Crusades · 1148

Siege of Damascus

The Second Crusade fell apart after four days outside Damascus. Nur al-Din took the city in 1154 and united Muslim Syria.

The site of the battle on the 1190 map. Shaded: Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, Ayyubid Sultanate, 1192, Crusader territory left in 1192.

Key facts

When: 1148
Where: Damascus, Syria
Sides: Second Crusade vs Damascus
Commanders: Louis VII and Conrad III vs Mu'in al-Din Unur
Result: Crusaders withdrew
Type: Crusades
Chapter: 3. The Abbasids, the Crusades and the Mongols

Who led it

Nur al-Din Zengi1118 to 1174
Son of Zengi.

The wider picture: The Crusades and Salahuddin

The Seljuk win at Manzikert in 1071 opened Anatolia to the Turks, and Byzantium asked Europe for help. The First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1099. Zengi, his son Nur al-Din and then Salahuddin rebuilt Muslim unity, and Salahuddin won back Jerusalem in October 1187, three months after Hattin.

See the 1190 map Read chapter 3

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