Editing Kingdom of Jerusalem (section)

=== Government and legal system ===
Immediately after the First Crusade, land was distributed to loyal vassals of Godfrey, forming numerous [[Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem|feudal lordships]] within the kingdom. This was continued by Godfrey's successors. The number and importance of the lordships varied throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and many cities were part of the royal domain. The king was assisted by a number of [[Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem|officers of state]]. The king and the royal court were normally located in Jerusalem, but due to the prohibition on Muslim inhabitants, the capital was small and underpopulated. The king just as often held court at Acre, [[Nablus]], Tyre, or wherever else he happened to be. In Jerusalem, the royal family lived firstly on the [[Temple Mount]], before the foundation of the [[Knights Templar]], and later in the palace complex surrounding the [[Tower of David]]; there was another palace complex in Acre.

Because the nobles tended to live in Jerusalem rather than on estates in the countryside, they had a larger influence on the king than they would have had in Europe. The nobles, along with the bishops, formed the {{lang for|fr|[[Haute Cour of Jerusalem|haute cour]]|high court}}, which was responsible for confirming the election of a new king (or a regent if necessary), collecting taxes, minting coins, allotting money to the king, and raising armies. The {{lang|fr|haute cour}} was the only judicial body for the nobles of the kingdom, hearing criminal cases such as murder, rape, and treason, and simpler feudal disputes such as the recovery of slaves, sales and purchases of [[fief]]s, and default of service. Punishments included forfeiture of land and exile, or in extreme cases death. The first laws of the kingdom were, according to tradition, established during Godfrey of Bouillon's short reign, but were more probably established by Baldwin II at the [[Council of Nablus]] in 1120. Benjamin Z. Kedar argued that the canons of the Council of Nablus were in force in the 12th century but had fallen out of use by the thirteenth. Marwan Nader questions this and suggests that the canons may not have applied to the whole kingdom at all times.<ref>Benjamin Z. Kedar, ''On the origins of the earliest laws of Frankish Jerusalem: The canons of the Council of Nablus, 1120'' (''[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]]'' 74, 1999), pp. 330–331; Marwan Nader, ''Burgesses and Burgess Law in the Latin Kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1099–1325)'' (Ashgate: 2006), pg. 45.</ref> The most extensive collection of laws, together known as the [[Assizes of Jerusalem]], were written in the mid-13th century, although many of them are purported to be twelfth-century in origin.<ref>Nader, pp. 28–30.</ref>

There were other, lesser courts for non-nobles and non-Latins; the {{lang|fr|Cour des Bourgeois}} provided justice for non-noble Latins, dealing with minor criminal offences such as assault and theft, and provided rules for disputes between non-Latins, who had fewer legal rights. Special courts such as the {{lang|fr|Cour de la Fond}} (for commercial disputes in the markets) and the {{lang|fr|Cour de la Mer}} (an admiralty court) existed in the coastal cities. The extent to which native Islamic and Eastern Christian courts continued to function is unknown, but the ''ra'is'' probably exercised some legal authority on a local level. The {{lang|fr|Cour des Syriens}} judged non-criminal matters among the native Christians (the "Syriacs"). For criminal matters, non-Latins were to be tried in the {{lang|fr|Cour des Bourgeois}} (or even the {{lang|fr|Haute Cour}} if the crime was sufficiently severe).<ref>Nader, pp. 158–170</ref>

The Italian communes were granted almost complete autonomy from the very early days of the Kingdom, thanks to their military and naval support in the years following the First Crusade. This autonomy included the right to administer their own justice, although the kinds of cases that fell under their jurisdiction varied at different times.<ref>Nader, pp. 170–77.</ref>

The king was recognised as head of the Haute Cour, although he was legally only {{lang|la|[[primus inter pares]]}}.