History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 37, the Second Crusade Roman numeral 9.

Hello again.

Last week we saw the combined armies of the Second Crusade and the Army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem withdraw

from Damascus only five days into their siege.

The massive Christian army had attempted to conquer the ancient Muslim city and had failed in the most embarrassing way possible.

They hadn't been defeated by superior forces after a mighty battle. They just up and left after only five days.

This was a devastating blow to the prestige and morale of the Christian forces, while it had the opposite effect on Muslim

resistance in the Holy Land.

Crusading armies were no longer something to fear.

They could be defeated.

So what happened to the leaders of the Second Crusade after the disaster in Damascus?

We're about to find out.

King Conrad returned to the Kingdom of Jerusalem,

and in one last ditch effort to revive the fortunes of the Second Crusade,

he joined in making plans to attack the Port of

Ascalon, which had been one of the options on the table before the Crusaders

decided to attack Damascus. A strategy was formulated and a date and time was set for the

mustering of the Christian forces. King Conrad and his men turned up at the designated time and place, but, say for a handful of other men, no one else showed up.

King Conrad then gave up. King Conrad then gave up. He finally realized that the military campaign that was the

Second Crusade was dead in the water and not worth reviving. Shortly afterwards he and his household set sail from

acre back to Europe. They landed in Thessalonica where he received an invitation from Emperor Manuel, inviting him to spend Christmas

...