Peter the Hermit

Peter the Hermit, c.1050–1115, French religious leader. In 1095 he was a very successful preacher of the First Crusade (see Crusades), and he led one of its bands. In 1096 he reached Constantinople with his undisciplined followers; when they arrived in Asia Minor, Peter went back to get help from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I. In 1098 at Antioch he tried to run away; however, he later undertook a mission to the Muslim ruler of Mosul. He went home after the taking of Jerusalem and founded the monastery of Neufmoutier at Liège, where he settled. His place in the Crusade was greatly exaggerated, for he seems to have been only one of many preachers and leaders, although a very early one.

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Peter the Hermit

(born c. 1050, probably Amiens—died July 8, 1115, Huy, Flanders) French ascetic and one of the most important preachers of the First Crusade. A charismatic ascetic, he preached widely in Europe in support of the First Crusade and led his enthusiastic followers to Constantinople in 1096. They advanced to Nicomedia, but Peter was unable to maintain discipline; he returned to Constantinople to ask for help from Alexius I, and in his absence his army was annihilated by the Turks. Peter reached Jerusalem in 1099 and afterwards returned to France, where he became prior of an Augustinian monastery.