The Siege of Damascus Fails After Four Days
The Second Crusade's kings pick the wrong target and abandon it almost immediately
Quick facts
- Location
- Damascus
- Siege length
- 4 days (24-28 July 1148)
- Muslim relief commander
- Nur ad-Din
- Result
- Total failure; Second Crusade achieves none of its objectives
What happened
With Edessa already destroyed beyond recovery, western leaders meeting at Acre chose Damascus as a new target instead, despite the city having previously been allied with the Kingdom of Jerusalem against other Muslim states. The crusader army arrived at Damascus on 24 July 1148 and began a siege, but after only four days the combination of strong defenses and a severe shortage of water for the attackers forced its abandonment. Conrad III suspected the defenders had bribed Christian residents to sabotage the siege from within; others blamed Byzantine interference. More likely, the defenders' determination and the approach of a large Muslim relief force sent by Nur ad-Din left the crusaders with too few men and supplies to continue. Conrad returned to Europe in September 1148, and Louis followed roughly six months later after a tour of the Holy Land.
Why it matters
The Second Crusade's total failure, achieving nothing after enormous cost and effort, was a shock across Europe and demonstrated how much harder the Holy Land had become to hold since the First Crusade's improbable success half a century earlier.
How we know
The siege's collapse and the contemporary rumors of bribery and betrayal are described in the World History Encyclopedia's synthesis of chronicle accounts from both the Christian and Muslim sides.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Second Crusade · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Edessa · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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