Joscelin II (died 1159) was the fourth and last ruling

count of Edessa The County of Edessa (Latin: ''Comitatus Edessanus'') was a 12th-century Crusader state in Upper Mesopotamia. Its seat was the city of Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey). In the late Byzantine period, Edessa became the centre of intellectua ...

. He was son of his predecessor, Joscelin I, and Beatrice, daughter of Constantine I of Armenia.

Biography

Youth

In 1122, Joscelin I was captured by Belek Ghazi. The next year, he was joined in captivity by

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the ...

. Joscelin I was rescued in 1123 by Armenian soldiers, and he worked with Baldwin's wife Morphia to secure the king's release. The young Joscelin II and Baldwin's daughter Ioveta were ransomed for Baldwin's release in 1124. Joscelin II and Ioveta were released in 1125 in exchange for 80,000 dinars, spoils from Baldwin's victory over al-Bursuqi at the battle of Azaz. In 1131, his father Joscelin I was wounded in battle with the

Danishmends The Danishmendids or Danishmends () were a Turkish dynasty. These terms also refer to the Turkish Anatolian Beyliks, state in Anatolia. It existed from 1071/1075 to 1178 and is also known as the Danishmendid Beylik (). The dynasty was centered or ...

, and Edessa passed to Joscelin II. Joscelin II refused to march the small Edessan army out to meet the Danishmends, so Joscelin I, in his last act, forced the Danishmends to retreat, dying soon after.

Count of Edessa

Joscelin II ruled the weakest and most isolated of the

Crusader states The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

. In 1138 he allied with

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

and

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus (; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexio ...

to attack Zengi, atabeg of Aleppo, and the campaign ended with the unsuccessful Siege of Shaizar of 1138. Upon returning to Antioch, Joscelin II exploited local sentiment against the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

to instigate a riot that forced John to return home. In 1143 both John II and

Fulk of Jerusalem Fulk of Anjou (, or ''Foulques''; – 13 November 1143), also known as Fulk the Younger, was the king of Jerusalem from 1131 until 1143 as the husband and co-ruler of Queen Melisende. Previously, he was the count of Anjou as Fulk V from 1109 ...

died, leaving Joscelin II with no powerful allies to help defend Edessa. In autumn 1144, Joscelin II formed an alliance with the Artuqid Kara Aslan and marched a sizable army north to assist in their struggle with Zengi. With the capital only lightly defended, Zengi redirected his army, invading and capturing the city after the Siege of Edessa in 1144. Joscelin II fled to Turbessel, where he held the remnants of the county west of the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

Captivity

After Yarankash, a Frankish slave, assassinated Zengi in September 1146, Joscelin II recaptured Edessa in October 1146. Receiving no help from the other Crusader states, the city was again lost in November, as Joscelin's expedition was driven out by Zengi's son Nur ad-Din. The

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...

, called in response to the fall of Edessa, shifted its focus to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. In 1150 while en route to Antioch to enlist help, Joscelin II was taken prisoner by Nur-ed-Din's Turkomans. Joscelin II was taken to the city of Aleppo where he was led before a hostile crowd and publicly blinded. He spent the remaining nine years of his life in captivity in a Muslim prison. He died in the dungeons of the

Citadel of Aleppo The Citadel of Aleppo () is a large medieval fortified palace in the centre of the old city of Aleppo, northern Syria. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at leas ...

in 1159.

Family

He married Beatrice of Saone, the widow of the wealthy Antiochene baron, William of Zardana. She gave birth to at least two daughters and a son surviving to adulthood: *

Agnes of Courtenay Agnes of Courtenay ( – ) was a Franks, Frankish noblewoman who held considerable influence in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the reign of her son, King Baldwin IV. Though she was never queen, she has been described as the most powerful wom ...

married

Amalric I of Jerusalem Amalric (; 113611 July 1174), formerly known in historiography as , was the king of Jerusalem from 1163 until his death. He was, in the opinion of his Muslim adversaries, the bravest and cleverest of the crusader kings. Amalric was the younger ...

, later king of Jerusalem. After her divorce from Amalric, she held the lands and incomes of the County of Jaffa. Joscelin II's grandchildren

Baldwin IV of Jerusalem Baldwin IV (1161–1185), known as the Leper King, was the king of Jerusalem from 1174 until his death in 1185. He was admired by historians and his contemporaries for his dedication to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the face of his debilitating ...

and

Sibylla of Jerusalem Sibylla (; – 25 July 1190) was the queen of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1190. She reigned alongside her husband Guy of Lusignan, to whom she was unwaveringly attached despite his unpopularity among the barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Sibylla ...

were in turn monarchs of Jerusalem, as was his great-grandson

Baldwin V of Jerusalem Baldwin V (1177 or 11781186) was the king of Jerusalem who reigned together with his uncle Baldwin IV from 1183 to 1185 and, after his uncle's death, as the sole king from 1185 to his own death in 1186. Baldwin IV's leprosy meant that he coul ...

. *

Joscelin III of Edessa Joscelin III (c. 1139 – after 1190) was the titular count of Edessa, who during his lifetime managed to amass enough land to establish a lordship in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Early life Joscelin III was the son of Joscelin II and Beat ...

held the nominal title Count of Edessa, being in reality the lord of a small seigneurie near

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

. * Isabella of Courtenay, possibly married Thoros II, Prince of Armenia had two daughters.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joscelin 02, Count of Edessa Year of birth missing 1159 deaths Counts of Edessa 1st house of Courtenay Christians of the Second Crusade People who died in prison custody