by Marie Antonia Parsons

Created on: December 16, 2009

The First Crusade began in 1095 and ended with the creation of four Crusader kingdoms in the Holy Land.  Intended to be the only Crusade, the Europeans captured, and for fifty years held Antioch, Tyre, Edessa, and Jerusalem. They succeeded in part because at that time, the Muslims in the area had no one strong leader who could unite them. But they also eventually failed because to keep their kingdoms so far from home, they needed continuing support and supplies from the European kings and countries and from the Pope.

The Second Crusade was little more than a response to the Muslim capture of one of their kingdoms, that of Edessa. The Crusade ended with a third failed attempt by the Crusader armies to capture Damascus.

In 1144, the news came to Europe that the Turkish Muslim warrior Zengi had re-captured the city of Edessa.  Zengi had already been successful in taking back lands approaching Aleppo. Pope Eugenius issued a new call to crusade, and Louis VII of France was chosen to lead the forces. He was joined by Conrad III of Germany.

By 1147 the armies prepared to leave, and Conrad arrived in Constantinople first.  Although Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenus suggested that Conrad travel through his territories as long as possible, Conrad ignored his advice, and struck out instead into Seljuk territory, unprepared and without sufficient supplies.  When the German army stopped at Dorylaeum in north-western Asia Minor to gather water, they were ambushed by the Seljuk Turks. Their attempted retreat became a rout but Conrad and the small remnants of his forces managed to rejoin Louis’s army.

Louis’s forces heeded Manuel’s advice, and marched through Byzantine lands along the coast, giving up the aim of recovering Edessa. They received no assistance along their route from the Byzantine towns or garrisons.  By January 1148 the French, still within Byzantine lands, were desperately short of supplies and were badly harried by the Turks.

Louis and Conrad met in Acre with other Crusader nobles in late June for a council of war.  Zengi had died in 1146, and was succeeded by his son Nur al-Din. The official Crusader decision was not to retake Edessa, or even to assault Aleppo to strike at Nur al-Din, but instead, to take Damascus, the central city in Syria.  The Crusaders had unsuccessfully attempted to capture this city in 1126 and in 1129.  In July, 1148, the largest Crusader/Frankish army ever assembled, including

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