Term Paper on "Economy Economics of the Kingdom of Jerusalem"

Term Paper 6 pages (2129 words) Sources: 4 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

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… READ MORE

How to Reference "Economy Economics of the Kingdom of Jerusalem" Term Paper in a Bibliography

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