JaffaJaffa, in Hebrew Yafo (יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa (يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, is an ancient Levantine port city founded by the Canaanites that is now part of southern Tel Aviv, Israel. Sitting atop a naturally elevated outcrop on the Mediterranean coastline, it was a strategic location that exchanged hands repeatedly in ancient Near East history, and was also contested during the Crusades, when it presided over the County of Jaffa and Ascalon.
Al-KarakAl-Karak (الكرك), is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of the Karak Governorate. Al-Karak lies to the south of Amman on the ancient King's Highway. It is situated on a hilltop about above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by a valley. Al-Karak has a view of the Dead Sea. A city of about 32,216 people (2005) has been built up around the castle and it has buildings from the 19th-century Ottoman period.
Battle of Ain JalutThe Battle of Ain Jalut (معركة عين جالوت), also spelled Ayn Jalut, was fought between the Bahri Mamluks of Egypt and the Mongol Empire on 3 September 1260 (25 Ramadan 658 AH) near the spring of Ain Jalut in southeastern Galilee in the Jezreel Valley. Continuing the westward expansion of the Mongol Empire, the armies of Hulagu Khan captured and sacked Baghdad in 1258, along with the Ayyubid capital of Damascus sometime later.
QutuzSaif ad-Din Qutuz (سيف الدين قطز; died 24 October 1260), also romanized as Kutuz or Kotuz and fully al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Sayf ad-Dīn Quṭuz (الملك المظفر سيف الدين قطز), was a military leader and the third or fourth Mamluk Sultan of Turkic origin. He reigned as Sultan for less than a year, from 1259 until his assassination in 1260, but served as the de facto ruler for two decades. Sold into slavery in Egypt, he rose to become vice-sultan for more than 20 years, becoming the power behind the throne.
Ayyubid dynastyThe Ayyubid dynasty (الأيوبيون al-Ayyūbīyūn; ئەیووبیەکان, Eyûbiyan), also known as the Ayyubid Empire, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin had originally served Nur ad-Din of Syria, leading Nur ad-Din's army in battle against the Crusaders in Fatimid Egypt, where he was made Vizier.
CumaniaThe name Cumania originated as the Latin exonym for the Cuman–Kipchak confederation, which was a tribal confederation in the western part of the Eurasian Steppe, between the 10th and 13th centuries. The confederation was dominated by two Turkic nomadic tribes: the Cumans (also known as the Polovtsians or Folban) and the Kipchaks. Cumania was known in Islamic sources as Desht-i Qipchaq, which means "Steppe of the Kipchaks"; or "foreign land sheltering the Kipchaks", in Persian and al-Qumāniyīn in Arabic.
Principality of AntiochThe Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It extended around the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean, bordering the County of Tripoli to the south, Edessa to the east, and the Byzantine Empire or the Kingdom of Armenia to the northwest, depending on the date.
Mamluk SultanateThe Mamluk Sultanate (سلطنة المماليك), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks (manumitted slave soldiers) headed by the sultan and Abbasid caliphs were the nominal sovereigns. The sultanate was established with the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt in 1250 and was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517.
Seventh CrusadeThe Seventh Crusade (1248–1254) was the first of the two Crusades led by Louis IX of France. Also known as the Crusade of Louis IX to the Holy Land, it aimed to reclaim the Holy Land by attacking Egypt, the main seat of Muslim power in the Near East. The Crusade was conducted in response to setbacks in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, beginning with the loss of the Holy City in 1244, and was preached by Innocent IV in conjunction with a crusade against emperor Frederick II, Baltic rebellions and Mongol incursions.
MamlukMamluk (mamlūk (singular), مماليك, mamālīk (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") is a term most commonly referring to non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-soldiers, and freed slaves who were assigned high-ranking military and administrative duties, serving the ruling Arab and Ottoman dynasties in the Muslim world. The most enduring Mamluk realm was the knightly military class in medieval Egypt, which developed from the ranks of slave-soldiers.
