Battle of Tell Bashir

In the summer of 1108 Baldwin II of Edessa, back from captivity and backed by the atabeg Jawali Saqawa, faced his former regent Tancred, allied with Ridwan of Aleppo, near Tell Bashir. The engagement went Tancred's way. The conflict set two coalitions against each other, each combining Franks and Muslim allies — a configuration that had become common in the Latin states of the Levant.

From Harran (1104), Tancred administered Edessa in the name of the captive Baldwin. Upon his release, Baudouin claimed his county; Tancred refuses to restore a place that secures Antioch. To exert military influence, Baldwin allied himself with Jawali, rival of the Sultan of Mosul, and brought together knights from Champagne and Burgundy. The two armies meet under the walls of Tell Bashir, the lock of the upper Euphrates. Result corrected: Tancred’s victory (Antiochene perspective) (English Wikipedia).

The engagement set two mixed coalitions against each other, a rare configuration: Tancred, allied with Ridwan of Aleppo, against Baldwin II of Edessa and the atabeg Jawali Saqawa. Baldwin had been freed by Jawali in exchange for a promise of help, which had pushed Ridwan to side with Tancred. The two armies met near Turbessel: Tancred, with about fifteen hundred men and six hundred auxiliaries, routed the forces of Jawali and Baldwin, one to two thousand strong. The opponents were reconciled at an assembly held near Tripoli in April 1109.

Tancred, weakened by the combat, had to accept mediation from Baldwin I of Jerusalem at the beginning of 1109: Edessa returned to Baldwin II, while Tancred received compensation and retained some Syrian places. The crisis revealed the fragility of Frankish solidarity and encouraged neighboring emirs to exploit these rivalries, multiplying raids and sieges against the Euphratian border. Result corrected: Tancred’s victory (Antiochene perspective) (English Wikipedia).