At the end of the eleventh century, the Council of Clermont had the task of officializing the realization of the First Crusade towards the Eastern world. Under the appeals of Pope Urban II, thousands of Christian nobles were mobilized for this great battle. At a time of great influence, the Church had no great difficulty in mobilizing the arms of nobles seeking spiritual salvation and control of new lands.
Even addressing the efforts of the feudal elite, the announcement of the Crusades ended up being also disseminated to the common population. Members of the lower clergy and other popular preachers went out among the European population to publicize the organization of the crusade movement. Among these, Peter the Hermit stood out, who, with the help of the knight Gautério Sem-Posses, managed to mobilize a large wave of peasants, the poor, the elderly, children and women towards the East.
Before long, several followers gathered in the German city of Cologne. During the crossing, the members of the so-called “Crusade of Beggars” practiced every order of insubordination and persecuted the Jewish communities they encountered. Without adequate weapons and supplies, these crude crusaders arrived in the city of Constantinople in poor condition. Under the guidance of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I, that horde of miserables was to await the troops of the First Crusade.
During their time in the interior of the city, the poor crusaders promoted the same disorders and looting that marked their entire journey across the West. With this, the Byzantine emperor ordered them to stay outside the city and instigated the struggle of those Crusaders against the infidels who were on the nearby borders. In this situation, the Crusaders ended up heading to Asia Minor carrying out a series of disorderly attacks against Turkish fighters present in the Bosphorus Strait.
Better prepared, the Turkish soldiers had no great difficulty controlling that band of impromptu soldiers. Thousands of Crusaders were killed, captured or sold into slavery. The few that survived still had to wear out the long way back to Europe. Shortly thereafter, European knights and nobles carried out an onslaught that revealed the real firepower of Christian crusaders against Muslims.
By Rainer Sousa
Master in History
Brazil School Team
the Crusades - Middle Ages - wars
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/guerra-dos-mendigos.htm