A Dictionary of All Religions and Religious Denominations/Crusaders

by Hannah Adams

*CRUSADERS, a multitude gathered from all the countries in Christendom, who undertook a Crusade (Croisade) or holy war under the banner of the cross, to recover Palestine from the Turks. To this wild sceme they were first excited by Peter the hermit, who, under the auspices of Pope Martin II, gathered nearly a million of persons, mercenaries and enthusiasts, who in 1096 first invaded the holy land with a partial success. This encouraged them to seven other successive crusades, of which the last was in 1270, and left the object unaccomplished. It has been calculated that two millions of persons perished in these several expeditions, and left a warning to posterity against engaging in such wild projects under the influence of religious frenzy.^[1]

Original footnotes

1. Ency. Brit.