accession of the celebrated Alexius Comnenus to the throne in 1081,
the whole of Asia Minor was in the possession of the Turks, and broken
up into a number of kingdoms, the sultans of which soon began to
quarrel among themselves. The disturbed state of Asia Minor greatly
increased the sufferings of the pilgrims; not one out of three
returned to recount the story of his hardships.

7. Among those who undertook the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, when the
dangers attending it were the greatest, was a native of Amiens in
France, named Peter, who had become a monk and an ascetic, being
called from his solitary manner of life, Peter the Hermit. He arrived
safely at Jerusalem, and visited all the scenes sacred to a
Christian's eyes. As he walked along the streets, looking at this and
that holy spot, insolent and contemptuous Turks looked on and mocked
him, and his spirit grew bitter within him, and his hand clutched
itself convulsively as if longing for a sword.

8. Burning with a sense of injuries sustained by the Christians, and
the desecration of the sacred places, he sought the counsel of Simeon,
the Greek patriarch of Jerusalem. In reply to Peter's questions, he
explained that nothing was to be expected from the Greek Empire in
behalf of the Holy Land, the court of Constantinople was so dissolute
and corrupt, and that the only hope was that the Latin princes might
be persuaded to form a league for the grand purpose entertained by
Gregory VII. "Write," Peter said to the patriarch, "to the pope and to
all Latin Christians, and seal your letters with the signet of your
office as patriarch of Jerusalem. As a penance for my sins, I will
travel over Europe, I will describe everywhere the desolate condition
of the Holy City, and exhort princes and people to wrest it from the
profane hands of the infidels."