ABSTRACT

In the eyes of some medieval Europeans, Outremer may have seemed rather like latter-day Europeans' idyllic vision of America, a land whose pavements were lined with gold. Poverty was experienced by the participants of the First Crusade and was present among the settlers in the towns and countryside. To some extent, its roots can be traced to the spontaneous and unorganised manner in which the crusade set out in 1096. If in Jerusalem in 1148/9 and 1187 and in Cyprus in 1291 there were some attempts to help the poor, in similar circumstances elsewhere they were left to fend for themselves. Donations to the poor and to institutions caring for the poor took the form of money, property or food, clothing and other items. In Jerusalem two ovens were transferred to the Hospital of Saint John and one to the abbey of Saint Mary of the Latins for the use of the poor.