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Y203: The Crusades and the Crusader States 1095–1192

The Second Crusade: Zengi, the fall of Edessa and the call to crusade

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  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on the weakness of the crusader states in the 1130s and 1140s, Zengi’s rise and jihad, the fall of Edessa in 1144, Eugenius III’s crusading bull and Bernard of Clairvaux’s role.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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What weakened the crusader states in the 1130s and 1140s?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What weakened the crusader states in the 1130s and 1140s?

    Model answer

    The kingdom was absorbed in the struggle between Fulk and Melisende, Antioch was left weak after its prince died leaving only a daughter, Byzantine emperors twice marched south to enforce their claim to Antioch, and the counts of Edessa and princes of Antioch were on bad terms.

  2. 2

    Why was Edessa the most exposed of the crusader states?

    Model answer

    It lay furthest east, beyond the Euphrates and away from the coast, its population was largely Armenian and Syrian rather than Latin, and it could not be reinforced quickly from the sea.

  3. 3

    How did Zengi build up his power?

    Model answer

    Appointed to Mosul in 1127, he seized Aleppo the following year, joining the two cities under one ruler and creating for the first time a single Muslim power on the crusaders' northern and eastern flank.

  4. 4

    What was Zengi's relationship with Damascus?

    Model answer

    He repeatedly tried to take Damascus, which drove its rulers into an alliance with the Kingdom of Jerusalem against him.

  5. 5

    Explain how the idea of jihad developed under Zengi.

    Model answer

    Preachers, poets and jurists at his court presented his wars against the Franks as a religious duty and hailed him as the champion of Islam, reviving an idea that had made little impact when first urged after the First Crusade.

  6. 6

    How did Zengi take Edessa in 1144?

    Model answer

    He besieged the city while Count Joscelin II was away at Turbessel, undermined its walls, and stormed it after about four weeks.

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