Battle of Ramla (1105)

Battles of Ramla Part of the Crusades Date 27 August 1105 Location Ramla Coordinates: 31°55′29.26″N 34°52′21.75″E / 31.9247944°N 34.8727083°E / 31.9247944; 34.8727083 Result Crusader victory Belligerents Kingdom of Jerusalem Fatimids of Egypt Commanders and leaders Baldwin I of Jerusalem Al-Afdal Shahanshah Toghtekin of Damascus Strength Unknown Unknown Casualties and losses Unknown Unknown

Crusader battles in the Levant (1096–1303) First Crusade Xerigordon Civetot Nicaea 1st Dorylaeum 1st Antioch Ma'arra 1st Jerusalem 1st Ascalon Period post First Crusade Melitene Mersivan 1st Heraclea 2nd Heraclea 1st Ramla 2nd Ramla 1st Tripoli Harran 3rd Ramla Artah Sidon 1st Shaizar Al-Sannabra Sarmin Ager Sanguinis Hab Jaffa and Tyre Yibneh Azaz Marj al-Saffar Ba'rin 2nd Shaizar Edessa Bosra Second Crusade 2nd Dorylaeum Ephesus Meander Valley Mount Cadmus Damascus Period post Second Crusade Inab Aintab 2nd Ascalon Lake Huleh al-Buqaia Harim 1st Bilbeis al-Babein 2nd Bilbeis 1st Damietta Montgisard Marj Ayyun Jacob's Ford Belvoir Castle Cresson Al-Fule Kerak Hattin 2nd Jerusalem Tyre Third Crusade 1st Arsuf Iconium 1st Acre Jaffa Fifth Crusade 2nd Damietta 3rd Jerusalem Period post Sixth Crusade 4th Jerusalem La Forbie End of the Crusader states in the Levant 2nd Antioch 2nd Arsuf Caesarea Haifa 2nd Acre Krak des Chevaliers Ruad 2nd Tripoli 3rd Tripoli

The third Battle of Ramla (or Ramleh) took place on 27 August 1105 between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Fatimids of Egypt. The town of Ramla lay on the road from Jerusalem to Ascalon, the latter of which was the largest Fatimid fortress in Palestine. From Ascalon the Fatimid vizier, Al-Afdal Shahanshah, launched almost annual attacks into the newly founded Crusader kingdom from 1099 to 1107. Of the three battles the Crusaders fought at Ramla early in the twelfth century, the third was the most bloody.

Egyptian armies of the period relied on masses of Sudanese bowmen supported by Arab and Berber cavalry. Since the archers were on foot and the horsemen awaited attack with lance and sword, an Egyptian army provided exactly the sort of immobile target that the Frankish heavy cavalry excelled in attacking. Whereas the Crusaders developed a healthy respect for the harass and surround tactics of the Turkish horse archers, they tended to discount the effectiveness of the Egyptian armies. While overconfidence led to a Crusader disaster at the second battle of Ramla, the more frequent result was a Fatimid defeat. "The Franks never, until the reign of Saladin, feared the Egyptian as they did the armies from Muslim Syria and Mesopotamia."^[1]

As at Ramla in 1101, in 1105 the Crusaders had both cavalry and infantry under the leadership of Baldwin I. At the third battle, however, the Egyptians were reinforced by a Seljuk Turkish force from Damascus, including mounted archery, the great menace of the Crusaders. After they withstood the initial Frankish cavalry charge the battle raged for most of the day. Although Baldwin was once again able to drive the Egyptians from the field of battle and loot the enemy camp he was unable to pursue them any further: "the Franks appear to have owed their victory to the activity of Baldwin. He vanquished the Turks when they were becoming a serious threat to his rear, and returned to the main battle to lead the decisive charge which defeated the Egyptians."^[2] Despite the victory the Egyptians continued to make annual raids into the Kingdom of Jeruselum with some reaching the walls of Jerusalem itself before being pushed back. The next major engagement between Fatimids and Crusaders was the Battle of Yibneh in 1123.

References

Bibliography

• Dupuy, R. E. and T. N. Dupuy, eds. The Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. ISBN 0-06-011139-9
• Smail, R. C. Crusading Warfare, 1097–1193. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1995 [1956]. ISBN 1-56619-769-4