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The Clergy, the Poor, and the Non-Combatants on the First Crusade Author(S): Walter Porges Source: Speculum, Vol

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The Clergy, the Poor, and the Non-Combatants on the First Crusade Author(S): Walter Porges Source: Speculum, Vol Medieval Academy of America The Clergy, the Poor, and the Non-combatants on the First Crusade Author(s): Walter Porges Source: Speculum, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Jan., 1946), pp. 1-23 Published by: Medieval Academy of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2856833 . Accessed: 08/01/2015 12:52 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Medieval Academy of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Speculum. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 142.58.129.109 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 12:52:56 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions SPEC-t u LUlVlI A JOURNAL OF MEDIAEVAL STUDIES VOL. XXI JANUARY, 1946 No. 1 THE CLERGY, THE POOR, AND THE NON- COMBATANTS ON THE FIRST CRUSADE1 BY WALTER PORGES WHEN Pope Urban preachedthe First Crusade at Clermont,he did not have in mind a purely militaryexpedition. Ever since the time of Constantine,large numbersof pious or adventurouspilgrims of both sexes had made theirway to the Holy Land. Althoughinterrupted now and again by the convulsionsperiodi- cally shakingthe Levant, in the tenth and eleventh centuriesthe pilgrimages continuedto flourish.The pilgrimstravelled mostly in small groups,and ap- parentlydid not bear arms,even forself-defense; but duringthe firsthalf of the eleventhcentury, the small pilgrimbands were supplementedby largerenter- prises,numbering several hundredto several thousandparticipants. The great Germanpilgrimage of 1064-1065included from seven to twelvethousand persons - the equivalentof a respectablemedieval army.2 The pope could not escape the influenceof this vigoroustradition. The petty feudal wars of westernEurope could not offerhim a model forhis stupendous undertaking.The pilgrimagewas the only large-scale,long-distance expedition with whichhe was familiar;moreover, he knew the power of the pilgrimideal. ThereforeUrban combinedthe idea of the Palestine pilgrimagewith that of the holywar. He implementedhis plans forthe recoveryof the Holy Land -notby an appeal limited to the chivalryof Europe, but by stirringup the latent pilgrim enthusiasmwhich pervaded all classes,raising it to an unprecedentedpitch, and directingit into new,more warlike channels. By armingthe pilgrimagethe pope created the crusade. The termperegrinus, the verbperegrinari now servedto designatethe crusader, as well as the pilgrim,and describe his activity. The crusadersin the main followedthe land route throughHungary and Bulgaria, and down the Balkans to the Golden Horn, preferredby pilgrimssince the conversionof the Magyars. 1 I wishto expresshere my gratitudeto ProfessorEinar Joransonof the Universityof Chicago for his generousaid and encouragementin the preparationof this essay. 2 Einar Joranson,'The Great GermanPilgrimage of 1064-1065,' The Cru8adesand OtherHistorical E"says Presentedto Dana C. Munro, ed. L. J. Paetow (New York, 1928), pp. 39-40; J. C. Pletz, 'Eleventh CenturyPilgrimages from Western Europe to the Holy Land' (UnpublishedA.M. disserta- tion,Department of History,University of Chicago, 1938), pp. 11-15. 1 This content downloaded from 142.58.129.109 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 12:52:56 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 2 The First Crusade Of those who took the alternatepath throughItaly, many identifiedthemselves even more closelywith pilgrimtradition. Some, when they had worshippedat St. Peter's, consideredtheir vows fulfilled;others, deserted by theirleaders in Calabria, 'took up theirpilgrim staves again, and ignominiouslyreturned home.'3 The faithful,who persisted to theend, had as theirreward the plenary indulgence, the usual goal of pious pilgrims. Urban's dependenceupon the pilgrimmovement had its disadvantages.The crusade had before it a desperatelydifficult military task, and efficiencyde- manded a carefulselection of recruits. But thenew movement was caughtbetwixt and between: rooted in the pilgrimage,the crusade attractedlarge numbersof noncombatants,such as had always gone on pilgrimages;while as a military expeditionthe crusade found it inexpedientor even dangerousto admit very many of them. Urban was aware of the contradiction.Although he found the inclusionof noncombatantsimplicit in his crusade conception,and his appeal took their participationfor granted, he took pains, nevertheless,to limittheir number and supervisetheir selection.4 The pope laid down the rule that all personswere to consulttheir local clergybefore going on crusade. In addition,he emphasized the need forfighting men, and formen wealthyenough to bear the cost of the journey,and discouragedthe participationof the aged and sick.But he permitted womento go, ifproperly escorted, and reservedan especiallyimportant place for the clergy.Urban also invitedthe poor; not,however, as noncombatants,but as potentialfighters, to be equipped and maintainedby the charityof the wealthier crusaders.In thisrespect the pope's expectationswere deceived. Before the cam- paign was half over, the poor had been reduced to a noncombatantor at best semi-combatantcondition. Unfortunately,the pilgrimtradition, reinforced by the deep enthusiasmroused by itinerantpreachers, overwhelmed Urban's attemptsto limitparticipation in the crusade. More than five prematureexpeditions, collectively termed the peasants' crusade, did not sufficeto drawoff the excess of unarmedand unfit. Some of these expeditionswere reasonablywell-armed and well-disciplined,and failedlargely because theywere premature.5Others, however, were belated pil- grimexcursions, best viewedaA half-way stages between the unarmedpilgrimage and the crusade proper.Fired by a new and unrestrainedzeal, theyattracted a strangemixture of priestsand laymen,women, children, and thosewont to prey upon them,false prophets and simple-mindedbelievers. Many ofthe participants wereunarmed, and expectedto overcomethe Saracensby the directintervention of God, ratherthan by the use of earthlyweapons. Most ofthem left their bones on the plains of Hungaryand Bulgaria,or were slaughteredby the Turks on the thresholdof Asia Minor. 3 Fulcher of Chartres,Gesta Francorum Jerusalem expugnantium, x, 7. iii, v, ed. H. Hagenmeyer (Heidelberg,1913), pp. 166, 168. 4 For an analysisof Urban's speechwith complete source references, see D. C. Munro,'The Speech of Pope Urban II at Clermont,1095,' A.H.R., xi (1906), 231-242. 6 F. Duncalf, 'The Peasants' Crusade,' ibid.,xxvi (1921), 440-453. This content downloaded from 142.58.129.109 on Thu, 8 Jan 2015 12:52:56 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The First Crusade 3 Nevertheless,there were more than enoughnoncombatants left over to swell the ranksof the main army.Urban's admonitionswent unheeded. The aged and sick trudgedalong, seeking the earthlyJerusalem; campfollowers and harlots trailedas ever in the wake of the army.No informationexists to justifyeven a roughestimate of the actual numberof noncombatants. The chroniclers,who esti- mate the size of the armyin very round numbers,scarcely honor any but the fightingmen withmore than passing mention,6while all the descriptionsof the army beforeit reached Nicaea seem vitiated by confusionwith the peasants' crusade. But some informationmay be gleaned fromFulcher of Chartres'eye- witnessaccount of the situationat Nicaea: 'Then out ofmany armies, one army was there created, whichthose who were skilled in reckoningestimated at six hundredthousand men fit for combat, of whom one hundred thousand were armed with cuirasses and helmets,not countingthe unarmed,that is, clerics, monks,women, and children.'7There are pictorialnumbers; but if only about one-sixthof the armywas equipped with cuirassesand helmets,a large part of the remaindermust have been half-armedpoor. The formof the statementalso suggeststhat the numberof noncombatants was high. If such was the conditionof the army at Nicaea, it did not long remainun- altered.Thereafter the relativenumber of combatantsfell steadily, and that of the noncombatantssteadily increased.Battles and skirmishestook a constant toll of fightingmen. Chronic illness reduced many to noncombatantstatus. Exhaustion of funds,necessitating the sale of arms and armor,might reduce a knightto a foot-soldier,or a foot-soldierto an unarmedpauper.8 That the greater part of the invalidand destitutesoldiers never returned to fullfighting efficiency is made plain by the fact that fromthe defeatof Ierbogha untilthe captureof Jerusalem(June, 1098 to July,1099), the periodof the greatestmilitary suprem- acy ever enjoyed by the Christianarmy, the crusaderswere sadly deficientin armed strength,and the unarmedhost greatlyoutnumbered the fighters.Thus, in January,1099, when the countof Toulouse wishedto lead some of the poor on a plunderingraid to obtain food,his intimatesobjected, saying,'In the army [i.e.,in Raymond's contingent]there are scarcelythree hundred knights, and no great numberof other armed men.... '9 Those opposingthe diversionof the crusade to Egypt urged in protest: 'There are hardlyfifteen hundred knights in the army,and no greatnumber of armed foot-soldiers.... 'IOAlbert remarks that the crusadersmarched on Jerusalemalong the coast, instead of by way
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