The Siege of Jerusalem marked the successful end of the First Crusade, which aimed to reclaim the city of Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher from Islamic control, dating back to 637 AD. From the 11th century, conditions for the city’s Christians became increasingly difficult, with persecution by the Islamic rulers gradually increasing. Under these conditions and with the appeal of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Comnenus having preceded, in 1095, Pope Urban II, at the Council of Clermont, publicly called the knights and the people to enlist for a crusade aimed at helping the Eastern Christians as well as the recovery of the holy lands.
The response was great and immediate. The first crusaders were basically unruly hordes of French and German peasants. It was not until 1096 that the main crusading force, with about 4,000 mounted knights and 25,000 infantry, began to move eastward, until a year later it crossed into Asia Minor. In June, the crusaders captured the city of Nicaea and then defeated the Seljuk army at Dorylaion. From there, they proceeded to Antioch, where they began a six-month siege until its conquest. After their conquest, they rested and reorganized before setting out for their ultimate goal: Jerusalem.
Two years later, on June 7, 1099, although the number of crusaders was now reduced – about 1,200 cavalry and 12,000 infantry – the Christian army reached the heavily fortified Jerusalem. The city was protected by a defensive wall four kilometers long, three meters thick and fifteen meters high. There were five great gates, each flanked by a pair of towers.
The crusaders split into two large groups: Godfrey de Bouillon, Robert II of Flanders and Tancred planned to besiege the city from the North, while Raymond of Toulouse placed his forces in the South. At the same time, with the beginning of the siege, within about a month, they were destroyed by the European fortification towers in order to facilitate their attack. On July 14, 1099, the first crusaders entered the city after the opening of the Gate of Saint Stephen. The occupation of Jerusalem, the next day, was followed by massacres of thousands of Muslim and Jewish residents.
The crusaders secured control of the Temple Mount, as well as the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, turning them into Christian shrines. Godfrey, a leading figure of the crusaders, whose men first stormed the city, was elected as the first ruler of Jerusalem.
The objectives of the First Crusade had been realized and now Jerusalem was in the hands of the Christians. Although an Egyptian army marched against them, a few weeks later, they resisted successfully, resulting in an end – at least temporarily – to the Muslim pressure in August of the same year.
The result of these developments was the establishment of five small Christian states in the region, which came under the rule of the crusade leaders: the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Edessa and the Principality of Armenian Cilicia .
Column editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigoni-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis