Fall of Edessa

December 24, 1144

On Christmas Eve, Imad al-Din Zengi's army broke through the weakened walls of the County of Edessa while its count was away hunting. The first of the Crusader states fell after less than half a century. News of the disaster reaching the West triggered calls for a Second Crusade. The loss of Edessa shocked Christendom and demonstrated that the Crusader states, far from being permanent, could be dismantled by a determined Muslim adversary.