Chapter 1 - Warfare and the History of the Latin East, 1192-1291

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The aim of most warfare in this period was the capture or defence of territory, through the acquisition and retention of strongpoints. Commanders had to employ troops in the most efficient way in order to achieve this objective, subject to the restrictions imposed by the nature of medieval warfare, such as the problems of maintaining an army in the field for any great length of time. Three different types of engagement - the raid, the battle and the siege - were used to affect the territorial status of an enemy. The Latin armies, for various reasons, suffered from inadequacies in all three forms of warfare and these resulted in the gradual loss of their territories. Raids, battles and sieges will be examined in more detail later: in this chapter, after a brief review of the geography and politics of the Latin East and the surrounding area, the major outbreaks of war during this period will be considered in their historical context. This will establish a framework within which it will be possible to analyse the resources at the disposal of the combatants and the nature of warfare at this time.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND TO WARFARE

The habitable areas of Syria and Palestine consisted of a narrow strip of land between the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and the desert. The Latins did not, however, extend their territories to these natural limits; they were restricted, for the most part, to the coastal plain. This plain was relatively fertile and both agriculture and trade were profitable, though less so than they had been in the centuries before the arrival of the crusaders. Rainfall was almost entirely limited to the period from November to March, but moisture was retained in the higher ground to the east, to be released gradually to the coastal plain during the dry season. Retention of water was generally greater in the middle ages than now, because of the large areas of woodland.

To the east of the coastal plain were mountain ranges, running parallel to the coastline for almost its entire length. These mountain ranges were divided, from north to south, by the valleys of the Orontes and Jordan rivers.