The First Crusade c.1070–1100

This is one of the optional non-British depth studies for OCR Paper 2. If your centre chose it, expect source-based questions (AO3) and extended essay questions on causation, significance and interpretation. The Crusade is rich in both narrative complexity and historical controversy.

Background: why the First Crusade?

Religious context

• Jerusalem was the holiest city in Christendom — Christ had lived, died and risen there.
• Since 637 Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule (Umayyad, then Abbasid caliphates), but Christian pilgrimage was broadly tolerated.
• 1071: Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Manzikert; Seljuks were less tolerant of Christian pilgrimage.

Pope Urban II's appeal (Council of Clermont, 1095)

• The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I appealed for Western military help against the Seljuks.
• Pope Urban II used this as an opportunity to:
  • unite Western Christendom under papal leadership;
  • divert violent European nobility into a "righteous war";
  • potentially reunify Eastern and Western churches.
• At Clermont (November 1095) Urban preached a crusade — pilgrims who fought to free Jerusalem would receive a plenary indulgence (remission of all sins).
• The crowd reportedly cried "Deus le volt!" ("God wills it!").

Other motivations

• Religious: genuine piety; pilgrimage; fear of purgatory.
• Military: knights sought land, wealth and adventure.
• Social: younger sons with no inheritance; merchants sought trade routes.
• Political: popes, kings and lords each saw advantage.

The People's Crusade (spring 1096)

Before the official army assembled, Peter the Hermit preached the crusade to common people:

• A poorly-organised mob of c.20,000–40,000 set off through Europe.
• Violence against Jews: pogroms in the Rhineland (killing thousands) — a shameful episode showing how crusading zeal could be turned against internal "enemies".
• Most were massacred by the Seljuk Turks at Civetot (October 1096) before reaching Jerusalem.

The Princes' Crusade (1096–1099)

The organised military campaign, led by major nobles:

• Godfrey of Bouillon (Duke of Lower Lorraine)
• Bohemond of Taranto
• Raymond IV of Toulouse
• Robert of Normandy

Key events

Date	Event
Aug 1096	Princes' forces leave Western Europe
June 1097	Nicaea captured; returned to Byzantium
Oct 1097–June 1098	Siege of Antioch — seven-month siege; city taken; crusaders then besieged inside
June 1098	Discovery of the Holy Lance (claimed relic); boosted morale; crusaders broke out
June–July 1099	Siege of Jerusalem
15 July 1099	Jerusalem captured — first crusade succeeded

The fall of Jerusalem (July 1099)

The crusaders breached the walls on 15 July 1099. What followed was a massacre:

• Muslim and Jewish inhabitants were slaughtered indiscriminately.
• Contemporary sources describe rivers of blood (partly rhetorical exaggeration, but massacres were real).
• Godfrey of Bouillon refused the title "King" — instead took the title "Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre" (did not want to wear a crown of gold where Christ wore one of thorns).

Consequences of the First Crusade

• Crusader states established: Jerusalem, Antioch, Edessa, Tripoli — maintained for nearly 200 years.
• Military orders formed (later): Knights Templar (1119), Knights Hospitaller.
• Byzantine–Western relations: damaged — crusaders had not restored all captured land to Alexios.
• Jewish communities in Europe: severely harmed by Rhineland pogroms.
• Longer term: triggered centuries of crusading that ultimately failed to maintain Christian control of the Holy Land (Jerusalem fell to Saladin 1187).

Interpretations: was the First Crusade motivated by faith or greed?

This is a classic OCR AO4 question. Historians have argued:

• Faith: the sacrifice (thousands died; no guarantee of success) suggests genuine religious belief; indulgences were a real spiritual motivation.
• Greed: crusaders sought land and wealth; Bohemond kept Antioch for himself rather than returning it to Byzantium.
• Modern view: most historians now see both as genuine motivations — the medieval mind did not separate piety from personal interest as sharply as modern people do.

Common OCR exam mistakes

1. Confusing the People's Crusade with the Princes' Crusade — Peter the Hermit's rabble was separate from and predated the organised military campaign.
2. Saying the crusaders immediately won — the siege of Antioch took seven months and nearly failed.
3. On interpretations questions: don't just describe what happened — evaluate why historians reach different conclusions (different types of evidence; different criteria for "motivated by").