Siege of Damascus
- Date:
- July 23, 1148 - July 28, 1148
- Context:
- Crusades
- Second Crusade
- Key People:
- Baldwin III
- Conrad III
- Louis VII
Siege of Damascus, (23–28 July 1148). The defeat of the Second Crusade at Damascus ensured that the Christian crusader states in the Holy Land would remain on the defensive for the foreseeable future. There was no longer any realistic prospect of expansion so the Christians were confined to small states surrounded by larger and more powerful Muslim enemies.
The Second Crusade started badly as the armies of Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany both suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Turks on the arduous journey to Jerusalem. Joining with Baldwin III of Jerusalem, Louis and Conrad marched with some 30,000 men to attack the Syrian city of Damascus. Arriving on 23 July, they moved to occupy the vast orchards and walled fields west of the city, suffering heavily at the hands of Damascene archers who fought a skillful retreat to the city walls. Having failed to assault Damascus from the west, the crusaders moved on 27 July to the open plains to the east of the city.
A dispute broke out between the leaders of the crusade and the local Christian noblemen over how to pursue the siege and who should be ruler of Damascus once it was captured. This disagreement was interrupted by news that a large Muslim army under the skilled general Nur ad-Din had arrived at Homs. From there Nur ad-Din could either march south to relieve Damascus or strike directly at Antioch or Jerusalem. The local Christian lords melted away, taking their men back to defend their own lands.
On 28 July, Louis, Conrad, and Baldwin began their own retreat to Jerusalem, where they too fell out in mutual recriminations over who had been to blame for the failure at Damascus. The crusaders went home with nothing accomplished.
Losses: Crusader, unknown of more than 30,000; Muslim, unknown of 10,000.