Godfrey de Bouillon Baldwin of Boulogne

Pope Urban II

Adhemar of Le Puy

Key nobles of Western Europe. Note that none of them were kings or particularly big land owners (with

the exception of Raymond of Toulouse who clashed with Bohemond over who should rule Antioch). All of

these signed up to the Crusade.

Appointed in order

to ‘lead’ the Crusade

(although religious

men couldn’t actual-

ly fight, so he need-

ed others to do the

fighting...

Preached the Crusades to

many people, he was keen

to get these involved

though….

A F

ew

Po

ints

to

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me

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er:

It w

as a

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lon

g w

ay t

o g

o o

n C

rusa

de.

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exp

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ve t

o t

rave

l all

that

way

.

The

vast

maj

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f C

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th

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rusa

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r th

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der

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tes.

Giv

es L

an

d

Giv

es L

an

d

Le

ase

s

(le

nd

s)

La

nd

Lo

oks a

fte

r

the

kn

igh

ts

lan

d, pa

ys

ren

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Pro

mis

es to

fig

ht fo

r th

e

lord

Pro

mis

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pro

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to

figh

t fo

r th

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ing

King

Lords

Knights

Peasants

"Christians, hasten to help your brothers in the East, for they are being attacked. Arm for the res-

cue of Jerusalem under your captain Christ. Wear his cross as your badge. If you are killed your sins

will be pardoned."

Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, 1095

“Bohemond was quick to seek to secure himself a principality

in the Levant (Holy Land). He didn’t even complete his journey

to Jerusalem with the rest of the Crusade, so worried was he

that he might lose his grip on Antioch. Although the soldiers

respected him as a general, they had questions about his piety

and desire to complete the pilgrimage. Some of his closest

associates stayed with him in Antioch, once it had fallen, fur-

ther emphasising the motivation of some of these Franks.”

An extract from the Gesta Bohemond (Deeds of Bohemond)

from an anonymous writer who went on the First Crusade.

“Christians, know this. The wealth of the East is well known, and in liberating the Holy City from the

infidel you will undoubtedly find many riches. If these should fall into your hands then it is only right

that you should benefit from undertaking this arduous tasks. For did Our own Lord not tell us that “Ye

shall reap what ye sow” thus if we sow hard labour fighting the infidel we will reap the riches and

wealth of this land.”

An extract from Richardius Historius’ ‘Tale of the Crusades’ Part of a speech by Raymond of Toulouse (to

a crowd he was seeking to persuade to join him on Crusade).

Above: A Knight

pledging

(promising) to go

on Crusade.

Left: The Council of

Clermont.

Sorry, I’m a bit busy in my castle right now. Being a nobleman is

a pretty busy job. I’ve got all my knights to sort out, land to rule

and the king is constantly nagging me to do stuff for him. I have

to say though, I’m always after new opportunities. I’ve got sev-

eral sons, and only one of them will be getting my land after

me. I’m trying to get the others married off to some rich land-

owners, but there’s just not enough to go around. Any ideas on

how I can get them some land and money are welcomed! I’m

also a bit concerned about some of the things that my knights

have done in my name. I know I need to go to heaven, but if I’m

not ruthless then I’m as good as dead...

Did I tell you that I love fighting? Oh I did? Ah, never mind then…. It’s just that

fighting is what I do. I tell you what though, I’ve also got to bear in mind what my

lord wants me to do (see Feudal system). After all, he’s the person that I serve and

if he wants me to do something then I’ve got to give it some serious consideration.

I tend to try to serve inspirational figures so I always like a great idea/person to get

behind. Once I’m on board I’m determined to see it through...

I’m a peasant, I just do what I’m

told. If I don’t then I’m likely to

end up dead. Resistance is not

really an option since we don’t

have any weapons and we aren’t

trained to fight…..

I’m keen to stop the people of Western Europe from fighting each other.

After all, fighting other Christians is a sin and my job is to stop people

from going to Hell. I’m also quite concerned that the kings of Europe

aren’t doing what I want them to—some of them have even attacked my

land! I need people to defend both me and the Christian faith.

I need to make sure that my people go to heaven and I should

be the one who leads them there. My knights and I like

fighting, but we know it’s a sin. The problem is that there are

so many people we need to deal with, plus if we don’t protect

the peasants, who is going to grow our food?

I LOVE fighting. There’s just one small problem, I keep getting told

that fighting is going to send me to hell. I really don’t want to go to

Hell, the church keeps telling me about how bad it is, and how it

lasts for eternity (forever). The have some really scary paintings to

show some of the stuff going on. If I don’t keep fighting though

then my family and friends will be killed.

I have to say that being a knight is an expensive business too. One

of the advantages of fighting is that you get some loot. The more

loot the better. I need pay many of my followers (not the peasants

of course) and pay for all my equipment. Money is always tight—

you don’t have a bit of cash to spare do you?

I’m illiterate and spend all of my time working the land

for my master. My three life goals are:

1. Stay alive

2. Feed my family

3. Get to heaven.

I’m TERRIFIED of going to Hell, the Church tells me that

I’ll be tortured for ever and ever. I’d do anything to

avoid that….