| Siege of Edessa (1146) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Crusades | |||||||
&sq=Sri Lanka&lang=en&file=File:Battle_of_Edeesa_1146.jpg) Battle of Edessa in 1146, illustrated by Jeanne Montbaston (1337), Bibliothèque Nationale de France | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| County of Edessa | Zengids | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Joscelyn II of Edessa Baldwin of Marash † | Nūr al-Dīn | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ? | 10,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
Thousands killed Thousands enslaved | ? | ||||||
The siege of Edessa in October–November 1146 marked the permanent end of the rule of the Frankish Counts of Edessa in the city on the eve of the Second Crusade. It was the second siege the city had suffered in as many years, the first siege of Edessa having ended in December 1144. In 1146, Joscelyn II of Edessa and Baldwin of Marash recaptured the city by stealth but could not take or even properly besiege the citadel. After a brief counter-siege, Zangid governor Nūr al-Dīn took the city. The population was massacred and the walls razed. This victory was pivotal in the rise of Nūr al-Dīn and the decline of the Christian city of Edessa.