The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Crusader state established in 1099 by western European warriors in lands conquered from Muslim rulers (in modern-day Israel and Jordan) during the First Crusade. As its first ruler Godfrey of Bouillon did not take the title of king, his brother and successor Baldwin I was crowned the first king in 1100. By 1153, Baldwin I and his successors captured all towns on the Palestinian coast mainly with the support of Pisan, Genoese and Venetian fleets and also took control of the caravan routes between Egypt and Syria. The kings regularly administered other Crusader statesAntioch, Edessa and Tripolion behalf of their absent or underage rulers.

The polarisation of the Muslim world enabled the crusaders (known in the Levant as Franks) to consolidate their rule in Palestine. They could also appeal to the popes and the European rulers for help against their enemies. In the mid-twelfth century, Baldwin III and his successor Amalric maintained a close alliance with the Byzantine Empire, but they could not prevent the ruler of Aleppo, Nur ad-Din, from uniting the Muslim states in Syria in the 1150s. Internal strife weakened the kingdom during the reigns of the leper Baldwin IV and the unpopular Guy of Lusignan. This facilitated Nur ad-Din's former general, Saladin, to unite Egypt and Syria in the 1180s. Saladin destroyed the crusader army in the Battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187, and occupied almost the whole kingdom during the following months.

The city of Tyre was saved by the Italian crusader, Conrad of Montferrat, and the Third Crusade forced Saladin to acknowledge the restoration of the Franks' rule in most coastal towns in his 1192 truce with Richard I of England. Further lands were recovered during the reigns of Henry of Champagne and Aimery of Lusignan, and Emperor Frederick II also restored the Franks' rule in the city of Jerusalem in 1229. Frederick and his successors were absent monarchs and the kingdom was administered by regents (or bailiffs) from 1229 to 1269. Due to conflicts between the kings' representatives and the powerful barons, and the War of Saint Sabas between Genoa and Venice, the kingdom disintegrated into autonomous towns and lordships by the 1260s. The personal union of Jerusalem and Cyprus could not prevent the Mamluks of Egypt from occupying the last Frankish outposts in 1291. In addition to the Lusignan kings of Cyprus, the Angevin rulers of Naples and their successors maintained a claim to the defunct Jerusalemite kingdom for centuries.

Background

1st–2nd centuries In Christianity, places associated with Jesus in Roman Palestine become deemed worth a visit for spiritual benefits. Christians regard Calvary (the venue of Jesus's sufferings) in the city of Jerusalem as an especially sacred place.

325–431 Large churches are built to receive pilgrims at the most popular Palestinian shrines during the reign of the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine the Great and his successors. Among them, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre includes Calvary. 632–661 The Muslim Rashidun Caliphate conquers Syria, Palestine, and Egypt from the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Thereafter, few western European pilgrims risk a voyage to the Holy Land. 638 February/March. After a prolonged siege, the caliph Umar, enters Jerusalem.

The Frankish aristocrat Fromont makes the first known penitential pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 1009 September 27. The Fatimid caliph al-Hakim orders the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre. 1040s The restoration of the Holy Sepulchre is completed. 1055 December 18. The Turk ruler Tughril I, head of the Seljuk clan, seizes Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. He takes control of the Caliphate's government with the consent of Caliph Al Qa'im. –1070 Merchants from the Italian city of Amalfi establish the Saint Mary of the Latins Abbey for Benedictine monks near the Holy Sepulchre. Before 1070 The Saint Mary of the Latins Abbey founds the Hospital of Saint John for male pilgrims in Jerusalem and staffs it with men living a monastic life. 1071 August 21. Battle of Manzikert: the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan overcomes the Byzantines, eventually opening Asia Minor to further Turkic invasions.

The Turk warlord, Atsiz ibn Uvaq, captures Jerusalem from the Fatimids. 1071–1079 The Seljuk Turks conquer much of Syria and Palestine. 1074 March 1. Pope Gregory VII plans to launch a military campaign against the Turks for the liberation of the Holy Land. Before 1081/82 Saint Mary Magdalene Abbey is established for nuns in Jerusalem. 1080s Theologians who support the Gregorian church reform movement develop the Roman Catholic concept of holy wars, providing the papacy with an ideology for the use of armed forces. 1092 November. The Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah I dies and his empire disintegrates into competing states. 1095 March. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos's envoys seek Pope Urban II's support for raising western troops against the Turks at the Council of Piacenza. November 27. Pope Urban proclaims the First Crusade for the liberation of Jerusalem at the Council of Clermont, merging the ideology of penitential pilgrimages with the concept of holy wars.

December 1. Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, is the first high-ranking aristocrat to join the crusade. 1096 August 15. Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lotharingia, departs for the crusade. His brother, Baldwin of Boulogne, and their kinsman, Baldwin of Bourcq, accompany him. 1097 January 20. Godfrey swears fealty to Alexios I in Constantinople. 1098 March 9. Baldwin of Boulogne assumes power in the city of Edessa in Upper Mesopotamia, establishing the first Crusader state, the County of Edessa. June 3. The crusaders capture the city of Antioch in Syria. June 28. Battle of Antioch: under the command of the Italo-Norman prince Bohemond, the crusaders route the Seljuk relief force led by Kerbogha, the (governor) of Mosul. July 3. The crusaders decide to delay their campaign to Jerusalem to avoid summer heat. They conquer lands that would develop into the second Crusader state, the Principality of Antioch under Bohemond's rule. August 26. Al-Afdal, the Fatimid vizier, captures Jerusalem. October 18. Simeon II, the exiled Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the papal legate, Adhemar of Le Puy, propagate the crusade in a common letter. 1099 January 7. Bohemond takes full possession of Antioch. January 13. Raymond and Bohemond's nephew Tancred continue the crusade towards Jerusalem. February 14. Raymond attacks the fortress of Arqa. Spring. Al-Afdal offers to grant entry into Jerusalem to unarmed pilgrims. April 1. The protracted siege of Arqa forces Raymond to seek assistance from Godfrey and Robert II of Flanders. April 10. Byzantine envoys inform the crusaders about Alexios's plan to invade Palestine in late June. Early May. Ignoring Raymond's protests, the crusaders depart for Jerusalem before the arrival of the Byzantine army.

First kingdom

Establishment (1099–1100)

1099 May 19. The crusaders cross the Dog River into Palestine. June 3. The crusaders seize the city of Ramla and establish the first Catholic diocese in Palestine. A grant by the first bishop, Robert to Syrian and Frank colonists fixing their tributes will be the template for similar grants in Palestine. June 7. The crusaders (1,200–1,300 knights and 10,700–10,800 foot-soldiers) reach Jerusalem. June 17. A Genoese fleet captures the port city of Jaffa. Early July. Tancred captures Bethlehem and places his banner over the Church of the Nativity. The clergymen demand that the Holy Land be transformed into a spiritual realm. Patriarch Symeon dies in exile. July 15. The crusaders capture Jerusalem. They massacre or enslave Muslims and Jews.

July 22. Godfrey is elected as the city's first Latin ruler but does not adopt the title of king. Late July. Raymond declines to cede the Tower of David to Godfrey, but Godfrey's soldiers seize it without resistance. August 1. Senior clerics of the crusaders' camp elect the Normand priest Arnulf of Chocques as the first Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. He expels the local Christian (Armenian, Copt, Jacobite and Nestorian) clergy from the Holy Sepulchre. August 12. Battle of Ascalon: the crusaders route al-Afdal's army. Most crusaders leave the Holy Land for Europe. Early September. A Pisan fleet arrives on Syria under the command of Daimbert, Archbishop of Pisa. October 15–December 15. Godfrey unsuccessfully besieges Arsuf. December 21. Daimbert, Bohemond of Antioch and Baldwin of Edessa come to Jerusalem, accompanied by thousands of pilgrims.

December. Pope Paschal II calls for a new crusade. December 25. Arnulf is deposed and Daimbert is elected as the new patriarch at a synod (church assembly). Godfrey and Bohemond swear fealty to Daimbert. The Latin patriarchate seizes a district in Jerusalem.

A decree stipulates that a man who lives in a house for more than a year seizes its possession against its absent owner. Godfrey founds the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Mary of the Valley of Jehosaphat at the site identified as the Tomb of the Virgin Mary. 1100 February. The emirs of the coastal towns of Ascalon, Caesarea and Acre pay tribute to Godfrey. February 2. Godfrey grants one quarter of Jaffa to Daimbert. April 1. Godfrey promises Jaffa and Jerusalem to Daimbert, retaining possession until further conquests. Early April. The Pisan fleet sails for Italy. June/July Godfrey makes a grant to the Hospital of Saint John, indicating that it is in practice treated as an independent organisation. June 10. A Venetian fleet arrives at Jaffa. The Venetians' treaty with Godfrey's retainer Warner of Grez and Tancred establishes their right to have their own district and church in the towns in the Holy Land. July 18. Godfrey dies unexpectedly. July 22. Godfrey's retainers send envoys to Baldwin of Boulogne, urging him to claim Jerusalem. August 1. Daimbert asks Bohemond to prevent Baldwin from coming to Jerusalem. August 15. The Muslim warlord Danishmend Gazi captures Bohemond in Anatolia. August 20. Tancred's troops and the Venetians capture the coastal town of Haifa and massacre the townspeople. October 2. Baldwin grants Edessa to Baldwin of Bourcq and departs for Jerusalem. Late October. Baldwin of Boulogne's supporters prevent Tancred from seizing Jerusalem and Jaffa. Daimbert takes refuge at a monastery on Mount Zion. November 9. The burghers of Jerusalem ceremoniously receive Baldwin. December 25. Daimbert crowns Baldwin as the first king of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity. Tancred establishes the Benedictine Abbey of Mount Tabor.

Consolidation (1101–1124)

1101 Early March. Tancred departs for Antioch to assume the regency for the captive Bohemond. The papal legate Maurice of Porto comes to Jerusalem. Easter. A Genoese fleet arrives at Jaffa. Greek Orthodox monks return to the Holy Sepulchre to secure the celebration of the Holy Fire. May. Baldwin and the Genoese capture Arsuf and Caesarea. August–September. The forces of Kilij Arslan massacre most new crusaders at Mersivan and Heraclea Cybistra in Asia Minor. September 7. First Battle of Ramla: Baldwin routes a Fatimid army, but about one-third of his troops perish on the battlefield. Winter. Maurice of Porto presides over a church council that deposes Daimbert for treachery and other crimes. 1102 May 17. Second Battle of Ramla: Al-Afdal's son, Sharaf al-Ma'ali, almost annihilates the Jerusalemite army; many survivors of the previous year's crusade (such as Counts Stephen of Blois and Stephen of Burgundy) fall on the battlefield. May 28. Baldwin gathers new troops and Sharaf al-Ma'ali returns to Egypt. Late May. Tancred tries to achieve Daimbert's restoration, but the new papal legate, Robert of St Eusebio, confirms Daimbert's deposition. A popular cleric, Evremar, is selected as the new patriarch.