CRUSADES 



P \:\ed by liis successor, Urlwin II., an able and 

 Immune m.-ui, \\ ho>e s\ inpathieti were kindled by 

 tin- Imrninx /cul of iVter tin- Hermit, u native 

 ..I Aniien-, in Franco, who had made a pilgrimage 

 t.> the Holy Land, nix I witnessed the cruel ties^perpe- 

 t ruled by the Turks. He was now traversing Europe, 

 patching everywhere to crowds in the oi>en air, 

 ami producing the most extraordinary enthtuiMOQ 

 by hi-- impassioned descriptions of how pilgrims 

 munleretl, rohl>ed, or beaten ; how shrines 

 nml holy pluees were desecrated ; and how nothing 

 Imt greed restrained the rutiian Turks (who made 

 the Christians pay heavy taxes for their visits to 

 Jerusalem) from destroying the Holy Sepulchre, 

 ami extirpating every vestige of Christianity in the 

 land. As soon us the feelings of Europe had been 

 sulliciently heated, Urban openly took up the ques- 

 tion. Two councils were held in 1093. At the 

 second, held at Cleriuont, in France, a crusade was 

 definitely resolved on. The pope himself delivered 

 a stirring address to a vast multitude of clergy and 

 laymen, and as he proceeded, the pent-up emotions 

 of the crowd burst forth, and cries of Deus vult 

 ( ' ( !<>d wills it ' ) rose simultaneously from the whole 

 audience. 'This tumultuous cry,' savs Hallam, 

 ' which broke from the heart and lips of tl>e assembly 

 at Cleriuont, affords at once the most obvious and 

 mo>t certain explanation of the leading principle of 

 the crusades.' These words, Deus vult, by the 

 injunction of Urban, were made the war-cry of the 

 enterprise, and every one that embarked in it wore, 

 as a badge, the sign of the cross ; hence the name 

 Qntttode ( Fr. croisade, from Lat. crux, ' a cross ' ). 



First Crusade. From all parts of Europe thou- 

 sands upon thdusands hurried at the summons of 

 the pope to engage in the holy war. ' The most 

 distant islands and savage countries,' says William 

 of Malmesbury, ' were inspired with this ardent 

 passion. The Welshman left his hunting, the 

 Scotchman his fellowship with vermin, the Dane 

 his drinking- party, the Norwegian his raw fish.' 

 It is said that in the spring of 1096 not less than 

 6,000,000 souls were in motion towards Palestine. 

 This, however, must be a huge exaggeration. 

 What we do know positively is, that previous to 

 the setting out of the great hosts or European 

 chivalry, four armies if disorderly multitudes 

 deserve that name amounting in all to 275,000 

 persons, had departed for Palestine. The first con- 

 sisted of 20,000 foot, and was commanded by a 

 Burgundian gentleman, Walter the Penniless. It 

 marched through Hungary, but was cut to pieces by 

 the natives of Bulgaria, only a few, among whom 

 was Walter himself, escaping to Constantinople. 

 The second, consisting of 40,000 men, women, and 

 children, was led by Peter the Hermit. It followed 

 the same route as its predecessor, and reached 

 Constantinople greatly reduced in numbers. Here 

 the two united, crossed the Bosporus, and were 

 utterly defeated by the Turks at Nicrea, the 

 capital of Bithynia. A third expedition of a 

 similar kind, composed of 15,000 Germans, led by a 

 priest named Gottschalk, was dispersed with ter- 

 rible slaughter in Hungary ; which also proved the 

 grave of the fourth, a horde consisting of about 

 200,000 wretches from France, England, Flanders, 

 and Lorraine, who had swept along through Ger- 

 many, committing horrible ravages, especially 

 against the Jews, whom they murdered without 

 mercy. Now, however, the real crusaders made 

 their appearance : the gentry, the yeomanry, and 

 the serfs of feudal Europe, under chiefs of the first 

 rank and renown. In this, the most successful 

 of the crusades, neither the emperor nor any of 

 the kings of the West participated ; and to this 

 circumstance was doubtless due its more fortun- 

 ate termination. Six armies appeared in the 

 field, marching separately, and at considerable 

 142 



intervals of time. Their respective leaders were 

 (iodfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine; Hugh 

 the Great, Count of Vernmndois, and brother of 

 Philippe, king of France ; Roljert CurthoHC, Duke 

 of Normandy, the BOII of William the Conuueror; 

 Count Robert of Flanders; Bohemond, Prince of 

 Tarentum, son of the famous Gubward, under 

 whom was Tancred, the favourite hero of all the 

 historians of the crusade ; and lastly, Count Ray- 

 mond of Toulouse. The place of rendezvous was 

 Constantinople. The Greek emperor, Alexius, 

 afraid that so magnificent a host there were io 

 all not less than 600,000 men, exclusive of women 

 and priests might be induced to conquer lands 

 for themselves, cajoled all the leaders, excepting 

 Tancred and Count Raymond, into solemnly a>-- 

 knowledging themselves his liegemen as long as 

 they remained in his territory. After some time 

 spent in feasting, the crusaders crossed into Asia 

 Minor accompanied by the unfortunate Peter the 

 Hermit. Here their first step was the siege and 

 capture of Nicrea, the capital of Sultan Soliman, 

 24th June 1097. This monarch was also defeated 

 by Bohemond, Tancred, and Godfrey, at Dory- 

 heuni. Baldwin, brother of Godfrey, now crossed 

 into Mesopotamia, where he obtained the princi- 

 pality of Edessa. After some time, the crusaders 

 reached Syria, and laid siege to Antioch. For 

 seven months the city held out, and the ranks of 

 the besiegers were fearfully thinned by famine and 

 disease. Many even brave warriors lost heart, 

 and began to desert. Melancholy to relate, among 

 the deserters was the poor enthusiast who had 

 inspired the enterprise. Peter was actually several 

 miles on his way home when he was overtaken 

 by the soldiers of Tancred, and brought back 

 to undergo a public reprimand. At length, on 

 the 3d of June 1098, Antioch was taken, and 

 the inhabitants were massacred by the infuriated 

 crusaders, who were in their turn besieged by an 

 army of 200,000 Mohammedans sent by the Persian 

 sultan. Once more famine and pestilence did their 

 deadly work. Multitudes also deserted, and escap- 

 ing over the walls, carried the news of the sad 

 condition of the Christians back to Europe. But 

 again victory crowned the efforts of the besieged. 

 On the 28th June 1098 the Mohammedans were 

 utterly routed, and the way to Jerusalem opened. 

 It was on a bright summer morning (1099) that 

 40,000 crusaders, the miserable remnant of that 

 vast array which two years before had laid siege 

 to Nicjea, obtained their first glimpse of Jerusalem. 

 On the 15th of July, after a siege of rather more 

 than five weeks, the grand object of the expe- 

 dition was realised. Jerusalem was delivered from 

 the hands of the infidel. As on the occasion of 

 all the triumphs of these first crusaders, a horrible 

 massacre ensued. Religious enthusiasm, evoking 

 the intensest and most strangely mingled passions, 

 naturally led to these excesses on the part of men 

 reared in the fiercest times of feudalism. Eight 

 days after the capture of the city, Godfrey of 

 Pioiiillon was unanimously elected king of Jeru- 

 salem. His kingdom, at first comprising little 

 more than the mere city of Jerusalem, was gradu- 

 ally extended by conquest until it included the 

 whole of Palestine. A language resembling Nor- 

 man French was established, a code of feudal 

 laws drawn up Jerusalem was erected into a 

 patriarchate, and Bethlehem into a bishopric. 

 The best part of Asia Minor was restored to 

 the Greek empire, while Bohemond became Prince 

 of Antioch. For nearly fifty years, the three 

 Latin principalities or kingdoms of the East 

 Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem not only main- 

 tained themselves against the attacks of the 

 Mohammedans of Egypt and Syria, but greatly 

 increased in size, power, and wealth. At Jeru- 



