On this day in 1096, during the Peoples Crusade, the Turkish army annihilated the Peoples Army of the West. The Peoples Crusade, also known as the Peasants Crusade or the Paupers Crusade, preceded the First Crusade by several months. Pope Urban II planned the departure of the crusade for August 1096, but months before this a number of unexpected bands of peasants and low-ranking knights had organized and set off for Jerusalem on their own. The peasant population had been afflicted by drought, famine, and plague for many years before 1096, and some of them seem to have envisioned the crusade as an escape from these hardships. Spurring them on had been a number of meteorological occurrences beginning in 1095 that seemed to be a divine blessing for the movement: a meteor shower, aurorae, a lunar eclipse, and a comet, among other events. An outbreak of ergotism, which usually led to mass pilgrimages anyway, had also recently occurred. Millenarianism, the belief that the end of the world was imminent, popular in the early 11th century, had also experienced a resurgence in popularity. The response was beyond expectations: While Urban might have expected a few thousand knights, he ended up with a migration numbering up to 40,000 Crusaders of mostly unskilled fighters, including women and children. A charismatic monk and powerful orator named Peter the Hermit of Amiens was the spiritual leader of the movement. He was known for riding a donkey and dressing in simple clothing. He claimed to have been appointed to preach by Christ himself (and supposedly had a divine letter to prove it), and it is likely that some of his followers thought he, not Urban, was the true originator of the whole crusading idea. Leaving from Cologne, the crusade immediately became spread out and distracted. They assaulted several towns along the way, and pillaged the countryside for food. They pillaged and burned Belgrade. Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, not knowing what else to do with such an unusual and unexpected army, quickly ferried all 30,000 across the Bosporus by August 6. It has since been debated whether he sent them away without Byzantine guides knowing full well that they could be slaughtered by the Turks, or whether they insisted on continuing into Asia Minor despite his warnings. In any case, it is known that Alexius warned Peter not to engage the Turks, whom he believed to be superior to Peters motley army, and to wait for the main body of real crusaders, which was still on the way. Even though Alexius had urged Peter to wait for the main army, Peter had lost much of his authority and the crusaders spurred each other on, moving more boldly against nearby towns until finally the French reached the edge of Nicaea, a capital Turkish stronghold, where they pillaged the suburbs. The Germans, not to be outdone, marched with 6,000 crusaders on Xerigordon and captured the city to use as a base to raid the countryside. In response, the Turks, led by Kilij Arslan, recovered Xerigordon from the crusaders, who were forced to drink the blood of donkeys and their own urine since their water supply was cut. Some of the crusaders who were captured converted to Islam and were sent to Khorasan, while others who refused to abandon their faith were killed. Back at the main crusaders camp, two Turkish spies had spread rumor that the Germans who had taken Xerigordon had also taken Nicaea, which caused excitement to get there as soon as possible to share in the looting. Of course, the Turks were waiting on the road to Nicaea. Peter the Hermit had gone back to Constantinople to arrange for supplies and was due back soon, and most of the leaders argued to wait for him to return (which he never did). However, Geoffrey Burel, who had popular support among the masses, argued that it would be cowardly to wait, and they should move against the Turks right away. His will prevailed and, on the morning of October 21, the entire army of 20,000 marched out toward Nicaea, leaving women, children, the old and the sick behind at the camp. Three miles from the camp, where the road entered a narrow, wooded valley near the village of Dracon, the Turkish army was waiting. When approaching the valley, the crusaders marched noisily and were immediately subjected to a hail of arrows. Panic set in immediately and within minutes, the army was in full rout back to the camp. Most of the crusaders were slaughtered; however, women, children, and those who surrendered were spared. Three thousand, including Geoffrey Burel, were able to obtain refuge in an abandoned castle. Eventually the Byzantines under Constantine Katakalon sailed over and raised the siege; these few thousand returned to Constantinople, the only survivors of the Peoples Crusade.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 05:22:03 +0000
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