After the Crusaders
captured Acre in 1104, the city became a major stronghold of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Latin Diocese of Acre was established, and the cathedral was dedicated to the Holy Cross, adjacent to the
Hospitaller commandery of Saint-Jean-d'Acre.
William of Tyre is recorded as having become a
canon of the cathedral after his return to the Holy Land in 1165. Following the
fall of Jerusalem to
Saladin in 1187, Acre grew into the de facto capital of the remaining Crusader state, and the cathedral assumed a prominent ecclesiastical role, serving as the residence of the
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. During Saladin’s brief control of the city, the cathedral was converted into a mosque before being restored to Christian use when Crusader forces
recaptured Acre in 1191. By the late 13th century, the Crusader presence in the Holy Land was collapsing. In 1291, Acre fell to the
Mamluks under Sultan
Al-Ashraf Khalil, marking the end of Crusader rule; the city’s fortifications and its churches were demolished. == In popular culture ==