Outremer and the Eastern Christians: The Hybrid Kingdom of Medieval Christendom
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Matthew John Lumley │ University of Durham
'He refreshed the newly planted Kingdom and gave it protection against the molestations of attacker. He was wrenched away in midcareer, lest his heart be affected by evil; as it is written: "The men of mercy are taken away and there is none that understandeth"'.
-On the election of Godfrey de Bouillon, his death, and the creation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, William of Tyre (A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, Vol.1, Trans, Emily Babcock and AC Krey, New York: Colombia University Press, 1943, 11.5).
The First Crusade (1096-1099), commissioned by Pope Urban II in 1095 to save the Eastern Churches, was the official premise of the Crusading movement at its inception. In attaining this goal, a new kingdom was created, with a new society emerging which fused western and eastern forces of Christendom into one. The question however, as to what form of a society and relationship, between the Crusading class and the native Eastern Christians, has been a subject to extensive coverage. What this article aims to cover is the hybrid nature of the Crusader entities, highlighting the societal collaboration and interaction between the two. Unlike the Western entities of Europe, which were for the most part (except for the Kingdom of Sicily), homogenous in the sense of religious conformity, the Crusader states would form a unique hybrid domain.
The period of Outremer, (Old French for ‘Beyond the Sea’), consisted of several Crusading entities, including; the Kingdom of Jerusalem, County of Edessa, Principality of Antioch, and County of Tripoli. These Crusader entities were composed of several major ethnic groups; these groups largely consisted of different eastern Christians, primarily the Greek, Armenian Orthodox, and the Maronite Church. These eastern Christians soon found themselves under a new administrative class, albeit with greater privileges. It was from this period that a new era of Western-Eastern Church discourse and collaboration occurred.
Earlier Pontiffs, from Pope Leo IX to Pope Gregory VII, had made limited gains through such interactions with the Greek East. Pope Urban II however, would change this. The Pope began by recognising the Byzantine emperor Alexios I’s rightful authority over his empire and denounced the previous Norman incursion into his domain. Their correspondence continued with both the Byzantine emperor and the Pope recognising that they belonged to the same ‘Catholic’ Church, demonstrating an underlying sense of solidarity between them. From both, correspondences and the precarious instability of the eastern Byzantine Empire, the First Crusade was called in 1095. During the Crusade, discussions on the question as to the role of the Greeks was already taking place in Calabria, Southern Italy. A general council was summoned at Bari in 1098, to resolve the various outstanding issues that remained following the Synod of Melfi (1089). Urban II commissioned the exiled Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm (b.1033-1109), to open discussions on liturgical issues but also jurisdictional compromise, which was later formed. The council introduced Papal primacy in the region but allowed the Greek communities to retain their Greek character and practices. Much of this Greek character would be within their liturgical heritage of the Greek Church, a collection of theological understanding from the Greek Church Fathers and later theologians of the Church.
The Latin aristocracy (Western Crusaders) of Outremer implemented their own form of collaborative societal partnership between themselves and the Greeks. This was a form of social contract between the Latins and Eastern Christians, in jointly administrating and collaborating within Outremer. Mirrored on the precepts attained at the earlier Bari council, the new Latin entities created their own form of regal policy and approach towards the Eastern churches. Eastern Christians would attain the right to not only retain their local ecclesiastical system but also to develop them. In many instances, this enabled the creation of new Greek parish churches and shrines. The use of the Greek Rite was continued, along with the freedom to refuse recognition to the Latin Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem. Instead, the Latin office holders would simply be recognised as leaders for the Latin communities, which also held a form of spiritual dignity. One example of this new concord can be evidenced in the region of Tiberias. Most of the contemporary testimonies, from both visiting and residing Latins and Greeks, provide testimonies that the Latins and Greeks did share the same parishes, along with notable shrines, deemed sacred by both the Latin and the Greeks. Examples of joint-sacramental acts were witnessed by John of Würzburg, whose work recounts joint ecumenical masses and separate masses took place on a scheduled rotation. This indicates that the major churches and shrines were used by both the Latins and the Greeks, along with the Armenian, Maronite, and Jacobite Christians residing in the Kingdom.
During the reign of Baldwin I (1100-1118), a new era of collaboration between both the Latins and the Greeks took place within the Kingdom of Jerusalem. One such area was that of the Church of Holy Sepulchre. The Church itself was described prior to the Crusades, by Albert Aix (c.1100) as one of the last few operational churches in 1099 in the region. Fulcher of Chartres, a key source within the events of the First Crusade and the Kingdom’s court also displays this. Fulcher’s work also consists of his letters to the nobility of the Latin West, which lacked any hostility towards the Greeks, despite the events occurring around the region of Latakia between the Norman lords and the Byzantine emperor(s). During the Crusader states, dynastic marriages also took places between the Kings of Jerusalem and Byzantine imperial line. This was not only out of military necessity but also in line with that hybrid society that was emerging inside Outremer. The most notable dynastic marriages included Baldwin III’s marriage to Theodora Komnene, and his successor, Amalric’s marriage to his Greek spouse Maria. During these events, separate ceremonies took place in both Constantinople and Jerusalem. William of Tyre observed the marriages and at the same time was a guest of honour in the city of Constantinople. It was also during this period (in 1161) that Byzantine emperor Manuel married Maria, the new empress consort (1145-1182), the former Princess of Antioch. This marriage produced the future Alexios II (1169-1183).
From 1110, to the loss of the city of Jerusalem in 1187, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was opened to non-Latins. Greeks took an active role in the sacraments performed within the church. One of the most interesting pieces of evidence for this is from a collection of liturgical texts known as the Ordinal of Barletta. The texts demonstrate that although sacraments were conducted primarily within the Latin tradition, they also demonstrated a substantial amount of influence from the Greek Church in the region. Much of this being through the veneration of Greek Saints, liturgical traditions, and the continuity of Greek-led parishes. Along with this, there are several liturgical texts from the period, which illustrate a collaboration between both the Greeks and Latins. Such texts include the Liberation Liturgy and the Adventus Sunday Liturgy. The Advent and Palm Sunday Liturgy is the most studied and has led to many historians concluding that the Greeks and Latin collaborated extensively in notable masses. The texts highlight that the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem headed the procession, accompanied with members of the Greek clergy. Such processions do suggest that the Greeks recognised the Latin Patriarch as either, their head of the diocese or, at minimum, that he held equal sacred authority as the Greek claimant to the Patriarchate. Another text of a similar nature is the Anastasis Typikon, which was also performed during Holy Weeks and Easter. These liturgical works however were created within the Crusader period, around 1122, and attest to both Latin and Greek monks partaking in these processions. These pieces illustrate a general formulated approach, to include both Latin and Greek liturgical traditions directly. The dating of such liturgical texts in the early 1120-30s also coincides with the greater liberties bestowed upon the Greeks and the greater amount of collaboration occurring in the period.
The Latin archbishop of Tyre and royal Chronicler, William of Tyre, also attests to the societal partnership throughout the Kingdom, especially in regard to the eastern royal spouses and their roles within Outremer. Baldwin II (1075-1131, r.1118-1131) married an Armenian of the Greek rite, while both Baldwin III and Amalric married their Greek spouses, under the Latin rite. The Greek consorts took active roles during this era of the Outremer. Gerard of Nazareth (r.1139–1161), the Latin Bishop of Latakia (modern-day coastal, northwestern Syria) is a source which covers the Greeks within the Outremer during this period. In his work, he describes the transference of ownership of property holdings between the Latin and Greek Churches. Examples which are mentioned include the Priory of St George at De Jubino. Much of this seems to also coincide with several royal charters issued by the Latin kings, to the Greek monastic orders of the nuns of St Mary Hodegetria. The source also mentioned a monastery dedicated to St George as part of a gift of land from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. There are other instances of such collaboration and Latin tolerance. The monastic settlement located in Jerusalem, near the tower of King David, was one of the oldest and the only Greek monastery then operating in the city. The non-usurpation and continued privileges granted to the monastery demonstrates the Crusader theme of ‘protectors of the Eastern Churches’.
Latin travellers to Outremer, would report upon experiencing the Greek liberties within the Latin entity. Hugh Etherianus (1115-1182), upon his arrival to the city of Acre, discovered the Greek were still partaking in their own parish Churches. Along with this, the later Archbishop of Acre, Jacques de Vitry, also voiced concern about the large proportion of his serfs and congregations who did not follow the Latin rite. Such concerns are also evidenced through the German pilgrim John of Wurzburg. The pilgrim, visiting in the 1160s, also comments upon the liberties enjoyed by the Greeks inside Outremer. During the 1160s, cross-cultural collaboration reached its height with direct encouragement from the Kingdom’s Latin elite. What was fundamentally being witnessed was the practice of the hybrid Latin-Eastern society. Alongside a relaxed attitude of the second and third generation Latin settlers inside the Outremer towards Eastern Christians.
Visiting Papal legates from Rome attempted to convene ecumenical councils in an attempt to formally end the differences between the two Churches. The Armenian sectors in Jerusalem, the Armenian population in the city of Edessa and the county parishes were retained and continued to thrive. Whilst the Frankish aristocracy remained small, interactions and inter-marriages were commonplace. Further south, the Maronite Christians, residing primarily in the County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem also held their privileges, and developed upon them. Later there would be a direct ecumenical union with the Latin Church, organised by the deposed Latin Patriarch of Antioch.
The societal partnership within Outremer would also continue into the later formed, Kingdom of Cyprus. The deposed King consort of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan (b.1150-1194, r.1192-1194) later Lord of Cyprus, appealed to all members of Outremer, Latins, Greeks and Armenians, to come to his island to receive land. There are accounts of both Syrians and Greeks being the primary recipients of such donations. Guy’s successor, Aimery (b.1153-1205, r.1194-1205), had the lordship elevated to the status of a kingdom and two suffragan archbishoprics established, one being located at the Kingdom’s capital of Nicosia.
The early Crusades occurred in a period of cultural isolation for many inside the Latin west. To many, the coverage of the Crusades, is a one of destruction, tragedy and a litany of errors. In regard to Eastern Christians, episodes such as the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 are the popular focus for the Crusading movement. However, Outremer was the most diverse area controlled by several Latin groups (Franks and Normans, to a lesser extent the Italian city-states and later German military monastic orders), in the High Middle Ages. Whilst there was a practical rationale for this style of governance, the societal partnership was a one which did coincide with the Cluniac reform movement period. The Crusader nobility both collaborated with the Eastern Christians and created a society which the two thrived within, highlighting a genuine attempt by the Latin ruling class at creating a Pan-Catholic identity.
Further reading:
Bernard Hamilton, The Latin Church in the Crusader States: The Secular Church (Routledge, 1980).
Jonathan Harris, Byzantium and the Crusades (Hambledon, 2003).
Andrew Jotischky, Crusading and the Crusader States (Routledge, 2004).
Andrew Louth, Greek East and Latin West: The Church, AD 681-1071 (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007).
Paul Magdalino, The Byzantine Background to the First Crusade (Canadian Institute of Balkan Studies, 1996).
Matthew John Lumley is a doctoral candidate at Durham University, who has recently submitted his doctoral thesis. Matthew’s doctoral supervisor is Professor Giles Gasper. Matthew’s first published work, Imperium Papae, is set to be released in September 2026 by Vernon Press. Matthew is an active member and contributor to both the Centre for Catholic Studies and the Ecclesiastical History Society. Additional coverage of this work can be found in a previous article for the Ecclesiastical History Society here.
