حصار الفرنج حماة

In Jumada al-Ula 573 AH a large body of the Franks came to Syria by sea. They marched to Hama and besieged it for four days, as Ibn al-Athir relates. ¹

Ibn al-Athir says that the Franks took advantage of the country being emptied when Salah al-Din returned defeated from Ramla. They gathered those of them in Syria and distributed money among them. In Hama was its lord, Shihab al-Din Mahmud al-Harimi, Salah al-Din's maternal uncle, who was gravely ill. ¹

A party of the Salahi army entered the city and helped its people. The Franks attacked the edge of the town one day and almost took it; the people of the city and the army came together and defended themselves, their families and their property until they drove them out. The fighting went on night and day. ¹

The Franks left Hama and besieged Harim. The lord of Hama died after their departure; his son had died three days before him. ¹

The siege is part of the events of the Battle of Ramla. Its date is converted to the Gregorian calendar by derivation. ²