The siege of Aleppo in April 1138 was a significant attempt to capture the city by the allied forces of the Byzantines and the Franks. The Byzantine Emperor

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 ...

allied with the Franks in an attempt to capture

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. The Christian army was largely composed of Byzantine regulars and also included a Templar force and substantial contingents from

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

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

. As the Christian army approached Aleppo its inhabitants withdrew into the outlying garrisons and sent word to Zengi, asking him for help. Zengi rushed to obtain reinforcements before the arrival of the allied army; he received a reinforcement of cavalry, infantry, and specialist archers just in time. The Byzantines were aware of the strategic importance of Aleppo. One of the objectives of their Syrian campaign was to create a Christian buffer state centered on Aleppo but also including

Shaizar Shaizar or Shayzar (; in modern Arabic Saijar; Hellenistic name: Larissa in Syria, Λάρισσα εν Συρία in Greek language, Greek) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. Near ...

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

and

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

. Due to the dangers involved the Byzantines were content to let the Franks own the buffer state of the hinterlands, presumably under imperial suzerainty. The Byzantines were camped on

Queiq The Queiq (Modern Standard Arabic: , ''Quwayq'', ; northern Syrian Arabic: ''ʾWēʾ'', ), with many variant spellings, it was known to the Greeks in antiquity as the Belus in (, ''Bēlos''), the Chalos and also known in English as the Alep ...

river and launched attacks on the south and west of Aleppo on April 19 to size out the garrison's strength and intimidate them with the size and aggression of the besieging force. Instead the reverse happened, large numbers of the Muslim militia made a sortie against the Byzantines and emerged victorious from the skirmishing. One of the senior Byzantine commanders was wounded during the fight. Following their repulse, the Christian army departed in search of easier pickings. The siege is hardly mentioned in Christian chronicles, and while Aleppo might have been viewed as a target if its defenses had been weak, there is evidence that the city of

was the real goal of the allied army. After taking some towns by assault, John II's army unsuccessfully besieged Shaizar.

References

Sources

* * {{coord missing, Syria Conflicts in 1138 1130s in the Byzantine Empire Sieges of Aleppo Battles involving the Zengid dynasty Battles involving the Seljuk Empire Sieges involving the Byzantine Empire

Battles involving the Principality of Antioch John II Komnenos Battles involving the County of Edessa