This book is based on an unprecedented archaeological survey of more than two hundred Frankish rural sites.

This is the first book devoted to the study of burgesses in the Latin Kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1099-1325). It offers a comprehensive assessment of the contributions made by the non-feudal class to the development of legal and commercial institutions in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. Dispensing with the commonly held view that burgesses had only marginal influence, evidence is presented to illustrate how the existence of a 'middle class' was essential to the ambitions of the kingdoms' leaders.

This volume brings together twenty studies relating to the history of the Latin principalities established in Palestine and Syria from their foundation in the course of the First Crusade up to their defeat by Saladin at the battle of Hattin in 1187. Half of the essays deal with the first three decades of the Frankish settlement, focusing on the monarchy of the kingdom of Jerusalem under Godfrey of Bouillon, Baldwin I and Baldwin II, and on the origins and prosopography of the Frankish nobility. Beyond this are longer-ranging studies devoted to sacred and secular aspects of the landscape and population of Palestine, including the settlement of the city of Jerusalem, the military use of the relic of the True Cross, and wider strategic considerations concerning the defence of the Holy Land. The final section considers how the Franks perceived and interacted with the Muslim and native Christian inhabitants of Syria, Palestine and neighbouring lands, with a particular emphasis on the evidence of the great chronicle of William of Tyre.

In the thirty-five years since B.Z. Kedar published the first of his many studies on the crusades, he has become a leading historian of this field, and of medieval and Middle Eastern history more broadly. His work has been groundbreaking, uncovering new evidence and developing new research tools and methods of analysis with which to study the life of Latins and non-Latins in both the medieval West and the Frankish East. From the Israeli perspective, Kedar's work forms a important part of the historical and cultural heritage of the country. This volume presents 31 essays written by eminent medievalists in his honour. They reflect his methods and diversity of interest. The collection, outstanding in both quality and range of topics, covers the Latin East and relations between West and East in the time of the crusades. The individual essays deal with the history, archaeology and art of the Holy Land, the crusades and the military orders, Islam, historiography, Mediterranean commerce, medieval ideas and literature, and the Jews Given Benjamin Kedar's close involvement with the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East and his years as its President, and his work to establish the journal Crusades, it is fitting that this volume should appear as the first in a series of Subsidia to the journal. For information about the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East, see the society's website: www.sscle.org.

For the last 150 years the historiography of the Crusades has been dominated by nationalist and colonialist discourses in Europe and the Levant. These modern histories have interpreted the Crusades in terms of dichotomous camps, Frankish and Muslim. In this revisionist study, Ronnie Ellenblum presents an interpretation of Crusader historiography that instead defines military and architectural relations between the Franks, local Christians, Muslims and Turks in terms of continuous dialogue and mutual influence. Through close analysis of siege tactics, defensive strategies and the structure and distribution of Crusader castles, Ellenblum relates patterns of crusader settlement to their environment and demonstrates the influence of opposing cultures on tactics and fortifications. He argues that fortifications were often built according to economic and geographic considerations rather than for strategic reasons or to protect illusory 'frontiers', and that Crusader castles are the most evident expression of a cultural dialogue between east and west.

“An enriching account of the expansion of the political and cultural frontiers of the Latin West in the central Middle Ages.”—History Today When the armies of the First Crusade wrested Jerusalem from control of the Fatimids of Egypt in 1099, they believed their victory was an evident sign of God’s favor. It was, therefore, incumbent upon them to fulfill what they understood to be God’s plan: to re-establish Christian control of Syria and Palestine. This book is devoted to the resulting settlements, the crusader states, that developed around the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and survived until Richard the Lionheart’s departure in 1192. Focusing on Jerusalem, Antioch, Tripoli, and Edessa, Malcolm Barber vividly reconstructs the crusaders’ arduous process of establishing and protecting their settlements, and the simultaneous struggle of vanquished inhabitants to adapt to life alongside their conquerors. Rich with colorful accounts of major military campaigns, the book goes much deeper, exploring in detail the culture of the crusader states—the complex indigenous inheritance, the architecture, the political, legal, and economic institutions, the ecclesiastical framework through which the crusaders perceived the world, the origins of the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers, and more. With the zest of a scholar pursuing a life-long interest, Barber presents a complete narrative and cultural history of the crusader states while setting a new standard for the term “total history.” A Choice Outstanding Academic Title in the Western Europe Category “Barber is a highly distinguished scholar, whose touch is continually deft, and he navigates the basis of the main narrative histories with care . . . a delight to read.”—Literary Review

Steven Runciman characterized intellectual life in the Frankish Levant as 'disappointing'; Joshua Prawer claimed that the Franks refused to open up to the East's intellectual achievements. The present collection, the second by Benjamin Kedar in the Variorum series, presents facts that require a modification of these still largely prevailing views. The earliest laws of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were influenced by Byzantine legislation; medical routine in the Jerusalem Hospital, unparalleled in Europe, had counterparts in Oriental hospitals; worshippers of different creeds repeatedly converged; multi-directional conversion recurred time after time. Several articles deal with groups that did abstain from intercultural contacts: Muslim villagers, Frankish clerics and hermits. One article dwells on the asymmetry of Frankish and Muslim mutual perceptions. The volume concludes with studies of specific locations: one argues that Acre was considerably larger than hitherto assumed, another compares its Venetian and Genoese quarters and attempts to locate the remains of a main street, a third reconstructs the history of Caymont.