John H. Haaren

“ The council was so roused by his words that they broke forth into loud cries, “God wills it! God wills it!”
“It is, indeed, His will,” said the Pope, “and let these words be your war-cry when you meet the enemy.” ”

“ Leaving Constantinople, they went eastward into the land of the Turks. A powerful army led by the sultan met them. The Crusaders fought heroically all day long but at length were badly beaten. Only a few escaped and found their way back to Constantinople.
Peter the Hermit had left the Crusaders before the battle and returned to Constantinople. He afterwards joined the army of Godfrey of Bouillon.
Godfrey’s army was composed of six divisions, each commanded by a soldier of high rank and distinction. It was a well organized and disciplined force and numbered about half a million men. ”

“ Every year thousands of pilgrims—kings, nobles and people of humbler rank—went to the Holy Land.
While Jerusalem was in the hands of the Arabian caliphs who reigned at Bagdad, the Christian pilgrims were generally well treated. After about 1070, when the Turks took possession of the city, outrages became so frequent that it seemed as if it would not be safe for Christians to visit the Savior’s tomb at all.
About the year 1095 there lived at Amiens (ä-me-an’) France, a monk named Peter the Hermit. ”