First Crusades Dbq

Historiographical Essay – The First Crusade

At the end of the 11th century, Western Europe had emerged as a great power, not yet as strong as the Byzantine Empire or the Islamic Empire of the Middle East and North Africa, however, it had substantial growth in political and religious influence during the Middle Ages. At this time the Byzantine Empire was under constant attack from the Seljuk Turks and many losses had lead to a significant decrease in the Byzantine territories. After the wars with the Turks, years of civil war and chaos followed until Alexius Comnenus, a general in the Byzantine army seized the throne in 1081 and took control of what was left of the Byzantine Empire.

On November 27, 1095, in Clermont, France, Pope Urban II

called for a crusade to help the Byzantines to retake the holy land of Jerusalem. The pope offered to whomever went on this journey, penance for their sins and protection of their land, making this crusade similar to a pilgrimage. Along with the influence of several monks, the most notable being Peter the Hermit, claiming to be under the divine inspiration of God, the population, made of men, women, children and elderly whose positions in society was that of low ranking knights and peasants, joined the crusading effort in swarms (Riley-Smith, 1986).
The official start date was set at August 15, 1096. The armies that left before the designated time were considered part of the People's Crusade. Two of the “Peoples” armies passed through Hungary under the leadership of Peter the Hermit and Walter Sans Avoir. These groups constantly looted and pillaged the countryside of Hungary for food, supplies, and wealth. These actions created great tension and distrust between the crusaders and the King of Hungary. When the following three armies of the people arrived in Hungary they were not permitted to cross the border into Hungary (Riley-Smith, 1986).
The looting continued into the Byzantine countryside, and only with the suppression of the Byzantine army did they stop and forced the army to the Turkish boarders. Shortly after arriving at the Turkish border, they managed to capture the city of Xerigordon. Unfortunately, this city had no water source leaving the crusaders dying of thirst and desperate for water and lasted for eight days. The leaders of the People’s army, Rainald, attempted to bargain with the Turks, they even offered to turncoat and fight against the Crusaders. The Turks gave them the option of renouncing their Christianity or die. Rainald and a few of his followed chose to renounce their faith and were sold into slavery, the others were killed (McFall, 2006).
Those who left at the official start date set by Pope Urban II, on August 15 1096, were considered the real crusading force.

It consisted of five separate forces, each with its own nationality and leader. Hugh of Vernandois, from France, Godfrey de Bouillon from Germany, Bohemond of Taranto, Raymond of Toulouse, and Robert of Flanders were the leaders of the five crusading armies. They were led by Bishop Adamar, who was assigned by the Pope to lead the crusade. However, Godfrey, who was in possession of the largest army, is often considered the true leader and force behind the first crusade. Leaving their homes either by land or sea, the five forces arrived in Byzantine. The crusaders had expected support from the Byzantine leader, Alexius Comneus, however, because of the previous “People’s Crusade,” there was an attitude of great distrust. When the crusading army arrived expecting assistance with food and supplies they were met with suspicion for their motives. Comneus eventually agreed to assist the crusaders, however in return for their assistance they had to pledge that any lands that were captured originally owned by the Byzantine empire, would be returned to them (Madden,

1999)
With their oaths made the crusading forces moved towards Nicaea, the capital of the Turkish sultanate. As they made their way towards Nicaea they met little opposition. During this time in early 1097, the sultan, Kilij Arslan and his men were dealing with his rival, King Danishmend the Wise, who had laid siege to Malatya. A messenger had brought news to Kilij of the European advancement by the armies. In response, Kilij sent a small detachment of soldiers to bring up the moral of the citizens. Shortly after, another messenger brought news of the new army, but it was too late, unlike the disorganization of the people’s crusade, the First Crusade had begun with force (Madden, 1999).
Upon reaching Nicaea the crusaders established a siege of the city, but due to its strategic location being on the shores of a lake they were unable to starve the people out.
It was only when Alexius transported some of his navy to the lake, closing off Nicaea’s ports where they able to make headway. However, It was at this time Kilij’s forces arrived to reinforce the city, but these forces where simply not enough and had no choice but to retreat. . Eventually Nicaea, under fear of looting and massacre from the Crusaders surrendered to the Byzantines, allowing them possession of the city, in exchange for their lives, property, and an agreement that the crusaders would not be allowed in the city (Madden, 1999).
The capture of Nicaea would mark the first of the crusades major victories. Afterwards they would march towards the fortified city of Antioch. As they marched they would suffer from food shortages and where unable to resupply as Kilji’s forces had removed any food from nearby towns. The hunger got so severe that some resorted to cannibalism, and moral plummeted. Upon arriving at Antioch many had deserted, including the Byzantine forces who came from Nicaea, and where only able to capture the city due to a corrupt guard who let them in. However, Kilji had amassed a new force to wipe them out, and with their current conditions it was unlikely the crusaders could hold out for long. It was then that Peter Bartholomew claimed to have a vision sent from the heavens, telling him the location of the Holy Lance, the one used to stab Christ at the cross, and as chance would have it they found a worn out lance head. This was enough to bring back moral and for the crusaders to hold out against the Turks, obtaining victory. (Smith 1986)
After their hard fought victory at Antioch they made their way to Jerusalem, the goal of this crusade. It was around this time that Jerusalem had swapped hands from the Sunni Turks to the Shi’ite Egyptians. These two where enemies of faith, so when the crusaders started attacking Jerusalem the Turks simply stood back and let it happen. With the Turks stepping back and Egyptian forces nearly a month away it was only a matter of time before the crusaders conquered Jerusalem, completing the mission set by Urban.
The first Crusade was many things to the various groups involved. To the Byzantines it was a means to recapture their territories. To the peasants it was a means to escape plague and poverty while obtaining salvation. To the Pope, Urban II, it was a means of solidifying his papal power, and to the Turks it was a threat to their lands. The first mentioning of the Crusades were brought about when the Byzantine emperor Alexius Comneus sent a letter to the Pope asking for him to provide mercenary troops to fight against the Turks, who had recently conquered several Byzantine territories. While these chain of events were the beginning of the Crusades as we know them, we will be reviewing the perspectives of three different historians in regards to the primary motives and catalysts for the First Crusade.
From the writings of Riley-Smith he describes the position of the pope at this time. Prior to the 1st Crusade he was in exile from the Holy Roman Empire, who had brought up their own “anti-pope”, Clement III. This created a situation where his power and authority where threatened. So he was constantly looking for ways to maintain control of his power and position, and an opportunity arrived with the request for troops from Byzantine. (Riley-Smith, 1986)
On November 27 1095, he announced the crusades to a large clerical group at Clermont. However, the goal had been changed from supply some troops to the liberation of the holy land of Jerusalem from the Turks. Showing to the people that it was God’s will to free their oppressed Christian brethren from the pagan Muslims, and not just a mercenary campaign. The result being that instead of providing Alexius with a few thousand well trained mercenaries as expected, Urban managed to rile up tens of thousands of people for the crusade from all walks of life. (Riley-Smith, 1986)
It should be understood that this was not the first holy war against the Muslims the church had ordained, but it was the first time that an indulgence for sins would be provided to those who under oath went. This is one of the main reasons for the people of Europe to join the crusading forces, but it is not the only one. As prior to the call for a crusade there was a long period of famine in Europe which developed economic issues alongside it. This left many of the peasants starving with no possessions of their own. This is described from a quote in Riley-Smith’s book, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading, which says;
It was easy to persuade the western Franks to leave their farms. For Gaul had been afflicted for some years, sometimes by civil war, sometimes by famine, sometimes by execcive death rate. Finally a plague … had terrified the people to the point which the despaired for their life.
It is of these reasons that Riley-Smith says that the crusading forces grew so widely among the peasantry of Europe, and not so much their faith and righteousness. (Riley-Smith, 1986)
Riley-Smiths view on these people who had joined the people’s crusade. Was that they had little use towards the goal of capturing Jerusalem, and where an overall bad thing. This is shown through his detailed description of the genocide committed by the people’s crusade.
In what has been called the first “Holocaust”, most of these armies had begun their marches by persecuting European Jews. … Throughout June and into early July they were hunted out and destroyed. … During May (1096) a separate crusading army forced the whole community at Regensburg to undergo baptism. … Everywhere attempts were made to force Christianity on the Jews, who had heard that the crusaders intended to offer them the choice of conversion or death.
He goes into further depth explaining the reasons for the crusaders actions, and shows that despite Jewish community being unpopular at the time, the crusaders actions where nearly universally condemned. (Riley-Smith, 1986)
Krey’s The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants, is a collection of letters and writings from those who were involved with the crusade, allowing us to see the viewpoints that they held. For example, war with the Turks was justified and sanctified by God, as the Muslims had persecuted Christians for centuries, making any retaliation righteous. Alongside this was the development of rumors spread by the pope that the Turkish Muslims where slaughtering thousands of Christians who were making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and where blamed for tainting the holy land where the birth of Jesus took place.
For the matters of the pope, it is shown that while there may have been other factors, it was mainly due to the Urban’s influence as pope that the crusade came to be. It is also makes it clear that while Urban was at odds with the Holy Roman Empire, it alone was not enough to bring about the crusade. This is displayed when Fulcher of Charles, the author of this letter says, “But it was clear to the intelligence of men that Urban was the better pope”, showing the deep relations between Urban and his homeland of France.
The attitudes held towards Muslims was that they were constantly and brutally tormenting the Christian population of Jerusalem and the conquered Byzantine territories. The succeeded in furthering solidifying the image of the crusaders as liberators of the oppressed across Europe. However, outside of Europe opinions towards the crusade varied greatly. The Byzantines in particular where worried that Urban’s ambitions where not Jerusalem, rather Byzantine itself as only a dozen years prior they had been at war.
As for thoughts on people’s crusade it was seen as a disastrous loss of righteous Christian forces. This in turn acted as further justification of the crusade, bringing about more hostility towards the Turks, furthering support from Europe and Byzantine. This viewpoint of course a product of the times, and with the exception of the Jewish massacre ignored much of the massacre brought about by these vary people.

The judgements made by Riley-Smith in his book can be seen as a modern perspective of the forces at work during the 1st crusade. In comparison, Krey’s The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants, shows how the people of the time saw the crusade and the forces it effected. For example, the crusade was seen as a wholly righteous endeavor to free Jerusalem from the Turks, with helping Byzantine being secondary. A view on the crusade seldom seen in today’s world where we can look back and judge the event as a whole and see some of the hypocrisies in such a statement.
As mentioned, in Krey’s book the crusades where seen as righteous, but why?

It was with his sermons at Clermont that this cause first became known as the Crusade or the Pilgrimage.

The intentions were to recruit young men and nobles to fight in the name of the church, but as all previous pilgrimages had been open to anyone of any status, this was not how things went. Among the populous of Europe, there were certain monks who claimed to be under the inspiration of god and gathered the common people together to join the crusade. These groups consisted of some trained low ranking knights, children, women, the elderly and the ill. The most famous group was led by Peter the Hermit, who was a reclusive monk who claimed he was compelled by the influence of god (Krey,

1958).
The common populous had dealt with a long period of famine and disease, during that time period it must be understood that these people were extremely superstitious and deeply religious. They saw any act of nature, such as famine, natural disasters, etc. as coming directly from the hand of god as consequences or signs to complete righteous acts, or a means of divine inspiration. It was for these reasons that the people so willingly left their homes and all of their belongings to become part of the Crusade. Due to the long period of famine, there were major economic problems and many of these people saw the Crusade as an opportunity to get wealthy. Under the influence of people like Peter these groups grew becoming what is best described as a mob and what was known as the people’s crusade.