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In the Middle Ages, Europe and the Middle East were divided between Christian states,
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or Christendom, and Muslim states.
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They were uneasy neighbours, and frequently at war.
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On the frontline: the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, the major Christian power in the eastern
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Mediterranean.
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But in the 11th century, a powerful new force emerged that threatened its very survival.
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The Seljuk Turks, originally from Central Asia, migrated south, converted to Sunni Islam,
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and carved out a great empire for themselves.
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In 1071, at the Battle of Manzikert, the Seljuk Turks inflicted a crushing defeat on the Byzantine
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Empire.
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They went on to conquer most of Anatolia.
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Cities such as Nicaea and Antioch, rich in Christian history, fell to the Seljuk Turks.
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In 1092, the Great Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah died, and his empire began to fragment.
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The Byzantine Empire came under renewed attack, as local warlords sought territory and plunder.
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In 1095, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus wrote to Pope Urban II, making a desperate
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appeal for military aid from his fellow Christians in the west.
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It wasn't the first such appeal by the Emperor, but this time, the results would be unlike
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anything ever seen before.
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Pope Urban saw the Emperor's appeal as a golden opportunity...
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… a chance to heal the rift that had emerged between Western and Eastern churches in the
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Great Schism...
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… to assert his own, papal authority over the unruly barons and bishops of western Christendom...
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And to drive back 'the infidel', and reclaim Christianity's most holy sites – most of
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all, Jerusalem, lost to Muslim rule 400 years before.
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At Clermont in France, Pope Urban preached a sermon to a gathering of clergy and nobles.
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He called on Christian knights and foot-soldiers to go east, to aid their brother Christians,
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and free Jerusalem from Muslim rule.
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And he offered a unique spiritual incentive:
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“Whoever for devotion alone, not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate
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the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penance.”
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He was offering Europe's knights, who lived in fear of damnation because of the violent
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lives they led, the chance to atone for their sins through holy war.
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What's more, their objective - Jerusalem - was a city that captivated the medieval imagination
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like no other - the most holy place on earth.
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The Pope's offer exhilarated his audience – his words were met with cries of 'Deus
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vult!
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Deus vult!...
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God wills it!
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God wills it!'
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The Pope's appeal was preached across Europe, sparking a wave of religious fervour.
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Thousands of lords, knights and ordinary people vowed to travel to the Holy Land and fight
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for Christ.
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They identified themselves by wearing a cross, later becoming known as 'crucesignatus' - crusaders.
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A few of these men saw opportunity in the east for fame and fortune.
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But overwhelmingly, they went in search of spiritual salvation – willing to undertake
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a long, expensive and perilous journey to save their souls from the fires of hell.
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Pope Urban had intended the crusade to be led by nobles, and made up of knights and
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experienced soldiers.
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But the viral success of his appeal led thousands of ordinary townsfolk and peasants to take
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the cross - many inspired by a French priest known as Peter the Hermit, who became leader
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of this so-called People's Crusade.
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In the Rhineland, some of these crusaders, fired up by old prejudices and talk of holy
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war, attacked local Jewish communities, slaughtering around 5,000 men, women and children, and
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extorting money from those they spared.
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These massacres were condemned by the church, but to little effect.
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In the summer of 1096, the People's Crusade, 20 to 40,000 strong, made its way east.
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The main contingent, led by Peter the Hermit, travelled along the River Danube.
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But they were ill-disciplined and poorly-prepared.
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When they ran out of food in Hungary, they attacked and looted Christian settlements.
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They continued to pillage the land of their supposed ally, the Byzantine Empire.
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When they reached Constantinople, the Emperor quickly ferried them to Anatolia, to be rid
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of them.
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In enemy territory, lacking discipline or leadership, their main force was soon ambushed
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and slaughtered by the Turks.
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Meanwhile, some of Europe's most powerful feudal lords were departing for the Holy Land
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at the head of their own contingents.
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They were much better armed and organised than the disastrous People's Crusade.
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They included, from Lorraine, Godfrey of Bouillon, with his brothers Eustace and Baldwin of Boulogne.
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Hugh of Vermandois, younger brother of the French King.
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Count Robert of Flanders, and Duke Robert of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror.
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The wealthy Stephen of Blois.
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From Provence, Count Raymond of Toulouse, accompanied by the Crusade's spiritual leader,
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papal legate Adhémar of Le Puy.
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And from southern Italy, Norman lords Bohemond of Taranto, and his nephew Tancred.
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The various contingents converged for their agreed rendezvous at Constantinople.
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Together, they formed a huge army, perhaps 60,000 strong - probably the largest seen
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in Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
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The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius, had expected to welcome a small force of Western mercenaries,
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who'd serve under Byzantine command.
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But the giant Crusader force that began arriving in December 1096 made him nervous and distrustful
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– particularly the presence of Bohemond of Taranto, who'd spent much of his life attacking
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the Byzantine Empire.
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Alexius gave the Crusaders money, supplies and guides, but only after their leaders swore
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oaths of fealty, and promised to return all Byzantine territory to the emperor - not keep
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it for themselves.
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Only then were they ferried across the Bosphorus, into Anatolia.
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The Crusaders were a mighty military force, particularly the armoured knights, who made
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up about a sixth of their strength.
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But they'd have to adapt rapidly to the heat, terrain, and hit-and-run tactics of their
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Turkish enemy.
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In their favour – the Islamic world, and the Great Seljuk Empire itself, was badly
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divided – its Turkish governors, or atabegs, were busy fighting each other, as well as
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the Shia Fatimids of Egypt.
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None of them was prepared for the First Crusade, or had any real understanding of its strength
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or aims.
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The Crusaders' first success came at Nicaea, which fell after a six week siege.
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But the city surrendered to the Byzantine forces, cheating the Crusaders, as they saw
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it, of their rightful plunder.
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It was a further strain on the delicate relations between Crusaders and Byzantines.
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They began marching inland, through intense summer heat, in two columns - a vanguard under
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Bohemond of Taranto, and rearguard under Godfrey of Bouillon.
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Then near Dorylaeum, Bohemond's vanguard was ambushed by the main Turkish army.
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Based on Crusader chronicles, this is our best understanding of how the confused fighting
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unfolded...
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Bohemond, seeing he was about to be attacked by a large force of enemy cavalry, sent an
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urgent message to the rearguard, asking for assistance.
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Then he formed up his knights, and ordered his infantry into a defensive formation behind
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them, protecting the camp followers.
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The Crusaders came under attack from all sides – facing a hail of arrows from Turkish horse
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archers, as well as javelins, and hit-and-run strikes from their faster light cavalry.
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The knights were driven back onto their own infantry.
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Over several hours, losses mounted, but the Crusader line held.
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Meanwhile, Godfrey was racing up with the rearguard to join the battle.
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Troops were fed into the fighting as soon as they arrived.
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On the Turks' left flank, the Crusader advance was hidden by the terrain, so that they appeared
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suddenly, threatening the Turks with encirclement.
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When the Christian knights all charged together, the Turks panicked, turned and fled.
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It was a major victory for the Crusaders, and allowed them to continue their advance
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across Anatolia without serious opposition.
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At Heraclea, they defeated a small Turkish force, then split up.
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The main force struggled through the mountains of Cappadocia, losing many of their baggage
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animals, and running dangerously low on supplies.
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Meanwhile Baldwin of Boulogne and Tancred, probably out to seize land and plunder for
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themselves, travelled south into Cilicia, capturing the city of Tarsus and other settlements.
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Tancred later rejoined the main army, but Baldwin was invited by local Armenian Christians
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to travel to Edessa, where he was soon installed as Count Baldwin of Edessa – ruler of the
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first 'Crusader state'.
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In October 1097, the rest of the Crusaders reached Antioch, the next stepping-stone on
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the road to Jerusalem.
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But outside its walls, the First Crusade would come to the brink of disaster, decimated by
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disease and starvation, and encircled by their enemies.
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It would take a miracle to save them from annihilation.