Fall of the capital to the Zengids
The
siege of Edessa
(
Arabic
,
romanized
:
fat? al-Ruh??
,
lit.
'
liberation 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
.
Background
[
edit
]
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.
The siege of Edessa
[
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]
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.
[2]
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
.
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.
[2]
Aftermath
[
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]
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.
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.
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.
[2]
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]
References
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
Primary sources
[
edit
]
- The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusaders, extracted and translated from the Chronicle of
Ibn al-Qalanisi
. Edited and translated by H. A. R. Gibb. London, 1932.
- William of Tyre
.
A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea
. Edited and translated by E. A. Babcock and A. C. Krey. Columbia University Press, 1943.
- Armenia and the Crusades, Tenth to Twelfth Centuries: The Chronicle of
Matthew of Edessa
. Translated by Ara Edmond Dostourian. National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, 1993.
Secondary sources
[
edit
]
- Ferdinandi, Sergio (2017).
La Contea Franca di Edessa. Fondazione e Profilo Storico del Primo Principato Crociato nel Levante (1098-1150)
. Pontificia Universita Antonianum - Rome.
ISBN
978-88-7257-103-3
.
- Hermes, Nizar F. (2017). "The Poet(ry) of Frankish Enchantment: The
Ifranjiyy?t
of Ibn Qaysar?n?".
Middle Eastern Literatures
.
20
(3): 267?287.
doi
:
10.1080/1475262x.2017.1385695
.
S2CID
166119010
.
- Runciman, Steven
(1952).
A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Setton, Kenneth M.
; Baldwin, Marshall W., eds. (1969) [1955].
A History of the Crusades, Volume I: The First Hundred Years
(Second ed.). Madison, Milwaukee, and London: University of Wisconsin Press.
ISBN
0-299-04834-9
.
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