The peasant population had been afflicted by drought, famine, and disease for many years before 1096, and some of them seem to have envisioned the crusade as an escape from these hardships.
當時的農夫們在1096年之前好幾年便一直為乾旱、饑荒與瘟疫所苦，而有一部份人將十字軍看成是逃離這些災難的途徑。