1 A Muslim on the Franks Usmah Ibn Munqidh 1095 1188 Usamah 1095 1188 was a Muslim warrior noble and courtier who fought against the crusaders with Saladin Yet as a resident of the area around Palestine he also had a chance to befriend a number of them His autobiography dates from around 1175 I entered the service of the just King Nur ad Din God have mercy on him and he wrote to alMalik as Salih asking him to send my household and my sons out to me they were in Egypt under his patronage Al Malik as Salih wrote back that he was unable to comply because he feared that they might fall into Frankish hands He invited me instead to return to Egypt myself 1 You know he wrote how strong the friendship is between us If you have reason to mistrust the Palace you could go to Mecca and I would send you the appointment to the governorship of Aswan and the means to combat the Abyssinians Aswan is on the frontier of the Islamic empire I would send your household and your sons to you there I spoke to Nur ad Din about this and asked his advice which was that he would certainly not choose to return to Egypt once he had extricated himself Life is too short he said It would be better if I sent to the Frankish King for a safe conduct for your family and gave them an escort to bring them here safely This he did God have mercy on him and the Frankish King gave him his cross which ensures the bearer s safety by land and sea I sent it by a young save of mine together with letters to al Malik as Salih from Nur ad Din and myself My family were dispatched for Damietta on a ship of the vizier s private fleet under his protection and provided with everything they might need At Damietta they transferred to a Frankish ship and set sail but when they neared Acre where the Frankish King 2was God punish him for his sins he sent out a boatload of men to break up the ship with hatchets before the eyes of my family while he rode down to the beach and claimed everything that came ashore as booty My young slave swam ashore with the safeconduct and said My Lord King is not this your safe conduct Indeed it is he replied but surely it is a Muslim custom that when a ship is wrecked close to land the local people pillage it So you are going to make us your captives Certainly not He had my family escorted to a house and the women searched Everything they had was taken the ship had been loaded with women s trinkets clothes jewels swords and other arms and gold and silver to the value of 30 000 dinar The King took it all and then handed 500 dinar back to them and said Make your arrangements to continue your journey with this money And there were fifty of them altogether At the time I was with Nur ad Din in the realm of King Mas ud3 at Ru ban and Kaisun compared with the safety of my sons my brother and our women the loss of the rest meant little 1 Usmah was deeply implicated in the intrigues and bloody revolutions of Muslim politics this explains the reference later to his fear of the Palace 2 Baldwin III 1143 62 3 The Seljuk Sultan of Iconium These events took place c 1155 2 to me except for my books There had been 4 000 fine volumes on board and their destruction has been a cruel loss to me for the rest of my life Among the Franks God damn them no quality is more highly esteemed in a man than military prowess The knights have a monopoly of the positions of honor and importance among them and no one else has any prestige in their eyes They are the men who give counsel pass judgment and command the armies On one occasion I went to law with one of them about some herds that the Prince of Baniyas seized in a wood this was at the time when there was a truce between us and I was living in Damascus I said to King Fulk the son of Fulk 4 This man attacked and seized my herd This is the season when the cows are in calf their young died at birth and he has returned the herd to me completely ruined The King turned to six or seven of his knights and said Come give a judgment on this man s case They retired from the audience chamber and discussed the matter until they all agreed They then returned to the King s presence and said We have decided that the Prince of Baniyas should indemnify this man for the cattle that he has ruined The King ordered that the indemnity should be paid but such was the pressure put on me and the courtesy shown me that in the end I accepted 400 dinar silver coins from the Prince Once the knights have given their judgment neither the King nor any other commander can alter or annul it so great an influence do their knights have in their society On this occasion the King swore to me that he had been made very happy the day before When I said him what had made him happy he said They told me that you were a great knight but I did not believe that you would be chivalrous Your Majesty I replied I am a knight of my race and my people 5 When a knight is tall and well built they admire him all the more I had sought an opportunity to visit the King of the Franks to sue for peace between him and Jamal ad Din Muhammad ibn Taj al Muluk God have mercy on him basing my hopes of success on a service that my late father had once performed for King Baldwin the father of King Fulk s wife The franks brought their prisoners for me to ransom and I ransomed those whose survival was God s will There was a fanatic called William Jiba who had gone off to sea as a pirate in his own ship and captured a vessel carrying 400 men and women who were coming from the Maghrib on the Pilgrimage Some were brought before me with their owners and I ransomed as many as I could Among them was a young man who greeted me and then sat without speaking I asked who he was and was told that he was a young devout who was owned by a tanner How much do you want for this one I asked Well he said I shall only sell him if you buy this old man as well for I bought them together The price is forty three dinar I 4 Fulk of Jerusalem 1131 43 This exchange and the whole paragraph depends on a play on the terms …
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