Eustace III

William Rufus is the third of four sons born to William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, the eldest being Robert Curthose, the second Richard, and the youngest Henry.

His exact date of birth is unknown, but it was some time between the years 1056 and 1060.

William had succeeded to the throne of England on his father's death, but Robert had inherited Normandy.

Richard had died around 1075 while hunting in the New Forest.

William has five or six sisters.

The existence of sisters Adeliza and Matilda is not absolutely certain, but four sisters are more securely attested as being: Adela, who between 1080 and 1083 had married the Count of Blois; Cecily, who became a nun; Agatha, who died before marriage; and Constance, who married the Duke of Brittany.

Relations between the three sons of William I were recorded to have been strained.

William's contemporary, chronicler Orderic Vitalis, wrote about an incident that took place at L'Aigle, in 1077 or 1078: William and Henry, having grown bored with casting dice, decided to make mischief by emptying a chamber pot onto their brother Robert from an upper gallery, thus infuriating and shaming him.

A brawl broke out, and their father was forced to intercede to restore order.

According to William of Malmesbury, William Rufus was "well set; his complexion florid, his hair yellow; of open countenance; different colored eyes, varying with certain glittering specks; of astonishing strength, though not very tall, and his belly rather projecting."

The division of William the Conqueror's lands into two parts presents a dilemma for those nobles who hold land on both sides of the waterway of the English Channel.

Since the younger William and his brother Robert are natural rivals, these nobles worry that they cannot hope to please both of their lords, and thus run the risk of losing the favor of one ruler or the other, or both.

The only solution, as they see it, is to unite England and Normandy once more under one ruler.

The pursuit of this aim leads them to revolt against William in favor of Robert in the Rebellion of 1088, under the leadership of two half-brothers of William the Conqueror: the powerful Bishop Odo of Bayeux, and Robert, Count of Mortain, with Odo the stronger of the two and the leader behind the plot.

Among the king's initial supporters are all the bishops of England, a few major magnates including Alan Rufus (in the east of England north of London up to Yorkshire), William de Warenne (from Sussex to Yorkshire) and Hugh of Avranches (in the west, around Cheshire), and lesser tenants-in-chief such as Robert Fitzhamon and Walter D'Aincourt.

However, the rebels' ranks are made up many of the most powerful barons in England: of the ten largest baronial landholders in the Domesday Book, six are counted among the rebels.

They are spread far and wide geographically from Kent, controlled by Bishop Odo, to Northumberland, controlled by Robert de Mowbray, to Gloucestershire and Somerset under Geoffrey de Montbray (Bishop of Coutances), to Norfolk with Roger Bigod, Roger of Montgomery at Shrewsbury in Shropshire, and a vast swathe of territory in the southwest, center and south of England under Count Robert.

Also in support of the rebels is Eustace III, Count of Boulogne.

The rebels' strategy is that Odo and the other rebel barons will start the fight in England, while Robert will launch an invasion force from Normandy.

The barons, with the coming of spring in 1088, set out on a campaign to lay waste to the king's lands and supporters.

They now activate their own castles, fortify and stock them with provisions, and wait for a response from the king.

If for some reason no response comes, they know they can easily live by plundering neighboring territories, and thus reduce the kingdom to feudal anarchy, a situation the king will eventually have to address.

The king's response is threefold.

First, he divides his enemies by promising those who side with him that they will receive as much money and land as they want.

Second, he appeals to the English people as a whole, promising them "the best law that had ever been in this land".

This has a positive effect in allowing regional garrisons the support they need to fight the rebels.

Finally, he attacks the rebels personally.

In a six-week siege of Pevensey Castle he captures the rebel leader Odo.

The troops Robert is sending from Normandy are driven back by bad weather on the seas in a stroke of luck for the king.

Meanwhile, the king, together with some of his allies, takes Rochester Castle, and with Robert's failure to arrive, the rebels are forced to surrender and the rebellion is over.

Those of William's barons who had remained loyal urge leniency for the rebel barons.

Odo, previously the richest man in England, is stripped of his belongings and banished to Normandy for life, while his brother Robert of Mortain is allowed to stay in England and keep his estates.

Roger of Montgomery had left the rebels and joined with the king after promises of land and money.

The king pragmatically keeps those aristocrats whom he needs and removes those who are a threat.

William de St-Calais, Bishop of Durham, who had abandoned the king's army during the campaign, will be tried later in the year, deposed, and exiled to Normandy, but in 1091 will return and be reinstated.

…Euchaita and …

Jewish communities in the Rhineland (north of the main departure areas at Neuss, Wevelinghoven, Altenahr, Xanten and Moers) had been attacked in June and July 1095, but the leadership and membership of these crusader groups was not chronicled.

Some Jews have dispersed eastward to escape the persecution.

On top of the general Catholic suspicion of Jews at this time, when the thousands of French members of the People's Crusade arrive at the Rhine, they have run out of provisions.

To restock their supplies, they begin to plunder Jewish food and property while attempting to force them to convert to Catholicism.

In general, the crusader mobs do not fear any retribution as the local courts do not have the jurisdiction to pursue them past their locality nor the ability to identify and prosecute individuals out of the mob.

The pleas of the clergy are ignored on similar grounds (no cases against individuals are brought forward for excommunication) and the mob believes that anyone preaching mercy to the Jews is only doing so because they had succumbed to Jewish bribery.

Not all crusaders who have run out of supplies resort to murder; some, like Peter the Hermit, use extortion instead.

While no sources claim he preached against the Jews, he carries a letter with him from the Jews of France to the community at Trier.

The letter urges them to supply provisions to Peter and his men.

The Solomon bar Simson Chronicle records that they were so terrified by Peter’s appearance at the gates that they readily agreed to supply his needs.

Whatever Peter's own position on the Jews is, men claiming to follow after him feel free to massacre Jews on their own initiative, to pillage their possessions.

Bishop Egelbert of Trier, after being attacked by a mob on April 10, 1096, and threatened with death, offers to save all Jews who are willing to be baptized.

Most Jews choose to drown themselves instead.

Philip I’s Marital Scandal, Excommunication, and the Role of Hugh of Vermandois in the First Crusade (1092–1096)

By 1092, Philip I of France had become entangled in a scandalous affair that led to his excommunication and further complicated his relationship with Pope Urban II. His brother, Hugh of Vermandois, however, emerged as a key figure in the First Crusade, despite Philip’s own inability to participate due to his excommunication. Meanwhile, the Crusade triggered widespread anti-Jewish violence in France and the Rhineland, as religious fervor and millenarian expectations fueled persecution.

Philip I’s Marital Scandal and Excommunication (1092–1095)

• Philip married Bertha of Holland in 1072, and she bore him the necessary heir, Louis VI.
• However, in 1092, Philip fell in love with Bertrade de Montfort, who was already married to Fulk IV of Anjou.
• Philip repudiated Bertha (claiming she was “too fat”) and married Bertrade on May 15, 1092, despite her existing marriage.
• In 1094, Hugh, Archbishop of Lyon, excommunicated Philip for adultery and bigamy.
• At the Council of Clermont in November 1095, Pope Urban II renewed the excommunication, formally severing Philip from the Church.

Philip’s Position on the First Crusade and Hugh of Vermandois’ Role (1096)

• Because of his excommunication, Philip was unable to join the First Crusade, despite its origination at the Council of Clermont in his own kingdom.
• However, Philip’s brother, Hugh of Vermandois, became a leading participant in the Crusade, possibly to restore the family’s standing with the Church.
• In early 1096, Philip and Hugh discussed the Crusade, but Philip remained politically distant due to his conflict with the pope.
• Hugh was reportedly influenced to take the cross after witnessing a lunar eclipse on February 11, 1096, which he interpreted as a divine sign.
• Unlike other Crusader leaders who traveled by land, Hugh’s army departed France in the summer of 1096, crossed into Italy, and sailed across the Adriatic to reach the Byzantine Empire.

Jewish Persecutions in France and the Rhineland (1096)

• The Crusade triggered widespread anti-Jewish violence, beginning in France before spreading to the Rhineland.
• Sigebert of Gembloux wrote that Crusaders believed Jewish communities should convert before the war for the Lord began.
• The first outbreaks of violence occurred in France, where Crusaders attacked Jewish communities in Rouen, Paris, and other cities.
• A contemporary chronicle from Mainz describes how the Jews of France, fearing for their safety, sent letters to the Jewish communities along the Rhine, warning them of impending danger.
• The Jewish leaders in Mainz responded with a call for fasting and prayer, recognizing the grave threat posed by the Crusaders.

Significance and Consequences

• Philip’s excommunication prevented him from playing a major role in the First Crusade, but his brother Hugh of Vermandois ensured Capetian representation in the campaign.
• The anti-Jewish violence of 1096 marked one of the first large-scale massacres of European Jews, setting a precedent for future Crusader attacks on Jewish communities.
• Philip’s marital scandal and subsequent fallout with the papacy weakened his political authority, but he remained King of France, eventually reconciling with the Church years later.

Although Philip I himself could not join the First Crusade, his brother Hugh of Vermandois played a prominent role, while the Crusade’s religious fervor fueled devastating Jewish persecutions across France and Germany.

The largest of these “peoples’ crusades,” and the one most involved in attacking Jews, is that led by Count Emicho of Leiningen, on his way to join the Crusade led by Peter the Hermit.

Setting off in the early summer of 1096, an army of around ten thousand men, women and children proceed through the Rhine valley, towards the Main River and then to the Danube.

Emicho is joined by William the Carpenter and Drogo of Nesle, among others from the Rhineland, eastern France, Lorraine, Flanders and even England.

Emperor Henry IV, absent in southern Italy, had ordered the Jews to be protected when he learned of Emicho's intent.

After some Jews were killed at Metz in May, John, Bishop of Speyer had given shelter to the Jewish inhabitants.

Still, eleven Jews of Speyer are slain on May 3 by Emicho’s crusaders.

Count Emico attacks the synagogue at Speyer, but the Bishop of Speyer calls out his army, and the crusaders depart.

The Bishop of Worms also attempts to shelter Jews, but the crusaders break in to his episcopal palace and kill the Jews inside on May 18, regardless of age or sex.

Kalonymus Ben Meshullam, head of the Jewish community of Mainz, is said to have sent a messenger to King Henry IV in Italy, in consequence of which the king promulgated an order throughout his realm to the effect that the Jews were not to be molested.

However, he, together with fifty-three others, who had taken refuge in the palace of Bishop Adalbert of Worms from the Crusaders, put themselves to death rather than fall into the hands of the enemy during the Worms massacre.

At least eight hundred Jews are massacred in Worms when they refuse Catholic baptism.

One Jew, Simcha bar Isaac Hakohen, on May 25 pretends to submit to baptism.

As he enters the church, he attacks the priest, and is "torn to bits" by the crowd.

News of Emicho's crusade spreads quickly, and he is prevented from entering Mainz on May 25 by Bishop Ruthard.

Emicho also takes an offering of gold raised by the Jews of Mainz in hope to gain his favor and their safety.

Bishop Ruthard tries to protect the Jews by hiding them in his lightly fortified palace.

Nevertheless Emicho does not prevent his followers from entering the city on May 27 and a massacre follows.

Many among the Christian business class (the burghers) in Mainz, have working ties with Jews and give them shelter from the mobs (as the burghers in Prague also do).

The Mainz burghers join with the militia of the bishop and the burgrave (the town's military governor) in fighting off the first waves of crusaders.

This stand has to be abandoned when crusaders continue to arrive in ever greater numbers,and the militia of the bishop together with the bishop himself flees and leaves the Jews to be slaughtered by the crusaders Despite the example of the burghers, many ordinary citizens in Mainz and other the towns are caught up in the frenzy and joined in the persecution and pillaging.

Mainz is the site of the greatest violence, with at least eleven hundred Jews and (possibly more) being killed by troops under Clarambaud and Thomas.

The idea of suicide, normally abhorrent, is considered acceptable or even preferable under these circumstances.

One man, named Isaac, is forcefully converted, together with his two daughters and a friend called Uriah, but later, wracked with guilt, kills his family and burns himself alive in his house.

Another woman, Rachel, kills her four children with her own hands so that they will not be cruelly killed by the crusaders.

Emicho arrives on May 29 at Cologne, where most Jews had already left or were hiding in Christian houses.

The Bishop later escorts them to towns under his protection.

In Cologne, other smaller bands of crusaders meet Emicho, and they leave with quite a lot of money taken from the Jews here.

Emicho continues towards Hungary, soon joined by some Swabians.