Crusader Jerusalem (19 September 1187)

Abstract

Abstract In 1009 ce, the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim ordered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher razed to the ground, sparing only the Rotunda enshrining the tomb of Christ. The destruction of Christianity’s holiest site precipitated the Crusades. On 15 July 1099, the Crusaders took Jerusalem, which became the capital of their newly established kingdom in the Holy Land. The city was transformed swiftly in population and appearance. The Crusaders massacred most of the non-Christian inhabitants and exiled the rest, replacing them with Christian transplants. They rebuilt the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and turned the Temple Mount over to the Knights Templar. After his victory over the Crusaders at the Horns of Hattin, the Ayyubid caliph Saladin took most of the Crusader strongholds and cities to the south including Jerusalem, which fell after a siege on 2 October 1187.