Franks Campaign to Antioch and the Lessons Learned
Saleh Daradkeh, Department of History,Faculty od Arts, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Abstract
The fall of Antioch 1097 A.D in the hands of crusaders surprise the West and the East, for the reason of its vulnerability, as it's surrounded by high walls, high mountains and water basins. Also the Seljuk in Syria and the Peninsula of Lafrate Were more numerous and various.
This research aims to study this historic event through the primary Arab and foreign sources to clarify the positions of the many parties involved in this conflict with the Antioch site impregnable and its importance in the Christian and Islamic worlds.
The researcher clarifies reasons and factors that have helped crusaders in the acquisition of this strategic city, then the researcher clarified the reasons of Seljuk forces failure in restoring the city. Moreover, the researcher found that the severe enmity and hostility between the Seljuk rulers, in addition to the poor relationship between the Seljuk and Fatimid State, which was rushing to control the Levant. Thus, was one of the most important reasons for this failure.
This situation has been repeated in the Arab and Islamic history, seeing that they never learned from the historical lessons.