The previous article continued tackling Pope Youhanna VI, who passed away in 1216 AD, after he headed the Church of Alexandria for 27 years. All Egyptians mourned him, and his pontificate was contemporary with the days of Sultan Salah al-Din, who died in 589 AH (1193 AD). As mentioned in a previous article, Salah al-Din divided his state during his life among his children and family members: Damascus was ruled by his eldest son, Al-Afdal Ali, and Egyptwent to the share of his son, Al-Aziz Othman, while Aleppo became under the rule of his son, Al-Zahir Ghazi.
King Al-Aziz Othman (589-595 A.H.) (1193-1198 A.D.)
He is the son of Sultan Salah al-Din Al-Ayyubi, he was called King Al-Aziz Imad Al-Din Aba Al-Fath Othman. He assumed the rule of Egypt- nominally only- during his father’s life, as his deputy and then his authority over Egypt was established after the death of his father, with the agreement of the princes, seniors and men of the state. Al-Aziz Othman was younger than his two brothers, Al-Afdal and Al-Zaher. Disagreements took place between both Al-Afdal and Al-Aziz. Historians mention that Al-Afdal was the greatest sultan after the death of his father, Salah al-Din, until he committed several mistakes, the most important of which was the appointment of Diaa al-Din al-Jazari as minister of the country, who offended the subjects. Likewise, Al-Afdal did not honor his father’s companions, so they tended to Al-Aziz. When Al-Afdal felt that, he wanted to arrest them, so they fled to Egypt, where King Al-Aziz received them and honored them.
Disagreements took place between the two brothers; Al-Aziz and Al-Afdal, as their affairs together worsened. The Franks were informed of what was going on, so they took advantage of the dispute and besieged the fortress of Jubail (Jableh) in 589 AH (or 590 AH) (1194 AD); IbnTaghri mentions: “The Franks heard of this (the dispute between Al-Aziz and Al-Afdal), so they coveted the country and besieged Jableh, where there was a group of Kurds, so the Kurds sold it to the Franks. King Al-Aziz came from Egypt, apparently to fight the Franks, while in fact he took Damascus from his brother Al-Afdal”. When Al-Afdalknew about the advance of his brother Al-Aziz towards Damascus, he sent to his uncle Al-Adel, and the princes of the East: Al-Zahir Ghazi, Muhammad Taqi Al-Din, Asad Al-Din, and others; asking them for help; so they moved on the head of their armies. Some historians believe that Al-Aziz realized that he would not be able to confront those armies, so he sought to talk to his uncle Al-Adel, and it was decided that he would return to Egypt; while others believe that he fell ill and was hindered from continuing the fight, he returned to Egypt after reconciliation with his brother Al-Afdal. It was mentioned that the kings went out to bid farewell to King Al-Aziz one after another, led by his brother King Al-Zahir then his brother Al-Afdal. King Al-Aziz Othman married his cousin, the daughter of King Al-Adel.
Afterwards, things got complicated again between the two brothers; Al-Aziz began to prepare to move towards Damascus again due to the corruption of government in the country, as King Al-Afdalleft the country affairs to his minister, Diaa Al-Din Al-Jazari and his chamberlain, Ibn Al-Ajami. Al-Afdal resorted to his uncle Al-Adel again, and he advised him to remove Minister Al-Jazari, but Al-Afdal did not listen to him. As a result, Al-Adel wrote to Al-Aziz asking him to hurry to Damascus, so he hurried to go there. But Al-Adel decided to separate himself from Al-Aziz, so he sent a letter to Al-Asadiya – the Mamluks of his uncle Asad Al-Din Shirkuh in Egypt, and granted them generously. They abandoned Al-Aziz, who decided to return to Egypt. Al-Asadiyaincited King Al-Adel to go to Egypt to seize it, so Al-Adel and Al-Afdal agreed to head to Egypt and camped in Belbeis. IbnTaghrimentiones: “Al-Adel ceased to fight, he did not witness Egypt being snatched from the hand of Al-Aziz, and he evidently shown that he did not prefer Al-Afdal for the Sultanate, nor by his preference over Al-Aziz.” King Al-Adel asked to meet Judge Al-Qadi Al-Fadel; so the judge sought to reconcile betweenKings Al-Adel and Al-Aziz, fixing what had been broken between them. Anba Severus Ibn Al-Muqaffa mentions that Al-Adel resided in Egypt for four months and… Stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
