History of the Crusades.

the Crusades. episodes.

Episode 17, the First Crusade Roman numeral 13.

Hello again.

Last week we saw the Crusaders finally arrive at the walls of Jerusalem.

After a journey lasting three long years, the Latin Christians have reached their goal.

Jerusalem, the birthplace of Christianity and the center of the known world. The city was ancient, imposing, and well fortified.

The walls around the old city of Jerusalem today are not the walls seen by the Crusaders.

They were rebuilt at a later date under Ottoman rule, but they followed the same lines and were of a similar scale.

The walls totally enclosed to the city an area of around 86 hectares. They were 4 kilometers long, up to 15 meters high and 3 meters thick.

To the east and west, walls defensive capabilities were enhanced by the steep hills and rocky terrain upon which they were built.

The sections of the walls to the north and southwest could be more easily approached as they were built on flatter ground.

To mitigate against this, they were reinforced by a series of dry moats. The entry points to the city were

via five gates and each of these gates were guarded by a pair of towers built into the wall. In addition, the wall included two fortresses.

Where the wall formed a corner to the northwest, the quadrangular tower had been built. Not

surprisingly it was rectangular in shape and was a formidable stronghold.

Just to the south of the quadrangular tower was the ancient citadel of the Tower of David, which

guarded the Jaffa gate.

The walls themselves were in good condition and had been solidly built.

The Crusaders in particular were impressed by the solid construction of the Tower of David,

which had been built with large square stones, sealed together with molten lead.

The crusading force at this time had dwindled to around 1300 nights and twelve years. The Like the situation at Antioch, the crusading army was not large enough to attempt a full encirclement of the city.

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