Seljuks take Jerusalem from Fatimids

1070

Turkish forces from Alp Arslan's empire captured Jerusalem from its Fatimid rulers, imposing heavier tolls on Christian pilgrims from the west. The stories of harassment that filtered back to Europe would become part of the grievance package Pope Urban II would assemble at Clermont twenty-five years later. The loss of Jerusalem's revenue was a blow to the already weakening Fatimid state in Egypt.