Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1926-10-07
THE WORLDS
GREAT EVENTS
ALBERT PAYsoN TERHUNE
70 - DOdd. Mead = Company
The crusades


donkey, in the midst .of shrieklnl
multitude and brandished a huge cruel
ok above his head. HIS shouted ex
hortations were echoed and re-echOed
by the crowd.
The dwarf was known as Peter the
Hermit. He was pleading with his
Eleventh-century audience 10 wrest the
Holy Land from the grip Of the Ma
hometan infdels. And so elOquently
did the little priest urge his cause that
he aroused worldwide wave OF en-
thusiasm and set afoot a mighty In
ternational agitation which endured
for centuries.
Mahomers successors held the Holy
Land. Christians on pious pilgrim
ages to the Savior's birthplace and
tomb were robbed, insulted and even
murdered by these MosIems. Sacred
shrines were profaned or destroyed.
These outrages aroused Peter the
Hermit and. in the latter part Of the
Eleventh century, he went from cOun-
try TO country, urging all Christians
to sweep the Holy land, and espe-
cially the Holy City, Jerusalem, clear
Of Mahometans and TO avenge the in
iuries perpetrated on Christian pill
grims. Pope Urban II approved the
plan and promised remission Of sins to
all who should enter on this holy war.
All Europe went mad with religious
zeal. I'D Deus vult" good wills t!')
was their war cry. Thousands and
hundreds of thousands donned the
blood-red cross which was to be the
badge of the mission.
Debtors. felons. servants, monks
and other classes bound In one way or
another were freed on promise to
march against the inidels. An enOr-
nous international army was raised
for the purpose, its chief commander
being Godfrey du Bouillon, duke of
Lorraine. But early in 1906. before
the organized expedition could get I'M
der way. disorganized mob Of 200,-
800 men. women and children, under
the personal leadership -Peter4the
Hermit. started across Europe for
Jerusalem. They never reached their
destination Without discipline. food
or sufficient arms, they struggled on
eastward, their ranks daily thinning
through desertiOn, disease and famine,
until of all that vast motley horde a
bare 1000 reached the eastern banks
of the Bosphorus There they were
set upon and literally cur TO pieces by
the Turks.
On August Is. 1896. Godfrey de
BouIllon's host began Its march to Pal
estine. reaching ConstantinopIe on
Christmas day Wrangles of various
sorts, disputes as TO precedence in
command, bad management and insult
hcient supplies hampered their move
ments from first to last The expedi-
ton. which started with so holy an
aim, began to feel the influence of poll
tics, corruption and personal ambition.
held together by Cod
freys genius, they defeated. one after
another, the Mahometan armies sent
against them, and at last laid siege to
Jerusalem itself The Holy City fell
after about a months defense, and the
victorious crusaders put to death In
horrible fashion every Mahometan de-
fender they could fay their hands on.
Sioslem men, women and even babies
we're slaughtered mercilessly by these
lpholders of the Gospel of Peace, and
Godfrey was chosen king OF Jerusalem.
A second crusade. urged on by st.
and led by Louis VII OF
France, followed a few years later. An
effort was made to cap
Hfe Damascus. and. altogether, the
venture was without any real results.
Tor Lightweight years the Christians
leld Jerusalem. Then the Moslems
1t.
In 1904 third great crusade was
,egun,i the prime mover and leader
icing King Richard of England, sur
famed Occur de Lion niOn HearD.
again the leaders quarreled among
themselves and swerved from the true
purpose OF their mission. They won
few barren victories, but failed
wholly to win Jerusalem.
Crusade followed crusade. none
chieving true success. AT length the
elief spread that the expeditions
allied because OF the sins and worldli
less OF the men who embarked upon
hem. Churchmen declared that the
Ioly Land could be snatched from the
nffdel by none but innocent hands.
innocence then. as now, was not a
ommon commodity among men of
var so 1t was decided to raise an
rmy of little children and send them
gainst the Moslems. The new ven
ure was known as the Children's
rusa&a. It WAS the saddest. most
itiful tragedy. in all history.
Fifty thousand children, some of
hem mere babies, set out for Pales-
Inc In 1912. They went. assured by
heir parents and by the priests, that
heirs was the solemn privilege OF re-
toring Palestine to Christianity. They
ct forth with high hopes But they
tarved, fell III, were lost in strange
,nds, died or were sold as slaves.
The crusades were the most glori-