Church of the Holy Sepulcher as it is Today*
Jerusalem had been the goal of the first crusade, and Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom named after it. Understanding of Balian's world, therefore, cannot be complete without understanding what Jerusalem was like during his lifetime. Jerusalem is also the scene of many episodes in the first two books of the Balian d'Ibelin series. What follows is a description of Jerusalem as it would have been just before it was captured by Saladin.
The Countryside to the East of Jerusalem Today
The
Holy
City of Jerusalem crowns a hill in semi-arid, hilly countryside and was
in
crusader times encircled by tall, white-stone walls punctuated with
square
towers, seven gates and at least three, possibly more, posterns. To the
east, south and west, the land sloped away sharply, but to the north the land was fairly level. There
were olive
orchards dating back to the time of Christ to the East, and in the
crusader
period the city was probably surrounded by other kinds of orchards as
well. Common
at this time were citrus orchards, but figs, dates, and almonds were
also cultivated to serve the urban population. Almost certainly, there
were also vineyards
surrounding Jerusalem during the Christian period as wine was an
important
product of the kingdom, necessary for the liturgy and consumed in large
quantities locally.
Picture
of Jerusalem’s Walls
Life
within crusader Jerusalem would have been exceptionally pleasant for the
period. When the first crusaders took the city by storm in 1099 they carried
out a massacre of the garrison and population that — while not as apocalyptic as
often portrayed — left the city largely depopulated. The policy of not allowing
any Muslims or Jews to live in the Holy City further reduced the population.
The early kings of Jerusalem were compelled to invite Christian settlers not
just from the West but from Syria as well. Still the population never fully recovered and
is estimated to have been no more than ca. 20,000 people in the second half of
the 12th century. In consequence, Jerusalem was not densely
populated and there were gardens and open spaces inside the walled city.
A
Roof-top Garden in Jerusalem Today
Starting
with life at the top, the religious and secular authorities both maintained
palaces in Jerusalem. The patriarch’s palace was located beside the Church of
the Holy Sepulcher, and unfortunately nothing is now left of it. The royal family initially occupied the
powerful citadel, whose oldest tower allegedly dated back to the reign of the
biblical King David. However, they began construction of a “modern” palace in
the first quarter of the 12th century. Although this too has been
lost to us, contemporary accounts mention that the royal palace had extensive
gardens. Since it was started by King Fulk of Anjou, it was probably inspired
by similar to the palaces he was familiar with in France in this period — think
of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s magnificent residence in Poitiers, for example, but
it would have had “Eastern” elements of design and landscaping as well.
Citadel
of David — the “Old Palace”
The
gardens,
for example, would have included palms, citrus fruits, pomegranates and
other distinctive Mediterranean vegetation, such as oleander and
hibiscus. More important, this palace (like the Patriarch's) was not
fortress intended for defense (as
castles in Western Europe), but rather had a purely residential and
representational character. There was no need for narrow, “arrow-slit”
windows
or massive walls. On the contrary, the crusader states had major
glass-making
centers, notably at Beirut and Tyre, and glazed windows were quite
common,
certainly among the upper classes. So the royal and patriarchal palaces
would
not have been dark, dingy and smoky, as in the castles depicted in
Hollywood,
but rather sunny, well-lit and designed with cross-ventilation for
cooling in
the summers. The use of mosaic and tile floors would, furthermore, have
been
inherited from their predecessors (and most of the houses in Jerusalem
were
taken over in-tact after the Christians seized control), as was the use
of
slender columns, often dating from the Roman period. A description of
John d’Ibein’s palace in
Beirut dating from 1212, for example, mentions mosaic floors so lifelike
the
observer was afraid of leaving his foot-print in the “sand” and
polychrome
marble walls as well as fountains and gardens. It offered splendid views
of the
sea as well — so large windows. While
John’s residence was built half a century later, it was also the home of
a mere
nobleman rather than a king. I think we can assume the royal palace of
the
Jerusalem and also the Patriarch’s palace were both very luxurious
indeed.
Tiles
Walls Today
Besides
these two main palaces, Jerusalem housed the headquarters of the Knights
Templar on the Temple Mount and the headquarters of the Knight’s Hospitaller, a
huge establishment that took up a large city block and enclosed four churches,
wards for over two thousand patients, a hospice for pilgrims, administrative
buildings, barracks, kitchens etc. These complexes were large, multi-story
stone buildings, again with glazed windows, courtyards, and sanitation. The
accommodation for the Master and senior officers of these powerful orders would
hardly have been less luxurious than for the king and patriarch.
Temple
Mount Today:
The hexagonal
building on the left was a Baptistry from Crusader Times. On the right:
The "Dome of the Rock" which in Crusader Jerusalem was converted into a
church and known as the Temple of Gold
There were also lesser palaces for nobles and wealthy merchants. The foundations of these houses in some cases dated back to the Roman period, and many were Byzantine or Fatimid since the capture of Jerusalem had not entailed whole scale destruction of the architectural substance. Arab sources stress that even when they re-took Jerusalem in 1187 (after a siege that did entail the use of stone throwers and mining), they still found many beautiful residences with “superb columns of marble and slabs of marble and mosaics in large quantities.” (Ibn al-Athir) Much of this ornamentation would have pre-dated the Christian period, but not all of it. Certainly, many churches were built and/or re-decorated in the crusader period and many of the craftsmen came from or were trained in Constantinople or by Byzantine masters. Undoubtedly some of these craftsmen also found employment on secular as well as sacred building projects.
Houses with Medieval Features in Jerusalem Today
Life in any medieval Christian city was, of course, characterized by the pervasive presence of the Church and nowhere — except possibly in Rome — was the Church more important than in Jerusalem. There was not just the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Calvary Chapel, but dozens of churches catering to different Christian communities, Syrian and Armenian, Greek and Maronite, as well as the Latins. There were also the two great mosques on the Temple Mount which had been converted into churches, as well as the austere but lovely Church of St. Anne and many more.
As for
the bulk of the population, while accommodation would have ranged from the
comfortable to the squalid as in any city in the world, nevertheless, this
being an ancient, eastern city, it was well supplied with public cisterns,
reservoirs, and baths. Indeed, most of the buildings in Jerusalem at this time
had rain-fed cisterns to supplement the municipal water supply. There was also network of open and covered
markets. The covered markets are particularly intriguing and parts are still
standing today. They were like tunnels, often running almost the entire width
of the city, with vaulted ceilings and flanked by shop after shop. The paved
walkway between the shops had steps to accommodate the slope and were not
suitable for horses.
Covered
Market in Jerusalem
Due to
the annual pilgrim traffic, Jerusalem was also a city with many hostels and
taverns, and the shops of the city would have catered to pilgrims by selling all the "exotic" things pilgrims sought
from relics to silk and Turkish carpets. They would
have sold all the necessities for everyday living as well: shoes, textiles, candles and
soap, for example. The city had separate markets for grain, pigs, poultry, fish, herbs and
spices. It had quarters for the jewelers, gold and silver smiths, for textile
goods, leather goods, glass, and weapons. My favorite is the “street of bad
cooking,” which was apparently a medieval precursor of “food courts” for “fast
food.”
Another
Street Scene in Modern Jerusalem
Last but
not least, the streets must have been a veritable “tower of Babel” with the
native population speaking Arabic, Greek, Armenian and French, while pilgrims
came from the far corners of the earth speaking Norse, English, Spanish,
Italian, Hungarian, German and more.
* All photos in this entry were taken by the author in 2014.
Learn more about crusader society at: Balian d'Ibelin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The first two books in the Balian d'Ibelin series, Knight of Jerusalem and Defender of Jerusalem are available for purchase.
A landless knight,
a leper king,
and the struggle for Jerusalem.
A divided kingdom,
a united enemy,
and the struggle for Jerusalem
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