Taking the Cross: Vows and Preparations for Medieval Crusading

From Pope Urban II’s call in 1095 through later medieval expeditions to the eastern Mediterranean, joining a crusade meant more than deciding to travel or fight. A person made a vow to God before a representative of the Catholic Church, accepting an obligation to undertake a campaign. The cross sewn onto a garment made that commitment visible. But preparation varied greatly: a wealthy lord might mortgage lands and travel with a retinue, while a poorer participant joined someone else’s following. Family responsibilities, the campaign’s destination and the arrangements for travel all affected what departure involved.

Making the vow and taking the cross

The crusading vow combined pilgrimage with armed service. Early participants were often described as pilgrims, and the journeys were associated with reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. At Clermont in 1095, Bishop Adhemar of Le Puy set an early example by taking the cross. Volunteers commonly showed their commitment by sewing a cross onto their clothes, which they were expected to wear until the vow had been fulfilled.

The vow was a personal, temporary commitment, not a religious order’s lifelong profession. A prospective crusader could consider the decision before making the vow and could withdraw during that preliminary deliberation. Once made publicly before a priest, bishop, preacher or other authorised church representative, however, the vow was generally treated as binding. The ceremony was not uniform: a distinct liturgy developed around 1200, and the form of the rite continued to vary by region.

What fulfilling the commitment required depended on the expedition. For early crusaders, reaching Jerusalem and performing devotions at the Holy Sepulchre were central aims. As crusading campaigns took place elsewhere, or circumstances changed, the terms became less straightforward. Some campaign proclamations specified a period of service, but obligations were not identical across expeditions. Participants might also seek church permission to defer or commute a vow. These possibilities did not make the initial commitment casual: they were ways of addressing a serious obligation when a person’s circumstances or the campaign’s demands changed.

Who could go, and what leaving meant at home

Crusaders came from beyond the military elite. The First Crusade included nobles and trained knights, but also large numbers of poorer people, many without military experience. Men and women could take crusading vows. Clergy might serve as chaplains, while merchants and artisans could contribute to the expedition’s practical needs. Their presence did not make every participant a combatant, and church leaders’ expectations of who should enlist changed over time. Early preachers were instructed to discourage people who seemed unable to meet the physical or financial demands; married people were also cautioned against leaving without their spouses’ consent. In 1213, Pope Innocent III directed clergy to accept vows from willing people regardless of age, sex or circumstances, while allowing vows to be deferred, commuted or redeemed.

For anyone with a household or property, departure raised practical and legal questions. Church authorities sought to protect crusaders’ property, and crusaders gained permission to sell or mortgage possessions that otherwise could not readily be transferred. The privileges proclaimed in 1145 also relieved crusaders of interest charges and protected them against creditors while they were away. These protections mattered because absence could leave land and other obligations unsettled. The rules recognised that a vow might have to be delayed if a person’s departure would endanger their property or country.

The resources required differed sharply. A knight’s participation in the First Crusade could cost the equivalent of four years’ income. Loans and donations helped meet the expense, and less wealthy knights could travel within a noble’s retinue rather than finance a campaign independently. At the other end of the scale, Godfrey of Bouillon sold or mortgaged property to support his expedition. Robert of Normandy borrowed money from his brother, William II of England, pledging the duchy of Normandy as security. These examples show how a campaign could draw on personal wealth, credit and family arrangements, while poorer volunteers depended on joining larger groups.

Assembling companions and setting out

Crusaders rarely travelled as isolated individuals. The First Crusade’s main noble-led forces gathered in separate contingents, with leaders bringing followers from different parts of western Europe. Some participants travelled with relatives: entire families could undertake the journey at their own expense. Such ties helped form a following, but did not guarantee that its members shared the same resources or aims. Alongside these organised forces, popular groups set out early in 1096, before the date planned for the main expedition. Their departures showed how enthusiasm could outrun the church leaders’ efforts to organise and limit recruitment.

The appointed start date for the First Crusade was 15 August 1096, after the beginning of the harvest. Yet some popular contingents left months earlier, while the main noble-led armies departed later in the summer and followed different routes. Some travelled overland through Hungary and the Balkans; others went by sea across the Adriatic before continuing toward Constantinople. The main forces arrived there over several months, between November 1096 and April 1097. The contrast between an announced departure date and the staggered journeys that followed illustrates the difficulty of coordinating a large expedition across many regions.

Arrangements changed in later campaigns. Women were conspicuous among those accompanying the Second Crusade: Eleanor of Aquitaine travelled with her household, and regulations for the crusader fleet made provision for wives. For the Third Crusade, Richard I hired ships at Marseille and Philip II of France hired them at Genoa. These choices tied departure to access to shipping as well as to a participant’s ability to pay or travel with a ruler’s force.

Large plans could still fall short. For the Fourth Crusade, Venetian shipbuilders were contracted to provide a fleet for an expected 33,500 crusaders. Only about a third of the anticipated force assembled at Venice; some people had embarked elsewhere, while others did not fulfil their vows. With too few participants paying their shares, the expedition could not settle the Venetian transport debt. Crusaders’ decisions, personal means and travel arrangements shaped the expedition before it reached its destination.