ABSTRACT
Looking back through history, the late medieval Mediterranean seems highly interconnected. As a result it is tempting to approach it from afar as one coherent unit. The same approach, from the same external starting point, has been applied to the eastern Mediterranean under Crusader rule. Yet, as David Abulafia concludes in his recent book, it is the diversity surrounding the Mediterranean that we should focus upon. 1 In fact, throughout this work, what strikes one most is the observation that the larger Mediterranean is made up of a number of smaller parts that are best viewed from within. This chapter is an attempt to apply this observation to the Crusader East and to argue that it helps to focus our search for the expression of Crusader identity.
