Jerusalem Besieged
After years of trekking toward Jerusalem and conquering as they went, the Crusader armies finally arrived at their goal. The siege of Jerusalem proved a great challenge to the Crusaders, but in 1099, their armies broke through the walls of the city and slaughtered the majority of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. Jerusalem was left a city that was nearly empty, its metropolitan bustle now abruptly silenced. It was the start of a new era in the Holy City, in which Christianity would once again assert itself as the central religion—but this time in an entirely new form.
In the course of their three-year march toward Jerusalem, the Crusaders made several conquests that gave a wholly different shape to the Near East region. But in spite of their successes, it was a journey that proved fatal to many of the Crusaders, with famine and disease decimating the ranks. By the time they reached the walls of Jerusalem, the armies had dwindled vastly in number.
Hearing of the approaching armies, many eastern Christians fled the city, fearing the brutal reputation of the Crusaders. The Muslim rulers of the city expelled the Latin Christians, who were largely sympathetic to the Crusaders’ cause.
An Unlikely and Bloody Victory
Diminished in number and faced with a dearth of food and water, the Crusaders were unsuccessful at first in their efforts. It was only when a Genoese fleet arrived at the port of Jaffa that the Crusaders found a way out of their quandary. Using parts of the ships, they constructed siege towers, and with the aid of these gained a foothold in the siege. In July 1099, a soldier broke through the walls using one of the siege towers, and the Crusader armies streamed in after him.
What followed was a mass slaughter, as the Crusaders hunted down and killed the vast majority of the Muslim and Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem. Throughout Europe, their unequivocal success was perceived as an affirmation of the ascendance of Christianity over Islam. Firsthand accounts of the massacres speak of blood running ankle-high in the streets.
When the killing was done, the Crusaders marched toward the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, singing hymns.
Jerusalem was now an empty city, save the presence of its militant conquerors and some Christians who remained.
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