Adam I. (Bethsan)

Adam of Béthune was a French crusader and, as Adam I., Lord of Bethsan in the Kingdom of Jerusalem .

He came from the county of Artois . He was the younger son of Robert III. (called the Bald ), Mr. de Béthune , from the noble family of the same name . His older brother Robert IV of Béthune (called the Fat ) inherited his father's rule when his father died, while Adam sought his fortune in the Holy Land .

He took part in the First Crusade , with which he reached Palestine in 1099 . After the crusade ended, he stayed in the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem .

Ruins of the crusader castle of Bethsan

The city of Beth-shan was the Crusaders in the same year Tancred of Taranto won the 1101 regent of the Principality of Antioch was, and among other things Bethsan to the King of Jerusalem , Baldwin I abdicated.

The city of Bethsan was then a barely inhabited settlement in the ruins of the ancient city of Scythopolis . The crusaders fortified the settlement and built a castle there, the ruins of which have been preserved to this day, from which they controlled the surrounding area. The king appointed Adam as administrator of Bethsan, presumably initially as a royal castellan . Adam passed the property of Bethsan on to his son Adam II upon his death . Around 1120 the Kastellanie Bethsan was raised to an independent rule . Since Adam's date of death has not been passed down, it is unclear whether he or his son Adam II was the first "master" of Bethsan in this regard.

swell

• Lignages d'Outre-Mer . Le Vaticanus Latinus 4789, CCC.XLVI, p. 109.

literature

• Charles du Cange : Les Familles d'outre-mer. Publiées par Emmanuel-Guillaume Rey. Imprimerie Impériale, Paris 1869, p. 248 f.

Web links

• Lords of Bethsan at fmg.ac (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Crown domain	Lord of Bethsan early 12th century	Adam II