Editing First Crusade (section)

===The road to Constantinople===
[[File:Map of First Crusade.png|upright=1.3|thumb|Major routes taken during the First Crusade|alt=A map of the Mediterranean, with the routes of Hugh I of Vermandois, Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemond of Taranto, Raymond IV of Toulouse, Robert Curthose, and Baldwin of Boulogne highlighted. The major Christian and Muslim empires at the time of the crusade are also highlighted. Major battles in Asia Minor are marked.]]
[[File:Byzantium after the First crusade.PNG|alt=Route of the First Crusade through Asia|thumb|Route of the First Crusade through Asia]]

The four main crusader armies left Europe around the appointed time in August 1096. They took different routes to [[Constantinople]], some through Eastern Europe and the Balkans, some crossing the Adriatic Sea. They gathered outside the Roman-era [[Walls of Constantinople]] between November 1096 and April 1097. Hugh of Vermandois arrived first, followed by Godfrey, Raymond, and Bohemond.<ref>Duncalf, Frederic (1969). "[https://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/HistCrus/0001/0001/reference/history.crusone.i0023.pdf The First Crusade: From Clermont to Constantinople]". In Setton, K. ''A History of the Crusades: Volume I''. pp. 253–279.</ref>

Godfrey took the land route through the Balkans,<ref name="Runciman-1949">Runciman, S. (1949). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/44168654?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3A6b32f0b19e1152e3ba5eeae3d6be44aa&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents The First Crusaders' Journey across the Balkan Peninsula]. ''Byzantion'', 19, 207–221.</ref> Coloman of Hungary allowed Godfrey and his troops to cross Hungary only after his brother Baldwin was offered as a hostage to guarantee his troops' good conduct.{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|p=95|loc=Into the Empire}} Raymond of Toulouse led the Provençals down the inland and coast of Sclavonia or Dalmatia which is the [[Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102)#Succession crisis|Kingdom of Croatia]]. There they encountered a hostile population (in anarchy after death of Croatian king [[Demetrius Zvonimir#Death and succession|Demetrius Zvonimir]]),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ilieva |first1=Annetta |last2=Delev |first2=Mitko |date=1998 |chapter=Sclavonia and Beyond: The Gate to a Different World in the Perception of Crusaders (c. 1104-c. 1208) |editor=[[Alan V. Murray]] |title=From Clermont to Jerusalem: The Crusades and Crusader Societies 1095-1500 |location=Turnhout |publisher=Brepols |page=153–171 |doi=10.1484/M.IMR-EB.3.4786 |isbn=978-2-503-50667-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Budak |first=Neven |author-link=Neven Budak |date=2022 |chapter=Crusades and Crusading in High Medieval Dalmatia and Croatia - Failed, Abused, Imaginery |editor=Kersken, Norbert; Srodecki, Paul |title=The Expansion of the Faith: Crusading on the Frontiers of Latin Christendom in the High Middle Ages |chapter-url= |publisher=Turnhout: Brepols |page=93 |isbn=978-2-503-58880-3 |doi=10.1484/M.OUTREMER-EB.5.127515}}</ref> passing through [[Constantine Bodin]]'s kingdom of [[Duklja]] and into [[Durrës]],{{sfn|France|1994|p=104}}{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=366–367}} and then due east to Constantinople.<ref>Barker, Ernest (1911). "[[wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Raymund of Toulouse|Raymund of Toulouse]]". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. '''22.''' (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press. pp. 934–935.</ref> Bohemond and Tancred led their Normans by sea to Durrës, and thence by land to Constantinople.<ref>Barker, Ernest (1911). "[[wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bohemund|Bohemund]]". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. '''4.''' (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press. pp. 135–136.</ref> 

The armies arrived in Constantinople with little food and expected provisions and help from Alexios. Alexios was understandably suspicious after his experiences with the People's Crusade, and also because the knights included his old Norman enemy, Bohemond, who had invaded Byzantine territory on numerous occasions with his father and may have even attempted to organize an attack on Constantinople while encamped outside the city. This time, Alexios was more prepared for the crusaders and there were fewer incidents of violence along the way.{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|pp=103–105|loc=The Second Wave: the Princes' Armies}}

The crusaders may have expected Alexios to become their leader, but he had no interest in joining them, and was mainly concerned with transporting them into Asia Minor as quickly as possible. In return for food and supplies, Alexios requested the leaders to swear fealty to him and promise to return to the Byzantine Empire any land recovered from the Turks. Godfrey was the first to take the oath, and almost all the other leaders followed him, although they did so only after warfare had almost broken out in the city between the citizens and the crusaders, who were eager to pillage for supplies. Raymond alone avoided swearing the oath, instead pledging that he would simply cause no harm to the empire. Before ensuring that the various armies were shuttled across the Bosporus, Alexios advised the leaders on how best to deal with the Seljuk armies that they would soon encounter.{{sfn|Asbridge|2004|pp=110–113|loc=The Oaths to Alexios}}