County of Jaffa and Ascalon

County of Jaffa and Ascalon
Vassal of Kingdom of Jerusalem
← 1100–1268 →
Capital		Jaffa
Languages		Latin, Old French, Italian (also Arabic and Greek)
Religion		Roman Catholicism, Eastern Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy, Syrian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism
Government		Monarchy
Count
•	c.1100	Roger and Gerard
•	1266-1268	James of Ibelin
Historical era		High Middle Ages
•	First Crusade	1100
•	Conquered by Baibars	1268

The double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries comprising the major crusader state, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin.

History

Jaffa was fortified by Godfrey of Bouillon after the First Crusade in 1100, and was unsuccessfully claimed by Daimbert of Pisa, the first Patriarch. It remained part of the royal domain until it was given to Hugh of Le Puiset in 1110. When Hugh II rebelled against King Fulk in 1134 the county was divided into a number of smaller holdings, and Jaffa itself became a royal domain. Soon it was designated as the apanage of Fulk's second son, Amalric. In 1153, Fulk's first son King Baldwin III conquered Ascalon, and it was added to the territory of his brother Amalric.

It passed in and out of direct royal control when its holders were husbands or close relatives of the then-reigning Monarch or royal heir, or its usufruct went to a member of the royal family. In that period, it usually produced income for one or several members of Amalric's first family. In 1221 it was given to Walter IV of Brienne by his uncle King John, Walter being married to a granddaughter of King Amalric II, who had held the county as successor of his brother King Guy. Around 1250 it was given to a branch of the Ibelin family. With the capture of Jaffa by Baibars in 1268, the county became titular. It was bestowed anew upon John Perez Fabrice by James II of Cyprus and Jerusalem.

Vassals

The County of Jaffa and Ascalon had a number of vassals of its own:

• Lordship of Ramla
• Lordship of Ibelin
• Lordship of Mirabel (technically separate from the above, but held by the Ibelins)

Counts of Jaffa and Ascalon

(italicized names are titular counts only)

• Roger and Gerard (c. 1100)
• Baldwin I (1100–1110)
• Hugh I (1110–1118), first cousin of king Baldwin II of Jerusalem
• Albert (1118–1122), second husband of Hugh I's widow
• Hugh II (1122–1134), confiscated
• Melisende I (1134–1151) with her husband Fulk (1131–1143) and her son Baldwin II (1143–1151)
• Amalric I (1151–1174)
• Baldwin III (1174–1176)
• Sibylla (1176–1190) with her husbands William of Montferrat (1176–1177) and Guy of Lusignan (1180–1191)
• Geoffrey of Lusignan (1191–1193), Guy's brother
• Amalric II (1193–1205), Guy's brother, with her wife Isabella I (1197–1205)
• Maria (1205–1212) with her husband John I (1210–1212)
• Isabella II (1212–1221), under regency of John of Brienne
• Walter IV of Brienne (1221–1244), nephew of John of Brienne and husband of Amalric II's granddaughter
• John II (1244–1266), Queen Isabella's half-brother's son
• James of Ibelin (1266–1268)

Titular counts

• James of Ibelin (1268–1276)
• Guy of Ibelin (1276–1304)
• Hugh of Ibelin (1304–1349)
• Balian II of Ibelin (1349 – c. 1352)
• Guy of Ibelin (c. 1352 – c. 1353)
• Balian of Ibelin (c. 1353 – c. 1365)
• John of Ibelin (c. 1365 – c. 1367)
• Mary of Ibelin (with Regnier le Petit) (c. 1367)
• Florin (c. 1450) perh. the same as
• Jacques de Flory (d. 1463)
• John Perez Fabrice
• Louis Perez Fabrice
• Georges Contaren
• N. Contaren
• Georges Contaren II (c. 1579)

See also

• Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Sources

• John L. La Monte, Feudal Monarchy in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1100-1291. The Medieval Academy of America, 1932.
• Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Feudal Nobility and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1174-1277. The Macmillan Press, 1973.
• Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
• Steven Tibble, Monarchy and Lordships in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1291. Clarendon Press, 1989.