

Here are 10 figures who played a key role in the conflict, from holy call to action to bloody end. From this and the threat of further Muslim expansion sprang the Crusades, lasting almost 2 centuries between 10.

Muslims believed it to be the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, installing it as a holy site in their faith also.įollowing Jerusalem’s capture by Muslim Seljuk Turks in 1077, Christians found it increasingly difficult to visit the holy city.

Jerusalem was not just a holy city for Christians however. The Crusades were a series of conflicts during the Middle Ages centred around the Christian fight to ‘reclaim’ the Holy Land of Jerusalem, which had been under the dominion of the Muslim Empire since 638.
