Connecting the medieval and the mobile: The case of Crusader Acre

Abstract

The city of Acre functioned as a medieval hub city under Crusader rule from 1104 to 1291 CE. Using the records of both pilgrims and merchants, I argue that medieval networks of mobility running through Acre demonstrate unique features that can challenge and expand the definitions of sociological terms employed by historians such as “hub city” and “resilience” that have mainly been deployed in a modern context. In addition, I argue that debates among medieval historians about the “decline” of cities can be better understood from the perspective of a mobilities methodology. Combined, these two arguments reveal the potential for cooperative research between the fields of transport history and premodern history.