ABSTRACT
The prevailing perception of the 1096 to 1291 era as one of Holy War, with peace far removed from the adversaries’ thoughts, is not entirely accurate. In fact, this epoch of Holy War was punctuated by interludes of peace, as indicated by the approximately 120 treaties mentioned in the historical sources. Although crusader society in the East and its diverse Muslim enemies never achieved a lasting peace, the intermittent ceasefires or treaties reached over this period enabled a fragile cohabitation that endured for two centuries. The entry into such agreements required bridging differing conceptions of peace and the lack of shared language and peacemaking mechanisms.
