Jaffa was fortified by Godfrey of Bouillon after the First Crusade in 1100, and was unsuccessfully claimed by Daimbert of Pisa, the first Latin patriarch.

When Hugh II rebelled against King Fulk in 1134 the county was divided into a number of smaller holdings, and Jaffa itself became a royal domain.

In 1151 it was designated as the apanage of King Baldwin III's younger brother, Amalric.

[1] Jaffa and Ascalon were then granted to close relatives of the monarch and passed in and out of direct royal control as its holders ascended the throne.

It was bestowed anew upon John Perez Fabrice by James II of Cyprus and Jerusalem.