| Siege of Edessa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Crusades | |||||||
 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| County of Edessa | Zengids | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Archbishop Hugh † Bishop Basil bar Shumna Bishop John | Imad al-Din Zengi | ||||||
The siege of Edessa took place from 28 November to 24 December 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the County of Edessa to Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. This event was the catalyst for the Second Crusade.
The County of Edessa was the first of the Crusader states to be established during and after the First Crusade. It dates from 1098 when Baldwin of Boulogne left the main army of the First Crusade and founded a principality.
Edessa was the most northerly, the weakest, and the least populated. As such, it was subject to frequent attacks from the surrounding Muslim states ruled by the Artuqids, Danishmends, and Seljuk Turks. Count Baldwin II and future count Joscelin of Courtenay were taken captive after their defeat at the Battle of Harran in 1104. Joscelin was captured a second time in 1122, and although Edessa recovered somewhat after the Battle of Azaz in 1125, Joscelin was killed in battle in 1131. His successor Joscelin II was forced into an alliance with the Byzantine Empire, but in 1143, both the Byzantine emperor John II Comnenus and Fulk of Jerusalem died. John II was succeeded by his son Manuel I Comnenus, who had to deal with consolidating power at home against his elder brothers, while Fulk was succeeded by his wife Melisende and his son Baldwin III. Joscelin had also quarreled with Raymond II of Tripoli and Raymond of Poitiers, leaving Edessa with no powerful allies.
In 1144, Joscelin was able to make an alliance with Kara Arslan, the Artuqid ruler of Diyarbakır, against the growing power and influence of Zengi. Joscelin marched out of Edessa with almost his entire army to support Kara Aslan against Aleppo. Zengi, already seeking to take advantage of Fulk's death in 1143, hurried north to besiege Edessa, arriving on November 28. The city had been warned of his arrival and was prepared for a siege, but there was little they could do while Joscelin and the army were elsewhere. [1]
The defense of the city was led by the Latin Archbishop Hugh of Edessa, the Armenian Bishop John, and the Jacobite Bishop Basil bar Shumna. John and Basil ensured that no native Christians would desert to Zengi. When Joscelin heard of the siege, he took the army to Turbessel, knowing that he could never dislodge Zengi without help from the other crusader states. In Jerusalem, Queen Melisende responded to Joscelin's appeal by sending an army led by Manasses of Hierges, Philip of Milly, and Elinand of Bures. Raymond of Poitiers ignored the call for help, as his army was already occupied against the Byzantine Empire in Cilicia. [2]
Zengi surrounded the entire city, realizing that no army was defending it. He built siege engines and began to mine the walls, while his forces were joined by Kurdish and Turcoman reinforcements. The inhabitants of Edessa resisted as much as they could but had no experience in siege warfare; the city's numerous towers remained undefended. They also did not know counter-mining, and part of the wall near the Gate of the Hours collapsed on December 24. Zengi's troops rushed into the city, killing all those who were unable to flee to the citadel. Thousands more were suffocated or trampled to death in the panic, including Archbishop Hugh. Zengi ordered his men to stop the massacre, although all the Latin prisoners that he had taken were executed; the native Christians were allowed to live freely. The citadel was handed over on December 26. One of Zengi's commanders, Zayn ad-Din Ali Kutchuk, was appointed governor, while Bishop Basil, apparently willing to give his loyalty to whoever ruled the city, was recognized as leader of the Christian population. [1]
In January 1145, Zengi captured Saruj and besieged Birejik, but the army of Jerusalem had finally arrived and joined with Joscelin. Zengi also heard of trouble in Mosul and rushed back to take control. The Islamic world praised him as a "defender of the faith" and al-Malik al-Mansur, the victorious king. Ibn al-Qaysarani praised his victory in a rhyming panegyric. [3] He did not pursue an attack on the remaining territory of Edessa or the Principality of Antioch, as was feared. Joscelin II continued to rule the remnants of the county to the west of the Euphrates from Turbessel, but little by little, the rest of the territory was captured by the Muslims or sold to the Byzantines. [2]
Zengi was assassinated by an enslaved person in 1146 while besieging Qalat Jabar and was succeeded in Aleppo by his son Nur ad-Din. Joscelin attempted to take back Edessa following Zengi's murder and recaptured all but the citadel in October 1146. However, he had no help from the other crusader states, and his poorly planned expedition was driven out of Edessa by Nur ad-Din in November. Joscelin, fearing for the safety of the city's Christian Armenians, attempted to break a hole in Nur ad-Din's forces through which the natives could flee to safety. However, Joscelin's attempt failed, and his fears came true when Nur al-Din's troops massacred the fleeing Armenians and forced the survivors into slavery. [1]
By this time, news of the fall of Edessa reached Europe, and Raymond of Poitiers had already sent a delegation including Hugh, Bishop of Jabala, to seek aid from Eugene III. On 1 December 1145, Eugene issued the papal bull Quantum praedecessores calling for the Second Crusade. This crusade was led by Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, but by 1148, it had ended in disaster, and Edessa was never recovered. [4]
Year 1144 (MCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
The Second Crusade (1147–1150) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade (1096–1099) by the future King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall.
Baldwin III was King of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163. He was the eldest son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem. He became king while still a child, and was at first overshadowed by his mother Melisende, whom he eventually defeated in a civil war. During his reign Jerusalem became more closely allied with the Byzantine Empire, and the Second Crusade tried and failed to conquer Damascus. Baldwin captured the important Egyptian fortress of Ascalon, but also had to deal with the increasing power of Nur ad-Din in Syria. He died childless and was succeeded by his brother Amalric.
Imad al-Din Zengi, also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was a Turkoman atabeg of the Seljuk Empire, who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake and founder of the Zengid dynasty of atabegs.
Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Zengī, commonly known as Nur ad-Din, was a Turkoman member of the Zengid dynasty, who ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. He reigned from 1146 to 1174. He is regarded as an important figure of the Second Crusade.
Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq or Bourg, was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the First Crusade. He succeeded Baldwin of Boulogne as the second count of Edessa when he left the county for Jerusalem following his brother's death. He was captured at the Battle of Harran in 1104. He was held first by Sökmen of Mardin, then by Jikirmish of Mosul, and finally by Jawali Saqawa. During his captivity, Tancred, the Crusader ruler of the Principality of Antioch, and Tancred's cousin, Richard of Salerno, governed Edessa as Baldwin's regents.
The County of Edessa was a 12th-century Crusader state in Upper Mesopotamia. Its seat was the city of Edessa.
The Principality of Antioch was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It extended around the northeastern edge of the Mediterranean, bordering the County of Tripoli to the south, Edessa to the east, and the Byzantine Empire or the Kingdom of Armenia to the northwest, depending on the date.
Joscelin I was a Frankish nobleman of the House of Courtenay who ruled as the lord of Turbessel, prince of Galilee (1112–1119) and count of Edessa (1118–1131). The County of Edessa reached its zenith during his rule. Captured twice, Joscelin continued to expand his county, even participating in the Battle of Azaz in 1125. Gravely injured during the collapse of a sapper mine, Joscelin marched his army to relieve the besieged fortress of Kaysun, and died soon after.
Raymond II was count of Tripoli from 1137 to 1152. He succeeded his father, Pons, who was killed during a campaign that a commander from Damascus launched against Tripoli. Raymond accused the local Christians of betraying his father and invaded their villages in the Mount Lebanon area. He also had many of them tortured and executed. Raymond was captured during an invasion by Imad ad-Din Zengi, atabeg of Mosul, who gained the two important castles of Montferrand and Rafaniya in exchange for his release in the summer of 1137.
Joscelin II was the fourth and last ruling count of Edessa. He was son of his predecessor, Joscelin I, and Beatrice, daughter of Constantine I of Armenia.
Constance of Hauteville (1128–1163) was the ruling princess of Antioch from 1130 to 1163. She was the only child of Bohemond II of Antioch and Alice of Jerusalem. Constance succeeded her father at the age of two after he fell in battle, although his cousin Roger II of Sicily laid claim to Antioch. Alice assumed the regency, but the Antiochene noblemen replaced her with her father, Baldwin II of Jerusalem. After he died in 1131, Alice again tried to take control of the government, but the Antiochene barons acknowledged the right of her brother-in-law Fulk of Anjou to rule as regent for Constance.
The Battle of Inab, also called Battle of Ard al-Hâtim or Fons Muratus, was fought on 29 June 1149, during the Second Crusade. The Zengid army of the atabeg Nur al-Din Zengi destroyed the combined army of Prince Raymond of Antioch and the Assassins of Ali ibn-Wafa. The prince was killed, and the Principality of Antioch was subsequently pillaged and reduced in size as its eastern border was pushed west.
Alice of Jerusalem was a Princess consort of Antioch by marriage to Bohemond II of Antioch. She engaged in a longlasting power struggle during the reign of her daughter Constance of Antioch.
The Council of Acre met at Palmarea, near Acre, a major city of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, on 24 June 1148. The Haute Cour of Jerusalem met with recently arrived crusaders from Europe, to decide on the best target for the crusade. The Second Crusade had been called after the fall of Edessa to Zengi in 1144. In 1147, armies led by Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France began their separate journeys to the east. Conrad arrived at Acre in April 1148, and Louis marched south from Antioch.
In the Battle of Ba'rin in 1137, a Crusader force commanded by King Fulk of Jerusalem was scattered and defeated by Zengi, the Atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. This setback resulted in the permanent loss of the Crusader castle of Montferrand in Baarin.
The siege of Shaizar took place from April 28 to May 21, 1138. The allied forces of the Byzantine Empire, Principality of Antioch and County of Edessa invaded Muslim Syria. Having been repulsed from their main objective, the city of Aleppo, the combined Christian armies took a number of fortified settlements by assault and finally besieged Shaizar, the capital of the Munqidhite Emirate. The siege captured the city, but failed to take the citadel; it resulted in the Emir of Shaizar paying an indemnity and becoming the vassal of the Byzantine emperor. The forces of Zengi, the greatest Muslim prince of the region, skirmished with the allied army but it was too strong for them to risk battle. The campaign underlined the limited nature of Byzantine suzerainty over the northern Crusader states and the lack of common purpose between the Latin princes and the Byzantine emperor.
The timeline of the Principality of Antioch is a chronological list of events of the history of the Principality of Antioch.
Beatrice of Saone was countess consort of Edessa from 1134 to 1150 by marriage to Count Joscelin II of Edessa. She served as regent of the remnants of the County of Edessa in the absence of her spouse in 1150.
Gündoğan, historically Turbessel, is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Oğuzeli, Gaziantep Province, Turkey. Its population is 374 (2022). It was originally a fortress that played an important role in the Crusades, remnant of which is a tumulus.