ID: 76330 Paper Type: Pages:

ID: 76330 Paper Type: Pages: 6 Topic: Economy/Economics of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Citation Style: MLA Bibliography: 4 Due: 2007-04-29 12:00:00 Worth: $54.00

Info: basic research paper on the economy (agriculture and trade mainly) of the Latin/Crusader state Kingdom of Jerusalem Kingdom of Jerusalem Economy

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Latin Kingdom founded in 1099 as the result of Crusades to the Middle East. It was a kingdom, but lacked the power of its European counterparts of the West. This was largely because its economy was fairly weak, relying often on Europe for financial support. The economy was also heavily reliant on trade, and although there were agricultural estates, it was not as important to the Kingdom as trade. The trade was also beneficial to the European markets that profited from the Latin presence in the trading crossroads of the Middle East. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Jerusalem's economic presence was defined by its available resources and existence as a Latin Kingdom, which heavily contributed to its existence as a vassal and feudal state which relied on tribute and taxes to function. Overall, the economy of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was seen as successful during many times of its existence, but it was in a precarious situation as it was very similar to the European feudal states of the West, but without the agricultural backing. Taxation, tribute, and trade were more important than agriculture as the Kingdom of Jerusalem was in an important commerce crossroads, while not having much land to be farmed by the nobles, thus making the economy significantly more urban than rural. The organization, history, and geography of the Kingdom of Jerusalem went a long way in determining its economy. Roughly the size of modern day Israel and Palestine, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was small. It was, however, situated in an area of prominence for Europe and the Middle East and therefore due to its proximity to the Byzantine Empire and other states in the area, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was far more oriented towards the east than its European counterparts. The results of this meant more trade and economic support that was not solely from the West, but from all of the surrounding areas. Additionally, the Kingdom of Jerusalem's unique position as a crusader Kingdom also greatly influenced its economic standing. This was because the Church was a "power independent of the kings," thus giving the Latin Church a great deal of influence in the area (Br?hier). This meant that the King and his powers were greatly reduced, but that he did have adequate resources for the defense of Jerusalem. This made the financial situation of the Kingdom much like the Principalities of Europe, as the "most profitable sources of income being the customs duties enforced at all the ports" (Br?hier). The King and also the Templar rulers thus had powers that were and were not subordinate to the Pope, and often were forced to extract money to defend their kingdom militarily. Overall, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was set up like a European Principality and thus raising finances was much the same, but the Pope and other Latin Catholic authorities had great sway over the economic sphere through the political and military aspects of the Kingdom. Also, the King had the unique position of finding finance through other areas. One was taxing the traveling trade caravans that would proceed through his Kingdom (Br?hier). This allowed for the King to acquire greater resources than his European counterparts. He also had a "monopoly of certain industries" as well as the "exclusive right to coin money" (Br?hier). The King had authority to create more taxes, especially if his Kingdom was threatened by outside forces. This meant a great deal of the economic resources of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was going to the military defense to preserve its borders. Pilgrims also bore a heavy burden of the Kingdom through taxes placed on them upon their arrival (Kjeilen ). The factors that created the Kingdom of Jerusalem led to an economy that was primarily commercial. By the 12th century, the Prosperity of the Kingdom reached its peak. This was largely due to economic reasons benefited from interaction with Italy. In fact, in the Italian cities of Genoa, Venice, and Pisa, as well as the French city of Marseilles, the local merchants received a house and districts administered by their own counsels within the ports of the Kingdom (Br?hier). These prospects of increased trade with Europe in an area that historically was a common place for trade meant that the Kingdom of Jerusalem engaged in a great deal of commerce with Europe and this spread to other areas of Europe besides the Mediterranean. Goods from Northern Europe were traded into the Kingdom and this meant the opening of markets in the Middle East and Asia as now that the Palestinian area was under Latin control, so too could this trade area be a crossroads from trade between the West and the East (Kjeilen ). Trade therefore began to exist between Asia and Europe and this is what contributed greatly to the otherwise fragile economy of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The cotton, silk, and spice trades were particularly important to the Kingdom of Jerusalem as new items became available to Europe from the East for the first time. Jerusalem utilized all its neighbors for trade and thus trade directly to the Kingdom and taxes from trade traveling through the Kingdom were of greatest importance to the economy. A monopoly on trade was given to the colonial merchants from Europe and the most costly merchandise were the preferred to be traded. Agricultural products were used in trade, but they were of secondary importance to those that were exotic, unique, and new to Europe. This included silk and cotton, which was unique to Syria at the time, dye-works and glass factories of Tyre, and other precious spices, silks, and stones from places such as China (Kjeilen ). Commerce between Europe and the Kingdom of Jerusalem also included items necessary for the Kingdom. The Knights in Jerusalem took advantage of their situation in the crossroads of affluent trade by surrounding "themselves with gorgeous equipments and choice furniture," such as those made by Arabs (Br?hier). Much of this trade between Europe and the Kingdom of Jerusalem was cemented in treaty; the most notable treaty being the Pactum Warmundi, a treaty of alliance between the Republic of Venice and Jerusalem. This treaty shows the level of autonomy given to foreign, particularly Italian merchants within the Kingdom of Jerusalem to encourage trade, and it also shows that taxing the pilgrims was important to the King and not to be avoided regardless of the impact on trade (Prawer). The results of this extensive trade helped the Kingdom of Jerusalem to experience a positive economic situation despites its lack of agricultural economic possibility. Agriculture was far less important to the Kingdom of Jerusalem than commerce was as it was reported that agriculture was limited. Grain often had to be imported from Syria because of the lack of available agricultural land with the Kingdom (Kjeilen ). But this does not mean that there was no agriculture, because there were colonies on the outskirts of the city that produced cotton and sugar-cane (Br?hier). Furthermore agriculture was traded, but it was far less significant to the overall economy than commerce. This was because the Kingdom had very little land for agriculture. While its feudal system and organization was much similar to that of Western Europe, it did not have the land to maintain a full agricultural society. The economy was therefore urban and one based around trade and commerce as the nobility preferred to live within than the city than outside of it. Furthermore, the system of land ownership was based on the Muslim system with payments similar to that of the European feudal system (Kjeilen ). As agriculture was not of primary importance to the ruling nobility, even though they owned the land, the Crusaders did little to change the existing agricultural situation in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. A more important aspect to the economy of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was tribute and money payments collected by the Kingdom. Jerusalem relied on collecting money from coastal cities and neighboring states. For example, Damascus was faced with an urban tax that was a tribute intended to finance Jerusalem even though it was never conquered directly (Heidemann). This tax of Damascus, for instances, the Al-fissa, was one primarily rural based that was sent down from the rulers of Jerusalem before there was the alliance between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Damascus (Heidemann). There were similar taxes on others such as Egypt. Baldwin I was notable for his extension of these taxes on Muslim Caravans and the surrounding areas and like the taxing of pilgrims, collecting tribute and taxation was an important source of revenue for the Kingdom. The organizational factors leading to the Kingdom of Jerusalem therefore played a key role in the economy. Because of its Latin and Christian roots, for instance, Italian merchants were given favorable terms of trade and came to dominate the economy and the trade which was predominant in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Also, because of the lack of land and the unwillingness for the Nobles to maximize the potential of the land, instead relying on Muslim traditions and European feudal models, agriculture was not as prominent. Because a large mercenary military was needed for protection, there was therefore a need for a great deal of tribute and taxation to hire and fund the military aspects of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Despite these factors which would contribute to a weaker economy, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was in a tenuous economic position but was able to prosper, especially in the 12th century, as a result of the trade and the realization of the potential of trading in the Middle East. This meant riches for the merchants, colonizers, Europeans, and nobles who could not only tax those from other places, but bring in new and valuable products to Europe. Thus trade was improved greatly between Europe and the East and the Kingdom of Jerusalem brought much of the Middle East and even China into a commercial relationship with Europe in which the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the European kingdoms also benefited. The Kingdom of Jerusalem thus can be seen as having an economy based largely on trade but with agriculture and tribute also playing important roles. It is also significant as an economy run by Europeans, as a Latin and Christian Kingdom, in an area that was predominantly Muslim. This meant that while Christian and European feudal customs moved to the area, it became important as an area that opened up trade from the Middle East and Asia to Europe. This early opening of trade was important for Europe and the Kingdom of Jerusalem and contributed to making trade highly significant and making the Kingdom highly urban. Furthermore, it has been understood that the Kingdom of Jerusalem, "established as a result of the First Crusade," was one of the "first attempts made by Europeans at colonization" (Br?hier). This means that the economy of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was largely one that would become, in the future, to be known under terms of colonization as the Europeans took over the land and influenced the future as to what would be of benefit to the Christian and Latin colonizers. This is reflected in the trade agreements that helped the Europeans, while the Muslims faced increased taxation by the Christian Kingdom. Overall, the Kingdom was thus one based upon trade and tribute and to a lesser extent agriculture, but also an early example of an attempt at colonization by the Europeans. By going into another region and taking over militarily while instituting their customs and economic preferences, the economy of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is an example of a colonized economy with the merchants and the ruling classes under the guise as Crusaders, being economic colonizers with the intentions of maximizing trade through the new lands in the East. Even the pilgrims bore the economic burden of the Kingdom, which shows that economic motive was more important than religious reasons.