Siege of Acre, 1291
Acre
28 May 1291
During the 12th and 13th centuries, control of Israel passed from the Crusaders to Saladin back to the Crusaders and to the Mamluks. Saladin conquered Acre in 1187. It was retaken by Christian knights of the Third Crusade in 1191 The city was attacked but not conquered in 1263.
In 1291 the Mamluks besieged Acre. The siege lasted a month and a half. On May 18, 1291 the Mamluk troops broke through and captured the city. They pillaged and destroyed the city, saving only Muslim holy shrines. During this attack the city's small Jewish community was destroyed.
At the time, the Acre was a regional center of Jewish learning. People from other communities would send halachic questions to the sages of the city. (Jonathan Rubin, Intellectual Activity and Intercultural Exchanges in Frankish Acre, 1191-1291, p37-43) A Beit Midrash was set up by R. Yechiel of Paris, known as the Great Academy of Paris, and the Jewish community thrived.
All this ended when the Mamluks entered the city. Yosef ben Tanchum Yerushalmi, who had lived in Acre as a youngster, was living in Egypt at the time. His family heard about the slaughter of the community and a short time later his father died. Yosef wrote a slicha tying together the death of his father with the fall of Acre. His father died, he wrote, "A few days after the arrival of the news about the massacre of all the scholars living in Acre, together with their entire families, upon the conquest of the city by the Muslims."
28 May 1291
During the 12th and 13th centuries, control of Israel passed from the Crusaders to Saladin back to the Crusaders and to the Mamluks. Saladin conquered Acre in 1187. It was retaken by Christian knights of the Third Crusade in 1191 The city was attacked but not conquered in 1263.
In 1291 the Mamluks besieged Acre. The siege lasted a month and a half. On May 18, 1291 the Mamluk troops broke through and captured the city. They pillaged and destroyed the city, saving only Muslim holy shrines. During this attack the city's small Jewish community was destroyed.
At the time, the Acre was a regional center of Jewish learning. People from other communities would send halachic questions to the sages of the city. (Jonathan Rubin, Intellectual Activity and Intercultural Exchanges in Frankish Acre, 1191-1291, p37-43) A Beit Midrash was set up by R. Yechiel of Paris, known as the Great Academy of Paris, and the Jewish community thrived.
All this ended when the Mamluks entered the city. Yosef ben Tanchum Yerushalmi, who had lived in Acre as a youngster, was living in Egypt at the time. His family heard about the slaughter of the community and a short time later his father died. Yosef wrote a slicha tying together the death of his father with the fall of Acre. His father died, he wrote, "A few days after the arrival of the news about the massacre of all the scholars living in Acre, together with their entire families, upon the conquest of the city by the Muslims."
"Woe! For blood was shed in God's house, and their blood is easily worth gold of Parvayim."The author describes how the scholars of Acre were slaughtered during the prayer service in a synagogue. While the women were taken captive, the males were killed as well. The synagogue was completely destroyed, along with the Jewish community in its entirety. (A Hebrew Elegy by Yosf ben Tanhum by J. Yeshaya.)
Comments
Post a Comment