Document 1: Urban II's Speech at Clermont: The Beginning of the 1st Crusade
"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans,
shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God
with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which
worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God
and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord
overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion!
Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the
faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have
been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have been robbers, now become
knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now
fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been serving as
mercenaries for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who have been
wearing themselves out in both body and soul now work for a double honor.
Behold! on this side will be the sorrowful and poor, on that, the rich; on this side, the
enemies of the Lord, on that, his friends. Let those who go not put off the journey,
but rent their lands and collect money for their expenses; and as soon as winter is
over and spring comes, let hem eagerly set out on the way with God as their guide."
Source:
Bongars, Gesta Dei per Francos, 1, pp. 382 f., trans in Oliver J. Thatcher, and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds.,
A Source Book for Medieval History, (New York: Scribners, 1905), 513-17
Document 2: Ekkehard’s Hierosolymita
“[After Urban had aroused the spirits of all by the promise of forgiveness to those who
undertook the expedition with single-hearted devotion,] toward one hundred thousand
men were appointed to the immediate service of God from Aquitaine and Normandy,
England, Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Galicia, Gascony, France, Flanders, Lorraine, and
from other Christian peoples, whose names I no longer retain. It was truly an army of
“crusaders,” for they bore the sign of the cross on their garments as a reminder that they
should mortify {severely discipline} the flesh, and in the hope that they would in this
way triumph over the enemies of the cross of Christ, as it had once come to pass in the
case of the great Constantine. Thus, through the marvelous and unexampled working of
divine dispensation {release}, all these members of Christ, so different in speech, origin,
and nationality, were suddenly brought together as one body through their love of
Christ.”
SOURCE: Ekkehard’s Hierosolymita, a history, 1099.
Document 3: The Capture of Jerusalem
On the seventh of June the Franks besieged Jerusalem. The city is located in a mountainous region, which
is lacking in rivers, woods, and springs, except the Fountain of Siloam, where there is plenty of water, but it
empties forth only at certain intervals. This fountain empties into the valley, at the foot of Mount Zion, and
flows into the course of the brook of Kedron, which, during the winter, flows through the valley of
Jehosaphat. There are many cisterns, which furnish abundant water within the city. When filled by the
winter rains and well cared for, they offer both men and beasts an unfailing supply at all times. Moreover,
the city is laid out most beautifully, and cannot be criticized. for too great length or as being
disproportionately narrow. On the west is the. tower of David,. which is flanked on both sides by the broad
wall of the city. The lower half of the wall is solid masonry, of square stones and mortar, sealed with
molten lead. So strong is this wall that, if fifteen or twenty men should be well supplied with provisions,
they would never be taken by any army. . . .
When the Franks saw how difficult it would be to take the city, the leaders ordered scaling ladders to be
made, hoping that by a brave assault it might be possible to surmount the walls by means 'of ladders and
thus take the city, God helping. So the ladders were made, and on the day following the seventh, in the
early morning, the leaders ordered the attack, and, with the trumpets sounding, a splendid assault was made
on the city from all sides. The attack lasted till the sixth hour, but it was discovered that the city could not
be entered by the use of ladders, which were few in number, and sadly we ceased the attack.
Then a council was held, and it was ordered that siege machines should be constructed by the artisans, so
that by moving them close to the wall we might accomplish our purpose, with the aid of God. This was
done.......
. . .When the tower had been put together and bad been covered with hides, it was moved nearer to the wall.
Then knights, few in number, but brave, at the sound of the trumpet, took their places in the tower and
began to shoot stones and arrows. The Saracens defended themselves vigorously, and, with slings, very
skilfully hurled back burning firebrands, which had been dipped in oil and fresh fat. Many on both sides,
fighting in this manner, often found themselves in the presence of death.
. . . On the following day the work again began at the sound of the trumpet, and to such purpose that the
rams, by continual pounding, made a hole through one part of the wall. The Saracens suspended two beams
before the opening, supporting them by ropes, so that by piling stones behind them they would make an
obstacle to the rams. However, what they did for their own protection became, through the providence of
God, the cause of their own destruction. For, when the tower was moved nearer to the wall, the ropes that
supported the beams were cut; from these same beams the Franks constructed a bridge, which they cleverly
extended from the tower to the wall. About this time one of the towers in the stone wall began to burn, for
the men who worked our machines had been hurling firebrands upon it until the wooden beams within it
caught fire. The flames and smoke soon became so bad that none of the defenders of this part of the wall
were able to remain near this place. At the noon hour on Friday, with trumpets sounding, amid great
commotion and shouting "God help us," the Franks entered the city. When the pagans saw one standard
planted on the wall, they were completely demoralized, and all their former boldness vanished, and they
turned to flee through the narrow streets of the city. Those who were already in rapid flight began to flee
more rapidly.
Count Raymond and his men, who were attacking the wall on the other side, did not yet know of
all this, until they saw the Saracens leap from the wall in front of them. Forthwith, they joyfully rushed into
the city to pursue and kill the nefarious enemies, as their comrades were already doing. Some Saracens,
Arabs, and Ethiopians took refuge in the tower of David, others fled to the temples of the Lord and of
Solomon. A great fight took place in the court and porch of the temples, where they were unable to escape
from our gladiators. Many fled to the roof of the temple of Solomon, and were shot with arrows, so that
they fell to the ground dead. In this temple almost ten thousand were killed. Indeed, if you had been there
you would have seen our feet colored to our ankles with the blood of the slain. But what more shall I
relate? None of them were left alive; neither women nor children were spared.
Document 4: The Spoils Taken By the Christians
This may seem strange to you. Our squires and poorer footmen discovered a trick of
the Saracens, for they learned that they could find byzants [note: a gold coin] in the
stomachs and intestines of the dead Saracens, who had swallowed them. Thus, after
several days they burned a great heap of dead bodies, that they might more easily
get the precious metal from the ashes. Moreover, Tancred broke into the temple of
the Lord and most wrongfully stole much gold and silver, also precious stones, but
later, repenting of his action, after everything had been accounted for, be restored
all to its former place of sanctity.
The carnage over, the crusaders entered the houses and took whatever they found
in them. However, this was all done in such a sensible manner that whoever entered
a house first received no injury from any one else, whether he was rich or poor.
Even though the house was a palace, whatever he found there was his property.
Thus many poor men became rich.
Afterward, all, clergy and laymen, went to the Sepulcher of the Lord and His glorious
temple, singing the ninth chant. With fitting humility, they repeated prayers and
made their offering at the holy places that they had long desired to visit. . . .
It was the eleven hundredth year of our Lord, if you subtract one, when the people
of Gaul took the city. It was the 15th day of July when the Franks in their might
captured the city. It was the eleven hundredth year minus one after the birth of our
Lord, the 15th day of July in the two hundred and eighty-fifth year after the death of
Charles the Great and the twelfth year after the death of William I of England.
Source:
Fulk (or Fulcher) of Chartres, Gesta Francorum Jerusalem Expugnantium [The Deeds
of the Franks Who Attacked Jerusalem], in Frederick Duncan and August C. Krey,
eds., Parallel Source Problems in Medieval History (New York: Harper & Brothers,
1912), pp. 109-115. [Chapter headings added for the etext version to match the more
modern translation - Fulk of Chartres, A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, trans.
Frances Rita Ryan, (Nashville: University of Tennesee Press, 1969)]
Document 5: The Latins in the Levant [From Book III]
Consider, I pray, and reflect bow in our time God has transferred the West into the
East, For we who were Occidentals now have been made Orientals. He who was a
Roman or a Frank is now a Galilaean, or an inhabitant of Palestine. One who was a
citizen of Rheims or of Chartres now has been made a citizen of Tyre or of Antioch.
We have already forgotten the places of our birth; already they have become
unknown to many of us, or, at least, are unmentioned. Some already possess here
homes and servants which they have received through inheritance. Some have taken
wives not merely of their own people, but Syrians, or Armenians, or even Saracens
who have received the grace of baptism. Some have with them father-in-law, or
daughter-in-law, or son-in-law, or stepson, or step-father. There are here, too,
grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One cultivates vines, another the fields. The
one and the other use mutually the speech and the idioms of the different languages.
Different languages, now made common, become known to both races, and faith
unites those whose forefathers were strangers.
As it is written, "The lion and the ox shall eat straw together." Those who were
strangers are now natives; and he who was a sojourner now has become a resident,
Our parents and relatives from day to day come to join us, abandoning, even though
reluctantly, all that they possess. For those who were poor there, here God makes
rich. Those who had few coins, here possess countless besants; and those who had
not had a villa, here, by the gift of God, already possess a city. Therefore why should
one who has found the East so favorable return to the West? God does not wish
those to suffer want who, carrying their crosses, have vowed to follow Him, nay
even unto the end.
You see, therefore, that this is a great miracle, and one which must greatly astonish
the whole world. Who has ever heard anything like it? Therefore, God wishes to
enrich us all and to draw us to Himself as His most dear friends. And because He
wishes it, we also freely desire the same; and what is pleasing to Him we do with a
loving and submissive heart, that with Him we may reign happily throughout
eternity.
August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants,
(Princeton: 1921), 280-81
Document 6: The Islamic leader Saladin’s speech
urging his people to retake Jerusalem, 1187.
“If God blesses us by enabling us to drive His enemies out of Jerusalem, how
fortunate and happy we would be! For Jerusalem has been controlled by the enemy
for ninety-one years, during which time God has received nothing from us here in
the way of adoration. At the same time, the zeal {devotion} of the Muslim rulers to
deliver it languished {weakened}. Time passed, and so did many indifferent
generations, while the Franks succeeded in rooting themselves strongly there. Now
God has reserved the merit of its recovery for one house, the house of the sons of
Ayyub [Saladin’s family], in order to unite all hearts in appreciation of its members.”
SOURCE: The Islamic leader Saladin’s speech urging his people to retake Jerusalem,
1187.
Document 7: The Jewish chronicler, Solomon bar
Samson, 1096.
….“At this time arrogant people, a people of strange speech, a nation bitter and
impetuous {impulsive} Frenchmen and Germans, set out for the Holy City, which had
been desecrated {a violation of sacredness} by barbaric nations, there to seek their house
of idolatry {worship of idols} and banish {expel} the Ishmaelites {Muslims} and other
denizens {inhabitants} of the land…Their ranks swelled until the number of men,
women, and children exceeded a locust horde {large nomadic group} covering the
earth;…Now it came to pass that as they passed through the towns where Jews dwelled,
they said to one another: ‘Look now, we are going a long way to seek out the profane
{vulgar} shrine and to avenge ourselves on the Ismaelites; when here, in our midst, are
the Jews—they whose forefathers murdered and crucified him for no reason. Let us first
avenge ourselves on them and exterminate them from among the nations so that the name
of Israel will no longer be remembered, or let them adopt our faith and acknowledge the
offspring of promiscuity {casual sex}.’”
SOURCE: The Jewish chronicler, Solomon bar Samson, 1096.
Document 8: Annales Herbipolenses, s.a. 1147
[From Brundage] The fiasco at Damascus gave rise to great bitterness, as William of
Tyre noted, both among the Crusaders themselves, who suspected that treachery was
involved, and also in the West. After the withdrawal from Damascus, the grand
alliance was irrevocably shattered. Conrad of Germany at once set out for home by
way of Constantinople. King Louis of France lingered longer in Palestine, but finally
left the Holy Land in the summer of 1149 without having attempted any further
military action. The attitude of the West toward the Crusade and toward those who
bad played a prominent part in it was hostile and suspicious. The anonymous annalist
of Würzburg reflects the current Western attitude in his account of the Crusade:
God allowed the Western church, on account of its sins, to be cast down. There
arose, indeed, certain pseudo prophets, sons of Belial, and witnesses of anti-Christ,
who seduced the Christians with empty words. They constrained all sorts of men, by
vain preaching, to set out against the Saracens in order to liberate Jerusalem. The
preaching of these men was so enormously influential that the inhabitants of nearly
every region, by common vows, offered themselves freely for common destruction.
Not only the ordinary people, but kings, dukes, marquises, and other powerful men
of this world as well, believed that they thus showed their allegiance to God. The
bishops, archbishops, abbots, and other ministers and prelates of the church joined
in this error, throwing themselves headlong into it to the great peril of bodies and
souls.... The intentions of the various men were different. Some, indeed, lusted after
novelties and went in order to learn about new lands. Others there were who were
driven by poverty, who were in hard straits at home; these men went to fight, not
only against the enemies of Christ's cross, but even against the friends of the
Christian name, wherever opportunity appeared, in order to relieve their poverty.
There were others who were oppressed by debts to other men or who sought to
escape the service due to their lords, or who were even awaiting the punishment
merited by their shameful deeds. Such men simulated a zeal for God and hastened
chiefly in order to escape from such troubles and anxieties. A few could, with
difficulty, be found who had not bowed their knees to Baal, who were directed by a
holy and wholesome purpose, and who were kindled by love of the divine majesty to
fight earnestly and even to shed their blood for the holy of holies.
Source: Annales Herbipolenses, s.a. 1147, in MGH, SS, XVI, 3, translated by James
Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette
University Press, 1962), 115-121
Copyright note: Professor Brundage informed the Medieval Sourcebook that
copyright was not renewed on this work. Moreover he gave permission for use of
his translations.