Battle of Harran First Crusade [1104] Actions Cite verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Harran-1104 Give Feedback Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

　　Print Cite verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Harran-1104 Feedback Written by Rupert Matthews Rupert Matthews has been fascinated by battlefields since his father took him to Waterloo when he was nine years old. As an adult, Rupert has written about numerous battles from the ancient world to the... Rupert Matthews Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jul 2, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents Date: May 7, 1104 (Show more) Location: Harran Turkey (Show more) Participants: Antioch kingdom of Jerusalem Seljuq (Show more) Context: Crusades First Crusade (Show more) Key People: Baldwin I Bohemond I (Show more) See all related content →

　　The Battle of Harran In the Battle of Harran, an army of Seljuks under Sokman of Mardin and Jikirmish of Mosul lay siege to the city of Edessa. To distract the Seljuks, Prince Bohemond of Antioch and Count Baldwin of Edessa led an army to the city of Harran, where they were defeated. © Bildagentur-online—Universal Images Group/Getty Images.(more)The religious fervor of the First Crusade was over by 1104 as the new crusader lords attempted to secure their hold on the captured lands and to fend off further Muslim assaults. One of those lords, Count Baldwin of Edessa, joined forces with Prince Bohemond of Antioch to conquer the territory between their two fiefdoms in order to isolate the Emir of Aleppo and break lines of communication and trade between Syria and Mesopotamia. Baldwin and Bohemond, both ambitious Normans, were instead defeated in the Battle of Harran (in southeastern Turkey) on May 7, 1104. Their loss was the first experienced by the crusader states and demonstrated the limits to Christian expansion.

　　An army of Seljuks under Sokman of Mardin and Jikirmish of Mosul lay siege to the city of Edessa (now Şanlıurfa). To distract the Seljuks, Bohemond and Baldwin led an army to the city of Harran, about 30 miles (48 km) to the south. The crusaders had not yet properly laid siege to Harran when the army of Sokman appeared. After a brief battle in sight of Harran, Sokman fell back to the south. Bohemond and Baldwin then gave chase. The retreat was probably merely a ruse to draw the crusaders away to allow Jikirmish to enter Harran with supplies and reinforcements.

　　Crusades Events keyboard_arrow_left

　　Siege of Antioch October 20, 1097 - June 28, 1098

　　Battle of Harran May 7, 1104

　　Siege of Edessa November 28, 1144 - December 24, 1144

　　Battle of Lisbon July 1, 1147 - October 25, 1147

　　Siege of Damascus July 23, 1148 - July 28, 1148

　　Battle of Ḥaṭṭīn July 4, 1187

　　Battle of Jaffa August 5, 1192

　　Albigensian Crusade 1209 - 1229

　　Battle of Toulouse 1217 - 1218 keyboard_arrow_right On the third day of the retreat, Sokman halted just south of the River Balikh, where he was joined by Jikirmish, whose 7,000 cavalry remained out of sight of the crusaders in a heavily forested area. Baldwin and the Edessans formed the left of the crusader army and Bohemond with his Antioch troops were on the right. The battle opened with a general attack by Sokman, which was driven off. Sokman then fell back toward the waiting Jikirmish, luring Baldwin to follow him in disorder. Jikirmish’s cavalry charged and inflicted heavy casualties, taking Baldwin prisoner.

　　Bohemond had not taken the bait and retreated in good order, although he lost men as he fought his way back to Edessa. Baldwin was freed in 1108 after paying a ransom and later became King of Jerusalem. However, the crusader state of Edessa never recovered its strength and in 1144 would become the first of the crusader states to fall to the Muslims, while Antioch was severely weakened and was absorbed by the Byzantine Empire in 1107.

　　Losses: Crusader, half of the 3,000 cavalry and 7,000 infantry; Muslim, 2,000 of 20,000.

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