The Context for the First Crusade: The Situation in the West

This post forms part of our series on the Context for the First Crusade. In this post, we will discuss the situation in the West on the Eve of the First Crusade. It is essential to do so in order to gain a clearer understanding of why so many responded to Urban’s call at Clermont and it gives important context for the First Crusade.

In Europe’s tenth and eleventh centuries, but in France in particular, violence was endemic. Violence was merely a part of life. The feudal system was built upon the presumption of perpetual warfare. Disputes would often arise between feudal lords.

Boys from the knightly classes in the early medieval period were trained for warfare. They learnt to bear the weight of armour and how to throw a spear. M.W. Baldwin, ‘Western Europe on the Eve of the First Crusade, in M.W. Baldwin (ed.), A History of the Crusades, Volume 1, The First Hundred Years, p. 15. They were conditioned to fight. To have a population of capable fighting males was particularly useful at times. In particular during the expansion of the Carolingian dynasty. The French, along with much of Western Europe, had been faced with Viking invaders and raiders from the later 8th century. When the threat of invasion diminished and the borders had been extended, those fighting men who had been accustomed to violence and warfare began to look towards their own people to satisfy their thirst.

A disintegration of public authority in France caused by the fragmentation of political power left a power vacuum that was filled by local lords who collected their own armies. These local Lords often operated independently of the King. When not fighting the armies of other local lords, the men they employed as soldiers were often left to roam the villages and countryside. Members of the clergy and the peasantry, essentially those unable to arm themselves were prey to these bored, violent marauders. H. E. J. Cowdrey, The Peace and the Truce of God in the Eleventh Century, Past & Present, (Feb., 1970), No. 46, p.p. 46-47.

A dangerous situation had been created – bands of men, trained for the art of warfare, operating under the authority of local lords who became increasingly lawless and who answered to themselves rather than the King. These bands of men, often hungry to practice the art of warfare were left to prey upon the most vulnerable in society. Women, merchants, lower class men who had no means to defend themselves along with the clergy who were themselves not even protected by their religious vocation were under attack.

Society turned to the Church for a solution to this terrifying problem.

The Peace of God

The Church found a solution in the form of the Peace of God movement. This movement was a way for the Church to stamp its authority in France where the political elite had failed and to bring an end to knightly violence. This movement provides essential context for the First Crusade as will be explained later.

The Peace of God first emerged in the South of France in the late eleventh century. It was to become an institution created by senior ecclesiastics designed to curb knightly violence. M. Bull, ‘The Roots of Lay Enthusiasm for the First Crusade’, History, Vol. 78, No. 254 (Oct. 1993), p.357. Ecclesiasts held councils and looked to Saints and relics to extract oaths of proper behaviour from problematic elements within society. H. E. J. Cowdrey, The Peace and the Truce of God in the Eleventh Century, Past & Present, (Feb. 1970), No. 46, p. 49.

They extracted oaths that compelled knights to respect the provisions of peace laid out in the Council. The Peace of God decreed that certain people, such as the poor, the clergy and monks were placed under ecclesiastical protection. They were essentially not to be harmed by these troublesome knights. Bound by the Peace, material things such as Church buildings and Church property as well as poor people’s means of livelihood were also under Church protection.

The authority of these Councils was from local Bishops as opposed to secular rulers.

This system worked rather effectively. In a troublesome area, a Council was called and then the Peace of God was declared by the Bishop. The first Peace of God was proclaimed at Le Puy in 975. There Bishop Guy called a gathering of lay and ecclesiasts, knights and peasants ‘to hear from them what advice they had to give about keeping peace’.H. E. J. Cowdrey, The Peace and the Truce of God in the Eleventh Century, Past & Present, (Feb. 1970), No. 46, p. 43. The Bishop then forced oaths to be sworn by the knights and the peasants to ensure Peace was kept. C. Erdmann, The Origin of the Idea of Crusade, (1977), p. 63.

A similar council was then called in Charroux in 990. Further councils soon followed and by the 1020s, most parts of France fell under the protection of the Peace of God. H. E. J. Cowdrey, The Peace and the Truce of God in the Eleventh Century, Past & Present, (Feb. 1970), No. 46, p. 44.

The Truce of God

Whereas the Peace of God sought to protect people and property from knightly violence, the Truce of God took this a step further and sought to limit when violence could take place by attempting to stop all violence at certain times.

The Truce of God First appears at the Council of Toulouges 1027. It was declared that a truce had been sworn “In honor of the Lord’s day,” it prohibited all acts of violence of any sort between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning. H. E. J. Cowdrey, The Peace and the Truce of God in the Eleventh Century, Past & Present, (Feb. 1970), No. 46, p. 44. Throughout the 1030s, an even longer list of prohibited days developed. By the late eleventh century, it is estimated that only eight days a year were not covered by the Truce of God across most of France.

Some historians, such as Baldwin have suggested that despite the Church’s best efforts, few local lords actually paid attention to either the Peace of God or the Truce of God and that violence continued throughout France. M.W. Baldwin, ‘Western Europe on the Eve of the First Crusade’, in M.W. Baldwin (ed.), A History of the Crusades, Volume 1, The First Hundred Years, p. 15. Nevertheless, we can see the Church stepping in where secular authority had failed to try to control violence. And for this reason, many scholars argue that the Peace and Truce of God movements offer important context for the First Crusade.

Why Didn’t the Church Ban Violence Altogether?

Knights and their love for violence were still useful, to both lay lords and the Church. Ironically, those who swore to uphold the Peace and Truce of God were threatened with violence should they fail to do so. M. Bull, ‘The Roots of Lay Enthusiasm for the First Crusade’, History, Vol. 78, No. 254 (Oct. 1993), p.357. The Church understood the importance of the knightly classes. Medieval feudal society was ordered into definitive categories. There were those who worked (the peasantry), those who prayed (the Clergy) and those who fought (the knightly classes). Warriors were required for the defence of the realm should the kingdom come under attack. Society needed the knightly classes.

Furthermore, ecclesiasts understood they could use the knightly classes in the defence of the Church. Popes also recognised the potential for knights to further the agenda of the Papacy. Pope Leo IX called an army in 1053 and took command of a campaign against the Normans in Southern Italy. J. Howe, Before the Gregorian Reform: The Latin Church at the Turn of the First Millennium, (2016), p. 297.

Completely abolishing all violence and the occupation and or rank of knighthood was therefore not an option. Knights and violence were useful, necessary even. The Church sought to limit their activities and perhaps harness this violence and sought to use it to suit their own ends. This ought to be borne in mind when we consider the context for the First Crusade and Pope Urban II’s call in 1095.

Was one of Urban’s motives to rid himself and Western society of troublesome elements in the West and send these violent men to the East where they could be more useful? Did Urban consider using knightly violence to achieve his aim of reuniting the East and Western Church and liberating Jerusalem?

If you enjoyed this post, why not take a look at some other posts in our Context for the First Crusade category? You can find them here.

Featured Image: Two kings mounted with a knight from BL Royal 14 E III, f. 24v – The British Library, United Kingdom – Public Domain. https://www.europeana.eu/item/2059209/data_sounds_K042368

Bibliography

M. Bull, ‘The Roots of Lay Enthusiasm for the First Crusade’, History, Vol. 78, No. 254 (Oct. 1993), pp. 353-372

M.W. Baldwin, ‘Western Europe on the Eve of the First Crusade’, in M.W. Baldwin (ed.), A History of the Crusades, Volume 1, The First Hundred Years, pp 1-29.

H. E. J. Cowdrey, The Peace and the Truce of God in the Eleventh Century, Past & Present, Feb., 1970, No. 46 pp. 42-67.

C. Erdmann, The Origin of the Idea of Crusade, (1977).

J. Howe, Before the Gregorian Reform: The Latin Church at the Turn of the First Millennium, (2016).