontes river in order to secure them as potential bases for his campaigns in the future.
Ilghazi’s ambitions to seize Antioch proper were bolstered when his Damascene ally, Toghtekin,
joined the Artuqid force. This allowed the Lord of Mardin and Aleppo to nearly double the size of his
forces. His confidence grew even stronger when he finally moved towards the Antiochene border
and besieged neighbouring castles, starting with Artharib. Artharib’s feudal lord, Alan, had not
been present due to Baldwin Le Bourge’s orders to rally all the Latin forces in Antioch. Because
of this, the Antiochene fortresses to the east were basically defenceless. Without hesitation,
Cerep, Atharib and many other bordering castles surrendered to the Artuqids on the condition that
all the Christians within would be spared and allowed to retreat to Antioch safely, to which
Ilhghazi surprisingly often agreed to. This was the fate of the crucial fortress of
Zardana, governed by Robert the Leper. Yet again, the absence of the castle’s lord and the lack of a
properly established chain of command during his absence forced the defenders to surrender to the
Artuqids. The successful capture of all these fortresses paved the way for Ilghazi to strike
at his next target: the city of Antioch itself. By that time, Baldwin II had already arrived at
the Principality’s capital and rallied knights from Antioch, Edessa, Tripoli and Jerusalem to
face off the Artuqid onslaught. As the retreating troops and civilians from Atharib and Zardana gave
word about Saracens’ breaking through the Latin frontier, the king couldn’t wait any longer.
Baldwin II had already been aware that without relieving these strongholds, the city of Antioch
would constantly be threatened by Muslim Atabegs. After the army had been blessed by Ebremar,
Archbishop of Cesarea, on the 10th of August 1119, Le Bourg marched out of Antioch with a significant
force, attempting to reinforce the eastern Antiochene territories, starting with the castle
of Zardana. The Latin army went through abandoned Cerep and Rugia to attack Ilghazi from the south.
The Latin’s vanguard was led by the king, accompanied by the Holy Cross of Jerusalem. At
first, the king of Jerusalem attempted to rescue Zardana’s garrison, but just two days later, the
news reached the Latins about its surrender. After this, Baldwin decided to retreat to the quarter
in Hab in order to replenish all the necessary supplies. King Baldwin le Bourg knew that Ilghazi
would not pass up an opportunity to ambush the Christian army and that their inevitable headlong
clash with the Artuqid seemed unavoidable. Battle of Hab
As the Frankish host was passing through the road to the city of Hab, all of Baldwin’s
suspicions proved to be correct. On the 14th of August 1119, The Latin army was greeted by
Turcoman skirmishers, who suddenly appeared on the horizon. They were part of an Ilghazi’s vanguard,
who started to rain down their arrows down upon the Crusader column. However, King Baldwin II was
experienced with Saracen hit-and-run tactics, so he wisely decided not to take the bait. Instead,
he ordered the Latin forces to form a line divided into nine squadrons formed into four key segments.
The right flank was led by Tripolitan knights led by their count, Pons, while the left,
commanded by Robert the Leper, consisted of the remaining Antiochene knights. At the centre,
the king deployed his vanguard of three knightly contingents covered by the missile and melee Latin
infantry. Despite possessing heavier horsemen, Baldwin II’s cavalry lacked numerical superiority.
Numbering only 700 knights with additional sergeants and Turcopoles, Le Bourg had been all
too well aware of potential encirclement by the enemy, so he created the second line of reserves
that included his forces from Jerusalem. On the other side, Ilghazi took positions on the left
flank comprised of his Turcoman and elite Ghulam horsemen stationed in front of the Franks. Behind
them were deployed infantry bands from Mardin, Aleppo, supported by the light Kurdish missile
units. To the Muslim right, Toghtekin prepared his forces in the same manner as Ilghazi: by deploying
his cavalry on the front of the battle line, while his infantry militias from Damascus and Homs were
put at the back of the formation. As both sides managed to complete their deployment, the battle
for the future of Latin Syria soon commenced. The clash started with the shouts and noise of the
trumpets and drums of each side, which was quickly cut short by a volley of Seljuk arrow fire,
to which Latin archers and crossbowmen eagerly reciprocated. As the ammunition began to shrink,
both sides prepared for melee engagement. Confident in his victory, Ilghazi and Toghtekin
ordered a full-scale assault on the Crusaders. The first attack came from the Artuqid Turkic
horsemen, who attacked the Frankish right flank. This fearsome charge almost managed
to break the Tripolitan contingent entirely. Some of the Tripolitan knights panicked and
fled the battle. Several of them even rode to Antioch, already announcing the defeat of the
Latin host. However, Pons of Tripoli and his retainers managed to withstand the charge and,
with a few of his knights, hid behind Tripolitan Latin footmen, who managed to hold their ground
while simultaneously getting much closing the distance between themselves and Baldwin’s centre.
On the left flank, Robert the Leper, count of Zardana, charged broke through Toghtekin’s
contingent from Homs. However, Robert did not intend to flank the Artuqid force, intending
instead to rush and retake his home castle of Zardana. Initially, all seemed to go as planned
for him, but as the pursuit was coming close to the castle, the Saracens had time to regroup.
Realizing that they were only chased by a small contingent of knights, they decided to turn back
and clash with the Frankish pursuers. Disregarding any potential signs of a trap, Robert and his
Antiochene knights were ambushed near the walls of Zardana. In his scuffle, Robert fell off his
horse and became a prisoner of Ilghazi’s men. The remnants of Toghtekin and Ilghazi’s force were so
preoccupied with Lord of Zardana that they didn’t see an opportunity to exploit the Crusader’s left
flank. Upon seeing that tactical error, Baldwin II attempted to prepare his counter-attack to
repel Ilghazi himself. Because the main Artuqid assault came on Latin's right flank, the infantry
from the centre were relatively fresh, with only knights from the vanguard taking heavy losses,
who started to push back Ilghazi’s infantry from the centre. Baldwin le Bourg also used
his remaining reserves of Jerusalem knights to charge the advancing Saracen force from the
rear. After a brutal melee and clever manoeuvre, the reinforced Latin forces managed to push the
Artuqid centre back and aid their ailing flanks. Seeing no way to break through the Jerusalem and
Tripolitan line, Ilghazi retreated from the battlefield in an orderly manner.
Aftermath The number of casualties at the Battle of Hab
is hard to estimate; we only know from Archbishop William of Tyre that the forces of Jerusalem
and their vassals lost around 700 infantrymen and 100 knights, while the Artuqid casualties
remain unknown, though it is very likely that their causalities were similar if not slightly
higher. As soon as the dust settled, Baldwin II, with his remaining troops on the battlefield,
claimed victory and returned to Antioch, where he was greeted by the citizens as their
saviour. Along the way, The King of Jerusalem reclaimed the fortresses of Sarmin and Kafartab,
previously taken by Ilghazi after Ager Sanguinis. The next target of Baldwin’s wrath came on the
fortresses of Maraat an-Numan and Rusa, which were held by the Muniqidhites of Shaizar.
Soon, all of these key strongholds surrendered, and the remaining Muslim-controlled castles in the
Principality of Antioch followed suit, all except Atharib and Zardana. Simultaneously, Ilghazi and
Toghtekin went to Aleppo and announced that it was the Muslims who had won the battle because
of the sheer number of prisoners they had taken, including important Antiochene baron Robert the
Leper. The Atabegs also found themselves in dire need of funds and attempted to ransom the captives
for a considerable price. Though reluctant, Robert agreed on a large sum of 10,000 dinars. However,
when they asked Robert to convert to Islam as well, he refused. Angered by this factor,
Toghtekin decided to execute the nobleman during the captivity, much to the Ilghazi’s dismay. Who
exactly won the Syrian campaign of 1119 in Syria and the battle of Hab remains a hard question for
modern scholars to answer, but the major academic consensus is that it had been a clear draw between
the Latins and the Muslims. The Crusader States managed to avenge Antioch’s defeat at Ager
Sanguinis and save the Principality from certain demise. However, the Latins paid for it at the
cost of diminishing the Latin presence in northern Syria. Ilghazi, on the other hand, despite gaining
a great victory at Ager Sanguinis, severely weakening the Antiochene force at Hab, was still
unable to exploit his victory and take Antioch itself. The failure to annihilate the Principality
had cost Ilghazi dearly, and the western expansion of the Artuqids was dramatically stopped. Thus,
with all factors considered, despite the draw on the numerical and tactical side, it was the
Crusader army that achieved the greater strategic victory by cutting short Ilghazi’s expansion,
an achievement made even more impressive by the fact that it was done on the heels of a major
military disaster at Ager Sanguinis. Consequences
The dramatic showdown at Hab between the Latins and Ilghazi had a major impact on the Northern
lands of Outremer. The survival of Antioch’s Principality and stabilization of the Syrian
frontier came at a great cost to the Crusader States. King Baldwin Le Bourg knew that the
only way to secure the Principality was to take charge of Antioch until Bohemund II came of age.
In Le Bourg’s absence, the power in the city was held by its Patriarch, Bernard of Valence.
Additionally, Baldwin honoured his agreement with Joscelin of Courtenay by installing him as a Count
of Edessa, which, together with sending him the additional troops, allowed the Latins to stabilize
the situation in Edessan territory as well. However, the damage of the 1119 campaign was much
more visible in Antiochene territory. Alongside all the Norman elite that had built de Hauteville
domain in Antioch, Baldwin needed to strengthen its frontier by allowing his Jerusalem knights to
integrate them with the lands of northern Syria by giving lands and titles om the region. Oftentimes
times, this was done by encouraging Baldwin’s knights to marry the widows of Antiochene Knights
who had fallen at Ager Sanguinis. This policy showcased Antioch’s declining power in the
Middle East and further dependence on Jerusalem’s overlordship, a far cry from the times of Bohemond
I and Tancred. Ultimately, the Battle of Habs would not be the last time that the power of
the Latins in Syria would be put to the test. In our next video, we will talk about the Venetian
Crusade of 1122, so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see them.
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