ABSTRACT
After his setback at Damascus Zangi recovered his position by conquering Edessa (1144) and breaking up the county, the first of the four Christian states born of the First Crusade to disappear. We give versions of the story by Ibn al-Qalānisi and Ibn al-Athīr. The latter, as usual, covers the wider field, giving in anecdotal form both the local events and their effect on the whole struggle between Christianity and Islām. Barely two years after this triumph his hero was assassinated while fighting other Muslims. He bequeathed his political and military ambitions to his son Nur ad-Din (Norandin), Sultan of Aleppo. Ibn al-Athīr’s eulogy of Zangi, with due allowance made for its emotional bias, reveals traits of character of which we have independent confirmation.
