Jerusalem, Latin Kingdom of (redirected from Kingdom of Jerusalem)

Jerusalem, Latin Kingdom of, feudal state created by leaders of the First Crusade (see Crusades) in the areas they had wrested from the Muslims in Syria and Palestine. In 1099, after their capture of Jerusalem, the Crusaders chose Godfrey of Bouillon king; he declined the title, preferring that of defender of the Holy Sepulcher, but with his election the kingdom may be said to have begun. His brother and successor, Baldwin I, took the royal title. He and his successors were nominal overlords of the principality of Antioch and the counties of Edessa and Tripoli, which, with the royal domain of Jerusalem, constituted the great fiefs of the kingdom. Jerusalem itself contained the counties of Jaffa and Ashqelon, the lordships of Krak, Montreal, and Sidon, and the principality of Galilee.

Due to its existence during the height of feudalism, the kingdom was based on the purest forms of feudal theory. The kingship was elective, and the Assizes of Jerusalem, the law of the country, reflected the ideal feudal law. In practice, however, irregularities soon appeared, and the kings actually were chosen on dynastic considerations. The great feudal lords rarely felt bound to their overlord in the chronic struggles of the Latins among themselves and with the Mamluks of Egypt, the Seljuk Turks, and the Byzantine emperors. The rise of the great military orders, the Knights Templars, the Knights Hospitalers, and the Teutonic Knights, as well as the intrusion of new Crusaders further undermined the royal authority.

Edessa, captured by the Seljuks in 1144, was the first Latin state to fall to the Muslims. The subsequent Crusades did not halt the Muslim advance, and in 1187, Jerusalem itself fell to Sultan Saladin after his victory at Hattin. The city was partially recaptured in 1229 by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, but permanently lost in 1244. The Crusades of Louis IX of France and Edward I of England were failures, and in 1291, Akko, the last Christian stronghold, fell.

The kings of Jerusalem of the house of Bouillon were Baldwin I (reigned 1100–1118) and Baldwin II (reigned 1118–31). The crown then passed to the Angevin dynasty, beginning (1131) with Fulk and ending (1186) with Baldwin V. On Baldwin V's death the title passed to Guy of Lusignan and then to the successive husbands of Isabella, daughter of Amalric I: Conrad, marquis of Montferrat; Henry, count of Champagne; and Amalric II, king of Cyprus. In 1210, John of Brienne received the title; his son-in-law, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, crowned himself King of Jerusalem in 1229. After Frederick's death (1250) the title was held by members of various families that had a claim to it, notably the kings of Cyprus, the Angevins, and the houses of Lorraine and Savoy.

For later history, see Jerusalem.

Bibliography

See studies by M. Benvenisti (1970), J. Riley-Smith (1973), and J. Richard (2 pts., 1978).

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Jerusalem, Latin Kingdom of 

a state founded by participants in the First Crusade after the capture of Jerusalem in 1099.

The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem assumed its final form, with respect to territory, after subsequent conquests by the Crusaders in the eastern Mediterranean. The kingdom consisted of the Kingdom of Jerusalem proper and three virtually independent vassal states: the counties of Tripoli and Edessa and the principality of Antioch. Godfrey of Bouillon was proclaimed the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1099.

The kingdom went down in history as an example of feudal divisiveness, which was clearly expressed in the Jerusalem Assizes. The power of the rulers of the kingdom was limited by a Supreme Chamber, consisting of secular and ecclesiastical feudal lords. In socioeconomic structure the Kingdom of Jerusalem was characterized by strict forms of a serf system, the arbitrary rule of the lords in collecting duties from the villeins (peasants of the conquered local population), and the widespread use of slavery. There was considerable development in the cities, in which great privileges were accorded to the Italian merchants, who monopolized the kingdom’s trade. The rising indignation of the cruelly oppressed local population and military encounters with neighboring states compelled the Crusaders to erect a number of castles and fortresses in the kingdom.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem played a major role in the international relations of the eastern Mediterranean, where the interests of the Western European states, Byzantium, and the Muslim East were interwoven. In 1137, Byzantium succeeded in reducing the Principality of Antioch to a vassal dependency. In 1144 the Seljuk Turks captured Edessa, and the threat of a Muslim attack compelled the kingdom in the 1160’s to seek an alliance with Byzantium. In 1168 these allies undertook an unsuccessful war against Egypt. Internal feudal dissension, rivalry among the Italian merchants, a shortage of knights, wars between the Crusader states themselves and with Egypt, the Seljuks, and Byzantium, and the lack of regular support from the states of Western Europe all served to weaken the kingdom. Its principal military forces, the Order of St. John and the Templars, were mutually hostile and could not therefore effectively oppose the onslaught of the Muslims, who had been gaining strength since the middle of the 12th century. In 1187 the Egyptian Sultan Saladin inflicted a defeat upon the Crusaders at Hattin; he then captured Jerusalem itself and most of the kingdom. In 1229, Frederick II Staufen took the throne and succeeded temporarily in restoring the power of the Crusaders in Jerusalem by taking advantage of the conflicts among the Muslim states; however, the Egyptians captured Jerusalem again in 1244 and this time held onto it more firmly. During the 1260’s most of the cities still remaining in the Crusaders’ hands were captured by the Egyptian Mamelukes. The year 1291 saw the fall of the Crusaders’ last bastion, the city of Acre.

REFERENCES

Zaborov, M.A. Krestovye pokhody. Moscow, 1956.
Zaborov, M.A. Istoriografiia krestovykh pokhodov (XV-XIX vv.). Moscow, 1971.
Richard, J. Le Royaume latin de Jérusalem. Paris, 1953.

M. A. ZABOROV