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Manasses of Hierges was an important crusader and constable of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was lord of Ramla from 1150 to 1152.
The dates of his birth and death are unknown, as indeed are the details of his life outside the period spent in Jerusalem. Manasses was the son of Hodierna of Rethal and Héribrand III of Hierges. His maternal grandfather was Hugh I of Rethel and maternal uncle was Baldwin II of Jerusalem. He married Helvis of Ramla, widow of Barisan of Ibelin, in around 1150. This allowed Manasses to establish himself in the east not only with the favour of his royal relatives but also with much land and money. On behalf of Helvis, he ruled Ramlah and Mirabel, and virtually the entire southern part of Palestine, with the exception of the Lordship of Ibelin, which was inherited by Helvis and Barisan's son Hugh of Ibelin. Manasses and Helvis had two daughters, one of whom may have been born after his exile in 1152.
Manasses arrived in Jerusalem around 1140 and was appointed constable of Jerusalem, the highest office of the kingdom, by his cousin Queen Melisende after the death of her husband King Fulk in 1143. As constable, he was in command of the army, and was sent to relieve the siege of Edessa in 1144. He did not arrive in time and the city fell to Zengi. In response to the fall of Edessa, the Second Crusade arrived in Jerusalem in 1148. Manasses was present at the Council of Acre that year when they decided to attack Damascus, but the siege of Damascus was a failure and the crusade dispersed.
According to William of Tyre, Manasses "is said to have conducted himself very haughtily. He assumed an insolent attitude of superiority towards the elders of the realm and refused to show them proper respect." With his newfound power, he made many enemies among the more established older nobles, and Melisende's son Baldwin III especially hated him for keeping him out of government and alienating him from his mother. Manasses supported Melisende against Baldwin III when Baldwin attempted to claim full power in 1152. Baldwin had himself crowned separately and the kingdom was divided between him and Melisende, with Melisende keeping Jerusalem and Nablus in the south and Baldwin ruling from Acre and Tyre in the north. Baldwin appointed a constable of his own, Humphrey II of Toron, and soon invaded the south. He forced Manasses to surrender his castle of Mirabel, and captured Jerusalem from Melisende. Manasses was exiled and permanently replaced as constable by Humphrey.
Amalric, formerly known in historiography as Amalric I, was the king of Jerusalem from 1163 until his death. He was, in the opinion of his Muslim adversaries, the bravest and cleverest of the crusader kings.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 until the fall of Acre in 1291. Its history is divided into two periods with a brief interruption in its existence, beginning with its collapse after the siege of Jerusalem in 1187 and its restoration after the Third Crusade in 1192.
Melisende was the queen of Jerusalem from 1131 to 1152. She was the first female ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the first woman to hold a public office in the crusader kingdom. She became legendary already in her lifetime for her generous support of the various Christian communities in her kingdom. Contemporary chronicler William of Tyre praised her wisdom and abilities, while modern historians differ in their assessment.
Baldwin III was King of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163. He was the eldest son of Queen Melisende and King Fulk. He became king while still a child, and was at first overshadowed by his mother Melisende, whom he eventually defeated in a civil war. During his reign Jerusalem became more closely allied with the Byzantine Empire, and the Second Crusade tried and failed to conquer Damascus. Baldwin captured the important Egyptian fortress of Ascalon, but also had to deal with the increasing power of Nur ad-Din in Syria. He died childless and was succeeded by his brother Amalric.
Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq, was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the First Crusade. He succeeded Baldwin of Boulogne as the second count of Edessa when he left the county for Jerusalem following his brother's death. He was captured at the Battle of Harran in 1104. He was held first by Sökmen of Mardin, then by Jikirmish of Mosul, and finally by Jawali Saqawa. During his captivity, Tancred, the ruler of the Principality of Antioch, and Tancred's cousin, Richard of Salerno, governed Edessa as Baldwin's regents.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem, one of the Crusader states that was created in 1099, was divided into a number of smaller seigneuries. According to the 13th-century jurist John of Ibelin, the four highest crown vassals in the kingdom proper were the count of Jaffa and Ascalon, the prince of Galilee, the lord of Sidon, and the lord of Oultrejordain.
There were six major officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem: the constable, the marshal, the seneschal, the chamberlain, the butler and the chancellor. At certain times there were also bailiffs, viscounts and castellans.
Philip of Milly, also known as Philip of Nablus, was a baron in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the seventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar. He briefly employed the troubadour Peire Bremon lo Tort in the Holy Land.
The House of Ibelin was a noble family in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. They rose from relatively humble beginnings to become one of the most important families in the kingdom, holding various high offices and with extensive holdings in the Holy Land and Cyprus. The family disappeared after the fall of the Kingdom of Cyprus in the 15th century.
Barisan of Ibelin was the first lord of Ibelin and the founder of the House of Ibelin in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. His name was later written as "Balian" and he is sometimes known as Balian the Elder, Barisan the Old or Balian I. Barisan was also lord of Ramla from 1138 to 1150.
Hugh of Ibelin was an important noble in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and was Lord of Ramla from 1152-1169.
Baldwin of Ibelin, also known as Baldwin II of Ramla, was an important noble of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and was lord of Ramla from 1169-1186. He was the second son of Barisan of Ibelin, and was the younger brother of Hugh of Ibelin and older brother of Balian of Ibelin. He first appears in the historical record as a witness to charters in 1148.
Balian of Ibelin, also known as Barisan the Younger, was a crusader noble of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. He was Lord of Ibelin from 1170 to 1193. As the leader of the defense of the city during the siege of Jerusalem in 1187, he surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin on 2 October 1187.
Hugh II, also called Hugh du Puiset, was a Crusader and the count of Jaffa in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He revolted against King Fulk in 1134.
The siege of Edessa took place from 28 November to 24 December 1144, resulting in the fall of the capital of the County of Edessa to Zengi, the atabeg of Mosul and Aleppo. This event was the catalyst for the Second Crusade.
The Lordship of Ramla was one of the Crusader vassal states of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. It has been vassal to and part of the County of Jaffa and Ascalon.
Reginald Grenier was lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Baldwin I was the castellan and lord of Ramla in the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1106 to his death. In 1120, he participated in the Council of Nablus. In 1126, the castellany, which controlled the surrounding countryside too, was given in fief to the Count of Jaffa. In 1134, Jaffa was confiscated to the king after the rebellion of Hugh II and Ramla was given to Baldwin, to hold from the count of Jaffa.
The Council of Acre met at Palmarea, near Acre, a major city of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, on 24 June 1148. The Haute Cour of Jerusalem met with recently arrived crusaders from Europe, to decide on the best target for the crusade. The Second Crusade had been called after the fall of Edessa to Zengi in 1144. In 1147, armies led by Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France began their separate journeys to the east. Conrad arrived at Acre in April 1148, and Louis marched south from Antioch.
Helvis of Ramla was the lady of Ramla in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, and a progenitor of the prominent Ibelin family.
