Siege of Ascalon 1153
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Year | 1153 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Israel | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Crusader battles between 1149 and 1189 | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 31.6671, 34.5481 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Ascalon took place from 25 January to 22 August 1153, in the time period between the Second and Third Crusades, and resulted in the capture of the Fatimid Egyptian fortress by the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Ascalon was an important castle that was used by the Fatimids to launch raids into the Crusader kingdom's territory, and by 1153 it was the last coastal city in Palestine that was not controlled by the Crusaders.
The siege lasted for several months without much progress, despite the usage of siege engines and catapults by the Crusader army. On 16 August, the Fatimids set fire to the siege tower, but the wind blew the flames back at the castle wall and caused part of it to collapse. A group of Knights Templar entered the breach, led by their grand master, Bernard de Tremelay. The other Crusaders did not follow them into the city and all forty Templars were killed. Three days later, a larger attack was launched by the Crusaders and the city surrendered after more fighting. Its inhabitants were given three days to leave Ascalon before the Crusaders formally took it over on 22 August 1153.
Its capture was a major success for King Baldwin III of Jerusalem and put the Crusaders into a position to invade Egypt.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Ascalon (revision 1370739000), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Ascalon (1247) 1247 · 1 km
- Battle of Ascalon 1099 · 1 km
- Battle of Forbie 1244 · 7 km
- Zikim attack 2023 · 8 km
- Battle of Yad Mordechai 1948 · 9 km
- Battle of Nitzanim 1948 · 10 km
Other battles of the Crusader battles between 1149 and 1189
- Siege of Edessa (1146) 1146
- Battle of Inab 1149
- Siege of Shaizar (1157) 1157
- Battle of Harim 1164
- Battle of Montgisard 1177
- Battle of Marj Ayyun 1179
- Siege of Jacob's Ford 1179
- Battle of Belvoir Castle 1182
- Battle of al-Fule 1183
- Siege of Kerak (1183) 1183
All 15 battles of the Crusader battles between 1149 and 1189 →
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