Zengid dynasty
In 1135, Zengi moved against Antioch. When the Crusaders failed to put an army into the field to oppose him, he captured the Syrian towns of Atharib, Zerdana, Ma'arrat al-Numan and Kafr Tab. He defeated Fulk at the battle of Ba'rin of 1137. Afterward, he seized Ba'rin Castle which the Crusaders never recovered. In 1138, he helped repel a Frankish–Byzantine attack at the siege of Shaizar. Because of his continued efforts to seize Damascus, that city sometimes allied itself with the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1144, Zengi began his successful attack against the weakest of the Crusader states––Edessa. Zengi was murdered in uncertain circumstances on 14 September 1146. His legacy was continued in the Zengid dynasty, with his elder son Saif ad-Din Ghazi I succeeded him as atabeg of Mosul while a younger son Nūr-ad-Din succeeded him in Aleppo.