Crusade

‘His Imperial Majesty welcomes you to Constantinople, city of the Caesars, and to Byzantium, an empire without equal in the world. His Majesty has asked me to thank you for responding to his offer to join with him in opposing the enemies of Christianity who occupy the Sacred Places and who have been plaguing the gates of Europe for centuries. He has also asked me to inform you of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the followers of Peter the Hermit, who arrived here some months ago at the head of a large group of pilgrims who had also answered His Majesty’s offer of brotherhood as soldiers of Christ.’

As the Emperor sat and scrutinized us, his herald described the wretched state of the ragtag army of Peter the Hermit’s ‘People’s Crusade’, as it had come to be called, when it arrived at the gates of Constantinople. Many had been killed in skirmishes with locals or had died of disease along the route. Even so, the Emperor was astonished by the number who had answered his call and horrified by their looting and violence.

The Emperor kept them provisioned and tried to persuade their leaders to wait until the arrival of the professional armies of the Latin Princes before crossing the Bosphorus into Asia Minor. They would not wait, and chaos ensued until Alexius organized hundreds of ships to take them across to the Byzantine-controlled coastal strip on the other side. Unfortunately, they had no appreciation of the power of the army of the Muslim Turks, stationed only two days’ ride away at the stronghold of Nicaea.

The Christian rabble soon began raiding into Muslim territory. The scenes were reported with disgust in Constantinople: children and babies hacked to pieces; girls and old women raped and tortured in unspeakable ways; everything of any value taken; all who resisted put to death.

The Turks soon retaliated. In one incident, a large group of Germans and Italians became trapped in the fortress of Xerigordos, where they held out for eight days. By the end, the defenders were drinking the blood of their horses and lowering rags into the sewers in order to drink the liquid squeezed from the extracted contents. When the Turks eventually broke in, they put everyone to the sword.

The rump of the People’s Crusade was camped at Civetot on the coast. When they heard about the massacre at Xerigordos, they immediately set out to attack the formidable Turkish fortress at Nicaea. With little military acumen, they were slaughtered in their thousands long before they reached the fortress, as Estrith graphically reported to us.

‘There was a bloodbath that was to leave a pile of bodies as high as a mountain. The Turks then fell upon Civetot to commit another massacre, killing all those too old, young or ill to fight, and taking as slaves young girls and women, and young boys whose face and form pleased them.’

Peter the Hermit had been in Constantinople, negotiating with the Emperor, and thus had survived, along with only a handful of others rescued by a contingent of the Varangian Guard.

Alexius then got to his feet and spoke for the first time.

‘My noble Lords of Europe, we are grateful for your presence here but, as you have heard, our enemy is formidable. You must not commit your armies in a land you know little about without my guidance. I have been fighting fierce barbarians to the north and cunning infidels to the south all my life. Do not underestimate the Muslim as a man or as a soldier. He is our equal, of that there is no doubt, but he follows a faith that denies the true God, and for that we must pray for his soul. Perversely, he thinks that we are the lost souls, denied everlasting peace — that is the simple truth of it. This is a fight to decide the true path to Heaven, not a campaign against ignorant barbarians.

‘Let me now make some things clear concerning your expedition into the Levant. I will be the watchful angel for your adventure and provide you with transportation across the Bosphorus and adequate provisions for your journey. In return, you will undertake to liberate the Holy Places in the name of Christianity and under my sovereignty. If you wish to create your own fiefdoms in these lands, you will become sovereign lords under my protection and owe fealty to me. To these ends, with God Almighty as your witness, you will now be required to take an oath to affirm your agreement.’

Alexius had played his trump card and, with its impact reverberating around the hall in agitated whispers and gasps, he sat down to be cooled by a pair of tall, bare-breasted, jet-black girls armed with fans of ostrich feathers.

Raymond of Toulouse strode forward, a pace beyond the others.

‘Your Majesty, I am Raymond, Count of Toulouse. Does that mean that your army will not be joining our march on Jerusalem?’