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EspañolSIEGE OF DAMASCUS
The 'Siege of Damascus' took place over only four days, from July 23 to July 27, 1148, during the Second Crusade.
Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, embarking on crusade after the fall of the County of Edessa, both faced disastrous marches across Anatolia in 1147 and 1148. Most of their armies were lost; Louis abandoned his troops and travelled by ship to Antioch, where his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine’s uncle, Raymond, was prince. Raymond expected him to offer military assistance against the Seljuk Turks threatening the Principality, but Louis refused and hastened to Jerusalem. Conrad, stricken by illness, had earlier returned to Constantinople, but arrived in Jerusalem a few weeks later in April of 1148.
The original focus of the crusade was Edessa, but in Jerusalem, the preferred target of King Baldwin III and the Knights Templar was Damascus. The Haute Cour met at Acre on June 24, with magnates from France, Germany, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem in attendance: the greatest assembly of nobles in Jerusalem’s history. Both Louis and Conrad were persuaded to attack Damascus, although many of the nobles of Jerusalem considered this plan foolish, as the Burid dynasty of Damascus, though Muslim, were their allies against the Zengid dynasty. Zengi had besieged the city in 1140, and Mu'in ad-Din Unur, a Mameluk acting as vizier for the young Mujir ud-Din Abaq, negotiated an alliance with Jerusalem through the chronicler Usamah ibn Munqidh. Conrad, Louis, and Baldwin insisted, however; Damascus was a holy city for Christianity, like Jerusalem and Antioch, and would be a noteworthy prize in the eyes of European Christians. In July their armies assembled at Tiberias and marched to Damascus, around the Sea of Galilee by way of Banyas. There were perhaps 50 000 troops in total.
The crusaders decided to attack Damascus from the west, where orchards would provide them with a constant food supply. They arrived at Daraiya on July 23, with the army of Jerusalem in the vanguard, followed by Louis and then Conrad in the rearguard. The Muslims were prepared for the attack and constantly attacked the army advancing through the orchards outside Damascus on July 24. The orchards were defended by towers and walls and the crusaders were constantly pelted with arrows and lances along the narrow paths. Thanks to a charge by Conrad, the crusaders managed to fight their way through and chase the defenders back across the Barada River and into Damascus. Having arrived outside the walls of the city, they immediately put it to siege, using wood from the orchards. Inside the city the inhabitants barricaded the major streets, preparing for what they believed to be an inevitable assault.
Unur had sought help from Saif ad-Din Ghazi I of Aleppo and Nur ad-Din of Mosul, and 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 Tyre, on July 27 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. Interestingly, this move is not recorded in the chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, who observed the siege from inside Damascus.
There were conflicts in both camps: Unur could not trust Saif ad-Din or Nur ad-Din from conquering the city entirely if they offered help; and the crusaders could not agree about who would receive the city if they captured it. Guy Brisebarre, lord of Beirut, was the suggestion of the local barons, but Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, wanted it for himself and was supported by Baldwin, Louis, and Conrad. There were rumours 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 they crusaders went home. Meanwhile Nur ad-Din and Saif ad-Din had by now arrived at Homs and was negotiating with Unur for possession of Damascus, something that neither Unur nor the crusaders wanted. Saif ad-Din apparently also wrote to the crusaders, urging them to return home. With Nur ad-Din in the field it was impossible to return to their better position, if in fact they had moved. 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 July 28, though for their entire retreat they were followed by Turkish archers who constantly harassed them.
All sides felt betrayed by the others. A new plan was made to attack Ascalon but this was abandoned due to the lack of trust that had resulted from the failed siege. Conrad returned to Constantinople to further his alliance with Manuel, while Louis remained behind until 1149. As a result of the Crusade, Damascus no longer trusted the Crusaders, and the city was formally handed over to Nur ad-Din in 1154. Baldwin III unwisely seized Ascalon in 1153 and brought Egypt into the sphere of conflict, thus preparing the way for the fall of Jerusalem. Bernard of Clairvaux was also humiliated, and when his attempt to call a new Crusade failed, he tried to disassociate himself from the fiasco of the Second Crusade altogether. He died in 1153.
The aftermath of the Second Crusade saw the beginning of the long decline of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other crusader states. Nur ad-Din’s General Shirkuh's nephew Saladin became Sultan of Egypt in 1171, uniting Egypt and Syria and completely surrounding the crusader kingdom. In 1187 Jerusalem capitulated to him, and he spread north to capture all but the capital cities of the Crusader States, precipitating the Third Crusade.
★ ''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.
★ Steven Runciman, ''A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187''. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
★ Kenneth Setton, ed. ''A History of the Crusades, vol. I''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958 (available online).
★ William of Tyre: The Fiasco at Damascus, 1148 at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
| Contents |
| Background |
| Council of Acre |
| Siege |
| Aftermath |
| Sources |
| External links |
Background
Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, embarking on crusade after the fall of the County of Edessa, both faced disastrous marches across Anatolia in 1147 and 1148. Most of their armies were lost; Louis abandoned his troops and travelled by ship to Antioch, where his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine’s uncle, Raymond, was prince. Raymond expected him to offer military assistance against the Seljuk Turks threatening the Principality, but Louis refused and hastened to Jerusalem. Conrad, stricken by illness, had earlier returned to Constantinople, but arrived in Jerusalem a few weeks later in April of 1148.
Council of Acre
The original focus of the crusade was Edessa, but in Jerusalem, the preferred target of King Baldwin III and the Knights Templar was Damascus. The Haute Cour met at Acre on June 24, with magnates from France, Germany, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem in attendance: the greatest assembly of nobles in Jerusalem’s history. Both Louis and Conrad were persuaded to attack Damascus, although many of the nobles of Jerusalem considered this plan foolish, as the Burid dynasty of Damascus, though Muslim, were their allies against the Zengid dynasty. Zengi had besieged the city in 1140, and Mu'in ad-Din Unur, a Mameluk acting as vizier for the young Mujir ud-Din Abaq, negotiated an alliance with Jerusalem through the chronicler Usamah ibn Munqidh. Conrad, Louis, and Baldwin insisted, however; Damascus was a holy city for Christianity, like Jerusalem and Antioch, and would be a noteworthy prize in the eyes of European Christians. In July their armies assembled at Tiberias and marched to Damascus, around the Sea of Galilee by way of Banyas. There were perhaps 50 000 troops in total.
Siege
The crusaders decided to attack Damascus from the west, where orchards would provide them with a constant food supply. They arrived at Daraiya on July 23, with the army of Jerusalem in the vanguard, followed by Louis and then Conrad in the rearguard. The Muslims were prepared for the attack and constantly attacked the army advancing through the orchards outside Damascus on July 24. The orchards were defended by towers and walls and the crusaders were constantly pelted with arrows and lances along the narrow paths. Thanks to a charge by Conrad, the crusaders managed to fight their way through and chase the defenders back across the Barada River and into Damascus. Having arrived outside the walls of the city, they immediately put it to siege, using wood from the orchards. Inside the city the inhabitants barricaded the major streets, preparing for what they believed to be an inevitable assault.
Unur had sought help from Saif ad-Din Ghazi I of Aleppo and Nur ad-Din of Mosul, and 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 Tyre, on July 27 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. Interestingly, this move is not recorded in the chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, who observed the siege from inside Damascus.
There were conflicts in both camps: Unur could not trust Saif ad-Din or Nur ad-Din from conquering the city entirely if they offered help; and the crusaders could not agree about who would receive the city if they captured it. Guy Brisebarre, lord of Beirut, was the suggestion of the local barons, but Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, wanted it for himself and was supported by Baldwin, Louis, and Conrad. There were rumours 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 they crusaders went home. Meanwhile Nur ad-Din and Saif ad-Din had by now arrived at Homs and was negotiating with Unur for possession of Damascus, something that neither Unur nor the crusaders wanted. Saif ad-Din apparently also wrote to the crusaders, urging them to return home. With Nur ad-Din in the field it was impossible to return to their better position, if in fact they had moved. 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 July 28, though for their entire retreat they were followed by Turkish archers who constantly harassed them.
Aftermath
All sides felt betrayed by the others. A new plan was made to attack Ascalon but this was abandoned due to the lack of trust that had resulted from the failed siege. Conrad returned to Constantinople to further his alliance with Manuel, while Louis remained behind until 1149. As a result of the Crusade, Damascus no longer trusted the Crusaders, and the city was formally handed over to Nur ad-Din in 1154. Baldwin III unwisely seized Ascalon in 1153 and brought Egypt into the sphere of conflict, thus preparing the way for the fall of Jerusalem. Bernard of Clairvaux was also humiliated, and when his attempt to call a new Crusade failed, he tried to disassociate himself from the fiasco of the Second Crusade altogether. He died in 1153.
The aftermath of the Second Crusade saw the beginning of the long decline of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other crusader states. Nur ad-Din’s General Shirkuh's nephew Saladin became Sultan of Egypt in 1171, uniting Egypt and Syria and completely surrounding the crusader kingdom. In 1187 Jerusalem capitulated to him, and he spread north to capture all but the capital cities of the Crusader States, precipitating the Third Crusade.
Sources
★ ''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.
★ Steven Runciman, ''A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187''. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
★ Kenneth Setton, ed. ''A History of the Crusades, vol. I''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958 (available online).
External links
★ William of Tyre: The Fiasco at Damascus, 1148 at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook
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