Outremerism: French Catholic Zionism

What if in the 18th and/or the 19th centuries there was an international political movement, more romantic than practical but eventually rather influential, to reestablish a Kingdom of Jerusalem and maybe the other Crusader States in the Levant? Points if there's also a movement to recreate the Frangokratia over Anatolia and Greece as well.
 
What if in the 18th and/or the 19th centuries there was an international political movement, more romantic than practical but eventually rather influential, to reestablish a Kingdom of Jerusalem and maybe the other Crusader States in the Levant? Points if there's also a movement to recreate the Frangokratia over Anatolia and Greece as well.

Perhaps, if Napoleon had gone after the Ottomans instead of the Russians...
 
Sorry, I guess I shouldn't use "Zionism" in the title. I mean the Catholic equivalent, leading to a desire to recreate the Kingdom of Jerusalem populated by (Norman) French. Probably unlikely to have an Angevin heir ready though.
 
I could see Napoleon playing a role, if he established some sort of French presence, or at least heightened French interest, in the area.

The other ingredient would indeed have to come from some sort of Romanticism and revived interest in the Crusades, albeit, as you mention, with a decidedly Nationalist feel.

In such a timeline, it seems that the forces of Revolution had successfully co-opted the Church, using it as a way to reinforce French nationalism, rather than fight against it. Maybe in this TL, the French Church had a different head cardinal, one who successfully sensed the winds of change and led the Church on a course of reconciliation with the revolutionaries, rather than make it a monarchist (Bourbon) partisan institution.

This could mesh well with Napoleon III's ambitions, and with French anti-Semitism in the late 19th century. (Not that Palestine was mostly Jewish in those days; I'm just saying, it could fit.)

I think this idea is fantastic, if only because it draws together ideological strands that were already present, but in a totally new and unexpected way.
 
Is the idea of a Napoleonic recreated Kingdom of Jerusalem more plausible than an Angevin state surviving until modern times?

Definitely. 19th century nationalists were recreating modern versions of medieval states left and right. Of course, the French military would still have to somehow manage to walk over both the Sultan's and the Khedive's armies and motivate enough European settlement to stand up to the neighbours and keep down a native population uninterested in being liberated. But it sounds like the kind of dumb idea that appealed to Romantics.

Maybe it is something that could grow from legitimist royalist circles? They direly feel the need for a great idea to rival the aspirations of Napoleon, so they resurrect the glory of the French monarchy as the 'eldest daughter of the Church' and defender of Christendom. The Crusades get claimed as French heritage and the narrative of France outre-mer is seamlessly integrated into the story of colonial expansion in the Mediterranean. You could make this into a French equivalent (broadly) of the Drang nach Osten. Of course there would be a strong realpolitik element involved, but if the French could establish some credible presence in the Levant, the current monarch might just become 'King of Jerusalem' the way Victoria became Empress of India. Perhaps even in reaction to that move, if France still has a monarch at that point.
 
Let's say that Napoleon first somehow marches to the Holy Land and acquires the Levant during the Egyptian campaign. Later on, the neo-Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem is founded by legitimist royals who depose the governor, a relative installed by him. The state attracts much investment and immigration by ultramontane and royalist factions reeling from the Napoleonic Wars. I think it may be inevitable they get swallowed up by the Ottomans, though.

Supposing less rather than more butterflies, a Zionist movement is founded. How would this gel with a revived Kingdom of Jerusalem?

Definitely. 19th century nationalists were recreating modern versions of medieval states left and right.

Examples?
 
[qutoe]Examples?[/quote]

The Kingdom of St. Stephen (better known as Hungary), a revival of Czech nationalism (in the Kingdom of Bohemia), the various Balkan nationalisms that claimed various royal pasts, the Carlist Wars in Spain (supported primarily by Basque and Catalan who were defending ancient rights against the modernizing liberals).
 
Let's say that Napoleon first somehow marches to the Holy Land and acquires the Levant during the Egyptian campaign. Later on, the neo-Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem is founded by legitimist royals who depose the governor, a relative installed by him. The state attracts much investment and immigration by ultramontane and royalist factions reeling from the Napoleonic Wars. I think it may be inevitable they get swallowed up by the Ottomans, though.

Supposing less rather than more butterflies, a Zionist movement is founded. How would this gel with a revived Kingdom of Jerusalem?



Examples?

The Zionists would likely be viewed negatively in this timeline, because the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem would logically claim the very land sought by Zionists. Now, if you found a Jewish king, that might make things interesting...
 
Let's say that Napoleon first somehow marches to the Holy Land and acquires the Levant during the Egyptian campaign. Later on, the neo-Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem is founded by legitimist royals who depose the governor, a relative installed by him. The state attracts much investment and immigration by ultramontane and royalist factions reeling from the Napoleonic Wars. I think it may be inevitable they get swallowed up by the Ottomans, though.

I don't think this would work because

- political ideas need time to mature (this is very sudden)

- there is a shortage of investment capital in much of Europe during the Napoleonic wars, and most states rowned on taking specie out of the country

- the moment that Jerusalem declares independence, it will need a protector, and the only credible candidate I can see is Britaion - which is allied with the Ottomans.

More likely the idea gets first mooted after a successful Napoleonic conquest - or even the hint that this may be possible - and gradually develops from there. It would also help fpor the Bourbon legitimists to have a better track record in French politics.

Supposing less rather than more butterflies, a Zionist movement is founded. How would this gel with a revived Kingdom of Jerusalem?

I think the Crusaders have a special place in Jewish collective memory, and it's not a good one.

Mind you, a Napoleonic kingdom of Jerusalem (talking Nap III here, not Nap I) could attract Zionist Jews. Napoleonic France with its emancipatory policies, civic integration and relative religious freedom was a good place to be Jewish, and the French are likely hard up for willing settlers who aren't monks or nuts. Maybe the King of Jerusalem even allows them to rebuild the Temple. It's not like he'll be able to make himself even more unpopular with the local Muslims.

Examples?

Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Finland for the obvious candidates. Hungary, Poland, Norway and Czechoslovakia might qualify, if you're willing to stretch the definition a bit, even Germany and Italy share a good bit of the basic characteristics.
 
Okay let's say that Napoleon captures the Levant during the Egyptian campaign, the département d'outre-mer of... Outremer is created and languishes for decades, with minor immigration from hardcore Catholics and the occasional royalist eccentric fleeing from the Continent, maybe a fringe group or two sponsored by knightly orders... and eventually a fully-fledged movement forms? The question is how the Ottomans, Egyptians, and British will respond to the creation of this French state. Also if they will create any other neo-Crusader states in the area.
 
Bumping this out of curiousity and a few more questions.

Moving past Napoleon's time, would this have flown at all during the Third Republic if it had a more conservative character to it all? Would a Boulangist dictatorship or new Orleanist regime have any particular interest in such a movement?
 
Okay let's say that Napoleon captures the Levant during the Egyptian campaign, the département d'outre-mer of... Outremer is created and languishes for decades, with minor immigration from hardcore Catholics and the occasional royalist eccentric fleeing from the Continent, maybe a fringe group or two sponsored by knightly orders... and eventually a fully-fledged movement forms? The question is how the Ottomans, Egyptians, and British will respond to the creation of this French state. Also if they will create any other neo-Crusader states in the area.

Very simply, Muslims won't be too pleased with these maniacal Frenchys in their homeland. The British always willing to please people that hate French arm the Egyptians. The Egyptians who out number the French and have the support of the Brits wipe them out.

Napoleon at home is seriously questioned as to why he would allow these dangerous counter revolutionaries to set up a religious state igniting hatred for French and French interests for generations. Napoleon was part of movement that did away with Medieval ideas and institutions, not the other way around.
 
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