Since the Caliph Omar received the capitulation of Jerusalem, in
637, and established therein the religion of Mahomed, no greater
calamity had ever befallen Christendom than the conquest of Asia
Minor, and subsequently Syria, by the Turks.
The latter event, which occurred about nine years after the Norman
Conquest of England, transferred the government of Palestine, and
the custody of the holy places, from a race which, although
Mahometan, was yet tolerant, to a far fiercer and "anti-human"
government The "unspeakable Turk" had appeared on the scene of
European politics.
For, under the milder rule of the Fatimite Caliphs, who reigned
over Jerusalem from A.D. 969 to 1076, a peculiar quarter of the
holy city had been assigned to the Christians; a fair tribute
secured them protection, and the Sepulchre of Christ, with the
other scenes identified with the Passion, were left in their hands.
Greeks and Latins alike enjoyed freedom of worship, and crowds of
pilgrims flocked from all the western nations.
Then appeared our Turks on the scene. They first ravished Asia
Minor from the weak grasp of the later Roman Empire, and
established their capital and worship--the abomination of
desolation--where the first great Christian council had drawn up
the Nicene Creed, that is, at Nicaea in Bithynia.
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