To Explain the First Crusade, Jews and Christians Turned to the Bible

In 1095, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested aid from European Christendom in his fight against the Seljuk Turks, who ruled the Levant. At the Council of Clairmont, Pope Urban II accepted the call, and called upon the knights and nobles of France to go on Crusade to the Holy Land, where they successfully conquered Jerusalem in 1099.

Peasants were inspired to embark on crusade as well, and in their zeal left France in the spring of 1096, led by Peter the Hermit. This “People’s Crusade” stopped in the Rhineland, massacring the Jewish population in the name of Christ, as described in one of the Jewish chronicles of the period (see below):

^{גזרות ד'תתנו לרבי שלמה ב"ר שמשון} ויהי כעברם דרך העיירות אשר שם יהודים, אמרו אחד לחברו: הנה אנחנו הולכים בדרך רחוקה לבקש בית התרפות ולנקום נקמתינו מן הישמעאלים, והנה היהודים היושבים בינינו אשר אבותיהם הרגוהו וצלבוהו חינם. ננקמה מהם תחילה ונכחידם מגוי ולא יזכר שם ישראל, או יהיו כמונו ויודו בבן הזימה.

^{Chronicle of R. Soloman bar Simson} Now it came to pass that as they passed through the towns where Jews dwelled, they said to one another: “Look now, we are going a long way to seek out the profane shrine (=the Church of the Holy Sepulcher) and to avenge ourselves on the Ishmaelites [the Muslims], when here in our very midst, are the Jews—they whose forefathers murdered and crucified him for no reason. Let us first avenge ourselves on them and exterminate them from among the nations so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered, or let them adopt our faith and acknowledge the offspring of promiscuity (=Jesus). ^[1]

Jewish history refers to these events as גזרות ד'תתנו “the decrees of the year 4856.” The most infamous of these decrees/massacres are the attacks on Speyer, Worms, and Mainz in May of 1096, Iyar and Sivan in the Jewish calendar. These events left their mark in Jewish liturgy, with prayers like Av HaRachamim (Compassionate Father), now recited on most Shabbats, and in the Ashkenazi practice of not shaving during the latter half of the Omer period (i.e., between Passover and Shavuot), what is known as “the second minhag (custom),” which begins with Rosh Chodesh (the new moon) of Iyar.^[2]

Christians and Jews each wrote multiple accounts of this crusade. These are:

Christian

Gesta Francorum, “The Deeds of the Franks,” an anonymous Latin chronicle composed shortly after the events.

Historia Hierosolymitana, “History of Jerusalem,” composed between 1107 and 1120 by Robert the Monk (ca. 1055–1122), who claims to have been at the Council of Clairmont for Urban II’s speech.

Jewish

The Mainz Anonymous (מעשה הגזירות הישנות), a self-contained literary work composed shortly after the incidents.

Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson (גזירות שנת ד'תתנ"ו לר' שלמה בר' שמשון), a compilation of many smaller accounts (ca. 1140).

Chronicle of Eleazar bar Nathan (גזירות שנת ד'תתנ"ו לר' אלעזר בר נתן), a reworking of Solomon bar Simson (ca. 1150).^[3]

Scholars have mined these chronicles for historical information about the massacres of the Jewish community of the Rhineland and the exploits of the First Crusade, culminating in the conquest of Jerusalem. The impact and uniqueness of these events are debated,^[4] but the authors/editors of these chronicles certainly experienced them as unprecedented and sought to establish theological context for them.

Medieval Theology of History

As Nirmal Dass, the translator of the Gesta Francorum, notes, medieval histories are not concerned with understanding human actions, but rather God’s actions in the affairs of mankind.^[5] This is demonstrated in Robert the Monk’s Historia: he smooths over uncomfortable realities of the Crusades, reconciling Christian teachings about peace and non-violence with the tremendous violence unleashed during the Crusades, as well as glossing over the enmity that existed between western and eastern Christians.

The Jewish Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson also wishes to understand history against the backdrop of the divine plan,^[6] nevertheless, God is relatively inconspicuous.^[7] According to the Chronicle, despite it being a year in which the Jews were optimistic, things turned out in the opposite way:

^{גזרות ד'תתנו לרבי שלמה ב"ר שמשון} ומצאוהו רבות רעות האמורות בכל התוכחות כתוב ולא כתוב עבר על נפשנו.

^{Chronicle of R. Soloman bar Simson} The many evils related in all the [biblical] admonitions found us, those enumerated in Scripture as well as those unwritten came upon us.^[8]

It explains the appearance of the crusaders in their cities as a result of their own spontaneous idea that if they are going to fight Muslims in the Holy Land, why not also fight Jews in their own territory:

Chosen by God

Robert the Monk opens his Historia with Pope Urban II declaring that, due to their righteousness, the Franks were chosen by God to march to Jerusalem and fight the infidel:

^{Historia Hierosolymitana} Frenchmen and men from across the mountains; men chosen by and beloved of God as is clear from your many achievements; men set apart from all other nations as much by geography as by the Catholic faith and by the honor of the Holy Church - it is to you that we address our sermon, to you that we appeal. ^[9]

In a similar manner, towards the opening of the Chronicle of bar Simson, the editor declares about the Jews of the Rhineland:

^{גזרות ד'תתנו לרבי שלמה ב"ר שמשון} כי היה בהם כח וגבורה לעמוד בהיכלו ולעשות דברו ולקדש שמו הגדול בעולמו.

^{Chronicle of R. Solomon bar Simson} For they had the strength and the fortitude to stand in God’s Sanctuary and fulfill his word, and sanctify His Great Name in His world.^[10]

Robert the Monk depicts the crusaders as imitating Christ by sacrificing themselves in holy war to redeem the Holy Sepulcher. The Hebrew Chronicle highlights how individuals, particularly women and children, showed their devotion to God through their acts of self-sacrifice, even though this was contrary to the rulings of the Babylonian Talmud, which prescribed submission to martyrdom only in rare and extreme circumstances. For example, on Rosh Chodesh [the New Moon of] Sivan, in the second attack on Worms:

^{גזרות ד'תתנו לרבי שלמה ב"ר שמשון} והם נתחזקו במעשה אחיהם ונהרגו וקידשו את השם לעין כל ופשטו צוארם להתיז ראשם על שם יוצרם. ומהם ששלחו יד בעצמם וקיימו (הושע י:יד) ׳אם על בנים רוטשה׳

^{Chronicle of R. Soloman bar Simson} The Jews, inspired by the valor of their brethren, similarly chose to be slain in order to sanctify the Name before the eyes of all, and exposed their throats for their heads to be severed for the glory of the Creator. There were also those who took their own lives, thus fulfilling the verse (Hos 10:14): “The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.”

ואב על בניו נפל, כי נשחטו עליהם ושחטו איש אחיו ואיש את קרובו ואשתו ובניו, וגם חתנים ארוסותיהם ונשים רחמניות את יחידיהן. וכולם בלב שלם קיבלו עליהם דין שמים, ובהשלמת נפשם לקונם היו צועקים ׳שמע ישראל יי אלהינו יי אחד׳.

Fathers fell upon their sons, being slaughtered upon one another, and they slew one another-each man his kin, his wife and children; bridegrooms slew their betrothed, and merciful women their only children. They all accepted the divine decree wholeheartedly and, as they yielded up their souls to the Creator, cried out: “Hear, O Israel (shma yisrael), the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”^[11]

Since many Jews of the Rhineland actively committed suicide in the 1096 crusade—even killing their own families—rather than convert to Christianity, which they considered to be idolatry, the halakhic authorities after this time needed to construct a post facto defense of this decision. This “process of reinterpretation,” as Haym Soloveitchik of Yeshiva University calls it,^[12] which took place among the rabbis interpreting Jewish law, is also a driving factor in how the Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson tells the story of the crusade.

The author of this chronicle felt compelled to give theological context and justification for these unprecedented acts of martyrdom. It presents Jewish martyrs sacrificing themselves for God, as opposed to the Christian image of like God, and compares the Jewish martyrs to the offerings sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem, or to Isaac being bound by Abraham as an intended sacrifice.

Christian: Comparing the Crusade to the Splitting of the Sea

Both the Christian and Jewish chronicles naturally turned to the Bible to shape their respective narratives.^[13] In the section titled “Battle and Victory (after the “wonderful battle fought against 300,000”): how the Christians gave thanks and rejoiced,” Robert the Monk chooses as his biblical framework the Song at the Sea from Exodus, when Moses and the Israelites joyfully sing praises to God for vanquishing the Egyptians.^[14] He quotes verses out of order, to make the crusaders’ victory a cohesive narrative in the biblical style:

^{Historia Hierosolymitana 3.14} And so our soldiers, forced by the coming of night, returned to their tents with the priests and clergy chanting the following hymn to God: “You are glorious in your saints, O LORD, and wonderful in majesty; fearful in praised, doing wonders” (Exod 15:11). “Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces” (Exod 15:6), “and in the greatness of your excellence you have overthrown them that rose up against you” (Exod 15:7). “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them’” (Exod 15:9).

By unequivocally equating the crusaders with the Israelites at the Red Sea, Robert is driving the point home that God has not only blessed the crusader endeavor but is an active player in it.

The parallel is especially clear in the way he uses the verse about God bringing the Israelites to God’s “holy habitation,” glossed her as the Sepulcher, to underscore that this is what God has done for the crusaders in his own day:

^{Historia Hierosolymitana 3.14} But You, LORD, were with us as “a strong warrior” (Exod 15:3), and “You, in Your mercy have led forth the people which You have redeemed” (Exod 15:13).

To make sure the reader gets the point, he splits the verse in two, and adds the phrase “now we realize” to note the transition into his times:

Now we realize, God, that “You are guiding us in Your strength unto Your holy habitation” (Exod 15:13), Your Holy Sepulcher.^[15]

Moreover, by using verses from the Song of the Sea to narrate the Crusader’s conquests, Robert justifies the violence against Jews and Turks alike, which at first blush was contrary to Christian teaching. If God granted the crusaders victory akin to that of the Israel at the Red Sea, then clearly the crusade was a divinely blessed act, and justifiable in all its cruelty and gore.

Jewish: Lamenting the Slaughter

Toward the conclusion of the section describing the martyrdom of the Jews of Mainz, the centerpiece of the narrative, the Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson describes the Christian attack on the Jews by quoting parts of verses from Psalms,^[16] sometimes adjusting the grammar for flow. The passage begins with a desire that God avenge the Jews:

^{סיפור על גזירות תתנ"ו} מי שאמר והיה העולם, הוא ינקום "נקמת דם עבדיו^[17] השפוך" (תהלים עט:י) אשר אמרו "נירשה לנו את נאות אלהים" (תהלים פג:יג) ואמרו "לכו ונכחידם מגוי ולא יזכר שם ישראל עוד" (תהלים פג:ה)

^{Solomon bar Samson Chronicle} He Who spoke causing the world to come into being—He shall avenge “the spilt blood of His servants” (Ps 79:10) [against those] who said: “Let us take to ourselves possession of the habitations of God” (Ps 83:13) and “Let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (Ps 83:5). ^[18]

The gentiles believe they can slaughter Jews with impunity, but really, God will not let that happen and will appear and avenge the Jews:

ויאמרו: "לא יראה יה ולא יבין אלהי יעקב." (תהלים צד:ז) "אל נקמות יי אל נקמות הופיע." (תהלים צד:א).

And they say: “The Lord will not see, neither will the God of Jacob give heed” (Ps 94:7). [But] “The Lord is a God of retribution; the God of vengeance appear!” (Ps 94:1)

The Chronicle continues with a description of what happened to bring about this need for vengeance. This time, he expands his repertoire to include a quote from Isaiah:

"כי עליך הורגנו כל היום וגו'." (תהלים מד:כג) כי "אכלונו בכל פה וגו'." (ישעיה ט:יא)

“It is for Your sake that we are slain all day long, etc.” (Ps 44:23), for “they devour us with all their mouth.” (Isa 9:11).

The Isaiah verse, which refers to the Philistines and Arameans, reads וַיֹּאכְלוּ אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכָל פֶּה “and they devour Israel with all their mouth”; it is modified to use the first-person plural, connecting the Jews with Israelites and the killers with the crusaders.

Next, the author moves to Lamentations. This is not surprising as Lamentations gives voice not only to the Jews’ suffering, but to the theological idea that God willed the massacres to occur, in response to the Jews’ sins. The Chronicle starts with a verse that accuses God of complicity, and refers to women eating their own children, likely meant to conjure up the image of Jews killing their own children to keep them from the crusaders:

"ראה יי והביטה למי עוללת כה, אם תהרוגנה נשים פרים עוללי טפוחים." (איכה ב:כ)

“See, O Lord, and behold, to whom You have done this! Alas, women eat their own fruit, their new-born babes!” (Lam 2:20)

He continues with the next verse, but rewrites the ending as an accusation against the crusaders instead of against God:

"שכבו לארץ חוצות נער וזקן בתולותי ובחורי נפלו בחרב, טבחו ביום אפיך הרגו ולא חסו עיניהם עלינו" (איכה ב:כא).

“Prostrate in the streets lie both young and old. My maidens and youths are fallen by the sword. They slaughtered in the day of Your anger; they killed and their eyes had no mercy on us.” (Lam 2:21).

The original verse blames God as ultimately responsible for the death of people of Jerusalem, and even claims that God had no pity:

^{איכה ב:כא} שָׁכְבוּ לָאָרֶץ חוּצוֹת נַעַר וְזָקֵן בְּתוּלֹתַי וּבַחוּרַי נָפְלוּ בֶחָרֶב הָרַגְתָּ בְּיוֹם אַפֶּךָ טָבַחְתָּ לֹא חָמָלְתָּ.

^{Lam 2:21} Prostrate in the streets lie both young and old. My maidens and youths are fallen by the sword. You slew them on Your day of wrath; You slaughtered without pity.

The Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson rewrites the verse, claiming that it is the crusaders who slaughtered without pity, and that this is yet another reason God should intervene and avenge the Jews. Bar Simson makes this call again, using verses from two of the psalms quoted above:

"השב לשכנינו שבעתים אל חיקם וגו'." (תהלים עט:יב) "הנשא שופט הארץ השב גמול וגו'." (תהלים צד:ב)

“Pay back our neighbors sevenfold, etc.” (Psalms 79:12.) “Exalt Yourself, You Judge of the Earth; render recompense etc.” (Psalms 94:2.)

The passage expresses anger at God interspersed with cries for God to wreak vengeance upon the Jews’ tormentors. As can be seen from the two passages quoted above, the Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson has a similar narrative style to that of Robert the Monk’s History, in its use of long passages quoting several biblical verses in succession with little or no adjustment.

Indeed, writing a history in the twelfth century without turning to the Bible for context was unthinkable for both Christians and Jews. The authors of the chronicles used biblical exegesis as a tool in order to provide a firm theological framework both for the First Crusade and the unprecedented extreme martyrdom of the Jews.

Inverting the Victorene Exegetical Approach

To understand what the Robert the Monk and the Solomon bar Simson Chronicles are doing exegetically, we need to read them against the backdrop of the techniques the Victorine school—beginning with Peter Abelard (1079–1142) and Hugh of Saint Victor (1096–1141)—were developing at the time these Crusade narratives were being composed.^[19]

As Michael Signer convincingly shows, “the medieval commentator on scripture restructures the biblical text and introduces the possibility for a new narrative reading.”^[20] In other words, both Christian and Jewish exegetes in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries interpreted the Bible in such a way as to form new narratives as a bridge between their world and that of the biblical text. This approach differs from earlier modes of textual interpretation in both Christian and Jewish traditions because it emphasizes, and interprets the biblical text in a literary manner, which is a uniquely medieval innovation, born from the Twelfth Century Renaissance.^[21]

The Victorine exegetical approach bears striking parallels to the commentaries of R. Solomon ben Isaac of Troyes, or Rashi, both of which used the “narrative framework of Scripture as the basis of their commentaries,”^[22] embedding the biblical verses in the commentary in order to “fill in the gaps.”^[23] Rather than writing a commentary to contextualize the Bible and bringing up the crusades where relevant, Robert and the Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson use the Bible to contextualize their telling of the story of the First Crusade, thus simultaneously utilizing and inverting this mode of biblical exegesis.

Looking for Significance

Jews and Christians incorporate similar literary and exegetical approaches extant in medieval European culture during the Twelfth-Century Renaissance to fortify their respective identities. The Jews seek to show that by refusing to convert to what they viewed to be blasphemous idolatry, they are the pure sacrifices to God’s holy Name. The crusaders, in contrast, wish to legitimize their violent enterprise of holy war and present themselves either as Christ-like, or as the righteous, triumphant Israelites conquering the Holy Land with God’s direct intervention.

It is noteworthy that these parallels between the Latin and Hebrew Crusade chronicles are not only in narrative styles and biblical exegetical techniques, but also in the imagery Christians and Jews had of themselves. Cultural and religious elements within the Jewish community resonated with those being expressed in the surrounding majority Christian culture.

The absorption of certain concepts and ideas of the majority culture was likely done subconsciously. Even so, the Jews of Medieval Ashkenaz applied a good deal of discernment in what aspects of Medieval Christian religion and culture could be integrated into Jewish thought and practice based on their sensibility of what would help them cope with the trauma of 1096, and subsequently affirm their Jewish identity.