When You Deus Vult Just Right
Dudes, let's all go to the Holy Land and kick the Turksout of Byzantium! Wear the pilgrim's cross when you go!In,we reviewed four hundred years of muslimaggression against Christendom, a region known to the muslims by thesubtly suggestive name 'House of War.' In,we encountered the Standard Model of the Crusades as an unprovokedincursion by boorish oafs (as well as oafish boors) into the suave andsophisticated House of Submission. No one thought to ask how allthose muslims got all over everywhere in the first place.In,we noted that crusading was a crowd-sourced enterprise with voluntary participation. Participants were enticed by promises of suffering, impoverishment, and probable death. Who can resist inveiglement like that?
Deus Vult - When you Deus Vult just right Like us on Facebook! Share Pin Tweet PROTIP: Press the ← and → keys to navigate the gallery, 'g' to. Know Your Meme. Scholars Say White Supremacists Chanting 'Deus Vult' Got History Wrong White supremacists using Crusaders' crosses and other medieval imagery on their homemade shields say the time period is an.
But crusading was conceptualized as an act of charity and in the mental universe of the day, the greater the sacrifice, the greater the merit. Like any vassal, they were pledged to recover their lord's lost territories. The Lord in this case was Jesus H. Christ himself, and his lands were all the Middle East. This was not then an unrealistic goal: even Egypt was still about 50% Christian, and the lands more recently lost to the Turks were eminently recoverable.
In fact, the Byzantines had briefly recovered some of them, only to lose them once more in the disaster following Manzikert. The crusade was less an organized military expedition than it was a joint pilgrimage undertaken by several thousand well-armed knights initially with the purpose of restoring their Greek brothers' lost territories; then as it built up steam, of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem as a sort of protest movement.Problem was, there' s a whole bunch of muslims sitting on it. Right Makes MightSet a later time, this map shows the division within Islambetween the'highlands' (green) and the 'lowlands' (yellow),which in 1098 were exemplified by the Saljūqs and Fatimids, resp.The House of Submission was divided into two broad zones.
The Highlands - the mountainous plateaus that run from Anatolia eastward to the Hindu Kush - was occupied by Saljūq Turks, nominally comprising a great Sultanate but actually a potpourri of subordinate emirs of varying degrees of independence and mutual hostility. The Lowlands were the desert borders more or less reigned on lightly by the Fatimid caliphs.
The Abbasid Caliphate owned a spurious independence and pretended not to notice the Saljūq hand up their skirts working the arms and voice. The Turks had a Sunni disposition while the Fatimids were in deep Shi'ite. This added piquancy to the usual rivalry between the uplands and the lowlands.¹ Syria-Palestine, which lay in between the two, suffered the usual soccer ball fate of lands-that-lie-in-between, which is why the Christian pilgrims going there found an on-going state of turmoil going on. Neither the Saljūqs nor the Fatimids were in complete control of their vassals and disorder was the order of the day.Notes:1. This goes back to the Hittites vs.Wearing the cross on one's cloak was something done by all pilgrims. (On returning from the pilgrimage, they were to wear it on their backs.) But it is by dint of these crosses that they came to be called in later generations 'crusaders.'
No one called them that at the time: they were 'cross-bearers.' Again, note that this movement was conceptualized as a pilgrimage, not a 'holy war.' Obviously, the pilgrims would be armed or bring armed retainers because the Turks were notexpected to hand the Byzantine territories back just because a bunch ofpilgrims asked, however politely. Remember, the Turks were steppe nomads. The Arabs had long ago adopted the fruits of classical Greco-Helleniccivilization. In fact, like all new converts, the Turks regard the Arabs as being lax and having Christian cooties.But even though the Pope has called only for trained fighting men, nearly half of those who take the crusader's oath for what later generations will call the First Crusade are classed as pauperes; that is, 'poor folk.' By one estimate, 40,000 of the 90,000 fall into this group.
(Kostick, 2008: 288) This mass movement will change the face of the crusade almost before it has started.The Middle Ages was one of those unusual periods of human history in which the upper and the lower classes share the same fundamental world-view. However, they often differ in those details wherein the devil is said to dwell. Although the main basic function (as design engineers would put it) is to aid the Eastern Church and the 'Byzantine' Empire against the Turkish threat, what moves the '99%' is an intoxicating vision of the liberation and purification of Jerusalem. For centuries, preachers (Jewish as well as Christian) have been creating a mystical vision of the 'New Jerusalem' which at the end of days will come down from heaven and serve as the capital of the Messiah. Among the less-sophisticated poor, this allegorical vision is muddled with the physical city itself in far-off Palestine.
The People are less interested in shoring up the borders of the Roman Empire than in the eschatology of the Holy City. (Brundage, 1964: 36)Since in the medieval view, Right Makes Might, the masses see the careful preparations of the professionals as a lack of faith. (In this they are much like Trump supporters in their impatience with the 'elites' and the 'Establishment.' ) Why the delay, dudes? Just get moving, fer Christ's sake. God will provide! And so begins spontaneously one of the great migrations in European history, one that we might call in modern terms Occupy Jerusalem!People with nothing to lose need little prep time.
Shove a few victuals in a sack and off you go, confident that the people you meet along the way will be happy to feed and shelter you. Although Moderns, secure in their sense of self-superiority, have sometimes said that these folks had no idea how far off Jerusalem lay and confused every large city they encountered with Jerusalem itself, in reality, during the Age of Pilgrimages, most folks had a pretty fair notion of the distance and location of the Holy City and of the pilgrimage routes. A lot of people, after all, had already gone there and back.For the most part, these pauperes went unarmed. For one thing, they could not afford weapons, and for another, there was no Second Amendment. (In fact, Laws like The Swabian Peace forbade the lower classes from possessing arms, or limited the size and nature of the arms they could carry.) But no worries.
God will strengthen your arms. Power to the People! Deus vult, babycakes!The People's CrusadePeter the Hermit showing the way to Jerusalem, French illumination ca. 1270Pulpit of John Capistran oStefansdom, ViennaSermons in those days were typically 'stand-alone' and were given outdoors. They were not like the tepid 'homilies' given nowadays at Mass. Cathedrals in Europe had outdoor pulpits to facilitate this, often on the town square, such as the one in Stefansplatz in Vienna.
People packed lunches to go hear the sermons and a good preacher could pack 'em in with a sockwollaper of a sermon. This was before the Kardashians and Reality TV.Among the most effective crusade preachers was. One history book in TOF's possession describes him as a 'propagandist,' a word which today carries implications of state-sanctioned spinning. However, it would be well to suppose that he was actually speaking from his heart. Not everyone is as cynical as a Late Modern. Peter was no one's mouthpiece but his own. He had attempted a previous pilgrimage, but had been hassled and driven out by the Turks.
Guibert de Nogent,His sermons were uncommonly persuasive and, contrary to the Pope's wishes, he called everyone: young and old, men and women, rich and poor to the crusade. And while most of his followers were pauperes, many were knights and lords. Alas, matters would have befallen better had Peter been less inspiring. While the great lords were marshaling their forces at Paris and Toulouse and Sicily, Peter roused the People to ditch everything and haul ass.Or haul goose.
A peculiar story, also recounted by and others, regards.' WhatI am about to say is ridiculous, but has been testified to by authorswho are not ridiculous.
A poor woman set out on the journey pilgrimage, when agoose, filled with I do not know what instructions, clearly exceedingthe laws of her own dull nature, followed her. Lo, the rumor flying onPegasean wings, filled the castles and cities with the news that evengeese had been sent by God to liberate Jerusalem. Not only did they denythat this wretched woman was leading the goose, but said that the gooseled her. At Cambrai they assert that, with people standing on allsides, the woman walked through the middle of the church to the altar,and the goose followed behind, in her footsteps, with no one urging iton. Soon after, we have learned, the goose died in Lorraine; she wouldcertainly have gone more directly to Jerusalem if, the day before sheset out, she had made herself a holiday meal for her mistress.
We haveattached this incident to the true history so that men may know thatthey have been warned against permitting Christian seriousness to betrivialized by vulgar fables.' Guibert of Nogent.Gesta Dei per FrancosAlbert of Aix alludes to the same story and calls it 'another detestable crime in this assemblage of wayfaringpeople' who, he tells us, 'were foolish and insanely fickle.' A Jewish chronicler in Mainz also mentions the goose. Other writers have used this and other incidents to show that the peasantry of middle Europe had been incompletely Christianized and paganism still lingered.
To us, it is fairly evident that this goose the woman had raised from a gosling had 'imprinted' on her.²Notes1. Carried a letter. This letter may actually have been one written by the Patriarch of Jerusalem on Peter's previous visit (cf. Peters: 108)2.
TOF had a friend in college who had a pet duck that followed him aroundin like manner, in consequence of which he was called 'The Duck.' HadDave set off for Jerusalem, that duck would have followed him there. Meanwhile, Back at the RhineWhile Walter's French contingent moved in relatively good order for a mob of amateurs, Peter has difficulty controlling his men, who go on rampages killing Jews in the Rhineland (the Kingdom of Lorraine). There is no evidence that Peter himself preaches against the Jews, though he bears letters from Jewish enclaves in France asking their Rhenish brethren to donate money to Peter's cause. This might be considered extortion by Late Moderns.Shortly after Peter's contingent sets off, Count Emicho of Leiningen¹ assembles an army at Mainz, said with that wonderful medieval imprecision to be '10,000' strong gathered from France, England, Flanders, and Lorraine. Hegets the idea of plundering the Jews in order to replenish his stores andperhaps forcibly to convert them.I know not whether by a judgment of the Lord, or by some error of mind, there arose 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.
Albert of AachenHey, why go all the way to the Holy Land to fight well-armed muslims when you can attack virtually unarmed Jews closer to home? Emicho's force is hard-put for finances, and there is a lot of money readyto hand; viz., the International Bankers, i.e., the Jews.² Because Christians are forbidden to lend money at interest to other Christians, Jews have filled the niche and like middlemen everywhere have endeared themselves to their neighbors.³The Emperor Henry, who is off in Apulia,gets wind of this and sends a message to leave the Jews alone. They aredirect vassals of the Emperor and not to be molested. Emicho smileswith all his teeth and promises that it is the furthest thing from hismind.Notes.1.But also called Emicho of Flonheim. On the map below, is in Alzey-Worms between Worms and Mainz. It might be that is the family name, a branch of which still exists, and Flonheim is the geographical location of their castle.2. International bankers.
When recently, one D. Trump referred obliquely to 'international bankers,' the connection of the term to Jews was duly noted with great ooh-rah.
But when the Occupy movement and the anti-globalists had earlier done so, not a peep of the connection was heard. A curious inconsistency.3. Middlemen minorities.
For example, the Lebanese in West Africa, the Overseas Chinese in S.E.Asia, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. See Sowell, Race and Culture, for discussion.Count Emicho's razzia through the Rhineland. Flonheim, is in Alzey-Worms.(political boundaries modern)06 May. At Speyer, Bishop John attempts to save the Jews by paying a hefty donation to the army's purse. Despite this, eleven or twelve Jews are killed during a riot. This is the first major slaughter of a Jewish community by crusaders marching to the Holy Land.
Bishop John and his militia take the Jews into protective custody and cut off the hands of some of the rioters.18 May. The Jews in Worms have heard about the massacre in Speyer and try to hide - some in the homes of Christian neighbors and some in the bishop's palace, but they are unsuccessful. The burghers of the city call up the militia and fight the crusaders, but what are a few hundred against a few thousand and they soon throw down their arms. Emicho's people massacre 800 Jews at Worms.27 May. Mainz closes its gates to Emicho.
Bishop Ruthard hides over 1,000 Jews in his cellars and in his great hall and he and the burgrave promise they will live or die with them. Doom classic maps list. Following payment of another hefty Danegeld, Emicho promises to be good, but does not stop his people from entering the Imperial Free City. The burgrave's troops, the bishop's militia, and the guild militias of the burghers repel the first attack, but as more companies continue to arrive, they find themselves vastly outnumbered by the vagabond 'crusaders.' Emicho's people then attack the cathedral, where the bishop's people flee. The bishop's courage breaks, for they plan to hunt him down and kill him for protecting the Jews, and he seeks flight rather than martyrdom.
Emicho attacks the bishop's palace, breaks in and after a sharp fight with armed Jews at the gate, kills most of them, slaughtering men, women, and children of all ages, committing the most barbaric atrocities. The remainder hiding in the back rooms, using Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac as their model, kill their own children and themselves, after first cursing the crusaders and throwing rocks on them from the windows.There women girded themselves with strength and slaughtered their sonsand daughters, along with themselves. Many men likewise gatheredstrength and slaughtered their wives and their children and their littleones. They gazed through the windows and cried out loudly:'Behold and see, O God, what we do for the sanctification of your holyName, rather than deny you for a crucified one, a trampled and wretchedand abominable offshoot, a bastard and a child of menstruation andlust.'
Solomon ben Simson, Gezerot Tatnu 30 May. Emicho's army attacks Jews in Cologne,¹ but most are protected by local citizens who hide the Jews in their own houses. Archbishop Hermann will later send them to safety in neighboring villages, but the mob will follow them and slaughter hundreds.Notes.1. Downriver, north, off the map.
But this is perhaps Coblenz, which makes more sense route-of-march-wise. It may also be an independent attack by other free companies coming south to join forces with Emicho.While it is true to say that 'Crusaders massacred thousands of Jews on the way to the Holy Land,' it is misleading to say it in that fashion.
It was not the main body of crusaders. It was not even the main body of the 'People's Crusade.' The Church opposed the attacks, and the local clergy often came to the defense of Jews in their community, as did the Establishment.Meanwhile, Peter's army reaches the Danube, where some decide to continue on by boat while themain body continues overland and enters Hungary at Sopron.
They pass through Hungary without incident and rejoin the Danubecontingent at on the Byzantine frontier. There, seeing Walter's sixteen suits ofarmor hanging from the walls, they become suspicious, and eventually a dispute over the priceof a pair of shoes in the market leads to a riot, which then turns intoan all-out assault on the city by the People, in which '4,000'Hungarians were killed. The crusaders then flee across the river Sava toBelgrade, but only after skirmishing with Belgrade troops. Theresidents of Belgrade flee, and the crusaders pillage and burn thecity.So when Emicho and his bandit crusaders show up, the Hungarians are not in any kind of mood.The kingdom of Hungary 'was shut up tight' in the face of the enemy.Then came the Rhinelanders, the inhabitants of the Rhineland, in case you couldn't figure that out a verymighty army, along with the army of Swabia and the army of France andthe army of Austria - they are the children of Seir the Horite¹ - anarmy as numerous as the sand on the shore of the sea. The head of themall was the wicked Count Emicho of Leinigen, may his bones be groundup. Solomon ben Simson, Gezerot TatnuThis mischaracterizes the size and status of Emicho's force. Only the king of France could raise 'the army of France,' but that did not stop any old captain from raising free companies from among the French people (or the Swabians or Lorrainers, etc.).
But while almost everything had turned out favorably for the Christians,³and while they had penetrated the walls with great openings, bysome chance or misfortune, I know not what, such great fear enteredthe whole army that they turned in flight, just as sheep are scatteredand alarmed when wolves rush upon them. And seeking a refuge hereand there, they forgot their companions.In another account, we read that Coloman dickered with some representatives sent by Emicho and offered them a hefty bribe to assassinate Emicho. Either they flubbed it or Emicho got wind of it, but it set off internals fighting within the army. Emicho decided to be somewhere else, fast.Emicho and some of his followers continued in their flight alongthe way by which they had come.
Thomas, Clarebold, and severalof their men escaped in flight toward Carinthia and Italy. Sothe hand of the Lord is believed to have been against the pilgrimswho had sinned by excessive impurity and fornication, and whohad slaughtered the exiled Jews through greed of money, ratherthan for the sake of God's justice, although the Jews were opposedto Christ. The Lord is a just judge and orders no one unwillingly,or under compulsion, to come under the yoke of the Catholic faith.Those who made it to Carinthia with the Hungarians hot on their heels joined up with Hugh of Vermandois' forces, which were taking that route. As for Emicho, he seems never to have gotten near the Holy Land. In fact, except for the survivors who joined up with Hugh, none of these crusaders ever got near the Holy Land. TOF was unable to discover what ever happened to Emicho.Note:1. Seir the Horite.
A common malediction among the Jews. The Christians were supposed to be descended from the ancient Edomites who were originally the Horites. Similarly, the characterization of Jesus as 'a trampled corpse,' 'a wretchedand abominable offshoot,' 'a bastard,' and 'a child of menstruation andlust.'
Mary had supposedly gotten herself knocked up by a Roman soldier and made up a wild story to explain the baby.2. Literally, 'castle where two rivers meet.'
Albert means Emicho's crusaders. The Hungarians were also Christians. 3 July.The People's Crusade arrives at Niš after a seven day march. The garrison commander promises to provide food and an escortto Constantinople - if they would 'get out of Dodge' right away. Peterobliges, and the next morning he sets out. However, a few Germans getinto a dispute with some locals along the road and set fire to a mill,which escalates out of Peter's control until Niš sends out its entiregarrison against the People.
The crusaders are completely routed,losing about '10,000' (a quarter of their number), the remainderregrouping further on at Bela Palanka.12 July The People reach Sofia, where they meet their Byzantine escort, which brings them safely the rest of the way. Safely for the Byzantine citizens, we may suppose. For the moment, there is no further looting and smashing of storefronts by the 99%.1 August.
Peter's contingent finally reaches Constantinople, where they rejoin Walter's contingent as well as some companies of Italians who had also made their way there. Hey, whussup?
How was yer trip? Albert of Aix writes, Peter rested only five days in the fields and landsnear Constantinople, where Walter had likewise pitchedhis tents. Becoming companions from that very day, thereaftertheir troops, arms, and all necessary provisions were joined together.Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus advises them to wait for the main body of crusaders, which is about to set out from Europe. But the People's Crusade did not rush off impulsively at the start because they were inclined to dilly-dally at the end. Forced to wait, they prove that idle hands are the devil's tools and, running low on supplies, begin to loot the markets. The Gesta says, The Christians conducted themselves badly, inasmuchas they tore down and burned buildings of the city and carriedoff the lead with which the churches were constructed sold itto the Greeks. Albert does not mention this.6 August.Exasperated at this unexpected and low-class 'army,' the Emperor has all 30,000 People ferriedacross the Bosporus to get them out of his hair.Next, after five days, they moved their tents and,with the aid of the Emperor, passed by boat over the Strait of St.
George.Entering the confines of Cappadocia,¹ they advanced through mountainous countryinto Nicomedia. And there passed the night. After this, they pitched camp atthe port called Civitote. There merchants were constantly bringing ships ladenwith supplies of wine, corn, oil, and barley, and with abundance of cheese,selling all to the pilgrims with just measure.While they were rejoicing in this abundance of necessitiesand were resting their tired bodies, there came messengers from the mostChristian Emperor. Because of the danger of ambushes and attacks from theTurks, they forbade Peter and his whole army from marching towards the mountainousregion of the city of Nicaea, until a greater number of Christians should beadded to their number.
Peter heard the message, and he with all the Christianpeople assented to the counsel of the Emperor. They tarried there for thecourse of two months, feasting in peace and joy, and sleeping secure from allhostile attacks. The End of the People Hoo-hah!
The Turks chase the wretched band for three miles, all the way into the camp, where they slaughter whomever they find, the weakand the feeble, clerics, monks, old women, nursing children, persons of everyage. 'Some they found sleeping,some lying down, others naked - all of whom they killed. With these people theyfound a certain priest celebrating mass, whom they straightway martyred uponthe altar.
¹' 'But they led away young girls whose face and form waspleasing in their eyes, and beardless youths of comely countenance. Theycarried off to Nicaea money, garments, mules, horses, and all valuable things,as well as the tents themselves.'
Those who can escape flee to Civitote; others hurlthemselves headlong into the sea, while some hide in the forests and mountains, where they are hunted down. Above the shore near Civitote is an ancient, deserted fortress. Three thousand pilgrims, including Geoffrey Burel, enter the ruined fortress in hope ofdefense. Finding no gates or other obstacles, they pile up their shields for a gate, along with a huge pile of rocks;and with lances, wooden bows, and slingstones, they defend themselvesfrom the enemy.
The Turks, having little success inkilling the defenders, surround the fortress, which was without a roof on allsides. They aim their arrows high, so that, as they fall from the air in ashower, they strike the bodies of the defenders, wounding andkilling many²; but the rest, fearing even more cruel treatment if they are captured, will not surrender. It took a while, but they have finally learned that chivalry is not practiced here.The Turks collect wood to burn them out.
But the defenders, checking the windage, set fire to the wood, and the fire turns in the direction of the Turks and crematessome of them. General Elchanes wonders who had the bright idea and everyone looks somewhere else. The Emperor is moved with pity (and perhaps not a little Schadenfreude) when he hears from Peterabout the siege and the fall of his men.
So he sends with 'the and allthe nations of his kingdom,' across theStrait to drive off theTurks. But the Turks skedaddle from the fortress at midnight with their captives andgreat spoils before the imperial forces can catch them, and so the pilgrim soldiers who had been shut up andbesieged were freed.And so of the great host that had set off with such enthusiasm in the wake of Peter the Hermit only about 3000 survive, mostly pauperes and camp followers and some foot soldiers. Did this dissuade folks from the maxim that Right Makes Might?Don't bet your bippy! Right did so make right, but the People hadn't been quite right. People at the time pointed out that the ill-disciplined mob had committed atrocities, not only the massacres of Jews that had been condemned by the Church, but also attacks on bishops, on Christian cities in Hungary, they had committed robbery and other petty crimes. It was widely supposed even in that century that the failure of the 99% had been a punishment for their treatment of the Jews in Lorraine.
November, 1096. About a month later, the first of the regular crusader armies, led by Hugh of Vermandois, arrives in Constantinople. The pros from Dover are here.
Couldn't wait, People, could you? The First Crusade can now begin, Deus vult, baby.Notes1. Martyred upon the altar. If this sounds to set to be true, recall that in 2016 two muslims did the same to Father Jacques Hamel in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen.2. Wounding andkilling many. Remember, they had used their shields to improvise a door for the fortress. There were none left over for umbrellas.
References. Brundage, J.A. The Crusades, Motives and Achievements. Heath and Company, 1964.
Print. Cousins, Becky. (15 May 2010) 'The Goose Who Led a Crusade. Well, sort of!'
Deus Vult Comes From Muslims
The Medieval World. F000z8z (April 24, 2016) 'Crusader Motivations and Motives — ‘Pauperes’: Europe’s Poor in the Holy Land,' The Crusades and Crusade Memory. Fordham Univ.
The Medieval Sourcebook Kostick, Conor. (2008) The Social Structure of the First Crusade. (Boston and Leiden: Brill Publishing) Print. Madden, Thomas F. (2006) The New Concise History of the Crusades (Rowman & Littlefield) Print. Peters, Edward, ed.
When You Deus Vult Just Right Now
(1971) The First Crusade: 'The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres' and Other Source Materials (Univ. Of Penn.) https://books.google.com/books?id=azwfTqidCLYC&dq. 'Letters from Heaven' were a thing, from Charlemagne's time onward. What usually happened was that, in lieu of an apparition of a saint, a letter would be found by some pious peasant or priest, either after waking up from a holy dream, in the middle of the woods, or inside a church. The thing to do was to place the letter on the church altar. If it didn't burst into flames or similar, it was a true letter from Heaven.Sometimes they were written in Latin (usually in letters of gold), and sometimes in angelic languages that could only be understood by some holy person or in a dream.Charlemagne and most churchmen and lords were not too happy with the average letter from heaven, because it usually was heresy or commanded something crazy and/or evil. Often they were banned, or had to be submitted to the bishop for his judgment.
Deus Vult Pronunciation
They don't seem to be a thing anymore, or are only associated with the occult.