Battle of Harim (1164)

Also known as Battle of Harenc

On 12 August 1164, Nur ad-Din invested the strategic Frankish fortress of Harim (Harenc), which guarded the eastern approaches to Antioch. A combined relief army from the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, the Byzantine Empire, and Cilician Armenia marched to break the siege but was lured into a trap and annihilated. The casualties read like a roll-call of the Frankish north: Bohemond III of Antioch, Raymond III of Tripoli, Hugh VIII of Lusignan, and the Byzantine governor Constantine Coloman were all captured and held for ransom — Raymond III for almost ten years — while the Armenian prince Thoros II escaped the rout. The defeat at Harim was so catastrophic for the leadership of the entire northern Latin East that it permanently shifted the balance of power in Syria toward Nur ad-Din and made the eventual unification of Egypt and Syria under Saladin politically and militarily inevitable.

Coordinates: 36.2070°, 36.5220°

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