Baldwin III of Jerusalem - Second Crusade

Second Crusade

In 1148 the crusade finally arrived in Jerusalem, led by Louis VII of France, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Conrad III of Germany. Baldwin held a council at Acre in 1148 to decide on a target; control of Aleppo in the north would allow the crusaders to restore Edessa to Christian control, but capturing Damascus in the south would limit the power of the Zengids and add to Jerusalem's power and influence. Damascus was also considered more important in the history of Christianity than Aleppo and Edessa. Baldwin agreed to the plan to attack Damascus, but the ensuing siege ended in defeat after only four days. The city fell under Nur ad-Din's control in 1154, and the loss of a Muslim counterweight to Nur ad-Din was a diplomatic disaster.

By 1149 the crusaders had returned to Europe, leaving behind a weakened Jerusalem. Nur ad-Din took advantage of the crusader defeat to invade Antioch, and Prince Raymond was killed in the subsequent Battle of Inab. Baldwin III hurried north to take up the regency of the principality. Raymond's wife, Constance, was Baldwin's cousin through his mother and heiress of Antioch by right of her father. Baldwin unsuccessfully tried to marry her to an ally. Also in the north, Baldwin was unable to help defend Turbessel, the last remnant of the County of Edessa, and was forced to cede it to Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus in August 1150. He evacuated Turbessel's Latin Christian residents despite being attacked by Nur ad-Din in the Battle of Aintab. In 1152 Baldwin and his mother were called to intervene in a dispute between Baldwin's aunt Hodierna of Tripoli and her husband Count Raymond II. When the matter was settled, Hodierna was about to return to Jerusalem with them, when Raymond was suddenly murdered by the Hashshashin. Baldwin remained behind to settle the affairs of Tripoli, while Hodierna took up the regency for her young son Raymond III.