on his people. Palaces and churches were plundered to afford them means of intoxication and excess.* Peter and all those in whom enthusiasm had not been quite absorbed in the love of pillage, re allow his people to sell them provisions. they recovered their strength, they repaid The next morning Peter recommenced his generosity by deeds of flagitiousness his way. About a hundred Germans, whom the archbishop of Tyre calls the sons of Belial, disputed with a Bulgarian trader, and set fire to some houses. The people in the city were incensed, and rushed upon the rear guard of the Cru-quested permission to pass into Bithynia. saders. Massacre, plunder, and flight were the penalties which the Germans paid for the outrage committed by their countrymen. Peter, on hearing this news, wished to conciliate the Bulgarians: his propositions were mild and courteous; but his companions prevented the benefits of negotiation, by attempting to scale the walls of Nissa. All their efforts were fruitless. The engagement now became general, and ended in the route or destruction of ten thousand of Peter's rabble. Their property by rightful possession or plunder was seized, with their women and monks, and every other incumbrance of the camp. The Hermit abandoned himself to tears and despair, until some of his more enterprizing friends recalled his scattered followers. The next day seven thousand of them were assembled, and he continued his march. By degrees other Crusaders left their hiding places in the woods and mountains, and Peter found himself at the head of nearly thirty thousand people. But they were destitute of arms and money, and therefore could neither demand nor purchase supplies. Intelligence of their disorders flew to Constantinople, and the emperor, satisfied with the chastisement they had received from the duke of Bulgaria, commanded them to hasten to the south.* Their distress continued till they reached Philippopoli; and in that city the pathetic eloquence of Peter excited the compassion of the inhabitants. The journey to Constantinople was marked by no event of moment, and the associates of the Hermit united themselves to Walter, who had been already joined by an undisciplined herd of Italians. The Emperor, seeing their unfitness for war, commanded them to remain in Greece till the arrival of the armies. He supplied them with quarters, money, and provisions; but as soon as * Archb. of Tyre, 644–646. Alexis seized this desire, and assisted them to cross the Bosphorus. For two months they continued tranquil, but at the end of that time they recommenced their excesses with all the virulence and malevolence of concealed but burning hatred. Edifices sacred to religion were pillaged, and no consideration could make the wretches observe the imperial recommendation of peace and good order, until the arrival of the military squadrons of Europe. Peter lost all authority over them, and embracing the occasion of some acts of apparent injustice by the imperial commissioners, he returned to Constantinople for the declared purpose of remonstrating with the emperor. Among the Crusaders particularly distinguished for ferocity were ten thousand Normans or French.† That they destroyed children at the breast, and scattered their quivering limbs in the air, is the charge of the Grecian historian :‡ that their crimes were enormous, is the general confession of the Latin writers. They quitted their companions in arms, and carried their ravages even to the walls of Nice, the capital of Bithynia. They took the castle of Xerigord, and slaughtered the Turkish garrison. The Sultan marched fifteen thousand men against them. Reginald divided his soldiers between an ambuscade and the defence of the castle: but his force was inadequate to the accomplishment of both objects; and his troops in the ambuscade were put to the sword. He escaped with difficulty to the castle. The Turks destroyed the water conduits, and then blockaded the fortress, in full knowledge that it would yield to a short bloodless siege. In vain the ecclesiastics remonstrated with their people, that as they had often provoked God by their excesses, they should now gain his favour by their patience. If their repent * Baldric, p. 89. Tudebodus, p. 777 and 778. Tudebodus, p. 778. The main body of Peter's mob was yet fresh and vigorous. The Sultan commanded his flying Tartars to skirmish with the Crusaders, himself disdaining to meet his wretched foes in a general action. After much blood had been shed, he quickened the destruction by stratagem. He circulated a story through the Christian camp that Nice had fallen. The greedy rabble entreated Walter to lead them forward. But he prudently* replied, that he was only the lieutenant of Peter, and could not march without his master's orders. But the clamours of the people could not be disregarded; no discipline nor order were preserved; the military ensigns had no followers; but, like rivers which had overflown their banks, the mob rushed towards the object of plunder. When they arrived on the plain which surrounds the city of Nice, the Turks poured on the disorderly multitude. The number of wounds with which Walter fell attested the vigour of his resistance; most of his associates were slain; the cruel and sensual Turks pressed on to the camp, sacrificed the priests on Christian altars, and reserved for the seraglio such of the women as were beautiful. The fierce soldiers of Asia gratified their savageness with collecting the bones of the fallen. A lofty hill was made of them, and it remained for many years a dreadful warning to succeeding bands of Crusaders. Three thousand persons were all that survived the Turkish scimitar. They retreated Walter generally conducted himself with discretion. Fuller is wrong in saying that he had more of the sail of valour than the ballast of judgment." to the gulph of Nicomedia, and secured themselves in the fortress of Civitot. One of the wretched fugitives went to Constantinople, and made Peter acquainted with the dreadful issue of the impatience and rapacity of his men. The Hermit solicited the emperor to spare the miserable remains of the soldiers of Jesus Christ, and as they were objects of terror, Alexius sent a body of troops, who covered their march to Constantinople.* no Godeschal, a German priest, emulated the fame of Peter, and collected a band of fifteen thousand fiery enthusiasts from Lorraine, the east of France and Bavaria. They pursued the usual route, and the prudent Hungarian monarch endeavoured to quicken and facilitate their passage through his dominions. Their savage manners corresponded with that ferocious enthusiasm which had driven them to assume the cross. At Mersburgh, the modern Ouar or Moson, they committed horrible outrages, and their annalists have recorded, whether as an instance of the general disposition, or as the height of crime, that, on the occasion of a trifling quarrel, they impaled a young Hunga rian in the Market place. All Hungary rose in arms against the violators of hospitality; but the king, dreading the fury of desperation to which hostility might drive the Croises, resolved to accomplish their ruin by stratagem. He therefore with firmness and courtesy told the strangers, that peace and war were at his command. He was disposed to spare the guilty, but in order to purchase his clemency they must surrender their arms: and he assured them that this action of peace and obedience would terminate his anger, and renew his kind inclinations. Simplicity is the companion of vice as well as of virtue, and the people therefore resigned their means of personal defence, and accepted a promise of clemency. They expressed their reliance upon the good faith of the king, and the Christian character of his subjects, not Mus. Ital. I. 140-143. Albert of Aix (who is more full than other writers on Peter and his mob), 186-193. Archb. of Tyre, 643647. Alexiad, 226 and 227. + Albert, 194. e C d S palling spectacles were witnessed at Treves. Mothers plunged the dagger into the breasts of their own children; fathers and sons destroyed each other, and women threw themselves into the Moselle.* choosing to think that their own atro- Worms, on pretence of deliberating cities deserved the severest punish- on the renunciation of their faith. ment, and had cast shame and dis- Deliberation produced virtue, and by grace upon all professions of virtue. self-slaughter they disappointed the Where they expected pardon they found cruelty of their enemies. More apretaliation. The Hungarians rushed e upon the naked and unarmed multitude, the plains of Belgrade were covered 0 with their bodies, and a few only of Godeschal's people escaped to spread over the north the tale of wo.* Before Europe glittered with the pomp d and splendour of chivalry, another herd of wild and desperate savages scourged and devastated the world. They issued from England, France, Flanders and Lorraine. Their avowed principle of union was the redemption of the holy sepulchre. History is silent on the subordinate modes and bands of connexion, except the horrible superstition of adoring and following a goat and a goose, which they believed to be filled with Divine spirit: and if such were their religion, we cannot wonder at the brutality of their manners. Besides their fanaticism was the height of fury, { for these ministers of the devouring flame nearly trebled their precursors. Their zeal was guided by envy and malignity, and they pretended that it was unjust that any foes of God should enjoy temporal prosperity. The Jews enriched the towns on the banks of the Moselle and of the Rhine, and communicated to France and Germany the pro✔ducts of each respective country. The city of Cologne was the first city which Albert, p. 194. Archb. of Tyre, p. 648. When the measure of murmur and robbery was full, the infernal multitude proceeded on their journey. Two hundred thousand people, of whom only three thousand were horsemen, entered Hungary. They hurried on to the south in their usual career of carnage and rapine; but when they came to Mersbourg, their passage was opposed by a Hungarian army. Their requests to the king's general for provisions and a free passage were denied; but they forced a bridge over the Danube; and, gathering strength from the desperateness of their situation, they succeeded in making some breaches in the wall of the town. The ruin of the Hungarian nation appeared inevitable, and the king with his nobles was prepared to fly to the south. By some strange panic, which the best historians can neither explain nor describe, the besiegers deserted the assault and fled. Their cowardice was as abject as their boldness had been ferocious: and the Hungarians pursued them with such slaughter, that the waters of the Danube were for days red with their blood. But few of the rabble survived. Count Emicho, who had gained damnatory distinction by his cruelties on the Jews, succeeded in flying into Germany. Some others escaped to the south; and in time joined the regular forces of the feudal princes of Europe.† * Albert, 195. Archb. of Tyre, 649. Albexii. 218, 222, 411. Both Albert and the Archric Chron. p. 149. The Chronicles in Bouquet, bishop are indignant at the treatment which the Jews received. After this calamitous event the emperor took the Jews into his protection as subjects of the imperial domain. Pleffel, Hist. d'Allemagne, vol. i. p. 246. Albert, 195, 196. According to Albert there could have been very few survivors of the two hundred thousand. The Archb. of Tyre, the first great convulsion of enthusiasm, and the Muselman banner still floated over the walls of Jerusalem. While the bones of the Croises were whitening on the plains of Nice, or putrifying in the marshes of Hungary, the feudal History and character of Godfrey of Bouillon.-princes of Europe were collecting their March of the Frisons, Lorrainers, &c., through Hungary into Thrace.-Characters of the count of Vermandois, the count of Blois, the count of Flanders, and Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy.-March of the French, Flemish, Norman and English Crusaders through Italy. -The count of Vermandois arrives at Constantinople, and swears fealty to Alexius.War between Godfrey and the Emperor.Godfrey reaches Constantinople.—After many alternatives of peace and war, Godfrey, &c. do homage.-Boldness of a Crusader.-God frey crosses the Hellespont.-Is joined by the count of Flanders.—Characters of Bohemond. prince of Tarentum, and Tancred.--March of the Italians to Constantinople.--Means of Alexius to gain the homage of Bohemond.— Tancred passes into Asia without swearing fealty. Character of Raymond, count of Tholouse.-Course of the Provençals into Greece.-Raymond takes a qualified oath of allegiance.--Arrival of the duke of Normandy, the count of Blois, and others, in Asia Minor. So horrible were the barbarities of the European mob, that we can feel no regret for the disastrous issues of popular fervour. We cannot turn from the folly and crimes of the people to any grandeur of heroism, or any splendour of success. More than a quarter of a million* of wretched fanatics perished in (p. 649, 650) says that the greatest part returned with Emicho to Germany. Albert's account of the mob is very full, and the picture is very dark. He makes the destruction of this goat and goose mob the judgment of heaven on their crimes and impiety. Albert had his account of their cruelties from eye-witnesses; the Archbishop was a much later writer. Fulcher, and his copyist, Malmsbury, are the only early writers who describe the conduct of the European mob as virtuous and orderly. But their account of the march of these poor wretches is comprised in a few lines, and does not embrace those details which are contained in the narratives of the other authors whom I have quoted. Walter's mob Godeschal's Last division - 20,000 - 40,000 - 15,000 200,000 275,000 tenants and retainers, and arraying them for war. * Different scenes are now before us; scenes disfigured, indeed, but not totally characterized by horror and flagitiousness. Courage in various forms, wisdom, prudence, and skill in endless combinations, appear in the characters and conduct of the renowned leaders of the crusade. Their fanaticism was more methodized than that of their savage precursors, and is therefore a more interesting subject of contemplation. The chief, who was greatest in respect of personal merit, and inferior to few in political importance, was Godfrey VI. lord of Bouillon, marquis of Anvers, and duke of Brabant, or the Lower Lorraine. The states of Lorraine arose into independence on the ruins of Charlemagne's empire. They were the frequent cause of war between the German rulers and the Carlovingian princes of France; and house of Saxony. In the middle of the were finally annexed to the imperial tenth century, the emperor Otho I. gave them to his brother Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, who divided them into the Upper and the Lower Lorraine, and made the last division, reserving some feudal a valiant peer, named Godfrey, lord of mob that joined Walter has not been numbered by any of the original historians of the first crusade. * Concourse in arms, fierce faces threatening war, Giants of mighty bone and bold emprise, Single or in array of battle rang'd, The two duchics of Upper and Lower Lorraine comprise what is generally called the kingdom of Lorraine. The archbishop gave the dukedom of the first division to Gerard, count of Alsace, A.D. 1048. The counts of Alsace and counts of Habsburgh were branches of the same family. After a division which lasted eight centuries, the two branches were re-united in the year 1745, by the marriage of Francis Stephen, duke of Lorraine, and Maria Theresa, daughter Almost all these people perished. The Italian of the emperor Charles VI. honours to himself, under the title of archduke. The Lower Lorraine comprised Brabant, Hainault, Namur, Luxembourg, Liege, and Limberg; and the name of Brabant was often applied to the whole of the archduchy. The father of Godfrey VI. was Eustace II. count of Boulogne, celebrated for his bravery and power among the puissant and courageous lords of Belgium. His mother was Ida, daughter of Godfrey le Barbu, duke of the Lower Lorraine. He was apparently destined to act a great part on the theatre of the world, for nature had bounteously bestowed upon him her choicest gifts. His understanding was enriched with such knowledge and learning as his times possessed and his ready use of the Latin, Teutonic, and (one of their results) the Roman languages, qualified him for the office of mediator among confederated but disputing nations. The gentlest manners were united to the firmest spirit; the amiableness of virtue to its commanding gravity. He was alike distinguished for political courage and for personal bravery. His lofty mind was capable of the grandest enterprises. His deportment was moral; his piety was fervent; and he appeared, perhaps, to be better fitted for a cloister of reformed monks, than for the command of a furious and licentious soldiery. He regretted the stern necessity which drew him from the immediate service of God: but when in arms he was a hero and his martial zeal in the cause of heaven was always directed by prudence, and tempered by philanthropy. In the wars between the emperor and the Popes, he took the part * How well an old writer has described a true soldier : Un chevalier, n'en doutez pas E pien di fè, di zelo, ogni mortale Tasso, La Gerus, Liber. I. 8. In another place Tasso gives us a very high idea of Godfrey, by equalling him to Raymond in the council, and Tancred in the field. Veramente è costui nato all' impero, of Henry IV.; he received the distinc tion of bearing the imperial standard; and his own heroical valour changed the tide of victory, and gave the throne to his friend. On the death of his maternal grandfather, and the termination of the rebellion of Conrad, son of the emperor, he was invested with the titles of duke of Lorraine, marquis of Anvers, and lord of Bouillon. Gratitude preserved the mind of Godfrey firm and energetic in his allegiance. In the siege of Rome he broke through the walls, and opened the gates to the assailants. These services were ill requited. Henry dishonoured, in an outrageous manner, his empress Praxeda, who was sister of the duke of Lorraine. Alive to every call of honourand knowing that marriage does not supercede the claims of consanguinity, he armed himself against the emperor; his valour triumphed, and Henry was put to flight. From the siege of Rome till the report reached him of the intended expedition to Jerusalem, a lingering fever burnt in Godfrey's veins. But the blast of the holy trumpet roused his marshal and religious spirit; and he resolved to go to the Holy Land, if God would restore his health. "Immediately," says Malmsbury," he shook disease from his limbs, and rising with expanded breast, as it were, from years of decrepitude, he shone with renovated youth.' peased the wrath of the clergy of Verdun by yielding to them his temporal rights over their episcopal city; and in order to furnish his viaticum, he sold to the church of Liege his beautiful lordship. and castle of Bouillon.t His brother He ap Throughout the crusades, most persons considering the difficulty of the journey, and the perils of war, performed those acts which men on the point of death observed; such as settling their family affairs, and making restitutions to the church or private persons. Old title deeds abound with these conveyances. The great increase of monasteries in the eleventh and succeeding centuries very much proceeded from this cause. The bishop of Chartres prevailed on his lord, previously to his departure from France for the Holy Land, to renounce for himself and his successors the right which the counts of Chartres enjoyed, of pillaging the houses of the bishop, after his decease, of its goods, chattles, &c. L'Art de vérifier les Dates, vol. ii. p. 616. Whether he received seven thousand marks of silver or fifteen hundred, is a point of little moment to us; but some writers have maintained |