1147–1149 · Anatolia, Levant and Iberia
Second Crusade
In the Second Crusade, launched after the fall of Edessa, the armies of Conrad III and Louis VII advanced east separately and suffered heavy losses in Anatolia. In the Levant, Damascus rather than Edessa became the target, and the siege of July 1148 failed. In the same period Lisbon was taken in Iberia.
RESEARCH DOSSIER
Historical analysis of the event
Background
The occasion of the expedition was Zengi's capture of Edessa in 1144. Through Pope Eugenius III's appeal and Bernard of Clairvaux's preaching, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany joined. In the same years the papacy granted the same privileges to wars against Muslims in Iberia and pagan Wends in the Baltic, so the crusade proceeded on several fronts.
Course of the crusade
Conrad's army left Regensburg in May 1147 and Louis's left Metz in June. The German army reached Constantinople in September and crossed into Anatolia without waiting for Byzantine advice; in October it withdrew with heavy losses near Dorylaion. The French army followed the coastal route, suffered great losses on Mount Cadmus in January 1148, and sailed from Antalya to Antioch.
Prince Raymond of Antioch asked Louis to attack Aleppo; Louis chose to go first to Jerusalem. At the Palmarea meeting in June 1148 it was decided to besiege Damascus. The siege of 24–28 July failed. Conrad returned to Europe in September 1148 and Louis in spring 1149.
In Iberia a fleet of English, Flemish and German seafarers joined King Afonso I of Portugal and took Lisbon on 24 October 1147. The campaign against the Wends in the Baltic produced limited results.
Outcome and significance
The expedition in the East achieved none of its aims: Edessa was not recovered, Damascus was not taken, and Damascus, a potential ally of Jerusalem, drew closer to Nur al-Din. The failure led in the West to accusations against Byzantium, the barons of Jerusalem and even Bernard. The capture of Lisbon was the expedition's only lasting major military gain.
Sources and debates
Odo of Deuil describes the French army's march, Otto of Freising and Conrad's letters the German side, and De expugnatione Lyxbonensi the siege of Lisbon. John Kinnamos and Niketas Choniates give the Byzantine view; Ibn al-Qalanisi witnessed the siege of Damascus. The sources blame one another for the expedition's failure.
Dates, places and figures in this record compare the principal narrative sources with modern scholarship. Where the sources disagree this is stated in the text; for a thesis or publication, consult the relevant edition and page reference.