Which Crusader State are you?
Everyone knows whether they're more of a Monica (Ravenclaw) or more of a Joey (Gryffindor), but to really unlock the deep recesses of your inner world, you need to get to grips with your Outremer.
Look no further! Click Below to discover are you more of a County of Edessa (such an Edward) or a Principality of Antioch (what an absolute Jacob).
God Wills It!
Succession Crisis
You and your bastard cousin planned to share a pizza but now he wants the whole thing to himself! What do you do?
Foreign Policy
Raynald de Chatillon just raided another trading caravan en route from Mecca to Medina. It looks like Saladin will try to seize his fortress at Kerak. What will you do with Lord Raynald?
Spoils of War
You joined a Crusading party aiming to retake the Holy Land from the Saracens, but my boi also needs to get paid! Would you rather...
Trolley Problem
An out of control trolley car is careening towards five oblivious workers further down on the track. By pulling a lever you can divert the trolley car onto a secondary line where there is one oblivious worker. There's no way to warn the workers in time and the only thing you can do is flip the lever or do nothing. What's the plan?
Religious Allegiances
It's 1095, The Pope has just called for an expedition to the Holy Land. Do you...
There's always a bigger fish
Great news! The Mongols have invaded Syria and the Levant, sacking Damascus, overthrowing the Ayyubids, killing the garrison at Nablus and striking deep into the heart of Muslim territory. Will you...?
Financial Crisis
The currency has been debased! Inflation is spiralling! Economics isn't going to be discovered for centuries! What is your monetary policy?
Logistics
The road to Jerusalem is long and difficult, the armies need food and the horses need fodder. What's your approach to provisioning your Crusade?
Future-proofing
Your castles are built on sand. Your name is writ on water. How will you ensure your legacy endures?
Fuck, Marry, Kill
Eleanor of Aquitaine, Shajar ar-Durr, Ermengard of Anjou
You are the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Established in 1099 after the Siege of Jerusalem, you are possibly the best known and most famous of the 4 Crusader States, although you began life as little more than a loose collection of towns and cities captured during the First Crusade.
You have a strong heart and a disciplined will, and others will often follow your lead whether they want to or not, lest they incur your wrath, as God wills it. However, this caustic exterior often belies a warm inner light, as, though you outwardly preach the Gospel of the Lord at the point of the sword, you have been known at times to harbour raiders, traders and crusaders from throughout Europe, welcoming all-comers in your male-dominated populace and sparing no thought for the many thousands of Muslims and Jews who were massacred or enslaved (in the name of Christ, the redeemer, the forgiver of sins) in the wake of the siege.
Although you represent the restoration of God's Kingdom on Earth and the miraculous success of the First Crusade, be careful not to be drawn into family squabbles or office politics, as this could to lead to ruinous civil wars and leave you as a relatively minor kingdom with little military and financial support from Europe, reduced to the status of 'pawn in the dynastic intrigues of the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties'. Yikes!
You are the County of Edessa
The shortest-lived of the 4 major Crusader States, the loss of your comital seat and key fortresses in 1144 will be the impetus for the Second Crusade, although your territory was permanently lost to Christendom, the Crusaders having determined that a seizure of Damascus would make a more fitting strategic goal for their efforts!
Resolutely cosmopolitan, your royal lineage is European as well as Greek, Frankish and even Armenian!
Landlocked, sparsely populated and consisting mostly of fortresses, your worldly possessions are inhabited by a motley mixture of Assyrian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox Christians, as well as Arab Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, most of whom have been living there for centuries in relative peace and harmony before you brought them the true message of Christ in the form of violent conquest and a proper, Latin Archbishop.
Be careful not to become too involved in the affairs of your Muslim neighbours, as this may lead to the loss of all your lands to the east of the Euphrates and the refusal of your Crusader allies to aid you in your lost causes.
You are the Principality of Antioch
Founded on parts of Anatolia and Syria, you are the most northerly of the three coastal states in Outremer, boasting a Latin Patriarchate restored to its ancient seat and a brimming population of Miaphysite Armenians, Aramaic-speaking Syriacs, Arabic-speaking Melkites, and Arab Sunni and Shi'a Muslims, as well as small numbers of Greeks and Jews!
Your independent mind and free-wheeling nobility are enough to see you through at least a century and a half of tenacious survival in the face of constant political intrigue and raids by your Christian and Muslim neighbours. However, your spirit shall endure long after your body: although your worldly possessions will be permanently lost to Christendom as early as 1264, your patriarchate will endure in titular form well into the modern era, only being dropped by the Roman church in 1964!
Never one to be put in a box, your refusal to honour agreements with the perfidious Byzantines will draw the ire of many of their emperors, who, attempting to enforce an agreement between Bohemond and Alexios to return all lands seized from the Muslims to the control of Constantinople, may be an ongoing cause for concern on your Northern flank. Be careful not to push this envelop lest you be forced to swear fealty to Alexios's son John!
Diversity and inclusion are among your core values, and this is usually expressed by including Christians, Jews and Muslims in your violent campaigns and raids. However this may also be your undoing if you allow yourself to be swept up in the conflict between the Mongols and the Mamluks. Sometimes it's best to stick to what you know, annoying your neighbours and betraying your allies!
You are the County of Tripoli
The smallest of the Outremer polities and with your rulers determined not so much by inheritance as by military necessity, favour, and the intrigues of nobles in the ruling houses of your allies, your boundaries are determined in part by pre-existing Byzantine borders and in part by victory in battle, tempered by the demands of neighbouring crusader states.
You hold an essential strategic location linking the Norman-ruled states of the north with the Frankish-ruled south, by the 1280s you will be the only remaining Crusader State bar the mighty Kingdom of Jerusalem, no mean feat for the state that began life as a thin strip of land contested by both Raymond IV's cousin and his illegitimate son!
Swearing fealty to the King in Jerusalem would be a smart move, as he may come to your aid in time of trouble, but be careful not to get too close to the invading Mongols as this may bring down the wrath of the Mamluks and result in repeated sieges throughout the latter third of the century!
Sometimes you may seem to have a bit of a split personality, bending the knee to a Frankish King yet acknowledging the Patriarch of Antioch rather than the Bishop of Rome as your religious head. Though your friends might be confused by this approach to political intrigue, when you're the littlest of the pack it sometimes pays to have many and diverse sponsors!
Be mindful of earthquakes, though they may occasion truces with your Muslim neighbours, silly buggers!
