ABSTRACT
Introduction From the end of the eleventh century, there were Crusader States in Syria, and for nearly two hundred years Syrian Muslims were continually faced by dar ai-barb. Daily life went on in parallel with a state of war. Ibn Jubayr, who visited Damascus on his way back from h~ (pilgrimage to Mecca) in 58011184, mentioned a marvelous co-existence during the warfare and suggested that agreements between Muslim and Christian rulers existed. I When were these diplomatic relationships established? The Crusaders entered Syria in 490/1097, when Syria was politically fragmented into semiindependent cities under Saljuqid rule in the hinterland and several Fatimid cities in the coastal area.2 Crusader leaders, who were feudal lords and had vassals under their command, were motivated by a desire for land.3 They had
I Ibn Jubayr, Rib/at Ibn Jubayr (Beirut, 1964): in particular, the passages on the experience in Damascus (ibid., 260-61), and Acre where he embarked on a Genoese ship (ibid., 276-86).
