WHEN Walter the Penniless was vainly endeavoring to save the peasant-pilgrims from ruin, a goat and a goose left Germany at the head of many thousand men.
This mob of crusaders described as "a wicked rout of people, who served the devil under Christ's livery," appears to have been composed of the off-scourings of society. Notorious pads, cut-throats, and malefactors of every description, incapable of leading peaceful lives, and eager to turn their terrible talents to the most profitable account, took the oath to rescue the Holy Sepulchre; and being informed that the fact of bearing the cross would ensure pardon for sins, and concluding that they might, while bearing the sacred badge, commit crimes with impunity, they assembled in great force on the banks of the Rhine.
But unfortunately for these crusaders, everybody knew them to be wolves in sheep's clothing; and no captain would risk his reputation by assuming the functions of leader. In these circumstances, they placed a goat and a goose at their head, and, under the influence of some gross superstition, ascribed to these animals divine attributes.
Under the auspices of the goat and goose figured a priest named Volkmar, and a count named Emicio, "a tyrant-prince near the Rhine," who having in youth indulged in debauchery, believed he might atone for his sins by devoting middle age to fanaticism. The priest and the count, who naturally exercised consfd-erable influence over their comrades, declared that it was impolitic to go in search of Saracens in Asia, till they had dealt with the Jews in Europe; and the mob immediately intimated readiness to commence a general massacre.
The Jews were then odious to Christendom; and, it must be confessed, that they did much to merit hatred. Their substance was considerable, and their avarice intense. At an early period they had come to Europe, formed a colony at Prague, established themselves as slave-dealers, and by the inhuman traffic acquired immense wealth, which enabled them daily to grind the faces of the poor. Nearly all the gold of Europe had gradually found its way into their hands; and, in the dearth of the circulating medium, they extorted the most exorbitant interest. Of course as usurers they transacted much business, and possessed much power. It was not merely the inmates of castles and monasteries who were their debtors. Wliile the baron pledged his armor and the abbot his plate, the trader pawned his wares, the husbandman his ploughshare, and the craftsman his tools. All these men were at the mercy of the Jews; and the mercy of a Jew was generally, in the long-run, found to be infinitely worse than the cruelty of a Christian.
These circumstances would of themselves have rendered the Jew an object of fear and hatred where-ever he appeared -- with his sensual lip, his hook nose, his peculiar features, his high square yellow cap and his russet gaberdine. But there were other and still stronger reasons for the detestation with which the multitude regarded the Hebrew race. Almost every Jew was understood, openly or secretly, to insult the Christian faith. It was known that one Jew had defaced an image of the Virgin; that others had crucified a boy in mockery of the Saviour; and that a third had stabbed the host. At the time of the first crusade, all these things were recalled to memory; for the Jews were strongly suspected of sympathising with the Saracens; of showing their sympathy by furnishing arms tb carry on war; of insulting by their railleries, the enthusiasm then prevailing in Christendom; and of laughing at the zeal that prompted Christians to "take the staff and sandal, in superstitious penance, and walk afoot to visit the graves of dead men."
No sooner, therefore, did the Priest and the Count suggest the propriety of attacking the Jews, than the crusaders led by the goat and the goose, spreading themselves through the cities on the Rhine and the Moselle, killed every Hebrew with whom they met. Neither age nor sex was spared. Helpless women and innocent children perished with their husbands and fathers. Escape appeared impossible; and those Jews who did not at once fall victims gave way to despair. Some shut themselves up in their houses and perished amid the flames; and others, carrying their treasures with them, sought a termination to their miseries beneath the waters of the Rhine.
In the midst of this fearful carnage, the Jews found protection from the ministers of that religion which they were suspected of insulting. Prelate after prelate raised his voice loudly, in the name of humanity, against the outrages that were being perpetrated. Their voices might not, under the circumstances, have been listened to, but their palaces were open to the afflicted Hebrews; and, under the protection of the crosier, the enemies of Christ found an asylum from the fury of their persecutors.
At length the storm passed over. Satiated with blood, loaded with booty, and elate with pride, the crusaders commenced their march eastward. Terror preceded them wherever they went; and the approach of the goat and goose was sufficient to make people fly from town and hamlet. Without regret for the past, and without apprehension for the future, they moved towards Hungary; and ere long appeared before Altenburg-Owar, a town situated on the Danube, strongly fortified and defended by marshes.
On reaching Altenburg-Owar, the Priest and the Count demanded a supply of provisions; but the inhabitants, in alarm, closed their gates and declined to comply. Indignant at what they deemed disrespect, the crusaders vowed to treat the Hungarians as they had treated the Hebrews, and prepared to execute their threat. Having cut down a forest, and constructed a causeway which enabled them to reach the walls of the town, they reared ladders against the parapets and commenced the siege. The energy of the citizens, however, was doubled by despair; and, knowing what would be the consequence of surrendering, they made a vigorous defence. The position of the besiegers soon became the reverse of pleasant; for arrows and darts and stones, and gallons of boiling oil were unceasingly discharged from the ramparts, and the citizens intimated in a manner not to be mistaken, their determination to resist to death.
The crusaders, however, were not to be daunted. Shouting and swearing, they pressed the siege and battered the walls. Indeed, at one time, they had every hope of entering Altenburg-Owar in triumph. But suddenly a fearful change occurred. Part of the towers and parapets gave way; the ladders fell with a crash, and thousands of the besiegers were crushed and mangled at the foot of the walls.
Nothing could have been more fortunate for the Hungarians. The noise, the crash, the cries of the wounded, and groans of the dying, created a panic among the crusaders, and led to their instantly abandoning the siege. At the same time the Hungarians sallied from the gates, rushed upon their enemies, and put them to the rout. Scarcely a crusader escaped to tell the fate of his comrades. Many fell by the sword; many perished in the marshes; and so many, after being wounded, were drowned in the river, that corpses, in countless numbers, floated over waters red with gore.
While one band of the German pilgrims, whose memory is associated with the goat and the goose, were destroyed by the Hungarians, another band appeared to fill their place. This body, consisting of twenty thousand men, proved hardly less unruly than their countrymen, and astonished the Hungarians by their frightful excesses. Arriving about the end of summer, they gave themselves up to the most brutal debauchery. Outrage after outrage was recklessly perpetrated; and day after day tidings went to the King of Hungary of villages plundered, women violated, and men murdered.
While these Germans were losing all thoughts of the Holy Land, the King of Hungary sent an army to avenge the injuries which his subjects had sustained; and the crusaders learned that enemies were approaching. Housing themselves from the brutal intemperance in which they had passed weeks, the Germans seized their weapons to resist. But the leader of the Hungarians, far from exhibiting hostility, presented himself to the Germans in the most amicable manner, declared his anxiety to settle matters quietly, and only requested that they would, to facilitate negotiations, lay down their arms.
No suspicion of foul play appears to have crossed the minds of the crusaders. Perhaps they had been indulging in debauchery to such a degree, that they could hardly have been in full possession of their faculties. In any case they consented to lay aside their weapons; and scarcely had they done so, when at a signal from the Hungarian chief, the soldiers sprung into the camp. The Germans amazed, shed tears, and pointed to the badge on their shoulder. But the chief was deaf to cries for mercy. Every crusader was sent to his account; and the Hungarians rejoiced that their murdered countrymen and violated countrywomen were avenged.
Such was the end of those crusades, undertaken by the populace without placing themselves under chiefs of skill and experience. From this period, we find the armed pilgrims going to the Holy Land under the banner of their natural leaders; men with strong hands, stout hearts, and long heads. No more expeditions were undertaken by multitudes on their own responsibility, or under the mysterious auspices of the goat and the goose.
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From John G. Edgar
The Crusades and the Crusaders, 1860
