211:. This contradicts the often repeated narrative that Emicho's army was mostly composed of peasants and burghers who were ignorant and instinctively prejudiced against Jews, mostly for economic reasons. Instead, there were a number of relatively educated and wealthy men, likely accompanied by clerics, in Emicho's army who would have known that forced conversions were forbidden according to the tenets of the Church. The violence of the Rhineland massacres cannot be explained away under the assumption that the army was mostly composed of ignorant and provincial peasants.
266:
sentiments as part of the broader context of apocalyptic mythology, with the
Crusaders anticipating an imminent end of the world, a "zero-sum game between good and evil. This end of days would be precipitated by Christian control of the Holy Land and mass conversions of Jews to Christianity. For the end of time to occur, Jews had to either die or abandon Judaism and embrace Christianity. Others, instead see this animosity as emerging from the crusade to the Holy Land itself. With the shrines of Christendom being discussed, and the destination being Jerusalem and the
256:
fund their pilgrimage to reach the Holy Land, the
Crusaders could have easily taken the possessions and money offered to them by the Jews and continued on their way without a significant amount of violence. Yet, they chose to kill the majority of the Jews they encountered, even women and children whom they could have compelled to convert. Emicho and his men went to great lengths to hunt down and kill every refugee they could find in Mainz.; they intended to inflict maximum damage. This is exemplified by the Mainz Anonymous's description of Emicho:
270:, Christ's burial place, the role Jews played in Christ's crucifixion must have been in the forefront of many crusaders' minds. This attitude is illustrated by a crusader's supposed remark to a Jew as written by the chronicler Bar-Simson: "You are the children of those who killed the object of our veneration, hanging him on a tree. And he himself had said, 'there will yet come a day when my children will come and avenge my blood.' We are his children and it is, therefore, our duty to avenge him against you who disbelieve in him."
303:
power to God" and being given the power to destroy the enemies of
Christians, mercilessly. In the legend the purpose of the "Last Roman Emperor" is to restore God's power in the Holy Land. To restore God's power the chosen one, the one granted the vision, is expected to kill or convert those who oppose Christianity. By having such a divine vision, those who knew of Count Emicho and believed in his vision interpreted him as the main leader of the Rhineland Massacres.
74:
326:
The account of Albert of Aachen places Count Emicho as the main leader of the
Rhineland by using diction such as "Emicho and the rest of his band". Emicho's vision played an important role to his ability to be a leader during the Rhineland Massacre. He was qualified to lead the crusading army because
302:
Count Emicho was said to be influenced into action by a divine vision. In the vision an apostle is giving Emicho a crown in "Italian Greece" and promising him "victory over his foes". This vision is a grave reference to the "Last Roman
Emperor", which is the legend of a man surrendering his "earthly
255:
Part of what distinguished Emicho and his army from other crusading armies that crossed the
Rhineland was their unwillingness to be swayed from committing violence by bribes. Greed was clearly not their sole motivation, contrary to many cursory accounts of Emicho. While money was likely necessary to
246:
Yet Emicho certainly led the forces that massacred the Jews of Mainz, one of the largest
European Jewish communities at the time, in May 1096. The Jews within the city were well-aware of the earlier massacres and forced conversions in other Rhineland cities and feared the worst. They appealed to the
234:
and his mob of
Crusaders passed through these towns and threatened the Jewish population, they had been amenable to bribes and largely left the Jews free from harassment. Although Emicho has frequently been referenced in secondary and tertiary sources as having been present during the massacres of
330:
Count Emicho has been viewed as both a person who took part in the
Rhineland Massacres as a soldier as well as the person who is directly responsible for the actions committed in the Rhineland. His documented involvement in the massacres could be attributed to the legend of the Last Roman Emperor.
251:
and the area's lay lords to protect them from the approaching mob, offering money and valuable possessions to further encourage the lords. In an attempt to deter the approaching crusaders, Ruthard closed the city's gates and attempted to hide Jews in his palace
Ultimately, however, the city gates
273:
Beneath either motivation behind massacring the Rhineland's Jews is the reality that Jews in 1096 were alienated from their Christian neighbors. Jews and Muslims were scarcely distinguished in the eleventh century as both were seen as agents of the devil and in league with one another, plotting
265:
This ideologically based hatred of Jews, along with the far higher death count, is what made the massacre in Mainz distinct from previous attacks in the Rhineland. The motivations behind this hatred are yet another source of contention by historians. Certain historians have characterized these
274:
against Christendom. Thus, it is not surprising that a crusade ostensibly directed against one group could be seamlessly redirected against the other. Especially in the apocalyptic mindset, both Jews and Muslims had to be destroyed or converted for the Earth to reach the end of days
306:
Chroniclers, such as Ekkehard, saw Count Emicho's vision as his rebirth. Ekkehard was a monk of Aura who later joined a Crusading army in 1100. Ekkehard, in his account, noted Count Emicho as a person who was once tyrannical, but was "called by a divine revelation, like another
290:. Here, after having run out of money and food, they began to pillage. Much of the army was killed by the Hungarians; the rest split up to join the other Crusader armies, and Emicho went back home to his family, where he was scorned for not fulfilling his vow to capture
225:
Count Emicho's precise role in the Rhineland Massacres, the series of violent attacks and forced conversions of the Rhineland's Jews just prior to the First Crusade, has been the subject of significant debate. There were many crusading forces moving through the
260:
He was our chief persecutor. He had no mercy on the elderly, on young men and young women, on infants or sucklings, nor on the ill. He made the people of the Lord like dust to be trampled. Their young men he put to the sword, and their pregnant women he ripped
311:". Nevertheless, in medieval political thought, Saul was a complex character that was often employed in discussions of the nature of lay authority, and its derivation from the Church. In short, medieval churchmen often evoked Saul's contest with
146:. Peter's preaching of the Crusade spread much more quickly than the official versions of Urban's call. Peter's version influenced Emicho, who spread his own story that Christ had appeared to him. Infused with the teachings of the
394:
158:
and overcome the forces there, taking over the title of "last World Emperor" in accordance with canonical prophetic tradition. All Christian armies, Latin and Greek, would then unite and march to seize
426:
315:– and used Samuel to support their position that lay authority was dependant on legitimacy granted by the Church, rather than the other way around. Considering Ekkehard's support for the
235:
Jews in Cologne and Worms, there is sparse evidence in the primary accounts to support his involvement. Indeed, the only massacre in which Emicho definitively participated was that in
327:
his vision was interpreted as God placing him in the role of power. Even after his death, there were accounts stating the myth that Emicho's soul was guarding the gate of Rhineland.
398:
412:
243:
mentions Emicho as having been in the rough vicinity of Speyer during the massacre there, but clearly notes he did not participate in the violence.
430:
252:
were opened by sympathetic burghers within Mainz and the Jews were attacked despite the archbishop's best attempts to protect them.
703:
479:
Gabriele, Matthew. “Against the Enemies of Christ: The Role of Count Emicho in the Anti-Jewish Violence of the First Crusade” in
56:(sometimes referred to as the "German Crusade of 1096") which were a series of mass murders of Jews that took place during the
698:
443:
Stow, Kenneth. “Conversion, Apostasy, and Apprehensiveness: Emicho of Flonheim and the Fear of Jews in the Twelfth Century,”
191:
Emicho's army attracted many unusual followers, including a group who worshipped a goose they believed to be filled with the
637:
Stow, Kenneth. “Conversion, Apostasy, and Apprehensiveness: Emicho of Floheim and the Fear of Jews in the Twelfth Century.”
600:
17:
356:
196:
663:
113:
673:
95:
693:
320:
91:
84:
554:
Alexander, Paul J. “The Medieval Legend of the Last Roman Emperor and Its Messianic Origin.”
496:, “Ekkehard of Aura” (Princeton: 1921), 53–54, electronically published by Internet Medieval.
340:
208:
204:
483:, edited by Michael Frassetto, 61–83, New York: Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group, 2007.
384:, ed. and trans. S. Edgington (Oxford: Oxford Medieval Texts, 2007), bk. I, ch. 30, p. 59.
52:
and not to be confused with Bishop Emicho of Leiningen. In 1096, he was the leader of the
8:
220:
139:
135:
57:
53:
459:
Chazan, Robert. “The Mainz Anonymous: Structure, Authorship, Dating and Objectives,” in
350:
659:
626:
The First Crusades: the Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials
569:
The First Crusades: the Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials
377:
316:
231:
230:, but most were interested primarily in reaching the Holy Land. For instance, when
143:
512:
Chazan, Robert. “Chapter III, Christians: Assault, Assistance, Ambiguity,” In the
677:
240:
267:
200:
155:
147:
687:
180:
168:
131:
127:
670:
192:
151:
172:
138:
in 1095 had already turned into a much different popular movement, the
98: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
345:
291:
227:
160:
41:
73:
164:
481:
Christian Attitudes Toward the Jews in the Middle Ages: a casebook
582:
The First Crusade: the Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants
287:
248:
494:
The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants
312:
283:
176:
461:
God, Humanity and History: The Hebrew First Crusade Narratives
236:
44:
in the late 11th century. He is also commonly referred to as
31:
323:, a comparison to Saul may not be an entirely positive one.
308:
282:
The army continued down the Rhine until they reached the
516:. 51–72. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2010.
669:"A Database of Crusaders to the Holy Land", 1095–1149 (
175:. Inspired by such exulting promises, a few thousand
154:" prophecy. Emicho envisioned that he would march on
447:
Vol. 76, No. 4 (Oct. 2001), pp. 911–933. Sourcebook.
205:
Thomas, Lord of Marle and La Fère and Count of Amien
580:"The March to Constantinople: Ekkehards Account.”
277:
199:). The army included noblemen and knights such as
628:, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971, p. 112.
571:, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971, p. 112.
685:
239:. The Jewish writer of the account known as the
601:"Samuel and Saul in Medieval Political Thought"
556:Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes
524:
522:
475:
473:
471:
469:
463:. 28–51. University of California Press, 2000.
624:Peters, Edward, editor. “Albert of Aachen.”
567:Peters, Edward, editor. “Ekkehard of Aura.”
519:
508:
506:
504:
502:
455:
453:
598:
584:, by August C. Krey, Forgotten Books, 2016.
545:. Rowman & Littlefield: New York, 2006.
466:
532:. 82–92, Cambridge University Press, 1980.
528:Runciman, Steven. “The German Crusade” in
427:"A Database of Crusaders to the Holy Land"
413:"A Database of Crusaders to the Holy Land"
395:"A Database of Crusaders to the Holy Land"
514:Year 1096: The First Crusade and the Jews
499:
450:
203:, Hartmann I, Count of Dillingen-Kyburg,
114:Learn how and when to remove this message
658:Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Sigmaringen 1982.
209:William the Carpenter, Viscount of Milun
543:The New Concise History of the Crusades
297:
183:merged and marched east in April 1096.
14:
686:
214:
594:
592:
590:
641:, vol. 76, no. 4, 2001, pp. 911–933.
96:adding citations to reliable sources
67:
24:
587:
25:
715:
319:, and his position regarding the
72:
63:
704:Christians of the First Crusade
631:
618:
574:
561:
548:
535:
278:Disintegration of Emicho's army
150:he felt chosen to fulfill the "
83:needs additional citations for
486:
437:
419:
405:
387:
371:
13:
1:
699:11th-century German nobility
186:
27:11th-century German nobleman
7:
599:Funkenstein, Josef (2007).
334:
10:
720:
648:
218:
130:that had been preached by
126:The original idea for the
29:
656:Die Grafen von Leiningen.
608:Hebraic Political Studies
286:, which they followed to
364:
171:and denouement with the
382:Historia Ierosolimitana
321:Investiture Controversy
558:, vol. 41, 1978, p. 1.
263:
360:, Season 4, Episode 3
341:Worms massacre (1096)
258:
197:Women in the Crusades
298:The legend of Emicho
201:Drogo Count of Nesle
92:improve this article
30:For other uses, see
18:Emicho von Leiningen
221:Rhineland massacres
215:Rhineland massacres
167:thus prompting the
136:Council of Clermont
54:Rhineland massacres
46:Emicho of Leiningen
40:was a count in the
676:2017-02-02 at the
541:Madden, Thomas F.
357:Horrible Histories
351:House of Leiningen
50:Emich of Flonheim,
654:Toussaint, Ingo:
530:The First Crusade
492:Krey, August C.
124:
123:
116:
16:(Redirected from
711:
694:Leiningen family
642:
635:
629:
622:
616:
615:
605:
596:
585:
578:
572:
565:
559:
552:
546:
539:
533:
526:
517:
510:
497:
490:
484:
477:
464:
457:
448:
441:
435:
434:
429:. Archived from
423:
417:
416:
409:
403:
402:
397:. Archived from
391:
385:
378:Albert of Aachen
375:
232:Peter the Hermit
144:Peter the Hermit
140:People's Crusade
119:
112:
108:
105:
99:
76:
68:
58:People's Crusade
21:
719:
718:
714:
713:
712:
710:
709:
708:
684:
683:
678:Wayback Machine
651:
646:
645:
636:
632:
623:
619:
603:
597:
588:
579:
575:
566:
562:
553:
549:
540:
536:
527:
520:
511:
500:
491:
487:
478:
467:
458:
451:
442:
438:
425:
424:
420:
411:
410:
406:
393:
392:
388:
376:
372:
367:
337:
317:reform movement
300:
280:
241:Mainz Anonymous
223:
217:
189:
120:
109:
103:
100:
89:
77:
66:
35:
28:
23:
22:
15:
12:
11:
5:
717:
707:
706:
701:
696:
682:
681:
667:
650:
647:
644:
643:
630:
617:
586:
573:
560:
547:
534:
518:
498:
485:
465:
449:
436:
433:on 2017-02-03.
418:
404:
401:on 2017-02-03.
386:
369:
368:
366:
363:
362:
361:
353:
348:
343:
336:
333:
299:
296:
279:
276:
268:Holy Sepulchre
219:Main article:
216:
213:
188:
185:
156:Constantinople
148:Gospel of Luke
122:
121:
80:
78:
71:
65:
62:
26:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
716:
705:
702:
700:
697:
695:
692:
691:
689:
679:
675:
672:
668:
665:
664:3-7995-7017-9
661:
657:
653:
652:
640:
634:
627:
621:
614:(2): 149–163.
613:
609:
602:
595:
593:
591:
583:
577:
570:
564:
557:
551:
544:
538:
531:
525:
523:
515:
509:
507:
505:
503:
495:
489:
482:
476:
474:
472:
470:
462:
456:
454:
446:
440:
432:
428:
422:
414:
408:
400:
396:
390:
383:
379:
374:
370:
359:
358:
354:
352:
349:
347:
344:
342:
339:
338:
332:
328:
324:
322:
318:
314:
310:
304:
295:
293:
289:
285:
275:
271:
269:
262:
257:
253:
250:
244:
242:
238:
233:
229:
222:
212:
210:
206:
202:
198:
194:
184:
182:
178:
174:
170:
169:Second Coming
166:
162:
157:
153:
149:
145:
141:
137:
133:
132:Pope Urban II
129:
128:First Crusade
118:
115:
107:
97:
93:
87:
86:
81:This section
79:
75:
70:
69:
64:First Crusade
61:
59:
55:
51:
47:
43:
39:
33:
19:
655:
638:
633:
625:
620:
611:
607:
581:
576:
568:
563:
555:
550:
542:
537:
529:
513:
493:
488:
480:
460:
444:
439:
431:the original
421:
407:
399:the original
389:
381:
373:
355:
329:
325:
305:
301:
281:
272:
264:
259:
254:
245:
224:
190:
152:end of times
125:
110:
101:
90:Please help
85:verification
82:
49:
45:
37:
36:
247:Archbishop
193:Holy Spirit
688:Categories
173:Antichrist
346:Emichones
292:Jerusalem
228:Rhineland
187:Followers
163:from the
161:Jerusalem
142:, led by
104:June 2024
42:Rhineland
674:Archived
639:Speculum
445:Speculum
335:See also
165:Saracens
671:archive
649:Sources
288:Hungary
249:Ruthard
181:Germans
134:at the
662:
313:Samuel
284:Danube
207:, and
177:Franks
38:Emicho
604:(PDF)
365:Notes
261:open.
237:Mainz
195:(see
32:Emich
660:ISBN
309:Saul
179:and
94:by
48:or
690::
680:).
610:.
606:.
589:^
521:^
501:^
468:^
452:^
380:,
294:.
60:.
666:.
612:2
415:.
117:)
111:(
106:)
102:(
88:.
34:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
