Siege of Edessa (1146)

Siege of Edessa (1146)
Part of the Crusades
Battle of Edessa in 1146, illustrated by Jeanne Montbaston (1337), Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Date October–November 1146 Location Edessa (modern-day Şanlıurfa, Turkey) Result Zengid victory Crusaders initially captured the city but not its citadel Nūr al-Dīn recaptured the city, and the Christian population was massacred
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.