Economical Life in Jerusalem and its Surrounding Areas During the Crusades 492-583 hijri / 1099- 1187

Contemporary eastern and western historians have been interested in the study of the crusades since it is considered as one of the most important of the middle Ages conflicts and because of the many results and impacts they had inflicted on the history of nations. As a result, numerous books were produced, both in the east and the west, which discussed, analyzed and criticized the history and the events of the crusades. However, despite the huge amount of books that have been written about the crusades, many of its aspects are still undiscovered, and it is still an important field on which many studies and researches can be made. Since I was able to have a very good idea about the economical life in this period of history, I decided to discuss "The Economical Life in Jerusalem and its Surrounding Areas during the Crusades Era 492-583 H / 1099- 1187". I have divided the research into five chapters. The first chapter is titled (Jerusalem since Ancient Times until the Dawn of the Crusades) in which I discussed the origin of Jerusalem's name, the city's location, its borders, terrains, climate and water resources in the city. I also pointed out to the surrounding villages and their importance, and discussed the different nations which ruled the Holy Land until the beginning of the crusades. Moreover, I talked about the crusaders siege of Jerusalem and the Palestinian resistance of the invaders. I concluded the chapter by talking about the crusaders control of Jerusalem in the year 492 H / 1099. The second chapter is titled (Economical Situations in Jerusalem and its Surroundings at the Beginning of the Crusades) in which I discussed the crusaders feudalism, the settlements around Jerusalem, and their economical and strategic role. I also talked about agricultural lands, their divisions, the scales of lands, the methods used by the crusaders in agriculture. Also, the control by the crusaders of the land in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas and the distribution of these lands among churches, monasteries and military, religious institutions. In this chapter also, I talked about the most important agricultural products of that time such as fruits, grain, vegetables as well as livestock. Regarding the third chapter, it is titled (Industries in Jerusalem and its Surrounding Areas) in which I discussed the most significant industries that prevailed during the crusades such as: olive oil extraction, soap industry, the holy wine industry that was highly demanded by European merchants. In addition to sword, glass, and wood industries. I finally concluded this chapter by talking about sugar industry and its importance to hospitals during this era.The fourth chapter is titled (Trade in Jerusalem and its Surrounding Areas). Here I discussed the internal trade, commercial stores in the city, the role of Italian commercial cities in the economy of the Holy City. Then I talked about the external trade between the kingdom of Jerusalem and the external world, the markets that existed in the city during this era and markets' courts. Moreover, I talked about the hotels that spread in that period which were used to receive pilgrims who come from the western world as traders and pilgrims. After that, I mentioned the crusade currency, banking, the money in this kingdom, and the transfer of money from Europe to Jerusalem and the settlements there. The fifth and final chapter titled (Taxes in Jerusalem and its Surrounding Areas) in which I discussed the types of taxes especially the tithe, and the tithe canonical that was imposed on the crusaders. I also explained the poll tax (or head tax) that was imposed on Muslims and Jews, as well as the markets' tax in the city, production tax, alien tax, the mace, exports and imports tax, and masters tax. In the conclusion of the chapter, I discussed the positive and negative effects on Jerusalem and its surrounding. In the conclusion of the research, I included the most significant results that I have come up with after my study of this subject. I also attached a number of appendixes that are closely related to the subject of the research, especially crusaders mills. I further supported the study with a number of maps, pictures and Latin documents, as well as a list of Arab and foreign resources on which I relied in my research. And since the subject of this research is about the study of economical life in Jerusalem and its surrounding areas during the crusades era 492-583 H / 1099- 1187, it was necessary that I refer to a number of foreign as well as Arab resources because such resources contain information that shed the light on the economical situations and contribute to a better understanding of these situations. I have benefited a lot in my research from what Muslim and western historians have written about the crusades era. Books of geography and traveling were as important to my research as historical documents, records and books from which I was able to extract information that covered many aspects which contemporary historical resources have ignored. Add to this that the majority of the resources and the documents of the crusades era are still written in their original languages like ancient French and Latin while few have been translated into modern languages. Perhaps a quick, analytic criticizing look on the most important research sources can give us an idea about the resources that provided this study with a lot of precious information without which this research would have not been accomplished the way it is now.