Eve of the Crisis in the County of Edessa

Timeline

1. 1131–1135Edessa · LevantCount Joscelin II's governing ability was widely questioned during his reign; noble factions within the county vied for power, and relations with Alice, regent of the Principality of Antioch, deteriorated; Edessa, the earliest established Crusader state, had by then lost the military vigor of its founding period.
2. 1135–1138Borderlands around Edessa · Northern MesopotamiaZengid forces pressed continuously from the direction of Mosul and Aleppo, and border castles of the County of Edessa fell or were abandoned one after another; the county's actual controlled area shrank dramatically, leaving only Edessa and a few surrounding strongpoints, with its defense system on the verge of collapse.
3. 1138–1140Edessa · LevantWestern Crusader reinforcements were long delayed, and neither the Kingdom of Jerusalem nor the Principality of Antioch could provide effective support; Edessa's fortifications were long neglected and its garrison understaffed, leaving the county by the late 1130s in a critical state where it could fall at any moment.