About two days' journey from Jerusalem they were ambushed by Arab bandits�Soon afterwards there arrived a relief force sent by the Fatimid authorities...A fortnight later the remnants of the party were taken under armed escort to Jerusalem (Bull). In this and other ways, pilgrims were generally welcome in Jerusalem, barring that they could make the rather treacherous journey there. Furthermore, many Christians lived within Muslim citities, albeit they had to pay a special tax, but Arab leaders maintained their churches. This was a well known fact and had been the status quo for many years, �The world had adjusted itself to Moslem center of the Near East;�and barring some exceptions, the Christian sects there had enjoyed a wide liberty of worship,� (Durant 585). One such exception, and perhaps the most extreme, was the caliph of Egypt, al-Hakim, who took power in 1009. Immediately, he began to persecute Jews and Christians, his hatred culminating in the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre. However, even this extremist never went farther in his persecution than to force Christians to wear symbols of their religion and pay a heftier tax. Hakim was assassinated by one of his own men in 1021 and �under al-Hakim�s successors, pilgrims to Jerusalem were given protection and support,� (Hallam 26). In addition, �the Mohammedans themselves contributed substantially to [the Holy Sepulchre�s] restoration,� (Durant 585). Even when the First Crusade began, there were still more Byzantine churches than mosques in some parts of the Eastern world. Jews and Christians held �position[s] of special importance in certain economic activities,� (Houran 117), oftentimes being appointed to positions in the courts.
Therefore, with all of the many changes of power making the Islamic nation non-threatening, coupled with positive relations with Christians, it seems that the call to the Crusades must have come as a surprise to the Arabs who �could not understand what they had done to offend the Christians� (Lamb 60). On the other hand, there had been other previous attempts to gather a Holy War previously in Western history. Around the late 1000�s, Pope Gregory began to preach about �the warfare of Christ� (Hallam 34). This term, previously used as a way to describe a spiritual suffering such as that of the monk in the cloisters, was now used in terms of military force. This was the first instance of Christiantiy beginning to favor force over peace and �it�became meritorious for the Christian warrior�to establish right order�by force� (Hallam 34). Thus, many Christians began to believe that there was only one right way and that all the world should be made to follow this way by whatever means neccessary. Also, this �warfare of Christ� was linked with the broader concept of the �Just War, first defined by St. Augustine�in c.400 which enabled Christians to reconcile Christ�s rejection of violence with the need to uphold justice and order in an imperfect world� (Hallam 34). This more aggresive aspect of Christianity during the Middle Ages was reflected in the first attempt to call for a Crusade by Pope Sergius IV who spoke: �Therefore, let this Christian intention be known: that we�desire to set out from these shores�with the Lord�s help, we intend to kill all these enemies� (Hallam 25). This call was largely ignored but when Pope Urban II came to power and relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Empire were restored, the Crusades began to gather supporters.
The call to arms by Urban was, in actuality, very strong and vibrant, calling on Christians not only in the Byzantine, but also in France, Germany, and Italy to join in these Crusades that would later alienate the East from the West, but spark the Renaissance in Europe. Although exact reports of his speech vary from source to source, it is generally believed that:
He called on the faithful, in particular the lords and knights who formed society's military elites, to relieve the oppression of Eastern Christians and to liberate the Holy Places by means of an armed pilgrimage, participation in which would earn remission of one's penances because of the great hardships which would be faced (Bull). He further exaggerated accounts of Muslim cruelty by stating in one accounting �the frenzy of the barbarians has devastated the churches of God in the east, and has even � shame to say � seized into slavery the holy city of Christ, Jerusalem� (Hallam 63). Such a horrid picture as this was used to arouse anger in Christians who were already leaning more toward force as a solution to their issues. Therefore, many answered the Pope�s call and set off with such zeal that they left months before the actual army was to leave. These untrained people met with a quick defeat at the hands of the Turkish army but when the true army entered the Arabic lands, they found that the Turks� power was already declining severely, leaving scattered Arabic tribes and almost powerless caliphs in its wake.
Because of this, the First Crusade was extremely successful, sweeping through the Near Eastern lands and eventually taking Jerusalem. Initially, it seemed as if the Turks might be able to drive the Frankish warriors off before they made their way farther into Arabic territory. With the defeat of Arabia�s main defender, Kilij Arslan �there was real panic�dread and anxiety swelled to enormous proportions,� (Maalouf 17). As the Crusaders moved through the world of Islam, a very large and pressing problem quickly arose among their ranks: insufficient food. Most of the warfare of that time consisted of laying siege to a walled town or citadel, which involved staying in one place for many days at a time. Thus, the supplies ran out long before the Crusaders came anywhere near Jerusalem itself. Oftentimes, the men were reduced to eating their mounts or carrion in order to feed themselves, but this was a secondary option to raiding small towns and provinces to garner supplies from the townspeople. This desperation and raw hunger may have been the reason for the unadulterated cruelty and ruthlessness which was displayed in all aspects of their behavior toward the enemy. This is espcially shown in the manner in which the invaders treated the dead bodies of the Arabs at Ma�arra as described by the Frankish chronicler Rudolph of Caen: �In Ma�arra our troops boiled pagan adults in cooking pots; they impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled,� (Maalouf 39). Such horrid sights as were seen at Ma�arra and in other areas caused one anonymous poet to write in despair �I know not whether my native land be a grazing ground for wild beasts or yet my home!� (Maalouf 37). Furthermore, these acts of cannibalism served to create a sense of contempt, anger, and disgust among the Muslims who heard of them or saw them, a feeling which would persist for many years after the Crusades had ended.
The Crusaders moved south, heading toward the Holy City. Surprisingly, only now were the Muslims realizing that Jerusalem was the ultimate goal for the Crusaders. After this revelation was spread, Arabs all along the route to the Holy Land began to evacuate their cities, moving toward the forests or to long unused fortresses to escape the ruthless warriors. More desperate or larger cities instead sent �emissaries laden with gifts to assure [the Crusaders] of [the Muslim leaders�] good will and to offer them any assistance,� (Maalouf 40). Some of the wealthier emirs even sent the Crusaders new horses to replace the ones that they had eaten in plain sight of the Ma�arra walls (Maalouf 42). By the time the warriors reached the upper borders of Egypt, they were almost completely provisioned and laden with jewels and gold for bribes. This widespread submission that spread throughout Arabia probably stemmed from previous attempts of resistance by men like Kilij Arslan and the soldiers at Ma�arra who ultimately failed in their efforts due mainly to both the overwhelming numbers of the Crusaders and the reluctance of neighboring leaders to come to their aid. Even when jihad was called by these besieged areas, their neighbors ignored it. According to Amin Maalouf, �In Syria in the 11th century, jihad was no more than a slogan brandished by princes in distress. No emir would rush to another�s aid unless he had some personal interest in doing so,� (Maalouf 21). Therefore, after the debacle in Ma�arra, there was so much fear in the Arab nations that this coupled with their isolation and forced self-reliance, caused them to act independently in the only way they were able to, in order to concievably survive.