The Second Crusade (jan 1, 1144 – dec 1, 1150)

Description:

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 King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall.

In 1144 CE the city of Edessa in Upper Mesopotamia was captured by the Muslim Seljuk leader Imad ad-Din Zangi (r. 1127-1146 CE), the independent ruler of Mosul (in Iraq) and Aleppo (in Syria), and many Christians were killed or enslaved. This would spark off another crusade to get it back again. The German king Conrad III (r. 1138-1152 CE) and Louis VII, the king of France (r. 1137-1180 CE), led the Second Crusade of 1147-9 CE, but this royal seal of approval did not bring success. Zangi’s death only brought an even more determined figure on the scene, his successor Nur ad-Din (sometimes also given as Nur al-Din, r. 1146-1174 CE), who sought to bind the Muslim world together in a holy war against the Christians in the Levant. Two big defeats at the hands of the Seljuks in 1147 and 1148 CE knocked the stuffing out of the Crusader army, and their last-ditch attempt to salvage something honourable from the campaign, a siege of Damascus in June 1148 CE, was another miserable failure. The next year Nur ad-Din captured Antioch, and the County of Edessa ceased to exist by 1150 CE.

Added to timeline:

Date:

Images: