convent writer to waste his glossy ink and choice vellum upon; and so, like the mighty effect that followed, all has passed away. The way, indeed, in which Peter the Hermit is spoken of by contemporary writers, seems to us to be very peculiar. No miracles are assigned to him, although at this period every abbey could boast of some half dozen; no laboured eulogies redolent of superlatives, follow the account of his labours. Even whilst the highest praises are bestowed on Tancred, Baldwin, and Godfrey, the originator of the enterprize, in which they took part, is contemplated rather as though the writers marvelled that a man so mean and low should have wielded so mighty a power, than with admiration and love.

We know not how long the preaching of Peter extended, but it was not until March, 1095, that the Council of Placentia assembled. To this multitudes pressed; and the crusade writers expressly assert, that of these the great majority were laymen. This is important to be borne in mind; for, the more closely we examine the principle of the Crusades, the more shall we find that it was a mighty popular movement. Here the Greek ambassadors addressed the multitude, urging them 'to repel the barbarians on the confines of Asia, rather than expect them in the heart of Europe;' while Urban, in a speech full of quotations from Jeremiah, pointed out the desolation of Jerusalem, and the miseries of her inhabitants. In November, a more important council was held, that of Clermont, whither countless numbers, still chiefly of the laity, flocked. There, ere Urban had completed his address, that 'great and heart-moving cry' burst forth, Deus vult! Deus vult! Be that your war-cry,' said the pontiff; and Deus vult' became the response to the defiant war-cry of the paynim host, Allah ackbar!' until the Croises beleagured the Holy City; and then the earnest prayer, Deus adjuva!' burst forth instead.

6

The winter was passed in hasty preparation; for 'then,' says Albert of Aix, were men leaving country, relations, wives, sons, 'daughters, castles, lands, towns, kingdoms,-all the sweets of this world,-quitting certain things for uncertain, seeking exile for the name of Jesus; and in what manner, with strong hand, and stout followers, they took the way to Jerusalem, boldly 'assaulting thousands and thousands of Turks and Saracens, and triumphing, killed them; I, though in childish and unwary 'style, have presumed to write.' To the universality and overmastering force of this feeling, every contemporary chronicler, indeed, bears testimony. Malmsbury's account is, perhaps, the most frequently quoted; and it is curious to observe how the

THE SELF-DEVOTEDNESS OF THE PEOPLE.

69

courtly and affected rhetorician rises, even to poetry, when he says, They hungered and thirsted for Jerusalem alone.' Guibert's testimony is similar, and he was near the spot from whence the majority set out, perhaps even saw the vast multitude toiling along, and he tells us how many women took part in the pilgrimage, and gives the touching picture of the poor husbandman setting out in his rude cart drawn by oxen, laden with his household stuff and little children,-not excepting the youngest, and their wondering inquiries as they approached each castle and town, 'whether this was Jerusalem?" He also bears testimony to the unselfish spirit of the multitude, declaring that they sold their valuables at any price, for arms and other necessaries; and, in utter defiance of the trading principle, 'buying dearly and selling cheaply,' as he expressly asserts.

Winter can scarcely be said to have passed away, even in France, by the beginning of March; but, on the 8th of that month, 1096, the first company of pilgrims, under the guidance of a valiant soldier, Walter Sansavoir, set forth. Gibbon has chosen to view this first expedition as one, and many writers have followed his view; but it consisted of five companies, under distinct leaders, of very different characters, and proceeding, too, by different routes, and encountering various fortunes. As this portion of crusade history has seldom even been touched upon, much less detailed at length, we shall follow the narrative as given by Albert of Aix, and Guibert, both contemporaries, and both near the spot, remarking that, in the main particulars, William of Tyre, an accurate but later chronicler, also concurs.

The first company, under Walter Sansavoir, consisted chiefly of Franks; their number is stated at 15,000 foot, and only eight horsemen! They are said to have been sent first by the advice of Peter, who soon after followed with a multitude of men, women, and children to the amount of 40,000. Walter, with his company, proceeded from the Rhine, through Franconia, Bavaria, and a part of Austria, to Hungary, through which they peaceably passed, paying for all that they had, until they came to Belgrade. Here, whilst the main body proceeded onward, a few, more wealthy, stayed behind to purchase arms. These were attacked and plundered, and with difficulty made their way to Walter. Guibert says, that he, unwilling to provoke a contest, passed it over, but that the authorities refused to supply them with provisions, and the starving multitude seized the cattle in the adjoining meadows, when the Bulgarians attacked them, and after an unequal and sanguinary combat, -in which many fled to a church for safety, whereupon the Bulgarians, with a nice casuistry, set it on fire, being unwilling to shed blood within holy bounds-the remainder plunged into the vast forests, and, after long wandering, at length arrived at Nissa, from whence the duke gave them safe conduct to the neighbourhood of Constantinople.

The company led by Peter followed soon after, and took the same road. This seems to have been a mixed multitude,' with many women and children. These also passed peaceably along as far as Belgrade, and even those writers who have most severely censured their subsequent conduct, are bound to allow, that either religious principle must have been very strong, or a rigid discipline been marvellously enforced, peaceably to conduct two companies of 55,000 men, women, and children, a journey of full twelve hundred miles, through different countries, among various peoples, at a period when, save in the walled towns, there was little law, and no police. At Belgrade, the arms and spoils of Walter's company met the pilgrims' view. Their brethren had certainly been murdered so the war-spirit fiercely burst forth. They attacked the city, spoiled it, and then marched onward. They now entered the vast and most bewildering forests of Bulgaria, with wagons containing provisions and other things, 'with the spoils of Belgrade.' Seven days they toiled along, and on the eighth the wearied company approached within sight of Nissa, where 'a certain river flowed before the city, under a 'stone bridge, through rich fields, clothed with greenness and 'abundance.' The chronicler seems to linger lovingly over this. picture of peace and repose; and here, by Peter's arrangement, on those green banks, the vast multitude pitched their tents, having first sent some of their number to the duke, praying license to purchase provisions, which was 'benignantly' granted, on condition of hostages being sent, 'lest any harm, such as at 'Belgrade, might be done by such a host. This permission proves that these pilgrims were not, even then, viewed as the lawless crew modern writers have been disposed to consider them.

Here they remained some time, the citizens willingly supplying them with provisions; 'indeed,' Albert adds, 'largely aiding 'them by charity.' But, unhappily, one night some Germans quarrelled with a Bulgarian, and 'propter contentionem vilissi'mam,' set fire to some mills on the farther side of the river. The neighbouring tribes-we must remember this was border country-were aroused, they attacked the rear of the encampment, consisting of wagons with the treasure, which they carried away, and the women and children, with the sick, whom they slew. The confusion in the camp became general, and the

THE ATTACK ON NISSA, AND DEFEAT OF THE PILGRIMS. 71

armed men prepared to attack the city, although it does not appear that its inhabitants had taken any part. Then Peter spoke :

'Heavy and hard is our affliction from the fury of these senseless Germans, for how many of our people have been killed by the duke's vassals in revenge is wholly unknown to me. But all our wagons with our spoils and stores are taken; so nothing better can be done, so it seems to me, than to make our way to the duke, and seek to make peace with him, because our people have acted unjustly toward him, seeing that the citizens peaceably supplied us with all necessary things.'

Thus, that Peter was, on the whole, a prudent leader, and a conscientious man, we have contemporary testimony. His counsel was followed, and the chief men set out on their embassy of peace. But a thousand of the insensate youth,' says Albert, 'untamable, frenzied, lawless, without cause, and 'without reason, rushed together upon the bridge, violently cry'ing out.' In vain did Peter lift up his voice,-that voice which had summoned Christendom was for once powerless, the maddened crew rushed on, the citizens came forth, the conflict on the bridge became terrific, thousands were hurled from it into the fair stream below, 'and, marvellous to say, so great was the 'number, that, for some time, the waters of that wide river could 'not be discovered for the number of bodies submerged in it.' Those of the pilgrims who escaped fled to the woods, from whence, when after three days' search with horns and trumpets, they were collected, about 30,000 were found remaining; and these sadly and with much toil, at length reached the camp of their brethren near Constantinople.

Ere these pilgrims reached their destination a third company of about 15,000 men, partly knights, and partly common people, set out under the conduct of a priest, named Godeschalk. These were lawless ruffians, and they commenced a complete system of spoliation, putting many Jews to death in the cities of the Rhine, on their road to Hungary; but here they were attacked, and all put to the sword. No chronicler laments their fate; for 'thus was the hand of the Lord displayed against these pilgrims,' says Albert, 'who, for their enormous crimes, were killed by the 'just judgment of God.' Another company-a wild and brutish rabble, from the Upper Rhine-next set forth; they seem to have had no leader, and their numbers are not clearly stated. These Mills represents as actually worshipping a goose, and a kid, which they carried with them! That they carried these, is asserted by both the writers whose narratives we have followed;

but they merely state that the multitude believed them 'to be 'inspired with somewhat divine.'* Now when we remember that these wretches set out from cities founded by the Romans, and remember, too, how many a Roman rite and Roman usage lingered in these, even to a far later period, we shall rather believe these animals - the goose, indeed, we know, was viewed almost as sacred by the Romans-to have been taken for the purposes of augury, and very probably to direct their way. This heathen multitude met with the same just retribution as the third company; and thus the way was cleared for the advance of the regular army of the Croises.

While these earlier expeditions have been almost overlooked, although of great importance in proving the thoroughly popular and spontaneous character of the Crusades, the story of the march of Godfrey's mighty host has been often told; and with tolerable correctness Guibert tells us, that not only was Godfrey's father 'a valiant man, and well versed in secular knowledge,' but that his mother was somewhat well instructed in letters' - a curious fact at this early period. And he further states, that she was accustomed to say that when her sons determined to set forth, how much she desired to go with them to Jerusalem. No wonder the crusading spirit glowed so warmly and so purely in Godfrey's breast, when he had imbibed it from the earliest teachings of his mother. And the well-appointed host, each man bearing the red cross on his right shoulder-for had not our Lord bidden all to take his yoke on their shoulders, and furnished with the arms of that age-the higher orders with lance and battle-axe, the lower with bills, and other rude weapons, numbering the almost incredible amount of above half a million of men and women, including 100,000 horsemen! set forth, taking their way by different routes, all to assemble near Constantinople.

Meanwhile, Peter the Hermit, 'mean in stature, but great in 'heart and in speech,' had proceeded to Constantinople, and lifted up his voice alone in the presence of the emperor, supplicating aid. And Alexius granted it, passing the remains of the two companies, still amounting to many thousands, across the Hellespont in Grecian vessels, to the plains adjacent to Nice. Here, chafing under their privations and delay, the hapless pilgrims too rashly encountered the paynim-the well appointed army of Solyman-and, with reckless valour, flung away their lives. Walter Sansavoir, gallantly leading the van, fell pierced with seven arrows; his brethren in arms refused to flee; and the whole of the pilgrims, the women, the priests, the sick and