The bell no longer summoned the faithful to prayer; and the pomp of ceremonies was forbidden them.

It was far worse when Omar, the most moderate of Mussulman fanatics, had left Jerusalem.

The faithful were driven from their houses, and insulted in their churches; additions were made to the tribute they had to pay to the new masters of Palestine; they were prohibited from carrying arms and riding on horseback; a girdle of leather, which they might not lay aside, was their badge of servitude; their conquerors brooked not even that the Christians should speak the Arab tongue, reserved for disciples of the Koran; and the Christian people of Jerusalem had not the right of nominating their own patriarch without the intervention of the Saracens.
From the seventh to the eleventh century the situation remained very much the same.

The Mussulmans, khalifs of Egypt or Persia, continued in possession of Jerusalem; and the Christians, native inhabitants or foreign visitors, continued to be oppressed, harassed, and humiliated there.

At two periods their condition was temporarily better.