The Lordship of Sidon (), later County of Sidon, was one of the four major

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

,According to the 13th-century writer John of Ibelin one of the

Crusader State The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

s. However, in reality, it appears to have been much smaller than the others and had the same level of significance as several neighbors, such as Toron and Beirut, which were sub-vassals.

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

was captured in December, 1110 and given to

Eustace I Grenier Eustace I Granier, also known as Eustace Grenier or Eustace Garnier, called in Latin ''Eustachius Granarius'' in the charters (born around 1070 and died on 15 June 1123), was a Flemish crusader who took part in the First Crusade. He became lord o ...

. The lordship was a coastal strip on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

between Tyre and

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. It was conquered by

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

in 1187 and remained in Muslim hands until it was restored to Christian control by German Crusaders in the

Crusade of 1197 The Crusade of 1197, also known as the Crusade of Henry VI () or the German Crusade (''Deutscher Kreuzzug''), was a Crusades, crusade launched by the House of Hohenstaufen, Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI in response ...

. Julien Grenier sold it to the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

after it was destroyed by the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

in 1260 before the

Battle of Ain Jalut The Battle of Ain Jalut (), also spelled Ayn Jalut, was fought between the Bahri Mamluks of Egypt and the Ilkhanate on 3 September 1260 (25 Ramadan 658 AH) near the spring of Ain Jalut in southeastern Galilee in the Jezreel Valley. It marks ...

. One of the vassals of the lordship was the Lordship of the Shuf.

Rulers of Sidon

(1110–1123) * Gerard Grenier (1123–1171) *

Renaud Grenier Reginald Grenier (1130s – 1202; also Reynald or Renaud) was lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century Kingdom of Jerusalem. Rise to fame Reginald was the son of Gerard Grenier and Agnes of Bures, and a grandson of Eust ...

(1171–1187, titular from then) * ''Conquered by

, 1187–1197'' *

(restored, 1197–1202) * Balian I Grenier (1202–1239) *

Julian Grenier Julian Grenier (died 1275) was the count of Sidon from 1239 to 1260, then becoming merely titular. He was the son and successor of Balian Grenier and Ida of Reynel. He did not exhibit the wisdom of his father in his dealings with the Saracens. ...

(1239–1260, titular from then) * ''Sold to the

'' (1260) * ''

'' (titular, 1260–1275) * ''Balian II Grenier'' (titular, 1275–1277)

Lordship of the Schuf

The Schuf was created out of the Lordship of Sidon as a vassal around 1170. It was centred on the Cave of Tyron. Julian of Sidon sold it to the Teutonic Knights in 1256. * Andrew of Schuf (13th century) * John of Schuf (13th century) * Julian of Sidon (mid 13th century)

Sources

{{reflist

Bibliography

* John L. La Monte, ''Feudal Monarchy in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1100-1291''. The Medieval Academy of America, 1932. *

Jonathan Riley-Smith Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith (27 June 1938 – 13 September 2016) was a historian of the Crusades, and, between 1994 and 2005, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge. He was a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Ea ...

, ''The Feudal Nobility and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1174-1277''. The Macmillan Press, 1973. *

Steven Runciman Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman (7 July 1903 – 1 November 2000), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume '' A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54). His works had a profound impact on the popula ...

, ''A History of the Crusades, Vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1952. * Steven Tibble, ''Monarchy and Lordships in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1291''. Clarendon Press, 1989. 1110 establishments in Asia Lordships of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Medieval history of Lebanon 12th-century establishments in the Kingdom of Jerusalem Disestablishments in the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Rulers of Sidon

Lordship of the Schuf

See also

Sources

Bibliography