The Crusader Rebranding of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount

Abstract

This article explores the Temple Mount under crusader rule. It examines how the space was transformed physically and, more importantly, how it was spiritually re-branded to fit into the new sacred geography of crusader Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock was consecrated as a church, known as the Templum Domini and was associated primarily with the story of Jesus forgiving the adulteress about to be stoned. The site also became the place of confession for pilgrims. Therefore this site absorbed the original purpose of the Jewish Temple, the forgiveness of sins, but reworked to fit with Christian doctrine, namely the rite of confession. Likewise the Al-Aqsa mosque, which the Muslim sources before 1099 argued was Solomon’s Temple, was recast by the crusaders as Solomon’s house or palace shortly after the conquest. This happened because the mosque became the royal palace under Baldwin I.