Origins of the First Crusade

It was the end of a century, a natural time for a nervous energy to abound. The perfect time for one man to make a speech that caused fervor among both Christians and pagans. Never before was there such dedication by so many tens of thousands against a single enemy: the Infidels. During a time when Christianity was spreading its roots all throughout Eurasia, many held tightly to their pagan beliefs. Nevertheless, Pope Urban II's speech and the promises that the Crusade held were enough for even non-Christians to take up arms in God's name.

The Two Roman Empires

The Roman Empire was divided into two distinct parts in the third century. Byzantium, the New Rome, also known as Constantinople, was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The language was Greek but the culture identified with Imperial Rome. The Western Empire was previously Latin and Charlemagne had renamed it the Holy Roman Empire in 800. The churches used Latin liturgy and the Holy Roman Emperors were personified as protectors of the Pope in Rome. The idealized version of the Pope and his power equaled that of the Emperor in Byzantium.

Byzantium remained impregnable for a long time but slowly weakened. In the seventh and eighth centuries, the Arabs occupied many of the Empire's provinces. However, between 976 and 1025, the Empire struck back regaining Crete and Central Anatolia while driving the Arabs back into Jerusalem. It appeared that the Byzantine Roman Empire was restoring itself but their troubles had just begun.

Back in Italy, the Normans were trying to seize power. Italy was divided between the two Empires, the northern part remaining Latin and southern tip Byzantine Greek. The Normans gained support from the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope, who believed that the Normans would help extend the Roman Catholic influence into the southern region ruled by the Byzantines (Hollister 184). However, it soon became clear that the Normans were not acting in the best interests of the Church, only in their own. The Pope traveled around their territory and complained to the Byzantine Emperor that the Normans were acting with "horrible impiety." With help from the Byzantines in 1053, the Pope and an army marched south declaring the campaign a Holy War (Hollister 184-85). The Normans conquered the Pope's Army, took the Pope prisoner, and persuaded him to allow the Normans to remain in control of southern Italy. Even though the Normans were Christian, their taste for more land and power came first.

Back at the Byzantine Empire, the Seljuk Turks took control of central Armenia. In the past, the Caliph of Baghdad had prevented several warrior tribes from invading the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, in the eleventh century Baghdad was disintegrating. In 1055, the Seljuks conquered Baghdad. Over the next fifteen years, they invaded Anatolia and in 1071 confronted the best of the Byzantine forces. They beat the Emperor's army at Manzikert and took him prisoner (Hollister 188).

The Normans saw this as the opportune time to invade the Byzantine Empire themselves. With papal support, the Norman Robert Guiscard along with his son Bohemond waged a Crusade against Byzantine. The concept of crusading had begun and stories would spread throughout Europe. Inevitably, this gave added momentum to the infamous speech by Pope Urban II.

Christian Adaptation of German Ideals

The arrival of Christianity was marked in Germanic communities, as it was elsewhere by prohibitions set by the Church against the practice of paganism. For example, in the Punishments for Pagans and Others who turn from the Church of God, ordained around the year 690, lists activities considered heinous crimes against the Church:

2: If anyone eats or drinks unknowingly at a heathen shrine,

5: If any keep feasts at the abominable places of the heathen,

15: If any burn grain where a man has died for the well being of the living or for the house... (Prudence and Pennick 156).

Even though strict regulations were set, Christian ideals slowly incorporated into their lifestyle. For a long while and still found in some areas of Europe today, there existed a fusion of Christian and pagan beliefs. Many others were subdued into Christianity through war. The Saxons (descendents of the Germans) are one such example. In Einhard's Life of Charlemagne, he describes the Saxons as a "fierce people" who worshipped "devils" and were "hostile to our religion" (Geary 270). In the biography, Einhard depicts how Charlemagne forced his faith on refugees from the Saxon/Frank war:

"They (Germans) were sometimes so much weakened and reduced that they promised to renounce the worship of devils, and to adopt Christianity...he (Charlemagne) never allowed their faithless behaviour to go unpunished, but either took the field against them in person, or sent his counts with an army to wreak vengeance and exact righteous satisfaction...conquering and subduing all who had offered resistance" (Geary 270).

Based upon the warrior culture of these "devils" as Einhard describes them, is the later idealized version of Christian Knights. Medieval warriors relished in the sport of fighting, which was considered nobler and even more exciting than hunting. This was the case with the Germans. Warriors often adhered to a heroic code that incorporated concepts of what it is to be a good warrior. A German warrior's duty was utter loyalty to his lord. In battle, a loyal warrior would give his last breath in the name of his lord. Another essential principle in the heroic code was that of dying with honor. A warrior achieved honor by dying on the battlefield alongside his brethren. References to these concepts are seen in heroic legends like Beowulf and Tacitus' historical text Germania.

Along with the Germanic warrior ideals, early German societal practices gave heed to early forms of the feudal system. Like that of Germans paying homage to their liege lord through the surrendering of cattle, medieval French followed suit. The barbarian invasions of the ninth and tenth centuries instituted significant change in land ownership policies throughout Western Europe. In France, clusters of land were ruled by nobles who entered into voluntary agreements with vassals designed to secure protection or service, in which land served as a means of exchange. This created a relationship between the vassal (sometimes referred to as knights) and their superior or lord, a relationship not unlike the warrior and his lord in Germanic warrior societies. However, nobles still enjoyed fighting and landownership disputes often occurred. This later caused dissention in France and later spread throughout Europe.

Church Reformation, Papal rule and Peace Movements

Pope Gregory VII was Europe's first revolutionary leader. Before becoming Pope, Gregory was associated with the abbey of Cluny in central France. Cluny had begun a new monastic movement; unlike asceticism, it committed itself not to solitary lifestyle but more to the regeneration of Christian society in a centralized authoritarian structure under the Pope (Riley-Smith 22-23). On December 8, 1075, Pope Gregory enforced his authority by threatening the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, with excommunication unless he stopped appointing bishops and abbots (Hollister 221-222). Here we see an example of Papal authority. Gregory excommunicated the Emperor and no one was obliged to obey him. The Emperor argued his case but eventually lost and had to beg for absolution. From here on, it was clear who the real power was in the Empire. Following Gregory was a fellow revolutionist, Pope Urban II, who was also committed to the reform program and retained the vision of the Pope as the supreme monarch.

Due to a growing population and quarrels over land, Europe suffered several inland skirmishes. This got so bad that the Church intervened and created the Peace of God Movement in the late 10th century. This movement prohibited organized warriors to harm any civilians. Later in the 11th century, the Truce of God Movement went even further, prohibiting any warfare activity on holy days or seasons.

During this time of savagery and warfare, common law was rarely enforced, so there was a common yearning for some kind of order. Many people, including a large number of knights, supported the Church for the reason that it offered the only credible solution to the corruption and violence in their communities. There was also growing anxiety in the knights. They felt compromised in loyalties to both their overlords and to God. On one hand, they were told to fight and kill, on the other that killing is sinful. After taking his throne in 1095, Urban addressed this dilemma with his own solution - the Crusade. On Tuesday, November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II made a speech that would change the world.

Urban had received an embassy from the Byzantine Emperor asking for assistance against the Turks. Urban used this request as the basis for his idea of an attack against the Muslims. He most likely figured that this would fit into his agenda of true supremacy over the Church. There he stood in front of multitudes, announcing that the Christians in Byzantium needed saving from the savage hordes of Seljuks. He also insisted that Crusaders fight under the banner of the Cross. This in turn, would spread Christian propaganda to the East. In addition, Urban claimed that this war would save Jerusalem, considered the spiritual center of the Universe.

Urban's method for raising an army was ingenious, he offered pay and most importantly, full penance of all sins - true freedom, a fresh start for many. "By saying that carrying out a military/political enterprise would make you a better person, wiping out past sins, Urban had invented a way by which every person could internalize papal policy" (Jones and Ereira 22). In light of this, the Crusades are also viewed as the culmination of the Peace and Truce of God Movements. In his speech, Pope Urban calling for eradication of the infidel in the East also proclaims peace throughout the west by forbidding any type of warfare among Christians:

"Hence it is that you murder and devour one another, that you wage war, and that frequently you perish by mutual wounds. Let therefore hatred depart from among you, let your quarrels end, let wars cease, and let all dissensions and controversies slumber. Enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulcher; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves" (Weber 281).

The combination of warrior culture ideals and the effects of the Peace and Truce of God Movements certainly helped in the creation of the Crusades. Therefore, the call to the Crusade attracted many of the warrior mindset, which included nobles and their followers. The Crusade offered not only absolution but also riches and land. The concepts of warrior culture and the heroic code are noticeably incorporated into Christianity when Pope Urban made his speech. Thus, Germanic warrior values transmitted into Christian faith essentially created the concept of God's Knight. Instead of Knights retaining loyalty to their lord, they were now fighting for God. The literal transition from Knight to Soldier of Christ is seen in Urban's speech. After Urban declared his call to arms, many in the crowd cried out, "It is the will of God!" Upon hearing this, Urban used this to his advantage affirming the following:

"Therefore I say to you that God, who implanted this in your breasts, has drawn it forth from you. Let this then be your war-cry in combats, because this word is given to you by God. When an armed attack is made upon the enemy, let this one cry be raised by all soldiers of God: It is the will of God! It is the will of God!" (Weber 282).

After the initial speech, Urban traveled to spread his message. Many loyal peasants having never set eyes upon their own King quickly identified with this real figure from the Church calling them all to war. The response was immense. The nobility also took on the cause. In addition, those who had lost their position in life or were serving penance looked upon the Crusades as a way to redeem themselves and get a fresh start in life:

"But killing, the Pope now declared, need not be a sin after all. It depended on who you killed. In fact, if you killed the enemies of Christ, killing did not require a penance - it was a penance. Holy slaughter could be as effective a devotional activity as prayer, or fasting, or pilgrimage" (Jones and Ereira 24).

Soon the idealism spread to the Normans of southern Italy and Robert Guiscard's son Bohemond left for the Adriatic with a large army. We see then that Urban's message had reached many of the faithful as well as those who were opportunists to essentially give their lives for the cause.

Conclusion

The First Crusade cultivated many changes in European life. It not only promoted further assimilation of Germanic warrior values into Christianity but it also unified a vast expanse of people under one cause; thus starting a crusading movement that lasted for centuries.

The Crusade fostered the creation of several concepts based on earlier German ideals, namely that of the 'Soldier of Christ.' This literal transformation of the relationship between the Germanic warrior and his liege-lord into the Knight loyal only to God thus taking up arms in his name essentially spurred the sense that the Crusades constituted a Holy War.

This along with the Peace and Truce of God Movements garnered much support from the Church and surrounding followers. Many were relieved to hear that this would most likely lessen the amount of crime and war in their homeland while at the same time decreasing expanding population pressures. Therefore, families were more accepting of the fact that husbands, sons, and brothers were going off to fight in God's name and promote peace - which is greatly ironic when taking into account the masses murdered by "Good Christians."

Nevertheless, the true origins of the First Crusade were mainly religious and political. Perhaps at the heart of the Church reformation was the idea that instead of local churches leading small communities, there was to be one overruling church, with one Pope in charge. In addition, using the cross as the army's banner also helped to achieve Christian influence over much of Europe and parts of the Middle East. Essentially, the Crusade was an instrument used in both the Pope and Church's attempt at Papal monarchy. It was not long after Pope Urban's Speech that Papal monarchy was instituted.

For the Muslim perspective of the Crusades click here to see the review of Amin Maalouf's Crusades Through Arab Eyes

Sources:

Geary, Patrick J. (1998). Readings in Medieval History. [Vol. 1] Broadview Press, Ontario.

Green, Miranda J. (1997). The World of the Druids. Thames & Hudson, London.

Hollister, C. Warren. (1994). Medieval Europe: A Short History. [7th ed.] McGraw-Hill Inc., New York.

Jones, Prudence and Nigel Pennick. (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge, New York.

Jones, Terry and Alan Ereira. (1995). Crusades. Facts on File, New York.

Riley-Smith, Jonathan. (1995). The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press, New York.

Thonger, Richard. (1966). A Calendar of German Customs. Oswald Wolff, London.

Weber, Eugen. ed. (1995). The Western Tradition: From the Ancient World to Louis XIV. [5th ed.] D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington.