Editing Godfrey of Bouillon (section)

==First Crusade==
{{Main|First Crusade}}
[[File:A. Salzmann - Épée de Godefroy de Bouillon - Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|The "sword of Godfrey of Bouillon" displayed at the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] in [[Jerusalem]] since 1808 (1854 photograph)<ref>"The tomb of Godfrey was destroyed in 1808, but at that time a large sword, said to have been his, was still shown." L. Bréhier, "Godfrey of Bouillon" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1909).</ref>]]

In 1095 [[Pope Urban II]] called for military action in order to liberate [[Jerusalem]] and aid the [[Byzantine Empire]], which in the years since [[Battle of Manzikert|1071]] had lost large swathes of territory to the [[Seljuk Empire]]. Godfrey either sold or mortgaged most of his estates to the bishops of [[bishop of Liège|Liège]] and [[bishop of Verdun|Verdun]] and used the money to recruit an [[Army of Godfrey of Bouillon|army of Crusaders]]. He was joined by his older brother, Eustace, and his younger brother, Baldwin, who had no lands in Europe and was seeking them in the [[Holy Land]]. Others did the same, the largest being that raised by [[Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse]], who at 55 was the oldest and most experienced of the Crusader nobles. As a result, he expected to lead the expedition, a claim boosted by the presence of [[Adhemar of Le Puy]], the [[papal legate]] who travelled with him. Significant forces also accompanied [[Bohemond I of Antioch|Bohemond of Taranto]], a [[Italo-Normans|Norman]] knight from southern Italy, and [[Robert II, Count of Flanders]].{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|pp=92–93}}

[[File:Godefroy_de_Bouillon.jpg|thumb|Godfrey with his brothers [[Eustace III, Count of Boulogne|Eustace]] and [[Baldwin I of Jerusalem|Baldwin]] meeting with Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos]]
Following advice provided by Pope Urban, most of these armies set out in mid-summer and headed for [[Constantinople]] where they could expect assistance from Emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos]].{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|p=90}} Each travelled separately, since it was impossible for one region to feed and supply such large numbers on their own; the first to leave in spring 1096 was what became known as the [[People's Crusade]], an army of 20,000 low ranking knights and peasants which journeyed through the [[Rhineland]], then headed for [[Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1301)|Hungary]].{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|pp=84–85}} Most of those from southern and northern France sailed from [[Brindisi]] across the [[Adriatic Sea]], while Godfrey and his two brothers, leading an army from Lorraine reportedly 40,000 strong, set out in August 1096 following the route taken by the People's Crusade.{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|pp=94–95}}

Pope Urban II's call for the crusade spurred a wave of violence against Jews across Europe, beginning with [[Rouen]] in December 1095. In the spring and early summer of 1096, members of the People's Crusade plundered and massacred Jewish communities during the [[Rhineland massacres]].{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|p=84}}

After the People's Crusade entered Hungary in June, a series of incidents had culminated in a full-scale battle with their hosts and the deaths of over 10,000 Crusaders; as a result, when Godfrey and his troops approached the border in September, it took several days of negotiations before they were allowed in.{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|p=95}} He finally reached Constantinople in November, shortly after those led by [[Hugh I, Count of Vermandois|Hugh of Vermandois]] while others arrived over the next few months. Unlike the limited numbers he had anticipated, by May 1097 Alexios found himself with over 4,000 to 8,000 mounted knights and 25,000 to 55,000 infantry camped on his doorstep. This mattered because the two sides had different goals; Alexius simply wanted help in retaking Byzantine lands lost to the [[Seljuk Turks]], while the Crusaders sought to liberate the [[Holy Land]] from the Muslims. When Alexios demanded an oath of loyalty, Godfrey and most of the Crusaders agreed to a modified version in which they promised to restore some lands to the Emperor, Raymond of Toulouse being a notable exception: he would just promise to do the Emperor no harm.{{sfnm|Asbridge|2004|1pp=109–111|John|2017|2p=201}}

===Capture of Nicaea and Antioch===
[[File:Siege de Nicée (1097).jpg|thumb|Siege of Nicaea in 1097. Miniature from {{lang|fr|[[:Commons:Category:Roman de Godefroy de Bouillon - BNF Fr22495|Roman de Godefroy de Bouillon et de Saladin]]}}]]
In February 1097, Godfrey and his army crossed the [[Bosporus Straits]], where he was joined by Bohemund, Robert of Flanders and Hugh of Vermandois.{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|p=118}} Accompanied by Byzantine soldiers, in early May the Crusaders invested [[siege of Nicaea|Nicaea]], a city close to Constantinople captured by the Turks in 1085. Godfrey and his troops played a minor role, with Bohemond successfully commanding much of the action but as the Crusaders were about to storm the city, they noticed the Byzantine flag flying from the top of the walls. Wanting to minimise damage to what was an important Byzantine city and suspecting the Crusaders would demand a heavy ransom for handing it over, Alexios had made a separate peace with the Turkish garrison. Although the majority of the Crusader leaders accepted Alexios' right to do so, it was an illustration of the level of mutual suspicion between the two sides.{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|pp=128–130}}

[[File:Godfrey of Bouillon and leaders of the first crusade.gif|thumb|right|upright=1.0|1883 portrayal of Godfrey and other leaders of the First Crusade, by [[Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville]]]]

Godfrey continued to play a minor, yet significant, role in the battles against the Seljuks until the Crusaders finally reached Jerusalem in 1099. At [[Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)|Dorylaeum]] in July 1097, he helped relieve the vanguard at [[Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)|Dorylaeum]] which had been pinned down by a Turkish force under [[Kilij Arslan I]], then sacked their camp. After this battle and during the trek through Asia Minor, some sources suggest that Godfrey was attacked by a bear and received a serious wound which incapacitated him for a time.<ref>Natasha Hodgson 'Lions, Tigers and Bears: encounters with wild animals and bestial imagery in the context of crusading to the Latin East' ''Viator'' (2013)</ref>

Godfrey also took part in the [[Siege of Antioch]], which began in October 1097 and did not surrender until June 1098 after long and bitter fighting. During the winter, the crusading army came close to starvation and many returned to Europe, while Alexios assumed all was lost at Antioch and failed to provide them with supplies as promised. When the city finally fell, Bohemond claimed it for himself and refused to hand it over to the Emperor citing the Emperor's failure to help the crusaders at Antioch as breaking the oath; after repulsing a Muslim force from [[Mosul]] led by [[Kerbogha]], Antioch was secured.

===March on Jerusalem===
After this victory, the Crusaders were divided over their next course of action. The bishop of Le Puy had died at Antioch. Bohemond decided to remain behind in order to secure his new principality; and Godfrey's younger brother, Baldwin, also decided to stay in the north in the Crusader state he had established at [[County of Edessa|Edessa]]. Most of the foot soldiers wanted to continue south to Jerusalem, but Raymond IV of Toulouse, by this time the most powerful of the princes, having taken others into his employ, such as [[Tancred, Prince of Galilee|Tancred]], hesitated to continue the march. After months of waiting, the common people on the crusade forced Raymond to march on to Jerusalem, and Godfrey quickly joined him. As they travelled south into Palestine, the Crusaders faced a new enemy. No longer were the Seljuk Turks the rulers of these lands. Now the Christian army had to deal with armies of North African Muslims called [[Fatimid]]s, who had adopted the name of the ruling family in [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]]. The Fatimids had taken Jerusalem in August 1098. The Crusaders would be battling them for the final prize of the First Crusade in the [[Siege of Jerusalem (1099)|siege of Jerusalem]].

It was in Jerusalem that the legend of Godfrey of Bouillon was born. The army reached the city in June 1099 and built a wooden siege tower (from lumber provided by some Italian sailors who intentionally scrapped their ships) to get over the walls. The major attack took place on 14 and 15 July 1099. Godfrey and some of his knights were the first to take the walls and enter the city. It was an end to three years of fighting by the Crusaders, but they had finally achieved what they had set out to do in 1096—to recapture the Holy Land and, in particular, the city of Jerusalem and its holy sites, such as the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre|Holy Sepulchre]], the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Godfrey endowed the hospital in the [[Muristan]] after the First Crusade.