crusader state · Anatolia and the Levant

Lordship of Haifa

1100 CE – 1265 CE (approx.) · capital Haifa

A small coastal lordship of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the foot of Mount Carmel.

Origins

Haifa was taken in August 1100 by Tancred with the help of a Venetian fleet, after a stubborn defence in which its Jewish and Muslim inhabitants fought together. It was then granted as a fief, its first known lord being Geldemar Carpenel.

Rule and society

Haifa was a modest lordship with a harbour and the farmland of the Carmel coast, and was at times attached to the Principality of Galilee. It was best known for nearby Mount Carmel, where hermits gathered in the 12th century and the Carmelite order took shape in the early 13th century. Little is recorded about its administration.

Decline and legacy

Saladin captured Haifa in 1187; it was regained after the Third Crusade and refortified by Louis IX of France in 1250-1252. In 1265 the Mamluk sultan Baybars took and destroyed it.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lordship of Haifa. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-haifa
MLA
“Lordship of Haifa.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-haifa. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Lordship of Haifa.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-haifa.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lordship of Haifa’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-haifa (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻