CRUSADES
547
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- |uest of the ports of Syria, which was completed in 1124 by the capture of Tyre. Ascalon alone kept an Sgj'ptian garrison until 1153.
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-
- anie the largest property-holders in the kingdom ;
ihey also received from the crusaders important
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
