in 1071 when the Seljuq (Turkish) army decisively defeated the Byzantine army. The Byzantine emperor, Alexius I, feared that all Asia Minor would be overrun, and so he called on fellow Christian rulers and the pope to come to the aid of Constantinople by undertaking a “pilgrimage” or crusade that would free Jerusalem and its environs from Muslim rule. Muslims had ruled the area since 638. During that time the Christian population had been unharmed and Christian pilgrims were allowed continued access to their holy sites. Jews,
