THE SWAY OF THE CROSS 281

cution and misery. Peter the Hermit was the most celebra-
ted among them. In the glowing words of Gibbon, u He
preached to innumerable crowds in the churches, the streets,
and the highways; the Hermit entered with equal confi-
dence the palace and the cottage ; and the people were impe-
tuously moved by his call to repentance and to arms. When
he painted the sufferings of the natives and the pilgrims of
Palestine, every heart was melted to compassion;
every breast glowed with indignation when he
challenged the warriors of the age to defend
their brethren and rescue their Saviour." The Eastward
flow of arms that this fervent appeal released from all parts
of Europe is known as the Crusades. They continued with
varying fortunes until the capture of Constantinople by
the Turks in 1453.

The history of these Crusades, though interesting in it-
self as a tale of adventures, must be summarily told here.
They started in 1095 with the meeting of the great Council
of Clermont under Pope Urban II. " It is the will of God "
echoed through the frenzied crowds as they were Harangued
in the open air, as no building could contain them. The
First Crusade was composed almost entirely of Frenchmen.
Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless were among its
leaders. A motley crowd of armed peasants formed the bulk
of the "army of God" that relied more on the medieval
belief in miracles than in their own power
to win. Nevertheless, the miracle, though qualified,
did happen, of capturing and losing Antioch on the way and
finally reaching Jerusalem. This was due more to the weak-
ness of the enemy than the strength of the Crusaders. Yet,
hardly a tenth of the 30,000 that had set out had the satis-
faction of walking through the streets of the Holy City
(1099). The captured territories were formed into the king-