William made war on Scotland, and conquered it. During a war with the king of France the city of Mantes (mont) was burned by William's soldiers. As William rode over the ruins his horse stumbled and the king was thrown to the ground and injured. He was borne to Rouen, where he lay ill for six weeks. His sons and even his attendants abandoned him in his last hours. It is said that in his death struggle he fell from his bed to the floor, where his body was found by his servants.
PETER THE HERMIT
ABOUT 1050-1115
I
During the Middle Ages the Christians of Europe used to go to the Holy Land for the purpose of visiting the tomb of Christ and other sacred places. Those who made such a journey were called "pilgrims."
Every year thousands of pilgrims—kings, nobles and people of humbler rank—went to the Holy Land.
While Jerusalem was in the hands of the Arabian caliphs who reigned at Bagdad, the Christian pilgrims were generally well treated. After about 1070, when the Turks took possession of the city, outrages became so frequent that it seemed as if it would not be safe for Christians to visit the Savior's tomb at all.
About the year 1095 there lived at Amiens (ä-me-an') France, a monk named Peter the Hermit.
Peter was present at a council of clergy and people held at Clermont in France when his Holiness, Pope Urban II, made a stirring speech. He begged the people to rescue the Holy Sepulchre and other sacred sites from the Mohammedans.
The council was so roused by his words that they broke forth into loud cries, "God wills it! God wills it!"