abstract
| - The Crusader period in the history of Jerusalem began in 1109 with the conquest of the city Jerusalem by the First Crusade. Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and became Christian after 450 years of Islam. It was a turbulent period in Jerusalem's history, characterized by frequent conquests and rule transitions between the Crusaders and Ayyubid dynasty Muslim. The first turning point after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders occurred with its conquest by the army of Saladin in 1187 and its surrender to the Ayyubid dynasty — a Muslim sultanate that ruled in the Middle East early 12th century. The Sixth Crusade put Jerusalem shortly back under the Crusader domination (1229-1244), until the city was captured by the Khwarazmian dynasty. The Crusader–Ayyubid conflict ended with the rise of the Mamluks from Egypt in 1260 and their conquest of the Holy Land. At the end of the Ayyubid period there were waves of destruction. The city's fortifications were destroyed first, and then most of the buildings which, as part of a deliberate scorched earth policy, intended to prevent the Crusaders and all future crusades from gaining a foothold in the city and region. This short but relatively turbulent period was exceptional in the history of Jerusalem. For the first time since the destruction of the city in 70 C.E., Jerusalem was the capital of an independent political entity, a status that only returned during the British Mandate in the 20th century. The city would return to the central position after the declaration as the capital of Israel in 1948. The Crusader period in the history of Jerusalem decisively influenced the history of the Middle East, radiating beyond the region into the Islamic World and Christian Europe. The Crusades brought the name "Jerusalem" to a top position in Islam, reinforced its position in the hierarchy of places holy to Islam, but the city did not become a spiritual or political center of Islam. By the end of the Ayyubid period the name of Jerusalem was no longer connected to the idea of jihad, the city's geopolitical status declined, and it became a secondary city, first for Mamluk Empire, and later for the Ottomans. These turmoils did not spare the Jewish community of Jerusalem, who, despite difficult circumstances, struggled amid the waves of death and destruction and began to rebuild the fallen city.
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