The Crusaders are faced with a seemingly…
July 1099 CE
The Crusaders are faced with a seemingly impossible task.
Their spirits are raised when a priest by the name of Peter Desiderius claims to have a divine vision in which the ghost of Adhemar instructed them to fast for three days and then march in a barefoot procession around the city walls, after which the city will fall in nine days, following the Biblical example of Jo, and on July 8 they make the procession, with the clergy blowing trumpets and singing psalms, being mocked by the defenders of Jerusalem all the while.
The procession stops on the Mount of Olives and sermons are delivered by Peter the Hermit, Arnulf of Chocques, and Raymond of Aguilers.
Arnulf of Chocques is the son of a Flemish priest, and had studied under Lanfranc at Caen.
In the 1070s, Arnulf had been a tutor to Cecilia, daughter of William I of England.
He had also taught Ralph of Caen, one of the later chroniclers of the First Crusade.
He is also close to Odo of Bayeux, who he has accompanied on the Crusade.
He is the chaplain of the Norman crusader army led by Robert of Normandy, Cecilia's brother and William's son.
He had most most likely appointed a papal legate, under the authority of the overall legate Adhemar of Le Puy, and after Adhemar's death in 1098 he had shared control of the clergy with fellow legate Peter of Narbonne.
Some of the non-Norman knights in the other crusader armies believe he is corrupt, and they apparently sing vulgar songs about him, but most crusaders respect him as an eloquent preacher.