Siege of Jerusalem (1099)

Uncommon card · No. 102383

The siege of Jerusalem from 7 June 1099 to 15 July 1099 marked the successful end of the First Crusade, and the founding of the Kingdom of Jerusalem soon afterwards. The siege was carried out by the Christian forces of Western Europe mobilized by Pope Urban II after the Council of Clermont in 1095. The city had been out of Christian control since the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 637 and had been held for a century first by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Egyptian Fatimids. After an initial unsuccessful attack on 13 June, the crusaders constructed several siege engines including a siege tower and a battering ram enable them to enter the city on 15 July 1099. Following the siege thousands of Muslims and Jews were massacred by the Crusaders.

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