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Home / Periods / Crusades / Crusader States

Phase

Crusader States

1098–1291 CE

The Crusader States included the Kingdom of Jerusalem, County of Edessa, Principality of Antioch, and County of Tripoli. They depended on castles, ports, local alliances, European reinforcements, military orders, and uneasy relations with neighbouring Muslim, Byzantine, Armenian, and eastern Christian powers. Their survival varied greatly by region and period.

These states matter because they turned crusading from expedition into settlement. They created mixed societies shaped by Latin rulers, local populations, trade, pilgrimage, diplomacy, and constant military pressure. Their history is one of adaptation as much as battle.

Robyn Young’s Brethren trilogy, Jan Guillou’s Arn novels, and Cecelia Holland’s crusade fiction all connect to the world of crusader settlement. The setting suits stories about Templars, Hospitallers, merchants, interpreters, mixed courts, frontier castles, and families born into a crusading society.

Related people for Crusader States

Al-Ashraf Khalilc. 1262–1293 Al-Musta’sim1212–1258 Amalric I of Jerusalem1136–1174 Baibarsc. 1223–1277 Baldwin IV of Jerusalemborn 1161 Balian of Ibelinc. 1143–1193 Conrad of Montferrat1146–1192 Edward I of England1239–1307 Frederick Barbarossa1122–1190 Guillaume de Beaujeuc. 1233–1291 Guy of Lusignan1150–1194 Henry III of England1207–1272 Henry II of England1133–1189 Hulagu Khan1217–1265 Imad ad-Din Zengi1085/1087–1146 Isabella I of Jerusalem1172–1205 Khutulunc. 1260–c. 1306 Kublai Khan1215–1294 Philip II of France1165–1223 Raynald of Châtillon1120–1187 Richard I of England1157–1199 Robert Curthose1054–1134 Saladin1138–1193 Shirkuhd. 1169 Sibylla of Jerusalem1160–1190 Stephen, King of England1095–1154 William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke1146–1219

Series

Series about Crusader States (3 series)

The Brotherhood in Order

by K. M. Ashman 7 books 4.5(8,807)

The Brotherhood follows the fictional Templar Thomas Cronin through the wars of the Crusader states and the political consequences of the Fourth Crusade. The sequence begins under Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, when Saladin's growing power threatens the remaining Christian territories. Montgisard, Jacob's Ford, Hattin, the siege of Acre…

Templar in Order

by Paul Doherty 2 books 4.1(663)

The Templar novels trace the order from the First Crusade to its established power in the mid-twelfth-century Crusader States. The Templar follows Hugh de Payens, Godfrey de Saint-Omer and Eleanor as they travel east with the crusading armies and confront the brutality, deprivation and political bargaining behind the…

Cormac FitzGeoffrey Adventures in Order

2 books 3.8(75)

The Cormac FitzGeoffrey Adventures gather Robert E. Howard’s historical stories about a huge Norman-Irish fighter moving through the violent world of the Crusader states. Hawks of Outremer and The Blood of Belshazzar share the same hard-edged hero and the same frontier atmosphere of ruined strongholds, religious war, raids…

Books

28 Best Novels About the Crusader States

Non-Fiction

4 Best Non-Fiction Books About the Crusader States

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.