![]() The report that the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim had destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre outraged Christians, even though his son permitted its rebuilding. The image of heaven as a “heavenly Jerusalem” in the writing of monks and nuns heightened the common desire to see the earthly Jerusalem. In Christian Europe, the reforms of the church emphasized the earthly life of Jesus, and the idea of being able to see and touch the physical land where he walked filled the imagination of both the clergy and the laity. Jerusalem, then, was a city unlike others in its spiritual appeal to people of different faiths. Another shrine, called the Dome of the Rock, was also built near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is associated with Muhammad’s journey and with the biblical Abraham, an important figure to Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, built on the old Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is the third holiest site in the faith, and it is believed to be mentioned several times in the Quran as “the furthest shrine.” Muhammad is said to have made a special journey to be able to pray in Jerusalem and to be allowed to glimpse God before he continued his mission to convert others to Islam. Mecca, in the Arabian Peninsula, is the holiest city in Islam and the site of the annual pilgrimage called the hajj. (credit: “ Shrine of the Holy Sepulchre April 10th 1839 / David Roberts” by Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division/Wikimedia Commons) Christians believe the shrine contains both the tomb in which Jesus was buried and the rock thought to have sealed it. This nineteenth-century lithograph of the interior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre depicts the Shrine of the Holy Sepulchre. Even in the ancient world, Christians undertook pilgrimages to this holiest of cities ( Figure 13.18).įigure 13.18 Shrine of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. As the place where it is believed Jesus was crucified and resurrected, Jerusalem was bound up with the most essential Christian beliefs. In the time of Constantine, a church had been built over the site of what was believed to be Jesus’s tomb, called the Holy Sepulchre. In the earliest decades of the first century, it had also become the location for some of the most dramatic and important scenes in the life of Jesus and the early Christian community. Pilgrimage had been obligatory for Jewish people until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, but even after that time, the city continued to play a special role in Jewish life. Jerusalem drew pilgrims from the three monotheistic religions. In many ways, they are meant to be transformative. Sacred journeys can be undertaken to enhance a person’s connection with God, as an act of penance, or in gratitude. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have a concept of pilgrimage. Fewer Christians joined later crusades, even though the legend and romance of the venture became more popular in the European imagination. The flaws in the crusading movement grew or became better known over time, however. ![]() The military fortunes of the crusaders were watched carefully by Muslims and Christians alike, and while the success of the First Crusade was shocking to everyone, to Christians it was also a clear sign of God’s favor. The call to crusade had profound consequences for Islamic and Christian societies.
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