Siege of Damascus (1148) 1148
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1148 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Syria | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Crusade | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Burid dynasty, Byzantine Empire, County of Flanders, Duchy of Swabia, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Templar, Zengid dynasty | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 33.5122, 36.2983 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Damascus took place between 24 and 28 July 1148 O.S. during the Second Crusade. Two Crusader armies from Europe and the army of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem attempted to lay siege to the Seljuk Empire city of Damascus. The effort ended in a Crusader defeat. The battle occurred as the alliance between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Mu'in ad-Din Unur, emir of the city of Damascus, was unraveling and the Crusader County of Edessa was falling to Imad al-Din Zengi, emir of the Seljuk city of Aleppo.
Among the Christian armies from Western Europe which responded to the call for a crusade to retake Edessa were armies led Louis VII, King of France, and Conrad III, King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire. Both lost the majority of their forces crossing Anatolia.
In May 1148, Conrad met privately in Jerusalem with Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem, and Fulcher of Angoulême, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The decision was made to forego the attempt to retake Edessa, and attack Damascus instead. Fulcher convinced Louis to join in the endeavor, and the decision was ratified at the Council of Acre.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Damascus (1148) (revision 1379741018), 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
- Battle of Damascus (2012) 2012 · 0 km
- Capture of Damascus (1918) 1918 · 0 km
- Siege of Damascus (634) 634 · 1 km
- Battle of Damascus (1941) 1941 · 1 km
- Battle of Yarmouk Camp (2015) 2015 · 4 km
- Fall of Damascus (2024) 2024 · 5 km
Other battles of the Second Crusade
- Battle of Bosra (1147) 1147
- Battle of Dorylaeum (1147) 1147
- Battle of Ephesus (1147) 1147
- Siege of Lisbon 1147
- Battle of Mount Cadmus 1148
- Siege of Tortosa (1148) 1148
All 7 battles of the Second Crusade →
Browse more: battles in Syria · Asia · Medieval battles