inquired if no hope of relief from the Greek emperors of the East could
be entertained. The Patriarch exposed the vices and weakness of the
successors of Constantine. "I will rouse," exclaimed the hermit, "the
martial nations of Europe in your cause;" and Europe was obedient to the
call of the hermit. The astonished Patriarch dismissed him with epistles
of credit and complaint; and no sooner did he land at Bari than Peter
hastened to kiss the feet of the Roman pontiff. Pope Urban II. received
him as a prophet, applauded his glorious design, promised to support it
in a general council, and encouraged him to proclaim the deliverance
of the Holy Land. Invigorated by the approbation of the pontiff, this
zealous missionary traversed with speed and success the provinces of
Italy and France. He preached to innumerable crowds in the churches, the
streets, and the highways: the hermit entered with equal confidence the
palace and the cottage; and the people of all classes were impetuously
moved by his call to repentance and arms.

The first Crusade was headed by Godefroy de Bouillon, Duke of Lower
Lorraine; Baldwin, his brother; Hugo the Great, brother of the King of
France; Robert, Duke of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror; Raymond
of St. Gilles, Duke of Toulouse; and Bohemond, Prince of Tarentum.
Towards the end of 1097 A.D. the invading force invested Antioch, and,
after a siege of nine months, took it by storm. Edessa was also captured
by the Crusaders, and in the middle of the summer of 1098 they reached
Jerusalem, then in the hands of the Fatimites.

El-Mustali b'Illah Abu'l Kasim, son of Mustanssir, was then on the
throne, but he was only a nominal ruler, for El-Afdhal, a son of
El-Gemali, had the chief voice in the affairs of the kingdom. It was the
army of Kasim that had captured Jerusalem. The city was besieged by the
Crusaders, and it surrendered to them after forty days. Twice did new