The People's Crusade - Crusades - Epic Medieval Music (Old French)

The People's Crusade had started, carried by the poor, and buried in Asia Minor within six months of leaving home. In November 1095, Pope Urban II stood at Clermont and called the strong of Christendom to answer the Byzantine Emperor's plea for help against the Seljuk Turks. The call went further than he intended. A charismatic preacher from Amiens, Peter the Hermit, carried it to the poor: peasants, clergy, women, and a handful of knights. Peter was a preacher, not a commander. He had no army, no supplies, and no plan, only a crowd that believed God willed it. This is their story. In the spring of 1096, that crowd set out for Jerusalem. Other bands, not Peter's, turned on the Jewish communities of the Rhineland. In May, Count Emicho's army destroyed the Jews of Mainz, even after Archbishop Ruthard tried to shelter them. The same cross, the same cry. Peter's host marched on through Hungary, where King Coloman gave them provisions, until a dispute at Malevil turned to violence. At Niš, a clash with the Byzantine garrison cost them heavily. At Constantinople, Emperor Alexios advised them to wait for the knights. They plundered the city's churches and houses instead, and he ferried them across the Bosphorus to a camp at Civetot. Then the army split over who should lead. Peter returned to Constantinople. In October, false news reached the camp that Nicaea had fallen. The crusaders marched out in disorder and walked into Kilij Arslan's horse archers. Arrows fell like hail. Walter Sans Avoir was killed, and most of the army with him. Peter survived. He lived to see Jerusalem in 1099, and died in 1115. A crusade born from a sermon. Led by a man who could not lead it. Carried by the poor. Remembered by the one who called them. I made the song entirely in Old French, the language of the 12th-century chansons de geste, with the Latin "Deus vult" for the choir and the Greek "Kyrie eleison" at the end. The narrator is Peter as an old man, looking back. His guilt is my invention. No source records his feelings. Gravelly male narration, a female choir for the crowd and the dead, frame drums, Pronunciation is approximate. Built with the help of modern AI and human editing. TIMELINE: 1095 - Pope Urban II preaches the crusade at Clermont Apr 1096 - Peter the Hermit's host sets out May 1096 - Rhineland massacres: Emicho's band destroys the Jewish community of Mainz Jun-Jul 1096 - The army crosses Hungary: violence at Malevil and Niš Aug 1096 - Constantinople; Alexios ferries the army across the Bosphorus to Civetot Oct 1096 - False news of Nicaea: the army is ambushed at Civetot: Walter Sans Avoir is killed 1099 - Peter reaches Jerusalem with the main crusade Sources: Albert of Aachen, Anna Komnene's Alexiad, the Hebrew chronicles of 1096. Subscribe for more story songs from history. #deusvult #crusader #crusades #medievalmusic #templars #knightstemplar #christianhistory #firstcrusade #frenchhistory #deus #crusadermusic #history #historymusic