The British History Podcast · Jamie Jeffers

Deus Did Not Vult: The People’s Crusade

·55 min·4 clips

Jamie begins with the mood in England, where everyone is angry with Rufus and Rufus is angry at everyone in England. That anger only matters once it turns into force, and in feudal society that force is controlled by aristocrats because they hold a near monopoly on violence. Robert of Normandy is about to go on crusade, and Rufus immediately sees the opening. If Robert leaves, the king may be able to keep the duchy, but the price is 10,000 marks of silver, and Rufus does not have that kind of money lying around. He has already been paying Norman barons to turn on Robert, helping finance an insurgency against King Donald III of Scotland, and spending heavily on wars in Wales, Normandy, and England. He has also been building castles across the kingdom, including the Tower of London. To keep the money moving, Rufus leaves church offices vacant when their holders die, pockets the income from lay positions, and even keeps the earldom of Northumbria for himself when Mowbray is imprisoned. The episode keeps hammering the same point: the crown is stripping the realm for parts. Robert's bargain looks shaky too. He is heading into a war in a place he has never fought before, against an enemy he has never faced, while Byzantium is already asking for aid because it knows how dangerous these people are. Rufus understands that Robert may never come back. If he does, the king will be holding the duchy, not Robert, and all Robert will have is a brother's promise to hand it back. Rufus does not trust promises or brothers, so he takes the deal. The episode then shifts to the People's Crusade and Peter the Hermit. Their faith is real, but so is the desperation and the lack of planning. Peter and his people, armed with their faith and not much else, are ferried into Anatolia, Seljuk territory. Meanwhile, Rufus finally gets the 10,000 marks together, crosses the channel, and delivers the money to Robert, who immediately rushes to join the mustering army. It is September of 1096, the First Crusade has begun its march east, and the whole thing already looks like a complete mess.

As heard by us

A crusade story told like a budget crisis with swords.

Episode 477 treats crusade financing as a fight over leverage and spite: Rufus is angry with England, England is angry with Rufus, and Robert's plan to go east gives the king a way to hold the duchy while his brother is away.

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Why you'd press play

When crusade politics feels more like a family power play than a holy mission.

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