Siege of Damascus (1148)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates The siege of Damascus took place between 24 and 28 July 1148, during the Second Crusade. It ended in a crusader defeat and led to the disintegration of the crusade. The two main Christian forces that marched to the Holy Land in response to Pope Eugene III and Bernard of Clairvaux's call for the Second Crusade were led by Kings Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany. Both faced disastrous marches across Anatolia in the months that followed, with most of their armies being destroyed. The original focus of the crusade was Edessa (Urfa), but in Jerusalem, the preferred target of King Baldwin III and the Knights Templar was Damascus. At the Council of Acre, magnates from France, Germany, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem decided to divert the crusade to Damascus.

The crusaders decided to attack Damascus from the west, where orchards of Ghouta would provide them with a constant food supply. Having arrived outside the walls of the city, they immediately put it to siege, using wood from the orchards. 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. Afterwards, the local crusader lords refused to carry on with the siege, and the three kings had no choice but to abandon the city. The entire crusader army retreated back to Jerusalem by 28 July.

Background

The first hostile act between the Crusaders and the Burid rulers of Damascus was in form of raids in 1125, followed by the Battle of Marj al-Saffar in 1126, when the Crusaders defeated the Muslim army in the field but failed in their objective to capture Damascus.Template:Sfn In 1129, they attacked Damascus again, when they camped near the Wooden Bridge (Jisr al-Khashab) at Dārayyā southwest of the city, but their siege of the city was unsuccessful, after their foraging expedition south into the Hauran was defeated,Template:Sfn in addition to inability to advance due to a sudden thunderstorm and the ensuing fog,Template:Sfn meanwhile, according to Michael the Syrian, who may be relying on the lost contemporary chronicle of Basil bar Shumna, Damascus paid 20,000 dinars and offered annual tribute in return for the crusaders' withdrawal.Template:Sfn However, the crusaders managed to take Banias instead.

In 1140, Mu'in ad-Din Unur visited King Fulk in Jerusalem, following his assistance during Imad ad-Din Zengi's aggression against Damascus,Template:Sfn he also handed Banias to the Crusader realm once more.

In 1147, Baldwin III marched with his army to capture Bosra, south of Damascus, after an invitation from Altuntash, the emir of Bosra and Salkhad who squabbled with his nominal superior, Mu'in ad-Din Unur, ruler of Damascus. When they arrived at Bosra, the Crusaders' high hopes were dashed to capture it when they found that Altuntash's wife, made of sterner stuff than her husband, had introduced a Damascene garrison into Bosra's citadel. Unwilling to chance a siege close to an enemy host, Baldwin elected to withdraw.Template:Sfn

Second Crusade

File:Asia Minor and the States of the Crusaders.svg

Crusaders intended for Edessa, seen here on the right of this map (c.1140), were diverted by King Baldwin III of Jerusalem to Damascus.

The two main Christian forces that marched to the Holy Land in response to Pope Eugene III and Bernard of Clairvaux's call for the Second Crusade were led by Kings Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany. Conrad's force included Dukes Bolesław IV of Poland and Vladislaus II of Bohemia (who halted his march at Constantinople and subsequently returned) as well as his nephew Frederick Barbarossa of Swabia.Template:Sfn The crusade had been called after the fall of the County of Edessa on 24 December 1144. The crusaders marched across Europe and arrived at Constantinople in September and October 1147.Template:Sfn

Both Louis and Conrad faced disastrous marches across Anatolia in the months that followed, and most of their armies were destroyed. Louis abandoned his troops and travelled by ship to the Principality of 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 went to Jerusalem to fulfill his crusader vow.Template:Sfn Conrad, stricken by illness, had earlier returned to Constantinople, but arrived in Jerusalem in early April 1148.Template:Sfn The original focus of the crusade was Edessa, but in Jerusalem, the preferred target of King Baldwin III and the Knights Templar was Damascus.Template:Sfn

King Stephen of England did not participate in the second crusade due to internal conflicts.Template:Sfn Meanwhile, King David I of Scotland was dissuaded by his subjects from joining the crusade himself.Template:Sfn

Council of Acre

The Council of Acre was called with the High Court of Jerusalem at Acre on 24 June. This was the most spectacular meeting of the High Court in its existence: King Conrad, Bishop Otto of Freising, Duke Henry II of Austria, Margrave Welf VI of Tuscany, Duke Frederick Barbarossa of Swabia, and Marquess William V of Montferrat represented the Holy Roman Empire.Template:Sfn King Louis, Count Thierry of Flanders, and various other ecclesiastical and secular lords represented the French. From Jerusalem King Baldwin, Queen Melisende, Patriarch Fulk, Robert de Craon (master of the Knights Templar), Raymond du Puy de Provence (master of the Knights Hospitaller), Manasses of Hierges (constable of Jerusalem), Humphrey II of Toron, Philip of Milly, Walter I Grenier, and Barisan of Ibelin were among those present.Template:Efn Notably, no one from Antioch, Tripoli, or the former County of Edessa attended. Both Louis and Conrad were persuaded to attack Damascus.Template:Sfn

Some of the barons native to Jerusalem pointed out that it would be unwise to attack Damascus, as the Burid dynasty, though Muslim, were their allies against the Zengid dynasty. Imad ad-Din Zengi had besieged the city in 1140, and Mu'in ad-Din Unur, a Mamluk acting as vizier for the young Mujir ad-Din Abaq, negotiated an alliance with Jerusalem through the chronicler Usama ibn Munqidh. Conrad, Louis, and Baldwin insisted that Damascus was a holy city for Christianity. Like Jerusalem and Antioch, it 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 Banias. There were perhaps 50,000 troops in total.Template:Sfn

The general view now appears to be that the decision to attack Damascus was somewhat inevitable. Historians, such as Martin Hoch, regard the decision as the logical outcome of Damascene's foreign policy shifting into alignment with the Zengid dynasty. King Baldwin III had previously launched a campaign with the sole objective of capturing the city. This damaged the Burid dynasty's relations with the Kingdom of Jerusalem.Template:Sfn

Fiasco at Damascus

File:Crusaders besieging Damascus - Chronique d'Ernoul et de Bernard le Trésorier (late 15th C), f.280v - BL Royal MS 15 E I.jpg

Crusaders besieging Damascus

The crusaders decided to attack Damascus from the west, where orchards of Ghouta would provide them with a constant food supply.Template:Sfn They arrived at Darayya on 23 July, with the army of Jerusalem in the vanguard, followed by Louis and then Conrad in the rearguard. The densely cultivated gardens and orchards proved a serious obstacle for the crusaders.Template:Sfn According to William of Tyre, the crusader army was prepared for battle:

24 July

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Crusader King Conrad III in a 13th-century miniature

On Saturday 24 July, the crusaders began with an attack in the morning along the banks of the Barada river,Template:Sfn as far as al-Rabweh. The Muslims were well prepared and constantly attacked the army advancing through the orchards outside Damascus. These orchards were defended by towers and walls and the crusaders were constantly pelted with arrows and lances along the narrow paths.Template:Sfn There was a ferocious combat (pl) in the orchards and narrow roads at Mezzeh,Template:Sfn between the Christian force and a mixture of professional troops of Damascus, the ahdath militia and Turkoman mercenaries.Template:Sfn William of Tyre reported:

The historian David Nicolle wrote that William of Tyre did not explain how Conrad could bring his forces from the rear to the front without totally disorganizing the Christian army.Template:Sfn Thanks to a charge by Conrad, the crusaders fought their way through and chased the defenders across the Barada river and into Damascus,Template:SfnTemplate:Efn in which fortifications were installed to cut off any possible supplies to Damascus from the Beqaa Valley.

In the meantime, according to Syrian chronicler Abu Shama: Template:Quote

Having arrived outside the walls of the city, the crusaders immediately put it to siege, using wood from the orchards. They attacked the suburbs of Faradis at first, then began to build their siege position opposite Bab al-Jabiya, where the Barada did not run past Damascus.Template:Sfn Inside the city the inhabitants barricaded the major streets, preparing for what they believed to be an inevitable assault.Template:Sfn Unur had sought help from Saif ad-Din Ghazi I of Mosul and Nur ad-Din Zangi of Aleppo, and 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.

25 July

During the counter-attack on Sunday, 25 July, the Damascus forces took heavy losses, including the 71-year-old lawyer and scholar Yusuf al-Findalawi, the Sufi mystic Al-Halhli and emir of Baalbek, Nur ad-Din Shahanshah, elder brother of Saladin.Template:Sfn By the end of 25 July, the crusaders set up camp on the Green Field (Maydan al-Akhdar in modern-day Baramkeh), a grassy area the Damascene cavalry used as a training ground.

26 July

The defenders launched an attack to the north of Damascus to repel the attackers. Despite heavy fighting, they cleared the area and received reinforcements from Lebanon and Saif ad-Din, including archers from the Beqaa Valley, increasing the number of defenders and doubling their supply of arms, according to Ibn al-Qalanisi. During a raid on the crusader camp on 26 July, according to Abu Shama:

27 July

The crusaders probably intended to concentrate on the eastern and southern edge of the city by attacking the weakest gate, Bab al-Saghir (Small Gate), built only of mud bricks. In the late afternoon, King Louis asked his senior lieutenant Godefroy de la Roche Vanneau to assess the defenses of the south and southeastern walls. According to William of Tyre, on 27 July, the crusaders decided to move to the plain on the eastern side of the city, opposite Bab Tuma and Bab Sharqi, which was less heavily fortified but had much less food and water.Template:Sfn

There were conflicts in both camps: Unur did not trust Saif ad-Din or Nur ad-Din not to conquer the city if their offer of help was accepted and the crusaders could not agree on who would receive the city if they captured it. Guy I Brisebarre, lord of Beirut, was the suggestion of the local barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, wanted it for himself and was supported by Baldwin, Louis, and Conrad. According to William of Tyre, the resulting dispute contributed to the siege's failure: 'for the local barons preferred that the Damascenes should keep their city rather than to see it given to the count', and so did all they could to ensure the siege collapsed.Template:Efn Some recorded that Unur had bribed the leaders to move to a less defensible position and promised to break off his alliance with Nur ad-Din if the crusaders went home.Template:Sfn

28 July

Nur ad-Din and Saif ad-Din arrived at Homs and were negotiating with Unur for possession of Damascus, something 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.Template:Sfn The local Crusader lords refused to continue the siege, and the three kings had to abandon the city.Template:Sfn First Conrad, then the rest of the army, retreated to Jerusalem on 28 July. Throughout their retreat they were followed by Muslim archers who constantly harassed them.Template:Sfn Historians such as Ralph of Coggeshall, John of Salisbury, and the annalist of Würzburg report that the siege was abandoned when the Templars accepted a bribe, while William of Tyre and Michael the Syrian say that the given coins were made of copper instead of gold.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

English historian Henry of Huntingdon summed up the whole expedition by writing:

Aftermath

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Bernard of Clairvaux was also humiliated by the failure.

Each of the Christian forces felt betrayed by the other.Template:Sfn A new plan was made to attack Ascalon but was abandoned due to lack of trust resulting from the failed siege. This mutual distrust lingered for a generation due to the defeat, to the ruin of the Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land. After the battle, Conrad returned to Constantinople to further his alliance with Manuel I Komnenos. As a result of the attack, Damascus no longer trusted the crusaders, and the city was formally handed over to Nur ad-Din in 1154. 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Legacy

The French Crusader Robert de Brie, who took part in the Siege of Damascus in 1148, is sometimes credited for bringing the Damask rose from Syria to Europe. The Crusaders carved the fleur-de-lis on a stone outside Bab Sharqi, in addition to scattering coins in a ditch there.Template:Sfn

During the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, the French built Mezzeh prison on a hilltop structure that dates to crusader days and used it to house anti-colonial fighters and political prisoners.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

• Template:Setton-A History of the Crusades
• Template:Runciman-A History of the Crusades

Further reading

• 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.

External links

• Kenneth Setton, ed. – A History of the Crusades, vol. I. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958. Retrieved on 27 March 2008
• William of Tyre – The Fiasco at Damascus (1148) at the Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Retrieved on 27 March 2008