One Day When Walking Back from the Dining Hall, I Saw a Sign Advertising a Chance For

Spradlin 1

One day when walking back from the dining hall, I saw a sign advertising a chance for students to study abroad in France to learn about the Crusades. However, this was not a typical study abroad trip, it entailed travelling in a time machine back to the year 1096 just a few months after Pope Urban II made is famous speech at Clermont inspiring the First Crusade.i I was intrigued so I talked to my parents and I was set to leave on the study abroad as soon as the spring semester ended. As the spring semester came to a close I packed up some clothes and travelled back in time to the City of Amiens to live with a host family on a small farm.

When I arrived, I was greeted by new host family with a dinner of wine, fish, and bread.

After out initial introductions and small talk my host father, Arthur, asked me if I knew anything about the new pilgrimage movement sparked by Pope Urban II. He said he had heard a lot about it and a man named Peter the Hermit was coming to their town the next day to spread the news and recruit people to come along.ii This sparked my interest, so I agreed to go with him the next morning. The next morning, we joined others from the surrounding farms and went to the town center where everyone was circled around a man with bare arms and feet wearing a wool shirt with a mantle reaching his ankles, this was Peter the Hermit.iii He preached to us about the horrible things happening to Christians in the west, telling us it was our duty as Christians to aid our brothers in Christ.iv He also explained that going with him to fight for Christianity would be of good benefit because in going with him one would receive remission of sins from the Pope.

After the message, Arthur was inspired and determined to go talk to his wife about leaving to fight for the Christians.

When we got back to the house, Arthur asked me to go inside so he could discuss the message with his wife, Julienne. But naturally, being my nosey self I listened to the conversation through the door. Julienne immediately expressed concerned about being left behind and the Spradlin 2 security of the land.v However, Arthur explained to her that she would be fine because the

Church promised to look after the land and families of those who came along.vi He also explained to her that he wanted to with them because he infuriated at the way fellow Christians were being treated, he would receive indulgences from the Church, and it would allow the family to get the interest suspended on their debts.vii A final reason he added was that he wanted to escape from the civil war, famine, and sickness spreading across France.viii He and Julienne then called me outside where he told me that they decided he would go on the pilgrimage and invited me to go with him, an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.ix

The next morning day we packed up our belongings and went to the town where we would take the cross and eventually embark on our journey.x We were both given crosses to sew onto the right shoulder of our shirts.xi I asked the man beside me if the crosses were simply to differentiate which side we were on battle, but he explained to me that the crosses were there to remind us what we were fighting for and that we had the power to overcome anything because

God was on our side.xii After taking our crosses, Arthur and I were instructed to go to the church where they would provide us with the necessary gear for battle. We were each given a sword mad in Toledo, chain mail, and papal documents that declared our status as protected by the

Pope.xiii Once we got all of our supplies we joined in with other men from all over the place including: Normandy, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Brittany.xiv In a group of thousands, horsemen, people on foot, women, and children we set off on our journey to come to the aid of

Christians endangered by the Turks and Arabs in the west. xv

As we started walking I struck up a conversation with the man walking beside me, inquiring as to what his main reason was for coming on the pilgrimage. He told me that he had a heavenly revelation compelling him to fight for Christianity and he claimed that the sign of the Spradlin 3 cross was divinely imprinted on him, giving him a sign as to what he should do.xvi As we continued to walk shouts of “God wills it!” erupted from the crowd reminding everyone why they were on this journey.xvii The journey to the Holy Sepulchre was not an easy one, after crossing a great stretch of land; we had to cross the sea.xviii After we crossed the sea, we landed in the region that I was told was known as Bulgaria where there was an abundance of grain, wine, and bodily nourishment.xix We took of it what we wanted and continued to the valley of

Andronopoli to wait for everyone else to cross. xx

Once the remainder of the pilgrims joined us, our leader, Bohemund, gathered everyone, comforting us and reminding us to be good Christians saying, "Seignors, take heed all of you, for we are pilgrims of God. We ought, therefore, to be better and more humble than before. Do not plunder this land, since it belongs to Christians, and let no one, at the cost of blessing, take more than he needs to eat."xxi We were constantly reminded that we were under the protection of God, this was necessary for me or else I could not have continued out of fright. The next morning, we journeyed to Castoria where we celebrated the nativity of the Lord.xxii In Castoria, we were outraged because they refused to have market with us, so one night a group of us decided to get them back and get what we wanted we would still their livestock.xxiii After a few days in Castoria, we departed for Pelagonia with many animals including cattle, horses, and asses. Along the journey, Bohemund instructed us that in Pelagonia there was a town full of heretics that we would attack, my nerves immediately heightened.xxiv Was I really about to go on the attack?

When we arrived at Pelagonia, we were instructed to attack the town from all signs and we quickly took it under control.xxv Before leaving, we burned the town and its inhabitants then continued on our way until we reached the river Vardar.xxvi Upon reaching the river, Arthur and myself continued on with Lord Bohemund while count Russignolo stayed behind with his Spradlin 4 brothers.xxvii We had only walked a small way when one of our men, Tancred, heard that count

Russignolo had been attacked and turned around to come to their aid. Many others followed, and before I knew it I had joined the rest and swam across the river to fight the Turcopoles and

Pechengs who had made a vigorous attack.xxviii Unfortunately, their attack was successful and during the battle they captured many of our men, including Arthur.xxix I was disheartened as I watched the enemy march my host father past Lord Bohemund in spite of him.xxx

The emperor then sent one o his most trusted men, Corpalatius, to escort us through the land until we reached Constantinople.xxxi As we passed from city to city, the emperor commanded the inhabitants bring us supplies outside of the city walls.xxxii However, as we passed one town there was rumor among the men that it was very rich in supplies, so we came to a consensus that we wanted to raid that town to secure extra supplies for the long journey ahead.xxxiii However, when Lord Bohemund heard of this plan, he refused to let us raid the city claiming it was not just and that he did not want to break the promise he has made to the emperor.xxxiv Everyone was outraged because they were starving and needed food, chants of “let us raid!” erupted in the crowd of men, but Lord Bohemund stood strong in his decision.xxxv

Although everyone was upset with Lord Bohemund’s decision, the next morning we praised him as the people of that town came out of the walls carrying crosses, exclaiming they had come to join us on our pilgrimage.xxxvi i Robert Payne, “The Importance of Pope Urban II,” The Crusades, ed. Brenda Stalcup (San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000), 58.

ii Dana C. Munro, "Urban and the Crusaders", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:2, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895), 20, url: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/peterhermit.asp.

iii Ibid. Peter was inspired to recruit people to go to war by Pope Urban II’s speech where he encouraged the listeners to persuade people everywhere to fight for their friends being harmed by Turks and Arabs.

iv Ibid. This call for aid for the Christians in the west very much echoes Pope Urban II’s speech in which he challenged other Christians to”… carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from all of our friends.”

v See also, Ronald C. Finucane, “The Crusades’ Impact on Women and Jews,” ed. Brenda Stalcup (San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000), 129.

vi Ronald C. Finucane, “A Variety of Reasons for Crusading,” ed. Brenda Stalcup (San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000), 81.

vii Ibid., 80-82. See also, Hans Eberhard Mayer, “Economic Factors,” ed. Brenda Stalcup (San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000), 73-77.

viii James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History: Vol. I: (Boston:: Ginn and co., 1904), pp.316-318, url: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ekkehard-aur1.asp.

ix In the 11th century, the title Crusades had not yet been given to the expeditions, they were most commonly referred to as pilgrimages. They did not become know as the Crusades until the sixteenth century in England. Nirmal Dass, The Deeds of the Franks and Other Jerusalem-Bound Pilgrims, (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2011): 11.

x Jonathan Riley-Smith, “Taking the Cross: Responsibilities and Rewards,” The Crusades, ed. Brenda Stalcup (San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000), 85-86.

xi August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 62-64, url: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cde-tocp.asp. xii To the Crusaders, the cross was a symbolic of God’s command in Mathew 16:24 which reads “’If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up the cross and follow me.’” Jonathan Riley-Smith, “Taking the Cross: Responsibilities and Rewards,” The Crusades, ed. Brenda Stalcup (San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000), 87. xiii During this time, it was said that the swords made in Toledo were of the highest quality you could get, this was attributed to the san and water of the Tagus River. The chain mail was used as the armor for the men in the Crusades; it protected men from being cut and they sometimes covered the horses in it. Henrietta M. Larson, “The Armor Business of the Middle ages,” Bulletin of the Business Historical Society Vol. 14 No.4 (1940): 53. The chain mail was made from thousands of steel rings looped together and often times, the shirts would weigh up to twenty-five or thirty pounds. “The Crusades,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol.32 No. 4, Arms and Armor (1973-1974), 64.

xiv James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History: Vol. I: (Boston:: Ginn and co., 1904), pp.316-318, url: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ekkehard-aur1.asp.

xv Ibid.

xvi Ibid.

xvii August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 62-64, url: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cde-tocp.asp.

xviii Ibid.

xix Ibid.

xx Ibid.

xxi Ibid.

xxii Ibid.

xxiii Nirmal Dass, The Deeds of the Franks and Other Jerusalem-Bound Pilgrims, (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2011): 31. xxiv August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 62-64, url: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cde-tocp.asp.

xxv Ibid.

xxvi Ibid.

xxvii Nirmal Dass, 31.

xxviii Ibid, 32. xxix As the enemy left with the men in bounds they marched them in front of Lord Bohemund who said to them, “Why, wretches, did you slaughter Christ’s men and mine? I have no quarrel with your emperor.” Ibid.

xxx Ibid.

xxxi August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 62-64, url: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cde-tocp.asp. xxxii The cities would not let Lord Bohemund and his men enter the walls because they were afraid he would break his promise to the emperor and attack the city. Nirmal Dass, 33.

xxxiii August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 62-64, url: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cde-tocp.asp. xxxiv Ibid. xxxv Ibid. xxxvi Nirmal Dass, 33.