Some observations on Hospitaller agricultural activities in the Latin East prior to the fall of Acre in 1291

Alan Forey’s research, particularly one article published in 2012, has shown how royal and papal interference, as well as financial difficulties faced by the military orders’ houses in Europe, hampered their ability to supply help to the orders’ headquarters in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This was much needed in the years leading to the fall of Acre in 1291, due to their heavy losses of territory to the Mamluks. This chapter considers the impact of this crucial period on the Hospitallers’ economic infrastructure in the Latin East, focussing on its agricultural activities. It concludes that although very little evidence remains of the Hospitallers’ economic and agricultural activities in the Latin East for the years leading to 1291, the Hospitallers seem to have made great efforts to keep their lands under cultivation, despite continuous Mamluk raids.