Antioch Knight w/Axe
12th Century
(St. Petersburg Collection 6263.2)
By 1100 most of the tired veteran crusaders had returned to their home countries in Europe. Some crusaders remained in the Holy Lands settling into the states created by the conquest of Jerusalem and its environs. The crusader states, known as the Outremer, included the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa, to name a few.
Installing themselves into these newly acquired territories the crusader conquerors established laws, taxation, and armies to govern the new realms. As time passed, their Arab adversaries became neighbors and a hybrid European-Levantine culture evolved mixing Christian rule with Arab lifestyles.
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