It has been stated that this fine collection of statutes was compiled by Godfrey de Bouillon, with the assistance of the wisest and noblest of his followers, after the conquest of Jerusalem. This was most probably a mere fable. Certain, however, it is that a double volume of laws, one for the upper, and the other for the lower court, was compiled in Jerusalem, inscribed in large letters, and sealed by the king, patriarch, and vicomte. This work was enclosed in a chest and deposited in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was decreed that the volume should not be taken from the chest except in the presence of those who had signed it, two priests belonging to the church, and four magistrates.
This collection of statutes was also known as the “Lettres du Sépulcre.” After the loss of Jerusalem this volume disappeared, but the same statutes were enforced in the high court at Akkon or Ptolomais, and were adopted in Cyprus. From thence they were taken to Constantinople in 1204, and to the Morea in 1210.
In the schools of jurisprudence in Nikosia the statutes contained in the “Assizes of Jerusalem,” were brought to great perfection with the aid of many able and leading men in the island; of these latter a long list of names has been preserved. The founder of this famous school of law, John d’Ibelin, Baron of Beyrout, was called John the Old, to distinguish him from his nephew, who bore the same name.
This noble, and Philip of Navarre, who boasted of having been present at every siege and attack of any importance in his time, were the most celebrated of this noteworthy group of public benefactors. Amongst other names, were those of Ralph of Tiberias, Godfrey le Tort, Gerard of Montreal, and John of Ibelin, Count of Jaffa and Askalon, and nephew of John the Old. The elder Ibelin and Philip of Navarre had been leaders in the long and bloody strife in which French chivalry in the East had frustrated the plans of the Emperor Frederick the Second,[3] who was anxious to combine the political and military strength of Cyprus under his own imperial rule.
All the other knightly law-makers above enumerated, took part in this war. This emperor, who had already overcome the unruly nobility of his Italian dominions, had attained so high a reputation for wisdom and justice during his sojourn in the East, that many of the highest in rank and intellect supported his claims either openly or secretly. Philip of Navarre, who had diligently searched through many collections of laws, set himself to obtain all possible assistance from the law courts of Nikosia, Akkon, and Beyrout, and completed his arduous labours by arranging his materials into one grand statute book. This valuable work was afterwards considerably improved and enlarged by John of Ibelin. Like the “Lettres du Sépulcre,” this work was sealed up and placed in the cathedral in Nikosia, and might only be opened in the presence of the king and four barons: In this volume we find the entire code of the Middle Ages, and might take to heart many a lesson from the careful wisdom and far-seeing acuteness with which its laws were compiled.