First Crusade

In November 1095, Pope Urban II preached a Crusade to the east in Clermont after receiving a plea for aid from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I. It resulted in a mass movement of people from France, Italy and Germany towards the Holy Land. Their journey would bring them down through the Balkans, towards Constantinople, a perilous journey across Anatolia and a sequence of savage encounters with Islamic forces. Attrition was devastating, and estimations of the size of the Crusader forces at the siege of Jerusalem were as low 1,200-1,300 knights and 12,000 foot. The First Crusade resulted in the establishment of a string of Christian states along the eastern coast – The Principality of Antioch, The County of Edessa, The County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Origins

In 1071, the Seljuk Turks fought and defeated the Byzantines at the battle of Manzikert. This set in sequence a chain of events leading to a plea from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I to seek aid from the Christians of the west. He was expecting a compact and professional group of soldiers to come to his aid, but instead he received a mass movement of people overcome with religious zeal in an attempt to liberate Jerusalem.

At the Council of Clermont Pope Urban II preached the idea of the crusade to the gathered bishops and ecclesiastics of France. The enthusiasm was startling, and the idea spread. Urban had in mind a military expedition to the east, and had beforehand acquired the support of the Raymond of Toulouse, a powerful and wealthy secular leader, and the great ecclesiastical magnate Adhemar of Le Puy. In the meantime, the idea had caught the fascination of the poor, helped to no end by the charismatic Peter the Hermit, who went on to organise and lead the People’s Crusade.

In his effort to organise a highly efficient military expedition, many important magnate were persuaded to join. Raymond of Toulouse, Robert of Normandy, Robert of Flanders, Stephen of Blois, Hugh of Vermandois, Godfrey of Bouillon (Later to become secular ruler of Jerusalem) and Bohemond of Taranto were all very important, powerful men. They were the ‘Princes’ of the so named ‘Princes Crusade’. They were followed by many of their vassals and others of equivalent rank. It has often been asserted that these men were moved by the prospect of material gain, but scholars have since the 1980’s moved to squash this idea. For example, the possibility of gain in the east was a gamble, leading to the conclusion that It is hard to believe that most crusaders were motivated by crude materialism... It makes much more sense to suppose, in so far as one can generalise about them, that they were moved by idealism.

To the lower class of nobles, the Crusade offered the chance of adventure and social mobility. Baldwin of Boulogne, for example, was the younger brother of Godfrey of Bouillon. His experience on the Crusade lead to him becoming Prince of Edessa and later King of Jerusalem. Land was an important factor in motivating military men to go on Crusade. After the victory at Ascalon following the conquest of Jerusalem, only around 300 knights and 2,000 foot remained with Godfrey as ruler of Jerusalem, leading for most of them wealthier lands and riches in the east than they ever could have achieved in Europe. For Bohemond, who was to become Prince of Antioch, his social status was elevated substantially. He was amongst the lesser nobles in terms of wealth and status before the departure of the Crusade but his military triumphs and growing reputation as a fierce soldier, especially over Ridwan of Aleppo and Kerbogha during the Siege of Antioch cemented his new status and reputation. For the Italian city states, the allure of new trade routes, which would threaten the dominance of The Fatimid cities of Egypt and Constantinople became a huge motivation. They provided naval supremacy along with the Byzantines during the Crusades, often helping with reinforcements, provisions and siege expertise (Particularly at the siege of Jerusalem).

Urban phrased his appeal for Holy War in 1095 in the context of remission of sin. The growing religious intensity of the age, signified by the Investiture Contest, along with the Christianising evolution of the knighted, military class, meant that the promise of the remission of sin was extremely appealing to a religious, warrior aristocracy. It is easy to overemphasise the religious motivation of Crusaders, but it was common for the Christian knight to seek both genuine religious redemption and wealth in the form of captured booty from the enemy and all these factors helped in the process of preaching and organising the great expedition to the east.

The Peoples Crusade

The widespread religious zeal that the preaching of the crusade whipped up lead to a pogrom against the Jews in Germany. For many, the prospect of a long and terrible march over Europe and Asia Minor to fight the infidel seemed remote when there were infidels living amongst them in their own towns and cities. The massacres of the Jews as the crusaders departed from Western Germany was a result of the religious frenzy the Crusades inspired. More generally, it displayed the popular support the Crusaders now enjoyed, as the masses were quickly caught up in the general enthusiasm to take the cross.

The charismatic wandering preacher – Peter the Hermit – quickly became a symbol of the lower orders devotion to the taking of the cross. The preaching of crusade was most intense amongst the humbler clergy. Although Urban asked his bishops to preach the crusade, by far the most effective preaching was taken by men such as Robert of Arbrissel and Peter. Peter was an oldish man, born near Amiens, who had tried to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem years earlier but had been maltreated by the Turks and forced to turn back. His clothes were filthy, he rode a humble donkey barefooted and his appeal to the peasantry was overwhelming. Throughout February and March 1095 he traversed through Orleannais, Champagne, Lorainne, Meuse, Aachen, and to Cologne, where he spent Easter. As he went he gathered disciples, most notable of which being Walter Sans Avoir, Rainald of Breis, Geoffrey Burel and Walter of Breteuil, and the Germans Orel and Gottschalk. By the time he reached Cologne his following numbered around 15,000 men, women and children, and many more joined him in Germany.

Realising the immense logistical challenge of maintaining and feeding such a vast array of peasants and lesser nobles, Peter decided to halt in Cologne for some time in order to continue preaching the cross and persuade some of the German nobility to join him. In Flanders and France the local nobility preferred to travel with the expedition of their Lord who was to go on Crusade, but no great German Prince was going to the Holy Land. Among the many Germans he persuaded to take the cross were several of the lesser nobility, such as Count Henry of Schwarzenberg, Walter of Teck and the three counts of Zimmern.

From Cologne, the People’s Crusade marched overland through Hungary and crossed the Byzantine border around June 11. There were some clashes and disturbances, such as the sixty pilgrims killed in Belgrade because the market refused to trade with them, but Walter Sans Avoirs was well received by the Imperial authorities and was hastened on their way to Constantinople, where they arrived in mid July 1096.

The army travelled separately, but were eventually ferried over the Bosporus by the Emperor Alexius after they had pillaged the area surrounding Constantinople. Here they pillaged the lands around the city of Nicea, and were eventually massacred by the Turks at Civetot. Peter, who had stayed behind in Constantinople, later joined the Prince’s Crusade along with the remaining survivors of the Peoples Crusade.

The Princes Crusade

Europe to Constantinople

The western princes that had taken the cross were in less of a hurry to depart for the Holy Land than the common people of the People’s Crusade. Following the Pope’s Timetable for departure, they organised their properties and prepared the governance of their lands in their absence. The first to leave was the brother of King Philip, Hugh of Vermandois. He brought with him a small contingent of his own vassals and some of the men in his brother’s service. It is unknown what his motives would have been for taking the cross but it is likely that he felt some pressure from his brother, who had been excommunicated and therefore barred from taking the cross by Urban II. It is also likely that he saw in the east an opportunity to pursue the power and riches due to his high birth which he lacked in the west. Before he left he sent a special messenger to the Emperor to arrange for his reception with the honours due to a prince of royal blood.

Hugh and his company passed by Rome and arrived at Bari in early October. In southern Italy they found the Norman princes themselves preparing for the Crusade; and Bohemund’s nephew William decided not to wait for his relatives but to travel with Hugh. From Bari he sent an embassy to Dyrrhachium to inform the governor of his imminent arrival and to demand a suitable reception for a man of his high birth. Hugh’s arrival was not as dignified as he may have planned. His flotilla was wrecked by a story and some of the ships foundered with the excess of passengers they carried. Hugh was cast ashore on Cape Palli, a few miles north of Dyrrhachium. The governor’s men found him there in great distress and bewilderment and escorted him to the town, but kept him under supervision. He was met with the greatest courtesy but to many of his followers he was kept a prisoner. Here he was escorted to Constantinople where he was greeted warmly by the Emperor and showered with gifts but continued to restrict his freedom.

Hugh’s arrival forced Alexius to declare his policy towards the western princes. As it soon became more and more apparent, whatever the official reasons for the crusades, the real object of the Franks seemed to be a desire to secure themselves principalities in the east. He did not object to this, so long as the Byzantine Empire recovered the lands it lost to the Turks, and it is possible he liked the possible formation of a friendly Christian buffer state along the Byzantine frontier. Instead he would ensure that the Byzantine Empire become overlord of any future Christian state established. He decided to demand an oath of allegiance from all the western leaders to cover their future conquests. To win their compliance he made grand gestures of wealth and glory, in order that they would not feel their dignity lowered in swearing allegiance to the Empire. Hugh, who had been carefully courted and dazzled by the Emperor, readily fell in with his plans though the other princes were not to be so easily persuaded.

Godfrey of Bouillon, the Duke of Lower Lorraine was the second son of Count Eustace II of Boulogne and of Ida, daughter of Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine. He had been designated as the heir to the possessions of his mothers’ family; but on her father’s death the emperor Henry IV confiscated the duchy, leaving Godfrey only the county of Antwerp and the lordship of Bouillon in the Ardennes. Godfrey came to favour however, when he served the Emperor loyally in his German and Italian campaigns that he was rewarded the duchy as an office (But not as an hereditary fief). Lorraine was heavily influenced by Cluny and the papal reform movement, and though Godfrey remained loyal to the Emperor during the Investiture Contest, it is possible that Cluniac teachings, with its strong papal sympathies began to trouble his and his vassal’s consciences. His administration of Lorraine was inefficient and under scrutiny of the Emperor, and therefore it was a combination of fears of his future in Lorraine, partly from his uneasiness over his religious loyalties, and partly from genuine enthusiasm that he answered the call to the Crusade. He made thorough preparations. After raising money from blackmailing the Jews, he sold some of his estates and was thus able to equip a considerable army. His large force and his former high office gave Godfrey a prestige throughout the crusade. Also on crusade were his two brothers, the elder Eustace III, Count of Boulogne and the younger Baldwin. Eustace was an unenthusiastic crusader, always anxious to return to his rich European lands, but Baldwin would later become the first King of Jerusalem and would consolidate the Frankish grip on the Levant. In Europe Baldwin was not destined either wealth or power of any gravity so the crusade offered him the chance to cement his place in the east as a powerful man. Godfrey’s army decided not to travel through Italy by the route the other crusaders were planning to take. Instead they would travel through Hungary. He left Lorraine in late August, and arrived at the Hungarian frontier at the beginning of October. Crossing Hungary was a difficulty, as the popular crusades had caused some disturbances when they passed through that land. Coming to terms with King Coloman, Godfrey agreed to provide his brother Baldwin as a hostage until his army had passed through the kingdom, and the king further agreed to provide provisions at reasonable rates so long as the crusaders created no disturbances. As the army reached Semlin at the end of November and crossed the Save to Belgrade, Baldwin and the hostages were returned to Godfrey.

On about 12 December Godfrey’s army halted at Selymbria, on the Sea of Marmora. There its discipline, which had hitherto being excellent, suddenly broke down, and for eight days it ravaged the countryside. Godfrey claimed the rumoured imprisonment of Hugh of Vermandois was the reason his army went on pillage. The Emperor quickly sent two Frenchmen under his service to persuade Godfrey to restore order to his army and bid them to come to Constantinople, where they camped outside the city along the upper waters of the Golden Horn on 23 December.

Alexius required an oath of allegiance from Godfrey and sent Hugh to secure this from the Duke. However, Godfrey, who already had sworn an oath to the German Emperor Henry IV refused to swear an oath to the Eastern Emperor. More importantly, he was unwilling to take any important actions until the other princes arrived. Alexius responded to this angrily, shutting off supplies that he had promised to his troops. Baldwin responded by raiding the Constantinople suburbs until Alexius decided to lift the blockade. At the same time Godfrey agreed to move his camp down the Golden Horn to Pera, where it would be better sheltered from the winter winds, and where the Imperial police could watch it closely. Here both sides sat in stalemate, with the Emperor continuing to provide provisions and Godfrey maintaining discipline in his army. Again, in late January Alexius invited Godfrey to see him, but Godfrey was unwilling to commit himself until the other crusaders could join him. He sent his cousin, Baldwin of Le Bourg (Another future King of Jerusalem), Conan of Montaigu and Geoffrey of Esch to the Palace to hear the Emperor’s proposals, but on their return gave no answer. Again both sides decided to wait it out.

At the end of March Alexius learnt that the other Crusading armies would soon arrive at Constantinople. He felt obliged to bring matters to a head, and began to reduce the supplies sent to the Crusader’s camp. The Crusaders responded by making daily raids on the neighbouring villages and eventually came into conflict with the Petcheneg troops that acted as police in the district. In revenge Baldwin set an ambush for the policy, capturing around sixty of them. Encouraged by these small successes, Godfrey decided to move the camp and attack the city itself. After plunder the houses in Pera, he led them across a bridge outside the city walls and began to attack the gate that led to the palace quarter. It is doubtful whether he intended to do more than place pressure on the Emperor, but the Greeks believed that he intended to seize the Empire. It was Holy Thursday in the Easter Holy week and Constantinople was unprepared for the attack. Alexius ordered his men to make a demonstration outside the gates and the archers on the walls were ordered to fire overhead. The Crusaders did not press their attack and retired, after having slain only a handful of Byzantines. The next day Hugh again went out to talk with Godfrey, who taunted him for so readily accepting vassaldom. Envoys from the Emperor suggested that they cross into Asia Minor; Godfrey responded by attacking them without waiting to hear what they might say. Thereafter Alexius decided to bring the affair to an end, and brought men forward to meet the attack. After a brief encounter the Crusaders turned and fled. This brought Godfrey to recognise his weakness; he consented to the oath of allegiance and to have his army transported across the Bosporus.