of the Holy Sepulcher.

[Sidenote: _Christ Expected 1000 A. D._]

It is also to be remembered that prophecy had been interpreted to mean
that in the year 1000 A. D. Christ would appear and set up His
millennial kingdom. This greatly stimulated the pilgrimages to the Holy
Land, as it did all other phases of devotion. Thousands felt that it
would be well to be at the scene of the cross and of the resurrection
when Christ came with His angels. It were well they should be near where
He ascended, whether they were living or dead when He came.

[Sidenote: _Haroun Dead Persecution Follows_]

Persecutions followed the death of the great Caliph, particularly in
the sultanate of Egypt. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was destroyed.
Other Christian buildings shared the same fate. Then as now, the Jews
had to suffer from suspicions created by their voluntary segregation as
well as by their forced isolation. The Christians in France heard that
the French Jews had sent word to the Sultan Hakim that a great Christian
invasion of the Holy Land was intended. This led to a revenge, the
justice of which in any degree remains unsettled to this day.

[Sidenote: _Toll for Entering Jerusalem_]

Unexpected calm came to Palestine through the development of the
maritime powers of Italy, which could fall on Hakim's dominions at will.
The largest annoyance of the pilgrims for awhile was the enforced
payment of a toll for entering Jerusalem, established near this time by
the Mohammedan powers. In the cooler blood of historical inquiry to-day,
we can not wonder at a tax which failed at its greatest height to meet
the increased cost of government when thousands of pilgrims were added
to the population of Jerusalem and its environs. But it was often gladly
paid by those who could, and the gates of Jerusalem were opened by the
richer pilgrims for those to whom it was an impossible or severe
burden.

[Sidenote: _Christianity now Wealthy_]

Christianity had now attained a history of a thousand years. It had
climbed to stately thrones and to cathedrals. Princes of great names,
like Robert of Normandy, and bishops who were also secular princes made
the pilgrimage and returned to speak with authority on the attractions
of the holy places and on the shame of the infidel's domination.

[Sidenote: _Pilgrimage Guaranteed Pardon_]

In the shrewd management of the Church at this time, pilgrimages were
substituted for penances, and troublesome sinners