County of Edessa (Crusader State)

Could it have held out longer? Perhaps with greater cooperation with the Principality of Antioch or Cilician Armenia?
 
The Crusader Kingdoms were islands surrounded by a hostile sea. The problem was that the very thing that gave birth to them, intense religious fervor and a willingness to she blood in the name of God, was the very thing that made their existence intolerable to the neighboring states.

In order for the Crusader Kingdoms to survive long term it requires either A) they reach an accord with the Muslims and are genuinely willing to co-exist and live in peace together. Given the prevailing mindsets of both sides at this time it's impossible to imagine. B) You get a LOT more Christians immigrating from Europe to settle in the Holy Lands. Given a large enough population to draw upon it might be possible to resist the Islamic counter attacks long enough for them to survive and eventually flourish.

Without a large Christian population to support them the Crusader Kingdoms are more like military outposts in a hostile coutry. Sooner or later they are bound to fall.
 
The short answer is yes, but Edessa was the weakest and most exposed of the Crusader states, and was going to fall some time in the 12th century.

Focusing on the short term, two opportunities were missed. First, the princes of Antioch and Edessa did not cooperate at all with the Byzantines when John II came to the Holy land with large forces in 1138. Eliminating some of the moslem states in the area would have made Edessa more defensible and have given the crusader states more resources when the Zengid attack came.

The second opportunity came during the Second Crusade, when the crusaders didn't try to retake Edessa. They might have failed anyway, given that crusade's dismal outcome across the board in OTL, but if the Germans hadn't been virtually wiped out in Anatolia it might have been possible, especially if the Byzantines could have been brought in as allies.

Finally, the rump state at Turbessel fell after Joscelin II was captured, which was easily avoidable (Joscelin was caught because he stopped to relieve himself), and having a better man than Joscelin in command wouldn't have hurt.
 
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