Chapter XVII · THE CRUSADES

51. Speech of Pope Urban II. at the Council of Clermont (1095)

Within a short time after the death of Mohammed (632) the whole country of Syria, including Palestine, was overrun by the Arabs, and the Holy City of Jerusalem passed out of Christian hands into the control of the infidels. The Arabs, however, shared the veneration of the Christians for the places associated with the life of Christ and did not greatly interfere with the pilgrims who flocked thither from all parts of the Christian world. In the tenth century the strong emperors of the Macedonian dynasty at Constantinople succeeded in winning back all of Syria except the extreme south, and the prospect seemed fair for the permanent possession by a Christian power of all those portions of the Holy Land which were regarded as having associations peculiarly sacred. This prospect might have been realized but for the invasions and conquests of the Seljuk Turks in the latter part of the eleventh century. These Turks came from central Asia and are to be carefully distinguished from the Ottoman Turks of more modern times. They had recently been converted to Mohammedanism and were now the fiercest and most formidable champions of that faith in its conflict with the Christian East. In 1071 Emperor Romanus Diogenes was defeated at Manzikert, in Armenia, and taken prisoner by the sultan Alp Arslan, and as a result not only Asia Minor, but also Syria, was forever lost to the Empire. The Holy City of Jerusalem was definitely occupied in 1076. The invaders established a stronghold at Nicæa, less than a hundred miles across the Sea of Marmora from Constantinople, and even threatened the capital itself, although they did not finally succeed in taking it until 1453.

No sooner were the Turks in possession of Jerusalem and the approaches thither, than pilgrims returning to western Europe began to tell tales, not infrequently as true as they were terrifying, regarding insults and tortures suffered at the hand of the pitiless conquerors. The Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118) put forth every effort to expel the intruders from Asia Minor, hoping to be able to regain the territories, including Syria, which they had stripped from the Empire; but his strength proved unequal to the task. Accordingly, in 1095, he sent an appeal to Pope Urban II. to enlist the Christian world in a united effort to save both the Empire and the Eastern Church. It used to be thought that Pope Sylvester II., about the year 1000, had suggested a crusade against the Mohammedans of the East, but it now appears that the first pope to advance such an idea was Gregory VII. (1073-1085), who in response to an appeal of Alexius's predecessor in 1074, had actually assembled an army of 50,000 men for the aid of the Emperor and had been prevented from carrying out the project only by the severity of the investiture controversy with Henry IV. of Germany. At any rate, it was not a difficult task for the ambassadors of Alexius to convince Pope Urban that he ought to execute the plan of Gregory. The plea for aid was made at the Council of Piacenza in March, 1095, and during the next few months Urban thought out the best method of procedure.

At the Council of Clermont, held in November, 1095, the crusade was formally proclaimed through the famous speech which the Pope himself delivered after the regular business of the assembly had been transacted. Urban was a Frenchman and he knew how to appeal to the emotions and sympathies of his hearers. For the purpose of stirring up interest in the enterprise he dropped the Latin in which the work of the Council had been transacted and broke forth in his native tongue, much to the delight of his countrymen. There are four early versions of the speech, differing widely in contents, and none, of course, reproducing the exact words used by the speaker. The version given by Robert the Monk, a resident of Rheims, in the opening chapter of his history of the first crusade seems in most respects superior to the others. It was written nearly a quarter of a century after the Council of Clermont, but the writer in all probability had at least heard the speech which he was trying to reproduce; in any event we may take his version of it as a very satisfactory representation of the aspirations and spirit which impelled the first crusaders to their great enterprise. It has been well said that "many orations have been delivered with as much eloquence, and in as fiery words as the Pope used, but no other oration has ever been able to boast of as wonderful results."

Source—Robertus Monachus, Historia Iherosolimitana [Robert the Monk, "History of the Crusade to Jerusalem"], Bk. I., Chap. 1. Reprinted in Recueildes Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Occidentaux (Paris, 1866), Vol. III., pp. 727-728. Adapted from translation by Dana C. Munro in Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints, Vol. I., No. 2, pp. 5-8.

In the year of our Lord's Incarnation one thousand and ninety-five, a great council was convened within the bounds of The Council of Clermont Gaul, in Auvergne, in the city which is called Clermont. Over this Pope Urban II. presided, with the Roman bishops and cardinals. This council was a famous one on account of the concourse of both French and German bishops, and of princes as well. Having arranged the matters relating to the Church, the lord Pope went forth into a certain spacious plain, for no building was large enough to hold all the people. The Pope then, with sweet and persuasive eloquence, addressed those present in words something like the following, saying:

"Oh, race of Franks, race beyond the mountains [the Alps], race beloved and chosen by God (as is clear from many of your works), set apart from all other nations by the situation of your Pope Urban appeals to the French country, as well as by your Catholic faith and the honor you render to the holy Church: to you our discourse is addressed, and for you our exhortations are intended. We wish you to know what a serious matter has led us to your country, for it is the imminent peril threatening you and all the faithful that has brought us hither.

"From the confines of Jerusalem and from the city of Constantinople a grievous report has gone forth and has been brought repeatedly to our ears; namely, that a race from the kingdom of the Persians, an accursed race, a race wholly alienated from God, 'a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God' [Ps., lxxviii. 8], has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated them by pillage and fire. They have led away a part of the The ravages of the Turks captives into their own country, and a part they have killed by cruel tortures. They have either destroyed the churches of God or appropriated them for the rites of their own religion. They destroy the altars, after having defiled them with their uncleanness.... The kingdom of the Greeks [the Eastern Empire] is now dismembered by them and has been deprived of territory so vast in extent that it could not be traversed in two months' time.

"On whom, therefore, rests the labor of avenging these wrongs and of recovering this territory, if not upon you—you, upon whom, above all other nations, God has conferred remarkable glory in arms, great courage, bodily activity, and strength to humble the heads of those who resist you? Let the deeds of your ancestors encourage you and incite your minds to manly Urban recalls the zeal and valor of the earlier Franks achievements—the glory and greatness of King Charlemagne, and of his son Louis [the Pious], and of your other monarchs, who have destroyed the kingdoms of the Turks[396] and have extended the sway of the holy Church over lands previously pagan. Let the holy sepulcher of our Lord and Saviour, which is possessed by the unclean nations, especially arouse you, and the holy places which are now treated with ignominy and irreverently polluted with the filth of the unclean. Oh most valiant soldiers and descendants of invincible ancestors, do not degenerate, but recall the valor of your ancestors.

"But if you are hindered by love of children, parents, or wife, remember what the Lord says in the Gospel, 'He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me' [Matt., x. 37]. 'Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life' [Matt., xix. 29]. Let none of your possessions restrain you, nor anxiety for your family affairs. For this land which you inhabit, shut in on all sides by the seas and surrounded The crusade as a desirable remedy for over population by the mountain peaks, is too narrow for your large population; nor does it abound in wealth; and it furnishes scarcely food enough for its cultivators. Hence it is that you murder and devour one another, that you wage war, and that very many among you perish in civil strife.[397]

"Let hatred, therefore, depart from among you; let your quarrels end; let wars cease; and let all dissensions and controversies slumber. Enter upon the road of the Holy Sepulcher; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves. That land which, as the Scripture says, 'floweth with Syria, a rich country milk and honey' [Num., xiii. 27] was given by God into the power of the children of Israel. Jerusalem is the center of the earth; the land is fruitful above all others, like another paradise of delights. This spot the Redeemer of mankind has made illustrious by His advent, has beautified by His sojourn, has consecrated by His passion, has redeemed by His death, has glorified by His burial.

"This royal city, however, situated at the center of the earth, is now held captive by the enemies of Christ and is subjected, by those who do not know God, to the worship of the heathen. She seeks, therefore, and desires to be liberated, and ceases not to implore you to come to her aid. From you especially she asks succor, because, as we have already said, God has conferred upon you, above all other nations, great glory in arms. Accordingly, undertake this journey eagerly for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the reward of imperishable glory in the kingdom of heaven."

When Pope Urban had skilfully said these and very many similar things, he so centered in one purpose the desires of all Response to the appeal who were present that all cried out, "It is the will of God! It is the will of God!" When the venerable Roman pontiff heard that, with eyes uplifted to heaven, he gave thanks to God and, commanding silence with his hand, said:

"Most beloved brethren, to-day is manifest in you what the Lord says in the Gospel, 'Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them' [Matt., xviii. 20]. For unless God had been present in your spirits, all of you would not have uttered the same cry; since, although "Deus vult," the war cry the cry issued from numerous mouths, yet the origin of the cry was one. Therefore I say to you that God, who implanted this in your breasts, has drawn it forth from you. Let that, then, be your war cry in battle, because it is given to you by God. When an armed attack is made upon the enemy, let this one cry be raised by all the soldiers of God: 'It is the will of God! It is the will of God!'

"And we neither command nor advise that the old or feeble, or those incapable of bearing arms, undertake this journey. Nor ought women to set out at all without their husbands, or brothers, or legal guardians. For such are more of a hindrance than aid, more of a burden than an advantage. Let the rich aid the needy; and according to their wealth let them take with them experienced soldiers. The priests and other clerks [clergy], Who should go and who should remain whether secular or regular, are not to go without the consent of their bishop; for this journey would profit them nothing if they went without permission. Also, it is not fitting that laymen should enter upon the pilgrimage without the blessing of their priests.

"Whoever, therefore, shall decide upon this holy pilgrimage, and shall make his vow to God to that effect, and shall offer himself to Him for sacrifice, as a living victim, holy and acceptable to God, shall wear the sign of the cross of the Lord on his forehead or on his breast. When he shall return from his journey, having fulfilled his vow, let him place the cross on his back between his shoulders. Thus shall ye, indeed, by this twofold action, fulfill the precept of the Lord, as He commands in the Gospel, 'He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me'" [Luke, xiv. 27].

52. The Starting of the Crusaders (1096)

The appeals of Pope Urban at Clermont and elsewhere met with ready response, especially among the French, but also to a considerable extent among Italians, Germans, and even English. A great variety of people were attracted by the enterprise, and from an equal variety of motives. Men whose lives had been evil saw in the crusade an opportunity of doing penance; criminals who perhaps cared little for penance but much for their own personal safety saw in it an avenue of escape from justice; merchants discovered in it a chance to open up new and valuable trade; knights hailed it as an invitation to deeds of valor and glory surpassing any Europe had yet known; ordinary malcontents regarded it as a chance to mend their fortunes; and a very large number of people looked upon it as a great spiritual obligation laid upon them and necessary to be performed in order to insure salvation in the world to come. By reason of all these incentives, some of them weighing much more in the mediæval mind than we can understand to-day, the crusade brought together men, women, and children from every part of Christendom. Both of the accounts given below of the assembling and starting of the crusaders are doubtless more or less exaggerated at certain points, yet in substance they represent what must have been pretty nearly the actual facts.

William of Malmesbury was an English monk who lived in the first half of the twelfth century and wrote a very valuable Chronicle of the Kings of England, which reached the opening of the reign of Stephen (1135). He thus had abundant opportunity to learn of the first crusade from people who had actually participated in it. His rather humorous picture of the effects of Pope Urban's call is thus well worth reading. Better than it, however, is the account by the priest Fulcher of Chartres (1058-1124)—better because the writer himself took part in the crusade and so was a personal observer of most of the things he undertook to describe. Fulcher, in 1096, set out upon the crusade in the company of his lord, Etienne, count of Blois and Chartres, who was a man of importance in the army of Robert of Normandy. With the rest of Robert's crusaders he spent the winter in Italy and arrived at Durazzo in the spring of 1097. He had a part in the siege of Nicæa and in the battle of Dorylæum, but not in the siege of Antioch. Before reaching Jerusalem, in 1099, he became chaplain to a brother of Godfrey of Bouillon and was already making progress on his "history of the army of God."

Sources—(a) Guilielmus Monachi Malmesburiensis, De gestis regum Anglorum [William of Malmesbury, "Chronicle of the Kings of England"], Bk. IV., Chap. 2. Adapted from translation by John Sharpe (London, 1815), p. 416.

(b) Fulcherius Carnotensis, Historia Iherosolimitana: gesta Francorum Iherusalem peregrinantium [Fulcher of Chartres, "History of the Crusade to Jerusalem: the Deeds of the French Journeying Thither"], Chap. 6. Text in Recueil des Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Occidentaux (Paris, 1866), Vol. III., p. 328.

(a)

Immediately the fame of this great event,[398] being spread through the universe, penetrated the minds of Christians with its mild breath, and wherever it blew there was no nation, however distant and obscure, that did not send some of its people. This zeal animated not only the provinces bordering on the Mediterranean, but all who had ever even heard of the name Christian in the most remote isles, and among barbarous nations. Then the Welshman abandoned his forests and neglected his hunting; the Scotchman deserted the fleas with which he is so Universal interest in the crusade familiar; the Dane ceased to swallow his intoxicating draughts; and the Norwegian turned his back upon his raw fish. The fields were left by the cultivators, and the houses by their inhabitants; all the cities were deserted. People were restrained neither by the ties of blood nor the love of country; they saw nothing but God. All that was in the granaries, or was destined for food, was left under the guardianship of the greedy agriculturist. The journey to Jerusalem was the only thing hoped for or thought of. Joy animated the hearts of all who set out; grief dwelt in the hearts of all who remained. Why do I say "of those who remained"? You might have seen the husband setting forth with his wife, with all his family; you would have laughed to see all the penates[399] put in motion and loaded upon wagons. The road was too narrow for the passengers, and more room was wanted for the travelers, so great and numerous was the crowd.[400]

(b)

Such, then, was the immense assemblage which set out from the West. Gradually along the march, and from day to day, the army grew by the addition of other armies, coming from every direction and composed of innumerable people. Thus one saw an infinite multitude, speaking different languages and coming from divers countries. All did not, however, come together into The multitude of crusaders a single army until we had reached the city of Nicæa.[401] What shall I add? The isles of the sea and the kingdoms of the whole earth were moved by God, so that one might believe fulfilled the prophecy of David, who said in his Psalm: "All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord, and shall glorify Thy name;" and so that those who reached the holy places afterwards said justly: "We will worship where His feet have stood." Concerning this journey we read very many other predictions in the prophets, which it would be tedious to recall.

Oh, how great was the grief, how deep the sighs, what weeping, what lamentations among the friends, when the husband left the wife so dear to him, his children also, and all his possessions of any kind, father, mother, brethren, or kindred! And Mingled sorrow and joy of the crusaders yet in spite of the floods of tears which those who remained shed for their friends about to depart, and in their very presence, the latter did not suffer their courage to fail, and, out of love for the Lord, in no way hesitated to leave all that they held most precious, believing without doubt that they would gain an hundred-fold in receiving the recompense which God has promised to those who love Him.

Then the husband confided to his wife the time of his return and assured her that, if he lived, by God's grace he would return to her. He commended her to the Lord, gave her a kiss, and, weeping, promised to return. But the latter, who feared that she would never see him again, overcome with grief, was unable to stand, fell as if lifeless to the ground, and wept over her dear one whom she was losing in life, as if he were already dead. He, then, as if he had no pity (nevertheless he was filled with pity) and was not moved by the grief of his friends (and yet he was secretly moved), departed with a firm purpose. The sadness was for those who remained, and the joy for those who departed. What more can we say? "This is the Lord's doings, and it is marvelous in our eyes."

53. A Letter from a Crusader to his Wife

One of the most important groups of sources on the crusades is the large body of letters which has come down to us, written by men who had an actual part in the various expeditions. These letters, addressed to parents, wives, children, vassals, or friends, are valuable alike for the facts which they contain and for the revelation they give of the spirit and motives of the crusaders. A considerable collection of the letters, in English translation, may be found in Roger de Hoveden's Annals of English History, Roger of Wendover's Flowers of History, and Matthew Paris's English History (all in the Bohn Library); also in Michaud's History of the Crusades, Vol. III., Appendix. In many respects the letter given below, written at Antioch by Count Stephen of Blois to his wife Adele, under date of March 29, 1098, is unexcelled in all the records of mediæval letter-writing. Count Stephen (a brother-in-law of Robert of Normandy, who was a son of William the Conqueror) was one of the wealthiest and most popular French noblemen who responded to Pope Urban's summons at Clermont. At least three of his letters to his wife survive, of which the one here given is the third in order of time. It discloses the ordinary human sentiments of the crusader and makes us feel that, unlike the modern man as he was, he yet had very much in common with the people of to-day and of all ages. He was at the same time a bold fighter and a tender husband, a religious enthusiast and a practical man of affairs. When the letter was written, the siege of Antioch had been in progress somewhat more than five months; it continued until the following June, when it ended in the capture of the city by the crusaders. Count Stephen was slain in the battle of Ramleh in 1102.

Source—D'Achery, Spicilegium ["Gleanings"], 2d edition, Vol. III., pp. 430-433. Adapted from translation by Dana C. Munro in Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints, Vol. I., No. 4, pp. 5-8.

Count Stephen to Adele, his sweetest and most amiable wife, to his dear children, and to all his vassals of all ranks,—his greeting and blessing.

You may be very sure, dearest, that the messenger whom I sent to give you pleasure left me before Antioch safe and unharmed and, through God's grace, in the greatest prosperity. And already at that time, together with all the chosen army of Count Stephen reports prosperity Christ, endowed with great valor by Him, we have been continually advancing for twenty-three weeks toward the home of our Lord Jesus. You may know for certain, my beloved, that of gold, silver, and many other kind of riches I now have twice as much as your love had assigned to me when I left you. For all our princes, with the common consent of the whole army, though against my own wishes, have made me up to the present time the leader, chief, and director of their whole expedition.

Doubtless you have heard that after the capture of the city of Nicæa we fought a great battle with the treacherous Turks and, by God's aid, conquered them.[402] Next we conquered for the Lord all Romania, and afterwards Cappadocia.[403] We had learned that there was a certain Turkish prince, Assam, dwelling in Cappadocia; so we directed our course thither. We conquered Early achievements of the crusaders all his castles by force and compelled him to flee to a certain very strong castle situated on a high rock. We also gave the land of that Assam to one of our chiefs, and in order that he might conquer the prince we left there with him many soldiers of Christ. Thence, continually following the wicked Turks, we drove them through the midst of Armenia,[404] as far as the great river Euphrates. Having left all their baggage and beasts of burden on the bank, they fled across the river into Arabia.

The bolder of the Turkish soldiers, indeed, entering Syria, hastened by forced marches night and day, in order to be able to enter the royal city of Antioch before our approach.[405] Hearing of this, the whole army of God gave due praise and thanks to the all-powerful Lord. Hastening with great joy to this The arrival at Antioch (1097) chief city of Antioch, we besieged it and there had a great number of conflicts with the Turks; and seven times we fought with the citizens of the city and with the innumerable troops all the time coming to their aid. The latter we rushed out to meet and fought with the fiercest courage under the leadership of Christ. And in all these seven battles, by the aid of the Lord God, we conquered and most assuredly killed an innumerable host of them. In those battles, indeed, and in very many attacks made upon the city, many of our brethren and followers were killed and their souls were borne to the joys of paradise.

We found the city of Antioch very extensive, fortified with the greatest strength and almost impossible to be taken. In addition, more than 5,000 bold Turkish soldiers had entered the city, not counting the Saracens, Publicans, Arabs, Turcopolitans, Syrians, Armenians, and other different races of whom an infinite multitude had gathered together there. In fighting against The beginning of the siege these enemies of God and of us we have, by God's grace, endured many sufferings and innumerable hardships up to the present time. Many also have already exhausted all their means in this most holy enterprise. Very many of our Franks, indeed, would have met a bodily death from starvation, if the mercy of God and our money had not come to their rescue. Lying before the city of Antioch, indeed, throughout the whole winter we suffered for our Lord Christ from excessive cold and enormous torrents of rain. What some say about the impossibility of bearing the heat of the sun in Syria is untrue, for the winter there is very similar to our winter in the West.

I delight to tell you, dearest, what happened to us during Lent. Our princes had caused a fortress to be built before a certain gate which was between our camp and the sea. For the Turks, coming out of this gate daily, killed some of our men on their way to the sea. The city of Antioch is about five leagues distant from the sea. For this purpose they sent the excellent Bohemond and Raymond, count of St. Gilles,[406] to the sea with only sixty horsemen, in order that they might bring mariners to aid in this work. When, however, they were returning to us with The Christians defeated near the seashore these mariners, the Turks collected an army, fell suddenly upon our two leaders, and forced them to a perilous flight. In that unexpected fight we lost more than 500 of our foot-soldiers—to the glory of God. Of our horsemen, however, we lost only two, for certain.

On that same day, in order to receive our brethren with joy, and entirely ignorant of their misfortunes, we went out to meet them. When, however, we approached the above-mentioned gate of the city, a mob of foot-soldiers and horsemen from Antioch, elated by the victory which they had won, rushed upon us in the same manner. Seeing these, our leaders went to the camp of the Christians to order all to be ready to follow us into battle. In the meantime our men gathered together and the scattered leaders, namely, Bohemond and Raymond, with the remainder of their army came up and told of the great misfortune which they had suffered.

Our men, full of fury at these most evil tidings, prepared to die for Christ and, deeply grieved for their brethren, rushed upon the wicked Turks. They, enemies of God and of us, hastily fled before us and attempted to enter the city. But by God's grace the affair turned out very differently; for, when they tried to cross a bridge built over the great river Moscholum,[407] A notable victory over the Turks we followed them as closely as possible, killed many before they reached the bridge, forced many into the river, all of whom were killed, and we also slew many upon the bridge and very many at the narrow entrance to the gate. I am telling you the truth, my beloved, and you may be assured that in this battle we killed thirty emirs, that is, princes, and three hundred other Turkish nobles, not counting the remaining Turks and pagans. Indeed the number of Turks and Saracens killed is reckoned at 1230, but of ours we did not lose a single man.

On the following day (Easter), while my chaplain Alexander was writing this letter in great haste, a party of our men lying in wait for the Turks fought a successful battle with them and killed sixty horsemen, whose heads they brought to the army.

These which I write to you are only a few things, dearest, of the many which we have done; and because I am not able to tell you, dearest, what is in my mind, I charge you to do right, to watch carefully over your land, and to do your duty as you ought to your children and your vassals. You will certainly see me just as soon as I can possibly return to you. Farewell.