Final answer:
The main military force of the Second Crusade, led by European monarchs, failed to take the city of Damascus. This defeat in Anatolia was a significant setback for the Crusade and contributed to its overall failure.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Second Crusade and Its Failure to Capture Damascus
The main military force of the Second Crusade, which took place from 1147 to 1149, failed to take the city of Damascus. This crusade was led by prominent European leaders such as King Louis VII of France and King Conrad III of Germany. Despite the rallying efforts of preachers like Bernard of Clairvaux, the crusade faced defeat in Anatolia, diminishing the number of soldiers reaching the Holy Land. The failure to capture Damascus, an important objective in the campaign, resulted in the crusade’s ultimate failure and considerable humiliation for its leaders and supporters, including Bernard of Clairvaux who apologized to the pope for the defeat.
After the initial success of the First Crusade, the loss of the city of Edessa to the Muslims had triggered the call for a Second Crusade. However, internal issues, such as mistrust of the Byzantine Empire by European armies, along with military misfortunes, led to this unsuccessful attempt to expand the territory of the Crusader States, also known as Outremer. This setback marked the beginning of a series of failures that would plague subsequent crusading efforts, with each new campaign failing to achieve its aims of reconquering lands in the Holy Land.