The
Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. It was called in 1145, in response to the fall of the
County of EdessaThe County of Edessa was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century, based around Edessa, a city with an ancient history and an early tradition of Christianity....
the previous year to the forces of
ZengiImad ad-Din Atabeg Zengi was the son of Aq Sunqur al-Hajib, governor of Aleppo under Malik Shah I...
. The county had been founded during the
First CrusadeThe First Crusade was a military expedition by European Christians to regain the Holy Lands taken by the Muslim conquest of the Levant, which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. It was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to the appeal from Byzantine...
(1095–1099) by
Baldwin of BoulogneBaldwin I of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin I of Edessa, born Baldwin of Boulogne , 1058? - 2 April 1118, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, who became the first Count of Edessa and then the second ruler and first titled King of Jerusalem...
in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall.
The Second Crusade was announced by
Pope Eugene IIIPope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
, and was the first of the crusades to be led by European kings, namely
Louis VII of FranceLouis VII, called the Younger or the Young, , was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet...
and
Conrad III of GermanyConrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...
, with help from a number of other important European nobles. The armies of the two kings marched separately across Europe. After crossing
ByzantineThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
territory into
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
, both armies were separately defeated by the Seljuk Turks. The main Western Christian source, Odo of Deuil, and Syriac Christian sources claim that the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus secretly hindered the crusaders' progress, particularly in Anatolia where he is alleged to have deliberately ordered Turks to attack them. Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies reached
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
and, in 1148, participated in an ill-advised attack on
DamascusDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and its current population is estimated at about 1,669,000...
. The crusade in the east was a failure for the crusaders and a great victory for the
MuslimsIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. It would ultimately lead to the
fall of JerusalemThe Siege of Jerusalem took place from September 20 to October 2, 1187. It resulted in the recapture of Jerusalem by Saladin and the near total collapse of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem...
and the
Third CrusadeThe Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin ....
at the end of the 12th century.
The only success of the Second Crusade came unintentionally to a combined force of Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English, Scottish, and German crusaders in 1147. Travelling from England, by ship, to the
Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
, the army stopped and helped the Portuguese in the
capture of LisbonThe Siege of Lisbon, from July 1 to October 25, 1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Portuguese control and expelled its Moorish overlords...
, expelling its
MoorishThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
occupants.
Background: the fall of Edessa
After the
First CrusadeThe First Crusade was a military expedition by European Christians to regain the Holy Lands taken by the Muslim conquest of the Levant, which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. It was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to the appeal from Byzantine...
and the minor
Crusade of 1101The Crusade of 1101 was a minor crusade of three separate movements, organized in 1100 and 1101 in the successful aftermath of the First Crusade. It is also called the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted due to the number of participants who joined this crusade after having turned back from the First...
there were three crusader states established in the east: the
Kingdom of JerusalemThe Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christian kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. It lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks....
, the
Principality of AntiochThe Principality of Antioch, including parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria, was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade.-Foundation:...
, and the
County of EdessaThe County of Edessa was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century, based around Edessa, a city with an ancient history and an early tradition of Christianity....
. A fourth, the
County of TripoliThe County of Tripoli was the last Crusader state founded in the Levant, located in what today is known as northern Lebanon, where exists the modern city of Tripoli. The Crusader state was captured and created by Christian forces in 1109, originally held by Bertrand of Toulouse as a vassal of...
, was established in 1109. Edessa was the most northerly of these, and also the weakest and least populated; as such, it was subject to frequent attacks from the surrounding Muslim states ruled by the Ortoqids,
DanishmendsThe Danishmend dynasty was a Turcoman dynasty that ruled in north-central and eastern Anatolia in the 11th and 12th centuries. The centered originally around Sivas, Tokat, and Niksar in central-northeastern Anatolia, they extended as far west as Ankara and Kastamonu for a time, and as far south as...
, and Seljuk Turks. Count
Baldwin IIBaldwin II of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin II of Edessa, also called Baldwin of Bourcq, born Baldwin of Rethel was the second count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and the third king of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death....
and future count Joscelin of Courtenay were taken captive after their defeat at the
Battle of HarranThe Battle of Harran took place on May 7, 1104 between the Crusader states of the Principality of Antioch and the County of Edessa, and the Seljuk Turks. It was the first major battle against the newfound Crusader states in the aftermath of the First Crusade marking a key turning point against...
in 1104. Baldwin and Joscelin were both captured a second time in 1122, and although Edessa recovered somewhat after the
Battle of AzazIn the Battle of Azaz forces of the Crusader States commanded by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem defeated Aq-Sunqur il-Bursuqi's army of Seljuk Turks on June 11, 1125 and raised the siege of the town....
in 1125, Joscelin was killed in battle in 1131. His successor Joscelin II was forced into an alliance with the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
, but in 1143 both the Byzantine emperor John II Comnenus and the King of Jerusalem
Fulk of AnjouFulk , also known as Fulk the Younger, was Count of Anjou from 1109 to 1129, and King of Jerusalem from 1131 to his death. He was also the paternal grandfather of Henry II of England.-Count of Anjou:Fulk was born in Angers between 1089 and 1092, the son of Count Fulk IV of Anjou and Bertrade de...
died. Joscelin had also quarreled with the Count of Tripoli and the Prince of Antioch, leaving Edessa with no powerful allies.
Meanwhile, the Seljuk
ZengiImad ad-Din Atabeg Zengi was the son of Aq Sunqur al-Hajib, governor of Aleppo under Malik Shah I...
,
AtabegAtabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince...
of
MosulMosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad...
, had added
AleppoAleppo is a city in northern Syria, the second largest Syrian city and the capital of the Aleppo Governorate; the Governorate extends around the city for over 16,000 km² and has a population of 4,393,000, making it the largest Governorate in Syria by population...
to his rule in 1128. Aleppo was the key to power in Syria, contested between the rulers of Mosul and
DamascusDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and its current population is estimated at about 1,669,000...
. Both Zengi and King Baldwin II turned their attention towards Damascus; Baldwin was defeated outside the city in 1129. Damascus, ruled by the
Burid DynastyThe Burid dynasty was a Turkish dynasty which ruled over Damascus in the early 12th century. The first Burid ruler, Toghtekin, began as a servant to the Seljuk ruler of Damascus, Duqaq. Following Duqaq's death in 1104, he seized the city for himself. His family ruled the city until 1154, when it...
, later allied with King Fulk when Zengi besieged the city in 1139 and 1140; the alliance was negotiated by the chronicler
Usamah ibn MunqidhUsamah ibn Murshid ibn Munqidh , an Arab historian, politician, and diplomat, was one of the most important contemporary Arab chroniclers during the time of the Crusades...
.
In late 1144, Joscelin II allied with the Ortoqids and marched out of
EdessaEdessa is the historical name of a Syriac town in northern Mesopotamia, refounded on an ancient site by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
with almost his entire army to support the Ortoqid Kara Aslan against Aleppo. Zengi, already seeking to take advantage of Fulk's death in 1143, hurried north to
besiege EdessaThe Siege of Edessa took place from November 28 to December 24, 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the crusader County of Edessa to Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo.- Background :...
, which fell to him after a month on 24 December 1144.
Manasses of HiergesManasses of Hierges was an important crusader lord, and constable of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.He was the son of Hodierna of Rethel and Héribrand II of Hierges; Hodierna was a sister of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem...
,
Philip of MillyPhilip of Milly, also known as Philip of Nablus was the seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar.Philip was the son of Guy of Milly, a knight, probably from Normandy, who participated in the First Crusade, and his wife Stephanie of Flanders. Guy and Stephanie had three sons, all born in the...
and others were sent from Jerusalem to assist, but arrived too late. Joscelin II continued to rule the remnants of the county from Turbessel, but little by little the rest of the territory was captured by Muslims or sold to the Byzantines. Zengi himself was praised throughout Islam as "defender of the faith" and
al-Malik al-Mansur, "the victorious king". He did not pursue an attack on the remaining territory of Edessa, or the Principality of Antioch, as was feared. Events in Mosul compelled him to return home, and he once again set his sights on Damascus. However, he was assassinated by a slave in 1146 and was succeeded in Aleppo by his son
Nur ad-Dinal-Malik al-Adil Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud Ibn 'Imad ad-Din Zangi , also known as Nur ed-Din, Nur al-Din, etc. was a member of the Turkish Zengid dynasty which ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire...
.
Quantum praedecessores
The news of the fall of Edessa was brought back to Europe first by pilgrims early in 1145, and then by embassies from Antioch, Jerusalem, and Armenia. Bishop
Hugh of JabalaHugh of Jabala was the bishop of the Syrian town of Jabala during the 12th century. When the County of Edessa fell to Zengi in 1144, Raymond, prince of Antioch, sent Hugh to report the news to Pope Eugene III. Eugene issued the papal bull Quantum praedecessores the following year calling for the...
reported the news to
Pope Eugene IIIPope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
, who issued the
bullA Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a pope. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end to authenticate it....
Quantum praedecessoresQuantum praedecessores is a papal bull issued on December 1, 1145, by Pope Eugenius III, calling for a Second Crusade. It was the first papal bull issued with a crusade as its subject....
on 1 December of that year, calling for a second crusade. Hugh also told the Pope of an eastern Christian king, who, it was hoped, would bring relief to the crusader states: this is the first documented mention of
Prester JohnThe legends of Prester John , popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries, told of a Christian patriarch and king said to rule over a Christian nation lost amidst the Muslims and pagans in the Orient. Written accounts of this kingdom are variegated collections of medieval popular...
. Eugene did not control Rome and lived instead at
ViterboViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 100 kilometers north of Rome on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and Monti Volsini. The historic center of the city is surrounded by...
, but nevertheless the crusade was meant to be more organized and centrally controlled than the First Crusade: the armies would be led by the strongest kings of Europe and a route would be planned beforehand. The initial response to the new crusade bull was poor, and it in fact had to be reissued when it was clear that Louis VII would be taking part in the expedition.
Louis VII of FranceLouis VII, called the Younger or the Young, , was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet...
had also been considering a new expedition independently of the Pope, which he announced to his Christmas court at Bourges in 1145. It is debatable whether Louis was planning a crusade of his own or in fact a pilgrimage, as he wanted to fulfil a vow made by his brother Philip to go to the Holy Land, as he had been prevented by death. It is probable that Louis had made this decision independently of hearing about
Quantum Praedecessores. In any case,
Abbot SugerSuger was one of the last French abbot-statesmen, a historian, and the influential first patron of Gothic architecture....
and other nobles were not in favour of Louis' plans, as he would potentially be gone from the kingdom for several years. Louis consulted
Bernard of ClairvauxBernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian monastic order. After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order...
, who referred him back to Eugene. Now Louis would have definitely heard about the papal bull, and Eugene enthusiastically supported Louis' crusade. The bull was reissued on 1 March 1146, and Eugene authorized Bernard to preach the news throughout France.
Bernard of Clairvaux
The Pope commissioned Bernard to preach the Second Crusade and granted the same indulgences for it which
Pope Urban IIPope Blessed Urban II , born Otho de Lagery , was Pope from 12 March 1088 until his death...
had accorded to the
First CrusadeThe First Crusade was a military expedition by European Christians to regain the Holy Lands taken by the Muslim conquest of the Levant, which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. It was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to the appeal from Byzantine...
. A parliament was convoked at
VezelayVézelay is a commune in the Yonne département in the Bourgogne région of France.It is principally noted for Vézelay Abbey , sited here since the 9th century.-History:...
in Burgundy in 1146, and Bernard preached before the assembly on March 31st.
Louis VII of FranceLouis VII, called the Younger or the Young, , was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet...
, his wife,
Eleanor of AquitaineEleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages...
, and the princes and lords present prostrated themselves at the feet of Bernard to receive the pilgrims' cross. Bernard then passed into Germany, and the reported miracles which multiplied almost at his every step undoubtedly contributed to the success of his mission. At Speyer,
Conrad III of GermanyConrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...
and his nephew
Frederick BarbarossaFrederick I Barbarossa was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1154, and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. He was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178...
, received the cross from the hand of Bernard. Pope Eugenius came in person to France to encourage the enterprise.
For all his overmastering zeal, Bernard was by nature neither a bigot nor a persecutor. As in the First Crusade, the preaching inadvertently led to attacks on Jews; a fanatical French monk named Rudolf was apparently inspiring massacres of Jews in the Rhineland,
CologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants...
,
MainzMainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the...
,
WormsWorms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over title of "Oldest City in Germany"...
, and
SpeyerSpeyer is a city in Germany with approx. 50,000 inhabitants, located beside the river Rhine. It lies 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Its oldest known name was Civitas Nemetum, named by a Teutonic tribe, the Nemeter, settling in this area...
, with Rudolf claiming Jews were not contributing financially to the rescue of the Holy Land. Bernard, the Archbishop of Cologne and the Archbishop of Mainz were vehemently opposed to these attacks, and so Bernard traveled from Flanders to Germany to deal with the problem and quiet the mobs. Bernard then found Rudolf in Mainz and was able to silence him, returning him to his monastery.
Wendish Crusade
When the Second Crusade was called, many
south GermansThe term Southern Germany is used to describe a region in the south of Germany. There is no specific boundary to the region, but it usually includes Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern part of Hesse. The Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate are also often included...
volunteered to crusade in the
Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
. The
north GermanNorthern Germany is the geographic area in the north of Germany. The native German concept of northern Germany is called Norddeutschland.- Geography :...
Saxons were reluctant. They told St Bernard of their desire to campaign against the Slavs at a
ReichstagThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
meeting in
FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001...
on 13 March 1147. Approving of the Saxons' plan, Eugenius issued a
papal bullA Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a pope. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end to authenticate it....
known as the
Divina dispensatione on 13 April. This bull stated that there was to be no difference between the spiritual rewards of the different crusaders. Those who volunteered to crusade against the Slavs were primarily Danes,
SaxonsThe Saxons were a confederation of Old Germanic tribes. Their modern-day descendants in Lower Saxony and Westphalia and other German states are considered ethnic Germans ; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch; those in north...
, and
PolesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a Western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent. Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic...
, although there were also some
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
ns. The
Papal legateA Papal Legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the Pope to Foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
,
Anselm of HavelbergAnselm of Havelberg was a German bishop and statesman, and a secular and religious ambassador to Constantinople. He was a Premonstratensian, a defender of his order and a critic of the monastic life of his time, and a theorist of Christian history...
, was placed in overall command. The campaign itself was led by Saxon families such as the Ascanians, Wettin, and
SchauenburgersThe Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein were titles of the Holy Roman Empire. The dynastic family came from Schauenburg near Rinteln on the Weser in Germany...
.
Upset by German participation in the crusade, the
ObotritesThe Obotrites , also commonly known as the Obodrites, Abotrites, or Abodrites, were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany . For decades they were allies of Charlemagne in his wars against Germanic Saxons and Slavic...
preemptively invaded Wagria in June 1147, leading to the march of the crusaders in late summer 1147. After expelling the Obodrites from Christian territory, the crusaders targeted the Obodrite fort at
DobinDobin am See is a municipality in the district of Parchim, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.-History:The community of Dobin am See has existed since June 14, 2004, arising from a merger of the former communities Retgendorf and Rubow. The name Dobin stems from the name of a castle which the...
and the Liutizian fort at
DemminDemmin is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is the capital of the district Demmin.- Middle Ages :Demmin was a stronghold of the West Slav Circipanes during the Middle Ages. Due to its strategical importance, burghs were erected at the Vorwerk and Haus Demmin sites, named Dimin...
. The forces attacking Dobin included those of the Danes
Canute VCanute V of Denmark Canute V of Denmark Canute V of Denmark was a King of Denmark and a co-regent with Sweyn III and Valdemar I between 1146 and 1157.Canute was the son of King Niels' son Magnus, who had slain Canute Lavard, the uncle of Sweyn III...
and
Sweyn IIISven III Grathe was the king of Denmark between 1146 and 1157. He served as a co-regent with Canute V of Denmark from 1152 until 1154 and again in 1157.Sweyn was the illegitimate son of Erik II Emune and a mistress....
, Adalbert II, Archbishop of Bremen, and Duke
Henry the LionHenry the Lion was a member of the Guelph dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....
of
SaxonyThe mediæval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
. When some crusaders advocated ravaging the countryside, others objected by asking, "Is not the land we are devastating our land, and the people we are fighting our people?" The Saxon army under Henry the Lion withdrew after the pagan chief,
NiklotNiklot or Nyklot was a pagan chief of the Slavic Obotrites and an ancestor of the House of Mecklenburg. From 1131 until his death he was chief of the Obotrite confederacy, the Kissini, and the Circipani. At the same time he was Lord of Schwerin, Quetzin, and Malchow...
, agreed to have Dobin's garrison undergo
baptismIn Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted to membership of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered.The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the...
. After an unsuccessful siege of Demmin, a contingent of crusaders was diverted by the margraves to attack
PomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East. It is inhabited...
instead. They reached the already Christian city
StettinSzczecin - is the capital city of West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of the 2005 census the city had a total population of 420,638. In 2007 its population was 407,811.Szczecin is located on the...
, whereupon the crusaders dispersed after meeting with Bishop Albert of Pomerania and Prince Ratibor I of Pomerania. According to Bernard of Clairvaux, the goal of the crusade was to battle the pagan Slavs "until such a time as, by God's help, they shall either be converted or deleted". However, the crusade failed to achieve the conversion of most of the Wends. The Saxons achieved largely token conversions at Dobin, as the Slavs resorted to their pagan beliefs once the Christian armies dispersed. Albert of Pomerania explained, "If they had come to strengthen the Christian faith ... they should do so be preaching, not by arms".
By the end of the crusade, the countryside of
MecklenburgMecklenburg is a region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg....
and Pomerania was plundered and depopulated with much bloodshed, especially by the troops of Henry the Lion. This was to help bring about more Christian victories in the future decades. The Slavic inhabitants also lost much of their methods of production, limiting their resistance in the future.
Reconquista and the fall of Lisbon
In the spring of 1147, the Pope authorized the expansion of the crusade into the
Iberian peninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
, in the context of the
ReconquistaThe Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims...
. He also authorized
Alfonso VII of LeónAlfonso VII , called the Emperor, became the King of Galicia in 1111 and King of León and Castile in 1126. He was crowned "Emperor of All the Spains" in 1135. He was the son of Urraca of León and Raymond of Burgundy, the first of the House of Burgundy to rule in Hispania.Alfonso was a dignified and...
to equate his campaigns against the
MoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
with the rest of the Second Crusade. In May 1147, the first contingents of crusaders left from
DartmouthDartmouth is a town in Devon in South West England. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty .-History:Dartmouth was of...
in England for the
Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
. Bad weather forced the ships to stop on the Portuguese coast, at the northern city of
PortoPorto , also known as Oporto in English, is Portugal's second city and capital of the Norte NUTS II region. The city is located in the estuary of the Douro river in northern Portugal. The largest city in the region, Porto is considered the economic and cultural heart of the entire region...
on 16 June 1147. There they were convinced to meet with
King Afonso I of PortugalAfonso I or Alfonso I , or also Affonso or Alphonso or Alphonsus , sometimes rendered in English as Alphonzo or Alphonse, depending on the Spanish or French influence, more commonly known as Afonso Henriques , nicknamed the...
.
The crusaders agreed to help the King attack
LisbonLisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the district of Lisbon and the main city of the Lisbon region...
, with a solemn agreement that offered to them the pillage of the city's goods and the ransom money for expected prisoners. The
Siege of LisbonThe Siege of Lisbon, from July 1 to October 25, 1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Portuguese control and expelled its Moorish overlords...
lasted from 1 July to 25 October 1147 when, after four months, the Moorish rulers agreed to surrender, primarily due to hunger within the city. Most of the crusaders settled in the newly captured city, but some of them set sail and continued to the Holy Land. Some of them, who had departed earlier, helped capture
SantarémSantarém is a city in the Santarém Municipality in Portugal. The city itself has a population of 28,760 and the entire municipality has 64,124 inhabitants.It is the capital of Santarém District....
earlier in the same year. Later they also helped to conquer
SintraSintra is a town in Sintra Municipality in Portugal, located in the Grande Lisboa subregion and the Lisbon Region. The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on account of its 19th century Romantic architecture....
,
AlmadaAlmada - Arabic: حصن المعدن is a city and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 70.0 km² and a total population of 164,844 inhabitants...
,
PalmelaPalmela is a town and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of and a total population of 58,222 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in the district of Setúbal, about south of Lisbon....
and
SetúbalSetúbal is the main city in Setúbal Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.0 km² and a total population of 118,696 inhabitants in the municipality...
, and were allowed to stay in the conquered lands, where they had offspring.
Elsewhere on the Iberian Peninsula at almost at the same time, Alfonso VII of León,
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of BarcelonaRaymond Berengar IV or Ramon Berenguer IV , sometimes called the Holy, was the Count of Barcelona who effected the union between the Kingdom of Aragon and the Principality of Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon....
, and others led a mixed army of
CatalanThe territory that now constitutes the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain, and the adjoining Catalan region of France, was first settled during the Middle Palaeolithic...
and
FrenchFrance in the Middle Ages covers an area roughly corresponding to modern day France, from the death of Charlemagne in 814 to the middle of the 15th century...
crusaders against the rich port city of
AlmeríaAlmería is the capital of the province of Almería, Spain. It is located in southeastern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea.-History:The name "Almería" stems from Andalusian Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to the "The Mirror of the Sea".The city was founded by caliph Abd ar-Rahman...
. With support from a
GenoeseThe Most Serene Republic of Genoa was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast from 1005 to 1797, when it was invaded by armies of Revolutionary France under Napoleon. It was then succeeded by the Ligurian Republic, which existed until 1805 before being annexed by the...
-
PisanThe Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...
navy, the city was occupied in October 1147. Ramon Berenger then invaded the lands of the Almoravid
taifaIn the history of Iberia, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.The origins of the taifas must be...
kingdom of
ValenciaThe Christian Kingdom of Valencia , located in the Eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon...
and
MurciaMurcia is a city in south-eastern Spain, capital of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, located along the river Segura. Its current population is 433,850 , ranking seventh in Spain, and the population of the metropolitan area is 743,326, ranking ninth out of the largest metropolitan...
. In December 1148, he captured
TortosaTortosa is the capital of the comarca of Baix Ebre, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain, located at 12 metres above the sea, by the Ebre river...
after a five-month siege again with the help of French, Anglo-Normans, and Genoese crusaders. The next year,
FragaFraga is the major town of the comarca of Bajo Cinca in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. It is located by the river Cinca.King Alfonso I of Aragon died at its walls in 1134 while trying to conquer it...
,
LleidaLleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain.It had 131,731 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raïmat and Sucs...
and
MequinenzaMequinenza is a town and municipality of the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is located by the confluence of the rivers Segre and Ebro.-History & Features:...
in the confluence of the
SegreThe Segre is a river tributary to the Ebro with a basin comprising territories across three states: France, Andorra and Spain....
and
EbroThe Ebro or Ebre is Spain's most voluminous river. Its source is in Fontibre . It flows through cities such as Miranda de Ebro, Logroño, Zaragoza, Flix, Tortosa, and Amposta before discharging in a delta on the Mediterranean Sea in the province of Tarragona.-Name:The Romans named this river Iber...
rivers fell to his army.
Crusade in the East
JoscelinJoscelin II of Edessa was the fourth and last ruling count of Edessa.The young Joscelin was taken prisoner at the Battle of Azaz in 1125, but was ransomed by Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem. In 1131, his father Joscelin I was injured in battle with the Danishmends, and Edessa passed to Joscelin II...
tried to take back Edessa following Zengi's murder, but Nur ad-Din defeated him in November 1146. On 16 February 1147 the French crusaders met at
ÉtampesÉtampes is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located . south-southwest from the center of Paris...
to discuss their route. The Germans had already decided to travel overland through Hungary, as the sea route was politically impractical because Roger II, King of Sicily, was an enemy of Conrad. Many of the French nobles distrusted the land route, which would take them through the Byzantine Empire, the reputation of which still suffered from the accounts of the First Crusaders. Nevertheless it was decided to follow Conrad, and to set out on 15 June. Roger II was offended and refused to participate any longer. In France,
Abbot SugerSuger was one of the last French abbot-statesmen, a historian, and the influential first patron of Gothic architecture....
and Count William II of Nevers were elected as regents while the king would be on crusade. In Germany, further preaching was done by
Adam of EbrachAdam of Ebrach was the first abbot of Ebrach Abbey in the area of Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.Adam, originating from the parish of Cologne, is first recorded when entering the Cistercian monastery of Morimond Abbey in Burgundy...
, and
Otto of FreisingOtto von Freising was a German bishop and chronicler.-Life:He was the fifth son of Leopold III, margrave of Austria, by his wife Agnes, daughter of the emperor Henry IV...
also took the cross. On 13 March, 1147, at
FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001...
, Conrad’s son
FrederickFrederick IV of Hohenstaufen was duke of Swabia, succeeding his cousin, Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1152....
was elected king, under the regency of Henry, Archbishop of Mainz. Five years later Conrad III designated his nephew,
Frederick BarbarossaFrederick I Barbarossa was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1154, and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. He was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178...
, as his successor. The Germans planned to set out at
EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
, but did not leave until May.
German route
The German crusaders, accompanied by the
papal legateA Papal Legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the Pope to Foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
and cardinal
TheodwinTheodwine, Theodwin, Theodin, or Theodevin was the Abbot of Gorze from 1126 to 1134 and thereafter Cardinal Bishop of Santa Rufina until his death.Theodwin was the only German cardinal of his age...
, intended to meet the French in
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
.
Ottokar III of StyriaOttokar III , was Margrave of Styria from 1129 until 1164. He was the son of Leopold the Strong and father of Ottokar IV, the last of the dynasty of the Otakars. His wife was Kunigunde of Chamb-Vohburg....
joined Conrad at
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
, and Conrad's enemy
Geza II of HungaryGéza II , , King of Hungary. He ascended the throne as a child and during his minority the kingdom was governed by his mother...
allowed them to pass through unharmed. When the German army of 20,000 men arrived in Byzantine territory, Manuel feared they were going to attack him, and Byzantine troops were posted to ensure that there was no trouble. There was a brief skirmish with some of the more unruly Germans near
PhilippopolisPlovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, with a population of 380,312. Known in ancient times as Philippoupolis, it is the administrative center of Plovdiv Province in southern Bulgaria and three municipalities and Bulgaria's Yuzhen tsentralen planning region , as well as the...
and in Adrianople, where the Byzantine general Prosouch fought with Conrad’s nephew, the future emperor
FrederickFrederick I Barbarossa was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1154, and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. He was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178...
. To make things worse, some of the German soldiers were killed in a flood at the beginning of September. On 10 September, however, they arrived at Constantinople, where relations with Manuel were poor and the Germans were convinced to cross into Asia Minor as quickly as possible. Manuel wanted Conrad to leave some of his troops behind, to assist in defending against attacks from Roger II, who had taken the opportunity to plunder the cities of Greece, but Conrad did not agree, despite being a fellow enemy of Roger. In Asia Minor, Conrad decided not to wait for the French, and marched towards Iconium, capital of the Seljuk
Sultanate of RümThe Sultanate of Rûm was the continuation of the Great Seljuq Empire in Anatolia, in direct lineage from 1077 to 1307, with capitals first at İznik and then at Konya. Since the court of the sultanate was highly mobile, cities like Kayseri and Sivas also functioned at times as capitals...
. Conrad split his army into two divisions. The king led one of these, which was almost totally destroyed by the Seljuks on 25 October 1147 at the
second battle of DorylaeumThe second Battle of Dorylaeum took place at Dorylaeum on October 25, 1147, during the Second Crusade. Conrad III, running out of provisions, stopped there to rest, and his army of 20,000 men was annihilated by the Sejuk Turks led by Mesud I...
.
In battle, the Turks used their typical tactic of pretending to retreat, and then returning to attack the small force of German cavalry which had separated from the main army to chase them. Conrad began a slow retreat back to Constantinople, and his army was harassed daily by the Turks, who attacked stragglers and defeated the rearguard. Even Conrad was wounded in a skirmish with them. The other division, led by the King's half-brother, Bishop Otto of Freising, had marched south to the Mediterranean coast and was similarly defeated early in 1148.
French route
The French crusaders had departed from
MetzMetz is a city in the northeast of France, capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. It is located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers....
in June 1147, led by Louis, Thierry of Alsace,
Renaut I of BarReginald I was Count of Bar . Barrois, during the Middle Ages, was the territory of the counts and dukes of Bar, in the eastern part of present-day France, bordering Lorraine....
,
Amadeus III of SavoyAmadeus III of Savoy was Count of Savoy and Maurienne from 1103 until his death. He was also known as the Crusader. He was the son of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, the daughter of William I of Burgundy. He succeeded as count of Savoy upon the death of his father...
and his half-brother William V of Montferrat, William VII of
AuvergneAuvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne...
, and others, along with armies from
LorraineLorraine is a historical area in present-day northeast France. Some of the main cities are Metz, Nancy and Verdun.-Lotharingia:Lorraine was originally an independent kingdom. It was created in 843, when the Carolingian empire was divided between the three sons of Louis the Pious...
,
BrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Brittany was previously a kingdom and then as a duchy it was a fief of the Kingdom of France. It was at one time called Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
,
BurgundyThe Duchy of Burgundy was a feudal territory in Medieval Europe. It roughly conforms to the modern Bourgogne, although it grew to have considerable possessions in the Low Countries as well...
, and
AquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger...
. A force from
ProvenceProvence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, led by Alphonse of Toulouse, chose to wait until August, and to cross by sea. At
WormsWorms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over title of "Oldest City in Germany"...
, Louis joined with crusaders from
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
and England. They followed Conrad’s route fairly peacefully, although Louis came into conflict with Geza of Hungary when Geza discovered Louis had allowed an attempted Hungarian usurper to join his army. Relations within Byzantine territory were also grim, and the Lorrainers, who had marched ahead of the rest of the French, also came into conflict with the slower Germans whom they met on the way.
Since the original negotiations between Louis and Manuel, Manuel had broken off his military campaign against the
Sultanate of RümThe Sultanate of Rûm was the continuation of the Great Seljuq Empire in Anatolia, in direct lineage from 1077 to 1307, with capitals first at İznik and then at Konya. Since the court of the sultanate was highly mobile, cities like Kayseri and Sivas also functioned at times as capitals...
, signing a truce with his enemy Sultan Mesud I. This was done so that Manuel would be free to concentrate on defending his empire from the Crusaders, who had gained a reputation for theft and treachery since the
First CrusadeThe First Crusade was a military expedition by European Christians to regain the Holy Lands taken by the Muslim conquest of the Levant, which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. It was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to the appeal from Byzantine...
and were widely suspected of harbouring sinister designs on
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
. Nevertheless, Manuel's relations with the French army were somewhat better than with the Germans, and Louis was entertained lavishly in Constantinople. Some of the French were outraged by Manuel's truce with the Seljuks and called for an alliance with Roger II and an attack on Constantinople, but they were restrained by Louis.
When the armies from Savoy,
AuvergneAuvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne...
, and
MontferratMontferrat is part of the region of Piedmont in Northern Italy. It comprises roughly the modern provinces of Alessandria and Asti. Montferrat is one of the most important wine districts of Italy...
joined Louis in Constantinople, having taken the land route through Italy and crossing from
BrindisiBrindisi is an ancient city in the Italian region of Apulia, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.-Ancient times:...
to Durazzo, the entire army was shipped across the
BosporusThe Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between the European part of Turkey and its Asian part . It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
to Asia Minor. The Greeks were encouraged by rumours that the Germans had captured Iconium, but Manuel refused to give Louis any Byzantine troops. Byzantium had just been invaded by
Roger II of SicilyRoger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily...
, and all of Manuel's army was needed in the Balkans. Both the Germans and French therefore entered Asia without any Byzantine assistance, unlike the armies of the First Crusade. In the tradition set by his grandfather
Alexios IAlexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and the founder of the Komnenian dynasty...
, Manuel also had the French swear to return to the Empire any territory they captured. The French met the remnants of Conrad's army at Nicaea, and Conrad joined Louis' force. They followed Otto of Freising's route, moving closer to the Mediterranean coast, and they arrived at
EphesusEphesus was an ancient Roman and Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek period....
in December, where they learned that the Turks were preparing to attack them. Manuel also sent ambassadors complaining about the pillaging and plundering that Louis had done along the way, and there was no guarantee that the Byzantines would assist them against the Turks. Meanwhile Conrad fell sick and returned to Constantinople, where Manuel attended to him personally, and Louis, paying no attention to the warnings of a Turkish attack, marched out from Ephesus with the French and German survivors. The Turks were indeed waiting to attack, but in a small battle outside Ephesus, the French were victorious.
They reached
LaodiceaDenizli is a growing industrial city in the eastern end of the alluvial valley formed by the river Büyük Menderes, where the plain reaches an elevation of about a hundred meters, in southwestern Turkey, in the country's Aegean Region....
early in January 1148, around the same time Otto of Freising’s army had been destroyed in the same area. Resuming the march, the vanguard under Amadeus of Savoy became separated from the rest of the army at
Mount CadmusTopçambaba Dağı is a mountain in Aydın Province, Turkey.Cadmus or Cadmos was the ancient Greek name; it was then in Phrygia Magna. In antiquity, the sides were well wooded. A river Cadmus flowed from the mountain that flowed into the Lycus, a tributary of the Maeander....
, and Louis’ troops suffered heavy losses from the Turks. Louis himself, according to
Odo of DeuilOdo, Odon, or Eudes of Deuil was an historian and participant of the Second Crusade .Born at Deuil to a modest family, he became a monk and was a confidant of Suger, abbot of Saint-Denis...
, climbed a rock and was ignored by the Turks, who did not recognize him. The Turks did not bother to attack further and the French marched on to Adalia, continually harassed from afar by the Turks, who had also burned the land to prevent the French from replenishing their food, both for themselves and their horses. Louis no longer wanted to continue by land, and it was decided to gather a fleet at Adalia and sail for Antioch. After being delayed for a month by storms, most of the promised ships did not arrive at all. Louis and his associates claimed the ships for themselves, while the rest of the army had to resume the long march to Antioch. The army was almost entirely destroyed, either by the Turks or by sickness.
Journey to Jerusalem
Louis eventually arrived in Antioch on March 19 after being delayed by storms; Amadeus of Savoy had died on
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
along the way. Louis was welcomed by Eleanor’s uncle
Raymond of PoitiersRaymond of Poitiers was Prince of Antioch 1136–1149. He was the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and his wife Philippa, Countess of Toulouse, born in the very year that his father the Duke began his infamous liaison with Dangereuse de Chatelherault.-Assumes control:Following the...
. Raymond expected him to help defend against the Turks and to accompany him on an expedition against Aleppo, the Muslim city that was the gateway to Edessa, but Louis refused, preferring instead to finish his pilgrimage to Jerusalem rather than focus on the military aspect of the crusade. Eleanor enjoyed her stay, but her uncle implored her to remain to enlarge family lands and divorce Louis if the king refused to help what was assuredly the military cause of the Crusade. Louis quickly left Antioch for
TripoliThe County of Tripoli was the last Crusader state founded in the Levant, located in what today is known as northern Lebanon, where exists the modern city of Tripoli. The Crusader state was captured and created by Christian forces in 1109, originally held by Bertrand of Toulouse as a vassal of...
with Eleanor in arrest. Meanwhile,
Otto of FreisingOtto von Freising was a German bishop and chronicler.-Life:He was the fifth son of Leopold III, margrave of Austria, by his wife Agnes, daughter of the emperor Henry IV...
and the remnant of his troops arrived in Jerusalem early in April, and Conrad soon after.
FulkFulk or Fulcher of Angoulême was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1146 to his death in 1157.Fulk came from Angoulême. According to William of Tyre, he was "religious and God-fearing, possessed of little learning, but a faithful man and a lover of discipline." In France he had been abbot of...
,
Patriarch of JerusalemThe Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the title possessed by the Latin Rite Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem. The Archdiocese of Jerusalem has jurisdiction for all Latin Rite Catholics in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus. In Jerusalem, the Catholic community is the largest Christian community,...
, was sent to invite Louis to join them. The fleet that had stopped at Lisbon arrived around this time, as well as the Provençals who had left Europe under the command of Alfonso Jordan,
Count of ToulouseThe first comites of Toulouse were the administrators of the city and its environs under the Merovingians. No succession of such royal appointees is known, though a few names survive to the present...
. Alphonso himself did not make it to Jerusalem as he died at Caesarea. He was supposedly poisoned either by Eleanor of Aquitaine or
Raymond II of TripoliRaymond II of Tripoli was count of Tripoli from 1137 to 1152.He was the son of Pons of Tripoli and Cecile of France. In 1137, he married Hodierna of Rethel, daughter of Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem. Later that year, he succeeded his father, after Pons was killed in a battle with the army of...
, the nephew who feared his political aspirations in the county. The original focus of the crusade was
EdessaEdessa is the historical name of a Syriac town in northern Mesopotamia, refounded on an ancient site by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
, but the preferred target of
King Baldwin IIIBaldwin III of Jerusalem was king of Jerusalem from 1143–1162. He was the eldest son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem, and the grandson of Baldwin II of Jerusalem.-Succession:...
and the
Knights TemplarThe Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar or the Order of the Temple , were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
was
DamascusDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and its current population is estimated at about 1,669,000...
.
Council of Acre
The nobility of Jerusalem welcomed the arrival of troops from Europe, and it was announced that a council should meet to decide on the best target for the crusaders. This took place on 24 June 1148, when the
Haute Cour of JerusalemThe Haute Cour was the feudal council of the kingdom of Jerusalem. It was sometimes also called the curia generalis, the curia regis, or, rarely, the parlement.-Composition of the court:...
met with the recently-arrived crusaders from Europe at Palmarea, near Acre, a major city of the crusader
Kingdom of JerusalemThe Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christian kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. It lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks....
. This was the most spectacular meeting of the Cour in its existence.
In the end, the decicion was made to attack the city of Damascus, an former ally of the Kingdom of Jerusalem that had shifted its allegiance to that of the Zengids and attacked the Kingdom's allied city of Bosra in 1147.
In July their armies assembled at
TiberiasTiberias is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Lower Galilee, Israel. Established in 20 CE, it was named in honour of the emperor Tiberius. Since the sixteenth century, Tiberias has been considered one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed...
and marched to Damascus, around the
Sea of GalileeThe Sea of Galilee, also Lake of Gennesaret, Lake Kinneret or Sea of Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, being approximately 53 km in circumference, about 21 km long, and 13 km wide. The lake has a total area of 166 km², and a maximum depth of approximately...
by way of Banyas. There were perhaps 50,000 troops in total.
Siege of Damascus
The crusaders decided to attack Damascus from the west, where
orchardAn orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive purpose...
s would provide them with a constant food supply. They arrived at Daraiya on 23 July. The following day, the Muslims were prepared for the attack and constantly attacked the army advancing through the orchards outside Damascus. The defenders had sought help from
Saif ad-Din Ghazi ISaif ad-Din Ghazi I the Emir of Mosul from 1146 to 1149, was the eldest son of Zengi of Mosul, and the elder brother of Nur ad-Din. After the death of Zengi in 1146 Saif ad-Din succeeded his father in Mosul and the Jezirah while Nur ad-Din succeeded in Aleppo. In 1148 he marched south to help...
of
AleppoAleppo is a city in northern Syria, the second largest Syrian city and the capital of the Aleppo Governorate; the Governorate extends around the city for over 16,000 km² and has a population of 4,393,000, making it the largest Governorate in Syria by population...
and
Nur ad-Dinal-Malik al-Adil Nur ad-Din Abu al-Qasim Mahmud Ibn 'Imad ad-Din Zangi , also known as Nur ed-Din, Nur al-Din, etc. was a member of the Turkish Zengid dynasty which ruled the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire...
of
MosulMosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad...
, who personally led an attack on the crusader camp. The crusaders were pushed back from the walls into the orchards, where they were prone to ambushes and guerrilla attacks.
According to
William of TyreWilliam of Tyre was Archbishop of Tyre and a chronicler of the Crusades and the Middle Ages. He is also known as William II to distinguish him from William of Malines, the first Archbishop of Tyre by that name...
, on 27 July the crusaders decided to move to the plain on the eastern side of the city, which was less heavily fortified but had much less food and water. It was recorded by some that Unur had bribed the leaders to move to a less defensible position, and that Unur had promised to break off his alliance with Nur ad-Din if the crusaders went home. Meanwhile Nur ad-Din and Saif ad-Din had by now arrived. With Nur ad-Din in the field it was impossible to return to their better position. The local crusader lords refused to carry on with the siege, and the three kings had no choice but to abandon the city. First Conrad, then the rest of the army, decided to retreat back to Jerusalem on 28 July, though for their entire retreat they were followed by Turkish archers who constantly harassed them. While in retreat in Jerusalem, the French got word of the beheading of Raymond, King of Antioch by the enemy, a major blow for the crusade.
Aftermath
Each of the Christian forces felt betrayed by the other. A new plan was made to attack
AscalonAshkelon or Ashqelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Bronze Age...
and Conrad took his troops there, but no further help arrived, due to the lack of trust that had resulted from the failed siege. This mutual distrust would linger for a generation due to the defeat, to the ruin of the Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land. After quitting Ascalon, Conrad returned to Constantinople to further his alliance with Manuel. Louis remained behind in Jerusalem until 1149.
Back in Europe, Bernard of Clairvaux was humiliated by the defeat. Bernard considered it his duty to send an apology to the Pope and it is inserted in the second part of his
Book of Consideration. There he explains how the sins of the crusaders were the cause of their misfortune and failures. When his attempt to call a new crusade failed, he tried to disassociate himself from the fiasco of the Second Crusade altogether. He would die in 1153.
The Wendish Crusade achieved mixed results. While the Saxons affirmed their possession of Wagria and Polabia, pagans retained control of the Obodrite land east of Lübeck. The Saxons also received tribute from Chief Niklot, enabled the colonization of the
Bishopric of HavelbergThe Bishopric of Havelberg was a Roman Catholic diocese founded by King Otto I, King of the Germans, in 946. The diocese was suffragan to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Its most famous bishop was Anselm of Havelberg. Its seat was in Havelberg in the Northern March and it roughly covered the...
, and freed some Danish prisoners. However, the disparate Christian leaders regarded their counterparts with suspicion and accused each other of sabotaging the campaign. In Iberia, the campaigns in Spain, along with the siege of Lisbon, were some of the few Christian victories of the Second Crusade. They are seen as pivotal battles of the wider Reconquista, which would be completed in 1492.
In the East the situation was much darker for the Christians. In the Holy Land, the Second Crusade had disastrous long-term consequences for Jerusalem. Damascus no longer trusted the crusader kingdom, and the city was handed over to Nur ad-Din in 1154. Baldwin III finally
seized AscalonThe Siege of Ascalon took place in 1153, resulting in the capture of that Egyptian fortress by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Background:...
in 1153, which brought
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
into the sphere of conflict. Jerusalem was able to make further advances into Egypt, briefly occupying Cairo in the 1160s. However, relations with the Byzantine Empire were mixed, and reinforcements from Europe were sparse after the disaster of the Second Crusade. King Amalric I of Jerusalem allied with the Byzantines and participated in a combined invasion of Egypt in 1169, but the expedition ultimately failed. In 1171,
SaladinṢalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim who became the Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
, nephew of one of Nur ad-Din's generals, was proclaimed Sultan of Egypt, uniting Egypt and Syria and completely surrounding the crusader kingdom. Meanwhile the Byzantine alliance ended with the death of emperor Manuel I in 1180, and in 1187,
Jerusalem capitulatedThe Siege of Jerusalem took place from September 20 to October 2, 1187. It resulted in the recapture of Jerusalem by Saladin and the near total collapse of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem...
to Saladin. His forces then spread north to capture all but the capital cities of the Crusader States, precipitating the
Third CrusadeThe Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin ....
.
Further reading
Primary sources
- Osbernus. De expugniatione Lyxbonensi. The Conquest of Lisbon. Edited and translated by Charles Wendell David. Columbia University Press, 1936.
- Odo of Deuil
Odo, Odon, or Eudes of Deuil was an historian and participant of the Second Crusade .Born at Deuil to a modest family, he became a monk and was a confidant of Suger, abbot of Saint-Denis...
. De profectione Ludovici VII in orientem. Edited and translated by Virginia Gingerick Berry. Columbia University Press, 1948.
- Otto of Freising
Otto von Freising was a German bishop and chronicler.-Life:He was the fifth son of Leopold III, margrave of Austria, by his wife Agnes, daughter of the emperor Henry IV...
. Gesta Friderici I Imperatoris. The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa. Edited and translated by Charles Christopher Mierow. Columbia University Press, 1953.
- The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusaders, extracted and translated from the Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi
Hamza ibn Asad abu Ya'la ibn al-Qalanisi was an Arab politician and chronicler in Damascus in the 12th century.He descended from the Banu Tamim tribe, and was among the well-educated nobility of the city of Damascus...
. Edited and translated by H. A. R. Gibb. London, 1932.
- O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniatēs
Niketas or Nicetas Choniates , sometimes called Acominatus, was a Byzantine Greek historian like his brother Michael, whom he accompanied from their birthplace Chonae to Constantinople.- Life :...
, trans. Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.
- John Cinnamus, Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus, trans. Charles M. Brand. Columbia University Press, 1976.
Secondary sources
- Kenneth Setton, ed. A History of the Crusades, vol. I. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958 (available online).
- Gervers, Michael, ed. The Second Crusade and the Cistercians. St. Martin's Press, 1992.
- Phillips, Jonathan, and Martin Hoch, eds. The Second Crusade: Scope and Consequences. Manchester University Press, 2001.
- Villegas-Aristizábal, Lucas, "Anglo-Norman involvement in the conquest of Tortosa and Settlement of Tortosa, 1148–1180", Crusades, 8, Aldeshot, 2009, pp. 65–129.
External links