User:Mukherjeesiddhant2000/Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
In year 1095 Pope Urban II gave his historic sermon at the Council of Clermont. His speech was recorded by the German cleric, Albert of Aachen, Guibert of Nogent and some others who witnessed this event and were believed to be present in the council at that time. In 1095 Byzantine emperor, Alexios I sent his envoys to Urban II with an urgent message asking help from western Christians to liberate the region from the infidels. The Seljuk Turks had conquered large parts of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine land), they also captured Jerusalem (Christian Holy Land) in 1070. The pope highlighted how the Seljuk's tortured their Christian brethren living in this region. He urged the knights, princes and the people of the Western Roman Empire to take up arms (Holy War) and embark on the journey to ''liberate'' Byzantines or Eastern Christians from the ''pagan race.''
Pope Urban II asked the Europeans to liberate the Christian holy land and their lord's burial place, the Holy Sepulcher and city of Jerusalem. He told ''whoever for devotion alone, not to obtain honor or money, sets out to liberate church of god in Jerusalem, this (act) will be counted for all his penance." This appeal marked the beginning of the first holy war- Crusades.
Jerusalem was believed to be in the centre of the cosmos where Christ had resurrected, the Chirstians believe it to be heaven on Earth.The Fatimid governor Iftikhar ad-Daula prepared the city for the siege as he heard about the arrival of the Crusaders. He prepared an elite troop of 400 Egyptian cavalry men and had expelled all the eastern Christians from the city due to the fear of betrayal from them (since in the siege of Antioch an Armenian, man named Firoz helped crusaders enter the city by opening the gates). To make the situations worst for the crusaders Ad- Daula poisoned or buried all the water wells, and cut down all trees outside Jerusalem. On 7 June 1099, the crusaders reached outside the fortifications of Jerusalem, which had been recaptured from the Seljuqs by the Fatimids only the year before. The city was guarded by a defense wall 4 km long, 3 meters thick and 15 meters high, their were 5 major gates each guarded by a pair of towers. The Crusaders divided themselves in 2 large groups- Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders and Tancredplanned to besiege from north while, Raymond of Toulouse positioned his forces on the south.
Now the Muslims (Fatimids) had to be prepared to fight on 2 fronts. After taking their positions the crusaders launched their first attack on 13 June, the main problem was that they didn't have access to wood for siege equipment. But then Tancred had a vision he found a stack of wood hidden in the cave, they used it to make a ladder. A knight named Rainbold scaled the ladder to gain foothold on the wall but was attacked by the "enemies". Since this assault was a failure the crusaders retreated and did not make any attempt until they got their tools and equipment. The crusaders faced a lot more difficulties due to lack of water (thirst) and scorching heat of the Palestine, shortage of food etc and by the end of June there was news that a Fatimid army was marching north from Egypt. Due to the mounting pressure the crusaders had to act sooner.
On 17 June 1099, crusaders heard about the arrival of Genoese ships at the port of Jaffa. The Genoese sailors had brought all the necessary equipment with them for the construction of the siege equipments. Robert of Normandy and Robert of Flanders procured timber from the nearby forests. Under the command of William Embriano and Gaston of Bearn, the crusaders began the construction of their siege weapons. They constructed the finest siege equipment of the 11th century in almost 3 weeks this included: 2 massive wheel mounted siege towers, battering ram with an iron head clan, numerous sealing ladders and a series of portable wattle screens. On the other hand the Fatimids kept an eye on the preparation by the Franks and they set up their mangonels on the wall in the firing range once an assault began. The preparation by the crusaders was complete.
On 14 July 1099, the crusaders launched their attack, Godfrey and his allies were positioned towards the Northern wall of Jerusalem, their priority was to break through the outer curtain of the walls of Jerusalem. By the end of the day they penetrated the first line of defense. On the South Raymond's (of Toulouse) forces were met with ferocious resistance by the Fatimids. On 15 of July the assault recommenced in the Norther front, Godfrey and his allies gained success and the crusader, Ludolf of Tournaiwas the first to mount the wall. The Franks quickly gained the foothold in the wall and the city's defenses collapsed, waves of panic shook the Fatimids. The long awaited dream finally turned into a reality, Jerusalem was conquered by the crusaders.
On 15 July 1099, the crusaders made their way into the city through the tower of David and the history witnessed one of the most bloody encounters. The crusaders massacred every inhabitants of the city (Jerusalem), Muslims and Jews alike. The Fatimid governor of the city, Iftikhar Ad-Daulah managed to escape. According to eyewitness accounts the streets of Jerusalem were filled with blood. How many people got killed is not known yet.
The Discovery of the True Cross(Gustave Doré)
On 17 July, a council was held to discuss, Who shall be crowned the king of Jerusalem? On 22 July, Godfrey of Bouillon (who played the most fundamental role in the city's conquest)
Hence the first crusades was a successful endeavor. The pope Urban II ignited the flame of holy war in the Council of Clermount. Yet through time many more crusades have occurred due to different reasons and motives. Jerusalem remained in Christian hands for almost a century until the crusaders faced their final defeat from Shah Al-Din (Egypto-Syrian) at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. The conquest of Jerusalem (in the 1st crusade) is one such aspect that will continue to reverberate through time and will shape the relations between the different faith traditions of this region, this shaping of relations continues till date...