In the Middle Ages, Europe and the Middle
East were divided between Christian states, or Christendom, and Muslim states. They were uneasy neighbours, and frequently
at war. On the frontline: the Eastern Roman or Byzantine
Empire, the major Christian power in the eastern Mediterranean. But in the 11th century, a powerful new force
emerged that threatened its very survival. The Seljuk Turks, originally from Central
Asia, migrated south, converted to Sunni Islam, and carved out a great empire for themselves. In 1071, at the Battle of Manzikert, the Seljuk
Turks inflicted a crushing defeat on the Byzantine Empire. They went on to conquer most of Anatolia. Cities such as Nicaea and Antioch, rich in
Christian history, fell to the Seljuk Turks. In 1092, the Great Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah
died, and his empire began to fragment. The Byzantine Empire came under renewed attack,
as local warlords sought territory and plunder. In 1095, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus
wrote to Pope Urban II, making a desperate appeal for military aid from his fellow Christians
in the west. It wasn't the first such appeal by the Emperor,
but this time, the results would be unlike anything ever seen before. Pope Urban saw the Emperor's appeal as a golden
opportunity... β¦ a chance to heal the rift that had emerged
between Western and Eastern churches in the Great Schism... β¦ to assert his own, papal authority over
the unruly barons and bishops of western Christendom... And to drive back 'the infidel', and reclaim
Christianity's most holy sites β most of all, Jerusalem, lost to Muslim rule 400 years
before. At Clermont in France, Pope Urban preached
a sermon to a gathering of clergy and nobles. He called on Christian knights and foot-soldiers
to go east, to aid their brother Christians, and free Jerusalem from Muslim rule. And he offered a unique spiritual incentive: βWhoever for devotion alone, not to gain
honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey
for all penance.β He was offering Europe's knights, who lived
in fear of damnation because of the violent lives they led, the chance to atone for their
sins through holy war. What's more, their objective - Jerusalem - was
a city that captivated the medieval imagination like no other - the most holy place on earth. The Pope's offer exhilarated his audience
β his words were met with cries of 'Deus vult! Deus vult!... God wills it! God wills it!' The Pope's appeal was preached across Europe,
sparking a wave of religious fervour. Thousands of lords, knights and ordinary people
vowed to travel to the Holy Land and fight for Christ. They identified themselves by wearing a cross,
later becoming known as 'crucesignatus' - crusaders. A few of these men saw opportunity in the
east for fame and fortune. But overwhelmingly, they went in search of
spiritual salvation β willing to undertake a long, expensive and perilous journey to
save their souls from the fires of hell. Pope Urban had intended the crusade to be
led by nobles, and made up of knights and experienced soldiers. But the viral success of his appeal led thousands
of ordinary townsfolk and peasants to take the cross - many inspired by a French priest
known as Peter the Hermit, who became leader of this so-called People's Crusade. In the Rhineland, some of these crusaders,
fired up by old prejudices and talk of holy war, attacked local Jewish communities, slaughtering
around 5,000 men, women and children, and extorting money from those they spared. These massacres were condemned by the church,
but to little effect. In the summer of 1096, the People's Crusade,
20 to 40,000 strong, made its way east. The main contingent, led by Peter the Hermit,
travelled along the River Danube. But they were ill-disciplined and poorly-prepared. When they ran out of food in Hungary, they
attacked and looted Christian settlements. They continued to pillage the land of their
supposed ally, the Byzantine Empire. When they reached Constantinople, the Emperor
quickly ferried them to Anatolia, to be rid of them. In enemy territory, lacking discipline or
leadership, their main force was soon ambushed and slaughtered by the Turks. Meanwhile, some of Europe's most powerful
feudal lords were departing for the Holy Land at the head of their own contingents. They were much better armed and organised
than the disastrous People's Crusade. They included, from Lorraine, Godfrey of Bouillon,
with his brothers Eustace and Baldwin of Boulogne. Hugh of Vermandois, younger brother of the
French King. Count Robert of Flanders, and Duke Robert
of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror. The wealthy Stephen of Blois. From Provence, Count Raymond of Toulouse,
accompanied by the Crusade's spiritual leader, papal legate AdhΓ©mar of Le Puy. And from southern Italy, Norman lords Bohemond
of Taranto, and his nephew Tancred. The various contingents converged for their
agreed rendezvous at Constantinople. Together, they formed a huge army, perhaps
60,000 strong - probably the largest seen in Europe since the fall of the Western Roman
Empire. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius, had expected
to welcome a small force of Western mercenaries, who'd serve under Byzantine command. But the giant Crusader force that began arriving
in December 1096 made him nervous and distrustful β particularly the presence of Bohemond
of Taranto, who'd spent much of his life attacking the Byzantine Empire. Alexius gave the Crusaders money, supplies
and guides, but only after their leaders swore oaths of fealty, and promised to return all
Byzantine territory to the emperor - not keep it for themselves. Only then were they ferried across the Bosphorus,
into Anatolia. The Crusaders were a mighty military force,
particularly the armoured knights, who made up about a sixth of their strength. But they'd have to adapt rapidly to the heat,
terrain, and hit-and-run tactics of their Turkish enemy. In their favour β the Islamic world, and
the Great Seljuk Empire itself, was badly divided β its Turkish governors, or atabegs,
were busy fighting each other, as well as the Shia Fatimids of Egypt. None of them was prepared for the First Crusade,
or had any real understanding of its strength or aims. The Crusaders' first success came at Nicaea,
which fell after a six week siege. But the city surrendered to the Byzantine
forces, cheating the Crusaders, as they saw it, of their rightful plunder. It was a further strain on the delicate relations
between Crusaders and Byzantines. They began marching inland, through intense
summer heat, in two columns - a vanguard under Bohemond of Taranto, and rearguard under Godfrey
of Bouillon. Then near Dorylaeum, Bohemond's vanguard was
ambushed by the main Turkish army. Based on Crusader chronicles, this is our
best understanding of how the confused fighting unfolded... Bohemond, seeing he was about to be attacked
by a large force of enemy cavalry, sent an urgent message to the rearguard, asking for
assistance. Then he formed up his knights, and ordered
his infantry into a defensive formation behind them, protecting the camp followers. The Crusaders came under attack from all sides
β facing a hail of arrows from Turkish horse archers, as well as javelins, and hit-and-run
strikes from their faster light cavalry. The knights were driven back onto their own
infantry. Over several hours, losses mounted, but the
Crusader line held. Meanwhile, Godfrey was racing up with the
rearguard to join the battle. Troops were fed into the fighting as soon
as they arrived. On the Turks' left flank, the Crusader advance
was hidden by the terrain, so that they appeared suddenly, threatening the Turks with encirclement. When the Christian knights all charged together,
the Turks panicked, turned and fled. It was a major victory for the Crusaders,
and allowed them to continue their advance across Anatolia without serious opposition. At Heraclea, they defeated a small Turkish
force, then split up. The main force struggled through the mountains
of Cappadocia, losing many of their baggage animals, and running dangerously low on supplies. Meanwhile Baldwin of Boulogne and Tancred,
probably out to seize land and plunder for themselves, travelled south into Cilicia,
capturing the city of Tarsus and other settlements. Tancred later rejoined the main army, but
Baldwin was invited by local Armenian Christians to travel to Edessa, where he was soon installed
as Count Baldwin of Edessa β ruler of the first 'Crusader state'. In October 1097, the rest of the Crusaders
reached Antioch, the next stepping-stone on the road to Jerusalem. But outside its walls, the First Crusade would
come to the brink of disaster, decimated by disease and starvation, and encircled by their
enemies. It would take a miracle to save them from
annihilation. Research and artwork for this video comes
from Osprey Publishing's extensive range of books on medieval history. Every Osprey book examines a particular battle,
campaign or combat unit in authoritative, meticulous detail. And with more than 3,000 titles, they cover
everything from ancient warfare to modern conflict. Visit their website to see their online catalogue. Thank you to all the Patreon supporters who
made this video possible. If you'd like to find out how you can support
the channel, and even get to vote on future topics, please visit our Patreon page by clicking
the link.
Welcome to /r/History!
This post is getting rather popular, so here is a friendly reminder for people who may not know about our rules.
We ask that your comments contribute and are on topic. One of the most heard complaints about default subreddits is the fact that the comment section has a considerable amount of jokes, puns and other off topic comments, which drown out meaningful discussion. Which is why we ask this, because /r/History is dedicated to knowledge about a certain subject with an emphasis on discussion.
We have a few more rules, which you can see in the sidebar.
Thank you!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators if you have any questions or concerns. Replies to this comment will be removed automatically.
I discovered Epic History TV a few weeks ago and quickly became addicted. I love the production and the voice narration of the videos. Excellent channel. Also they've done a video of the history of Russia which is fascinating.
This is a great illustration of a period that I've always had little understanding of.
Honestly the toughest part of history is that so much happens at once depending on time/place. Roman history was pretty clean because it was one mostly cohesive republic/empire covering a large portion of the western world. Midieval history is just full of small feudal kingdoms and it's conceptually hard for me to put it all together.
This did a really great job of telling that story.
A video with a high production quality about a very interesting period of history which I find to be perceived wrongly by many people.
In case anyone is looking for part two, it isn't out [yet]. Based on their historic release schedule, it looks like we'll be waiting a month or so.
Anyone fnd it funny the Peoples Crusade ran out of food in Hungary?
So I was going to take a dig at the map, because I thought: Look how they took the time to put Provence, Aquitaine, Bohemia, etc. but they put "Kingdom of Germany". What the hell is that? Germany didn't exist until the 1800's.
Little did I know, the Kingdom of Germany did exist. It grew out of the eastern half of Charlemagne's old empire. At least it seems its sort of disputed as to when this kingdom actually formed (its ruler was chosen by election by the duchies that comprised it). The whole things actually quite confusing and involves the Holy Roman Empire.
Edit: Yes, I only know about these other kingdom names from EU4
Serious question - is he pronouncing Byzantine the correct way?
I always pronounced it Biz-en-teen
Love that channel, subscribe they deserve alto more than what they have