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 CRUSADES

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CRUSADES

30th of whom claimed the right to Antioch. It was lot until April, 1099, that the march towards Jeru- salem was begun, Bohemond remaining in possession jf Antioch while Raymond seized on Tripoli. On 7 fune the crusailers began the siege of Jerusalem, rheir predicament would have been serious, indeed, lad not another Genoese fleet arrived at Jaffa and, as it .Antioch, furnished the engineers necessary for a iiege. After a general procession which the crusaders made barefooted aroimd the city walls amid the in- jults and incantations of Mohammedan sorcerers, the ittack began 14 July, 1099. Next day the Christians ?ntered Jerusalem from all sides and slew its inhabi- tants regardless of age or sex. Having accomplished
 * heir pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, the knights

jhose as lord of the new conquest Godfrey of Bouillon, ,vho called himself " Defender of the Holy Sepulchre", rhey had then to repulse an Egyptian army, which was defeated at Ascalon, 12 August, 1099. Their
 * )Osition was nevertheless very insecure. Alexius

I^onmenus threatened the principality of Antioch, and n 1100 Bohemond himself was made prisoner by the Furks, while most of the cities on the coast were still ander Mohammedan control. Before his death, 29 Fuly, 1099, T'rban II once more proclaimed the cru- sade. In 1101 three expeditions crossed Europe un- ier the leadership of Count Stephen of Blois, Duke i\'illiam IX of Aquitaine, and Welf IV, Duke of Bavaria. All three managed to reach Asia Minor, but vere massacred by the Turks. On his release from jnson Bohemond attacked the Byzantine Empire, but yas surroimded by the imperial army and forced to icknowledge himself the vassal of Alexius. On Bohe- nond's death, however, in 1111, Tancred refused to ive up to the treaty and retained Antioch. Godfrey )f Bouillon died at Jerusalem 18 July, 1100. His jrotherand successor, Baldwin of Edessa, was crowned King of Jenisalem in the Ba.silica of Bethlehem, 25 Decomljer, 1 100. In 1 1 12, with the aid of Norwegians indiT Sigurd Jorsalafari and the support of Genoese, 'isan, and Venetian fleets, Baldwin I began the con- 1124 by the capture of Tyre. Ascalon alone kept an Sgj'ptian garrison until 1153.
 * uest of the ports of Syria, which was completed in

At this period the Christian states formed an ex- «nsive and unbroken territory between the Euphrates md the Egyptian frontier, and inchuled four almost ndependent principalities: the Kingdom of Jerusalem, he Coimtship of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, md the Countship of Ilohez (Edessa). These small tutcs were, so to speak, the common property of all 'hristendom and, as such, were subordinate to the uithority of the pope. Moreover, the French knights ind Italian merchants established in the newly con- [uered cities soon gained the upper hand. The au- hority of the sovereigns of these different principali- ies was restricted by the fief-holders, vassals, and inder-vassals who constituted the Court of Lieges, or Jupreme Court. This assembly had entire control in egislative matters; no statute or law could be estab- ishcd without its consent ; no baron could be deprived if his fief without its decision; its jurisdiction ex- ended over all, even the king, and it controlled also he succession to the throne. A "Court of the Bur- !e.s.ses" had similar jurisdiction over the citizens. £ach fief had a like tribunal composed of knights and
 * itizcns, and in the ports there were police and mercan-

ilc courts (see jV.ssize.s of Jerusalem). The author- ty of th(! Church also helped to limit the power of the ting; the four metropolitan sees of Tyre, Ca-sarea, Jessan, and Petra were subject to the Patriarch of lenisalem, similarly seven suffr.ag.an .■s'-es and a great nany abbeys, among them .MdumI Sioii, Mount Olivet, he Temple, Jo.saphat, and tlm Holy Sepulchre, rhrough rich and frequent donations the clergy be- ihey also received from the crusaders important
 * anie the largest property-holders in the kingdom ;

estates situated in Europe. In spite of the aforesaid restrictions, in the twelfth century the King of Jeru- salem had a large income. The customs duties estab- lished in the ports and administered by natives, the tolls exacted from caravans, and the monopoly of certain industries were a fruitful source of revenue. From a military point of view all vassals owed tlie king unlimited service as to time, though he was obliged to compensate them, but to fill the ranks of the army it was necessary to enroll natives w-ho re- ceived a life annuity (fiej de soudre). In this way was recruited the light cavalry of the "Turcoples", armed in Saracenic style. Altogether these forces barely exceeded 20,000 men, and yet the powerful vassals who commanded them were almost independ- ent of the king. So it was that the great need of regular troops for the defence of the Christian domin- ions brought about the creation of a imique institu- tion, the religious orders of knighthood, viz.: the Hospitallers, who at first did duty in the Hospital of St. John founded by the aforesaid merchants of Amalfi, and were then organized into a militia by Gerard du Puy that they might fight the Saracens (1113); and the Templars, nine of whom in 1118 gathered around Hugues de Payens and received the Rule of St. Bernard. These members, whether knights drawn from the nobility, bailiffs, clerks, or chaplains, pronounced the three monastic vows, but it was chief- ly to the war against the Saracens that they pledged themselves. Being favoured with many spiritual and temporal privileges, they easily gained recruits from among the younger sons of feudal houses and acquired both in Palestine and in Europe considerable prop- erty. Their castles, built at the principal strategic points, Margat, Le Crac, and Tortosa, were strong citadels protected by several concentric enclosures. In the Kingdom of Jerusalem these militarj- orders virtually formed two independent commonwealths. Finally, in the cities, the public power was divided between the native citizens and the Italian colonists, Genoese, Venetians, Pisans, and also the Marseillais who, in exchange for their services, were given su- preme power in certain districts wherein small self- governing communities had their consuls, their churches, and on the outskirts their farm-land, used for the cultivation of cotton and sugar-cane. The Syrian ports were regularly visited by Italian fleets which obtained there the spices and silks brought by caravans from the Far East. Thus, during the first half of the twelfth century the Christian states of the East were completely organized, and even ecli|)sed in wealth and pros|)erity most of the Western states. III. FiR.sT Dk.struction of the Christian States (1144-87). — Many dangers, unfortunately, threatened this prosperity. On the south were the Caliphs of Egypt, on the east the Seljuk Ameers of Damascus, Hamah and Aleppo, and on the north the Byzantine emperors, eager to realize the project of Alexius Com- nenus and firing the Latin states under their power. Moreover, in the [)resence of so many enemies the Christian states lacked cohesion and discipline. The help they received from the West was too scattered and intermittent. Nevertheless these Western knights, isolated amid Mohammedans and forced, because of the torrid climate, to lead a life far different from that to which they had been accustomed at home, dis- played admirable bravery and energy in their efforts to save the Christian colonies. In 1137 John Com- nenus. Emperor of Constantinople, appeared before Antioch with an anny, and comiicllcd Prince Ray- mond to do him homage. On the death of this poten- tate (1143), Raymond endeavoured to sliake off the irksome yoke and invaded Byzantine tcnitorv, but was hemmed in by the imperial army and compelled fl 144) to humble himself at Constantinople before the Emperor Mamiel. The Principality of Ede.s,sa, com- pletely isolated from the other Christian states, could