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In 1104, four years after the fall of Jerusalem, the Crusaders take hold of the city. They build a palace as well as the monumental crypt of the Knights of Saint John. The Genoese, the Venetians, the Pisanos, establish businesses there and the city comes to life as never before. In 1187, Saladin occupies it in turn. Refusing to give up, the Crusaders begin a long siege four years later, which is successful only when the English join them under the leadership of Richard the Lion Hearted. Akko was to have replaced Jerusalem, which had been abandoned to the Arabs, as the capital of the Latin kingdom in Palestine. It is then divided into autonomous neighborhoods assigned to the diverse orders, the Templars, the Hospitalers, the Teutonic Knights... With a population of almost 50,000, it will be one of the most prosperous commercial cities on the periphery of the Mediterranean for almost a century.
In 1219, Francis of Assisi will visit the city and in 1128, the emperor, Frederic II, and the king, Louis IX will also visit.(1) At the time, the Jewish community in Akko is the most prominent in the country. According to Benjamin de Tudela, a Spanish traveler that left us information about the Jewish communities of that period, in around 1170, it has a population of about 200. It welcomes immigrants from all parts, especially from France and England. In 1165, Maimonides, the famous Cordovan, visits Akko on his way to Egypt where he is to become the king's personal physician and the leader of his community. In 1260, Yehiel ben Joseph of Paris disembarks with his sons and almost 300 of his disciples.
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