Ibn al-Qalanisi

Hamza ibn Asad abu Ya'la ibn al - Qalanisi (* 1070, † March 18, 1160 ) is one of the most important Muslim chroniclers of the Middle Ages, especially during the time of the First Crusade.

Life

His family belonged to an important family from Damascus. He studied literature, theology and law. Although he also wrote poetic works, is only obtained his chronicle. His chronicle Dhail or Mudhayyal Ta'rikh Dimashq (Continued from the Chronicle of Damascus ) was an extension of the Chronicle of Hilal al - Sabi ' and reports on the years 1056-1160.

Upon arrival of the First Crusade in Syria, he was already an adult. He writes less like an eye-witness, but rather as a " collector of news ".

As a senior civil servant of the Atabegs of Damascus he knew all the former archives and also the diplomatic correspondence. His work on the " Frengs " ( the Franks Crusaders ) was also used by other Muslim chroniclers. It contains, among other things, that a certain pope in Rome all peoples to Franken called to recapture Jerusalem.

It also counts as the first individual European quotas and peoples today in the Arabic language bear the name, the Qalanisi once gave them. Examples are the Almans " the toughest of all the Franks peoples " and " sometimes stubborn ."