Pierre Boulat
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Forest in the centre of France
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When the First Crusade was preached at the beginning of the 11th century, the West was still populated only by barbarians living in the middle of the forests. Everywhere the forest stretched like a dark sea, with its swamps, its depths, its enchantments. In the night of the world, barbarian Europe watched the mysterious race of the stars and felt the limits of its destiny. It was then that Pope Urban II came to call on pilgrims to reconquer the holy places from the hands of the Muslims. -
France - Chapel of Year Thousand
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Chapel of An Mille (Year Thousand) in the forest of Fontainebleau. At that time, Europe was emerging from the dark centuries. Epidemics, food shortages, invasions had decimated the population. The flood of invaders had ruined the organisation and achievements of the Romans. God was the only light. -
Pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land - (15th century manuscript) -
Yugoslavia - Sicevo Gorge
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Alongside the Lords who have gone to offer strongholds, there is a whole small people of pilgrims, who have only their summer to support them throughout their journey. First obstacle, the gorges of Sicevo, between Nis and Sophia, in Yugoslavia. It is one of the privileged crossing points between Western Europe and the Balkans. Tens of thousands of poor people, soon to be followed by the barons, jostled there at the cry of "God willing". -
Constatinople - The city walls
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When they arrived in Constantinople, the Crusaders were fascinated by the Byzantine splendour. Surrounded by grandiose fortifications - a 20 km long wall - the city was home to wonders whose luxury and refinement stunned the Crusaders. -
The Duke of Lorraine, Godefroy de Bouillon, one of the leaders of the First Crusade (manuscript: the Novel de Godefroy de Bouillon et de Saladin) -
Constantinople
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The fortress of Roumeli Isar near Constantinople -
Constantinople
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The fortress of Roumeli Isar near Constantinople -
Constantinople
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Constantinople had marvels whose luxury and refinement stunned the Crusaders' frenzy, and above all, the Church of Saint Sophia, with its golden dome that culminates more than 50 meters high, its 200 openings, its frescoes: for the Franks, accustomed to praying in dark chapels, it was a dazzling sight. -
Constantinople
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The city of Constantinople at the time of the First Crusade -
Constantinople
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Constantinople had marvels whose luxury and refinement stunned the Crusaders' frenzy, and above all, the church of Saint Sophie, its golden dome which culminates at more than 50 meters, its 200 openings, its frescoes: for the Franks, accustomed to praying in dark chapels, it was a dazzling sight. -
Nicea - The Wall
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The first objective of the Crusader army was naturally the city of Nicaea, a great fortress located almost opposite the Bosphorus. The city was well defended with a perimeter of almost 7 kilometres of ramparts bristling with 240 towers. It was here that the first great battle between the Turks and the Christians took place. The siege lasted seven weeks and three days, but the capture of Nicaea was a decisive victory. -
Nicea
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One of the gateways to the city -
The heads of the Turks used as catapults by the Crusaders during the siege of Nicaea. (History of the Kingdom of Jerusalem) -
Anatolia - Landscapes
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The first objective of the Crusader army was naturally the city of Nicaea, a great fortress located almost opposite the Bosphorus. The city was well defended with a perimeter of almost 7 kilometres of ramparts bristling with 240 towers. It was here that the first great battle between the Turks and the Christians took place. The siege lasted seven weeks and three days, but the capture of Nicaea was a decisive victory. -
Anatolia - Tuz Golu Salt Lake
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After the victory of Nicaea, the pilgrims divided into three troops swamped themselves in an exhausting march from northwest to south across the burning desert expanses of Anatolia. -
Anatolia - Tuz Golu Salt Lake
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After the victory of Nicaea, the pilgrims divided into three troops swamped themselves in an exhausting march from northwest to south across the burning desert expanses of Anatolia. -
Anatolia - Taurus
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Then they pass through the barren slopes and icy gorges of the Taurus Mountains. Many horses and wagons fall into the precipices. These parades will be one of the worst memories of the path. -
Conquest and pillage in the Holy Land -
Antioch the Beautiful - The Walls and the Tower of the Two Sisters
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Then in northern Syria, Antioch was a huge city, magnificently fortified, equipped with the latest improvements in military art. With its surrounding wall more than ten kilometres long, with its four towers, its citadel dominating the lower quarters of the city by more than two hundred metres, its mountainous hinterland, it was practically impregnable. But it was the lock that opened the door to Palestine. -
Antioch the Beautiful - The Tower of the Two Sisters
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Then in northern Syria, Antioch was a huge city, magnificently fortified, equipped with the latest improvements in military art. With its surrounding wall more than ten kilometres long, with its four towers, its citadel dominating the lower quarters of the city by more than two hundred metres, its mountainous hinterland, it was practically impregnable. But it was the lock that opened the door to Palestine. -
Antioch the Beautiful - The Walls
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Then in northern Syria, Antioch was a huge city, magnificently fortified, equipped with the latest improvements in military art. With its surrounding wall more than ten kilometres long, with its four towers, its citadel dominating the lower quarters of the city by more than two hundred metres, its mountainous hinterland, it was practically impregnable. But it was the lock that opened the door to Palestine. -
Jerusalem - The Dome of the Rock
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Godefroy de Bouillon arriving in front of Jerusalem. (Very noble and excellent stories from the Holy Overseas Chronicles) -
Jerusalem - The Dome of the Rock
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The Dome of the Rock and on the left the bell tower of the Holy Sepulchre On June 7, 1099, after three years of trials, at dawn, the Crusaders finally arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. -
Jerusalem - The Dome of the Rock
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On June 7, 1099, after three years of trials, at dawn, the Crusaders finally arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. on the left the bell tower of the Holy Sepulchre -
Jerusalem - The Dome of the Rock
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Jerusalem - The city walls and the Dome of the Rock -
Jerusalem - The Dome of the Rock
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The Crusaders before Jerusalem. Godefroy de Bouillon at the top of a rolling wooden tower. -
Jerusalem - The Dome of the Rock
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On June 7, 1099, after three years of trials, at dawn, the Crusaders finally arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. They stormed the city and massacred all those they found. In the Dome of the Rock the bloodbath reached a depth of 50 cm.
In the footsteps of the Crusaders
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They were tattooed with bloody crosses in the middle of their foreheads and carried the cross of Christ between their shoulders. At the cry of “God willing!” they slaughtered their enemies, roasted Turkish spies and, when too hungry, ate corpses.
“They” were the Crusaders. Paris from Flanders, the kingdoms of France, Germany and Italy, to deliver the tomb of Christ. It took them three years to reach the end of the road. Three years of exhaustion, of misery, of constantly renewed hope. Three years of the most insane trials. And we don’t know how many made it.
But when, at the end of their journey, they finally discovered Jerusalem, the capital promised to all, they felt they had reached the end of themselves, at the junction of the land of men and the kingdom of heaven.
Then these barbarians, struck by emotion, fell with arms in the air. The West had just been born.
If some adventures have their share of the sublime, then this one has its own. This great Western is one of those epics that founded civilizations.
