County of Edessa - Population and Demographics

Population and Demographics

Edessa was one of the largest of the Crusader states in terms of territory but had one of the smallest populations. Edessa itself had about 10,000 inhabitants. The rest of the county consisted mostly of fortresses. The county's territory extended from Antioch in the west to across the Euphrates in the east at its greatest extent. It also often occupied land as far north as Armenia proper. To the south and east were the powerful Muslim cities of Aleppo and Mosul, and the Jazira (northern Iraq). The inhabitants were mostly Assyrian Syriac Orthodox, and Armenian Orthodox Christians, with some Greek Orthodox and Arab Muslims. Although the numbers of Latins always remained small, there was a Roman Catholic Patriarch. The fall of the city was the catalyst for the Second Crusade in 1146.