The crusades were a war called upon by holy Christian figures to be a holy war in God's name against the infidel Turks. “Deus vult!” (God wills it) became the battle cry of the crusaders. The noble crusaders or Franks were called upon to stop fighting amongst themselves and fight a righteous holy war. With Godfrey of Bouillon leading the main force, the crusaders marched to the holy land (or Eastern Christendom). During this crusade, many notable events happened, and many leaders became historical figures. Following this first religious crusade many other crusades would happen throughout time.
The 1st crusade was the only truly successful crusade that took Jerusalem and many more cities in the holy land. The reason they needed to take Jerusalem is that the shrine of the Savior Christ was placed there with the Holy Sepulcher (the cross Jesus was nailed to). Also on the road to Jerusalem after the siege of Antioch, they found the Holy Lance, this was the lance that stabbed Christ on the cross. There were many people in the holy land that opposed the crusaders' will, and were killed for standing in the way of God. The main opposition came from Jews, Muslims, and Turks which believed that all Christians meant to kill them. This resulted in killings or banishment from the cities in the Holy land for every Christian that lived there.
Inciting of the anger that led to speeches and the raising of armies was the injustices against the holy pilgrims. Since the time of Constantine, many Christians had gone to Jerusalem to make pilgrimages to the shrine of the Savior even though
Muslims had controlled the city since 638 A.D. During the 11th century while pilgrimages were at their peak, the Seljuk Turks took control of the city. The Turks harassed many pilgrims attacking them and not permitting them safe passage through their lands, and this was seen as a crime against God.
The responses to Pope Urban II appeals for a crusade were far better than he expected they would be. These are quotes from Pope Urban at the council of Clermont “the west must march to the defense of the east. All should go, rich and poor alike” it was said that even the lowliest sinner could earn their place in heaven for fighting in the name of God. “Here they are poor and miserable sinners; there they will be rich and happy. Let none hesitate; they march next summer. God wills it.”
There were many great leaders and soldiers of the crusade that would earn their name in history. One of these was the Fanatical Peter the Hermit who had been a victim of the Turks injustices against holy pilgrims. He went to villages and castles all over England and France preaching God's will against the infidels. He soon had thousands of followers, he and Walter the Penniless (who actually came from a rich family) marched to the holy land, in what was called the peoples' crusade for the number of people that overwhelmed the amount of soldiers. The Army consisted of farmers, lower class workers, and a small amount of trained soldiers.
Peter's army on the way to Jerusalem slaughtered and pillaged every village they came across, but the Turks and the people of the neighboring villages banded together and destroyed Peter's army. Soon after Peter and Walter's army had left, another army under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon marched to Jerusalem.
Godfrey's army was very successful and took many cities in which they slaughtered countless Jews, Turks, and Muslims. The crusaders army numbered among the tens of thousands with half being cavalry. Even with superior numbers they still faced many challenges.
One of the biggest challenges for the crusaders was taking the city of Antioch. The city had massive walls that the crusaders could not break. Many of the crusaders fled the siege after news that the Turks had reinforcements coming. The crusaders finally gained entrance to the city by buying off an enemy commander to open the gates. The crusaders stormed the city killing everything, but only a few days after the city was taken, the enemy's reinforcements showed up and trapped the crusaders. After many long and rigorous battles, the crusaders finally prevailed and won the city.
In Antioch, after the battle, a priest named Peter Bartholomew had a vision about a holy lance, the lance that was used to stab Jesus while he was on the cross. He got some believers to dig for him and his vision was true the lance was found, but many were unsure whether he spoke the truth. In an attempt to set fire to the lance to prove its authenticity, he was killed for trying to destroy the lance. Even though
