"Whoever wants to conquer the Levant should first seize Aleppo. Whoever seizes Aleppo will seize the whole East."
Asad ad-Din Shirkuh to Nur ad-Din
Imam ad-Din Zengi
"Alas! This great star of Islam eclipsed! This great supporter of the faith died". The death of Atabeg Zengi in the hands of a Frankish slave was an stroke of luck for the Crusader cause, he's often considered one of the most successful Muslim rulers at dealing with the Franks. He was succeeded by his sons, Sayf ad-Din, as Emir of Mosul; and Nur ad-Din, as Emir of Aleppo; the Khabur river was set as the frontier between the two kingdoms.
After securing Aleppo, Nur ad-Din attacked the Principality of Antioch and took Edessa from Count Joscelin, who had used the death of Zengi to recapture the city, Joscelin barely managed to escape with 20 knights. After the incident the male population of Edessa was massacred, and the women and children enslaved. The city was razed to the ground, so it wouldn't be a reliable base for count Joscelin. Michael the Syrian estimates, from both sieges of Edessa, 30,000 deaths, with 16,000 people enslaved.
He then, formed an alliance with Mu'in al-Din, governor of Damascus, by marrying his daughter, in exchange Nur ad-Din received Homs. After that, helped Mu'in ad-Din in pacifying Bosra, defeating king Baldwin, who was helping the rebels, in battle.
Little is known about the activities of Sayf ad-Din during the first years of his reign, he imprisoned Alp Arslan, claimant to the city of Mosul. An important episode was a meet with his brother, in which both agreed to meet away from the armed forces, and both would have five hundred horsemen with them, but Sayf ad-Din only brought five, the story narrates:
Sayf ad-Din addressed Nur ad-Din, "Why did you not come to me? Did you fear that I might kill you? By Allah, I have never thought of such a thing. What do possessions avail? With whom will I live and from whom should I seek support, if I behave so dishonestly with my brother and the most beloved person to me?"
Nur ad-Din felt relaxed and safe. Hence, he returned to Aleppo. He equipped his army and came back with his soldiers but this time in the service of his brother Sayf ad-Din, who said to him, "I have no interest in your staying here. My purpose was that I wanted the Frankish kings to know that we are on good terms with each other so that they might stay away from us."
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Raymond of Poitiers welcoming Louis VII in Antioch
The arrival of the Crusaders at Antioch was met with great bliss. Prince Raymond of Poitiers welcomed the kings and showed them every hospitality, queen Eleanor (Raymond's niece) was especially captivated by the life at Antioch, that reminded her of her native Aquitaine. This hospitality was clearly a method of preventing the kings from going south, and instead helping him to expand eastwards. Raymond had long ambitioned the cities of Aleppo and Caesarea Germanica, he had previously try to capture Aleppo with the help of Emperor John, but failed, now with the kings here he thought his ambitions could finally be accomplished.
Though Prince Raymond was glad about the arrival of the Crusader force, it had brought an unpleasant consequence with it; the extension of imperial power in Central Anatolia, and the consolidation of their hold over Cilicia gave Manuel an easier way to exert influence over Antioch; a few years prior Manuel had already force him to visit Constantinople and pay homage to him; given this new conditions his situation had significantly worsen. Thus, he delayed to directly speak to Michael Palaiologos the longer he could, he searched for German support, but it was clear that their king supported Manuel over him; he tried to convince king Louis to support his cause, but he would refuse, even with queen Eleanor trying to convince him that he shouldn't, this would further worsen their relation. The lack of French support convinced Prince Raymond that he had no option, but to present himself to general Palaiologos as loyal to the empire. Surprisingly, general Michael had not bring the issue of the patriarchate of Antioch, probably to prevent the alienation of his allies. After this events Michael and his army marched south with the pilgrims.
A council was called, in order to discuss how they would proceed, almost everyone agreed that it was necessary to rid with Nur ad-Din and avenge what was done to Edessa, the real discussion was how. In the previous days Raymond had been discussing the idea of aiming for Aleppo with king Louis, as always queen Eleanor agreed with his uncle; who argued that the only way of neutralizing the Zengid threat was capturing his power base; at the end he would convince king Louis of supporting him in the council. Bishop Otto and King Conrad argued that their goal should be uniting forces with Count Joscelin in Turbessel, in order to restore the County of Edessa. The discussion didn't go for long, marching to Edessa would never be safe without getting rid of Nur ad-Din and Nur ad-Din would forever be a threat with Aleppo in his hands. Though, Conrad convinced them to send a separate army to unite with the forces of Joscelin, which number they overestimated.
By the time of their arrival in Antioch the crusader numbers had diminished, of the 30,000 strong army 4,000 had perished in Anatolia, and the Byzantine contingent had left between, 23,000 was what remained, adding that to Prince Raymond army, disposing of 400 knights and a 1,000 footmen.
It was decided that 19,000 men under King Louis, King Conrad and Prince Raymond would march to lay siege to Aleppo; while 5,000 under Frederick of Hohenstaufen, Ottakar of Styria and Alfonso Jordan would march to Cyrrhus, and then to Aintab in order to unite with the forces of Count Joscelin in Turbessel, with the purpose of preventing reinforcements from the Emir of Mosul of relieving the siege. The papal legate, Cardinal Theodwin, was sent to arrange a coordinated offensive against the ruler of Damascus with King Baldwin III, in order to prevent him from relieving Aleppo; he was also sent to deal with Count Raymond II of Tripoli, with the purpose of forcing him to join the crusade, which he was evading due to the presence of Alfonso Jordan, who claimed the County of Tripoli as his rightful possession.
The road to Aleppo was very peaceful when compared to the Anatolian roads, the crusaders naturally expected a battle they didn't found, small contingents that were supposed to halt their advance couldn't do much as the crusaders had the support from the local population, as the area had only been recently conquered by Zengi; quickly they had reached Zardana and retake it. After that, it didn't take long for them to heard what was happening, Nur ad-Din had anticipated the siege and left the city in order to unite forces with his brother. Some argue that they should retreat and march to Turbessel in order to prevent its fall and the destruction of the second Crusader army, but the kings refused; even Conrad, whose nephew was in command of that army argued that Nur ad-Din was expecting that. They would decide to only send messengers to tell the second army to retreat to Antioch, they didn't arrive in time. The towns taken by Zengi were quickly retook and the siege of Aleppo started in the 10th of May.
Nur ad-Din quickly captured many towns around Turbessel, including Aintab, near that town he found the second Crusader army. The battle of Aintab was the first defeat of the crusade, they had heard news of the Zengid army, but didn't expect to encounter it before reaching Turbessel, nor their numbers. The ambush was effective, but Nur ad-Din wouldn't be able to destroy the whole Crusader army, that thanks the bravery of Alfonso Jordan, whose charge and ability to hold his position allowed some of his comrades to escape. Of the five thousand strong army, only fifteen hundred survived the battle, with Alfonso Jordan dying in the field. The battle allowed Nur ad-Din to safely start the siege of Turbessel.
After the battle of Iconium Sayf ad-Din had been amassing a coalition against the crusaders, that numbered 20,000 men, under his command; an impressive number nonetheless, but he was expecting more tu unite to his cause, which couldn't happen, as the Caliph and the Seljuk Sultan were busy dealing with rebellions. By the middle of May he met the 8,000 strong army of his brother in the gates of Turbessel, who had been waiting for his arrival, as he needed siege weapons. The city of Turbessel resisted until June 1, when it was taken by assault. Well known, is the heroism of Count Joscelin, since he and his knights fought until the last men; so much was his excellence, that he would later be recognised as a martyr and a Saint of the Catholic church. The head of Count Joscelin was sent to the caliph of Baghdad in a silver chest. No man in Turbessel was spared, and the women and children were enslaved; this was how the Zengid brothers tried to show the Crusaders what happens to the infidels. After the fall of Turbessel most of the County of Edessa submitted to the Zengid brothers in fear of a similar fate, this allowed them to quickly get to Hazart, in the frontiers of the Principality of Antioch by June 30.
The city of Aleppo
Aleppo was one of the greatest and oldest cities of the Levant, it was considered as the gate of the Levant, and its garrison consisted of 5,000 men. The Crusaders were well prepared for the siege, they camped in the Eastern bank of the Queiq river, some weapons and materials were prepared beforehand, the supply lines were seemingly safe, the surrounding towns were easily taken and it was expected to get more weapons from the Italian republics soon. The arrival of Frederick sent shivers across the camp, the news of the major losses certainly flustered many, though it was later considered that Nur ad-Din wasn't an immediate threat given this prospect, as he would be occupied with Turbessel for long, at the end, they silently accepted the idea of giving up on Turbessel. Things calmed down, until an Armenian merchant arrived, he informed the Crusaders of the reunion of the Zengid brothers' forces, with the greatest army seen since the First Crusade; and perhaps most devastatingly, they heard about the fall of Turbessel and the death of Count Joscelin, they had been expecting Turbessel to resist for months, so this news felt like cold water; it spread a feeling of fear and uncertainty across the camp and the Latin states in the Levant.
After hearing about the start of the siege of Hazart, the operation was now under a clear threat, the possibility of the Zengids advancing all the way Zardana or even further was untenable, supply lines would be cut and they would be forced to retire; but they knew that if they all abandoned their camp what they had achieved would be undone. Preparations were made for king Louis to fight the Zengids, the minor towns were abandoned, most of the available horses were spent on this mission; 3,000 knights marched with him to battle
King Louis was never expected to inherit the throne as a second son, he was raised to be a priest, something that his personality made clear, he might not have been the ideal of a king, but he represented well the spirit of the crusades. Hazart fell, but that was expected. In the 15th of July, the Zengid army was marching south after departing Hazart, with Nur ad-Din leading the vanguard. Near the town of Afrin, king Louis had hidden behind a hill waiting for the Turkish force, dividing his force in fifteen squadrons. He then sprung his ambush, first 10 squadrons, while he held back waiting for the right moment; when he saw it, he charged down the hill like a starving lion, in a moment that was seemingly divine guidance, as Nur ad-Din was surrounded and unhorsed, though it's not known who killed him king Louis and count Thierry are often depicted as the responsibles. Even though, the Emir was dead the fierce Turks didn't lose their discipline, thanks to the warrior Shirkuh, who managed to halt the Crusader charge and reorganize the remaining forces. Scouts informing about the proximity of the main Muslim army and general Shirkuh forced king Louis to retreat, he ordered to take the body of Nur ad-Din and every prisoner possible. Twelve hundred knights were lost in the battle, but their prowess is legendary. The battle of Afrin immortalised king Louis, and after it he was the called, Louis the Lion. Sayf ad-Din swore to take revenge on the Franks, but he knew what the death of his brother would mean for Aleppo and there was no point on advancing further, so he retreated.
The death of Nur ad-Din
The garrison of Aleppo tried to use the reduction of the Crusader forces to sortie them, but it was to no avail; king Conrad destroyed their forces and the prisoners were beheaded in front of the walls, the garrison lost fifteen thousand men. The return of king Louis to the camp brought another body with him, Nur ad-Din, his body was shown along with the men taken prisoner from the battle of Afrin. The garrison accepted to surrender if given safe passage. Though the crusaders wanted to avenge what was made to Edessa, they accepted the proposal, as king Louis thought that Sayf ad-Din continued his advance and was already sieging Zardana; this confusion spared the city of what could have been a massacre. The Crusaders finally entered the city in July 22 and later they were informed about the retreat of Sayf ad-Din.
What they expected to be a massive exodus was rather disappointing, and what they expected to be one of the greatest cities in the world was in a period of reconstruction, as years prior the city had been destroyed by an earthquake, and even though most of their inhabitants fled before the event, thus surviving; many never returned, making it a great city with an small population. Only ten years later the siege was felt for the inhabitants as another earthquake, the Crusaders said that they would allow them to practice their religion, but they would not stay, as the ones who stayed the last time all died.
Some pillaged what the citizens had left, and some excavated ruins that the earthquake left to find riches, many were found and many poor men became rich. A victory that great had not been seen, since the capture of Jerusalem. King Conrad ordered a cross to be built, and once made it was put in the highest tower of the Great Mosque of Aleppo, once the garden of the Cathedral of Saint Helena; it was named a Cathedral, there king Conrad gave a rousing speech, saying that the crusade was not yet over, and that their duty wouldn't be finished till the enemies of God were neutralised.
Debate arise over who should rule the city, normally the first standard to fly over the walls of the city represented a strong claim, but this time the city was not taken by conquest. Raymond had long wanted the city for himself and expected that it would be given to him, count Thierry of Flanders and margrave Ottakar of Styria started to claim the city once the siege started, a minor faction advocated for giving it to the son of the deceased count Joscelin, also named Joscelin, but found little support. Both Raymond and Thierry approached king Louis in search of support, though king Louis really appreciated Raymond, Thierry had a better offer; would king Louis support his claim and in exchange Thierry accepted to support the king in any war within France; once Raymond realised that king Louis wouldn't support him he was furious, and decided to use queen Eleanor against her husband, further deteriorating their relation; king Louis wouldn't back down, but an agreement was reached; Thierry would get the city, but as a vassal of Raymond. Even though Conrad would have supported Ottakar in other situation, he recognised that the victory was a merit of the king of France, so he preferred to let the city to the will of Louis. Thierry was declared count of Aleppo.
A council was called in order to debate how to proceed, most, including king Conrad advocated that they should march to Edessa, as the Zengid power had diminished with the death of Nur ad-Din and the county was of young Joscelin by right. Even though prince Raymond was opposed to this idea, little he could do. They departed Aleppo in August 30.
