The Kingdom of Jerusalem: Foundation and Life in the Kingdom

It's no secret that the Middle East today is one of the most troubled regions of our planet, and the threats of European civilization come from there. There is an opinion that the roots of these phenomena should be sought in the depths of centuries, for they are an echo of the Crusades. That is why, in order to understand the reasons for the confrontation between East and West, as well as find ways to their peaceful coexistence, some researchers recommend carefully studying history. For example, the Jerusalem Kingdom, the Edessa County and neighboring states are of interest, where Christians who came from Europe and their descendants eventually learned to live peacefully with the local Muslim population.

Prehistory

The Kingdom of Jerusalem appeared on the world map in 1099 as a result of the capture of the city by the Crusaders, where the Savior was crucified. They arrived in the region at the call of the Pope Urban II, to which the Byzantine emperor Alexei the First addressed the request for the protection of Christians from the Turks. This was preceded by the Battle of Manzikert. The defeat of Byzantium led to the loss of Armenia and the eastern part of Asia Minor, which, according to historians, was the beginning of the end of this great empire. In addition, there were rumors about the atrocities of both Sunni and Shia against the Christians of Palestine.

The defense of coreligionists was not the only reason that made the pope bless the soldiers on the Crusade. The fact is that by that time a greater stability was established in most of Europe, and thousands of well-trained knights were left without work, which led to armed clashes on the most trivial occasions. Their sending to the Middle East provided peace, and also gave hope for an economic recovery in the future (due to trophies).

Initially, the liberation of Jerusalem was not part of the plans of the Crusaders. However, later they changed, and on July 15, 1099 the city was captured and ... looted.

Base

The unconditional leader of the crusaders was Gottfried Bouillon, who in medieval chronicles is credited with all the virtues of a true knight loyal to the Christian commandments. Having founded the kingdom of Jerusalem, the barons and counts appealed to him with a request to become the first ruler of the new state. Remaining true to his principles, Gottfried refused the crown, motivating it by the fact that he can not wear it where the Savior himself wore a crown of thorns. The only thing he agreed to was accepting the title of "Defender of the Holy Sepulcher."

The reign of the first King of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Gottfried Bouillon died in 1100 without leaving the offspring of a male. His brother Baldwin immediately coronated and began to rule Jerusalem, although he took no part in his siege and liberation, as he was busy capturing the Armenian Christian principalities of Tarsus, Tel Bashir, Ravendan and Edessa. Moreover, in the last city-state he was adopted by the ruler Thoros and married his daughter. She went down in history as the first queen of Jerusalem, Arda Armenian. However, after killing his father-in-law and establishing his own county of Edessa, Baldwin divorced, which brought the wrath of the pope.

Nevertheless, being a skilful politician, Baldwin the First expanded the Kingdom of Jerusalem, capturing several port cities, and became the ruler of Antioch and the county of Tripoli. Also, with him, the number of Catholics has increased.

Balduin died in 1118, did not leave heirs.

Kings of the Kingdom of Jerusalem before the Second Crusade

The successor to the childless Baldwin the First, bypassing his brother in France, became his relative, the Earl of Edessa de Burke. He also expanded the boundaries of the state. In particular, de Burke managed to make his vassals ruler of Antioch princedom - a young Boehmund the Second, the grandson of the King of France, and in 1124 the year he was taken to Tire.

Long before his accession to the throne, in order to strengthen his position in the region, Baldwin de Burke married the daughter of the Armenian prince Gabriel-Morphy (see Jean Richard, "The Latin-Kingdom of Jerusalem," part one). She gave the wife three daughters. The eldest of them, Melisenda, became the third and one of the most famous queens of Jerusalem. Before her death, her father took all measures to ensure that the widow's son-in-law Fulk of Anjou - could not divorce her and transfer the throne to his children from his first marriage. For this, during his lifetime, Baldwin II announced his first grandson bearing his name, and his daughter co-rulers.

After the murder of Fulk in the hunt, Melisenda became the sole ruler of the kingdom and was known as the patroness of the church and the arts.

After becoming an adult, her eldest son Baldwin the Third decided that it was time to make it possible that the Jerusalem kingdom of the Crusaders would come under his authority. He confronted the mother, who fled with his younger brother Amory. As a result of the intervention of the clergy, the son gave the city of Nablus under the control of Melisenda, but she continued to engage in diplomatic activities for the benefit of the kingdom.

The Second Crusade

After the fall of Edessa in 1144, Melisenda sent a message to the pope asking for help in freeing the county. It was not ignored, and the pontiff announced the beginning of the Second Crusade. In 1148, troops from Europe, led by the French King Louis Seventh, his wife Alienora Aquitaine and the German Emperor Conrad, arrived in the Latin-Kingdom of Jerusalem. Being 18 years old, the young Baldwin the Third showed sufficient reasonableness, supporting the position of the mother and his constable, who believed that Aleppo should be attacked in order to quickly re-hoist the flag of the Kingdom of Jerusalem over Edessa. However, the arriving monarchs had very different plans. They intended to capture Damascus, despite the fact that the Jerusalem kingdom of the Crusaders had good diplomatic relations with this city-state. As a result, the "guests" from Europe won, which subsequently had disastrous consequences for Christians in the Middle East.

Departed to Damascus Conrad and Baldwin did not achieve anything and were forced to withdraw the siege. The retreat of Christians inspired their enemies, and the losses caused great damage to the fighting ability of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. So after the fact that Louis and Conrad with their armies left the Middle East, the situation there has become much more tense than before.

Amory First

Baldwin III had difficulty in concluding a truce with Damascus, and the victory he won in 1158 on Lake Tiberias restored the former authority of the country. This allowed the king to marry the niece of the Emperor of Byzantium - Theodore Comnenus. After 4 years, the monarch died, possibly from poisoning, leaving no heirs.

After the death of Baldwin, the Third Kingdom of Jerusalem was led by his brother, who ascended the throne under the name of Amory the First. In 1157 he married Agnes de Courtenay - the daughter of Count Edessa Josselin and the great-granddaughter of the Armenian king Kostandin the First. The church did not want to bless this marriage, as the young ones had a common great-great-grandfather, but they insisted on their own. The couple had three children: Sybil, Baldwin and Alix. Nevertheless, Agnes did not become a queen, although for most of the next century the kings of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were her direct descendants.

Amory the First directed his efforts to seize the territories in Egypt and increase his influence in this country, which he managed in part. At the same time, he combined the second marriage with the niece of Emperor Byzantium Maria, strengthening ties with this state. She gave birth to his daughter Isabella.

The situation in the Middle East changed radically after in January 1169 the Caliph al-Adid appointed the then little-known Salah ad-Din as the vizier. In 1170, the latter invaded the lands of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with the army and captured Eilat. All appeals of Amory the First to the European monarchs remained without response. In 1974, without outside support, he besieged Banyas, who was often called the key to the gates of Jerusalem. Not having achieved success and having caught typhoid fever, he returned to his capital, where he died. Before his death, he gave the city of Nablus to his wife Maria and their common daughter Isabella, and also appointed the son of Baldwin, who at that time was only 13 years old, as the heir.

The rulers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem: the descendants of Amory the First

Entering the throne, the young Baldwin Fourth was completely under the influence of his mother Agnes de Courtenay. Soon he fell ill with leprosy, and this ailment caused his early death (at the age of 24). However, from the moment of reaching adulthood and until his death, the young king, despite his ailment, managed to prove himself to be a wise ruler.

Since it was obvious that the young man could not leave his offspring, his sister Sybil was married to Guillaume de Monferrat. Thus, she became a relative of the King of France and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The marriage did not last long, as the husband died a few months after the wedding, not seeing the birth of his son Baldwin.

Meanwhile, the leper king defeated Salah al-Din's army at the battle of Monzhizar. Since that time, his clashes with the troops of Muslims did not stop until the conclusion of peace in 1180. Then the widowed Sybil was married to Guy de Lusignan. However, soon the new son-in-law lost the disposition of the monarch, who decided to make his heir a minor son of his sister - Baldwin de Monferrat.

In the spring of 1185, after the death of his uncle, the boy became king, but reigned for only a year. Then the country was in fact started to rule the second husband of his mother - Guy de Luzinyan, to whom Sybil publicly gave the crown, removing it from his head. Thus, except for the reign of Baldwin de Monferrat, the Ardennes-Anjou dynasty owned the state of the Crusaders in the Holy Land from 1090 to 1185 (Richard, "The Latin-Kingdom of Jerusalem," the first part).

Delivery of the city

In the reign of Guy de Lusignan, terrible misfortunes occurred, which led the country to collapse. It all began with the Battle of Hattin in 1187, when the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was defeated by the troops of Salah ad-Din. Guy de Lusignan himself was taken prisoner, and in 1187 Sybil and the famous knight-crusader Balian de Ibelin were forced to organize the defense of Jerusalem. The forces were unequal, and it became obvious that the besieged Christians were threatened with extermination. Balian de Ibelin showed himself to be the most skillful diplomat, having achieved the surrender of the city on honorable terms. After the departure of Jerusalem, Sybil wrote a letter to Salah al-Din asking him to release her husband and was able to reunite with him in 1188.

The Jerusalem State of the Crusaders in the 13th Century

In the summer of 1190, Sybil and her daughters died during the plague epidemic. Although her husband Guy de Lusignan continued to consider himself king, Isabella became the country's ruler, the daughter of Amorie the First from her second marriage. She was divorced from her first husband and married to Conrad of Montferrat. The latter received confirmation of his title, but did not have time to crown, as he was killed by two assassins. Just 8 days later, Isabella, pregnant with his daughter Maria, married Henry Champagne, listening to the advice of Richard the Lionheart. The marriage ended with the death of the spouse from an accident. Then Isabella again married to the brother of Guy de Lusignan, who became known as Amory the Second.

The king and queen died almost simultaneously in 1205, allegedly from poisoning stale fish.

They were succeeded by the eldest daughter of Queen Maria de Monferrat. She married Jean de Brienne and died after childbirth. Her daughter Iolanthe was crowned, but her father ruled the country. At the age of 13 she was married to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In the dowry, Frederick the Second received the title of King of Jerusalem and undertook to join the crusade. In Palermo, the queen gave birth to Conrad's daughter and son. In 1228, after her death, Frederick sailed to the Holy Land, where he was crowned. There he found nothing better than to start a war with the Templars, trying to capture Akra, where the patriarch was. However, soon the emperor changed his mind and decided to take his weapons with him, leaving the Christian population of the kingdom of Jerusalem almost defenseless.

Before his shameful secret escape to Europe, he commissioned the administration of the state of Balan Sidon.

Change of title

The point in the history of the domination of the Crusaders in the Holy Land was the seizure of the kingdom by the Khwarizmians in 1244. Nevertheless, during the next few centuries, some European aristocratic dynasties inherited the title of the monarch of Jerusalem. In 1268 it was canceled. He was replaced by the title of King of Jerusalem and Cyprus. His first bearer was Hugo the Third, the son of Isabel de Luzinyan. He changed the coat of arms of Cyprus, adding to it the symbols of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. His descendants bore this title until 1393. After it was changed, since Jacques the First became also the king of Armenia.

The life of ordinary people in Christian states in the Holy Land

The new generation, born in Palestine, considered it its homeland and had a negative attitude towards the crusaders, who had recently arrived from Europe. Many knew the local languages and married Christian women, women of other faiths, to acquire relatives who could provide support in difficult situations. In this case, if aristocrats lived in cities, then the local population - mainly Muslim - engaged in agriculture. The army was called upon only by the Franks, and Eastern Christians were obliged to supply it with food.

In art, literature and multimedia products

The most popular work about the Kingdom of Jerusalem was Ridley Scott's film The Kingdom of Heaven, which tells of the confrontation with Salah ad-Din and the surrender of Jerusalem. Some events from the history of the state of the Crusaders were reflected in computer games. For example, in Assassin's Creed. By the way, a new fashion Stainless steel 6.1 is available today. The Kingdom of Jerusalem (voice, engine, types of land and climate are updated) is presented there quite realistically, and each region has its own resources.

Now you know who ruled over such Crusader states as the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the county of Edessa and Antioch, and what events took place in the Middle East after the First Crusade was completed and before the actual loss of control by the Christians over the region.