d'Arbrissel.[491:1] In the Second Crusade this work was performed largely by Bernard of Clairvaux.
3. Thousands in Europe, actuated by honest motives such as the hope of securing spiritual benefits, the wish to expiate sins, the desire to extend Christianity, the yearning to convert the Mohammedans, and the determination to overthrow a grave enemy to western civilisation and progress, gave their means and their lives to this sacred undertaking. The cries for help which came from the Christians in Jerusalem and from the Eastern Emperor fell on sympathetic ears. All of these forces and causes, operating in various ways, produced the most remarkable manifestation of military power coupled with religious fervour which Europe had yet witnessed. It seemed as if Mohammedanism itself had spread the contagion of its own fanaticism to the followers of the Prince of Peace.[491:2]
In time the Crusades covered approximately two centuries from 1096 to 1291. They directly affected all Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. They occurred in an age when Europe was decentralised politically by feudalism; imbued religiously with the ardour and ideals of Hildebrand; industrially almost wholly undeveloped; educationally ignorant and credulous; and socially controlled by monasticism and chivalry. In the Crusades there was an arrayal of pan-Christianity against pan-Mohammedanism, or European civilisation versus Asiatic civilisation. The Crusades were, broadly speaking, one great movement, with a series of waves, which held the world's destiny in its results and which was a natural manifestation of
the civilisation of the day both from the Christian and the Mohammedan sides. The purpose of the movement was primarily to wrest the Holy Land from the Mohammedans and to restore it to Christianity. But a great variety of secondary purposes and motives, both good and bad, induced people to co-operate in the enterprise. The devout, the romantic, the adventurous, the discontented, the mercenary, the criminal, and the sinner, all took part but for different reasons. From the standpoint of the primary purpose, the Crusades were a failure; but viewed from their effects on civilisation they were a success. It is difficult to reduce them to any specific number, though for the sake of clearness they may be divided into four major Crusades[492:1] and four minor Crusades,[492:2] with an unclassified children's Crusade. The idea of a Crusade had been developed by the conflict with the Moors in Spain, the heathen Saxons, the pagan Slavs, and various heretical sects; and it was employed, after the Crusades ended, in European history for some centuries to come.
The Council of Clermont met in November, 1095, and immediately thereafter enthusiastic preparations were begun for the First Crusade.[492:3] From March to June
of the following year, the rabble vanguard was collecting in France and along the Rhine—a motley crowd of peasants, artisans, vagabonds, and even women and children, all fanatically intent upon rescuing the Holy Sepulchre two thousand miles away and confident that God would protect them on the way and grant them victory.[493:1] This miscellaneous throng was entirely lacking in leadership and organisation. It broke up into a number of divisions united only by their common zeal and similar purpose. Walter the Penniless at the head of fifteen thousand, among whom were only eight horsemen, appears to have led the band. After encountering many difficulties in Hungary and overcoming grave dangers in Bulgaria, they at length arrived at Constantinople. Peter the Hermit with forty thousand Crusaders separated from Walter at Cologne, and followed the course of the Danube. The Hungarians almost annihilated these pious robbers so that Peter with difficulty escaped with but one fifth of his followers and reached Constantinople only through the protection afforded them by the Eastern Emperor. Emico, Count of Leiningen, conducted twenty thousand Germans, and Gotschalk, the monk, had about fifteen thousand.[493:2] On the heels of these various advanced divisions followed a rabble of two hundred thousand among whom were three thousand mounted knights. This unorganised vanguard was apparently well received in Constantinople by Emperor Alexius, who hurried them across the Bosphorus only to meet their destruction at the hand of Sultan David in front of Nicæa. Peter the Hermit and with him a band of three thousand were fortunate enough to escape.
Meanwhile the main body of the Crusaders was collecting, mostly in France, because the other nations of Europe were either preoccupied or had little enthusiasm for the movement. The leaders were nobles and not kings.[494:1] From the north went forth Godfrey of Bouillon, a wise and brave man who with his brothers Eustace and Baldwin led thirty thousand foot and ten thousand horse from France and Germany; Hugh the Long, brother of Philip I.; Robert of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror; Robert of Flanders, "the sword and the lance" of the Crusades; Stephen of Chartres, the richest prince of France; and a large number of minor nobles. From the south came Bohemond, the son of Robert Guiscard, already experienced in eastern warfare; Tancred, a cousin of Bohemond, the model knight and hero of the movement; Raymond of Toulouse, old in war, brave, greedy, and proud, who led one hundred and sixty thousand foot and horse; Adhemar, Bishop of Pui, the first bishop to take the cross and the official representative of the Pope; and many subordinate noblemen. This vast multitude, estimated at one million Crusaders, chiefly French, represented the flower of western Europe. Whole families, especially of the nobles, arranged to join the undertaking. This immense throng was organised on feudal lines. The dukes, counts, and barons were the overlords and rulers and divided the army into parts. Under them served the knights on horseback and clothed in their long coats of mail. They supplied the military spirit and imbued the common people with a holy zeal. Each knight was accompanied by his squire and a squad of warriors. Four different routes were taken by the Crusaders: (1)
Hugh, the Roberts, and Stephen went from the Alps to Apulia, where they were met and blessed by the Pope, then separated, and made a scramble by land and sea for Constantinople. Hugh was held as prisoner by Emperor Alexius until he recognised the feudal sovereignty of the Eastern Emperor. (2) Godfrey traversed Germany, Hungary, and Bulgaria and reached Constantinople at Christmas time, 1096, where he made a compact with Alexius. (3) Bohemond took the sea route to the eastern capital. He was incensed at the compromise made by his colleagues with the Eastern Emperor, but was finally won over by bribery. (4) Raymond, the last to set out, went via Lombardy, Dalmatia, and Slavonia, but was greatly hindered by the hostility of the natives incited by Alexius, to whom Raymond, upon learning of his treachery, refused homage.
The policy of the Eastern Emperor Alexius in dealing with the Crusaders appears to have been a double one. He had called on the West for aid against the Turks and was answered by an armed horde that threatened to sweep away his very throne. He had easily rid himself of the rabble vanguard by sending them to their doom in Asia Minor. He was determined now, if possible, to impede the march of these new forces toward Constantinople. Not succeeding in that he attempted to compel them to swear fealty to him and then to use them to drive back the Turks and to restore his lands. He was a master diplomat and politician and soon hurried the Crusaders across the Bosphorus. They laid siege to Nicæa and in June, 1097, it fell. After the battle of Dorylæum (July 4, 1097), Antioch was captured in June, 1098. In July of the following year (1099) came the storming of
Jerusalem and its capture with the accompanying massacre of the Mohammedans and Jews. The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem was created and Godfrey was elected Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. With him was left a guard of defence consisting of two hundred knights and two thousand archers. A comparatively small number of Crusaders, who had survived the hardships of the three years' campaign, then returned home.[496:1]