Medieval Syria and the Onset of the Crusades: The Political World of Bilad al-Sham, 1050–1128, by James Wilson

Syria in the crusader period is still not sufficiently studied, except for the reigns of sultans Nur al-Din Zanki, Saladin and al-ʿAdil I. The recent publication of James Wilson’s book will greatly advance our understanding of the various regional, political, ideological, social, diplomatic and cross-cultural aspects of the crusader period in Syria, alongside the earlier works of Claude Cahen, Suhayl Zakkar, Taef El-Azhari, Carole Hillenbrand, Michael Köhler and other scholars.

This publication offers a comprehensive survey of the history of Bilad al-Sham (Syria) before and after the arrival of the First Crusade, without being restricted to the study of a specific linguistic or religious group. Although the book benefits from mostly Arabic literary sources, its author makes intelligent use of translations of Latin, Greek, Syriac, Persian and Armenian sources. Wilson charts the collapse of Byzantine and Fatimid authority over Syria and Palestine and provides a much-needed, novel explanation of the rise of the system of Syrian autonomous local ruling elites and dynasties in the cities of Aleppo and Damascus which overlapped with Seljuq, nomadic Türkmen and Frankish invasions. Most significantly, the book succeeds in placing the establishment of the Frankish polities in the Eastern Mediterranean (the Crusader States) within the historical context of Bilad al-Sham and, furthermore, in explaining the Muslim reactions to their emergence.

Wilson has structured his book into two parts. The first focuses on the role of local rulers and elites in cities such as Aleppo and Damascus as they became increasingly assertive and independent as of 454 AH/1062 CE. This development was a consequence of waning Byzantine and Fatimid control over Syria, due to the absence of any direct military and administrative presence and the intensification of Seljuq and Türkmen incursions. Wilson cogently highlights the role that this fragmented political landscape played in shaping Syrian-Muslim reactions to the First Crusade. His analysis of the nature of Seljuq authority in Syria suggests that Bilad al-Sham must not be considered as a mere territorial extension of the Great Seljuq Sultanate and, moreover, that practical concerns and realities often transcended overarching religious and perceived ethnic considerations. Chapters One and Two examine the ‘Arab’ Mirdasid dynasty, which started to rule independent of Byzantine and Fatimid authority as of 454 AH/1062 CE. The Mirdasids relied on local Arab tribes and benefited from Türkmen incursions that were launched outside the direct order of the Great Seljuq Sultanate, but greatly weakened the Fatimid presence in Syria and Palestine. Nevertheless, Chapter Three explains that the Seljuq sultanate failed to replace, let alone eliminate, the Syrian system of autonomous lordships, owing to the ‘symbiotic’ co-existence (pp. 128–31) of nomadic Türkmen groups with the urban elites in some Syrian cities, a variety of chronic Seljuq military problems, and the strong independent tendencies of the local potentates. Reading Part I of this book has tempted me to adopt the term ‘Seljuqate’ to describe the nature of Seljuq and Türkmen authority in Syria.

Following logically from the first, the second part delves into the Syrian-Muslim reactions to the crusades. It challenges Köhler’s theory on the integration of the Frankish lordships into the Syrian political system in the twelfth century, which is indisputably a valid position for the pre-Saladin period. Likewise, the second part is spot-on in its questioning of the ‘“Counter-Crusade” and “la maqam” paradigms prior to 522/1128’ (p. 17); this is compellingly supported in Chapter Four by Wilson’s analysis of the Fatimid, Seljuq and local Syrian-based elites’ responses to the Frankish arrival. His survey of the military encounters and alliances in the immediate period after the establishment of the Frankish polities is insightful and shows that, initially, Muslim–Frankish alliances were rare. The alliance between Aleppo and Antioch in 502 AH/1108–9 CE was ‘a highly unique event and should not be viewed as representative of the wider political dynamics’ (p. 174). Accordingly, the Franks were not fully integrated into the existing system of Syrian autonomous lordships, but were instead the target of ‘a distinct and discernible military reaction from the Syrian political elite’ (p. 236). Chapter Five provides an absorbing case-study of a persistently under-studied theme of the crusader period: of Aleppine civilian elites and notables selecting their rulers and shaping the emirate of Aleppo.

As the book offers a multipartite, advanced argument and attempts to sketch as faithfully as possible the fragmentary and diverse landscape of Syria, it could—at times and through no fault of the author—be difficult for the non-specialist reader to follow. Furthermore, one wonders whether the decision to structure the book into two parts was warranted, since the flow of the five chapters is good and their sequence coherent. Moreover, Wilson expended an arduous and impressive effort to define the physical frontiers of Bilad al-Sham and Bilad Halab (the region of Aleppo) based on carefully selected sources, but such geographical definitions were—and still are—continuously shifting, growing and shrinking, as per the subjective eyes of their beholders. Lastly, one cannot but notice a missed opportunity in this work: Wilson could have further connected his research’s important findings on the agency of Aleppan urban elites (and urban elites in general) to those of similar works focused on the notables (aʿyan) of Syrian and Palestinian cities during the Mamluk, Ottoman and modern periods.

This book is a rich, comprehensive and coherent survey of Bilad al-Sham before and after the Seljuq and Frankish invasions that succeeds in sketching the complex political, religious and linguistic medieval Syrian landscape. The book’s chapters, notably the one entitled ‘Introduction: Defining and Exploring the Political World of Bilad al-sham’, would serve well as readings in introductory and advanced modules on crusader history. Wilson’s command of the main Arabic sources from the fifth/eleventh to ninth/fifteenth centuries is evident throughout what is a very enjoyable read. The book is a highly welcome contribution and strongly recommended for scholars working on the crusader period, the histories of the Seljuqs, Ayyubids, Artuqids and Mamluks, and the social and political history of the Syro-Egyptian lands.