Kingdom of jerusalem
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| Capital | Jerusalem (1099-1187) Shoot (1187-1191) Acre (1191-1229) Jerusalem (1229-1244) Acre (1244-1291) | ||||
| Main language | Latin | ||||
| Other languages | Old French, Galician, medieval Greek, Arabic, Aramaic | ||||
| Religion | Catholic Church, Orthodox Church of Greece, Syrian Orthodox Church, Islam, Judaism. | ||||
| Government | Authoritarian monarchy | ||||
| King of Jerusalem | See Kings of Jerusalem | ||||
| Legislature | High Court of Jerusalem | ||||
| History | |||||
| • First Crusade | 1099 | ||||
| • Acre Fall | 1291 | ||||
The Kingdom of Jerusalem (Latin: Regnum Hierosolymitanum), sometimes referred to as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or The Kingdom of Acre, was a Latin Catholic state that was founded in the Levant Mediterranean in 1099 after the conquest of Jerusalem in the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted for two hundred years and occupied parts of present-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan. It was destroyed in 1291 with the conquest of Acre by the Muslim Mamluks. Its capital was Jerusalem.
Foundation and early history
The First Crusade began as a consequence of the Council of Clermont, convened by Pope Urban II in the year 1095. Its main objective was the reconquest of the Holy Places. The Kingdom as such was born with the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, the high point of the Crusade. Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine and one of the main leaders of the Crusade, was chosen as the first king. However, he refused to take that title, claiming that a man should not wear a crown where Christ had worn the crown of thorns; instead, he chose the title of Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri (Defender of the Holy Sepulchre). The foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was finally secured with the defeat of Fatimid Egypt at the Battle of Ashkelon.
At first there were some doubts about how the territory should be organized politically. Some crusaders thought that it should be ruled as a theocracy by the pope, an idea that the papal legate, Dagobert of Pisa, tried to enforce in 1100. Godfrey might have agreed and exchanged the theocratic kingdom of Jerusalem for a secular one. in Egypt, but during his short reign the foundations of a secular kingdom were laid in Jerusalem, despite Dagobert's efforts. A Catholic hierarchy was quickly established, replacing the Greek and Syrian Orthodox Christian authorities: a Latin patriarch settled in Jerusalem, and with him a large number of dependent bishops and archbishops. Godfrey died in 1100. His brother and successor, Baldwin I, clearly opted for a Western European-style secular monarchy. Baldwin was not as scrupulous as his brother, and had himself crowned King of Jerusalem (although Dagobert, then the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, refused to crown him there and the ceremony took place in Bethlehem).
Baldwin successfully extended the borders of the kingdom, conquering the ports of Acre (1104), Beirut (1110) and Sidon (1111), at the same time that he exercised his sovereignty over other Crusader states: the county of Edessa (which he had founded), the Principality of Antioch, and later, when Tripoli was conquered, the County of Tripoli. He likewise succeeded in his defense of the kingdom against the successive Muslim invasions that he had to face: that of the Fatimids of Egypt, whom he defeated in Ramallah and in different places to the southwest of the kingdom; and that of the Muslims of Damascus and Mosul, in the northeast, in 1113. Likewise, he witnessed an increase in the number of Latin inhabitants, due to the fact that the little Crusade of 1101 brought with it reinforcements for the kingdom. The Italian city-states of Venice, Pisa, and Genoa began to play a very important role in the kingdom. Their fleets helped to take over the ports, where they were later granted neighborhoods in which they had great economic autonomy. Baldwin also repopulated Jerusalem with native Christians, after his expedition across the Jordan River in 1115. The kingdom, however, never overcome its geographical isolation from Europe, nor was it able to increase its borders further east in order to create a front with more defense possibilities. For most of its history, the kingdom was confined to a narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River; the territories beyond the Jordan were subject to constant wars and raids, which ultimately led to their downfall.
Baudwin I died without heirs in 1118, and was succeeded by his cousin, Baldwin of Le Bourg, Count of Edessa. Baldwin II was equally a capable king and knew how to deal with the attacks of Fatimids and Seljuks. In his reign the first of the military orders was established, and the borders of the kingdom continued to widen with the capture of the city of Tire in 1124. The influence of the kingdom of Jerusalem also extended over Edessa and Antioch, in which Baldwin II acted. as regent when his rulers died on the battlefield, although Baldwin himself was defeated and imprisoned by the Seljuk Turks several times throughout his reign, and the kingdom of Jerusalem itself must have been ruled by a regent. Baldwin's daughters married relatives of the Count of Edessa and the Prince of Antioch. His daughter Melisende was declared his heir and succeeded on her death in 1131.
Life in the Kingdom
The kingdom's population was always sparse: although a small influx of settlers and new crusaders constantly arrived, most of those who had fought in the First Crusade simply returned home. The Latinos were but the upper stratum above the native Muslims and the Syrian population. However, Jerusalem came to be known as Outremer, a French word meaning Overseas, and as new generations grew up in the kingdom, they began to think of themselves as Orientals rather than immigrants. Thus, in many ways, they behaved more like the orientals (Syrians) than the western Europeans of those days. They frequently learned Greek, Arabic, and other oriental languages. They also established marriage links with Greeks and Armenians. As the chronicler Fulcherius of Chartres wrote: we who were Westerners have now become Easterners.
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Fulcher, a participant in the First Crusade, continued his chronicle until 1127. After that there are no witnesses to what happened in Jerusalem until the arrival of William of Tyre, Archbishop of Tire and Chancellor of Jerusalem, who began writing around 1167 and died around 1184. However, his writings include much information about the First Crusade and the years between Fulkier's death and his time. From the Muslim point of view, there are the memoirs of Usama ibn Munqid, a soldier and ambassador from Damascus to Jerusalem and Egypt. This memoir, Kitab al i'tbiar, includes a vivid account of Crusader society in the East. The rest of the information can be obtained from travelers such as Benjamín de Tudela and Ibn Jubair.
Demographics
The kingdom of Jerusalem was based on a feudal system similar to that of the Europe of its time, although with important features of its own. To begin with, the kingdom occupied only a small strip of land and had little agricultural land. In the area, unlike in medieval Europe, the economy had been predominantly urban since time immemorial. Although the nobility technically owned land, they preferred to live in Jerusalem or other cities, close to the court. As in Europe, the nobles had their own vassals, while they themselves were vassals of the king; however, agricultural production was regulated by the Muslim equivalent of the feudal system (called itqa), a system that was not challenged by the Crusaders. Although Muslims (as well as Jews and Eastern Christians) were persecuted in the cities (and Muslims were initially banned from Jerusalem), in rural areas they continued to live as before. The rais, head of the Muslim community, was a kind of vassal of the noble owner of the land on which he lived, but since the crusading nobles were in fact absentee landlords, the rais i> and their community had a high degree of autonomy. They grew food for the crusaders, but were not forced into military service like European vassals.
The Italian city-states, for their part, paid nothing despite having neighborhoods in the port cities. As a result of all this, Christian armies tended to be small and made up of individuals belonging to French families in the cities. The biggest problem with the Crusader society was that a high percentage of the population was made up of pilgrims and soldiers who only stayed there for a while. For this reason, a stable Western society was never consolidated and, therefore, it became necessary to resort to the local population in search of military personnel.
The lack of soldiers was partially solved with the creation of military orders. The Templars and Knights Hospitallers, orders created in the early years of the kingdom's history, often took the place of nobles on the battlefield. Although their headquarters were in Jerusalem, the knights generally lived in huge castles and were ruled directly by the pope, not the king. They were self-employed and technically not required for military service, although they did in fact participate in most of the battles.
In the 13th century, John of Ibelin wrote a list of the fiefs and the knights who ruled them; Unfortunately, this listing reflects the kingdom in the 13th century and gives no indication of the non-noble, non-Latino population.
Economy
The basically urban composition of the area, together with the presence of Italian merchants, led to the development of an economy that was much more commercial than agrarian. Israel had always been a crossroads where different trade routes met; now this trade extended to Europe. European products, such as wools from Northern Europe, reached the Middle East and Asia, while Asian products reached Europe. Jerusalem was especially dedicated to the trade in silk, cotton, and spices; Other products that became known in Europe for the first time, due to the trade initiated by this kingdom, were oranges and sugar. Guillermo de Tiro would say about this last product: it is very necessary for health and humanity.
Jerusalem, in turn, reaped benefits through tribute, first from coastal cities it had not yet conquered, and then from neighboring states such as Damascus and Egypt, which it could not directly conquer. Once Baldwin I extended his domain beyond the Jordan, Jerusalem also profited from the fees it charged to caravans crossing from Syria to Egypt or Arabia. This monetary economy allowed the problem of the shortage of military personnel to be solved by resorting to hiring mercenaries, something unusual in medieval Europe. The mercenaries could be European crusaders, or, more frequently, Muslim soldiers, like the famous Turcopolos.
Government and legal system
With the conquests of the First Crusade, the land was divided among the vassals loyal to Godfrey of Bouillon, thus creating a large number of lordships within the kingdom. Thus it continued with the successors of Godofredo. In addition, the king was assisted by various state officials. Since the nobles tended to live in the city rather than the country, their influence over the king was much greater than was usual in Europe. The nobles made up the High Court of Jerusalem (Upper House), an early form of parliament that was also developing in Europe. The Upper House was made up of the most important bishops and nobles, and was responsible for confirming the election of the new king (or the regency if applicable), collecting taxes, minting money, allocating money to the king, and recruiting armies. The High Court was the only judicial body for the nobles of the kingdom, and acted in cases such as murder, rape and treason, or simply in disputes between feudal lords, such as recovery of slaves, sale and purchase of fiefs, and lack of services. The punishments could reach the confiscation of the land and exile, or, in extreme cases, death. The first Laws of the Realm were established, according to tradition, during the short reign of Godfrey of Bouillon, but were most likely promulgated by Baldwin II in 1120, although no written law from before the XIII (the so-called Assizes of Jerusalem).
There were other chambers or courts of lesser importance, for non-noble Latinos as well as for non-Latinos: The Cour des Bourgeois was the court for non-noble Latinos, and there was also a special court, such as the Cour de la Fond and the Cour de la Mer, used by merchants in coastal cities. Islamic courts continued as before the invasion, and so did Eastern Christian courts, although capital crimes were also tried at the Cour des Bourgeois (or even the High Court, if the crime was severe enough).
The king was the president of the High Court, although legally he was primus inter pares. The king and said chamber were normally located in Jerusalem, but the king could hold meetings (courts) also in Acre, Nablus or Tyre, or wherever the case may be. In Jerusalem, the royal family lived in and around the palace, which was located around the Tower of David, or, alternatively, on Temple Mount, where the Knights Templar had their headquarters.
Jerusalem in the mid-12th century
Baudouin II was succeeded in 1131 by his daughter Melisende, who reigned with her husband Fulk, first Count of Anjou. During his reign the artistic and economic heyday of the Kingdom took place, with the edition of Queen Melisende's Missal commissioned between 1135 and 1143, and the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the Western Gothic style, which was finally consecrated in 1149, on the 50th anniversary of the capture of the city.
Fulcus, a renowned commander, had to face a new and dangerous enemy: the atabeg Zengi of Mosul, who conquered Aleppo. Although throughout his reign he managed to keep him at bay, William of Tire criticized Fulk for not having better secured the borders. The Crusader states to the north, moreover, began to resent Jerusalem's sovereignty and intrigued against the king. Fulk died in an accident during a hunt in 1143, and Zengi took advantage of this death to conquer the county of Edessa in 1144. Queen Melisende, at that time the regent for her eldest son, Baldwin III, appointed a new constable who became the new head of the army, Manasseh of Hierges.
In 1147 a Second Crusade reached the Holy Land. The components of this Second Crusade met in Acre in 1148. To try to stop the advances of Zengi and his son and successor Nur al-Din, the crusader kings Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany decided to attack the emir of Damascus, ally of the kingdom of Jerusalem. The Western Crusaders saw Damascus as an easy target and the young Baldwin III, possibly eager to impress the European monarchs, agreed to the plans, which were carried out despite the opposition of Queen Melisende and her constable Manasseh. who were of the opinion that the main objective should be the city of Aleppo, since by taking it there would be a better chance of reconquering Edessa. The Crusade ended in defeat in 1148 in the disastrous siege of Damascus.
Melisenda continued her term as regent even though Baldwin had come of age. Finally Baldwin overthrew his mother in 1153; then both reached an agreement consisting of dividing the kingdom in two: Baldwin would rule from Acre in the north and Melisende, in the south from Jerusalem, although both knew in advance that the situation was unstable. Thus, Baldwin very soon invaded his mother's land, defeated Manasseh, and besieged his mother at the Tower of David in Jerusalem. Melisende finally gave up and gave up her regency leaving her son Baldwin III as monarch. However, the following year Baldwin re-elected her as her regent and chief adviser. The king conquered Ashkelon from the Fatimid caliphs, his last place on the Palestinian coast. At the same time, the general situation of the crusaders worsened every day, since Nur al-Din managed to take Damascus and in this way the whole of Syria was unified under his rule.
Baldwin III made the first direct alliance with the Byzantine Empire, when he married Theodora Komnenos, niece of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Manuel, in turn, married María de Antioquia, Balduino's cousin. Despite this, the Jerusalemite sovereign died without issue in 1162, a year after his mother Melisende, and the kingdom was inherited by his brother Amalric I. His reign was characterized by the fierce struggle for control of Egypt between Amalric for one side and, on the other, Nur al-Din and his cunning subordinate Saladin (not always eager to act). Amalric's first expedition took place in 1163, and a long series of variable concerts between Amalric, the viziers of Egypt, and Nur al-Din led to four more invasions of Egypt up to the year 1169. The campaigns in Egypt were paid for by Manuel I Komnenos and Amalric married another niece of this emperor, María Comnenos, although in fact, a firm league between Crusaders and Byzantines was not established. Finally Amalric failed to conquer Egypt, and Nur al-Din was victorious, establishing Saladin as sultan of Egypt. Both the death of Amalric and Nur al-Din in 1174 entrenched the rule of Saladin, whose rule quickly spread over Nur al-Din's Syrian possessions as well, completely encircling the Crusader kingdom.
Disaster and recovery
Amalric was succeeded by his son Baldwin IV, who had been sick with leprosy since childhood. During his reign the state began to collapse internally. Marriage alliances led to two competing factions. One of them was the "party of the Court", which revolved around the royal family and whose leader was the mother of Baldwin IV, the first wife of Amalric, Agnes de Courtenay (this marriage was annulled for having consanguinity between the two, so that later he could marry, as has been said, with María Comneno), who had a great influence both in the kingdom and on his son Baldwin IV. Agnes, in turn, was supported by a large number of relatives recently arrived in the kingdom, including Reinaldo de Châtillon, Guido de Lusignan and Amalric de Lusignan, to whom the queen mother gave her political support. Heraclius, Archbishop of Caesarea and later Patriarch, also supported Agnes. The second faction was made up of the "party of the nobles", whose leader was the Count of Tripoli Raymond III, and who in turn was supported by the nobility that had long been established in the Kingdom, descendants all of them of the first crusaders, such as the Ibelin family. Baldwin IV, being a leper, could never marry and therefore give an heir to the kingdom. In this way, the succession focused on his sister Sibyl of him. Raymond of Tripoli, who acted as regent at the beginning of the reign of Baldwin IV, had Sibila marry William of Montferrat, from whom she became pregnant with the future Baldwin V, but William died shortly after. Meanwhile, the party of the nobles obtained a very powerful ally, the political mother of Baldwin IV, Maria Komnenos, who married Balián de Ibelín.
Baudouin IV came of age in 1176 and despite his illness no longer needed the legal support of a regent. As king, he defeated Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard in 1177, giving Jerusalem respite from Saladin's continued attacks. Around 1180, Baldwin's health was getting worse, and Sibylla was remarried for the second time to Guido de Lusignan, a supporter of Agnes and whom she named regent of the kingdom. This regency met with great opposition from the party of the nobility, whom they considered incompetent and refused to follow him as leader in the war. In 1183 Raymond and the nobles forced Sibila's son, Baldwin V, to be crowned as co-prince reigning together with his uncle Baldwin IV, deciding that when he died his nephew would inherit him, completely avoiding Sibila and Guido's mandate.
Baldwin IV died in 1185, and Baldwin V inherited the kingdom with Raymond as regent. The succession crisis caused a mission to be sent to the West in order to seek help, the patriarch Heraclio traveled through all the Courts of Europe, but no one responded to his call. The Ralph Niger Chronicle explains that his enormous spending as well as his opulent clothing offended the sensibilities of Western Europeans, an ostentation they considered unfit for a Patriarch; concluding that if the Orient was so rich as to allow such expenses, there was no need for any help from them. Heraclius offered the kingdom to both Philip II of France and Henry II of England; the latter, as Fulk's great-nephew, so he was a cousin of the royal family and had also promised to go on the Crusade several years before, after the murder of Tomás Becket, however, he preferred to remain in his kingdom to defend his territories. According to Ralph, Patriarch Heraclius even offered the crown to any other prince who came to the Holy Land, but no one showed the slightest interest.
Baudouin V was a sickly child and died the following year. Her kingdom was then inherited by her mother Sibylla from her, on the condition that her marriage to Guido de Lusignan be annulled, to which she agreed as long as she could choose her next husband.. Sibila, when she was crowned, she again chose Guido as her husband. The "party of the nobles" He had been mocked so they tried to carry out a coup d'état, choosing as queen the half-sister of Balduino and Sibila called Isabel, married to Hunfredo IV of Torón. However, Hunfredo, did not want to start a civil war, and left the party of the nobles. Raymond, disgusted, returned to Tripoli, and with him other nobles such as Baldwin of Ibelin.
Loss of Jerusalem and Third Crusade
Guido de Lusignan proved to be a lousy ruler. His best ally, Reinald of Châtillon, lord of Transjordan and of the fortress of Kerak (a knighted bandit who did not consider himself bound by the signed truces), provoked Saladin by leading him into open warfare by attacking Muslim caravans and threatening Mecca itself through pirate attacks on pilgrim ships. The attack carried out against a caravan in which Saladin's sister was traveling was the last straw. To make matters worse, Raymond of Tripoli had allied with Saladin against Guy, allowing him to occupy his fiefdom in Tiberias with a small garrison. Guido, in fact, was about to attack Raymond until Balian of Ibelin and the "party of the nobles" he got them to reconcile in 1187, thus, both joined to attack Saladin in Tiberias. However, Guy and Raymond were unable to agree on a plan of attack, and on July 4, 1187, the kingdom's army was completely defeated at the Battle of the Horns of Hattin. Reinaldo was personally executed by Saladin and Guido was imprisoned in Damascus. Throughout the following months, Saladin reconquered the entire kingdom, with the exception of the port of Tire, which managed to defend itself led by the recently arrived Conrad of Montferrat.
The consequent capture of Jerusalem in October of that year shocked Europe, which served to carry out the Third Crusade that reached the shores of the Holy Land in 1189, led by Richard the Lionheart and Philip II of Francia, also known as Felipe Augusto (Frederico I Barbarossa precisely died on the way to the Crusade, drowned while crossing a river). Thanks to Ricardo's efforts, most of the coastal cities of Syria were once again conquered by the Crusaders, especially the city of Acre, although in this case after a long siege in which Patriarch Heraclius, Queen Sibila and many others died. of an epidemic. Guido de Lusignan, who was denied entry into the city of Tire when Conrad of Monferrat defended it, now had no legal right to the kingdom of Jerusalem and the succession passed to Queen Sibila's half-sister Elizabeth. Conrad argued against Elizabeth's marriage to Hunfredo that it was illegal, since she was 11 years old when it took place and with the support of Philip II of France and the French Crusaders annulled said link. In this way Conrad married Isabel, but he reigned for a short time since he was stabbed by the sect of "Assassins". Elizabeth quickly remarried Count Henry II of Champagne. Guido, in compensation for everything that happened, was granted the newly created kingdom of Cyprus, an island that Richard the Lionheart conquered on his way to Acre.
Meanwhile, Ricardo and Felipe fought among themselves until finally Felipe returned to France. Richard defeated Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf in 1191 and at the Battle of Jaffa in 1192, however he was unable to recapture Jerusalem or any territory within the kingdom. The Crusade came to a peaceful end, with the Treaty of Ramallah being negotiated in 1192; Saladin authorized the pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem, allowing the crusaders to carry out their vows and then all of them return to their land. Noble native crusaders rebuilt the kingdom, or what was left of it, from the city of Acre as well as other coastal cities.
The Kingdom of Acre
For the next hundred years, the Kingdom of Jerusalem lived on as a tiny kingdom hugging the Syrian coast. Its capital was Acre, and it barely included a couple of prominent cities (Beirut and Tire), as well as sovereignty over Tripoli and Antioch. Saladin died in 1193, and his sons fought among themselves as much as he had fought with the Crusader kingdom. Henry of Champagne died in an accident in 1197, and Elizabeth married Amalric of Lusignan, Guido's brother, for the fourth time. A new Crusade was forged, which would be the Fourth, but it was an absolute failure, since it was not made against the infidels but against the Christians themselves, and it ended with the capture and sack of Constantinople in 1204, not one of his crusaders arrived to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Isabel and Amalric died in 1205 and again an underage girl, Maria, daughter of Isabel and Conrad of Montferrat, became queen of Jerusalem. In 1210 (at the age of 18) Maria married an experienced sixty-year-old knight, John of Brienne, who was able to keep the kingdom safe. Plans were made to recover Jerusalem by first conquering Egypt, which was attempted by the failed Fifth Crusade against Damietta in 1217, in which John of Brienne also took part. Subsequently, Juan traveled throughout Europe seeking help for the kingdom but only obtained it from Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen, who married Yolanda, the daughter of Maria and Juan. Frederick II carried out the Sixth Crusade in 1228, and claimed the Kingdom of Jerusalem in his wife's name, just as John had done (and which he could no longer do since Mary was dead). The Overseas nobles, led by John of Ibelin, resented the Emperor's attempts to impose his rule over the kingdom, which led to a series of military confrontations both on the mainland and on the island of Cyprus. Meanwhile, surprisingly, Frederick II managed to recapture Jerusalem through a treaty with the Ayyubid sultan al-Kamil. Said recovery was short-lived since the recovery barely included a strip of land that allowed the city to be defended, so that in 1244 the city was reconquered by the Ayyubids again. A new Crusade (the Seventh) was carried out under the command of Louis IX of France, but its results were almost nil except that it succeeded in replacing the Ayyubids by the much more powerful Mamluks, who became in 1250 in the worst enemies of the crusaders.
From 1229 to 1268, monarchs lived in Europe and usually had a much larger realm to worry about. The kings of Jerusalem were represented by valid and regents. The title of King of Jerusalem was inherited by Conrad IV the Germanic, son of Federico II and Yolanda, and later by his son, Conradino. With the death of Conradin the kingdom passed to Hugh III of Cyprus. The kingdom became embroiled in disputes between the nobles of Cyprus and the mainland, between what remained of the nobles of the County of Antioch and County of Tripoli (now unified) and whose rulers vied for the most influence in Acre, and, on the other hand with the Italian city states and their commercial interests, these disputes led to the so-called "War of San Sabas" at Acre in 1257. After the Seventh Crusade no army came to the kingdom from Europe, although in 1277 Charles of Anjou bought the title of King of Jerusalem from a pretender to the throne. He never set foot in Acre but did send a representative, who, like Frederick II's representatives before him, was shunned by the Overseas nobility.
In their later years, the Crusaders' few hopes rested with the Mongols, who were supposed to be supporters of the Christians. Although the Mongols invaded Syria on several occasions, they too were repeatedly repulsed by the Mamluks, the most notable being the battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. The Mamluks, under the aegis of Sultan Baibars, exacted revenge on the virtually defenseless Kingdom by conquering a one of the few remaining cities, until reaching Acre, the last stronghold, which was conquered by Sultan Khalil in 1291.
Thus, the Kingdom of Jerusalem disappeared from the Holy Land, but the kings of Cyprus hatched plans for decades to return, plans that were never carried out. During the Late Middle Ages and up to the Neapolitan Trastamara dynasty, various European potentates used the title of Kings of Jerusalem.
Coat of arms and title of King of Jerusalem
The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem features a potentized gold cross with four crosses of the same on a silver field, which is an already famous exception to the heraldic rule that prohibits putting metal on metal, or color on color. It is one of the first shields of which there is news. The crosses are Greek, one of the many Byzantine influences of this kingdom.
Currently, and since the conquest of Naples in 1504 by King Ferdinand the Catholic, the title of King of Jerusalem is held by the Spanish Monarchy, and therefore by King Felipe VI of Spain.
Lordships
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