The History of the World Podcast, written and presented by Chris Hasler

Volume 4, The Medieval World

Episode 34, Crusades in the Holy Land Part 1. And. In the year 3 26th Helena a woman in her late 70s travelled to the holy land.

It was claimed that Helena discovered the true cross at Jesus' tune in Jerusalem.

Fragments of the true cross were highly treasured in Christendom. And while some fragments remained

in Jerusalem, others were taken back to Constantinople, where Helena's son, Constantine, was the Roman Emperor.

Constantine was an advocate for the religion of Christianity, a new monotheistic religion that had become highly popular

within the pagan societies of the Roman Empire. Romans had persecuted Christians historically, but now the Emperor Constantine would put a stop to that.

Constantine, supported by his mother would build the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at the site of Jesus's

execution in Jerusalem which would become the most sacred place in Christenden.

This would become a place of pilgrimage as many Christians would travel to the sacred church in Jerusalem.

Constantine would make Jews feel unwelcome in Jerusalem. For the Jews this was their sacred city long before the

existence of both Romans and Christians and they would continue to try to regain access to the city with mixed results for many generations.

In the early 7th century, the Sasanian Persians attempted to befriend the Jews in order to gain

the force to overthrow Jerusalem, which was still being ruled from Byzantine Constantinople.

But they showed no loyalty to the Jews once inside,

preferring to switch loyalties to the more powerful Christians of the city.

The Byzantines would win Jerusalem back again,

but a wave of new people would approach the Levant,

this time from the south.

The Muslim Arabs, inspired by the Prophet Muhammad, who had actually passed away around six years earlier,

marched on and took the city of Jerusalem in 638.

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