Editing Second Crusade (section)

=== Fall of Edessa ===
{{Main|Siege of Edessa (1144)}} After the [[First Crusade]] and the minor [[Crusade of 1101]], there were three [[crusader states]] established in the east: the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], the [[Principality of Antioch]] and the [[County of Edessa]]. A fourth, the [[County of Tripoli]], was established in 1109. Edessa was the most northerly of these, and also the weakest and least populated; as such, it was subject to frequent attacks from the surrounding Muslim states ruled by the [[Artuqids]], [[Danishmendids]] and [[Seljuk Turks]].{{sfn|Riley-Smith|2005|pp=50–53}} [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem|Baldwin II]], then count of Edessa, and future count [[Joscelin I of Edessa|Joscelin of Courtenay]] were taken captive after their defeat at the [[Battle of Harran]] in 1104. Baldwin and Joscelin were both captured a second time in 1122, and although Edessa recovered somewhat after the [[Battle of Azaz (1125)|Battle of Azaz]] in 1125, Joscelin was killed in battle in 1131. His successor [[Joscelin II]] was forced into an alliance with the [[Byzantine Empire]], but in 1143 both Byzantine Emperor [[John II Komnenos]] and [[King Fulk of Jerusalem]] died. Joscelin had also quarreled with the Count of Tripoli and the Prince of Antioch, leaving Edessa with no powerful allies.{{sfn|Tyerman|2006|pp=185–189}}

Meanwhile, [[Imad ad-Din Zengi|Zengi]], [[List of rulers of Mosul#Zengid emirs|''atabeg'' of Mosul]], had added [[List of rulers of Aleppo#Zengid Dynasty|Aleppo]] to his rule in 1128, the key to power in Syria, contested between Mosul and [[Damascus]]. Both Zengi and [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem]] turned their attention towards Damascus; Baldwin was defeated outside the great city in 1129.{{sfn|Tyerman|2006|pp=185–189}} Damascus, ruled by the [[Burid dynasty]], later allied with King Fulk when Zengi besieged the city in 1139 and 1140;{{sfn|Runciman|1952|pp=227–228}} the alliance was negotiated by the chronicler [[Usama ibn Munqidh]].<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5440995n.image.r=Ous%C3%A2ma+ibn+Mounkidh.f203.langEN Ousâma ibn Mounkidh, un émir syrien au premier siècle des croisades, p. 182 (in BnF)]</ref>

In late 1144, Joscelin II allied with the Artuqids and marched out of [[Edessa]] with almost his entire army to support the Artuqid army against Aleppo. Zengi, already seeking to take advantage of Fulk's death in 1143, hurried north to [[Siege of Edessa (1144)|besiege Edessa]], which fell to him after a month on 24 December 1144. [[Manasses of Hierges]], [[Philip of Milly]] and others were sent from Jerusalem to assist, but arrived too late. Joscelin II continued to rule the remnants of the county from [[Turbessel]], but little by little the rest of the territory was captured by Muslims or sold to the Byzantines. Zengi himself was praised throughout the Muslim world as "defender of the faith" and ''al-Malik al-Mansur'', "the victorious king". He did not pursue an attack on the remaining territory of Edessa, or the Principality of Antioch, as was feared. Events in Mosul compelled him to return home, and he once again set his sights on Damascus. However, he was assassinated by a slave in 1146 and was succeeded in Aleppo by his son [[Nur ad-Din Zangi|Nur ad-Din]].{{sfn|Runciman|1952|pp=225–244}}