Britannica : Crusades
The First Crusade and the establishment of the Latin states > Background and context > The effects of religion
…..Jerusalem, as the earthly symbol of the heavenly city, figured prominently in Western consciousness, and, as the number of pilgrimages to Jerusalem increased in the 11th century, it became clear that any interruption of access to the city would have serious repercussions……
Before this time it is clearly expressed that Jerusalem for many years under muslim rule allowed Christian pilgrims into Jerusalem with no problem.
…..By the middle of the 11th century, the Seljuq Turks had wrested political authority from the 'Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad. Seljuq policy, originally directed southward against the Fatimids of Egypt, was increasingly diverted by the pressure of Turkmen raids into Anatolia and Byzantine Armenia. A Byzantine army was defeated and Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes was captured at Manzikert in 1071, and Christian Asia Minor was thereby opened to eventual Turkish occupation. Meanwhile, many Armenians south of the Caucasus migrated south to join others in the region of the Taurus Mountains and to form a colony in Cilicia.
Seljuq expansion southward continued, and in 1085 the capture of Antioch in Syria, one of the patriarchal sees of Christianity, was another blow to Byzantine prestige. Thus, although the Seljuq empire never successfully held together as a unit, it appropriated most of Asia Minor, including Nicaea, from the Byzantine Empire and brought a resurgent Islam perilously close to Constantinople, the Byzantine capital. It was this danger that prompted the emperor, Alexius Comnenus, to seek aid from the West, and by 1095 the West was ready to respond.
The turmoil of these years disrupted normal political life and made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem difficult and often impossible. Stories of dangers and molestation reached the West and remained in the popular mind even after conditions improved. Furthermore, informed authorities began to realize that the power of the Muslim world now seriously menaced the West as well as the East. It was this realization that led to the Crusades…..
Bingo ! It was civil war among muslims that interrupted the Christian pilgrimage which was nothing personal against them cause they were Christians when in fact before this time they flourished in . Thus lead to the Crusade campaign.
Because of the rival feud between muslims it resulted in the following :
….His (Clermont’s) exact words will never be known, since the only surviving accounts of his speech were written years later, but he apparently stressed the plight of Eastern Christians, the molestation of pilgrims, and the desecration of the holy places. He urged those who were guilty of disturbing the peace to turn their warlike energies toward a holy cause. He emphasized the need for penance along with the acceptance of suffering and taught that no one should undertake this pilgrimage for any but the most exalted of motives…..
So as the Britannica reflects these things were not deliberate towards Christians whereas they, before the civil wars, flourished freely in and out of Jerusalem under muslim rule. This is how the Crusades understood and not as a deliberate oppression or persecution upon Christians by Muslims.
….Peter the Hermit's preaching in Germany inspired other groups of Crusaders, who also failed to reach Jerusalem. One of these groups was led by the notorious Count Emicho and was responsible for a series of massacres of Jews in several Rhenish towns in 1096……
Imagine that!
Bur lets continue on this though it getting up to that point as I posted before:
….Traditionally recognized as an important turning point in Jewish and Christian relations in the Middle Ages—in fact, it is often cited as a pivotal moment in the history of anti-Semitism—these attacks occurred first in Speyer and then with increasing ferocity in Worms, Mainz, and Cologne. The Jews of these towns often sought, and sometimes received, the protection of the bishop or futilely took refuge in local homes and temples. Forced by the Crusaders to convert or die, many Jews chose death. There are accounts of Jews' committing suicide and even killing their children rather than converting or submitting to execution by the Crusaders. Though zealotry of this nature is not unique to Christianity, these massacres did not go unnoticed even by fellow Christians. Indeed, some contemporary Christian accounts attributed the defeat of the People's Crusade to them. After the massacres, the Crusaders moved on to Hungary, where they were routed by the Hungarian king and suffered heavy losses. Emicho, who may not have participated in all the pogroms, escaped and returned home in disgrace…..
You still think the Crusaders were Christianity’s nights in Google armor?
….On January 13, 1099, the army then set out for Jerusalem under the leadership of Raymond of Saint-Gilles. As they moved south, Tancred and Robert of Normandy and, later, Godfrey and Robert of Flanders joined them. Bohemond, ignoring his previous oaths, remained in Antioch…..
Now we are getting to the good stuff.
…Not far from Beirut, the army entered the territory of the Fatimid caliphs of Cairo, who, as Shi'ite Muslims, were enemies of the Sunnite Seljuqs and the caliphs of Baghdad. In August 1098 the Fatimids had occupied Jerusalem. The final drive of the First Crusade, therefore, was against the Fatimids of Egypt, not the Seljuqs….
You do know the difference of Shi’ite and Non Shi’ite muslims whom were in civil war back then do you ?
... On June 7, 1099, the Christian army—by then considerably reduced to perhaps 1,200–1,500 cavalry and 12,000 foot soldiers—encamped before Jerusalem, whose governor was well supplied and confident that he could withstand a siege until a relief force arrived from Egypt. The Crusaders, on the other hand, were short of supplies and would be until six vessels arrived at Jaffa (Yafo) and managed to unload before the port was blockaded by an Egyptian squadron. On July 8 a strict fast was ordered, and, with the Muslims scoffing from the walls, the entire army, preceded by the clergy, marched in solemn procession around the city, thence to the Mount of Olives, where Peter the Hermit preached with his former eloquence…..
….Siege towers were carried up to the walls on July 13–14, and on July 15 Godfrey's men took a sector of the walls, and others followed on scaling ladders. When the nearest gate was opened, Tancred and Raymond entered, and the Muslim governor surrendered to the latter in the Tower of David. The governor, along with his bodyguard, was escorted out of the city. Tancred promised protection in the Aqsa Mosque, but his orders were disobeyed. Hundreds of men, women, and children, both Muslim and Jewish, perished in the general slaughter that followed…...
Now after this slaughter, and take over of Jerusalem the Muslim where still in a civil rival between Shi’ite and Sunni:
….Meanwhile, the hostility between Shi'ite Egypt and Sunnite Baghdad continued for some time. The emirates in between the two powers remained divided in their allegiance, and those in the north feared the Seljuqs of Iconium…..
Then Britannica then continues of an alliance of Christians and Muslims:
…..Fulk's policies ended the pursuit of expansion and resulted in a stabilization of the frontiers of the Crusader states. This was a wise course, because his reign coincided with the rise of Zangi, atabeg (Turkish: “governor”) of Mosul, whose achievements earned him a reputation as a great champion of the jihad (holy war) against the Franks. When Zangi moved against Damascus, the Muslims of that city and the Christians of Jerusalem formed an alliance against their common enemy, a diplomatic initiative that was common among the second-generation Franks…..
Later on as the Crusades where politically becoming unstable, the muslims at this point are at their final stage to remove the Fatimah caliphate:
….In 1160–61 the possibility that the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt, shaken by palace intrigues and assassinations, might collapse under the influence of Muslim Syria caused anxiety in Jerusalem. Thus, in 1164, when Nur al-Din sent his lieutenant Shirkuh to Egypt accompanied by his own nephew, Saladin, King Amalric decided to intervene. After some maneuvering, the armies of both Amalric and Shirkuh withdrew, as they were to do again three years later….
The end this tightly the Fatimah caliphate was over trown by the Sunni’s and Saladin (Salahudin) succeeded and over threw the crusades hold on Jerusalem all the back to their home land.