In the last thirty-five years B.Z. Kedar has become a leading historian of the field of the crusades, and of medieval and Middle Eastern history more broadly. This volume presents 31 essays written by eminent medievalists in appreciation of Kedar's talent, method and diversity. The collection relates to the Latin East and to the reciprocity between West and East in the time of the crusades. The individual essays deal with the history, archaeology and art of the Holy Land, the crusades and the military orders, Mediterranean commerce, medieval mentality, and the Jews.

Iris Shagrir is from the Department of History at the Open University of Israel, Israel. Ronnie Ellenblum is an Associate Professor of Historical Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Jonathan Riley-Smith was formerly Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Contents: Introduction; Benjamin Z. Kedar: list of publications; The Holy Land, Archaeology and Iconography: De plaga que facta est in Hierusalem eo quod dominicum Deum non custodiebant: history into fable?, Amnon Linder; Gestures of conciliation: peacemaking endeavors on the Latin East, Yvonne Friedman; The medieval evolution of by-naming: notions from the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Iris Shagrir; Islamic preaching in Syria during the Counter-Crusade (12th-13th centuries), Daniella Talmon-Heller; 3 stages in the evolution of rural settlement in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the 12th century, Adrian J. Boas; Frankish castles, Muslim castles and the medieval citadel of Jerusalem, Ronnie Ellenblum; Dialogo di due intellettuali intorno a Gerusalemme (sec. XIII ex), Gabriella Airaldi; Mongol provincial administration: Syria in 1260 as a case study, Reuven Amitai; A new text of the Annales de Terre Sainte, Peter W. Edbury; An icon of the Crucifixion and the Nativity at Sinai; investigating the pictorial language of its ornamental vocabulary: chrysography, pearl-dot haloes and çintemani, Jaroslav Folda;A deposit of 12th-century medieval seals at Caesaea: evidence of the cathedral archive of St Peter, Robert Kool; Notes on some inscriptions from crusader Acre, Denys Pringle; Acre au regard d'Aigues-Mortes, Jean Richard; Sharing sacred space: holy places in Jerusalem between Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Ora Limor; Der Prophet und sein Vaterland. Leben und Nachleben von Reinhold Röhricht, Hans Eberhard Mayer. Mentality, Law, Jews and World History: Naming pains: physicians facing sensations, Esther Cohen; Did all the land belong to the king?, Susan Reynolds; Medieval treasure troves and Jews, Michael Toch; Comparative history and world history: contrasts and contacts, Diego Olstein. The Crusades, The Military Orders and Commerce: Pope John X (914-928) and the antecedents of the 1st Crusade, Bernard Hamilton; Papal war aims in 1096: the option not chosen, Bernard