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History of the Crusades in Europe and the Middle East

Orthodox Church, from invaders, but it would also embarrass them because the power of the Roman Catholic Church saved the day. This would cause the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church to once again be united, with of course Urban as the supreme interpreter of God's word in all of Christendom. (Durant, p. 585)
The Turks were once again at the gates of Constantinople, and the Byzantine ruler Alexius Comnenus sent aids to appeal for help from the Pope. Urban called the Council of Clermont to convince European nobility and clergy to form a large force to send to the Holy Land and wrest away control from the infidel Muslims. A popular sentiment felt during this council could not have been illustrated better than the statement made by Fulcher de Chartres in his Gesta Dei per Francos in which he stated,


"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." (Asbridge, p. 32) (Thatcher, p. 382)
Now that the word of the so-called heresy of the Saracens and the importance of the Holy Land was dissipated amongst the Christian faithful of Europe, the stage was set for a full scale campaign. There was a lot of angst in the air and many people couldn't wait, so a large group set out under the lead of Peter the Hermit. This was a very rogue band of troops, with little to no military skills and no real plan. Consequently they fought amongst themselves and also with Christian natives in the lands they traveled through until they reached Constantinople. There was so much quarreling going on with this group that they eventually broke up into various parties, but luckily the main body of Crusaders came and these groups just blended in and found a niche with these soldiers. (Durant, p. 585)
The main body of crusaders gathered outside of Constantinople in preparation for the lengthy march to Jerusalem. They were split up into various divisions led by such notable figures as Taticius and Godfrey de Boullion. There was already a lot of tension in the air, because many of these leaders


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