Second Battle of Ramla

Background

In spring 1102 al-Afdal sent a new army under his son Sharaf al-Ma'ali. In Jerusalem at the time were nobles who had survived the 1101 crusade and come on pilgrimage, such as Stephen of Blois, Stephen of Burgundy and Hugh of Lusignan; most were waiting at Jaffa for ships back to Europe.

Course of events

Taking the Fatimid forces for a small raiding party, Baldwin attacked from Ramla with about two hundred knights without waiting for the infantry. Facing a large army, the Frankish cavalry were surrounded and most were killed. Baldwin and a few men took refuge in the tower of Ramla.

The king escaped from the tower at night, reached Arsuf and went on to Jaffa by sea. Those left in Ramla were killed or captured the next day; Stephen of Blois was among the dead. Soon after, with soldiers carried by English and French pilgrim ships that arrived at Jaffa and reinforcements from Jerusalem, Baldwin forced the Fatimid forces before Jaffa to withdraw.

Outcome and significance

The defeat showed how great a risk the small kingdom could run through a single error of reconnaissance. The Fatimids could not turn their victory into the capture of Jerusalem; holding Jaffa and the military support of pilgrims arriving by sea saved the kingdom. Stephen's death entered Latin memory together with the story that he had returned East to wipe out the stain of his flight from Antioch.

Sources and debates

Fulcher of Chartres and Albert of Aachen report the events in detail; Albert tells Baldwin's escape as an adventure. Frankish losses and the fate of the prisoners differ between sources. Some prisoners are known to have been taken to Cairo and held for years.