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Others took matters into their own hands. The peasantry, stirred by the preaching of the layman [[Peter the Hermit]], embarked on a disorganized and poorly supplied “crusade”, which failed utterly, being rather unwelcome in the cities they stopped in on their journey, and being slaughtered by the first Islamic army they met.  This was an unofficial, impromptu affair involving the peasantry, and which was warned, and forbidden, by the Christian feudal lords and the papacy alike, but to which they paid no heed.

Others took matters into their own hands. The peasantry, stirred by the preaching of the layman [[Peter the Hermit]], embarked on a disorganized and poorly supplied “crusade”, which failed utterly, being rather unwelcome in the cities they stopped in on their journey, and being slaughtered by the first Islamic army they met.  This was an unofficial, impromptu affair involving the peasantry, and which was warned, and forbidden, by the Christian feudal lords and the papacy alike, but to which they paid no heed.

A smaller group of peasants led by Gottschalk took out their fervor on a more local target, Jews along their path.  Their actions were condemned by the Church and the local populace.<ref>The Age of Faith, Will Durant, 1950, Pg. 589</ref><ref name="RS">Riley-Smith, Jonathan.  ''The Crusades: a History.'' 2005: Yale University Press.  ISBN: 0300101287</ref>  A much larger threat against Jews took the form of a larger mob led by Count Emico of Leiningen, who was more organized and more brutal.  Already a man with a sullied reputation, he ignored the pleas of the Bishops in town after town to desist.  Apart from being hidden by the local populace when they heard Emico was coming, there was little the Jews could do.  Previously in Europe, local difficulties against Jewish communities would rise from time to time in various places, but would be isolated to that local area.  This started a phase not previously seen, a systematic effort to weed out and attack Jewish communities.

A group of 10,000 soldiers led by the German nobleman Gottschalk took out their fervor on a more local target, Jews along the whole of the [[Rhine]] valley.  Their actions were condemned by the Church and the local populace.<ref>The Age of Faith, Will Durant, 1950, Pg. 589</ref><ref name="RS">Riley-Smith, Jonathan.  ''The Crusades: a History.'' 2005: Yale University Press.  ISBN: 0300101287</ref>  A much larger threat against Jews took the form of a larger mob led by Count Emico of Leiningen, who was more organized and more brutal.  Already a man with a sullied reputation, he ignored the pleas of the Bishops in town after town to desist.  Apart from being hidden by the local populace when they heard Emico was coming, there was little the Jews could do.  Previously in Europe, local difficulties against Jewish communities would rise from time to time in various places, but would be isolated to that local area.  This started a phase not previously seen, a systematic effort to weed out and attack Jewish communities.

== The First Crusade ==

== The First Crusade ==