The Crusades

The Seljuk Turks had become very powerful, capturing Baghdad in 1055 and had almost captured the city of Constantinople, the centre of the Christian Byzantine empire.

The Pope, Urban the II, appealed for a Crusade to re-capture the Holy Land and drive out the Muslims.

The Holy Land or Palestine, had been controlled by Muslims for 400 years and many mosques had been built. The language and culture of Islam had also been introduced, although many other religions were practised there, including Christianity and Judaism.

The First Christian Crusade was successful and captured the holy city of Jerusalem in 1099. The Muslim and Jewish population of Jerusalem were massacred.

One of the main reasons for the Christian success was that Islam was now divided into a number of different states, some of which fought against each other. This meant the Muslims were not able to unite to beat the Crusaders.

For over fifty years the Muslims remained divided until a leader named Saladin united them and re-captured the city of Jerusalem in 1187.

 

The Rise of Islam is an optional Unit in Key Stage 3