I am confused. Wasnt Jerusalem part of the Byzantine Empire?

Question

I read on here that the Crusades was over the holy land and that the Christians had no right to it because the Muslims had been living there.

But wasnt Jerusalem part of the Christian Byzantine empire first?

Answer 1

Yes it was!!

Good question!

What happened was this.

Jerusalem was part of the Roman Empire at the time of Christ. There was an unsucessful Jewish Revolt around 70AD, the Jews were able to chase out the Romans for a couple of years, then the Romans came retake Jerusalem and it is NOT pretty. This is when the siege of Masada happens. (Google it.)

Even though the Romans had killed or enslaved many of the Jews of Jerusalem, Jews from other parts of the Empire, and non-Jews returned to rebuild Jerusalem.

Then, about 313 AD Emperor Constantine made the Roman Empire Christian and in 324 AD he moves the capital to Constantinople.


While this was going on in the East, the Roman Empire in the West was falling apart. Rome fell to the Barbarians around 410 AD, and Western Europe entered what is called "the Middle Ages". Things went along pretty much the same in the East though, and the Roman Empire just kept rolling along. Historians call this "the Byzantine Empire" to avoid confusion, but the people of the time just called themselves Romans... even though their Emperor was in Constantinople and not Rome.

For about 300 years or so (longer than the USA has existed) Jerusalem was a Christian Roman City. The Christian Bishop of Jerusalem was on a par with the Bishop of Rome. It was the holiest city in the Christian World, with lots of churches being bult at holy sites, such as Jesus' tomb.

Then the Byzantines/Romans got into a series of long, bloody, and expensive wars with Persia (which we now call Iran). These wars went on for many years and neither side was strong enough to defeat the other. The wars stopped when both sides had become too poor and too weak to keep fighting.

At almost exactly this moment (around 600 AD) Mohammed is starting up Islam down in Arabia. Before Mohammed began his preaching many Arabs were Christian and traded with the Byzantines, and there were Christians and Jews in Arabia. (Mohammed had the Jews of Mecca all killed).

Well Mohammed dies, and his followers headed by Uthman (IIRC ) come screaming out of Arabia in full Jihad mode. Well they are excellent light cavalry troops, well motivated, well lead, and they run straight into Byzantine/Roman (and Persian) armies that have been all but wiped out by the long Roman/Persian War. They go through them like a hot knife through butter.

Antioch falls to the Moslems, then in 638 AD Jerusalem, then Alexandria (with it's library... which they burn) the rest of Egypt, etc. The Moslem troops run right across North Africa, through Carthage, through Spain, and aren't stopped till they hit Tours (in France) where Charles Martel stops them. In the East they run straight through Iraq, and Iran.

This is when the Moslems decide to build a mosque on the hill where the Jewish Temple used to be. It i s called "the Dome of the Rock" and is very beautiful and the Moslems regard it as a holy site.

The Moslems came with an army, not settlers. At first there are very few of them and the life goes on in Jerusalem pretty much as before, only with a few new laws. The Christians are Dihimi. They have to pay extra taxes, can't wear green, can't own weapons, can't get good jobs in the government, can't build (or repair) their churches, can't preach, can't try to convert Moslems, can't marry Moslems, and can't defend themselves if attacked by a Moslem. However they are not all wiped out (which was pretty progressive for the time), and if someone converts to Islam they aren't subject to these laws anymore. Over the years more and more people convert, just to get out from under the laws. Gradually the area becomes more and more Moslem, but it takes a long time.

Then in 1099 the 1st Crusade shows up and takes Jerusalem back for the Christians.

Yes, you are right, Jerusalem was Christian for over 300 years before the Moslems came.

Answer 2

It became Christian Byzantine under the ruler Constantine in 324 C E. Prior to that, the Byzantine Empire was basically an extension of the Roman Empire.

Answer 3

Yes, Jerusalem was part of the Roman Empire and later the Byzantine (E. Roman) Empire until 638, when it was conquered by the Muslim Arabs, shortly after being re-conquered by the Byzantines from the Persians.

http://www.snunit.k12.il/njeru/ed1.htm

Map of the city in those times:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1631/madaba_map.html

Jerusalem was ruled by Muslims from 638 until 1099, when the Crusaders took it and held it until 1187. Other than a 16 year span in the 13th Century, Jerusalem remained in Muslim control (mainly the Ottoman Turks) until the 20th Century when the British conquered the city in 1917.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem

Answer 4

look at any map of the Roman empire, and placed a ruler going north-south between Italy and Albania. The area on the main appropriate of the ruler belonged to the Byzantine empire. (yet, pass away out the provinces of Mesopatamia, Armenia, and Dacia--Dacia being the in demand united states of Romania.)

Answer 5

Jerusalem:

Jewish control up te 63BC
Roman control 63BC to 70AD
Jewish revolt 70AD
Roman control 70AD to 132AD
Jewish control 132-135AD
Roman control 135AD to 330AD
Byzantine control 330AD to 614AD
Persian control 614-629AD
Byzantine control 629AD to 638AD
Islamic control 638AD to 1099AD

***Edit***
Credit to Larry, I've rec'd his answer and it deserves to win. I'd only note that the death of the Jews in Mecca was part of the tribal war going on down there at the time and bears closer scrutiny, and that the Christians and Jews although 'not allowed' to repair or build churces and synagogues were generally allowed to do so (how many planning laws do we strictly abide by these days...) as long as they weren't higher than any Moslem buildings. And a final note, although conversion lifted the tax (the main imposition) for this same reason Islamic states at various times discouraged conversion as it reduced the income to the state. Muslims it should be noted had obligations to give a percentage of their income to the poor (and took it seriously in those days), so conversion wasn't entirely an economic bonanza for those that went down that path. The continued presence of large numbers of Christians and Jews in Arab countries up until the 20th century is testament to their viability throughout all of that history. But note again, credit to Larry for a great answer.