The aftermath of the second crusade
Rejoice Jerusalem, and recognize now the time in which you are visited! Be glad and give praise together, wastes of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people. He has ransomed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm in the sight of all peoples. O virgin of Israel, you were fallen and there was none to raise you up. Arise now and shake off the dust, O virgin, captive daughter of Sion. Arise, I say, and stand on high. See the happiness which comes to you from your God. You will no longer be referred to as the forsaken one, nor your land any more termed a wilderness; for the Lord takes his delight in you, and your land shall be peopled. Raise your eyes, look about you and see; all these are gathered together and come to you. Here is the help sent to you from the Holy One! Through them is already fulfilled the ancient promise, "I will make you the pride of the ages, a joy from generation to generation. You will suck the milk of the nations and be nourished at the breasts of their sovereignty."
Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood
Deus Vult, cries Christendom, rejoicing on the victory of our heroes' over the infidels. Brought by Italian merchants, news of the crusader victory spread like fire over the Catholic World. Pope Eugenius, who at the time was exiled in Viterbo, cried of joy when hearing of the fall of Aleppo, he had chosen the right time for the crusade and thus what was done to Edessa was avenged in the name of the Lord. Bernard, the living saint, had invested decades on promoting the crusader ideal of a new knighthood, and with the success of the holy endeavour he saw the fruits of what he had planted, as he was the greatest preacher of the crusade and supporter of the Knights Templar; but a preacher has a responsibility with the cause he preaches, for Bernard this responsibility was great, for he preached in the name of Christ, thus despite his old age he prepared for his pilgrimage, for he was chosen by God to preach his message in pursuit of the rescue of the Holy Land.
The return of the kings
After the celebrations of easter the kings marched north in order to return home. The prince of Antioch and the regent of Hama had offered the pilgrims to stay, in exchange of lands and holdings, Conrad wasn't eager to let soldiers go, even less much needed knights, hence the only Germans that stayed in the Holy Land were non-combatants; in the other hand Louis as pious as he was accepted to leave any men who responded directly to him and decided to stay, and encourage his vassals to do as him, thus many French peasants, landless knights and others started a new life in the Holy Land. A notable case is that of count Thierry, who forced many of his subordinates to stay in Aleppo, as he himself planned to do once his son Matthew was of age to rule; the reason, Aleppo was almost a ghost town after the siege and needed to be repopulated; finally he left his wife Sibylle as regent of Aleppo before departing.
In their march to Constantinople they were met by Mesud, now a vassal of the empire, he had moved his capital to Caesarea, a city captured by the crusaders from the Danishmendids, that the emperor had granted him in "compensation" for his losses. After their stay, they accepted to liberate prince Kilij Arslan.
In their arrival on the greatest city of Europe it was clear that the perspective of many Latins on the Greeks had changed and viceversa, as this time Manuel opened the gates of Constantinople to the crusaders. A feast was celebrated in name of their victory, and in their stay Manuel and Conrad became great friends, Louis was the first to leave, for he wanted to meet with the pope to solve his marriage, as his relation with Eleanor had only worsened during this time. Then it was Conrad, who would remain close to the emperor in the rest of his days.
Louis and Eleanor met with the pope, who insisted in them sleeping on the same bed and converse to restore the love between them. A daughter was born to this piece of advice, but that wasn't what the king hoped for, which would ultimately result in their divorce and in Eleanor marrying Henry Plantagenet.
Eugene knew what Conrad expected from him in his return, and thus they made a deal, Conrad had to take Rome from Arnold of Brescia and he would get what he desire. After a month Rome was taken by force and Arnold was once again exiled, Conrad marched victorious through the streets of the city, like the emperors of ancient Rome, for he knew he deserved that title by right. Preparations were made and a feast was held for the coronation of the warrior, a great spectacle it was. And in November 10, Conrad III was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in the eternal city. It's notable that Otto of Freising chose the coronation of Conrad to end his work, Gesta Conradi Imperatoris, one of the main sources we have of the life of the emperor and of the second crusade; though it's not surprising as Conrad died a year later.
The Muslim rulers
a. The battle of Gaza meant the temporal end of the civil strife within Egypt. The Caliph had given the task of defeating the crusaders to the aspirant to vizierate, Ibn al-Sallar, he was defeated and his army destroyed by king Baldwin. In his return the man was imprisoned and later executed, while the old Salim was restored to office.
b. After making peace, Sayf ad-Din primarily focused in the east, dealing with the Seljuks and becoming an ally of the Caliph of Baghdad were his objectives; to this goal, he granted the old territory of the county of Edessa and Raqqa to his brother, Qutb ad-Din. But first, he laid siege to the castle of Jabbar, an old fortress in the route to Raqqa that his father tried to take, but died before making it; the resistance was fierce but the castle fell. Afterwards, he started his first of his many campaigns against the Artuqids of Hasnkeyf; he had to end his campaign quickly, after forcing them to vassalage, as news arrived, sultan Mas'ud was dead.
He successfully allied with Caliph, al-Muqtafi, and after the death of sultan Mas'ud and the deposition of the brief Malik Shah, they supported the sultan's brother, Suleiman, over his nephew and rightful heir Muhammad, as Suleiman promised not to intervene in Iraq. Before the civil war could end, alarming news arrived, the emperor of the Romans was marching east.
c. Once the kings left the Holy Land, the Emir of Damascus knew he was safe, for he had gained the favour of queen Melisende and was dear by many of the Frankish nobles. Even though he had lost Hama the crusade brought pleasant consequences for Mu'in ad-Din, as now that Nur ad-Din was dead and Ascalon had fallen, there was no one to oppose to his eastern ambitions while they didn't directly threaten the Franks. And not even the Franks were in a position to threaten him, as feeding the crusaders had drained the resources of king Baldwin, prince Raymond was too busy organising his new acquired territories and crushing the resistance against him, and count Raymond had lost most of his men in his last expedition. For him this moment was even greater, after hearing the news that a son was born to him from one of his wifes, As-Salih, he was named, news that were met with the assassination of the Burid, Mujir al-din. Thus, with the new political environment, he started to push for his goals.
First, he took Homs from its governor, whom he no longer trusted after his deal with Nur ad-Din, and he did the same with some other cities and towns, whose governors had appeared favourable to the Burid emir, paving the way for the centralization of his power.
Then, he marched and took Qasr Azrak, to gain control of the Zarqa River. And start negotiations with the Sharifs of Mecca and Medina; he argued that they should submit to him, as the Fatimids of Egypt had been humiliated by the Franks, had lost their greatest fortress and could no longer protect them, after a few weeks they would finally accept to pay allegiance to him.
Moreover, he had to deal with exiles and refugees, the old inhabitants of Aleppo, Hama and its surroundings, had left or were expelled from their ancient homes by the Franks. Homs prospered from the exodus, as it was the closest and greatest city to the previously mentioned, but was unable to hold so many people. Thus many were forced to march south, to the Beqaa or Damascus. The emir started to resettle all this people around his realm, this would be the foundation of another golden age for Damascus, that in the following decades gain a glory that it had not seen since the time of the Umayyads. Notable exiles were the brothers, Shirkuh and Ayyub, generals that had distinguished themselves and were close friends of Zengi and Nur ad-Din; they appeared in front of the emir to offer his services, an offer that the emir gladly accepted. A curious case is that of Palmyra, a city that was once great, but by this time had seen a constant decadence for centuries and was only relevant as a trade route to Damascus, it saw a resurgence thanks to the exiles from Hama; the event came to the attention of the emir, who marched to Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, and from there to Palmyra. That was the base for his final great endeavour in Syria.
Finally, he organised his forces to march to Raqqa, a great and risky enterprise, but it was worth the effort, for it would grant him access to the Euphrates. The city had passed to Sayf ad-Din after the death of his brother, to then be granted to the youngest sibling, Qutb ad-Din. First, he took Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, to then start his march to the Euphrates. His enterprise was greatly aided by the news of the emperor's coming, that forced Qutb ad-Din to battle, for he didn't want to face two enemies at the same time. But Qutb ad-Din could not stand against the experience of his foe and was defeated, and forced to retreat. Mu'in ad-Din took the castle of Jabbar afterwards, to start the siege of Raqqa, Sayf ad-Din attempted to relieve the siege, but was intercepted and defeated by Shirkuh in their way. The city would resist for three months before falling to the emir.
d. Years prior to the crusade, the Danishmendid realm was divided after the death of Melik Muhammad. His rightful successor, Zinnun, wasn't recognised by his uncle Yagibasan, who took control of Sivas, while his brother took Melitene. Only Caesarea remained in his control, but it would fall the next year; forcing him to fly to the court of Sultan Mesud.
Zinnun would fight in front of Iconium along with Sultan Mesud, and be captured in the aftermath of the battle. With him they marched to Caesarea, which they easily took thanks to Zinnun, who foolishly thought he might be restored to his place. Caesarea was temporarily restored to the empire, to then be granted to Mesud. Zinnun remained a prisoner of the Franks for some years, until he was ransomed by Yagibasan only to die in a different cell.
The defeat of his brother in the battle of the Aksu River gave Yagibasan the opportunity to dismiss him from charge. This along with the previous events, resulted in the reunification of the Danishmendid realm, which Yagibasan would make sure to mantain.
The Outremer
a. Raymond of Poitiers, prince of Antioch, was the man who profited the most from the second crusade. Before the armed pilgrimage the principality had lost most of its territories west of the Orontes to the Zengids, it was only a shell of its former self when compared to the time of Bohemond I and Tancred. Now, the situation was completely different, Zardana and Hazart were retaken; Nur ad-Din was dead; the Assassins were no longer; Germanicia and Shaizar had fallen and Aleppo was now submitted to Antioch. His long time ambitions were finally completed, the prince was now the hegemon of the North of Syria, and he thought he had nothing to fear. It was clear for him that he had been favoured by God, ruling the city itself made him favoured among men, as it's well known that Peter was bishop of Antioch, even before being bishop of Rome and that Antioch was the place where Christians were first called Christians. Along with its history it was now the second city of the Levant, only behind Damascus; and the prince would work to make it thr first.
Beatrice of Saone, regent of Hama, failed to deal with the Muslim resistance, many exiles from Hama and other recently fallen cities and towns had organised in the ruins of the ancient castle of Shmemis, they managed to retake Salamiyah and launched constant raids against the Christian holdings; it was only time before they would try to lay siege to Hama. The events presented the prince, who at the time was pacifying his newly acquired southern territories, with the perfect opportunity to further his goals, he had long wanted hegemony over the Orontes and this way he could achieve it. The prince marched to Hama, where he appeared in front of the regent, as eloquent as he was, he convinced her to submit to him over king Baldwin; Jerusalem was too far south and wouldn't be able to protect Hama from an attack in time, he argued, while in the other hand Antioch had direct access to the city by the Orontes, in exchange Hama would become a vassal of Antioch; the Orontes had been opened for the prince, from the Mediterranean to Homs. Salamiyah was quickly retaken by the prince and the Saracens fled to the castle. Built on top of an extinct volcano, the castle of Shmemis used to be impregnable, only the force of nature was able to destroy it.
Even though only ruins remained, Shmemis was still a formidable fortification, every attempt to assault the castle failed. But it was surrounded and there was no one to relieve. After a month the Saracens offered to surrender the castle if they were offered safe passage, but this wouldn't happen, Raymond wanted to make an example of them. When it fell no one was spared, most were killed and those who survived were sold to slavery. After the events, the site was sold to the Knights Hospitaller, who would make great use of it.
Raymond celebrated his victory and thought himself invincible, till news arrived, the emperor was preparing for his pilgrimage.
b. With the crusade concluded, Jerusalem was finally at peace after decades of continuous strive for survival. Baldwin was now the sole ruler of the kingdom after ending his mother's regency with the help of general Palaiologos, though he had to make some concessions, like granting Ascalon to his brother and allowing his mother to act as regent in his absence. In the following years, the realm would start to prosper greatly from safer trade routes and collaboration with the emir Damascus; even though Baldwin never quite liked the emir, he saw it as necessary to collaborate with him, as he didn't want another war so soon and the emir had the favour of her mother, his brother and many others on the kingdom.
Baldwin was furious at the news of Hama's subjugation to Antioch, but he knew well that Jerusalem couldn't protect Hama, when it had trouble at exerting influence over Tripoli. But it was still an offense from the prince and he could not let it pass as nothing.
After a long voyage by sea, Bernard arrived in the port of Jaffa, where he was welcomed by the king's brother, Amalric, who escorted him to the Holy city. Bernard was amazed at the sight of Jerusalem, they entered by the gate of David to be escorted by Bernard de Tremelay, the Grand Master of the Templars, to the Templum Domini; where he was to meet with the king. They got along well, so well that Bernard would remain as the king's advisor for the years he had left, knowing that he had barely make it to the Holy Land and another trip of this nature would certainly kill him before setting a foot in Europe. Bernard resolved Baldwin's issue with Raymond, who was to pay a compensation to the king, while keeping Hama as his vassal. Bernard died in the summer of 1153, it was his petition to be buried in the Mount of Olives; he's remembered for his dedication to the crusader cause, reviving the enthusiasm for the cause in Europe, without him it might have been impossible to gather so many men for the great cause that was the Second Crusade after the disaster of 1101; he would finally be canonized by pope Alexander III in 1174.
---
Author's Notes:
This chapter was supposed to be very different at first. Having the OTL deaths of Mu'in and Sayf ad-Din, succession crisis inDamascus along with Baldwin trying again to seize Baalbek and Bosra at the news, but I found it boring and thought it would be way too easy for the Franks and ended up changing all of my plans for the Levant in this TL. It's good that the death of the emir of Damascus is completely avoidable and that we have no idea about how Sayf died, so it's completely in the realm of possibility for this TL. The next chapter will be centered in the Byzantine empire, I kind of foreshadowed it in this chapter; to then start with the affairs in Europe and North Africa. Thanks a lot for reading.
Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood
Christ embracing Saint Bernard, Francisco Ribalta
Deus Vult, cries Christendom, rejoicing on the victory of our heroes' over the infidels. Brought by Italian merchants, news of the crusader victory spread like fire over the Catholic World. Pope Eugenius, who at the time was exiled in Viterbo, cried of joy when hearing of the fall of Aleppo, he had chosen the right time for the crusade and thus what was done to Edessa was avenged in the name of the Lord. Bernard, the living saint, had invested decades on promoting the crusader ideal of a new knighthood, and with the success of the holy endeavour he saw the fruits of what he had planted, as he was the greatest preacher of the crusade and supporter of the Knights Templar; but a preacher has a responsibility with the cause he preaches, for Bernard this responsibility was great, for he preached in the name of Christ, thus despite his old age he prepared for his pilgrimage, for he was chosen by God to preach his message in pursuit of the rescue of the Holy Land.
The return of the kings
After the celebrations of easter the kings marched north in order to return home. The prince of Antioch and the regent of Hama had offered the pilgrims to stay, in exchange of lands and holdings, Conrad wasn't eager to let soldiers go, even less much needed knights, hence the only Germans that stayed in the Holy Land were non-combatants; in the other hand Louis as pious as he was accepted to leave any men who responded directly to him and decided to stay, and encourage his vassals to do as him, thus many French peasants, landless knights and others started a new life in the Holy Land. A notable case is that of count Thierry, who forced many of his subordinates to stay in Aleppo, as he himself planned to do once his son Matthew was of age to rule; the reason, Aleppo was almost a ghost town after the siege and needed to be repopulated; finally he left his wife Sibylle as regent of Aleppo before departing.
In their march to Constantinople they were met by Mesud, now a vassal of the empire, he had moved his capital to Caesarea, a city captured by the crusaders from the Danishmendids, that the emperor had granted him in "compensation" for his losses. After their stay, they accepted to liberate prince Kilij Arslan.
In their arrival on the greatest city of Europe it was clear that the perspective of many Latins on the Greeks had changed and viceversa, as this time Manuel opened the gates of Constantinople to the crusaders. A feast was celebrated in name of their victory, and in their stay Manuel and Conrad became great friends, Louis was the first to leave, for he wanted to meet with the pope to solve his marriage, as his relation with Eleanor had only worsened during this time. Then it was Conrad, who would remain close to the emperor in the rest of his days.
Louis and Eleanor met with the pope, who insisted in them sleeping on the same bed and converse to restore the love between them. A daughter was born to this piece of advice, but that wasn't what the king hoped for, which would ultimately result in their divorce and in Eleanor marrying Henry Plantagenet.
Conrad III
Eugene knew what Conrad expected from him in his return, and thus they made a deal, Conrad had to take Rome from Arnold of Brescia and he would get what he desire. After a month Rome was taken by force and Arnold was once again exiled, Conrad marched victorious through the streets of the city, like the emperors of ancient Rome, for he knew he deserved that title by right. Preparations were made and a feast was held for the coronation of the warrior, a great spectacle it was. And in November 10, Conrad III was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in the eternal city. It's notable that Otto of Freising chose the coronation of Conrad to end his work, Gesta Conradi Imperatoris, one of the main sources we have of the life of the emperor and of the second crusade; though it's not surprising as Conrad died a year later.
The Muslim rulers
a. The battle of Gaza meant the temporal end of the civil strife within Egypt. The Caliph had given the task of defeating the crusaders to the aspirant to vizierate, Ibn al-Sallar, he was defeated and his army destroyed by king Baldwin. In his return the man was imprisoned and later executed, while the old Salim was restored to office.
b. After making peace, Sayf ad-Din primarily focused in the east, dealing with the Seljuks and becoming an ally of the Caliph of Baghdad were his objectives; to this goal, he granted the old territory of the county of Edessa and Raqqa to his brother, Qutb ad-Din. But first, he laid siege to the castle of Jabbar, an old fortress in the route to Raqqa that his father tried to take, but died before making it; the resistance was fierce but the castle fell. Afterwards, he started his first of his many campaigns against the Artuqids of Hasnkeyf; he had to end his campaign quickly, after forcing them to vassalage, as news arrived, sultan Mas'ud was dead.
He successfully allied with Caliph, al-Muqtafi, and after the death of sultan Mas'ud and the deposition of the brief Malik Shah, they supported the sultan's brother, Suleiman, over his nephew and rightful heir Muhammad, as Suleiman promised not to intervene in Iraq. Before the civil war could end, alarming news arrived, the emperor of the Romans was marching east.
c. Once the kings left the Holy Land, the Emir of Damascus knew he was safe, for he had gained the favour of queen Melisende and was dear by many of the Frankish nobles. Even though he had lost Hama the crusade brought pleasant consequences for Mu'in ad-Din, as now that Nur ad-Din was dead and Ascalon had fallen, there was no one to oppose to his eastern ambitions while they didn't directly threaten the Franks. And not even the Franks were in a position to threaten him, as feeding the crusaders had drained the resources of king Baldwin, prince Raymond was too busy organising his new acquired territories and crushing the resistance against him, and count Raymond had lost most of his men in his last expedition. For him this moment was even greater, after hearing the news that a son was born to him from one of his wifes, As-Salih, he was named, news that were met with the assassination of the Burid, Mujir al-din. Thus, with the new political environment, he started to push for his goals.
First, he took Homs from its governor, whom he no longer trusted after his deal with Nur ad-Din, and he did the same with some other cities and towns, whose governors had appeared favourable to the Burid emir, paving the way for the centralization of his power.
Then, he marched and took Qasr Azrak, to gain control of the Zarqa River. And start negotiations with the Sharifs of Mecca and Medina; he argued that they should submit to him, as the Fatimids of Egypt had been humiliated by the Franks, had lost their greatest fortress and could no longer protect them, after a few weeks they would finally accept to pay allegiance to him.
Moreover, he had to deal with exiles and refugees, the old inhabitants of Aleppo, Hama and its surroundings, had left or were expelled from their ancient homes by the Franks. Homs prospered from the exodus, as it was the closest and greatest city to the previously mentioned, but was unable to hold so many people. Thus many were forced to march south, to the Beqaa or Damascus. The emir started to resettle all this people around his realm, this would be the foundation of another golden age for Damascus, that in the following decades gain a glory that it had not seen since the time of the Umayyads. Notable exiles were the brothers, Shirkuh and Ayyub, generals that had distinguished themselves and were close friends of Zengi and Nur ad-Din; they appeared in front of the emir to offer his services, an offer that the emir gladly accepted. A curious case is that of Palmyra, a city that was once great, but by this time had seen a constant decadence for centuries and was only relevant as a trade route to Damascus, it saw a resurgence thanks to the exiles from Hama; the event came to the attention of the emir, who marched to Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, and from there to Palmyra. That was the base for his final great endeavour in Syria.
Finally, he organised his forces to march to Raqqa, a great and risky enterprise, but it was worth the effort, for it would grant him access to the Euphrates. The city had passed to Sayf ad-Din after the death of his brother, to then be granted to the youngest sibling, Qutb ad-Din. First, he took Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, to then start his march to the Euphrates. His enterprise was greatly aided by the news of the emperor's coming, that forced Qutb ad-Din to battle, for he didn't want to face two enemies at the same time. But Qutb ad-Din could not stand against the experience of his foe and was defeated, and forced to retreat. Mu'in ad-Din took the castle of Jabbar afterwards, to start the siege of Raqqa, Sayf ad-Din attempted to relieve the siege, but was intercepted and defeated by Shirkuh in their way. The city would resist for three months before falling to the emir.
d. Years prior to the crusade, the Danishmendid realm was divided after the death of Melik Muhammad. His rightful successor, Zinnun, wasn't recognised by his uncle Yagibasan, who took control of Sivas, while his brother took Melitene. Only Caesarea remained in his control, but it would fall the next year; forcing him to fly to the court of Sultan Mesud.
Zinnun would fight in front of Iconium along with Sultan Mesud, and be captured in the aftermath of the battle. With him they marched to Caesarea, which they easily took thanks to Zinnun, who foolishly thought he might be restored to his place. Caesarea was temporarily restored to the empire, to then be granted to Mesud. Zinnun remained a prisoner of the Franks for some years, until he was ransomed by Yagibasan only to die in a different cell.
The defeat of his brother in the battle of the Aksu River gave Yagibasan the opportunity to dismiss him from charge. This along with the previous events, resulted in the reunification of the Danishmendid realm, which Yagibasan would make sure to mantain.
The Outremer
a. Raymond of Poitiers, prince of Antioch, was the man who profited the most from the second crusade. Before the armed pilgrimage the principality had lost most of its territories west of the Orontes to the Zengids, it was only a shell of its former self when compared to the time of Bohemond I and Tancred. Now, the situation was completely different, Zardana and Hazart were retaken; Nur ad-Din was dead; the Assassins were no longer; Germanicia and Shaizar had fallen and Aleppo was now submitted to Antioch. His long time ambitions were finally completed, the prince was now the hegemon of the North of Syria, and he thought he had nothing to fear. It was clear for him that he had been favoured by God, ruling the city itself made him favoured among men, as it's well known that Peter was bishop of Antioch, even before being bishop of Rome and that Antioch was the place where Christians were first called Christians. Along with its history it was now the second city of the Levant, only behind Damascus; and the prince would work to make it thr first.
The castle of Shmemis
Beatrice of Saone, regent of Hama, failed to deal with the Muslim resistance, many exiles from Hama and other recently fallen cities and towns had organised in the ruins of the ancient castle of Shmemis, they managed to retake Salamiyah and launched constant raids against the Christian holdings; it was only time before they would try to lay siege to Hama. The events presented the prince, who at the time was pacifying his newly acquired southern territories, with the perfect opportunity to further his goals, he had long wanted hegemony over the Orontes and this way he could achieve it. The prince marched to Hama, where he appeared in front of the regent, as eloquent as he was, he convinced her to submit to him over king Baldwin; Jerusalem was too far south and wouldn't be able to protect Hama from an attack in time, he argued, while in the other hand Antioch had direct access to the city by the Orontes, in exchange Hama would become a vassal of Antioch; the Orontes had been opened for the prince, from the Mediterranean to Homs. Salamiyah was quickly retaken by the prince and the Saracens fled to the castle. Built on top of an extinct volcano, the castle of Shmemis used to be impregnable, only the force of nature was able to destroy it.
Even though only ruins remained, Shmemis was still a formidable fortification, every attempt to assault the castle failed. But it was surrounded and there was no one to relieve. After a month the Saracens offered to surrender the castle if they were offered safe passage, but this wouldn't happen, Raymond wanted to make an example of them. When it fell no one was spared, most were killed and those who survived were sold to slavery. After the events, the site was sold to the Knights Hospitaller, who would make great use of it.
Raymond celebrated his victory and thought himself invincible, till news arrived, the emperor was preparing for his pilgrimage.
b. With the crusade concluded, Jerusalem was finally at peace after decades of continuous strive for survival. Baldwin was now the sole ruler of the kingdom after ending his mother's regency with the help of general Palaiologos, though he had to make some concessions, like granting Ascalon to his brother and allowing his mother to act as regent in his absence. In the following years, the realm would start to prosper greatly from safer trade routes and collaboration with the emir Damascus; even though Baldwin never quite liked the emir, he saw it as necessary to collaborate with him, as he didn't want another war so soon and the emir had the favour of her mother, his brother and many others on the kingdom.
Baldwin was furious at the news of Hama's subjugation to Antioch, but he knew well that Jerusalem couldn't protect Hama, when it had trouble at exerting influence over Tripoli. But it was still an offense from the prince and he could not let it pass as nothing.
After a long voyage by sea, Bernard arrived in the port of Jaffa, where he was welcomed by the king's brother, Amalric, who escorted him to the Holy city. Bernard was amazed at the sight of Jerusalem, they entered by the gate of David to be escorted by Bernard de Tremelay, the Grand Master of the Templars, to the Templum Domini; where he was to meet with the king. They got along well, so well that Bernard would remain as the king's advisor for the years he had left, knowing that he had barely make it to the Holy Land and another trip of this nature would certainly kill him before setting a foot in Europe. Bernard resolved Baldwin's issue with Raymond, who was to pay a compensation to the king, while keeping Hama as his vassal. Bernard died in the summer of 1153, it was his petition to be buried in the Mount of Olives; he's remembered for his dedication to the crusader cause, reviving the enthusiasm for the cause in Europe, without him it might have been impossible to gather so many men for the great cause that was the Second Crusade after the disaster of 1101; he would finally be canonized by pope Alexander III in 1174.
---
Author's Notes:
This chapter was supposed to be very different at first. Having the OTL deaths of Mu'in and Sayf ad-Din, succession crisis inDamascus along with Baldwin trying again to seize Baalbek and Bosra at the news, but I found it boring and thought it would be way too easy for the Franks and ended up changing all of my plans for the Levant in this TL. It's good that the death of the emir of Damascus is completely avoidable and that we have no idea about how Sayf died, so it's completely in the realm of possibility for this TL. The next chapter will be centered in the Byzantine empire, I kind of foreshadowed it in this chapter; to then start with the affairs in Europe and North Africa. Thanks a lot for reading.
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