St Symeon
Encyclopedia
St SymeonSt Symeon (modern name Samandağ
or Suadiye
St Symeon (modern name Samandağ
or Suadiye
St Symeon (modern name Samandağ
or SuadiyeSteven Runciman, A History of the Crusades: Volume 1, The First Crusade, Cambridge University Press, 1951, p. 216) was the medieval port of Antioch
, located on the mouth of the Orontes River
.Tomas J. Rees, Antioch It may be named after Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger
, who dwelt on a mountain only six miles from St Symeon, or the original Saint Simeon Stylites, who was buried in Antioch. Seleucia Pieria had been the Roman port of Antioch, but silting and an earthquake had rendered it unusable. Control of St Symeon was important to the capture of Antioch by the Crusader
s at the end of the eleventh century.
In November 1097, the Crusaders
besieging Antioch were heartened by the appearance of reinforcements in a Genoese squadron at St Symeon, which they were then able to capture.Runciman, op. cit., p. 219 The besiegers were very short of food, and supplies from Cyprus
to St Symeon were subject to frequent attack on the road from the port to the Crusader camp. On 4 March 1098 a fleet said to be commanded by the exiled claimant to the English throne, Edgar the Ætheling, sailed into St Symeon with siege materials from Constantinople
. Another raid by the Turkish
defenders of Antioch seized the materials from the Crusaders, but the Crusaders successfully counter-attacked, killing (it was said) as many as fifteen hundred Turks.Runciman, op. cit., pp. 226-227. He stated that the fleet was commanded by Edgar, but Thomas Asbridge considered this unlikely, because in late 1097 he was still embroiled in a dispute over succession to the Scottish throne. Thomas Asbridge, The First Crusade, The Free Press, 2004, p. 188.
At the start of the Crusader period St Symeon was only a local port, but in the second half of the twelfth century Nur ed-Din and later Saladin
brought order to Moslem Syria, reviving its prosperity and opening it as a trade route to Iraq
and the Far East
. St Symeon shared in the prosperity as one of the ports used by the merchants of Aleppo
until the Mongol conquests of the thirteenth century resulted in a movement of trade routes to the north. In 1268 a Mameluk army under Baibars
captured St Symeon and then went on to destroy Antioch. The city and its port never recovered.Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Volume 3, The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades, Cambridge University Press, 1955, pp. 325-326, 354-355
St Symeon gives its name to a Crusader style of pottery.Tasha Vordestrasse, The Iconography of the Wine Drinker in 'Port St Symeon' Ware from the Crusader Era, Eastern Christian Art, Vol 2, 2005, Abstract
Samandag
Seleucia Pieria was a town in antiquity, the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima. It was the port of the western Seleucid capital of Antioch, lying close to the mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins lie at the seaside village of Çevliknear the town of Samandağ in the Hatay Province of Turkey...
or Suadiye
St Symeon (modern name Samandağ
Samandag
Seleucia Pieria was a town in antiquity, the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima. It was the port of the western Seleucid capital of Antioch, lying close to the mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins lie at the seaside village of Çevliknear the town of Samandağ in the Hatay Province of Turkey...
or Suadiye
St Symeon (modern name Samandağ
Samandag
Seleucia Pieria was a town in antiquity, the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima. It was the port of the western Seleucid capital of Antioch, lying close to the mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins lie at the seaside village of Çevliknear the town of Samandağ in the Hatay Province of Turkey...
or SuadiyeSteven Runciman, A History of the Crusades: Volume 1, The First Crusade, Cambridge University Press, 1951, p. 216) was the medieval port of Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
, located on the mouth of the Orontes River
Orontes River
The Orontes or ‘Āṣī is a river of Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.It was anciently the chief river of the Levant, also called Draco, Typhon and Axius...
.Tomas J. Rees, Antioch It may be named after Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger
Simeon Stylites the Younger
Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger [also known as 'St. Simeon of the Admirable Mountain'] is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Churches of Eastern and Latin Rites...
, who dwelt on a mountain only six miles from St Symeon, or the original Saint Simeon Stylites, who was buried in Antioch. Seleucia Pieria had been the Roman port of Antioch, but silting and an earthquake had rendered it unusable. Control of St Symeon was important to the capture of Antioch by the Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
s at the end of the eleventh century.
In November 1097, the Crusaders
Crusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
besieging Antioch were heartened by the appearance of reinforcements in a Genoese squadron at St Symeon, which they were then able to capture.Runciman, op. cit., p. 219 The besiegers were very short of food, and supplies from Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
to St Symeon were subject to frequent attack on the road from the port to the Crusader camp. On 4 March 1098 a fleet said to be commanded by the exiled claimant to the English throne, Edgar the Ætheling, sailed into St Symeon with siege materials from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. Another raid by the Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
defenders of Antioch seized the materials from the Crusaders, but the Crusaders successfully counter-attacked, killing (it was said) as many as fifteen hundred Turks.Runciman, op. cit., pp. 226-227. He stated that the fleet was commanded by Edgar, but Thomas Asbridge considered this unlikely, because in late 1097 he was still embroiled in a dispute over succession to the Scottish throne. Thomas Asbridge, The First Crusade, The Free Press, 2004, p. 188.
At the start of the Crusader period St Symeon was only a local port, but in the second half of the twelfth century Nur ed-Din and later Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
brought order to Moslem Syria, reviving its prosperity and opening it as a trade route to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
. St Symeon shared in the prosperity as one of the ports used by the merchants of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
until the Mongol conquests of the thirteenth century resulted in a movement of trade routes to the north. In 1268 a Mameluk army under Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
captured St Symeon and then went on to destroy Antioch. The city and its port never recovered.Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Volume 3, The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades, Cambridge University Press, 1955, pp. 325-326, 354-355
St Symeon gives its name to a Crusader style of pottery.Tasha Vordestrasse, The Iconography of the Wine Drinker in 'Port St Symeon' Ware from the Crusader Era, Eastern Christian Art, Vol 2, 2005, Abstract