Great Britain -- History -- Richard I, 1189-1199; Great Britain -- Kings and rulers -- Biography; Richard I, King of England, 1157-1199
[913] The first version is Bohadin’s, 301, 302; the second, that
of Imad-ed-Din, _apud_ Abu Shama, 54. Bohadin calls the castle
Mejdel Yaba; in Abu Shama’s compilation the name appears as Mejdel
Djenab, but the compiler adds: “This is the name given by El Imad
in the _Book of the Conquest_, but in _The Lightning_ we find
‘Mejdel Yaba’”; while the text of Imad-ed-Din published by Count
Landsberg has “Mejdel el Habab” (footnote to Abu Shama, _l.c._). Of
these Arabic names only one has been located—Mejdel Yaba, called by
the Franks Mirabel, which is so far from the Wady el Hesy that it
cannot possibly be the place meant (G. Paris, Glossary to _Estoire_,
_s.v._ “Fiier”). I am indebted to a distinguished Arabic scholar
for the information that Mejdel Yaba means “Glory of Yaba,” Mejdel
Djenab “Glory of the district,” Mejdel el Habab “Glory of the
lover”; and that the Arabic for Castle of Figs or Figtrees would be
Kalat-el-Tinat. It is possible that a place bearing one of the three
former Arabic names might be called Fig or Figtree Castle by the
Franks for some reason quite independent of its native appellation,
and that the narratives of the Christian and Moslem writers may be
only two different versions of one event; but there is also another
possibility. Imad-ed-Din dates the disaster of the Franks at Mejdel
Djenab (or Yaba, or El Habab) 14 Jomada I, _i. e._ May 28, the date
given by Ambrose and the _Itinerarium_ for the capture of Figtree
Castle; but Bohadin says it occurred “when the host had spent the
fourteenth day of Jomada I” at El Hesy. This should apparently mean
that it took place on the following day, _i. e._ 15 Jomada I = May
29. To me it seems more probable that this version is the correct
one, and that the Frank and the Moslem writers are here relating two
distinct events, one of which took place on May 28 and the other on
May 29. If so, it would not be unnatural that of two expeditions made
within such a short period, each party should record only the one
which terminated in their own favour.
[914] _Est._, ll. 9433-508; _Itin._, 358-61.
[915] “E dist a sei: S’or ne retornes, Veirement as terre perdue.”
_Est._, ll. 9464-5.
[916] Lib. xiv. c. 22.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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