The Rhineland Massacres - mrcaseyhistory

The Rhineland Massacres

Eager to fight non-Christians in the Holy Land, some Crusaders decided to attack non-Christians in Europe as well. In what were later known as the Rhineland Massacres, they slaughtered entire communities of Jews, in spite of protests by local officials and clergy.

"[I swear] to go on this journey only after avenging the blood of the crucified one (Jesus) by shedding Jewish blood and completely eradicating any trace of those bearing the name 'Jew,' thus assuaging his own burning wrath. Source: Godfrey of Bouillon, Frankish Knight of the First Crusade

The Rhineland Massacres

Eager to fight non-Christians in the Holy Land, some Crusaders decided to attack non-Christians in Europe as well. In what were later known as the Rhineland Massacres, they slaughtered entire communities of Jews, in spite of protests by local officials and clergy.

"It certainly seems amazing that on a single day in many different places, moved in unison by a violent inspiration, such massacres should have taken place, despite their widespread disapproval and their condemnation as contrary to religion. But we know that they could not have been avoided since they occurred in the face of excommunication imposed by numerous clergymen, and of the threat of punishment on the part of many princes."

Source: Hugh of Flavigny, Benedictine Monk and Contemporary Historian (living at the time)

The Rhineland Massacres

Eager to fight non-Christians in the Holy Land, some Crusaders decided to attack non-Christians in Europe as well. In what were later known as the Rhineland Massacres, they slaughtered entire communities of Jews, in spite of protests by local officials and clergy.

"...cruel foreigners, fierce and swift, Frenchmen and Germans...[who] put crosses on their clothing and were more plentiful than locusts on the face of the earth." Source: Eliezer ben Nathan, Contemporary Jewish Chronicler

Interactions Between Crusaders and Byzantines

Although Alexius I, the Byzantine Emperor, had originally asked for the Pope to send knights, tensions quickly grew between the Crusaders and Emperor, who was not expecting so many knights, and was threatened by their numbers and their actions. He hesitantly admitted them into the city, but required the Lord's to swear loyalty to him, and they reluctantly agreed.

"When the Franks had all come together and had taken an oath to the emperor, there was one count who had the boldness to sit down upon the throne. The emperor, well knowing the pride of the Latins, kept silent, but Baldwin approached the Frankish count and taking him by the hand said, `You ought not to sit there; that is an honor which the emperor permits to no one. Now that you are in this country, why do you not observe its customs?' The insolent count made no reply to Baldwin, but said in his barbarous language, as if talking to himself, `This must be a rude [emperor] who would alone remain seated when so many brave warriors are standing up.' Alexis noted the movement of the man's lips and called an interpreter in order to learn, what he had said; but when the interpreter had told him he did not complain to the Franks, although he did not forget the matter."

Source: Anna Komnene, Byzantine Historian and Daughter of Emperor Alexius I

The Seige of Jerusalem

The siege of Jerusalem was a tremendous victory for the Crusaders, who succeeded in taking the holy city in the name of Christianity. However, the bloody siege involved terrible fighting and ended in disaster for the city's inhabitants, who were not only Muslims but also Jews and Christians, fighting together to defend their city.

"The Franks (Crusaders) entered the city magnificently at the noonday hour... With trumpets sounding and with everything in an uproar, exclaiming, `Help, God!' they vigorously pushed into the city, and [right away] raised the [flag] at the top of the wall. All the heathens (disbelievers), completely terrified, changed their boldness (braveness) to swift flight through the narrow streets... Nowhere was there a place where the Saracens (Muslims) could escape... Not one of them was allowed to live."

Source: Chronicles of Fulcher of Chartres, 1127

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