Peter of Amiens
Sobriquet: Cucupeter, Little Peter, Peter of Amiens and Peter the Hermit
Appearance: Despite nicknames and affectations like Little Peter, the preacher from Amiens is not a small man. Built like a peasant or perhaps a soldier, Peter is muscular and tan from spending most of his time out-of-doors. Like most men of the medieval age, he wears a beard and is probably in his later forties during the events of the First Crusade. A man with hazel eyes and scars on his face, Peter exudes a air of humility, piety, and wrathful righteousness. No one who meets him ever fails to remember the experience and his fiery sermons motivate tens of thousands of Europe's lowest classes to join him on a journey to Jerusalem.
Behavior: Peter is a man driven by his own zeal. A man almost literally burning from within with faith for his god, if not his church. Peter evinces the more violent elements of Christianity, righteous indignation with Jewish money-lenders, disgust with the corruption of the Church of Rome, and a hatred of the Muslim Turks. He is at one time, both compassionate for his fellow Christians and without mercy for those not of his faith. He is not an evil man, nor is he motivated by worldly gain or even ambition, but his blindness to all but his faith makes him a dangerous man to both his friends and his enemies. By unshakable faith and nearly unimaginable personal charisma, Peter will lead nearly fifty thousand men, women and children from the northern edge of Europe all the way to Asia Minor, a journey of some tow thousand miles and numerous countries. God wills it!
History: There are many stories about the origins of Peter the Hermit, some claimed he was born in England, other in various parts of France and he is even supposed to have been from the Netherlands. Ironically, the best sources have been the memories of a young woman named Anna. Anna Komnene was the fourteen year old daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and his wife Irene Doukaina when the first peasants of the People's Crusade arrived in Constantinople in the autumn of 1096. As an adult, Anna would go on to become a Byzantine princess, scholar, physician, hospital administrator, and historian. She is best known for her attempt to usurp her brother, John II Komnenos, and for her work The Alexiad, an account of her father's reign.
According to Anna, who likely spoke with him, Peter had attempted to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem sometime before 1096, but that his journey was interrupted by the Seljuk Turks before he could reach the Holy Land. Certainly Anna believed that this was why he preached so vociferously again the Turks and inflamed the Christians of Europe against them. It remains unknown if Peter was present in Clermont for Pope Urban II's famous proclamation, but he very quickly became one of its leading forces and shortly thereafter began preaching to large crowds in France, the Low Countries, and the Holy Roman Empire. His fame quickly spread and an army of paupers soon followed after him everywhere. The medieval term pauper suggests that the majority of Peter's followers were impoverished or mendicant wards of the Church. Peter organized and guided the paupers as a spiritually purified and holy group of pilgrims who would, supposedly, be protected by the Holy Ghost.
Despite Peter's intentions, or perhaps because of them, his portion of the People's Crusade was deeply mired in the Rhineland massacres of Jews. In prominent cities of the Holy Roman Empire like Speyer, Worms and Mainz the paupers and locals attacked and killed Jews wherever they found them. The pope declaration seemed to unleash antisemitism in part because Jews were blamed for Christ's fate and because as non-Christians they were seen as a similar threat to Christianity as were the followers of Islam. Up to this point, the Catholic Church has strongly discouraged attacks on Jews and many bishops took in Jews from their communities providing protection from the mob of crusaders, but many did not. For Peter, the threat of violence against Jews was seen more as a means to extort food and resources rather than as an actual end unto itself, but many of Peter's followers saw it differently and took matters into their own hands. These events would have profound effects in the centuries to come and would inspire another army to wage war upon the Jewish people.
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