First Crusade: The First Crusade

In 1095, Pope Urban II called the first crusade. Happening between 1096 and 1099, the first crusade was both a military expedition and a mass movement of people with the simple goal of reclaiming the Holy Lands taken by the Muslims in their conquests of the Levant. The crusade ended with the capture of Jerusalem in July 1099. However, there has been much debate about whether the First Crusade can be considered an ‘armed pilgrimage’ or whether it has to be considered as a holy war. This view is complicated due to the ways in which the Crusade was presented and how the penitential nature of it changed throughout the course of the Crusade.

A major reason why the First Crusade could be viewed as a pilgrimage is because of the number and type of people taking part. While it is true that the first crusade contained an extraordinarily large military contingent of between 50,000 and 60,000 people the first crusade also contained huge numbers of women, children and the elderly, who all fall under the category of non-combatant. So, the first crusade was clearly not just a military undertaking as

Riley-Smith writes that it was the goal of Jerusalem that made the crusade a pilgrimage and both the ways in which he preached the crusade and the measures he took to protect the property of the crusaders shows that the first crusade was intended to be a pilgrimage. The fact that crusade vows and pilgrim vows were indistinguishable only serves to further this view. The confusion arises from the fact that the crusade was a military undertaking and was therefore clearly intended for men who were capable as fighting. This opposes the fact that pilgrimages were supposed to be intended for everyone although it has been shown that this did not stop other groups of people from taking part in the crusade. It is possible therefore to classify the first crusade as a