3/1/2011

Topics Covered

-  Early Islamic Jerusalem

- Latin Kingdoms of Jerusalem

- Factors contributing to the Crusaders

- Christian and Muslim sources of the Crusades

- Pope Urban IIs speech

- What is a Crusade?

- Peasants Crusade

- Siege of Jerusalem

- Crusader Principalities

- Sources for Crusader Jerusalem

- Crusader Jerusalem

- Remaking Jerusalem Christian

- Ayyubid Jersalem and Later Crusades

- End of the Crusader Era

The major factors that contributed to the Crusades were both political and religious. Politically, the Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe had just emerged, and the Great Schism had just occurred that divided Christianity greatly. Religiously, the Christians had just been greatly persecuted in Jerusalem under Islamic rule – especially with the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 1099. It was difficult for the Christians to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem and some had even been massacred trying to do so. It was the perfect time to try to take back Jerusalem.

During Crusader Jerusalem, Jerusalem itself was partitioned into the Patriarch’s quarter, the Templar’s quarter, the Syrian quarter, and the Armenian quarter. This was the beginning of partitioned Jerusalem (in the Old City). Islamic monuments were modified to Christian monuments and existing churches were restored and rebuilt or completely new churches were built. The Templars for the most part protected those who wanted to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on their journey.