The Franks of Outremer and their Western Brethren: examining the conflict through Roman Expansion in the Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli (1230’s—1280’s)

Статья посвящена одной из главных тем и концептов в историографии крестовых походов – конфликту между западными крестоносцами «первого поколения» и франками Заморской земли (Outremer), т.е. теми, кто был рожден на Ближнем Востоке и не знал иного дома, кроме городов и долин Леванта. Автор критически анализирует концептуальные воззрения на суть данного конфликта в историографии XIX-XXI вв. и рассматривает полувековой опыт экспансии римской знати в княжестве Антиохийском и графстве Триполийском (инициированной браком князя Боэмунда V со знатной римлянкой, Люсьен де Сеньи). В отличие от широко-известного конфликта между братьями Лузиньянами и палестинскими баронами в 1180-х гг., экспансия римлян в Триполи и Антиохии действительно может служить редким и полноценным примером острого конфликта между притязаниями западных нобилей и интересами местных, левантийских элит на Латинском Востоке. The article deals with one of the main themes and concepts in the historiography of the Crusades – the conflict between the western, «first generation» Crusaders and pilgrims with the Franks of Outremer, those who were born and knew no home outside of the Middle East. The author critically examines the perception of the conflict in the 19th—21st century historiography, and proceeds with a study of the 50-year period of Roman aristocratic expansion in the Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli (made possible through the marriage of Prince Bohemond V with the Roman noblewoman Lucien de Segni). This expansion – unlike the infamous clash between the Lusignan brothers and the Palestinian nobility in the 1180’s – was perhaps the purest manifestation of the conflict between consolidated western expansion and the local Levantine elites in the Crusader States.

The ransom of high-ranking captives, tributary relationships and the practice of diplomacy in northern Syria 448-522/1050-1128

This article examines how the introduction of western European crusaders and settlers to northern Syria from 490/1097 onwards impacted upon two important mechanisms of regional diplomacy; the ransom of prominent political prisoners and tributary relationships. Discussion begins with a comparison of the capture and ransom of high-ranking captives in northern Syria between 442-522/1050-1128, where it is argued that the establishment of the crusader states led to an increase in both the rate at which prisoners of elite status were ransomed and the financial sums involved in these interactions. This is followed by a reassessment of the various peace treaties, tributary arrangements and condominia or munāṣafa agreements concluded between the rulers of Antioch and Aleppo during the late fifth/eleventh and early sixth/twelfth centuries. Ultimately, this article seeks to place key features of northern Syrian diplomacy from the early crusading period within the context of regional norms in the decades preceding the crusaders’ arrival.

Italy, the Crusader States, and Cyprus

The Roman and Byzantine heritage provided a background for art in Italy from the time of Justinian until the Renaissance. Mosaics in Norman Palermo and medieval Venice served as hallmarks of polities striving to advertise their imperial pedigrees, while reliquaries and diplomatic gifts adorned in the Byzantine techniques of enamel and encrustation offered a link with venerated traditions. Later stylistic borrowings from Byzantium (known as maniera greca) marked Italian religious imagery. Byzantine art was also a major source in Crusader art as well as in Cyprus, which was a Byzantine province with close ties to Constantinople. In the Holy Land and medieval Greece the Byzantine past remained active in both architecture—secular and religious—as well as in painting.

Environment, Colonization, and the Baltic Crusader States. Terra Sacra I, and Ecologies of Crusading, Colonization, and Religious Conversion in the Medieval Baltic. Terra Sacra II

Environment, Colonization, and the Baltic Crusader States. Terra Sacra I, and Ecologies of Crusading, Colonization, and Religious Conversion in the Medieval Baltic. Terra Sacra II. Edited by Aleksander Pluskowski. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers n.v., 2019. Author’s studies funded by the National Science Centre, Poland’s (NCN) PRELUDIUM grant no. 2016/23/N/HS3/00660.