The history of the Crusades and the establishment of Latin Christian (Frankish) ‘Crusader States' along the Eastern Mediterranean littoral has proved enduringly fascinating. Many publications tell the familiar, three-stage story, beginning with the crusaders' initial successes in conquering Jerusalem in 1099 and the establishment of four Crusader States. Then there is the almost total annihilation of those states after Saladin's reconquest of Jerusalem in 1187 and, finally, the weaker, lingering presence of the Kingdom of Jerusalem until the eventual fall of Acre in 1291.
Nicholas Morton's new book draws our attention to the first few decades of the Crusader States' existence in the early 12th century, in order to shift the question away from the ultimate brevity of the Latin presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, and asks instead: ‘Why didn't they succeed?'
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