p to the start of the holy wars was the invasion of the Holy Land, Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a holy site for the Christians as well as the Muslims. For the Christians it was a sacred place because there Jesus was crucified, and on the site where his body was placed in a tomb they built the church of Holy Sepulchre. For the Muslims it was sacred because they believed that the founder of their religion, Muhammad, was able to visit heaven from there. For that reason they built many mosques, the most famous being the Dome of the Rock.
             At first Jerusalem was occupied by mainly Christians, then In 637 AD a massive army surrounded Jerusalem. The Christian people held out, from giving up their land to their invaders the Muslims. They believed that a Christian army would be sent to save them. But then in February 638, the Christian bishop of Jerusalem, Sophronius, was forced to surrender the city.
             The Muslims treated the Christians well at first. They just thought of them as people who were misguided in their choice of religion. They encouraged them to convert to Islam, but never forced them. The Christians who did convert were then known as mawali meaning brother of Islam. Those who didn't convert were called djimmis meaning the protected people.
             Even thought the Christians were able to keep their religion, they had to take certain rules that came along with that. They had to pay an extra tax called the jizya, as well as having to abide by extra rules. Such as not being allowed to marry a Muslim, or to own arms or horses. But they were allowed to keep their churches.
             At this point in time, Europe was in what is know as the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages. This is when the land was separated by manors. All the neighboring manors would be in wars with each other, each lord trying to gain more land. So in order to stop all the wars going on between the Christians. On November 27, 1095, with a proclamation from Pope Urba...