a heretic in Peter's eyes, yet
he was still a Christian, and felt as acutely as himself for the
persecutions heaped by the Turks upon the followers of Jesus. The good
prelate entered fully into his views, and, at his suggestion, wrote
letters to the Pope, and to the most influential monarchs of Christendom,
detailing the sorrows of the faithful, and urging them to take up arms in
their defence. Peter was not a laggard in the work. Taking an affectionate
farewell of the Patriarch, he returned in all haste to Italy. Pope Urban
II. occupied the apostolic chair. It was at that time far from being an
easy seat. His predecessor Gregory had bequeathed him a host of disputes
with the Emperor Henry IV. of Germany, and he had converted Philip I. of
France into an enemy by his strenuous opposition to an adulterous
connexion formed by that monarch. So many dangers encompassed him, that
the Vatican was no secure abode, and he had taken refuge in Apulia, under
the protection of the renowned Robert Guiscard. Thither Peter appears to
have followed him, though in what spot their meeting took place is not
stated with any precision by ancient chroniclers or modern historians.
Urban received him most kindly; read, with tears in his eyes, the epistle
from the Patriarch Simeon, and listened to the eloquent story of the
Hermit with an attention which shewed how deeply he sympathised with the
woes of the Christian Church. Enthusiasm is contagious; and the Pope
appears to have caught it instantly from one whose zeal was so unbounded.
Giving the Hermit full powers, he sent him abroad to preach the holy war
to all the nations and potentates of Christendom. The Hermit preached, and
countless thousands answered to his call. France, Germany, and Italy
started at his voice, and prepared for the deliverance of Zion. One of the
early historians of the Crusade, who was himself an eye-witness of the
rapture of Europe,[1] describes the personal appearance of the Hermit at
this time. He says, that there appeared to be something of divine in every
thing which he said or did. The people so highly reverenced him, that they
plucked hairs from the mane of his mule that they might keep them as
relics. While preaching, he wore in general a woollen tunic, with a
dark-coloured mantle, which fell down to his heels. His arms and feet were
bare; and he ate neither flesh nor bread, supporting himself chiefly upon
fish and wine. "He set out," says the chronicler, "from whe