This would increase papal power all across Europe. In Clearmont, France in 1095, Pope Urban II gave an impassioned speech where he said "All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested." With this speech, the men present cried, "It is the will of God. It is the will of God." The groundwork for the First Crusade had begun.
The First Crusade was divided into two parts. The first part was the Peasants" Crusade and was led by a French priest named Peter the Hermit. It consisted of peasants, many of them unarmed, including women and children and was nearly 500,000 people strong. These peasants were untrained and unprepared for the hardships that lay ahead. When the peasants crossed over to Asia Minor, they were slaughtered by the Turks in 1096 and only 25,000 peasants were left alive. The second wave of the First Crusade was better prepared and consisted of knights and foot soldiers. This "Baron's Crusade" was about 100,000 people strong. The blood thirst of the Crusaders caused the first blood they spilled to be that of thousands of Jews living in along the route to Constantinople. These crusaders were better armed and better prepared for battle than the Peasants" Crusade and were able to take the city of Antioch in 1098. Six month later the Crusaders reached Jerusalem and after six weeks of hard fighting, captured the city on July 15, 1099. In the eyes of Christian Europe, the first Crusade was a success.
Jerusalem was divided into four states, Antioch, Edessa, Tripoli and Jerusalem. These were in the area of what is now Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. These states were quite vulnerable and did not have clearly defined borders on all sides. Islamic leaders were disappointed in the fall of Jerusalem but never really saw the Crusader states as much of a threat.
