17. Between East and West. The Political Culture of Outremer, 1100-1204
The subject of interest is the political culture of the Outremer elites (1100-1204), especially those elites whose power concerns or is in connection with the kingship in Jerusalem. The political organisms that emerged in Syria and Palestine after the First Crusade (1099) were shaped at the intersection of the social, cultural, and political influences of the Latin, Byzantine, Eastern Christian, and Muslim spheres. Thus, the topic provides an opportunity to present a comparative study of the cross-cultural transmission of ideas related to the sphere of power. The raised subject provides an opportunity to discuss and formulate a common conceptual framework for the research problems in the field of political and socio-cultural history. "Political culture" adopted as a term to categorize the diverse and heterogeneous manifestations of elite power relations, offers a research space that takes into account different forms of conceptualization of power, centered around both its theory and practice. Thus, it serves to define specific 'rules of the game' in the political sphere, and the process of shaping them, as well as to identify the main categories of Outremer political culture.
The biblical themes of divine vengeance were popular in the twelfth century and can be seen in the Magdeburg letter as well. The crimes committed by the Slavs had to be avenged, and they had to return to Christianity. Both aims were interconnected and were possible only through a military campaign associated with the crusade and transmitted through preaching, which was morally and legally justified using theological arguments. The action itself was a holy war fought, in theory, for defensive scope. In practice, it was nothing but reconquest of a lost territory and its integration within the Saxon ecclesiastical structure. The paper will argue that the Magdeburg letter is an example of extension of the crusading concept of defending a holy territory, namely what remained Christian within it. The Christian past of the Slavic lands was emphasized through analogy with Jerusalem, which was symbolically “moved” to the North, but also located in an easterly direction (east of the Elbe).
The date and place of the paper will be announced soon, along with the detailed schedule of the Congress.
Robert II Curthose was the eldest son of William I the Conqueror, who took the cross and headed the Normans under his command on the First Crusade. By heading east, this prince, on the one hand, joined the movement of God's warriors that had set Europe on fire. On the other, he cultivated the family tradition, continuing the work of his grandfather Robert I, the Magnificent, who had died while returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Robert II, despite his bravery and political skills, which he had shown during the Crusades, having fulfilled his vows, did not reach for any territorial conquests during the First Crusade. During his return from the armed pilgrimage, he also lost the English crown, which, after the unexpected death of William II, was taken over by their youngest brother, who went down in history as Henry I.
2025-09-19 12:30-13:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
Seals and iconography are valuable sources of knowledge about the armament of the Crusaders in the Holy Land in the 12th and 13th centuries. Based on them, it is possible to determine not only which specific elements of combat equipment were used by the Crusaders at the time, but also to reconstruct entire sets of armor for both knights and infantry. In light of the sources, we can conclude that the military techniques of the Outremer region were similar to Western European models, which corresponded to practical solutions in the martial arts of that period. Medieval armament was also an essential element of political culture and an instrument of projecting power towards both enemies and subjects.
2025-09-19 13:30-14:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
The general aim of the Crusade proclaimed by Urban II - to liberate Jerusalem and destroy the infidels - came up against hard realities. The crusaders managed to conquer the Holy City, the Moslems abandoned Jerusalem and other conquered cities but they did not abandon their farms and villages. On the eve of the First Crusade the majority of the population of Syria and Palestine was Moslem. The European conquerors were not more than a minority in the seized region. The Franks neither became a majority in the territories they seized, nor merged with the native population. But finally the Frankish seigneurs managed to establish a modus vivendi with the Muslim subjects and created a special type of heterogeneus society that had no antecedents in medieval European experience. The aim of the paper is to analize how the contemporary latin chroniclers of the first decades of the Kingdom of Jerusalem described the Muslim subjects and their status during the reign of Baldwin I.
2025-09-19 12:00-12:30, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
The First Crusade, announced by Pope Urban II in 1095, captured Jerusalem after a gruelling campaign in July 1099. The surviving leaders had to make immediate decisions about the government of this newly acquired territory and they elected their first ruler with some urgency in the face of imminent attack from Egypt. Following Christian victory in the battle of Ascalon, the elected ruler, Godfrey of Bouillon, supported by Arnulf of Chocques, who was appointed interim patriarch of Jerusalem at the same time, had the enormous task of imposing Latin rule over a small landlocked kingdom surrounded by hostile territory. Their efforts in this regard were disrupted: firstly by the arrival of Archbishop Daibert of Pisa, in whose favour Arnulf was deposed, and then by Godfrey’s death in July 1100. There ensued a power struggle between King Baldwin I, Godfrey’s brother and heir, and Patriarch Daibert that reached a spectacular showdown in the Church of the Holy Sepulche at Easter 1101.
2025-09-19 09:30-10:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
The Ninth Crusade (1271-1272) marks a crucial stage in the transformation of the political landscape of the Crusader states, especially concerning the politics of the kingdom of Jerusalem, as it confronted the growing influence of Mamluk strength in the Levant. Led by Prince Edward of England, the Crusaders sought to reclaim territories and reassert Christian dominance in the region. However, they faced significant opposition from the Mamluks, who had created a strong base in Egypt and Syria under Sultan Baybars and subsequently Sultan Qalāwūn. This conflict represents not only a military struggle but also a complex negotiation of political cultures. The Crusader elites, influenced by Latin, Byzantine, and Eastern Christian traditions, found their power structures tested by the Mamluks, who navigated a sophisticated blend of military strength and diplomatic tact. Central to the Mamluks’ success was their ability to exploit cross-cultural alliances and manipulate diplomatic relations, both within the Muslim world and with neighboring powers like the Mongols. The Crusader elites, on the other hand, attempted to sustain their influence through traditional European feudal practices, but faced increasing challenges from the evolving political landscape. The signing of a treaty between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Mamluks in 1272 marked the end of Crusader aspirations in the Levant and the consolidation of Mamluk political dominance. This study lays stress on the cross-cultural power dynamics that shaped elite relations, focusing on how both theory and practice of political power were negotiated in a context where diplomacy, military strategies, and cultural exchanges intersected.
The date and place of the paper will be announced soon, along with the detailed schedule of the Congress.
The hotly debated election of Godfrey of Bouillon as princeps (not king!) of Jerusalem after the conquest of the Holy City (1099) opened a season in which the relationships between the temporal and the spiritual in the Jerusalem kingdom were defined in an empirical manner. Although Jerusalem enjoyed a unique status in medieval Christianity, the particular conditions that determined the birth of the Kingdom of Jerusalem made the political-ecclesiological developments toughs. My paper aims to verify - on the basis of the historiography of the Latin East - how the royal election of Godfrey of Bouillon and the affirmation of kingship with Baldwin I were remembered during XIIth and XIIIth centuries.
2025-09-19 09:00-09:30, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
The formation of Baldwin III's royal entourage (1143–1163) remains an unresolved issue in historiography. This study examines the mechanisms by which Baldwin III, who assumed power in 1152 following a civil war with his mother, Queen Melisande, formed his political network. The proposed methodology relies on statistical analysis of diplomatic sources to explore the internal composition and evolution of his entourage. Key aspects include the king's itinerary, the witnesses to royal documents, the timing of their appearances in Baldwin III's close circle, and comparisons with Melisande's entourage. These analyses aim to uncover the dynamics of selection, advancement, or socio-political decline within the Kingdom of Jerusalem, considering the king's role as fons honorum. The hypothesis suggests that Baldwin III's power elite formed gradually, not through a socio-political revolution, despite the civil war, and that the king's authority was rooted in the rule of consensus.
2025-09-19 11:30-12:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
The nature of medieval political entities in Mount Lebanon is still debatable. Meanwhile, toponymic evidence from contemporaneous primary sources suggests that the Mardaite fiefs, created around 680, continued to thrive under the Crusades, till 1305. The used method draws a map of medieval Mount Lebanon via a restitution of primary sources (Crusader, eastern Roman, and Arabic) to show the possible perimeters of the local Christian fiefs. Clearly, primary sources distinguished between the natural referent of Lebanon (the mountain chain) and the political one (Mardaite fiefs). An attentive restitution of post-Crusader sources (Ibn Qilaï’s of 1500 and Sionita’s of 1619, amongst others) allows us to a posteriori map of a medieval Mount Lebanon where the local ruling elite (mostly Maronite) considered itself as part of Chalcedonian Christendom, recognising the authority of the local Crusader political structures of Outremer, but also the political suzerainty of eastern Roman emperors.
2025-09-19 10:30-11:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie
The aim of this paper is to present the Genealogy of Jesus Christ as an important element of political culture of Outremer in the first years after the capture of Jerusalem by the First Crusade. The solemn ritual of reading this Gospel passage (Matthew 1:1-17) was an important part of the liturgical celebrations of Christmas and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christmas in 1099 and in 1100, as well as the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1101, were associated with important events in the history of the forming Kingdom of Jerusalem, which can be studied through a parallel reading of the chronicles of Fulcher of Chartres and the so-called “Bartolph of Nangis.” The interpretation of the symbolism and meanings associated with the Genealogy of Jesus brings important conclusions in the study of the memory and collective identity of the elite of the Jerusalem Kingdom.
2025-09-19 10:00-10:30, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
Guy of Lusignan might reasonably be described as one of the most famous losers of the Middle Ages, responsible in the eyes of many contemporaries and subsequent historians for the defeat at Hattin and the subsequent loss of Jerusalem. His reputation however has been more nuanced than this might suggest. This paper looks at three approaches adopted by authors in depicting Guy not just at the time but stretching into the thirteenth century: criticism of what Guy did or did not do; deflection, whether by blaming others or by highlighting positively the actions/reactions of others; and silence, simply not mentioning Guy at all. It examines the evolution of these approaches during the thirteenth century and asks whether we can draw any conclusions about the portrayal of Guy compared to other prominent crusading figures.
2025-09-19 13:00-13:30, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
