A small elite among many peoples
“Latin” in this context means Western European, Catholic Christian. The Latin kingdoms of the East were ruled by a minority of such settlers, mostly from France and the Norman lands of southern Italy, with smaller groups from elsewhere in Europe. Estimates of their numbers are uncertain, but historians generally agree that they were a minority in the lands they governed.
The majority of the population consisted of people who had lived there before: Syriac, Greek and Armenian Christians, Arabic-speaking Muslims of several traditions, and Jewish communities. Understanding the Latin East means understanding how a thin layer of rulers dealt with these larger groups.
The rulers
The Latin rulers brought with them the habits of Western lordship. Land was granted in return for military service, in a system resembling the lords and vassals of Europe, and the greater lords sat on a royal court that advised the king. In practice, the system was shaped by local needs. Because military manpower was always scarce, service obligations were important, and many fiefs were close to the frontier.
Royal succession was often a problem. Kings frequently died young or without sons, and several times in the twelfth century the crown passed through a woman, whose husband then ruled. This tended to bring newcomers from Europe into the highest offices, and it sometimes set them against families already established in the East. Historians often treat these disputes as one of the weaknesses of the kingdom, though the exact weight is debated.
Settlers and the countryside
Most Latin settlers lived in cities and ports rather than villages. Towns such as Acre, Tyre and Jerusalem had districts for Westerners, with their own churches and markets. Some rural settlements were founded to attract European farmers, but historians generally think that Latin peasants were few. In the countryside, agricultural work was mostly done by local Christians and Muslims, who paid dues to their new lords. The Muslim villagers are often described as living under conditions resembling those of other dependent peasants, with practice varying from place to place.
Eastern Christians
The Latin church replaced the earlier Greek Orthodox hierarchy at the top. Latin patriarchs and bishops took over major sees, and the Greek clergy were pushed lower. Local Eastern Christians nonetheless kept their own churches, languages and customs. The Armenians had close ties with the Latin rulers, particularly in Edessa and Antioch, and there were intermarriages between Latin and Armenian noble families. Relations with the Greek Orthodox were more uneasy, partly because of the history between the Byzantine Empire and the Latins and partly because the Latin church took over their positions.
Muslims and Jews
Muslims in Latin territory were usually allowed to practice their religion, but could be restricted in some places. After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, Muslims and Jews were largely barred from living in the city, and the conquest itself left a bitter memory. Elsewhere, Muslim rural communities remained. Medieval Muslim travelers who visited Latin lands left mixed descriptions, which historians read cautiously because the authors had their own perspectives.
Jewish communities in the East also suffered from the arrival of the crusaders, but some continued to live in coastal towns. Their history under Latin rule is less well documented than the other groups.
Contact and exchange
Warfare was not the only form of contact. Rulers made truces, and sometimes alliances, with their Muslim neighbors, much to the dismay of crusaders arriving from Europe who expected a simple holy war. Trade went on across borders, and the cities of the Latin East were useful ports for Italian merchants. The Genoese merchants and the Venetian republic both won trading quarters and privileges in exchange for naval support. The Latin settlers also took up some local habits, including clothing and food, though the extent is easy to exaggerate.
Latin pilgrim travel was another major link. The Holy Land pilgrimage produced a steady flow of visitors, whom the military orders and hospitals helped to shelter. The Hospitaller hospitals in Jerusalem, for instance, became known for caring for the sick. Newcomers from the West, however, were often surprised, and sometimes dismayed, by how much the long-term settlers had adapted to local conditions.
Reading the evidence
Most surviving accounts were written by Latin clerics or by Muslim authors with their own agendas, and few voices from ordinary local people survive. Historians therefore argue about how harsh or tolerant Latin rule really was. A cautious summary is that it was a colonial-style regime in which a small military class held power, relied on local people for labor, and made pragmatic arrangements as needed.