WI : Conrad of Monferrat isn't assassinated

I was reading , yesterday,the excellent book of René Grousset "L'épopée des Croisades" and I was wondering, what changes could bring a failed assassination of Conrad of Montferrat.

OTL, he was a powerful North Italian noblemen (although , he was more Occitan leaning) and was related to HRE, the King of France as well as the Dukes of Austria. He managed to keep Tyre in the Crusaders'hands and married Isabella of Jerusalem (heiress of the Kingdom of Jerusalem) in 1191 and was elected king by the barons of the realm. The Marquess was also viewed as great threat by Saladin and as the one who could reestablish Latin presence in the Holy Land, after the disaster at Hattin.

Could we assist to the resurrection of the Kingdom of Jerusalem ? An end to succession quarrels dividing the Franks ? Please share your thoughts .
 
Richard the Lionheart seems to have already been pretty tired of the Third Crusade at this point, so I wouldn't be too surprised if things aren't *too* much better for the Crusaders. Perhaps a few more cities would be included under their control (Ascalon alone would be huge), or perhaps Saladin would have thrown in the True Cross into the negotiations, if they were in a better position under Conrad.

But really, at that point, the entirety of the diplomacy of the KofJ seems to have been under the direction of Richard.
 
I completely agree with you. Since Philippe II of France departure to France, Richard became the leader of the crusade and thus of negotiations with Saladin.I think Richard could easily (with his bravery and strategy) conquer Jaffa, Arsuf and other coastal cities and make a deal with Saladin (OTL, the treaty of Ramla) and sell Cyprus to Guy de Lusignan. Everything happens pretty much as in OTL, until the death of Saladin, where I could expect a charismatic Conrad taking advantage of divisions among Saladin's sons and attempting to reconquer lost lands (maybe not Jerusalem, since this could provoke and unite Islamic foes into a giant jihad, but still it will be an epic story line for great timeline). I would expect the Frankish monarchy to be more stable and thus a great authority (subjected to the Haute Cour) of Conrad over his barons and maybe tighter alliances with other Crusader states (Antioch) or who knows Byzantium ?
 
I don't have the impression of Conrad as particularly charismatic, just very capable (which, when your other option for king is Guy is more than close enough).

I don't see it as a huge win for the KofJ anyway, the House of Anjou produced plenty of effective rulers in its short time on the throne, and the Kingdom still barely held together under their rule. One of the huge problems facing the Kingdom is that there was a deep factionalism inherent in the kingdom, between the more aggressive lords and the more cautious lords.
 
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