Chronicle of the First Crusade is an excerpt from Gesta Francorum Jherusalem peregrinantium, written in three installments, 1101, 1106, and 1124–27, by Fulcher of Chartres, a French chaplain and chronicler of the First Crusade. Born in approximately 1059, and educated for the priesthood in Chartres, in what is now France, Fulcher attended the Council of Clermont, accompanying his overlord, Stephen of Blois, to southern Italy, Bulgaria, and Constantinople in 1096, following the call to action instigated by Pope Urban II as response to a request for assistance from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I. In June 1097, Fulcher became chaplain to Baldwin of Flanders, with whom he remained, traveling with him to Jerusalem in the winter of 1099. Fulcher, who remained in Jerusalem for the remainder of his life, dying there in approximately 1127, provides, as an eyewitness to the events, the Christian perspective of the Siege of Jerusalem. Ibn al-Athīr, in full Izz al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan Alī ibn al-Athīr, born May 12, 1160, in what is now Turkey, was an influential Arab historian whose chief work was a history of the world, al-Kāmil fī al-tārīkh (“The Complete History”), starting with the creation of Adam. He also wrote a work titled al-Bāhir, a history of the former Seljuq army officers, called atabegs, who founded dynasties, drawn from his own experience and from that of his father, who held office under the Zangids of Mosul. Ibn al-Athīr spent a scholarly life in Mosul, but often visited Baghdad, and was, for a time, with Saladin’s army in Syria, later living in Aleppo and Damascus, dying in Mosul, Iraq in 1233. Ibn al-Athīr, writing many years after the occurrence of the events that he describes, and long after the city of Jerusalem and be... ... middle of paper ... ...y within its borders, though practitioners of Christianity were not permitted the same civil and political privileges allowed to the Muslim inhabitants of the empire. The account provided by Fulcher of Chartres, though illustrating an extremely brutal, uncaring, merciless and unflattering depiction of Christian Crusaders, seemingly provides an unbiased and objective chronicle of the Siege of Jerusalem. Works Cited Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Fulcher Of Chartres," accessed February 18, 2012, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/221763/Fulcher-of-Chartres Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Ibn al-Athīr," accessed February 18, 2012, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/280690/Ibn-al-Athir Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization: Volume I: To 1715, 8th Edition, (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012), 301. Ibid. Ibid.
Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization: Volume I: To 1715, 8th Edition, (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012), 90.
In 1099 Jerusalem was besieged by bloodthirsty Christian knights from Western Europe, fueled by their religious desire for the holy land. This siege was the commencement of twelve holy crusades led by the Christian West in hope to recover Jerusalem as a Christian city. At that time, Jerusalem was, to the Christians, inconveniently occupied by Muslims. This being the first crusade, it was documented by several sources, notably by Fulcher of Chartres in his, Chronicle of the First Crusade, as well as a Muslim point of view by Ibn al-Athir, a medieval Arab historian.
Fulcher of Chartres was educated by the Church in Chartres and he travelled to the East in the entourage of Richard of Normandy and Stephen of Blois. He later followed Baldwin of Boulonge to Edessa when he broke away from the main body of Crusaders to found the first crusader state. He was appointed chaplain to Baldwin in 1097. He was present at the council of Clermont in 1095 and provides us with one of the most reliable sources for Urban II’s speech there.
Coffin, Judith G., and Robert C. Stacey. "CHAPTER 18 PAGES 668-669." Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 16TH ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &, 2008. N. pag. Print.
Foss explains, “What Urban needed was an enterprise, clearly virtuous in serving the ends of Christiandome… in these moments of reflection, the popes mind turned towards Jerusalem.” Urban II reflects back on the first taking of the Holy City after the defeat of the Byzantine Empire in 1071, and begins to question what his people know about the Turkish race and really the ideology of Islamic thought. Foss goes on to examine the ignorance of westerners and needed to be “reminded [by the pope] of the infamous heathens, their cruelty and hatred of Christians,” hoping this would justify the first Holy Crusade. However, Foss identifies the creativity of the Pope’s language to persuade the knights and army of the people to embark on the Holy Crusade based on the Muslims cruel actions turned onto their fellow Christians. Claiming the Muslims “Killed captives by torture…poor captives were whipped…and others were bound to the post and used as a target for arrows.” Foss examines the Popes words as an effective effort of persuasion in creating an army of crusaders to help clean “…Holy places, which are now treated with ignominy and polluted with Filthiness” and any sacrifice in Jerusalem is a “promise of a spiritual reward… and death for
The First Crusade was a widely appealing armed pilgrimage, and mobilized a vast conquering force at a time when the Christian Church was moving towards centralization and greater political influence in Europe. The Church gained a wider audience more accepting of its leadership, benefitted economically, and developed its own militarily force. These outcomes, along with the Church’s documented ambition to expand and its reversal of prior teachings, support the idea that the First Crusade was a deliberate political maneuver, intended to to expand and consolidate the authority of the
Clifford R. Backman, The Cultures of the West: A History. Volume 1: To 1750. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Both the Crusaders and the Muslims wanted power. In contradiction the church wanted to reunite Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire with the Roman Catholic Empire giving the Church extra power. Baldwin of Boulogne is a key example in portraying the Crusader’s quest for power; splitting off from the rest of the army and traveling east until he reached Armenian where he would establish himself as ruler. Like Boulogne, Bohemond of Taranto also abandoned the majority to better his own personal status—he took over as Prince of Antioch. Through these two prominent figures we see that power was a necessity to the leaders of this era; and unfortunately the people look up to their leaders and do likewise. However, if these Crusaders were fighting for “religious factors” then they would recognize that God holds the ultimate power and they are nothing without him. But these power hungry individuals obviously lacked humility...
Among some of the largest conflicts in the world stand the Crusades; a brutal conflict that lasted over 200 years and was debatably one of the largest armed religious conflicts in the history of humankind. Since this is so clearly an event of importance, historians have searched vigorously for the true answer as to why the crusades began. Ultimately, because of accusatory views on both the sides of the Christians and of the Muslims, the two groups grew in such hatred of each other that they began to act in deep discrimination of each other. Moreover, Christian motives seemed to be driven mostly by the capture of Jerusalem, the dark ages of Europe and the common-folks desperation for land, wealth, and a spot in heaven. What seems to be continually
Duiker, William J., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World History. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomsom Learning, 2001. 374-438.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. 8th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
The First Crusade was an extreme and explosive upheaval of religious elation that reached a state of perfection in a brilliant military achievement. Pope Urban II, in his call to the Crusade at Clermont in late 1095, touched a nerve in western Christendom, unleashing a power that far exceeded his desires outcome and proved difficult to control. Motivation both honorable and selfish prompted multitudes of crusaders to voyage to the east. Regardless of the considerable obstacles, large portions of these military powers succeeded in arriving at the Holy Land; in mid-1099 they broke the walls of jerusalem and in a paroxysm of madness prevailed over the Muslims and gained the Holy City. But in this essay I focus on: why did so many western Europeans joined this movement.
McKay, J/P/, Hill, B.D., Buckler, J., Ebrey, P.B., Beck, R.B., Crowston, C.H., & Wiesner-Hanks, M.E. (2008). A History of World Societies, Volume A: From Antiquity to 1500. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin's
Dunkle, Roger. "The Classical Origins of Western Culture" Brooklyn College, The City University of New York. 1986 . Web. 29 July 2015.
Duiker, William J. , and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World History . 6th. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Pub Co, 2010. print.