282 funerals
revolt by nobles in 1132. He effectively imposed his
authority over Jerusalem and the northern principalities,
protecting them against the reviving power of the Muslim
princes of MOSULand ALEPPO.
Fulk’s reign was the high point of the kingdom. He
kept peace with the Muslims of DAMASCUS, and consoli-
dated and organized his realm extremely well. Experi-
enced in the building of fortresses, Fulk created a durable
system of defense by constructing strategic fortresses
around PALESTINE. Fulk reformed the administration of
justice. He died in ACREin 1143.
Further reading:Steven Runciman, A History of the
Crusades,Vol. 2, The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frank-
ish East, 1100–1187(Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1952).
funerals SeeDEATH AND THE DEAD.
furniture In the Middle Ages, as now, furniture consti-
tuted movable objects that were used for everyday life in
homes or for the performance of the liturgy in churches.
Few medieval pieces have survived, and most are church
or sacristy furniture or unusually good-quality items not
indicative of the usual domestic pieces. However, the
appearance and manner of use of more common furniture
can be reconstructed from images preserved in art,
archival documents, registers of accounts, and invento-
ries of property from at least the 13th century.
These included storage units, sideboards, and wooden
chests secured with metal locks and bolts for the preserva-
tion of linen, clothing, eating and cooking utensils, mer-
chandise for sale, and food. Smaller and more elaborate
caskets were used for precious jewels, silver, and property
deeds or documents. There were also in common use
stools; backless, fixed or folding chairs; armchairs; cush-
ions; and wall hangings. There were various forms of
tables, some elaborate and permanently set up and some
for more temporary use. Almost everyone had some kind
of a bed with a mattress of varying quality and draped with
a curtain for warmth. There were cradles for children.
Further reading:Penelope Eames, Furniture in En-
gland, France and the Netherlands from the Twelfth to the
Fifteenth Century(London: The Furniture History Society,
1977); Júlia Kovalovszki, Gothic and Renaissance Furni-
ture, trans. Lili Halápy (Budapest: Magyar Helikon,
1980); Peter Thornton, The Italian Renaissance Interior,
1400–1600(London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson Limited,
1991); Charles Tracy, English Medieval Furniture and
Woodwork(London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1988).
furs and fur trade Medieval furs were animal skins
complete with their hair or fur and were used as clothing
and later as lining for clothing. Most people used local
skins, but there was always a luxury trade in more exotic
and prestigious skins. More precious and varied were the
wild animal skins provided by hunting or obtained from
certain regions. These included the skins of leopards,
bears, foxes, deer, civet cats, lynxes, martens, rabbits, par-
ticular domesticated animals, and even mice. The great
forests of Scandinavia, POLAND, and RUSSIAprovided pre-
cious skins from sables, arctic foxes, martens, beavers,
ermines, weasels, and squirrels. Companies of merchants
specialized in their transport and sale to tailors and skin-
ners, who fashioned them into clothing suited to daily
use and up to the level of luxury. Such artisans formed
guilds in cities throughout Europe. In the later Middle
Ages furs became even more valued as part of luxurious
sets of prestigious clothing or heraldic livery for nobles or
even their retainers and servants.
Further reading:E. M. Veale, The English Fur Trade
in the Later Middle Ages(Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1966); Janet Martin, Treasure of the Land of Darkness: The
Fur Trade and Its Significance for Medieval Russia(Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).al-Fustat Al-Fustat was a city in EGYPTon the Nile
River that became part of the city of medieval and mod-
ern CAIRO. The town had its origins in a military camp
established on the east bank in 643 by Amr ibn al-Aas,
the ARABgeneral who conquered Egypt. With a MOSQUE
in the center, the camp was organized according to the
tribal division of the Arab army as it existed in early
ISLAM. It served initially as government center and grad-
ually developed into a city. By the eighth century the
tribal basis of al-Fustat had disappeared with Islamized
Egyptians, COPTS, and numerous JEWSmoving into the
town. Under the TULUNIDdynasty, the city grew rapidly.
New aristocratic quarters were built, as the town had
become an important marketplace from the time of the
ABBASIDS. The merchandise from the East was taken to
Egypt via the RED SEA and shipped westward via
ALEXANDRIA. As the new city of Cairo developed, al-Fustat
became its suburb.
Further reading:J. Jomier, “Al-Fusta ̄t,” Encyclopedia
of Islam 2.957–959; Wladyslaw Kubiak, Al Fustat: Its
Foundation and Early Urban Development(Cairo: Ameri-
can University in Cairo Press, 1987); André Raymond,
Cairo,trans. Willard Wood (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 2000).