ABSTRACT
For much of the twelfth century, pilgrimage and crusade were closely linked. Pilgrimage provided the geographical goals of the earliest crusades, which focused first on Jerusalem and then on the holy areas around it, such as Judaea and Galilee. There was frequently an overlap of personnel between pilgrimage and crusading, as crusaders ended their crusade by going on pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and pilgrims were frequently called upon to fight to protect the Holy Land. Just as pilgrimage provided the goals of the First Crusade, the crusade itself stimulated Latin Christian pilgrim interest in the Holy Land.1 It made it possible for increasing numbers of these pilgrims to visit the holy sites by establishing a permanent settlement of western Europeans (‘Franks’) in the Holy Land, which first conquered, then repaired and developed the holy sites. Pilgrimage in Europe also altered as a result of the crusades, as returning pilgrims and crusaders created new pilgrimage foci with the sacred relics with which they returned. In some cases they created substitute Jerusalems for those who could not make the journey themselves. Most of the Latin kingdom and holy sites, including Jerusalem, were lost to Saladin in 1187, but the focus of crusade and pilgrimage remained the same, as the Third Crusade sought to regain Jerusalem.
