/kloc-in the autumn of 0/095, Pope UrbanⅡ announced a great plan for an expedition to Jerusalem at the Clemente conference. He told his admirers about the sufferings of Christians in the holy land: believers were deprived of their property, their homes were burned, their wives and daughters were insulted, churches were desecrated and sacred objects were trampled. He told his followers: "You, people who listened to my speech, people who truly believed in God, people who were endowed with rights, strength and great souls by God, people whose ancestors were pillars of the Christian world, and people whose kings fought against pagans-I call you! Remove the dirt that covers the world and save your teaching! The holy tomb of Christ was occupied by barbarians, and the holy land was put to shame because of their meanness. Ah! Brave knights! Loyal member! Descendants of the invincible grandfathers! You can't defile the distinguished reputation of your ancestors. You can't interfere in children's affairs, but you should remember the words of the savior: those who love their parents more than me don't deserve my blessing. Those who abandon their land, parents, brothers, sisters and friends, wives and children for my name will be rewarded a hundredfold and will live forever! ............."。
The Pope not only encourages believers spiritually, but also seduces them materially. He said that Palestine is God's favorite place, a land flowing with honey and milk, and the participants of the expedition will be able to share this rich land. He encouraged believers who took part in the expedition to get the blessing of God. All the sins they committed before and during the expedition would be redeemed because of the liberation of the holy land, and their souls would enjoy supreme glory in heaven. There is no doubt that UrbanⅡ was definitely the greatest orator and agitator at that time, and his words had great appeal to the most pious and despicable people. UrbanⅡ's speech caused great repercussions, and the cheers of the masses broke out one after another. "Long live God! Long live God! " The slogan shook the earth, and all the listeners went crazy.
The news of the Clemente meeting spread all over Europe at an alarming rate, and people rushed to tell each other. Thousands of people sold their land, abandoned their wives and children, and hastily signed up for the Crusades. Loyal believers, fanatical youths, noble knights, penniless vagrants, murderous outlaws, dissolute adulterers ... all kinds of people have merged into a huge torrent. According to the Pope's decree, all the debts of those who participated in the Crusades were forgiven, and those who committed crimes were also forgiven. In the face of the great impulse to join the Crusaders, all contradictions were temporarily eased, the brutal lords stopped oppression, the robbers who killed and sold goods quit, and the poor stopped complaining. Everyone has only one idea, and that is to liberate the holy land! Women are the craziest. Each of them encouraged his lover and husband to give up everything and join the crusade. Many women branded their chests and arms with red-hot crosses to express their loyalty to God. Some of them even branded the baby's delicate limbs with crosses. Many people also wander in the Cross Army, following their lovers or husbands.
Believe in the Pope's encouragement, all participants believe that as long as they can liberate the holy land, they can wash away all their sins. Therefore, many of them gave in to their infinite desires, believing that their passion for God could save themselves and those hermits who practiced strictly. On the way to March, they ate and drank, and they were crazy and promiscuous; Many women left their honest families to take part in the pilgrimage, but now they indulge in pleasure and do many dirty activities. So the crusader became a strange group composed of the most devout, fanatical, daring and despicable people in Europe. In the Crusader camp, lewd music creation and pious litigation often come from the same tent.
This mob, men, women and children, is said to have gathered 300 thousand people. They formed three teams respectively: one team gathered under the command of the hermit Peter, the founder of jihad; The captain of the other team is a brave explorer. People call him poor Gautier or penniless Walter. He comes from a noble family and has some military experience. The rest of the German people gathered around a monk named Gordesch Jock. There is no record of this person's life. We only know that he is one of the most fanatical religious figures. These people don't know what discipline and awe mean. They swept across countries like a plague, bringing terror and death wherever they went.
A few months after the Clemente meeting, in the early spring of 1096, the first group of people set out from Germany under the leadership of Walter. This mob, like their leader, is penniless and hopes to make a living on the trip. They poured into Germany and into Hungary. At first, the Hungarians received them warmly. Although Hungarians did not participate in the Crusades, they also supported the March to liberate the Holy Land. Unfortunately, this beautiful situation did not last long. Crusaders are not satisfied with getting a basic diet. They want to live in luxury. When their demands were not met, they ransacked their homes, burning and looting. In Sanglin, angry Hungarians gathered to attack the defenders of the Crusaders, killed the stragglers and hung the captured crosses and weapons on the walls as trophies. Walter was obviously unwilling and unable to retaliate, because his army burned and looted and made enemies everywhere in Hungary. Hungarians harassed the defenders of the Crusaders until they left Hungary completely. Walter has no good luck in Bulgaria either. The town refused to let them through and the village did not provide accommodation. Bulgarians attacked them everywhere and killed those lonely people. They are more like retreating than marching. When they arrived in Constantinople, because of hunger and killing, the number of this team was only one-third of the original.
If there is an army more brutal than Walter's, it is the army led by the hermit Peter. They are even more numerous, and there are women and children old enough to form another army. Carrying luggage, they didn't rob Hungary when they started crossing it. If they hadn't passed through the mulberry forest, they might have left Hungary in autumn without committing any crime, but fate put them on the road to the mulberry forest. At the foot of Sanglin City, they found crosses and weapons hanging on the city head as trophies. They were enraged and attacked the city crazily. With huge numbers, rather than shrewd tactics, the Crusaders finally broke through the mulberry forest. In retaliation, they killed, robbed and raped ... the cruelty of the Crusaders was everywhere. Hermit Peter can arouse people's enthusiasm, but he can't control them. They made trouble everywhere until they were afraid of revenge. When the King of Hungary learned of the Sanglin tragedy, he immediately led a large army to take revenge. Hermit Peter and his army have the courage to do evil, but they don't have the courage to fight. They will leave for Morava soon. This is a swift and wide river that flows into the Dnieper a few miles east of Belgrade. By this stream, angry Hungarians are waiting for their fishing nets. They rushed out to attack the crusaders. A large number of giddy crusaders were pushed into the river and buried in fish bellies, and many people became ghosts of Hungarians. The ancient chronicles did not record how many people were killed or injured, only that there were many, many.
In Nisa, the Grand Duke of Bulgaria has stepped up its combat readiness to guard against attacks, but he is unwilling to provoke these murderous fugitives. He allowed people to provide food to the crusaders. Hermit Peter learned his lesson and tried to avoid hostility. He led the soldiers to live peacefully under the city wall for three days, and then left safely. Everything seems calm. However, some stragglers began to make trouble again. They burned down two or three houses and a mill just because they had a quarrel with the landlord the night before yesterday. Angry Bulgarians immediately rushed out to retaliate, chopped the villain into pieces, and attacked the defenders of the hermit Peter's army, capturing all the women, children and most of the trench. Peter, the hermit, had to go back to Nisa and ask to see the Grand Duke to explain. The negotiations between them were satisfactory, and the Grand Duke agreed to release all women and children. But at this time, a group of lawless crusaders went their own way, trying to attack the city wall and occupy the city. Hermit Peter tried to stop the riots caused by these fugitives, but to no avail. After a short life-and-death struggle, the Crusaders scattered under the attack of Bulgarians. A massacre began, this time not hundreds, but thousands.
It is said that Peter, a hermit, saw a kind smile and fled from Xiuluo Field to a remote forest near Nisa. Just now, he was the leader of a hundred thousand troops, but now he is defeated like a mountain and may be captured by angry Bulgarians at any time. Great setbacks made him miserable. However, luck came to him again. Two or three brave knights gathered more than 500 scattered soldiers and finally found him and made him a leader again. They gathered the defeated troops and fled to Constantinople. About 20,000 people finally survived, while others were buried in the wilderness and forests of Bulgaria forever.
Peter arrived in Constantinople and found Walter waiting for him. King Alexei gave him a banquet. It stands to reason that the lessons of blood should make these fugitives know how to exercise restraint, but they are really terrible. Despite the warm hospitality and endless food, their hands and feet are still itchy. They just set fire to several public buildings as a prank, and took lead from the church roof and sold it outside the city. King Alexei's dislike of the Crusaders probably began at this time, and even if the honest and cautious Crusaders came later, they could not change his impression. In his view, even the arrival of the Turks is not much worse. Soon, he found an excuse to send these scum from Europe, and Peter and Walter led the army into Asia Minor at his urging. The indulgence of his men made Peter completely desperate. He quickly returned to Constantinople under the pretext of supplies, leaving Walter alone to command the army.
Originally, it had been hit hard on the way to March, and now it is in the enemy territory. Crusaders only have the opportunity to unite sincerely. However, their rabble nature could not be suppressed, and Lombardy and Norman under Walter had a fierce quarrel with Franks and Germans under Peter. After a group of people broke away from the collective, they elected a man named Leonard (or Ray) as the leader and occupied Reggrigogen Castle. Their enemy, Sultan Soliman, is much more professional. He immediately surrounded the castle with a great army and cut off the water source, making the crusaders guarding the city suffer from thirst. Even more deadly, their cunning leader betrayed the loyalty of Christians, fled with several cronies and handed over the castle. All the remaining Crusaders were captured by the Turks. Sultan soliman put all the prisoners who refused to convert to Muslims to death. At this point, Peter and his troops were wiped out.
When Walter's men heard of the tragedy at Leclergan Castle, they demanded to send troops to attack the Turks immediately. Walter remained calm and fully aware of the crisis of the situation: any easy adventure may lead to irreparable failure when the enemy's military strength is absolutely superior. But fanatical subordinates clamored against his opinion, claiming that if Walter didn't agree, they would go out alone. Walter had no choice but to lead his troops to destruction. Sultan soliman led his army to defeat Walter's army. This time it was a one-sided massacre. Of the 25,000 Christians, 22,000 were killed and Walter died of seven serious injuries. The remaining nearly 3,000 people retreated to Sivido to defend themselves with trenches.
Although Peter hated the indulgence of these fugitives, he felt very sad when he heard their bad luck. His former enthusiasm has sprouted again. He rushed to Alexei and tearfully begged the king to send troops to rescue the survivors trapped in Sivido. When the Crusaders reached the last moment of extinction, reinforcements arrived from Constantinople, and they reached an agreement with the Turks to let these unfortunate people return to Constantinople. Alex disarmed them and sent them back to Europe.
At the same time, a group of new troops set out again after gathering in Germany, and their leader was Godsworn Gottschack. They also chose the road through Hungary, and by virtue of their large number, they burned, killed and looted where they passed. Hungarians' anger has reached its peak. If we don't get rid of them, it's not enough to make the people angry. King Carloman of Hungary induced them to lay down their weapons. When they were unarmed, the Hungarians rushed out and killed many people. We don't know how many people escaped the robbery. We only know that none of this army of nearly100000 people can reach Palestine.
Other teams led by unknown leaders also set out from Germany and France, and their animality was even worse than that of the previous Crusaders. They are crazier than the craziest madman under hermit Peter. They traveled in droves from one country to another. They believe that the pioneers failed not because of lax discipline and military incompetence, but because they left too many Jews behind. They began to slaughter and torture this unfortunate nation crazily, and they hacked and killed Jews crazily, even women and children. Because of its cruel torture methods, a large number of Jews killed their wives and children to avoid falling into their clutches, and even the priests who sheltered Jews were not spared. They are not only cruel, but also stupid. They let goats and geese lead them to find Jews because they believe that these animals are spiritual.
God also arranged for Hungarians to clean up these pests for Europe. When there were no Jews to kill, these people embarked on the bloody road of Hungary. In Melsburg, on the Dnieper River, a cruel battle started. Hungarians tried to stop them from crossing the Dnieper River, but the crusaders fought selflessly under the control of fanaticism, forcing them to cross the Dnieper River and successfully opened a gap in the city wall. But at the moment when victory is coming, an uncontrollable fear suddenly pervades the whole army. They threw down their weapons and ran for their lives. No one knows where they are going or why. Hungarians turned defeat into victory, and mercilessly hacked and killed deserters. The unburied bodies are said to have blocked the Dnieper River.
It can be said that the failure of these crusaders is doomed because they are a group of undisciplined rabble. Under the control of fanaticism, they acted rashly without a well-thought-out plan They go around doing evil and lead the fire of anger and revenge to themselves. As a result, most people died in a foreign land before they left Europe and got their due punishment. The failure and atrocities of the Crusaders soon reached the ears of UrbanⅡ, who was shocked and immediately ordered to stop this unorganized expedition. He asked everyone who took part in the Crusades to get permission from their superiors and family members, and prohibited women from taking part in the Crusades unless she was accompanied by her husband, son or guardian. He sent his representative, Adro Dimontil, Bishop of Puyi, to participate in the expedition to safeguard the organization and unity of the troops.
At this point, Europe has vented all its madness, and the next stage is her chivalry. In this historical torrent across Europe and Asia, groups of cool, witty, tenacious and brave leaders have emerged. Although they still have crazy beliefs and animal flames burning in their hearts, their chivalrous education and rationality enable them to control themselves and take more cautious and correct actions and strategies. Historians poured a lot of praise on these people, leaving the evil and cruelty of pioneers to history to condemn. But in any case, the atrocities of the Crusaders made the peaceful coexistence of Christians and Jews a thing of the past 1000 years. Since then, the persecution and cleansing of Jews have been staged on the European continent, and various tragedies such as Jewish apartheid, ethnic cleansing and gas chambers have been staged for nearly a thousand years until the end of World War II.