pilgrimage exposure admittance enthusiasm
resurrection sanction earnestly separated
cardinals council military Constantinople
Peter the Hermit was born in France. He was in turn a soldier, a priest,
and a hermit. At length he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. On reaching
Jerusalem, he saw with such sadness the wrongs suffered by the Christians
that he said in his heart, “I will rescue the tomb of our Lord from the
heathen.”
During his stay in the Holy City, he went often to the Church of the
Resurrection. One day he beheld in a vision the Lord, who directed him to
go forth and do his work. He at once returned to Europe. His plan was to
raise a great army and with it drive the Moslems from the Holy Land. But
he must first obtain the consent and aid of Pope Urban II.
So he traveled to Rome and was permitted to tell the Pope his plan. What
a picture they made! The Pope sat in state clothed in rich robes. His
cardinals and attendants were around him. Before him stood the pilgrim,
his face tanned with exposure and his clothes all travel-stained, telling
of the grievous wrongs suffered by the Christians in Jerusalem. No wonder
Pope Urban wept. The Pope gave his sanction to Peter to preach throughout
Europe, urging the people to go and rescue the blessed tomb.
[Illustration: PETER THE HERMIT PREACHING THE CRUSADE]
Peter, light of heart but strong of purpose, started forth in the year
1094. He was clad in a woolen garment over which he wore a coarse brown
mantle. His feet and head he left bare. He was a small man, and if you had
seen him, you would not have called him fine looking. Still, he was never
refused admittance into the presence of prince or king.
The poor loved him for his gentleness, and the rich loaded him with gifts.
These, however, he never kept for himself, but gave to those who were in
need.
At Clermont, in November, 1095, the Pope held a council of all the
cardinals, bishops, and priests who stood high in the Church. He told them
what Peter meant to do, asking them to render him aid. So earnestly did he
speak, that when he had finished, they all shouted together, “God wills
it! God wills it!”
“Then,” said Pope Urban, “let the army of the Lord when it rushes upon its
enemies shout that cry, ‘God wills it.’”
He commanded all who should take up arms in the cause to wear on the
shoulder a cross, reminding them that Christ had said, “He that does not
take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” This is why the wars
were called the Crusades, for the word “crusade” means literally “the
taking of the cross.”
A great army was soon assembled and ready to march. All the men were eager
and wild with enthusiasm, but most of them had never had any military
training. How would they succeed in that long and toilsome journey across
sea and land to Palestine?
They soon began to meet with trouble. In their haste, they had not
provided nearly enough food for themselves. When that gave out, they began
to take whatever they needed from the people along the way. In Hungary
they did much harm to towns and farms. This made the inhabitants very
angry, and they came out to fight the crusaders. Many of the crusaders
were killed and the rest were scattered in flight.
At length Peter was separated from his followers, and wandered for some
time alone in the forest. Then, in order to make his whereabouts known to
any who might be in the same forest or near, he blew his horn. In answer
to his call several companies of his friends soon appeared. So with only
a small number of those who at first started out, Peter at length reached
Constantinople.
At that time Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire in the
East and its ruler was the Emperor Alexis. The emperor received the
crusaders kindly. Here Peter the Hermit was rejoined by a large force of
his followers who had been separated from him during the march.
After leaving Constantinople, the crusaders entered the land of the Turks,
through which they must march before reaching the Holy Land. A terrible
battle was soon fought with the Moslems, and most of the crusaders
perished. Peter now saw that with the few men who were left he could
do nothing; he therefore decided to find a place of security among the
mountains and wait there until aid should come. There we shall leave him
for a time.