As Western knights and nobles ride toward Jerusalem, there are many other cities they must take along the way. Their first battlefield encounter with the Turks leaves a lasting impression on both sides, but they are soon occupied with besieging fortified cities. Heads are brandished on spears and bodies hang on display from the ramparts. The siege of Antioch comes close to ending the entire crusade on more that one occasion, with starvation, desertion, and enemy armies of much larger size. Heroic feats, cannibalism, and nearly miraculous escapes are all part of this gripping story.

The First Crusade became the stuff of legend soon after it finished. Western knights headed to Constantinople and ultimately to Jerusalem, to rescue pilgrimage sites from the control of Muslim invaders. The crusade involved close to 100,000 people from Western Europe heading east, in a journey that would cover thousands of miles, mostly on foot. It’s often told as a struggle of East vs. West, and Christianity against Islam. The history is more complicated. What set so many knights off on this journey to the east? Why did so many ordinary people make the crusade? Find out in this episode.

Related episodes include:

The Great Schism

The Normans in Italy