During the Middle Ages, devout Christians would journey to Jerusalem to visit the Holy Places. Though the city was held by Moslems, from the 7th century the pilgrims were allowed to travel freely.
In the 11th century a new dynasty of Moslem Turks came to power and everything changed. Christian pilgrims were murdered or seized and sold into slavery. Jerusalem was closed to Christians. In 1095 Pope Urban II preached a crusade. He declared it was the sacred duty of all Christian warriors to win Jerusalem from the Turks so that pilgrims could journey in peace
Four armies of Christians set out for the Holy Land. Led by nobles trained to fight, the Christians took the Turks by surprise. It had never occurred to them they would have to face an army from Europe.
Throwing themselves forward with religious fervour the Christians fought battle after battle and threw the Turks back. Finally, in 1099, the Christians stood before Jerusalem. After a hard-fought siege the Christians stormed into Jerusalem on July 15. Fired with religious indignation and maddened by the savage fighting, the Christians killed almost the entire Moslem population. Jerusalem was once again temporarily safe for Christian pilgrims.
Picture Credit : Google
