Defenders of the Holy Land Relations between the Latin East and the West, 1119-1187

by Phillips, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780198205401
• ISBN10: 0198205406
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-05-23
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

The triumph of the First Crusade (1095-1099) led to the establishment of a Latin Christian community in the Levant. Remarkably, despite growing pressure from the neighbouring Muslim powers, and the failure of the Second Crusade (1145-49), the settlers were able to occupy Jerusalem andsubstantial areas of what are now Israel, Syria and the Lebanon for over three-quarters of a century. It was the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 which precipitated the famous Third Crusade dominated by Richard the Lionheart. This is the first systematic investigation of the settlers' attempts to seek support for their vital role as guardians of the Holy Land. Jonathan Phillips draws together a disparate range of evidence to show how they turned to western Europe, and to a lesser extent Byzantium, for help. As attitudesand strategies evolved, the settlers' approach became increasingly sophisticated, peaking during the reign of King Amalric of Jerusalem (1163-1174), when diplomatic activity was particularly intense. The author also investigates the attitude of King Henry II of England towards the crusades, and theeffects of the Becket dispute on western responses to the needs of the Holy Land. In this fascinating and original study, Jonathan Phillips demonstrates that contact between the Latin East and the West was far more complex than previously believed, and exposes for the first time the range and scaleof the settlers' efforts to maintain Christian control of the Holy Land.

Author Biography

Jonathan Phillips is Lecturer in Medieval History at the Royal Holloway College, University of London.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations
Maps of the Levant
Introduction	p. 1
King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and the West	p. 14
Unrest in Antioch, 1130-8	p. 44
The Second Crusade, 1145-9	p. 73
The Failure of the 1150 Crusade and the Development of Ties with Byzantium, 1150-63	p. 100
Approaches to both Byzantium and the West, 1163-8	p. 140
The Intensification of Amalric's Diplomatic Efforts	p. 168
Crisis in the Latin East, 1174-87	p. 225
Conclusion	p. 267
Appendix: Thierry of Flanders and the Grant of Shaizar	p. 271
Genealogical Tables	p. 282
Bibliography	p. 286
Index	p. 303
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