D County of Edessa- ~PrincipalitCounty of y Tripoli of Antioch
~ K ingdom of Jen1salem - o RCrusader oute of CrusaStop-Over ders
HAVOCThe Theater of the Crusades
141The taking of Jerusalem marked the high-water mark of the Franj in-
vasion. The victorious crusaders proclaimed Jerusalem a kingdom. It
ranked the highest of the four small crusader states that took root in this
area, the others being the principality of Antioch and the counties of
Edessa and Tripoli.
Once these four crusader states had been established, a sort of deadlock
developed, which ground on dismally for decades. The two sides contin-
ued to clash sporadically during these decades, and the Franj won some
battles, but they also lost some battles. They pounded the Muslims, but
also got pounded, and they quarreled with one another, just as the Mus-
lims were doing among themselves. Sometimes they forged temporary al-
liances with some Muslim prince to gain an advantage against a rival Franj.
Strange alignments formed and died. In one battle Christian king Tan-
cred of Antioch fought Muslim amir Jawali of Mosul. One third of Tan-
cred's force that day consisted of Turkish warriors on loan from the
Muslim ruler of Aleppo, who was allied with the Assassins, who had links
with the Crusaders. On the other side, about one third of Jawali's troops