Forget Their Lessons
At length Peter and Walter, between them, could muster an army of one hundred thousand men, when the re-enforcements from Italian cities were counted. Still under the walls of Constantinople it was not long before they forgot the lessons of their defeats and began again to rob and murder. Alexius soon found it expedient to ferry them across the Bosporus. The subjects of Alexius suffered worse than the Turks at first. Anna Comnena, perhaps prejudiced, yet quoted by Michaud, declares that the Normans in Peter's army when near Nicea, chopped children to pieces, stuck others on spits, and harried old people. The Germans, stung by Norman gibes, took a fort in the mountain near Nicea, killed the garrison and there met the attack of the Turks only to be slain by the sword. Their commander purchased his life by apostasy and a treasonable oath.
Cruelties of Crusaders
Once again the army sets forward, against the protest of the Penniless Walter, but by his forced consent. Once again they meet the reward of ignorance and undisciplined courage.
Walter Killed at Nicea
The ruler of Nicea, concealing a part of his army in the woods, waited for the Crusaders at the foot of a hill. The Turks pretended flight, but suddenly turned, surrounded the Crusaders on all
sides, routed them, and slew them with dreadful carnage. Walter died of seven arrow wounds. The whole army found refuge in a castle close to the sea. The Chronicler says, "Their monument was a heap of bones piled upon the plain of Nicea."
Turkish Contempt for Crusaders
The two results in the East were intense prejudice among the Greeks against the whole movement and contempt of the Turks for Christian warriors.
Peter Belabors His Followers