Lest anyone should forget that unspeakable savagery in the name of religion is not the preserve of any particular faith, the date of 15th July might be brought to mind. It was on this day in 1099 that the First Crusade achieved its aim of capturing Jerusalem from the Muslims who had occupied it for 400 years.
It had taken more than three years for the Crusading force
to reach Jerusalem from western Europe, during which time the original army of
50,000 had been reduced by half. However, the force was still strong enough to
breach the city’s defences, thus persuading the inhabitants to seek refuge in
the Temple of Solomon.
When the Crusaders broke in they massacred everyone they
could find – possibly as many as 10,000 men, women and children – and then cut
open the bodies in case the victims had swallowed jewels or coins in the hope
being able to escape with a little money to support themselves.
The Crusaders followed this episode by turning on the Jews
of the city, herding them into the main synagogue which was then set on fire.
Having eliminated all opposition, the Crusaders set about
establishing a permanent presence in Palestine in the form of the Latin Kingdom
of Jerusalem, which was to last for nearly 200 years. However, Jerusalem itself
fell to the great Saracen leader Saladin in 1187, which led to another Crusade
being launched, notably featuring England’s King Richard I as one of its
leaders.
Although Christians at the time would have regarded the sack
of Jerusalem as a major triumph that showed that God was definitely on their
side, later generations have come to see these events in their true light,
namely an utterly revolting episode that did absolutely no credit to the
religion it purported to be championing.
© John Welford
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