Edbury, on the other hand, argues that William, as well as the thirteenth-century authors who continued William's chronicle in French and were allied to Raymond's supporters in the Ibelin family, cannot be considered impartial. Following a second unsuccessful siege of Damascus by the two brothers, Al Afdal accepted a fief consisting of Samosata and a number of other towns.

Baldwin died without heirs in 1118, during a campaign against Egypt, and the kingdom was offered to his brother Eustace III of Boulogne, who had accompanied Baldwin and Godfrey on the crusade. Malik-Shah was succeeded in the Anatolian Sultanate of Rum by Kilij Arslan I, and in Syria by his brother Tutush I, who died in 1095. Internationally, the Lusignans were useful as vassals of Baldwin and Sibylla's cousin Henry II of England. After the departure of the Hungarians, the remaining Crusaders set about refortifying Caesarea and the Templar fortress of Château Pèlerin throughout the winter of 1217 and spring of 1218.The First Crusade was preached at the Council of Clermont in 1095 by Pope Urban II, with the goal of assisting the Byzantine Empire against the invasions of the " Turks and Arabs" and "to destroy this vile race from the lands of our friends.

Humphrey went to Jerusalem and swore allegiance to Guy and Sibylla, as did most of Raymond's other supporters.

Most of the army of Jerusalem marched north with Philip, Raymond III, and Bohemond III to attack Hama, and Saladin took the opportunity to invade the kingdom. In October 1183, Isabella married Humphrey of Toron at Kerak during a siege by Saladin, who perhaps hoped to take some valuable prisoners. Their presence further east had already displaced the Khwarazmians, and emissaries had been sent by various popes as well as Louis IX to ally or negotiate with them, but they were uninterested in alliances.

Eustace was uninterested, and instead the crown passed to Baldwin's relative, probably a cousin, Baldwin of Le Bourg, who had previously succeeded him in Edessa. Saladin attempted another siege in 1184, but Baldwin repelled that attack as well, and Saladin raided Nablus and other towns on the way home. People attending the march appeared eager to flaunt the tolerance, and even active encouragement, of their position from the Israeli government, particularly with the presence of Israeli government ministers and politicians throughout the day, including far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir, who became the first cabinet minister to ever attend the march. Segal also dismissed concerns of widespread violence, saying that last year Jewish violence during the Flag March was very light and mostly limited to a group of minors who were quickly dealt with.There were rumours that Agnes and Heraclius were lovers, but this information comes from the partisan 13th-century continuations of William of Tyre's history, and there is no other evidence to substantiate such a claim. The flag is used by Israeli Navy, being a blue flag with white triangle at hoist and blue Magen David in it.

At first the kingdom was little more than a loose collection of towns and cities captured during the First Crusade, but at its height in the mid-12th century, the kingdom encompassed roughly the territory of modern-day Israel, Palestine and the southern parts of Lebanon. The police, however, were able to mostly prevent any more serious fights from taking place, largely by keeping the far-right marchers away from everyone else.The capture of the city led to the Third Crusade, launched in 1189 and led by Richard the Lionheart, Philip Augustus and Frederick Barbarossa, though the last drowned en route. In October, the Khwarazmians, along with the Egyptian army under the command of Baibars, were met by the Frankish army, led by Philip of Montfort, Walter of Brienne, and the masters of the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights, along with al-Mansur and Dawud.