Founding of the Crusader States

Also called: Outremer

The First Crusade set up the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the County of Tripoli in the Levant; they lasted about two centuries.

Baldwin founded the County of Edessa and Bohemond the Principality of Antioch in 1098; the Kingdom of Jerusalem followed in 1099 and the County of Tripoli in 1109. They carried over European feudal institutions, but a small Frankish lordly class ruled a large Muslim and Eastern Christian population.

To defend them, military orders such as the Templars (c. 1119) and the Hospitallers arose and built great castles like Krak des Chevaliers. Venetian, Genoese and Pisan merchants won quarters in the ports and grew rich on the eastern trade.