The First Crusade: Causes, the Holy Lance, and the Fall of Jerusalem
The Spark of the First Crusade: Urban II’s Call to Arms
In November 1095, at the Council of Clermont in France, Pope Urban II delivered a speech that altered medieval history. Responding to an appeal from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, whose empire was losing ground to the Seljuk Turks, Urban called on Western European nobility and knights to march east.
Urban offered an unprecedented spiritual reward: complete remission of sins (an indulgence) for those who took up the cross. The movement drew both seasoned military commanders like Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemond of Taranto, and Raymond IV of Toulouse, alongside thousands of untrained peasants led by Peter the Hermit in the ill-fated "People's Crusade."
Key Battles on the Road to Jerusalem
The main baron-led armies converged on Constantinople in 1096 before launching their campaign across Asia Minor:
Siege of Nicaea (1097): The Crusaders successfully recaptured Nicaea, turning the city over to Byzantine control as agreed.
Battle of Dorylaeum (1097): Crusader forces survived a surprise cavalry attack by the Seljuk Turks, proving the tactical strength of heavily armored European knights.
The Siege of Antioch and the Discovery of the Holy Lance
The Siege of Antioch (October 1097 – June 1098) proved to be the most grueling trial of the campaign. After eight months of brutal siege conditions, disease, and starvation, the Crusaders finally broke into the city in June 1098. However, within days of taking Antioch, they found themselves trapped inside—besieged by a massive Muslim relief army led by Kerbogha, the Atabeg of Mosul.
What is the Holy Lance?
In Christian tradition, the Holy Lance (also known as the Spear of Longinus) is the sacred relic believed to have pierced the side of Jesus Christ while he hung on the cross during his crucifixion (John 19:34). In medieval theology, possessing such a relic was viewed as holding physical proof of divine favor and unbeatable spiritual authority.
The Visions and the Discovery
In June 1098, as starvation and desertion threatened to destroy the Crusader army, a poor French peasant monk named Peter Bartholomew came forward. He claimed to have received repeated visions from Saint Andrew, who revealed that the Holy Lance was buried inside the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Antioch.
On June 14, 1098, after hours of digging beneath the cathedral floor, a piece of iron was unearthed. While some leaders—notably Adhemar of Le Puy, the Papal Legate—were skeptical of its authenticity due to having seen another supposed Holy Lance in Constantinople, the discovery acted as a massive psychological catalyst. The desperate, starving troops believed God had intervened directly on their behalf.
The Battle of Antioch and the Trial by Ordeal
Bolstered by fanatical zeal and holding the relic at their head, the Crusaders sallied out of the city gates on June 28, 1098. Against overwhelming numerical odds, they decisively routed Kerbogha’s forces, securing Antioch.
However, controversy over the relic's authenticity grew in the months that followed. Skeptics accused Peter Bartholomew of planting the iron piece himself. To prove his divine truth, Peter submitted to a Trial by Ordeal in April 1099, walking through a burning pathway of flames while holding the relic. He emerged mortally burned and died twelve days later. While the ordeal cast doubt on the relic's authenticity among commanders, the tactical momentum gained at Antioch carried the army onward to Palestine.
The Capture of Jerusalem (1099)
In June 1099, the remaining Crusader forces reached the walls of Jerusalem. On July 15, 1099, after constructing siege towers, forces led by Godfrey of Bouillon breached the city walls.
The aftermath was devastatingly violent. Contemporary sources document a massacre of the city’s Muslim and Jewish inhabitants as the Crusaders established political control over the region.
The Birth of the Crusader States
Following the campaign's success, the leaders carved out four Latin Crusader States in the Levant:
The Kingdom of Jerusalem
The County of Edessa
The Principality of Antioch
The County of Tripoli
Sources & Historical References
Asbridge, Thomas. The First Crusade: A New History. Oxford University Press, 2004.
France, John. Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades: A History. Yale University Press, 2005.
Tyerman, Christopher. God's War: A New History of the Crusades. Harvard University Press, 2006.