The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Crusader state established in 1099 by western European warriors in lands conquered from Muslim rulers (in modern-day Israel and Jordan) during the First Crusade. As its first ruler Godfrey of Bouillon did not take the title of king, his brother and successor Baldwin I was crowned the first king in 1100. By 1153, Baldwin I and his successors captured all towns on the Palestinian coast mainly with the support of Pisan, Genoese and Venetian fleets and also took control of the caravan routes between Egypt and Syria. The kings regularly administered other Crusader states— Antioch, Edessa and Tripoli —on behalf of their absent or underage rulers.
The polarisation of the Muslim world enabled the crusaders (known in the Levant as Franks) to consolidate their rule in Palestine. They could also appeal to the popes and the European rulers for help against their enemies. In the mid-twelfth century, Baldwin III and his successor Amalric maintained a close alliance with the Byzantine Empire, but they could not prevent the ruler of Aleppo, Nur ad-Din, from uniting the Muslim states in Syria in the 1150s. Internal strife weakened the kingdom during the reigns of the leper Baldwin IV and the unpopular Guy of Lusignan. This facilitated Nur ad-Din's former general, Saladin, to unite Egypt and Syria in the 1180s. Saladin destroyed the crusader army in the Battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187, and occupied almost the whole kingdom during the following months.
The city of Tyre was saved by the Italian crusader, Conrad of Montferrat, and the Third Crusade forced Saladin to acknowledge the restoration of the Franks' rule in most coastal towns in his 1192 truce with Richard I of England. Further lands were recovered during the reigns of Henry of Champagne and Aimery of Lusignan, and Emperor Frederick II also restored the Franks' rule in the city of Jerusalem in 1229. Frederick and his successors were absent monarchs and the kingdom was administered by regents (or bailiffs) from 1229 to 1269. Due to conflicts between the kings' representatives and the powerful barons, and the War of Saint Sabas between Genoa and Venice, the kingdom disintegrated into autonomous towns and lordships by the 1260s. The personal union of Jerusalem and Cyprus could not prevent the Mamluks of Egypt from occupying the last Frankish outposts in 1291. In addition to the Lusignan kings of Cyprus, the Angevin rulers of Naples and their successors maintained a claim to the defunct Jerusalemite kingdom for centuries.
1st–2nd centuries
325–431
632–661
638
c. 850
1009
1040s
1055
c. 1063–1070
Before 1070
1071
1071–1079
1074
Before 1081/82
1080s
1092
1095
Frenchmen ...; men chosen by and beloved of God...– it is to you ... that we appeal. ... Disturbing news has emerged from Jerusalem ...: that the race of Persians, ... a people rejected by God ... has overthrown the churches of God or turned them over to the rituals of their own religion. ... By now the Greek empire has been dismembered by them. So to whom should the task fall of ... wresting their conquests from them if not to you – you to whom God has given above other nations outstanding glory in arms...?
1096
1097
1098
1099
1099
[The Crusaders] put to the sword great numbers of gentiles who were running about through the quarters of the city, fleeing in all directions...: they were piercing through with the sword's point women who had fled into the turreted palaces and dwellings; seizing by the soles of their feet from their mothers' laps or their cradles infants who were still suckling and dashing them against the walls or lintels of the doors and breaking their necks; they were slaughtering some with weapons, or striking them down with stones; they were sparing absolutely no gentile of any age or kind.
c. 1100
1100
1101
1102
1103
1103–1106
c. 1104
1104
1105
1106
c. 1107
1107
1108
c. 1109
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1115–1119
c. 1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
The adulterer should be castrated and expelled from the country; the adulteress should suffer rhinotomy-unless her husband forgives her. If he does so, both should be expelled beyond the sea. ... Adults consenting to the sodomitic depravity should be burnt, both the active and the passive party. ... A man who rapes a female Saracen he owns should be castrated; she should be seized on behalf of the fisc.
1120s
1121
1122
1123
1123/24
1124
1125
1126
1126–1128
1127
1127/28
1128
1129
c. 1130
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
c. 1135
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1146–1153
1147
1148
1149
before 1150
1150
1150s
1151
1152
1153
1154
c. 1155
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1163
c. 1164
1164
1167
1168
1169
c. 1170
[Once] when [Baldwin] was playing with some other noble boys..., they began pinching one another with their fingernails... The others evinced their pain with yells, but ... Baldwin bore the pain altogether too patiently... At first I thought that this happened because of his endurance... At last I discovered that about half of his right hand and arm were numb ... I reported all this to his father. Physicians were consulted and prescribed repeated fomentations, anointings, and even poisonous drugs to improve his condition, but in vain. For ... this was the beginning of an incurable disease.
1170
1171
1173
1174
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
c. 1180
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
[Saladin] said to [Raynald] 'Here I am having asked for victory through Muhammad, and God has given me victory over you.' He offered him Islam but he refused. The sultan then drew his scimitar and struck him, severing his arm at his shoulder. Those present finished him off and God speedily sent his soul to Hell-fire.
1187
We promise full remission of their sins and eternal life to those who take up the labor of this journey with a contrite heart and a humble spirit and depart in penitence of their sins and with true faith. ... Their gods..., with their families, remain under the protection of the holy Roman Church... They should not face any legal challenge regarding the things they possess legally when they received the cross until their return or their death is known for certain... Also, they may not be forced to pay interest if they have a loan.
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
c. 1194
1194
1196
1197
1198
1200
1202
1203
1204
1205
c. 1206
1206
c. 1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1227
1228
1229
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1244
1245
1246
c. 1247
1247
1248
1249
c. 1250
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
c. 1265
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1274
1276
1277
1279
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1289
1290
1291
1290s
1295
1299
1309–1311
1335