After the capture of Antioch (June 1098) and the destruction of Ma'arrat al-Numan (13 January 1099), the Syrian emirs were terrified of the advancing crusaders and quickly handed over their cities to the Franks.

On 14 January Sultan ibn Munqidh, emir of Shaizar, dispatched an embassy to Raymond IV of Toulouse, one of the leaders of the crusade, to offer provisions and food for men and horses, as well as guides to Jerusalem.

The qadi of Tripoli, Jalal al-Mulk, from the Banu Ammar, sent rich gifts and invited the Franks to send an embassy to his city.

The crusades moved on to Arqa, which they besieged from 14 February to 13 May, before continuing south to Jerusalem; they did not attack Tripoli or any other possessions of the Banu Ammar.

Fakhr al-Mulk, qadi of Tripoli, was not as accommodating to Raymond as his predecessor had been, and called for assistance from Duqaq of Damascus and the governor of Homs.

However, the troops from Damascus and Homs defected once they reached Tripoli, and the qadi was defeated at the beginning of April, losing seven thousand men.

Fakhr al-Mulk, left to wait for help from the Seljuk sultan Mehmed I, went to Baghdad at the end of March with five hundred troops and many gifts.

Bertrand, Raymond IV's illegitimate son, had William-Jordan assassinated in 1110 and claimed two-thirds of the city for himself, with the other third falling to the Genoans.