AP World History

Primary Resources on the Crusades

Firsthand accounts from individuals who lived and wrote about the 1st​ ​ three crusades

Document #1

PRIVILEGE GRANTED BY URBAN AT THE COUNCIL OF CLERMONT, 1095

If any one through devotion alone, and not for the sake of honor or gain, goes to Jerusalem to
free the church of God, the journey itself shall take the place of all penance.

Source:

Dana C. Munro, "Urban and the Crusaders", ​Translations and Reprints from the Original
Sources of European History​, Vol 1:2, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895), 12

Document # 2

PRIVILEGE GRANTED BY POPE EUGENIUS III, 1146

Moreover, by the authority vested by God in us, we who with paternal care provide for your
safety and the needs of the church, have promised and granted to those who from a spirit of
devotion have decided to enter upon and accomplish such a holy and necessary undertaking and
task, that remission of sins which our predecessor Pope Urban instituted. We have also
commanded that their wives and children, their property and possessions, shall be under the
protection of the holy church, of ourselves, of the archbishops, bishops and other prelates of the
church of God. Moreover, we ordain by our apostolic authority that until their return or death is
fully proven, no law suit shall be instituted hereafter in regard to any property of which they
were in peaceful possession when they took the cross.

Those who with pure hearts enter upon such a sacred journey and who are in debt shall pay no
interest. And if they or others for them are bound by oath or promise to pay interest, we free
them by our apostolic authority. And after they have sought aid of their relatives or lords of
whom they hold their fiefs, and the latter are unable or unwilling to advance them money, we
allow them freely to mortgage their lands and other possessions to churches, ecclesiastics or
other Christians, and their lords shall have no redress.
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Following the institution of our predecessor, and through the authority of omnipotent God and of
St. Peter, prince of the Apostles - which is vested in us by God - we grant absolution and
remission of sins, so that those who devoutly undertake and accomplish such a holy journey, or
who die by the way, shall obtain absolution for all their sins which they confess with humble and
contrite heart, and shall receive from the Remunerator of all the reward of eternal life.

Granted at Vetralle on the Kalends of December.

Source:

Dana C. Munro, "Urban and the Crusaders", ​Translations and Reprints from the Original
Sources of European History,​ Vol 1:2, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895), 15
[Latin text in Otto of Freising, Gesta Frederici, MGH, Scrip. XX.p.371]

Document #3

​The Slaughter of the Jews in Mainz, 1096

At the beginning of summer in the same year in which Peter, and Gottschalk, after collecting an
army, had set out, there assembled in like fashion a large and innumerable host of Christians
from diverse kingdoms and lands; namely, from the realms of France, England, Flanders, and
Lorraine. . . . I know n whether by a judgment of the Lord, or by some error of mind;, they rose
in a spirit of cruelty against the Jewish people scattered throughout these cities and slaughtered
them without mercy, especially in the Kingdom of Lorraine, asserting it to be the beginning of
their expedition and their duty against the enemies of the Christian faith. This slaughter of Jews
was done first by citizens of Cologne. These suddenly fell upon a small band of Jews and
severely wounded and killed many; they destroyed the houses and synagogues of the Jews and
divided among themselves a very large, amount of money. When the Jews saw this cruelty, about
two hundred in the silence of the night began flight by boat to Neuss. The pilgrims and crusaders
discovered them, and after taking away all their possessions, inflicted on them similar slaughter,
leaving not even one alive.

Not long after this, they started upon their journey, as they had vowed, and arrived in a great
multitude at the city of Mainz. There Count Emico, a nobleman, a very mighty man in this
region, was awaiting, with a large band of Teutons, the arrival of the pilgrims who were coming
thither from diverse lands by the King's highway.

The Jews of this city, knowing of the slaughter of their brethren, and that they themselves could
not escape the hands of so many, fled in hope of safety to Bishop Rothard. They put an infinite
treasure in his guard and trust, having much faith in his protection, because he was Bishop of the
city. Then that excellent Bishop of the city cautiously set aside the incredible amcunt of money
received from them. He placed the Jews in the very spacious hall of his own house, away from
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the sight of Count Emico and his followers, that they might remain safe and sound in a very
secure and strong place.

But Emico and the rest of his band held a council and, after sunrise, attacked the Jews in the hall
with arrows and lances. Breaking the bolts and doors, they killed the Jews, about seven hundred
in number, who in vain resisted the force and attack of so many thousands. They killed the
women, also, and with their swords pierced tender children of whatever age and sex. The Jews,
seeing that their Christian enemies were attacking them and their children, and that they were
sparing no age, likewise fell upon one another, brother, children, wives, and sisters, and thus they
perished at each other's hands. Horrible to say, mothers cut the throats of nursing children with
knives and stabbed others, preferring them to perish thus by their own hands rather than to be
killed by the weapons of the uncircumcised.

From this cruel slaughter of the Jews a few escaped; and a few because of fear, rather than
because of love of the Christian faith, were baptized. With very great spoils taken from these
people, Count Emico, Clarebold, Thomas, and all that intolerable company of men and women
then continued on their way to Jerusalem, directing their course towards the Kingdom of
Hungary, where passage along the royal highway was usually not denied the pilgrims. But on
arriving at ​Wieselburg, ​the fortress of the King, which the rivers Danube and Leytha protect with
marshes, the bridge and gate of the fortress were found closed by command of the King of
Hungary, for great fear had entered all the Hungarians because of the slaughter which had
happened to their brethren. . . .

But while almost everything had turned out favorably for the Christians, and while they had
penetrated the walls with great openings, by some chance or misfortune, I know not what, such
great fear entered the whole army that they turned in flight, just as sheep are scattered and
alarmed when wolves rush upon them. And seeking a refuge here and there, they forgot thei
companions. . . .

Emico and some of his followers continued in their flight along the way by which they had
come. Thomas, Clarebold, and several of their men escaped in flight toward Carinthia and Italy.
So the hand of the Lord is believed to have been against the pilgrim who had sinned by excessive
impurity and fornication, and who had slaughtered the exiled Jews through greed of money,
rather than for the sake of God's justice, although the Jews were opposed to Christ. The Lord is a
just judge and orders no one unwillingly, or under compulsion, to come under the yoke of the
Catholic faith.

There was another detestable crime in this assemblage of wayfaring people, who were foolish
and insanely fickle. That the crime was hateful to the Lord and incredible to the faithful is not to
be doubted. They asserted that a certain goose was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that a she
goat was not less filled by the same Spirit. These they made their guides on this holy journey to
Jerusalem; these they worshipped excessively; and most of the people following them, like
beasts, believed with their whole minds that this was the true course. May the hearts of the
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faithful be free from the thought that the Lord Jesus wished the Sepulchre of His most sacred
body to be visited by brutish and insensate animals, or that He wished these to become the guides
of Christian souls, which by the price of His own blood He deigned to redeem from the filth of
idols! . . .

Source:

August. C. Krey, ​The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants,​ (Princeton:
1921), 54-56

Document #4

The Siege of Damascus

W​hen the Muslims saw that they had gone, and observed the traces that they left in their flight,
they set off the same morning to pursue them. They showered them with arrows and killed many
of their rearguard in this way, and horses and pack animals as well. Innumerable corpses of men
and their splendid mounts were found in their bivouacs and along the route of their flight, the
bodies stinking so powerfully that the birds almost fell out of thc sky. That very night they set
fire to ar-Rabwa and al-Qubba al-Mamduda.
T​his gracious sign of God's favour brought rejoicing to Muslim hearts, and they gave thanks to
the Most High for hearing the prayers raised unceasingly to Him in the days of their distress. For
which let God be praised and blessed !
Source: [Gabrieli, ​Arab Chronicles of the Crusades​, 56-9]

Document #5

LETTER TO SALADIN

After devout wishes for the caliph, he enters thus on his subject: -

“The servant (that is Saladin) has written this letter, which contains the account of the auspicious
events of which he is the author. The inscription of this letter is the description of divine
goodness, which is a sea for pens, a sea in which they may swim for ages. It is a blessing for
which the gratitude should be measureless. Let thanks then be rendered to God for this blessing
of to-day; it is a blessing that will last for ever; let know one say: The like has been seen. The
affairs of Islamism are in the happiest condition; the faith of those who believe in it is
strengthened. The Mussulmans have destroyed the error which infidels had spread over these
places. God has faithfully fulfilled, with regard to his religion, the compact he entered into.
Religion was exiled and a stranger; she now inhabits her natural dwelling: the reward is received,
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that reward purchased at the price of life. The commandment of the truth of God, which was
powerless, is now in vigour; his house is re-peopled, though it was abandoned after it had been
destroyed. The order of God is arrived, and the noses of the polytheists are abased. Swords
advanced by night, and the sick were asleep. (That is to say, I believe, that Saladin surprised the
Crusaders, and that the Christians did not expect what happened to them on his part.) God has
preformed the promise he made to raise his religion above all religions. Its light is more brilliant
than that of the morning; the Mussulmans are restored to their heritage, which had been wrested
from them. They have been awakened, they have conquered that which they could not have
hoped to conquer, even in their dreams; their feet are firmly fixed upon the hill; their standards
have floated over the mosque; they have prayed upon the black stone. In acting thus, the servant
proposed to himself nothing short of these great results; he only confronted this evil, (the evils of
this war) in the hope of this great blessing; he only made war on those who opposed him, that the
word of God might be spread; for the word of God is exalted; he has only fought that he might
by that means merit eternal life, and not the wealth of this world. Perhaps, tongues may have
accused him of having a contemptible object, and men’s thoughts have calumniated him; but he
has extinguished these thoughts by means of time and patience. He who sought a precious thing
placed himself in danger. He who exerted himself to render his life illustrious, exposed himself.
Otherwise, the servant has only acted after having consulted with the wisest of his doctors. The
servant has written this letter, and already God has caused him to triumph over his enemies. The
towers of the infidel are cast down; he drew his sword, and it became a wand; his attacks became
weak; he turned his bridal; and, as a chastisement from God, he has not found hands to act with.
His swords have slept in their scabbards, his lances have lost their noses (points), and for a long
time they were raised to inflict death. The land of Jerusalem is become pure; it was as a woman
who has her rules. God is become one God, and he was trinary (or three). The houses of the
infidel are destroyed, the dwellings of polytheism are cast down. The Mussulmans have taken
possession of the fortified castles. Our enemies will not return to them again, for they are
branded with the seal of weakness and degradation. God has placed beauty where deformity was.

Taken from​ Joseph Francois Michaud. ​The History of the Crusades.​ Vol. III. Translated by W.
Robson (New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son, 1881), 372-376.

Document #6

SALADIN RECLAIMS JERSULEM

Document #7

CRUSDAERS ON THE 1​ST​ CRUSADE