Ten Great Events in History | Page 8

the Latin princes might be persuaded to

form a league for the grand purpose entertained by Gregory VII.
"Write," Peter said to the patriarch, "to the pope and to all Latin
Christians, and seal your letters with the signet of your office as
patriarch of Jerusalem. As a penance for my sins, I will travel over
Europe, I will describe everywhere the desolate condition of the Holy
City, and exhort princes and people to wrest it from the profane hands
of the infidels."
[Illustration: _Mosque of Achmet, Constantinople_]
9. The letters were accordingly written, and the hermit set sail with
them from Joppa. Arriving in Italy he presented the documents to the
pope, Urban II, a pupil and _protégé_ of Gregory VII, urging his
holiness to use his authority, as the head of Christendom, to set in
motion a scheme for regaining the birthplace of Christ. Enthusiasm is
contagious, and the pope appears to have caught it instantly from one
whose zeal was so unbounded. Giving the Hermit full powers, he sent
him abroad to preach the holy war. Peter departed, going from town to
town, and from village to village, and, in the language of the
chroniclers, "traversing the whole of Europe in less than a year's time."
His strange and wild aspect, his glittering eye, his shrill and unearthly
eloquence, the grandeur of his theme, his pathetic descriptions of
Jerusalem and the Christians there, produced everywhere the most
extraordinary sensations. "He set out," says a contemporary historian,
"from whence I know not, nor with what purpose; but we saw him
passing through the towns and villages, everywhere preaching, and the
people flocking round him, loading him with gifts, and praising his
sanctity with such eulogiums, that I never remember having seen so
great honors paid to any other man. The people reverenced him so that
they plucked the hairs from the mane of his mule, and kept them
afterward as relics. Out of doors he generally wore a woolen tunic, with
a brown mantle, which descended to his heels. His arms and feet were
bare, he ate little or no bread, but lived on fish and wine."
10. Such being the success of the Hermit's mission, the pope showed
his approbation of the project by summoning in the year 1095 two
councils. The first of these was held at Placentia in March;

ambassadors from the Greek Emperor appeared to petition for aid
against the Turks, and the members of the council were unanimous in
their support of the crusade. The second, the famous Council of
Clermont, was held at the town of that name in Auvergne in the month
of November. It was in the midst of an extremely cold winter, and the
ground was covered with snow. During seven days the council sat with
closed doors, while immense crowds from all parts of France flocked
into the town, in the expectation that the pope himself would address
the people.
11. All the neighborhood presented the appearance of a vast camp.
Issuing from the church in his full canonicals, surrounded by his
cardinals and bishops in all the splendor of ecclesiastical costume, the
pope stood before the populace on a high scaffolding, erected for the
occasion, and covered with scarlet cloth. A brilliant array of bishops
and cardinals surrounded him, and among them, humbler in rank but
more important in the world's eye, the Hermit Peter, dressed in his
simple woolen gown. The pope's eloquent words touched every heart.
He was interrupted by the united voice of the people shouting "God
wills it! God wills it!" Hushing the joyous tumult with a wave of his
hand, the pontiff continued "Be they then your war-cry in the combat,
for those words came from God. Let the army of the Lord, when it
rushes upon its enemies, shout but that one cry, 'God wills it! God wills
it!' Let whoever is inclined to devote himself to this holy cause wear on
his breast or back the sign of the holy cross." From this time the red
cross was the sacred emblem of the crusaders.
THE FIRST CRUSADE.
12. Following the Council of Clermont, preparations for invading the
Holy Land began in almost every country of Europe. The clanging of
the smith's hammer, making or repairing armor, was heard in every
village. All who had property of any description rushed to the mart to
change it for hard cash. The nobles mortgaged their estates, the farmer
endeavored to sell his plow, and the artisan his tools to purchase a
sword for the deliverance of Jerusalem. Women disposed of their
trinkets for the same purpose. During the spring and summer of 1096

the roads teemed with crusaders, all hastening to the towns and villages
appointed as the rendevous of the district. Very few knew where