The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost 200 years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 until the fall of Acre in 1291. Its history is divided into two periods with a brief interruption in its existence, beginning with its collapse after the siege of Jerusalem in 1187 and its restoration after the Third Crusade in 1192.
The original kingdom lasted from 1099 to 1187 before being almost entirely overrun by the Ayyubid Sultanate under Saladin. Following the Third Crusade, it was re-established in Acre in 1192. The re-established state is commonly known as the "Second Kingdom of Jerusalem" or alternatively as the "Kingdom of Acre" after its new capital city. Acre remained the capital for the rest of its existence, even during the two decades that followed the Crusaders' establishment of partial control over Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade, through the diplomacy of Emperor Frederick II.
The vast majority of the Crusaders who settled the Kingdom of Jerusalem were from the Kingdom of France, as were the knights and soldiers who made up the bulk of the steady flow of reinforcements throughout its 200-year existence; its rulers and elite were therefore predominantly French. Over the course of its history, the Kingdom of Jerusalem became increasingly dependent on and influenced by the Italian maritime republics of Venice and Genoa, especially after the kingdom's capital effectively moved to the port city of Acre.
Geographic boundaries
At first, the kingdom was little more than a loose collection of towns and cities captured during the First Crusade, but at its height in the mid-12th century, the kingdom encompassed roughly the territory of modern-day Israel, Palestine, and the southern half of Lebanon, including Beirut. From the Mediterranean Sea, the kingdom extended in a thin strip of land from Beirut in the north to the Sinai Desert in the south; into modern Jordan and Syria in the east, and towards Egypt in the west. Three other Crusader states founded during and after the First Crusade were located further north: the County of Edessa (1097–1144), the Principality of Antioch (1098–1268), and the County of Tripoli (1109–1289). While all were independent, they were closely tied to Jerusalem. Beyond these to the north and west lay the states of Armenian Cilicia and the Byzantine Empire, with which Jerusalem had a close relationship in the 12th century. Further east, various Muslim emirates were ultimately allied with the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. The kingdom was increasingly dominated by the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa. Their naval strength was essential for transporting troops, food, and goods, and their financial resources were often decisive in sustaining the kingdom's military campaigns. As the kingdom's dependence on maritime support grew, so did the influence of the Italian republics in local politics, diplomacy, and economic life. While they never ruled the kingdom directly, Venice and Genoa effectively shaped its policies and priorities, making the crusader state increasingly reliant on their power.
The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II (reigned 1220–1250), had ambitions in the Crusader state, claiming the kingdom by marriage, but his presence sparked a civil war (1228–1243) among the kingdom's nobility. The kingdom became little more than a pawn in the politics and warfare of the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties in Egypt, as well as the Khwarezmian and Mongol invaders. As a relatively minor kingdom, it received little financial or military support from Europe; despite numerous small expeditions, Europeans generally proved unwilling to undertake an expensive journey to the east for an apparently losing cause. The Mamluk sultans Baibars (reigned 1260–1277) and al-Ashraf Khalil (reigned 1290–1293) eventually reconquered all the remaining Crusader strongholds, culminating in the destruction of Acre in 1291.
People The kingdom was ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse, although the Crusaders established themselves and their descendants as an elite Catholic minority. They imported many customs and institutions from their homelands in Europe, and there were close familial and political connections with the West throughout the kingdom's existence. The kingdom also inherited "oriental" qualities, influenced by pre-existing customs and populations. The majority of the kingdom's inhabitants were native Christians, especially Greek and Syriac Orthodox, as well as Sunni and Shi'a Muslims. The native Christians and Muslims, who were a marginalized lower class, tended to speak Greek and Arabic, while the Crusaders, who came mainly from the Kingdom of France, spoke French. There were also a small number of Jews and Samaritans.Joshua Prawer, "Social classes in the Crusader States: The 'Minorities'," in Kenneth M. Setton, ed., A History of the Crusades, vol. V: The Impact of the Crusades on the Near East, ed. Norman P. Zacour and Harry W. Hazard (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), pp. 65-70.
According to Benjamin of Tudela, who travelled through the kingdom around 1170, there were 1,000 Samaritans in Nablus, 200 in Caesarea and 300 in Ascalon. This sets a lower bound for the Samaritan population at 1,500, since the contemporary Samaritan chronicle Tolidah mentions communities in Gaza and Acre as well. Benjamin of Tudela estimates the total Jewish population of 14 cities in the kingdom to be 1,200, making the Samaritan population of the time larger than the Jewish, perhaps for the only time in history.Benjamin Z. Kedar, "Samaritan History: The Frankish Period", in Alan David Crown (ed.), The Samaritans (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1989), pp. 82–94.
History
First Crusade and the foundation of the kingdom The First Crusade was preached at the Council of Clermont in 1095 by Pope Urban II, with the goal of assisting the Byzantine Empire against the invasions of the "Turks and Arabs" and "to destroy this vile race from the lands of our friends."Quote from the speech of Pope Urban II, However, the main objective quickly became the control of the Holy Land. The Byzantines were frequently at war with the Seljuks and other Turkish dynasties for control of Anatolia and Syria. The Sunni Seljuks had formerly ruled the Seljuk Empire, but this empire had collapsed into several smaller states after the death of Malik-Shah I in 1092. Malik-Shah was succeeded in the Anatolian Sultanate of Rum by Kilij Arslan I, and in Syria by his brother Tutush I, who died in 1095. Tutush's sons Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan and Duqaq inherited Aleppo and Damascus respectively, further dividing Syria amongst emirs antagonistic towards each other, as well as Kerbogha, the atabeg of Mosul. This disunity among the Anatolian and Syrian emirs allowed the Crusaders to overcome any military opposition they faced on the way to Jerusalem.
Egypt and much of Palestine were controlled by the Fatimid Caliphate, which had extended further into Syria before the arrival of the Seljuks. Warfare between the Fatimids and Seljuks caused great disruption for the local Christians and for Western pilgrims. The Fatimids, under the nominal rule of caliph al-Musta'li but actually controlled by vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah, had lost Jerusalem to the Seljuks in 1073; they recaptured it in 1098 from the Artuqids, a smaller Turkish tribe associated with the Seljuks, just before the arrival of the Crusaders.
The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem in June 1099; a few of the neighbouring towns (Ramla, Lydda, Bethlehem, and others) were taken first, and Jerusalem was captured on 15 July.The First Crusade is extensively documented in primary and secondary sources. See for example Thomas Asbridge, The First Crusade: A New History (Oxford: 2004); ; Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (Pennsylvania: 1991); and the lively but outdated Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades: Volume 1, The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (Cambridge: 1953). On 22 July a council was held in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to establish a king for the newly created Kingdom of Jerusalem. Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse and Godfrey of Bouillon were recognized as the leaders of the crusade and the siege of Jerusalem. Raymond was the wealthier and more powerful of the two, but at first he refused to become king, perhaps attempting to show his piety and probably hoping that the other nobles would insist upon his election anyway. The more popular Godfrey did not hesitate like Raymond, and he accepted the position as leader. Most modern historians chronicle that he took the title Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri ("advocate" or "defender" of the Holy Sepulchre). Others report that Godfrey seems to have used the more ambiguous term princeps, or simply retained his title of dux from Lower Lorraine. According to William of Tyre, writing in the mid-12th century when Godfrey had become a legendary hero, he refused to wear "a crown of gold" where Christ had worn "a crown of thorns".William of Tyre, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, trans. E.A. Babcock and A.C. Krey, Columbia University Press, 1943, vol. 1, bk. 9, ch. 9.Riley-Smith (1979), "The Title of Godfrey of Bouillon", Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research 52, pp. 83–86.Murray, Alan V. (1990), "The Title of Godfrey of Bouillon as Ruler of Jerusalem", Collegium Medievale 3, pp. 163–178. Raymond was incensed and took his army to forage away from the city. The new kingdom, and Godfrey's reputation, was secured with the defeat of the Egyptian army under al-Afdal Shahanshah at the Battle of Ascalon on 12 August, but Raymond and Godfrey's continued antagonism prevented the Crusaders from taking control of Ascalon.Asbridge, pg. 326.
There was still some uncertainty about what to do with the new kingdom. The papal legate Daimbert of Pisa convinced Godfrey to hand over Jerusalem to him as Latin patriarch, with the intention to set up a theocratic state directly under papal control. According to William of Tyre, Godfrey may have supported Daimbert's efforts, and he agreed to take possession of "one or two other cities and thus enlarge the kingdom" if Daimbert were permitted to rule Jerusalem.William of Tyre, vol. 1, bk. 9, ch. 16, pg. 404. Godfrey did indeed increase the boundaries of the kingdom by capturing Jaffa, Haifa, Tiberias, and other cities, and reducing many others to tributary status. He set the foundations for the system of vassalage in the kingdom, establishing the Principality of Galilee and the County of Jaffa, but his reign was short, and he died of an illness in 1100. His brother Baldwin of Boulogne successfully outmanoeuvred Daimbert and claimed Jerusalem for himself as "King of the Latins of Jerusalem". Daimbert compromised by crowning Baldwin in Bethlehem rather than Jerusalem, but the path for a monarchy in Jerusalem had been laid. Within this framework, a Catholic hierarchy was established, overtop of the local Eastern Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox authorities, who retained their own hierarchies (the Catholics considered them schismatics and thus illegitimate, and vice versa). Under the Latin patriarch, there were four suffragan archdioceses and numerous dioceses.
Expansion