Second Crusade: The Crusade which changed the course of Christianity

In the last chapter of this series, we saw how Christians finally snatched Jerusalem, their holy land from Muslims. Soon, Jerusalem became the hub of Christianity. People from all across Christian states started to visit it. A flourishing Christian settlement had developed and businesses were shaped around the feeder services to pilgrims.

Fall of the Kingdom of Edessa

Jerusalem was well protected by the Byzantine Empire and newly established Crusader states, one of which was the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The other 3 were the Principality of Antioch, the County of Edessa and the County of Tripoli. The Achilles heel of these crusader states was the County of Edessa. Though it was the first crusader state, Baldwin I could not convert it into a strong fort.

It had a very small population and a weak army. Additionally, geographically, it was closest to established Muslim states. These states ruled by Ortoqids, Danishmends and Seljuq Turks kept attacking Edessa for more than 4 decades. Lots of twists and turns were observed in this bloody battle. Baldwin II and his successor Joscelin were held captive by Muslim army in 1104 (Battle of Harran) and 1122 AD. The first time, Baldwin II was the ruler while the second time Joscelin was in charge. Though, in 1125 AD, Joscelin did make some gains in the Battle of Azaz, he was ultimately killed in 1131AD.

Joscelin’s successor Joscelin II turned out to be half-competent and an unlucky ruler. He did have strong relations with the Byzantine Empire and Kingdom of Jerusalem, but was terrible in dealing with the Count of Tripoli and the Prince of Antioch. After the death of John II Comennus and Fulk of Anjou, respective rulers of Byzantine and Jerusalem, Joscelin II was left without any strong alliance partner. Out of desperation, he allied with the Ortoquoids. The Ortoquoids had their own sets of problems.

Also read: What made Christianity what it is today – Chapter 3: The first crusade

The danger to Jerusalem

Imad al-Din Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul, was on an offensive spree. He annexed Aleppo, the power centre of Syria in the 1120s. Both Mosul and Damascus wanted to rule it. On the other hand, Baldwin II of Jerusalem also wanted Damascus. After Baldwin’s death, Damascus aligned with King Fulk of Jerusalem. Both these territories remained secured in the hands of their respective rulers until the death of King Fulk in 1143 AD.

Taking advantage of Fulk’s death, Zengi wanted to recapture Jerusalem. Edessa was the first roadblock in his way. Bereft of any support from the Byzantines, alliance forces of Ortoquiods and Joscelin II could not prevent the siege of Edessa on 24 December 1144 AD. After the fall of Capital of Edessa, Zengi lost interest and allowed Joscelin II to rule the remnants. But slowly and steadily, some areas were sold to the Byzantines while others were occupied by local Muslims in the name of Zengi. Meanwhile, Zengi reset his eyes towards Damascus, but was killed in 1146 AD.

Announcement of second Crusade and slow beginning

The news of the siege of Edessa reached the rest of Christian territories through pilgrims. Almost a year after the fall of Edessa, Pope Eugene III called for a second Crusade through a decree called ‘Quantum praedecessores’ on December 1, 1145 AD.

This decree did not outline the ultimate purpose of the crusade, which became the Crusaders’ weak point in the campaign. Eugene III did not even name defeating Zeng or recapturing Edessa as the purpose of the Crusade. Resultantly, people did not rush in despite incentives like remission, protection of family and forgiveness of loans.

Also read: What made Christianity what it is today, Chapter 2: Crossing paths with Islam

Kings joining the ranks

To drive emotions, a recruitment drive was conducted all across Europe. This drive got further boost after King Louis VII of France joining their ranks. Louis had already planned to visit Jerusalem to fulfil his dead brother Phillip’s vow. Louis’ plan was backed by Bernard of Clairvaux, who was authorised by Eugene III to propagate the message of the Second Crusade all across Europe.

Bernard was magical in his speech. He carried a cross and elaborated on tales of warriors of the first Crusade. Men wanted to emulate these warriors. He gave a cross to whosoever willing to join. After taking Louis VII on board, he landed in Germany and had no problem convincing Conrad III. The urgency of the situation was driven by Nur ud-Din’s thrashing defeat to Joscelin II in his attempt to take back Edessa. It happened in September 1146 AD. He had slaughtered every man citizen of Edessa and sold off women and children into slavery.

Within 8 months, Cornard III and Louis VII now had over 60,000 men ready to sacrifice their lives, presumably to protect their holy land. Their journey kicked off on June 15th 1147 AD. The German fleet took a different route than that of the French one. The Germans’ decision to take the land route was mainly based on the dangers from Roger II of Sicily, who was enemy of Conrad.

Setback to Germans

They had to meet in Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. Ultimately, the Germans were the first to reach there. When Conrad landed in Constantinople, Emperor Manuel I thought that he was under attack. A brief skirmish followed with Conrad’s nephew Friedrich I Barbarossa. Lot of unruly Germans were killed while a substantial amount of them were washed away in flood. On 10th September, the Battle of Constantinople kicked off between both forces. Conrad III did not want it to turn into a full-scale war and requested Manuel I to ferry him to the regions present in modern day Turkey (also known as Asia Minor).

The region was legally owned by the Byzantines, but in reality, it was being handled by Turkish Seljuk invaders. Conrad divided his army into two parts. One was being led by Conrad himself while the other was to be handled by Otto of Freising, his half-brother. Conrad was marching over land while Otto was leading his battalion through Coastal roads. Turns out, Conrad had underestimated Seljuks, who destroyed his Army in the Second battle of Dorylaeum on 25 October 1147. Otto’s faction also met a similar fate in early 1148.

Also read: What made Christianity what it is today, Chapter 1: The Beginning

French were a bit more successful than Germans

Conrad himself was wounded and taken to Nicea. From there, he decided to return to Constantinople. He was personally attended by Manuel I. Meanwhile, the news of his defeat had reached Louis VII. He was leading an army composed of Thierry of Alsace, Renaut I of Bar, Amadeus III of Savoy and his half-brother William V of Montferrat, William VII of Auvergne, armies from Lorraine, Brittany, Burgundy and Aquitaine, a force from Provence, led by Alphonse of Toulouse, and crusaders from Normandy and England.

Louis joined the surviving Germans and launched an offensive on the Turks, resulting in the Battle of Ephesus on 24th December 1147 AD. In the same month, they also fought the Battle of Meander and proved victorious in both battles. However, the Turks were not easy to beat and they retreated fiercely on 7th January 1148 AD, when the French were trying to cross Cadmus mountains. Though Louis was able to save a major section of his army, their further push was made difficult by the Seljuks. They had burned fertile lands in order to deprive crusaders and their horses of food.

Regrouping after a setback

It took 2 months for Louis and his tired Army to reach Antioch. He was welcomed by his wife’s uncle Raymond of Poitiers. At this point, Louis wanted to prefer pilgrimage over military conquest but Raymond wanted him to assist in conquering Aleppo, the gateway to Edessa. Ultimately, Louis had to oblige as rumours of his wife Eleanor’s affairs with Raymond surfaced. Eleanor was put under arrest.

Soon, Conrad and his step brother Otto re-joined Louis. Now, the military campaign relied on the Knight Templars. However, even up to this point, they did not have any target to look up to. The only plausible goal was to defend Jerusalem from Muslim conquest. But Jerusalem was already under Christian control. Later, it was Jerusalem which provided the answer. On 24 June 1948, the crusaders met with the Haute Cour of Jerusalem at Palmarea, near Acre, a major city of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Siege of Damascus

Zengi’s successor Nur ud-din was identified as the biggest threat to Christianity. According to historian David Nicolle, since Damascus was the most powerful Muslim state in Southern Syria, capturing it would provide better defensive wall against Nur ud-din. At that time, Damascus was on neutral terms with the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but there was constant fear that Muslims would ultimately side with Nur ud-din in case he attacks Jerusalem, the chances of which were pretty high.

The Crusaders reached Daraya, a suburb of Damascus on 23rd July and launched a mighty offensive from the west. Orchards were prevalent on the west side of the city, which were sought as a hedge against hunger problem in Crusaders’ camp. However, the Muslim pushback confined them towards these orchards themselves. Saif ad-Din Ghazi I of Mosul and Nur ad-Din of Aleppo had joined the Turkish forces and the inability of Crusaders to not foresee it happening proved to be disastrous for them.

On 27th of July, the Crusaders moved to the eastern side of the city, which largely remained dry throughout the year. These poor crusaders did not have much food and water in their back up kit. Heavy casualties and bloodshed followed on both sides, but Nur ud-din ensured that Turkish maintained an upper hand. On 28 July, local crusaders decided to abandon the idea and kings had no choice but to abandon the idea of conquering Damascus. Even on the return route, they were constantly teased, harassed and tortured by Turkish fighters.

Changed the course of Crusades

The Second Crusade had failed in its ultimate purpose. The only shining light of this Crusade for Europeans was that a smaller section of Crusaders had jumped into the Iberian Peninsula to fight Muslim rulers. King Alfonso Henriques of Portugal was assisted by a fleet of some 160-200 Genoese ships in capturing Lisbon from Muslims. Almeria and Tortosa in Spain were some of the other remarkable victories of these Crusaders in the Iberian Peninsula.

It is also remembered for providing a decisive turn to the spread of Christianity. The Northern Crusades campaign, conducted by German led Saxons and Danish nobles, was actively engaged in conversion of non-Christians to Christianity.

This facet put the footprint for later Crusades where Christians were seen fighting against their own brothers.