21
September 1096 A.D. Xerigordon’s Crusaders Were Surrounded.
Graves,
Dan. “Xeriogordon’s Crusaders Were Surrounded.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/901-1200/xerigordons-crusaders-were-surrounded-11629796.html. Accessed 23 May 2014.
When Pope Urban II summoned Europe to the First
Crusade, filthy, barefoot Peter the Hermit urged people to gather their
possessions and head east. Whole families joined the "People's
Crusade." These were not trained armies, although there were trained
soldiers among them.
Months later, after many hardships, adventures and
deaths, they arrived at the Bosphorus Strait where the Byzantine Emperor agreed
to ferry them over. He wanted them out of the way, because they had created
many incidents in their journey and were stealing his people blind. By this
time, the French and Germans were quarreling and they split up. The Italians
sided with the Germans.
In their raids, this "people's crusade"
robbed and killed both Christians and Turks, but especially
Christians, who had less protection. The French successfully looted the suburbs
of Turkish-controlled Nicea (today's Iznek) and defeated a large Turkish force.
Eager for plunder, the 6,000 men in the German
party headed in the same direction. They did not kill Orthodox Christians as
the French had, but looted them all the same. Marching past Nicea, they
surprised and captured a lightly-defended fort named Xerigordon and thought
that they were well-situated on its high hill. From Xerigordon they hoped to
raid the surrounding country.
But on this day, September 21, 1096,* the irate Seljuk Turks overcame an ambush the
Germans had prepared against them and surrounded the fort. What the Germans had
not considered until too late was that the water supply of the fort was outside
the walls. According to a contemporary account, in the eight days of siege that
followed, the defenders of Xerigordon became so thirsty that they drank their
horses blood and one another's urine. Others dug into the damp soil and covered
themselves with cool earth. Bishops and priests encouraged them not to despair,
but with parched tongues, what could they do?
The defenders asked for terms of surrender. One of
their leaders even offered to fight against other crusaders if the Turks would
spare him. However, the Turkish terms were stiff: they could either convert to
Islam and be sold as slaves--or they could die. Those who converted were sold
as slaves to Syria. The rest were massacred.
The French, hearing of the massacre, marched east,
spoiling for a fight. However, they walked into a Turkish ambush and the Turks
wiped out 10,000 of them in a few hours. 3,000 fled, hotly pursued. In the end,
only a few managed to escape to a fortress where they survived-- thanks to the
Byzantine Emperor, who listened to Peter's pleas and sent boats to bring them
away.
That was the end of Peter's army. All in all, the
People's Crusade has to rank as one of the most bizarre events in church history. From a military standpoint,
however, the People's Crusade did some good: it caused the Turks to seriously
underestimate the more professional fighting force that soon arrived on their
shores, the members of the First Crusade.
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*Runciman says the Turks arrived not on this day, but on Michaelmas, September 29.
*Runciman says the Turks arrived not on this day, but on Michaelmas, September 29.
Bibliography:
1. "Ill-fated Crusade of the
Poor People." http://historymedren.about.com/library/prm/bl1poorpeople.htm
2. Norwich, John Julius. Byzantium,
the Decline and Fall. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1996.
3. Rees, Dr. Tom. "The Story of
the First Crusade."
http://www.brighton73.freeserve.co.uk/firstcrusade/Events/
Other_events/peoples_crusade.htm
Other_events/peoples_crusade.htm
4. Runciman, Steven. A History of the
Crusades. Cambridge University Press, 1954.
5. Various internet articles.
Last updated July, 2007
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