Crusader States

Four new medieval political entities established as a result of the First Crusade (1096-99): the kingdom of Jerusalem, the principality of Antioch and the counties of Tripoli and Edessa. In each of the states, Frankish dynasties ruled over largely Arab populations with varying degrees of assimilation. Of them, Jerusalem was the largest and most important, controlling the others for long periods in the 12th century. Edessa fell to the Turk Zangi in 1144 but the other states revived after Saladin's conquests (1187-89) to maintain a precarious existence until 1291. From the 1190s Cyprus, taken from the Byzantines, became another Crusader kingdom, surviving until the 15th century.