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Formation of the Crusader States

Type Event Region Levant Time 1099–1109

After the First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1099, Latin Christian polities—Jerusalem, Antioch, Edessa, and Tripoli—arose in the Levant, collectively ca…

Timeline

  1. 1099Jerusalem · PalestineAfter the crusaders captured Jerusalem, Godfrey of Bouillon was chosen as Defender of the Holy Sepulchre, establishing the supreme authority centered on Jerusalem. This regime gradually integrated surrounding fortresses and territories, becoming the core of the crusader state system.
  2. 1098–1099Antioch · SyriaThe County of Edessa (1098) and the Principality of Antioch (1098) had been established successively during the course of the crusade. After Jerusalem fell in 1099, the northern states and the Jerusalem regime formed an interdependent feudal network, jointly resisting surrounding Muslim powers.
  3. 1099–1109Levant · LevantThe crusader states adopted the European feudal fief system, with knightly lords owing allegiance to higher overlords, and the Church holding extensive estates. The County of Tripoli took shape gradually between 1102 and 1109, at which point the pattern of the four great Latin powers of the Levant was basically established, collectively called Outremer (lands beyond the sea).

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