The Temple Mount/Ḥaram al-Sharīf as a Space of Interreligious Coexistence and Tolerance During the Crusader Period, 1099–1187

This article examines the transformation of the Temple Mount/Ḥaram al-Sharīf from a scene of massacre and Christian appropriation in 1099 into a space of limited interreligious coexistence during the second half of the twelfth century. Drawing on Christian, Muslim, and Jewish travel accounts, it argues that, from the 1160s onward, the Franks permitted Jews and Muslims to enter the esplanade and worship there, while continuing to restrict their residence in Jerusalem. This change reflected a combination of Frankish acculturation in the Levant, economic pragmatism, and growing Byzantine influence under Manuel I Komnenos. Yet tolerance was selective and spatially differentiated. While non-Christians could pray on the Temple Mount/Ḥaram al-Sharīf, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron was closed to them. The article therefore identifies a significant but bounded reorientation of Frankish policy toward non-Christian worship in Frankish holy sites.