Download The Disaster of the Popular Crusade

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Disaster of the Popular Crusade
On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II made a call to action to his fellow
Catholics at the Council of Clermont to help their Eastern Orthodox brethren from
the cruel Muslims in the East. No one that day, even Urban II, could fathom the
incredible response throughout Europe that his moving speech would create. Within
months, armies, and groups of pilgrims started to gather in Western Europe and
make the long journey to Constantinople and hopefully to the Holy Land. The first
wave of the First Crusade to travel southeast was considered the Popular Crusade or
the People’s Crusade. The humble names correlate to the large numbers of
commoners within these groups that traveled across Europe. Many of these
commoners along with knights and nobles had different intentions to make a trek to
Jerusalem. These intentions were as varied as opening the route for Christians to
enter the Holy Land, helping the Eastern Orthodox Byzantines, gaining land and
wealth and some only wanted to kill the “non-believers”. After six months of
traveling, pillaging, murdering, the Popular Crusade would end in an enormous
disaster with little to nothing accomplished. The Popular Crusade failed miserably
because of bad planning, a rag-tag army and pilgrims, and a lack of supplies that left
the groups vulnerable from all foes along the way.
The famed speech at the Council of Clermont that was responsible for
starting the First Crusade was actually not recorded word for word. The best
conclusion to what Urban said is to piece together what the most reliable
chroniclers had in common. Urban probably spoke of the Muslims who “invaded the
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lands of [the Byzantines] and has depopulated them by sword, pillage and fire”1.
The chroniclers point to Urban speaking about the atrocities committed by the
Muslims on the Byzantines and that the Greeks needed assistance. He also spoke of
the ability to forgive sins of the participants if they went on the crusade, which was a
new proposition for the time2. This would allure many people in Europe to go
crusading because of the difficulty to remove sins at the time.
With the Pope issuing a call-to-arms for the Christians, this could be
considered a start of a Christian “Just War”. Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas
originally conceived the idea and set rules for properly conducting warfare. The first
rule required a “monarch should have the power of undertaking war if he thinks it
advisable”3. The other rules require the war to be for a just cause and “seeks the
peace of mankind”4. These rules make many wars hard to conduct if followed
strictly. But many Crusaders saw this expedition as a Just War because the Pope
called for it, their Christian brothers were in trouble and they were going to
eliminate the Muslims from the Holy Lands.
By March and into April 1096, there were already groups leaving for
Constantinople. One of the leaders, Peter the Hermit from Amiens, France, “lived as
“The Speech of Urban: The Version of Robert of Rheims,” in The First Crusades:
The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed. Edward Peters,
2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 27.
2 “The First Crusade I,” in History 3113: The Crusades (University of Oklahoma,
2014)
3 Augustine of Hippo on Just War, Augustine: The Writings against the Manicheans,
in The Crusades: A Reader, ed. S. J. Allen and Emilie Amt, Readings in Medieval
Civilization and Cultures 8 (Toronto: Broadway Press, 2003), 8.
4 Ibid., 8.
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a hermit, dressed as a monk”5 and was known to be a simple man, commonly seen
”wearing a woolen shirt, and over it a mantle reaching to his ankles” and also rode a
mule6. Being a hermit, Peter was a very pious man and genially wanted to go to
Jerusalem to open up pilgrimage routes for the Europeans, which was a reason he
wanted to start a crusade in 10957. Peter was a great speaker and astonished these
pilgrims, a chronicler said, “whatever he did or said it seemed as if there was
something divine”8. This humble hermit preached throughout northern France and
went city-to-city recruiting followers. By Easter, Peter had gathered more than
15,000 people, including knights, foot soldiers, peasants, women and the elderly 9
and also found fellow leader Walter the Penniless10. These common people that
Peter recruited were known to be “sinful, adulters, homicides, thieves, perjures and
robbers”11. This group was very diverse and rough, which included the clergy,
nobles and criminals and were led by a very pious preacher. As a hermit, Peter
probably saw the good in all his followers, even if they were criminals. This poor
judge of character would eventually lead to the People’s Crusades’ downfall. Walter
the Penniless was so moved by Peter’s preaching that he went ahead and left to
“Peter the Hermit: The Version of Guibert of Nogent,” in The First Crusades: The
Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed. Edward Peters, 2nd
ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 103.
6 Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 39, 40.
7 Ibid., 40.
8 Ibid., 40.
9 Ibid., 40.
10 “Peter the Hermit: The Version of Albert of Aachen,” in The First Crusades: The
Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed. Edward Peters, 2nd
ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 104.
11 “Albert of Aachen on the Peasants’ Crusade”, in The Crusades: A Reader, ed. S. J.
Allen and Emilie Amt, Readings in Medieval Civilization and Cultures 8 (Toronto:
Broadway Press, 2003), 48.
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Constantinople early, which caused Peter to have to follow suit12. With this
premature start to the crusade, the groups of travelers did not have time to
organize, train or gather enough supplies for such a long journey. These groups
could have gathered in Europe for a couple more months and waited for the second
wave to leave so they could have a better chance of success. The sudden start also
left many war hungry Germans behind13. These people would commit some of the
worst atrocities of the First Crusade and turn a pilgrimage to the Holy Land into a
massacre of innocent Jews.
The groups of pilgrims and soldiers that headed toward Constantinople were
an interesting assortment of people. The most detrimental people of the groups
were the criminals or sinful characters, as mentioned before. These people probably
had very little understanding of Christian principles or what a Just War was. A
couple weeks after the expedition started, the Germans already had their own
agenda about what they wanted to accomplish during the crusade. By the start of
May 1096, a mob had formed, set out to kill any non-believers and the Jews
happened to be not too far away14. The first Jewish victims were in Speyer. A
Christian chronicler did not know “whether by a judgment of the Lord, or by some
error of mind, they rose in a spirit of cruelty against the Jewish people … and
slaughtered them without mercy”15. The Speyer attack was poorly planned and
Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 40.
13 Ibid., 40.
14 Ibid., 41.
15 “The Slaughter of the Jews: The Version of Albert of Aachen,” in The First
Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 110.
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killed only eleven Jews. After a bishop saved the Jews and turned away the angry
mob they set their sights on Worms16. When the mob arrived, the Jews of Worms
either fled to the towns’ bishops or stayed in their homes17 but neither worked and
the “entire Jewish Community was eliminated”18. In the next town, Mainz, Count
Emico first appeared to lead the mob. Ekkehard, a monk of Corvey, would describe
him as “a man long of very ill repute on account of his tyrannical mode of life”19. The
Jewish chroniclers would begin by saying “the wicked [Emico]- may his bones be
ground up”20 to start their descriptions of the horrors. At Maniz the worst of the
atrocities occurred and Emico lived up to being a “religious fanatic and a
bloodthirsty warrior”21. The Jews of Maniz were alerted earlier of the horrors at
Speyer and Worms and decided to find safety with Bishop Rothard22. The leaders of
the town opened up the gates to appease the crusaders but they thought the gates
opening was a sign of God and they said, “that we might avenge [Jesus’] blood on the
Jews”23. The mob went after every sex, age,24 and pregnant women and even their
Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 41.
17 “Gezerot Tatnu 4856/1096: The Version of the Anonymous of Mainz,” in The First
Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 115.
18 Ibid., 41.
19 Ibid., 112.
20 Ibid., 120.
21 Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 42.
22 “The Slaughter of the Jews: The Version of Albert of Aachen,” in The First
Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 110.
23 “Gezerot Tatnu 4856/1096: The Version of the Anonymous Mainz,” in The First
Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 120.
24 Ibid., 110.
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unborn children were not spared25. There were even reports of self-sacrifice to
avoid being converted26, including a mother killing her children so they didn’t have
to be killed by Christians27. A Christian chronicler concluded, “the hand of the Lord
is believed to have been against the pilgrims, who had sinned by excessive impurity
and fornication, and who had slaughtered the exiled Jews through greed of money
rather than for the sake of God’s justice”28. The mob continued on to Cologne, where
another slaughter would occur29. So why would these Christians do such
horrendous atrocities? Obviously, these people were quite wicked, but also, a mob
can bring out the worst in people and it certainly did in this case. A person lost in all
of this was Peter the Hermit. While Peter was previously gathering followers, he
gave the “reminder that the Christians believed that the Jews had been responsible
for the crucifixion of Christ”30. This was a terrible thing for Peter to preach,
especially to uneducated criminals who thought it was their duty to kill the Jews for
Christ. Due to all the murdering and plundering in Germany by Emico and his forces,
the King of Hungary refused Emico to travel through his country31. The frustrated
Emico decided to besiege a Hungarian stronghold but after “three weeks… his army
was defeated, his men dispersed, and [Emico] was forced to turn back to
“Gezerot Tatnu 4856/1096: The Version of the Anonymous Mainz,” in The First
Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 119.
26 Ibid., 117.
27 Ibid,. 122.
28 Ibid., 111.
29 Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 42.
30 Ibid., 41.
31 Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 43.
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Germany”32. After the tragedies of Jews in Germany, the groups would continue
south to Hungary. If the blunder of the Jewish massacres were not already a terrible
leadership mistake, there would be more to follow the pilgrims.
After the journey through Germany, Peter the Hermit and the other leaders
of the groups had to enter Byzantine occupied Hungary to reach Constantinople. In
the first groups, Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless faced a dyer issue,
supplies. Peter and Walter had to raise money for horses and military weapons and
most importantly needing food for everyone, including all of the pilgrims and
horses33. The groups had to either pack enough supplies for the long journey, but
that required more supplies to carry,. They could also buy food along the way or
they could pillage the countryside34. Walter could have made it through hostile
Hungary with plenty of supplies and money but the group once again faced
problems35. While traveling through Semlin, there were stragglers in the city that
stayed after Walter’s main group had left. The remaining pilgrims ended up being
“robbed… of arms, garments, gold and silver and so let them depart, naked and
empty-handed”36. Farther in Hungary, Walter’s group was not allowed to buy
anything in the town of Belgrade and so the famished crusaders went out to pillage
Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 43.
33 Ibid., 43.
34 Ibid., 43.
35 Ibid., 44.
36 “Albert of Aachen on the Peasants’ Crusade”, in The Crusades: A Reader, ed. S. J.
Allen and Emilie Amt, Readings in Medieval Civilization and Cultures 8 (Toronto:
Broadway Press, 2003), 48.
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instead37. The pillagers took the cattle and sheep that were along the countryside for
their food. The pilgrims outraged the Bulgarians and the two groups met in combat
within a chapel where 60 pilgrims were burned to death38 and “the Bulgarians
inflicted grave wounds”39. The troubles did not end there, in Semlin, more conflict
occurred over the robbery of Walter’s men. The group went back to the Hungarian
city in revenge and actually took the town40. Peter tried to stay out of the conflict
and traveled south to Nish. With some cleaver negotiation, Peter’s group was able to
buy supplies in the city. But once again the troublesome Germans, who were
outside the city, set mills ablaze. This enraged the Byzantines, and they sent soldiers
to silence the pilgrims. Around a quarter of his followers died in this ordeal41. After
this violence, Walter and Peter’s groups were able to reach Constantinople
peacefully by August 1, 109642. These pilgrims survived many perils from the other
travelers killing innocent Jews, conflicts within Hungary, pillaging because of a lack
of food but they finally reached their first goal, which was Constantinople.
The last and most deadly problem the crusaders would face in the People’s
Crusade was from a lack of supplies. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius Comnenus,
looked forward to meeting with Peter the Hermit and told him to reach
Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 44.
38 Ibid., 44.
39 “Albert of Aachen on the Peasants’ Crusade”, in The Crusades: A Reader, ed. S. J.
Allen and Emilie Amt, Readings in Medieval Civilization and Cultures 8 (Toronto:
Broadway Press, 2003), 49.
40 Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 45.
41 Ibid., 45.
42 Ibid., 45.
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Constantinople quickly. When Peter reached the city, Alexius gave Peter gifts 43 and
“urged him to await the arrival of the other counts”44. Peter’s followers were left
outside of the city because Alexius “feared the incursion of the people, for he had
already experienced the savage fury, their fickleness of mind, and their readiness to
approach anything with violence”45. Alexius instructed Peter to wait to cross the
Bosphorus and not enter Turkish lands; his group would be able to buy to goods and
supplies46. The pilgrims said peaceful for two months but they either ran out of
money to pay for food or the crusaders got bored, but either way, they wanted to go
out and pillage47. The crusaders “conducted themselves very badly… they tore
down and burned buildings … [stole parts off churches] and sold it to the Greeks”48.
Alexius was furious with these people, who he treated so kindly, and ordered them
to cross the Bosphorus immediately49. After crossing the strait, the group continued
to pillage, “burning and plundering houses and churches,”50 once again a mob had
ensued. They continued to Xerogord, where they took the city for its “ample supply
Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 45.
44 “The End of the “Crusade of the People”: The Version of Anna Comnena,” in The
First Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 144.
45 Ibid., 143.
46 Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396, Jill N.
Claster, (Toronto, University of Toronto, 2009), 45.
47 Ibid., 45.
48 “The End of the “Crusade of the People”: The Gesta Version,” in The First
Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 144.
49 Ibid., 144.
50 Ibid., 144.
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of grain, wine and meat, and an abundance of all goods”51. With all of this terror, the
Turks were alerted and sent troops to the city. The Turks shut off the water supply
for the crusaders and the “people were in such distress from thirst that they bled
their horses … and drank their blood”52. After eight days, an agreement was settled
to either convert to Islam and become slaves or face death53. The Turks then went to
Civitote where the rest of the group, including Walter the Penniless was located to
finish off the crusaders54. The Turks killed the crusaders who were “sleeping, some
laying down, others naked” the ones who could escape fled into the sea, forest and
mountains55. Before the Turks arrived, Peter the Hermit had gone back to
Constantinople because the mob had gotten too out of control56. Another account
said the emperor sent Catacalon Constantine Euphorbenus on a war vessel to
Helenopolis to save Peter the Hermit57. The more likely scenario was the first, in
which the peaceful Peter could not contain the vicious mob and traveled back to
Byzantine territory58. The People’s Crusade was finished by October 1096 and it
ended gruesomely for the pilgrims and crusaders. Very few from the journey made
it to Constantinople and most of the remaining followers did not survived after
“The End of the “Crusade of the People”: The Gesta Version,” in The First
Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 145.
52 Ibid., 145.
53 Ibid., 145.
54 Ibid., 145.
55 Ibid., 146.
56 Ibid., 145.
57 “The Byzantines Save Peter the Hermit: The Version of Anna Comnena,” in The
First Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 151.
58 “The End of the “Crusade of the People”: The Gesta Version,” in The First
Crusades: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, ed.
Edward Peters, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971), 145.
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crossing the Bosphorus. Peter the Hermit was the only leader to make it back to
Constantinople alive.
The People’s Crusade was a failure from the beginning, middle and end.
Nothing of importance was accomplished for Peter the Hermit and the other
travelers. Every step on the journey, marked misfortunes and anytime it seemed like
the pilgrims were making progress, the criminals among them got out of line and
reeked havoc throughout Europe and into the East. The problems of initial planning
from Peter’s part, the mob mentality of the followers, and lack of used supplies
doomed the People’s Crusade.
The expedition was supposed to open the path for pilgrims to enter
Jerusalem and help their Eastern Orthodox brothers but the expedition only showed
how bad mankind can be. The only good, for the Christians, that came from the
People’s Crusade was that the Turks expected future crusaders to be as feeble as
Peter and Walter’s group had been. Nevertheless, the People’s Crusade did much
more bad than good and made all Christians look like hypocrites to the teachings of
Christ and the message of Pope Urban II. Ironically, the leader of this failed journey,
Peter the Hermit, gathered all these people for a trek for Christ and ended up seeing
almost all of them plunder, murder and eventually be killed before anything could
accomplished.