THE STORY OF THE FIRST CRUSADE.
As at one time Athens "was the Eye of Greece and Mother of the Arts"
so both to pious Jew and humble Christian, Jerusalem has ever been the
"City of God," the "Joy of the Whole Earth." To the fervid hearts
of the early Christians a pilgrimage to that Holy City to see the
sacred sights and commune with God amid scenes hallowed by the former
presence of a Christ, was regarded as a mark of special faith and a
source of peculiar blessing. After the Emperor Constantine removed
his capital from Rome to Constantinople and embraced the Christian
religion, Jerusalem was raised from its ruins, the way to the sacred
places was made more easy and safe, and the spirit of pilgrimage
greatly revived and stimulated. The magnificent church of The Holy
Sepulchre--decorated with pillars and adorned and paved with precious
stones--was raised above the obscure tomb, while churches, chapels
and monuments filled the city and marked the places made sacred by
the life and the death of the Saviour of the world.
Pilgrims flocked in crowds into Judea from almost every country in
Europe and Asia, and when they gathered in immense throngs about
these holy places, lifting their voices in prayers and hymns in many
languages, the sound was like the Babel of former Pentecosts. Each
returning pilgrim told his story of strange sights and of the
refreshment and inspiration received from his visit.
He had confirmed his faith by bathing in the Jordan, tested his faith
by exposure and perils, warmed his emotions by prayer on Calvary and
raised his soul in songs of praise in the Church of the Resurrection.
But in 610 A. D., the armies of Persia overran the provinces of the
Byzantine Empire, invading Syria, Palestine and Egypt, capturing
Jerusalem and bearing away many Christian captives.
Ten years of fiercest conflict followed and finally Heraclius, Emperor
of Constantinople, recaptured the city. In the imposing ceremonies
and festivities which followed, the Emperor walked barefoot in the
streets, bearing on his shoulders to the summit of Calvary, the wood
of the true cross, which to their weird and superstitious imaginations
had been miraculously recovered. Jerusalem rescued, became more than
ever an object of reverence. Blood had been shed for the church, only
Christians should thenceforth be its custodians. Their joy was brief.
Already the Saracenic warriors under able leaders had overrun Persia
and Syria, and in 637 Omar, their Caliph, after a four months' siege,
received the keys and homage of a city, which, though the home of
many Christians, was very sacred also in the eyes of the Mohammedans,
as a "House of God," a city of saints and miracles, since Mohammed
himself had visited it as a prophet and had thence set out for heaven
in his nocturnal voyage. During the lifetime of Omar, the Christians
escaped serious persecution, but violence and fanaticism increased at
a fearful rate under his successors--except for the period (768-814
A. D.) during which reigned Haroun al Raschid, the greatest of all
the Saracen Caliphs.
In 1076--fateful day--Jerusalem was captured by the Seljukian Turks
who had come down from the inner provinces of Asia in resistless
numbers--embraced Islamism, and under the banners of the Caliph of
Bagdad, had conquered Syria and Palestine. Their entry into Jerusalem
was signalized by a terrible massacre of all opponents. The fanatical
fury of these barbarians was untempered by any spirit of toleration
that had sometimes marked Saracenic civilization,--and soon their
wild hordes waved their banners of blood and fire before the very
gates of Constantinople. The Emperor Alexius purchased peace by
ceding Asia Minor to the victorious Solyman, who at once established
his power at Nice and began building a fleet for the capture of the
Byzantine capital.
All Europe was roused and smitten with alarm. The hour had come for
the Greek and the Latin churches to unite all their power for the
defence of their common faith and preserve their empires from being
devastated by the barbarian Turks.
Pope Gregory began to exhort the sovereigns of Europe to arm against
the infidel: when suddenly from an anchorite's cell appeared a monk who
fired with enthusiasm the heart of all Europe and blew into fiercest
blaze all the fanatical elements of a religious war. It was reserved
for a poor pilgrim who had found refuge in a cloister from the ridicule
and follies of a wicked world to become the instrument of converting
the zeal of pilgrimage into the fury of an armed crusade. This man
was Peter the Hermit.
In his cell, amid silence, fasting and prayer he grew to believe
himself the agent of heaven for the accomplishment of some great
purpose, and he left his retreat to go on a pilgrimage. What he
witnessed and suffered on the way and at Jerusalem gave to his zeal
fresh determination and to his devotion the fervor of righteous
indignation. His spirit was fired by the insults to Christians,
his piety shocked by the profanations of the Holy Sepulchre by the
barbarians and infidels. To his fevered imagination as to that of
Joan of Arc there was a vision and a voice. While prostrate before the
Holy Sepulchre the voice of Christ was heard, saying: "Peter, arise,
hasten to proclaim the tribulation of my people; it is time my servants
should receive help, and that the holy places should be delivered." He
hastened to Italy and threw himself at the feet of the Pope, Urban II.
With the blessing of the Pope he went forth, the preacher of an armed
crusade. In imitation of Christ, when he entered Jerusalem in that last
week of his life, he traveled on a mule. With crucifix in hand, feet
bare, his head uncovered, his body covered with a long frock and girded
with a thick cord, his appearance was an awesome spectacle. He went
from city to city, from province to province, working on the piety,
the superstitions and the courage of his hearers; now in churches,
then in village marts and again on the public highways. He was animated
and eloquent, his speech filled with vehement apostrophes and appalling
descriptions. His exhortations threw the people into sobs and groans,
fury and frenzy. Sympathy with the afflicted Christians took the form
of furious fervor, natural bravery went out in oaths to redeem or die;
religious emotions ran wild in excesses and swung like a pendulum
from the lowest follies of superstition to the fiercest outbursts
of fanaticism.
It was during this excitement that the Emperor Alexius sent a
message to Pope Urban II., appealing for aid. A council was called
at Clermont in France where Peter's preaching had caused the greatest
awakening. The Pope attended in person, about him gathered an immense
throng of clergy, princes and laity, from France, Italy and Germany. At
the tenth session of this council the Pope ascended a pulpit in the
open air and preached the sacred duty of redeeming the Sepulchre of
Christ from the infidels, proclaiming the certain propitiation for
sin by devotion to this meritorious service.
This historic council was most ingeniously called and managed. The
Germanic peoples were new and eager converts to Christianity. They
were fierce and warlike in disposition. Feudalism still was in its
fullest power. The hundreds of castles which add such picturesqueness
to the valley of the Rhine were then the centers of feudal pride,
and every petty Prince made war as he was able against his neighbor,
or joined with others in wars of larger proportions. There was no
national spirit as yet. These feuds which had been handed down for
generations, had greatly impoverished and destroyed the people. The
Church had sought to alleviate the distress and check these petty
wars, by issuing decrees prohibiting private wars for four days in
each week. This council renewed "The Truce of God," and threatened
all who would not comply, with its Anathemas. It placed all widows,
orphans, merchants, artisans and non-combatants generally under the
panoply of the Church--made all sanctuaries so many cities of refuge,
and declared that even the crosses by the roadside should be reverenced
as guardians from violence. These and other salutary decrees struck
into the midst of an assembly filled with enthusiasm and energy,
and prepared the way for them to unite in any cause that would add
to the strength and glory of Christendom. On this day of the tenth
session the great square was filled with an immense crowd. The Pope
ascended the throne followed by his Cardinals. By his side was Peter
the Hermit, who was to speak first, clad in his pilgrim garb. He
gave an impassioned and masterly sketch of what he had witnessed in
Palestine and Jerusalem--the outrages against the religion of Christ,
and the profanation of the most holy places, the persecutions of
pilgrim visitors whom he had seen loaded with chains, dragged into
slavery; harnessed to the yoke like cattle. And as he spoke he also
acted, until the people shuddered in consternation and horror, vented
their hate in vehement cries or wept in dismay--no heart remaining
unmoved by the very agony of his appeal.
Then Urban rose and so enlarged upon the theme as to arouse and
inflame their passions to the highest pitch; then addressing
particularly the French he said: "Nation beloved by God, it is in
your courage that the Christian Church has placed her hope. It is
because I am well acquainted with your piety and your bravery that
I have crossed the Alps, and have come to preach the word of God in
these countries. You have not forgotten that the land you inhabit
has been invaded by the Saracen, and that but for the exploits of
Charles Martel and Charlemagne, France would have received the laws
of Mohammed. Recall, without ceasing, to your minds the danger and
the glory of your fathers, led by heroes whose names shall never
die. They delivered your country. They saved the West from shameful
slavery. More noble triumphs await you under the guidance of the
God of Armies. You will deliver Europe and Asia. You will save the
city of Jesus Christ, that Jerusalem which was chosen by the Lord,
and from whence the Gospel has come down to us."
Urban swayed his audience as a wind does the leaves of the forest. It
wept as he pictured the misfortunes and sorrows of Jerusalem. Warriors
clutched their swords and swore vengeance against the Infidel when
he described the tyranny and perfidy of the Mussulman conquerors. The
enthusiasm of his auditors rose to the highest pitch, when he declared
that God had chosen them to extirpate the Mohammedan. He appealed also
to their cupidity by the promise of worldly gain, by possession of
the riches of Asia and the lands which according to Scripture flowed
with milk and honey. He played on every passion and emotion--ambition,
patriotism, love of glory and wealth, piety, power and religion:--until
at the close of his grandest outbursts the audience rose as one man
and broke into the unanimous cry--a cry that became the war cry of
the crusader--"It is the will of God! It is the will of God!"
Taking up this wild refrain Pope Urban repeated dramatically: "Yes,
without doubt it is the will of God" * * * It is He who has dictated
to you the words that I have heard. Let them be your war cry and let
them announce everywhere the presence of the "Armies of God." He then
held up to the gaze of the assemblage the sign of their redemption,
saying: "It is Christ himself who issues from the tomb and presents
to you his cross; it will be the sign raised among the nations which
is to gather together again the dispersed of Israel. Wear it on your
shoulders and on your breasts; let it shine on your arms and on your
standards; it will be the surety of victory or the palm of martyrdom;
it will unceasingly remind you that Christ died for you, and that it
is your duty to die for Him." Again the multitude rose to weep and
cheer and vow vengeance against the Mussulman.
I have dwelt thus on the Council of Clermont, and quoted from the
speech of Pope Urban, that the reader might see clearly the mixed
motives that stirred the heart of Europe for nearly two centuries, and
nerved her warriors to the most noble, heroic and almost superhuman
deeds of valor and endurance that have ever been emblazoned among
the memorials of the mightiest heroes of this mortal race.
This was the declaration of war against the Mohammedan. The
breaking up of the Council was the scattering of the firebrands of
fanaticism. Pope Urban traversed several provinces of France that
seemed to rise en masse to his appeals. France seemed to have no
country but the Holy Land. Ease, property and life were cast into
the sacrificial cause. All Christian nations seemed to forget their
internal strifes, and to plunge headlong into the excitement of the
hour. Western Europe resounded with the Papal Watchword: "He who will
not take up his cross and come after me, is not worthy of me."
It must not be forgotten, however, that the political and
physical condition of Europe contributed vastly to the warlike
conflagration. The people groaned under feudal servitude and
violence. Famine more or less severe, for years had contributed to
robbery and brigandage. Commerce was almost destroyed, agriculture
was neglected. Towns and cities were in ruins; lands everywhere were
abandoned. The Church made her appeals popular. The Crusader was freed
from all imposts and from pursuit by debts. The Cross suspended all
laws and all menaces. Tyranny could not seek a wearer of the emblem nor
could justice find the guilty. What wonder that an entire population
rushed to a cause that absolved them from a grinding past and pictured
so glowing a future! What wonder that the inexpiable wickedness of
tyrannical baron and brutal knight sought expiation or at least relief
by a desperate plunge into foreign martial excesses! What wonder if
freebooters and robbers should join the ranks in hope of sharing the
plunder of the conquered East! Yet we must not lose sight of the fact
that over and above all love of glory, all true patriotism or base
cupidity, towered the sublime passion, the pervading emotion of the
hour. Religion smelted every other sentiment into harmonious union
with her fervid zeal and her intense zealotry. Monks deserted their
cloisters, anchorites their cells or forest retreats to mingle with
and encourage the crusading throngs. Thieves and robbers came out
of their hiding places to confess their sins and expiate offences by
assuming the sacred badge.
All Europe seemed to be on the move eastward. Barons were willing to
desert their castles and Lords their manors. The artisan deserted
his shop, merchants their stores, the laborer the field. Cities
were depopulated, lands were mortgaged, castles sold. Values were
nothing. Accumulations of centuries went for a song. Even miracles
entered into the furore. To their overheated imaginations stars fell;
blood was seen in the clouds. Armed warriors were seen rushing to
battle in the skies. Saints issued from the tomb, and the shade of
Charlemagne arose to lead these phantom hosts to the rescue of the
Holy City. While everywhere the women and children and the helpless
of every estate espoused the cause of Heaven crying aloud, "It is
the will of God," and imprinting crosses on their limbs.
The early spring of 1096 saw the gathering of the impatient
throngs. They came from every quarter, from the Rhine to the
Pyrenees, and from Tiber to the Ocean. Troops of men, armed with
every conceivable weapon or without arms of any kind, swarmed towards
their respective rendezvous chanting and shouting their war cry until
every hill reëchoed "It is the will of God." Without preparation or
forethought or commissary they gathered, blindly trusting that He
who fed the sparrows would not suffer them to hunger. There was no
voice of reason in all this surging multitude. It was a spectacle
without a parallel in history. There is no way of computing the vast
aggregate, but the French historian, Carnot, estimates that five
billion enthusiasts were on the move in the spring of 1096. This
certainly is most extravagant hyperbole, but all Western Europe was
fiercely agitated and vast multitudes were on the march.
THE CRUSADE OF THE MOB.
Their story is but a harrowing recital of a tumultuous and reckless
march through an unknown country by a starving horde of men, women
and children. Pillage, rapine and blood marked their way. For a
time in Germany the people were kindly disposed and brought them
food. Fortunately for the mob Hungary had but recently embraced
Christianity and its King, Carloman, gave it a friendly passage
through his domains: but when it struck Bulgaria its struggles
and sorrows began. They were forced to pillage to keep from
starvation. Religion was laid aside. Hunger knew no law stronger
than that of self-preservation. The Bulgarians flew to arms and
inflicted great losses on the undisciplined and helpless crowd of
beggars. At last that part of the throng led by Walter the Penniless,
arrived under the walls of Constantinople and there were allowed
by the Emperor to await the coming of Peter the Hermit. Alas! the
excesses of his hosts led to still more terrible assaults while
passing through Hungary and Bulgaria. At Nissa they endeavored to
scale the ramparts and a terrific battle ensued in which the Crusaders
were cut to pieces. Women, children, horses, camp and trophy chests,
all fell a prey to the infuriated Bulgarians.
In August, Peter the Hermit appeared under the walls of Constantinople
with about seven thousand soldiers and camp followers to recruit his
wasted energies in the camp of Walter the Penniless while waiting
for other and better armed and disciplined forces to arrive. From
the banks of the Rhine, from Flanders, and even from Britain an
army largely composed of the refuse of mankind, two hundred thousand
strong, started on its march--but soon gave themselves to unheard-of
barbarities. How much worse than a Mohammedan was a member of that
hated race which had crucified the Christ and so they let loose their
fury against the defenseless Jews in most pitiless massacres, sweeping
on into Hungary, to the city of Mersburg, which shut its gates and
refused them provisions. Forests were cut down, causeways built across
the swamps which partially protected the walls and a furious assault
was made upon the city. The battle raged fiercely and for a long time
with doubtful result, but at last the scaling ladders of the Crusaders
began to give way, and then fell dragging down their occupants and
fragments of the walls and towers. These disasters carried panic into
the army of the besiegers and they fled into the forests, were caught
in the swamps and were ruthlessly slaughtered. Few of the desperate
and cruel adventurers escaped. Some found the way back to their own
country covered with disgrace--a few more made their way to the army
of Peter the Hermit encamped before Constantinople.
Thus far this fanatical spirit had cost Western Europe the lives of
nearly a quarter of a million people, and not a Saracen had been
seen. But the motley crowd encamped on the Bosphorus augmented
by adventurers from Italian cities had gradually increased until
now it probably numbered one hundred thousand all told. They were
scarcely more welcome than the Saracens to the Emperor Alexius who
had treated them as guests and supplied their famished hosts. Their
desire for plunder could not long be restrained, and the churches,
houses and palaces in the suburbs fell a prey to their rapacity which
was as insatiable as the cry for blood that rises from a pack of
ravening wolves. Alexius was therefore very glad to furnish them with
transportation across the Bosphorus. They were now on Asiatic soil
an undisciplined and motley crowd in the face of the well armed and
equally furious and fanatical Turk. They revelled in the pillage of
the fertile plains of Nicomedia, dividing the booty at night in their
camps. They plundered the valley, ravaged and burned the villages and
committed most horrible excesses; they captured a small fort near
the mountains from the Turks and massacred the garrison. The Turks
reinforced, fell upon them in turn, and put nearly all of them to the
sword. This roused the anger of the mixed crowds in camp. Nothing could
restrain the blind fury of the soldier mob. They chased the apparently
flying columns of the Turks into the mountains of an unknown country
and fell into the ambush laid for them. In vain their courage, their
despair. The carnage was horrible. Only three thousand escaped. The
entire crusading army perished in this single battle and only their
bleaching bones remained as a ghastly monument pointing out to other
crusaders the way to the Holy Land.
Europe learned with astonishment and horror of the sad fate of over
three hundred thousand soldiers who had departed amid the promises
and the blessings of the church. Their misfortune, however, did
not deter others, but seemed only to inspire them with resolution;
their disasters furnished a warning to the better regulated and
more formidable hosts which were to pour into the East from the now
thoroughly aroused West.
THE CRUSADE OF KINGS AND NOBLES.
The verdict of candid history is that the rabble which started in
obedience to a popular ferment and perished as a miserable crowd of
crazed humanity, deserved the fate they invited; for the world had
never witnessed a more pitiable exhibition of demoniacal fanaticism
and flagrant violence than was shown by these lawless crowds who
followed the cry of Peter the Hermit. They achieved nothing heroic;
but their disasters taught Europe that to conquer Jerusalem would be
no holiday work.
The Princes and Nobles of Germany, France and Britain now organized for
war. While deliverance of Jerusalem was the popular cry and religious
zeal fired the heart of all classes, the powers recognized the fact
that the battles to be fought and won were for the preservation of
their very existence.
You may call it organized infatuation and mailed folly, yet it was
a splendid spectacle. Its spiritual zeal gave a silver lining to its
superstitions. Its martial fame modified its brutality. Amid fearful
excesses there was a show of prudence; and although you may impeach
the justice of their cause, their magnanimous devotion of spirit and
fearless heroism must always command a large share of sympathy and
admiration, and make the Story of the Crusades the most thrilling of
all the chapters in the history of the Middle Ages.
History and poetry place Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lower
Lorraine, at the head of the great captains that led the flower of
all chivalry on its desperate venture. He was a descendant of the
great Charlemagne. To natural bravery he added herculean strength. He
was devout, prudent and humane. All his vengeance was for the enemies
of Christ. He was generous, faithful to his word--a model knight and
soldier. When he gave the signal, the nobility of France and the Rhine
borders opened their purses and flocked to his standards. Women sold
their jewels to equip husbands and sons for service. Men sacrificed
their domains for horses and arms. Godfrey himself sacrificed his
estates that he might equip his soldiers, and a worldly Bishop eagerly
took advantage of his zeal by purchasing his vast domains. Within
eight months of the Council of Clermont, Godfrey had gathered an army
of eighty thousand footmen and ten thousand horse. With him were a
great number of nobles whose names became famous, beside his brother
Baldwin and his cousin Baldwin de Bourg who were destined like himself
to become Kings of Jerusalem. Whether actuated by piety or the hope
of achieving fortune, they all quitted without regret their mean
possessions and tame life in Europe.
They led an immense army used to marches and battles. Their admirable
discipline and self-restraint reëstablished the honor of the Crusaders
and drew allies and champions of the cross where Peter had met his
worst enemies, and the hostile Hungarians and Bulgarians forgot their
hatred for the leaders of the Mob in their admiration for Godfrey
and his chivalric knights.
We must not neglect to mention the names of four chiefs who accompanied
by throngs of lesser knights and nobles, crossed the Alps and marched
towards the different coast cities of Italy intending to embark for
Greece by water. Count Hugh, brother of Philip I. of France, a proud
prince, brave in battle, but lacking perseverance under reverses:
Robert, Duke of Normandy, eldest son of William the Conqueror, who
pledged his domains to his crafty brother, William Rufus, that he
might equip his Norman vassals. Robert, of Flanders, whose father
some time before had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, found it an
easy task to attract a large and resolute following and exhausted
the treasures of his province in arming his men for an expedition,
which was to earn for him the reputation of a brave knight and the
surname of "Lance and Sword of the Christians." Five hundred of his
men had already preceded him to Constantinople. Then Stephen of Blois
and Chartres, whose castles numbered one for every day in the year,
and who was reckoned one of the richest nobles of his time, took up
the cross and led a large body of his retainers;--he, though lacking
in physical strength, was eloquent and wise in council and enjoyed
the exceptional distinction of being a man of letters. For the most
part these chiefs and many men of lesser rank took with them their
wives and children and camp equipments. Passing through Italy they
roused the enthusiasm of the noble Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum,
who was a cubit taller than the tallest soldier in his army. The
historian of Constantinople and the Empire of the East, Anna Comnena,
says that he was as astonishing to the eye as his reputation was to
the mind. He was eloquent in debate, skilled with sword and lance. He
was proud and haughty. Fear of God, the opinions of men, nor his own
oaths afforded him no restraint. His enlistment under the banner of
the cross was not for the purpose of delivering the tomb of Christ,
but because he had sworn eternal enmity against Alexius and the
Empire of the East. He hoped to win a kingdom long before reaching
Jerusalem. In a surprisingly short time he sailed for the coasts of
Greece with twenty thousand footmen and ten thousand horse, followed
by every renowned knight of Apulia and Sicily. None of them however
became so celebrated for deeds of prowess as the brave Tancred,
who has found a place in history and poetry and who seems to have
been actuated by the loftiest sentiments of piety, chivalric honor
and loyal friendship for his leader. From the southern provinces of
France under the leadership of Raymond of Toulouse and Bishop Adhemar,
who was as valorous in the field as he was eloquent in prayer, came
another army one hundred thousand strong, marching eastward along the
south side of the Alps and through northern Italy by way of Dalmatia,
to Constantinople.
And now that all Europe seemed pouring into the empire and capital
of Alexius, the Emperor began to be alarmed. He had not forgotten
the excesses of the first swarm of Crusaders. Should these multitudes
now sweeping into and through his domains choose to do so, they could
speedily wrest his sovereignty from him and find riches and dominion
far easier than in remote and hostile Asia. We have no time to dwell
upon the intrigues and treachery that marked his dealings with these
mighty leaders of the Crusaders. More than once the forces of Godfrey
and Alexius were called to arms with the fate of Constantinople hanging
in almost even balance. Finally a truce was made and the Emperor sent
his son as a hostage to the Camp of the Crusaders. This dissipated
all mistrust and the princes of the West swore to respect the laws
of hospitality. They went in a body to the court of Alexius, where
they bent before his throne and were magnificently received. After an
imposing ceremony the now graciously disposed Emperor adopted Godfrey
as a son, placed the Empire under his protection, promising aid to
the Crusaders by land and sea, provisions for their marches and the
countenance of his leadership in glory or defeat.
But every day brought its hosts of Crusaders and magnificent presents
must be given to all the leaders, and his profuse liberality was
a heavy drain on his royal treasuries. His security now lay in
keeping the armies in motion and hurrying them across the Bosphorus;
and once in Asia their leaders would be engrossed in preparing to
meet the Saracens and his capital would for a time be free from
insult and the unwelcome presence of his mortal foe Bohemond who,
struck with the riches of the apartments assigned him, exclaimed:
"There is enough here to conquer kingdoms with."
And now the plains of Bythinia were fast filling with the warrior
hordes of Europe and as they swept along seeking safe camping places
they came to the foot of the mountains where Walter the Penniless
and his entire army perished in battle. The painful reminder of so
great a calamity, and the recital by the starved remnants of Peter's
army found hiding in the mountains of their fearful sufferings,
hushed all discord, silenced ambition and inspired fresh zeal for
the conquest of the Holy City and the destruction of the fierce,
cruel and equally fanatical Turks who swarmed in the valleys and
filled the walled cities of Palestine with desperate garrisons.
But the first battle of invasion must be fought at the very gateway to
Asia Minor. The chief of the Infidel forces was the son of Solyman;
his name was David, surnamed Kilidge Arslan, or "The Sword of the
Lion." He called upon the defenders of Islam to rally to his standard
and they came in troops from all the surrounding provinces and even
from distant Persia. The capital of his kingdom was Nicea (Nice). It
was the advanced post of the Turks in Asia Minor and there they would
concentrate for the later invasion of Europe. Its approaches were
defended by high mountains. Its walls, surrounded by large water-filled
ditches, were wide enough for the passage of chariots and were crowned
by three hundred and seventy towers of brick. Its garrison was composed
of the finest troops of the Turkish army; and one hundred thousand
men were encamped for its defence upon the neighboring mountains.
Infatuated with their cause, blind in their faith, despising the
martial quality of the enemy, and apparently ignorant of the careful
and crafty preparations made to receive them, the Crusaders marched
in magnificently terrible swarms over the Bythinian plains towards
Nice; with a force of one hundred thousand horse and five hundred
thousand footmen among whom were a large per cent. of women and
children and ineffectives. It was the chivalry of Europe come out to
dispute with the Infidel the possession of Asia. The sight of this
immense army as the Turks gazed upon it from their mountain tops
must have thrilled their hearts even if it did not carry terror to
their camps. It was soon learned that Nice could only be captured by
siege, if at all. For this preparations began to be made; but there
was no central authority. In the camps of the Crusaders were nineteen
different nationalities grouped about their respective standards. No
count or prince would deign to receive orders from anyone. Each camp
was protected by walls or palisades, and as the supply of wood and
stone was scarce they gathered up the bones of the first Crusaders
that lay bleaching on the plains. The priests in all these various
camps were always in the ranks and so great was their power that the
commonest soldier gladly courted death for the sake of the rewards
in store for all who perished in battle with the Infidel.
At the same time David, "The Sword of the Lion" animated his
garrison by recalling former victories and saying: "We are going
to fight for our wives and children and country. The religion of
the Prophet implores our help, and the richest booty will reward
our exploits." While for every Turk that fell in battle the gates
of Paradise would open and the most beautiful Houris would minister
with wine and dance to the unlimited enjoyment of the faithful. The
rewards of the future, though so different to the imagination of the
followers of Christ and of Mohammed, had precisely the same effect
in stimulating the courage of all alike to the same pitch of frenzied
fanaticism--the utter contempt of all danger, and to the very courting
of death itself in the destruction of their enemies.
As the Crusaders advanced, their siege operations animated by the
boldness of their leaders, the Turks, similarly cheered and as bravely
led, descended from their mountain camps and prepared for battle. Their
army divided into two great bodies as they struck the plains. One of
these fell on the army of Godfrey, and the other on that of Raymond
of Toulouse. At first the troops of Raymond gave way to the fierce
onset but were soon rallied by the voices and bugles of Raymond and
Adhemar. Matthew of Edessa writes:--"The two armies joined, mingled and
attacked each other with equal fury. Everywhere glittered casques and
shields; lances rang against cuirasses; the air resounded with piercing
cries; the terrified horses recoiled from din of arms and the hissing
of arrows; the earth trembled beneath the tread of the combatants,
and the plain was for a vast space bristling with javelins." The
Crusaders were most valiantly led by Godfrey, Tancred and the two
Roberts whose steeds seemed to be everywhere, whose valor knew no
abatement and whose lances carried terror and death into the ranks of
the Infidels. It was a disastrous day for the Turkish forces that were
driven back in greatest confusion into their mountain camps. But the
Sultan did not stop to deplore his defeat. He rallied his forces during
the night and determined to avenge his disgrace on the morrow. At
break of day again his troops rushed with the violence of mountain
torrents into the plains, and with loudest cries dashed again and
again into the serried ranks of the Crusaders. All day long under
charge and counter charge the result of the battle hung in doubt. Not
till night did the Turks confess their inability to crush the battle
lines of the Christians by retiring from the scene of awful carnage,
leaving four thousand prisoners in the hands of the victors. The next
day the heads of one thousand were cut off and sent as trophies to
Alexius at Constantinople; the heads of the remaining captives were
thrown by machines over the walls of the city to inform the Turkish
garrison of the disaster which had overtaken their supporting army.
The Crusaders were now free to push forward the siege by every
artifice known to the Romans and directed by the skill and energy of
the Greeks. They allowed the garrison no rest, and the defence was as
furious as the attack. The Turks covered their ramparts with formidable
weapons which hurled destruction on their assailants. They shot forth
darts, wooden beams and enormous stones which daily destroyed the labor
of the Crusaders whose rashness and imprudence cost them many precious
lives. Hundreds died from poisoned darts, and others, venturing too
near the walls, were caught by grappling hooks, dragged alive over
the walls to be shot back, stark naked, into the Christian camp. The
tales of personal, single-handed prowess place Christian and Turkish
chief on equal footing as to strength, courage and splendid daring.
After seven weeks had passed all hope for successful defence
departed. The wife of the Sultan and her two children were captured
in trying to escape, and consternation siezed the garrison. Just
at this crisis the emissaries of Alexius entered the city, and by
creating in the inhabitants a dread of the terrible vengeance that
would be inflicted by the Crusaders, persuaded them to surrender to
the Emperor of Constantinople.
While the Crusaders were preparing for what was intended to be their
final assault, the standard of Alexius suddenly appeared on the
ramparts. The wily Emperor had secured without the loss of a man the
fruits of a victory won at terrible cost of life to the Crusaders. He
succeeded in quieting the wrath of the soldiers by distributing among
them largesses equal in extent to the booty they expected from the
looting of the captured city. He also restored to the Sultan his wife
and children, and thereby won his friendship. He also by this crafty
stroke of policy secured the lives of the Greek Christians scattered
throughout the cities of Asia Minor; but won the lasting hatred of
the Crusaders.
The siege of one city is like the siege of all, and we must hasten
to Jerusalem, in the spring of 1097. Passing by the battlefield
of Dorylaeum, where the newly gathered army of David, the Sultan,
numbering two hundred thousand men, met with an awful defeat and the
loss of nearly twenty-five thousand men; all the treasures of his
camp, provisions, tents, horses and camels, and riches of gold and
silver, falling as spoil into the hands of the Crusaders:--passing
by the terrible march through "Burning Phrygia," desolated by order
of the Sultan, we descend through the mountain passes of the Taurus
range into the fair and fertile and wealthy plains of the province of
Antioch. The armies were soon gathered for the siege of this historic
city, which lasted seven months and was finally captured through the
assistance of an Armenian within the walls.
Six months after the sack of the city of Antioch, the word was given,
"On to Jerusalem."
It was now about the first of June. The harvests of Phoenicia
were ripe, plenty of provisions were in sight, and the country was
beautiful as they marched down the seacoast from Antioch. To their
left rose the mountains of Lebanon. On their right the blue waters of
the Mediterranean flashed in the sunlight of an eastern sky. Between
mountain and sea the valleys and plains were filled with orchards of
olive, orange and pomegranate. Among the plants which were new to the
Crusaders was the sugar cane of the Syrian lowlands. Returning pilgrims
carried this plant to Italy; the Saracens introduced it into Grenada,
whence it spread throughout all the Spanish colonial possessions;
and to-day is the basis of the wealth of Cuba, and one of the chief
productions of our own Southern States.
The Crusaders marched amid plenty and under balmy skies, with time
enough to contemplate the fearful sacrifice of human life which their
expedition had already cost. Battle and famine, disease and despair
had cut off more than two hundred thousand of their number. Tens
of thousands had deserted and returned to Europe; other thousands
remained in the cities and villages of Palestine and were lost in the
mixed crowds of the native races. While yet a vast host, the fighting
force was about fifty thousand, but it was a compact and vigorous
body of warriors. It marched better and lighter. Its victories gave
it courage; its defeats had taught it the value of discipline. The
names of Crusader and Christian carried terror wherever spoken in
the Infidel camps or cities. Their zeal increased as they drew near
the end of their long and wasting marches. Often the weary columns
refused to halt for the night, but tramped on until forced to rest
by sheer fatigue. To their disordered vision luminous angels appeared
to guide them on the way.
Bending away from the sea and passing Lydda, they soon gained the
Heights of Ephraim, only sixteen miles from Jerusalem. Here their
ranks were broken up as they entered these jagged ravines and narrow,
lonesome valleys scorched by the rays of a summer sun, riddled
by gullies and choked by great fragments of rock fallen from the
precipitous sides of the mountains. Had they been attacked from the
heights above by even a few resolute Mussulmen while in such disorder,
fearful loss might have been inflicted; but no enemy appeared as the
more ardent and faithful souls advanced barefooted, carrying with
them the banner of the Prince of Peace to plant on the recaptured
walls of the Holy City of God.
On June 10th, 1099, the Crusaders marched up the gloomy steeps to
Emmaus, and looking over its barren edges caught their first sight
of Zion. The cry of "Jerusalem, Jerusalem," rang out and down the
slopes, and as the rear columns came up the war cry "It is the will
of God," resounded throughout the whole army until reëchoed by the
slopes of the Mount of Olives and heard in the City of David. Horsemen
dismounted and walked barefoot, thousands bent their knees and kissed
the earth. Hallelujahs arose, petitions went up for the remission
of their sins, tears were shed over the death of Christ, and the
profanation of His tomb. Pious fervor soon changed into fierceness
and wrath as oaths were resworn to rescue the Holy City from the
sacrilegious hands of the followers of Mohammed.
They found a fierce and valiant memory awaiting them. The surrounding
villages had been destroyed, cisterns and wells filled up or poisoned,
the land made a desert.
The siege began at once; but their situation grew desperate. They
were suffering under a scorching heat and the sand storms out of the
southern deserts. Plants and animals perished. Kedron ran dry. The
army became a prey to raging thirst. Water brought in skin bottles
a distance of nine miles was worth its weight in silver. The old
historians paint in most frightful colors the misery of the Crusaders
at this juncture; and had the Mussulmen made a determined sortie upon
the staggering hosts, the army must have perished. Their strength and
courage revived by the arrival of a Genoese fleet at Jaffa laden with
provisions. A Syrian pointed out a mountain thirty miles away that
was forest-clad. Every body wrought with unceasing energy. Water
was brought long distances by the women and children; machines of
war towers, catapults and battering rams were erected and pushed up
close under the walls of Jerusalem.
The priests exhorted to peace and harmony. The hermit of the Mount
of Olives led a penitential march around the city. On their return
to camp as the Christian army marched by the tomb of David, and
Mt. Zion they chanted "The nations of the West shall fear the Lord;
and the nations of the East shall see His glory."
On the morning of July 14, 1099, all the Crusaders flew to arms at
the sound of the trumpets to make their first grand assault.
The great war machines were pushed close to the walls. Showers of
stones were hurled upon the ramparts. Archers and crossbowmen kept up
a continual fire from their towers. Scaling ladders were planted. The
great leaders were everywhere. For twelve long hours the Crusaders
maintained the unequal fight, and then nightfall covered their first
repulse. The morning saw the renewal of the conflict more furious and
desperate than before. It was carried on with demoniac obstinacy for
half a day. Their courage began to fail; nearly all their machines
were on fire and there was no water to quench the flames; even their
leaders began to waver.
While the battle was in this desperate shape a mysterious knight made
his appearance on the Mount of Olives waving his sword and signalling
them to renew the assault. They accepted the omen as from heaven and
in the fury of their faith rushed again to the attack--dragged their
machines still nearer the walls, caught them with their grappling
hooks, lowered their drawbridges, let fly showers of flaming arrows
which set on fire sacks of wool and bundles of hay that had been
used for protection on the inner walls. The wind fanned the flames,
driving smoke and heat upon the doomed Saracens. The Crusaders sprang
upon the walls with lance and spear in hand. Godfrey, Baldwin, Raymond
and Tancred followed by their knights and soldiers were soon in the
streets and beating down the gates with their battle-axes opened the
way for the great body of Crusaders to enter. Their battle cry rang
through the streets of the Holy City.
The miracle-monger places the entry of the Crusaders at the very
hour Friday, 3 P. M., at which Christ expired on the cross. But even
this could not move their hearts to mercy. We throw a veil of silence
over the awful massacre that followed, until Godfrey throwing aside
his arms walked barefooted to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. His
example was contagious. The army ceased its bloody fury, cast aside
its blood-stained vestments, gave vent to its contrition in groans and
sobs, and marched with uncovered heads and bare feet following their
priests to the Church of the Resurrection. We marvel at the sudden
transformation. The devotion of the Crusaders seemed profoundly tender
after such horrible carnage. We do not excuse it. We do not condemn
it in bitter speech recalling some terrible experiences during our
late Civil War, when Christian men sometimes seemed possessed. The
demon of war has never yet been baptized with the Spirit of Him who
gave up His life for the salvation of the very men who crucified Him.
The last chapter in the history of this first Crusade ends with the
establishment of a kingdom of Jerusalem and the selection of the
pious Godfrey as King. With its fortunes we may not here concern
ourselves. We shall touch upon it as we sketch the resistless march
of the warriors of Islam to the conquest of Constantinople and the
overthrow of the Empire of Eastern Europe.