Nebuchadnezzar's Dream: The Crusades, Apocalyptic Prophecy, and the End of History

In 1099, the soldiers of the First Crusade took Jerusalem. As the news of this victory spread throughout Medieval Europe, it felt nothing less than miraculous and dream-like, to such an extent that many believed history itself had been fundamentally altered by the event and that the Rapture was at hand. As a result of military conquest, Christians could see themselves as agents of rather than mere actors in their own salvation.

The capture of Jerusalem changed everything. A loosely defined g...