Joscelin II

Joscelin II of Edessa (* 1113 ; † 1159 in Aleppo ) was the last ruling Count of Edessa from 1131 .

He was captured by the Muslims at the Battle of Azaz in 1125, and ransomed by Baldwin II , King of Jerusalem . In 1131 his father, Joscelin I, was seriously injured in a battle against the Danischmenden , after which he handed over the county to him. When Joscelin II refused to march with Edessa's small army against the Danischmenden, Joscelin I himself forced them to retreat, but died a little later.

Joscelin II ruled the weakest and most isolated of the Crusader states . In 1138 he allied himself with the Principality of Antioch and the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenus to attack Zengi , the Atabeg of Aleppo, but suffered a defeat. Back in Antioch, he stirred up an uproar against the Byzantine Empire because John II tried to expand his territory at the expense of the Crusaders: John was forced to withdraw.

In 1143 both King Fulko of Jerusalem and John II died, leaving Joscelin II defending Edessa without any powerful allies. When Joscelin II made the strategic mistake and left Edessa with a large army after a call for help from an Artuquid ruler in the autumn of 1144, Zengi besieged the defenseless city and conquered it on December 24, 1144. A cruel massacre of the civilian population of Edessa resulted Zengi's troops. Joscelin fled to Turbessel , from where he defended the remains of the county west of the Euphrates . When Zengi died in 1146, Joscelin tried to retake Edessa, but was repulsed by Zengi's son Nur ad-Din . The Second Crusade , which began in response to Edessa's fall, was also unable to defeat the Muslims. In 1150 Joscelin was separated from his company on a trip to Antioch and fell into the hands of Turkmen Muslims. Zengi's son and successor Nur ad-Din had Joscelin captured, blinded and thrown into a dungeon in the citadel of Aleppo , where the count died after nine years.

Joscelin II married Beatrix, widow of Wilhelm von Sahyun , around 1132 . His daughter Agnes von Courtenay married King Amalrich I of Jerusalem . His son Joscelin III. was only titular count of Edessa.

Web links

• Joscelin II. De Courtenay at Mittelalter-genealogie.de
• Joscelin de Courtenay at fmg.ac (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas S. Asbridge: The Crusades . 7th edition. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-608-94921-6 , pp. 214 f .

predecessor	Office	successor
Joscelin I.	Count of Edessa 1131–1149	Joscelin III. (as titular count)