First years around 1135 The elder Joscelin was mortally wounded besieging a castle northeast of
Aleppo, as part of a larger campaign against
Imad al-Din Zengi. Upon learning that
Emir Gazi of the
Danishmendids were besieging the castle of
Kaisun, he ordered the younger Joscelin to break the siege. As the Edessene army was small, Young Joscelin refused, and the elder Joscelin opted to be carried on a stretcher by his men and taken to Kaisun. Gazi raised the siege, and the elder Joscelin died shortly after. The deaths of Joscelin I and Baldwin II around the same time caused a political shift in the crusader states.
Fulk, Baldwin’s son-in-law and
King of Jerusalem, commanded less influence in the crusader states than Baldwin had. In 1132,
Alice of Antioch launched a second bid for the regency of her daughter
Constance. After her first attempt in 1130, Joscelin I had governed Edessa, but the Antiochene nobles would not install Joscelin II in his father's place. She allied with Joscelin and Pons, neither of whom accepted Fulk's overlordship. An opposing faction of barons requested the king's aid, and Fulk went by sea to
Saint Symeon. Fulk defeated the rebels at
Chastel Rouge and restored order in the principality. Sevar, Zengi's lieutenant in Aleppo, prepared to campaign against Antioch in 1133, but Fulk routed his army at
Qinnasrin. Sevar's raids continued once Fulk had left, and in 1135 he attacked Turbessel,
Aintab, and
Azaz in Edessa.
Timurtash seized Edessene territory further east. Upon receiving the town of
Gargar from its lord, Michael, for its defence, Joscelin gave them to Michael's personal enemy, Basil. Fighting broke out between the two and the countryside was raided. Sevar's lieutenant, Afshin, threatened
Marash and Kaisun in April 1136.
Raymond of Poitiers, the new Prince of Antioch, marched against
Leo I of Cilicia to secure his northern flank. Raymond was allied with
Baldwin of Marash, who was Joscelin's vassal, but Joscelin was Leo's nephew. Joscelin sided with Leo and they repulsed Raymond's expedition. Fighting continued until 1137.
Relations with Byzantium In 1137, Fulk intervened again in the County of Tripoli, which was threatened by the Zengi. The army was ambushed in the mountains and while Count
Raymond II was captured, Fulk sought refuge in Montferrand. Joscelin, Raymond of Poitiers, and Patriarch
William of Jerusalem rushed to Fulk's aid, but when they arrived he had already surrendered Montferrand and 50,000 dinars for his freedom, unaware of the coming relief. Raymond attempted to exile
Ralph of Domfront, the
Patriarch of Antioch and Joscelin allowed Ralph to stay in Edessa, where Archbishop
Hugo received Ralph as a spiritual overlord. The recent Frankish defeats led to an invasion of Antioch by Byzantine emperor
John II Komnenos. Joscelin, Raymond of Poitiers, and Raymond of Tripoli all swore fealty. John then completed his conquest of
Cilicia, at which point Baldwin of Marash came to him and paid homage for military protection. Joscelin's submission is neglected by Byzantine chroniclers, as he ruled the weakest crusader state, but was prescribed in the
Treaty of Devol from 1108. John launched a military campaign alongside Joscelin and Raymond of Poitiers into enemy territory in 1138, occupying
Balat and
Bizaah. The allies came to Aleppo, but lacking water and finding the defences too strong, they passed it. They then captured
Atarib and
Kafartab, but upon reaching
Shaizar, progress ceased. John besieged the city, but his allies held back. Success here would contribute to Byzantine influence in the region, while Raymond did not want to lose Antioch in exchange for Shaizar, a condition of his submission. Joscelin disliked Raymond and the potential of him being installed in Shaizar and later Aleppo. Reportedly, Joscelin and Raymond played dice while John attacked Shaizar. John returned to Antioch and demanded the citadel be handed over to him. In response Joscelin instigated a riot in Antioch, forcing the emperor to withdraw. In 1139, Raymond was finally able to depose Ralph, who died in 1142. Based on the wording of Joscelin's charters, Raymond seems to have been his overlord since around 1140. John returned in 1142 at the head of another large army, but suddenly turned northwards from Cilicia and appeared before Joscelin's seat at Turbessel. Due to the count's actions in 1138, the emperor seems to have distrusted him. Joscelin was surprised and had to hand over one of his daughters as a hostage. Raymond refused John's demand for Antioch and the emperor plundered its suburbs before retreating to Cilicia for the winter. Before he could return, he died to a hunting accident in April 1143.
Sieges of Edessa In 1143, Zengi renewed his war against Joscelin, capturing a number of minor castles in Edessa. Joscelin made an alliance with
Kara Arslan, causing Zengi to overrun most of Kara Arslan's lands and attempted to cut communications between the two. After being promised a fortress north of Gargar, Joscelin marched to aid Kara Arslan with most of his army, and Zengi struck at Edessa. When they arrived on 28 November the city's defences were already manned; upon learning of Zengi's movements Joscelin went to Turbessel with his army, as his force was too small to defeat Zengi and there he could cut off Muslim reinforcements from Aleppo. There, he sought aid from the other crusader rulers, and Queen
Melisende of Jerusalem sent a detachment of troops. Zengi
broke into Edessa on 23 December, before reinforcements could arrive and slaughtered all of the Franks, but spared local Christians. After capturing Edessa, Zengi seized
Saruj and advanced towards
Birejik in 1145, but there the Frankish garrison was motivated by the proximity of Joscelin with the queen's army advancing and resisted strongly. Zengi raised the siege on 2 May and returned to
Mosul. Considering the defence of Birejik untenable, Joscelin surrendered it to the Muslim ruler of
Mardin, an enemy of Zengi. Joscelin was left with the half of the county west of the Euphrates. Zengi crushed an Armenian plot to return Edessa to Joscelin in May of 1146, executing the ringleaders. The atabeg was murdered by one of his slaves on 14 September 1146. Joscelin responded to the news by launching a
second attempt to reclaim Edessa alongside
Baldwin of Marash. Joscelin broke into the city on 27 October, taking advantage of the cooperation of the Edessene citizens. However, he was unable to take the citadel due to a lack of siege equipment, and when Zengi's son
Nur ad-Din arrived, Joscelin was forced to launch a breakout. Joscelin managed to slip out and make his way towards the Euphrates with a number of native Christians, but a battle was fought on 3 November and Joscelin's army was annihilated. Baldwin of Marash was killed in the fighting, Joscelin was wounded in the arm by an arrow, and the native Christians were massacred. In Edessa, the populace was driven into exile, leaving the city desolate. This second siege was significantly more damaging than the first, and was the fatal blow to the county. In November or December of 1146, Joscelin defended
Azaz against eight days of Zengid assault. Nur ad-Din seized two more fortresses in Edessa before leaving.
Collapse Joscelin's difficulties prevented him from joining the
Second Crusade, which shifted its focus to
Damascus. The gap between Syrian and Latin Christians in the county grew under internal divisions and the actions of neighboring Muslim rulers. The count agreed to a temporary peace with Nur ad-Din in 1148, which prevented him from assisting the Principality of Antioch. Raymond of Poitiers and Joscelin's son-in-law
Reginald of Marash were killed facing Nur ad-Din at the
Battle of Inab on 29 June 1149, leaving Joscelin almost surrounded. In the aftermath
Mesud I, the
Seljuk sultan of Rum, invaded the Principality of Antioch before besieging Joscelin at Turbessel.
Baldwin III of Jerusalem sent sixty knights to prevent the fall of Azaz. The possibility that the force would go to Turbessel helped convince Mesud to raise the siege, although Joscelin had to give up his hostages. Kara Arslan turned on Joscelin and invaded Edessa, seizing Gargar and the surrounding area, while a joint Frankish-Armenian attempt to turn him back failed. Joscelin was summoned to Antioch in the Spring of 1150 by Patriarch
Aimery to take up the regency. While en route, Joscelin was taken prisoner by Nur ad-Din's forces. When his identity became known, Joscelin was taken to Nur ad-Din who had him blinded and imprisoned. Immediately after his imprisonment the county was invaded on all sides and mostly absorbed by Mesud,
Timurtash of Mardin, and Nur ad-Din while Turbessel was sold to Byzantine emperor
Manuel I Komnenos. Although the defence of Joscelin's son,
Joscelin III, prevented Mesud from capturing Turbessel, it fell to Nur ad-Din's captain Hassan in 1151. Joscelin spent the remaining nine years of his life after 1150 in captivity. His captors used threats and discipline alongside flattery to procure his conversion, but Joscelin remained a Christian until his death in May 1159. He was denied a Latin or Armenian chaplain, forcing him to receive his last sacraments from Ignace, the
Jacobite Metropolitan of Aleppo. ==Family==