Inside History Collection Magazine

20 March 2022

THE STRUGGLE FOR THE HOLY LAND When the first Crusaders, with the Pope’s blessing, set out for the Holy Land in 1096, the Muslim world was riven by internal strife and the European knights could march east unhindered. Victory followed victory, and in 1099, the Christians took Jerusalem. The Muslim world was stunned, and the caliphs nurtured a smouldering desire for revenge. However, the Crusaders took a firm grip on power in the Holy Land, fortifying it with a network of impregnable fortresses. Only 100 years later were the caliphs united under a single, strong commander. Saladin demonstrated superiority in desert warfare at the Battle of the Horns of Hattin and captured Jerusalem in 1187. For the next century, the fighting ebbed and flowed… This issue follows the events from Pope Urbans II call for a Holy war in 1095 to the Ottoman forces captures Constantinople in 1453.