Jerusalem 1099

Abstract

On 15 July 1099, after more than four and a half centuries of Muslim rule, Jerusalem fell to the army of the First Crusade and for the next 88 years it became once again a Christian city. At that time, the city’s population may have numbered hundreds rather than the thousands of earlier periods, but it seems to have grown afterwards. The size of the late 12th century population may therefore have been closer to that of the mid-11th century, perhaps around 20,000–30,000, that is to say roughly the same size as Acre, Tyre, Florence or London in the same period. Along with these demographic fluctuations and the reduction of the area defended by city-walls, this paper analyses the impact of Christian rule on the town structures. From the conversion of the former Aqṣā Mosque as a royal palace, and then as the Temple’s headquarters, to the renovation of the Citadel as a small triangular-shaped fortress, and mostly to the important changes made in the Holy Sepulchre, with the enlargement of the church and the addition of an adjoining monastic cloister.

Keywords

• Crusade
• demography
• town walls
• palaces
• churches