Institutional Lag and Neofunctions (The case of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem)

We seek a man, not money. Wellnigh every Christian region sendeth us money, but no land sendeth to us a prince. Therefore, we ask a prince that needeth money, not money that needeth a prince.' These words of the Patriarch of Jerusalem to King Henry II of England in April, 1185, reflect one of the chronic predicaments of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem throughout its entire history. By a 'prince', of course, the Patriarch meant an army, namely, manpower. Two years later, the collapse and surrender of most fortresses after the battle of Hittin was clearly a result of a grave manpower deficiency. Fortified cities did not usually fall overnight just because a large army was annihilated in the field, unless there was no one left to defend them. A city like Jerusalem, for example, could certainly have shown effective resistance if more than two knights had been left there for its defense

Ancient history · Archaeology · Battle · Cartography · Economic history · Fall of man · Fell · Geography · Kingdom · Political science · Politics · Surrender · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Medieval History and Crusades

• The Closing of the Mediaeval Frontier 1250-1350

  Archibald R Lewis•Speculum•1958

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