Mistakes of The First Crusade
Mistakes of The First Crusade
The first crusade: a religious endeavor that became a turning point of history. It all began
when Pope Urban II traveled to Italy in November 1095. He decided to give an open sermon on
the 27th of November at the Council of Clermont. This speech, in hopes of drawing a large
crowd, only gained a few hundred listeners. However, these select few witnessed one of the most
influential speeches from the highest religious authority in the world. The pope’s doctrine was a
proposal to travelling to and re-taking the holy city of Jerusalem, under the control of Muslims.
His proposal was very popular and he easily gained support. This was the start of the first holy
crusade. Upon the route they had chosen, the dedicated Christian warriors were about to sacrifice
their entire lifestyle for the name of God and the church. This long road was a treacherous one,
filled with hardships and sins of many kinds; however, supposedly, if one died, one’s sins would
be forgiven. However, since this was foreign to the newly formed crusaders, there were certain problems and obstacles that made their expedition quite difficult. Not knowing this, they went in
with their heads held high – and in the name of their holy land, they pressed on.
The first occurring mistake was the idea and following through of the People’s Crusade.
Before official armies were formed, a group of eager individuals – mostly peasant and lower
class citizens – initiated a separate voyage, lead by Walter Sans Avoir and Peter the Hermit. The
movement lasted roughly from April 1096 to October of 1096 and involved several different
brutal events. It began when the crusaders entered Central Europe, most notably France and
Germany. There they initiated a pogrom – a massacre against a religious group - in this case,
Jews. They killed thousands of innocent Jewish people, forced some to convert, and others just
The first crusade: a religious endeavor that became a turning point of history. It all began
when Pope Urban II traveled to Italy in November 1095. He decided to give an open sermon on
the 27th of November at the Council of Clermont. This speech, in hopes of drawing a large
crowd, only gained a few hundred listeners. However, these select few witnessed one of the most
influential speeches from the highest religious authority in the world. The pope’s doctrine was a
proposal to travelling to and re-taking the holy city of Jerusalem, under the control of Muslims.
His proposal was very popular and he easily gained support. This was the start of the first holy
crusade. Upon the route they had chosen, the dedicated Christian warriors were about to sacrifice
their entire lifestyle for the name of God and the church. This long road was a treacherous one,
filled with hardships and sins of many kinds; however, supposedly, if one died, one’s sins would
be forgiven. However, since this was foreign to the newly formed crusaders, there were certain problems and obstacles that made their expedition quite difficult. Not knowing this, they went in
with their heads held high – and in the name of their holy land, they pressed on.
The first occurring mistake was the idea and following through of the People’s Crusade.
Before official armies were formed, a group of eager individuals – mostly peasant and lower
class citizens – initiated a separate voyage, lead by Walter Sans Avoir and Peter the Hermit. The
movement lasted roughly from April 1096 to October of 1096 and involved several different
brutal events. It began when the crusaders entered Central Europe, most notably France and
Germany. There they initiated a pogrom – a massacre against a religious group - in this case,
Jews. They killed thousands of innocent Jewish people, forced some to convert, and others just