Muslims in the Landscape: A Social Map of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Thirteenth Century

Abstract

This dissertation is a study of how Muslims fit into the society of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem during the thirteenth century. It examines their roles from multiple perspectives, drawing from extent Latin, Old French, Arabic, and archaeological sources. The first chapter explores where Muslims lived within the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and demonstrates that they were not concentrated at the margins or in places where they were easily ignored. The second chapter focuses on the economic contributions of Muslims and argues that their centrality was recognized by the Mamluk regime, which deliberately attempted to sap the kingdom by removing them. The third chapter reviews the legal landscape and the various legal systems Muslims navigated in theory. It argues that while the Frankish legal systems did attempt to disenfranchise Muslims, they were frequently also more concerned with maintaining distinctions between groups of differing social status. The final chapter examines the political landscape, where Muslims can be found exercising political and administrative powers within the kingdom. The evidence, especially from the jointly-held lands, reveals that Muslims played a much bigger role in the administration of the kingdom than hitherto thought.