Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
Crusaders’ barefoot procession around Jerusalem
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗An army preparing to storm Jerusalem put down its quarrels, took off its shoes, and walked around the walls under the defenders' gaze.
Friday, 8 July 1099: a fast and a circuit of the walls
On Friday, 8 July 1099, the crusading army fasted and processed outside Jerusalem's walls as part of its preparation for another assault. This was not a storming attempt; the failed first assault had come in mid-June.
Raymond of Aguilers says clergy carrying crosses and saints' relics led the procession, followed by knights and other able-bodied men with trumpets, standards and arms.
The participants walked barefoot.
Reconciliation at the Mount of Olives
The priest Peter Desiderius had claimed, Raymond reports, that the dead papal legate Adhemar of Le Puy appeared to him and ordered fasting, purification and a barefoot circuit of the city.
At the Mount of Olives the participants were exhorted to forgive one another. Raymond reports a public reconciliation and the giving of offerings.
He took part in the crusade himself, but his narrative interprets events providentially and should not be read as neutral reportage.
Nothing fell that day
Jerusalem's defenders watched from the walls and mocked the procession and its crosses.
The city neither surrendered nor fell, and the crusaders returned to their siege work afterward.
The next general assault began on 13 July, and Jerusalem was breached and captured on 15 July.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited
How this was checked
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What the sources leave uncertain
- The date is given in the Julian calendar used by the Latin chroniclers and is conventionally rendered as 8 July 1099.
- Raymond of Aguilers participated in the crusade, but his narrative interprets events providentially and should not be read as neutral reportage.
- The exact speakers at the Mount of Olives vary in later reconstructions; the securely supported core is the clergy-led barefoot procession, fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and reconciliation.
Checked against
- Raymond of Aguilers, account of the siege of Jerusalem
- Dickinson College Commentaries, Anonymi Gesta Francorum 10.38.2
- Dr. Simon John, “The First Crusade and the capture of Jerusalem on 15 July 1099”
- Fordham Medieval Sourcebook, “The Siege and Capture of Jerusalem: Collected Accounts”
- “Jerusalem 1099: From Muslim to Christian City”