The Medieval Crusades
The Medieval Crusades
The year was 1095 CE, William the Conqueror had united England under one crown 30 years earlier. The French had been dividing properties amongst their sons for generations, causing bloodshed between brothers over small pieces of real estate. In reaction, Pope Urban II expanded “The Truce of God”, which outlawed fighting from Sunday to Wednesday, and banned fighting involving priests, monks, women, laborers and merchants on any day of the week. Italy was a collection of city-states, constantly being overrun by invading hordes, the latest of which were the Normans, who had just started to become “civilized”.
There was also the Byzantine empire, ruling from Constantinople, whose emperor at this time was Alexius Comnenus. To his East, the Turks were rapidly encroaching on his empire, and had begun attacking pilgrims on their way to – and in – Jerusalem, causing him great distress. He wrote to his friend Robert, the Count of Flanders, in 1093, telling him about supposed atrocities committed by the Turks on the Christian pilgrims, and Robert passed this letter on to Pope Urban II. Urban, an opportunist, saw this as a perfect way to solve some of his local problems. He personally promoted a Holy Crusade to reclaim the Holy Lands from the barbarian Turks. Thus, the First Crusade was launched in 1096 CE.
At this point, we need a list of players. Many went along, but only a few are worth remembering. It was an international group, with members from France, Italy and England. From France, we have Hugh the (not so) Great, Count of Vermandois, brother of the French King of Northern and Central France, and a man of little character with no other importance to our story. With him were Godfrey, Baldwin and Eustace of Bouillon, sons of the Duke of Lower Lorraine – descended through their mother from Charlemagne – along with their cousin, Baldwin Le Bourg. Also from France, we have Raymond IV of Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse, who had already fought the Moors in Spain. His mother was a princess of Barcelona. He was the first to “Take the Cross”.
From England, we have Robert, Duke of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror. From Italy, we have Marcus Bohemond, Prince of Toranto, son of Robert Guiscard, a Norman who had not fallen too far from his barbarian tree, and also his nephew Tancred.
We have set the players, now for the place. It was called the Levant, the land over the ocean, the Latin Orient. The area in question is now called Israel, and also includes parts of Lebanon